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It was a quiet evening in the palace in Canterlot. Not the companionable, pleasant kind of quiet. Not the still, calm, nobody-at-home kind of quiet either. It was the kind of quiet that came after a funeral, when no one can think of anything to say and holding each other close is all a family can do. The foals had cried themselves to sleep. Princess Twilight's docket had been cleared for days. Captain Rainbow Dash was on compassionate leave. Lero had long since retired from professional work, though every now and then he picked up his toolbox to help around the castle.
"I always thought it'd be me." Rainbow Dash broke the silence. Her words came out as a confession. "I never thought..." She trailed off, leaning into Lero's arms. His fingers pressed against the side of her neck, stroking through the fur.
Twilight tried to think of something she could say. Anything. But she couldn't. She'd known it wouldn't be her. Ever since her Ascension. Maybe ever since she'd worn the Element of Magic. Maybe always, she'd known. It wouldn't be her with her herdmates mourning her. Maybe not ever. She pressed her wings more tightly around Lero and Rainbow Dash. She'd continued to grow until she could look Lero straight in the eye, and her wings had grown proportionately. She'd carefully never found out how fast she could fly. Not anywhere that Rainbow Dash might see, anyhow. Or feel challenged by. Princess of Equestria, yes. Alpha Mare, no.
Lero bent his head down to press his cheek between Rainbow Dash's ears. His hair had distinct white in it, but hadn't given up yet. He couldn't find words either. He wasn't looking for them. His relationship with Lyra had always been different, calmer, more delight-in-each-other's-company than the sheer energy of his love for Rainbow Dash or Twilight's almost fillylike desire for someone to hold her close. The suddenness of it all still had him stunned. Just two days ago, Lyra had been singing with the Music of Harmony, dancing through the hallways with half the population of the castle, singing a surprisingly boisterous song about the Still Way. Her daughter, Lero's daughter, a beautiful little unicorn filly, Minerva Heartstrings, had asked Lyra to teach her all about it, sparking the whole thing. Minerva had hummed along to let Lero hear what he could of Lyra's song.
And that night Lyra died in her sleep. A fluke, a blood clot from a simple bruise, a little hard obstruction that somehow made it into her brain. They'd all been cuddled together that night, warm and comfortable. In the morning, only three of them were still warm.
Rainbow Dash shuddered against her herdmates, then began to cry. Not loud, wailing bawls, but honest, helpless tears she made no effort to resist. Lero knuckled his fingers against her neck, but the the tears slide across her fur unhindered.
Twilight pressed her cheek against Rainbow Dash's. "Wherever she is, I know she still loves us," she told the cyan pegasus. "If you'd gone first, I know you would too."
Rainbow Dash's tears continued to flow for minutes, and no one else spoke. Finally, her eyes ran dry, and she summoned up the watery ghost of her usual insouciance. "Not Lero?" Then she quivered and pressed her wing hard against Lero's side. "Don't you *dare* go before me," she whispered.
Twilight nuzzled Rainbow Dash's wet cheek again. "Lero's immune to every pathogen in Equestria," she pointed out. "Nothing's suited to him. He... well... Lero? What do you think happens when you die?"
Lero kissed Rainbow Dash atop the head, then Twilight as well. In a soft voice, he said, "Sometimes I think... if you've been really, really good, and someone up above really, really likes you... then you wake up in a magical world of magical ponies who show you what love really is."
Rainbow Dash turned and stared at him, then wrapped her hooves around his shoulders and squeezed down hard. "You are not dead, Lero. You are NOT. You're here with me, with us."
Lero had to try hard to pull in a breath, but he gave his mare a matching squeeze. "If I was, Rainbow, this would be the best Heaven I could have. With you. All of you. And our children. And everyone. And if Lyra went on to another world ahead of us, I know she'll be there waiting."
And both Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle sobbed for their lost herdmate, and Lero held them both.