//------------------------------// // Chapter six // Story: The Ghost of Cozy Glow // by SapphireRose87 //------------------------------// After the fair I explained everything to Silver Whiskers. "It's so weird being able to see her," said Silver Whiskers, "and creepy…" "I know." I said. "How is this even possible?" said SIlver Whiskers. As soon as I was about to answer his question the bell in the middle of town square dinged three times.  "I guess that's our cue to go home." I said. * * * Knowing that I had a meeting with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna I tried to fall asleep as quickly as I could. I had a hard time sleeping because of what I saw on the clip with Princess Celestia fighting Queen Chrysalis, and Terik. Those were the only ones that had broken out at least as far as I could see. "You okay?" asked Cozy Glow. "No…" I said. "I can't seem to fall asleep. And I'm already late."  "For your meeting with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?" said Cozy Glow.  "How did you know that?" I said. "Somehow," said Cozy Glow. "I can read your mind." "I'm just really worried that's all." I said. "I know you're going to the Land of the Dead," said Cozy Glow, "anyone would be worried." "So," I said, "you know what I'm going through." "Yup…" said Cozy Glow. "Now get some sleep." * * * When I finally ended up in the Land of the Dead I didn't go in my usual spot. I ended up near a cave underwater. I swam up to the surface when I finally got to the surface. I coughed up the water out of my lungs. 'Well,' I thought, 'I guess we still have to breathe in the afterlife.' "Betty…" I heard a voice echo in the cave. "Betty…" I then heard a laugh the made my blood run cold. "Um," I said looking around, "Who are you?" "Not telling right now," the voice said, "but I do have a question to ask you."  "Okay?" I said. I looked around at the edge of the cave and saw a clown standing there with a creepy grin on his face. I could sense that this was not a clown, but he was something else.  "Who are you?" I said. "Or maybe I should say, what are you?"  "Oh fine," said the Clown, "I guess I have to introduce myself now. I'm Mr. Giggles, the Clown. Nice to meet now, you should introduce yourself. It's only fair."  "I'm Betty…" I said. "And you're not a Clown, you're something else."  "Oh," said Mr. Giggles, "you're good. Very Good…" Mr.Giggles laughed again, and I gulped trying not to be afraid.  "Afraid?" said Mr. Giggles.  "No," I said, "what was your question?"  "Huh?" said Mr. Giggles."Oh yes, my question, the question is, do you want a balloon?"  "No thanks," I said, "I don't take things from creepy Clowns. If that's what you are…" "Oh," said Mr. Giggles, "you guessed I'm not a Clown, bravo!" "And," I said, "if you're such a Clown, then where's your circus?" "Oh that," said Mr.Giggles, "it's back in the deep darkness of my cave."  "Your Cave?" I said. "Yes," said Mr. Giggles, "my cave. I don't see your name written on it?"  Mr. Giggles then laughed and stared thoughtfully up at the sky.  "How would you like a baby?" said Mr. Giggles. "No way!" I said. "How in Equestria would I want a baby right now? I'm still in school crying out loud!" "But you'll be out of school in a few years." said Mr. Giggles. "And?" I said."Your point?" "Okay then," said Mr. Giggles, "you have a few years toi think about it." Without another word, Mr. Giggles shrank back into the darkness of his cave. * * * After my conversation with Mr. Giggles or whatever he was, I ran as fast as I could to the Middle Ground to meet Celestia and Luna. When I got there I saw Celestia, in frantic state and Luna trying to console her. "It's okay sister," said Luna, "she's here…" "Oh thank goodness!" said Celestia. "You said you needed me?" I said. "Yes," said Luna, "come with me , I have something to show you." I followed Luna into the main building, the Middle Ground, and she showed me part of it where the breakout happened, and it reduced to rubble.Trying to pretend that the conversation I had with Mr. Giggles choked me up. "Is something wrong Betty?" asked Luna. "Have you heard of Mr. Giggles the clown?" I said. Luna then looked as if she had seen a ghost, which is funny because the afterlife is nothing but ghost's. "You okay Luna?" I said.  "I thought that creature was hibernating!" said Luna. "Well I guess he wanted to say one last goodbye!" I said. "he went back into the deepest part of the cave. So, he's asleep now." "Did you take a balloon from him?" said Luna. "What?" I said. "Did you take a balloon from him?" asked Luna. "Um," I said, "No… Why?"  "Oh good," said Luna, "because if you did, it would mean he could eat our soul."  "Eat my soul?" I said. "Yes…" said Luna. "But how?" I said. "You don't want to know." said Luna.  " You also said that you had information on what a Death Walker was?" I said.  "Oh yeah…" said Luna. "That…" I then followed Luna to the library. "Of course," I said, "there's a library in the Middle Ground." "Yup," said Luna, "the Middle Ground isn't just for managing the afterlife, but it's also for learning."  "Huh?" I said. Luna then went up to the receptionist and whispered something in her ear. "Yes, Yes," said the Lady, "I know exactly where that is…" She then pulled out a book from the top shelf of the reserved section behind the desk.  "Here you go." said the Lady. "Thanks…" said Luna. Luna then sat down at the nearest table and with her magic, she turned to the exact page I needed. I had to admit, I was a little bit nervous about what I was going to find out. "Don't worry," said Luna, "you'll find out everything you need to know, in this Chapter."  I gulped and looked at the page, surprised to see that there was only one paragraph on Death Walker's and that was it. "What," I said, "there's only one paragraph."  The paragraph then started out like this: Death Walker's, no one can really say what Death Walker's are. They come from ancient beings called the Icebreakers. The Icebreakers keep everything in check for Euqestria's afterlife. They also declare when the next Death Walker and who or what creature is going to have this power. As always with great power comes great responsibility. They are sort of like Correction Officers for the Land of the Dead. That's all we know about Death Walkers. I then put the book down and my jaw dropped. "That's it?" I said. "Well," said Luna, "the rest is under lock and key. I can't tell you or show you. You'll find out what a Death Walker is in your time." I sighed, "Sure… Right…" "Can we get back the breakouts now?" said Luna. "Sure." I said.  "Now as we're trying to show you," said Luna, "you can see that on the left side the sorting building that goes to Hell, souls have been breaking out. So far it's only been Queen Chrysalis and Teirik. We've been monitoring the ever since that happened, but you as a Death Walker can keep the balance in check."  "How?" I said. "I already got enough to do. I mean there's school, dealing with my love life, there's Cozy Glow's ghost that as been following me around too. Don't you get sorted out automatically when you die?" "Not exactly…" said Celestia. "The reason you don't get sorted out, unless that soul has some sort of unfinished business to carry out in the real world. You wouldn't happen to know what that was, do you?"  "Uh," I said, "I might've smashed her statue in anger."  "What were you so angry about?" said Celestia. "Well I kept getting teased about being her relative," I said, "so I smashed it…" "Oh…" said Celestia. "I see…" "Well," said Luna, "that makes sense to me." "I think so?" I said. “But I thought that death voided everything out.” “Not exactly,” said Celestia, “it doesn’t cancel out everything. That’s why there’s an afterlife and an afterlife court. So bad things and good things that the person or pony did, that weighs against them.” “Oh,” I said, “so that’s it.” “The building in the Middle Ground is what they have me managing,” said Celestia, “because of one big mistake I made when I was alive.” “What was it?” I said. “Sending Luna to the Moon…” said Celestia. “It seems like that afterlife court agrees with Luna.”  “Sending Luna to the moon is what got you here?” I said. “Yes,” said Celestia, “that was it.”  “But that happened over a thousand years ago!” I said. “I know.” Celestia said. “They take that into account too. It seems they agreed with Luna.”  “And you still haven’t apologized for it!” Luna said. “I think what I did was for the right reason.” Celestia said, “No it wasn’t,” said Luna, “I became Nightmare Moon so you would recognize my feelings and you still didn’t! And after that I even created something to punish myself thinking I was the guilty party.” “Why would you do that?” I said. “That’s why I feel that you should give an apology.” Luna said.  “And I won’t do that!” Celestia said. “I had every right to do what I did.” Luna said. “It’s like you wanted me to be worse than you! You were always sitting with your head in the clouds waiting for me to mess up! And failing to raise the moon was just your excuse to do what you did. Sometimes I hate you for that!”  “So what if I did apologize?” Celestia said. “What would have done then?”  “I suppose nothing…” Luna said. “I think, I Would do nothing with it, it doesn’t mean anything to me now. You got your judgement and your just desserts.”  “Oh really?” Celestia said. “Are so sure about that?”  “I’m sure,” Luna said, “very sure!” “Then take this!” Celestia said. Then Celestia and Luna both charged up their horns and aimed at each other.  “Hey!” I said. I ran in between both of them and somehow was able to stop the beams with both of my hands.  “How are you able to do that?” Celestia asked.  “I don’t know, “ I said, “but you two need to stop fighting!” “That’s what everybody does when I start expressing my viewpoint. They always block me instead of Celestia!” Luna said. “I know what you mean,” I said, “I’ve always felt that way about my little brother Norman.” “You have a little brother?” Luna said. “Yes I do,” I said, “and he acts really annoying when he comes home. You see, usually in the summer and spring break he’s off living with his biological father. I’m always at school and I sleep in the Dorm Rooms at the school. But recently I’ve been called out of school because of the incident.” “What incident?” Luna asked. “I tried to kill myself.” I said. “I guess it’s not my time to die. The computer said so, and I’m pretty sure my little brother knows. Although my mother would probably keep it from him, and that’s the way I prefer it.” “Well,” Luna said, “that doesn’t solve anything. As you can see what happened between me and Celestia.” “Well you see,” I said, “it’s gonna take some time to work things out with him. I don’t know if we ever will.” “Oh I see…” Luna said. “Speaking of reforming some pony,” I said, “it is possible that I can reform Cozy Glow?” “Well,” said Celestia, “it's worth a try. Maybe you can knock some sense into her.”  “She’s constantly at my side and can read my mind now.” I said. “I’ve been thinking about reforming her ever since she’s been around me.”  “You can go ahead and try.” Celestia said.  “I don’t need Princess Twilight’s permission?” I said. “No,” said Celestia, “mine will be all you need. I’ll send a note to her.” “I agree…” Luna said. * * * When I woke up back in the Land of the Living I was super mad. Why? Because I was back in Ponyville Hospital again! It looks like they kept overnight for observation I saw so on the board. Guess who was sitting at my bedside? My mother if course and she didn’t look worried, she looked mad too. “What happened?” Cozy Glow asked. My jaw dropped because I was unsure of what to say. Mother then looked over where Cozy Glow was. “Yes,” mom said, “I can see her in case you were wondering.” “Huh?” I said. “I can see her,” mom said, “and I think she just asked you a question that needs an answer.”  “Oh,” I said,”I’m sorry Cozy Glow, but my meeting with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna went a little bit longer than expected.”  “It’s okay…” Cozy Glow. “So,” said mom, “you’re a Death Walker aren't you?”  “Yeah,” I said, “so what if I am?” “Don’t you take that tone with me young lady!” Mom said. Looking at my mom in frustration not willing to argue with her.  “Hey,” said Cozy Glow, “stop fighting! Can’t we all just get along?” “No!” My mom and I said. “I knew you were a Death Walker from the very day you born!” Said mom.  “Then why didn’t you say anything?” I said. “Because I wasn’t allowed to!” Mom said. “Fine, “ I said, “would you stop shouting then? You’re giving me a headache.” “I’ll shout however much I want to!” Mom said. “I’m afraid you’ll have to leave.” said the Nurse. “But visiting hours aren't over yet.” Mom said.  “I could hear the shouting all the way down the hallway.” the Nurse said. “Now, you can go quietly or we’ll have the Police escort you out.”  “You can’t do that!” Mom said. “And no shouting at me either!” The Nurse said. “Betty needs her rest and you won’t stop shouting because you will be taken out of here one way or another.” “Fine, fine…” said mom. “I’ll go, but this isn’t over Betty! Not by a long shot!” “We’ll see about that.” I said. As soon as mom left the room I let out a sigh of relief.  “Thank goodness.” I said. “By the way Cozy Glow, how long was I asleep?”  “A couple of days,” said Cozy Glow, “and I’m just gonna say this, your mother just wants to control you. She’s angry and I’m not sure why.”  “I know…” I said.  Ever since my argument with my mother I started staying in the Dorm Rooms even more. I was determined not to see her as much as possible if I could help it. Then on the breaks from school I stayed with a family friend Fluttershy.  “So what’s with you and your mother?” Fluttershy asked.  “She found that I was a Death Walker,” I said, “when actually she’s known about this the whole entire time! Apparently they’re declared by spirits called Icebreakers.” “I’ve heard about Death Walkers,” said Fluttershy, “because I’m also a Death Walker too!” * * * “Interesting…” I said. “I have a tale to tell you,” Fluttershy said, “back when humans first arrived in Equestria, they brought  some magic with them. Some of them were witches and wizards that worked for Royalty. One of the greatest witches ever known from humans was one named Heavenly. No one knows her last name, that was to be kept secret and to this very day it's been off record. Until recently it’s been discovered that she was related to you. Heavenly’s last name is Jewel. And Heavenly was one of the first to become a Death Walker.” “Great,” I said, “another superstar in the family! I can’t win.”  “Let me guess,” Fluttershy said, “you get teased a lot.” “It first started with Marble Sprint,” I said, “and now my mom.”  “Oh I see…” Fluttershy said, “I’ll see if I can do something about that.” “How?” I said. “HeadMare Starlight Glimmer tried to care of it, and it backfired. And she forced me to go on a date with Marble Sprint.”  “Oh,” Fluttershy said, “well I think I can help anyway.”  “By the way,” I said, “have you heard of Mr.Giggles, the Clown?”  At that comment Fluttershy’s eyes went wide as big as saucers. I didn’t think a pony’s eyes could get so wide.  “That’s Discord’s brother!” Fluttershy said. “What?” I said. “Yes,” Fluttershy said, “you heard correctly.” Just then I had a pit feeling in my stomach. Good thing I was sitting down because I was feeling a bit queasy. * * * After Fluttershy and I had that conversation, we heard a knock on the door and it was Rainbow Dash. It was cue that Fluttershy snapped out of being afraid and saw Rainbow Dash standing there in confusion. “Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy said. “I need to have a word with you.”  “Okay…” Rainbow Dash said.  After a while I heard Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy arguing with each other.  “Betty’s been through a lot lately,” said Fluttershy, “she doesn’t need you jumping on her too!” “But-“ Rainbow Dash said.  “I mean it!” Fluttershy said. “Now you go out there and don’t say another word. Go out there and be comforting.”  “Okay…” Rainbow Dash said. She then came out of the kitchen and there was an awkward silence. “Huh,” I said, “hi…” “How are you feeling?” Rainbow Dash said.   “A little shaken up…” I said. “But I’m fine.”  “Okay…” Rainbow Dash said.  I then told Rainbow Dash what was going on. “Discord’s not going to do what I think he’s going to do?” I said. “What are you talking about?” Rainbow Dash said. “I don’t know,” Fluttershy said, “Discord hasn’t popped up lately. I think he’s up to his old tricks again.” “What do you mean?” I said. “You don’t want to know.” Fluttershy said. “It looks like you need to lay down Betty.” “Thanks…” I said. Without another word Fluttershy then escorted me upstairs to the bed.