//------------------------------// // Chapter Eleven // Story: The Ghost of Cozy Glow // by SapphireRose87 //------------------------------// Fluttershy sat down beside me and cleared her throat to get my attention.  “What?” I said. “Yeah know that I’m trying to work on my homework?” “I know,” said Fluttershy, “but don’t you it’s time you start Death Walking again?”  I sighed, “I don’t know about that…” “I’m sure Princess Celestia would be happy to see you!” Fluttershy said. “Don’t call her Princess Celestia,” I said, “she doesn’t have that title anymore now that she’s dead.” “Okay,” said Fluttershy, “there’s also that whole matter of Queen Chrysalis and Tirek being at large and Celestia needs your help tracking them down. I can go with you if you want?” “No,” I said, “if anything I’d rather do this myself. I’ve been suppressing my Death Walking enough now.” “How’d you learn to do that?” Fluttershy said. “It’s a long story,” I said, “well I guess it’s an early bedtime for me.” “But it’s only ten!” Fluttershy said. “Don’t you want to stay up a little longer?” “Nah,” I said, “I’m okay…” * * * It took a while to fall asleep, that is after Cozy Glow stopped talking to me. Deep into my subconscious, I had my Death Walking powers in a vault under lock and key. I took the key that was hanging around my neck and opened the door. I then took a deep breath and the Land of the Dead. When I got to the Middle Ground, I saw Celestia with a joyful look on her face.  “Hey,” said Celestia, “you’re back! I’m so glad to see you!” “Yeah I know,” I said, “I haven’t been back her in awhile and with good reason.” “I understand…” Celestia said. “Anyway,” I said “did you have any luck finding Queen Chrysalis and Tirek yet?” “No,” said Celestia, “I was hoping that you would have developed some skills from the Tracking Team that Princess Twilight sent after you.” “The only things I learned,” I said, “was Electric Shock Therapy and memory loss…” “They did what?” Celestia. “Tell me everything, I’ll have to talk with Princess Twilight to make a few changes.” “Where should I start?” I said. * * * “Oh boy,” said Celestia, “you just can’t win can you?  And then there’s also the matter of reforming Cozy Glow. And don’t forget Mr. Giggles...” “Don’t remind me…” I said. “First things, first what was I supposed to learn from the Tracking Team?” “You were supposed to learn,” said Celestia, “how to be a guiding light for souls that don’t know where the Afterlife is. You also need to keep order in the Land of the Dead and the Land of the Living. I guess you’ll have to learn that from Scarlett Harmony.” “So I have to learn how to track down Queen Chrysalis and Tirek?” I said. “Yup,” said Celestia, “I told Mr. Harmony to teach you and not by force. I guess he liked using force instead, talk about a power trip!” “I know…” I said. “Anyway,” said Celestia, “I asked this question before, how’s Cozy Glow’s reformation going?” “Yeah, about that,” I said, “I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon. She’s the reason why I lost my memory in the first place.” Celestia sighed, “What am I going to do with everybody? It’s like the world is in chaos! I wouldn’t be surprised if Discord is in Heaven right now!” “I wouldn’t put it past him.” I said. It was as if on cue I heard a laugh that could only mean one thing, Discord… “Discord!” Celestia said. “What have you been up to?” “Oh nothing much,” said Discord, “I had some business to take care of. I do have a life you know! But, I just happen to hear you two talking about me. So, I decided to check it out. By the way, how are you doing Betty? My wife Fluttershy told me everything that’s happened lately.” “Oh really?” I said. “I didn’t know you had a heart!” “Oh come on now,” said Discord, “I’m actually concerned about you.” “Yeah right,” I said, “I know that Mr. Giggles is your brother, so don’t play dumb with me!” “Well I never!” Discord said. “Mr. Giggles will do whatever Mr. Giggles wants to do. I can’t control him! It’s not within my power to do so.” “And I’m going to believe that because?” I said. “To believe or not to believe?” Discord said. “That is the question, and one that you should answer for yourself. Ta, Ta for now, I shall be off now…” Discord laughed again as he went back into the darkness. * * * When DIscord had gone away I sighed. “What is it?” Celestia said. “It’s just one thing after another.” I said. “Well, at least my brother Norman knows the truth about everything now.” “That’s good!” Celestia said. “You patched things up with him, that’s awesome!” I had made up my mind about something and it concerned Luna. It was a risky move, but I wanted to do it all the same.  “Can you take me to Luna?” I said. “Why?” Celestia said. “Because I want to ask her something…” I said. “What?” Celestia said. “It’s just something that I want to confirm, on my own.” I said. “You sure that’s a good idea?” Celestia said. “Yeah,” I said, “I’ll be fine, she’s not going to pull a fast one on me this time. I have a few tricks up my sleeve.” * * * Celestia led me to the dungeon that was holding Luna. “Now remember,” said Celestia, “if anything happens, just sound the alarm.” “Thanks, “ I said, “but I don’t think she’ll do anything this time.” “Even so,” said Celestia, “I’ll be outside listening…” “Sure thing…” I said. When I entered the dungeon, I found Luna huddled up in a corner. She was in the fetal position crying. “Uh, h-hello…” I said. “What do you want?” Luna said. “You’ve come here to torture me some more? I’ve already been-“ “Let me guess,”I said, “Electric Shock Therapy? “How did you-“ Luna said. “I’m sure you’ve heard of what I’ve been through lately have you?” I said. “No,” said Luna, “news doesn’t travel around here much in case you haven’t noticed.” “I have a question for you.” I said. “What is it?” Luna said. “If you knew what my mom was trying to do,” I said, “then why did you go along with her?” “I thought…” Luna said. “I mean I didn’t think…” “You didn’t think what?” I said. “That your mother really was trying to kill you.” Luna said. “So you’re telling me,” I said, “that you really didn’t think that my mom was trying to kill me? I find that hard to believe…” “No I didn’t,” said Luna, “you must believe me!” “You’re kidding me, right?” I said. “No I’m not…” Luna said. “Now if you don’t mind, I’m going back to crying now.” “It’s okay Luna,” I said, “and one more thing Luna, I forgive you…” I sighed and closed the door. * * * “Did I hear that correctly?” Celestia said. “You said that you forgive her?” “Yup, “ I said, “I do and she’s the first pony I’ve done that with. I don’t know when she became so cold hearted, but she seems to show some sort of remorse so I decided to let it go, now my mother on other hand, I’m not so sure I’ll forgive her.” “Oh I see…” Celestia said. “I’m also working on learning to trust people again.” I said. “That’s good,” said Celestia, “sometimes letting go of the past is the best thing to do.” “Now,” I said, “I think it’s time for me to go. I think it’s almost daylight in the Land of the Living.” The door to my vault appeared signaling that it was time for me to go. “Sure,” said Celestia, “well, there’s your door…” I then walked through the door, back to the Land of the Living. * * * It came time for me to have my next trading session with Scarlett Harmony. This time I was a little bit confused about what was going to happen. “Okay,” said Scarlett, “the first thing, Celestia told me that you need to develop some tracking skills?” “Yeah,” I said, “so?” “In order to do this you need to be able to sense where enemies are.” Scarlett said. “Once you can do that your tracking skill will be awesome. As far as the whole beacon of light thing, you’ll have to figure that out on your own. Maybe you’ll learn it, maybe you won’t, here take this.” Scarlett then handed me what looked like a staff that looked like a long wooden stick. As I looked at it closely I saw that there was an Amethyst jewel in the middle of it. “What’s this?” I said. “This,” said Scarlett, “is an Amethyst crystal. This is supposed to help you sharpen your powers, it’s the perfect tool for tracking and becoming a beacon of light also. I can also help you attack and defend against your enemies.” Scarlett then put a hula hoop down in the middle of the yard. “This where you will practice your fighting and tracking skills.” Scarlett said. I stood in the middle of the hula hoop nut sure of what to do next. Scarlett took out what looked like a watch with a read jewel in the middle of it. “This,” said Scarlett, “will help you tune everything out except what you want to hear. You can hear everything or just the enemies movements, think of it as putting yourself in a bubble and nothing can come in or go out without your say so. If I were you I’d tune out everything except your enemies movements, this means life or death for you and your teammates got it?” “Got it!” I said. I did exactly what Scarlett told me to do. Nothing came in or out of my bubble without my say so, I only chose to hear Scarlett’s voice and I figured that would help me track the enemies movements. “Okay,” said Scarlett,”let’s begin…” Scarlett started swinging the watch back and forth and this helped me even more. I did what Scarlett and didn’t hear or see anything except what I wanted to see. When this happened I closed my eyes began to see other things and people as best as I could.  “Now what do you see?” Scarlett said. “Look to the Everfree Forest. How many men and ponies can you see?” “20…”. I said. “No wait, 25…” “Good,” said Scarlett, “that’s correct! And you got it on you first try too!” Scarlett then gave signal and then ponies and men came out of the woods and attacked. Most of the attacks I was able to dodge because it was just like when I fought Mr. Harmony and his men, mostly ropes and chains. I also sensed that there were a couple of Death Walkers I could tell because they had beams of light and darkness around them. Some of the Death Walkers used a combination of attacks and I almost had trouble dodging them but I did it no problem. But it was no easy task to do. I got through most of the attacks because I didn’t hear anything but Scarlett's voice and my enemies movements. I was down to the last five attackers when a voice called out of nowhere. “Hello!” Cozy Glow said. “What’s up?” Cozy Glow had broken my concentration and I got pummeled by the last five attacks. “Okay, okay!” I said. “I give, I give!” “Uncle! Uncle!” Cozy Glow said with a laugh. “That’s not funny Cozy Glow!” I said. “Ops, sorry…” Cozy Glow said. “Oh, so close,” said Scarlett, “you almost beat Fluttershy’s  record! Her time was a minute and a half seconds. You got up to forty five seconds, not bad for a first timer!” “I would’ve got them too,” I said, “if Cozy Glow hadn’t appeared!” “I’m sorry,” said Cozy Glow, “not really…” “Didn’t you get enough payback already?”  I said. Cozy Glow shrugged, “I don’t really care…” I then saw the look on Cozy Glow’s face and I knew what that meant. It was nothing but sadness and I could only guess why. It must be really frustrating not being able to move on yet. “Can we take a break?” I said. “Or call it quits for today?” "Let's call it quits." Scarlett said. I nodded, "Poor Cozy Glow…" * * * It turns out that for my next training session Fluttershy told Rainbow Dash how well I was doing and Rainbow Dash in turn told a lot of people and pony about it. When I walked to the backyard my eyes went wide at the sight. "Oh dear.." I said. "Talk about drawing a crowd." "Listen up!" said Scarlet. "Keep talking down to a minimum that includes cheering, got it?" "Yes Scarlett!" The crowd said.  Scarlett then turned me and nodded and I nodded back. “Do you need the watch today?” Scarlett said. “I think I got this…”. I said. “Okay then,” said Scarlett, “just remember the bubble, nothing comes in or out without your say so, okay?” “Got it!” I said. This time creating the bubble came easily to me. I was able to tune out the crowd and everything else faded away and my nerves settled down. “Now,” said Scarlett, “how many people and ponies do you see this time?” “Let’s see,” I said, “30, 35 actually it’s 55! Are you crazy Scarlett?” “Nope,” said Scarlett, “you can do this!” As before, Scarlett gave a signal and I was able to sense my enemies coming towards me. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” I thought. “I think Scarlett’s lost her mind this time!” Then it started and I was able to dodge or block most of the attacks when I got down to 35 attacks I was just about out of breath. “You want to quit?” Scarlett said. “Nope…”. I said. “Good then,” said Scarlett, “let’s keep going. There’s only 20 more attacks and you beat the record!” I wiped the sweat off my brow and took my fighting stance. Scarlett gave the signal and once again the attacks came at me one by one. This time I took them all down with no problem. After that was done I broke my bubble of silence and heard the crowd cheering. “Wow!” Scarlett said. “You beat the record! That was exactly one minute! Nice job, I knew you could do it!” I wiped the sweat off my brow and took my fighting stance. Scarlett gave the signal and once again the attacks came at me one by one. This time I took them all down with no problem. After that was done I broke my bubble of silence and heard the crowd cheering. “Wow!” Scarlett said. “You beat the record! That was exactly one minute! Nice job, I knew you could do it!”  By this time I was out of breath and sank to my knees, Scarlett caught me as I fell. “It’s okay Betty,” said Scarlett, “I got yeah…” I couldn’t remember what happened next before everything went dark.