The Ghost of Cozy Glow the Second Story

by SapphireRose87

26) Princess Twilight's Choice

"He’s kicking again!” Sunset said. “He only does that when his father is around. I guess he can’t wait to meet the war hero he has for a father!”

I wanted to reach over and see what she was talking about but I stopped myself.

“Oh boy,” said Sunset, “you can touch me you know that right?”

I wasn’t sure about that when she grabbed my hand and let me touch her belly. The baby kicked when I touched her belly and I smiled. Sunset smiled at me for a moment but then had a look of concern.

“Look I’m sorry for slapping you when I disciplined you before the war and after you got home,” Sunset said. “You’re worried about something else aren’t you. I know you’re worried about me being pregnant but there’s something else isn’t there?”

I nodded, “Yes, I’m just worried about the baby’s future.”

“What are you talking about?” Sunset said.

“I hope he doesn’t enlist just to follow in my footsteps,” I said, “and I’m going to try my best to be a better dad than mine was.”

“I see,” said Sunset, “you want to save him don’t you? You just can’t help yourself!”

“You know what,” I said, “that’s exactly what everyone has been telling me! The funny thing is that the only person that understands is dead.”

Sunset and I couldn’t help but laugh at that thought.

“But I also hope,” I said, “that he doesn’t get named as a Death Walker like me.”

“Did Fate say anything about that?” Sunset said.

“How did you know that I met Fate?” I said.

“Your sister told me,” Sunset said.

“Well, at least he’ll have Cozy Glow for a big sister,” I said, changing the subject. “She’s really excited about it! She even built his crib!”

“That’s cute to me,” said Sunset, “there is something I wanted to talk to you about. What do you think of naming the baby Norman Jr.?”

I titled my head, “Why would we give a pegasus colt a human name?”

Sunset shrugged, “I was thinking we do something different, and besides who wouldn’t want to be named after a war hero!”

I smiled at the thought, “You know what? I think that’s a wonderful name! If it was a girl I’d say name it after you! The baby would be called Sunset the second!”

Sunset snickered, “I wonder something though. Jasper and Robert have caught you sleeping at the edge of the bed as if you were sleeping at the edge of a trench. The family and I saw some of the broadcast of what Aurora did. You and Jasper we’re moving so fast trying to get behind enemy lines! I take it you really wanted the war to end as fast as you could go. What was it like on the other side?”

“Pretty much the same setup that we had,” I said. “I kept thinking that it was too bad that Robert wasn’t there, he had loved that opportunity for a prank. The funny thing is that as soon as we put our plan into action, the enemy started firing on their own soldiers!”

“Seriously?” Sunset laughed. “They really did that?”

“Yup,” I said, “although I’m not surprised because their leader was an idiot and really didn’t know how to do his job! Get this, as soon we got into the castle they got the bright idea to have a cannon on each floor!”

Sunset doubled over in laughter. She couldn’t hold in her laughter even if she wanted.

“It was actually a lot of fun causing chaos on the other side!” I said. “Although if Ana wasn’t staring at my butt the whole time that would’ve made things a lot better!”

“Like I said before,” said Sunset, “you’re just the gift that keeps on giving aren’t you?”

“Ha, ha,” I said, “very funny!”

Sunset smiled at me and laughed.

“What was that for?” I said.

“It’s about time you finally said something like that to me!” Sunset said. “I heard you had trouble talking to a woman ever since I slapped you. I am really sorry about that! It’s a good thing you got over that, considering Princess Twilight might name you as the next ruler of Equestria!”

“I hope not!” I said. “As I told Discord, I don’t want the job!”

“That’s too bad if it happens,” said Sunset, “I wouldn’t be surprised if she does though! Anyway, it’s getting late, you should probably get some sleep. Good thing you’re off work tomorrow. But even still, you’re not a demon like Betty, so you need to sleep!”

“I’m not sure if I’m going to stay asleep for very long though,” I said, “unless I get summoned to The Land of the Dead again.”

“How many times have you been summoned?” Sunset said.

“Just once,” I said, “just for a visit though. Come to think of it, we never had our sparring match before the war started.”

“Well,” said Sunset, “maybe you’ll have it next time.”

* * *

That very night I was summoned to The Land of the Dead and Betty was there to greet me.

“So why have I been summoned this time?” I said.

“We haven’t had our big sparring match like I wanted to do before the war started,” Betty said.

“You sure about that?” I said. “You’re a legend for crying out loud! I’m not sure that it would be a fair fight.”

Betty shook her head, “Now we’re evenly matched.”

“How’d you figure that out?” I said.

“I might be a legend,” said Betty, “but you’re a war hero now! You may not have mastered all nine of the death walker abilities like I did, but you learned a move that I didn’t master until after I died!”

“What’s that?” I said.

“That Transfer move,” said Betty, “it’s a lot like one of my attacks that I can use to throw the enemies attack right back at them. But the only way I can use it, is if it's a beam of light. The Transfer move is an attack that can absorb the enemy's attack and you can use it against them. Not to mention that was a move that Sunset hadn’t even taught you yet! You figured it out in the heat of battle! I guess hero’s do run in the family after all!”

“Okay,” I said, “so when do we start?”

“Look around and see where we are,” said Betty, “we’re in the fighting stadium! This is going to be fun!”

I looked around and the fighting area looked a lot like the training area back on base. It even had bleachers for spectators to sit and watch. Thankfully there was no one there to watch us. I looked over and it was as if Betty’s crown knew she was getting ready to go into battle. Because the crown turned into a hat. It was much like her disguise that she used back in the war. Her outfit was different too; it went from what she usually wears when attending to her royal duties. It looked a lot like it did in the war. She now wore black pants and a black shirt. When I saw what her outfit signaled I was starting to feel very nervous about fighting her. That was because she wasn’t Shadow Mist or Dylan.

“It's funny,” said Betty, “you weren’t nervous when you fought in the war. But you are nervous about fighting against me right?”

“I guess you could say that,” I said.

“I wouldn’t be so nervous if I were you,” said Betty. “Remember I’m just your big sister nothing less. Got it?”

“Okay,” I said.

“Now,” said Betty, “let’s begin!”

As soon as Betty said 'begin,' she pulled out her staff and turned it into a blade. She pointed a finger and out of her blade shined a beam of light encircled by a black rope. She swung her blade and the rope struck out against the ground, just missing me before it snapped back, coiling around the beam of light. I backflipped away three times as she continued to strike at me with the rope.

I think she’s trying to kill me! I thought.

“You can use your death walker abilities anytime now!” Betty said.

“Fine,” I said, “have it your way!”

The first attack I summoned even though it was the one that I hated the most was the fire and earth attack. I started firing the attack at Betty and she caught it in her hand and crushed it just like when she crushed a bullet. I then summoned my smoke screen and made it so she couldn’t see. Afterward, Betty punched the ground causing it to fissure toward me.

I smiled as I thought of the move that I was going to do next. As Betty was still looking around for her when I used the move.

“Transfer!” I said. I then put my hand on the ground and it went back to normal. I could feel the attack being absorbed into my hand. I used Betty’s attack and punched the ground with it and it split in two. As soon as Betty saw the attack coming she took to the air and dodged it.

“Not bad,” said Betty, “I told you we were evenly matched!”

Betty flew backward and her next attack looked a lot like my iron chain attack. She threw it at me and I jumped backward just quick enough to reach out my hand and absorb it. I did the Transfer again and threw her attack back at her, clipping one of her wings.

“Oops!” I said. “Sorry about that!”

“I’m a demon, remember?” Betty said. “My wing will heal on its own besides, we don’t have hospitals in hell!”

“Well,” I said, “at least I’m not fighting Dylan!”

“And you won’t fall on your own weapon this time!” Betty said. “Let’s keep going, this is way too much fun! I haven’t had a good fight like this in a long time!”

“Sure!” I said.

Betty then pointed her finger up in the air and out of the sky came a huge boulder. I jumped in the air and kicked it and it shattered into a million pieces.

“At least you didn’t have it drop on you!” Betty said.

“I take it you have?” I said.

“Yup,” said Betty, “several times before I died and when I put Lucifer into the abyss!”

“Oh that’s funny,” I said laughing, “considering you’re a legend now! So when is this fight going to end?”

“Until you can’t summon your death walker abilities anymore!” Betty said.

“You know you’re just as bad as my trainers!” I said. “Good thing Sunset's pregnant now! Or she probably would set the target on the simulator higher!”

“I heard about that,” said Betty, “what are you guys having?”

"A pegasus colt," I said.

“Aww,” said Betty, “he’s bound to be adorable! Good looks do run in the family!”

“I know,” I said, “let’s hope people don’t start calling him sexy when he gets older!”

Betty laughed she stopped laughing and I wasn’t prepared for her next attack. She raised the palm of her to the sky and out came a copper chain with an arrow attached to the end of it, much like Jasper's arrows, coming toward me. I caught the arrow and threw it right back at Betty. In order to dodge the attack this time Betty did backflip in mid-air. I couldn’t help but watch her in awe as she did that. It was just like when I was younger wanting to be able to fly with her. Betty looked like she was impressed by me.

“With that move,” said Betty, “you just might beat me!”

I summoned my next attack and within me, the fire built up. I released it from my mouth, belching a steady stream of fire just like a dragon. Betty spun her blade so rapidly it became a blur, casting out a powerful blast of air and extinguishing the flames in its wind.

“Come on little brother,” taunted Betty, “is that the best you got? I know you can do better than that!”

Next, she raised her palm to the sky and I saw rocks with water surrounding them falling from it. I pulled out my sword and deflected the attack.

“I was wondering when you were going to use your sword!” Betty said.

“You’re a lot faster than me, in case you didn’t notice!” I said.

“Excuses! Excuses!” Betty said.

“I noticed you haven’t used any wind attacks yet!” I said.

“You just had to say something didn’t you?” Betty laughed.

Betty put a hand in front of her and turned it into a fist. She then opened her fist and used her other hand to push her open fist forward. What came out of it was a huge blast of wind that sent me flying into a wall. Betty couldn’t help herself because she burst into laughter when she saw where I had ended up.

“How was that Norman?” Betty said.

“Next time I’ll keep my mouth shut!” I said.

Betty teased, “You should have done that in the first place!” Her outfit suddenly changed back to what she wears when she's attending to her royal duties and a black halo appeared above her head blinking.

Betty rolled her eyes, “Looks like I’m being summoned. Let’s call it a tie for now.”

Betty held out a hand and helped me get to my feet.

“Thank you for showing your last attack to me and all,” I said, “but that’s not funny Betty!”

Betty smirked, “Well it’s about time you got over your fear of talking to women!”

“I wasn’t afraid of talking to women!” I snapped. “I was ah…”

Betty kept laughing.

“Seriously Betty!” I said.

“Okay, okay I’m done!” Betty laughed in between her words. “I can pick on you some more later! But I have to go and you have to go also. It’s almost daylight in the Land the Living! See you later!”

* * *

When I woke up the next morning I found myself sleeping next to Sunset and when I rolled over she was smiling at me.

“What’s the smile for?” I said, raising an eyebrow.

“Looks like you finally had your big battle with your sister!” Sunset said. “She was right, you two are evenly matched!”

“How do you know about that?” I said. “I thought your death walker abilities were suppressed now that you’re pregnant.”

"Well, yeah they are,” said Sunset, “Betty opened up a portal so I could see. And you really should’ve kept your mouth shut for that last attack. It was entertaining though!”

“O...Kay?” I said. “That wasn’t my best moment, I just had to say something!”

Sunset chuckled, "You know, the baby started kicking again when I was watching the fight! It was almost like he wanted to jump out and watch it! He’s definitely ready to see the world that he’s surrounded by.”

“You can say that again!” I said.

* * *

The following week, Second Luke pulled me into the seamstress office of all places! I had half a mind to run when Second Luke threatened to tie me to a chair and sit on me if I didn’t stay. There’s no way I was going to let a guy tie me to a chair.

“Why am I here Second Luke?” I said.

“Oh,” said Second Luke, “you just need to be measured for a new uniform!”

“No way!” I said.

“Do you want me to tie you to a chair or not?” Second Luke said.

“Okay, okay,” I said, “I’m just curious, why do I need a new uniform in the first place? The uniform I have now is okay.”

“You need to wear a war hero uniform now,” Second Luke said. “War heroes have to wear a specific uniform, it's standard protocol. Second Jasper’s getting measured because he helped win the war too.”

“Uh-huh,” I said, “and I’m supposed to believe that because?”

“Have I ever lied to you, General Norman?” Second Luke asked.

“No,” I said, “not yet.”

“Yes, yes,” said the seamstress the same way when she had measured me before, “now we need to measure you for your new hat!”

I raised an eyebrow, “Huh?”

“Oh yes,” said the seamstress, “your new uniform has a very special hat that goes with it!”

“Oh boy!” said Second Luke and then did a facepalm and shook his head.

I did not believe a word Second Luke was saying. I could tell by the way he was acting that something big was about to happen and being measured for a hat that went with the uniform bothered me a bit. It was just like when Jasper and I were jumping those trenches and that stupid news reporter kept following us. That alone should’ve been a dead giveaway for where we were at. From the looks of it, Second Luke was trying hard to keep a straight face.

“You know I really don’t like being measured for anything!” I said.

“I was told something like that,” said Second Luke, “and yes this is way too entertaining to watch. I wish I had some popcorn!”

“Yeah,” I said, “I’m glad I’m entertaining. That’s exactly what Shadow Mist said!”

Second Luke couldn’t help himself as he went into a fit of laughter. When he finally let me leave I ran into Jasper. He didn’t look happy at all.

“You too huh?” I said.

“Yes,” said Jasper, “John insisted on it! I hope this doesn’t mean we'll have more stalkers chasing us!”

“I have a bad feeling about this!” I said. “Something big is going to happen and I hope it’s not what I think it is!”

Without warning, Jasper pinned me to a wall and kissed me as one of our co-workers walked by, one of the ones that had been chasing after him lately. He continued kissing me and bit my ear for good measure. I couldn’t help but laugh because when the coworker saw this they did not look happy at all. That made me laugh even harder.

“I just love doing that in front of coworkers!” Jasper laughed.

“Yeah I know,” I said, “that still doesn’t keep them away though. Good thing I have the restraining order necklace because I’m not giving anyone a reason to tie me to a chair!”

* * *

The following week everyone was told to show up for some sort of ceremony. I had no idea what it was for. It was classified information that even I wasn't allowed to see. I wasn’t informed that the ceremony had anything to do with me so I thought I could relax this time. That was wishful thinking because as soon as Jasper and I got to the ceremony we were ushered onto the stage and sitting behind us on the stage was the rest of our family. Even Sunset was sitting on the stage in a wheelchair because she was still on bed rest. Even General Ben’s family was there too and the rest of the team from when we went behind enemy lines.

Great, I thought, I knew something big was going to happen! But why didn’t anybody tell me or Jasper?

“I got a feeling something big is coming down the pipe,” Jasper said. “I wonder why we weren’t informed that I had something to do with us?”

I shrugged, “Your guess is as good as mine!”

Just like when I had won my sixth medal at the start of the ceremony, soldiers came marching down the aisle in perfect sync. Only this time instead of separating into their different ranks at the end of the aisle, they stood in the middle of it. Then, they split into two straight lines and took position on either side.

Okay, I thought, that’s new!

As I watched this happening I thought back to when Princess Twilight had talked to me about naming the next ruler of Equestria.

I seriously hope that this isn’t what I think it is! I thought.

The next thing that happened was the trumpets blared, signaling the princess's arrival. Princess Twilight walked in with her wings spread and her head held high. When she reached the stage everyone clapped and cheered. She put up a hoof to silence the crowd, cleared her throat, and began her speech. “As you all know my 32nd-year mark as the ruler of Equestria is coming to an end soon. And Equestrian law states that if a ruler is not married by the 32 years they are ruling, they have to step down from the throne. Since I refuse to marry any of my suiters, I must step down from the throne. Just as Princess Celestia stepped down from the throne and Princess Luna before me.

"After Princess Luna and Princess Celestia stepped down, the first human and pony war happened. After the war ended, a human ruler took the throne. Her name was Heavenly Jewel and she ruled for 700 years! To add to that she was the first death walker ever to come on the scene. After her passing, the second human and pony war broke out.

"I was born 300 years ago in the midst of the second human and pony war. Sadly, during that war was when we lost Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. Several other ponies ruled for 32 years each before I reached my 200th birthday. When I was 200 years old I was announced as the next Alicorn to come onto the scene. It wasn't until 32 years ago when the previous ruler, Prince Star Breeze, deemed me ready to take my place on the throne. Now that my 32 years are almost up I decided to step down from the throne on my own terms.”

No way! I thought. I thought I said I’m not taking any more job promotions! But if I don’t accept this one then I’ll be considered an enemy of Equestria and possibly turned to stone! I knew there was something big coming up!

“The successor that I am going to name,” said Princess Twilight, “is someone that was on Team Enemy Lines and helped stop the war that happened a month and a half ago!”

Please tell me she’s going to name Ben’s family! I thought.

“The successor I am going to name,” said Princess Twilight, “is the strongest General that the Equestrian Military has ever seen!”

Okay then, I thought, really wish I could make my exit now. Unfortunately, that’s not possible! Damn it!

“The next successor that I am going to name is a human,” said Princess Twilight, “Yes I know that hasn’t happened in 300 years! The next ruler to take the throne is General Norman Jewel!”

When I heard my name announced my stomach felt like it was going to drop. Unfortunately, the crowd agreed with Princess Twilight’s decision because everyone clapped and cheered. Princess Twilight motioned for me to take my place on the stage next to her. I finally got onto the stage and her wings fluttered in excitement.

This has got to be a bad dream! I thought. Please tell me I’m going to wake up soon!

Princess Twilight then bit me on my shoulder to show me that I wasn’t asleep.

“Ow!” I said.

Princess Twilight smiled, “I know you don’t like giving speeches. I can tell by the look on your face. So just smile and wave, okay?”

I did just what I was told but unfortunately, I knew I wasn’t in the Land of the Dead and I wasn’t sleeping. This was definitely reality.