//------------------------------//
// 3) Admiring Betty 
// Story: The Ghost of Cozy Glow the Third Story 
// by SapphireRose87 
//------------------------------//

{Norman}

The day after the Equestria Day Festival, I was summoned by Dae to the Land of the Dead. It looked like Betty wanted to blow off some steam; I knew she was angry about not killing Mr. Giggles at the festival. Of course, when I went over to the training area with Dae, I saw Betty standing in the middle of a crowd of her soldiers. She had her wings tied down, to make it a fair fight. I wasn't sure if fighting the Queen of Hell, who is also a Legendary Death Walker, could ever be a fair fight. Even if she's fighting another Death Walker. I can barely win a fight against her, even with my Death Walker abilities. 

I had no idea how many soldiers Betty was fighting this time. But from the size of the crowd, there were a lot of them, for sure. I doubted if she cared about who was watching. Knowing Betty, she would beat the crap out of anyone if she was angry enough. It's funny though because that's what I used to do when I was turning people into punching bags during training as a general.

"So, how many soldiers is she fighting this time?" I asked.

"Well, as you can see," said Dae. "When my wife gets angry, she likes to turn her soldiers into moving punching bags. Of course, they view it as an honor to fight the Legendary Death Walker and Queen of Hell. This time, she's decided to take on six hundred of them."

My jaw dropped. "Six hundred! Is she using her Death Walker abilities?"

Dae shook his head. "Nope. This is strictly hand-to-hand combat. She has her wings tied down like she always does."

"Yeah, she's pissed right now, for sure," I said, looking at the training area as Betty started the fight. "Are there any good therapists in hell, by chance?"

Dae laughed so hard at my words; I was almost worried he was going to die laughing. Although, he's already dead, so I doubt that could happen. 

"Sorry, Norman," said Dae after he composed himself. "That would be a no. Think about it. This place is called 'Hell' for a reason."

I looked back to the fight. Her soldiers actually got a couple of good hits on her at first. It almost looked like Betty might have gone in over her head. Unfortunately, they started doing stupid things like running into each other and knocking each other out in the process. Betty seemed to be having fun, letting the soldiers think they had a chance to beat her. 

"Seriously?" I heard Betty say. "You guys are making this way too easy!"

Well, duh! I thought. She's the Queen of Hell and a Legend.

I watched as a guard almost tripped Betty but she must've heard it coming because of her sensitive pony ears. She dodged the soldier with a spin, landing a kick to the stomach. I wondered when she was going to notice that she had disabled every single one of her soldiers.

I smiled and walked up to her. As always, I felt proud of her every time I saw her fight. Especially when she had fought Mr. Giggles. Honestly, it didn't surprise me that Mr. Giggles had given up and left. 

I whistled when she noticed me standing there. "Wow, sis! I can barely fight ten of my soldiers. You fought six hundred of them and, from the looks of it, you didn't even break a sweat."

Betty didn't answer at first. She actually looked annoyed by the praise. That didn't surprise me either. Dae rolled his eyes when he saw that. "You know, Betty, you're a little too modest for your own good. Would you just accept your achievements already?" 

"Yeah," said Betty. "As I always say. Queen of Hell, yes. Legend, no."

I rolled my eyes. It annoyed me that Betty won't accept what she is now. She deserves that title more than she knows. 


*	*	*


{Betty}

Finally, after a few days of fighting, I had cooled down enough. So, today, I decided to go to the Land of the Living to the Castle of the Two Sisters to stare up at the stars. 

I picked my favorite spot and sat down. I took off my cape and my crown. I'm glad I don't have to wear my crown outside of the Castle in Hell. The stupid thing gets on my nerves. It fits right; that's not the reason why I don't like wearing it all the time. It's just annoying to wear, that's all. Too bad I don't have the option to not wear it like I do with not wearing a dress all the time. My royal attire consisted of a black suit jacket, buttoned with a single silver star on the right side of it. I wore black dress pants along with black dress shoes. Trust me, there is no way I'm going to wear a dress all the time. To the rest of the royal family, that was strange, because every Queen of Hell that had ruled before me had. 

But, then again, Dae is also considered the strangest King of Hell because he's not as ruthless of a ruler as all of the Kings that ruled before him. It's a wonder to the royal family how he is able to take care of his enemies before they become a problem. I know how Dae does it, and let's just say, he's very creative with his punishments. With that being said, I'm weird and he's weird, so I think we make a good couple. 

As I sat there, looking up at the stars, amazed at how Jasper was arranging them, I took out that calling card that Mom left at the scene where we fought to the death. I guess Mom was overconfident. She really thought she was going to kill me. That's what you get when you underestimate your opponent. I laughed every time I was reminded of Mom's calling card, a playing card, an Ace, with the words 'Mom kills Betty' written on it and a bloody fingerprint on the bottom left of it. 

"Well, Mom," I said to myself. "You wanted a challenge and you got one. Only, it didn't turn out the way you hoped."

At that moment my tracking powers activated. I let out a sigh as I sensed the presence of Norman, leaning up against a nearby wall. "I know you're there, Norman! Can a girl get some peace and quiet for a change?"

"Sorry about that, Betty," said Norman. "I saw you headed here and I figured we could spend some time together. We haven't been able to do that in a long time."

I smiled: Norman was right. Ever since I died and became Queen of Hell, we never really got to see each other that much. When Norman became ruler of Equestria, we saw each other even less. That's why we decided to do a family dinner night and that seemed to help. As far as spending time together with just us, that had become almost impossible at the moment. 

Norman sat down beside me and snickered at Mom's calling card.  "Ace in the hole, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess Mom really thought she was going to kill me and walk away from it," I said. 

"She didn't realize how wrong she was on that one."

"Karma's a nasty bug bite, isn't it?" 

"You can say that again."

I looked up at the stars and smiled. The fact that Mr. Giggles even felt the need to use The Mirror Technique to take me down was the sign of another person that underestimated his opponent. Mr. Giggles' performance in his fight was laughable. 

"What's that look for?" Norman asked.

"Mr. Giggles is like Mom, both of them underestimate their opponents," I said.

Norman laughed along with me at that thought. 

"Why do you keep that card, anyway?" Norman questioned. "If it were me, I would have burned it by now."

I thought about it and remembered exactly what I tell myself every time I look at the card. "Well, for starters, it's to remind me of why I am the way I am today. I protect people before they get hurt so they don't need to be saved in the first place. No one should have to go through what I did growing up. And it's a happy memory of the day I killed my abuser." I laughed and said with a smirk. "I know, crazy right?"

Norman smiled and shook his head. "No, not really. Unlike you, I don't need that type of reminder because I have the best reminder one could possibly have."

"What reminder might that be?"

"You and the rest of my family, of course!"

That's when Norman started looking at my tail with curiosity.

"What are you looking at?" I asked.

"I've never been able to observe the way a half-and-half's tail moves before," Norman said. "I was able to see how a regular pony's tail moves. Your tail seems to move differently."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course it moves differently."

Norman started playing with my tail, brushing the hair on it with his fingers. I guess he was proud I let him play with my tail because he did what he always did when we were younger and saw me do something that he felt was amazing. He reached over and licked my ear. 

"Gross!" I said. "Now, what was that for?"

"That's for fighting that clown a few days ago." He reached over and licked my ear again. "And that was for letting me see how your tail moves."

Yup, he's still creepy. I just forgot with all the chaos of being a ruler, I thought.

Norman went from being sentimental to giving me that creepy 'undressing you with my eyes’ look. I didn't even bother to hear his thoughts, because I didn't want to know. "Why are you giving me that creepy look?"

Norman seemed embarrassed that I caught him because he didn't answer me. He just looked away. I was starting to get annoyed with Norman playing with my tail, so I stood up and sat on it.

Norman flinched. "Doesn't that hurt?"

"It's my tail," I snapped. "And I'll do with it whatever I please!" 

Norman put his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay! I'll stop messing with it. You're making the hairs on my neck stand up."

"Fine," I said. I got up and pulled my tail out from underneath me. No sooner had I done that, a light started to blink above my head. I groaned and put my cape and crown back on.  Before I could go, Norman licked my ear again. 

Yeah, that's gross and he just reminded me why I always thought he was creepy. I thought. 

I went back home to see what I had been summoned for.


*	*	*


{Norman}

Two days after I’d spent some time with Betty, I had just raised the sun and it was a couple of hours before I started my day as ruler of Equestria. I sat down in my favorite spot in the garden out behind the castle. I had bought a copy of the history book,  ‘The Legendary Death Walker: Betty Jewel.’ I still can't believe that she won't accept the title that she's rightfully been given. Every time I read the book, it amazed me how far she came even though I hadn't been there for her growing up.

Ever since I saw Betty fight Mr. Giggles, I've read her history book over and over again. By now, I've read the book over six hundred times. The same amount of soldiers she’d fought just to blow off steam. I couldn't help but admire her strength when it came down to a fight.

I was in the middle of reading Betty's history book again when Cozy Glow came and sat down beside me, her homework in hand. 

Cozy Glow laughed when she saw what I was reading. "You're thinking about Aunt Betty, aren't you?"

I nodded. "Yeah, did you know she can take on six hundred of her soldiers and not even break a sweat?" 

Cozy Glow smiled. "Yup, I've seen her do it myself when she was helping me with my Death Walker training before I went to college. You know, because Mom was busy with Junior at the time."

I smiled. "You know what I'm happy about when it comes to you?"

"What?"

"I'm happy that you didn't enlist when you got old enough to," I replied.

She chuckled. "Yeah, I thought about it, I already had enough on my plate being a Death Walker and all, but I decided to go to college to study wildlife in Equestria instead." 

"I still can't believe how strong Betty is now. I don't know why she won't accept the title of Legend, because that's what she is now."

Cozy Glow nodded. "I agree with you on that one, Dad. Aunt Betty is just stubborn; I don't know if she'll ever accept that title."

The alarm that I had set on my watch went off, telling me it was time for work. "Well, Cozy Glow, I gotta go. See you later."

Cozy Glow nodded and got to work on her huge mountain of homework.


*	*	*


{Mr. Giggles}

When I first was summoned to Equestria, I found a spot in a place called The EverFree Forest. There was an Ursa Major and its family living in the cave I found to live in for the time being. I chose not to eat them, but I did kill them so that I could move in. I wasn't sure when my first meal would be when it fell right into my lap. 

I saw two young adult ponies and could hear their voices off in the distance. Of all the things they could have been talking about, they were talking about a balloon from the Equestria Day Festival that one of them had seen come into this forest. I couldn't wait to put on a good show for them. It had to be good; it's possible it would be the last thing they see.

This should be easy! I thought. It must be one of my balloons. I left them everywhere at that Equestria Day Festival. A classic Come to my Circus trick. If anyone went near one, the balloon will lead them straight to me, and I can manipulate them into taking it. If that doesn’t work, then the Grass is Always Greener, just like Mom used to say. I can create the illusion that they’ll have a chance to redo something bad that happened in their life and make it better.

I snickered quietly to myself as I watched the ponies come closer. I made sure I had the Comedy Mask on; hopefully, that would make my entertainer side come out.

"I saw the balloon go over here. I swear!" one of the ponies said.

"Are you sure about this, Moonlight?" the other pony asked. "You were probably tired when you saw it. You rode every roller coaster ride at the Equestria Day Festival! Besides, if there is a balloon around here, it's probably deflated by now."

"I don't care about that, Cherry!" Moonlight said. "I'm going to get that balloon! I'm not leaving this forest until I retrieve it."

Cherry sighed. "Sure, Moonlight, whatever you say. Let's get the balloon and get out of here. Why do you want that balloon so bad, anyway?"

"Because," said Moonlight. "I will use it for the next party I plan with Pinkie Pie! I can use it for the decorations!"

I heard Cherry deadpan, "Seriously?" 

Right on cue, one of my black balloons floated past me. I smiled, taking the balloon just in time, as the ponies came closer to my cave. I stepped out of the shadows when they approached. "Hi there, ponies! Is this your balloon?"

Standing before them, I confirmed that it was a mare and a stallion that had been chasing after my balloon. The mare narrowed her eyes at me. The stallion hopped up and down excitedly when he saw my balloon. 

"That's the balloon I've been looking for!" the stallion said.

"I'm sorry," the mare said, "but we don't take things from strangers."

"Oh?" I said. Time to use my trick. "Well, since it seems I have what you're looking for. I guess it's only fair that I introduce myself." I cleared my throat, pretending to give a formal introduction. "My name is Mr. Giggles. What's your name? You know it's only fair to tell me your name when I've told you mine."

The mare nodded reluctantly. "Okay, my name is Cherry." 

The stallion, still excited at seeing my black balloon said, "My name is Moonlight! Cherry, can I-"

Cherry put up a hoof to stop him from finishing his question. "No, Moonlight."

"What's the problem?" I asked, switching to my Tragedy Mask. "I just introduced myself. You introduced yourself to me. So we're not strangers now, right?"

I grew impatient. It felt like it was taking forever for these stupid ponies to take my balloon so I could eat them. "Listen, I'm working for a traveling circus, I stopped for a rest here."

Cherry still seemed wary. "Uh-huh, if you're with a circus, then where is the rest of it?"

At that moment, I activated my magic, creating the illusion of a circus inside the cave. I switched back to my Comedy Mask to add extra effect to the sounds of the circus. Cherry's ears twitched. It was working.

"Well, I hear a circus, alright," Moonlight said. 

I nodded. "What do you say? You want to come see my circus? If you take a balloon from me, you can see it, free of charge. Look, I have another balloon for you, Cherry. That way you both can come to my circus."

Before they could answer me, I duplicated the balloon I had in my hand and held both balloons up. 

"Hmm," Moonlight said wistfully. "I hear popcorn popping!"

Just a little more and I shall have my meal, I thought, trying to keep myself from being impatient. 

Cherry finally smiled. "Okay, it's fine, we can go."

I smiled.  What a couple of suckers!

Cherry and Moonlight never saw it coming. I floated both black balloons over their heads and used my magic to pop them. Once the black ink got on their fur, it started to dissolve them. They began to scream. But as I began my feast, their screams slowly faded away, draining into me along with their souls. I burped, satisfied with my meal. 

"My compliments to the chef," I mocked with a chef's kiss.