//------------------------------//
// 6) At least He said Hi 
// Story: The Ghost of Cozy Glow- A Redux 
// by SapphireRose87 
//------------------------------//

{Dae}

As I watched Betty train from the shadows, I looked over to see her friend Mystic Diamond walk by with a box of cupcakes and a tub of ice cream. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing for Betty to eat after training. I chose not to make my presence known, but after Mystic Diamond walked past me, she stopped short.

"Hmmm." Mystic Diamond said. She turned in my direction and shot a beam of light at me. "Okay, you can come out now, creepy dark presence."

My jaw dropped, "How did you?"

Mystic Diamond chuckled, "My special talent is to be able to detect spirits and stuff. I take it you're the creepy dark presence that's been following Betty around?"

"I guess so?" I responded. "I am the King of Hell, so I guess my presence would be dark and creepy?"

Mystic Diamond smirked, "Now, what would the ruler of Hell want with Betty?"

I gulped because I knew what she was going to say next.

"You like her!" Mystic Diamond laughed. "Counting you, that makes five stalkers Betty has now. Discord took care of Silver for now. So what's your name?"

"My name's Dae," I said.

"Wait a second! You're that guy Fluttershy told me about!" Mystic Diamond said. "That's cute, the King of Hell following Betty around, hoping she'll be his queen!"

She went into uncontrollable laughter for a while and then stopped laughing. "You know, I think you should go and say hi."

My eyes went wide and I gave a nervous laugh, "I'm not sure if it's time for that yet. Can you please not tell her about me?"

Mystic Diamond smiled and nodded, "Sure, your secret's safe with me. You'll have to introduce yourself sooner or later. Hey! Betty's gotcha day party is tomorrow!"

"Uh, gotcha day party?" I asked.

"Oh, yes," Mystic Diamond nodded, "Fluttershy and Discord have officially adopted Betty. They're having a surprise party for her tomorrow. Why don't you stop by?"

Although going to the party would be a good opportunity to say hi to Betty. I wasn't sure if I could work up the nerve to say hi, even then. "Okay, I'll think about it."

"Okey dokey, then," Mystic Diamond said, "it looks like training is almost done. See ya!"

After Mystic Diamond left, I turned attention back to watching Betty train.


* 	*	 *


{Betty}

Scarlett laughed as we sat down to catch our breaths after training. "I know you want to keep going Betty, but you really need to learn to pace yourself."

"Fine," I mumbled. Even though Scarlett was still sitting on the ground at the moment, I wanted to keep going.

Mystic Diamond came up to us with a box of cupcakes and a tub of ice cream in her magic. "Hey guys, I thought you might like something to eat after training."

"Sure!" I said. We sat down on the bleachers over by the training area and started to eat. The strangest thing happened. I took a cupcake and ate a couple of bites. I felt like I had some gas in my stomach so I decided to let it out by burping.

Scarlett jumped, startled by what happened. "Whoa!"

I punched my chest trying to get the feeling of heartburn to go away, but then I burped again. "What? Sorry about that, but I had to let it out somehow."

"No, it's fine, you actually developed a new Death Walker ability!" Scarlett declared.

I raised an eyebrow, "What might that be? Burping? Yeah no."

Scarlett pointed to the ground. I looked to see what looked like glass shards like I had smashed a glass door on the ground. They had a dark tint to them. "I did that?"

Scarlett nodded and had a look of pride on her face. "Yup! It looks like you have darkness and glass powers now."

I started to feel the same sensation as I did before, this time the heartburn felt more intense. I jumped back after I let it happen.

Scarlett whistled, "Wow, looks like you can combine the two and make bullets with them."

I titled my head, "Huh?"

Scarlett pointed at a nearby tree. I looked over at it to see tiny shards dug into the tree with a dark tint to them. I shook my head when I examined them. "Those don't look like bullets Scarlett. They look more like daggers to me."

"Hmm." Scarlett examined the tree again. "You know, you're right. This is an interesting change of events." She looked at me with concern. "Are you okay? You don't look so good. Maybe you should go to bed and get some rest?"

Before I could answer, I felt a small surge of power go through me. As my muscles tensed up the world faded from me.


*	*	*


I woke up in my bedroom to the sound of someone knocking on my door. It was Fluttershy. She came into the room with a smile on her face.

I wondered why she was so happy. I raised an eyebrow "Okay, what's up?"

"Well, get dressed and come downstairs please," Fluttershy said. "There's something Discord and I want to talk to you about."

I got dressed and went downstairs wondering what Discord and Fluttershy wanted to talk to me about. I stopped short when I got to the foot of the stairs, when I saw that the living room was dark.

"Uh, Fluttershy?" I asked. "Why do you want to talk to me with the lights off?"

Fluttershy giggled, "Why don't you turn the lights on and see?"

"Okay." I found the light switch and jumped about a foot in the air startled when I heard a chorus of the word 'surprise' all around the room. I looked up at the ceiling and a banner with the words 'happy gotcha day' on it. "What's this all about?"

Discord pointed to the banner, "Well as you can see, you've been adopted! Since you've been declared an orphan, we can do that now."

"Ever since you came to live with us, we've been working on adopting you. We've always wanted to adopt anyway. You were always our favorite half and half child. The certificate came in yesterday! I'm so proud to be your mother!" Fluttershy cheered.

Discord pointed to himself, "And I'm your proud father!"

I gave a look of disbelief, "Okay, I'm dreaming."

Norman yanked on my tail with his hand. "Ow! Hey, that's my stupid tail you know!"

Norman chuckled, "Nope, you're not dreaming. This time you'll have a set of, well sorta normal parents. Fluttershy will make a good mother for you. Discord might make a good father for you?"

"Hey! I think I'll make a wonderful father for Betty!" Discord snapped. "I'm kind and I'm funny too!"

He snapped his claw and several potbelly pigs with pegasus wings came out of thin air. Norman and Fluttershy were on their backs in hard laughter. He also pulled out a bouquet of roses out of thin air and handed them to me.

"I take it you're the entertainment for tonight?" I asked.

Fluttershy wiped the laughter tears from her eyes, "Oh Discord, that trick never gets old!"

"Yup! Maybe I should try my hand at show business?" Discord laughed.

He snapped his claw and pulled three oranges out of thin air. He started a juggling act with them by tossing them up in the air between his eagle claw and his lion paw. "Orange you glad I'm your father?"

I did a facepalm as the whole room erupted in laughter. There's never going to be a dull moment in this house for sure.

Norman tapped me on the shoulder and I turned around. "What?"

Norman pointed to a young man that looked like he was around my age.  Norman laughed.  "I think this guy has something to say to you." He turned and went to the other side of the room to go talk to someone else.

The guy standing in front of me was wearing black clothes. His outfit consisted of black pants, black suede shoes, and a black suit jacket with what looked like a black shirt underneath it. He reminded me of one of the goth kids that I saw in school. Yeah, I know there are goth kids that go to the School of Friendship. 

The guy looked nervous, because he fidgeted with his hands a little and kind of did a little shuffle on his feet as he stood there staring at me. He stammered. "Uh, hi, Betty."

I raised an eyebrow and thought he was weird because he seemed way too nervous just talking to me. "Um, hi?"

"Uh, my name's Dae and I just thought I'd come over and say hi." The man said.

Judging by the way Dae fidgeted even more, I’m guessing he liked me? I know I always get nervous when I’m introducing myself to a guy I like, but after introductions, I’m fine. This guy was way too nervous to be considered normal, even by my standards. I raised my left eyebrow as I tilted my head to the right, “Okay uh, hi again?”

There was a moment of awkward silence between us. Dae gave a nervous laugh, "Well, look at the time! It was nice talking to you but I have some things to take care of, so I gotta go!"

I gave a slow nod. "O...Kay then. Sure, nice to meet you."

Dae left, walking away from me as fast as he could. I stood there staring in confusion about what recently happened. I heard Mystic snort, "Well, at least he said hi."

"Yeah, that was one of the most confusing experiences I've ever had," I said. 

Mystic giggled and snorted, before clearing her throat, "Again, at least he said hi. He's probably one of those shy types. Just give him a while, and maybe he'll actually be able to talk to you? You know, have an actual conversion, eventually."

Pinkie Pie walked past us pushing a tray stacked with plates that had slices of cake on them. "Hey, guys! We haven't had the cake yet! Especially you, Betty, this is your party after all."

Pinkie Pie pointed a hoof at a nearby table with a huge cake on it. It had twenty candles to show how old I am. It also said the words 'happy gotcha day Betty' on it. I blew out the candles and enjoyed the rest of the party. At the same time, I wondered why that weirdo had such a hard time talking to me.


*	*	*


{Dae}

I couldn't help but kick myself in the butt about how much I embarrassed myself around Betty. I mean, I'm the King of Hell! Surely, I'm able to talk to the girl I like?

I looked to see that Parada had entered the throne room with another letter. It was another marriage proposal from Princess Twilight. I groaned, "Again?"

Parada snorted. "It might as well be her weekly report!"

I rolled my eyes and took a piece of parchment and wrote the word in big capital letters:


NO!


I addressed it to Princess Twilight after putting it in the envelope, I put the king's seal on it.  I handed it to Parada and she paused before leaving.

"What?" I asked.

"So, did you go to Betty's gotcha day party?" Parada inquired.

I nodded.

"Did you say hi to her finally?" Parada asked.

I looked down. "Yes."

"Okay, what happened?" Parada asked.

"I embarrassed myself," I replied.

Parada snorted. "Oh really? What did you do? Trip and fall, run into a wall, run into Betty (literally), pee your pants… What happened?"

"I ah…" I said, still looking down. "Couldn't think of anything else to say other than hi."

Parada went into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. She stopped laughing and composed herself. "Really? That's it? Honestly, your highness, there are worse things that could've happened. Trust me, I know. I went to go talk to a guy and fell flat on my face. The guy got a good laugh and walked away before I could say hi."

I looked up at her stunned by what she said. I didn't believe Parada for a minute. She's the type of girl that could get any guy she wanted as long as he was in her league. I raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? That happened?"

Parada smiled and nodded. "Yup!"

Then I heard a low rumbling laugh that always brought chills down my spine when I heard it. I knew exactly what it meant. I gulped when I saw Lucifer enter the room. Parada bowed and Lucifer dismissed her.

"Hi, Dad," I said.

"Exactly how can you not talk to the woman of your dreams?" Lucifer asked with his usual condescending smile.

I looked away to the left, not wanting to look him in the eye. "I don't know."

"Do you want to know why I gave you that burn mark on your arm?" Lucifer asked. "It's a time-honored tradition, a trial for all Kings to go through."

I looked at him. "Huh?"

Lucifer explained, "It's called The Mark of a King. I got it when I took the throne and so did every King before me. True, you have your leadership skills down. That's one of the reasons why I gave you the throne and not your brother or sister. They don't know how to lead and take care of their enemies that would even dare to rise up against them. They're too nice for their own good. Although, you might not be as ruthless about doing that like I was. You have your own special way of taking care of your enemies. When you punish your enemies they go nuts and actually beg for it to stop.

"The most important thing about being a King, is that a King needs to have a Queen. That burn mark will stay on you until you find a Queen. And it has to be agreed on with both sides. It doesn't matter if you take her by force, by breaking her will so she'll agree to it. That's exactly what I did to your mother. You can do that with Betty if you want. I can help you with that. Or you can accept Princess Twilight's marriage proposal. But I know that's never going to happen. I wouldn't marry a spoiled brat like that myself."

I bit my tongue trying not to laugh at that.

Lucifer smiled, "Yes I know, funny huh? If I married the Princess, I'd keep her on the other side of the castle far away from me. Actually, I've heard of Kings doing that before. But eventually, they would have to take them out and have sex, so they can to produce a heir for the throne.

"If you do get together with Betty, I wouldn't mind meeting her. I don't blame you for choosing her! She's beautiful, isn't she? Anyway, I just thought it was time to give this information to you."

As Lucifer walked away, I thought, The Mark of a King huh? To me, this burn mark was the dumbest tradition ever. 


*	*	*


{Celestia}

I sighed as I put my head on the table in my office. I looked over at the clock and groaned. At this point, I felt dread because of Twilight's upcoming visit. Most of the time she always gives a two-week notice in advance before coming. Most of the time, when it comes down to her visits, I just wing it. No pun intended.

I mean, what does she expect? A parade of dead people coming to greet her every time she comes? That's not possible, I hope she realizes that. The next best thing would be a banner that says 'Welcome Princess Twilight' on it. Nah that's too much work. I mean, honestly, I don't have to do something special every time she visits. She's been coming here for visits ever since she became the ruler of Equestria. Unfortunately, I think she expects something special every time she comes.

I also don't care for her letters to me about why I should convince Dae to marry her. I lost count of how many times he's sent her a response in big fat capital letters the word:


NO!


When is that pony going to take a hint? I know it's the mare's responsibility to purpose by Equestrian law. But Equestrian Law does state that if a person says no to the marriage proposal, then the contract breaks. That goes for both parties involved. Dae said no, so the contract broke. You can't make somepony change their mind by relentlessly asking them to marry you.

Actually, I've had somepony reject my marriage proposal. I took his answer and didn't ask him anymore. True, my heart got broken by his response, but eventually, I moved past it.

My suitors that came along after that, both mares and stallions never compared to the one stallion that I wanted to marry. The reason why I had those suitors set up for me, is because of Equestrian Law. Equestrian Law states that if a ruler is not married by their 32nd-year mark of ruling, they must step down from the throne. So, because I didn't want to marry any of my suitors, on my 32nd-year mark of ruling I stepped down from the throne.

As I had my head on my table, I kept trying to figure out how to reason with Twilight again. Every time I've tried to reason with her, it's fallen on deaf ears. I didn't even hear the trumpets sounding to announce Twilight's presence when I heard her clear her throat, "Ahem."

I got up from my desk and bowed to her.

"You can look at me now," Twilight commanded.

I tried so hard not to roll my eyes because of the look on her face. I knew exactly what that look was for. "No Twilight, it's not going to happen."

"Huh?" Twilight said. "But he would make a-"

"That might be so, but he's said no how many times?"

Twilight sighed and looked down, "I lost count after a hundred."

I did a facehoof and groaned, "You're just as bad as a salespony, you know that? A Salespony pitches the perfect product to a potential customer. They say no, but the Salespony is at their door the very next day regardless. It takes weeks to get rid of those types of ponies!

"You have been pursuing him for almost two years now. He's said no every single time! He's not interested. He's got his eye on someone else. And no, I'm not telling you who it is!"

Twilight tilted her head with a curious look on her face. "Why not?"

"Because, if you knew, you would do all sorts of things to get rid of that person. Besides, Dae's already stalking her anyway." I replied. "So if you even try to get rid of her, he'll know about it right away."

Twilight gasped. "But, how is that possible? He's a ruler! Not even I have time for that."

"Well, when you're madly in love with someone," I said, "you'll make time for it."

"So is that what I should do?" Twilight asked with a perky grin on her face.

I smirked, "I don't think that's possible. One, he's banned you from coming to Hell. Two, he's always on the move and I doubt you would be able to keep up with him. You might be an Alicorn, but he's much faster and stronger than you are."

"Oh," Twilight said with a disappointed look on her face. "But how do you even get somepony like that to like you?"

"Well, I'm going to make a couple of friendly suggestions. You can stop proposing to Dae on a weekly basis. You can't make them say yes against their will. No amount of magic can change how someone feels about you. Trust me, I know because I've tried it myself. If you keep him captive until he says yes, that won't work either. He can make his escape in the blink of an eye." I said, giving her an annoyed look.  "But now that you've been making a nuisance of yourself by proposing to him on a weekly basis. I don't think he's going to change his mind anytime soon."

Twilight clenched her jaw and narrowed her eyes, "Well then, I'll just have to keep trying! I'm not giving up on Dae!"

I did another facehoof, "Fine, have it your way. But he's still going to keep saying no and I don't think he's going to change his mind about you. He's probably going to think you're a pest now. But go right ahead Princess Salespony."

"Fine," scoffed Twilight, "mark my words, Celestia, Dae will be mine!"

I rolled my eyes, "I doubt that Twilight."

"Okay then," said Twilight, "it's time for me to go now."

I nodded before she turned and walked away. I hoped my reasoning got through to her? But probably not!