The Ghost of Cozy Glow the Third Story

{Betty}

Norman, Cozy Glow, Dae, and I did exactly what we planned to do. We met up by the drawbridge at the Castle in Canterlot and we headed towards the Everfree Forest. As soon as we got there, we started going down the trail that Norman found. I sensed Mr. Giggles’ presence.

I nodded. "Yup. He's here alright! I can sense that mega dark presence around this area. And by the way, Mr. Giggles isn't really a clown. That's not his true form. I have no idea what his true form is and I don't want to know. He's butt ugly in this form, who knows how ugly he is in his true form."

"Now, that wasn't very nice, lady!" I heard a childlike voice say. I turned around to see a miniature Mr. Giggles but in human form and dressed in black clothes as if he were a demon from Hell.

"And who might you be?" I asked.

"My name is Johnny!" the kid snapped. "What you said about my father wasn't very nice!"

I gagged. "Someone mated with Mr. Giggles to have a kid like you? Now, that I don't believe!"

"And why not?" Johnny growled.

"Because you're just as ugly as he is!" I replied.

Johnny scowled at my response to him. But then he paused and examined me. "Wait for a second . . . Pony ears, pony wings, a pony tail. But the rest of you is human, and you're dressed in black clothes. You're that lady Dad's been wanting to see for a while now! Why don't you come with me, lady-"

"My name's not lady!" I snapped. "It's Betty!"

"Okay, fine, Betty," said Johnny, "why don't you come with me so my father can see you again?"

I rolled my eyes. "Like I'm going to follow a brat like you somewhere when I already know where I'm going? Yeah, no, thank you."

"Well, I think you should," said Johnny, "it would get you to my father quicker."

"What about them?" I asked. I pointed at Dae, Norman, and Cozy Glow. They already had their weapons drawn and ready to shoot this kid at any moment. I was about ready to pull out my weapon as well. Then I thought of something and I grinned.

Johnny shook his head. "Nope, the others can't come. Dad only wants to see you."

I kept grinning and started to lie. "Sure, kid, I'll go with you, but on one condition."

What are you doing, Betty? Dae thought.

Remember the whole Maxipoo situation? I thought.

Dae smiled, knowing what I was getting ready to do. Oh, I get it!

Good, I thought, just follow my lead.

Johnny was waiting. “So,” he said, crossing his arms. “What’s your condition?”

I lied, "I uh, have a little present that I've been wanting to give to Mr. Giggles for a while now."

Johnny raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Norman and Cozy Glow raised their eyebrows and had looks of confusion on their faces. The looks on their faces went from confusion to nods and smiles, so I assume Dae must’ve told them what my plan was.

"Oh, yeah, I've been wanting to give Mr. Giggles this present for so long after the last time I saw him," I said, keeping the lie going, "I just remembered it and now I figured it would be a good time to give it to him."

I could tell Norman, Dae, and Cozy Glow were trying so hard not to laugh because they were biting their bottom lips. I bet they couldn't believe that Johnny might actually fall for this lie.

I can't believe this idiot's buying this! I thought.

Yeah, you and me, both Betty! Dae thought.

Johnny smiled. "That's wonderful, Betty! I'm sure Dad wouldn't mind having a present, especially coming from you!"

I lied, "If you want to see what it is, you gotta come closer to get it."

Johnny stepped closer but then hesitated. I smiled. "You need to come closer to me. Come on, don't you want to give the present I have for your father?"

Johnny nodded. "Okay, how close do you want me to come?"

"Oh, I don't know," I said, "I need you to come close enough to give me a hug."

"Oh. Okay." Johnny said.

Before I knew it, Johnny was right in my face. I spun him around, put him in a chokehold, and he screamed in surprise. "But I thought you were-"

"Going to give that stupid clown you have for a father a present?" I snarled. "Yeah right!"

I quickly took out my staff and turned it into a blade. I drove it into Johnny's back. He exploded just like a balloon and black ink splattered on the ground in front of me.

"Humph!" I scoffed. "Like I'd give that clown a present! What an idiot he has for a son!"

All of us had a good laugh at how stupid Johnny was. I couldn't help but think, Well, Mr. Giggles, it won't be long before you die.

* * *

{Jasper}

As soon as Dae, Betty, Norman, and Cozy Glow left, I had a warning siren blare all around the castle and put everyone on lockdown until they came back. Knowing how serious the situation was, Norman had given me full authorization to do this until Mr. Giggles was taken care of. But even though I knew they were more than capable when it came down to dealing with Mr. Giggles, I still worried that they might not come back.

After I put the Castle on lockdown, I gave the guards specific instructions on how to deal with this situation. Among the mayhem, I had everyone from the first branch of my family, and Betty and Dae's family, gathered in my watchtower so I could keep an eye on them. Discord, Fluttershy, Norman Jr, along with Otis, had worried looks on their faces, and rightly so.

I also had Jacob in the watchtower and I was cradling him in my arms while he slept.

"Dad Jasper?" Norman Jr said. "What's going on?"

"Do you remember that clown Mr. Giggles that your Aunt Betty fought a couple of years ago?" I said.

"You mean that clown that seriously injured her?" Norman Jr said.

I nodded. "Yes, that's the very one. Your Dad, Cozy Glow, Uncle Dae, and Aunt Betty are going to stop Mr. Giggles once and for all!"

"Oh, yeah, that's the clown Dad told me about!" Otis said. "I hope they kick some serious clown butt!" He turned to Discord. "Why aren't you going, Grandpa Discord?"

Discord replied, "Because I wasn't asked to help. I respect that. But I did teach Cozy Glow every trick that I could think of to combat my brother. I think the stunning arrow attack should help just fine. This attack seeks out a person's true intentions. It can protect and it can kill. That's the same attack Cozy Glow used on your mother. Obviously, your mother had bad intentions that's why she was killed from that attack."

"Does Cozy Glow know what that attack does?" Norman Jr asked.

Discord shook his head. "Nope, I figured if I told her then she wouldn't use that attack even when it's needed."

Otis nodded. "Makes sense to me."

"Well, now all we can do is sit back and wait for them to come back," I said. "Just stay inside the watchtower for now."

Everyone nodded and I hoped that Norman, Cozy Glow, Dae, and Betty would come back.

* * *

{Betty}

We started to go further down the trail where I had sensed Mr. Giggles. I paused when I used my tracking powers to see a dark red light going down the trail.

I looked down. "Do you guys see the dark red trail on the ground?"

Cozy Glow, Norman, and Dae looked at where I was pointing and they shook their heads.

"Betty, I asked you to confirm this lead for a reason," Norman said.

"Oh. Right," I said.

I knelt down and placed my hand on the light trail where it started. I balled my hand into a fist and when I punched the ground, it split in two. The trail led up to the entrance of a cave.

I rolled my eyes. "Of course, Mr. Giggles would be living in a cave. Why am I not surprised?"

"What do you mean by that, Aunt Betty?" Cozy Glow asked.

"Mr. Giggles lives in a cave in the Land of the Dead," I explained, "so it would make sense that stupid clown would live in a cave in Equestria."

That's when we heard Mr. Giggle's signature laugh.

I rolled my eyes and said, with sarcasm, "It's so nice to hear you laugh again, Mr. Giggles."

"Awww, you're too kind, Betty." Mr. Giggles laughed. "You didn't like the welcoming party I sent you, did you?"

I grit my teeth. "No, I didn't. Could you show yourself so I can kill you already?"

"Why, I'd love to!" Mr. Giggles cheered sarcastically.

I looked in front of the entrance of the cave to see Mr. Giggles standing there. He gave me a toothy grin. "Happy to see me again?"

I gagged. "Uh, no, I'm not and, hopefully, after today, I'll never have to see you again."

Suddenly, I felt a strange sensation in the back of my head. At first, I thought Mr. Giggles did it.

"Hey!" I said. I turned around to see Cozy Glow smiling at me.

"Aunt Betty, it was me," Cozy Glow said. "Remember the attacks that I said Grandpa Discord was teaching that Mom could only dream of?"

"Yes," I said.

"This is one of them. It's a protection arrow that protects people from Mr. Giggles’ mind games," Cozy Glow explained. "I did it to myself too, and to Uncle Dae and Dad. So, no more mind games, Mr. Giggles!"

Mr. Giggles laughed. "Aww, Princess Cozy Glow thinks she's all grown up!"

"I am grown up!" Cozy Glow snarled. "I'm over the age of thirty, so, yeah, I'm grown up!"

"Looks like I'm going to be playing with my food again, huh?" Mr. Giggles said. "You know I always liked playing with my food. Mom always found it funny when I did. Dad was always highly annoyed by it."

"We should care about how you eat, because?" I said.

Mr. Giggles gave me a snide look. "Oh well, it doesn't matter. The point here is that playing with my food—the four of you—is going to be so much fun!"

We all stood back-to-back as we watched Mr. Giggles split himself into two, forming clones of himself. All of us had our weapons drawn, waiting for Mr. Giggles to attack, but instead of attacking, he started running around us as fast as he could. Then the Mr. Giggle's clones started to sing 'oh he's a jolly good fellow' over and over again. He couldn’t carry a tune. I covered my aching ears.

"You had to cover your ears during my singing?" Mr. Giggles growled. "How rude!"

"It's not rude if you can't sing!" I shouted.

"Wow," said Mr. Giggles, "you don't need to shout!"

"And what was that awful singing about?" I growled after I uncovered my ears.

"Oh, nothing," Mr. Giggles giggled. "That was just for fun, a warm-up, so to speak. Now, let's start the real fun!"

I rolled my eyes. "Well, gee, it's about time!"

Before I could make my next move, something wrapped around my ankle, and I was sent flying deep into Mr. Giggles’ cave. I kept being pulled forward for what seemed like forever. Then, a bright light flashed before my eyes. After that, there was nothing at all.

* * *

{Cozy Glow}

"No!" Norman, Uncle Dae, and I cried. We couldn't grab Aunt Betty before she was dragged deep into Mr. Giggles cave.

I started freaking out, practically dancing on my hooves. "What do we do now?"

"Calm down, Cozy Glow!" Uncle Dae said after he composed himself.

I looked at Norman to see that he looked pretty calm for such a dire situation. "Why aren't you freaking out, Dad?"

Norman sighed. "Trust me, I'm freaking out on the inside. In times like these, we need to think of a strategy and keep our emotions under control until the situation is dealt with. After it's over, then we can freak out however much we want to. I guess the first part of dealing with this is, obviously, we have to enter that creepy cave. I don't know about you, but I don't want to hear any nursery rhymes again."

Uncle Dae raised an eyebrow. "Nursery rhymes?"

I chuckled. "It happened when we did our first Beacon of Light training with Mom. We ran into a demon named Prince Theodore who was stirring up trouble in an abandoned building."

"Did you just say Prince Theodore?" Uncle Dae asked.

"Yeah, why?" I replied.

Uncle Dae groaned. "That guy is about as dumb as my brother Max! Prince Theodore has been chasing after Betty ever since she became Queen of Hell. At least half of the guys of the Royal Family have. Trust me, I don't blame them. Betty is probably the most beautiful creature in Hell, even if she is a little weird. Honestly, when will people learn how to take no for an answer and take a hike? Unfortunately, Mr. Giggle's plan is to literally have her for dinner!"

"You know what?" I said. "Let's stop talking and go save her already!"

* * *

At first, going into the cave was dark and creepy; it almost reminded me of Grogar's cave, where I stayed with Tirek and Queen Chrysalis while plotting to take over Equestria. But as we went further into it, the gems lining the walls of the cave glowed, providing a little bit of light. I knew where this cave led to—the crystal caves underneath the castle.

"Huh," said Norman, "I never thought I'd have to go down here to stop a rampaging clown!"

"Exactly where is here?" Uncle Dae asked.

"This is the entrance to the Crystal Caves underneath the castle," Norman answered. "Now that I know where Mr. Giggles is living, it makes sense that he would use this area to do his attacks from."

That's when we heard Mr. Giggles laughing. It sounded like he was also clapping his hands. The voice echoed throughout the cave: "Bravo!"

Uncle Dae, Norman, and I drew our weapons as soon as we saw Mr. Giggles’ face on the walls of the cave. He rolled his eyes. "You really think you're going to stop me, don't you? Well, don't bother! I already ate Betty and she'll be in my stomach for all of eternity! Her magic will be enough to keep me from going back to that stupid cave in the afterlife. But it seems I still need to finish the rest of my dinner."

Mr. Giggles licked his lips and the sight of that made me throw up in my mouth. "Yeah, no way in Hell am I going to let you eat us!" I paused. "Oops! Sorry, Uncle Dae!"

Uncle Dae chuckled. "It's okay, the word Hell is used as a swear word for a reason. People that go to Hell get punished, and it isn't pleasant for them. So they're absolutely right to use it as a cuss word."

"Okay then," I said as I turned my attention to Mr. Giggles again, "as for you, you stupid clown, you're not eating us and we're getting Aunt Betty back!"

"Well, now," said Mr. Giggles, "such big words for a kitten with such short claws!"

At this point, I was pissed and I showed it by snarling, "Eat my arrows, Mr. Giggles!"

Before Uncle Dae and Norman could react, I started rapid firing my arrows as many as I could, doing a little bit of damage to the cave's walls. I stopped to survey the damage that I had done. I developed my tracking abilities while training with Betty. My tracking abilities work using the feeling of sound. I stood there and listened to the ping of Mr. Giggles’ magic bouncing off the cave's walls. Ping! Ping! Ping! "Hmm. . ."

"What is it?" Norman asked.

"Huh, I don't know why I didn't think of this before!" I exclaimed. "Remember when Aunt Betty said that she saw a dark red light trail on the ground?"

Norman nodded. "Yes."

"I figured out lately that I can't sense magic the way Aunt Betty does," I explained, "but when I use my tracking abilities, I can hear magic."

Uncle Dae and Norman had confused looks on their faces o I continued my explanation. "Every Death Walker is different in how they develop their tracking abilities. My abilities are rare when it comes down to tracking things. In college, one of my assignments was to track a creature and observe it in its natural habitat. I didn't think anything of it at the time but hearing the creature's magic to track it down. Grandpa Discord was the one that said he knew what tracking ability I had. I can't see or sense magic, I can hear magic."

"Wow, I didn't know that could happen," Norman said.

"You know, the Bubble of Silence is actually used for developing your tracking powers; it also helps a Death Walker see one second into the future," I said. "The tracking abilities that Aunt Betty has are very rare, rarer than mine, she has the combined powers of touch and sight."

Norman paused after I finished explaining things to him. "Now that you think about it, when I saw a possible lead to where Mr. Giggles might be living, I actually saw the magic light trail, like Betty did. It's hard to describe really."

"Yeah," said Uncle Dae, "that's why I leave that stuff to the Death Walkers to take care of. I have magic, but demons usually only develop a certain set of skills with it. That's why I made Betty the leader of the tracking team when she was alive."

The ping of Mr. Giggles magic got louder in my ears. PING! PING! PING! I pointed in the direction of where I heard Mr. Giggles magic coming from. "Anyway, I'm hearing Mr. Giggles magic right over there."

Norman looked in the direction I was pointing and nodded. "Yup, his magic is over there all right!"

"Well, then," said Uncle Dae, "let's go!"

Before we could go any further, dozens of black balloons started floating up right in front of us. Seriously? That stupid clown!

I rapidly fired my arrows again and Norman and Uncle Dae drew their swords and started popping balloons along with me. Mr. Giggles laughed. "You guys are so cute trying to save your family member. But she's in my stomach and there's nothing you can do about it. You see, I figured out a way to eat creatures as powerful as her, even without my brother's white chickens! Somehow, I was able to store up magic inside of me from the citizens of Equestria, and it actually made me stronger. Now I can just torture her for all eternity! And I think I have enough magic to eat you, so you can join her!"

Mr. Giggles started laughing again but his laughter abruptly stopped and it sounded like he was choking on something. Norman, Uncle Dae, and I paused and looked at the black balloons floating around us. It looked like they had a small electric charge around them and they were deflating and popping their own.

"What's happening to me?" Mr. Giggles croaked.

I smiled as I listened to the ping of Mr. Giggles slowly starting to wane. "I know what's happening to you, Mr. Giggles! Aunt Betty's magic is slowly killing you from the inside out. I would just let you die a slow painful death, but we need to get Aunt Betty back. So I think we need to do what we came here to do anyway, put you out of your misery! No hard feelings. No, wait, I take that back, really hard feelings!"

Uncle Dae and Norman laughed at my taunting of Mr. Giggles, and my smile turned into a grin as I listened to him choking on Betty's magic. Norman turned his sword into a dagger, and threw it and it popped a handful of balloons. Uncle Dae drew out his sword and started popping balloons along with him. I started to fire my arrows again at the balloons, popping them. I had to admit, this was a lot of fun! I smiled as the number of balloons started to get less and less. I had one more trick up my sleeve that Discord taught me to make Mr. Giggles show us his true form.

What are you doing, Cozy Glow? Uncle Dae thought.

Don't worry, Uncle Dae, I got one more trick up my sleeve to get Mr. Giggles to show his true form! I thought.

And what might that be? Norman thought.

I spit an arrow out of my mouth the way I normally summon them. After stepping forward, I threw my head back and shot the arrow out of my mouth along with a stream of water that looked like a spear. It went into Mr. Giggles forehead and didn't exit.

Mr. Giggles shrieked and his puffy clown suit got even puffier. He kept getting puffy until, finally, he showed his true form, which was a big black blimp.

"Mr. Giggles’ true form is a huge black blimp!" Norman said. "Seriously?"

After a while, the black blimp burst, and Mr. Giggles let out one last scream as he was wiped out of existence. Lying in the puddle of black ink, in the fetal position, asleep with her ears twitching, was Aunt Betty.