“Listen up! Smoke is spreading all across Equestria. But don’t worry, I’ve received a letter from the Princess informing me that it is not coming from a fire.”
"听着！烟雾正在整个Equestria蔓延。不过别担心，我收到了公主的来信，告诉我这不是火灾。"
“Okay. Xanthe, give me a timetable,” I said; the flames were spreading from the burning rocket, and the central space was beginning to fill with thick black smoke. The heat of the blue radiation fires was quickly becoming eclipsed by the heat of the more ordinary-looking but no less dangerous orange flames from the zebra fuel. Still, on the bright side, the warhead coming to rest below the medical level, leaning against the far wall, meant that the route up was clear...
"好吧。桑丝，给我一个时间表,"我说，火焰从燃烧着的火箭上蔓延开来，中央的空间开始充满了厚厚的黑烟。由于斑马燃料产生的橙色火焰看起来很普通，但也同样危险，蓝色辐射火焰的热量很快就被它的热量所掩盖。尽管如此，从好的方面来看，弹头落在医疗水平以下，靠在远处的墙上，意味着上升的路线是清晰的..。
assuming that we had time. After a brief but far too long moment of silence, I looked over at the zebra staring down in horror at the spectacle below us. “Xanthe! How long do we have?”
如果我们有时间的话。片刻的沉默过后，我抬头看着斑马，它惊恐地俯视着我们脚下的奇观。"赞特！我们还有多少时间?"
She blinked and then turned to me, chewing her lip. “There’re four fuel pods. As the lowest heats up, the fuel that isn’t on fire will boil and eventually breach the pod above it, spreading the fire even more and accelerating--”
她眨了眨眼，然后转向我，咬着嘴唇。"有四个燃料舱。当最低温度升高时，没有着火的燃料会沸腾，最终破坏上面的分离舱，火势会蔓延得更快——"
I swatted her flank with my singed tail. “I need a number. Minutes? Hours? What?” We were backing away from the heat and smoke that began to swirl in through the smashed out window.
我用烧焦的尾巴拍打她的侧腹。"我需要一个数字。几分钟？几个小时？什么?"我们正在后退，远离热浪和烟雾，这些烟雾开始通过砸碎的窗户进入室内。
“Half an hour? An hour at most,” Xanthe whimpered. “If we had more time and Cerberus were intact, we might have severed the warhead and removed it, but…”
"半个小时？"最多一个小时,"赞瑟呜咽着说。"如果我们有更多的时间，地狱犬完好无损，我们可能会切断弹头并移除它，但......"
“Yeah. That plan is out the window,” I said. Between the smooze and those flaming ghouls, I really wasn’t bothered by the idea of Hightower being gone soon. Particularly since, if we could get in, the smooze could get out. Still,
"是的。那个计划已经过时了,"我说。在接吻和那些熊熊燃烧的食尸鬼之间，我对海托华即将离去的想法并不感到困扰。尤其是，如果我们能够进去，那么我们就可以接吻了。尽管如此
“Meatlocker needs to be warned that their neighbor is about to go boom. Can you get Cerberus flying again and out through that hole? Without getting blasted?” I asked, pointing at the gaping breach two stories above us with my stump. Of all our fliers, Cerberus was the only one we could really spare to warn Meatlocker.
"肉库需要得到警告，他们的邻居就要爆炸了。你能让地狱犬再次从那个洞里飞出去吗？而不被炸飞?"我问道，用我的残肢指着我们上面两层楼的裂口。在我们所有的传单中，地狱犬是唯一一个我们真正能腾出来警告肉库的。
“I… don’t know? His levitation system should already be functional enough, but depending on the targeting talismans in the turrets they might let him go, or they could disintegrate him,” she said, and bit her lip again. Then she jerked her head up with a smile. “I’ll examine one of the sentries and see if they have an intact IFF unit!” She turned and raced away from the window and down the hall.
"我.....。.不知道？他的悬浮系统应该已经足够起作用了，但是根据塔楼里的目标护身符，他们可能会放他走，也可能会分解他,"她说，然后又咬了咬嘴唇。然后她微笑着抬起头。"我将检查其中一个哨兵，看看他们是否有一个完整的敌我识别单元!"她转身离开窗户，跑向大厅。
“You have five minutes!” I yelled after her, then coughed at the acrid smoke that was filling the air. I suspected that death by balefire blast could be preempted by the far more mundane peril of smoke inhalation. I turned and looked up at Stygius, Psychoshy, and Silver Spoon. “Go back to Rampage. Get the RadAway bottled up however you can, and make sure those supplies you scavenged are passed around.” I closed my eyes and asked Lacunae, “Any ideas on dealing with all this smoke?” Just because I was connected to the Goddess now didn’t mean I had to use all those freaky alicorn powers.
"给你五分钟!"我在她后面大叫，然后对着弥漫在空气中的刺鼻烟雾咳嗽。我怀疑烟雾吸入的更为普通的危害可以预防爆炸引起的烟雾爆炸。我转过身，抬头看着Stygius、Psychoshy和银勺。"回到狂暴中去。尽你所能把RadAway装进瓶子里，确保那些你捡来的东西都分发出去。"我闭上眼睛，问拉库尼:"有什么办法处理这些烟雾吗?"仅仅因为我现在和女神有了联系并不意味着我必须使用所有那些可怕的魔力。
“Wet cloths tied around our muzzles should help. Respirators would be better,” she replied immediately.
"把湿衣服系在口套上应该会有帮助。呼吸器会更好,"她立即回答。
“We don’t have any respirators, so tie wet cloths over your muzzles!” I shouted at the pair of fliers as they flew back towards the radiology storage, then coughed again myself. I looked up at the power-armored griffin and shouted, “Carrion! See if you can find a way up to the armory! Lacunae, take Snips and see if you can get my sword,” I said, looking sternly at the portly unicorn... ghoul... thing... Lacunae looked at me oddly but then trotted back to Radiology.
"我们没有任何呼吸器，所以在你们的口罩上系上湿布!"当他们飞回放射科储存室时，我对着那对传单大喊，然后又咳嗽了一声。我抬头看着身披重甲的狮身鹰首兽，喊道:"腐尸！看看你能不能找到去军械库的路！"Lacunae，带上Snips，看看你能不能拿到我的剑,"我说，严肃地看着那只肥胖的独角兽......食尸鬼......那东西......Lacunae奇怪地看着我，然后又跑回放射科。
When everypony was away doing something, I collapsed, clutching my chest and tearing up from the pain. Whatever curse Snips had put on me, the sensation was spreading. I could feel the chewing feeling halfway along my ribs and up my throat. Everything hurt. The ebb and surge of pain grew heavier with every breath. I had to fight it. He hadn’t been able to end his curse, so now my only hope was that there was something Snips’s partner could do to help me.
当每匹小马都在外面干活的时候，我突然崩溃了，紧紧抓住胸口，痛得撕心裂肺。无论小鬼头对我施了什么样的诅咒，这种感觉正在蔓延。我能感觉到从肋骨到喉咙的咀嚼的感觉。一切都很痛苦。随着每一次呼吸，痛苦的潮起潮落变得更加沉重。我不得不与之抗争。他没能结束他的诅咒，所以现在我唯一的希望就是小鬼头的搭档能帮我做点什么。
I could only spare a minute to address the pain; it wasn’t an injury I was going to
我只有一分钟的时间来解决这个问题，我并不想受伤
regenerate or damage that could be magically repaired. I just had to get the rest of them to safety.
再生或者可以被魔法修复的损伤。我只需要把其他人带到安全的地方。
Carrion appeared out of the smoke, the clouds swirling around him as his milky eyes narrowed on me doubled over. “There’s a way up to the seventh level, if we do some climbing. There are more flaming ones, and this is not nearly as effective using spark batteries,” he said as he held up the beam gun that Xanthe had created. A half dozen spark batteries were wired up around the perimeter near the handles.
腐尸从烟雾中出现，云层在他周围盘旋，他那双乳白色的眼睛在我身上眯成了一条缝。"如果我们爬上去的话，有一条路可以到达第七层。还有更多的燃烧弹，而使用火花电池的效果远远不够,"他一边说着，一边举起赞斯发明的光束枪。在把手附近的周边安装了六个火花电池。
I did everything I could to straighten up and smile. “Good job. We’ll get out of this yet.” He just stared at me, and I felt new sweat popping to my brow. “What?”
我尽一切努力使自己振作起来，微笑着。"干得好。我们会摆脱这一切的。"他只是盯着我，我觉得我的额头冒出了新的汗水。"什么?"
“Oh, if only you were a griffin,” he muttered as he looked skyward. “I would have given my left paw for a commander like you.”
"哦，要是你是一只狮鹫就好了,"他看着天空喃喃自语。"我愿意为你这样的指挥官献出我的左爪。"
I blinked in shock. “Um… thanks?” I replied, then peered up at where the smoke was being blown out the hole in the prison wall, then back at him. “Were you a soldier before…?” I balked, not sure how rude it was to point out he’d died. The question seemed to annoy him a little, but not for the reasons I thought.
我震惊地眨了眨眼睛。"嗯......谢谢?"我回答道，然后凝视着从监狱墙上的洞里冒出来的烟，接着又回头看了看他。"你以前当过兵吗?"我犹豫了一下，不知道指出他已经死了是不是很粗鲁。这个问题似乎让他有点烦恼，但不是我想的原因。
“I am a soldier. All griffins are soldiers. From the youngest chick to the oldest harpy, we’re all soldiers. We strive for assertiveness, certainty, and martial skill and hold ourselves to our honor and our Contracts,” he said coolly as he looked in the direction of the bomb, though now there was so much smoke that all that could be seen was a murky blue glow. It seemed to cut the radiation a little, at least.
"我是一名士兵。所有的狮鹫都是士兵。从最小的雏鸟到最老的鹰身女妖，我们都是战士。我们努力争取自信、确定性和战斗技巧，坚守我们的荣誉和我们的合同,"他冷静地说，同时朝炸弹的方向望去，尽管现在烟雾弥漫，所能看到的只是一片模糊的蓝色光芒。至少，它似乎减少了一点辐射。
“Sorry, I don’t know much about griffins,” I said; talking helped keep my mind off the curse inside me. “Just that you... fought for us during the war?” I vaguely remembered a few references in 99’s history lessons to the ‘marginal effect of griffin mercenaries’ during the war, but I was leery of trusting anything academic from 99.
"对不起，我对狮鹫了解不多,"我说，说话帮助我忘记了心中的诅咒。"只是你......在战争期间为我们而战?"我隐约记得99年的历史课上有几处提到战争期间狮鹫雇佣兵的边际效应，但我对99年的任何学术论文都持怀疑态度。
“We fought for both sides. We fought to protect neutral parties. Fought for whoever owned our Contracts. The only people we never fought were our own kind.”
"我们为双方而战。我们为保护中立党派而战。为我们合同的所有者而战。我们唯一没有打过的人是我们自己的同类。"
“You keep talking about these Contract things. Can you tell me about it?” I
"你一直在说什么合同之类的东西。你能告诉我吗?"一
asked with a baffled smile.
带着困惑的微笑问。
He shrugged. “It’s not a thing ponies understand. Our Contract is a reflection of who we are and what we will and won’t do. For a griffin to claim what they will and won’t do, and then do just that, justifies our existence. I won’t kill young, nor will I lie. No order, no threat, no bribe will make me do so. To do otherwise would violate my Contract. Once, whole rookeries were bound by common Contracts that defined them. There was even a griffin who once tried to get all of griffinkind to adopt a common clause in our Contracts putting griffin interests first… but unfortunately Gilda failed, and none know what became of her.”
他耸耸肩。"这不是小马能理解的事情。我们的合同反映了我们是谁，我们会做什么，不会做什么。对于一个狮身鹰首兽来说，宣称他们会做什么和不会做什么，然后就这样做，证明了我们的存在是正当的。我不会杀年轻人，也不会撒谎。没有命令，没有威胁，没有贿赂都不能让我这么做。否则将违反我的合同。曾几何时，所有的新居都受到定义它们的共同契约的约束。甚至还有一个狮鹫，曾经试图让狮鹫们在我们的合同中采用一个共同的条款，把狮鹫的利益放在第一位......但不幸的是，吉尔达失败了，没有人知道她后来怎么样了。"
“So how did Ahuizotl get your Contract?” I asked, and received a scowl in response. “If I can ask…”
"那么阿胡伊佐特是怎么得到你的合同的呢?"我问道，得到了一个皱眉的回答。"如果我能问的话......"
“Commanders do not ask. They order others to tell them what they wish to know.” It sounded like griffins were creeping up on zebras for weirdest species ever. “I pledged my Contract to the holder for as long as I lived, first to a family of scavengers who hid my young during the war with the Enclave. The father was an honorable earth pony, but when he died, my Contract passed to his son. He drove off my family and used me as a weapon, forcing me to kill any who attacked him due to his unreasonable and obnoxious demands. I would have happily killed him, or allowed them to… if it would not violate my Contract.
"指挥官不会问。他们命令其他人告诉他们想知道的事情。"听起来像是格里芬正在悄悄接近斑马，寻找最奇怪的物种。"我向持有者承诺，只要我活着，我的契约就一直有效，首先是一个拾荒者家庭，他们在与昂科雷的战争中把我的孩子藏了起来。父亲是一个可敬的地球小马，但当他死后，我的契约传给了他的儿子。他赶走了我的家人，把我当作武器，迫使我杀死任何攻击他的人，因为他的无理和令人厌恶的要求。如果不违反我的契约，我会很高兴地杀了他，或者允许他们这么做。
“He discovered an empty stable far to the south and set about looting it, but the fool ignored the signs of radiation. When he passed out, I carried him from the stable, but the radiation was already terminal and we both became ghouls. In Meatlocker, he sold my Contract to the bartender to pay his tab. I’ve been Shifty’s servant ever since.”
"他在南方发现了一个空荡荡的马厩，并开始抢劫，但这个傻瓜忽视了辐射的迹象。当他昏过去的时候，我把他从马厩里抱了出来，但是辐射已经到了极限，我们都变成了食尸鬼。在Meatlocker，他把我的合同卖给了酒保来付账。从那以后，我一直是西福弟的仆人。"
My ears perked. “Shifty? I thought you worked for Ahuizotl.”
我的耳朵竖了起来。"鬼鬼祟祟的？我还以为你为阿胡伊佐特工作呢。"
He just shrugged. “They’re one and the same. He thought that ‘Ahuizotl’ was far more impressive-sounding.”
他只是耸耸肩。"它们是一体的，而且是相同的。他认为'Ahuizotl'听起来更令人印象深刻。"
“Did Ahuizotl have dealings with zebras?” I demanded.
"阿胡伊佐特和斑马有交易吗?"我问道。
“I protect the holder of my Contract. That includes his secrets,” he said with sullen resignation.
"我保护合同的持有人。这包括他的秘密,"他闷闷不乐地说。
I wanted to demand that he tell me the truth, but guessed it was futile. He’d died
我想要求他告诉我真相，但猜想那是徒劳的。他死了
of radiation poisoning saving the life of a pony he hated to avoid breaking his Contract. Then I blinked as an idea came to me. If this worked… “Tell me he didn’t have dealings with zebras.” The griffin blinked and scowled sharply. Then he knit his brows as if processing my response. I hoped that ‘killing me to protect his secrets’ wasn’t in the Contract. Then Carrion looked right at me and simply smiled.
放射性中毒拯救了一匹小马的生命，他恨这样做是为了避免违反合同。然后我眨了眨眼，突然想到一个主意。如果成功了..."告诉我他和斑马没有交易。"格里芬眨了眨眼，严厉地皱起了眉头。然后他皱起眉头，好像在处理我的反应。我希望'为了保护他的秘密而杀了我'不在合同中。然后小腐尸看着我，只是简单地笑了笑。
Yes! Maybe brain tumors had made me smarter. “Go help the others,” I said as I looked down the hall that Xanthe had taken, then began to limp along it as quickly as I could.
太好了！也许是脑瘤让我变得更聪明。"去帮助其他人,"我一边说，一边向下看着赞斯占领的大厅，然后开始一瘸一拐地走着。
Tulip had died outside the Mortuary, her skull crushed with a single overwhelming blow. I’d seen a zebra capable of doing that on Black Pony Tower. The Remnant had gotten their tipoff from a ghoul that turned out to be the owner of that bar. And Xanthe had known about Meatlocker; had she simply heard of its location, or had she been there before? The thought of the Remnant being able to get soldiers inside and kill ponies like Velvet and Windclop…
郁金香在太平间外死去，她的头骨被一记重击压碎。我在黑色小马塔上见过一只斑马能做到这一点。例外人从一个食尸鬼那里得到消息，那个食尸鬼原来是那家酒吧的老板。桑丝知道肉库的事，她只是听说了它的位置，还是她以前去过那里？例外人可以把士兵带进去，杀死小马，比如维尔维特和温德克洛普。
I found the zebra half-buried in the shell of one of the sentries. She said something zebraish and pulled her head out with a gadget in her mouth. Then her eyes widened and she dropped the device as I stepped forward, rising onto my rear legs to close the last few feet and grabbing the collar of her suit, tugging her almost onto her hindhoof tips. “Maiden!” she wailed, and the suit flickered and she disappeared. I tightened my grip on it, my eyes locked on the shimmer where I knew her head was.
我发现斑马半埋在一个哨兵的壳里。她说了一些像斑马一样的话，然后嘴里叼着一个小玩意儿，把头伸了出来。然后她的眼睛睁大了，当我向前走的时候，她放下了那个装置，抬起后腿合上最后几只脚，抓住她西装的领子，几乎把她拽到后蹄尖上。"少女!"她嚎啕大哭，宇航服闪烁不定，然后她就消失了。我紧紧地抓住它，我的眼睛锁定在我知道她的脑袋所在的微光上。
“Xanthe,” I kept my voice low and even as I gave her the shootiest look I could. “You haven’t told me everything you should have. Tell me now: is the Remnant in Meatlocker?” She cried out, and I felt invisible hooves beat on my chest. “Tell me the truth!”
"赞西,"我压低了声音，尽管我用尽最大的力气看了她一眼。"你还没有告诉我你应该知道的一切。现在告诉我:"剩下的人在肉库里吗?"她大叫起来，我感到看不见的蹄子敲打着我的胸膛。"告诉我真相!"
She appeared in a flash, her eyes wide and streaked with tears. “The truth is you have cursed me!” she wailed as I stared into her eyes. “You are going to destroy my people! You are the Maiden of the Stars! Nightmare Moon! The champion of the deepest darkness! And if I do not oppose you… my home, my people, are doomed!”
她一下子出现了，眼睛睁得大大的，满是泪痕。"事实是你诅咒了我!"我盯着她的眼睛，她哭了起来。"你们要毁灭我的人民！你是星星中的少女！恶梦之月！最黑暗的冠军！如果我不反对你......我的家园，我的人民，注定要灭亡!"
I slowly relaxed my grip and sat down, running my hand over my face. Not this shit again… “Xanthe… I am not Nightmare Moon. I… saw… the real
我慢慢地松开手，坐了下来，用手捂着脸。不要再说这些废话了......"Xanthe......我不是噩梦之月。我。.看到了...真实的自己
Nightmare Moon in a memory once. That’s not me.”
曾经记忆中的梦魇月亮。那不是我。"
The zebra rubbed her throat and kept her eyes low. “How do you know you are not?” Then she looked at me with the first hard gaze I’d seen from her. “The Maiden is born of heartache and sorrow, and I know you suffer. She butchers all who oppose her. I saw what you did in Yellow River. She sows destruction for the entire world. That monster you slew was indestructible, and yet you destroyed it.”
斑马摩擦着喉咙，眼睛低垂着。"你怎么知道你不是呢?"然后她用我从她身上看到的第一次严厉的目光看着我。"少女生于心痛和悲伤，我知道你很痛苦。她屠杀所有反对她的人。我看到了你在黄河上的所作所为。她为整个世界播下了毁灭的种子。你杀死的那个怪物是坚不可摧的，而你却摧毁了它。"
I slumped. “Xanthe, I got lucky.” Something in me was drawing tight, a single raw nerve growing sharper and sharper. “That’s all it is. That’s all it’s ever been.”
我垂头丧气。"Xanthe，我很幸运。"我内心的某种东西变得越来越紧张，一根单独的神经变得越来越敏锐。"仅此而已。一直以来都是这样。"
“Luck? Luck that you die but return to life? Luck that you overcome all adversity?” The zebra scoffed. “Luck that you stumble across the secrets of ages past?”
"运气？幸运的是你死而复生？幸运的是你克服了所有的逆境?"斑马嗤之以鼻。"幸运的是你偶然发现了过去时代的秘密?"
“It’s just stupid, fucking, luck!” I screamed at her, and she curled up in a ball. But I couldn’t stop. I was like a canister of explosive gas with a hole punched in the side as I shouted, “Luck that I got out of 99! Luck that I survived! Luck that I found friends who would help me! I don’t have any kind of dark, magical power! Hell, I’m damned lucky I can summon a wisp of light! And just because I’ve survived, don’t think it’s been easy. Don’t think that I haven’t paid for surviving when others died. But that’s all there is to it. I am not Nightmare Moon! I am not the Maiden of the Stars! I am not special and I am not going to put up with it any longer!” I screamed down at her.
"这是愚蠢的，他妈的，运气!"我朝她尖叫，她蜷缩成一团。但我停不下来。我就像一罐爆炸性气体，旁边有一个洞，我喊道,"幸运的是我逃出了99!"！幸运的是我还活着！幸运的是我找到了可以帮助我的朋友！我没有任何黑暗魔法的力量！见鬼，我真他妈的幸运，我能召唤出一缕光！就因为我活了下来，不要以为这很容易。别以为别人死的时候我没有为生存付出代价。但事情就是这样。我不是恶梦之月！我不是星中少女！我不是什么特别的人，我再也不能忍受了!"我朝她大喊大叫。
“You sure about that?” Psychoshy asked behind me, and I turned and saw all of the others staring in shock. “‘Cause I saw what you did in Hippocratic, and Rampage has been trying to convince me you really are some fucking paragon and not the scariest fucking mare I could ever imagine.”
"你确定吗?"神经病在我身后问道，我转过身，看到其他人都震惊地盯着我。"因为我看到了你在希波克拉底的所作所为，而狂暴一直试图说服我，你真的是他妈的模范，而不是我所能想象的最可怕的母马。"
“Don’t give me that…” I began, but she flew out in front of the others and pressed her face right into mine.
"不要给我那个......"我开始说，但是她飞到其他人面前，把她的脸紧紧地贴在我的脸上。
“Don’t you blow me off, Blackjack!” she snapped, her eyes narrowed. “Because you are scary. There’s not a single one of us that isn’t afraid of you on some damned level. You’re a fucking cyborg mutant death mare who could probably kill every single one of us if she wanted to. You talk to shit that isn’t there, know things no fucking pony should ever know, and you keep going on. Why the fuck
"别放我鸽子，黑杰克!"她厉声说道，眯起眼睛。"因为你很吓人。在某种程度上，我们没有一个人不怕你。你他妈的是个机器人变异的死亡母马如果她想的话，可以杀死我们每一个人。你跟不存在的东西说话，知道任何该死的小马都不应该知道的事情，然后你继续前进。他妈的为什么
shouldn’t she think of you as Nightmare Moon? Why the fuck shouldn’t everyone?”
难道她不应该把你当做梦魇之月吗？为什么他妈的每个人都不能?"
“Because I’m trying to do good!” I countered, twisting around to face her. “I’m trying to make the world better.”
"因为我想做好事!"我反驳道，转过身来面对她。"我在努力让世界变得更美好。"
“Glad to hear it. That still doesn’t make you any less damn scary. Because all it would take is you changing your mind, and the rest of us are dead! Maybe you think the world would be better without Psychoshy. What are my chances of stopping you if you really wanted to kill me? She thinks you’re the devil. I’d say you’re two steps away. And anypony who’s seen you fight would agree with me.” She stared right into my eyes, so taut that she seemed ready to snap. There was anger in those eyes, sure.
"很高兴听你这么说。但这并没有减轻你的恐惧。因为只要你改变主意，我们其他人就死定了！也许你认为没有心理害羞这个世界会更好。如果你真的想杀我，我阻止你的机会有多大？她认为你是魔鬼。我会说你离我只有两步之遥。任何看过你打架的人都会同意我的看法。"她直直地盯着我的眼睛，绷得好紧，似乎快要崩溃了。那双眼睛里确实有愤怒的神情。
But there was also fear…
但也有恐惧.....。
I looked behind her at my companions, at the concern, wariness, and worry in their eyes. I felt the pain tightening up inside me. I seemed to have forgotten how to breathe. No. I was a good pony. I might not have known what my virtue was, but I was a good pony. I tried! I tried, damn it.
我在她身后看着我的同伴们，看着他们眼中的关心、警惕和担忧。我感到内心的痛苦越来越强烈。我似乎忘记了如何呼吸。没有。我是一匹好马。我可能不知道我的美德是什么，但我是一匹好马。我试过了！我试过了，该死。
And I heard a voice from within me, strange and cold. A mare whispering softly in my ear, a mare who’d once offered tricks for a hoofful of bits before Twilight had come to her.. It doesn’t matter how good you are; to some ponies, you’ll always be a monster. I looked at Rampage, and six ponies looked back at me through one set of eyes. It doesn’t matter how awesome you are; other ponies will tear you down if they can. I swallowed, my gaze moving to Snips and seeing the cool understanding in his luminescent stare, and that cold whisper changed to an angry mare’s suspicious mutter. It’s hard to smile smile smile when all everypony does is lie lie lie…
我听到一个声音从我内心传来，陌生而冰冷。一匹母马在我耳边轻轻地说着悄悄话，一匹母马在暮光来到她身边之前曾经为她提供了一些小把戏。.不管你有多优秀，对于一些小马来说，你永远都是个怪物。我看着狂暴，六匹小马用一双眼睛回头看着我。你有多棒并不重要，其他小马如果可以的话会把你撕碎的。我咽了口唾沫，我的目光移向斯奈普斯，看到他发光的凝视中冷静的理解，那冷冷的低语变成了一匹愤怒的母马可疑的咕哝。当小马做的一切都是躺着躺着的时候，很难微笑微笑..。
That whirring within me grew sharper, the scream of Enervation growing clearer. I’d tried to give them all I could. What more did they want from me? It doesn’t matter what you try to give; they’ll never really appreciate it. Silver Spoon looked at me with her hurt eyes, hurt that I wasn’t the friend she’d sought for so long. Of course you always hurt the ones you care about. The more you care, the more they hurt. Funny, why was Psychoshy snickering in my ears? Their lips were moving, but I couldn’t hear them over those damned screams and whispers. Go on, Blackjack. Tell yourself you’re okay. Maybe this time you’ll believe it…
我内心的呼呼声变得更加尖锐，衰弱的尖叫声变得更加清晰。我已经尽我所能了。他们还想从我这里得到什么？你想给予什么并不重要，他们永远不会真正感激你。银勺用她受伤的眼睛看着我，因为我不是她寻找了这么久的朋友而感到伤心。当然，你总是伤害你关心的人。你越关心他们，他们就越痛苦。有趣，为什么心理害羞在我耳边窃笑？他们的嘴唇在动，但在那该死的尖叫和低语声中，我听不到他们的声音。继续，黑杰克。告诉自己你没事。也许这次你会相信..。
I fell to my knees and clenched my eyes shut. It felt like the world was slipping away. I could hear Nightmare Moon’s cold laugh as she rose to power. As she gave in, as she felt such joy. It had been so long since I’d been happy. So long…
我双膝跪地，紧闭双眼。感觉就像世界在悄悄溜走。我能听到梦魇之月掌权时冷冷的笑声。当她屈服的时候，当她感到如此快乐的时候。我已经很久没有快乐过了。再见..。
Then a mare’s voice said softly, Come on, Blackjack, you’re smarter than that.
然后一匹母马轻声说:来吧，Blackjack，你比那聪明多了。
Slowly I raised my eyes and looked at Lacunae, the alicorn smiling ever so slightly. You know what the difference is. You just have to remember. When you do something wrong, what do you have to do?
慢慢地，我抬起眼睛，望着空隙，这只孤果微笑着。你知道区别在哪里。你只需要记住。当你做错事的时候，你必须做什么？
“You’re right,” I said as the twisting in my chest slowly eased. “You’re right… I can be pretty damned scary. And I know that I shouldn’t get angry for... what Xanthe thinks of me. I guess I do match this Maiden pretty well.” I turned and looked back at Xanthe. “I’m sorry…” Then my eyes returned to Psychoshy, and I gave an exhausted smile. “The difference is that I try and do better. I know I’m a fuckup… but I haven’t given up. I know I can be a better pony… and I try to be. I don’t always make it. And some day, I might stop, and if I do I trust that a better pony like Lacunae, or Rampage, or Stygius, or you will put an end to me. Until then, though, I’m not Nightmare Moon. I never will be.”
"你说得对,"我说，胸口的扭动慢慢缓解了。"你说得对......我确实很可怕。我知道我不应该因为...Xanthe对我的看法而生气。我想我和这个少女很相配。"我转过身来，回头看着Xanthe。"对不起......"然后我的眼睛回到了Psychoshy，露出疲惫的笑容。"不同之处在于，我努力做得更好。我知道我是个混蛋...但我没有放弃。我知道我可以成为一个更好的小马......我努力做到。我并不总是能做到。有一天，我可能会停下来，如果我停下来，我相信会有一匹更好的小马，比如Lacunae，或者Rampage，或者Stygius，否则你会结束我的生命。在那之前，我不是梦魇之月。我永远不会。"
There was an awkward moment; Psychoshy trotted over to Stygius, both of them looking back at me with a worried frown. “One of the ghouls is our agent,” Xanthe murmured, so softly that for a second I thought I’d imagined it. “He feeds us intelligence and passes messages on for a steep price. He has for years.” The zebra glanced up and sniffed, begging in a whimper, “Please don’t kill my people, Maiden.”
有一个尴尬的时刻;心理害羞小跑到斯提吉乌斯那里，他们两个回头看着我，愁眉苦脸。"其中一个食尸鬼是我们的代理人,"桑特低声说，声音很轻，有那么一瞬间我还以为是我想象出来的。"他为我们提供情报，并以高昂的代价传递信息。多年来，他一直如此。"斑马抬起头来闻了闻，呜咽着乞求道:"请不要杀我的族人，少女。"
I sighed and reached out, paused, and patted her head. “I don’t want to kill anyone, Xanthe. Not if I can help it.” Then I looked at my stump. “And right now, I’m not looking like I’m going to kill much of anypony. Nurse Graves died helping us; I just want to make sure Meatlocker is safe. But a ghoul named Tulip had her head crushed, and I’m pretty sure it was a zebra who did it.” She pressed her lips together, and I added, “I’m not saying that ‘cause I hate zebras, Xanthe. I just don’t want people who help me to get hurt.”
我叹了口气，伸出手，停了下来，拍了拍她的头。"我不想杀任何人，Xanthe。只要我能帮上忙，就不会。"然后我看了看我的残肢。"而现在，我看起来不像是要杀死任何小马。格雷夫斯护士在帮助我们的时候死了，我只是想确保肉库的安全。但是一个叫郁金香的食尸鬼把她的头砸碎了，而且我很确定是斑马干的。"她把嘴唇贴在一起，我补充说:"我不是说'因为我讨厌斑马，Xanthe。我只是不想让帮助我的人受到伤害。"
Xanthe licked her lips and looked at the IFF gadget. “I can… I can include a message. If there is one of Caesar’s Hooves hidden in Meatlocker, they’ll be somewhere near the Mortuary. A locked storeroom, perhaps.” She glanced at Carrion, then dropped her gaze a little. “I just… wanted to protect my people…”
赞塞舔了舔嘴唇，看了看敌我识别系统。"我可以...我可以加上一条信息。如果有一只凯撒的蹄子藏在Meatlocker，他们一定在太平间附近。也许是一间上了锁的储藏室。"她瞥了一眼小腐尸，然后稍稍低下了目光。"我只是......想保护我的人民......"
“Me too,” I said, rising to my hooves again. “Work quick. We need to get going.”
"我也是,"我说，又站了起来。"动作快点。我们需要行动起来。"
But getting going would take a minute or two. While most of the RadAway in the storeroom had been lost, there were still tablets of Buck, Fixer, and Rad-X intact, as well as bottles of water. We all chowed down on the chalky tablets, Rampage passed out water bottles filled with her recycled RadAway, and we each took a drink or two. It’d been ‘energized’ with Flux, which probably meant taint. As Xanthe bowed out of the room to work on Cerberus, I swirled the bottle of orangey fluid with my magic. “Are you sure it’s safe to add that Flux stuff? Don’t want anypony growing eye tentacle penises, now.”
但是开始行动需要一两分钟的时间。虽然储藏室里的大部分RadAway已经丢失，但仍有Buck、Fixer和Rad-X的药片完好无损，还有几瓶水。我们都狼吞虎咽地吃着白垩质的药片，狂暴分发着装满她回收的RadAway的水瓶，我们每个人都喝了一两口。它被Flux激发了，这可能意味着污染。当赞塞鞠躬离开房间去研究刻耳柏洛斯的时候，我用我的魔法旋转着那瓶橙色液体。"你确定加上Flux的东西安全吗？现在，我不希望任何小马长出眼睛触手的小弟弟。"
“Flux is good shit, Pink,” Rampage retorted. “Always added a drop or two to my Dash to turn it into Rainboom. Great shit! Got you so high even earth ponies could fly.” Then her grin melted into an angry scowl. “And when they ended up in the ER, they looked like they’d fallen from flight, too.” She rolled her eyes and snorted. “Hey, not everypony can handle the Dash.”
"弗拉克斯是个好东西，平克,"狂暴反驳道。"我总是在冲刺的时候加一两滴，把它变成Rainboom。太棒了！让你飞得这么高，连地上的小马都能飞了。"然后她的笑容变成了愤怒的怒容。"当他们被送进急诊室的时候，他们看起来好像也从飞机上摔了下来。"她转了转眼珠，哼了一声。"嘿，不是每个小马都能搞定Dash的。"
Xanthe returned with Cerberus in tow. I glanced at the zebra and then at the robot. “You understand your mission?”
仙蒂带着刻耳柏洛斯回来了。我瞥了一眼斑马，然后又瞥了一眼机器人。"你明白你的任务了吗?"
The robot sighed. “Return to Meatlocker, tell all those pansy ghouls about the bomb, and warn them about a zebra infiltrator. Hoo… rah…” he muttered sullenly. “Retreating when there’s still hundreds of acceptable targets is just sickening!”
机器人叹了口气。"回到Meatlocker，告诉那些同性恋食尸鬼有关炸弹的事，警告他们有一个斑马渗透者。"呜......呜......"他闷闷不乐地咕哝着。"在仍有数百个可接受目标的情况下撤退，真是令人作呕!"
“Buck up, Soldier. There’ll be other ghouls to disintegrate,” I said, earning a surprised and slightly troubled look from Silver Spoon. “Remember, straight there.”
"振作起来，士兵。还会有其他的食尸鬼要解体的,"我说，从银汤匙那里得到了一个惊讶而略带忧虑的表情。"记住，直走。"
“Yes, ma’am. Let it never be said the Equestrian Mechanized Corps failed to execute orders!” he announced, and gave a sort of salutelike gesture with his remaining claw. Lacunae and Snips walked over, the blue unicorn holding my sword in his magic as far away from himself as possible as if the blade were diseased and reeking. I slipped it into its sheath with a smile and thanked him.
"是的，夫人。绝不能说马术机械化部队没有执行命令!"他宣布，并用他剩下的爪子做了一个类似情歌的手势。空隙和剪子走了过来，蓝色的独角兽用他的魔法拿着我的剑，尽可能地远离他自己，就好像这把剑带病了，散发着恶臭。我微笑着把它塞进它的鞘里，向它道谢。
With that, we started our climb, first up through the shattered windows and onto the narrow sloping ledge of metal that ran around the interior, and then up to the crumbled rubble around the breach in the prison wall. Those of us not capable of flight were assisted by those who were. The three of us with magic flung blazing
就这样，我们开始了攀爬，首先穿过破碎的窗户，爬上狭窄的金属斜坡，然后爬上监狱墙壁缺口周围崩塌的碎石。我们这些不能飞行的人得到了那些能飞行的人的帮助。我们三个神奇地燃烧起来
clumps of detritus down into the inferno below as the air grew thicker and visibility shortened. I kept waiting for something to spring out at us... another flaming ghoul, or maybe the Warden would send his robots again... but for once our only opponents were time and gravity. Finally, we came to the hole punched through the cells and exterior wall. I looked at the inch-thick steel armor plating on the exterior wall as we moved up close to the hole. Hot air blew out around us, carrying a plume of smoke out like a chimney.
随着空气越来越浓，能见度越来越低，一团团的碎屑沉入下面的地狱。我一直在等待什么东西跳出来......另一个燃烧的食尸鬼，或者也许监狱长会再次派出他的机器人......但这一次我们唯一的对手是时间和地心引力。最后，我们来到穿过牢房和外墙的洞口。当我们靠近洞口的时候，我看了看外墙上一英寸厚的钢板。热空气在我们周围呼呼地吹着，像烟囱一样冒出一缕烟来。
“How do we know this IFF is going to work?” I yelled over the howling air. Rain was pouring down outside; it looked like late afternoon. Had we really only been in Hightower a few hours? Felt like weeks.
"我们怎么知道敌我识别系统会工作呢?"我在呼啸的空气中喊道。外面正下着倾盆大雨，看起来像是傍晚时分。我们真的只在海托华待了几个小时吗？感觉像是几个星期。
“If he flies out there and explodes, we know it didn’t work,” Carrion replied. Xanthe looked up from where she made a few checks on the gadget she’d taped to the robot’s side and gave a shrug.
"如果他飞出去然后爆炸，我们就知道没用了,"腐尸回答道。赞思抬起头，看了看贴在机器人旁边的小玩意儿，耸了耸肩。
“All right then. Hoo-rah!” the robot shouted as he floated out the hole. “For Equestriaaaaaa!” he roared, dropping like a rock. I gaped and leaned out the hole as I watched him fall. Lacunae looked out above me, and a purple glow surrounded the robot, slowing his descent slowed as he leveled out. He floated over the heads of the glowing ghouls below and headed for the wall before I finally lost sight of him in the rain and smoke.
"那好吧。呼啦!"机器人一边从洞里出来一边喊。"为了马术!"他咆哮着，像石头一样坠落。我看着他掉下去，目瞪口呆地探出洞口。拉库尼看着我的上方，紫色的光芒环绕着机器人，减缓了它下降的速度，使它平稳下来。他飘过下面发光的食尸鬼的头顶，朝着墙走去，直到我终于在烟雨中看不见他。
Hopefully he’d pull if off... and then I put him out of my mind as Lacunae and Psychoshy lifted me up through the broken floor to the high security floor right beneath the armory. The gray smoke was darkening, but the radiation was still damned high, despite the smoke. Wait... the radiation was actually climbing!
希望他会成功......然后我把他从我的脑海中抹去，当拉库尼和神经病把我从破碎的地板上抬起来，送到军械库下面高度戒备的地板上。灰色的烟雾越来越暗，但是尽管有烟雾，辐射量还是很高。等等...辐射实际上还在上升！
Then I stopped wondering why as I saw blue flames slowly approaching. “Flamer!” I warned as the swirling smoke parted to reveal a flaming pony squeezing out of a breached cell. Vigilance came up as I stood in the gap and sighted along the barrel, planting shots as precisely as I could. The flaming ghoul let out a scream and charged, my bullets half-vaporizing before striking its skull. The 12.7mm rounds were substantial enough to slow it down, but beyond that...
然后我不再疑惑为什么，因为我看到蓝色的火焰慢慢地接近。"火焰!"我警告说，当旋转的烟雾分开时，一匹燃烧的小马正从一个被破坏的牢房里挤出来。我站在缺口处，沿着枪管视线，尽可能准确地发射子弹，警惕性随之而来。燃烧的食尸鬼发出一声尖叫，向我冲过来，我的子弹在击中它的头骨之前已经半蒸发了。12.7毫米的子弹足以使它减速，但除此之外.....。
Then Carrion flew up the hole behind me, and a line of green lanced out and began to chew through the ghoul. Xanthe was placed beside me, firing her sidearm wildly into its torso as I kept my shots on its head. Finally, silver arrows
然后，小腐尸从我身后的洞里飞了出来，一行绿色的东西从洞里钻了出来，开始咬食尸鬼。桑特被放在我旁边，我一直对着它的头部开枪，她的手枪却朝着它的躯干疯狂地射击。最后是银箭
streaked through the smoke and sank into the flaming monster’s head. It collapsed in on itself, disappearing in a heap of green dust.
在烟雾中划过，掉进了火焰怪物的脑袋里。它自己倒塌了，消失在一堆绿色的尘土中。
Carrion stopped firing, the beam gun smoking in his claws. “Conductor’s melted!” Xanthe shouted, reaching into one of her packs for a gray block of metal, tossing it atop her head, then kicking a smoking chunk of off the bottom of the jury-rigged gun. As the block came down, she slammed it home into the gap, and the gun gave an ominous hum once again.
腐肉停止了射击，光束枪在他的爪子冒烟。"列车长融化了!"桑丝大声喊道，她伸手从背包里拿出一块灰色的金属，把它扔在头上，然后把一大块冒烟的金属从临时配备的枪底部踢了下去。当街区倒下来的时候，她砰的一声关上了门，枪再次发出了不祥的嗡嗡声。
Then from the cell beside her came a scream and a billowing, crackling ball of green fire as the glowing ghouls within launched a blast of radioactive magic at us. Carrion swooped around, caught Xanthe in one forearm, and whirled. His wings spread wide and blocked the barrage. Lacunae and I moved around him and slipped into S.A.T.S. almost as one. These ghouls weren’t the fiery variety, and bullets made their heads explode into fountains of radioactive gore and bone. Carrion’s wings were both disintegrating and regenerating from the radioactive blasts as the AM rifle boomed next to me.
紧接着，从她身边的牢房里传来一声尖叫，一团绿色的火球滚滚而来，里面发光的食尸鬼向我们发出了一阵放射性魔法。腐尸飞扑过来，用一只前臂抓住赞斯，旋转着。他的双翼张开，挡住了炮火。拉库尼和我绕过他，几乎像一个人一样溜进了s.a.t.s。这些食尸鬼并不像火焰一样凶猛，子弹使他们的头部爆炸成放射性的血和骨头的喷泉。随着AM步枪在我身边隆隆作响，腐尸的翅膀在放射性的冲击波中分解和再生。
Four down. About four hundred to go between here and the armory door. Between the bar walls of each cell were stretches of concrete wall just barely wide enough for a single pony to take cover in. “Lacunae! Can you shield us?” I thought at her.
搞定四个了。从这里到军械库大门大约需要四百人。每间牢房的栅栏墙之间都是混凝土墙，宽度刚好够一匹小马躲进去。"空隙！你能保护我们吗?"我想着她。
“I… it’s very hard to focus. I think the talisman is wearing off. I should be able to protect myself, but we must hurry!” Alicorns and ghouls might be empowered by radiation, but Enervation was another matter.
"我.....。.很难集中注意力。我想这个护身符正在消失。我应该能够保护自己，但我们必须抓紧时间!"海角兽和食尸鬼可能会因辐射而获得能量，但能量支配则是另一回事。
“Right!” I shouted, not able to see more than ten feet in the smoke. “Move quick! Call out if you see a flaming one. Move!” And I hobbled out in the lead, diving across in front of the cells and barely missed by the radioactive blasts of the glowing ghouls within. Some held as many as half a dozen stuck behind the barred doors. Cell by cell I jumped and rolled, half the time landing on my face as my body kept using my stump like it was a full leg. Once I fell short, and a flaming one thankfully still trapped almost cooked me before I could get clear. Stygius shadowflashed right into the middle of the cell and kicked the beast in the head as a distraction, reappearing back with us as it turned in response.
"没错!"我喊道，在烟雾中看不到超过十英尺的地方。"快走！如果你看到一个燃烧的火焰，就大声喊出来。快走!"我一瘸一拐地走在细胞前面，几乎没有被细胞内发光的食尸鬼发出的放射性爆炸击中。有些人把多达六个人关在铁栅门后面。一个细胞接着一个细胞，我跳来跳去，滚来滚去，有一半的时间落在我的脸上，因为我的身体一直在使用我的残肢，好像它是一条完整的腿。有一次我做不到，谢天谢地，一个火焰仍然困住了我，我还没来得及脱身，它就几乎把我烤熟了。斯蒂吉乌斯的影子闪过牢房中央，一脚踢在那怪物的头上，分散了他的注意力，当它转过身来回应我们的时候，又出现了。
Worse than the flames and blasts were the screams for help, though. In more than one cell I saw glowing ghouls among their feral brethren and begging to be
不过，比火焰和爆炸更糟糕的是求救的尖叫声。在不止一个牢房里，我看到了发光的食尸鬼在他们的野生同胞中乞求成为食尸鬼
let out. I just couldn’t think of a way we could open the fused steel doors and extract them safely. I wanted to give them a chance. I needed to…
放出。我只是想不出一个办法，我们可以打开保险丝钢门，安全地把它们取出来。我想给他们一个机会。我需要..。
But sometimes we don’t get what we want or need…
但有时我们得不到我们想要或需要的东西。
“Keep moving!” Rampage shouted, shoving me away from a pleading ghoul who thought I was a prison guard, just in time to keep the ghoul’s cellmates from blasting me. Damn it, even if I wanted to help, there was no way I could let two dozen half-crazy ghouls escape intact for every one sane one!
"继续前进!"狂暴的人喊道，把我从一个认为我是监狱看守的乞求的食尸鬼身边推开，刚好赶上食尸鬼的狱友不要打我。该死，即使我想帮忙，我也不可能让二十多个半疯狂的食尸鬼完好无损地逃走，而保护每一个神智正常的人！
We reached the corner, and a turret popped down and started to strafe us. The bullets must have made a lucky hit, because Lacunae screamed as a half dozen rounds punched through her weakened shield and ripped right through her left foreleg at the knee. The mare dropped, and Silver Spoon grabbed a rag from the floor and immediately tried to stem the bleeding. I dodged into the path of the bullets, raising my foreleg to protect my face. I could take a few rounds of machinegun fire; at least, I hoped I could. I took aim and blasted the chattering turret. Rampage raced to the corner, drawing the fire from me, and sprang off the concrete wall, crashing right through the ceiling turret. Then she turned and grinned back at me.
我们到了拐角处，一个炮塔突然倒下来，开始扫射我们。子弹一定是幸运地打中了她，因为当半打子弹击穿她虚弱的护盾，并从她的左前腿膝盖处撕裂出右前腿时，Lacunae尖叫着。母马掉了下来，银勺从地板上抓起一块抹布，马上试图止血。我躲进子弹的射击路径，抬起前腿保护自己的脸。我可以承受几轮机枪扫射;至少，我希望我可以。我瞄准了喋喋不休的炮塔。狂暴冲到墙角，把火从我身上吸走，从混凝土墙上跳下来，砸穿了天花板上的塔楼。然后她转过身，对我咧嘴笑了笑。
Then she disappeared in a sheet of blue fire. She didn’t even get a chance to scream as she curled up like a lump of charcoal.
然后她消失在一片蓝色的火焰中。她甚至没有机会尖叫，因为她蜷缩成一团木炭。
The flaming one walked slowly through the smoke towards us, inhaling another breath to blast me. Then Carrion was there, moving around the corner with the beam gun in his claws. The beam streaked through the smoky air and collided with the ghoul’s head in a shower of blue-green sparks. It didn’t, however, stop the second plume of radioactive fire from washing over us. Carrion flew up, intercepting the majority of the flames with his power armor as he kept the beam on target. I would have given him a medal if I could. The beam gun sparked and died even as the flaming ghoul crumbled.
燃烧着的火焰穿过烟雾慢慢地向我们走来，又吸了一口气，准备把我炸飞。然后小腐尸出现了，用他的爪子拿着光枪绕着角落移动。光束穿过烟雾弥漫的空气，蓝绿色的火花四溅，与食尸鬼的头撞在一起。然而，这并没有阻止第二股放射性火焰冲刷我们。腐尸飞了起来，用他的能量装甲拦截大部分的火焰，同时保持光束在目标上。如果可以的话，我会给他颁发一枚奖章。正当燃烧的食尸鬼倒下的时候，光柱火花四射，熄灭了。
“Oh please tell me I can fix it! Please! Please!” the zebra fretted as she looked it over. Carrion, his feathers blackened and fur smoking, just looked slightly indignant as she fussed beside him.
"哦，请告诉我，我能修好它！求你了！求你了!"斑马一边看一边焦躁不安。腐肉，他的羽毛变黑，皮毛冒烟，只是看起来有点愤怒，因为她在他旁边大惊小怪。
“Well?” I asked as I beat out the flames. She gave me a stricken look that told me we’d better not run into another free flaming one. “Nevermind! Psycho! Stygius! Get Rampage.” Then I turned and knelt. To my amazement and relief,
"怎么样?"我边问边扑灭火焰。她惊恐地看了我一眼，告诉我最好不要再碰到另一个自由的火焰。"没关系！神经病！斯提格斯！暴跳如雷。"然后我转身跪了下来。令我惊讶和欣慰的是,
Lacunae’s leg was already regenerating before my eyes. “I… ah…” I looked at her severed leg with the PipBuck attached. “That’s not going to regenerate into a new Lacunae, is it?”
空隙的腿在我眼前已经再生了。"我.....。."啊......"我看着她那条连着PipBuck的断腿。"这不会再生成一个新的空白，对吧?"
“Of course not,” she said as she levitated the cuff and pulled her leg out of the PipBuck. “I am going to miss S.A.T.S., though.” Then she passed the device to me and tossed the foreleg away. “You’d better hold on to it.”
"当然没有,"她一边说，一边把袖口悬浮起来，把腿从皮布克针筒里拔了出来。"不过，我会想念sat考试的。"然后她把装置递给我，把前腿扔了出去。"你最好拿着它。"
“Ugh, she’s heavy!” the pegasus mare protested, but she and Stygius managed to heave the charred mare up between them.
"啊，她真重!"帕伽索斯母马抗议，但她和斯提吉乌斯设法把那匹烧焦的母马举起来夹在中间。
“Deal with it,” I replied as we made our way along to the middle of the next face and two more turrets. Lacunae, Carrion, and I blasted them with a barrage of gunfire that made short work of them. Then we were at the armory doors.
"处理它,"我回答说，我们沿着我们的道路中间的下一个面和两个炮塔。空隙、腐尸和我用密集的炮火把他们打得落花流水。然后我们到了军械库的门口。
Yeah, I could see why Snips thought we’d need a balefire egg. These doors were so tough that they hadn’t melted or warped like most of the metal on this level. There wasn’t a terminal or a lock to pick, either. I started to wheeze… damn this smoke! “How does it open?”
是啊，我明白为什么小鬼头觉得我们需要一个火鸡蛋了。这些门非常坚固，它们没有像这一层的大多数金属那样融化或扭曲。也没有终端或者锁可以撬。我开始喘气...该死的烟！"它是怎么打开的?"
“Only from the inside! And there’re no windows in the armory,” Snips yelled back over the fires below. “That’s why I brought the egg!” The charcoal lump cracked and Rampage shook herself hard, shedding the crumbly black shell.
""只是从里面！而且军械库里也没有窗户,"小剪刀在下面的火堆上大声喊道。"这就是我带鸡蛋来的原因!"木炭开裂了，狂暴猛烈地摇晃着自己，脱掉了脆弱的黑色外壳。
“Am I still grown up?” she asked, inspecting the scorched armor still fused to charred chunks of hide. “Aw, Hammersmith is gonna kill me.”
"我还是成年人吗?"她一边问，一边检查着烧焦的盔甲，盔甲上还粘着烧焦的兽皮块。"啊，哈默史密斯会杀了我的。"
“That I’d like to see,” Psychoshy countered.
"那是我想看到的,"精神病医生反驳道。
I beat my hoof against the door several times, slumping in futility. “Blackjack…” Lacunae said softly in my mind. I looked up at her and saw her staring down into the smoke. Three burning forms advanced from behind us, flickering through the acrid black clouds. I smacked my gray-etched steel hand against the wall again, then stared at it a second. Would that… could it work?
我的蹄子几次撞在门上，毫无用处。"黑杰克......"拉库尼在我的脑海里轻声说道。我抬头看着她，看到她低头盯着烟雾。三个燃烧的形体从我们身后走来，在刺鼻的黑云中闪烁。我用灰色蚀刻的铁手再次拍打墙壁，然后盯着它看了一秒钟。这...这样行得通吗？
“Clear that cell,” I said, shouting as I pointed at the next one down. Fortunately, all the ghouls inside were feral glowing ones. Lacunae and Carrion weathered their barrage of radioactive fire, but I noticed that once or twice the radioactive blasts actually got through Lacunae’s weakened shield. When her talisman died, how long would she last? Or would our minds start jumping like between normal
"清理那间牢房,"我说，指着下一间牢房喊道。幸运的是，里面所有的食尸鬼都是发光的野生动物。裂谷星和腐尸星经受住了放射性火力的袭击，但我注意到，有一两次放射性爆炸实际上穿过了裂谷星脆弱的护盾。当她的护身符死后，她能坚持多久？还是我们的大脑开始像正常人一样跳跃
alicorns till we fell apart?
直到我们分崩离析？
Regardless, ten seconds later, the cell was empty. “Open that door,” I said as I looked back along the row. The flaming ones were still taking their time. Maybe they didn’t know we were here, or maybe they knew there was nowhere left for us to go. Rampage and Carrion smashed the door, busting it open as Xanthe sat on the floor with the beam gun in her hooves, swapping out capacitors, spark batteries, and who knew what to try to get it to work.
不管怎样，10秒钟后，这个单元格是空的。"打开那扇门,"我边说边回头看着前排。燃烧的火焰还在不慌不忙地燃烧着。也许他们不知道我们在这里，也许他们知道我们无处可去。狂暴和腐尸撞开了门，当Xanthe坐在地板上，用她的蹄子拿着光束枪，交换电容器，火花电池，谁知道怎么让它工作的时候，门被撞开了。
“What are you doing, Tiara?” Silver Spoon asked as she fidgeted, looking at the mindless ghouls in the cells in horror. The fused but apparently weakened metal finally gave way as Carrion pulled the door off and tossed it aside. I ran past the still dimly glowing ghoul corpses and right to the back of the cell and the metal toilet. The concrete above the toilet had been defaced by dozens of names.
"你在干什么，提亚拉?"银勺问道，她坐立不安，惊恐地看着牢房里无意识的食尸鬼。这块熔断了的但是看起来很脆弱的金属最终在腐尸拉开门把它扔到一边的时候崩溃了。我跑过仍然隐约发光的食尸鬼尸体，径直跑到牢房的后面和金属厕所。厕所上面的混凝土已经被几十个名字弄脏了。
“Oh… ah… I guess when you got to go…” the earth pony muttered as she looked away at once.
"哦......啊......我想当你要走的时候......"大地上的小马咕哝着，立刻把目光移开了。
The bowl was empty, the contents long ago evaporated, and I shouted down into the metal basin. “Hey! Hey you! You worthless piece of slime! You ignorant, disgusting blob!” Rampage rushed up beside me, looking on in confusion. I glared down and banged the toilet, shouting.
碗是空的，里面的东西早就蒸发了，我朝着金属盆喊道。"嘿！嘿，你！你这个没用的卑鄙小人！你们这些无知恶心的东西!"横冲直撞的人冲到我身边，茫然地看着。我瞪着眼睛，砰地一声砸在马桶上，大喊大叫。
She looked at me like I’d lost my mind, then blinked, grinned, and joined me in insulting the drain. “You’re nothing but an unstable short chain molecule!” Huh?
她看着我，好像我疯了一样，然后眨眨眼，咧嘴笑了笑，和我一起侮辱下水道。"你只不过是一个不稳定的短链分子!"什么？
“You foul, obnoxious muck!” I yelled, giving the mare a confused look. Of all the ponies in her, Octopus was the one shouting insults? Really?
"你这肮脏的、令人讨厌的垃圾!"我大叫着，困惑地看了母马一眼。在她身上所有的小马中，八爪鱼是那个骂人的吗？真的吗？
“You have a weak electrochemical bond!” she bellowed down into the bowl.
"你的电化学键很弱!"她朝着碗里大叫。
Yes, really.
是的，真的。
“I have seen some disgusting crud in my time, but you take the cake!” I roared down the toilet, and Rampage shook me. “You’re nothing but--“ Another shake. “You’re just--“
"我这辈子见过一些恶心的东西，但你是最恶心的!"我咆哮着冲进了厕所，狂暴吓了我一跳。"你什么都不是，只是——"又一次摇晃。"你只是——"
“Blackjack! Look!” she said in a voice that was definitely not the doctor, pointing her blackened hoofclaw at a pair of names scratched in the middle of the rest.
"黑杰克！看!"她用一种绝对不是医生的声音说，用她发黑的蹄爪指着其余部分中间划出的两个名字。
‘Doof’, and immediately below that, ‘Deus’.
'Doof'，紧接着是'Deus'。
This was his cell. This tiny eight by six space, that held four ponies… this was where he ended up. Where he’d gone from mere criminal rapist to a monster. Twist’s wide, pink eyes stared at me in horror.
这是他的牢房。这个小小的八乘六的空间，可以容纳四匹小马......这就是他的下场。他从一个犯罪的强奸犯变成了一个怪物。特威斯特那双粉红色的大眼睛惊恐地盯着我。
And then I smelled sulfur…
然后我闻到了硫磺味。
“Back! Get back!” I yelled, the toilet suddenly shrieking. Then the bilious blue sludge erupted out and began to pour across the floor. I staggered back out of the cell, falling on my rump. Rampage bit my mane and dragged me out as the smooze began to form into a slimepony. Back on the walkway, the three flaming ponies were nearly upon us.
"回去！退后!"我喊道，马桶突然尖叫起来。然后，蓝色的污泥喷出来，开始倾倒在地板上。我跌跌撞撞地走出牢房，趴在地上。暴怒咬着我的鬃毛，把我拖出来，因为平滑开始形成一个滑溜的矮种马。回到人行道上，那三匹燃烧着火焰的小马就要追上我们了。
“Lacunae! Snips! Throw!” I screamed as I scooped up blue smooze with my magic and flung it at the three flaming ponies. The monsters made no effort to dodge; why should they? Bullets melted before they were struck. Then a rain of glowing, hissing sludge began to rain down upon them, and the three let out screams of pain and fury. The blue slime hissed and blackened as it came in contact with their flaming hides, but it also extinguished their flames a bit. We fell back, step by step, and the three flaming ones charged. “Slow them down!” I yelled. Psychoshy and Stygius darted in overhead, smashing hooves against the darker patches and knocking them back. The pool of smooze slipped around their blazing hooves, and the three now screamed in panic as they tried to back out of it. Then one fell into the acidic sludge, and it grabbed at its fellows and pulled them down as well.
"空隙！小鬼头！扔!"我尖叫着，用我的魔法舀起蓝色的冰淇淋，扔向那三匹燃烧的小马。这些怪物没有努力躲避，他们为什么要躲避呢？子弹在被击中前就融化了。接着，一团发光的、发出嘶嘶声的淤泥像雨点般落在他们身上，三个人痛苦而愤怒地尖叫起来。蓝色的粘液接触到他们燃烧的兽皮时发出嘶嘶的声音并变黑，但它也稍微熄灭了他们的火焰。我们一步一步往后退，三个熊熊燃烧的火球向我们冲了过去。"让他们慢下来!"我喊道。心理害羞和冥河猛冲过头顶，用蹄子猛击黑斑，把它们击倒在地。那一大滩油腻腻的东西滑过了他们燃烧的蹄子，三个人惊恐地尖叫起来，他们试图退出来。然后有一只掉进了酸性的淤泥里，它抓住它的同伴，把他们拉了下来。
The smooze flooded over them, boiling and blackening and letting out a noxious reek that made me gag. The ghouls struggled, raising melting heads as the entire concoction cooked into a blackened tarlike mud. Even the smooze seemed to find the three a little too spicy for its taste, the blue sludge disappearing back into the corroded toilet. The smoking mess left behind was so destructive that it was eating into the concrete floor.
接吻的声音淹没了他们，沸腾、发黑，散发出有害的臭气，让我作呕。食尸鬼们挣扎着，抬起融化的头，整个混合物煮成了焦黑的酒石般的泥浆。甚至连奶昔都觉得这三种口味有点太辣了，蓝色的污泥又消失在锈迹斑斑的厕所里。留下的烟尘是如此具有破坏性，以至于它正在侵蚀混凝土地板。
Wait… if it was strong enough to do that… “Smear it on the door!” I yelled, scooping it up with my magic and painting the tarlike mix across the armored entrance. It began to hiss, pop, and steam. Everypony else stepped back as our magic worked, trying to apply as much to the door as we could; the sticky mung had already eaten halfway through the floor. The face of the door crumbled away in a sheet of smoking rust, and we added another layer. Rampage bravely scooped it up with flat slabs of flaked-off steel. The tar ate through the floor and
等等......如果它足够强大的话......"把它涂在门上!"我喊道，用我的魔法把它铲起来，在装甲入口处画上柏油混合物。它开始发出嘶嘶声、砰砰声和蒸汽声。当我们的魔法发挥作用时，其他小马都退后一步，尽可能多地往门上贴东西;粘糊糊的木桶已经吃了一半的地板了。门的表面被一层冒着烟的铁锈弄皱了，我们又加了一层。狂暴的暴徒勇敢地用剥落的平板钢铲起它。焦油渗透了地板
began to drip down to the next level, and we hurried to use as much of it as we could. Too bad it was too hazardous to take with us; the infernal mix ate through everything, even Sparkle-Cola bottles.
开始下降到下一个水平，我们赶紧尽可能多地使用它。糟糕的是，它太危险了，不能带在身上;地狱般的混合物把所有东西都吃光了，甚至包括可乐瓶。
Finally, the hoof-sized locking drum in the middle just fell right out, leaving a hole a pony could peek through. Stygius peeked and shadowflashed inside. A minute later there was a loud thunk, then another, and the door opened a crack. It took all our magic and Carrion’s power armor to get the door open enough to squeeze through, and even so, Carrion had to remove his armor, wiggle his way through the gap, pull the armor through piece by piece, and put it back on. Still, we made it.
最后，中间那个蹄子大小的锁鼓掉了出来，留下了一个小马可以从中窥视的洞。冥河偷偷看了一眼，里面的影子闪了一下。一分钟后，传来一声巨响，然后是另一声，门开了一条缝。我们用了所有的魔法和腐尸的能量盔甲才打开了那扇门，让它能够挤过去，即便如此，腐尸还是不得不卸下盔甲，蠕动着穿过缺口，把盔甲一块一块地拉出来，然后把它穿回去。尽管如此，我们还是成功了。
Lacunae, however, couldn’t.
然而，空隙却不能。
There was simply no way for the alicorn to pass through the gap. She could fit her head and neck in, but no matter how much we shoved the heavy, armored door, the gap simply wasn’t wide enough for her body. She screwed her face up and tried to teleport, but the prison’s magic barrier was still in effect. Whatever Stygius did to get around it, the alicorn couldn’t replicate the feat. She met my eyes and gave a sad smile. “Shall we just skip the argument about you not leaving me behind?”
阿里克松根本没有办法通过这个缺口。她可以把她的头和脖子塞进去，但是不管我们怎么推那个沉重的装甲门，那个空隙对她的身体来说还是不够宽。她皱起眉头，试图瞬移，但监狱的魔法屏障仍然有效。无论冥王做了什么来绕过它，阿利克斯都无法复制这一壮举。她看着我的眼睛，露出悲伤的微笑。"我们能不能跳过关于你没有把我留下的争论?"
“I’m not leaving you down here to die,” I said immediately, and she chuckled and shook her head.
"我不会把你留在这儿等死的,"我立刻说，她咯咯地笑着，摇了摇头。
“I thought not. Take this,” she said as she passed her AM gun through the gap. “Simple physics is sometimes our greatest enemy.” I settled it across my shoulders as she looked me in the eye. “Keep going. Find a way up to the attic and out.” She looked back down towards the hole and said before I could argue, “By myself, I might be able to reach the roof before the turrets take me down.”
"我想没有。拿着这个,"她边说边把自己的AM手枪从缝隙里递了过去。"简单的物理学有时是我们最大的敌人。"她看着我的眼睛，我把它放在肩膀上。"继续走。想办法上阁楼，然后出去。"她低头看着洞口，在我还没来得及争辩之前说:"我自己也许能在塔楼把我弄下去之前到达屋顶。"
“Lacunae, there’s got to be another way,” I said as I tried to adjust the gun’s massive weight.
"缺陷，肯定还有别的办法,"我一边说，一边试着调整枪的重量。
“There isn’t. Now go. I’ll see you on the roof.” And then she turned away, spread her wings, and flew silently off into the smoke.
"没有。现在走吧。我们屋顶上见。"然后她转身离开，张开翅膀，静静地飞进烟雾中。
“Lacunae!” I shouted after her. The further away she went, the greater the interference became between us. I couldn’t hear her voice, or she was trying to keep it from me.
"空白!"我在她后面喊道。她走得越远，我们之间的干扰就越大。我听不到她的声音，或者她不想让我听到。
“Blackjack,” Rampage said as she nudged me, but I closed my eyes, trying to maintain the connection with Lacunae. The Enervation interference was horrible; she kept coming in and out of focus like a badly tuned radio. The exertion made my head throb.
"黑杰克,"朗格一边用肘轻推我一边说，但我还是闭上了眼睛，努力保持与空隙的联系。衰弱干扰非常可怕，她不断地进进出出对焦，就像一台调错频道的收音机。这种用力使我的头痛得直跳。
“One second. I want to make sure she gets out okay…” I said through grit teeth as I concentrated. Images came in bursts. I saw her winging her way down to the largest puddle of blue flame, nearly standing inside it as she soaked up as much radiation as she could. Then her standing on the cusp of the hole. Then the alicorn took flight, swooping her way higher and higher along the face of the prison. Red beams sprayed from the turrets at her, and her shield flickered and flashed as she pumped her wings, the Hoofington rain around her glinting crimson and white. Then she soared up and landed on the edge. She’d made it! She was safe! I let out a held breath…
"等一下。我想确保她平安无事地出来......"当我集中注意力时，我咬紧牙关说。图像突然出现。我看到她一路飞到最大的蓝色火焰水坑，几乎站在里面，尽可能多地吸收辐射。然后她站在洞口。接着，这只独角兽飞了起来，沿着监狱的正面越飞越高。红色的光束从塔楼上喷射到她身上，她的盾牌在她扇动翅膀的时候闪烁着，胡芬顿的雨水在她闪闪发光的绯红和白色周围。然后她飞起来，落在了悬崖边上。她成功了！她是安全的！我屏住呼吸。
Then there was a flash of red, then darkness and the scream of Enervation. I suddenly found myself incapable of breathing as I stood there.
然后是一阵红光，接着是黑暗和失望的尖叫。我站在那里，突然发现自己无法呼吸了。
“Lacunae?” I thought at her. “Lacunae?” I said aloud as I tried to push my brain to hers. Nothing but the Enervation static. “Lacunae!” I screamed as loud as I could.
"缺陷?"我想着她。"缺陷?"我一边大声说着，一边试图把我的大脑推向她的大脑。除了静止的能量，什么都没有。"空白!"我尽可能大声地尖叫。
Nothing.
没什么。
Gone.
没了。
She couldn’t be gone. She couldn’t be. I thought at her again and again, frantically, tears running down my face as I struggled to make my pathetic magic somehow make contact with the mare. “Please! Please please please… no…” I groaned as I clenched my eyes shut. It was like Mom dying, only this time I was able to appreciate it so much more.
她不可能就这么走了。不可能。我一次又一次地疯狂地想着她，泪水顺着我的脸颊流了下来，我努力地想让我可怜的魔法与母马取得联系。"求你了！求你了，求你了，求你了......不......"我紧闭双眼，呻吟着。就像妈妈要死了一样，只是这一次我更加感激了。
“Blackjack!” Rampage shouted, and I came to in time to hear the grind of wheels and the crackle of robotic voices babbling their nonsense of halting and authorizing lethal force. My eyes popped open as I spotted the intact sentry at the top of the stairs, pointing its gatling beam gun and missile launcher down at me and the rest of my friends.
"黑杰克!"狂暴大叫着，我及时醒过来，听到了车轮的摩擦声和机器人的嘈杂声，他们在胡言乱语，说要停止并授权使用致命武器。我睁大了眼睛，发现楼梯顶上那个完好无损的哨兵，把它的机枪和导弹发射器指向我和其他朋友。
The AM rifle floated up beside me; I’d never handled a gun this big or heavy before, but frankly at this moment I didn’t give a shit about simple physics. I
我从来没有拿过这么大或者这么重的枪，但是坦白地说，此时此刻我对简单的物理学一点都不在乎。一
pulled the scope to my eye, slipped into S.A.T.S., and queued two shots at the pristine missile pod. The two rounds ripped into the armored siding, and a moment later the missile within exploded, knocking the sentry to the side and throwing the spray of beam fire wide. I advanced up the stairs at a steady walk, tears in my eyes.
把望远镜拉到我眼前，溜进了s.a.t.s.，在原始的导弹分离舱排了两枪。两发子弹冲进装甲侧线，片刻之后，里面的导弹爆炸了，哨兵被撞倒在一边，射出的炮火四射。我稳稳地走上楼梯，眼里含着泪水。
She’d been a goddess. She’d been a friend! And this place had taken her from me! All for my stupid obsession! I blasted again and again as I walked up the steps, the rifle punching holes in its chest. Finally its head exploded in a shower of sparks just as I reached the top of the steps. There was another security door, but this one had a terminal, and two more turrets. I should have used the sentry for cover, but right then I really didn’t give a shit. Let them shoot me. Hurting was infinitely better than the feelings that arose from the thought that my friend was gone. The scream of Enervation matched the throb in my chest and the tears in my eyes as I blasted back at the turrets.
她曾经是个女神。她曾经是我的朋友！这个地方把她从我身边夺走了！都是因为我愚蠢的执念！我一边走上台阶，一边不停地开枪，步枪在它的胸口上打了几个洞。最后，当我到达台阶顶端时，它的头在一阵火花中爆炸了。还有一扇安全门，但这扇有一个终端，还有两个炮塔。我应该利用哨兵掩护，但那时我真的不在乎。让他们杀了我吧。伤害总比我的朋友走了的想法产生的感觉要好得多。粉碎的尖叫声与我胸口的悸动和我眼中的泪水相吻合。
“Shit! She’s berserk!” I heard Rampage say distantly.
"妈的！她是个疯子!"我听到兰帕德远远地说。
“No, she’s not,” Xanthe replied as I walked forward, closing the distance and blasting slowly and deliberately.
"不，她不在,"当我向前走的时候，赞斯回答道，拉近了距离，慢慢地、有意识地放大了声音。
“Well, why don’t you shoot her in the head? It works wonders for you,” Psychoshy retorted.
""那么，你为什么不朝她头上开一枪呢？它对你有奇妙的作用,"心理害羞反驳道。
I hurt like hell, but it didn’t matter. I’d plough a way out for all of them to get out alive, together. No matter how full of holes I was, I’d… Rampage tackled me and drove me to the ground, taking the shots meant for me. Carrion jumped atop the scrapped sentry as his miniguns purred and several seconds later the turrets were scrapped.
我疼得要命，但没关系。我会想办法让他们都活着出去，一起。不管我身上有多少洞，我都......狂暴抓住了我，把我压倒在地，拿走了本该属于我的枪。当他的小机器人发出咕噜咕噜的声音时，腐肉跳上了已报废的哨兵的头顶，几秒钟后炮塔就报废了。
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Rampage demanded as she flipped me on my back.
"你到底怎么了?"她把我掀翻在地，狂暴地问道。
I looked up at Rampage and swallowed. “Lacunae’s gone.” Everything hurt, in part because I’d just been torn into by three rapid fire enemies. A few seconds more and I wouldn’t have been hurting anymore. “She died because of me.”
我抬头看着狂暴，咽了口唾沫。"空隙不见了。"一切都很痛苦，部分原因是我刚刚被三个快速射击的敌人撕成了碎片。再过几秒钟，我就不会再受伤了。"她是因我而死的。"
Rampage looked down at me, and the corner of her mouth curled as she said, “Yes, she did. Even I never murdered my best friends…” And then she shuddered and staggered off me. “Shut the fuck up, you monster,” she hissed,
狂暴低头看着我，嘴角微微翘起，说道:"是的，她是这么说的。即使我从来没有谋杀过我最好的朋友......"然后她颤抖着摇摇晃晃地走开了。"他妈的闭嘴，你这个怪物,"她嘶嘶地说,
grabbing the side of her head. “But why? She knows the truth already. Her friend is dead… died because of her…” she said with a leer as she looked back at me. “Shut up!” she shouted, tearing off her helmet and then slamming her forehead against the wall. “I’m sick of you… you vile…” smack, “vicious…” smack, ‘thing!’ Crack.
抓住她的头部。""但是为什么呢？她已经知道真相了。她的朋友死了......因为她而死......"她回头看着我，斜眼说道。"闭嘴!"她喊道，扯下头盔，然后用额头猛撞墙壁。"我受够你了......你这个卑鄙的家伙......"猛击,"邪恶的......"猛击,"东西!"可卡因。
She slumped, collapsing on her side as I slowly rose and started to hobble closer. The striped pony panted as she looked up at me. “I think I’m losing my mind, Blackjack. I think… I think…” Suddenly she hung her head. “I deserve to die. Please…” She cursed in Zebra and smashed her head again against the wall with another crunch. “Silence!” Then she laughed again, high and harsh, “Oh, we are so fucked! We are so fucking fucked!” Finally there was one last crunch and she slid to the ground. All of us stared at her as she lay there, and I put my blood-speckled stump on her shoulder. “You have to be strong, Blackjack. Please…”
我慢慢地站起来，开始一瘸一拐地靠近她，她跌倒在地。那匹条纹小马气喘吁吁地抬头看着我。"我想我要疯了，Blackjack。我想......我想......"她突然低下了头。"我罪有应得。请......"她咒骂着斑仔，又一次的嘎吱声把她的头撞到了墙上。"安静!"然后她又笑了起来，高高的，严厉的,"哦，我们完蛋了！我们他妈的完蛋了!"最后发出最后一声嘎吱声，她滑倒在地。她躺在那里时，我们都盯着她，我把沾满血迹的残肢放在她的肩膀上。"你必须坚强，Blackjack。求你了......"
It’s not all about you, Blackjack. I forced a smile and patted her shoulder. “Hey. Don’t worry. I just went a little crazy too.” That enervating scream was getting annoying, like a hoof scraping a chalkboard. “We’ll get through this, Rampage. We’ll get through it.”
这不全是关于你的，Blackjack。我勉强笑了笑，拍了拍她的肩膀。"嘿。别担心。我也有点发疯了。"那令人厌倦的尖叫声越来越烦人，就像蹄子刮黑板一样。"我们会挺过去的，狂暴。我们会挺过去的。"
“Rampage. There is no Rampage. No Arloste. I’m just a half dozen ponies squished together in one jar.” She wiped the blood off her face with a hoof as her body healed itself. Slowly she turned and walked to the door ahead. Xanthe kept her eyes low as she trotted to the keys and started typing, every now and then looking over at me in worry.
"横冲直撞。没有暴怒。没有阿洛斯特。我只是六匹小马挤在一个罐子里。"她用蹄子擦去脸上的血，身体自愈了。她慢慢地转身向前面的门走去。赞思低着头，一边小跑着走向钥匙，一边开始打字，时不时地忧心忡忡地看着我。
The loss of Lacunae was a huge bloody hole inside me, but Rampage had gotten me to bottle it up for now. When I got out… then I could grieve. Suddenly, the floor shook as there was an incredible boom somewhere below us. One pod down, three to go. Assuming, of course, that the warhead didn’t decide to go off before the last pod did. I trotted to Snips, lowering my head to look him in the eyes, then gestured for him to step behind the sentry.
空隙的消失是我心中一个巨大的血淋淋的洞，但狂暴让我暂时把它封存起来。当我出来的时候...我就可以悲伤了。突然，地板摇晃起来，我们下面某个地方传来了一阵难以置信的爆炸声。一个救生舱搞定了，还有三个。当然，前提是弹头在最后一个分离舱爆炸之前没有决定爆炸。我小跑着对着小剪刀，低下头看着他的眼睛，然后示意他走到哨兵后面。
When we were out of sight, I said in a low voice, “Tell me everything about that talisman inside Rampage. Specifically.”
当我们看不见的时候，我低声说,"告诉我关于狂暴里面那个护身符的一切。确切地说。"
He sighed and looked back at the door. “There’s not much to tell. We were more focused on getting it to work than on how it actually worked. It’s a regeneration talisman. It has a magical template and it restores the pony it’s imprinted on. The
他叹了口气，回头看了看门。"没什么好说的。我们更关注的是如何让它工作，而不是它实际上是如何工作的。这是一个重生的护身符。它有一个神奇的模板，它恢复了小马的印记。这个
idea was that it would contain the soul of the last pony it was imprinted on. Removing a soul from a pony in its entirety was fatal, but what if the soul was still contained within the pony? That’s the idea.”
想法是，它将包含的灵魂，最后一匹小马的印记。从小马身上完全移除灵魂是致命的，但是如果灵魂仍然包含在小马身上呢？这就是我的想法。"
“And you put it in Razorwire first?”
"你先把它放在Razorwire?"
“We put it in a half dozen ponies first… terminally ill or injured ponies… but they were too close to death for the talisman to work. Oh, there might have been some slight imprinting, but it didn’t do what Rarity intended.” He coughed and looked aside. “The Warden offered an alternative… we didn’t know he meant to kill Razorwire. Please, believe me, we wouldn’t have ever taken that step. The talisman almost worked, though… but she still died. Then the Angel of Death was captured…” And he shivered.
"我们先把它放在六匹小马身上......病入膏肓或受伤的小马......但是它们离死亡太近了，护身符不起作用。哦，可能有一些轻微的印记，但是它没有做到"稀有"的本意。"他咳嗽了一声，向一边看了看。"狱长提供了另一个选择......我们不知道他想杀死Razorwire。拜托，相信我，我们不会走那一步的。虽然护身符几乎起作用了，但她还是死了。然后死亡天使被抓住了......"他颤抖了一下。
“That was one you killed.”
"那是你杀死的人。"
“I didn’t! And I never would.” He shuddered as he shook his head hard. “I don’t know what happened. I just know that when Snails and I came to the lab in the morning… Rarity… and the Angel…” He shook his head again, as if trying to physically rattle the memory from his mind. “When we got here, the Angel was dead. Rarity said that the Angel would never hurt anypony ever again, and then she insisted that we put the talisman in somepony who deserved it. The detective who captured the Angel was grievously wounded before her partner rescued her.”
"我没有！我永远也不会。"他一边使劲摇头，一边发抖。"我不知道发生了什么事。我只知道早上我和蜗牛来到实验室的时候......稀有......还有天使......"他又摇了摇头，似乎想用身体把这段记忆从脑海里弄得一片混乱。"我们到这儿的时候，天使已经死了。稀少说，天使再也不会伤害任何小马了，然后她坚持要我们把这个护身符放在一匹配得上它的小马身上。抓住天使的侦探在她的同伴救出她之前，身受重伤。"
Softheart. “But the talisman drove her insane, didn’t it?” I pressed.
Softheart."但是护身符把她逼疯了，不是吗?"我按了一下。
“Maybe…” Snips said softly, looking away from me. “The haunting effect of soul jars wasn’t understood then… still isn’t, really. A soul jar is more than just an indestructible object. They want things. Feel things. Hate. Love. The detective was already under a lot of stress, and if we hadn’t gotten the haunting fully blended out by then… it could have been the haunting effect that pushed her over the edge.”
"也许......"小鬼头轻轻地说，把目光从我身上移开。"那时候人们还不了解灵魂罐的挥之不去的影响......现在也是如此，真的。灵魂罐不仅仅是一个坚不可摧的物体。他们想要一些东西。感受事物。仇恨。爱。这位侦探已经承受了很大的压力，如果我们那时还没有把闹鬼的事情完全搞清楚的话......可能是闹鬼的效果把她推到了崩溃的边缘。"
“What happened next?”
"接下来发生了什么?"
“That’s when we lost it the first time,” Snips said, licking his lips and giving me a sheepish smile.
"那是我们第一次失去它的时候,"小鬼头说，舔着嘴唇，给了我一个羞怯的微笑。
“Right. And... how exactly do you lose a soul jar healing talisman?” My
"对。还有...你到底是怎么弄丢一个灵魂罐的护身符的?"我的
incredulous question drew a mirthless smile.
这个难以置信的问题引来一阵冷笑。
“Funny, that’s exactly what Rarity said. But the detective… well… after she was splattered by the train, her body went to the Ministry of Peace. And they found the talisman, saw it was perfectly undamaged… and… eh… somepony recycled it on the black market.” He licked his lips and looked away. “We spent six months looking for it. We have no idea how many ponies it might have been put inside; healing talismans like that were generally reserved for very important ponies. But eventually it was found when a patient it was inside… wouldn’t die.”
"有意思，那正是稀少所说的。但是那个侦探......嗯......在她被火车撞得粉身碎骨之后，她的尸体被送到了和平部。他们找到了那个护身符，看到它完好无损......还有......呃......一匹小马在黑市上回收了它。"他舔了舔嘴唇，转过脸去。"我们花了6个月时间寻找它。我们不知道里面放了多少小马，这样的治疗护身符通常是留给非常重要的小马的。但最终，当一个病人发现它在里面的时候，它就不会死了。"
So there could still be souls hidden away inside Rampage. Ponies who received the illegal talisman, then grew increasingly unstable until they died, their souls trapped in the talisman. It was like a Silverstar Sporting Supplies that you stuck inside your chest. “Wouldn’t die… how?” I asked, fearing the answer.
所以仍然有灵魂藏在里面横冲直撞。小马得到了非法的护身符，然后变得越来越不稳定，直到死亡，他们的灵魂困在护身符。它就像一个银星运动用品，你坚持在你的胸部。"不会死......怎么死的?"我问道，害怕得到答案。
“There was a commercial sky carriage en route to Canterlot when a bomb went off -- prematurely, it’s suspected. There were only a hoofful of survivors, mostly the pegasus team pulling it who could undo their harnesses. But there was one pony trapped inside the burning wreckage who was screaming… for hours. Rarity heard about it and immediately went personally to the scene of the crash.
"当一枚炸弹爆炸时，一辆飞往Canterlot的商业空中马车正在飞行途中——人们怀疑这是早产。只有一群幸存者，大部分是飞马队的人，他们可以解开马具。但是有一匹小马被困在燃烧的残骸里，尖叫了几个小时。罕见听说了这件事，立即亲自前往坠机现场。
“We’d been doing more research while the talisman was being looked for and had learned of the possibility that zebras are immune to telepathic magics through studies done in the M.A.S. Some mind control megaspell they were contemplating to end the war that never went anywhere. We’d been hypothesizing that that could help stabilize the talisman, and Rarity was so happy about getting it back... the very same day as the accident, we conducted an inspection to make sure that the talisman hadn’t significantly changed since we last saw it, and then Rarity sent it off to be implanted into one of the Proditor.”
"在寻找这种护身符的过程中，我们做了更多的研究，通过对m.a.s的研究，我们了解到了斑马对心灵感应魔法免疫的可能性。一些他们想要结束这场没有结果的战争的精神控制巨子。我们一直假设这可以帮助稳定这个护身符，而稀有很高兴能把它拿回来......就在事故发生的当天，我们进行了一次检查，以确保这个护身符自从我们上次看到它以来没有发生明显的变化，然后稀有把它送去植入其中一个制造者体内。"
“Shujaa…” I said as I looked back at him.
"Shujaa......"我回头看着他说。
“...You’d probably know that better than us. Anyway, Rarity changed her mind the very next day, to our surprise... but by then the operation had been completed and the zebra was heading back into the field. We considered retrieving it, but decided that that would be more trouble that it was worth; if it still didn’t work, we’d get it back when she died.”
"你可能比我们更清楚这一点。不管怎样，让我们吃惊的是，就在第二天，罕有改变了主意......但是那时候，手术已经完成，斑马正在回到田野里。我们考虑把它找回来，但觉得这样更麻烦，不值得;如果还是不行，我们就在她死后把它找回来。"
“But then you lost it again,” I said as I looked back at him. The unicorn gave me an uneasy look. “Somehow it got from Shujaa into Twist… and then Twist
"但是后来你又失控了,"我回头看着他说。独角兽不安地看了我一眼。"不知怎么的，它从舒雅变成了扭转......然后又变成了扭转
died…” That turned his features grim as his glowing eyes dropped.
他的脸色变得严峻起来，两只发光的眼睛垂了下来。
“It may be that the megaspell magic, combined with the souls trapped within, had an unanticipated side effect that created the pony called Rampage. A combination of good and bad in a single gestalt individual. A pony with no soul of her own but containing the souls of almost a dozen different ponies.” Snips shook his head. “There’s really no way to tell.”
"这可能是巨大的魔法和被困在里面的灵魂结合在一起，产生了一种意想不到的副作用，这种副作用叫做狂暴。好与坏的结合在一个单一的完形个体中。一匹没有自己灵魂的小马，却拥有十几匹不同小马的灵魂。"小鬼头摇了摇头。"真的无从得知。"
“And Rarity wanted this?” I hissed.
"这是罕见想要的吗?"我发出嘶嘶声。
“Rarity wanted her friends safe,” Snips countered. “She’d have done anything for them. The project she had us working on after she stopped the development of the phoenix talisman was still for them.”
"稀少希望她的朋友平安无事,"小鬼头反驳道。"她愿意为他们做任何事。在她停止开发凤凰护身符之后，她让我们做的那个项目对他们来说仍然有用。"
“And what was that?” I asked, dreading the answer.
"那是什么?"我问道，害怕得到答案。
“I’m in!” Xanthe cried from the door. I looked at him, then sighed. Answers about that for later. “Now where to?”
"我加入!"赞斯在门口大声喊道。我看着他，叹了口气。以后再回答这个问题。"现在去哪儿?"
He walked slowly towards the door, speaking to everypony. “We need to find the security center. It was on the far side of the armory. Look for a room with lots of terminals and monitors. We’ll also need the guard captain’s pass card. It’s a wafer of blue sapphire. It should be fairly indestructible, given all the enchantments on it. With that we can access the security system. Also, keep your eyes open for the vent access to get up to the Warden’s level.”
他慢慢地向门口走去，对每一匹小马说话。"我们需要找到安全中心。它在军械库的另一边。找一个有很多终端和监视器的房间。我们还需要警卫队长的通行证。这是一块蓝宝石晶片。它应该是相当坚不可摧的，考虑到所有的仙境湖。这样我们就能进入安全系统。另外，要留意通风口的入口，以便能到达舍监的楼层。」
I sighed and took cover by the side of the door -- I still had a lot more regenerating to do -- and nodded to Xanthe. The zebra hit a key, and then there was a grind as the door slowly began to open, a klaxon warning every ghoul in the place that we were here. But I slowly poked my head inside and didn’t see anything, flaming or otherwise. There was a stairway up that was marked ‘Supermax’ and then smaller doors. I frowned slightly, feeling a touch apprehensive at how clean the armory looked.
我叹了口气，在门边找了个地方躲了起来----我还有很多事情要做----向赞丝点了点头。斑马敲了一下钥匙，门慢慢打开时传来一阵摩擦声，一个喇叭警告我们在这里的每一个食尸鬼。但我慢慢地把头探进去，什么也没看见，不管是火焰还是别的什么。楼上有一段楼梯，上面标有"超级安全区"，然后是更小的门。我微微皱起了眉头，对军械库的清洁感到有点不安。
Of course, as soon as we stepped in, another turret dropped and began to spray rounds at us. Instead of taking it, I took cover like a sensible pony and let Carrion step out and blast it with his miniguns. A few seconds later, the turret was scrapped and Carrion had another dozen dings to his power armor. I went to a door beside a large window of ballistic glass and went to work on the lock. Fortunately, I got lucky and managed to pick it without too much difficulty.
当然，我们一踏进去，另一个炮塔就掉了下来，开始向我们喷射炮弹。我没有抓住机会，而是像一匹明智的小马一样躲了起来，让小腐尸走出来，用他的迷你炮轰它。几秒钟后，这个炮塔被拆毁，腐尸的动力装甲又遭到了十几次报警。我走到一扇防弹玻璃大窗旁边的一扇门前，开始修锁。幸运的是，我很幸运，不费吹灰之力就把它捡了起来。
I pushed the door open; the room on the other side was filled with a haze of smoke, and was it just me, or was it getting really hot in here? Most of us started sweating from the balmy air as I peeked through. I jerked my head back as the sentry rolled slowly past. Then I spotted another sentry in the corner and hissed softly in frustration. The armory robots had been spared exposure to the flames and were in brand new condition, unlike the sentries below.
我推开门，另一边的房间充满了烟雾，是只有我，还是这里变得很热？当我偷看的时候，我们中的大多数人都开始在温暖的空气中出汗。当哨兵慢慢地走过时，我猛地把头向后一仰。然后我发现角落里还有一个哨兵，沮丧地轻声嘶叫起来。与下面的哨兵不同，武器库的机器人没有暴露在火焰中，而是处于全新的状态。
Xanthe was at my side and tapped her chest a moment. Then she shimmered, her suit hushing as she all but vanished. The sentry slowly patrolled past again, and I saw a tiny door in its back open up. Then the machine buzzed and called out, “Error! Error! Combat inhibitor offline! Entering combat now!” I cursed and got ready to open fire, but the robot wasn’t turning to face me, it was turning to the other sentry.
赞西站在我身边，轻轻地拍了一下她的胸口。然后她闪闪发光，她的衣服在她几乎消失的时候变得很安静。哨兵又慢慢地走了过去，我看见它背后有一扇小门开了。然后机器发出嗡嗡声，大叫:"错误！错误！战斗抑制剂离线！现在开始战斗!"我咒骂着准备开火，但机器人没有转过身来面对我，而是转向了另一个哨兵。
“Warning! Warning! Hostile detected!” the other robot blurted. Their missile pods opened simultaneously, and I jerked back as explosions filled the room. A half dozen blasts later, the sentry bot in the corner was still standing, but its armor was smoking and blackened. Rampage darted into the room, ducked under another missile, and smashed both her forehooves through its chest plate. The robot crackled pitifully as she smashed it repeatedly and yanked out wires with her teeth. Finally it collapsed in a heap.
"警告！警告！发现敌人!"另一个机器人脱口而出。他们的导弹发射舱同时打开，当爆炸声充斥整个房间时，我猛地往后一退。六声爆炸过后，角落里的哨兵机器人仍然站着，但它的盔甲冒着烟，变黑了。狂暴冲进房间，躲到另一枚导弹下面，前蹄撞穿了它的胸甲。这个机器人可怜地噼啪作响，她不停地砸它，用牙齿猛拉电线。最后它坍塌成一堆。
Xanthe appeared; her striped mane was scorched, but she was otherwise unharmed. She gaped at the scrapped robots, and I nudged her with my muzzle. “Not bad for a cursed zebra,” I teased, and the ghost of a smile settled on her lips as she blushed.
黄丝出现了，她的条纹鬃毛被烧焦了，但除此之外没有受到伤害。她目瞪口呆地看着那些报废的机器人，我用嘴轻轻推了她一下。"对于一只受诅咒的斑马来说还不错,"我开玩笑说，当她脸红的时候，嘴角浮现出一丝微笑。
These were holding cells, but the locks in this section were actually pretty easy to pick. The half dozen cells were empty save for piles of bones. Clipboards dangled from pegs beside the doors, and one caught my eye, or rather the name on it did: ‘Doof, assault, week isolation’ had to be repeated twenty times on the page. I flipped back through the crispy papers. Half the names on the list for this cell were Doof. The interior barely had enough room for me; I couldn’t imagine how tight the bulky stallion would have found it.
这些是拘留室，但这个部分的锁实际上很容易撬开。除了成堆的骨头外，六个牢房都是空的。门边的夹子上挂着写字板，其中一个吸引了我的注意，或者更确切地说，上面的名字吸引了我:'嘟嘟，袭击，一周孤立'不得不在页面上重复二十次。我翻了翻那些易碎的报纸。这个单元名单上有一半的名字是Doof。内部几乎没有足够的空间给我，我无法想象如何紧张的笨重种马会发现它。
I took a step inside and looked at the walls. Aside from a light in the ceiling and a bucket in the corner, there wasn’t much in here, but every inch was covered in crude sketches. One whole wall had been devoted to Macintosh’s Marauders. I tried to guess who each pony was, but his talent clearly hadn’t been art. I thought
我向里走了一步，看着墙壁。除了天花板上的灯和角落里的水桶，这里没有什么东西，但是每一寸都被粗糙的草图覆盖着。一整面墙都是用来纪念麦金托什的掠夺者的。我试图猜测每匹小马是谁，但他的才能显然不是艺术。我想
that one of the small ones was Echo, but I could only scratch my head and wonder about who the other little one was. Only they had a little sad face drawn on them. Sadder still, there was only one large pony in the picture. On another wall were lists of names categorized as ‘Trouble’, ‘Okay’, and ‘CUNTS’. I noticed Razorwire’s scratched-out name under that last one along with some others.
其中一个小家伙是艾可，但我只能挠挠头，想知道另一个小家伙是谁。只不过他们脸上画着一张忧伤的小脸。更可悲的是，照片上只有一匹矮种马。在另一面墙上则是分类为"麻烦"、"好的"和"城市大学"的名单。我注意到Razorwire在最后一个名字下面和其他一些名字一起划掉了。
I flipped back through the pages on the clipboard, and there he was, again and again. From the dates on the clipboard, Doof spent half his life in this box and the other in the only slightly-less-cramped cell below. For three years. The last dozen names at the bottom of the uppermost sheet had dates scattered over a year. Most of the entries in general were for fighting, but in the last year there was the ominous addition of ‘rape’ on the list as well, but oddly only in the last year or so. All the entries before that were for fighting.
我翻过剪贴板上的书页，看到他在那儿，一遍又一遍。从记事板上的日期来看，杜夫在这个盒子里度过了他生命的一半，而另一个在下面唯一稍微不那么拥挤的牢房里度过。三年了。最上面表格底部最后十几个名字的日期分散在一年多的时间里。大多数条目一般都是关于战斗的，但是在去年的名单上也出现了不祥的'强奸'，但是奇怪的是只出现在去年左右。之前所有的条目都是关于战斗的。
“What’s so fascinating?” Rampage asked behind me.
"什么东西这么吸引人?"狂暴在我身后问道。
“Nothing,” I said quickly, tossing the clipboard into the cell and closing the door behind me. Twist definitely didn’t need to see that! “Come on. Let’s go. Gotta get out of here soon.” Then I was going to sit in Star House and cry for a week for Lacunae. And I wasn’t going to move an inch till Rampage and I were better, no matter how I climbed the walls. My impulsiveness and fear had driven me from my friends and endangered others.
"没什么,"我急忙说，把写字板扔进牢房，关上了身后的门。托斯特绝对不需要看这个！"来吧。我们走。我得赶紧离开这里。"然后我会坐在星宫里，为空白哭上一个星期。不管我怎么爬墙，直到狂暴和我好起来，我都不会动一步。我的冲动和恐惧使我离开了我的朋友，并使其他人处于危险之中。
Rampage gave the door behind me a look, then eyed me suspiciously. I gulped. Then a pair of doors at the end of the row of cells popped open and a sentry buzzed, “Alert! Alert! Intruders detected!” I could have kissed that hunk of metal; saved by the killer robot!
狂暴看了我身后的门一眼，然后怀疑地看着我。我咽了一口。紧接着，一排牢房尽头的两扇门突然打开，一个哨兵发出警报:"警报！警报！发现入侵者!"我本可以亲吻那一大块金属;被杀人机器人救了！
Thirty seconds later, the sentry was scrapped by our focused firepower and the holding cell was left behind. I hurried forward into the next section, one that seemed to be mostly barracks. Twenty bunk beds lay in two rows of ten. I saw the bathrooms and kitchens, but I didn’t want to get anywhere near plumbing at the moment. The floor was getting really warm, and the air grew more and more hazy as the smoke found ways to penetrate into the armory. I hurried through without stopping, continuing through break rooms, briefing rooms, and then to a formidable door marked ‘Gun Vault’. I took one look at the lock and despaired. Maybe I’d find a key somewhere…
三十秒钟后，哨兵被我们集中火力的部队消灭了，关押室也被留了下来。我赶紧向前走到下一个区域，那里似乎大部分是兵营。二十排10个人的双层床。我看到了浴室和厨房，但是我现在不想接近水管。地板变得越来越暖和，空气变得越来越模糊，因为烟找到了进入军械库的方法。我没有停下脚步，匆匆忙忙地穿过休息室、简报室，然后来到一扇标有"枪库"的大门前。我看了一眼锁，绝望了。也许我能在哪儿找到钥匙。
I left a part of my heart back with that room as we continued on… well, I would have if I had a heart. Eh, figurative language was beyond me. Then I frowned as I heard the sounds of fighting and shouting in the next room. As carefully as I could, I limped forward with Xanthe to the next set of double doors and pushed them open enough to peek through. The room beyond was the largest yet, some sort of big open mustering room like the atrium back in 99, only not as tall.
当我们继续前进的时候，我把我的一部分心留在了那个房间里......好吧，如果我有一颗心的话，我会这么做的。呃，比喻的语言我听不懂。然后我听到隔壁房间里有打架和喊叫的声音，皱起了眉头。我尽可能小心地和赞西一起，一瘸一拐地走向下一组双开门，把它们推开，以便一窥究竟。远处的房间是迄今为止最大的，有点像99年的中庭，只是没那么高。
And it was full of ghouls in tattered guard uniforms who fought each other with batons. Bullet casings were scattered all over the place, along with discarded firearms. Every ghoul was screaming, glowing with radiation, beating each other to a pulp and then regenerating. Screams of “Traitors!” croaked from some throats, but who was a traitor to whom was never really clear.
那里到处都是穿着破烂的警卫制服的食尸鬼，他们用警棍互相殴打。子弹壳散落得到处都是，还有一些丢弃的枪支。每一个食尸鬼都在尖叫，放射出光芒，互相殴打成肉酱，然后再生。"叛徒!"喉咙里发出嘶哑的声音，但是谁是叛徒，我们一直不清楚。
Graves had spent almost two centuries taking inventory. Had these guards really been fighting that long? Worse, on the far side, I saw a door marked ‘Security Command’.
格雷夫斯花了将近两个世纪的时间盘点存货。这些卫兵真的打了那么久吗？更糟糕的是，在远处，我看到一扇门上写着"安全指挥部"。
So, how to get past dozens of ghouls who were eternally fighting to the death? Unfortunately, even as I thought that, two of them immediately charged me with feral screams. “Get the others,” I shouted to Xanthe as they closed the distance and I drew Vigilance and my sword. The blade intercepted one, halting its advance as it thrashed on the glowing edge, and I pivoted to the left to keep the other ghoul on the far side of its companion. Then I blew its brains out the back of its head with three rapid fire shots. As the ghoul dropped, I swapped my aim and planted four more rounds in the head of another.
那么，怎样才能避开那些永远在战斗到死的食尸鬼呢？不幸的是，就在我这么想的时候，他们中的两个人立刻用野性的尖叫声冲了过来。"叫上其他人,"我向赞斯喊道，他们拉近了距离，我拔出了警惕和我的剑。刀片截住了一个，在它撞击发光的边缘时阻止了它的前进，我转向左边，把另一个食尸鬼挡在它的同伴的另一边。然后我连开三枪，打爆了它的后脑勺。当食尸鬼掉下来的时候，我改变了目标，又朝另一个人的头部开了四枪。
Then I was nearly knocked off my hooves as a pegasus guard dropped onto my back, hugged my neck, and started to chew into my throat. I stabbed with the sword, but it was hard trying to find something vital to chop into without cutting into myself. I felt blood start to spurt as I tried to buck, but it was a lot trickier to do that with only three legs! I heard shouts from behind me; I thought it was my friends. Hoped it was…
然后我差点被一个飞马警卫从我背上摔下来，抱住我的脖子，开始咬我的喉咙。我用剑刺伤了自己，但是要找到一些重要的东西来刺入而不伤到自己是很困难的。我感到血液开始喷出，因为我试图跳跃，但它是一个很棘手的只有三条腿做到这一点！我听到身后传来喊叫声，我以为是我的朋友们。希望是..。
Then I heard the crunch of baton on skull over and over again. “Let go of her, Raindrops!” croaked a mare as she struggled to pull the feral off. Finally, all three of us went for a tumble, but the ghoul was knocked free from my back. I pressed my foreleg to the bloody hole under my chin, and then balked at the sight of two ghoul pegasus mares, one with blood on her mouth. I put the last three rounds in the magazine into the head of that one, panting for breath as I
然后我一遍又一遍地听到头骨被警棍敲击的声音。"放开她，雨滴!"一头母马挣扎着要把野马拉下来时发出嘶哑的声音。最后，我们三个人一起去摔跤，但食尸鬼从我背上被撞了下来。我把前腿压在下巴下面那个血淋淋的洞上，一看到两匹食尸鬼母马，我就退缩了，其中一匹嘴上还沾着血。我把弹夹里的最后三发子弹打进了那家伙的头上，气喘吁吁
waited for the bleeding to stop.
等著血止住。
“You with S.W.A.T.?” the remaining ghoul shouted over the din, pushing me back towards the wall and away from the fight.
"你是特警队的?"剩下的食尸鬼在嘈杂声中大叫，把我推回到墙边，远离战斗。
S.W.A.T.? What the heck was… oh, my armor. Well, I knew one answer that would save me a lot of questions. “Sure. Name’s Blackjack.”
特警队？搞什么...我的盔甲。我知道一个答案可以让我省去很多问题。"当然。我叫黑杰克。"
“Oh thank Celestia! It feels like we’ve been fighting forever,” the ghoul said as she slumped. Her mane was a slightly clashing red and green, and her coat resembled spoiled milk. “My name is Blossomforth. I don’t know what’s going on. Some said the missile was part of some jailbreak. Others claimed we should evacuate to the Core. I haven’t had a moment to think straight till you showed up.”
"哦，谢谢塞莱斯蒂亚！好像我们一直在吵架,"食尸鬼边说边摔倒了。她的鬃毛有点红绿相间，她的皮毛就像变质的牛奶。"我的名字是朵朵。我不知道怎么回事。有人说这枚导弹是越狱的一部分。其他人声称我们应该撤退到核心区。直到你出现，我才有机会好好想一想。"
It was just like with Silver Spoon. It seemed that ghouls had a tendency to get stuck on certain things from when they were alive. I’d better keep her in the fantasy, unless I wanted her to go feral. “What’s the situation here?”
就像《银汤匙》一样。看起来，食尸鬼从他们活着的时候就有一种被某些东西卡住的倾向。我最好把她留在幻想中，除非我想让她变成野兽。"这里的情况怎么样?"
“Well, the alarms went off, and immediately we went into lockdown. Prisoners were rioting. There was no communication from the outside. Then that missile hit! Then Captain Sourcup said we were sticking tight, but others said we should evacuate. Then the captain pulled out his gun, and there were alarms going off and screaming and some ponies went crazy. Shots were fired, and then it was batons and hooves and fighting for our lives…” She trailed off, frowning with that look of something amiss she couldn’t quite put her hoof on. “Who’s doing all that screaming?”
"警报响了，我们立即进入一级防范禁闭状态。囚犯们暴动了。没有外界的联系。然后导弹击中了！然后，索卡普船长说我们紧紧地贴在一起，但是其他人说我们应该撤离。然后船长掏出他的枪，警报响了，尖叫着，一些小马发疯了。他们开了枪，然后是警棍和蹄子，为我们的生命而战......"她慢吞吞地走开了，皱着眉头，好像有什么东西出了毛病，连蹄子都踩不上去。"是谁在大喊大叫?"
“Don’t worry about it,” I said as I saw my friends run up. “Looks like the rest of my team is here. We’re going to… arrest the Warden and evacuate as many ponies as we can.” My ass was starting to get toasty sitting on the metal floor. “Don’t worry about anything below us. It’s… taken care of.”
"别担心,"当我看到我的朋友们跑上来时，我说。"看来我的团队其他人都在这里。我们要......逮捕狱长，疏散尽可能多的小马。"坐在金属地板上，我的屁股都开始发热了。"不要担心我们之下的事情。已经......搞定了。"
Silver Spoon sighed and said in a low murmur, “Blackjack, have you been lying to delusional ghouls again?” I smiled awkwardly and shrugged, and the gray ghoul sighed and covered her face with her hoof.
西尔弗·斯彭叹了口气，低声说:"黑杰克，你又对有妄想症的食尸鬼撒谎了吗?"我尴尬地笑了笑，耸了耸肩，灰色的食尸鬼叹了口气，用蹄子挡住了她的脸。
“Clear the room. Headshots. If they talk to you, try and save them,” I said, and Psychoshy groaned. I fixed the yellow pegasus with an even look. “I mean it. Give them a chance. Say you’re with the S.W.A.T. or whatever you have to.
"清理房间。大头照。如果他们跟你说话，试着去救他们,"我说,"心理害羞"呻吟着。我平平整整地修好了那匹黄色的飞马。"我是认真的。给他们一个机会。就说你是特警队的人。
Otherwise, take them out.” Blossomforth stared at me in shock, and I said with an apologetic smile, “Sorry. We don’t have much time left. Call out to your co-workers if you can recognize them.” I loaded a fresh magazine into Vigilance, then frowned and worked the slide several times before it chambered the round.
否则，就把它们拿出来。"朵朵震惊地盯着我，我带着歉疚的微笑说:"对不起。我们没有多少时间了。如果你能认出你的同事，就呼叫他们。"我把一本新的弹匣装进警戒系统，皱了皱眉头，在弹匣装满弹匣之前，我在滑梯上工作了几次。
The work was brutal, but short. Rampage, Stygius, and Psychoshy were more than capable of separating the ferals into workable clumps. If they talked, I put them behind me where Snips and Silver Spoon calmed them down. Xanthe kept out of sight, though occasionally a feral dropped with bullets from nowhere. By the time we reached the other side, ten guards remained, watching as I put down the last one with the last three bullets in my gun.
这工作很辛苦，但很短。狂暴、冥河和精神病人完全有能力将野兽分离成可工作的团块。如果他们说话了，我就把他们放在身后，让小鬼头和银汤匙让他们冷静下来。虽然不知道从哪儿冒出来的子弹，偶尔也会有野生动物从天而降，但桑特一直躲在视线之外。当我们到达另一边的时候，还剩下十个守卫，看着我用枪里的最后三颗子弹干掉最后一个守卫。
“Special Weapons and Arcane Tactics doesn’t mess around,” Blossomforth murmured to a twitchy looking unicorn.
"特殊武器和奥术战术可不是闹着玩的,"朵朵对着一只看起来焦躁不安的独角兽喃喃地说。
“I coulda been one of ‘em,” he replied nervously, looking at the corpses, then looked at her, squinted, and frowned. “You look like hell, Blossom.” He shook his head. “I feel like hell… and who the hell is screaming like that?”
"我本来可以成为他们中的一员,"他紧张地回答，看着那些尸体，然后看着她，眯起眼睛，皱起了眉头。"你看起来糟透了，布鲁森。"他摇了摇头。"我感觉糟透了......到底是谁在那样尖叫?"
“We’re going straight to Hoofington Memorial,” I assured them. “There’ve been… side effects from the warhead.”
"我们直接去胡芬顿纪念医院,"我向他们保证。"核弹头有......副作用。"
“Going to be a trick, taking down the Warden with the prison under lockdown and on fire,” Blossomforth said as she looked at me with a little smile.
"这将是一个骗局，在监狱被封锁并着火的情况下干掉监狱长,"朵朵微笑着看着我说。
“Well, I did pass this room with those two loveliest words ‘Gun’ and ‘Vault’ on the door,” I said with a sublime smile. “Don’t suppose any of you know where the key is?”
"嗯，我确实经过这个房间，门上有两个最可爱的字:'枪'和'拱顶',"我带着庄严的微笑说。"你们谁也不知道钥匙在哪儿吧?"
The pair looked at me, then over at security command.
两人看着我，然后走到安全指挥处。
Well, if my previous experiences were any kind of guide, the guard captain would be inside and be some sort of flaming apocalyptic demon of hell. I pushed open the door with my magic and slowly peered into to the office. There were two desks in front of dozens of terminals, all of them showing different parts of the prison. At least half showed only static, but others gave a great view of the fire blazing up around medical and sweeping towards the armory. I wondered how long that armored warhead would last before going boom.
好吧，如果我以前的经历是某种向导的话，守卫队长会在里面，成为某种燃烧的末日地狱恶魔。我用魔法推开了门，慢慢地凝视着办公室。在几十个终端机前面有两张桌子，它们都显示了监狱的不同部分。至少有一半的人只是静止不动，但其他人却能清楚地看到医疗室周围熊熊燃烧的大火正朝军械库方向蔓延。我想知道这个装甲弹头在爆炸前能坚持多久。
No apocalyptic demon, though. Just a single pegasus skeleton in a guard’s
虽然没有启示录般的恶魔。只有一具警卫身上的飞马骨架
uniform slumped over the controls of a large security terminal with a dozen extra monitors and a pair of extra control panels connected to it. “Bones? Who leaves bones in the armory? What kind of sick joke is this?” the unicorn hissed nervously. He levitated the bones to the side and looked at the name tag. “Merriweather? But… I thought she was on vacation. Why would somepony dress up a bunch of bones in her uniform?”
制服倒在一个大型安全终端的控制台上，上面有一打额外的监视器和一对额外的控制面板。"骨头？谁会把骨头留在军械库里？这是什么变态的玩笑?"独角兽发出紧张的嘶嘶声。他把骨头悬浮在一边，看着名牌。"梅里韦瑟？但是...我以为她在度假。为什么有人要把一堆骨头穿在她的制服上?"
“Just like I told you. Something bad’s going on, Twitchy,” Blossomforth said with a scowl. She pointed at a key in one of the panels attached to the terminal. “That’s the captain’s key! Why would the captain’s key be here with no captain?”
"就像我告诉你的那样。有些不好的事情正在发生，Twitchy,"朵朵皱着眉头说。她指着航站楼其中一块嵌板上的一把钥匙。"那是船长的钥匙！船长的钥匙怎么会没有船长呢?"
“That’s the key that needs to be turned to get out of here?” I asked Snips. The round unicorn nodded. I stepped up beside the body and noticed a few more details: a pistol between her hooves, a hole in the back of the cracked skull, and a grimy slip of paper. I worked it free and looked at the mouth-scrawled note. ‘They have my girl. Sorry.’
"这就是离开这里需要转动的钥匙?"我问小鬼头。圆圆的独角兽点点头。我走到尸体旁边，注意到一些细节:她的蹄子中间夹着一把手枪，破裂的头骨后面有一个洞，还有一张肮脏的纸条。我不费吹灰之力，看了看那张潦草的字条。""他们抓了我的女儿。对不起
Oh yeah. More ‘Hoofington sucks dock’ reminders.
哦，是的。更多'Hoofingtonsucksdock'提醒。
“Something really bad is going on, isn’t it?” Blossomforth said as she nervously chewed her lower lip.
"事情真的很糟糕，不是吗?"朵朵边说边紧张地咬着下嘴唇。
“Yeah. That’s par for the course.” Snips was investigating a large panel in the corner with the label ‘Airshaft #4 Access’. “Is that our way up?”
"是的。这是意料之中的事。"当时Snips正在调查角落里的一块大面板，上面写着"Airshaft#4Access"。"这是我们上去的路吗?"
“Of course,” he said as he put his shears in the corner of the panel. “We still have two fliers. One goes up, finds the security station upstairs, turns the key there, we turn the key down here, everypony but the other flier goes through the door. Then the other flier pops up the shaft and we all get out of here. Easy peasy.” He frowned as he pried the panel open. I felt more beads of sweat on my brow; damn, it was hot in here! The whole building was turning into an oven.
"当然可以,"他一边说，一边把大剪刀放在小组的角落里。"我们还有两张传单。一个上楼，找到楼上的保安站，把钥匙放在那里，我们在这里转动钥匙，除了另一个传单，其他人都从门进去。然后另一张传单从竖井里冒出来，我们就可以离开这里了。小菜一碟。"他撬开嵌板时皱起了眉头。我觉得我额头上的汗珠更多了，该死，这里太热了！整个建筑物正在变成一个烤炉。
Then I saw a tongue of smoke lick out around the edge of the panel. “Snips…” I warned as I eyed the metal. Now that I was paying more attention to it and not the drilling sensation throbbing in my body, I could hear a low roar.
然后我看到一股烟从嵌板边缘冒了出来。"小鬼头......"我盯着那块金属警告道。现在我把更多的注意力放在了它身上，而不是身体里钻孔的感觉在悸动，我可以听到低沉的咆哮声。
“Come on… get…off!” And with one last heave the panel came off and popped free. I heard the sudden intake of air, like the largest flaming pony ever taking a breath, and then a plume of fire exploded out the gap. I tried to lunge, but
"来吧......放......开!"随着最后的一次猛拉，面板脱落，砰的一声自由了。我听到空气突然吸入的声音，就像最大的燃烧着的小马喘了一口气，然后一缕火焰从缝隙中喷了出来。我试图冲过去，但是
misstepped and failed to knock him aside. The flame poured over his features like a flamer as he fell back, clutching his blackened face as he screamed. The ball of fire rolled over the ceiling like a hunting, living thing and spread out as it dissipated.
走错了路，没能把他撞到一边。当他向后倒下时，火焰像火焰一样倾泻在他的五官上，捂着他那张发黑的脸尖叫着。火球像一个打猎的活物似的从天花板上滚了下来，随着火势的消散而蔓延开来。
I rushed to his side beside Silver Spoon, the squat blue pony’s face a blackened ruin. In the air shaft that was supposed to be taking us into the warden’s office was a solid sheet of flame. “Well, think you’re hot enough to make it up that?” Rampage asked the stunned Psychoshy.
我冲到他身边，站在银勺旁边，那匹矮矮的蓝色小马的脸已经变成了一片废墟。在本该带我们进监狱长办公室的通风井里，有一团火焰。"好吧，你觉得你够性感，可以编这个故事吗?"狂暴问这个惊呆了的神经病。
* * *
* * *
Heat, radiation, and Enervation were nibbling away at us as we frantically tried to think of other ways to get into the Warden’s office. Xanthe suggested trying to fix the beam gun and cut our way through. Blossomforth suggested trying to fly up the central shaft and hoping the robots or beam turrets didn’t dust us before shooting our way into the office. To keep the guards occupied and not acknowledging their ghoul status, I gave them the task of taking the captain’s key and raiding the gun vault.
当我们疯狂地想进入狱长办公室的其他方法时，热量、辐射和能量正在一点点蚕食着我们。赞斯建议我们试着修好光束枪，从中间穿过去。建议我们试着飞上中央通道，希望机器人或者光束炮塔在我们进入办公室之前不要给我们抹灰。为了让守卫忙个不停，同时又不承认他们是食尸鬼，我让他们拿上队长的钥匙，突袭枪库。
“Well, what if I just stay here?” Rampage asked with a bright smile. “I mean, I’ve wanted to go out with a bang before. This sounds like it’s going to be one hell of a bang! Right?”
"那么，如果我只是呆在这里呢?"狂暴带着灿烂的微笑问道。"我的意思是，我以前就想大干一场。这听起来像是一个地狱般的爆炸！对吧?"
I was using my pitiful medical skills to apply a bandage to cover Snips’s blackened eyes. “If Blackjack has to face the Warden, she’s going to need you,” he croaked, his cooked face splitting and bleeding. “You can’t stay… but I can.”
我正在用我那令人同情的医疗技能给斯奈普斯那双发黑的眼睛敷上绷带。"如果Blackjack不得不面对狱长，她会需要你的,"他低声说，他被煮熟的脸裂开了，流着血。"你不能留下......但我可以。"
“I’m not going to leave you to die!” I said firmly. He just lay there a moment and I added, “You cursed me. I’m holding you to uncursing me!”
"我不会让你死的!"我坚定地说。他就在那儿躺了一会儿，我补充说:"你诅咒了我。我要你解除对我的诅咒!"
“We already know I’m useless for that. Snails always made the connections in the end; it’ll take him a while, but he’ll figure this out.” He gave the smallest little smile. “I’m not planning on dying here, anyway. Once you get into the Warden’s office, you should be able to shut down the teleportation inhibitor talisman at the Warden’s security station. Not hard, just smash it. Then I’ll teleport up to you. Easy as pie.”
"我们已经知道，我在这方面毫无用处。蜗牛最后总能把事情联系起来，这得花点时间，不过他会想出办法的。"他微微一笑。"无论如何，我不打算死在这里。一旦你进入了典狱长的办公室，你应该可以在典狱长的保安站关闭心灵运输抑制剂护身符。不用力，只要把它砸碎就行了。然后我会瞬移到你身边。小菜一碟。"
“You can do that? Blind?” I asked, frowning in concern. He simply nodded.
"你能做到吗？盲人?"我担心地皱着眉头问。他只是点点头。
“It’s already hot as hell in here,” Psychoshy said as she stared at him.
"这里已经够热的了,"精神病害羞盯着他说。
“It’s going to get hotter the longer all of you waste time,” he said as he limped in the direction of the terminals. I levitated the bones out of the chair and set them aside with care. Whatever had happened in here, it seemed Merriweather wasn’t a willing participant. “Besides, I’m not much good in a fight now. But once the talisman is down, I’ll be up there lickity split.”
"你们浪费的时间越长，天气就越热,"他一瘸一拐地朝码头方向走去时说。我把骨头从椅子上悬浮起来，小心翼翼地放在一边。不管这里发生了什么，看起来梅里韦瑟并不是自愿参与的。"而且，我现在打架也不怎么在行。但是一旦护身符落下，我就会在上面被撕裂。"
Twitchy and Xanthe trotted in, with the ghoul unicorn cursing the damned stripes while the zebra just ducked her head. Apparently ghoulish obliviousness could go further than just being a ghoul. They had quite a haul on their backs: shotguns, pistols, even a missile launcher! Okay, that brightened our prospects just a little. “You’re sure you can get up to us?” I asked in concern. “Maybe one other should stay with you? Just in case?
和Xanthe小跑着进来，食尸独角兽诅咒着那该死的条纹，而斑马只是低下了头。显然，食尸鬼的遗忘可以比成为食尸鬼更进一步。他们的背上背着很多东西:猎枪，手枪，甚至是导弹发射器！好吧，这给我们的前景增加了一点希望。"你确定你能赶上我们吗?"我担心地问。""也许另一个人应该和你住在一起？以防万一？
“I can only teleport myself. Just get up there, get inside, and smash the talisman,” he said as he slumped against the controls. Twitchy put the key back in the slot. A blue glow spread out over the controls, then centered on the key. He coughed as the air grew hotter and thicker. The fire in the vent was like a furnace; even if there wasn’t anything to burn, it was still making breathing as hard as hell.
"我只能传送我自己。只要爬上去，钻进去，砸碎那个护身符就行了。"他一边说，一边靠在操纵杆上。特维奇把钥匙放回了插槽。一道蓝色的光芒散布在控制面板上，然后集中在键盘上。空气越来越热，他咳嗽起来。通风口的火就像一个火炉，即使没有什么东西可以燃烧，它仍然使呼吸像地狱一样困难。
He turned the key, and a door that one of the monitors was focused on slid open. “Hurry. You still have to find a way inside.” Missile launcher and missiles sounded like a good place to start!
他转动钥匙，其中一个显示器正对着的门滑开了。"快点。你还是得想办法进去。"导弹发射器和导弹听起来是个不错的起点！
“Okay. Let’s go,” I said as I took one last look at the blind pony slumped over the controls. I knew how terrifying it was to be blinded like that; the disorientation… he was certainly handling it much better than I had, though.
"好吧。"我们走吧,"我说着，最后看了一眼那匹失明的小马，它瘫倒在操纵杆上。我知道像那样失明是多么可怕;迷失方向......不过他肯定比我处理得好得多。
Blossomforth showed us the way. It was good to have a guide with an intimate knowledge of the prison. The stairs to the supermax had two more turrets, but to my relief and delight they didn’t start hosing us down with beam fire. Apparently somepony in our group had a talisman that marked us as friendlies. About time some things started going our way… so why was I getting so nervous as we walked up the stairs and into the supermax wing?
《朵朵花》为我们指明了道路。有一个熟悉监狱情况的向导是很好的。通往最高戒备监狱的楼梯上还有两座塔楼，但令我欣慰和高兴的是，他们并没有开始用光束火力冲洗我们。显然我们组里的某个小马有个护身符，标志着我们是友军。是时候有些事情开始朝着我们的方向发展了......那么为什么当我们走上楼梯进入最高戒备区的时候我变得如此紧张呢？
The supermax cells were of a different design. The blackened steel bars enclosing the walkways sat behind warped ballistic glass that kept out the swirling smoke. The cells had similar doors of reinforced glass that allowed
超大型电池的设计则有所不同。包围着人行道的发黑的钢条坐落在扭曲的防弹玻璃后面，阻挡着旋转的烟雾。这些牢房有类似的强化玻璃门
nothing to be hidden inside. The sleeping mattresses looked glued to the floor and were all made of identical translucent material. Even the toilets were clear plastic! Even more oddly, there weren’t any ghouls within. All of them contained bones rather than undead.
没什么好隐藏的。睡觉的床垫看起来粘在地板上，都是用相同的半透明材料制成的。甚至连厕所都是透明塑料的！更奇怪的是，里面没有食尸鬼。它们都含有骨头，而不是活死人。
“I can’t imagine what kind of sick zebra curse could do this! The radiation vaporized everything except their bones!” Blossomforth said with a scowl. The swirling clouds behind the glass were lit with a fiendish orange glow from below as we climbed higher and higher. The sentries that patrolled watched our movement with eerie silence, and I licked my lips, contemplating scrapping them now before the Warden could override whatever safety we’d found with the guards.
"我无法想象什么样的变态斑马诅咒能做到这一点！辐射把除了他们的骨头以外的一切都蒸发了!"朵朵愁眉苦脸地说。当我们爬得越来越高的时候，玻璃后面旋转的云层被从下面发出的邪恶的橙色光芒照亮了。巡逻的哨兵一声不响地注视着我们的行动，我舔了舔嘴唇，打算趁狱长还没来得及推翻我们在狱警身上找到的安全措施，把他们干掉。
“What the hay did you have to do to end up in these cells?” Psychoshy asked in low tones.
"你到底做了什么才被关进这些牢房?"心理害羞者用低沉的声音问道。
“Oh, these were for special prisoners. Prisoners who the M.o.M. needed safe and sound for memory extractions and interrogations. Political prisoners. Criminal organizers. Traitors. Anypony that Pinkie needed intact,” Blossomforth answered as we made our way down the row of cells. “We had to keep them secure from the rest of the prison, or else they’d be killed.”
"哦，这些是给特殊囚犯的。囚犯需要安全和健康的记忆提取和审讯。政治犯。犯罪组织者。叛徒。小手指需要的任何小马都要完好无损的,"当我们沿着一排牢房走下去的时候，朵朵回答道。"我们必须让他们远离监狱的其他地方，否则他们就会被杀死。"
I slowed my pace a little and let Rampage get out ahead before I looked at the ghouls. “Did you know a pony named Doof?”
我稍微放慢了脚步，在看到食尸鬼之前，让狂暴走在了前面。"你认识一匹叫杜夫的小马吗?"
“Oh, you mean Fork ‘n’ Knives himself. Yeah. I did. Strange case,” the pegasus said as she fluttered her crumpled wings. “I mean, I know he was a convicted rapist, but for a few years I just didn’t believe it.”
"哦，你是说叉子刀本身吧。是的。是的。奇怪的情况,"飞马一边拍打着皱巴巴的翅膀一边说。"我的意思是，我知道他是一个被判有罪的强奸犯，但有几年我就是不相信。"
“How so?” I asked, keeping my voice low.
"为什么?"我问道，声音很小。
“He fought like hell in here. I mean, sure… yeah… he was a criminal, but he stood up for other ponies. He wasn’t in a gang, though Celestia knows everypony wanted him on their side. He was just here. We threw him in solitary just to give him a chance to heal before putting him back out again. Every week he’d get beat to shit, and every other week we’d lock him up,” Blossomforth said with a shake of her head. “Said he deserved it.”
"他在这里拼命地战斗。我是说，当然......是的......他是个罪犯，但他为其他小马挺身而出。虽然塞莱斯蒂亚知道每个小马都希望他站在自己这边，但他并没有加入帮派。他刚才还在这儿。我们把他单独关了起来，只是为了在他再次出来之前给他一个恢复的机会。每个星期他都会被打得屁滚尿流，每隔一个星期我们就把他关起来,"朵朵摇着头说。"他说他活该。"
“Yeah…” I muttered, thinking about the waste of a potentially good pony.
"是啊......"我喃喃自语，想着浪费了一匹潜在的好马。
“Then he went bad,” Twitchy muttered as he kept eying the smoke. “Really bad…”
"后来他变坏了,"特维奇一边盯着烟雾一边喃喃自语。"非常糟糕......"
“How?”
"怎么做?"
“Doof wrote letters every day he could see straight. He wanted to see this one mare. Just once. Said he’d happily be locked up the rest of his life if he could talk to her for five minutes and tell her how sorry he was,” Blossomforth said with a small frown. “Never found out who, but I guess that one of her friends told him she’d never ever ever ever ever speak to him again. Pushed him over the edge…” The ghoul shivered. “After that we weren’t locking him up to protect him, but to protect everypony else from him. Kept provoking us to put a bullet in him… send him to Hell where he belonged. Finally he got transferred out of here. Don’t know where… don’t want to know.”
"杜夫每天都写信，他看得很清楚。他想看看这匹母马。就一次。他说，如果他能和她说上五分钟话，告诉她他有多抱歉，他愿意在牢里度过余生。"。"从来没有发现是谁，但我猜她的一个朋友告诉他，她再也不会和他说话了。把他推下了悬崖......"食尸鬼打了个哆嗦。"从那以后，我们把他关起来不是为了保护他，而是为了保护其他小马不受他的伤害。一直激怒我们朝他开枪...把他送到他该去的地狱。最后他被调离了这里。不知道在哪里......不想知道。"
And then they took an angry, nigh-suicidal monster and made him into a cyberpony of death. I really had to wonder about Silver Stripe’s judgment on that one. I looked into the next cell we passed and then frowned. “Huh…”
然后他们抓住了一个愤怒的，几乎要自杀的怪物，把他变成了一匹死亡的赛伯马。我真的不得不怀疑银条纹的判断这一点。我看了看我们经过的另一间牢房，然后皱起了眉头。"嗯......"
Blossomforth followed my look, and her desiccated and battered wings popped out as she ran to the cell. “Cell 712! Shady Legs is supposed to be in there!” She looked at Twitchy. “Supermax confirmed full roll call this morning, right? No absences?”
朵朵花顺着我的视线飞了出来，在她跑向牢房的时候，干瘪的翅膀突然伸了出来。"712号牢房！应该在里面的!"她看着焦躁不安的脸。"超级监狱今早确认了全面点名对吧？没有缺勤?"
The nervous unicorn nodded. “Yeah! I heard Merriweather… oh sparklefarts…” he murmured as we passed another. Cell 722. “Another one!”
紧张的独角兽点点头。"是的！我听到了梅里韦瑟的声音......哦，闪电......"当我们经过另一个时，他低声说道。细胞722。"又一个!"
“A breakout just before the missile hits? But nopony escapes from Hightower!” Blossomforth flew down the hallway, calling out, “731! 740! 755! 780! They’re empty!” The ghoul swooped back. “Not just a breakout! A mass breakout!”
"在导弹击中之前发生了越狱？但是没有一匹小马能逃过海托华的魔掌!"朵朵飞过走廊，喊道:"731！740！755！780！它们是空的!"食尸鬼猛扑回来。"不仅仅是越狱！大规模越狱!"
“Really?” I found myself smiling. “And nopony ever escapes from Hightower?” Warden was gonna be pissed…
"真的吗?"我发现自己在微笑。"没有小马能逃过海托华的魔掌吗?"典狱长肯定气疯了。
“I need to see cell 755,” Carrion said at once as he flew up to Blossomforth. The mare looked at me in concern. I nodded to her and she looked back to him and nodded in turn.
"我要看看755号牢房,"马上飞往Blossomforth的凯瑞恩说。那匹母马关切地看着我。我向她点了点头，她也回头看了看他，也点了点头。
“You have two minutes!” I shouted after them. If that didn’t fulfill the terms of his Contract, then too bad. I wasn’t going to leave Snips down there a moment
"给你两分钟!"我在他们后面喊道。如果这不能满足他的合同条款，那太糟糕了。我一刻也不想把小鬼头留在下面
longer than we had to. Even with the ballistic glass, the air was getting pretty thin. As a test, I nuzzled said glass along the edge of the walkway and jerked my face back quickly. Okay. If it was that hot up here…
比我们需要的时间还要长。即使有防弹玻璃，空气也变得相当稀薄。作为一个测试，我用鼻子蹭了蹭走道边上的玻璃杯，然后迅速把脸拉了回来。好吧。如果这里有这么热的话..。
“One and a half minutes!” I amended as the rest of us hurried along. 755 was around the corner, and when we found it I noticed to my chagrin that its furnishings were far more civil. The bed was a featherdown mattress covered in rumpled red velvet sheets, and it had a drape across the front window. Was it just me, or was it even larger than the other cells? There were a bookcase and writing desk in the corner, and the toilet had another drape encircling it.
"一分半钟!"当我们其余的人匆忙赶路时，我修改了计划。755公路就在拐角处，当我们找到它的时候，我懊恼地发现它的家具要文明得多。床是一张羽毛褥子，上面铺着皱巴巴的红色天鹅绒床单，前窗上还有一块布帘。是只有我，还是它比其他细胞更大？角落里有一个书柜和一张写字台，卫生间周围还有一块布帘。
“Wow. I knew Kingpin had it good, but wow,” Rampage muttered as she stared at the cell. “Is that a minifridge? How the hay did he get away with a minifridge?!”
"哇。"我知道黑街太保干得不错，但是，哇,"狂暴盯着牢房喃喃自语。"那是迷你冰箱吗？他怎么能带着一个小冰箱逃走呢?"
“The rules permit prisoners with good behavior to own a few personal items,” Blossomforth muttered lamely.
"规定允许表现良好的犯人拥有一些私人物品,"朵朵一瘸一拐地咕哝着。
“Yeah. That’s, like, a few photographs. It’s not a minifridge!” Rampage snorted indignantly and pulled the door open, staring at bottles of wine. “Wine! He… that… do you have any idea how many sex acts I had to pull for a half dozen cigarettes?!”
"是的。那只是几张照片而已。这不是迷你冰箱!"横冲直撞的人愤怒地哼了一声，把门拉开，盯着几瓶酒。"酒！他......那个......你知道我为了半打香烟得做多少次爱吗?!"
I looked at the red velvet drapes, not wanting to hear the answer. Carrion was staring at the room too, at a loss: this wasn’t a two minute job. It’d take an hour, at least.
我看着红色的天鹅绒窗帘，不想听到答案。腐肉也在盯着房间，不知所措:这不是一个两分钟的工作。至少要一个小时。
“Okay. Everypony take a different spot, strip it, and dump it in my saddlebags! Stuff it in!” I said as I magically levitated the sheets and wadded them up before stuffing it inside the container. I could handle the weight. I’d let my PipBuck inventory spell magically sort it all out and get them to fit. In two minutes, almost everything that had been loose in the cell was in my bags, and I was near my carrying capacity. I made sure all the sheets were tucked inside the bulging pockets; I certainly didn’t want them to catch fire.
"好吧。每匹小马采取不同的地点，剥夺它，并倾倒在我的鞍袋！塞进去!"我一边说，一边用魔法把床单悬浮起来，然后把它们卷起来，再装进容器里。我可以承受这个重量。我会让我的PipBuck库存魔术般地把它们整理出来，让它们适合我。两分钟之内，牢房里几乎所有松动的东西都放进了我的包里，我已经接近我的承载能力了。我确保所有的床单都塞在鼓鼓囊囊的口袋里;我当然不想让它们着火。
Once the bed was uncovered, Carrion dragged his claws along the upholstery and sent fluff and feathers everywhere; if there was something useful in there, he’d shred it. “Wait wait wait!” I shouted and carefully waved my stump at him. He backed away, and I levitated up the whole mat of feathers and slowly shrank my field and sent the feathers tumbling like snow. Nothing. I supposed it was too
一旦床被揭开，腐尸就用爪子在椅垫上拖来拖去，弄得到处都是绒毛和羽毛;如果里面有什么有用的东西，他就会把它撕碎。"等等，等等!"我大声叫喊，小心翼翼地向他挥动我的残肢。他向后退去，我把整个羽毛垫悬浮起来，慢慢地收缩我的田地，羽毛像雪一样翻滚。没什么。我想也是
obvious. Rampage had raided the minifridge, tucking the wine bottles into her bags.
明显的。狂暴扫荡了迷你冰箱，把酒瓶塞进了她的包里。
“What?” she asked defensively as she popped open one and took a long pull off it then looked down at the label. “I’m swigging a Fancee 912? This is a vintage that should be savored!” She then upended the bottle and chugged it down, before belching loudly. “There. Consider it savored,” she said, smacking her lips.
"什么?"她用防御的口吻问道，打开一个，拉了很长一段距离，然后低头看了看标签。"我在痛饮一杯912？这是一款值得细细品味的佳酿!"然后她把瓶子倒过来，一口吞下去，然后大声地打着嗝。"那儿。好好享受吧,"她说着，咂了咂嘴。
Oooookay… “Let’s get moving. Let’s get that teleportation field down quick. I don’t want to leave Snips down there a minute longer than I have to.”
好吧..."我们开始吧。我们快点把那个传送场弄下来。我不想让小鬼头在下面多待一分钟。"
“I still don’t see how you’re going to get into the Warden’s quarters. There’s nopony in there to turn the key,” Psychoshy said, then looked at Stygius. “Stygius can only teleport where he can see. So unless those doors are ballistic glass too…”
"我还是不明白你要怎么进狱长的房间。"那里没有小马可以转钥匙,"精神害羞说，然后看着Stygius。"斯蒂吉乌斯只能传送到他能看见的地方。所以，除非这些门也是防弹玻璃......"
“They’re not,” Blossomforth added as we trotted up the stairs towards the highest level. Half of us were coughing from the smoke in the baking air. I didn’t want to imagine what Snips was going through down below. Then, as if anticipating our troubles, there was a resounding explosion below us and the swirling orange suddenly writhed madly as tongues of flame sprayed over the ballistic glass.
"他们不是,"当我们小跑着上楼到达最高的楼层时，朵朵补充道。我们中有一半人被烘烤的空气中的烟雾呛得咳嗽。我不想去想象小鬼头在下面经历了什么。接着，仿佛预料到了我们的麻烦，一声巨响在我们下方爆炸，旋转的橙子突然疯狂地扭动着，火舌喷射在弹道导弹的玻璃上。
Then I froze as I heard a dreadful crackling, splintering noise from my left and stared at the huge fractures spiderwebbing through the warped glass. I watched as they grew by the second, then snapped across the entire pane with a brittle pop. “Oh no… run!” I shouted as the weakened glass fell away from its steel anchors and tumbled into the inferno below.
然后我愣住了，因为我听到一个可怕的噼啪声，从我的左边，盯着巨大的裂缝蜘蛛网通过扭曲的玻璃。我看着它们一秒一秒地长大，然后啪地一声穿过整块玻璃。"哦，不......快跑!"当脆弱的玻璃从钢锚上掉下来掉进下面的地狱时，我大声喊道。
And instantly the corridor we were in was transformed into a baking oven of swirling smoke. The heat was absolutely staggering; the smoke assailed my throat and chest with every breath. Cinders stung any exposed hide as the hot smoke curled around us. But perhaps worst of all was the sharp spike in radiation; for all that the smoke was a shield before, now the roaring fire seemed to be filling the air with stuff that made my PipBuck click madly.
我们所在的走廊立刻变成了一个烟雾缭绕的烤箱。酷热难耐，每一次呼吸都让烟雾侵袭着我的喉咙和胸膛。当滚烫的烟雾在我们周围卷曲时，灰烬刺痛了任何裸露的兽皮。但也许最糟糕的是辐射的剧增;尽管之前烟雾只是一个挡箭牌，但现在熊熊的火焰似乎充满了空气，让我的PipBuck咔嗒一声发疯。
There was one saving grace: my eyes weren’t flesh and blood. Even the ghouls had shut their eyes against the cinders and stinging smoke, but I still had a few feet of visibility. Breathing was another matter, though, as I went from one pony to the next, screamed in their ears for them to bite the tail of the pony in front of
有一个可取之处:我的眼睛不是血肉之躯。就连食尸鬼也在煤渣和刺鼻的烟雾中闭上了眼睛，但我的视野还是有几英尺。不过，当我从一匹小马走到另一匹小马时，呼吸就是另一回事了，我在它们耳边尖叫着要它们咬前面小马的尾巴
them, and then guided that tail into their mouth. In one ridiculous conga line, I led us up the stairs and around to where the door for the Warden should be. I could only hope that nopony in the chain let go and got lost.
然后引导尾巴进入它们的嘴里。在一排可笑的康茄舞队伍中，我领着我们上了楼，绕到了典狱长的门应该在的地方。我只能希望锁链上的那匹小马不会松手而迷路。
Hot. No air to breathe. My skin scoured by fire and my radiation popping up ridiculously fast. And worse, as if it could sense our peril, the curse inside me began to tear like a wild radroach inside my chest. All I wanted was to get out and breathe the cool, damp, smoke-free air of the Hoof.
性感。没有空气可以呼吸。我的皮肤被火焰冲刷着，我的放射物出现的速度快得离谱。更糟糕的是，好像它能感觉到我们的危险似的，我心中的诅咒开始像一朵野生的萝卜在我的胸膛里撕裂。我只想出去呼吸霍夫庄园凉爽、潮湿、无烟的空气。
Then I wanted to curl up with Glory for the rest of my life.
然后我想蜷缩在晨辉中度过余生。
For a heart-pounding moment, I was absolutely positive that I’d screwed up again; shouldn’t we have been at the door by now? I wondered if my mane was on fire; I glanced back at where Rampage was biting my tail, but she wasn’t burning yet. There wasn’t anything to do but keep going, crawling along the supermax cells as my head spun. Too much smoke. Too much damned smoke! Was I going around in circles? I was… wasn’t I?
在那令人心跳加速的时刻，我绝对肯定自己又搞砸了，我们现在不是应该已经到门口了吗？我不知道自己的鬃毛是不是着火了;我回头看了看狂暴咬着我尾巴的地方，但她还没有燃烧起来。没有任何事情可做，只是继续前进，爬行沿着超级监狱细胞当我的头旋转。烟太多了。该死的烟太多了！我是不是在兜圈子？我是...不是吗？
Then I fell into the small alcove and looked around to see another massive door like the one in front of the armory, though this one had two monitors next two it. I staggered back as far as I could, croaked something that might have been ‘hold on’ or ‘get clear’, and used every bit of focus I could muster to lift the missile launcher. I focused, aimed at the door, and pressed the trigger with my magic. The missile made a soft ‘puft’, popping out the end and then igniting with a brief woosh that ended in a blast that showered me with debris a half second later. I coughed as I advanced again; that had to have...
然后我掉进了一个小凹室，环顾四周，看到了另一扇大门，就像军械库前面的那扇门，尽管这扇门旁边有两个监视器。我摇摇晃晃地往回走，发出一种可能是'抓住'或'离开'的声音，然后用尽一切可能的注意力举起了导弹发射器。我集中注意力，瞄准门，用我的魔法按下了扳机。导弹轻轻地"推"了一下，弹出尾端，然后发出短促的嗖嗖声，半秒钟后爆炸产生的碎片落在我身上。我再次前进时咳嗽了一声，那一定是.....。
Done nothing. There were a smoldering black smear and some scratches in the middle of the door. Either I’d been too close, or, as feared, the door was able to stand up to any armament in the prison. I crumpled at the portal that might as well have been a wall, choking and retching, trying to get enough air in me to think. To buy time, I pulled the others all in one after the next till everypony was accounted for. We had to do something. Some way to get inside… but the only two people inside were the Warden and Snails… and I doubted Snails had access to a monitor.
什么都不做。门中间有一块闷烧的黑色污迹和一些划痕。要么是我离得太近了，要么就是，正如我所担心的那样，这扇门抵挡不住监狱里任何武器的攻击。我瘫倒在门口，那里就像是一堵墙，窒息而呕吐，试图让自己有足够的空气来思考。为了争取时间，我把其他人一个接一个地拉过来，直到每个人都清点完毕。我们必须做点什么。有办法进去......但里面只有两个人，是典狱长和蜗牛......我怀疑蜗牛能否接触到监视器。
That left the Warden… the Warden who was probably watching us choking to death at his door, glad to see another inspection team biting the dust. But how the heck was I supposed to get him to let me in? I couldn’t even see Silver Spoon
这让水保......水保可能正看着我们在他的门口窒息而死，很高兴看到另一支检查队伍倒下了。但我怎么才能让他让我进去呢？我甚至看不到银汤匙
as more than a vague lump. I’d need something more than us dying out here… something that’d make him want to talk to us…
不仅仅是一个模糊的肿块。我需要比我们死在这里更多的东西...能让他愿意和我们说话的东西..。
Warden’s gonna be pissed…
典狱长会生气的。
I rose to my hooves and walked in front of the two monitors. A camera immediately focused on me.
我站起来，走到两个显示器前面。一架照相机立刻对准了我。
“Warden Hobble!” I shouted at the camera, barely able to hear myself over the ongoing roar of the flames.
"霍布尔狱长!"我对着摄像机大喊，在火焰的轰鸣声中几乎听不到自己的声音。
The left screen flickered. Then the Warden’s charred visage appeared. He looked positively shocked. “Oh, you’re still here? I thought that you were all… safe in the armory.”
左边的屏幕在闪烁。这时，狱长那张烧焦的脸出现了。他看起来非常震惊。"哦，你还在这儿？我以为你们都...在军械库里很安全。"
In the gloom, the sentries suddenly began to buzz, “Intruders detected. Please present identification or be disintegrated.”
在黑暗中，哨兵突然开始嗡嗡作响,"发现入侵者。请出示证件，否则将被分解。"
“Ah. Well, that should do. Now if you don’t mind, I have a prison to get back under control.” There were no two ways about it; he had to be delusional.
"啊。好了，应该可以了。现在，如果你不介意的话，我还有一个监狱要管理。"这没有两种可能，他一定是有妄想症。
“Kingpin escaped,” I choked out, glaring at the camera. The charred ghoul paused, then looked at me in a long, steady stare.
"黑街太保逃走了,"我哽咽着，怒视着镜头。烧焦的食尸鬼停顿了一下，然后长时间地凝视着我。
“Pardon?” I reached out, grabbed Blossomforth, and hauled the squishy pegasus before the camera and monitors.
"什么?"我伸出手，抓住了朵朵福斯，把这匹粘糊糊的飞马拖到摄像机和显示器前。
“It’s true, sir,” Blossomforth shouted. “Six of the supermax cells are empty.” I looked at the other monitor, frowning in worry. Was Snips still there? Please… please be there.
"是真的，先生,"朵朵喊道。"有六个超级监狱是空的。"我看着另一个显示器，忧心忡忡地皱着眉头。小鬼头还在那儿吗？求你了，一定要去。
“What kind of… this is… I would have been notified…” the Warden spluttered as he looked to the side and back at me. I saw his eyes widen. “Nopony escapes from Hightower. Nopony!” the Warden shouted, slamming his hooves down repeatedly.
"这是......怎么回事......我会被通知的......"监狱长气喘吁吁地说着，向身边看了看，又回头看了看我。我看见他睁大了眼睛。"没有小马从海托华逃走。不要小马!"监狱长一边喊着，一边不停地把他的蹄子摔下来。
“Open the door and I’ll give you my evidence. Maybe you can catch them again,” I said, hearing the grind of the sentries’ wheels approaching.
"打开门，我会给你我的证据。也许你可以再抓住他们,"我说，听到哨兵车轮的摩擦声越来越近。
The Warden stared at me for what felt like an eternity. “Oh, very well.” There
典狱长盯着我看了好长时间。"哦，很好。"好了
was a buzz, and a light lit up under the Warden’s monitor. “Armory, let them enter.” Nothing. I stared at the little light, then at the blank monitor. No… please be there… please, Snips…
一阵嗡嗡声，监狱长的显示器下面亮起了一盏灯。"军械库，让他们进来。"没什么。我盯着那盏小灯，然后盯着空白的显示器。不......求求你......求求你，小鬼头.....。
Nothing.
没什么。
Then the light flashed to life, there was another buzz, and then the heavy metal door opened with a whoosh. The cool gust gave us all the correct direction to go: up the stairs. Ten seconds later we were through, and the door closed with a bang. Most of us, ghouls and living alike, collapsed and concentrated on not cooking. Psychoshy wheezed and choked as she fell beside Stygius. I suspected that it was Xanthe’s suit that kept the zebra upright. Rampage coughed up something the consistency of tar. I wanted to do the same… but not yet.
然后灯光亮了起来，又是一阵嗡嗡声，接着沉重的金属门嗖的一声打开了。阵风给了我们正确的方向:上楼梯。十秒钟后，我们通过了，门砰的一声关上了。我们中的大多数，食尸鬼和生活类似，崩溃和集中于不烹饪。当她倒在斯蒂吉乌斯身边时,"精神病"呼哧呼哧地喘着粗气，哽咽着。我怀疑是Xanthe的衣服让斑马保持了直立。狂暴的人咳出了一些焦油般稠密的东西。我也想做同样的事情......但还不是时候。
I staggered up onto my three legs and clawed my way up the stairs. The air in the Warden’s level was hazy but far more breathable than that below. I made my way up to where the stairs opened up into a security room. Two sentries slumped, deactivated, and the turrets in the corners of the room were inactive. The Warden, or something else? There was a metal door to the side, and I pushed it open to reveal a security terminal identical to the one below in the armory. The larger central monitor was focused down the shaft into glowing fire, and I looked at the controls and found one that said ‘Camera Focus’. I hit it repeatedly and saw the image change over and over again.
我摇摇晃晃地站起来，用爪子爬上楼梯。狱长办公室里的空气虽然有点模糊，但比下面的空气透气得多。我爬上楼梯，进入了一间安全室。两个哨兵瘫倒在地，失去了作用，房间角落里的炮塔也停止了工作。狱长还是别的什么？侧面有一扇金属门，我把它推开，露出了一个和军械库下面一模一样的安全终端。较大的中央显示器沿轴向下聚焦到发光的火焰中，我看了看控制器，发现一个写着'照相机聚焦'。我反复敲击它，看到图像一遍又一遍地变化。
Then it stopped on the image of the armory security station; I froze as I saw the form of Snips slumped over the controls. Where was the talisman? I couldn’t see a magical talisman or anything marked ‘Teleportation Disruption’ or anything! I did, however, spot a button marked ‘Intercom’. I mashed it with a hoof, and the roar of the fire blasted out the speakers. “Snips! Snips! I’m inside, but I can’t see the talisman! Where is it?” I shouted. He didn’t move, and I put my hoof through one of the side monitors as I yelled into the microphone, “Snips! Don’t be dead! Tell me where the talisman is!”
然后它在军械库安全站的图像上停了下来;我呆住了，因为我看到狙击手的形象倒在了控制器上。护身符在哪里？我看不到一个神奇的护身符或任何标记为"心灵运输中断"或任何东西！不过，我发现了一个标有"对讲机"的按钮。我用蹄子把它碾碎，大火的轰鸣声震破了喇叭。"小鬼头！小鬼头！我在里面，但我看不到护身符！它在哪里?"我喊道。他一动不动，我把蹄子伸进一个侧面的监视器，对着麦克风喊道:"小鬼头！不要死！告诉我护身符在哪儿!"
He moved and lifted his bandaged face. Sweet Celestia, it was so hot in there he was smoking, cooking before my eyes. His hoof reached out, found the microphone on its little wand, and pulled it to his lips. “On the roof,” he rasped, barely audible even with the microphone against his mouth. I felt the world lurch around me; what did he mean, ‘on the roof’? “Doesn’t matter, anyway. I was never smart enough to figure out how to teleport.”
他动了动，抬起包扎好的脸。甜甜的天堂，那里太热了，他在那里抽烟，在我眼前做饭。他的蹄子伸了出来，在它的小魔杖上找到了麦克风，把它拉到了嘴边。"在屋顶上,"他粗声粗气地说，即使麦克风抵着他的嘴，他的声音也几乎听不见。我感到周围的世界在摇摆;他说'在屋顶上'是什么意思？"无论如何，这都不重要。我不够聪明，不知道怎么传送。"
“You lied…” I murmured.
"你撒谎......"我低声说。
“I lied,” he said with a little nod. “Somepony needed to stay here to buzz you through. If I hadn’t, somepony else would have had to. I didn’t want your friends to do it. I didn’t want you to try and be noble and sacrifice yourself for us. And while you might have been able to talk one of the guards into doing it, I didn’t want to take the chance of them going feral and everypony dying because of me.” He shook as his hair smoked. “I deserve this, Blackjack.”
"我撒谎了,"他点点头说。"有些小马需要呆在这里让你通过。如果我不这么做，其他人也会这么做。我不想让你的朋友这么做。我不想让你为了我们牺牲自己。虽然你可以说服其中一个守卫这么做，但我不想冒险让他们因为我而变得野蛮，让每个小马都死去。"他头发冒烟，浑身发抖。"这是我应得的，黑杰克。"
“Nopony deserves this!” I contradicted at once. The pain of the curse had spread out almost over my entire body, and my shock seemed to make it surge once more. I struggled to keep focused on the screen. My pain could wait till later.
"这是小马应得的!"我立刻表示反驳。诅咒的痛苦几乎蔓延到了我的整个身体，我的震惊似乎使它再次汹涌起来。我努力把注意力集中在屏幕上。我的痛苦可以等到以后再说。
“I do. Your zebra was right. I’ve tried not to think about it for two centuries, but Snails and I meddled in things we had no right to. Ponies were killed for us… or by what we did,” he said as he bowed his head. “I wasn’t honest with all of you at the outset, but that’s the Wasteland, isn’t it? If I’d trusted you, we could have done this better. Graves. Lacunae. They died because I forced us to go through here. And trust me, in two centuries, I’ve done plenty in the Wasteland to deserve burning.” He hung his head as the glowing smoke and licking flames swirled behind him.
"我知道。你的斑马是对的。两个世纪以来，我一直试图不去想它，但是蜗牛和我干涉了我们没有权利干涉的事情。小马是为我们而死的......或者是因为我们的所作所为,"他低下头说。"一开始我没有对你们所有人说实话，但那里是荒原，不是吗？如果我相信你，我们可以做得更好。格雷夫斯。空隙。他们死了是因为我强迫我们穿过这里。相信我，两个世纪以来，我在这片荒原上做了很多值得焚烧的事。"他低下头，身后冒着滚滚浓烟和舔舐着的火焰。
“You don’t. Please… there has to be some way!” I begged, trying to will all of this to not be true.
"你不知道。求你了......一定有办法的!"我恳求着，试图让这一切都不是真的。
“There isn’t… so listen… you have to get Snails out of here. That’s been... all I could think of for two centuries. Get him out of here. He can help you... he never screws it up! It might take him some time, but he gets where he’s going.” The blackened face gave a tired grin. “Tell him I cast the swirly curse from the black book. The swirly one. Swirly. Remember. Tell him… tell him I tried to get him out as soon as I could. And tell him that I’m sorry I forgot the donuts.” His bandages were smoking now as well. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…”
"没有......所以听着......你必须把蜗牛弄出去。两个世纪以来，我满脑子想的都是这个。把他带走。他可以帮你...他从来不会搞砸！这可能会花费他一些时间，但他会到达目的地。"那张发黑的脸露出疲倦的笑容。"告诉他我从黑名单上下了漩涡咒。漩涡状的那个。漩涡。记住。告诉他...告诉他我尽快把他弄出来了。告诉他我很抱歉忘了买甜甜圈。"他的绷带也冒烟了。"对不起。我很抱歉......"
“I forgive you,” I said as he curled up in his seat. The image flickered several times. “Snips!” The last image I saw before static filled the screen was a round, blackening, pony-shaped lump with a smoldering mane; I prayed it wasn’t my imagination that there was a smile on his face. I hit buttons at random, trying to bring up something, some confirmation that he was alive. That he could still be saved by some means! Maybe… maybe the Warden would send a robot to pluck
"我原谅你,"我说，他蜷缩在座位上。图像闪烁了好几次。"小鬼头!"在静电充满屏幕之前，我看到的最后一个画面是一个圆形的、黑色的、矮种马形状的肿块，鬃毛还在燃烧。我祈祷那不是我的想象，他脸上有一个微笑。我随意按下按钮，试图提出一些东西，一些确认他还活着的东西。他仍然可以通过某种方式得救！也许...也许狱长会派个机器人来拔毛
him to safety! Maybe the Goddess would give me the magic to teleport right into that inferno and pluck him out.
带他去安全的地方！也许女神会给我魔法，把我传送到那个地狱，把他救出来。
The screens on the security station began to play all kinds of crazy pictures; recordings, I guessed, since they showed parts of the prison whole and intact. They interspersed with the static of ruined cameras and blurts of recorded conversation. Most appeared to be interviews with prisoners. I spotted the sparkly-hoofed Garnet speaking with a fat white earth pony, but I didn’t care. I had to find Snips again.
安全站的屏幕开始播放各种疯狂的图片;我猜，录音显示的是监狱完整无缺的一部分。他们穿插着被毁坏的相机的静电噪音和脱口而出的录音谈话。大多数似乎是与囚犯的面谈。我看到闪闪发光的石榴石和一匹肥胖的白色地球小马说话，但我不在乎。我不得不再次找到小鬼头。
Then I heard something that made me freeze reflexively. Though it had been weeks since I’d last heard it, the voice pierced my panicked denial and pinned me in place. “Damn it, Vanity, I don’t care what that cunt says. I want to see her!”
然后我听到了一些让我反射性地僵住的声音。虽然我已经好几个星期没有听到这个声音了，但这个声音刺穿了我惊慌失措的否认，把我固定住了。"该死的，虚荣，我才不管那个婊子说什么呢。我要见她!"
My eyes focused on the muscled mass with the anguished face. Even though he wasn’t a Marauder anymore, Doof still had the powerful physique of a pony who worked out regularly. His gray hide was marred by tracks of scars; I’d never thought that those scars on Deus might have come from before he was turned into a cyberpony.
我的目光聚焦在那张痛苦的脸上肌肉发达的大众身上。尽管杜夫不再是掠夺者了，但他的体格依然强健，就像一匹定期锻炼的小马驹。他灰色的皮肤上布满了伤疤的痕迹;我从来没有想到上帝身上的伤疤可能是在他变成一匹赛博马之前留下的。
Vanity sat on the other side of the table, his hooves folded before him. “Use that word again, and this meeting is done,” he said in cold finality. Doof shook with the effort to keep himself restrained. “I am here for her, not you. She says no, Doof. Respect that.”
瓦妮特坐在桌子的另一边，他的蹄子折叠在面前。"再用那个词，这次会议就结束了,"他冷冷地说。杜夫摇摇头，努力克制自己。"我是为她而来，不是为你。她说不行，杜夫。尊重这一点。"
The huge pony shook some more and then let out a little sob. “I can’t. Don’t you get it? I have to see her at least once. I have to… I have to explain to her what I did. Why… please…” he begged as tears ran down his scarred cheeks. “Please, talk to her. Tell her I just want five minutes. After that, she never has to see me again.”
那匹巨大的矮种马又抖了几下，然后发出一声呜咽。"我不能。你还不明白吗？我必须至少见她一次。我必须...我必须向她解释我做了什么。为什么......求你了......"他哀求着，眼泪顺着他伤痕累累的脸颊流了下来。"求你了，跟她谈谈。告诉她我只要五分钟。从那以后，她再也不用见到我了。"
“She’s made her decision, Doof,” Vanity said and rose to his hooves. “Respect it. Do your time and move on. Try to contact Twist again and it’ll be Applesnack coming to tell you no.”
"她已经决定了，杜夫,"瓦妮特说着站起身来。"尊重它。做好你的工作，然后继续前进。如果你再联系Twist，苹果会告诉你不行的。"
“You sanctimonious rich fuck!” Doof screamed at him, looking truly deranged in his anguish. “You have no fucking clue what she means to me!”
"你这个道貌岸然的富二代!"杜夫对着他尖叫，看起来真是痛苦得精神错乱了。"你他妈的根本不知道她对我意味着什么!"
“I don’t care, Doof,” Vanity said with chilling hatred. “You betrayed us. Have
"我不在乎，杜夫,"瓦妮特带着令人毛骨悚然的仇恨说。"你背叛了我们。有
you forgotten that? You’re not a pony. You’re not even a zebra; I have respect for them as opponents. You’re a rapist scumbag who should be locked up in here for the rest of your life.”
你忘了吗？你不是小马。你甚至都不是斑马，我尊重他们是对手。你是个强奸犯，应该在这里度过余生。"
“You have no right to judge me! I know how you fucked up Jetstream’s head so bad she’s in Happyhorn now! How are you any better, Vanity? How!?” he roared, and he rose and slammed his hooves on the table so hard it split down the middle. The door buzzed and two earth ponies ran in with two unicorns behind them; even as a team, they struggled to beat and subdue him. “You think I’m a scumbag?! I’ll show you who I am. I’m a fucking god of pain and misery, you rich fuck, and when I get out of here, nopony is going to stop me! Nopony!”
"你没有资格评判我！我知道你是怎么把Jetstream的脑袋搞坏的她现在在Happyhorn！你怎么样，虚荣心？怎么会?"他吼了一声，然后站起来，猛地把蹄子摔在桌子上，摔得中间裂开了。门嗡嗡地响着，两只土地上的小马跑了进来，身后跟着两只独角兽;即使作为一个团队，它们也努力地想要打败并制服他。"你认为我是个卑鄙小人?！我会让你知道我是谁。我是个痛苦和悲惨的上帝，你这个有钱的混蛋，当我离开这里的时候，没有小马能够阻止我！不要小马!"
I felt like I couldn’t move or breathe for a moment when that image of the screaming Doof being dragged out of the room disappeared along with every other and the Warden filled every screen. “Miss, I believe you said something about an escape?” I could have also said something about a fire and a balefire bomb, but I doubted it would register. “I do hope you’ll come in and elaborate, immediately.”
当那个尖叫的呆子和其他人一起被拖出房间的画面消失了，监狱长填满了每一个屏幕时，我感觉自己一刻也不能动弹或者呼吸。"小姐，我想你说过什么逃跑的事吧?"我本来也可以说一些关于火灾和火焰炸弹的事情，但是我怀疑它是否会被记录下来。"我真的希望你能马上进来详细说明。"
“On my way,” I said softly, dropping my eyes as the Warden disappeared. A god of pain and misery… funny. He could have been talking about me, and considering what he became…
"我走了,"我轻声说，水保不见了，我垂下眼睛。一个痛苦和悲惨的上帝...很有趣。他可能一直在谈论我考虑到他现在的处境..。
I wasn’t going to be like him. I wasn’t. I couldn’t.
我不会像他那样的。我没有。我做不到。
The maiden is born of heartache and sorrow, and I know you suffer. She butchers all who oppose her. She sows destruction for the entire world.
少女是心痛和悲伤的产物，我知道你很痛苦。她屠杀所有反对她的人。她为整个世界播下了毁灭的种子。
No... I swayed as I felt the curse tearing at me. It felt like I was falling away from my own body.
没有......我感觉到诅咒在撕裂我，我摇摆着。感觉就像我从自己的身体上掉了下来。
Why the fuck shouldn’t she think of you as Nightmare Moon? Why the fuck shouldn’t everyone?
为什么她就不能把你当做噩梦之月呢？为什么他妈的每个人都不能？
Please... stop... please...
求你了...住手...求你了..。
“Hey...” came Rampage’s voice from the door. I moved slowly, like a zombie ghoul, and used her to pull myself slowly back together. “Snips didn’t make it, did he?” I couldn’t answer, so I grit my teeth and nodded, tears cutting dirty lines in the soot that covered me. She sighed and shook her head. “So... want to go
"嘿......"门口传来了狂暴的声音。我慢慢地移动，就像僵尸食尸鬼一样，利用她慢慢地把自己拉回来。"小鬼头没能活下来，是不是?"我无法回答，所以我咬紧牙关，点点头，眼泪在覆盖着我的烟灰上划下了肮脏的线条。她叹了口气，摇了摇头。"所以......我想去
through all the hating on yourself and beating yourself up, or would you rather have more bad news first?”
经历了所有对自己的憎恨和自责，还是你宁愿先听到更多的坏消息?"
I looked at her standing there. She looked... tired. “More bad news.”
我看着她站在那里。她看起来...很疲惫。"更多的坏消息。"
“Why am I not surprised?” she muttered. “Psychoshy and Stygius are really bad off. She won’t wake up and he can barely stand. I think that it was smoke inhalation.”
"为什么我一点都不惊讶?"她喃喃自语道。"心理害羞和冥河真的很糟糕。她醒不过来，他几乎站不起来。我认为是吸入了浓烟。"
“Is she going to die?” I asked as I turned and left the monitors behind. Left Snips behind. I’d punish myself appropriately when I had the whole butcher’s bill for this fiasco.
"她会死吗?"我转身离开了监视器，问道。把小剪刀留在后面。当我为这次惨败付出了全部的代价时，我会适当地惩罚自己。
“Maybe. If you want to keep that answer from being yes, we need to get the lockdown lifted and get the hell out of here.” I nodded and walked slowly past her, feeling... disconnected? Like something in me had finally given way and now I wasn’t completely sure if I was really doing this or not. Was this what it felt like to lose your mind? “Blackjack?”
"也许吧。如果你不想让答案是肯定的，我们需要解除封锁，然后离开这个鬼地方。"我点点头，慢慢地从她身边走过，感觉......孤立无援？就像我内心的某些东西终于屈服了，现在我完全不确定自己是否真的在做这件事。这就是失去理智的感觉吗？"黑杰克?"
“I need to find the attic first. I need to find Snails... I owe Snips that,” I said in a daze. “Which way is the attic?”
"我得先找到阁楼。我需要找到蜗牛......我欠小鬼头一个人情,"我茫然地说。"阁楼在哪里?"
“Owe Snips?!” Rampage shouted. “You don’t owe him anything! He should be glad I didn’t buck his head clean off his shoulders when he couldn’t remove the curse!”
"欠小鬼头?!"狂暴喊道。"你不欠他什么！他应该庆幸我没有在他无法解除诅咒的时候把他的脑袋从他的肩膀上砍下来!"
“He wanted to help his friend...” I muttered.
"他想帮助他的朋友......"我喃喃自语。
She kicked me upside the head, knocking me sprawling. Oddly, the pain helped me focus, and I rubbed my aching skull as I looked back up at her. “Are you saying that you’d curse a pony with a death spell you can’t remove just to save one of your friends? ‘Cause if that answer is yes, then you’re getting another kick!” I blinked up at her, and she grabbed me with her hoofclaws and hauled me up to look me in the eye. “I don’t care if it is for a friend. I don’t care if it’s for me. There is shit you do not do. The ends do not justify the means!” she said as she gave me another shake. Then the world went white.
她踢我的头，把我打得四脚朝天。奇怪的是，疼痛帮助我集中注意力，当我回头看她的时候，我摩擦着疼痛的头骨。"你是说，为了救你的一个朋友，你会用一个无法解除的死亡咒语诅咒一匹小马？"因为如果你的回答是肯定的，那么你就会再被踢一脚!"我向她眨了眨眼睛，她用蹄爪抓住我，把我拉起来看着我的眼睛。"就算是给朋友的，我也不在乎。我不在乎这是不是给我的。有些事你不能做。目的不能证明手段是正当的!"她一边说，一边又跟我握手。然后世界变成了白色。
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
Once again I was looking down at Rarity’s Canterlot apartment. The room would
我又一次低头看着稀有的坎特洛的公寓。这个房间
have done my own room proud with the amount of clutter strewn all over the place. Clothes, papers, books, and zebra statuary and masks all vied to consume what had once been a tastefully decorated living space. The glass case that had held parasprites was replaced by the black book. She stared down at it, turning the pages over and over again as if searching for something amid the glyphs.
我自己的房间因为到处都是杂物而感到骄傲。衣服、报纸、书籍、斑马雕像和面具都争先恐后地占据着这个曾经装饰高雅的生活空间。那个装有寄生虫的玻璃盒子被那本黑皮书所取代。她低头盯着它，一页一页地翻，好像在字形中寻找什么似的。
“It has to be here. Somewhere... where is it? Show me!” she muttered as her azure eyes, horribly bloodshot and puffy, moved erratically over the page. Beside her sat the small pink egg-shaped talisman covered in markings rendered in golden wire. It pulsated with its own slow heartbeat.
"它必须在这里。某个地方...在哪儿？让我看看!"她嘟囔着，蓝色的眼睛，可怕的充血和肿胀，不定期地翻过书页。她旁边放着一个粉红色的蛋形护身符，上面有用金线做成的标记。它随着自己缓慢的心跳跳动。
Then there came a soft knock at the door. Rarity ignored it. A second knock, barely louder than the first. Rarity huffed but kept working. Then there was a resounding thud as the door was knocked clear off its hinges and flew into the apartment. Rarity gasped as she turned to stare at the empty doorframe. A second later, a little white bunny hopped in and fixed Rarity with a stern glare. Fluttershy flew in after him, “Now Angel, you really should give people a chance to answer their doors and not just kick them down.” She blinked and looked at all the mess, then at Rarity. “Um... I hope this isn’t a bad time...”
然后传来一阵轻轻的敲门声。罕见忽略了这一点。第二次敲门声几乎没有比第一次更大。稀有生气了，但还是继续工作。然后，门从铰链上被撞得粉碎，砰的一声飞进了公寓。当她转身盯着空的门框时，她倒抽了一口冷气。过了一会儿，一只小白兔跳了进来，狠狠地盯着稀有。Fluttershy跟在他后面飞了进来,"现在，天使，你真的应该给人们一个机会去应门，而不是把他们踢倒。"她眨了眨眼睛，看着这一团糟，然后看着稀稀。"嗯......我希望现在不是时候......"
“It is a bad time, Fluttershy,” Rarity replied in a mutter, frowning at the other mare. “Things are quite a mess right now...” Without looking back, she levitated the talisman off the table and hid it in her tail.
"现在不是时候，小弗特希,"稀有咕哝着回答，对着另一匹母马皱着眉头。"现在事情真是一团糟......"她头也不回地把护身符从桌子上悬浮起来，藏在自己的尾巴里。
“Oh. Well... um... I need to talk to you about something,” the pegasus murmured, and Rarity actually grimaced.
"哦。"好吧......嗯......我得跟你谈谈。"飞马小姐喃喃地说，而稀少实际上做了个鬼脸。
“It’s one in the morning, Fluttershy. Honestly, anything you need to talk about can wait until the morning,” she snapped brusquely as she trotted to the door.
"现在是凌晨一点，小萤火虫。老实说，你需要谈的任何事情都可以等到明天早上再说。"。
“Well... ah... I’m afraid I’m going to have to... um...” Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"嗯......啊......恐怕我得......嗯......"她的声音变得低沉起来。
“What was that?” Rarity scowled. Fluttershy muttered again, a touch louder. “Fluttershy! Please! It’s late and I still have so much to do.”
"那是什么?"稀有品种满面愁容。小蝴蝶又咕哝了一声，声音更大了。"胆小鬼！求你了！已经很晚了，我还有很多事情要做。"
“I’m going to have to in... in...” She gulped, and finally spat out, “Insist!” The yellow mare sat in the doorway, tapping her hooves together, eyes lowered. Angel stood beside her, arms crossed and foot tapping rapidly to his side.
"我得进去......进去......"她咽了一口气，最后吐了出来,"坚持!"那匹黄色的母马坐在门口，低垂着眼睛，用蹄子轻敲着。安吉尔站在她旁边，双臂交叉，脚快速地在他身边敲打着。
“Fluttershy!” The pegasus’s determination seemed to startle Rarity. “Honestly! What’s gotten into you?”
"小萤火虫!"飞马的决心似乎使稀有吓了一跳。"老实说！你到底怎么了?"
She swallowed, then nodded to the little white rabbit. He grinned, his ears twitching this way and that. Like a fuzzy missile, he launched himself at her terminal, dove under the desk, emerged with a black plastic box trailing wires, and snapped it over his knee. Another swivel of his ear and he leapt into a potted plant. A tiny spritebot came buzzing out, but the rabbit flew through the air and exploded it in a single furious kick. Then he looked right at me and leapt up at me in two bounds.
她咽了口唾沫，然后向小白兔点点头。他咧嘴笑着，耳朵这样那样地抽动着。就像一枚模糊的导弹，他向她的终端发射了自己，潜到桌子底下，拿着一个黑色的塑料盒拖着电线出现，然后在膝盖上啪地一声折断了电线。他的耳朵又转了一下，跳进了一盆盆栽里。一个小小的弹簧机器人嗡嗡地飞了出来，但是那只兔子在空中飞了起来，一脚就把它打爆了。然后他直直地看着我，跳起来朝我跳了两下。
“Wait! That one’s mine!” Rarity shrieked. Angel froze, tiny fist curled as he glared at me, then looked at Fluttershy. The mare shook her head slowly, and the little animal huffed, then jumped away. His ears worked a few more seconds, and then he nodded with a smug smile.
"等等！那是我的!"稀有尖叫着。安吉尔愣住了，一边盯着我，一边握着小拳头，然后看着Fluttershy。母马慢慢地摇了摇头，小动物生气了，然后跳开了。他的耳朵又工作了几秒钟，然后他得意地微笑着点了点头。
Fluttershy took a deep breath and then raised her teal eyes to meet Rarity’s annoyed glare. “I got the report about the crash in the Canterlot mountains.”
Fluttershy深深地吸了一口气，然后抬起蓝绿色的眼睛，以迎接雷蒂恼怒的目光。"我收到了Canterlot坠机的报告。"
“You’re bothering me this late about that?” Rarity said with a roll of her eyes. “The official report is coming off tomorrow. Zebra sympathizer sabotage. Nothing to bother yourself with.”
"你这么晚还来烦我?"雷妮皱着眉头说。"官方报告明天就会出来。斑马同情者破坏活动。没什么好烦恼的。"
But Fluttershy didn’t back down. “I got a notice from the emergency responders about something unusual... a pony trapped in the wreckage who wouldn’t die...
但是小萤火虫并没有退缩。"我接到紧急救援人员的通知，他们说发生了一些不寻常的事情......一匹小马被困在残骸里，不会死.....。
even as they b-b-burned...” She stammered and shuddered, her mane curling slightly as it fell in front of her eyes. “They reported he was trapped... pierced and crushed by the wreckage... and then you showed up, personally, and he died soon after.”
即使它们在燃烧......"她结结巴巴地发抖，鬃毛在眼前微微卷曲。"他们报告说他被困住了......被残骸刺穿和压碎......然后你亲自出现，不久他就死了。"
It was impossible for a white unicorn to get paler, but somehow Rarity seemed to manage it. “I... I... I just...” She forced a nervous grin, her magnificently curled mane seeming to tighten as she fought for an explanation. “Really, Fluttershy, it’s nothing. Nothing at all.”
一只白色的独角兽不可能变得更苍白，但不知怎么的，罕有似乎可以控制它。"我.....。.我。.我只是......"她勉强露出紧张的笑容，她华丽地卷曲着的鬃毛似乎绷紧了，她极力想要得到一个解释。"真的，小萤火虫，这没什么。什么都没有。"
Angel pushed Fluttershy’s mane out of her eyes, and she slowly looked up, then spoke in a quiet, yet extremely firm voice. “It’s not nothing Rarity. Something kept that pony alive... burning... in agony... for hours. And there’ve been other reports, too... ponies suffering horrible injuries or accidents and then taking far longer to die than they should.”
安琪尔把小蝴蝶的鬃毛从眼睛里推开，慢慢地抬起头，然后用一种安静而又极其坚定的声音说话。"这不是什么稀罕的东西。有什么东西让那匹小马活了下来......燃烧......在痛苦中......持续了几个小时。还有其他的报道......小马受到了可怕的伤害或事故，然后花了比它们应该死的时间更长的时间去死。"
“Well... don’t tell me that’s a bad thing!” Rarity stammered as she backed away. “Death is a horrible thing... the absolute worst.”
"好吧......别告诉我这是件坏事!"珍妮后退时结结巴巴地说。"死亡是件可怕的事情......绝对是最糟糕的事情。"
Fluttershy bowed her head again. “Yes. It is horrible...” she nearly whispered, but then she looked at Rarity again and said, “But it’s not the worst, Rarity.”
小弗特希又低下了头。"是的。"太可怕了......"她几乎要小声说，但是她又看了看罕有，说道:"但是这还不是最糟糕的，罕有。"
“Fluttershy, please! You can’t tell me that death isn’t the most horrible thing you can imagine,” Rarity said, sounding stunned. “Think about Big Macintosh... and Pinkie Pie and Applejack... are you saying that us dying isn’t the worst possible thing?”
"求你了，小家伙！你不能告诉我，死亡不是你能想象到的最可怕的事情,"稀有说，听起来有点吃惊。"想想大麦金塔电脑......还有苹果派和苹果白兰地......你是说我们的死不是最糟糕的事情吗?"
Fluttershy didn’t answer, and Rarity slowly relaxed a little before the yellow mare answered softly, “I can imagine all kinds of terrible things. I’ve seen bodies sent to their families, heard their cries when they realize a loved one is gone. I’ve seen children mourning dead parents. And I saw Applejack and Twilight at Big Macintosh’s funeral. And there is no question that death is a horrible thing and I hate it, but it’s not the worst. I’ve seen worse...”
小绒毛没有回答，稀有慢慢地放松了一点，黄色的母马轻声地回答:"我能想象各种可怕的事情。我见过尸体被送到他们的家人那里，听到他们的哭声，当他们意识到他们所爱的人已经不在了。我见过孩子们哀悼去世的父母。我还在大麦金托什的葬礼上看过苹果白兰地和暮光之城。毫无疑问，死亡是一件可怕的事情，我讨厌死亡，但它并不是最糟糕的。我见过更糟的......"
Rarity glanced over her shoulder at the black book, then back at the bowed pegasus. Her mouth worked, but nothing came out. “You want to know what’s worse than death, Rarity? Suffering. Pain. I’ve heard ponies screaming in agony; I’ve held ponies as they struggled to take a breath, knowing that the next one would hurt them even more. I’ve seen ponies without a cut on their bodies go mad from the torment of what was happening to their loved ones. More than death, pain is the absolute worst possible thing. And fear of that pain is every bit as terrible as the pain itself.”
稀有越过她的肩膀瞥了一眼那本黑色的书，然后又回头望了望那匹弓形的飞马。她的嘴张得很大，但什么也吐不出来。"你想知道什么比死亡更糟糕吗，稀少？痛苦。痛苦。我听到小马在痛苦地尖叫;我抱着小马挣扎着喘气，我知道下一匹会更加伤害它们。我见过没有割伤的小马因为它们所爱的人所遭受的折磨而发疯。痛苦绝对比死亡更糟糕。对痛苦的恐惧就像痛苦本身一样可怕。"
Rarity just stared at her friend as tears ran down her cheeks. “Fluttershy... I don’t want you to die. I... I think about it every night, and... I can’t face what will happen if I have to go to a funeral for you or Twilight or even Applejack. It...
稀少只是凝视着她的朋友，泪水顺着她的脸颊流下。"小蝴蝶......我不想你死。我。.我每天晚上都在想这件事，而且......我无法面对如果我不得不去参加你或者暮光之城或者苹果白兰地的葬礼会发生什么。它..。
hurts...” But then she smiled and brought the pink egg out from inside her tail. Fluttershy stared at the talisman in shock. “But... but I’ve been working on a way to keep you safe! To keep all of us safe! Once I get it working right, none of us ever need to worry about that ever again!”
然后她笑了，把粉红色的鸡蛋从她的尾巴里拿了出来。小萤火虫震惊地盯着这个护身符。"但是......但是我一直在想办法保证你的安全！保护我们所有人的安全！一旦我让它正常工作，我们再也不用担心这个问题了!"
“That’s a restoration talisman... but it’s been changed...” She stared at it and then at Rarity. “What does it do?”
"那是一个修复用的护身符......但是它已经被改变了......"她盯着它，然后盯着稀有。"它有什么用?"
“Well, this is an incomplete one, but when activated... it contains a pony’s soul, and then it can regenerate a pony from that soul. In theory, anyway...” she said,
"嗯，这是一个不完整的一个，但当激活...它含有一匹小马的灵魂，然后它可以再生一匹小马的灵魂。理论上，无论如何......"她说,
looking down at it. “We’ve had severe problems with the soul extraction process, but once we get the kinks ironed out, we...” Her voice trailed off as she noticed the horror on Fluttershy’s face.
低头看。"我们在提取灵魂的过程中遇到了严重的问题，但是一旦我们解决了这些问题，我们......"当她注意到Fluttershy脸上的恐惧时，她的声音逐渐变小。
“Contains a soul?” she asked weakly.
"包含一个灵魂?"她虚弱地问道。
“Well, yes. That helps power the magic. It takes quite a bit of it to restore a whole pony.” She looked at it a moment, then back at the black book, before saying desperately, “But don’t you see? With this, you’ll never die! Never be hurt again...”
""嗯，是的。这有助于增强魔法的力量。要修复一匹小马驹需要花费相当多的时间。"她看了一会儿，然后又看了看黑名单，最后绝望地说:"你难道没看出来吗？有了这个，你就永远不会死！再也不会受到伤害......"
“Rarity... is this what you were working on in Hightower? Those patients in Happyhorn... were they they... were they... test subjects?” she whispered in horror.
"稀有......这就是你在海托华工作的地方吗？Happyhorn的那些病人......他们......他们是......实验对象吗?"她惊恐地低声说。
Rarity didn’t answer; she seemed frozen in place. Finally, she turned away, and now she was the one hanging her head. “They were criminals. The worst of the worst.” Fluttershy gave a little sob, pressing her hooves to her mouth as she sat back. Rarity then turned and gave a near-manic grin. “But don’t you see, Fluttershy? Don’t you understand... once we have these, the war is effectively over. They won’t be able to kill us! We’ll all be safe. Forever!”
瑞妮没有回答，她似乎呆在原地不动。最后，她转过身去，现在她就是那个垂着头的人。"他们是罪犯。最坏中的最坏。"小弗特希靠在椅背上，用蹄子捂住嘴，呜咽了一声。然后，稀有转过身来，露出近乎狂躁的笑容。""可是你还不明白吗，小萤火虫？你难道不明白...一旦我们有了这些，战争实际上就结束了。他们杀不了我们！我们都会安全的。永远!"
Then Fluttershy lowered her hooves and slowly stood. Her eyes hardened as she stared straight at Rarity. “I don’t want it.”
然后小蝴蝶放下蹄子慢慢地站起来。当她直直地盯着稀缺时，她的眼睛变得僵硬了。"我不想要。"
Rarity blinked, and her mane slowly seemed to frizz before my eyes. “I beg your pardon?”
瑞妮眨着眼睛，她的鬃毛在我眼前慢慢地卷起来。"你说什么?"
“I don’t want it. I don’t want something inside me that sucks out my soul to keep me alive,” she said in that quiet yet firm voice. “You can keep it. And I know our friends will feel the same way.”
"我不想要。我不想让我体内的某种东西吸走我的灵魂，让我活下去,"她用平静而坚定的声音说。"你可以留着它。我知道我们的朋友也会有同样的感受。"
“Fluttershy!” Rarity gasped. “Think of what you’re saying!”
"小萤火虫!"稀有植物倒抽了一口冷气。"想想你在说什么!"
“I could say the same, Rarity,” Fluttershy said evenly, her stare drilling into the white unicorn. “It doesn’t matter how wonderful it is... I’d never accept anything that was made through killing people!”
"我也可以这么说，稀有,"弗特希平静地说，她的目光钻进了那只白色的独角兽。"不管它有多美妙......我永远不会接受通过杀人制造的任何东西!"
Rarity gave a hysterical little laugh. “Ha! That’s rich of you, giving me that. You gave the zebras your megaspells for peace! Was that okay then?”
罕见歇斯底里地笑了一下。"哈！你真有钱给我这个。你给了斑马你的巨大的和平！这样可以吗?"
“No,” Fluttershy replied, and the laughing unicorn grew silent as the pegasus hung her head. “No... I think I might have made a terrible mistake when I did that. And every day, I regret that I did. I know it was for peace... and I hope that somehow, in the end, it works out that way... but no. I was wrong then... just as you’re wrong now.”
"不,"小飞燕回答，笑着的独角兽随着飞马低下头渐渐安静下来。"不......我想我可能犯了一个可怕的错误。每一天，我都为自己的所作所为感到后悔。我知道这是为了和平......我希望最终能以某种方式解决问题......但事实并非如此。那时我错了......就像你现在错了一样。"
Rarity’s magic made the stone tremble in the air before her. “Do you... do you have any idea what I’ve gone through to create this... for you? For all of you?” She looked on the verge of snapping completely, and for a moment I was certain she was about to cast some horrible spell on her best friend.
罕有的魔力使石头在她面前在空中颤动。"你......你知道我经历了什么才为你......创造了这一切吗？为了你们所有人?"她看起来快要完全崩溃了，有那么一会儿，我确信她要对她最好的朋友施展某种可怕的魔咒。
“I know how many patients Happyhorn received from Hightower, so I have an idea. But I still do not want it, Rarity. I’d never want something like this if even one pony died to make it,” she said as she reached out, took the talisman in her hooves, and set it aside. Rarity looked like she was going to explode. “What I really want is my wonderful friend back... not some magic trinket...” She pulled Rarity into a brief embrace, then turned and trotted out once more. Angel bunny pointed two fingers at his eyes, then pointed them at Rarity, and then hopped out after Fluttershy.
"我知道哈比霍恩从海托华接待了多少病人，所以我有个主意。但我还是不想要，稀有。即使只有一匹小马死了，我也不想要这样的东西,"她说着伸出手，把她蹄子上的护身符放在一边。雷妮看上去快要爆炸了。"我真正想要的是我的好朋友回来......而不是什么神奇的小饰品......"她把稀世拉进一个简短的拥抱，然后转身又跑了出去。天使兔子用两个手指指着他的眼睛，然后指着稀少，然后跳出来跟着小弗特希。
Rarity stood frozen in place for several minutes, looking at the designs and the papers and the talisman and then at the black book. “I thought she’d understand... I thought she could appreciate it more than any other pony... how dare she? How...” She lifted the black book and screamed at the top of her lungs, “I made it for you!”
"稀有"在原地呆呆地站了几分钟，看着那些设计图案、文件和护身符，然后又看着那本黑皮书。"我以为她会理解......我以为她会比任何其他小马都更欣赏它......她怎么敢这么说？怎么......"她举起那本黑色的书，用最大的声音尖叫着,"我为你做的!"
And suddenly the white unicorn was in a frenzy, her magic tossing and ripping the pages out of books, splitting the sheets, tearing down the crates, and tossing the grotesque wooden zebra sculptures out the window as she moved like a purple-maned tornado of destruction. The sharp edges cut her fetlocks and smeared her forelegs with blood, but she ignored the injuries in her frenzy. “You said it would make them happy!” she roared as she swept the desktop clear with the black book. “You said it would keep them safe!” Then her magic surged, and she flipped the entire desk over in a crash of her art supplies. “Everything I did...
突然之间，白色的独角兽陷入了疯狂，她魔术般地翻动着，撕开书页，撕开书页，撕下板条箱，把奇形怪状的木制斑马雕塑扔出窗外，就像一个带着紫色帽子的毁灭龙卷风。锋利的边缘割破了她的脚镣，前腿上沾满了血迹，但她对狂暴中的伤口视而不见。"你说过这会让他们高兴的!"她一边咆哮着，一边用黑名单把桌面扫得一干二净。"你说过这样可以保证他们的安全!"然后她的魔法猛增，她把整张桌子翻了个底朝天，一下子就把她的美术用品弄翻了。"我所做的一切.....。
was for... nothing!” she shrieked and threw the black book with all of her might, sending it flying against the large standing mirror in the corner. It struck dead center and sent dozens of cracks radiating out from the impact.
是为了...什么都没有!"她尖叫着，用尽全力把那本黑皮书扔了出去，把它撞到了角落里的大镜子上。它正中目标，撞击产生了几十条裂缝。
Rarity panted and gasped for air from the exertion. “I just wanted to keep her
阿尔蒂用力喘着气喘着粗气。"我只是想留住她
safe... I just wanted... Oh Fluttershy... what have I done?” She stared at the blood on her hooves. Then the white unicorn sat in the middle of the devastation she’d wrought, head bowed as she wept.
安全......我只是想......噢，小弗......我做了什么?"她凝视着蹄子上的血迹。然后那只白色的独角兽坐在她造成的破坏中间，低着头哭泣。
Rarity then looked up at the broken mirror and wiped at her tears, smearing her cheeks in red before rising. Step by step she approached, looking at the broken reflection. She looked at the different shards of herself reflected back, counting softly. “Forty-two... Of course...” she murmured, then smiled faintly. “Silly Rarity... a present doesn’t count if you take it from somepony else. It only counts... if it comes from yourself...”
然后，蕾妮抬头看着破碎的镜子，擦了擦眼泪，起身之前把脸颊抹得通红。她一步一步地走近，看着破碎的倒影。她看着反射回来的自己不同的碎片，轻轻地数着。"四十二......当然......"她喃喃地说，然后微微一笑。"愚蠢的稀有......如果你从别人那里得到礼物，那么它就不算数。只有来自自己的才算数......"
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
I lurched as the recording ended and tumbled over onto my back as my brain processed what it had just seen. Fluttershy had been right. It’d taken Hightower and being separated from my friends to make me realize that. No data for EC-1101 was worth the deaths of my friends. I lay there on the floor for a moment and sighed. “Learning sucks,” I muttered as I sprawled there. “I need to get to the attic... does Razorwire remember the way?”
录音结束的时候我跌跌撞撞，当我的大脑处理它刚刚看到的东西的时候，我的背摔了下来。弗特希是对的。海托华和我的朋友分开后，我才意识到这一点。Ec-1101的任何数据都不值得我朋友的死亡。我在地板上躺了一会儿，叹了口气。"学习糟透了,"我趴在那里喃喃自语。"我要去阁楼......Razorwire记得路吗?"
“Yeah, sure. Right down that way, Pink,” Rampage said a she pointed with her hoof. Then she looked at me in concern. “What exactly have you learned that sucks?” she asked as she heaved me to my hooves.
"是的，当然。就在那边，粉红色,"狂暴说着，她用蹄子指了指。然后她关切地看着我。"你到底学到了什么糟糕的东西?"她一边问，一边用力推我的蹄子。
I paused and looked at her for a long moment. “There isn’t anything about Rarity that will set you off, is there?” I asked bluntly, feeling numb and disconnected from myself.
我停顿了一下，看了她好一会儿。"没有什么稀有的东西会让你生气，是吗?"我直言不讳地问道，感觉自己麻木了，与自己脱节了。
“I have no idea. You tell me,” she said as we limped out together.
"我不知道。你告诉我,"我们一瘸一拐地走出去时，她说。
So I did.
所以我就这么做了。
She led me down a hall and around the corner, and I told her about Rarity’s quest to become immortal, how she wanted to protect her friends, and just what it had cost. When the story was finished and the holes were filled in, Rampage wore a stunned and worried look. “Whoa... learning does suck.”
她领着我走过一个大厅，转过街角，我告诉她罕有的不朽追求，她是多么想保护她的朋友，以及她付出了什么代价。当故事讲完，洞被填上时，狂暴带着惊愕和忧虑的表情。"哇...学习的确很糟糕。"
“Told you,” I said as I limped along. “Blissful ignorance. That’s the ticket. I was so blissful before I knew any of this crap.”
"我就说吧,"我一瘸一拐地走着。"幸福的无知。这才是关键。在我知道这些废话之前，我是如此幸福。"
“Really?” Rampage replied. “I thought life in 99 sucked?”
"真的吗?"狂暴回答道。"我觉得99年的生活糟透了?"
“Compared to Hightower right now, that sucking was bliss,” I replied with a smirk.
"和海托华现在相比，吮吸是幸福的,"我回答了一个假笑。
“Whine whine whine. Who knew being a hero involved so much whining?” the striped pony said with a faint smile, but it quickly died. “So, am I just a magic talisman crammed with too many pony souls?”
"哀嚎哀嚎。谁能想到成为一个英雄会有这么多牢骚呢?"条纹小马带着淡淡的微笑说，但它很快就死了。"那么，我只是一个拥有太多小马灵魂的魔法护身符吗?"
“And one zebra,” I added. “Whatever Proditor did to change their stripes must have involved some sort of soul-affecting magic, somehow. That’s why you’ve got them too.”
"还有一只斑马,"我补充说。"不管普罗迪托做了什么改变了他们的形象，肯定在某种程度上包含了某种感人的灵魂魔法。这就是为什么你也有它们的原因。"
“Heh... wow. Don’t know why I’m so keen to die. I was never born in the first place. I was built!” She shook her head back and forth as she walked, groaning. “It’s way too late to go back to just thinking I’m a pony with no memory, isn’t it? I mean, even alicorns were once ponies, right?”
"嘿......哇。不知道为什么我这么想死。我从来就没有出生过。我是天生的!"她一边走一边前后摇头，呻吟着。"现在回去想我是一匹没有记忆的小马已经太晚了，不是吗？我的意思是，即使是橡子也曾经是小马驹，对吧?"
“I think so. Twilight used magic to change them into what they are now. Somehow the Goddess can do it too.” I didn’t want to know more details than that. I had little bits of goddess in my brain, and that was already more than I wanted to know. “You’re still Rampage.” That made her laugh, and not in a particularly nice way.
"我想是的。暮光之城用魔法把他们变成了现在的样子。不知何故，女神也能做到。"我不想知道更多的细节。我脑子里有一点女神的影子，那已经超出了我想知道的范围。"你还在横冲直撞。"这让她笑了，而且不是以一种特别友好的方式。
“Oh, well, that’s just fine, then! Rampage, who can’t have a kid because she’s got a little psychotic foalkiller inside. Along with the punk, the professor, and Proditor, and... whoever else is in me!” she said, gesturing to herself. “I like Mint-als. Is that because of Twist inside me? Huh? Is it because Octopus was popping them on the sly ‘cause he was losing his marbles? What! Nothing about who I am makes sense!”
"哦，好吧，那就这样吧！狂暴，她不能要孩子，因为她心里有个小小的精神错乱的流浪者。还有朋克，教授，普罗迪托，还有......我身体里的其他人!"她边说边指着自己。"我喜欢薄荷糖。那是因为我体内的扭曲吗？什么？是不是因为章鱼因为失去理智而偷偷地吃掉它们？什么！关于我是谁的一切都毫无意义!"
I sighed and sat, patting her shoulder with my remaining forehoof. “Well, at least you’re in good company.”
我叹了口气，坐了下来，用剩下的前蹄拍拍她的肩膀。"好吧，至少你有个好伙伴。"
I paused as I looked down the hall at a pair of double glass doors. ‘Garage’ was printed above them. Some kind of blast barrier had been dropped behind them, cutting them off. That wasn’t what shocked me, though. It was the tiny purple figurine lying on its side beside a metal door next to the pair. Slowly I approached, step by step, till I reached out with my magic and picked up the teeny tiny figurine of Twilight Sparkle. I slowly turned it over in shock, five
我停下来看了看大厅里的一对双层玻璃门。上面印着"车库"。某种防爆屏障落在他们身后，切断了他们的去路。但这并没有让我感到震惊。那是一个小小的紫色小雕像，侧躺在一扇金属门旁边，紧挨着那一对。我慢慢地走近，一步一步，直到我用魔法把手伸出来，捡起那个小小的紫悦雕像。我惊呆了，慢慢地把它翻过来，五
breathless ponies in the back of my mind squealing in glee.
我脑海里的小马喘不过气来，在欢乐中尖叫。
I stared at the inscription on the base. ‘Be a brainiac!’
我凝视着底座上的题字。成为一个聪明人
Huh?
什么？
Then Twilight Sparkle’s head fell clean off!
然后紫悦的头一下子掉了下来！
I was so shocked that I dropped the figurine, and it shattered into hundreds of ceramic pieces at my hooves. Habazawah?! How... they... that wasn’t supposed to happen! A tiny Applejack in my head consoled a sobbing Pinkie Pie. I looked over at the metal door and pushed my way through. What I saw on the other side stopped me almost immediately.
我非常震惊，以至于我把这个小雕像掉在地上，它在我的蹄子上粉碎成了数百块陶瓷碎片。哈巴扎瓦?！怎么...他们...那不该发生的！一个小苹果白兰地在我的脑海里安慰一个哭泣的小馅饼。我看了看那扇金属门，推开门走了进去。我在另一边看到的东西几乎立刻使我停住了脚步。
Mares. Thousands of them. The Ministry Mares predominated, in dozens of different poses. Many of them were unpainted, powdery white things. Others were cracked or chipped. There were also lots of figurines of Trixie. Of Silver Spoon and Twist. Of Snips. Of Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle.
母马。成千上万的。部里的母马占多数，有几十种不同的姿势。它们中的许多都是未经粉刷的粉状白色物体。还有一些有裂纹或缺口。还有很多特里克茜的小雕像。银汤匙和扭曲。小剪刀。苹果布鲁姆，斯库塔鲁，和甜心贝儿。
There were countless inscriptions, many misspelled or otherwise odd. I picked up one of Snips and saw the words beneath it. ‘Best friend.’
有不计其数的铭文，许多拼写错误或其他奇怪的。我拿起一个小剪刀，看到它下面的文字。最好的朋友
Nurse Graves had withstood Enervation by counting inventory, Blossomforth by fighting, and the Warden by being an evil bastard. No guess how Snails had endured. I walked past the shelves, the pottery bench, and a machine that looked like it was designed to pulverize the clay back into powder. There were countless empty glaze jars lying in heaps and piles around the work table. Beside that was an electric kiln. And then I heard sobs in the next room over.
格雷夫斯护士通过清点存货而经受了挫折，通过战斗而茁壮成长，而典狱长则是一个邪恶的混蛋。不知道蜗牛是怎么熬过来的。我走过那些架子，陶瓷长椅，还有一台看起来像是专门设计用来把粘土碾成粉末的机器。工作台周围堆放着无数的空釉罐。旁边是一个电窑。然后我听到隔壁房间里有人抽泣。
“Hello?” I called out as we walked past the workshop and towards a doorway with a large room beyond. “Please don’t be crazy,” I murmured as I walked slowly forward. This room had a bad vibe to it. For the first time since starting my climb up Hightower, the air felt chill against my hide. The scream of Enervation was different here, more focused. Almost like it was countless voices calling out in unison.
"喂?"我们走过工作室，走向一个门口，门口有一个很大的房间，我大声喊道。"请不要发疯,"我一边低声说，一边慢慢地向前走。这个房间有种不好的气氛。自从我开始爬海托华以来，空气第一次感到寒意袭人。在这里，衰弱的尖叫声是不同的，更加集中。几乎就像无数的声音齐声呼喊。
The floor of the room had been carved with strange markings that looked like zebra glyphs, and yet at the same time there was an odd difference that gave them an air of something wholly other. The markings in the floor gave the inexplicable impression that they were meant to be felt rather than viewed. Holes were punched into the floor within the designs, and when I knelt down, I could
房间的地板上雕刻着奇怪的标记，看起来像斑马纹，但与此同时，还有一种奇怪的差异，给了他们一种完全不同的感觉。地板上的标记给人一种莫名其妙的印象，以为它们是用来感觉的，而不是用来观看的。设计图案的地板被打上了洞，当我跪下时，我可以
see red fragments of gemstones in the voids. There were all kinds of strange symbols on the walls, diagrams and designs, some crossed out and others annotated with circles and comments.
看到空隙中的红色宝石碎片。墙上有各种各样奇怪的符号、图表和图案，有的被划掉了，有的用圆圈和注释注释着。
This was where Project Eternity played with necromancy.
这就是永恒之柱玩巫术的地方。
“Look at that, Blackjack...” Rampage said as she pointed at a diagram of a pony with a black ball of swirling shadow above it. Beneath the pony was written the question: ‘If a soul is infinite, can the soul be split infinitely?’
"你看，黑杰克......"朗格指着一张图表说，图表上是一匹小马，上面有一个黑色的漩涡状阴影。在小马下面写着这样一个问题:"如果灵魂是无限的，那么灵魂能被无限地分割吗?"
Split a soul? As I stared at the diagram, everything faded into white once more.
分裂灵魂？当我盯着这张图时，一切又变成了白色。
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
“Mistress Rarity. I... are you sure about this?” Snips said as he stood in the middle of the workroom in a ridiculous black cloak and robe. “The black book doesn’t say anything about cutting a soul in two. Rending and destroying one...
"稀有情妇。我。.你确定吗?"小鬼头穿着可笑的黑色斗篷和长袍站在工作室中央说。"黑皮书没有提到要把灵魂一分为二。撕裂和摧毁一个..。
okay. Cursing a pony to shatter their soul and scatter it, yeah. But slicing it neatly in two? I don’t think the book sees much point in just two pieces.”
好吧。诅咒一匹小马粉碎他们的灵魂，分散它，是的。但是把它切成两半？我不认为这本书仅仅从两个部分就看出了什么重点。"
“That’s why it’s an experiment, Darling. And hopefully one of our last. If this doesn’t work... well... I’ll just have to try and make the best one I can...” Snips looked up at her in confusion, but then dropped his eyes from the glamorous mare. She wore a dress of the darkest purple, barely a shade away from black.
"这就是为什么它是一个实验，亲爱的。希望这是我们最后的机会。如果这招不管用......那么......我只能尽力做出最好的......"小鬼头困惑地抬头看着她，然后把目光从迷人的母马上移开。她穿着一件深紫色的连衣裙，与黑色只有一点点距离。
She walked through the workroom and into the ritual chamber. My view swapped from one room to the other, following them. I noticed that most of the notes had been cleared away. Another unicorn, tall and lanky and wearing a similar black robe, nodded to them. In the middle of the room was a gray pony I’d seen before. Octavia stood in the center apprehensively, hugging her contrabass and bow like they were a comforting blanket. “M-M-Ministry Mare,” she stammered.
她穿过工作室，走进礼堂。我的视线从一个房间转移到另一个房间，跟着他们。我注意到大部分纸币都被清理掉了。另一只独角兽，又高又瘦，穿着类似的黑色长袍，向他们点点头。房间中央有一匹我以前见过的灰色小马。奥克塔维亚忐忑不安地站在中央，拥抱着她的低音提琴，弯着腰，好像它们是一条能给人安慰的毯子。"M-M-MinistryMare,"她结结巴巴地说。
“Please. Call me Rarity,” the white unicorn said as she smiled gently. “I understand you’ve fallen on some hard times, and I’d like to help you out. But first, I need you to help me, Octavia. You see, I need to try a spell. It’s something that’s never been done before.” She put her hoof around Octavia’s shoulders and gave her a hug. “But I want you to be okay with helping me. If you don’t want to help, you can leave. With the bits I offered.”
"求你了。叫我稀有吧,"白色的独角兽说，她温柔地笑了笑。"我知道你最近日子不好过，我愿意帮助你。但首先，我需要你帮我，奥克塔维亚。你看，我需要试一下咒语。这是前所未有的事情。"她用蹄子抱住了奥克塔维亚的肩膀，给了她一个拥抱。"但是我希望你能够帮助我。如果你不想帮忙，你可以离开。用我提供的零碎东西。"
The gray pony frowned, but looked back at the white mare. “What... what will it do?”
灰色的小马皱起了眉头，但回头看了看白色的母马。"它...它能做什么?"
“We’re going to take a piece of your soul, cut it off, and put it into your instrument there. If it works, your instrument will last... well... forever. That piece of you will preserve it for all time.”
"我们将取出你的灵魂的一部分，切下来，放进你的乐器里。如果成功了，你的乐器将会......好......永远......持续下去。你的那一部分将永远保存下去。"
“My instrument?” Octavia looked at it, then at Rarity. “Will it hurt?” I realized, listening to her, that Octavia spoke with a slight accent, an odd, sophisticated-sounding one. Actually kinda like Crumpets, but with less swearing.
"我的乐器?"奥克塔维亚看着它，然后又看着稀有。"会疼吗?"听着她的话，我意识到奥克塔维亚说话带有轻微的口音，一种古怪而复杂的口音。实际上有点像松脆饼，但是没那么多脏话。
Rarity was sympathetic. “Probably. But it’s something we need to test. I need to make sure it works...”
稀有是值得同情的。"可能吧。但这是我们需要测试的东西。我需要确保它起作用......"
“Is it for the war, ma’am?” Octavia asked with a little frown. “Are you going to use it to make weapons?”
"是为了打仗吗，夫人?"奥克塔维亚皱着眉头问道。"你打算用它来制造武器吗?"
Rarity looked at her a moment, then smiled and shook her head. “No. No, this is for me and my friends. I’ll never use what we learn here for the war effort. In fact, when this is finished, I hope to seal it all away forever.” She locked eyes with Octavia. “I swear, on my life and soul, that I won’t use it for the war.”
蕾妮看了她一会儿，笑了笑，摇了摇头。"没有。不，这是给我和我的朋友们的。我永远不会把我们在这里学到的东西用于战争。事实上，当这一切结束的时候，我希望把它们永远封存起来。"她和奥克塔维亚对视着。"我以我的生命和灵魂发誓，我不会把它用于战争。"
Octavia’s eyes dropped to her instrument, gazing questioningly at the still wood, then closed in silent contemplation. A moment later they reopened and focused on Rarity. “Very well, ma’am. I accept.”
奥克塔维亚的眼睛低到她的乐器上，疑惑地凝视着静止的树林，然后闭上眼睛沉思。过了一会儿，他们重新开放，专注于稀有。"好的，夫人。我接受。"
“Thank you,” Rarity said, and then she stepped back outside the circle.
"谢谢你,"雷诺说，然后她退出了圈子。
Snips stood on one side of the circle, the lanky pony, presumably Snails, on the other. Snips lifted the black zebrahide book and began to intone words that didn’t sound like they could come out of a pony’s mouth. Even more disturbing, though, was the flat monotone he spoke them in; it was far too similar to the humming I’d heard in the Harbinger camp outside of Flank. Too similar to the Enervation scream...
小鬼头站在圈子的一边，瘦长的矮种马，大概是蜗牛，在另一边。小剪刀拿起那本黑色的斑马书，开始吟唱起来，听起来不像是从小马的嘴里说出来的。更令人不安的是，他说话的语调平淡单调，和我在弗兰克外面的哈宾格营地听到的嗡嗡声太像了。太类似于软弱的呐喊..。
Octavia began to lift off the ground along with her instrument, her eyes clenched tight, limbs shaking as they clutched the contrabass. Yet there was no glow of unicorn magic; she rose aloft as if lifted by the shadows themselves. A flickering vortex of magic seemed to rise up from the center of the sigil and coil around her, as if wrapping her in a dark cocoon. Then the screams began. They sounded
奥克塔维亚带着她的乐器开始离开地面，她的眼睛紧紧地攥着，当他们紧紧抓住低音提琴时，四肢在颤抖。然而并没有什么独角兽魔法的光芒;她高高地站起来，仿佛被黑暗笼罩着。一个闪烁的魔法漩涡似乎从魔符的中心升起，盘绕在她周围，仿佛把她包裹在一个黑暗的茧中。然后尖叫声开始了。他们的声音
from Octavia, but I’d been in Hoofington for too long; those screams were from the shadows as well.
来自奥克塔维亚，但我在Hoofington呆得太久了，那些尖叫声也是来自阴影。
Then a dark orb of energy gathered at each of the two unicorn stallions’ horns and flew up into the air. They struck the cocoon of shadows in unison, and that arcane envelope exploded in two immense fans of prismatic light. Outwards they arched, and then plunged back down. One funnelled into the mare’s body, the other into the wooden bow and panelling of the contrabass. Octavia slumped as the vortex dissipated and she dropped towards the floor.
然后一个黑暗的能量圆球聚集在两只独角兽种马的角上，飞向空中。他们一起撞击了暗影的茧，那神秘的外壳在两个巨大的棱镜光的扇子中爆炸了。它们向外拱起，然后又向下坠落。一个漏斗进入母马的身体，另一个进入木制的弓和低音提琴的镶板。旋涡逐渐消失，奥克塔维亚倒在了地上。
Rarity’s magic caught her and laid her gently down. The gray mare hugged the instrument as she sobbed. “What happened?” Snips asked as he trotted around Octavia. “What happened? Did it work? Did we actually split a soul? Huh? Did we?”
罕有的魔法抓住了她，轻轻地把她放了下来。灰色的母马呜咽着抱着乐器。"发生了什么事?"小鬼头一边在奥克塔维亚小跑一边问道。"发生了什么事？成功了吗？我们真的分裂了一个灵魂吗？什么？是吗?"
“Yeah, is she okay?” the lanky Snails drawled.
"是的，她还好吗?"瘦长的蜗牛慢吞吞地说。
“We’ll find out,” Rarity replied tersely as she looked over Octavia and then back at Snips. “Check the book again.”
"我们会查出来的,"当她环顾奥克塔维亚，然后回到小鬼头的时候，稀少简洁地回答。"再看一遍书。"
Snips flipped it open and leafed through a few pages. “Oh... will you look at that! Looks like the big black book’s got a few ideas on splitting souls all of a sudden.” He peered at the yellowed material. “Mostly involving torture... but it’s got some other things here too!”
小剪刀把它翻开，翻了几页。"哦......你看看那个！看来这本大黑皮书突然想出了一些分裂灵魂的主意。"他凝视着发黄的布料。"大部分都是刑讯逼供......但这里还有其他一些东西!"
“I thought it might. Horrid thing. Well, I have some ideas of my own.” She knelt and nudged Octavia. “Come on, dear. Please wake. Please...”
"我想也许吧。可怕的东西。好吧，我有一些自己的想法。"她跪下来，轻轻推了一下奥克塔维亚。"来吧，亲爱的。请醒过来。求你了......"
“So… how do we know it worked?” Snips asked with a worried frown.
"那么......我们怎么知道它起作用了?"小鬼头愁眉苦脸地问。
Snails pursed his lips, then looked at a workbench on the edge of the room, floated over a sledgehammer, and smashed it repeatedly against the lacquered wood. The surface was untouched. “Looks like it worked, eh?”
蜗牛抿了抿嘴，然后看了看房间边上的一张工作台，在一个大锤上飘来飘去，在漆木头上反复拍打。表面完好无损。"看来起作用了，是吧?"
Octavia’s eyes jerked open, and she slowly sat up. “What happened? I was hurt, and then... I feel... odd.” She struggled to her hooves. “I want to go home, please. Please let me go home.”
奥克塔维亚的眼睛猛地睁开，她慢慢地坐了起来。"发生了什么事？我很受伤，然后......我觉得......很奇怪。"她挣扎着用蹄子。"我想回家，求你了。请让我回家吧。"
Rarity looked at Snails and smiled gently. “Please, see her home. Make sure she’s paid in full.”
瑞妮看着蜗牛，温柔地笑了笑。"请送她回家吧。确保她得到全额赔偿。"
Snails blinked, looked at the floating sledgehammer, and quickly tossed it aside with a bashful look. “Don’t you worry, I’ll get her home, eh?” He looked at her and smiled slowly. “You live in Ponyville, right?”
蜗牛眨了眨眼睛，看着那个漂浮的大锤，很快又害羞地把它扔到一边。"别担心，我会送她回家的，好吗?"他看着她，慢慢地笑了笑。"你住在Ponyville，对吧?"
“F-Flankfurt,” Octavia stammered.
"F-Flankfurt,"奥克塔维亚结结巴巴地说。
“Oh. Well, same diff, don’tcha know. Come on,” he said as he trotted languidly out with Octavia at his side, contrabass resting across her back.
"哦。同样的差别，难道你不知道。来吧,"他说着慢悠悠地跑出去，奥克塔维亚在他身边，低音提琴横在她的背上。
“Sweet! Stop by the Sugarcube Corner there and get a box of donuts to celebrate,” Snips shouted after them. Then he looked up at Rarity. “Woohoo! It was a success! What are we gonna do next!”
"太好了！在SugarcubeCorner停一下，买一盒甜甜圈庆祝一下。"。然后他抬头看着稀有。"呜呼！这是一个成功！我们接下来要做什么?"
“We’ll have to test it a few more times, now that we know that splitting a soul isn’t lethal.” Then she floated out a tiny ceramic figurine. It was one I knew quite well; I had its copy in my saddlebag. Rarity looked down at the tiny replica of herself. “Then, when we can do it without mistakes... I’ll make a set of me and my friends.”
"既然我们知道分裂灵魂并不是致命的，我们还需要再做几次测试。"然后她拿出一个小小的陶瓷雕像。这是一本我非常熟悉的书，我的鞍囊里有一本。稀有低头看着自己的微小复制品。"然后，当我们可以做到没有错误......我会做一套我和我的朋友。"
Snips stared up at her. “You’re gonna put a piece of your friends in each statue? Wow... will they let you?”
小鬼头抬头看着她。"你要在每个雕像上放一块你朋友的东西？哇......他们会让你去吗?"
“No to both,” she said as she pulled out a mirror and gazed into it with a frown. “But I have an idea that ought to be every bit as good as using my friends.” She put the mirror away with a clear shudder. “It should be possible to take a fragment of soul and copy the unique magical properties of another.”
"两个都不行,"她一边说，一边拿出一面镜子，皱着眉头盯着镜子。"但我有一个想法，应该和利用我的朋友一样好。"她打了个冷颤，把镜子拿开了。"应该有可能获得一个灵魂的碎片，然后复制另一个灵魂独特的魔法属性。"
Snips scratched his head, looked at the book, and then said skeptically, “Well... yeah! But only if you like pieces of your soul going poof...” Then his eyes popped wide. “Ooooh! I get it. You’re gonna snip off some felon’s souls and make them like your friends! Clever!” He trotted out of the room, the black book hovering in front of him. “I’m gonna see if I can find anything else new in here!”
小鬼头挠了挠头，看了看那本书，然后怀疑地说,"嗯......是的！但前提是你希望自己的灵魂消失......"然后他的眼睛睁得大大的。"噢！我明白了。你要剪掉一些罪犯的灵魂，让他们成为你的朋友！聪明!"他小跑着走出房间，那本黑皮书在他面前徘徊。"我去看看能不能在这里找到什么新东西!"
Rarity stood alone for several minutes, standing where Octavia had minutes before. I was beginning to wonder why I was still being shown this, and then she said quietly to herself, “No, Snips. No more sacrificing other ponies. I’m going to use my own. Because... it’s not a gift if you take it from somepony else.”
奥瑞尔独自站了几分钟，站在奥克塔维亚几分钟前坐过的地方。我开始想知道为什么我仍然被显示这，然后她平静地对自己说,"不，小鬼头。再也不用牺牲其他小马了。我要用我自己的。因为......如果你从别人那里得到它，它就不是一份礼物。"
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
It was pretty sad that I was getting so used to visions, flashbacks, and other things messing with my perception that I didn’t faceplant into the middle of the ritual circle. As it was, I made a sharp little pirouette, keeping on my hooves before sitting down hard.
很遗憾，我已经习惯了幻觉、闪回和其他扰乱我感知的东西，以至于我没有面对宗教仪式的中心。事实上，我做了一个尖锐的脚尖旋转，在用力坐下之前，我一直保持着我的蹄子。
Octavia. Rarity had split Octavia’s soul, right in two. And part of that soul was inside her contrabass. No wonder I could play it so well, or that Vanity had been able to beat off a mob with it without the instrument getting scratched. It was so obvious; why hadn’t I thought of it before? I hung my head, remembering how sad Octavia had been at the end of her life and how beautiful her music was in contrast to the ugliness of the Wasteland, where beauty of any sort was hard to come by.
女名女子名。罕见把奥克塔维亚的灵魂一分为二。而那灵魂的一部分就在她的低音提琴里。难怪我弹得这么好，也难怪瓦妮特能用它打败一群暴徒，而且乐器没有被刮伤。这是显而易见的，为什么我以前没有想到呢？我低下头，想起奥克塔维亚在生命的尽头是多么的悲伤，想起她的音乐与荒原的丑陋形成了多么美丽的对比，在那里任何形式的美都很难得到。
Maybe it was impulsive of me – okay, most things were – but still, I opened up the panel of my PipBuck. I selected all the audio files from Octavia’s apartment and then activated the broadcaster. “Hi. I don’t know if anypony can hear this...
也许是我太冲动了——好吧，大多数事情都是——但是，我还是打开了我的PipBuck面板。我从奥克塔维亚的公寓里选择了所有的音频文件，然后启动了广播。"嗨。我不知道是否有小马能听到这个..。
but this is Security. I want to share something with you. Two centuries ago, before the bombs fell, there was a musician named Octavia. I don’t blame you if you don’t recognize the name. She took a position against the war, stood up for peace, and was ruined for trying to do better. But she never gave up. Even towards the end of her life, she kept trying to make the world a better place. I have some of her music with me; I know that you might have heard it already from DJ Pon3, but I’d like to share it with you now anyway. Please... I hope you enjoy it...” And then I set the PipBuck to broadcast her music as far as it could. I doubted anypony would hear it, but at least I felt I’d paid back a little of the gift her music had given me.
但这里是安全部。我想和你分享一些东西。两个世纪前，在炸弹落下之前，有一个叫奥克塔维亚的音乐家。如果你不认识这个名字，我也不怪你。她站出来反对战争，支持和平，却因为试图做得更好而毁了自己。但她从未放弃。即使在她生命的尽头，她仍然在努力让这个世界变得更加美好。我有一些她的音乐与我;我知道你可能已经听到了从DJPon3，但我想与你现在无论如何分享它。请......我希望你能喜欢......"然后我打开PipBuck，尽可能地播放她的音乐。我怀疑是否会有小马听到这首歌，但至少我觉得我已经从她的音乐中得到了一些回报。
But then Octavia’s music began to slowly cry out of the speakers of the prison; I must have gotten lucky on the frequency or something. It was a requiem for Hightower.
但是后来奥克塔维亚的音乐开始从监狱的扬声器中慢慢传出来，我一定是在频率上走运了。这是给海托华的安魂曲。
And then, several seconds later, I heard a humming noise. I looked over at Rampage, who seemed lost in the music and her own worries. Slowly, I turned and began to stalk the source. In the corner of the room, I found a tiny cot covered in a heap of dirty rags behind drums of powdered porcelain. I looked over at the filthy dust-streaked black cloths as they hummed along with the low melody, and then I said quietly, “Snails?”
几秒钟后，我听到了嗡嗡的声音。我看着朗格，她似乎沉浸在音乐和自己的忧虑之中。慢慢地，我转过身，开始追踪源头。在房间的角落里，我发现了一张小小的床，上面盖着一堆脏抹布，后面是一些粉末状的瓷器。我看着那些肮脏的、布满灰尘的黑布，它们随着低沉的旋律嗡嗡作响，然后我平静地说:"蜗牛?"
“G’way...” he muttered.
"G'way......"他喃喃自语道。
“Snails, I’m Blackjack. I’m here to take you out of here,” I said as politely as I could. I didn’t want him to go feral. “Snips sent me.”
"蜗牛，我是黑杰克。"我是来带你离开这里的,"我尽可能礼貌地说。我不想让他变得野蛮。"小鬼头派我来的。"
The rags curled up. “He’s dead... isn’t he?” I moved next to him and sat down beside the cot.
抹布卷起来了。"他死了......不是吗?"我走到他身边，在小床旁边坐下。
“Yeah. He is. A lot of ponies died helping him save you. He’s spent a real long time trying to get you out of here. Now we have to go,” I said as I put my hoof on his shoulder. I couldn’t tell if the pony under the rags was a ghoul, a mutant, or something else; not even the eyes were showing. “Please... he wanted to get you out of here. He says he’s sorry he didn’t bring donuts...”
"是的。是的。很多小马为了救你而死。他花了很长时间想把你弄出去。"现在我们得走了,"我把蹄子放在他的肩上说。我不知道那个穿破衣服的小马是食尸鬼，还是变种人，或者别的什么，连眼睛都看不出来。"求你了......他想带你离开这里。他说他很抱歉没有带甜甜圈来......"
The rags sniffed and shifted, and Snails sat up. The pony beneath them was much like the pony I’d seen in the vision, a middle-aged unicorn stallion with an orangey coat. And like Snips, his eyes glowed with a soft luminescence. He had a pair of figurines in his hooves, ones of Snips and himself as young stallions, maybe even from before the war. ‘Bestest Friend’ read the inscription on the former, ‘Besterest Friend’ on the latter. Around his neck, on a frayed ribbon, was a tacky little medallion of three shooting stars. The gilt had rubbed off on some of the corners, but it was still inscribed with ‘Best Magic Act’.
抹布嗅了嗅，移动了一下，蜗牛坐了起来。他们脚下的小马很像我在幻象中看到的那匹小马，一匹中年的独角兽种马，身穿橙色外套。像小鬼头一样，他的眼睛发出柔和的冷光。他的蹄子上有两个小雕像，一个是斯奈普斯的，另一个是他年轻时的种马，也许是战前的。"最好的朋友"上面写着:"最好的朋友"。在他的脖子上，有一条破旧的缎带，上面挂着一个俗气的三颗流星形成的小奖章。镀金已经磨掉了一些角落，但它仍然刻着"最佳魔术表演"。
“You’re his friend?” Snails asked slowly as he sat up.
"你是他的朋友?"蜗牛坐起来慢慢地问。
“I’m... I guess you could call me that. I was trying to help him and he was trying to help you. So now I’m trying to help you.” I guessed that was friendship, sort of. Technically? “He... um... accidentally put a curse on me. The swirly curse.” Snails’s glowing eyes scowled in thought, and I gave a hopeful smile. “He said you’d know how to remove it?”
"我......我想你可以这么叫我。我想帮他他也想帮你。所以现在我想帮你。"我猜那应该算是友谊吧。技术上来说？"他...嗯...不小心对我下了诅咒。漩涡的诅咒。"蜗牛闪闪发光的眼睛沉思着，我满怀希望地笑了笑。"他说你知道怎么去掉它?"
“The swirly one? I dunno... I don’t think you can remove that one. ‘Cause it’s all swirly and spreads till it pops you right out of your body.” The orange pony scratched his matted mane. “I can... well... nope... but maybe? Um... no... that probably wouldn’t work. But maybe... huh...”
"漩涡状的那个？我不知道...我不认为你能把那个拿掉。"因为它会一直旋转，扩散，直到把你从身体里弹出来。"那匹橙色的小马抓挠着它那纠结的鬃毛。"我可以......嗯......不行......但也许可以？呃...不...那可能行不通。但也许......"
I was struck by the horrible revelation that my life and soul were in the hooves of Equestria’s slowest necromancer.
令我震惊的是，我的生命和灵魂都在Equestria最慢的亡灵巫师的蹄子里。
Rampage then spoke behind me. “Hey, Blackjack? Not sure if you’ve noticed, but things are getting smoky up here. We can’t have long until that warhead pops. We’ve got to get out of here.”
然后狂暴在我身后说话。"嘿，黑杰克？不知道你有没有注意到，这里的烟雾越来越浓了。弹头爆炸之前我们没多少时间了。我们必须离开这里。"
“Oh... you can’t do that,” Snails said with a shiver. “Warden said he won’t let anypony go... ‘cause we’re in... um... lockdown! Been in lockdown for, like, ever...” He looked off to the side. “And Warden’s a monster now. I mean... he’s got those robots and he’s all big and fat and glowy and... yeah. Not happening. Not till the Warden wants you to.”
"哦......你不能这么做,"蜗牛颤抖着说。"监狱长说他不会放走任何小马...'因为我们在...嗯...一级防范禁闭！一级防范禁闭，好像，永远......"他朝旁边看了看。"监狱长现在是个怪物。我的意思是...他有那些机器人，他又大又胖还发光...是的。不可能。除非监狱长要你这么做。"
“You’ve seen him?” I asked with a frown.
"你见过他?"我皱着眉头问。
“Oh yeah. Asked if I could go find Snips or Mistress Rarity, but he said no. Cast a bunch of spells on him too... ‘cause he needed to be able to ‘control the prison’. Said he’d have order and that none of the scum were gonna get out.” Snips looked away. “He... um... he’s sorta big and scary now, so I just stayed in here with all my friends,” he said as he looked over at the figurines. “Clay’s nice and easy and doesn’t mind if you’re slow. In fact, Rarity said that that made me better than anypony for working it. Just gotta be careful.”
"哦，是的。当被问到我是否可以去找小鬼头或者稀少情妇时，他说不行。也对他施了一些咒语......因为他需要能够"控制监狱"。他说他会遵守秩序，这些人渣都出不去。"小鬼头转过头去。"他......嗯......他现在有点大，有点吓人，所以我只能和我所有的朋友呆在这里,"他一边说，一边看着那些雕像。"克莱人很好，也很随和，不介意你动作慢。事实上，罕有说，这使我比任何一匹小马都更适合做这个工作。只是要小心点。"
“Right. Okay. Does the Warden have anything else in there? Robots? Turrets?” I asked Snails as I looked at the figurines. What was Rarity doing with these little statuettes? They were nothing compared to the five I’d collected in the Wasteland. They all looked so... dead...
"对。好吧。狱长还有别的东西吗？机器人？炮塔?"我看着小雕像问蜗牛。稀世拿着这些小雕像干什么？和我在荒原收集的五个相比，它们算不了什么。他们看起来都...死了..。
“Oh yeah. He’s got it all,” Snails said with a little nod. “And he’s big, too,” he reiterated earnestly, as if hoping it’d help.
"哦，是的。"蜗牛点了点头说。"而且他个子也很大,"他认真地重申，似乎希望这会有所帮助。
“Right. Big. Scary. Turrets and robots. Well, we’ve dealt with all of those,” I said as I sighed. “Does the Warden have a terminal or something?”
"对。很大。真可怕。炮塔和机器人。好吧，我们已经解决了所有这些问题,"我叹了口气说。"水保有终点站吗?"
“Oh yeah! Right by his desk. A big, fancy one. Controls everything in the prison,” Snails said, nodding as an idea began to form in my head.
"哦，是的！就在他桌子旁边。一个又大又花哨的。控制着监狱里的一切,"蜗牛说，我脑子里形成了一个想法，他点了点头。
“So we don’t need to beat the Warden. We just need to occupy him long enough for a certain zebra to get to that terminal and lift the lockdown. Then we blast the terminal, run for our lives, and let the balefire bomb finish him off!” I grinned at Rampage. “Okay. Let’s get back to the others.”
"所以我们不需要打典狱长。我们只需要占领他足够长的时间，让某只斑马到达航站楼并解除封锁。然后我们炸毁航站楼，逃命，然后让烟火炸弹把他干掉!"我冲着暴怒咧嘴一笑。"好吧。让我们回到其他人身上。"
Snails blinked slowly at Rampage. “Do I know you?”
暴怒的蜗牛慢慢眨着眼睛。"我认识你吗?"
“Eh...” She rolled her eyes. “Part of me... don’t worry about it. Welcome to the Blackjack and Co. Travelling Freak Show. Remember to shoot Blackjack. It’s good luck.”
"呃......"她翻了翻白眼。"我的一部分......别担心。欢迎来到黑杰克玩具公司。旅行怪物秀。记得拍黑杰克。这是好运。"
“Do not shoot Blackjack!” I contradicted at once as we started out. Snails gathered up a few trinkets and things in his raggedy black cloak; it didn’t take very long. Fortunately, the skinny stallion wasn’t slow moving, just slow thinking.
"不要向黑杰克开枪!"我们出发的时候，我立刻反驳了。蜗牛用他那破烂的黑斗篷收集了一些小饰品和东西，没用多长时间。幸运的是，这匹瘦瘦的种马并没有动作缓慢，只是思考缓慢。
“What was Rarity doing here, though?” Rampage asked as we trotted out of the ritual chamber, looking at all the figurines.
"那么，雷诺在这里做什么呢?"我们小跑着走出仪式的房间，看着所有的雕像，狂暴问道。
“Nothin’. She just split her soul into forty-three pieces. She put forty-two of ‘em into the figurines. The last one she kept; I know because I made sure it got back to her and that it was the brightest and shiniest part of all,” he said with clear pride but otherwise as if he was mentioning that it was raining. It halted me in my horseshoes, though.
"没什么。她刚刚把自己的灵魂撕成了四十三块。她在那些小雕像上放了42个。她留下的最后一个，我知道，因为我确信它回到了她身边，那是所有东西中最明亮、最闪亮的部分,"他带着明显的骄傲说道，但其他方面却好像在提到天在下雨。不过，它让我的马蹄铁停了下来。
“Forty... three? Rarity split her soul into forty-three pieces?!” Octavia’s scream of agony was fresh in my memory, and that had merely ripped her soul in half. How could she... could anypony... possibly survive something like that? I accessed my inventory spell and wiggled free the Fluttershy statuette. “You’re telling me there’s a piece of Rarity’s soul in here?”
"四十？难得把她的灵魂撕成四十三块?!"奥克塔维亚痛苦的尖叫在我的记忆中记忆犹新，那只是把她的灵魂撕成了两半。她怎么可能......任何小马......在那种情况下还能活下来？我打开了我的库存咒语，摆动了一下那个小雕像。"你是说这里面有一块'稀有'的灵魂?"
He took it in his magic, then calmly smashed it down against the ground. If I had a heart it would have stopped. The figurine, though, was completely unharmed save for a little bit of dust on her pink mane. “Yup. Well, it was a piece of her soul, but then she copied some of Miss Fluttershy over it. She was such a nice pony.” He looked at the inscription and blinked, then flushed. “Oh... heh... supposed to say ‘Be Pleasant’... whoopsie...”
他用魔法接受了它，然后平静地把它摔在地上。如果我有心脏的话，它早就停止跳动了。不过，这个小雕像除了粉红色的鬃毛上有一点灰尘之外，完全没有受伤。"是的。嗯，这是她灵魂的一部分，但是后来她模仿了弗特希小姐的一些话。她真是一匹漂亮的小马。"他看着题字，眨了眨眼，然后满脸通红。"哦......呵......应该说'愉快'......哎呀......"
Forty-three pieces. “But... why?” I stammered.
四十三块。"但是......为什么?"我结结巴巴地说。
“Um, Blackjack? Balefire bomb going to go off? Swirly curse killing you? Imminent mortal doom?” The striped mare gave an apologetic smile at Snails. “You’ve got to excuse her. She gets distracted easily by the motivations of ponies who died two centuries ago. Makes her overlook the little things.”
"嗯，黑杰克？巴利火炸弹要爆炸了？漩涡咒杀了你？即将到来的人类末日?"那匹有条纹的母马对蜗牛抱歉地笑了笑。"你得原谅她。她很容易被两个世纪前死去的小马的动机分心。让她忽视那些小事。"
“Yeah,” I muttered, trying to get my head back in the game. Still, a part of me wanted to know. “Come on. Maybe we can get lucky and talk reason with the Warden.” It was possible… right?
"是啊,"我喃喃自语，试图让我的头回到游戏。尽管如此，我还是有点想知道。"来吧。也许我们运气好，可以和狱长谈谈理由。"这是有可能的，对吧？
We rejoined the others. Psychoshy was barely conscious and still struggling to breathe. Stygius, slumped beside her, glanced up at me weakly. ‘Too much
我们回到其他人身边。精神病患者几乎没有意识，仍然挣扎着呼吸。斯提吉乌斯瘫倒在她身旁，抬起头虚弱地看着我。""太多了
smoke’, he’d scribbled on his slate. Xanthe was still on her hooves, but she looked exhausted and slightly befuddled. Blossomforth and the others were trying to care for them as best they could, but there simply wasn’t much they could do.
他在石板上潦草地写着。赞斯仍然在她的蹄子上，但她看起来筋疲力尽，有点迷惑不解。朵朵和其他人都尽力照顾他们，但是他们也无能为力。
Silver Spoon immediately trotted forward to Snails and smiled. “Hey. Long time no see.”
银勺立刻小跑向蜗牛，微笑着。"嘿。好久不见。"
He blinked in confusion, and then his glowy eyes popped wide. “Spoon?! But... you’re... um... wow…”
他困惑地眨了眨眼睛，然后他闪闪发光的眼睛睁得大大的。"勺子?！但是......你......嗯......哇......"
“Yeah. And Twist is inside her,” Silver Spoon said, pointing a hoof at Rampage, who scowled back. “It’s a regular Ponyville reunion.” Blossomforth blinked as she looked at Silver Spoon in surprise. “I’m sorry about Snips,” Silver Spoon continued. “He didn’t make it.”
"是的。"而且特威斯特在她肚子里,"银勺子用蹄子指着横冲直撞的人说，他也皱起了眉头。"这是普通的马厩聚会。"朵朵惊讶地看着银汤匙，眨着眼睛。"小鬼头的事我很抱歉,"银汤匙继续说道。"他没能挺过来。"
“Did he really come all this way to save me?” Snails asked slowly.
"他真的大老远跑来救我吗?"蜗牛慢慢地问道。
“Yeah. He actually cursed Tiara to keep her from leaving. Totally crazy,” she replied.
"是的。实际上他诅咒Tiara不让她离开。完全疯了,"她回答。
“Tiara’s here?” he asked, looking around nervously.
"皇冠在这里?"他问道，紧张地环顾四周。
Silver Spoon dropped her eyes. “Well... no. I mean... Blackjack. I get them confused. But... I mean... if I’m still here, and you’re still here... maybe Diamond Tiara is somewhere out in the Wasteland?”
银汤匙垂下了她的眼睛。"好吧......不。我是说...黑杰克。我把他们弄糊涂了。但是......我的意思是......如果我还在这里，而你还在这里......也许钻石头冠就在荒原的某个地方?"
“Xanthe,” I said to the zebra as the two ghouls talked, “I need you to do something. We’re going to deal with the Warden, and I need you to get to his terminal to lift the lockdown. Can you do it?” She muttered something in Zebra. “Is that a yes or a no?” She muttered something else equally inexplicable. “Xanthe!” I snapped, and her eyes focused on my face.
"桑西,"两个食尸鬼说话的时候，我对斑马说,"我需要你做点什么。我们要对付狱长，我需要你去他的终端解除封锁。你能做到吗?"她用斑马语喃喃自语。"是还是不是?"她喃喃地说了些同样令人费解的话。"赞特!"我厉声说道，她的眼睛盯着我的脸。
“Right... lift the lockdown... Warden’s terminal... sure...easy peasey faciley...” I wasn’t sure she was quite with it, but she was our best chance.
"好吧......解除封锁......监狱长的终端......当然......容易得手......"我不确定她是否完全同意，但她是我们最好的机会。
I turned to Blossomforth. “Soon as it’s lifted, get to the garage. Get ready to get everypony out of here. Understand? Soon as it gets lifted, we’re coming running.”
我转向了Blossomforth。"一旦它被抬起来，就到车库去。准备好让大家离开这里。明白吗？一旦它被抬起来，我们就开始奔跑。"
I looked at Carrion, who had swapped out one of his miniguns for Xanthe’s re-re-jury-rigged beam gun, which she’d apparently gotten working again at some point; really, how many times had she patched that thing up? “Ready, soldier?” He smirked and saluted. “Ready, Reaper?” Rampage still looked troubled, but she met my gaze and gave a little smile and nod. “Ready... um... zebra?” The striped mare gave a little grin and babbled something in Zebra, but saluted smartly... and then gave a surprised look at the hoof at her temple.
我看了看卡利昂，他把他的一个小家伙换成了赞塞的重新装配的光束枪，显然她在某个时候又重新开始工作了;说真的，那东西她修补了多少次？"准备好了吗，士兵?"他得意地笑了笑并敬了个礼。"准备好了吗，死神?"狂暴看起来仍然有些不安，但是她迎着我的目光，微微一笑，点了点头。"准备好了吗...嗯...斑马?"斑马咧嘴笑了一下，用斑马语说了些什么，但是很快地敬了个礼......然后惊讶地看了看她太阳穴上的蹄子。
Then Stygius hauled himself up to his hooves and tapped his chest. “You sure?” The charcoal batpony nodded once, flying over next to me. That was good enough for me. I looked at the ghouls. “The rest of you, make sure you get those wagons and are ready to get us all the hell out of here.”
然后，斯蒂吉乌斯把自己拉到蹄子前，轻轻拍了拍自己的胸部。"你确定?"木炭小马点了一下头，飞到了我旁边。这对我来说已经足够了。我看着那些食尸鬼。"其他人，确保你们准备好那些马车，准备带我们离开这个鬼地方。"
“Wait...” Psychoshy croaked as she fought to her hooves. “Not... gonna... just... sit this one out...” Then she started coughing and wheezing as she swayed. Snails and Twitchy helped keep her upright as she struggled to join us. “Not.. letting… you fight... without... me!” she pleaded as she looked at the ebon-winged batpony.
"等等......"精神病害羞一边用力挣扎，一边用嘶哑的声音说。"不...不...只是...坐在这一个..."然后她开始咳嗽和喘息，她摇摆。蜗牛和焦虑帮助她保持直立，因为她挣扎着加入我们。"没有。.让...你...战斗...没有...我!"她一边恳求一边看着那匹长着黑檀翅膀的蝙蝠马。
Stygius flew back to her, held her by her shoulders, and shook his head. She coughed and looked him in the eye. “I’m good to fight! Just... give me a second!” He shook his head again, and she glared at him. “Don’t you... tell me no! I’m capable... of kicking as much... flank as--” Then he silenced her with a hoof-curling kiss. Her blue eyes popped wide, and then her buttery wings fluffed at her sides. Slowly, she swayed and finally sat down hard, Stygius moving with her to keep contact, and closed her eyes as she smiled in bliss.
斯蒂吉乌斯飞回到她身边，抓住她的肩膀，摇了摇头。她咳嗽着，看着他的眼睛。"我很善于战斗！等我一下!"他又摇了摇头，她瞪着他。"你不要......告诉我不行！我有能力...尽可能的踢...侧面..."然后他用一个卷着蹄子的吻让她安静下来。她的蓝眼睛睁得大大的，黄油般的翅膀在身体两侧抖动着。慢慢地，她摇摆着，最后重重地坐了下来，斯蒂吉乌斯和她一起移动以保持联系，她在幸福中微笑着闭上了眼睛。
“Imminent mortal doom, people...” Rampage muttered beside me.
"人类的末日即将来临......"狂暴在我身边喃喃自语。
When he finally broke the kiss she blushed hard and smiled. “Oh, wow...” she murmured, then sighed, looking up at him. “You’d better make it, then. Here...” she said as she pulled off her power hooves and passed them to the armored stallion. “Bring them back, understand? I plan on using them myself... I mean it...”
当他终于打破了她的吻，她脸红得厉害，笑了。"哦，哇......"她低声说，然后叹了口气，抬头看着他。""那么，你最好赶快去。这里......"她一边说，一边脱下她的马蹄，递给那匹装甲骏马。""把他们带回来，明白吗？我打算自己使用它们......我是认真的......"
The stallion nodded, and I helped him put the weapons on with my magic. Next, we drank the rest of our recycled RadAway. I made sure the AM rifle and missile launcher were both accessible on my back, looked to the others, and nodded once. Side by side, we walked back down the hall towards a pair of double doors
这匹种马点点头，我用魔法帮他把武器放上去。接下来，我们喝完了剩下的回收的RadAway。我确信调幅步枪和导弹发射器都在我的背后，看着其他人，点了点头。我们肩并肩地沿着大厅往回走，走向一对双开门
marked ‘Warden’.
上面写著「监狱长」。
“You know, this is going to be really anticlimactic if he just lets us go,” Rampage muttered.
"你知道，如果他就这样放我们走，这真是虎头蛇尾,"狂暴喃喃自语。
“Have we ever had that kind of luck?” I replied. She snorted and grinned. “We’ve gone through hell together, and I’m quite done with this fucking tower. Time to finish this.” Graves, Lacunae, and Snips wouldn’t have died for nothing. Still, if I could occupy him with chatter... hey, worked for me!
"我们有过这样的运气吗?"我回答。她哼了一声，咧嘴笑了。"我们一起经历过地狱，我受够了这个该死的塔。是时候做个了结了。"格拉夫斯、拉库尼和斯奈普斯不会无缘无故地死去。尽管如此，如果我能用喋喋不休打扰他的话...嘿，对我有用！
Then I pushed the doors open with my magic and stepped through. Over the speakers, an ominous melody began to play. The Warden’s office was a large roof with a vaulted ceiling. Four hovering robots with monitors lurked in the corners. Most immediately noticeable, though, was the floor; it wasn’t cement, wood, carpet, or metal. It was thick glass between heavy steel beams that formed a grid. Smoky plumes shot up in little geysers. As we walked, my eyes were drawn downwards. The smoke made the strangest swirling motion, outlining a central void that went all the way down to the inferno below. I could see the missile and its armored warhead...
然后我用魔法推开门走了进去。扬声器里响起了不祥的旋律。典狱长的办公室是一个带有拱形天花板的大屋顶。四个带着监视器的机器人徘徊在角落里。最引人注目的是地板，不是水泥、木头、地毯或金属。它是厚厚的玻璃，在沉重的钢梁之间形成了一个网格。烟柱在小间歇泉中喷发。我们一边走，我的眼睛一边向下看。浓烟做出了最奇怪的旋转运动，勾勒出一个中央空洞，一直延伸到下面的地狱。我可以看到导弹和它的装甲弹头..。
It was glowing in the heat.
它在热浪中发着光。
But where was the Warden? There was nothing else in here except a huge pile of junk piled up in the center of the office. There was nothing else...
但是监狱长在哪里？除了办公室中央堆积的一大堆垃圾，这里什么也没有。没有别的了..。
And then the pile moved...
然后那堆东西移动了..。
It slowly rose up, looming higher and higher as it twisted around to face us. There was a reason the screens had only shown Warden Hobble’s face: it was all that could fit. Two centuries of direct exposure to the warhead had caused the ghoul to swell to Goliathian proportions. His hips were trapped within the warped center of the glass floor, his rear legs dangling twenty feet below, draped in glass stalactites. The blackened undead flesh erupted prominences and coronas of blue flame in magmatic floes that healed mere instants later. The desks and furniture and a half dozen sentry bots had been fused into a carapace-like armor that vaguely resembled some sort of uniform.
它慢慢地升起来，越来越高，盘旋着面向我们。屏幕上只显示霍布尔狱长的脸是有原因的:这是所有能装下的东西。两个世纪的直接暴露在弹头下导致食尸鬼膨胀到歌利亚的比例。他的臀部卡在弯曲的玻璃地板中央，后腿悬垂在二十英尺以下，悬挂着玻璃钟乳石。变黑的不死生物的肉体突然喷发出蓝色火焰般的突起，并在不久之后愈合了岩浆的浮冰。桌子、家具和六个哨兵机器人已经融合成了甲壳状的盔甲，隐约有点像某种制服。
The thing’s mouth split in a volcanic grin as he stretched his forehooves wide, and then two great skeletal wings wreathed in flame spread from one side of the room to the other. Behind him, set into the wall, was a large, complex terminal.
当他伸展前蹄的时候，那东西的嘴裂开了，露出火山般的笑容，然后两个巨大的骨骼翅膀像火焰一样从房间的一边伸展到另一边。在他身后的墙上，是一个巨大而复杂的终端。
Celestia only knew how the gargantuan monster used it. He leaned towards us, his eyes narrowing. “You lied to me. You’re not with the M.o.M. The riot. The fire... This is some kind of elaborate deception... a plot against me. Yes...”
塞莱斯蒂亚只知道巨大的怪物是如何使用它的。他向我们靠过来，眯起眼睛。"你骗了我。你不是m.o.m的人。暴乱。那场火...这是某种精心策划的骗局...一个针对我的阴谋。是的......"
I swallowed, baking in the tremendous heat coming through the foot-thick glass. I hoped it was magically hardened or something, because I really didn’t want to sink through the floor. Regardless of any hardening it might have had, though, it was searing hot, and I was truly glad to have cyberlimbs right now; I might have been leaving hoofprints of stinking melted rubber, but that and an unpleasant heat were the only things I had to deal with. Rampage trotted onto it without hesitation, just wrinkling her nose in discomfort as her hooves sizzled. Now I was really glad Xanthe had her soul armor... though the sight of the abomination had brought her out of her daze and left her staring up at it in horror. Please don’t forget the mission, Xanthe...
我咽了口唾沫，透过一英尺厚的玻璃，在巨大的热浪中烘烤着。我希望它被魔法变硬了，因为我真的不想在地板上沉下去。不管它可能有什么硬化，虽然，它是灼热的，我真的很高兴现在有网络四肢;我可能已经留下了臭烘烘的融化橡胶蹄印，但那和一个令人不快的热量是我必须处理的唯一事情。横冲直撞毫不犹豫地小跑过来，当她的蹄子发出咝咝声时，她不舒服地皱起了鼻子。现在我真的很高兴赞西有了她的灵魂盔甲......尽管那可憎的景象已经把她从迷茫中带出来，让她惊恐地凝视着它。请不要忘记任务，Xanthe..。
“There is a deception, yes. One you’re playing on yourself, Hobble,” I said, swallowing as I saw the gatling beam guns from the sentry robots mounted on each of the Warden’s forehooves. “You’re not the warden of a prison anymore. This place is a ruin. There is no Equestria anymore. There hasn’t been for two centuries.” I gestured at him with my stump. “Look at yourself, Hobble! Look at what you’ve become.”
"是的，这是一种欺骗。"这是你自己玩的，霍布尔,"我一边说着，一边吞下了看守人前蹄上安装的岗哨机器人发出的格特林机枪。"你不再是监狱长了。这地方简直是废墟。再也没有小马国了。两个世纪以来都没有。"我用残肢指了指他。"看看你自己，瘸子！看看你现在的样子。"
He roared back, “Spare me your lies! I have no more patience for this. I will have order. I will have control! This is my prison! My empire! My world, and you have no place in it!”
他咆哮着回答:"省省你的谎言吧！我已经没有耐心了。我会遵守秩序。我会掌控一切！这是我的监狱！我的帝国！我的世界里没有你的位置!"
So much for him just letting us go.
他就这么放我们走了。
The Warden swept his forehooves wide, and a half-dozen beam guns sprayed out in a storm of fire across the office. Rampage charged straight ahead across the glass floor, her steel-clad hooves smoking as she closed the distance, leapt, and locked all four hoofclaws into his chest armor. Carrion launched himself up above that glittering arc and sprayed down both the cutting emerald beam and minigun fire. Stygius shadowflashed again and again, zigzagging closer and closer and then finally bringing his borrowed power hooves smashing against the Warden’s head with a satisfying crack.
典狱长前蹄一扬，办公室里火光冲天，射出六支枪。横冲直撞的横冲直撞穿过玻璃地板，她的钢铁覆盖的蹄子冒着烟，她接近了距离，跳了起来，把所有的四个蹄爪都锁进了他的胸甲里。腐肉从闪闪发光的弧线上升起，喷射出切割的翡翠光束和迷你炮火。斯提吉乌斯的影子一次又一次地闪烁着，曲折地越来越近，最后，他借来的强有力的蹄子啪地一声砸在了水保的头上。
Xanthe… still stood there gaping. I tackled her and dropped under the gatling barrage. The glass baked me through my barding as I looked her in the eyes and
赞西......仍然站在那里，目瞪口呆。我扑倒了她，然后在格林机关枪的掩护下摔倒了。当我看着她的眼睛时，玻璃把我烤得透不过气来
screamed, “Get to the terminal! Lift the lockdown!” Her eyes focused on me, and she blinked, swallowed in terror, and disappeared.
尖叫着,"到候机楼去！解除封锁!"她的眼睛盯着我，眨了眨眼睛，在恐惧中吞咽下去，然后消失了。
I turned and rose to my hooves, shielding my face with my stump. The bolts burned, but it’d take more than a fancy light show to turn me into a pile of dust. I brought up the missile launcher as the flurry of shots passed above me. His blazing wings swatted at Stygius, but the batpony shadowflashed away a half instant before the burning skeletal wings could catch him. One giant hoof smashed at Rampage, trying to scrape her off, but the armored Reaper refused to be flicked away so easily. The other hoof was pointed at Carrion... there!
我转过身，站起来，用我的残肢挡住脸。螺栓烧坏了，但是要把我变成一堆灰尘可不是一场奇特的灯光秀那么简单。我打开了导弹发射器，一阵子弹从我头顶掠过。他炽热的翅膀拍打着Stygius，但是蝙蝠马的影子在燃烧的骨骼翅膀抓住他之前闪开了半个瞬间。一只巨大的蹄子在狂暴中猛撞，试图把她刮下来，但是装甲好的收割者拒绝轻易被甩掉。另一只蹄子指着腐肉...那儿！
I jumped into S.A.T.S. and launched the missile right at the outstretched hoof. The projectile streaked true, exploding in a fiery blast on the end of his foreleg. One of the beam weapons even sparked and blew apart completely. The intact limb stopped trying to scrape Rampage away and pointed at me as I flipped the launcher open and fed another missile in. The beam spray bit into the reinforced combat armor and even struck hide, but I turned aside, sheltering the launcher as I finished loading and snapped the weapon closed. Only then did I turn, jump into S.A.T.S. again, and send another missile streaking into the other hoof.
我跳进了s.a.t.s，把导弹发射到了四面八方。子弹射得很准，在他的前腿末端爆炸。其中一个光束武器甚至完全爆炸了。我把发射器打开，又投入了一枚导弹，完好无损的肢体停止了挣扎，指着我。光束射入加固的战斗装甲，甚至击中隐藏，但我转过身来，掩护发射器，因为我装载完毕，啪的一声关闭了武器。直到那时，我才转过身，再次跳入s.a.t.s，又一枚导弹飞驰进另一只蹄子里。
“Take out his hooves, Carrion!” I shouted as the rain of crimson light slackened immensely. I just didn’t have the speed to run and dodge with three hooves, but I was a tough fucking cyberpony. Carrion changed his target immediately, and he was quite capable of banking and evading the Warden’s fire while still pouring his own shots on that outstretched limb.
"把他的蹄子踢出来，小腐尸!"我大声喊道，深红色的光雨大大地减弱了。我只是没有跑的速度和闪避三蹄，但我是一个他妈的强硬的赛博马。腐尸立刻改变了他的目标，他完全有能力在躲避监狱长的射击的同时，仍然把他自己的子弹射向那伸出的四肢。
Then Rampage reached a part of him that wasn’t covered in steel: his face. Her glowing-hot hoofclaws sank into his black, charred hide with little explosions of fiery ichor. Now the Warden let out a roar as the mare went into a spiked frenzy, trying to claw and dig her way into his fiery eye. He lifted his hooves towards the Reaper and pinched her between them.
然后，狂暴达到了他身上没有被钢铁覆盖的一部分:他的脸。她炽热的蹄爪陷进了他那已经被烧焦的黑色皮肤里，只留下一点点火红的鱼迹。这时，典狱长发出一声咆哮，母马陷入了狂乱的尖刺中，试图用爪子挖开它炽热的眼睛。他朝着死神抬起蹄子，夹住了她。
With a bellow of rage, he tore her free and smashed her like a slab of meat once, twice, thrice against the floor. The glass blocks crackled under her, and for a horrifying moment I thought he was going to smash her right through the floor and into the firestorm below. I loaded another missile, pointed it between those upraised hooves, and fired it right into his savaged face. The impact made him sway back, and Rampage tumbled to the ground with a crunchy thump.
他大发雷霆，把她撕开，像一块肉一样砸在地板上，一次，两次，三次。玻璃砖在她身下劈啪作响，在那可怕的一刻，我以为他要把她砸穿地板，砸进下面的火风暴里。我又装上了一枚导弹，把它对准那两只上翘的蹄子之间，然后朝着它那受到猛烈攻击的脸开了一枪。撞击使他后仰，狂暴摔倒在地，发出嘎吱嘎吱的响声。
Stygius divebombed the Warden, shadowflashed away, and then divebombed again. Each hit corresponded with an eruption of flaming ghoulish flesh. The batpony was relentless in his assault. Carrion had swapped to using Xanthe’s beam gun almost exclusively, the emerald lance disintegrating a thin line of armor with every pass. I loaded another missile, and the Warden glared at me and took a deep breath.
斯提吉乌斯轰炸了瓦登，影子闪开了，然后又轰炸了一次。每一次撞击都伴随着燃烧的食尸鬼般的肉体的爆发。这匹蝙蝠马在进攻中毫不留情。腐尸几乎只使用赞西的射击枪，每次穿越，翡翠长矛都会分解成一道薄薄的装甲线。我又装上了一枚导弹，狱长瞪了我一眼，深吸了一口气。
Oh, I’d seen enough flaming ones to know what was coming next! He opened his mouth wide and spewed an almost liquid stream of fire at me, and I was running as fast as my hooves could carry me... which, due to my missing leg, unfortunately wasn’t very fast. I might have gotten clear of the main stream, but I was pretty sure my ass was on fire! And so was my missile launcher! I tossed it away as I rolled across the blazing-hot – but not actually on fire at the moment – floor. The launcher exploded somewhere behind me as I concentrated on putting myself out.
哦，我已经看过足够多的火焰，知道接下来会发生什么！他张大嘴巴，向我喷射出一股几乎是液体的火流，我尽我的蹄子所能跑得最快......但是，由于我缺了一条腿，不幸的是跑得不是很快。我可能已经离开了主流，但是我很确定我的屁股着火了！我的导弹发射器也是！我把它扔了，因为我滚过了炽热的地板，但不是真的着火了。发射器在我身后某个地方爆炸了，当时我正集中精力准备跳伞。
Almost a minute later, I’d extinguished the blue flames on me and looked up at the immense ghoul monster as it incinerated a corner of the room. And then I realized just how radioactive the room was just now. I’d walked in here with almost no rads and now I was almost into the yellow. Sweat poured down my face as I rose to my hooves and watched the blows Stygius was raining down healing almost as fast as he inflicted them. Even Xanthe’s beam gun, while devastating to his armor, wasn’t inflicting enough damage to overcome his incredible regeneration.
差不多一分钟后，我扑灭了身上的蓝色火焰，抬头看着那个巨大的食尸鬼，它正把房间的一角烧成灰烬。然后我意识到这个房间刚才的放射性有多强。我走进这里，几乎没有拉德，现在我几乎进入黄色。汗水从我的脸上倾泻而下，我站起来，看着斯蒂吉乌斯的拳头如雨点般迅速愈合，几乎和他的拳头一样快。即使赞西的光枪，虽然对他的盔甲造成了毁灭性的打击，但也没有造成足够的伤害来克服他不可思议的再生能力。
I hoped that Xanthe lifted the lockdown soon. We didn’t have quite enough firepower for this. I brought the AM rifle around and took aim through its scope as the Warden swiped at Stygius, and then I loaded a shell with an orange band.
我希望赞斯能尽快解除封锁。我们的火力不够。我拿着调幅步枪瞄准了Stygius，然后给弹壳上了一个橙色的弹带。
Who knew AM ammunition came in explosive flavor?
谁知道AM弹药有爆炸的味道？
The shot struck the only vulnerable spot I could see: his eye. The round exploded, the fiery eyeball erupting in flaming fluid. My satisfaction was short lived, however, as it started regenerating immediately.
子弹击中了我能看到的唯一脆弱的地方:他的眼睛。子弹爆炸了，火红的眼球在燃烧的液体中喷发出来。然而，我的满足感是短暂的，因为它立即开始再生。
The Warden screamed as I loaded another round and fired at his other eye socket, where the swollen orb was already reformed from Rampage’s attack. The Warden was learning, though; my shot was blocked by his armored leg, the round only blowing out one of the plates. If we couldn’t blind him, I feared that
我又装了一发子弹，狱长尖叫起来，朝他另一个眼窝开了枪，那个肿胀的眼球已经从狂暴的攻击中恢复过来了。不过狱长还在学习，我的子弹被他装甲的腿挡住了，子弹只打中了一个盘子。如果我们不能让他失明，我担心
this fight wasn’t going to last long at all...
这场战斗不会持续太久..。
And my fears were quickly realized; as the Warden shielded his face with one leg, his other hoof ripped at a hunk of his own armor, scraping off the metal in a heap of scrap, and then threw the jagged spray of shrapnel right at Carrion. The griffin gave a squawk as the metal sheared through one of his wings and tore his weapons to shreds.
我的担心很快就变成了现实:典狱长用一条腿遮住了自己的脸，另一只蹄子撕裂了自己的一大块盔甲，把金属刮成了一堆废铁，然后把碎片抛向了腐尸。狮身鹰首兽发出一声尖叫，金属从它的一只翅膀上剪了下来，把它的武器撕成了碎片。
“Xanthe! We could really use that lockdown lifted!” I screamed as I turned; both of the Warden’s eyes were already restored in their sockets. I fired as quickly as I could, but the Warden knew what I was aiming for and shielded his gaze with his right foreleg as his left gathered up another wagon-sized chunk of debris.
"赞特！我们真的需要解除封锁!"我一转身就尖叫起来，水保的两只眼睛都已经复原了。我以最快的速度开了枪，但是狱长知道我的目标是什么，他用右前腿挡住了他的视线，而他的左腿又收集了一大块马车大小的碎片。
I really didn’t think I could dodge that...
我真的不认为我可以逃避..。
“Warden Hobble!” yelled a mare from the doorway. “Here’s our resignation!” I turned and saw the half-dozen guards, Silver Spoon, Snails, and even Psychoshy laying down a withering spray of fire at the Warden. A single assault rifle might not do much, but now nine ponies fired with all they had at the monstrous ghoul. With so much fire and such a huge, impossible-to-miss target, the combined attack was ripping hundreds of holes in the flaming monster. He threw the chunk of metal at the gathered guards, but Snails and Twitchy’s horns glowed and sent the steel arcing up and smashing into the wall above them.
"霍布尔狱长!"一匹母马在门口大叫。"这是我们的辞呈!"我转过身来，看见六个守卫、银匙、蜗牛，甚至还有精神病院长，向院长喷射出一阵令人窒息的火花。一支突击步枪可能不起多大作用，但现在九匹小马用他们所有的武器向这个可怕的食尸鬼开火。火力如此猛烈，目标如此巨大，不可能错过，联合攻击在燃烧的怪物身上撕开了数百个洞。他把那块金属扔向聚集在一起的守卫，但蜗牛和特维奇的号角闪闪发光，把金属打成弧形，砸向他们上方的墙壁。
“Blackjack! I have it!” Xanthe shouted from the terminal.
"黑杰克！我拿到了!"赞斯在航站楼里大声喊道。
Over the intercom, a voice said, “Lockdown, Lifted. Guards, please return to your supervisors for assignments.” I dared a tiny little smile.
通过对讲机，一个声音说:"封锁解除。警卫们，请回到你们的主管那里分配任务。"我敢于露出一丝微笑。
Then the fourth fuel pod blew. The explosion below collected in a massive fireball that swept up the central shaft in a glare so intense it would have blinded me if I still had the eyes I was born with. The heat was such that I thought for a moment that the Warden had breathed fire over me again. The swirling ball of flame crashed into the underside of the floor with such force that everyone not already airborne was tossed a yard into the air, the ponies in the door falling back into the corridor... and the floor exploded upwards in clumps of blazing heat. I had the fortune to drop down on one of the beams as the smoke swirled up around us.
然后第四个燃料舱爆炸了。下面的爆炸聚集成一个巨大的火球，在一个强烈的强光扫过中央竖井，如果我还有我与生俱来的眼睛，它会使我失明。天气这么热，有一会儿我还以为是监狱长又向我喷火了。旋转的火球猛烈地撞击着地板的下面，所有还没有飞起来的人都被抛向空中，门上的小马也掉回到走廊里......地板向上爆炸成一团团炽热的热气。烟雾在我们周围盘旋时，我有幸落在其中一根横梁上。
“Get out!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, feeling the inside of my chest
"滚出去!"我用最大的声音尖叫着，感受着胸腔的内部
cooking from the heat of the air. Thank goodness I could regenerate... if I somehow survived. Slowly I pulled myself to my hooves, though I wasn’t sure where I was supposed to go from here. The flames had dropped back down, but the heat was more intense than I’d ever imagined. I could only see a blazing lump before me where Hobble had been, and so I lifted Lacunae’s AM rifle and fired blind as quickly as I could. I spotted Xanthe being carried overhead by Stygius for just a moment. Both were struggling, but they were making it. All I had to do was hang on and let him come for me.
用空气的热量烹饪。谢天谢地，如果我能活下来，我就能重生。慢慢地，我鼓起勇气，尽管我不知道我该往哪儿走。火焰又熄灭了，但是热度比我想象的还要强烈。我只能看到霍布尔曾经去过的地方有一个炽热的肿块在我面前，于是我举起拉库尼的AM步枪，尽可能快地盲目射击。我看到仙蒂被冥河从头顶抬过去了一会儿。两人都在挣扎，但他们都在努力。我所要做的就是坚持下去，让他来找我。
Until then, I fired because it was the only thing left to do: distract the monster. Damage him. Get the others out of this hell. Then I saw the batpony above me, and I stretched up my hoof, extending my fingers. All I needed was to grab him, and he’d pull me to safety. Just a few more feet. A few more inches... he had me! My fingers grabbed his outstretched foreleg and he beat his wings furiously as he struggled to pull me clear.
在那之前，我开枪是因为这是唯一能做的事情:分散怪物的注意力。伤害他。带其他人离开这鬼地方。然后我看到了我头顶上的蝙蝠马，我伸出我的蹄子，伸出我的手指。我只需要抓住他，他就会把我拉到安全的地方。只差几英尺了。再往前几英寸...他就抓住我了！我的手指抓住他张开的前腿，他拼命地拍打着翅膀，努力把我拉开。
Then a massive spar of metal sticking from the end of a blazing hoof lanced out of the smoke and impaled me right through the middle.
然后，一只燃烧的蹄子的末端伸出一根巨大的金属杆，从烟雾中刺穿了我的身体。
The shock made my fingers release, and a blast of fiery wings sent the already-wavering Stygius careening off into the smoke. Slowly, the monstrous ghoul lifted me, speared on the spur of steel, closer to that immense face. I couldn’t even keep my focus with the pain roaring through my crippled torso. He stared at me as if I were some sort of bug, flopping me left and right. “It’s funny how small you all look so far below me. Snack sized...”
震动使我的手指松开，一阵火焰般的翅膀把已经摇摆不定的冥河号冲进烟雾中。慢慢地，那可怕的食尸鬼用铁刺把我举了起来，离那张巨大的脸更近了。我甚至无法集中注意力，因为疼痛在我残缺的躯干上咆哮。他盯着我，好像我是某种虫子，把我从左到右地打。"有趣的是，你们看起来都比我矮那么多。零食大小......"
I just dangled there before him and saw the robots floating around us, their cameras watching as he brought me close to his maw and bit down on my left foreleg. I felt the metal start to deform, and I beat on his face with my stump. Either he liked the taste of metal, or he’d gone completely mad and didn’t care. I guessed the latter as my leg was nearly ripped out of my body at the shoulder. I could feel my flesh straining, bones shifting, and synthetic organs threatening to follow the limb out.
我只是在他面前晃来晃去，看到机器人在我们周围漂浮，它们的摄像机看着我靠近它的胃，咬下我的左前腿。我感到金属开始变形，我用残肢敲打他的脸。要么他喜欢金属的味道，要么他已经完全疯了而且不在乎。我猜是后者，因为我的腿肩部几乎被扯出身体。我能感觉到自己的肌肉绷紧，骨头移动，合成器官威胁着要跟着肢体出去。
“Warden Hobble, this is the O.I.A,” a voice said over the PA system speakers, synthetic and feminine-sounding. It made us both freeze. “We would like you to release the mare in your custody. She is one of our operatives, investigating a threat to the kingdom for us, and beyond your jurisdiction.” Who was it? It sounded familiar, amplified a hundred times so it echoed in the office...
"霍布尔狱长，这里是O.I.A,"扩音器里传来一个声音，听起来很女性化。这让我们都冻僵了。"我们希望你能释放你看管的母马。她是我们的特工之一，为我们调查对王国的威胁，而且超出了你的管辖范围。"是谁？它听起来很熟悉，被放大了一百倍，所以它在办公室里回荡.....。
The Warden paused, releasing my leg as he looked towards the ceiling and then at the hovering robots. “O.I.A., huh? You’ve got no right to intrude on my prison! This bitch is for me to punish!” he roared. “There is no authority here but mine! Do you hear me?”
狱长停了下来，放开了我的腿，他看着天花板，然后看着那些盘旋的机器人。"o.i.a.，嗯？你无权闯入我的监狱！这个婊子是要我来惩罚的!"他吼道。"这里没有权威，只有我的权威！你听到了吗?"
“I am sorry to hear that. I need her intact. Please wait one moment,” the synthetic voice buzzed, and then went silent. The Warden looked at me in bafflement, and in that moment all I could do was offer a weak shrug. Then he snorted and moved me towards his mouth once more.
"听到这个消息我很难过。我要她完好无损。请稍等片刻,"合成声音嗡嗡作响，然后就沉默了。监狱长困惑地看着我，那一刻我只能淡淡地耸了耸肩。然后他喷了一下鼻息，把我再次移到他的嘴边。
Suddenly the left wall began to glow. A perfectly round, white patch spread rapidly, and then bulged outwards, and suddenly a blinding line of green as thick as my hoof blasted through, pierced the Warden, struck the far wall, and then vaporized it as well. And the wall behind that. And the wall behind that. The beam disappeared. I looked off to the left, out the hole... due west towards the Core.
突然，左边的墙壁开始发光。一片完美的白色圆片迅速扩展开来，然后向外突出，突然间一道刺眼的绿色像我的蹄子一样粗，刺穿了监狱长，撞上了远处的墙，然后也蒸发了。还有后面的墙。还有后面的墙。光束消失了。我向左边望去，从洞口出去......正西方向核心区域。
Okay. Definitely not anypony I knew. How did they have access to the Core’s defense systems?
好吧。绝对不是我认识的小马。他们是怎么进入核心防御系统的？
The Warden’s body crumbled to pieces almost instantly, tumbling into the inferno below... and I didn’t see anything that was going to keep me from tumbling down after him. The spur of steel stuck through me still had several thousand pounds of armor attached to it, and I was tumbling down into the flaming abyss.
狱长的身体几乎瞬间崩溃，跌进了下面的地狱......我没有看到任何能阻止我在他身后跌倒的东西。钢铁刺穿了我的身体，上面还挂着几千磅的盔甲，我正跌落在燃烧的深渊里。
Then a hoofclaw swept out of the smoke, ripping into what remained of my left leg and halting my fall. The spur ripped free as it fell, and I felt blood pour down my torso as I dangled there. Rampage grinned down at me. “Damn, Blackjack! Your ass is heavy.”
然后一只蹄爪从烟雾中飞出，撕裂了我剩下的左腿，阻止了我的坠落。马刺掉下来的时候撕裂了，我在那儿悬吊的时候，感觉血从我的躯干上流了下来。狂暴冲我咧嘴一笑。"该死，黑杰克！你的屁股太重了。"
I couldn’t do anything but smile as she hauled me up and tossed me over her shoulders. The beating she’d endured had smashed her spines flat. She walked along the smoking steel beams towards the nearest edge and set me down beside the Warden’s terminal. I couldn’t stand; the hole in me was more than I could bear. “Did the others get out?” I asked, trying to move my mangled right leg.
我什么也做不了，只能微笑着看着她把我拉起来，把我扔在她的肩膀上。她忍受的殴打已经把她的脊椎打得粉碎。她沿着冒着烟的钢梁朝最近的边缘走去，把我放在了监狱长的终点站旁边。我无法忍受;我身上的那个洞超出了我的承受能力。"其他人都出去了吗?"我问，试图移动我受伤的右腿。
“I think so,” Rampage said, then noticed a safe in the crumbled wall. She punched it with her hoof, and something inside the door snapped. It swung open, and inside was a large bag. “Not sure what the plan is now. Guess they get free
"我想是的,"拉比说，然后注意到倒塌的墙上有一个保险箱。她用蹄子踢了一下门，门里面的什么东西啪地一声断了。它打开了，里面是一个大袋子。"不知道现在的计划是什么。我猜他们是免费的
while we die,” Rampage said with fatalistic stoicism. She sat beside me and opened the bag, her eyes growing wide. “But at least we die rich!”
当我们死去时,"狂暴带着宿命的斯多葛主义说道。她坐在我旁边，打开袋子，眼睛睁得大大的。"但至少我们死得很富有!"
I looked over at what had to be thousands of bits. Clearly the Warden had been saving up for his own retirement... wait. Why was there craziness going on in my vision again?
我看了看有几千比特的东西。显然监狱长一直在为自己的退休存钱...等等。为什么在我的幻象中又发生了疯狂的事情？
The panel covering my PipBuck had been stripped away, and the device was doing something... and the Warden’s terminal was doing the same.
覆盖我的PipBuck的面板被剥离了，设备在起作用...监狱长的终端也在起作用。
>EC-1101 Routing Waypoint accessed.
Ec-1101进入路由点。
> Next waypoint: Shadowbolt Command, Shadowbolt Tower, Hoofington.
下一站:影螺栓指挥中心，影螺栓塔，Hoofington。
I groaned and closed my eyes, feeling darkness creeping over me. My body was slipping away... it was like I was floating.
我呻吟着，闭上了眼睛，感觉黑暗在我身上蔓延。我的身体正在滑落...就像我在漂浮。
Wait a minute, I was floating!
等一下，我飘起来了！
“It seems the lockdown was lifted,” Lacunae said in my mind as she pulled Rampage and me up towards her. Lacunae was alive, and wonderful! If I didn’t have a great big hole in me, I’d have leapt up and kissed her! She was winging her way out the large hole melted clear through the prison.
"看起来封锁解除了,"拉库纳一边说，一边把我和狂暴拉向她。空隙是有生命的，而且是奇妙的！如果我身上没有一个大洞，我会跳起来亲吻她！她正从那个穿过监狱的大洞里飞出来。
“Wait! Leave me behind! This is my best chance to get obliterated!” Rampage shouted as she waved her hooves impotently, trying to get back to the prison. Lacunae selectively ignored her, for which I was grateful.
"等等！别管我！这是我被消灭的最好机会!"她无力地挥舞着蹄子，试图回到监狱，狂暴大叫着。空白选择性地忽略了她，对此我很感激。
A black and blue skywagon pulled by Blossomforth and Stygius was flying rapidly to the south towards Meatlocker. Lacunae followed it, winging through the rainy night, and when she was far enough from the Enervation, we disappeared in a flash and appeared in the back of the transport. “Please, step back,” Lacunae announced as she stuck her horn in the hole in my gut. Wonderful healing magic began to pour forth.
一辆黑色和蓝色的篷车由索索福斯和斯提吉乌斯拉着迅速向南飞向肉库。拉库奈跟着它，在雨夜里飞翔，当她离"受宠"的地方足够远的时候，我们在一瞬间消失了，出现在运输车的后面。"请退后,"拉库纳一边把喇叭插进我肚子里一边宣布。奇妙的治愈魔法开始涌现。
And then suddenly there was a massive smash that flipped the skywagon over in the air. Over and over we tumbled before Lacunae’s magic reached out and stabilized us. “I thought you’d died,” I thought at her.
然后突然一声巨大的撞击把天车掀翻在空中。我们一次又一次地跌倒，直到拉库奈的魔法伸出手来，把我们稳住。"我还以为你死了呢,"我对她想。
“How could a pony die when they were never a pony to begin with?” she replied
"一匹小马怎么会死呢?它们本来就不是一匹小马。"她回答道
cryptically, but before I could really ponder what that was supposed to mean, she continued, “I was merely stunned and trapped on the roof between turrets,” the alicorn thought at me.
在我还没来得及仔细思考这句话的意思时，她继续说道:"我只是被吓呆了，被困在塔楼之间的屋顶上。"。
“Really?” I thought back, feeling slightly disappointed. “You were just knocked out?”
"真的吗?"我回想起来，感到有点失望。"你被打晕了?"
“Well... that... and another wanted to observe you without my help,” Lacunae said acidly.
"嗯......那个......还有一个人想在没有我帮助的情况下观察你,"拉库纳尖刻地说。
“You performed adequately,” the Goddess interjected smugly. No wonder I’d lost connection with Lacunae just then. Bitch. “We heard that,” the Goddess muttered.
"你表现得很好,"女神沾沾自喜地插话道。难怪我刚刚失去了和Lacunae的联系。贱人。"我们听到了,"女神喃喃自语。
Lacunae fussed over me, trying to staunch the bleeding. “Do not move. You have lost an exceptional amount of blood.”
空隙对我大惊小怪，想给我止血。"不要动。你失血过多。"
I couldn’t answer. I couldn’t feel anything. I stared out the rear of the wagon and saw Hightower enveloped in a blue-green flame that just kept expanding and expanding. The fire seemed to be devouring the prison and the surrounding yard as the globe of disintegration grew and grew. And then, it was gone and the massive structure was collapsing in on itself, filling an immense glowing crater. Not even the foundations remained.
我无法回答。我什么都感觉不到。我凝视着马车的后面，看到海托华被一团蓝绿色的火焰包围着，不断地膨胀着。大火似乎正在吞噬着监狱和周围的院子，一个分崩离析的世界越来越大。然后，它消失了，巨大的结构正在自我坍塌，填补了一个巨大的发光的陨石坑。甚至连地基都没有留下。
Hightower... I’d beaten it. I had. There was just one remaining problem...
海托华...我已经战胜它了。我有。还有一个问题..。
Within me, the curse gave a sudden lurch, and I felt something fundamental inside me break. It was as if I were slipping out of myself and drifting away on a stiff breeze. I tried to fight, but there wasn’t anything left for me to hold on to. A strange current was sweeping me away. Lacunae was shouting. Snails was talking about boats. And then I felt something familiar...
在我的内心，诅咒突然发生了剧烈的变化，我感觉到我的内心被某种根本性的东西打破了。仿佛我从自己身上滑落，随着一阵狂风飘走了。我试着反抗，但是已经没有什么能让我坚持下去了。一股奇怪的水流正把我冲走。空隙在叫喊。蜗牛在谈论船。然后我感到一种熟悉的感觉..。
Dying.
死亡。
Again...
再说一次..。
Damn it.
该死。
 
 
Footnote: Level Fourteeen Reached.
脚注:达到第四级。
New perk added: Team player (All party members and allies gain +5% damage when in sight of you.)
新的额外津贴:团队球员(所有党员和盟友获得+5%的伤害时，看到你。)
 
Author's Notes:
作者笔记:
(old Author’s note: I write this at 1 AM for me, 4AM for Hinds, and 9AM for Bro and Snipehamster. That’s right, my editors stay up to see Celestia raise the sun working on this. They’re incredible, and deserve a round of applause. Also, thanks as always to Kkat for creating FoE. Huge thanks to everypony who gives me feedback. I might be slow to respond, but I read every review. And lastly, thank you so much to ponies who donate bits to help support the author and to keep the story going.
(老作者的笔记:我在凌晨1点为自己写这篇文章，4点为母猪，9点为兄弟和小仓鼠。没错，我的编辑们熬夜观看塞莱斯蒂亚升起太阳为此工作。他们令人难以置信，值得我们给予掌声。同时，感谢Kkat一如既往地创造了敌人。非常感谢每一个给我反馈的小马。我可能反应迟钝，但我读了每一篇评论。最后，非常感谢那些捐款支持作者并让故事继续下去的小马。
As I wrote last chapter, I’m doing a bit of forced relocation. I have a plan to move to Vegas and hopefully get a teaching job there, or at least pick up some subbing. I’d hoped to go to Everfree, but that’d kill my account so...
正如我上一章所写的，我正在做一些强制性的重新安置。我有一个搬到拉斯维加斯的计划，希望能在那里找到一份教书的工作，或者至少找一些代课老师。我本来希望去Everfree但那会毁了我的账户所以..。
sorry... anyway, if anypony else would like to help out, the tip jar is at David13ushey@gmail.com through paypal.
对不起...无论如何，如果还有其他人想帮忙的话，可以通过贝宝在david13ushey@gmail.com找到小费罐。
Unfortunately this means there may be a brief hiatus between this chapter and the next. Hopefully it won’t be too long. And don’t worry, you haven’t
不幸的是，这意味着在这一章和下一章之间可能会有一个短暂的中断。希望不会太久。别担心，你没有
seen the end of Blackjack.
看到了黑杰克的结局。
Thank you again for reading...)
再次感谢您阅读......)