The Ghost of Cozy Glow the Second Story

by SapphireRose87

1) 12 Years Later

I remember the day when I adopted Cozy Glow who has now taken on the name Amethyst Rose who was also named a Death Walker by the Icebreakers. The Icebreakers are mythical beings that supposedly keep the universe in check. Thankfully when Cozy Glow was sent back to the Land of the Living, she remembered everything about her. The Icebreakers then announced something that had everyone floored. The Icebreakers named the next Death Walker and it was me.

It’s kind of funny though because my sister Betty is called the Legendary Death Walker now. But the fact that the Icebreakers named me and Cozy Glow as Death Walkers really didn’t sit well with Betty for some reason. Me and Cozy Glow didn’t really start getting Death Walker abilities until 12 years later. That was when I saw Betty again. It was right after I had shown up in the Land of the Dead and met the Head of the Icebreakers Hankle. When I first landed in the Land of the Dead I saw a building before me in the Middle Ground and it said on it Afterlife Sorting. I then looked to see that there was a man in dark robes that looked like they were ripped at the bottom.

“Hi there child,” said Hankle, “welcome to the Land of the Dead.”

“Who are you?” I said.

“My name,” said Hankle, “is Hankle and I am the leader of the Icebreakers.”

I just sat where I was trying to process the information that I was given.

“If I’m in the Land of the Dead,” I said, “then my sister is here?”

“Yes Norman,” said Hankle, “she is here and she’s the Queen of Hell now.”

“So,” I said, “exactly why am I here?”

“You are the second Death Walker in the new generation.” Hankle said.

“You’re not serious are you?” I said.

Hankle then nodded, “I’m totally serious, and sooner or later, you will have to make a choice just like Betty did.”

“What about Cozy Glow?” I said. “When will she be coming?”

“Ah, that,” said Hankle, “she should be coming right about now.”

Sure enough, I looked over to see Cozy Glow Lying on her back. That was when I saw her, it was my sister Betty. She looked completely different from the last time I saw her. She wore black pants and a black T-shirt. Betty also had a gold crown on her head. Cozy Glow and I looked at her in awe.

“Hi Norman,” said Betty, “Hi Cozy Glow, long time no see, Huh?”

* * *

I shook my head at seeing Betty for the first time in 12 years.

This has got to be a dream. I thought

I then slapped myself on the face as hard as I could. I could feel the pain from it.

Nope, I thought, I’m awake…

Betty then must’ve got a real kick out of the display of violence that I just did to myself and fell out laughing.

“Let me guess,” said Betty, “you don’t think any of this is real.”

“Uh Norman,” said Cozy Glow, “this totally real. This is where I landed after Betty died.”

“Don’t remind me,” I said, “the certificate of death says suicide and they couldn’t be more right.”

“Hey,” said Cozy Glow, “where’s Grandpa Discord? Is he here?”

At this comment Betty was doubled over in laughter.

“It’s since your brother adopted me.” Cozy Glow said.

“I’m sorry,” said Betty, “I just never thought I’d see the day that some pony called Discord grandpa. It’s bad enough that Discord is requiring me to call him dad now.”

Now it was my turn to laugh, “Seriously, now that’s funny!”

Betty then rolled her eyes, “Come with me you two, I’m sure Dae would love to see you again. And my daughter Ruby would love to meet you.”

“You have a daughter in the Afterlife?” I said. “How did that happen?”

“You’ll have to talk to Dae about that one,” said Betty, “I’m still not sure about it.”

I nodded, “Okay then…”

* * *

When Betty and I walked down the hallway of the Castle, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. All the way down the hallway there were pictures of Kings and Queens that ruled before all the way up to Dae and his wife Betty. We continued down the hallway and entered a beautiful garden. I then saw a young girl who was sitting at a table doing her homework. Dae was helping out and I could only assume that this was Betty’s daughter Ruby.

“That answer is correct,” said Dae, “keep getting A’s and B’s like that and you’ll graduate at the top of your class.”

“Yeah,” said Ruby, “but I still get teased for being the daughter of the King.”

“I don’t wanna know how long you’ve been standing there.” Dae said.

“Long enough,” said Betty, “Norman and Cozy Glow’s here.”

Dae then looked up at us and smiled.

“Ah,” said Dae, “it’s nice to see you again. I heard about you being named a Death Walker to Norman. That must’ve come as a shock to you.”

“Yeah,” I said, “I guess it runs in the family.”

“Get this,” said Betty, “Cozy Glow call’s Discord grandpa now!”

Dae couldn’t contain his laughter, he laughed so hard it brought tears to his eyes.

“What’s so funny about that?” Cozy Glow asked.

“It’s funny,” said Dae, “because it’s Discord!”

* * *

“So..” Dae said.

“So what?” I said.

“Have you found a girl to settle down with yet?” Dae said.

As I just about choked on those words and could see Dae smiling at me.

“No,” I said, “I have no desire for that. Besides I’m busy raising Cozy Glow, and on top of that, I work for the Princess.”

“What office?” Dae said.

“Military Division,” I said, “Special Ops Core.”

“Ah,” said Dae, “You’ve had your fair share of battles then.”

“Yup,” I said, “one too many to count. Some that I can’t get out of my head.”

“I see..” Dae said.

Truth be told I enlisted in the Military Division right after Betty died. The only battles that I couldn’t get out of my head where the kill or be killed situations. The look on my opponents face after they were dead really creeped me out.

“Have you won any medals yet?” Dae said.

I rolled my eyes, “Yes, five of them and Princess Twilight is really starting to get on my nerves about it.”

“Why’s that?” Dae said.

“She keeps wanting me to move up the ranks,” I said, “all the way up to being a Knight of the Royal Court.”

Dae really got a kick out of that and fell out laughing.

“That’s not funny!” I said.

“Maybe she has a crush on you or something?” Dae said.

“Hopefully or something,” I said, “no thank you.”

Just the very thought of an Alicorn Princess liking me did not sit well with me at all.

“I understand how you feel,” said Dae, “I did turn down a marriage proposal from her.”

“Really?” I said. “Yeah Princess Twilight needs to take a number and get in line.”

Dae laughed, “Well girls tend to like a man in uniform.”

“Yeah, “ I said, “like I said, no thank you!”

I looked behind me to see Betty standing there.

“How long have you been standing there?” I said.

“Does it matter?” Betty said. “Anyway, it’s time for you and Cozy Glow to go back to the Land of the Living. It’s almost daylight there.”

“Sure,” I said, “okay…”

* * *

That very moment I woke up, I found out that I was being summoned to the Castle seeing as I live in Canterlot I could get there by walking or running . I got dressed as quickly as I could and ran as fast as my legs could take me. As soon as I got to the Throne Room doors I stopped to catch my breath. Upon entering I gave Princess Twilight a bow.

“At ease soldier!” said Princess Twilight.

I then stood up looking at Princess Twilight warly.

“Now let’s see,” said Princess Twilight, “you’ve turned down a promotion to be a Knight of the Royal Court how many times now?”

“Three…” I said.

Princess Twilight nodded, “You can’t keep turning down the job forever Norman, you’re perfect for it don’t you see?”

“But-“ I said.

“Not another word,” said Princess Twilight, “if you won’t take the job willingly, I’ll just have to force you to take it!”

I just stood there and didn’t say a word. I was seriously hoping that this was all a bad dream or some messed up prank.

“So,” said Princess Twilight, “starting tomorrow, you are officially a Knight of the Royal Court. You’ll have your fitting for your new uniform tomorrow too. You can't run away from the job forever. You’re dismissed!”

When I left the Throne Room I didn’t realize that my eyes were wide until I ran into my friend Robert.

“What’s the matter?” Robert said. “You look like you've seen a ghost.”

“More like a forced job that I’ve been turning down.” I said.

“Let me guess, “ said Robert, “you’ve been promoted to being a Knight of the Royal Court?”

“Yup,” I said, “this is either a bad dream or some messed up prank. Are you in on this?”

“Nope,” said Robert, “I’m not, and it’s not a dream either. I think you should be happy to take the job.”

“Then why don’t you take it?” I said.

Robert didn’t say anything else he just walked away with a stupid grin on his face.

* * *

The next day I stood in front of a couple of mirrors as the seamstress measured me. After she was done, she then pulled out a rack of different uniforms.

“Here,” said the seamstress, “try this on.”

My eyes went wide in terror, looking at the uniform and I so didn’t want to try it on.

“Well go on,” the seamstress said, “try it on.”

I went to the back to change my clothes and stepped out to look at the mirror. The uniform was purple and gold and it had a silver chain that started from the breast pocket to the shoulder.

“It looks good,” said the seamstress, “I don’t blame the Princess for picking you as a Knight. Of course any girl would like a man in uniform. And with you I don’t blame them, you’re a pretty handsome one too.”

By this time, I seriously wanted to run for the hills, as far away from the Castle as possible. But I knew that wasn’t possible, I realized that I just had to face the facts.

“Well,” said the seamstress, “run along now, your first shift starts in 10 minutes.”

I walked out the door, I just had to run into Robert and he couldn’t contain his laughter.

“It’s not funny Robert!” I said.

“Yes it is,” said Robert, “Norman you just look so handsome in that uniform.”

“Yeah,” I said, “take a number and get in line.”

Robert walked away laughing as hard as he could.

Well, I thought, it could be worse…

* * *

When I finally finished my first day of work, all I wanted to do was go home and pretend this job never happened. That was wishful thinking because as soon as I turned on the lights I was met with a chorus of the word “surprise” all around the room.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I said. “Pinkie Pie! Get out of my house!”

Robert then came out in front of the crowd.

“Like I said before Robert,” I said, “this isn’t funny!”

“Oh come on,” said Robert, “I just told Pinkie Pie about your promotion so she wanted to celebrate.”

“You think I need a party right now!” I said. “Are you nuts?”

“Like I said,” said Robert, “you look so handsome in that uniform and besides, you’re still wearing it!”

“I just got off of work you idiot!” I said.

“You got a stick up your butt or something? Just relax will you?” Robert said.

I rubbed my forehead and really wanted to kill everyone in the house. So, I did the next best thing.

“I don’t care Robert,” I said, “have the party without me. Just don’t destroy the house!”

I then went upstairs and locked the door to my bedroom.

* * *

The next day I was off duty from my new job. When you’re off duty it’s mandatory to keep up with your training regardless. After I took care of everything else in my training, I decided that now was the perfect time to turn Robert into a punching bag. So I took on Robert for hand to hand combat.

“Are you sure about this?” Robert said.

“Why?” I said.

“You’ve been training all day,” said Robert, “don’t you want to sit down and relax for the rest of the day? I think you’ve earned it.”

“Nope,” I said, “it’s time for a little payback for that party you threw the other day.”

“You sure it’s not to show off in front of the ladies?” Robert said.

Robert pointed and sure enough a big crowd of women who had gathered as if they knew there was going to be a fight involving me. I shook my head because I was seriously pissed off at Robert at the moment, let’s just say I was seeing red because of him.

“Okay fine,” said Robert, “let’s get this over with.”

“You say that like you’re going to win this time.” I said.

So the sparring match began, Robert’s usually no match for me. But, I wanted the fight to last as long as possible.

“Dude,” said Robert, “can you at least learn to smile for a change?”

“As if!” I said. I threw a punch and it landed right on target.

“When did you become such a stick in the mud?” Robert said.

“And when did you become such an easy punching bag?” I said.

“You weren’t like this growing up,” said Robert, “what happened?”

“It happened when my mother and sister died,” I said, “and in case you didn’t my dads a deadbeat!”

I landed another kick in Robert’s stomach. He stumbled backwards and then got up and I could clearly see that he was out of breath.

“That happened 12 years ago!” Robert said. “Pack up and move on!”

“Don’t you tell me when to get over my family!” I said.

I then finally decided to end the fight by throwing Robert on the ground. I then had Robert’s arm behind his back.

“Okay, okay,” said Robert, “I surrender! Seriously, I give up!”

“Don’t ever tell me to get over my family again, got it?” I said.

“Okay I get it!” Robert said. “Dude, let me go already!”

I thought about breaking Robert’s arm but, I decided not too. I let Robert go and walked away. I hear the crowd of women cheering in the background.

Women, I thought, they’re so annoying…

* * *

When I got home, Cozy Glow was in bed because of school the next day. I took a shower and got changed ready to turn in for the night. I thought I had turned off all the lights, but there was one single light turned on in the living room. There was man sitting in the living room chair.

“Well, well, well,” said the man, “my nephew has grown into a fine young man.”

“Nephew?” I said. “Who are you? What do you want?”

“Oh yeah,” said the man, “your mom probably never told you about me. And here I thought you were the favorite one in the family.”

“I think I asked who the heck are you?” I said.

“Yeah,” said the man, “I said Nephew for a reason, the reason being is because I’m your mom’s twin brother. Just call me Uncle Dylan.”

“No thanks,” I said, “I don’t think I’ll be calling some stranger Uncle just because he says he is.”

“Okay fine,” said Dylan, “have it your way.”

“And you’re in my house because?” I said.

“I’m here to deliver a message,” sad Dylan, “the message is I declare war on you.”

“Why?” I said. “What did I do?”

“Oh no,” said Dylan, “it has nothing to do with what you did. My sister was killed by your sister unfortunately, is dead too. I don’t want to avenge their deaths at all.”

“Your point?” I said.

“I seriously want to kill you next.” Dylan said.

“And that’s going to solve what problem?” I said.

“Think of this as an extermination process,” said Dylan, “your mother’s family is not fit to have the name Jewel on it. Your death sentence is sealed now. But I will give you this, I’ll give you the two year deadline that your mom gave Betty. And you want to know something else? I’m a Death Walker too, I guess it runs in the family. And I hear your sisters a legend now! Maybe you’ll be one too, that remains to be seen.”

“I want to know something.” I said.

“What?” Dylan said.

“How did you get in my house?” I said.

“Oh you mean this spare key here?” Dylan said, tossing the key to me. “You really should think of a better place to hide this. Well, I think it’s time to go. Remember Norman two years nothing more nothing less, two years.”

Dylan then got up to leave and he left all I could think about is changing the locks and putting in a security system instead of having a spare key.