> 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.
> 2) Knight of the Royal Court
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following night I was summoned to the Land of the Dead. This time I was greeted by Princess Celestia. 

“Hey Princess,” I said, “it’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Oh don’t call me Princess Norman,” said Celestia, “I’m dead so the Princess title is voided.”

“Okay then,” I said, “Celestia what’s up? Why have I been summoned?”

“It seems we’ve found someone to train you and Cozy Glow.” Celestia said.

“Who is it?” I said.

“Her name is Sunset Shimmer,” said Celestia, “she originally from Equestria. But, she went to another world that’s completely human. Now that there’s humans and ponies living together in this land. She will be coming out of the portal completely human.”

“What was she before she became human?” I said.

“A unicorn,” said Celestia, “oh, and your sister wants to talk to you.”

“About what?” I said.

“I have no idea…” Celestia said.


*    *    *


When I got to the Castle in Hell I was greeted by Betty.

“Norman,” said Betty, “I’m glad you’re here.” 

“What’s going on?” I said.

“First of all,” said Betty, “I heard we have an Uncle named Dylan.”

“Gee,” I said, “word travels fast doesn’t it?”

“I looked into the records and it’s true he is our Uncle.” Betty said.

“I don’t trust the guy at all.” I said.

“Why’s that?” Betty said.

“He got into my house and gave me a death threat.” I said.

“You don’t look too bothered by it.” Betty said.

“Actually,” I said, “I’m not, I think I just need to change the locks and put in a security system.”

“Wait a second,” said Betty, “you just got a hit put on your life and you’re not even phased by it?”

I rolled my eyes, “No not really, I’m in the Military Division, although technology I’m not because of the new job title.”

“Oh yeah,” said Betty, “Princess Twilight told me that you’re a Knight for the Royal Court now.  Judging by that look on your face, you really didn’t want the job.”

“Yeah think?” I said. “I was pretty much forced to take it.”

“So what’s the uniform like?” Betty said.

“You don’t want to know.” I said.

“Anyway,” said Betty, “I called you here today because I want to give your weapon for being a Death Walker.”

We then proceeded to walk down the hallway to the weapons room in the Castle. Betty then went into the room and brought a sword with a black sheathe to it.

“This,” said Betty, “is the weapon that has been approved from the Afterlife Court and the Icebreakers to boot. Go ahead take it, this sword is all yours.”

I took the sword out from its sheath and it looked like a silver sword with a black handle on it. I noticed that halfway up the sword was an emerald jewel on it.

“I have a question for you.” I said

“What is it?” Betty said.

“What was your weapon?” I said.

“It’s a staff,” said Betty, “oh and it’s a requirement of a Death Walker to have their weapons on them at all times. And a Death Walker can turn their weapon into anything they want. I used mine as a shield and a blade. You’ll find out soon enough what your abilities are as a Death Walker.”

“What about Cozy Glow’s weapon?” I said. 

“Oh don’t worry,” said Betty, “she’ll be getting her weapon soon. And that sword will go back with you to the Land of the Living. “

“Okay…” I said.

“Now,” said Betty, “you need to go back home, it’s almost daylight in the Land of the Living. And one more thing.”

“What?” I said.

“Sunset Shimmer is a beautiful woman,” said Betty, “just like you’re a handsome guy.”

“Your point?” I said.

“Just don’t go falling in love with Sunset Shimmer,” said Betty, “and let’s hope she doesn’t fall in love with you.”

“Fat chance of that happening.” I said.

“That’s not very nice,” said Betty, “are you gay or something?”

“No I’m not gay,” I said, “I promise you that.”

“You sure?” Betty said. “Cause I know of a couple of guys who would love to have you.”

Of course Betty knew that I wasn’t gay and soon she was doubled over in laughter.

“Ha, Ha,” I said, “very funny..”


*    *    *


As soon as I woke up Discord was in my room.

“What is with people?” I growled. “Discord have you lost your mind?”

“Nope I don’t think so,” said Discord, “if I had lost my mind it would’ve got up and walked away.”

“What do you want?” I said.

“Oh,” said Discord, “I just wanted to congratulate you on your new job title. And I see you got your weapon for being a Death Walker. Nice sword by the way.”

I looked over to see that the sword I had gotten was sitting on the table next to my bed.

“Discord!” I said. “Get out of my room, now!”

“Gee,” said Discord, “someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”

“And you being in my room doesn’t help.” I said.

“Okay fine,” said Discord, “I shall take my leave now Normie.”

“Please don’t call me that.” I said.

By this time I really wanted to hit someone. It came across my mind to turn Robert into a punching bag again. But I knew that wouldn’t happen anytime soon because I had to go to work. Good thing my house is in Canterlot. I got up and went downstairs to see Fluttershy cooking breakfast.

“Oh,” said Cozy Glow, “hi dad Grandma Fluttershy wants to congratulate us for getting our Death Walker weapons! Grandpa Discord told me you have a sword! That’s so cool!”

“What did you get?” I said.

“I got a bow and arrow,” said Cozy Glow, “it’s a good thing to because I really love archery.”

“Yeah I know,” I said, “you’ve been on the archery team like forever.”

“You want to see?” Cozy Glow said. “And you should show Grandma Fluttershy your sword. Grandpa Discord has already seen it!”

“Sure fine,” I said, “but I don’t have much time before I have to go to work.”

“Oh yes,” said Fluttershy, “Twilight told me you’ve become a Knight for the Royal Court. Can I see your uniform?”

“Yeah dad,” said Cozy Glow, “I haven’t seen it yet! I wasn’t there when your friend Robert threw that party for you.”

“Do I have too?” I said.

“Oh come on dad,” said Cozy Glow, “it can’t be that bad!”

I sighed, “Fine…”

I went upstairs to change and grabbed my sword. I really wanted to sneak past Fluttershy and Cozy Glow because I really didn’t want to show them. But instead I just took a deep breath and entered the kitchen.

“Awe!” Fluttershy and Cozy Glow said.

“Just so you know,” I said, “I’m not cute!”

“Yes you are,” said Fluttershy, “actually you’re handsome. I’m surprised you haven’t found a girl to settle down with. Although you just recently became of age.”

“Seriously,” I said, “Discord keeps asking that too! Would you lay off already!”

Fluttershy laughed, “That’s my Husband for you. Now won’t you just sit down and grab a bite to eat?”

“Gee,” said Discord, “I guess the bad temper runs in the family. You’re worse than Betty.”

Fluttershy said, “Yup, although he is a soldier so I guess that can have an effect on you.”

“Now Normie,” said Discord, “you need to sit down and eat before you go to work okay?”

“I said stop calling me Normie,” I said, “my name is Norman!”

“Discord stop it already,” said Fluttershy, “ I think he’s been picked on enough don’t you think?”

“I couldn’t help myself,” said Discord, “Norman you look absolutely dashing in that uniform. Exactly when are you going to have kids?”

“Okay,” I said, “I’m out of here!”

I got up and ran from the kitchen as fast as I could.


*    *    *


I finally got to the Throne Room, Princess Twilight was there to greet me.

“I hear you’ve been given your Death Walker weapon,” said Princess Twilight, “and from what it looks like, it’s a sword. Since you’re a Death Walker, you need to keep that on you at all times. Here you go, this is perfect for you and I goes well with your uniform.”

Princess Twilight then gave me what looked like a gold shoulder belt that had a pocket that was fit for a sword.

“Go ahead,” said Princess Twilight, “put it on.”

I sighed and put the belt on and then put my sword in it. Princess Twilight was smiling like she couldn’t contain her excitement. 

“What’s that look for?” I said.

“It’s just that you look like more of a warrior than a soldier now,” said Princess Twilight, “that’s what Betty looked like before she died. She fought her battles bravely and didn’t need much help on them. I think you’ll be able to do the same. Now, it’s time for your shift to begin. You need to report to your office which is right behind the Throne Room. There are a couple of threats to the Throne at the moment. You’ll get your assignments from John your superior. You can go now.” 

I went to find John and he looked like he was about to start laughing. He then paused and then looked at me with a concerned look on his face.

“You can breathe now Norman.” John said.

I didn’t realize that I was holding my breath.

“If you don’t breath,” said John, “you’re going to pass out.”

I stopped holding my breath and exhaled slowly.

“Oh come on Norman,” said John, “this job isn’t that bad! Okay so the uniform looks kind of funny when you don’t have any assignments and you just stand by the Throne then. But you know the pay raise is pretty good considering you have an adopted daughter. And the assignment uniforms aren’t that bad either. One more thing, you’re going to have to learn how to use that sword you just got.”

“Who's going to be training me on that?” I said.

“Shining Armor said he’s willing to help with that,” said John, “he’s getting up there in age and might retire soon. I think he just might choose you to be his next in line.”

I rolled my eyes and groaned at the thought.

“What’s wrong?” John said.

I shook my head, “It’s nothing…”

“It doesn’t look like nothing,” said John, “listen I know you didn’t want the job in the first place. Shining Armor won’t name you his next in line if you’re no good.”

“Maybe I’ll just mess up on my training then?” I said.

“Oh no,” laughed John, “Shining Armor can see through deception, so I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Got it?”

“Yes sir.” I said.

John then took out a file from underneath his desk.

“Here you go.” John said.

I looked through the file and was shocked by what I saw.

“An assassination,” I said, “seriously?”

“Yup,” said John, “he’s a wizard so you’ll have to be on your toes. You might be a Death Walker, but you don’t have any abilities yet. Maybe they’ll come out when you fight, maybe not. Just remember for the time being, you don’t have magic and he does.”

“Yes sir.” I said.

“Now get changed and move out.” John said.

I did a salute and went to go change in the locker room.


*    *    *


When I got ready for the mission I kept wondering why all the higher ups knew that I was a Death Walker. Since my assignment was too dangerous to go on my own I got assigned to a three man team. One of my teammates was a woman named Oilivia and the other was a man named Jasper.

There’s just no end in sight to my problems. I thought.

“So you’re the new Death Walker aren’t you?” Jasper said.

“How does everyone know about that?” I said.

“When the Icebreakers announce it the news spreads quickly.” Oilivia said. “By the way they also announced another Death Walker named Amethyst Rose. Do you know her?”

My eyes not wide in horror as I heard that, I just gulped and looked away.

“Nope,” I lied, “don’t know her.”

“I hear you have an adoptive daughter,” said Jasper, “what’s being a parent like?’

“Busy…” I said. I really didn't want to talk about it right now.

“Shut it Jasper!” Oilivia said. “Don’t you see, you’re making him uncomfortable!”

I could feel myself turning red from that remark.

“You should be the one to talk Oilivia,” said Jasper, “he’s turning red! He might pass out soon.”

“I’m fine.” I barely managed to get the words out.

“Ha, ha, ha,” said Oilivia, “leave him alone okay?”

“What are you?” Jasper said. “His girlfriend or something?”

Great, I thought, I have to work with dumb and dumber, could it get any worse?

John then stood in front of the room and cleared his throat.

“Okay guys,” said John, “shut it or I’m going to shut it for you!”

All of us then stood at attention.

“Okay,” said John, “I’ve briefed you on some of the targets credentials. We’ll drop you off on the outskirts of Canterlot right here.”

John pointed at the broad  behind him.

“Once we drop you off,” said John, “you three are to split up and search the village. When you find him do not fight him on your own. Send up a signal and wait until the rest of you get there. That’s all I have to say, now move out and may Celestia be with us all.”

I almost laughed at that comment, because Celestia’s already dead. There’s nothing she can do to help us.
> 3) The Team Coward
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When we were dropped off we split up to search the village like we were told to. We were just about to give our search when I spotted him. He was a young man about my age and he wore black robes with a gold sash on it. Oilivia and Jasper came to see what was happening and judging by the looks in their faces, they couldn’t believe their eyes.

“Just so you know,” said the man, “my name is Archie.”

“We already know your name.” I said.

“Well then,” said Archie, “I think it’s only fair that you tell me your name.”

“Does it matter?” I said. “You’re going to die soon.”

“Don’t egg the guy on,” said Jasper, “it’ll just make our job even harder.”

“Okay,” I said, “then you take the lead on this one.”

“Oh no,” said Jasper, “John specifically wanted you to take the lead on this one.”

I bit my tongue, “Fine.”

“Looks like the rookie adult wants to fight,” said Archie, “how nice.”

“Don’t worry,” said Oilivia, “we’ll be backing you up okay?”

“Judging by the look on your face,” said Archie, “I’m going to guess you’re a soldier. Am I correct?”

“So what if I am?” I said.

“It doesn’t matter I guess,” said Archie, “let’s get this show on the road shall we?”

“I think I’ll have your head on a silver platter after this.” I said.

“Yeah know,” said Archie, “I had some intel on you. I know you’re a new Death Walker. I think your name is Norman Jewel. Oh yeah I’ve read in the history books about your sister Betty. She’s a legend now! I wonder if it runs in the family? Why don’t we find out?”

I rolled my eyes, “If you already knew my name, then why did you ask for it?”

“Does it matter?” Archie said. “I think I’ll make the first move then.”

Archie then pointed his wand up in the air and the scene now looked like some sort of movie set. He then fired out his wand that looked like spikes. I had to jump back quite a few times to dodge them. Jasper and Olivia however, just ran for cover.

I looked behind me, “You guys going to help anytime soon?”

“Nah,” said Jasper, “we’re good right here.

Gee, I thought, dumb and dumber has made their first strike! Just perfect…

Archie then pointed his wand at the nearest house that he was standing by. A big huge boulder came from the sky and all I could think about was how many innocent people there might be in there. I jumped in the air and gave the boulder one kick and it shattered into a million pieces. 

“Wow,” said Jasper, “the new guy sure is strong.”

“He’s a Death Walker you idiot!” Oilivia said.

“Awe,” said Jasper, “does someone have a crush?”

“Would you two shut up!” I said. “Feel free to jump in anytime soon!”

“Oh no,” said Jasper, “I think you got this!”

“You cowards!” I said.

“What did you call me?” Jasper said.

“You heard me!” I said. “Coward!”

I could tell that this comment really pissed Jasper off.

Archie smiled at this, “Nothing’s better than a little friendly competition!”

It’s about time! I thought.

“Well then,” said Archie, “how about we step things up a bit hum?”

This is not my day! I thought. First I have to work with dumb and dumber and now this!

“In case you didn’t know,” said Jasper, “you’re not the only strong one around here!”

Jasper then pulled out his weapon. I just about rolled my eyes when I saw it. The weapon that Jasper had was a bow and arrow. 

“You’re joking?” I said.

“Nope,” said Jasper, “no joke, these arrows are made of steel. They can get through anything!”

“Yeah,” I said, “if you have good aim.”

“Why you little-“ Jasper said.

“What?” I said. “You said you were strong, now show me!”

Archie seemed a little pissed off that we were taking so long to attack. So he decided to launch his next attack. That’s when I had an idea.

“Hey Jasper,” I said, “aim for his wand!”

“Sure thing!” Jasper said.

Archie then made a circle with his wand and a huge tornado appeared out of nowhere.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I said.

I looked over at the house that I just saved and panicked. Jasper then braced  himself to withstand the tornado.

I wonder… I thought.

Without thinking, I jumped in front of Jasper and pulled out my sword. Suddenly I found my sword floating in front of me. I flicked my finger at the sword and out of it came a black cloud. The cloud then surrounded us and the house from the tornado.

“Interesting,” said Archie, “looks like you’ve got darkness powers. Nice, very nice!”

“Jasper this is your chance!” I said. “Seriously, aim for his wand!”

“I’m on it!” Jasper said.

Jasper then aimed the arrow at Archie’s wand. It didn’t hit the wand but it went into his hand. Archie then stumbled backwards dropping his wand crying out in pain.

Well, I thought, it’s not the wand but this is the next best thing.

“Now,” said Jasper, “it’s time to pin you to a wall and have your head on a silver platter.”

Jasper then fired his arrows pinning Archie down. 

“This is an assignation assignment,” said Jasper, “we can’t call this mission a success unless he dies.”

“I’ll do it.” Oilivia said. 

I raised an eyebrow, “You sure about that?”

“Yes,” said Oilivia, “I’m sure, besides I haven’t done anything yet on this mission.”

Oilivia then took out her weapon and stabbed the wizard in the heart. Archie died in no time at all.


*    *    *


When we got back to the Castle Oilivia dropped Archie’s body on the ground.

“That looks like him,” said John, “let me make sure it’s not a fake.”

John then proceeded to cut Archie’s ear and take out his heart. I almost threw up at the sight but I just swallowed and kept it down the best I could.

“Let’s see,” said John, “judging by the ear he’s not a fake. The heart tells me his magic is gone. Nice job mission complete!”

Jasper and Oilivia obviously had a strong stomach for this, because I certainly didn’t. Jasper and Oilivia just nodded at John and walked away.

“What’s the matter,” said John, “never seen a dead corpse before?”

“No,” I said, “it’s not that I’ve never seen one. I’ve just never seen one being taken apart before.”

“Oh I see,” said John, “you’ll get used to it. You should go find a bathroom to puke in.”

That’s exactly what I did, I found the nearest bathroom and threw up.


*    *    *


The whole mission took about two whole days to complete. Thank goodness Fluttershy and Discord were able to take care of Cozy Glow for the time being. Cozy Glow was waiting for me when I got home.

“Hi dad,” said Cozy Glow, “I’m glad you’re back!”

I sat down on the couch not wanting to move at all.

Great, I thought, I’m going to have nightmares from what John did to to that dead body. I hope I don’t have to see that again.

“You okay dad?” Cozy Glow said. “You look terrible!”

“I’m fine…” I said.

“Aren’t you hungry?” Cozy Glow said. “Grandma Fluttershy is making dinner!”

I felt like I was going to puke again at the thought of eating anything. 

“Hey Norman!” Fluttershy said. “Wow you look like you're going to be sick! Do you have a fever or something?”

“Yeah,” I said, “no thanks on the food. I think I’ll just turn in for the night.”

“Okay then,” said Cozy Glow, “goodnight dad, see you in the morning!”

I then went upstairs and locked the door and I really didn’t want to go to sleep. That was wishful thinking because as soon as my head hit the pillow I was sound asleep.


*    *    *


When I opened my eyes again, I found myself in the Land of the Dead.

Well, I thought, at least it’s not a nightmare.

Betty smiled at me and held out a hand to help me up.

“I was watching you and you used your sword for the first time, not bad.” Betty said.

“You were watching me?” I said.

Betty shrugged, “I’m the Queen of Hell now, I can open up portals to just about anything. Don’t worry, I’m not a peeping tom or anything.”

“That’s okay,” I said, “I didn’t think you were, considering being married to Dae.”

Betty laughed, “I just wanted to see if you would use your sword when fighting that wizard. From what I saw it looks like you have darkness powers. That’s just like me when I first became a Death Walker.”

“Huh,” I said, “I guess it does run in the family.”

“Well,” said Betty, “you’ll figure out what other powers you have in due time.”

“So exactly why am I here?” I said.

“Oh,” said Betty, “I wanted to tell you Sunset Shimmer just arrived, she should be coming to your house to train you in a couple of days.”

I nodded. “Sure that’s fine.”

“Something’s troubling you,” said Betty, “what is it?”

“Let’s just say I saw something I didn’t want to see.” I said.

“Well,” said Betty, “you’ve been in the Military Division before I’m sure you’ve seen a lot of horrible things.”

“But,” I said, “this job being a Knight of the Royal Court is completely different.”

“Oh I see,” said Betty, “you’ll just have to get used to it I guess. It probably comes with the territory.”

“I just hope I have to stand by the Throne tomorrow.” I said.

Betty laughed, “I’m sure Princess Twilight would love to have a handsome man standing behind her.”

“No thanks,” I said, “I think I’ll just have to suck it up and go on missions again.”

Betty couldn’t contain her laughter. She laughed so hard it brought tears to her eyes.

“That’s not funny Betty!” I said.

“Okay forgive me,” said Betty,  “I’ve said all that I needed to say goodbye Norman.”

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


*    *    *


When I woke up the next morning I groaned.

This really has to be some bad dream, I thought,  that’s never going to end.

I then heard Cozy Glow knocking at the door. 

“Dad,” said Cozy Glow, “you okay? You really did look terrible yesterday. I know you have an off duty training day today. But you do have the rest of the week off and you're going to have to meet Sunset Shimmer. I’m going to be training with her today. She should be coming anytime soon.”

I groaned, “I’m getting up Cozy Glow. I do have to get to training as soon as possible.”

“But that means you’re not going to meet Sunset Shimmer.” Cozy Glow said. “Don’t you want to meet her?”

“I can meet her tomorrow.” I said.

I got dressed and went downstairs only to see Discord and Fluttershy.

“Well, well, well,” said Discord, “looks like Normie is an early bird!”

“My name’s not Normie,” I said, “how many times do I have to say that? And I’m not going to call you dad. Betty might be doing it, but I’m not got that?”

“Fine Norman,” said Discord, “I see you’re in your training outfit. Off duty training day today?”

I sighed, “What do you think? Anyway, I got to go, I’ll grab a bite to eat later.”

I headed straight out the sparring ring right away because Jasper decided to challenge me to a match. I have no idea why. 

“Looks like the big guy over there wants to fight right off the bat.” Robert said pointing at Jasper. “Who is he by the way?”

“His names Jasper,” I said, “and he’s just some coward that I got to assigned to for a teammate.”

“Ouch,” said Robert, “that wasn’t very nice.”

“Bite me!” I said.

“Hey Norman,” said Jasper, “are you going to stop flirting or are we going to fight?”

I rolled my eyes, “I’m not flirting you idiot! If you want to fight me so bad, let’s go!”

“I wouldn’t be so cocky if I were you.” Jasper said.

“And you want to fight me so bad because?” I said.

“You called me a coward to other day,” said Jasper, “I think that calls for a little payback, don't you think?”

“Oh brother,” I said, “fine, whatever you want.”

“Yeah know,” said Jasper, “I’m going to wring your neck today.”

“Uh-Huh,” I said, “I’d like to see you try. Show me your not a coward then maybe I’l stop calling you one.”

Without another word the fight began, I have to admit that Jasper was pretty strong. I couldn’t seem to land a hit on him at first so I just stuck to dodging and kicks for the time being.

“Dodges and kicks?” Jasper said. “Is that the best you got? And here I thought you were a Death Walker.” 

“What’s that got to with anything?” I said. “Not bad for a coward!”

“I’m gonna make you eat that word!” Jasper said. 

I finally caught Jasper off guard and landed a punch to the stomach. I could tell that it took his breath away, but he just got up and dusted himself off.

“I think this fight has been dragged out long enough.” Jasper said. “Let’s end this! I’m going to knock you out now.”

“As if you could do that.” I said.

Jasper then tried to kick me in the head but I caught it just before it hit the mark. I then took his leg and sent him flying into a wall.

“That’s  enough!” I hear a voice say.

I looked over to see John comin up to us with a really pissed off look on his face.

“No fighting,” said John, “with intent to kill!”

“He started it!” I said.

“I don’t care!” John said. “Jasper you’ve got a concussion from that hit go to the Nurse’s office now. And you, we need to talk follow me.”

I followed John into the office. John then took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Exactly what were you thinking about back there?” John said.

I shrugged, “Nothing I guess, hand to hand combat just comes naturally to me.”

“You’ve got too much tension and rage in you,” said John, “you really should find a better way to work things out. I was also told something bad happened to you 12 years ago. What was it?”

“My mother and sister died,” I said, “that’s when I adopted Amethyst.” 

“Well,” said John, “you should at least be happy that you’re a father now.”

I took a deep breath and tried to keep myself from using him as a punching bag next.

“Okay nevermind,” said John, “just chill out okay? I might think about considering you for counseling. I think that’s enough training for today. Oh and Shining Armor will be training you after your time off. You can go now.” 
> 4) Death Walker Training With Sunset Shimmer
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

That very day I went home to see a young woman about my age sitting on my couch.

“Oh, hi dad,” Cozy Glow said, “this is Sunset Shimmer.”

Well, I thought, she is beautiful just like Betty said.

“Hi there,” said Sunset Shimmer, “my name’s Sunset Shimmer, I understand I’ll be training you along with your daughter?”

“Yeah,” I said, “that’s it…”

Sunset Shimmer then put out a hand and I shook it.

“Okay,” said Sunset Shimmer, “we’ll start first thing in the morning.”

Sunset Shimmer then turned around to leave and Cozy Glow gave me a weird look.

“You sure were staring at her,” said Cozy Glow, “you like her don’t you?”

“And you think this because?” I said.

“I don’t know,” said Cozy Glow, “just a hunch. You know some people say love at first sight.”

“Okay then,” I said, “fat chance of that happening. I’m not falling for the girl I just met.”

“Sure thing dad,” said Cozy Glow, “you really should find someone to settle down with and soon.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” I said.

Cozy Glow shrugged, “We’re only saying that because it ‘s true.”


*    *    *


“Well then,” said Sunset Shimmer, “I hear you’re very skilled in hand to hand combat. So let’s work on other points today.”

“Like what?” I said.

“Let’s see here,” said Sunset Shimmer, “Betty told me you already have darkness powers. And you can use your sword to draw out other powers to see what attacks you have. And you can also combine those attacks together. Take this for example.”

Sunset Shimmer then stood in front of a tree about ten feet away. She then took a deep breath and out of her mouth came something that looked like rippling sound waves that was much like skipping a rock across a pond. This split the tree down the middle. After seeing this display of power my jaw dropped.

“That,” said Sunset, “was light and wind power combined. That type of thing only happens after you find out what kind of powers you have. Amethyst has already found out what her powers are.”

“What are they?” I said.

“Copper blade and water so far,” Sunset said.

“Nice,” I said, “so exactly how do I find out which powers I have?”

“Well,” said Sunset, “we’ll have to do an actual battle to see what you have. That’s what I did with Amethyst.”

“So you want me to fight you,” I said, “this is not going to be easy.”

Before we could even begin to start the battle, I noticed that there was a single rain cloud above us.

Sunset rolled her eyes, “What do you want, old timer?”

“Old timer?” Rainbow Dash said. “Who are you calling an old timer?”

“That would be you," Sunset said.

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash said.

“Go away Rainbow Dash!” Sunset said. “As you can see, I’m trying to train Norman here!”

“Oh,” said Rainbow Dash, “that’s why I’m here! I wanted to watch the action!”

“No Rainbow Dash,” said Sunset, “go away!”

“But-“ Rainbow Dash said.

“I said go away!” Sunset said. “If you don’t leave, I’ll tell the princess about you interfering!”

“Okay fine!” Rainbow Dash said.

Without another word Rainbow Dash left and Sunset breathed a sigh of relief.

“Well,” said Sunset, “glad that’s over with. Now let’s get started shall we?”

“Fine by me," I said.

During my battle with Sunset I found out that I had four out of the nine Death Walker abilities. I have darkness, fire, earth, and iron fist.

“Not bad,” said Sunset, “you got four out of nine.”

“How many did Betty have?” I said.

“Before she died,” said Sunset, “she managed to master all nine.”

“Seriously?” I said. “Well no wonder she’s considered a legend now!”

“You might become one too," Sunset said.

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up," I said.


*    *    *


After the rest of the week off, I had my scheduled training with Shining Armor at the Crystal Empire. So I took the first train out in the morning.

“Oh good,” said Shining Armor, “you brought the correct uniform and your sword. Let’s see what we have here, show me your sword.”

I then took the sword out its sheath and Shining Armor whistled at it.

“Not too bad kid!” Shining Armor said.

I wanted to tell him that I’m not a kid, but I just bit my tongue.

“Let’s see kid,” said Shining Armor, “oh I mean rookie adult. Show me what you got. Only use your sword and no Death Walker abilities got it?”

“Yes sir!” I said.

Fighting Shining Armor was not easy and there was no way I could’ve pretended to do poorly. John was absolutely right that Shining Armor can see through a lie. It wasn’t until I was out of breath and could barely move that Shining Armor stopped.

“Wonderful rookie!” Shining Armor said. “I think that’s enough training for today. Oh and you’re going to have to practice more by the next time I see you. I have the perfect person for you! He’s the best in the Royal Guard. He’s human and his name’s Jack. Don’t worry you won’t have to come to the Crystal Empire. He’ll come to you on your mandatory off duty days. You can go now.”

I then barely managed to get off the ground and stood straight up.

“Yes sir," I said. I walked away hoping my knees wouldn’t give out on me.


*    *    *


“Okay guys,” said John, “the reason I pulled you out here to the training is because you three need to work on teamwork.”

“I seriously hope he’s joking,” I said, “it’s bad enough I have to work with that coward!”

“What did you call me moron?” Jasper said.

“Is that the best you got for name calling?” I said. “You’re even stupid at that!”

“Oh boy,” said Olivia, “how’d I get paired up with these two idiots? I’m doomed.”

“Excuse me?” I said. “Who are you calling an idiot? Idiot! You’re no better than Jasper! You’re both cowards!”

“Why you little-“ Olivia said.

Before I knew it, I took a punch to the face and was down on the ground. Jasper got the same treatment.

“Don’t ever call a woman an idiot,” said Olivia, “idiot!”

Before we could argue anymore, I saw John fire his gun in the air.

“Oh boy,” said Oliivia, “now you’ve done it!”

“Me? What about you?” Jasper and I said.

“That’s enough!” John said. “Stand at attention or I’ll make you stand at attention! As I was saying, you three need to work on teamwork. If you don’t, one if not all three of you can die on a mission! So leave your egos and grudges at the door!”

The three of us had to bite our tongues as hard as possible. I’m surprised my tongue didn’t bleed from biting it so hard.

“Now,” said John, “with your special weapons that you are skilled at and your hand to hand combat you should be able to take down your enemies no problem. But that’s only if you work together!”

I didn’t say anything, I watched in horror because John was seething with rage.

“Now if your enemy has a gun or some other high level weapon like me,” said John, “you need to be able to take down your enemy especially if it’s an assissination assignment. I understand that you’ve had one assignment together so far. And I also understand that two of you sat on the sidelines while Norman did most of the fighting. That should never happen on a team! If you idiots don’t get some common sense, your missions will fail! Do you understand me?”

All three of us didn’t say anything but just nodded our heads.

“I have the perfect thing for you three to take on,” said John,”it is an obstacle course. You should be able to make it out no problem but only if you work as a team. That’s what this is designed for.”

John pointed at the area behind him and all three of us looked on in horror.

“You three get to the starting lane. I’ll just be here watching until you work together," John said, “don’t worry I have all day and so do you!”
 
Great, I thought, just perfect…

As the day went on we finally got the obstacle course down with honing in on our teamwork skills. Finally John dismissed us and it was almost dark by then. After we got dismissed however, I guess Jasper’s ego got the better of him.

“I’m still going to make you eat that word coward,” said Jasper, “our sparring matches aren’t over, not by a long shot.”

I groaned, “Well, show me you’re not a coward and I’ll stop calling you one.”

“Would you two knock it off!” Olivia said. “If you don’t quit, John will make us go through that obstacle course again! Men are so annoying!”

“Women are annoying too!” I said.

“That’s because you have a crowd of women surrounding you every time you fight someone!” Olivia said.

“It’s not my fault!” I said. “Heck maybe they’re showing up for Jasper for all I know!”

“Nah, it’s definitely you,” said Olivia, “Jasper doesn’t have the looks you do.”

“Hey!” Jasper said.

“You know Norman,” said Olivia, “you could get any girl you wanted. Why haven’t you?”

“Hey!” Jasper said. “I can get any girl I want too!”

“Nah,” said Olivia, “you’re ugly Jasper!”

“What was that?” Jasper growled.

“Okay then,” I said, “I’m outta here! See you guys later!”

I didn’t even change out of my uniform. I ran home as fast as I could.


*    *    *


The next day John had called me into his office.

“You wanted to see me sir?” I said.

“I want to ask you a question," John said.

“What is it?” I said.

“When’s the last time you slept with someone?” John said.

I didn’t say anything, I just looked down at the floor.

“Judging by that response,” said John, “it’s been awhile.”

“Ah…” I said. By this time, I really wanted to run out of the office.

“That’s not the point I’m trying to make here,” said John, “remember when I said you need to find a better way to work things out?”

“Yes sir," I said.

“Well,” said John, “it’s either find a girl to get in your bed or see a Therapist.”

I sighed, “You think I’m supposed to have a girl in my bed every week?”

“If you prefer,” said John, “but I can’t help you with that one. So I’m sending you to therapy. One session a week for one month.”

“You can’t be serious?” I said.

“Yup,” said John, “therapy one month. And I have the perfect person for you, it’s the same one your mother went too.”

“That sure backfired," I said.

“Yes I know,” said John, “she became a serial killer, the biggest one in the nation. But this Therapist is the best one in the business. Oh and Jack’s here to train you with your sword.”

“But I thought that was supposed to be on my off duty days?” I said.

“I guess Shining Armor changed his mind," John said. “You have training in five minutes. It’s time for you to go now.”

I left the office and ran into Olivia and Jasper.

“You okay?” Olivia said.

“I’m fine,” I said, “I got sword training today. I gotta go.”

“You have sword training today?” Olivia said. “It wouldn't be surprising if you draw a crowd for that one.”

“Let’s hope not…” I said.


*    *    *


As soon as I got to the training yard Jack was there to meet me.

“Well now,” said Jack, “you must be the rookie adult that I’ve heard about from Shining Armor. He seemed to be impressed when he saw you.”

Jack and I then shook hands and Jack pointed and smiled. Sure enough there was a crowd of women sitting on the bleachers as if they were watching some spectator sport.

I groaned, “Why me?”

“Well,” said Jack, “you sure draw a crowd.”

“Maybe they showed up for you?” I said.

“Nah,” said Jack, “they don’t know about me. It’s definitely you.”

Great… I thought.

“Now let’s begin,” said Jack, “it’s time to draw your sword.”

I sighed, took my sword out and Jack looked like he was ready to chop me into little pieces. Training with Jack was just about as bad as training with Shining Armor. Although I didn’t know which was worse. It didn’t help that I kept getting cheers from the crowd watching. Jack had caught me off guard and managed to graze my shoulder with his sword.

“Get your head in the fight,” said Jack, “or you’ll die in battle!”

“As if I didn’t know that already!” I said.

“Don’t you be a smart mouth to me!” Jack said.

Jack then aimed his sword at my shoulder again when I blocked it. The next move he made I had to jump over his sword. Jack's next move was aimed at my head. I had to do a backflip to dodge it. 

Just like Shining Armor, Jack didn’t stop until I was barely able to move. His last attack was to get me off guard when I was down. I blocked it in time but just barely.

“Huh,” said Jack, “I can see why Shining Armor talked so highly of you. That’s enough training for today. The next practice will be in a couple of days. So be on your toes, that’s all for now.”

Jack then turned around and left. I looked over to see Olivia holding out a hand to help me up.

“No thanks,” I said, “I’m good.”

“But you’re injured,” said Olivia, “you really should get that checked out.”

“I think I just said I’m fine,” I said, “It’s just a scratch.”

“You don’t have to be a show off," Jasper said.

“I’m not showing off!” I said. “I said I’m fine!”

“Fine,” said Jasper, “have it your way!”

I then picked myself off the ground and walked away.
> 5) My Idiot Challengers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Did I hear what I think I just heard?” I said.

“You heard it correctly,” said John, “this is a solo mission. And you’re going to have to wear your throne uniform for this one.”

Why me? I thought.

“Now let me brief you on the mission,” said John, “Princess Twilight is going on a date with a stallion named Shadow Mist. You’re going to be there to make sure that stallion doesn’t harm the Princess. And trust me, Shadow Mist is a pervert and thinks that every date he gets is his property.”

I flinched at that thought, I’ve been on quite a few dates myself. I even don’t think of them as my property. This guy must be a real idiot.

“Yup,” said John, “Olivia and Jasper will be standing by the throne today. Considering there are no assignments for you after all.”

Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, I thought, it just did.

“Now,” said John, “it’s time for you to change your shift starts in five minutes. You’re dismissed!”

“Yes sir," I said.


*    *    *


After I got dressed I went to the Throne Room to see Jasper and Olivia standing by the throne. When I saw Jasper he whistled at me.

“I don’t blame the Princess,” said Jasper, “for asking you to be her bodyguard.”

“I really don’t need this right now Jasper," I said.

“Yeah,” said Olivia, “but you do look sexy in that uniform.”

I groaned and thought, This is so not happening right now.

When the Princess walked into the Throne Room I gave her a bow.

“You can look at me," Princess Twilight said.

I stood straight up not sure of what to do next.

“I know you’re uncomfortable with this,” said Princess Twilight, “but you’ll do fine. Let’s just hope he doesn’t challenge you to a duel.”

Oh boy, I thought, this is not going to end well.

The trumpets then sounded to announce the presence of the Princess’s date. Shadow Mist came into the room and he definitely looked like he had a big ego, with his head held high and trying to stand above the others. I so wanted to slap him, but it wasn’t the right time for it. It was because he wasn’t a threat yet, but I had a feeling he might be one soon.

“Well you highness,” said Shadow Mist, “you’re looking more like a goddess every time I see you.”

“Why do you keep asking me to go on these stupid dates?” Princess Twilight said. “You know I’m not going to marry you.”

“Oh,” said Shadow Mist, “but we’re arranged to be married, you can’t run away from destiny.”

Princess Twilight groaned and did a face hoof. I so wanted to punch the guy in the face! That’s because he had an even bigger ego than Jasper! Shadow Mist’s ego was so big I was surprised it fit in the room.

“We might be arranged to be married, Shadow Mist,” said Princess Twilight, “you do realize if I don’t like you the contract breaks.”

“But you want peace between the two of our nations,” said Shadow Mist, “as the Princess of Friendship, I would think you would want to seal the deal by marrying me.”

“For the last time Shadow Mist,” said Princess Twilight, “I don’t care if war breaks out between our two nations! I’m so not going to marry you! I’d rather have a stick up my butt instead!”

“I like that fire in your eyes!” Shadow Mist said. “That’s the way I like them!”

I seriously wanted to cut the guy’s head off and chop him into a million pieces. I could tell Jasper was getting a real kick out of this because he was trying so hard not to crack up. I couldn’t do anything about it so I just stood there and bit my tongue.

Princess Twilight groaned, “Fine Shadow Mist, let's get this over with!”

“Ah,” said Shadow Mist, “you say that like it’s going to be to torture. Don’t worry I’ll have you in my bed by the end of the day!”

At this point I couldn’t bite my tongue anymore.

“That’s enough!” I said. “If you harm the Princess, I won’t hesitate to deal with you!”

Shadow Mist rolled his eyes, “Looks like the bodyguard needs to learn some manners! Princess you really should put him in his place!”

“Nope,” said Princess Twilight, “not going too!”

Shadow Mist then shook his head in disbelief.

“Fine then,” said Shadow Mist, ‘let’s get this date started shall we?”

I could tell Princess Twilight really didn’t want to go on this date and I don’t blame her. When the date first started we walked down the hallway and into the garden out back. Shadow Mist then found a table in the middle of the garden and sat down. He then motioned for the Princess to do the same.

“So why did you choose this place?” Princess Twilight said.

“I thought it would be more romantic to have a date out here,” said Shadow Mist, “except for your bodyguard.”

I could tell Princess Twilight was really pissed off by this time. However, I had kept my composure as much as possible. I just stood there wishing I could turn this guy into a punching bag. I really wanted to kill the guy just from watching him.

“Okay,” said Shadow Mist, “the waiters should be here any minute.”

The waiters then brought the food to Princess Twilight and Shadow Mist. While the Princess ate more delicately Shadow Mist ate like a pig. Of course, Princess Twilight gave Shadow Mist a look of disgust.

“Hum,” said Shadow Mist, “I say we ditch the bodyguard.”

“No thanks,” said Princess Twilight, “I’m good.”

“So do you love humans or something?” Shadow Mist said.

“And you care about my love life because?” Princess Twilight said.

“Since you’re my future bride,” said Shadow Mist, “a groom needs to know if his bride’s cheating on him.”

Princess Twilight groaned, “So what if I am? I think I told you I’m not going to marry you!”

“Fine then Mr. Bodyguard!” Shadow Mist said. “I challenge you to a duel!”

Oh boy, I thought, what have I gotten myself into? 

“So,” said Shadow Mist, “how about the winner takes all? If you win, you get the Princess. If I win the Princess will marry me no questions asked.” 

At that Princess Twilight did a face hoof and groaned.

“Fine,” I said, “I think someone needs to put you in your place.”

After that, Shadow Mist left the date with his head in the air.

“Gee,” I said, “ego much? He’s worse then Jasper!”

“Who’s Jasper?” Princess Twilight said.

“Some idiot I got paired up with as a teammate,” I said, “we don’t get along at all.”


*    *    *


The next day was my first Therapy session. As soon as the Therapist introduced herself I was then told to sit on the chair across from her. 

“I hear you’ve been having some trouble with your anger?” The Therapist said.

“Yeah. So?” I said.

“Hum,” the Therapist said, “how do you deal with that in the present time?”

“I guess I turn people into punching bags," I said.

“John told me something a little bit like that," the therapist said. “You’re just like your mother, you know that?”

“Let’s hope I don’t become a serial killer too," I said.

“Nah,” the Therapist said, “you’re not like that, I can tell. Your mother however, really needed to be in a mental asylum if you ask me.”

I wanted to laugh at that comment but I kept a straight face.

“You know you can show your emotions in here,” the Therapist said, “it’s safe…”

I nodded and the Therapist smiled at me.

“There are other ways you can deal with your anger," The Therapist said.

“Like?” I said.

“Keep a journal, go for a walk or run, have sex, masturbate, heck maybe you even use a literal punching bag," The Therapist said.

I had nothing to say to her. I just looked away in embarrassment.

“You know,” the Therapist said, “having sex might not be bad thing for you. I don’t mean having a girl in your bed every week. Although if you can find a girl to tame you, that wouldn’t be a bad idea either. You look embarrassed right now and there no need to be. I’m just saying what I think, that’s all.” 

“Can I go now?” I said.

The Therapist looked at the time, “Yes you can go, that’s all we have to talk about for now.”

“Thank you…” I said.

As soon as I got up, I ran out of the office like a bat out of hell.


*    *    *


The following week, Jasper decided to challenge me to another sparring match again. The fact that Jasper kept challenging me was really starting to get on my nerves.

“Okay,” said Jasper, “I want a real fight this time. I want to see how many hits you can land on me.”

I rolled my eyes, “Sure Jasper, whatever you say.” 

As usual there was a crowd of women that had surrounded us.

Oh boy, I thought, I hope they’re showing up for Jasper this time.

Before even saying go Jasper landed a punch to the jaw. I stumbled backwards but then I got up.

“Fine then,” I said, “have it your way.”

This time I didn’t dare dodge Jasper, I was determined to get as many hits on him as possible. We both got a lot of hits on each other.

“Hum,” said Jasper, “looks like you’ve gotten stronger since the last time you fought me.” 

“Yeah,” I said, “and?”

The fight continued when Jasper got me in a choke hold. That was when I knew that I had to give up.

“Okay,” I said, “I surrender, I’m done.”

Jasper let me go and I was about to walk away, when out of the corner of my eye, saw Jasper throwing another punch. I then turned around and caught his fist in my hand. Then I applied pressure to Jasper’s fist.

“That,” I said, “was a bad idea! You don’t do those types of attacks unless you have a death wish.”

“I don’t think I won that fight,” said Jasper, “fair and square! I know when someone’s going easy on me!”

“I wasn’t going easy on you,” I said, “in case you didn’t notice, we were evenly matched.”

“Only when you stop calling me a coward is when I’ll stop challenging you," Jasper said.

“You want to know why I keep calling you a coward?” I said. “It’s because you like to run and hide in a battle. What I mean by showing me you’re not a coward is when you can fight side by side with me and not sitting on the sidelines. Then, only then will I stop calling you that! I’m not going to send you flying into a wall this time. And I do believe I said I surrender. I think you’ve won this fight.”

I let go of Jasper’s fist and saw him walk away and then I did the same thing.


*    *    *


Robert made sure I got home in one piece. I told him I was fine, but he insisted on going with me. 

“Did you lose that fight on purpose?” Robert said.

“No I didn’t,” I said, “why do you ask?”

“I’ve never seen you lose a fight before,” said Robert, “not ever since you enlisted! Were you going easy on him like he said you were?”

“No,” I said, “in case you didn’t notice we were evenly matched.”

“Well,” said Robert, “you sure disappointed the ladies on that one. They were booing at Jasper.”

“And I care about that because?” I said.

“After that fight,” said Robert, “I’m concerned about you that’s all.”

“I’m fine," I said.
 
“Okay,” said Robert, “as long as you’re going to be fine, I’ll take your word for it.”

We finally made it home and Cozy Glow was there to greet me at the door. She had a concerned look on her face.

“What happened to you dad?” Cozy Glow said. “You look like you’ve been pummeled to a pulp.”

“I guess you can say that,” said Robert, “he just decided to take on a stronger dude this time.”

“Ouch,” said Cozy Glow, “I’ve never seen you look so bad before. I'll have to ask Grandma Fluttershy to call Zecora to look over you.”
 
“That’s nice Amethyst,” I said, “but I’m fine really I am.”

“You always say that even when you’re in such bad shape,” said Cozy Glow, “would you let people and ponies help you for a change?”

“Fine,” I said, “go ahead and call Zecora, although I don’t want to hear rhyming right now. And you can go ahead and go Robert.”

“You sure you don’t want me to stick around for a while?” Robert said.

“I said go!” I snapped.

“Okay, okay,” said Robert, “I’ll see you later!”

After Robert left, Fluttershy and Discord came downstairs.

“What’s all the commotion about?” Discord said. 

“Wow,” said Fluttershy, “you look horrible! What happened?” 

“Training is what happened!” I said. “I’m not going to say another word.”

“Grandma Fluttershy,” said Cozy Glow, “can you call Zecora for him?”

“Oh yes,” said Fluttershy, “I’ll do that for him right away. Don’t worry Norman, Zecora will fix you right up. And those bruises and that black eye will be gone in no time at all.”

“Thanks Fluttershy…” I said.

“It’s no problem at all," Fluttershy said.

Discord cleared his throat, “Um Amethyst?”

“Yes Grandpa Discord?” Cozy Glow said.

“I would like to talk to Norman alone okay?” Discord said.

Great, I thought, pigs are going to fly next? Although Discord can make that happen so I wouldn’t put it past him. 

“I watched that fight between you and Jasper today," Discord said. 

“Keeping tabs on me now?” I said.

“Oh no,” said Discord, “it’s nothing like that. I just wanted to see if you would figure out when to quit. And you did bravo!”

“And your point?” I said.

“The point I’m trying to make,” said Discord, “in the heat of battle you need to learn when to retreat and when to keep going. Your sister Betty, didn’t figure that out at all.” 

I laughed, “Well, the bad temper does run in the family.”
> 6) Beacon of Light Training
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When I woke up the next morning I groaned. That was mostly because I felt like a 300 pound person sat on me. Then I heard Cozy Glow knocking on my door. 

“Dad,” said Cozy Glow, “I think you need to get up now. Zecora’s here to help you! Not to mention we both have training with Sunset Shimmer.”

“I’m coming,” I said, “just give me a minute okay?”

“Yes dad!” Cozy Glow said.

When I heard Cozy Glow leave, I got up and got dressed. Then I went downstairs and saw Zecora looking into her medicine bag. As soon as I saw Zecora, I wanted to run from the house as fast as possible.

“I have a brew here,” said Zecora, “that will definitely heal you.”

I groaned and thought, Why me?

“This medicine was made to the letter,” said Zecora, “so it will definitely make you feel better.”

I then gave Cozy Glow a look and Cozy Glow just rolled her eyes.

“Remind why I let you call Zecora for help?” I said.

“Because you still look terrible,” said Cozy Glow, “and we have training with Sunset Shimmer to boot. You’ll need all the strength you can get.”

I sighed, “Fine…”

Zecora then gave me the medicine and sure enough the bruises and the black eye that I got from Jasper healed right up.

“You look much better now,” said Cozy Glow, “good thing you don’t have any broken bones.”

It was as if on cue there was a knock on the door.

“Yey!” Cozy Glow said. “It’s Sunset Shimmer!”

“Go ahead,” I said, “let her in.”

“Yes dad!” Cozy Glow said.

“Hey there,” said Sunset, “you ready to start training today?”

“Yes ma’am!” Cozy Glow said. 

“Uh,” I said, “yes…”

I went to go grab my sword and Cozy Glow grabbed her bow and arrow. I had to admit that I was totally confused about what was going to happen today.

“One thing you need to learn as a death walker,“ said Sunset, “is the trademark beacon of light. Betty didn’t learn this until after she died. I can only assume that it was because she wasn’t trained by another death walker.”

“Let me guess,” I said, “you’re a death walker too?”

“Yup,” said Sunset, “you guessed correctly, I’m a death walker.”

“Great,” I said, “does everyone in my life have to be a death walker? Is Robert a death walker too?”

“No,” said Sunset, “last time I checked, your friends Robert’s not a death walker.”

I sighed, “So how do we learn this whole beacon of light thing?”

“Oh,” said Sunset, “that’s what you’re going to learn right about now.”

Before I could do anything Sunset gave me one open fist to the chest and I then fell over and looked down to see my body lying right in front of me. Sunset then did the same thing to Cozy Glow.

I hope she doesn’t say anything about being dead before, I thought.

I looked over and could tell Cozy Glow really wanted to say something but she kept her mouth shut.

“This is so weird,” I said, “what are we supposed to do next?”

“Oh,” said Sunset, “there're lost souls in the building across the street there. You guys need to help them move on.”

“How do we do that?” I said.

“It’s different with every weapon,” said Sunset, “Norman, you just put your sword in the ground. Amethyst, you shoot one of your arrows to a wall or some strong surface and it will do the same thing. You two will have until midnight to complete the job. I’ll be watching just in case you guys get into trouble. Now, it’s time for you to go.”

Cozy and I nodded and headed for the building across the street.


*    *    *


We got to the building that Sunset pointed out and everything seemed really quiet. A little too quiet if you ask me.

“Are you getting creeped out about this,” I said, “cause I am.”

“You and me both dad,” said Cozy Glow, “this place is worse than a graveyard.”

“I wonder where the souls are,” I said, “and more importantly, why haven’t they moved on yet?” 

“Beats me,” said Cozy Glow, “I didn’t move on until your sister died. Maybe it’s something like that?”

“I don’t think so,” I said, “this building is abandoned.”

That’s when I heard a nursery rhyme that children of earth grow up singing. I could only make out the last part of it though.

“Ashes, ashes, we all fall down!” I could hear voices singing. With the last word down, the whole building shook as if it were in an earthquake.

Well, I thought, at least we found one of the souls.

“Uh dad,” said Cozy Glow, “look over there…”

What I saw next made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It looked like 12 children standing in a straight line as if they were cadets that had enlisted. They all looked about the ages of 19 or 20, that was how old I was when I enlisted. Because I enlisted right after Betty died.

“I have a feeling this has something to do with Betty dying," I said.

“How’d you figure that out?” Cozy Glow said.

“Count how many children there are," I said.

“There’s 12 by my count!” Cozy Glow said.

“And what ages do they look like?” I said.

“Around the same age as you when Betty died!” Cozy Glow said.

“Exactly!” I said.

Then I heard a low toned laugh. Now, I get sick by seeing a dead body being taken apart. But now, seeing this guy or whatever he was really hit a nerve.
 
“Awe,” said the man, “did I hurt little Norman’s feelings?”

“Who are you?” I said. I was really hoping he didn’t say Betty.

“My name’s Theodore," Theodore said.

“So,” I said, “why 12 children? And why are they the same age as I was 12 years ago?”

“Wow,” said Theodore, “you’re pretty observant aren’t you Norman?”

“How do you know my name?” I said.

“Oh,” said Theodore, “anyone who is anyone, knows your name!”

“And what are the children’s names?” I said.

“Oh that,” said Theodore, “their names are Betty with a number behind them!”

“Why you little-“ I said. 

“Dad stop!” Cozy Glow said. “He’s just trying to get in your head!” 

“What?” I said.

“What I mean,” said Cozy Glow, “is that these aren’t the souls we are looking for. He’s just messing with you!”

“The kids got a discerning eye,” said Theodore, “although I wouldn’t call her a kid. Am I right Cozy Glow?”

“Okay,” said Cozy Glow, “this guy knows way too much for his own good!”

Theodore said, “I know too much?”

“Where are the souls that are in this building?” I said. “The real ones!”

“Oh, “said Theodore, “you’ll have to look for them, or capture me and send me back to Hell.”

Capture the guy, I thought, wait, that’s it!

“So dad,” said Cozy Glow, “what do you want to do? Capture him or look for the souls?”

“I say we capture him,” I said, “I have an idea, just follow my lead okay?”

Before we could even attack Theodore, the children started singing the nursery rhyme again. Every time the word ‘down’ was sung, the children switched and took over being Theodore’s shield. I also noticed something about the color of their eyes, each eye’s color matching one of the four gates of Equestria.

“Amethyst,” I said, “do you notice anything about those children?”

“Yes,” said Cozy Glow, “they look different every time they switch.”

“That’s because,” I said, “they’re representing the four gates of Equestria.”

“So what do we do?” Cozy Glow said.

“We take down the children,” I said, “we take down Theodore and free the lost souls!”

Cozy Glow then readied her bow and arrow. After the first two children switched, Cozy Glow had a look of confusion on her face.

“I can’t get a read on them!” Cozy Glow said.

“Wait until they say the word ‘down’ and then shoot them!” I said.

“Got it!” Cozy Glow said.

Theodore just stood there and rolled his eyes at us.

“You do realize that you only have until midnight to do this right?” Theodore said.

I grinned at Theodore, “This won’t take that long.”

“A little cocky now aren’t we?” Theodore said.

“Nope,” I said, “I’m pretty sure.”

Cozy Glow missed the first two children that rotated out. But then she was starting to get the hang of it. Soon she was able to take down all of the 12 children.

At least she can fight side by side with me, I thought, better than Jasper can.

After Cozy Glow took down all of the children, Theodore clapped and laughed as if he were watching some sort of TV show. 

“Well now,” said Theodore, “I don’t have any more children to protect me.”

“Amethyst,” I said, “you rest, I’ll take care of Theodore.”

“Yes,” said Cozy Glow, “you go for it dad!”

“Hey Theodore,” I said, “you like to exploit people’s stories for your own good right? I think I’ll tell you the ending of your story!”

“Like I’m going to listen to that!” Theodore said.

Theodore then aimed his next attack at me. On instinct, I pulled out my sword and just when I protected Jasper from that tornado, a black cloud exploded out and surrounded me. I was able to spin my sword around and to my surprise flames began trailing my sword.

“Well now,” said Theodore, “it seems the death walker has some abilities now in his arsenal of attacks. I wonder if you’ll react if I kill Cozy Glow first!”

I was going to send my attack his way, when I found out that I couldn’t move. All of the sudden, my sword stopped spinning too. It just floated straight up in the air.

I can’t move, I thought, he’s going to kill Amethyst!

Theodore made a couple of steps towards Cozy Glow and she went backwards to stay away from him.

Think, think, I thought, that’s it! Pain trumps fear every time!

So I bit down on my tongue to make it bleed. I then found myself able to move. Instantly, I jumped in front of Cozy Glow, quickly blocking her from Theodore’s attack.

“Hum,” said Theodore, “you broke out of my magic, not bad, kid!”

“I’m not a kid you moron!” I said.

“Oh well,” said Theodore, “I guess I’ll just have to kill you first!”

“I doubt that!” I said. “As I was saying, you want to know the end of your story?”

“I’m definitely not going to listen!” Theodore said.

Before Theodore could make another move, I took my sword and drove it through his chest. Theodore then fell backwards and I stepped right on his wound, I then applied pressure with my foot. I then aimed my sword at his neck.

“Well, if you’re not going to sit still and listen,” I said, “then I’ll just have to make you sit still!”

Theodore didn’t seem like he was in pain, but he sure was struggling under my foot.

“Your story ends like this…” I said.

I took my sword and drove it through Theodore’s neck planting it firmly in the ground.

“Your story ends,” I said, “with you living happily ever after in Hell!”

I jumped back because the sword then lit up like a christmas tree. A beam of light shot out into the sky and a portal appeared at the end of the beam. Souls began pouring into it and going into the afterlife. After a while the portal closed and my sword turned back to normal. I grabbed it and put it back into its sheath. I then sat down and breathed a sigh of relief.

“You okay Amethyst?” I said.

“Yes dad!” Cozy Glow said.

Well, I thought, glad that’s over with.

“I think it’s time to head back,” said Cozy Glow, “don’t you think?”

When we got back, Sunset was smiling at us.

“Nice job you two!” Sunset said. “And you made it back just in time! Now, to get back into your bodies just step over them and lay down.”

I did what I was told and the next time I opened my eyes I was back in my body. Sunset then helped us up.

“Yeah know something Sunset?” I said.

“What?” Sunset said.

“I never want to hear that nursery rhyme ever again!” I said.

Sunset laughed,”That’s all the training for today. You guys should go on and get some sleep.”

“Yes Sunset!” Cozy Glow and I said.


*    *    *


The next day I had sword training with Jack. Sure enough, when I got to the training yard a crowd of women sat on the bleachers.

Great, I thought, I don't need this right now.

“Well,” said Jack, “as always draw your sword. I’m going to teach you something new today.”

“What’s that?” I said.

“Just fight me and I’ll show ya,” Jack said.

So just like last time, Jack did not go easy on me.

“You’ve already gotten better,” said Jack, “you’re lasting a lot longer than last time.”

“Okay?” I said.

Suddenly, just like my battle with Theodore I found that I wasn’t able to move. Jack was then able to get me and aim his sword at my neck.

“You’ve heard of the Terror Paralysis spell haven’t you?” Jack said.

“I’ve come across it before,” I said.

“You should never let the enemy use that spell on you again!” Jack said. “Cause next time, it’ll be your head! Just to make my point clear...”

Jack then dug his sword into my neck, not enough to kill me but enough to make it bleed.

“Yes sir!” I croaked. “I understand!”

“Great!” Jack said. “I’ll keep testing you to make sure you can get past this spell no problem! Got it?”

“Yes sir!” I said.

“That’s enough training for today,” said Jack, “you might want to get that wound checked out.”

Jack put away his sword and walked away. I just stood there too stunned to do anything else.
> 7) Team Norman
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After Jack walked away of course the first person to rush to my aid was Olivia. 

I rolled my eyes, “I seriously don’t need this right now!”

“You’re bleeding badly from your neck!” Olivia said. “That jerk!”

I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

“Jack is my trainer,” I said, “he can do whatever he needs to do to teach me what I need to know. And trust me, I know what a jerk looks like and it’s not him.”

“You really should get that wound checked out," Olivia said.

“Like I don’t know that already!” I said. “Thank you captain obvious!”

“Hey,” said Jasper, “watch what you say to Olivia!”

“Then you take care of your girlfriend!” I said.

“Why you little-“ Jasper said.

Olivia then punched Jasper and he fell to the ground.

“Why’d you hit me?” Jasper said. “He’s the one that said it!”

I groaned, “Would you two shut up!”

Before I wanted to kill the both of them I just turned around and walked away.


*    *    *


In the next couple of months, Olivia, Jasper and I kept getting assigned to missions back to back. Thankfully Discord and Fluttershy watched Cozy Glow for me. This also gave Sunset more time to train her. When we got back from completing our sixth mission John called us into the office. 

I wonder what we did this time? I thought. At least Olivia is getting better at fighting by my side. Jasper however, still likes to run and hide. Not to mention he keeps challenging me to sparring matches and that’s really getting on my nerves!

“Well team Norman,” said John, “you’ve had another successful mission! So far so good and couple of those missions were assassination assignments.”

“Team Norman!” Jasper said. “Why can’t it be called team Jasper?”

“Because, Norman’s the team leader and you’re too arrogant for the job!” John said. “I hear you’re still being a coward when the fighting starts. You might as well be dead weight!”

“I’m not dead weight!” Jasper said.

“Shut it Jasper!” John said. “You really need to learn how to talk to your superior!”

At this point, I could tell John was really getting a headache and I don’t blame him. Jasper gives me a headache on a regular basis.

“Remind me why I don’t have you sacked from the Military already?” John said. “Keep this up and I just might recommend that!”

“But sir-“ Jasper said.

“Shut up Jasper!” John said.

By this time Olivia was trying so hard not to laugh.

“Anyway,” said John, “Norman has his duel with Shadow Mist in a month. Olivia and Jasper I want you to stay out of his way for that one. Norman is team leader and Olivia is second in command if something happens to him. We’re getting off track here, this next mission is a live capture mission. I really need this guy alive! Got it?”

“Yes sir!” said the three of us in unison.

“Now,” said John, “the guy you’re going after is named William, nicknamed Iron Fist.”

Gee, I thought, I wonder how bad his ego is?

“He’s not going to be easy to get too,” said John, “he’ll be surrounded by a group of 30 thugs or more. Take down the thugs and then you can call it checkmate! That’s all I can tell you, so go ahead and move out!”

The three of us nodded Jasper and Olivia walked away but John motioned for me to stay behind.

“That wound on your neck keeps getting reopened,” said John, “are you sure Jack hasn’t been pushing you too hard?”

“I’m fine,” I said, “Jack’s just doing what he needs to do to train me that’s all.”

“You’re not making excuses for him,” said John, “are you?”

“No,” I said, “and I wish people would stay out of it!”

“Okay, okay,” said John, “you may go now.”

“Yes sir…” I said.


*    *    *


When we made it to William’s headquarters, we saw that it was a warehouse. From the looks of it, I thought it was a typical hideout for a high level criminal. There were some thugs standing guard out front. Olivia and I were able to take them down by strangling them until they were too weak to resist being knocked out. As usual, Jasper just stood there watching us.

Okay, I thought, this is getting old. One day I’m going to kill Jasper in one of our sparring matches!

We then got past the guards only to be confronted by a laser system. In true Jasper fashion, he didn’t even help us get through it.

“You know,” I said, “you can jump in anytime to help us out Jasper!”

“Nah,” said Jasper, “I’m good.”

“That’s why I still call you a coward!” I said.

“I’m still going to make you eat that word!” Jasper said.

“Would you two knock it off!” Olivia said. “We’re going to be discovered!”

I turned around to see the thugs already knew we were there.

“Uh Olivia,” I said, “so much for being quiet!”

Olivia rolled her eyes, “Good job Jasper!”

“Me?” Jasper said. “What did I do?”

“Will you two shut up!” I said. “Now I know why John fires his gun in the air every time we don’t get along!”

“So what do we do?” Olivia said.

I sighed, “Remember what John said? We take out the thugs and it will be easy in getting to William, so, what do you think we should do? Jasper! Fight with us this time instead of hiding!”

“Uh Norman,” Jasper said, “we’re actually sitting ducks here! Maybe we should hide this time?”

“Okay,” I said, “just enough hiding to give us cover so we can take out the enemy. Got it?”

“Right!” Jasper and Olivia said.

I doubt Jasper will do any fighting though, I thought, he’s the definition of the word coward!

As soon as we took cover we were under enemy fire. Jasper did just as I thought, nothing but hiding. Olivia and I did our best to take out most of the thugs but there were more of them than we thought. I then had an idea of what might motivate Jasper to fight.

“Jasper!” I said. “Quit being a coward and jump in anytime soon!”

Jasper didn’t even respond and I thought he was dead already.

“Is he dead?” I said.

“Nope,” Olivia said, “he’s over there!”

Great, I thought, coward is going to be Jasper’s nickname for the rest of his life!

I then signaled for Olivia and Jasper to get to higher ground to take out the thugs easier. I managed to climb ten feet and Olivia managed five feet, while Jasper just stayed where he was. 

Maybe I could use Jasper as a shield? I thought.

That was the last thing I thought when I took a bullet to the shoulder. I fell from where I was standing.

As usual, Olivia was the first one to rush to my aid.

“Norman!” Olivia said. “What happened?”

“I have no idea," I said.

“Can you get up?” Olivia said.

I tried to get up but went back to my knees.

Damn it, I thought, I’m hurt and now my teammates could die!

“We have to get you out of here!” Olivia said.

“I’m fine!” I said.

“Bite me on that one Norman!” Olivia said. “Jasper you get your butt over here!”

“I’m here,” said Jasper, “what happened to Norman?”

“I don’t know,” said Olivia, “but somehow, he took a bullet to the shoulder!”

“How’d you figure that one out?” Jasper said.

“Just look at the wound stupid!” Olivia said.

“Okay I see it!” Jasper said.

“Would you two shut up!” I said “If you don’t do something now, we’re going to die!”

“Okay Jasper look,” said Olivia, “we have to get Norman to safety! Jasper, you help Norman up and don’t drop him!”

“Yes,” Jasper’s growled, “I got it!”

“Now,” said Olivia, “there’s a jeep with soldiers waiting for us to finish the job. If we get Norman there, we can get him to a hospital."

I didn’t know how it happened but we made it to the jeep out of enemy territory. Much to my surprise John was there waiting for us.

“What happened?” John said.

“I’m not sure,” said Olivia, “but somehow Norman took a bullet to the shoulder. So to my surprise Jasper actually worked with us this time to get Norman to safety!”

“Well that’s interesting,” said John, “just because of that, I’m not going to call this mission a failure not by a long shot. When Norman recovers you’ll go back out and finish the job. Got it?”

I barely managed the words ‘yes sir’ before I passed out.


*    *    *


When I opened my eyes again, I was in The Land of the Dead. Betty was there to greet me. 

“Am I dead?” I said.

“Nope,” said Betty, “you’ve just been sleeping.”

“How long?” I said.

“Two days,” said Betty, “I heard you took a bullet to the shoulder. But I think you’ll pull through it.”

“So,” I said, “why am I here?”

“I hear that you’ve gotten your death walker abilities,” said Betty, “Sunset Shimmer told me that you have four of the nine abilities, not bad.”

“Okay?” I said. “Your point?”

“I brought you here today to test you," Betty said.

“To test me on what?” I said.

“I want to see if you can hold your own against me," Betty said.

My jaw dropped, “Is this a joke? You’re a Legend for crying out loud!”

Betty laughed, “I still don’t accept that till this day! I’m just a death walker and the queen of hell, that’s all.”

“I guess it does run in the family," I said.

“What?” Betty said.

“Being too stubborn to recognize your achievements," I said.

“So you don’t recognize the five medals you’ve won?” Betty said.

“Nope,” I said, “I’ve hidden them somewhere so I don’t see them.”

“Can I ask you a question?” Betty said.

“What is it?” I said.

“Why did you enlist in the Military?” Betty said.

“I just wanted to get strong enough to protect my family. To make up for not protecting you.” I said.


*    *    *


Betty didn’t say anything in response to my answer, I guess she was too stunned by what she heard. The next time I opened my eyes however, I was back in the Land of the Living. I looked around to see that I was in a hospital room. Robert and Sunset were sitting at my bedside. When I looked over in their direction, they looked very happy to see that I was awake. 

I also saw that Robert and Sunset had these weird looks on their faces.

“What is it?” I said. “I really don’t like the looks you two are giving me.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Robert said.

“Yeah,” said Sunset, “I have no idea…”


*    *    *


On the day I was released from the hospital Discord and Fluttershy were there to greet me.

“How are you doing?” Discord said.

“About as fine as I’ll ever be," I said. “How’s Amethyst doing?”

“She’s doing fine,” said Discord, “Fluttershy’s been helping her with her death walker training. So when are you going back to work?’

“In one week,” I said, “we still have to go after the guy we need to capture.”

“Oh,” said Discord, “Sunset Shimmer and Robert said they have a surprise waiting for you when you get back home.”

“Do you have any idea what it is?” I said.

“I have no idea," Discord said.

I rolled my eyes and thought, I really hope it’s not a party…


*    *    *


“Hi Norman,” said Robert, “welcome home.”

“What are you up too?” I said.

“Oh nothing,” said Robert, “Sunset and I have a surprise for you upstairs.”

“Okay?” I said.

Robert then grabbed my hand, “Come on!”

I have no idea what this is about, I thought, but it’s really creeping me out.

We got upstairs and Robert locked the bedroom door and Sunset was sitting on my bed.

“Uh,” I said, “what’s this about?”

“You didn’t pick up on the hints did you?” Robert said. 

“I have no idea of what you’re talking about!” I said.

At this point Robert and Sunset couldn’t contain their laughter. I then realized what was up but before I could run Robert blocked my way.

“This isn’t funny Robert!” I said.

“We weren’t intending for this to be funny,” said Robert, “let me see how I can explain this…”

“Robert,” said Sunset, “let me do it.”

“Sure thing!” Robert said.

“Well you see,” said Sunset, “we’ve been talking about doing this for weeks now. It turns out that Robert and I both have feelings for you.”

“This is one of your pranks Robert!” I said.

“Nope,” said Sunset, “no prank, why don’t you sit down and relax? I think you’ve earned it.”

“Okay then…” I said.

“You’re not going anywhere,” said Robert, “you always say that when you’re going to run.”

“Actually,” said Sunset,”his busted shoulder might work in our favor.”

“Ouch, hey!” I said.

Robert then threw me onto the bed with me on top of Sunset and Robert on top of me. Let’s just say I ended up in bed with the both of them, talk about making the first move.
> 8) In Memory of George and Betty
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Boy,” said Robert, “you sure slept like a log for the past couple of hours. Can’t say that I blame you.”

Now that I was awake, I really did not want to move. I wanted to pretend that whatever happened last night didn’t happen. But unfortunately, the evidence was stacked against me.

Great, I thought, now I’m going to have to choose between them.

“I have an idea of what you’re thinking,” Robert said, “that you’re going to have to choose between the both of us, we figured you might think something like that.”

“How’d you figure that out?” I said.

“‘Cause,” said Robert, “Sunset and I had the same thing happen to us. We don’t want you to feel that way at all.”

“Okay?” I said.

“Sunset and I both talked about it,” said Robert, “and we’ve agreed that you can have both of us.”

“So what happens now?” I said.

“It’s up to you if you want to make it official or not," Robert said.

It didn’t take me long to think about it. I’m still not sure how I made my decision so quickly even ‘til this day.

“You know what?” I said.

“What?” Robert said.

“Let’s make it official," I said.

“That was quick,” said Robert, “I’ll tell Sunset later.”

Robert then smiled at me, at this time I really wasn’t sure of what was going to happen next.

“I want to ask you something," Robert said.

“What?” I said.

“I know you enlisted after Betty died,” said Robert, “but it was really five years ago when you changed into someone else. Does it have something to do with George dying?”

“Do you know how he died?” I said.

Robert shook his head. “No, all I know is he was fine one week and then gone the next.”

“He committed suicide,” I said matter of factly, “and I was just as powerless to stop him as it was the same way with Betty.”

“It must’ve had a deep effect on you,” said Robert, “you to tell me what happened?”

“Sure,” I said.

As much as I didn’t want to talk about it I told Robert the whole story:

“Five years ago, was when I had met George right after graduating from the joint college high school program. That was right after I had broken up with my girlfriend Elisabeth.”

I continued, “George seemed to be a really happy guy. He was even happier when I said yes to dating him. To me he was my Knight in shining armor. We dated for two years when I made up my mind. I wanted to be with him forever. I bought an engagement ring for him and was going to propose to him the very next day. I wished I had done it the first thing in the morning, but I decided I was going to do it that afternoon. I was running some errands to get set up to propose to him.” 

I took a moment to collect myself and continued, “When I got home that afternoon was when I found him. He was hanging from the balcony of the stairs. I couldn’t believe my eyes at what I was seeing even when his body was taken down and put in a body bag.”

“Ever since then, I kept thinking if I had proposed to him the day before, maybe it would’ve given him something to live for. I tried to move on a year later by dating men and women, but no one could replace George.”


*    *    *


That afternoon Sunset said she didn’t want to train me because it was a holiday. When I remembered what holiday it was, I had a pit in my stomach. It was Hearts and Hooves day, the same day George died. The two holidays I don’t like celebrating are Hearts and Hooves day and Nightmare Night because that’s Betty’s birthday.

At 11 o’clock I went to visit George’s grave as I do every year. This time when I visited however, I noticed Olivia was hovering over me.

So much for being alone! I thought.

“This is someone that was very important to you when they were alive, weren’t they?” asked Olivia.

“Yeah think?” I hissed. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh,” said Olivia, “I wanted to see if you wanted to come to the party today?”

“Party?” I asked, wondering where the conversation was going.

“Yes!” exclaimed Olivia, “it’s one huge celebration for Hearts and Hooves day! There’s going to be live music there too!”

“No thanks,” I said, “I don’t celebrate this holiday!”

“What, is it against your beliefs or something?” nagged Olivia.

I sighed. I was getting very irritated at this point. “No I don’t belong to any religion in Equestria! So, it’s more like, or something!”

“Hey, what’s this guy’s tombstone? It is a guy isn’t it?” Inquired Olivia.

“What do you think?” I scoffed.

“George Monterey?” Olivia asked. “I heard that guy died five years ago. He was a pretty healthy guy too. No one knows why he died. I take it you do?”

“Yes, he was my boyfriend five years ago and I’m not saying another word.” I snapped.

“So you’re gay?” Olivia said.

“Does it matter?” I said, “No, I’m bisexual.”

“I get it,” said Olivia, “so you date women too?”

I did a face palm and rubbed my temple. I really wanted to turn Olivia into a punching bag right now.

“The party’s not going to be that bad!” Olivia argued, “hey, maybe you’ll get a girlfriend out of it.”

“No thanks,” I said, “I have a girlfriend and a boyfriend too.”

Olivia’s jaw dropped, “When did that happen?”

“Yesterday,” I said, “I really don’t feel like talking about it.”

“Well,” said Olivia, “you can bring them to the party also.”

I didn’t have to turn around to see that Discord was right behind me.

“Discord!” I said, “What do you want?”

“Oh come on Norman,” said Discord, “call me dad for a change will you?”

“No,” I said, “for the last time, I’m not calling you dad! You’re not my father!”

“Actually I am your father,” said Discord, “Flutteshy and I adopted you right after Betty died.”

“And you’re telling me this now because?” I said.

“Oh I just figured now was the right time,” said Discord, “especially because you were busy with your friends. You can find the certificate of adoption at the Town Hall. Just like when you adopted Amethyst! Oh yeah, I also wanted to say this yesterday, Happy Gottcha day!”

I growled. “I’m going to have to talk to Fluttershy about this.”

“Sure,” said Discord, “whatever you want Ta-Ta for now!”

Just perfect, I thought, I’ll have to check out some paperwork at Town Hall now.

Olivia was looking at me with a concerned look on her face.

“You going to be okay Norman?” Olivia said.

“Olivia shut up and leave me alone will you?” I snapped, “I have to go check on something and no I’m not coming to the party!”

“Okay then,” said Olivia, “I guess I’ll just see you when we go back out to capture William then.”

I didn’t say another word, I just got up and walked away.


*    *    *


Later that day, I went to the town hall and talked to the secretary about the records on Cozy Glow and I. 

“Ah,” the secretary said, “here you go Norman Jewel and here’s your adoption records for Amethyst Rose.”

“Thank you," I said.

“It’s no problem at all,” the secretary said, “I’ll just be waiting here when you’re ready to put those back in your file.”

“Sure thing..." I said.

The first thing I checked was my records and sure enough, on the top of the paperwork was a certificate of adoption. It listed Discord as my father and Fluttershy as my mother.

No wonder why he’s so persistent about me calling him dad, I thought, I’m still not going to because this is Discord we’re talking about here.

I then looked at the records for when I adopted Cozy Glow. It listed her as Amethyst Rose. Then I saw it having me listed as her father and the mother as “N/A.”

That’s fine because you only need one parent to adopt. It helps keep orphans off the streets as much as possible.

Why didn’t they tell me that I was adopted? I thought.

I brought the records back to the secretary and went home.


*    *    *


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

“I brought you here because I wanted to talk to you about something," Betty said.

“What is it?’ I said.

“I understand you feel you couldn’t protect me right?” Betty said.

“Right?” I said.

“Follow me!” Betty said.

Went from the Castle in Hell and surprisingly there are libraries in Hell. Betty didn’t even have to ask the receptionist for the book she was looking for.

She found the book and handed it to me. It was a history book that I had to read in history class. It was a book about Betty and how she became the Legendary Death Walker.

“You recognize this book,” said Betty, “don’t you?”

“Yes I do,” I said, “it’s a history book that I had to read in history class.”

“Do you recognize who it’s about?” Betty asked.

“Yes,” I said, “it’s about you.”

“Do you think I needed protection back then?” Betty said, “I wasn’t a damsel in distress you know. Sure you weren’t there when I was growing up and you weren’t the only one…”

“Ah…” I said. I had nothing to say to her. I just stared at the history book.

“It’s not just me is it?” Betty said, “there’s someone else right?”

“It was a boyfriend I had five years ago named George Monterey," I said, “He did the same thing you did!”

“I thought you weren’t gay!” Betty said.

“I’m bisexual,” I said, “there’s a difference. What realm was he placed in?”

“He was sent to Hell…” Betty said.

“Can I see him?” I said.

Betty sighed, ”Unfortunately no, unless you’re royalty, it is forbidden for a citizen to leave their realms. And trust me, the royal family is huge in Hell.”

“I already fought a demon named Theodore,” I said, “I take it he’s royalty?”

“Yup,” said Betty, “he’s a prince unfortunately. A very arrogant jerk! I wish I could sink him into the abyss too, just like I did Lucifer!”

“Well,” I said, “I sent him back to Hell for you.”

“Well thanks for that,” said Betty, “but there is a possibility that he could leave again. I wish I could just throw him in a dungeon and strip him of his title!”

I laughed, ”He might be as bad as Jasper!”

“Who’s Jasper?” Betty asked.

“That idiot is the definition of the word coward!” I said, “I think that’ll be his nickname for the rest of his life! My superior John is about ready to have him sacked from the military! He won’t even be able to work on a police force if that happens!”

At that comment Betty and I couldn’t contain our laughter. 

“So do you feel a little bit better about me dying?” Betty asked.

“I’ll work on moving on from that,” I said, “but it’s going to take a while.”

“That’s fine,” said Betty, “take as much time as you need. I’m not going to push you like people pushed me.”

“That’s fine,” I said, “but if you ask me, George is the very definition of the word jerk! I wonder if I had proposed to him a day earlier would he still be alive?”

“Well,” said Betty, “we can’t turn back the hands of time. Who knows what was going through his head? He probably had his reasons for not talking to you about it. You can’t feel guilty about that ‘cause he took his own life and you didn’t.”

“I don’t feel bad about him dying,” I said, “I just think he’s a big jerk for leaving me behind!”

“I understand,” said Betty, “it’s time for you to go now, it’s almost daylight in the Land of the Living.”


*    *    *


The next day, I finally got a chance to train with Sunset. I guess today’s lesson was about how to draw out my Death Walker abilities without using my sword. Sunset stood off to the side and took out of her pocket what looked like a pocket watch. 

“This is a diff kind of watch,” said Sunset, “it’s a standard protocol watch that’s used to train death walker’s. This will help you draw out your death walker abilities. When you feel an attack that needs to be released go ahead and let it out. ‘Cause if you don’t it’ll do more harm than good. Got it?”

“Got it!” I replied.

Sunset then swung the watch back and forth. It was as if on cue it felt like I had a really bad case of heartburn and top of that it felt like I had swallowed a rock. There was no way I could’ve held that in. I let it out of my mouth and what came out looked like a small grenade. It hit the tree in front of me and cut the tree down. Sunset took cover by a nearby rock. After that I threw up right where I was standing.

“Well that was interesting,” said Sunset, “You know Amethyst can make arrows from her mouth so she doesn’t have to reload. From the looks of it there’s now way you could’ve held that attack in!”

“Yeah think?” I said.

I felt like I was going to be sick. Just like the first time I saw John take that dead body apart.

“Okay,” said Sunset, “that’s enough training for today. You okay?”

“Nope,” I said, “not okay at all…”


*    *    *


The next morning I woke up with Sunset on top of me.

“Yup,” said Sunset, “I knew you were going to wake up soon.”

I looked over to see that the bedroom door was open.

“Seriously dude,” I said, “could you at least close the door first?”

“Let me think,” said Sunset, “nah I’m good.”

“How’d you know I was going to wake up?” I said.

Sunset shrugged, “I just knew…”
> 9) Finishing the Job
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You go back out to capture William in a couple of days, right?” Sunset asked.

“Yeah…” I said.

“I was thinking,” said Sunset, “why don’t you, Robert and I take a picture together?”

“Why?” I asked.

“I just think,” said Sunset, “that it would be a good idea to remind you of who to come home to.”

Honestly, I don’t like taking pictures at all, I never have. However, they’re pictures of my sister and I along with Fluttershy, Discord, Cozy Glow and me all throughout the house. But I had to admit, this time it was a good idea.

“Sure,” I said, “let’s do it.”

“Oh and Norman?” Sunset asked. 

Sunset paused and I tilted my head, “What?” 

“Try not to look so annoyed in it,” said Sunset, “like you do in the other pictures okay?”

I laughed and smiled, “Sure thing…”

To my surprise we were able to take the picture that very day. Unfortunately, Sunset wanted me to wear a suit and tie. That was the last thing I wanted to wear. This time for the picture, was the first time I didn’t feel annoyed not one little bit. I actually smiled this time.

“Hum,”  gushed Sunset, “you actually smiled this time! These pictures look absolutely beautiful!”

“Great,” I said, “can I get out of this suit and tie now?”

Sunset couldn’t help but laugh.

“What’s so funny?” I said.

“You just don’t like looking handsome do you?” Sunset joked.


*    *    *


“You’re getting better,” said Sunset, “you don’t even need the watch now. You can summon your powers at will now, nice.”

It was the last training session with Sunset before I went back out to capture William. The one attack that I really hated was the fire and earth attack. Which now I call it the Grenade attack. This attack combined fire and earth and out of mouth would come something that looked like a grenade. 

“Seems you have a certain set of attacks too!” Sunset exclaimed.

“The one that I really hate the most,” I confessed, “is the fire and earth attack. That one makes me sick.”

“You’ll get used to it,” suggested Sunset, “one more thing Norman, just use your death walker abilities this time okay?” 

“I’ll do my best!” I responded.

After our time off, Olivia, Jasper and I set out to capture William. 

I’m definitely going to use my death walker abilities this time, I thought, I wonder if Jasper is going to do any of the fighting this time, I doubt it.

Just like the first time when we arrived at enemy territory, Olivia and I took out the guard’s out front. To my surprise Jasper actually helped this time.

Well, I thought, that’s an improvement, but I won’t accept anything else from him.

We came across the laser security system and Jasper actually helped us get through it this time! My jaw almost dropped at the sight!

“Are you Jasper?” I said. “Or do you have a twin brother?”

“It’s me you idiot!” Jasper growled. “I’m not going to be dead weight this time!”

We then got to the point where I took a bullet to the shoulder and I rolled my eyes at it. 

I hope Jasper doesn’t hide this time, I thought, although I wouldn’t put it past him.

I then climbed ten feet up just like before, and Olivia climbed five and Jasper stayed right where he was. Like last time, we came under enemy fire. But this time I was determined to use my death walker abilities to my advantage. I used my darkness powers to put up a smoke screen around Olivia, Jasper and I. I made the smoke screen clear enough just for the three of us to see the thugs. 

“What the-“ Jasper said.

“Norman,” said Olivia, “what did you do?”

“It’s a smoke screen,” I explained, “it’s a death walker ability. Feel free to start taking down the thugs now!”

“We’re on it!” Jasper and Olivia exclaimed.

Did I just hear that correctly? I thought. Jasper is actually going to fight this time? Let’s hope so!

Jasper actually surprised me again. He took out his bow and arrow so quick I couldn’t even blink. He started rapid firing his arrows and took out at least ten of the thugs by my count. Olivia of course, took out her weapon which was a sword that was like mine but shorter and smaller. She ran through the crowd of thugs slicing as many as them in the chest that she could.

“Norman,” questioned Olivia, “how long can you keep this up?”

“Not much longer,” I said, “you guys have about 30 seconds left!”

After the last 30 seconds, my smoke screen disappeared. I felt another one of my attacks about to come through my mouth and it was the fire and earth attack.

Great, I thought, not that attack! Anything but that attack!

A second later I had to let that attack out. Just like when I practiced with Sunset, what came out of my mouth looked like a grenade. Just like before, I almost threw up where I was. But I kept it down and kept going.

“Wow, looks like Norman can use his mouth for a weapon!” Jasper joked.

“Shut it!” Olivia snapped.

By this time, I really wanted to throw up but I didn’t. I looked around me to see that all of the thugs were dead.

“Well,” I thought, “that’s teamwork I guess…”

Suddenly, my sword came out of its sheath on its own and somehow I was able to sense that someone with a lot of magic was on the roof. 

“What’s going on?” Jasper said, confused.

“Judging by the way my sword is acting,” I said, “William is on the roof.”

“Okay,” said Olivia, “so we get to him and the assignments over!”

“I don’t think it’s going to be that easy,” I argued, “but no time like the present!”

As soon as we entered the building, we got the stairs as quickly as possible. The strange thing was there wasn’t a single person on site. It reminded me of the time I fought Theodore.

Great, I thought, I hope I don’t hear any nursery rhymes again!

“Okay,” exclaimed Jasper, “this is way too easy.”

“You’re telling me,” I agreed, “I’ve got a really bad feeling about this!”

“You and me both!” Jasper said.

“Huh,” objected Olivia, “you two are actually having a conversation?”

“And you’re worried about this right now because?” I snickered.

“Nothing,” said Olivia, “just surprised that’s all.”

“Okay never mind that, let’s keep going, we’ve got a couple more flights of stairs to go,” I said.

We didn’t run into any more enemy fire. When we finally made it to the rooftop was when I saw him. Sitting on a chair as if he were a king was William.

“Bravo guys!” William cheered. “So you finally got to the king! Do you really think it’s going to be that easy to take me down?”

“Actually no,” I growled, “I took a bullet to the shoulder the last time I was here.”

“Oh I know who you are,” sneered William, “you’re that new death walker Norman Jewel! Related to the Legendary Death Walker Betty!”

I rolled my eyes, “I’m supposed to react to that how?”

“Honestly,” said William, “you’ll have to get through them, to get to me!”

This is not going to end well! I thought.

William snapped his fingers and two of the biggest people that I had ever seen came from behind where William was sitting. These two people were bigger than me and Jasper combined!

Oh boy, I thought, this just keeps getting better and better!

“So what do we do?” Olivia asked.

“I have an idea,” I suggested, “if we can separate them we can take them on together!”

“I think,” smirked William, “I’d like to see how things turn out.”

The thugs smiled and made their way towards us.

“Uh... Norman,” said Jasper, “you might want to put that idea into action right about now!”

I then turned my hand into a fist and punched the ground with it. The punch wasn’t enough to demolish the building, but just enough to crack it so that I could put my next attack into play. Thankfully it wasn’t the fire and earth attack that came out, it was just fire this time. I released the fire as if I were a dragon. I used that attack to make a wall of fire that shot up and separated the two thugs.

Jasper whistled at it, “Nice job Norman!”

“Yeah,” Olivia said, uncomfortable with what was happening, “this must be an alternate universe or I’m dreaming!”

“Olivia,” I snapped, “we don’t have time for this right now!”

“So how long does that attack last?” Jasper said.

“Two hours,” I explained, “that all the time we can get. Although I think we can take down the thugs in one hour if you ask me!”

“That’s a little too over confident,” said Jasper, “but okay, whatever you say.”

“Okay,” said Olivia, “you guys are acting way too weird! That is so creepy!”

“Olivia shut up,” I snapped, “and let’s complete the job!”

“Norman reprimanding you,” laughed Jasper, “that’s new!”

So we were able to take down the first thug with our hand to hand combat skills no problem. That was another big surprise to me because Jasper actually did one third of the fighting that matched Olivia and I. Olivia then managed to take her sword and drove it through the thug's chest. He fell over backwards in pain.

We went after the next thug and he came at us like a rampaging bull. I didn’t have much time to react when the thug punched Jasper in the chest sending him flying over the railing. Thankfully, Jasper was able to catch himself before he fell.

“Olivia,” I shouted, “hold him off as much as possible, while I go get Jasper!”

“Got it!” Olivia said.

I saw that Jasper’s hand was slipping off the railing and he was getting ready to fall.

“No!” I cried. ”Not again!”

I made it over to the railing just in time to grab Jasper’s arm to keep him from falling any further. Jasper looked up to see me with my eyes full of tears.

“Why?” Jasper asked, “Why not just let me fall? Then you’d be done with me forever!”

“No,” I cried, “you’re not going to fall! I’m not going to let one more person die on me. When I could’ve done something to help! It wouldn’t honor Betty’s memory and it wouldn’t honor George’s memory either!”

I realized that the arm I had grabbed Jasper with was the same arm that I had taken a bullet to the shoulder on. I just gritted my teeth and ignored the pain. I was determined not to let Jasper fall. I suddenly found it in myself able to have enough strength to pull Jasper to safety. Jasper was back on the rooftop and was stunned by what just happened.

Great, I thought, I hope saving Jasper doesn’t put me out of commission again!

It was as if on cue, there was a steering pain in my shoulder. As I grabbed my shoulder, my arm twitched in pain. Olivia somehow was able to take down the other thug all by herself. I still have no idea of how that happened.

“You okay Norman?” Jasper said with concern.

“I’m fine,” I lied, “we have to capture William and then we can talk about this later.”

“Sure…” Jasper said.

“Okay,” said Olivia, ”you two a being really creepy right now.” 

“Bravo!” William said, clapping and rolling his eyes. “I guess I have to do some fighting now. Oh well, that’ll ruin my day!”

“Well you day is going to get a lot worse,” I growled, “because you’re going to be sitting in an Equestrian dungeon when we’re through with you!”

“Oh boy death walker,” said William, “overconfident much? Especially with your busted shoulder, you look like you’re in a lot of pain. Maybe I should capitalize on that! If any case, let’s get this over with!”

“Norman,” pleaded Olivia, “you stay back as much as possible. Jasper and I will take him on as much as we can okay?”

“No,” I protested, “I’m not going to stand aside, I’m going to fight with you!”

“You know,” William said with a grin, “I might not be named as a death walker. But I might as well be on without the title.”

“Oh yeah?” I growled.

“Yeah,” sneered William, “you want to see what my powers are? I think I’ll just show you.”

Before I could attack William he pointed his finger and what looked like a rope made of fire and light came towards me. The rope wrapped around me, holding me tightly in place.

“I’d like to see,” said William, “the other two take me on without their leader.”

William then used his rope to send me flying into a wall. I have no idea of what happened next because I was in so much pain. The pain in my arm was so intense that I passed out.


*    *    *


When I came to, I was in the back of the Jeep out of enemy territory. I looked over to see William in handcuffs and was tied up in an iron chain. William did not look happy at all. I heard someone let out a sigh of relief, to my surprise it was Jasper.

“Dude,” said Jasper, “you would have broken your arm saving me! Are you nuts?”

“No,” I grumbled, “I was just saving a friend. I guess I can’t call you coward anymore!”

Jasper didn’t say anything else, he just smiled and looked away.


*    *    *


The next time I opened my eyes, I was in a hospital room. I was very surprised to see Jasper sitting at my bedside. Robert and Sunset were here as well. 

“I’m glad you didn’t break your arm idiot!” Jasper growled.

“Gee,” I said, “thank you?”

“You must’ve been in a lot of pain,” said John with concern, “they just sedated you so you could sleep for a bit.”

“Where did you come from?” I said.

“And look,” exclaimed Robert, “you’ve already gotten a bouquet of flowers! Awe, how cute!”

“That’s not funny Robert!” I said.

“It’s not from me,” argued Robert, “I’m not that kind of guy!”

“Yeah but,” I said, “you would do that for a prank!”

“Nope,” said Robert, “I don’t do that anymore.” 

“Ah Sunset?” I said.

“Don’t look at me either!” Sunset objected. “I would’ve told you if I bought something for you.”

John was getting a real kick about what was happening, he couldn’t keep a straight face even if he wanted to!

“Does it say who it’s from?” I asked.

“It just says secret admirer on it!” John laughed.

John didn’t say anything else, he just walked away laughing.

Great, I thought, just perfect…
> 10) My Sixth Medal
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You wanted to see me sir?” I said.

“Yes,” began John, “I wanted to commend you on a job well done on capturing William. I also hear that Jasper did some of the fighting this time?”

“Yeah,” I said, “that was a total surprise to me.”

“Huh,” mused John, “let’s hope he keeps that up. Although I doubt he will, but yeah. Have you found out who your secret admirer is yet?”

“Nope,” I said, “and I don’t think I want to know. I just got a love letter the other day with a rose attached to it.”

John doubled over in laughter. After a little bit he stopped and regained his composure. 

“Well,” joked John, “you sure didn’t chase off the ladies by dating Robert and Sunset at the same time. Not bad rookie, not bad at all.”

“I have a feeling,” I said, “that’s not what you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Yeah right,” said John, ”the first thing is that Princess Twilight is giving you another medal at the ceremony tomorrow.”

“What?” I said. “What for?”

“For saving a comrade in battle.” John said.

“I heard that there was going to be a ceremony tomorrow,” I gasped, “but I had no idea that it had something to do with me. How come nobody told me about this?”

“Everyone knows when there’s going to be a ceremony,” explained John, “but the rest of the information is classified. And another thing, I’m going to recommend you for the job of General. Which I’m sure you’ll get no problem at all.”

“You can’t be serious?” I said.

“I’m totally serious,” said John, “the fact of the matter is, you’re too overqualified for this job alone. And you’re too over qualified for Lieutenant.”

“To be honest sir,” I argued, “I was just saving a friend, I don’t think I need to move up the ranks because of that. I couldn’t live with myself if Jasper had died.”

“Truth be told,” insisted John, “you’re a war hero, the best in the business. You protect your troops no matter what the cost. You can also come up with a strategy in the heat of battle. You make it so that everyone can come back alive even if it means sacrificing your own. That to me is a perfect personality for a General.”

Great, I thought, life just keeps getting better and better!

“Can I ask you something?” John said.

“What is it?” I said.

“Why exactly did you enlist in the first place?” John questioned.

“To be able to protect the family,” I confessed, “that I have left.”

“Oh I see,” John said, “well that’s all I have to talk to you about. You’re dismissed!”

“Yes sir…” I said.

After leaving the office, I ran into Olivia and Jasper.

“So, what did John want to see you in his office for?” Olivia asked.

I sighed, “Apparently, I’m getting another medal for saving Jasper at the ceremony tomorrow.”

“What’s so bad about that?” Jasper said. “You did save me after all.”

I shrugged, “I was just acting on instinct that’s all. If I had let you die it wouldn’t have honored Betty’s memory and it wouldn’t have honored George’s memory either.”

“You know something,” said Jasper rolling his eyes, “the sooner you recognize your achievements the better off you’ll be.”


*    *    *


Little did I know during one of my sparring matches Olivia was talking to Robert about Jasper and me.

“What’s up with Norman and Jasper?” Olivia questioned.

“What about them?” Robert said.

“Those two have been acting really strange around each other ever since we got back from capturing William!” Olivia exclaimed. “They’ve been acting civilized towards each other.”

“What’s so bad about that?” Robert asked. “They might actually be friends for a change.”

“I also noticed,” complained Olivia, “that Jasper’s been making sure not to train when Norman’s there.”

“Maybe he’s giving him some space because of his duel with Shadow Mist coming up?” Robert said. “If any case, I wouldn’t be too concerned if I were you.”

“Yeah sure,” said Olivia, “nothing to worry about. Not creepy at all.”

“Another thing,” said Robert, “I know you have feelings for my boyfriend, are you the one sending him the love letters?”

“Nah,” said Olivia, “I’m not that kind of gal. I usually just ask the guy right out.”

Robert laughed, “Are you going to ask him anytime soon?”

“I’m not so sure about that one just yet.” Olivia said.

“Why not?” Robert said.

“Well,” said Olivia, “it’s because he’s with you and Sunset.”

“If you ask him,” said Robert, “he might let you join us.”

“You mean like forming a herd?” Olivia asked. “Isn’t that against the law?”

“Nope,” said Robert, “I’ve studied the Equestrian law, and it’s perfectly okay. If ponies can form a herd then so can humans.”

“Okay then,” said Olivia, unsure of what to think, “sure…”

“You know something Olivia?” Robert said.

“What?” Olivia said.

Robert smiled, “Norman always says that when he’s getting ready to run.”


*    *    *


The next day was the ceremony and I was not looking forward to it. This meant that I had to wear that goofy looking throne uniform. When I got to the ceremony, I was ushered to take a seat right on stage. I looked over to see five other Knight’s of the Royal Court sitting beside me. I let out a sigh of relief.

Oh good, I thought, at least it’s not just me this time.

The only reason I think this is because the last five medals that I won, I was the only one sitting on stage. 

As the ceremony started the other Knights and I stood straight up giving a proper salute. Then other high ranking soldiers came marching down the aisle in perfect sync. They then split up into their respective ranks. 

Next Princess Twilight walked in with her wings spread and her head held high. Just as Shadow Mist said, she looked like a goddess this time. She then made her way to the stage showing her authority as the ruler of Equestria. As soon as the princess was on the stage the crowd clapped and cheered. She then put up a hoof to silence them.

“As you know,” said Princess Twilight, “I am the ruler of Equestria. I have been for the past 30 years. I am very proud of all of my Knights of the Royal Court on this stage. Some of you have won two medals and some of you three. But there is one Knight here that has won five medals! All of them for bravery in the heat of battle. He even got all of his troops back home safely alive and not in a casket. However, all six of you Knights here deserve this medal that is being given to you today. I will now call you by your first name based on the letter of your last name. The first one is Felix.”

The crowd clapped as he stepped forward.

“Henry…” Princess Twilight said.

Once again the crowd clapped.

“Wyatt…” Princess Twilight said.

At this point I was trying to stay calm, but really I wanted to run away as fast as thpossible. 

“Arayan…” Princess Twilight said,

My name was getting closer and closer to being called.

“Leo…” Princess Twilight said.

Oh great, I thought, I’m doomed…

“Finn…” Princess Twilight said.

I don't want to move! I thought.

“And most important,” said Princess Twilight, “this is the knight that has five medals for bravery. He’s the most successful of the knights yet! His name is Norman.” 

I held my breath as I stepped forward, I was hoping to pass out before I got to Princess Twilight. Wishful thinking because I suddenly found myself standing before the Princess receiving the medal. I then took my place next to the other knights and they looked really excited to be sitting next to me.

Princess Twilight then cleared her throat, “This is the end of the ceremony, I would like each of you knights to get your picture taken so it can get added to the hall of knights. I am very proud of all of you!”

The crowd clapped and cheered again as Princess Twilight in the same fashion she had come in. After the ceremony, the other knights and I proceeded to get our pictures taken. I tried my best not to look annoyed by it if I did, too bad. After that happened, Robert and Sunset came to congratulate me.

“You can breathe Norman!” Robert said.

I didn’t even realize that I was holding my breath. Sunset and Robert both doubled over in laughter.

“That’s funny you two!” I exclaimed.

Sunset couldn’t stop laughing, “You look so embarrassed to have that medal in the first place!”

“Being honored for your achievements is not that bad!” Robert said, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah,” I growled, “Princess Twilight made it a point to say that I won five medals!”

“And that’s bad because?” Robert said.

“You know,” mused John, “your boyfriend is right about that one! So are you guys going to celebrate Norman’s medal today?”

“I think we should.” Sunset said.

“I couldn’t agree more!” Robert said

“And I back up your friends on that one!” John said.

“And have the news cameras follow me around all day,” I said, “no thank you!”

“Sorry Norman,” said Sunset, “majority rules, we’re going to celebrate with you whether you like it or not!”


*    *    *


As expected, the news cameras followed Sunset, Robert and I around all day. They wouldn’t quit asking me questions either.

“Norman, I hear you’re dating two people at the same time, are you forming a herd?”

“Are you following in your sister Betty’s footsteps as a death walker?”

Robert and Sunset did their best to shield me from the cameras.

“I heard you recently took a bullet to the shoulder, can you tell us about that?”

I also did my best not to look at the cameras, I just kept saying ‘no comment’ to all of the questions. Much to my surprise when I got home, there were news cameras outside my house.

Gee, I thought, stalker much?

“Hi dad,” said Cozy Glow, “I saw the ceremony on TV! Grandpa Discord and Grandma Fluttershy wouldn’t let me go. Probably because all of the cameras follow you around. My dad’s a hero! That’s so cool!”

“Speaking of Fluttershy and Discord,” I questioned, “where are they? I need to talk to them about something.”

“They’re in the kitchen,” responded Cozy Glow, “they closed the blinds to shield from the cameras.”

“Thanks…” I said.

I went into the kitchen and sat down. 

“Oh Norman,” said Fluttershy, “glad you’re back, you just look so handsome. I’m so proud of you!”

“I have a question for you,” I said.

“Sure,” said Fluttershy, “what is it?”

“Why didn’t you tell me that I was adopted?” I said.

“What?” Fluttershy exclaimed. “Who told you?”

“Discord decided to drop a bombshell shell on me on Hearts and Hooves day.” I said.

“Well,” said Fluttershy, “Discord and I both agreed we weren’t going to tell you.”

“Why not?” I demanded.

“Well, it’s just that you had a lot going on at the time.” Fluttershy said.

“Okay?” I said.

“Like I said,” said Fluttershy, “you had a lot going on. Betty just died, you just adopted Amethyst and on top of that you just enlisted into the military. I’ll have to have a word with Discord about this. Don’t worry, I’ll handle him. He is my husband after all.”

“Thanks Fluttershy…” I said.

“It’s no problem at all.” Fluttershy said.


*    *    *


“Okay,” said Robert, “I’m done.”

Robert then rolled off me and I held him in my arms.

“Did you figure out who’s been sending you the love letters yet?” Robert asked.

“Nope,” I said, “not a clue and honestly I don’t want to know.”

“I guess you didn’t break any hearts by dating Sunset and me!” Robert said.

“Can I ask you something,” I said, “when did you realize that you had feelings for me?”

“About a year ago,” said Robert, “I just didn’t know how to tell you. I was trying to drop you some hints by picking on you. That definitely backfired.”

“No kidding…” I said.

“It wasn’t until Sunset approached me about you,” admitted Robert, “that I figured it was the right time to tell you.”

“I don’t know if I would’ve done it that way,” I said, “but I guess that works.”

“So,” said Robert, “when’s your duel with Shadow Mist happening?”

“In a couple of days,” I said, “I wish I could kill the guy, but it’s against the rules. And I don’t like the fact that he used Princess Twilight as a bargaining chip without her say so.” 

“I don’t blame you on that one,” Robert agreed. “I’d want to kill the guy too.”

“I also have some last minute training with Jack,” I said.

“About that,” nagged Robert, “that wound on your neck seems to be healing up, but you have a bad one on your hand now! You sure Jack isn’t pushing you too hard?”

“No,” I protested, “Jack is training me the only way Jack knows how to.”


*    *    *


The next day I trained with Jack and since I mastered the Terror Paralysis spell he was teaching me something new. It was a move on how to block a sword with your hand and snap it in two if need be.

“So you’ve gotten past the Terror Paralysis spell,” said Jack, “let’s see if you can get this move down too. I’m sure it will come in handy with your duel with Shadow Mist tomorrow.”

“Yes sir.” I said.

As the fight began Jack put out his original moves. But this time he added another guy for me to fight. Then the attack came that Jack was teaching me. I blocked Jack's sword with my fist and the other guy's sword I caught with the palm of my hand. To my own surprise, I took both swords and threw them ten feet away. I looked over to see Jack smiling at me with a twinkle in his eye. 

I really don’t like that look he’s giving me! I thought.

“Good job rookie!” Jack bragged. “You went to master that move very quickly this time! That was much faster than the last one. I’m actually proud to train you as a student!”

“Okay then,” I shuddered, “is training over for today?”

“Yes,” said Jack, “you’re dismissed!”

After I left training I ran into Robert and Jasper.

“So that’s what he’s been teaching you!” Jasper growled. “No wonder why you come out looking like a punching bag when you’re done training with him! I have half a mind to challenge him to a sparring match!”

I rolled my eyes, “It’s fine Jasper! Besides I doubt you could beat him. He’s stronger than your strongest opponent.”

“You know something Norman?” Robert said.

“What?” I said.

“You worry about protecting everyone,” said Robert, “but don’t you think it’s time someone protected you?”

At that question I paused. I had no answer for him.
> 11) The Duel With Shadow Mist
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey Norman,” Fluttershy smiled, “this just came for you!”

Much to my horror, it was another love letter with a rose attached to it. I did a face palm and groaned.

“Another one?” I moaned. “That’s the second one in two weeks!”

“I think the person that’s writing those letters is shy that’s all,” said Fluttershy, “I used to be that way until Discord came along!”

“Yeah,” I said, “I hope this person isn’t stalking me too! I seriously don’t want to know who it is!”

Fluttershy couldn’t contain her laughter, she was laughing so hard she was on her back laughing.

“That’s not funny Fluttershy!” I said.

“No,” laughed Fluttershy, “it’s not the love letter that’s funny. It’s the way you’re reacting to it that is!”

“Seriously?” I said.

“You just have to face it Norman,” Fluttershy teased, “people just can’t help but fall for you. And trust me, I don’t blame them. Maybe you should do some investigation to figure out who it is?”

“No thank you,” I said, “it could be Princess Twilight for all I know! And that’s not going to happen!”

Fluttershy didn’t say anything else, she couldn’t keep a straight face even if she wanted too. She just walked away laughing.



*    *    *


The following day was my duel with Shadow Mist. I was definitely determined to beat this guy and send him home with his tail between his legs. Especially since he used Princess Twilight as a bargaining chip without her saying so. Before I could enter the arena to face Shadow Mist, Jack pulled me to the side.

“I’ve taught you everything I could think of before this duel,” said Jack, “use everything that I taught you in your arsenal of attacks.”

“Yes sir.” I said.

“Oh and one more thing Norman?” Jack said.

“Yes sir?” I said.

“Defeat this guy for me,” said Jack, “show him what a Knight of the Royal Court is!”

“Yes sir!” I said.

Jack then gave me a salute and I walked towards the arena.


*    *    *


When I got to the arena, I saw there was a huge crowd of people sitting above the fighting area. I didn’t notice before but Shadow Mist was actually a unicorn. That’s probably because he wore a hat covering his horn last time I saw him. He also came in with two swords floating in his magic.

No wonder why Jack was training me with another guy, I thought, he must’ve known this about Shadow Mist.

Shining Armor then into the middle of the arena with a microphone floating in his magic.

“Okay ladies and gentlemen,” said Shining Armor, “this the duel everyone has been waiting for! The rules are this, I want a fair fight, no death walker abilities and no magic. You can only use hooves and hands if need be although I can only think only a couple of moves that need that.

Anyway, in the first corner, we have Norman Jewel. Related to Betty Jewel the Legendary Death Walker! He’s also the most talented Knight of the Royal Court! He has also won six medals for bravery in battle!

And in the next corner, we have a unicorn prince named Shadow Mist. He comes from the overseas kingdom of Mave!

As I said before, a fair fight, no magic and no death walker abilities. Okay then, let the fight begin!”

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you Norman,” said Shadow Mist, “I didn’t know you were a decorated knight or I would’ve challenged you to a duel just for that alone.”

I groaned, “Let’s just get this over with!”

“You say that like you’re going to beat me no problem!” Shadow Mist boasted. “Don’t worry, I won’t go down easily!”

The first move was Shadow Mist’s move, he aimed his sword at my chest and I jumped over it easily. His next move was to make his swords into an x and they boomeranged off to my side. I caught it in the middle of the swords with my sword. We both held our attacks for a moment.

“I’m not going to lose to you,” I roared, “especially when it means protecting the princess!”

“Awe, does the Knight have a crush on Princess Twilight?” Shadow Mist taunted. “That’s so cute!”

“No I don’t,” I said, “I’m just doing my job and that’s it!”

The next move was mine, I aimed my sword at Shadow Mist’s horn and he blocked it with one of his swords.

“Would you stop playing games here!” Shadow Mist sneered. “If you want to beat me, you’re going to have to do much better than that!”

Fine, I thought, have it your way!

Up in the crowd I had no idea that Olivia and Jasper were cheering me on as much as Sunset and Robert were.

“Wow,” cheered Jasper, “look at him go! He must be the best student Jacks ever trained!”

“No kidding,” said Olivia, “they’re going so fast, I can barely keep up with them!”

“Well,” said Jasper, “this is Norman we’re talking about here! What more can you expect?”

“Dude,” gasped Olivia, “you’re actually cheering for him? That’s new!”

“Ha, ha Olivia,” said Jasper, “that was so funny I forgot to laugh.”

“I think my boyfriend’s going to win this one no problem,” exclaimed Robert, “don’t you think?”

“I couldn’t agree more!” Sunset said.

It’s a good thing I couldn’t hear that conversation because I needed all the concentration I could get. Shadow Mist’s attacks were coming at an alarming speed. An attack with one of his swords whizzed past my shoulder. I just titled my head to the other side to dodge it. Then came the attack that Jack had been teaching me to deal with all this time. Shadow Mist then aimed one of his swords at my left side and I blocked it with my fist. He aimed his other sword at my right side and I blocked it with the palm of my hand.

I stayed that way for a moment. I managed to take the sword with my fist and throw it about a yard away from Shadow Mist. I then took the sword that I had caught in the palm of my hand and snapped it in two.

Shadow Mist was caught off guard by this move, so I took the opportunity to get behind him and aim my sword at his neck. Shadow Mist stayed right where he was not wanting to move an inch. 

“I do believe,” I hissed, “that this is a checkmate! Like I said, if you bring harm to the princess, I won’t hesitate to deal with you! And you using the princess as a bargaining chip without her saying so is a cowardly move! And that’s enough of a threat to deal with you! Do you understand me?”

Shadow Mist didn’t say anything, he just nodded slowly.

“I do believe I’ve won this one,” I said, “what did you say, winner takes all?”

“Okay then,” said Shining Armor, “fights over! Put away your weapons now!”

I did as I was told and put my sword back into its sheath.

“The winner of this fight,” said Shining Armor, “is Norman Jewel!”

I just about rolled my eyes at what happened next. The crowd of spectators started cheering and chanting my name. Shining Armor then went up to Shadow Mist glaring at him as hard as he could.

“I know what you’ve been trying to do with my sister Shadow Mist,” scolded Shining Armor, “if you ask me you’re no prince at all! You’re just some royal pedigree with a birthright! I wish that all princes and princesses should be named instead of being born into it! Come to think of it, I love to name Norman as a prince!”

My eyes went wide in terror.

I do not want to be a prince! I thought. No thank you!

“But judging by that terrified look on his face,” said Shining Armor, “he doesn’t even want the title! Which means he’s more humble than you! Since he doesn’t want to be a prince, I can do the next best thing. Starting tomorrow Norman, you are a General for the Royal Court!”

I wanted to say something, but I just kept my mouth shut.

“So Norman you’re a General for the Royal Court and that starts tomorrow!” Shining Armor said. “And you Shadow Mist, you take the next train out of Equestria and don’t come back! And don’t even come to the Crystal Empire too! You’re banned from both countries! Now get out of my sight!”

Shadow Mist then ran out of the arena with his tail between his legs.

“Did I just hear you correctly?” I said. “You want me to be a General for the Royal Court now?”

“Yes,” said Shining Armor, “you heard me correctly, starting tomorrow, you are a General for the Royal Court. I hear that John recommended you for the job a few weeks ago. I just wish I had gotten to it sooner. I’ll personally be giving you another medal too. Don’t worry, there won’t be a ceremony, you just have to stop by the Crystal Empire for it. You’ll also be fitted for your new uniform too.”

“But, what about my teammates?” I asked.

“Oh yeah,” said Shining Armor, “that you can assign them to another team, or give them other job titles. Do with them what you see fit.”

“Yes,” I said, “your highness…”

“Oh and Norman,” said Shining Armor, “thank you, for protecting my sister.”

“Yes your highness.” I said.

“You may go now,” said Shining Armor, “and celebrate your victory for once okay?”

“Yes,” I said, “your highness,...”

Shining Armor then turned around and walked away. I couldn’t believe what just happened.


*    *    *


“Good job dad!” Cozy Glow said. “You won! I knew you could do it!”

“That’s my Norman for yeah!” Discord said.

“Well at least you’re not calling me Normie anymore!” I growled.

“Yeah,” joked Discord, “you’re a big boy now! So you don’t need the pet name anymore!”

That’s Discord for you! I thought.

I felt someone clap me on the back, it was Jasper.

“Okay,” shuddered Olivia, “that’s not creepy at all! Nope, not creepy!”

“I knew you could do it!” Jasper cheered. “You sent that Shadow Mist packing! I think it was funny the way he ran out of the arena!”

I didn’t say a word because I was still too stunned by what just happened.

“Are you okay Norman?” Robert said. “You look like you’re in shock!”

“Uh,” I said, “I’m fine, I think I need to go hide underneath my bed now!”

At that comment everyone burst into laughter.

“I knew you were perfect for the job of General!” John cheered. “Why so you think I recommended you for the job in the first place?”

I couldn’t think of anything else, my knees gave out on me and the world went dark.


*    *    *


When I opened my eyes again, I was back in my bed, Robert and Sunset were there with concerned looks on their faces. I sat up thinking that the whole duel with Shadow Mist didn’t happen. In my eyes, it was just a bad dream.

“Okay,” I said, “I’m going to pretend that duel with Shadow Mist never even happened!”

“Dude you just passed out from shock,” said Robert, “calm down and take a chill pill for once! And yes that duel with Shadow Mist did happen!”

“Robert’s right,” Sunset nodded, “you need to rest so you can be well enough to start your new job tomorrow.”

I took a deep breath and calmed down.

“I’m calm…” I screamed. “I’m perfectly calm… Let’s just hope I don’t have to do another duel again!”

“Yeah,” said Sunset, “that might happen more often now that you’re a General. Don’t forget about your death walker training also! I’ll train you on base if I have too! That’s sure to draw a crowd! I guess people just can’t help watch you train. It’s kind of comical to me.”

“I wish that wouldn’t happen if you ask me!” I said.

“Oh well,” smiled Robert, “it can’t be helped. I guess it comes with the territory!”

“And I bet more people will watch you train,” said Sunset, “ now that you’re a General! Just accept you’re a hero for once okay?”

“And I do believe,” smirked Robert, “that Shining Armor said to celebrate your victory?”

“Don’t even think about it!” I shouted.

“Like I said,” said Robert, “take a chill pill for once! Besides I wasn’t talking about something big, I was just thinking about maybe a family gathering. And no I won’t let Pinkie Pie throw you a party, I’ll lock the door if I have to!”

“It’s kind of funny though,” said Sunset, “keep this up and you’ll make Commander in a matter of weeks!”

“I hope not…” I said.
 

*    *    *


“Yes, yes,” the seamstress said, “this’ll do! Oh yeah, your girlfriend Sunset Shimmer found all of your medals for me. Can you imagine that they were all hidden away?”

“Ah…” I said. I had nothing to say to her. I just looked down at the floor.

“Oh,” said the seamstress, “you’re going to have to wear all your medals on your uniform!”

“Seriously?” I exclaimed.

“Yup,” the seamstress said, “it’s standard protocol for all Generals not so much Lieutenant but for Generals yes. Ah, here we go!”

At least the uniform doesn’t make me look stupid! I thought.

This time the uniform was all gray with seven silver buttons going down the right side. My medals were placed on the left side of the uniform. 

“Now you look like a General!” The seamstress said. “Oh and here’s your hat and your Commander will be showing you your office. Run along now!”

I walked out of the room hoping not to run into anyone. That was wishful thinking because I just had to run into Olivia and Robert. There was no sign of Jasper yet, but I would have to be calling them into my office soon. When Robert saw me he whistled at me.

“Looking good Norman,” said Robert, “you really know how to wear that uniform!”

I rolled my eyes, “I’m not going to say a word!”

“Robert’s right,” said Olivia, “you look sexy in that uniform!’

“You said about the last one!” I griped.

“Oh please,” said Olivia, “you could wear a trash bag and still pull it off!”

Robert couldn’t help himself, he doubled over in laughter.

“That’s not funny Robert!” I said.

“Dude,” said Robert, “I’m not picking on you. It’s just that Olivia is completely right!”

I groaned, “Why me!”

“Why not you?” Olivia smirked. “You’re a hero, Norman, just face the facts and accept reality!”

I rolled my eyes, “Olivia, I need to see you and Jasper in my office in a half hour. Got that?”

“Yes sir!” Olivia said.

“Please don’t call me that!” I said.

“Sorry,” protested Olivia, “standard protocol, I’ll go find Jasper right away sir!”

I did a face palm, “This is so not me!”

“Don’t worry Norman,” said Robert, “you’ll be fine! I have to go report to my superior too! See you later!”

“Yeah,” I said, “see you later!”

I went to go find the Commander which just so happens to be Rainbow Dash. I knocked on Rainbow Dash's door, hopefully no one was there. Again, that was wishful thinking.

“You may enter!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

I opened the door and walked in.

“Ah, if it isn’t our new General Norman Jewel!” Rainbow Dash smiled. “I’m so glad you’re under my division! You know, I’m getting ready to retire soon! I might just name you as Commander next!”

I hope not… I thought.

“Let me show you to your new office,” Rainbow Dash said, “follow me!”

I followed Rainbow Dash down the hallway. When we finally got to the office, I stared at the door in horror.

The title on the door was:

Norman Jewel
General
2nd Division

“Here you go,” said Rainbow Dash, “it’s already set up! You’re dismissed!”

“Yes ma’am!” I said.

I went into the office, sat down at the desk and tried to pretend that this job never happened.
> 12)  New Job Title
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

No sooner I had put my face on the desk, I heard a knock at the door. It was John. 

“Come in!” I shouted.

“I do believe,” said John, “that the correct term is ‘you may enter.’”

“Fine,” I said, “you may enter!”

John stepped into my office and I could tell he was trying so hard not to laugh.

“You’re just having way too much fun with this,” I growled, “aren’t you?”

“It’s not the job that I’m laughing about,” assured John, “it’s the way you’re reacting to it.”

I rolled my eyes, “You sound like what Fluttershy told me about the love letters! I got another one yesterday! That’s the second one in two weeks! Like I said before, I don’t wanna know who it is! I’m afraid to find out!”

“So,” said John, “what are you going to do about Jasper and Olivia?”

“I have an idea,” I said, “they’re supposed to report to me soon.”

“Okay then, what are you going to do about taking the dead bodies apart?” John asked.

I just about threw up in my mouth when he said that.

“I think I‘ll let you handle that still,” I said. I was not sure of what to say next.

“I do believe,” said John, “the correct terms are ‘you can go now’ or ‘you’re dismissed!’”

I was totally not going to say ‘you’re dismissed’ to my former superior. I just might later out of spite.

I sighed, “You can go now.”

No sooner had John left, Olivia and Jasper knocked on the door. I really did not want to say what I was supposed to say to them. But it was standard protocol, so I had to say it.

“You may enter!” I shouted.

“Sir, yes sir!” Olivia and Jasper said.

“I said, don’t call me that, Olivia!” I snapped.

“Me?” Olivia exclaimed. “What about Jasper? He said it too!”

“Shut up Olivia!” I said.

Jasper then stifled a laugh.

“What’s so funny Jasper?” Olivia growled.

“I’m sorry,” laughed Jasper, “he’s always reprimanding me, I’d never thought I’d see the day when he’d reprimanded you!”

“That’s enough you two!” I snapped. “As John would always say, stand at attention or I’ll make you stand at attention, got it?”

“Yes sir!” Jasper and Olivia said.

“I’m so not going to get used to that!” I said.

I took a deep breath and kept my composure as much as possible.

“As you know,” I said, “I can either assign you to another team or to other jobs in my divisions. I have decided to give you two different job titles. Olivia, you will be reporting to the supervising sergeant. You will be training the new cadets that are under his charge. I do believe his name is Silas. You’ll find him in the next office down the hall.”

“Yes sir!” Olivia said.

“I’m so not going to get used to that one,” I said, “Jasper, you’ll be working with me as my second in command. You’ll basically be my assistant, you’ll be taking phone calls and doing paperwork when you’re not on assignments. I’ll probably be doing more assignments myself, which means you’ll be looking after the office when I’m gone. Got it?”

“Yes sir!” Jasper said.

When Olivia heard Jasper’s new job title her jaw dropped.

“You’re giving Jasper a higher title than me?” Olivia exclaimed. “Are you serious, general?”

“Yes I’m serious,” I said, “if you don’t like the job title you've been given, you can quit for all I care! You two have your new job titles as of now, you start your new jobs! Report to your posts immediately! You’re dismissed!”

Olivia looked really pissed off when she left the office. Jasper on the other hand was completely stunned at what just happened. When they left, I groaned and put my face on the table. I also knew that I had to head out to the Crystal Empire to get my seventh medal added to my uniform. So I was going to take the next train out tomorrow morning.

I’d rather be back in the Land of the Dead, or doing death walker training than this! I thought. As a matter of fact, I’d rather have a fire and earth attack come out right now!

I looked over to see that there was a picture of Robert, Sunset and me.

“Huh,” I thought, “where did they get this? Probably Robert or Sunset by my guess.”

Before I could think of anything else, Jasper came in with a huge stack of papers. Then the lesser Higher ups and that included John, come to get their assignments for the troops under their charge.


*    *    *


“Roger, roger, General Norman Jewel,” it was Rainbow Dash’s second in command Luke, “please report to the main desk, we have an assignment for you! Over!”

“Roger that 2nd Luke,” I said, “I’m coming over!”

“Roger that,” said Luke, “over and out!”

Well, I thought, at least they have a radio for when they need me!

I walked out of the office and up to Jasper’s desk.

“Jasper,” I said, “I have another assignment to do. It should take a day or two to complete unless it’s another huge assignment. Look after the office for me while I’m out. Got it?”

“Yes sir,” said Jasper, “um, sir, can I ask you something?”

“Yes,” I said, “what is it?”

“I hope I’m not speaking out of term,” said Jasper, “but that’s the sixth assignment back to back since you’ve been promoted general! Are you getting enough sleep sir?”

“I’m fine Jasper,” I said, “thanks for asking.”

“And sir,” said Jasper, “I have to tell you about the report filed against Olivia. That’s the second one this week! I’ll give you the paperwork when you get back.”

“Thanks Jasper,” I said, “I’ll take care of it when I get back, you’re dismissed!”

I’ve had the job of general for a week now and I still wasn’t getting used to being called ‘sir’. Especially if it came from my former teammate. I went to Luke’s office and knocked on the door.

“You may enter!” Luke said.

“Sir,” I asked. “You had an assignment for me?”

“Ah yes,” said Luke, “this assignment is an assassination assignment. You’ve done well with your live capture assignments on problems. Which is exactly what I would expect from you!”

“Let me brief you on the pony you’re going after. She's a pegasus named Sandy Breeze. She’s a spy so she’s automatically a threat to the throne. Here’s her picture, get a good look at it.”

I looked at the picture and gasped at it. Sandy Breeze looked alot like Shadow Mist.

“I know what you’re thinking,” said Luke, “that she’s a relative of Shadow Mist’s and you couldn’t be more right. She’s also knight of the royal court for the Kingdom of Mave. So take her down by any means necessary. She’s also a pegasus, so you can rip her wings off if need be! She’s to be brought back dead period! Now go get changed and move out! You’re dismissed!”

“Yes sir…” I shuddered.

I winched at what Luke said about ripping her wings off. I don’t know how I would feel if someone did that to Cozy Glow. I have an idea of how I’m going to take down Sandy Breeze. I just hoped that I didn’t have to rip off her wings but I had a feeling that I might have to.

Well, I thought, at least I use my death walker abilities in this fight. I don’t know about ripping the wings off though.

I made it to the place where Sandy Breeze was last spotted. When I got there Sandy Breeze was there to greet me as if she were the welcoming party.

“So the Equestrian Government has finally found me out!” Sandy Breeze smirked. “Your ruler is a real idiot! I’ve been working for Equestria and the Kingdom of Mave for five years now right under your noses!”

“I will not have you insult the princess!” I said.

“Oh,” said Sandy Breeze, “look who they sent to capture me! It’s the star General Norman Jewel! You beat my prince Shadow Mist in a duel! I can’t believe that you could do that! I’ll have your head for that one!”

“Yeah, but I’m not going to go down easy you idiot!” I growled. “I’m a death walker remember? And I’ll rip off your wings if I have to!”

“Awe,” said Sandy Breeze, “you don’t have a good poker face! You should never gamble with your friends on poker night!”

“I don’t play poker!” I shouted. “I have no interest in that game whatsoever!”

“Anyway,” said Sandy Breeze, “you want to know what my special talent is? I can make tornadoes appear out of thin air! And I also have these special daggers too!”

Sandy Breeze then spread her wings and saw that there was a dagger hanging from each of her feathers. I had no idea that was possible. I couldn’t react as quickly as I did when saving Jasper. Sandy Breeze started flying around really fast forming a tornado. I jumped out of the way dodging daggers with backflips and cartwheels. Sandy Breeze then stopped flying and throwing daggers.

“Not bad, death walker,” said Sandy Breeze like she was impressed, “and you aren’t even using your magic. You know, once I immobilize you, I might just have my way with you. You are pretty handsome after all.”

“No thank you,” I said, “I’m already spoken for!”

“Oh,” taunted Sandy Breeze, “you mean that herd you’re forming? Can I join?”

“Nope,” I replied, “you’re not my type! I don’t date horses!”

“I’m a pony you idiot!” Sandy Breeze scolded. “And that wasn’t very nice!”

I really want this assignment to be over already! I thought.

Before I could make another move, I found myself pinned to a wall and I couldn’t move.

“You know,” said Sandy Breeze, “I also have these special daggers that pinpoint your nervous system disabling your movements! Now, I was going to have my way with you, but since you weren’t very nice, I’ll have your heart instead!”

No! I thought. I’m not going to die here! Not if I got a thing or two to say about it!

Sandy Breeze then took one of her daggers and started to drive it through my chest. I tried to swallow the blood that was coming up into my mouth. She kept pushing the dagger into my chest but right before it got to my heart it stopped. Sandy Breeze then felt that the dagger couldn’t go any further and she was pissed!

Alright, I thought, that’s it! I’m going to rip her wings off!

I broke free of the daggers ripping my shirt and causing deep cuts on my arms. I kicked Sandy Breeze away from me and pulled the dagger that was in my chest out. I then coughed up the blood that was in my mouth.

“You’re dead Sandy Breeze!” I sneered. “I’m totally going to rip your wings off for that one!”

“Awe,” said Sandy Breeze, “you wouldn’t hit a lady now would you?”

“You’re no lady at all if you ask me!” I said.

Sandy Breeze then threw a couple more daggers at me and I dodged them no problem. I then got behind her and sliced one of her wings off with my sword. The wing fell to the ground like it was a brick. I then got in front of her and sliced the other wing off. I could see at this point that Sandy Breeze was going to die a slow and painful death, but I wasn’t going to let that happen. I just wanted the assignment to be over with as soon as possible.

“Just like I said to your prince,” I smirked, “I do if you’re a threat to the princess I won’t hesitate to deal with you!”

I then beheaded her and that was the end of the assignment.


*    *    *


“What happened to you General?” Luke said. “You look like you’ve been run over by a lawn mower! I’m ordering you to go to the Hospital and get yourself checked out. They’ll probably want to do a CT scan. That’s to make sure there is no internal bleeding. Good job on your assignment by the way! You’re dismissed!”

“Yes sir!” I said.

“What happened to you sir?” Jasper said.

“I’m fine Jasper,” I said, “I just have to go to the hospital and get checked out. I’ll probably get a couple of stitches at best.”

“You look like you went through a haunted house!” Jasper gasped. “And got beaten up by it!”

I didn’t say another word except ‘you're dismissed’ and walked away.


*    *    *


“Well,” the doctor said, “it looks like you have a magical barrier that protects your heart and other organs and that includes your nervous system. I must say I’m not surprised though, because I see that with every death walker I’ve tested! It’s always the same thing!”

“Okay?” I said.

“You got a couple of stitches at best,” the doctor said, “that’s to be expected for a death walker! Now, you’ll need to take some antibiotics so you don’t get an infection while your wounds heal. Other than that, you’re free to go!”

“Thank you doctor…” I said.

“It’s no problem at all!” The doctor said.


*    *    *


When I got home Cozy Glow greeted me at the door. 

“Wow dad,” said Cozy Glow, “you look terrible!’

“Don’t ask Zecora for help Amethyst!” I said. “I already went to the hospital and I’m fine!”

“Okay, okay,” said Cozy Glow, “I won’t ask Zecora! I promise I won’t!”

I breathed a sigh of relief and crashed on the couch.

“At least I don’t have to pull a 24 hour shift!” I said.

“You’ve really had it bad lately,” said Fluttershy with a concerned voice, “you should take some time off and rest.”

I groaned, “I have four days off already and tomorrow I have an off duty day and then I can rest okay?”

“Sure,” said Fluttershy, “okay then…”

I could tell that this information did not make Fluttershy feel any better.


*    *    *


The next day, I had off duty training day. Little did I know Luke let Jasper and Olivia in to watch me train.

“Is it okay for us to be here?” Jasper said.

“Sure,” said Luke, “you’re his Second in Command Jasper and Olivia, you’re a Sargent, so I don’t mind!”

When Jasper saw me fighting he whistled at it.

“Did you just whistle at Norman?” Olivia said with a look of surprise on her face.

“Maybe,” said Jasper rolling his eyes, “maybe not, I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

“Wow,” said Olivia, “how many people is he taking on this time?”

“Six,” said Luke, “two are our strongest General’s.”

“He can break out of a chokehold that easy?” Jasper gasped. “Maybe he was going easy on me like I thought.”

“That’s Norman for you,” smiled Luke, “he will do anything he needs to do at all costs. That’s what makes him a good General. Although he did get beaten up on the last assignment.”

“Did he say what happened?” Jasper said.

“Nope,” said Luke, “he didn’t say. He won’t either no matter how much we ask he just keeps saying he’s fine. Maybe we should interrogate him? Although I doubt he’ll talk even with that.”

Jasper sighed, “That’s Norman for you! He won’t even talk to us about it! It’s got to be weighing on his mind! And that’s way too much stress to carry! Sooner or later, he’s going to crack and who knows what he’ll do!”

“Why are you so concerned?” Olivia asked. “It’s not your friends or something!”

“Actually I am his friend now!” Jasper scoffed. “We play basketball on our off days and sometimes on our slow days we play a game of chess.”

Olivia’s jaw dropped, “When did that happen?”

“Ever since I got assigned to be his Second in Command!” Jasper taunted.

“I still can’t believe you have a higher job title!” Olivia growled.

“Jealous much?” Jasper said.

“Oh boy,” said Luke, “you two fight like an old married couple! Norman sure has his hands full with you two! I really feel bad for the guy. Watching you two is like watching a toddler throw a temper tantrum! And trust me, I have two at home!”

Olivia out of anger punched Jasper and he fell to the ground.

“What was that for?” Jasper said.

“Okay,” said Luke, “that’s an assault on a higher ranking Officer! Come with me and I’ll be reporting this to your General for when he gets back from his time off! This could get you sacked for all I care! Follow me!”
> 13) Olivia's Defiance
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When I got back from my time off, Rainbow Dash’s second in command Luke, pulled me into his office.

“Ah, sir?” I said confused.

Luke sighed, “I wanted to talk to you about Olivia.”

“Yes sir,” I said, “I already have two reports filed against her. As far as I know, she hasn’t gotten the fourth report filed yet. So I don’t have grounds to have her sacked. Yet…”

“Well make my report the third one!” Luke exclaimed. 

“What?” I said, “What did she do?” 

“She punched your second in command right in front of me!” Luke said. “If I were you, I might recommend her for therapy!”

“I’ll think about that,” I said, “maybe she can tell that person about all her anger for Jasper.”

“What did Jasper do to her?” Luke said.

“I have no idea,” I said, “but for as long as I’ve known her, she always hated the guy.”

“Well,” said Luke, “I suggest you deal with her sooner rather than later. That’s all I have to have to say about this. You’re dismissed!”

“Yes sir!” I said.

I turned around and left the office.

Just perfect, I thought, now I have to yell at Olivia! I really don’t want to do that, but she’s forced my hand on that one!


*    *    *


“You’re not going to tell Norman,” growled Jasper, “or I will have payback for that!”

“Ha!” Olivia said. “Like you would hit a lady!”

I was coming around the corner to my office when I heard that.

“Have you figured out how you’re going to ask him?” Jasper asked.

“I have no idea,” said Olivia, “maybe I can leave a trail of rose petals! Maybe he’ll give me the time of day finally!”

I have a feeling of who they’re talking about, I thought, but I’m going to pretend that this isn’t happening!

I’ve seen this many times before that people are talking about someone and when they enter the room everyone goes quiet. That’s exactly what happened when Jasper and Olivia saw me come around the corner. Without thinking I just had to ask the question.

“Who are guys talking about?” I said.

“Oh no one special,” said Olivia, “there’s this new guy that enlisted that’s a total hunk! Right Jasper?”

“Yup!” Jasper agreed.

“Yeah,” I said, “you two aren’t very good liars. If any case, I don’t want to know.”

The three of us just stood there in awkward silence when I cleared my throat.

“Olivia,” I said, “I need to see you in my office now!”

“Maybe this is the perfect time for you to tell him Olivia!” Jasper sneered.

“Shut it Jasper!” Olivia snapped.

“I totally,” I said, “don’t want to know what that was about! Olivia, follow me!”

Olivia followed me into my office and I closed the door.


*    *    *


“Olivia…” I snapped.

“Yes sir?” Olivia said.

“You want to tell me why you punched my second in command in front of Rainbow Dash's second in command?” I asked.

“I had no idea who that was!” Olivia shouted.

“It doesn’t matter Olivia!” I said. “As long as you are around your fellow comrades, you need to be on your best behavior! Honestly, I’m surprised John let you get away with punching me and Jasper out in front of him! Sometimes I wish I had a gun to fire into the air like John did!”

“But sir-“ Olivia said.

“Don’t you but sir me!” I interrupted. “I don’t like being called that! You’ve had three reports filed against you all in one week! And that’s since you’ve been promoted to Sargent!”

“I still can’t believe you gave Jasper the higher job title!” Olivia scoffed.

“Silence Olivia!” I yelled. “I’m going to say this once, and only once, if you get one more report filed against you that is grounds to have you sacked! Then you’ll have to stand before the board to answer for it! Do you want that to happen?”

“No sir…” Olivia shook her head.

“Then do your job no matter how high the title is!” I said. “You got that? If you don’t, I will not stand up for you anymore! You’re dismissed!”

“Yes sir…” Olivia said.

I sat down and put my face on the table. No sooner had I done that, there was a knock on my door.

“You may enter!” I said.

I looked up to see that it was John.

“I heard you yelling at Olivia when I came around the corner!” John smirked. “I wish I’d done that when she was under my charge just for punching you and Jasper! I don’t know what I was thinking in not doing that!”

“Unfortunately,” I said, “Shining Armor handed the toddlers over to me.”

I could tell John was trying his best not to laugh.

“I take it you wanted to talk to me about something?” I said.

“Yes,” said John, “I heard you had it ruff on your last assignment. According to second Luke, you almost got killed! You’re lucky you’re a death walker because that’s the only reason you’re still alive!”

“Yeah I know,” I said and I bit the inside of my cheek, “and I’m not talking about it.”

“Why not,” said John, “you know you can’t hold it in. I heard you used to play guitar twelve years ago. But you put it down ever since Betty died. Maybe you pick it up again? You could probably get your feelings out through song. That’s just a thought. You can’t take care of your troops if you can’t take care of yourself. That’s all I’m saying.”

“Is that all you have to say?” I said.

“Yes,” said John, “oh and more thing Norman.”

“Yes?” I said.

“We all have an early day because it’s Nightmare Night,” said John, “you going to celebrate?”

“No John…” I said.

“Why not?” John said.

“It’s Betty’s birthday today…” I said.

“Oh I see…” John said.

“You can go now John…” I said.

“See you later!” John said.


*    *    *


That night around six o’ clock the time of Betty’s birth is whenI go visit her grave. Sometime I say something to her hoping that it would reach her in the afterlife or sometimes I say nothing at all. This time I choose not to say anything this time. 

I just stared at the chess piece hanging from her tombstone. Somehow I knew that she was going to be the queen of hell after she died. And that’s what the chess piece was, the queen. I was hoping that she would come get it some day but she never did.

I wonder what she’s doing now that she’s the queen of hell? I thought. I wonder how old her daughter Ruby is? Cozy Glow is going to be thriteen in two days. At least she hasn’t hit puberty yet! That talk is not going to be fun at all!

I knew that Jasper and Olivia had followed me here because I know when I’m being followed.

“Sir,” said Olivia, “are you okay?” 

“Please don’t call me that right now Olivia!” I snapped. “We’re off the clock so call me Norman!”

“So,” asked Jasper, “how old would she have been if she hadn’t died?”

“Thirty-five…” I said.

“Oh…” Jasper said.

We stood there in award silence for a little bit. Then without warning Betty came out of her grave as if she were a zombie. I jumped back and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw it was her.

“Did you have to pop out of your grave like a zombie?” I said.

“Oh,” Betty laughed, “sorry about that Norman.”

When Jasper and Olivia saw that there was a crown on her head they bowed to her.

Betty groaned, “You can look at me now.”

Olivia and Jasper stood up, unsure of what to do.

“You too huh?” I laughed.

“Yup,” said Betty, “I heard about your promotion to general. Knowing you, you’re not happy about it. It’s okay, because I don’t accept the fact that I’m considered a legend now. Or being bowed to because I’m the queen of hell now. So, are these your friends?” 

“Um,” I said, “yeah, these two stalkers are Olivia and Jasper. Olivia and Jasper meet my sister Betty.”

“Hey,” growled Jasper, “we’re not stalkers, we’re just worried about you, that’s all.”

“Aww that’s sweet,” said Betty, “looks like your friends are looking out for you. Oh and I heard you’re dating Robert and Sunset now. I thought I told you not to fall in love with the girl, but you did!”

Betty and I then exchanged a look and fell out laughing.

“Are you following any of this Olivia?” Jasper said with a confused look.

“Nope,” said Olivia, “not at all.”

“I know you don’t like this holiday,” said Betty, “but I think it’s time you try to have fun today. Don’t you think?”

“I’ll think about it,” I said, “but I still don’t like this holiday though.”

“What’s that chess piece hanging from my tombstone?” Betty asked. “It looks like the queen. How’d you know that was going to happen?”

I shrugged, “I guess I just knew somehow. Anyway, it’s yours you can take it if you want.”

“Honestly,” said Betty, “I think it should stay on my tombstone right where it belongs. And remember what I said Norman, you take as much time as you need to move on. It could take a whole other decade for all I care! I probably would’ve done the same thing if you had died before me.”

The writing on Betty’s tombstone lit up as if it had LED lights in it.

Betty groaned, ‘Well, I’m being summoned. That happens a lot nowadays. Good thing demons don’t need to sleep! Bye now!”

I waved goodbye to Betty and she went back into her grave the same way she came out of it.


*    *    *


Later that night, instead of celebrating Nightmare Night I went to the part of the training yard that held the virtual training simulator. The simulator was like fighting on a movie set but the enemies were more lifelike. I set the difficulty on Hard level 2. I only needed to get past that level and then I would be on Hard level 3 and then I would be on expert. 

This fighting simulator was particularly designed for hand to hand combat. Although I wanted to be alone for this training Robert, Jasper and Olivia we’re watching me. Of course they were having a conversation about me.

“Does he do this every year on Nightmare Night?” Jasper asked.

“Yup,” said Robert, “every year since Betty died.”

“No wonder why he’s so skilled at hand to hand combat!” Jasper mused.

“Yeah,” said Robert, “he would have broken my neck in a couple of sparring matches but he never did. Probably because we’ve been best friends since grade school.”

“Yeah, he’s getting stronger and stronger by the day!” Olivia exclaimed. “He’s pretty sexy too!”

Jasper groaned, “Could you not be anymore obvious Olivia!”

“You should talk!” Olivia said. “You’re the one who whistles at him!”

“Oh boy,” said Robert, “you know, if you guys like him, you probably tell him! And no, I’m not telling him for you!”

“I have no ideas what you’re talking about Robert!” Jasper said sarcastically.

“Who’s being obvious now?” Olivia taunted.

“If you guys don’t shut up,” said Robert, “I’m pushing you out the door and locking it!”

After I came across the 20th enemy, this one actually caught me by pulling me up by the ankle. I swung around and punched the enemy in the chest releasing me from him. After that, I turned off the simulator and glared at Robert, Jasper and Olivia.

“I knew you guys were watching me!” I yelled. “I could hear Robert yelling!”

Robert sighed, “Sorry about that Norman! These two just will not shut up when they’re around each other!”

“You two idiots are as annoying as ever!” I said.

“What about Robert?” Olivia asked. “He was talking too!”

“Robert,” I said, “usually stays quiet when he watches me. But you two on the other hand, seriously?”

“You should leave now,” sighed Robert, “before he loses his temper! You don’t want him to turn you into a punching bag for this!”

“Yeah,” said Olivia, “I think we should go now, right Jasper?”

“Oh right,” said Jasper, “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow Norman!”

When Jasper and Olivia left, I groaned.

“What?” Robert said.

“I’m going to be stuck with those two for the rest of my military career!” I said.

“It’s kind of funny though,” smirked Robert, “they’ve been coming around more asking about you. I have no idea why.”

“Just perfect,” I said, “I don’t know how I’m going to keep those two from stalking me!”

“I feel bad for you,” laughed Robert, “you just can’t chase them away can you?”

“That’s not funny Robert!” I said.

“You know,” said Robert, “those two were cheering for you during your duel with Shadow Mist just as hard as me and Sunset were.”

I groaned, “As if I don’t have enough to worry about! If I hear them yelling again, I’m going to behead them with my sword!”

“It can’t be helped,” Robert laughed, “people just love to watch you fight that’s all. Speaking of love, have you figured it out yet?”

“Nope,” I said, “like I said before. I don’t want to know…”


*    *    *


In the next two days was Cozy Glow’s birthday. That morning I saw Cozy Glow out in the yard practicing her death walker training.

“Hi dad!” Cozy Glow said.

“How’s it going Amethyst?” I asked.

“It’s going really good,” said Cozy Glow, “it’s my birthday today and I’m almost thirteen!”

“Almost?” I said with a raised eyebrow.

“My birthday isn't until this afternoon,” said Cozy Glow, “you know that! I can’t wait to see what you got me!”

I smiled, “Don’t worry, it’ll be something special!”

The gift that I was going to give Cozy Glow was something that I was going to give to her a year ago. But I chickened out and gave her something else instead. It was a friendship necklace that I was going to give Betty but I never got the chance to. I figured it would be perfect to give to Cozy Glow since I am her father now. It was to say that wherever she goes her father will always be with her.

When it was time for Cozy Glow’s birthday, I gave her the present. It was met with a chorus of the ‘awes’ throughout the room. 

“Thanks dad!” Cozy Glow said. “I’ll never take it off!”

“It’s no problem at all,” I said, “just don’t lose it okay?”

“I won’t dad!” Cozy Glow said.

After that Pinkie Pie just had to bring out the hugest birthday cake that I had ever seen! It said happy birthday Amethyst Jewel on it. I had to laugh at that because it’s Pinkie Pie. Cozy Glow's birthday is the only one I enjoy celebrating. That is the one day that I don’t have to go to a grave site for it.
> 14) Qualifications
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shining Armor wanted me to start my new job as general the very next day but in reality a new job title doesn’t really start until a week later. Of course Shining Armor knows that but a lot of soldiers don’t. A lot of them think the very next day means the very next day. The fact that the new job title doesn’t start until a week later I had some time to think about what to do with Jasper and Olivia.

Jasper was stunned when I made him my second in command and Olivia was pissed. I totally understand that. I would be pissed too if someone that looked like a bad worker got the higher job title over you because you feel like a better worker. Just because you feel like you’re the better worker doesn’t mean it’s true. That’s what happened with Jasper and Olivia. Even though it looked like Olivia was the better soldier even though she rushed to my aid several times. I looked at her success rate only to find out that she wasn’t as great of a soldier that she appeared to be.

I probably should have called her into my office to explain why she didn’t get the job title right after I announced Jasper as my second in command. The reason I didn’t do that was because every soldier gets their progress report at the end of every month. I figured she had read it and knew how she was doing at her job. Her reaction to my decision to make Jasper second in command gave me a sneaking suspicion that she might not have read her report. I wished she would have read it then she might not have been so pissed off. I read her report and it was a big surprise to me at how poorly she was doing.

I had to follow the guidelines of what to do with them. The guidelines for giving a soldier a higher job is based on whether a soldier has an 85% success rate or higher then they are recommended for a job promotion. A success rate is based on how well a soldier does in completing missions. Most ranks completing missions involve working with a team. If a higher up puts in a job recommendation and if it is approved then the soldier is placed at that rank. However the rules for that state that a soldier can turn down the higher job title only three times. After that happens it is brought to the commanders attention that the job titles had been turned down three times. The commander then gives the soldier another chance to accept the higher job title. If the soldier does not accept the job title then their case is brought to a person or pony of royalty’s attention. After that person review’s that soldier's case and sees that the soldier has turned down the higher job title they can only force the soldier to take the job title that is the next rank up.

That’s what happened to me. Actually I was recommended for the job of lieutenant but I turned it down three times. It was brought to my commanders attention and I still turned it down. That’s when my case was given to Princess Twilight; she can only force me to take the next rank up. The funny thing was before she found out about it she had been pushing me to consider to take the job of knight of the royal court she claimed it was because I had won five medals just by being a cadet alone and to add onto that I’m the little brother of a legendary death walker. When she found out I wouldn’t take the job recommendation of lieutenant she seized the opportunity to make me take the job of knight of the royal court. So I got forced to be a knight of the royal court because I was still cadet when I got the recommendation. Even though I got a higher job title that I didn’t want in the first place, I didn’t want a higher job title because I was in denial about everything that I had accomplished.

There is a way that a soldier can possibly keep from getting a job promotion is that they do a recording with their superior stating that they don’t want to be considered for job recommendations. But if a soldier has a success rate of 90% or more the statement doesn’t stay in the file. Unfortunately a lot of soldiers don’t know about that rule because it’s considered classified information for some reason. That’s what I tried to do and didn’t find out about that rule until after I became a general.

The reason I tell this story is that the same thing that happened to me, happened to Jasper. His success rate was high like mine was. His success rate was 90%, my success rate was 95%. I looked at his progress reports and found out that he had been recommended for lieutenant also. He didn’t get the job of knight of the royal court until he was forced to take it. I also saw on his progress report that he had won two medals. But it doesn’t mean that you have to win medals just to get a higher job title recommendation. Since a success rate is based on completing missions Jaspers success rate was very high at 90%. He also did the same thing I did in recording a statement but since he had a success rate of 90% it got tossed out of his file. He doesn’t know that because only the rank of general and higher ranks know that information. His success rate stayed at 90% until I came along. My guess is he used the fact that I was a new death walker to start messing up on his missions. That didn’t really do much to drop his success rate. It only dropped to 85%.

After I saved him, for some reason he started doing better at his job again. The funny thing is that I don’t know why he decided to do better but he tried to make another statement with John stating he didn’t want anymore job recommendations again. The fact that John kept threatening to have him sacked was really an empty threat. It was a ploy to get his success rate back up to 90%. That’s because 85% or higher is not grounds to sack someone. There are two reasons a soldier can get sacked, the first is if they let their success rate drop below 50%, the other reason would be if they get four reports filed against them. If either one happens then soldiers superior has to have them sacked, and it’s out of their hands at that point.

Jasper was the kind of soldier that didn’t want to get sacked if he had a thing or two to say about it. I could see that from the first day I met him. That’s too bad because for some reason after I saved him and started doing better at his job his success rate went up from 85% to 95% and that’s pretty hilarious to me. If you ask me he should’ve kept screwing up on his missions, but he didn’t screw up bad enough to keep from getting a job recommendation to get promoted.

Since he started doing better on his job and got his success rate back up, he probably would’ve got a higher job title even without my help.

It’s too bad I won that duel with Shadow Mist and the fact that he was my former teammate got him the job of second in command because I figured it was time for him to face the music just like I had to when I became general. That’s why I gave Jasper the job of second in command.

As far as Olivia goes, before meeting her when she was a cadet her success rate was 50% and getting ready to drop lower. For some reason she decided to improve on her success rate and to her superiors surprise it went up 85%. However, when she was made knight of the royal court her success rate went back down to 50%. She was very close to getting sacked until she was assigned to work with me and Jasper and her success rate went up to 75%. When I looked at her progress report I kind of saw a pattern to her success rate. It drops really low to the point of getting sacked then goes back up, gets promoted, her success rate goes back down to the point of almost getting sacked, before that happens she improves on her success again. I thought long hard about what to do with her. I even spoke to Shining Armor about it when I went to go pick up my seventh medal and he told me the same thing after I won the duel with Shadow Mist, do with my teammates what I see fit to do with them. I really couldn’t decide what to do with her so I flipped a coin to decide her fate.

That probably wasn’t the best way to go about it, but the coin flip worked in her favor. I did that because when I was growing up I was told if you can’t decide to flip a coin.

I decided to try and get her the job title of sergeant. The reason I say this is because I talked to Second Luke, and Commander Rainbow Dash and in seeing that Olivia was my former teammate they made an exception and let me give her the job title of sergeant. We all figured that if she got promoted she would get the 10% for the job promotion sooner or later. In looking at her progress report I saw the pattern and I was hoping that getting promoted to sergeant would help her break the pattern. That wasn’t the case because soon after being made sergeant her success rate dropped 60% and started to go lower. Unfortunately if a soldier let’s their success rate drop to 60% and below after at least two months after the job promotion they are pulled into the office three different times to give them warning about it. After the third warning if their success rate does not go up the higher job title is taken away and they. They are demoted back to cadet status.

Right after Olivia became knight of the royal court and her success rate dropped back down to 50%, John tried everything he could think of to help her get her success rate back up before she got sacked. He sat down with her several times and the conversations went on for a while, he gave me the recordings of them and showed them to me. John even got the bright idea when I came along to assign her to work with me. His reason was that since I was announced as a new death walker and dare I say it ‘handsome’ that she would want to show off in front of me and that would get her success rate back up. It looked like it worked because it went up 75%. When she became a sergeant and let her success rate drop again, and to 60%. Her two months to improve weren’t up yet, so I had warned at least two times. I wasn’t sure if I’d get a chance to give Olivia her third warning when she got three reports filed against her. It looked like she would be getting her fourth report very soon. 

However, after I gave Olivia her the job of sergeant and Jasper the job of second in command she started to act out and didn’t do her job to the best of her abilities. I tried the same thing John did but nothing worked, she continued to act out. When she got her third report filed by Second Luke I tried the next best thing, yelling at her. 

Not to mention before I stood up for her when the other sergeants were bad mouthing her behind her back. I would say something to the effect of she’s just having a bad day. Things like hoping that it would stop the other sergeants from complaining about her. I could tell that they were thinking that the day I had to sack her would be coming around the corner very soon. I did not want to think about that at all. Every time the thought came up, I just put it in the back of my mind hoping that it would never happen. 

As far as jobs go, I also had to worry about my death walker training. Sunset made good on her word that I wouldn’t be able to forget about that training. On one of my off duty training days Sunset came to base and took me to the training simulator. I stood there looking at it with confusion. 

“What’s this all about Sunset?” I said. “This simulator is only for hand to hand combat! I’m not even at the highest level on it yet. Not to mention I haven’t even bumped up the strength on any of the enemies yet. I just don’t think I’m ready for that yet, which is probably why I’m not that good at hand to hand in real life. Come to think of it, I only use this just for fun sometimes. Especially on Betty’s birthday!”

“Yeah I know,” said Sunset, “but this is actually the perfect tool for your death walker training! And since you need to be at your full strength to be able to defeat enemies in real life I'm putting the strength for them to maximum!”

My jaw dropped when I heard this and I had a pit in my stomach too.

“You’re joking right?” I said. “Please tell me you’re joking! If you’re not I’m sorry about not being able to train with you! Seriously I am! Please accept my apology!”

“Oh no need to apologize Norman,” Sunset laughed, “I understand that life as a general is completely hectic! But you just can’t help but push yourself so this should be a piece of cake!”

“Yeah whatever you say,” I said, “unless you’ve decided to try and kill me today!”

Sunset cracked up, “No, but it’s good a thing we have a barrier set up to protect the spectators.”

I looked around and sure enough a crowd of people were watching what was getting ready to take place. When Sunset saw the look on my face she couldn’t help but laugh. 

“Hopefully they’re here for you?” I said.

“Nope,” said Sunset, “it’s not me it’s for you! Why else would they show up?”

I rolled my eyes and thought, I can’t win can I?

“Let’s see here,” said Sunset, “other than putting the strength of the enemies on max I’ll put it on expert level. And I’ve added 14 more levels for you to go through after you master this one. This should get your death walker abilities up to par and will come in handy one day.”

“How many enemies do you expect me to fight?” I said.

Sunset had an evil smile on her face, “Hum, I think that I’ll put the enemy count to five hundred.”

“Yeah,” I said, “and you’re not trying to kill me today! Is it because you’re not getting enough sex lately or something?”

Sunset couldn’t help but laugh at that remark. “No, I’m fine in that regard, but thanks for asking! Like I said, you need to get your death walker abilities up to par. When I say that, use your death walker abilities only! Got it?”

“I got it!” I said.

“Good,” said Sunset, “now let’s begin!”

When the simulator started the enemies advanced quickly. The first attack that came out of me was the darkness power and I used it to create a smoke screen. The smoke screen attack only lasts for a few minutes so I had to use that to take down as many of the enemy out as possible. Then, for some reason an iron chain with a blade at the end of it appeared wrapped around my wrist.

Huh, I thought, that’s new! 

“Looks like you have a new attack,” said Sunset, “when did that happen?”

“Just now!” I said.

“Well,” said Sunset, “let’s see what you can do with it!”

It turns out that it was a long range attack. I could use my wrist to shoot the iron chain and it took down ten enemies all by that attack alone.

“A long range attack!” Sunset said. “Nice, very nice!”

Then came the attack that I really hated the most, the fire and earth attack. 

Oh boy, I thought, I hate this attack with a passion!

I let out the attack and for some reason the genernades looked a lot bigger than before.

“Is it just me,” said Sunset, “or did the fire and earth attack look a lot bigger this time?”

“Yup,” I said, “it’s bigger! And I hate that attack!”

“I know, just keep going!” Sunset said.

Finally, when I couldn’t move anymore or summon any of my death walker abilities Sunset turned off the simulator.

What is with my trainers? I thought. They just can’t help but push me to my limit!

“Good job!” Sunset said. “You got up to two hundred and on your first try! Of course your sister Betty could get five hundred or more and that was when she was alive! She’s dead now so she can get more and she’s the queen of hell!”

“Yeah,” I said, “I know…”
 
“We’ll keep pushing until you can beat this level.” Sunset said. “I know you can do it! Although it’s going to take awhile, but you really need to practice by the next time you train with me! If you do that, you’ll be up to par in no time!”

“Thanks for the pep talk!” I said.

“It’s problem at all!” Sunset said.


*    *    *    


“I saw you training with Sunset Shimmer today!” Jasper said. “And I what she set the simulator to. Is she trying to kill you?”

“My thoughts exactly!” I said. “I think she just felt like torturing me today!”

Before I could say anything else to my surprise, my radio went off. I didn’t think they would try to contact me on my off duty days something must be happening with a soldier under my charge. If they’re contacting me today then it needs to be dealt with immediately. 

“Roger, roger,” said Luke, “General Norman, you're needed at the training area for sergeants and other higher ups over.”

“Roger,” I said, “what’s this about? Over.”

“Roger,” said Luke, “it concerns Olivia and you should bring your second in command too!”

“Roger,” I said, “ are you really serious Second Luke? Over!”

“Roger,” said Luke, “I’m totally serious! Over!”

“Roger that,” I said, “I’m on my way, over and out!”

“What on earth is Olivia doing?” Jasper said. “Didn’t she get a third report filed against her a week ago?”

“Yeah and now she’s gone stupid on me!” I said. “Probably because I promoted you to second in command over her!”

“I was wondering why you did that,” said Jasper, “why did you do it? Olivia looked like a better soldier than me until recently. I recall recording a statement with John about not wanting any other job promotions.”

“You wish she was the better soldier!” I said. “That’s because her success rate on prior missions was at 50%, it went up to 75% when she got assigned to work with you and me. I had to talk to Second Luke and Commander Rainbow Dash and they made an exception seeing what she was my former teammate. I was hoping that the promotion would help her get the other 10% needed for the job promotion. But I was wrong as soon as she got promoted her success rate went down to 60%. I also did a recorded statement and it got thrown out of my file especially when John recommended me for the job title of general. Little did I know Shining Armor was going to force me to take that job of general, just like when Princess Twilight forced me to take the job title of knight of the royal court. When you started screwing up on your missions your success rate dropped from 90% to 85%. Your success rate went back up after I saved you, and it went from 85% to 95% so it’s very possible that you would’ve gotten a higher job title anyway even without my help. I don’t know if you hid all of your progress report information so you wouldn’t have to look at it. Just because you hid it doesn't mean it’s not on your file. It’s too bad that I won the duel with Shadow Mist. I figured it was time you faced the music just like I had to. Not to mention I couldn’t ignore the fact that I’ve won seven medals; it didn’t matter how times I denied that it happened. Even if I had hid all my medals which I actually did, the fact that I won those medals would be on my report and if need be they could make a copy of each medal that I won to put on my uniform anyway. Remember what you said about recognizing my achievements? You should probably take a page out of your own book!”

Jasper stared at me puzzled by what I just said and then got the point and laughed at that statement.

“What’s so funny?” I said.

“Yeah you’re right,” said Jasper, “I forgot I said that. That’s the way I feel about things like that. I had been thinking about things like that myself trying to figure out why I got promoted and not Olivia. Now that you just said that, it makes sense now. I was going to ask you about that but I was too nervous to hear what you were going to say so I kept my mouth shut! The other reason why I felt nervous to ask is I wanted to keep being in denial about my achievements too. That sure came back to bite me in the butt!”

“Yeah it did!” I said. “Now, let’s go see what’s going on with Olivia! And I hope I don’t have to do what I think I’m going to have to.”

When Jasper and I got to the training area there was a huge crowd surrounding it. 

“What’s going on Silas?” I said.

“Apparently,” said Silas, “Olivia’s taken the job as sergeant to a whole new level!”

“And you’re not stopping her because?” I said.

“I’m not getting in the middle of that!” Silas said.

“Chicken!” I said. “Don’t worry I’ll handle her! It seems I didn’t get through to her after all!”

I stepped into the training area only to get punched in the face by Olivia.

Well, just like old times I guess… I thought.

I recognized the cadet that she was fighting. It was a young woman that had just enlisted named Mae. I had put her under Olivia’s charge. I had no idea why Olivia would do wrong towards one of her cadets that she was training. Now I know my trainers like to push me to my limit but they never put me in harm's way by doing so. They always stopped when I got to my limit but never pushed like the way Olivia was doing now. True I came out from my training looking like a punching bag, but they never would’ve tried to kill me. That's what Olivia was doing right now, I didn’t realize that what the other sargent’s that complained about her were right. Olivia had Mae in a chokehold and was strangling her. I saw that and was completely pissed off that Silas didn’t intervene. I quickly broke Olivia’s chokehold and pushed Mae back from her. Mae was on the ground trying to get a breath of air when she finally did, Olivia came after her again, that was when Jasper stepped in and grabbed Olivia’s arms, putting them behind her back to stop her.

“Let me go Jasper!” Olivia said. “I’m not done with her yet!”

“Too bad,” said Jasper, “not gonna happen because you are done!”

Luke had already notified the guards because there were two of them waiting right outside of my office. But, they couldn’t take her into custody yet because I hadn’t officially declared her sacked. I really didn’t want to do that, but I couldn’t just overlook things this time.

“What on earth were you thinking?” I said.

“I was just doing my job!” Olivia said.

“That’s not how you do your job and you know it!” I said. 

“That cadet had a smart mouth on her and I just disciplined her! That’s it!” Olivia said. 

“A smart mouth is not grounds for you to kill a cadet! I’ve tried everything I think of with you but you just won’t listen! Just because you’re pissed off at me doesn’t give you the right to put a cadet in harm's way! I tried to help and I even gave you the promotion of sergeant! I thought with that at least you would improve your success rate on your job! Unfortunately since I have no choice and I really don’t want to, this is your last report! I wish I could do something else about it, but I can’t. This is it for you, and you’re done. The guards are outside ready to take you into custody!” I said. “Do you have any last words to say to me before you go to the holding cell to face the board?”

“Yeah,” said Olivia, “this is your fault General Norman! You should’ve promoted me to second in command I would’ve done a better job at it then Jasper and you know it!”

“Did you even read your progress reports?” I said.

“As a matter of fact,” scoffed Olivia, “I burned them! I didn’t need to look at them to know that I’m the better soldier!”

“Oh really?” I said. I took out her file and passed it over to her across the table. Olivia looked at the fact that I had her progress report sitting right in front of her in shock.

“Maybe,” I said, “you should review this before you go?” I pointed at the top of her paperwork on file. “How much success rate do you have on your missions?”

Olivia growled at me, “60%! But that doesn’t-“

“Oh it does,” I said, “yes it’s true you came to my aid whenever I was in trouble. But that doesn’t bump your success rate and you know it! Your success rate gets bumped up when you complete a mission and you complete it with the rest of your teammates! You do realize that don’t you?”

“Of course I realize that!” Olivia said. “But if the rest of my teammates didn’t come back in one peice or dead, that's not my fault! They should’ve been doing their jobs!” 

“So, let me get this straight if someone got into trouble on your team or harmed that to you means they weren’t doing their jobs? Are you nuts?” I said. 

“No I’m not nuts and you know it!” Olivia growled. 

“If I recall correctly Jasper got into trouble and almost died. Because of that he wasn’t doing his job either? I don’t think so, what if the same thing happened to you? Would that have meant you weren’t doing your job? Jasper got punched and sent flying over a railing! If I’d just let him fall it would’ve been my fault! The fact that you would’ve let Jasper die just to complete your mission scares me to think that a soldier would go that far just to get the job done!” I said.

“But I’m the one that took down that other thug by myself!” Olivia said. “Just for that alone I should’ve been promoted. Actually I’m surprised I’m not the one who got the medal for that! I’ve done more fighting than you and I’ve been in the military for over a decade! That alone should’ve got me promoted!”

“Oh boy,” I said, “you must be delusional or something! Do you know how many cadets that are in the military that have been in it longer than you and never got promoted? You realize that a promotion is based on how well you do as a soldier! And the progress report under that says you had a 85% success rate when you were a cadet! That’s the reason why you got promoted to knight of the royal court. You know for a fact that if your success rate gets lower than 60% you’re demoted back a cadet. I have no idea what happened to you to make you become this way but doesn’t look good for you at all. As I just said, just because you’ve been in the military for longer than another cadet doesn’t mean you get promoted!”

“But you saved Jasper,” said Olivia, “and they gave you a medal just for that! If you ask me I saved the both of you!”

“So taking down an enemy means you saved us?” I said. “No, that was part of doing your job. John already warned us that there would be a lot of thugs surrounding William! As I said before if I had let Jasper fall it would’ve been my fault! The fact that you would let someone die just to do a job makes you delusional and crazy! ”

“And like I said before I’m not nuts!” Olivia said. 

“Humph,” I said, “so you don’t think your comrades are necessary to complete a job? Who’s the idiot now?”

“I’m not an idiot!” Olivia said. “And I thought I told you not to call me that!”

“I say you’re an idiot because why do you think we send out three man teams to take care of assignments at all times? You do realize that even if we are not needed on the original team you got assigned to, if another team needs help on another mission then you get assigned to that team! Why do you think John had us go through that obstacle course? If teams weren’t necessary to complete a job, then that wouldn’t be set up in the first place! Good thing it’s not necessary for a general to work on a team! Unless it’s a difficult assignment!” I said.

“And why’s that?” Olivia said.

“It’s because the higher ranks don’t need a team! They’re the ones that are more than capable of completing the job. If they do work in a team, it’s only because it’s a difficult assignment and that’s up to the commander to decide but most of the time no they don’t need it. If they weren’t able to do the job they wouldn’t have gotten promoted! Were you hiding under a rock when you saw my battle with Shadow Mist? I think I showed everyone that I’m more than capable of doing the job.” I said. “If the shoe was on the other foot, maybe you would’ve done the same thing. But would you have listened to your trainers?” 

“Maybe, maybe not,” said Olivia, “but seeing the way your trainers pushed you by turning you into a punching bag, I probably would’ve just ran the other way because I don’t need that type of training!”

“Hum,” I said, “you don’t value your comrades lives because you think they get in the way then you’re not a soldier to me! There’s a reason why there’s more than one person on the military. If only one person could get the job done, then it wouldn’t be necessary and even Princess Twilight knows that! I really don’t know what happened to you after you got promoted but you let your success rate drop, getting some of your comrades killed in the process and you don’t feel any grief for that at all?”

“No I don’t,” said Olivia, “you wanna know what happened to me Norman?”

“Not really,” I said, “but if you must tell me then go ahead.”

“I almost got killed on a mission myself! That was right after I was made knight of the royal court!” Olivia said. “That was because I was trying to save someone! That sure backfired! And that was on my first mission! I was at the edge of a cliff holding onto my teammate trying not to let him fall! The only reason I hadn't let him fall yet was because I had gotten a rope around his waist. Then suddenly the enemy started attacking so I let go of the person on the rope and then instead of my other teammate trying to help defend me he went to help the fool hanging by the rope. My job was to kill the enemy, that’s it! It was my teammates fault that they got in the way so I cut the rope letting the first guy fall. When my teammate was trying to pull the first guy to safety the enemy grabbed him and used him as a shield. I killed him along with the enemy. 

That was after I got promoted, before that I had a 85% success rate because I never ran into trouble. The missions were easy, okay maybe a little too easy. It wasn’t until that mission that I could care less what happened to my teammates as long as I got the job done! Let me ask you something, Norman if you had been in that situation, what would you have done?”

“First of all,” I said, “I wouldn’t have cut the rope just to get to the enemy. As for the enemy using a teammate as a shield, I would’ve done everything in my power to get that teammate to safety and that’s where your training comes in. As a matter of fact, a couple of the reports that were filed say that you’ve missed more than ten of your off duty training days! They’re required for a reason! And yes I’ve had that happen to me on a mission before. And that cadet came home alive. It’s because I would do everything in my power to get that cadet home even if it meant sacrificing my own life in return. I used my training to do that. Now, you’ve told me everything you needed to tell me am I right?”

“Yes sir…” Olivia said.

“Guards!” I said.

“Yes sir?” One of the guards said.

“Olivia has said her last words to me,” I said, “this is her last report and it’s official. She’s sacked! It’s out of my hands now.”

“So you’re going to sack me after everything I just said?” Olivia said.

I sighed, “Yes, did you hear a word I just said? You’ve gotten your last report and I can’t do a thing about it. If you had told me your story before it would’ve helped us figure out what to do with you. So I’m sorry Olivia but you’re sacked! Guards please take her away before she says something else that I don’t want to hear.”

Without another word the guards put Olivia in handcuffs and walked her away. I was getting to close the door to my office when I heard someone knock.

“You may enter!” I said.

“Olivia finally got sacked,” said John, “didn’t she?”

“Yeah,” I said, “and with a parting gift in the form of a sob story. I almost felt sorry for the girl, but seeing as I tried everything to help her before this happened I wish she would’ve told me her story before. That probably would’ve worked in her favor. She was probably saving that as a trump card in order not to get sacked. If any case she’s gone now…”

“Okay then…” John said.

“I have a feeling that’s not all you came to talk to me about?” I said.

“Yes,” said John, “have you been able to figure out a way to deal with your stress situation?”

“Yes,” I said, “I’ve been talking to Robert and Jasper about it. And with Robert being my boyfriend I talk to him more and sometimes Sunset when I get a chance to.”

“Oh good,” said John, “I have to admit I was really worried about you. I also heard that you and Jasper are playing chess now?”

“Yeah.” I said.

“I’d never thought I’d see the day when you two would be playing nice instead of beating each other up!” John said.

“So,” I said, “how’d you find out about that?”

“One of Jasper's co-workers told me her name is Chloe,” said John, “if you ask me I think she’s got it bad for Jasper.” 

“You think this because?” I said.

“Because,” said John, “when she talks about him she has a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye.”

At that comment I couldn’t help but laugh. 

“Let’s hope he doesn’t start getting love letters from her!” I said. “Although that would be hilarious! “ 

“Speaking of that,” said John, “did you find out who’s sending you love letters?”

“I have no idea,” I said “and I still don’t want to find out!”

This time John was doubled over in laughter.

“Ha, ha,” I said, “very funny!”

“Okay, okay,” said John, “I’m done, it’s good to know that you’re not turning people into punching bags anymore. I’ve heard Sunset Shimmer’s stepped up your death walker training.”

“Yeah,” I said, “I’m going to practice tomorrow because it’s my off duty training day.”

“I heard she set the enemy number to five hundred! And put their strength to maximum!” John said. “How many have you gotten up to so far?”

“Two hundred so far,” I said, “I’m going to need to get up to five hundred sooner or later. My sister could take on five hundred or more! And that was when she was still alive!”

John whistled, “No wonder why she’s a legend now! She definitely deserves the title!”

“Do you have anything else you want to talk to me about?” I said.

“Yes,” said John, “I’m glad you’re doing better.” 

“Thanks,” I said, "you may go now."

"Yes sir!" John said.

"Please don't call me that!" I said.

As John walked away luaghing I couldn't help but wonder if John just loved to torture me.


*    *    *


The next day Jasper and Robert were watching me train. I was working on using my death walker ablilties this time.

"You think he can get past two hundred this time?" Jasper said. 

"It's his second time training," said Robert, "so I don't know. But you know Norman once he has a goal set before him, he’s bound and determined to reach it."

"Oh boy," said Jasper, "I hope he doesn't push himself too hard because of it!"

"I think he's getting to his limit soon!" Robert said. "He's already up one hundred ninety nine! Now Two hundred! It looks like he can still keep going!"

Jasper whistled at it, "He just can't help himself can he? He really wants to complete his mission!"

"No kidding," said Robert, "but right now, he's just training, so this isn't really a mission. Wait a second… He’s up to two hundred ten! It's only his second go around with this! I'm not surprised though."

“At this rate, it will take no time to catch up with his sister!” Jasper said.

When I turned off the simulator and sat down on a nearby chair because my legs felt like they were about to give out on me.

"You pushed yourself too hard again." Robert said.

"I'm fine Robert!" I said.

"You don't look fine," said Robert, "you look like you're trying to catch your breath!"

"I just stopped so of course I would be out of breath!" I said.

"Huh." Jasper said.

"What is it?" I said.

"It's kind of weird not having Olivia around to watch you train too." Jasper said.

I shrugged, "Fine by me! That's one less person watching me train!"

Jasper laughed, "Yeah, that's true!"

"I was wondering about something." I said. 

"What?" Jasper said.

"Why did Olivia hate you so much in the first place?" I said.

"I have no idea what I did to make her hate me," said Jasper, "but ever since we met it was like hate at first sight!"

At that comment me and Robert couldn't stop laughing and Jasper joined in too.


*    *    *


It's true John mentioned that I used to play guitar thirteen years ago but what I would rather do instead was play the drums. I remembered that I would play the drums every time I got upset about something and for some reason that helped me get my anger out. I also remembered that I played in the marching band back in school.

This time before I started to play had to refresh my memory on how to play. Once I had done that I started playing and after about a half hour of playing I heard a knock on the door. 

"I forgot you could play the drums too!" Robert said. "And I forgot you were good at it!"

"Yeah did you forget I was in the marching band back in school?" I said. "If I recall correctly we were friends back then or did I get that wrong?"

"No you didn't," said Robert, "we were best friends even back then! I knew you were pretty good but I did forget that you played on the drumline too! I've been watching a lot of your home videos with Amethyst, and you did pretty well on the face offs! Your daughter really loves to see how you were when you were younger!"

"That's to be expected," I said, "hmm, I do have videos of Betty when she was younger. Does she watch any of those too?"

"Oh yes definitely!" Robert said. "She's very interested about the family that she was adopted into! What's that look for?"

I shook my head, "True, everything looked fine when the cameras were rolling. But you don't know when the cameras stopped."

"So what happened?" Robert said.

"My mom was an abusive pyshco," I said, "mostly towards Betty. When I tried to stand up for her that was when I wound up getting hit."

"Is that why you feel Betty dying was your fault?" Robert said.

"Because I wasn't there when she was growing up," I said, "I left home when I was about seventeen to work odd jobs with my father to help send money back home. I didn't see Betty again until I was nineteen. By then she was a death walker and I was surprised by what she had to go through because of it. I had been there for her, then maybe she would've made the decision to live." 

"But you should try to start moving past that," said Robert, "just like I said before it happened thirteen years ago since Amethyst was born two days after Betty's birthday."

"I know," I said, "Betty told me the same thing and she's dead and she's the queen of hell."


 *    *    *


The next day at work it was a slow day so Jasper and I were playing a game of chess to kill time. In the middle of the game right when Jasper was about to win he called for a time out.

"What is it Jasper?" I said.

"It's Chloe again," said Jasper, "she's been bugging me a lot lately and it's getting on my nerves! I'm going to go hide now! Please don't tell her where I am!"

"You got it!" I said.

After Jasper went to go hide under his desk, I tried my best to keep from laughing at him. 

"Hey Norman," said Chloe, "where's Jasper? He's usually playing chess with you on a day like today. And from the looks of it he was getting ready to win wasn't he?"

 I shrugged, "He just had to run off for a little bit and no I don't know where he went."

"Did he say when he'll be back?" Chole said.

"I have no idea," I said, "he does have other things take care of you know! I mean that's because he's my second in command and all..."

By this time, I was really trying very hard not to laugh.

"So why do you keep asking about him?" I said.

"Because he's a total hunk and I've got my eye on him!" Chole said, "Trust me, I'm not the only girl that likes him around here!"

"Yeah," I said, "just because you have it bad for the guy doesn't mean he wants to play ball. As a matter of fact, why don't you take a picture? It'll last longer!"

"Oh please!" Chloe said. "I don't need a picture if you know what I mean?"

I did a face palm and shook my head, "From what I can tell he's not interested!"

"How do you know?" Chole said. "He could be waiting for the perfect opportunity to ask me out. I can't wait for that to happen! It's only proper that the guy ask the girl out don't you think?"

"Gee," I said, "I think that's only going to happen if he's interested. And I know when someone's not interested, and I don't think he's got it in for you!" 

"Uh-huh," said Chole, "oh well. I'll see him around sooner or later. I have to get back to my desk."

As soon as Chole left I couldn't hold my laughter in aymore.
> 15) Enemy of the Throne
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was heading to my office after my lunch break. I just about to turn the corner and I heard Jasper and Chole talking, I stopped because I was curious about what they were talking about.

“Oh come on Jasper,” said Chole, “you know you like me! Just ask me out already! You know you want to!”

“Do you have a screw loose?” Jasper said. “Or do you need your hearing checked? I said no! I’d rather be mauled by a rampaging bull then go out on a date with you!”

“So you have a girlfriend already don’t you?” Chole said. “I’m not surprised though.”

“No,” said Jasper, “I’m single and I’m not interested!”

“Oh so the spots open then?” Chole said. “I can wait for you.”

“For the last time Chole,” said Jasper, “I just told you no and to add onto that I’m gay! Well you just leave me alone already?”

“Awww,” said Chole, “how could a sexy guy like you be gay? I don’t believe it! That’s got to be a joke!”

Without warning Chole kissed Jasper and he gagged on it.

“Don’t worry Jasper,” said Chole, “I know you want me! We should be together don’t you see? It’s destiny!”

“Fat chance of that happening!” Jasper said.

Before Chole could say or do anything else Jasper turned around and ran as fast as he could away from her. Little did he know I was around the corner listening.

“Let me guess,” I said, “you tried to turn the girl down easy?”

“Yup,” said Jasper, “and that totally backfired!”

I cracked up, “Yeah, the girl obviously didn’t get the hint!”

“That’s not funny Norman!” Jasper said.

“Yeah it is,” I said, “now you know how I feel! You’ll get a crowd of women watching you train now!”

“Let’s hope not,” said Jasper, “what is with women these days! I know you said that women were annoying. I now know what you were talking about!”

“Well at least I have a sane girlfriend instead of one that’s crazy!” I said. “Good thing I didn’t have Olivia fall for me! She was crazy too! I didn’t realize that until her last words to me!”

“Yeah,” said Jasper, “about that, did she say anything to that effect when she told you her last words?”

I just about choked on what Jasper just said.

“What are you talking about Jasper?” I said.

Jasper smiled, “Olivia did fall for you! Remember when you came around the corner and we both went silent on you?”

“Yeah?” I said. I really didn’t want to hear what Jasper was going to say next but he said it.

“And remember when Olivia said something about a total hunk that had just enlisted?” Jasper said.

“Ah…” I did want to respond to that at all. I guess the look on my face said it all because Jasper would not stop laughing and I could feel myself turning red.

“Was she the one who…” I said.

“Wrote the letters?” Jasper laughed. “That would be a no!”

“Why do you think that?” I said.

“Because I heard her and Robert talking about it!” Jasper said. 

“If it’s not Olivia does Robert know who it is? Because if he does I’m going to kill him!” I said. Jasper started laughing again and he stopped laughing after a while.

“Honestly,” said Jasper, “think about it Norman! If Robert knew who it was he would’ve said something! I know because he’s been doing some investigating himself. He even told me that he’s getting pissed about the letters! I think he just wants it to stop because you’re uncomfortable with it. Until you figure out who it is I don’t think the letters will stop.” 

“Great!” I said. “And I’m going to pretend you didn’t just tell me that Olivia had feelings for me and exactly how do you know about the love letters?”

“Oh that’s easy!” Jasper laughed. “It’s been circulating around everywhere! I’m surprised you didn’t hear the girls whispering every time you walked by them!”

“Actually I did,” I sighed, “I just pretended not to hear it! It’s still happening and it’s getting on my nerves!” 

“Ha, ha,” said Jasper, “oh well maybe one of the lucky ladies will get a chance to join your herd, that is if it’s a lady!”

“Not funny Jasper!” I said. “If any case, have fun with the women watching you train!”

“Yeah, yeah whatever!” Jasper said. 


*    *    *


It happened just as I thought it would happen. On the next off duty training day there was a crowd of women watching Jasper train and Chole was in the thick of it. As always there was a crowd of women watching me train on the simulator with Sunset. 

“You know,” said Sunset, “you can use your sword too! It is a death walker weapon after all.”

“Oh, sure…” I said. I didn’t realize that I wasn’t my sword until Sunset said something about it. I guess I didn’t feel that need to.

As usual it’s not until I couldn’t summon anymore of my death walker abilities that Sunset turned off the simulator. 

“Not bad Norman,” said Sunset, “you got two hundred fifty this time! You’ve been practicing lately haven’t you?”

“I only do so when I get a chance to!” I said.

“And it totally shows!” Sunset said. 

“Thanks,” I said, “now if I could get rid of the crowd of women watching me, that would be great!”

“Maybe you could dump more of them on Jasper?” Sunset laughed.

“Yeah I doubt that,” I said, “not to mention now there’s a love song playing about me on the radio!”

Sunset fell into laughing uncontrollably.

“I don’t think anything about this is funny!” I said.

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

I rolled my eyes, “Yeah, and I’m letting her join my ‘herd’ either! It’s called family to me but it’s the same difference I guess.”

“So you figured out who wrote it?” Sunset said.

“Yeah,” I said, “a co-worker that’s also a second in command for another general. Her name is Liz. I tried to turn her down easy but the girls off her rocker and can’t take the hint! It’s just like Chole with Jasper!”

“That’s funny,” said Sunset, “you can figure out who wrote a song about you but you can’t figure out who wrote the love letters? How many have you gotten now?”

I groaned, “Six… And Robert’s pissed off about it too.”

“I know,” said Sunset, “he told me. I’m not surprised, I’m a little pissed off by it too.”

“Yup,” I said, “because I’m general, I can’t necessarily hide under a rock. Which I want to and as far knowing who wrote the love song AppleJack told me who it was. It’s getting really annoying! Girls keep coming forward saying they wrote the love letters!”

“How do you know if it’s not them?” Sunset said.

“Because I ask them what was written in it,” I said, “and so far none of them has been able to tell me the correct answer.”

“Interesting…” Sunset said.


*    *    *


When I came around the corner to my office I just about skidded to a stop when I saw her. It was like she was waiting for me to come by. 

“Hey Norman!” Liz said. “Did you hear my song today? Exactly when are we going to get together?”

“For the last time Liz,” I said, “I’m not interested!”

“Oh come on,” said Liz, “you’ve already got one woman in your group what’s wrong with one more?”

“I’m not letting you join my ‘herd’!” I said. “You’re not invited!”

Without warning the same thing that Chole did to Jasper, Liz did to me. She then hugged me which caught me off guard. I didn’t hug her back in return. 

“I said no Liz!” I said. I gently pushed her away from me.

“What’s the matter Norman?” Liz said. “I don’t see anything wrong with a kiss and hug!”

“Uh-huh,” I said, “as I just said before you’re not invited! Now I have some paperwork to take care of in my office and please don’t follow me!”

I ran as fast as I could to my office and quickly closed the door. Right when I had done that I heard a knock on the door and I really wanted to pretend that I wasn’t there. 

“I really don’t want to say what I have to say,” I said, “you may enter!”

I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that it was Jasper.

“I see you’re having a ruff time with the ladies too huh?” Jasper said. 

“Yup,” I said, “at least you don’t have any songs written about you yet!”

Jasper really wanted to laugh but he chose not to. 

“I heard your love song,” said Jasper, “I think it’s sweet of her to do that. Maybe it’ll become famous one day?”

“I hope not!” I said.


*    *    *


“Are you serious commander?” I said.

“I wish I could say that I wasn’t,” said Rainbow Dash, “but unfortunately I am. Olivia escaped custody and is now a fugitive. She’s to be brought back dead or alive. Since she was your former teammate I’m sending you with your second in command on this one!”

“Yes ma’am!” I said.

“Now,” said Rainbow Dash, “we’ve pin pointed her last location because she has a tracking device implanted under her skin. It’s standard protocol for all prisoners. There’s no way she could take it out, unless she wants to bleed to death. Olivia can’t evade us for long. Since she knows you, it’s possible she will come back willingly. If not, bring her back dead do you understand?” 

I sighed, “I don’t know if she’ll come back willingly, commander.”

“And why’s that?” Rainbow Dash said. 

“Oh yeah that’s right,” said Second Luke, “I have the recording of her last words here.”

Second Luke played the recording of Olivia’s last words before the guards led her away in handcuffs. When Rainbow Dash heard it her jaw dropped.

“Well then,” said Rainbow Dash, ”even after hearing what I just heard she needs to be brought back dead. If she doesn’t value her comrades that means she doesn’t value me and she definitely doesn’t value the princess either! She would probably let the princess die just to win a war! And that makes her an enemy of the throne! So even though it hurts because she was your former teammate and friend. The job still needs to be done!”

I looked down at the floor because I really didn’t want to have to do that. 

“Look,” said Luke, “Commander Rainbow Dash is right, I know it’s going to be hard but I know you and your second in command can get this done.”

Rainbow Dash sighed, “I’m sorry that it’s come down to this General Norman but it has to be done, you’re dismissed!”

“Yes ma’am!” I said. I hung my head as I walked out of the office. I really didn’t want to kill Olivia even if her last words were crazy.


*    *    *


I told Jasper what Rainbow Dash had told me and his jaw dropped.

“Why would they want her back dead?” Jasper said. “Were her last words really that bad?”

“Yup,” I said, “enough to make her an enemy of the throne and what Commander Rainbow Dash told me she’s a threat to the princess too.”

Jasper bit his bottom lip I could tell he didn’t want to kill Olivia anymore than I did.

“Well,” I said, “I guess we’d better get moving the sooner we rip the bandage off the better…”


*    *    *


When we got to Olivia’s last location she didn’t hide or cower in fear that we had come to her at all. She had the most evil smile that I had ever seen and that was enough to make my blood run cold.

“Hello boys,” said Olivia, “it’s so nice to see you again! And my, my Norman you’re looking more sexy since the last time I saw you!”

“It hasn’t been that long since you last saw me Olivia,” I said, “it’s only been a week!”

Olivia smirked, “It’s been only that long? I must’ve hit my head on something! Either way you’re still my sexy general!”

“What is your problem Olivia?” Jasper said. “I mean know you’re pissed off at Norman for not giving you the job of second in command but did you really have to go that far?”

Olivia put her index finger on her chin and looked like she was thinking about something.

“Well?” Jasper said. “Do you have an answer for us or not?”

“Oh I have an answer for you alright!” Olivia said. “Just face it Jasper, I would’ve been better for the job of second in command and Norman knows it!”

“Excuse me?” I snarled. “Did you pay attention to anything we talked about with your last words?”

“Yeah, yeah, “ said Olivia, “oh and the other reason I would’ve let Jasper die, is because I didn’t love him like I love you Norman!”

“Are you kidding me Olivia?” Jasper said.

“No,” said Olivia, “I’m not kidding! Just like I said before Jasper you’re an ugly duckling!”

“I wouldn’t have been interested anyway!” Jasper said. “I’m gay!”

“Oh?” Olivia said with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t believe you! Why don’t you come here and prove it?”

“And I have to prove anything to you because?” Jasper said.

Olivia fell out laughing as she had just played an awesome prank on us.

“Well,” said Jasper, “I don’t have any problem killing her now!”

I laughed, “I’m getting there but not quite.” 

“That’s what the commander’s orders were?” Olivia laughed. “Now you wouldn’t do that to me now Norman? I can tell by the look on your face that you don’t want to! Besides you would never kill a lady would you?”

By that time I was really pissed off and I was thinking about giving her a painless death but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do that yet. Olivia had that evil smile on her face again and I did not like that look at all. 

“Since you’re supposedly gay Jasper,” said Olivia, “I think I can help you with that. You Norman I have something special for you! Starting with these…”

My eyes went wide in terror as she threw flower pedals and made sure they landed in a trail between me and her. I felt even more terror when I realized that the flower pedals were shaped like hearts. I looked back up at her and she winked at me and blew a kiss.

“There’s no way,” I said, “that I would do that with you at all!”

“So you’re on to me!” Olivia said. “It’s funny though, cause you didn’t pick up on any of my hints when I was working with you!”

“What is she talking about Norman?” Jasper said.

I pointed at the flower petals, “Do you not see the heart-shaped flower pedals or are you blind?”

“What?” Jasper said. He looked at where I was pointing and looked as though he was trying to process the information he had just been given. When he finally got what I was saying he was pissed.

“You wouldn’t dare Olivia!” Jasper said. 

Once again Olivia laughed as if she had just played a prank. She laughed so hard she had tears in her eyes. When Jasper saw this he went from pissed to seething with rage.

“Aww,” said Olivia, “did I hurt Jasper’s feelings? Anyway I’m done talking! Are you two coming to kill me or not? Actually that’s not going to happen!”

“Why’s that?” Jasper snarled.

“Because I have friends,” said Olivia, “I made friends on the last mission that I was on before I got sacked! Oh boys!”

Olivia snapped her fingers and six guys came out of the shadows one of the guys that was standing right beside her smiled at us. 

“Are these the two guys,” said the man, “that you have beef with?”

“Yes Jay,” said Olivia, “these two are the ones, that one over there is Jasper you can have fun with him in a moment he just confessed to me that he’s gay. But Norman over here is the one that I want. I already put out the signal see?”

Olivia pointed to the flower petals and Jay nodded. 

“I understand,” said Jay, “looks like you two haven’t had your honeymoon yet! I’ll make sure that happens!”

“Just knock Norman out and tie him up first!” Olivia said. “Then you can have fun with Jasper!”

I backed up trying to get away from them but two of the guys from Jay’s group had gotten behind me and held my arms behind me back.

“Olivia!” Jasper said. “Leave him alone!”

“And why would I do that?” Olivia said.

As the two guys were holding my arms behind my back Jay came up and put his hands around my neck. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was Olivia smiling at me. She came over and whispered into my ear.

“And I thought generals didn’t need a team!” Olivia whispered. “Oh well, it sucks to be you!”


*    *    *


When I finally came to, I was tied to a chair and my sword was sitting on a table next to me. 

“Where am I?” I croaked. I heard Olivia laughing and I looked around trying to figure out where I was. Good thing I was trained on how to get out of a chair that I was tied up in. But the fact that Olivia was standing in front of me stopped me before I could even try to get out. 

“You’re so cute because you’re confused,” said Olivia, “I’m glad my sexy general is finally awake. I’m going to say this again just to be spiteful, I thought generals didn’t need a team!”

“And did you even hear the other part that I said? Unless it’s a difficult assignment! Why do you think they sent Jasper to help?“ I said.

“And one more thing,” said Olivia, “you really should start figuring out where you are and fast! I’ll give you a hint, do you know what’s on the floor?”

I looked down to see the same flower petals that she had thrown at me earlier and gulped. I looked in front of me to see that Olivia was sitting on a bed. I also saw that sitting beside her were my pants.

“Not good!” I panicked. “Not good at all!”

Olivia that evil smile on her face again.

“What’s not good Norman?” Olivia said. “I think this is perfect! Now that Jasper’s finally out of the way, me and you can have some alone time!”

“Last time I checked,” I said, “I said no!”

Olivia chuckled, “That’s too bad really but either way this is going to be fun!”

“Get away from me!” I screamed.

Before I could even try to get out the chair that I was tied up in Olivia was on top of me. Now I was even more determined to get out of the chair and complete my job at all costs. I wasn’t about to get raped by Olivia if I had a thing or two to say about it.

“Humph,” said Olivia, “you look scared and pissed at the same time! Too bad, because you’re not going anywhere!”

Before she could kiss me, I spit in her face. She wiped her face off and snarled at me.

“Now,” said Olivia, “that wasn’t very nice Norman! You’re not going to get another chance to do that!”

“As if, I said no-“ I said. I couldn’t finish my sentence because Olivia kissed me. After she did that I heard footsteps running up to the room. The next thing I knew Olivia had an arrow in her shoulder which stunned her enough to knock her off me. Before Olivia even hit the ground Jasper ran up and broke her neck. I got out of the chair without his help and got to my feet. When I realized that my pants were still off I turned around so Jasper couldn’t see.

“Did she do anything to you?” Jasper said. I could hear the anger in Jasper’s voice. 

“She kissed me and that was it.” I said. “It’s a good thing you came along, I suspect you’ll win a medal for that.”

Jasper immediately doubled over in laughter. 

“What’s so funny?” I said.

“No I don’t think so,” Jasper said, “I just saved you from getting raped! I didn’t save you from falling off a building to your doom! There’s a difference!”

“Gee,” I said, “thank you? Can you hand my pants over so I can turn around?”

“No problem!” Jasper said as he handed my pants to me and I put them on. 

I turned around to see Jasper trying hard not to laugh.

“You know your boyfriend is right about one thing.” Jasper said.

“Right about what?” I said.

“You worry about protecting everyone else,” said Jasper, “but don’t you think it’s time that someone protected you?”

“O..Kay?” I said.

“Well,” said Jasper, “I’ve reached my decision.”

“About what?” I said.

“Seeing that I helped protect you from Olivia,” said Jasper, “I’ll be your protector from now on!”

“Ah…” I had no idea what to say to him next.

“I think it’s time to get Olivia out of here,” said Jasper, “don’t you think?”

“Yup,” I said, “I’m glad I have a sane girlfriend because every other woman is just plain psycho.”


*    *    *


We got back from the assignment and Jasper dropped Olivia’s body in front of John. I started to walk away trying to avoid seeing John take the body apart. 

“I think you might want to stay for this one.” John said.

“Do I have to?” I said.

John nodded, “Let’s see here…”

John cut out the tracking device and put in a small machine that he had.

“Yup,” said John, “the device and the blood sample checks out as her. Now, we’re going to need a brain sample just to be sure.”

“Seriously John?” I said.

“Yup,” said John, “I’m totally serious!”

When I saw John cutting into Olivia’s skull and removing a piece of her brain, I just about threw up where I was standing. Apparently Jasper found it comical because he couldn’t keep a straight face.

“Yup!” John said. “It’s her!”

“Okay then,” I said, “can I go now?”

“Yeah I’m done general.” John said. “The nearest bathroom is down the hall, second door on the left!”

“I’m out of here!” I said as I ran out of John’s office fast but not fast enough before I heard Jasper and John laughing. 


*    *    *


“Hi there!” Sunset said after she knocked on my bedroom door.

“Hi Sunset.” I said.

“I heard about your mission to capture Olivia,” said Sunset, “Jasper told me.”

“I was about to get out of that chair on my own,” I said, “I’ve been trained on how to do that!”

“Yeah right!” Sunset said. “And you were about to get away from the guy that was strangling you. Uh-huh…”

I didn’t say anything to her, I couldn’t overlook the fact that Commander Rainbow Dash sent Jasper with me to help for a reason and I guess that was it. I curled my legs closer to me and put my head in them.

“I think it’s cute that Jasper wants to be your protector,” said Sunset, “Robert and I gave him our blessing!”

I bit the inside of my cheek and really wanted to say some snappy remark to her, but I couldn’t think of what to say. 

“So,” said Sunset, “when you gonna tell Jasper you have feelings for him?”

“Excuse me?” I said.

“Oh please,” said Sunset, “I have radar for when two people like each other! And Robert’s told me you two have been playing games of chess on your slow days! I wonder why that is…”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” I said. 

“Oh you don’t?” Sunset said. “Then why don’t you play chess with someone else in the office? There’s plenty of people that would love to play with you! And to add onto that Robert’s seen the way you look at him sometimes. It’s funny you don’t notice how you behave around him. That’s hilarious to me because you two were enemies when you first met.” 

“I still have no idea what you’re talking about! And I’m totally not listening!” I said. “Nope, not listening at all!”

“Oh,” said Sunset, “Robert figured who’s been writing the love letters!”

“Wait a minute!” I said. “Why didn’t he tell me first?” 

“He’s been busy lately,” said Sunset, “so he asked me to tell you. I think you’ll be interested to find out who it is!”

“I thought I said I don’t want to know!” I said. 

Sunset snorted, “Now that we know who the love letters are coming from it just might stop but only if you talk to him!”

“Wait,” I said, “it’s not who I think it is?”

“Why do you think Jasper wants to be your protector?” Sunset said. 

“Oh hell no!” I said. 

Sunset couldn’t help laugh, “Yup, it’s your one and only Jasper!”

I bit my tongue as Sunset walked away laughing and hard. I wanted to run after her and deck her in the face. But I held myself back from doing so. I tried to rack my brain to figure out if Robert and Sunset were right. I took a couple of deep breaths to calm myself down because I realized that it just might be true.
> 16) Confessions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the mission happened with capturing Olivia I couldn’t seem to get my mind off it, even when I played the drums to help. The memory just kept playing in my mind over and over again. I kept thinking that I wished Olivia had just told me her story. In seeing that she had every opportunity to tell us I didn’t really blame myself for her death, that was her fault. But the memory kept coming back all the same. I guess the thing that haunted me in the memory was that evil smile that she had on her face when we first came to find her. So instead of playing the drums I figured the one thing I could try to help get my mind off what happened was to train on the simulator. This time, I didn’t care if I hit the goal of five hundred or not, I just wanted to turn someone into a punching bag. With training on the simulator I could do that no problem. Of course it wasn’t too long into my training that I wasn’t alone. I knew that Jasper and Robert were watching what they were talking about me this time, like all the other times before I really didn’t want to know. 

“Wow,” said Robert, “he’s been training on the simulator a lot lately ever since he got back from the last mission. Since you were with him do you know what his problem is Jasper?”

“I kind of do,” said Jasper, “every time I even say the name Olivia he sits there like he’s paralyzed in fear for a few seconds and then he snaps out of it. I suspect it’s because Olivia almost raped him.”

“Oh…” Robert said. “I’d probably be traumatized too if something like that happened to me! I try to get to him to talk about it. But no success on that one. Maybe I’ll try your approach?”

Jasper choked, “Yeah I’m not so sure you want to do that.” 

Robert nodded, “Yeah you’re right but there’s got to be another way to get him to talk.”

“I stopped saying Olivia by the way,” said Jasper, “when I said I was going to protect him and I meant it.”

Robert and Jasper had a moment of silence between them. After some time, Robert grinned, “Speaking of protecting him, when are you going to tell him that you’ve been writing the love letters?”

Jasper didn’t say anything he just looked away and Robert went into fits of laughter.

“Um… I don’t think anything about that’s funny Robert!” Jasper said. After saying this his face turned red.

“Judging by your reaction,” said Robert, “that confirms it! I do believe he has feelings for you too!”

“And you think that because?” Jasper said.

“Do you ever notice the way he acts around you sometimes?” Robert said.

“Ah…” Jasper had no idea how to respond to him. “I’d rather not talk about that right now! Oh look at that! Norman got up to three hundred now!”

“Fine,” said Robert, “don’t talk to me about it. But you two are going to have to talk sooner or later.”

Jasper shook his head, “Not going to happen any time soon. I’ll just stick to dropping him hints!”

Robert snorted, “You really that’s going to work? He’s not very good at noticing the obvious! I know, he didn’t pick up on my hints until I told him. Come to think it wasn’t really telling him it was more like me and Sunset ambushed him!”

“So you think I should do that too?” Jasper said. 

“That’s up to you,” said Robert, “you can back him into a corner for all I care! Sunset and I give you our blessings!”

“Uh… Thank You?” Jasper said. 


*    *    *


I had hit my limit at three hundred five enemies and couldn’t summon any more of my death walker abilities. I turned the simulator off. Just like last time I found a nearby chair to sit down and catch my breath. When I saw Jasper and Robert, I almost smiled at Jasper but looked away instead. It felt comforting to see Jasper.

“Hi guys…” I mumbled.

Annoyingly, Robert struggled to keep a straight face.

“You just can’t help yourself can you?” Robert said.

“Huh?” I said.

Robert rolled his eyes, “Every time you have a goal to reach you just want to reach it at all costs! Duh! What else would I be talking about? Unless…”

“Okay then,” I said, “I’m done training for now so yeah, I’m out of here.”

I couldn’t walk away fast enough because Robert took the opportunity to pinch my butt as soon as I stood up. I almost decked him for it.

“What was that for?” I said.

“Oh nothing…” Robert said as he stood looking up at the ceiling and whistling at the same time.

“Yeah,” said Jasper, “I also have some things to take care of. So I’ll see you around the office Norman.”

Jasper ran away from us as fast as he could while Robert couldn’t stop laughing.

“Honestly Robert!” I said. “What’s gotten into you? Have you gone stupid on me or something?” 

“Did you notice he didn’t say goodbye to me too?” Robert said. “You really don’t know how to pick on hints do you?”

“What are you talking about?” I said. “ Are you a matchmaker or something?”

“I’m not playing matchmaker Norman,” said Robert, “and you know it! You’re just in denial! You won’t be sooner or later! That is if Sunset and I have a thing or two to say about it!”

“You wouldn’t dare!” I said.

“Maybe, maybe not!” Robert said. “I just wanted you to brace yourself that’s all.”

I bit my tongue and walked away from Robert so I wouldn’t do anything that I would regret.


*    *    *


When I got home I saw Cozy Glow and Sunset sitting on the couch watching home video about Betty when she was younger.

“Aww,” said mom, “what a beautiful new dress!”

It was pretty obvious that Betty was trying so hard not to roll her eyes.

“Now, spin around for me,” said mom, “I want to capture that beautiful dress on camera!”

As I was watching this I realized that mom only complimented the dress and not Betty.

“Hey mom,” said Betty, “you wanna see what I can do with my wings? You haven’t watched me fly yet! Please can I show you? My mentor says I’m doing really good considering I’m half human! She even said I’m the best flyer in the whole class! Please?”

“No,” said mom, “and I don’t want you asking that question again! Got it?” 

“But-“ Betty said.

“No Betty!” Mom said. “Go outside and play! I’m making your favorite dinner tonight because you just look beautiful in that dress! And don’t get your new dress dirty either!”

My eyes had tears in them as I remembered what happened after that. Mom had caught Betty practicing her flying outdoors. Betty knew that mom was embarrassed by her flying. She didn’t fly higher than a foot in air so the neighbors wouldn’t see. I remember watching her in awe and wishing that I could fly with her. When mom had seen Betty flying she was seething with rage and yanked Betty by the tail dragging her back inside the house and tied her wings behind her back and kept her out of school for a week just because of flying. When that happened I didn’t understand why Betty had gotten into so much trouble for that when she was doing what came naturally to her. How did mom expect someone with wings not be allowed to fly? Not to mention mom should’ve been proud that her daughter was the best flyer in the whole class! I had no idea why mom was so angry back then I still don’t have any idea to this day.

As I stood there watching the video Cozy Glow finally noticed that I was standing behind her. 

“Hi dad,” said Cozy Glow, “are you okay? We were just watching a video about Betty! She was so adorable when she was younger! Just like you were!”

“Thanks Amethyst,” I said, “yeah she was cute wasn’t she?”

Cozy Glow took the video out of the player and put another video and I started to walk  away when Sunset grabbed my arm.

“Um Amethyst,” said Sunset, “I know you want to watch another video but I need to talk to your father alone for a moment. We can watch videos later. Maybe you can go outside and practice your death walker training?”

“Yes ma’am!” Cozy Glow said.

As soon as Cozy Glow left I really wanted to cry after seeing that video.

“What’s wrong Norman?” Sunset said. “Betty was just showing off her new dress?”

“No,” I said trying to keep myself calm, “Betty wasn’t showing off her new dress! Mom just wanted to record that and only that! She should have recorded her flying instead! But no mom just had to be psychopath!”

“What happened after the fact?” Sunset said. 

“Mom yanked her by the tail when she was just practicing her flying!” I said. “Then she tied Betty’s wings behind her back for a whole week! I’m glad Betty killed her! I just wish I could’ve been there to help her do it!”

After I said that I took a couple of deep breaths to try and calm myself down, it worked but only for the moment.

“I’m going upstairs…” I said. Before Sunset could say another word I went up to my room, locked the bedroom door and stayed there for the rest of the day.


*    *    *


The next day I went downstairs to see Jasper sitting on the couch next to Robert. 

“Uh,” I said, “Robert? What is Jasper doing here?”

“Oh hey Norman! I was wondering when you were going to wake up!” said Robert, “I was getting to come and wake you up anyway! Second Luke gave me your videos of your progress reports. I just decided to invite Jasper so we could watch it together!”

“Uh-huh and did you just say we?” I said. I narrowed eyes at Robert because it looked like he was up to something.

“Yes we,” said Robert, “now sit down and watch or I’ll make you!”

“And how are you going to do that?” I said.

“I’ll tie you up and sit on you!” Robert said.

As soon as Robert said that I stood there frozen in horror. It brought back the memory of what happened with Olivia. 

“Oh boy!” Jasper said. “I know what that look is about! Did you forget what I told you Robert?”

“Oh…” Robert said. “Sorry Norman but if any case you might want to sit down and watch this should be entertaining!”

I sat down and Robert played the video. I watched my first fight after I became general. In the fight they paired me up with another general and lieutenant. 

The fight started when the general tried to land a punch to my face. I caught his fist no problem but that’s when the lieutenant came at me from behind. I released the generals fist just time to dodge the lieutenant by jumping over his head. That fight was not a win for me in the slightest because the fight ended when the general was finally able to trip me and the lieutenant landed a punch to the face knocking me out in the process. When Jasper and Robert saw how the fight ended they winced as if showing sympathy for me.

“Yeah,” I said looking away, “that wasn’t one of my best moments. Not to mention that was right after being made general.”

“That’s okay,” said Jasper, “even the star students are going to lose a fight eventually. You win some, you lose some, at least that's what my father always told me.”

We continued the videos of other fights that I had done. Some of the fights I had won and some I lost. When we finally finished watching, Robert nudged Jasper’s shoulder. 

“What?” Jasper said practically glaring at Robert.

“Isn’t there something you want to back Norman into a corner for?” Robert said. 

I knew it! I thought. He is up to something!

“I have no idea,” said Jasper, “what you’re talking about!”

“Oh really?” Robert said. 

I was about to go wring Robert’s neck when he got behind me and pushed me towards Jasper and somehow we wound up kissing. I wanted to hold him, instead I pushed him away.

“Robert!” I snapped. “What did you do that for?”

“You two really need to sit down and have a long talk with each other!” Robert said. “Or kiss it doesn’t matter which one!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Jasper and I said.

Robert pointed to a corner behind the Tv, “Oh really uh-huh, by the way Jasper there’s a corner you can back Norman into. I think you two should have some fun in it don’t you think?”

“Excuse me?” Jasper said. “Yeah, I’m out of here! See you later!”

“I’m going to kill you Robert!” I said as soon as Jasper ran out the room.

“Did Sunset tell you who the love letters are coming from?” Robert said. 

“Yeah she did,” I said, “and I’m going to pretend that Sunset didn’t tell me!”

“Aww,” said Robert, “you two are in denial! That won’t be for very long Norman!”

“Why you little jerk!” I said. Before I could grab Robert by the shirt and strangle him, Sunset came into the room with a grin on her face.

“What’s going on Robert?” Sunset said. “Did you just play a prank on Norman or something?” 

“More like or something!” Robert laughed. Then he stuck his tongue. I couldn’t react fast enough because Robert ran out of the room before I could do anything and Sunset ran out along with him.


*    *    *



On a slow day at work so Jasper and I were playing a game of chess. I had stopped playing and started to stare off into space for some reason. I had no idea why Jasper stopped playing. I guess probably because he didn’t want to play chess alone.

“Hello!” Chole said as she waved her hand in front of Jasper’s face. Jasper didn’t respond to her and neither did I. “Seriously you two what’s with the day dreaming lately? You two usually don’t have any problem playing chess! Are you listening to me Jasper?”

“Huh?” Jasper said. “What were you saying? I didn’t hear it, can you repeat that?”

“I was asking what’s with day dreaming?” Chole said.

Jasper raised a eyebrow, “What day dreaming, we were just playing a game of-“

Jasper looked down at the game puzzled at why we stopped playing. 

“Looks like Norman’s day dreaming the most!” Chole said. “Is he in la-la land or something?”

Truth is I didn’t know if I was daydreaming or not was just staring off into nowhere. Jasper then tugged on my ear and I snapped out of it.

“Are you okay Norman?” Jasper said. 

I nodded, “Yeah I’m fine…”

When Chole saw that Jasper had tugged on my ear to snap me out of whatever I was doing she looked pissed. I just about laughed because of it but Jasper beat me to it. As Jasper was laughing Chole looked like she was about ready to punch him. I stood up and stretched. 

“Well this has been fun,” I said, “but we have an hour before we’re supposed to clock out I should clock out. I should go take care of some paperwork! Later Jasper!”

When I started to walk away, what Chloe next said made me laugh, “Jasper? You have a checkmate! You’re so much smarter than Norman! I’m surprised you didn’t make general!”


*    *    *


I was standing outside the kitchen when I heard Robert and Sunset talking about me and Jasper. Loud enough to make me wonder if they wanted me to hear them.

“I have no idea what we’re going to do with those two!” Robert said.

“Yeah,” said Sunset, “they’re really in denial! I don’t know which one’s in denial the most Jasper or Norman! Either way it’s getting on my nerves!”

“You’re telling me!” Robert said. “I think we should take care of this today! Actually I have a plan… I just thought I’d run this by you first.”

“What do you have in mind?” Sunset said.

“I told Jasper to come over to help me with something!” Robert laughed. 

I could hear Sunset’s wicked laughter. “That’s perfect! Good idea Robert! And he’ll be helping with something alright!”

I heard a knock on the door right after I heard what Sunset just said.

Great! I thought. Now Jasper’s here! What are they planning? Somehow I don’t think I want to know.

Before I could run away Robert got to the door. 

“Hey Robert,” said Jasper, “you said you wanted help with something?”

“Yup,” Robert said, “I need your help on something alright!”

Robert smirked and I just stood there not sure of what to do next. Jasper stopped and he took on a look of horror.

“The thing I need help with is upstairs!” Robert said, grabbing Jasper’s arm.

“Hell no!” I said. I turned around to run but Sunset grabbed me by the arm. “Let me go Sunset!”

“Nope,” said Sunset, “you may not have a busted shoulder any more but I’m still stronger than you! And I’ll use my death walker abilities if need be for this!”

“You wouldn’t dare!” I said.

“Try me!” Sunset said.

I bit my tongue because I knew she was being serious. 

“Come on!” Robert said, dragging Jasper by his arm and he was digging in his heels. 

“This is not cool you two!” I said. “Let me go!”

“I totally agree with Norman!” Jasper said. “Let me go too!”

As soon as we got to my bedroom Robert and Sunset made us sit on the bed. 

“You two need to talk about this now!” Sunset said. “You’re both in denial and we’d prefer it if you two knock it off!”

“Knock what off Sunset?” I said. “And this is not cool at all!”

“I’m especially annoyed with you Jasper!” Robert said.

“What did I do?” Jasper said.

“Just admit you have feelings for my boyfriend already!” Robert said. “Hey I told you that you can back him up into a corner for all I care! And you can sleep with the guy too!”

“Excuse me?” I said.

“Same thing goes for me!” Sunset said. “You two have our blessings! Have fun you two!”

“Why you little-“ Jasper and I said.

We didn’t get a chance to say anything else because Sunset and Robert ran out of the room and locked the door so quick we didn’t have time to blink. As soon as they left Jasper took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“What’s wrong Jasper?” I said.

I could tell Jasper really didn’t want to say what he was going to say next.

“They’re right…” Jasper said.

“Oh boy…” I said. There was an awkward silence between us when Jasper spoke first.

“Have you noticed that we've been acting goofy around each other lately?” Jasper said.

“Ah…” I said. I knew it was true but I didn’t want to admit it.

“I’m the one that’s been writing the letters…” Jasper mumbled. 

“What was that?” I said.

“I wrote the love letters!” Jasper shouted and covered his mouth in surprise. “Did you count how many love letters that were sent to you?”

I paused and nodded, “Seven… If you’re the one that wrote them can you tell me a line that’s in them?”

Jasper nodded and I sat frozen as he whispered into my ear a line from one of the letters. My eyes went wide and I could feel my face turn red. 

“Okay.” I squeaked. “Now what?”

The next thing I knew I was sitting on Jasper’s lap. I had no idea how that happened. Thing was I didn’t mind it at all, unlike what happened with Olivia. I felt the warmth of Jasper's arms and didn’t want to leave.

“Hum…” Jasper said. “I never thought I’d get a chance to hold you. I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do. I said I was going to protect you and that’s what I intend to do. Even if it means protecting you from myself.” 

I paused and looked him in the eye. I knew that I needed to respond to that but I couldn’t think of anything to say. The next thing I knew Jasper and I kissed. For real this time and not because Robert had pushed me into him. At that moment all I wanted to do was be with Jasper. That was when we both admitted our feelings for each other.



*    *    *


For some reason Second Luke decided to tell a handful of us including me to meet him at that training area for high ranking officers and it was on an off duty training day. Everyone that Second Luke told to meet him here stood in the training area looking very confused. The reason why we were confused is that normally on off duty training all of us usually train alone and on our own terms. After we met Second Luke and he greeted us, he left and went to the observation room.

“I’ve called you here to evaluate your fighting skills!” Luke said as he got on the intercom for the training area. “No this isn’t a fight to the death! You guys know for a fact that it never is on your off duty training days!”

“He’s got to be kidding!” another general said that was in the group.

“I don’t think he’s joking!” I said. “I know that look Second Luke has on his face and he’s not kidding!”

“Great!” the same general said.

“Now,” said Luke, “begin!”

When the fight started all the other generals looked straight at me with menacing grins and cracked their knuckles. They advanced quickly and I dodged three of them no problem. They decided to play monkey in the middle. Instead of tossing a ball around they push a soldier around. Guess who was the monkey? That’s right, it was yours truly. Finally when none of us could move anymore Luke decided that the fight was over. 

“Honestly you guys!” Luke snapped. “I know you’re jealous of Norman but check your egos at the door! You guys might not have to fight in a team, but if a war takes place, you’ll be fighting side by side! And if a general has more talent, then you guys should be pushing yourselves to be equal or better! Now don’t play monkey in the middle again! I know that’s happening when I see it! You’re dismissed!”

When I walked out of the training area, guess who was there to greet me, it was Liz. 

“Hey Norman,” said Liz, “you’re getting stronger and stronger by the day! My general is just as strong as you are! And I don’t he would’ve played monkey in the middle with you. He actually admires you!” 

“Gee,” I said rolling my eyes, “thanks? And why aren’t you chasing after your general instead?”

“Because,” said Liz, “he’s married and he’s not forming a herd like you are!”

“For the last time Liz,” I said, “it’s not a herd and I said no!” 

“I noticed Jasper isn’t here to watch you train today,” said Liz, “I like it that way! I’ve been recording you too!”

“I think you would be considered a stalker!” I said. “You’re just as bad as Chole with Jasper!”

“I’m not a stalker!” Liz said. “I just need more inspiration to write another song, that's it. I wonder why Jasper likes to see you train so much? It’s not like he’s boyfriend or anything!”

“Why do you care?” I said. 

“Well at least he’s not here to watch you!” Liz said. “If Jasper is around, I’ll just push him out the door!”

“Ha!” I said. “Like you’d have enough strength to do that!”

“Oh really?” Liz said. “Do you forget I’m a second in command like he is? I should probably keep that in mind for the next time I watch you.”

“Yeah,” I said, “and I’m going to find a way to keep you from getting into the observation room.”


*    *    *


Every so often Discord likes to pop up in my bedroom to give me what I call a rude awakening. Today was one of those days.

“Looks like Normie's got another notch under his belt!” Discord said.

I woke up to see Discord floating above my bed.

“Discord!” I said. “Get out of my room or I’ll behead you with my sword!”

“You can’t do that Normie,” said Discord, “my head would just pop right back up!”

I grit my teeth, “Discord, I’m serious! Get out!”

“Gee,” said Discord, “someone woke up on the wrong side on the bed this morning!”

“That’s because I have you for an alarm clock!” I said.

“Let me see,” said Discord, “that’s how many people and ponies you’ve gotten into your bed?”

“Ponies?” I said.

“Well duh!” Discord said. “Sunset Shimmer is actually a unicorn!”

I thought about it and remembered what Betty had told me.

“You’re right she was originally a unicorn before she stepped through the portal.” I said. 

“Bingo!” Discord said. “I wonder, who are you going to sleep with next? Maybe we should play a game? I think we should call it, ‘The Bed is Right?’”

“Hell no,” I snarled at him, “for the last time, get out!”

“What? I was just kidding!” Discord said. “I just wanted to tell you that Jasper, Sunset and Robert are downstairs waiting for you! You should go greet them soon. You did just wake up after all and I think you would like to eat some breakfast with them.”

“Discord!” I said. “Get. Out!”

“Fine, fine,” said Discord, “I’m going, it’s too bad I can’t play the game with you!”

Before Discord left I picked up one of my shoes and threw it at him. Discord laughed as he snapped his claw and disappeared.
> 17) Anger
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When I went downstairs I didn't know if everyone heard me shouting at Discord. I think they did because everyone was smiling at me when I got to the breakfast table.

“Well,” Jasper smiled, “someones grumpy this morning!”

“If you had Discord for an alarm clock,” I said, “you’d be grumpy too!”

At that comment everyone doubled over in laughter. Discord pulled out a mic out of thin air and left it floating in the air beside him.

“Thank you, thank you!” Discord said. “I’ll be here all week!”

“The hell you will!” I said. “Fluttershy, where’s the butcher’s knife?”

“Discord!” Fluttershy said. “Knock it off or we’re going to have a long talk later!”

Discord looked horrified when Fluttershy said that.

“Not another talk!” Discord said. “Anything but another talk!”

“Good,” said Fluttershy, “now be a good husband and pass out breakfast for once?”

“Fine, fine…” Discord said.

Cozy Glow then came from outside and sat down at the table.

“I saw you train the other day,” said Jasper, “you were fighting six people this time! Aren't they supposed to be fighting with you? What’s up with that?”

I didn’t say anything at first, because I didn’t want to talk about it but everyone was staring at me so I answered reluctantly, “yeah they're supposed to but they decide not to. I think it’s safe to say Second Luke is trying to kill me and everyone else that I’m fighting with is in on it. Because everyone that I’m fighting with just loves to play monkey in the middle!”

“Let me guess,” Sunset said, “you're the monkey?”

“Yup,” I said growing tired of this discussion, “Second Luke has warned them about not cooperating but they don't listen. So I wind up fighting on my own terms. Sometimes I win and sometimes I lose…”

“You have to fight six people on your own?” Sunset said. “I mean I know you’re talented in hand in hand combat but for crying out loud! Talk about unfair!”

I didn’t answer because I didn’t want anymore of their damn sympathy.

“What is with everyone being so jealous?” Robert said. “I mean you won that duel with Shadow Mist and became general because of it. But they need to take in consideration how they became general or lieutenant for that matter!”

I was done with this pity party so I punched the table and almost flipped it over in the process. 

“I don’t need sympathy!” I snarled at them. “If fighting alone helps me improve then that’s what I’ll do! It’s no different than me training on the simulator to get my death walker abilities up to par! So don’t even think about it!”

Cozy Glow tilted her head confused about what I just said, “Simulator? What’s that all about?”

“It’s something you won’t need to use anytime soon.” Sunset said. "Because you're still a kid and I can teach you more as you grow up. Norman on the other hand needs progress in his training because he's in Euqestria's military. When you're in the military a war could happen at a moment's notice and you aren't even old enough to enlist."

Cozy Glow didn’t say anything, no one did when I got up and flipped the table. I then started to walk away when Sunset used her death walker abilities to summon a rope and tie me to a chair. That made me even more mad but I couldn’t think of a way to get out of the chair when the rope came from a death walker. 

“Let me go Sunset!” I snapped.

“Nope!” Sunset said. “Not happening! Everyone sorry about breakfast but could you clear out so I can knock some sense into Norman?”

Everyone looked clearly terrified at what I just did and had no problem clearing out of the room.

“Honestly Norman!” Sunset growled. “I knew you turned people into punching bags but did you have to turn the damn table into a punching bag too? Really!”

“I thought I said let me go!” I said. 

Sunset came up and slapped me in the face so hard that I was surprised it didn’t leave a mark. 

“Norman I know you’re pissed that people aren’t looking out for you especially when you’re fighting!” Sunset said. “Think of it this way, no one looked out for Betty and now she’s a legend! Sure she was probably pissed off too. Did you read the history book about her?”

After Sunset said that I remembered what was in the history book and realized that she was right. But either way you look at it that still doesn’t clear my subconscious for not being there for her. 

“Do you remember that she won two medals herself? And that was all on her own just like you.” Sunset said. “Do remember how many people and ponies she lost on the mission she had to track down Tirek and Queen Chrysalis? She lost twenty-five! She blamed herself for not being there for them! You wanna know what Princess Twilight said to her? That you can’t protect everyone. Now you spoke to Betty about not being there for her but what did she say about trying to get over it?”

“She said that I could take as long as I needed to get past it…” I said. 

“And I’m sure Betty took a while to get over the twenty-five people she lost!” Sunset said. “She didn’t let her grief piss her off so much that she couldn’t think straight! And you’re not thinking straight!”

“How do you figure that out?” I snapped. Once again Sunset slapped me. “Would you stop slapping me?” Sunset replied with another slap to my face.

“She might not have wanted sympathy from people,” said Sunset, “but she didn’t let her grief upset her so much that she couldn’t do her job! That’s why I say you’re not thinking straight you’re letting your grief get the best of you right now. I’m pretty sure that Betty wouldn't take anger out on people just because of that! Remember this Norman, why do you keep saving people from dying?”

“To honor Betty’s memory…” I mumbled. 

“Exactly,” said Sunset, “keep that in mind when you’re doing your job. If Betty can get past her grief, you can get past your grief to become a hero! And you already have! Or did you forget the reason why you became a general? Sure people are jealous and that’s not your fault, that’s their problem. If you ask me they’re just a couple of schoolyard bullies that want to pick a fight! And jealousy does not look good on people and you know it. And I’m sure people will see that and get behind you! Just like Dae and Fluttershy got behind Betty in the end. And to add onto that people and ponies are already behind you! Do you know who that is?”

I felt like I was a bad little kid that was getting disciplined and truth be told I was. 

“My family…” I said.

“That’s right,” said Sunset, “and don’t you forget it! I’ve said all I have to say, I’m letting you go now. Don’t turn the chair into a punching bag next!”

Strangely enough when Sunset untied me and I got up from the chair I actually was calmer. I looked around me to see food and broken plates spread out across the floor. Eggs and various other foods were strewn out across the walls and even the cupboards. It looks like I had quite a job to do.

I started to pick up a broken plate off the floor and I smiled as Sunset came over to help. Sunset and I spent the next half hour cleaning up the mess I created.


*	*	*


The next day Sunset called Cozy Glow and I out to the back yard. 

Sunset sighed, “I’m not if I should begin this so soon after that little outburst you had the other day Norman, but I think it’s time you two practice your beacon light training again.” 

Oh boy, I thought, I hope I don’t hear any nursery rhymes again!

“I know what you’re thinking,” said Sunset, “it’s going to be an abandoned building this time. The client that hired the death walker specifically asked for you two to do the job.”

“Why us?” Cozy Glow said.

Sunset shrugged, “I don’t know, but where you’re going is a house on a graveyard that the residents have fled a couple of days ago. It’s because there is a poltergeist. The spirit has taken over the place and threatens to kill any person that comes into the house. The name of the spirit haunting the place is Twist Moon.”

My eyes went wide in terror as I heard the name. 

“I take it that name rings a bell?” Sunset said.

“Is his cutie mark a moon with a candy cane next to it?” I said.

“Yes,” said Sunset, “how did you know?”

“That’s my father!” I said. “I left him thirteen years ago to find Betty! I’m not sure I want to ask but how did he die? And is he really dead?”

“Oh yeah,” said Sunset, “he’s dead alright! He was shot execution style and his heart was taken out!”

When I heard that I just about threw up.

Sunset tilted her head, “You okay Norman? You look a little green.”

“No,” I said, “I’m not okay, I really don’t like seeing dead bodies taken apart or hear about them being taken apart!”

“Sorry,” said Sunset, “it is part of the job.”

“At least I have John taking the dead bodies apart still,” I said, “there’s no way that I’m going to do that!”

Sunset couldn’t help herself; she just fell out laughing.

I said, “I’m glad I’m entertaining, I think the next time I need to throw up I’ll just aim it at you.” 

“Okay,” said Sunset, “I’m done. If you throw up on me I’ll just slap you again.”

I flinched when she said and then Cozy Glow saw that started laughing. I just bit my tongue so I wouldn’t get pissed off again.

“Sorry dad,” laughed Cozy Glow, “if I didn’t know any better I’d say you were afraid of Sunset.”

“Maybe,” said Sunset, “I did have to slap him a couple of times to knock some sense into him.”

I could feel my face turning red and when Cozy Glow saw this she was on her back laughing so hard she couldn’t breath. 

“Okay Amethyst,” said Sunset, “all joking aside you two are leaving right now.”

Just like last time Sunset gave me and Cozy Glow and opened fist punch to the chest and we were out of our bodies. 

“This is still weird!” I said.

“Oh yeah,” said Sunset, “here’s a compass that’ll lead you to the graveyard when you get close to it the compass will light up and go crazy. Now get going!”

Sunset tossed me the compass and we headed out.


*	*	*


Sure enough when we went to the right area the compass did exactly what Sunset said it would. 

“Well,” I said, “looks like this is the right place!”

The door to the house was chained up and it looked like there was no way to get inside.

“So,” said Cozy Glow, “how do we get inside? The place looks shut tight!”

“Maybe we should knock?” I said.

On the door was a padlock that looked like it was made of copper.

“I have an idea of how we can open it!” Cozy Glow said.

“How?” I said.

“Just watch dad!” Cozy Glow said.

Cozy Glow then spit a copper arrow out of her mouth and put it inside the padlock it lit up and unlocked.

“Well that was easy!” I said.

“A little too easy if you ask me!” Cozy Glow said. “I wonder what horrors are waiting for us inside?”

“I really don’t want to know,” I said, “but we have to know if we want to complete the job.”

“Yup!” Cozy Glow said.

Just like when we fought Theodore, as soon as we entered the house it shook as if it were in an earthquake. 

“Who's stepping into my house?” a voice boomed, “I will kill anyone who steps into my house!”

“Hi dad,” I said, “you can come out now, it’s me Norman!”

“Norman?” Twist said.

Twist came out the shadows and he looked like he did when he was alive but in ghost form. 

“Well hello Norman,” said Twist, “it’s been awhile since I saw you last. And you look like a handsome young man! How old are you now?”

“As if I’d tell you!” I said. “What I want to know is why didn’t you do your job as a father?”

“I didn’t do a good job as a father?” Twist said. “I sent money home to mom didn’t I?”

“No you didn’t!” I said.

“Oh really?” Twist said. “Because I have the receipts that show I did!”

“You must be in denial!” I said. “Those receipts probably came from a liquor store! All you ever did was drink while I was the one that managed to keep a roof over our heads!”

"That's not true son," said Twist, "I only drank five beers a day!"

“Bite me dad!” I said. “Don’t you dare call me your son!”

“Fine then!” Twist said. “You ungrateful little brat!”

Twist paused and looked behind me to see Cozy Glow. He smiled when he looked at her and I really didn’t like the look he was giving her.

“Who is that behind you?” Twist said. “Another half breed?”

“She’s not a half breed!” I snarled. “That's an insult! It’s my daughter Amethyst and I’m a better dad than you’ll ever be!”

“Awe,” said Twist, “you brought my grandchild to see grandpa! But I guess the grandpa title is void. Considering I’m dead and all.”

Twist laughed like a psycho and it reminded me of Olivia’s laugh and it sent chills down my spine.

“Oh well,” said Twist, “I did say I will kill anyone who’s stepped into my house! And you stepped into my house, you're going to die now!” 

No sooner had Twist said that, the drawers to the kitchen flew open. Then knives of all shapes and sizes came flying out at us.

“What is with pegasi and knife throwing?” I said.

“Hey!” Cozy Glow said. “I don’t throw knives, I have a bow and arrow! Remember?”

“I didn’t mean you Amethyst,” I said, “watch out!”

I pushed Cozy Glow out of the way as a chair flew past us.

“Furniture too?” I said. “Seriously?”

Twist laughed, “I told you that you’re going to die here, and I will use any means needed to do so, oh look, here come the books!”

As soon as Cozy Glow saw the books she shot as many of her arrows at them as much as possible.

“Nice, Amethyst!” I said.

“Of course,” said Cozy Glow, “I’ve been practicing with Sunset!”

“I can tell,” I said, “I hope she doesn’t lose her mind like some my other trainers have!”

Cozy Glow couldn’t help but laugh, “She wouldn’t do that to me! I’m a kid, remember?”

“You’re lucky,” I said, “you know that?”

Cozy Glow nodded and then I felt the stupid fire and earth attack getting ready to come out. I have to let it out because I couldn’t hold that attack in even if I tried.

“What’s this?” Twist said.

I smirked at Twist, “There’s something I forgot to tell you, I’m a death walker!”

Twist growled at me, “You are? Good then I’ll get to finish what your mother started!”

“What are you talking about?” I said.

“I told your mother to kill that little mutt you have for a sister a long time ago!” Twist said. “But no she just had to wait until Betty was a full fledged death walker! Your mother can’t help but wait for a challenge to fall right into her lap! Tell me son, did your mother finally kill Betty?”

I laughed as hard as I could to hold in my laughter but I didn't and that laughter wasn’t fake either.

“What’s so funny son?” Twist said.

“I thought I told you not to call me son!” I sneered at him. “If you must know, mother didn’t kill Betty because Betty killed her!”

“What?” Twist said. 

“Oh yeah!” I snarled. “And get this, Betty’s a legend now and the queen of hell! You might read it in the history books one day! That is, if Betty and Dae let you stay in hell! Amethyst?”

“Yes dad?” Cozy Glow said.

“As soon as I stop him from moving,” I said, “pin him!”

“You got it!” Cozy Glow said.

Just like when I fought Sandy Breeze, Twist started flying around really fast enough to make a tornado. I looked down at my wrist to see the iron chain attack and smiled.

I wasn’t expecting this attack, I thought, but perfect timing!

I shot the iron chain and the blade that was attached went right through Twist freezing him in place. Twist was unable to move now it was my turn to laugh like a psycho.

“Yeah know something dad?” I growled at him. “I can go to hell anytime I want and that’s just to visit! You however are going to hell for punishment. I like the way this story ends because it’s a happy ending! Have fun with it! Now Amethyst!”

“You got it dad!” Gory Glow shouted.

Cozy Glow then shot two arrows through Twist pinning in the wall. The arrows lit up and shot a beam of light into the sky. I would’ve asked him if he had any last words but I just stared at him with a smile and laughed as he screamed while being sucked into the portal. After that my iron chain attack disappeared and I sat down on the ground feeling very satisfied that this job was done.

“Well,” I said, “glad that’s over with!”

“You and me both dad,” said Cozy Glow, “you and me both!”

“I think it’s time we back into our bodies now.” I said.


*	*	*


When we got back home and went back into our bodies Sunset smiled at us.

“Nice job you two!” Sunset said. “Especially you Amethyst! I knew your weapon did it this time!”

“Thanks Sunset!” Cozy Glow said. 

“Now I think you would like to go and rest,” said Sunset, “I need to talk to your father again.” 

Cozy Glow smiled and tried so hard not to laugh at what she was about to say next.

“You gonna slap him again?” Cozy Glow laughed.

Of course I just had to flinch when Cozy Glow said that and without another word and walked away laughing. After Cozy Glow left Sunset motioned for me to sit down beside her, I sat down as far away from her as possible.

“It’s okay Norman,” said Sunset, “I’m not going to slap you again, unless it’s needed.”

I just had to flinch again, and Sunset started laughing as if I had told a joke. I almost told her it wasn’t funny, but I didn’t feel like getting slapped again. She stopped laughing and looked at me with concern on her face and I didn’t like that look either. I was tired of people giving me that look.

“I used my death walker abilities to see the fight.” Sunset said.

I looked away and didn’t want to respond to her.

“Oh Norman,” sighed Sunset, “I didn’t know your dad was that bad. At least you didn’t become a death walker until after you grew up! And I saw something that I’d never thought I’d see when I’m training a new death walker!”

“What did you see?” I said.

“You were laughing as you sent your father to the Afterlife,” Sunset said, “I’m surprised that you were able to handle that without hesitation, being that he’s family. And that you did it so psychotically.”

I raised my eyebrow at that remark.

Sunset continued, “at least you got closure on that one. And I’ve never seen that before with a death walker.”


*	*	*


As soon as I sat down on the couch Discord was floating above my head.

“What do you want Discord?” I said.

“Oh nothing,” said Discord, “I just want to talk to you about Sunset for a minute.”

“What is it?” I said. 

“I saw you two go upstairs,” said Discord, “I’m surprised she allowed that after your little outburst yesterday. She must be a really forgiving girlfriend. You got lucky on that one! If only I were twenty years younger!”

I just about choked on Discord’s words although I doubted that Sunset would ever get together with a creature like Discord.

“Out with it Discord!” I said.

“I was wondering,” said Discord, “if you’re comfortable with having a pony child?”

I raised an eyebrow, “I adopted Amethyst didn’t I?”

“Yeah,” said Discord, “but she’s not your biological child. What I mean is if Sunset had a child. Are you comfortable if she had a full pony child, I mean she is a unicorn and you have the genes from your father who was a pegasus. Are you okay with that?”

“Yeah I’m okay with it,” I said, “or I wouldn’t be with Sunset in the first place.”

“Just as long as you’re sure,” said Discord, “I just wanted to know that’s all.”

“Discord?” I said.

“What oh child of mine?” Discord said.

“I’m not your child!” I snapped. “If I recall correctly you adopted me! Just like I adopted Amethyst!”

“Okay, okay!” Discord said. “Sorry…”

"Apology accepted I guess…" I said.


*	*	*


The next day at work I could hear Jasper yelling at Liz. I guessed the reason for it was I talked to Second Luke about finding a way to keep Liz out of the observation room when I train. After I talked to him, Second Luke was able to get me and Jasper something that's called a 'protection machine class-a.' It only works when either me or Jasper give someone authorization to get into the observation room. I’m not quite sure of all the ins and outs on how the machine works. But if it keeps crazy people from watching me train and recording me that was perfectly okay with me. I was sitting in my office doing some paperwork when I heard Jasper and Liz's conversation. 

“There’s no way you’re getting into the observation room!” Jasper said. “And there’s no way I’m giving you access to it either!”

“Oh come on Jasper,” Liz said. “I just want to write another song about Norman!”

“You’re just as bad as Chole!” Jasper said. “I said no!”

“Fine then!” Liz said. “If you won’t give it to me willingly then I’ll just have to take it! Which I figured I have to!”

I heard what sounded like a struggle and ran out of my office as fast as I could only to see Jasper tied to a chair and Liz had given him a black eye to make him give her access to the observation room. At first I was frozen in terror but when I regained my composure I was going to charge at Liz like a rampaging bull when Luke came around the corner. 

“Second Liz,” said Luke, “do you want to tell me why Second Jasper is tied to a chair?”

Luke paused when he saw the black eye Jasper had from Liz assaulting him, and Second Luke had the same reaction I had. I could tell he was seething with rage and I shrank back in terror.

“Oh no you didn’t Second Liz!” Luke roared. “You assaulted a high rank officer! Are you kidding me!”

“I uh…” Liz said. I almost smiled as Liz was quaking in fear.

Luke yanked Liz off Jasper by her arm.

“I’ll be reporting this to your general,” Luke said, “and hopefully you’ll be suspended for this! Or sacked, I don’t care which one!”

“But sir-“ Liz said.

“I don’t care!” Luke roared.

Without another word, Luke dragged Liz down to her general's office. I was about to go help Jasper out of the chair but he had already beaten me to it. I finally stopped seeing red. I was so angry I was shaking.

“Norman calm down!” Jasper said. “I’m fine!”

“I’m glad the Second Luke got there who knows what I would’ve done to her!” I said. 

Jasper could see that I was really upset when he hugged me. After a while I finally calmed down and Jasper pulled back and looked at me. He then kissed me and I relaxed. After that happened we didn't realize that Chloe had been watching because Jasper looked over and saw that she was shaking in anger so bad that she dropped her paperwork. 

“Last time I checked you’re not gay!” Chole shouted. “You’re mine and you know it!”

“And last time I checked,” said Jasper, “I said no and I am gay! I thought I told you that several times!”

I could tell Chole wanted to strangle Jasper but kept herself from doing so. Jasper gave her a spiteful look and kissed me again just to make a point. I wished I had been able to record the look on Chole's face. She was definitely really pissed off, she picked up her paperwork, scoffed and stormed off in anger.
> 18) The War For Canterlot and Princess Twilight Starts Now!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was my first day back and it just so happened to be a slow day at the office. Jasper and I had decided to go into my office to make out instead of playing chess like we normally would. I had the door locked and was hoping that Liz and Chole wouldn’t knock on the door. Once we were in the middle of it there was a knock on the door. I guess it was too much to ask for.

“Damn it!” I mumbled. “It just had to be now.”

Jasper let go of me and sighed, “You should probably answer that. Let’s hope it’s not Liz or  Chole.”

I rolled my eyes, “You may enter!”

That was when John was caught by surprise when he saw me and Jasper standing close to each other. John paused and his face took on a puzzled look and laughed.

John finally paused long enough to speak, “I knew you guys were friends now but I didn’t think you were that close! So when did you two become friends with benefits?”

Jasper and I didn’t say a word we just looked away and John resumed laughing. We exchanged a glance patiently waiting for John to stop laughing.

“Anyway,” said John, “I didn’t come here to embarrass you two. I actually came to pick up my assignments for my kn-“

“KSHKHHKHHH!” John didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence when my radio went off.

“I wonder what that’s all about?” John said. 

I shrugged, “I don’t know…”

“Roger, roger,” said Luke, “General Norman please report to the main desk! There’s something you need to see. And you might want to bring your second in command too! Over!”

“Roger that,” I said, “we’re coming! Over!”

“Roger,” said Luke, “over and out!”

“Huh,” said John, “I’d never thought I’d see the day when I would actually hear a radio being answered by a general!”

“We’d better go,” I said, “I don't know what this is about but usually if they ask me to bring my second in command it’s serious. We’d love to stay and talk, but we can’t. You’re dismissed!”

John nodded, “Yes sir…”

“I wonder why they need us again?” Jasper said. “Olivia isn’t here.”

“I don’t know,” I said, “but I have a bad feeling about this!”

We were coming around the corner when I heard his voice and there was no mistaking it, the voice was Shadow Mist.

“I will not speak to anyone,” said Shadow Mist, “until General Norman comes!”

“What’s going on, Second Luke?” I said.

“Do you recognize this guy?” Luke said.

“Yeah,” I said, “that’s the jerk that I got into a duel with!”

“Go ahead general,” said Luke, “he’s all yours!”

I then stepped in front of the screen and Shadow Mist had an evil grin on his face.

“Ah General Norman,” said Shadow Mist, “it’s so nice to see you again!”

I rolled my eyes, “And it’s very nice to see you! Are you calling to challenge me to another duel or something? Because the way I see it, you’re still a threat to the princess! Using the princess as a bargaining chip is a cowardly move. I do believe she doesn’t want to marry you! How many times does Princess Twilight have to say no before you take a hint?”

Shadow Mist laughed like psycho and it looked like he was having the best of times. He was really getting on my nerves and I wished I could punch him through the screen and send him flying. 

“You may have won the duel with me general,” said Shadow Mist, “but you will not win the war!”

“And why’s that?” I said.

“I’m going to let you in on a secret,” Shadow Mist sneered at me, “I’m not the prince of the kingdom of Mave, I’m actually the king!”

“And I’m supposed to react to that how?” I said. “Because I don’t acknowledge rulers that I don’t recognize!” 

“Oh?” Shadow Mist said. “You’ll recognize me as ruler alright! That is, if I decide to let you live! I just might execute you and hang your dead body from my castle front door! I might also feed your insides to my alligators. That will be a nice snack for them!”

“I’d rather be a snack for your alligators then recognize you as a ruler!” I said. 

“Well,” said Shadow Mist, “then you might want to have a doctor examine your head! But that might not be needed considering you’re a death walker and all! And since you are a death walker, I’d challenge you to another duel! Actually it’s not a duel it’s a war this time! How about we set some ground rules for this war hmm? Although this war might not have to happen if we settle things right here and now!”

“I thought the princess told you she doesn’t want to-“ I didn’t finish my sentence because Princess Twilight tapped me on the shoulder to stop me from doing so.

“It’s okay General Norman let me talk to him.” Princess Twilight said. “What do you want, Shadow Mist?” 

Shadow Mist smiled, “Well Princess Twilight! You look like a goddess!”

“Don’t call me a goddess!” Princess Twilight snapped. “I think I said I don’t want to marry you!”

“That maybe so,” said Shadow Mist, “but I’m giving you one last chance to say yes! I have a beautiful engagement ring for you and everything!”

“Why do you think I want an engagement ring around my neck from you?” Princess Twilight said. 

“I just thought you might want to say yes so this war doesn’t have to happen!” Shadow Mist said. “It’ll save you a lot of trouble from stepping over your dead soldiers bodies!”

“You want to know something, Shadow Mist?” Princess Twilight said. “Soldiers die in the military every day! And I’m pretty you’ve had a lot of soldiers die every day in your kingdom too. And I don’t step over their bodies. I honor their memories! That’s not stepping over their dead bodies! Because I do what those soldiers would want me to do! Do you think Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stepped over their soldiers' dead bodies in the first human and pony war and following that, the second human and pony war? No, they fought right beside their soldiers! It wasn’t until they had chosen a successor that they had to stop fighting or they would’ve fought until they died! Sadly they did die because the enemy found out where they were. What are you doing, Shadow Mist? Are you just wanting to pick a fight so you can step over your dead soldiers' bodies?”

“Hmm,” said Shadow Mist with an evil smile, “I’m just wanting you to marry me! I think we would make wonderful offspring, don't you think?” 

“You want me to marry you for offspring?” Princess Twilight snapped. “I think you're the one that’s going to step over your dead soldiers' bodies! Tell me Shadow Mist, are you even going to grieve for your soldiers when they’re gone? Because I grieve for mine every day!”

“No I won’t grieve for them,” said Shadow Mist, “I don’t show any sympathy for my soldiers  whatsoever they’re my servants nothing more nothing less! I’ve used my property as a rug for my fireplace in the living room.”

“When are you going to understand that no means no?” Princess Twilight snapped. 

“Fine then, have it your way princess!” Shadow Mist snapped. “Since, princess, you will not marry me and be a fine queen for my kingdom, I guess we have to go ahead with war General Norman. Let’s lay out some ground rules then shall we?”

“What are they, you jerk?” I said.

“Just like in our duel,” said Shadow Mist, “I win, the princess will marry me, no questions asked. She’ll make a fine queen of the kingdom of Mave, don’t you think?”

“And if I win?” I said.

“Then you get the princess!” Shadow Mist snarled. “Hey, you can marry her for all I care! You seem to be very dedicated to protecting her!”

When Shadow Mist said that I seethed with rage. 

“It’s called doing a job!” I said. “You don’t need to have a crush on someone to do your job idiot!”

“Aww,” said Shadow Mist, “did I hit a nerve? You’re seething with rage so bad that I can taste it all the way from here! Ha, ha! Anyway, when I take the princess for my bride, I’ll be ruling over Canterlot too! Maybe that’s where me and the princess can have our honeymoon? Wouldn’t that be wonderful? I can’t wait! So you’ve received my declaration of war. The battle for Canterlot and Princess Twilight starts now! I’ll be seeing you soon General Norman!”

After Shadow Mist declared war on Equestria, I turned around to see that Princess Twilight was steaming. I had never seen the princess this mad before and shrank back in fear. 

“That jerk!” Princess Twilight shouted. “Great! Just perfect! Shadow Mist obviously doesn’t know how to read a contract! It specifically states that if I refuse to marry him then the contract breaks. I’ve told him that several times and since he’s declared war and for the dumbest reason ever. I can’t refuse, it’s Equestrian Law unfortunately! So since Shadow Mist can’t take no for an answer, every single soldier that dies their blood will be on his hooves! I’m sorry everyone but it’s out of my hooves now. We are officially at war!”


*	*	*


As soon as the message of war was declared an alarm sounded all throughout the base. 

“This is an urgent message! We are officially at war! The war is between the kingdom of Mave and Equestria! All high ranking officers report to your stations! All cadets report to your generals! All generals! Before you collect your cadets, report to your commanders!” 

The message on the intercom played over and over since I was already at Second Luke’s desk. All I had to do was turn around and see Commander Rainbow Dash.

“Well,” said Rainbow Dash, “I’d never thought I’d see the day when war with Equestria would happen again!”

“General Norman,” said Princess Twilight, “I know Shadow Mist declared war because I won’t marry him and I still won’t! Now I’ve set up a team of five officers that will get behind enemy lines. I did it just in case this happened. The team of five includes you and Jasper. 

And the king and queen of hell have agreed to bring their army to assist us. I had a feeling ever since you won that duel with him that something like this might happen. Don’t worry about me. I'll be in a secure location because I don’t have a successor yet. Now go! Gather your cadets and may Celestia be with us all!”

I turned around because Rainbow Dash had tapped me on the shoulder.

“Well General Norman,” said Rainbow Dash, “your fighting will start at trench #12 until you can meet up your team to go behind enemy lines. And as Princess Twilight said, may Celestia be with us all!”

I just about bit my tongue on that remark. Because Celestia is dead, she can’t do a thing to help us.


*	*	*


Fortunately, before I gathered my cadets Second Luke let me make a phone call home. Sunset was the one who answered the phone.

“This might be the last time I get to talk to you,” I said, “hopefully I’ll be able to talk to you when this is over with.”

“Thankfully,” said Sunset, “Robert’s been allowed to stay behind with civilians. He’s going to be looking over Amethyst and I. Have you made your death walker decision yet?”

“Yes,” I said, “I want to live.”

“Amethyst and I have made the same decision.” Sunset said.

“I love you Sunset,” I said, “tell Robert and Amethyst I love them too. And do me a favor?”

“Yes, Norman?” Sunset said.

“Stay safe for me.” I said.

“Norman?” Sunset said.

“Yes?” I said.

“You and Jasper come back home alive and not in a casket!” Sunset said.

“I will try my best,” I said, “but I can’t make any promises…”

After I hung up the phone, Jasper pulled me to the side.

“What did they say?” Jasper said.

“That me and you come back alive and not in a casket.” I said. Without warning Jasper kissed me.

“Well,” said Jasper, “we’ll just have to make it back alive.”


*	*	*


As soon as the message of war was received a force field was put up around the city and border patrol was heightened. Fluttershy, Discord, Cozy Glow, Sunset and Robert were at home watching the coverage of war.  

A reporter named Aurora gave people coverage of the war and a play by play on what was happening. She had a lot of experience out in the field as a reporter. Aurora was hand picked to follow Jasper and Norman around during the war. 

“My name is Aurora,” said Aurora, “I’m signing in for the start of the coverage of the war between the kingdom of Mave and Equestria and I only give coverage of what I’m authorized to do. All fourteen divisions with their Commanders, Generals and cadets and other ranks of officers are lined up waiting for the formal address from Commander Rainbow Dash before they go to their trenches to start fighting. Here comes Commander Rainbow Dash to make the formal address.”

As Commander Rainbow Dash made her formal address, the camera switched between several shots. They saw Soldiers lining up waiting for the signal to start fighting. When the cameras finally showed Jasper and Norman in the line, everyone that was watching were on the edge of their seats. Since Aurora was the main reporter that would be doing the coverage on the war, she was also giving coverage on Commander Rainbow Dash’s making her formal address. Probably because she would be following Jasper and Norman around. For some reason it was decided that Norman and Jasper were the stars of the show. 

“I wish I could fight,” said Cozy Glow, “I am a death walker after all.”

“No Cozy Glow,” said Sunset, “you’re only fourteen! You’re not old enough to do that!”

“Did you just call Amethyst Cozy Glow?” Robert said. “I thought she was turned to stone?”

“I thought you didn’t know about my past Sunset?” Cozy Glow said.

“Betty told me about it,” said Sunset, “she told me that you took on the name Amethyst Rose too.”

“Could someone explain this to me?” Robert said. “I’m not following you.”

“You see Robert,” said Cozy Glow, “as you know, I was turned to stone because of declaring war on Equestria. I was trapped in a statue so my soul couldn’t crossover. Betty smashed my statue and then my soul was bound to her. Eventually Betty died, that was fourteen years ago, and my soul was able to crossover. At this point the Ice Breakers declared me as a death walker but I didn’t know this until later. The Afterlife Court gave me the choice to go to heaven or be resurrected as a pegasus. I chose to be resurrected as a pegasus. When I was resurrected I was pretty much a baby again when Norman adopted me. Twelve years later we saw Betty again. She told us that we were death walkers.

“I’m a kid and only fourteen now that’s why I can’t go help fight. So that’s the whole story as far as I’m concerned. I can’t speak for dad, his story’s a little more complicated.”

Robert had an expression of contemplation. Sunset chimed in, “I’m sorry about not telling you sooner Robert and we’ll tell Jasper if he comes back alive and hopefully Norman will too. I hope this doesn’t mean you’ll leave Norman because of this.”

Robert doubled over in laughter. This reaction confused Sunset.

“What’s so funny?” Sunset said.

“Oh no,” said Robert, “I’m not leaving Norman because of this. He was just protecting Cozy Glow because she was a kid again and I assume he knew that because his sister is a death walker! If the shoe was my foot I would’ve done the same thing.”

Sunset and Cozy Glow nodded and what Robert said made them feel much better.


*	*	* 


When every soldier was given the go ahead to get to their trenches the fighting finally began. With the weather team fighting along with us we hoped that evened out our chances to keep the enemy from getting close to Canterlot. 

Before the weather team could make their first move the enemy struck first. They rapidly fired their missiles and as soon as that started the weather team made their move next. The pegasi gathered clouds over the enemies and bounced up and down on them. Flashes of lightning erupted from the dark clouds blinding the enemies to prevent them from seeing their targets.

I wish I could say no one got hit by them, but I can’t. I wanted so badly to go and retrieve the soldier bodies that died but that wasn’t part of my job. It was the medic teams job to do that. Thankfully because this was a war I was able to use my death walker abilities. 

The first death walker attack that came out of me was my smoke screen that was after I climbed out of the first trench that I was fighting in. The attack disguised my approach allowing me to close in and take down as many of the enemies that I could. 

Jasper was also climbing out of the trench along with me taking as many of the enemies down with his arrows and it surprised me on how accurate he was in hitting his targets. He sure didn’t hit his targets like that when I first met him. I didn’t really get a chance to watch him train with arrows lately and I guess practice makes perfect. 

I had climbed out of the trench for the twelfth time. I was starting to get too low on energy to summon my death walker abilities. That was when Dae appeared.

“What the-“ I said when I saw him.

“Get back in your trench now!” Dae said.

“I’m not sure I can!” I said.

Dae laughed, “Since that is the case, I guess I’ll have to save you general!”

“Okay?” I said.

I started heading back to my trench as fast as possible when I came upon ten snarling enemy ponies standing in my way. Dae took out his sword and threw it through the air spinning like a boomerang and in a flash it circled through the crowd of ponies and they instantly fell lifeless to the ground.

Well, I thought, he is the king of hell after all.

More lighting bolts were coming out of the sky and I zig zagged through them dodging to the best of my abilities and jumped back into the trench to catch my breath. 

“You okay Norman?” Jasper said. 

“I’m fine,” I said, “I just need to recover that’s all.”

We weren’t prepared when a missile came flying at our trench. It almost made it to our trench but dirt rained down on us instead.

“That was a close one! What happened?” I said.

Jasper replied, “That guy in black clothes sliced the missile that was coming towards us in half!”

“That would be Dae!” I said. “That’s my sister's husband! He’s the king of hell!”

“Well,” said Jasper, “at least we have the demons on our side! I wonder why there aren’t any Angels?”

“They’re probably happy sitting on the clouds watching us,” I said, “heaven and hell would never team up with each other!”

“Makes sense to me!” Jasper said. “I have to reload my arrows. How long will it take you to recover? Cause we’re going to move to another trench soon!”

“I’m not sure how long,” I said, “but I should be okay when we move!”

Then Second Luke came up from behind us.

“You’re going to be moving to the next trench in five minutes!” Luke said. “Get ready!”

“Yes sir!” Jasper and I said.


*	*	*


Back at home, my family was still watching the coverage on the war.

“It looks like General Norman and Second Jasper are getting ready to jump to trench #47! We’ll be following them there soon!” Aurora said. “Don’t forget General Norman and Second Jasper need to get behind enemy lines! We won’t be able to follow them afterwards! The intel on the enemy is that they are firing missiles at different trenches! We think they’re trying to figure out where General Norman and Second Jasper are! The weather team is now making tornadoes to catch as many of the enemy missiles as possible! And there they go! They're moving to the next trench and we’re following!”

“Looks like it’s so far so good,” said Robert, “I’m still crossing my fingers though!”

“Grandpa Discord,” said Cozy Glow, “can’t you do anything to help?”

“Unfortunately no,” said Discord, “I’m banned from fighting in war and I can’t use my powers outside of Equestria! Don’t worry I’ve received word that the king and queen of hell are helping.” 

“You mean Aunt Betty’s there?” Cozy Glow said. 

“Yes Amethyst,” said Discord, “and she’ll make sure your father’s safe okay?”

“Yes Grandpa Discord…” Cozy Glow said.

“I don’t know,” said Sunset, “even with Betty’s help, I don’t feel much better. This is war and… I don’t want to lose him.”


*	*	*


The weather team was still making tornadoes to catch the missiles as much as possible as Jasper and I were running toward the next trench. The flashes of lightning kept the enemies from seeing us while we advanced to the next trench. I almost got hit by a missile, thankfully one of the tornadoes caught it.

The enemy was still shooting at different trenches because they had no idea where we were.I still hadn't recovered enough to use my death walker abilities but enemy search squads of ponies kept coming to the different trenches so I was forced to sneak out and fight them off with my sword as they came without my death walker abilities, so wouldn’t find our trench. In between each enemy squad I fought I would retreat back to the trench for cover.

It also didn’t help that stupid news reporter was following Jasper and me around. I thought that the news reporter following us would be a dead give away to where we were. But no because the enemy army was just about as stupid as their ruler was.

“I wonder if the enemies are made up of trained monkeys or something?” Jasper said. 

“Maybe,” I said, “if they’re stupid enough to not notice that stupid reporter following us then they are!”

“Yup!” Jasper said. “We’re moving to another trench soon!”
> 19) Background Information
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The enemy declared a ceasefire at night. No one fighting for Equestria believed that the enemy would honor it. Commander Rainbow Dash and Second Luke assigned certain cadets to keep watch. The king and queen of hell, Dae and Betty along with their army of demons agreed to help sound the alarm if needed.

Even though we had those alarms in play, I still couldn’t sleep. I would nod off here and there only getting about five minutes of sleep. I guessed Jasper couldn’t sleep either, as he came over and sat down beside me.

“You worried about a possible attack too?” Jasper said.

“Yup,” I said, “even though we have cadets and demons looking out for us, I still don’t feel any better about it. I don’t trust their ceasefire because their leader is an idiot. I can’t wait until we get behind enemy lines and kill Shadow Mist! Like I told him, he’s a threat to the princess! I won’t hesitate to deal with him! I intend to do that! I won’t show him any mercy because he’s a king!”

Jasper rolled his eyes, “There you go again!”

“What?” I said tilting my head.

“You can’t stop yourself from saving people,” Jasper said, “It’s almost like it runs in your blood or something! If I didn't know any better I’d say you have the makings of a king!”

I choked as if something had gone down the wrong pipe. Jasper hit me on the back and started laughing.

“That’s not going to happen,” I said. “I don’t want to earn another medal either. It’s your turn for that.”

I could tell by the look on his face that he didn't like the idea of winning another medal any more than I did.

“I don’t think so!” Jasper said. “I don’t want another medal either. I don’t want to be a general like you. No way!”

“Well,” I said rolling my eyes. I smiled, “since you’re my protector and all, that might happen.”

Jasper and I couldn’t keep our laughter to ourselves because the whole thing was too funny to think about. Jasper paused from his laughing and looked up at the sky after that he had a smile on his face.

“Hey look!” Jasper pointed to the sky. “A shooting star! Isn’t that good luck?”

“Yup,” I said, “it’s almost as if the princess is wishing us good luck to get home. I’m not sure it’s helping considering we’ve lost about 5% of our troops already! That includes the ones that got hit with friendly fire.”

“Yeah I don’t want to think about that too much,” said Jasper, “but this is war and it's going to happen. I’m sure everyone is going to grieve for them when we get home.”

“It’s weird,” I said, “having my sister fight side by side with me fourteen years later.”

Jasper raised an eyebrow, “Fourteen I thought it happened twelve years ago?”

“Oh boy,” I said, “were you born yesterday? You and Olivia saw Betty pop out of her grave like a zombie two years ago! Two years later would make it fourteen years ago. I got a chance to visit her grave a month before this war. And I must say Betty’s become quite the grown-up. She did grow up pretty fast after I left her. Now she’s a legend and a queen. That's funny to me because she doesn’t want the legend title either! It’s funny, everyone in the family turns out to be either heroes or psychopathic serial killers!”

Jasper burst into laughter. 

“That’s not funny Jasper!” I said.

Jasper quickly composed himself. "It is funny because when a hero is born in your family, they deny it," he said matter of factly.

“I’m not in denial anymore I guess,” I said. “I’m not so sure about Betty though.”

Jasper smiled at me, “Do the killers in your family deny what they’ve done?”

“That would be a no,” I said. “My psycho for a mother, for example, left a special calling card at the crime scene. That was her way of playing, 'catch me if you can,' with the police. Trust me, I’m glad Betty killed her! I’m proud of her actually because now she’s well off. George wasn’t as lucky. Like Olivia, I wish he would’ve told me what was wrong and I could’ve helped him.”

“I heard about that guy,” Jasper said.

“Let me guess,” I said, “Robert told you?”

“Yup,” said Jasper, “I guess he figured since I’m part of the family now, I should know.”

“Great,” I said, “well, I guess he’s right on that one.”

I looked away not wanting to talk about it anymore. 

“I bet everyone’s worried about us back home,” Jasper said. “Especially Robert and Sunset.”

I sighed with relief, thank Celestia I thought.

“Yeah, I know,” I said, “and it doesn’t help with that stupid news reporter following us around. The funny thing is with her following us, one thinks that would be a dead giveaway on where we are. But no, they’re a bunch of idiots like Shadow Mist! I’m getting ready to punch out the news reporter's camera!”

I didn’t notice that Betty decided to come down into our trench until she cleared her throat. When we noticed her, Jasper and I jumped about a foot in the air.

“I don’t even want to know how long you’ve been standing there!” I said.

“I’m a queen now Norman!” Betty laughed. “I have to be light on my feet! Or that’s what Dae always tells me. He does the same thing to me! Anyway, you do realize that me and the others out there are watching for an enemy attack? You two should get some sleep.”

“Yeah,” I said, “I don’t think that’ll be happening any time soon.”

Betty then noticed Jasper sitting beside me and smiled.

“I remember you from two years ago!" Betty said. "I can’t believe it’s been that long since I popped out of my grave like a zombie. That was a prank! I got you good didn’t I Norman?”

“That was so funny I forgot to laugh!” I said. “You about gave me a heart attack doing that.”

“Anyway,” said Betty, “I do believe your name is Jasper?”

Jasper nodded, “Yeah…”

Betty looked at us with a puzzled look on her face.

“What’s wrong?” I said.

“Where’s your other friend?” Betty said. “That woman that was with you two years ago?”

Jasper and I didn’t say anything we looked down at the ground.

“Something happened to her didn’t it?” Betty said.

“You want to tell her or should I?” Jasper said.

Although I didn't want to talk about it, since Betty asked, I thought it would be best to tell her what happened.

I sighed, “I’ll tell her. After I made general I gave the job of second in command to Jasper and made Olivia sergeant. Olivia got pissed off by this big time. I gave Jasper the job of second in command and not her because she didn't have enough qualifications to do the job. I had to pull some strings to give her the job of sergeant. She started acting out and not doing her job because of me giving Jasper the higher job title. She got three reports filed against her in one week! One of those was for punching Jasper in front of Commander Rainbow Dashes second in command.

"In her last word to me before facing the board she said she would let her teammates die to complete a job. Commander Rainbow Dash deemed Olivia an enemy to the throne. she told Jasper and I to bring Olivia back dead. We did that, so she’s gone now. I don't know where she got sorted in the Afterlife and I don’t care to know."

When Betty heard this her jaw dropped, “Well then, I can’t believe a soldier would go that far to get a job done. Not even I would do that! I only killed my mother because she was a threat! I didn’t find out that she was a serial killer until after the fact.”

I couldn't believe what I heard. I mean why would Princess Twilight wait to tell Betty that her mom had turned into a serial killer after the fact?

“Princess Twilight didn’t tell you until afterward?” I questioned.

“Yeah,” Betty said, “and she knocked me up against a wall when I lost twenty-five of my teammates on the tracking team. When I became queen of hell I had half a mind to ban her from coming to hell ever again! But Dae told me to forgive her and I did. So we still communicate with each other. I guess it’s a good thing considering we’re at war now. How does she act now? Is she still stupid?”

I chortled when Betty asked that, “I don’t know if she’s stupid but she did force me to take the job of Knight of the Royal Court!”

“Well, I guess she is still stupid. But I can’t say that I blame her cause you did win five medals as a cadet alone! I also heard you won two more medals after that?” Betty said.

"Yes I won two more," I said, "one after saving Jasper and the other one after winning the duel with Shadow Mist!"

Betty paused and looked puzzled after hearing that.

“Wait a second!” Betty said. “That’s the enemy's leader! Is that why he declared war?”

I snorted, “No and you’ll never guess the reason why!”

“Why?” Betty said.

“Shadow Mist declared war because Princess Twilight refuses to marry him!” I said.

At that comment, Jasper, Betty, and I cracked up.

“Well, it sucks to be the princess!” Betty said. “I would cheer for the enemy to be spiteful, but since this war involves you, I have to cheer for Equestria! So who’s the other guy you added to the group?”

Jasper looked like he wanted to hide the fact that he's now part of the family. I snorted as he looked down at the ground and raised his hand like a kid volunteering an answer at school.

“That would be me," Jasper said. When Betty saw that she couldn’t contain her laughter.

“Oh don’t be so modest Jasper!” Betty laughed. “Norman gets around anyway.”

“Hey!” I said.

This time Jasper and Betty started laughing. I bit my tongue because I wanted to tell her that it wasn’t funny but I didn’t feel like getting slapped by her too. Betty picked up on it and laughed even harder.

“Sunset told me she disciplined you a few days before the war even started!” Betty said. “What did you do to earn her wrath?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I said biting my tongue again. For some reason, Jasper decided that he did want to talk about it.

“Norman got pissed and flipped the breakfast table over!” Jasper said.

Betty's look of concern made me annoyed. I wanted to tell her to stop giving me that look.

“Wow,” said Betty, “what were you so pissed off about?”

Nope, I thought biting my tongue, I’m not going to say a word.

Jasper seemed like he was itching to say something.

“Some idiots decided to play monkey in the middle when they were training with him in hand to hand combat!” Jasper said.

Instead of giving me a concerned look, her look went to a pissed off look.

“What?” Betty said. “If one of my soldiers did that, Dae and I would throw them in a dungeon for a week!”

“Humph,” I scoffed, “I wish Second Luke would’ve done that! Too bad soldiers don’t have a ball to toss around as we did in school. No, it’s one soldier that gets put in the middle and pushed around. It’s too bad I’m not an actor! Because I wouldn’t need a stunt man to do my fighting! Oh well, it doesn’t matter now.”

“It does matter!” Jasper snapped. “When we get back from this war, if we get back, I’m going to have a word with those guys!”

“That’s to get rid of their jealousy, how?” I said.

Betty looked at me and grinned.

“What’s that look for?” I said.

“I can help with that,” said Betty, “trust me no one wants to see a king or queen of hell when they're pissed off! To add to that you’re my little brother so I can help you!”

“Oh boy,” I said, “no thank you…”

“Oh,” Betty said. “You know we're not twins but we are a lot alike you know.”

“Why’s that?” I said.

“We fight our own battles by ourselves,” Betty said. “Oh, and Sunset will have something to tell you when this war is over.”

“What does she have to tell me?” I said.

Betty shook her head, “I can’t say and she asked me not to.”

“Oh,” I said.

Betty smiled at me. “Incoming!"

“What-“ I didn’t finish my sentence because Jasper decided to kiss me.

Betty saw that and she doubled over in laughter and I could feel my face turning red.

“Well, I guess I should go and leave you lovebirds alone!” Betty laughed. “Have fun you two!”

After Betty left Jasper kissed me again. I looked at him and almost slapped him in the face like Sunset did to me, but I decided not to. I looked at him and said, “Did you have to do that in front of my sister?”

“Sorry,” said Jasper, “I couldn’t help myself!”


*	 *	 *


Back at home, the family watched the live broadcast that Aurora gave on the Tv.

“This is the fifth day of fighting. General Norman and Second Jasper have come back trench #12 right where they started. What their strategy is, I don’t know. I received word that they’re supposed to meet up with the rest of the team that is going behind enemy lines.

"The weather team is combining their attacks against the enemy. The reports say that the number of dead on our side is still in the 5% range. We can’t say for sure how high the body count is for the enemy. The longer this war continues the more dead there will be. General Norman and Second Jasper are to another trench now.” Aurora said.

As Robert and the rest of the family watched the Tv they talked among themselves.

“Wow,” said Robert, “those two keep jumping trenches like a game of leapfrog! If I didn’t l know any better, they’re trying to run away from the news cameras. Aren’t there any other generals that she can follow?”

"Norman and Jasper," said Sunset, "are the only ones moving to different trenches. Shadow Mist gave the message of war to Norman, so it only makes sense Norman and Jasper are the stars of the show. Knowing Norman, he’s about ready to break the news reporters camera! My guess is that Jasper’s holding Norman back from turning Aurora into a punching bag!”

Robert couldn’t stop himself from laughing at the thought. He knew that the thought might very well be true. He looked at Cozy Glow and frowned.

“Too bad for Cozy Glow,” said Robert, “she hasn't slept much since this war began!”

“You know,” said Sunset, “I’ll make her some tea to help her rest.”

Sunset looked over to see Cozy Glow wide awake, watching the Tv and hovering.

“Cozy Glow?” Sunset said.

“Yes, Sunset?” Cozy Glow said.

“I’ll make some tea for you so you can sleep,” Sunset said.

“I don’t want to sleep Sunset!” Cozy Glow said. “I want to see dad make it back alive!”

“Don’t worry,” said Sunset, “Norman will be fine, like Discord said Betty’s there fighting with him. And besides, you’ve been awake for twenty-four hours!”

Cozy Glow sighed and mumbled, "Fine."


*	 *	 *


“I’m getting tired of that news reporter!” I said.

I had climbed out of trench #12. This time I used my sword, waiting until I had enough strength to use my death walker abilities. As I climbed out of the trench to join the fight, I saw the new cadet Mae take a bullet to the chest.

“No!” I said. I went over to Mae, carried her on my back to the trench, and laid her down by the trench’s edge as she gasped for air.

“What happened?” Jasper said.

“She got hit by a bullet that went through her chest!” I said.

I could see with every breath that Mae took she tried to cling to life.

“Mae,” I said, “you’re going to be okay! Hold on! The Medic Ponies will be here soon!”

“No general,” said Mae, “I’m not going to make it! Tell my family… that… I love them…”

“No!” I said. I couldn’t do anything as I watched the light go out of Mae’s eyes. I once again felt helpless like when Betty jumped to her death.

“Damn it!” I said. “Damn it!”

“Norman,” said Jasper, “we have to jump soon! Don’t get sidetracked! We will end this war and then no one else will have to die! We will meet up with our teammates when we move to the next trench. Come on we’re moving to another trench now!”


*	 *	 *


Aurora continued her report on the war.

"This is the sixth day of fighting. There’s no sign of General Norman and Second Jasper. The last time we saw them was when they met with the rest of the team to go behind enemy lines. The king and queen of hell are still fighting on the front lines in the thick of the battle. Coming up next is an interview with Second Luke. He will give us some background on the team of soldiers going behind enemy lines.” Aurora said.

The tv faded to background noise as the occupants of the room tuned it out.

“Well,” said Discord, “they finally made it towards enemy lines. I’m glad Amethyst is asleep now.”

“You don’t have to call Cozy Glow Amethyst around Robert now,” Sunset said.

“You told him?” Discord said.

“Nope,” said Sunset, “Cozy Glow told him herself.”

“I see,“ Discord said. “Well, in any case, I’m glad to see her asleep now. I have a  feeling that Norman and Jasper will come back soon.”

They watched the Tv again, curious about the team’s background information.

“Up next is the interview we’ve all been waiting for. We’re giving you this information straight from HQ. Second Luke will give us the information on the team handpicked by Princess Twilight herself.” Aurora said. Second Luke walked into view.

“Second Luke reporting. They have gone behind enemy lines and I can't tell the team’s exact location. Now, I know everyone wants to hear about our star General Norman Jewel. But let's talk about Second Jasper first.”

“Second Jasper’s past first sir?” Aurora said.

“Yes,” said Second Luke, “Second Jasper.”

“When did Second Jasper enlist?” Aurora said.

“At the age of 22,” said Second Luke, “after he enlisted he got forced to take the job of a knight of the royal court. Everyone knows why a soldier gets forced to take a job promotion they didn’t want. He’s won two medals to date. Second Jasper got assigned to General Norman's team. He decided to start messing up on his missions to avoid getting any more job promotions. General Norman named Jasper his second in command. Ever since then Second Jasper's been catching up to General Norman as far as strength goes. Second Jasper’s weapon of choice is a bow and arrow. He’s got more accuracy with it in his training.”

“What about the others that are on the team?” Aurora said.

“Yes,” said Second Luke, “the next one I will talk about is General Ben. He's in the 5th Division and enlisted at the age of twenty-five. He got the job of sergeant a year later and made general two years later! His specialty in fighting is hand to hand combat, he uses daggers in case he gets into trouble. I keep telling him he’s not invisible, but like most of my advice to generals, it goes in one ear and out the other.”

“Who would be the next one on the team?” Aurora asked.

“That would be Lieutenant Xavier,” said Second Luke, “he enlisted ten years ago. He became a sergeant in his fifth year and he’s won a medal for saving a comrade in battle. His weapon of choice is two short blades. The next soldier I’m going to mention is Sergeant Anastasia, she prefers her name shortened to Ana.”

“Sergeant sir?” Aurora said.

“Yes,” said Second Luke, “Sergeant Ana has been placed in the group also. She enlisted about ten years ago and was made sergeant after her first year! Why she hasn’t been recommended for a higher job title I don’t know. Although if she makes it out of this war alive she will be recommended for a higher job title for sure!”

“Well,” said Aurora, “I guess the only left is…”

“Yes, yes, I know,” said Second Luke, “that would be General Norman. He enlisted fourteen years ago and served in the Special Ops Division. He won five medals being a cadet alone! From what I hear General Norman doesn’t like having job promotions either. But for some reason, he can’t help but save people and make sure everyone on his team gets back alive. That's even if he has to sacrifice his own in return. No one knows what drives him to do that, if I didn’t know any better I’d say it runs deep in his blood.

"He was forced to take the job title of knight of the royal court. He won another medal when he saved Second Jasper in the heat of battle. He won the seventh medal, when he protected the princess, from a forced marriage to the enemies' leader Shadow Mist. That’s why we’re at war with Shadow Mist. Now Princess Twilight refuses to marry the guy and I don’t blame her. General Norman is bound and determined to protect Princess Twilight at all costs! This is all I can say about the team that is going behind enemy lines. I hope they make it out alive and that Celestia is with them. I’m Second Luke signing off now.”

Second Luke went off camera and Aurora turned around into view.

“Well, you heard it from Second Luke himself, that is everything he can tell you about the team behind enemy lines.”

After Aurora’s interview with Second Luke, Robert got a phone from Liz again and he wasn’t too happy about it either.

“That’s the third phone call since the war even started!” Robert said. “I know she’s worried about Norman but my goodness! I don’t know any more information than she does and she’s at headquarters for crying out loud!”

“Yeah I know,” said Sunset, “and don’t get me started on Chole! You know Norman and Jasper call them insane Liz and insane Chole.”

Robert started laughing when he heard that. “I can’t say that I blame them. They’re a couple of stalkers. I’m glad Second Luke was able to issue them restraint machines. Did you know Chole assaulted Jasper a couple of times when she saw him and Norman kissing? She’s gotten two reports filed because of it.”

“What?” Sunset said. “No wonder why they got those restraint machines! Too bad it only works for the observation room!”

“Yeah,” said Robert, “and I found out the name of one of the generals that love playing monkey in the middle with Norman.”

“Who?” Sunset said.

“General Ben!” Robert growled. “If he doesn’t die in this war I’ll kill him myself! I wish he would do something to control Liz. I mean she is his second in command after all.”

Sunset looked to see Cozy Glow hovering, her face painted with anxiety. She wasn't even close to sitting on the couch. It looked like she could bump her head on the ceiling because she hovered so high.

“Cozy Glow,” said Sunset, “will you please stop hovering before you hit your head?”

“I’m sorry Sunset,” said Cozy Glow, “I can’t help it!”

Discord nodded agreement while he pulled his beard hairs.

“I agree with Cozy Glow,” said Discord, “I’m starting to worry about Norman and Jasper too!”

“You’re never worried about anything Discord!” Sunset said.

“This time,” said Discord, “I am.”


*	 *	 *


Jasper and I met up with General Ben, Lieutenant Xavier, and Sergeant Anastasia who prefers to be called Ana. Betty came so she could help us.

“It’s weird,” I said, “having you fight side by side with me!”

“Dae and I agreed that I will help you into enemy territory. That’s as far as I can go for now. I know Sunset had you train on the simulator, to get your death walker abilities up to par. How many of the enemy can you kill now?” Betty said.

“Three hundred ten!” I exclaimed. “That’s my limit! I tried my best over and over again but I couldn’t get up to the five hundred! Sunset set it that hard to try to kill me!”

“Ha, ha no!” Betty said. “Sunset’s the best in the business. I only want the best for my little brother! She was pushing you as hard as she could because she knew it would come in handy one day and she was right!”

“But-" I said.

“You don’t have to catch up to me Norman!” Betty argued. “I’m a legend and you’re a hero in your own right! It might not be because of death walking. You have your set of strengths and weaknesses. Like I did before I became a legend! If you ask me, taking down three hundred ten of the enemy is more than enough!”
> 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!
> 21) I Just Have to Save People Don't I?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When we finally got the last trench it just had to be nighttime. Once again, the cease-fire meant that we had to stop fighting.

Great, I thought, I just want to get to Shadow Mist! Is that too much to ask for?

No sooner had I thought that, I nodded off to sleep. It wasn’t long before a slap in the face snapped me out of it. My eyes shot open, afraid a woman slapped me. I looked to see Jasper and Ben standing over me.

“Ow!” I said. “What did I do this time?”

“You didn’t do anything,” Jasper said.

“Then why did I get slapped and who slapped me?” I said.

Jasper tried to block his laugh with his hand, “It was Ben! Feel free to chew him out!”

“Hey!” Ben said. “I was just trying to help!”

“What exactly were you helping with?” I snapped.

“You were having a nightmare!” Ben said. “And you were talking in your sleep!”

“What was I saying to earn a slap in the face?” I said.

“You kept talking about Betty,” said Jasper, “you said something to the effect of ‘don’t go!’ I take it you were dreaming about when she jumped off that cliff right?”

I nodded, “Yeah that would be it.”

“Wait a minute!” Ben said. “Are you talking about the Legendary Death Walker Betty Jewel?”

“Yeah,” I said, “she’s dead now and to add onto that she's the Queen of hell!”

“How could she have died if she’s a legend now?” Ben said.

“She died alright,” said Jasper, “how do you think she became the queen of hell? I don’t think you can be alive for that!”

“Oh yeah,” said Ben, “the book did say she was the queen of hell. Those people in black clothing were fighting side by side with us back in Equestria! Are they demons?”

I rolled my eyes, “What do you think?”

“Okay, okay,” said Ben, “sorry my bad!”

“Yeah,” I said, “now please don't talk about my sister around me!”

“Okay then,” said Ben, “I’m going back to my side of the trench!”

“Good!” I snapped. “You do that!”

“Wow Norman,” said Jasper, “sorry about egging Ben on, but I figured you’d love a chance to kill Ben!”

I heard a voice in my head like a radio going off.

“Team Enemy Lines! Team Enemy Lines!” I heard the voice say. “Team Enemy Lines! If you can hear me just say yes or nod your heads!”

“Am I crazy,” I said, “are you guys hearing the voice too? Or do I need to check into an insane asylum?”

“Does it sound like a radio going off in your head?” Jasper said.

“Yup,” I said, “what about you guys?”

“Yeah! We can hear it too!” Ana, Xavier, and Ben said.

I recognized the voice. My sister's voice.

“If I didn’t know any better I’d say Betty's trying to contact us!” I said.

“Are you talking about the Legendary Death Walker Betty?” Xavier said.

“Just shut up and listen!” I said.

“Thank you Norman,” said Betty, “just in case you’re wondering,  being able to talk inside someone's mind is a demon talent. That’s why I’m able to talk to you right now!”

“Wait a minute,” said Ana, “did she just say demon?”

I groaned, “Did you guys even read the history book about her? What rock have you been living under? Just shut up and stay shut up! Got that?”

“Thanks again Norman,” said Betty. “We have gained intel about the enemy territory. There’s an Inn on the outskirts of the kingdom of Mave. I can escort you to it on the next ceasefire. But there might be some of the enemy forces waiting for us. I would say may Celestia be with us all. But she’s dead now and she can’t do a thing to help us! Stay sharp and listen for any more messages! I’m out. See you soon!”

“Well,” said Jasper, “I guess we’re going to be here for another day huh?”

“I just want to end this war already!” I said. “Is that too much to ask for?”


*	 * 	*


The next night Betty came to escort us to the Inn that she mentioned the night before. Before Jasper and I could go to our room, Ana pulled me to the side. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hear what Ana was going to say. I wanted to get to my room and go to sleep.

“You wanna know what’s funny?” Ana said.

“What is it?” I said.

“You act like you don’t remember me,” Ana said.

“You don’t look familiar to me,” I said, “so it’s no different than fighting side by side with Xavier and Ben.”

“That’s cute,” said Ana, “ you don’t remember why you won three of the five medals you have.”

“Uhh…” I said with a confused look on my face.

“You saved me three times back when you were a cadet!” Ana said. “I heard you won two more medals just for saving people? You can’t help yourself can you?”

I shrugged, “I guess it just comes naturally to me. If I did save you I probably told you that you don’t owe me anything!”

“Actually I do owe you!” Ana said. “Since you saved me three times I think I should show you how grateful I am, don’t you think?”

I didn’t realize that I was standing right in front of a chair because when I backed up I found myself sitting on it. I gulped when Ana sat on me. When I snapped out of my terror I was angry. So angry that I bawled my hand into a fist and was getting ready to deck her in the face before she kissed me just like it happened with Olivia.

“Hell no!” I screamed. “Get off me!”

“What the matter, Norman?” Ana said.

Before she tried kissing me again I almost finished my punch when Jasper stepped in and caught it in his hand. That was when Ben came over and pulled her off me.

“Sergeant Ana!” Jasper said. “Do you care to tell me why you’re sexually assaulting my general?”

“I wasn’t doing anything to him!” Ana said. “I'm just trying to show him my gratitude for saving me three times!”

“Doesn’t matter Ana!” Jasper snapped. “When someone says get off them. You. Get. Off! You don't see how pissed off he is? I don’t think he wants that type of gratitude!”

Ana looked at the fact Jasper was still holding my punch in his hand.

“Let my fist go Jasper!” I snapped. “I’m not going to let it happen again!”

Ben and Xavier didn’t look too happy at what Ana had just done too.

“What exactly happened to General Norman, Second Jasper?” Ben said.

“It’s a long story,” said Jasper, “and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to talk about it! This time I am holding him back! We have to get to Shadow Mist. And we’re so close! Ana, try something like that again and I’ll let Norman finish his punch. Do you understand me?”

Ana shrank back in terror at Jasper. I didn’t notice how angry Jasper was because I really wanted to land my punch on her.

“Ana,” said Ben, “try that again and I just might let you die in battle!”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Ana said.

“Try me!” Ben said. “It’s okay General Norman, you can stop now!”

“NO!” I roared.

Jasper then took my arm and held it behind my back. I snarled at Ana which seemed to amuse her instead of scaring her, fueling my anger.

“Oh well,” said Ana, “I’ll just have to find some other way to show my gratitude! You did save me three times after all!”

“Yeah,” I said, “there’s no way I’m going to save you anymore!”

“Oh you will save me, you want to know why?” Ana said. “Because you just can’t stop yourself from not saving people! Have fun resisting that urge!”

“You little witch!” I shouted.

“Calm down Norman!” Jasper said. Without another word, he dragged me upstairs to our room.


*	 *	 *


That night I couldn’t sleep. I just laid in bed trying so hard not to think of what just happened with Ana and unfortunately, I couldn’t help but think she was right about me saving people.

I just have to save people! I thought.

“You can’t sleep can you?” Jasper said.

“What do you think?” I said.

“Yup,” said Jasper, “women aren’t just annoying they’re crazy too!”

“Don’t forget psychos,” I said, “but psycho women run in the family. Good thing Betty didn’t grow up to be one!”

Jasper couldn’t help but laugh, “You just can’t chase them away can you? And unfortunately neither can I! Remember what I said about putting that snake in that girl’s desk?”

“Yeah?” I said.

“After I did that was when I realized that I was gay!” Jasper said. “Do you want to know when I realized that I had feelings for you?”

I raised my eyebrow, “When I saved you?”

Jasper shook his head, “Nope remember that fight we got into when we first met?”

“Yeah?” I said. “I sent you flying into a wall. That was when I was still turning people into punching bags. You just happened to be in my line of fire!”

Jasper laughed, “I probably shouldn’t have challenged you even back then! I didn’t realize how strong you were. And I didn’t think that anyone could do that to me! No one had been able to do that to me ever since I enlisted! The fact that you did it on the first try amazed me!”

“You sure didn’t look amazed by it then!” I said.

“Why do you think I kept challenging you to sparring matches after our first mission?” Jasper said.

“Because you were an idiot?” I said. “Not to mention you hated me calling you a coward!”

“True I hated that,” laughed Jasper, “but I kept challenging you to see if you would send me flying again!”

“Yeah that took some self-control,” I said, “although I really wanted to do that big time! And I didn’t want to get sent back to therapy again.”

Jasper snorted, “That’s what you were afraid of? Getting sent back to therapy? You know you're human, right?”

“Yeah, last time I checked I am,” I said, “and a death walker on top of that. I don’t know if being a death walker makes me human still.”

“I think it does,” said Jasper, “although I don't know what being a death walker is like. And trust me I don’t want to find out. I do wonder something though.”

“What?” I said not sure if I wanted to know what he was thinking.

“Why don’t you add another woman to the group?” Jasper said.

“If I find another sane woman like Sunset then maybe,” I said, “so far every woman I’ve come across has a screw loose!”

“I guess it’s a good thing that Olivia isn’t around,” Jasper said. “Now if only we can get rid of insane Liz and insane Chole!”

“That’s exactly why I’m not adding any more women,” I said, “and Ana’s not invited!”

“In any case, we try to sleep, that is if that’s what you want to do?” Jasper said.

“After what happened with Ana,” I said, “I’m not in the mood right now.”


* 	*	 *


After we headed out of the Inn and started to head towards the castle, I realized there were hardly any ponies around and it really creeped me out.

“This is so weird,” Xavier said, “we’re out in the open, and nopony’s attacking us?"

“I wouldn’t think that so soon!” I said. “At least we’re not hearing any nursery rhymes yet!”

“Huh?” Xavier said.

“Long story…” I said.

I looked behind me to see Jasper trying so hard not to laugh. I had a feeling of why that was. When I saw what Ana was doing it gave me the creeps. That’s because Ana was giving me the same look that I give Jasper, Robert and Sunset sometimes.

Jasper tried his best to keep a straight face when he came beside me.

“In case you’re wondering,” said Jasper, “yeah she is staring at your butt!”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that!” I said. “And to add onto that it’s not funny!”

“You get around don’t you?” Xavier said.

“I don’t get around with her!” I snapped. “She’s not invited!”

“I’m going to make a suggestion,” Ben said.

“I have a feeling I don’t want to know what you’re going to say,” I said.

“Why don’t you marry your first branch?” Ben said.

“First branch?” I said.

“Oh yeah,” said Ben, “Equestrian law does say, if you’re forming a big family it would be wise to designate the people or ponies that will be the original family or first branch so to speak. Once you do that, anyone else that gets added to the group can not be included into the family without the Alpha leaders say so.”

“That’s going to keep people from stalking me how?” I said.

“Once the Alpha is chosen,” said Ben, “the rest of the family will protect him or her. You can also get a restraining order amulet that doesn’t just work in the observation room.”

“How does that work?” I said.

Ben shrugged, “I’m not sure, but I’ve seen people and ponies have it on them before. Usually, it’s because they need protection from crazy people.”

“Oh yeah,” said Jasper, “Norman needs protection alright! And if there is a first branch and an Alpha leader is chosen it would be him! I think Sunset and Robert would agree with me.”

“No kidding!” I said. “You would think that people wouldn’t force me to date them!”

“You can’t win can you?” Xavier said.

“Nope!” I said. “Maybe I should do some self-defense training to keep people from tying me to a chair and sitting on me!”

Ben laughed, “Yeah might help too!”

We couldn’t continue our conversation because out of nowhere an arrow whizzed past. I heard the arrow coming and jumped out of the way pushing Ana out of the way in the process.

Yup, I thought, I just have to save people!

I had half a mind to use Ana as a shield when another arrow came towards us. Thankfully Betty caught it and snapped it in half.

“Take cover!” Betty said. “Now!”

I smiled because it reminded me of when this war first started and Dae came to save me. I didn’t want to get hit by another arrow or whatever attack the enemy could do. So I took cover behind a nearby tree. Thankfully Ana had enough common sense to take cover. I wasn’t about to save her again if I had a thing or two to say about it.

I turned my attention towards Betty again, watching her in awe as she fought the enemy attacks not even breaking a sweat. She caught arrows out of the air snapping them in two. She turned around as if she were doing a dance and catching some bullets in her hands and crushed them as if she were crushing a tin can. Every attack that the enemy threw at her she dodged or caught and broke with her bare hands. I realized something, I didn’t see her take out her death walker weapon not once. But it didn’t look like she needed it at all. When the last enemy was defeated she turned around and smiled at us.

“Wow,” said Jasper, “she’s amazing! And she didn’t even break a sweat!”

I shrugged, “She is a legend after all! Some of the battles she fought in the history book almost seemed too good to be true! They sure got it right!”

“You’re all clear!” Betty shouted. “You can come out now!”

When we came out from cover everyone including me looked at Betty in awe.

“No wonder why you’re a legend!” Xavier cheered. “You definitely deserve the title!”

“Queen of hell yes,” said Betty, “I don’t accept legend, not in the slightest! Don’t want that title!”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that, “You’re just as bad as I am!”

“Ha, ha,” said Betty, “very funny Norman!”

“Hey,” I said, “that’s my line!”

“You want to know what’s getting really old?” Betty growled.

I tried to stifle a laugh because I knew what she was getting ready to say.

“People and ponies and any other creatures in between bowing to me!” Betty said. “You can look at me now! Blah, blah! Honestly now! Well, at least I don’t have to wear a dress! I had to for my coronation ceremony and wedding but there’s no way I’m wearing a dress all the time!”

“You know you’re a queen right?” I chuckled, “you probably should act like it!”

“Yeah, yeah that’s what Parada told me!” Betty said, rolling her eyes.

“Who?” I said.

“She’s the king and queen of hell’s assistant,” Betty said, “the first time I met her it wasn’t pleasant!”

“Why?” I said.

“You don’t want to know!” Betty said. “If any case the castle is right up ahead. The rest is up to you. Hopefully, I’ll see you later Norman alive and not in The Land of the Dead!”

“I will do my best,” I said, “but I’m not making any promises…”

Betty nodded at me and disappeared. When we turned our attention to the drawbridge everyone’s eyes went wide at how many of the enemy we saw guarding it. There were at least twenty of the enemy guarding it.

“Okay then," said Xavier, “what do we do now?”

“You know I always say ‘okay then’ when I’m getting ready to make an exit,” I said. “I hope that’s not what any of you are planning to do!”

“Hell no!” Everyone else said.

“Good!” I said. “Jasper, you’re up!”
> 22) I'm not Saving You Anymore!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Me?” Jasper choked. “Why me? Why can’t Ben, Xavier, or Ana do it?”

“Why did you bring your long arrows? You know, the ones that have a long chain attached to them?” I responded. 

“So I don’t have to reload?” Jasper replied.

“Yup!” I said. “So you’re perfect for the job!”

“Great, lovely," Jasper said.

Jasper then loaded up his first arrow and shot it at the enemy. The enemy fell off the side of the bridge splashing into the water below. Jasper yanked the chain pulling the arrow back and Shadow Mist alligators rushed onto the pony and ripped him apart limb by limb. Well, that’s one way to get rid of a body!

Jasper kept aiming his arrows and pulling them back. The enemies fell into the gators waiting jaws one by one. I guess the alligators were hungry today!

After the last enemy was incapacitated, Xavier clapped Jasper on the back.

“Nice job Jasper!” Xavier cheered.

“Um,” said Jasper, “thank you?”

“Okay, Ana it’s your turn!” I commanded.

“What am I supposed to do?” Ana questioned.

I groaned, “Go inside and pull the lever and lower the bridge or are you too busy staring at my butt?”

Xavier, Jasper, and Ben snorted. Ana probably was staring at my butt again, I don't blame them for finding that funny. I wasn't about to stop them from laughing either.

“Oh yeah,” said Ana, “sure…”

Ana went inside the small building that had the lever to drawbridge in it. Once Ana took out the guards the drawbridge came down. When we entered the castle we came under enemy fire. I felt my smokescreen attack come out, blinding the enemies. 

"You guys have about thirty seconds to take them out!” I said.

“Alright!” Ben said. “Let’s go! It’s time to end this war!”

I turned around as Ben took a stallion's horn and snapped the horn in two with his bare hands. I finally reached my limit on the smokescreen when I felt another attack coming out.

“Oh crap!” I said. Great not this attack! I hate this attack!

Jasper looked over at me with a look of concern. I took a deep breath and the attack burst forth from my mouth. The enemies jumped for cover, but the cover melted from the heat of the flames incinerating them behind it. I always want to puke when that attack happens.

Jasper frowned “That doesn’t look good, are you going to be okay?”

“I’m fine,” I said, “let’s keep moving!”

I felt no more attacks coming for the moment so I took the opportunity to use my sword. I ran through the enemy taking down as many as I could. Before I knew it, every single one of the enemies that were on the first floor was either dismembered or killed.

When we finally made it to the next floor. I took the opportunity to catch my breath.

“You know you’re a death walker right?” Ana said.

“Yeah,” I said, “I can’t summon my attacks at will right now! I haven’t been able to figure that out yet. My attacks come out at random. I’ll figure it out sooner or later.”

“Huh,” said Ana, “interesting I’d never thought I’d see the day I’d fight side by side with a death walker! Not to mention he’s sexy too!”

I groaned. “Really Ana? Not the time for this! Stop staring at my butt and keep fighting!”

“I’m not staring at your butt at the moment!” Ana snapped. “Although it’s a nice view from here!”

Right when I was going to say some snappy remark I felt another attack coming out.

Great, not this again! I thought I’d reached my limit with that one! Maybe, I can try and keep it down this time? I should try thinking about water putting it out? I thought.

I tried doing as I thought and it worked the urge for the attack to come out and it worked like a charm. Huh, why didn't I think of this before? Although Sunset didn't teach me how to control my powers yet.

The enemy had the bright idea to have a cannon on one of the upper levels of the castle. Wow, Shadow Mist is the definition of the word 'idiot' if he has his soldiers doing stuff like that!

“If I didn’t know any better,” said Jasper, “these idiots are trying to bring the house down... or castle!”

I tried my best to keep from laughing at that. The enemy used their cannon to fire at us, we jumped out of the way as the cannonballs blasted through the cobblestone wall behind us. The next time I jumped out of the way of cannon attack I turned around to see a stallion floating two swords in his magic. I don’t want to know how many ponies that Shadow Mist trained to do that.

The stallion had a devilish grin on his face like he was very excited to fight me. Like the mare I fought, he turned his swords into an X. When he threw them behind me, when I saw the attack and jumped over them. The stallion then launched his swords at my head. I swiftly blocked them with my sword.

“Shadow Mist was right!” The stallion smiled. “You are a difficult opponent! But you look like you’re running out of steam!”

“I’m not done yet! Idiot!” I snapped.

“Feisty one aren’t you?” The stallion said. “When I win this battle, I’ll have you in my bed!”

“As if!” I said. I rolled my eyes. “I don’t think I’m interested so I’ll have to politely say no!”

“Awe,” the stallion pouted, “a sexy guy like you turning down a handsome devil like me?”

“I wish people would stop calling me sexy!” I snapped.

The stallion laughed, “That’s too bad, it comes with the territory!”

“Not if I got a thing or two to say about it!” I said.

“Norman,” said Jasper, “will you kill the guy already!”

“Fine, fine…” I said. Jasper rolled his eyes.

The stallion started throwing his swords at me with alarming speed. I was getting tired of fighting this stupid battle over and over again.

I’m tired of fighting the Shadow Mist stand in’s! So I did a stupid move, I stopped fighting and put my sword away, and waited for the next attack.

“What the hell are you doing?” Jasper said. I didn’t respond to him. I stood there and let the stallion make his attack.

The stallion laughed at me, “You’re not going to use your sword anymore? You’re stupid you know that? Oh well, this is going to be easy!”

I smiled at him as I put a handout and caught the sword letting it pierce my hand but not enough to chop it off. I stopped the other sword with my other hand and snapped it in two. I winced at the pain as I pulled the other sword out of my hand.

“Are you nuts?” Jasper said. He looked stunned by what I did.

“Nope,” I said, “I got tired of fighting the X blade!”

“You’re bleeding you-“  Jasper was about to finish his sentence. He looked at my hand to see that it was already healed.

I smiled, “What were you about to call me?”

“Never mind!” Jasper said. “Too bad Sunset isn’t here to slap you!”

“Whatever!” I said.

“Let’s keep going,” said Jasper with urgency, “I’ll knock some sense into you later!”

When we got to the next level we came around the corner and a mare floating two swords in her magic stood battle-ready.

No way am I fighting that again! I thought. That’s as bad as saving Ana! I remembered something Betty said. She explained to me about being able to change my death walker weapon into anything. I don't know what made me think of it, I just did. Hmm, Betty did say I could change my death walker weapon into something else! I never thought about that before! Let me see, I’m going to change my sword into a dagger!

I focused my thoughts. I felt my weapon change in my hand and looked down. 

My sword had turned into a dagger!

I threw the dagger at the mares swords and they broke apart out of her magic and fell to the ground. Xavier took his blades and sliced the swords in two. I smiled as my dagger turned back into my sword when I caught it.

“How did you learn to do that?” Ana said. “I thought you couldn’t summon your death walker abilities at will yet!”

I shrugged, “I don’t know!”

We couldn’t say anything else because the enemy had the bright idea to have a cannon on this floor also. One of the missiles that they fired aimed at us and it hit the ground and broke the floor in the process. I jumped out of the way in time but Ana didn’t. Damn it! That woman can’t keep herself out of trouble! And have half a mind to let her fall, but no I’m not letting one of my teammates die! Even if she is crazy!

I thought of an iron chain and looked down to see that attack wrapped around my wrist. I shot the chain out of my hand and caught her before she could fall. For some reason, a light bulb went off in my head. I have no idea how I'm thinking of these crazy ideas in the heat of battle. I wonder if I can let it look like someone else saved her when I did? This might work!

Xavier was standing right next to me watching the whole thing take place. I had an evil smile on my face and hoped that this next move would work. “Hey, Xavier! Come here for a second!”

Xavier looked down and saw Ana with my iron chain wrapped around her waist. "What do you want me to do Norman? I can't help you with this, you do realize that right?"

I smiled, “Actually, I think you can help!”

“What the-“ Xavier said as I grabbed his hand.

“Transfer!” I said. I saw my iron chain attack transfer itself to Xavier's wrist and wrapped around it. I laughed as I saw the confused look on Xavier’s face. It worked! Awesome! I'm not saving that crazy woman anymore, Xavier can do it!

“What did you just do?” Xavier said.

“Oh, nothing!” I snorted. “I transferred my damsel in distress to you!”

Jasper started laughing while he hit another enemy with an arrow.  “Good one Norman! I wish I could do that!”

“Oh. Xavier?” I said, “you might want to pull her up before she falls to her doom or you can let her fall! Whichever one you prefer! I could care less!”

“You little jerk!” Xavier growled. “There’s going to be payback for this!”

“Oh, I’m so scared!” I said, with sarcasm.

Xavier snapped, “Fine, I’ll pull the nutcase up!”

Xavier stepped backward as he struggled to pull Ana up. “I think she could lose a few pounds! This is not easy at all!”

I tried to stifle a laugh to the best of my ability, “I wouldn’t tell her that! She might slap you!”

When Xavier finally finished pulling Ana up, I couldn’t help but laugh as she had a confused look on her face. “Xavier? You saved me? And not Norman? I’m confused.”

“A thank you would be nice!” Xavier snapped.

Ana looked down at the ground, “Um… Thank You?”

I laughed, “I told you, I’m not saving you anymore! Now if you’ll excuse me I have a battle to fight!”


* 	* 	*


As the fighting continued it looked like it wasn’t going to end anytime soon. It reminded me of fighting a difficult boss in a video game.

At one point in the fight, I recovered enough to summon my death walker abilities and thought of an iron chain with a blade at the end of it. I felt it wrap around my wrist and I shot it up and the blade at the end of it stuck into the ceiling. I used it like a kid would use a rope to swing over and jump into a river. Instead of jumping into a river, I used it to swing around and sliced as many of the enemies with my sword in the process. When I finished with that, the iron chain attack disappeared. I could only assume that it was the limit for it. Ana and Xavier saw this and whistled at it. “Oh boy, stop watching me fight and do your own fighting!”

“Sorry!” Xavier and Ana said.

When they went back to fighting Ana looked bored, she didn't seem to be into it. I wondered if she was hoping to get into trouble again and have me save her. Considering that there was an increase in the number of enemies, I felt the need to use the fire and earth attack. I didn’t want to have to use this attack but I guess it’s necessary.

I thought of how it felt coming out and it came out. I destroyed one-third of the enemies no problem at all.

Jasper smiled at me, “I didn’t realize you could summon your attacks at will now!”

“Yeah,” I said, “watch out!”

Like when I was fighting that wizard, a huge boulder came flying at us out of nowhere. I jumped in the air kicking the boulder and it shattered into a million pieces. It was Ben that whistled at me this time. “I heard you could do something like that! I didn’t believe it! Well, I guess seeing is believing!”

“Wow!” Ana said. “You can save people and not even bat an eye at it!”

Ben turned around to see a stallion charge at him. He jumped in the air and kicked him in the chest. This set the guy flying down the steps and into where they had crumbled beneath us.

“I fight with fist number one and fist number two!” Ben declared. “Don’t forget foot number one and foot number two!”

Finally, we had either killed or disabled the enemy on the last floor. I was about to go to the rooftop so I could get my hands on Shadow Mist. The rest of my team was out of breath but I wanted to keep going.

“Can we… At least… Stop and rest first?” Ana said, trying to catch her breath.

“I agree with Ana this time!” Xavier panted.

“Fine…” I said. We all sat down and rested before we could get to the king.


*	 *	 *


When we got to the rooftop we ran into another set of enemies. Jasper and the rest of the team were not too happy about it.

“This again!” Jasper groaned.

“My thoughts exactly!” I agreed. As I was fighting the next set of enemies, without warning two swords in the shape of an X came flying at me out of nowhere. I saw it coming and jumped out of the way in the nick of time. Please tell me that’s Shadow Mist this time!

It wasn’t until after we finished killing the set of enemies that were in front of us, I heard his laughter. It was the laughter that I heard when I received his message of war. There was no mistaking it, the laughter was coming from the one and only Shadow Mist.
> 23) Me vs. Uncle Dylan
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Well now,” said Shadow Mist, “it’s about time you got here! And I see you brought some friends with you! How nice! I’ll feed them to my alligators along with you!”

“You’re just as arrogant as ever!” I said.

“And you haven’t changed a bit!” Shadow Mist said. “You still don't know how to talk to a king!”

“Like I’d ever show some respect to you!” I said. “I thought I already told you I don’t play nice with rulers I don’t recognize!”

“Tsk, tsk,” said Shadow Mist, “you disrespectful little brat! Oh, and I wanted to mention something to you that just might work in my favor!”

“And what would that be?” I snapped.

“I just hired a new general right before I declared war!” Shadow Mist said. “Oh Dylan! Why don’t you come out and play with your nephew? I’m sure he’s pretty happy to see you!”

Dylan came out of the shadows laughing like he was all too happy to see me.

“It’s so nice to see you again nephew!” Dylan said.

“I’m going to say the same thing to you that I said to dad,” I said, “bite me!”

“Oh,” said Dylan, “you saw your father again? I thought I killed him!”

“Oh yeah,” I said, “he’s dead alright!”

“Let me guess beacon of light training?” Dylan said.

I scoffed at him.

Dylan fell out laughing, “Did you just scoff at me nephew?”

“Don’t call me your nephew!” I snapped.

“Oh it’s been two years nephew,” said Dylan, “I looked at the records and that halfbreed Betty killed your mother a month before her birthday! So I think I've given you plenty of time to prepare to fight me. I hear you’ve been forming a herd haven’t you? Doesn’t matter I’ll kill them once I kill you!”

“There’s no way I’m going to let you do that!” I said.

“Oh?” Dylan said. “You have a sword on your back! I wonder, would that be your death walker weapon?”

“Uh… Norman?” Jasper said. “Who is this guy calling you nephew?”

“Apparently,” I said, “he’s my long-lost uncle! He got into my house and made a death threat to me two years ago! I actually forgot about it until now!”

“Wait a minute!” Jasper said. “You can forget about a death threat, but you’re bothered about a woman almost raping you! Wow!”

“So that’s what happened to General Norman?” Ben said.

“It’s still a long story,” I said, “and I don’t want to talk about it!”

When Dylan heard this he started laughing hysterically.

“You were almost raped?” Dylan laughed. “The new death walker? Almost raped? Now that’s funny!”

“It’s not funny!” I said. “I mean thank you for killing dad and all. But that’s not funny! Since you made a death threat to my family I won't hesitate to kill you! Just like Shadow Mist! I’m not going to show mercy to either of you!”

“Oh?” Dylan said.

“Yeah!” I said.

“Well, well, well,” said Dylan, “let’s get this show on the road shall we nephew? You and your little pet?”

“My name’s Jasper!” Jasper snapped.

Dylan had an amused look on his face, “You know what they say about a weak dog? All bark and no bite!”

“Why you little-“ I said as I tried to charge at Dylan. That’s when I realized that I couldn't move and I recognized it as the Terror Paralyze spell that Jack had taught me to get out of. He always told me that pain trumps fear every time. I had forgotten that when I first fought Theodore. When I couldn’t get past the spell Jack would cut my neck just to make a point.

“What’s going on,” said Jasper, “and why can’t I move?”

“Ever heard of the Terror Paralyze spell?” I said.

“Yes?” Jasper said.

"It's a spell that makes it so you can't move. When that happens you're at the mercy of the one who casts it!" I explained.

Dylan faked a yawn and took out of his pocket a gun like one that John had.

“Don’t worry Jasper,” I said, “you’ll be able to move in a second or two!”

“A second or two?” Dylan laughed. “That might be a little bit too late! As you can see, my death walker weapon is this gun! I prefer to use it in this form the most! See my sapphire jewel on it? Isn’t it beautiful? Since your friend Jasper is the closest to me, I’ll just kill him first!“

"Not on my watch you don’t!” I said. After I said that I had managed to regain control over my body. When Dylan fired his gun I got in front of Jasper and caught the bullets just like Betty did. I crushed the bullets in my hand and crushed them like I was crushing a tin can.

I then took my sword out and turned it into a dagger again and stabbed Jasper in the leg.

“Ow! What was that for?” Jasper screamed.

“You should be able to move now!” I said. “Pain trumps fear every time!”

He grabbed my arm and pulled the dagger out. I let out a sigh of relief.

“That was way too close for comfort!” Jasper said with a grin.

“Don’t thank me yet!” I said. “Not until after we take care of Dylan and Shadow Mist!”

“So overconfident!" Dylan said. "It looks like you guys are tag-teaming me now! Oh well…”

“Hmph,” I said, “you’ve tried to kill my family already! I think it’s only fair that Jasper gets a shot at you!”

Dylan raised an eyebrow, “Oh? That man’s part of your family? Well then, killing him will be one less Jewel to worry about!”

“That's not going to happen!” I said. I looked at Ben and the others, “Well gee don't let me stop you from doing any fighting! If not, you’re just as bad as Jasper when I first met him!”

“Hey!” Jasper said.

“But you’re the one that-“ Ben said.

“Shadow Mist wants?” I said. “Yeah, I know! In case you didn’t notice we’re in a team for a reason!”

“Oh right,” said Ben, “let’s go!”

Shadow Mist heard that and started laughing like a psycho.

“That’s sweet you’re sending your attack dogs to fight me?” Shadow Mist said. “That’s rich! Where’s the popcorn when you need it?”

“I wouldn’t be so cocky if I were you!” Ana said. When she charged him, she almost got to him when he did a teleportation spell and disappeared.

“Great,” said Ben, “I guess it’s time for me to track him now!”

“Track him?” Xavier said. “With what?”

“Did you pay attention when you watched me train?” Ben said.

“Actually no,” said Xavier, “I was paying more attention to Liz.”

“I knew it!” Ben said.

“Hmm,” said Dylan with curiosity, “I would love to finish you two off. But I think I want to see how this plays out. This should be entertaining!”

Jasper and I also watched, curious what would happen.

Ben took out a pouch the size of a wallet, opened it, and removed a cylindrical object. He squeezed it and the ends of the object extended out, releasing five daggers that he caught from the air as the object dropped to the ground.

Shadow Mist had an evil grin on his face as he lit up his horn, starting a spell. Ben aimed one of his daggers at him and threw it as Shadow Mist disappeared with a pop.

When Xavier saw this, he fell over laughing.

“You really should work on your aim, Ben!” Xavier teased.

“Shut up Xavier!” Ben said. He pointed in a certain direction. “He’s over there!”

Ben pointed right where Shadow Mist had just popped up.

“How did you-“ Xavier said.

“It’s a tracking dagger,” said Ben, “did you notice the handle on this dagger is different from regular daggers?”

“Huh?” Xavier said.

I looked over to see the dagger and it was indeed different from other daggers that I had seen. The daggers had black handles on them and there some sort of writing on them too.

“What’s that writing mean?” Xavier said.

“It’s my name written in pony language,” said Ben, “I also have a little bit of magic too, not like the death walker over here. But it’s enough to make them tracker daggers. All I have to do is aim it at the magic-user and it will lock on to their magic aura and allows me to sense where the target's aura moves. Just sit back and watch the show!”

It was comical seeing Shadow Mist doing his teleportation spell with Ben being able to spot him every time he popped up. It looked like Ben was playing a game of whack a mole.

“Although this is fun to watch,” said Dylan, “I’d rather continue traveling down the road with you two. And just like you, nephew, I can turn my weapon into anything I want. I’ll go with these for now!”

In Dylan’s hands were two medium size chains that looked similar to my iron chain attack.

“I hope your death walker abilities have improved,” said Dylan, “and your sword fighting should be well up to my level too!”

“Yeah,” I said, “considering my trainers were psycho!”

“You think you’re all grown up don’t you?” Dylan said. “But you’re still a child! Too helpless to stop a rapist!"

“I’m not a child!” I said.

Jasper then fired one of his arrows. All Dylan had to do was step to the side to dodge it.

“If you were trying to kill me,” said Dylan, “that wasn’t a good attempt! A for effort and everything. Like I said, all bark and no bite!”

Jasper fired another arrow and in trying to hit Dylan he almost hit me in the process. I jumped out of the way just in time.

“Are you trying to kill me?” I said. “Or is that your way of trying to knock some sense into me?”

“No,” snapped Jasper, “I actually missed that time!”

“Just like old times!” I smirked.

“Hello!” Dylan said. “Earth to Jasper and Norman! Are you forgetting about something?”

“In case you didn’t notice-“ I didn’t get a chance to finish my sentence when Dylan threw one of his chains and it wrapped around my hand. It felt like he was trying to take my hand off.

He threw his other chain and it wrapped around Jasper’s waist. I turned my sword into a dagger again and threw it at Jasper's chain cutting it in two. I did the same thing to the chain around my hand. Dylan then pulled his chains back to him.

“Jasper,” I said, “don’t let the ow!”

I felt Dylan’s chain hit my leg giving a deep cut all the way down it.

“What were you saying?” Jasper said.

“Don’t let those chains hit you!” I said. “As you can see, they can do some real damage!”

“You don't say!” Jasper said.

Dylan once again called his chains back and threw them again. I yelped as I barely jumped out of the way of one chain but the other chain wrapped around Jasper's ankle before I quickly sliced it in two.

“Hmm,” said Dylan, “looks like that wound I gave you is slowing you down. Too bad it’s starting to heal now! Oh well! I wonder why that doesn’t happen to me?”

“Jealous much?” I said.

“Not really!” Dylan said. “That doesn’t matter, I'm still going to kill you!"

I didn’t say a word. I growled, charging at Dylan. I didn’t get to tackle him when he threw his chain at me and it wrapped around my neck choking me. Jasper fired his arrow at the chain snapping it in two. I stumbled backward trying to catch my breath.

“Are you going to be okay?” Jasper said.

“I’m fine!” I croaked.

“Ow!” Jasper said. “Not this again!”

Once again one of Dylan’s chains had wrapped around Jasper’s waist. I looked down to see another chain had wrapped around my ankle.

“For crying out!” Dylan snarled at us. “Would you two just die already!”

“Aww, am I getting on your nerves? I think I'll just stay alive to keep doing that,” I taunted.

I didn't use my sword this time after one of Dylan’s chains had wrapped around my ankle. I stomped on the chain and yanked my ankle free. Jasper was clearly annoyed when he saw me do that.

“Seriously!” Jasper growled. “So much for me protecting you! Did you just twist your ankle doing that?”

“I don’t know!” I said.

“Did I just hear Jasper say that he was protecting my nephew?” Dylan laughed. “Aww, that’s cute!”

I tried to put pressure on my ankle wincing from the pain.

“Yeah, I twisted it!” I said.

“You’re an-“ Jasper didn’t get to finish his sentence because Dylan had thrown another chain and after I sliced it in two Jasper stumbled backward. The look on Dylan’s face was nothing but anger. I almost smiled at it but I had to remind myself that this battle was a fight to the death.

“Looks like the rodents need some stronger pest control!” Dylan said.

“Excuse me?” I snarled at him.

“Remember when I made that death threat?” Dylan said. “This is an extermination process! You and your family are not fit to bear the name Jewel on it!”

“And I would let you exterminate my family because?” I said.

“Like I said…” Dylan said. “Oh nevermind!”

Jasper and I looked to see that there were more chains hanging from Dylan’s hand. He had four of them in his hand. Dylan threw his chains at Jasper and this time he jumped out of the way.

“Not again!” I said.

Dylan threw one of his chains again and I caught it before it could wrap around my neck. I remembered the transfer move that I did with Xavier to make him save Ana.

“Transfer!” I said. After catching Dylan’s chain in my hand it started working with me and I pulled it away from him. He was definitely angry when I did that.

“Now how did my nephew figure out the transfer move?” Dylan said. "Interesting looks like the child has learned a few tricks on his own! If I didn't know any better I’d say he was paying attention in school!”

“I’m not a child!” I snapped.

Dylan threw his chains at me again and I caught one and threw it back at him.

“Transfer!” Dylan and I both said at the same time. Dylan’s chain transferred over to my hand and the chain that I had caught before transferred back over to Dylan’s hand.

“This is really getting old!” Dylan said.

I turned around to see Jasper fire another arrow and it grazed Dylan’s ear.

“Okay!” Dylan said. “Now I’m pissed!”

“Oh? What are you going to do about it?” I taunted.

I guess I had caught another chain without even thinking about it because it wrapped around my hand and disappeared as if I had absorbed it.

That’s new, I thought, works for me! Only three more to go!

Dylan must have gotten tired of throwing his chains and me catching them. I picked up on it and stopped using the transfer move and pulled out my sword.

“Well,” said Dylan, “it’s about time we pulled out or swords!”

“We?” I said.

“Yes, we!” Dylan said. “I can turn my gun into a sword too!”

Great! I thought. Perfect!

“Let’s see what you got, nephew!” Dylan said.

I rolled my eyes, "Oh brother!"

“Okay then,” said Jasper, “I think I’ll let you handle this one. I’m making my exit now!”

“Good idea!” I said. “Why don’t you go help the others with Shadow Mist! That’s probably more entertaining than this!”

“Yup,” said Jasper, “I’m outta here!”

“Well,” I said, “at least it’s only one sword!”

Dylan scoffed at me, “It might only be one sword, but I have more advanced moves than you!”

"I’m supposed to be scared of that because?” I said.

Dylan then charged at me aiming his sword at my chest. It was very quick but I managed to block in the nick of time. It reminded me of when I was training with Jack but Dylan’s attack was much faster.

I began to think about what the Terror Paralyze spell felt like. I noticed that it only worked when Jack made eye contact for a short while and was able to make me into a sitting duck on the battlefield.

I wonder if I can do it… I thought.

As soon as Dylan turned around and made eye contact with me I stared hard into his eyes and he started trembling.

“How did you-“ Dylan said. The look on his face was shock and anger and I couldn’t help but smile at it.

“What’s the matter uncle of mine?” I said. “Can’t you move?”

“You’re dead nephew!” Dylan roared.

“I don’t think so!” I said.

I looked to see that I had frozen Dylan with his sword sticking straight out because he was aiming it at my chest. I stood right in front of Dylan and turned my sword into a dagger again. I also looked over to see that my other teammates had gotten Shadow Mist right in the line of fire.

I smiled and thought, This is going to be good! I can kill two birds with one stone!

I took my dagger and aimed it at Dylan throwing it as hard as I could. The dagger pierced Dylan right through his chest, flew across the room, and lodged into Shadow Mist's chest behind him. Feeling confident, I called my dagger back. For a brief moment, I felt pain in my leg where Dylan's chain hit me. Before I realized it my dagger was inches from me. I tried to grab it but I wasn't fast enough and it pierced my chest right below my heart.

“No!” I heard Jasper cry.

“I’m-“ I said. Before I could finish my sentence I took two steps forward. The world went dark before I hit the ground.
> 24) The Correct Term is Your Fate has been Decided
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next time I opened my eyes, I couldn’t figure out where I was. I looked to the right and I looked to the left but all I could see was nothing but white everywhere.

Am I in a white room at a mental asylum? I thought. What did I do to get here?

“Hello, Norman!” I heard a voice say. “It’s about time I got to meet you!”

Am I nuts? I thought. I turned around to see a woman hold out a hand to help me get up.

“Where am I?” I panicked. “Am I dead?”

The woman laughed, “Oh no, you’re not dead! Not in the slightest!”

“Okay,” I said, “then where am I?”

“You’re in my dimension,” said the woman, “let’s say it’s a side realm connected to everywhere.”

“Okay?” I said.

“Oh that’s right,” the woman said, “where are my manners? I should introduce myself! My name is Fate, nice to meet you Norman!”

“How do you know my name? I thought meeting Fate was a figure of speech!” I said.

Fate fell out laughing as if I had just told the best joke ever.

“I do believe the correct term is your fate has been decided!” Fate laughed. “You’re not only a death walker but you’re pretty funny too! Have you ever thought about stand-up comedy?”

“Yeah no,” I said, “at least you haven’t said I’m sexy yet.”

Fate cracked up, “Ha, ha no! I’m too old for someone like you!”

“Gee,” I said, “thank you? And why did you say the correct term? Am I starting a new job title? I’d rather be in a holding cell instead!”

Fate couldn’t hold her laughter in even if she wanted to.

Fate stopped laughing and cleared her throat, “Anyway, there is a reason why I brought you here. I just wanted you to finally meet the person who’s been behind the scenes pulling the strings!”

I titled my head, “Huh?”

“Oh that’s right,” said Fate, “I should probably explain my background so you can follow the things I’m trying to tell you. The first time I woke up was a long time ago, thousands of years ago, I’m actually a lot older than Equestria! But the universe that I first woke up in was the universe that had the planet called earth in it. And for some reason, I had the word ‘fate’ stuck in my head. So I decided that would be my name.

"I have magic and a lot of it. But it comes in the form of little clouds that float around my head. I know what you’re thinking, you can’t see them, only I can. I call them powers. That’s because these clouds make decisions on how I use my magic. And when they’ve made a decision I have to follow through with it.”

“And this involves me how?” I said.

“I’m getting to that,” said Fate. “As I was saying. If my powers make a decision, I have to go through with it. If I don’t, grave consequences will follow. And yes, I’ve done that once before.”

“So what happened?” I said.

Fate sighed, “I tried to resist my powers when I first woke up. Before I woke up, the planet called earth had creatures that were called humans. From what I could tell they were very peaceful creatures. The voices in my head told me to make decisions for a couple of those creatures. They told me that those decisions would be good for that universe but only that universe.

"I hated the puffs of clouds that were floating around me. They kept talking to me and their voices were so annoying! So I ignored their requests and that universe was destroyed because of me. I tried to rebuild it to the best of my ability but it came back glitched.”

“Glitched?” I said.

Fate nodded, “Yes instead of humans being peaceful when they came back, they knew nothing but war. And it looked like that’s what they were best at.”

“Okay,” I said, “that’s not answering my question.”

“Oh yeah,” said Fate, “for some reason this universe reacts a lot to the Jewel family. That’s why my powers made the decisions they did. It was mostly involving you since Betty had already made her choice before my powers got to her. I’m actually glad that happened! Look at how she is now! She’s such a fine young woman if I do say so myself! I wish I was her mother instead!

"Anyway, they decided a person named Heavenly Jewel would come into play. The powers were very active at this time. Pulling strings so some people died and other people couldn't be declared Death Walkers. My powers thought in doing so would balance the magic in this universe. In seeing that almost every Jewel family member is dead, they let the Icebreakers declare you as a Death Walker. And to add onto that, the ‘herd,’ or family as you would call it, will be the future generation of the Jewel family.”

“When you say almost dead,” I said, “does that involve my sister, mother, father, and possibly uncle? Did Dylan die?”

“Oh yes,” said Fate, “he’s dead, that dagger went straight through his heart!”

“But I thought there was a magical barrier that protects it?” I said. “He was a death walker! Or was he lying?”

“Yeah,” said Fate, “unfortunately, he was a Death Walker. My powers decided he had to die because he was a threat. So they broke the magical barrier and let him die.”

I thought back to when I saw the dagger go right through Shadow Mist before it hit me.

“If I recall correctly,” I said, “I saw my dagger go right through Shadow Mist's chest. I hope he’s dead. Because if he is, that alone should keep Equestria safe.”

“He’s dead too.” Fate said. “The war for Canterlot and Princess Twilight is won thanks to you!”

“How long has the war been over?” I said.

“It’s been over for three weeks now.” Fate said.

I almost choked on what I heard. “Three weeks! If I’m still alive, then what have I been doing this whole entire time?”

“You’ve been sleeping,” said Fate, “everyone’s waiting for you to wake up. You’re just in a coma for now. I just needed you to be out long enough for me to talk to you.”

“Why’s that?” I said.

“That’s because my powers decided to relay to you this information for some reason.” Fate said. “Oh and by the way Sunset will have something to tell you when you wake up.”

“And what might that be?” I said.

“Did you hear what I just said?” Fate said. “Sunset will tell you, and since you, Cozy Glow and her, have made your death walker decision already, you continue to keep your death walker powers until you die. And another thing be prepared for the circus when you wake up. Not to mention Cozy Glow already told Robert and Jasper about her past, that she is Cozy Glow.”

“What?” I said. “But why?”

“I guess she figured since Robert and Jasper are family now they deserved to know. I’m sure you’ll talk to them about that when you wake up.” Fate said. “Sunset knew before she even came to train you with your death walker abilities.”

“Why didn’t Betty tell me?” I said.

Fate shrugged, “I have no idea! Maybe she did it to keep you from falling in love with Sunset? If that was the case, that backfired!”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that comment, “Yup! It definitely backfired alright!”

“I bet you’re probably wondering when you’re going to wake up?” Fate said. “Am I right?”

I nodded, “Okay then, when can I make my exit?”

“You’re really funny, you know that?” Fate laughed.

“Yeah,” I said, “I think I’ll keep my day job!”

“Well,” said Fate, “you’re going to wake up… Now!”

Fate pointed a finger at me and just like when I was hit by my weapon the world went dark.


*	 *	 *


The next time I opened my eyes I saw that I was in a hospital room. Jasper and Robert were sitting by my bedside. They were nodding off to sleep when Robert opened his eyes to see that I was awake.

“Hi, Robert…” I said.

When Jasper heard my voice he jumped out of his seat. Robert had the same reaction.

“He’s awake!” Jasper said. “Robert, go tell Sunset!”

“I’m on it!” Robert said. He went outside and I could hear him talking to Sunset.

“What?” Sunset said. “He’s awake? I’m coming right away!”

I bit the inside of my cheek not sure if I wanted to face her yet. I really didn’t feel like getting slapped when I just woke up.

“Well then,” I heard a voice say, “you’re finally awake! You’re an idiot you know that?”

“I guess so,” I said, “hi Betty…”

“When a death walker calls back their weapon usually they can catch it no problem,” Betty said.

“Yeah, I missed,” I said, “I suspect Fate had a hand in that!”

“Wait!” Betty said. “Fate? The Fate? You actually saw her?”

I nodded, “Yeah? What’s the big deal?”

“Fate is the most powerful being that travels anywhere at any time!” Betty said. “I’ve heard a lot of people and other creatures that meet Fate don’t live to tell the tale!  How come you survived meeting her?”

“She said something about starting a new generation of the Jewel family,” I said. “That’s because the Jewels are about ready to go extinct. I think that’s why I survived.”

Betty nodded, “Just like when the Icebreakers decided to start a new generation of death walkers and named you and Amethyst as the first two.”

“Yeah,” I said, “I guess so.”

Betty pointed to the doorway, “Sunset wants to talk to you.”

“Hi, Sunset…” I mumbled.

Betty smiled, “Well, see you later!”

Just like many times before Betty nodded and disappeared. As I suspected Sunset slapped me so hard I’m surprised it didn’t leave a mark. I didn’t say anything to her, I just looked away.

“What on earth were you thinking?” Sunset said. “You almost killed yourself with your weapon!”

I still didn’t say anything to her because I didn’t have an answer for her. It looked like she was about ready to slap me again when she stopped herself.

Yup, I thought, that’s exactly why I didn’t want to see her right now in the first place!

“Sorry about that Norman,” said Sunset, “I guess if I wanted an answer from you, that probably wasn’t the best way to go about it. I’m glad you came home. But, honestly! Don’t scare me like that!”

Once again, I didn’t have an answer for her.

“My thoughts exactly!” Jasper said. “At least you slapped him for me!”

“Ha, ha,” I said, “very funny Jasper!”

“Typical…” Sunset said.

“I’m afraid to ask this,” I said, “but what’s typical?”

“For a man to be afraid of his girlfriend,” said Sunset, “and a war hero at that!”

After that comment, Sunset and Jasper started laughing pretty hard.

“That’s not funny Jasper!” I snapped.

“Hey!” Jasper said. “Why are you yelling at me? Sunset’s the one who slapped you!”

“I’m not saying a word…” I said.

“Oh and Amethyst told me about her past and she told Robert too!” Jasper said.

I gulped when he said that.

“You look scared now that you know that,” said Jasper, “if we were going to leave you we wouldn’t have been at your bedside. Robert and I agree if the shoe was on the other foot we would’ve done the same thing.”

“As far as almost killing myself, I was trying to kill Dylan!” I said. “And speaking of that, you just HAD to mention I had almost been raped by someone! Of course, I’m bothered by it! It happened two months ago! And the death threat was made two years ago! So of course I forgot about it!”

“Oh,” said Jasper, “the doctor also bandaged your twisted ankle. As far as that wound you gave yourself, no one knows why it hasn’t healed yet. Which is funny, because all of the other wounds you got healed the very moment you got them!”

I shrugged, “Maybe it’s because I got hit by a death walker weapon?”

Jasper shrugged, “Maybe, maybe not…”

There was a short silence. “Yeah,” said Robert, “and Liz is getting on my last nerve!”

“Why’s that?” I said.

“She keeps asking me out,” said Robert, “apparently she thinks because I’m your boyfriend that if she can go out with me, she can get to you! The girl doesn’t know how to take a hint!”

I laughed at that but I winced at the pain when I did.

“That’s why we call her insane Liz in the first place!” Jasper said. “Oh and one more thing Norman.”

“What?” I said. I could see that Jasper was getting ready to fall out laughing again.

“Everyone on team Enemy Lines got a medal for stopping the war,” said Jasper, “and since you almost killed yourself with your own weapon to do so-“

“Don’t tell me,” I said, “it’s what I think it is? Is it?”

Jasper really couldn’t contain his laughter, “Yup! You just won your eighth medal!”

“Great,” I said, “at least the limit is ten!”

Jasper couldn’t hold in his laughter even if he wanted to. I guess Robert was amused by it because he joined in.

“Seriously you two!” I snapped. “It’s not funny!”

I tried to get out of bed so I could strangle both of them but I sat right down because of the pain.

“Easy there!” Robert said. “You need to stay in bed!”

“Okay you two,” said Sunset, “can you guys clear out so I can talk to Norman.”

Jasper looked like he couldn’t keep a straight face, “You gonna slap him again?”

“You little jerk!” I said. I wanted to deck him in the face but he was too far away from the bed.

“Nope,” said Sunset, “at least he has to stay in bed because of his wound. If he doesn’t the doctors will have to redo his stitches  again!”

Instead of laughing like I expected, Jasper flinched at that comment.

“Redo the stitches? Ouch,” said Jasper. “Yeah, I’m out of here before he tries to get out of bed again and punches me!”

After Jasper and Robert cleared out of the room, I went back to not looking at Sunset.

“Oh boy,” said Sunset, “I guess I should apologize for slapping you. I think I’ll just tie you to a pole instead. Or maybe I could get Betty to do the whole beacon of light thing for me. I won’t be able to use my death walking powers on you for a while. I’m pregnant with your child.”

Instead of looking away from her I just stared at her in shock.

“What?” I croaked. “How long?”

“Seven months,” said Sunset, “and I have the DNA test to prove it.”

Sunset handed me an envelope and I opened it. When I saw the DNA test and it confirmed that I’m the father I just about passed out.

Sunset sighed, “At least if you pass out you’ll stay in bed. Because I don’t want to see them redo the stitches any more than Jasper does. I’m pretty sure my doctor is going to put me on bed rest for the next two months. And when you get released you’ll probably have to take it easy until your wound completely heals.”

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to take it easy since you’re pregnant and all,” I said.

“No you’re going to need to rest too,” said Sunset, “Robert and Jasper have agreed to help us out when they can. Fluttershy and Discord, however, will be helping us out the most. Speaking of that, Amethyst is waiting to speak to you now that you’re awake.”

Sunset left and Cozy Glow hugged me, she backed off when she saw that I was in pain.

“Oops,” said Cozy Glow, “sorry dad! I’m just happy you’re finally awake! I didn’t lose my necklace you gave me! See?”

Cozy Glow pointed at her neck and I smiled when I saw it.

“Thanks for not losing it Amethyst,” I said.

Discord laughed at me, “You just can’t help yourself can you?”

“What are you talking about?” I said.

“The whole saving people thing!” Discord said. “If I didn’t know any better, you just might be Princess Twilight’s successor!”

I shook my head rapidly, “Nope, I don’t want the job! No way!”

“You look like you’re trying to save someone now!” Discord laughed. “You can’t sit still to save your own life!”

“I am sitting still!” I said.

“No, you’re not!” Fluttershy said. “You look like you’re about ready to jump out of bed despite your pain! If you want to save someone right now, you probably should think about saving yourself. Just like you saved Equestria and Princess Twilight too!”

“I had help you know!” I said. “It wasn’t just me!”

“Oh don’t be so modest Norman!” Fluttershy said. “Like Rainbow Dash said to Betty, take credit where credit is due!”

“Okay fine,” I said, “I’m not a war hero! I don’t want to know the correct terms for that!”

“Yuck!” Discord said. “Gag me!”

“What is he talking about?” I said.

Just like when I was talking to Fluttershy about the love letters she fell on her back laughing. I wanted to tell her it wasn’t funny but I already got slapped by a hand. I really didn’t want to know what it feels like to get slapped by a hoof.

“It’s funny,” said Fluttershy, “Betty’s the same way! She does not accept the fact that she’s a legend now! In any case, Amethyst I think we should go home and let your father rest. Besides you need to rest!”

“But I’m not tired Grandma Fluttershy!” Cozy Glow whined.

“Yes you are,” said Fluttershy, “now that your father’s awake you need to sleep now. No more staying awake for twenty-four hours straight anymore!”

“Yes, Grandma Fluttershy…” Cozy Glow said.


*	 *	 *

 
The next day I woke up to a nudge on my shoulder and it wasn’t gentle at all. The nudge made the pain in my chest act up.

“Ow!” I said. “What was that for Sunset?”

I heard Jasper laughing hard when he handed me the Tv remote.

“Nope,” said Jasper, “not Sunset, but there is something you need to see.”

“Okay?” I said.

“Just turn on the Tv!” Jasper said.

I turned on the Tv to see that stupid news reporter that was following me and Jasper around during the war.

“What in the world is Aurora going to report on this time?” I said. “If she comes into the hospital room, I’m going to break her camera!”

Jasper rolled his eyes, “I don’t think she’ll be coming to the hospital anytime soon. Do you see where she’s at?”

When I saw it, I was very confused.

“She’s at a buck-ball field?” I said.

“Exactly!” Jasper said.


*	 *	 *


“This is Aurora,” said Aurora, “I’m signing on not to give a play by play of the war but to cover the broadcast on the celebration! General Norman is finally awake and now it’s time to give a tribute to team Enemy Lines! It’s starting right now!”

As soon as Aurora said that there was an announcer that came on the intercom for the buck-ball field.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” said the announcer, “mares and stallions welcome to the Wonderbolts buck-ball field! On this corner is Princess Twilight High and in the next corner is Celestia High drumline!”

After we heard the announcer trumpets sounded to announce the presence of both sides of the two drumlines. When the drumline for Princess Twilight High came out, the leader was dressed in Jasper's uniform. When Celestia High came out on the other side, the leader was dressed in my uniform.

“Uh… Jasper?” I said. “Were you on the drumline for Princess Twilight High?”

“Yeah?” Jasper said. “I was the leader for the drumline. I take it you were the leader for Celestia High’s drumline?”

I nodded, “I wonder, have we played against each other at one point?”

“Now that you think about it,” said Jasper, “we did! I remember watching the home video that I have of it trying to figure what went wrong on our face-off.”

“Why’s that?” I said.

“Because in the drum routine there was a tie between our schools,” Jasper said. “Either way, I’m very surprised I didn’t recognize you when you got assigned to work with Olivia and me!”

“That’s probably because I looked different back then,” I said. “I still had problems with the girls chasing after me back then. And from what I was told Betty had trouble with the boys chasing her.”

“How’d you find out about that?’ Jasper said.

“One of the guys that chased after her told me she ran a race with him with one hand tied behind her back and her wings were tied for good measure!” I laughed. “The bet was if she won the guy would have to leave her alone, period! If he won then he would be her boyfriend!”

“Who won?” Jasper said.

I snorted, “Betty did!”

When we heard Commander Rainbow Dash's voice on the Tv. When the drum routine started we looked at that Tv to see the old routine was playing side by side with the new one. We saw this and our jaws dropped.

“Where did they get the footage for that?” I said.

“My guess is Sunset or Robert!” Jasper said.

“I’m going to kill Robert when I get out of here!” I said.

“Why just Robert?” Jasper said.

“Because Sunset’s pregnant and I don’t feel like getting slapped by her anytime soon!” I said.

Jasper couldn’t help but laugh and hard.

“But I do wonder,” said Jasper, “why this routine?”

“Your guess is as good as mine!” I said.

When Commander Rainbow Dash started singing once again our jaws dropped.

“I didn’t know she could sing!” Jasper said. “Did you?”

“Nope!” I said.

As Commander Rainbow Dash started singing the routine started, when we saw the routine we figured why it was chosen.

“I think I know why they chose this routine,” I said.

Halfway into the routine was a move that we did that no one saw coming. We nodded at each other and tossed our sticks to each other and we caught each other’s sticks as if we knew we were going to do that. It was a move that we did in perfect sync. The funny thing was we didn’t even know we were going to do that. None of our teams even discussed it before the fact. Of course, just like with the old routine it got a cheer from both sides of the field. We played with each other’s sticks until the end of the routine and dropped each other’s sticks and backed away.

After that, people dressed in Ben, Xavier, Ana, along with Betty and Dae’s uniforms came marching down the aisle playing the drums. Once their routine was done they stood in front of both teams and Jasper and I rolled our eyes at what happened next. Just like when I won the duel with Shadow Mist. Instead of chanting my name over and over, the crowd was chanting Team Enemy Lines over and over.

After we watched the routine I turned off the Tv.

“Well,” I said, “at least I wasn’t there in person to see it! That would’ve been a circus!”

“Speaking of circus,” said Jasper, “there’s one waiting for you when you get out of here!”

“Great!” I said. “Just perfect!”

“And Princess Twilight will be visiting you to give you the eighth medal you won!” Jasper said.

“I wonder why she would be visiting me?” I said. “Usually I go to them.”

Jasper shrugged, “I don’t know. It’s classified information, so I can’t tell you.”
> 25) It's called Family
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So are we in agreement?” Sunset asked. “About the wedding?”

“I agree!” Robert agreed.

“That makes three of us!” Jasper agreed.

“And that makes four,” I agreed.

We were talking about all four of us having a wedding to make the first branch of the Jewel family official. We decided that the Alpha leader would be me. If anyone else came into the family they would be considered a second branch and wouldn’t be added to it without my consent. I decided that we would discuss it together if any others wanted to form a part of the second branch.

The main reason that Sunset, Jasper, and Robert wanted to have the wedding was because I was able to have a restraining order machine issued to me that works outside of the observation room. Actually, it wasn’t a machine, it was a necklace that would put a magical invisible force field around me and can detect when dangerous people or ponies were around. I’m not quite sure of exactly how it works but if it keeps people from tying me to a chair or sexually assaulting me was fine by me.

Jasper, Robert, and Sunset wanted to have the wedding right after I got out of the hospital and right before Sunset was going to be placed on bed rest. I did want to wait until after Sunset had our baby but everyone else told me it was very important that we do it as soon as possible. The hospital released me the following week and we had our wedding.

I was worried about Sunset and it made me antsy and I couldn’t sit still. My stitches kept coming out and our doctor had to keep coming to the house to redo them. One time the doctor had to redo them while Jasper just so happened to be watching it. He flinched every time a stitch went in me, however, I didn’t move an inch or even allow myself to show that it hurt. I almost laughed at it but didn’t because I didn’t want to throw the doctor off with the stitching.

“Oh boy,” sighed the doctor, “I think we should give you some medicine so you’ll stop moving around so much. This should do the trick. You need to take it once in the morning and once at night. It’s not going to make you sleep but it’ll make you drowsy enough to keep from loosening these stitches again. Since I don’t trust you to take it on your own, I’m giving this to your husband, Jasper. You’ll make sure he takes it right?”

“Oh yeah,” said Jasper, “I’ll make sure he takes it so he can finally take it easy! I don’t want to see his stitches being put back in again!”

“Good,” said the doctor, “you can shove it down his throat for all I care! Just as long as he starts taking it easy for once!”

Jasper laughed, “Fine by me!”

I scoffed at him and he laughed again.

“Think of it this way Norman,” said Jasper, “at least you’re not fighting Shadow Mist's X blade anymore!”

“That’s not funny Jasper!” I said.

“X blade?” The doctor said.

“It’s a long story,” said Jasper, “it’s something that happened when we were at war.”

“Okay,” said the doctor, “just as long as he takes it. I shall take my leave now. Hopefully, I won’t see you for too long Norman.”


*	 *	 *


The next couple of weeks I was allowed to return back to work. I kept laughing at Jasper because he was having a hard time with crazy women chasing after him. Apparently, nobody got the hint that Jasper was gay, not interested in women at all. Not to mention insane Chole and insane Liz kept asking him out just like they do to Robert. One day I was coming around the corner to my office and tried my best not to laugh when I heard Jasper yelling at Chole.

“Come on Jasper!” Chole said. “Why can’t I join your herd? There’s already one woman in the group, what’s one more?”

“What part of the word gay do you not understand?” Jasper said.

I was still listening to Jasper and Chole’s conversation when someone pinched my butt. It was another co-worker that had been bothering me ever since I got back to work.

“What do you want this time Oscar?” I said.

“I saw you training the other day,” said Oscar, “I’m amazed that you can take on eight people now and not even break a sweat.”

“Your point?” I said.

“I heard you got all of your medals for saving people,” said Oscar, “not to mention saving Equestria in the process. I was wondering if you could save me next?”

I shook my head, “No way Oscar! I’m not saving any more people at the moment. I’m not giving you a reason to tie me to a chair! Besides, I’ll just transfer my magic to someone else and let them save you instead! I’ve had enough of people thinking they owe me something!”

“Actually all of Equestria owes you something!” Oscar said. “And Equestria owes your teammates something too! The fact that you can take on eight people now is amazing! You know you’re special right? And you’re just my type too!”

I almost punched Oscar in the face but I stopped myself.

“What part of, 'I’m not interested,' do you not understand?” I said. “And don’t even think about kissing me either! I just got an alert about you!”

“I wasn’t going to do anything!” Oscar said. “What makes you think I want to kiss you? Unless you want me to?”

“Get away from me Oscar,” I said, “it’s not going to happen!”


* 	*	 *


When I finally got to my office I heard a knock on the door. Since I wasn’t getting any alerts from my necklace I found it safe to follow standard protocol.

“You may enter!” I said.

John walked into the room, saw my necklace, and smiled.

“Hey there,” said John, “how’s the war hero thing going?”

“Seriously John?” I said.

John was trying his best not to laugh. “Keep this up, and Commander Rainbow Dash just might name you her next in line!”

“Hell no!” I said. “No way am I taking any more job promotions if I have a thing or two to say about it!”

John didn’t dare hide his laughter this time.

“That’s not funny John!” I said.

“I also hear you’re having a hard time talking to women now?” John said.

“It’s a long story…” I said. “Let’s just say Sunset had a hand in that one.”

John doubled over in laughter again, his laughter was starting to give me a headache. I rubbed my temple and put my face on the desk. John took a hint and stopped laughing. “You know, you really should learn to accept reality for what it is. You saved Equestria, and from what I was told you almost killed yourself with your own weapon to do it! I knew I was right about recommending you for general!”

“I had help, you know!” I said. “In case you didn’t notice, I worked with a team! It was a difficult assignment!”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” said John, “and if it makes you feel any better the rest of the team is getting a lot of attention too!”

“Good!” I said. “Hopefully I won’t have to use magic to transfer it to someone else to save the day! Trust me, I don’t mind doing that at all!”

“Jasper told me about that by the way,” said John, “that you figured that move out in the heat of battle! And he also said that you were able to figure out how to do the Terror Paralyze spell!”

“Yeah, that was a move that Sunset hadn’t taught me yet!” I said.

John whistled. “Not bad! Oh, and I wanted to know how Sunset's pregnancy is going?”

“It’s fine,” I said, “she’s on bed rest still and she’s close to her due date. She’ll be giving birth in a couple of months.”

“Do you know what you’re having?” John said.

“We’re having a pegasus colt,” I said.

“How did that happen?” John said.

“My father was a pegasus,” I said, “and Sunset was originally a unicorn before she stepped through the portal.”

“Wow! I guess that makes sense,” John said. As soon as John said that there was a knock on the door. Once again I wasn’t getting any alerts so it was safe to say what I needed to say.

“You may enter!” I said.

The door opened. I saw Princess Twilight standing in the doorway with one of her royal guards beside her.

“Your highness!” John and I said. We both stood up and gave Princess Twilight a bow.

“You can look at me now,” Princess Twilight said.

John and I stood up straight. Why is Princess Twilight at my office?

“John,” said Princess Twilight, "I would like to speak to General Norman alone. You’re dismissed!”

“Yes, your highness…” John said and left the room.

Princess Twilight motioned for her guard to bring over a small box and she floated it over to me in her magic. I opened the box to see my eighth medal in it.

“I came here not just to give you the eighth medal that you won,” said Princess Twilight, “I came here to talk to you about something else. My thirty-second year of ruling is almost up.”

“Okay?” I said.

“Actually my thirty-second year of ruling is six months away.” Princess Twilight explained. “Equestrian law states that if a ruler is not married by their thirty-second year they have to step down as ruler. Do you know of the Icebreakers?”

“Yes,” I said.

“They put that rule in place at the time Equestria was founded,” Princess Twilight said. “The Icebreakers said that it was put in place to keep the balance of power in this universe in check. I don’t know why this universe needs to be in check but I can only assume that it's because a lot of powerful ponies came on the scene. That includes the ones that made Equestria so long ago. Princess Celestia stepped down and that’s why Princess Luna stepped down because they did not want to marry any of their suitors and neither do I!”

“I’m not following you, princess…” I said. I just looked at Princess Twilight hoping that what I just said wasn’t considered talking back to her.

Before I could say anything stupid I bit my tongue. Princess Twilight picked up on that and started laughing. I wanted to ask what was so funny but I didn't, instead, I went back to biting my tongue.

“Wow General Norman!” Princess Twilight said. “I heard you were having trouble talking to women lately but I didn’t know it was that bad!”

Princess Twilight laughed so hard that she actually fell on her back laughing. “Let me get this straight General Norman, you can almost kill yourself with your weapon to save Equestria but you can’t talk to a woman! I mean having trouble talking to me I understand but every other woman? Seriously!”

Princess Twilight regained her composure and stopped laughing.  “Honestly general, you’re gonna have to get over that sooner or later especially with what I’m about to say next.”

I titled my head, “Huh?”

“I’m going to be stepping down in a matter of weeks,” said Princess Twilight, “I’ve picked out a few options and you’re one of them!”

“What?” I said in shock. “Why me?”

“The other part of Equestrian law states if a soldier has won eight medals or more,” said Princess Twilight, “then they’re in the running to become the next ruler! Since you’re a war hero now, you would be in the running to be the next ruler!”

When I heard that I just about fell over backwards and almost passed out.

“You know it’s just like my brother Shining Armor said,” Princess Twilight said, “Shadow Mist was just some brat with a pedigree. Since I can name who I want to be royalty this time, it’s possible I could name you! Wow, you look like you’re in shock General Norman. I guess that’s to be expected. My other options did the same thing when they found out. Anyway, I’ll be announcing the next ruler in a couple of weeks. I’ve said everything I needed to say. This is goodbye for now General.”

“Yes,” I said, “your highness…”

When Princess Twilight left I sat down on my chair because the room started spinning before I lost consciousness.


*	 *	 *


Work was hectic the next couple of days with barely a chance to sit down. Thankfully I wasn’t being sent out on missions for the time being because the war had ended a few weeks ago.

One day when I finally got home from work I sat down on the couch to rest when Robert sat down beside me.

“You just can't help yourself can you?” Robert said.

“What are you talking about Robert?” I said.

“You’re still trying to get up to the five hundred goal on the simulator,” Robert said. “You know the war is over with right?”

“Yeah, so?” I said.

“Anyway I heard Princess Twilight paid you a visit,” said Robert, “what was that all about?”

“Princess Twilight’s considering me to be the next ruler of Equestria!” I said.

“Wow,” said Robert, “that should be an honor to you!”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t happen!” I said. Robert sat on my lap and started kissing me. “What are you doing Robert? You do realize Cozy Glow could come down here and see us right?”

I was trying to reason with him in between him kissing me. Robert obviously ignored me because he didn't stop. Of course, just like I thought would happen, Cozy Glow was standing right behind us.

“Uh,” said Cozy Glow, “dad and dad Robert what are you two doing?”

When Robert heard Cozy Glow he got off me and his face was red. I laughed at the look Cozy Glow had on her face.

“I tried to tell you!” I said.

“Maybe we should take this upstairs?” Robert said.

When we went upstairs I almost laughed at the look that Cozy Glow had on her face. The look was nothing but pure confusion.


* 	*	 *


Gee, I thought, people just don’t know when to take a hint!

“No, Oscar!” Jasper said. “I’m not interested and neither is Norman! And I would leave him alone because he has things to take care of!”

I listened to this while working on paperwork in my office.

“Well then,” said Oscar, “I’ll just have to bug you guys when you’re playing chess then!”

From the sound of Jasper and Oscar’s conversation, Jasper was getting ready to punch the guy.

“Do you not see the wedding band on my finger?” Jasper said. “That means I’m officially Norman's husband now. Norman's the Alpha of the family and I don't think he's adding anyone else anytime soon. He’s said no several times, I’d leave him alone if I were you!”

“He’ll change his mind sooner or later!” Oscar said.

“Why can’t you take a hint?” Jasper said. “No means no! And if you even try any funny business I’ll wring your neck!”

“You wouldn't do that to me would you?” Oscar said.

“Try me!” Jasper said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have things to do.”

I laughed as Oscar stormed away from Jasper like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum.
> 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.
> 27) The New Ruler of Equestria
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the ceremony ended Robert came up and clapped me on the back.

“You became a prince of Equestria after all!” Robert said.

“It’s funny you didn’t want the title of prince when Prince Shining Armor was going to give it to you! But nooo!" Jasper said sarcastically, "Prince Shining Armor’s sister beat him to it!”

“I think I should hide under a rock now!” I said.

Robert and Jasper howled with laughter.

I grinned knowing Jasper had yet to realize what this means. "It's too bad Jasper.”

Jasper stopped laughing and looked at me puzzled. “What are you talking about?”

“You don’t want any job promotions, right?” I said.

“No... And?” Jasper said.

“You got just the biggest job promotion of your life!” I said. Now it was my turn to laugh.

“What do you mean by that?” Jasper said.

I laughed even harder, “You and Robert just became princes and Sunset just became a princess!”

I could see the priceless look on Jasper's face when it dawned on him. “Oh crap!” Jasper said. I lost it.


*	 *	 *


“Well,” said Discord, “looks like my little Normie is all grown up!”

It was the day after the ceremony and I woke to see Discord floating over my bed.

“Don’t call me Normie!” I snapped. “Seriously! It’s Norman! No way I’m calling you dad ever! Not even because you adopted me!”

Discord just smiled.

“I’m tired of you being my alarm clock!” I said.

“Just to let you know your family is waiting downstairs for you!” Discord said. “I can’t wait until you get fitted for your new royal attire as ruler of Equestria! You’ll probably look just as cute in it as you did your general uniform!”

“I’m not looking forward to that and get out!” I said.

“Fine, fine,” said Discord, “I’m leaving before I get declared an enemy of the throne!”

Discord laughed, snapped his claw, and disappeared.


*	 *	 *


“My dad’s the ruler of Equestria now!” Cozy Glow said. “We should have a party to celebrate! And I can’t wait until my little brother is born. He'll be a prince now!”

Ruler of Equestria, great... I sighed and put my face on the table. Everyone couldn’t help but laugh when they saw this.

“Oh come on Norman,” said Sunset, “you’re going to have to get used to that! Not to mention I’m giving birth to our baby in a month. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie just can’t wait to throw a baby shower for me! Although you don’t have to go to that if you don’t want to.”

“Why me?” I said. “I mean I know I helped save Equestria and there’s the keyword, helped!”

“Actually you killed both Shadow Mist and Dylan at the same time,” said Jasper, “and almost killed yourself in the process! The rest of the team didn’t go that far but we probably had enough common sense not to. You on other hand are determined to deal with a threat at all costs!”

“You should’ve picked up on the fact that Twilight mentioned Heavenly as the first-ever death walker! If she was going to choose someone else she probably would’ve told a different story!” Fluttershy said. “Duh! As a matter of fact, Twilight told me she was going to choose you before the fact!”

“When exactly did you find out?” I said.

“Right when you got back from the war,” said Fluttershy, “but because you were asleep she had to wait. Trust me she worked with the Medical Ponies to help wake you up faster. But meeting Fate slowed that down. When you woke up finally she was just as overjoyed as your family was.”

“I have a question for you Fluttershy,” I said.

“Yes, what is it?” Fluttershy said.

“Is there a way to kill Discord?” I said.

“Unfortunately no,” chuckled Fluttershy, “he was your alarm again wasn’t he?”

“Yup!” I said.

“I thought I talked to you about that Discord!” Fluttershy said.

“What?” Discord said. “I was just honoring the new ruler of Equestria with my presence!”

“I’m tired of you being my alarm clock!” I said.

“Hey, he doesn’t do that to me!” I heard a voice say.

“Queen Betty!” Everyone said.

“Please don’t call me that!” Betty said. “And don’t bow to me either!”

I chuckled.

“That’s not funny Norman!” Betty said.

“Oh yes, it is!” I said. “You’re just about as bad as I am with people calling me sir! But I’ll have to get used to them saying, your highness now!”

“Oh,” said Betty, “and I brought my family here to see you!”

Betty stepped to the side to reveal Dae and her daughter Ruby standing behind her.

“Don’t you dare bow to me either!” Dae said. “We’re both rulers and not to mention we’re family!”

Ruby did a curtsy, “It’s very nice to see you all!”

Of course, this was met with a chorus of ‘awe’ around the room.

“I would get used to the cameras following you around,” said Betty, “you can’t ditch them so easily like when you went behind enemy lines! They followed me around when I became queen and they also followed me around when I gave birth to Ruby!”

“It’s going to be a circus when the baby’s born!” I said.

“By the way,” said Dae, “have you figured out a name for him yet?”

“Oh yeah,” said Sunset, “we were thinking Norman Jr.!”

“Well that’s interesting,” said Betty, “I’ve never seen a pony with a human name!”

“Well it’s happening,” I said, “just like having a human ruler, which hasn’t happened in 300 years!”

“There’s something I don’t understand, Fluttershy,” Betty said.

“What’s that?” Fluttershy said.

Betty said, “Discord said that the first human and pony war took place. But the second human and pony war took place after Princess Twilight was announced as an Alicorn right?”

“Yes that’s correct,” Fluttershy said.

“As the second human and pony war happened,” said Betty, “when Princess Twilight was announced as an Alicorn did she fight in the war?”

“Oh yes,” said Fluttershy, “she fought in the war. And she even used the Elements of Harmony to help stop other wars before they even happened, just like Heavenly used her powers when she was ruler. And Heavenly was the first-ever death walker when she made the decision to live; she kept her powers for the whole 700 years! Her ruling Equestria ended because of old age. The interesting thing is that only a handful of death walkers make their decision to live. No one knows why that is. Since Sunset, Amethyst, and you have made your decision to live, you'll live to be 500 years or more!”

“What!” I gasped. “Are you kidding me!”

“Nope,” said Fluttershy, “not joking!”

“But if the Elements of Harmony can stop a war before it even starts why not use them to stop the war with Shadow Mist?” I said.

“That’s because the light from the Elements of Harmony started to dim shortly after Twilight took the throne. The power within them started to grow weak. So we couldn’t save anybody even if we wanted to! We think that the reason why the Elements of Harmony started to grow too weak is because of death walkers using their powers to protect Equestria.

"Anyway, once the power of the Elements fades the bearers will die along with them. That’s okay because we’ve lived long enough and it’s time for us to pass the torch, so to speak, to the next generation. The only one that won’t die for a while will be Twilight because she's an Alicorn. The whole reason for this as far as the Icebreakers explained to us is to keep the power of this universe in check.” Fluttershy said.

“So why only 32 years if you’re not married to rule Equestria?” I said.

“For the same reason the powers of the Elements of Harmony started to fade,” said Fluttershy, “it’s to help keep the powers of this universe in check! Heavenly was able to rule Equestria because she got married before the 32-year mark.”

“That’s exactly why I’m banned from fighting in war,” said Discord. “The Icebreakers put that limit on me. To balance the power of the universe! And I don’t like following that rule! Hmph! Too bad they can’t kill me! That’s because I’m a Demigod! But unfortunately, I don’t have the power that Fate does! Because if I had her power, every decision I make would affect someone's future!”

“Wow…” Cozy Glow said.

“Maybe another war will come down the pipe and kill me?” I said.

“I doubt that!” Fluttershy laughed.

“And why's that?” I said.

“Why do you think Heavenly ruled over Equestria for long?” Fluttershy said. “You do realize that she was the first-ever death walker right? And because she was a death walker she was able to use her powers to stop wars before they even started! And since you have decided to live you’ll be able to do the same thing! Especially since the lights from the Elements of Harmony are starting to dim.”

“Great…” I said.


*	 *	 *


A week later my coronation ceremony took place which installed me as the ruler of Equestria. Just like when I was general, John decided to pay me a visit as I was walking aimlessly around the castle. Killing time until I needed to lower the sun. Of course, when John saw me he bowed to me.

I did a facepalm and groaned, “You can look at me now.”

John stood up and was trying so hard to keep a straight face.

“So how’s being a new ruler of Equestria going?” John said.

“I’m fine,” I said, “it’s been kind of hectic lately the only time I get to relax is right about now. It’s weird because Betty fought with me side by side during the war and now we’re having sparring matches like me and Jasper did when we first met.”

“I saw some of that the other day!” John said. “You just keep getting better and better!”

“Yeah,” I said, “My sister seems to think we’re evenly matched but I beg to differ. And I wish the news reporters would stop following me around. They’re just as bad as that stupid new reporter that was following Jasper and I around during the war.”

“Oh and another thing,” said John, “have you decided on a name for your baby yet?”

“Yeah,” I said, “we’re giving him the name Norman Jr.”

“I thought you were having a pegasus colt!” John said.

“Yeah well, we decided to go with a human name,” I said.

“Never seen that happen before!” John said.

“It’s just like I told Betty,” I said, “it’s happening! Just like having a human ruler, which hasn’t taken the throne in 300 years!”

“Huh,” said John, “interesting… I hear Discord wants you to call him dad!”

“He’s not my dad,” I said, “I’m not calling him dad! That’ll happen when pigs fly! Although I wouldn’t put it past him. He can make it happen.”

John chuckled and then he cleared his throat, “So who’s taking care of raising and lowering the sun, and what about the moon?”

“I’m taking care of the sun part,” I said, “you just happened to catch me while I'm free. I have nothing to do until it’s time for me to lower it.”

“Okay,” said John, “who’s taking care of the moon?”

I had an evil smile for what I was going to say next, “I told Princess Twilight to give the job to Jasper!”

John couldn’t keep his laughter in even if he wanted to and I joined in.

“So much for wanting no more job promotions!” John said.

“It’s about a couple of hours before I have to lower the sun,” I said, “Jasper should be awake to start his job now.”

We turned around the corner just to see Jasper walk right past us.

“Hi John,” said Jasper, “what brings you around here?”

“I just popped in to say hi,” John said.

Without warning, Jasper has done this several times he kissed me right in front of John. John fell out laughing so hard he couldn’t breathe.

“Seriously Jasper?” I said.

“I think I should you two love birds alone,” John said. “I still can’t believe you two are married now! You two used to be rivals!”

John laughed as he walked away and Jasper grabbed me and kissed me again.

“You know we have a couple of hours before you finish your shift and before I start mine,” Jasper said.

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” I said.

“Yup!” Jasper said.


*	 *	 *


A couple of weeks later Norman Jr. was born. Everyone had a lot of questions as to why a pegasus colt would have a human name. I told the reporters it was none of their business and declined any interviews on Tv about it.

One day when the family and I were in the castle trying to shield Norman Jr. from the cameras, Fluttershy and Discord just happened to pay a visit to us.

“Awe,” said Discord, “Norman Jr. is so cute! He’s the most adorable baby I have ever seen! And just like Betty, his ears twitch when he’s asleep! I know because I saw it when Betty would take a nap on the couch.”

“Yeah I know,” said Fluttershy, “I’ve seen Betty do that too. That’s because I would check on her at night to see if she was death walking or not.”

“Why would you do that?” I said.

“When Betty first became a death walker,” said Fluttershy, “Princess Luna and your mother conspired to kill her. Princess Luna tried keeping her in the Land of the Dead for more than two days! A death walker can be out of their body for one to two days that’s it! If they’re kept out of their body any longer than that they die.”

“What!” I said. “Why would Princess Luna do that? And with my mom of all people?”

“Obviously,” said Fluttershy, “your mom’s agenda was to kill her. What Princess Luna’s agenda was I have no idea! It’s a good thing I was able to stop them before Betty died.”

“What I find interesting,” said Discord, “is that every child that’s born in the Jewel family has a jewel on their foreheads just like Norman Jr. does! Norman Jr’s jewel is a black onyx! I wonder why that is?”

Truth is, not even the Icebreakers knew what the Jewels on the children that are born to the Jewel family means. They told Betty and I that only Fate knows the reason. And trust me, I don’t want to meet her again anytime soon.

TEN YEARS LATER...

I took the throne ten years ago and thankfully there haven’t been any more wars to date. If it looks like a war might happen, Sunset and I would use our death walker abilities to keep it from happening and keep Equestria safe. The Equestrian military is still set up and things are business as usual.

We did finally add some new members to the family. To my surprise, Jasper added a stallion to the family and Robert added one that's a woman. Sunset on the other hand prefers not to add anyone to the family. Her reasoning was because she wanted to be for me and only me.

The ones that were added to the family stayed in another part of the castle because they are considered the second branch of the family. They are kept away from me because I decided I don’t want to sleep with anyone that wasn’t part of the main branch. Of course, the second branch still keeps bugging me about getting in my bed.

One day I was in Jasper's bed. It was a couple of hours before I had to lower the sun and Jasper had to raise the moon.

“So...” Jasper said.

“So what?” I said.

“Have you even given thought about sleeping with the second branch yet?” Jasper said.

“No,” I said, “not going to happen. You guys can take care of that one. And I wish Wild Ace and Elsie would stop bugging me about it! And I’m not letting them tie me to the bed either!”

“That’s funny to me,” said Jasper, “you know Sunset wants another child?”

“Yeah I know,” I said, “I try to be with her as much as possible. So far nothing has happened, I’m not sure why.” 

“Huh,” said Jasper, “maybe you two should see a doctor about it?”

“I know,” I said, “we are going to one in a couple of days to see what’s going on. Anyway I saw you rearrange the stars the other night. I notice something every time I get a chance to watch it.”

“What’s that?” Jasper said.

“You put a shooting star in there every once in a while,” I said, “I take it you’re wishing Equestria good luck so that another war doesn’t start?”

Jasper laughed, “That’s pretty much it, why else would I do it?”

“That’s understandable,” I said, “and hopefully there won’t be another war. I don’t feel like almost killing myself with my own weapon!”

“I still can’t believe you did that,” Jasper said. “You’re just so determined to save people!”

“It’s kind of funny,” I said, “because I’ve finally got over Betty dying. She did say take as long as I needed for that! She even said take a whole decade if I needed to. I think that’s pretty hilarious because it did take a decade!”

Jasper and I couldn’t help but laugh at that. This whole entire time Betty was the only one who understood how I felt and she’s the one that died.

“It’s time for me to raise the moon and for you to lower the sun,” Jasper said.

“Yeah, I know,” I said.

When Jasper raised the moon after I had lowered the sun, I sat down to watch the stars. I saw the shooting star that Jasper would put in with the other stars. Just as Jasper was wishing Equestria good luck to hopefully not enter into another war. I was looking to the future hoping that my death walker abilities would help to keep Equestria safe.