{Betty}
When I got back to the Land of the Living, I woke up in my bed. I looked down to see the medal that Celestia had given me was around my neck, so I took the medal off and chucked it underneath the bed. I didn't want to look at it right now. I mean, I didn't deserve it in the first place. I looked up to see Dae, when he got my attention.
Dae frowned, "I know what you're thinking obviously, but you do deserve it. Did Celestia tell you why you deserve it?"
I sighed, "Because I was one that saved every citizen of Ponyville when I fought Tirek. But even so, I still don't want it! I don't want to talk to anyone at the moment, so if I were you I'd get lost."
Before Dae could say anything, there was a knock on the door. I sighed and got out of bed on the left to walk past Dae and opened it to see Norman there. "How are you doing?" He asked.
I sighed, "About as okay as I'll ever be. Listen Norman, I don't feel like-"
"No Betty," said Dae, "you need to be around people, your family and friends at this time."
"No, I don't!" I snapped. "I wish people would leave me alone, I wish people would stop calling me the Child of Prophecy and most of all, I wish people would stop yanking on my tail! It's not funny, it's annoying!"
I didn't want to hear what Norman had to say so I shouted, "I HATE YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE!"
Dae couldn't react fast enough before I opened the balcony doors and I did a running jump and I was up in the air and gone in a matter of seconds.
* * *
{Norman}
I've never seen Betty that upset before. I have no idea what triggered her extreme emotions here. Honestly, I thought she was mad before, but this was taking the word 'angry' to a whole new level. I asked Dae about it but he said I should ask Betty herself. However, since she doesn't want to talk to anyone right now, I don't think I'll get an answer from her any time soon.
"Well, just perfect, " I said as I shook my head, "I don't know why Betty's so upset and now she's gone and I have no idea why!" as I stared at Fluttershy and Discord, sitting across the table from me.
Discord put his eagle talon underneath his chin and looked like he was trying to figure out what might've caused Betty's upset. "I wonder if it has something to do with people calling Betty, the Child of Prophecy?"
"That might be part of it," said Fluttershy, glancing at Discord to her right, "but Celestia did tell me she won a medal after defeating Tirek."
"Wait, what?" I said as my eyes widened a bit.
Fluttershy smiled and nodded. "Celestia also said that Twilight lectured Betty about how she can't protect everyone."
"She was in distress though," added Discord, "so I wonder if she even heard a word Twilight said?” Discord leans towards the yellow pegasus, “Between you and I, I really don’t think so!”
At that moment, for some reason I decided to start tearing myself up for not being there for Betty growing up. I suspect that's why she’s the way that she is now? And to add fuel to the fire, there’s that abusive psycho we have for a mother. Who knows what she put Betty through when I left? Even though she's a hero now, she doesn't want to accept it and I guess I can understand now, because apparently, she lost some of her teammates on the tracking team. I don't know exactly how many she lost though. Discord and Fluttershy don't know either. Just that Betty was in a coma for two weeks.
I heard Dae say, "Well, I heard Princess Twilight start her 'lecture' about how soldiers die in the military every day. I didn't hear much after that myself, but if you ask me, Princess Twilight went way too far this time and I don't think Betty wants to see or read those marriage proposals she's sent this week."
I looked at Dae and asked, "How many of them did the princess send?"
Dae groaned, "One for each day of the week."
"Okay, but she's been out for about eight days..." I said.
Discord confirmed it, "The last day Betty was out, she was Death Walking the last day."
"It was for an evaluation fight to see how well her powers were developing," Dae said.
This information seemed like it was news to Discord and Fluttershy.
"Really now?" Discord said with a surprised look. "Now, that makes sense! Usually that happens after a Death Walker has been announced, and once they go on their first assignment, there's an evaluation fight."
Dae smiled. "She did awesome in her fight! She held her own against Sami. Of course, Sami decided to yank on her tall a couple of times just for the fun of it."
Discord raises his left eyebrow. "Betty held her own against Sami?"
Dae nodded. "Yup!"
By this time, I was lost and couldn't follow the conversation. I glanced around the room and said, "Okay, what are you guys talking about? Who's Sami?"
"Sami, is the main one who does the evaluation fights." explained Dae, "There's five evaluation fighters that have been announced so far. There's Sami, Maria, Julia, Soren and Arlo. But it’s also important to note that Sami's the head of the evaluation fighters and therefore, the strongest.
"Only those that have the power I do as the King of Hell and others that are in the upper class in the royal family could stand a chance against Sami. But, Betty was evenly matched with her! Not to mention, she achieved the Dark Aura during her battle with Tirek right after she was recovering from her injury that Princess Twilight gave her. That's amazing in my book. And it's just another reason I like her. But right now, I think it would be best to leave Betty alone. I'm pretty sure she'll cool down after a while."
"Any idea of where she went?" I asked with a frown.
"I heard her thoughts right after she flew off," responded Dae, "she's going to the Castle of the Two Sisters. Anyway, while I have no doubt that's where she is, she'll just come back whenever she's ready."
"Oh crap!" Discord suddenly exclaimed while doing a facepalm.
"What is it?" I said, glancing up at the draconequus.
"Betty's birthday is in a week on Nightmare Night," said Discord before throwing his arms out to his sides, "I'm not sure if she'll be back by then."
"If not, I can track her down and coax her into coming back." Dae said, glancing over at Discord.
"Okay then." Discord said with a nod.
Great! Betty's upset and I wished I had been there for her growing up. Then she would've had someone to protect her. I thought.
Dae sighed, "No Norman, I don't think that's it."
I paused and narrowed my eyes. "How did you know what I was thinking?"
Dae chuckled. "It's a demon trait. Every demon can communicate by thought. We can also hear people's thoughts too."
"Wow." I said.
"Yeah, just give Betty some space and she'll come around." Dae said with a smile and assuring nod. "I'm sure of it."
I still couldn't stop kicking myself in the butt for not being there for Betty when she was growing up, but I did my best to remain composed.
* * *
{Betty}
I'm really sick and tired of three things that have been happening to me lately, the marriage proposals from Princess Twilight, people calling me the Child of Prophecy, and people yanking on my tail just for the fun of it. Why can't people take a hint and realize that my tail is attached to me?
When I ran off after throwing my stupid medal underneath my bed, I went to the Castle of the Two Sisters to clear my head. I walked into the library and took out a book from the far left shelf, blew the dust off, and opened it. My jaw dropped when I read what was in it.
The first chapter was titled: What are Death Walkers and why do they exist?
Chapter one:
A long time ago, when Equestria was founded after the Afterlife, or as it is now called, the Land of the Dead something happened. No one knows exactly why, but powerful beings called Icebreakers came about and made the first Death Walker.
The first Death Walker was a woman named Heavenly Jewel. The Icebreakers use Death Walkers as a way to keep the balance of life and death in check. From what the Icebreakers have said, it has a lot to do with the magic of Equestria's universe.
If there are ponies and people getting killed needlessly, then that upsets the balance of life and death and Equestria can be destroyed. The same thing can be said for too many people and ponies that are living. Most of the time, if that's the case, it's usually the elderly that have their deaths sped up. If too many people are dying, then new souls get born in their place.
The Afterlife for Equestria's universe in general, is called the Land of the Dead. Those that are still alive in Equestria, this realm is called the Land of the Living. There have also been other measures that have been put in place to balance the power of the Land of the Dead. There other realms are put inside in the Land of the Dead, Hell, Heaven, Purgatory, and the Middle Ground. The Land of the Living was left just the way it was.
There is another way that Icebreakers keep the balance of life and death in check. Once a person or pony gets announced as a Death Walker, then within ten years of being a Death Walker, they have to make a decision on whether to live or die. If a Death Walker decides to live, then it's possible they could live up to seven hundred or eight hundred years and that magic will carry over to their immediate family members. But as it stands, only a handful of Death Walkers have made the decision to live. Why this is, no one knows either.
If a Death Walker chooses to die, then their home of course, will be in the Land of the Dead. Even though they're dead, they can still go back and forth from the Land of the Dead and the Land of the Living. This is to help deal with issues that might pop up in either realm.
However, it is speculated that the Death Walker decision is made to help weaken a Death Walker's powers.
There has been a prophecy by the Icebreakers, that the last Death Walker will one day be announced. She will be a descendant of the Jewel family and kill her mother, master all nine of the Death Walker abilities, and become a Legend.
I just about rolled my eyes at the last paragraph of the Child Prophecy. I am NOT the Child of Prophecy! True, I've developed five of the nine Death Walker abilities rather quickly, but seriously, it's not me! I wasn't there to protect my teammates, so how could it be me?
Before I could think of anything else, I heard the organ playing. I groaned, "Seriously? Pinkie sure knows how to pop up randomly. Although she probably doesn't know I'm here?"
I sighed and put the book back down on the table where I was at. I went into the hall and turned right and walked into the organ room. Honestly, I thought it was going to be Pinkie playing the organ, but gasped when I saw a copy of myself playing instead!
My copy turned around and smiled at me, "Well, hey there Betty, it's about time you got here!"
I bit the inside of my cheek and then I snarled, "What is going on here?"
My copy laughed at me, "Let me guess, you think you're going insane because you're talking to a copy of yourself, right?"
My eyes went wide and I nodded, "Yup! First my reflection starts talking to me randomly, and now, I'm talking to a copy of myself! Lovely. Just fantastic! Now, I think I need help!"
My copy laughed hysterically, "You don't need help Betty! I'm here because I need to talk to you! Or well, I should say, you need to talk to you!"
I gave my copy a wary look while raising my left eyebrow. "O...Kay?"
My copy nodded. "Uh-huh."
"So, what do I need to talk to myself about?" I asked.
"You need to talk to yourself about why you don't accept what you've already done." My copy said.
I tilted my head to the right. "Huh?"
"You know what I'm talking about Betty." My copy scolded me as she narrowed her eyes.
Wow, I'm being scolded by my clone, how nice. I thought.
My copy looked like it was having a field day with what I'm thinking. "Wow, you're really in denial so bad it's hilarious! You know what I'm talking about Betty! That medal you just got! You deserve it more than you know!"
"But I wasn't-" I said.
My copy cut me off while bobbing her head left and right, "There to protect your teammates. Yeah I know. You do realize you can't be everywhere at one time right?” She smirked. “Well, unless you try to use the Mirror Pool. But the last time it was used, it was really bad! All those Pinkie Pie's hopping around Ponyville? Yeah, I don't think anyone needs a whole bunch of Betty's running around everywhere, wouldn't you agree?"
I laughed because I knew my copy was right. "Yeah, I don't need that, and I doubt Ponyville does either!” I shook my head and smiled at her, “And there's no way I'm watching paint dry to prove I'm the original one. Now was an interesting story!"
My copy nodded. "The moral of that story was, don't spread yourself too thin. And that's exactly what Pinkie did. She didn't have a heart to say no to her friends. Of course, Princess Twilight just had to tell Pinkie, that if only there were more of her to go around; then Pinkie Pie would be able to spend time with every single one of her friends at the same time. Well,” she nodded again, “you know the rest of the story. You know, the same story applies with what you're feeling. You feel responsible for your teammates' deaths, right?"
I nodded. "That's correct."
"As I said before," said my copy, "you can't be everywhere at once. Just think about it okay? You'll get past this sooner or later. And you might want to wear that medal you got."
I bit my bottom lip because at the moment, I really didn't really want to wear the medal! Not if I had anything to say about it, and I did, so... I'm not wearing that stupid thing!
My copy sighed, "I know how you feel. You don't have to wear it if you don't want to. Anyway, that's all I have to say to you."
After that, my copy vanished in a gust of wind that flew towards me with a sudden flash of light. The room soon turned back to normal as if nothing happened at all.
I jumped about a foot in the air when I heard Pinkie's high pitched voice. "What ya doin?"
I turned around. "Ah, oh hey Pinkie. I was just…" I glanced around before shaking my head. "Honestly, I don't know what I was doing."
Pinkie smiled as she bounced up and down, "Well, I came over here to practice my organ playing, you know in case I have an organ party again. Or maybe I could have one of those, run around the castle and everypony scares everypony parties again! That was fun!" Pinkie's smile turned brighter. She glanced to her upper right and scrunched her mouth, lost in thought. I'm guessing she was thinking about what party she'll plan next. Suddenly. she snapped out of it with a huge grin. "Oh, that's right! I'm already planning another party and it's for you!" before pointing her right forehoof at me.
"Great!" I growled while rolling my eyes, "No thanks, I'm good!"
"Aww," said Pinkie as she lowered her hoof and frowned, "come on Betty! You defeated Tirek single-handedly! You deserve a party just for that alone!” She leans forward while raising her right eyebrow, “So why are you here again?"
"Because I don't want to be around anyone at the moment, and that includes you!" I snapped.
Pinkie looked taken aback at that, "Wow, you're a party pooper! Why are you in such a foul mood?"
"I don't want to talk about it." I said while shaking my head.
Pinkie sighed and shrugged. "Okay, you don't have to tell me about it. Just come to Sugarcube Corners next week on Nightmare Night, please?"
"Why?" I said while furrowing my brow.
"Uh, Discord and Fluttershy told me not to tell you. Oh, and if you're wondering, that book you were reading in the library is gone." Pinkie stated.
I paused. "How did you know I was reading something?"
"Oh that's an easy one!" Pinkie responded cheerfully. "I saw you reading it before I got here! Once you left to go play the organ with yourself, I saw it disappear and I don't know where it went or why it vanished?"
Pinkie went over to the organ and sat down. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to practice."
As Pinkie started playing the organ with its resounding somber notes, I left and went back home. After finding that information, I calmed down a bit. But I know one thing for sure, I'm NOT the Child of Prophecy! And I really wish people would stop calling me that!