Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Chapter 13: Boulevard of Broken Dreams
“We… we have mobilized our troops and are in the process of tracking down Twilight Sparkle. She could not have gone far. The border patrols have been doubled so it is highly unlikely she will slip by us undetected. I… I have given the orders authorizing lethal force… k-kill on sight.”
Luna’s throne had never felt so intimidating and cold.
Surrounded by a sea of guards and her trusted council members, Luna could not help but stare in disbelief at Spitfire who mimicked the Princess’s somber expression.
Betrayal.
Denial.
It was written large upon all of her little pony’s faces and nothing she could do or say would quell it from her own.
Unlike her subjects, she refused to accept the news. She had not seen what they had.
“This… cannot be true...” Luna shook her head. “Your information must be incorrect.”
Spitfire lowered her head, unable to speak any further.
Flash Sentry stepped forward from the ranks of the council, passing by a strangely subdued Blueblood who stared at his hooves, rage simmering behind his eyes.
“The… area was too devastated for us to fully comprehend the bigger picture, your Majesty. The ponies on the train… or… what was left it, were all killed by what appeared to be griffon weaponry or from the force of the train’s purposeful derailment. The damage done to the area was caused by immensely powerful magic. Magic that could only have come from an alicorn, or a being of equal measure.”
“There must something else.” Luna stood up from her throne, trembling. “Check again. I want a detailed magical analysis of the area. I want to know the truth! I refuse to believe she is capable of this horror!”
Flash Sentry looked back to Spitfire, saddened by the outburst. “I apologize, your Majesty, but… but we have done just that. We checked and checked again, but the results are the same. The report Spitfire put together after briefing the sole survivor… and her injuries… it’s… the evidence is conclusive. No mistake has been made… it was Twilight.”
Spitfire closed her eyes, speaking up despite her reluctance to do so. Everything was just one piece of bad news after the next. “What… little remains of the Element of Kindness we recovered… it… and what Lightning Dust has told us… or what she could tell us… there’s nothing else we can do or say to rationalize it to not being, Twilight Sparkle.”
Luna fell back against the throne, her trembling forehooves lifting towards her face.
She stared at them for the longest of moments before looking back towards Spitfire. “Lightning Dust… will she recover? What is the extent of her injuries?”
Flash Sentry took a step forward. “Your Majesty, I don’t think you need to burden yourself with that—”
Luna gave Flash Sentry a very explicit look. One that dared him to speak again. He quickly stepped back, his head bowed in submission.
Spitfire cleared her throat. “She… she is suffering from blood loss but thankfully, she is still hanging on to life. She is a fighter and perhaps the bravest pony I have ever met and, if it pleases your Majesty, I would like to grant her the title of honorary Wonderbolt, including a medal of Valour… if it was not for her we would have been completely in the dark… and it appears she attempted to stop Twilight Sparkle, even though she knew she was no match.”
“Do as you please.” Luna muttered, having bigger things occupying her mind. “See to it she is taken care of. I would like to question her myself when she is better. I want you to make her as comfortable as possible… we owe her that much for the great service she has done to Equestria.”
Spitfire bowed her head, departing the throne room by filtering through the sea of ponies.
Flash Sentry swallowed hard, unnerved that he needed to speak again to the Princess, who was clearly upset, even if she hid it better than those around her. “I have taken the liberty of preparing a state funeral for the Element of Kindness… once we are able to gain access to... to her body...”
“Discord... “ Luna’s heart sank as she murmured his name. “Has he—”
Flash Sentry shook his head. “He is not well. He refuses to give us the body.”
“I see... I will deal with him in due time. What about…” Luna struggled to form the words as she almost sobbed, “what about Rainbow Dash and Applejack, have their… have their bodies been found?”
Flash Sentry shook his head. “No, your Majesty. I fear they will not be found. There is a chance they were vapourized… or worse. We are working around the clock to bring conclusive evidence that they too perished under the wreckage, but we cannot guarantee anything at this time.”
Luna closed her eyes as she turned away from the procession, her head tilting upwards as she lamented over announcing the news to Equestria proper. Or worse, to their families.
How could she explain this? How could she tell them that it was she who had failed them.
She was supposed to be their ruler.
Their protector.
Instead, she practically gift wrapped them to a crazed Twilight Sparkle.
Luna caught herself mid-sob as she herself began to accept the impossible.
Twilight Sparkle was the culprit.
They had all been played for foals.
Trotting down the dais and away from the throne, Luna looked to Blueblood as she passed. “It is to you I leave the authority, Blueblood, to deal with the necessities of this case. I am going to retire to my chambers so that I can better think over what my future course of action is to be... but I decree as of now, so that we are all clear on it, that Princess Twilight Sparkle is stripped of her crown, status and is now officially an enemy of Equestria… I want her captured alive. I want to know why she has done this to us.”
Blueblood, surprisingly humble, nodded his head, his eyes averted from the Princess as she walked past him and through the crowd. “Of course. Absolutely. Leave it to me. I shall make the arrangements with the rest of the council and report directly to you.”
________________
Spitfire stopped before the door of the medical wing of the castle, entering after a quiet knock was given upon it.
The last time she had seen Lightning Dust was when she was discovered lying quite some distance from the wreckage, her limbs purposefully severed and scattered around like some cruel reminder.
They had hoped to reattach the limbs, but she had a strong suspicion that the procedure would result in a failure. They were simply too damaged. The stumps, too, were cauterized as if to prevent such an attempt.
Twilight Sparkle wanted her to live and suffer.
To become a message.
That much was understood without Lightning Dust’s mad ramblings.
Carved across her flesh in varying degrees of size and manic hoof-writing was the word:
Revenge.
Revenge for what, Spitfire knew not. But the message left behind was directed at the Princess for certain.
Twilight Sparkle was threatening the Princess, but for what?
The key to these answers was their only lead to what truly happened.
Lightning Dust.
Immediately her stomach sank at the heavily bandaged, legless form lying still upon a gurney on the other side of the ward. The only areas not covered in the bloodied gauze were her muzzle and remaining eye.
Spitfire trembled at the expression within it.
Lightning Dust’s vacant eye gazed on as if trapped within an eternal nightmare from which she could not escape, her lips moving, wording something that could not be heard.
Next to her worked one of the nurses, carefully using her blue-tinted magic to rewrap a fresh set of bandages around Lightning Dust’s left stump, a clear yellow discharge of infection staining the old.
Looking up, the yellow unicorn blinked behind her bowl-cut, blue mane. “Ah… Captain Spitfire, I didn’t expect to see you here again today.”
“I’m not here on official business… I’m here for a personal reason. I hope you do not mind if I talk to her alone?” As Spitfire approached the gurney, she glanced towards Lightning Dust’s face, trying her best to smile and catch that dead-eyed gaze of hers.
“Of course, I think it is nice of you to come and talk to her. She is a little subdued due to the tranquilizers, but it was unfortunately necessary.”
“Why is that?” Spitfire remarked, her lips curling into a troubled frown. “Is she okay?”
The nurse shook her head as she approached, placing a hoof upon Spitfire’s shoulder. “She began to act violently when she realized she was in the palace. A moment of mania, you understand. She’s been through so much, so her psychology must be… damaged. I think it going to be longer to heal her mind than her body so, please, be careful what you say to her, okay? I can't give her anymore sedatives.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t press any questions that will upset her. I have come to give her some good news, at the very least.”
“Is that so? I think it will be great for her to hear some kind of good news, today. I’ll give you two some space.”
Spitfire nodded as the nurse gave both a warm and caring smile before walking away to leave the ward entirely.
Once alone in the silence, Spitfire found herself staring in disbelief.
The last time they met she thought the mare arrogant and headstrong to an incredible degree. She was expelled from the Wonderbolts by Spitfire’s own hoof, but never in a million years would she wish this on anypony.
Swallowing back her sadness, she looked upon Lightning Dust with a forced smile. “Hey there, Lightning Dust.”
The mare’s somber eye turned towards the Wonderbolt.
Under that stare, a tremble reverberated through Spitfire’s body. “I have some good news and I thought I ought to be the one to say it. I have decided that, due to your service and your undying loyalty to Equestria, including your bravery at attempting to fight back against the unsuspecting menace of Twilight Sparkle… I feel as if you ought to be awarded the prestigious honour of becoming a full-fledged Wonderbolt.”
Lightning Dust’s eye softened at the news, clearly stripping her from the haze she had lost herself to.
A quiet, gentle whisper came from the mare, her eye widening as a tear fell from it, soaking into the pillow. “W-Wonderbolt?”
Spitfire’s smile only widened, nodding gently. She longed to place a hoof upon the mare’s head. To smooth over her mane - to reassure and comfort her, but knew full well that her injuries beneath the gauze would make it quite uncomfortable.
“Yes. I haven’t brought your medal, but I will have it made right away for you to display wherever you go. You should be proud of yourself, Lightning Dust. No pony would have done what you did. You stood up against impossible odds and, despite the sacrifices you made, here you are… you’re a hero.”
Lightning Dust’s tears fell quicker while an odd smile graced her lips, including a curious expression Spitfire could not quite understand.
She looked… disappointed? The Wonderbolt could not quite identify the emotion.
“A… a hero?” Lightning Dust sobbed.
Spitfire nodded slowly. “If it wasn’t for you, we would never have known about Twilight’s betrayal. Who knows what would have happened if we had not known… she could have easily walked into the palace and finished what she set out to do…”
Lightning Dust’s cried as she spoke, whispering her words. “I-I… I’m so… sorry…”
Spitfire blinked, leaning in close towards the mare so she could better hear her. “For what? You did nothing wrong, Lightning Dust. You don’t need to say sorry… you did everything you could...”
“I… I...” Lightning Dust opened her eye, her head turning towards Spitfire. “I just wanted… I just wanted to be respected… I just wanted to beat Rainbow Dash… I just—”
“Shhh, it’s okay. That is all in the past. There is nothing to fret over. You’re no longer expelled from the Wonderbolts. You’ve returned a hero and will forever be remembered as one of the bravest that ever wore the uniform.”
“I… I did it. I… I killed them…”
Spitfire bit at her lower lip. She shouldn’t have come here. She was only upsetting the mare. “No, Lightning, you didn’t. If anything, you saved Equestria. You can’t think like that—”
“Y-you don’t understand!”
“I think that will be quite enough for the day, Captain Spitfire.” Came the annoyed tone of the nurse, who had inconspicuously snuck back into the ward. She was standing directly behind the Wonderbolt, looking none too pleased. “I thought I said not to upset her. She is in a very critical condition, even if she is stable…”
Spitfire, startled, took a step back, shame growing upon her features as she looked between the nurse and Lightning Dust. “I apologize… I was just... “ She looked upon the sobbing mare in the gurney, her eyes softening with her own tears. “I am sorry. I will come and visit you again, Lightning Dust… but please, don’t say such things about yourself. There was nothing you could have done to save—”
“Ahem.” The nurse shot Spitfire a glare.
Nodding her head, Spitfire trotted off. “Rest for now, Lightning Dust. We will speak again soon, okay?”
The nurse saw the Captain of the Wonderbolts out with a very intense glare which quickly softened the moment she looked upon her sobbing patient.
Once the door clicked shut, then nurse’s smile completely dissipated almost immediately.
“What were you going to say to her, Lightning Dust?” The nurse soothed with a gentle voice, her magic reigniting about her horn as she lifted an empty syringe. Her voice betrayed her sudden grim determination.
Lightning Dust longed to lift a hoof up to wipe away the tears,but even though she felt she had limbs, she knew full well there was nothing there to get rid of the irritation.
“N-nothing…” Lighting Dust whimpered, looking to the nurse and the empty syringe as it levitated into the air. Her eye widened when she noticed the familiar green-fire of changeling magic being used to lift it.
“W-wait… you’re a—”
“Unfortunately, my Queen is upset with you as it is, but this? This is the last straw. It is nothing personal, so I hope you understand.” The nurse narrowed green tinted eyes upon the helpless mare. “You jeopardized her great vision of a unified rule. You didn’t follow her plan… you should count yourself fortunate that we were not revealed, and positively blessed that you managed to salvage the situation.”
Lightning Dust’s bottom lip quivered as she shook her head. “I didn’t mean for Twilight to get away! I… I can fix this!”
The nurse scoffed. “What, as you are? Don’t make me laugh. You couldn’t fight your way out of a wet paper bag, now… now, you’re just nothing more than a lump of useless flesh.”
“Give me one last chance! I-I’ll make it up to the Princess! I swear it on my life!”
“Correct me if I am wrong, Lightning Dust, but you just almost spilt your guts just now, didn’t you?”
“N-no! I would never—”
“What exactly were you going to say to the Captain? Were you just about to throw back the love our glorious Queen gave to you? The power she offered? It sounds like to me you would betray the only pony in all of Equestria that would love a sorry excuse for a pony like you.”
“I didn’t say anything! I-I didn’t plan to! I’d never betray her!”
Lightning Dust’s body locked up as the empty syringe full of air was jammed straight into her neck.
The mare yelled out in agony as its content was pushed into the artery.
“A risk we are not willing to make… but do not worry. It is as the pony said. You will be forever remembered as a hero… such a shame, you will pass from this life, knowing you are nothing more than a liar and a cheat… and above all else, a murderer.” Pulling out the syringe, the pony smirked, revealing a set of fangs and a long serpentine tongue that flicked out to taste the air.
Lightning Dust’s body convulsed violently on the gurney, her mouth wide as her eye rolled up into the back of her head, the deadly pocket of air reaching her brain swiftly, causing a seizure that induced a fatal heart attack.
Once still, Lightning Dust’s head flopped to the side, her face permanently locked in terror, a single tear dripping down her muzzle.
“Queen Cadence sends her love.”
_______________
Princess Luna stared emotionlessly across the city of Canterlot from her bedroom’s balcony.
Her eyes held a sharpness to them that mimicked the expression when she was lost to her hatred as Nightmare Moon; promising endless night and suffering for those that would dare defy her reign of eternal darkness…
But her anger was imbued with something far more painful.
Sorrow.
The bloodshot, puffy state of her eyes was evidence enough of just how much she had been crying since she was informed of the terrible, undeniable truth. Her heart ached with a sadness that was laced with a betrayal she could not swallow no matter how many times she attempted to rationalize it.
Luna fell back onto her haunches, her face contorting as a sob broke out from her lips. Her eyes clenched tight as the weight of everything that had been thrown at her in the past few months finally came crashing to the surface.
She had lost a sister, and now? She had lost her only remaining link to her.
Twilight Sparkle, her sister’s dearest student, was gone.
She was no more.
Whatever was left of her was but a vile shadow… a mockery of the pony she once called a friend.
Or, did she; did Twilight Sparkle, truly exist at all?
Was this always the plan?
Perhaps the change into an alicorn was the trigger? With newfound power came newfound responsibilities… including illusions of grandeur. She was no stranger to such a temptation and had fallen to similar inclinations…
Had Twilight Sparkle simply been biding her time?
“Why?” Luna pressed her forehooves against her eyes as she wept. “W-why have you done this? What did we do… what did… what did Celestia do to deserve this?”
The young alicorn must have done it.
It explained so much.
Twilight had orchestrated the most perfect of betrayals and had hidden her true motives right under Luna’s very nose, without fault.
Celestia’s assassination… pinning the blame upon the Griffin Empire… silencing the assassin herself in a seeming fit of rage… her return to Ponyville with three of the Elements by her side, ripe for the taking when they least expected it…
Lightning Dust was the message and Luna received it loud and clear.
It all seemed to make too much sense.
It seemed so obvious now, even if she did not want to believe the pieces fit together.
Twilight Sparkle wanted the throne of Equestria to herself.
“H-how could she?”
Ripping her hooves back from her eyes, Luna stood, her wings flaring wide as she tossed her head aside. Igniting her horn with an inky darkness, she consumed every item of furniture in her room and threw it all against the wall in an almighty crash of broken wood and glass.
“What did we do to deserve this?! My sister; she loved you like no other!” Luna screamed, stomping a forehoof down hard enough to cause the entirety of her room to tremble under a terrible quake. “Why would you kill her?! Why would you kill your own friends? For what? For power?! You ought to have known better!”
Heaving hot, quick breaths through her nose, Luna snapped her attention to the entourage of guards bursting into her room, all wide-eyed and panicked.
They paused the very moment they set eyes on their Princess, who looked upon them as if they were mere ants for her to crush under hoof.
“LEAVE!” She barked at them.
“But… your Majesty we heard a—”
“I SAID LEAVE!” She bellowed again, magic angrily sparking from her horn.
Luna’s body sagged under the weight of emotions pushing down at her as the guards scrambled out of the room, closing the door behind them.
Dropping down to kneel upon the ground, Luna wept, completely overcome with what she had to do.
“I need you, sister.” She looked up from the ground and towards the ceiling, hoping the answer would come from the heavens. “I know what to do but I fear I won’t have the courage to do what you did… I-I just… I just can’t.”
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Man I hate misunderstandings
. Damn changlings
Waitaminute here.........
Cadance?! Cadance is the real villain here?!
And she's a queen?! Since when??!?
And she's framed both Twilight and Luna, making each think that the other is the villain in all this.
Did not see this one comin'!
Oboy. When you said in your last blog that there would be more questions than answers at the end of this story, MP, you were not kiddin'!
Gotta say, I'm not really happy that the entire plot is now relying on poor communications kill to drive it along. Especially when there's some holes in it.
Like the fact they're both still alive and would likely be the first to clear this whole thing up. Unless Twiligh tjust happened to teleport them to another continent, which would be really contrived.
Or the fact that Twilight expressed her incredible hatred toward the griffins and would never work with them. If they have evidence of a griffin attack, why wouldn't they assume she was trying to defend against it? Seems pretty logical given the griffins already assassinated one princess, and tried to assassinate another.
Lightning was spamming attacks just as Twilight was. How would such a detailed analysis not be able to pick it up?
It just doesn't make any sense. Why would she purposely derail the train she's on and kill her friends if her motive was to take over Equestria? An attack on Luna or Canterlot I could see but there's no reason anyone would jump to that conclusion based on a train derailment. It just seems like the plot's getting railroaded so that it can go down the "evil!Twilight vs Equestria" route.
Also,
That would only occur if the air embolism passed through her heart. Since it went to her brain, she would have suffered a stroke. I could complain about how Spitfire would have probably heard her screaming since she had just left seconds earlier and they'd likely do an autospy to see why she died of a sudden heart attack/stroke which would reveal the embolism, but that seems like nitpicking.
It's obviously a changeling, since the real one doing it makes absolutely no sense. At least that explains the griffin assassins.
6506642 I'd have to agree that there are some massive glaring plot holes in this chapter.
Don't forget the random evil Cadance, willing to destroy the life of the mare she raised in order to attempt a coup using the fact that Twilight and Luna would be at such major enemies that they instantly suspect each other for being a villian. What about Shining Armor, is he just willing to throw his L.S.B.F.F. straight into death to become a 'king'? Did we just forget about Shining all together? I hope you are right about the fake Cadance thing, but then it would feel a bit like A Canterlot Wedding... An imposter Cadance, Changelings, Twilight being abandoned, Celestia being defeated...
Then there is Luna just sending a possibly unstable princess to a rural town while the assassination of Celestia, someone ruling for at least 1000 years, just happened. Don't forget the such conventiant fact that the train derailed no where near any town or city who would send rescue ponies immediately or have no survivors from the crash to provide witnesses.
There is another thing that makes this extremely sketchy... Luna immediately declares Twilight a villian from a single testimony. Luna does not make her desision based off of a period of logic and thinking, rather 'connects' the idea that Twilight saw the gryphon assassination and Twilight was using magic at the site where they believe the mane 5 died at and declares it as a rebellion? I'd understand a more logical conclusion of the gryphons assassinating the mane 5 and failing to kill Twilight after murdering the rest, but really?
This is probably the best point you make, in my opinion. We are given very little time to reflect on the loss that Twilight feels and how that has affected her emotional and mentally. It went from a good pacing in the begining to a sudden rush of action and background/plot thrown into our faces via exposition. For a story that starts off on the idea of a gryphon slipping into the most well defended castle in Equestria, making into the Sun Princess's chambers unnoticed by ANYONE, and killing a pony who's lived for thousands of years and controls the sun, D-S=M losses a lot of the charm of its first chapter when it starts to throw dramatic irony in our faces rather than let us infer and make conclusions and guesses into who is the true villian.
Imagine if we were never told who the murderer really is. What if the concept that Twilight thinks Luna planned it and Luna thinks Twilight had gone mad and planned it was the central aspect of the story only to be revealed as one of them stands triumphant over the other, that it was truly Cadance all along. This would really have made the plot twist sink in and force us to go back to all those facts, those tiny details hidden throughout the story like
becoming
.
The central idea of the story would be in no way changed, but the execution of it would allow there less of a gap between the reader and the characters, something dramatic irony does a lot of the time.
WTF
Wait what? So...griffins attack the train (after a griffin assasin killed the princess), twilight kills them, and is declared an enemy and the obvious traitor to equestria who murdered Celestia to ursurp the throne based on the fact that lightning dust (a pegasus with the alicorn amulet who can also shape shift) has the word "revenge" carved into her body...I liked this story, up until this. I kinda like the idea of it being Cadence (maybe) and even trying to frame up Twilight and play her against Luna but that's got to be the sloppiest worst plot hole filled frame up job ever and every character got to this conclusion based on practically nothing. I mean everything that's happened in this story completely goes against this as being the outcome...but then lightning dust just says it's Luna and twilight rolls with it no questions asked? Luna assumes that Twilight is the master behind all this based on a word carved into lightning dust without even bothering to check any body's testimony and spitfire just shrugs off her confession? Very sloppy, way too many plot holes for this "twist", and like one commenter said before me, the entire plot was just railroaded so the story could move in this direction. Like I said I like the IDEA of this scenario but this was definitely the wrong way to get to it. Everything else was good though! I'll keep reading, maybe it'll pick up somewhere in the sequel or something. Still gave it a like!
all these twists all over the place aah
Wow...how ironic that Lightning Dust experienced the same treatment from her friends as Twilight did. She tried to tell the truth but Spitfire dismissed her completely. And now she's left dead, after mutilation and a familiar-looking eye wound in case the rest of the parallels weren't already obvious!
I'm late as hell to the party, but I actually noticed some subtle foreshadowing that it would be Cadance.
Like when Lightning Dust (disguised as Spitfire in the train) mentioned that she'd show Rainbow how much she "loves" her. Taken by itself, it's a pretty weird and out of place statement, but if taken as sarcasm, which it clearly was, it puts a neon sign over the pink princess's head. There were a couple other things I noticed, but I'm not as sure about them.
Also, I don't buy some of the previous commentor's theories of "oh but it wasn't Cadence tho she too pure". The changeling nurse said it herself to the the pony she was killing, and lying there would be the very definition of pointlessness. Plus, that's what moments like this in stories are for, so we the readers can know the truth.
Unfortunately the sequels seem to be cancelled, so I guess we'll never really know why.