“She might banish you from Equestria. Or throw you in a dungeon. Or banish you and then throw you in a dungeon in the place that she banishes you to!”
"她可能会把你赶出Equestria。或者把你扔进地牢。或者把你放逐，然后把你关进地牢，关在她放逐你的地方!"
Plans are good. You have a goal, and you think ahead of time of ways to obtain it. Obstacles to be overcome or circumvented. Things you’ll need. Planning is the mark of intelligent, thinking people who can predict troubles coming. And, certainly, things will come up that the plan will have to adapt to in order to survive, but good plans can change to overcome these little difficulties. Call it ‘plan evolution’.
计划是好的。你有一个目标，你提前想好了实现它的方法。需要克服或规避的障碍。你需要的东西。计划是聪明、有思想、能够预测麻烦来临的人的标志。当然，为了生存，计划必须适应一些事情的出现，但是好的计划可以通过改变来克服这些小困难。称之为计划进化。
Our plan was officially extinct, and as I looked up at those screens and into that immense charred face flickering with blue-green light, I knew that we were shortly to be just as dead as our scheme. The malformed sentry robots began to turn towards us in an irradiated army. I saw at least a half dozen turrets in every direction turning to blast us to ash. Thousands of ghouls screamed in mindless rage, thrashing to escape their restraints and butcher us all. Our only way out was through rooms full of possessed toys and killer slime.
我们的计划正式宣告失败，当我抬头看着那些屏幕，看着那张蓝绿色闪烁的巨大的烧焦的脸时，我知道我们很快就会像我们的计划一样死去。畸形的哨兵机器人开始组成一支受到辐射的军队向我们走来。我看到各个方向至少有六个炮塔要把我们炸成灰烬。成千上万的食尸鬼在无意识的愤怒中尖叫，挣扎着逃离他们的束缚，屠杀我们所有人。我们唯一的出路就是穿过满是着魔玩具和杀手粘液的房间。
We were quite absolutely and righteously fucked, and we all knew it. Everyone took postures to fight back against all the defenses the prison had to offer, resolved to fight even with little hope of surviving. Everyone except one pony.
我们完全理直气壮地被操了，我们都知道这一点。每个人都采取姿势反击监狱提供的所有防御，决心战斗，即使生存的希望渺茫。除了一匹小马。
“Warden Hobble!” Silver Spoon shouted up at the combined screens. Her own green luminescence began to flare from the radiation pouring down on us. “I’m Silver Spoon, with the M.o.M. I’m here to administer your annual inspection and evaluation. It’s, like, totally overdue!”
"霍布尔狱长!"银勺对着组合屏幕大声喊道。她自己发出的绿色荧光开始从倾泻在我们身上的辐射中闪耀出来。"我是m.o.m的银汤匙，我在这里负责你们的年度检查和评估。这简直是迟到了!"
Every single eye in our team turned to stare at the glowing ghoul as the cracked and blackened face scowled down at her. Hobble leaned forward till one blazing
我们队伍里的每一只眼睛都转过来盯着那个发光的食尸鬼，那张破裂的、发黑的脸向她皱着眉头。脚步蹒跚地向前探着身子，直到一阵火光冲天
eye filled the view. “Pardon?” he asked in a low, incredulous voice. Silver Spoon looked up at that immense eye and gulped, but she didn’t back down.
眼睛充满了视野。"什么?"他用一种低沉、怀疑的声音问道。银勺抬头看着那只大眼睛，咽了一口气，但她没有退缩。
“According to M.o.M. penal facility requirements, your performance must be evaluated every year. So, like, I’m here to give you one!” she yelled up as she stepped to the front of our group. One of the floating robot screens drifted down, the eye drawing back to a scowling face, shrinking to fit the single monitor as he glared at her. There was a flicker from some sort of gem on the machine’s arm, and a red beam waved back and forth over her face. In the corner of the monitor, an image of the mare in life appeared. I had to admit, she was definitely cute… and I’d like to think it was shock that had me thinking of such things at a time like this.
"根据m.o.m的惩罚性设施要求，你的表现必须每年进行评估。所以，就像，我在这里给你一个!"她一边走到我们前面，一边大喊。其中一个漂浮的机器人屏幕向下移动，眼睛缩回到一张愁眉苦脸的脸上，缩成一团以适应单一的显示器，他怒视着她。机器手臂上的某种宝石闪了一下，一道红光在她的脸上来回晃动。在监视器的角落里，出现了一幅生活中的母马的图像。我不得不承认，她确实很可爱......我愿意认为，在这样一个时刻，让我想到这些事情是令人震惊的。
“Silver Spoon? You… you’re here… to…?” His blazing eye widened, and the ghoul leaned back, frowning and muttering to himself before he said sarcastically, “Oh dear. I thought it’d been a while... My evaluation. Of course you’d pick now of all times.” His lips cracked and crumbled as he grinned extra wide, blue-green flames licking out from between his teeth. “I don’t suppose I could convince you to reschedule? We’re having a mild disturbance at the moment...”
"银汤匙？你......你来这儿......是......?"他怒目圆睁，食尸鬼向后靠着，皱着眉头，喃喃自语，然后讽刺地说:"哦，亲爱的。我以为已经过了一段时间了...我的评估。当然，你会选择现在。"他咧开嘴笑着，嘴唇裂开了，嘴里冒出蓝绿色的火焰，从他的牙缝里舔出来。""我想我不能说服你重新安排时间吧？我们现在遇到了一点小麻烦......"
“I’m afraid not, Warden Hobble. My fr-- er, inspection team and I shall, like, inspect your facility, and I will come to your office and discuss your evaluation, like, when it’s complete.” She gave a prim little nod, then glanced over at me. I mouthed ‘lift the lockdown’. Her eyes widened, and then she blurted, “If you could, like, totally lift the lockdown it’d make this whole thing totally easier.”
"恐怕不行，霍布尔狱长。我的视察小组和我会视察你们的设施，等你们的评估完成后，我会去你们的办公室讨论你们的评估。"她一本正经地点了点头，然后看了我一眼。我嘴里说着'解除封锁'。她的眼睛睁大了，然后她脱口而出,"如果你能，就像，完全解除封锁，这会使整个事情变得完全容易。"
“Lockdown?” He said the word like it was dirty. “Whatever do you mean? I run a tight ship, Miss Spoon. There’s no lockdown.” He put his melted hooves together on the desk before him. They’d deformed like stretched taffy on the ends of his limbs. “I’ll instruct the guards not to impede your… evaluation.” His screen turned towards Nurse Graves and the red beam flashed again. “Ah, and you have a guide already. The whistleblower.” He hissed the word with such malice that Graves took several steps back. The warden’s eyes returned to Spoon. “So long as you have your visitor passes, the automated security should ignore you and your inspection team.” His blue eyes narrowed as he chuckled low and slow. “I do hope you remembered to pick some up. Otherwise, best come back another time.” And with that the screen flashed off and the half dozen floating robots lifted into the air. The sentries returned to patrolling along the
"一级防范?"他说这个词的时候好像很脏似的。""什么意思？我管理得很严，斯普恩小姐。没有封锁。"他把融化的蹄子放在面前的桌子上。他们变形了，就像他四肢末端的太妃糖一样。"我会指示警卫不要妨碍你的...评估。"他的屏幕转向格雷夫斯护士，红光再次闪烁起来。"啊，你已经有一个向导了。告密者他发出嘶嘶的声音，满怀恶意，以致格雷夫斯后退了几步。监狱长的目光回到了斯普恩身上。"只要你有访客通行证，自动安检系统就不会理睬你和你的检查团队。"他的蓝眼睛眯起来，慢慢地低声笑了起来。"我希望你记得买一些回来。否则，最好下次再来。"随着屏幕的闪烁，六个漂浮的机器人升到了空中。哨兵们回去沿着大街巡逻
walkways.
人行道。
“That was brilliant, Silver Spoon!” I said, throwing my hooves around her and giving her a squishy hug. The ghoul blushed a brighter green and lowered her eyes; I suspected she didn’t get complimented on being smart very often. I quickly backed off, though; every bit of radiation in here added up.
"太棒了，银汤匙!"我一边说，一边用我的蹄子围着她，紧紧地拥抱着她。那个食尸鬼的脸涨得通红，眼睛低垂下来，我怀疑她不常因为聪明而受到恭维。不过我很快就放弃了，因为这里的每一点辐射都加起来了。
“I just thought, like, he might be like me and not know he’s... um... like...dead?” the mare suggested.
"我只是在想，他可能和我一样，却不知道他......嗯......已经......死了?"母马建议。
“Why did he say there wasn’t a lockdown, though?” Psychoshy asked, then looked at Nurse Graves. “And what’s the big deal about blowing whistles?”
"不过他为什么说没有封锁呢?"神经病问道，然后看着格雷夫斯护士。"吹口哨有什么大不了的?"
“This is a bad place to talk,” Shears said as he looked up at the flaring warhead. “We have to get under cover.”
"这不是一个谈话的好地方,"舍尔斯抬头看着发光的弹头说。"我们得找个地方躲起来。"
I had to admit that he was right; my PipBuck was clicking like mad. We retreated back into the charred library; away from the magical flames the exposure dropped to tolerable levels, ‘tolerable’ meaning that instead of needing a RadAway every minute, we’d only need one every ten. I took a cloth and wiped the ballistic glass clean enough to peer through.
我不得不承认他是对的;我的PipBuck像疯了一样滴答作响。我们退回到烧焦的图书馆，远离魔法般的火焰，我们的曝光降低到可以忍受的水平,'可以忍受'意味着我们不再需要每分钟一个RadAway，我们只需要每10分钟一个。我拿起一块布，把弹道玻璃擦得足够干净，可以看到里面的东西。
The entire prison looked bigger from the inside than it had from the outside. The interior was completely hollow. An immense cavity stretched up with walkways running around the perimeter, one on each floor. Each level had bars running from the balcony to the next level up; I supposed that they helped prevent prisoners from throwing their non-pegasi comrades over the edge. About a third of the way up I saw a section that jutted out a little into the central shaft with large, warped-looking windows; medical, I assumed. I couldn’t see up past the medical floor from this angle, so I had no idea about the conditions closer to the warhead.
整个监狱从里面看起来比从外面看起来大。内部完全是空心的。一个巨大的洞穴伸展开来，周围有人行道，每层都有一条。每一层都有从阳台到上一层的栅栏，我猜想这些栅栏可以防止囚犯把他们的"非飞马座"同伴扔下去。大约走了三分之一的路程，我看到一个部分向中央竖井伸出一点点，那里有大大的扭曲的窗户，我猜是医疗室。从这个角度我看不到医疗楼层以外的地方，所以我不知道弹头附近的情况。
“At least we’re safer if the Warden thinks we’re with the M.o.M. right?” I asked as I looked back at the ghouls and Lacunae standing close to the fire, but there was more worry on their faces than relief.
"至少如果狱长认为我们和作案手法一致，我们会更安全，对吧?"我回头看着靠近火堆的食尸鬼和陷阱，问道，但他们脸上的忧虑多于安慰。
“Don’t count on it,” Graves said grimly. Silver Spoon frowned in worry, nodding.
"别指望了,"格雷夫斯冷冷地说。银勺担心地皱起眉头，点了点头。
“Warden Hobble was, like, totally the nastiest pony ever put in charge of a
"霍布尔典狱长就像是有史以来最恶心的小马
prison,” Silver Spoon said nervously. “He was totally corrupt, too, but anytime we’d come to inspect, the inspectors either found nothing wrong or else they had nasty accidents.” Her brow furrowed in concern. “He’ll totally try something bad.”
监狱,"银勺紧张地说。"他也完全腐败，但每次我们来检查，检查人员要么没有发现任何问题，要么就是发生了严重的事故。"她因担心而皱起眉头。"他肯定会做坏事的。"
I scowled. “Found nothing wrong?”
我皱起了眉头。"没发现什么问题吗?"
“Rather, he paid the inspectors to not find anything wrong. At least, that’s the rumor,” Silver Spoon muttered.
"相反，他付钱给核查人员，让他们不要发现任何问题。至少，传言是这样的,"银勺咕哝着。
“So the M.o.M. took bribes?” Psychoshy said with a snort, “Surprise surprise.”
"这么说作案手法受贿了?""精神病"哼了一声，说道:"惊喜。"
Silver Spoon stammered, “Well… it’s like… no guardpony ever had that much power before. We got bonuses from Quartz if we looked the other way whenever Goldenblood’s name came up. Nobles were always glad to give a present or two to hush something up. I mean, I know it was wrong but what could we do? Go to Pinkie? She was totally letting drug dealers off right and left!” She hung her head a little. “I mean… yeah, it was wrong… but what could we do?”
银勺结结巴巴地说:"嗯......这就像......从来没有保安有过这么大的权力。我们得到了石英奖金，如果我们看其他方式无论何时金色血液的名字出现。贵族们总是乐于送一两件礼物来掩盖一些事情。我的意思是，我知道这是错的，但是我们能做什么呢？去平奇？她完全是放走了毒贩子!"她稍微低了下头。"我的意思是......是的，这是错误的......但是我们能做什么呢?"
“What about going to Luna?” I asked with a frown. Mr. Shears, Graves, Silver Spoon, and even Lacunae looked away and didn’t answer. Stygius’s tufted ears ducked down. I felt an irrational stab of rage rise up inside me. “Princess Luna? Freaking ruler of Equestria, Luna?! Why didn’t anypony just trot up to the alicorn Princess in charge and mention that the biggest prison in Equestria was run by the biggest scumbag ever?” Why was everypony looking at me like I was the crazy one?
"去卢娜怎么样?"我皱着眉头问。舍尔斯先生，格雷夫斯，银汤匙，甚至拉库尼都把目光移开，没有回答。斯蒂吉乌斯竖起的耳朵垂了下来。我感到一种莫名其妙的愤怒在我内心升起。"露娜公主？该死的Equestria统治者，卢娜?！为什么没有任何小马直接跑到阿里康公主那里，告诉她Equestria最大的监狱是由有史以来最卑鄙的人控制的呢?"为什么每个小马看我的眼神都像看疯子一样？
“It’s hard to explain,” Lacunae said over the howls and screams of the prisoners outside. “Celestia was always open as a ruler. You could talk to her and she’d listen. You could approach her and feel secure that she’d take you seriously. But Luna… she wasn’t like her sister. When she gave public speeches, they were always to the point, and then she was gone. When she held court, she was firmly in charge of everything. And the security! Luna was kept safer than any pony in Equestria, but it also isolated her from her own people.”
"这很难解释,"拉库纳在外面听到囚犯们的嚎叫和尖叫时说。塞莱斯蒂亚作为一个统治者一直是开放的。你可以和她说话，她会听。你可以接近她，并感到安全，她会认真对待你。但是卢娜...她和她姐姐不一样。当她发表公开演讲时，他们总是切中要害，然后她就离开了。当她开庭的时候，她牢牢地掌管着一切。还有保安！卢娜比Equestria任何一匹小马都要安全，但这也让她与自己的族人隔绝了。"
“There were always stories, though,” Mr. Shears muttered. “Stories of Luna appearing at meetings in the middle of the night. Of making appearances where nopony expected her to be. She’d show up at a Manehattan orphanage or shelter in Fillydelphia and give comfort to those in need. She’d play pranks when least expected. She could be terrifying, as well. She was Princess of the Night, and
"不过，总是有故事的,"舍尔斯先生喃喃自语。"卢娜半夜出现在会议上的故事。出现在没有小马希望她出现的地方。她会出现在曼哈顿的孤儿院或者Fillydelphia的庇护所，给那些需要帮助的人以安慰。她会在最意想不到的时候搞恶作剧。她可能也很可怕。她是夜之公主
like the night, she was ever-changing and inscrutable. Luna took care of her duties, I’m sure of it. But she had no lack of ponies to stand in the open for her.”
就像那个夜晚，她变幻莫测。卢娜已经尽到她的职责了，我敢肯定。但是她并不缺少可以站在空地上等她的小马。"
I chewed back my response. It all made sense. She was at war with a race of people who excelled at infiltration and assassination. Being a ruler out in the open was painting a bullseye right on her head. By setting up the ministries, she could direct more flexibly. It was what a smart pony would have done.
我反驳了我的回答。这一切都说得通。她正在和一群擅长渗透和暗杀的人作战。作为一个在户外的统治者正在她的头上画一个靶心。通过设立部委，她可以更加灵活地指挥。这是一匹聪明的小马会做的事。
So why did it feel so… cowardly? It would be as if I’d convinced others into facing this terrible place while I stayed safe and sound back in Star House. Aside from the memory of the Gala, I’d not encountered any instance of her doing anything openly. Here was a place where a terrible evil had been perpetuated and she was… somewhere else! No wonder Goldenblood had worked so well with her setting up the ministries!
那么，为什么它感觉如此...懦弱？这就好像我说服了其他人去面对这个可怕的地方，而我却安然无恙地回到了星宫。除了记忆中的春节，我没有遇到过她公开做任何事情的例子。在这个地方，一个可怕的邪恶一直在延续，而她却在......另一个地方！难怪金血王在她建立事工会的时候工作得这么好！
No place like this should have been allowed to exist. Not ever.
像这样的地方不应该被允许存在。永远不会。
Rampage trotted up to me with a worried look, leaning over to meet my glare. “Hey. Radiation? Enervation? Death all around us?” Her pink gaze softened somewhat and she bumped my shoulder. “Don’t worry about that now.”
横冲直撞的人带着担忧的表情向我跑来，俯下身来迎接我的目光。"嘿。辐射？衰弱？死亡就在我们周围?"她粉红色的眼神变得柔和了，她撞到了我的肩膀。"现在不用担心这个。"
“I know. It’s just so frustrating,” I said with a snort. “She could have been… better. She should have been...” ‘More’, I couldn’t finish. For some reason, the striped mare sighed and rolled her eyes. “What?” I asked, and she shook her head with a rueful grin. “What?!”
"我知道。这太令人沮丧了,"我哼了一声说。"她本可以......更好的。她应该是..."'更多'，我说不完。不知为什么，那匹斑马叹了口气，转了转眼珠。"什么?"我问，她苦笑着摇了摇头。"什么?!"
“Welcome to my world, Blackjack,” she said with a wistful smile as she turned and trotted away, looking out the window. What was that about?
"欢迎来到我的世界，Blackjack,"她带着渴望的微笑说，然后转身小跑着离开，看着窗外。那是怎么回事？
“So how do we get up to medical?” Psychoshy asked as she peeked back at the windows. Everypony looked over at Nurse Graves as the earth pony ghoul inhaled to speak.
"那么我们怎么去医务室呢?"神经病一边回头偷看窗户一边问。每个小马都看着格雷夫斯护士，就像大地上的小马贪婪地吸着气说话一样。
“There’re stairs across the quad,” Rampage said as she looked at the soot-covered doors. “We get past the exercise yard and the hoofball field,” she continued, lips twisting in a smirk. “We can get up there, no problem. ‘Course, we’ll have to watch out for Haymaker’s herd. She’s looking to pin me down and bend me over after I…” The mare trailed off along with the leer. She sat down and rubbed her head. “Whoa. That was weird.”
"院子那边有楼梯,"朗格一边说，一边看着那些被煤灰覆盖的门。"我们经过了运动场和足球场,"她继续说，嘴唇扭曲着，露出假笑。"我们可以上去，没问题。当然，我们得小心海梅克的牛群。她想把我按倒在地然后让我弯下腰。。」母马跟着色迷迷的人慢慢地走开了。她坐下来揉了揉头。"哇。这太奇怪了。"
“Did you go out again?” I asked.
"你又出去了吗?"我问道。
Carrion grumbled, “She keeps asking questions when we need to hurry.” I shot the ghoul a look. His face was still lopsided; he could take a few more minutes to regenerate some more.
小腐尸抱怨道:"当我们需要抓紧的时候，她总是问我们问题。"我朝食尸鬼开了一枪。他的脸仍然歪着;他还需要几分钟才能再生一些。
“It wasn’t like that. I mean, it was, but it was different. I was me, and I was Razorwire too. We were sort of smooshed together, and for a moment there I couldn’t tell which was which.” She shook her head hard and thumped the side of it again. “Sorry, anyway. If we’re going up to medical, we can take the stairs. Far side. All that.”
"不是那样的。我的意思是，它是，但它是不同的。我就是我，我也是Razorwire。我们有点挤在一起，有那么一会儿，我分不清哪个是哪个。"她重重地摇了摇头，又重重地敲了敲头的一边。"不管怎样，对不起。如果我们要去医务室，我们可以走楼梯。远端。所有这一切。"
“The kitchen elevators are a more direct and safer route,” Nurse Graves said as she pointed off to the right. “We can go through the cafeteria to the kitchen and up to medical. We won’t have to go by the cells or cross sentry patrols.”
"厨房电梯是一个更直接和更安全的路线,"护士格雷夫斯说，她指出的权利。"我们可以穿过自助餐厅到厨房，再上到医务室。我们不必经过牢房，也不必越过哨兵巡逻队。"
I looked from to the other. Elevators would be quicker. “Let’s get to the kitchens. If we can avoid them,” I said with a wave at the courtyard, “then I’m all for it.” If the elevators didn’t work, we had four people with wings and more than enough guns.
我从另一个角度看过去。电梯会更快。"我们去厨房吧。"如果我们能避开他们,"我在院子里挥挥手说,"那么我完全赞成。"如果电梯坏了，我们有四个带翅膀的人，还有足够的枪。
Poking my head out again, I looked around and spotted the hovering robots moving up and down the shaft and the sentries lumbering along on their warped legs. None were close to us. I spotted the double doors under the ‘Cafeteria’ sign. I motioned for Carrion to take the front, Lacunae to watch out for threats above, Rampage and Psychoshy to guard our sides, and Stygius to cover our rear. I frowned, not seeing Xanthe... ah, there she was with the rest in the center. Funny, that suit made her hard to follow even when she wasn’t sneaking. I trotted up beside the griffin, and we started along the ground floor edge with solid wall on one side and half-melted chain-link fence on the other. Astonishingly, we made it to the double doors without anything bad happening.
我又把头探了出来，环顾四周，发现机器人在竖井上上下下移动，哨兵弯曲的腿笨重地走着。没有人接近我们。我发现了自助餐厅标志下的双开门。我示意让腐烂走前面，空隙处留意上面的威胁，狂暴和Psychoshy守住我们的侧面，Stygius守住我们的后面。我皱着眉头，没有看到赞斯......啊，她和其他人在中间。有趣的是，即使她没有偷偷摸摸，那套衣服也让她很难被跟踪。我小跑到狮身鹰首兽旁边，我们沿着一楼的边缘开始，一边是实心墙，另一边是半融化的链条篱笆。令人惊讶的是，我们没有发生任何不好的事情就到达了双开门。
The ballistic glass was coated in soot and had warped and slumped in places, but I couldn’t find a gap we could get through. The doors themselves were stuck in their frames. Carrion and I grunted, heaved, and finally pulled them open with a resounding crack. “Hurry!” I said as I jumped through.
弹道玻璃上覆盖着一层烟灰，有些地方弯曲塌陷，但我找不到一个我们可以穿过的缝隙。门本身被卡在了门框里。我和小腐尸咕哝了一声，用力拉开，最后发出一声响亮的爆裂声。"快点!"我一边说，一边跳了过去。
That was funny. What were all the cafeteria tables doing stacked up on the far side of the large, empty room?
真有意思。为什么所有的自助餐桌都堆在这个空荡荡的大房间的另一边？
Then a dozen ghouls popped their glowing blue-green heads up over the rim. They wore blue combat barding similar to the style I’d worn so long ago leaving Chapel for the first time. They took one look at us and shouted, “The prisoners! They’ve busted loose! Fire! For Luna’s sake, fire!” Shotguns, pistols, and assault carbines were lifted or levitated into the air from behind the barricade of lunch tables.
然后十几个食尸鬼从边缘探出他们发光的蓝绿色的脑袋。他们穿着蓝色的战斗服，和我很久以前第一次离开教堂时穿的风格相似。他们看了我们一眼，喊道:"囚犯们！他们逃走了！开火！看在卢娜的份上，开火!"猎枪、手枪和突击卡宾枪从餐桌后面举起或悬浮在空中。
Oh horseapples.
哦，马苹果。
“Shield!” I shouted as they opened up with a barrage of gunfire; Lacunae immediately extended her shield around Silver Spoon, Shears, and Graves. I wasn’t exactly sure where Xanthe had gotten to and hoped she hadn’t tried to leave on her own. Carrion and I hit the ground, the griffin protecting his unarmored head with his armored forelimb as he opened up and started strafing the guards. Psychoshy darted to the left, Stygius shot to the right, and Rampage charged right down the middle.
"盾牌!"我喊道，他们开始了密集的炮火攻击;Lacunae立即将盾牌扩展到了SilverSpoon，Shears和Graves周围。我不确定赞丝到底去了哪里，希望她没有试图自己离开。我和小腐尸撞到了地上，这个狮身鹰首兽用他那装甲般的前肢保护着他那没有装甲的头部，他开始向卫兵扫射。"疯子"冲向左边,"狂暴"冲向右边,"狂暴"冲向中间。
“Oh, you are so fucked now!” Rampage roared as she leapt clear over the barricade, flipping in midair and dropping like a spiked cannonball into the midst of the guards. Two of the tables overturned as half of the guards spilled away from the thrashing mare and the other half fired blast after blast at point blank range. Whatever didn’t strike steel plating didn’t do nearly enough damage to matter as Rampage rampaged in the middle of them.
"哦，你现在完蛋了!"当她跳过街垒时，狂暴咆哮起来，在半空中翻腾，像一颗带刺的炮弹一样落在警卫中间。其中两张桌子被掀翻了，一半的守卫从狂乱的母马身边逃走，另一半则在近距离内连续发射炮弹。无论什么东西没有击中钢板，都不会造成足够的伤害，因为狂暴在他们中间横冲直撞。
“Halt! We don’t want to fight you! Stop shooting!” I bellowed, but clearly these guards saw us as only one thing. They spread to the left and right, trying to flank us. Cerberus whooped as he blasted away with his disintegration gun. I sighed, targeted the nearest ghoul, and rose to fire four rounds into him. I didn’t know if it was the armor that seemed melted to his hide or the radiation, but even after four hits of buckshot the glowing guard was still on his hooves. Wait, he was actually regenerating!
"站住！我们不想和你打架！停止射击!"我吼了起来，但是很明显这些警卫只把我们看作一样东西。他们散布到左右，试图从侧翼包抄我们。刻耳柏洛斯一边高喊，一边用他的变形枪连续不断地射击。我叹了口气，瞄准最近的食尸鬼，站起身朝他开了四枪。我不知道是盔甲熔化了还是辐射熔化了，但是即使四次大型铅弹击中他，他的蹄子上仍然有发光的保护物。等等，他真的在重生！
This was gonna be tougher than I thought. But, armored and empowered or not, nothing protected them from their heads exploding in sprays of rotten brain and broken steel as Lacunae carefully sighted with the AM rifle. “Forgive me Luna, for I have taken the life of another,” I muttered absently, remembering Psalm’s grim refrain. With the ghouls no longer focusing their fire, Carrion stood and poured on the bullets. Plenty deflected off the armor, but some found their way to vulnerable spots. Those vulnerable spots quickly liquefied, and one guard was
这比我想象的要难。但是，不管有没有装甲和权力，没有什么能够保护他们免受他们的头部爆炸的腐烂的大脑和破碎的钢铁喷射物的伤害，因为Lacunae用调幅步枪仔细瞄准。"请原谅我，卢娜，因为我已经夺走了另一个人的生命,"我心不在焉地咕哝着，想起了诗篇中冷酷的重复。食尸鬼不再聚焦他们的火力，腐尸站起来，向子弹倾泻。很多弹头都偏离了装甲，但有一些弹头找到了易受攻击的地方。那些易受攻击的地方很快就融化了，只剩下一个守卫
decapitated by the barrage.
被炮火斩首。
Psychoshy and Stygius darted in from the left and right. The gray batpony scooped up one guard by his helmet and launched him into the air. Then he shadowflashed away as Psychoshy flew by like a lightning bolt. All four of her power hooves struck the armored ghoul’s torso and discharged simultaneously. Having been hit by one of those myself, I wasn’t surprised at all to see the squishy airborne ghoul blasted into rancid hunks of armored meat.
"精神病"和"冥河"从左边和右边冲了进来。那匹灰色的蝙蝠马抓住一个警卫的头盔，把他抛向空中。然后他的影子就像闪电一样闪开了，而精神病就像闪电一样飞过去了。她的四只强有力的蹄子击中了装甲盗尸者的躯干，并同时发射。我自己也曾被这样的东西击中过，所以当看到这个黏糊糊的空中食尸鬼被炸成腐臭的大块装甲肉时，我一点也不感到惊讶。
I had to admit, suddenly I was glad she was more on my side now.
我不得不承认，我突然很高兴她现在站在我这边了。
Three broke away from the others and rushed me. Buckshot peppered my armor, but it was designed for worse. I swapped from the riot shotgun to Duty and Sacrifice, hopping into S.A.T.S. to aim my shots at glowing eyes before they could mob me. Four heavy rounds later and one ghoul’s head burst apart.
三个人从其他人身边跑开，冲向我。铅弹穿透了我的盔甲，但它的设计更糟糕。我从防暴猎枪换成了职责和牺牲，跳进了s.a.t.s，在它们围攻我之前瞄准我发光的眼睛。四轮沉重的打击之后，一个食尸鬼的脑袋炸开了花。
Unfortunately, that left two. One earth pony tackled me, and I realized these ghouls weren’t just tough, they were definitely stronger than I expected, too! He smashed his helmet against my forehead, and the impact was like an icepick jammed through my skull. My focus snapped, the guns clattering to the ground as the earth pony locked his hooves around mine and heaved me clear off the ground, then reversed and slammed me down in a heap.
不幸的是，只剩下两个了。一匹地球上的小马扑倒了我，我意识到这些食尸鬼不仅仅是强壮，他们绝对比我想象的还要强壮！他用头盔撞我的前额，撞击的力量就像冰锥刺穿了我的头骨。我的注意力被打断了，枪声哗啦哗啦地落在地上，那匹矮种马用蹄子紧紧包住我的蹄子，把我甩出了地面，然后倒车，把我摔成了一堆。
Glowing shears darted over me and clamped down on the earth pony’s forelegs. The glow intensified, and then I smelled melted steel and cooked, rotten meat as the leg was sliced through. Screaming, the guard staggered back. The blackened stump, however, was swelling grotesquely as a new leg began to sprout. I barely had time to get to my hooves before there was an electric crackle and my whole body and vision lurched. While I’d been occupied with the earth pony, his ally, a unicorn ghoul, charged up behind me and pressed a crackling shock baton against my head. My vision flickered several times as I fell over; cybernetic damage or skull fracture, it was hard to tell which.
发光的大剪刀飞过我身上，夹住了地上小马的前腿。光芒越来越强烈，接着我闻到了融化的钢铁和腐烂的肉的味道，因为那条腿被切开了。卫兵尖叫着退了回去。然而，发黑的树桩奇异地膨胀起来，一条新腿开始发芽。我几乎没有时间去到我的马蹄之前，有一个电劈啪声和我的整个身体和视力倾斜。当我忙着照顾地球上的小马时，他的盟友，一只独角兽食尸鬼，突然出现在我身后，用一根噼啪作响的震动棒压在我的头上。我摔倒的时候，我的视线闪烁了好几次，是控制论损伤还是头骨破裂，很难分辨。
Lacunae’s rifle thundered, the AM round turning the earth pony’s head into paste as Shears tried to snip the ghoulish unicorn guard.
拉库奈的步枪发出雷鸣般的声音，上午时分，当舍尔斯试图剪断那个恐怖的独角兽护卫时，这匹地球上的小马的脑袋变成了浆糊。
The baton beat back the glowing shears as she lifted my own revolvers and pointed them right at my face.
当她举起我的左轮手枪对准我的脸时，警棍击退了发光的剪刀。
“Sneaking now,” chirped a synthetic voice. “Shhhhh…”
"现在偷偷摸摸,"一个虚拟的声音叽叽喳喳地说。"嘘......"
The air beside the guard shimmered, and a moment later there was a shotgun blast right at the base of the guard’s helmet. The ghoul’s head erupted, and my revolvers clattered down beside me along with chunks of undead cranium. Then the shimmer flashed, and Xanthe stood there with my shotgun in her mouth, legs shaking.
警卫旁边的空气闪闪发光，过了一会儿，在警卫的头盔底部发出了一声猎枪的爆炸声。食尸鬼的头部爆发了，我的左轮手枪和一大块不死族的头盖骨一起哗啦啦地落在我身边。然后闪烁着微光，赞斯站在那里，嘴里叼着我的猎枪，双腿颤抖着。
“Good jo--” I began to say as she turned towards me, trying to talk around the trigger. Any other praise I was going to give was lost in the roar of buckshot and the explosion of pain in my gut as the gun went off. She spat it out with a horrified look, kneeling beside me.
"好样的——"我开始说，她转向我，试图绕着扳机说话。当枪声响起的时候，我本来要给予的任何赞美都淹没在枪弹的轰鸣声和我内心的剧烈疼痛中。她跪在我身边，惊恐地把它吐了出来。
“Oh… oh… oh… I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Are you okay? Please don’t kill me with my own bones!” she begged, her hooves shaking as she fumbled to get a potion out of her hazmat suit’s pockets. I choked it down; it was watery and wouldn’t do anything for me anyway. “I’m sorry! I’ve only had basic firearms training and I failed that the last three times and really I shouldn’t but I had to do something and…” I silenced her, pressing a hoof to her lips.
"哦...哦...哦...对不起。对不起。你还好吗？请不要用我自己的骨头来杀我!"她乞求着，在从防护服口袋里摸出药水的时候，她的蹄子在颤抖。我把它咽了下去，它是水样的，反正对我也没什么用。"对不起！我只接受过基本的枪械训练，最近三次都没通过，真的，我不应该这样，但我必须做点什么......"我让她安静下来，用蹄子抵住她的嘴唇。
“Don’t worry about it. Happens all the time,” I muttered as I tried to summon my magic and lift my guns, grunting and straining as my guts burned with buckshot. Rampage, Psychoshy, and Carrion were mopping up the last two. I gave up and collapsed back for a minute to let my repair talisman fix me up. In fact, I treated myself to a minty sapphire as I lay there and tried to not think about the fiery sensation as my body put itself back together.
"别担心。这种事经常发生,"我咕哝着，试图召唤我的魔法，举起我的枪，咕哝着，紧张着，我的内脏被铅弹烧焦了。狂暴、心理害羞和腐尸正在扫荡最后两个。我放弃了，倒下了一分钟，让我的修理护身符把我治好了。事实上，当我躺在那里的时候，我给自己吃了一颗薄荷蓝宝石，尽量不去想身体重新组合时那种炽热的感觉。
“Blackjack?” Lacunae asked in concern.
"黑杰克?"空白关切地问道。
“I’m fine,” I said as I waved still slightly acid-etched hoof in the air. “Please take Xanthe over there and give her a two minute lesson on firearms safety. Make sure you cover not talking with a trigger in your mouth.” My abused skull was giving me a migraine.
"我很好,"我一边说，一边挥动着还有点酸蚀的蹄子。"请把桑丝带到那边去，给她上两分钟的枪械安全课。确保你不会在嘴里含着扳机说话。"我受伤的头骨让我头痛。
“Come on, Blackjack,” Rampage said.
"来吧，黑杰克,"朗格说。
“Come on nothing, Rampage. I just got shot by my own shotgun by my own teammate! I’m taking two minutes.” I gestured at the dead ghouls beside me. “See if they’ve got anything useful. I’ll be lying here when you’re done.” Sometimes even Security needed a breather. Lacunae herded Xanthe away.
"什么也不要做，狂暴。我刚刚被我自己的队友用散弹枪打中了！我要休息两分钟。"我指了指身边死去的食尸鬼。"看看他们有没有什么有用的东西。等你弄完了，我就躺在这儿。"有时连保安都需要喘口气。空隙把黄丝带赶走了。
“She saved your life, Blackjack,” the Dealer rasped next to me.
"她救了你的命，黑杰克,"庄家在我旁边刺耳地说。
“Something that I’m profoundly grateful for,” I muttered as I curled up on my side, trying to ignore the pain radiating out from the point blank shotgun blast. Anypony that thought it odd kept it to themselves, given my sour mood. If I hadn’t been armored and augmented... “She also shot me. So while things are in her favor, ow.” I cracked open an eye at the emaciated pale stallion in his wide-brimmed hat. “You’re looking better.”
"这是我深深感激的事情,"我蜷缩在身体一侧喃喃自语，尽量不去理会从近距离散射出来的疼痛。考虑到我酸溜溜的心情，任何一个觉得奇怪的小马都把这件事藏在心里。如果我没有装甲和增强......"她还开枪打了我。所以只要事情对她有利，噢。"我睁开一只眼睛看着那匹戴着宽边帽的瘦弱的苍白的种马。"你看起来好多了。"
He patted my foreleg. “Some days I’m better than others, like you. Just need a little rest and I’m able to make contact.”
他拍了拍我的前腿。"有时候我比别人强，像你一样。只是需要休息一下，这样我就可以和他们联系了。"
“Do you see and hear everything I do anyway?” I asked with a little frown and blush.
"不管怎样，你是不是看到和听到了我所做的一切?"我皱了皱眉，脸红了一下。
“Unfortunately, yes. But I try to ignore most of it. Thankfully, I can’t feel what you feel,” he said as he looked down at me with a wan smile and tired eyes.
"不幸的是，是的。但是我试着忽略它的大部分。谢天谢地，我感觉不到你的感觉,"他说着，低头看着我，脸上带着苍白的微笑，眼神疲惫。
“When you were talking about responsibility the other day, were you talking about Luna?” I asked as I looked up at him, and his smile disappeared. His eyes turned troubled and shadowed, and he pulled the brim of his hat down to hide them.
"那天你说责任的时候，是在说卢娜吗?"我抬头看着他，问道，他的笑容消失了。他的眼睛转向困惑和阴影，他拉下他的帽檐，以隐藏他们。
“Luna was ruler of Equestria, but I doubt there was a pony alive who could tell you for certain what she ruled, or how. Some thought her a pawn of Twilight Sparkle and the ministries. Some believed she was the selfless Princess who stepped in when Celestia abdicated. And some whispered that she was behind everything, even starting the war with the zebras in the first place.” He sighed as he looked away. “We may never know what she really did; even without the effects of the apocalypse and two centuries, she made extensive efforts to conceal the truth from everypony.”
"卢娜是Equestria的统治者，但我怀疑是否还有活着的矮种马能告诉你她统治了什么，或者怎么统治的。有些人认为她是紫悦和政府部门的爪牙。有些人认为她是塞莱斯蒂亚退位时介入的无私的公主。有人说她是幕后黑手，甚至从一开始就和斑马开战。"他望向别处，叹了口气。"我们可能永远不会知道她到底做了什么;即使没有世界末日和两个世纪的影响，她也做了大量的努力向每个人隐瞒真相。"
I looked around the blasted cafeteria. “I can’t help but be a little… pissed off at her,” I confessed. “I see Twilight and the Ministry Mares left, right, and center, but not Luna. Were my friends right when they said that Luna did good things?” Or was it just my wishful thinking I heard in my voice?
我环顾了一下那该死的自助餐厅。"我忍不住有点...生她的气,"我坦白道。"我看到了黄昏和魔法部的母马，左边，右边，中间，但没有卢娜。我的朋友们说卢娜做了好事，他们是对的吗?"或者这只是我从声音中听到的一厢情愿的想法？
“Luna always did good things from the shadows, from her sister’s shadow in particular. She helped protect the capitol from numerous threats and moved behind the scenes to help however she could. At times, I think she almost made a game of it. But being Princess Luna and being Princess Luna, Ruler of Equestria, are two very different things. She would do anything for her land and people.
"露娜总是在暗处做好事，特别是在她姐姐的暗处。她帮助保护国会大厦免受无数威胁，并在幕后尽其所能提供帮助。有时候，我觉得她几乎把它当成了一个游戏。但是作为卢娜公主和作为Equestria的统治者卢娜公主是两回事。她愿意为她的土地和人民做任何事。
Anything… except quit.” He sighed and shook his head. “Sometimes, I don’t think anypony knew what Princess Luna really felt. She was always alone. I always felt sorry for her…” I sighed too, then looked at the Dealer again... but once more he was gone.
任何事......除了放弃。"他叹了口气，摇了摇头。"有时候，我觉得没有一个小马知道卢娜公主真正的感受。她总是一个人。我总是为她感到难过......"我也叹了口气，然后又看了看庄家......但是庄家又走了。
I had to haul myself to my hooves. My entire gut still felt cooked, but the pain was receding. Once on all fours, I felt a disconcerting lurch as my insides were subject to gravity again and I had the horrible sensation that they were going to tumble right-- okay, not going there. Deep breaths, Blackjack. Deep breaths. I looked at my team collecting what ammo and weapons they could from the slain guards. I selected a pair of ten millimeter pistols, cleaned out the mouthgrips, loaded the magazines with every bit of AP ammo I had in that caliber, and walked stiffly over to Graves and Silver Spoon.
我不得不全力以赴。我的整个肠子仍然感觉像是被煮熟了，但是疼痛正在减退。当我四脚着地的时候，我感到一阵不安的剧烈摇晃，因为我的内心再次受到了地心引力的影响，我有一种可怕的感觉，它们马上就要倒下了----好吧，不是往那儿倒。深呼吸，Blackjack。深呼吸。我看着我的队伍从被杀的守卫那里收集弹药和武器。我挑选了一对10毫米口径的手枪，清理了一下枪托，把这种口径的所有AP弹药都装进了弹匣，然后僵硬地走向格雷夫斯和银勺。
“If we’re going to get through this, we’re going to need more ponies shooting.” Especially if we ran into a sentry. “Do you know anything about firearms?”
"如果我们要度过难关，我们需要更多的小马被射杀。"特别是当我们遇到哨兵的时候。"你对枪械了解多少?"
“I know I won’t use them,” Nurse Graves replied evenly. I’d been afraid of that; I hoped it didn’t have to do with a suppressed urge to kill me.
"我知道我不会用的,"格雷夫斯护士平静地回答。我一直担心这个;我希望这不是因为我压抑着想杀了我的冲动。
“I know they, like, totally freak me out,” Silver Spoon muttered, lowering her glowing eyes. “I had to take a training course when Tiara and I joined the M.o.M., though.” I supposed that was better than nothing. I motioned Xanthe over as well as I passed Silver Spoon the gun.
"我知道他们，就像，完全吓坏了我,"银勺咕哝着，低下她发光的眼睛。"不过，当Tiara和我加入m.o.m.时，我不得不参加一个培训课程。"我想这总比什么都没有好。当我把枪递给银勺的时候，我也向赞斯示意了一下。
“Take it. Point it at the enemy. Fire the trigger with your tongue and not your mouth. Bite firm but don’t clench your jaw. And do not… shoot… me…” I added firmly with a glance in Xanthe’s direction, the zebra looking at the blood spattering the belly of my barding. My gut still burned; I hoped my repair talisman could do something with the buckshot. Speaking of shotguns, I took back my twelve gauge riot gun and passed Xanthe one of the guards’ ten millimeter automatic pistols. I’d weather it better if I faced any more friendly fire.
"拿去吧。对准敌人。用你的舌头而不是你的嘴发射扳机。咬紧牙关，但不要咬紧你的下巴。"不要......开枪......打我......"我坚定地朝Xanthe的方向看了一眼，斑马看着溅到我胸口的鲜血。我的肠子还在燃烧，我希望我的修理护身符能用铅弹做点什么。说到散弹枪，我拿回我的十二口径防暴枪，经过警卫的一把10毫米口径的自动手枪Xanthe。如果我再遇到友军的炮火，我会安然度过的。
We’d spent enough time here. I was in the yellow radiation-wise and feeling rotten. Nothing specific, just a whole-body malaise that remained even after slurping down RadAway. At least I was less radioactive, though. Rampage trotted over to the counter, leapt over, and moved to the door to the kitchens. It was locked, but two bobby pins later I clicked it open. Thank you, P-21. I got
我们在这里待了足够长的时间。我是在黄辐射的智慧和感觉腐烂。没什么特别的，只是一种全身不适，即使在喝完RadAway之后仍然存在。不过，至少我的放射性没那么强。横冲直撞的人跑到柜台，跳过去，走到厨房门口。它是锁着的，但是两个发夹后我把它打开了。谢谢你，P-21。我得到了
ready for…
准备..。
Nothing. The kitchen was empty. Three long, gleaming stainless steel counters stood next to sinks and industrial-sized mixing machines. Pots dangled from racks that hung from the I-beams running along the ceiling. No knives, of course, but there were still utensils chained to the counters and lots of canned food. “This stuff any good?” Rampage asked as she lifted a can of beans and tossed it to me. I nibbled off the corner of the can and sampled the contents. Well, it wasn’t Sugar Apple Bombs, but I was pretty sure it was edible. I munched it down, and we added more to our saddlebags. If we actually made it out of here with our lives, we might make a tidy sum of caps back at Meatlocker.
没什么。厨房是空的。三个长长的，闪闪发光的不锈钢柜台立在水槽和工业大小的搅拌机旁边。悬挂在天花板上的工字梁上的架子上悬挂着几个罐子。当然，没有刀具，但仍然有用链子锁在柜台上的餐具和许多罐头食品。"这东西好吃吗?""狂暴"边问边拿起一罐豆子扔给我。我一点一点地咬掉罐子的一角，把里面的东西取了样。好吧，它不是糖苹果炸弹，但我很确定它是可食用的。我狼吞虎咽地吃了下去，我们又往鞍囊里添了些东西。如果我们真的能活着离开这里，我们也许能在Meatlocker赚一大笔钱。
The elevator was in the far corner. I tapped the button and it lit up. Then it went dark. Frowning, I tapped it again. And again. And again. “I don’t think tapping it faster makes it work faster, Blackjack,” Rampage snorted. Scowling, I tapped it once more with feeling.
电梯在远处的角落里。我按了一下按钮，它就亮了。然后天就黑了。皱着眉头，我又轻轻敲了一下。再来一次。再来一次。"我不认为敲得更快能让它工作得更快，黑杰克,"狂暴哼了一声。我皱着眉头，有感觉地又敲了一下。
I hooked my fingers in the seam between the doors on one side, working the fingertips in. Carrion grabbed from the other with far more ease, and together we pulled them wide.
我把手指钩在一边门缝里，把指尖伸进去。小腐尸更轻松地从另一个身上抓过来，我们一起把他们拉开。
A hissing, screaming mass of ghouls greeted us on the far side, their glowing bodies firmly enmeshed in the broken, bent steel of the elevator car. Cables slithered like guts from the smashed top of the car where a huge drum had collapsed upon the elevator. The ghouls inside had been impaled on countless pieces of broken steel.
远处迎接我们的是一大群发出嘶嘶声和尖叫声的食尸鬼，他们发光的身体紧紧地陷入了电梯厢的破损和弯曲的钢筋中。电缆像内脏一样从破碎的车顶滑落，一个巨大的鼓在电梯上坍塌了。里面的食尸鬼被无数的钢铁碎片刺穿了。
Okay. Elevator was out.
好吧。电梯坏了。
“Tiara!” Silver Spoon screamed, and I turned towards the door to the cafeteria at once, not seeing the hostiles. Then I looked at the gray ghoul and saw where she was looking. Not at the elevator nor the trapped ghouls within. Her eyes were locked on the sinks.
"皇冠!"银汤匙尖叫了一声，我立刻转向自助餐厅的门口，没有看到敌人。然后我看着那个灰色的食尸鬼，看到了她正在看的地方。不是在电梯里，也不是被困在里面的食尸鬼。她的眼睛紧盯着水槽。
And for good reason too. They were filling with blue slime. Glistening heads began to stretch up out of the tubs as the slimeponies climbed out. Their sludge immediately made the countertops hiss, the metal corroding as the slime ate its way through the tubs and splashed across the floor. The goop was already between us and the exit.
理由也很充分。它们被蓝色的粘液填满。当那些滑块爬出来的时候，闪闪发光的脑袋开始从浴缸里伸出来。他们的污泥立即使台面嘶嘶作响，金属腐蚀的粘液侵蚀的方式，通过浴盆和溅落在地板上。黏糊糊的东西已经挡在我们和出口之间。
“Off the floor. Hurry!” I yelled, clambering up onto the counter tops as the smooze spread across the floor tiles. At once the counter’s steel legs started to hiss and smoke. Anyone with wings or levitation immediately took to the air, and Lacunae lifted Shears onto her back and hoisted Graves and Xanthe with her magic. Carrion carried Silver Spoon on his back between his miniguns. That left me and Rampage to stand on the shaky countertops. “Cerberus! Clear the door! Everypony out!”
"离开地板。快点!"我喊道，爬上了台面，接吻蔓延到了地砖上。柜台的钢架立刻开始发出嘶嘶声和烟雾。任何有翅膀或者有悬浮能力的人都会立刻飞向空中，拉库尼把舍尔斯举到她的背上，用她的魔法举起了格雷夫斯和赞斯。小腐尸背着银汤匙，穿梭于他的小机器之间。这让我和狂暴站在摇摇欲坠的台面上。"地狱犬！清理门户！大家都出去!"
“Yes sir ma’am sir! Looking forward to killing some more of these maggot farms!” the robot cheered as he hovered over and blasted the slime heaping up in front of the door. Was this stuff intelligent, or did we just have bad luck? The acidic ooze sent pseudopods snaking into the crushed elevator, and I watched as the thrashing ghouls were slowly dissolved into more blue sludge. Lacunae ducked out with her passengers, and Carrion followed quickly behind. Stygius strafed the deepening pool of slime, his scream breaking up the slimeponies before they could fully form and climb up on the counters with us.
"是的，先生，先生！期待着杀死更多的这些蛆虫农场!"机器人在空中盘旋，把门前堆积的粘液炸掉时欢呼起来。这些东西是聪明的，还是我们只是运气不好？酸性的淤泥使伪足蛇蜿蜒进入破碎的电梯，我看着那些挣扎着的食尸鬼慢慢地溶解成更多的蓝色淤泥。空隙和她的乘客一起闪了出去，小腐尸紧随其后。斯蒂吉乌斯扫射着越来越深的黏液池，他的尖叫声在黏液完全形成并和我们一起爬上计数器之前打碎了它们。
Carefully, Rampage and I walked along said shaky counters. They slumped as their legs slowly dissolved in the corrosive blue fluid. With a bang and a crackle, one of the large industrial mixers fell over, yanking cables off the wall. The power cord began to spark and crackle as it swayed over the tables. I was one spark away from being unconscious. Another mixer leaned over and pulled free as its base gave way. Another crackling wire… A third.
我和狂暴小心翼翼地沿着摇摇晃晃的柜台走着。当他们的腿慢慢地溶解在腐蚀性的蓝色液体中时，他们跌倒了。随着一声巨响和爆裂声，一台大型工业搅拌机倒了下来，把电缆从墙上扯了下来。电源线在桌子上晃来晃去，开始发出火花和劈啪声。只要一点火花，我就会失去知觉。另一个搅拌机倾斜过来，把底座拉开。又一根爆裂的电线...第三根。
Still, we were almost there. Almost. I leapt from one row of counters to the next, making my way towards the door. Stygius and Psychoshy were keeping the slimeponies off us. Just a little further and we’d be in the clear. I watched as Stygius shadowflashed overhead and screamed at a slimepony trying to clamber onto the counter behind me. The two wove and ducked around the clanging, swaying pots and pans, and I looked upwards in annoyance after one heavy pan banged against my helmet.
尽管如此，我们还是快到了。差不多。我从一排柜台跳到另一排柜台，朝门口走去。斯蒂吉乌斯和心理害羞让我们远离那些粘液。再往前走一点我们就安全了。我看着冥河的影子在头顶上空闪过，对着一匹试图爬上我身后柜台的小马尖叫。这两个人绕着叮当作响的锅碗瓢盆低着头，一只沉重的平底锅砸在我的头盔上，我恼怒地向上看着。
Wait… why were the fire sprinklers smoking?
等等...为什么消防喷头会冒烟？
“Stygius! Psychoshy! Get out!” I screamed, jumping to the last row of counters that gave me a clear run to the door. The sinks in the middle of the counter had dissolved away completely, leaving three chunks in a row pointing towards the door. A glow of alicorn magic punctuated by green disintegration bursts flung the slime back from the doorway in smoking, sulfurous splashes.
"斯提吉乌斯！神经病！滚出去!"我尖叫着，跳到柜台的最后一排，这让我可以清晰地跑到门口。柜台中间的洗脸池已经完全融化了，只剩下一排三个大块，指向门口。一道孤角魔法的光芒不时被绿色解体的爆发所打断，粘液冒着烟，硫磺般的溅落从门口被甩了回来。
The flying pair stared down at me in confusion, looking in the wrong direction.
这对飞人困惑地盯着我，朝错误的方向看。
Then there was a pop overhead, and then another, like shotgun blasts. Blue cascaded from the hissing sprinkler heads in thick cones of sludge. The hanging racks began to sizzle immediately, but for the moment provided some cover. Stygius and Psychoshy were drenched to the point their wings couldn’t lift the heavy slime. They tumbled from the air, coated in acidic slime eating at their hazmat suits. The ooze covering the floor surged up, forming a giant mouth.
然后头顶传来一声爆炸，接着是另一声，像是霰弹枪的爆炸声。蓝色级联从嘶嘶作响的喷头在厚厚的锥形污泥。挂架立刻开始发出嘶嘶声，但暂时提供了一些掩护。斯蒂吉乌斯和心灵害羞湿透了，以至于它们的翅膀无法举起沉重的粘液。它们从空中翻滚下来，身上覆盖着一层酸性的粘液，吞噬着它们的防护服。覆盖在地板上的淤泥汹涌而上，形成一个巨大的嘴。
Rampage and I leapt back across the gap, catching Stygius and Psychoshy in our hooves. The acidic globules burned as they found gaps in my armor, and the thick metal plates of Rampage’s were blackening on contact. I desperately flung the sludge away as the pots and pans tumbled down upon us. The counters we’d landed on were already pitting and dissolving away as they slid through the slime towards the snapping power lines on rapidly corroding legs.
横冲直撞和我跳回到那个缺口，用我们的蹄子追上了斯蒂吉乌斯和心理害羞。当他们在我的盔甲上发现缝隙时，酸性的小球燃烧起来，而狂暴战士的厚金属板因为接触而变黑。当锅碗瓢盆滚落到我们身上时，我绝望地把淤泥扔到一边。我们落在上面的计数器已经开始出现凹痕，并逐渐消失，因为它们穿过污泥，朝着快速腐蚀的腿上的断电线滑去。
I tossed Stygius onto Rampage’s back to the side of the row of spikes along her spine, and then heaved Psychoshy onto the other side. “Get ready!” I shouted as the counter hit the wall beside the dissolving mixers, crunching the third row of counters where the mixers had stood. I rolled onto my back, grabbed the edge on the counter with my smoking fingers, and shoved off the wall as hard as my cybernetic legs could push. My magic grabbed a pan and held it over my face as I kicked off. The snapping electrical cables swung back, missing my hooves by inches.
我把斯蒂吉乌斯扔到横冲直撞的背上，扔到沿着她脊椎的一排尖刺的一边，然后把"害羞精神"扔到另一边。"准备好!"我大叫着，因为柜台撞到了溶解搅拌机旁边的墙上，在搅拌机放置的第三排柜台上嘎吱嘎吱地响着。我翻了个身，用冒烟的手指抓住柜台的边缘，然后用我的控制论腿尽可能用力地推离墙壁。我的魔法抓住一个平底锅，在我开球的时候把它放在我的脸上。断裂的电缆向后甩动，我的蹄子差几英寸。
The counter rocketed back across the kitchen towards the last dissolving counters. Rampage leapt from one chunk to the next. As she landed on the third, the slime lurched up once more, and like the catwalk in the basement, devoured the metal just as Rampage launched herself for the door. A purple glow grabbed her and pulled her to safety.
柜台迅速穿过厨房，朝着最后一个可以溶解的柜台走去。横冲直撞从一块跳到另一块。当她降落在第三个，粘液再次蹒跚起来，就像在地下室的猫步，吞噬金属就像横冲直撞发动自己的门。一道紫光抓住了她，把她拉到了安全的地方。
Now… there was just the problem of myself…
现在只剩下我自己的问题了。
When I’d shoved off the counter, I hadn’t been in a position to follow Rampage. So I was left on a tiny corroding island in a sea of blue. My skin burned in a dozen places, and my brand new armor was all that was keeping me from dissolving away completely. I looked in every direction as my slimy black spur of steel crumbled under my hooves. There was only one way to go.
当我从柜台上推下来的时候，我还没有处在一个跟随狂暴的位置。所以我被留在了一个蓝色海洋中一个腐蚀的小岛上。我的皮肤在很多地方被灼伤，我崭新的盔甲是唯一能阻止我完全消失的东西。我向四周张望，我那粘滑的黑色铁刺在蹄子下面崩溃了。只有一条路可走。
I jumped as high as I could, smashing through the corroded racks, my smoking
我跳得越高越好，砸碎了腐蚀的架子，抽着烟
legs pulverizing the last of the counter beneath me. My fingers closed around the fire sprinklers, and I could feel the incredible heat inside the tube. I didn’t waste a second as I clambered along the pipe, the metal crumbling away seconds after I passed along the length. Finally I reached one of the ceiling supports, an I-beam that gave me something to dangle from as the sprinkler systems disintegrated completely. Lacunae’s magic was now a wall keeping the flood contained inside the kitchen as blue slime fountained from drains in the floor. The entire mass was forming another enormous mouth directly beneath me as more and more of the room flooded.
腿踩碎了我下面最后一个柜台。我的手指在消防喷头周围合拢，我能感觉到管道内难以置信的热量。我一秒钟都没有浪费，沿着管道攀爬，金属在我走过管道后几秒钟就开始剥落。最后，我来到一个天花板支架前，一根工字钢给了我一些东西，当喷水系统完全解体时，我可以悬挂在上面。空隙的魔力现在变成了一堵墙，把厨房里的洪水控制住，就像从地板下水道里涌出的蓝色污泥一样。随着越来越多的房间被水淹没，整个房间在我正下方形成了另一个巨大的口。
“Hey. Ugly,” I groaned as I hung there by my fingers. “I was once told by my mom… never to play with water… around power cables.”
"嘿。"真丑,"我呻吟着，用手指把它挂在那里。"有一次我妈妈告诉我，千万不要在电缆周围玩水。"
I had no clue if it could understand me or if it sensed the snapping electricity arcing from the dangling cables, but that massive maw formed a giant pony head and looked over at the electrical lines and reared back… too late. With a horrible sizzle and reek of caustic chemicals, the entire blue mass flickered and flashed as current poured through it. The whole thing jiggled, and for a moment I thought of Rampage’s horrible joke of gelatin monsters. Then the slimy head collapsed in a thick splash and started to drain away. The bulk of it poured down the elevator shaft, dissolving through the floor of the smashed elevator and pouring down below. I groaned, trying to hold on with my smoking digits.
我不知道它是否能听懂我的话，也不知道它是否能感觉到悬挂着的电线发出的电弧，但是那只巨大的无底洞形成了一个巨大的马头，俯视着电线，后仰着......为时已晚。伴随着可怕的嘶嘶声和腐蚀性化学物质的恶臭，整个蓝色物质在电流通过时闪烁不定。整个事情都在摇晃，有那么一会儿，我想到了拉皮特关于凝胶怪物的可怕笑话。然后黏糊糊的脑袋在浓重的水花中倒塌，开始流干。它的大部分倾倒下来的电梯井，溶解通过地板的砸碎的电梯和倾倒下来。我呻吟着，试图抓住我的冒烟的手指。
It wasn’t draining fast enough; there was still more than enough smooze to liquefy me. Then with a ping my corroded fingertips gave way and popped off, and I dropped down towards the steaming blue fluid.
它的排水速度不够快，还有足够的奶油来融化我。然后，我那被腐蚀的指尖砰的一声掉了下来，我跌倒在热气腾腾的蓝色液体中。
Then I stopped, dangling in space in a protective cocoon of purple magic while my hide sizzled in a dozen places. I looked over at the doorway where Lacunae and Shears stood, the former holding me aloft while the latter kept the smooze back from the cafeteria. Once they’d pulled me back through, they wasted no time peeling off my armor and washing me off with bottles of water. Then they took out cardboard boxes looted from the kitchen and shook out this white powder on my burns. Almost immediately I started to feel relief.
然后我停了下来，在一个紫色魔法的保护茧中晃来晃去，而我的皮在十几个地方发出咝咝声。我看着拉库尼和舍尔斯站着的门口，前者高举着我，而后者则在自助餐厅保持着平滑的姿势。一旦他们把我拉回来，他们就立刻剥掉我的盔甲，用瓶装水把我冲洗干净。然后他们拿出从厨房里抢来的纸箱，把我烧伤处的白色粉末抖掉。几乎就在那一刻，我感到如释重负。
“You know, this place isn’t so bad,” I muttered, my whole body afire. “Once you get past the undead guards, the acidic ooze monsters, and the insane warden, it’s really… pretty horrible, actually,” I finished lamely, sitting up. I looked over at Stygius and Psychoshy, whose radsuits were literally falling apart before my
"你知道，这个地方还不错,"我咕哝着，全身都在燃烧。"一旦你通过了不死的守卫，酸性的软泥怪，和疯狂的典狱长，这真的......相当可怕，实际上,"我一瘸一拐地坐起来。我看了看Stygius和精神病院，他们的防护服在我的眼皮底下都快散架了
eyes. Better the suits than their hides... Though Rampage was healing, her armor was covered with ugly rusted splotches where the smooze had touched it. My brand new armor had already taken a thrashing, but it’d kept my hide intact. Silver Spoon and Xanthe looked at me in worry, Nurse Graves in concern, and Shears with an almost desperate stare. Carrion, though, only appeared mildly annoyed by the acid-etched steel of his power armor.
眼睛。穿西装总比穿皮衣好......虽然狂暴的伤口正在愈合，但她的盔甲上沾满了难看的生锈的污点，这些污点都是接吻留下的。我崭新的盔甲已经受到了重创，但它仍然保持了我的皮肤完好无损。西尔弗·斯彭和桑丝忧心忡忡地看着我，格雷夫斯护士忧心忡忡地看着我，舍尔斯几乎绝望地看着我。不过，腐尸似乎只是对他的强力盔甲上的经过酸蚀的钢铁表现出一丝厌恶。
We hadn’t even left the ground floor, and already we were thrashed. I chowed down on Cram cans and gems, and was relieved to see my fingertips reforming. They looked discolored (I suspected my body didn’t like rebuilding whole parts from tin cans), but they seemed to work okay. I looked at my gray foreleg and forced open the pitted door to examine the PipBuck within. The black device was slightly discolored around the edges; Stable-Tec built to last. A few buttons and EC-1101 appeared on the screen. I slowly looked up at the ceiling and the tiny navigation icon directly above me. I looked over at my friends and the people who had followed me. Psychoshy sucked down on a packet of RadAway, sharing it with Stygius, who didn’t seem to like the orange tanginess.
我们甚至还没有离开一楼，就已经被打败了。我狼吞虎咽地吃着填满罐头和宝石的食物，看到自己的指尖发生了变化，我松了一口气。它们看起来褪色了(我怀疑我的身体不喜欢用锡罐重建整个部分)，但是它们看起来工作得不错。我看了看自己灰色的前腿，强行打开坑坑洼洼的门，检查里面的PipBuck。黑色的设备边缘有点变色，Stable-Tec的设计使用寿命更长。屏幕上出现了几个按钮和EC-1101。我慢慢地抬头看着天花板和正上方的导航图标。我看着我的朋友和那些跟踪我的人。Psychoshy吞下了一包RadAway，和Stygius一起分享，他似乎不喜欢橘子的味道。
I was going to get them all killed…
我差点害死他们。
The file number just shone back at me. Taunting me. Follow the file, Blackjack. Follow the file. Find the answers. Learn the secrets. All I had to do was keep going. Keep following the trail to the very end. Overcome. Win. Win at any cost. Ante up. Push to the very end…
档案号码刚刚反过来照着我。嘲笑我。跟着文件走Blackjack。跟着文件走。找到答案。了解秘密。我所要做的就是继续前进。沿着这条小路一直走到尽头。克服。赢。不惜一切代价赢得比赛。下注吧。坚持到最后..。
The question was how many bodies I was going to leave behind me. I looked over at my companions, thinking, feeling folks and not just answers to my questions. They’d followed me here…
问题是我会留下多少尸体。我看着我的同伴，思考着，感受着，而不仅仅是回答我的问题。他们跟踪我到这里。
Was I going to be just like the Ministry Mares? Just like Goldenblood?
我会像魔法部的母马一样吗？就像金血王一样？
I closed my eyes a moment and took a long, low breath. “Okay. That’s it. I’m pulling the plug,” I said as I stood and closed the plate on my foreleg.
我闭上眼睛，深深地吸了一口气。"好吧。就是这样。我要拔掉插头。"我站起来，把前腿上的盘子合上。
“What?” Mr. Shears asked bluntly.
"什么?"舍尔斯先生直截了当地问。
“We’ll find the exit and get the hell out of here. How many RadAway packets do we have? A dozen?” I asked, looking at Nurse Graves. The ghoul shook her head. “Less?”
"我们会找到出口，然后离开这里。我们有多少RadAway包裹？一打?"我问道，看着格雷夫斯护士。食尸鬼摇了摇头。"更少?"
“Eight,” she said softly.
"八个,"她轻声说。
“Right. Then we’re done. I’m not going to kill all of you for my own ends,” I said as I looked to the south. “We go back to Meatlocker, heal up and come back another day. We didn’t know about the smooze, the soul jars, or the Warden. We need better supplies and weapons. I want to get Glory and P-21 in on this. His grenades and her beam rifle are just what we need. You can whip up more talismans, we can bring a tanker truck of RadAway, and we’ll do it right,” I said with a nod. “We can work our way in from the outside, take our time with the turrets, pick off the ghouls, and make sure this place is secure.”
"对。那我们就完事了。我不会为了我自己的目的而把你们都杀了。"。"我们回到Meatlocker，恢复健康，改天再回来。我们不知道那个吻，那个灵魂罐，还有那个狱长。我们需要更好的补给和武器。我想让晨辉和P-21参与进来。他的手榴弹和她的光束步枪正是我们需要的。你可以制造更多的护身符，我们可以带来一辆油罐车的RadAway，我们会做好的,"我点头说。"我们可以从外面进去，用炮塔慢慢折磨，干掉食尸鬼，确保这个地方的安全。"
“I see.” The round ghoul was silent a long moment. “I’m afraid that’s not acceptable,” Mr. Shears said calmly.
"我明白了。"那个圆圆的食尸鬼沉默了好一会儿。"恐怕这是不能接受的,"舍尔斯先生平静地说。
I groaned. I’d feared this was going to be trouble. “Look, what’s another month? You’ve waited two centuries for this.”
我呻吟着。我担心这会带来麻烦。"听着，再过一个月怎么样？你已经等了两个世纪了。"
“I’m not waiting another hour,” Mr. Shears said in a low mutter. “I refuse.”
"我不想再等一个小时了,"舍尔斯先生低声咕哝着说。"我拒绝。"
Rampage frowned and rolled her eyes. “Um, not sure if you missed the point, but if BJ says we go, then we go. And there’s ten of us and one of you. I doubt you can take all of us.”
暴怒皱起了眉头，翻了翻白眼。"嗯，不知道你是否错过了重点，但如果BJ说我们去，那我们就去。我们有十个人，你们只有一个。我怀疑你能不能把我们都干掉。"
“I don’t have to take any of you,” he said as he looked right at me, his horn flaring bright blue. “Just one.”
"我不需要带走你们任何一个人,"他一边说，一边直勾勾地看着我，他的号角发出明亮的蓝光。"只有一个。"
From the cloaked ghoul, a twisting, ghostly white whirlpool formed above his horn. Then, in a flash of gray smoke, it shot across the distance between us and slammed into my chest.
从披着斗篷的食尸鬼身上，在他的角上方形成了一个扭曲、幽灵般的白色漩涡。然后，在一阵灰色的烟雾中，它穿过我们之间的距离，撞上了我的胸膛。
I’d like to say I’d never heard screams from inside me before, but as the spell hit me I heard a noise like Enervation coming from my chest… a clawing, twisting explosion of pain that drove me to my knees.
我想说我以前从来没有听到过我体内的尖叫声，但是当咒语打击我的时候，我听到了一种声音，像是从我的胸口发出的能量，一种用爪子抓、扭曲的疼痛爆发出来，把我逼到了膝盖。
Rampage sailed through the air and crashed down upon Shears like an avalanche. “You’re dead!” She reared her forehooves above him, rusty, jagged hoofclaws ready to rip him to pieces.
横冲直撞的暴徒在空中横冲直撞，就像雪崩一样落在舍尔斯身上。"你死定了!"她抬起前蹄在他上方，锈迹斑斑、锯齿状的蹄爪随时准备把他撕成碎片。
“I die, she dies!” the ghoul screamed, freezing the earth pony. Shears rasped, “That curse is slowly ripping her soul from her body. In a few hours, she’s dead
"我死了，她也死了!"食尸鬼尖叫着，把地球上的小马都冻僵了。"那诅咒正在慢慢地把她的灵魂从她的身体里撕裂出来。再过几个小时，她就死了
or worse.” Rampage grit her teeth in frustration. “Do you know how to remove it?” he asked, staring at Lacunae, who pointed her AM rifle right at his face. The alicorn didn’t answer. “Do you?” he asked as he looked at Xanthe.
或者更糟"狂暴的暴行让她沮丧地咬紧牙关。"你知道怎么去掉它吗?"他问道，眼睛盯着拉库奈，拉库奈用她的AM步枪正对着他的脸。独角兽没有回答。"是吗?"他看着Xanthe问道。
“Starkatteri blasphemy,” Xanthe spat at him. “You meddle in that which you have no right!”
"斯塔卡特里亵渎神明,"桑特朝他吐口水。"你干涉你没有权利干涉的事情!"
“I’ve learned over two centuries that one does what one must. We are reaching the top of this tower, tonight! I don’t care if every single one of you dies in the process. I am getting what is mine and not waiting a moment longer,” he said as he looked up at all of us from where Rampage had knocked him prone.
"两个多世纪以来，我学会了做必须做的事情。我们今晚就要到达塔顶了！我不在乎你们每一个人是否会在这个过程中死去。我要拿回属于我的东西，不能再等了,"他说着抬头看着我们所有人，此时狂暴已经把他击倒在地。
“My combat inhibitor is a little iffy on this one,” Cerberus growled.
"我的战斗抑制剂在这个问题上有点问题,"刻耳柏洛斯咆哮道。
“So’s mine,” Rampage replied.
"我也是,"狂暴回答。
“Don’t kill him…” I gasped as I struggled to stand… to do anything really. I felt like there was something twisting inside me, trying to pull something out of me. The pain was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. “Not… yet…” I slowly fought my way to my hooves, and his milky eyes widened in shock. “Why?” I asked as I looked down at him.
"别杀他......"我喘着气，挣扎着站起来......想做点什么。我觉得好像有什么东西在我体内扭曲，试图从我体内拉出什么东西。这种疼痛是我从未经历过的。"还没有......"我慢慢地挣扎着走向我的蹄子，他那乳白色的眼睛震惊地睁大了。"为什么?"我低头看着他，问道。
“You… you’re standing? You shouldn’t able to stand! The pain--” he muttered as he stared up at me.
"你...你站起来了？你不应该站着！疼痛——"他一边低声说，一边抬头看着我。
“Is nothing I’m not already used to,” I said as I stared down at him and grimaced. “I get hurt a lot. So. Tell me why…” I said as I floated Vigilance out and pointed it at his head. “Or else I kill you and have a nice party in Afterlife before I die. Again.”
"没什么是我不习惯的,"我低头看着他，做了个鬼脸。"我经常受伤。所以。告诉我为什么......"我一边说，一边把警惕牌拿出来指着他的脑袋。"否则我就杀了你，在我死之前在来世开个派对。再来一次。"
“Again?” he murmured softly, and then took a slow step back. “You’ve… been to the everafter? Seen the singing lights? But your eyes…”
"又来了?"他轻轻地喃喃自语，然后慢慢地后退。"你......去过埃弗雷特？看到那些唱歌的灯光了吗？但是你的眼睛......"
“Are synthetic. So. Tell me why,” I said, then clenched my jaw against another stab of pain.
"是合成的。所以。告诉我为什么,"我说，然后又咬紧牙关，忍住又一阵疼痛。
Shears stared at me for a moment longer, then turned away. “I have to. Surely you can understand doing what you have to do.”
舍尔斯又盯着我看了一会儿，然后转过身去。"我必须这么做。你当然能够理解做你必须做的事情。"
I took several deep breaths. I rather thought that shooting him at this point would
我做了几次深呼吸。我宁愿在这个时候开枪打死他
be a little too late to count as self-defense. “Okay. Let’s get out of here.” Maybe the Goddess would work something out… or I’d just tough it out… or maybe it would kill me. Hopefully Lacunae could unite me with Glory before I finally kicked it…
现在算正当防卫有点晚了。"好吧。我们走吧。"也许女神会解决一些问题......或者我会坚持到底......或者它会杀了我。希望在我最终摆脱它之前，空隙可以让我与晨辉团结在一起..。
“Wait,” Lacunae said as she walked slowly and imperiously towards Shears. All eyes were drawn to the magnificent, regal alicorn as she stared down with cold condemnation. “How have you done this?”
"等等,"拉古纳一边说，一边慢慢地、趾高气扬地朝舍尔斯走去。所有的目光都被这头威风凛凛的大角羊吸引住了，它低头凝视着，冷冷地加以谴责。"你是怎么做到的?"
“Starkatteri sorcery, no doubt,” Xanthe muttered, stamping her hoof.
"毫无疑问，是星卡特里的巫术,"桑特跺着蹄子咕哝着。
“Entering combat now,” the suit seemed to agree, then amended, “Whoopsie. Never mind.”
"现在进入战斗,"诉讼似乎同意，然后修正,"哎呀。没关系。"
“I can’t explain,” Shears countered. “Just get me to the attic. I have to get there… I have to!” he muttered, and I wondered if he was pushing going feral himself. “I’ll fix her once we’re there. I promise.”
"我无法解释,"舍尔斯反驳道。"带我去阁楼吧。我必须去那里......我必须去!"他喃喃自语道，我不知道他是不是在把自己变成野兽。"我们一到那儿，我就修好她。我保证。"
“I doubt the value of a promise from such a treacherous pony as yourself,” Lacunae replied. Then she sighed. “But very well. I will remain.”
"我怀疑像你这样一匹危险的小马作出的承诺的价值,"拉库奈回答说。然后她叹了口气。""但是很好。我会留下来。"
“Lacunae, you don’t have to--” I began, but she smiled and shook her head.
"空隙，你不必——"我开始说，但她微笑着摇了摇头。
“I’m not going to abandon Tiar… um… Blackjack,” Silver Spoon said as she put a hoof on my shoulder. I smiled at the gesture, but stepped clear from the spiking radiation. The round unicorn just nodded and hung his head. She blinked behind her frames. “You might need me to deal with the Warden again. Maybe I can, like, convince him to meet us face to face?” She looked at the ceiling with a worried frown.
"我不会放弃Tiar......嗯......Blackjack,"西尔弗·斯彭一边把蹄子放在我的肩上一边说。我对这个姿势微笑了一下，但还是远离了剧烈的辐射。圆形的独角兽只是点点头，低下了头。她在镜框后面眨眼。"你可能还需要我再去和水保打交道。也许我可以，比如说，说服他面对面见我们?"她愁眉苦脸地看着天花板。
“I still need to get to that cell,” Carrion muttered. “As long as Ahuizotl has my Contract, I have to do what he says.”
"我还是要去那个牢房,"小腐尸咕哝着。"只要阿胡伊佐特有我的合同，我就必须按他说的做。"
“I’m not retreating if it means losing more chances to incinerate some maggot farms!” Cerberus said, waving his disintegration arm over his head. “I’ve got over one million, one hundred and sixty eight hours of combat inhibition to make up for!”
"如果这意味着失去更多的机会去烧毁一些蛆虫农场，我是不会撤退的!"地狱犬说，在他的头上挥舞着他松弛的手臂。"我有超过一百六十八个小时的战斗抑制要弥补!"
I looked at Nurse Graves, and she just smiled and shook her head. Rampage too.
我看着格雷夫斯护士，她只是微笑着摇摇头。狂暴也是。
Psychoshy gave me the cockiest grin she could muster, gulping against her fear.
变态狂给了我她能想到的最傲慢的笑容，强忍着她的恐惧。
Stygius looked at her with surprise, then smiled, patted his chest, and pointed to me. Finally, all eyes turned to the zebra. Xanthe chewed her lower lip. “I… I can go?”
斯蒂吉乌斯惊讶地看着她，然后笑了，拍了拍自己的胸膛，指着我。最后，所有的目光都转向了斑马。赞斯咬着她的下唇。"我.....。.我可以走了?"
“With that stealth suit, you probably can,” I replied calmly. “I sort of dragged you into this too. We could use you with us, but only if you want to join us.”
"穿着那件隐形衣服，你可能可以,"我平静地回答。"差不多也是我把你拖下水的。我们可以让你加入我们，但前提是你要加入我们。"
The zebra looked absolutely torn. “I… I… I…” she stammered, looking in the direction of the exit. “Ooooh, curses.” She slumped down before me, hanging her head. “I cannot leave you, Maiden. You have cursed me like all the others. I am in your thrall.”
斑马看起来完全被撕裂了。"我.....。.我。.我。。」她结结巴巴地看着出口的方向。"哦，诅咒。"她在我面前俯下身子，低着头。"我不能离开你，少女。你像其他人一样诅咒了我。我被你奴役了。"
I sighed, rolling my eyes. “Xanthe. You can go. I don’t want you along if you don’t want to come along.” This whole zebra curse thing was getting a whole lot harder to understand and, honestly, a bit concerning.
我叹了口气，转了转眼珠。"赞特。你可以走了。如果你不想一起来，我不希望你一起去。"这整个斑马咒语变得越来越难以理解，说实话，有点令人担忧。
She bowed her head towards me. “I am cursed to follow the Star Maiden. Fighting my curse will only increase my suffering. I resign myself to my doom and damnation, Star Maiden, in the hope that you may lessen your wrath upon my people.”
她向我低下了头。"我被诅咒跟随星女。对抗我的诅咒只会增加我的痛苦。我放弃我的厄运和诅咒，星少女，希望你可以减轻你对我的人民的愤怒。"
Okay. I give up. Zebras are just weird.
好吧。我放弃了。斑马就是很奇怪。
I grimaced, fighting the augering sensation inside me. “Okay,” Nurse Graves said. “Eight doses of RadAway. That’s fifteen, twenty minutes. Everypony… and zebra… take another Rad-X.” She passed out four tablets to those of us who were vulnerable to radiation poisoning. Mmmm… chalky goodness. Xanthe looked at Rampage as she scraped rusty hoofclaws against the corroded surface of her armor.
我做了个鬼脸，与内心的占卜感抗争。"好的,"格雷夫斯护士说。"8剂量的雷达威。也就是十五到二十分钟。每匹小马...还有斑马...再来一个Rad-X。"她分发了四片药给我们这些容易受到辐射中毒的人。嗯...白垩的美味。桑丝看着斯皮格，用锈迹斑斑的蹄爪蹭着被侵蚀的盔甲表面。
“Do you not need some as well?” Xanthe asked, looking at her legs where the acid had burned her. She seemed fascinated by the smooth hide contrasted with the pitted metal. “And… were you not wounded?”
"你不也需要一些吗?"赞斯问道，看着被硫酸灼伤的双腿。她似乎被光滑的皮肤和坑坑洼洼的金属形成的对比迷住了。"那么......你没有受伤吗?"
Rampage started to say something, then her face turned aggressive, and then just as quickly formal and aloof. “Mere injuries such as those are of little concern, Propoli. Do not concern yourself on my account.” Then she gave another shake and leered at Xanthe. “Keep poking your nose in my business and I’ll cut it off, you hear me?” And a moment later she adopted that lazy smile that sent a chill down my spine.
狂暴开始说些什么，然后她的脸变得咄咄逼人，然后很快变得正式而冷漠。"像这样的伤害不值得担心，Propoli。不要为我担心。"然后她又摇了摇头，斜眼看了看Xanthe。"你再多管闲事，我就把你的鼻子剪掉，听见了吗?"过了一会儿，她那懒洋洋的笑容让我毛骨悚然。
“Rampage?” I murmured. “Are you… you?”
"横冲直撞?"我低声说。"你是...你吗?"
“Why Blackjack, who else would I be?” she replied sweetly. “Now take it easy. I wouldn’t want you to suffer any more than you do now.”
"为什么是黑杰克，不然我还能是谁?"她甜蜜地回答。"现在放松点。我不希望你比现在更痛苦。"
“Right.” I looked at Lacunae, Stygius, and Psychoshy. I stared at the alicorn and thought a warning at her as hard as I could. Could I set her off if I made the accusation? I grimaced back at her. “You’re such an angel, Rampage.” The striped mare just smiled a little bit more. It was the politest way she could bare her teeth at me.
"对。"我看了看Lacunae、斯蒂吉乌斯和心理害羞。我盯着橡子，尽可能严厉地警告她。如果我指控她，她会生气吗？我回敬她一个鬼脸。"你真是个天使，狂暴。"那匹有斑纹的母马只是微笑了一下。这是她对我露出牙齿的最有礼貌的方式。
We trotted to the doors, and I looked out across the penned-in gymnasium with warped workout equipment. The twisting sensation inside me faded a little, like the spell was finally wearing off. Maybe he’d botched the ‘curse’… or maybe it was like the poison joke spell, biding its time until the perfect moment to spring on me. Either way, my friends weren’t going to let me walk out of here, so I was just going to have to deal with it.
我们小跑到门口，我向外望去，穿过被圈起来的健身房，那里的健身器材都是变形的。我内心扭曲的感觉消失了一点，就像咒语终于消失了一样。也许他把诅咒搞砸了......也许这就像毒药的笑话咒语，等待时机，直到完美的时刻突然出现在我身上。不管怎样，我的朋友们都不会让我离开这里，所以我只能自己处理了。
Story of my life…
我的人生故事。
“Let’s go,” I said as I pushed open the door and moved out.
"我们走吧,"我推开门走出去时说。
“Don’t fly in the central shaft!” Graves warned as we spilled out. “There’re high-powered turrets up there designed to take fliers out in the event of lockdown!”
"不要在中央竖井里飞!"我们一出去，格雷夫斯就发出警告。"那里有高性能的塔楼，设计用来在禁闭时将飞行员带出去!"
“Big deal. There’s a missile in the way,” Psychoshy snorted as she lifted off the ground.
"没什么大不了的。路上有一枚导弹挡住了去路。"。
“Do you want to find out what will happen if that warhead is hit by a beam turret?” Graves countered.
"你想知道如果弹头被光束炮塔击中会发生什么吗?"格雷夫斯反驳道。
“Oh that would be bad. Very very bad. Please don’t shoot balefire warheads with beam weaponry!” Xanthe pleaded. Psychoshy looked up at the blazing cone affixed to the tip above us and put her hooves back on the ground. The path around to either side was blocked by rubble from collapsed walkways from the lower levels. The only way to the broad stairwell was across the floor of the central shaft, which was a mess of twisted steel, chain-link fence, and tangled razor wire. Blue flame from the warhead burned with a toxic waxy slowness in the midst of the rubble. Thrashing ghouls tangled in it struggled towards us. In
"哦，那太糟糕了。非常非常糟糕。请不要用光束武器射击弹头!"赞斯恳求道。"疯子"抬头看了看附在我们头顶上燃烧着的圆锥体，把蹄子放回到地上。两边的小路都被下面坍塌的人行道上的碎石堵住了。通往宽阔的楼梯井的唯一道路是穿过中央竖井的地面，那里到处都是扭曲的钢筋、铁丝网和错综复杂的铁丝网。弹头发出的蓝色火焰伴随着毒性蜡质的缓慢燃烧在废墟中。缠绕在里面的食尸鬼挣扎着朝我们走来。在
the direct glow of the warhead, my PipBuck was hitting levels of radiation I’d never imagined before.
弹头直接发出的光，我的PipBuck达到了我以前从未想象过的辐射水平。
“Move move move!” I shouted as we charged together into the steel briars, fighting the lingering twisting sensation in my chest. Metal hooves smashed down rolls of razor wire, letting my companions scramble across my back.
"移动，移动，移动!"我大声喊道，我们一起冲进了荆棘丛，与挥之不去的胸部扭曲的感觉作斗争。金属蹄子碾碎了一卷卷铁丝网，让我的同伴爬过我的背。
Purple magic lifted aside the half-melted hulks of workout equipment. Stygius shadowflashed to the far side of an intact stretch of fence and together with Psychoshy tossed all of us over the razor wire. Cerberus’s flamer spewed fire at the glowing ghouls as they fought to reach us, and globs of flame drizzled down in lazy arcs from the baking glow of the warhead above.
紫色的魔法解除了半融化的健身器材的外壳。斯蒂吉乌斯的影子闪到一段完好无损的篱笆的远处，和精神病害羞一起把我们扔到铁丝网上。地狱犬战斗机的火焰向那些为了接近我们而发光的食尸鬼喷射出火焰，上方的弹头发出炙热的光芒，一团团火焰像懒惰的弧线一样滴落下来。
Despite everything, though, I found myself smiling as we fought together. Even facing all this, we could do anything so long as we did it together. Our strengths were combined and our limitations overcome. When Rampage finally rammed her way through a chain-link door with a melted lock, we staggered out on to the broad steps of the stairwell. Under cover, the radiation cut back immensely, but it was still far more than I wanted to be exposed to for long.
尽管发生了这一切，我还是发现当我们一起战斗时，我还是面带微笑。即使面对这一切，我们可以做任何事，只要我们一起做。我们的优势结合在一起，我们的局限性被克服了。当狂暴最终用熔化的锁撞开链条门时，我们踉踉跄跄地走上楼梯间宽阔的台阶。在掩护下，辐射量大大减少，但仍远远超过我想长时间暴露在辐射下的程度。
Still, we all needed a breather; even the ghouls looked like they were feeling the nibble of Enervation. I was feeling like I’d just come out of an oven myself.
尽管如此，我们还是需要一个喘息的机会;甚至食尸鬼们看起来也感受到了"弱化"的侵袭。我感觉就像刚从烤箱里出来一样。
“Come on, folks! No time to stop now. You horn heads are just too soft,” Rampage laughed, and now I had no idea who was in charge of her. Between the radiation and Enervation and various curses, we were all looking a bit wan. “You know what they say…” And then I gaped a moment as she sang.
"来吧，伙计们！现在没时间停下来。你们的头脑太软弱了,"狂暴笑着说，现在我不知道谁是她的负责人了。在辐射和衰弱以及各种诅咒之间，我们看起来都有点憔悴。"你知道他们怎么说的......"她唱歌的时候我目瞪口呆。
“Some people say earth ponies are made out of mud.
"有人说土地上的小马是用泥巴做的。
Well this poor mare’s made of muscle and blood!
这匹可怜的母马是由肌肉和血液组成的！
Muscle and blood, skin and bone,
肌肉和血液，皮肤和骨骼,
A mind that’s weak but a back’s that strong!”
一个软弱的头脑，一个坚强的后背!"
We stared at her in shock, Graves grinning broadly. “She’s singing Highlander tunes now?” Psychoshy asked as she gaped.
我们震惊地盯着她，格雷夫斯咧着嘴笑着。"她现在唱高地人的歌了?"神经病一边打哈欠一边问。
“Ponies…” Carrion muttered, rolling his glassy eyes. Cerberus gave an odd click, and music... low, strong, and oddly… dirty…music began to play out his
"小马......"小腐尸咕哝着，目光呆滞。地狱犬发出一声奇怪的咔嗒声，音乐......低沉、强烈，而且奇怪地......肮脏的音乐开始播放他的音乐
speakers as Rampage ran up the steps and grinned back at us.
当狂暴跑上台阶，冲着我们咧嘴一笑时，演讲者开始对我们微笑。
“She was born one morning when the sun didn’t shine!
"她是在一个早晨出生的，那时太阳还没有出来！
She picked up her shovel and she went to the mines!
她拿起铲子去了矿井！
She loaded sixteen tons of that number nine coal
她装了十六吨9号煤
Till the boss mare said ‘Well-uh bless my soul!”
直到老板的母马说:"哦，上帝保佑我的灵魂!"
We couldn’t help but follow her as she ran up to the second level. A sentry bot, its metal hide mottled and deformed from the heat, turned and faced us as its voice crackled some sort of broken warning or threat. Rampage didn’t miss a beat as she ran up through the spray of its gatling beam gun and rammed her hooves into its chest, forcing it back from the stairs as she sang out.
当她跑到第二层时，我们忍不住跟着她。一个哨兵机器人，它的金属皮肤因为高温而变得斑驳变形，转过身来面对着我们，它的声音发出了某种破碎的警告或威胁。当她冲过机关枪的水花，用蹄子撞向它的胸膛，在她唱歌的时候把它从楼梯上赶了回来时，狂暴并没有错过任何一次机会。
“Load sixteen tons and whaddaya get?
"装上十六吨，你能得到多少？
Another day older and deeper in debt.
又过了一天，债台高筑。
Princess Luna don’tcha call me, ‘cause I can’t go!
露娜公主不要叫我，因为我不能去！
I owe my soul to the company store!”
我的灵魂要归功于公司的商店!"
She smashed the sentry’s chest over and over again, the robot struggling to bring its gun to bear and blast the striped earth pony. Lacunae’s AM round blew its head to scrap, and the striped mare heaved the robotic carcass aside. The stairs were blocked by rubble, but down around the far side a portion of the walkway had dropped down to form a ramp from the second to the third level.
她一次又一次地砸向哨兵的胸膛，机器人挣扎着用枪托托住那匹带有条纹的矮种马，然后把它炸飞。Lacunae的AM子弹把它的头轰成碎片，那匹斑马把机器人的尸体抛到一边。楼梯被碎石堵住了，但在远处的一侧，一部分通道已经下降，形成了一个从第二层到第三层的斜坡。
There was no time to talk or think, only to run. A turret in the corner dropped down and started to strafe us with glowing red beams of light. Rampage swept up a metal plate from the fallen robot as Lacunae and Carrion stepped to either side of her and blew the turret to scrap. With a laugh the earth pony charged ahead and we were swept along after her.
没有时间说话或思考，只有奔跑。角落里的一个炮塔掉了下来，开始用炽热的红色光束扫射我们。当Lacunae和腐尸走到她身边，把炮塔炸成碎片时，横冲直撞的暴徒从倒下的机器人身上拿走了一块金属板。大地上的小马一声大笑，向前冲去，我们也跟在后面。
“She was born one morning, it was drizzlin’ rain.
"一天早上，她出生了，天下着细雨。
Fightin’ and trouble are her middle name.
战斗和麻烦是她的中间名。
She was raised in a cave, bred by an old mama griffin
她是在一个山洞里长大的，由一个老狮鹫妈妈抚养长大
Ain’t no high class mare makes her walk the line!”
没有哪个高级的母马会让她遵守规则!"
We approached the next corner, racing past cells full of howling, glowing ghouls that waved their hooves at us and slammed themselves against the bars. I noticed the floating robots in the central shaft were tracking our movements now. I couldn’t worry about that, though, not with this pain auguring inside me. A turret dropped down as we got near the second corner, and I dropped into S.A.T.S. and blasted it apart before it could start to unload into us.
我们接近了下一个街角，跑过牢房，牢房里到处是嚎叫着、发光的食尸鬼，它们向我们挥舞着蹄子，把自己撞在栏杆上。我注意到中央竖井里的浮动机器人正在跟踪我们的行动。但我不能担心这个，因为这种疼痛预示着我的内心。当我们接近第二个拐角的时候，一个炮塔掉了下来，我掉进了S.A.T.S.，在它开始向我们倾泻之前把它炸得四分五裂。
We got to the rubble ramp to the third floor, but two sentries were waiting. I glanced out at the floating robots; that was hardly a coincidence. But as Rampage started up, Xanthe touched her shoulder and shook her head. ‘Sneaking now!’ the suit declared, and the armor shimmered away and took Xanthe with it. “Why does it work so much better for a zebra?” Shears muttered. “It never worked so well for us.”
我们到达了通往三楼的碎石坡道，但是有两个哨兵在等着。我瞥了一眼那些漂浮的机器人，这绝不是巧合。但是当狂暴开始的时候，赞丝碰了碰她的肩膀，摇了摇头。"现在偷偷摸摸!"于是，盔甲闪闪发光，把赞斯也带走了。"为什么对于斑马来说，这样做效果更好?"舍尔斯咕哝着。"这对我们来说从来没有这么好过。"
A second later, one of the sentries gave a mechanical scream and began to unload into the other sentry, firing rockets at its partner, who immediately turned to fire rockets back at it. “Oh… if only she could do that to me,” Cerberus groaned over the music he played. When one of the two exploded, Rampage ripped into the other, calling out, “Load sixteen tons and whadaya get? Another day older and deeper in debt!”
一秒钟后，其中一个哨兵发出一声机械尖叫，开始向另一个哨兵发射火箭弹，后者立即转身向它发射火箭弹。"哦......要是她也能这样对我就好了,"刻耳柏洛斯对着他演奏的音乐呻吟着。当其中一个发生爆炸时，狂暴冲向另一个，喊道:"装十六吨货，还有什么?"？又过了一天，债台高筑!"
Stygius flashed behind the robot and rammed the back of its smoking head while Rampage bucked its chest. It exploded in sparks, raining down upon her as she cried out, “Princess Luna, don’tcha call me ‘cause I can’t go! I owe my soul to the company store!”
斯蒂吉乌斯闪到机器人后面，猛撞机器人冒烟的脑袋后面，而狂暴暴跳起来。火花四溅，雨点般落在她身上，她大声喊道:"卢娜公主，不要叫我'因为我不能去！我的灵魂要归功于公司的商店!"
It would have been a nice place for a breather, but Rampage wasn’t stopping as she marched back around the walkway towards the stairwell with a steady strut matching the music coming from the Cerberus.
这本来是个休息的好地方，但是当她绕着走道走向楼梯间时，狂暴并没有停下来，她稳定的支撑着与地狱犬的音乐相匹配。
“If you see me coming, better step aside!
"如果你看见我过来，最好让开！
“A lot of mares didn’t; a lot of mares died.
"很多母马没有，很多母马死了。
“I’ve got one hoof of iron, and the other of steel
"我一蹄铁，一蹄铁
“And if the right one doesn’t get ya then the left one will!”
"如果右边的没有抓住你，那么左边的就会抓住你!"
We were halfway around the walkway when an alarm rang out and suddenly a half dozen cells beside us opened up with a loud, mechanical clang. Cerberus whirled and filled one entire cell with a sheet of orange flame. Two ghouls leapt upon Carrion, and he launched himself straight up and crushed them against the ceiling, flipped to toss them off, and then pulverized them with his miniguns. One sprang at Psychoshy, and then Stygius was there, hugging the thrashing ghoul. Psychoshy flipped into the air and gave the pinned ghoul an applebuck that blew its snapping face to pieces.
我们走到一半的时候，警报响了起来，突然，我们旁边的六间牢房发出了响亮的机械声。地狱犬旋转着，用一片橙色的火焰填满了整个囚室。两个食尸鬼跳到了腐尸身上，他一跃而起，把它们撞到了天花板上，翻转着把它们扔了下去，然后用他的小枪把它们打成了碎片。其中一只跳向了Psychoshy，接着斯蒂吉乌斯就出现了，拥抱着那个暴跳如雷的食尸鬼。心理变态狂飞到空中，把一只苹果鹿给了被钉住的食尸鬼，它的脸被炸成了碎片。
I smashed the three on me aside, crushing one against the concrete wall before levitating my shotgun and blowing its head off point blank. A moment later, another head blew apart next to my own in a flurry of gunshots, and there was Xanthe once again, now looking a little more sure as she gripped the pistol in her mouth. I had a renewed respect for zebra sneak attacks. Graves bashed a ghoul with her armored medical box like a bludgeon, swinging it by the strap. Shears fought beside Silver Spoon, his magic scissors snapping wildly at any attackers around him.
我把它们三个撞到一边，其中一个撞到水泥墙上，然后我的猎枪悬浮起来，近距离一枪爆了它的头。过了一会儿，我旁边的另一个脑袋被一阵枪声炸开了花，又是赞斯，她嘴里叼着手枪，看起来更有把握了。我对偷袭斑马的行为有了新的认识。格雷夫斯用她那像棍棒一样的装甲医疗箱猛击一个食尸鬼，用皮带把它甩来甩去。舍尔斯和银勺子并肩战斗，他的魔术剪刀疯狂地撕咬着身边的任何攻击者。
Two ghouls piled onto the round little ghoul, but Silver Spoon beat upon them with her hooves till they turned on her! As she fell, the robed ghoul shouted in alarm, rammed the closed cutting implement through one feral’s neck, then opened with such force the head popped off. Then the wide glowing jaws closed on the neck of another with a clack that sent another head flying through the air. Silver Spoon stared in shock as he offered a hoof and helped her stand.
两个食尸鬼挤在那个圆圆的小食尸鬼身上，但是银勺用她的蹄子打它们，直到它们转向她！当她倒下的时候，穿着长袍的食尸鬼惊叫起来，用封闭的切割工具塞进一只野兽的脖子，然后用力打开，头就掉了下来。然后，发光的宽嘴巴紧咬着另一个人的脖子，发出的咔嗒声又把另一个人的头打飞了。西尔弗·斯彭震惊地盯着她，伸出一只蹄子扶她站起来。
Through it all, it was the pony in the front, singing rough, low, and tough, that swept us forward. Half of us even couldn’t help singing along. I wasn’t even sure I was getting the words right as I blasted a ghoul lunging from a cell and decapitated it with three rapid shots a foot shy of it biting my face off. Stygius flashed beneath another ghoul and bucked straight up. Psychoshy whipped around and smashed the airborne ghoul into the bars. Then a second later they smashed the ghoul with all eight hooves, blasting the undead pony clean through the gaps. Then they actually clapped hooves! This was crazy! Reckless! Stupid, even.
经过这一切，是那匹坐在前面的小马，唱着粗犷、低沉、坚韧的歌，把我们向前推进。我们中的一半人甚至情不自禁地跟着唱。我甚至不确定自己说的是否正确，因为我从牢房里向一个食尸鬼猛扑过来，用三发子弹快速将它斩首，就差它把我的脸咬下来。斯蒂吉乌斯在另一个食尸鬼下面闪了一下，然后直挺挺地站起来。神经病突然转过身来，把空中的食尸鬼砸进了酒吧。过了一会儿，他们用八只蹄子把食尸鬼砸了个稀巴烂，把那只不死的小马从缝隙里炸得粉身碎骨。然后他们真的拍了拍马蹄！这太疯狂了！不计后果！甚至是愚蠢的。
And also a lot of fun.
还有很多乐趣。
“Sixteen tons and whatdaya get?” Rampage sang over the scream of countless ghouls as she spread her forelegs wide and swept a whole crowd of hissing, thrashing zombies before her towards the corner. A sentry rumbled around the side as a turret dropped down, spraying the massive mob of undead flesh with crimson beams. The ghouls hissed as one by one they burst into flame. “Another day older and deeper in debt!” she sang as the crowd was reduced to one and she gripped the ghoul in her hoofclaws, throwing it with a great spinning toss into the sentry bot and turret. The pair blasted the ghoul to dust with their energy weapons as Rampage closed the distance. “Princess Luna don’tcha call me ‘cause I can’t go…” she sang out as she leapt up over the sentry and applebucked its metal head back down the hall at us. The robot’s gatling beam gun fired wildly, and Rampage grabbed the flashing barrel and hauled it up towards the turret. “I ooooowwwwwwwwwweeeeeee owe owe owe owe owe my souuuuuul…” she cried out loud and drawn out as she yanked the barrel upright, the beams blasting the turret until it exploded, showering her in sparks. “To the compannnnnieeeeeee…” The beam gun finally popped and disintegrated into chucks of scrap metal as she stood atop the crackling sentry and finished with her forehooves spread wide over her head. “Stoooooooooore!”
"十六吨，你能得到什么?"在无数食尸鬼的尖叫声中，她张开前腿，扫过一大群发出嘶嘶声的僵尸，朝着角落里猛扑过去。一个哨兵轰隆隆地绕过一座炮塔，用深红色的光束向一大群不死生物喷射出火焰。食尸鬼们发出嘶嘶声，一个接一个地燃烧起来。"又老了一天，债台高筑!"她唱歌的时候，人群已经减少到一个，她用蹄爪抓住食尸鬼，向哨兵机器人和炮塔抛出一个巨大的旋转投掷。两人用他们的能量武器把食尸鬼炸得粉身碎骨。"卢娜公主不要叫我'因为我不能去......"她一边大声唱着，一边从哨兵身上跳了起来，苹果拱起它的金属脑袋回到大厅里对着我们。机器人的加特林机枪疯狂地开火，狂暴抓住闪烁的枪管，把它拖向炮塔。"我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我——我。当她站在噼啪作响的哨兵顶上，前蹄伸过头顶时，连发炮终于发出爆炸声，分解成一堆堆废铁。"停!停!停!"
The rest of us just gaped at her for several seconds as Cerberus’s music cut off. Grinning broadly, she hopped off the robot and walked back towards us with a smirk. I tried my best not to collapse; now that the adrenaline had faded, I could feel the curse burrowing inside my chest again.
当刻耳柏洛斯的音乐停止时，我们其余的人都目瞪口呆地看了她几秒钟。她咧着嘴笑，跳下机器人，笑着朝我们走来。我竭尽全力不让自己崩溃;既然肾上腺素已经消退，我可以感觉到诅咒又一次钻进了我的胸膛。
Carrion leaned over towards Xanthe. “You understand that this is why you couldn’t beat them, right? You just couldn’t compete with pony combat folk music.”
腐尸靠近赞特。"你知道这就是你不能打败他们的原因，对吧？你根本无法与小马战斗民间音乐相比。"
Xanthe didn’t argue, though she did furrow her brow. “There was once a report that said pony battle effectiveness increased by almost seventy percent when they were singing. It recommended withdrawing immediately till the song was over.”
桑丝没有反驳，尽管她皱起了眉头。"曾经有一份报告说，小马在唱歌的时候战斗力提高了近70%。它建议立即撤退，直到歌曲结束。"
I grimaced as I walked up to the armored mare standing in front. There were the stairs continuing the rest of the way up to medical. “Nice job,” I complemented as we trotted forward; I kept an eye on the cell doors. “Nice to see somepony else doing something crazy for a change.”
当我走向站在前面的装甲母马时，我做了个鬼脸。剩下的楼梯一直通向医务室。"干得好,"我们一路小跑着向前，我补充道。我一直盯着牢房的门。"很高兴看到其他小马也在做一些疯狂的改变。"
“Eh… nice to do something crazy that’s not also completely frigging evil,” she
"呃......做一些疯狂的事情也不完全是邪恶的，这很好,"她说
said with a nervous little twitch as we started up the stairs.
我们上楼的时候，他紧张地抽搐了一下。
“You okay?” I asked with a worried smile as we walked up to a short hall with another turret. S.A.T.S. and four shots took care of it neatly as I looked at her.
"你还好吗?"当我们走向一个带有另一个塔楼的短小的大厅时，我带着担忧的微笑问道。当我看着她的时候，sat考试和四次射击已经很好地解决了这个问题。
“You’re worrying about me? You’re the one with a zebra curse in you,” Rampage countered.
"你在担心我吗？你才是那个被斑马诅咒的人。"ramage反驳道。
“Eh… you die once and it loses half its thrill.” She rolled her eyes a little, but there was still worry in her gaze. Heck, she was an expert at dying, if not at staying dead. “What is it?” She glanced at me once more, and her smile faded.
"呃......你死了一次，它就失去了一半的兴奋。"她轻轻地转了转眼睛，但眼神里仍然有些担心。见鬼，她是死亡专家，如果不是死亡专家的话。"这是什么?"她又瞥了我一眼，笑容消失了。
“I just…I don’t feel quite like myself. Since coming to help you… yeah. Been feeling a lot more on edge than usual,” she said as we trotted past the sparking turret towards the reinforced doors marked ‘Medical’. “You remember how I’d black out before? Well, now I feel… strange. Like I’m not sure how I’m supposed to feel. Like I’m not me anymore.”
"我只是......我感觉不太像我自己。自从来帮你...是的。当我们小跑经过闪着火花的炮塔，朝着标有'医疗'字样的加固门走去时，她说:"我感觉比平时更加紧张。"。"你还记得我以前是怎么晕过去的吗？现在我觉得...很奇怪。好像我不知道我应该有什么感觉。好像我不再是我自己了。"
“Was that the reason for the song?” I asked, trying my best to hide the throbbing in my chest.
"这就是那首歌的原因吗?"我问道，尽力掩饰胸口的悸动。
“What, that?” She snorted and rolled her eyes. “Nah. That was just fun, and to keep my mind off of turning Shears into bloody paste for pulling that stunt. I still plan on punting his bubblegum butt off the top of this tower after he lifts the curse on you, though.”
"什么，那个?"她哼了一声，翻了个白眼。"没有。这真是太有趣了，这样我就不会去想把舍尔斯变成血淋淋的浆糊，因为他耍了这个花招。不过，我还是打算在他解除对你的诅咒之后，把他的泡泡糖屁股从塔顶踢下去。"
“Rampage…” I began, and she thumped my shoulder.
"横冲直撞......"我开始说，她拍了拍我的肩膀。
“No! You can’t just keep on letting this happen, Blackjack! You let your rapists go. You helped Sanguine. Heck, the second you had those organs, you should have put a bullet in him and been on your way. Now this guy has cursed you… when are you going to start punishing ponies that fuck with you?” The striped mare grunted and rolled her eyes.
"不！你不能让这种事情一直发生，Blackjack！你放了强奸犯。你帮了桑吉尼。见鬼，一旦你得到了那些器官，你就应该给他一枪然后离开。现在这个家伙诅咒了你......你什么时候才会开始惩罚那些欺负你的小马?"那匹有条纹的母马哼了一声，翻了个白眼。
I thought of tearing apart five pegasi in the rain. “Rampage, I can’t do that. Or rather, I can’t do that and live with myself. I nearly killed Boing because I was on a bloody tear. Ask Xanthe about Yellow River if you want.” The zebra immediately flinched back. “Don’t kill him. He lifts the curse and I’ll call it fair. We all get out alive and get what we want.”
我想到了在雨中撕裂飞马座的五个人。"横冲直撞，我不能这么做。或者更确切地说，我不能这样做，也不能心安理得地生活。我差点杀了波因，因为我正在流血。如果你想知道黄河的情况，就去问赞西吧。"斑马马上向后退缩。"不要杀他。他解除了诅咒，我认为这是公平的。我们都能活着出来，得到我们想要的。"
“That would be good,” Graves muttered as she walked up to a terminal screen next to the door and started typing with her hooftips. “Not threatening the person who she needs to lift the curse would be good too.” I glanced over at the glaring white eyes of Shears.
"那太好了,"格雷夫斯喃喃自语，她走到门边的终端屏幕前，开始用蹄尖打字。"不威胁她解除诅咒所需要的人也是好的。"我瞥了一眼舍尔斯闪耀着白光的眼睛。
“So… what can we expect in there?” Rampage asked, tapping her hoofclaws against the door to medical.
"那么......我们还能期待什么呢?"狂暴问道，用蹄爪轻敲着医疗室的门。
“My co-workers and friends,” Graves replied quietly. Then she looked back at us soberly. “I don’t expect you to not fight them… but if any of them are talking, please give them a chance.”
"我的同事和朋友,"格雷夫斯平静地回答。然后她冷静地回头看着我们。"我并不期望你们不与他们战斗......但如果他们中有人开口，请给他们一个机会。"
Rampage huffed with a resigned smile. “Oh, you don’t have to worry about that.
暴跳如雷，带着听天由命的微笑。"哦，你不必担心这个。
Heck, even if they’re feral, Blackjack just might let them come along anyway.
见鬼，即使他们是野生的，Blackjack也可能会让他们一起来。
She’s funny like that.”
她就是这么有趣。"
A few more taps and the door clicked. “Okay,” the earth pony ghoul said. “Once we’re in medical, we’re going to the supply room. It’s on the far side of the medical level. Head left and look for ‘Supply’. There were more than a hundred doses of RadAway in there. More than enough to get through the rest of the prison,” Nurse Graves said with a distant look in her filmy eyes. “I counted them often enough to know.”
再敲几下门就咔嗒一声响了。"好吧,"地球上的小马食尸鬼说。"一旦进入医疗室，我们就去补给室。它在医学水平的另一边。向左转，寻找"补给"。里面有超过一百剂的雷达威。足够通过监狱的其余部分了,"格雷夫斯护士用她朦胧的眼睛里一种遥远的目光说。"我数了很多次，足以知道。"
I nodded and pushed the door open. I had to admit, I had issues with hospitals and ‘medical’ places. I was half afraid I would find some super clean creepy town or some half mutated, half smooze screaming room situation.
我点点头，推开门。我不得不承认，我在医院和医疗机构方面有问题。我有一半害怕我会发现一些超级干净的令人毛骨悚然的城镇或者一些一半突变，一半接吻尖叫的房间情况。
Instead, I was greeted with a radioactive scar. Everything inside medical was a blackened, twisted waste. Blue flames flickered here and there like cold, hateful eyes. The concrete walls were cracked and crumbling, the metal warped and twisted like overcooked meat. An acrid electrical smell mixed with the reek of old soot. Slagged turrets drooped from the ceiling next to the burned-out hulks of Protectaponies. An unhealthy haze obscured my vision.
然而，迎接我的却是一道放射性的伤疤。医疗室里的一切都变成了黑色的、扭曲的废物。蓝色的火焰像冰冷、可恨的眼睛一样闪烁不定。混凝土墙开裂、剥落，金属扭曲、扭曲，就像煮过头的肉。一股刺鼻的电气味混合着旧煤烟的臭气。满是淤泥的塔楼从天花板上垂下来，紧挨着Protectaponies烧毁的船体。一种不健康的阴霾模糊了我的视线。
“Right. Got an encore?” Psychoshy asked Rampage sourly.
"对。再来一次?"心理害羞的狂暴问道。
“Your turn,” the striped reaper responded, her voice softer. For some reason, the lack of anything shooting at us had us talking more quietly. Carefully we hopped through a melted security window and into an infirmary. Blackened bones were still hoofcuffed to the gurneys and observation tables. Spaced along the roof
"该你了,"带条纹的收割者回答，她的声音变得柔和了。出于某种原因，没有任何东西向我们射击，使得我们说话更加安静。我们小心翼翼地跳过融化的安全窗口，进入医务室。变黑的骨头仍然铐在轮床和观察台上。沿着屋顶分布的
were partially melted skylights that angled up towards the warhead. The flaring blue glow made the shadows dance about us.
部分熔化了朝向弹头的天窗。耀眼的蓝光使影子在我们周围跳舞。
“Doctor Fern…” Nurse Graves murmured softly as she stood over two skeletons curled up together. She glanced over at me, then back at the bones. “Pelvic bone pin from an ice skating accident. Always aggravated him when the weather was cold. That’s probably Doctor Silverstrike… they had an affair going. Constant office gossip.” She made a choking noise in the back of her throat, the same noise Sanguine had made. The sound of a ghoul crying. “He never did come clean to his wife.”
"蕨医生......"格雷夫斯护士站在两具蜷缩在一起的骷髅上轻声说道。她瞥了我一眼，然后又回头看了看那些骨头。"一次滑冰事故造成的骨盆撞针。天气冷的时候，他总是很生气。那可能是Silverstrike医生...他们有一腿。经常性的办公室八卦。"她喉咙深处发出一声哽咽的声音，和桑吉尼发出的声音一模一样。食尸鬼的哭声。"他从未向妻子坦白过。"
She turned and trotted quickly away, her head drooping as we walked into a second ward with more equipment around the charred beds. Every now and then she’d find one of the nurses or doctors, or even the janitor. Doctor Scampercamp, a horrible slacker on the night shift. Nurse Bramble, who loaned Graves twenty bits to buy breakfast the day the bombs fell. The earth pony ghoul grew more distraught with every body she discovered. She could even identify some of the prisoners from their positions and the marks of old injuries on their bones.
当我们走进第二个病房时，她转身小跑着离开了，她的头低垂着，烧焦的病床周围堆满了更多的设备。她时不时地会找到一个护士或医生，甚至是看门人。斯卡姆普医生，上夜班的一个可怕的懒鬼。布兰布尔护士，在炸弹落下的那天，她借给格雷夫斯二十比特去买早餐。地球上的小马食尸鬼每发现一具尸体就变得更加心烦意乱。她甚至可以从他们的姿势和骨头上的旧伤痕迹辨认出一些囚犯。
As we walked down a hall a ball of flame came down through one of the sky lights as we passed beneath it. Fire dribbled through the holes like molten wax, barely missing Stygius and Psychoshy. It collected in a blackened pile, and my rad meter spiked. We all backed away, chewing down another Rad-X just to be sure. I glanced at the ghouls. “I don’t suppose you guys are immune to that stuff, are you?”
当我们沿着一个大厅走下去的时候，我们经过的时候，一团火焰从天空中穿过。火像熔化的蜡一样从洞里滴下来，几乎漏掉了斯蒂吉乌斯和心理害羞。它被收集成一堆发黑的东西，我的辐射计被钉上了钉子。为了确保万无一失，我们都后退了几步，又嚼了一块Rad-X。我瞥了一眼那些食尸鬼。"我不认为你们对这些东西有免疫力，是吗?"
Lacunae shook her head. Graves looked at me and murmured, “While the radiation does help us regenerate, I think getting hit by the actual fire would cause more damage than it’d heal.” Too bad.
她摇了摇头。格雷夫斯看着我喃喃自语道:"虽然辐射确实能帮助我们再生，但我认为被真正的火焰击中所造成的伤害比它能治愈的还要多。"太糟糕了。
We picked our way along past other rooms, some more intact than others, and came across an operating room that was still more or less in one piece. Then we passed an office where only the blackened, twisted desk and melted filing cabinets remained. Graves lingered over the bones of a pony clutching a charred scrap. A safe had three hundred bits and some files that had survived the flames. Prewar ponies and their love of paper. Graves took them and slipped them into her saddlebag.
我们沿着小路走过其他房间，有些房间比其他房间更加完好无损，然后我们来到了一间几乎完好无损的手术室。然后我们经过一间办公室，那里只剩下烧黑、扭曲的办公桌和融化的文件柜。坟墓在一匹抓着烧焦的碎片的小马的骨头上徘徊。一个保险箱里有300个字节和一些从大火中幸存下来的文件。战前的小马和它们对纸的热爱。格雷夫斯把它们塞进了她的鞍囊。
An intact radiology room. A strange bulbous device hung on an armature over a table. Blackened pictures on the walls showed various diagrams of pony anatomy. She trotted to a large stainless steel door in the back and pulled on the latch to reveal a room with barrels of Flux and a broken pony skeleton. “Nurse Spectre, from Fancee,” Graves said as she nudged the tattered white nurse’s cap. “Her accent always cheered me up.”
一个完整的放射室。一个奇怪的球状装置挂在桌子上方的电枢上。墙上涂黑的图片显示了各种小马的解剖图。她小跑着来到后面的一扇不锈钢大门前，拉上门闩，露出一个房间，里面有一桶弗拉克斯酒，还有一个破碎的小马骨架。"幽灵护士，来自幻想派,"格雷夫斯一边说，一边推了推那顶破旧的白色护士帽。"她的口音总能让我高兴起来。"
I wasn’t looking at the cap though. I stared at the smashed bones. The door was intact; nothing had fallen inside the space. A tiny pink pony in my head put on a detective cap and started to blow bubbles from a pipe. Then I looked into the back of the storage space where something moved. “Graves, look out!” I shouted as I shoved her to the side.
不过我没有看帽子。我盯着那些破碎的骨头。门完好无损，空间里没有东西掉下来。一只粉红色的小马在我的头上戴上侦探帽，开始从一根管子里吹泡泡。然后我看了看储藏室的后面，有什么东西移动了。"格雷夫斯，小心!"我边喊边把她推到一边。
A ghoul in combat armor launched itself silently at me, crashing into me and driving me back. Unlike other ghouls, this one was nearly whisper-quiet, all leathery skin and brown bone as its hooves slammed into me again and again. “No! No! Doctor Bones! Please! It’s me, Graves!” the ghoul earth pony cried. I lifted my hooves, trying to beat it away. Carrion, Cerberus, Xanthe, and Lacunae blasted it with gunfire; though the shots knocked it aside it still remained on its hooves. Rampage took some of their fire as she smashed it; the ghoul made brittle crunching noises but still fought on.
一个穿着战斗盔甲的食尸鬼悄无声息地向我袭来，撞向我，把我赶了回来。与其他食尸鬼不同，这只几乎是在窃窃私语——当它的蹄子一次又一次地撞击我的时候，它安静地，皮肤粗糙，骨头呈棕色。"不！不！骨头医生！求你了！是我，格雷夫斯!"地球上的食尸鬼小马哭了。我抬起我的蹄子，试图把它赶走。腐尸、地狱犬、黄忒和拉库尼用炮火轰击它;尽管子弹把它打到一边，它的蹄子上还残留着。狂暴在她砸碎食尸鬼的时候吸收了他们的一些火力;食尸鬼发出脆弱的嘎吱嘎吱的声音，但仍然继续战斗。
“I’m sorry, Graves,” Shears said as the glowing shears came up and sliced right through the leathery hide and desiccated sinew. The ghoul’s head popped off and rattled as it rolled across the floor. For a moment the ghoul in combat armor swayed…
"对不起，格雷夫斯,"舍尔斯说，这时发着热光的大剪刀出现了，正好切穿了皮革般坚硬的皮革和干燥的肌腱。食尸鬼的头砰地一声掉了下来，在地板上滚来滚去，嘎嘎作响。有那么一瞬间，穿着战斗装甲的食尸鬼动摇了.....。
Then it turned and smashed its hooves down on the round unicorn ghoul.
然后它转过身来，用蹄子猛踩那个圆形的独角兽食尸鬼。
Oh crap. It was one of the suits of soul armor…
哦，糟糕。这是一套灵魂盔甲。
I whipped out the first thing I could think of, the only thing that had been effective: my sword. The blade hummed its lone cold note as I slashed at the suit, but unlike the ones down below, this one refused to cut. Still, it jerked away, as if in pain. I advanced, keeping the sword stabbing at the suit. If I could just drive it back into the storage room…
我拿出了我能想到的第一样东西，唯一有效的东西:我的剑。刀片嗡嗡作响，它唯一的冷音，我削减了西装，但不像下面的那些，这一个拒绝削减。尽管如此，它还是抽搐了一下，好像很痛苦。我继续前进，用剑刺向西装。如果我能把它开回储藏室..。
Then it wrapped its hooves around the hilt and turned the weapon on me. I could almost imagine the headless ghoul grinning at me in triumph as it lunged. The pain within my chest exploded, paralyzing me as I watched the armor about to
然后它用蹄子绕住刀柄，把武器对准了我。我几乎可以想象那个无头的食尸鬼冲过来，得意洋洋地朝我咧嘴一笑。我胸口的疼痛爆发了，当我看着盔甲即将破裂的时候，我瘫痪了
impale me with my own sword.
用我自己的剑刺穿我。
Then the heavy steel table came crashing down atop the armor in a loud crunching noise. The rear hooves stuck out, wiggling wildly as the rest of it was flattened. “We’ll not be doing that again, thank you,” Lacunae said primly as she looked at me, clutching my chest with a hoof as I struggled to breathe. The pain slowly receded, and I glowered at Shears, who talked quietly to the stricken-looking Graves.
随后，沉重的钢制桌子轰然落在装甲部队的顶部，发出巨大的嘎吱嘎吱的响声。后蹄突出，随着其余部分被压平而疯狂摆动。"我们不会再这样做了，谢谢,"拉库奈一本正经地说，她看着我，用蹄子抓着我的胸口，我挣扎着呼吸。疼痛慢慢地消退了，我怒视着舍尔斯，他对着那些看起来病怏怏的坟墓静静地说着话。
“We need to hurry…” I muttered, and the earth pony nodded. Xanthe looked away from the strange radiology machine with some disappointment, but followed. I hated to leave my sword there under the table, but I couldn’t see a way to get it out without running the risk of the armor getting free too. We’d have to come back for it after we found the storage room.
"我们得快点......"我咕哝着，大地上的小马点点头。赞斯带着些许失望，把目光从那台奇怪的放射机器上移开，但还是跟了过去。我讨厌把我的剑放在桌子下面，但是我想不出一种方法可以把它取出来，同时又不会冒着盔甲脱落的危险。等我们找到储藏室再回来取。
Next, we came to a ripped-apart break room. Nurse Graves walked to a pile of blackened bones in the corner. Her hoof pawed at a sooty charm bracelet on the forehoof before she turned and sat down beside it. I stared at a picture on the wall, miraculously intact. It showed eight ponies in lab coats and a dozen wearing nursing caps. Each pony had a signature. I looked at the black and white image of a sober, serious looking mare. ‘Graves aka Miss Grumpyhooves’ had been scribbled above her head.
接下来，我们来到了一间被撕裂的休息室。格雷夫斯护士走到角落里一堆焦黑的骨头旁。在她转过身坐在前蹄旁边之前，她用爪子抓着前蹄上的黑色魅力手链。我盯着墙上的一幅画，奇迹般地完好无损。照片上有八匹小马穿着实验室大衣，十几匹戴着护士帽。每匹小马都有自己的签名。我看着黑白照片上一匹严肃、严肃的母马。"坟墓又名格兰皮胡夫斯小姐"在她头上潦草地写着。
“Featherdown… you worked a double…” she said to the bones before she leaned back her head and made another choking noise as she clenched her eyes shut. “You knew how busy we all were. You knew we needed your help. And you came in on your day off… because you were just a g… good pony.” Graves curled up a little bit more, making another sob. “Why… why didn’t any of them make it? Why just me?”
"羽毛下来......你干了两倍......"她对骨头说，然后向后仰起头，闭上眼睛，又发出一声窒息的声音。"你知道我们都很忙。你知道我们需要你的帮助。你在你休息的时候来上班......因为你只是个普通人。.好马驹"格雷夫斯又蜷缩了一下，发出另一声呜咽。"为什么......为什么他们没有一个人成功？为什么只有我?"
I looked at the radiation meter creeping up through the yellow. “You came back to see if any of your coworkers survived.”
我看着辐射计在黄色中慢慢上升。"你回来看看有没有同事活下来。"
“This was my life, Blackjack. My home! This place was full of ponies that needed help, and we did everything we could to help them,” Nurse Graves said as she trembled. “So why am I still here when none of them are? Was it just an accident that I was in the supply room stuck doing inventory because I notified the news about prisoner conditions here? Is… is this existence supposed to be some sort of reward, or punishment? Living so long and keeping my mind only
"这就是我的生活，Blackjack。我的家！这个地方到处都是需要帮助的小马，我们尽一切可能帮助它们,"格雷夫斯护士颤抖着说。""那么，为什么他们都不在，我还在这里？我在补给室里整理库存是因为我通知了这里的囚犯情况，这只是一个意外吗？这种存在应该是某种奖励还是惩罚？活了这么久，只留下我的心
to remember this horrible place?”
记得这个可怕的地方吗?"
“That’s why Hobble called you a whistleblower?” I asked as I sat down beside the grieving ghoul. She nodded in short, jerking spasms.
"这就是为什么霍布尔说你是告密者?"我坐在悲伤的食尸鬼旁边问道。她简短地点了点头，抽搐着。
“We all knew it was wrong. We gathered files. Put our careers on the line. Showed the pattern of guard abuse, the overcrowded conditions, and the strange magical murders and disappearances. But I was the one who drew the short straw and went public with it.” She grimaced as she looked out at the charred ward. “I thought… I thought if there was any place where there might be a sane ghoul, it’d be here. Maybe I could get them out too.” Her face twisted in anguish as she looked at the charred skeleton. “I’d been so close to losing myself when I escaped that I thought that maybe I’d missed one…” She clenched her eyes shut. “It should have been one of them. Any of them.”
"我们都知道这是不对的。我们收集了一些文件。把我们的事业置于危险之中。展示了看守虐待的模式，拥挤的条件，以及奇怪的魔法谋杀和失踪。但是是我抽到了短签，把这件事公之于众的。"她看着外面烧焦的病房，做了个鬼脸。"我想......我想如果有一个地方可能有一个健全的食尸鬼的话，那就是这里。也许我也可以把他们救出来。"她看着烧焦的骨架，痛苦地扭曲着脸。"当我逃离的时候，我差点失去自我，我想也许我错过了一个......"她紧闭着眼睛。"这应该是其中之一。任何一个。"
“It’s not your fault,” I said softly, putting a leg around her shoulders. “And while I understand you’re upset… we really need that RadAway, Miss Grumpyhooves.” My rad meter had just passed into the red, and I was resistant to radiation. I had no idea how close Xanthe, Stygius, and Psychoshy were to biting it.
"这不是你的错,"我轻轻地说，把一条腿搭在她的肩膀上。"我知道你很难过......我们真的很需要那辆拉达威，格兰皮胡夫小姐。"我的辐射计刚刚通过红色，我是抗辐射。我不知道赞斯、斯提吉乌斯和心理害羞这三个人离咬它有多近。
She rubbed her eyes and nodded. “I hated that nickname…” But it seemed to pull her back into the present. “Right. You’re right. I need to do my job. It’s just...” She gave a wistful glance at the bones beside her and leaned over, kissing the dun skull, before looking back at me. “They were all such good ponies.”
她揉揉眼睛，点点头。"我讨厌这个绰号......"但这似乎把她拉回到了现在。"对。你说得对。我需要做我的工作。只是......"她若有所思地看了一眼身边的骨头，弯下身去，吻了吻暗褐色的头骨，然后回头看了看我。"它们都是那么好的小马。"
I helped her to her hooves, and she continued down the hall to a simple gray door marked ‘Supply B’. I jiggled the handle, made an irked face, and knelt down with bobby pin and screwdriver. This was definitely going to be tough; I could barely get the pin in there. Then something jingled by my ear. Nurse Graves gave a sad smile as she held a keyring in her mouth. Okay... I guessed that’d be easier. Still, I bet I could have opened it as well as P-21. It just would have taken me a while... I stepped aside and let her at the lock. My eyes were drawn up to the warped glass over us.
我扶她起来，她继续沿着走廊走到一扇简单的灰色门前，门上写着"b补给品"。我摇了摇手柄，做了个苦脸，用发夹和螺丝刀跪了下来。这肯定会很困难，我几乎不能把别针插进去。然后有什么东西在我耳边叮当作响。格雷夫斯护士嘴里叼着一个钥匙环，脸上露出悲伤的微笑。好吧...我猜这样会容易些。尽管如此，我打赌我本可以像P-21一样打开它。这只会花费我一段时间......我走到一边，让她在锁。我的眼睛紧盯着我们身上的那块扭曲的玻璃。
Wait. Was that fire… walking?
等等。那是火...在走路吗？
It was hard to make out through the distorted glass, but I thought I saw blue flame slowly walking along the crumbled balcony two floors up next to the missile. The bars had broken away. For a second I thought that maybe it was fire
透过扭曲的玻璃很难看清楚，但我想我看到蓝色的火焰沿着导弹旁边两层楼上崩塌的阳台慢慢地移动。栅栏已经断了。有那么一瞬间，我还以为是火灾
from the warhead that had dribbled off, but it was definitely moving sideways.
弹头的碎片，但它肯定是向侧面移动的。
The storage room clicked open, and inside were shelf upon shelf of neatly organized medicine, chems, and medical equipment. Graves trotted in and immediately began to pass over packets of RadAway from where they hung on special pegs. Stygius curled a hoof around a pair of packets and drank both at once. Psychoshy ripped open the corner of hers and poured it right down her throat. Even Xanthe drank one as quickly as she could while I remained in the hall. I continued watching that strange flame, even when Lacunae levitated one packet over and tapped the side of my head with it. I took it, missing the straw twice as I refused to take my eyes off that strange blue fire moving overhead.
储藏室一下子打开了，里面是整齐地摆放着药品、药品和医疗设备的架子。格雷夫斯小跑着进来，立刻开始从悬挂着特殊钉子的小包RadAway上方经过。Stygius卷起一只蹄子围着一对小包，同时喝下两个小包。变态狂撕开她的衣角，把它倒进了她的喉咙。当我在大厅里的时候，甚至连赞斯也尽快地喝了一杯。我继续观察着那奇怪的火焰，即使有一个空隙悬浮在空中，用它敲打着我的脑袋。我接过去，两次都没有碰到吸管，因为我的眼睛一直盯着头顶上移动的奇怪的蓝色火焰。
“Lacunae… what is that?” I muttered between gulps.
"空隙......那是什么?"我一口一口地咕哝着。
She looked up with me, and her purple eyes narrowed in a confused frown.
她和我一起抬起头来，紫色的眼睛皱着眉头，显得很困惑。
Carrion joined me. Then Shears.
卡瑞恩加入了我。然后是剪刀。
Then the fire turned and looked at down at us.
然后火转过身来，低头看着我们。
“Oh…” I began to say, when it stepped off the edge and tumbled like a flaming blue meteor towards -- and through -- the skylight, showering us in glass and gobbets of blue fire. We all fell back as it landed in the middle of us, and for several terrified moments all we could do was stare as it rose to its hooves. I supposed it was a ghoul, technically. The blackened pony hide was so charred that it gleamed like obsidian. A roaring blue bonfire poured out of the gaps in its flesh and along its spine, and its fiery eyes blazed as it opened its mouth wide in a demonic scream.
"哦......"我开始说，当它走出边缘，像一个燃烧的蓝色流星朝着——穿过——天窗，在玻璃和蓝色火焰的高脚杯中向我们展示。当它降落在我们中间时，我们都往后退了退，有好几个恐惧的时刻，我们所能做的就是盯着它站起来。严格来说，我猜那是个食尸鬼。烧黑的矮种马皮烧得像黑曜石一样，闪闪发光。一团怒吼的蓝色篝火从它的肉体和脊椎的缝隙中倾泻而出，它火红的眼睛闪闪发光，张大了嘴发出恶魔般的尖叫。
“Hoo-rah! That’s a hostile!” Cerberus cheered, the only one not stunned by the monster’s appearance, and the robot immediately began to blast the flaming blue pony with shots of disintegration magic. The flaming monster winced at the impacts, took a deep breath, and exhaled a plume of blue and green fire that washed over the floating robot. Its robotic eyes exploded in showers of sparks, and the three arms were blown clear off! The levitation talisman went dark as Cerberus gave one last anemic crackle. “For the Glory of Equestriiiiiiiizzzzk--”
"呼哈！那是敌意的!"地狱犬欢呼起来，他是唯一一个没有被怪物的出现吓呆的人，机器人立刻开始用解体魔法射击燃烧的蓝色小马。燃烧的怪物在撞击中缩成一团，深吸了一口气，吐出一缕蓝绿相间的火焰，冲刷着漂浮的机器人。机器人的眼睛在火花中爆炸，三条手臂被炸飞了！当地狱犬发出最后一声贫血的爆裂声时，悬浮的护身符消失了。"为了马术的晨辉--"
But Cerberus’s action had galvanized the rest of us as we all began firing at the immolated monster as fast as we could. The problem was that many of the bullets seemed to be vaporizing before they did much damage. Psychoshy just stared in horror. “There’s no way I’m kicking that!” she blurted. Stygius
但是地狱犬的行动激励了我们其他人，我们都开始以最快的速度向这个牺牲的怪物开火。问题是，许多子弹在造成严重破坏之前似乎就已经蒸发了。精神病患者惊恐地瞪着眼睛。"我才不要踢那个呢!"她脱口而出。柱花草属
shadowflashed behind the flaming ghoul and let out his scream. The ghoul turned and inhaled once again. The batpony’s eyes popped wide a second before an inferno tore through the air at him. He appeared beside Psychoshy, frantically trying to put his purple mane out.
阴影在燃烧的食尸鬼身后闪耀，发出了他的尖叫。食尸鬼转过身，又吸了一口气。蝙蝠马的眼睛睁得大大的，就在那一瞬间，一场地狱般的大火在空中向它袭来。他出现在心理害羞的旁边，疯狂地想把紫色的头发披出来。
“Pussy!” Rampage roared as she charged, lowering her head and bringing her helmet spike to bear. It plunged deep into the monster’s side, and the beast let out another earsplitting scream. She grinned at me, then frowned, then sniffed, and suddenly the striped mare yanked her head back, the spike melted completely away and the helmet cherry red atop her head. She beat at it in futility. “Ow! Ow! It keeps cauterizing my nerve endings and they keep growing back!” she wailed, and then looked at the blazing pony’s hind end and realized her error. “Uh-oh…”
"娘娘腔!"当她冲锋时，狂暴咆哮着，低下头，拿起头盔上的钉子。它一头扎进怪物的身体，怪物又发出了一声震耳欲聋的尖叫。她冲我咧嘴笑了笑，然后皱了皱眉，接着又闻了闻，突然间，那匹有斑纹的母马把她的头猛地拉了回来，钉子完全融化了，她头顶上那顶樱桃红色的头盔也完全融化了。她徒劳地猛击那东西。"噢！噢！它一直在灼烧我的神经末梢，而且它们一直在长回来!"她嚎啕大哭，然后看着那头熊熊燃烧的小马的后腿，意识到了自己的错误。"啊哦......"
The monster gave an applebuck that blasted Rampage off her hooves, across the room, and through the wall. Only the fact she wore plate armor kept her intact as she tore through the cinder block. From the limp rear hooves that hung through the hole she’d made, she’d be out for a while.
那个怪物给了一只苹果雄鹿，让它横冲直撞，穿过房间，撞穿了墙壁。只有她穿着钢板盔甲的事实保证了她在穿过煤渣砖时完好无损。从她留下的洞里漏出来的软绵绵的后蹄，她可能会昏迷一阵子。
“Stop!” Silver Spoon yelled as she waved her hooves. “Like, you have to do what I say! Like those others! I don’t care if you are totally big and flaming and scary… do what I say and go away!”
"住手!"她挥舞着蹄子，银勺子大叫起来。"你必须照我说的做！就像其他人一样！我不在乎你是不是个大块头、火焰般的、可怕的人......照我说的做，然后离开!"
The ghoul turned and stared at her with blue eyes of fire and took a step back. Then hope died as the ghoul made a horrible inhalation noise, the licking fire sucking back through the cracks and holes in its blackened hide. Silver Spoon stared in horror as the fire crackled in its mouth, unleashing a blazing plume of radioactive flame.
那个食尸鬼转过身来，用火一样的蓝眼睛盯着她，后退了一步。随着食尸鬼发出一声可怕的吸入声，霍普也死了，舔着的火焰从它黑乎乎的皮肤上的裂缝和洞里吸回来。银勺惊恐地凝视着大火在它口中噼啪作响，释放出一缕燃烧的放射性火焰。
Shears leapt at Silver Spoon and knocked her out of the path of the fire. Caught in the inferno, his rags burst into flame as he rolled across the ground, screaming in pain. The blazing ghoul swept its head around, and Carrion and Lacunae barely flew out of the stream. Half the break room blazed with blue-green fire.
舍尔斯扑向银勺，把她从火堆旁推了出去。他的破布在地上滚来滚去，痛苦地尖叫着，陷入了地狱般的火海。炽烈的食尸鬼转过头来，小腐尸和拉库娜几乎没有飞出溪流。半个休息室都点着了蓝绿色的火。
There was no time to question his sudden gallantry as it turned towards Graves, Stygius, Xanthe, and Psychoshy in the storage room. “Hey!” I shouted as I brought up the riot gun and started firing, blasting away at the burning ghoul. “Me, you great big blazing son of a mule!” I bellowed as I advanced, firing over and over again. Glistening lead painted the blackened hide of the monster as I
当他突然向储藏室里的格雷夫斯、Stygius、赞斯和精神病院献殷勤时，已经没有时间去质疑他的这种突如其来的殷勤。"嘿!"我一边喊着，一边拿起防暴枪开始射击，向燃烧着的食尸鬼开火。"我啊，你这个大个子，他妈的骡子!"我边走边吼，一遍又一遍地开火。闪闪发光的铅涂黑了怪物的皮，就像我一样
tried to draw its ire. Instead, it inhaled once more. I popped into S.A.T.S. and hit it with three magic bullets, the silvery white bolts striking and blasting away holes of blackened bone and charred hide.
试图引起它的愤怒。相反，它又吸入了一次。我冲进s.a.t.s，用三颗神奇的子弹击中它，银白色的螺栓敲打并炸开烧焦的骨头和兽皮的洞。
“Get out!” Psychoshy screamed, diving out the door. Stygius grabbed the petrified Xanthe and swept her out as well, but Graves didn’t flee. She scooped up RadAway in her hooves as the ghoul’s mouth crackled.
"滚出去!"心理变态狂尖叫着冲出了门外。斯提吉乌斯抓住被石化的赞丝，把她也带走了，但格雷夫斯没有逃走。当食尸鬼的嘴发出噼啪声时，她用蹄子铲起了拉达威。
“Me!” I screamed, trying to put myself between it and the storeroom. I just needed a few more seconds. Just a few more…
"我!"我尖叫着，试图把自己置身于它和储藏室之间。我只需要再多几秒钟。还有几个..。
Instead I was hit by a double hoofful of RadAway tossed by the smiling ghoul, halting me for those two terrible seconds.
相反，我被一个微笑的食尸鬼抛出的拉达威的双重轰鸣声击中，在那可怕的两秒钟里我停了下来。
Then she vanished in a sheet of blazing blue, along with the storeroom.
然后，她和储藏室一起消失在一片炽热的蓝色中。
“No!” I screamed as I brought the butt of the shotgun down on the head of the blazing monster. Purple light swept the orange packets up before we could trample them, but I barely paid any notice. Graves was gone, along with all the supplies we’d needed. Another good pony gone because she’d tried to keep my dumb ass safe. Because I hadn’t forced everyone to leave. Because the plan had gone completely to shit.
"不!"我尖叫着，用猎枪的枪托顶住了那个熊熊燃烧的怪物的头。我们还没来得及踩碎那些橙色的包裹，紫色的灯光就把它们照得一干二净，但我几乎没有注意。格雷夫斯和我们需要的所有物资都不见了。又一匹好马跑了因为她想保护我的安全。因为我没有强迫所有人离开。因为这个计划彻底失败了。
Damn it. I didn’t want another Priest.
该死。我不想再要一个牧师。
I got four hits with the butt of the shotgun before it turned and looked at me. There was malice in its eyes. Intelligence. Prisoner or guard, it didn’t matter. It knew it had grieved me and caused me pain.
我被猎枪的枪托击中了四次，然后它转过身来看着我。它的眼睛里充满了恶意。智力。无论是囚犯还是看守都没关系。它知道它使我伤心，使我痛苦。
So I pained it back.
所以我也很痛苦。
I might not have had a grenade, but I had explosive shotgun shells. I screamed in rage as I grabbed its jaws with my fingers and forced them wide, ramming the shotgun down its throat and pulling the trigger as rapidly as I could. Its sides erupted in volcanic cascades of ghoul gore and radioactive fire. My PipBuck roared; I was back in the red and heading quickly for dead as I did all I could to blast this thing into oblivion.
我可能没有手榴弹，但我有爆炸性霰弹枪的弹壳。我愤怒地尖叫着，用我的手指抓住它的嘴巴，使劲地咬，把猎枪塞进它的喉咙，然后尽可能快地扣动扳机。它的四周爆发出火山瀑布般的食尸鬼血迹和放射性火焰。我的皮普巴克咆哮着，我已经恢复赤字，我尽我所能把这东西炸得粉身碎骨。
Then the barrel of my gun blew apart in a shower of red steel, my fingers glowing from the heat as it inhaled once more. I shoved its head away as I dove
然后我的枪管在一阵红色的钢铁雨中炸开了，我的手指因为再次吸入的热量而发出灼热的光芒。我一边俯冲，一边把它的头推开
to the side and looked back. Once thing was for sure -- I had really succeeded in pissing this thing off. “That’s it, motherfucker. Chase the Blackjack. Everypony does!” And then I was running with a fiery monstrosity right behind me.
然后回头看。曾经有一件事是肯定的----我真的成功地把这件事惹毛了。"就是这样，混蛋。追逐黑杰克。每个小马都这样!"然后我跑着，身后跟着一个火红的怪物。
Of course, as I raced down the hall, I was suddenly struck with the immortal question of ‘Now what?’ I had a really pissed off monster on my butt, but more than that, I was still soaking up rads. I had no clue where this hall went, only that if I came across a locked door or anything I was probably dead. I felt like shit, I had a hole drilling away inside my chest, and didn’t have a clue what to do beyond ‘run faster’.
当然，当我沿着大厅跑过去的时候，我突然想到了一个不朽的问题:"现在怎么办?"我的屁股上有一个非常生气的怪物，但更重要的是，我还在吸收辐射。我不知道这个大厅通向哪里，只知道如果我碰到一扇锁着的门或者其他什么东西，我可能已经死了。我感觉糟透了，我的胸腔里钻出了一个洞，除了"跑得更快"，我什么也不知道。
So why was I grinning so hard?
那我为什么笑得那么凶？
I turned a corner, my way lit by the blue glare behind me. I ducked under dangling turrets, vaulted over the slagged Protectaponies, and weaved around gurneys as I stayed in the lead. Suddenly I found myself on familiar ground as I raced through the observation room and soon passed radiology. Ahead I could see my friends and shouted at the top of my lungs, “RadAway!”
我拐了个弯，背后的蓝色光芒照亮了我的道路。我躲在晃来晃去的塔楼下面，一跃而过满是污垢的保护区，在轮床上走来走去，一直保持领先。突然，我发现自己在熟悉的地面上，我跑过观察室，很快就通过了放射科。前面我可以看到我的朋友们，我用最大的声音喊道:"拉达威!"
An orange packet was tossed in front of me and I snagged it with my magic, slurping it down as I raced the equine fireball. Around I ran, building up rads every time I passed under one of the skylights. “Keep it chasing you, Blackjack,” Lacunae said in my mind. I glanced back at the beast just a dozen paces behind me; not a problem. It had to have been an earth pony once. I supposed I should have been glad it wasn’t a pegasus.
一个橙色的包扔在我面前，我用我的魔法抓住了它，在我和马的火球赛跑的时候吃掉了它。我跑了个来回，每次从天窗下经过时，我的拉德数都在增加。"继续追吧，黑杰克,"拉库尼在我的脑海里说。我回头看了一眼身后十几步远的野兽，没问题。它曾经必须是一匹地球上的矮种马。我想我应该庆幸不是飞马。
When I ran past the break room again, everypony with a gun unloaded all at once, but aside from Lacunae’s magic arrows, all of them were weakened by the ghoul’s fiery corona; bullets weren’t going to work. However, they did made the monster stop chasing me and turn and look back.
当我再次跑过休息室的时候，每一匹拿着枪的小马都立刻开了枪，但是除了Lacunae神奇的箭之外，所有的箭都被食尸鬼炽热的日冕削弱了力量，子弹是不起作用的。然而，他们的确让怪物停止追逐我，转身回头看了看。
I skidded to a stop, and out came Duty and Sacrifice. I aimed just a few inches south of its tail and fired. The bullets really weren’t any more effective than my slugs, but I hit a very tender target, even for a ghoul. It looked back at me, eyes wide in outrage from my lead suppository.
我打滑停了下来，出来的是责任和牺牲。我瞄准它尾巴以南几英寸的地方开了枪。子弹并不比我的子弹更有效，但我击中了一个非常脆弱的目标，即使是食尸鬼。它回头看着我，我的铅栓愤怒地瞪大了眼睛。
Okay. It was now firmly locked onto my ass. The race was back on. All it had to do to win was catch me or run me till the radiation took me out.
好吧。现在它牢牢地锁定在我的屁股上。比赛又开始了。它所要做的就是抓住我或者跑我，直到辐射把我带出去。
“Keep going, Blackjack. We need something more to destroy it in one blast so
"继续，黑杰克。我们需要更多的东西，以摧毁它在一次爆炸，所以
that it can’t regenerate,” Lacunae said in my mind as I passed the lounge the third time. Silver Spoon had pulled Shears away from my track. Xanthe and Lacunae were missing. Psychoshy and Stygius extracted Rampage from the wall. And that was all I caught as I kept running on my fourth lap through medical. I slurped down two rubies and a sapphire, my side aching as I got a cramp. Unicorns were not made to run like this... okay, well, maybe I was, but... oh Celestia that was a lot of radiation. My head felt all kinds of itchy.
它不能再生,"当我第三次经过休息室时，Lacunae在我的脑海里说。银汤匙把舍尔斯从我的轨道上拉开。黄丝和空隙不见了。精神害羞和斯蒂吉乌斯把狂暴从墙上拉了出来。这就是我在跑完第四圈体检时所得到的全部数据。我咕噜咕噜地吞下两颗红宝石和一颗蓝宝石，我的身体一边疼一边抽筋。独角兽不是这样跑的...好吧，好吧，也许我是，但是...哦，天堂是一个很大的辐射。我的头觉得各种各样的痒。
Things were getting hotter the fourth time around; the ghoul was dribbling sticky blue flame like drops of pitch, and the flames were starting to add up in my path. I just had to trust the smart ponies that they had a plan. I glanced back as its hoofbeat grew louder and louder, feeling the heat on my rump, and saw my black and red striped tail on fire at the tip; I knew one misstep would be my last.
事情第四次变得越来越热，食尸鬼像沥青一样滴着粘糊糊的蓝色火焰，火焰开始在我前进的道路上聚集。我只能相信那些聪明的小马，它们有自己的计划。我回头看了一眼，它的蹄声越来越响，感觉到我臀部的热度，看到我的黑红相间的尾巴尖着火了;我知道一个失误就是我的最后一次。
“Maiden! Over here!” Xanthe yelled as she waved from radiology. Okay; how was I supposed to make that turn?
"少女！这边!"桑丝一边从放射科挥手一边大叫。好吧，我该怎么转弯呢？
Be awesome, a cyan pegasus suggested. Easy for Gl-- Rainbow Dash to say. I saw a gurney I’d passed four times in my race ahead of me and instead of running around it, I reared up, grabbed the edge, and set it rocketing down in front of me. The ghoul made a fiery inhalation directly behind me, and I rolled on top of the gurney, flat on my back as I looked behind me at the ghoul, barreling wildly down the hall as a sheet of fire blasted along the floor under the wheels. I lifted Duty and Sacrifice with my magic and dropped into S.A.T.S. again. The six bullets turned the ghoul’s face into a ruin of runny lead and fire.
一个青色的飞马建议说，要棒极了。简单的Gl----彩虹破折号。我看到一辆在比赛中超过我四次的轮床，我没有绕着它跑，而是站起来抓住轮床的边缘，然后把它迅速放在我的前面。食尸鬼在我身后猛烈地吸了一口气，我平躺在轮床上，看着身后的食尸鬼，火焰沿着轮子下面的地板狂奔而下。我用我的魔法解除了责任和牺牲，又回到了s.a.t.s。六颗子弹把盗尸者的脸变成了一堆废铁。
Then, as the gurney reached the door, I grabbed the edges and rocked hard to the side. With a ping, two wheels on the left side gave way and the gurney fell before the door. Blue fire sprayed over the top of the rolling table as it skidded to a stop right by the Radiology door. “Have something good,” I shouted as I scampered in with blue fire sizzling along my spine. “Please have something good!”
然后，当轮床到达门口时，我抓住边缘，使劲向一边摇晃。随着"砰"的一声，左边的两个轮子让开了，轮床掉到了门前。蓝色的火焰喷洒在滚动的桌子的顶部，因为它滑行到了放射门的右边停止了。"吃点好东西吧,"我边喊边蹦蹦跳跳地跑进去，蓝色的火焰沿着我的脊椎咝咝作响。"请吃点好东西吧!"
They did.
他们做到了。
Lacunae stood inside her shield with Xanthe on her back. The zebra gripped the strange machine in her forehooves. They’d wired Cerberus’s disintegration gun to the front of it. “Get clear,” Xanthe shouted as the flaming ghoul kicked the gurney aside and stepped into the doorway. The machine had all kinds of hazard
空隙站在她的盾牌内，背上背着Xanthe。斑马用前蹄紧紧抓住这台奇怪的机器。他们把地狱犬的解体枪装在前面。"让开,"赞斯大声喊道，燃烧着火焰的食尸鬼踢开轮床，走到门口。这机器有各种各样的危险
warnings on it, and I assumed Xanthe was ignoring each and every one as she hit the side of the device and it gave the most wonderful, ominous hum.
上面写着警告，我以为赞丝碰到仪器的侧面时，忽略了每一个人，那声音给人一种最美妙、最不祥的嗡嗡声。
Then a pencil-thin line of green disintegration magic lanced out and sliced into the ghoul. It let out a shriek of pain, staggering back as it raised its forehooves. The fight became a struggle between the destructive power of the beam and the ghoul’s phenomenal regeneration powers. It struggled to shield itself as it screeched, took a deep breath, and let loose a plume of radioactive flame. Lacunae’s purple shield flared as it fought the energetic assault.
然后，一道细如铅笔的绿色解体魔法突然出现，切开了食尸鬼。它发出一声痛苦的尖叫，抬起前蹄，蹒跚地向后退去。这场战斗变成了平衡木的毁灭力量和食尸鬼非凡的再生力量之间的斗争。在尖叫声中，它挣扎着保护自己，深吸了一口气，释放出一缕放射性火焰。在猛烈的进攻中，空隙的紫色盾牌闪闪发光。
The ghoul darted to the side, but there was a crack of power hooves and it was shoved back into the doorway. It moved the other way, but power armor claws sizzled as they shoved the ghoul back into the line of energy. I watched in astonishment as one whole flaming limb was reduced to green glowing gunk. This was it. We were going to win!
食尸鬼冲到一边，但是发出了一阵马蹄的劈啪声，它被推回了门口。它向另一个方向移动，但是当他们把食尸鬼推回能量线时，强力装甲爪发出嘶嘶声。我惊讶地看着整个燃烧的肢体变成绿色发光的粘状物。就是这个。我们会赢的！
Why was the overturned table heaving up?
翻倒的桌子为什么抬起来了？
The metal, softened to the consistency of taffy by the flame the ghoul had sprayed across the floor, suddenly buckled as the suit of soul armor pulled itself free. I tried to tackle it, but the dead remains within were utterly pulverized, and it slipped out of my grasp. The armor snaked up Lacunae and knocked Xanthe from her back, and then shoved the beam weapon hard, sending the emerald ray slicing through the wall and off the ghoul, bringing a roar of pain from Carrion. Almost immediately the ghoul’s disintegrated leg reformed. This was bad…
被食尸鬼喷洒在地板上的火焰软化成太妃糖般的硬度的金属突然变形，因为灵魂盔甲把它自己拉了出来。我试着去解决它，但是里面的尸体已经完全粉碎了，它从我的手中溜走了。盔甲从裂隙处蜿蜒而上，把赞西从她的背上打下来，然后用力推动光束武器，翡翠色的光线穿过墙壁，射出食尸鬼的身体，带来了腐肉痛苦的咆哮。几乎立刻，这个食尸鬼的断腿又恢复了正常。这太糟糕了。
And then it got worse.
然后情况变得更糟。
The soul armor leapt off of Lacunae as the alicorn stabilized the weapon with her magic. Its buckles and straps flew wide, and I stared as the blue and black armor wrapped itself around the flaming ghoul. The disintegration beam struck the upraised legs and flashed off the metal. I reached out with my magic to try and free my sword from the slagged ruins of the table, but it was held fast in the cooled steel.
阿里克纳用她的魔法稳定了武器，灵魂盔甲从拉库尼身上跳了下来。它的扣子和皮带飞得很宽，我凝视着那蓝黑相间的盔甲缠绕在燃烧的食尸鬼周围。崩解的光束击中了向上翘起的两条腿，闪出了金属。我用我的魔法伸出手，试图把我的剑从桌子的废墟中解救出来，但是它被紧紧地放在冷却的钢铁里。
“No. No!” Xanthe screamed as she curled up, raising her hooves as the ghoul inhaled once more. I doubted that the soul armor would save the zebra from the radioactive inferno.
"没有。不!"桑丝蜷缩起身子，尖叫着，当食尸鬼再次吸气时，她抬起了她的蹄子。我怀疑灵魂盔甲能否把斑马从放射性的地狱中拯救出来。
“Dammit!” I shouted, tackling the ghoul. The armor might have been invincible,
"该死!"我大声喊道，抓住了食尸鬼。盔甲可能是不可战胜的
but it also blocked the magical heat enough that I could grab the back of the armor’s collar and for the first time shove the bag of fire away from the zebra. “You don’t get another!” I shouted as I heaved the ghoul away. The beast began to thrash, and my friends were forced back as I wrestled with it. My radiation levels were in the red and almost maxed out. I wondered if I’d simply explode once I’d soaked up enough…
但它也阻挡了魔法般的热量，我可以抓住盔甲后面的衣领，第一次把火袋从斑马身上推开。"你再也找不到第二个了!"我一边喊，一边把食尸鬼举起来。这头野兽开始猛烈攻击，当我与它搏斗时，我的朋友们被迫回来了。我的辐射水平处于赤字状态，几乎达到了极限。我在想，如果我吸足了水，是不是就会爆炸.....。
Hmmm… that gave me an idea. A stupid, horrible idea, but still an idea. “Shears!” I bellowed as we twisted around and around in the hall. “Give me your key!”
嗯......这给了我一个想法。一个愚蠢的，可怕的想法，但仍然是一个想法。"剪刀!"当我们在大厅里扭来扭去的时候，我大叫起来。"把钥匙给我!"
“My key?” The… turquoise pony? Wait! The pony wearing the charred rags didn’t have the boiled-looking appearance of the undead. He looked like a simple portly unicorn with prominent buck teeth and a shaggy brown mane. His eyes had the same milky whiteness of a ghoul, but there was something off about them. Something… luminescent.
"我的钥匙?"那匹绿松石色的小马？等等！穿着烧焦的破布的小马并没有不死族那种煮沸的样子。它看起来就像一只粗壮的独角兽，长着突出的龅牙，浓密的棕色鬃毛。他的眼睛像食尸鬼一样乳白，但是有些不对劲。一些...发光的东西。
That, though, could wait till after I was done wrestling with an unbeatable undead invincible enemy. “Yes! The key! Get it. Now!” I heaved and shoved the ghoul towards a window looking out at the central shaft. It twisted its head around, trying to spray fire over me and my friends. I wasn’t going to let another of them die! I was going first.
不过，那可以等到我和一个不可战胜的不死的无敌敌人摔跤之后再说。"是的！钥匙！明白了。现在!"我用力把食尸鬼推向一扇窗户，看着窗外中央的竖井。它扭动着头，试图向我和我的朋友们喷火。我不会让他们再死一个的！我是第一个。
Shears ran up, the glowing balefire egg floating above him. “But it’s not rigged to detonate, Blackjack! It’ll take five minutes at least!”
大剪刀跑了上来，发光的蛋漂浮在他的上方。"但它没有引爆装置，Blackjack！至少要五分钟!"
“Don’t worry about it!” I yelled as it shoved me back and I heaved the ghoul around.
"别担心!"我大叫着，它把我推回去，我把食尸鬼举了起来。
Rampage raced up, pieces of rebar still sticking out of her as she looked across at me in worry. I felt like I had a chunk jammed in my chest as well. “What are you planning, BJ?” the striped pony asked as she seized the other side of the ghoul and fought to keep it steady.
当她忧心忡忡地看着我的时候，暴跳如雷的冲过来，钢筋的碎片仍然从她身上伸出来。我觉得我的胸腔里也塞了一大块东西。"你在计划什么，BJ?"条纹小马一边问，一边抓住食尸鬼的另一边，努力让它保持稳定。
“What I do best! Bust out that window!” I yelled as I grabbed the egg with my right hand. Stygius, Psychoshy, and Carrion smashed it till the glass blew out into the central shaft, falling into the tangled steel far below. The ghoul opened its mouth wide, inhaling again. This time, it was getting something a little extra.
"我最擅长的！从那扇窗户跳出去!"我边喊边用右手抓住鸡蛋。斯提吉乌斯，心理害羞，和卡里昂一起砸碎了玻璃，直到玻璃被吹到中间的竖井里，掉进下面那堆乱七八糟的钢铁里。食尸鬼张大了嘴，又吸了一口气。这一次，它得到了一些额外的东西。
With every bit of strength I could muster, I rammed the balefire egg right down
我使出浑身解数，把那个蛋砸了下去
its throat. My right foreleg blazed like I’d shoved it into a blast furnace as I watched my radiation needle reach the top of the gauge. Looked like Hightower was going to get one more, but it wasn’t going to be my friends.
它的喉咙。当我看到辐射针到达仪表的顶部时，我的右前腿像被推进了鼓风炉一样火辣辣的。看起来海托华还会再得到一个，但不会是我的朋友。
The ghoul’s eyes blazed and chaotic rainbow energies began to spark from its maw. “Now get out!” I screamed at it as I shoved it back over the edge.
食尸鬼的眼睛闪闪发光，混乱的彩虹能量开始从它的胃里迸发出来。"现在滚出去!"我对着它尖叫着，把它推下了悬崖。
The suit of armor began to unstrap itself, and two buckles wrapped around my blazing red hoof, almost yanking me over the edge. The jagged remnants of the window sliced deep into my gut, and Rampage and Stygius were at my sides as the ghoul dangled below me. The chaotic light was growing brighter and brighter as the ghoul opened its mouth… to vomit the balefire egg up or to just try and take us with it, I had no idea.
盔甲套装开始自行解开，两个带扣缠绕在我炽热的红色蹄子上，几乎把我从边缘拽了下去。窗户的碎片深深地刺进我的肚子，当食尸鬼在我下面晃来晃去的时候，横冲直撞和冥河就在我身边。当食尸鬼张开嘴的时候，混乱的光线变得越来越明亮......要么把蛋吐出来，要么就是想把我们一起带走，我不知道。
“No! No more shrieking,” I muttered as I took my target, hopped into S.A.T.S., and cast three magic bullets at my right leg at the knee. The first two blasted the corroded, smoking metal. The third took it off completely.
"不！不要再叫了,"我抱怨着，拿起我的靶子，跳进了s.a.t.s，在我膝盖处的右腿上投了三颗魔法子弹。前两个炸毁了腐蚀的冒烟的金属。第三个完全脱掉了。
With a fiery scream the ghoul fell, plunging to the ground fifty feet below. It crashed into the tangled steel, buried for a moment in the twisted chain-link and razor wire. Then its blazing head emerged... and let out one last roar of rage before exploding in a massive green fireball that obliterated not just the ghoul but the steel and ten feet of concrete. It wasn’t just vaporized. It was as if everything around the ghoul had been utterly disintegrated, including the possessed soul armor.
随着一声火焰般的尖叫，食尸鬼掉了下来，坠落到五十英尺以下的地面上。它撞在缠结的钢板上，被扭曲的铁链和锋利的铁丝网掩埋了一会儿。然后，它那熊熊燃烧的脑袋冒了出来......发出最后一声怒吼，随后爆炸成一个巨大的绿色火球，不仅吞噬了食尸鬼，也吞噬了钢筋和10英尺厚的混凝土。它不只是蒸发了。就好像食尸鬼周围的一切都被彻底瓦解了，包括被附身的灵魂盔甲。
I was barely aware of the hooves pulling me in. There were screams and shouts and calls for RadAway. It didn’t matter anymore. I was so tired. Ready for a really long nap. I felt Rampage slap me. Heard Lacunae tell me to stay awake. Didn’t they understand? I’d earned a rest…
我几乎感觉不到马蹄在把我拉进水里。到处都是尖叫声、喊叫声和召唤拉达维的呼声。这已经不重要了。我太累了。准备好长时间的小睡了。我觉得暴怒打了我一巴掌。听到空隙告诉我保持清醒。他们不明白吗？我应该休息一下。
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
I stood beneath hazy summer clouds that gave us all a welcome respite from the sun beating down and making our itchy green uniforms feel even worse while we stood in line. There were at least a thousand on the field with more arriving every hour. We’d been given a preliminary physical, sent the fillies and colts who wanted to fight home, signed the parchment, and gotten our hoof and dental prints taken. Then we got our first lesson in military life: hurry up and wait. So we stood in rows, unicorns in one line, earth ponies in another, and pegasi on the
我站在朦胧的夏日云雾之下，这给了我们所有人一个受欢迎的喘息机会，当我们排队的时候，阳光直射下来，让我们发痒的绿色制服感觉更糟。球场上至少有一千人，每小时都有更多的人到来。我们接受了初步体检，把那些想回家打仗的小母马和小马送了过去，在羊皮纸上签了名，还采集了我们的蹄印和牙印。然后我们学到了军旅生活中的第一课:抓紧时间，耐心等待。所以我们一排排站着，一排是独角兽，另一排是地球上的小马，飞马座在飞马座上
far side of the field. Above the trees to the west, black smoke still rose from Hoofington.
球场的另一边。在西边的树上，仍然有黑烟从Hoofington升起。
“Can you believe the zebras said they didn’t do it?” one mare muttered behind me.
"你能相信斑马说不是他们干的吗?"一匹母马在我身后喃喃自语。
“After Littlehorn, I don’t put anything past those bastards,” another growled. “We should throw out every stripe in Equestria. Can’t trust a one of ‘em.”
"在利特霍恩之后，我不会放过那些混蛋,"另一个咆哮道。"我们应该把Equestria的所有条纹都去掉。不能相信他们中的任何一个。"
I just kept my head down, eyes to the grass. There hadn’t been a hero’s welcome for us when we’d arrived in Canterlot. There’d been the Cakes retrieving their kids and the discovery that the greatest war crime in history had been performed hours after we departed. My attempt to save the zebra refugees wasn’t even a footnote. What did it matter if everypony involved was dead? The zebras denied the attack, saying it was done by a rogue element; not that anypony believed them. Then came the great Hoofington fire, killing hundreds more and displacing thousands. They’d denied that too.
我只是低着头，眼睛盯着草地。当我们到达Canterlot时，并没有受到英雄般的欢迎。在我们离开几个小时之后，他们发现历史上最大的战争罪行已经发生了。我拯救斑马难民的努力甚至不是一个注脚。如果所有参与的人都死了又有什么关系呢？斑马否认了这次袭击，说这是一个流氓分子干的，并不是所有的小马都相信他们。然后是Hoofington大火，数百人死亡，数千人流离失所。他们也否认了这一点。
It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. Celestia wasn’t supposed to quit. Alicorn Princesses didn’t quit. She’d lasted over a thousand years! How could she quit? Oh, sure, nopony was calling it that, but ‘resigning due to an inability to secure the peace, safety, and prosperity of her people’ was ‘quit’ with far more syllables than needed.
事情不应该是这样的。塞莱斯蒂亚不应该退出。阿利克公主没有放弃。她已经活了一千多年了！她怎么能放弃呢？哦，当然，没有一匹小马这样称呼它，但是"由于无法确保她的人民的和平、安全和繁荣而辞职"这个词的音节比需要的要多得多。
When the orange mare before me with a torch for her cutie mark was led off to the side for specialist training, I stepped up to the table. The frustrated-looking unicorn in golden barding looked up at me, assessed my entire worth in a moment, and found me lacking. I passed him the scroll I’d signed, and he looked at it briefly before snapping the question, “Talent?” I murmured my answer, and he scowled at me. “I asked what your talent is.”
当我面前那匹橙色的母马举着火炬寻找她可爱的印记被领到一旁接受专业训练时，我走到桌前。那只戴着金盔的独角兽失望地抬头看着我，一瞬间估量了我的全部价值，却发现我有所欠缺。我递给他我签过名的卷轴，他看了一眼，然后突然问道:"天赋?"我低声回答，他皱起眉头看着我。"我问你的才能是什么。"
“Faith,” I replied.
"信仰,"我回答。
“Faith?” He sounded skeptical. “I’m sorry, but what is it you can do?”
"信仰?"他听起来很怀疑。"对不起，你能做什么呢?"
“I… I have faith in Princess Luna to save us all. That’s my talent. Faith…” I finished lamely. “I don’t really have any magic…”
"我.....。.我相信卢娜公主能拯救我们所有人。这是我的天赋。"信仰......"我一瘸一拐地说。"我真的没有任何魔法......"
The guard covered his face with his hoof. “Great. Another basket weaver.” He shook his head slowly. Then he floated a stamp over the parchment and brought
卫兵用蹄子盖住他的脸。"太好了。又一个编织篮子的人。"他慢慢地摇了摇头。然后他在羊皮纸上盖了一个印章
it down with a thud. ‘Infantry’, it read, and I was pointed down to where the majority of the ponies were being gathered. There were shots and cracks from ponies shooting at wooden cutouts of zebras as more guards worked with small groups.
砰的一声就倒下了。'步兵'，上面写着，我被指向大多数小马被聚集的地方。那里有小马射击斑马木制剪纸的声音，更多的警卫和小群斑马在一起工作。
“Pthalm!” called a familiar voice from behind me, and Twist and Doof trotted up out of the crowd. The pale mare grinned broadly as she rushed up. “Ithn’t thith thuper?” She lisped horribly as she grinned at me from behind her thick purple glasses. “They’re tho glad we’re thigning up!”
"呸!"一个熟悉的声音从我身后传来，特威斯特和杜夫从人群中小跑出来。那匹苍白的母马冲上来时咧嘴大笑。"这不是暗礁吗?"她从厚厚的紫色眼镜后面向我咧嘴笑着，口齿不清，令人生畏。"他们很高兴我们这样做!"
“They said I was big enough to face off an entire zebra brigade!” Doof said, the gray pony with the messy brown mane looking around. “I wonder when we’re getting lunch?” Given his cutie mark of a knife and fork, there was no question what his talent was. “I bet a soldier eats really well.”
"他们说我足够大，可以对付一整队斑马!"杜夫说，那匹棕色鬃毛乱糟糟的灰色矮种马环顾四周。"我想知道我们什么时候吃午饭?"鉴于他可爱的刀叉印记，毫无疑问他的才能是什么。"我敢打赌，一个士兵吃得一定很好。"
“Doof! Thith ith bigger than your thtomach. We’re gonna be fighting for all of Equesthria!” Twist said sharply as she looked over to where the rifle training was taking place. The royal guards circulated with looks that varied from contempt to concern on their faces.
"笨蛋！它比你的胸部还要大。我们要为所有的马而战!"特威斯特一边看着正在进行步枪训练的地方，一边厉声说道。皇家卫队四处巡视，他们的表情有轻蔑的，也有关切的。
I looked around at the crowds as they were packed into small groups and herded off for testing. “I got the impression that they were looking for ponies with fighting experience,” I said, keeping my voice down.
我环顾四周，看着人群，他们被分成小组，集中起来进行测试。"我的印象是，他们在寻找有战斗经验的小马,"我说，压低了声音。
“Eeyep,” came a low, strong voice from behind me, and I turned and looked up at a red stallion almost as massive as Doof, but instead of pudge it was all muscle. The uniform strained to contain his enormous size. “Lot of folks here are high on hope and anger. Gonna be a mite different when the actual trainin’ starts.”
"是的,"从我身后传来一个低沉而有力的声音，我转过身来，看着一匹红色的种马，它几乎和杜夫一样庞大，但它不是肥胖，而是全身都是肌肉。制服紧紧地包住了他那巨大的身躯。"这里的很多人都充满希望和愤怒。当真正的训练开始的时候会有一点点不同。"
“Big Macintosth?!” Twist beamed at him. “What are you doing here? Howths Apple Bloom? Ith she here?” The mare looked behind the immense stallion, as if hoping to spot her.
"大麦金托什?!"特威斯特朝他微笑。"你在这儿干什么？苹果如何开花？她在这儿吗?"那匹母马向那匹巨大的种马后面望去，好像希望能看到她。
He looked down a moment, then smiled. “Twist, right?” The mare nodded enthusiastically. “Whole passel of us in Ponyville wanted ta do our part. Since Applejack’s doin’ something for Princess Luna, I figured I might as well do the same. Wasn’t enough of us recruits in Ponyville, so they just carted all of us out to Hoofington since this is where they’re getting the army squared away. Apple Bloom’s fine... but I don’t see her signing up. She’s got other plans.”
他低头看了一会儿，然后笑了。"扭扭舞，对吧?"母马狂热地点点头。"我们Ponyville的一大群人都想尽自己的一份力。既然苹果白兰地为卢娜公主做了一些事情，我想我也应该这样做。我们在Ponyville招募的新兵不够多，所以他们只是把我们所有人送到Hoofington，因为他们正在那里整顿军队。苹果布鲁姆很好......但我没看到她签约。她另有打算。"
“Oh...” Twist dropped her eyes a little. “Well, that’sth okay. Maybe sthe’ll come and visit?”
"哦......"特威斯特低下了眼睛。"好吧，没关系。也许他会来看我们?"
A young yellow earth pony trotted closer, his form almost consumed by his oversized uniform. “Is this where I’m supposed to be? I mean, I’m not supposed to be somewhere else, am I?”
一匹年轻的黄色土地小马慢慢走近，它的身体几乎被它那超大号的制服给吞噬了。"这是我应该在的地方吗？我的意思是，我不应该在别的地方，是吗?"
“The army? You mean we’re not going to be guards? I always wanted to be a guard,” Doof asked, frowning in concern.
""军队？你是说我们不当警卫了？"我一直想当一名警卫,"杜夫皱着眉头关切地问。
“No,” said a voice above us, and a pegasus in splendid golden armor landed in front of us. “The Equestrian Army is going to be far larger than the Royal Guard or Equestrian Skyguard. Many of us will be resigning our posts with the Royal Guard to lead you in battle.” He looked around with a slightly bemused smile. “Things are a bit less organized than we expected. To be fair, I don’t think we anticipated quite so many recruits so quickly.” Then he nodded his head to us. “Guard Cupcake, at your service.”
"不,"我们头顶上的一个声音说，一匹穿着华丽金色盔甲的飞马降落在我们面前。"马术军队的规模将远远超过皇家卫队或马术空中护卫队。我们中的许多人将辞去皇家卫队的职务，带领你们参加战斗。"他带着一丝困惑的微笑环顾四周。"事情没有我们预期的那么有条理。说句公道话，我认为我们没有预料到会这么快招到这么多人。"然后他向我们点了点头。"小蛋糕警卫随时为您服务"
“No surprise,” said a low, deep voice. I’d expected it on a larger pony than the husky green earth pony stallion. “The Royal Guard’s five times the size it was when the war started. It’s just not set up for big engagements. And I’m guessing they’ve sucked out all the career soldiers and now they’re going to give all the rest of us a shot.”
"不奇怪,"一个低沉的声音说。我本以为它会骑在一匹比那匹绿色土地上的种马还要大的小马身上。"皇家卫队的规模是战争开始时的五倍。只是不适合大型活动。我猜他们已经吸干了所有的职业军人，现在他们要给我们其他人一个机会。"
Big Macintosh nodded once. “Ayep.” Then he looked at the pony curiously. “Hey! Applesnack? Strudel’s great nephew twice removed?”
大麦金托什点了点头。"是的。"然后他好奇地看着小马。"嘿！苹果包？果馅卷饼的侄孙两次离开?"
“Three times... I think,” Applesnack replied, looking around. “Is Braeburn here? I’d thought he’d jump at a chance like this!”
"三次......我想,"阿普尔斯纳克回答，环顾四周。"布雷本在吗？我还以为他会抓住这样的机会呢!"
Big Macintosh shook his head slowly. “Anope. He’s been making guns for earth ponies. Calls it ‘our magic’ since we ain’t got wings or horns.” Big Macintosh then looked at me and added with his easy smile. “No offense.”
大麦金托什慢慢地摇了摇头。"Anope.他一直在为土地上的小马制造枪支。称之为'我们的魔法'，因为我们没有翅膀和角。"然后大麦金托什看着我，脸上露出平易近人的微笑。"无意冒犯。"
“None taken. To be fair, I don’t think I’ll be of much use,” I commented lightly. “I’m not a fighter. I’m not much of anything.”
"没关系。说句公道话，我不认为我有多大用处,"我轻描淡写地说。"我不是一个斗士。我什么都不是。"
“Me neither,” said the little yellow earth pony. “But... but I want to do something. I have to.”
"我也是,"黄土地上的小马说。"但是......但是我想做点什么。我必须这么做。"
I smiled and offered my hoof to him. “Psalm.”
我微笑着把我的蹄子递给他。"诗篇。"
He stared up at me and blushed. “E... E... Echo. But really... do you think I’ll be able to fight?”
他抬头看着我，脸红了。"e..E..回音。但说真的......你觉得我能打吗?"
“That’s... a question many guards have asked, too,” the pegasus said simply as he surveyed the crowds. “A lot have been pretty resistant to the army. The Equestrian Guard used to be almost solely the province of unicorn knights and pegasus warriors. The idea of taking just anypony old enough and willing to fight and training them to be soldiers is... difficult.”
"这也是......一个很多守卫都会问的问题,"帕伽索斯在调查人群时简单地说。"许多国家对军队相当抵触。骑士卫队过去几乎完全是独角兽骑士和飞马战士的地盘。让任何一个年龄足够大、愿意战斗并训练他们成为士兵的想法都是......困难的。"
“Hey! Is this where we sign up to join the Skyguard?” a stallion said from above, drifting down on his widespread wings and landing with a crash. “Is Rainbow Dash here? I’d really love to meet her! I got a move called the Stonewing Stomp that I think she’ll find totally awesome!” the gray winged pony said, giving a little hop and smashing the grass under his hooves.
"嘿！这是我们报名加入天空卫队的地方吗?"一匹种马说，从上面，漂浮下来，他的广泛的翅膀和着陆与崩溃。"彩虹·达什在这儿吗？我真想见见她！我有一个动作叫做"石翼跺脚"，我想她会觉得非常棒的!"灰色长翅膀的小马说，跳了一小下，把草踩碎在蹄下。
“Didn’t you just hear him? We’re joining the army, not the guard,” a blue pegasus mare said, landing beside him. “Don’t mind him. He’s a numbskull. Flew into one too many mountains back in summer flight camp.”
""你刚才没有听见他的话吗？"我们是去参军，不是去当警卫,"一匹蓝色的飞马在他旁边降落，说道。"别理他。他是个笨蛋。在夏令营的时候飞进了太多的山里。"
“Oh, like you never did, Jetstream,” he snorted, rolling his eyes.
"哦，就像你从来没有做过一样，Jetstream,"他哼了一声，转动着眼珠。
“Correct. I never did,” she replied pointedly.
"正确。我从来没有,"她尖锐地回答。
The gray pegasus pointed a wing at her with a grin. “What about that faceplant into Mount Celestia’s southern face? The infamous ‘plotbreaker’?”
灰色的飞马咧嘴笑着用翅膀指着她。"把脸植入MountCelestia南部的脸怎么样？那个臭名昭著的"阴谋破坏者"?"
She looked back at him flatly. “That was you, Stonewing.”
她直截了当地回头看着他。"那就是你，斯通温。"
“Oh? Oh yeah. Well, who smacked right into the wall of Ghastly Gorge during speed trials?”
"哦？哦，是的。那么，是谁在速度赛中撞上了恐怖峡谷的墙呢?"
“Also you.”
"还有你。"
“Ploughed through the wall of the Cloudeseum?”
"在克劳德西姆的城墙上犁地?"
“You.”
"你。"
“Left their imprint in the Ponyville dam?”
"它们在Ponyville大坝上留下了印记?"
“You,” she finished in that same flat tone. “I’ll give you a hint, Stonewing. If there was an epic flight failure in the last ten years, it was probably you.”
"你,"她用同样平淡的语调说完。"我给你个提示，斯通温。如果说过去十年里出现了一次史诗般的飞行失败，那很可能就是你。"
This caused him to frown in thought and concern. “Oh, yeah...” Stonewing murmured as he looked skyward and rubbed his chin, then shrugged and grinned at the pegasus guard. “So, when are we getting our suits of armor, huh?” Jetstream just groaned and covered her face with her hooves.
这使他皱起了眉头，陷入沉思和忧虑。"哦，是的......"斯通因看着天空，摩擦着下巴，喃喃地说，然后耸耸肩，对着天马座的守卫咧嘴一笑。"那么，我们什么时候能拿到我们的盔甲?"Jetstream刚刚呻吟了一声，用蹄子捂住了脸。
“I don’t see as many pegasi or unicorns,” the yellow earth pony said with a small frown. “Mostly earth ponies.” Nearby there was a bit of commotion, with a stallion shouting for somepony to be reasonable in the crowd.
"我看不到那么多飞马座或独角兽,"黄色的地球小马皱着眉头说。"大部分是土地上的小马。"不远处有一阵骚动，一匹种马在人群中大叫，要求某匹小马理智一点。
“Unfortunately, many pegasi don’t see much appeal in joining,” a smooth voice said as an emerald-maned unicorn stepped forward in his professionally tailored uniform. “Wars are dirty, uncouth things for surface ponies to struggle through. No concern for ponies who live in the clouds.”
"不幸的是，许多飞马座看不到加入的吸引力,"一个流畅的声音说，此时一只戴着翡翠戒指的独角兽穿着他专业定制的制服走上前来。"对于地面上的小马来说，战争是肮脏、粗俗的事情。不用担心住在云端的小马。"
“So why aren’t there many unicorns here either?” Jetstream countered. I reached up and touched my horn lightly, wondering if I even counted as a unicorn.
"那么，为什么这里也没有多少独角兽呢?"Jetstream反驳道。我抬起头，轻轻地摸了摸我的角，心想我是否算得上是一只独角兽。
“Because wars are dirty, uncouth things for banal unmagical ponies to struggle through. No concern for ponies who can use magic,” another unicorn said as he pushed his way through with a scowl. He was certainly handsome, but it merely seemed to emphasize his haughtiness. “There you are! You’ve made me wade through all these commoners to find you. What do you think you’re doing, Vanity? This is no place for a prince!”
"因为战争是肮脏的、粗俗的事情，平庸的、没有魔力的小马要挣扎着度过。不用担心会使用魔法的小马,"另一只独角兽皱着眉头挤过去时说。他当然很英俊，但这似乎只是突出了他的傲慢。"你在这儿啊！你让我费尽千辛万苦才找到你。你以为你在干什么，虚荣心？这里不是王子该来的地方!"
“Doing what you won’t, Blueblood,” Vanity retorted. “What so many Canterlot unicorns won’t do.”
"做你不愿意做的事，贵族,"虚荣反驳道。"这么多Canterlot独角兽不会做的事情。"
“Ugh, at the very least do it properly! Field commission and from a position of command, not as an...” He dropped his voice and said in a stage whisper, “Enlisted pony...”
"呃，至少要做得恰到好处！他放下声音，在舞台上低声说道:"小马驹......"
“I’ve made up my mind, Brother,” Vanity replied evenly, putting a hoof on his sibling’s shoulder. “Why don’t you join me? We could be a symbol for the rest of the aristocracy.”
"我已经决定了，兄弟,"虚荣平静地回答，把蹄子放在兄弟的肩上。"你为什么不和我一起去呢？我们可以成为其他贵族的象征。"
“You’re mad,” Blueblood sniffed and stepped back, brushing grass from his coat in disgust. “Well, have your fun playing soldier, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.
"你疯了,"蓝血王嗅了嗅，退后一步，厌恶地掸去外套上的草。""好吧，玩得开心点，但别说我没警告过你。
You’ll be the absolute mockery of the Canterlot social circles for this, mark my words. Hrmph!” He snorted and turned away.
你会成为Canterlot社交圈的绝对笑柄，记住我的话。哈哈!"他哼了一声，转过身去。
“Apologies,” Vanity replied, effortlessly returning to a calm, collected smile. “It’s been a trying time for the aristocracy. A week’s transition of power has hardly allowed the whiplash to ease.” He looked in the direction of the shooting range, and his smile faded a little. “In all honesty, I wonder if I’ll be of any use at all. I suppose that has my brother worried more than anything. I know little about fighting beyond formal dueling.”
"抱歉,"瓦妮特回答道，毫不费力地恢复了平静而镇定的微笑。"对于贵族来说，这是一段艰难的时期。一周的权力交接几乎没有缓解这种紧张局面。"他朝射击场的方向看去，他的笑容有点模糊了。"老实说，我不知道我是否还有什么用。我想这比什么都让我哥哥担心。除了正式决斗之外，我对战斗知之甚少。"
“That’s a worry we all have,” Cupcake said in concern. “Bakers. Tailors. Candy makers. Farmers. Princes. And we’re going to throw them into fighting they’ve never imagined before. Fighting like we’ve only seen in our nightmares. With Princess Luna taking control of the kingdom, the zebras have increased their recruitment as well. Whole tribes are coming to fight that were neutral when the war began. Can Equestria beat such odds with soldiers like this?”
"这是我们所有人都担心的问题,"纸杯蛋糕担心地说。"面包师。裁缝。糖果制造商。农民。王子。我们将把他们投入到他们从未想象过的战斗中。战斗就像我们只在噩梦中见过一样。随着公主卢娜控制了王国，斑马也增加了他们的招募。整个部落都来参加战争，战争开始时他们是中立的。有这样的战士，马术能战胜这样的困难吗?"
“Ayep,” Big Macintosh said in his even, confident voice. “If y’all don’t mind my sayin’ so, Equestria’s a lot more than its soldiers. Every single one of us loves this country. Sure, none of us are like your guards. I’d like to be in the south acre right now. But Equestria needs me to fight for this land more than it needs me harvestin’ apples. So I’ll learn whatever I need to to do it. The south acre will be there when I’m done.”
"是的,"大麦金托什用他平静而自信的声音说。"如果你们不介意我这么说的话，小马国可不仅仅是它的士兵。我们每个人都热爱这个国家。当然，我们都不像你的守卫。我现在想呆在南边的地方。但是相比收获苹果，小马国更需要我为这片土地而战。所以我会学习任何我需要做的事情。当我完成的时候，南方的土地就会在那里了。"
“Me too!” Twist said with a stomp of her hoof. “I might not know anything about sthooting, but I can sthretch twenty poundths of taffy with my bare hoovesth and not break a sthweat!”
"我也是!"特威斯特跺着蹄子说。"我可能不知道什么叫吹牛，但是我可以光着屁股吃掉二十磅的太妃糖，而且一根也不会折断!"
“We’ll fight,” Applesnack said with a sure, wide smile. “We’ll fight as long as Equestria needs us. We’ll give our lives if we have to; nothing will stop us from winning and making sure that Equestria is safe for centuries to come.”
"我们会战斗的,"阿普尔斯纳克笑容可掬地说。"只要小马国需要我们，我们就会奋战到底。如果有必要，我们将献出自己的生命，没有什么能阻止我们赢得胜利，并确保Equestria在未来几个世纪都是安全的。"
Vanity smiled and nodded, looking sublime in his tailored fatigues. “And it won’t just be the soldiers. I’ve heard talk that Princess Luna plans on throwing the entire might of Equestria behind this war. Every factory. Every resource that Equestria has to bring to bear will be used. It won’t be the guard being sent off to fight while the rest of us live our lives and try to pretend that the war is just some trivial bit of news.” Vanity looked off to the east, his expression solemn. “Hoofington proved just how much the enemy will destroy if given a chance.
瓦妮特微笑着点了点头，看上去穿着剪裁考究的迷彩服，十分庄重。"不仅仅是士兵。我听说卢娜公主计划用整个Equestria的力量来支持这场战争。每个工厂。Equestria必须运用的每一种资源都将得到利用。当我们剩下的人过着自己的生活，并试图假装这场战争只是一些琐碎的小新闻时，不会有警卫被派去战斗。"虚荣向东方望去，他的表情很严肃。"胡芬顿证明了一旦有机会敌人会摧毁多少东西。
Littlehorn showed that all of our people are targets, no matter how helpless or innocent.”
利特尔霍恩表明，我们所有的人都是目标，无论他们多么无助或无辜。"
“I’ve seen what happens when muh sister’s six friends work together. If all of Equestria works together and don’t hold back, how can we fail?” Big Macintosh said casually with an easy smile. “It’ll turn out alright. You’ll see.”
"我见过我姐姐的六个朋友一起工作时发生的事情。如果所有Equestria国家齐心协力，不退缩，我们怎么会失败呢?"大麦金托什机轻松地微笑着随意地说。"一切都会好的。你会明白的。"
Cupcake looked doubtful though, even afraid. “Yes. Still, it’s hard. Celestia always tried to spare the country from the nasty business of the war. I’ve fought against zebra machines of war at Dawn Bay and struggled with Achu warriors all over Shattered Hoof Ridge. The Guard were supposed to handle it all. But I guess after Littlehorn, that just isn’t possible anymore.”
尽管纸杯蛋糕看起来很可疑，甚至有些害怕。"是的。尽管如此，这仍然很难。塞莱斯蒂亚总是试图让国家远离战争的讨厌事务。我曾在黎明湾与斑马战争机器作战，也曾在粉碎性霍夫岭与阿楚战士作战。警卫队应该处理这一切。但我想，在利特霍恩之后，这种情况就不可能再发生了。"
“You’ll see. It’s going to be great. We’ll fight them all together and win the war for Equestria,” Doof said enthusiastically. “Twist here can work for hours on end and never get tired.”
"你等着瞧吧。一定会很棒的。我们将与他们并肩作战，为Equestria赢得战争。"。"这里的扭转可以连续工作几个小时，而且永远不会感到累。"
“And Doof is my number one worker. Why, he tosthes around fifty pound sthacks of sugar like they’re nothing!” Twist replied with a grin.
"杜夫是我的头号员工。为什么，他把五十磅的大包糖都扔了，好像它们什么都不是似的!"特威斯特咧嘴笑着回答。
The pegasus looked at all of us with the strangest smile on his face. He pointed to each of us in turn, as if memorizing our names. “Big Macintosh. Applesnack. Twist. Doof. Echo. Vanity. Jetstream. Stonewing. Psalm.” He nodded once.
飞马看着我们，脸上挂着最奇怪的微笑。他依次指着我们每个人，好像记住了我们的名字。"大麦金塔电脑。苹果包。扭转。Doof.回音。虚荣心。Jetstream.石翼。诗篇》他点了点头。
“Right. I’ll keep my eyes open for you. Maybe this Equestrian Army thing will work out after all…”
"对。我会注意你的。也许马术军队的事情最终会解决的......"
In the weeks to come, we would work together and learn the difficult art of war. Royal Guard Cupcake put his armor away to become Captain Cupcake. Twist learned that while her eyesight would always hinder her firearms ability, she was a tireless and tenacious fighter, and she learned to speak without her lisp so orders and communications could be clearly understood. Doof lost the fat and put on muscle with the constant work and training. Vanity taught the others dignity and pride, and learned the messy realities of fighting. Stonewing and Jetstream worked as a team, protecting their surfacer pony friends from harm. Applesnack softened his cynical and hard attitude and learned to work with others. And Big Macintosh learned to become a leader, soft spoken but always supremely confident and sure of the right course of action.
在接下来的几个星期里，我们将共同努力，学习艰深的兵法。皇家警卫卡普脱下盔甲成为卡普上尉。特威斯特意识到，尽管她的视力总是会阻碍她使用武器的能力，但她是一个不知疲倦、顽强不屈的战士，她学会了说话而不会口齿不清，这样就可以清楚地理解命令和交流。通过不断的工作和训练，杜夫减掉了脂肪，增加了肌肉。虚荣心教会了其他人尊严和骄傲，也让他们认识到了战斗的混乱现实。石翼和喷气流作为一个团队工作，保护他们表面的小马朋友免受伤害。苹果奈克软化了他的愤世嫉俗和强硬态度，并学会了与他人合作。大麦金托什学会了成为一个领导者，说话温和，但总是非常自信，并确信正确的行动方针。
And myself? I discovered that while I had little in the way of magic, with the help of an earth pony weapon I could be just as effective as a unicorn battlemage
那我呢？我发现虽然我没有什么魔法，但是在一个地球上的小马武器的帮助下，我可以像一个独角兽战斗法师一样有效
of old. Even if it was hard to sight a target and pull the trigger.
古老的。即使很难瞄准目标并扣动扳机。
We were friends. We were comrades. We were Macintosh’s Marauders...
我们是朋友。我们是同志。我们是麦金托什的掠夺者..。
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
I came to with my face on cold metal, feeling my body ache terribly; the boring sensation grinding away inside me. Really, nothing I wasn’t used to. “So... I’m not dead yet?” I murmured, slowly lifting my head and looking around. We were in the storeroom of the radiology lab. Most of the crates and barrels had been removed, save for an impromptu chemistry lab that’d been set up in the back corner. A bottle full of rainbow colors and reeking of urine was slowly being dripped through a filter of some sort, and a bottle of rainbow Flux sat beside it. There were jars of orangey-amberish fluid next to that.
我的脸靠在冰冷的金属上苏醒过来，感到身体非常疼痛，无聊的感觉在我体内慢慢消失。真的，没什么是我不习惯的。"这么说......我还没死?"我低声说，慢慢地抬起头，环顾四周。我们在放射实验室的储藏室里。大部分的板条箱和桶都被搬走了，只有后面角落里的一个临时化学实验室除外。一瓶装满彩虹色和臭气的尿液慢慢地从某种过滤器中滴入，旁边放着一瓶彩虹药水。旁边还有一罐罐桔黄色的液体。
Recycled RadAway. Wouldn’t have thought of that. My rad meter didn’t show any further contamination, so I guessed there was some kind of shielding in the storage room that blocked the radiation. Wouldn’t have thought of that either.
回收的RadAway。我还真没想到。我的辐射计没有显示出任何进一步的污染，所以我猜测在储藏室里有某种屏蔽物来阻挡辐射。我也没想到。
Even more surprising was the pony handling the bottles. Rampage had found a filthy white lab coat and eye glasses, and she handled the glassware and chems with experience and care. She looked back at me as I stirred. “Don’t sound so disappointed, Blackjack. Lacunae filled me in on some of your last near death experience back at that Tenpony place. If it weren’t for the fact that your vital organs are synthetic and you’ve got some alicornish tumors in your brain, you would be.” She tossed one of the jars onto her back, trotted over, and slid it deftly down her leg to the floor in front of me. “Drink,” she said. I lay back, levitated the jar, and gave it a tentative sniff.
更令人惊讶的是小马在操作瓶子。狂暴发现了一件肮脏的白大褂和一副眼镜，她小心翼翼地拿着那些玻璃器皿和化妆品。我动了一下，她回头看着我。"别这么失望嘛，黑杰克。Lacunae告诉了我一些你上次在Tenpony那个地方的濒死体验。如果不是因为你的重要器官是人工合成的，而且你的大脑中长了一些有光泽的肿瘤，你早就死了。"她把其中一个罐子扔到背上，小跑过去，灵巧地顺着腿滑到我面前的地板上。"喝吧,"她说。我躺下来，把罐子悬浮起来，试探性地闻了闻。
“It smells like pee,” I muttered sullenly. My chest still felt the curse chewing away inside. I looked around and spotted Shears at the far side of the storeroom, head bowed, filthy brown mane hiding his face.
"闻起来像尿,"我闷闷不乐地喃喃自语。我的胸膛仍然感觉到诅咒在里面咀嚼着。我环顾四周，发现舍尔斯在储藏室的另一边，低着头，肮脏的棕色鬃毛遮住了他的脸。
“Well, I tried to filter it as well as I was able and remove as much uric acid and protein contaminants as I could, but unfortunately, the facilities here aren’t quite up to snuff. So yes, there’s probably at least some pee in it. Drink it anyway,” she said, then gestured towards a rainbow-splattered bucket in the corner. “When it hits your bladder, aim for the bucket. We need to save as much as possible.”
"嗯，我试着尽可能地过滤它，尽可能地去除尿酸和蛋白质污染物，但不幸的是，这里的设施不够好。所以是的，里面可能至少有一些尿液。"还是喝吧,"她说，然后指了指角落里溅满彩虹的桶。"当它击中你的膀胱时，瞄准桶。我们需要尽可能多地储蓄。"
“Graves?” I suddenly asked as my brain began to replay the battle. “Where is
"格雷夫斯?"当我的大脑开始回放这场战斗时，我突然问道。""在哪儿
Graves?”
格雷夫斯?"
“She didn’t make it,” Rampage said, and then immediately followed it up with, “And unless you are a flaming ghoul that burned her or forced her to come at gunpoint, you are not responsible for her death. You can shelve that guilt right now. If she hadn’t thrown out what RadAway she did, you and your friends would have died. That ghoul was sane enough to target our supplies. You should be proud you beat it rather than kicking yourself for her death.”
"她没能挺过来,"朗格说，然后马上接着说,"除非你是一个燃烧的食尸鬼，烧死了她，或者用枪逼迫她来，否则你不必为她的死负责。你现在就可以把这种罪恶感搁置起来。如果她没有抛弃她所做的一切，你和你的朋友们早就死了。那个食尸鬼神志清醒，可以瞄准我们的补给。你应该为你战胜了它而感到骄傲，而不是为她的死而自责。"
I opened my mouth and closed it again. I knew that she was right, but maybe if I’d been faster... if I’d shouted out a warning sooner or been a better distraction...
我张开嘴，又闭上了。我知道她是对的，但如果我再快一点...如果我早点喊出警告或者更好地分散注意力..。
I knew that some of us might not come back, but I’d always intended it to be over my dead body. I occupied myself with drinking the yellow-orange fluid in the jar, wrinkling my nose. Actually, though... despite the smell of pee, the taste was a robust, tangy RadAway orange with a salty aftertaste. Not bad! As I drank I watched my rad levels drop closer and closer to green. Then I looked at the striped pony as she took the empty jar in her mouth. I ran through the number of ponies I knew and took a guess. “Doctor Octopus?”
我知道我们中的一些人可能不会回来，但我总是希望除非我死了。我一边喝着罐子里的橙黄色液体，一边皱着鼻子。实际上，尽管有尿液的味道，味道还是浓烈的，带有咸咸的回味。不错嘛！当我喝酒的时候，我看着辐射水平越来越接近绿色。然后我看着那匹有条纹的小马，她把空瓶子放进嘴里。我跑遍了我认识的小马的数量，然后猜了一下。"章鱼博士?"
She arched one brow at me before she turned and returned the jar next to the equipment. “And Razorwire. That filly certainly knows how to brew her chems. Trust me, you don’t want the details to her secret, personal recipe for Dash,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Something about this place is pulling us to the fore. It’s somewhat disturbing. Fortunately, most of us want to help you, and those that don’t are keeping silent.”
她向我挑了挑眉毛，然后转过身，把罐子放回器具旁边。"还有Razorwire。那匹小母马肯定知道如何酿造药品。相信我，你不会想知道她为Dash准备的秘密私人食谱的细节的。"她说着，转动着眼珠。"这个地方有什么东西把我们拉到了前面。这有点令人不安。幸运的是，我们大多数人都想帮助你，而那些不想帮助你的人却保持着沉默。"
“So Rampage is run by a committee?” I muttered as I sat up. No Rampage... or Rampage as just a mix? No... there had to be a pony behind all those different personalities. There just had to be.
"那么狂暴是由一个委员会管理的?"我坐起来喃喃自语。没有暴怒......或者暴怒只是一个混合体？不...在这些不同的个性背后一定有一匹小马。肯定有的。
They’d taken my armor off; it lay in a slightly blackened heap. I sure went through a lot of barding... it was kinda frustrating... kinda like getting Graves killed to answer my question. You’d think I’d know better by now. I clenched my eyes shut a moment, trying to shove those thoughts away and keep myself together. I had to. I couldn’t go back on the mattress now.
他们把我的盔甲拿掉了，它躺在一堆略微发黑的东西里。我确实经历了很多的讨价还价...这有点令人沮丧...有点像让格雷夫斯被杀来回答我的问题。你可能认为我现在应该更清楚了。我紧闭双眼，试图把那些想法赶走，让自己保持清醒。我必须这么做。我现在不能回到床垫上了。
“Explains a lot, don’t it?” Psychoshy asked from by the door, holding the blasted form of Cerberus steady as Xanthe worked on him. The robot crackled something about striped saboteurs as it waved its single remaining limb. Stygius
"这就说得通了，不是吗?"神经病从门口问道，当桑丝对他动手的时候，他把那该死的地狱犬稳住了。当机器人挥动它仅剩的一条肢体时，它发出了有关条纹破坏者的爆裂声。柱花草属
stretched out his hooves and steadied me.
伸出他的蹄子，让我稳定下来。
Rampage put the jar under a spigot and began to fill it with the yellowy fluid, talking as she worked. “I... we don’t know. Lacunae believes we might be a group mind like the Goddess, but, lacking a central unifying personality to give direction, we lurch to whatever personality is strongest at a given moment or defer to a blended ‘default’ personality. It would make for an absolutely fascinating paper if there were anypony around that cared.” She looked back at me. “Since I woke up, though... I’ve become more and more aware of the others with me. And they of me.”
狂暴把瓶子放在一个水龙头下面，开始往里面灌满淡黄色的液体，一边工作一边说话。"我.....。.我们不知道。认为我们可能是一个像女神一样的群体思维，但是，由于缺乏一个指引方向的中心统一的个性，我们倾向于在某个特定时刻最强大的个性，或者遵从一个混合的默认个性。如果有人关心这个问题的话，这绝对会是一篇引人入胜的论文。"她回头看着我。"不过，自从我醒来以后......我越来越意识到我身边的其他人。他们也喜欢我。"
“How many are there?” I asked as I rose and took a step, and then Stygius flashed next to me as I nearly smashed my face on the ground. He steadied me with a small, worried smile. The reason for my header was simple: I was missing my right foreleg. I looked down at the dangling wires and connectors and gulped. Okay, this might be a little more than even a repair talisman could handle.
"有多少人?"我站起来向前迈了一步问道，接着，当我的脸几乎摔在地上的时候，斯提吉乌斯在我旁边一闪而过。他带着一丝担忧的微笑使我平静下来。我头球的原因很简单:我的右前腿没了。我低头看着晃来晃去的电线和连接器，咽了一口气。好吧，这可能比一个修理护身符还要多一点。
He gave me a worried smile, pointing at the empty space past my stump. I sighed and smiled back. “Yeah. Can’t say this is the first time I’ve been crippled.” That got a very odd look from the stallion, and he put a hoof around my neck in a strong hug. Psychoshy turned away, muttering to herself. “Help me get to the bucket,” I said as I hobbled my way into the corner. He kept me from falling flat on my face as I turned around and did my business, having the decency to look away.
他给了我一个担心的微笑，指着经过我残肢的空地。我叹了口气，回以微笑。"是的。不能说这是我第一次变成瘸子。"那匹种马的表情非常奇怪，他用一只蹄子紧紧地抱住我的脖子。神经病转过身去，喃喃自语。"帮我到桶那儿去,"我一瘸一拐地走到角落里说。当我转过身去做事的时候，他保护着我，免得我摔得一塌糊涂，还有点礼貌地把目光移开。
Rampage, on the other hoof, leaned over to watch the show. “Oh, excellent. Really, your body is a feat of engineering. My background may be in psychiatry, but I can appreciate good design. Redundant power supply system. Redundant healing and repair talismans. If you can avoid catastrophic damage to your brain, you might be effectively immortal.”
另一只蹄子上的狂暴，俯身看着这场表演。"哦，太好了。说真的，你的身体是一个工程学的壮举。我的背景可能是精神病学，但我能欣赏好的设计。冗余供电系统。多余修复护身符。如果你能避免大脑受到灾难性的损伤，你可能实际上是不朽的。"
“Wait? Redundant?” I asked with my eyes wide. “I thought... you mean I have more than one?”
"等等？多余?"我睁大眼睛问道。"我以为......你是说我有不止一个?"
“Indeed. Two of each.” She turned and looked back at Xanthe. “The... zebra... was able to plug into your hardware and devote all your systems to radiation purging once we got you inside. We were quite glad to find you had a pair of healing talismans rather than a single one. Apparently you have one set from
"的确。每种两个。"她转过身来，回头看着Xanthe。"斑马......能够插入你的硬件，一旦我们把你弄进去，就能把你所有的系统都用来进行辐射清洗。我们很高兴发现你有一对治疗护身符而不是一个。显然你有一套
Professor Zodiac and one set from another source.” She looked at me and smiled, peering over the rims of her glasses. “You’ve never questioned your rather substantial regenerative capabilities?”
十二宫教授和另一个来源的一套。"她看着我，微笑着，透过眼镜框往外看。"你从未质疑过自己相当强大的再生能力吗?"
“No! I just thought that was... well... normal!” I said as I finished my business and pointedly avoided seeing what Rampage did with the contents. “But... why? If the professor could have just kept her own, she could have been a pony again! She wouldn’t have had to be a head stuck in a jar!”
"不！我只是觉得那很......嗯......正常!"我一边说着，一边结束了我的工作，有意避免看到斯皮格对里面的东西做了什么。"但是......为什么？如果教授能保住自己的位置，她就能再次成为一匹小马！她就不会成为一个被困在罐子里的脑袋了!"
“I suspect she had her own reasons,” Rampage replied as she dumped the contents of the bucket into the equipment. “I can only speculate at the moment what they might be. It could be she wanted to ensure your success and so gave you the redundant healing and repair capabilities. If so, she did indeed save your life. The radiation damage to your brain was far less severe than it would have been to another pony.”
"我怀疑她有她自己的理由,"狂暴一边回答，一边把桶里的东西倒进设备里。"目前我只能推测它们可能是什么。这可能是她想确保你的成功，因此给你多余的愈合和修复能力。如果是这样的话，她确实救了你的命。辐射对你大脑的损伤远没有对另一匹小马造成的严重。"
“So... what, I can’t die? Like... ever?” I’d expect to live longer than a normal unicorn, assuming that I didn’t get myself killed first, but... What the hell was I anymore? Because it sure wasn’t a pony!
"那么......什么，我不能死吗？比如......永远?"我本以为自己会比一只普通的独角兽活得更长，假设我没有先把自己害死，但是......我到底算什么？因为它肯定不是一匹小马！
Rampage snorted. “That would be quite a foolish leap to make. Sufficient damage to your organs to the point your brain could no longer be sustained would be fatal. Indeed, simple suffocation could kill you, and if you ever ran out of gems to eat, your healing would be impeded to the point you could be killed quite easily. It simply explains all the damage that’s been done to you thus far and how you’re not a heap of bloody metal by now. And your foreleg, or rather the lack thereof, demonstrates the limitation of your repair talismans.”
横冲直撞的人嗤之以鼻。"这将是一个相当愚蠢的飞跃。如果你的器官受到足够的损害，以至于你的大脑不能再持续下去，那将是致命的。事实上，简单的窒息可以杀死你，而且如果你没有宝石可以吃，你的治疗会受到阻碍，以至于你很容易被杀死。它只是简单地解释了迄今为止对你造成的所有伤害，以及为什么你现在不是一堆血腥的金属。而你的前腿，或者更确切地说是缺少前腿，表明了你的修复护身符的局限性。"
So... it wasn’t that I was extra freaky, it was simply an explanation for how come I’d taken shots from AM rifles and kept going. “Where did the extra talismans come from then?”
所以......这并不是因为我特别怪异，这只是一个简单的解释，为什么我会用AM步枪射击，然后继续前进。"那些额外的护身符是从哪里来的?"
I heard Lacunae’s voice in my mind with a strange new clarity, though the screaming background of Enervation did make things a little more difficult. “Several pieces were ‘donated’ by Caprice, salvaged from Deus’s body. She was apparently selling off the Reaper piece by piece as souvenirs, but then Glory reminded her that she hadn’t paid for the installation of those beam turrets and threatened to take some pieces of Caprice as souvenirs if she didn’t turn over whatever was left.”
我在脑海中听到了拉库尼的声音，带着一种新的奇怪的清晰感，尽管那声嘶力竭的背景声确实让事情变得有些困难。"有几件是凯普莱斯'捐赠'的，是从天王的尸体上抢救出来的。显然，她是在一件一件地出售收割机作为纪念品，但晨辉提醒她，她没有支付安装横梁塔楼的费用，并威胁说，如果她不交出剩下的任何东西，她就会拿走一些卡普莱斯作为纪念品。"
I looked around, but there was no sign of my purple alicorn friend. “Lacunae? How are you hearing me?”
我向四周看了看，但是没有我的紫果朋友的踪迹。"缺口？你是怎么听到我说话的?"
“I’m afraid that the extreme radiation to your brain had some... unexpected side effects,” Lacunae murmured. “Some of the things that were believed to be simple tumors were not, and they are now... active.”
"恐怕对你大脑的极端辐射有一些......意想不到的副作用,"拉库尼喃喃地说。"有些被认为是简单肿瘤的东西并不是，而且它们现在......很活跃。"
I stared straight ahead, listening to that scream in the distant parts of my mind as I focused. “What do you mean ‘active’?”
我目不转睛地盯着前方，当我集中注意力的时候，听着那声尖叫从我脑海中遥远的地方传来。"'积极'是什么意思?"
Then I heard a voice break through that interference and speak low and grand and just a touch snotty. “It means that you are a part of that to which you have no right, Blackjack! You are a thief! A trespasser! A bit of mutant scum whose unworthy mind has tapped into a grand and glorious being!”
然后我听到一个声音打破了干扰，说话声音低沉庄重，只是有点流鼻涕。"这意味着你是你没有权利去做的事情的一部分，Blackjack！你是个贼！非法入侵者！一群变异的渣滓，他们卑鄙的思想已经触碰到了一个伟大而光荣的存在!"
I stared straight ahead in shock. “Is that...”
我震惊地直视前方。"那是......"
“Yes...” Lacunae replied with a sigh.
"是的......"拉库尼叹了口气回答道。
The Goddess said, with utter vicious malice, “Welcome to Unity, Blackjack.”
女神恶毒地说:"欢迎来到联合王国，黑杰克。"
* * *
* * *
So after ten minutes of panicking, trying to cover both my ears with my one remaining forehoof, and mentally thinking ‘La-la-la-la’ as loudly as I could, the screaming Enervation finally drowned out the admonitions and threats of the Goddess. Apparently, the second I set a hoof out of Hoofington again, I was destined to become transformed into an alicorn rather than the half unicorn, half alicorn, half cyberpony thing I was now. And from how pissed off the Goddess was at me, I doubted my time in Unity was going to be a good one.
十分钟的恐慌过后，我试图用剩下的一只前蹄捂住两只耳朵，尽可能大声地在脑子里想着"啦啦啦"，最后，哭喊的声音淹没了女神的警告和威胁。显然，当我再次踏出Hoofington的那一刻，我注定要变成一只独角兽，而不是现在的半独角兽，半独角兽，半赛博马。从女神对我的愤怒程度来看，我怀疑我在尤尼蒂的日子会不会过得很好。
“Relax, Blackjack. Panic will solve little,” Lacunae said softly.
"放松点，黑杰克。恐慌解决不了什么问题,"拉库纳轻声说。
“Relax?” I thought back at her. “Have you spit your bit or something? The Goddess is in my head. What if she takes me over like she does you?”
"放松?"我回想着她。"你吐口水了吗？女神在我的脑海里。如果她像对待你一样对待我怎么办?"
“Your connection to the Goddess is... an aberration. It is something she is struggling to find a way to end, immediately. The Enervation shields you from her contact, and she may simply be incapable of utterly consuming you as she does the rest of us.” She hesitated, then added, “Now, if you leave Hoofington...
"你和女神的联系是...一种偏差。这是她正在努力寻找一种立即结束的方式。"弱化"保护你不受她的接触，她可能只是无法像对待我们其他人一样完全消耗你。"她犹豫了一下，然后补充说,"现在，如果你离开Hoofington.....。
she might be able to influence you. But only through complete transformation in Maripony will you be a true alicorn.”
她也许能影响你。但只有通过在Maripony的彻底改造，你才能成为一个真正的阿里康。"
“Right. Knowing my luck it’ll turn me into some kind of freaky cyber alicorn!” I really wanted to hyperventilate right now; having the Goddess inside me... damn it! It felt like I was losing myself. It was like being back on the Seahorse, feeling hurt and violated and just wanting it over. I wanted my own dreams back, not Psalm’s. I wanted to see with my own eyes, not view visions and flashes of what other ponies wanted me to see. I wanted to be Blackjack again. I almost couldn’t remember that idiot who ran out into the Wasteland with Deus on her tail.
"对。知道我的运气，它会把我变成某种奇怪的网络怪物!"我现在真的很想呼吸急促;女神在我体内...该死！感觉就像我迷失了自我。就像回到了海马号上，感觉受到了伤害和侵犯，只想结束这一切。我想要回我自己的梦想，而不是诗篇。我想亲眼看到，而不是其他小马想让我看到的景象和闪光。我想再次成为黑杰克。我几乎不记得那个白痴跑到荒原上，上帝在她的尾巴上。
It was all... too much. Just too much. The enormity of how much I’d changed and what had happened to Graves came crashing down on me. I didn’t want to deal with it anymore. I just wanted to curl up with my head in Glory’s lap and have her stroke my mane until magically everything was better.
这一切...太过分了。太多了。我的巨大变化和格雷夫斯的遭遇让我崩溃了。我不想再处理这件事了。我只想把头蜷缩在晨辉的大腿上，让她抚摸我的鬃毛，直到一切奇迹般地好转。
But right now, I had ponies who would die if I simply went fetal.
但是现在，我有一些小马驹，如果我只是像胎儿一样，它们就会死去。
I had to take my mind off this. I simply had to. Now that I knew I was... intact... I tried to focus on our situation. Xanthe was fixing Cerberus. Rampage was recycling RadAway. “Lacunae? What are you doing?” I thought at her. Even with the Enervation interference, I could still pick up my friend. Even freakier, I knew exactly where she was. I could have closed my eyes and pointed right at her. Then I actually closed my eyes and saw a hazy window in Lacunae’s mind; an image of her standing before the hole I’d pushed the ghoul through. She was studying the missile. Was it just me, or did it appear more... fiery?
我不得不转移注意力。我不得不这么做。现在我知道我是...完整的...我试着把注意力集中在我们的处境上。桑特正在修复刻耳柏洛斯。狂暴是回收RadAway。"缺口？你在干什么?"我想着她。即使受到"衰弱"干扰，我仍然可以去接我的朋友。更奇怪的是，我知道她的确切位置。我本可以闭上眼睛，直直地指着她。然后我真的闭上了眼睛，在拉库奈的脑海里看到了一扇朦胧的窗户，一幅她站在我把食尸鬼推进洞口前的画面。她在研究导弹。是只有我这么觉得，还是它看起来更......火热？
“You’re not mistaken, Blackjack. The balefire egg’s explosion seems to have destabilized the warhead even more. I don’t know if it’s at risk of a detonation or not.” And with Cerberus out of commission, none of us could get close enough to deactivate it. “I am hoping that I can absorb enough radiation to push the missile out... but...” There was a pause, yet I heard what she tried to hide. “The warding talismans are weakening.”
"你没有搞错，Blackjack。巴雷火蛋的爆炸似乎更加破坏了弹头的稳定性。我不知道它是否有爆炸的危险。"由于地狱犬失去了作用，我们没有人能够靠得足够近来关闭它。"我希望我能吸收足够的辐射把导弹推出去......但是......"停顿了一下，然而我听到了她试图隐藏的东西。"守护神在减弱。"
“They’re weaker?” I asked, and for a moment there was nothing from the alicorn. “Lacunae?” But my friend’s mind continued to be silent. It was like she was... hiding things.
"他们更弱?"我问道，有那么一会儿，海角什么也没有发现。"缺陷?"但是我的朋友的心仍然是沉默的。她好像...有所隐瞒。
“I’m feeling the drawing effect even more,” Lacunae murmured softly. “It’s sapping my focus and will. Theoretically, I should be able to flick that missile
"我更能感受到绘画的效果,"拉库尼轻声地说。"它正在削弱我的注意力和意志力。理论上来说，我应该能够弹开那枚导弹
out like a splinter, but with the energies being leeched as quickly as I absorb them...”
就像一块碎片，但是能量在我吸收它们的同时也在被吸收......"
“Wait. Wait. Lacunae... what are you trying to hide from me?” I asked, thinking hard at my friend. It was like looking at photographs underwater, and the harder I looked the deeper she pushed them.
"等等。等等。空隙......你想对我隐瞒什么?"我问道，仔细想了想我的朋友。这就像是在看水下的照片，我看得越仔细，她就把照片往深处推。
“Please don’t pry, Blackjack,” Lacunae murmured quietly. “There are things I do not want you to know. Things that I am ashamed of. Please...” The voice was as soft and composed as ever, but there was a begging tone to it that halted my attempts to get at those pictures in her mind. What was I doing? Of course I didn’t have a right to go rifling through her mind. And if she didn’t want to tell me now, hopefully someday she would. I stopped trying to look at those pictures.
"请不要打听，Blackjack,"Lacunae低声说。"有些事情我不想让你知道。我感到羞耻的事情。求你了......"她的声音还是和以前一样柔和、沉着，但是她的声音中带着一种乞求的语气，使我不再去想她脑海中的那些画面。我在做什么？当然，我没有权利去搜查她的脑子。如果她现在不想告诉我，希望有一天她会告诉我。我不再去看那些照片了。
“Sorry,” I said at once, giving her the privacy she deserved. The privacy I doubted few alicorns in Unity received. I looked around the cramped space. “Are Silver Spoon and Carrion out there with you?”
"对不起,"我立刻说，给了她应有的隐私。我怀疑尤尼蒂几乎没有什么私人空间。我环顾了一下狭窄的空间。"银汤匙和腐肉和你在一起吗?"
“Silver Spoon is gathering what she can from the storeroom. Carrion is studying the rocket and trying to see if we could potentially shift it or blast it out.” Why was it that that sounded like a really bad idea?
"银勺正在储藏室尽可能地收集东西。卡里昂正在研究火箭，试图看看我们是否有可能将其改装或炸毁。"为什么这听起来真的是个坏主意？
“I’ll go have a talk with Xanthe then and find out what she thinks about it,” I said to her in my head. Rampage was still filtering RadAway. It looked like we were going to have to wait a little longer anyway. I limped over to where the zebra was working on the robot. Its metal casing had warped in the heat of the magical fire, and only one round eye remained. “How’s the guard dog?” She looked up at me in surprise. “What? I can’t have read a mythology book?” Actually, I’d been assigned the book as a group project with Midnight. She was the one who’d done the reading, and I just got the good bits from her and made a little black three-headed dog doll for our presentation. Still counted, though.
"我要去和赞斯谈谈，看看她对此有什么看法,"我在脑子里对她说。狂暴仍然在筛选雷达威。看来我们还得再等一段时间。我一瘸一拐地走到斑马正在修理机器人的地方。它的金属外壳在神奇的火焰的热量下变形了，只剩下一只圆眼睛。"看门狗怎么样了?"她惊讶地抬头看着我。"什么？我就不能读一本神话书吗?"实际上，这本书是我和"午夜"一起被分配的一个小组项目。她是那个完成阅读的人，我只是从她那里得到了好的部分，为我们的演讲做了一个小小的黑色三头狗娃娃。不过还是算数的。
“Well, he still has his central processing talisman, spark batteries, and levitation talisman. I might get an arm attached, too,” the zebra said as she looked down at the robot.
"嗯，他还有他的中央处理器护身符、火花电池和悬浮护身符。我可能也会接上一只手臂,"斑马低头看着机器人说。
“I can’t obliterate filthy maggot farms with only one arm, you striped savage.” The robot buzzed and crackled as its remaining eye flashed with its words.
"我不能只用一只手就消灭肮脏的蛆虫农场，你这个有斑纹的野蛮人。"当它剩下的一只眼睛闪烁着它的话语时，机器人嗡嗡作响，劈啪作响。
“Oh, you hush!” Xanthe replied. ‘Shhhhh...’ the stealth suit beeped chidingly. “I
"哦，你安静点!"桑特回答道。"嘘......"潜行服发出阵阵寒意。"我
grew up with bigger and tougher robots than you,” the zebra said before she grabbed a screwdriver and jammed it into his bulbous main housing. There was a sizzle, and his eye stalk twitched.
在比你更大更强壮的机器人陪伴下长大,"斑马说，然后她抓起一把螺丝刀，把它塞进了他那球根状的房子里。有一个嘶嘶声，和他的眼球茎抽搐。
“Yes, great striped mistress! I live to serve... damn this treacherous stripe programming!” the robot buzzed, and then added, “Oh, just scrap me now.”
"是的，伟大的有条纹的女主人！我活着就是为了服务......该死的背信弃义的条形编程!"机器人嗡嗡作响，然后补充说,"哦，现在就把我撕碎吧。"
I sat down and lifted my truncated leg. “Is there anything you can do for me?”
我坐下来，抬起我那截短的腿。"你能为我做点什么吗?"
“Unfortunately, no,” Xanthe replied, then frowned. “Well, I might be able to screw on a peg or something to help you get around. First I need to get Cerberus’s gyroscopes working so he can at least remain upright, though.”
"不幸的是，没有,"桑特回答道，然后皱起了眉头。"嗯，我也许可以拧上一个钉子或者其他什么东西来帮助你走动。不过，首先我需要让刻耳柏洛斯的陀螺仪工作起来，这样他至少可以保持直立。"
I nodded, looking at the robot and then at her once again. “So, where are you from, Xanthe? How did you join the Remnant?”
我点点头，看着机器人，然后再次看着她。"那么，你是从哪里来的，赞斯？你是怎么加入例外人的?"
The question made the zebra visibly uncomfortable, but she answered anyway. “Originally, I lived in a village on the eastern coast. Our tribe lived in a bunker beside the sea, hidden from the raiders and pirates that roam that territory. We had a long history of using robots; we gathered up seaweed and other salvage that washed ashore and put it to use. It was a nice little place to live... so long as one likes the taste of seaweed.”
这个问题让斑马看起来很不舒服，但她还是回答了。"最初，我住在东海岸的一个村庄里。我们的部落住在海边的一个碉堡里，躲避着在那片领土上游荡的袭击者和海盗。我们使用机器人的历史由来已久;我们收集了海草和其他被冲上岸的打捞物，并将其投入使用。这是一个适合居住的小地方......只要你喜欢海藻的味道。"
She leaned over and started connecting the wires dangling from the base of the main housing to the clawlike hand. “One day we found an injured zebra. He was a scout for the Remnant at Dawn Bay. The code of Caesar demands aid to any zebra requiring it, and so we healed him and beseeched that he not reveal us to the Remnant. A month after he left, their soldiers arrived and demanded a tithe of fighters, robots, weapons, and food.”
她弯下身子，开始把悬挂在主机架底部的电线和爪子一样的手连接起来。"有一天，我们发现了一只受伤的斑马。他是破晓湾的残兵侦察兵。凯撒的法则要求我们帮助任何有需要的斑马，所以我们治愈了他，并恳求他不要把我们告诉例外人。他离开一个月后，他们的士兵来了，要求十分之一的战士、机器人、武器和食物。"
“And you just handed it over?” I asked, shocked.
"你就这么把它交出去了?"我震惊地问道。
“What would fighting have accomplished? Had we resisted, the Remnant would have returned with dozens of soldiers, taken everything, and killed the entire village.” She paused to tighten the connectors with the screwdriver in her mouth. I levitated the limb to hold it steady, and she finished repairing the robotic hand. “My family had no love of the Remnant, but we knew it was hopeless to resist. My sister, my brother, myself, and nine of the most physically able were taken.”
"战斗会有什么结果呢？如果我们反抗，剩下的人会带着几十个士兵回来，夺走一切，杀死整个村庄。"她停下来，用嘴里的螺丝刀拧紧连接器。我把这只手悬浮起来，让它保持稳定，然后她就修好了机器人的手。"我的家族不喜欢例外人，但我们知道抵抗是没有希望的。我的姐姐，我的哥哥，我自己，还有九个身体最强壮的人都被带走了。"
“Why don’t they like the Remnant?” I asked with a frown. She drew a wrench
"他们为什么不喜欢例外人?"我皱着眉头问。她拔出一把扳手
from her suit’s pocket as she made a sour face. When the bolts were in place, she sighed before answering.
从她西装的口袋里掏出来，做了个苦瓜脸。门闩装好后，她叹了口气，然后才回答。
“You have a pony here called Red Eye who claims he is trying to restore civilization. The Remnant exists to destroy that civilization,” she said bluntly. “They claim they work the will of the last Caesar. It does not matter if a village has no problems with ponies. The will of the one or of a small settlement matters nothing. Only the ‘Eternal War’. Most villages simply wish to survive. The Remnant wishes only to destroy. If all in the world were killed but one zebra, they would consider that victory.”
"这里有一匹名叫红眼的小马，他声称自己正在努力恢复文明。例外人的存在就是为了摧毁那个文明,"她直言不讳地说。"他们声称他们服从最后一个凯撒的意志。村子里的小马是否有问题并不重要。一个人或一个小小的和解协议的意愿无关紧要。只有永恒的战争。大多数村庄只是希望生存下去。例外人只想摧毁。如果世界上只有一只斑马被杀死，他们就会认为这是一场胜利。"
She sighed as she finished bolting the arm in place. “There are some in the homeland who believe the Remnant glorious heroes. They think it an honor to join and bring supplies to sustain the glorious fight. The rest simply try to survive and not be destroyed. In the Remnant, tribe does not matter. Family does not matter. Only fighting.”
她把胳膊固定好，叹了口气。"国内有些人相信残余英雄。他们认为参加这场光荣的战斗并带来补给是一种荣誉。其余的只是为了生存而不被毁灭。在例外人中，部落并不重要。家庭并不重要。只有战斗。"
“I read somewhere that zebra tribes are really important. What was yours again? Propoli?” I asked with a casual smile and got one in return.
"我在什么地方读到过，斑马部落非常重要。你的是什么来着？波利?"我漫不经心地笑着问，得到了一个回答。
“Yes. The Propoli. We were... are... builders. We were the first to set aside the ancient ways of wandering and hunting. We founded Roam before there was an Equestria. The union of the seven great tribes on the seven hills was the start of our empire. Of course, there are dozens of lesser tribes...” Then she looked at Shears in the corner. “And cursed tribes. Like the Starkatteri.”
"是的。普罗波利。我们是...建设者。我们是第一批抛开古老的流浪和狩猎方式的人。在小马国出现之前，我们就建立了"漫游"。七座山上七大部落的联合是我们帝国的开端。当然，还有几十个较小的部落......"然后她看着角落里的舍尔斯。"还有被诅咒的部落。就像斯塔卡特里一样。"
“They used to live here in Hoofington, didn’t they?” I asked with a worried frown.
"他们以前住在Hoofington，不是吗?"我愁眉苦脸地问。
“Indeed. This was their capital. Long ago they were a tribe of mystics and sorcerers. They preserved the oldest and darkest ways, predicting the future from the movements of the stars. And they could not only know the future, but affect the fates of others.” She shuddered. “And they studied death and the progression of the spirit. But when Roam was founded, we excluded the Starkatteri. We drove them away across the sea, and here in this place they founded their own city of wickedness.”
"的确。这是他们的首都。很久以前，他们是神秘主义者和巫师的部落。他们保留了最古老和最黑暗的方式，通过恒星的运动来预测未来。他们不仅能预知未来，还能影响别人的命运。"她打了个寒战。"他们研究了死亡和灵魂的进化。但是当Roam成立时，我们排除了Starkatteri。我们把他们赶过了大海，他们在这里建立了自己的邪恶之城。"
“And it was destroyed? By a falling star?”
""它被毁了吗？被一颗流星击中?"
“Yes. They had a spell that would call a star spirit from the heavens. The stars
"是的。他们有一个咒语，可以召唤来自天堂的星之灵。星星
are terrible things, not to be meddled with. To change their placement in the skies is to change fate itself.” She shivered terribly. “We once mocked the Starkatteri, but had they succeeded in capturing the star and extracting its spirit... the world would be a far more terrible place.”
都是可怕的事情，不能插手。改变它们在天空中的位置就是改变命运本身。"她哆嗦得厉害。"我们曾经嘲笑过星际之星，但是如果他们成功地抓住了它并且吸取了它的灵魂......这个世界将会变成一个更加可怕的地方。"
I looked at the blue unicorn in the corner, then back to Xanthe. “Well, thank you for sharing. I hope you can tell me more about zebras in the future.” She gave me a slightly perplexed smile. “What?”
我看了看角落里的蓝色独角兽，然后回到了赞斯。"好吧，谢谢你的分享。我希望你将来能告诉我更多关于斑马的事情。"她给了我一个略带困惑的微笑。"什么?"
“You are the Maiden of the Stars, destined to destroy us all. To hear you speak of us so is... unexpected.”
"你是众星之女，注定要毁灭我们所有人。听到你提起我们，真是......出乎意料。"
“Yeah, well. So far I’ve only succeeded at nearly destroying us,” I replied with a sheepish smile, “so maybe you can lower your expectations a bit? I mean, being the Maiden is pretty embarrassing when you can’t even smite somepony trying to kill you.”
"是的，好吧。"到目前为止，我只是成功地差点毁了我们,"我带着羞怯的微笑回答,"所以也许你可以降低一点你的期望?"？我的意思是，当你甚至不能打死一匹想要杀你的小马时，做少女是相当尴尬的。"
I stood and carefully walked over towards where Shears sat all alone. My cybernetics didn’t seem to realize that I was missing half a leg, and so I had to walk quite consciously. This resulted in me staggering about like I had when I’d first gotten my legs, but at least it kept me from faceplanting every other step.
我站起来，小心翼翼地朝舍尔斯独自坐着的地方走去。我的控制论似乎没有意识到我少了半条腿，所以我必须非常自觉地走路。这导致我像第一次站起来时那样蹒跚，但至少这让我没有每走一步都要面对面。
Silver Spoon entered, letting in a tiny crackle of radiation. She set her bags down; they were filled with blackened cardboard boxes and warped syringes. “Here, Snips,” the ghoul said before nudging a small pack of bubblegum towards the pony. He just looked away and closed his eyes. Silver Spoon looked at me with a sad sigh, then took the rest of her salvage over to where Rampage worked.
银勺子走了进来，放进了微弱的辐射爆裂声。她放下包，里面装满了烧焦的硬纸板箱和弯曲的注射器。"来，小鬼头,"食尸鬼说，然后把一小包泡泡糖推向小马。他只是把目光移开，闭上了眼睛。银勺悲伤地叹了口气看着我，然后把剩下的残渣带到了她工作的地方。
I flopped down beside him and gave him a tired smile. “So... how are you... Snips?” Not a big departure for a nickname. It was right up there with ‘Fallen Glory’.
我一屁股坐在他身边，对他露出疲倦的微笑。"那么......你好吗......小鬼头?"这个绰号没什么大不了的。它和《堕落的晨辉》一起登上了舞台。
“You don’t have to pretend to be friendly with me, Blackjack. I know you must hate me right now,” he muttered, his faintly glowing white eyes looking away.
"你不必假装对我很友好，Blackjack。我知道你现在一定恨我,"他咕哝着，微微发亮的白眼睛望向别处。
“Well, Graves is dead. Cerberus is scrapped. I’m back to finding walking a challenge. I’m cursed. I just drank a jar full of recycled RadAway. And apparently I’m now enough of an alicorn that I have a very pissy goddess tuned in to my thoughts. I’m currently stuck in a deathtrap with ponies who I care
"好吧，格雷夫斯死了。地狱犬被废弃。我又开始觉得走路是个挑战。我被诅咒了。我刚刚喝了一罐回收的雷达威。很显然，我现在已经受够了一个独角兽，有一个非常爱撒尿的女神在听我的思想。我现在和我关心的小马困在一个危险的地方
about who are going to die if we can’t find a way out. I’ve been showered in smooze and cooked by a ghoul, and there’s an insane warden somewhere in here who wants me dead.” I paused and frowned, thinking. “I think that’s it for my problems in Hightower. But I didn’t ask about me... who are you? What are you?”
如果我们找不到出路，谁会死。我被一个食尸鬼洗过澡，煮过饭，这里某个地方还有个疯狂的典狱长想要我死。"我停顿了一下，皱起了眉头，想着。"我想这就是我在海托华遇到的问题。但是我没有问起我...你是谁？你是什么?"
The turquoise unicorn gave the tiniest little shrug. “I don’t know.”
绿松石色的独角兽微微耸了耸肩。"我不知道。"
Okay. I could relate to that. “Well... if you had to guess?”
好吧。我可以理解。"嗯......如果你非要猜的话?"
“I still don’t know. Am I alive? Dead? Something else? Does it really matter?” He shook his head. “Two centuries ago, we played with magic we didn’t understand. What I am now... I guess that’s payment for it.”
"我还是不知道。我还活着吗？死了？还有别的吗？这真的重要吗?"他摇了摇头。"两个世纪以前，我们玩的是我们不懂的魔法。我现在的身份......我想这就是我的报酬。"
“Okay. So ‘what’ isn’t getting answered anytime soon. How about the ‘who’? How is it you were stuck outside?” That question seemed to pull him back as he frowned in thought, then answered slowly.
"好吧。所以，什么问题不会很快得到答案。那"谁"呢？你怎么会被困在外面?"这个问题似乎把他拉了回来，他皱起了眉头，然后慢慢地回答。
“When the bombs fell, I was going to meet with two ponies I knew from Ponyville: Mr. and Mrs. Cake. They were trying to find out things about the O.I.A. I was more trusting at the time; I thought that they were just being curious after I accidentally mentioned secret projects and Eternity. When that Goldenblood guy was arrested for treason, though, I was afraid it would get back to Rarity. I went to tell them it was all over... but when I got to Sugarcube Corner in Flankfurt...”
"当炸弹落下来的时候，我要去会见我在Ponyville认识的两匹小马:Cake先生和Cake太太。他们试图找出有关o.i.a.的事情，我当时比较信任他们;我以为他们只是好奇，因为我不小心提到了秘密项目和永恒。当那个叫金血王的家伙因为叛国罪被捕的时候，我很担心这事会传到稀有那里去。我去告诉他们一切都结束了......但当我到了Flankfurt的SugarcubeCorner......"
“The Cakes were dead, weren’t they?” I remembered the bullet holes and scrapped terminals.
"蛋糕都死了，不是吗?"我记得那些弹孔和废弃的终端。
“Everypony was. I must have missed their killers by minutes. The blood was still fresh. Mrs. Cake was still alive... told me to warn Pumpkin and Pound that something bad was happening. Wouldn’t even let me waste time trying to save her. ‘Tell them...’ she said...” The blue unicorn shivered, hugging himself. “The sirens started right about then, and I didn’t know what to do. I tried to check in with Rarity... she said she’d take care of us if something bad happened. But... I couldn’t get in contact with her. I even tried to call Pinkie Pie and the Cakes’ kids in Manehattan... but never got though.”
"每匹小马都是。我一定是在几分钟前错过了凶手。血还是新鲜的。蛋糕太太还活着......她告诉我要警告南瓜和磅发生了不好的事情。甚至不让我浪费时间去救她。"告诉他们......"她说......"蓝色的独角兽颤抖着，拥抱着自己。"那时警报刚好响起，我不知道该怎么办。我试着联系雷诺......她说如果有什么不好的事情发生，她会照顾我们。但是...我联系不上她。我甚至试着打电话给平奇派和蛋糕在Manehattan的孩子们......但是没有成功。"
“So what happened?”
"那么发生了什么?"
“I ran,” he said simply. “Ran like an idiot, due south into the badlands, and found a drainage ditch to hide in. Then the bombs fell. It was so... beautiful...” he murmured as he looked away. “Eventually I stopped seeing altogether. Then I died.”
"我跑了,"他简单地说。"跑得像个白痴，到了南荒原，发现了一条排水沟可以藏身。然后炸弹落了下来。它是如此的......美丽......"他一边低声说，一边把目光移开。"最终，我完全看不到了。然后我就死了。"
“Died? As in... dead dead?”
""死了？就是说......死了?"
“As dead as I can imagine. I went to the everafter... and then...” he whispered softly, “I came back.”
""我能想象得到的都死了。我去了永恒之后......然后......"他轻声说,"我回来了。"
“Came back?” I replied, feeling a tingle in my mane. For some reason, I found myself whispering too. Silver Spoon trotted back with a look of concern.
"回来了?"我回答，鬃毛感到一阵刺痛。出于某种原因，我发现自己也在窃窃私语。银汤匙小跑着回来，脸上带着关切的表情。
“I was connected to him.” Him who? “Sometimes, in the years we were working with Rarity, we played with the spells, never really thinking about what we were doing. I felt myself being drawn back to this world, away from the singing lights. And I woke and could see again.” He gestured to his eyes. “Somehow, the necromantic magic preserved me. I don’t know if I’m a ghoul or not... Perhaps I am one, preserved perfectly at the moment of death rather than rotting away. Or maybe I’m trapped between life and death. Really, does it matter? I just need to rescue him.”
"我和他有联系。"他是谁？"有时候，在我们和稀有一起工作的这些年里，我们玩的是咒语，从来没有真正考虑过我们在做什么。我感觉自己被拉回到这个世界，远离那些歌唱的灯光。我醒来，又能看见东西了。"他指了指他的眼睛。"不知怎么的，巫术保护了我。我不知道我是不是一个食尸鬼...也许我是一个，在死亡的那一刻保存完好，而不是腐烂。或者也许我被困在生与死之间。真的有关系吗？我只需要去救他。"
“You’re talking about Snails, aren’t you?” Silver Spoon asked. At my confusion, she added, “His best friend.”
"你说的是蜗牛，对吧?"银勺问道。在我的困惑中，她补充道:"他最好的朋友。"
“My only friend.” He looked upwards again. “I just know that he’s up there still. I can feel him. I’ve been feeling him for two centuries. He’s scared and lonely, wondering where I’ve gone. And he can feel me now and knows that I’m coming to save him. If we left... if he thought I gave up...” He shook his head and sniffed.
"我唯一的朋友。"他又向上看了看。"我只知道他还在上面。我能感觉到他。我已经感觉他两个世纪了。他很害怕，很孤独，想知道我去了哪里。他现在能感觉到我，知道我是来救他的。如果我们离开...如果他认为我放弃了..."他摇摇头嗅了嗅。
“He might go crazy,” I finished for him. I thought of all the examples I’d been running into of ponies not giving up and following through no matter how much misery it made or what mistakes it led to. Sanguine. Goldenblood. The Ministry Mares. Myself. Ponies so completely obsessed with success that they’d lost all sense and reason. No wonder Snips had cursed me when I’d said we were leaving.
"他可能会发疯,"我替他说完。我想起了我遇到过的所有例子，无论小马多么痛苦或者犯了什么错误，它们都不会放弃，坚持到底。血红色。金色血统。部里的母马。我自己。小马完全沉迷于成功，以至于完全失去了理智。难怪当我说我们要离开时，小鬼头诅咒了我。
“Well, I can understand why you did it. Right now, I just want to see the rest of us get out of here alive, but I’ll do whatever I can to try and get you back with
"好吧，我能理解你为什么这么做。现在，我只想看到我们其他人活着离开这里，但我会尽我所能让你回来
your friend.” Then I waited a moment and added, with as straight a face as I could, “Of course, it would be a lot easier if you took this curse off me.”
你的朋友"然后我等了一会儿，尽可能板着脸补充说:"当然，如果你把这个诅咒从我身上拿掉，事情会容易得多。"
He blinked and then gave a small, rueful smile. “I guess. Sorry. I just panicked and had to do something...” His horn flashed, and he gave a grin and a nod. “There.”
他眨了眨眼睛，然后露出一丝悔恨的微笑。"我想是的。对不起。我只是惊慌失措，不得不做点什么......"他的喇叭闪了一下，微笑着点了点头。"在那儿。"
But nothing had changed. I felt the same twisting inside my chest. “Uh... ‘there’ what? I can still feel it.”
但一切都没有改变。我感到胸口也有同样的扭动。"呃......'那儿'什么？我现在还能感觉到。"
He frowned in worry and his horn flashed again. And then again. With each flash I felt the twisting inside me tighten. I nearly cried out in pain, and Silver Spoon shouted, “Stop! It’s... it’s getting worse!”
他忧心忡忡地皱起眉头，喇叭又响了起来。然后再来一次。每一次闪光，我都能感觉到内心的扭曲。我痛得差点叫出声来，银汤匙喊道:"住手！情况...越来越糟了!"
“But... I don’t understand! I mean... it should work!” Snips said, pausing to chew his lip. “I mean... in theory...”
"但是......我不明白！我的意思是......它应该有用!"小鬼头说，停下来咬着嘴唇。"我的意思是......理论上......"
“Theory? You mean you’ve never uncursed a pony before?” Silver Spoon gaped as Snips grinned sheepishly.
"理论？你是说你以前从来没有给小马解过咒?"小鼻子不好意思地笑着，银勺子也张大了嘴。
“Well, it’s more an art than a science...” he murmured.
"嗯，与其说是科学，不如说是艺术......"他喃喃地说。
“Snips!” Silver Spoon shouted.
"小鬼头!"银汤匙喊道。
“I can fix it! I can fix it! I just need my notes. And Snails might know a thing or two...” he rambled as I gave him a shooty look.
"我能修好它！我能修好它！我只是需要我的笔记。蜗牛也许知道一两件事......"我朝他瞟了一眼，他说道。
“Snips?” came a soft voice from the back of the storage room, and I looked over with trepidation as Rampage approached. She wore a strange little smile, her pink eyes bright. “It’s you, isn’t it?”
"小鬼头?"从储藏室后面传来一个柔和的声音，当狂暴靠近时，我惊恐地看着他。她脸上带着奇怪的微笑，粉红色的眼睛闪闪发亮。"是你，对吧?"
Snips looked at my friend with a confused frown. Then his luminescent eyes widened. “Twist? But... your speech... and stripes? Why are you striped?” he stammered. “And the armor and... is it really you?” he asked with a ghost of a smile.
小鬼头困惑地皱着眉头看着我的朋友。然后他那发光的眼睛睁大了。"扭扭舞？但是...你的演讲...和条纹？你为什么有条纹?"他结结巴巴地说。"还有那盔甲......真的是你吗?"他带着幽灵般的微笑问道。
Rampage just nodded and then lunged, hugging the round blue unicorn. “It is! Oh, I haven’t seen you since the Ponyville Reunion! Then Littlehorn happened and... and...”
狂暴只是点点头，然后扑过去，拥抱着那只蓝色的独角兽。"是的！自从马厩聚会后我就没见过你了！然后利特霍恩出现了，然后...然后..."
“We lost track. I mean, I know you were a soldier. I saw you in the news sometimes. But... how is this possible?”
"我们失去了联系。我知道你是个军人。我有时候在新闻上看到你。但是，这怎么可能呢?"
Rampage just shook her head. “I have no idea. I don’t know either. I mean... I died at Miramare. After I... I...” Her eyes grew round. “Oh no... no no no...” And she started to shake. “Please...”
狂暴只是摇了摇头。"我不知道。我也不知道。我是说...我死在米拉马雷了。在我。.我。。」她的眼睛睁得圆圆的。"哦，不，不，不，不......"她开始颤抖。"请......"
She pushed away from Snips and started to pace. “Aw, what’s the matter? Tell him. Tell them all,” she said with a little leer. Suddenly she whirled around and snapped, “She doesn’t have to tell anypony! She has the right to remain silent.” Then her head whipped to the side. “Don’t give us that cop shit!” Tears streamed down her cheeks as she backed away even more before suddenly stopping in her tracks. “Full disclosure might be therapeutic,” she said reasonably, then bellowed, “Leave her alone, Doctor!”
她推开小鬼头，开始踱步。"啊，怎么了？告诉他。告诉他们所有人,"她带着一丝不屑地说。突然，她转过身来，厉声说道:"她不需要告诉任何小马！她有权保持沉默。"然后她的头猛地偏向一边。"别跟我们扯什么警察的屁话!"眼泪顺着她的脸颊流了下来，她后退得更厉害了，然后突然停下来。"完全坦白可能有治疗作用,"她理智地说，然后吼道,"别烦她，医生!"
Now everypony was trying to move away as she turned and pressed her forehooves to the wall. “Shut up!” she screamed, and brought her forehead against the wall with a pulpy crunch. “Shut up!” And again she smashed her head. And again... and again...
现在每匹小马都试图离开，因为她转过身来，把前蹄压在墙上。"闭嘴!"她尖叫着，把额头靠在墙上，嘎吱一声。"闭嘴!"她又一次撞破了自己的头。一次又一次。
I did the only thing I could think of in a situation like this. Therapy with bullets...
在这种情况下，我只能想到这么一件事。用子弹治疗..。
Xanthe gave a little scream and Stygius jumped to his hooves in alarm.
赞斯发出一声尖叫，斯提吉乌斯惊恐地跳到他的马蹄前。
Psychoshy just muttered about how the woodchipper had been cooler.
"心理变态"只是喃喃自语说削木机更酷一些。
Snips stared in horror as I put three rounds in Rampage’s head, sending her down in a heap. His eyes flared, horn glowing as he brought his shears out. I caught the closing blades with my remaining hand, the edges cutting into the metal of my fingers. “Wait! She’ll be okay!” I yelled in alarm.
小鬼头惊恐地盯着我对着狂暴的脑袋开了三枪，把她打倒在地。他的眼睛闪闪发光，当他拿出剪刀的时候，他的角在发光。我用剩下的一只手抓住即将关闭的刀片，刀刃切入我的手指的金属部分。"等等！她会没事的!"我惊慌地大喊。
The pink light shone out of the hole in her head and Snips dropped the shears in shock as he stepped closer. I shook them off my hand and then reached out and pulled him back by his tail. Her twitching body curled up in a ball on her side as the wound disappeared entirely. “I’m sorry. I wish... I’m sorry...” was all she said.
粉红色的灯光从她头上的洞里射出来，斯尼普斯走近时震惊地扔下了大剪刀。我把它们从手上摇下来，然后伸出手，抓住它的尾巴把它拉了回来。随着伤口完全消失，她抽搐的身体蜷缩成一个球。"对不起。我希望......对不起......"她只说了这么一句。
“The phoenix talisman...” Snips breathed softly. “You have the phoenix talisman!” Xanthe stared in similar astonishment.
"凤凰护身符......"小剪子轻轻地吸了一口气。"你有凤凰护身符!"赞斯也同样惊讶地瞪着眼睛。
“The what?” I asked as I looked at him. “Do you have a clue what’s going on? Why she is the way she is?”
"什么?"我看着他问道。"你知道发生了什么事吗？她为什么会这样?"
Snips didn’t take his eyes off the weeping mare. “Soul armor was a bust... even leaving aside the haunting effect, there was the fact that while the armor would protect, it wasn’t perfect. Rarity needed a way for a pony to live through anything and she came up with the thought... how many souls could you place within a jar? If you put two souls in one jar, would their personalities cancel each other out? Would the souls empower a talisman to be both eternally energetic and indestructible? Particularly a regeneration talisman?” Snips stared in fascination. “We called it the phoenix talisman because it was designed to restore a pony from even complete disintegration.”
小剪刀没有把他的眼睛从哭泣的母马身上移开。"灵魂盔甲是一个半身像......即使撇开萦绕不去的影响，事实上，虽然盔甲可以保护，但它并不完美。稀缺需要一种方法让一匹小马通过任何东西生存，她想到...你能在一个罐子里放多少灵魂？如果你把两个灵魂放在一个罐子里，他们的个性会互相抵消吗？灵魂会赋予护身符永恒的能量和不可毁灭的能力吗？尤其是一种重生的护身符?"小鬼头迷惑地盯着看。"我们称之为凤凰护身符，因为它的设计初衷是为了让小马不至于完全崩溃。"
“Well it does!” I said sharply.
"当然有!"我厉声说道。
“No! That’s just it,” Snips countered. “It didn’t work! Oh, it would heal simple injuries, but every pony we placed it in failed to survive a fatal impact.”
"不！就是这样,"小鬼头反驳道。"没有用！哦，它可以治愈简单的伤口，但是我们放进去的每一匹小马都没能幸免于致命的冲击。"
“You mean you killed ponies to test it?” I snapped.
"你是说你杀了小马来测试它?"我厉声说道。
“Of course not,” he countered, looking uncomfortable. “We tested it on... several different subjects in generally high risk profession and environments. While it handled general injuries, it was never able to provide recovery from a terminal injury. We guessed that the talisman just needed more soul power, so... we added more. With each addition the talisman became stronger, but it still wasn’t able to keep a pony alive.”
"当然没有,"他反驳道，看上去很不自在。"我们在一般高风险的职业和环境中......对几个不同的主题进行了测试。虽然它处理的是一般伤病，但它从来没有能够提供从一个晚期损伤的恢复。我们猜测，护身符只是需要更多的灵魂力量，所以...我们添加了更多。每增加一个护身符，它就变得更强大，但它仍然不能让一匹小马活下来。"
“So what happened?” I asked with a scowl.
"那么发生了什么?"我皱着眉头问道。
“It was... misplaced...” he replied in clear embarrassment. “The M.o.P. got ahold of it without realizing what it was, and we couldn’t tell them, of course. We lost track of it and spent several months trying to find out where it had gone.” He shook his head. “Rarity was furious with us! The thought of starting over was almost too much to bear; we had been so close, we were sure! And once the haunting effect was blended out with enough souls, we were going to make enough talismans for Rarity’s friends and Luna, and then for all critical ponies in the government.”
"放错地方了......"他尴尬地回答。"m.o.p.拿到了它，却没有意识到它是什么，当然，我们也不能告诉他们。我们失去了它的踪迹，花了几个月时间试图找出它去了哪里。"他摇了摇头。"稀有对我们大发雷霆！重新开始的想法几乎让人难以承受;我们曾经如此接近，我们确信！一旦阴魂不散的效果和足够的灵魂融合在一起，我们就要为稀有的朋友和卢娜制造足够的护身符，然后再为政府里所有的重要小马制造护身符。"
“Are you mad?!” Xanthe shouted. “Have you thought of the dozens, perhaps hundreds of deaths, of stolen souls such an effort would require?! Bad enough one!”
"你疯了吗?!"赞西喊道。"你有没有想过这样的努力需要几十个，甚至几百个被盗灵魂的死亡！已经够糟糕了!"
“You don’t understand,” Snips pleaded. “I agree, it was wrong, but at the time
"你不明白,"小鬼头恳求道。"我同意，这是错误的，但在当时
we almost had it! We almost had... everything. A way to make ponies truly immortal! The ethics didn’t matter, just success.” Then he slumped. “And then... Rarity changed her mind.”
我们差点就成功了！我们几乎拥有了...一切。一种让小马真正永生的方法！道德并不重要，重要的是成功。"然后他跌倒了。"后来......罕妮改变了主意。"
I blinked in bafflement. “She what?”
我困惑地眨了眨眼。"她什么?"
“I don’t know how or why. She’d finally gotten it back before the M.o.P. could get their hooves on it again. She was elated... apparently, it had kept the last pony it was in alive for hours. But the very next day... she was ashamed of all our work. She cancelled all our plans for making more phoenix talismans; she insisted that all our records and findings on soul armor be erased immediately.”
"我不知道怎么回事，也不知道为什么。她最终在最高行政长官再次用蹄子踩它之前把它找回来了。她很高兴......很显然，它让最后一匹小马活了好几个小时。但就在第二天......她为我们所做的一切感到羞愧。她取消了我们制作更多凤凰护身符的所有计划，坚持要立即删除我们所有关于灵魂盔甲的记录和发现。"
“And were they?” I pressed with a sudden frown, my mane turning itchy again.
"是吗?"我突然皱起眉头，鬃毛又开始发痒。
“Goldenblood’s technicians assured us that they were,” Snips replied with a little shrug, but I knew better. If Goldenblood could get his hooves on Rarity’s necromantic research, he would never destroy it. “After that we swapped to something else.”
"金血王的技术人员向我们保证他们是,"斯尼普斯耸耸肩回答，但我知道更好。如果金血王可以让他的蹄子在罕有的巫术研究，他永远不会摧毁它。"在那之后，我们换了别的工作。"
“What?” I asked with a frown.
"什么?"我皱着眉头问。
Just then Lacunae’s voice entered my mind. “Blackjack. Could you bring the others out here? We think we have an idea.”
就在这时，拉库奈的声音进入了我的脑海。"黑杰克。你能把其他人带到这里来吗？我们认为我们已经有了一个想法。"
“Right. Right. I’ll be out there in just a second,” I mentally replied as I crouched beside Rampage, stroking her mane with my hoof. “Okay, everyone. Smart alicorn has a plan. Let’s go out and hear it.” As everypony started out, I gave Rampage a nudge. “Come on. You don’t want to be the only pony left here.”
"对。对。"我马上就出去,"我一边回答，一边蹲在狂暴旁边，用蹄子抚摸着她的鬃毛。"好了，各位。聪明的小角羊有个计划。我们出去听听吧。"当每匹小马出发的时候，我轻轻推了一下狂暴的马。"来吧。你不想成为这里唯一的小马吧。"
Rampage just shook as she wept. “Am I just... just a collection of ponies? Is there even a me at all? Is that why I don’t have a name? Because I never really existed in the first place? Am I just something that grew out of Twist’s corpse? Born stuck in some damned wrecked tank? Do I even have a soul of my own?”
当她哭泣时，狂暴只是颤抖。"我只是......只是一群小马吗？到底有没有一个我？这就是我没有名字的原因吗？因为我从一开始就不存在？我只是从忒斯特的尸体里长出来的吗？生来就被困在那该死的破坦克里？我有自己的灵魂吗?"
“At least you know why now,” I replied quietly.
"至少你现在知道为什么了,"我平静地回答。
“I wish I didn’t. I wish I knew if I should even try and be me, or if I should just hand it over to one of the others inside me for good.” She pressed her face to the floor. “Go and see Lacunae’s plan. I’m... I’m going to need some time to bottle up the RadAway.”
"我希望我没有。我希望我知道我是否应该试着做我自己，或者我是否应该把它永远交给我体内的其他人。"她把脸贴在地板上。"去看看拉库尼的计划吧。我...我需要一些时间来封锁RadAway。"
Sigh. Why does it all end it tears?
叹息。为什么一切都结束了？
Outside radiology, we stood at the window I’d shoved the ghoul out of. The missile crackled fifty feet above us, and everypony who needed it took another Rad-X. “So what’s the plan, Lacunae?” I asked with a wan smile.
在放射科外面，我们站在我把食尸鬼从窗户里推出来的地方。导弹在我们上空五十英尺的地方发出爆裂声，每一匹需要它的小马都需要另一个Rad-X。"那么，计划是什么，拉库尼?"我带着苍白的微笑问道。
“We’re going to try and push the missile out,” she said as she pointed up with a wing to where Carrion clung to the outside of the bars like a giant undead bloatsprite. “The missile’s tail fins are tangled up in the reinforcing of the building. He’s going to cut the tail fins away, and then I am going to lift the nose section. Hopefully it will slide out under its own weight.”
"我们要试着把导弹推出去,"她一边说，一边用一只翅膀指向栅栏外面的卡瑞恩，就像一只巨大的不死僵尸。"导弹的尾翼缠绕在建筑物的加固处。他要把尾鳍切掉，然后我要把鼻子部分抬起来。希望它能在自身的重量下滑出来。"
“I’m amazed it crashed through the wall intact at all,” Psychoshy muttered. Lacunae’s horn began to glow, and the huge weapon shimmered as it slowly shifted. The metal gave an ominous groan as chunks of wall crumbled down through the breach.
"我很惊讶它竟然完好无损地撞穿了墙壁。"。裂隙的号角开始发光，巨大的武器在慢慢移动时发出闪光。金属发出一种不祥的呻吟声，一块块的墙壁从裂口崩塌下来。
“That warhead is designed to do just that,” Xanthe said as she pointed a hoof. There were green flashes of light from where Carrion crouched. Inside their cells, a few other flaming ghouls howled. I really hoped they didn’t get free; we didn’t have another balefire egg. “It’s designed to take numerous beam spell hits and breach fortified structures.” Like the Core, I thought. “It also has reinforced fuel tanks to ensure that glancing shots don’t ignite them.”
"弹头的设计就是为了做到这一点,"桑特指着一只蹄子说。有绿色的闪光从腐尸蜷缩的地方发出。在他们的牢房里，还有几只燃烧的食尸鬼在嚎叫。我真希望他们没有获得自由;我们没有另一个巴勒火蛋了。"它被设计用来承受大量的光束咒语攻击和破坏加固结构。"就像核心一样，我想。"它还加固了油箱，以确保斜射不会引燃油箱。"
Wait... fuel. “But it’s empty, right?” I asked as I pointed up at the weapon, seeing the zebra frown in worry. “Xanthe, tell me there isn’t any fuel in that thing!”
等等...燃料。"但它是空的，对吧?"我指着武器问道，看到斑马忧虑地皱着眉头。"赞西，告诉我那东西里面没有燃料!"
“Well... I assume it all burned away long ago. But if it was fired from Dawn bay... I suppose it could still be as much as four-fifths fueled...”
"嗯......我想这一切很久以前就已经烧光了。但如果它是从黎明湾(Dawnbay)发射的......我想它的燃料仍可能高达五分之四......"
“Lacunae! Xanthe says there might still be fuel in the missile! Don’t move it--” I thought frantically at the alicorn.
"空隙！赞斯说导弹里可能还有燃料！不要动它——"我心慌意乱地想。
Then there was a screech as the missile suddenly shifted, but instead of sliding free, the concrete gave way and an avalanche of crumbled flaming rubble tumbled down towards the floor of the prison. “No! Don’t drop it!” Xanthe shrieked as the missile slid further into the prison. Lacunae’s face creased with effort as she tried to keep the weapon aloft. The blazing warhead touched the bars on the far side, and then the thrusters in the rear were inside and swung down. I held my breath as the whole missile tipped vertical and dropped down
然后，随着导弹突然移动，传来一声尖叫，但混凝土并没有自由滑动，而是坍塌了，一堆燃烧着的碎石滚落到监狱的地板上。"不！别掉了!"当导弹进一步滑入监狱时，赞斯尖叫起来。当她试图保持武器在高处时，她的脸因为努力而皱了起来。燃烧的弹头碰到了远端的杆子，然后后部的推进器进入并摆动下来。我屏住呼吸，整个导弹垂直倾斜，然后向下坠落
the central shaft.
中央竖井。
“Please don’t explode. Please don’t explode...” I murmured over and over again as its rear thrusters crashed down into the work yard. The warhead slipped down and came to rest with the blazing tip just even with the far side of the medical wing. The rads began building up at once, but there wasn’t a vaporizing flash. “Thank you for not exploding,” I said in a rush of relief.
"请不要爆炸。请不要爆炸......"当它的后推进器坠入工作场地时，我一遍又一遍地喃喃自语。弹头滑落下来，与燃烧的尖端休息，甚至与远侧的医疗翼。雷达立刻开始增强，但没有蒸发的闪光。"谢谢你没有爆炸,"我如释重负地说。
Suddenly crimson flames erupted from the base of the rocket. The flames crawled through the twisted metal, spreading as the fuel leaked and ignited. Any chance at all of retreat the way we came was now ablaze in a lake of fire!
突然，深红色的火焰从火箭底部喷发出来。火焰在扭曲的金属中蔓延，随着燃料的泄漏和点燃而蔓延。我们原来所走的那条撤退路线，现在已经化为一片火海了！
“Oh dear...” Xanthe whimpered as she looked down.
"哦，亲爱的......"赞斯低下头，呜咽着说。
“Yeah. Pretty intense...” I replied.
"是的。非常紧张......"我回答。
“No. As the fire heats the rest of the fuel pods, they’ll breach and add even more fuel. When the warhead gets hot enough...” She didn’t have to finish.
"没有。当大火加热剩下的燃料舱时，它们会破裂并加入更多的燃料。当弹头足够热的时候......"她没有说完。
We’d just lit the fuse on a balefire bomb.
我们刚刚点燃了一枚火焰炸弹的导火索。
 
Footnote: Level 13 Reached.
脚注:达到第13级。
New Perk added: Shotgun Diplomacy (+5% crit while using shotguns)
新帕金斯补充说:猎枪外交(使用猎枪时暴击率+5%)
Quest Perk added: You Got a Friend in Me! - You’ve been joined telepathically with the Goddess in Unity. This offers new dialogue options.
任务帕金斯补充道:我是你的朋友！你已经通过心灵感应与统一女神相连。这提供了新的对话选项。
Author's Notes:
作者笔记:
(Author’s notes: Really sorry for the delay. I’d originally hoped to make Hightower one chapter. I should have known better... Also real life has gotten difficult with me needing to find a new place to live by August along with finding a new job. Tips would be really helpful right now. Anyway. Huge thanks to Hinds, Bronode, and Snipehamster for spending twelve hours getting this chapter done and worth reading. Thanks to Kkat for creating FoE. Thanks to everypony who leaves feedback that keeps the
(作者的笔记:真的很抱歉耽误了时间。我原本希望海托华能成为其中的一章。我应该更了解......而且现实生活也变得困难了，我需要在八月份找到一个新的地方住，还要找一份新的工作。小贴士现在真的很有帮助。无论如何。非常感谢Hinds，Bronode和Snipehamster花了12个小时完成这一章并且值得一读。感谢Kkat创造了地球之友。感谢每一个留下反馈的小马
story going. And really big thanks to anypony who leaves tips at David13ushey@gmail.com through paypal.)
故事继续。非常感谢任何通过贝宝在david13ushey@gmail.com上留言的小马。)
(Once I finish Hightower, PH will have to go on break until I get a new living situation worked out. Sorry.)
(一旦我完成了海托华，PH将不得不继续休息，直到我找到一个新的生活环境。抱歉。)