The Ghost of Cozy Glow- A Redux

by SapphireRose87

4) The Child of Prophecy

{Dae}

I sat in my office that's connected to my King's Chambers laughing to myself because of Betty's defeat against Marble. I knew she was going to defeat him and she did. I agree with Betty that picking on someone you like isn't the best way to get them to notice you. I also found it hilarious that Betty's unicorn friend Sapphire Diamond recorded the race and played it in her backyard for all to see.

Unfortunately, since Betty's Death Walker abilities were starting to grow, I would have to keep my distance more until I felt I was ready to meet her.

Well, Dae, I thought, sooner or later you'll have to meet her but I'm not sure if it's time yet.

I got a knock on the door and so I answered it and when Parada bowed to me, I motioned for her to stand up.

"Your highness," said Parada, "you're being summoned to the Land of the Living."

I groaned and rolled my eyes, "Let me guess, it's Princess Twilight again? If it is, tell her summoner, I'm not coming."

Parada shook her head, "Nope, it's not Princess Twilight this time."

I raised an eyebrow, "Huh?"

"It's Fluttershy and Discord," said Parada, "it concerns Betty. But they want you to meet them at the Castle of the Two Sisters. Inside the castle and not on the steps where Betty normally goes. They want to make sure that Betty isn't present for this. No, I don't know exactly what it's about. They want a response as soon as possible."

I nodded, "Okay, let them know I'm on my way."

"Yes, your highness," Parada said.

As soon as Parada left, I followed her shortly after. I was curious to see what Fluttershy and Discord needed my help with.

* * *

{Betty}

It was later in the week and as promised, Scarlett wanted to train me. As soon as we entered the training area, Scarlett was automatically puzzled by me. "What is it?"

"Hold in a second," said Scarlett, "can you show me your left arm?"

"Okay." I looked down at my arm surprised to see there was a picture of my staff on it. "Did I get a new tattoo and not remember it or something?"

Scarlett smiled and shook her head. "Nope, it's not that at all. That's the most interesting way to carry your death walker weapon. I've never seen that happen before!"

"So, how do I get it out?" I asked.

Somehow before Scarlett could figure out a way to help me, I got an idea. I pulled my hand backward and my staff came out of the palm of my hand.

"Huh," said Scarlett, "interesting! That's an effective way to carry your weapon, alright. Alright, think of your weapon as an extension of your hand."

I nodded. "Okay."

"We need to find out what abilities you have," Scarlett explained. "I have one even though I'm not a Death Walker. It's iron fist."

"So what is this weapon for anyway?" I asked.

"Number one, it's to help you channel your powers in a fight," Scarlett answered. "Number two, it's supposed to help you in a fight in general."

"Makes sense to me."

"So, I'll put you through the paces for now. Once you have that down, I'll start you out with an actual battle."

"Sure."

Scarlett started me out on learning how to use my weapon. I sort of got the hang of it, but it was only my first time training. After a while, Scarlett wanted to stop and take a break, but I wanted to keep going. Scarlett was sitting on the ground trying to catch her breath. "Okay, that's enough training for one day."

"But-"

Scarlett chuckled. "I know that look, Betty. You do this every time you learn something new. I know you're a Death Walker, but take into consideration that I'm only a Medium. Unlike you, I need to take a break. You don't seem to know how to do that."

I sighed and put my weapon away. Scarlett started laughing again, "I have a feeling this might be a pattern for future training sessions. I'm going to make a friendly suggestion, pace yourself okay?"

I smiled and nodded. Even though I didn't like it, Scarlett was right, I didn't know when to take a break.

* * *

{Celestia}

Sitting in my office in the Middle Ground, in the Land of the Dead, doing my uneventful job like always. My job is to fill out paperwork which is mostly a small autobiography on a soul's life. I give it to the Afterlife Court. The Afterlife Court does the rest of the paperwork. Trust me, I'm glad I don't have to do that part of the job.

Every day I do my job, I can't help but think about the fact that the Afterlife Court couldn't figure out where to put me. Seeing that I was a former ruler of Equestria, they gave me the job of managing the Middle Ground. They also did the same thing with my sister Luna. Not that I'm complaining about it, I think it's awesome that my sister gets to work together with me again. It might not be ruling over a country or anything like that, but I get to work with my sister nonetheless.

I wonder when ponies have the same job day in and day out if their minds go on autopilot. Mine sure does every day. I wish I was a Death Walker, there would never be a dull day on that job. Unfortunately, since I'm not a ruler, I can't go outside of the Land of the Dead. The Icebreakers put a law into place as far as the Land of the Dead goes, only those of royalty are allowed to go outside of the Land of the Dead. Demons in Hell definitely take advantage of the law. For some reason, Heaven and Purgatory don't. That's how Dae, the King of Hell is able to follow Betty, a half pegasus and half-human woman that he's fallen in love with.

Twilight does not know how to take 'no' for an answer. Dae has been rejecting her marriage proposals for over two years now. One would think that Twilight would take a hint and take a hike. She's still young and it's hard to reason with her. I don't blame her for liking Dae, as he is pretty handsome. I've been made aware that Betty is the Child of Prophecy, so I don't think Twilight has a chance with Dae. Especially because Dae is in love with Betty.

I didn't realize my mind was on autopilot again when Luna entered the room.

Luna smiled, "Hey dear sister, another round of boring paperwork today?"

I nodded. "Yup."

I looked behind Luna to see that there were five new souls for me to interview so I could get their paperwork started. There were two humans and three ponies that needed to be sorted.

I groaned. "It never ends does it?"

Luna chuckled. "It's all part of the job. Speaking of jobs, what are we going to do about the breakout from the prison? You know, Tirek and Queen Chrysalis?"

I shook my head. "I don't know, we don't have a team or a Death Walker assigned to it yet."

"Well, what about Betty?" Luna suggested.

I raised an eyebrow. "What about her? Yes, I know she's a new Death Walker and the Child of Prophecy now, but I don’t think she's ready to handle that type of situation yet."

"Is there a way we can speed things up so she can develop her powers quicker so she can?" Luna asked.

I frowned when Luna said that. I thought that when Luna got this job, she would have been made aware that if a Death Walker's powers are sped up before they're ready, it might be too much power in the universe and destroy it because of that. "Are you aware of the dangers of speeding up a Death Walker's powers before they're ready?"

"Yes I know," said Luna, "I was just putting the suggestion out there. We really could use the help."

I sighed. "I know you feel a sense of urgency about the issue. You were like that when you were alive, but we need to wait until the Afterlife Court sends us someone to help."

I didn't like the look on Luna's face, because I knew what it meant. I narrowed my eyes at her like I always do when she gets that look. "I'm warning you, Luna. If you even try to do something like that, I'll make sure you get punished for it, got it?"

Luna shook her head, "That's not what I was thinking!"

I gave her a look of disbelief. "I'm listening."

"I was thinking, we have yet to summon Betty to the Land of the Dead yet. We should introduce ourselves, don't you think?" Luna said. "She will be working closely with us, after all."

Although I thought Luna's suggestion was great, I still felt that Luna might be planning something else. "Sure, I think that's a great idea! I think it's finally time we met the Child of Prophecy."

Luna nodded. But I know how she is when she gets an idea that's not a good one. But I guess I should give her the benefit of the doubt.

* * *

{Betty}

I thought I was dreaming at first when I opened my eyes. I'm going to assume I was in the Land of the Dead. The place looked like the same place I ended up when I tried to take my own life. I was lying flat on my back, I got to my feet and looked around.

"Greetings Child of Prophecy, Betty." I heard a voice say. "It's so nice to finally meet you."

When I turned around, I saw the dark ethereal form of Princess Luna and I bowed to her. "No need to bow to me child."

"But you're Princess Luna!" I exclaimed. "Why wouldn't I bow to you?"

"Because I'm dead, so the princess title is void," Luna explained with a small smirk. "You're here because you're a Death Walker now. Once you get your assignments, you'll work closely with me and my sister Celestia."

"What, you mean Princess Celestia's dead too?" I asked.

Luna nodded. "Uh-huh, it's a long story, anyway, follow me."

I followed Luna to a building labeled the Middle Ground. Celestia came to the door to greet me with a warm smile as her mane danced to her left side. "Hi Betty, I'm glad Luna suggested that we meet you. I'm also glad that because of this, I got to cancel the rest of my interviews today."

I cocked my head slightly to the left. "Interviews?"

Luna looked to me from the side. "It has a lot to do with how the dead souls get sorted in here."

"Oh," I said.

Celestia looked over at Luna as she returned the glance. "I know what you're thinking Luna, I'm only going to say this once, don't do it."

Luna gave Celestia a wide-eyed innocent look and said indignantly. "What? I'm not thinking of anything. I'm just curious to see if Betty's Death Walker abilities have started developing yet!"

Celestia's ears went flat against her head and she snarled. "Don't you dare, Luna!"

I couldn't react fast enough when Luna shot a beam of light at me. Somehow, I grabbed the beam of light in my hand. Luna smiled at it. "Well now, it seems you have light powers! Intriguing..."

Before Luna could do anything else, Celestia stood in front of me putting a shield up to block me from her. I looked down at my hand to see I had the beam of light that Luna shot at me in it. As soon as I saw it, it disappeared.

"I knew you were up to something!" Celestia snarled. "Sorry about this Betty, but you need to go back to the Land of the Living. I'll see to it that the Afterlife Court deals with Luna."

Without another word, I went back to the Land of the Living.

* * *

{Dae}

"Okay, why did you summon me?"

Fluttershy replied. "Well Dae, are you aware that Betty is the Child of Prophecy?"

I paused. I remembered reading the prophecy of the last Death Walker would become a legend, but that was it. The prophecy didn't specify who the child was. "Uh, no I wasn't. I've read the prophecy a bunch of times, but it didn't say who the child was. It said that it would be someone who was a descendant of the Jewel family."

"You might want to reread it, Dae." Discord said, before handing me the scroll containing the prophecy written on it with his eagle claw:

The Last Death Walker will be born from a wicked woman with the strength of an Alicorn. She will be a descendant of the Jewels. She will kill her mother with her Death Walker tool. A legend she will be, this is what we have foreseen.

The fact that the prophecy was only one paragraph long didn't give much to go on.

"Were you aware that Betty's mom was abusive to her?" Fluttershy asked.

To tell the truth, I did know that Betty's mom was abusive, but I couldn't do anything about it. I sighed and before looking down at the floor. "Yeah, I knew about it. I didn't think there was anything I could do to help?"

"That's understandable," said Fluttershy, "besides, I doubt anyone would've believed you. It would've been your word against hers. Now that Betty's old enough to get her hospital records, she provided more than enough evidence to get declared an orphan."

I had no idea this happened. The last time I saw Betty, she had defeated her school bully Marble in that race. "That's news to me, the last time I saw Betty-"

Fluttershy giggled. "You mean, stalked Betty."

"Okay fine, the last time I stalked Betty," I said correcting myself, "was when she won that race against Marble."

Discord cracked up as he threw his long serpentine neck back in a hysterical laugh. He looked down to me with his yellow and red eyes while pointing with his lion paw, "Oh yeah, we heard about that from Mystic Diamond! Her sister recorded it and played it in the backyard for all to see!"

I snorted. "Now, that's hilarious! Anyway, what did you want to see me for?"

"Oh, only a select few know that Betty's a Death Walker now," said Fluttershy, "we're not sure who knows she's the Child of Prophecy. However, we're certain if ponies knew about Betty being the Child of Prophecy, they might try to speed up Betty's Death Walker powers before it's time."

"If that happens, it could have dire consequences for Equestria." Discord added with both arms flung to the sides. He corrects himself, "Not to mention the power surges that can happen for the Death Walker, which can be pretty painful."

"So, what do you want my help for?" I asked while narrowing my eyes and frowning.

"We need you to continue to follow Betty around again." Fluttershy replied. "But stay out of sight as much as possible! She can’t know you’re following her..."

"Okay," I said, "I can sense Betty's powers are already starting to develop. She could sense Scarlett Harmony's presence before she even announced herself. I'm pretty sure she'll be able to sense me following her around."

"We know that Dae," said Discord, "Scarlett told us. Seeing that Betty's tracking abilities are starting to develop, we decided that this might help." before handing me a silver necklace with a silver pendant with an Amber jewel on it with his eagle talon.

I looked down at it with curiosity, "What's this?"

"It's called the Amulet of Invisibility." Discord answered, "It helps keep a person's presence unknown to a new Death Walker."

Fluttershy adds. "But it won't work when a Death Walker's powers have reached their full potential."

“This amulet's main function is to help keep track of and help control power surges when they happen, so they're not as painful." Discord said. "We figured if you 'follow' Betty around, you could help us out?"

"Of course you don't have to do it if you don't want to," Fluttershy added with a small smile.

I smiled. "Of course I'll help you! I'll do anything to help Betty! You know that!"

Discord chuckled. "We know that Dae, you're head over heels for her. What I find funny is you're the King of Hell and you can't talk to the girl you like."

Fluttershy giggled. "That is pretty funny. You really need to try to actually meet her one day."

I rolled my eyes. "I know! That's what everyone keeps telling me. Now, if that spoiled brat Princess Twilight would stop sending me marriage proposals, that would be great! She's been doing it for two years now! When is she going to take a hint already?"

Discord slammed his lion paw to his face and groaned. "That's the one thing I hate about Twilight now. She needs to understand that even though she's a ruler, doesn't mean she can get everything she wants."

"We've tried to reason with her, but as you can see, it's not working," Fluttershy said before shaking her head.

Discord suddenly got a horrified look on his face as his snaggletooth sank.

I looked at the draconequus and frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Betty's had her first summons to the Land of the Dead." Discord said.

I gasped. "What! How do you know?"

"It's part of my magic," explained Discord, "but I can only do that with those closest to me. I can do it with Fluttershy because she's a Death Walker and now I can do it with Betty."

"You're a Death Walker Fluttershy?" I asked while looking at the pegasus.

Fluttershy nodded. "Uh-huh, and I'm the only element of harmony bearer that is. Of course, the ruler of Equestria has to have some way to make it to the Land of the Dead without any harm."

"Yeah and I'm not inviting Princess Twilight to Hell anytime soon. She's banned from Hell for now." I said.

Fluttershy giggled. "Yeah, we know that too."

"We'd better go, thanks for your help Dae." Discord said.

I smiled and nodded. "Sure, no problem!"

As I left the Castle of the Two Sisters, I felt happy that I had a way to help Betty out.

* * *

{Betty}

When I woke up, Discord and Fluttershy were sitting by my bedside with worried looks on their faces.

I tilted my head to see them on my right. "What's wrong?"

"I sensed that you were summoned to the Land of the Dead." Discord said on the left of Fluttershy.

"How were you able to do that?" I asked while squinting my right eye.

Discord sighed. "It's a long story..."

Fluttershy leans forward with wide blue eyes and asks. "I can sense that your death walker powers have already spiked. What happened?"

"Well, I was summoned to the Land of the Dead," I answered, "Luna shot a beam of light at me and I somehow managed to catch it with my hand. Celestia sent me back here after that."

Fluttershy did a facehoof and groaned.

"Again, what's wrong?" I said while leaning out to the pair.

"Somepony already tried to spike your powers before its time," Fluttershy said.

"Is that a bad thing?" I questioned while widening my eyes.

"Yes! Very! That means you might have power surges that can be painful. And I don't know how long they'll last." Fluttershy explained.

"So what do I do now?" I said while frowning.

"Well," said Discord, "since there's no sign of you having a power surge now, you should be able to go to school like normal.” He widens his yellow eyes while flicking his lion paw in the air, “Or at least, that’s what we currently believe?"

"If there is a power surge," said Fluttershy, "and if it gets bad enough, we might have to put you in the homeschooling program. I'm pretty sure Headmare Starlight Glimmer would understand."

I looked over at the time and it was a half-hour before school.

Fluttershy looked at the time and nodded. "You go ahead and get ready for school. I'll make you some breakfast."

I nodded.

* * *

When I got to school, Mystic Diamond met me at the schoolyard. So, we walked to homeroom together.

"You think Marble's going to show his face in school today?" Mystic asked while looking at me from the right.

I chuckled as I looked back at her. "I don't know. If he does, he can provide more entertainment for us?"

I rolled my eyes as we passed by a group of boys and stallions whispering. I knew exactly what they were whispering about. That's because they were giving me flirting looks at the same time they were whispering.

Mystic giggled. "I think you've got some 'secret admirers' now."

"Yeah no," I said, "I got enough to worry about. I beat one stallion in a race! I don't feel like racing anymore at the moment."

Somehow, I was able to sense my stalker before he even came up to me. "Seriously Silver? Get lost!"

"Oh come on Betty," Silver begged, "just one date, please?"

"How about you take no for an answer and get lost?!" I growled.

"If you go on a date with me, I'll leave you alone." Silver offered with a small sly smile on his face.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Yeah, I don't believe that for a moment."

The next thing that happened was painful. My muscles tensed up and I couldn't move. Then I blacked out.

* * *

{Dae}

Dammit! I thought when I saw Betty pass out. I looked down at the Amulet and it glowed for a little bit and then the light dimmed.

Fortunately, Betty's friend Mystic Diamond acted quickly and took her to the nurse's office. I went and told Fluttershy what happened. She took the Amulet and was able to discern that it did its job. This brought me a sigh of relief.

"That's exactly what I was worried about! But thankfully, the Amulet did its job," Fluttershy said. "I'll take her home and let her get some rest. She should be fine after that."

I nodded. Despite Fluttershy reassuring me, it still didn't make me feel better about what might happen to Betty.

* * *

{Betty}

The next time I opened my eyes, the room was spinning. There was a trashcan right next to my bed, so I grabbed it and vomited inside.

Fluttershy came into the room and frowned. "I was hoping that wouldn't happen, but it did. Thankfully, your friend Mystic Diamond acted quickly and took you to the nurse's office. Looks like you'll be missing a few days of school this week. We'll try to let you go back, but we might have to consider asking Headmare Starlight Glimmer to put you in homeschooling after all. And-"

Fluttershy paused as I raised my head from the can. "What?"

"Why is Cozy Glow floating beside you in ghost form?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh golly! You mean you can see me?" Cozy Glow said with excitement in her bright auburn eyes.

Fluttershy nodded. "Yes, I can.” Fluttershy leans forward interestedly, “But I thought you were turned to stone?"

"I was," replied Cozy Glow, "I died in my statue five years ago along with Tirek and Queen Chrysalis. Tirek and Queen Chrysalis were able to crossover, but for some reason, I couldn't. When Betty smashed my statue, my soul got bound to hers. I understand what Betty did was in anger. Please don't tell anyone about it."

"Actually, from what I know of, nobody knows what happened to the statue," Fluttershy said. "The police don't know and neither does Princess Twilight. However, you did declare war on Equestria. So, your secret is safe with me."

Discord poked his head in the door. "Uh, Betty? You have a visitor. It's your friend, Mystic Diamond."

I nodded to the draconequus. The door soon opened and Mystic Diamond trotted into the room with a newspaper in her mouth. She gave it to me. "What's this?"

"Look at the article on the first page," Mystic instructed.

I looked at the article on the first page and it piqued my interest.

The title was:

QUEEN CHRYSALIS, TIREK, AND COZY GLOW ARE OFFICIALLY PRONOUNCED DEAD!

Last week, part of Cozy Glow and the other villains, Queen Chrysalis and Tirek's statue were smashed. No one knows who did it. But, it wasn't much of a concern because Cozy Glow did declare war on Equestria and was deemed an enemy of the throne.

Princess Twilight wanted to see if Queen Chrysalis and Tirek were still alive, so she did a spell to change them back from stone. When the spell was done, the statue crumbled to dust and rubble. Seeing this new development, Princess Twilight declared Queen Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow dead. They are no longer a threat to Equestria.

I smiled knowing that Cozy Glow could now breathe a sigh of relief knowing this information.

"Oh yeah," said Mystic, "I heard you got declared as a new Death Walker Betty!"

I nodded. "Uh-huh, that's why I passed out the other day. I had a power surge. How did you know I was a Death Walker?"

"Fluttershy told me," Mystic said.

Fluttershy nodded. "Yup! Okay, I think Betty needs to get some more rest."

"Yeah, I need to be going anyway," said Mystic, "I'll bring your homework to you tomorrow after school."

"Okay," I said.

"I'll make some soup to help settle your stomach," Fluttershy said.

Once Mystic and Fluttershy left, I grabbed the trashcan and threw up in it again.

Author's Note:

I like to thank Betty_Starlight for editing this chapter for me! I adore the changes she made before this got published!