{Betty}
When I went through the portal back to where Grogar and Dae were fighting, I was ready to kill Grogar, if that was even possible. It amazed me that with every beam of light Grogar shot from his horns, Dae deflected using his sword with ease. It looked like Dae's strength in the fight was fueled by his rage against Grogar.
I was pissed right along with Dae, because I knew that Grogar killed my teammates and I wanted to avenge their deaths. From where I was standing though, Grogar looked like a dead goat walking.
I took a deep breath and let my fire powers develop inside of me, and while aiming at Grogar, I let the attack out. I smiled when my attack slammed into Grogar, hitting him hard enough for him to fall face first into the ground and making him slide about a yard away from me.
Grogar got to his hooves and shook himself off. "Why, you little bitch!" He paused when he saw where I was standing and smirked. "You went through to the other side didn't you? Do you see now why this has to be done?"
"No, this portal doesn't have to be done Grogar!" I snarled. "You want to know what will be done?"
"And just what will be done?" Grogar asked while lifting his head. "Tell me what fate do you have in mind for me, hmm?"
"First of all," I sneered, "I'm going to do this!"
I knelt down and punched the ground with all my might. The ground split in two and the portal behind me shattered. At that moment, I could have cared less if there were glass shards flying all around me. My anger and my hate for Grogar made me not care if I got hurt in this fight.
With this distraction, Dae took the opportunity to strike. He drove his sword and it pierced Grogar's chest pinning him to the ground. Grogar thrashed trying desperately to get free but it was of no use. I smiled as I added to Grogar's pain by throwing my staff and it landed right in between Grogar's horns. I did the same thing I did Tirek, I snapped Grogar's horns in two. Grogar's howling in pain increased even more.
I turned to Dae. "Dae? Do you happen to have a crystal prism that we can put this monster in?"
Dae smiled a wicked smile and nodded. "As a matter of fact, I do!"
Dae took out of his right pocket, the same type of crystal prism that we used to capture Tirek and Queen Chrysalis. My smile twisted into an evil grin when I heard Grogar's screams of pain as he got sucked into the crystal prism.
"Well," I laughed with sarcasm, "that was a lot of fun."
I started to feel the effects of being worn out from fighting Grogar because I took two steps towards Dae and fell over.
* * *
When I opened my eyes again, I was back in my room and I felt like I had run into a building a couple of times.
I heard Dae laughing, "I guess that's how you would feel if you took out a stupid goat that was trying to destroy the universe! Trust me, I was worn out too, I had to go recover myself."
I looked over at Dae and smiled. "Well, that's how many threats I've taken down and hopefully only one more to go?"
Dae ticked each enemy I defeated off with his fingers, "Let's see, you smashed Cozy Glow's statue out of anger, saving Equestria by helping her reform herself, you captured Queen Chrysalis while fighting through a power surge, you and your tracking team helped capture to rest of the escapees from the prison in the Middle Ground, you captured Tirek, you sank Lucifer into the abyss for me, (once again, thank you for that), and you just defeated an old goat named Grogar from destroying the universe, did I miss anything? Honestly, do we really even need to count?"
I snorted. "You're right, it doesn't matter and no that does not make me the Child of Prophecy! I wish people would stop calling me that!"
Dae gave me a pointed look. "Sorry, but I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon. You just can't help yourself, you just want to protect people because no one really protected you growing up. I totally understand that."
I sighed, "Yeah, that's why I do what I do. No one else is getting hurt on my watch. Not happening!"
"I do have a question for you," Dae said.
"What?"
"What was it like on the other side?" Dae asked.
"Well it pretty much looked like a huge field that was well kept." I said. "Then there was an old guy who I followed up to a set of gates and the guy had a big yellow key to open it. Then I saw my teammates after I met The Divine who was a woman, my teammates stunned me by bowing to me."
Dae's jaw dropped and he gasped. "Your teammates actually bowed to you? Wow, if that's not respect, I don't know what else is!"
I curled my legs closer to me and put my head in them. "No, I didn't deserve that type of respect! They got killed because of me, even Amelia tried to comfort me by saying it wasn't my fault. But it still happened under my watch! I-I can't just sit back and accept that."
Dae sat down on the bed beside me and pulled me into his arms. "I understand Betty. Even though I don't know the pain of losing a friend to death, they did take the job knowing how dangerous it was. I bet you anything, they want you to accept that medal you won after defeating Tirek." Dae paused. "Oh boy!"
I looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong Dae?"
Dae shook his head and gave a nervous laugh, "It's nothing Betty. Nope, it's nothing at all and even if it was, I'm not telling you at the moment because I don't think it's time to."
"Okay." I said.
Dae nodded. "Well, I'll step outside so you can get dressed."
"Sure." I said.
When I got dressed I went outside and went downstairs. I was surprised when I saw Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Discord, Norman and Dae sitting around the kitchen talking about something excitedly. Fluttershy looked up and smiled when she saw me. "Oh good! Betty, you're finally awake!"
"Uh, huh?" I asked.
"We're planning a party to celebrate you defeating Grogar and saving the whole entire universe!" Pinkie cheered.
"Okay," I said, "I just defeated the guy, like yesterday!"
Fluttershy shook her head, "You defeated Grogar three days ago! I'm so proud of you!"
"Yeah your body needed at least a day to recover and I needed to rest for that long also." Dae said.
"So how long did the whole battle even last?" I asked.
"One and a half days to be exact," said Dae, "honestly I was surprised that the battle was so quickly resolved! Although, you did have help, so yeah."
"Well yeah, the stupid old goat wanted to make you step down from the throne, so I can see why you would be pissed and him and when I found out he killed my teammates I was pretty mad too!" I said
"Well, you did smash the portal just by punching the ground," Dae said. "I've seen you use that move before when you train with Scarlett and I didn't think it was that powerful. But hey, whatever works!"
Norman whistled, "Wow, I didn't know a punch to the ground could smash a portal!"
Dae nodded. "Too bad I couldn't record it. I was too busy fighting that stupid goat to get it on camera!"
"Wow," said Pinkie, "that sounded like an awesome fight! Whether you like it or not Betty, we're having a party to celebrate! And Dae, I didn't know you were the King of Hell. If I'd known, I would've had a party for you also!"
Dae paused and gave a puzzled look. "Say what now?"
"Well, duh you're the King of Hell, so we should have a party just to celebrate that alone!" Pinkie cheered.
"Seriously?" Dae replied.
Pinkie nodded. "Yup!"
Fluttershy giggled, "That's Pinkie for you Dae! She'll find any excuse to throw a party. I would say don't try to figure her out or you might die of a heart attack, but since you're already dead, go ahead and try to figure to your heart’s content.."
Dae shook his head with a slight chuckle. "Yeah, no thank you."
I couldn't stop myself from laughing at Dae's reaction to Pinkie. Of course, I don't blame him for not even wanting to begin to try and figure Pinkie out. I bet when Pinkie dies, the Afterlife Court will have a hard time trying to figure out where to put her because she's so nuts.
Yeah, I agree with you on that. I'm not even going to try. If no one can figure her out, I doubt I can do it. Dae thought.
Dude, will you stop giving me more things to laugh at? Because I might just die of laughter. I thought.
Ha, ha Betty. Dae thought. I doubt you can die laughing, but you might pass out from it? Dying isn’t gonna happen though, no.
I finally stopped laughing after a moment or two. "So exactly what are you guys planning, as far as a party goes?"
Pinkie shook her head with enthusiasm. "It's my Pinkie Promise as a party planner, I don't tell the person I'm throwing a party for when or what the party is going to be about or happen."
"Okay then." I said.
"So what are you going to do in the meantime?" Norman asked.
Remembering Mom's little death threat she sent to me, I felt that wasn't the time to slack off on my training, even if I just defeated Grogar and saved the universe.
"Oh no you don't Betty!" Dae snapped.
I blinked and looked at him startled. "What do you mean?"
"I know you want to be prepared because of your mother's death threat, but you really should at least try to take it easy," Dae said. "Besides, since you defeated Grogar, you can probably squash your mom like a bug."
I looked away. "Yeah, but I don't want to take any chances though."
Discord laughed, "Oh come Betty! Your boyfriend's right, you can take a break! You deserve it anyway!"
"Fine," I mumbled, "I'll try to take a break."
"Hey, I know what we can do!" Norman said. "We haven't spent much time together yet Betty, maybe we could go to the Castle of the Two sisters and try and figure out our way around those secret passageways!"
I thought about it. "Sounds like a good idea to me!"
"Yup, you two go have fun," said Dae, "I'll stay here and help with the party planning."
"Okay." I said.
Norman was obviously excited about this, because as soon as it was agreed that me and him would spend some time together, he grabbed my hand and practically dragged me out the door. I heard Dae laughing in my head as he thought, Have fun you two!
* * *
{Dae}
I thought it was awfully cute that Betty's little brother was so eager to spend time with her that he basically drove her out the door. Of course, I could hear his dirty little thoughts about her and I thought that was funny. I wonder how uncomfortable that's going to turn out? I figured I could find out how it went when Betty returned.
But for now, I had to talk to Celestia about when we were going to give Betty her second medal she won for helping me defeat Grogar and save the universe. I knew for a fact that since Betty had a hard time accepting the medal she won for defeating Tirek, that she would have a hard time accepting this medal too. Especially since she saw her dead teammates when she went through Grogar's portal.
When I got to the Middle Ground, I knocked on the door to Celestia's office.
"Who is it?" Celestia called out.
"Uh, Celestia," I said, "it's Dae, I came to talk to you about Betty's medal and when we should give it to her."
"Oh yes, your highness," responded Celestia, "come on in!"
I entered the room and Celestia bowed to me and I gave the usual greeting so we could get down to business and discuss things.
"I have Betty's medal right here!" Celestia smiled and she had a twinkle in her eye. She took the medal out of a drawer underneath her desk with a golden glow. She floated the box that had Betty's medal in it over to me.
I opened up the box before sighing, "You know she's going to have trouble accepting this right?"
Celestia nodded. "Yes, I heard she had trouble accepting her medal when he defeated Tirek."
"Yeah, she ran off and went to the Castle of the Two Sisters. Thankfully, after she calmed down she came home." I said. "She still doesn't feel she deserves it, because her teammates died on her watch. Not to mention her teammates bowed to her when they saw her after she went through the portal."
Celestia's jaw dropped when she heard this. "Seriously? Wow, well she does deserve that type of respect, whether she wants to agree with it or not. She really should start accepting the fact that she is the Child of Prophecy. That's not a fantasy, it's a fact. Why doesn't she see that?"
I sighed and shook my head. "I have no idea and your guess is as good as mine."
Even though I was happy for Betty winning her second medal, I wasn't sure how she was going to take it.
* * *
{Betty}
When Norman and I finally finished finding every single passageway at the Castle of the Two Sisters, Norman decided it was time for a little prank. Okay, it wasn't really much of prank or maybe some sort of stupid idea that Norman decided was a prank.
I was standing on a ledge of a passageway that I just came out of working my way back around to the entrance, when Norman decided to run up to me and push me off it.
"Hey!" I caught myself in mid air before I fell any further. "You know you're lucky I can fly!"
When Norman and I left the castle, he rolled his eyes. "Well duh! Or I wouldn't have done it silly!"
Then Norman decided to yank on my tail and sit on me after I fell to the ground.
"That's my stupid tail you know!" I snapped.
Norman laughed, "Yeah, I know that Betty, I'm just teasing." He looked up at the sky and sighed, "Well, it's getting dark, we should probably head back."
"Yeah, right after you stop sitting on me," I said with a disgruntled frown on my face.
Norman got off me and helped me to my feet. Then he started giving me that creepy look he gives me sometimes. I backed away from him. "Dude, will you stop giving me that creepy look?"
That seemed to snap Norman out of whatever he was thinking and it's a good thing I can't read minds, because I really didn't want to know.
"Oh, I didn't think I was giving you a look."
"Oh well, never mind, let's go home."
Norman nodded. Right when we were getting close to the cottage, Norman smiled at me and paused. "Wait here Betty."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because I need to go see if it's ready first."
When I saw that the lights in the cottage were turned off I rolled my eyes at it. I knew the other reason why Norman wanted to spend time with me. He was stalling to make sure that there was enough time to set up the party.
Norman came back outside and opened the door for me.
"Gee, I wonder what's waiting inside for me?" I asked with sarcasm.
"Oh Betty!" Pinkie giggled. "Turn on the lights already! I have a new cake recipe for you to try! It's called The Betty Jewel Cake!"
I did a face palm and groaned when I turned on the lights, there was a chorus of the word 'surprise' that sounded throughout the room. "Yeah, a surprise no, but okay."
"Aw come on!" Pinkie whined. "That was my best surprise yet!"
"Actually Pinkie, I agree with Betty on that one," Fluttershy said. "That wasn't really much of a surprise this time."
Pinkie tapped her chin with a hoof. I'm going to assume that she was probably trying to figure out a way to make her surprises more like an actual surprise and not too obvious. Once again, it's a good thing I can't read minds because I didn't want to know.
Yeah I don't want to know either. I agree with you that when Pinkie dies, the Afterlife Court will be having a hard time sorting her. Dae thought.
I smiled when I saw him and he came up to me and pulled me into his arms. After he kissed me there was a chorus of the word 'awe' around the room.
"Hey you two, stay right there, I'm going to take a picture!" Fluttershy said. She grabbed her camera and took a picture of me and Dae standing side by side. She smiled. "You two look absolutely adorable together!"
Discord nodded. "I can definitely agree with that! So the stalker finally gets the girl! You got lucky with Betty, Dae! I'm pretty sure not every girl would get together with her stalker."
I snorted when I saw the look on Dae's face turn red and it was priceless.
That's not funny Betty! Dae thought.
I think it is because you know Discord's right. I thought.
Dae then gave Fluttershy a look and she nodded but looked unsure about something at the same time. Fluttershy looked at Discord and he nodded. I was puzzled by this. It looked like this was some sort of Morse Code just by an exchange of looks and not noises.
"What's up with you three?" I asked.
"Well you see Betty," said Fluttershy, "there's something that we need to give you and we'd figure we should probably give this to you at your celebration party today… But um…"
I thought it was unusual that Fluttershy would be uncertain about giving me some sort of gift. Then I had a feeling of why she might be nervous. It probably had something to do with the fact that I just saved a whole universe.
Fluttershy took a deep breath and let it out through her mouth. Then, she then flew into the kitchen and she brought out what looked like a small box. Upon seeing the box I knew exactly what was in it, because it looked exactly like the box that my first medal came in. I shook my head. "Nope! I don't want it!"
"We had a feeling you might say that," said Discord, "but like it or not, you won it because you saved a whole universe! And even if you hide it or get rid of it somehow, it's still going to be on your record and more than likely, you'll have another one made to replace it."
"But I was just doing my job," I replied, "for crying out loud, seriously?"
Fluttershy smiled. "Sorry, but when you're a hero, it comes with the territory! I know when I saved Equestria a couple of times with my friends while using the Elements of Harmony, I got a reward for that. And my friends got a reward for it too. Even though my friends and I saved Equestria, you saved a whole entire universe! That's a big thing that needs to be honored. You deserve it!"
"And you don't get medals for just doing your job Betty," Dae added. "That's what I was doing when I fought Grogar, I was just defending my territory. No, I didn't get a medal for that."
"But you would've saved the universe if you had stopped him!" I said.
Dae shrugged. "Yeah, maybe or maybe not, but there was still the issue of dealing with the portal. That's where the real problem was. But you destroyed the portal with just one punch to the ground!"
Discord smiled and nodded in agreement. "I also noticed that's your signature move in a battle by the way."
I sighed. "Fine, I'll take it, but after today I'm hiding it along with the other one."
"I was wondering about that," said Fluttershy, "where did you hide the other one?"
"Not telling," I said, "because I don't want that thing on display."
Fluttershy snorted. "Wow, you're stubborn about accepting your accomplishments but okay then, I won't look for it. Even though I really want to."
I practically jumped a foot in the air when Pinkie appeared right behind me and shouted, "CAKE TIME!!!!!"
I blinked. "Okay, this time that was a surprise."
Pinkie giggled and had a twinkle in her eye. "Why thank you Betty! I'll keep that in mind for next time!"
I tried so hard not to roll my eyes at the huge cake Pinkie brought out. The cake was decorated with all sorts of jewels on it and I had no idea if any of them were edible or not. Written on the front of the cake were the words: Betty Jewel! My Hero!
I know that look Betty, will you lighten up already? It's a celebration party for a reason. Dae thought.
I jumped a foot in the air again when Pinkie shouted, "Blow out the candles!"
"For what?" I asked. "It's not my birthday."
"Well duh!" Pinkie responded giving me an annoyed look. "I know that, silly! I think any celebration party deserves a cake with candles!"
I shrugged. "Whatever you say Pinkie."
I blew out the candles and Pinkie cut the cake into slices and made me take the first bite. As always Pinkie's desserts are top notch. Before I knew it, I ate the whole slice of cake I had. Thankfully, Pinkie didn't just have cake for food at the party. She also had healthy food like vegetables and fruit to eat. I gravitated towards the tables with the healthy food on it, but eventually, I went back for another slice of cake.
Even though I was having fun at the party, I started wondering in the back of my mind when Mom was going to make a move in carrying out her death threat towards me.