“I dunno why we have to wear these things either...”
"我也不知道我们为什么要穿这些东西......"
“Aren’t we wearing them for fun?”
"我们穿着它们不是为了好玩吗?"
I backed away from the still body of Tulip as the Meatlocker security mare approached. Her milky white eyes were narrowed as she looked down at the scene. “Willow! I can explain! Okay… I really can’t explain, but I didn’t do this! I wouldn’t do this, I mean… I’m pretty sure I didn’t do this. I can’t say I’ve never killed somepony while out of it, but…” I stammered, pointing back behind me with a bloody hoof. “I was just in Mortuary. My friend… erm… a griffin… ah… Mr. Shears can prove it!”
当肉食者安全母马靠近时，我从郁金香的尸体旁退开。当她低头看着这一幕时，她那乳白色的眼睛眯成了一条缝。"薇洛！我可以解释！好吧...我真的无法解释，但这不是我干的！我不会这么做的，我是说...我很确定我没有这么做。我不能说我从来没有杀过小马，但是......"我结结巴巴地说，用一只血淋淋的蹄子指着身后。"我刚刚在停尸间。我的朋友......呃......一只狮鹫......啊......舍尔斯先生可以证明!"
“This is why I fucking hate tourists,” she repeated as she circled the body. Then she looked at me and my clothes closely. “You say you just came on the body like this?”
"这就是为什么我他妈的讨厌游客,"她绕着尸体重复道。然后她仔细地看着我和我的衣服。"你说你就是这样爬到尸体上的?"
“Yeah. And like I said, I was just down in the Mortuary,” I said in a rush. “I swear, I didn’t do it!” Now I was going to have to prove my innocence! Maybe bust out of jail! Could I handle a jailbreak? Oh sweet Celestia, please don’t tell me I’d have to kill ghouls to get out of here. I liked ghouls!
"是的。就像我说的，我刚才在停尸间。"我急忙说。"我发誓，不是我干的!"现在我要证明我的清白！也许越狱！我能越狱吗？哦，亲爱的天堂，请不要告诉我，我必须杀死食尸鬼才能离开这里。我喜欢食尸鬼！
The earth pony sat, slipped a cigarette into her mouth, then calmly lit it with an old lighter before she said with an annoyed grunt, “Yes. I figured you didn’t.”
大地上的小马坐了下来，把一支香烟塞进嘴里，然后平静地用一个旧打火机点燃了它，接着她发出恼怒的咕哝:"是的。我就知道你不会。"
“I promise… I swear… I…” Then I stopped stammering and just gaped at her. “Really?”
"我保证...我发誓...我..。。」然后我不再结结巴巴地看着她，目瞪口呆。"真的吗?"
“No blood spattered on you. Just a bit on your hoof from stepping in the pool.” She stepped close and slowly lowered her hoof towards Tulip’s shattered head. “While I know you probably could do a wound like this, it would have been
"没有血溅到你身上。只是因为你的蹄子踩到了游泳池。"她走近郁金香，慢慢地把蹄子朝郁金香粉碎的头部低下去。"虽然我知道你可能会这样做，但它本来是可以的
messy. Bits of blood and bone all over the place. Your clothes are still clean.” She peered down at the slain ghoul with a little groan. “Damn… Tulip was a nice girl. Hopeless merchant, but nice.”
混乱的。到处都是血和骨头碎片。你的衣服还是干净的。"她低头看着被杀死的食尸鬼，发出一声呻吟。"该死...郁金香是个好姑娘。无可救药的商人，但人很好。"
“Well, thanks,” I said in a bit of a daze. I was so used to being in the middle of the proverbial shitstorm that somepony cutting me a break was depressingly novel.
"哦，谢谢,"我有点茫然地说。我是如此习惯于置身于众所周知的风暴之中，以至于一些小马给我减刑简直就是一部令人沮丧的小说。
She took a long pull off the cigarette and let the smoke shoot out her nostrils. “You’re a lousy suspect. From what everypony was saying, you got along well with Tulip. Can’t be a sour deal because you paid in advance. Hell, you haven’t freaked out at all. That’s pretty exceptional for a breather.” She glanced over at the canvas bag. “Can’t be robbery, the goods are still here. Wasn’t a feral attack; no bites or other injuries.” She stared at me a moment, eyes narrowed. “Might be crazy. But if it was you, you’re the neatest psychopath in the Hoof.”
她把香烟抽了很长一段时间，让烟从鼻孔里冒出来。"你是个糟糕的嫌疑犯。从每匹小马的说法来看，你和郁金香相处得很好。不能因为你提前付了钱就觉得不好受。见鬼，你一点都不害怕。对于一个喘气的人来说，这是非常特殊的。"她瞥了一眼帆布包。"不可能是抢劫，货物还在这里。不是凶残的攻击，也没有咬伤或其他伤口。"她盯着我看了一会儿，眯起了眼睛。"可能有点疯狂。但如果是你的话，你就是霍夫最聪明的精神病患者。"
She sighed and moved closer to the body. “Sorry, ‘Lip.” And then she started pressing on the corpse’s ribs. There was a dry, crunchy noise as Tulip’s side depressed. “Busted ribs.” Willow carefully removed the saturated clothing to reveal two dark, round distortions. “Hoofkicks. Somepony knocked Tulip right off her hooves.”
她叹了口气，走近身体。"对不起,'利普。"然后她开始按压尸体的肋骨。郁金香的身体一侧压低，发出干燥、嘎吱嘎吱的声音。"肋骨断了"柳树小心翼翼地脱去饱和的衣服，露出两道深色、圆形的变形。"马蹄踢。一匹小马把郁金香从马蹄上打了下来。"
“Like an applebuck,” I remarked, drawing a look. It might have been approval, but with a mare like Willow, how could you tell?
"像一只苹果巴克,"我说，画了一个眼神。这可能是一种认可，但是像薇洛这样的母马，你怎么知道呢？
“Yeah, but see? The one on the left isn’t as deep as the one on the right. I’m guessing Tulip was kicked while she was turning. Maybe running for help? The kicker was strong enough that she was knocked on her side, and then…” She mimicked the hoof coming down again on Tulip’s head. “She didn’t even have a chance to get up. See?” She pointed at the blood spattering across the body. “All round, gravitational drops. No movement or smearing. Instantly dead.”
"是的，但是看到了吗？左边那个没有右边那个深。我猜郁金香是在转身的时候被踢的。也许是跑去求救？踢球者非常强壮，她被撞倒在地，然后......"她模仿着蹄子再次落在郁金香的头上。"她甚至没有机会站起来。看到了吗?"她指着溅满全身的鲜血。"到处都是重力滴落。没有移动或污迹。瞬间死亡。"
“You seem to know a lot about this stuff,” I commented, getting a smoky snort from the mare.
"你似乎知道很多关于这东西,"我评论说，得到了一个烟雾从母马鼻息。
“Yeah. You could say that,” she said, taking a moment to chew on the cigarette. “Sometimes I wish I wasn’t a part of Windclop’s jerky squad… that’s what I call his security ghouls. Too much of a joke for me. We’re supposed to let everyone in so long as they’re not Red Eye or Remnants. I just keep an eye open for trouble, like you, and hope for the best.”
"是的。你可以这么说,"她说着，咬了一会儿香烟。"有时候我真希望自己不是Windclop那帮混蛋中的一员......这就是我对他的保镖的称呼。对我来说太多笑话了。我们应该让每个人进来，只要他们不是红眼或残留物。我只是像你一样，随时注意麻烦，希望有好结果。"
I noted that Harbingers were okay. “Were you in the military? Looks like you know your way around firearms,” I said with a look at her assault carbines.
我注意到先驱者是好的。"你参过军吗？看来你对枪械很在行,"我看着她的突击卡宾枪说。
“Law enforcement, actually. Which makes shit like this all the more annoying.” She glared down at the body, flicking ashes from the end of her cigarette. “Three days from now, nopony’s gonna give a fuck. ‘Lip deserves better.”
"实际上是执法部门。这让这种事情变得更加烦人。"她怒视着他的尸体，轻弹着烟头上的烟灰。"三天后，没有小马会在乎。'Lip值得更好的。"
I looked at the dead ghoul and back at her. “So, what do you think it might have been?” She scowled at the body, the blood, and mostly at me, then took a long pull off the cigarette and let the gray smoke out in a long plume.
我看了看死去的食尸鬼，又看了看她。"那么，你认为可能是什么呢?"她皱着眉头看着尸体、血迹，尤其是我，然后抽了很长一段时间烟，让灰色的烟雾在长长的烟柱中冒了出来。
She sighed as she returned her eyes to the crushed mare. “If it wasn’t robbery, wasn’t a feral after a nibble, and wasn’t personal, she might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.” She pointed at my reinforced barding spilling from the sack. “She might have been coming to deliver your barding and come across something worth killing over.”
她叹了口气，把目光转回到那匹被碾碎的母马身上。"如果不是抢劫，不是一顿小餐后的野餐，也不是私人恩怨，她可能在错误的时间出现在错误的地点。"她指着我从口袋里冒出来的坚固的口袋。"她可能是来给你送酒的，然后发现了一些值得杀人的东西。"
“Something illegal? Maybe that Ahuizotl had something to do with it?” I suggested, and got a sullen look in response. “What? The guy’s a creep, and not because he’s a ghoul.”
"非法的东西？也许阿胡伊佐特跟这件事有关?"我建议，得到了一个闷闷不乐的表情回应。"什么？这家伙是个变态，不是因为他是个食尸鬼。"
“Yeah. Except there’s nothing illegal about being a creep. We don’t have much in the way of laws, anyway. Pretty basic, really. And while I don’t put it past him, Ahuizotl’s a weak little shit. He gets other ponies to kill for him if he can get away with it. He couldn’t have killed her like this.” She groaned in irritation. “Fuck… knew it would come to this. Fucking smoothcoat tourists…”
"是的。只不过做个变态没什么不合法的。无论如何，我们没有太多的法律。非常基本，真的。虽然我不相信他，但阿胡伊佐特是个软弱的小混蛋。如果他能逃脱惩罚，他会让其他的小马为他杀死。他不可能这样杀了她。"她愤怒地呻吟着。"操......我就知道会这样。该死的衣冠楚楚的游客..."
“You don’t like smoothcoats?” I asked in concern.
"你不喜欢冰沙外套?"我担心地问。
She shrugged. “I don’t like unknowns. Hate ‘em. Don’t care if they’re alive or dead. I think we should screen who comes in here. Keep our own safe. Windclop wants everyone to just pretend we’re all alive, like the rotted hide is just a bad rash. And Ahuizotl wants us one step up from feral so we’ll all keep drowning in booze and Rainboom.” At my clueless expression, she snapped, “Super strong Dash.” She took another long pull on her cigarette and sighed, shaking her head. “But more folks want the chance to trade and to pretend like we’re normal, so they’ll let every freakshow into this place.” She shot a pointed look at my mechanical legs.
她耸了耸肩。"我不喜欢无名小卒。讨厌他们。不管他们是死是活。我认为我们应该筛选谁来这里。保护我们自己的安全。Windclop希望每个人都假装我们都还活着，就像腐烂的皮肤只是一个坏皮疹。阿胡伊佐特想让我们远离野生动物一步，这样我们就会一直沉浸在豪饮和暴风雨中。"在我毫无头绪的表情下，她厉声说道:"超级强壮。"她又长长地吸了一口烟，叹了口气，摇了摇头。"但更多的人希望有机会进行交易，并假装我们是正常人，这样他们就会让每一个异想天开的人进入这个地方。"她用锐利的目光看了看我的机械腿。
I popped out a finger and scratched out a booger, making her squirm in disgust
我伸出一根手指，抓出一个鼻涕，使她厌恶地局促不安
when I flicked it away with a grin. Freakshow that, Willow. “So… now what?” I asked, stepping away from the body a little.
当我咧嘴笑着弹开它的时候。薇洛，你真是疯了。"那么......现在怎么办?"我问道，稍微离开了一下身体。
“Now?” She looked surprised. “Well now you take your armor -- you paid for it after all -- and go fuck yourself for all I care. I’ll make sure she gets incinerated. Windclop will auction off her stuff for the town. Somepony else will come and sell barding. Life goes on,” she muttered darkly. “That’s how it goes, isn’t it? Somepony gets murdered and great if you can catch ‘em but ‘oh well’ if you can’t.”
"现在?"她看起来很惊讶。"好吧，现在你拿着你的盔甲——毕竟你已经为此付出了代价——去你妈的吧，我才不在乎呢。我会把她烧成灰。Windclop将把她的东西拍卖给镇上的人。会有其他人来卖掉抵押物的。生活还要继续,"她阴郁地咕哝着。"就是这么回事，不是吗？有些小马被谋杀了，如果你能抓住它们就很好，但如果你抓不住它们，那就太好了。"
Damn, that was a lot of bitterness. “What do you mean?” Willow glared at me a moment. Clearly there was something gnawing at the ghoul. “I’m just curious, is all.” She made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat and rolled her cloudy eyes.
该死，真是太痛苦了。"什么意思?"柳树瞪了我一会儿。显然有什么东西在啃食食尸鬼。"我只是好奇而已。"她的喉咙后面发出恶心的声音，转动着她浑浊的眼睛。
“Once upon a time, I was with the Hoofington Guard. Investigations. Seems like another life… ‘cause it was, I guess. Always busy trying to keep order, keeping the Pinks happy, and trying to solve cases. Most were usually pretty simple, but we had a few that were just nasty. Hoofington’s always been a little heavy on the weirdo population like that. Softheart and I were assigned to catch the Angel of Death serial killer,” she said as she trotted away from the body a bit and took a seat.
"很久很久以前，我是胡芬顿卫队的。调查工作。似乎是另一种生活......因为我想，它曾经是。总是忙于维持秩序，让平克一家高兴，并试图解决案件。大多数都很简单，但是我们也有一些很恶心的。胡芬顿对这种怪人总是有点过分。"我和索菲特被指派去抓死亡天使连环杀手,"她一边说，一边小跑着离开尸体，坐了下来。
“I… read about her,” I said as glanced at the stairs that led down to Mortuary. “Targeted foals?”
"我.....。.看看关于她的报道,"我一边说，一边瞥了一眼通往太平间的楼梯。"瞄准小马驹?"
“Mhmmm. Real piece of work. Turns out she was an M.o.P. nurse. Snapped under the pressure. Thought it was more merciful to kill kids than let them live in this world. So we finally caught her… and we handed her over to the M.o.P.,” she muttered bitterly.
"嗯.....。真正的工作。结果发现她是一名普通护士。在压力下崩溃了。我认为杀死孩子比让他们活在这个世界上更仁慈。所以我们最终抓住了她......我们把她交给了最高法院,"她怨声载道。
“Wait. Why?” I asked in confusion.
"等等。为什么?"我困惑地问。
The ghoul rolled her eyes. “Because she was fucking ministry. Fuck… don’t you get it? Back then, if you were with a ministry, there were a million special rules about what we were supposed to do. We caught Nurse Candy, then handed her right over to Fluttershy who ‘Pinkie Pie Promised’ us that they’d make her better.” She hissed in disgust. “Three months later she was out and doing it again. Only this time, she knew how we’d caught her and changed her habits. Softheart drove herself nuts trying to stop her; she loved kids. And the Angel
那个食尸鬼翻了翻白眼。"因为她是他妈的牧师。操...你还不明白吗？那时，如果你在一个部门工作，对于我们应该做什么有成千上万的特殊规定。我们抓住了坎迪护士，然后把她交给了小萤火虫，小萤火虫向我们保证他们会让她好起来。"她厌恶地发出嘶嘶声。"三个月后，她出来了，又开始这样做了。只是这一次，她知道我们是如何抓住她并改变了她的习惯。索菲特为了阻止她，简直要把自己逼疯了;她爱孩子。还有天使
loved toying with us. The Angel would leave notes on the bodies of her victims to me and Softheart.”
喜欢玩弄我们。天使会在受害者的尸体上留下字条给我和索菲特。"
I used a bit of canvas to wipe the blood off my hooves. “So what happened?”
我用一块帆布擦了擦我蹄子上的血。"那么发生了什么?"
“Angel slipped up. Softheart had a kid, and the Angel went after her. Too much for the Angel to resist. Nasty fight. The Angel nearly killed Softheart. Shoved a length of wrought iron fence through her chest. Anyway, I trotted her giggling ass all the way back to Hightower myself. Of course, then Image got involved and we were fucked. I was sure the Angel was going to disappear again. I filed paperwork. I made calls. I screamed my stupid head off.” She let out a long, rattling sigh. “And then the Angel dies in custody!” she spat, stomping her forehooves in rage.
"安吉尔说漏嘴了。索菲特有了一个孩子，天使就去追她了。太多了，天使无法抗拒。恶心的打斗。天使差点杀了索菲特。把一道熟铁栅栏穿过她的胸膛。不管怎样，我亲自把她那傻笑的屁股送回了海托华。当然，然后映像介入，我们就完蛋了。我确信天使会再次消失。我提交了文件。我打了电话。我尖叫着把我那愚蠢的头拧下来。"她发出一声长长的、格格作响的叹息。"然后天使在拘留中死去!"她怒气冲冲地吐口水，重重地跺着前蹄。
“What’s wrong with that?” I asked, and got a glare in response.
"这有什么问题吗?"我问道，得到了一个眼神的回应。
“That’s exactly what my fucking superiors said!” she snarled, jabbing her hoof at me. “But she was killed in custody and I don’t care if it was the Angel of Death or Princess Celestia; a crime is a crime! Then I dug some more and found out there was a whole slew of ponies killed in Hightower. No investigations. No nothing. Others had gotten hit by some sort of mind-sapping magic attack -- all fatal. And nopony was investigating! Somepony was covering it up, but I had no idea who.”
"我的上司就是这么说的!"她咆哮着，用蹄子戳我。"但是她是在拘留期间被杀的，我不在乎是死亡天使还是塞莱斯蒂亚公主，犯罪就是犯罪！然后我又挖了一些，发现在海托华有一大群小马被杀了。没有调查。什么都没有。还有一些人被某种削弱大脑的魔法攻击击中——都是致命的。而且没有小马在调查！有人在掩盖真相，但我不知道是谁。"
She snorted, looking back at the body. “Softheart snapped. Couldn’t take it. Maybe it was her injuries or something, but she couldn’t let it go. Said she could feel the Angel inside her. Woke up in her daughter’s room with a knife. Finally jumped in front of a subway train. Suicide. Case… fucking… closed.”
她哼了一声，回头看着尸体。"软心人崩溃了。受不了了。也许是因为她的伤或者别的什么，但是她不能就这么算了。她说她能感觉到她体内的天使。醒来发现自己在女儿的房间里拿着一把刀。最后跳到了地铁前面。自杀。案子...他妈的...结了。"
The mottled green mare slumped. “I was taken off investigations. Put behind a desk in Flankfurt filing paperwork. Would have quit, but... hrmph, what else was I going to do?” she said with a shrug. “Bombs fell and paperwork was pretty much moot. Lasted a year before ghoulification set in. Fortunately, I kept my head together. Nopony gave a shit about justice anymore, but I could shoot better than most of the scum around the Wasteland.”
那匹斑驳的绿色母马垂头丧气。"我被调离了调查。在Flankfurt做文书工作。我会放弃的，但是......哎呀，我还能怎么办呢?"她耸了耸肩说。"炸弹落下，文书工作几乎毫无意义。持续了一年直到年开始食尸鬼化。幸运的是，我保持了冷静。小马再也不在乎什么正义了，但我的枪法比大多数废墟上的人渣都要好。"
Then she suddenly blinked and groaned, covering her face with her hoof. “Oh, shit. I didn’t just do that, did I?”
然后她突然眨了眨眼，呻吟了一声，用蹄子挡住了脸。"哦，该死。我刚才没那么做吧?"
“What?” I asked in concern.
"什么?"我担心地问。
The mottled green mare just adopted an expression of self-disgust. “Don’t tell me I actually gave you my whole ‘when I was alive’ sob story. I hate that shit.” She snorted and spat her cigarette butt into the shadows. “Ghouls always have one whiny story from when they were alive. Promised I’d never share mine. They’re always so pathetic.”
那匹斑驳的绿色母马刚刚摆出一副自我厌恶的表情。"别告诉我，我真的把'我活着的时候'那些伤感的故事都告诉你了。我讨厌这种事。"她哼了一声，把烟头吐到阴影里。"食尸鬼活着的时候总有一个牢骚满腹的故事。答应我永远不和别人分享我的。他们总是那么可悲。"
“Sorry. But it was an interesting story,” I said. I considered her a moment, and a slow smile spread on my lips. I adopted as casual a tone as I could. “You know… I’m going into Hightower.” I tried not to look too interested, but the ghoul could clearly handle herself.
"对不起。但这是个有趣的故事,"我说。我想了她一会儿，嘴角浮现出一丝微笑。我尽可能采用随意的语气。"你知道......我要去海托华。"我尽量不让自己看起来太感兴趣，但那个食尸鬼显然可以控制自己。
“Are you joking or crazy?” Willow asked, and I grinned widely at her. She looked back at me flatly, leaning away as if my crazy was contagious. “Blackjack, I don’t know you. Why in Equestria would I follow you into a deathtrap like Hightower? Much as unlife sucks, I’d rather not lose it.”
"你是在开玩笑还是在发疯?"杨柳问道，我咧嘴大笑。她直截了当地回头看着我，身子向后倾斜，好像我的疯狂会传染似的。"黑杰克，我不认识你。为什么在Equestria我要跟随你进入海托华这样的危险地带？尽管生活糟透了，但我宁愿不失去它。"
I looked at the skeptical ghoul and then smiled. “Because you have questions about the things that happened in Hightower. Niggling little things you want to know. Even if the answers don’t matter, you still want them.”
我看了看那个心存怀疑的食尸鬼，然后笑了。"因为你对在海托华发生的事情有疑问。你想知道的琐碎事情。即使答案不重要，你仍然想要它们。"
She glared at me for a long moment before she snorted, “Not that bad. Now get out of my mane. I need to get Tulip cremated and tell his mayorship to clean up the mess.” I felt like she’d slugged me. Mysteries! Potential answers! How could she pass that up? I sighed and just nodded, gathering up the reinforced combat armor Tulip had made for me before starting back towards the Afterlife club. “And Blackjack,” she called after me. I stopped and looked over my shoulder at the ghoul as she added grimly, “Keep your eyes out for somepony that can crush a skull with one blow.”
她盯着我看了很长时间，然后哼了一声,"没那么糟。现在给我滚出去。我需要把郁金香火化，然后让他的市长来收拾残局。"我感觉她打了我一拳。神秘事件！潜在的答案！她怎么能错过呢？我叹了口气，只是点点头，收拾起郁金香为我做的加固战斗盔甲，然后返回死后的俱乐部。"还有黑杰克,"她在我后面喊道。我停下脚步，回头看了看那个食尸鬼，她冷酷地补充道:"留意那些能一下子打碎头骨的小马。"
* * *
* * *
Given there was someone in Meatlocker who would kill a mare like Tulip, I found a bathroom and checked it for occupants and red bars before removing the clothes Velvet had generously given me. I sighed and, for the first time ever, carefully folded my clothes and packed them into the bottom of my saddlebag. Tulip had done well. The reinforced combat armor was a mottled gray like concrete, and the usual ceramic plates had been replaced by some sort of metal I couldn’t quite identify, so I chanced a little nibble. It tasted like caramel and was lighter than steel. Still, this was definitely some heavy duty armor. ‘Security’ was
考虑到在Meatlocker有人会杀死像郁金香这样的母马，我找到了一个浴室，检查了里面的人和红色栏杆，然后把天鹅绒慷慨地给我的衣服拿了出来。我叹了口气，有生以来第一次小心翼翼地把衣服叠好，放进我的鞍囊底部。郁金香做得很好。加固的战斗装甲是一个斑驳的灰色像混凝土，和通常的陶瓷板已经取代了某种金属，我不能完全确定，所以我切断了一点点。它尝起来像焦糖，比钢铁还要轻。尽管如此，这绝对是一些重型装甲。安全性
etched on the back in black letters, and she’d even painted my filly in place. I felt guilty seeing it after Boing. Sighing softly, I pulled the barding on.
用黑色字体刻在背面，她甚至把我的小母马画在。看完《波音》之后，我感到很内疚。我轻轻地叹了口气，把帐篷拉了上去。
Tulip had done really well. It fit like a sock. I debated putting on the helmet for a moment, then remembered what Willow had said. The helmet went on immediately; I had no idea how reinforced my brain was and would prefer to not have to find out. I stood like a zebra, winced as the armor pinched like mad in the crotch, and carefully tugged it so that I could go bipedal comfortably. No need for the boots on my forelegs. I wasn’t sure what the S.W.A.T. spray-painted out had stood for, though. ‘Security Whines A Ton’?
郁金香做得非常好。它像袜子一样合身。我犹豫了一会儿戴上头盔，然后想起了薇洛说的话。头盔立刻就戴上了;我不知道我的大脑有多强大，我宁愿不去发现。我像一匹斑马一样站在那里，当盔甲在胯部像疯了一样被掐得皱巴巴的时候，我小心翼翼地拉着它，这样我就可以舒服地双足行走了。我的前腿不需要靴子。不过，我不确定特警队喷出来的字是什么意思。一吨的安全问题？
As I trotted out of the bathroom, I turned my thoughts again to the task ahead. If I was going into Hightower, I’d need a strong team. Rampage, Lacunae, and Stygius were solid. Psychoshy might have conflicts, but I was pretty sure she’d follow him. That wasn’t quite enough though. At the very least I’d need somepony who knew the layout of the prison. Somepony who could deal with robots and turrets. Somepony who could keep us all alive. Somepony good with locks. Shears was an unknown; I hoped he had some combat skills.
当我跑出浴室的时候，我的思绪又回到了面前的任务上。如果我要去海托华，我需要一个强大的团队。横冲直撞、空隙和柱状突起是可靠的。精神病患者可能会有冲突，但我很确定她会跟随他。但这还不够。至少我需要一个知道监狱布局的人。一个可以和机器人和炮塔打交道的小马。一个能让我们活下去的人。有些小马很会开锁。舍尔斯是个默默无闻的人，我希望他有一些战斗技能。
I was halfway to the Afterlife club when I heard shouts coming from the front of the hospital. “Get out of here! You’re not welcome, Stripe!” I heard somepony bellow. “No Remnants here! Step off!”
我正在去往来世俱乐部的路上，突然听到医院前面传来喊声。"滚出去！不欢迎你，斯特普!"我听到一些小马的叫声。""这里没有残余！走开!"
I started towards the entrance when I heard a familiar mare cry out, “Oh Maiden of the Stars, why have you cursed me so!? I beg you, return and finish me off! End my torment!”
我朝门口走去，突然听到一匹熟悉的母马大叫:"哦，星星少女，你为什么这样诅咒我?"？我求求你，回来杀了我吧！结束我的痛苦!"
I trotted out on to the front steps and beheld a filthy, rain-soaked, wretched-looking Xanthe. The zebra mare’s eyes popped wide as she stared past the scowling ghouls and at me. “Oh, sweet sun above, I am damned.” Then her golden eyes rolled back in their sockets and she flopped to the ground in a faint. I looked at her for a minute, then at the ghouls. “Hundred caps to let her in?” The pair looked at each other a moment, scowled, then shrugged and nodded.
我小跑着来到门前的台阶上，看到了一幅肮脏的、被雨水浸湿的、看起来很可怜的赞西。那匹斑马瞪大了眼睛，目不转睛地盯着过去那些愁眉不展的食尸鬼和我。"哦，天上的太阳啊，我真该死。"然后她的金色眼珠在眼窝里翻了个个儿，晕倒在地。我看了她一会儿，然后又看了看食尸鬼。"100顶帽子让她进来?"两人对视了一会儿，皱起眉头，然后耸了耸肩，点了点头。
Then a muddy bundle on the zebra’s back shifted a little. I frowned as I stepped closer and carefully lifted the flap. Curly pink mane streaked with filth and dried blood met my eyes, and then two bright and terrified blue eyes peeked back at me for a moment before I shared a scream with a filly who was supposed to be dead.
然后斑马背上的一个泥包稍微移动了一下。我皱起眉头，走近一些，小心翼翼地掀开盖子。卷曲的粉红色的鬃毛沾满了污垢和干涸的血液，我的眼睛看到了，然后两只明亮而恐惧的蓝眼睛回望了我一会儿，之后我和一只本该死去的小母马分享了一声尖叫。
* * *
* * *
I’d like to think there were different levels of awkward. Saying your mom’s flank is perfectly sexy when she turns out to be standing behind you, for example, is a beginner’s level of awkward. Then there’s trying to convince the pony you love to be your special somepony, only to discover they’re taken, not interested, only interested in being friends, or that they would be interested if you were somepony else. That’s a nice middling sort of awkward. Then there’s finding out that the filly you thought you’d killed in a psychopathic rage is still alive, badly battered, possibly crippled, and utterly scared to death of you. Boing was with Doctor Wheelbarrow right now, who’d Pinkie Promised he wouldn’t study her too much.
我认为尴尬的程度是不同的。例如，当你妈妈站在你身后时，说她的侧腹非常性感，这是初学者的尴尬程度。然后，你试图说服那匹小马，让它相信你是一匹特别的小马，结果却发现它们已经有主了，不感兴趣，只对成为朋友感兴趣，或者如果你是另一匹小马，它们也会对你感兴趣。这是一个不错的中等程度的尴尬。然后你会发现，那个你认为你在心理变态狂怒中杀死的小姑娘仍然活着，身体严重受损，可能有残疾，而且完全被你吓死了。波因现在正和独轮手推车医生在一起，平奇答应过他不会对她研究太多。
Xanthe was almost in as much shock as Boing. I reminded Windclop that I’d just made a generous contribution to the community and I’d really appreciate if he could let her in. He’d smoothed some ghouls’ nerves enough for Carol to let her use the shower, and Velvet was nice enough to loan her a cloak, after I’d managed to pry her away from something they were all doing with Lacunae in the corner of the ER. The garment didn’t completely conceal her, though. There was just something about the way a zebra moved that you couldn’t quite hide. Most of the ghouls made a point of pretending we didn’t exist.
桑特几乎和波音一样震惊。我提醒Windclop，我刚刚为社区做出了慷慨的贡献，如果他能让她进来，我会非常感激。他抚平了一些食尸鬼的神经，让卡罗尔能够使用浴室，维尔韦特也很好心地借给她一件斗篷，在我设法把她从他们在急诊室角落里和拉库奈一起做的事情中拉开之后。不过，这件衣服并没有完全遮住她。斑马的行动方式让你无法完全隐藏。大多数食尸鬼都假装我们不存在。
I was too preoccupied to really enjoy the music in Afterlife as I spoke with the spooked zebra at one of the club’s tables. “So, you couldn’t get to the Collegiate and have been wandering around on your own since you left Yellow River?” I asked Xanthe as she held a cup of tea between her hooves. Her eyes were darting back and forth between Nurse Graves and me as they had ever since she’d woken up in the care of ghouls. Apparently, while there wasn’t exactly a rule against them, there were lots of old grudges against zebrakind in Meatlocker. Windclop had grudgingly allowed her inside; I think the sight of Boing was enough to let him make a special allowance.
当我和俱乐部一张桌子上受到惊吓的斑马交谈时，我全神贯注，无法真正享受来世的音乐。"这么说，你离开黄河以后，就不能去学院，一个人到处游荡了?"我问赞斯，她用蹄子夹着一杯茶。她的眼睛在格雷夫斯护士和我之间来回扫视，自从她在食尸鬼的照顾下醒来以来，他们一直如此。显然，虽然没有明确的规定反对他们，但是在Meatlocker有很多针对斑马种的宿怨。文德克洛普勉强让她进去，我想只要看见波音，他就会给她特殊的照顾。
“Yes. Since you cursed me, I wandered through the rainy night seeking my way. The pegasi flew away with their injured comrade. I was rained on most terribly and slipped in the mud several times. I finally returned to a tunnel where I discovered that poor filly battered within an inch of her life,” she said with a shake of her head. Returned? I started to ask... then I wanted to ask about Boing’s injuries... then I felt really guilty and shut up, so she went on, “I could have left her, but my spirit is already tainted enough by your curse. I didn’t need
"是的。既然你咒骂我，我就在雨夜里徘徊，寻找我的路。飞马座带着受伤的战友飞走了。我被雨淋得很厉害，在泥里滑倒了好几次。我终于回到了一条隧道，在那里我发现那只可怜的小母马差一点就被打死了。"她摇摇头说。退货？我开始问......然后我想问问关于Boing的伤势......然后我感到非常内疚，闭上了嘴，所以她继续说,"我本可以离开她，但是我的灵魂已经被你的诅咒污染得够多了。我不需要
ghosts haunting me as well, so I helped her as I could and sought aid.” She shook her head with a sigh. “The Harbingers… they had no help for me, as they only sought you. I could only head south and hope I found the Collegiate you mentioned, but I was lost. I followed the mountains too closely, and this was the only community I knew where she might get aid.”
鬼魂也缠着我，所以我尽可能地帮助她，寻求帮助。"她叹了口气，摇了摇头。"先知们......他们对我没有帮助，因为他们只是在找你。我只能向南走，希望能找到你提到的那个大学生，但我迷路了。我跟着山走得太近了，这是我知道的唯一一个她可以从哪里得到帮助的社区。"
“Good thing I cursed you, then. I thought I’d killed her,” I said as I looked at my hooves. Funny; almost killing her in a frenzy was somehow worse than killing her outright. After Happyhorn, I’d put a pin into the fact I was a foalkiller. Now I was a foal mangler, and somewhere in this hospital was my terrified victim. If Xanthe hadn’t found her and gotten her to somepony who could help, she would have been dead…
"还好我诅咒了你。"我以为我杀了她,"我看着自己的蹄子说。有趣的是，几乎疯狂地杀死她比当场杀死她还要糟糕。在哈皮霍恩事件之后，我再也不相信自己是一个杀小鹿的凶手了。现在我是一只小马驹，在这家医院的某个地方，我惊恐万状的受害者。如果Xanthe没有找到她，让她去找一个能帮助她的人，她可能已经死了.....。
No, Blackjack. Life is better than death. A few exceptions, of course: Steel Rain, Lancer, whatever was running the Harbingers. But it was better she lived.
不黑杰克。生比死好。当然，也有少数例外:钢铁雨，长矛兵，不管是什么在指挥着"先驱者"。但是她活着更好。
“She’ll recover. She has a skull fracture, three broken ribs, and a broken pelvis. Severe damage to her legs. Punctured lung, too, but fortunately Xanthe administered a healing potion in time. Doctor Wheelbarrow will have her up, if only to run a few tests. Harmless tests, I promise,” Nurse Graves added quickly as she caught my eye. “Doctor Wheelbarrow has a theory that the magic which turned us into ghouls can somehow be reversed.” She gave a miniscule shrug. “It’s a pleasant theory.” She sounded almost dismissive of the idea of being alive again.
"她会好起来的。她头骨骨折，三根肋骨骨折，骨盆骨折。腿部严重受伤。肺部也被刺穿了，但幸运的是赞斯及时服用了治疗药剂。独轮车医生会让她起床的，哪怕只是做一些检查。无害的测试，我保证,"格雷夫斯护士吸引了我的目光，迅速补充道。"独轮车医生有一个理论，把我们变成食尸鬼的魔法可以以某种方式逆转。"她轻轻地耸了耸肩。"这是一个令人愉快的理论。"她听起来几乎对重获生命的想法不屑一顾。
“You don’t want to be alive?” Xanthe asked in shock.
"你不想活了?"赞斯震惊地问道。
“It would be nice, I suppose, but there really isn’t much difference between the living and the unliving. Happiness matters far more.” A moment later, she gave me a significant look. “There’s a rumor that you are going into Hightower soon.”
"我觉得这样很好，但是活人和死人之间真的没有太大的区别。幸福要重要得多。"过了一会儿，她给了我一个意味深长的眼神。"有传言说你很快就要去海托华了。"
“That’s the idea. Mr. Shears says he knows a way in that won’t result in us getting dusted right away. Once we’re inside… well… we’ll be exposed to Enervation, so we charge through as quickly as possible.” Okay, that didn’t sound any better out loud than it did in my head. But if we were fast enough...
"这就是我的想法。舍尔斯先生说他知道一个方法，不会让我们马上被打扫干净。一旦我们进去了......嗯......我们就会暴露在弱能环境中，所以我们会尽快冲过去。"好吧，这听起来并不比我脑子里想的好多少。但如果我们够快的话..。
She closed her eyes a moment, tapping her hooves on the tabletop. “If you go, I would like to go with you. I have medical expertise and a knowledge of the prison.”
她闭上眼睛一会儿，用蹄子敲着桌面。"如果你去，我愿意和你一起去。我有医学专业知识和对监狱的了解。"
I stared a few moments, making sure she was serious before asking, “Not that I’m not grateful for the help, but why? You spent a really long time trying to get out of there. Why would you want to go back?” Also, it was pretty damned convenient, that that was rare enough that I thought I was at risk of having an allergic reaction to something working out in my favor.
我盯着她看了一会儿，确定她是认真的，然后问道:"不是我不感激她的帮助，而是为什么？你花了很长时间试图离开那里。你为什么想回去?"同时，这也是非常方便的，因为这种情况非常罕见，以至于我认为自己有可能对某些对自己有利的事情产生过敏反应。
“I don’t. Every thought of that place fills me with dread. But if you are going, I want to make sure that that horrible place doesn’t take any more lives. Plus, I know where there is a large stock of Rad-X and RadAway and other medical supplies, and you’ll need me to access it. Without it, I doubt you’d have the time to get in and out again.”
"我不知道。想起那个地方的每一个念头都让我充满恐惧。但是如果你要去的话，我想确保那个可怕的地方不会再夺走更多的生命。另外，我知道哪里有大量的Rad-X和RadAway以及其他医疗用品，你需要我来访问它。没有它，我怀疑你是否还有时间进进出出。"
Windclop looked over from the bar. He’d been keeping a nervous eye out like a mother shadowing her daughter’s first date to the atrium. He slipped from the bar and approached. “Graves, you know you don’t have to go in there.”
温德克洛普从吧台上往外看。他一直紧张地睁大眼睛，就像一位母亲紧盯着女儿在中庭的第一次约会一样。他从酒吧间溜了出来，走了过去。"格雷夫斯，你知道你不必进去的。"
“Yeah, while I appreciate it...” I started, but the nurse shook her head.
"是的，虽然我很感激......"我开始说，但是护士摇了摇头。
“Thank you, but if you are going, then you will need me. I have to make sure that horrible place doesn’t get one more soul who doesn’t deserve it.” The nurse smiled sadly at the pegasus ghoul, who clattered his bony wings nervously and looked around.
"谢谢你，但是如果你要去的话，你会需要我的。我必须确保那个可怕的地方不会再有一个不配得到它的灵魂。"护士悲伤地冲着飞马食尸鬼微笑，他紧张地拍打着瘦骨嶙峋的翅膀，环顾四周。
Suddenly he turned and marched to the robot hovering behind the bar. “Cerberus! I’ve got a mission for you. You’re going to escort Nurse Graves on her expedition.”
突然，他转过身来，大步走向在吧台后面徘徊的机器人。"地狱犬！我有个任务给你。你要护送格雷夫斯护士去探险。"
The floating robot lifted its flamer and spat a small plume of fire into the air. “Oo-Rah! Yes sir! Turn off this combat inhibitor and I will defend her from every last stinking ghoul in Equestria! Including herself!”
这个漂浮的机器人举起火焰枪，向空中喷出一小股火焰。"啊哈！是的，先生！关掉这个战斗抑制剂我会保护她远离Equestria的每一个讨厌的食尸鬼！包括她自己!"
Windclop scowled at the robot. “Your combat settings should be just fine as they are, Cerberus.”
风之锤怒视着机器人。"你的战斗设置应该就是这样，刻耳柏洛斯。"
The robot sagged and let out a synthesized sigh. “Fine. Stupid ghoul-loving ghouls and their damned combat inhibitors.”
机器人耷拉着脑袋，发出一声合成的叹息。"好吧。愚蠢的食尸鬼和他们该死的战斗抑制剂。"
Stygius and Psychoshy trotted towards me. The batpony seemed a bit uncomfortable, but I couldn’t tell if was because of his company or something else. “So I heard you unkilled a foal. How’d you pull that one off?” Psychoshy
斯蒂吉乌斯和心理害羞小跑着朝我走来。蝙蝠马似乎有点不舒服，但我不知道是因为他的公司或其他事情。"我听说你救活了一匹小马驹。你是怎么做到的?"心理害羞
asked me. Then she noticed Xanthe and began sizing the zebra up as if trying to think of some sort of cutting remark, but upon seeing the terrified look in Xanthe’s eyes, she turned back to me with a clear ‘You’re not worth the effort’ snort.
问我。然后她注意到了赞斯，开始打量斑马，好像在想什么刻薄的话，但是当她看到赞斯惊恐的眼神时，她转过身来对我哼了一声:你不值得这样做。
“Xanthe here saved her life.” Hopefully the filly would forgive me for attacking her... somehow...
"桑特救了她的命。"希望小母马能原谅我的攻击......不知怎么的.....。
“Well, aren’t you a hero,” the yellow pegasus said sarcastically to the zebra. Then she glanced over at Stygius, saw his disapproval, and blinked and forced a grin. “I mean, way to go!” Stygius just sighed and looked away. Psychoshy’s grimace melted into a worried, uncertain frown.
"哦，你真是个英雄,"黄色的飞马讽刺地对斑马说。然后她瞥了一眼Stygius，看到了他的反对，眨了眨眼，强迫自己露齿一笑。"我的意思是，干得好!"斯蒂吉乌斯只是叹了口气，把目光移开了。心理害羞的鬼脸融化成了忧虑的、不确定的皱眉。
Rampage materialized out of the crowd. “Ugh… remind me not to eat soap next time I’m looking to get drunk,” the striped mare said. She grimaced and clenched her eyes shut, then belched out a small stream of bubbles. Sticking her tongue out, she held her stomach a moment before spotting the shocked-looking zebra. “Ave,” she said formally.
狂暴从人群中显现出来。"呃......提醒我下次想喝醉的时候不要再吃肥皂了,"斑马说。她做了个鬼脸，紧闭双眼，然后吐出一小串气泡。她伸出舌头，捂住肚子，然后发现了这只看起来很震惊的斑马。"你好,"她正式地说。
“P- P- Proditor!?” Xanthe stammered in shock. “Te imploro non me occide!”
"p-p-Proditor!?"赞斯吃惊得结结巴巴地说。"求你不要杀我!"
“Your accent is terrible. Please address me in Pony,” Rampage said in that oddly formal tone that suggested Shujaa was at the helm.
"你的口音太糟糕了。请用小马的名字称呼我,"狂暴用那种奇怪的正式语气说道，暗示是舒贾在掌舵。
“Is there going to be trouble between you two?” I asked in concern.
"你们两个之间会有麻烦吗?"我担心地问。
Rampage regarded her a long moment, leaning over to glance at Xanthe’s covered flank as if hoping to see her glyphmark. “Your tribe? You are Orah?” Xanthe flushed and shook her head. “Propoli?” Xanthe gulped and gave the tiniest little nod. “Ahh… certainly not warrior or shaman. Farmer?” Xanthe shook her head. “Crafter?” A little nod. Rampage looked at her coolly, then gave the tiniest smile. “Ah. Well, better than a merchant.” The zebra stiffened a little and even gave a ghost of a smile along with a tiny nod. Rampage looked at me and said with a smile, “No trouble.” Then she groaned and blinked, letting out another belch of bubbles.
狂暴看了她好一会儿，俯身看了一眼赞斯被覆盖的侧腹，似乎想看看她的字形符号。"你的部落？你是奥拉?"赞斯脸红了，摇了摇头。"Propoli?"桑特咽了一口气，轻轻地点了点头。"啊......当然不是武士或萨满。农夫?"赞丝摇了摇头。"工匠?"点点头。狂暴冷静地看着她，然后露出一丝微笑。"啊。嗯，比商人好多了。"斑马有点僵硬，甚至点了点头，还幽灵般地笑了一下。狂暴看着我，微笑着说:"没问题。"然后她呻吟着眨了眨眼睛，又打了一个泡泡的嗝。
Why she didn’t let Xanthe answer for herself was beyond me. Zebras were weird. “Are you okay?”
我不明白她为什么不让赞斯自己回答。斑马很奇怪。"你还好吗?"
“Meh. I’ll live,” she said with a little smirk, but it quickly disappeared. “I heard
"嗯。我会活下去的,"她带着一丝得意的微笑说，但很快就消失了。"我听说了
Tulip was killed.”
郁金香死了。"
“What?!” Psychoshy gasped. “Who? How? She was like… tiny.” The pegasus actually seemed shocked. “That is just… messed up.”
"什么?!"心理变态者倒抽了一口冷气。"谁？怎么做？她就像......很小。"飞马号实际上看起来很震惊。"这真是...一团糟。"
“In the hallway near the Mortuary,” I explained. “Somepony crushed her head in one blow.” The yellow pegasus glared sharply at Rampage, and I added quickly, “Somepony other than Rampage. I’d left her in Mortuary before I found Tulip’s body.” I glanced at Xanthe. “Could a zebra have done it?”
"在太平间附近的走廊里,"我解释说。"有个小马一下子就把她的头撞碎了。"黄色的飞马猛烈地怒视着狂暴，我很快补充道:"除了狂暴还有其他的东西。"。在我找到郁金香的尸体之前，我就把她留在太平间了。"我瞥了一眼Xanthe。"会不会是斑马干的?"
“One of the Achu could have done so, easily. If there were any left. Their Fallen Caesar technique of fighting put them on par with your Steel Rangers, but their mountain homes were destroyed by pony sorcery.” She sighed softly. “The ability to kill even an enemy in steel armor is little help against a volcanic eruption. Still, there have been tales of their tribe surviving far from their shattered lands.”
"其中一个阿楚人可以轻易地做到这一点。如果还有剩下的话。他们倒下的凯撒的战斗技巧使他们和你们的钢铁骑兵不相上下，但是他们的山上家园被小马巫术摧毁了。"她轻轻地叹了口气。"杀死一个穿着钢盔甲的敌人的能力对于火山喷发类型来说帮助不大。尽管如此，还是有传说说他们的部落生存在远离他们破碎土地的地方。"
“Is it just me, or does anyone else find it funny their tribe sounds like a sneeze?” Psychoshy asked with a smirk, looking at the ponies gathered around the table. Deadpan expressions looked back. “Just me then? Kay…” she said with a flush.
"是不是只有我这么觉得，还是有人觉得他们部落的声音像打喷嚏一样好笑?""精神病"带着一丝得意的笑问道，看着围坐在桌子旁的小马。面无表情地回头看。""只有我吗？凯......"她脸红地说。
“I’ve seen zebras fighting hoof to hoof.” And I’d seen Shujaa capable of the same. Still, she couldn’t have been in two places at once.
"我见过斑马蹄对蹄的搏斗。"我见过Shujaa也有这样的能力。尽管如此，她不可能同时出现在两个地方。
Nurse Graves shook her head slowly. “But zebras aren’t allowed in Meatlocker. Too many bad memories and old grudges.” She smiled apologetically at Xanthe. “And the Remnant haven’t done zebrakind any favors over the years.” Xanthe’s ears drooped, but she wisely omitted that she’d been a part of them till I’d cursed her.
格雷夫斯护士慢慢地摇摇头。"但在Meatlocker，斑马是不允许的。太多不好的回忆和过去的怨恨。"她对Xanthe抱歉地笑了笑。"这些年来，例外人没有给斑马种任何好处"赞丝的耳朵垂了下来，但她很明智地忽略了这一点，直到我诅咒了她，她才知道自己是他们中的一员。
‘Power Armor?’ wrote Stygius on his slate.
动力装甲斯蒂吉乌斯在他的石板上写道。
“Well, Steel Ranger armor isn’t exactly what I’d call stealthy,” I muttered. Enclave armor, on the other hoof…
"嗯，钢骑兵的盔甲可不是我所说的隐形,"我喃喃自语道。另一边是飞地盔甲。
“As much as I liked Tulip, it’s not exactly our job to catch her killer, is it?” Psychoshy said, staring at me and waiting for an argument. I didn’t give her one. I glanced over to see Willow scowling at her. “Didn’t you say you were finding a way inside Hightower that didn’t involve our immediate deaths?” the pegasus went on.
"尽管我很喜欢郁金香，但我们的工作不是抓住杀害她的凶手，对吧?"神经病说，盯着我，等着和我争论。我没有给她。我瞥了薇洛一眼，看到她怒视着我。"你不是说你在寻找一条进入海托华的路，而且不会直接害死我们吗?"飞马号继续前进。
“I found it. Mr. Shears says he can get us in using EC-1101,” I replied, tapping my PipBuck foreleg. I looked around. “I just wish there was something we could do about that rocket.”
"我找到了。舍尔斯先生说他可以让我们使用EC-1101,"我回答，轻敲我的皮伯克前腿。我环顾四周。"我只是希望我们能为那枚火箭做点什么。"
“It shouldn’t be that hard,” Xanthe said casually as she looked at Cerberus. “Depending on the condition of the warhead, you could just have the robot slice the lateral struts and pull the whole thing off.”
"应该没那么难,"桑特看着刻耳柏洛斯，漫不经心地说。"根据弹头的情况，你可以让机器人切割弹头的侧支柱，然后把整个弹头拉下来。"
We all shared a look and then looked back at the zebra, who suddenly seemed apprehensive. “You know about balefire bombs and rockets?” I asked.
我们都看了一眼，然后回头看了看斑马，它突然显得很不安。"你知道弹药和火箭弹吗?"我问道。
“Well, I… it’s not my specialty at all. But… yes.” She looked nervously at her hooves, tapping them together. “That actually isn’t a rocket at all; it’s a missile that was fired from Dawn Bay. Shorter range, flat flight path, and more difficult to intercept.”
"嗯，我.....。.这根本不是我的专长。但是......是的。"她紧张地看着自己的蹄子，轻轻地敲打着。"实际上那根本不是火箭，而是从黎明湾发射的导弹。飞行距离短，飞行路线平坦，更难于拦截。"
“Propoli and their toys,” Rampage muttered, rolling her eyes.
"普波利和他们的玩具,"狂暴女翻着白眼咕哝着。
“Propoli? What does that mean, exactly?” I asked, pointing a hoof at Xanthe.
"Propoli？这到底是什么意思?"我用蹄子指着Xanthe问道。
“Propoli were the tribe behind the founding of Roam. Big advocates of city, technology and abandoning the old ways. Pushed rocket, missile, and robotics development. And balefire bombs,” Rampage explained, looking flatly at Xanthe. The zebra shrank back. “Also established the trade agreements with Equestria prior to the war and were blamed for bringing down the great pony curses.”
"Propoli是支持罗姆成立的部落。大力提倡城市、技术和抛弃旧方式。推动了火箭、导弹和机器人技术的发展。狂暴解释道，直勾勾地盯着Xanthe。斑马缩了回去。"战前还与小马国签订了贸易协定，并因此遭到马国的诅咒。"
“That… that was a very long time ago,” she muttered quickly. “We learned our mistake. Today we are simply trying our best to rebuild and prepare for the coming of the Maiden.” Then she noticed my scowl and flushed, looking at her hooves and tapping them together again, muttering about curses.
"那...那是很久以前的事了,"她很快地喃喃自语。"我们认识到了自己的错误。今天，我们只是尽最大努力重建家园，为少女的到来做好准备。"然后她注意到我皱着眉头，脸涨得通红，看着她的蹄子，又敲了敲，咕哝着咒骂。
I reached over and patted her shoulder. “I promise, I don’t hold you accountable for what your grandparents ten times removed did. And neither should anypony else,” I added, looking around the table. Xanthe flushed, not looking up from her hooves. “Is there anything you can do about that missile, though?”
我伸手拍了拍她的肩膀。"我保证，我不会让你为你祖父母的所作所为负责。其他人也不应该这样,"我补充道，环顾了一下桌子。赞斯脸红了，没有抬起头来。"不过，你能对那枚导弹做些什么吗?"
“Well. You could cut off the warhead and dump it outside. That would cut off the radiation. If the purge system is intact, you might be able to disarm the warhead. Or you could try and set it off.” Then she looked up at the stunned silence as
"好吧。你可以把弹头切断然后扔到外面。这样就可以切断辐射。如果清除系统完好无损，你也许能够拆除弹头。或者你可以试着引爆它。"然后，她抬起头来，看着这令人震惊的沉默
everypony stared at her. “Well… not while we’re inside, of course!”
每匹小马都盯着她看。"好吧......当然，我们在里面的时候不行!"
“Not at all, please.” Windclop shivered as he looked up at the roof. “While I think the hospital would survive, a balefire blast would do a nasty number on the neighborhood.”
"请别客气。"当他抬头看着屋顶时，温德克洛普打了个哆嗦。"虽然我认为医院能够幸存下来，但是一场爆炸会给附近地区带来可怕的后果。"
I sighed, then smiled and patted Xanthe’s shoulder. “Right! You’re coming with us. You’re our resident balefire missile specialist.”
我叹了口气，笑了笑，拍了拍桑丝的肩膀。"对！你跟我们走。你是我们的常驻导弹专家。"
“Huh?” Xanthe blinked. “But I… I can’t… I mean… shouldn’t… I mean…” I just smiled at her as she stammered on for a minute or two and then said in a whimper, “I’m the most cursed zebra ever.”
"啊?"赞斯眨了眨眼睛。"但是我.....。.我不能...我的意思是...不应该...我的意思是..."我只是微笑着看着她结结巴巴地说了一两分钟，然后呜咽着说,"我是最受诅咒的斑马。"
“Yup,” I said as I put a hoof around her shoulder.
"是的,"我一边说一边用蹄子围住她的肩膀。
“Associating with a damned dirty stripe! Damn this combat inhibitor!” Cerberus snarled.
"和一条该死的脏条纹在一起！该死的战斗抑制剂!"地狱犬咆哮着。
I popped out my fingers and started counting, getting plenty of stares from around the crowded table. “So, that’s me, Lacunae, Rampage, Psychoshy, Stygius, Mr. Shears, Nurse Graves, Cerberus, Xanthe…”
我伸出手指开始数数，拥挤的桌子上人们盯着我看。"那么，这就是我，空隙，暴怒，精神病，冥河，舍尔斯先生，格雷夫斯护士，刻耳柏洛斯，西安特......"
“Excuse me…” came that nasty purr that put my mane on edge. “Security?” We all looked over at the smug smirk of Ahuizotl. “I’d like to speak to you about your upcoming endeavor?”
"对不起......"接着传来一声讨厌的咕噜声，把我的鬃毛弄得毛骨悚然。"安全?"我们都看着自鸣得意的Ahuizotl。"我想和你谈谈你即将进行的努力?"
“What are you doing here, Ahuizotl? I thought you said you’d rather be turned to glue than set one hoof in here,” Windclop said with a scowl.
"你在这儿干什么，阿胡伊佐特？我记得你说过你宁愿变成胶水也不愿把一只蹄子放在这里,"温德克洛普皱着眉头说。
“Things change,” he replied in his slimy, wet voice. Then his eyes turned to me. “I understand that you’re going to Hightower. I’d like to offer the assistance of my employee, Carrion.”
"事情变了,"他用他那粘糊糊的、湿漉漉的声音回答。然后他的眼睛转向我。"我知道你要去海托华。我想请我的员工卡里昂帮忙。"
That brought a look of shock from Graves and Windclop. I looked at the smirking ghoul and frowned. “No offence, but you’re about as trustworthy as a radroach in a pantry. Why in Equestria would I take him along with me?”
这引起了格雷夫斯和温德克洛普的震惊。我看着奸笑的食尸鬼，皱起了眉头。"没有冒犯的意思，但是你就像食品室里的栅栏一样值得信赖。在Equestria，我为什么要带上他呢?"
“Last time I checked, none of you had power armor. He’ll be a formidable asset against whatever you encounter,” Ahuizotl purred silkily. “If you’re worried about him shooting you in the back, just put him in the front. I promise you, he’ll
"据我所知，你们都没有能量盔甲。无论你遇到什么，他都是一个强大的资产,"阿胡伊佐特温和地咕噜道。"如果你担心他从背后向你开枪，那就把他放在前面。我保证，他会的
not betray you.” I looked over at the frowning Windclop and worried Nurse Graves.
不会背叛你"我看着皱着眉头的风锤，担心的格雷夫斯护士。
“Well?” I asked the skeptical-looking ghouls.
"怎么样?"我问那些表情怀疑的食尸鬼。
“Carrion is pretty formidable; I admit. And if Ahuizotl orders him not to double cross you, he won’t,” Windclop said with a frown. “I still wouldn’t take him without knowing why Ahuizotl wants him to come along, though.”
"我承认，腐尸相当可怕。如果阿胡伊佐特命令他不要出卖你，他不会的,"温德克洛普皱着眉头说。"不过，如果不知道阿胡伊佐特为什么要带他一起去，我还是不会带他去。"
“Can’t I be doing it out of the kindness of my heart?” Ahuizotl simpered. Then he sneered at me. “Fine. There’s a cell. 755. I want Carrion to rifle through it. No interruptions, no questions, no interference. If he finds anything inside, it’s mine to keep.”
"难道我做这件事就不能出于好心吗?"阿胡伊佐特尔傻笑着。然后他嘲笑我。"好吧。有个牢房。755.我想让小腐尸搜查一下。没有干扰，没有问题，没有干扰。如果他在里面发现了什么，那就是我的了。"
“755? But that was in the maximum security level.” Graves frowned a moment, then her eyes opened wide in shock. “Oh my! That’s Kingpin’s cell!”
"755？但那是在最高安全级别。"格雷夫斯皱了一下眉头，然后震惊地睁大了眼睛。"哦，我的天！那是黑街太保的牢房!"
Ahuizotl purred like me trying to get in Midnight’s bed, “The most infamous mob boss in all of Equestria during the war. Murder. Smuggling. Theft. Vice. He did it all. He also never turned over his fortune when he was arrested for tax evasion. M.o.M. raked his memories for months, but he’d already extracted every single incriminating one before they’d gotten to him. I’m hoping there’s something in his cell that will tell me where some of his fortune was hidden.”
阿胡伊佐特像我一样在午夜的床上发出咕噜咕噜的声音,"战争期间全Equestria最臭名昭著的黑帮老大。谋杀。走私。盗窃。副。他什么都做了。当他因逃税而被捕时，他也从未交出过他的财产。作案手法清理了他的记忆好几个月，但在他们找到他之前，他已经提取出了每一个有罪的记忆。我希望他的牢房里有什么东西能告诉我他的一些财产藏在哪里。"
Okay. That I could buy. And it would also mean at least Carrion getting out again. “Right. Well. Fine. But don’t blame me if he gets torn apart or blasted or something.”
好吧。我可以买到。这也意味着至少小腐尸要再次出来。"对。好吧。好吧。但如果他被撕成碎片或者被炸成碎片什么的，不要怪我。"
“Of course not,” the ghoul said with a broad smile that gave me a head to hoof shooty feeling. “I’ll tell him to get ready, then.” And with that he trotted away, whistling brightly and making my coat crawl even more.
"当然没有,"食尸鬼说，脸上露出了灿烂的笑容，这让我有一种头对脚的枪战感。"那我去叫他准备一下。"说完，他一路小跑，吹着口哨，让我的外套更加爬行。
I stood up and looked at Windclop. “Is there a… I don’t know… someplace we can all meet?”
我站起来，看着Windclop。"有没有.....。.我不知道......我们可以见面的地方?"
“There’s a conference room on the second floor nopony uses. It’s big enough,” the pegasus said, rubbing his nose with his long, thin, bony wings.
"二楼有一间会议室，小马用的。它已经够大了,"飞马边说边用它又细又长的瘦骨嶙峋的翅膀擦着鼻子。
“Right. Rampage. Why don’t you go get Shears and Carrion? I’ll go find Lacunae. Psychoshy and Stygius can follow Windclop there… and you can make
"对。横冲直撞。你为什么不去找舍尔斯和小腐肉？我去找Lacunae。精神害羞和冥河可以跟着风梭到那里......你可以
sure Cerberus’s combat inhibitor is good?” I added. Windclop nodded, and the robot gave an angry mutter.
你确定地狱犬的战斗抑制剂是好的?"我补充道。温德克洛普点点头，机器人愤怒地咕哝了一声。
Nurse Graves looked at Xanthe. “Why don’t you come with me down to radiology? There are some hazardous materials suits that should offer some of you and your friends more protection from the radiation.” Still muttering about curses, the zebra followed along in a daze.
格雷夫斯护士看着Xanthe。"你为什么不和我一起去放射科呢？有一些有害物质的防护服可以为你和你的朋友提供更好的防辐射保护。"斑马还在念叨着诅咒，眼花缭乱地跟在后面。
I had some decent talent. Now we just had to do the whole planning thing. I sighed as I rose and trotted back towards the marketplace in the ER. When I’d been in there before, Lacunae had been in the corner surrounded by ghouls, and I hadn’t wanted to interrupt beyond getting a cloak for Xanthe. Now I trotted up towards the crowd of ghouls, trying to get at the alicorn in the back. Had they done something with her mane?
我有一些不错的天赋。现在我们只需要做好计划。我叹了口气，站起身，小跑回急诊室的市场。我以前进去的时候，空隙就在角落里，周围都是食尸鬼，除了给黄丝披上斗篷，我不想打扰。现在我小跑着走向人群中的食尸鬼，试图得到在后面的alicorn。他们对她的鬃毛做了什么吗？
“Excuse me! Pardon me! I need to get through!” I called out as I nudged my way forward. I’d hoped that whatever they’d been doing with Lacunae, it wouldn’t be too embarrassing for the purple alicorn. I wondered if it would be leather or lace. Then the crowd finally parted, and...
"对不起！不好意思！我得过去!"我一边叫着，一边轻轻推着前面的路。我希望不管他们对Lacunae做了什么，对紫果来说都不会太尴尬。我想知道它是皮革的还是蕾丝的。然后人群终于分开了，然后..。
Goddess...
女神..。
For the first time since I’d seen alicorns, I saw one that didn’t look like some cheap knockoff of Luna or Celestia. The golden silk dress with burgundy panels she wore was what I imagined a sunset should look like. Her brushed and curled mane seemed to blow in that ghostly wind. The traces of lip gloss and the golden glitter in the corners of her eyes gave off just the right sparkle. Burgundy ribbons and the gold wire that I’d traded to Tulip had been woven around her hooves. They’d even fashioned a tiara for her from the wire. The collected ghouls stared on in joy as she stood there before us all. If Celestia were the sun and Luna the moon, Lacunae could be sunrise and sunset.
这是我第一次看到这么一个看起来不像是卢娜或者塞莱斯蒂亚的廉价仿制品的海龟。她穿的金色丝质连衣裙配上紫红色镶板，正是我想象中日落时分的样子。她梳理和卷曲的鬃毛似乎在那幽灵般的风中飘动。唇彩的痕迹和她眼角闪烁的金光恰到好处地散发出火花。勃艮第的丝带和我交易给郁金香的金线已经编织在她的蹄子上。他们甚至用电线给她做了一个皇冠。当她站在我们面前时，聚集的食尸鬼们高兴地盯着她看。如果天堂是太阳，月亮是月亮，空隙就是日出和日落。
“I fear they got carried away,” Lacunae said bashfully as she blushed.
"我担心他们会忘乎所以,"拉库奈羞涩地说，脸红了。
I looked at the beaming Velvet and Snowflake and then back up at her. “They didn’t. They really didn’t.” I took a few seconds more, amazed at the sight, then sighed. “But unfortunately, we’re getting ready to plan our next step.” It seemed such a shame for her to put the outfit away.
我看了看喜气洋洋的丝绒和雪花，然后又看了看她。"他们没有。他们真的没有。"我又花了几秒钟，惊奇地看着这景象，然后叹了口气。"但不幸的是，我们正准备计划下一步行动。"对她来说，把那套衣服收起来似乎是一种耻辱。
“I see,” she said with a gentle smile at the surrounding ghouls. “Well, I wish to
"我明白了,"她对着周围的食尸鬼温柔地笑着说。""好吧，我愿意
thank you all for your kindness. It really is a lovely dress.”
谢谢你们的好意。这件衣服真漂亮。"
Velvet just blushed. “Well, it’s nice to make something special,” she said with a little sniff as she looked up at the mare. The ghouls nodded, and a few even seemed to give little bows towards the alicorn. “Please. Take it. I always dreamed of making something for royalty. I think every seamstress does. You’re as close as I’m ever going to get.”
天鹅绒脸红了。"嗯，能做些特别的东西真好,"她看着母马，轻轻地嗅了嗅说。食尸鬼们点了点头，甚至还有几个人似乎向这只孤角兽稍稍鞠了一躬。"求你了。拿着。我一直梦想着为皇室制作一些东西。我想每个女裁缝都这么认为。你是我能找到的最亲近的人了。"
“I… thank you,” Lacunae said solemnly, clearly taken aback by the attention and generosity. Finally, she sighed and carefully removed the amazing garment. “But I don’t know how I could take it with me.”
"我.....。."谢谢你,"拉库纳庄严地说，显然被他的关心和慷慨吓了一跳。最后，她叹了口气，小心翼翼地脱下那件令人惊叹的衣服。"但我不知道我怎么能把它带在身上。"
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Velvet assured her. Her horn glowed as she took the dress, and then there was a flash of magic and the garment was bundled up neatly in burgundy ribbons. “There. That should be easier to carry.”
"哦，不用担心那个,"维尔韦特向她保证。当她拿起裙子的时候，她的角闪着光，然后一阵魔力闪过，裙子被整齐地包裹在勃艮第的缎带里。"那儿。这应该更容易携带。"
Lacunae nodded and slipped the bundle into her bags as she took off the rest of the decorations, passing them to the gray ghoul. She still looked magnificent. Where they’d gotten the makeup was beyond me. Finally, she thanked them all once again and trotted out of the ER with a blush on her cheeks. “What?” she asked, looking down at me and my grin.
拉库奈点点头，把包裹放进袋子里，她把剩下的装饰品拿下来，递给那个灰色的食尸鬼。她看起来还是那么漂亮。我不知道他们是从哪里弄到这些化妆品的。最后，她又一次感谢了他们，红着脸跑出了急诊室。"什么?"她问道，低头看着我和我的笑容。
“So… spill. You liked that, didn’t you?” I teased. She flushed a little more and pointedly looked away, but still smiled.
"那么...说吧。你喜欢这样，不是吗?"我开玩笑说。她脸又红了一点，目光转向别处，但仍然微笑着。
“It gave them some joy,” she said quietly.
"这给了他们一些快乐,"她平静地说。
“And I bet the Goddess just loved all the attention,” I added, but instead of smiling at my teasing, she just looked sad. “Lacunae?”
"我敢打赌，女神一定喜欢所有的关注,"我补充说，但她没有因为我的取笑而微笑，只是看起来很悲伤。"缺陷?"
“She did… at first. And she enjoyed my humiliation.” She dropped her gaze. “But as it went on, she cut contact. I fear their sincere devotion was… upsetting.”
"一开始，她是这么做的。她很享受我的羞辱。"她低下了目光。"但是随着时间的推移，她切断了联系。我担心他们真诚的奉献是......令人沮丧的。"
That was certainly odd. I regarded my purple friend and nudged her shoulder. “You’ve changed, Lacunae.”
这当然很奇怪。我看了看我的紫色朋友，轻轻地推了推她的肩膀。"你变了，拉库尼。"
“Pardon?” Lacunae blinked in surprise as we trotted along. The alicorn still drew looks from the ghouls we passed, even in the wan glow of my light spell.
"什么?"我们小跑着走着，空隙惊讶地眨了眨眼睛。尽管我的光咒发出微弱的光芒，但是阿里克那头怪兽还是从我们经过的食尸鬼身上吸引了目光。
“You. When we first met, you were… well… a little creepy. You never talked, and half the time when you did, you were the Goddess. Now you’re… you. You let ponies dress you up because it makes them happy. Is that because you’re different or because the Goddess is?” I asked as we moved along.
"你。我们第一次见面的时候，你...有点...吓人。你从来不说话，有一半的时间你说话的时候，你是女神。现在你是...你。你让小马给你打扮，因为这让它们高兴。是因为你与众不同，还是因为女神与众不同?"我们一边走一边问。
The question turned her smile more wistful and regretful. “The Goddess cannot change, Blackjack. I wish she could. When she formed, a balance was struck between the egos of the dominant mares. Anything that could disrupt that balance is diverted into me. Hope. Friendship. Joy. The feelings and opinions and memories of hundreds of ponies are placed within me. If I’ve changed, it’s because she refuses to. She remains convinced of her own superiority and the manifest destiny of her children.”
这个问题使她的笑容变得更加伤感和懊悔。"女神是不会变的，Blackjack。我希望她可以。当她形成的时候，优势母马的自尊心达到了平衡。任何可能打破这种平衡的东西都会转移到我身上。希望。友谊。乔伊。数以百计的小马的感觉、意见和记忆都在我的体内。如果我改变了，那是因为她拒绝。她仍然坚信自己的优越感和孩子们的昭昭天命。"
“But, why wouldn’t the Goddess want to feel good things?” I asked, finding that positively crazy.
"但是，为什么女神不想感受美好的事物呢?"我问道，觉得这太疯狂了。
“Because it empowers the part of her that is Twilight Sparkle. The self-important ego of the mare that became the Goddess still remembers petty slights made against her many years before the war. And so long as the Goddess feels misery, doubt, and self-recrimination, Twilight cannot assert herself or threaten Trixie’s domination.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “Sometimes I think she’s stripped away so much of Twilight that there’s more of her in me than in the Goddess herself.”
"因为它赋予了她紫悦的一部分。那匹成为女神的自大的母马仍然记得战争前许多年对她的轻蔑。只要女神感到痛苦、怀疑和自责，《暮光之城》就不能维护她自己，也不能威胁特里克茜的统治。"她闭上眼睛，叹了口气。"有时候我觉得她把《暮光之城》中的很多东西都剥离了，以至于我身上的她比女神本身还要多。"
“Is that why you’re… well… good?” I asked.
"这就是你为什么......嗯......好的原因吗?"我问道。
Lacunae gave me a long look that made me wonder if I’d somehow insulted her. “The Goddess must maintain control of all within her. To that end she strips away memories that are good and strong and places them within me. The things that cause her shame, discomfort, or lack of control. If the ponies within her remembered who they were, she could not maintain the kind of restraint over them she now requires.”
拉库尼长长地看了我一眼，让我怀疑自己是不是侮辱了她。"女神必须控制她内在的一切。为了达到这个目的，她带走了那些美好而强烈的记忆，把它们放在了我的身体里。导致她感到羞耻、不舒服或缺乏控制的事情。如果她体内的小马记得它们是谁，她就不能像现在这样克制它们了。"
“But is the Goddess, overall, good or not?” I asked, nudging her hip.
"但是女神，总的来说，好还是不好?"我问道，轻轻地推了推她的臀部。
“She is the combination of hundreds of souls and memories. She has good ponies and wicked ponies within her. Virtuous and craven. Kind and cruel. The segregation she imposes to maintain control is a mistake, I feel, but one that is unchangeable.” The purple alicorn sighed as we walked past Stonewing’s memorial. “I believe one thing, however. She can do better.”
"她是数百个灵魂和记忆的结合体。她有优秀的小马和邪恶的小马。善良而懦弱。善良又残忍。我觉得，她为了维持控制而强加的种族隔离是个错误，但这个错误是无法改变的。"当我们走过斯通温的纪念碑时，紫玉笛叹了口气。"不过，我相信一件事。她可以做得更好。"
We followed the babble of voices to the second floor conference room. Rampage, Psychoshy, and Stygius sat on one end of the long lozenge-shaped table. In the middle on the left side, Xanthe sat next to Nurse Graves in a yellow hazmat suit while Cerberus floated behind her, muttering obscenities. The nurse had two cardboard boxes in front of her and was counting out bottles of Rad-X in one while Xanthe examined pouches of orange RadAway. Opposite them were Willow and Windclop, talking to each other in low voices. Carrion lurked in the corner along with Ahuizotl, who looked much too happy about this. The far end of the table was occupied by the ragged form of Mr. Shears.
我们跟着嘈杂的声音来到二楼的会议室。狂暴、心理害羞和斯蒂吉乌斯坐在长长的菱形桌子的一端。左边中间，桑特穿着黄色防护服坐在格雷夫斯护士旁边，而刻耳柏洛斯则在她身后游来游去，嘴里嘟囔着一些下流话。护士面前放着两个纸板箱，一边数着一瓶Rad-X，一边赞斯检查着一袋袋的橙色RadAway。在他们对面的是薇洛和温德克洛普，他们低声交谈着。腐尸和阿胡伊佐特一起潜伏在角落里，他看起来对此非常高兴。桌子的另一端坐着衣衫褴褛的舍尔斯先生。
“Ah, welcome. I’m glad you decided to quit playing dress up and join us,” Shears rasped.
"啊，欢迎。我很高兴你决定不再打扮了，加入我们,"舍尔斯生硬地说。
“Right,” I said as I looked around at the assembled people. “We’re all here because we’re going to do the impossible: break into Hightower. I know it’s an irradiated fortress filled with automated defenses, feral glowing ghouls, deadly radiation, and soul sapping Enervation, but working together, I know that we can get in, get what we need done, and get out again. If anyone wants to quit, now’s the time to back out.”
"是的,"我看着周围的人说。"我们都在这里，因为我们要做不可能的事情:闯入海托华。我知道这是一个被自动防御系统、凶猛发光的食尸鬼、致命的辐射和灵魂的腐蚀所充斥的被辐射的堡垒，但是通过合作，我知道我们可以进去，完成我们需要做的事情，然后再次出来。如果有人想退出，现在是退出的时候了。"
I looked around, but the only person looking ready to bolt was Xanthe. Yet she remained in her seat. I wondered if she was too scared to leave or if she simply had nowhere to go.
我环顾四周，唯一准备逃跑的人是赞丝。然而她仍然坐在她的座位上。我不知道她是因为太害怕而不敢离开，还是因为她无处可去。
Psychoshy raised her hoof. “So… not that I’m scared, but, like, what’s our goal?”
神经病抬起了她的蹄子。"所以......不是我害怕，而是我们的目标是什么?"
“Three things. First, to get to the top floor and reach the broadcast network. Second, to find cell 755.” Ahuizotl chuckled and nodded. “And…” I looked at Mr. Shears.
"三件事。首先，到达顶层，到达广播网络。第二，找到755号细胞。"阿胡伊佐特咯咯地笑了笑，点了点头。"还有......"我看着舍尔斯先生。
“What I’m looking for is in the attic,” he said, his filmy eyes peering into my own over the rag covering his face. “It’s right next door to the broadcast center on the top floor, so it shouldn’t be that much of a problem.” From everypony else, the response was just shrugs, but I remembered what Razorwire had told me the first time we’d met. ‘Took me up to the attic. Put a bullet in my head.’ And then, as if reading my mind, Shears said, “I’ve been waiting an eternity to get up there.”
"我要找的东西在阁楼里,"他说，他那双朦胧的眼睛透过盖在脸上的破布凝视着我自己。"它就在顶层广播中心的隔壁，所以应该不是什么大问题。"其他人的反应只是耸耸肩，但我记得我们第一次见面时Razorwire告诉我的话。把我带到阁楼上。朝我脑袋开一枪然后，就像是读懂了我的心思一样，舍尔斯说:"我一直在等待着上去那里。"
Yeah. We were definitely going to have a chat.
是的。我们一定要好好谈谈。
“Well there’s quite a bit of peril between here and there. So how do we get all the way up there?” Lacunae asked.
"嗯，从这里到那里有相当多的危险。那么，我们如何才能一路走到那里呢?"空白问道。
There was a blue glow from under Shears’s hood, and a moment later lines of light burst into being above the table. They organized themselves into a glowing green outline of the prison. “I’ve had a lot of time to review and study the ways into and through the prison. Two centuries actually.” The rotund ghoul stood on his chair, hooves on the conference table. “Hightower is stacked in three sections, with subsections between. In the basement are storage, generators, and all the infrastructure for supporting the building. Hightower has its own shielded reactor. It’s rather like a stable, in its own way.
舍尔斯的引擎盖下发出一道蓝光，过了一会儿，桌子上方突然出现了一道道亮光。他们把自己组织成一个闪闪发光的绿色监狱轮廓。"我花了很多时间回顾和研究进入和通过监狱的方式。实际上是两个世纪。"圆胖的食尸鬼站在他的椅子上，蹄子在会议桌上。"高塔被分成三个部分，每个部分之间都有一个子部分。地下室有储藏室、发电机和所有支撑建筑的基础设施。海托华有自己的屏蔽反应堆。它很像一个马厩，以它自己的方式。
“On the ground floor are the cafeteria, gymnasium, library, and classrooms.” I must have looked surprised, because the fat ghoul chuckled. “Oh yes, the prisoners had to do something with all that time on their hooves.” On the illusion, the lowest of three blocks flashed from green to red. “The medium security cells are here. Then medical. Then high security cells. Then the security center and armory. Then the supermax cells. At the top are the warden’s office and central command. Then the attic, communications, and the rooftop access.”
一楼是自助餐厅、体育馆、图书馆和教室我看上去一定很惊讶，因为那个胖食尸鬼在咯咯地笑。"哦，是的，囚犯们必须用他们的蹄子做些什么。"在这个错觉中，三个街区中最低的一个从绿色变成了红色。"中等安全级别的牢房在这里。然后是医疗。然后是高度安全的牢房。然后是安全中心和武器库。然后是超极限细胞。最高层是监狱长办公室和中央司令部。然后是阁楼、通讯设施和屋顶通道。"
“So they put medical and the armory between groups of prisoners? Whose stupid idea was that?” Psychoshy sarcastically asked with a roll of her eyes. Shears glared back at her with his filmy gaze.
"所以他们把医疗设备和军械库放在囚犯之间？这是谁的馊主意?"心理学家带着讽刺的眼神问道。舍尔斯用他那朦胧的目光回瞪着她。
“The design is such that, in the event of a riot, the three sections of the prison could be locked down and isolated. The elevators only go from the bottom to the top of each section, so there’s no clear path to travel from the very top to the very bottom. When in lockdown, there’s no method of travel between blocks at all, and if a pony is stupid enough to get into the central shaft, there's numerous automated and reinforced turrets inside.”
"设计是这样的，一旦发生暴乱，监狱的三个区域可以被封锁和隔离。电梯只能从每个部分的底部到顶部，所以从顶部到底部没有清晰的路径。在一级防范禁闭期间，根本没有办法在各个街区之间穿行，而且如果一匹小马蠢到进入了中央通道，里面就会有许多自动化和加固的炮塔。"
“And the whole building’s been on lockdown for two centuries,” I muttered as I looked at the glowing tower.
"整个建筑已经被封锁了两个世纪,"我看着发光的塔楼喃喃自语道。
“Indeed. Unlike other prisons, Warden Hobble was not about to release his charges. He activated all the building’s automated defenses. The guards and staff were every bit as trapped as the prisoners. Then the missile impacted. Radiation killed everypony quickly, and then the Enervation field appeared.” I thought of the ring in Tenpony Tower and how Helpinghoof reported that it had weakened
"的确。与其他监狱不同的是，霍布尔典狱长并不打算释放对他的指控。他启动了大楼所有的自动防御系统。看守和工作人员像囚犯一样被困住了。然后导弹爆炸了。辐射很快杀死了每一匹小马，然后能量场出现了。"我想起了TenponyTower的戒指，以及副手Helpinghoof如何报告戒指已经被削弱了
the healing potion when the pony Helpinghoof treated died.
治疗小马助手霍夫的治疗药剂死了。
“How many ponies were in Hightower when the missile hit?” I asked, looking at Nurse Graves.
"导弹击中海托华时，那里有多少匹小马?"我问道，看着格雷夫斯护士。
She stared at her hooves and murmured almost too softly to hear, “We were over capacity. Around three thousand.”
她盯着自己的蹄子，轻声低语，几乎听不见:"我们已经超负荷了。大约3000人。"
Three thousand? I thought of the dozens, perhaps hundreds, that had died at Silverstar Sporting Supplies. Three thousand?
三千？我想到了在银星运动用品店死去的几十个，也许是几百个。三千？
It must have shown on my face, because Shears snorted, then dug out some .308 shell casings and tossed them on the conference table. “Please. I’ve taken steps for that. These talismans will ward off the Enervation for several hours. I suggest you not lose them, or you’ll get an intimate lesson in what happened to everypony in the Core.”
我脸上一定有，因为舍尔斯喷了一下鼻息，然后挖出了一些点308口径的弹壳，把它们扔在了会议桌上。"求你了。我已经为此采取了措施。这些护身符可以抵御几个小时的衰弱。我建议你们不要丢掉它们，否则你们将得到一个亲密的教训，知道核心区的每匹小马都发生了什么。"
“Right,” I murmured as I passed them out to everypony coming with me.
"是的,"当我把它们分发给每一匹跟我一起来的小马时，我低声说道。
“I thought nothing could affect Enervation,” Psychoshy said skeptically as she held one to her ear and shook it, making something inside rattle. “How do we know these even work?”
"我以为没有什么能影响衰弱,"精神害羞怀疑地说，她把一个放在耳边摇晃，里面的什么东西格格作响。"我们怎么知道这些有用呢?"
“You don’t. That talisman is the product of ancient zebra magic. If it doesn’t work, you’ll find out quite quickly.”
"你不知道。那个护身符是古代斑马魔法的产物。如果它不起作用，你很快就会发现。"
“Starkatteri magic?” Xanthe said at once, looking at the shell in horror.
"星卡特里的魔法?"赞斯立刻惊恐地看着贝壳说。
Mr. Shears simply shrugged. “I can never keep all your tribes straight. Suffice to say they work, and if they don’t this expedition will be over before we leave the basement.” Xanthe took the shell casing as if she expected it to turn into a radroach and bite her. A red dot appeared in the basement. “We’ll enter here, take stairs up to the ground floor, and make it to the elevator. We’ll have to physically force our way into the shaft and up to medical.”
舍尔斯先生只是耸了耸肩。"我永远无法让你们所有的部落保持正常。可以这么说，它们很管用，如果它们不管用，这次探险就会在我们离开地下室之前结束。"桑丝拿起弹壳，好像她以为它会变成雨伞，然后咬她一口。地下室出现了一个红点。"我们从这里进去，走楼梯上到一楼，然后到达电梯。我们将不得不强行进入竖井并送往医务室。"
“I still remember my access codes. I don’t know if they’ll override the lockdown, though,” Nurse Graves said softly.
"我还记得我的访问密码。不过，我不知道他们是否会撤销封锁,"格雷夫斯护士轻声说。
“If not, I can,” Carrion growled; it was the first thing the griffin had said in the meeting.
"如果没有，我可以,"小腐尸咆哮着，这是狮鹫在会议上说的第一句话。
Nurse Graves continued, “In medical, there are a number of ghouls, robots, and turrets. Patients and staff who were trapped there… We didn’t have time to use up all the medical supplies, so there’s a large stockpile we can use to purge radiation.”
格雷夫斯护士继续说:"在医疗方面，有许多食尸鬼、机器人和炮塔。被困在那里的病人和工作人员......我们没有时间用完所有的医疗用品，所以我们有大量的储备可以用来清除辐射。"
“The second level is a bit more problematic,” Mr. Shears said. “The high security area has more robots and turrets. The warhead is our biggest problem. Its magic has produced ghouls of… substantial strength. And while it is there, I doubt many of the living will last long.” He looked at Cerberus and Xanthe. “If the robot can follow her instructions and dump the warhead out the hole, we should be able to get up the elevator to the armory and guard station.”
"第二个层次有点问题,"舍尔斯先生说。"高度安全的区域有更多的机器人和炮塔。核弹头是我们最大的问题。它的魔法产生了强大的食尸鬼。虽然它在那里，但我怀疑许多活着的人是否能活很久。"他看着地狱犬和仙蒂。"如果机器人能按照她的指示把弹头倒出洞外，我们就能乘电梯到军械库和警卫站。"
“And if that’s under lockdown, how do we get inside?” Rampage asked, looking at Carrion. “More manual persuasion?”
"如果那里被封锁了，我们怎么进去?"狂暴看着腐尸问道。"更多的人工说服?"
Shears reached down under the table and lifted a metal case, setting it on the tabletop. He flipped it open, and at once my PipBuck started clicking. I’d seen the round glowing orbs before lining the interior of Discord’s containment. A balefire egg.
剪刀从桌子底下伸出来，举起一个金属盒，放在桌面上。他轻轻地把它打开，我的PipBuck立刻开始发出滴答声。我在不和谐星的容器内部看到了发光的圆球。一个火鸡蛋。
“Oh, you know it’s bad when that’s your key,” Rampage groaned, burying her face in her hooves.
"哦，你知道那是你的钥匙是坏事,"狂暴呻吟着，把脸埋在蹄子里。
“Once inside the armory, we have to get our hooves on the captain’s pass. That should get us into the supermax level. However, it is physically impossible to travel from the supermax into the top of the prison during lockdown except via a highly secure emergency access. To open that, two keys must be turned simultaneously: one in the armory and one in the warden’s office.”
"一旦进入军械库，我们必须把我们的蹄子放在船长的通行证上。这应该能让我们进入最高警戒级别。然而，在封锁期间，除非通过高度安全的紧急通道，否则在物理上不可能从最高戒备监狱进入监狱顶层。要打开它，必须同时转动两把钥匙:一把在军械库里，一把在监狱长办公室里。"
“So how do we get into the office to turn the key?”
"那么，我们如何进入办公室转动钥匙呢?"
“There’s an air shaft. In the event of a riot in the supermax, the air could be flooded with tranquilizer gas,” Mr. Shears said, the hologram turning to show a vertical tunnel leading from the armory to the top of the building. “The secretaries in the warden’s office always complained about the smells being blown up from the armory. Fortunately, we have numerous fliers to get us through.”
"那里有一个通风井。如果超级监狱发生暴乱，空气中可能充满了镇静剂气体,"舍尔斯先生说，全息图转向显示从军械库到建筑顶部的垂直通道。"监狱长办公室的秘书们总是抱怨军械库里的气味被吹走了。幸运的是，我们有许多传单可以让我们通过。"
“And once we’re inside the warden’s office?”
"一旦我们进了监狱长的办公室?"
“Get to the warden’s desk. Deactivate the lockdown to shut off the external turrets. Step out onto the roof and fly to safety, after we take care of our respective goals. Easy,” the ghoul said with a shrug.
"到典狱长的办公桌前。解除锁定关闭外部塔楼。在我们完成各自的目标后，走出屋顶，飞向安全的地方。"很简单,"食尸鬼耸耸肩说。
“Clearly ‘easy’ must have meant ‘freaking impossible’ two centuries ago,” Psychoshy muttered, and Stygius nodded.
"显然'容易'在两个世纪前就意味着'不可思议的不可能',"精神病学家喃喃自语，斯提吉乌斯点点头。
“It’s not impossible, but it will be a challenge. If you want to sit this one out, I wouldn’t blame you,” I said as I looked at the yellow mare. Rampage gave a taunting ‘ooooh’.
"这并非不可能，但将是一个挑战。如果你不想参加这场比赛，我不会怪你的。"我看着那匹黄色的母马说。狂暴发出了一声"呜呜"的嘲弄。
She jerked as if I’d slapped her. “Sit this one out? Me?” She glared and jabbed her pinions at me. “Why don’t you sit this one out? Chill out here. I’ll take care of EC-1101, and we’ll be done twice as fast for it.”
她猛地一动，好像我打了她一巴掌。"这次不参加？我?"她怒视着我，用她的羽翼戳我。"你为什么不坐在外面呢？冷静点。我来搞定EC-1101，我们的速度会加倍。"
“Sweet! Let me know how it went!” I said with a grin and started to rise, an uneasy chuckle rising from most of the collected ponies. I sat back down, looking at the assembled ponies, zebra, ghouls, and robot. “I know it will be tough. Get your weapons.”
"太好了！告诉我进展如何!"我咧嘴笑着说，然后站了起来，大多数收集的小马都不安地咯咯笑了起来。我又坐了下来，看着组装好的小马、斑马、食尸鬼和机器人。"我知道这会很艰难。拿上你们的武器。"
Willow raised her hoof into the air. “Um… I think you’re missing a step. How exactly are you getting into the basement?”
柳树把蹄子举到空中。"嗯......我觉得你漏了一步。你到底是怎么进入地下室的?"
Mr. Shears shrugged. “A simple access in a maintenance room on the Luna blue line. It is, however, sealed and can only be opened by her program.” I shivered; tunnels in Hoofington were never ever good.
希尔斯先生耸了耸肩。"卢娜蓝线上的维修室有一个简单的通道。不过，它是密封的，只能由她的程序打开。"我打了个哆嗦，Hoofington的隧道从来都不好。
“The subway? As in the subway that’s full of feral ghouls? Dozens of ferals? Hundreds?” Willow pressed. “There’s a reason we sealed the subway access to the hospital. There’s just too many down there.” She glanced at me, her expression hard. “With all the radiation from the bomb, lots of ponies that took shelter in the subway turned to ghouls. The population down there is ridiculously high. Even a pony in power armor would be torn to pieces.”
"地铁？就像在满是凶残食尸鬼的地铁里？几十只野兽？几百个?"柳树压着。"我们封锁了通往医院的地铁通道是有原因的。下面有太多了。"她瞥了我一眼，表情严厉。"由于核弹的辐射，许多躲在地铁里的小马变成了食尸鬼。那里的人口数量高得离谱。即使是一匹穿着强力盔甲的小马也会被撕成碎片。"
“I doubt they’d bother…” Mr. Shears began, then looked at me, Rampage, Lacunae, Stygius, and Psychoshy. “Oh.” Yeah, it would be a pony buffet if we went down there.
"我怀疑他们会费心......"舍尔斯先生开始说，然后看着我，狂暴，空隙，施蒂吉乌斯和精神病。"哦。"是啊，如果我们去那儿，那简直就是小马自助餐。
“We can just carve our way through them,” Carrion muttered.
"我们可以从他们中间开出一条路来,"小腐尸咕哝着。
But somehow the thought of trying to blast our way through hundreds of ghouls had put quite a damper on everypony’s mood. We fielded a few ideas, like Stygius offering to fly through as bait, then poofing away. Windclop couldn’t spare the jerky squad to clear a way for us. Psychoshy suggested getting a few other gangers, but an army of meal tickets would just draw more ghouls.
但是不知怎么的，一想到我们要穿过数以百计的食尸鬼，就让每个小马的心情大为扫兴。我们想出了一些主意，比如斯提吉乌斯提出飞过去当诱饵，然后就飞走了。Windclop不能抽出那些笨蛋给我们清出一条路来。变态狂建议找几个其他的分身，但是一大堆餐券只会招来更多的食尸鬼。
“Too bad we can’t just tell them to get out of our way,” Rampage muttered, then belched and blew a big soap bubble.
"太糟糕了，我们不能只是告诉他们让开我们的路,"狂暴喃喃自语，然后打嗝，吹了一个大肥皂泡。
“Yeah. Ferals may leave normal ghouls alone… and occasionally we can herd them up and persuade them to move… but they never actually do what we say,” Nurse Graves said with a sigh.
"是的。野兽也许会离开正常的食尸鬼......偶尔我们可以把它们赶到一起，说服它们离开......但是它们从来没有真正做过我们说的事情,"格雷夫斯护士叹了口气说。
I sat there a moment, feeling frustrated. It’d take days to thin the population or try and move them. If we barged in, we might lose somepony.
我在那儿坐了一会儿，感到很沮丧。这需要几天的时间来减少人口或者尝试移动他们。如果我们闯进去，我们可能会失去一些东西。
I flipped open my PipBuck and activated the routing for EC-1101. A little navigation tag appeared on my E.F.S. ‘Come and get me,’ it seemed to taunt. ‘Risk your life… risk your friends’ lives… come and get me… and then I’ll send you somewhere even more dangerous.’ Maybe it would be better to simply give up. Take EC-1101 far away from Hoofington and give up the idea that I would ever find out what Horizons was or what Goldenblood had planned to do with it.
我弹开我的PipBuck，激活了EC-1101的路由选择。我的e.f.s上出现了一个小小的导航标签，似乎是在嘲弄我。'拿你的生命冒险...拿你朋友的生命冒险...来抓我...然后我会把你送到更危险的地方。'也许干脆放弃会更好。把EC-1101拿到远离Hoofington的地方，放弃我会发现"地平线"是什么或者"金血王子"打算用它做什么的想法。
It was the smart thing to do. Maybe it was time I wised up. The ghouls weren’t going to go away just by me being nice and telling them to.
这是明智之举。也许是时候让我明白了。那些食尸鬼不会仅仅因为我的好心告诉他们这么做就消失了。
Then I blinked and slowly straightened. Rampage noticed at once. “What? What is it? You’ve got that look, Blackjack.”
然后我眨了眨眼睛，慢慢地伸直身子。暴怒立刻被注意到了。"什么？这是什么？你有那种表情，黑杰克。"
“What look?” I asked with a grin.
"什么表情?"我咧嘴笑着问。
“That ‘crazy idea’ look that means peeling ghouls and wearing their skins or something like that,” Rampage said warily.
"这个'疯狂的想法'看起来意味着剥食尸鬼的皮，穿上他们的皮或者类似的东西,"Rampage谨慎地说。
“Well…” I slowly looked at all of them. “Depending on how much radiation Lacunae’s got sucked up… I might know a pony who they will listen to.”
"嗯......"我慢慢地看着他们。"根据Lacunae吸收了多少辐射......我可能知道一匹小马会听谁的话。"
* * *
* * *
The tunnels beneath Hoofington were bad; there was just no way to think
Hoofington地下的隧道很糟糕，根本无法思考
otherwise. We trotted down to the hospital’s subway access just past the Mortuary and the reinforced doors. All of them were covered except for a small metal one marked ‘Emergency exit. Alarm will sound.’ Willow pushed on the bar. I’d expected a groan, or worse, a squeal of hinges that’d alert everything for hundred miles. Instead I got a soft whisper of air blowing in from the tunnels. So much for the alarm.
否则。我们小跑着来到医院的地铁通道，经过太平间和加固的门。除了一个标有"紧急出口"的小金属门以外，所有的门都被盖住了。警报就会响起薇洛推了推吧台。我本以为会听到一声呻吟，或者更糟，一阵铰链的吱吱声会提醒方圆数百英里内的一切。相反，我听到了从隧道里吹进来的微弱的风声。警报就到此为止吧。
“It’ll lock behind you,” Windclop said nervously. “We’ll stay a few minutes. In case your plan… doesn’t work.”
"它会锁在你身后,"温德克洛普紧张地说。"我们在这儿呆几分钟。万一你的计划...行不通。"
“It’ll work,” I said, looking back at our newest member. Nopony else looked nearly as confident. They’d spent the time I was gone making sure they had what they needed. Everypony with a pulse besides Rampage and Lacunae had a half dozen doses of Rad-X and RadAway; I’d raided Bonesaw at Megamart, since I was in the area. Everypony else had loaded up with what they needed.
"会成功的,"我说，回头看着我们的新成员。其他人看起来几乎一样自信。他们花了我不在的时间确保他们得到了他们需要的东西。除了《狂暴》和《陷阱》，每个有脉搏的小马都有半打剂量的Rad-X和RadAway;因为我在这个地区，我突袭了Megamart的Bonesaw。每匹小马都装满了它们所需要的东西。
I’d almost gone to Chapel; I really wanted to, but… I couldn’t. Not till this was out of the way. Same with checking on Boing. There was just too much guilt to face that right now.
我差点就去了教堂;我真的很想去，但是......我做不到。直到这件事结束。检查波音也是一样。只是现在有太多的负罪感让我无法面对。
I started to step out and then paused, looked at Willow, and asked, “Keep an eye on Boing, please? She’s… really hurt and it’s my fault and…”
我准备走出去，然后停了下来，看着薇洛，问道:"请看着波音，好吗?"？她......真的很受伤，都是我的错......"
“I got it,” the ghoul muttered, rolling her eyes. “Keep your eyes on Carrion. Something’s going on in Meatlocker, and I don’t like it one bit.” I nodded and stepped through the door.
"我知道了,"食尸鬼咕哝着，翻着白眼。"盯着腐肉。Meatlocker发生了一些事情，我一点也不喜欢。"我点点头，跨进了门。
We slowly walked out on to the subway platform. A few flickering emergency lights lit the tunnel as we trotted down towards the rusted hulk of a subway car. Skeletons were curled on the seats. The engineer dangled, half ejected from the front car. My light spell burst to life, casting the ruined subway in its cold white glow.
我们慢慢地走上地铁站台。当我们快步走向一辆锈迹斑斑的地铁车厢时，几盏闪烁的应急灯照亮了隧道。骷髅蜷缩在椅子上。工程师摇晃着身子，一半从前车弹射出来。我的光咒迸发出生命的力量，在冰冷的白光中投射出被毁坏的地铁。
“Spooky…” Psychoshy muttered. Water trickled in a sheet over the tile mosaics that lined the walls: colorful pony families gleefully riding the subway, the happy scenes now cracked and spotted with mold. Green light emanating from behind us reflected off the streams and gave the tunnel an eerie luminescence. The sound of trickling water was everywhere, and my imagination was transforming the trickles and splashes into voices murmuring from far away.
"幽灵......"心理害羞喃喃自语。水在墙上的瓷砖镶嵌图案上流淌:五颜六色的小马家庭兴高采烈地乘坐地铁，欢乐的场景现在已经开裂，满是霉菌。从我们身后发出的绿光反射到溪流上，使隧道发出怪诞的冷光。到处都是涓涓细流的声音，我的想象力把涓涓细流变成了远处传来的低语。
“I’ve seen worse,” I replied as I walked to the end of the subway landing. I looked over at Nurse Graves as Cerberus floated above us. “Will feral ghouls actually attack you?”
"我见过更糟的,"我边走到地铁站尽头边回答。我看着格雷夫斯护士，看着地狱犬从我们头顶飘过。"凶残的食尸鬼真的会攻击你吗?"
“As a rule, no, but when they’re agitated, we’re every bit as much targets as the living,” the mare replied. She had two armored cases loaded with healing potions from Megamart. Hopefully they’d last a while before they spoiled. Lacunae had filled them full of every last bit of healing magic they could hold. “Wheelbarrow theorizes that there’s something in the way non-ghouls move that triggers an attack response. Or perhaps it’s just the effects of the magical contamination. Sadly, once a pony goes feral, there’s little chance of coming back from it.”
"一般来说，没有，但是当他们激动的时候，我们和活人一样都是目标,"母马回答。她有两个装满Megamart治疗药水的装甲箱。希望它们在变质之前能维持一段时间。空白处填满了他们所能拥有的最后一点治疗魔法。"Wheelbarrow的理论是，非食尸鬼的移动方式中有某种东西会触发攻击反应。或者可能只是魔法污染的影响。可悲的是，一旦一匹小马变得野性难驯，就很难有机会从中恢复过来了。"
I gestured for Carrion to take point, and the power-armored griffin did so without complaint. I didn’t trust him, but his pair of miniguns would be our best defense if they swarmed. I really, really didn’t want to get swarmed.
我示意卡里昂带头，这个强悍的狮鹫毫无怨言地这么做了。我不相信他，但是如果他们蜂拥而至的话，他的两个小鬼会成为我们最好的防御。我真的，真的不想被蜂拥而至。
“Like, these tunnels are so disgusting! Somepony really needs to clean them up!” came a mutter from the back of the group. I sighed, rolling my eyes.
"就像，这些隧道太恶心了！有些小马真的需要把它们清理干净!"从队伍后面传来一声低语。我叹了口气，转了转眼珠。
Nurse Graves looked back with a worried frown. “Are you sure about bringing her?”
格雷夫斯护士皱着眉头回头看了看。"你确定要带她来吗?"
“What?” I asked with a grin. “She’s coming along, isn’t she? She’s happy to help her friend.”
"什么?"我咧嘴笑着问。"她正在进步，不是吗？她很乐意帮助她的朋友。"
The ghoul frowned, and my smile slipped a little. “But does she understand what we’re doing here?” the nurse asked.
食尸鬼皱了皱眉头，我的笑容有点滑落。"但她明白我们在这里做什么吗?"护士问。
“She understands enough. I know she’s not all there, but she’s our best chance for getting through the ghouls without getting torn to pieces.” I glanced back as well but then quickly changed the subject. “I was wondering, though: what keeps a ghoul… well… together?” I asked as I looked at the nurse.
"她明白得够多了。我知道她不完全在那里，但是她是我们最好的机会，让我们能够穿过食尸鬼而不被撕成碎片。"我也回头看了一眼，但很快就转移了话题。"不过，我想知道:是什么让食尸鬼......和......在一起?"我看着护士问道。
She still didn’t look very happy about my choice, but answered, “It’s… hard to explain. It’s like there’s a thing inside you that’s you. Like a tiny guttering flame. If you’re careful and protect it, then you can remember who you are. But if it goes out…” She shook her head. “Wheelbarrow believes there’s some life magic in the living that keeps that flame protected. Like… glue. But in ghouls it’s much weaker.”
她仍然对我的选择不是很满意，但是回答说:"这......很难解释。就好像你体内有个东西就是你。像一个微小的熄灭的火焰。如果你小心并且保护它，那么你就能记住你是谁。但是如果它熄灭了......"她摇了摇头。"独轮车相信生活中有一些保护火焰的生命魔法。就像...胶水。但在食尸鬼身上，这种能力要弱得多。"
“It’s your soul,” Mr. Shears said from the middle of the group. “A pony can continue living so long as they have the tiniest fragment of their soul. Without it, we’re mindless animals at best. We might have a brain, but we would have no will to suppress our aggressive urges.” His cloudy eyes glanced behind us. “Retaining one’s soul is easier when you are alive because your living flesh has a strong natural bond with your spirit.”
"这是你的灵魂,"舍尔斯先生在人群中间说。"一匹小马只要有一丁点儿灵魂碎片，就可以继续活下去。没有它，我们充其量就是没有思想的动物。我们可能有大脑，但我们无意抑制自己的侵略性冲动。"他那双阴郁的眼睛向我们身后扫了一眼。"当你活着的时候，留住一个人的灵魂会更容易，因为你的肉体与你的精神有着强大的自然联系。"
“Fragment of a soul? You mean souls can break?” Psychoshy asked as she looked around for confirmation, hovering above us. Stygius, flying alongside her, just gave a shrug.
"灵魂的碎片？你是说灵魂会破碎?"心理害羞女问道，她环顾四周寻求确认，盘旋在我们上方。斯提吉乌斯在她旁边飞过，只是耸了耸肩。
Mr. Shears gave a sharp little hiss. “If you know what you are doing, yes. Just as you can use a single candle to light others, you can divide a soul into different vessels.”
舍尔斯先生发出一声尖利的嘶嘶声。"如果你知道自己在做什么，是的。就像你可以用一根蜡烛照亮别人一样，你也可以把一个灵魂分割成不同的容器。"
Xanthe muttered something about curses. I looked at Nurse Graves’s stunned expression and asked the question on everyone’s mind. “How do you know this?”
赞丝喃喃地说了些咒骂的话。我看着格雷夫斯护士目瞪口呆的表情，问了每个人心中的问题。"你怎么知道的?"
“Because I am Equestria’s premier expert on souls.” He sounded pompous for a moment before he snorted, “Not that it matters much anymore. Souls won’t keep a raving Reaper at bay, and guns are infinitely more practical.” I looked at Graves in concern.
"因为我是小马国首席灵魂专家。"他的声音浮夸了一会儿，然后哼了一声,"这已经不重要了。灵魂无法阻挡疯狂的收割者，枪更实用。"我关切地看着格雷夫斯。
“Weren’t you concerned about being ripped to pieces an hour ago?” Carrion grumbled from the front of the group, his miniguns’ motors whirring every few steps. “I’m sure the ferals are just fascinated by all this talk about souls.”
"难道你不担心一小时前被撕成碎片吗?"小腐尸从队伍的前面发出抱怨声，他的微型机器人的马达每走几步就发出嗡嗡声。"我敢肯定，这些野人只是被这些关于灵魂的讨论迷住了。"
“Oh, yeah. That.” I flushed as I looked ahead as we walked along the middle of the tube. Water flowed around our hooves. Gaps appeared in the tiled wall showing rebar and deeper voids within. And there were red bars on the other side of that wall. Lots of red.
"哦，是的。那个。"当我们沿着管道中间走的时候，我满脸通红。水在我们的蹄子周围流淌。瓷砖墙上出现了缝隙，可以看到里面的钢筋和更深的空隙。在墙的另一边有红色的栅栏。大量的红色。
“Where are they?” Graves asked, her voice low and tense. “This should be an irresistible meal.”
"他们在哪儿?"格雷夫斯问道，她的声音低沉而紧张。"这应该是一顿难以抗拒的美餐。"
“They’re here,” Carrion growled. The ghoulish griffin’s tatty wings ruffled. “They’ve been surrounding us since we left the station.” I happened to glance at a gap in the wall and saw a momentary flash of a mottled hide.
"他们来了,"腐尸咆哮着。令人毛骨悚然的狮身鹰首兽的破烂翅膀竖起。"自从我们离开车站，他们就一直包围着我们。"我偶然瞥了一眼墙上的一个缺口，看到一个斑驳的兽皮瞬间闪过。
“I thought they were mindless,” I muttered, growing more apprehensive by the second, lifting the riot shotgun and making sure I had it loaded with antipersonnel flechettes. Over the sound of running water I could just barely make out the sound of hooves in nearby tunnels and a low hissing.
"我以为他们没脑子,"我喃喃自语，越听越担心，举起防暴散弹枪，确保里面装满了杀伤性武器。在流水声中，我几乎听不到附近隧道里的马蹄声和低低的嘶嘶声。
“Soulless,” Shears corrected. “Ferals have minds of a sort, but they don’t have personality. They’re undead animals… but even animals can show cunning.”
"没有灵魂,"舍尔斯纠正道。"野人有某种意识，但他们没有个性。它们是不死的动物......但即使是动物也能表现出狡猾。"
Ahead was another station. A flickering sign above the platform read ‘Hightower’. In the wan light, I could see that two more tunnels ran into this one, forming sharp angles. Everywhere I looked was red, and yet I couldn’t see any ghouls! What were they waiting for? I swallowed and slowly approached the stairs onto the platform. The flickering ‘Hightower’ sign kept filling the area with shadows and light so fast my eyes struggled to keep up with the changing illumination. The green ghostly glow behind us didn’t help either as it reflected off the water-slicked tiles. Two subway trains lay smashed together under the high vaulted ceiling like abused toys, their occupants now nothing but bones.
前面是另一个车站。月台上一个闪烁的标志写着"海托华"。在昏暗的灯光下，我可以看到另外两条隧道进入这个隧道，形成了尖锐的角度。我看到的每个地方都是红色的，但是我却看不到任何食尸鬼！他们在等什么？我咽了口唾沫，慢慢地走向平台上的楼梯。闪烁的'高塔'标志不断填补该地区的阴影和光线是如此之快，我的眼睛挣扎着跟上变化的照明。我们身后绿色幽灵般的光芒也帮不上什么忙，因为它反射在积满水的瓷砖上。两列地铁车厢在高高的拱形天花板下撞得粉碎，就像被虐待的玩具，车厢里的人现在只剩下骨头。
“The maintenance room is on the far side of the station,” Shears muttered softly. “It was a way for us to come and go clandestinely and to do our work in private.”
"维修室在车站的另一边,"舍尔斯轻声咕哝着。"这是我们秘密进出的一种方式，也是我们私下工作的一种方式。"
“And what was that work?” I asked tensely as the hissing increased. Water had built up into scummy pools around the broken, twisted cars. My radiation meter was starting to go ‘click click click’, and those of us who needed it took a Rad-X tablet immediately.
"那是什么工作?"随着嘶嘶声越来越大，我紧张地问。水已经堆积成了破旧扭曲的汽车周围的人渣池塘。我的辐射测量仪开始发出"咔嗒咔嗒"的声音，我们这些需要它的人马上就需要一个Rad-X平板电脑。
“Pony immortality,” he said grimly. Rampage looked over at the little round ghoul, her eyes inscrutable pink pools. I tensed, but she only looked away again.
"小马永生,"他冷酷地说。狂暴看着这个圆圆的小食尸鬼，她的眼睛深不可测的粉红色水池。我紧张起来，但她只是再次把目光移开。
As we walked onto the landing alongside the pools, the water sloshed underhoof. Part of the wall had collapsed, and filthy cold water poured out of it and across the tiles. The exit was a solid wall of rubble. Dozens more bones were mixed in the debris; ponies who had sought safety had found death. A bridge crossed the subway lines to the platform on the far side of the tracks. ‘Do your part for Luna!’ demanded a ragged, decayed banner.
当我们沿着水池走到平台上时，水从下面溢了出来。墙的一部分已经倒塌，肮脏的冷水从墙里涌出，流过瓷砖。出口是一堵实心的瓦砾墙。残骸中混杂着几十块骨头;寻求安全的小马已经死亡。一座桥穿过地铁线到达轨道另一边的站台。"为了露娜，做你该做的吧!"一面破烂的横幅问道。
Psychoshy and Stygius flew over the twisted wreckage of the cars as we made our way towards the far side of the station. Maybe we were going to luck out? Maybe we were too heavily armed for them to risk it?
和Stygius飞过扭曲的汽车残骸，我们朝着车站的另一边前进。也许我们会走运？也许我们的武器装备太重，他们不敢冒这个险？
Then the pool directly beneath Stygius exploded, a feral launching itself up ten feet into the air. Its hooves wrapped around the batpony, jagged fangs locking down into his throat as the broken hooves pinned his wings to his side. The two tumbled down into the filthy frothing pool, disappearing from sight!
接着，冥河正下方的水池爆炸了，一只野兽将自己升到了10英尺高的空中。它的蹄子缠住了那匹蝙蝠小马，断裂的蹄子把它的翅膀压在身体一侧，锯齿状的毒牙深深地扎进了它的喉咙。他们俩跌进了肮脏的泡沫池里，从视线中消失了！
“Stygius!” Psychoshy screamed, but then two ghouls launched themselves from the bridge, leaping down upon her. One missed and landed, hissing and baring its shattered maw, next to me while the other landed squarely on her back. Fangs began to snap at her neck. Psychoshy slammed up, ramming the ghoul against the underside of the bridge. “Get! Off! My! Ass!” Finally she scraped her back against the cracked underside, showering the pools below in grit and ghoul before the monster broke apart.
"斯提吉乌斯!"精神病人尖叫起来，但接着两个食尸鬼从桥上跳了下来，跳到了她身上。一只没打中，落在我身边，嘶嘶作响，露出它粉碎的胃，而另一只正好落在她的背上。尖牙开始咬断她的脖子。心理变态狂猛地一推，把食尸鬼撞到了桥的下面。"滚！走开！天啊！混蛋!"最后，在怪物破裂之前，她在破裂的底面上擦着背，用沙砾和食尸鬼淋浴底下的水池。
None of us had any time to go to Stygius’s aid. No sooner had I blasted the head off the ghoul that landed beside me, than four more leapt out of the twisted wreckage and were upon me. I’d always thought feral ghouls to be mindless, pitiful enemies. My hazy memories of my adventure with LittlePip involved ghouls and a subway train, but I wasn’t sure on the particulars of that night. I raised my metal hooves, and their mouths chomped down on the enameled limbs as my magic swung the gun to the next target. But instead of biting and biting again, the two ghouls bit down and jerked me forward. I got one shot off, blasting off a chunk of rotten flank, before the third pounced on my floating gun and started to gnaw on it, ruining my aim. And the fourth? Well with me largely immobilized, it lunged straight for my face!
我们谁也没有时间去帮助斯蒂吉乌斯。我刚把落在我身边的食尸鬼的头轰掉，又有四个人从扭曲的残骸中跳出来朝我扑过来。我一直认为凶残的食尸鬼是没有思想，可怜的敌人。我模糊的记忆中，我和小皮普的冒险经历包括食尸鬼和地铁列车，但我不确定那天晚上的具体情况。我抬起我的金属蹄子，当我的魔法挥动枪指向下一个目标时，它们的嘴咬住了搪瓷的四肢。但是这两只食尸鬼没有再咬我，而是咬了我一口，把我往前拽。我开了一枪，炸掉了一大块腐烂的侧翼，然后第三枪扑向我的漂浮炮，开始啃咬它，毁掉了我的目标。第四个呢？我几乎动弹不得，它直冲我的脸来了！
My magic bullet spell flashed from my horn; the ghoul’s head exploded in a detonation of bone and grisly flesh before it could ruin Glory’s work. Two more magic bullets were needed to destroy the ghoul on my left hoof. Then I slammed the limb into the face of the third ghoul over and over again. On the fifth blow, the battered head burst apart in rotten chunks. Now free, I reared up and slammed both steel hooves into the feral’s face as it turned towards me and started to lunge. The blow smashed it into a twitching heap.
我神奇的子弹咒语从我的角上闪过，食尸鬼的头在骨头和恐怖的肉的爆炸中爆炸，以免毁了晨辉的工作。还需要两颗魔法子弹才能消灭我左蹄上的食尸鬼。然后，我一次又一次地用大腿猛击第三个食尸鬼的脸。在第五次打击时，那个被打破的脑袋裂成了一块块的烂肉。现在我自由了，我站起来，用两只铁蹄猛击那只野兽的脸，它转向我，开始向我扑来。那一击把它打成了一团乱麻。
I was doing better than most. Rampage was dealing with a horde spilling out of the drainage pipe. She had more than a half dozen trying to tear her down as she bucked, stomped, and bodyslammed the ghouls with such force that some of them exploded between the wall and her armor. She had her razor-wire-wrapped tail looped around one’s throat and was slowly sawing through it as she thrashed wildly. Even she looked terrified… after all, this wasn't too much different than
我做得比大多数人都好。横冲直撞的是一群从排水管溢出来的人。当她猛地弓背、跺脚、用力猛击食尸鬼时，有六个以上的食尸鬼试图把她撕碎，其中一些在墙壁和盔甲之间爆炸了。她用铁丝网包着的尾巴缠在一个人的喉咙上，一边疯狂地抽打着，一边慢慢地锯着。即使是她看起来也很害怕......毕竟，这和我们之前看到的并没有太大的不同
the mêlée that saw her become a buffet for 99.
那个看到她变成99人自助餐的女人。
Lacunae and Cerberus floated above, the former completely annihilating the heads of her enemies with shots of her AM rifle while the latter sprayed flame down from above, punctuated with the occasional blast of disintegration magic and insults like ‘Take that, maggot farm!’ and ‘Proud to be an Equestrian! Oo-Rah!’ Perhaps those two could have saved our hides, except for one fact… ghouls could jump! I watched as they raced with eerie grace along the tops of the trains and launched themselves into the air towards the pair. Lacunae’s shield, so effective at stopping bullets, was useless at stopping a relatively slow-moving ghoul. They bit and scratched wherever they landed, biting down on her purple wings.
空隙和刻耳柏洛斯漂浮在空中，前者用自己的AM步枪完全消灭敌人的头部，而后者则从空中向下喷射火焰，不时被一阵瓦解的魔法爆炸和诸如'接招吧，蛆虫农场'之类的辱骂打断还有"作为一名马术运动员我感到很骄傲!"！啊哈也许这两个人可以拯救我们，除了一个事实...食尸鬼可以跳！我看着他们以怪异的优雅沿着火车顶端比赛，然后朝着他们两个飞向空中。空隙的盾牌，如此有效地阻止子弹，是无用的停止一个相对缓慢移动的食尸鬼。无论落在哪里，它们都会咬咬抓抓，咬住她紫色的翅膀。
“Get yer stinkin’ hooves off me, you damned dirty ghoul!” Cerberus shouted as he struggled to keep aloft with three ghouls clamped down on his limbs.
"把你的臭蹄子从我身上拿开，你这该死的肮脏食尸鬼!"地狱犬一边大声喊着，一边挣扎着想保持在空中，他的四肢上绑着三个食尸鬼。
Carrion seemed to ignore the carnage around us as he pointed his miniguns down the tunnel and poured a constant stream of fire at the flood of ghouls pouring towards us. Their screams almost drowned out the resonant purr of his miniguns as he kept us from being completely overwhelmed. The ejected five millimeter brass sparkled brightly in the glaring muzzle flashes.
腐尸似乎对我们周围的大屠杀视而不见，他把他的小机器人指向隧道，不断地向向我们涌来的食尸鬼喷射火焰。他们的尖叫声几乎淹没了他的小鬼们洪亮的咕噜声，因为他让我们不至于完全不知所措。弹射出来的五毫米黄铜在耀眼的枪口火光中闪闪发光。
Xanthe, Graves, and Shears stood back to back, fending off their attackers. Xanthe muttered over and over, “I’m cursed! The stars have damned me! Utterly cursed.” Yet while she wasn’t fighting near Rampage’s level, her hooves were keeping the undead attackers at bay with strange flashing kicks and stomps that allowed her to deflect the ghouls’ snapping fangs. Graves held the strap of one of the armored medical cases in her mouth and swung it like a bludgeon, or maybe an incredibly stout purse. Shears had pulled from his robe a pair of large, wicked-looking magic-powered hedge trimmers. Every time a ghoul lunged forward, the clippers snapped, and more than one ghoul fell back missing a leg or head.
桑特、格雷夫斯和舍尔斯背靠背站着，抵挡着袭击者。赞斯一遍又一遍地喃喃自语,"我被诅咒了！星星诅咒了我！完全被诅咒了。"然而，尽管她的战斗水平没有接近Rampage，但她的蹄子却用奇怪的闪光踢腿和跺脚阻挡着不死族的攻击者，使她能够抵挡食尸鬼撕咬的尖牙。格雷夫斯把一个装甲医疗箱的皮带放在她的嘴里，像棍棒一样挥动着它，或者像一个难以置信的结实的钱包。大剪刀从他的长袍上扯下一对看起来很邪恶的用魔法驱动的大树篱修剪器。每当一个食尸鬼向前猛冲，剪刀就会啪地一声折断，不止一个食尸鬼掉到后面，少了一条腿或头。
There was a shadowy flash, and a bloody Stygius appeared on the landing, bleeding heavily from several bites to his neck and scratches to his wings. The pool frothed as two ghouls clambered out after him. He opened his mouth wide and let out a squeal that seemed to stun the ferals. They slumped on busted legs, shattered bones poking out of their tattered hide, before he kicked out and pulverized their skulls. Four more emerged from the pools in the meantime.
有一道模糊的闪光，一只血淋淋的冥河兽出现在楼梯平台上，脖子上被咬了几口，鲜血直流，翅膀也被抓伤了。当两个食尸鬼从他身后爬出来时，池子里泛起了泡沫。他张大了嘴，发出一声尖叫，似乎把野兽吓了一跳。他们跌跌撞撞地倒在地上，破碎的骨头从他们破烂的皮肤中伸了出来，然后他把他们踢出去，打碎了他们的头骨。与此同时，又有四个人从池塘里钻了出来。
There was only one pony who wasn’t getting attacked. One who was squinting at a rancid advertisement for mane curlers, oblivious to the battle. I took a deep breath and bellowed as loudly as I could, “Spoon!”
只有一匹小马没有受到攻击。一个人眯着眼睛看着一则恶臭的广告，上面写着鬃毛卷发器，对战斗毫无察觉。我深吸了一口气，尽可能大声地喊道:"勺子!"
The glowing gray ghoul looked up, blinking her luminescent green eyes from behind her deformed spectacle frames. “Oh! Sorry! Coming!” she yelled as she trotted towards the fight. The glowing gray mare snorted at the ferals. “Hey! Stop that! Get off them right now!” she said as she trotted into the middle of them. “If you don’t stop fighting, I’m going to report you to Pinkie Pie!” The ghostly green light emanating from within her seemed to brighten, and the ferals hissed and slowly backed away. She nodded primly. “There. Knew that’d get them to behave.”
那个发光的灰色食尸鬼抬起头来，从她畸形的眼镜架后面眨着她发光的绿眼睛。"哦！对不起！来了!"她边跑边喊。那匹发光的灰色母马向野兽喷鼻息。"嘿！住手！马上离开他们!"她一边说，一边小跑到他们中间。"如果你不停止争吵，我就要把你举报给鹏奇派!"从她体内发出的幽灵般的绿光似乎变得明亮起来，那些野兽发出嘶嘶声，慢慢地后退。她一本正经地点点头。"那儿。我知道这会让他们规矩点。"
Psychoshy landed next to the bloodied Stygius. “I need-- I need-- potion. Healing potion! Quick!” she stammered. Graves trotted over immediately. Lacunae shook the ghouls off and darted next to the medic, her horn glowing as all three mares treated his injuries.
精神病降落在血淋淋的冥河旁边。"我需要——我需要——药水。治疗药水！快点!"她结结巴巴地说。格雷夫斯立即小跑过来。拉库奈甩开食尸鬼，冲到医生身边，三匹母马都在治疗他的伤口，医生的角在他身上发着光。
The ghouls weighing down Cerberus detached and backed away as Silver Spoon trotted around the perimeter. Their hisses dropped to almost nothing as she passed, and I was astonished to see red bars turning blue. Carrion stopped his fire, gun barrels raising steam in the wet air as he looked at the gray glowing one in shock. I had to admit I was pretty impressed too!
当银勺在四周小跑时，那些拖着刻耳柏洛斯的食尸鬼离开并退开了。当她经过时，他们的嘶嘶声几乎消失了，我惊讶地看到红色的栅栏变成了蓝色。腐尸停止了射击，枪管在潮湿的空气中升起蒸汽，他看着那个灰色的发光的东西。我不得不承认，我也印象深刻！
“Oo-Rah! Like fish in a barrel!” Cerberus cheered, then pointed his disintegration talisman at one and fired. Instantly the ghouls let out a hiss in unison as one of them collapsed into a heap of green goop.
"啊哈！就像瓮中之鳖!"地狱犬欢呼了一声，然后用他那个瓦解的护身符对准一个，开火了。瞬间，食尸鬼们齐声发出嘶嘶声，其中一个倒塌成一堆绿色的糊状物。
“Stand down!” I shouted as the ghouls pawed at the shattered floor tiles with their broken hooves.
"退下!"当食尸鬼用他们破碎的蹄子刨碎的地砖时，我大声喊道。
“Need to frag this maggot-loving superior officer… Damn combat inhibitor!” he muttered darkly.
"需要干掉这个讨厌的上级军官...该死的战斗抑制剂!"他暗自嘀咕道。
Silver Spoon looked at the hissing ghouls and snapped, “Oh just stop it right now! Honestly, blank flanks today.” She trotted towards me, my PipBuck ticking even more. “So, like, ready to go, Tiara?”
银勺看着发出嘶嘶声的食尸鬼，怒气冲冲地说:"哦，马上停下来！老实说，今天是一片空白。"她朝我跑过来，我的皮伯克的滴答声更大了。"那么，准备好了吗，皇冠?"
“S…sure, Silver Spoon. And nice job with those gh…er… ponies,” I said, giving her a grin. She flushed, her cheeks going even more green, but then her face
"是的。.当然，银汤匙。还有那些高...呃...小马驹，干得不错,"我说着，给了她一个微笑。她的脸涨得通红，脸颊变得更青了，但是接着她的脸
turned a little more worried.
变得有点担心。
“Are you sure everything’s okay, Tiara? I mean, you’re like being totally nice. It’s weird.” I got the impression that Diamond Tiara hadn’t been the most pleasant of ponies to be around.
"你确定一切都好吗，提亚拉？我的意思是，你看起来非常友好。这很奇怪。"我得到的印象是钻石头冠不是最令人愉快的小马。
“Yeah. Sure. I’m just glad you’re helping me get back into my office. It was so embarrassing to be locked out.” I grinned sheepishly, and Silver Spoon nodded slowly with sympathy.
"是的。当然。我很高兴你能帮我回办公室。被拒之门外实在太尴尬了。"我不好意思地笑了笑，银勺慢慢地同情地点了点头。
“It’s okay. I’m so glad to be able to, like, do anything with you! The M.o.M. has been such a total nightmare since Goldenblood was replaced.”
"没关系。我很高兴能和你一起做任何事！自从《金血王》被取代后，这部电影简直就是一场噩梦。"
“Oh?” I asked as Graves got Stygius back on his hooves. The healing magic was closing the injuries in his wings surprisingly quickly. “Um… was he that big a deal in your office?”
"哦?"我问道，此时格雷夫斯正用他的蹄子把斯提吉乌斯拉回来。治愈的魔法令人惊讶地迅速关闭了他翅膀上的伤口。"嗯......他在你办公室有那么重要吗?"
“Well totally. I mean, Pinkie Pie might be in charge on paper, but everypony knows Quartz and the O.I.A. call the real shots. I mean, everypony at the M.o.M. either hates Pinkie’s guts or is scared to death of her, but we all gotta smile smile smile!” the ghoul said with an exaggerated grin before she slumped. “I think I should have followed your lead, Tiara. At least you were away from the nuthouse out in Shattered Hoof.”
"嗯，完全正确。我的意思是，PinkiePie可能在纸上负责，但是每个小马都知道Quartz和o.i.a.才是真正的决策者。我的意思是，在m.o.m的每一个小马要么讨厌平奇，要么怕得要死，但是我们都得微笑!"那个食尸鬼在摔倒之前，带着夸张的笑容说。"我想我应该听你的，提亚拉。至少你离开了破蹄镇的精神病院。"
“Quartz?” I frowned.
"石英?"我皱起了眉头。
“The O.I.A. liaison? You know Quartz. Everypony in M.o.M. Law Enforcement does.” She snorted, “The mare that, like, keeps Pinkie Pie from arresting half of Equestria?”
"o.i.a.联络员？你知道Quartz。作战司法部门的每个人都这么认为。"她哼了一声,"这匹母马，就像，阻止小樱桃派逮捕半个小马国的母马?"
“Oh... ah... really? Wow.” I looked nervously at the others as we started moving towards the far side of the landing. “I really didn’t know she’d gotten that bad. I mean… was Goldenblood really running the M.o.M. behind Pinkie’s back?” It seemed a bit much, even for Goldenblood.
"哦......啊......真的吗？哇。"我紧张地看着其他人，因为我们开始向着陆点的另一边移动。"我真的不知道她有那么糟糕。我的意思是...金血王真的在背着平奇指挥作案吗?"这似乎有点过分，即使对Goldenblood来说也是如此。
“Well, he’s probably not personally running it, and definitely not the whole M.o.M., but he totally has his hooves all over the law enforcement branch. I don’t think he cares about party reservations, balloon research, or theme parks, after all. But we totally know who assigns our Hearth’s Warming Eve bonuses, and you just don’t go behind Quartz’s back.” She glanced at me from over her
"嗯，他可能不会亲自管理这个部门，当然也不会亲自管理整个作案手法，但他在整个执法部门都有自己的影子。我认为他根本不在乎派对预定、气球研究或者主题公园。但我们完全知道是谁分配了我们的壁炉前夕暖和奖金，你只是不去背后石英的背后。"她从上面瞥了我一眼
warped glasses frames with a serious look to imply what happened to ponies who did.
扭曲的眼镜框，一副严肃的表情，暗示了小马的遭遇。
“So, Quartz calls the shots then?” I asked as I glanced at the others, who looked a tad impatient.
"那么，是Quartz在发号施令吗?"我问道，同时瞥了一眼其他人，他们看起来有点不耐烦。
“Oh it’s nothing that direct. Like, whenever Pinkie Pie orders all the ‘bad ponies’ in Equestria to be arrested, we look at Quartz two minutes after Pinkie leaves the room, and she nods or shakes her head… usually shakes… and we just stall till Pinkie Pie gets distracted by something else.” She rolled her eyes. “If it weren’t for Pumpkin and Pound, I think they would have cut her out completely, but those two can usually handle her when she’s raving.”
"哦，没有那么直接。比如，每当鹏奇派下令逮捕Equestria所有的'坏小马'时，我们在鹏奇离开房间两分钟后看着Quartz，她点点头或摇摇头......通常是摇摇头......我们就拖延时间，直到鹏奇派被别的事情分心。"她翻了翻白眼。"如果不是因为小南瓜和庞德，我想他们会把她完全排除在外，但是当她胡言乱语的时候，这两个人通常可以控制她。"
I looked on with a tense smile. “Wow. I’d forgotten how... interesting... things are at the Manehattan hub.”
我带着紧张的微笑看着。"哇。我都忘了曼哈顿中心的情况有多么...有趣。"
“Oh trust me, I, like, haven’t even gotten to the juicy stuff.” She smiled for a moment but it didn’t last. She sighed. “It’s never been so... tense... as right now though. When Goldie was kicked out last month, I totally thought Pinkie Pie’s head was, like, going to split in two, she grinned so much. Sent him a box of her PTMs as a present.”
"哦，相信我，我，好像，还没有得到更有趣的东西。"她微笑了一会儿，但没有持续多久。她叹了口气。"从来没有像现在这样......紧张。上个月戈尔迪被开除的时候，我完全以为小粉红派的脑袋要裂成两半了，她笑得太厉害了。送给他一盒ptm作为礼物。"
“And since then?” I asked as we reached the maintenance room. Four ghouls stared from the corner as we trotted past towards a set of shelving loaded with junk. Shears’s horn glowed under his hood, and the shelves slid to one side, revealing an alcove concealed in the back wall. Directly ahead was a solid-looking door with the O.I.A. symbol carved into it and a small terminal mounted beside it.
"从那以后呢?"当我们到达维修室时，我问道。四个食尸鬼从角落里盯着我们，我们小跑着经过一个装满了垃圾的架子。舍尔斯的喇叭在引擎盖下闪闪发光，架子滑向一边，露出隐藏在后墙里的一个凹室。正前方是一扇看上去很结实的门，上面雕刻着o.i.a.的标志，旁边安装着一个小型终端。
Silver Spoon sighed and rolled her glowing eyes. “Oh, business as usual in the party sectors, but totally a mess in the law enforcement branch. I mean, Quartz is still there, but she doesn’t seem to know what’s going on anymore. I mean, she seemed to be really close and devoted to Goldenblood, so maybe she’s just hanging in there while Horse settles in. I dunno. No pony does...” I wondered if Horse even knew what Quartz did at the M.o.M.
银勺叹了口气，转动着她发光的眼睛。"哦，党的部门一切如常，但执法部门却一团糟。我的意思是，Quartz仍然存在，但她似乎不知道发生了什么。我的意思是，她看起来和金色血液很亲近，很投入，所以也许她只是在那里等待马适应。我不知道。没有小马会......"我想知道马儿是否知道Quartz在m.o.m做了什么。
“As awesome as catching up on stale M.o.M. gossip is, I’d really like it if we could get through this door,” Shears said impatiently, pointing at the terminal. The machine had clearly been scratched up, as if somepony had tried to pry the front plate off.
舍尔斯不耐烦地指着航站楼说:"就像了解无聊的m.o.m.八卦一样令人敬畏，但我真的希望我们能通过这扇门。"。机器显然被刮坏了，好像有人想把前板撬下来似的。
“Do I know you?” Silver Spoon asked Shears in an annoyed tone, but the round little ghoul refused to meet her eye.
"我认识你吗?"西尔斯用一种恼怒的语气问舍尔斯，但是那个圆圆的小食尸鬼拒绝看她的眼睛。
I moved up to the door, and my eyes started to do the crazy data streaming stuff, matched by data on the terminal screen. Finally it concluded with:
我走到门口，我的眼睛开始做疯狂的数据流，与终端屏幕上的数据相匹配。最后，报告的结论是:
EC-1101 Confirmed.
Ec-1101确认。
Unseal Project Eternity: Y/N?
解封永恒之柱:y/n？
Project Eternity. The search for eternal life. I looked at Mr. Shears; his glossy white eyes seemed to drink in the words on the terminal screen. “This is what you’re after?”
永恒之柱。寻找永恒的生命。我看着舍尔斯先生，他那双发亮的白眼睛似乎在沉浸在终端屏幕上的文字中。"这就是你想要的?"
The question made him balk. “What? No. That’s simply history. You probably have far more interest in that than I do.” His annoyance seemed so sincere that if he was playing me, he’d probably been a performer in another life. I peered at the screen, then looked around. Yup, there was the Dealer, his weathered features pale and grim as he watched me. I looked at him for several seconds, sure that he was going to give some possibly insightful and probably annoyingly cryptic comment, but all he did was shrug.
这个问题使他犹豫不决。"什么？没有。那只是历史。你可能对此比我更感兴趣。"他的烦恼看起来是那么真诚，如果他在玩弄我，他很可能在另一个生活中成为一个表演者。我凝视着屏幕，然后环顾四周。是的，这就是《商人》，他那饱经风霜的面容苍白而严肃地看着我。我盯着他看了几秒钟，以为他会发表一些可能很有洞察力或者可能含糊其辞的评论，但他只是耸耸肩。
Vaguely disappointed, I sighed and then hit the ‘Y’ button on the terminal.
我有点失望，叹了口气，然后按下了终端上的"y"键。
My vision exploded in data that moved in a blur. I staggered to the side, hit the wall, and nearly collapsed. My friends and the dingy maintenance room disappeared as streaming letters and numbers filled my vision and everything went white.
我的视野中充斥着模糊不清的数据。我摇摇晃晃地走到一边，撞到墙上，几乎瘫倒在地。我的朋友们和昏暗的维修室消失了，流动的字母和数字充满了我的视野，一切都变成了白色。
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
I hung looking down from the ceiling of a tastefully but luxuriously decorated penthouse apartment. The elaborate white marble masonry gave the whole room a classy and sophisticated look, and the front windows provided an absolutely magnificent view of what could only be a royal palace of some sort. Below me, on an elegantly-crafted table, was a glass box that held a dozen colorful little puffballs with diaphanous wings. Then the door opened and in walked Rarity. Her purple mane was working its way out of its gorgeous curls, and her brow was furrowed with anxiety.
我垂下头，从一家装饰华丽的空中别墅的天花板上向下看。精心制作的白色大理石建筑使整个房间看起来优雅而精致，正面的窗户提供了绝对壮观的视野，只能看到某种类型的皇宫。在我下面一张精心制作的桌子上，放着一个玻璃盒子，里面装着一打彩色的带有透明翅膀的小泡泡球。然后门开了，稀有走了进来。她那紫色的鬃毛从华丽的卷发中披散开来，她的额头因为焦虑而皱起。
She trotted in and set her bags on the counter top. Then the phone rang, and she sighed with a little growl of annoyance before levitating the receiver to her ear. “Rarity!” she answered, her voice gay and bright, even as she slumped at the table. Then she sat up a little more. “Oh, no no no, Fluttershy. Not a bad time at all, dear. It’s been such an absolutely miserable time, what with Macintosh’s funeral and all. There was a little business I had to take care of in Zebratown… nothing major,” she added as pulled out a familiar black book.
她小跑着进来，把包放在柜台上。然后电话铃响了，她不耐烦地低声叹了口气，然后把话筒放在耳边。"稀有!"她回答说，声音欢快而明亮，即使她瘫倒在桌子上。然后她又坐了起来。"哦，不，不，不，小弗特希。真是个好时机，亲爱的。这是一个绝对悲惨的时代，尤其是麦金托什的葬礼。我在Zebratown有点小事要处理......没什么大事,"她一边说一边拿出一本熟悉的黑皮书。
She lifted the lid of the glass box and called out, “Dinnertime, sweeties. Mommy’s got something special for you!” She tossed the book inside the glass box, closing the lid quickly after it. The colored puffballs began to flit and hover around the book, opening their mouths, hesitating, then tentatively nibbling at the pages and licking the ink.
她打开玻璃盒子的盖子，喊道:"晚饭时间到了，甜心们。妈妈给你准备了特别的礼物!"她把书扔进玻璃盒子里，很快地盖上了盖子。彩色的泡泡球开始在书周围飞来飞去，张开嘴，犹豫不决，然后试探性地啃着书页，舔着墨水。
“Oh, no, Fluttershy, I was talking to the parasprites. I just couldn’t do the job Luna asks without them.” A pause and a sigh. “Yes, yes, I remember Ponyville. I wouldn’t want a repeat here in Canter…” Rarity trailed off and sighed, “There there… there’s no need to… I mean… I’m sorry, Fluttershy. Go ahead. Cry if you need to.” She trotted to a divan next to the table and flopped back on it, nodding every now and then. “I can be there if you need me to. All right, if you’re sure…
"哦，不，小蝴蝶，我在和寄生虫说话。没有他们，我无法完成卢娜要求的工作。"停顿了一下，叹了口气。"是的，是的，我记得波尼维尔。我可不想在坎特再发生这样的事情......"稀少慢慢地说完，叹了口气,"那儿......没有必要......我是说......对不起，小弗。继续。如果需要就哭吧。"她小跑到桌子旁边的一个长沙发上，一屁股坐在上面，不时地点点头。"如果你需要我，我可以在那里。好吧如果你确定..。
“No, Darling. You’re not being silly at all. When I think of you... of any of our friends... getting... well, you know... Remember how close Pinkie Pie came with that nasty bomb in Hoofington? If it’d been anypony else, I dare say they wouldn’t have been so fortunate. I keep thinking about it over and over again.” She snorted softly. “Yes, I know Goldenblood promised to triple our protection. It’s hard enough to get work done as it is.” She paused again with another frown. “Yes, I know Twilight is researching new spells to keep us safe.” Finally she gave a little huff, her expression irritable. “You don’t understand. I feel like… like I need to do something. I need to make something to keep you all safe.”
"不，亲爱的。你一点也不傻。当我想到你......我们的朋友......变得......嗯，你知道......还记得萍琪派和Hoofington那个可怕的炸弹有多亲密吗？如果是别的小马，我敢说他们就不会这么幸运了。我一直在反复思考这个问题。"她轻轻地哼了一声。"是的，我知道金血王答应给我们三倍的保护。按照现在的情况，完成工作已经够难的了。"她又停顿了一下，又皱起了眉头。"是的，我知道暮光之城正在研究新法术来保护我们的安全。"最后她有点生气，她的表情很急躁。"你不明白。我觉得...我需要做点什么。我需要做点什么来保证你们的安全。"
Something was happening to the parasprites in the glass box. They were changing from their bright colors to muddy brown. Their eyes bulged and they banged against the glass as if trying to escape from the case.
玻璃箱里的寄生虫发生了一些事情。它们从鲜艳的颜色变成了浑浊的棕色。他们的眼睛鼓了起来，撞在玻璃上，好像要从箱子里逃出来。
Rarity continued on in a soft tone, “I’ve been researching my own sources. Twilight may have the most premiere collection of magical tomes and Goldenblood his own squirreled-away rare volumes, but I still have my hooves
"我一直在研究我自己的资料来源。《暮光之城》可能是最好的魔法大部头和《金色血液》的藏书集，但我还有我的蹄子
in every library, newspaper, and publisher in Equestria. I’ve been particularly intrigued by zebra myths of ‘soul silk’, capable of being stronger than steel. Can you imagine such a thing?” She sighed softly. “Well, of course I’d use it to help soldiers like Big Macintosh. After all of you are safe. And the Princesses, of course.”
在Equestria的每个图书馆，报纸和出版商。我特别着迷于斑马神话中的灵魂丝，它可以比钢铁更坚固。你能想象这样的事情吗?"她轻轻地叹了口气。"当然，我会用它来帮助像大麦金托什这样的士兵。毕竟你们都是安全的。当然还有公主们。"
The parasprites went black and tumbled down around the large book that was bound in what looked unsettlingly like darkened zebra hide. The yellowed pages slowly turned one by one behind her back as if invisible hooves were slowly finding a particular one. “Yes, Dear… yes… yes… I’m sorry you feel so rotten… yes… I know… I love you too. Right. Good night, Fluttershy. Yes, I’ll see you at the spa. Promise… try to get some rest.” Her magic hung up the receiver and she sighed.
寄生虫变成了黑色，在一本大书的周围翻来覆去，书的封面看起来像是深色的斑马皮，令人不安。泛黄的书页在她背后慢慢地一页一页地翻动着，仿佛看不见的蹄子在慢慢地找到一只特别的蹄子。"是的，亲爱的......是的......是的......我很抱歉你感觉如此糟糕......是的......我知道......我也爱你。对。晚安，小家伙。好的，我们水疗中心见。答应我...尽量休息一下。"她的魔法挂上电话，叹了口气。
Her azure eyes lifted to stare up at the roof, and for a moment she looked old and scared. “It could have been Celestia. Or Twilight. Or Fluttershy. I have to do… something. Something to protect my friends.”
她抬起天蓝色的眼睛盯着屋顶，有那么一会儿，她看起来又老又害怕。"可能是塞莱斯蒂娅。或者《暮光之城》。或者是Fluttershy。我得做点什么。能保护我朋友的东西。"
A few seconds later, she rolled to her hooves and approached the table with a wide smile. “And how does Mommy’s little helpers like their din-din, hmmm?” Then she saw the crumbled black balls laying like lumps of soot around the book. “What… what is this?” she demanded as her eyes widened. To her credit, she didn’t scream. Slowly, she opened the lid of the case and lifted the book out. The parasprites collapsed into little heaps of ash as she set the volume, still open, on the table before her.
几秒钟后，她转过身来，带着灿烂的微笑走近桌子。"妈妈的小帮手们怎么会喜欢他们的晚餐，嗯?"然后她看到那些皱巴巴的黑球像煤灰一样堆在书上。"这...这是什么?"她睁大眼睛问道。值得赞扬的是，她没有尖叫。慢慢地，她打开盒盖，把书拿了出来。当她把面前的桌子上仍然敞开着的那卷书放好时，那些寄生虫已经散落成了一小堆灰烬。
Rarity stared raptly at the text. “Soul silk?” she whispered, taking a step back from the table. Then suddenly she narrowed her eyes and glared. “I don’t know who you are or what you are, but I know when somepony… er… book… is trying to play me for a fool!”
罕见的人专心致志地盯着文字。"灵魂丝绸?"她低声说，从桌子后退了一步。然后她突然眯起眼睛瞪了我一眼。"我不知道你是谁，也不知道你是什么东西，但我知道什么时候......呃......有本书......想把我当傻瓜耍!"
But though she glared at the book, there before her eyes was what she wanted. Her magic slammed the book shut with all its force. “You might have killed my poor parasprites, but we’ll see how you do when Twilight gets her hooves on you.” She picked up the phone and started to dial, then paused and looked back at the book. Little beads of sweat popped from her brow. “Now Rarity, just look at it! It’s clearly a wicked thing! I mean, it’s made from a zebra! How grotesque!” She continued dialing, but more slowly now, her eyes drawn back to the horrible text.
但是尽管她怒视着那本书，眼前却是她想要的。她的魔法使劲把书合上。"你可能已经杀死了我可怜的超级阳伞，但是我们会看到你怎么做当暮光之城得到她的蹄子在你身上。"她拿起电话，开始拨号，然后停下来，回头看那本书。她额头上冒出一滴滴的汗珠。"现在，稀有，看看它！这显然是件邪恶的事情！我是说，它是用斑马做的！多么可笑!"她继续拨号，但是现在拨得更慢了，她的目光又回到了那可怕的短信上。
“I need to do something myself. Something to save my friends…” she murmured.
"我需要自己做点什么。救救我的朋友......"她低声说。
“Hello?” came Twilight’s voice, distant and tinny from the receiver. Rarity’s blue eyes stared at the piles of ash and then back at the book. “Applejack…?”
"喂?"暮光的声音从话筒里传来，远远的，细细的。稀有的蓝眼睛盯着成堆的灰烬，然后又回到书上。"苹果白兰地...?"
She slowly pressed the receiver to her ear. “No no, Twilight. It’s Rarity. I just…” She paused, and her eyes turned concerned once more. “Twilight… I… yes, I know. I’m sorry. I know… Oh Twilight, please don’t cry.” Rarity curled a little around the phone, her eyes returning to the closed book. “Yes… yes… I know… when I imagine it being one of you…” Rarity sniffed and scrubbed a tear from her eye. “Yes… I know. Try… try to get some sleep. Ask for some time off if you need it. And if Luna doesn’t like it, tell her to take over the M.A.S. herself.”
她慢慢地把听筒贴在耳朵上。"不，不，暮光之城。这是罕见的。我只是......"她停顿了一下，眼神再次转向关切。"暮光之城...我..。.是的，我知道。对不起。我知道......哦，暮光之城，请不要哭。"蕾妮在电话旁蜷缩了一会儿，眼睛又回到那本合上的书上。"是的......是的......我知道......当我想象那是你们其中一个人的时候......"稀有闻了闻，擦干眼泪。"是的......我知道。试着...试着睡一会儿。如果你需要的话，请一段时间的假。如果卢娜不喜欢，就让她自己接手硕士课程。"
Rarity’s eyes lingered on the dark tome one last time, then said in low tones, as if afraid the book might hear, “I might need your help. Nothing major… certainly nothing that needs to involve Goldenblood. Just need… some friendly advice. Right… good. Please take care of yourself, Twilight.”
稀有的眼睛最后一次盯着那本黑色的大部头，然后低声说，好像怕那本书会听到:"我可能需要你的帮助。没什么大不了的...当然没什么需要金血王参与的。只是需要...一些友好的建议。好的...很好。请照顾好自己，暮光。"
The receiver returned to the cradle, and she stared at the book for the longest time, biting her hoof. Finally, she approached it as if it were a snake. “Well… it wouldn’t hurt to know the details…” she murmured as she carefully straightened the book and opened it slowly once more.
听筒回到摇篮旁，她盯着书看了很长时间，咬着自己的蹄子。最后，她走近它，仿佛它是一条蛇。"嗯......了解一下细节也无妨......"她喃喃地说着，小心翼翼地把书弄直，然后再慢慢地打开。
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
My vision returned, and I slumped against the terminal, almost collapsing again. Ugh… you’d think that opening a magically-sealed megafile of arcane whatsit would be easier. I picked myself up and looked back. “How long was I out?”
我的视力恢复了，我靠在终端上，几乎再次崩溃。呃......你可能认为打开一个奇迹般密封的巨型神秘建筑会更容易些。我站起来，回头看了看。"我昏迷了多久?"
“You were out?” Psychoshy scowled in confusion.
"你出去了?"精神病患者困惑地皱起眉头。
Rampage wore a worried expression. “Are you okay, Blackjack?”
狂暴带着忧虑的表情。"你没事吧，黑杰克?"
I forced a grin. “Oh yeah, sure. As okay as I ever am.” The worry turned a little more sympathetic, but she didn’t pry.
我勉强挤出一个笑容。"哦，是的，当然。一如既往的好。"这种担心变得有点同情了，但她并没有打听。
Wow... that was way faster than usual. Was it because the recording was sealed, or something else? I shook my head hard to clear out the disorientation, idly wondering if there was a single other pony in the Wasteland who’d had as many
哇...比平时快多了。是因为录音被封存了，还是别的什么原因？我拼命摇头，试图摆脱这种迷失方向的感觉，漫不经心地想着荒原上是否还有一匹小马也有这么多
hallucinations and visions shoved into their head as me. No time to ponder that now, though.
幻觉和幻象就像我一样灌输到他们的脑子里。但是现在没有时间去思考这个问题。
I peered down the narrow, rusty pipe-lined hallway that extended before us. It gave the impression of a bloody shotgun barrel, the air filled with a reek of sulfur, water, and rust. A chill filled the air and made my mane prickle. I looked back at the others. Some eyes were filled with confidence, some with fear, and others with calm resignation.
我顺着狭窄的、生锈的、铺着铁管的走廊向前望去。它给人一种血淋淋的猎枪枪管的印象，空气中弥漫着硫磺、水和铁锈的恶臭。一阵寒意充满了空气，使我的鬃毛刺了一下。我回头看了看其他人。有的眼神充满自信，有的眼神充满恐惧，还有的眼神冷静顺从。
And I was about to lead them into the deadliest place I’d ever been.
我要带他们去我去过的最危险的地方。
This was different than storming Hippocratic Research. Then, there’d been the drive to get my PipBuck back and stop Sanguine. Here, I was going in because I chose to. If they died, it’d rest squarely on my shoulders.
这与席卷希波克拉底研究院不同。然后，他们开车去把我的皮伯克拿回来，阻止桑吉内。在这里，我进去是因为我自己选择的。如果他们死了，责任就完全落在我的肩上了。
But the only alternative was to give up.
但唯一的选择就是放弃。
I couldn’t do that. Not ever. It’d mean losing.
我做不到。永远不会。这意味着失败。
I took one step, then another, and made my way down the tunnel in the front of the group; if I was leading them into a deathtrap, then I would lead. The passage was barely wide enough for Carrion’s armor anyway. The radiation was clicking very slowly; just one rad per second. We’d been exposed to more than that in the subway station. I suspected the source was our glowing companion in the rear.
我走了一步，然后又走了一步，沿着前面的隧道走下去;如果我要带领他们走进一个危险的地方，那么我就会领导他们。不管怎样，通道的宽度勉强够穿透卡里昂的盔甲。辐射的滴答声非常缓慢，每秒只有一拉德。我们在地铁站接触到的可不止这些。我怀疑来源是我们在后面的发光同伴。
Still, it was something to keep an eye on. When Stygius was through, the door closed with a solid thunk behind us, yet inexplicably I could feel a sensation almost like a draft blowing coldly over my hide. My E.F.S. flickered a few times. More recordings, or something else? The list was too long for me to worry about now.
尽管如此，这还是值得关注的。当斯蒂吉乌斯通过时，门在我们身后关上了，砰的一声巨响，然而令人费解的是，我能感觉到一种感觉，几乎就像一股冷风吹过我的皮肤。我的e.f.s闪烁了几下。更多的录音，还是别的什么？这个清单太长了，我现在不用担心。
I felt a sensation like trotting through a sheet of ice water, and my E.F.S. suddenly went down completely. “Ugh… what just happened?” I said, looking around the suddenly barless world around me. “My PipBuck isn’t working right.”
我有一种感觉，就像小跑穿过一片冰水，我的e.f.s突然完全下降了。"呃......刚才发生了什么?"我说着，环顾着我周围突然变得光秃秃的世界。"我的PipBuck坏了。"
“You just entered Hightower’s magic dampening field, but I suspect it’s been badly damaged by the balefire bomb and time. It affects different magics differently,” Shears said from behind me. “Teleportation is no longer an option. I had no idea it’d affect your PipBuck too, though…”
"你刚刚进入了海托华的魔法阻尼领域，但我怀疑它已经被火焰炸弹和时间严重损坏了。它对不同的魔法有不同的影响,"舍尔斯在我身后说。"心灵运输不再是一种选择。但我不知道它也会影响你的PipBuck......"
I looked way back at Lacunae; the tall alicorn was having to duck her head to keep her horn from scraping the ceiling. She looked quite agitated. I supposed being trapped underground without the ability to just teleport away would be quite disconcerting. Fortunately, I’d been without my PipBuck’s E.F.S. enough that it didn’t make me hesitate more than a few seconds. I’d just have to do things the old fashioned way.
我回头看了看Lacunae，那个高个子的角羊不得不低下头，以免刮坏天花板。她看上去很激动。我想如果我被困在地下而没有能力瞬移离开，那会很令人不安。幸运的是，我没有使用PipBuck的e.f.s，它没有让我犹豫超过几秒钟。我只能用传统的方式做事。
“So… you were involved in Project Eternity?” I asked as I moved down the tunnel with the shotgun ready to give something a very bad day.
"这么说......你参与了永恒之柱?"我边问边拿着猎枪沿着隧道走下去，准备给某些东西一个非常糟糕的一天。
“Several lifetimes ago, yes. Hardly matters now,” Shears muttered.
""几辈子以前，是的。现在已经不重要了,"舍尔斯喃喃自语。
“What was it? Specifically?”
"那是什么？具体是什么?"
“Specifically could take all day. Here’s the abridged version. I was brought in at the beginning. Rarity needed unicorns that weren’t affiliated with the M.A.S. Twilight Sparkle had virtually cornered the market on every unicorn with spell or talisman talent. So she went looking for other unicorns. We… I… was working at a steam cleaning store in Bucklyn when she found me.”
"特别是可能要花上一整天。以下是删节版本。我是从一开始就参与进来的。稀缺所需的独角兽不属于美国紫悦协会，实际上已经垄断了每一只独角兽的魔法或护身符天赋市场。所以她去寻找其他的独角兽。我们我。.在Bucklyn的一家蒸汽清洁店工作时，她发现了我。"
“Why you?” I asked with a frown as we came to steps leading down… the direction opposite the one I wanted to go. Still, there hadn’t been any forks yet, so down it was.
"为什么是你?"我皱着眉头问道，当我们走到通往下面的台阶时......我想去的那个方向正好相反。尽管如此，那时还没有任何叉子，所以它是下来了。
“I suppose it was little things. I’d… failed… to join the M.A.S., she knew me from Ponyville, we were both interested in tailoring, and…” He muttered something too low for me to hear.
"我想是一些小事。我......没能......加入文学硕士，她在Ponyville认识我，我们都对裁缝感兴趣，而且......"他喃喃自语，声音低得我听不见。
“What was that?” I asked with a frown.
"那是什么?"我皱着眉头问。
“I… won an award for magic… once. Stupid little thing. But Rarity needed us and she had a way of wrapping any stallion around her hoof. So we helped her. Compared to what our lives were before, staggering from one failure to the next, we were happy to do whatever she required of us,” Shears said quietly.
"我.....。.曾经得过魔法奖。愚蠢的小东西。但是罕有需要我们，而且她有办法把种马套在她的蹄子上。所以我们帮了她。与我们以前的生活相比，我们跌跌撞撞地走过一个又一个失败，我们很乐意做她要求我们做的任何事情,"舍尔斯平静地说。
There was a door ahead. I could hear the sounds of water sloshing around and gestured everypony to wait a moment. “Water recycling and the reactor should be here,” Shears pointed out from behind me as I pushed the rusty door open, looking warily through.
前面有一扇门。我可以听到水流的声音，并示意每匹小马等一会儿。"水循环系统和反应堆应该在这里,"舍尔斯从我身后指出，我推开生锈的门，警惕地看着通过。
I beheld a lambent, radioactive nightmare. Slowly, as if in a daze, we stepped out on to the catwalk and looked at a room I could barely imagine. The space reminded me of the reactor in 99 and the water pumps that kept the vital fluid clean and circulating. Here, however, was a scene that would have terrified Scotch and given Rivets a seizure; two hundred years of neglect and corrosion had turned the reactor into a solid lump of rust, the few windows in the hulk filling the dripping room with its harsh green glare. Water sprayed from countless cracks and breaks, sloshing around the rusted pump housings in a sea of bluish-green fluid. The moisture had transformed the catwalks into fragile spans of rust. I wasn’t even sure if the reeking, sulfuric, foamy sludge below could technically be called ‘water’ anymore.
我看到了一个发光的，放射性的噩梦。慢慢地，就像发呆了一样，我们走上t台，看着一个我几乎无法想象的房间。这个空间让我想起了99年的反应堆和保持重要流体清洁和循环的水泵。然而，在这里，一个场景会吓坏苏格兰人，并给铆钉癫痫发作;200年的疏忽和腐蚀已经把反应堆变成了一块铁锈，废船上的几个窗户充满了它的刺眼的绿色眩光滴水房间。水从无数的裂缝和断裂处喷涌而出，在生锈的泵壳周围晃动，形成蓝绿色的液体海洋。潮湿的空气把过道变成了脆弱的铁锈地带。我甚至不确定下面那些散发着臭气、硫磺、泡沫的污泥是否还能被称为水。
“I don’t think this was in the plan!” Psychoshy shouted. She’d donned the yellow hazardous materials suit and didn’t look happy to have her wings stuck inside the protective wingcovers.
"我认为这不在计划之内!"神经病喊道。她穿上了黄色的危险材料防护服，看起来很不高兴自己的翅膀卡在了防护翼套里。
“Where’s the way through?” I yelled over the squealing, pumping machinery and growling, hissing reactor. Please don’t be… please… but the ghoul simply pointed across the room to the far side of the catwalk. Of course it was all the way over there! I took three steps out on the metal walkway. It groaned ominously beneath me, and I tried not to breathe too deeply.
"通往哪里的路?"我对着发出尖叫声、泵送机械和发出嘶嘶声的反应堆大喊大叫。请不要......请......但食尸鬼只是指着房间另一头的狭窄通道。当然是在那边！我在金属人行道上走了三步。它在我下面发出不祥的呻吟，我尽量不深呼吸。
Then Stygius flashed next to me and tapped my shoulder. He pointed to his eyes with a hoof, then down at the water, and made motions of something swimming around. No… way… Still, I made sure my gun was ready as I started across. Really, if Carrion was here to kill me, he’d have no better chance than right now.
然后斯蒂吉乌斯在我旁边闪了一下，拍了拍我的肩膀。他用蹄子指了指自己的眼睛，然后下到水里，做了个游动的动作。不......不可能......不过，我确保我的枪准备好了，因为我开始通过。说真的，如果腐尸是来杀我的，他最好现在就动手。
“I hate this place. I hate this place! I hate this place!” I shouted and started to trot quickly ahead. There was just too much radiation to linger. The catwalk cracked and popped, swaying with each step. Jets of fluid shot from leaking pipes along the walls and ceiling in lovely, deadly blue arcs, and I bent and twisted to keep from getting hit by them. As I crossed the room, I shivered at the unearthly cacophony coming from the reactor. I could only marvel a moment at Stable-Tec engineering; even so dangerously neglected, it was still running.
"我讨厌这个地方。我讨厌这个地方！我讨厌这个地方!"我喊着，开始快步向前跑去。那里有太多的辐射，无法逗留。猫步随着每一步的移动而开裂和突出。沿着墙壁和天花板漏水的管道喷出的液体形成可爱的、致命的蓝色弧线，我弯下腰，扭曲身体，以免被它们击中。当我穿过房间的时候，我被从反应堆传来的不可思议的不和谐声音吓得发抖。我只能对Stable-Tec的工程技术感到惊奇;即使是如此危险地被忽视，它仍然在运行。
Psychoshy and Stygius followed after me, radioactive water droplets dripping off their suits as they crossed. They’d nearly gotten completely across when one of the pipes gave a sharp bang overhead and fluid the consistency of fecal matter began to dribble from it and pile up on the catwalk. I stared in horror as the
和Stygius跟在我后面，他们穿过的时候，有放射性的水滴从衣服上滴下来。他们几乎完全通过时，其中一根管子在头顶上发出一声巨响，浓稠的排泄物开始从管子里滴落，堆积在狭窄的通道上。我惊恐地看着
bluish heap began to lunge up and wiggle. It thrust out two hooves towards me and a dripping equine head emerged. Then a second slimepony began to form and started shambling towards Stygius and Psychoshy.
蓝色的石堆开始蠕动起来。它向我伸出两只蹄子，一个滴水的马头露了出来。然后第二匹小马开始形成，开始蹒跚着向斯蒂吉乌斯和心理害羞走去。
Oh this so wasn’t in the plan! I pointed the shotgun and fired two flechettes into the mass; they passed halfway through its body and then disappeared with an acidic hiss. I backed off as it formed hind legs and started to shamble towards me.
哦，这可不在计划之内！我用猎枪指着它，向它开了两枪，它们穿过了它身体的一半，然后伴随着酸性的嘶嘶声消失了。它形成了后腿，我往后退了退，开始蹒跚着向我走来。
Stygius pulled off his helmet and backed away as a third slimepony began to coalesce from the cascading sludge. He took a deep breath and let out an ultrasonic scream, making the entire blue mass jiggle wildly, and then it suddenly popped and sprayed goop everywhere. He let out a high-pitched, barely-audible shriek of pain as the spray began to blacken and smoke where it contacted his skin. He shook himself furiously, trying to get it off as it ate into his hide. Psychoshy brushed at the slime frantically, trying to get it off before it made its way through her suit.
斯蒂吉乌斯摘下头盔，向后退去，第三匹小马开始从层叠的淤泥中结合起来。他深深地吸了一口气，发出一声超声波般的尖叫，整个蓝色的东西疯狂地晃动着，然后它突然砰地一声，溅得到处都是。他发出了一声几乎听不见的尖锐的疼痛的尖叫，浪花在接触到他皮肤的地方开始变黑和冒烟。他疯狂地摇晃着自己，试图把它弄下来，因为它正在吞噬他的皮肤。神经病疯狂地抚摸着这粘液，试图在它穿过她的防护服之前把它弄掉。
Out came the sword, but it passed through the slimepony with no effect at all. As another slimepony started to form, the catwalk let out a long, ominous groan. It probably wasn’t built to take this much weight.
剑出来了，但是它穿过了小马驹，没有任何效果。当另一匹迷你马开始形成时，t型台发出了一声长长的不祥的呻吟。它可能不适合承受这么大的重量。
“Carrion! Lacunae! Blast that pipe!” I shouted, pointing with my sword further down the corroded span. The ghoul responded immediately by blasting a long stream of fire, soon followed by the resounding boom of the alicorn’s AM rifle. The bullets started to chew through the metal and sent a few splatters of goo falling into the mess below, but more was still vomiting onto the catwalk. I swung the sword and shoved the slimepony in front of me with my telekinesis in futility, being forced steadily back. Finally, there was a resounding crack as the corroded pipe split, releasing a torrent of goop into the frothing pool. “Lacunae, clear the way!” I bellowed as I gave ground.
"腐尸！空白！该死的管子!"我喊道，用我的剑指着被侵蚀的桥梁。食尸鬼立即发出连续不断的枪声作为回应，紧接着是阿里克纳的AM步枪发出的轰鸣声。子弹开始穿透金属，溅出一些黏糊糊的东西落到下面的脏东西里，但是更多的东西仍然在t台上呕吐。我挥动着剑，徒劳地用心灵遥感把那匹滑溜溜的小马猛推到我面前，被迫不断地后退。最后，当被腐蚀的管道裂开时，出现了一个响亮的裂缝，释放出一股液体的洪流进入起泡的水池。"缺口，让开路!"当我让步的时候，我咆哮着。
My rear leg punched through the catwalk, and I fell through all the way to the hip. The slimepony’s hoofsteps made the catwalk hiss as it shambled towards me. Lacunae hovered in the air, her horn glowing as her telekinesis flung the writhing masses into the muck below. But it’d take her a few seconds to reach me.
我的后腿穿过了t型台，一直跌到了臀部。当小马步蹒跚着走向我时，它的蹄声使t型台发出嘶嘶声。空隙在空气中盘旋，她的角因心灵遥感而发出光芒，把扭动的物体抛入下面的淤泥中。但是她要花几秒钟才能联系到我。
That was a few seconds I didn’t have.
那是我没有的几秒钟。
In desperation, I plunged my forehooves into the gloppy mess and screamed as all kinds of alerts flickered in my vision. My legs might have been metal, but the enchantments on them made them feel fiery pain as if I’d shoved them into boiling water. The white enamel hissed and began to flake away almost immediately as the slimepony just slurped its way up my limbs towards my face. Oh damn it. Glory just fixed that!
在绝望中，我的前蹄陷入昏暗的混乱中，当各种警报在我的视野中闪烁时，我尖叫起来。我的腿可能是金属的，但是仙境湖在上面会让它们感到火辣辣的疼痛，就好像我把它们推进了开水里。白色的珐琅发出嘶嘶的声音，几乎立刻就开始剥落，因为那匹滑溜溜的小马刚从我的四肢滑向我的脸。该死。晨辉刚刚修复了这个问题！
Then there was a flash of yellow as Psychoshy was there, almost hugging the acidic monster. Her hazmat suit hissed as the material fought its corrosive effect, and then she bucked the slime away, the power hooves’ crackling impacts flinging it back into the pool. “Psychoshy, you saved me.” I gaped up at her as I pulled my leg free.
接着，心理害羞症患者出现了，黄色的光芒一闪而过，几乎拥抱了这个酸性怪物。她的防护服发出嘶嘶声，因为这种材料抵抗了它的腐蚀作用，然后她挣脱了粘液，电动马蹄的劈啪声把它扔回了池子里。"神经病，你救了我。"当我把腿拉开时，我目瞪口呆地看着她。
She suddenly blinked behind her helmet and looked uncomfortable, turning back to the rest of our friends crossing towards us. “Oh… yeah… right.” She and Stygius raced past, and the pair started struggling with a rusted door.
她突然在头盔后面眨了眨眼睛，看上去很不自在，转过身来，看着其他向我们走来的朋友。"哦......是的......没错。"她和斯提吉乌斯冲过去，两人开始用一扇生锈的门挣扎。
“Like, I think that this place totally needs a major inspection! Somepony isn’t doing their job at all, Tiara!” Spoon yelled as she raced across with Nurse Graves. For a second, I was certain that they were going to make it.
"比如，我认为这个地方完全需要一次大检查！有些小马根本没有在做它们的工作，皇冠!"当她和格雷夫斯护士一起跑过去时，斯普恩喊道。有那么一瞬间，我确信他们会成功的。
Then I looked down.
然后我低下头。
The glowing sludge was starting to heap up underneath the catwalk. The immense mound formed a huge, dripping maw that reached up to devour them both in its acidic cavity. I could only watch in horror as it closed on the catwalk and with a ripping and shredding of metal pulled it down into the glowing depths below.
发光的淤泥开始在t型台下面堆积起来。巨大的蚁丘形成了一个巨大的、滴着水的无底洞，伸出手来在它的酸性空腔中吞噬它们。我只能惊恐地看着它在t台上靠近，随着金属的撕裂和撕碎，它被拉到了发光的深处。
“Like… I wanna go home. I wanna go home right now, Tiara!” came a call from above. The glowing forms of Graves and Silver Spoon hugged each other tight as they were held aloft by the hovering Lacunae. Carrion and Cerberus followed along through the air, the robot’s disintegration gun blasting the slimeponies as the blobs started climbing the walls towards us. Shears rode the floating robot’s round body, hugging the top for dear life. Carrion, however, caught a faceful of blue slime pouring from the busted pipe along the roof. The helmet of his armor was hissing from acidic goop, but he passed by without complaint. The huge slime head was starting to rear again as Lacunae landed.
"比如...我想回家。我现在就想回家，皇冠!"上面来了个电话。当格雷夫斯和银勺被悬浮的陷阱高高举起时，他们热情洋溢的身影紧紧地拥抱在一起。卡里昂和地狱犬在空中尾随其后，机器人的解体枪向滑行物发射炮弹，这些小东西开始向我们爬来。剪刀骑着漂浮的机器人的圆形身体，拥抱顶部为亲爱的生活。然而，腐肉看到一脸蓝色的粘液从破裂的管道沿着屋顶倾泻而出。他盔甲上的头盔从酸性粘液中发出嘶嘶声，但他毫无怨言地走了过去。当裂隙星落地时，巨大的黏糊糊的脑袋又开始长出来了。
Shears got the door open, and the group funneled through into the next room as
舍尔斯把门打开，一群人挤进了隔壁的房间
Lacunae stood majestically before the immense head of slime. “You! Shall! Not! Hurt! My! Friends!” she shouted as her eyes glowed with power. Each word was punctuated by an arrow of furious silver magic that exploded on impact, blasting out huge gobs of the monster’s mass. It still came on, more and more goop surging towards the alicorn.
空隙庄严地站在巨大的烂泥头前。"你！应该！不！受伤！天啊！朋友们!"她喊道，她的眼睛充满了力量。每个字都被一支银色魔法箭打断，这支箭在撞击时爆炸，从怪物身上喷出巨大的金属块。它还在继续，越来越多的黏糊糊的东西涌向橡子。
I stumbled to the door, the last one through save for Lacunae. “Lacunae! Come on!” The alicorn’s horn flared, then died. Then flared and died again… No! “You can’t teleport!”
我跌跌撞撞地走向门口，最后一个走过去的是拉库纳。"空隙！来吧!"独角兽的角闪了一下，然后就死了。然后突然爆发，再次死亡...不！"你不能瞬移!"
Her purple eyes popped wide in shock as the mass bore down on her. I supposed that, for her, not being able to teleport was almost like Psychoshy not being able to fly; she’d been so used to it that she’d forgotten. Instead, a shimmering bubble enveloped her an instant before the slime mouth chomped down and swallowed her whole. The purple light of her shield flickered and disappeared as I stared. No. No no no… please no…
当人群向她逼近时，她那双紫色的眼睛因震惊而睁得大大的。我猜想，对她来说，不能心灵传输几乎就像心理害羞不能飞行一样;她已经习惯了，以至于忘记了。相反，一个闪闪发光的泡沫包围了她，就在那黏液嘴咬下来把她整个吞下去之前的一瞬间。我盯着她，她盾牌上紫色的光闪烁着，消失了。没有。不不不...求你了不要..。
Then the purple light flared, a bubble swelling in the center, and the mass exploded outwards as she erupted from the slime behemoth. It began to pull together immediately, reforming a new head and mouth, but by then Lacunae was swooping towards the door. As soon as she was through, I pulled it shut with my now-gray fingers. A moment later an impact made the entire wall bulge inward with a cracking of stone and bending of steel. Everypony just stared in shock for a moment, then watched as blue slime began to trickle through the bottom of the door. “We should get going. Now.”
接着，紫色的光芒闪耀起来，中间有一个气泡膨胀起来，当她从黏液巨兽中喷发出来的时候，肿块向外爆炸。它立刻开始振作起来，重新长出了一个新的头和一张新的嘴，但是这时裂口正向门口猛扑过来。她一通电话，我就用灰白的手指把门关上了。过了一会儿，撞击使整个墙体向内鼓起，石头开裂，钢筋弯曲。每个矮种马都震惊地看了一会儿，然后看着蓝色的粘液开始从门底部滴落下来。"我们该走了。现在。"
“Tiara! What is going on?” Silver Spoon asked, staring at me through her blackened frames.
"皇冠！这是怎么回事?"西尔弗·斯彭问道，透过她那黑乎乎的镜框瞪着我。
“Not now, Silver Spoon.” The long, high room we were in had pipes running up several dozen feet, and from the water and radiation, we had no time to waste in here before slime began to come after us. Indeed, it immediately started dribbling through holes in the pipes, and slimy, pony shaped globs began to ooze after us. The stairs leading up to the room’s only other door were a rusted, jumbled mess. Lacunae lifted Graves, Xanthe, and Silver Spoon as she floated up. Rampage cleared it in a single leap. Psychoshy flew awkwardly upwards, her wings weighed down by the bulky suit with Stygius at her side, the two of them together struggling to raise Shears. Carrion departed without a word, swooping up towards the top of the shaft. I leapt up and wrapped my fingers around
"现在不行，银汤匙。"我们所在的房间又长又高，管道高达几十英尺，由于水和辐射，我们没有时间在这里浪费，黏液开始跟着我们。事实上，它立刻开始通过管道上的洞滴水，黏糊糊的小马形的地球仪开始在我们身后慢慢渗出。通往房间另一扇门的楼梯已经锈迹斑斑，乱七八糟。拉库尼举起了格雷夫斯、赞丝和银匙，她飘了上来。狂暴一跃就消灭了它。"精神病害羞"笨拙地向上飞去，她的翅膀被巨大的服装压在下面，斯蒂吉乌斯在她身边，他们两个一起努力举起舍尔斯。小腐尸一言不发地离开了，向竖井顶端猛扑过去。我跳了起来，用手指缠住了他
Cerberus’s arms as more and more goop began to fill the room.
随着越来越多的黏糊糊的东西填满了房间，地狱犬的胳膊也伸了出来。
“Damn, you are one heavy maggot lover, aren’t you?” the robot asked as it struggled to lift me up towards where the others were gathering at another sturdy hatch. Blue slime coated the floor, and it was starting to make mouths beneath my hooves.
"该死，你真是一个沉重的蛆情人，不是吗?"机器人一边问，一边挣扎着把我扶起来，走向其他人聚集在另一个坚固舱口的地方。蓝色的粘液覆盖了地板，我的蹄子下面开始长出嘴来。
“Up! Up! Elevation! Altitude!” I shouted as acidic mouths began lunging and gooey hooves waved up at me. But apparently I was just a little over his weight limit. My rear hooves blackened and hissed as they kicked the yawning mouths. In desperation, I returned to shooting them with my levitated shotgun to try and get them down, but all it really did was splatter them a little. Behind me, the slime was building in a wave. And then that wave raced down the room towards me.
"起来！起来！抬高！海拔!"我喊道，酸性的嘴开始向我扑来，黏糊糊的蹄子向我招手。但显然我只是稍微超过了他的体重限制。我的后蹄踢着打哈欠的嘴巴，发出黑色的嘶嘶声。绝望之下，我又用悬浮的猎枪朝他们开枪，试图把他们打下来，但实际上只是让他们飞溅了一点。在我身后，粘液正在形成一个波浪。然后那个波浪沿着房间向我冲来。
“Buck up, soldier! Equestria wasn’t won by bellyaching!” Cerberus said as he floated beneath the doorway.
"振作起来，士兵！小马国不是靠发牢骚赢的!"地狱犬一边说着，一边在门口下面走着。
“And it wasn’t won by getting digested in a pool of blue slime either!” I yelled as the cresting wave grew a mouth!
"而且它也不是靠在一滩蓝色的烂泥里被消化来赢得的!"我大声喊道，因为波峰长出了一张嘴！
Then a purple glow grabbed both of us and lifted us up just as the wave rolled beneath my dangling rear hooves and crashed into the wall with an incredible splash. We were hauled up through the doorway as the goop surged beneath us. My corroded limbs scraped at the doorjamb as the slime gathered itself up once more. Purple, blue, and white magic gripped the door and slammed it shut. There was another thud. A second. A softer third. Then nothing.
然后一道紫色的光芒抓住了我们两个，把我们举了起来，就在这时，海浪从我那晃来晃去的蹄子底下滚了过去，然后以难以置信的水花般的声音撞到了墙上。我们被拖着穿过门口，脚下的黏糊糊的液体涌了上来。当黏液再次聚集起来时，我腐蚀的四肢在门框上擦伤了。紫色、蓝色和白色的魔法抓住门砰地一声关上了。又是一声巨响。一秒钟。温和的三分之一。然后就什么都没了。
“Funny. I don’t recall pony-eating slime in the plans,” Psychoshy said as she looked at Stygius. “Did you hear something about pony-eating slime? ‘Cause I sure didn’t.” She pointed a wing at Shears. “Hey, Mastermind. Why didn’t you mention the pony-eating slime? I think that should have definitely been brought up in the planning stage.” Carrion snorted as he pulled off the helmet of his power armor; the acid had etched and damaged the visor. His head was less eagle and more ravenlike, beak chipped and cracked and once-glossy plumage now looking like a beaten feather duster.
"有意思。我不记得计划中有吃马粪的人,"看着Stygius说道。"你听说过吃马粪的粘液吗？"因为我肯定没有。"她用翅膀指着舍尔斯。"嘿，主谋。你为什么不提那个吃小马的粘液？我认为在规划阶段就应该提出这个问题。"腐尸一边哼着鼻子，一边脱下他的强力盔甲的头盔;酸腐蚀并损坏了面罩。它的头不像老鹰，而更像掠食者，嘴破裂，羽毛曾经光滑，现在看起来像一个被打败的鸡毛掸子。
“Clearly,” Shears muttered as he looked back, “there’s gonna be unknown stuff to deal with.”
"很明显,"舍尔斯一边回头一边喃喃自语,"还有很多未知的事情要处理。"
I looked at the gray pitted steel of my forelegs. “Yeah. Besides, what could we have done if we had known? Bring a couple tons of gelatin?” I gave a weak grin to the others. Most of them looked decidedly unamused, but Rampage didn’t let me down.
我看着我前腿上灰色的坑坑洼洼的钢铁。"是的。而且，如果我们早知道的话，我们又能做什么呢？带几吨的明胶来?"我向其他人微笑了一下。他们中的大多数人看起来都很不高兴，但是狂暴并没有让我失望。
Smirking back at me, she tapped her cheek thoughtfully. “Acidic pony gelatin monsters. Delicious as they are jiggly.” That got a few more nervous smiles.
她回敬我一笑，若有所思地拍了拍自己的脸颊。"酸性的马身上的凝胶怪物。美味，因为它们摇摇晃晃。"这让他们又露出了紧张的笑容。
Nurse Graves stared at the sealed door. “I can only imagine what begot such a creature. Perhaps hundreds of corpses of ponies trying to escape through the basement. Soaking in magically tainted water until they dissolved into that radioactive slime...” she murmured as she started passing out packets of RadAway to all of us. We slurped it down at once, and I watched as the needle on my rad meter dropped back into the green. Still, it was click click clicking.
格雷夫斯护士盯着密封的门。"我只能想象是什么造就了这样一个生物。也许是数百匹小马的尸体试图从地下室逃跑。浸泡在奇迹般污染的水中，直到它们溶解在放射性的粘液中......"她喃喃地说着，开始向我们所有人分发数包RadAway。我们一口气把它吞了下去，我看着我的辐射计上的指针又回到了绿色中。尽管如此，它仍然是点击点击。
I rose to my hooves and looked around. The hall was made of gray cinder block and ran straight ahead. I glanced at the pipes running along the ceiling, but aside from drizzling water, nothing blue made an appearance. Not that blue, faintly luminescent water was too reassuring... “So, now that we’re past the… um… Slime... Ooze...”
我站起来，四处张望。大厅是用灰色的煤渣砌成的，一直向前延伸。我瞥了一眼沿着天花板流淌的水管，但除了下着毛毛细雨，没有什么蓝色的东西出现。不是那种蓝色的，微弱发光的水太让人放心了......"那么，既然我们已经经过了......嗯......粘液......渗出物......"
“Smooze?” Xanthe suggested, and every eye turned to her. She dropped her eyes sheepishly. “Sorry…”
"斯摩兹?"桑丝建议道，所有的目光都转向了她。她羞怯地垂下眼睛。"对不起......"
“Where do we go now?” I asked, watching as Lacunae touched her horn to the raw burns on Stygius’s face. The healing took much longer than usual; a sign that Enervation was nipping away at us. Silver Spoon looked positively spooked as she sat down. I chewed on my lip. When I’d remembered the ghoul and how she mistook me for her friend, using her to get past the ferals seemed innocuous. But even she was realizing something was wrong now.
"我们现在去哪儿?"我一边问，一边看着拉古娜用她的角碰触着斯蒂吉乌斯脸上的灼伤。恢复的时间比平时长得多，这是一个衰弱正在蚕食我们的信号。她坐下的时候，西尔弗·斯彭看起来被吓坏了。我咬着嘴唇。当我想起那个食尸鬼，想起她是如何把我误认为她的朋友，利用她通过那些野兽时，我觉得她是无辜的。但即使是她现在也意识到有些事情不对劲了。
‘Hey Silver Spoon, long time no see. Think you could help me get into my office and help me with a little problem?’ Just the asking had seemed to surprise the glowing ghoul. She’d been so glad to be reunited that she hadn’t questioned… anything, really. She didn’t seem to realize my friends were hardly usual for Equestria before the bombs dropped. She’d actually teased Lacunae for being a blank flank while ignoring the rest of the alicorn!
嘿，银汤匙，好久不见。你能帮我进办公室帮我解决一个小问题吗这个问题似乎使那个发光的食尸鬼大吃一惊。她非常高兴能够重聚，以至于她从来没有质疑过任何事情，真的。她似乎没有意识到，在炸弹落下之前，我的朋友们几乎不是小马国的常客。她甚至嘲笑Lacunae是一个空白的侧翼，而忽略了其他的独角兽！
“Tiara! Talk to me. Tell me what’s going on? You found my glasses, but… but everything seems wrong. It doesn’t make sense.” She gave a nervous little smile.
"皇冠！跟我说说。告诉我怎么回事？你找到了我的眼镜，但是...但是一切都不对劲。这没有道理。"她紧张地微微一笑。
“It’s a joke, right? A joke on those blank flanks, right?” Her voice cracked as she reached up to touch her glass-streaked face. I just looked at her shamefully as she begged, “Please tell me it’s all a joke?”
"这是个玩笑，对吧？这是对那些空白侧翼的玩笑，对吧?"当她伸手去摸她那被玻璃划伤的脸时，她的声音嘶哑了。我只是羞愧地看着她，她恳求道,"请告诉我这一切都是个玩笑?"
I wanted to smile. I’d planned on smiling. Get through Hightower and leave her with the other ghouls in Meatlocker. Use her… damn it.
我想微笑。我本来打算微笑的。穿过海托华把她留给Meatlocker的其他食尸鬼。利用她...该死。
“Blackjack, what’s going on? Why does she keep calling you Tiara?” Rampage asked in a low voice.
"黑杰克，怎么了？她为什么一直叫你提亚拉?"狂暴低声问道。
“‘Cause, like, that’s her name! Duh…” Silver Spoon said with a little snort. “Tiara, why does Twist keep calling you Blackjack?” She gave a long stare at my corroded metal legs and the little pits the slime had eaten into the steel. Her eyes met mine as they slowly widened. “It’s a joke. Please… it’s a joke!”
"因为，这就是她的名字！"嗯......"银勺轻轻地哼了一声。"Tiara，为什么Twist一直叫你Blackjack?"她长时间地盯着我被腐蚀的金属腿，看着那些粘液侵蚀了钢铁的小坑。她的眼睛慢慢地睁大，与我的目光相遇。"这是个玩笑。求你了......这是个玩笑!"
“It’s not a joke, Silver Spoon,” I said quietly. “I… I don’t even know who Diamond Tiara was. I just remembered how you controlled those others when we first met. I needed your help… and I hoped I could get it without you realizing that I was lying to you.”
"这不是开玩笑，银勺,"我平静地说。"我.....。.我甚至不知道钻石头冠是谁。我只记得我们第一次见面时你是怎么控制其他人的。我需要你的帮助......我希望我能得到它，而你不会意识到我在对你撒谎。"
“But… Bump… Bump…” she muttered weakly, raising her hooves at me. This time I didn’t complete the little ritual I’d lucked in on last time. “No… no no no…”
"但是......砰......砰......"她虚弱地咕哝着，向我抬起她的蹄子。这一次我没有完成上次幸运的小仪式。"不......不不不......"
“Are you trying to make her a feral?” Shears asked as he trotted past me to the gray ghoul. “Hey, Spoon. I’m sorry Blackjack’s so mean. She should have told you she wasn’t Tiara.”
"你想把她变成野兽吗?"舍尔斯一边问，一边从我身边小跑过去，走向那个灰色的食尸鬼。"嘿，斯普恩。我很抱歉Blackjack这么刻薄。她应该告诉你她不是提亚拉。"
“Something bad happened, didn’t it? Like, something really bad?” Silver Spoon sobbed as she hugged her head. “I… I think it did but whenever I think about it…” Her voice trailed off and she shook her head hard. “I just wanted to find Tiara! She… she could tell me what to do. She always told everypony what to do.” She sniffed and rubbed her nose. “She’s, like, my only friend, and I’m hers. She totally needs me…”
"发生了不好的事情，不是吗？比如，非常糟糕的事情?"她抱着头，西尔弗·斯彭啜泣起来。"我.....。.我想是的，但是每当我想起这件事......"她的声音渐渐变小，重重地摇了摇头。"我只是想找到皇冠！她可以告诉我该怎么做。她总是告诉每个小马该做什么。"她嗅了嗅，揉了揉鼻子。"她是我唯一的朋友，我是她的朋友。她非常需要我......"
“I know, Silver Spoon. I remember,” Shears said as he patted her shoulder. The glowing ghoul sniffed as she looked at him curiously.
"我知道，银汤匙。我记得,"舍尔斯拍着她的肩膀说。那个发光的食尸鬼闻了闻，她好奇地看着他。
“I’m really sorry for misleading you,” I said, a touch defensively. I had asked her to help. She just hadn’t realized what was going on. “But I did really need your
"我真的很抱歉误导了你,"我说，有点防御性。我请她帮忙。她只是没有意识到发生了什么。"但是我真的需要你的帮助
help. And… I didn’t want to just leave you behind in those tunnels.”
帮助。而且......我不想把你一个人丢在隧道里。"
“I don’t want to think about this. The bad things… the bad place. It’s totally… totally wrong!” she cried.
"我不想去想这件事。不好的事情...不好的地方。这是完全...完全错误的!"她哭了。
“I really hate to break up this latest installment of ‘What the fuck, Blackjack,’ but four of us are slowly dying here,” Rampage said with a snort at me.
"我真的不想打断最新一集的'他妈的，黑杰克'，但是我们中的四个人正在慢慢死在这里,"朗格朝我哼了一声。
“Dying?” Silver Spoon blinked in confusion.
"快死了?"银汤匙困惑地眨了眨眼。
“There’s radiation here. It’s slowly poisoning us,” I said, getting some stink eye from the undead contingent. Finally I sighed, sat, and threw my forehooves into the air. “Look! I’m sorry, okay? I wish I was your Diamond Tiara or whoever you’re looking for, but I’m not. I needed your help, and I lied and tricked you to get it. I’m a bad pony! And when we make it out of here, I promise I will do whatever I can to make it up to you. But right now we don’t have time to fully delve into what kind of a cunt I am for tricking you. So please… come with us, Silver Spoon. I’ll introduce you to Velvet. I think you’ll like her.”
"这里有辐射。"它正在慢慢毒害我们,"我说，不死族的分遣队用恶臭的目光看着我。最后我叹了口气，坐了下来，把前蹄抛向空中。"你看！对不起，好吗？我希望我是你的钻石头冠或者你要找的人，但我不是。我需要你的帮助，我撒谎骗了你。我是一匹坏小马！当我们离开这里的时候，我保证我会尽我所能来补偿你。但是现在我们没有时间深入研究我欺骗你到底是个什么样的婊子。所以，请跟我们走吧，银汤匙。我会把你介绍给维尔维特。我想你会喜欢她的。"
She looked at me for a few seconds, then slowly nodded.
她看了我几秒钟，然后慢慢地点点头。
“Bad pony.” Psychoshy smirked, poking my shoulder before trotting past.
"坏小马"变态狂得意地傻笑着，在小跑过去之前戳了戳我的肩膀。
The rest trotted past with her, except for Lacunae and Rampage. “I just needed her help…” I said lamely as I looked at the striped pony.
其余的人和她一起跑过去，除了空隙和暴怒。"我只是需要她的帮助......"我看着那匹有条纹的小马，一瘸一拐地说。
“No question,” Rampage replied as she trotted past. “You need a lot more help than I realized.”
"没问题,"拉皮特一边小跑一边回答。"你需要的帮助比我想象的要多得多。"
I just sighed and slumped as everypony trotted down the hall without me save Lacunae. “Well?” I asked, looking up at the alicorn.
我只是叹了口气，垂头丧气地看着每一匹小马都沿着大厅小跑，除了拉库奈，我什么也没做。"怎么样?"我抬头看着橡子问道。
“Well what?” she asked curiously.
"嗯，什么?"她好奇地问。
“Isn’t the Goddess going to chime in or something?” I asked dolefully.
"女神不是要插话什么的吗?"我悲哀地问道。
“Blackjack, there’s a lot of Enervation here. The charm is somewhat effective, but it’s still horribly strong. The Goddess isn’t listening in or watching. You needed Spoon’s help. You got it.” She nudged me with her wing and we started walking. “The problem is that your idea hurt somepony who didn’t deserve it. In
"黑杰克，这里充满了能量。这种魅力在某种程度上是有效的，但仍然非常强大。女神没有监听或观看。你需要斯普恩的帮助。没问题。"她用翅膀轻推了我一下，我们开始走路。"问题是，你的想法伤害了一些不该受到伤害的人。在
the scale of Wasteland crimes, it was probably around the level of littering. But you set such a high standard for yourself in the eyes of others that when you slip, it seems so much worse. Most ponies in the Wasteland would simply kill Silver Spoon. You tricked her. Pretty nice for the Wasteland. Pretty horrible for Blackjack.”
荒地犯罪的规模，可能是围绕着乱丢垃圾的水平。但是你在别人眼中为自己设定了如此高的标准，以至于当你滑倒时，看起来更糟糕。大多数荒原上的小马会简单地杀死银勺。你骗了她。对于荒原来说真是太好了。对黑杰克来说太可怕了。"
I sighed as I followed along behind everypony else, “So what do I do about it?”
我叹了口气，跟在其他小马后面,"那我该怎么办呢?"
“Getting her out of here alive would be a good start,” the alicorn said, patting me on the head like I was a filly.
"让她活着离开这里将是一个好的开始,"阿利康说，拍拍我的头，好像我是一匹小母马。
I smiled sadly. Rampage had been wrong. I wasn’t the goodiest goodest pony in the Wasteland...
我伤心地笑了。狂暴是错误的。我不是荒原上最好的小马。
* * *
* * *
The basement of Hightower brought back fond memories of security patrols in the depths of Stable 99. A lot of the equipment was identical to what I used to trot by every year of my life. The boredom, the tediousness, the silent rovings through the level… and above all the twisty-turny nature of travelling through infrastructure designed around pipes, vents, and power generators rather than ponies. Except that while 99 had just been on the brink of falling apart, this place gave me ideas of what the stable might eventually look like if Stronghoof’s Rangers couldn’t restore it. Rusted stairs had fallen down shafts. Elevators were corroded shut. Water trickled everywhere. Every now and then we came across raw cables stripped of their insulation, still humming with power. I gave those a wide berth. Last thing I wanted was to get a shock that shut me down for a few hours.
海托华的地下室让人想起了在99号稳定区深处进行安全巡逻的美好回忆。很多装备都和我一生中每年跑步的装备一模一样。无聊、沉闷、在水平面上无声无息地翻滚......最重要的是，在设计在管道、通风口和发电机周围而不是小马周围的基础设施中穿行的曲折本性。除了当时99处于崩溃的边缘，这个地方给了我一个想法，如果斯特朗霍夫的游骑兵无法恢复，马厩最终会是什么样子。生锈的楼梯已经从竖井上掉下来了。电梯被腐蚀关闭了。水流得到处都是。时不时地，我们会看到剥离了绝缘层的原始电缆，它们仍然充满电力。我对那些人敬而远之。我最不希望的事情就是被电击，让我停工几个小时。
Because every second that radiation meter ticked up a little more.
因为每过一秒，辐射计就会上升一点点。
Shears’s great plan had clearly not accounted for things like doors that wouldn’t open, stairs that weren’t there, or hallways that had collapsed. Nor had he accounted for the translucent radioactive killer slimeponies that silently stalked us. We couldn’t kill them, short of Cerberus disintegrating them outright. We simply had to run and hope they didn’t ooze up a vent we stood on or dribble down from a pipe. Every time Shears tried to point us in the right way, it came to a dead end.
舍尔斯的伟大计划显然没有考虑到那些无法打开的门，没有的楼梯，或者倒塌的走廊。他也没有解释那些无声无息地跟踪我们的半透明的放射性杀手粘液。我们不能杀死他们，除非刻耳柏洛斯将他们彻底瓦解。我们只好跑着，希望他们不会从我们站的通风口渗出来，或者从管子里滴下来。每次舍尔斯试图给我们指明正确的方向，都走进了死胡同。
I also got the feeling that we were being followed. I occasionally saw something
我还感觉到我们被跟踪了。我偶尔会看到一些东西
in the distance, but when I looked again, it was gone. I’d had too much experience with wonky vision to trust for sure that I had seen something or not.
但是当我再看的时候，它已经不见了。我有太多关于不稳定视觉的经验，所以不能确定我是否看到了什么。
Slime below us and an impenetrable ceiling above. The plan was not going smooth.
我们下面是烂泥，上面是坚不可摧的天花板。计划进行得并不顺利。
Since his knowledge was proving uselessly outdated, Shears occupied himself helping Graves deal with Silver Spoon. I’d gone from her best friend to the monster that had shattered her illusion and placed her in peril for my own gain. Funny, but I seemed to be slipping a lot recently.
由于他的知识被证明是无用的过时，舍尔斯忙于帮助格雷夫斯处理银汤匙。我从她最好的朋友变成了一个怪物，这个怪物粉碎了她的幻想，为了我自己的利益把她置于危险之中。有意思，但我最近似乎滑倒了很多。
Do better. Hadn’t I once tried to do better all the time? Hadn’t it once been… easier?
做得更好。难道我不曾一直努力做得更好吗？这难道不是曾经...更容易吗？
It’d been a while since I thought of my virtue; what I needed to do to keep myself on the side of good. I’d thought that it’d meant being a good pony and doing better. Virtues were supposed to be like cutie marks... but I had no idea what mine was. Ruthlessness? That hardly sounded positive.
我已经有一段时间没有想过自己的美德了，我需要做些什么来保持自己的美德。我原以为这意味着要成为一匹好马，做得更好。美德应该是可爱的标志...但我不知道我的是什么。冷酷无情？这听起来可不怎么积极。
I’d once tried to help out Flank for the heck of it. I’d turned over Brimstone’s Fall. I’d tried to stop a war. I actually stopped P-21 from killing the bastards that raped and mutilated me. And then I’d died…
我曾经试着帮助过弗兰克。我翻过了硫磺会的瀑布。我曾试图阻止一场战争。我实际上阻止了P-21杀死那些强奸和残害我的混蛋。然后我就死了..。
Had I come back… different? Had I come back wrong? Was the reason I wasn’t affected by Enervation anymore because I wasn’t like the rest of my friends? Even ghouls had to worry about Enervation... I wished I had Professor Zodiac to talk to; maybe she could answer this. Maybe... my soul had broken, or been lost entirely? Could that happen? Maybe I was just a Cerberus with organic bits attached...
我回来的时候...有什么不同吗？我说错了吗？是不是因为我和其他朋友不一样，所以我不再受衰弱的影响？甚至食尸鬼也不得不担心衰弱......我希望我能和十二宫教授谈谈;也许她能回答这个问题。也许......我的灵魂破碎了，或者完全迷失了？这会发生吗？也许我只是一只附着有机碎片的地狱犬。
I slurped down another pouch of RadAway, sitting on a lump of rubble as Shears stared up at a sign, trying to remember directions. He kept looking at the sign, down the hall, and then back at the sign. “Something up?”
我咕噜咕噜地吃下一袋拉达威，坐在一堆瓦砾上，舍尔斯抬头盯着一块牌子，努力记住方向。他一直看着那个标牌，走过大厅，然后又回到那个标牌上。"出什么事了?"
“I think I’ve found another way up,” Shears said in a low voice, as if he was afraid the others would hear. “But I am loath to take it. There should be some other way up to the library.”
"我想我找到了另一条上去的路,"舍尔斯低声说，好像他担心其他人会听见似的。""但是我不愿意接受。应该有别的路可以到图书馆。"
“Shears, we’ve been down here for almost an hour. The RadAway isn’t going to hold out forever.” I nodded my head towards the passage he’d been considering.
"舍尔斯，我们在这里已经快一个小时了。拉达威不会永远坚持下去。"我朝着他正在考虑的走廊点了点头。
“What’s down this way? Is it something worse than a room full of radioactive acid monsters?”
"这条路下面是什么？还有什么比一屋子放射性酸怪物更糟糕的吗?"
“It is something more… shameful,” he said as he stared down the hall. “Have you ever heard of a soul jar?”
"这是一件更......可耻的事,"他盯着大厅说。"你听说过灵魂罐吗?"
“It’s something you stick a soul inside. Makes it invulnerable.” My answer clearly surprised him, but I remembered what Lacunae had told me about them. See? Blackjack could pretend to be a smart pony from time to time.
"这是一种可以把灵魂植入其中的东西。让它无懈可击。"我的回答显然使他感到惊讶，但是我记得拉库尼曾经告诉过我关于他们的事情。看到了吗？黑杰克有时可以假装自己是一匹聪明的小马。
“You are correct. One of the first things Project Eternity attempted was to create soul jars. The idea was simple: make armor, or even clothing, turn it into a soul jar… and be protected from all harm.” He licked his lips with a cracked, boiled tongue. “That was the idea. The reality was far different. Far more disturbing.
"你说得对。永恒之柱试图做的第一件事就是创造灵魂罐。这个想法很简单:制造盔甲，甚至是衣服，把它变成一个灵魂罐......并保护它免受一切伤害。"他用干裂的、煮沸的舌头舔了舔嘴唇。"这就是我的想法。但现实却截然不同。更令人不安的是。
The project was a failure, and those failures were locked away down here. They were too unpredictable to move.”
这个项目失败了，那些失败被锁在这里。他们难以预测，无法采取行动。"
“So… what’s down there?” I asked as I peered down the hall.
"那么......下面是什么?"我向大厅里张望时问道。
“Soul jars. Our… learning curve,” he said in a rush. “Hopefully the magics we used have worn off.” He didn’t sound like he expected that to be the case, though.
"灵魂罐。我们的......学习曲线,"他匆忙地说。"希望我们用过的魔法已经消失了。"不过，他的话听起来并不像他预料的那样。
“Examples?” I prompted. “Can we shoot them? Kill them?”
"例子?"我提示道。"我们能向他们开枪吗？杀了他们?"
“I don’t know. I hope there will be nothing in there but empty shelves or rubbish. Still, we shouldn’t take anything from inside.” He kept his eyes straight. “I thought this would be so much… different.”
"我不知道。我希望那里除了空架子和垃圾什么都没有。不过，我们不应该从里面拿走任何东西。"他目不转睛地看着。"我原以为这会有很大的......不同。"
Well, that was reassuring. “Me too, but… welcome to Hoofington,” I muttered. “Don’t forget your complimentary bag of suck.”
这倒让人放心了。"我也是，不过......欢迎来到胡芬顿,"我咕哝着。"别忘了你的免费口交袋。"
“It’s easy to blame Hoofington, the Wasteland, and long dead ponies. Far easier than blaming ourselves.” He turned towards the others, saying to me, “I don’t know what we’ll find, but I doubt it will be peaceful.” Then he trotted back to tell them he’d found another way out of the basement.
"责怪胡芬顿、荒原和早已死去的小马很容易。比责怪自己要容易得多。"他转向其他人，对我说:"我不知道我们会发现什么，但我怀疑会是和平的。"然后他小跑回去告诉他们，他找到了另一条离开地下室的路。
Cryptic ponies. Was there something about being two centuries old that made ponies unable to give straight answers? I mean, really, once you got past a hundred years, was it all that hard to just spit things out?! I sighed, prepared a
神秘的小马。是不是两个世纪的历史让小马不能给出直接的答案？我的意思是，说真的，一旦你过了100岁，就那么难把事情一吐为快吗！我叹了口气，准备了一个
magazine of explosive rounds, and led the way down the hall.
然后顺着走廊一直走下去。
There were some dead-end storage rooms full of some useful salvage, but no way out. The air was disturbingly still and quiet. Even with almost a dozen people, conversations became more muted and indistinct. The glow from the wan emergency lights and my light spell flickered and dimmed to the point I could barely see my hoof in front of my face. Then we reached at the very end of the hall to find another door and terminal like the one before. I held my PipBuck up, and once more the terminal and the device in my leg had a chat.
有一些死胡同的储藏室，里面装满了一些有用的东西，但是没有出路。空气安静得令人不安。即使和十几个人交谈，谈话也变得更加沉默和模糊。苍白的应急照明灯和我的灯光魔咒闪烁和暗淡到我几乎看不到我的蹄子在我的面前。然后我们到达了大厅的尽头，发现了另一扇门和终点站，就像之前的那扇一样。我举起我的PipBuck，然后终端和我腿上的设备又一次交谈起来。
Then the door opened with a sigh. A cool breeze began to draw into the dark room beyond. I reached over and flicked the light switches next to the door, but no matter how I flipped them, the room remained dark. Nothing on E.F.S. I tried to get it to work, but the targeting spell kept having red and blue bars flicker in and out of view as the system shut down every time I got it on.
然后门随着一声叹息打开了。一阵凉风开始吹进远处的黑暗的房间。我伸手打开了门边的电灯开关，但无论我怎么打开它们，房间里还是一片漆黑。在e.f.s上没有任何东西，我试着让它工作，但是每次我打开它，系统就会关闭，目标定位法术就会有红蓝条闪进闪出。
‘Click click click’ went my radiation meter. No time to waste. “Okay... be ready for... anything. Don’t touch anything.”
"咔嗒咔嗒"走了我的辐射测量仪。不要浪费时间。"好吧......准备好......任何事情。别碰任何东西。"
“I love the specific warnings,” Rampage muttered as we slowly began to advance. My light spell barely illuminated anything in the silent room. Goosebumps prickled on my hide as we came into view of some dusty shelves and my light slowly illuminated a stuffed pony. Its glassy black eyes stared back at me. Next to it was an umbrella. Beside that was an old pony-in-the-box.
"我喜欢这个特别的警告,"我们慢慢前进时，狂暴低声说道。我的灯光魔咒几乎照不到这个寂静的房间里的任何东西。当我们走进一些布满灰尘的架子，我的灯光慢慢照亮了一匹毛绒玩具小马时，我皮肤上起了鸡皮疙瘩。它呆滞的黑眼睛也盯着我。它旁边是一把雨伞。旁边是一个旧的小马在箱子里。
Junk. The shelves were full of strange knickknacks, toys, pieces of clothing, and other innocuous objects. So why did I feel like the room was full of ponies? Like they hid just beyond the reach of my light spell, holding their breath, watching.
垃圾。架子上摆满了奇怪的小玩意、玩具、衣服碎片和其他无伤大雅的东西。那么，为什么我感觉房间里全是小马驹呢？就像他们藏在我的光魔法触及不到的地方，屏住呼吸，看着。
“Cursed. This room is cursed,” Xanthe whimpered. “It is full of ghosts.”
"被诅咒了。这个房间被诅咒了,"赞斯呜咽着说。"到处都是鬼魂。"
“There’s no such thing as ghosts,” Psychoshy said nervously. “Ghouls, monsterponies, and alicorns, sure. But no ghosts.”
"鬼魂这种东西根本不存在,"精神病医生紧张地说。"食尸鬼，怪物，还有橡树果，当然。但是没有鬼魂。"
“We experimented on all these objects. First we tried using animal souls. Then some volunteers. Mules. Poor ponies that wouldn’t be missed. But necromancy was an unknown art. Twilight and Celestia both disagreed with Rarity about it, so she went to Goldenblood behind their backs. He knew Hightower would be perfect. Large population. Accidents happen all the time here. Violent offenders with few family who’d not be missed.” He stared at the shelves. “Sometimes
"我们在所有这些物体上进行了实验。首先，我们尝试使用动物的灵魂。然后一些志愿者。骡子。可怜的小马，不会被错过的。但是巫术是一门未知的艺术。黄昏和天国都不同意罕见的说法，所以她背着他们去找了金血王。他知道海托华是最佳人选。人口众多。这里经常发生事故。有暴力倾向的罪犯，没有什么家人不想念他们。"他盯着书架。"有时候
nothing would happen. Sometimes... something unpredictable would happen... and sometimes we actually succeeded at making a soul jar. But we never could tell for certain what precisely we’d done.”
什么都不会发生。有时候......一些不可预知的事情会发生......有时候我们真的成功地制造了一个灵魂罐子。但我们永远无法确切地说出我们究竟做了什么。"
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
A monochromatic Rarity looked at me with a tired but happy expression of her face. Behind her, two gray unicorns in robes paced around an earth pony mare lying on a table. “Hmmm... now, how best to do this? ‘Dear diary’ sounds dreadfully unscientific. ‘Journal log?’ ‘Eternity project entry one?’ Ugh...” The gorgeous mare sighed, shaking her head. “I thought that this would be so much easier. Twilight makes it look so effortless.”
一个单色的稀有看着我，脸上带着疲倦而快乐的表情。在她身后，两只穿着长袍的灰色独角兽围着一匹躺在桌子上的土地上的小马驹踱步。"嗯......现在，怎么做才是最好的呢？"亲爱的日记"听起来非常不科学。日志"永恒计划第一条?"呃......"这匹漂亮的母马叹了口气，摇着头。"我以为这会容易得多。《暮光之城》让这一切看起来毫不费力。"
The curly-maned mare sighed with a small frown. “Twilight Sparkle. I wish she could have understood. I wanted to be able to do this with her. But after Celestia’s examination of my little guidebook here, she was adamantly against it.” The mare lifted the black book from her bag and tapped it lightly. She narrowed her eyes a little. “I’ve never really been jealous of her skill and ability, but it’s insulting for her to suggest that I shouldn’t pursue magic simply because she says so. I too am a unicorn, am I not? And if there’s a possibility that I can turn this sorcery to protect my friends, how could I not even try?”
卷毛的母马轻轻地皱了皱眉头，叹了口气。紫悦。我希望她能理解。我想和她一起做这件事。但是在塞莱斯蒂娅检查了我这本小指南之后，她坚决反对它。"母马从她的袋子里拿出那本黑皮书，轻轻地敲了敲。她眯起眼睛。"我从来没有真正嫉妒过她的技能和能力，但是如果仅仅因为她这么说，就建议我不要使用魔法，这对她来说是一种侮辱。我也是独角兽，不是吗？如果我有可能使用这种巫术来保护我的朋友，我怎么可能连试都不试呢?"
“So,” Rarity said as she turned and trotted towards the table. “Is it finished?”
"是的,"雷诺说着转身朝桌子跑去。"写完了吗?"
“Oh yes your most beautiful beautiness,” the tall, skinny one drawled slowly.
"哦，是的，你最美丽的漂亮,"又高又瘦的那个慢吞吞地说。
“Yeah! The most beautiful beauty in all of Equestria!” piped in the short, fat one. His horn lifted a large square of silk. “We put the soul in here just like you instructed. Soul silk!”
"是的！是整个小马国最美丽的美人!"又矮又胖的那个进来了。他的角举起了一大块方形的丝绸。"我们按照你的指示把灵魂放在这里。灵魂丝绸!"
“Oh my!” Rarity breathed as she lifted it in her hooves. “It’s gorgeous... such lovely texture.” Then she grabbed it in her mouth and began to yank and pull. “Heee! And it’s strong, too! Exactly as it’s supposed to be.” She floated it over to the pair. “See if you can damage it.” They immediately began to play tug of war with the cloth as Rarity tried to cut it with her scissors.
"哦，天哪!"当她用蹄子把它举起来的时候，雷诺轻轻地喘着气。"它很华丽......质地非常可爱。"然后她把它含在嘴里，开始猛拉。"嘿！而且它也很强大！完全正确。"她把它拿到那一对面前。"看看你能不能把它弄坏。"他们立即开始玩拔河布，因为稀有试图用她的剪刀剪它。
“Well... being uncuttable does make it a challenge to work with, but I think I’ll be able to manage,” she said as she set the scissors down. “You can get up now, Petunia,” she said to the mare on the table. The mare didn’t move. “Petunia?” Rarity turned to her with a worried smile. “‘Tunia, Darling. This is hardly the
"嗯......不可切割确实是一个挑战，与工作，但我认为我能够管理,"她说，她放下剪刀。"你可以起来了，佩妮,"她对桌子上的母马说。母马没有动。"佩妮?"稀有带着担忧的微笑转向她。"'塔尼亚，亲爱的。这几乎不是
time to take a nap!” The worry grew to fear as the two stallions stopped fooling around with the silk and looked on. “Petunia?!” Rarity shook her with her hooves.
该睡觉了!"当这两匹种马停止摆弄丝绸并观望时，他们的担心变成了恐惧。"佩妮?!"罕有用她的蹄子摇晃着她。
The body shifted slightly, then came to rest with a limpness I knew all too well.
身体轻微地移动了一下，然后以一种我再熟悉不过的柔软感静止了下来。
The skinny stallion pressed his ear to her chest. His eyes widened. “She’s... she’s...”
那匹瘦瘦的种马把耳朵贴在她的胸前。他的眼睛睁大了。"她...她..."
“What? No! No no no!” Rarity scrambled to the book. “Put it back! Put her soul back! There must be a way to put it back!” she cried as her horn glowed and she turned the pages of the black book frantically. Her pupils constricted and she beat the text with her hooves. “Tell me how to put it back!”
"什么？不！不，不，不!"珍妮匆匆忙忙地翻阅那本书。"放回去！把她的灵魂放回去！一定有办法把它放回去!"她哭了，她的角发光，她翻页的黑皮书疯狂。她的瞳孔收缩，用蹄子敲打着课文。"告诉我怎么把它放回去!"
But whatever answers she sought were not to be found. Her lips screwed up and tears ran down her face.
但是无论她寻求什么答案，都没有找到。她的嘴唇紧闭着，泪水顺着脸颊流了下来。
Nothing happened, and Rarity slumped over the book, weeping. A minute later she sniffed, dabbing her eyes. “I... there must be a way. We’ll just have to be...
什么事也没有发生，于是雷蒂垂头丧气地看着书，哭了起来。一分钟后，她吸了吸鼻子，擦了擦眼睛。"我.....。.一定有办法的。我们只需要..。
be more careful. Yes... more careful. I won’t let her sacrifice be in vain.” She suddenly looked at me and seemed to realize that I was watching. Flushing, she reached out to press a button on a keyboard and everything went black again.
小心点。是的...更加小心。我不会让她白白牺牲。"她突然看着我，似乎意识到我在看着她。在法拉盛的时候，她伸手去按键盘上的一个按钮，一切又变得黑暗起来。
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
The sudden flash made me trip and fall on my face. My armor rattled and banged against the shelving as I sprawled on my side. That wasn’t a vision like I’d experienced before; maybe when Eternity had been unsealed there’d been a number of video recordings transferred to me, and now they were just shooting off in compressed bursts?
突然的闪光使我摔倒在地。当我侧卧时，我的盔甲撞击着我的书架，嘎嘎作响。那不是我以前经历过的景象;也许当永恒号被打开的时候，已经有一些视频记录传给了我，现在它们只是以压缩的方式爆发出来？
Hadn’t it been wonderful when my life consisted of normal eyes that only saw the usual Stable-Tec-approved augmented vision?
当我的生活只有普通的眼睛，只能看到普通的稳定科技认可的增强视力时，这不是很美妙吗？
“Are you okay, Blackjack?” Rampage whispered. I hardly blamed her. I hated this room; I’d have rather dealt with more slime ponies. At least they were a threat that I could see and sort of understand. But I looked at a small porcelain rocking horse and felt its eyes staring at me.
"你没事吧，黑杰克?"横冲直撞的人低声说。我几乎没有责怪她。我讨厌这个房间，我宁愿处理更多的小马。至少他们是一个威胁，我可以看到，并有点理解。但我看着一个小瓷摇摆木马，感觉它的眼睛盯着我。
“Fine. I’m fine,” I muttered as I looked back at Shears. “Every one of these is a
"好吧。我很好,"我一边回头看着舍尔斯，一边喃喃自语。"这里的每一个都是
soul jar?”
灵魂罐?"
“No. Most are failures of one sort or another, but all of these have been touched by souls in ways we could never expla--” He was cut off as Cerberus opened fire through the stacks.
"没有。大多数都是这样或那样的失败，但是所有这些都被灵魂以我们永远无法解释的方式触碰过——"当刻耳柏洛斯从书堆里开火时，他被切断了。
“Hostile enemy movement!” the robot shouted, spraying green bolts and a sheet of fire through the shelves. Carrion turned, strafing as well. I fired wildly, hoping to hit something... anything... that might be a threat. For ten seconds the room was an explosion of gunfire.
"敌对运动!"机器人大叫着，绿色的螺栓和一片火焰从架子上喷射而出。腐尸转过身，也在扫射。我疯狂地开枪，希望能打中什么东西...任何...可能是威胁的东西。有十秒钟，房间里传来一阵枪声。
“Stop! Stop! Cease fire!” I yelled, and one by one guns stopped firing. Three rows of shelving lay in heaps. Some of the objects were broken. Some were utterly untouched. We all stared at the devastation we’d wrought against some simple wooden shelves. The fires ignited by Cerberus’s flamer dwindled before my eyes, then went dark.
"住手！住手！停火!"我喊道，一个接一个的枪声停止了。三排搁板堆在一起。有些东西被打碎了。有些完全没有受到影响。我们都盯着我们对一些简单的木架造成的破坏。冥府守门狗点燃的火焰在我眼前逐渐熄灭，然后渐渐熄灭。
Behind us, a music box began to play. I knew the melody perfectly; my mane stood on end as I turned to stare at the tiny porcelain box with two dancing figurines slowly turning above it. Hush now, quiet now... I licked my lips, staring at it in apprehension. “Okay. Who turned that on?” No one spoke. My magic glowed and I turned the little lever at the side to off.
在我们身后，一个音乐盒开始演奏。我对这首歌的旋律了如指掌，我的鬃毛直立着，转过身来凝视着那个小小的陶瓷盒子，上面有两个翩翩起舞的小雕像在慢慢地旋转。现在安静了，现在安静了......我舔了舔嘴唇，恐惧地盯着它。"好吧。谁把它打开了?"没有人说话。我的魔法发光了，我把侧面的小控制杆关掉了。
It didn’t turn off. It began to scream; not a scream like I could hear with my ears. This was like the wail of Enervation; the hysterical scream was in my head. Toys rocked. Books fluttered their pages. Dozens of voices babbled all at once.
它没有关闭。它开始尖叫，不是我耳朵能听到的尖叫。这就像是一声失望的哀号;歇斯底里的尖叫在我的脑海里回响。玩具很震撼。书页抖动着。几十个声音同时发出低沉的声音。
“Shut the fuck up already!” Psychoshy screamed and she swept her hoof over the shelf, knocking the music box and some of the other objects to the floor beyond.
"他妈的给我闭嘴!""疯子"尖叫起来，她把蹄子从架子上踢了过去，把音乐盒和其他一些东西都踢到了远处的地上。
“No!” Shears shouted.
"不!"舍尔斯喊道。
“Why not! What the fuck are they going to do? Rock at me?” the yellow pegasus yelled.
"为什么不呢！他们到底要干什么？对我摇滚?"黄色飞马号叫道。
Suddenly a swath of silk shot off the shelf and coiled once around her throat, once around a metal support beam, and yanked tight. The pegasus went silent, eyes bulging as her hooves clawed at the silk swath. Her legs lifted up, kicking out at the air as she struggled to get free. Rampage moved up on one side,
突然，一条丝线从架子上射了下来，盘绕在她的喉咙上，一次绕在一根金属支撑梁上，然后猛地拉紧。飞马沉默了，眼睛突出，她的蹄子在丝带上撕扯。她的腿抬起来，踢向空中，挣扎着想要挣脱。横冲直撞在一边上升
ripping at the silk with her hoofclaws in a desperate attempt to try and cut through it. An umbrella opened, rolled to face me, then closed with a snap, launching itself and plunging into my neck. I gasped and fell back against the shelf, blood spurting from the hole as the umbrella thrashed wildly.
用蹄爪撕裂丝绸，拼命试图切断它。一把伞打开，滚到我面前，然后啪的一声合上，伞自己飞起来，插进我的脖子里。我倒吸了一口气，倒在架子上，雨伞剧烈地拍打着，血从洞里喷了出来。
I wasn’t the only one in trouble. Carrion had a teddy bear latched onto his face that seemed to be trying to crush his skull. Xanthe curled up in a ball as four floating boots slammed and stomped on her. A cowpony hat had forced itself over Nurse Graves’s head and seemed to be trying to twist it completely off. Meanwhile, a floating screwdriver was doing its best to try and take Cerberus apart as it dodged and stabbed and spun. One of Cerberus’s eyes popped free, dangling by a cable. “Oh, you are going to pay for that, you subversive tool of zebra domination!”
我不是唯一一个有麻烦的人。一只泰迪熊抓住了腐尸的脸，好像要砸碎他的头盖骨。赞斯蜷缩成一个球，四只漂浮的靴子砰地一声踩在她身上。一顶牛仔帽压在格雷夫斯护士的头上，似乎要把它完全扭下来。与此同时，一把浮动的螺丝刀正竭尽全力试图将刻耳柏洛斯分开，因为它躲开了，刺伤了，旋转了。地狱犬的一只眼睛伸出来，悬挂在一根缆绳上。"哦，你会为此付出代价的，你这个颠覆性的斑马统治工具!"
I got my hooves around the umbrella as it closed, but then it opened with unbelievable force and drove its spike even deeper, forcing me onto my back as if a strong stallion was pushing with every bit of his strength. Finally, it snapped closed again, and I moved as quickly as I could to shove the handle into the narrow gap between the shelves and the floor. As it tried to open, I yanked back and pulled the metal tip from my neck. The umbrella thrashed, making the heavy shelves rock as it struggled to free itself. I pressed my hooves to my neck as blood began to gush, hoping I could regenerate fast enough not to bleed out.
雨伞合上的时候，我用蹄子挡住了它，但是雨伞以难以置信的力量打开了，把它的钉子插得更深了，迫使我仰面朝天，好像一匹强壮的种马正在用尽全力推着我。最后，它啪的一声又合上了，我用最快的速度把把手推进了架子和地板之间的狭窄缝隙。当它试图打开的时候，我猛地向后一拉，把金属尖从我的脖子上拔了出来。雨伞不停地拍打着，使得沉重的架子在挣扎着挣脱时摇晃起来。当血液开始涌出时，我把蹄子压在脖子上，希望自己能够尽快再生，不至于失血过多而死。
Lacunae’s shield did nothing to protect her from a pair of ghostly shears jabbing at her and snipping out lines of flesh. Stygius ignored the music box slamming into his helmet as he scraped and fought to free the struggling Psychoshy. Shears and Silver Spoon had managed to get Graves’s head free of the twisting hat, which now swung down, beating and smacking at the three with brutal force. I never wanted to believe somepony could die from being hit with a piece of clothing, but the cowpony hat was definitely making an effort.
空隙的盾牌没有保护她免受一对幽灵般的大剪刀刺向她并剪断她身上的肉。斯提吉乌斯无视掉进头盔里的音乐盒，他奋力挣扎，试图解救这个苦苦挣扎的精神病患者。剪刀和银勺成功地把格雷夫斯的头从扭曲的帽子中解脱出来，帽子现在向下摆动，用残忍的力量击打着三个人。我从来没有想过会有小马被一件衣服打死，但是牛仔帽确实在努力。
I rose, moving to try and help Psychoshy, when one of her power hooves lashed out and blasted me straight in the face. I flew clear through the shelf, sending splinters of wood everywhere, crashed through the next, and landed in a heap. I struggled to keep conscious, trying to shake off the disorientation. Blood trickled out my nostrils and ears as I lay there. Well, at least she hadn’t shot me! Still, I really couldn’t do much besides lie there and regenerate a little.
我站了起来，试着去帮助"心理害羞"，这时她的一只强有力的蹄子猛击了我的脸，正中我的脸。我飞快地穿过书架，把木头的碎片弄得到处都是，然后撞在另一个书架上，落成一堆。我努力保持清醒，试图摆脱迷失方向。当我躺在那里的时候，血从我的鼻孔和耳朵里流了出来。至少她没朝我开枪！尽管如此，除了躺在那里再生一点之外，我真的无能为力。
Then I saw a suit of strange light recon barding slip off a shelf. It trotted towards
然后我看到一套奇怪的光侦察装从架子上滑了下来。它一路小跑着朝我走来
me, limp and swaying as if caught in a wind. I struggled to rise, but it didn’t attack. I slowly lifted my head towards it, and it pointed its sleeve towards the corner of the room.
我，软弱无力，摇摆不定，好像被风卷走了。我挣扎着站起来，但它没有攻击我。我慢慢地抬起头，它的袖子指向房间的角落。
I looked over at where Stygius was trying to flicker flash away, disappearing and reappearing in place. It was clear that he couldn’t take Psychoshy with him. His own teleportation, while functional in the dampening field, wasn’t like Lacunae’s.
我看着冥河试图闪烁闪过的地方，消失又重新出现在原地。很明显，他不能带着心理害羞一起走。他自己的心灵传输虽然在抑制能量场中起作用，却不像Lacunae的那样。
“The silk,” I choked out, tasting blood. “Styg! The silk!”
"丝绸,"我哽咽着，尝到了血的味道。"斯泰格！丝绸!"
He looked back at me, then grabbed the scarlet cloth cutting so far into Psychoshy’s neck that I wondered if it was trying to decapitate her instead of just strangle. With a flash he disappeared, taking the silk cloth with him, and the yellow mare collapsed into Rampage’s hooves, coughing and spluttering for air. The red cloth immediately snapped out of his hooves and looped around his throat. A flash and he disappeared before it could draw tight. Again and again it sliced through the air, trying to catch him in a loop of fabric.
他回头看了我一眼，然后抓住那块红布，把它深深地扎进了精神病害羞的脖子里，我怀疑它是不是想把她斩首，而不是直接勒死。一瞬间，他带着丝绸消失了，那匹黄色的母马猛地倒在地上，不停地咳嗽，呼吸着空气。那块红布立刻从他的蹄子里啪地一声折出来，绕在他的喉咙上。一道闪光，还没来得及拉近，他就消失了。它一次又一次地在空中飞来飞去，试图抓住他。
Lacunae blasted the floating scissors with her horn, but aside from knocking them spinning away from her, did no damage to them. Her horn flared as she struggled to keep them away as she shouted, “We have to get out of here!” Then a hoofball whizzed through the air and smashed her upside her face, deflecting to crash into the back of Rampage’s head. From there it rocketed straight at me. I raised my hooves, popped my fingers free, and caught the oval brown ball. It spun so hard in my acid-etched grip that I smelled burnt rubber before it finally halted and tried to launch itself away again.
空隙用她的号角敲打着漂浮的剪刀，但除了把它们打飞之外，对它们没有什么损害。她大声喊道:"我们必须离开这里!"然后一个蹄球在空中呼啸而过，打在了她的脸上，偏转了方向，击中了狂暴的后脑勺。从那里它直冲向我。我抬起我的蹄子，伸出我的手指，抓住了椭圆形的棕色球。它在我酸蚀的抓地力下猛烈旋转，我闻到了烧焦的橡胶味，最后停了下来，试图再次发射。
The barding waved again and pointed to the corner once more. “This way!” I croaked, staggering in the direction that the suit had indicated. If it was leading us into a trap, it couldn’t be any worse. Carrion’s miniguns sprayed blindly as the teddy bear worked its little arms into his eye sockets. “Rampage!” I pointed at Carrion.
条子又挥了挥手，又指向那个角落。"这边!"我用嘶哑的声音，摇摇晃晃地朝那套衣服指示的方向走去。如果它把我们引入了一个陷阱，那也不会比这更糟了。当泰迪熊把小胳膊伸进眼窝时，小腐尸们盲目地喷着水。"横冲直撞!"我指着卡里昂。
“Good thing you’re already ugly!” the mare shouted as she charged and smashed her hoof into his face with a crunching sound. His deformed features twisted grotesquely as Rampage hooked her claws around the bear and pulled. With a grind of bone and a ripping of skin and feathers, she pulled the teddy bear free. It struggled, wiggling its ghoul-eye-gunk-covered plush arms at her as its mouth
"还好你已经很丑了!"母马一边大声叫着，一边用蹄子踩他的脸，发出嘎吱嘎吱的声音。他畸形的五官怪异地扭曲着，狂暴的爪子勾住了熊，用力拉。经过骨头的磨碎，皮肤和羽毛的撕裂，她把泰迪熊拉了出来。它挣扎着，用它那覆盖着食尸鬼眼睛的黏糊糊的毛绒手臂当作嘴巴对着她摆动
opened and closed silently, but a ghostly voice screamed in rage in my mind. “This way,” she said as she looped her tail around his neck and guided the griffin towards me.
静静地打开又关上，但是一个幽灵般的声音在我的脑海里愤怒地尖叫着。"这边,"她一边说，一边把尾巴绕在它的脖子上，把狮鹫引向我。
Xanthe lifted her forehooves to run, and the boots attacking her suddenly reversed, putting themselves on the ends of her forelegs. “Oh no...” she whimpered as they yanked her up, and the other two jammed themselves on her back legs. “Help me!” she screamed as the boots yanked her to her hooves and send her galloping straight at a solid cinder block wall!
赞斯抬起前蹄奔跑，攻击她的那双靴子突然倒转过来，踩在她前腿的两端。"哦，不......"当他们把她拉起来的时候，她呜咽着说，另外两个人挤在她的后腿上。"救救我!"她尖叫着，靴子把她猛拉到她的蹄子上，让她直接飞驰在坚实的煤渣砖墙上！
Lacunae levitated the zebra, her hooves racing in midair. I brought out my sword and ran over to her. There was no clean or nice way to do this. I dropped into S.A.T.S., targeted her closest hoof, and said a little prayer to Celestia that I wasn’t about to make her a stub. The spell executed a single stroke that bit into the boot’s leather. A moment later I heard a sharp cry from the boot as the leather parted in a gash a few inches long, and instantly all four boots jerked off her legs and scampered towards the far side of the storage room.
空隙使斑马悬浮起来，她的蹄子在半空中奔跑。我拿出我的剑向她跑去。没有干净或好的方法来做到这一点。我降落在s.a.t.s，瞄准了她最近的蹄子，对塞莱斯蒂安说了一句祷告，我不会给她做一个存根。这个咒语一下子就击中了靴子的皮革。过了一会儿，我听到靴子里传出一声尖叫，皮革裂开了一道几英寸长的口子，四只靴子立刻从她的腿上抽动起来，奔向储藏室的另一边。
I looked at the sword, and then a manic grin spread across my face as I sliced it at the cowpony hat. It took a swipe at me, but I nicked the brim. The hat gave a similar shriek and at once backed off as if caught in a gust of ethereal wind. The red scarf stopped trying to choke Stygius and instead looped itself around the next closest pony, wrapping itself around her neck and crushing her throat!
我看着那把剑，狂躁的笑容在我脸上蔓延开来，我用牛仔帽切开了它。它狠狠地打了我一下，但我把帽沿划破了。帽子也发出了类似的尖叫声，马上退开了，好像被一阵飘渺的风吹走了。红围巾不再试图勒住斯提格留斯的脖子，而是将自己缠绕在第二近的小马身上，缠住了她的脖子，掐住了她的喉咙！
Nurse Graves gave a slightly annoyed look at the silk around her neck and trotted in the direction of the corner of the room. A door had been pushed open, and we were slowly making our way out one by one. Now that they could be hurt, the cursed items were keeping their distance, though I did have the surreal experience of dueling with the floating screwdriver as I gave Cerberus a chance to withdraw with his bolts intact. I was last through the door in the corner, pulling it tight behind me as the objects started to rally.
格雷夫斯护士有点不耐烦地看了看脖子上的丝绸，然后朝房间角落的方向跑去。一扇门被推开了，我们慢慢地一个接一个地走出去。现在他们可能受伤了，这些被诅咒的东西保持着他们的距离，尽管我确实有过与浮动螺丝刀决斗的超现实体验，因为我给了刻耳柏洛斯一个机会，完好无损地取出螺栓。我是最后一个穿过角落里那扇门的，随着物体开始反弹，我把门紧紧地拉在身后。
The next room had the same cold feeling as the first, but instead of shelves, this room had ten smashed display cases with a broken modeling dummy in each. From a tiny gem fixed into the top of each case shone a cone of cool, stark light that illuminated their naked ponnequin occupants. I looked at Nurse Graves and the silk swath that was trying to choke her to death. “You know, that’s not going to work. She doesn’t need to breathe.” The ends of the scarf seemed to flutter in frustration. Nurse Graves looked at me coolly, arching her brow as her neck
隔壁房间有着和第一个房间一样的寒冷感觉，但是这个房间没有货架，而是有十个打碎的陈列柜，每个陈列柜里都有一个破损的模型人偶。从固定在每个箱子顶部的一块小宝石上射出一束清凉而明亮的光线，照亮了他们裸体的ponnequin住户。我看着格雷夫斯护士，看着那条试图把她勒死的丝带。"你知道，这是行不通的。她不需要呼吸。"围巾的两端似乎因受挫而颤抖着。格雷夫斯护士冷冷地看着我，扬起眉毛，把脖子当作脖子
indented. I floated the sword towards the silk. “Now, let her go or we’ll find out just how sharp my sword really is.”
缩进的。我把剑漂向丝绸。"现在，放开她，否则我们就会知道我的剑到底有多锋利了。"
The silk released her and floated in the air a moment.
丝绸把她松开，在空中飘了一会儿。
And then coiled tightly around the handle of my blade!
然后紧紧地缠绕在我的刀柄上！
With a great wrench, it pulled the blade around and began to slice wildly at us. I jumped into the path of the razor sharp edge, the steel biting into my metal limbs and actually cutting through the exterior. I popped out my fingers, grabbing the blade as my horn struggled to control the deadly weapon. Three different colors of magic danced on the blade as we struggled for control. The metal scraped and gouged my fingers, the steel giving way to the sword’s edge as it pushed me back until I smacked into one of the empty display cases. Then the blade began slipping through my grip.
随着一个巨大的扳手，它把刀刃拉了回来，然后开始疯狂地向我们撕扯。我跳进刀锋锋利的路径，钢铁咬进我的金属肢体，实际上切穿了外部。我伸出我的手指，抓住刀片，我的角挣扎着控制致命的武器。当我们努力控制的时候，三种不同颜色的魔法在刀刃上跳舞。那块金属刮伤了我的手指，把我推回去的时候，那块金属在我的手指上留下了深深的伤痕，直到我撞到了一个空的展示柜上。然后刀片开始从我的手中滑落。
“My magic can’t get a grip on it!” Shears shouted. “That sword wants to kill!”
"我的魔法抓不住它!"舍尔斯喊道。"那把剑想杀人!"
The tip began to work its way through the chestplate of my barding. Then I felt it prick my skin. Then it slowly pushed into me, even as my fingers clamped down as hard as possible. Rampage threw her hooves around the hilt and started to pull, but it made no difference. I assumed every iota of the spirit possessing the cloth was focused on taking a life like hers had been taken.
小尖儿开始钻进我帐篷的板子里。然后我感到它刺痛了我的皮肤。然后它慢慢地挤进我的身体，即使我的手指尽可能用力地夹紧。狂暴把她的蹄子绕过刀柄，开始拉，但是没有什么区别。我以为拥有这块布的每一个灵魂都在专注于夺取一个像她那样的生命。
“Damn it, Petunia! I didn’t kill you!” I shouted. Was it just me, or did the sword stop pushing? I had no idea if she could understand me or not, but it was the only chance I had. “I’m sorry you died! It was wrong. But killing me won’t bring you back or change anything!” I closed my eyes, the blade humming under my fingers. “Please. Tell me you were a good pony once. Be a good pony now.”
"该死，佩妮！我没有杀你!"我喊道。是我的错觉，还是剑停止推动了？我不知道她是否能理解我，但这是我唯一的机会。"你死了我很难过！这是错误的。但是杀了我不会让你回来，也不会改变任何事情!"我闭上眼睛，刀片在我的手指下嗡嗡作响。"求你了。告诉我你曾经是一匹好马。现在做一匹好马吧。"
The blade suddenly reversed and went flying out of Rampage’s grasp as the cloth uncoiled around the grip. The crimson cloth unfurled, hanging in the air in a shape as if it were an anguished mare’s face. Then it disappeared back under the door into the storeroom.
刀片突然倒转，当布料解开缠在刀柄上的盘绕时，狂暴的暴徒抓不住刀片，刀片飞出了刀柄。深红色的衣服展开，悬在空中，形状像一张痛苦的母马的脸。然后它又消失在进入储藏室的门底下。
I lay there for one second, staring at the bottom of the door, then finally flopped over on my side with a groan. “That’s it. I give up. Hightower wins,” I declared feebly. “Killer possessed silk is where I draw the line.” Psychoshy was curled up, concentrating on breathing as Graves and Stygius tended to her. Lacunae’s wounds seemed to be healing before my very eyes. Radiation did an alicorn
我在那里躺了一秒钟，盯着门底部，最后呻吟着倒在我身边。"就是这样。我放弃了。海托华赢了,"我无力地宣布。"杀手拥有丝绸是我的底线。"当格雷夫斯和斯蒂吉乌斯照顾她的时候,"心理害羞"蜷缩着身体，集中精力呼吸。空隙的伤口似乎在我眼前愈合了。辐射杀死了一只孤角兽
good.
很好。
“Too bad the giant killer ooze monster, the room of cursed toys, and a thousand hissing ferals are between us and the way back,” Rampage said as she knelt beside me.
"太糟糕了，巨大的杀手渗出怪物，房间里的诅咒玩具，和一千嘶嘶的野兽之间的我们和回来的路,"她说，她跪在我身边。
“I need some Cram. And rubies. And scrap metal,” I said with a groan. “Please tell me we’re somewhere safe for five minutes.”
"我需要补习。还有红宝石。还有废金属,"我呻吟着说。"请告诉我，我们在某个安全的地方待了五分钟。"
“You tell me?” Rampage replied as she turned and pointed at the suit of light gray barding sitting in the corner. It shrunk back, hiding behind one of the smashed display cases and peeking out at me. It had to be one of the oddest suits I’d ever seen. It looked to be mostly black but had a luminous white chestpiece and strange white circuitry stripes along the side.
"你告诉我?"狂暴回答道，她转过身来，指着坐在角落里的那套浅灰色的盔甲。它缩了回来，躲在一个打碎的展示柜后面，向我窥视。这肯定是我见过的最奇怪的衣服之一。它看起来大部分是黑色的，但是有一个明亮的白色胸部和奇怪的白色电路边条纹。
“Are you okay?” I asked, feeling slightly odd talking to a suit. What counted as ‘okay’ to a soul jar suit of barding?
"你还好吗?"我问道，对着一套西装说话，感觉有点奇怪。对于一套灵魂罐装的讨价还价来说，什么算是"还好"呢？
It reached down to a small speaker on its belt and there was a hiss, and then a synthetic mare’s voice said, “Combat ended. No healing or chems needed.”
它伸手到腰带上的一个小喇叭前，发出嘶嘶声，然后一个合成母马的声音说:"战斗结束了。不需要治疗或药物。"
“Oh, you can talk?” I asked, and the suit shook its head.
"哦，你会说话?"我问，西装男摇了摇头。
“That’s all. You’re my best friend forever. Sneaking now, shhhhhh,” the suit said seemingly at random. Xanthe slowly crept closer to get a better look.
"仅此而已。你永远是我最好的朋友。鬼鬼祟祟的，嘘,"制服男看似随意地说。黄丝慢慢地靠近，想看得更清楚些。
“Oh, you can only say things that suit has programed into it?” I asked, and the collar of the suit went up and down as if nodding.
"哦，你只能说那些符合程序的东西?"我问，衣服的领子上下摆动，好像在点头。
“Is that a...” Xanthe began, then glanced at me nervously before looking at the strange barding. “I think it’s a zebra infiltration suit.” Then she looked up at me. “But... they’re supposed to self-destruct if they’re ever removed from the wearer without the proper tools and procedures!” Then the zebra drew back and muttered, “And why is it speaking in Pony?” The suit shook its... collar.
"那是一个.....。。」桑特开始说，然后紧张地看了我一眼，然后又看了看那个奇怪的帐篷。"我想这是一件斑马潜水服。"然后她抬头看着我。"但是......如果没有适当的工具和程序就把它们从佩戴者身上拿走，它们就会自毁!"然后斑马后退，喃喃自语,"为什么它在用小马说话?"这套衣服的领子抖动了一下。
“We didn’t remove her from it.” Shears glanced at the infiltration suit, and it shrank back. “Naturally, the zebras were curious about what we were doing here. But one, at least, never reported back. Rarity, of course, always the designer, attempted some modifications to her suit,” he said as he rose to his hooves, looking at the other display cases. “But this was Eternity’s first failure. The soul
"我们没有让她离开。"舍尔斯扫了一眼潜水服，它缩了回去。"自然，斑马对我们在这里干什么感到好奇。但至少有一个人没有回复。当然，稀有总是设计师，试图对她的服装进行一些修改,"他一边说，一边站起来，看着其他的陈列柜。"但这是永生公司的第一次失败。灵魂
armor. Creating invulnerable, eternally powerful armor with a complete soul bound within.” He looked at the armor with disappointment. “We assumed that, without a mind, a soul was just... a thing. Something special that made a pony a pony, or a griffin a griffin. When we transferred a complete soul to an object, however, it began to manifest... peculiar powers. Even brushing a soul could bestow strange effects on the tool.” He looked back at me. “Worse, the soul within could affect the mind of the wearer.”
盔甲。创造无懈可击、永远强大的盔甲，内心有一个完整的灵魂。"他失望地看着盔甲。"我们认为，没有思想，灵魂只是......一种东西。使小马变成小马，狮鹫变成狮鹫的特殊东西。然而，当我们把一个完整的灵魂转移到一个物体上时，它开始显现出......特殊的力量。即使是擦拭灵魂也会给这个工具带来奇怪的效果。"他回头看着我。"更糟糕的是，里面的灵魂会影响佩戴者的思想。"
“What?” I asked as I looked from him to the armor.
"什么?"我一边问，一边把目光从他身上移开。
“The wearers would feel uncomfortable. Watched. They’d exhibit personality changes, growing closer to the captive soul,” Shears said quietly as he circled the armor. “And since most of the souls we used were maximum security prisoners…”
"佩戴者会感到不舒服。看着。他们会表现出性格的改变，越来越接近被俘虏的灵魂,"舍尔斯一边绕着盔甲一边平静地说。"由于我们使用的大部分灵魂都是最高安全级别的囚犯......"
“You created monsters,” I finished. Carrion’s crippled face was slowly pulling itself together, but I had no idea if that was from healing magic or radiation.
"你创造了怪物,"我说完。腐尸那张残疾的脸慢慢恢复了正常，但我不知道那是治疗魔法还是辐射。
Shears nodded. “I think that that can be summed up as ‘Oopsie’,” Rampage said.
舍尔斯点点头。"我认为这可以概括为'Oopsie',"Rampage说。
I counted the display cases. Eight total. “You’re saying that there are seven more suits of indestructible soul armor roaming around this place?”
我数了数陈列柜。一共八个。"你是说还有七套不可摧毁的灵魂盔甲在这里游荡?"
“Yes. I suppose so,” Shears replied.
"是的。我想是的,"舍尔斯回答。
“But... why didn’t you use them?” I asked, and everything went white again.
"但是......你为什么不用呢?"我问道，然后一切又变成了白色。
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
I heard Rarity’s voice and saw a pristine suit of combat barding on a charred corpse. “Test one... armor failed to protect from enemy flamer.” The same combat barding on an intact corpse, minus a hole through the stallion’s face. “Test two... armor failed to protect from enemy sniper.” A piece of gray combat armor with a helmet and completely intact faceplace. “Test three… armor failed to protect from crushing blows inflicted to throat.” The same armor, this time Rarity speaking with frustration. “Test four... armor failed to protect from poisoned rations!” A lacy purple gown with veil on a pink unicorn mare with a blackened face. “Test five... armor failed to protect from being garroted by her own scarf!” A smashed and broken stallion wearing a tuxedo. “Test six! Armor failed... again... to protect from being pushed out a window!” Finally, a suit of
我听到了罕有的声音，看到一具烧焦的尸体上穿着一身崭新的战斗服。"测试一...装甲未能抵御敌人的火焰。"同样的战斗在一具完整的尸体上进行，只是在种马的脸上少了一个洞。"测试二...装甲未能抵御敌人的狙击手。"一件带有头盔和完整面部位置的灰色战斗盔甲。"第三项测试......盔甲无法抵御对喉咙的致命打击。"同样的盔甲，这次罕见沮丧地说。"第四次测试......装甲没能抵御有毒的口粮!"一件带花边的紫色礼服，在粉红色的独角兽母马上戴上面纱，脸部变黑。"测试五......盔甲没能保护她不被自己的围巾勒死!"一匹破碎的种马穿着无尾晚礼服。"第六项测试！装甲部队再次失败了......没能保护自己不被推出窗外!"最后，一套
dirty power armor. Rarity’s voice was now tired and frayed. “Test Seven... armor failed... to protect... when buried alive... in a landslide...”
肮脏的动力装甲。现在，罕有的声音疲倦而疲惫。"测试七...装甲失败...保护...当活埋...在山崩..."
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
The recording faded and my vision returned to normal. “The armor didn’t do what Rarity wanted,” Shears explained. “What she needed was armor to keep the occupant safe. Just like how Applejack was inspired to create power armor after the death of Big Macintosh, Rarity was inspired to create a flawless form of protection for herself and her friends. Some foolproof method of defense.”
录音消失了，我的视力恢复了正常。"这件盔甲没有达到罕有的要求,"舍尔斯解释说。"她需要的是保护乘客安全的盔甲。就像苹果杰克是如何启发后创造力量盔甲大麦金塔死亡，稀有的启发是创造一个完美的形式保护自己和她的朋友。一些万无一失的防御方法。"
“But her tests failed,” I replied, and I got the feeling I’d surprised him. “Even if she could make armor to protect from bullets, there would always be a way for somepony to kill the wearer.”
"但是她的测试失败了,"我回答，我感觉我让他吃了一惊。"即使她可以制造防弹盔甲，也总有办法让小马杀死穿戴者。"
“How could you know that?” Shears breathed. I didn’t answer. Really, considering how often I saw things nopony else did, there wasn’t much point. Then he composed himself and went on. “Yes. When we first created the armor it seemed perfect. Invulnerable, and it seemed to go out of its way to protect its wearer. But then we moved on to field testing and began to notice inexplicable accidents. Soldiers blundering into ambushes. Thoughts of suicide or murder. They were relatively rare and hard to pin down as coming from the armor... but regardless, they were unacceptable.”
"你怎么知道的?"舍尔斯喘了口气。我没有回答。真的，考虑到我经常看到别人做的事情，那就没什么意义了。然后他冷静下来，继续说下去。"是的。当我们第一次制造盔甲的时候，它看起来很完美。它是刀枪不入的，而且似乎是为了保护它的佩戴者。但后来我们开始进行现场测试，并开始注意到一些无法解释的事故。士兵们冒失地进入埋伏。自杀或谋杀的念头。它们相对稀少，很难确定是来自盔甲......但无论如何，它们都是不可接受的。"
I rubbed my hooves as the repair and healing talismans slowly worked their magic on me. “So what happened then? What did Rarity do?” I asked.
我擦着我的蹄子，因为修复和治疗的护身符慢慢地在我身上起了作用。""那么，后来发生了什么？稀有做了什么?"我问道。
“She locked up her failures and moved on to plan B--” Shears began, but Psychoshy flew over us and interrupted.
"她把自己的失败封存起来，继续执行b计划——"舍尔斯开始说，但是"心理害羞"从我们头顶飞过，打断了我们。
“Hey. Tick tick, remember? Or click click click. As cool as ghouls are, I really don’t want to be one!” the yellow pegasus said. I looked over at where Nurse Graves and Lacunae were administering healing and more pouches of RadAway to those who needed it. Carrion was sitting next to them, his eyes already regrowing and his face twisting back into shape. Hopefully he was using some sort of healing magic, because if the radiation was that strong...
"嘿。滴答滴答，记得吗？或者点击点击。尽管食尸鬼很酷，但我真的不想成为食尸鬼!"黄飞马说。我看了看格雷夫斯护士和拉库尼护士正在施行治疗的地方，还给那些需要治疗的人送去了更多的拉达威。腐尸坐在他们旁边，他的眼睛已经重新长出来了，他的脸也恢复了原来的形状。希望他是在使用某种治疗魔法，因为如果辐射那么强..。
“Right. We should get moving,” I murmured.
"对。我们该走了,"我低声说。
“Wait! What about her?” Xanthe asked, gesturing to the possessed infiltration
"等等！她怎么了?"桑特问道，指着那些被附身的渗透者
suit. “We can’t just leave her.”
西装。"我们不能丢下她不管。"
I looked back at the others and then at the infiltration suit. Her? “Um... I’m not a zebra, but doesn’t possessed armor count above a 9.0 on the standard scale of curses?”
我回头看了看其他人，然后又看了看渗透服。她？"嗯......我不是斑马，但是拥有的盔甲不会超过标准咒语等级的9.0吧?"
Xanthe chewed her lip a moment and cast her eyes downward. “I’ve been touched by the Star Maiden... I don’t think I can get any more cursed than that.” Then she looked at the zebra armor. “At least this way I won’t be cursed alone.”
赞丝咬了咬嘴唇，眼睛向下看。"我被星女感动了......我想我再也受不了这样的诅咒了。"然后她看了看斑马盔甲。"至少这样我就不会孤独地被诅咒了。"
“Well... it’s your call. But if the armor possesses you...” I said in worry. The armor had helped us get out of the other room; I wasn’t terribly worried about it being evil... but still.
"好吧......你说了算。若是甲胄附在你身上......"我忧虑地说。盔甲帮助我们逃出了另一个房间;我并不是特别担心它是邪恶的......但仍然。
“If it does, I am already damned,” she said in a near whisper. I couldn’t help myself; I gave her an impulsive hug that made the zebra go rigid. I supposed getting a hug from the most evil being in your mythology might be a little disconcerting. The poor zebra certainly looked uncomfortable as I released her. She removed the hazmat suit, and the infiltration suit immediately opened up. A minute later it zipped up completely, latching itself in place.
"如果是这样，我已经被诅咒了,"她用近乎耳语的声音说。我情不自禁地给了她一个冲动的拥抱，让斑马僵硬了起来。我猜想从你的神话中最邪恶的人那里得到一个拥抱可能会有点令人不安。当我放开这只可怜的斑马时，它看起来一定很不舒服。她脱下防护服，渗透服立刻打开了。一分钟后，它完全拉上了拉链，把自己锁在原地。
“You’re my new best friend,” the armor chirped, making the zebra mare actually blush. The black and white armor was just tight enough for her to pull the hazmat suit back on over it.
"你是我新交的最好的朋友,"盔甲叽叽喳喳地说，弄得斑马脸都红了。黑白相间的装甲刚好够她穿上防护服。
“Okay! Which way up?” I asked as I looked over at Shears. He pointed towards the far end of the room where there was another door; this one had been kicked open. Stairs led in the direction we wanted. Leading the way with shotgun and sword, I ascended.
"好吧！哪条路上去?"我边问边看着舍尔斯。他指向房间的另一头，那里有另一扇门，这扇门是被踢开的。楼梯通向我们想去的方向。我带着猎枪和剑，一路向上。
Rampage hummed softly behind me, singing to herself, “Nothing can stop... the smooze...” I glared back at her, and she blinked then gave a grin in return.
狂暴在我身后轻轻地哼着歌，对自己唱道:"没有什么能阻止......那个吻......"我瞪着她，她眨眨眼，然后咧嘴一笑作为回报。
The door at the top of the stairs had also been kicked out and opened to a charred library. Blackened books occupied scorched shelves; probably a good indication they weren’t going to start flying and trying to kill us. The far side of the library was lit with a ghostly blue glow that flickered and danced through blackened windows. Slowly, we walked through the stacks towards it. As we did, we spotted the flickering blue flames burning on the concrete floor in little hoof-sized puddles. Their tongues danced and writhed, making my PipBuck spike
楼梯顶上的门也被踢开了，打开的是一个烧焦的图书馆。被熏黑的书籍占据着被烧焦的书架，这可能是一个很好的迹象，表明他们不会开始飞行并试图杀死我们。图书馆的另一边被幽灵般的蓝色光芒照亮，光芒在昏暗的窗户中闪烁跳跃。慢慢地，我们穿过书架朝它走去。正当我们这样做的时候，我们发现了闪烁的蓝色火焰燃烧在水泥地面上的小蹄子大小的水坑。他们的舌头跳动着，扭动着，弄得我的皮伯克长钉
with every flare. The heat wasn’t like that from a fire; I could almost swear I could feel it moving through me.
每一颗照明弹。我几乎可以发誓，我能感觉到它正在穿过我的身体。
Far worse, though, was the screaming.
然而更糟糕的是尖叫声。
It wasn’t just the unnerving trill of Enervation. Hundreds of undead throats howled in rage. Hooves beat against bars. Some of them screamed words in the distance. They pleaded to be released, bellowed insults, cried out in pain or for help, and snarled threats. And under it all was the banging and hammering of thousands of hooves on hundreds of bars.
这不仅仅是令人不安的颤音。数以百计的不死生物怒吼着。马蹄撞击栏杆。有些人在远处尖叫着说话。他们恳求被释放，咆哮着进行侮辱，痛苦地大声呼救，咆哮着进行威胁。在它下面是成千上万只蹄子在成百上千的栅栏上敲打敲打的声音。
I walked to the library door and slowly pushed it open.
我走到图书馆门口，慢慢地推开门。
And stepped into Hell.
走进了地狱。
The vast central shaft of Hightower rose ten stories above me. Midway up, like a fiery dagger plunged into the heart of the structure, the missile jutted out into the middle of the space. Blue fire flew off the tip in volcanic eruptions that sprayed the sticky blue flame in glowing arcs. The unnatural blaze continued burning, no matter what it landed on, and the middle of the shaft was awash in a ring of radioactive fire. Inside every cell, blue-glowing shapes screamed and hammered against their restraints. Sentry robots rolled around the walkways, their metal bodies bent and warped by the tremendous heat.
海托华巨大的中央竖井在我上方十层楼高。中途，像一把燃烧的匕首刺入建筑物的心脏，导弹突出到空间的中央。在火山爆发时，蓝色的火焰从顶端飞出，喷射出粘稠的蓝色火焰，形成发光的弧线。不管火焰落在什么地方，反自然的火焰都在继续燃烧，并且竖井的中央被一圈放射性火焰冲刷着。在每个牢房里，发出蓝色光芒的形体在他们的束缚下尖叫着、敲打着。哨兵机器人在人行道上滚来滚去，它们的金属身体因巨大的热量而弯曲变形。
From above, six hovering robots like Cerberus dropped down. Each one had an oversized terminal screen on a swivel arm; the six moved their screens together to make one massive screen, which flashed to life, bathing us in cold blue light. A gargantuan charred face appeared, wreathed in blue flame as it glared down at us. From a dozen loudspeakers all around us boomed a crackling voice. “Hello, convicts. I am Warden Hobble, administrator for this facility, and your host for the duration of your sentence for crimes against Equestria. I look forward to making your stay here as... comfortable... as possible.” He gave a ragged, mocking laugh. “Welcome to the Tower!”
从上面，六个像刻耳柏洛斯这样的悬停机器人掉了下来。每个人的手臂上都有一个超大号的终端屏幕;六个人一起移动他们的屏幕，组成一个巨大的屏幕，它闪烁着生命的光芒，让我们沐浴在冰冷的蓝光中。一张巨大的被烧焦的脸出现了，蓝色的火焰环绕着它，它怒视着我们。从我们周围的十几个喇叭里传来一个劈啪作响的声音。"你们好，罪犯们。我是霍布尔典狱长，这个设施的管理员，也是你们因侵犯小马国而服刑期间的东道主。我期待着让你在这里尽可能地......舒适地......停留。"他发出刺耳的嘲弄的笑声。"欢迎来到伦敦塔!"
I stared up at that immense, burning leer on the screen for a moment, and then Psychoshy muttered, “He wasn’t in the plan either...”
我盯着屏幕上那个巨大的、燃烧着的斜眼看了一会儿，然后"心理害羞"喃喃自语道,"他也不在计划之中......"
 
Footnote: Level Twelve Reached.
脚注:达到十二级。
New Perk Added: Rad Resistance. 25% radiation resistance.
新帕金斯增加:拉德抵抗。25%抗辐射能力。
 
Author's Notes:
作者笔记:
(Author’s note: Believe it or not, this chapter was supposed to be only 30 pages or so... hopefully next chapter is brief. Cross your hooves. Anyway, I really would like to thank my editorial team this chapter. We had some hitches and problems, but I want all of you and them to know that without them Horizons wouldn’t be the story it is. So please stomp your hooves for Hinds, Bronode, and Snipehamster for devoting hours of their lives for months on end for making this story the best it can be. Also thanks to Kkat, of course, for creating FoE in the first place. Thanks for everypony who reads and leaves feedback on the forums. And lastly but not least, thank you ponies who slip bits in the tip jar so I can pay my bills. If anypony else would like to help support the author, tips go to David13ushey@gmail.com through paypal. Thank you again for sticking with me.) (OH! July 2nd is PH’s birthday. Send art to Seth. :P )
(作者注:信不信由你，这一章应该只有30页左右......希望下一章节很简短。交叉你的蹄子。不管怎样，我真的要感谢我的编辑团队。我们遇到了一些障碍和问题，但我希望你们所有人和他们都知道，没有他们，《地平线》就不会有今天的故事。所以，为了使这个故事尽善尽美，请为了母猪、支气管肺炎和沙漠地鼠，连续几个月奉献它们的生命。当然，还要感谢Kkat首先创建了地球之友。感谢每一个在论坛上阅读并留下反馈的小马。最后但并非最不重要的是，谢谢你们的小马，它们在小费罐里塞了一些小钱，这样我就可以付账单了。如果还有其他人想帮助支持作者，请通过贝宝登陆david13ushey@gmail.com。再次感谢你坚持和我在一起哦！7月2日是PH的生日。把艺术品寄给赛斯。:p)