//------------------------------//
// Love Is a Stone-Cold Bitch 
// Story: Lines of Succession 
// by Mockingbirb 
//------------------------------//

"We've very carefully inspected the room," Sentry said, "but we haven't moved much. Forensics reserved the entire space, just in case."

Sunset peered through the doorway, trying to see through the gaps between the partway open door, the surrounding doorframe, and Sentry himself. "May I have a clear view?" she asked. "Even...go inside?"

Sentry shrugged. "There are no guarantees in this world, but I suppose at this point it's about as safe as anyplace else." He stepped sideways. "If you have any questions, or think you might need any help, just call out."

Sunset frowned. She saw a pale, unmoving torso with twisted-looking limbs, not unlike a dead cow she'd seen in a butcher's shop once, in the human world. "It doesn't even look like a pony, not really."

"Yes," Sentry agreed. "But it does tend to sneak up on you."

Sunset stepped into the room. With a wider field of view, she noticed the now unponylike, midnight-dark corpse closer to one wall. "Wow," she said. "Looks like...I've seen scenes like this in human restaurants, only smaller. I guess this Twilight pony even cooked the Nightmare, well-done."

"Yes. Twilight Sparkle was very thorough. I gather Twilight was fighting for her own life, and against the pony who had just threatened to kill the princess Twilight loved. Had just killed her, but maybe Twilight thought Celestia might still be saved, if help could arrive in time."

Seeing the pale torso from another angle, Sunset felt a queasy shock of recognition. "Mom," she said. She felt cold and weak, and very, very small. Like a foal.

A unicorn picked Sunset up bodily in a magical corona, pulling her out of the room. Another pony held a wastebasket in front of her face, and Sunset emptied her stomach. When her heaving had slowed to just occasional clenches within her belly, she said, "Mom," and cried.

Somepony patted Sunset's shoulder as she screamed and wailed. "Mom! I don't think I can...how can I...you shouldn't have let this happen. You should have known better. Equestria needs you. I need you."

"I know what it's like," a mareish voice said. 

Sunset turned to look. It was a purple unicorn. She had one forehoof on Sunset's shoulder. "You," Sunset said. "You of all ponies. Why are you of all ponies..."

"Trying to comfort you?" the unicorn asked.

"Yes. Aren't you--"

"Twilight Sparkle, yes."

Sunset remembered what Celestia used to do, mostly when Sunset was a little foal, but less often as she grew older. But whenever Sunset was deeply hurt and willing to admit it, it seemed Celestia was always there for her. 

Sunset asked, "May I...may I embrace you in my wings? Not that I'll be any good at it."

Twilight put a foreleg partway around Sunset, hugging her. "You should. You should get to hug somepony. I should get to hug somepony too. Somecreature else, who..."

Sunset wrapped her wings around Twilight, somewhat awkwardly at first. "You're right. By...I don't know what to swear by, anymore."

"Swear by yourself," Twilight said sardonically. "Somepony has to."

"Damn me to Tartarus," Sunset said. "If I'd only been here...if I'd only stayed...maybe it would have turned out differently."

Twilight bared her teeth in a grimace, and made an odd sound in her throat. "I was here. I tried my very best to defend her. I thought, if only I could get off a first shot, just to distract the killer, the assassin...even if my body could block the first attack..."

"You tried really hard, didn't you? Not that you thought or felt you had any other choice."

"I would have died for her. The murderer...Nightmare, or Luna, or whatever her name was...the murderer told me I was wrong. And in a funny kind of way...I'm not sure Celestia was really arguing very hard. But the only thing I'm sorry about is that Celestia is dead, and I failed to save her."

Sunset said, "I've seen and heard all the reports. The tactical analysts agree. You did your very best. You brought your very best to the fight that you didn't even know you'd be in, and you did your Celestia-blessed best to win it, even if it might cost you your own life. Your only mistake was, you were unlucky. Please don't torment yourself over it. Because that's the last thing Celestia would have wanted, for you to blame yourself."

"But I...if only..."

"There, there," Sunset nuzzled Twilight's cheek. "I've never met you before. I only know you through a very hurried investigation. But I think I know you a lot better than...a pony usually knows somepony they've never met before."

"I don't know what to do with myself," Twilight said. "I had all these ideas about what to do in Ponyville, and with Celestia, all these plans...and now, nothing. Nothing at all. Everything that mattered to me is gone."

Cloud Guard cleared his throat. "It's never easy," he said. "Losing somepony who's important to you. In the Guard...even if you're lucky enough that you never lose somepony who's so close to you...you still learn, sooner or later. You still know. Even if you mostly avoid it yourself, you still know ponies who...well. And it's something they officially teach us about, of course."

Sunset took a deep breath. "Of course."

Sunset looked into Twilight's eyes. "When I was a few years younger, my teacher told me I needed to make friends. But somehow, I never really got the knack of it. And now I meet somepony who, reliable reports say, has five friends in Ponyville, and I suppose more friends besides. Is it true you're friends with a dragon?"

Twilight's mouth wrinkled, almost smiling. "I usually call him my brother. Although under dragon law, I might be his mother."

"Really," Sunset said. "You don't say."

"I didn't...YOU KNOW, with a dragon. I just hatched the egg. It was part of my entrance exam to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns."

Sunset's lips pursed quizzically. "Whatever Celestia was to us...did it ever occur to you that she was kind of insane? I mean, really, expecting a little foal to be a dragon's mother. How did she ever come up with something like that?"

"I don't know. She always was...a tricky one, in her own way. But most of her plans were well-meant, at least, and I believe they were wise, too. I wouldn't give up my little brother for anything. He's the best little brother in the whole world."

"Twilight." Sunset patted Twilight's shoulder. "Will you help me learn about friendship?"

Twilight nodded. "Let's learn about it together." With a sudden gasp, she started crying.