“You have a lot to think about.”
"你有很多事情要考虑。"
There’s something distinctly depressing about being able to compare deaths. You’d think once would be enough for anypony. The last time I’d died it was peaceful. Calm. I’d spent the time beforehand feeling full warm sunshine glowing down on me while I listened to the rush of water against the hull. When I finally went, I’d been lying in Glory’s embrace and surrounded by friends who cared for me, and the actual dying had been like drifting away up to a better place without a fear or worry in the world. My only regret had been that I would have liked to have seen the beautiful stars above me before I departed.
能够比较死亡人数显然有些令人沮丧。你可能会认为对于任何小马来说一次就够了。我最后一次死的时候是平静的。冷静。在那之前，我一直感受着温暖的阳光照在我身上，听着海水冲击船体的声音。当我最终离开的时候，我躺在晨辉的怀抱里，周围都是关心我的朋友，真正的死亡就像漂流到一个更好的地方，世界上没有恐惧和担忧。我唯一的遗憾是，在我离开之前，我希望能看到我头顶上美丽的星星。
This time, it hadn’t been peaceful, I wasn’t drifting upwards, and I had much bigger worries than missing out on a view of the night sky. This time, I was getting ripped through some sort of murkiness like so much rainwater being sluiced through a storm drain. I’d like to think I’m one of the few ponies who knows exactly what that feels like. Enervation’s piercing scream surrounded me on all sides, and every few seconds I passed through a shimmering, more-loudly-shrieking silver ring that sucked me in and spat me out ever faster. I struggled against the current out of sheer obstinacy, but it was no use; there was no way I was going to get away from it.
这一次，天气并不平静，我也没有向上漂浮，我有比错过夜空更大的担忧。这一次，我被某种阴暗的东西撕裂了，就像有很多雨水被雨水冲进了下水道。我想我是为数不多的几个知道那种感觉的小马之一。每隔几秒钟，我就会穿过一个闪闪发光、声音更大的银色戒指，它把我吸进去，然后更快地把我吐出来。我顽固地与水流搏斗，但是毫无用处，我无路可逃。
And as I was yanked through that gray void, flipping and spinning about, I became aware of a great glow in the distance that I was rapidly approaching. And I wasn’t alone in my travels; even though I didn’t have eyes, ears, or even a body, I was still aware of others being swept along with me as wailing motes of light. I brushed against one and instantly had an impression of a mare, earth pony, ganger… but then she was gone before I could feel more. Then I hit another one: colt, earth pony… I was struck by the smell of brahmin, the jingle of a pack harness, and a sensation of a horrible fever and suffocation. And then
当我被拽着穿过那片灰色的虚空，翻转着，旋转着，我意识到远处有一道巨大的光芒，我正在迅速靠近。在我的旅途中，我并不孤单;即使我没有眼睛、耳朵，甚至没有身体，我仍然能感觉到其他人像哀号的微光一样跟着我一起被冲走。我碰到一匹马，马上就有了一个印象，像是一匹母马，地球上的小马，马槽......但是在我感觉到更多之前，她就走了。然后我又撞上了另一匹马:小马驹，地球上的小马驹......我被婆罗门的气味，背带叮当作响的响声，以及一种可怕的发烧和窒息的感觉击中了。然后
he was gone too.
他也走了。
Truth be told, I much preferred the first version to the sequel.
说实话，比起续集，我更喜欢第一个版本。
The flow increased as I was carried along, and I brushed against more pony… souls? Spirits? Every contact transferred a little information about another pony. I watched others try and break away and saw one strike the edge of one of the screaming rings as it passed; the light seemed to smear out and freeze in place, trapped against the circle as I swooshed by.
随着我的前进，流量增加了，我碰到了更多的小马......灵魂？灵魂？每个联系人都传递了一点关于另一匹小马的信息。我看着其他人试图挣脱，看到其中一个击中了一个尖叫环的边缘，当它经过的时候;光线似乎被涂抹掉了，在原地冻结了，当我呼啸而过的时候被困在了圆圈里。
The luminescence grew brighter and brighter as we were sucked through that endless hazy gray gloom punctuated by loops of screaming silver that propelled us ever onward. For a moment I soared upward and had a glimpse of an immense disk like a circular saw blade, the motes of light being pulled through gaps in a colossal, jagged tire-like wall of silver that surrounded that glowing donut. I was sent following the rest…
当我们穿过无尽的朦胧灰暗，被一圈圈银色的尖叫声所打断，冷光变得越来越亮，推动着我们前进。有那么一会儿，我向上飞去，瞥见了一个像圆锯片一样的巨大圆盘，微光穿过一个巨大的、锯齿状的、像轮胎一样的银墙的缝隙，环绕着那个发光的甜甜圈。我被派去跟踪其他人..。
And then the current weakened to a dull tug. Slowly I drifted along in a sea of motes within that immensely large wall. There were strange shadowy shapes around me, things that looked vaguely like walls and tunnels that I passed harmlessly through. From all around me came the wail and babble of untold masses crying out, some calling for Luna or Celestia to save them, others screaming in rage against their imprisonment, and others babbling in Zebra. I brushed against griffins, dragons, zebras, and things I didn’t even have names for. Over it all, though, was one terrible cry… a scream of such anguish and suffering that it dug into me.
然后水流减弱成了一种迟钝的拖曳力。我慢慢地在那巨大的城墙内的尘埃海中漂流着。我周围有一些奇怪的模糊的影子，那些看起来有点像墙壁和隧道的东西，我毫无危险地穿过它们。从我周围传来了无数的哀号声，一些人呼吁露娜或塞莱斯蒂亚来拯救他们，另一些人因为他们被囚禁而愤怒地尖叫，还有一些人在斑马城里喃喃自语。我碰到了狮鹫、龙、斑马，还有一些我甚至没有名字的东西。然而，在这一切之上，却是一声可怕的叫喊...一声如此痛苦和折磨的尖叫，深深地刺进了我的内心。
Then, green lightning flashed from that immense wall and tore through the sea of motes. Even I screamed as an agony I’d never known flashed across me. It wasn’t a physical pain so much as a sense of profound violation. It felt like being nailed back in the Seahorse again. The green lightning flashed again and again into the center of the sea, and the scream peaked once more.
接着，绿色的闪电从那堵巨墙上一闪而过，划破尘埃的海洋。甚至我也尖叫起来，像一种我从来不知道的痛苦在我脑海中闪过。这与其说是身体上的痛苦，不如说是一种深刻的侵犯感。感觉就像又回到了海马号上。绿色的闪电一次又一次地向海中央闪过，尖叫声再次达到了顶峰。
“Awesome magic, huh?” a familiar stallion said from near me.
"很棒的魔法，是吧?"一匹熟悉的种马在我身边说。
“Snips?” I asked. I felt him close, but I couldn’t tell which of the thousands of motes around me he might be. “But you’re… and I’m… shit…”
"小鬼头?"我问道。我感觉到他离我很近，但是我不知道他可能是我周围成千上万的尘埃中的哪一个。"但你是......而我是......狗屎......"
“Well, I sure am. No doubt about it,” Snips replied, “but I suspect that you still have a ways to go before you’re dead dead.”
""嗯，我当然是。"毫无疑问,"小鬼头回答,"但是我怀疑在你死之前你还有很长的路要走。"
Huh? What was I, then? Semi-deceased? Only mostly dead? I was pretty sure this was the point where you turned me upside down and looked for loose bottle caps.
什么？那我是什么？半死不活？只是大部分都死了？我很确定就是在这个时候，你把我翻了个底朝天，到处找松动的瓶盖。
“I’ve fooled around with a lot of necromancy.” Snips went on. “My own soul’s probably been snapped in two more than once. I think that something is tethering your soul to your body. Some anchor. I’d love to know more, but it’s probably too late for that. It’s likely what makes you so resistant to enervation.”
"我玩过很多招魂术。"小鬼头继续说。"我自己的灵魂可能不止一次被折断。我认为有什么东西把你的灵魂束缚在你的身体上。一些锚。我很想知道更多，但可能已经太晚了。这可能就是让你如此抗拒衰弱的原因。"
“But what… Snips, what is this place?” I asked as I looked around the sea of floating lights.
"但是什么...小鬼头，这是什么地方?"我环顾四周漂浮着的灯光，问道。
“The eye of the storm. The tar pit. The ocean to which eternal rivers flow,” Snips said with an odd hint of merriment. “All poetic names by different ponies. To be honest, we really don’t know. It’s always been here in Hoofington; maybe it’s the product of ancient zebra curses that were beyond even the black book. The writing in the text was particularly fearful of it. I think there’s a much more fitting word for it: Hell.”
"暴风眼。焦油坑。那是永恒的河流流向的海洋,"小鬼头带着一丝奇怪的欢乐说道。"不同的小马用诗意的名字命名。说实话，我们真的不知道。它一直存在于Hoofington，也许它是古代斑马咒语的产物，甚至超越了黑皮书。课文中的文字尤其令人害怕。我想还有一个更恰当的词来形容它:地狱。"
Or… if you believed a certain zebra myth about giant star monsters... but that was just crazy… “Guess I wasn’t a good enough pony after all,” I muttered; I’d have gulped if I’d had a throat. It just didn’t seem fair. Sure, I’d done lots of things worthy of damnation, but what about that colt? What could he have possibly done?
或者......如果你相信一个关于巨型星怪的斑马神话......但那太疯狂了......"看来我还是不够好的小马,"我喃喃自语道;如果我有喉咙的话，我早就吞下去了。这似乎不太公平。当然，我做了很多该受诅咒的事情，但是那匹小马呢？他到底做了什么？
“Good and evil have nothing to do with it,” Snips contradicted. “The ancient zebra necromancers were utterly terrified of this sea of souls and its drawing power, but tempted by it as well. They tried to control it with rituals, placate it with sacrifices, and understand it through madness. Their creation of soul jars like the black book was a method to try and escape its pull.” He chuckled darkly. “Seeing it, I can understand their feelings better.” There was a pause, and then he asked quietly, as if terrified of hearing the answer, “Did you get Snails out? Is he okay?”
"善恶与此毫无关系,"小剪刀反驳道。"古老的斑马死灵法师对这片灵魂之海和它的吸引力完全感到恐惧，但也被它所诱惑。他们试图用仪式来控制它，用牺牲来安抚它，用疯狂来理解它。他们创造灵魂震荡器，就像创造黑皮书一样，是一种试图摆脱它牵引的方法。"他暗笑起来。"看到这些，我能更好地理解他们的感受。"停顿了一下，然后他平静地问道，好像害怕听到回答:"你把蜗牛弄出来了吗?"？他还好吗?"
“Upset, but okay.” I felt a profound sense of relief from nearby and went on. “He told me about what Rarity did… the final step of Eternity.” I felt it was kind of ironic, given that I was looking at spending an eternity here myself. Or... maybe not, apparently? “What did you mean ‘dead dead’?”
"心烦意乱，但没关系。"我从附近感到一种深深的解脱感，继续往前走。"他告诉了我稀有所做的事情......永恒的最后一步。"我觉得这有点讽刺，因为我自己也想在这里度过一生。或者...也许不是，很明显？"你说'死了'是什么意思?"
“The curse is designed to sever your soul from your mind and body. What it
"诅咒的目的是将你的灵魂与你的身心分离。怎么回事
leaves behind is a shell that will eventually perish without help,” Snips said quietly, regretfully. “We saw it several times when we were starting out.” I thought of Rumble in Happyhorn, lying there unaware. “Without the soul, you have no motivation or direction. The most fortunate are like animals. They have intellect but no will to use it and no personality or sense of self. But given you’ve broken so many other rules that it would surprise me if you make it out of this one.”
没有帮助，留下的只是一个最终会消失的壳,"小鬼头平静而遗憾地说。"刚开始的时候，我们看到过好几次。"我想到了Happyhorn的朗博躺在那里，浑然不觉。"没有灵魂，你就没有动力和方向。最幸运的人就像动物。他们有才智，但没有使用它的意愿，也没有个性或自我意识。但考虑到你已经打破了那么多其它规则，如果你能做到这一点，我会感到惊讶。"
I would have glowered had I eyes. “I am not Nightmare Moon.”
如果我有眼睛，我会怒目而视的。"我不是梦魇之月。"
“Mhmmm,” was the only reply I received.
"嗯,"是我收到的唯一回复。
“But what about you?” I asked with a little frown… or would have if I had lips. The lightning flashed, and that anguished scream rolled out across the sea of souls like a wave.
"那你呢?"我皱着眉头问道......如果我有嘴唇的话，我也会这么做的。闪电一闪，那痛苦的尖叫声像波浪一样滚过灵魂的海洋。
He gave a light, dry laugh, as if my concern amused him. I guessed it was a little after the fact. “Well, my body was either cremated or vaporized, so...” He sighed. “I’d hoped that splitting my soul might protect me. One tried making my own bones a soul jar as a cheat after the bombs fell. Since I’m here... well...
他轻轻地，干巴巴地笑了一声，好像我的关心逗乐了他。我猜那是在事后一点。"嗯，我的尸体不是火化了就是蒸发了，所以......"他叹了口气。"我希望分裂我的灵魂可以保护我。有人试图在炸弹落下后把我自己的骨头做成灵魂罐子，作为欺骗。既然我来了。
looks like I needed the book after all. Or maybe I just have bits of my soul scattered all over the wasteland, like in that statue and inside my friend, forever trapped at the moment they were severed. Who can say?”
看来我还是需要那本书。或者也许我的灵魂碎片散落在荒原上，就像那个雕像和我的朋友，在他们被切断的那一刻，永远被困在里面。谁知道呢?"
“Well, this is all very educational,” I muttered sarcastically. “I could probably write a manual when I get back. ‘101 ways to die’.”
"嗯，这些都很有教育意义,"我讽刺地喃喃自语。"等我回来的时候，我可能会写一本说明书。"101种死法"
“Oh, I’d be astonished if you recalled any of this when you got back. This is your soul, not your mind. You are the summation of yourself, but without a mind, how could you remember?” He laughed mirthlessly. “Snails and I… experimented… on a few victims on our own, but none of them really remembered anything when he summoned them back.”
"哦，如果你回来的时候还记得这些，我会很惊讶的。这是你的灵魂，不是你的思想。你是你自己的总和，但是没有头脑，你怎么能记得住呢?"他苦笑起来。"蜗牛和我.....。.实验...在我们自己的一些受害者身上，但当他召唤他们回来的时候，他们没有一个人记得任何事情
Great… I looked out at the vast sea of motes and murmured softly, “How many are trapped here?”
太好了......我望着茫茫尘埃的海洋，轻轻地喃喃自语,"有多少人被困在这里?"
“Millions. Perhaps hundreds of millions. Who can say how long this place has been catching them?” Snips said quietly.
"几百万。也许数以亿计。谁知道这个地方抓他们多久了?"小鬼头平静地说。
“Is this place… eating them?” I barely murmured.
"这个地方......在吃它们吗?"我几乎没有喃喃自语。
“No. I don’t think so. There’d be a lot less if it were,” Snips replied. “I think it’s more that it’s hoarding them, like a dragon hoards gems.” The lightning flashed once more, slicing through the cloud of motes, and that scream rose up from the center of the sea. “I have no idea what that might--
"没有。我不这么认为。如果是的话，就会少很多。"小鬼头回答。"我觉得更多的是它在囤积它们，就像一块巨龙的宝石。"闪电再次划破尘埃的云层，那尖叫声从海的中心升起。"我不知道那会是什么——
Then I was struck by that emerald lightning again and felt myself torn by its foul magics. This was malicious hate; no reason or purpose. Simply inflicting pain for the sake of inflicting it and nothing more. The motes swirled wildly, and by the time the agony faded, I was left feeling as if I’d been raped and violated all over again. The lightning hurt me on a fundamental level I’d never imagined before, and yet I couldn’t die again. I could only scream. And this time there was no Scotch needing protecting to give me strength; there was only the hope that eventually Snails would be able to get me out of here.
然后我又被那翡翠色的闪电击中了，感到自己被它肮脏的魔力撕裂了。这是恶意的仇恨，没有任何理由或目的。仅仅为了施加痛苦而施加痛苦，仅此而已。尘埃疯狂地旋转着，痛苦消失的时候，我感觉自己好像又一次被强奸和侵犯。闪电从根本上伤害了我，这是我以前从未想象过的，但我不能再死一次。我只能尖叫。这次不需要保护苏格兰人来给我力量，只有希望蜗牛最终能把我从这里弄出去。
I’d lost contact with Snips with that last attack, and no matter how I tried to call out, I couldn’t get past that terrible scream. The few motes I did bump into were sobbing, raging, or worst of all… resigned. To keep myself from going mad, I tried to move, but in this place space seemed… uncertain. I felt like I was moving, but no matter which direction I took, I was travelling back inside. The very center of the sea had a hollow; if there was something here devouring souls, then I at least wanted a good look at it.
在最后一次攻击中，我和小鬼头失去了联系，不管我怎么喊，我都无法忘记那可怕的尖叫声。我偶然碰到的几个微粒是哭泣的，愤怒的，或者最糟糕的......听天由命。为了不让自己发疯，我试图移动，但在这个地方空间似乎...不确定。我感觉自己在移动，但是无论我朝哪个方向走，我都在往回走。海的中央有一个凹陷的地方，如果这里有什么东西在吞噬灵魂，那么我至少要好好看看它。
The closer to the center I moved, the more frequent and terrible that lightning became, but I started to suspect it wasn’t as if this place was singling me out. I was just getting caught by stray fire. Whatever the lightning was targeting lay right in the middle of this sea. Slowly, the motes thinned out more and more until…
我离中心越近，闪电就越频繁，也越可怕，但我开始怀疑，这个地方似乎并没有挑出我来。我只是被迷路的火烧着了。不管闪电的目标是什么，它就在这片海洋的中央。慢慢地，尘埃越来越稀薄，直到.....。
No…
不..。
It couldn’t be!
不可能！
A dozen bolts of lightning struck the center, and for the first time I realized that the scream Lacunae had been hearing hadn’t been a what. It was a who.
十几道闪电击中了中心，我第一次意识到空隙处听到的尖叫声并不是什么。那是一个人。
It was her!
是她！
A moment later, there was a hooking sensation, and I felt myself being pulled away. I didn’t fight it. I couldn’t think at all. If I’d had eyes I would have wept; a mouth, and I would have cried out. Instead, I simply shut down and let myself be
过了一会儿，我有一种挂钩的感觉，我觉得自己被拉开了。我没有反抗。我根本无法思考。如果我有眼睛，我会哭;如果我有嘴，我会哭出来。相反，我只是关闭自己，让自己
dragged away.
拖走。
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
I slowly opened my eyes, and the first things I saw were Lacunae’s purple ones gazing back into mine. I had a sensation like a red hot poker digging around in my guts. I glanced down at the bandage over the hole ripped right above my navel, then looked around and found myself in a hospital bed in what I recognized as the Hoofington Memorial ICU. Psychoshy was sleeping in the bed across the room from mine, with Stygius snoozing at her side. Rampage lay curled on the floor at the foot of my bed, her pink eyes troubled as she gazed off into the distance.
我慢慢地睁开眼睛，第一眼看到的就是拉库奈的紫色眼睛，它们凝视着我的眼睛。我有一种感觉，就像一根烧得通红的拨火棍在我的肠子里打转。我低头看了看伤口上的绷带，然后环顾四周，发现自己躺在医院的病床上，我认出那是胡芬顿纪念医院的重症监护病房。精神病人睡在我房间对面的床上，斯提吉乌斯在她身边打盹。横冲直撞的人蜷缩在我床脚的地板上，她那双粉红色的眼睛凝视着远方，有些不安。
“Hey! It worked. She’s back,” Snails drawled as he stared at me with eyes full of stars. Then the lanky stallion swayed. “I think I need a nap now,” he murmured, and the collapsed into a heap beside me.
"嘿！这招奏效了。她回来了,"蜗牛慢吞吞地说，眼睛里充满了星星。然后瘦长的种马摇摆起来。"我想我现在需要小睡一会儿,"他喃喃地说，然后倒在我身边，变成一堆。
I had no idea what magic had been used on me; I didn’t want to know. I felt dirty and defiled, wronged more profoundly than just a simple betrayal by a desperate Snips. I hurt far worse than the simple wound in my stomach. I started to tremble and Lacunae stretched forward. I curled around her neck and buried my head in her shoulder as she shielded me with her wings. Then I bawled like a little foal. I didn’t know why; I just knew that something was horribly wrong and it hurt.
我不知道他们对我使用了什么魔法，我不想知道。比起一个绝望的小鬼的简单背叛，我觉得自己肮脏、污秽、受到了更深刻的伤害。我受的伤比我肚子上的伤还要严重。我开始颤抖，空隙向前伸展。我蜷缩在她的脖子上，头埋在她的肩膀上，她用翅膀保护着我。然后我像一只小马驹一样嚎啕大哭。我不知道为什么，我只知道有些事情出了大问题，而且很痛苦。
* * *
* * *
Several hours later, it was morning according to my PipBuck. It was always the same time down here, though: gloom o’clock. Doctor Wheelbarrow had my rear legs and hooves strapped into my bed, probably suspecting that, if he hadn’t, I’d be out of it confronting Ahuizotl about Tulip’s death. Or trying to, at least; one of my forehooves was missing and the other mangled, so there was little chance of me getting away. Which, naturally, made me even more eager to do anything that would get me the hell out of this bed and out there doing things. It didn’t help that every hour I had another spontaneous crying fit that I was powerless to stop. Sometimes they lasted only for a few seconds, but others went on and off for almost half an hour.
几个小时后，我的PipBuck显示已经是早上了。尽管如此，这里的时间总是一样的:阴郁的时钟。独轮车医生把我的后腿和蹄子绑在我的床上，可能在想，如果他没有这么做，我就会因为郁金香的死去去面对阿胡伊佐特。或者说，至少是试图这么做，因为我的一只前蹄不见了，另一只也损坏了，所以我逃跑的可能性很小。很自然地，这让我更加渴望去做任何能让我离开这张床去做事情的事情。每个小时我都有一次无法控制的自发的哭泣，这也没有什么帮助。有时它们只持续几秒钟，但其他的断断续续几乎有半个小时。
...Okay, maybe I should stay in bed for the time being after all.
好吧，也许我应该在床上休息一段时间。
Lacunae never left me alone. Rampage was keeping her distance for now, not
空白从未离开过我。狂暴只是暂时和她保持距离，而不是
trusting the Angel inside her not to kill me for shits and giggles. Doctor Wheelbarrow came in, changed the blood bags, and injected me with a shot of Med-X for the pain, giving me a cold look. I’d gotten Graves killed, so I couldn’t fault him for that. “It looks like you’ll live,” he muttered. “No thanks to me.”
相信她体内的天使不会杀了我。独轮车医生走了进来，换了血袋，给我注射了一针治疗疼痛的Med-X，冷冷地看了我一眼。我害死了格雷夫斯，所以我不能怪他。"看来你还活着,"他喃喃自语道。"不是我的功劳。"
“Thank you for…” I began, but he silenced me with a glare.
"谢谢你......"我开始说，但他瞪了我一眼，让我安静下来。
“No thanks to me means just that. I’m not repairing that hole in you. The cybernetic gadgetry in your body is doing that,” he said as he looked over to the far side of the ICU at a bed with some curly pink mane sticking out from beneath the sheets. “Pity you can’t give that to somepony else.”
""不，谢谢我就是这个意思。我不会修补你身上的缺陷。你身体里的控制论机械装置正在做这件事,"他说，同时望向重症监护病房的另一边，床单下面露出一些卷曲的粉红色鬃毛。"可惜你不能把它给别人。"
“How… how is she…?”
"她......她怎么样......?"
“Crippled. By you. But alive. No thanks to you. Excuse me.” He turned his back on me. I’d cost him Graves; I supposed they’d been close. They’d been colleagues at least, though, and, even if there’d been no personal attachment at all, she was still half of Meatlocker’s medical staff. Not someone easily replaced.
"残废的。被你。但还活着。不是因为你。对不起。"他背对着我。我让他失去了格雷夫斯，我想他们关系很好。不过，他们至少是同事，而且，即使他们之间没有任何私人感情，她仍然是Meatlocker的一半医务人员。不是那种容易被取代的人。
The Goddess muttered darkly in the back of my mind about what an embarrassment I was and ignored me otherwise, for which I was grateful. I supposed that at the moment I was another emotional toxic waste dump, and she only wanted to see my misery, not feel it.
女神在我心里暗暗地嘀咕着我是多么的尴尬，否则就会忽视我，对此我心存感激。我猜想那一刻我是另一个情绪化的有毒废物倾倒场，而她只想看到我的痛苦，而不是感受它。
Snails returned shortly with Silver Spoon. “You’re okay,” the ghoul mare said in relief. I didn’t correct her. I was miles and miles away from okay right now. I needed… something. Something to protect me from this feeling of wrongness inside me. But she didn’t need any more to deal with at the moment.
蜗牛很快带着银勺回来了。"你没事,"食尸鬼母马如释重负地说。我没有纠正她。我现在离好好还差得远呢。我需要...一些东西。有些东西可以保护我不受这种内心的错误感觉的伤害。但是她现在不需要处理更多的事情了。
“What happened? What did you do?” I asked the luminescent-eyed mustard yellow unicorn. I must have been using the shooty voice, because everyone immediately looked a little nervous.
"发生了什么事？你做了什么?"我问芥末黄色独角兽。我一定是用了射击的声音，因为每个人立刻看起来都有点紧张。
He blinked. “Oh, ah… well… ya see, I couldn’t stop the curse from popping you out, eh? But I was thinking of what could bring you back, like that thing on boats, ya know?” he said slowly, then rubbed his chin. “Ah… uh…”
他眨了眨眼睛。"哦，啊......嗯......你看，我无法阻止诅咒把你从身体里挤出来，嗯？但是我在想什么能把你带回来，就像船上的那个东西，你知道吗?"他慢慢地说，然后揉了揉下巴。"啊......呃......"
“Anchors. He used an anchoring spell,” Lacunae said from my bedside.
"锚。他使用了锚定咒语,"拉库纳在我的床边说。
“So, when the curse went off, I was able to pull you back and put you in your body,” he said with a nervous smile. “Snips and me used it once to see the other side… but I don’t remember much. But my eyes were all glowy afterwards. Weird, eh?” He leaned uncomfortably close, peering at my own. “Wonder why yours aren’t. I mean, there’s a kinda reddish light in there, but...”
"所以，当诅咒解除的时候，我能够把你拉回来，把你放进你的身体里,"他紧张地笑着说。"小鬼头和我曾经用它来看另一个世界......但我记不太清了。但是之后我的眼睛闪闪发光。很奇怪，是吧?"他不安地靠近我，盯着我自己的。"不知道你的为什么不是。我的意思是，那里有点红光，但是......"
“My eyes are synthetic,” I said quietly. I looked at Silver Spoon. She was alive, so to speak; I’d gotten her out alive. A victory. “What are you going to do now, Silver Spoon?”
"我的眼睛是合成的,"我平静地说。我看着银汤匙。她还活着，可以这么说;我把她活着救了出来。一场胜利。"你现在打算怎么办，银汤匙?"
She glanced at Snails and gave a little smile. “Well. I’m still around. And so were Snips and Snails. And Twist is kinda around, so we thought we were going to, like, look around and see if Diamond Tiara’s still around too! Not… crazy looking around. Really looking.” The unicorn stallion rolled his eyes a little, but then she looked up at him with a sympathetic smile, and said, “Snails wants to find some unicorn mare he knew back before the war.”
她瞥了蜗牛一眼，微微一笑。"好吧。我还活着。还有小剪刀和蜗牛。扭扭舞就在附近，所以我们觉得我们应该四处看看，看看钻石头冠是否还在附近！不是...疯狂地四处张望。真的在找。"独角兽的种马转了一下眼睛，然后她抬起头来，面带同情的微笑，说:"蜗牛想找到一些独角兽母马，他知道战前。"
“Mmhmm! The Great and Powerful Trixie!” There was a sudden tense silence inside me, as if the Goddess were suddenly holding her breath. It was as if I could feel her peering right over my shoulder at Snails. “She was the most amazing, most talented, most awesome unicorn in all of Equestria… even if she couldn’t banish the Ursa Minor.”
"嗯哼！伟大而强大的Trixie!"突然，我心里一阵紧张的沉默，好像女神突然屏住了呼吸。就好像我能感觉到她正从我的肩膀后面盯着蜗牛。"她是全Equestria最令人惊异、最有才华、最令人敬畏的独角兽......即使她无法驱逐小熊座。"
The silence from the Goddess was a welcome relief, but it didn’t last long. “That silly… That… he remembers when… I…” she murmured in shock. Lacunae suddenly jerked and shivered, turning her head away. I got a flash of a blue unicorn, a wagon, two unicorn colts, and a cheering, adoring crowd. “No... no...”
女神的沉默是一种令人欣慰的安慰，但没有持续多久。"那个傻......那个......他记得当......我.....。。」她震惊地喃喃自语。空隙突然抽搐发抖，转过头去。我看到一只蓝色的独角兽，一辆马车，两只独角兽小马，还有欢呼的、崇拜的人群。"不......不......"
“You don’t have to throw those feelings away, Trixie,” another mare whispered in my-- in our heads.
"你不必抛弃这些感觉，特里克茜,"另一匹母马在我的——在我们的脑海中低语。
“Silence! Last thing I want is more lectures from you!” the Goddess replied in disgust, her voice trembling. “If he saw us now. If he saw me like this… No! No! I don’t want to feel this way.” Lacunae groaned, and then the Goddess said, more firmly, “And I won’t,” haughtiness rising. “And he is right to seek us out. Perhaps in time he may join us as well.”
"安静！我最不希望听到的就是你的更多说教!"女神厌恶地回答，声音颤抖着。"如果他现在看见我们。如果他看到我这个样子...不！不！我不想有这种感觉。"空隙呻吟了一声，然后女神更坚定地说:"我不会的。"傲慢的情绪升起。"他找到我们是对的。也许到时候他也会加入我们。"
“Alfalfa smoothies… extra hay…” Lacunae whimpered aloud.
"苜蓿果汁......多余的干草......"拉库尼大声呜咽道。
I wanted to tell him not to, but there was a pressure on my mind, like a migraine.
我想告诉他不要这么做，但是我的心里有一种压力，就像偏头痛一样。
I couldn’t get the words out, and in my current condition, I couldn’t even try. “You… might check… Maripony. Out west…” I muttered. The Goddess gave a pleased, throaty little sound, and I felt a ghostly pat on my head. The pair just looked at me in worry, but I couldn’t say more. The Goddess wouldn’t let me.
我说不出话来，以我目前的状况，我甚至不能尝试。"你......可以查一下......马里波尼。在西部......"我喃喃自语道。女神发出一声悦耳的低沉的声音，我感到一阵幽灵般的轻拍在我的头上。这两个人只是担心地看着我，但我不能再多说了。女神不让我这么做。
Feeling doubly violated, I shifted onto my side, curling up away from him. I felt sick, the sensation of wrongness unshakable. I could at least still give him thanks, though. “Thank you, Snails. You saved me. Just like Snips said you would.” I was glad that he couldn’t see the tears of shame streaking my face.
我觉得自己受到了双重的侵犯，于是转过身来，蜷缩着远离他。我感到恶心，这种错误的感觉不可动摇。不过，我至少还能感谢他。"谢谢你，蜗牛。你救了我。就像小鬼头说的那样。"我很高兴他看不到羞愧的泪水划过我的脸。
“Um…” Snails balked a moment. “Did you… did you see him over there? Like a ghost or…”
"嗯......"蜗牛犹豫了一会儿。"你...你看见他在那儿了吗？就像鬼魂或者......"
I felt sick again. “No,” I said, not sure, but it felt like a lie. As dirty as lying to Silver Spoon about being Diamond Tiara. “No, but I’m sure he’s okay, wherever he is.” Please go. Please.
我又觉得恶心了。"不,"我说，不确定，但感觉像是在撒谎。跟骗银勺说自己是钻石头冠一样肮脏。"没有，但我肯定他没事，不管他在哪儿。"请走吧。求你了。
“Please, Blackjack needs to rest and recover,” Lacunae told them both gently.
"拜托，黑杰克需要休息和恢复,"Lacunae温和地告诉他们俩。
“Oh… ah… okay then. Um… hope you feel better, eh?” Snails said.
"哦......啊......好吧。嗯......希望你感觉好些了，嗯?"蜗牛说。
Silver Spoon hesitated and then answered, “Yeah. Sure. Get well soon, Tiara.” I heard their hooves trot away just before my body shook and I let out another sob. I wanted to throw up and purge myself, but I had nothing inside me to force out.
银勺犹豫了一下，然后回答说:"是的。当然。早日康复，提亚拉。"我听到他们的蹄子小跑离开之前，我的身体颤抖，我发出了另一个呜咽。我想吐出来，净化自己，但是我的内心没有任何东西可以强迫我出去。
“Oh please. There’s no need for such drama,” the Goddess thought at me contemptuously.
"哦，拜托。没必要这么戏剧化,"女神轻蔑地看着我。
“Shut up,” I screamed back at her. “Someday it’ll be your turn! I don’t care if it’s tomorrow or a week from now, some day you’ll get to die too! And if you come back, then we can see how well you handle it!” I shook from head to hoof, the hole through my middle a niggling afterthought. When I came back the first time, I’d felt depressed and suicidal. This time, whatever had happened, I knew I didn’t want to go back there. Not there.
"闭嘴,"我尖叫着回应她。"总有一天会轮到你的！我不在乎是明天还是一个星期以后，总有一天你也会死的！如果你回来，我们可以看看你处理得有多好!"我从头摇到脚，我中间的洞一个小小的后遗症。当我第一次回来的时候，我感到沮丧和自杀。这一次，不管发生了什么，我知道我不想再回到那里。不是那里。
“Shhhhh…” Lacunae said as she stroked my mane. Maybe coming back had driven me crazy? Maybe something in me had changed for the worse? “Shhh… Don’t worry about that now. You’re back. That’s all that matters.”
"嘘......"拉库尼边说边抚摸着我的鬃毛。也许回来让我抓狂了？也许我内心的某些东西变得更糟了？"嘘......现在不用担心这个。你回来了。这才是最重要的。"
I wept against her as she held me. “Can you take it from me? Whatever…
她抱着我的时候，我在她身边哭泣。"你能从我这里拿走吗？不管怎样..。
whatever I’m thinking… or feeling… or whatever?” I shook as I pressed my face against her shoulder. “Please?” I begged, desperate for her to make it all better. “Please...”
不管我在想什么......或者感觉到什么......或者其他什么?"我把脸紧贴在她的肩膀上，浑身发抖。"求你了?"我乞求着，极度渴望她能让一切都好起来。"请......"
“I wish I could, Blackjack. I really wish I could,” she murmured. “I wish I could make it all go away, but whatever happened to you happened at a level I can’t touch. This pain is yours. I wish we could understand it better, make it easier for you to bear,” Lacunae said softly into my mind. “I’m sorry.”
"我希望我可以，Blackjack。我真希望我可以,"她喃喃地说。"我希望我能让这一切都消失，但无论发生在你身上的事情都发生在我无法触及的层面上。这痛苦是你的。我希望我们可以更好地理解它，让你更容易地承受,"拉库纳轻轻地在我的脑海里说。"对不起。"
* * *
* * *
Around noon, I finally pulled myself together enough to get out of the ICU bed. Rampage returned with some Fancy Buck snack cakes, three tin cans, and some minty emeralds. Lacunae started to lift me into a wheelchair, but I waved her off with my mangled left foreleg and simply stood upright on my rear legs, felt the disorientation for a moment before my body adjusted, then looked at her and Rampage and even smiled at their incredulous expressions. Hey, it might look weird, but at least it wasn’t pathetic. After the last four or five hours, and the Goddess, I needed to start building some self-control and confidence back.
中午时分，我终于振作起来，从重症监护病房的床上爬了起来。狂暴的暴徒带着一些花俏的美元零食蛋糕、三个锡罐和一些薄荷绿宝石回来了。拉库尼开始把我抬上轮椅，但我挥手让她离开，用我那支离破碎的左前腿直立在我的后腿上，在我的身体调整之前感到一阵迷失方向，然后看着她和狂暴，甚至对他们怀疑的表情微笑。嘿，这可能看起来很奇怪，但至少不可悲。在过去的四五个小时里，我和女神，我需要开始建立一些自我控制和信心回来。
My barding had been taken… somewhere… to get fixed up. Either that, or I’d been robbed; at the moment, though, I suspected the former over the latter. Likewise, Carrion must have helped himself to Kingpin’s possessions, because they were gone as well. Oh well; the only enemies I had to worry about in here were the possible zebra infiltrators, and since they’d have been eliminated already anyway, I should be safe-ish even without armor, right?
我的帐篷被带到了......某个地方......去修理。要么是这样，要么就是我被抢劫了;不过此时此刻，我怀疑是前者而不是后者。同样的，小腐尸也一定偷走了金霸王的财物，因为他们也不见了。我在这里唯一需要担心的敌人是可能的斑马渗透者，既然他们已经被消灭了，我应该是安全的，即使没有盔甲，对不对？
Psychoshy and Stygius had both gotten some severe smoke inhalation; the former was still bedridden and quite pissed that nopony would let her out on account of her gasping for air every ten seconds. I gestured with a nod of my head for the batpony to come over. “How are you doing, Stygius?” I asked with a rueful smile. “Regretting you came with me?”
精神害羞和斯提吉乌斯都吸入了严重的烟雾;前者仍然卧床不起，而且非常生气，因为小马每隔十秒就喘一口气，就会让她下车。我点头示意蝙蝠马过来。"你好吗，斯提吉乌斯?"我苦笑着问道。"后悔你和我一起来的吗?"
He rolled his eyes and waved his hoof sideways with a snort like it was nothing at all. Then he looked apologetic as he nodded over his shoulder towards Psychoshy. “You two an item?” He sighed, his tufted ears drooping a little as he pulled his slate out of his armor.
他转了转眼睛，哼了一声，把蹄子向一边摆了摆，好像什么都没发生过似的。然后，他看起来很抱歉，他点了点头，对着"心理害羞"。"你们俩有一腿?"他叹了口气，从盔甲里拿出石板时，竖起的耳朵微微下垂。
‘Not allowed. Rules,’ he wrote with a sigh and an actual pout. Boys weren’t supposed to pout!
""不允许。规则，他叹了口气，撅着嘴写道。男孩子不应该撅嘴的！
I chuckled, shaking my head. “Well, one thing I know about her is that she probably doesn’t give a buck about rules. Do you like her?” He blinked and looked over at Psychoshy trading insults with Rampage. He closed his eyes, smiled, then looked at me and nodded. “More than me?” I asked with a grin, and he immediately blanched.
我咯咯地笑着，摇着头。"嗯，关于她，我知道的一件事是，她可能根本不在乎什么规矩。你喜欢她吗?"他眨了眨眼睛，转过头来看着Psychoshy骂骂咧咧的样子。他闭上眼睛，微笑着，然后看着我点点头。"比我更喜欢?"我咧嘴笑着问，他立刻脸色苍白。
“Yeah, Styggie… do you like me more than her?” Psychoshy asked, looking over from her bed with a smirk on her face and worry in her eyes. He looked from her to me and back again and bit on his wingtip for a moment. Then he pointed at Psychoshy with his wing and actually flinched! He knew I had Glory, though… ugh, batponies were weird.
"是的，斯蒂吉......你喜欢我多过她吗?"神经病问道，她从床上看过来，脸上带着傻笑，眼里充满了忧虑。他把目光从她身上转向我，又转回来，在翼尖上咬了一会儿。然后他用翅膀指着Psychoshy，实际上退缩了！他知道我有晨辉，尽管......呃，蝙蝠马很奇怪。
But it did prompt in me the rare impulse to have fun. “Well, that’s good to know. By the way, Stygius, do you think that I’ve been putting on weight?”
但它确实促使我产生了一种难得的寻找乐趣的冲动。""好吧，很高兴知道。顺便问一句，斯提吉乌斯，你认为我长胖了吗?"
His pupils shrank as he gaped at me, looked at my butt, then back up at me. I just arched my brow expectantly. Then he swayed, put a hoof to his brow, and collapsed on his back with all four legs thrust into the air, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth as his eyes rolled back in his sockets. “Not the worst answer to that question I’ve ever seen,” Lacunae observed.
他瞪着我，看着我的屁股，然后又看着我，瞳孔缩小了。我只是拱起眉毛期待着。然后他摇摆起来，用蹄子顶住额头，仰面瘫倒，四条腿都伸向空中，舌头耷拉在嘴边，眼眶里翻滚着。"这不是我见过的对这个问题最糟糕的回答,"Lacunae评论道。
The sight of everypony laughing at the flopped over Stygius, the fact that they’d all come so close to dying... somewhere I went from laughing to sobbing without even realizing it. Stygius rose as Rampage and Lacunae kept me from falling over as I swayed. “You two… you two are really really good together. Really… really…” The two fliers didn’t know how to respond; fortunately, somepony else did.
看到每一匹小马都在嘲笑Stygius上空的失败，事实上他们差点就死了......在某个地方，我从笑变成了抽泣，甚至都没有意识到。斯蒂吉乌斯在狂暴中站了起来，Lacunae在我摇晃的时候阻止了我倒下。"你们两个......你们两个真的很般配。真的......真的......"那两个飞行员不知道该怎么回答，幸运的是，其他人知道了。
Rampage blushed and batted her eyes at Lacunae. “Well, you heard her. Will you be my very special somepony, Lacunae?” The stunned mental babble coincided perfectly with the confused ‘what?’ from the Goddess. And just like that, I was back to laughing… no, crying… no…
暴怒的脸涨得通红，瞪着眼睛望着空隙。"好吧，你听到她说的了。你愿意做我非常特别的小马吗，拉库尼?"精神上的震惊与困惑的"什么?"完全吻合来自女神。就这样，我又开始笑了...不，哭了...不..。
Okay… maybe I still needed a little more time before leaving the ICU…
好吧...也许离开重症监护室前我还需要一点时间..。
* * *
* * *
I lay there on my side, feeling the damage to my crippled torso mending. It was rather disgusting, feeling things moving around inside me; it reminded me of when I was tainted. My brain wasn’t just an emotional wreck… it was the fact
我侧着身子躺在那里，感觉自己的残疾躯干正在愈合。这是相当令人厌恶的，感觉我体内的东西在移动;它让我想起我被污染的时候。我的大脑不仅仅是一个情感的残骸，而是一个事实
that I had things in my head that didn’t belong. The Goddess… strange files... I wanted some control back, damn it! I wanted to talk to somepony and not burst into tears. I wanted to think about Project Eternity without getting flashbacks. At least I chose to see memory orbs.
我脑子里有些不属于我的东西。女神...奇怪的文件...我想要回一些控制权，该死的！我想和某个小马说话，不想哭出来。我想要在没有回忆的情况下思考永恒之柱。至少我选择看记忆球。
I needed somepony who knew technology… or, rather… somezebra. I asked the ghoul in charge of the ICU and then waited. The privacy curtains had been drawn around both Boing and Psychoshy’s beds. I spotted the faint shimmer as she entered. I waited till it was right beside me, then hooked her neck with my remaining forelimb and pulled her in close, smooching her right on the end of her invisible muzzle.
我需要一匹懂技术的小马...或者说...一匹斑马。我问了负责ICU的食尸鬼，然后等着。两人的床上都拉上了隐私窗帘。她走进来时，我看到了微弱的闪光。我一直等到它就在我身边，然后用我剩下的前肢钩住它的脖子，把它拉近，在它隐形的口吻的末端亲吻它。
The zebra appeared, eyes wide, cheeks flaming red as she fell back, staring at me in horror. “Why are you being all invisible, hmmm?” I asked, arching a brow. The embarrassment she showed helped me avoid thinking about my own problems.
斑马出现了，眼睛睁得大大的，脸颊红得像火焰一样，她向后倒去，惊恐地盯着我。"为什么你总是隐形，嗯?"我问道，扬起了眉毛。她表现出的尴尬帮助我避免去想我自己的问题。
“Oh… ah… well…” She flushed as she muttered, tapping her hooves together. “I think the suit likes being sneaky… and after those two spies and the Nightstalkers… well… it’s just easier this way.” What and what? Well, I supposed I’d get the full story when I was a little more together. I needed to take care of something. Something to give me a little more control.
"哦......啊......好吧......"她满脸通红，一边喃喃自语，一边用蹄子敲打着。"我认为制服男喜欢偷偷摸摸......在那两个间谍和夜行者之后......嗯......这样更容易。"什么和什么？好吧，我想等我清醒一点的时候我就能知道整个故事了。我需要处理点事情。一些能让我更好控制的东西。
“You should take it off from time to time. I agree it’s a great suit, but there’s such a thing as too much of a good thing.” The zebra fidgeted as she looked away. “Anyway, you’re good with terminals and computers and stuff. I need you to do me a favor.” I turned my head, pushed my mane away, and pulled the cover up so she could see the plug in my temple. “I’d like to see if you can go through and delete any audio or video files that are in my head.” At her incredulous look, I explained how unsealing Eternity had caused all kinds of flashbacks to the recordings. While I found them interesting, I didn’t want them popping up completely at random.
"你应该时不时地把它脱下来。我同意这套衣服很不错，但是好东西太多也是一回事。"斑马看向别处，坐立不安。"不管怎样，你擅长终端和计算机之类的东西。我需要你帮我个忙。"我转过头，推开我的鬃毛，拉起遮盖物，这样她就能看到我太阳穴里的插头。"我想看看你能不能删除我脑中的音频或视频文件。"在她怀疑的眼神中，我解释了"永恒"的开启是如何引起了对录音的各种闪回。虽然我觉得它们很有趣，但我不希望它们完全随机出现。
“Oh. Sure. I can do that,” she said as she took Marmalade’s PipBuck and pulled a short cable out of its housing. “Universal plug… I’ll just go through and… um…” She bit her lip as she looked away. “You’re sure you’re okay with letting me in your… well… system? What if I mess up?”
"哦。当然。我可以做到,"她一边说，一边拿起Marmalade的PipBuck，从外壳里拔出一根短电缆。"万能插头......我只要穿过去......嗯......"她转过头去，咬了咬嘴唇。"你确定让我进入你的......呃......系统没问题吗？如果我搞砸了怎么办?"
I waggled my mangled left leg at her. “Xanthe, with all that’s messed up in me, I
我向她摇晃着我扭伤的左腿。"桑特，我心里一团糟，我.....
really don’t see how you could make me worse.” Then I frowned and rolled my eyes. “Well, no. You might make me able to only speak in Zebra, make me forget the letter S, or just turn me into a remorseless cyberpony killing machine, but really, I think the chances of that are probably pretty slim.” She still looked uneasy, and I smiled. “And I trust you not to do something bad to me.”
真不知道你怎么能让我变得更糟"然后我皱了皱眉头，转了转眼珠。""哦，不。你可能会让我只能用Zebra语言说话，让我忘记字母s，或者把我变成一台无情的赛博杀人机器，但说真的，我认为这种可能性很小。"她看起来仍然心神不定，我笑了。"我相信你不会对我做坏事。"
Xanthe sighed, took the plug in her mouth, and pressed it into my socket. I had an overwhelming urge to rub my right eye as I felt something behind it. She then started to tap on the PipBuck keys with the very tip of her hoof. “Wow. Look at all that,” she murmured softly.
赞斯叹了口气，把插头放进嘴里，插进了我的插座。当我感觉到右眼后面有什么东西的时候，我有一种压倒性的冲动去揉我的右眼。然后她开始用蹄尖敲打那些小型的巴克按键。"哇。看看这一切,"她轻轻地喃喃地说。
“Lot of stuff in there?” I asked with a small frown.
"里面有很多东西?"我皱着眉头问道。
“Yeah. I think this Steelpony audiovisual interface is using your brain as a buffer. That why it’s triggering seemingly at random,” she said as she typed steadily.
"是的。我认为这个Steelpony视听界面是在利用你的大脑作为缓冲。这就是为什么它似乎是随机触发的。"。
“You can’t delete my memories or stuff though, right?” I asked with a little frown.
"但你不能删除我的记忆或其他东西，对吧?"我皱着眉头问道。
“Of course not. Memories aren’t data. Well… not the kind you can take out by just pushing a button,” she said as she started working. “Wait… mater futūtor…” Well, that didn’t sound good. “I think… Blackjack, your eyes and ears have been recording days of information in your brain. And they haven’t just been saving them; they’ve been broadcasting them somewhere as well.”
"当然不是。记忆不是数据。嗯......不是那种你只要按一个按钮就可以拿出来的,"她一边说一边开始工作。"等等......妈妈......"听起来不太妙。"我认为......黑杰克，你的眼睛和耳朵已经在你的大脑中记录了数天的信息。他们不仅拯救了他们，他们还在某个地方广播他们。"
“You mean somepony rigged my eyes and ears to use for spying?” I gaped, turning my head to glance at her.
"你是说有人给我的眼睛和耳朵装了窃听器?"我目瞪口呆，转过头来看着她。
“Yes. I can’t tell where the data’s going, though,” she said with a frown. “Do you want me to remove it?” She caught my eye and swallowed. “You want me to remove it.”
"是的。不过，我不知道这些数据去了哪里,"她皱着眉头说。"你想让我把它拿掉吗?"她吸引了我的目光，咽了一口唾沫。"你想让我把它拿掉。"
“Can you tell how long it’s been doing it?” I asked, frowning as I thought back to when the visions started in Hippocratic.
"你能说出它这样做有多久了吗?"我问道，皱着眉头回想起希波克拉底的幻想开始的时候。
“Near as I can tell… they always have,” the zebra replied. “There isn’t really a log or anything, but I’ve got timestamps going back for days. The earliest is… um… I think nine or ten days ago.”
"据我所知......他们总是这样,"斑马回答。"实际上并没有什么日志或者其他东西，但是我已经记录了几天前的时间戳。最早的是......嗯......我想是九天或十天前。"
That was before Hippocratic. In fact, that was right about the time I… “Zodiac. She set them to record?” I frowned -- my eyes twitched back and forth as I thought -- then rubbed my eyes. Ugh, eyes shouldn’t twitch. Then my paranoia began to assert itself. “Or… maybe she didn’t. My eyes came from her. Maybe… maybe somepony hacked her eyes and ears a long time ago.” Goldenblood? Maybe. I wouldn’t put it past him. Except he wasn’t a technical wizard… but then, he certainly could have had it done even if he couldn’t do it himself.
那是在希波克拉底之前。事实上，那正是我..。."黄道带。她把它们记录下来了?"我皱了皱眉----我的眼睛像我想的那样前后抽搐----然后揉揉我的眼睛。眼睛不该抽搐。然后我的偏执开始显露出来。"或者......也许她没有。我的眼睛来自她。也许......也许很久以前有匹小马砍了她的耳朵和眼睛。"金色血统？也许吧。我不会放过他的。除了他不是一个技术奇才......但是，他当然可以做到这一点，即使他自己不能做到。
“There’s no way to tell. You’d have to ask her,” Xanthe said as she worked.
"没有办法知道。你得问问她,"桑特一边工作一边说。
I lay there, my eyes every now and then flickering on and off. And as I lay there, I thought about why my eyes were spying on things and who was receiving it. And what they could have been doing with it... Thank goodness I had the help of somepony who knew all about terminals and robots and balefire bombs and--
我躺在那里，眼睛时不时地忽明忽暗。当我躺在那里的时候，我在想为什么我的眼睛一直在监视着这些东西，谁在接受它们。还有他们本可以用它做什么......感谢上帝，我得到了一些小马的帮助，他们知道所有关于终端、机器人和火焰炸弹的知识
Wait a minute.
等一下。
“Xanthe… I’m curious. How do you know about balefire bombs?” My eyes clicked off so I couldn’t look at her, and from her silence she’d either frozen or was running for her life. I hoped it was the former; it’d suck if I was stuck blind, again, till Lacunae got me to Rover. I quickly continued, “I’m not angry… I just want to know how you know so much about them.”
"Xanthe......我很好奇。你怎么知道巴利火焰炸弹?"我的眼睛眨了一下，所以我不能看着她，从她的沉默中，她要么僵住了，要么在逃命。我希望是前者;如果我再次陷入盲目，直到陷阱把我带到罗孚，那就糟了。我很快继续说,"我没有生气......我只是想知道你是怎么知道这么多关于他们的事情的。"
The zebra began typing again, and I just hoped I was right about her. “The bunker I grew up in was a balefire launch facility. It was called a dragon’s nest… intended for a first strike against Equestria. That’s how I knew about the missile in Hightower. It was probably fired from my home.”
斑马又开始打字了，我只希望我对她的看法是正确的。"我成长的地下堡垒是一个火箭发射设施。它被称为龙巢，意在第一次袭击小马国。所以我才知道海托华的导弹。它可能是从我家里发射的。"
“Well, unless you’re two centuries old, I don’t hold it against you.” ...Though considering how many people I’d run into who were that old, I couldn’t discount the possibility. “And even if you were, I still doubt I’d hold it against you.”
"好吧，除非你已经两百岁了，否则我不会对你有意见的。"虽然考虑到我遇到过那么多那么老的人，我不能排除这种可能性。"即使你是，我仍然怀疑我会因此而反对你。"
“Really?” Xanthe sounded surprised. My vision popped back on, and I looked at the baffled zebra.
"真的吗?"赞斯听起来很吃惊。我的视力恢复了，我看着这只困惑的斑马。
“Xanthe… Twilight Sparkle was creating alicorns. Fluttershy was a traitor. Pinkie Pie’s law enforcement ministry was corrupt. Rarity was dealing in necromancy. There were megaspells aimed at doing Celestia knows what. Honestly, I can’t blame the zebras for using their bombs. If I were in their shoes,
"赞特......紫悦公司正在创造橡子。弗特希是个叛徒。鹏奇派的执法部门是腐败的。稀有正在经营巫术。塞莱斯蒂亚知道有多少个巨子企图做这件事。老实说，我不能责怪斑马使用炸弹。如果我是他们
I might have tried the same thing.” I sighed, wondering what horrible things Applejack or Rainbow Dash had done behind the scenes trying to win the war at all costs. “We were so focused on winning that we never realized it wasn’t worth the cost.”
我可能也会做同样的事情。"我叹了口气，想知道苹果白兰地和彩虹达什在幕后做了什么可怕的事情，试图不惜一切代价赢得这场战争。"我们如此专注于赢球，以至于从未意识到这不值得我们付出代价。"
Xanthe was silent for a time as she worked, but then she said in a quiet murmur, almost to herself than to me, “The Remnant have one more.” I looked at her as she sat, keeping her eyes down. “You’re right… I do know a lot about balefire bombs. There was one silo that didn’t fire. The missile malfunctioned… so we had to keep the bomb safe and secure. When the Remnant came, they discovered it and took both the bomb and the zebras who maintained it.”
桑丝工作的时候沉默了一会儿，然后她轻声低语，几乎是对自己而不是对我说:"例外人还有一个。"她坐着的时候我看着她，眼睛一直低着。"你说得对......我确实知道很多关于火焰炸弹的事。有一个发射井没有着火。导弹发生故障......所以我们必须保证炸弹的安全。当例外人来的时候，他们发现了它，把炸弹和养它的斑马都带走了。"
I slowly sat up, and she flinched away. I reached out and stroked her black and white ponytail. “Do they have a working missile or rocket?” I asked, and she shook her head. That was something. Still, I wouldn’t put it past them to smuggle it somewhere.
我慢慢地坐了起来，她退缩了。我伸手抚摸着她那黑白相间的马尾辫。"他们有能用的导弹或火箭吗?"我问道，她摇了摇头。这是一件了不起的事。尽管如此，我还是不相信他们会把它偷运到别的地方。
“Please… don’t be mad at me. This cursed city… it is evil and our enemy. It is Starkatteri… and the home of Nightmare Moon. A place of evil and… and…” She looked stricken as I slipped off the bed. “I didn’t want to betray my people…”
"请......不要生我的气。这座被诅咒的城市...是邪恶的，是我们的敌人。这里是斯塔卡特里星......也是恶梦之月的故乡。一个充满邪恶和......和......的地方。"当我从床上滑下时，她看起来很受打击。"我不想背叛我的人民......"
“Xanthe… you’re a good person. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have told me,” I said quietly. “Why haven’t they used it if they have it?”
"Xanthe......你是个好人。如果你不是，你就不会告诉我,"我平静地说。"如果他们有的话，为什么不用呢?"
“The last order of the Caesar was for us to fight on until the cursed city and nation of stars were no more. If the Legate is to fulfil that order, the balefire bomb must reach the Core somehow,” she said, looking to the west.
"凯撒的最后一道命令是让我们继续战斗，直到这座被诅咒的城市和星辰之国不复存在。如果特使要履行这一命令，必须以某种方式把火焰炸弹送到核心区。"她指望着西方说。
I whistled softly. “Tall order.”
我轻轻地吹着口哨。"离谱的要求。"
“Yes. That place has automated defenses and magic shields which would protect it from a detonation outside. Before the day of fire, multiple missiles were intended to bombard the city and overwhelm its protections.” She sighed and shook her head. “The missile in my home was damaged, though, and I don’t know where the Remnant would get another.” She gave a sickly smile. “Not that one missile would have much chance at breaching the Core, anyway.”
"是的。那个地方有自动防御系统和魔法护盾，可以防止外面的爆炸。在发射前一天，多枚导弹的目的是轰炸这座城市，摧毁它的保护。"她叹了口气，摇了摇头。"不过，我家里的导弹已经损坏了，我不知道例外人会从哪里再得到一枚。"她露出病态的微笑。"不管怎样，一枚导弹攻破核心的机会不大。"
Maybe not the Core, but what if the Remnant fired it somewhere else? The Society? The Arena? Thunderhead? “Don’t they have extra missiles at Dawn
也许不是核心，但如果例外人在别的地方发射呢？学会？竞技场？霹雳头？"难道黎明时分他们没有多余的导弹吗
Bay?”
贝?"
She shook her head. “No. Your Ministry of Awesome destroyed and stole dozens of our missiles prior to the day of fire,” she said quietly.
她摇了摇头。"没有。你们可怕的部门在火灾之前摧毁并偷走了我们几十枚导弹,"她平静地说。
“How’d they pull that off?” I asked with a wry smile.
"他们是怎么做到的?"我苦笑着问。
“We’ve no idea. It was one of our greatest defeats; in one night the Shadowbolts and members of the Ministry of Awesome infiltrated the launch facility, made off with two dozen cruise missiles, and destroyed dozens more. More than a hundred guards were executed for their failure.” She looked away. “The ministry sabotaged the balefire bomb stockpile. When the day of fire came, only a dozen bombs were fired from Dawn Bay. Not hundreds, as intended.”
"我们不知道。这是我们最大的失败之一;在一个晚上,"暗影螺栓"和"神奇部"的成员潜入发射设施，携带24枚巡航导弹潜逃，并摧毁了数十枚导弹。一百多名看守因为失败而被处决。"她转过头去。"魔法部破坏了弹药库。火灾发生的那一天，黎明湾只发射了十几枚炸弹。不是预期的几百个。"
“Hundreds?”
"几百个?"
“Oh yes. The Caesar’s final plan was to turn every inch of Equestria into irradiated glass. There was some invasion or big attack planned, something made with the help of a collaborator, and if it failed we would have been left with only one solution: overwhelming balefire bombardment.” She said it so casually… “Had Dawn Bay and other facilities been intact and ready, it might even have been realized. Collaborators and sympathizers had allowed us to build and hide weapons all over your country. The old launch facilities ran for miles above the base. A forest of ballistic missiles that never flew, thanks to your Ministry of Awesome.” She sounded just a touch resentful.
"哦，是的。凯撒的最终计划是把Equestria的每一寸土地都变成辐射玻璃。他们计划了一些入侵或大规模攻击，在合作者的帮助下制造了一些东西，如果失败了，我们只有一个解决办法:全面的火力轰炸。"她如此漫不经心地说......"如果黎明湾和其他设施完好无损，甚至可能已经实现。合作者和同情者允许我们在贵国各地制造和藏匿武器。旧的发射设施在基地上空运行了数英里。一片弹道导弹的森林从来没有飞过，感谢你们的棒极了部。"她听起来只是有点愤愤不平。
“So the zebras were going to push a button and wipe out all of Equestria?” I asked in shock. Xanthe’s shamed eyes fell as she tapped her hooves in front of her.
"这么说斑马要按下按钮，把整个小马国都灭了?"我震惊地问道。桑特羞愧地垂下眼睛，轻轻地敲打着前面的蹄子。
“From documents in my home, I believe so. What alternative did we have?” Xanthe asked, almost begging me to understand. “Even with our superior numbers and natural resources, we could neither overcome you nor push you to surrender. Your megaspells and secret projects were too much for us. No matter how much we stole, infiltrated, or attacked, we couldn’t beat you. Even balefire wasn’t enough! Ponies developed megaspells that turned the sun itself into a devastating weapon. There were predictions that when we struck Equestria, only one out of every twenty missiles would reach their target, and that number shrank every month! In another year, it would have been one out of every two hundred. And once we fell, what would stop the Maiden of Stars from taking
"从我家里的文件来看，我相信是这样的。我们还有别的选择吗?"赞斯问道，几乎是在乞求我能理解。"即使有我们优越的人数和自然资源，我们也无法战胜你们，也无法迫使你们投降。你的巨型计划和秘密计划对我们来说太多了。不管我们偷了多少，渗透了多少，攻击了多少，我们都不能打败你。即使是芭蕾舞表演也不够！小马发展出巨型细胞，把太阳本身变成了毁灭性的武器。有预言说，当我们攻击小马国时，每二十枚导弹中只有一枚能到达目标，而且这个数字每个月都在减少！再过一年，这个数字将会是百分之一。一旦我们倒下了，是什么阻止了星星少女
over the entire world?”
遍布全世界?"
It hurt to think about. The war had gone on for a generation, and here was a zebra absolutely certain that if they hadn’t used tens of thousands of megaspells, they would have lost for sure. But so what? Wouldn’t it have been better for one side to win than everyone to lose?
想想就让人心痛。战争已经持续了一代人，这里有一匹斑马绝对肯定，如果他们没有使用成千上万的巨盾，他们肯定会失败。但那又怎样？一方获胜难道不比所有人失败更好吗？
What if the zebras had won the war? The Remnant had continued waging war for two hundred years to destroy the Hoof. If Equestria had surrendered, would they have just stopped there? While Sekashi and Xanthe proved that not all zebras were bad, I had seen Lancer coldly shooting a dozen of his own kind. Would there have been death squads of Lancers hunting down ponies? Countless balefire bombs annihilating Equestria entirely? I just didn’t know…
如果斑马赢得了战争怎么办？例外人为了消灭霍夫，持续发动了两百年的战争。如果马术国投降了，他们会就此罢手吗？当Sekashi和Xanthe证明并非所有的斑马都是坏的时候，我看到Lancer冷酷地射杀了十几头同类。会不会有枪骑兵的敢死队猎杀小马？无数燃烧弹彻底歼灭了小马国？我只是不知道..。
What if Equestria had won? I’d like to have thought that everything would have returned to normal, but honestly, I’d never really thought about what postwar Equestria would have been like. Luna’s Equestria… I felt a shiver run through my entire body and shook my head. It didn’t matter… and I didn’t want to think of Equestria after a thousand years of Luna, the ministries, and the O.I.A.
如果小马国赢了呢？我本以为一切都会恢复正常，但说实话，我从未真正想过战后的小马国会是什么样子。卢娜骑马的时候......我感到浑身发抖，摇了摇头。这无关紧要......我不想再想起Equestria在卢娜、政府部门和o.i.a.之后的一千年。
I sighed, pressing my thrashed limb to my face. “There’s no point in worrying about what might have been. The bomb the Remnant have now is a bigger problem. Do you know where it is?”
我叹了口气，把抽打的手臂贴在脸上。"担心可能会发生什么是没有意义的。例外人现在有的炸弹是个更大的问题。你知道它在哪儿吗?"
“Dawn Bay, I imagine, but it could be hidden anywhere. The original launch facilities were all heavily damaged in the war. The balefire bomb armory is a molten slag pit.” She lowered her head, and the suit seemed to hug her, snuggling a little against her. “There is one thing, though… Before we left for Yellow River… they were repairing one of the launchers. In fact, they didn’t want me to leave because they wanted me to fix the guidance terminals. I guess they didn’t expect me to get cursed…”
"我猜是黎明湾，但它可能藏在任何地方。原先的发射设施在战争中全部遭到严重破坏。弹药库是一个熔化的渣坑。"她低下了头，那套衣服似乎紧紧地抱着她，有点依偎着她。"不过，有一件事......在我们动身前往黄河之前......他们正在修理一台发射器。事实上，他们不想让我离开，因为他们想让我修好导航终端。我猜他们没想到我会被诅咒......"
She pulled the plug from my temple, then tapped the keys a few more times; the deftness she employed with the tips of her hooves astonished me. “There. There shouldn’t be any more foreign data stored in your brain. I’ve transferred all of it to this PipBuck; I don’t know if it’s useful, important, or just plain garbage.” She handed Marmalade’s PipBuck back to me. “I tried taking the spy programs out of your system, but it looks like that’d have some unpleasant side effects… like permanent blindness and deafness. It’s really integrated in your systems.”
她拔掉了我太阳穴上的插头，然后又敲了几下键盘;她那灵巧的蹄尖使我大吃一惊。"那儿。你的大脑中不应该存储更多的外来数据。我已经把它们全部转移到了这个PipBuck上，我不知道它们是有用的、重要的，还是纯粹的垃圾。"她把Marmalade的PipBuck还给了我。"我试着把间谍程序从你的系统中清除出去，但看起来会有一些令人不快的副作用......比如永久失明和耳聋。它真正融入了你的系统。"
“Ugh… why would anypony even do such a thing?” I muttered as I rubbed the socket cover.
"呃......为什么会有小马做这种事呢?"我一边搓着插座盖，一边喃喃自语。
“It’s an exceptionally good place to hide data,” Xanthe replied casually. “You wouldn’t have known things were being recorded if it hadn’t played them, so a unicorn wouldn’t have been able to extract a memory magically. And most technicians don’t think of using a brain to hide terminal data, so they wouldn’t think to search for it there. They would look in the hardware.” She sighed and patted my shoulder. “Still, running the clean and sweep program on this PipBuck from time to time should clear it out.”
"这是一个非常好的隐藏数据的地方,"桑特漫不经心地回答。"如果不播放，你不会知道有东西被记录下来，所以独角兽不可能神奇地提取记忆。大多数技术人员不会想到用大脑来隐藏终端数据，所以他们不会想到在那里搜索。他们会检查硬件。"她叹了口气，拍了拍我的肩膀。"尽管如此，不时对这个PipBuck进行清理和扫荡应该能够清除它。"
“Thanks,” I said with a relieved smile. Then I looked at her as I tucked the device into my bags. “What about you? Do you want to stay with me?”
"谢谢,"我带着宽慰的微笑说。然后我看着她，把手机塞进我的包里。"你呢？你想和我在一起吗?"
Xanthe gave me a pained smile. “No. Blackjack, you’re a decent pony, but you face things that terrify me. I don’t think I could face anything like Hightower again. I still can’t sleep after seeing it.” She shook her head. “I think I need a place to rest and think… and decide about the future…”
赞斯给了我一个痛苦的微笑。"没有。黑杰克，你是一匹不错的小马，但你面对的事情让我感到恐惧。我想我再也不能面对海托华这样的人了。我看了还是睡不着。"她摇了摇头。"我想我需要一个地方休息和思考......并决定未来......"
* * *
* * *
I found Willow and Windclop in the conference room after I’d pulled myself together again. The ghouls from Hightower were there too, along with one or two of the settlement guards. Twitchy, the unicorn with hide like a spoiled pumpkin, screwed up his face in confusion. “So… wait… run that by me again? We’re… dead? As in... dead dead? And that’s why everything looks so… wrong?”
在我重新振作起来之后，我在会议室里发现了Willow和Windclop。海托华的食尸鬼也在那里，还有一两个定居点的守卫。独角兽的皮就像一个被宠坏的南瓜一样，焦躁不安地扭曲着脸，陷入困惑之中。"那么......等等......再跟我说一遍？我们...死了？就是说...死了？这就是为什么一切看起来都那么...不对劲?"
Blossomforth groaned and buried her face in her hooves. “We’ve run it by you twenty times, Twitchy. You’ve got to get your brain out of the past.”
朵朵绽放，呻吟着，把脸埋在蹄子里。"我们已经问过你二十次了，Twitchy。你必须把你的大脑从过去中抽离出来。"
“I know, I know… just… we’re dead?” Twitchy began again. “As in dead dead? And that’s why everything looks so wrong?”
"我知道，我知道......只是......我们死定了?"又开始抽搐了。""死了吗？这就是为什么一切看起来都那么不对劲?"
Willow sighed and stood. “You work him through it, Blossom,” the green ghoul said, glancing at me and trotting over to the door. When she looked up at me, her brows furrowed. “Do you have to stand like that, Blackjack? You look like a freaky robo-zebra.”
柳树叹了口气，站了起来。"你帮他度过难关，布鲁森,"绿色的食尸鬼说，瞥了我一眼，然后小跑向门口。当她抬头看着我时，她皱起了眉头。"你非得这样站着吗，黑杰克？你看起来就像一只怪异的机器斑马。"
I waved my mangled forelegs at her. “It’s either two legs or try to use these.
我向她挥舞着我扭伤的前腿。"要么用两条腿，要么试着用这些。
Sorry.” I frowned a little. “Speaking of zebras…” She looked back to the guards and then stepped out into the hall and sat down. Given the serious expression on her face, I doubted the news could be good.
对不起。"我皱了皱眉。"说到斑马......"她回头看了看警卫，然后走出大厅坐了下来。鉴于她脸上严肃的表情，我怀疑这消息是否是好消息。
“We got Cerberus’s message,” Willow said grimly.
"我们收到了刻耳柏洛斯的消息,"柳树冷冷地说。
“And did you find any zebras?” I asked nervously, afraid she was going to tell be about some other pony’s death. Velvet or someone.
"你找到斑马了吗?"我紧张地问道，生怕她会说出其他小马的死讯。天鹅绒什么的。
Willow snorted. “Oh yeah. Two of them in the old maintenance manager’s office, along with maps of Meatlocker and crates of critters.”
威洛哼了一声。"哦，是的。其中两个在老维修经理的办公室里，还有Meatlocker的地图和成箱的动物。"
“Critters?” I cocked my head; this was going in an unexpected direction.
"动物?"我抬起头来，事情正朝着一个意想不到的方向发展。
“Ever hear of a something called a Nightstalker? Looks like a snake and a dog got frisky? Well, they had dozens of the things ready in cages. Set those critters loose during an attack and we probably wouldn’t have been able to defend ourselves. They were all set to do something big, and soon,” she said sourly as she glared down the dark hallway. “But the zebras were killed and we made sure none of the Nightstalkers survived.”
"听说过一种叫做暗夜行者的东西吗？看起来像是一条蛇和一条狗在调情？他们在笼子里准备了很多东西。在一次攻击中释放这些生物，我们可能就无法保护自己了。他们都准备好了要做一件大事，而且很快,"她怒视着黑暗的走廊，酸溜溜地说。"但是斑马被杀了，我们确保夜行者一个都没活下来。"
“So… what’s the catch?” I asked as she pulled out a pack of cigarettes, shook one out, and lit it. I stared at the yellow flame. When she closed the lighter, I trembled and quickly looked away.
"那么......有什么条件呢?"我问她，她拿出一包香烟，抖了抖，点燃了。我凝视着那黄色的火焰。当她关上打火机时，我浑身发抖，赶紧把目光移开。
She took a long pull off the cigarette. “Guess who killed them?”
她抽了很长时间的烟。"猜猜是谁杀了他们?"
I blinked, and my mood joined hers. “Ahuizotl?”
我眨了眨眼，我的情绪和她的一样。"Ahuizotl?"
“Yup. Claimed he was investigating a noise, found them, and got lucky. Surprise, it was right after Cerberus came floating up blasted all to hell. Both were shot dead center in the back of the head, so now he’s a Goddess damned hero to half the town.” She let out a long blast of smoke from her nostrils that put me on edge. I shivered at the smell and backed away, waving my hoof in front of my face. She frowned at me. “What’s the matter with you?”
"是的。声称他正在调查一个噪音，发现了它们，并且很幸运。令人惊讶的是，就在刻耳柏洛斯被炸飞到地狱之后。他们都是后脑勺中枪身亡，所以现在他成了半个城市的女神英雄。"她从鼻孔里喷出一股长长的烟雾，把我吓坏了。闻到这气味，我打了个哆嗦，后退了几步，在脸前挥动着我的蹄子。她对我皱起眉头。"你怎么了?"
“Just… not good with smoke and fire right now. Hightower was really rough,” I muttered. Willow frowned, then spat out the cigarette and carefully crushed the tip. Taking a smoke-free breath, I moved along quickly. “What about what Xanthe said? Or you could talk to Carrion.”
"只是......现在不太适应烟火。海托华真的很粗暴,"我喃喃自语。柳树皱了皱眉头，然后吐出香烟，小心翼翼地捏碎烟头。我深吸了一口无烟的气，迅速向前走去。""那赞斯说的话呢？或者你可以和腐尸谈谈。"
“She’s a zebra. It doesn’t matter if she said Ahuizotl was the Caesar himself, nopony is going to believe her. And Carrion’s got that damned Contract. Unless he can stand in front of the town and say ‘my boss conspired with zebras to smuggle in nasty critters and take over,’ there’s nothing that can be done.” Willow sighed and looked back in towards the conference room. “At least you brought back some good shooters. This’ll double our security. I knew Blossomforth from before the bombs; good mare.”
"她是一只斑马。就算她说阿胡伊佐特是凯撒本人也没关系，没有小马会相信她。腐尸拿到了那份该死的合同。除非他能站在镇子前面说'我的老板与斑马密谋走私肮脏的动物并接管了这里'，否则我们无能为力。"薇洛叹了口气，回头看了看会议室。"至少你带回了一些优秀的射手。这样我们的安全系数就会加倍。在炸弹爆炸之前，我就知道"朵朵"，好母马。"
I lowered my eyes. “Hardly makes up for losing Graves,” I muttered.
我垂下眼睛。"很难弥补失去格雷夫斯的损失,"我喃喃自语。
She sighed and shook out another cigarette, paused, and put the pack away with a scowl. “Look, Blackjack, when Graves told us she was joining you, Windclop and myself did everything we could to get her to change her mind, but she wouldn’t think of it. She had her reasons for going back, and they were just that: hers.” The green ghoul glanced back at the conference room. “And if what I hear is right, if she hadn’t gone, none of you would have gotten out alive.”
她叹了口气，又抽了一支烟，停顿了一下，皱着眉头把烟盒收了起来。"听着，黑杰克，当格雷夫斯告诉我们她要加入你们时，温德克洛普和我竭尽全力想让她改变主意，但她不愿意。她有她回去的理由，而这些理由就是她的理由。"绿色的食尸鬼回头看了一眼会议室。"如果我听到的是真的，如果她没有离开，你们都不会活着出来。"
I sighed, frowning in thought. That Ahuizotl was going to get away with it was galling. Wrong. And after what I’d been through, more wrongness in the world was just too much. Then I looked at my wrecked forelegs, and paused. An idea was worming its way through my head.
我叹了口气，皱了皱眉头。阿胡伊佐特要逃脱惩罚，这令人恼火。错了。在我经历了这一切之后，世界上更多的错误实在是太多了。然后我看了看自己受伤的前腿，停了下来。一个想法正在我的脑子里慢慢形成。
“You said that the ghouls wouldn’t care if it came from Xanthe’s mouth.” The green ghoul frowned at me in confusion as I smiled. “What if it’s from somepony else’s mouth?”
"你说食尸鬼不会在乎它是否出自Xanthe之口。"当我微笑时，绿色食尸鬼困惑地皱起了眉头。"如果是别人嘴里说出来的怎么办?"
* * *
* * *
The Mortuary was more than just dead, it was closed. I might have broken a few rules picking the lock, but I really needed this little chat. When I stepped inside the bar, I saw all the things from Kingpin’s cell heaped over rusty gurneys that had been converted into tables. Ahuizotl dug through the sheets muttering feverishly to himself. Carrion stood in the corner and looked over in surprise as I walked in alone. “Ahuizotl,” I called across the room, and the ghoul jumped, overturning the gurney he was working at and falling on his rump. I had only my mangled limbs… and the bag of bits Rampage had found in Hightower.
太平间不仅仅是死了，它已经关闭了。我可能违反了一些开锁的规则，但我真的需要这个小小的谈话。当我走进酒吧的时候，我看到Kingpin牢房里的所有东西都堆在生锈的轮床上，这些轮床已经被改造成了桌子。阿胡伊佐特挖着被单，狂热地自言自语。当我一个人走进去的时候，小腐尸站在角落里惊奇地看着我。"Ahuizotl,"我在房间的另一头喊道，那个食尸鬼跳了下来，推翻了他正在工作的轮床，摔倒在他的臀部上。我只剩下残缺的四肢......还有在海托华找到的那袋子碎片。
“Wha… you?! The sign says ‘Closed’ for a reason! Get out!” he spat as he rose to his hooves. “Carrion, throw her out!” The griffin sighed and put his patched-up helmet back on. I noted he’d kept Xanthe’s rigged beam gun.
"什么...你?！牌子上写着"关门"是有原因的！滚出去!"他站起来的时候吐了口水。"腐尸，把她扔出去!"狮身鹰首兽叹了口气，重新戴上了补丁头盔。我注意到他保留了赞斯的横梁枪。
“I want to talk money,” I said flatly, and I jingled the bag at him.
"我想谈谈钱的事,"我直截了当地说，然后我把袋子叮当一声扔向他。
At once he raised his hoof. “Or we can hear the young lady out,” he amended at once. He looked over my bare body and my metal limbs. “Your resilience is astonishing. Truly, I expected all of you to get a little ways in and then run out. But to have destroyed the tower… well… it’s impressive.”
他立刻抬起了蹄子。"或者我们可以听听这位年轻女士说完,"他马上修正道。他看着我赤裸的身体和我的金属肢体。"你的恢复能力令人吃惊。说真的，我希望你们所有人都能进去一点，然后跑出来。但是摧毁了这座塔......嗯......令人印象深刻。"
“Well, I do impressive things,” I replied as I looked at him evenly. “I need to get into Dawn Bay.”
"嗯，我的工作给人留下了深刻的印象。"我平静地看着他，回答道。"我要去黎明湾。"
His smile disappeared and his eyes shifted to the large bag beside me. “Carrion. Make sure we’re not disturbed.” He waited for the griffin to leave, and then his lips curled in a wicked little smirk. “One moment. You’re going to have to humor me.” He trotted around me, checking to make sure I didn’t have anything concealed in my scorched mane or stubby tail. I considered it a triumph that I didn’t smash his skull in as he ran his hooves near some personal portions of my anatomy. “Now… what makes you think that I would be able to facilitate… this request?”
他的笑容消失了，他的眼睛转向我身旁的大袋子。"腐尸。确保我们不被打扰。"他等着狮鹫离开，然后他的嘴唇翘起，带着一丝邪恶的傻笑。"等一下。你得迁就我一下。"他在我身边小跑，检查我的鬃毛和尾巴是否被烧焦了。我认为这是一个胜利，我没有打碎他的头骨，因为他用他的蹄子接近我的一些个人部分的解剖学。"现在......你凭什么认为我能够帮助......这个请求?"
“Xanthe said you fed information to zebras about a talisman inside a zebra at Yellow River.” Now he looked suspicious, but I was there in just my hide. No guns. No tricks. Of course, I could have killed him myself, but that would only get me thrown out.
"桑特说你向斑马提供黄河边斑马身上有护身符的信息。"现在他看起来很可疑，但我只是躲在那里。没有枪。别耍花招。当然，我本可以亲手杀了他，但那只会让我被扔出去。
“I know many different people. I’ve been around for quite a while,” he replied. I turned the bag of bits over and let the heap of gold coins pile up on the table before me. His filmy eyes grew wider and wider; the sight of the pre-war money seemed to arouse him. Okay, not something I needed to see. I held up the empty bag so he could see nothing was concealed inside.
"我认识很多不同的人。我在这儿已经有一段时间了,"他回答。我把袋子翻过来，让一堆金币堆在我面前的桌子上。他那双朦胧的眼睛变得越来越大，看到战前的钱似乎使他感到兴奋。好吧不是我需要看的东西。我举起那个空袋子，这样他就看不到里面藏着什么东西。
“The Remnant have a balefire bomb. I need to defuse it. That requires getting in and out of Dawn Bay. You should know somepony who can help me do that without getting killed or caught.” His smile broadened with an expression of bliss that I was certain involved thoughts of taking my money and selling me out. “Oh, and incidentally, if I were caught, Rampage would be coming for you. You know, immortal, unstoppable Rampage the Reaper?”
"例外人有一枚火焰炸弹。我需要拆除它。这需要进出黎明湾。你应该认识一些人，他们可以帮助我做到这一点，而不会被杀或被抓住。"他的微笑里充满了幸福的表情，我确信他有拿走我的钱和出卖我的想法。"哦，顺便说一句，如果我被抓住了，狂暴就会来找你了。你知道，不朽的，不可阻挡的横冲直撞的死神?"
His smile soured immediately. “I see… yes… well… it wouldn’t be impossible,” he muttered. “I may have a few acquaintances in the Remnant. They’ve always been generous to sympathetic, helpful ponies.”
他的微笑立刻变了色。"我明白了......是的......嗯......这不是不可能的,"他喃喃自语道。"我在例外人中可能有几个熟人。他们总是对富有同情心、乐于助人的小马慷慨解囊。"
“You were a sympathizer during the war?” I asked, and he sneered back.
"你是战争期间的同情者?"我问，他冷笑着回答。
“You have to care to be a sympathizer. I was an opportunist. I played sympathizer for the zebras and mole for the O.I.A. and made money from all sides. It was an instinct that served me quite well in the Wasteland.” He tapped his hooves together. “Such an arrangement is going to have to be expedited, however, if you’re to have a chance.”
"你必须小心成为一个同情者。我是个机会主义者。我为o.i.a.扮演斑马和鼹鼠的同情者，从各方面赚钱。这是一种本能，在大荒地我受益匪浅。"他用蹄子轻轻地敲打着。"不过，如果你想有机会，就必须加快这种安排。"
“Why? Do you know something?” I asked with a scowl.
"为什么？你知道什么吗?"我皱着眉头问道。
“Why Blackjack, I know many things,” he said in his silky, smug purr as he polished his hoof on his chest. “If you pay me sufficiently, you might know them as well.”
"为什么是黑杰克，我知道很多事情,"他一边用蹄子蹭着胸口，一边用他那丝滑、沾沾自喜的咕噜声说道。"如果你给我足够的报酬，你可能也会认识他们。"
I chuckled, smirking. “Yeah, you do, don’t you? Like those zebra.”
我咯咯地笑着，傻笑着。"是的，你知道，不是吗？就像那些斑马。"
He immediately scowled, looking me up and down. Come on you bastard, take the bait. It’s just you and me, all alone…
他马上皱起眉头，上下打量着我。来啊，你这混蛋，上钩吧。只有你和我，孤独一人..。
“You knew they were down there when Willow and Windclop didn’t have a clue. Probably had a chance to clean up anything sticky.” His lips twitched, and I saw pride and greed at war with caution. I lifted a wad of gold coins with my magic and let them tinkle slowly back into the pile. “You can get almost anything done, can’t you?”
"当薇洛和温德克洛普毫无头绪的时候，你就知道他们在下面。可能有机会清理任何不干净的东西。"他的嘴唇抽搐了一下，我看到了战争中的骄傲和贪婪。我用魔法拿起一团金币，让它们叮当作响慢慢地回到那堆金币中。"你几乎可以完成任何事情，不是吗?"
“Well. With the proper incentive…” he murmured. One coin bounced free and landed at his hooves. He stepped upon it, hiding it beneath his hoof. “Keeping those two out of sight was quite a trick. Their pets even more so.”
"好吧。只要有适当的激励......"他喃喃地说。一枚硬币自由弹回，落在他的蹄子上。他踩在上面，把它藏在蹄子下面。"让这两个人远离我们的视线是一个很大的骗局。他们的宠物更是如此。"
I smiled happily. “What I don’t get is why they bothered. It seems kind of stupid to go through all that trouble just to take over a hospital full of ghouls,” I said as I kept the coins tumbling back into the bag beside me. He was actually salivating!
我高兴地笑了。"我不明白的是，他们为什么要这样做。费这么大劲就接管了一家满是食尸鬼的医院，这似乎有点愚蠢,"我一边说着，一边把硬币翻滚着放回身边的袋子里。他实际上是在流口水！
“Well… you fail to recognize the strategic importance of the hospital. Nopony really trades with us, so a change in ownership wouldn’t have been noticed. From here they could strike at Red Eye at Paradise, the Collegiate, Scrapyard, and the Skyport with nopony ready until it’s too late.” He grinned. “Once I had my pick of the spoils, I’d head on over to the Society and buy my way into their good graces. Or maybe set up an establishment in the Arena,” he said as he
"嗯......你没有认识到医院的战略重要性。没有小马真的与我们交易，所以所有权的变化不会被注意到。从这里他们可以攻击乐园红眼、学院酒店、Scrapyard和空中港口酒店，等到一切都太迟了。"他咧嘴一笑。"一旦我得到了我想要的战利品，我就会前往协会，用我的方式赢得他们的好感。或者在竞技场建立一个场所。"
trotted behind the bar. “However, things have changed with you here.”
小跑到吧台后面。"不过，你在这里，情况发生了变化。"
“Because I’m in a position to make you incredibly rich?” I suggested with a grin… one which he returned.
"因为我有能力让你非常富有?"我笑着建议道......他回应了我的建议。
“Actually, yes,” he said as he pushed a button on his terminal. Suddenly there were a whole bunch of beeps on the undersides of the tables around me. “If you take one step, I’ll have to sell you to the Remnant as ground pony.” Then he reached under his desk and pulled out an explosive slave collar. “Now, float the money over to me and put this on. I’ve got a little hidey hole in the back room to stash you in till things cool down.” He looked at my glare and laughed, “What? You don’t seriously think I’d believe you want to do business with me? You’re the saint of the Wasteland. I’m sure you’re just here to chat up some evidence to take back to those morons.” He nodded to my mangled leg. “Probably got that PipBuck recording this whole conversation, don’t you?”
"事实上，是的,"他边说边按下了终端上的一个按钮。突然，我周围桌子下面传来一阵哔哔声。"如果你再往前走一步，我就把你当做小马卖给例外人"然后他把手伸到桌子底下，拿出一个爆炸性的奴隶项圈。"现在，把钱交给我，把这个穿上。我在后面的房间里藏了一个小洞，可以把你藏起来，等风头过去。"他看着我的目光笑道:"什么？你不会真以为我会相信你想和我做生意吧？你是荒原的圣徒。我相信你来这里只是为了找些证据带回给那些白痴。"他朝我扭伤的腿点点头。"也许整个谈话都被PipBuck录下来了，不是吗?"
Now I was the one grinning. “Darn. You figured me out. Well, except for one thing. My PipBuck? It’s a broadcaster.”
现在我才是那个咧嘴笑的人。"该死。你看透我了。除了一件事。我的PipBuck？这是一个播音员。"
Then the door opened behind me. “Mines!” I snapped. Willow and Blossomforth stepped in behind me, and I carefully lifted the beeping furniture one piece at a time to the corners of the bar with my magic. The pegasus held up Marmalade’s PipBuck with a desiccated wing. In the hall behind her were even more ghouls.
然后门在我身后打开了。"地雷!"我厉声说道。柳树和朵朵走到我身后，我用魔法小心翼翼地把哔哔响的家具一件一件地搬到吧台的角落里。飞马用一只干瘪的翅膀挡住了Marmalade的PipBuck。在她身后的大厅里有更多的食尸鬼。
“I take it my servant is dead, then?” Ahuizotl sneered at us, his eyes twitching as he stood on the precipice of disaster.
"那么我的仆人死了?"阿胡伊佐特嘲笑我们，当他站在灾难的边缘时，他的眼睛在抽搐。
Blossomforth chuckled. “Got to give it to the stripe, her ability to muck up tech isn’t limited to just robots. One spark mine and his power armor turned into a fine bird cage.”
花朵咯咯地笑着。"不得不承认，她搞砸技术的能力并不仅限于机器人。一个火花雷和他的能量盔甲变成了一个精致的鸟笼。"
Willow smirked back. “We’ll get him working once you’re taken care of.”
柳树回以冷笑。"一旦你得到照顾，我们就会让他工作。"
Ahuizotl looked from one of us to the next, licking his lips. “Now… hey. Listen. I can explain. I’m… ah… being blackmailed. Zebras made me say all that shit. ‘Cause they got my… my… ah…” He slumped as Willow focused her guns on the ghoul and worked the bit on her battle saddle, chambering two rounds. Finally he slumped, glaring at me in resignation. “Ah shit. Fine. Ya got me.”
阿胡伊佐特看着我们中的一个，舔着嘴唇。"现在...嘿。听着。我可以解释。我...被勒索了。是斑马逼我说的。"因为他们拿走了我的......我的......啊......"当薇洛把枪口对准食尸鬼，在她的战斗马鞍上工作时，他垂头丧气地开了两枪。最后，他垂头丧气地看着我，表示无可奈何。"啊，妈的。好吧。你骗到我了。"
Willow glanced back at the doorway and then looked back at Ahuizotl.
威洛回头看了看门口，然后又回头看了看Ahuizotl。
“Ahuizotl, for conspiring against the residents of Hoofington Memorial, we sentence you to exile. Your bar and its contents are to be seized and sold to fund the community.”
"Ahuizotl，因密谋反对胡芬顿纪念医院的居民，我们判你流放。你的酒吧及其内容将被没收并出售，以资助社区。"
I blinked and stared at her. “Huh? Aren’t you going to shoot him?”
我眨了眨眼睛，盯着她。"啊？你不打算开枪打他吗?"
“If you’d gotten him to confess to killing Tulip, maybe. But ghouls don’t like killing other ghouls. Even ferals,” Willow said as she glared at him.
"如果你能让他承认杀了郁金香，也许可以。但食尸鬼不喜欢杀死其他食尸鬼。甚至是野兽,"柳树瞪着他说。
“You may as well kill me! Where am I supposed to go?” the ghoul pony protested.
"你还不如杀了我！我该去哪儿?"食尸鬼小马抗议道。
“You seem to like working with stripes. Maybe they’ll take you in,” Willow retorted. “But I can guarantee that if you do go to the Society, or Flank, or the Arena, everypony will know the shit you pulled here.”
"你似乎喜欢穿条纹衣服工作。也许他们会收留你,"薇洛反驳道。"但是我可以保证，如果你去社团，弗兰克，或者竞技场，每个小马都会知道你在这里拉的屎。"
“Well. I see… very well then. Return my servant to me and let me gather a few things, and I’ll be on my way. Or are you exiling me completely naked?” Ahuizotl asked with a glare.
"好吧。我明白了...非常好。把我的仆人还给我，让我收拾一些东西，我就走。还是你要把我一丝不挂地驱逐出境?"阿胡伊佐特瞪着眼睛问。
“Pack a saddlebag and get out, Ahuizotl,” the mare replied.
"装上鞍囊，出去吧，阿胡伊佐特,"母马回答。
“What! You can’t just let him take Carrion with him!” I protested.
"什么！你不能让他把腐尸带走!"我抗议道。
Willow frowned in distaste. “Carrion is free to stay or go. It’s his stupid Contract that’s exiling him with this lump of shit.” We stood back as Ahuizotl packed his bags and, once loaded up with as much as he could carry, trotted past with his lips curled in malice.
薇洛厌恶地皱起了眉头。"腐尸可以自由地停留或离开。是他那愚蠢的合同让他流离失所的。"当阿胡伊佐特收拾行李的时候，我们往后退了退，一旦装上了他能装的所有东西，他就带着恶意卷着嘴唇小跑着经过。
I stood there for a second, and then I looked down at the pile of money beside me. I swept it off the table back into the bag and snatched it up. Outside the Mortuary there were two dozen ghouls gathered in small groups talking in low tones. I saw Xanthe kneeling beside Carrion, strange arcane devices probing an open panel in his power armor. There was a hum and suddenly the griffin began moving once more. “About time. Let’s go, Carrion. We’ll leave these fools for the Remnant.” The power armor whined and sparked as it struggled to walk, and Ahuizotl gave a long, low hiss of disgust and continued moving, leaving Carrion trying to catch up.
我在那儿站了一会儿，然后低头看了看身边的那堆钱。我把它从桌子上扫下来，放回袋子里，抓起来。太平间外面聚集着二十多个食尸鬼，一小群一小群，低声交谈着。我看见Xanthe跪在腐尸旁边，奇怪的奥术装置探测着他的能量盔甲的开放面板。一阵嗡嗡声，突然，狮鹫又开始移动了。"是时候了。走吧，腐肉。我们要把这些傻瓜留给例外人。"强大的盔甲在挣扎着走路时发出嘶鸣和闪光，亚胡佐特厌恶地发出长长的低低的嘶嘶声，然后继续移动，让腐尸试图追上来。
“Wait. How’d you like to have enough money to go anywhere in the
"等等。你有足够的钱去任何地方吗
Wasteland?” I asked as I jingled the bag once more, slowing him. The effort of resisting the clink of coins seemed to cause him physical pain. Finally he stopped, glaring back at me. “There’s enough money in here to start over nearly anywhere in Equestria if you’re smart.”
荒原?"我一边问，一边又把袋子弄得叮当作响，让他慢下来。硬币碰撞的声音似乎给他带来了身体上的痛苦。最后他停了下来，怒视着我。"如果你够聪明的话，这里有足够的钱在Equestria几乎任何地方重新开始。"
The hatred in his eyes was matched only by his covetousness for the contents of the bag. “And you’re giving me this out of the kindness of your heart?” he jeered.
他眼中的仇恨和他对袋子里东西的贪婪是相称的。"你是出于好心才把这个给我的?"他嘲笑道。
“No. I’m trading it to you for Carrion’s Contract,” I said as I shook it again.
"没有。我拿它跟你换卡里昂的合同,"我一边说，一边又摇了摇它。
Ahuizotl narrowed his eyes at me. “On the one hoof, with that many bits I could hire three griffin bodyguards and have more than enough left over…” He drew back. “But on the other hoof, I rather despise you, and doing anything you actually propose pisses me off. I should tell you to ram each and every bit right up your ass.” He screwed his lips up as his two base natures warred with each other. Finally he snorted, then reached into his bulging saddlebags and rifled around till he dug out a wrapped up scroll of paper. He tossed it in my face, stretched out, and grabbed the handle of the bag and tossed it on his back. “I can’t wait till you get what’s coming to you, Security.”
阿胡伊佐特眯起眼睛看着我。"用一只蹄子，用那么多钱，我可以雇三个狮鹫保镖，剩下的足够多了......"他后退了几步。"但是另一方面，我相当鄙视你，你实际上提出的任何事情都惹恼了我。我应该告诉你，把每一点都塞进你的屁股里。"当他的两个下流胚互相争斗时，他紧闭双唇。最后他喷了一下鼻息，然后把手伸进鼓鼓囊囊的鞍囊里翻来翻去，直到掏出一卷纸。他把它扔到我脸上，伸了个懒腰，抓住袋子的把手，把它扔在背上。"我等不及看你有什么下场了保安"
He started to trot away as Carrion caught up, and I held up the roll of paper with my magic. “Hey Carrion! Look at what I just got.” Carrion looked at the paper with blatant shock. “It is your Contract, isn’t it? I mean, it’s not some garbage he gave me in exchange for the money, right?”
当小腐尸追上来的时候，他开始小跑着离开，我用魔法举起了那卷纸。"嘿，小腐尸！看看我得到了什么。"卡里昂带着明显的震惊看着报纸。""这是你的合同，不是吗？我的意思是，这不是什么垃圾，他给我交换钱，对不对?"
“No… that’s exactly what it is,” Carrion said, and then smiled. “Excuse me.”
"不......事实就是这样,"卡里昂说，然后笑了。"对不起。"
I looked at the confused Willow and Blossomforth as Carrion trotted rapidly after the departing ghoul. “Ahuizotl. I’ve been told that you’ve sold my Contract and I am no longer in your service.”
我看着困惑的柳树和花朵，看着腐尸快速地追赶着离去的食尸鬼。"Ahuizotl.有人告诉我，你已经卖掉了我的合同，我不再为你服务了。"
“That’s right, Carrion” Ahuizotl sneered. “Why? Did you come to give me a kiss goodbye?”
"没错，小腐尸。"阿胡伊佐特冷笑着说。"为什么？你是来跟我吻别的吗?"
“Yes,” Carrion replied simply. A moment later a green beam lanced through the ghoul, transforming him and everything on him into a heap of glistening green goop. “Goodbye.”
"是的,"腐尸简单地回答。过了一会儿，一根绿色的光束穿过食尸鬼，把他和他身上的一切都变成了一堆闪闪发光的绿色浆糊。"再见。"
I just stared in shock, along with almost everypony else. “What the hell was
我和其他人一样震惊地瞪着眼睛。"那是什么鬼东西
that!?” I asked as I gestured to what little remained of his body.
那个!?"我一边问，一边指着他身上仅剩的部分。
“Ahuizotl was an evil bastard,” the griffin replied. “The scams he ran, the lives he ruined, and the misery he inflicted were enough for ten bastards. So long as he held my Contract, I was honor bound to do as he commanded and remain silent. But now you are my employer, which freed me to rid the world of that disgusting rat. And now, for good or ill, I serve you.”
"Ahuizotl是个邪恶的混蛋,"狮鹫回答。"他的骗局，他毁掉的生活，他造成的痛苦足以让十个混蛋承受。只要他持有我的契约，我就有义务遵从他的命令，并保持沉默。但现在你是我的雇主，让我摆脱了这个世界上那只恶心的老鼠。现在，无论好坏，我都要为你服务。"
“But… I…” I stared at the heap of green slime as a huge bubble rose in the middle and popped. “Couldn’t you have made him put down the gold first?”
"但是......我.....。。」我凝视着绿色的黏液堆，中间升起了一个巨大的泡沫，然后破裂了。"难道你不能让他先把金子放下吗?"
* * *
* * *
While there was no question that Ahuizotl deserved to be rendered into luminous slime, there was enough outcry that Carrion’s days in Meatlocker were over for the time being. To be honest, I had no idea what to do with him. I’d tried to give him his Contract back, and clearly I’d insulted him badly by the way he told me bluntly ‘no’. Apparently, someone else holding their Contract was the point of being a griffin… and with that, they eclipsed zebras as weirdest species in the Wasteland.
毫无疑问，阿胡伊佐特理应被渲染成明亮的粘液，但是有足够多的人抗议说，卡里昂在肉库的日子暂时结束了。说实话，我不知道该拿他怎么办。我试图把他的合同还给他，很明显，我侮辱了他，因为他直截了当地对我说'不'。显然，其他人拿着他们的契约就成了狮身鹰首兽......因此，他们超越了斑马，成为荒原上最怪异的物种。
Silver Spoon and Snails wanting to look for their friends. Xanthe looking for a future. Carrion needing somepony to hold his Contract. I had ideas churning around in my freshly cleaned out head. A part of me was still thinking about running off to Dawn Bay and dumping that balefire bomb into the ocean. Another part of me felt the siren’s call of EC-1101 luring me off into the sky.
银匙和蜗牛想要寻找他们的朋友。桑特在寻找未来。腐尸需要一匹小马来履行他的合同。在我刚刚清理干净的脑袋里，我脑子里充满了各种各样的想法。我内心的一部分仍然在想着跑到黎明湾，把那个火焰炸弹扔进海里。我的另一部分感觉到了EC-1101的警报声引诱我飞向天空。
Really, what I wanted more than anything was to see Glory again. And P-21.
真的，我最想要的就是再次见到晨辉。还有P-21。
And Scotch Tape. I wanted to go home to Star House.
还有透明胶带。我想回星星之家。
But I still had one more thing to do before I left.
但是在我离开之前我还有一件事要做。
Back in the ICU, the ghoul, Carol, was listening to Hearth’s Warming Eve carols on her terminal with the volume cranked up. Lacunae and Rampage were gone. I looked over at Psychoshy’s bed, hearing her groans. She really had to be hurt worse than I thought, but it was best that nopony could overhear me at the moment. Because no matter how I ran this though, it was going to be ugly.
回到重症监护病房，食尸鬼卡罗尔开着音量在终端机上听着哈斯的暖夏娃颂歌。空白和暴怒消失了。我看了看精神病害羞的床，听到了她的呻吟。她的伤势比我想象的还要严重，不过现在最好不要有小马偷听到我说话。因为不管我怎么处理这件事，结果都会很糟糕。
I pushed back the curtain and looked at the pink filly; her mane had lost a lot of its curly bounciness. The single, unbandaged blue eye stared up at me
我推开窗帘，看着那匹粉红色的小母马，它的鬃毛已经失去了很多卷曲的弹性。那只单独的，解开绷带的蓝眼睛盯着我
impassively. Beneath her sheets, her legs bent wrong. I slowly walked next to the bed and sat on the floor, looking at her. Suddenly, my brain felt as if Xanthe had scrubbed out too much, and now I didn’t have anything left to say. ‘How are you doing?’ Well, she was alive, in pain, and crippled. ‘How’ve you been?’ Better. ‘Sorry…’ for what? Not killing her? I opened my mouth and closed it again.
无动于衷地。在床单下面，她的腿弯曲错了。我慢慢地走到床边，坐在地板上，看着她。突然间，我的大脑觉得赞斯擦去了太多东西，现在我没有什么可说的了。你好吗她还活着，痛苦着，残疾着。你最近怎么样好多了。'对不起...'为什么？不杀她？我张开嘴，又闭上了。
Finally I dropped my eyes. “Please, forgive me,” I muttered as I looked at my mangled forehoof. After a minute, I looked back.
最后我垂下了眼睛。"请原谅我,"我一边看着自己破损的前蹄，一边咕哝着。过了一会儿，我回头看了看。
Boing didn’t say anything. Her pale blue eye just drilled into me. I was waiting for it. She’d say no… or call me a murderer… or a monster… or Nightmare Moon or something. And it would hurt like hell. But she didn’t. She just looked at me, and I could feel myself getting wound up. “I was… I was really out of it that night. I was exhausted and… fighting. Sweet Celestia, fighting for so long. I didn’t see who you were till it was too late… and…” Again, she just stared at me. Was she drugged? Had I deafened her?
波因什么也没说。她那淡蓝色的眼睛刚刚钻进我的眼睛。我一直在等待。她会说不......或者叫我杀人犯......或者怪物......或者恶梦之月什么的。而且会痛得要命。但她没有。她只是看着我，我能感觉到自己被激怒了。"我......那天晚上我真的昏了头。我筋疲力尽...还在打架。甜蜜的天堂，战斗了这么久。我不知道你是谁，直到为时已晚......然后......"她又一次盯着我。她被下药了吗？我把她的耳朵弄聋了吗？
Finally, she said in a voice barely audible over the music and Psychoshy’s groaning, “What for?”
最后，她用一种在音乐和精神病人呻吟声中几乎听不见的声音说:"为什么?"
I swallowed and lowered my eyes again. “For… for attacking you. For hurting you. For killing your friends. For getting Scoodle killed and…”
我咽了口唾沫，又垂下眼睛。"因为......因为攻击你。为了伤害你。因为你杀了你的朋友。因为你害死了史酷德..."
She closed her pale blue eyes. “Stable ponies don’t know nothin’…”
她闭上了淡蓝色的眼睛。"马厩里的小马什么都不懂......"
I blinked and stared at her as she gave a sad little smile. “What do you think happened to Scoodle and me before you and yer blue friend showed up?”
我眨了眨眼睛，盯着她看，她给了一个悲伤的微笑。"在你和你的蓝色朋友出现之前，你觉得我和史酷德发生了什么事?"
“I…” But I knew what had happened. I knew exactly how horrible it was. I’d seen 99 and felt it on the Seahorse. “You girls got raped, didn’t you?”
"我.....。。」但我知道发生了什么。我很清楚那有多可怕。我见过99个，在海马号上也感觉到了。"你们被强奸了，是不是?"
“Yup. Ploughed good,” she said quietly, simply. “Wasn’t the first time, neither. First time was Daddy makin’ a mare out o’ me while Momma stood by. Reapers got him good. Momma tried sellin’ us to the Society, but I wouldn’t sign so she just dumped me. Ended up in Chapel.” I swallowed in horror. “After we split with you… well, lost Friskyhorn two days later to an angry radhog. Giblets got too many rads, puked up her guts, and never woke up. The others run off. I met those two with a plan to scav some bunker; figured why not? Make enough caps to get out of here. Probably planned on killing me once we found something worthwhile.” She swallowed and closed her eyes. “Then you smashed me good.
"是的。耕得不错,"她平静地、简单地说。"也不是第一次了。第一次是爸爸为我做母马，妈妈站在旁边。死神把他干掉了。妈妈想把我们卖给协会，但我不肯签字，她就把我甩了。最后来到了教堂。"我吓得咽了口唾沫。"在我们和你分手之后......两天后，弗里斯基霍恩被一个愤怒的雷德霍斯夺走了。吉布斯喝了太多酒，把她的肠子都吐出来了，再也没有醒过来。其他人都跑掉了。我遇到了那两个人，他们计划去搜索一些地堡，我想为什么不呢？做足够的帽子离开这里。也许我们打算一旦找到有价值的东西就杀了我。"她咽了口唾沫，闭上了眼睛。"然后你狠狠地揍了我一顿。
Doc said you damn near killed me.”
医生说你差点杀了我。"
“I’m so sorry…” I muttered.
"对不起......"我喃喃自语道。
“And that’s why yer stupid,” the filly countered. “You think my daddy was sorry? Or my momma? Or them raiders? Them ghouls? Was the radhog sorry? Or the radiation?” She gave a little snort and closed her eyes. “Not a one of them was sorry. So why are you coming here askin’ me to forgive you? What’s the point of that?”
"这就是为什么你这么愚蠢,"小母马反驳道。"你认为我爸爸很抱歉吗？还是我妈妈？还是那些袭击者？那些食尸鬼？拉德霍格对不起吗？还是辐射?"她哼了一声，闭上了眼睛。"没有一个人感到抱歉。那你为什么来这里要我原谅你？这有什么意义呢?"
“Because… because I am sorry. What I did to you was wrong. I shouldn’t have done it,” I said as I sniffed. “I’m trying to be a good pony… I’m trying to do better…”
"因为......因为我很抱歉。我对你的所作所为是错的。我不应该那么做的,"我一边闻一边说。"我想成为一匹好马......我想做得更好......"
“And that’s where you done fucked up. There ain’t no such thing as good ponies. Not a one in the world. I ain’t a good pony. You ain’t neither. We’re all just ponies,” she said as she sighed and closed her eye again, shaking her head. “You just want ta feel better than the rest of us by playing the big hero. Well, ya ain’t. So if you feel like scum, congratulations. You are. And someday you’ll accept that. Then you won’t give a fuck about forgiveness.”
"这就是你搞砸的地方。根本就没有什么好马。世界上一个也没有。我不是一匹好马。你也不是。我们都只是小马驹。"她叹了口气，再次闭上眼睛，摇了摇头。"你只是想通过扮演大英雄来感觉比我们其他人更好。你不是。所以如果你觉得自己是人渣，恭喜你。你就是。总有一天你会接受的。那你他妈的就不会原谅我了。"
I just sat there, stunned by her words. No. No! Ponies could be better than this. I could be better! I just had to try harder. “I wish things had been different, Boing. I wish I’d listened to Scoodle. Everything would have been better… I think…” I swallowed and licked my lips. “Is there anything I can do to help? To earn your forgiveness?”
我只是坐在那里，被她的话惊呆了。没有。不！小马可以比这更好。我可以做得更好！我只是需要更加努力。"我希望事情能有所不同，波音。我希望我听了Scoodle的话。一切都会好起来的......我想......"我咽了口唾沫，舔了舔嘴唇。"我能帮上什么忙吗？为了得到你的原谅?"
She sighed and closed her eye again. “You could kill me. Quick and clean. Doc wouldn’t do it. Said he swore some oath or some horseapples.” I stared at her in horror as a few tears escaped her eye and disappeared under the bandage. I could see the terminal in the Fluttershy Medical Center. I heard us singing. What was one more? I heard the Angel hissing in the rain beside Thorn’s broken body. ‘I gave her peace!’ Damn my synthetic organs and their refusal to reflect the horror I felt. Finally, she looked away. “Otherwise, no. I ain’t gonna forgive you, Blackjack. ‘Cause if I did that, I’d have to think about forgiving everypony from my daddy onward, and I just can’t do that.” She pulled the sheets over her head. “Go’way, Blackjack. Whatever yer after, ya ain’t gonna find it here.”
她叹了口气，又闭上了眼睛。"你可以杀了我。快速而干净。医生不会这么做的。他说他发过誓，或是说过什么胡话。"我惊恐地盯着她，几滴眼泪从她的眼睛里流出，消失在绷带下面。我可以看到FluttershyMedicalCenter的航站楼。我听到我们在唱歌。还有什么？我听到雨中索恩破碎的身体旁天使的嘶嘶声。我给了她安宁该死的我的合成器官和他们拒绝反映我的恐惧感。最后，她把目光移开了。"否则，没有。我不会原谅你的Blackjack。'因为如果我那样做了，我就得考虑从我爸爸那里原谅每一匹小马，我就是做不到。"她把被单蒙在头上。"走吧，黑杰克。不管你想要什么，你在这里都找不到。"
I staggered away from her bed. Somehow, some part of me had thought that I’d be pardoned. That all I had to do was tell her I was trying to do better. I tried to
我摇摇晃晃地离开了她的床。不知怎么的，我内心的某个部分以为我会被宽恕。我所要做的就是告诉她我在努力做得更好。我试过了
be kind, strong, awesome, enduring, and remember that it was under E. But to hear that being good was just some sort of self-delusion… Worse, a form of self-aggrandizement... Look at me… I’m Blackjack. The goodiest good pony. The saint of the Wasteland.
善良，坚强，令人敬畏，忍耐，记住它是在e。但是听到做好人只是某种自欺欺人......更糟糕的是，一种自我膨胀的形式......看看我......我是黑杰克。最好的小马驹。荒原的圣徒。
I covered my face with my chewed-up hand as I stood there, listening to the loud holiday music and the groaning. I had to be good. I had to. I had to know that at the end of this… somehow… there’d be sunshine and rainbows. Otherwise, the sooner I turned into Deus or the Goddess… the better. Only monsters could be happy in the Wasteland.
我站在那里，用我咬烂的手捂住脸，听着嘈杂的节日音乐和呻吟声。我必须做个好人。我必须这么做。我必须知道，在这一切结束的时候......不知何故......会有阳光和彩虹。否则，我越早变成上帝或女神...就越好。只有怪物才能在荒原上快乐。
“Excuse me,” Carol croaked from the nurse’s desk. Then she looked pointedly towards Psychoshy’s bed, then back at me with an expression like I should do something about it. I sighed and waved my hoof. Really, though, she’d have been better off getting the doctor. I trotted over and pushed the privacy screen out of the way. What did I know about medicine? Really, if she felt this bad all I could do was give her a shot o--
"对不起,"卡罗尔在护士桌上用低沉的声音说。然后她尖锐地看了看精神病害羞的床，然后回过头来看着我，表情好像我应该做点什么似的。我叹了口气，挥了挥我的蹄子。真的，尽管如此，她最好还是去看医生。我小跑过去，把隐私屏幕推开。我对医学知道多少？真的，如果她感觉这么糟糕，我所能做的就是给她一个机会
Oh. My eyes took in the sight of the yellow pegasus atop Stygius, rising and falling as she gasped and groaned, biting down on the end of her wing to try and silence herself. From the spots on her coat and the thick scent in the air, they’d been at this for a while. Stygius gave a squeak beneath her and shuddered as she trembled atop him. I looked at their union, and then Psychoshy glanced at me, her face turning scarlet as she moved atop him, seemingly unable to stop herself.
哦。我的眼睛看到了Stygius上的黄色飞马，它上下起伏，喘着粗气，呻吟着，咬着翅膀的一端，试图让自己安静下来。从她外套上的斑点和空气中浓重的气味来看，他们已经在这里呆了一段时间了。斯蒂吉乌斯在她身下发出一声尖叫，当她在他身上颤抖时，他打了个寒战。我看着他们的结合，然后精神病害羞瞥了我一眼，当她在他身上移动时，她的脸变得通红，似乎无法停止自己。
I gave a warm smile back. “Yup. He really is a champ. Trust me, you can probably get two or three more out of him,” I said as she stared at me in stunned shock. Psychoshy made an admirable imitation of her mother as she blushed. She didn’t stop moving, though, and really I couldn’t blame her. “Make sure he uses his mouth more. He put it in you, he can clean it out. And have fun.” I waved my chewed hand dismissively. “I’ll probably be looking to leave in an hour or so. See you in Afterlife.”
我也报以温暖的微笑。"是的。他真是个冠军。相信我，你可以从他那里再套出两三个来,"我说着，她震惊地盯着我。当她母亲脸红的时候,"精神病"极好地模仿了她母亲的样子。但是她没有停下来，真的，我不能责怪她。"确保他多用嘴。他把它放进你体内，他就能把它清理干净。玩得开心点。"我不屑地挥了挥咀嚼过的手。"我可能一个小时左右就要走了。来世见。"
And I turned on heel and left the two alone, leaving a suggestion to the ghoul she turn the radio up more or just invest in some earplugs. Really, what was Psychoshy getting embarrassed about? It was just sex, a lot of sex from what I’d seen, and good sex at that. Still, I was smiling. I’d needed something to whack my mind back into action. The sight of two ponies passionately enjoying each other reminded me that there was still good things in the world, even if they
我转身离开，留下两个人单独在一起，留下一个建议给食尸鬼，她打开收音机或只是投资一些耳塞。说真的，什么让心理害羞感到尴尬？那只是性，我所看到的很多性，还有很棒的性。尽管如此，我还是笑了。我需要一些东西让我的大脑重新开始工作。看到两匹小马激情地享受着对方，让我想起世界上还有美好的事物，即使它们
were fleeting…
转瞬即逝。
* * *
* * *
“You’re sure about this?” Rampage asked as I handled Carrion’s Contract. I’d gotten my barding back from Velvet, along with the rest of my things. Vigilance really needed some TLC, and even Duty and Sacrifice were showing wear. The Contract itself was neatly printed: a list of duties he would perform, lines he would not cross, and expectations he had for his employer. Reading it, I understood him a little better. He’d been a soldier, and a realist, but his Contract didn’t allow him to be used as an assassin. He was, above all else, a guardian. And despite how wretched and undeserving Ahuizotl had been, Carrion had upheld his Contract to the letter. The amount of dedication that took staggered me.
"你确定吗?"我在处理腐尸的合同时问道。我从维尔维特那里拿回了我的帐篷，还有我其他的东西。警惕真的需要一些关爱，甚至责任和牺牲也显得疲惫不堪。合同本身印刷得很整齐:他将履行的职责清单，他不会越过的界限，以及他对雇主的期望。通过阅读，我对他有了一些了解。他曾经是一名军人，也是一个现实主义者，但是他的契约不允许他被用作刺客。最重要的是，他是一个守护者。尽管亚胡佐特是多么可怜，多么不值得，但是卡里翁严格遵守了他的合同。那么多的奉献让我感到震惊。
“Mhmmm…” I said as I sat in Afterlife, absorbing the music and the atmosphere. Despite the vibrancy of the tunes, there was something sad about it, too. These were ghouls clinging to a civilization that didn’t exist anymore. I thought about how so many ghouls got stuck in the past, locked in one moment that made sense. Then I thought of Ditzy Doo as a part of a living community, how she’d been doing more than simply existing.
"嗯......"我说，我坐在来世，沉浸在音乐和气氛中。尽管曲调充满活力，但也有些悲伤。这些是附着在一个不复存在的文明上的食尸鬼。我想到有那么多食尸鬼困在过去，困在一个有意义的时刻。然后我想到了DitzyDoo作为一个生活社区的一部分，她是如何做到不仅仅是简单的存在。
Carrion, Xanthe, Silver Spoon, and Snails all sat opposite me. The griffin had his power armor completely restored by now, though Willow had ordered it disabled after Ahuizotl’s execution. “So. I guess this is where we part ways,” I said to them. Silver Spoon looked a little sad; the glowing ghoul took off her warped frames and rubbed the crinkly glass adhered to her cheeks. “You two are determined to go looking for others?”
腐肉、黄丝苔、银汤匙和蜗牛都坐在我对面。到目前为止，格里芬已经完全恢复了他的力量盔甲，尽管维洛在阿胡伊佐特被处决后下令禁用了他的力量盔甲。"所以。我想这就是我们分道扬镳的地方,"我对他们说。银勺看起来有点悲伤;发光的食尸鬼取下她扭曲的身体，摩擦着粘在脸颊上的皱巴巴的玻璃。"你们两个决定去找其他人?"
“Oh yeah. It’s a wide, freaky Wasteland out there, eh?” Snails said with a nod.
"哦，是的。外面是一片广阔而又恐怖的荒原，对吧?"蜗牛点了点头。
“And dangerous too,” I said and then levitated the Contract over to Silver Spoon. “Here. I’m giving you Carrion’s Contract. He’ll keep you safe while you search.” The griffin stared at me impassively, and I couldn’t help but give him a smile. “It’s what he excels at.”
"而且很危险,"我说，然后把合同悬浮到银勺上。"这儿。我把卡里昂的合同给你。在你寻找的时候，他会保护你的安全。"狮鹫面无表情地盯着我，我忍不住给了他一个微笑。"这是他擅长的。"
“Tiara… I… thank you!” she said as she rushed around the table and hugged me. My radmeter began tick tick ticking really really fast, and I tried to push her away as gently as I could. She raised her hooves, and I smiled and did my best to follow along. “Bump! Bump! Sugar lump rump!” She sniffed softly she backed
"皇冠...我..。.谢谢!"她边说边跑过桌子拥抱了我。我的雷达开始滴答滴答，滴答滴答，滴答滴答，滴答滴答，滴答滴答，滴答滴答，滴答滴答。她抬起她的蹄子，我微笑着尽力跟着她。"砰！碰！糖块臀部!"她轻轻地吸了一口气，然后退了回去
away. “I’ll… I’ll try to keep it all straight, Ti… I mean… Blackjack.”
离开。"我会...我会尽量把事情搞清楚，我是说...黑杰克。"
“You’ll have help,” I said, looking at the zebra. “I don’t have any say over what you do, Xanthe, but I think you should go with them.”
"你会得到帮助的,"我说，看着斑马。"我对你的所作所为没有任何发言权，桑丝，但我认为你应该和他们一起去。"
The zebra gulped, her eyes growing large. “Me? But… I… you… is this another curse?” she asked in confusion. The others looked at her as Silver Spoon returned to her seat.
斑马咽了一口气，她的眼睛变大了。"我？但是...我..。.你...这是另一个诅咒吗?"她困惑地问。当银勺回到她的座位上时，其他人都看着她。
“Carrion will need somepony to help with his armor, you have that stealth suit, and you know about terminals and can help them find their friends. It’ll also take you away from the Hoof. Maybe if you get away from here, you won’t be quite so cursed.” I smiled at the four of them. “And trust me, it’s better to have friends with you in the Wasteland than to be on your own. Even I’ve learned that.”
"腐尸需要一匹小马来帮助他的盔甲，你有隐形衣，你知道终端，可以帮助他们找到他们的朋友。它还能让你远离霍夫。也许如果你离开这里，你就不会这么被诅咒了。"我对他们四个人笑了笑。"相信我，在荒原和你交朋友总比独自一人好。连我都明白了这一点。"
“I… well… but… I…” The zebra looked around in a near panic and then hung her head. “Oh, curses.” Finally she smiled and looked at the other three. “Very well. I accept.”
"我.....。.呃...但是...我..。。」斑马惊恐地环顾四周，然后低下了头。"哦，该死的。"最后她笑了笑，看了看其他三个人。"很好。我接受。"
“Do we have a place to start?” Carrion asked, all business.
"我们有起点吗?"小腐尸问道，全是公事。
“Shattered Hoof Ridge Correctional. That was where Tiara was last,” Silver Spoon said. “I know she probably didn’t get out, but I have to hope.” And if nothing else, it was a way to keep from going feral.
「粉碎蹄岭惩教所」。那是Tiara最后出现的地方,"SilverSpoon说。"我知道她可能没有出来，但我只能希望。"如果没有别的原因，这也是一种避免野性的方法。
“That’s a long way off. We’ll need to stock up on ammo. Give you some weapons training,” the griffin said as he looked at Snails and Silver Spoon. Then he nodded with his grumpy expression and continued, “Still, it’s doable.”
"还有很长的路要走。我们需要储备弹药。给你一些武器训练,"狮鹫一边看着蜗牛和银匙一边说。然后他用他那暴躁的表情点点头，继续说,"不过，这是可行的。"
I rose to my hooves. “Well, it sounds like you have some plans to make. I’ve asked Windclop to pass you some of the bits I found in the Stonewing statue to make sure you’re outfitted well enough.” As I started away, though, Carrion approached me with a grim look on his face, his expression so stern that for a moment I was grateful that Willow had disabled his energy gun. It was disabled, right? I didn’t think I could regenerate from a pile of green sludge. My cheeks strained with the biggest grin I could muster up as I backed away from him. “Erm… so… goodbye?”
我猛地站起来。"嗯，听起来你好像有什么计划要做。我已经让Windclop把我在石翼雕像上找到的一些东西递给你，以确保你的装备足够好。"当我离开的时候，不过，卡里昂脸上带着严肃的表情走近我，他的表情是如此严肃，以至于有那么一会儿，我很庆幸威洛把他的能量枪弄坏了。它被禁用了，对吗？我不认为我能从一堆绿色的淤泥中再生。当我从他身边退开的时候，我的脸颊绷得紧紧的，咧着嘴大笑。"嗯...那么...再见?"
“Yes,” he said darkly, those predatory eyes locking onto mine. Then he suddenly gripped my shoulders and pulled me in, pressing his hard beak to my lips and
"是的,"他阴沉地说，那双掠夺性的眼睛盯着我。然后它突然抓住我的肩膀，把我拉进去，用它那硬邦邦的喙紧贴着我的嘴唇
slipping something the texture and flavor of boot leather into my mouth. I think my scorched mane stood upright as he kissed me, and I fell over retching as he said with a straight face, “Goodbye, Blackjack.” He turned solemnly away and returned to the table as half of Afterlife erupted in laughter at me sitting there, scrubbing my tongue with my twisted fingers.
把一些带有皮靴口感和味道的东西塞进我嘴里。他亲吻我的时候，我那烧焦的鬃毛直挺挺地站着，而当他板着脸说"再见，黑杰克"的时候，我干呕得不行他庄严地转过身，回到桌子旁，半个来世的我坐在那里，用我扭曲的手指擦洗着我的舌头，笑得前仰后合。
Sweet Celestia, I couldn’t get the taste off!
甜甜的天青石，我无法去掉那种味道！
* * *
* * *
Twenty minutes later, Psychoshy and Stygius joined Rampage and me outside. The mare looked happy. Not ‘sadistically and gleefully pounding another pony’ happy, but truly happy and relieved. Stygius met my eyes and gave a sheepish grin but then put his wing around her and pulled the yellow pegasus against him. Rampage looked on with a little sigh, then shook her head and gave them some space.
二十分钟后，精神害羞和冥河加入了暴怒，我在外面。母马看起来很高兴。不是"悲伤地、兴高采烈地捶打另一匹小马"的快乐，而是真正的快乐和宽慰。斯提吉乌斯看着我的眼睛，羞怯地笑了笑，然后用他的翅膀围住她，拉着黄色的飞马靠近他。狂暴看着，轻轻叹了口气，然后摇了摇头，给他们一些空间。
The absence of Hightower was a little disturbing; to the north, all that remained was a ridge of tossed-up debris. It was getting late; in an hour or two it would be dark, but a flickering blue-green glow emanated from the other side of the ridge, and as we approached my PipBuck started to tick. “Lacunae?” I thought out at her, not wanting to get closer to that crater.
海托华的消失有点令人不安;在北面，只剩下一片被掀起的残骸山脊。天色已晚，再过一两个小时天就黑了，但是山脊的另一边却闪烁着蓝绿色的光芒，当我们走近我的皮布克时，它开始滴答作响。"缺陷?"我想了想她，不想靠近那个弹坑。
“Just, a few more minutes…” Lacunae thought back at me in a breathless voice.
"再等几分钟......"拉库尼用气喘吁吁的声音回头看着我。
She was probably finding all that radiation very nice indeed.
她可能觉得所有的辐射都非常好。
I sighed, looking at the rubble around me. Windclop had been right: it had definitely ruined the neighborhood. Of course, the neighborhood had been ruined before, but now with huge lumps of concrete and steel beams scattered all over the bunker-like apartments, the ruin had been doubled. ...Or was it squared? Bleh, too many fancy mathematics to keep track of.
我叹了口气，看着周围的碎石。Windclop是对的:它确实毁了这个社区。当然，这个社区以前也曾遭到过破坏，但现在随着大块的混凝土和钢梁散落在这些像碉堡一样的公寓里，这些破坏已经扩大了一倍。还是平方的？哎呀，太多花哨的数学难以掌握了。
Then a dark shape slowly walked out through the deepening darkness and drizzle. Yellow eyes stared out at us from under the helmet of an archaic suit of armor as she turned to face us. I looked from her to Stygius beside me and gave a weak little smile. “Um... isn’t that your sister?” I asked, and he licked his lips nervously and nodded, his tufted ears drooping as he shrank back from her furious gaze.
然后一个黑影在越来越深的黑暗和细雨中慢慢地走了出来。当她转过身来面对我们时，黄色的眼睛从古老的盔甲盔甲下凝视着我们。我从她身边望向身边的Stygius，微微一笑。"嗯......那不是你妹妹吗?"我问道，他紧张地舔了舔嘴唇，点了点头，为了躲避她愤怒的目光，他垂下了耳朵。
“THOU ART IN SO MUCH TROUBLE, BROTHER!” she bellowed at us in a
"你有大麻烦了，兄弟!"她对我们大吼大叫
thunderous voice. “THOU SHALT ABANDON THY VAINGLORIOUS QUEST AND RETURN TO THY FAMILY! OUR FATHER COMMANDS IT!” Rampage fell over, clutching her ears, and I shrank back as the booming voice started a screech of feedback in my ear.
雷鸣般的声音。"你应该放弃你的虚荣追求，回到你的家庭！我们的父命令我们这样做!"她捂着耳朵，暴跳如雷，我缩了回去，因为那洪亮的声音开始在我的耳朵里发出尖锐的反馈。
Stygius swooped up to her and covered her mouth with his wing, making hushing motions as he looked back in the direction of Meatlocker and made little squeaks at her. “NAY, BROTHER! I SHALL NOT BE SILENT! THOU HAST DONE FAR MORE DAMAGE TO THE SECRET OF OUR EXISTENCE THAN I!” She advanced on him, and step by step he retreated. “THREE DAYS THOU HAST BEEN ABSENT! THREE DAYS! THOU INSISTED THOU NEEDED BUT ONE HOUR TO BED THE STRUMPET BLACKJACK! NOT THREE DAYS! OUR FATHER IS MOST VEXED WITH THEE!”
斯蒂吉乌斯俯冲向她，用他的翅膀遮住她的嘴，他向后看着Meatlocker的方向，做着安静的动作，对她轻轻地吱吱叫。""不，兄弟！我不会沉默的！你对我们存在的秘密所造成的伤害比我大得多!"她向他走过去，他一步一步地后退。"你已经离开三天了！三天！你坚持说你只需要一个小时就可以搞定那个婊子黑杰克！不是三天！我们的父亲最讨厌你了!"
Strumpet?! “Now wait a minute!” I snapped. “Stygius can go where he wants with who he wants, and he doesn’t need your permission!” Psychoshy looked stunned as her eyes went from Stygius to me to Tenebra.
婊子?！"等一下!"我厉声说道。"斯提吉乌斯可以和他想要的人去任何他想去的地方，他不需要你的许可!"当她的目光从冥河到我再到Tenebra的时候，精神病害羞看起来惊呆了。
“NAY, THOU TEMPTRESS, BLACKJACK, THOU HARLOT THOU! THOU HAST ENTANGLED HIM WITH SOME FORM OF LECHEROUS MAGIC! THOU HAST BEGUILDED HIM WITH THY FLANKS OF STEEL AND FOUL UNICORN SORCERY! WHY ELSE WOULDST HE FOLLOW THEE LIKE A LUSTFUL MOONCALF!?” Flanks of steel? How do you beguile with flanks of steel? Who was I going to seduce, the tank?
"不，你这诱惑人的女人，黑杰克，你这妓女！你使他陷入了某种好色的魔法之中！你用你那钢铁的侧腹和肮脏的独角兽的魔法欺骗了他！否则为什么他会像一只贪婪的小月亮一样跟着你!"钢铁的侧翼？你怎样用钢板的侧面欺骗人？我要去勾引谁，坦克吗？
Rampage winced. “Um... Please stop shouting?”
横冲直撞的人退缩了。"嗯......请不要喊了好吗?"
“And anyway,” I snapped, “she’s the strumpet that’s riding his little pony.” I pointed at Psychoshy.
"不管怎样,"我厉声说,"她就是那个骑着小马的妓女。"我指着Psychoshy。
“Hey! There’s nothing little about it!” the pegasus retorted, and I had to give her that. She flew into Tenebra’s face. “Nopony is taking Stygius anyplace!”
"嘿！这没有什么不妥的!"飞马反驳道，我不得不承认这一点。她飞到了特内布拉的脸上。"小马正在取代冥河任何地方!"
“INCORRECT!” she roared, and then the darkness around us came alive! Shadowy tendrils reached up around our legs and held fast. I staggered, struggling to rise as they curled about me more and more.
"错误!"她大吼一声，然后我们周围的黑暗就活过来了！朦胧的卷须伸向我们的双腿，紧紧抓住。我蹒跚着，挣扎着站起来，因为它们越来越蜷缩在我身边。
“Oh, this is new!” Rampage shouted as she struggled against the darkness. In my mind, the Goddess was contemplating adding a batpony or two to Unity if it meant that she could get her hooves on that kind of magic!
"哦，这是新的!"在与黑暗搏斗时，狂暴大叫起来。在我的脑海里，女神正在考虑增加一个或两个蝙蝠马的团结，如果这意味着她可以得到她的蹄子在那种魔法！
Psychoshy evaded the tendrils in a yellow streak as she came around and smashed her hooves against Tenebra’s helmet. I kept debating about jumping into S.A.T.S. or not. The shadow magic had wrapped around my weapons, but I still had my horn. I looked over at the stricken Stygius, who simply seemed at a loss.
"心理害羞"绕过卷须，身上带着黄色条纹，她转过身来，用蹄子猛踩特内布拉的头盔。我一直在考虑是否要参加sat考试。阴影魔法缠绕着我的武器，但我的号角还在。我看着受到打击的斯蒂吉乌斯，他似乎不知所措。
“OW! THY CANTANKEROUS... OUCH! CEASE THY-- HEY!” Tenebra bellowed as she struggled to grab the darting yellow pegasus with her shadows. In her armor, the batmare couldn’t quite bring herself around in time to face her. “STOP THOU CUNT THOU!” she bellowed in frustration.
"噢！你的坏脾气...哎哟！停止你的--嘿!"坦内布拉咆哮着，她挣扎着用自己的影子抓住了飞奔的黄色飞马。穿着盔甲，战马无法及时转过身来面对她。"你这个婊子!"她沮丧地咆哮着。
Psychoshy tackled her straight into the ground, knocking the helmet from her head. Her bellows became high pitched, barely-audible squeaks and chirps as the yellow pegasus ground her face into the dirt. “Stygius isn’t going anywhere with you! He’s a free pony! He can make his own choices! If he wants to stay with us, then there’s nothing you can do about it.”
神经病把她摔倒在地，把头盔从她头上撞了下来。当黄飞马把她的脸埋在泥土里时，她的吼叫变得尖锐起来，几乎听不见它们的吱吱声和唧唧声。"斯提吉乌斯不会跟你走的！他是一匹自由的小马！他可以自己做出选择！如果他想和我们呆在一起，那么你也无能为力。"
“Please stop,” a stallion said beside me. Stygius wore his sister’s helmet, and I suspected he was whispering to keep his voice at a tolerable volume. He trotted over to the pair, put his wings between the two stunned mares, and separated them. “I apologize for my tardiness, Sister. Truly, one hour was given and one hour was all I meant to spend. But... Sister, please hear me. I have in but three days lived such that three lifetimes could not compare! I have faced peril, horror and trials, but wonders too. Did thou knowest that just a short flight yon, thou canst hear melodies unlike any in our dark home?” He pointed a wing back towards Meatlocker before grinning widely. “And that is but one place I have encountered! How many more may be discovered?”
"请停下来,"我旁边的一匹种马说。斯提吉乌斯戴着他妹妹的头盔，我怀疑他在窃窃私语是为了把声音压得可以忍受。他小跑过去，把翅膀放在两匹受惊的母马中间，把它们分开。"我为我的迟到道歉，修女。真的，我只有一个小时的时间。但是...修女，请听我说。我在不到三天的时间里过着三辈子都无法比拟的生活！我经历过危险、恐惧和考验，但也经历过奇迹。你知不知道，在那短暂的飞行中，你能听到在我们黑暗的家里不同寻常的旋律?"他把一只翅膀向后指向肉食者，然后咧嘴大笑起来。""那只是我遇到过的一个地方！还能发现多少?"
Wow. Somepony actually happy to be in the Wasteland. Who knew?
哇。有些小马真的很高兴能来到这片荒原。谁知道呢？
Tenebra stared at him and made little squeaks and chirps. He shook his head. “Nay, Sister. Our mother’s tales of horrors and hardship were not false. But not all surfacers are savage. Many are brave, fearless, gentle, and...” His eyes turned to Psychoshy. “Beautiful.” He gave her a kind smile and then looked back at Tenebra. “I left with Blackjack for base intentions, I confess. Yet in her company and that of her friends, I have seen an example our own kind would be wise to adopt.”
特内布拉盯着他，发出轻微的吱吱声和唧唧声。他摇了摇头。""不，修女。我们母亲讲述的恐怖和艰难的故事是真实的。但并非所有的地面活动者都是野蛮的。许多人勇敢、无畏、温柔，还有......"他的眼睛转向了"心理害羞"。"真漂亮。"他给了她一个和蔼的微笑，然后回头看了看Tenebra。"我承认，我和黑杰克一起离开的原因是出于卑鄙的目的。然而，在她和她的朋友们的陪伴下，我看到了一个我们同类会明智地采用的榜样。"
Her shadows slowly relaxed and I straightened. She gave another chirp, and he
她的影子慢慢地放松了，我站直了身子。她又发出一声唧唧声
looked away, again appearing sad and torn. She chirped again. “Nay, Sister. I would not defy our father the king. But I am loath to leave this place now that I have started to discover its treasures,” he said as he looked at Psychoshy. “Please... cease thy attack. I shall make my farewells.”
看向别处，再一次显得悲伤和撕裂。她又叽叽喳喳地叫了起来。""不，修女。我不会违抗我们的父王。但我现在不愿离开这个地方，因为我已经开始发现它的宝藏了。"他边说边看着Psychoshy。"请......停止你的攻击。我要告别了。"
“You’re a prince?!” Psychoshy blurted, and he flushed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
"你是王子?!"心理变态脱口而出，他脸红了。"你为什么不告诉我?"
He sighed. “Prince of a people who hide beneath the ground and who dwindle away generation by generation in fear and seclusion. Never before would I have questioned our ways. Now I see how life struggles on in the Wasteland, in such hardships.” He looked at me with a sad smile. “I thank thee, Blackjack, for thy kindly education. In thee, thou hast shown me true valor and friendship.”
他叹了口气。"一个民族的王子，他们隐藏在地下，一代又一代地在恐惧和隔离中萎缩。我从来没有质疑过我们的生活方式。现在我看到了生活是如何在荒原上挣扎，在这样的艰难中挣扎。"他带着悲伤的微笑看着我。"黑杰克，我感谢你对我的教育。在你身上，你向我展示了真正的勇气和友谊。"
“So, you’re leaving?” Psychoshy asked in a little voice. “Just... leaving?”
"那么，你要走了?"心理害羞小声问道。"就...走了?"
“I must. My sister spokest true; my father will insist upon mine return. I am unforgivably tardy.” He reached over to her and lifted her chin with his wing. “Were I not a prince, my father not a king, I would remain with you all my days. Even if I must pluck the wings from my back to maintain our secret, I would. I have seen such courage, passion, and life in this time with you than in all my years below. And all of you I shall sorely miss.”
"我必须这么做。我姐姐说的是实话，我父亲会坚持要我回去的。我迟到得不可原谅。"他把手伸向她，用翅膀托起她的下巴。我若不是王、我父亲不是王、我就终日与你同在。即使我必须从背后扯下翅膀来保守我们的秘密，我也会这么做。和你在一起的这段时间里，我看到的勇气、激情和生活比我在下面的所有岁月里看到的都要多。我会非常想念你们所有人的。"
Tenebra was looking at Psychoshy oddly as the stricken pegasus began to weep. Stygius slowly wrapped his wings around her and kissed her softly. Rampage sighed as she looked away. Finally they parted lips. “Farewell, kind lady. I shall hear the whisper of thy wings on every lonely breath of air for the rest of my days.” Slowly he pulled away from her and turned away to walk to his sister.
当受挫的飞马开始哭泣时，Tenebra奇怪地看着Psychoshy。斯蒂吉乌斯慢慢地用翅膀抱住她，轻轻地吻了她。暴跳如雷的女人转过头去，叹了口气。最后他们张开了嘴。"再见，善良的女士。在我余生的每一次孤独的呼吸中，我都会听到你翅膀的低语。"他慢慢地离开她，转身走向他的妹妹。
I looked from Psychoshy to Stygius and back again as the mare stood on the verge of losing another pony she loved. “If you are going to do anything besides live in regret, now’s the time to do something,” Rampage said quietly to her.
当这匹母马站在失去另一匹她喜爱的小马的边缘时，我从Psychoshy望向斯提吉乌斯，然后又望回来。"如果你打算做任何事，除了活在悔恨中，现在是做点什么的时候了,"狂暴平静地对她说。
Psychoshy swallowed and then swooped after them. “Wait! Wait... please...” she said as she landed in front of him. “Take me with you.”
"精神病"吞咽了一下，然后扑向他们。"等等！等等......求你了......"她一边说，一边降落在他面前。"带我一起去吧。"
Stygius’s eyes popped wide. “Fairest, I cannot. Thou art of the surface and I am of the depths. Were you to come with me, thou couldst never return!”
斯蒂吉乌斯的眼睛睁得大大的。"最美丽的人，我不能。你是表面的，我是深处的。如果你跟我走，你就再也回不来了!"
“So what?” Psychoshy said firmly as she looked up at him. “All my life I’ve
"那又怎么样?"精神病患者抬头看着他，坚定地说。"我这一辈子
been nothing but a tool or a killer. You’re the first pony who really makes me want to be better than who I was. I... I like you, Stygius. Enough to take a risk coming with you. If your father has a problem with it, then fine. I’ll deal with it. But I’m sick of just going through life hoping it will get better.”
只不过是个工具或者杀手。你是第一匹真正让我想变得比以前更好的小马。我。.我喜欢你，斯提格斯。足够让我和你一起冒险了。如果你父亲对此有意见，那好吧。我会处理的。但我厌倦了只是希望生活会好起来。"
Stygius opened his mouth to talk again, when Tenebra gave a chirp. The dusky-blue-maned mare smiled at the yellow pegasus and then looked sternly at her brother and gave another chirp. “You’re sure? But Father...” She chirped again, firmly. “You’ll speak with him... but...” And then she gave a long squeak and he balked. “Yes... I would much... much rather not marry you, dear Sister. Much rather...” He looked back at Psychoshy and then smiled and wiped her tears away with a wing.
斯蒂吉乌斯张开嘴再次说话，这时特内布拉发出了一声唧唧的叫声。暗蓝色鬃毛的母马对着黄色的飞马微笑，然后严厉地看着她的兄弟，又发出一声唧唧声。"你确定吗？但是爸爸......"她又坚定地说道。"你会和他说话的......但是......"然后她长长地尖叫了一声，他犹豫了。"是的......我非常......非常不愿意嫁给你，亲爱的姐姐。他回头看了看Psychoshy，然后微笑着用翅膀擦去她的眼泪。
“You’d better hurry,” I said as I looked back towards Meatlocker, knowing that somepony would come to investigate the shouting sooner or later. I smiled at them both. “I hope it all works out. Thanks for helping me with... um... everything,” I said with a slightly embarrassed smile.
"你最好快点,"我回头看着Meatlocker说，因为我知道迟早会有人来调查这件事。我对他们俩都笑了。"我希望一切顺利。谢谢你帮我......嗯......所有的事情,"我略带尴尬地笑着说。
Psychoshy turned towards Rampage, but the mare just forced a smile and waved a hoofclaw. “Go on, you crazy kids. I’m happy for you both. There’s nothing better than finding that very special somepony.” Her jaw strained to maintain her grin.
精神病转向狂暴，但母马只是强颜欢笑并挥舞着蹄爪。"去吧，你们这些疯狂的孩子。我为你们俩感到高兴。没有什么比找到一匹非常特别的马更好的了。"她的下巴绷得紧紧的，以保持她的笑容。
“Well, then... goodbye,” Psychoshy said.
"好吧，那么......再见,"精神病医生说。
“Goodbye, Psychoshy,” I replied.
"再见，神经病,"我回答。
Then she shook her head with a smile. “Not Psychoshy. Whisper. If I’m going to start a new life, I may as well start a with a new name as well.” And with her eyes clear and confident she flew to the pair of batponies, and with one look back and a smile, they took to the air together, flying northeast around the crater.
然后她微笑着摇了摇头。"不是心理害羞。耳语。如果我要开始新的生活，我也可以用一个新的名字开始一个新的生活。"她的眼睛清澈而自信地飞向那对蝙蝠战马，回头一看，面带微笑，它们一起飞向空中，围绕着火山口向东北方向飞去。
Rampage waited a minute and then sniffed. “Finally taking her chance on her own life... lucky girl...”
狂暴等了一分钟，然后嗅了嗅。"终于把握了自己的生命...幸运的女孩..."
Then Lacunae dropped from the sky and landed beside us, throbbing with a full charge of magical energy to take us home. “Hello, girls. Did I miss anything?”
然后空隙从天而降，落在我们身边，带着充满魔力的能量跳动着带我们回家。"你们好，姑娘们。我错过了什么吗?"
It took a bit of explaining, during which time Lacunae seemed completely fascinated by the magical powers of Stygius’s sister. Shadow magic was
这需要一些解释，在这段时间里，拉古娜似乎完全被斯蒂吉乌斯的妹妹的神奇力量所吸引。影子魔法
apparently making the Twilight in the Goddess so uppity that she was dumping every bit into Lacunae. Rampage said little, looking slightly… something. Pensive? She grimaced when I told Lacunae how happy ‘Whisper’ was now that she had a new life and muttered under her breath as she turned away.
显然使得《女神》中的暮光如此傲慢，以至于她把每一点都倾注到了空隙中。狂暴少说了几句，略微看上去有点......什么东西。忧郁？当我告诉Lacunae她现在有了新的生活是多么幸福的时候，她做了个鬼脸，当她转身离开的时候，她低声咕哝着。
I supposed that Whisper wasn’t the only mare who wanted a fresh start with somepony who loved them.
我想Whisper不是唯一一匹想和喜欢它们的小马重新开始的母马。
* * *
* * *
While my eyes recovered from the glare of teleportation, I heard a number of startled voices and the sound of water flowing behind me. Slowly the afterimages began to fade away, and I looked at the stunned faces of dozens of ponies. I looked at the horseshoe-shaped strip mall beside the Hoofington River and the numerous ponies around vendors and shops. Steely-eyed stallions with hunting rifles looked our way but didn’t go red on my E.F.S. Strings of lights had been stretched between the two arms of the strip mall, filling the plaza between them with a shattered rainbow.
当我的眼睛从瞬间移动的刺眼光芒中恢复过来的时候，我听到了一些受惊的声音和水流在我身后流动的声音。慢慢地，余影开始淡去，我看着几十匹小马惊愕的脸。我看着胡芬顿河边马蹄形的商业街，以及小贩和商店周围无数的小马。手持猎枪、目光犀利的种马看着我们的方向，但没有在我的e.f.s上变红。商业街的两条街之间，一串串的灯光延伸开来，在他们之间的广场上点缀着一道破碎的彩虹。
“Hey, this isn’t Chapel!” I said, perhaps a little more loudly than I’d intended. “What are we doing in Riverside?” I asked Lacunae with a little pout, standing on my back legs next to her.
"嘿，这里不是教堂!"我说，声音可能比我想象的要大一点。"我们在河滨市做什么?"我撅着小嘴问拉库尼，后腿站在她旁边。
“You need new forelegs,” Lacunae pointed out, “and I felt that teleporting here and walking would be less disruptive than teleporting into the midst of the sand dogs’ home.” I huffed and slumped. She had a point. Seeing Glory again would just have to wait. Besides, when we’d last left Riverside, it’d been a ghost town on the verge of being completely abandoned. Now, the stalls and shops that had been all but empty were overflowing with goods, and everywhere I looked were ponies. At least forty or so were going about their business in the dwindling daylight.
"你需要新的前腿,"Lacunae指出,"我觉得在这里传送和散步比在沙狗的家中传送更不具破坏性。"我气喘吁吁，跌跌撞撞。她说的有道理。再次见到晨辉只能等待。此外，当我们上次离开河滨市时，那里已经是一个处于完全废弃边缘的鬼城。现在，几乎空无一人的摊位和商店里堆满了商品，我看到的每个地方都是小马驹。至少有四十个左右的人在日益减少的日光下继续他们的工作。
Or had been going about their business; our appearance had created quite a stir. Murmurs of ‘Security’, ‘Rampage’, and ‘Reapers’ were circulating. Most of the expressions were either awed or confused, with a few glowering at me. Lots of ponies were staring at my limbs -- or the remains thereof -- and shooty eyes.
我们的出现引起了不小的轰动。"安全"、"暴行"和"收割者"的低语声此起彼伏。大多数的表情不是敬畏就是困惑，有几个怒视着我。许多小马正盯着我的四肢----或者说是它们的残肢----和扫射的眼睛。
“Hey, Security,” called a voice from beside me, and I frowned as I looked at the peach mare with fish for a cutie mark standing behind a stand loaded with fish, parts of giant frogs, and hunks of leech. She met my gaze and hesitated as if
"嘿，保安,"一个声音从我身边传来，我皱着眉头看着那只有鱼的桃红色母马，它身后站着一个可爱的标记，上面有鱼、一些大青蛙和水蛭。她与我的目光相遇，犹豫了一下，好像
reconsidering. Her eyes lingered on my shredded and mangled metal legs. Then she finally smiled, though, and looked me in the eye. “It’s Perch. We met a few weeks ago? Welcome back,” she said as she turned to a hubcap filled with coals over which cooked fish on metal skewers. “Want a free sample?”
重新考虑。她的目光停留在我那支支离破碎的金属腿上。然后她终于笑了，看着我的眼睛。"是鲈鱼。我们几周前见过？"欢迎回来,"她一边说着，一边转向一个装满煤块的轮毂罩。轮毂罩上放着金属烤串，上面烤着鱼。"想要免费样品吗?"
Well, I ate Cram. How bad could it be? I levitated one over, and she passed another to Rampage. Lacunae just looked away with a faintly ill expression. To be honest, the fish was absolutely delicious, though I didn’t think Perch expected me to eat it bones, skewer, and all. The others were looking at the shops curiously.
我吃了Cram。还能有多糟糕？我让其中一个飘了起来，她又把另一个传给了狂暴。空隙只是略带不悦地把目光移开。说实话，这鱼绝对美味，虽然我不认为鲈鱼希望我吃它的骨头，串，和所有。其他人好奇地看着商店。
“I will go find Rover,” Lacunae said. “You can stay here and talk with your friend.” He knew the alicorn from Tenpony, so there was little chance of a problem with the meeting, hopefully. Rampage finished her roast eel, belched, and trotted over to walk beside the alicorn. It looked like, for once, I wouldn’t have anything to do. It left me feeling a little uneasy, but I was curious what’d brought about this turn around in the town. It couldn’t be because of me... it just... couldn’t.
"我要去找罗孚,"拉库尼说。"你可以留在这里和你的朋友聊天。"他是在Tenpony认识阿里康的，所以希望这次会面不会有什么问题。狂暴完成了她的烤鳗鱼，打着嗝，小跑过去走在独角兽旁边。就这一次，我看起来好像什么都不用做了。这让我感到有点不安，但我很好奇是什么让这个城镇发生了这样的转变。不可能是因为我...就是...不可能。
“Where did all these people come from?” I asked the peach fishermare.
"这些人都是从哪里来的?"我问那只水蜜桃。
“Amazing, isn’t it?!” Perch said in glee. “Lots of these folks are from outside Hoofington. When those dogs started trading, they had… well… everything! Everything we could ever hope to swap! And they love my fish.” The mare was nearly dancing in her joy. “Once we had the salvage, the trade caravans started coming really regularly! We actually have some traders planning to go from here to Manehattan to Dise! Can you imagine?” she said as she hopped on her hooves. “Chems from Flank. Bullets from Megamart! We’re getting food from the river and trading it with the Society for vegetables. It’s amazing! And it’s all thanks to you.”
"太神奇了，不是吗?"佩奇高兴地说。"这些人中有许多来自Hoofington以外。当那些狗开始交易的时候，他们拥有......嗯......一切！所有我们曾希望交换的东西！他们喜欢我的鱼。"那匹母马几乎高兴得跳起舞来。"一旦我们得到了打捞，贸易商队开始真正有规律地来！实际上，我们有一些交易员计划从这里到Manehattan去迪斯！你能想象吗?"她一边说，一边跳上马蹄。"弗兰克发来的药。来自Megamart的子弹！我们正在从河里获取食物，并用它们与蔬菜协会进行交易。太神奇了！这一切都要感谢你。"
I felt a little dizzy; this was sort of the opposite of Yellow River. I never really expected to ever see anypony really happy to see me. Trade will save the Wasteland. It was astonishing how simple economics kept civilization going. “You don’t have many Harbingers here, do you?”
我觉得有点头晕，这和黄河正好相反。我从来没有想到会有小马真的高兴见到我。贸易将拯救荒地。令人惊讶的是，简单的经济学使文明得以延续。"你们这里没有多少先驱者，是吗?"
She snorted and rolled her eyes. “Those Hoofington Rises freaks? Nah. They’ll only give you free stuff if you join their wacky cult. We don’t need that garbage.” She pointed over at the huge towers across the river. “I mean, their
她哼了一声，翻了个白眼。"那些胡芬顿起来的怪胎？不。他们只会给你免费的东西，如果你加入他们的古怪崇拜。我们不需要那些垃圾。"她指着河对岸的巨塔。"我的意思是，他们
latest line is about how the Core destroyed Hightower. Blasted it to pieces. ‘Hoofington Rises and the evils of the Wasteland are destroyed...’ blah blah blah.” I strained my smile, laughing and hoping few other people had seen the green beam minutes before the explosion. “Everypony knows that it was just that damned bomb going off. We don’t have time or the need to bother with nonsense like that anymore. We got ponies working to clear debris. Ponies working to bring in more fish. Ponies trying to fix up more shops. It’s a real town again!”
最新一行是关于核心如何摧毁海托华的。把它炸成碎片。'胡芬顿崛起，荒原的邪恶被摧毁......'等等等等。"我勉强露出笑容，大笑着，希望在爆炸发生的几分钟前，没有几个人看到绿色的光束。"每个小马都知道只是那个该死的炸弹爆炸了。我们没有时间，也没有必要再为这样的废话而烦恼了。我们有小马在清理残骸。小马努力把更多的鱼带进来。试图修理更多商店的小马。又是一个真正的城市了!"
“It surely is,” an old earth pony stallion chuckled, pushing through the crowd. The lemon-yellow Keeper grinned at me with that look that inexplicably drew a blush to my cheeks as he tugged down the brim of his floppy, beaten hat. His eyes lingered on my busted up forelegs and he shook his head. “Why is it that you always seem to look two steps from the everafter? One day we need ta meet up when yer whole and healthy. Make a day of it.” He grinned at me. “Still, yer better off than when I last saw ya.” His eyes settled on my legs and the smile faded, an old wistful look crossing his features; after a moment, I realized that maybe he was recognizing my limbs from their previous owner. Then he shook his head, though, and said calmly, “I hear tell you’ve been running like a mad hellhound all over the east, Security.”
"当然是了,"一匹年老的地球上的种马咯咯地笑着，推开人群。那个柠檬黄色的看守人一边拉着他那松软破旧的帽子的边缘，一边用那种莫名其妙地让我脸红的眼神朝我咧嘴笑着。他的眼睛停留在我受伤的前腿上，摇了摇头。"为什么你总是看起来好像离永恒只有两步之遥？总有一天我们要在你完整健康的时候见面。好好享受一天吧。"他冲我咧嘴笑了笑。"不过，你比我上次见到你的时候过得好多了。"他的目光落在我的腿上，笑容消失了，一种渴望的表情掠过他的脸庞;过了一会儿，我意识到他可能认出了我的四肢以前的主人。然后他摇了摇头，平静地说:"我听说你像一只疯狂的地狱犬一样在东部到处乱跑，保安。"
“Yeah, pretty much,” I replied with a sheepish little smile. Then I blinked and levitated out Vigilance and my revolvers. “Do you have any parts for these?”
"是的，差不多吧,"我回答时带着一丝羞怯的微笑。然后我眨了眨眼睛，从警惕和左轮手枪中飘了出来。"你们有这些零件吗?"
He whistled through his teeth as he took Duty and admired it. “Mmmm… maybe. Looks like the action’s worn.” He waved over one of his brahmin and dug around in one of its packs, taking out another battered, less fancy-looking heavy revolver. “There. You should be able to cannibalize the parts off it.” A little more impromptu trading and I had enough to repair the three weapons. After raiding the Hightower gun vault, I had enough guns to trade for the parts. Finally, we both sat back as I put them in my bags.
他接过《责任》，欣赏着它，从牙缝里呼啸而过。"嗯......也许吧。看起来动作已经磨损了。"他朝他的一个婆罗门挥了挥手，在其中一个包里翻找着，拿出另一把破旧的、看上去不那么花哨的重左轮手枪。"那儿。你应该可以把它的零件拆下来。"更多的即兴交易，我有足够的钱来修理这三件武器。在突袭了海托华的枪库后，我有足够的枪来交换零件。最后，当我把它们放进包里的时候，我们俩都往后靠了靠。
“Thanks,” I said as I tucked them away. “Been busy.”
"谢谢,"我边说边把它们收起来。"很忙。"
Keeper laughed and then gave me a sly little look. “So I heard. Folks are talking about how Security blew the dickens out of old Hightower. Pretty impressive,” he chuckled. “Can’t wait for DJ Pon3 to get back on the air and talk about it.”
管理员笑了，然后狡猾地看了我一眼。"我听说了。人们都在谈论保安是如何把老海托华炸飞的。真令人印象深刻,"他轻声笑道。"我已经等不及DJPon3回到节目中来谈论这件事了。"
I groaned, covering my face, then blinked. “Wait! It happened just yesterday. How in Equestria could they possibly know it was me?”
我呻吟着，捂住脸，然后眨了眨眼睛。"等等！就在昨天。在Equestria，他们怎么可能知道是我?"
The old yellow buck threw his head back and laughed. “So it was you! Thought so. Blackjack, didn’t take long for folks to figger out who in the Hoof coulda done it! Big Daddy’s crowing ‘bout how the Reapers got the damnest toughest fighter in the Hoof. I think that old bastard is thinking of adopting you or something. The Flashers are practically ready to become your own personal gang. The Collegiate’s probably gonna name you an honorary doctor or something.”
那只黄色的老公鹿把头往后仰，哈哈大笑。"原来是你！我想也是。黑杰克，没过多久，人们就找出了在霍夫能做到这一点！老爹正在吹嘘"收割者"是如何得到最厉害的战斗机。我想那个老混蛋在考虑收养你什么的。闪光者几乎已经准备好成为你的私人帮派了。学院可能会给你起个名誉博士什么的。"
“Great,” I said with a roll of my eyes. “Doctor Blackjack.” I’d probably kill whoever I tried to heal. Gunshot wound? Amputation! Broken leg? Gunshot! I sighed, shaking my head. “I just want to get home. I should have never been crazy enough to leave Glory.”
"太好了,"我翻了翻白眼说。"黑杰克博士"我可能会杀死任何我试图治愈的人。枪伤？截肢！断腿？枪击！我叹了口气，摇了摇头。"我只想回家。我不应该疯狂到离开晨辉。"
“Oh, your lovely one-winged marefriend?” He chuckled, stroking his little garlic bulb of a beard with a look that belonged on a stallion half his age. Really, I didn’t think he had a chance... He quickly added, as if I were offended, “I don’t mean anything by it, of course.” Then he leaned towards me a little. “So. How did you get the Core ta shoot Hightower and blow it to smithereens? ‘Cause that’s a story I’d love to hear.”
"哦，你那可爱的单翼女友?"他咯咯地笑着，抚摸着他那蒜茸茸的小胡子，一副年龄只有他一半的种马才有的表情。真的，我不认为他有机会......他很快补充道，好像我被冒犯了一样,"当然，我不是那个意思。"然后他向我微微倾斜了一下。"所以。你是怎么让核心打死海托华并把它炸成碎片的？因为这是我想听的故事。"
I sighed, looking out across the river for a minute. “You know those Harbingers? Well, they’re right about one thing: there is something stirring in the Core. And it wants this.” I tapped the cover over my PipBuck. “There was a ghoul -- freakiest thing I ever saw, big as a skywagon -- that was about to eat me. Whatever the damn thing is that’s running the Core, it blasted the ghoul to keep it from destroying my PipBuck.” Then I gave a half smile and rolled my eyes. “Ten minutes later the balefire bomb blew. Totally unrelated. Really.”
我叹了口气，看了看河对岸。""你知道那些预言家吗？好吧，他们在一件事情上是正确的:在核心中有某种东西在活跃。它想要这个。"我在我的PipBuck上敲了敲封面。"有一个食尸鬼——我见过的最诡异的东西，像飞天马车一样大——要吃掉我。不管是什么该死的东西在运行核心系统，它轰坏了食尸鬼，以防它毁掉我的PipBuck。"然后我微微一笑，转了转眼珠。"十分钟后，巴利火炸弹爆炸了。完全没关系。真的。"
“Well rut me twice and call me Sandy...” He looked a little bemused and slightly sympathetic. “Still pretty impressive, though... And what were you after in Hightower in the first place?”
"好吧，我发情两次，叫我桑迪......"他看起来有点困惑，略带同情。"不过还是很令人印象深刻......那么你当初在海托华是为了什么呢?"
“Just following a wild goose,” I said. “And I nearly got cooked in the process.”
"只是跟着一只大雁,"我说。"在这个过程中，我差点被烤熟。"
“Sorry to hear that.” I could tell he wanted more specifics; information and rumors were probably just another commodity to him. After a moment, though, he seemed to realize that he wouldn’t be getting anything else on that subject. “So what’s your next move?”
"很遗憾听到这个消息。"我可以看出他想要更多的细节;信息和谣言对他来说可能只是另一件商品。不过过了一会儿，他似乎意识到在这个问题上他不会得到任何其他的东西。"那么，你的下一步行动是什么?"
I groaned and buried my face in the remains of my forehooves. “Right now, I
我呻吟着，把脸埋在前蹄的残骸里。"现在，我
just want to get back to Star House and Glory. That’s all I want.” He smiled and patted my head.
只是想回到星宫和晨辉。这就是我想要的。"他微笑着拍了拍我的头。
“And that’s why yer gonna end up a bona fide legend, Security,” he chuckled, but I simply forced a smile and looked away. “You’re more concerned with returnin’ to yer lady love than with fame, fortune, or power.”
"这就是为什么你最终会成为一个真正的传奇，保安,"他咯咯地笑着，但我只是挤出一个微笑，把目光移开。"比起名誉、财富和权力，你更关心的是如何回报你的爱人。"
“Unless I’m remembered for being a monster,” I muttered, thinking back to my friends in the prison. To a slaughter on a stormy night. To a little filly with broken legs. I looked at my mangled limb with a sigh. “My friends are scared of me.” I met his worried eyes. “And I think they’re right to be.”
"除非人们记得我是个怪物,"我喃喃自语，回想着我在监狱里的朋友们。在暴风雨的夜晚进行屠杀。一只断了腿的小母马。我叹了口气，看着自己残缺不全的肢体。"我的朋友们都怕我。"我看到了他忧心忡忡的眼神。"我认为他们是对的。"
Keeper looked at me for a long moment. “Hey, Perch! Bring me a bottle of Wild Pegasus,” the yellow earth pony shouted. The fishermare pulled a familiar-looking bottle from behind her stand, and the old stallion took it and trotted over to a rusty table and pair of chairs beside the crumbly brick wall that ran along the riverfront. I followed and watched as he deftly poured two glasses, then picked his up with his mouth and shot it down in a gulp. He smacked his lips. “Best thing for them there existential crisises,” he said as he leaned back in the old chair. “So… what’s the bee in your bonnet?”
守门员看了我好一会儿。"喂，鲈鱼！"给我拿一瓶野飞马来,"黄土地上的小马大声喊道。渔母从她的摊位后面拖出一个看起来很熟悉的瓶子，那匹老种马接过瓶子，小跑着来到河边摇摇欲坠的砖墙边一张生锈的桌子和一对椅子旁。我跟在他后面，看着他熟练地倒了两杯酒，然后用嘴叼起酒杯，一饮而尽。他咂了咂嘴。"对他们来说，存在主义危机是最好的事情,"他一边说，一边向后靠在旧椅子上。"那么......你脑子里在想什么呢?"
I sighed and lifted my glass, looking at the amber contents while he poured himself another. “I don’t know. A month ago I was Blackjack. A few days after that I got mutated eyes. Then I found out my PipBuck’s the key to all kinds of pre-war technology. Then I had jelly legs. Then I was blind and crippled. Raped… Then dead.” That made him arch an eyebrow. “I came back as a cyberpony… and I just felt all wrong. Still do. I was suicidal for a spell. Terrified of stallions. Went nuts. Tore apart some pegasi and crippled a filly. Got some help. Got laid. Got cooked and irradiated. Died again… worse this time. And now…” I sighed as I turned the glass back and forth before me with my magic. “Now I don’t know what to feel. I don’t know who I am. I just… want to be good. I don’t want to be one of the fuckers of the Wasteland, you know?” I set the glass down and looked out at the water as he drank a third. “You said I’m gonna be a legend, but a legend of what? Who the hell am I anymore, Keeper?”
我叹了口气，举起酒杯，看着里面的琥珀，他又给自己倒了一杯。"我不知道。一个月前我还是黑杰克。几天后，我的眼睛发生了变异。然后我发现我的PipBuck是所有战前技术的关键。然后我的腿就软了。然后我又瞎又瘸。被强奸......然后死亡。"这使他扬起一条眉毛。"我回来的时候是一匹赛博马......我觉得自己完全错了。现在也是。我有一阵子想自杀。对种马的恐惧。疯了。撕碎了一些飞马座，弄瘸了一匹小母马。得到了一些帮助。上床了。被煮了，被辐射了。又死了...这次更糟。现在......"我叹了口气，用我的魔法把玻璃杯在我面前来回转动。"现在我不知道该有什么感觉。我不知道我是谁。我只是...想做个好人。我不想成为废墟中的一员，你知道吗?"我放下杯子，看着外面的水，他喝了第三杯。"你说过我会成为一个传奇，但是什么传奇？我到底是谁，守护者?"
He smacked his lips. “Funny thing about legends. They tend to be whatever a person wants them to be, instead of what they really are. Take Princess Celestia, for example. The nicest, goodiest Princess there ever was, right? Heck, you hear people say ‘sweet Celestia’ all the time; I just did it myself. Hardly ever hear
他咂了咂嘴。"关于传说有趣的事情。他们倾向于成为一个人想要他们成为的人，而不是他们真正的样子。以塞莱斯蒂亚公主为例。有史以来最善良，最美好的公主，对吧？见鬼，你总是听到人们说'sweetCelestia';我自己就是这么做的。几乎听不到
them say ‘Dear Luna’ or something. Almost always Celestia. Why do you think that is?”
他们说亲爱的露娜什么的。几乎总是塞莱斯蒂亚。你认为这是为什么呢?"
“‘Cause…” I paused and frowned. “You just… do. She’s Celestia.”
"因为......"我停顿了一下，皱起了眉头。"你只是......做。她是塞莱斯蒂娅。"
“She’s also the reason the war started,” he replied with a smile. “Oh, I know there’s all kinds of arguments about coal and industrialization and national pride and such, but I like to blame whatever pony said ‘go’. Because ultimately that’s where the bit is supposed to stop.” I drank my glass, and he poured us both another. The old stallion went on, “Thing is, folks got it so fixed in their minds that she was this goody good paragon of goodness that even two hundred years later they say her name like they think she’s gonna swoop in and save them. But me… I want to know who Celestia was at one in the morning when everything was dark and she was all alone. Was she really so good? Was she really so perfect?” He shrugged. “Guess that’s one of them glasses half filled deals.”
"她也是战争爆发的原因,"他微笑着回答。"哦，我知道关于煤炭、工业化和民族自豪感等等有各种各样的争论，但我喜欢责备那些说'走'的小马。因为最终，这就是我们应该停止的地方。"我喝了一杯，他又给我们俩倒了一杯。那匹老种马继续说:"事情是这样的，人们对她的印象是如此深刻，以至于200年后他们说起她的名字时，还以为她会乘虚而入，拯救他们。但是我......我想知道塞莱斯蒂亚在早上一点钟的时候是谁，当时一切都是黑暗的，她独自一人。她真的那么棒吗？她真的那么完美吗?"他耸耸肩。"我猜这是其中之一。"
Now I was more confused than ever. “So are you saying I’m not as good as they think I am?” Gee… surprise surprise.
现在我比以前更加困惑了。"所以你是说我没有他们想的那么好?"啊...惊喜惊喜。
“I’m saying that there’s no cut and dry good and bad. You might be remembered as a saint by these folk, but as a nightmare by some other folk.” He poured himself another drink, downed it, and sighed. “Fact is that while I trusted my friends, and liked them, I always knew that if things went bad then they could beat the shit out of me. Especially Big Daddy, Awesome, and Crunchy Carrots.” He swirled the remains of the bottle. “Sure enough… not long after Dawn left… they did. And bad. Something stupid.” He sighed and shrugged once more. “So if your friends are scared of you, well… you can’t help that. You can just keep control of yourself. Trying to do more than that is just setting yourself up to fail.”
"我的意思是，没有明确的好坏之分。你可能会被这些人视为圣人，但对其他人来说却是一场噩梦。"他又给自己倒了一杯，喝了下去，叹了口气。"事实是，尽管我信任我的朋友，并且喜欢他们，但我始终知道，如果事情变糟，他们会把我打得屁滚尿流。特别是"大爸爸"、"棒极了"和"脆胡萝卜"他把瓶子的残余部分旋转起来。"果然......道恩离开后不久......他们就去了。也很糟糕。一些愚蠢的事。"他叹了口气，又耸了耸肩。"所以，如果你的朋友害怕你，那么......你也无能为力。你可以控制自己。试图做更多的事情只会让自己失败。"
I smiled a little as I looked down into the whiskey in my glass. “Thanks, Grandpa.”
我低头看着杯中的威士忌，微微一笑。"谢谢爷爷。"
He laughed at me, husky and throaty as he swirled the bottle. “You’re one of the few mares where I can honestly say that ain’t a possibility.” He lifted it and drained the remainder of the whiskey, then grimaced. “Ooooh, gonna be feeling that in an hour.” Finally he looked back at me. “So I hear you’re having other problems?”
他一边转动瓶子，一边用沙哑的声音嘲笑我。"你是为数不多的几匹母马之一，我可以诚实地说，这是不可能的。"他举起酒杯，喝干了剩下的威士忌，然后做了个鬼脸。"一小时后你就会有这种感觉了"最后他回头看了我一眼。"我听说你还有其他问题?"
“Had some Harbinger troubles,” I said as I looked back towards the river and the
"有一些预兆的麻烦,"我说，当我回头看着河流和
foamy brown water. “They’ve been after my head.”
褐色泡沫水。"他们一直在追杀我。"
“After your PipBuck is more like it. I’ve heard through clients that they’re offering a princess’s ransom for it.” He snorted and shook his head. “Offering too damn much, honestly. Anypony you should be worried about isn’t taking them seriously. Yet. Besides, the Zodiacs flat told them no. With Sanguine and his freaks gone too… well… not sure who else is gonna snap that up.”
"用你的皮布克更合适。我从客户那里听说，他们提出了一个公主的赎金。"他哼了一声，摇了摇头。"老实说，我提供的太多了。你应该担心的任何小马都没有认真对待它们。然而。此外，黄道带平面告诉他们没有。随着桑吉尼和他的怪胎们也消失了......好吧......不知道还有谁会抢购。"
“Oh, I’m sure somepony will. It’s not the first time,” I muttered. He winced, and I smiled a little. Was I actually getting blasé about a bounty on my head? Ugh… “I’ve been doing this too long. This has been the month from hell.”
"哦，我肯定有人会的。这不是第一次了,"我喃喃自语。他畏缩了一下，我微微一笑。我真的得到了悬赏我的人头吗？呃..."我干这行太久了。这个月真是糟透了。"
“Awww, you’ve only been in the Hoof for a month and you’re already bitching? Wait a few years and see what it can really throw at you,” Keeper teased, and then reached out and snagged my shot glass. Before I could do anything he finished that off too. “Well now. I think I’d better be going. There’s a nice young aspiring caravaneer here, and I was thinking of giving her some personal tips of the trade before she heads off to Baltimare.” He stood, tugged down the brim of his hat, and then walked, a touch unsteady, off into the crowd.
"啊，你才来霍夫一个月就开始发牢骚了？等上几年，看看它到底能给你带来什么。"守门员开玩笑说，然后伸手抓住了我的小酒杯。我还没来得及做什么，他就把那个也做完了。"现在好了。我想我该走了。这里有一个很好的年轻有抱负的大篷车旅行者，我想在她前往巴尔蒂马尔之前，给她一些贸易方面的个人建议。"他站起来，拉了拉帽檐，然后有点摇摇晃晃地走进人群。
I watched him go, then turned and looked out at the water flowing past the settlement. It wasn’t raining for the moment, and I felt a little bit of peace. I didn’t look at the seat across from me as I said in a low voice, “You’ve been quiet, Dealer. Both back with Boing and now.”
我看着他离开，然后转过身，看着流过村庄的水。那一刻没有下雨，我感到一丝平静。我没有看我对面的座位，我低声说:"你一直很安静，交易商。都回到了波音，现在也回来了。"
The pale buck shuffled his cards as he sat in the seat that Keeper had vacated. “Why go through all the effort of contact when others do a job for you?” he asked in return. “Does it make you happy? Seeing this place you helped?”
苍白的雄鹿坐在守门员腾出来的座位上洗牌。"当别人为你做事的时候，为什么还要费尽周折地联系别人呢?"他反问道。"这让你高兴吗？看看你帮助过的这个地方?"
“A little,” I admitted. “Back at Flank, I figured helping was just... giving folks what they needed. But the gift didn’t matter if it wasn’t what they wanted or from who they wanted it from.” I looked at the shops and the lights and the hope… the energy was infectious. And I’d helped with that… putting Rover in a position to trade with Riverside. I glanced back at the Dealer. “So Boing tears me down and Keeper builds me back up again? Is that the deal?”
"有一点,"我承认。"回到弗兰克，我认为帮助只是......给人们他们需要的。但是礼物不是他们想要的，也不是他们想从谁那里得到的。"我看了看商店，看了看灯光，看了看希望......这股能量是有感染力的。我帮了他们的忙，让罗孚能够与河滨市进行交易。我回头看了一眼庄家。"所以Boing把我撕碎了，然后守门员又把我重新建起来了？是这样吗?"
“I guess.” He bowed his head a little. “Not like I’m good at this sort of thing, Blackjack. Being stuck in a stable maneframe for two centuries doesn’t do much for one’s people skills.”
"我想是吧。"他低了一下头。"不是说我擅长这种事情，Blackjack。被困在一个稳定的环境中两个世纪，对一个人的人际交往能力并没有多大帮助。"
“Then why do it?” I asked, and he closed his eyes. I leaned towards him, trying to prop up my chin on my mangled left leg.
"那为什么要这么做?"我问道，他闭上了眼睛。我向他靠过去，试图用我那受伤的左腿托住下巴。
The old, pale buck looked at his cards. “Back before the bombs fell… Goldenblood came to me. It was literally hours before he was arrested for treason. He was… more scared than I’d ever seen him before. More unstable, too. You know better than almost anyone how calm and collected he was. Well, that night, he wasn’t. He was scared to death. He insisted that we’d all been played, and that he was the biggest fool of them all. That something had to be done to save Equestria.”
那个苍白的老家伙看着他的牌。"在炸弹落下之前......金色血液找到了我。几个小时后，他因叛国罪被捕。他比我以前见过的任何人都要害怕。也更不稳定。你比任何人都更清楚他是多么的冷静和镇定。那天晚上，他没有。他吓得要死。他坚持说我们都被耍了，他是最大的傻瓜。为了拯救小马国，我们必须做点什么。"
“And that was binding you to EC-1101?” I asked in return.
"这就把你和EC-1101绑在一起了?"我反问道。
“Part of me. That was what he wanted, yes. He had all the files from Rarity and making her own soul jars. He wanted to make the program itself my soul jar, make sure that it would stay intact no matter what. But he wanted more than that. To make sure that no matter what, EC-1101 reached Celestia at all costs.”
"我的一部分。这就是他想要的，是的。他有所有的文件从稀有和制作她自己的灵魂罐。他想让这个程序本身成为我的灵魂罐，确保它无论如何都不会受到影响。但他想要的远不止这些。为了确保无论如何EC-1101都会不惜一切代价抵达Celestia。"
I shifted on my seat. “Celestia?” I remember how coldly he’d dismissed her, cutting her off from the kingdom entirely. “Why?”
我在座位上挪动了一下。"塞莱斯蒂亚?"我记得他是多么冷酷地把她打发走，把她从王国里完全隔绝开来。"为什么?"
“He didn’t say. He said that EC-1101 would have to get to her.” He shook his head slowly, closing his eyes, and then continued with great regret, “And I told him no. I think I might have killed him, then. He left to find Trottenheimer. Said Trottenheimer’d made something for him to deal with something bad. But then a half hour later I was stunned and woke up in an interrogation room. Luna was there. I was Goldenblood’s assistant. They questioned me for… I don’t know how long. Luna asked me if I wanted to prove my loyalty, and I said yes.”
"他没有说。他说EC-1101必须到她那里去。"他慢慢地摇了摇头，闭上了眼睛，然后非常后悔地继续说:"我告诉他不行。我想我可能杀了他。他去找特罗滕海默了。他说特罗滕海默为他做了一些东西来处理一些不好的事情。但半个小时后，我惊呆了，在审讯室里醒来。卢娜在那里。我是金血王的助手。他们问了我...我不知道问了多久。卢娜问我是否想证明自己的忠诚，我答应了。"
“Wait. Luna put you into EC-1101? But…why… how did she know how to do it?” I gasped.
"等等。卢娜把你放进了EC-1101？但是......为什么......她是怎么知道怎么做的呢?"我倒抽了一口冷气。
“I don’t know. Maybe Rarity told her? It was my chance to prove my innocence. They’d split my soul so that it wouldn’t kill me. Luna told me that if anything happened to Equestria because of Goldenblood’s betrayal, I was supposed to find a worthy heir. Somepony with the strength to save the kingdom and the intelligence to do what’s right.” He looked at me with a tired smile. “So far, you’re the best candidate I’ve found.” I didn’t know if I should be flattered or horrified. I was settling on baffled.
"我不知道。也许是稀有告诉她的？这是我证明自己清白的机会。他们会分裂我的灵魂，这样它就不会杀了我。卢娜告诉我，如果Equestria因为金血王的背叛而出了什么事，我应该找到一个合适的继承人。一个有力量拯救王国，有智慧做正确的事情的小马。"他带着疲倦的微笑看着我。"到目前为止，你是我找到的最好的候选人。"我不知道我是该感到荣幸还是恐惧。我一筹莫展。
“So… EC-1101’s routing is doing what?” I asked, now completely confused.
"那么...EC-1101的路由是做什么的?"我问，现在完全糊涂了。
“I don’t know. It’s got its own thing going, and I’m just along for the ride. I can help you access it and get past all the verification gibberish… but it’s running its own program. Maybe it thinks Rainbow Dash is in Shadowbolt Tower. Maybe something else is affecting it. The only one left on the list is Horse. Maybe it’s trying to get to Robronco. I just don’t know.”
"我不知道。它有它自己的事情，我只是随波逐流。我可以帮助您访问它，并过去所有的验证胡言乱语...但它正在运行自己的程序。也许它认为彩虹小飞在暗影螺栓塔里。也许是别的什么东西在影响它。名单上只剩下一匹马了。也许它想去罗布朗科。我就是不知道。"
“Ahem…” Perch said, watching me with a concerned smile. “Is everything okay?”
"咳咳......"佩奇说，带着关切的微笑看着我。"一切都还好吧?"
I realized how I must have looked; chattering to myself. “Oh yeah. Sure. Just… um… heroic brooding. ‘Cause, you know, heroes...” I gave a nervous grin that made her look even more worried. “We… um… brood.” I quickly cleared my throat. “What can I help you with. Need raiders ventilated? Evil thwarted? Just let me at ‘em.”
我意识到我当时的样子，自言自语起来。"哦，是的。当然。只是...嗯...英雄般的沉思。'因为，你知道，英雄们......"我紧张地咧嘴一笑，这让她看起来更加焦虑。"我们...沉思。"我赶紧清了清嗓子。"有什么可以帮你的吗。需要突袭机通风吗？邪恶受挫？就让我看看吧。"
“Actually,” she pointed a hoof at the empty whiskey bottle, “I need to you to pay for that. Twenty caps please.”
"事实上,"她指着空的威士忌酒瓶说,"我需要你付钱。二十杯。"
I gaped at her, then at the bottle, then in the direction Keeper had gone. “But… but I only drank one glass…”
我目瞪口呆地看着她，然后看着瓶子，接着看守人走到了那个方向。"但是...但是我只喝了一杯..."
* * *
* * *
“Why is pony always breaking legs? Pony has good legs. Pony needs to take care of legs,” Rover said as he fussed over my damaged limb with his tools. The sand dogs were doing better than I imagined. They weren’t extending their modifications to other ponies yet, but the trade in salvage had brought in a wealth of gems and food for the beleaguered people. Their subway station was still a complete mess, but I gathered that that was more because the sand dogs preferred it that way.
"为什么小马总是摔断腿？小马有很好的腿。小马需要照顾好自己的腿,"罗弗一边说着，一边用他的工具小心翼翼地处理着我受伤的肢体。沙狗比我想象的要好。他们还没有把他们的改装扩大到其他小马，但是打捞贸易为陷入困境的人们带来了大量的宝石和食物。他们的地铁站还是一团糟，但我猜那更多是因为沙狗更喜欢那样。
“Well, I lost that one to keep from eating a balefire egg,” I explained yet again, “and that one was chewed up by an ultra ghoul. It could have been a lot worse.” I levitated up a gem and popped it into my mouth. Mmmm… a nice fruity amethyst.
"好吧，我丢了那只鸡蛋是为了不让我吃到一个火鸡蛋,"我又解释了一遍,"而那只鸡蛋被一个超级食尸鬼咬碎了。情况本可能更糟。"我把一颗宝石悬浮起来，扔进嘴里。嗯...一个漂亮的水果紫水晶。
Lacunae and Rampage waited outside in the rain. My striped friend seemed more down than usual; I hoped that Lacunae would be able to help her. She’d
空隙和暴怒在外面的雨中等待着。我那个有条纹的朋友似乎比平时更沮丧，我希望拉库奈能够帮助她。她会的
helped Psycho and me after our troubles, but I wondered if maybe this was how she coped with her own problems. That and stomping things six feet underground. That left me alone with the old sand dog as he attached a new foreleg to my stump. I alternated between munching on scrap metal and gem fragments and the occasional smoked fish stuff, which was probably tainted but meh, honestly, how much worse could I get?
在我们遇到麻烦之后帮助了我和Psycho，但是我想也许这就是她解决自己问题的方法。还有在地下六英尺的地方跺脚。这让我和老沙狗单独呆在一起，他给我的残肢装上了一条新的前腿。我时而大嚼碎金属和宝石碎片，时而偶尔吃点熏鱼之类的东西，这些东西可能已经被污染了，不过说实话，我还能糟到哪里去呢？
“Pony should be more careful,” he muttered as he trotted over to a terminal, brought over plugs connected to several wires, and began attaching them to sockets hidden inside my remaining limbs. “Dogs work hard to get you best parts. Should not damage them needlessly.” The components he’d used to repair and rebuild my legs were ugly, ungainly things; I wondered if he was giving me deliberately bad-looking replacements as a further try at getting the point across.
"小马应该更加小心,"他一边小跑一边喃喃自语，他把插头连接到几根电线上，然后开始把插头接到隐藏在我剩余肢体里的插座上。"狗狗努力工作，才能得到你最好的部位。不应该毫无必要地伤害他们。"他用来修复和重建我双腿的部件都是丑陋、笨拙的东西;我怀疑他是不是故意给我一个看起来很丑的替代品，以便进一步说明这一点。
“Believe me, after what I’ve been through, I wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for your work.” I tried to get my fingers to work on my mangled left limb, then scowled and just lifted the limb and extended my thumb with my magic. “You were right about thumbs. These things are amazing!”
"相信我，在我经历了这么多之后，如果没有你的工作，我就不会活着。"我试图让我的手指在我残缺不全的左手臂上工作，然后皱起眉头，只是抬起手臂，用我的魔法伸出我的大拇指。"你对拇指的看法是对的。这些东西太神奇了!"
“Told pony,” he snorted before walking over for even more cables. How much wiring up was he going to do? “Rover told striped pony, but she say hoof for pony. Rover say thumbs better. Dogs win.” He grinned and began typing on the terminal with far more speed than even P-21 or Xanthe. “Rover enjoy making Pony’s body. Good parts. Good looks. Like old old times again.” Then he pointed a finger at me. “Is why Pony should take care!”
"告诉小马,"他哼了一声，然后走过去拿了更多的电缆。他打算装多少电线？"罗弗告诉过小马，但她用蹄子代替小马。流浪者说拇指更好。狗赢了。"他咧嘴一笑，开始在终端机上打字，速度甚至比P-21和Xanthe还要快。"罗孚喜欢制作小马的身体。好角色。漂亮的外表。就像以前一样。"然后他用手指着我。"这就是小马为什么要小心的原因!"
“I know. And I’ll try harder.” I pressed my mangled hoof to my chest. “I solemnly swear I won’t intentionally break my limbs on any enemy smaller than a house. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” A little pink pony in my head nodded primly.
"我知道。我会更加努力。"我把受伤的蹄子贴在胸前。"我郑重发誓，我不会故意向任何比房子还小的敌人打断我的四肢。我发誓，希望飞起来，把一个纸杯蛋糕塞进我的眼睛里。"我头上有一匹粉红色的小马，一本正经地点了点头。
He snorted with what I suspected was disbelief. “This take while. Must make old repair talismans fix new parts like old. Make all same system, or limbs not work right.”
他哼了一声，我怀疑他是不相信。"这需要一段时间。必须使旧的修理护身符修复旧的零件。要保证所有系统一致，否则四肢不能正常工作。"
And he was getting even more cables. “How did you get trained to do this?”
他得到了更多的电缆。"你是怎么被训练成这样的?"
“Trained?” He seemed to find the word both offensive and amusing. “Dog not get taught this trick. Dogs get first metal parts. I make sure I watch procedure. I steal papers and books. Finally, pony need assistant. I make sure I be assistant. I
"受过训练?"他似乎觉得这个词既无礼又有趣。"狗不会学这个把戏。狗得到第一个金属部件。我会注意程序的。我偷文件和书。最后，小马需要助手。我一定要当助理。一
pay attention and make sure when other sand dog fixed, I do the fixing. Pony happy to let dog work on dog. Give lots of parts.” He chuckled throatily. “But dog cleverer than pony. Dogs dig tunnels, yes? Work with much machinery.
注意并确保当其他沙狗修理时，我做修理。小马高兴地让狗对狗工作。分配大量的零件。"他轻声地笑了起来。"但是狗比小马聪明。狗会挖隧道，对吧？使用大量的机器。
Learn to make tools and machines to fix problems underground. Learn to make parts for dogs.” He sighed softly, his remaining ear drooping. “Other dogs not learn. Rather scavenge. Mate. Let Rover fix dogs. Rover hopes some dog learn soon. Rover is old dog. Too tired to learn new tricks.”
学习制造工具和机器来解决地下问题。学习为狗制造零件。"他低垂着剩下的耳朵，轻轻地叹了口气。"其他的狗不学习。更像是食腐动物。伙计。让罗孚来修理狗吧。罗孚希望一些狗很快就能学会。罗孚是个老家伙。太累了，学不会新把戏。"
“Have you thought of teaching a pony?” I asked delicately. He snorted at once, and I quickly added, “I mean, there’s Triage at the Collegiate. They have all the Steelpony files, too, from the professor.”
"你有没有想过教一匹小马?"我小心翼翼地问。他立刻哼了一声，我赶紧补充道:"我的意思是，大学里有分类法。他们还有教授给他的所有Steelpony文件。"
“Rover not want dogs to forget,” he grumbled. “Maybe if I teach dogs too. Fifi maybe.” He snorted again and shook his head. “Not important now. Fix you up.”
"罗孚不想让狗忘记,"他嘟囔着。"也许如果我也教狗的话。可能是菲菲吧。"他又哼了一声，摇了摇头。"现在不重要了。治好你。"
As he came over with yet another cable, I huffed, “Jeeze, how many more wires do you need?” The old dog’s muzzle split in a grin.
当他拿着另一根电缆过来时，我气呼呼地说:"天哪，你还需要多少根电线?"老狗咧嘴一笑，嘴巴裂开了。
“Silly pony. Is not wire,” he said as he lifted the tube. “Is catheter.”
"傻小马。"不是电线,"他一边说，一边举起电子管。"是导尿管。"
* * *
* * *
I had to admit, once he got underway, I was glad for that little tube, despite the Goddess’s amusement at my embarrassment. Rover reached over and did something, and like that, I stopped. I couldn’t even move my jaw; the muscles just strained against it, something in there (maybe part of the thing that let me eat metal?) apparently being locked up tight. Some experimentation revealed that I could still move my tongue, tail, ears, and eyelids and that my magic still worked, but other than that I couldn’t do anything but stand there like a statue while feeling the strangest electric tingling in my forelimbs. And this was going to take all night. He’d set the terminal-tech-stuff to fix and calibrate everything while he had me wired up, so I simply stood there and tingled while Rover went to bed.
我不得不承认，一旦他开始航行，我就为那小小的管道感到高兴，尽管女神对我的尴尬感到好笑。罗孚伸出手做了些什么，就这样，我停了下来。我甚至不能移动我的下巴;肌肉只是紧张反对它，在那里的东西(可能是让我吃金属的东西的一部分?)显然是被关起来了。一些实验显示，我的舌头、尾巴、耳朵和眼睑还能动，而且我的魔法还在发挥作用，但除此之外，我什么也做不了，只能像雕像一样站在那里，感受着前肢最奇怪的电刺痛。这要花上一整晚。当他给我接上电线的时候，他把终端的技术设备都设置好来修理和校准所有的东西，所以当罗孚上床睡觉的时候，我只是站在那里，浑身发麻。
I closed my eyes and tried to relax. I couldn’t move… but really that didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. In its own way, it felt sort of nice. If he’d tried immobilizing me like this before Happyhorn, I’d probably have been clawing the walls of my mind, but now... I focused on control, like I had with Stygius. I am not freaking now. I am not reacting. I am calm... calm... I watched the lines of data that scrolled in the margins of my vision and slowly drifted
我闭上眼睛，试着放松。我动弹不得......但这并没有像我想象的那样让我感到困扰。用它自己的方式，感觉还不错。如果他在哈比霍恩之前尝试这样固定我，我可能已经抓破了我的思想之墙，但是现在......我专注于控制，就像我对斯蒂吉乌斯那样。我现在没有害怕。我没有反应。我很平静......平静......我看着数据线滚动在我的视野边缘，慢慢漂移
away.
离开。
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
The royal palace of Canterlot sure seemed different at night without celebration. The looming ministry hubs along Ministry Walk were still relatively lively, but few of the great pale marble structures’ stained glass windows showed signs of light and life. While Canterlot bustled about its social affairs, its heart was dark and still. I slowly approached the main gates, looking at the shadowed recesses above with a careful eye trained to find targets. Most ponies would have missed the lurking batponies of Luna’s guard watching from on high. During the day the palace was all unicorns and pegasi and brightness. During the night…
Canterlot的皇宫在晚上看起来确实与众不同，没有庆祝活动。沿着铁道部大道隐约可见的铁道部枢纽仍然相对活跃，但几乎没有苍白的大理石结构的彩色玻璃窗显示出光明和生命的迹象。当坎特罗特忙于自己的社会事务时，它的心是黑暗而安静的。我慢慢走近大门，用训练有素的眼睛仔细观察上面的阴影区域，寻找目标。大多数小马都会错过卢娜的后卫在高处监视的潜伏的小马。白天，宫殿里到处都是独角兽、飞马座和明亮的灯光。在夜里..。
I wondered if those daytime unicorns and pegasi really were what they appeared. Or were they enchanted night guards made to look like those races? Just one of countless rumors about the palace and its ruler.
我想知道那些白天出现的独角兽和飞马座是否真的是它们出现的样子。或者他们是被施了魔法的夜间守卫，使他们看起来像那些比赛？这只是关于宫殿和它的统治者的无数谣言之一。
“HALT! WHO GOES--” boomed a voice from beside the gate, and I fell back at once, gaping at the hovering stallion above me. The handsome night guard made a face and tapped a gem on the front of his armor before landing in front of me. “Ahem. Sorry. Only supposed to use the ‘royal voice’ with the tourists.” He reached the tip of his wing around and winced as he twisted it in his ear canal. “Woo. Does a doozy on my ears.”
"站住！"谁去——"大门旁边传来一个声音，我立刻后退了几步，目瞪口呆地望着头顶盘旋的种马。这个英俊的夜间守卫做了个鬼脸，在他的盔甲前面敲了敲一块宝石，然后降落在我面前。"咳咳。对不起。只能对游客使用'皇室的声音'。"他伸到翅膀的尖端，在耳道里扭动翅膀，脸上一阵抽搐。"喔。我的耳朵很灵敏。"
“Lionheart,” muttered a mare who stepped out of the shadows next to him. “Thou art supposed to use the--“
"狮心王,"一匹从他旁边的阴影里走出来的母马咕哝着。"你应该使用--"
“Oh stuff it, Nightracer,” Lionheart said with a snort. “That’s fine for formal occasions, but honestly. Nopony talks like that anymore. You’d have to be half crazy to talk all the time in the royal voice. Even the Princess doesn’t talk that way. Save it for the tourists.” He looked at me kindly and extended a wingtip while the dusky purple mare glowered at him. I hooked it with my foreleg, and he pulled me to my hooves. “So, you have an invitation, right?”
"去你的，夜猫子,"狮心王哼了一声说。"对于正式场合来说，这很好，但老实说。再也没有小马这样说话了。你一定是疯了才会一直用皇室的口吻说话。即使是公主也不会这么说话。留着给游客吧。"他和蔼地看着我，伸出一个翼尖，而暗紫色的母马怒视着他。我用前腿钩住它，它把我拉到蹄子上。"那么，你有邀请函，对吧?"
I blinked, then pulled the white envelope from my saddlebags and slid out the folded piece of paper. He flipped it open with his hoof, the dusky stallion frowning as he scrutinized the invitation. “Mmm… Psalm… meeting with Eclipse. Well, it looks about right. Still gonna need to confirm, though. Procedure. May I see your hoof, please?” He pulled a long silver needle from his armor.
我眨了眨眼，然后从我的马鞍袋里拿出那个白色的信封，把那张折叠好的纸滑了出来。他用蹄子把它翻开，这匹黑色的种马皱着眉仔细查看邀请函。"嗯......诗篇......与日蚀相遇。嗯，看起来差不多。不过还需要确认。程序。我可以看看你的蹄子吗?"他从盔甲上拔出一根长长的银针。
I balked, looking at his pleasant smile and then at the glowering mare. A peek revealed two more batpony stallions standing silently behind me. I had a feeling that saying no was going to earn me even more trouble. I held out my hoof and winced as I was jabbed with the needle. He drew one drop of blood and let it drip on the paper. Instantly the entire invitation began to glitter with bright red sparkles. “That’s unicorn blood, all right. This way.”
我犹豫了一下，看着他愉快的微笑，然后又看着怒目而视的母马。偷看一眼，又有两匹蝙蝠种马静静地站在我身后。我有一种感觉，说不会给我带来更多的麻烦。我伸出我的蹄子，当我被针扎的时候，我畏缩了。他抽出一滴血，滴在纸上。瞬间，整个邀请开始闪耀着鲜红的光芒。"那是独角兽的血，没错。这边走。"
He led me into the palace. Despite the dark windows, there were ponies trotting around on quiet hooves. Guards, certainly, but also others, ponies who averted their eyes and halted their conversations as we trotted past. A hush seemed to envelop everything. “Do you... do you have to do that often?”
他领我进了宫殿。尽管有黑暗的窗户，还是有小马在安静的蹄子上跑来跑去。守卫，当然，还有其他人，小马，当我们小跑经过时，他们转移了视线，停止了谈话。一片寂静似乎笼罩着一切。"你......你一定要经常这么做吗?"
“More and more these days. There’s more than one way for a zebra… or other things… to hide their appearance,” he said in that soft yet comforting burr. “Regular visitors have blood talismans to speed things up. They also don’t use the front gate, either.”
"现在越来越多了。斑马有不止一种方法......或者其他东西......来隐藏它们的外表,"他用柔软而舒适的声音说道。"常客有血液护身符，可以加快速度。他们也不走前门。"
I looked at the dark windows, the normally bright glass images now menacing abstract shapes. “I don’t know why I’m here at all. I’ve never met this Eclipse. Do they work for the Princess?”
我看着漆黑的窗户，通常明亮的玻璃图像现在威胁抽象的形状。"我不知道我为什么会在这里。我从没见过这个Eclipse。他们为公主工作吗?"
“Something like that,” he replied with a smile, and then his ears twitched and he frowned. “Hmmm… Celestia’s here.” I looked around, but aside from a distant chirping I couldn’t hear anything.
"差不多吧,"他笑着回答，然后他的耳朵抽搐了一下，皱起了眉头。"嗯......塞莱斯蒂娅来了。"我环顾四周，除了远处传来的唧唧声，我什么也听不见。
“Princess Celestia? Where?” I gasped in a rush of glee, earning a cool look from the stallion. “Not that Princess Luna’s not… um… nice...”
"塞莱斯蒂亚公主？在哪里?"我高兴得倒抽了一口冷气，这匹种马给了我一个酷酷的眼神。"并不是说卢娜公主不...嗯...很好..."
“It’s always trouble whenever she visits,” he muttered as he led me further into the back of the palace. “Doesn’t she understand that Princess Luna’s busy? Ugh…” He stopped at a pair of double doors and poked his head in. “Psalm to see Miss Eclipse. Also, she’s here.”
"她每次来都会惹麻烦,"他一边带我走进宫殿的后面，一边喃喃自语。"难道她不知道卢娜公主很忙吗？呃......"他在一对双开门前停了下来，把头探了进去。"《诗篇》要见日蚀小姐。而且，她也在这里。"
There was a pause as a mare muttered under her breath and then said, “One second. Almost… there…” And then abruptly the voice changed and became deeper. “Send Miss Psalm in.”
停顿了一下，一匹母马低声咕哝着说:"等一下。接着，声音突然变了，变得更低沉了。"让诗篇小姐进来。"
The office was a square room whose ceiling was enchanted to look like the night sky. One wall had high windows whose tops were lost in the shadows. A second wall was almost consumed by a massive map of the world with numerous little
办公室是一个方形的房间，天花板被施了魔法，看起来像夜空。有一面墙有高高的窗户，顶部在阴影中消失了。第二堵墙几乎被一幅巨大的世界地图所吞噬
white and red dots covering it. Floating against the surface of the map were eight icons of light: bright orange, cyan, pink, purple, violet, yellow, green, and gold. Half were clustered over Canterlot, but I watched in amazement as the purple dot flashed and disappeared from Manehattan to reappear in Maripony.
白色和红色的点覆盖着它。在地图的表面上漂浮着八个光标:亮橙色、青色、粉红色、紫色、紫色、黄色、绿色和金色。其中一半聚集在坎特罗特上空，但我惊奇地注视着那个紫色的小点闪烁着，从Manehattan消失，最后重新出现在Maripony。
The pegasus mare behind the desk was a dusky lavender with a buzzed-short royal blue mane and an eyepatch. Her remaining eye followed me closely as she gestured to the fancy padded chair on the opposite side of the desk. “Thank you, Lionheart. Please make her comfortable.” The guard bowed and trotted out of the room. Eclipse smiled at me, folding her hooves on the table. “I’m glad you could come, Psalm. My name is Eclipse. I work closely with various agencies and report directly to Princess Luna. I wanted to ask you some questions about your squad’s latest incursion to Dawn Bay and your attempted assassination of Legate Fortis.”
办公桌后面的飞马是一匹淡紫色的浅紫色马，鬃毛短而有嗡嗡声的宝蓝色鬃毛，戴着一只眼罩。她的余光紧紧地盯着我，指着桌子对面那张精致的软垫椅子。"谢谢你，狮心王。请让她舒服一点。"卫兵鞠躬小跑着走出了房间。月食朝我微笑，把她的蹄子叠在桌子上。"我很高兴你能来，诗篇。我的名字是Eclipse。我与各种机构密切合作，直接向卢娜公主汇报工作。我想问你几个问题，关于你们小队最近入侵黎明湾和企图暗杀富通大使的事。"
A sick feeling rose up inside me, and I swallowed as I lowered my eyes. “Yes ma’am,” I murmured.
一种不舒服的感觉在我心里升起，当我垂下眼睛时，我咽了一口唾沫。"是的，夫人,"我低声说。
What proceeded was a complete debriefing. She asked me who I saw meeting with the Legate. Did they appear to be fancily dressed, armored, or in scientific garb? When I was planning my shot, what other activities were going on in Dawn Bay? Was there increased construction? Was the Legate fortifying his troops, building more war infrastructure, or wasting resources on increasing the luxury of his own living quarters? Every question, the pegasus seemed to think and consider, often smiling to herself and tapping her chin thoughtfully.
接下来进行的是一次完整的汇报。她问我看见谁和特使见面了。他们看起来是衣着华丽，披着盔甲，还是穿着科学服装？当我在计划拍摄的时候，在黎明湾还有什么其他的活动？增加建设了吗？是特使加强了他的军队，建立了更多的战争基础设施，还是浪费资源来增加他自己的生活区的奢华？每一个问题，飞马似乎都在思考和考虑，经常对自己微笑，若有所思地拍着下巴。
What she wasn’t asking was the most important question: why had I missed? They’d provided me with a zebra rifle and made very specific instructions that I was not to modify it in any way nor fire it against any target except the Legate and that I was to leave it behind. I’d assumed there was an enchantment or some other thing at work; maybe a bullet enchanted to kill only the Legate? If only...
她没有问的是最重要的问题:为什么我错过了？他们给了我一把斑马步枪，并且非常明确地指示我，不得以任何方式修改它，也不得对除特使以外的任何目标开火，并且我必须把它留下。我还以为有什么魔法或者其他什么东西在起作用，也许是一颗只能杀死特使的子弹？要是..。
Despite myself, I grew more and more upset. It was one thing to kill somepony in the heat of battle, but what had happened... I hunched over and started to sob, and Eclipse paused, staring at me in shock. “I’m sorry,” I blubbered. “I don’t know how I failed. The shot was perfect. I had the zebra rifle just like I was told and he was right there and… and… I didn’t mean to kill his son! The shot just went wide and… and…”
不由自主地，我变得越来越沮丧。在激烈的战斗中杀死一匹小马是一回事，但是发生了什么......我弯下腰开始抽泣，Eclipse停了下来，震惊地盯着我。"对不起,"我哭了起来。"我不知道我是怎么失败的。这一枪打得很完美。我有一把斑马步枪，就像别人告诉我的那样，他就在那儿，而且......而且......我不是故意要杀他儿子的！子弹射偏了然后...然后..."
Suddenly Eclipse was there, patting my mane. “Shhh… shhh… You didn’t know. You couldn’t have known. You were never supposed to kill the Legate. Fortis is paranoid; he’s convinced that one of his rivals is plotting to kill him. He’ll waste months improving his guard and purging his own ranks of suspected traitors. It was just bad luck his son had been standing right beside him when you fired.” But she didn’t say it like it was all that bad. In fact, she looked downright pleased with the results of my miss. “The sights on the zebra rifle had been tampered with, and I knew that your squad wouldn’t have tried as hard as you did just to miss a shot at the Legate.”
突然，Eclipse出现了，拍打着我的鬃毛。"嘘......嘘......你不知道。你不可能知道。你不该杀特使的。富通是个偏执狂，他确信他的一个竞争对手正在密谋杀死他。他会浪费几个月的时间提高自己的警惕，清除自己队伍中的叛徒嫌疑犯。你开枪的时候，他儿子就站在他旁边，真不走运。"但是她并没有说得那么糟糕。事实上，她看起来对我的失误非常满意。"斑马步枪的瞄准镜被人动了手脚，我知道你们班不会像你们那样拼命，只是为了射偏特使。"
So, it had been for nothing? The raid into Dawn Bay had been a harrowing affair, struggling behind enemy lines to find a shooting position before waiting for days to learn the Legate’s daily routine well enough to find a window of opportunity. Then, finally, getting the opportunity to take the shot. The zebra colt falling instead, the bullet through his eye. The escape had nearly cost us all our lives, and only Big Macintosh had kept us focused enough to be extracted by Rainbow Dash. All just to put a little more fear into one of the enemy generals?
这么说，一切都白费了？对黎明湾的突袭是一次令人痛心的事件，在敌人后方努力寻找射击位置，然后等了好几天才熟悉特使的日常工作，以便找到机会之窗。最后，终于有机会开枪了。斑马式的马驹掉了下来，子弹穿过了他的眼睛。这次逃跑几乎让我们付出了生命的代价，只有大麦金托什让我们足够集中精力，才能被彩虹冲击号救出来。所有这一切只是为了让敌人的将军们多一点恐惧？
“I’m damned… damned…” I whimpered.
"我该死...该死..."我呜咽着说。
“No.” Eclipse frowned in thought. “You acted on the orders of the Princess. I’m sure that your... soul... can be absolved in service to the Princess. I know she’ll forgive you.”
"没有。"默多克想了想，皱起了眉头。"你是按照公主的命令行事的。我相信你的...灵魂...可以在为公主服务时得到宽恕。我知道她会原谅你的。"
“She… she will?” I sniffed, rubbing my eyes.
"她...她会吗?"我闻了闻，揉了揉眼睛。
“I’m sure of it,” Eclipse said with a firm nod and smile. “Just do whatever you can to help, and she’ll forgive you when this whole nightmare is over. I promise.”
"我敢肯定,"Eclipse坚定地点头微笑着说。"尽你所能去帮助她，当这场噩梦结束时，她会原谅你的。我保证。"
Just then the door opened, and I heard the wet rasping breathing that announced his presence. Goldenblood stepped in, struggling for air. He looked at me, his eyes widening in momentary surprise, and then at Eclipse. “Princess Luna needs you. She needs to speak with her sister and wants us present.”
就在这时，门打开了，我听到了湿漉漉的粗哑的呼吸声，说明他来了。金色血液走了进来，挣扎着呼吸新鲜空气。他看着我，眼睛睁得大大的，带着瞬间的惊讶，然后看着日蚀。"露娜公主需要你。她需要和她姐姐谈谈，希望我们在场。"
Eclipse actually frowned and rolled her eyes. “Not again. Honestly, why can’t she simply go stay with Cadance?” Eclipse snorted scornfully, and my shock must have shown because she immediately coughed and forced a smile. “Ahem. Sorry to cut this short, but sometimes there’s just no reasoning with my… with Princess Celestia. I’ll get somepony to show you out, my dear.” She trotted
日蚀实际上皱起了眉头，翻了个白眼。"又来了。老实说，她为什么不干脆去和凯登斯住在一起呢?"Eclipse轻蔑地哼了一声，我的震惊一定表现出来了，因为她马上咳嗽起来，强作笑容。"咳咳。很抱歉打断你们，但是有时候我对我的......对塞勒斯蒂娜公主没有任何理由。我去找匹小马带你出去，亲爱的。"她小跑着
quickly and moved out into the hall. One side effect of the hushed halls: the mare’s voice carried. “What is she going on about now?” Maybe it was the sight of my teacher, or maybe it was just because it had to do with Princess Celestia, but I followed along quietly.
很快就搬到了大厅里。寂静的大厅产生了一个副作用:母马的声音传了过来。"她现在在说什么?"也许是因为看到了我的老师，也许只是因为这和塞勒斯蒂娜公主有关，但我还是悄悄地跟着她走了。
I was able to shadow the pair without too much trouble. A dark castle with most of the guards on the outside and plenty of other ponies going about their business inside was nothing next to infiltrating a zebra military encampment. They walked down to another room and slipped inside. My magic reached out and gently grabbed the door’s handle to keep it from shutting all the way. Looking up and down the seemingly abandoned hall, I heard the voice of Princess Luna ask in a tired and irritable voice, “Alright, Tia. What’s it this time? More protests about Twilight helping me? Maybe another protest on the diamond dog relocation?”
我不费吹灰之力就跟上了他们两个。一座黑暗的城堡，外面大部分的守卫和许多其他的小马在里面做着它们的事情，除了渗透到斑马军营之外，什么也不是。他们走到另一个房间，溜了进去。我的魔法伸出手，轻轻地抓住门把手，防止它一路关上。我上下打量着这个看似废弃的大厅，我听到露娜公主用疲惫而急躁的声音问道:"好的，蒂亚。这次又是什么？更多关于暮光之城帮助我的抗议？也许又是一场关于钻石狗转移的抗议?"
“It is good to see you as well, dearest Sister,” Princess Celestia said softly and without a hint of sarcasm. “Have you seen this?”
"我也很高兴见到你，亲爱的妹妹,"塞莱斯蒂娜公主轻声地说，没有一丝讽刺。"你看过这个吗?"
“An invitation to a diplomatic meeting at Shattered Hoof Ridge,” Luna said with a sigh, and then there was the sound of paper being wadded up.
"邀请我参加在粉碎蹄岭举行的外交会议,"卢娜叹了口气说，然后传来了纸团的声音。
“It’s a trap, pure and simple,” Goldenblood rasped. “The Caesar hasn’t made any serious moves towards opening a dialogue with Her Majesty. Quite the reverse; he’s using their mythology as a rallying cry to unite more tribes against her and us.”
"这是一个陷阱，纯粹而简单,"金血王怒气冲冲地说。"凯撒并没有采取任何认真的行动，与女王陛下展开对话。恰恰相反，他利用他们的神话作为团结更多部落反对她和我们的战斗口号。"
“What if it’s not, though? This offer comes from the heads of four major tribes,” Celestia said firmly. “For ten years before Littlehorn we quibbled around the negotiating table. What if this is a step towards ending the war, even after that? I’ve spoken to the zebras in Zebratown and many prisoners of war. They all want this conflict over.”
"但是，如果不是呢？这个提议来自四个主要部落的首领,"塞莱斯蒂亚坚定地说。"在利特霍恩之前的十年里，我们在谈判桌上争论不休。如果这是朝着结束战争迈出的一步，甚至在那之后？我跟Zebratown的斑马和许多战俘谈过了。他们都希望这场冲突能够结束。"
“Even if that is the case, the Caesar doesn’t.” Goldenblood sighed like a rusty boiler. “It’s not legitimate, Your Majesty. And even if it were, there’s no way that we could manage to keep her safe at Shattered Hoof Ridge.”
"即使是这样，凯撒也不会。"金布拉德像一个生锈的锅炉一样叹了口气。"这是不合法的，陛下。即使是这样，我们也不可能在粉碎蹄岭保证她的安全。"
“Perhaps Luna cannot attend, but why can’t I negotiate peace for Equestria?” Celestia asked.
"也许卢娜不能参加，但我为什么不能为小马国谈判和平呢?"塞莱斯蒂亚问道。
“What?” Luna asked in a low, shocked voice. “Tia, I said no. I don’t care if
"什么?"卢娜用一种低沉而震惊的声音问道。"蒂亚，我说不行。我不在乎
there’re forty tribal leaders wanting to talk a ceasefire; until they concede to our main demands, there’s no point! They won’t even agree to withdraw from Dawn Bay, and that’s one of our lesser requirements.”
有四十个部落首领想要谈判停火除非他们答应我们的主要要求否则就毫无意义！他们甚至不会同意撤出黎明湾，这是我们较次要的要求之一。"
“You cannot pass this up, Luna!” Celestia insisted.
"你不能错过这个机会，露娜!"塞莱斯蒂亚坚持道。
“I most certainly can and will,” Luna replied coldly. “And I refuse to let you go. If you were captured, the blow to morale would be incalculable, not to mention that they might simply kill you.”
"我当然可以，也一定会,"卢娜冷冷地回答。""我不会让你走的。如果你被俘，士气将受到无法估量的打击，更不用说他们可能会干掉你。"
“I am willing to take that chance,” Celestia countered. “Thousands risk their lives every day in this war. It’s time I did as well.”
"我愿意冒这个险,"塞莱斯蒂亚反驳道。"在这场战争中，每天都有成千上万人冒着生命危险。我也该这么做了。"
“I am in charge of Equestria now!” Luna snapped. “Or did you forget that you stepped down?” There was a long silence before Celestia spoke once more.
"我现在掌管着Equestria!"卢娜崩溃了。"还是你忘了自己已经下台了?"在塞莱斯蒂亚再次说话之前，沉默了很长时间。
“There’s not a day I can forget that, Luna,” Celestia said calmly. “Nor a day I don’t regret it. When I passed the throne over to you, I thought it was to lead Equestria to a brighter future, not a darker one. I am going to this meeting in your place, Luna. You can arrange security if you like, or I will go alone, but either way, I am going. Equestria needs some hope that this war will end, and if I can give it that hope, I will. I’m sorry, Sister.”
"没有一天我能忘记这一点，卢娜,"塞莱斯蒂亚平静地说。"没有一天我不后悔。当我把王位传给你的时候，我以为这是为了带领Equestria走向更光明的未来，而不是更黑暗的未来。我要代替你去参加这个会议，卢娜。如果你愿意，你可以安排保安，或者我自己去，但不管怎样，我都要去。小马国需要一些希望来结束这场战争，如果我能给它希望，我就会给它希望。对不起，修女。"
“Tia!” Luna cried out, but there was a flash of golden light, and the Princess of the Night let out a sob. “Damn it, Tia. I’m trying my best! I am. There’s just so much to do. Can’t she understand that?!”
"蒂亚!"卢娜哭了出来，但是有一道金光闪过，夜之公主发出了一声呜咽。"该死，蒂雅。我已经尽力了！是的。还有很多事情要做。难道她不明白吗?"
“Doubtful,” Goldenblood rasped. “They probably worked quite hard to get that peace offering to cross Celestia’s hooves. Worst case, Celestia gets captured and the Caesar uses her as leverage against the ministries. He’d offer peace and her release, but the conditions… well… your exile would probably be top on the list. Refuse, and some of the population will turn on you. Celestia’s still quite popular.”
"值得怀疑,"金血王怒气冲冲地说。"他们可能非常努力地让和平祭品穿过塞莱斯蒂亚的蹄子。最糟糕的情况是，塞莱斯蒂亚被抓住，凯撒利用她作为对付牧师的筹码。他愿意提供和平和她的释放，但条件是......嗯......你的流放可能是最重要的。如果你拒绝，一些人就会背叛你。塞莱斯蒂亚仍然很受欢迎。"
“Damn it, Tia,” Luna muttered. “Why can’t she just… let me do this? Why is she always trying to force things? I didn’t want to be in charge of Equestria. She asked me! And ever since then, she’s been constantly meddling and criticizing. Why can’t she just go to her school and leave Equestria to me?” Luna sighed. “I don’t suppose I can just lock her up, can I?”
"该死，蒂亚,"卢娜喃喃自语道。"为什么她就不能......让我这么做呢？为什么她总是强迫别人？我不想管理Equestria。她问我！从那以后，她就一直在干涉和批评。为什么她就不能去她的学校把Equestria留给我呢?"卢娜叹了口气。"我想我不能就这样把她关起来，对吧?"
“Only if you want a full-on revolution on your hooves, led by Twilight and her friends. I’ve tried my best to keep their interactions to a minimum, but she was Twilight’s mentor. Those bonds sometimes go deeper than you ever expect.” Goldenblood let out a rusty sigh.
"除非你想在《暮光之城》和她的朋友们的带领下，掀起一场彻头彻尾的革命。我已经尽最大努力把他们之间的互动降到最低，但她是《暮光之城》的导师。这些联系有时比你想象的还要深。"金色血液发出一声生锈的叹息。
“What’s the best case scenario?” Luna asked.
"最好的情况是什么?"卢娜问道。
“They kill her,” Goldenblood replied. I felt an electric tingle paralyzing me.
"他们杀了她,"金血王回答。我感到一阵电流的刺痛使我瘫痪。
“Ha ha. Very funny,” Luna muttered sarcastically. Then she paused and said in shock, “You’re serious? Golden, she’s my sister!”
"哈哈。很有趣,"露娜讽刺地喃喃道。然后她停顿了一下，震惊地说:"你是认真的吗？戈尔登，她是我妹妹!"
“Captured, she’d be a lever against you and, by extension, Equestria. Killed, she’d be a martyr for the war effort. Recruitment would probably double, if not more. There’d be no more interference to your rule, and the aristocrats would fall in line behind you. Better, several tribes of zebras revere Celestia as an embodiment of the sun. Killing her would turn them against the Caesar. We might even sway portions of the Propoli to break ranks. That could completely cripple their war effort.” He paused and then added, “Of course, the cost would be unthinkable.”
"如果被抓住，她就会成为对付你甚至是Equestria的杠杆。如果被杀了，她会成为战争的殉道者。招聘人数可能会增加一倍，甚至更多。你的统治将不再受到干涉，贵族们也将排在你的后面。更好的是，几个部落的斑马崇拜天青石作为太阳的化身。杀了她会让他们反对凯撒。我们甚至可能动摇Propoli部分地区来打破秩序。这可能会完全削弱他们的战争努力。"他停顿了一下，然后补充说,"当然，代价是不可想象的。"
“I should think so! She’s my sister, for pony’s sakes!” Luna snapped. Then there was an ominous silence, and Luna groaned. “What are we going to do about her? What if she’s right?”
""我想是的！看在小马的份上，她是我妹妹!"卢娜崩溃了。接着是一阵不祥的寂静，卢娜呻吟起来。"我们该拿她怎么办？如果她是对的呢?"
“Then you’d best be ready to return the throne to her,” Goldenblood answered. “If this peace effort is sincere, any arrangement will require your abdication. The terms beyond that would probably be equally unpleasant, but moot.” He paused and sighed. “We could see if she’s right, Luna.”
"那么你最好准备好把王位还给她,"金血王回答。"如果这种和平努力是真诚的，任何安排都需要你退位。除此之外的条款可能同样令人不快，但没有实际意义。"他停顿了一下，叹了口气。"我们可以看看她是不是对的，卢娜。"
“You just said--”
"你刚才说——"
“I know, and I still believe it. But if we have peace, real peace… well… you won’t be responsible for Equestria anymore.”
"我知道，我现在仍然相信。但如果我们拥有和平、真正的和平......嗯......你就不会再为小马国负责了。"
There was another long silence. “No. No! I’m not going to just… just give up! I don’t care if she is older and wiser and nicer and… and… I’m going to do it right. I’m going to do whatever it takes and show her and everypony that I am every bit the ruler that she was! I have to show them I can do it. That I’m more than Nightmare Moon and the young mare that fools around on Nightmare
又是一阵长时间的沉默。"没有。不！我不会就这么...就这么放弃！我不在乎她是否更成熟、更聪明、更善良......而且......我会做好的。我会不惜一切代价向她和每一匹小马证明我是她的统治者！我必须向他们证明我能做到。我不仅仅是恶梦之月和那个在恶梦中游荡的年轻母马
Night.”
晚安。"
Goldenblood let out a long sigh. “Then we’ll just have to disrupt the meeting. I’ll pull together a guard detachment that will pull her out at the first sign of trouble. See what I can arrange in the interim.”
金色的血液发出长长的叹息。"那我们只好打断会议了。我会召集一支警卫队，一有麻烦就把她拉出来。看看在过渡期间我能安排些什么。"
“And if they do capture her, somehow? Or try?”
""如果他们真的抓住了她呢？或者试试?"
“Better a dead Princess than a captured one…”
"宁为死公主，不为俘虏......"
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
My eyes fluttered open. It was all I could do at the moment as my mind rolled that last memory over and over again. ‘Better a dead Princess than a captured one.’ Could Luna have possibly okayed such a thing? No… No, Celestia lived through the war, right? Princess Luna didn’t kill her.
我的眼睛颤动着睁开。这是我此刻唯一能做的事情，我的大脑一遍又一遍地回想着最后的记忆。宁为死公主，不为俘虏卢娜会同意这样的事情吗？不...不，塞莱斯蒂亚经历过战争，对吗？卢娜公主没有杀她。
No. That was just… unthinkable…
没有。那真是...难以想象..。
I was still dangling wires and tubes. My magic levitated a bottle of water off the counter and lifted it to my lips. I couldn’t see what condition my limbs were in, so there was no telling how long I’d been like this. I couldn’t hear Rover snoring; maybe it was already morning.
我还在电线和电子管里晃来晃去。我的魔法使一瓶水从柜台上飘起来，举到我的嘴边。我不知道我的四肢是什么状况，所以不知道我这样多久了。我听不到罗孚的鼾声，也许已经是早上了。
“Lacunae?” I thought out at her. “What time is it?”
"缺陷?"我想到了她。"现在几点了?"
“Dawn,” she replied. “We are outside.” There was something off about her words.
"黎明,"她回答。"我们在外面。"她的话有些不对劲。
“Is everything okay?” I asked at once.
"一切都还好吧?"我立刻问道。
“Rampage is… disconcerted. That is all,” she replied. Before I could ask further, she queried, “How do you fare, Blackjack?”
"暴怒是......不安的。仅此而已,"她回答。我还没来得及问下去，她问道:"你怎么样，黑杰克?"
“I can’t move an inch,” I said with a chuckle.
"我一动不动,"我咯咯地笑着说。
“You seem to be handling it well.” I ignored the surprise in her voice.
"你似乎处理得很好。"我忽略了她声音中的惊讶。
“You’ve never been in security. A third of your time is spent walking, another third standing a post, and the rest is the time something interesting happens.”
"你从来没有当过保安。你三分之一的时间用来走路，三分之一的时间用来站立柱子，剩下的时间就是有趣的事情发生的时间。"
Okay, theoretically that was the job. There were also a lot of card games, dice, and sexual liaisons involved that I’d left out. “Granted, being able to scratch myself would be nice too. Cozy as it is, this catheter itches like crazy. The plug in my back end is a lot more comfortable, though.” I paused. “Lacunae? Are you there?”
好吧，理论上这就是工作。还有很多我没有提及的纸牌游戏、骰子和性关系。"当然，能自己抓痒也不错。虽然舒适，但这个导尿管痒得要命。不过，我后端的插头要舒服得多。"我停顿了一下。"缺口？你在吗?"
I strained and could barely pick it out. “La la la la la la… not listening to Blackjack talking about things in her hiney.” I couldn’t open my mouth, but I still chuckled in my throat. Even the Goddess seemed to be tuning me out.
我紧张得几乎看不出来。"啦啦啦啦啦啦...不听Blackjack用她的屁股说话。"我张不开嘴，但还是忍不住咯咯笑了起来。甚至连女神似乎也在把我排除在外。
Well, it was one way to get a little privacy.
这是一种获得一点私人空间的方式。
Then I blinked. Was that a… growl?
然后我眨了眨眼。那是不是..。.咆哮？
“Lacunae? Lacunae! Um… I think I might need some help here…” But all I got back was that stream of her not talking to me. The growl sounded again, deep and low and right on the far side of the door. The handle slowly rotated, the metal squealing faintly as it was shoved open. And then I was incredibly grateful Rover had stopped me up before working on me. I’d have probably had an accident then and there.
"缺口？空白！嗯......我想我可能需要一些帮助......"但我得到的只是她不和我说话的声音。咆哮声又响了起来，又低又深，就在门的另一边。手柄慢慢地旋转，金属被推开时发出微弱的吱吱声。然后我非常感激罗孚在我开始工作之前阻止了我。我可能在那时那地发生了意外。
The creature was almost two feet taller than Rover, but it stooped over. Yellowish hide sprouting knots of scar tissue and bristly black fur covered its incredibly muscled frame. Actually, scratch the ‘it’; there was no question whatsoever that ‘it’ was a ‘he’. He wore only a leather harness sporting dangling magic fusion cells, and a large energy weapon was slung across his immense shoulders. It reminded me of the weapon Xanthe had cobbled together; it looked like some kind of mining tool with every safety feature removed. More immediately terrifying than that, however, were the immense hands that each ended in a set of wicked claws. The pointed maw peeled back, and I saw a ridiculous amount of yellowed, razor-sharp teeth, more than any species outside dragonkind had any right to possess. His yellow eyes ran down my body in a way that made me wonder if he was going to eat me or rut me... Oh Celestia! Was it coming out?!
这个生物比罗孚高了将近两英尺，但它还是弯下腰来了。黄色的皮肤上长满了疤痕组织，黑色的皮毛覆盖了它那令人难以置信的肌肉结构。事实上，划掉"它";毫无疑问,"它"就是"他"。他只穿了一件皮制的背带，上面悬挂着魔法融合细胞，一个巨大的能量武器挂在他巨大的肩膀上。这让我想起了赞斯拼凑起来的武器;它看起来像是某种采矿工具，没有任何安全装置。然而，比这更可怕的是那双巨大的手，每一只手都有一对邪恶的爪子。尖锐的胃被剥离开来，我看到一堆可笑的黄色的、锋利的牙齿，比任何其他种类的龙都有权拥有。他那双黄色的眼睛顺着我的身体往下看，让我怀疑他是要吃了我，还是要让我发情......哦，天哪！出来了吗?！
I didn’t even think past that point. I simply went straight into S.A.T.S. and toggled up four magic bullets right for his face as I began mentally screaming in a blind panic. My horn flashed, the bolts smashing into his head and tearing off a goodly chunk of his features. Blood and torn hide dangled in flaps along the side
我甚至没有想过这个问题。我只是直接进入s.a.t.s.，在我心里慌乱地尖叫时，向他的脸上开了四颗魔法子弹。我的号角闪了一下，那些螺栓砸在他的头上，撕裂了他相当大的一块五官。鲜血和撕裂的皮革沿着边缘悬挂在皮瓣上
of his face, and I might have gotten his eye... but the damage was far from the blasted skull and splattered brain I’d inflict on a pony target. He swayed and fell back against the wall, then fixed me with a glare and a bowel-loosening snarl. He pushed himself upright and started to advance.
他的脸，我可能已经得到了他的眼睛...但损害远远不是爆炸的头骨和飞溅的大脑，我会造成对一匹小马的目标。他摇摇晃晃地靠在墙上，然后用瞪眼和放松肠子的咆哮把我固定住。他挺直身子，开始前进。
I had a few more spells in my horn. This time I didn’t aim for his face as he began to charge. I aimed for his kneecap. The two bolts ripped into the leg, and the canine monster was thrown off his gait. Now I’d really pissed him off. Not able to scream, I did the only thing I could think of: pull the trigger on his crude energy weapon. At least, I hoped it was the trigger... and I was right. Instantly three bolts of magical green disintegration energy blasted around his feet and the monster howled in pain as it struggled to get the energy weapon in its grip. Again and again I jerked the trigger, blasting the wall and floor and anything the weapon happened to be pointed at.
我的号角里还有几个咒语。这一次我没有瞄准他的脸，因为他开始冲锋。我瞄准了他的膝盖骨。腿上的两根螺栓断了，这只狗怪物的步态被甩了下来。现在我真的把他惹毛了。不能尖叫，我做了我唯一能想到的事情:扣动扳机对他的粗糙的能量武器。至少，我希望这是导火索......我是对的。瞬间，三束魔法绿色分解能量在他的脚周围爆炸，怪物痛苦地嚎叫着，挣扎着抓住能量武器。我一次又一次地猛扣扳机，对着墙壁和地板以及任何碰巧被武器对准的东西开枪。
Finally those claws just shredded the harness and let it fall in a heap. There was no way my horn could lift something that huge, but I could turn it! And as the creature got ready to cut my head off with those razor sharp claws, I spun the energy weapon towards its back and fired again. The monster let off a hound-like roar as it collapsed. The weapon’s energy cell was depleted, so I fumbled with controls, trying to eject the spent canister. How had Glory done this?
最后，那些爪子只是撕裂了挽具，让它成堆地倒下。我的喇叭不可能举起那么大的东西，但我可以转动它！当那个生物准备用它锋利的爪子把我的头砍下来时，我把能量武器转向它的背部，再次开火。怪物倒下时发出猎犬般的咆哮声。武器的能量电池耗尽了，所以我笨手笨脚地操作控制器，试图将用过的毒气罐弹射出去。晨辉是怎么做到的呢？
I finally managed to pop the cell free when Rover rushed in. “No! Stop, Pony! Stop!” Huh? I hesitated as I looked from Rover to the beast and back again. Had he missed the claws and fangs? Had he missed that penis?!
当罗孚冲进来的时候，我终于把手机打开了。"不！住手，小马！住手!"什么？我犹豫了一下，从罗孚向那头野兽看了看，又回来了。他有没有漏掉那些爪子和尖牙？他错过了那个小弟弟吗?！
“What is that thing!?” roared the monster in pain, bringing those claws down and tearing its own weapon in two before I could bring it to back to bear. I mentally asked the exact same thing. It would have been really nice to be able to talk. He huffed, blood dripping from the holes I’d blown in his face as he stood over the wrecked disintegration gun.
"那是什么东西?"怪物痛苦地咆哮着，我还没来得及把它带回来，它的爪子就折断了，把自己的武器撕成了两半。我心里也问了同样的问题。能够说话真是太好了。当他站在毁坏的瓦解枪前时，我在他脸上吹出的洞里滴下了鲜血，他气喘吁吁地说。
“Pony. Stupid pony,” Rover said as he helped pull the monster to sit upright. “Gnarr. Blackjack the Security Pony. Blackjack, Gnarr,” he said with a gesture of his robotic claw towards the yellow canine monster. “Gnarr is hellhound and guest of sand dogs.”
"小马。愚蠢的小马,"罗弗一边说，一边帮着把怪物拉直。"纳尔。安全小马黑杰克。黑杰克，格纳尔,"他说着，用他的机械爪指向这只黄色的犬科怪兽。"纳尔是地狱之犬，沙漠之犬的客人。"
The hellhound growled that ominous snarl as he rubbed the raw red burns the energy weapon had made in his hide. “This is Security? Huh. Thought her horn
地狱之犬咆哮着发出不祥的咆哮，他擦拭着能量武器在他皮肤上留下的红色灼伤痕迹。"这就是安全？哈。她的号角想道
was bigger.” The monster rose to his feet as Rover began to remove the cables from me. My eyes narrowed as I looked up at him, feeling implants and motors start to reactivate as the cables were removed.
更大。"当罗孚开始从我身上移开缆绳时，怪物站了起来。当我抬头看着他的时候，我的眼睛眯起来，感觉到植入物和电机开始重新激活，因为电缆被移除了。
“Security Pony help sand dogs. Dogs hope Security could help hounds too,” Rover said as he reached up and pulled a plug out of my shoulder. My mouth filled with the taste of battery, and I could suddenly move my jaw. “Not shoot hound just because hound is scary!”
"保安小马帮助沙狗。狗狗们希望保安公司也能帮助猎犬们,"罗孚边说边伸手从我肩上拔下了一个塞子。我的嘴里充满了电池的味道，我可以突然移动我的下巴。"不要仅仅因为猎犬可怕就射杀它!"
“Little mare is tough, that is for sure,” Gnarr growled as he picked at his fangs with a claw. “I take it you’ve never seen us before… or maybe you’ve seen too many of us and know better?” The hellhound chucked as he tapped his claws against the blasted wall.
"小母马是坚强的，这是肯定的,"纳尔咆哮着，他用爪子抓自己的牙齿。"我想你以前从来没有见过我们......或者你见过太多的我们，知道得更多?"地狱犬用爪子轻轻地敲打着那该死的墙壁，同时发出咯咯的笑声。
“The first one,” I croaked, and floated the bottle of water over again and took another drink. Every time a cable was removed I was struck by a building pins and needles sensation followed by restored movement. As soon as I could look down, I stared at the smooth metal of my limbs. They looked exactly as they had before I’d left Meatlocker for Hightower. They were even re-enameled! “What’s a hellhound?”
"第一瓶,"我用沙哑的声音说，又把那瓶水拿过来，又喝了一口。每当一根电缆被移除，我就会被一座建筑物击中，感觉像是被针扎了一样，随后又恢复了运动。我一低下头，就盯着自己光滑的四肢。他们看起来和我离开Meatlocker去海托华之前一模一样。他们甚至重新上釉！"地狱之犬是什么?"
Rover typed on the terminal as Gnarr snorted, “Rover told you of how we were forced off our land by ponies long ago? Even before the bombs ended your world, our homes were poisoned. Some came here, worked for ponies, and lived beneath their cities. Others returned home, and those that survived the poison became strong.” He flexed his powerful frame and chuckled deep in his throat. “Dogs are cousins of hounds… weaker for staying away from home.”
吉纳尔哼了一声,"罗孚告诉你我们很久以前是怎样被小马赶出我们的土地的？甚至在炸弹毁灭你们的世界之前，我们的家园就已经中毒了。有些人来到这里，为小马工作，住在他们的城市下面。其他人回到家中，那些幸存下来的人变得强壮起来。"他弯曲着有力的身躯，深深地笑着。"狗是猎犬的近亲......远离家乡的时候比较虚弱。"
“Yet hounds came to dogs for help, Gnarr,” Rover snapped, wiping the grin from the hellhound’s face.
"可是猎犬来找狗帮忙了，格纳尔,"罗孚厉声说道，地狱犬的脸上露出了笑容。
“What could… well… you… need help with?” An irritable dragon perhaps?
"你......需要......什么帮助?"也许是一条易怒的龙？
Gnarr grumbled and crossed his arms. “Do you know about the flying ponies, Security?”
纳尔抱怨着，双臂交叉在胸前。"保安，你知道会飞的小马吗?"
“Do you mean pegasi or the Enclave?” I asked in return.
"你是说飞马座还是飞地?"我反问道。
“The second one,” Gnarr growled. “Our den has been under attack by them for nearly a month. Many scouts and warriors have been taken, and the Enclave
"第二个,"纳尔咆哮道。"我们的巢穴已经被它们攻击了将近一个月。许多侦察兵和战士都被带走了，还有飞地
have used their strange devices to control them. I was one of the last, driven from my home when they overran us with our own people.” He reached down and pulled something off his harness that looked like some sort of skull cap. “Do you know what this is, Pony?”
用他们奇怪的装置来控制它们。当他们用我们自己的人压制我们时，我是最后被赶出家门的人之一。"他弯下腰，从安全带上扯下一样东西，看起来像是某种便帽。"你知道这是什么吗，小马?"
I levitated it and turned it over. “No idea. I-- yipe!” I jumped two feet into the air as the last tube and plug were yanked out of my hind end. I blinked and swallowed. “Toilet!” I wailed as I tensed immediately. Rover snorted and pointed to the door, and I rushed out to the station and into the little filly’s room, nearly hopping across the tracks.
我把它悬浮起来，然后翻过来。"不知道。我--呀!"当最后一根管子和插头从我的后端拔出时，我跳起了两英尺高。我眨了眨眼，咽了口唾沫。"厕所!"我立刻紧张起来，痛哭起来。罗孚喷着鼻息，指着门，我冲出车站，进了小姑娘的房间，几乎要跳过铁轨。
Really, not the way I wanted to start the day. The pair met me outside, the hellhound looming over the other sand dogs. “I guess we’re even for me shooting half your face off?” I asked Gnarr, my face flaming. The pair looked at each other, and the hellhound just gave an indifferent shrug. “What are the Enclave doing with your home?”
真的，这不是我想要的开始一天的方式。他们俩在外面等我，地狱之犬在其他沙地犬上方若隐若现。"我想我们扯平了，我把你的脸打掉一半?"我问纳尔，脸色火红。两个人面面相觑，地狱犬只是无动于衷地耸了耸肩。"昂科雷把你的房子怎么了?"
“Enslaving us. I know of at least half a dozen dens that have gone silent all across Equestria.” He pointed off to the southeast. “Our den lived in the old pony army base. More and more were taken, and then one day they returned all at once and with pegasi and controlled hounds and took over the base.”
"奴役我们。我知道至少有六个洞穴在整个小马国陷入了沉寂。"他指向东南方向。"我们的小窝住在旧的小马军事基地里。有一天，他们带着飞马座和受控制的猎犬，一下子全部回来了，占领了基地。"
A month ago. I thought about what I’d seen Lighthooves doing and my mane prickled. “Was there anything biological at that base? Something that could be used for a weapon?”
一个月前。我想到我看到的轻舟在做什么，我的鬃毛刺了一下。"那个基地里有什么生物物种吗？可以用来做武器的东西?"
“It was a pony army base and struck heavily by the bombs. The only thing that remained were the bunkers filled with old stuff from the space center. Safe for us; we’re immune to the radiation. But not the Enclave.” He growled long and low at me. “I came hoping Rover could find a way to jam their control over us. Rover suggested I tell you.”
"那是一个小马军事基地，遭到了炸弹的猛烈袭击。唯一剩下的就是空间中心装满旧物的地堡。对我们来说是安全的，我们对辐射免疫。但不包括昂科雷。"他对着我又长又低地咆哮。"我来是希望罗孚能找到一种方法干扰他们对我们的控制。罗孚建议我告诉你。"
Me? Why would he tell… oh. “Hmmm… I am curious, I admit. Anything that Lighthooves was involved in interests me. I don’t know when I’ll be able to do something about it, though. I… crap!” I whirled towards the east (thank you, PipBuck compass). “Paradise! I completely forgot to clear Paradise of Red Eye’s forces! Damn it! I was just over on the east side, too!” I sat down hard, glowering at my oversight.
我？他为什么要告诉...哦。"嗯......我很好奇，我承认。任何与lighthoves有关的事情我都感兴趣。不过，我不知道什么时候才能有所作为。我。.废话!"我转向东方(谢谢你，皮布克指南针)。"天堂！我完全忘了清除天堂红眼的力量！该死！我也在东边!"我狠狠地坐了下来，怒视着我的疏忽。
Gnarr rubbed his chin and chuckled. “Heh. Busy pony. Well, Rover can keep
纳尔摩挲着下巴，咯咯地笑了起来。"呵呵。忙碌的小马。好吧，罗孚可以留着
working. And if you get down that way, maybe you can stop them. Or I will, if Rover can figure something out.” I had to admit, someone solving their problems without my help was refreshing! Why, if this kept up, then I’d be out of a job and could retire!
工作。如果你走那条路，也许你可以阻止他们。或者我会的，如果罗孚能想出办法的话。"我不得不承认，有人在没有我帮助的情况下解决了他们的问题，这让人耳目一新！为什么，如果这种情况继续下去，那么我就失业了，可以退休了！
Yeah, right. It took turning off my limbs just to get me to sit still.
好吧。为了让我安静地坐着，我折断了我的四肢。
“Well, I’ll remember it. If Lighthooves wants something in that base, I’d like to know what,” I said with a sigh and a smile. “Right now, I’d really… really like to just get home.” My ears wilted a little as I gave a sheepish smile. “I’ve got my friends waiting for me.”
"好吧，我会记住的。如果lighthoves想在那个基座上找点什么，我想知道是什么,"我叹了口气，微笑着说。"现在，我真的...真的很想回家。"我羞怯地笑了笑，耳朵有点萎缩。"我的朋友们都在等我。"
“Very well. Do… not… break… legs… Pony…” Rover said as he tapped his metal claw against my nose with every word. “Pony breaks leg again and Rover start charging money to fix,” he said with a scowl.
"很好。不要......打断......腿......小马......"罗弗一边说着，一边用他的金属爪轻轻地敲打着我的鼻子。"小马再次摔断了腿，罗孚开始收费修理,"他皱着眉头说。
“Oh? So begging wouldn’t work?” I threw myself at his feet. “Please fix me, Rover! Please please please please! Pleeeeeeeeeease!” I squealed as I beat my rear hooves and hugged his leg, sticking out my bottom lip.
"哦？所以乞讨是没用的?"我扑倒在他的脚下。"请治好我，罗孚！拜托，拜托，拜托，拜托！拜托拜托拜托!"当我拍打后蹄，抱住它的腿，伸出下嘴唇时，我尖叫起来。
Gnarr whimpered and covered his ears but Rover just grinned. “Whine all you want, Pony.” And he tapped the side of his ear. “Dog ears cut out feedback.”
格纳尔呜咽着捂住耳朵，而罗孚只是咧着嘴笑。"尽管发牢骚吧，小马。"他轻轻地拍了拍自己的耳朵。"狗耳朵切断了反馈。"
“Rats.” I pouted and then rose to my hooves. “Well, I’ll have to think of something.” I waved my hoof and smiled as I trotted for the exit.
"老鼠。"我撅着嘴，然后站起来。"好吧，我得想想办法。"我挥动着我的蹄子，微笑着向出口跑去。
Rover muttered behind me, “Dog bet hound half a brahmin pony is back in two days.”
罗弗在我身后喃喃自语道:"狗打赌，两天后，一匹婆罗门小马又回来了。"
“Sure,” Gnarr replied, and I glanced back to spot him shaking hands with Rover as I trotted for the entrance. “Just one question, though, Rover: why do you keep talking like that?!”
"当然,"纳尔回答，我回头看了一眼，发现他在我小跑着走向入口的时候和罗孚握手。"不过，只有一个问题，罗孚:你为什么一直这么说话?!"
* * *
* * *
After leaving the subway station, I met up with the morose striped pony. We were waiting for Lacunae to fly to the Miramare crater and return, but I really wanted to walk right now. After losing the use of two limbs, I reveled in full mobility.
离开地铁站后，我遇到了那匹忧郁的条纹小马。我们一直在等拉库尼飞到米拉马雷陨石坑然后回来，但我现在真的很想走回去。在失去了两条腿的功能之后，我陶醉于充分的活动能力。
I trotted in circles on my hooves, danced, pirouetted, and hopped. The response time was better than when I’d gone into Hightower! I popped out my fingers and worked each and every one. Even my breathing felt smoother. A heartbeat would be nice right about now, though. Could Rover make some kind of thudding implant that corresponded with pump rate? I’d have to ask him next time.
我用蹄子绕着圈跑，跳舞，旋转，跳跃。反应时间比我去海托华的时候还要快！我伸出我的手指，一根一根地练习。甚至我的呼吸也变得更顺畅了。不过现在能有心跳就好了。罗孚是否可以制造某种与泵速相应的撞击式植入物？下次我得问问他。
Rampage sat off to the side with her head low, pink eyes troubled as she muttered to herself. I looked in the direction Lacunae had gone and thought at her. “Is she going to be okay?”
狂暴坐在一边，低着头，粉红色的眼睛里充满了不安，喃喃自语。我朝拉库奈走去的方向望去，心里想着她。"她会好起来吗?"
“I am not sure,” Lacunae thought back. “She is very distraught. She questions herself now. Her motivation and desires… her fears… her mistakes… everything.”
"我不确定,"拉库尼回想道。"她非常心烦意乱。她现在开始怀疑自己了。她的动机和欲望......她的恐惧......她的错误......一切。"
I walked up to Rampage and gave her flank a nudge. She glanced over, and I tried to give a consoling smile. “I know I have absolutely zero right to say this, but my advice is to try not to think about it.” Yes, listen to the queen of denial, because it’s worked so well for me. “After a few days with P-21 and Scotch, you’ll be able to stop worrying about who you are and just be yourself. Thinking about it will just drive you crazy.”
我走向狂暴，轻轻推了她一下。她扫了一眼，我试着给她一个安慰的微笑。"我知道我绝对没有权利这么说，但我的建议是，尽量不要去想它。"是的，听听否认女王的话，因为这对我很有效。"与P-21和苏格兰威士忌共处几天后，你就不用再担心自己是谁了，做你自己就好。一想到这些，你就会发疯。"
“Yeah. The question is, how do I stop?” Rampage asked.
"是的。问题是，我怎样才能停下来?"狂暴问道。
“Do what Blackjack does,” Lacunae said in my mind. “Find the most dangerous place in the Wasteland and charge right in. Get shot up and so caught up in fighting for your life that you can avoid thinking about things.”
"做Blackjack做的事情,"Lacunae在我的脑海里说。"在荒原上找一个最危险的地方冲进去。为了生存而奋斗，你可以避免去想这些事情。"
“I don’t… I… okay, I’m trying to do that less,” I muttered, my cheeks reddening as we waited in the broken and blasted street. I hoped the alicorn wasn’t loitering and enjoying the radiation. Her indignation answered my unvoiced suspicions. I sighed. “Ugh… sorry. Does talking about it help? Not talking about it?” I looked around for some red bars. “I can try and find something to attack us.” That at least made her smile a little.
"我不......我.....。."好吧，我会尽量少做这些的,"我咕哝着，我们在破烂不堪的街道上等待的时候，我的脸颊变红了。我希望这只小角兽不是在闲逛，不是在享受辐射。她的义愤回应了我无声的怀疑。我叹了口气。"呃......对不起。谈论它有帮助吗？不谈论这件事?"我环顾四周，寻找一些红条。"我可以试着找到攻击我们的东西。"这至少让她微笑了一下。
“Honestly, helping you deal with all of your problems really helps me avoid dealing with mine,” she answered with a small smile. “I think it’s the doctor in me. Or maybe Softheart. Or… ugh… I don’t know. It’s like… for as long as I could remember, I had no idea who I was. Fuck toy. Loving partner. Reaper. Psychoshy was the same way once she realized Sanguine was just using her.”
"老实说，帮助你处理你所有的问题真的帮助我避免处理我自己的问题,"她微笑着回答。"我想这是我身上的医生气质。或者也可能是索菲特。或者...呃...我不知道。就像...从我记事起，我就不知道我是谁。去他妈的玩具。可爱的伴侣。死神。当她意识到桑吉尼只是在利用她时，心理害羞也是同样的道理。"
“Whisper,” I corrected, and she rolled her eyes.
"小声点,"我纠正道，她转了转眼珠。
“Fine. Whisper. Big Daddy’s gonna love that.” She huffed and then looked off to the east. “Point is, she found out who she was supposed to be… or wanted to be. So yeah, I’m a little jealous. If it weren’t for you, she’d be just as miserable as me, and I could ignore my misery by helping her with hers.”
"好吧。耳语。老爹一定会喜欢的。"她气喘吁吁地向东望去。"重点是，她发现了自己应该成为什么样的人......或者想成为什么样的人。所以，是的，我有点嫉妒。如果不是你，她会和我一样痛苦，我可以通过帮助她来忽略我的痛苦。"
I patted her on the shoulder. “Hey. It could be worse. I nearly killed a helpless monster hellhound and felt guilty about it.” She looked at me, and I said, “In my defense, I couldn’t move and it had a penis the size of my leg. A girl’s got to be careful, right?” Okay, only a small shiver. Progress!
我拍了拍她的肩膀。"嘿。情况可能更糟。我几乎杀死了一只无助的怪物地狱犬，并为此感到内疚。"她看着我，我说:"我不能动，它的阴茎有我腿那么大。女孩子总得小心点，对吧?"好吧，只是一个小小的颤抖。进步！
“Is that why you blasted it?”
"这就是你为什么要炸它的原因吗?"
“No,” I said defensively as I stood and folded my forelegs behind my head. “It was more all the fangs and claws and… yeah. Big dick.” I held my hooves out and her smile widened in amusement.
"不,"我站起来，双腿交叉放在脑后，防御性地说。"更多的是尖牙利爪......是的。大鸡巴。"我伸出我的蹄子，她笑得很开心。
“So, if you can joke about it, are you over it? Did you work all that out?” she asked with a little smile.
"那么，如果你能拿它开玩笑的话，你是不是已经忘记了呢？你都想出来了吗?"她微笑着问道。
“Sort of. I think I’m back in control of that. Mostly. Hope so.” I was lying to myself. I’d always be a little on edge when it came to guys and sex, though maybe if I knew him really well, I’d be fine. “But I’m still trying. That matters, right?”
"差不多吧。我想我又可以控制自己了。大多数时候。希望如此。"我在自欺欺人。当涉及到男人和性的时候，我总是有点紧张，尽管如果我真的很了解他，我可能会好起来。"但我还在努力。这很重要，对吧?"
There was a purple flash announcing Lacunae’s arrival. “Anything happen while I was gone?” she asked as she looked at Rampage and me.
一道紫色的闪光预示着拉库奈的到来。"我不在的时候发生了什么事吗?"她一边问，一边看着我和朗格。
“Penises,” Rampage said simply, but smiling.
"阴茎,"兰帕德简单地说，但面带微笑。
“Monster dog penises,” I agreed.
"怪物狗的阴茎,"我同意。
The purple alicorn shook her head and sighed. Rampage grinned at me. “If only the Wasteland knew what Security talks about when she’s not being a hero.”
紫色的橡子摇摇头叹了口气。狂暴冲我咧嘴一笑。"如果荒原知道安全谈论什么当她不是一个英雄。"
“You should try what she thinks about.” Lacunae shivered.
"你应该试试她的想法。"空隙颤抖着。
“What? The plug was actually pretty cozy.”
"什么？塞子实际上很舒服。"
“La la la la la la… not listening to thoughts…” she began to say in my mind, so I thought exactly how things had felt. Lacunae went even redder and finally blurted aloud, “Sweet Celestia, stop thinking, Blackjack!” Rampage and I shared a laugh as the alicorn gave a dignified toss of her head. “You keep thinking that and you will be walking to Chapel!”
"啦啦啦啦啦啦......不去听别人的想法......"她开始在我的脑海里说，所以我认真地想着事情的感觉。空隙甚至更红了，最后脱口而出,"亲爱的天堂，别想了，黑杰克!"狂暴和我一起笑了起来，那只独角兽端庄地摇了摇头。"你再这么想下去，你就要步行去教堂了!"
“Okay! Okay! Sorry!” I said, raising my hooves in apology. She nodded, trying to recoup her dignity as her horn began to flare with magic. Then I couldn’t help myself. I added, “I wonder where Glory can get another one of those…”
"好吧！好吧！对不起!"我说，抬起我的蹄子道歉。她点点头，试图挽回她的尊严，因为她的号角开始闪烁着魔力。然后我控制不住自己。我接着说,"我想知道晨辉在哪里可以得到另一个......"
The pair disappeared, and I blinked, looking around the now empty ruins. “Lacunae? Lacunae?!” I looked around for a blue bar. “Very funny, Lacunae!” I thought at her.
这两个人消失了，我眨了眨眼睛，环顾四周空荡荡的废墟。"缺口？空白?!"我环顾四周，寻找一根蓝色的棒。"真有趣，拉库尼!"我想着她。
“La la la la la I suggest you start walking la la la la…” she thought back. Somewhere in my mind, the Goddess howled with laughter. Cheeks blazing, I turned south and started running.
"啦啦啦啦啦，我建议你开始走啦啦啦啦啦......"她回忆道。在我心中的某个地方，女神在狂笑。我满脸通红，转身向南跑去。
* * *
* * *
It was midmorning by the time I reached Chapel, slurping down another gem. The town now looked… well… like a town. The spire of the church was on its way to being repaired, and there were more structures being thrown up. I skirted the minefield that they’d been kind enough to mark and trotted around the settlement proper and up the hill towards home. There had to be at least fifty or so ponies working down there. Most were fillies and colts, but I saw a pair of gray adult earth ponies heaving up boards while a filly unicorn hammered them in. Things still looked like a mess, though, and there was a rank stench like a cesspit that I didn’t remember from the last time I was here.
当我到达教堂的时候，已经是上午十点左右了，我咕噜咕噜地吃下了另一颗宝石。这个小镇现在看起来......嗯......就像一个小镇。教堂的尖顶正在修理中，还有更多的建筑物正在兴建中。我绕过他们好心标记的雷区，绕着定居点小跑，然后上山回家。那里至少有五十匹小马在干活。大多数是小雌马和小马，但我看到一对灰色的成年土地小马举起木板，一只小雌独角兽把它们锤进去。然而，事情看起来还是一团糟，还有一股像粪坑一样的恶臭，我已经不记得上次来这里的时候是什么样子了。
I was so concerned by the reek that I halted and looked up towards the tantalizingly close roof of Star House. If there was something wrong, through...
我对这股臭气非常担心，于是停下脚步，抬头望着星空之家近得让人垂涎欲滴的屋顶。如果有什么不对劲，通过..。
ugh. “Five more minutes won’t kill me,” I said as I turned and trotted towards the entrance to Chapel proper.
呃。"再多五分钟也不会要了我的命,"我一边说一边转身小跑着走向教堂的入口。
The machine gunner’s nest was unoccupied, something that sent a frisson of fear along my spine. Had those adults enslaved the Crusaders or something? But as I trotted further in, I saw the hustle and bustle wasn’t anything malicious. Still no explanation for why there were no guards, but this was just ponies cooperating to build a town.
机枪手的巢穴空无一人，这让我的脊椎感到一阵恐惧。那些成年人奴役了十字军还是什么？但是当我继续小跑的时候，我发现这种熙熙攘攘的生活并不是恶意的。仍然没有解释为什么没有守卫，但这只是小马合作建立一个城镇。
Sorta.
算是吧。
Now that I was closer… There was a stockade going up, but it looked as if it’d been abandoned half way through, then restarted on the other side till it tumbled over. Four mobile home wagons were just parked in the middle of the street. The few small homes that had been here before seemed to be sprouting tumorous growths of planks and siding. The post office was almost buried beneath crates, boxes, and building materials scavenged from the manor. Most disgusting of all was the ditch running along the road, which had been turned into an open sewer.
现在我离得更近了......有一个栅栏正在上升，但看起来好像是在中途被遗弃了，然后又从另一边重新开始，直到它倒塌。四辆活动的家庭旅行车停在街道中央。以前在这里的一些小房子似乎正在长出厚厚的木板和墙板。邮局几乎被板条箱、箱子和从庄园里捡来的建筑材料所掩埋。最令人作呕的是那条公路上的水沟，它已经变成了一条敞开的下水道。
Ghoul children and young ponies were making a game of construction, which was good for a fort, I supposed, but bad for anything you actually had to live in. I spotted the young zebra Majina running around with other fillies and colts. The adults, who seemed to have a better understanding of construction, were all throwing up their own shanties. Sekashi and Harpica stood by as I entered and surveyed the scene in shock.
食尸鬼的孩子和小马正在做一个建造游戏，我想这对于一个堡垒来说是好事，但是对于任何你不得不住在里面的东西来说却是坏事。我看到年轻的斑马马吉娜和其他小雌马和小马一起跑来跑去。大人们似乎对建筑有了更好的理解，他们都在抛弃他们自己的棚屋。当我走进去时，Sekashi和Harpica站在一旁，震惊地观察着现场。
“What the hay is going on?” I muttered as I stared at the chaos.
"这是怎么回事?"我注视着这一片混乱，喃喃自语。
“Ah. The guardian has returned,” Sekashi said as she approached with the nervous ghoul pegasus. The minty-colored mare was hovering in the air and kept looking over at her undead charges, who were probably acting like real children for the first time in two hundred years. “You have had some adventures, faced great perils, met mighty champions?”
"啊。守护者回来了,"Sekashi一边说，一边走近神经紧张的食尸鬼珀加索斯。这匹薄荷色的母马在空中盘旋，不停地看着她那些不死的骑手，他们可能是两百年来第一次表现得像真正的孩子一样。"你经历过一些冒险，面对过巨大的危险，遇到过强大的冠军?"
“You can’t imagine,” I replied, and the zebra chuckled merrily.
"你无法想象,"我回答，斑马愉快地笑了。
“Oh, there’s been lots of imagining, indeed.” The mare grinned and gave my flank a nudge. “But what matters is that you are well and happy, for how can you be happy if you are not well? And how can you care about your health if you are not happy?” Okay. Zebra weirdness. Gotta love it.
"哦，确实有很多想象。"母马咧嘴一笑，用肘轻推了一下我的侧腹。"但重要的是你很好，很快乐，因为如果你身体不好，你怎么会快乐呢？如果你不快乐，又怎么能关心自己的健康呢?"好吧。奇怪的斑马。一定很喜欢。
“Well things sure look busy here... and smelly...” I coughed, backing away from the ditch.
"嗯，这里看起来确实很忙......而且有股臭味......"我咳嗽了一声，退出了沟渠。
“Ah, yes. No no, don’t put that in your mouth!” Harpica blurted to a filly sucking on an empty cola bottle. “The Crusaders have been a little...
"啊，是的。不，不，不要把它放进嘴里!"哈皮卡脱口而出，对着一只正在吮吸空可乐瓶的小母马说。"十字军有点.....。
overenthusiastic about fixing up Chapel after the attack,” the minty blue ghoul said nervously. “I’m not really sure if they’re doing any good... ah... please don’t run!”
那个满是薄荷味的蓝色食尸鬼紧张地说。"我不确定他们是否真的在做好事......啊......请不要跑!"
And then there was a solid thud against my rear end and I jerked, spinning around and looking at the stunned white blank. She sat there, swaying limply a moment before she shook her head and then frowned up at me. “Oh. Hello Boo!” Her pale eyes narrowed, and her frown grew more severe. “Um... I missed you? Sorry I left, but... um... yeah...” Her face could have been carved from plaster. I reached over, popped out my fingers, and started to scratch her ears nervously. She pursed her lips, clearly not satisfied as she leaned towards my face even more. Her eyes then grew large and watery as her lips quivered.
然后我的屁股突然发出一声巨响，我猛地一扭，转过身来，看着那片白茫茫的空白。她坐在那里，无力地摇晃了一会儿，然后摇摇头，又皱皱眉头看着我。"哦。你好，宝贝!"她那苍白的眼睛眯成一条缝，皱起的眉头越来越严重。"嗯......我想你了？抱歉我离开了，但是......嗯......是的......"她的脸可能是用石膏雕刻的。我伸出手，伸出手指，开始紧张地挠她的耳朵。她撅起嘴唇，显然并不满足，因为她越来越靠近我的脸。接着她的眼睛变得大而湿润，嘴唇颤抖着。
“Here,” a stallion said softly behind me, tapping my shoulder with something in a wax paper wrapper. My magic lifted it up and passed the cherry Fancy Buck Cake to the blank, and instantly she perked up and seized it in her mouth with a happy little squeal. She turned away but paused and looked back at me over her shoulder. Then she darted back and nuzzled my cheek before trotting off with her prize. “You spoiled her, you know,” the stallion said with a quiet little chuckle.
"这里,"一匹种马在我身后轻轻地说，用蜡纸包装的东西轻拍我的肩膀。我的魔法把它举起来，把樱桃花瓣蛋糕递给空白处，她立刻活跃起来，把它叼在嘴里，发出一声幸福的小尖叫。她转过身去，停顿了一下，回头看了看我。然后她飞奔回来，用鼻子蹭了蹭我的脸颊，然后带着她的战利品跑开了。"你把她宠坏了，你知道吗?"种马轻轻地笑着说。
“Yeah, I guess I...” I said with a smile, but that slowly vanished as I turned and looked back at the speaker. The shaggy blue mane was the same, as was the lighter blue coat. His frame was gaunt, though, and he sat as if a strong wind might blow him over. More than that, though, the eyes that looked back at me were those of a stranger: calm, serene, and no longer looking at the world like it was his enemy. “P-21?” Even seeing his cutie mark, I wasn’t entirely sure it was him.
"是的，我想我.....。。」我微笑着说，但是当我转身回头看着演讲者的时候，这种感觉慢慢消失了。蓬松的蓝色鬃毛和浅蓝色的被毛是一样的。尽管他的身体很憔悴，他坐在那里，好像一阵强风会把他吹倒。更重要的是，那双回望着我的眼睛是一双陌生人的眼睛:平静、安详，不再把这个世界当作他的敌人。"P-21?"即使看到他的可爱标记，我也不能完全确定那就是他。
“Nice to see you again, Blackjack. I heard you’ve been busy. Did you find what you needed?” he asked with a kind smile. The smile of a pony who had done just that.
"很高兴再次见到你，Blackjack。我听说你很忙。你找到需要的东西了吗?"他微笑着问道。一匹小马的微笑刚刚做到了这一点。
“I... yeah. Some. I think,” I said as I rubbed my mane. “I shouldn’t have run off like that. I should have stayed and--” But he put his hoof to my lips.
"我.....。.是啊。一些。我想,"我一边说一边搓着鬃毛。"我不应该那样跑掉。我应该留下来——"但他把蹄子放在我的嘴唇上。
“Don’t start with that already. You did what you did. All that matters is if you’re better for it or not,” he said, patting my shoulder with his hoof. “And your plan worked. The Harbingers didn’t follow us far, and we haven’t seen them at all here. You didn’t miss much besides two or three days of detoxification.” He gave a little shiver. “Finally done with the treatments...”
"不要已经开始了。你做了你该做的。重要的是你是否因此变得更好,"他边说边用蹄子拍了拍我的肩膀。"你的计划奏效了。先驱者没有跟踪我们很远，我们在这里根本没有看到他们。除了两三天的戒毒治疗，你没有错过什么。"他有点发抖。"治疗终于结束了......"
“And you feel better?” I asked in concern.
"你感觉好点了吗?"我担心地问。
“Of course not. I feel like I’ve been scraped raw inside and outside. Glory says the lifetime of drug abuse in 99 probably did a number on my lifespan; if we hadn’t been retired, we probably would have been dropping in a few years anyway. But I don’t have... the tension. The craving. The need’s gone. It’s like a huge weight off my back and off my mind. I can finally think clearly again.” He then looked over at an approaching filly with heaps of scrolls poking from her saddlebags. “So I’ve been focusing on better things.”
"当然不是。我觉得我的内外都被刮伤了。晨辉说，99年滥用毒品的生活可能对我的寿命产生了很大影响;如果我们没有退休，我们的寿命可能在几年内就会下降。但我没有...那种紧张感。渴望。这种需求已经消失了。就像卸下了一个沉重的负担，从我的脑海中消失。我终于可以再次清醒地思考了。"然后他看了看一匹正在靠近的小母马，她的鞍囊里露出了一堆卷轴。"所以我一直专注于更好的事情。"
“Can you believe it, Daddy? That guy’s building his house right by that septic trench they call a toi--” Scotch Tape silenced as she saw me sitting there, then let out a squeal, “Blackjack!” She charged up the road at me, shedding rolls of paper right and left before hugging me fiercely. Immediately afterwards, she started coughing.
"你能相信吗，爸爸？那个家伙正在那个他们称之为"toi"的化粪沟旁边盖房子——"她看见我坐在那里，用胶带消了声，然后发出一声尖叫,"Blackjack!"她沿着公路向我冲过来，把一卷卷的纸甩得到处都是，紧紧地拥抱着我。紧接着，她开始咳嗽。
“Careful,” P-21 warned. I picked up one of the scrolls with my magic and carefully unrolled it. It showed four toilets and a shower, along with some extensive plumbing.
"小心点,"P-21警告说。我用我的魔法捡起一张纸卷，小心翼翼地展开它。里面有四个厕所和一个淋浴，还有一些大型的水管。
“I’m fine...” she rasped, then smiled at me, and her eyes shot open in alarm. “Blackjack! Don’t look at that!” She threw her forelegs around it, yanked it out of the air, and hugged it to her chest. I floated out another one and opened it up to look at some kind of house. She eeped and grabbed that one too. “Don’t look at my drawings! They’re horrible.” Another bout of coughing made me stop.
"我没事......"她粗声粗气地说，然后冲我笑了笑，惊恐地睁开了眼睛。"黑杰克！别看那个!"她把前腿绕过它，猛地把它从空中拉出来，紧紧地抱在胸前。我又拿出一个，打开看看什么房子。她一边倒，一边抓住了那个。"别看我的画！它们太可怕了。"又一阵咳嗽使我停了下来。
“Are you okay?” I asked.
"你还好吗?"我问道。
“Yeah. Glory says it’s some bug I picked up when she put in the new lungs. Got a wicked scar though, see?” She lifted her chin and pointed her hoof at a straight, raw red line that started under her chin and went all the way down to the collar of her utility barding. I tried not to think of Sanguine leading a little blank copy of Scotch away.
"是的。晨辉说这是我在她植入新的肺部时感染的病菌。但是有一道很邪恶的伤疤，看到了吗?"她抬起下巴，把蹄子指向一条直直的红线，这条红线从她的下巴开始一直延伸到她的工具包的领口。我尽量不去想桑吉带着一本空白的苏格兰威士忌走了。
“It’s post-operative pneumonia and you should be in bed,” P-21 said firmly. Scotch blew a raspberry. “I promised Glory I’d keep you from overexerting yourself. You still need a few days and several more healing potions to get the infection out. Enervation right now would kill you.” Good thing I hadn’t taken her with me...
"这是术后肺炎，你应该卧床休息,"P-21坚定地说。苏格兰威士忌吹出一股树莓味。"我答应晨辉，我会让你不要过度劳累。你仍然需要几天和几个更多的治疗药剂，以摆脱感染。现在的衰弱会要了你的命。"还好我没带她一起走。
“But what are these?” I asked as I floated one of the papers she’d dropped over to us.
"但这些是什么?"我一边问，一边把她丢给我们的一份文件递给我们。
Scotch Tape fidgeted as she looked down at her forehooves. “Just some... you know... ideas.”
她低头看着前蹄，透明胶带坐立不安。"只是一些......你知道......想法。"
“Ideas?” I asked, opening the scroll to look at... some sort of diagram of...
"想法?"我问，打开卷轴看......某种图表.....。
something.
什么东西。
“For the town. Since I was sick and couldn’t do anything,” Scotch said, then gestured around. “I mean have you seen this place, Blackjack? Everypony’s working and throwing up whatever they want. Half of it’s gonna be falling down in weeks, if not days. They’ve got a ditch filled with poo running through the middle of town! And the money from the manor won’t last forever.” She reached over and looked down at the plan in her hooves. “I always liked thinking up ideas in 99... but I was in Maintenance. We never built anything new. We just focused on keeping everything how it was.”
"为了这个城市。因为我生病了，什么也做不了,"苏格兰人说，然后做了个手势。"我是说，你见过这个地方吗，Blackjack？每个小马都在工作，想吐什么就吐什么。一半会在几周内倒塌，如果不是几天的话。他们在市中心挖了一条满是粪便的沟！庄园里的钱不会永远存在下去。"她伸出手来，用蹄子低头看着这个计划。"我一直喜欢在99年想出点子......但我在维修部工作。我们从来没有建造过什么新东西。我们只是专注于让一切保持原样。"
I thought about how I’d felt when I’d played the contrabass for the first time and was wondering if maybe I might have had a different life if I’d been allowed to play. “Well, maybe this will be how you get your cutie mark. Maybe your destiny is to bring plumbing back to the Wasteland.”
我想起了我第一次弹低音提琴时的感受，想着如果我被允许演奏的话，也许我的生活会有所不同。"好吧，也许这就是你得到你可爱目标的方法。也许你的命运就是把水管重新带回荒原。"
“I’m gonna have a toilet on my hind end the rest of my life...” Scotch Tape pouted as she slumped.
"我下半辈子都要在屁股上装个马桶了......"摔倒的苏格兰胶带撅着嘴说。
“So why don’t you try and build one of these designs?” I asked. “One that’s not a toilet?”
"那么，你为什么不试着做一个这样的设计呢?"我问道。"不是厕所的那种?"
She huffed softly. “‘Cause nopony’ll listen to me. Everypony’s fixed on doing their own thing and nopony’s thinking about what we’re gonna need. We’re gonna need a doctor. Someplace for fixing things. Need to move the minefield further out. Need to get that stockade finished and matched up and plated with scrap and reinforced with dirt or something. Need a place to store food and maybe a mess hall. Need to make bunkhouses for the Crusaders. We’re gonna need a school. Ya can’t just throw a story or two on top of a house!” She sighed as she looked down at the paper. “Besides, I don’t know nothing about real engineering. I just fix up toilets.”
她轻轻地喘了口气。"因为没有小马会听我的。每个小马都在做他们自己的事情，没有小马在想我们需要什么。我们需要医生。修理东西的地方。需要把雷区移到更远的地方。需要完成和匹配的栅栏和镀废料和加强与污垢或东西。需要一个地方来储存食物，也许还需要一个食堂。需要为十字军修建工棚。我们需要一所学校。你不能把一两个故事扔在房顶上!"她低头看报纸，叹了口气。"而且，我对真正的工程学一无所知。我只负责修理厕所。"
I patted her mane. “Scotch, you know more about building and fixing things than anypony here. You’ve been training to do maintenance work since you could play. Heck, I bet you had a steam assembly for your first toy. If this place is going to be a real town, it’s going to need ponies like you.”
我拍了拍她的鬃毛。"苏格兰人，你比这里的任何人都懂得建造和修理东西。自从你能打球以来，你就一直在训练做维护工作。见鬼，我敢打赌你的第一个玩具一定有一个蒸汽组装。如果这个地方要成为一个真正的城镇，就需要像你这样的小马。"
“Yeah,” she replied, but I could tell her heart wasn’t quite in it. “Maybe I can talk to Charity. I know she’d be glad to have some of this stuff organized.” For some reason, the name of the filly shopkeeper set my mane on end. Did I owe her money? I thought I was all paid up, but... wait? Had I paid for that Wild Pegasus she sent me on my birthday yet? Shoot! I didn’t know for sure...
"是的,"她回答，但是我看得出她的心思不在这上面。"也许我可以和Charity谈谈。我知道她会很高兴把这些东西整理好的。"出于某种原因，小母马店主的名字把我的鬃毛弄乱了。我欠她钱了吗？我以为我的钱都付清了但是...等等？我生日那天她送给我的那匹野马，我付钱了吗？开枪！我不确定..。
“Anyway, I need to get going. I really, really need to see Glory,” I said as I rose to my hooves and backed away. The pair looked at each other with worried expressions.
"不管怎样，我得走了。我真的，真的需要看到格洛里,"我说，然后站起来，往后退了退。他们两个愁眉苦脸地看着对方。
P-21 said evenly, “Maybe we should go up with you, Blackjack. Glory’s... well... kind of upset.”
P-21平静地说:"也许我们应该和你一起上去，Blackjack。晨辉......嗯......有点不高兴。"
I sighed and smiled. “No, it’s okay. She has a right to be.” I turned and looked up in the direction of Star House. “Actually there’s a whole lot I need to talk with her about. I’ve got a whole lot of apologizing to do.” For running off, for making her worry, and other things. “We’ve got a ton of making up ahead. And I’m going to enjoy every minute with her.” He frowned in worry, looking more like the P-21 I remembered. I rose to my hooves. “Where are Rampage and Lacunae?”
我叹了口气，笑了笑。"不，没关系。她有权这么做。"我转过身来，抬头看向星宫的方向。"实际上，我有很多事情需要和她谈。我还有很多道歉要做。"为了逃跑，为了让她担心，还有别的事。"我们还有一大堆补救工作要做。我要享受和她在一起的每一分钟。"他忧心忡忡地皱起眉头，看起来更像我记忆中的P-21。我猛地站起来。"暴怒和空白在哪里?"
“Well, Lacunae said something about a dress when we saw her this morning. And Rampage...” Scotch trailed off as looked up at the graveyard on the hillside above the town. A red-maned pony stood out amid the gray-green grass and the white headstones. She was at her daughter’s grave, if I guessed right. “Is she okay?”
"嗯，今天早上我们见到拉库娜时，她说了一些关于裙子的事情。然后狂暴......"苏格兰人抬头望着城镇上方山坡上的墓地，声音渐渐消失了。在灰绿色的草地和白色的墓碑之间，一匹红色鬃毛的小马显得格外引人注目。如果我没猜错的话，她在她女儿的坟前。"她还好吗?"
“No. She’s not,” I said softly, shaking my head. “She found out something about herself, and it’s bothering her terribly.” I patted Scotch’s head. “Just be careful with her. She needs our friendship a lot right now. It might be the only thing that’ll help her.”
"没有。她不是,"我轻轻地说，摇着头。"她发现了一些关于自己的事情，这让她非常困扰。"我拍了拍苏格兰人的头。"只是要小心她。她现在非常需要我们的友谊。这可能是唯一能帮到她的东西。"
P-21 looked at his daughter and stroked her mane. “Maybe we should go see her. Make sure she’s okay. Why don’t you go get Precious?” The dragon filly’d help if something set the Angel off.
P-21看着他的女儿，抚摸着她的鬃毛。"也许我们应该去看看她。确保她没事。你为什么不去叫普莉希丝呢?"如果有什么东西把天使点燃了，龙母会帮忙的。
“If I can get her off that stack of bottlecaps,” Scotch said with a roll of her eyes as she turned and trotted into the post office.
"如果我能把她从那堆瓶子里弄出来的话,"苏格兰人转过身，小跑着走进邮局，翻着白眼说道。
The blue stallion looked at me in concern. “Be careful. With Glory. I mean... I
那匹蓝色的种马关切地看着我。"小心点。带着晨辉。我是说...我
tried to explain it but... she’s really upset with you right now.”
我试着解释，但是...她现在真的很生你的气
I sighed and then nodded. “Yeah. We’ve got issues to clear up. I mean, leaving like I did was horrible for her.”
我叹了口气，然后点点头。"是的。我们有些问题需要解决。我是说，像我这样离开对她来说太可怕了。"
“No, I mean what you did with--” he started to say with a concerned frown, but I froze.
"不，我是说你做了什么——"他皱着眉头开始说，但我愣住了。
I could feel the horror creeping up on me. My mane crawled on my scalp as I looked left and right. A little pink pony in my head pulled out a spyglass and searched for the dreaded menace. Perhaps I could plead poverty... but no, it didn’t matter. She could sense my purse and was coming for it! All my wealth would be hers! And yes, there she was, stepping out of the post office! She looked at me. I looked back, and her eyes narrowed like a hellhound about to go in for the kill. I leapt straight into the air, turned, and with all the power in my cybernetic limbs I raced away, laughing madly. She wouldn’t get me! Not this time!
我能感觉到恐惧悄悄地向我袭来。当我左右看的时候，我的鬃毛在我的头皮上爬动。一匹粉红色的小马在我的头上拉出一个小望远镜，寻找可怕的威胁。也许我可以以贫穷为借口......但是，不，这无关紧要。她能感觉到我的钱包，并且向它走来！我所有的财富都将属于她！是的，她就在那里，从邮局走出来！她看着我。我回头一看，她的眼睛像地狱犬一样眯成一条缝，准备动手杀人。我直接跳到空中，转过身，用我那控制论的四肢的全部力量，疯狂地笑着跑开了。她不会理解我的！这次不行！
The yellow filly’s words reached my ears, but I paid them no mind as I fled. “What’s her problem?”
黄色的小母马的话进入了我的耳朵，但是我逃跑的时候没有理会它们。"她有什么问题?"
* * *
* * *
I entered Star House with just a little bit of apprehension. The place was clean and orderly and, moreover, it looked lived in. I heard the sound of a faucet running in the kitchen and spotted the blue pegasus filling up a pot. Her rainbow mane was tied back behind her head with a white cloth. It didn’t matter if she looked like a young Ministry Mare in her prime or my gray beauty; she was Glory. My imaginary heartbeat picked up as I slowly walked towards her. Suddenly the troubles of the last several days were nothing, and I couldn’t keep from smiling. She turned and looked at me, her rose eyes popping wide, and then she smiled with an oddly dismissive expression. “Oh, hey Blackjack. What’s up?”
我带着一丝担忧走进星宫。这个地方整洁有序，而且看起来很有人情味。我听到厨房里有水龙头流水的声音，发现一匹蓝色的飞马正在往一个罐子里装水。她的彩虹鬃毛用一块白布系在脑后。无论她看起来像一匹年轻的牧师母马还是我的灰色美貌，她都是晨辉。当我慢慢走向她时，我想象中的心跳加速了。突然之间，过去几天的麻烦都没有了，我禁不住微笑起来。她转过身来看着我，玫瑰色的眼睛睁得大大的，然后带着一种奇怪的不屑一顾的微笑。"哦，嘿，黑杰克。怎么了?"
Huh? I furrowed my brows as she set the pot on the stove and then took off the rag and shook out her spectral mane. “Um. Hi Glory. P-21 said you wanted to talk to me about something that upset you?” This wasn’t quite what I expected; she smiled again and approached. Oddly enough, my mane picked now of all times to get itchy. “Whatever it was, I’m sorry. I’m just so glad to see--“
什么？她把锅放在炉子上，我皱了皱眉头，然后拿掉抹布，抖掉她的光谱鬃毛。"嗯。嗨，晨辉。P-21说你想和我谈一些让你不安的事情?"这完全出乎我的意料，她再次微笑着走了过来。奇怪的是，我的鬃毛现在采摘的所有时间，以获得痒。"不管是什么，我很抱歉。我只是很高兴看到——"
She silenced me with a hoof to my lips, smiling up at me before her expression turned concerned. “Now. Before anything happens, I want to know how you are. Any injuries that need treating? Radiation? Taint? Anything like that?”
她用蹄子挡住我的嘴唇，让我安静下来，在她的表情变得关心之前，她抬起头朝我微笑。"现在。在发生任何事之前，我想知道你怎么样了。有什么伤口需要治疗吗？辐射？污点？诸如此类的事情?"
“No, actually.” I smiled and looked down at my foreleg. “I was just at Rover’s. He fixed up my legs just fine, and the talismans…”
"事实上，没有。"我笑了笑，低头看了看我的前腿。"我刚才在罗孚家。他治好了我的腿，还有护身符......"
But again she silenced me as she put her hooves around my neck and gazed into my eyes. “What about emotionally? Are you better now than when you left?”
但是当她用蹄子勒住我的脖子，盯着我的眼睛时，我又一次安静了下来。"感情上怎么样？你现在比离开的时候好吗?"
“Oh, absolutely. I was… I was in a really bad way there for a while but… well… I found some help too.” And I got shot up a lot and died again, but I could tell her about that later.
"哦，当然可以。有一段时间我的情况非常糟糕，但是......我也找到了一些帮助。"我被注射了很多针剂，然后又死了，但是我可以以后再告诉她。
“So in other words you’re in good shape? Tip top?” she asked in a voice that almost approached sultry and made my hindquarters quiver in anticipation. This was damage control I could handle!
"换句话说，你的身体状况很好？顶尖?"她问道，声音几乎接近于性感，让我的后腿在期待中颤抖。这是我能处理的损失控制！
“Yup. One hundred and ten percent,” I said as I smiled goofily.
"是的。百分之一百一十,"我傻笑着说。
Her legs tightened around my neck as she said softly, “Good…” And then she hugged me close, feeling soft and firm and wonderful. But as I lifted my legs to hold her, I became aware of a little pink pony in my head waving a red flag, a white unicorn waving her hooves in alarm, and a horrified-looking yellow pegasus pressing her hooves to her mouth as Glory whispered in my ear. “A champion in bed, huh?”
她的双腿紧紧地绕在我的脖子上，轻轻地说:"好......"然后她紧紧地抱住我，感觉柔软、坚实、美妙。但是当我抬起腿去抱她的时候，我意识到我头上有一匹粉红色的小马在挥舞着一面红旗，一只白色的独角兽在惊恐地挥舞着它的蹄子，还有一匹看起来惊恐万分的黄色飞马把它的蹄子压在嘴边，就像格洛瑞在我耳边低语。"床上的冠军，哈?"
And then her wings snapped and she hauled me into the air. “Blackjack!” she snapped, and then, with more power than I’d known any pegasus could muster, threw me clear across the room and smashed me into the far wall. I dropped to the floor with a crash, the five little ponies in my head equally rattled. Somewhere, for some reason, I imagined the Goddess looking on, munching on popcorn. Glory flew over with tears streaking her cheeks and yelled down at me, “You... You... fucking cunt!”
然后她的翅膀折断了，她把我拖到空中。"黑杰克!"她厉声说道，然后，以我所不知道的飞马所能聚集的最强大的力量，把我扔到房间的另一边，把我撞到远处的墙上。我砰地一声倒在地上，脑子里的五匹小马也同样嘎嘎作响。在某个地方，出于某种原因，我想象着女神在看着我，大嚼着爆米花。晨辉飞过，泪水划过她的脸颊，朝我喊道,"你......你......他妈的婊子!"
Welcome home, Blackjack.
欢迎回家黑杰克。
 
 
Footnote: Level Fifteen Reached.
脚注:达到十五级。
New perk added: Eye for Eye (All 10 damage for each limb crippled.)
新特长增加:以眼还眼(每肢残废10点伤害)
 
Author's Notes:
作者笔记:
(Old Author’s note: Wooo. Talk about shuffling around. We had events moved around. Added in. Firmly objected to. And then taken out again. I am glad that I got this chapter out before I moved though and I hope to have chapter 50 done before the end of the month. It’d be really nice. Anyway. Some of you might have noticed I used the name ‘Cadance.’ Some of you might also remember that back in Ch 43 I said that Cadance and whatnot were dead to me. Well, that was more because of issues I had with the finale. 4 months later, I can actually use them... not much, but yeah. Hopefully it won’t blow up in my face. Probably will... but meh.
(老作者的笔记:Wooo。说到洗牌。我们把事情搬来搬去。加进去的。坚决反对。然后再拿出来。我很高兴在搬家之前就完成了这一章，我希望在这个月底之前完成第50章。那真是太好了。无论如何。你们有些人可能已经注意到我用了"Cadance"这个名字你们中的一些人也许还记得，在第43章，我说过，对我来说，抑扬顿挫和诸如此类的东西已经死了。那更多是因为我在最后一集里遇到的问题。4个月后，我可以真正使用它们......不是很多，但是是的。希望它不会在我面前爆炸。可能会...不过..。
Anywho. Huge thanks to my editors for really trying to make this the best chapter possible, even if it meant rewriting one whole scene and adding another. I’d like to thank Kkat for creating FoE in the first place and Minty for saying ‘Yeah, the chapter’s fine. chill.’ Thank you to everypony who has given me feedback at the Cloudsville forum. Yes, occasionally the forum scares me, but I really appreciate the feedback. It gives me the mental means to keep going. Finally, if anypony would like to help support the writer moving to Vegas or wherever else I can find a job, donations can be sent to David13ushey@gmail.com though pay pal. Thanks so very much, and thank you for sticking with PH this long.)
不管是谁。非常感谢我的编辑们，他们努力让这一章成为最好的一章，即使这意味着要重写整个场景并添加另一个场景。我想首先感谢Kkat创建了FoE，并感谢Minty说:是的，这一章很好。冷静感谢所有在Cloudsville论坛给我反馈的小马。是的，论坛有时会让我害怕，但我真的很感激这些反馈。它给了我继续前进的精神手段。最后，如果有任何小马愿意帮助这位作家搬到拉斯维加斯或其他任何我能找到工作的地方，可以通过paypal将捐款发送到david13ushey@gmail.com。非常感谢，谢谢你坚持了这么久。)
Editing note. Some folks might wonder what comes in and goes out of Project Horizons. This is a scene with Stygius and Psychoshy’s departure that was cut and changed to tone it down. YMMV as to if it was better or not. WARNING: While we cannot confirm that this scene contains spoilers, we also cannot deny that possible fact. Read at your own risk, and please also remember that the various component of this scene may or may not by heterogeneous in their canonicty, said canonicity possibly having the potential to lie at any level or levels below (and in part but not in full at) full membership in the canon.
编辑注释。有些人可能想知道什么进出项目地平线。这是一个场景，斯蒂吉乌斯和心理害羞的离开，被删减和改变，以降低音量。至于它是否更好或不。警告:虽然我们不能确认这个场景包含剧透，但我们也不能否认这个可能的事实。阅读自己的风险，也请记住，这个场景的各个组成部分可能或不可能由异类在他们的圣典前南问题，所说的圣典可能有潜力在任何水平或水平以下(和部分但不是全部)的正式成员。
(Author’s addendum: The above disclaimer was written by Hinds. :P )
(作者附录:上述免责声明由Hinds撰写。:p)