【MLP短篇小说翻译】从来就没有露娜

//------------------------------//

// The Forbidden Wing 

// Story: There is no Luna（从来就没有露娜）

// by a human 

//------------------------------//

经过多年的恳求，塞拉斯蒂娅终于允许暮光进入皇家图书馆的禁翼，这个禁翼非常隐秘，就连其他公主也无法进入。暮光赶往坎特洛特，为能研究里面的东西而兴奋不已。

然后她发现了那些书......

原作品简介：

作品名原名：There is no Luna

作品原址：There is no Luna - Fimfiction (https://www.fimfiction.net/story/238566/there-is-no-luna)

作者名：a human (https://www.fimfiction.net/user/92310/a+human)

发布时间：2015年1月16日

翻译简介：

作品译名：从来没有露娜

译者：北葵

发布时间：2023年10月2日

前言：

wc，露娜——

这是在fimficiton上的高赞短篇作品。

其实这篇文章在fimtale已经有过一篇了，但我还是觉得自己翻译一下比较爽，毕竟第一次在fimfiction看到这篇的时候就忍不住看完了，甚至还回头看了一遍，刀得我好舒服(。

翻译很渣的，随便挑（关键是有人挑((），不过我不敢机翻，基本上都是带着感情去翻译的。

这是作者留下的FAQ，不是很打算翻，留给别人看。https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/432952/there-is-no-luna-faq

翻译可以不询问作者，在FAQ里有写的。

Twilight walked down the dimly lit flight of stairs, nervous. She was heading far deeper into the Canterlot library than she ever had before. The bleak surroundings were hardly surprising—she was going into the Forbidden Wing, which was protected almost as well as the Elements of Harmony.

楼梯染上了昏暗的灯色，暮光怀着紧张的心情，走了下去。她之前还从未没到过坎特洛特图书馆这么深的地方——禁翼。很难相信这么荒旧的地方居然是跟谐律精华差不多一个安保级别的。

It had been a dream of hers since she was a filly, second only to becoming a princess. As soon as she discovered its existence, she sent a letter to Celestia asking for permission to conduct research in there. Celestia declined, sending back a very short reply: "You're not ready yet." Every year since, in blind optimism, Twilight continued sending that letter, and the same thing happened each time. Celestia sent back that short reply: "You're not ready yet." 

她从小就梦想能来到这个地方，其次才是成为公主。在她得知有这么一个地方之后，她马上就给塞拉斯蒂娅写了封信，希望塞拉斯蒂娅能让她到那里研究研究。塞拉斯蒂娅却以简短的一句拒绝了她：“你还没有准备好。” 暮光的盲目乐观，让她每一年都坚持写同一封信给塞拉斯蒂娅，即使每一年得到的回复都还是那句话：“你还没有准备好。”

Twilight always wondered exactly what that meant, but knew it would be almost impossible to find out. Celestia worked in mysterious ways, after all.

暮光很想弄明白她老师的意思，但都无功而返。毕竟塞拉斯蒂娅的做事风格就是这样捉摸不透的。

She had all but given up this year, so she was more than a bit shocked when she sent out the letter and received, in reply, a key and another short letter: "It's time."

今年，暮光已经不抱希望了。不过当她收到一把钥匙和不一样的回信时，她惊呆了，那回信上面写着寥寥几字：“时候到了。”

It didn't make much sense, but she wasn't about to complain. This was the opportunity of a lifetime, and she wasn't about to turn it down.

虽然这一串下来很奇怪，但她还抱怨那么多做什么呢？这可是一次千载难逢的好机会，她当然不会放过的。

Finally, she reached the door, and took the key out. It looked like a normal wooden door, but if Twilight knew Celestia, it most likely was protected by a multitude of spells. If she tried to open it without unlocking it, it might take her to a completely different room or even kill her. Exercising due caution, she placed the key in the slot and turned it. The door made some cranking sounds, then slowly began opening on its own. When a space large enough to walk through appeared, Twilight squeezed in.

于是，暮光就站在门前，拿出了钥匙。门是一扇普普通通的木门，不过如果暮光了解塞拉斯蒂娅的话，这扇木门多半是被多重魔咒保护着的。不开锁直接进去？在那边等着她的，可能是另一个完全不同的房间，甚至可能是死亡。暮光谨慎地把钥匙插入钥匙孔，然后，旋转钥匙。伴随着吱呀呀的声音，门自己慢慢地打开了。暮光等门张得足够大的时候，马上就挤了进去。

Under normal circumstances, Twilight would consider this room the tiniest, worst kept library she had seen. But these were not normal circumstances. 

通常情况下，这个地方在暮光眼里，简直就是她见过的最小最差的图书馆。但现在可不是通常情况。

Because she knew every book on these shelves had been deemed unreadable to the public.

因为她知道，这书架上的每一本书都注定了这一生都不可能会被小马们看到的。

– – – –

For the most part, it was fairly obvious how each book had ended up on these shelves. In between all the books on how to assassinate Celestia, how to assassinate everybody but Celestia, how to get away with every sex crime under the sun, books supporting male supremacy, books supporting female supremacy, book supporting unicorn supremacy, and so on, Twilight wondered why Celestia just didn't throw the things away. They certainly didn't have any literary value, aside from being so offensive they could induce laughter within seconds. 

大部分的书为什么出现在这里的书架上，已经很明显了。在这里的书，有在讲怎么刺杀塞拉斯蒂娅公主的，有在讲怎么刺杀除了塞拉斯蒂娅公主以外的小马的，有在讲怎么在光天化日之下实施完美性犯罪的，有在讲男权至上的，有在讲女性至上的，有在讲独角兽至上的，还有很多很多其他的。暮光还没想到塞拉斯蒂娅还不把这些书扔掉的理由，哪还有文学价值？除了令马反感以外，只是博马一笑罢了。

She had picked up a couple random titles to look over, but nothing really caught her eye until she saw those books. One shelf had nothing but the most ancient books Twilight had seen, written in a dialect so old most other ponies would find it incomprehensible. From the titles, she could get the gist of what they were about—they were all history books.

她已经随便拿了好几本书看了看了，但没有一本能让她感兴趣的，直到，她看到了那一排架子上的书。那一排都是她见过的最最古老的书，用的是一种很古老的方言写的，几乎不会有小马能把它们读得通顺。就从标题来看，她大概能知道这些书讲的是什么——都在讲历史。

Now that was interesting. Hardly anything accurately depicted history before Nightmare Moon, and those books looked at least that old. Maybe one of the writers had portrayed Celestia a little too negatively for her tastes? Regardless, Twilight was excited. She set down the boring books she had collected earlier, and carefully grasped one of these old volumes in magic.

现在，有趣的来了。在梦魇之月来到之前的书都没有准确记载历史，但那些书确实有那么久远。是因为当中的一位作者特别喜欢塞拉斯蒂娅吗？尽管如此，暮光也很激动。她埋进她刚找到的那些无聊的历史书里，然后小心翼翼地用魔法翻开其中一本古书。

It took great skill and precision to carry something that old without breaking it. Twilight suspected that if she had attempted to do so even a year before, she would've accidentally crushed the book with force. Maybe this is why the wing is so protected, Twilight thought. Celestia just doesn't want the books damaged.

用非常精确的技巧去搬运如此古老的东西，还要不破坏它，那是需要很厉害的技能的。暮光怀疑，即使是让一年前的自己来搬，也很可能会不小心用力弄碎。暮光也许知道禁翼为什么要被严格保护了，塞拉斯蒂娅只是不想让这些书受损而已。

She set the volume on the single table in the room, and blew over the top of the book, raising a cloud of dust. Even through all the dust and scratches, she could tell the book was beautiful. It was a large, hardback volume with gold rimmed pages hardly thicker than a blade of grass. The binding was thick and intricate—through the grime, it was clear parts of this were golden as well. 

她把书放在房间里的仅有的一张桌子上，吹了一下封面，扬起了一阵灰雾。不过就算是尘埃和划痕也不能阻止暮光赞叹这些书的精致。这是本硬皮古籍，很大，它的金边页薄得几乎跟草叶一样。装订厚实，错综复杂——透过灰尘，还可以清楚地看到其中金色的装订部分。

She slowly opened it up, and was blown away all again. While the invention of the printing press had made books accessible to a larger audience, nothing quite equaled the precision and dedication that went into a homespun volume from ancient days. Each letter was a work of calligraphic art, the designs around the margins were better than most paintings, and the artwork… while the perspective and proportions were sometimes mangled, each line, each color had so much passion within it. Twilight thought newer books sometimes lacked that passion, and she had never seen clearer evidence of that than what lay in front of her right now. She wondered what could possibly be wrong with this book. It was a national treasure. A work of art.

她慢慢地打开这本书，又一次被震撼到了。虽然印刷术的发明让更多的小马可以接触到书籍，但没什么能跟古代家书的精确记载和用心撰写相提并论。每一封信有如一部书法作品，页边空白的设计比大多数画作都要好，而那些图画......虽然有些图画的透视和比例会不协调，但每一条线、每一种颜色都饱含着作者满腔激情。暮光觉得在这之后的一些书就少了这份激情。在看到这本书之前，她还没有充分的证据证明她的想法。她心想，这本书简直完美无缺，就是一份国宝，至此已成艺术品。

She started going through the text, formulating ways to convince Celestia to release the book to the public. Nothing seemed wrong with the content. If anything, it seemed to focus on Celestia too much. Maybe she was embarrassed by that? It seemed like an awfully petty reason to put a book under such high security, especially when it had such obvious cultural value.

她开始阅读起一行行的字来，同时在想方设法去说服塞拉斯蒂娅把这本书公布于众。这里的内容感觉都没什么问题，硬要说有，那就是太侧重于塞拉斯蒂娅了。或许她是因此觉得尴尬？但用这个理由解释为什么把这本书放进这么高安全级别的地方也太荒谬了，更何况这本书的历史价值还这么高。

Then, she stopped. As she went through the pages, deciphering the arcane text, something was bugging her. Something that wasn't immediately obvious. She flipped through the pages, trying to prove her suspicion wrong. No luck. Something… no, someone was entirely missing.

然后，她停住了。正当她在翻阅这些书页，破译这些晦涩难懂的文字的时候，心里就有块疙瘩样的东西压抑着它。这个东西它藏得很深。她把这本书翻了个遍，就为了找到个证据证明她的疑心是错的。可惜，没找到。某样东西......不，是某位小马，完全不见了。

She went back to the bookshelf, pulled out the volume on Celestia's early life, and double checked.

她返回到书架前，拿出来记录塞拉斯蒂娅早年生活的书册，再次确认。

What she read made her leave the book open and sprint out the room as fast as she could.

她不敢相信自己看到的，连书还敞开着没合上，就冲出房间跑了出去。

– – – –

"P-Princess," Twilight got out, panting. 

“公——公主，”暮光上气不接下气地跑过来。

"Celestia," Celestia corrected automatically, setting down her much oversugared tea. It appeared Twilight had run all the way up to her room, forgetting she had wings as usual. "What is it?" Celestia said, even though she was fairly sure she knew.

“塞拉斯蒂娅，”塞拉斯蒂娅帮她纠正了过来，放下了她糖加多了的茶。不用说，暮光是一路跑过来到她的房间的，像之前一样连翅膀都不记得用。“什么事？”塞拉斯蒂娅说，尽管她心里很清楚这个答案。

"It's… about some books I found in the Forbidden Wing."

“是......是和我在禁翼里找到的几本书有关。”

Celestia paused. "Go on."

塞拉斯蒂娅顿了一会，“继续说。”

Twilight composed herself. "Why is there a collection of ancient history books that completely omit Luna? How did they even get produced? A series like that would have taken decades to write. If someone was going to that much trouble to write and sell that many books intentionally trying to erase your sister, wouldn't you hear about it at some point? I mean, at the very least you wouldn't let the authors write a complete set, would you?"

暮光镇定下来。“为什么这里一系列的古代历史书都完全不提及露娜？为什么这些书还能够出版？这一册册书肯定花了几十年的时间来写。如果有小马费尽心机想通过撰写和出售这些书来抹除你妹妹的存在，难道你一点都不知道吗？我想说的是，你起码不会让这些书的作者写完完整的一册吧？”

Celestia was silent.

回应暮光的只有塞拉斯蒂娅的无声。

"I'm sorry, but this is just bugging me too much. They don't mention her at all. Nothing in the text, nothing in the pictures, nothing. They describe how you defeated Discord alone, the minutia of how you managed the nighttime court alone… they attribute everything she did to you. They even say it's impossible for naturally born alicorns to have siblings, because they siphon their mother's lifesource. I hate to admit it, but their theory seems incredibly well substantiated, to the point where I think forging it would've been more difficult than doing legitimate research."

“对不起，但这件事确实太困扰我了。这些书甚至一点都没提到露娜。没有文字，没有图片，没有。但它们却记录下你怎么单枪匹马打败无序，你管理夜间法庭的细节...... 她们把所有成就都归功于你。她们还说天生的天角兽不可能有姐妹，因为这种天角兽会完完全全汲取掉她们母亲的生命源泉。我真心不想承认这些事，但这些理论却又能被好好地支撑住，甚至到了我觉得伪造比证伪还要难的地步。”

Twilight looked down. "I just can't figure out why. Why would they go to such effort to exclude her? They were most likely risking their lives for it, and for what? It was 200 years before Luna turned to Nightmare Moon! Apparently one of the most peaceful times in Equestria's history! There's no motivation! And no matter how careful they were, I can't imagine how they could've kept their activities hidden from you. Is there some reason you let them do this? Is that why those books are locked away in the Forbidden Wing?"

暮光低头看向地面。“我只是真的想不出来为什么。为什么她们这么想把她排除在外？她们几乎都在拿自己的生命开玩笑，去写下这些东西，但又为了什么？这些都是露娜变成梦魇之月时还要往前推两百年的产物！那段时间简直就是小马国最安宁的日子！压根就没有做这种事的动机！而且不管她们再怎么小心，我也想不出她们怎么躲过你的法眼写书的。你是有什么特殊原因让她们写下这些东西吗？这就是你把这些书锁进禁翼的原因吗？”

Celestia looked away. She slowly got up, walked to a window, and traced the glass. "I knew this day would come," she said.

塞拉斯蒂娅看向别处。她慢慢起身，走向一扇窗，抚摸着玻璃的纹路。“我知道这一天总会来的，”她说。

Twilight got closer. "What day?"

暮光凑近了点。“哪一天？”

Celestia turned her head. "You're right. I let them do that. That's why the books are in the Forbidden Wing," she said. "I figured you'd find them, but I never thought you'd notice something was wrong with them this quickly. I suppose I shouldn't underestimate you."

塞拉斯蒂娅转过头。“你说得对。我让她们这么写的。这也正是那些书会放在禁翼的原因，”她说道。“我也知道你会找到这些书，但我没想到你会这么快就发现了里面的问题。我想我还是低估你了。”

"Then… can you tell me why?"

“那现在......能告诉我为什么吗？”

Celestia looked at Twilight. "Of course," she said. "I've been planning to tell you ever since you became a princess. I've been searching for someone to tell for 1000 years now. And now, I know you're ready."

塞拉斯蒂娅的视线落在暮光上。“当然可以，”她说。“自从你成为一名公主，我就一直在准备着告诉你。我一千年前就在找这只小马了。现在，我看出来你准备好了。”

"Ready for what?"

“准备什么？”

Celestia's horn lit. Every window and door in the room shut simultaneously, and outside, Twilight could see a shimmering shield—an extra privacy spell, she figured. "Everything I say to you now must stay in this room for all eternity," Celestia said. "It is of vital importance for the safety of everyone in this country—no, this world. Do you understand?"

塞拉斯蒂娅的独角亮起。所有的门窗都同时合上了。至于外面，暮光能看出来是个发光的护盾——“一种加强的隐私魔法。”她猜。“我接下来对你说的每一句话都必须永远留在这个房间里，”塞拉斯蒂娅说。“这与这个国家的——不，是整个世界的所有生灵的安危都息息相关，你明白吗？”

Twilight nodded.

暮光点头。

Celestia sighed, and started nervously pacing, an odd sight. "The truth is," she said, hesitantly, "those are the real history books, Twilight."

塞拉斯蒂娅叹了口气，紧张地踱起步来，眼神很奇怪。“事实就是，”她犹豫了下，说，“这些都是真正的历史书，暮光。”

Twilight froze. "What? You mean—"

暮光怔住了。“什么？你是说——”

"Alicorns can never have siblings, yes. Luna is not my sister."

“嗯，天角兽不可能有姐妹的。露娜不是我的妹妹。”

"Then what is she?"

“那她是谁？”

Celestia struggled to find the words. "She's… she's a façade. An illusion." She looked at Twilight. "Perhaps I should start at the beginning. For you, anyway. What do you think happened when you reformed Nightmare Moon?"

塞拉斯蒂娅在努力地找出一些词语来形容。“她......她是一个残影。一个幻象。”她看向暮光。“也许我应该从头开始讲起，为了你。我问你，当你重塑梦魇之月的时候，你觉得会发生什么？”

Twilight blinked. "What?"

暮光眨了眨眼。“什么意思？”

"Humor me."

“幽默一下。”

Twilight thought back. "Well, I suppose the magic of the Elements resolved all the problems she had in her mind?"

暮光的思绪回到问题上。“呃，是谐律精华的魔法把她脑子里的问题都解决了吗？”

"But what if those problems were not resolvable? What if she had firmly made up her mind to oppose me?"

“但如果那些问题根本就解决不了呢？假如她是下定决心来对抗我呢？”

Twilight stared. "Then the Elements… changed her mind?"

暮光的眼神呆滞了。“那，那些元素......改变了她的脑子？”

"So, basically," Celestia said, "they restored her to what she was like before."

“所以，你是想说，”塞拉斯蒂娅说，“这些元素把她变回她原来的样子。”

That sounded a bit more pleasant. "Yes," Twilight said. "I guess they did."

“没错，”暮光说。“我猜应该是这样。”听上去又多了几分愉悦。

"Now, how did the Elements know what she was like before?"

“那现在问题是，那些元素怎么知道她之前是什么样子的？”

"What?" Twilight was beginning to wonder the relevance of this. "They… scanned her mind? Found the good memories she had of the past?"

“啊？”暮光思考起这里面的关联性。“那些元素......扫描了她脑子里的东西？把她曾经拥有的美好回忆浮现出来？”

"Through 1000 years of moon rocks? And all the memory holes that must've caused? I doubt it. The Elements were not designed to be used on sane people, Twilight."

“透过一千年的月岩？还能无视那些记忆空洞填补回来？我不太认同。那些谐律精华不是用来给精神正常的生命用的，暮光。”

Realization dawned. "They… scanned our minds."

恍然大悟。“它们......扫描的是我们的大脑。”

"And tell me, how did you all know what Luna was like?"

“那现在告诉我，你们怎么知道先前的露娜？”

Twilight looked at Celestia in horror. "From… from history."

暮光充满恐惧，看向塞拉斯蒂娅。“从......从历史里。”

Celestia started pacing again. "1005 years ago, for the first time in millennia, a new alicorn came to this part of the world. Her name was Nightmare Moon. For reasons unfathomable to me, she almost immediately declared war on us. I don't think she had any goal, other than destruction. For 5 years, Equestria was locked into the most brutal war it had faced—all against one alicorn. Her strength was formidable, and more importantly, she had the power to enter dreams. Just remembering the things she made us see…" Celestia shook her head. "She made sure none of us got the rest we needed. We found out later we were unusual for our tenacity. We saw, from the charred husk of the world she left in her wake, that she usually brought kingdoms to their knees in weeks. She didn't even have to lift a hoof—the exhaustion did the work for her. If we fought back with traditional methods, we would've been doomed." Celestia smiled lightly. "Luckily, I know quite a few untraditional methods."

塞拉斯蒂娅又开始踱步。“1005年前，千年来的第一次，一只新的天角兽降生于世。她的名字就叫梦魇之月。她几乎马上就开始跟我们宣战，我也不清楚她的理由。我不觉得她除了破坏以外还有什么目的。在接下来的五年里，小马国遭受了前所未有的战火纷扰，只针对一名天角。她力量十分强大，更可怕的是，她还能进入小马们的梦境。只要想到她要给我们看到的东西......”塞拉斯蒂娅摇了摇头。“她能让我们没法能好好入眠。后来，我们凭借着与众不同的顽强精神生存了下来。从她经过的一片片焦土上，我们能看到她在短短几周内就可以让一个王国臣服于她。她甚至不费抬蹄之力——疲惫就帮她把工作做好了。如果我们还采取传统的反击，我们注定会失败的。”塞拉斯蒂娅转而一笑。“幸亏，我知道几个非传统的方法。”

Twilight was silent.

暮光没有说话。

"I tried everything. I couldn't afford to hold back with her. But she just wouldn't die. She must've been a very young, naturally born alicorn, which meant she had nearly limitless power. There was only one thing I could do—a temporary solution. Seal her on the moon. Buy time to think of something more permanent."

“我已经用尽所有办法了，对付她我已经付出了所有。可她依旧挺立着。她肯定是个非常年轻的天生天角兽，几乎拥有无穷的力量。那么我就只剩最后一个办法了——一个临时的解决办法。把她送到月球去。拖延时间，来换取一个永久的解决办法。”

Twilight scoffed. "Buy time?" 

暮光嗤之以鼻。“还用拖延时间？”

"1000 years might be long to you, but for me it's a drop in the bucket," Celestia said. "Even after she was gone, I could hardly sleep, because I knew she would be back. And she wouldn't be weaker—just angrier, and even more deranged. I had no idea what to do with her. And then, something happened.

“一千年对你来说可能很长，但我来说只是个杯水车薪，”塞拉斯蒂娅说，“即使在她走了之后，我晚上也辗转反侧，因为我知道她总有一天会回来。她不会变弱的——只会更愤怒，和更危险罢了。我已经想不出什么办法来对付她了。但不久，转机出现了。

"A rumor spread. Who knows who started it, but someone said Nightmare Moon was my scorned sister, and people began to believe it. It was ridiculous, of course—I knew that alicorns couldn't have sisters. But then, I realized not many people did. And I got an idea.

“一份谣言传开了，天知道谁先带起的头。但有小马说梦魇之月是被我抛弃的妹妹，小马们就开始相信了。这简直就是个笑话——我很清楚天角兽是不会有姐妹的。但在那时，我意识到没有多少小马清楚这个，于是我就有了主意。

"The Elements depend on belief. I couldn't reform Nightmare Moon with them, because I didn't believe she had a conscience. I couldn't kill her with them, because she was too powerful. So sealing her in the moon was the only option. But what if I could convince people she had a conscience, and then use them to reform her? It was the only thing I could think of that sounded even slightly feasible, so I went for it. I waited a couple hundred years, and then I confirmed those rumors. I said Nightmare Moon was my sister, and I had hidden this because the memories were too painful.

“谐律精华是忠于信仰的。我不能亲自用它们重塑梦魇之月，显然我也不相信她能有良心。用它们我都不能打败梦魇之月，她实在是太强大了，所以我的选择就只有把她送到月球去。但如果我能让大众相信她有良心，然后用以改造她呢？这是我唯一能想到的略微可行的办法了，于是我开始着手。我等了几百年之后，才公开承认了这些谣言。我说，梦魇之月是我的妹妹，我躲着这些谣言是因为记忆太令我痛苦了。

"I gave her the name Luna, and said she was in charge of the night, to contrast with my command of the day. My sun shaped cutie mark made that seem credible. I invented a childhood with her, gave her quirks, habits, a personality. I said anything I could think of. Before I knew it, history books were filled with passages about this 'Luna,' and it was common knowledge she was my sister. Everyone knew what she was like, even though no one had ever met her."

“我给她取了个名字，露娜，说她是掌管黑夜的公主，而我跟她恰好相反。我太阳形状的可爱标志刚好能用来证明。我虚构了我和她的童年生活，虚构了她的怪癖，她的习惯，她的个性。我把我能想到的，都说出来了。不知不觉，历史书上都写满了两个字，‘露娜’。我有她这个妹妹的事已经成了常识了。所有人都知道她，即使见都没见过一面。

Twilight was pale. "So, when you had us 'reform' her…"

暮光脸色煞白。“所以，在我们‘重塑’她的时候......”

"I depended on all of your memories, all of your belief in 'Luna' to change Nightmare Moon into a different person," Celestia said. "I couldn't do it myself, because no matter how much I deluded myself, I would always know that Luna was a lie, and the Elements wouldn't work."

“我把梦魇之月转变成一匹完全不同的小马，靠的是你们所有的记忆，所有对‘露娜’的信仰，”塞拉斯蒂娅说：“单凭我自己一个是完不成的，不管我有多否定我自己，我看到的露娜永远都是个谎言，谐律精华的力量，我是发挥不出来的。”

"Celestia, I…" Twilight said, backing away. She looked away. "We… just wiped someone's mind clean and put her in there. I can't believe it. I just can't."

“塞拉斯蒂娅，我......”暮光边说，边往后退了退，眼神迷漫。“我们......把一只小马的思想抹除，再把她放进去。我接受不了。真的不能接受。”

"It was the only option!" Celestia said. "Believe me when I said I tried everything! I did. I tried attacking. I tried negotiating. I even tried unconditionally surrendering, offering my life so that she might spare just this one country, but she wouldn't have it. She wanted everything to burn and that was the end of it."

“这在当时就只能这么做！”塞拉斯蒂娅说。“你怎么能不信我已经绞尽脑汁竭尽全力了！我都试过了。我试过攻击，我试过协商，我甚至试过提出无条件投降，献出我的生命，就为了有那么丝希望她能放过这个国家，但这些对她都统统无效。将烈火置于大地就是她想要的末日。”

Twilight shook her head. "That can't be true. It can't. No one could be like that…"

暮光摇摇头。“这不可能是真的。怎么会这样。不会有任何小马会这样做的......”

"She could," Celestia said. "But you're right. I might have been able to do something different. Something better. Sometimes I think that. But then, I realize… she's happier now. She's probably happier than she's been in her entire life." She smiled, tears forming. "Isn't that what matters? She has a family now. I have a family now. I'm not sure I can ever forgive what she did, but I have a sister now, regardless of where she came from. That's all that matters."

“她就会这样做，”塞拉斯蒂娅说。“但你是对的。可能还有别的路可以让我走。我还可以做得更好。我有时就在想着这件事。不过现在，我也看到......她变得比以前开心了。她现在所过的生活可能是她生命中最幸福的。”她笑着，眼睛湿润了。“那还有什么关系呢？她有了个家庭，我也有了个家庭。即使我还不能原谅她的罪行，但我起码有了个妹妹啊，还用计较她从哪里来吗？这就够了。”

Twilight shook her head again, and walked off a bit, attempting to keep control of herself. "Then why tell me?" she says. "Why keep those books around? If Luna ever found out…"

暮光再次以摇头回应，迈步走了一会，给了些时间控制住自己。“那为什么要告诉我？”她说。“那为什么还要留下这些书？一旦露娜发现了......”

"That's why I'm telling you," Celestia said. "Someone besides me needs to know. If the effects of the Elements begin to wear off, or she starts to remember her other life, or something, I don't know, someone else needs to know. I might not always be around, you know. Imagine what it would be like if she turned back and no one knew what was happening?" She looked out the window. "And the books? They're a reminder. A reminder of just how terrible my power can be. When you live as long as I have, you get… sentimental. Maybe I will get rid of them."

“这也是为什么我要告诉你，”塞拉斯蒂娅说。“在我身边总得有一只小马知道。如果谐律精华的效果被削弱了，或者她开始记起她原来的日子了，或者我不知道的别的发生，那时总得有别的小马要知道这件事。我不能时时刻刻都在这里，你也懂的。好好想想看，如果她苏醒过来，又无马知道这些故事，会发生什么？”她的视线转移到窗外。“你说到的那些书？那是作为一个见证者。提醒我的能力会有多可怕。你只要活到我这个年龄，你就会变得......多愁善感起来。也许我会把那些书丢掉的”

Twilight looked distraught. She edged towards the door. "I'm sorry, this is just… a lot to take in. Do you mind if I…?"

暮光看上去心乱如麻。她挪到门前。“对不起，这些真的......太多要我去消化的。你介不介意我......？”

Celestia undid the protective magic and opened the door. "Of course. Take whatever time you need." She paused. "Just… don't do anything rash, okay?"

塞拉斯蒂娅解除了保护魔法并开了门。“当然可以。用多少时间消化都可以。”她停顿了一下。“只要......别做出些鲁莽的事来，好吗？”

"I won't, Princess," Twilight said, and rushed out.

“我不会的，公主。”暮光说完就快步跑了出去。

Celestia watched. Twilight looked like she was having trouble with the news, but… who else could she tell? She had gambled so much on Twilight already. She had no choice but to trust her.

塞拉斯蒂娅望着她的背影。暮光似乎有点难接受这些新的观念，但......塞拉斯蒂娅还能告诉给谁听呢？她都已经把未来押在暮光身上了，也就只能相信暮光了。

She walked to her room, looking at the relics strewn about. So many of them related to Luna. So many of them contributed to the illusion.

她走回自己的房间，看着散乱摆放的文物。这么多，都和露娜有关。这么多，都因一个虚构的幻象而生。

One in particular always caught her eye. She stared at a tapestry, hung opposite to her bed, that depicted the two as children. 

她总会被其中一个很特别的东西吸引住。她盯着一副壁毯，就挂在她的床前，那描画的是它们小时候的样子。

She would always remember that tapestry. It was the first time she had to describe Luna to an artist. She remembered how scared she was when she screwed up some details. She apologized profusely for her faulty memory, but the artist assured her it was fine, and filled in the gaps herself. 

这副壁毯她不可能忘得掉。这是她第一次向艺术家描述露娜的样子。她还记得当时有些细节弄错的时候她有多害怕。她为她记错的问题道歉过很多遍很多遍，但艺术家觉得这没什么，然后自己把那些空缺补上了。

That one artist's decisions ended up impacting every depiction of Luna since, including the one that was currently sleeping in the other wing of the castle.

这位艺术家的小小决定最终影响了所有和露娜有关的形象诠释，包括现在在城堡另一翼正躺在甜蜜梦乡的那位小马。

"Sister…"

“妹妹......”