The Ghost of Cozy Glow the Second Story

by SapphireRose87

20) Behind Enemy Lines

It was nighttime. The enemy declared another ceasefire.

It took us six hours to get behind enemy lines and I don’t know why that happened. My guess is that we had to take cover a lot before getting to the enemies front line trenches.

“Well,” said Betty, “the trenches of the enemy front lines are right up ahead. You can start advancing to different trenches any time you like.”

Jasper laughed, “This should be fun! When we start advancing and put our plan into place, the enemy is bound to start firing on each other!”

I remembered the many pranks that Robert would pull back in school and started laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Jasper said.

“Too bad Robert’s not here,” I said, “he would definitely use this to play a prank! What would it be? Get inside the trenches and set off some smoke bombs?”

Jasper's eyes turned up in thought, “you know what’s funny? I used to pull pranks myself!”

“You did? What would you do?” I said.

“One time I put a harmless garden snake inside a girl's desk that I didn’t like,” said Jasper. “I also put a note in it saying, 'Jasper was here!' She wouldn't stop stalking me! It’s funny though because that’s when I realized that I was gay.”

“I wish we could do that with insane Chole and insane Liz!” I said. We laughed together. Betty flicked her tail in annoyance.

“Would you two knock it off!” Betty said. “It’s nice to take a walk down memory lane once in a while but this isn’t the time for that! In case you didn’t notice we’re at war!”

I saw Betty's scolding look and we both stopped laughing. Biting my tongue I looked away.

“Wow Norman,” said Betty, “if I didn’t know any better I’d say Sunset’s discipline must’ve scared you silly!”

Jasper and Xavier snickered at each other.

“It’s not funny!” I said through gritted teeth. “Keep laughing and the next trench will be your grave!"

I smiled as Xavier shrank back in fear.

Suddenly Ben spoke, "you know I hated you at first, I thought you were getting better, but I guess I was wrong. You jerk!"

When Jasper heard that he took a battle stance, ready to tackle Ben. That’s exactly what he did and I didn’t even bother to stop him. They grappled until Betty pulled Jasper off Ben.

“Children! knock it off already!” Betty said. “And as for you General Ben, too bad, you’re not one of my soldiers! Or I’d have half a mind throw you in a dungeon! You shouldn’t have done that in the first place! Do you remember when you became general? Did you have trouble with people picking on you too?" Ben stared at her before she screamed "ANSWER ME!”

Ben looked away as if he had gotten slapped by Betty and I wished she had done so. But that wouldn’t have solved anything.

“No,” said Ben, “I never knew what that was like.”

“Well,” said Betty, “I wish I could make you understand! Do you want to know how much trouble I had to go through growing up? Enough to last a lifetime! A lot of that came from being a half and half alone!”

Xavier tilted his head, “Half and half? I thought they called you guys halfbreeds?”

“Excuse me?” Betty and I both roared.

“That’s not what you call them!” I said. “That’s an insult in case you didn’t know you, idiot!”

I wanted to squeeze Xavier's neck. Betty grabbed my arm and shook her head.

“Well,” said Betty, “all insulting aside, the sooner you guys take care of Shadow Mist, the sooner you go home. I have to go now.”

Before Betty could leave I stopped her, “I have to tell you something.”

Betty tilted her head, “What?”

“I’m going to say the same words you said to me before jumping off that cliff fourteen years ago,” I said.

“What’s that?” Betty said.

“See you on the other side,” I said.

After that Betty nodded and disappeared.

* * *

The family back home was still watching the broadcast that Aurora was giving. She could only give her audiences a play by play on how the war was going on. The family was half watching and half talking to each other. They couldn’t escape the fact that they worried about Jasper and Norman. Even Discord worried about them and he's never worried about anything.

“Well,” said Sunset, “at least that news reporter isn’t following them around anymore. I feel bad for hitting Norman!”

“Is that what you did?” Discord said. “I don’t know if it knocked some sense into him. That’s what my wife Fluttershy did to me a couple of times during our long talks! Yeah, I’m afraid of women! It wouldn't surprise me if he’s afraid of women now!”

When Sunset and Robert couldn’t help but laugh at the fact that Discord being the Lord of Chaos was afraid of his wife. Not to mention that Norman might be afraid of Sunset.

“That’s not funny you two!” Discord said in annoyance.

Robert was trying so hard to keep his laughter in, “Oh it is funny! The Lord of Chaos, afraid of his wife! Not to mention Norman might be afraid of Sunset! Did you punch him in the face Sunset?”

“No,” said Sunset, “I slapped him that’s all. And tied him to a chair.”

“No wonder why Norman might be afraid of you!” Robert said with a look of concern on his face. “You shouldn’t have tied him to the chair! The fact that you did that makes me feel sorry for him, considering what he went through with Olivia!”

“Well, how else was I going to talk to him?” Sunset said.

"Why not do that beacon of light training that I’ve seen you do a couple of times. He would’ve stayed put for doing that!” Robert said.

Sunset looked down at the floor, “I guess I have some making up to do for that one.”

Robert shrugged, “Well you talked to him. Can’t change it now. Like those jerks playing monkey in the middle. It wouldn’t surprise me if he turns them into a punching bag next! Like I said before, if General Ben doesn’t die in this war, I’ll kill him myself!”

Fluttershy was standing around the corner listening. She was not happy about what she heard at all. “I heard Norman and Jasper went on an assignment before this war started. Exactly what happened to Norman?”

“Oh boy,” said Robert, “Jasper told me about it. A former teammate of theirs who also was a friend got sacked and escaped custody. She got considered a fugitive and with her last words to Norman she became an enemy to the throne. So Commander Rainbow Dash wanted her brought back dead. Before they could complete their mission, Norman got knocked out by one of Olivia’s henchmen. She tied him to a chair and she took his pants off. He was almost raped by the girl when Jasper stepped in and killed her.”

When Fluttershy and Discord heard this, they trembled with rage. After Robert reminded her of what happened Sunset's anger took over her.

“No wonder why Norman was mad when I did that!” Sunset said. "I feel worse now for doing that."

“Yeah,” said Robert, “I figured that’s why he was practicing on the simulator so much. He wanted to hit something! But, there’s something else that he didn’t tell Jasper and me about that story that bothered him on top of that!”

"I hope he’ll tell us when he gets back from the war, that is if he gets back?” Sunset said.

Robert shook his head, “I’m not so sure about that. I’ve tried to get it out of him myself but no dice on that one. At least Cozy Glows asleep now, she wants to see her father come back home.”

“Wait!” Fluttershy said. “Did you tell Robert about her past, Sunset?”

Sunset smiled at Fluttershy, “Nope I didn’t tell her. Cozy Glow told him herself.”

“Speaking of fathers, shouldn’t you have told Norman about his little parting gift. The gift he left behind for you before this war started?” Discord said.

“I was going to tell him,” said Sunset, “but the war started before I didn't get a chance. To tell the truth I’m not sure Norman would be too excited about it.”

Now it was Discord’s turn to smile, “Considering Norman adopted Cozy Glow, I think he would be excited about it! But knowing him, Norman would be as protective of you as he is Cozy Glow and everyone else.”

“What’s the gift he left behind?” Robert said.

Sunset took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“I’m pregnant with Norman's child,” said Sunset, “and I got a DNA test to prove it.”

Sunset took the DNA test and showed it to everyone, one by one. When Fluttershy saw it she hopped up and down, smiling brightly. “Oh!” Fluttershy cheered. “I can’t wait to throw a baby shower! Pinkie Pie will definitely want to make the biggest cake for you too! And you’ll get a lot of presents!”

“Thanks, Fluttershy,” said Sunset, “I’d prefer no one tell Norman until I tell him myself okay?”

Fluttershy nodded, “Sure, your secret is safe with me! Right everyone?”

Everyone else nodded in agreement.

* * *

“This is way too much fun!” Xavier said as he threw another one of his attacks at the enemy.

Our plan worked just as we suspected! The enemy hailed bullets all over on their own trenches while we kept them confused with our untraceable attack patterns. We reacted by laughing at their stupidity.

“I agree," Ana said.

“Okay then,” said Jasper, “time to jump to the next trench! Too bad Discord isn’t here, he would be in heaven!”

“I agree with that one!” I said.

We went to the next trench. It surprised me that the enemy didn’t spot us as we kept jumping from trench to trench. I had a smile on my face as we did this.

Yup, I thought, this is way too much fun! Oh well, too bad Robert isn’t here!

“At least there’s no news reporters following us around!” Jasper said. “That makes our job easy now!”

“If there are news reporters I’m breaking their camera! Those idiots annoy me,” I said.

“Yup,” said Jasper, “Are you sure you can handle a cameraman on your own?"

I gave a mischievous smile, "well you are my protector after all!"

Jasper and I climbed out from the trench and continued onward. After countless trenches I began to wonder when it would end.

I want this war to be over already! I thought.

The sun went down. The sound of gunfire came to a halt. The enemy declared a ceasefire and everyone put down their weapons for the night. That meant the rest of the team and I were able to take a break from moving through the trenches. Jasper and I sat at the edge of the trench together. My mind kept going back to the day that Betty jumped off that cliff. She looked all too happy to do it and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. Like when Olivia got sacked and I couldn’t do a thing about that either. So much for protecting people. I kept thinking that I failed even at that. I got snapped out of my thoughts by Jasper tugging on my ear.

“Huh?” I said.

“What are you thinking about?” Jasper said.

“Nothing much I guess,” I said.

“It sure doesn’t look like nothing,” Jasper said.

I sighed, “You’re right, my mind keeps going back to how I failed to protect my sister.”

“How did she die?” Jasper said.

“She jumped off a cliff,” I said.

“Was there an avalanche?” Jasper said.

“No,” I said, “she jumped off the cliff and died on her terms. I could’ve stopped her. It looked like she was all too happy to go.”

“Those words that you said to her,” said Jasper, “were those the same last words she said to you before she jumped?”

I nodded, “Yes.”

“If she was all too happy to go,” said Jasper, “then you shouldn’t blame yourself for her death. Do you blame yourself for Olivia’s death?”

“No,” I said, “it was her fault that she died! If she’d told me her story before then I could’ve helped her! And I tried everything I could to help! She had every opportunity to tell us what happened." I looked away from Jasper with tears in my eyes.

I took a shaky breath and continued, "I didn’t get a chance to help Betty either. She was a full-fledged death walker when I saw her before she died. I wish I would’ve been there before. If I had been there for her, it probably would’ve made a difference.”

“What difference would it have made?" Jasper said.

I sighed and wiped the tears from my eyes, “There’s a rule that the Icebreakers put into play that once a death walker gets announced. sooner or later they will have to make a choice and this choice is a very serious choice to make.”

“What choice?” Jasper said.

“The choice is,” I said, “whether they want to live or die. If a death walker doesn’t make their choice ten years after they become a death walker. The Icebreakers make the choice for them!”

“That’s horrible!” Jasper said. “Why do they have death walkers in the first place?”

“I don’t know but I’m sure I’ll find out the reason for it sooner or later,” I said, “if the Icebreakers want to tell us.”

“I take it,” said Jasper, “Betty’s choice was to die?”

I nodded, “Yup and Sunset, Amethyst and I have already made our decision.”

“What is it?” Jasper said.

“We’ve all chosen to live,” I said, “if I had been there for Betty, maybe she would’ve made the choice to live.”

Jasper sighed, “You can’t blame yourself for a choice that someone else made.”

“That’s what everyone keeps telling me!” I said. “The funny thing is that Betty’s the only one that understands! And she’s dead…”

Jasper pulled me into his arms and kissed me.

“Let’s see,” I said, “that’s how times you’ve kissed me since this war began?”

“I don’t know,” said Jasper, “who’s counting?”

Then we heard Xavier clear his throat, “Aw that’s so cute! I really must call you two out this one! If I didn’t know any better I’d say two were dating! Am I right?”

“Shut up Xavier!” Ben said. "I did hear you were forming a herd! Why won’t you let Liz join?”

“That’s none of your business Ben!” I said. “And it’s called family! Liz is insane like Olivia! At least I have a sane girlfriend and that’s Sunset!”

“We heard you were dating someone by that name,” said Xavier, “it wouldn’t happen to be Sunset Shimmer would it?”

“Yeah,” I said, “your point?”

“She’s the one that’s been training you on your death walker abilities?” Xavier said, “she must be good at it! I saw some of your abilities when we were back in Equestria! Not bad, not bad at all!”

“I should care what you think because?” I said.

“Oh no reason,” said Xavier, “what’s she like in bed?”

“Excuse me?” I said. At that moment I didn’t care if Xavier was on my team, I was seeing red. I was about to tackle the guy like Jasper did to Ben.

“Um, Xavier?” Ben said. “You might not want to talk to a general that way! I’m a general myself and even I have enough common sense not to do that! If you were back on base you would have a report filed for that!”

“I don’t care!” Xavier said. “Second Jasper, you might want to calm your boyfriend down before he does something he’ll regret!”

“Nope,” said Jasper, “I’m giving him license to kill you after what you said about Sunset!”

I didn’t hold myself back, I went and tackled Xavier and was about to strangle him when Ana pulled me off him. I got to my feet and shrank back in terror from the look on her face. I bit my tongue so I didn't get slapped.

“Break it up you two!” Ana said. “In case you didn’t notice, we’re at war! We're supposed to be a team! And this is a difficult assignment! I’ve been through that stupid team training obstacle course myself! I had to complete it with a team, too! As for you Xavier, if you were back on base I’d file a second report right along with Ben!”

“Why is everyone sticking up for him?” Xavier said. “He’s the one that tackled me!”

“Because you provoked him, you idiot!” Ben took a deep breath, looked me in the eyes, and said, “I’m sorry Norman, but it’s time I tell you something. I dated Liz before I got married! Trust me, Liz wasn’t that crazy back then! Maybe she’s still pissed off that I broke up with her and married someone else! Xavier, you’re mad you didn’t get a shot at her because she fell for Norman first!”

“Humph!” Xavier said. “There’s no way that I would date that crazy woman!”

“Lair!” Ben said.

“Will you two shut up!” Ana said. “You’re as bad as the enemy!"

I almost laughed at Xavier and Ben but Jasper beat me to it.

“That isn’t funny Jasper!” Xavier said.

“It is!” Jasper said. “You’re getting chewed out by a sergeant! That’s hilarious!”

“Will you guys shut up!” I said. “As Ana said we’re on a team. We need to work together. If one person could get the job done then we wouldn’t be in a team in the first place! So let’s stop fighting each other and end this war once and for all!”

Nobody said a word in response, they nodded at each other and walked away. I didn’t say anything else either. Me and Jasper went back to our spot in the trench.

* * *

We moved to the next trench. Inside the trench we found more enemies than the previous ones. Looking up we saw the castle had grown closer. Closer but still a little distance away.

Despite the number of enemies I just used my sword to conserve my power. After fighting through the trench, we ran into a mare that had two swords floating in her magic.

“Well,” said Jasper, “I think this one’s yours Norman!”

“Let’s see what you can do kid!” Ben said.

“I’m not a kid!” I said rolling my eyes.

Like when fighting Shadow Mist she threw her swords at me with alarming speed. I dodged them in the nick of time but not before one of the swords grazed my shoulder. She shaped her swords into an X and threw them. They whirled toward me, I swifty leapt over them.

“Now where did you learn that move?” I said.

“The king of Mave himself!” The mare said. “I’m a general like you!”

The mare kept her swords into the form of an X and aimed them at my teammates next.

“Oh no you don’t!” I said.

Ben and Jasper stepped to the side, easily dodging it. I threw my sword at the attack and it broke the mares swords apart. They stopped flying and they fell to the ground.

“That was close!” Xavier said.

“No kidding!” Ana said.

“Well, well,” the mare said, “Shadow Mist did say you were a good opponent! It looks like you’ve gotten stronger than when he fought you!”

I groaned and the mare picked her swords up in her magic, she threw them at me fast again. I kept dodging them to the best of my abilities.

“That doesn’t look good!” Ben said. “The swords are going so fast! I don't know how much longer he can keep up with her!”

I hoped she would use the same attack Shadow Mist used so I could catch her swords. It didn't look like she would.

I smiled and thought, It’s a good thing I can use my death walker abilities now.

I looked down at my wrist to see the iron chain attack. I let it shoot towards the mare and wrapped it around her horn. I pulled my chain back as hard as I could breaking the mare's horn in the process. She stumbled back howling in pain. I took my sword and drove it through her chest. That was the last enemy that was in the trench.

Good, I thought, we still have one more trench and to get to the border of the castle! And we’d better do it before night falls! This war needs to end and soon!