The Ghost of Cozy Glow the Third Story

by SapphireRose87

Rating: teen
Tags: Cozy Glow, Discord, Violence, Death, Human, Anthro, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Adventure, Sex
Length: 78556

Aside from being the Queen of Hell I have other things to worry about. I have to stop a rampaging clown named Mr. Giggles before he eats all of the citizens of Equestria!

I never thought in a million years that after I died I would be married to the King of Hell who is named Dae and be considered a Legend! Honestly I don't think I'm a Legendary Death Walker. But I think people think of me that way because I developed all nine Death Walker abilities during the fight to the death that I had with my mother before I made my Death Walker decision to die. As I always tell Norman, 'Queen of Hell yes, a Legend no.'

But now I have other things to worry about. There's an evil clown named Mr. Giggles that got summoned to Equestria. He's a threat now because every time he gets summoned to go somewhere, he has ten years to eat his fill of the citizens of the place and then he has to go back to the cave in the Land of the Dead. Now that he's been summoned to Equestria he has ten years to eat as many ponies and people he can. 

But it seems I've met my match when it comes down to fighting Mr. Giggles. Now I realize that sometimes it's best to ask for help. So I asked my husband Dae, my little brother Norman (who is now the ruler of Equestria) and Cozy Glow (who is now my adoptive niece) to help me take Mr. Giggles down. We're going to give it everything we got to stop Mr. Giggles before it's too late.

Note: This story does contain incest. I'm just giving my readers a heads up on that. No I won't do full sex scenes. I don't do that in a teen rated story. I usually just imply when people are getting ready to have sex.

You can check out this blog to see the chapter titles and how many more chapters there are left to go.

I also want to thank those that have helped me out on this story:

JNKing pre-reader chapters 1 to 9

Alysorrow- editor (same editor that did The Experiments) she edited all chapters in this story chapters 1 to 26

Published 2021-09-27 03:40:00 UTC
Last updated 2022-03-16 05:09:25 UTC

3) Admiring Betty

{Norman}

The day after the Equestria Day Festival, I was summoned by Dae to the Land of the Dead. It looked like Betty wanted to blow off some steam; I knew she was angry about not killing Mr. Giggles at the festival. Of course, when I went over to the training area with Dae, I saw Betty standing in the middle of a crowd of her soldiers. She had her wings tied down, to make it a fair fight. I wasn't sure if fighting the Queen of Hell, who is also a Legendary Death Walker, could ever be a fair fight. Even if she's fighting another Death Walker. I can barely win a fight against her, even with my Death Walker abilities.

I had no idea how many soldiers Betty was fighting this time. But from the size of the crowd, there were a lot of them, for sure. I doubted if she cared about who was watching. Knowing Betty, she would beat the crap out of anyone if she was angry enough. It's funny though because that's what I used to do when I was turning people into punching bags during training as a general.

"So, how many soldiers is she fighting this time?" I asked.

"Well, as you can see," said Dae. "When my wife gets angry, she likes to turn her soldiers into moving punching bags. Of course, they view it as an honor to fight the Legendary Death Walker and Queen of Hell. This time, she's decided to take on six hundred of them."

My jaw dropped. "Six hundred! Is she using her Death Walker abilities?"

Dae shook his head. "Nope. This is strictly hand-to-hand combat. She has her wings tied down like she always does."

"Yeah, she's pissed right now, for sure," I said, looking at the training area as Betty started the fight. "Are there any good therapists in hell, by chance?"

Dae laughed so hard at my words; I was almost worried he was going to die laughing. Although, he's already dead, so I doubt that could happen.

"Sorry, Norman," said Dae after he composed himself. "That would be a no. Think about it. This place is called 'Hell' for a reason."

I looked back to the fight. Her soldiers actually got a couple of good hits on her at first. It almost looked like Betty might have gone in over her head. Unfortunately, they started doing stupid things like running into each other and knocking each other out in the process. Betty seemed to be having fun, letting the soldiers think they had a chance to beat her.

"Seriously?" I heard Betty say. "You guys are making this way too easy!"

Well, duh! I thought. She's the Queen of Hell and a Legend.

I watched as a guard almost tripped Betty but she must've heard it coming because of her sensitive pony ears. She dodged the soldier with a spin, landing a kick to the stomach. I wondered when she was going to notice that she had disabled every single one of her soldiers.

I smiled and walked up to her. As always, I felt proud of her every time I saw her fight. Especially when she had fought Mr. Giggles. Honestly, it didn't surprise me that Mr. Giggles had given up and left.

I whistled when she noticed me standing there. "Wow, sis! I can barely fight ten of my soldiers. You fought six hundred of them and, from the looks of it, you didn't even break a sweat."

Betty didn't answer at first. She actually looked annoyed by the praise. That didn't surprise me either. Dae rolled his eyes when he saw that. "You know, Betty, you're a little too modest for your own good. Would you just accept your achievements already?"

"Yeah," said Betty. "As I always say. Queen of Hell, yes. Legend, no."

I rolled my eyes. It annoyed me that Betty won't accept what she is now. She deserves that title more than she knows.

* * *

{Betty}

Finally, after a few days of fighting, I had cooled down enough. So, today, I decided to go to the Land of the Living to the Castle of the Two Sisters to stare up at the stars.

I picked my favorite spot and sat down. I took off my cape and my crown. I'm glad I don't have to wear my crown outside of the Castle in Hell. The stupid thing gets on my nerves. It fits right; that's not the reason why I don't like wearing it all the time. It's just annoying to wear, that's all. Too bad I don't have the option to not wear it like I do with not wearing a dress all the time. My royal attire consisted of a black suit jacket, buttoned with a single silver star on the right side of it. I wore black dress pants along with black dress shoes. Trust me, there is no way I'm going to wear a dress all the time. To the rest of the royal family, that was strange, because every Queen of Hell that had ruled before me had.

But, then again, Dae is also considered the strangest King of Hell because he's not as ruthless of a ruler as all of the Kings that ruled before him. It's a wonder to the royal family how he is able to take care of his enemies before they become a problem. I know how Dae does it, and let's just say, he's very creative with his punishments. With that being said, I'm weird and he's weird, so I think we make a good couple.

As I sat there, looking up at the stars, amazed at how Jasper was arranging them, I took out that calling card that Mom left at the scene where we fought to the death. I guess Mom was overconfident. She really thought she was going to kill me. That's what you get when you underestimate your opponent. I laughed every time I was reminded of Mom's calling card, a playing card, an Ace, with the words 'Mom kills Betty' written on it and a bloody fingerprint on the bottom left of it.

"Well, Mom," I said to myself. "You wanted a challenge and you got one. Only, it didn't turn out the way you hoped."

At that moment my tracking powers activated. I let out a sigh as I sensed the presence of Norman, leaning up against a nearby wall. "I know you're there, Norman! Can a girl get some peace and quiet for a change?"

"Sorry about that, Betty," said Norman. "I saw you headed here and I figured we could spend some time together. We haven't been able to do that in a long time."

I smiled: Norman was right. Ever since I died and became Queen of Hell, we never really got to see each other that much. When Norman became ruler of Equestria, we saw each other even less. That's why we decided to do a family dinner night and that seemed to help. As far as spending time together with just us, that had become almost impossible at the moment.

Norman sat down beside me and snickered at Mom's calling card. "Ace in the hole, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess Mom really thought she was going to kill me and walk away from it," I said.

"She didn't realize how wrong she was on that one."

"Karma's a nasty bug bite, isn't it?"

"You can say that again."

I looked up at the stars and smiled. The fact that Mr. Giggles even felt the need to use The Mirror Technique to take me down was the sign of another person that underestimated his opponent. Mr. Giggles' performance in his fight was laughable.

"What's that look for?" Norman asked.

"Mr. Giggles is like Mom, both of them underestimate their opponents," I said.

Norman laughed along with me at that thought.

"Why do you keep that card, anyway?" Norman questioned. "If it were me, I would have burned it by now."

I thought about it and remembered exactly what I tell myself every time I look at the card. "Well, for starters, it's to remind me of why I am the way I am today. I protect people before they get hurt so they don't need to be saved in the first place. No one should have to go through what I did growing up. And it's a happy memory of the day I killed my abuser." I laughed and said with a smirk. "I know, crazy right?"

Norman smiled and shook his head. "No, not really. Unlike you, I don't need that type of reminder because I have the best reminder one could possibly have."

"What reminder might that be?"

"You and the rest of my family, of course!"

That's when Norman started looking at my tail with curiosity.

"What are you looking at?" I asked.

"I've never been able to observe the way a half-and-half's tail moves before," Norman said. "I was able to see how a regular pony's tail moves. Your tail seems to move differently."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course it moves differently."

Norman started playing with my tail, brushing the hair on it with his fingers. I guess he was proud I let him play with my tail because he did what he always did when we were younger and saw me do something that he felt was amazing. He reached over and licked my ear.

"Gross!" I said. "Now, what was that for?"

"That's for fighting that clown a few days ago." He reached over and licked my ear again. "And that was for letting me see how your tail moves."

Yup, he's still creepy. I just forgot with all the chaos of being a ruler, I thought.

Norman went from being sentimental to giving me that creepy 'undressing you with my eyes’ look. I didn't even bother to hear his thoughts, because I didn't want to know. "Why are you giving me that creepy look?"

Norman seemed embarrassed that I caught him because he didn't answer me. He just looked away. I was starting to get annoyed with Norman playing with my tail, so I stood up and sat on it.

Norman flinched. "Doesn't that hurt?"

"It's my tail," I snapped. "And I'll do with it whatever I please!"

Norman put his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay! I'll stop messing with it. You're making the hairs on my neck stand up."

"Fine," I said. I got up and pulled my tail out from underneath me. No sooner had I done that, a light started to blink above my head. I groaned and put my cape and crown back on. Before I could go, Norman licked my ear again.

Yeah, that's gross and he just reminded me why I always thought he was creepy. I thought.

I went back home to see what I had been summoned for.

* * *

{Norman}

Two days after I’d spent some time with Betty, I had just raised the sun and it was a couple of hours before I started my day as ruler of Equestria. I sat down in my favorite spot in the garden out behind the castle. I had bought a copy of the history book, ‘The Legendary Death Walker: Betty Jewel.’ I still can't believe that she won't accept the title that she's rightfully been given. Every time I read the book, it amazed me how far she came even though I hadn't been there for her growing up.

Ever since I saw Betty fight Mr. Giggles, I've read her history book over and over again. By now, I've read the book over six hundred times. The same amount of soldiers she’d fought just to blow off steam. I couldn't help but admire her strength when it came down to a fight.

I was in the middle of reading Betty's history book again when Cozy Glow came and sat down beside me, her homework in hand.

Cozy Glow laughed when she saw what I was reading. "You're thinking about Aunt Betty, aren't you?"

I nodded. "Yeah, did you know she can take on six hundred of her soldiers and not even break a sweat?"

Cozy Glow smiled. "Yup, I've seen her do it myself when she was helping me with my Death Walker training before I went to college. You know, because Mom was busy with Junior at the time."

I smiled. "You know what I'm happy about when it comes to you?"

"What?"

"I'm happy that you didn't enlist when you got old enough to," I replied.

She chuckled. "Yeah, I thought about it, I already had enough on my plate being a Death Walker and all, but I decided to go to college to study wildlife in Equestria instead."

"I still can't believe how strong Betty is now. I don't know why she won't accept the title of Legend, because that's what she is now."

Cozy Glow nodded. "I agree with you on that one, Dad. Aunt Betty is just stubborn; I don't know if she'll ever accept that title."

The alarm that I had set on my watch went off, telling me it was time for work. "Well, Cozy Glow, I gotta go. See you later."

Cozy Glow nodded and got to work on her huge mountain of homework.

* * *

{Mr. Giggles}

When I first was summoned to Equestria, I found a spot in a place called The EverFree Forest. There was an Ursa Major and its family living in the cave I found to live in for the time being. I chose not to eat them, but I did kill them so that I could move in. I wasn't sure when my first meal would be when it fell right into my lap.

I saw two young adult ponies and could hear their voices off in the distance. Of all the things they could have been talking about, they were talking about a balloon from the Equestria Day Festival that one of them had seen come into this forest. I couldn't wait to put on a good show for them. It had to be good; it's possible it would be the last thing they see.

This should be easy! I thought. It must be one of my balloons. I left them everywhere at that Equestria Day Festival. A classic Come to my Circus trick. If anyone went near one, the balloon will lead them straight to me, and I can manipulate them into taking it. If that doesn’t work, then the Grass is Always Greener, just like Mom used to say. I can create the illusion that they’ll have a chance to redo something bad that happened in their life and make it better.

I snickered quietly to myself as I watched the ponies come closer. I made sure I had the Comedy Mask on; hopefully, that would make my entertainer side come out.

"I saw the balloon go over here. I swear!" one of the ponies said.

"Are you sure about this, Moonlight?" the other pony asked. "You were probably tired when you saw it. You rode every roller coaster ride at the Equestria Day Festival! Besides, if there is a balloon around here, it's probably deflated by now."

"I don't care about that, Cherry!" Moonlight said. "I'm going to get that balloon! I'm not leaving this forest until I retrieve it."

Cherry sighed. "Sure, Moonlight, whatever you say. Let's get the balloon and get out of here. Why do you want that balloon so bad, anyway?"

"Because," said Moonlight. "I will use it for the next party I plan with Pinkie Pie! I can use it for the decorations!"

I heard Cherry deadpan, "Seriously?"

Right on cue, one of my black balloons floated past me. I smiled, taking the balloon just in time, as the ponies came closer to my cave. I stepped out of the shadows when they approached. "Hi there, ponies! Is this your balloon?"

Standing before them, I confirmed that it was a mare and a stallion that had been chasing after my balloon. The mare narrowed her eyes at me. The stallion hopped up and down excitedly when he saw my balloon.

"That's the balloon I've been looking for!" the stallion said.

"I'm sorry," the mare said, "but we don't take things from strangers."

"Oh?" I said. Time to use my trick. "Well, since it seems I have what you're looking for. I guess it's only fair that I introduce myself." I cleared my throat, pretending to give a formal introduction. "My name is Mr. Giggles. What's your name? You know it's only fair to tell me your name when I've told you mine."

The mare nodded reluctantly. "Okay, my name is Cherry."

The stallion, still excited at seeing my black balloon said, "My name is Moonlight! Cherry, can I-"

Cherry put up a hoof to stop him from finishing his question. "No, Moonlight."

"What's the problem?" I asked, switching to my Tragedy Mask. "I just introduced myself. You introduced yourself to me. So we're not strangers now, right?"

I grew impatient. It felt like it was taking forever for these stupid ponies to take my balloon so I could eat them. "Listen, I'm working for a traveling circus, I stopped for a rest here."

Cherry still seemed wary. "Uh-huh, if you're with a circus, then where is the rest of it?"

At that moment, I activated my magic, creating the illusion of a circus inside the cave. I switched back to my Comedy Mask to add extra effect to the sounds of the circus. Cherry's ears twitched. It was working.

"Well, I hear a circus, alright," Moonlight said.

I nodded. "What do you say? You want to come see my circus? If you take a balloon from me, you can see it, free of charge. Look, I have another balloon for you, Cherry. That way you both can come to my circus."

Before they could answer me, I duplicated the balloon I had in my hand and held both balloons up.

"Hmm," Moonlight said wistfully. "I hear popcorn popping!"

Just a little more and I shall have my meal, I thought, trying to keep myself from being impatient.

Cherry finally smiled. "Okay, it's fine, we can go."

I smiled. What a couple of suckers!

Cherry and Moonlight never saw it coming. I floated both black balloons over their heads and used my magic to pop them. Once the black ink got on their fur, it started to dissolve them. They began to scream. But as I began my feast, their screams slowly faded away, draining into me along with their souls. I burped, satisfied with my meal.

"My compliments to the chef," I mocked with a chef's kiss.

4) Dirty Thoughts

{Norman}

I've been having the same dream off and on ever since I saw Betty jump off that cliff over four decades ago. In my dream, I caught her, and I pulled her up to safety. Normally, when I start thinking about Betty like this, I'm able to put it in the back of my head. But after seeing her fight that clown and take on six hundred of her soldiers without even breaking a sweat, I couldn't get my mind off it. Betty's amazing in every sense of the word. It still annoys me that she won't accept her title as a Legend.

Today was no different. I had just raised the sun and found a spot in the garden like I always do, but once again, I couldn't stop reading Betty's history book. I had my nose in the book when I heard Robert say, "Let's see, that's how many times you've read Betty's history book now?"

I looked up at Robert and smiled. "It's gotta be thirty at this point. Ever since I saw Betty fight Mr. Giggles, I just can’t seem to stop thinking about it. At first, I thought the battles Betty fought in the book were far-fetched, but now that I've seen her fight myself, the battles don't seem so far-fetched anymore. Not to mention a couple of days after that, she took on six hundred of her soldiers like it was nothing."

"Well, she is a Legend after all; of course she would be able to do that. It's no wonder why Mr. Giggles got annoyed with fighting Betty and left!" Robert whistled.

"Although I've never seen her that angry before. That's why she summoned her soldiers to fight in the first place," I said.

"Maybe she's angry she couldn't stop the clown?" Robert said. “Or maybe…”

He started to give me a strange look. "What's the look for, Robert?"

It was as if a lightbulb had lit up in his head. "I think I know why you're feeling the way you are now."

It's a good thing I can't read people's minds like Betty can. I wonder though if she can turn that ability off? "Uh-huh, yeah, whatever you're thinking, I don't want to know."

Robert's strange expression just kept getting weirder.

"Would you stop looking at me like that?" I asked, scooting as far away from him as I could. I had half a mind to go sit at another table.

"Hmm, I think I'll talk to Sunset and Jasper about this," Robert said thoughtfully. "I think we can help you, Norman."

"As I said before, whatever you're thinking, keep it to yourself."

Robert shrugged. "If you say so."

He got up to leave. I had a feeling, knowing Robert, he was planning something, big time. I just hoped that he wasn't going to try the whole ‘lock me in a room until I confess my feelings’ thing. That's not going to work this time.

* * *

{Betty}

I couldn't help but pace in a circle, still worried about how to protect Norman and the rest of his family. And even more so, how to protect Equestria from Mr. Giggles.

Dae came from behind me and yanked on my tail, making me sit on the bed.

"You really need to relax, Betty," he said. "You're going to drive me nuts pacing like that!"

"That's my stupid tail, you know!" I growled.

Dae chuckled. "Yeah, I know that. You always say that when people yank on it."

"Because it hurt when I was alive, and now it's just plain annoying," I said. "There's got to be a way to stop that rampaging clown before he eats half of Equestria, and then some!"

Instead of laughing, he pulled me onto his lap and started to massage my shoulders.

"You know I love you, Betty, but you need to learn when to take a break," Dae said. "True, demons can't be killed because they're already dead, but if you don't calm down, you're gonna drain your energy and you'll be out of commission for weeks. Try going for a swim in the swimming area behind the castle? Or you can summon Norman, so you can beat the crap out of him again in a Death Walker battle."

"And Norman's starting on my last nerve!" I said. "One would think that me sending him flying into a wall would send a clear signal to back off. That's not funny, Dae!"

"Maybe he just wants to spend more time with his big sister?" Dae teased, laughing as he held me.

I groaned. "Yeah, he's not annoying at all. And he likes to lick my ear when he thinks I've done something amazing. That just reminded me of how creepy he is."

Dae snorted. That annoyed me. I got up to get dressed and Dae followed suit. No sooner had we gotten dressed, there was a knock on the door. When Dae answered it, Parada bowed to us.

"It's okay, you can look at us now," Dae said.

"Your Highness," said Parada, "Celestia wants to see Queen Betty in the Middle Ground."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm gonna take a wild guess and say Norman's summoning me again."

Parada smiled. "Yes, Your Highness. That's exactly what it is."

Dae cracked up. "Well, there you go. Have fun with your moving punching bag!"

I didn't respond, I just left to go see what Norman had summoned me for this time.

* * *

When I got to the castle, Norman surprised me by giving me a big bear hug. I pushed him back and he smiled at me.

"You've been getting on my nerves with these Death Walker battles," I said.

"What?" Norman said. "Can't a little brother try to outdo his big sister?"

"How many times have you tried now?" I answered.

"Actually, I don't want to do a Death Walker battle today," Norman said.

I raised an eyebrow. "What are you up to?"

Norman decided to show me again how creepy he can be, giving me that 'I'm undressing you with my eyes' look with a smile. He grabbed my hand and took me to the garden out behind the castle and had me sit down next to him.

"What's this all about, Norman?" I asked.

"I have a gift for you," said Norman. "I've been meaning to give it to you for a while now."

He took out of his pants pocket a silver queen chess piece with a silver chain on it, to go around my neck.

"That wouldn't happen to be the same chess piece you have on my tombstone, would it?" I questioned.

Norman shook his head. "Nope, that one was just a regular chess piece. This one is completely different. I made it just for you."

I took the necklace from him and smiled at what was engraved on it. It said ‘The Legendary Death Walker Betty Jewel.’ It also had my birthdate and the date I died on it. Yeah he might be creepy but he can be sweet sometimes. But having any feelings for him like that would be a little weird.

"I'm happy I get to spend time with you again. But I am curious about something," Norman said.

I titled my head. "What?"

"Why did you make your Death Walker's decision to die instead of live?" Norman asked.

"I was wondering when you were going to ask me that," I said. "Well, first of all, I fell in love with the King of Hell, and even though Cozy Glow told me she could wait until I died of natural causes, she expressed multiple times that she was frustrated that she couldn't cross over. So, I figured it was time to set her free. I know, crazy right?"

"Hmm," said Norman. "Actually when you think about it, it's not. Those are actually good reasons." He chuckled. "I guess if I had asked that question before, it would've helped me get over your death quicker."

I smiled. "Yeah, I agree."

All of the sudden, Norman got a horrified look on his face. "Oh, crap!"

He covered himself as if he had to go pee and turned away from me. I shut his thoughts out; I did not want to know what he was thinking.

"Okay," I said. "That's my cue to leave. Bye."

As soon as I got up from the table, I high-tailed it out of there as fast as I could and went home.

* * *

{Norman}

I can't believe that happened! I thought with shame. I just got turned on around Betty! I sighed. Good thing I covered it up! Though that still didn't stop her from leaving.

"I saw that!" I turned around to see Jasper standing there with a grin on his face.

I raised an eyebrow. "Saw what? What did I do?"

"You just got turned on around your big sister," Jasper teased.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" I said.

"Now, where have I heard that line before?" Jasper smirked. "You want to sleep with your big sister, don't you? I can't blame you for wanting to sleep with the Legend. I bet she's a Legend in the bedroom, too!"

"Again, I have no idea what you're talking about!" I declared.

"Uh-huh, sure, you don't," said Jasper. "I've seen this happen before when I was your Second in Command. Other high-ranking officers told me a couple of times about their fantasies about sleeping with their siblings. I'd never thought I'd see that with my own husband!"

"Yeah, I think I'm going to bed now."

"Wow," Jasper said, rolling his eyes. "You're in denial, and now you're running. Well, sleep tight and have some sweet dreams about your sister."

I got up and walked away from Jasper as fast as I could. I didn't walk away fast enough; I could still hear his laughter.

* * *

{Betty}

A couple of days later, I still couldn't get my mind off not being able to kill Mr. Giggles. It didn't help that I was receiving word of missing people and ponies that had gone near the Everfree Forest. But just because people and ponies have gone missing near Everfree Forest doesn't mean that's where Mr. Giggles is living. The Everfree Forest is dangerous to begin with, so there could be any number of reasons why they went missing.

Trying to calm my nerves, I decided to go swimming in the area behind the castle. Some people that go swimming here swim nude, but I prefer to cover up in a black bikini top and shorts. Skinny dipping's just a little too weird for me.

As I was swimming, I used my wings to balance myself in such a way where it looks like I'm walking on water. To me, it just feels like I'm walking in the middle of a small stream of water in Equestria. I was enjoying myself when I felt a strange sensation of someone watching me. I ducked down into the water and scanned the area. I couldn't see anything, but I did hear someone's thoughts. She just can't help but be beautiful. I wonder if I should tell her about my feelings for her? Maybe one day I will, but now is not the time…

I paused, horror oozing into my soul. That was Norman's voice. Those creepy thoughts… they were his thoughts!

Okay, yeah, if that is Norman, then he just added to his creepiness, even if he is sweet sometimes.

* * *

The next night, Norman invited me, Ruby, Otis, and Dae over for family dinner. Once again, I let Ruby feed Otis, and her funny faces kept the wall free of food decorations.

I kept trying to avoid looking at Norman but he wouldn't stop giving me that look.

I think it's awfully sweet that Norman gave you that necklace, Dae thought.

Yeah, it is, and if Norman would stop giving me that creepy look, that would be great, too, I thought.

Dae chuckled. I know what that look is about!

I don't want to know.

Norman Jr looked between me and Dae with curiosity.

"Huh," said Norman Jr, "it looks like Uncle Dae and Aunt Betty are communicating by staring at each other."

"Oh, it's a demon trait," explained Ruby. "Not only can we hear each other's thoughts, we can communicate by thought, too. When Otis starts developing demon traits, he'll be able to do it, too."

"Oh, that's right!" Jasper said. "Betty did that with Norman and me during the war with Shadow Mist."

At that time, Dae and I didn't realize that everyone was staring at us as we were having our thought conversation.

You know, Dae thought, it's not frowned upon in Hell to sleep with your family members. As long as it's not your children, of course.

I'm not sleeping with my little brother! I thought.

What's the matter? I slept with my sister when you weren't in the mood. My brother would love a chance with you in his bed.

I'm going to pretend you didn't just think that! I don't have a problem when you do it, I have a problem when our family members try to do it with me!

Okay, fine, have it your way. But, you might just want to listen in on Norman's thoughts every once in a while. And I can tell you've been thinking about him lately because I've been listening in on your thoughts as well of course.

There's no way I'm listening in on my little brother's dirty thoughts!

At least let him kiss you, Dae teased.

Nope! Not happening!

Um, Betty?

What?

Everyone's staring at us.

Sure enough, Dae and I looked up to see everyone staring at us. As if they were observing us for some reason.

"You know it's not nice to stare, right?" I said.

"Sorry, Mom," said Ruby, "everyone was just curious on how you can communicate by thought."

"Oh." I looked over to see that Otis slumped over in his high chair, sound asleep.

Perfect timing!

Uh-huh, sure it is! You really should listen in on your brother's thoughts instead of running from them.

"I'm not running, Dae," I snapped. "I'm just taking Otis to his crib, now if you'll excuse me…"

Everyone else started laughing as I walked away with Otis in my arms.

Mom, Ruby thought, what was that all about?

Don't ask, I thought. You don't want to know.

But I did know two things as I walked away. Number one, I'm not sleeping with my little brother anytime soon, and number two, I'm not listening in on his dirty thoughts either.

5) Hand to Hand Combat

{Dae}

A week later, Robert, Sunset, and Jasper summoned me to the Castle in Canterlot. They wanted to talk about what was going on between Betty and Norman. I could tell from Betty's thoughts that she had been thinking a lot about Norman lately. I know for a fact if you're thinking about someone a lot, like Betty did with me, that you just might have feelings for them. It seems like she might be having conflicting thoughts. On one end, she thinks Norman's weird and creepy because of how he acts around her. Another thing is that she thinks that if she admits her feelings for him that would be bad because he's her sibling. To tell the truth, it was starting to get on my nerves that those two can't sit down and at least talk about their feelings.

"Man, this is annoying," I said. "I know Betty has feelings for Norman. By listening to Norman's dirty thoughts, he has feelings for her."

Sunset nodded. "Makes sense to me. Norman's been talking about Betty a lot lately. Especially after he saw her fight Mr. Giggles. Not to mention he's been giving her weird looks lately. I don't blame her for being creeped out by it. Trust me, if I got those looks from my brother I'd be freaked out by it too."

"Yeah, and Betty seems to have a problem with not facing her problems head-on," I said.

"Was that what the whole 'you can run but you can't hide' line was about when Betty left family dinner so quickly?" Robert asked.

I nodded. "Yup! "

"You're right about Norman liking Betty," said Jasper. "I can confirm that."

Robert tilted his head. "Say what now?"

Jasper chuckled. "The other night when Norman was talking to Betty, he got turned on right in front of her. He tried to cover it up. That's when Betty high-tailed it out of there and, trust me, I don't blame her. I wondered if she got freaked out at what he was thinking?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Just as demons can hear people's thoughts, they can shut them out too. I told Betty to listen in at the last family dinner, and she refused."

Jasper nodded. "I see."

I sighed. "So, what do you say we do about them?"

"I say, we lock them in a room until they confess their feelings for each other," Jasper answered quickly. "I think that's a great idea! Right? Sunset? Robert?"

Sunset and Robert didn't respond, instead, their faces turned red as they looked away in embarrassment. I had no idea what that statement was about, and I didn't really want to know, so I chose not to listen in on Jasper's thoughts for the moment.

"Yeah, I don't think that's possible for Betty and Norman," I said. "They're both Death Walkers, so they can escape easily with the snap of a finger. Then they would probably come after us next. Betty's strong enough to take on Equestria's military and three Alicorns at the same time."

Robert whistled. "You got that one right!"

"Not to mention," I said, "Betty and Norman are both worried about Mr. Giggles for the time being. Betty calls Mr. Giggles a rampaging clown!"

That remark made Sunset, Robert, and Jasper laugh and they didn't stop laughing for a while. Robert suddenly looked bright-eyed.

I smiled. "You have an idea, don't you, Robert?"

Robert nodded. "Yup, but since Betty can hear your thoughts, I'm only going to tell Sunset and Jasper about it."

"Makes sense to me."

I rolled my eyes as I saw a blinking light come from above my head. I knew for a fact that it was the black halo used to summon me. Jasper, Sunset, and Robert looked at it in awe.

"It's interesting how you guys are summoned," Jasper said. "I wish I could go visit Hell and see how things work there."

"Yeah, but since you're not a Death Walker, that's not possible. Unless you're dead. But seeing that you're married to someone who is considered part of the royal family in Hell because he's her sister, you'll be able to go there after you die. Only after you die. There's a lot of rules that go into that. Anyway, I'd better go," I said.

Without another word, I went back to Hell to see what I was being summoned for.

* * *

{Norman}

I walked around the castle with no particular destination in mind. I've been having that dream about Betty over and over again. I just can't seem to keep it in the back of my mind. Ever since we both became rulers, we haven't really had much time to spend with each other. Betty's always been special to me. Everything she does is amazing. The way she flies, the way she battles her enemies, along with everything else. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to be with her as more than just her little brother. I wasn't sure if she felt the same way. If she didn't, I would still want to spend as much time with her as possible because I didn't really get a chance to do that when she was alive, and when she died, I didn't get a chance to do that then. I didn't see her until twelve years later.

Now that Betty's worried about Mr. Giggles terrorizing Equestria, I don't know if I'll be spending any time with her at all. I stopped walking and paused to lean up against a nearby wall, just to think about things. Norman Jr came over and sat down beside me. I groaned. "Can't I get some peace and quiet for a change around here?"

"Oh, sorry, Dad. I've noticed that you've been staring off into space a lot lately," said Norman Jr. “It started happening after the Equestria Day Festival. What's up with that?"

"It's nothing, Junior," I lied. "And it's really none of your business, okay?"

Norman Jr frowned. "It doesn't look like nothing. But if you don't want to talk about it, then fine."

I looked down as I heard my alarm clock go off. Time for me to lower the sun.

* * *

{Betty}

I was still worried about how many people and ponies Mr. Giggles had already taken to their early graves. Norman wasn't helping my nerves, summoning me to Death Walker battles more often lately. But at the same time, it was adorable that he kept wanting to outdo me. I wasn't about to tell Norman how I've been feeling about him because it would be way too weird for us to have that kind of relationship. I've told Dae that several times now.

Norman summoned me to the Castle in Canterlot again, giving me another big bear hug. I still didn't want to listen to his supposed dirty thoughts that Dae had told me about, so I kept them shut out of my mind. Although I did think it was cute that he was summoning me again for another Death Walker battle.

I smirked when we got to the training arena. "You really think you're going to win this time, don't you? You feel like getting thrown against the wall again today?"

Norman surprised me with what he said next. "Actually, I wasn't thinking about a Death Walker battle today."

I titled my head. "Come again?"

"I was thinking about a hand-to-hand combat battle today," Norman said.

I looked at him in shock. I opened my mouth and shut it. He grinned.

"Did I give you brain damage? If I did, I'm sorry, I won't do it anymore. No more Death Walker battles, okay?" I said.

"I'm fine, sis," Norman chuckled. "I just want to see how well I could do going up against you."

"Yeah," I said, "I think you need therapy! A CT scan, just to make sure you're okay."

Norman was practically on the ground, rolling in laughter. When he stood up, he looked like he could fall back into laughing at a moment's notice. "No, sis, I'm being serious!"

"Okay, then," I said, giving him a wary look.

As Norman readied his fighting stance, I took the rope I carried with me for situations like this and tied my wings down.

I hope he's ready for this, I thought. But I still think he needs therapy and tests run on him to make sure his brain is intact.

Norman came at me and tried to land a punch. I rolled my eyes and caught his fist, no problem. To me, this stupid fight was nothing but child's play. I blocked his following blows with ease. When he tried to land a kick to the stomach, I caught it and sent him flying towards a nearby wall. Only this time, before he crashed, he caught himself. At first, we didn't notice Sunset and the others. Norman was too focused, but as we fought, I caught sight of Sunset and the others gathering to watch. I acted like I didn't care, but I could still hear their words.

"Has Norman lost his mind?" Robert asked with concern.

"I don't think so," said Dae. "Of course, it's no surprise to me that Norman would take on Betty. Who wouldn't want to take a Legend? If you win, that would give someone serious bragging rights. I'm the King of Hell, and I can't win a fight against her, so I doubt Norman will. Although he is a Death Walker too, so maybe he could? But from what I'm sensing, Betty's holding back."

"It sure doesn't look like it," Sunset said.

Cozy Glow laughed. "I know that look on Aunt Betty's face. She's getting ready to end the fight."

Cozy Glow didn't know how right she was. The fight with Norman was getting annoying. I finally ended it when he tried to land a kick to my stomach. I caught it and, just like during our previous battles, I used the opportunity to send him flying into a nearby wall. He crashed and landed face-first on the ground.

I helped Norman get to his feet and he dusted himself. He shook my hand, smiling in good sport. I looked up at the bleachers in the training arena when I heard clapping and saw the royal family were watching us.

I pointed up at them. "Good job, Norman, you just made a spectacle of yourself."

Norman looked at the royal family watching us and laughed. "Hmm, let's see here, I'm the ruler of Equestria, and you're the Queen of Hell and a Legend. We're doing hand-to-hand combat, so who wouldn't want to watch that?"

"That was nothing but child's play to me," I said. "Did you really think you were going to win? Not even Dae can win a hand-to-hand fight against me!"

"Well, at least you didn't try to land a hit on my back like Jasper did when I first met him," Norman laughed.

"Did he realize that's a death wish?" I asked. "Even I know not to do that!"

"Yeah, he was an idiot," said Norman. "But I still fell for him in the end."

I untied my wings and smiled at him. It kind of bugged me that I was starting to have some sort of feelings for him. Of course, I still don't want to know why Norman's been acting like he wants to get closer and closer to me. For some strange and odd reason, everyone that knows about this situation seems to think it's funny.

I pretty much rolled my eyes when I saw Norman giving me that look again.

"Okay first of all why have you been giving that weird look?" I asked.

I laughed because Norman's face turned red. He looked away. "What look? I'm not giving you a look! Or at least I don't think I am."

"Yeah you've been giving me that 'I'm undressing you with my eyes look' lately." I said. "And it's kind of weird. It's one thing when I get it from my husband. It's weird now that I'm getting it from my brother."

Norman looked at me as if I hadn't mentioned anything about the look he had just given me. "You know something I'm glad you let me do hand-to-hand combat with you today. You're… You're an awesome fighter!"

"Uh… Thanks?" I said. There was an awkward silence between us. I broke it by saying. "Yeah, I'm out of here."

As I walked away, I felt Norman watching me. I still didn't know what he was thinking about me.

* * *

The next day, Dae challenged me to hand-to-hand combat. This time I didn't bother to hide my annoyance.

"You know I love you, right?" Dae said. "I completely understand your annoyance because you're worried about that rampaging clown. But since you can't relax, I figured this is the next best thing, besides sex."

Dae and I paused the fight so he could catch his breath. I flicked my tail in annoyance. He noticed my tail movements and chuckled. He composed himself and we readied our fighting stances and went at it again.

When we started fighting again, to my surprise, Dae was able to trip me. I landed flat on my back. He helped me get to my feet. Before the fight could start again, I put up my hands to show I surrendered.

Dae looked confused. "I don't think I'm going to count that as a win, Betty."

"Why not? I surrendered, didn't I?" I said.

"That's not like you," Dae noted. "Normally, you keep going until the enemy is disabled." He narrowed his eyes, reading my thoughts. I looked away, but I couldn't shut my mind off in time. He nodded in understanding.

"You got more on your mind than just the clown, yeah?"

"I don't know what you're referring to," I growled. I could hear Dae's thoughts, and he was up to something. He was trying to figure out a way to get me and Norman to confess our feelings for each other. Although I don't think I have feelings for my little brother.

"That's not happening, Dae," I said. "So, I wouldn't even try anything if I were you. And I don't have feelings for my little brother."

"Uh yeah you do have feelings for him. You're just in denial."

"You're wrong on that and either way it's not happening!"

Dae grinned. "Yeah, sorry, but I'm still going to try anyway."

"Well good luck with that," I said. I didn't say anything else, just turned around and walked away.

* * *

{Mr. Giggles}

I smiled as I felt daring enough to look for my next meal by the river outside of Canterlot. I used my magic to summon my balloon son, Johnny.

"Yes, Father?" Johnny asked.

"I need you to go deliver some food for me," I said. "Hmm, let me see…"

As part of my magic, I can see over twenty feet away. I spotted two people that looked like they might work at the castle. I pointed in their direction.

"See where I'm pointing at? Go in that direction, okay?" I instructed.

Johnny nodded. "Yes, Father."

He gave the toothy grin that I always adore. When he got to where I had told him to go, I just sat down and watched the scene take place. The guards smiled as they saw Johnny in front of them, looking as if he were a lost human child. Although, I wondered if I should've made his shape a pony instead because there are more ponies here than humans. But the guards were humans, so giving Johnny a human this time was a good idea.

"Hey there, kid," one of the guards said. "Are you lost? Cause we can help you find your parents."

Johnny smiled and shook his head. "No, I'm not lost. I have something I want to show you over by the river."

I laughed to myself as the guards followed Johnny to the river, about a mile away from town. The guards looked very curious as to what Johnny wanted to show them. I thought, Wow, it seems that people here in Equestria are complete suckers, aren't they?

The guards stopped when they saw me standing by the river, waving at them. I had a couple of black balloons for them to take so I could eat their souls. "The child that was with you a minute ago was my son. I have a very simple question for you. Do you want to see my circus?"

I used my Comedy Mask to put on my best convincing smile. As I thought before, who doesn't like a clown? One of the guards looked skeptical of me, which I could understand because I did just pop up out of nowhere. The skeptical one shook his head. "Nah, I don't feel like seeing a circus today. If you want to go, Lewis, knock yourself out."

"Oh, come on, Hank. Why not? Circuses are fun!" Lewis said. "Look, he's already putting on a show for us! Just look at that mask he's got on. That's pretty cool, dude!"

Hank groaned. "I don't care how cool that mask looks, Lewis! I don't feel like going to a circus today. "

Lewis shrugged. "Okay, fine, then, but you're missing out."

I smiled as I floated a black balloon over to Lewis, who took the balloon with no idea what was going to happen next. He grabbed the black balloon and it dragged him over towards me. Once I had him standing in front of me, I popped the balloon and black ink showered over him. Hank spun around only to watch in horror as the black ink dissolved Lewis' body. Lewis stopped screaming once I sucked out his soul. I laughed as I watched Hank pass out in fear. I used my magic to summon a small tornado and left as quickly as I had arrived.

6) Untold Feelings

{Norman}

As soon as I heard what happened to my guard, Lewis, I headed over to the hospital. The other guard that survived the attack was in the hospital trying to recover from it. When I got there, I found out which room the guard was in, and the doctors and nurses there bowed to me. I gave them the usual line and dismissed them.

The poor guy looked too horrified to look me in the eye. I can understand that; he probably fears that he messed up on his job.

The guard sighed. "Your Highness, it's my fault Lewis is missing. The clown put on a good show, as Lewis said. I should've stopped him, I-"

I shushed the guard before he could go into any more self-guilt. "It's not your fault. From what you're telling me, Lewis should've known not to take something from a suspicious looking character. Let me ask you, Hank, what did the clown look like?"

"He looked like a normal clown, except that he was dressed in black and white from his head to his toe. He also had what looked like Comedy and Tragedy Masks, you know? The kind that a performer would use on stage."

I tried not to show my terror at the fact that Mr. Giggles was capitalizing on the fact that ponies and humans are so trusting of anyone. "Wonderful. Mr. Giggles isn't a normal clown and, according to Betty, he's the most butt ugly clown she'd ever seen!"

Hank paused. "Wait, the clown's name is Mr. Giggles?"

I nodded. "Yup."

"You're telling me that Betty- as in The Legendary Death Walker Betty Jewel- has seen that clown before, along with you?"

I nodded again. "Yup."

"So, where did you guys see the clown?" Hank said.

"At the Equestria Day Festival, in the House of Mirrors."

"Wow, now that I don't believe for a minute," Hank said. "But, seeing that this information is coming from the ruler of Equestria, I guess I'll have to take it at face value. If I told anyone about this, people would probably think I'm insane."

"Yeah, I would keep this information to yourself. Because I totally agree with that last comment."

Hank smiled. "Yup, I'm keeping this to myself, alright!"

I excused myself. At this point, I wasn't sure if I was going to tell Betty about this or not. She's already worried about that clown enough, as it is. I feel the same way. I'm killing that clown if it's the last thing I do. He's not eating half of Equestria if I have something to say about it.

* * *

{Dae}

I summoned Norman to the Land of the Dead. I had been trying to talk to Betty about her feelings for her brother, but she just shuts down the matter entirely. I felt it was time to talk to Norman about how he was feeling about my wife.

"I know you're wondering why I summoned you today," I said.

Norman nodded.

I smiled. "I've been wanting to talk to you about your feelings for Betty."

Norman paused. "Uh… I have no idea what you're talking about."

I rolled my eyes. "Uh-huh, sure you don't. Your family told me that's what you say when you're in denial. Just to let you know, I can hear your thoughts and you've been thinking about Betty, just as much as she is thinking about you. And not to mention, you've been giving her creepy looks lately."

"I, uh…" Judging by the look on his face, Norman was looking for a way to escape the conversation.

"I've studied Equestrian law myself," I said. "You can sleep with your siblings, even if you can't marry them. Since you're the ruler of Equestria, I think you can figure out a way to keep that type of relationship with Betty a secret."

"I'm not sleeping with my sister!" Norman snapped.

"I didn't say you had to," I said. "I was just making a friendly suggestion, that's all. I also suggest that you at least talk to Betty about it."

I looked Norman in the eye and tried not to laugh because I knew he was getting ready to run as far away from me as possible.

"Okay then, I think this conversation is over with, and would you look at the time. I should be going now." Norman said quickly. "I'll see you later!"

As I suspected, he ran away from me as fast as he could.

* * *

{Betty}

That stupid rampaging clown was starting to get on my nerves. It's hard to get my mind off things, especially since this is a serious situation. I hadn't figured out where Mr. Giggles lived now.

At this point, I'm really trying hard not to be frustrated, but my anger was building more and more lately because I hadn't stopped Mr. Giggles yet. I've been trying everything I can to keep myself from going insane. I've tried fighting my soldiers, reading a book, and putting it in the back of my mind while taking care of my royal duties. Nothing seemed to help. On top of that, I heard about one of Norman's guards was attacked and kidnapped. Although knowing Mr. Giggles, he'd probably already killed the poor guy by now.

Whenever I’m worried, my tail and ears seem to gain a mind of their own. Since nothing else worked to help get me to calm down, I went to the Castle of the Two Sisters to look at the stars. As I took in the beauty of the night, I failed to use my tracking powers. Thus, Norman was able to come right over and sit beside me, nearly scaring me out of my skin.

"Wow, Betty," said Norman, "I've never seen you this worried about something. I've seen you angry, but not so much worried."

I sighed. "I know, I’m so worried I can’t keep still. I couldn't even sit on my tail if I wanted to."

"Wow," he said.

Norman then did something he'd never done before. He reached over and scratched me behind the ear. I had to admit, it did feel good. Dae does that to me too, sometimes. Strangely, he hasn't been doing it lately. I know Dae. When he starts acting weird, even by my standards, he's up to something.

Not only did Norman scratching behind my ear feel good, I started to calm down. Norman smiled. "Does that help?"

I scooted closer to him and he pulled me into his arms, hugging me. "You know, we should do this more often."

"I'm not sure if that's possible," I said.

"I know, we both have hectic lives as rulers now. Anyway," he sighed, before scooting away from me, "I should probably go turn in for the night. It's nice knowing that I can help you out like that."

When I left, I saw Dae laughing, "So Norman scratching you behind the ear calms you down huh? You really should tell him about your feelings for him."

"There's no way I'm sleeping with my little brother!" I snapped. "And I don't have feelings for him! He's my brother for crying out loud!"

Dae pointed a finger at my chest. "You know, you won't be able to keep your feelings from Norman for much longer. Trust me, Betty, I'm going to see to it. Whether you want to admit it or not you do have feelings for him. You're just in denial just like you were with your feelings for me."

"Why are you so dead set on me sleeping with Norman?" I questioned.

Dae rolled his eyes. "You don't have to sleep with each other, what I'm saying is you two need to at least talk to each other about it. I know from your thoughts that you're worried that if you fall in love with someone besides me, you'll stop loving me. You know something? I felt the same way when I started sleeping with my sister. The fact that we're worried about the same thing tells me we're not going to leave each other anytime soon. Not to mention we've been married for over thirty years now. If we were going to leave each other, I think we would've done so by now. You can have more than one love."

I raised an eyebrow. "How is that possible?"

"Think about it, Betty, Norman has three different people he loves. He can add more to the mix if he wants to," Dae said. "It's the same thing with you. Just think about it, okay?"

* * *

Another family dinner. Dae, Ruby, Otis, and I were invited like usual. But before dinner could even start, Sunset pulled me off to the side and we sat down at a bench in the garden out behind the castle. "You wanted to talk to me about something, Sunset?"

Sunset nodded. "I wanted to talk to you about the ongoing issue between you and Norman. We know you have feelings for him, just like we know Norman has feelings for you. You two really need to sit down and talk to each other about this."

I groaned. "That's not-"

Sunset suddenly had a look of horror on her face. That's when I heard Mr. Giggles’ voice. "Betty…. Betty…"

Sunset pointed behind me. "Betty, am I crazy, or did a creepy clown just pop up out of nowhere, along with two gravestones?"

"Wait, huh?" I said. I turned around and, sure enough, Mr. Giggles was standing there on top of two gravestones. One was mine. The other was my mother's.

Mr. Giggles gave me a snide look and sinister giggle. "So, we meet again, Death Walker. It's been like, what, ages since we've seen each other? We have a lot of catching up to do."

I sneered at him. "You say that like we're long-lost friends or something. In case you didn't notice, we're not friends!"

Mr. Giggles taunted me. "Oh, come on Betty, I just want to show you something. Do you recognize the graves I'm standing on? Does it bring a chill down your spine?"

I felt my anger start to boil as Mr. Giggle started hopping up and down on my grave. "You know, Betty, all you have to do is jump over here, if you want to redo this tragedy in your life."

He started to jump back and forth from my grave to my mom's grave. At this point, I had enough of his taunting. "Oh, well, seeing as I can't make a deal with you, I do feel like playing with my food."

Before Mr. Giggles could say anything else, I flew after him and gave him a swift punch in the stomach. He fell to the ground face first. Before I could go over and stomp on his head, he popped back up, as if he were a vampire popping up from its grave.

Mr. Giggles grinned. "So the Death Walker makes the first move, huh?"

"I don't care!" I snarled. "As long as you die today, it doesn't matter who makes the first move!"

"Yeah, I don't think I'm going to die today," Mr. Giggles said. "I just can't wait to have you in my stomach. That'll give me enough magic to keep me from going back to that stupid cave in the afterlife."

"That's not happening either," I said.

Like last time we fought, Mr. Giggles mirrored my every move. Every kick, punch, block, Mr. Giggles copied. As we were fighting, my family and some others had gathered and were standing around, watching the whole thing.

"Wow, I've never seen Mom fight before. She's amazing!" Ruby exclaimed.

"So, is that what you were talking about before? The clown copied Betty's every move?" Robert asked.

Norman nodded. "Yup! That's exactly it!"

"Why isn't she using her Death Walker abilities yet?" Sunset asked.

"Probably because she doesn't need them right now," Dae said.

As I kept fighting Mr. Giggles, the fight was starting to get on my nerves. I thought for sure sooner or later, he's going to run out of steam, and then I could kill him. It seemed that Mr. Giggles was getting annoyed too.

The next time we paused, I gave him a taunting laugh. "Getting annoyed with me again, creature?"

"Hmm, not yet," said Mr. Giggles. "Why can't you just give in and take a black balloon from me? I mean, really now, who doesn't trust a clown, after all?"

"I don't trust you," I snarled. "I never will trust you!"

We went back to fighting again, and I couldn't speak for the clown, but I was getting frustrated with us being evenly matched. Mr. Giggles faked the need to pause and gave me another snide look. "You know something?” he said. “I am getting annoyed. I'm done playing with my food now."

With that, Mr. Giggles stood on the top of my grave and my mother's grave. I tried to go after him but he disappeared into the graves before I could get to him.

* * *

I was pissed.

"So, what would you call that style of transportation?" Jasper questioned.

Norman laughed. "I think I'm going to call that grave style."

I let out a deep breath, as slowly as I possibly could.

"Wow, Mom!" Ruby cheered. "That was awesome! It's no wonder why you're a Legend now!"

I smiled. "Queen of Hell, yes. Legend, no."

"Oh, come on, Mom," said Ruby. "You're a Legend, and you know it!"

"Uh-huh!" Everyone else agreed with her.

We went to dinner. The fight with Mr. Giggles and I quickly became the talk of the castle.

* * *

Back in Hell, the next day, me and Dae were having another sparring match at the arena. We were talking about the fight I had with Mr. Giggles.

"Exactly how am I going to kill someone that can copy my every move?" I asked.

Dae was barely managing to keep up with me at this point. "I don't know. But what I do know is that Mr. Giggles saying that the Mirror Technique is only used by his family is a lie. Although it is a closely guarded secret. I did some research and you need to have someone that knows the technique in order to learn it. I can't teach it to you because I don't even know it."

Upon hearing this, it made me even more frustrated. "Great…"

I finally landed the winning punch and Dae fell flat on his back. I helped him get to his feet and he smiled. "There's the Betty I know! But I have no idea who can teach you that technique."

"I believe I can help you with that!" I heard a familiar voice say. I turned around and gasped to see Headcouncilman standing there smiling at me.

7) Learning the Mirror Technique

{Betty}

I bowed to Headcouncilman and he motioned for me to stand up straight.

"You know the Mirror Technique?" I asked.

Headcouncilman gave me a kind smile and nodded. "I do. It involves having a calm state of mind and using your tracking powers to see one second into the future."

Dae cracked up. "I'm sorry, Headcouncilman, sir, but uh, I think Betty having a calm state of mind is going to be impossible right now."

"Yeah, I'm going to have to agree with my husband on that one," I admitted.

Dae gasped and his jaw dropped to the ground. I raised an eyebrow. "What's that look for?"

"Normally, it takes a lot for you to agree with me on something. Honestly!" His face fell. “Stop laughing!"

I couldn't help it; the shocked look on Dae's face made me fall over on my back, rolling in laughter. When I stood up, I tried my best to compose myself. I looked at Headconcilman to see he had a look of amusement on his face. "Well, I heard about your situation and I figured it would be best to help Betty out. The calm state of mind is actually the hardest part of learning the Mirror Technique."

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Uh-huh, especially since you're worried about this ‘Mr. Giggles’ at the moment," Headcouncilman said. "There is another reason why I'm the best person for the job of teaching you this."

Headcouncilman took off his robes. I gasped; he's a half-and-half like me! With his robes on, he looked like a normal human. All he had that showed he was a half-and-half was pony wings and a ponytail.

"But you're a-" I gasped.

Headcouncilman grinned. "Half-and-half? Yup, I am. Which is exactly why I'm perfect for the job of teaching you the Mirror Technique. Now, King Dae, if you don't mind, I would like to begin teaching Betty the first step. Could you go to the observation balcony for me?"

Dae nodded and left. Headcouncilman smiled at me. "Now, Betty, I'm going to let you in on a little secret."

"Yes, Headcouncilman?"

"My name isn't Headcouncilman," said Headcouncilman, "it's Sawyer."

"Sawyer?"

He nodded with a chuckle. "Yes, Sawyer."

I blinked. Once I got over the surprise of Headcouncilman having an actual name, I said, "Okay, so how do I start learning this?"

Sawyer explained, "You can do the first step in two ways. The first way is to hover in the air crossed-legged with your wings. The other way is easy for us half-and-half's, that's to use your wings to balance on the water. So, I'm going to teach you the hard way: hovering in the air, crossed-legged."

"Okay," I said.

"Now, you might want to untie your wings," Sawyer said.

I didn't realize my wings were still tied down until he said something about it.

Sawyer instructed, "Sit down crossed-legged and flap your wings until you're hovering about a foot in the air. I think you might finally have a challenge on your hands with this."

I tried to do what he told me to do several times and every time I failed by landing flat on my back. Sawyer seemed to think that it was funny. He just hovered and sat crossed-legged in the air like it was nothing with a smirk on his face. He lowered himself to the ground and when he got up, he laughed at my frustration. I bit my tongue to keep myself from rolling my eyes.

"You'll have to practice for a while until the next time I see you," Sawyer said.

I nodded. "Yes, sir."

With our meeting done, he grabbed his robes and walked away.

* * *

{Norman}

A few days later, Dae summoned me to the Land of the Dead. When we got to the training area, I looked to see Betty sitting crossed-legged and it looked like she was trying to hover in the air that way. "What's she doing?"

"Apparently, this is the first step to learning the Mirror Technique," Dae replied.

"But I thought only Mr. Giggles' family knows how to do that."

Dae shook his head. "Nope. I did some research on the subject and it's just a closely guarded secret."

I watched Betty as she practiced and I couldn't help but think about how amazing she is at everything she does.

"Why are you watching Betty with that look on your face?" Dae questioned, giving me a curious look.

I looked away. "Uh, what are you talking about, Dae?"

He started laughing.

"Okay, what's so funny?"

"You know I hear your thoughts right?" Dae said with a smirk. "I couldn't help myself. That's sweet that you think Betty's amazing at everything she does, even when she fails."

I deadpanned and looked away. "No comment."

"Anyway, we should probably make her take a break," Dae said. "That might almost be impossible at the moment. I would tie her to a chair, but she'd probably just break it and escape."

I snorted; an image appearing in my mind of Betty busting out of the restraints she's tied up in and smashing the chair. I wish I had the strength to do that with the whole situation I got into with Olivia.

We went to get Betty. She had failed another attempt at learning the first step on the Mirror Technique.

"I'll never get this technique down before Mr. Giggles eats half of Equestria!" Betty growled.

"He's not doing that if I got something to say about it," I said. I looked at Dae laughing about something. "Why are you laughing, Dae?"

Dae composed himself. "I think it's funny that you keep giving Betty weird looks lately." He looked at Betty and at the moment she was looking away from me and Dae. "You two really should sit down and at least talk about your, uh, situation."

Betty looked back at Dae and shook her head. "What are you talking about, Dae?"

Dae gave her a pointed look. "You know exactly what I'm talking about Betty!" He then gave me the same look.

"Yeah, I agree with Betty," I said, "I have no idea what you're talking about!"

Dae smirked. "Uh-huh, sure, you don't!" He started laughing again. Honestly, I can't speak for Betty but it was starting to get on my nerves that everyone who knew about whatever Betty and I were feeling towards each other found it funny. I wish they would stop laughing at it. It's not funny. At least, not to me.

Dae looked like he wasn't going to stop laughing. I rolled my eyes. Too bad he can't die from laughing.

* * *

I invited Betty, Dae, and Otis to family dinner night. I worried about her; she was driving herself nuts about learning the Mirror Technique. I wasn't the only one that noticed she wasn't there.

"Why isn't Aunt Betty here, Uncle Dae?" Cozy Glow asked.

"She's learning the first step to the Mirror Technique," Dae answered.

Sunset tilted her head. "The Mirror Technique? What's that?"

"Remember how that clown was able to copy Betty's every move when she fought him?" Dae said.

Sunset nodded.

"Well that's how he did it," Dae explained. "The first step is to have a calm state of mind. Apparently, this can be achieved by sitting crossed-legged and hovering about a foot in the air. It's proving difficult for her to learn."

Sunset laughed. "Looks like the Legend has finally found a challenge."

Dae smiled. "No kidding! But it's getting on her nerves and she doesn't know when to take a break!"

"Yup, that's Betty for you!" Sunset agreed.

I barely paid attention to this conversation, because with my worrying about Betty, I had pretty much zoned out.

"Equestria to Norman! Hello! Anybody home!" Robert said, snapping me out of it.

"Huh, what?" I said.

"You were staring off into space, Dad," Norman Jr said.

I heard Dae's voice in my head: I wish Betty would communicate with you by thought.

You're talking in my head? I thought I thought that was reserved for you two?

Not exactly, Dae thought. Demons can communicate by thought with whoever they want to. I would think that since you're her little brother, that she would do this with you. I told her to listen in and communicate with you, but she doesn't want to know. Probably because of your dirty thoughts about her.

I would say I'm not saying a word, but since we're communicating by thought…

I saw Dae trying to stifle a laugh, Uh-huh, you're not going to think a word? When you think about it, you did think a word, actually a handful of them to be exact.

That is sooo not funny, Dae!

Honestly, Norman, you and Betty need to at least sit down and talk to each other about this. You don't have to sleep with each other to do that.

"Okay, then," I said out loud. "I think I'm done eating now,so I'll just be going."

I could hear everyone laughing as I walked out of the dining hall as fast as I could.

* * *

{Betty}

I stood on the balcony connected to the room Dae and I were staying in while we were at the castle in Canterlot. I wasn't in the mood for dinner; I needed to learn the first step to the Mirror Technique and fast. I almost got it down a couple of times. I lost count after the tenth time, and it was getting on my last nerve. I heard a knock on the door to the balcony. It surprised me to see Norman after I answered it.

"Why are you in my room?" I asked.

"I was wondering how you were doing? I'm also kind of worried because you weren't at dinner tonight," Norman responded.

"I don't think me missing from a family dinner is grounds for worrying."

"I wasn't the only one that noticed you missing; everyone else did, too," Norman said. "Don't you know when to take a break?"

I shook my head and declared, "Nope! I won't rest until that stupid rampaging clown is dead!"

Norman chuckled. "Rampaging clown is the perfect pet name for Mr. Giggles. While I understand your worries, you really should take a break anyway."

"I think I should get back to-" I didn't get a chance to finish the sentence when I heard Dae's voice in my head. I'm not sleeping in this room tonight.

What? Why?

Because you and Norman need to at least sit down and talk about your feelings. You don't have to sleep with each other or be in love. You're siblings and you should be able to just talk to each other.

Fine.

Dae didn't think about anything else.

"Um, Betty, I have something I would like to talk to you about," Norman suddenly had a look of horror on his face. He grabbed a pillow, put it on his lap, and turned away from me.

I gulped. I'm not sure if I want to know. Do I dare?

I took a deep breath and finally listened to his thoughts. I did not just get turned on in front of my sister! Nope! It didn't happen!

I cracked up. "So, that's what that horrified look is about!"

"You're listening to my thoughts now?" Norman asked with a puzzled look.

I couldn't respond because my wings decided to spread out involuntarily. Norman started laughing about it. I tucked my wings back in and Norman looked like he was having a field day with what just happened. "What's so funny, Norman?"

"It's okay, Betty, I know exactly what that means," Norman said. "I asked Fluttershy about it after I became ruler of Equestria. A couple of mares did it in front of me."

"No!" I said, shaking my head rapidly. "It didn't happen!"

I looked away in embarrassment and Norman started laughing again.

"I'm serious, it didn't happen!"

"Yeah, it did. You can't deny something that obvious," Norman chuckled. "Well, that confirms it."

I raised an eyebrow. "Confirms what?"

"You have feelings for me, just like I have feelings for you," Norman answered.

8) Feelings Revealed

{Betty}

It surprised me that I didn't have a panic attack. Norman snorted.

"That's not funny, Norman!" I growled.

"What? I think it is funny, considering I got turned on around you. So, yeah," Norman grinned. "Betty, come here."

I paused. Then I sat down on the bed next to him. He reached over and scratched me behind the ear. I felt calmed down after that.

Norman had a curious look. "Interesting. I haven't gotten the chance to do something like this until I was able to do it with you."

I titled my head. "You mean, you haven't done this with a mare before?"

Norman shook his head, "Nope. All of the mares around this castle are completely insane! They only want to be with me because I'm the ruler of Equestria. For the moment, I'm not into dating mares. Until I find someone sane like Sunset, I'm not going to do it."

"And you're attracted to your big sister because?"

"Well, you're beautiful for starters," Norman stated. "I guess I can't complain about that; the good looks seem to run in the family. Number two, you've always been special to me, even when we were younger. You're amazing at everything you do, even when you fail."

The fact that Norman just said I was amazing even at failing puzzled me. "Exactly how can you be amazing even when you fail?"

"Because you're determined to keep at it until you get it right. If it were me, I would've just said screw it and gave up. But not you. It reminds me to keep excelling at my job as ruler of Equestria as much as possible."

"So... I'm your reminder."

Norman nodded. "Of course, now more than ever I just want to be with you. I know you don't need my protection, but I still want to anyway."

He scratched me behind the ear. Hethen kissed me on the cheek. It wasn't a peck on the cheek either.

Nope, there's nothing weird about my brother doing this at all.

I went to get up and walk away when he grabbed me.

"Please, Betty, don't go!" Norman begged. "At least let me hold you."

I looked at Norman's pleading look and couldn't help but think of how adorable it was. But at the same time I knew I really needed to finish learning the Mirror Technique so I could stop Mr. Giggles before it was too late.

In the end, I decided to stay. "Sure, but as soon as you're asleep, I'm gone."

"That's fine by me."

As soon as Norman fell asleep, I went home.

* * *

The next time I met with Sawyer, I still didn't have the first step to the Mirror Technique down yet. I failed about five times and Sawyer couldn't help but laugh. "I'm not sure if there's anything funny about this, Sawyer."

"Do you want to know why I have you practicing on how to have a calm mind?" Sawyer asked.

I nodded.

"It's come to my attention that your mind hasn't been calm ever since you started dealing with Mr. Giggles," Sawyer responded. "Do you want to know how I'm able to do this first step so easily?"

I looked up at him as he hovered in the air peacefully. "How do I have a calm mind with a rampaging clown on the loose?"

"Tell me something, Betty," Sawyer said, "what helps you calm down?"

"I don't-" I started to say. I stopped myself because I know exactly what keeps me calm.

Sawyer grinned. "Well, what is it?"

I didn't want to say it but... "It's when Norman and Dae scratch me behind… the… ear."

Sawyer laughed. "You know that's a sign of affection for us half-and-half's, right? Now your brother's doing it? It's about time!"

"How do you know about that?"

"Dae told me. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

"I'm gonna-" I paused. "I would say kill him, but he's already dead."

"Well, remember that feeling of how it feels to be scratched behind the ear, Betty, and the rest will follow."

I took a deep breath and held it. I remembered how it felt when Norman and Dae scratched me behind the ear. The next thing I knew, I was hovering a foot in the air. When that happened, I heard Sawyer clapping. It broke my concentration and I fell out of the air flat on my butt. "Ow! Stupid tail!"

"You're tail's not stupid, but if that's what you want to call it, then fine," Sawyer said with a small chuckle. "Keep practicing this until you can do it no problem. Once you get this down, we'll move on to the next step."

Sawyer lowered himself to the ground. When he got to his feet, he grabbed his robes and left.

* * *

I was summoned again to the Castle in Canterlot but this time, it wasn't by Norman. Sunset had summoned me. I walked with her to the garden out back and we sat down on a nearby bench. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Since Norman's busy right now, I figured I'd talk to you about what's been going on between you and Norman," Sunset said. "I’m just hoping we won't get interrupted by Mr. Giggles again."

"That makes two of us," I said. "I don't feel like fighting anyone that tells me they feel like playing with their food!"

Sunset snorted. "Yeah, anyway, have you and Norman sat down and talked to each other about your feelings yet?"

I nodded. "We did it a couple of days ago and it wasn't weird at all," I deadpanned.

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Oh? In what way was it weird?"

"You don't want to know."

She chuckled. "So, tell me about it."

Even though I didn't want to, I did. But I couldn't say it out loud, so I communicated with her by thought. She looked like she was having a field day with what happened. "You know Norman's the Alpha in the family, right?"

I tilted my head. "Yeah, so?"

"Because he's the Alpha, he can add anyone he wants to the family. Out of respect, he'll ask us about it first, even though he doesn't have to," Sunset replied. "He's asked about what we think of his feelings for you, and Jasper, Robert, and I don't have a problem with it. But since you're his sister and all, you might be a hard catch to reel in, if you know what I mean."

After Sunset said that, I didn't know what I should say next. Sunset looked behind me and burst into laughter.

"Let me guess," I said. "He's right behind me isn't he?"

I felt Norman yank on my tail. My eye twitched in annoyance. "That's my stupid tail, you know!"

Norman smiled. "So your tail's name is stupid now, huh?"

Sunset stood up and smiled. "Well, I guess I'll just leave you two alone. I would join in on the fun, but I'm already pregnant. I'll be going back to bed now."

Norman kissed Sunset, making sure to do it with passion, and I rolled my eyes at him. Sunset saw my reaction and laughed as she walked away. While she was walking away, Norman made a point to stare at her pretty hard. I barely kept myself from laughing.

After Sunset left, Norman started giving me that look. "You know, you keep giving me that creepy look and it's starting to get on my nerves!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Norman said quickly. He said it so fast that I could tell he was in denial.

I smirked. "Uh-huh, sure you don't. And you're still doing it."

Norman sat down on the same bench Sunset and I were previously sitting on. I was getting ready to leave when he yanked on my tail again and made me sit down next to him.

"That's my stupid tail, you know!" I growled.

"What? You were getting ready to run, I had to make you stay somehow," Norman remarked.

"Okay."

"Hey, can't a little brother spend some time with his big sister?" Norman asked. "Besides, I would kiss you, but it's not private here. This is exactly where you had that fight with Mr. Giggles. It's on the front page of the newspaper, as of a couple of days ago!"

"Really?" I gasped. Then I got over my shock. It occurred to me that it really shouldn't surprise me about how the news reporters can be. "Oh well, right now I'm just concerned with learning the Mirror Technique at the moment."

"Dae told me you've almost got it down."

"The problem I'm having is keeping my mind calm," I said. "I keep thinking about stopping Mr. Giggles."

Norman smiled. "It's just like Sunset said, the Legend has finally found a challenge."

A light blinked above my head. Norman looked at it with curiosity. "It's interesting how you guys are summoned."

"Yeah, well I guess it's time for me to go." I went back home to see what I had been summoned for.

* * *

{Cozy Glow}

It was another break from school, so instead of going home to the Castle in Canterlot like I always do, I decided to visit Grandma Fluttershy and Grandpa Discord's cottage instead. I was sitting in the living room watching TV. The news was showing coverage of my Aunt Betty's fight with Mr. Giggles a couple of days ago.

Something strange happened as I was watching TV. The TV started to flicker and it looked like it was broken or something. I went up to the TV and tapped it with my hoof to see if I could fix it, but then I heard strange demonic voices coming from the kitchen sink.

"Cozy Glow…." the voices said. "Cozy Glow…."

Yeah, that's not creepy at all! I thought. The voices called out to me once again.

"Cozy Glow…. Cozy Glow…."

At this, I felt chills go down my spine. I called out, "Uh, Grandpa Discord!"

I saw Grandpa Discord come down the stairs. "What is it, Cozy Glow? You sound scared."

Once more, I heard the voices from the sink. "Cozy Glow… Cozy Glow…"

I gulped. "Well, first of all, the TV looks like it's broken, and second, there's demonic voices coming from the kitchen sink."

"Cozy Glow…. Cozy Glow…."

Grandpa Discord heard the voices from the kitchen and he looked like he was steaming. "The TV isn't broken Cozy Glow, it just means my stupid brother Mr. Giggles is about to make an appearance. It looks like he's making the demonic voices in the kitchen sink to use them as a way to bait ponies in with their curiosity," He groaned and called out. "Mr. Giggles, my idiot brother! Show yourself, right now!"

Mr. Giggles giggled, which, along with the demonic voices in the kitchen sink, sent chills down my spine. "Oh, Discord, you know me so well."

"I did grow up with you, idiot!" Grandpa Discord snapped.

"And we live very different lives now, don't we?" Mr. Giggles asked.

I could tell by the look on Grandpa Discord's face his anger had reached a boiling point and his boiling anger might go even further than boiling. I'm not sure if that's even possible. I backed up, shaking in fear.

"You idiot!" Grandpa Discord snarled. "If you even show your face in this house, I swear!"

"Oh, come now, Discord," said Mr. Giggles, "I just stopped by because I wanted to see if you would give me any of your white chickens."

"No, way!" Grandpa Discord snarled. "I'm not letting you eat my daughter!"

"So, the Legendary Death Walker is your daughter, aye?" Mr. Giggles said. "You have good genes to produce someone as special as that."

"I adopted her!" Grandpa Discord said with pride.

"No matter," said Mr. Giggles.

I gulped.

"You know, Cozy Glow, you can come with me to my circus anytime you like. I can put on a good show for you," Mr. Giggles said.

"No!" I shrieked as loud as I possibly could.

"Ah, come on, Cozy Glow," said Mr. Giggles. "We're family now, you trust me-"

"Let me make this clear Mr. Giggles," I said, my fear now turning into anger, "I. SAID. NO! NOW GET LOST, YOU STUPID CLOWN!"

"Oh, well," Mr. Giggles said with a fake sigh, "I was just asking. It looks like I've overstayed my welcome. Until we meet again."

The TV slowly turned back to normal. Grandpa Discord grit his teeth in anger. "Why that son of a-"

I just stood there. I was angry right along with Grandpa Discord.

Grandpa Discord let out a slow breath. "I'm sorry Cozy Glow, it looks like your visit here is short-lived. Let's go pack up your things and send you to the Castle in Canterlot. I think you'll be safer there."

I nodded. "Works for me!"

I hated to admit it, but with Mr. Giggles’ unannounced visit, I couldn't be more happy to go home.

* * *

{Norman}

I stared in horror at Discord as he told me about Mr. Giggles’ visit to his cottage. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Discord shook his head. "Nope, I'm not kidding. My idiot brother targeted Cozy Glow! Why? I have no idea! Of course, he asked me to give him my white chickens. I said no, and then he still tried to get Cozy Glow to go to his circus with him. I don't know if Cozy Glow will want to look at another TV after this. I bet it's possible he might try-" He paused and looked like he had an idea about something. "I think I have something that might help stop Mr. Giggles."

"What might that be?"

"Let's just say it's a little bit of a history book about my idiot brother. I shall return with it at once!"

Discord snapped his claw and left. At this point, I felt scared for Cozy Glow about what happened to her. I was also hopeful about any information Discord could give us on how to stop Mr. Giggles.

9) It's all in the Family

{Betty}

"Great! Lovely!" I growled. "I can't believe Mr. Giggles would be so bold!"

I was pacing back and forth in Celestia's office in the Middle Ground, the news about what Mr. Giggles had tried to do to Cozy Glow fresh on my mind.

"Your Highness, I think you need to try and calm down," said Celestia, frowning and furrowing her brow. "Discord did tell Norman that he had a way to stop Mr. Giggles. Although most of the time I don't trust him, Mr. Giggles is his brother. So if anyone can stop him, it should be a family member, yes?"

"I agree with Celestia on that!" Twilight declared.

I rolled my eyes at her. "Of course you do."

"Hey," Twilight snapped. "Don't disrespect me like that!"

"Or you'll do what?" I sneered. "Knock me up against the wall? In case you didn't notice, I'm royalty now and not you! And I would appreciate it if you stop sending me and Dae those stupid marriage proposals! You've been sending them for over thirty years now, get a freaking clue! WE'RE NOT INTERESTED!"

Twilight stared at me in terror and gave a nervous laugh. Shortly after she did that, she perked up as if she remembered something. "I think I have a way that can help. You know... in case Discord's plan doesn't work."

I exhaled slowly. "Okay, I'll humor you. What's your plan?"

"It's a whole bunch of different checklists!" Twilight said. She clapped her hooves excitedly and she looked proud of herself.

While Celestia seemed unfazed by Twilight because she's probably used to her stupidity by now, I did a facepalm and groaned. "Do you by chance have a checklist on how not to be stupid?"

Twilight shook her head and looked unfazed by my insult. "No, but I did come up with several different game plans that you could use against Mr. Giggles. With all of these ideas, one of them just might work! See?"

When Twilight lit up her horn and pulled out of thin air several different scrolls, I just about wanted to bang my head on something out of frustration.

"Let's see, checklist number one..." Twilight said.

As Twilight rattled off the ideas on her lists, I looked at Celestia and said, "I wonder if I should put Twilight's idea of a battle plan as an idea of one of our enemies' punishments? We could have Twilight read every single checklist she has to them. Yup, they'll be begging for death as Twilight bores them to tears. I should mention this to Dae, I'm sure he would love to put this idea in place."

Celestia snorted, "I'm sorry about Twilight, Your Highness, I've tried to break her of her silly nonsense, but as you can see…"

"Yeah, I know." After what seemed like forever, I decided to cut Twilight off from her rambling. "While your idea is nice and all, Twilight, I think there's a better way to stop Mr. Giggles."

"Aww," Twilight whined, "but I have four more scrolls to read!"

Before I could respond, Celestia's horn lit up, and a holographic screen appeared with Norman's face on it. I've rarely seen Norman pissed off about something, but today, he looked beyond pissed.

"Celestia?" Norman said. "Can you summon Betty for me? Discord has an idea to stop Mr. Giggles."

"Norman, what's wrong?" I frowned. "Don't tell me Discord's plan is another round of checklists."

"Oh, good, Betty you're already there," said Norman. "I need you to come to the castle in Canterlot, ASAP!"

I nodded. "I'm on my way!"

* * *

When I got to the castle in Canterlot, Norman gave me a big bear hug like he's been doing a lot lately. No sooner had we got to the throne room, Discord popped up. "I have it!"

What Discord pulled out of thin air was a family photo album. I rolled my eyes. "Okay, why did you bring a family photo album?"

"It's not just any photo album," Discord explained. "It's sort of a history book on the Destruction Clan. I figured it might help to stop Mr. Giggles by knowing his background and all. You know, because he's my older brother."

Discord showed us the cover on the photo album and it had a picture of the younger versions of him and Mr. Giggles glaring at each other.

"Let me guess," I said. "You two hated each other back then, didn't you?"

Discord nodded. "Yup! And I still hate him now!"

Before we could flip through the pages, two words appeared on the first page: Norman and Betty.

"Uh, Discord?" I said. "Am I crazy, or did our names suddenly appear?"

Discord looked down at the page angrily. I worried that he might turn into a dragon and breathe fire. "Stupid brother! I wonder how he's going to appear this time?"

"Oh, Discord," Mr. Giggles giggled wickedly, "you know me so well."

"I'm not going to say a word…" Discord growled.

Mr. Giggles laughed.

"I was wondering, Mr. Giggles," I snapped, "how did you escape from the zoo?"

"Ouch!" Mr. Giggles replied. "Now that wasn't very nice, Betty!"

"Like you've been nice to us?" Norman snarled.

"Oh, Norman," taunted Mr. Giggles, "I hope you don't mind, but one of your guards decided to take my invitation to come to my circus. Lewis was his name? We had such a fun time together! I was wondering, do you like nursery rhymes?"

"Don't even think about it!" Norman sneered.

Mr. Giggles giggled. "Too late! I already did! The one I love the most goes like this, three blind mice…"

As Mr. Giggle started singing, the pages of the photo album started to flip on their own. With every flip of the page, the nursery rhyme started to sound more like chanting than singing. The pages kept flipping and the pictures with Discord on them started to fade.

Soon the pictures just had Mr. Giggles' image on them, laughing. The nursery rhyme said something about a butcher's knife and we looked at the photo album in horror as Mr. Giggles had a butcher's knife in his hand. He grinned a toothy grin at us and before Mr. Giggles could throw the butcher's knife at us, Norman quickly closed the book and threw it. Before the photo album could flip back open, Norman used his fire power to burn the book and his darkness powers to blow the ashes away.

"Why that little-" Discord grit his teeth violently.

"Well, that was horrifying," I said.

Norman started to say something, but he paused and looked at me with concern instead. "Uh, Betty?"

I looked at him. "What?"

"You're shaking," said Norman. "Are you angry?"

I didn't notice I was shaking until Norman said something about it. I looked around to see that the building wasn't shaking, so I wasn't angry.

"I don't know why I'm shaking," I said.

"Are you shaking because you're scared, perhaps?" Discord asked.

I shook my head. "No, I don't get scared."

Norman pulled me into his arms and held me so I wouldn't fall over. If I was afraid, then why would I be afraid of what Mr. Giggles just did? It didn't make any sense to me. I closed my eyes when the world started to spin.

* * *

I woke up and looked around to see I was in a room in the castle in Canterlot. I still had no idea why I was shaking earlier but at least it stopped. I looked around and smiled when I saw Dae and Norman sitting at my bedside, nodding off to sleep.

"How long was I out?" I asked.

Norman and Dae's eyes shot open. They looked relieved to see that I was awake.

"Ten hours," Dae answered. "And it's about time you took a nice long break. From what I was told, you were shaking before you passed out. What happened?"

"Mr. Giggles decided to possess a family photo album and tried to kill us by way of a butcher's knife while singing a nursery rhyme," Norman said before I could answer.

"Wow, I can see why you passed out, Betty," Dae said.

I tilted my head. "Uh, because I was scared? I don't get scared. I get worried, but scared? That would be a no."

"I didn't say you were scared," Dae replied. "You've been so worried about Mr. Giggles that you don't know when to take a break. You do realize that you need to go to The Church of Satan to replenish your energy every once and a while or you'll become a literal zombie. Why do I keep having to remind you? I don't think Hell needs a zombie Queen for a ruler."

I rolled my eyes and said with sarcasm, "Very funny, Dae."

Norman seemed puzzled by this. "Hell has a religion?"

I shook my head. "Nope, it's nothing like that. It's a place made entirely of dark energy crystals. A demon needs to enter into a crystal and it helps to build up their powers again. If not, just like Dae said, we turn into zombies. Dae and I actually had to do that a couple of times during the war with Shadow Mist. We made sure to change out our soldiers so they could still help with the war. I haven't been going there in a while because of being worried about how to stop Mr. Giggles and getting the Mirror Technique down."

"Maybe I should find a way to knock you out so I can make you go there more often," Dae laughed. "Although I doubt a punch to the gut will work anymore. I'll figure something else out, I guess."

I sighed. "I guess I'll have to go there when I get back to Hell."

"Seriously," Norman agreed, "I don't want to see you passing out on me again. I've never seen you do that before."

Speaking of never doing something before, Dae thought, you really should communicate with Norman by thought. I think it's awfully cute your brother's worried about your safety like that. I must say, he would make a wonderful addition to the family.

He's already part of the family, I thought darkly, because he's my brother.

You know what I mean, Dae smirked.

No comment. I grimaced.

You know it would be much easier for your relationship with him to bloom if you did communicate with him by thought, Dae teased. As a matter of fact, I think I'll get things started.

Don't you- I started to think. Then I felt a tiny surge of power that signaled Dae had connected my magic with Norman's. I rolled my eyes and thought. You did…

He did what? Norman thought.

Nevermind, I thought.

Norman! Dae thought. So nice of you to finally join the conference call.

I would say I'm going to kill you for this, Dae, but you're already dead, so I can't, I thought.

Actually, I was never alive because I was born in Hell. It's the same thing with Otis and Ruby, Dae thought.

You were never alive? Norman thought. How is that even possible?

Well, if your soul never left the Land of the Dead, then you're not counted among the living. Since I came to be in Hell and wasn't born in the Land of the Living, so, yeah, that's how you can never live, Dae thought.

Make sense, Norman thought.

Well, I'll just leave you two lovebirds alone, Dae thought. I'll get out of your heads now. Ha! Get it? Heads.

Dae started laughing in his thoughts, and then after a while, he got up and left.

When Dae left, there was an awkward silence between Norman and I.

Now what? Norman thought.

I have no idea.

I noticed that my back was hurting where my wings were. I figured it was because I had been sleeping for a long time.

You look like you're in pain.

A little, I just need to stretch my wings out. Just a moment.

I spread my right wing out and stretched it. I did the same thing to my left wing.

Norman gave me a strange look and it wasn't the usual creepy look he gives me.

Okay, what's that look all about, Norman? It's not the usual creepy look you give me.

I don't give you a creepy look! Norman looked away. I just can't help it, okay? But I guess I could work on not doing it anymore.

Yup, nothing weird about this at all.

Without warning, Norman leaned over and shoved his tongue in my mouth. I pushed him away and he gave me a flirting smile. Nope, this is not weird at all.

Norman leaned over and did the same thing again. After that we just sat there staring at each other for a while. Even though I thought it was weird that my little brother just kissed me, I wanted to stay and make out with him, but I felt I should get home so I could start training on the Mirror Technique again. To me, I needed Mr. Giggles at the moment.

I sighed. Norman, this has been fun and all but I think it's time for me to go back home. Don't worry, I'll come back. I have things I need to attend to do okay?

Norman looked like he was dazed more than I was. It surprised me that he could answer me.

Yeah, sure… He reached over and kissed me again and then I went back home.

* * *

{Mr. Giggles}

By this point, I was super bored sitting in this cave trying to figure out how to get my next meal. I had already lost three chances to eat: it didn't matter what I tried, I couldn't get those three ponies I almost nabbed to trust me. That's the only way I eat and still live. My food has to trust me, no if's, and's, or but's about it.

To make matters even worse, sitting in this stupid cave with nothing to do bored me to tears because I had no one to talk to. I couldn't make a copy of myself to talk to like my idiot little brother Discord can. So I did the next best thing, I talked to my reflection in the water.

"Well, Mr. Giggles," I said to my reflection, "what are you going to do for your next meal, hmm?"

I went to the other side of the river that flowed through my cave. I made like my reflection was talking back to me. "I don't know, maybe I can get them to go swimming, and they can follow you to your cave? I mean, yeah, who doesn't trust a clown, but your clown form doesn't seem to win over everyone's trust easily."

"So, maybe I should try changing into one of my other forms?"

Once again, I pretended my reflection was talking to me, "Maybe, or maybe not. But I wonder if you could change into your human form and your food would be more trusting of you? I'm not so sure circuses are a thing right at the moment."

Then I thought of an idea. "Well, maybe I could put an ad out saying I could perform at someone's birthday party?"

"That might work," said my reflection in my head, "but seriously, how many birthday parties are there going on this year? Who's to say that's going to bring in more food?"

"Good point," I said, then I thought of something else, "what if I use our balloon son, Johnny, again? It worked on that guard, didn't it? Of course, if all else fails I can change into my human form, I guess. I hate that form! I despise it with a passion."

My reflection shrugged. "Well... You have to get your food somehow or would you rather be sucked back into the afterlife cave earlier than ten years? You'll be dead for real then and you'll never be able to go outside of that cave ever again!"

I sighed. "Fine, you have a point, as usual. Let's go with our balloon son, Johnny, first before I try the human form."

I pulled out one of my black balloons. This balloon was very different from the other black balloons I have because it doesn't have any black ink in it. It comes to life when I use my magic to make it live.

I folded the balloon and cast my magic into it. It formed into a small human child. Johnny sat down on the ground as he always does when I summon him.

"You summoned me, Father?" Johnny asked.

"Why, yes, Johnny, my dear boy," I said, "I want you to go get some food for me. I'm very hungry and I don't want to back to that stupid afterlife cave early."

Johnny smiled his adorable toothy smile. "Yes, Father! I will go at once."

Johnny left. All I had to do now was wait until he brought me back some food.

10) Annoying Love

{Betty}

I went to the Church of Satan so I could rebuild my powers. Afterward, Dae decided he wanted sex from me, and I agreed. When it ended, we lay in our bed, staring at each other.

Since Dae could hear my thoughts, he knew what was bugging me.

"You're confused about him, aren't you?" Dae asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, considering he kissed me the other day, and he practically shoved his tongue in my mouth."

"Was it like this?" Dae teased as he leaned over and put his tongue in my mouth.

I pushed him away. "Stop messing around, Dae. This situation is already weird enough as it is."

"I get it, it's because he's your little brother, right?" Dae said.

"Well, I'm trying to figure out why we're in love with each other in the first place."

"I know why."

"Why?"

"Let's see here, you two were separated growing up, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Then after you died, he didn't see you again until twelve years later?"

"What's your point here?"

"Think about it, Betty," said Dae. "You two were apart growing up. All Norman wanted to do was protect you. When he saw you jump off that cliff, his grief overwhelmed him. Now that he's able to see you again, how do you think he feels about it?"

I gave that question some thought and realized why Norman wanted to keep me close to him.

When Norman won the war with Shadow Mist, he did it all on his own. I was proud of him for it, but I did think he was a little bit stupid the way he won. But, seeing that Fate wanted to meet him, I had a feeling she set that up. Maybe because I'm so proud of Norman and how he excels at everything he does, that might be why I fell for him.

Although Hell doesn't have a problem with siblings dating each other, I wasn't so sure if Equestria did. I worried that if the public knows that Norman and I are together, he might have to step down from the throne.

Dae smiled. "I don't think Equestria would make Norman step down. I get that you don't want to take any chances, but I did some research on it, and a couple of rulers before Princess Twilight and Norman actually did sleep with their siblings. Equestrian law does say that it's okay to sleep with your sibling, you just can't marry them. Much like how it is in Hell.

"As a matter of fact, Heavenly Jewel, the first ruler to rule for seven hundred years, slept with her sibling, too. It was because of the prying of the media that it became public knowledge. Sleeping with your sibling isn't a crime in Equestria. But I understand why you might be hesitant to do so."

It was funny to me that Dae did some research on the subject to put my mind at ease.

I still felt it was weird that I have feelings for my little brother. At the same time, I wouldn't mind kissing him again.

"I know what you're thinking." Dae laughed.

I rolled my eyes. "Of course you do."

Dae smirked and teased, "You can't wait to kiss him again, can you?"

"No comment."

"Sure, whatever you say," Dae said.

* * *

{Norman}

It was another day ruling Equestria, and I had raised the sun. Doing my royal duties, for the most part, is easy for me. But, today, it was difficult because of a mare named Meadow Streams. She wants to date me just because I'm Equestria's ruler.

"Oh, come on, Prince Norman," Meadow Streams begged, "just one date? That's all I'm asking for."

"How many times do I have to say no before you take a hike?" I hissed.

"Why not?" Meadow Streams whined. "There's somepony taking my spot, isn't there?"

"Excuse me?" I growled. "I don't know why mares like you get it in their heads that they're entitled to the first branch of the royal family when they're not wanted! You have been stalking me and harassing me for weeks now, and I do believe I've said no, so take a hike!"

"But-" Meadow Streams said.

"No, okay, that's it!" I snapped. "Guards!"

"Yes, Your Highness?" one of the guards said.

"Please escort Meadow Streams out of the castle," I said, "and don't let her back in. She's banned from coming here permanently."

"Yes, Your Highness," the same guard said.

Meadow Streams kicked the ground with one of her hooves and sulked as the guard led her away. When Meadow Streams left, I heard Cozy Glow giggling.

"Did you have to ban her from the castle, Dad?" Cozy Glow asked.

"Yes," I answered, "because she's been stalking me and harassing me lately, and I'm tired of it. Anyway, how are you?"

Cozy Glow sighed and looked down at the ground. "I'm fine, I guess, as long as I never look at another TV again! I think I'll just stick to reading books or playing card games with Junior from now on."

I choked. "Yeah, I think playing cards would be better instead with Mr. Giggles on the loose."

Cozy Glow tilted her head. "Why's that?"

"Mr. Giggles decided to possess Discord's family photo album," I said. "If you read a book right now, I'm afraid he'll try it again with you."

"Oh, okay…" Cozy Glow said. She rolled her eyes. "I know that look when I see it, Dad."

"What look?" I asked.

"The look of concern," said Cozy Glow. "It's okay, Dad, and I know Mr. Giggles will be stopped. Once he's stopped, it will bring peace back to Equestria."

Watching Cozy Glow fly off, I didn't care where she was going. The only thing I cared about was that wherever she went that she would be safe.

* * *

{Dae}

When the royal family in Hell found that Betty has a relationship with Norman and I didn't have any issues with it, my annoying brother, Max, started wanting the same thing.

Today, Betty was practicing the first step to the Mirror Technique. She didn't know that Luella, Norman, and I were watching her.

"It looks like she finally got the first step to the Mirror Technique down," Luella said.

I smiled. "Yeah, I think she's just over practicing this a bit."

"I agree," said Luella, "and if Max would stop bugging Betty, that would be great."

I smiled again when I saw Luella glancing at Norman with a flirtatious smile. I could tell Norman didn't like the look she was giving him.

Luella whistled. "And who might this guy be?"

"This guy is Betty's brother," I said.

"Wow, the good looks run the family, don't they?" Luella teased.

"Would you knock it off, Luella?" I said. "Don't you go chasing after Norman like Max is with Betty."

"I'm not stupid, Max is!" Luella declared.

Norman looked confused. He turned his attention back to watching Betty train. As usual, Norman looked amazed as he watched her.

"It's about time Betty learned how to do that," said Norman. "At least she's not driving herself nuts about Mr. Giggles at the moment."

"Yeah, it must be annoying that your opponent can copy your every move when you're fighting them," I said. I didn't say anything else, but I smiled when I saw that Luella was starting to make Norman very uncomfortable again.

I wish she would stop giving me that creepy look, Norman thought.

What? Luella's giving you the same look you give Betty sometimes, I thought. Now you know how Betty feels.

Yeah, I know, Norman thought. I'm not letting Luella kiss me any time soon, I'm not interested!

I laughed. Okay, fine, it's your choice, but she's not bad in bed, so later on down the line, you might want to reconsider it?

Yeah, no, thank you, Norman thought.

I fell over and was rolling on my stomach in laughter. Luella looked at me and frowned. "What are you laughing about, Dae?"

I snorted. At this point, I got control of my laughter. "Oh, nothing, let's just say you're not getting into Norman's bed any time soon."

I stopped laughing and turned my attention back to watching Betty train.

* * *

{Betty}

As I finished training, Max came up to me and yanked on my tail to get my attention. "That's my stupid tail, you know! I'm getting highly annoyed with people yanking on it!"

Max smiled at me with the extra creepy look that Norman would give me.

"I don't mind when Dae and Norman give me that look," I said, "but when the look comes from you, I definitely mind it."

"Why won't you sleep with me, Betty?" Max asked.

"Because I don't want to," I said, "duh!"

Fortunately, I heard Dae and Norman enter the training area.

"What do you think you're doing with my wife, Max?" Dae snapped.

"What? I was just trying to-" Max said.

"I think I said no!" I said.

"But-" Max started.

"No, Max," I said, "now get lost!"

Max put his hands on his hips like he was scolding me. "Now, that wasn't very nice, Betty!"

"You heard me!" I snapped. "Get. Lost!"

"Okay, fine," said Max, "I'm going."

Max left the training area, sulking.

"Wow," Dae said. "At least Luella's not that stupid. She knows when to take a hike."

"Your brother is, how do I put this nicely," I said, "he's a 'very special' demon, is he?"

Dae laughed. "Yes, he is."

Norman didn't look happy. "You were doing just fine until Max came up and yanked on your tail."

"That's why we call him Bug Max," Dae said.

"Yup," I said, "too bad I can't squash him!"

Norman snorted. "Let me guess, you can't ban him from Hell because Max is royalty."

"I take it you've had to do that lately?" I asked.

"Yup," answered Norman, "a lot more than usual lately, too. I'm getting tired of mares and women harassing me for a date. They don't know how to take no for an answer. I'm not interested. A lot of them just want to date me because I'm the ruler of Equestria."

"Maybe you can challenge them to a race like I do sometimes?" I joked.

Norman raised an eyebrow. "And how will that help?"

"If you win, they have to leave you alone," I said, "if you lose, then you have to go on one date and one date only. I've won every single race, and that's with my wings tied down."

"I don't think that would be fair," said Norman. "I can outrun a pegasus. You, on the other hand, racing against another demon might make you evenly matched."

I looked at Dae to see that he had a mischievous look on his face. "I know that look, Dae. What are you up to?"

"Oh, nothing," said Dae, "speaking of racing, maybe you two should consider racing each other?"

"What are you implying, Dae?" Norman said.

"What do you think I'm implying?" Dae said.

"Now is not the time for that, Dae!" I snapped.

When Norman realized what Dae was talking about, he blushed and looked away.

"Yeah," I said, "I'm out of here."

"That makes two of us," Norman said.

As Norman and I walked away, Dae called out, "As I said before, you can run but you can't hide!"

* * *

{Dae}

In Hell's library, I sat at a table doing some research to help Betty take down Mr. Giggles.

Twilight walked past me, carrying a mountain of books in her magic. I hoped she wouldn't see me, but that was wishful thinking. Twilight smiled and sat down next to me.

I rolled my eyes. "What is it this time?"

"What? Can't I sit down and talk to my friend?" Twilight asked.

"I know how you are, and you don't just want to talk to me," I said.

Twilight put her head on my shoulder. I pushed her back from me. "You want to know why I won't marry you?"

"Why?" Twilight asked.

"Because you're the most annoying mare I've ever come across," I snapped. "Do you think that putting someone under the strangle spell and throwing them up against a wall because you're angry with them is the best way to confront them?"

"I only did that because Betty was being hard-headed at the time," Twilight said.

I sneered. "No, she was upset because she lost half her teammates on a tracking mission. And you didn't just do it to her either. You tried to do it to me on our first date because you were angry at something I said. When I broke the contract, it was because I didn't want to marry you. The same thing applied when you broke the contract with Shadow Mist. Remember the dates he forced you to go on before the war?"

Twilight nodded. "Yes."

"You did the same thing to me that Shadow Mist did to you," I growled. "It's a good thing you didn't try to declare war on Hell because you knew if you did, then it would not only be a death wish for you. It would've been a death wish for Equestria. As I told Norman before, I had my eye on Betty ever since the first suitor my dad, Lucifer, set me up with that I drove away. That includes you. I can't stand you, and you're not changing my mind about you anytime soon."

"So, what can I do to make you change your mind about me?" Twilight asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing. Because I don't like you like that, and I don't think I'll change my mind about it anytime soon. So, knock it off, stop flirting with me and Betty! It's getting on our nerves!"

Hoping Twilight would take a hint and leave me alone and stop making advances on me and Betty was again wishful thinking. She spotted the book I was reading and she read the title, "What's that all about?"

"It's about the family that Mr. Giggles comes from," I replied. "I think the more Betty knows about him, that will even the odds of stopping him. That's even without mine and Norman's help."

Twilight tilted her head. "Why just you and Norman?"

"You and Celestia can't go outside of the Land of the Dead," I said. "Norman and I can. I'm not trying to be rude, but I have some more research, so if you'll excuse me…"

Hopefully, the 'if you'll excuse me' line would keep Twilight from following me because I wasn't in the mood to continue our conversation today. Thankfully, it did.

11) The Brother and Sister Romance

{Betty}

"Good job, Betty!" Sawyer said.

Sawyer and I were in the training area. I had the first step of the Mirror Technique down. Sawyer seemed very excited at the progress I was making.

"It seems you've finally found a way to keep yourself calm," Sawyer said. "Does this have something to do with Norman, by chance?"

That statement broke my concentration and I fell on my butt. My face turned red as Sawyer lowered himself to the ground. He snickered and I could tell by the look on his face that he was trying so hard not to laugh.

I glared at him. "I'm not so sure if this is funny but okay."

"I hear Norman's been summoning you a lot lately?"

"I think he's lost his mind because he keeps challenging me to hand-to-hand combat and he knows he's not going to win. I either put him in a chokehold or send him flying into a wall to end the fight."

Sawyer snorted. "If you ask me, I think he wants to do another form of fighting, if you know what I mean."

I felt my face turn redder and shifted my gaze. "Yeah, no comment."

Sawyer cleared his throat, trying his best to keep his composure. "Okay, moving on, the next step to the Mirror Technique is to use your tracking abilities to see one second into the future."

I tilted my head. "Huh? How do you see one second into the future?"

"How do you think your tracking powers work?" Sawyer asked. "That's exactly what the Bubble of Silence is for. How do you think you can see with your eyes closed?"

"Huh, interesting."

"Tracking powers along with the Bubble of Silence takes focus and determination," explained Sawyer. "It's funny, although you didn't have the calm mind needed to learn the Mirror Technique, you have the determination and focus needed to develop your tracking powers. That takes being able to sit still enough to focus. However, there are people like your husband and your brother that can't sit still for a minute because they're always on the move."

I smiled. I knew what Sawyer said was true. When I find a challenge I don't rest until I complete it. "Wow, I didn't think of things that way."

"Now," said Sawyer, "we'll start with a calm mind thing and, this time, we'll add to that. We'll still be sitting the same way as before. Adding to that, you’ll use your powers to see one second into the future. When you see a move coming, copy it. This step will be very tricky for you because you won't be using the Bubble of Silence the way you normally use it."

I nodded. "Okay."

"Oh, and one more thing, you will need your wings to balance in the air and on the ground. That's what Mr. Giggles did when he was fighting you."

"But I thought he didn't have any powers!" I exclaimed.

"Remember that clown suit he wears?" Sawyer asked.

"Yes."

"He uses that to balance himself," said Sawyer, "because he does that, he's not fighting fair. So it only makes sense that you use your wings to balance yourself when fighting your opponent."

"Oh, I see."

"Now, let's get started."

I managed to copy the first ten moves that Sawyer did. After that, Sawyer landed a punch to my stomach and sent me crashing to the ground.

"Try again, Betty!" Sawyer commanded.

So that's what I did and Sawyer managed to make me crash at least three more times.

"Not bad, it's a start--not much, but it's a start," Sawyer said. "Of course, you'll need to practice by the next time I see you. You can use the arrow obstacle course to practice in the meantime. Once you complete being able to practice in the air, we'll start practicing on the ground. When you're practicing fighting on the ground, you can use any partner you want to practice with. Until I see you next time."

I got to my feet and Sawyer nodded, grabbed his robes, and left.

* * *

Dae and Norman came up to me after my training session. They both had smiles on their faces and I had no idea why.

"Why are you smiling at me?" I asked.

Norman spoke first. "See? I told you that you look great even when you fail!"

Dae snorted. I looked away, "No comment."

"How are you going to practice this next step?" Dae asked.

"The arrow obstacle course," I replied.

"What's that?" Norman asked.

"It's an obstacle course that only demons can use to train. It consists of arrows of all shapes and sizes being thrown at you. A lot of times, in order for a demon to use it, they have to use a special harness that attaches to a demon's powers," Dae explained. "Some demons don't really need the harness, like Betty. She doesn't need the harness because she can fly. If the Headcouncilman says she needs to use it to practice, then that's what she'll do."

"Knowing you, Betty, you're going overdue on the practice, aren't you?" Norman said.

I shrugged. "I guess so."

Dae smiled and looked at Norman. "I think you can help me keep Betty from overdoing it."

The look Dae started giving Norman and me made us both uncomfortable and I could tell Norman was getting ready to run.

"Okay then…" Norman said. Before he could run, Dae grabbed him by the shirt.

"Oh, no, you don't," said Dae, "you two have a habit of avoiding things that need to be done."

"Exactly what are we avoiding?" I asked.

"What I want to know is why haven't you two actually sat down and got to know each other besides hand-to-hand combat and kissing?" Dae said.

I didn't say anything. I didn't have an answer for him.

"Part of having a relationship is getting to know each other," Dae said. "I can hear your thoughts, and you two haven't been doing that yet."

"Oh," I said.

"You two should go get to know each other, and since Norman can't be away from his body for more than two days, I say you two go to the Land of the Living, and sit down and talk," Dae said. "If it leads to something else, that's up to you."

Norman smiled at me. "You know something, Betty, Dae's absolutely right."

* * *

We sat down at a table in the garden behind the Castle in Canterlot. As we talked to each other, we found that we had a lot in common. Especially when it came down to planning a strategy for things like fighting. Norman and Jasper played chess. Jasper had no idea Norman was using the games of chess to plan things. I played games of tic tac toe with myself to plan things.

Norman was curious because of the battles that were written in the history book about me. He wanted to know what the Dark Aura was. I explained it to him, and he seemed impressed by it.

"Huh," said Norman, "I never knew we had that much in common. I wish I had sat down and talked to you before, especially when we were younger."

I laughed. "Yeah, Dae and I did that a lot when we were dating, and we do it more now that we're married. I think it's nice that we're getting to know each other finally. To think it only took us like, what, over thirty years to do this?"

Norman grinned and gave me a flirtatious look.

"What?"

"You know, you've been giving me a look lately too, in case you're wondering," Norman stated.

I tilted my head. "I am?"

Normand nodded. "Uh-huh."

He went to reach over to kiss me, but he stopped himself. "I think we should go somewhere more private away from the possible chance of a news camera being around."

"Where exactly are we going?" I asked.

Norman grabbed my hand and the next thing I know we wound up in his bedroom.

We wound up sitting on his bed and, for some reason, I decided to take Norman's clothes off and he returned the favor. I climbed on top of him and he smiled at me. I'm going to pretend what happened next didn't happen. Nope, it didn't happen, I didn't sleep with my little brother.

* * *

{Dae}

"Has he lost his mind, again?" Robert asked.

While Betty and Norman had another sparring match, Robert, Jasper, and I watched them. I listened to Norman and Betty's thoughts and I knew they were in love with each other. Who knew that just sitting down and talking would lead to them having sex.

I chuckled. "I think Norman might've hit his head on something when he fell head over heels for Betty."

"So, I take it they finally got together?" Jasper asked.

I smirked. "Yup! They're together, all right!"

"How do you know?" Robert asked.

"I can hear their thoughts, duh!" I replied. "I finally got them to sit down and talk to each other, and that led to something else."

Robert snorted. "Wow."

"You can thank me for that," I said with a playful bow.

"Welp, at least you didn't have to make them do anything, unlike someone I know of, Robert," Jasper said with an annoyed tone to his voice.

"Okay, seriously?" Robert said. "What do I have to do to get you to stop teasing me about that?"

"You could apologize," Jasper growled.

"I thought I did that already!" Robert said.

"Uh, no," Jasper snapped, "you didn't!"

"Well it worked, didn't it?" Robert replied.

Jasper clenched his teeth and looked away, "Whatever."

I frowned. From Jasper's thoughts, I learned that Sunset and Robert locked him and Norman in a room until they confessed their love for each other. In my eyes, that wasn't the best way to handle that at all.

"You shouldn't have done that, Robert!" I snarled. "I think even if you apologize, Jasper still has license to tease you about it!"

"Okay, fine," Robert said.

Jasper smiled as Betty ended the fight by tripping Norman before he could make his next move. Betty helped Norman get to his feet. I rolled my eyes when I looked over at the bleachers to see the Royal Family Circus sitting there cheering and clapping.

As the Royal Family Circus started to leave the training area, Jasper, Robert, and I went up to Norman and Betty.

Norman smiled at Betty.

"What is it?" Betty asked.

"You haven't been sending me flying into a wall lately," Norman said.

Betty raised an eyebrow. "Would you prefer it if I do that?"

"Nah, although I do wonder if you're not doing that because of what's been happening between us lately?" Norman asked.

As I watched the conversation take place, it looked like they weren't paying attention to me, Robert, and Jasper standing there.

Betty looked away."Maybe, or maybe not."

I covered my mouth to stifle a laugh at Betty's reaction to Norman.

Norman chuckled. "Yeah, uh-huh, sure it's not. You know you're not a very good liar, right?"

"Yeah, whatever," said Betty. "Now if the Royal Family Circus would stop turning up just to watch us fight, that would be great!"

"Huh?" Norman said.

I turned around as Betty pointed up at the bleachers where a few of the Royal Family still sat watching.

Norman chuckled. "I had that same problem when I was training as a General. Mostly when I was doing my Death Walker training. Actually, it happened when I was doing any type of training."

Betty and Norman rolled their eyes. I cleared my throat to get their attention.

"That wasn't a bad fight at all!" Robert cheered. "I still think you've lost your mind taking on a Legend."

"You know I can take on any opponent I want to," Norman said.

"Yeah," said Jasper, "I think you need to go to a therapist again."

"No thanks, I'm good," Norman said.

Robert rolled his eyes. "Sure, whatever you say, Norman."

"At least Betty has more help keeping herself calm nowadays," I teased with a smirk.

I'm not saying a word, Betty thought.

That makes two of us, Norman added.

I think it's sweet that you two are talking to each other by thought now, I thought. Family dinner night might be more entertaining now. At least in thought.

Very funny, Dae! Betty responded.

I couldn't stop myself from teasing Betty and Norman about their relationship. Their reactions to it are hilarious.

You want to kiss her again, don't you, Norman? I asked him.

Yes, but not in front of everyone, Norman thought.

You do realize that right now, it's only me, Robert, and Jasper? The rest of the Royal Family Circus has cleared out, and we know about you two.

Yeah, but there's still a possibility that there are news cameras around, Norman said. Why do you think Betty's fight with Mr. Giggles was all over the news the day after it happened?

Oh, I see.

That's when Betty decided to end this awkward conversation. "While this is fun and all, there's something I need to take care of, so later!"

I chortled as I saw Betty leave as fast as she could.

* * *

{Betty}

I finally got a chance to practice on the arrow obstacle course. I smiled, remembering the two things that keep me calm: my husband, Dae, and my relationship with my little brother, Norman.

After setting the obstacle course on easy, I went to the starting lane. When the lights changed from red to green, I did a running jump up into the air and sat cross-legged flying.

I used the Bubble of Silence to sense where the arrows were coming from. He broke my concentration when I saw him. The bug of a brother-in-law, Max, hanging off the ceiling like a bat. Five arrows hit me, two in my left shoulder and the rest in the chest. I used my powers to turn off the obstacle course and then pulled the arrows out of me.

It was a painful process, but I was too pissed off at Max to focus on the pain.

"What are you doing here, Bug?" I snapped.

"Bug?" Max smiled. "Is that what you're calling me now?"

"I think I asked you a question!" I snarled. "What are you doing here?"

"What?" Max responded. "Can't a guy admire his favorite ruler up close?"

"Far away, yes," I snapped as I glared at him, "up close, not unless I say you can!"

Max stepped towards me and I flew back, glaring at him. A warning sign that I might retaliate. As I prepared to knee Max in the chest, Norman stepped in and blocked Max's view of me.

"I think she said no!" Norman growled.

"Well, if it isn't the Queen of Hell's new boyfriend!" Max smirked. "I heard you're her brother, too. I'm the King of Hell's older brother, so if she can get into bed with you, I don't see why she can't get into bed with me."

"Okay, that's it!" I said. "I said no and if you don't leave me alone…"

"Don't worry, Betty," said Norman, "I got it!"

Max went towards me again and he made the mistake of getting in Norman's range of fire. Norman kneed Max in the chest, sending him flying backward.

"What was that for?" Max growled.

"Really, Max!" I heard Dae roar.

"I wasn't going to do anything!" Max pointed at Norman. "And then this guy kneed me in the chest!"

"He did it with good reason too!" Dae roared. "Come near my wife like that again, and I'll put you out of commission so bad you'll have to go to the Church of Satan for weeks to recover! You got that?"

Max scoffed and then left sulking like he normally does when I say no to him.

After Max left, Norman examined me and looked relieved when he saw I was okay. I laughed, and he gave me a confused look. "Why is me being concerned about you so funny?"

"How many times do I have to tell you there are no hospitals in Hell?" I said.

Norman laughed when he realized I was right.

"Thanks for kneeing Max in the chest for me," I said. "I was getting ready to do it myself. He got off easy with you doing it."

Dae cracked up. "I agree with Betty on that one. She would put him out of commission right then and there."

"Why am I not surprised?" Norman said. "You did take on six hundred of your own soldiers and didn't even break a sweat! I'm going to assume you were going easy on me during our sparring matches. Am I right?"

I chuckled. "Yeah, it takes self-control so I don't accidentally kill the ruler of Equestria. When I send you flying into a wall, that's not even at my full strength. So yeah, I did. Now, if only I could kill Mr. Giggles, that would be great!"

"I've been doing some more research on Mr. Giggles myself, but nothing's turned up," Dae said. "It's a shame I can't knee that stupid Alicorn, Twilight, in the chest like you, Norman just did to Max."

I smiled. "Let me guess, she's flirting with you again? Because she's still doing it with me, and it's annoying!"

"Hey, I explained to her why I won't marry her," said Dae, "I don't know if it got through her thick skull, though."

"To think, I almost killed myself to save her," Norman growled.

"You were just doing your job, that's all," I said. "As I said before, she was an idiot before I died, and she still is now. I would think if she wants to get the guys that she likes, she should let him come to her. If he doesn't like her, then she should take it in stride and move on. I had that trouble myself in school. The guy I liked didn't like me, so I took a hint and moved on. It was the ones that I didn't like that didn’t know how to take a hint."

"Wow," said Norman, "I knew you had trouble with the boys in school, but I didn't think you had that much trouble! I had trouble with that, too. I had someone kill themself."

"Oh." I looked away. I had no idea how to respond.

"It's okay, guys," said Norman, "it's all in the past now."

I nodded. "Okay."

Norman smiled, and after he kissed me, he looked at Dae and kissed him. Dae backed away from Norman in shock, and I couldn't stop myself from laughing.

"Okay, what was that for?" Dae asked.

"That's a thank you gift for letting me be with Betty," Norman said.

I looked at Dae to see him racking his brain to remember if he heard anything in Norman's thoughts about this. Dae smiled, and he seemed like he remembered something. "Oh yeah, that's right! You were thinking about doing something like that. I didn't think you were actually going to do it. Just don't do it again."

Norman chuckled. "Don't worry, I won't. I don't think of you that way. If I did, you would've heard it in my thoughts."

I snorted when Dae started to leave quickly because Norman surprised him. I heard in Dae's thoughts that he hoped that Norman wouldn't do that again.

12) Working Together

{Betty}

I was still having trouble learning the second step of the Mirror Technique. When Dae wasn't busy making sure I didn't overdo my training, Norman would help out by making sure I took a break.

As Norman and I walked around the castle in Canterlot aimlessly, we saw Jasper and Robert arguing very loudly.

"We've talked about this before, Robert," said Jasper. "I'm not doing it every time you're in the mood. I'm not in the mood today, so back off!"

"I just want to spend time with you, that's all." Robert pouted.

"I don't need you to spend more time with me just so you can make up for something you did wrong," Jasper said. "Just acknowledge that you messed up and apologize for it already! You know what you did. There's a reason why I have that Tool locked away somewhere special in the first place! It's too powerful for anyone but me to use. You're lucky I took it back from you or you'd be dead now. If you really feel bad about it, just apologize for it and leave me alone! But I guess it's no use reasoning with you and Sunset because you two don't know how to apologize to me. You seem to be able to apologize to Norman just fine."

I looked at Norman in confusion, raised an eyebrow, and thought, What's this all about, Norman?

My guess is Robert took the Dreamwalker Tool again, Norman replied silently.

Dreamwalker Tool?

It's a Tool that Jasper uses to help him walk into someone's Nightmare to help them deal with it. I don't know why Robert keeps taking it because he knows how dangerous that is. Walking into someone’s dream without knowing exactly how to do it can impact someone’s psyche badly. It's just as dangerous if he were to take the watch that I use to control the sun. I wonder if Robert's pissed because I told Princess Twilight to give the job of Taking of the Night to Jasper? He's the only one responsible enough to do it besides Sunset, Norman thought. Sunset didn't want the job, so I gave it to Jasper.

Wow, I thought.

Yup, Norman thought, Robert's an idiot!

Before Robert and Jasper could come to blows, Norman stepped in between them.

"Robert," Norman scolded, "how many times do I have to keep telling you to stop taking the Dreamwalker Tool? You do know how dangerous that is right?"

"Yes, I do," Robert said.

"Then why do you keep taking it?" Norman asked.

"I don't have to explain my reasoning to you!" Robert snapped.

"Fine," Norman said. "Just stop taking it. Or do you have a death wish?"

Robert gave Norman an annoyed look and didn't say anything. He scoffed and stormed off in anger.

"That little brat!" Jasper growled. "I'm getting sick and tired of him taking my things and insulting me in any way he can think of. One would think if he wants to get me into his bed that he would try other ways to do it."

"Yeah, I don't know what's gotten into Robert lately," said Norman. "I wonder if it has something to do with that failed marriage proposal?"

"I don't know, but if he wants sympathy from me, he's going about it the wrong way," Jasper replied. "I think the only reason why he wants me to comfort him instead of you is because I was the only other person there when it happened."

I raised an eyebrow. "Uh, failed marriage proposal?"

Norman nodded. "Yup. Robert's pissed off not just because Jasper's taking care of the moon and isn't always available or in the mood for sex. He's pissed because he can't turn to Sunset, because Sunset doesn't want to be with anyone else but me. If you ask me, Robert targets Jasper a lot because Robert's not been getting into Jasper's bed lately. Not to mention the failed marriage proposal gives Robert even more of a reason to target him."

"Yeah, Sunset and Robert seem to have a bad habit of being mean to me and not apologizing for their actions towards me," Jasper said. "They have no problem apologizing to you Norman. I think I'll steer clear of them until dinner time. Until they can make things right, I don't want to hang around them at the moment. However, they are welcome to swing by the watchtower for a visit if I'm not too busy to visit with them."

Norman nodded. "Sure thing."

I felt bad for Jasper as he walked away while keeping his composure as much as possible.

I frowned. "Poor guy."

"Yeah, Jasper's had some resentment towards Sunset and Robert for locking me and him in a room until we confessed our love for each other," Norman said.

"What?" I gasped. "That's not just offensive, that's mean!"

"Yeah, Robert and Sunset are kind of weird about that. When they approached me about their feelings for me, they pretty much ambushed me. They're lucky it worked in their favor. For some reason, they seem to have it out for Jasper and I don't know why."

"Have you tried talking to them about it?" I asked.

"I did, but trying to reason with those two is pretty much like talking to a brick wall. I wonder if it has something to do with not being able to fight side by side with me during the war with Shadow Mist, as well."

"Now, that's just plain stupid!" I found it hard to believe that someone would be jealous of someone for such a stupid reason.

"I agree. But I don't know how I'm going to help them out or if I'll even be able to."

"Maybe we can lock them in a room until they talk things out?" I asked.

Norman smiled a mischievous smile. "Yeah, know something, Betty, that's not a bad idea. But I have something else in mind. Since Sunset's on bedrest right now, it won't work for her. So in the meantime, I think this will help Robert and Jasper."

I had a feeling I knew what Norman's plan involved. "What do you have in mind?"

"Remember those secret passageways that we went through at the Castle of the Two Sisters when you were still alive?" Norman said.

I nodded. "Yes."

"If I recall correctly," said Norman, "there was one difficult passageway that we couldn't get out of unless we worked together on it. I think that passageway would be the perfect one for those two to work at, don't you agree?"

I loved the idea that Norman had hatched. We exchanged a look and laughed wickedly. Hopefully, this plan will help Robert and Jasper work together.

* * *

{Jasper}

I smiled as I read the note Norman gave me, telling me to meet him and Betty for a dinner date. It said to meet at the Castle of the Two Sisters, so I headed over to meet them.

I didn't know Robert would be there until I got to the steps of the castle. My smile faded when I saw him standing there.

We snarled, and pointed at each other, and shouted, "What's he doing here?"

I saw Norman roll his eyes. "Do you two want the dinner date or not?"

"Fine," I said.

Robert scoffed and crossed his arms. "Fine."

I had half a mind to turn around and leave but I did want to go on this dinner date, so I decided to stay.

We headed up towards where Norman and Betty were waiting and they walked over to meet us. When they reached us, Betty grabbed my hand and pulled me in the opposite direction than Norman pulled Robert.

"Okay," I said, "you know I'm not into women right?"

Betty laughed and rolled her eyes. "That's not what this is about, Jasper. I'm not interested in you in the slightest. If I was, I would've told you by now."

I shrugged. "Well, as long as I'm away from Robert that's fine by me."

Betty smiled as we walked down the steps to a dimly lit hallway. With candles held up by pony legs lining the walls, this hallway was creepy enough to be used as a Nightmare Night attraction. Yeah, this is creepy.

I gave a nervous laugh. "Uh, Betty? Couldn't this have waited until Nightmare Night to bring me down here? I'm not really in the mood for a practical joke at the moment."

Betty snorted. "This isn't a joke, let's just say it's a little gift from me to you."

I raised an eyebrow. "Uh, gift? But my birthday isn't for two more months!"

Betty laughed. "Oh Jasper, you know that you can give people gifts even when it's not your birthday. Norman gave me a gift and my birthday was on Nightmare Night, and that's coming up in another week."

"Why do you say it was your birthday?" I asked. "It is your birthday."

She rolled her eyes. "Because I'm dead now. Duh!"

"Oh," I said. "So what did Norman give you?"

"He gave me this," Betty said. From her shirt, she pulled out the necklace she was wearing. On it hung a silver chess piece; the Queen.

I smiled when I saw it. "It's funny because Norman tends to be sentimental with his gifts sometimes. It's amazing how he knows what to get someone. Although, I'm not really sure if I want to find out what this gift is that you're giving me."

I didn't realize I had stepped in front of a rotating door and, at first, I couldn't see where I was. But when I got used to the darkness, I saw I was in a dark room. This room was just as creepy as the hallway. Not that I'm afraid of the dark, or anything like that. It would be really stupid for the guy that's taking care of the night and the moon to be afraid of the dark.

The lights flipped on in the room and I wasn't happy to see Robert on the other end of it. At this point, I'd rather have the lights off.

"What are you doing here, you hateful brat?" I snapped.

"Me?" Robert growled. "Hateful? All I've been wanting to do is-"

"Spend time with me? Not until you apologize for the crap you've been putting me through lately!" I snarled, glaring at him. "The only reason I'm still married to you is because of Norman!"

Robert crossed his arms and scoffed. At this point, because of his repeated actions towards me, I've had enough of his childish games. I tackled him and was getting ready to beat the crap out of him when I heard Betty's voice over the intercom. "Jasper! Get off of Robert!"

"Why should I do that?" I responded. "If you ask me, Robert deserves a punch to the face! And maybe several hundred more for everything he's put me through!"

I felt my right eye twitch in frustration with Robert. It twitched so bad I couldn't see past my anger in the moment.

Betty sighed. "In case you two didn't notice, you're trapped inside a passageway underneath the Castle of the Two Sisters. The only way you can get out is if you two work together and work out your problems with each other. As it stands right now, Robert, you have a lot of apologizing to do. You should especially apologize for locking Jasper and Norman in a room until they confessed their love for each other."

I panicked when I realized Robert and I might be here for a long time. "Wait a second! What about taking care of the moon?"

"Don't worry about that, Jasper," said Norman. "Remember the plan we have in place just in case something happened to one of us?"

I calmed down and let go of Robert, even though at the moment, I really and I mean REALLY wanted to strangle him.

"Remember," said Norman, "you two can only get out of here only if you work together. Don't worry, we have plenty of time to do this."

After Norman said that, there was silence. I didn't want to talk to Robert. I didn't want to work with Robert on anything. At the moment, I didn't want to be anywhere near him. I walked over to the other end of the room and sat down crossed-legged facing the wall. Since I couldn't see him I'm going to assume Robert did the same thing but I didn't care if he did or not.

"There's no way I'm working with a brat like you!" I turned my head just so I could blow a raspberry at Robert to show my disapproval of him. When I saw him do the same thing to me, I rolled my eyes and went back to looking at the wall again.

"There's no way I'm working with someone who won't even give me the time of day!" Robert said.

"Works for me!" I growled. "We can stay trapped in here for all eternity for all I care! I could care less if we don't have anything to eat because, if all else fails, I can kill you and eat your dead body!"

Another long awkward silence followed and I dragged it out as much as possible. The fewer words I said to Robert at the moment the better.

Robert was the one who broke the silence first. "Look, I'm sorry…"

I turned around and gave Robert a wary look. "What was that?"

"I'm sorry, okay," he said. "There, are you happy now?"

I didn't buy Robert's apology, so I went back to staring at the wall again.

"Do you want to know why I've been so hateful to you lately?" Robert asked.

"Why might that be?" I snapped.

"Jealousy."

I paused. "Say what now?"

Robert sighed. "Before Norman became the ruler of Equestria, he and I were just cadets. I didn't excel at anything, and Norman did. You excelled at things, just like Norman did. You got added to the family and you only paid attention to Norman, and didn't even notice that I was there. Norman didn't pay attention to me, either. He just paid more attention to doing his job until I forced him to notice me.

"That's why I've been such a jerk to you. You don't even notice that I exist. All you seem to pay attention to is your job and Norman."

I rolled my eyes, still pissed off at Robert and his sorry excuse for being so rude and annoying lately. Yeah, that excuse was definitely worth an eye roll. "Wow. So the only way you can think to get someone to notice you is to force them to pay attention to you? You do realize there are other ways to win someone over, right?"

"Like?" Robert asked.

I rolled my eyes again. "Seriously? Wow, you're stupid Robert! Maybe try writing love letters like I did with Norman? Or maybe telling that person upfront how you feel about them? Maybe send them flowers? The list goes on and on…"

"Well, I guess I need a crash course in romance," Robert said.

"Yeah, think?" I growled.

Robert decided to sit down next to me. I still wanted to wring his neck so I glared at him and put some distance between us scooting away a couple of feet.

He sighed. "Okay, I get it, I'm in the doghouse with you for now. But I think maybe we should at least work together to get out of here."

I exhaled slowly. "Fine, I'll take your apology only on one condition."

Robert nodded. "Sure, name it."

"Stop taking my things, especially the Dreamwalker Tool," I said.

"Okay," said Robert, "and I'll try to be more romantic instead of forcing you to pay attention to me."

I nodded. "Works for me. I'm not in the mood to kiss you or hug you for that matter, so I'll just give you a handshake for now."

I shook Robert's hand, and we got to work on getting out of this stupid passageway.

13) Traumatic Memory

{Betty}

“Hopefully they’ll be out soon,” Norman said.

Norman and I were sitting at the entrance to the passageway that we had led Jasper and Robert into.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Jasper wanted to kill Robert. Hopefully, he won’t bring out a dead body with him.”

I don’t know how Norman figured it out, but he found a spot on my back that when pressed on can make my wing come out involuntarily. I thought only Dae knew how to do this. A lot of times, Dae will only do this to my right wing, and that's what Norman did.

“Hey!” I said. “What did you do that for?”

Norman smiled. “I can’t help it, it’s just way too much fun messing with you.”

“Well, knock it off!” I said.

Norman acted as if he didn’t hear me because he did the same thing again.

“I thought I told you to knock it off!” I growled.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you,” Norman teased, “too bad you can’t sit on your wings like you can with your tail.”

The next time Norman made my wing come out I was very annoyed. So I pushed him to the ground and sat on him. I knew Norman was having way too much fun messing with me because he was too busy laughing about it. Then I stood up and flicked my tail to show my annoyance.

“Okay, okay,” Norman, “I’ll try to stop doing it, but I’m not making any promises.”

Norman sat up and finally stopped laughing, and instead of making my wing come out again, he reached over and scratched me behind my ear.

“I still have no idea why that feels good,” I said, “but it only works when someone I care about does it.”

“Yeah, I know,” Norman said.

We jumped about a foot in the air when we heard Jasper’s voice. “See, Robert? That’s a perfect example of romance! Maybe Norman and Betty can give you some pointers on how to do that?”

Me, Norman, and Jasper couldn’t stop laughing because Robert’s face turned red.

“So, that’s what your problem was?” I asked after I stopped laughing.

“Strangely enough,” said Jasper, “yes.”

“Yeah, it’s cool now,” said Robert, “but I really must be going, so see you later.”

We chuckled as we watched Robert walk away as fast as he could.

* * *

It was another family dinner night. EJ was invited too because his and Ruby’s wedding was in a couple of months. Dae, Norman, and I were walking around the castle when we heard Norman Jr yet again trying to get together with Ruby.

“I think the lady said no,” EJ snarled.

“But I-“ Norman Jr said.

“No, Junior!” Ruby snapped. “I’m not interested!”

Norman Jr tried to kiss Ruby and she pushed him away before he could. EJ got in between them and blocked Ruby from Norman Jr’s view.

“What do you think you’re doing?” EJ asked.

“Nothing!” Norman Jr lied.

Norman saw what was happening and he wasn’t happy about it. “Norman Jr! What did I tell you about this? When someone says no, you take a hike!”

Norman was showing so much rage at Norman Jr that Ruby and EJ backed off in fear of him. It was kind of funny to me because Norman can’t make the building shake like Ruby and EJ can when they're angry. It’s a demon trait that doesn’t just happen when the King and Queen of Hell are angry.

Norman was getting ready to drag Norman Jr away when we heard an evil giggle. There was no mistaking it--Mr. Giggles was about to make an appearance. My eye twitched in anger as I turned around to see the fountain in the garden, black ink streaming from it instead of water.

“Mom?” Ruby asked. “That’s Mr. Giggles, isn’t it?”

“Oh yeah, that’s him alright,” I replied.

All of us watched as the black ink pooled together and took on the form of Mr. Giggles. He blew a kiss and waved. “Ah, a family get-together? Why wasn’t I invited?”

“Because you’re not family, you stupid clown!” I snarled.

Mr. Giggles gave me his stupid, toothy grin. He sneered at me, “Oh well, I guess my invitation was lost in the mail.”

“Why you little-“ I didn’t finish my sentence because I didn’t feel like giving Mr. Giggles a chance to say he felt like playing with his food.

I flew at Mr. Giggles and kneed him in the chest, sending him crashing to the ground, flat on his back. He got to his feet and gave me an evil grin. “Hey! You didn’t let me do any of my tricks first. But I guess you don’t feel like tricks today, huh, Death Walker?”

“I have a name,” I snapped, “it’s Betty!”

Mr. Giggles raised an eyebrow and gave a sinister smile. “Did I offend you? My bad!”

“You offended me by being alive, you stupid clown!” I growled.

“I would say that’s not nice, but I don’t care,” Mr. Giggles said. “This is what, our third or fourth battle?”

“Does it matter?” I snarled. “Why don’t you just die already?”

“Hmm,” taunted Mr. Giggles, “nope, not happening.”

Just like the other times we fought, Mr. Giggles copied all of my moves. Only this time, I didn’t play fair because Mr. Giggles never fought a fair fight in the first place. I pulled out my staff and blocked most of Mr. Giggles’ moves with it and somehow he was able to start copying the moves I made with my staff. We paused our fight. I thought it was so Mr. Giggles could catch his breath, but he smiled at me.

“What’s that look for, creature?” I asked.

“I didn’t realize you can do the Dark Aura,” Mr. Giggles said.

“Say-“ I didn’t finish my sentence because I looked down at my hand to see that I had the Dark Aura around it. “I don’t know why this is happening, but works for me!”

I dove at Mr. Giggles, but he dodged me and laughed his signature giggle. My eye twitched in anger as I saw that he had a deck of cards in his hand.

“Since this is a family get-together, how’s about a game of cards?” Mr. Giggles said. “Why not make this more interesting. Remember the first time we fought? You know, inside the House of Mirrors?”

“Yeah, so?” I snarked.

Mr. Giggles pointed a finger in the air and spun it around in a circle. The next thing I knew, I looked around to mirrors surrounding me. But I had my staff ready. Before I could even move, I found that I was gripped in magic. "What is this?"

"Do you know where I am, Death Walker?" Mr. Giggles taunted. "Maybe I'm over here!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mr. Giggles to the left of me.

"Maybe I'm over here!" Mr. Giggles said.

I looked and saw Mr. Giggles to the right of me and he nudged me on my shoulder from behind. "Maybe I'm behind you!"

I bared my teeth as I saw Mr. Giggles in front of me and I desperately wanted to get at him but I couldn't move so I glared at him instead.

"Or maybe I'm right in front of you!" Mr. Giggles said.

I sneered as I saw Mr. Giggles shuffling the deck of cards. "Now that I have your undivided attention, how about we play a game of cards? I would let you choose a card, but you can't move now, can't you?"

I looked at the card that Mr. Giggles pulled out from the top of the deck and realized in horror that the character on the card was Grogar

"Recognize this guy?" Mr. Giggles said with a twisted grin.

"That's Grogar, you little-" I said.

"So, you do know him!" Mr. Giggles laughed. "I think I'll use this guy to keep you under my spell so you'll stay put so I can eat you!"

I blinked. "What are you talking about?"

Mr. Giggles laughed, again and flipped the card over, and I was pissed off by what I saw. It was a picture of one of my dead teammates that I had lost when we were tracking down Tirek.

"I say we'll start counting to the number twenty-five." Mr. Giggles said. "Let's start with number one…"

I heard a heartbeat as the picture of my teammate faded from view. Mr. Giggles pull out another card from the deck of cards. "Two…"

The same thing happened with that card too. Another heartbeat sounded as the picture of another one of my teammates faded from view. After the twenty-fifth card was pulled out of the deck with the memory of what happened with Tirek was finally pulled to the front of my mind, and I started to cry. When Mr. Giggle stopped torturing me, he had an evil grin on his face. "Now I have you!"

As Mr. Giggles pulled me towards him with his magic, I was still in tears. The next thing I knew, there was a flash of light that went around me. Mr. Giggle sneered at it. "Drat! Someone's broken all of my mirrors! It seems I can't take you with me. But either way, you'll stay put until I come back for you! Goodbye for now, food!"

I didn't know how Mr. Giggles disappeared this time and I didn't care. I fell out of the air and someone caught me. Who it was, I didn't know, and at the moment, I didn't care.

* * *

{Dae}

As I watched Betty being gripped in Mr. Giggles’ magic and surrounded by mirrors, I felt nothing but horror.

"What's happening to Mom?" Ruby panicked.

"I don't know," I said as I racked my brain, trying to remember everything The Destruction Clan, Mr. Giggles’ family could do. I realized what attack he could be using---he could pull out a traumatic memory to keep someone under his magic. I wasn't sure why Mr. Giggles wanted to do this, but he was doing it.

"What's going on?" Norman asked.

My eyes widened with a mix of terror and anger when I realized what type of attack Mr. Giggles was doing to Betty. "It's called the Memory Attack. He is trying to trigger some sort of traumatic memory that happened in Betty's past."

"What memory would he be trying to trigger?" Norman asked.

I looked up and counted the number of mirrors that Mr. Giggles had that surrounded Betty. Twenty-five. "It can't be…"

"What is it?" Norman said.

"I just want to be sure," I said. "Can you count the number of mirrors surrounding Betty?"

Norman looked up and counted. "I see twenty-five, but that's…"

Norman trailed off at the end of his sentence. It was as if he was thinking the same thing I was.

I growled, "The same number of people that Betty lost on her tracking team!"

Norman and I were furious when we realized what memory Mr. Giggles was trying to trigger. We pulled out our swords and threw them at the mirrors. The strangest thing happened; our swords combined, making the power within them stronger. At the moment, I didn't care as long as we got Betty away from Mr. Giggles. Both swords smashed through the mirrors. Mr. Giggles frowned and then he let go of Betty. Once he let go of Betty, he laughed and disappeared.

* * *

Norman caught Betty before she hit the ground. He then called his sword back to him and I did the same thing with mine and we put our swords away. I could tell Ruby was panicked just by the look of horror on her face. "What's wrong with Mom?"

I sighed, "Mr. Giggles put Betty under some sort of magic that triggers a traumatic memory. The end result is called Blackout."

Ruby tilted her head. "Blackout?"

I nodded. "Yup, that type of magic mixes in with a demon's magic and it stuns them to the point where they're in some sort of limbo. Right now that's what's happening to Betty, she's pretty much in a deep sleep. Not the type of sleep where you could have dreams. Demons don't really dream much anyway. So she'll just be in a dreamless sleep until we can find some way to wake her up."

"But Mom's usually strong enough to take down any enemy!" Ruby exclaimed.

I shook my head. "Not this type of enemy. Now, we should get her to bed, and then we can figure out a way to wake her up."

* * *

Norman and I went to the guest room that Betty and I stayed in when we're visiting Equestria. We put Betty in the bed and tried to figure out what to do to wake her up.

"I'm sorry, but I can't control my brother," said Discord. He sighed. "And my magic isn't strong enough to cancel out Mr. Giggles' attack. I wish I could kill him myself, but I can't do that either. Now that Betty's in this situation, I don't think anyone can stop him! I'll do some research and see what I can do to help cure the Blackout Betty's under. It's the least I could do."

Discord snapped his claw and disappeared. After Discord left, one of Norman's servants delivered a meal because we missed family dinner. But we weren't in the mood for eating because of what was happening with Betty.

Norman started to bite his thumb and I could tell he was just as worried about Betty as I was. Even though Betty's ears were twitching like they do when she sleeps, that wasn't really comforting. I took a flashlight and shined it in one of her eyes. Her eye didn't even flicker at it. Even a demon's eye will flicker at the light in their eyes even though they're dead.

I frowned. "This doesn't look good."

"Ow!" Norman said after he bit his thumb hard enough to make it bleed.

I smiled at him. "It's funny because Betty hovers when she's worried about something. You, pretty much eat yourself. I would either be pacing back and forth or pass out. Yes, I know, demons are weird. Now when I'm angry, the whole building would be shaking. The same goes with Betty because she's a demon now. I guess with being worried and a little bit angry they kind of cancel themselves out."

"There's got to be something I can do!" Norman said.

I sighed, "I don't know if there's anything we can do at the moment."

Norman sighed and went back to biting his thumb. Then we heard Jasper's voice, "You know you're going to need stitches if you keep biting your thumb like that, Norman."

"Huh?" Norman looked down to see his thumb was bleeding again. "Oh."

Jasper pulled up a chair and sat down beside Norman. "So, what exactly happened?"

"Mr. Giggles used an attack that can trigger a traumatizing memory," Norman answered.

"What memory did Mr. Giggles trigger?" Jasper asked.

"It was the memory of when she lost twenty-five of her teammates on her tracking team," I said. "Betty had to identify every single member lost so she could send them to the right families. Twilight had to add onto that a lecture and she knocked Betty up against a wall in a fit of anger. She even had the nerve to call the mission a success."

Norman and Jasper's jaws dropped when they heard what Princess Twilight did.

"The history book didn't say anything about that!" Norman said.

I grit my teeth, "Why would they say anything bad about the ruler of Equestria? I mean the Princess was adored and loved by everyone. They pretty much put her up on a pedestal."

"Makes sense to me, I guess," Norman said.

Jasper shook his head. "That still doesn't make it right."

"If you ask me," I said, "I say the Princesses actions came back to bite her in the butt. Now she is bowing to me and Betty. However, before Betty died, I did get some payback on the Princess by knocking her up against a wall myself. I did that out of anger because Princess Twilight decided to broadcast Betty's fight to the death with her mother. The Princess is lucky I didn't break her skull. She's also lucky that I didn't declare war on Equestria because of her actions toward Betty. And Twilight wonders till this day why I won't be with her."

Norman shook his head in disbelief. "And I almost killed myself to save her. I can't help but do my job to the best of my abilities, I guess."

"Anyway," said Jasper, "I know you're not going to be able to think straight right now in order to do your job, Norman."

"I know," said Norman, "I'm not sure about that because I don't want to put more responsibilities on you, Jasper."

Jasper shrugged. "Well, that's up to you. I'm willing to do that because family is supposed to help each other."

"I'll think about it," Norman said. "I'll decide in the morning what to do."

Jasper nodded, gave Norman a peck on the cheek, got up, and left.

14) The Blue Aura

{Dae}

I woke up and didn't realize how worried I was about Betty because I guess I passed out. I looked to see that Betty was still in a coma from Blackout because of Mr. Giggles' magic. I was surprised that I wasn't more angry than worried because of what Mr. Giggles did. I looked over when I heard Norman breathe a sigh of relief. I smiled because, hearing Norman's thoughts, he was just as worried about me as he was about Betty.

"There's no need to be concerned about me, Norman," I said. "I'm more worried about Betty than I am about myself. And no, don't kiss me again."

Norman snorted. "I'm not going to. I know when to take a hike, unlike some people. In any case, I'm happy you're awake."

I nodded. "Uh-huh."

Betty was sleeping on her side, facing me. I smiled when I saw that Norman had finally figured out how to touch Betty on the spot on her back that makes her wing come out involuntarily. There's a spot on her back underneath each of her wings to do that.

Norman took the opportunity to press that spot underneath the wing that was facing him and her wing came out. Betty rolled over and faced Norman and this time I did the same thing to her other wing.

"I was wondering when you were going to figure that out," I said. "Funny, it helps to keep her calm and I use it to tell her when I'm in the mood for sex. The way she can stop me when I do that is if she lays down."

Norman laughed, "I just do it because it's too much fun messing with her. Just like when I yank her tail to get on her nerves. I wonder if it works with anyone else?"

I shook my head. "Nope, it doesn't work unless it's someone she cares about. Max tries to do that to her and it doesn't happen and she gets pissed at him. She even threatens to throw a dagger at him if he doesn't stop. The same thing goes for scratching her behind the ear."

Norman nodded and turned his attention to Betty. "I figured I'd do this for her so she's not in pain when she wakes up." He put a hand on Betty's cheek. "I hope she's not in pain now."

"Yeah," I said, "I agree."

I paused trying my hardest to listen in on Betty's thoughts, but I couldn't hear anything. "I can't hear her thoughts, so either she's not thinking anything or something's blocking me from hearing them."

Norman shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

* * *

{Betty}

The next time I opened my eyes, I had no idea where I was. I looked around and all I could see was darkness everywhere. It reminded me of when I was in Lucifer's cage. I felt nothing but confusion. There weren't loud voices calling out to me like when I was in Lucifer's cage, so I figured I wasn't in Lucifer's cage.

"Hello?" I called out. "Is anyone there?"

I jumped back when I heard my voice echo. After a while, I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I turned around to see a person that looked just like me.

I tilted my head. "Who are you?"

"I'm you!" they said.

I paused. "Huh?"

"Yes, silly," they said, "I'm you!"

I shook my head, trying to get the awkwardness of this situation out of my head. "Wow, I'm talking to myself now. Too bad there aren't any therapists in Hell."

I guess my copy found this funny because she started laughing hysterically. She stopped laughing. "You're seeing me because we're inside your subconscious. So, no, we're not inside Lucifer's cage. You sank him into the abyss, remember?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I do, but why is it so dark here?"

"It's because you're under something called Blackout," my copy explained. "Mr. Giggles used your Dark Aura against you, triggering a traumatic memory. Do you know what it was?"

I sighed. "Yeah I do. The one where I lost twenty-five of my teammates on my tracking team because Grogar killed them. I thought I'd gotten over that when I went to Heaven and saw them. I guess not."

My copy shook her head. "You did get past it. You're not in pain anymore because you got past it. Mr. Giggles used his magic to search through your memories and when he found this one. Once he saw how you felt when it happened and used that against you."

"That stupid clown!" I growled. "I knew he fought dirty from the very beginning."

"You do realize not all of your opponents are going to fight fair, right?" my copy asked. "Mr. Giggles caught you off guard when you met him."

"Yeah, all of the dumbest things I've done is try to fight fair with a clown!" I said.

I guess my copy found that funny because she burst into laughter.

I did a facepalm and groaned, "Now I'm laughing at myself. Great…"

My copy was practically on the ground rolling on her stomach in laughter at what I said.

My copy stopped laughing and regained her composure. "I'm sorry, Betty, you're hilarious, you know that?"

"Can you explain why I'm talking to myself?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah," my copy said, "I'm here to help you break free of the Blackout. Your friends and family don't know this, but as soon as the Blackout happened they sent their love for you and that's how I came about. And I've come to save the day!"

At this point, I was not believing that my friends and family sent a copy of me to help me. "Yup, Dae's right, I don't know when to take a break, and now I'm delusional."

My copy snorted. "I would feel the same way if the shoe were on the other foot."

"Actually, when you think about it," I said, "it is on the other foot because you are a copy of me."

My copy snorted again. "I guess you're right about that, Betty."

"So, how do we get out of this place?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah, your friends and family are waiting for you. Discord is trying to figure out a way to cancel out the Blackout. It did take a while for me to get to you. Now I'm here to help you get out of this sticky situation. You can get out of this by achieving the Blue Aura."

"Blue Aura?" I questioned.

My copy nodded. "Oh, yes, the Blue Aura is the strongest aura a Death Walker can achieve. It's higher than the Red Aura and the Dark Aura combined. The only way this can be achieved is by the love you have deep down inside you. The Blue Aura isn't achieved by strength, it's achieved by love. It's based on emotion, which you have plenty of it."

I blinked. "Okay."

"Now in order to achieve the Blue Aura just touch your index finger and middle finger to my forehead and I'll do the same thing to you," my copy said.

I nodded and did as I was told. My copy then did the same thing. The next thing I knew there was a bright light that blinded me and I couldn't see a thing.

* * *

I woke up and looked around to see that I was in a room at the Castle in Canterlot. I looked over to see Norman and Dae with worried looks on their faces.

"Uh, hi?" I said because I didn't know what to say at the moment.

Norman and Dae breathed a sigh of relief when they saw I was okay. Without warning, Norman decided to reach over and lick one of my ears. Dae decided to reach over and bite the other ear.

"Okay, first of all, Norman, that's gross!" I said. "Second, Dae I'm not food! Third, what was that for?"

Dae laughed. "We're just happy you're awake finally. I don't know how it happened but it looked like you accomplished the Blue Aura. I thought it was just a tall tale until now. Yup, you really are a Legend, Betty!"

"Actually I have you guys to thank for that," I said.

Norman tilted his head. "Why's that?"

"Because the Blue Aura is achieved by love and not strength," I explained.

"So how was that possible?" Dae asked.

"You're not going to believe this, but I had a nice long talk with myself," I said.

Norman and Dae almost fell out of their chairs because they were laughing so hard.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Out of all the weirdest that would happen to me, this one takes the cake."

Norman snorted. "Don't say that around Pinkie Pie!"

"I know," I said, "I'm not going to even if you paid me. Anyway, how long was I out for?"

"Three days…" Dae answered.

"Three days!" I panicked.

"Calm down, Betty," said Dae, "you were under some pretty strong magic. We weren't even sure you were going to pull through."

"Oh," I said, "but I need to finish practicing the Mirror Technique! I should probably-"

"Go?" Dae said. "Yeah, that's not happening."

"Why not?" I asked.

"You need to stay in bed for at least a day or two," said Dae, "then you need to go to the Church of Satan to recover. After that, then you can start practicing the Mirror Technique."

"Me? Stay in bed?" I asked. "You know that's easier said than done right?"

"We figured you might say that," Dae said. "Since I have to go back to ruling Hell, Norman has agreed to keep you company for a bit. That way you will take a break."

Norman nodded. "Yup, and you're not getting out of bed with me around. I'll wait on you hand and foot just like I do with Sunset when it's needed."

"What about ruling over Equestria?" I said.

"Don't worry about that," Norman said. "Jasper and I have a plan in place for situations like this. So it's fine. You're not going to be able to weasel your way out of this."

I crossed my arms and pouted. "Fine."

"Good," Dae said. He kissed me, got up, and turned around to leave.

* * *

The next day, after playing another round of card games with Norman, there was a knock on the door. Norman went and answered it as he really didn’t want me to get out of bed. To me, that was just Norman being overprotective. I didn't think I needed to be chained to bed or something like that.

"How's she doing?" Jasper asked.

"She's doing fine. She needs to stay in bed, and I'm making sure she does that," Norman said.

"Wow," said Jasper, "talk about overprotectiveness. Is she up for visitors? Cozy Glow wants to see her."

"Sure," said Norman, "I think she's getting bored with just me around. We've been playing cards and, for some reason, when she's not interested in that, she likes to play tic-tac-toe with herself."

"Why does she do that?" Jasper asked.

I could tell Norman's voice that he didn't want to tell Jasper the truth, and why he needed to mention it in the first place was beyond me. Norman lied, "Don't know, that's the way she is, I guess."

Jasper laughed. "You know you're not a very good liar, but okay."

"Am I that obvious?" Norman asked.

"Yup!" Jasper said. "You couldn't hide the obvious even if you wanted to."

"Hey, Dad," said Cozy Glow, "can I see Aunt Betty now? I heard she's awake."

"Sure, Cozy Glow," Norman said.

"Well, I guess I'd better be going," said Jasper. "See you later, Norman."

After Jasper left, Cozy Glow entered the room, and she was overjoyed to see me. She practically dove at me when she gave me a hug. I laughed and Cozy Glow sat down on the bed beside me.

"What happened to you scared me so much!" Cozy Glow said. "I can't believe something like that could happen to a Legend!"

At that moment I realized something. Even the strongest of fighters need help sometimes. I might not be able to take Mr. Giggles down by myself.

"What is it, Betty?" Norman asked.

"You know something, guys," I said, "I've been looking at things all wrong concerning Mr. Giggles."

"Why's that?" Cozy Glow said.

"I can't take Mr. Giggles down by myself," I said, "but we can take him down together!"

Norman and Cozy Glow exchanged a look of confusion.

"What are you talking about, Betty?" Norman asked.

"Given what happened with Mr. Giggles," I said, "I pulled through it because of the love I got from you guys. If I didn't have that, who knows what might've happened! Even if I do manage to finish learning the Mirror Technique, there still might be a chance that I can't stop him on my own. It's going to take you guys along with Dae helping me."

Norman blinked and he looked shocked by what I just said. "Okay, who are you, and what have you done with Betty?"

I chuckled, "It's me, Norman! I just realized that even the strongest of fighters can need help. I'm going to need your help because I don't think I can take Mr. Giggles down on my own."

"Huh," said Norman, "I'd never thought I'd see the day when a Legend asks for help."

* * *

I was finally recovered enough to meet up with Sawyer, but he told me to hold off on the next training session for two weeks. So I practiced what I learned so far. I remembered that time I saw Max hanging from the ceiling like a bat and that gave me an idea. When I set the obstacle course on the level I wanted, I took my spot on the ceiling and did a backflip so that I was in the air crossed-legged. I was able to dodge most of the arrows with my tracking abilities. I dodged thirty of the arrows before one hit me in my chest, right where it would have gone through my heart, and I would've died if I were still alive. That arrow came as a surprise somehow because it came from behind when it hit me.

Well, it's a good thing I'm already dead or that one would've been the finisher, I thought.

I used my powers to turn off the obstacle course and lay on the ground trying to catch my breath. Norman came up to me in a panic. "Did one of those arrows hit you in the chest?"

"Yeah, why do you think I'm lying on the ground trying to catch my breath?" I replied.

"Yeah," said Norman, "you look like you got the wind knocked out of you!"

"Again," I said, "lying on the ground, trying to catch my breath."

At that moment, I saw Max the Bug coming towards me. I didn't really didn't want to be bothered at the moment. I took one of the arrows that were lying next to me and used my Darkness powers and Glass powers to turn it into a dagger. I threw it at Max and it hit him in the shoulder. I surprised myself because I did it while I was lying down.

"Ow!" Max said. He pulled the dagger out of his shoulder and winced when he did it.

"Wow, Betty," said Norman, "I didn't even see him coming!"

"Now, what was that for?" Max growled.

"I know what you're thinking!" I snapped. "I didn't feel like dealing with you at the moment. That one was a warning shot. Come any closer and I'll make the next shot a lot worse. I'll even let Norman knee you in the chest, just to make it hurt more."

"Do you have to make threats of violence towards me?" Max asked.

"Yes, because it's the only way I can get it through your thick skull that I'm not interested!" I snapped. "If I was, I would've done something about it by now."

"It's not like that," said Max. "I just want to sleep with you, that's all."

"And I said no," I said, "now get lost, Bug!"

"Wow," said Max, "is that what you think of me? I'm a bug? Now that's mean."

"Good, and I'll keep saying it until you get lost!" I said. "So get lost already!"

Before Max came near me, I was already pissed off and I didn't want to give him the advantage because I was lying down. I picked up another arrow and turned it into a dagger. I threw it at Max and it hit him right in the area where his balls were. Max screamed, pulled the arrow out, and ran away from me as fast as he could. Norman winced when he saw that.

"Yeah," said Norman, "I'm not pissing you off anytime soon."

Dae came up to us laughing pretty hard because he saw the whole thing. "I told you, Norman. Max got off easy when you kneed him in the chest. Hopefully, he'll leave her alone now, unless he wants to be in more pain. But knowing Max he'll find a way to get on Betty's nerves again and she'll inflict more pain on him."

"Yup," I said, "your brother is an idiot."

"I couldn't agree more," Dae said.

16) Worried about Betty

{Betty}

I went down the passageway, which really wasn’t much to look at. It was a brick hallway ,dimly lit by torches. As soon as I got to the library, I couldn’t see anything.

Now I know I’m in the right place. Where’s that candle? I jumped when I saw candlelight behind me.

“Took you long enough,” Norman laughed.

“If you’re trying to scare me,” I said, “Nightmare Night has already passed you know.”

“It’s funny,” said Norman, “you and I got together four weeks before your birthday. You and Dae got together three weeks before your birthday right before you defeated Tirek.”

“Huh, interesting,” I didn’t think about that until Norman said something about it. I didn’t think that detail was important, but I guess it is. I smiled.

Norman nodded. “Uh-huh.”

Another thing I didn’t think of freaked me out. I realized that we weren’t back at the Castle in Canterlot. So Mr. Giggles could pop up at any time.

“I know what you’re thinking because of that look on your face,” Norman said. “No, Mr. Giggles won’t be able to pop up here either.”

“How do you know?” I asked.

“This place already has a magical barrier set up,” said Norman. “According to the books Discord was able to find, Luna and Celestia dealt with Mr. Giggles before. They were able to send him to the cave in the Afterlife but, unfortunately, Mr. Giggles won’t stay in the cave for very long because he gets summoned every once and a while. He does his best to cause as much terror as he can. For some reason, he also has to eat, and he can only do that for ten years before he has to go back to his cave in the Afterlife until his next summons.”

I frowned. "But if Celestia or Luna couldn't kill him... Then what chance do we have?"

"We do have a chance! We're Death Walkers and we're more powerful than them," Norman replied. "With the three of us fighting him along with you, there's a good chance we'll be able to kill him."

Even though Norman was trying to comfort me, I didn't want to believe it. If Norman, Cozy Glow, or Dae got into the same trouble I did with Mr. Giggles then I didn't know what I would do.

I looked away. "Oh."

Norman grabbed my hand and he picked a chair in the library, sat down, and made me sit on his lap. "Do you want to when I realized I had feelings for you? To tell the truth, I never thought I'd fall for my older sister. But I did."

"When?" I asked.

"Right after you fought Mr. Giggles at the Equestria Day Festival," Norman answered. "I just couldn't get you out of my head after that. I kept reading your history book over and over again. Honestly, I don't know how many times I read it."

I laughed. "It's funny because I realized I had feelings for you until after I talked to Dae about how I was feeling. According to Dae, it's acceptable to sleep with your siblings in Hell. I wasn't sure if it was acceptable in Equestria."

"I looked up the laws about it and it is," Norman said. "You can sleep with your siblings, you just can't marry them. which makes sense. Of course, Jasper, Sunset and Robert teased me about my feelings for you. They finally stopped teasing me after I told you how I felt. At least they didn't lock us in a room, like they did with me and Jasper."

"I still can't believe they did that," I said.

I guess Norman decided that story time was over because he hugged me and kissed me.

"Let's not think about that right now," He said.

After that, I did exactly what Norman wanted me to do. I straddled him on his lap and when we started making love to each other, I stopped worrying about things like Mr. Giggles, at least for the time being.

* * *

{Norman}

Even though I had been trying to comfort Betty about Mr. Giggles, I couldn't help but worry about her. It seemed to me that comforting her wasn't helping much. Now, when I worry about Betty, Jasper seems to be able to pick up on it, and he usually encourages me to stay at the watchtower with him for the night.

So I stayed with Jasper tonight because I was worried about Betty. I smiled as I watched Jasper sleeping. I just can't get over how cute he is asleep. Jasper must have been helping someone deal with their nightmare because the Dreamwalker tool was glowing. The Dreamwalker tool is a simple device. It's a blue wand with a crescent moon attached to it, which glows when it’s in use. Once the Dreamwalker tool stopped glowing, Jasper woke up.

Jasper yawned and stretched. "One would think that jumping into someone's dream would make you think you're still asleep, but I guess not."

I smiled. "Yeah, too bad demons don't need to sleep, unless they go to the Church of Satan to recharge."

I've been wondering lately if demons dream, and if they dream when they're asleep what do they dream about? I think Jasper can read minds like Betty and Dae can because he always seems to know what I'm thinking about.

"I know what you're thinking," Jasper said. "Even if demons dream, I'm not really sure if I could enter into their dream because they're already dead. Even if I could, why would I need to help them? I mean they're demons, so…"

I frowned and looked down at the covers. "I just can't stop worrying about Betty. She's learning the Mirror Technique, but I guess it's a good thing she's already dead or she would give herself a heart attack worrying about things so much. The last time I saw her train on the arrow obstacle course, I lost count on how many arrows she took to the chest---one went right through her heart! Every other time I've seen her, her ears have dropped because she's so frustrated right now. The fact that Dae's brother, Max, keeps bothering her doesn't help matters either."

Before Jasper could answer, there was a loud knock on the door.

"Prince Jasper!" Wild Ace shouted. "I would like to speak to you, right now!"

Jasper groaned and shook his head. "Headache Two strikes again! I swear Wild Ace is going to give this family a migraine!"

The knocking continued, and so did the shouting.

"Maybe we should ignore him?" I suggested. "I know exactly what he wants to talk to you about. I walked past him when I came here."

"Yeah, no, I know how Wild Ace is," said Jasper, "and he probably won't stop knocking anytime soon."

Jasper got out of bed, grabbed his pants, put them on, and went downstairs.

"My, my, Jasper," said Wild Ace, "aren't you looking sexy with your shirt off!"

"What are you doing here, Wild Ace?" Jasper growled.

"I know Prince Norman is in there," said Wild Ace. "I saw him come in here earlier."

"And, your point?" Jasper snapped. "That's none of your business, so stop poking your snout in places where it doesn't belong!"

"What?" Wild Ace said. "I was just wondering if you two would be up for a threesome?"

That was a question that Wild Ace shouldn't have been asking because he already knows the answer to it. I could tell by the sound of Jasper's voice how pissed he was that Wild Ace had the nerve to ask that question.

"How dare you ask that question!" Jasper roared. "You know for a fact that Norman doesn't sleep with the second branch of the family, and that's his choice! Harassing him about it isn't going to give you any chances to be with him! When are you going to learn that you're not entitled to things just because you're family? Honestly, Wild Ace, you were the biggest mistake I ever made!"

"But-" Wild Ace started.

"I'm going to tell Norman about this, and hopefully you'll be thrown out of the royal family!" Jasper sneered.

"You can't do that!" Wild Ace shrieked.

"I can," Jasper growled, "and I will! Don't bother me again! Goodnight!"

I almost fell out of the bed when Jasper slammed the door so hard that the whole watchtower shook. My jaw dropped when Jasper came back into the room. He started laughing when he looked at me. Finally, he stopped laughing. "Why so shocked Norman?"

"I've never seen you that angry before," I said, "not even at me!"

"That's because I can't stay mad at you, you're too adorable to stay mad at," Jasper said.

"Well, at least you don't have daggers to throw at me like Betty does," I said.

Jasper flinched. "Yeah, I still would rather get slapped by Sunset. What was her target this time?"

"Dae's brother, Max," I said, "it's all over the news in Hell when she does it."

Jasper snorted. "Wow, I would love to read that news article. I'm sure that would provide some comic relief."

That thought made me smile because I did have the latest news article on Max's stupidity. Dae gave it to me and I couldn't stop laughing just by reading the title of it. "Actually, I have the latest one. Dae gave it to me. I brought it with me to show you. I already showed Sunset and Robert, and they couldn't stop laughing about it."

I got out of bed and went over to my bag and fished out the news article. When I showed it to Jasper, he had tears in his eyes. He was laughing so hard. The title of the news article was: Prince Max Gets Nailed Again! Queen Betty's Dagger Hit the Mark!

Jasper stopped laughing enough to speak. "Yup! That's comic relief alright! Okay, I'm done laughing, for now."

Jasper handed the news article back to me and I put it away. Once I went back to bed, Jasper started laughing again and this time I joined in.

"My question is," said Jasper, "why does the guy keep coming around if he knows what's going to happen next?"

I shrugged. "I have no idea. In any case, I'm glad Ruby's married now. I was getting worried for Junior's safety there for a bit. She won't be at family dinner's much now."

"I would feel sorry for him, but he should've known not to chase after someone that doesn't like him," Jasper said.

"Hey, I talked to him about it several times," I said. "So, he needs to take it in stride and move on now."

"Yeah," said Jasper, "now if Wild Ace and Elise would learn to stop asking to have sex with you, that would be great."

I sighed. "I guess I'll have to talk to the Royal Court about divorce proceedings tomorrow after I take care of Day Court. Good thing the Royal Family can't make complaints at Day Court, or Wild Ace and Elise would get on my nerves."

"Yeah," Jasper said.

He whispered into my ear words that he wrote in the love letter he sent me and I moaned when he got on top of me. Every time he does that, I just melt into his arms. I knew Jasper was trying to help me out as much as he could. Unfortunately, I knew that the next day, I would go right back to worrying about Betty.

* * *

The very next night, I was confused as to why Dae would summon me to the swimming area that was behind the castle in Hell. I wondered what he was up to when I saw the mischievous look on his face.

"Okay, why have you summoned me here?" I asked.

"Don't you want to look at her again?" Dae chuckled.

I blinked. "Excuse me?"

Dae pointed behind me and my eyes went wide. I hid behind a nearby tree so Betty couldn't see me. Dae laughed as if he had just played a joke on me, and it sure looked like he had.

"That's not funny, Dae!" I hissed.

"Oh?" Dae said. "I think it is. I find it funny that the ruler of Equestria doesn't know how to initiate sex."

I knew Dae was right, and I felt my face turn red, so I looked away. "How did you know about that?"

"Everyone that you're married to in the main branch of the family told me about it," Dae answered. "Apparently, you're too hard to resist."

"I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that," I said.

Dae looked like he was trying to keep a straight face. "I think it's time you work on getting past that. I know a Death Walker can't stay away from their body for more than two days tops. I can keep track of the time for you if you want. If you want her, then you should get her."

"Exactly how would I begin to do that?" I asked.

"Well, you could start by getting undressed and sitting in the swimming area," Dae suggested.

"I'm not getting undressed in front of you."

Dae laughed. "Don't worry, I don't want to see you naked. I'm leaving now, so the rest is up to you."

After Dae left, I just stood there watching Betty swim and debating about whether or not I should go to her. Finally, I decided to go get her, so I got undressed and sat down on the edge of the swimming area and waited for Betty to notice me.

* * *

{Betty}

I met with Sawyer a day ago and it still felt like I wasn't getting anywhere learning the second step to the Mirror Technique. I tried my best not to overdo it on practicing and I decided to take a break for once and go to the swimming area.

As usual, I don't really swim, I just use my wings to balance myself on the water. I wasn't using my tracking powers when I saw him. Norman was sitting at the edge of the swimming area with a smile on his face. I fell over into the water when I saw him.

"Norman?" I said after I swam up to him. "What are you doing here?"

"Um...I, uh…" Norman said.

Just by looking at him, he wanted something and he was trying to figure out how to get it. I thought about listening in on his thoughts but I decided that if he wanted something he was going to have to figure out how to get it.

"I was wondering, can you do what you were doing before?" he asked.

"What?" I said. "You mean the whole walking on water thing? Sure."

I did what I was doing before I saw Norman sitting there. He looked at me in awe and smiled.

I looked at him. "What?"

"You know . . ." Norman stammered. "You're . . . Beautiful."

I lowered myself down into the water and sat down in the sitting area across from Norman. I thought the nervous look on his face was adorable, although I still had no idea what he wanted from me.

After a while, it seemed like he figured out how to get what he wanted from me. I looked at him in curiosity at what he was going to do next. I found myself unable to move and Norman gave me a flirting look.

"Can't move?" Norman teased.

I rolled my eyes and then smiled. "I know the spell you're doing, Norman. You do realize I can break out of this in under a minute right?"

Norman swam over to me and sat on my lap. I noticed that he was naked, unlike me because I had a swimsuit on. At that moment, I knew exactly what he was after.

That's not the way this normally happens, but it's about time he took charge! I thought.

I forced myself to stay under Norman's spell as much as possible, but it was proving to be difficult.

"Um, I don't normally do things this way," Norman said.

I giggled. "Yeah, I know, usually I'm the one that takes the lead."

"All I know at the moment is that I really want to see you naked." Norman took off my swimsuit and started kissing me. I moaned when he thrust into me. He wanted to see me naked and he got exactly what he wanted.

17) You want to catch all of the arrows don't you?

{Betty}

I was practicing on the arrow obstacle course, still trying to get the second step of the Mirror Technique down. Sawyer did tell me that I was ready to start learning the third step, but I passed on it because I disagreed. I felt that I needed more practice on the second step.

After taking a couple of arrows to the chest, I laid flat on my back, very annoyed with myself. I caught my breath and sat up. I looked over to see Max coming towards me. It was bad enough that I'm annoyed with trying to perfect the Mirror Technique, I didn't need this crap right now. At first, I glared at Max, but then I remembered an idea that Dae and I had talked about the other day. Max is my stalker now and I'm not only annoyed---I'm pissed about it.

"Hey!" Max said. "I'm not a stalker, and I'm not a bug either!"

"Oh, because from the way I see it, you're both!" I growled. "How many times do I have to say no before you get the point?"

Betty, Dae thought, remember what we talked about the other day?

Oh, yeah, that's right! Time to put Operation Maxipoo into play, I thought.

Once again, I picked up an arrow, and this time I used my Fire, Darkness, and Light powers to turn it into an even more potent arrow. Or I hoped it was a more potent arrow. It would be one that would surely make Max finally get the point. I was able to hide my thoughts by quickly changing my thoughts from ‘Max is a stalker and a bug’ to ‘I love Maxipoo’ over and over again.

Uh, Betty? What are you doing? Norman thought.

We talked about this the other day. Just sit back and watch the show, Dae thought.

Say what now? Norman thought.

You'll see. Just don't interfere okay? Dae thought.

I smiled at Max, thinking about how I had changed my mind about him and I was flirting with him.

"You know something, Maxipoo?" I said, starting the lie. "I just realized I've been looking at your feelings for me all wrong. I've been so stressed out about this rampaging clown, Mr. Giggles, that Dae and Norman just aren't enough to satisfy me. I think it's time I add one more lover into the mix."

Max paused and then he raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

I smiled and kept the lie going. "Oh yes, I've also decided not to throw daggers at you anymore. Nope, I think I'll just throw myself at you instead."

I looked over when I heard Dae trying his best to stifle a laugh. Norman had a confused look on his face.

I started rocking back and forth on my feet as if I were a girl back in high school asking a guy out on a date. Max smiled and when he hesitated, I rolled my eyes. "You know if you want me you have to come near me."

I made a motion with my index finger for him to come closer. "Oh, come on, Maxipoo, isn't this what you've been wanting? A chance to get in bed with the loveable Queen of Hell?"

Max still hesitated and, once again, I rolled my eyes at him. "Wow, getting you to say yes to me is like pulling teeth. I'm over here, not over there. If you want me, then you need to come get me."

I kept the dagger I had in my hand behind my back. I figured because I had one hand behind my back was why Max was hesitating so bad.

Max tilted his head. "What's behind your back?"

I lied, "Oh, nothing, it's a gift from me to you. I figured I would start giving all of my new lovers a gift! You know, in appreciation for wanting a chance to sleep with me."

I looked over, choking down my laughter. Dae was biting his tongue so hard that he had tears in his eyes, trying not to laugh at my acting skills. Norman looked like he was starting to get the point and was trying to keep a straight face.

Max smiled and finally stopped hesitating, and came closer to me. When he was face to face with me, I took my dagger and drove it deep into his chest. He coughed and wheezed. It looked like the dagger knocked the wind out of him.

"Listen to me," I snarled into his ear, "do you really think I would change my mind that quickly? I'm showing you mercy this time by pulling the dagger out of you. So you can take some time to recover. Next time I won't show mercy. I'll leave the dagger in and you won't be able to move until I send for a servant to come pick you off the ground. Although it might take me a while, if and when I get around to it. Do we have an understanding?"

"Yes," Max wheezed, "Your Highness…"

"Good," I snarled, "keep it that way!"

I yanked the dagger out of Max's chest and pushed him away. He landed flat on his back. I threw the dagger and it landed a few inches in front of him. As Max laid down on the ground trying to catch his breath, Dae came up to us laughing hysterically.

"I can't believe you fell for it!" Dae laughed. "I know when Betty's lying and you fell for it. She's so creative, isn't she?"

Norman came up to us in a fit of hard laughter at Max's stupidity. "Wow, Max, you're the dumbest person I've ever seen! I mean, really, someone telling you no this entire time, and suddenly she starts singing a different tune? I'm not that stupid. But you just can't help yourself, can you?"

Dae was fighting so hard to get his laughter under control, I was surprised he could even speak. "I can't wait to hear this on the news tomorrow! I can just see the title of the article: 'Prince Max's Stupidity Strikes Again!' That is going to be hilarious!"

I finally got Dae to stop laughing when I kissed him. Then I kissed Norman, and I turned around just so I could stick my tongue out at Max. I flicked my tail in annoyance and walked away. I started laughing because I could still hear Norman and Dae laughing at Max's stupidity.

* * *

{Norman}

Robert, Jasper, Sunset, and I were sitting out back in the garden behind the Castle in Canterlot with our newborn baby, Jacob. He was asleep in his bassinet and sucking his thumb. I couldn't help but think of how cute he was sleeping. Sunset had just given birth to Jacob a few weeks ago.

It seems that all of the children born into the family are absolutely adorable! That doesn't surprise me because he gets his good looks from my side of the family. Of course, Sunset is beautiful, too.

I had brought the latest news article with me and we couldn't stop laughing about Dae's brother, Max's, latest stupidity. Betty is definitely creative when it comes down to fending off her stalkers and idiots like Max.

"Too bad you couldn't have been there to see it!" I laughed. "The guy fell for Betty's lie. Oh, yeah, he's the dumbest guy I've ever seen. I mean, really? The girl kept telling him no over and over again, and then she started singing a different tune all of the sudden? Wow, such stupidity."

"No kidding!" Jasper said.

Finally, we stopped laughing, and I looked over to see Robert smiling at me. "What's that look for, Robert?"

"I heard Dae helped you get over your little problem, as far as the bedroom is concerned?" Robert asked.

"Yup," Sunset confirmed, "he did it with me the other day. Not bad, if I do say so myself."

I felt my face turn red and I looked away.

"So, how did he do it?" Jasper asked.

"Dae has a bit of a habit of pushing me into a situation and making me face it head-on," I replied.

"Huh," said Robert, he looked at Sunset, "at least he didn't have to slap you for it. Right, Sunset?"

I looked over to see Sunset's face turn red, and she pretended to go back to taking care of Jacob.

"In Sunset's defense," said Jasper, "at least she's not throwing daggers at our nuts."

Robert started to give Jasper a creepy bedroom look. I would have laughed at this but I didn't think this was a laughing matter. It was just downright creepy.

"What's that look for, Robert?" Jasper questioned.

Robert gave Jasper a flirting smile. "Oh, nothing, I'm just undressing you with my eyes."

Jasper pretended to look down at his watch and then he acted like he remembered he had something important to do. "Well, look at the time, there's something I need to take care of, so . . ."

Jasper couldn't walk away fast enough when Robert decided to slap his butt. I rolled my eyes.

Robert looked at me. "What did I do?"

I shook my head. "It's nothing, Robert."

Robert had a confused look on his face and I had no idea why.

* * *

{Betty}

I still felt like I hadn't perfected the second step of the Mirror Technique. I had just practiced on the arrow obstacle course, and I was sitting on the ground frustrated about it. Since Norman and Dae were busy at the moment, and not watching me train, I could set the obstacle course to the hardest level and push myself as much as I wanted to.

I had an arrow in my hand, and I was tapping it on the ground, trying to think. Strangely enough, Max hadn't come around yet to bug me. That was fine by me. I think that arrow I put in his chest finally got it through his thick skull that I'm not interested in him.

As I was sitting down thinking, I heard Sawyer's gentle laugh from behind me.

I smiled when I saw him. "What are you doing here, Sawyer?"

"Did you forget that we were supposed to be training today?" Sawyer asked.

"We were?" I said. "I guess I did forget, oops, I'm sorry."

Sawyer gave a gentle laugh. "I do have a question for you."

"What might that be?" I asked.

Sawyer chuckled. "You want to catch all of the arrows don't you?"

I was puzzled by this statement. "Isn't that the whole point of practicing on the obstacle course?"

Sawyer laughed. "No, because that's impossible. You know how many arrows are in the obstacle course?"

"How many?" I asked.

"Over a billion," Sawyer said matter of factly.

My jaw dropped. "But-"

"Oh, Betty," said Sawyer, "the whole point of the second step to the Mirror Technique is to achieve absolute complete focus. Did your mentor, Sami, tell you anything about having Harmony within yourself?"

I nodded.

"You need to have a calm mind and focus in order to keep your powers from overtaking you. You didn't master these steps until now. That's why Mr. Giggles was able to attack you like he did. It seems that I wasn't the only one who saw the chaos inside of you. That's why I decided to help you. Barely anyone knows how to do the Mirror Technique, and with mastering this, you master your powers and can calm the chaos inside you, once and for all. There's no way that Norman and Dae would be able to do what you've been able to do. Not in the slightest," Sawyer explained.

"Why's that?"

"Because they can't sit still long enough to even try to start learning it. Even if they do have a calm mind, they can't master the Bubble of Silence, am I right?"

I nodded again.

Sawyer chuckled, "See? You're a Legend, even at that. May I make a friendly suggestion?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You've only been at this for a year now, and you've already mastered the first two steps of the Mirror Technique," Sawyer said. "When your teacher says you're ready to move on to the next level, then I would take them up on the offer. So, what do you say? You ready to do it?"

I thought about what Sawyer just said and I agreed with him. "Yes, I'm ready to learn the next step."

* * *

The next day, Norman summoned me to the Castle in Canterlot. As soon as I got there, he took me to his bedroom. This kind of annoyed me because I wasn't in the mood for sex at the moment.

But instead of giving me the look he always gives me when he wants sex, he was giving another strange look and I had no idea what it meant. Once Norman and I were inside his bedroom, he sat down on the bed beside me.

"I'm not going for it, because I know you don't want to have sex at the moment," Norman said.

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"Your body language, duh!" Norman responded. "I think I have another way that can help you."

I raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Just lay down on your stomach," Norman instructed.

I did as Norman said. Norman kind of acted like what he said he didn't want to do.

"I thought you didn't-" I started.

Norman shushed me and ran a finger down my back, stopping when he got to the spot where my wings connected to my back. He took the heel of his hand and pushed on that area. As he massaged that area, I went from being tense to being completely relaxed.

"Uh-huh," said Norman, "that's exactly what I thought. Every time I touched you in this area, it's very tense, even after sex. I figured if I got this area relaxed, it would help you out quite a bit. It turns out I was right."

"How did you figure that out?" I asked. "Even Dae doesn't know how to do that."

"Why do you think I've been holding you in that area every time we're just walking around?" Norman responded.

I groaned, "Oh."

After he was done, I rolled over on my back, feeling completely relaxed. Norman had a look of joy on his face and I'm going to assume that it was because he found another way that he could help me.

"I should do this more often," said Norman. "This is the most relaxed you've been. I completely understand why you're so stressed out because of that rampaging clown."

"Yeah," I said in a daze.

Norman looked at me thoughtfully. "I think I have a way I can add to this. It will make you feel so relaxed you'll think you're dreaming."

I paused. "Huh?"

He took me to a door in the corner of his room. He opened the door. It was a huge closet, similar to the one I had back at home.

I tilted my head. "You wanted to show me your closet?"

Norman smiled and then shook his head. "No, it's what's behind the closet."

He led me to the end of the closet and there was another door. He took out some sort of key and opened it. When I saw what was behind the door, my jaw dropped. It was the biggest bathroom I had ever seen! The bathroom was as big as the swimming area behind the castle in Hell.

"What is this place?" I asked.

"It's my private bathroom," answered Norman. "No one knows about it unless I say they can."

"Oh," I said, "it's funny because demons don't need to bathe. I go to the swimming area just to relax."

Norman laughed. "I know that. This bathroom has controls where I can set the temperature and things like that."

Norman went over to a box on the left side of the room and opened it up. He pressed a couple of buttons on it and suddenly the bathtub came to life. The water was boiling and after a minute or two, it stopped.

"Okay," I said. "What now?"

Norman rolled his eyes. "What do you think?"

Norman got undressed and then I followed suit. I looked over to see Norman staring at me. "What?"

Norman smiled. "You just can't help but be beautiful, can you?"

Norman went into the bathtub and picked a spot and sat down. I hesitated at first, but then I went over and sat down beside him. He had me sit on his lap and he held me in his arms. He was right, I felt so relaxed that I felt I was dreaming.

* * *

"You know your mind goes back to worrying about Norman and me after you've finished training?" Dae asked.

Dae and I had taken care of our royal duties for the day and we were sitting in the water in the swimming area, just chilling out. Or at least, I thought I was chilling out. I guess my mind did go back to worrying about things again.

I smiled. "You two are very different on how you do things when it comes down to me."

Dae chuckled, "Yeah, I know, and if I was insecure, I wouldn't let you have any male companions, and that would include your brother, Norman."

I paused. "What made you bring that up?"

"Because you're thinking about it right now," Dae said. "You're even worried about Ruby now that she's married and started a family of her own, do you realize that?"

I sighed, "I do. I still can't help it. I guess I should be comforted by the fact that Mr. Giggles won't be able to reach me here."

"I can tell by your thoughts, that you're more afraid of confronting Mr. Giggles again. Am I right?" Dae asked.

I looked away in embarrassment. "I guess so."

Dae snorted. "No need to be embarrassed about being afraid of something. Heck, I'm the King of Hell, and I'm afraid of clowns in general. I'm also going to guess that you're afraid you won't be able to stop Mr. Giggles from harming anyone else?"

I was afraid to say the answer out loud so I just nodded.

"You don't always have to fight your enemies alone," Dae said. "Things are set up in Hell the way they are for a reason. We have our army backing us up in case there's a war. Norman has his army backing him up for the same reason. What my point is, you have help whether you want it or not."

Dae made me look at him and he kissed me. "If I were you, I would just work on practicing the Mirror Technique. We'll find a way to stop Mr. Giggles together, okay?"

I nodded because I didn't know what to say. But one thing I know for sure was that Dae, Norman, Cozy Glow, and I would work together so that we can stop Mr. Giggles.

18) Relationships

{Betty}

I was in my bedroom sitting on the bed, when there was a knock on the door. Dae answered it and came back with a letter in his hand. He grinned as he handed it to me.

I opened the letter and felt my face turn red. Norman had just sent me another love letter. It was describing what my left ear looked like. In his last letter, he had described what my right looked like. Honestly, I don't see the difference, both of my ears look the same!

As I was reading the letter, Dae looked over my shoulder to read it too. After he read it, he fell over on the bed and went into a fit of hard laughter. I put the letter on the nightstand and got into bed, hiding underneath the covers. I couldn't help but think that my brother has lost his mind. Either that or he just needed something to jack off to.

"That's not funny, Dae!" I snapped.

This response only made Dae laugh even harder. It didn't seem like he was going to stop laughing any time soon. After a while of Dae's non-stop laughter, he was actually gasping for air from laughing for so long.

When he finally composed himself, he started to tease me about it. "Aww, that's sweet. I think it's cute that your not-so-secret admirer is admiring you."

"Seriously, Dae," I growled, "again, not funny!"

"I wonder what part of your body he's going to describe next?" Dae teased. "Maybe one of your boobs, perhaps? You do have a nice rack! I wonder if that's why Max keeps chasing after you, along with other men in the Royal Family?"

"Okay, that's it!" I said. "I'm hiding here and I'm not coming out for the rest of the day!"

"You know that's not possible, right?" Dae said. "You're the Queen of Hell, so suck it up and deal with it."

There was another knock on the door. This time it was Parada.

"Is Queen Betty here?" Parada asked.

"Yes, she is," said Dae, "she's just hiding from her latest embarrassment."

"Huh?" Parada said. She must've seen the letter on the nightstand because she giggled. "Oh, I see. Anyway, Cozy Glow's summoning Queen Betty to the Castle in Canterlot. She has something that she's very eager to show her."

When I heard that, it came as a surprise to me. I quickly got out from underneath the covers. "Wait, Cozy Glow is summoning me?"

Parada nodded. "Yup, and she seems very excited about what she wants to show you!"

"Okay," I said, "inform her that I'm on my way!"

Parada nodded and gave a bow as she left. I got dressed and headed to the Castle in Canterlot. I was very curious to see what Cozy Glow wanted to show me.

* * *

Cozy Glow was there to greet me when I got to the castle. I tell how excited she was because she hoped up and down like Pinkie Pie would if she were excited about something.

I smiled at this. "So, what did you want to show me?"

"I've been practicing my Death Walker abilities with Grandpa Discord," chimed Cozy Glow, "and he's taught me some tricks that Mom can only dream of teaching me! Just don't tell her about that. I don't want to make her jealous, okay?"

I laughed. "Don't worry, Cozy Glow, I won't tell Sunset!"

Cozy Glow hopped up and down excitedly as we went to the training area. Once we got to the training area, Cozy Glow stood fifty feet away from a bullseye. Standing proudly in front of the bullseye, she picked up her bow and arrow. She then proceeded to spit out her arrows. What amazed me was that Cozy Glow spit out enough arrows for each feather on her right wing. Balancing her arrows on each feather, she pointed her wing in the direction of the bullseye. She raised her wing as high as she could and quickly let her wing down. All of the arrows shot out off her wing and hit the bullseye. The bullseye exploded, shattering into a million pieces.

I looked at what Cozy Glow did in awe. "Wow!"

Cozy Glow was very happy about the praise.

She smiled. "It took me two months to perfect this attack! Which is why I haven't used it in training yet. As you can see, it's a long-range attack. I don't know if I can use it up close yet."

"That's awesome, Cozy Glow!" I cheered.

Cozy Glow was still excited about what she had just done, but then her expression changed for some reason. She put a hoof over her mouth to stifle a laugh.

I raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

Then I felt someone yank on my tail. "Ow! That's my stupid tail, you know!"

I heard Norman laughing and I turned around to see him. "I think you should make your tail's official name Stupid."

"Well, it's attached to me," I growled, "so knock it off!"

I rolled my eyes because Norman just couldn't stop laughing.

"I can't knock it off, Betty," teased Norman, "it's way too much fun messing with you. Your reaction just adds fuel to the fire."

I rolled my eyes again. "Ha, ha, very funny, Norman!"

Cozy Glow laughed. "Dad, will you stop flirting with Aunt Betty? You're making her uncomfortable. Yes, I know about you two, Mom told me."

That didn't stop Norman from flirting with me. Cozy Glow's statement seemed to encourage it. He reached over and flicked the top of my ear making it twitch. Cozy Glow found this funny and walked away laughing.

When Cozy Glow left, Norman flicked my ear, again making it twitch, and at this point, I was really annoyed with him doing that. "Would you knock it off!"

Norman chuckled. "Nope! Like I said, it's way too much fun messing with you."

Thoroughly annoyed with Norman, I pushed him over, and he fell to the ground.

"Hey!" Norman said. Once Norman was on the ground, I sat on him. This reaction made him laugh.

I rolled my eyes and thought, Norman is getting on my nerves!

"This isn't funny, Norman," I growled, "I'm not getting up until you knock it off!"

"Oh, really?" Norman said. "Well then, we'll just have to have some fun out here then, won't we?"

I realized what Norman was talking about, so I stood up, feeling my face turn red. Norman got to his feet and grinned. "Honestly, Betty, you're giving me more ammunition to tease you. Your face is about as red as a tomato."

I didn't say anything, I just stood there staring at him. I couldn't react fast enough when Norman pulled me into his arms and kissed me.

Uh, don't you normally want to do this in private? I thought.

I wasn't sure if Norman heard me because he didn't stop kissing me. A little while later, he stopped kissing me and looked like he was in a daze. "What were you saying in my head just now?"

"I was saying," I said, "don't you usually do this someplace private?"

"Actually, this is a private area at the moment," Norman replied. "The training area is off-limits when we're in here. Only the family members of the Main Branch are allowed in here and they know what's going on."

"That may be true," I hesitated.

Norman rolled his eyes. "Wow, you're paranoid. However, I'm in the mood to just stand here and kiss you right now."

Norman went back to kissing me again. We broke the kiss when we heard Jasper's voice from behind us. "You two are absolutely adorable!"

I gave Norman a look as to say 'I told you so' and Norman gave me the same look.

Jasper smiled. "At least you two understand each other. Robert on the other hand, I don't think he understands me at all. He doesn't know how to even have a simple conversation. He just keeps giving me creepy bedroom looks."

I felt bad when Jasper said that. It looks like all Robert can think about was sex and not building up a relationship first.

Norman frowned. "Yeah I feel for you, even though Robert and I were friends before we got together, it seems like sex is the only thing Robert thinks about. I've been trying to reason with him about it."

"Yup, and he's a complete knucklehead!" Jasper said.

There was an awkward silence between us until I said something. "We did at least get you two to act civil towards each other. As far as the whole romance thing goes, I'm not sure if anyone can help you with that. I'm sorry, Jasper."

Jasper chuckled. "No need to apologize for Robert. He's not your responsibility. Well, I should go get some sleep. I just stopped by to say hi. See you later!"

Once Jasper left, Norman turned his attention to me. "You've been summoned today already. You can't be summoned until the next day. So I think I'll take the rest of the day off and spend it with you."

I nodded in agreement. I didn't mind spending time with him at all.

* * *

{Cozy Glow}

Norman Jr and I were walking around the castle aimlessly. I was trying my best to console him because of his heartbreak over Ruby getting married. It's safe to say that Ruby won't be at family dinners anymore for the time being. "Look, I know it's upsetting but you have to understand Ruby told you no from the very beginning. Why don't you chase after a girl that actually likes you?"

Norman Jr sighed. "I know, but all of the girls at school pale in comparison to Ruby. Besides, they're all kind of snobby anyways. Except for Bubbles, she's nice, and I don't mind hanging out with her."

I chuckled.

Norman Jr tilted his head. "What?"

Every time I saw Norman Jr and Bubbles together, it looked to me that they might make a great pair.

Bubbles was a young earth pony mare about the same age as Norman Jr. She had light blue fur and a red mane and tail with a blue stripe going down them.

"You know, Junior, you still have a few years to go before you can legally marry someone," I said. "You might be considered an adult, but you can't marry anyone until you're the age of thirty-five, and you're only thirty. But you are old enough to enlist in the Military."

Norman Jr shook his head. "No way, I've decided not to follow in Dad's footsteps! I want to be in show business, which is exactly why I'm going to college like you are! I'm going to be a star!"

"You want to know something interesting about Hell, Junior?" I asked.

"What?" he replied.

"There isn't a specific age that you have to be to become an adult," I said. "Once a child has all of the traits necessary for a demon then they're considered an adult."

"Seriously?" Norman Jr said.

I nodded. "The youngest demon that got considered to be an adult was the age of twelve. You want to know who it was?"

"Who?" Norman Jr asked.

"It was Ruby!" I answered. "And Aunt Betty became a full-fledged demon within days after she died."

"Wow!" Norman Jr whistled. "I knew Ruby was special! I should've known she was out of my league in the first place."

"You know, you should look for someone that is in your league," I said. Then I gave a teasing cough, "Bubbles!"

After I said that, I heard a small squeak from behind us. Norman Jr smiled when we saw Bubbles standing there. When Norman Jr saw her, she flipped some of her mane over her face. Norman Jr took his hoof and gently pushed her mane out of her face with it.

He chuckled. "You don't have to hide behind your mane all the time when you see me, Bubbles."

"I am . . . I . . ." Bubbles stammered.

I bit my bottom lip to keep myself from laughing at this cute conversation happening in front of me. Bubbles kind of reminded me of Grandma Fluttershy. The younger version of her, of course.

"See? I think she likes you!" I said in a sing-song tone of voice.

Bubbles squeaked and hid behind her mane again.

Norman Jr rolled his eyes. "She's my best friend! Of course she likes me!"

I snorted because Norman Jr is about as clueless on picking up on hints as Norman.

Norman Jr paused and it seemed like he understood what I was trying to say. "Are you implying what I think you are?"

I shifted my gaze and lied, "Nope, who said I was implying anything?"

Norman Jr narrowed his eyes at me. "Uh-huh, sure you're not!"

"S-so," stammered Bubbles, "uh, J-J-Junior, you want to hang out today? If you don't mind? I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to . . . I mean I can leave and go home and read a book or something else instead."

Norman Jr smiled. "Sure, we can hang out today. What do you want to do?"

Bubbles looked down and pawed at the ground with her hoof.

Bubbles is so cute! She totally reminds me of Grandma Fluttershy! I thought.

The way Bubbles acted around Norman Jr was adorable.

"You know, Bubbles," I said, "you should come over to Grandma Fluttershy's cottage sometime. Maybe she'll teach her legendary stare to keep Junior in line when you need to?"

Bubbles squeaked and I could tell she was trying so hard not to hide under her mane again.

"W-w-why would I do that?" Bubbles stammered.

I teased. "No reason."

As I started to walk away, I felt better knowing that Norman Jr had someone like Bubbles to hang out with. I also hoped that those two would get together sometime in the near future.

* * *

{Betty}

My ear twitching was what made me wake up. It startled me that I fell asleep because I didn't feel like I went to the Church of Satan to recover from a fight or something like that.

I fell asleep? What happened to me? I thought.

I looked around trying to get my bearings, and I saw I was in the observation room for the training area. The curtains were drawn and I noticed that I was naked and sleeping on top of someone. We were sleeping on top of a huge couch with a king-sized blanket on top of us.

I searched my brain trying to remember what happened. Two things that came to the front of my mind. The first thing was that Norman and I were out in the training area kissing and then the second thing I remember is coming up here.

I was confused about why I fell asleep. Demons don't need to sleep unless they're recovering from something.

Usually, I feel calm after sex but I don't fall asleep. Having sex with Dae calms me down, but I don't fall asleep afterward.

I looked and smiled as I saw that Norman was sleeping soundly, holding me as I had been sleeping on top of him. It felt like he was trying to protect me from something. Even so, I still felt confused as to why I fell asleep.

I fell asleep? My ear twitched as I tried to shake off the confusion.

Norman opened his eyes and yawned. I guess the look on my face said it all because he started laughing. That made it even harder for me to shake off the confusion I felt.

Norman stopped laughing. "You look confused."

"Uh, yeah," I said, "I'm trying to figure out why I fell asleep."

Norman smiled. "That's bound to happen when you're feeling relaxed."

I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I feel calm, but I don't usually fall asleep because of it."

Norman snickered.

"Ah. . ." I said.

"Aww, you look so cute right now," said Norman. "Do you remember me giving you that massage on that tense area on your back before sex?"

"So, that's why I don't remember anything!" I exclaimed.

"Good thing I can make the room soundproof with my Death Walker abilities," Norman said.

"Okay," I said, "what time is it?"

Norman looked at his watch. "It's 11:30 AM. Cozy Glow summoned you at 10 AM. Good thing I can put the sun on a timer so it can move every hour, instead of me having to do it manually."

I couldn't think of anything to say to that. I found that I was very comfortable and didn't want to move. Norman reached up and pinched the top of my ear with his index finger and thumb. It was as if my ear were trying to escape from being pinched because it twitched so hard to get away.

"Would you stop that?" I asked, batting his hand away.

Norman seemed to be having way too much fun when it comes down to messing with me. He started laughing again. I was starting to get annoyed with Norman's laughing. "Would you stop laughing? You're getting on my nerves!"

He stopped laughing and said, "At least you're not worrying about that rampaging clown at the moment. Honestly, Betty, if I worried about every single problem that came up in Equestria, I'd be in the hospital every week for it. I know that clown is an important issue but we can't do anything about it until we face him together. Until then, you shouldn't work yourself up so much about it."

At that moment, I thought back to when Mr. Giggles did that attack on me. I remembered feeling helpless, unable to stop what Mr. Giggles was doing to me. More now than ever, I wasn't sure how much strength I had. There's no way I can accept the title of Legend even more so now. I don't deserve it, just like I didn't deserve those two medals I got.

I got snapped out of my self-pity when Norman pinched my ear again.

"What are you thinking about?" Norman asked.

I sighed. "I'm thinking about how much of a failure I am."

"You're not a failure because something bad happened to you," Norman said. "Trust me, I know the feeling. I got attacked by a former teammate when I first became a General. I was almost raped by her when Jasper stepped in and killed her."

I was stunned by this information, so stunned I was speechless.

Norman chuckled. "What's the matter, Betty? You can't shield people from the bad things that might happen. I finally got over your death because I realized the same thing with you. I can't shield you from bad things that could happen."

When I finally got over my initial shock, I realized Norman was right. I thought it was funny because my brother seemed to be able to reason with me. Even though he and Dae were very different, they both managed to reach the same goal when it came down to matters concerning me.

I laughed. "You know something, I hate to say this, but just like I do with Dae, you're right. I still don't think I'm a Legend though. I'm not that special."

Norman snickered. "I'm going to tell you something that Jasper told me before we were married. The sooner you recognize your achievements, the better off you'll be."

I smiled. Once again, Norman said was right. But I still don't think I'm a Legend.

19) The Son of a Legend and the King of Hell

{Betty}

Sawyer had just taught me the basics of learning the third step of the Mirror Technique. I was at home practicing what I had just learned on the arrow obstacle course and I was having a hard time focusing. I kept pitying myself for not being able to learn this as fast as I could. Finally, I admitted defeat and sat down on one of the bleachers in the training area.

“I still don’t understand how I can be a Legend when I can’t stop a stupid rampaging clown? Better yet, can I stop him from attacking me again?” I said to myself.

“I heard you’re still beating yourself up about Mr. Giggles?” Sawyer asked.

I looked up and raised an eyebrow. “How’d you know that?”

“Well, number one, I heard you talking to yourself about it,” Sawyer answered. “Number two, Dae and Norman told me about it. Seeing that your ears are dropped, you’re definitely upset about something. Do you want to know why you won those two medals?”

I was curious, so I nodded. Sawyer came up and sat down beside me. "The medals that you won are medals that are rarely handed out. Those medals are called 'What Honors the Gods' and they're only handed to those that understand what it means to protect someone, whether it be complete strangers or friends and family. This type of person strives to honor this commitment, no matter what the costs."

"If that's the case," I said, "then why hasn't Dae or Norman won one?"

Sawyer laughed. "Norman and Dae are only concerned about protecting their territories, so to speak. The only reason Hell agreed to help Equestria out was because they have connections to each other. That's why the two came together to stop the war with Shadow Mist. They would never think to go out of their way to protect someone unless they had a connection with them. You, on the other hand, would! You see a threat and you don't hesitate to deal with it. Let me ask you this, did you have a connection with Hell when you went to capture Tirek, Queen Chrysalis, and the other two hundred prisoners that escaped from the prison in the Middle Ground?"

I thought about it and I knew the answer. "Well, no. As a matter of fact, when I first met Dae, he creeped me out and got on my last nerve."

Sawyer snorted. "Wow, and what about when you helped stop Grogar and saved Dae by putting Lucifer into the abyss?"

I didn't hesitate to answer. "It's true at that point I started to fall in love with Dae. When I saw how Lucifer hurt him, I didn't want Lucifer to harm anyone else. The same with Grogar. No one else was getting harmed under my watch. I made that resolve even before I lost twenty-five of my teammates on my tracking team. I was pissed when that spoiled brat Princess Twilight decided to throw me up against the wall because she was mad at me. That event made my resolve even stronger, I was going to protect people, it didn't matter what they were or what universe they came from. If someone needed to be protected, I was going to do that no matter what."

Sawyer smiled. "That's exactly why you won those two medals. Not only did you protect everyone to the fullest potential, without knowing it, you protected a whole entire universe!"

I sighed and looked away. "If that's the case, then why couldn't I stop Mr. Giggles from attacking me?"

"Oh, Betty," said Sawyer, "everyone is going to hit their limits sooner or later. Even Heavenly Jewel, the first-ever Death Walker, hit her limits. Heck, even Mr. Giggles has his limits! Why do you think he keeps retreating after fighting you? It wasn't until he searched through your memories that he was able to affect you, but he's no closer to defeating you than you are to defeating him. It's because of your drive to protect people, is that why you asked others to help you stop Mr. Giggles?"

I nodded. "That's exactly why I did that."

"I see," said Sawyer. "You know, people that win the type of medals you get are considered Legends in their own right. With the help that you now have, more than likely, you can stop Mr. Giggles before he sends more people to an early grave. Honestly, I think you should start accepting yourself for who you are. The first step to doing that is to accept the title of Legend. Understand?"

I nodded and replied, "Yeah, but that's easier said than done."

Sawyer laughed, "I know, so take as much as you need."

I found that remark funny because that's exactly what I told Norman when it came down to getting over my death.

"What's so funny?" Sawyer asked.

I cracked up. "I told Norman the same thing for him to get over my death!"

Sawyer smiled and then snorted. "You don't say? Well, I hope this information was beneficial to you. Just keep practicing what I've taught you so far. We'll train again a week from now."

Sawyer patted me on the head and stood up. He grabbed his robes and walked away. I did feel better about the talk we just had.

* * *

{Dae}

I'm getting increasingly frustrated with Max pestering Betty and chasing her around when she is clearly not interested in him at all. I kept thinking about a way to keep Max busy so he won't have time to go bug Betty about anything. One would think that Betty sticking a dagger in Max's chest and leaving him on the ground until she sends a servant to get him would get him to take a hint. But, unfortunately, Max is a very hard-headed person. That's exactly why we call him the Bug Max.

Max could care less about that. I finally thought of a plan. It's a bit of a gamble but I hoped it worked and Max would get the point.

So, I requested an audience with Max in the throne room. I laughed at Max's cautious demeanor when he entered the throne room, and with good reason. Max knows that when I ask him to come to the throne room, I haven't invited him to talk about something pleasant.

I had an evil smile on my face after Max bowed to me and I gave him the usual greeting.

"You asked to see me, Your Highness?" Max questioned. "What's this all about?"

"You are getting on mine and Betty's last nerve with pestering her all the time," I said. "How many daggers are you going to take to the chest before you get the point?"

"Ah . . ." Max said.

I made sure to keep the evil smirk on my face just to make Max feel uncomfortable. "So I came up with an idea that hopefully will keep you busy enough not to pester Betty. She has enough on her mind already. She's trying to stop a threat and if it isn't taken care of, there could be dire consequences. Not to mention, she has royal duties to attend to."

I took a breath and continued, trying not to see too much red at the moment. "That being said . . ."

I motioned for one of the guards standing next to me to come to me. "Could you please call Parada in here now?"

The guard nodded, "Yes, Your Highness."

Max had a look of confusion on his face because I called Parada into the throne room.

Parada entered the throne room and bowed to me. When Parada saw Max, she glared at him.

"Oh boy," I said, "I know none of the Royal Family members like Prince Max because of his stupidity at the moment."

Max looked like he wanted to protest but thankfully he kept his mouth shut.

I rolled my eyes and continued, "Although his stupidity has been providing some entertainment for some of us."

I stared at Max, daring him to say something that would get him thrown in a dungeon again. Although, when you think about it, being in a dungeon would be much better for him than getting one of Betty's daggers to the chest.

"Anyway," I said, "Parada, Prince Max will be your assistant for the time being."

Parada blinked. "Your Highness, forgive me for speaking out of term, but an assistant needs an assistant?"

I nodded. "Yes, and please be sure to assign him to things that don't involve going near the King or Queen, for that matter. I also request that, under no circumstances, Prince Max be allowed to summon us to the Land of the Living---ever!"

Parada snickered at Max's new job. I'm going to assume she thought it was funny that she would now be ordering a Prince of the royal family around by order of the King. At this point, Parada looked like she couldn't keep a straight face to save her life.

Max sneered at her and before he could say anything, I said, "I wouldn't start hurling insults at your new boss, Max, if I were you. Parada, you will be reporting to me how well Max is doing on the job. If you're not listening to Parada, Max, you know where you're going to end up next, right?"

Max was trying so hard not to roll his eyes. "Yes, Your Highness."

"Good," I said, "you two can go now."

I gave Max and Parada a dismissive wave and felt relieved when they left. Since I just finished taking care of my royal duties for the day, I figured I would go watch Betty train. I knew she would be overdoing it because Norman was busy today and wasn't able to watch her train.

* * *

{Betty}

It was another family dinner night, and it felt weird because Ruby wasn't there because she just got married. Strangely enough, when I fed Otis, he didn't cover the walls with food like he usually does when I feed him.

The other strange thing that happened was that Norman Jr invited his friend Bubbles to dinner. I smiled as the two were talking casually and laughing at each other's jokes.

Wow, it looks like Junior might be moving on from Ruby finally, Dae thought.

Yup, I thought, I think him and Bubbles make a good match.

Mama, Otis thought, Where's Ruby? Why isn't she here tonight?

I practically jumped out of my chair when I heard Otis' voice in my head, or at least I thought it was him.

Uh, Dae? I thought. Am I crazy or did I just hear Otis's voice inside my head?

Dae looked at Otis, raised an eyebrow, and thought, I think so? He's looking at you and waiting for an answer to his question.

I looked at Otis to see that Dae was right. Otis was looking at me waiting for something.

Um, Otis, Ruby's busy with her new husband, EJ, now, I thought.

You mean that guy who was sitting next to her a couple of weeks ago? Is that who she's with? Otis thought.

I nodded and thought, You'll be seeing her around the castle. I'm sure she'll stop in for a visit.

Oh, Otis thought. In case you're wondering, I'm done decorating the walls with food. It's not fun anymore. I only did it because of how you reacted to it. Food on the wall doesn't really give me any inspiration for my art.

Dae, how is it that Otis is able to communicate with us like this when he can't even talk yet? I thought.

Dae shrugged. I don't know. From what I do know, every demon develops at their own pace. But a demon being able to communicate by thought before being able to talk? I've never heard of that happening before. I wouldn't be surprised if he starts talking very soon after this. If he develops all of the demon traits needed very soon, he'll outdo Ruby and be the youngest demon ever to become an adult!

But how? He's only four years old now. I thought.

Well, maybe it's because he's the son of a Legend and the King of Hell? Dae thought.

Um, mommy, daddy? Otis thought.

Yes, Otis? I thought.

Everyone's stopped eating and they're staring at us. I don't get it, what's the big deal? Otis thought.

We looked up to see everyone was staring at us. Norman Jr seemed to be the most excited for some reason.

I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Otis is talking inside your head, isn't he?" Norman Jr asked.

"How did you figure that out?" I replied.

"Because Otis isn't acting like a normal toddler, Aunt Betty," Cozy Glow said.

Otis raised an eyebrow and thought, Talking inside your heads? What does that mean?

Well, you see, Otis, I explained silently, we're communicating by thought. Only me and your father can hear you right now. It's because you don't have the ability to speak with your mouth yet.

Otis nodded, Oh, I see.

Jasper looked at Otis and smiled. "Yup, Otis’ behavior isn't like a normal toddler’s behavior. Not in the slightest. Toddlers don't nod their heads and raise their eyebrows like that, last time I checked."

"Yeah, this is a surprise to us, too," I said. "Ruby didn't start doing this until the age of ten. She became a full-fledged demon at the age of twelve. She only went to school for a year because of that. If Otis develops quickly like we think he will, he might not have to go to school at all! He's already looking for inspiration for his art as a hobby."

Everyone gasped when they heard that.

"Wow! A full-fledged demon at the age of four!" Norman Jr cheered. "That's amazing!"

Bubbles paused. "Did you just refer to Otis as a demon? Isn't he a human?"

"Didn't you read the history book about the Legendary Death Walker, Betty Jewel?" Norman asked.

"Yes." Bubbles replied. "It said that Betty Jewel became the Queen of Hell when she married the King of Hell, Dae."

Norman Jr pointed at us. "Who do you think is sitting across the table from us now? Aunt Betty is the Legendary Death Walker! She's the Queen of Hell and she's married to Uncle Dae, who is the King of Hell. Otis is their son, so he's a demon. The same goes for Ruby and her husband EJ. They're demons too."

Bubbles gasped, blushed, and looked away.

Norman Jr chuckled, "It's okay, Bubbles. This is your first family dinner with us. Of course you didn't know. Don't worry, you'll get used to how this family is in no time."

Cozy Glow couldn't contain her laughter.

"What's so funny, Amethyst?" Norman Jr asked.

"I'm sorry, Junior," said Cozy Glow, "it's just that you two look so cute together."

"Would you stop teasing us about that?" Norman Jr snapped. "You're making Bubbles uncomfortable! Look, she's hiding behind her mane again."

I could tell everyone was trying not to laugh at this conversation just by the looks on their faces. I saw Otis yawning, giving me the signal he was tired.

Mama? I'm tired, can you take me to my crib? Otis thought. Will you tell everyone I said goodnight for me, please?

Sure, Otis, I thought.

Cozy Glow stopped talking and saw Otis drifting off to sleep.

"Awww," said Cozy Glow, "he's so cute when he's sleeping!"

I nodded. "Yeah, I need to go take Otis to his crib and he said to tell you guys goodnight."

"Goodnight, Otis!" everyone said.

Dae and I excused ourselves and said goodnight. As I carried Otis to his crib, I couldn't help but smile at how fast he was growing up.

"This is an interesting change of events," I said.

"Well, he is the son of a Legend and the King of Hell, after all," Dae said.

When I put Otis in his crib and turned off the lights, I wondered what he was dreaming about.

* * *

Dae and I were surprised at how quickly Otis developed his demon traits. It was right after he developed the ability to communicate by thought, he started talking.

Otis then discovered that he had the ability to fly, and he used it every chance he got to escape from his nanny. It was because of this, we went ahead and changed how his room looked to better suit his needs.

Dae and I were in the throne room taking care of our royal duties for the day when we heard Otis's nanny shouting. "Prince Otis, get back here right now, young man!"

"No, Milda!" Otis shouted. "I already told you I'm headed to the library to find more inspiration for my art! I don't need you to put a leash on me like I'm your pet! I know my way around the castle and if I get lost I can find my way back on my own, idiot!"

Dae and I exchanged a look and couldn't stop laughing.

"Wow," I said, "Otis knows how to throw insults at someone now."

"Well, he is almost an adult now," said Dae, "he's only got one more demon trait to develop. His magic. I wouldn't be surprised if that happens tomorrow because he can already fly. After that, he won't need a nanny anymore."

I tried so hard to keep a straight face when Otis burst into the throne room. "Mom? Dad? Can you please tell Milda I don't need that stupid baby leash anymore? Does she think I'm suddenly going to get memory loss and not be able to find my way around the castle? I'm not stupid like she is! Oh, and do me a favor and tell her I'm not here, please."

Dae chuckled, "Sure, no problem, Otis."

Milda came running into the throne room with a panicked look on her face. When she saw us, she bowed.

"It's okay Milda," said Dae, "you can look at us now."

Milda stood up. "Sorry, Your Highness, but I seem to have lost track of Prince Otis again."

At this point, I was biting my bottom lip to keep myself from laughing. I also did it to stop myself from giving away Otis's location.

"Now, Milda," said Dae, "Otis is almost an adult, and he'll be the youngest adult at the age of four! So it's safe to say that very soon we won't be needing your services anymore. If you lose track of him, I'm sure he'll be fine."

Milda let out a sigh of relief, "Yes, Your Highness."

Dae nodded. "You can go now."

Milda bowed and left the throne room. Otis was relieved when he saw that the coast was clear. "Thanks for doing that. Now, hopefully, I'll be able to evade that woman for the rest of the day. Can I start locking the door to my room to keep her out? Especially when it's time for sleep? I don't need a bedtime story!"

I couldn't hold my laughter in anymore. I composed myself, "Sure, Otis, that's fine. Once you develop all of your demon traits, you'll be considered an adult and you won't need her anymore. So it's fine."

I looked at Dae and he nodded in agreement. We started laughing as Otis walked away, looking happy that he'll be considered an adult soon and won't need Milda to take care of him anymore.

20) The Road to Acceptance

{Betty}

Within a week, Otis was officially declared the youngest adult in Hell ever! At the age of four, he had his coronation ceremony and was given his crown to show he is now an adult. Dae and I couldn't be more proud, and, of course, it was all over the news in the following week.

There was another family dinner night at the Castle in Canterlot and everyone there was amazed by the fact that Otis wasn't sitting in a high chair anymore. Dae and I had a chair made just for him so he could sit at the dinner table like an adult.

"Don't you think Otis is still a little too small to be sitting in a regular chair?" Norman asked.

"Small?" Otis gasped. "Small? I'm not small! I'm just short, humph!"

Dae and I laughed as Otis crossed his arms and scoffed at Norman. I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard when Norman's jaw dropped. "Wow, a four-year-old just scoffed at me, like an adult. Now I've seen everything!"

At this point, Dae and I were gasping for air because we were laughing so hard. Finally, we composed ourselves enough to speak.

"Kids," I teased, "they grow up so fast!"

"Too bad my kids don't grow up that fast," said Norman. "Jacob still takes a bottle."

Sunset rolled her eyes. "And I can't wait until he gets old enough to cover the walls with food!"

Otis had a look of disgust on his face.

I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"To think I actually thought throwing food was fun," Otis said. "What I don't get is why do I have this blue topaz jewel on my forehead? It's weird because when I touch it, it lights up, see?"

Otis tapped the jewel on his forehead and lit up, glowed for a short while, and then turned back to normal. Everyone, including me, gasped when we saw it.

"Does yours do that too, Junior?" Otis asked.

"Hmm," said Norman Jr, "let me see."

He tapped his jewel on his forehead, and it did the same thing as Otis's.

"Interesting," I said, "how'd you figure this out, Otis?"

Otis shrugged. "I was looking in the mirror at it one day, touched it, and that happened. I wonder what it means? Oh well, at least I'm not wearing that stupid baby leash from Milda. Once I became an adult, I burned it to celebrate."

Once again, Dae and I went into a fit of laughter, and this time everyone else joined in. Even Otis was laughing about it. After a while, we stopped laughing. Family dinner then went back to normal. When it was finished we said our goodbyes and parted ways.

* * *

Two days after family dinner, I was sitting on the bed in my room, smiling as I watched Dae sleep. He was sleeping because he had a long training session earlier and had to go to the Church of Satan to recover. Wow, he's cute when he's sleeping. He's working just as hard as I am to get ready to take down Mr. Giggles the next time we see him.

Dae laughed, his eyes still closed. "If you're going to admire me sleeping, at least lay down next to me and let me hold you."

I smiled and laid down next to him. "You know, I still can't believe Otis can fly, and he doesn't have any wings! I wonder how that happened?"

"Hmm, while that is puzzling, every demon is different," Dae said.

"I guess so."

"I heard Headcouncilman had a talk with you," said Dae. "What did he talk to you about?"

"The first thing he told me was to not feel bad about getting attacked by Mr. Giggles," I answered. "The second thing was about what the medals I won meant and why I'm a Legend because I won them."

"Oh?"

I nodded. "Yeah, apparently those medals are rarely handed out; they're called 'What Honors the Gods.' Because of my drive to protect people, I unknowingly protect the universe."

Dae whistled. "I knew you were special the very moment I laid eyes on you. I had been watching you before we even met."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I know."

Dae chuckled. "Your personality and strength were what drew me to you. I didn't know how sexy you were until after we got together. When I saw your sexy body, that was a bonus."

I felt my face turn red at that statement. Dae laughed, "You just can't seem to accept compliments, can you? Just like you can't seem to accept the title of Legend."

I replied, "That's another thing Headcouncilman talked to me about. He said the first step to accepting myself is accepting the title of Legend. That's easier said than done."

Dae snorted. "The Jewel family is a very interesting family, all right. When heroes are born in the family, they won't accept how special they are. When villains in the family are born, they pretty much leave a calling card. Let's see, a hero in the family goes, 'Me? A Hero? No, I'm nothing special' and a villain in the family goes, 'I am evil! Catch me if you can!'"

It took me a moment to realize Dae was right; when I did, it was a good thing I was on the bed because I would've fallen over, I was laughing so hard.

* * *

"Is this a practical joke, Sawyer?" I asked.

I was surprised because Sawyer and I were on the air obstacle course, hovering like normal and not crossed-legged. I was trying to figure out what we were doing. I decided not to listen in on his thoughts because that would spoil the surprise. I guess the look on my face said it all because Sawyer couldn't contain his laughter.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Um, Betty," said Sawyer, "have I ever played a practical joke on you?"

I shook my head and gave him a skeptical glance. "No, not yet."

Sawyer snorted. "I'm not one for practical jokes, like Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. I'm surprised they haven't grown out of that; they are old-timers, after all."

"At least Pinkie Pie's not trying to throw a party for me every time I see her now."

I could tell Sawyer wanted to laugh, but he didn't. "What we're doing here is part of learning the third step to the Mirror Technique. This step is learning balance, and I must say you broke a record learning the first two steps of the Mirror Technique! Usually, it takes more than two years to learn, and you learned in about a year and a half! So learning this step should be a piece of cake."

"Remember, the goal here isn't to catch all of the arrows but to focus on them only when you see them coming. If you do catch an arrow, that's fine. This step is about balance; depending on how much you have when making an attack, your attack will hit where it's supposed to go every time. If the attack is off-center, it might not hit where you want it to land. But, knowing you, even if your attacks are off-centered, you won't go down without a fight."

"With that being said, if you see an attack coming, it might be in your best interest when you see an arrow coming towards you to take a different course. However, even though someone has mastered the Mirror Technique, they still have a tendency to copy their opponent’s moves. A lot of times, this doesn't work in their favor. I'm going to assume Mr. Giggles copied your moves thinking it would take you down and make you weaker?"

I laughed, "Yup, he did, and he sure got that one wrong."

Sawyer smiled and nodded. "Okay then, when I turn on the obstacle course, we'll begin."

He went over and turned on the obstacle course. Just as he suspected, my first instinct was to copy his moves, along with catching the arrows. I only managed to copy the first ten moves Sawyer made. After that, he dodged most of my moves effortlessly. I even took a couple of arrows to the chest in the process. Even though I got the wind knocked out of me, I was determined to keep going. After a while, Sawyer ended the training session by landing a kick to my back and sending me flying face-first into the ground. He turned off the obstacle course and helped me to my feet.

"You do realize that you don't have to master this step on the first try, right?" Sawyer asked.

"Yeah, I know," I panted, "I just can't help but think that I need to stop Mr. Giggles before the ten-year deadline is up and he goes back to that cave in the afterlife so he can wait to be summoned and do it all over again."

Sawyer snorted and looked amused, but I didn't think anything about this was funny. "See, what I'd tell you? Although Norman and Dae are focused on saving people, you want to keep people from being needed to be saved in the first place."

I thought about it. "Well, I guess you're right. But isn't that part of the job title?"

Sawyer shook his head. "No, your job title is the Queen of Hell. It's your job to rule over Hell with Dae. The title of Legend is a title you've rightfully earned. You see titles like Legend, War Hero, et cetera, are titles that you earn based on your actions. Even Norman has a job title. He is the Ruler of Equestria, Prince Norman. Of course, he has another title—War Hero—because of his actions during the war with Shadow Mist. He has that title because he earned it." He grinned. "I can tell by the look on your face that you know I'm right."

I blushed and nodded. "Yes, I know."

"That's the training done for today. You should probably go to the Church of Satan to recover. All I need to do is relax for the rest of the day. Until next time, see you later!" After Sawyer left, I kept thinking about the title of Legend and why people think I deserve it. I kept thinking about it even when I went to the Church of Satan to recover.

* * *

Dae and I were sitting in our bedroom the next day when we heard shouting coming from down the hallway. We knew exactly what the shouting was about. The news reporters were at it again, chasing Otis down for an interview.

"I thought I said, leave. Me. Alone!" Otis roared.

We heard a loud boom, and we went outside to see that some of the news reporters' cameras were broken.

Otis noticed us staring at him, and he gave a sheepish smile. "Hi Mom, hi Dad, sorry about the news reporters and their cameras, but they won't quit stalking me!"

I can't speak for Dae, but I couldn't keep a serious face even if I wanted to. I looked over to see Dae didn't even bother to hold in his laughter, so I started laughing too.

Otis still had his sheepish smile. "I take it you're not upset with me?"

"No, Otis, what you did was in self-defense from those stalkers! Good idea! You're one smart cookie, my boy!" Dae said in between his laughter.

I snorted. "Now, why didn't I think of that when the reporters were following me around?"

"Yeah, and being the son of a Legend and the King of Hell doesn't really help matters either," Otis said. "Don't get me wrong, I'm proud to be your son and all, but when are these stupid reporters going to take no for an answer?"

I cracked up. "Well, at least the news reporters are the only thing you have to worry about right now. Just wait until you get older then you'll have something else to worry about."

Otis had a confused look. "What do you mean?"

Dae couldn't hide his amusement even if he wanted to. He couldn't seem to keep a straight face. "Don't worry, Otis, you'll see, but you're not old enough for that yet."

Otis nodded. "Oh, and Mom?"

"Yes, Otis?" I replied.

"Is there any chance I can watch you train sometime?" Otis asked. "From what I hear, you're an awesome fighter, which makes sense because you're Legend and all."

"I, ah . . ." I could feel my face turn red because I didn't know how to respond.

Dae snorted and then rolled his eyes.

Otis tilted his head. "What, was it something I said?"

Dae snorted again. "Your Mom doesn't know how to take a compliment. She can't accept the title of Legend, either."

Otis's jaw dropped and he gasped, "What?! How can you not accept that title? I mean there's gotta be a good reason you got that title, Mom. Or you wouldn't have it."

Dae went into full-on laughter so hard, I was surprised he could even speak. "Wow, a four-year-old reasoning with his mother! That's something you don't see every day! Otis, I'm going to let you in on a secret."

Otis raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"The key to watching your mom train is to watch her when she doesn't know she's being watched," Dae said. "That's what your Uncle Norman and I do all the time. I'll show you how to do it later, okay?"

Otis smiled and nodded. "Sure."

When Otis was out of earshot, I glared at Dae.

He gave me an amused look. "What?"

"What you did was not funny!" I snapped.

Dae laughed. "Hey, I was only stating the truth. If you ask me, I think Otis looks up to you, just like Ruby and I do."

"Why?" I asked.

Dae rolled his eyes. "Because you're a Legend. Duh!"

I didn't respond because I didn't know what to say.

21) Robert and Sunset cause problems

{Betty}

A couple of days later, I decided to start practicing the third step to the Mirror Technique on the air obstacle course. I kept what Sawyer said in mind. I could either copy the move or take a different route.

So, as usual, when I turned on the obstacle course, arrows came flying at me in different directions. I didn't start catching them right away. For the time being, I dodged the arrows, so I could think about what I was going to do; whether I was going to copy or take a different route. Even though this was my second time training on the obstacle course, I was determined to learn the third step to the Mirror Technique at all costs. I wasn't about to let Mr. Giggles take more people to an early grave.

As I trained, I managed to catch twenty of the arrows and used them to cancel each other out. I caught some more arrows and snapped them half, letting them fall to the floor. I took some arrows to the chest and I pulled them out, determined to keep going. I wasn’t going to stop until I passed out, or ran out of energy and couldn’t move. I took ten more arrows to the chest before that happened. I pulled out the arrows and turned off the obstacle course and laid on the ground flat on my back, trying to catch my breath.

I looked up to see Otis staring at me in awe. "So you're not a Legend because why now?"

This question was followed by Norman and Dae going into a fit of laughter.

Otis tilted his head and looked at them in confusion. "What's so funny?"

"As I said before," said Dae, "your mom doesn't know how to accept the title of Legend yet."

I decided it was time for me to stand up, and when I did, I felt woozy. So I had to sit right back down.

Dae's tone of voice had annoyance in it. "You just have to keep overdoing it, don't you? It's a good thing I found a way to keep Max from bothering you. Right now, it looks like you hardly have the strength to nail him with a dagger, let alone walk away from him. Which is understandable, because you did take about fifteen arrows to the chest!"

"I'm fine, Dae!" I growled.

Dae came over and picked me up in his arms and held me as if I were a baby. "Put me down, Dae!"

"No," replied Dae, "you're going to the Church of Satan, ASAP. You look like you can barely walk. So I'm going to carry you there, you little devil, you!"

Otis and Norman found Dae's display of affection funny and chuckled at it. I could feel my face turning red and buried it into Dae's shoulder to hide from them.

"That's cute," teased Dae. "Betty, we've been married for over thirty years now. Our anniversary was last week, after all. You're still way too sensitive when someone shows you some sort of affection."

At this point, my face was so red I felt the heat coming from it. Dae's response was to hold me closer to him. "Okay, guys, knock it off, I'm taking this one to the Church of Satan so she can recover."

* * *

The next time I woke up, I felt someone biting my ear. Judging by the way it was being done, it was Dae. "Seriously? What is with you and Norman munching on my ear lately?"

Dae chuckled. "You're just way too much fun to mess with, you know. We would stop doing it if you would stop reacting to it."

He bit my ear and it twitched.

"Would you knock it off!" I said.

Dae started laughing and that's when I noticed I was naked, and he was naked too. "Uh, Dae? Where are my clothes?"

Dae cracked up. "They got up and walked away."

I looked over to see that the closet was locked and laughed. I thought it was funny that Dae felt the need to lock the closet even though I can get into it with my magic. I knew exactly what Dae wanted, and judging by how horny I felt at the moment, I wanted the same thing. "Dae, did you really have to lock the closet?"

Dae responded, "I just figured we could spend some time together. I was just waiting for you to wake up, and now that you're awake . . ."

By the way Dae was holding me in his arms now, it didn't surprise me what happened next.

* * *

"I love playing with your tail," Norman said. We had just had sex, and he had my tail on his lap and was playing with it.

I nodded. "Uh-huh, just like you and Dae love to munch on my ear while I sleep. My ear isn't food! At least you don't lock the closet when you want sex."

Norman smirked. "I take it that's what Dae does?"

"Yup, although I do find it funny that he feels the need to do that when I can get in with my magic."

"That's very creative, but I'll leave that for Dae because that's his idea. Maybe I should try and hide your clothes instead?"

I regretted saying anything about what Dae does when he wants sex because it seemed to give Norman ideas. Norman snorted and then went into a fit of laughter.

I rolled my eyes, "Very funny, Norman."

I waited for Norman to stop laughing. He finally stopped. "You know, your sense of humor makes you even sexier. Maybe I'll write about that in my next love letter to you?"

"You know you don't have to do that, right?" I said.

"I know," said Norman, "actually Jasper made that suggestion to me. I agreed with him. I'm trying to help you learn to accept yourself. Especially with the fact that you can't seem to accept the fact that you're a Legend now. I figured helping you appreciate your body would help you get a better perspective."

"Huh, I never thought of it that way. You and Dae always say that I don't know how to take a compliment. I guess I should start working on that too. It just feels weird to me."

Norman nodded. "Either way, being able to be with you still makes me smile."

"Yeah," I said, "but compliments are weird for me, and they're kind of embarrassing, too."

Norman tilted his head and asked, "What's weird and embarrassing about receiving compliments?"

I looked at him and shrugged. "I don't know. I just remember being that way shortly after I became the Queen of Hell, and now a Legend. Remember that prophecy about me becoming a Legend?"

Norman nodded. "Yeah, I remember that."

"I guess you can say, I really was the Child of Prophecy after all!" I exclaimed.

"Uh-huh." Norman started playing with my tail again. It always felt good when he did that. So I leaned up against the headboard of the bed and enjoyed the pleasure I felt from it. Norman said something to me, and I didn't catch it because I was in a daze at this point.

I heard Norman say, "I got ya right where I want you!" Norman got on top of me and started kissing me. He was still playing with my tail at the same time. He stopped kissing me and looked into my eyes.

"What?" I asked.

Norman smiled and had a twinkle in his eye. "You're so cute, you know that? After falling for Jasper pretty hard, you're the second person I've fallen hard for."

"What about Sunset and Robert?" I asked.

"True, I fell for them," answered Norman. "I wasn't aware of their feelings for me until they ambushed me and got into my bed. Jasper, on the other hand, after I saved him, we became friends. Without knowing it, we developed feelings for each other. We became closer when I made him my Second-in-Command. He was more than qualified to do the job."

"Sunset and Robert are getting on my nerves at the moment. It seems like all they want to do when they're around me is have sex. Although, with Sunset, I think she just wants enough children from me to make her own personal army!"

I laughed because Equestria's military was big enough already.

"So, do you guys even have a conversation like we do before sex?" I questioned.

Norman shook his head. "Nope. They launch right into it without a second thought."

"Wow." I guess Norman didn't want to talk about this anymore and I didn't blame him. He started to kiss me again and played with my tail in the process. I didn't quite remember what happened. In all honesty, I didn't care to remember what happened as long as it made Norman happy. It made him happy knowing that he could help me get my mind off of current issues that were happening in Equestria at the moment.

* * *

{Norman}

The following Day, after Betty had gone home, I was sitting in the garden after having just raised the sun. I picked my favorite table, right in the middle of the garden, and started writing my next love letter to Betty. When I noticed Robert hovering over me, I closed my notebook because he was just being nosy as usual.

"Can't a guy catch a break without people hovering over him all the time?" I snapped.

"Sorry, Norman," said Robert, "another love letter to Betty, I assume?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, so?"

Robert smirked. "I think that's awfully sweet that you're doing that and I know why too. I've read her history book and seen her fight like she does in training. It's no wonder why she's a Legend now!"

I rolled my eyes again. "Okay, your point?"

"While I am still chasing after Jasper, Betty's pretty cute, too," Robert said.

My eyes went wide because I knew exactly what Robert was implying. "Listen, Robert, I can tell by the look on your face what you're thinking. Betty's not interested in being with anyone else at the moment. If you want to win her over, you're going to have to do something other than asking her for sex all the time. Why do you think she keeps throwing daggers at Max? I'm pretty sure she'll find another way to fend off your advances. So I would tread lightly if I were you."

"Okay, okay," said Robert, "so I should probably write Jasper and Betty love letters or something like that?"

I growled. "That would be a start. Honestly, you and Sunset need to work on being more romantic towards Jasper and me. You're both getting on my nerves, just jumping into bed without a second thought about it."

Robert looked away. "Oh. Is that why you haven't been with us in a while?"

"Exactly!" I responded. "Tell me something, Robert, do you even remember what my birthday is?"

Robert kept looking away. "Ah . . . "

"What about our wedding anniversary?" I asked.

"Ah . . ." Robert replied.

I bit my bottom lip to keep myself from crying and showing my anger.

"Norman, look, it's not like that," Robert said quickly, "You know being a Prince is just hectic, and I would think you would understand because you're the ruler of Equestria-"

"I see," I growled, narrowing my eyes when he finally looked at me. "You know something, Robert? I might be the ruler of Equestria, but I still remember important dates like our wedding anniversary! Obviously, the fact that you forgot and you have less work to do tells me that I'm not important to you. All you ever think of is your own selfish needs. Until you and Sunset can correct your attitude, I'm not getting into bed with either of you anytime soon. Tell Sunset that slapping me around isn't going to change my mind!"

"But, Norman-" Robert cried.

At this point, I had tears in my eyes. "Don't ‘but, Norman’ me!"

Robert sighed and hung his head. "Okay, I understand, and I'll tell Sunset how you feel."

"Good!" I snarled. "I hope you do! While you two work on trying to figure out how to fix this problem, don't come around me, and that includes bothering me while I'm in the garden taking a break! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some things to take care of, and have a good day!"

I got up and practically ran away from Robert as fast as I could before I did or said something I would regret.

* * *

{Betty}

It surprised me when the next time I was summoned, it was Robert and Sunset that summoned me. As soon as I got to the Castle in Canterlot, Robert and Sunset pulled me into Sunset's room.

Yup, summoning me is definitely a family affair! I thought.

Once Sunset and Robert sat down on the bed, I picked a chair and sat down across from them. "Okay, what did you guys summon me for?"

Oh," said Sunset with a nervous laugh, "we have a little problem with Norman. It's not his fault this time . . ."

Robert sighed and then mumbled, "It's our fault."

"I'm starting to see that most of our issues weren't Norman's fault to begin with," Sunset said. "You see, Norman hasn't been with us in a while."

"At least two months, to be exact," Robert added.

"I might've slapped him a couple of times, too, because of it," Sunset mumbled.

I was stunned by what Sunset just said. "You're joking! You slapped Norman because he wouldn't have sex with you? What on earth were you thinking, Sunset?"

Sunset's face turned red in embarrassment. "Well, it worked before, and he gave me Jacob because of it!"

I crossed my arms and scolded, "Now, you know for a fact that doesn't justify it or make it right. Maybe I should slap you around so you can see how you feel about it? That's abuse, Sunset, and I'm surprised Norman hasn't reported you to the Royal Court for it!"

"Okay, I get it!" Sunset said. "I really need to stop that. But that's part of the reason why we summoned you today."

"Apparently," said Robert, "we don't know how to be romantic towards Norman."

"Yeah, he doesn't seem to like jumping into bed without being romantic first," Sunset mumbled, looking down.

"Wow, that's a no-brainer!" I said with a tone of annoyance. "If Dae and I had that type of relationship, I would've left him a long time ago! I'm surprised Norman hasn't left you two yet."

"Yeah," said Robert, "there's something else we forgot to mention."

At this point, I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue this conversation.

Sunset squeaked, "We forgot our wedding anniversary."

I was floored and stunned by this information, "What?! How, how, how, how, how do you forget something as important as your wedding anniversary? I remember my wedding anniversary, and I'm the Queen of Hell! It's November the 6th! Dae remembers it, too! Unbelievable!"

Robert looked down. "Yeah, Jasper gave us the same lecture. You should've seen how hurt Norman was when he asked me about it."

I rolled my eyes and growled. "Well, duh! I'd be hurt too if Dae forgot about our wedding anniversary! Tell me, did you guys even love Norman when you married him?"

"Ah, well . . ." Robert and Sunset said.

"Well, we did love him when we married him, of course," Sunset said.

"After my last conversation with Norman, I'm beginning to see that I haven't been putting my all into the relationship like Norman has been," Robert said, frowning.

Sunset hung her head. "The same thing goes for me."

"So, I take it you want me to help in fixing this issue?" I asked.

Sunset and Robert nodded. I could tell by the sad and heartbroken looks on their faces that they really wanted me to help them.

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Well, this is going to be a tall order to try and fix. It's going to be a start because it's going to take time."

Sunset tilted her head. "How?"

"For starters," I suggested, "maybe try having a conversation that doesn't involve asking for sex all the time?"

"Okay," Robert said.

"Let's do a mock conversation," I said. "I'll show you how to do it, and then you two can practice it later. And, Sunset, if I hear that you're slapping Norman around again, I'll come down here and start slapping you myself, got it?"

Sunset gulped and nodded.

"Good," I said with a nod. "Let's pretend you're talking to Norman. I'll be Norman. Now, let's begin, how would you start a normal conversation?"

"Ah . . ." Robert and Sunset exchanged looks like they were dumbfounded and at a loss of what to say.

My jaw dropped and I gasped, "Oh, for Pete's sake! You two don't even know how to have a normal conversation with your husband? Seriously?" I composed myself. "Okay, let's start with this. 'Hi, dear, how was your day?"'

"Hi, dear, how was your day?" Robert and Sunset repeated.

I put on a fake smile. "Well, my day was wonderful! How was yours?"

"Ah . . . Good?" Robert and Sunset answered.

I groaned. I might as well be teaching preschoolers how to read and write. "Okay, what would you say next?"

Robert being Robert had to say it, and, for some reason, he gave me a flirting look when he did, "So, do you want to have sex?"

Just like when Norman started giving me funny looks all the time, I didn't want to know what Robert was thinking, so I shut his thoughts, along with Sunset’s, out.

I facepalmed. "Oh, for the love of Equestria! If you're going to have a normal conversation, you don't just ask for sex right away. If you do that, it's going to turn Norman off."

Sunset then nudged Robert on the shoulder and kicked him in the shin.

"Ow!"

"Uh, Sunset?" I said. "I don't think that was necessary. Okay, let's do that first question again."

"How was your day?" Sunset said.

I nodded. "Good." I looked at Robert. "Robert?"

"Oh, ah, how was your day?" Robert said.

"Good," I said, "my day was awesome! How was yours?"

"Good," Sunset said.

"And what would you like to say next?" I crossed my fingers, hoping that Robert and Sunset wouldn't need any more prompting just to be able to carry on a normal conversation.

Robert finally seemed to be catching on. "Oh, uh, what did you do today?"

"Oh, I'm glad you said that! I did my job of ruling over Equestria. So, what did you do today?" It really dumbfounded me that Robert and Sunset had no idea how to carry on a normal conversation with Norman. I spent the next three hours coaching those two idiots on how to have a normal conversation.

After I did that, I was so annoyed, I wanted to beat the crap out of someone, but decided that getting some fresh air would be best instead. When I went outside, I ran into Norman, who was sitting out in the garden taking a break from work.

"Sorry, Norman," I said, "I just came here to get some fresh air to clear my head."

Norman looked up. "It's okay, I'm not in the middle of anything right now, and even if I was, it's not like you came here to bug me. You look angry, what's up?"

I exhaled and said, "I was just trying to teach your two idiot spouses, Sunset and Robert, how to have a normal conversation that doesn't lead to sex."

Norman snorted. "So, how'd they do?"

I replied, "I'd say they barely passed with a D+. Oh and I told Sunset not to slap you ever again. And, for some reason, Robert started giving me creepy looks."

Norman laughed. "Thanks, you didn't have to do that. I told them until their attitude gets fixed, then don't come around me. As far as Robert goes, yeah, you might want to watch out for him."

"To think those two idiots summoned me to help them work on how to have a normal conversation with you," I growled. "I mean, seriously, how hard could it be to talk to your spouse? It's about as simple as asking your spouse if they would like a cup of tea!" I mocked, "Oh, dear, would you like a cup of tea?"

Norman smiled and played along, "Why, I'd love one!"

"Splendid," I joked, "would you like any sugar with that?"

"Yes, please!" Norman laughed.

"Okay," I said, "one lump or two?"

We laughed, and I sat down at the table next to him. He reached over and scratched me behind the ear, and I felt calm after that.

"Maybe the fact that they asked for help means that they do care about me?" Norman asked.

I sighed and shook my head. "I don't know. Only time will tell."

Norman nodded. At this point, I seriously hoped that Sunset and Robert would try their hardest to change how they act around Norman and make things better.

22) Jasper and Norman's two Idiot Spouses

{Norman}

I was in bed with Jasper in my room. I laid on my back staring up at the ceiling, not thinking about anything except the fact that Robert and Sunset could care less about our marriage. Even though Jasper and I had just had sex, it didn't take my mind off the situation much. It seemed Jasper felt the same way.

Jasper sighed, "I don't know what we're going to do about those two idiots. If you ask me, they're worse than Elise and Wild Ace! I can't believe they forgot our wedding anniversary!"

"Not to mention, according to Betty, they don't know how to have a normal conversation without them asking for sex all the time!" I said. "I mean, it's about as simple as asking someone if they want a cup of tea."

"Yeah, it makes me angry, too," said Jasper. "I really don't want to talk about it at the moment."

"Yeah, it's just hard not to think about it when the ones closest to you don't really care about you," I said.

"Anyway," said Jasper, "I saw you training with Betty, Cozy Glow, and Dae the other day. You still keep surprising me at how strong you're getting! Of course, Betty just can't help but overdo it."

I laughed. "Yeah, that's what Dae and I are trying to keep her from doing. It's a good thing she's already dead, or I'd say she's bound and determined to kill herself!"

Jasper snorted. "No kidding!"

I didn't say anything else, I just lay there staring up at the ceiling. Honestly, at this point, I don't think anything could help me actually get my mind off what's happening with Sunset and Robert.

* * *

{Betty}

Norman, Cozy Glow, Dae, and I had another practice session in the training area at the Castle on Canterlot. Once again, I pushed them to keep fighting until all of us could barely move. As we were sitting on the ground trying to catch our breaths, I looked over to see that Cozy Glow had a smile on her face.

"Oh, uh, before I forget," said Cozy Glow, "Dad, Dad Robert and Mom have something special planned for you on Hearth's Warming Eve."

Norman gave Cozy Glow a wary look and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, that I don't believe, and I'll believe it when I see it!"

Cozy Glow tilted her head, "Why?"

"Because every time they say they have something special planned for me, it wasn't really anything special at all," Norman growled. "Oh, Norman, would you be a dear and step into my office so I can give you a special slap to the face? Why, I'd love to, Sunset!

"Oh, Norman, would you be a dear and step into my office so I can give you some special sex for the 100th time this week? Why, I'd love to Robert!

"I will do anything for you two even though you can't even remember our own anniversary! Oh, yeah, something special alright!"

At this point, Norman was seething with rage.

Dae's jaw dropped. "Wow, I knew you guys were having issues, but I didn't know it was that bad!"

"Yeah, those two idiots summoned me so I could teach them how to have a normal conversation that doesn't lead to asking for sex!" I growled. "I'm with Norman on this; how on earth does someone forget about their own wedding anniversary?"

"Wow!" Dae and Cozy Glow said.

"I banned them from the observation room and gave them strict orders to stay away from me at the moment," Norman growled. He took a couple of deep breaths to try and calm himself down and it worked a little bit but not by much. I hugged him, and that seemed to help.

When Jasper came up to us, he had a look of concern on his face. "What's wrong, Norman?"

Cozy Glow frowned. "I'm sorry, but I made the mistake of informing Dad that Sunset and Dad Robert had something special planned for you and Dad on Hearth's Warming Eve! I didn't realize you guys were having problems, I'm sorry!"

Jasper reassured her, "Oh, don't worry about it, Cozy Glow. It's their fault, and not yours. They're selfish in every sense of the word!"

"I can understand that. I should've picked up on the cues for relationship problems," said Cozy Glow. "I scolded them for missing yours and Dad's birthdays. It's funny because they don't seem to have trouble remembering my and Junior’s birthdays. I don't know why that is."

Jasper shook his head. "I'm just as clueless as you are."

I shook my head in disbelief.

The watches on Norman and Jaspers wrists beeped.

Norman sighed. "It's time for me to go lower the sun."

"I have to raise the moon and take care of making the first arrangement of the stars for the night," Jasper said.

After that, we said our goodbyes for the day. Dae and I went back home, and I couldn't help but feel stunned by the way Sunset and Robert were acting.

* * *

{Norman}

I woke the next day to another regular day of my hectic job of being the ruler of Equestria. I sighed as I looked in the mirror while I was getting ready for work. I had spent the whole night restless and crying my eyes out over the heartache that's been happening with Robert and Sunset. It broke my heart even more to think that if things didn't work out, I might have to consider divorcing them, and that's the last thing I wanted to have happen.

Something special my ass! I kept thinking.

After I got ready for work, I left my room and started the day. As I walked to the throne room after raising the sun, I had two of my guards with me to make sure Sunset and Robert don't come near me as much as possible. Knowing Sunset, she would try to pull something by bringing Jacob with her and saying she wanted to spend time with me. I was right about that because when I came around the corner and when I heard my guards move behind me as if they were blocking someone from me, I was livid with rage when I saw Sunset holding Jacob in her arms.

"Exactly what are you trying to pull, Sunset?" I snarled.

"I'm not trying to pull anything!" Sunset cried. "I just thought you might like to see Jacob for a bit, you know, before you start work."

I tried to keep my composure as much as possible, but that was proving difficult because she was already pissing me off as it was. "No, Sunset, stay away from me, and I'll send a nanny for Jacob later! I don't need your help to see him. Stay away from me and far away from me, got it?"

Sunset hung her head. "Oh . . . Okay."

As Sunset walked away, I wiped the tears from my eyes and went to work business as usual.

* * *

{Betty}

A couple of days after the training session I had with Norman, Cozy Glow, and Dae, I was upset with Sunset because Norman had told me that she tried to bring Jacob with her as a way to be around Norman again. I talked to Sunset about this, and she confirmed it.

She told me that all she wanted was to be around Norman again. She said she wanted to change, but she didn't know where to start. I held myself back from beating the crap out of her because that wouldn't solve anything.

As I walked around the Castle in Hell with Dae, I knew I was upset because I felt my ears drop on the sides of my head. Dae was trying his best to comfort me, but it wasn't helping. After a while of walking around the castle, we were getting ready to go to the swimming area to relax when we ran into Parada.

Parada looked pissed off and annoyed about something.

"What's up, Parada?" Dae asked.

Parada sighed, "I'm sorry, Your Highness, but Prince Max has been quite the handful of a jerk to work with. In all honesty, I wish he could be fired from being a Prince."

When I saw Max hiding around the corner, I rolled my eyes at him.

Parada narrowed her eyes at Max and looked at us. "Could you excuse me for a second, Your Highness?"

Dae nodded. "Sure."

I literally bit my tongue to keep myself from laughing as Parada went over to Max and stomped on his foot, hissing at him. Max said, 'Ow' and Parada laid into him about not doing his job. Afterwards, Max scampered away like a dog with his tail between his legs.

I couldn't hold my laughter in at that point. Dae sure got a kick out of what he just saw, and he burst into laughter too. Parada came over and smiled when she saw us laughing. "I take it that the discipline I gave Prince Max was entertaining?"

"Oh, yeah, thanks for the comedy, Parada," I laughed. "I wish I could do that to Norman's two idiot spouses, Robert and Sunset."

"Oh," said Parada, "is that why you're upset, Your Highness?"

I nodded. "Yeah, that would be it. I had to coach them for three stinking hours on how to have a normal conversation. Not to mention, they forgot Norman and Jasper's birthdays and their wedding anniversary! I mean, what kind of self-respecting spouse does that?"

I knew I was angry because the castle started to shake right along with me. Dae pulled me into his arms to stop me from shaking.

"Betty, calm down," said Dae, "I don't know if there's anything we can do about it now. It's up to Sunset and Robert to make the change. They're not your responsibility, okay?"

I exhaled slowly. "Yeah, I know, I just wish they would stop hurting Norman like this. It breaks my heart to see his heartbreak. Unfortunately, I can't protect him from it."

Dae let go of me and grit his teeth. "Those two idiots are about as dumb as they come! I mean, they locked Norman and Jasper in a room until they confessed their feelings for each other. That was before they were married! That, to me, is a big red flag. If they had done that to me, I would've left them at the altar and wouldn't think twice about it. But that's in the past, and there's nothing we can do to change what happened then."

I looked down at the ground and felt my ears drop again. I looked over to see Parada staring up at the sky thoughtfully. She smiled.

"You have an idea, don't you, Parada?" I asked.

"I was thinking," said Parada, "when are Sunset and Robert's birthdays?"

"Well," I replied, "Sunset's birthday is the 1st of January, and Robert's birthday is January 31st."

"And when is Norman's birthday?" Parada asked.

"Norman's birthday happened three days ago," I said, "Norman's other spouse, Jasper's birthday is a couple of days before Norman's, and Sunset and Robert missed both of their birthdays!"

"When is their wedding anniversary?" Parada asked.

"November 1st," I paused. "Okay, where are you going with this?"

"I was thinking maybe you could urge Norman and Jasper to forget Sunset and Robert's birthdays just like they did with them. You know so Sunset and Robert can see how it feels?" Parada suggested.

I smiled, and I saw Dae smiling because it seemed we both liked Parada's idea.

"So, what you're saying is have Norman and Jasper forget Sunset and Robert's birthdays and no presents?" I said.

"Well, duh!" Parada responded. "If they forgot Sunset and Robert's birthdays, why would they have presents for them?"

I smiled and nodded. "You know something, Parada? That's not a bad idea, and I should suggest to Jasper to slap Sunset around a couple of times too. Knowing Jasper, he might just do more than slap her, if you know what I mean. Thanks, Parada!"

Parada chuckled. "It's no problem, Your Highness. You know what they say, what goes around comes around. Now, can I be excused, so I can track down that bug of a prince and make him do his job?"

Dae snorted, "Sure, Parada."

After Parada left, I smirked. "We have a wonderful assistant, don't we?"

Dae laughed. "Yes, we do, indeed!"

Soon after this conversation, I went to the Castle in Canterlot to talk to Norman and Jasper about Parada's idea. This brought smiles to their faces, and it made me happy knowing that I could help them out somehow.

* * *

{Norman}

After talking to Betty about her assistant’s idea for payback on Sunset and Robert, I felt happy about the plan.

On this day, I was walking around the garden, taking a break from work. As usual, I had my guards with me in case Robert or Sunset tried to pull anything. I really didn't even want to look at either of them at the moment.

I also brought my notebook with me so I could write my next love letter to Betty. I've also started writing love letters to Jasper, even though I see him pretty much every day. But there's no way I'm writing a love letter to Sunset or Robert.

I finally picked my favorite spot in the garden and started to pen my love letter to Betty. I groaned when I heard the guards blocking someone from me. I was steaming when I saw Sunset with Jacob in her arms. "I thought we talked about this, Sunset! You just can't help yourself, can you?"

"But I just wanted to-" Sunset started.

"I don't care!" I roared.

"Please, Norman, you're going to wake Jacob up!" Sunset pleaded.

"Well, you should've thought about that before you brought him here!" I hissed. "As you can see, I'm taking a break, and I don't want to be bothered by pests like you. Just get out of my sight. I can see Jacob on my own, without your help!"

I didn't even bother to watch Sunset go away. I sighed and returned to writing my love letter to Betty.

* * *

{Jasper}

Oh no, she didn't! Again? That's like the second time this week! When is this girl ever going to learn? She is just as bad as Robert with his creepy bedroom looks he's been giving me lately. I thought. I felt super angry when I saw what Sunset did to Norman. But this time I was prepared for it.

I had a nanny with me so she could take Jacob from Sunset when I cornered her. I hadn't been talking to her for weeks lately because I didn't feel like dealing with her. But today, I was going to talk to her all right, and she would get an earful of what I had to say. Not to mention I had a 'special surprise' for her.

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "So, you're talking to me now?"

I nodded and gave her a wicked smile. "Oh, yes. As a matter of fact, would you mind coming with me to my watchtower?"

I couldn't wait to give Sunset my special surprise. I already gave Robert his. There's no way I'm having sex with him anytime soon. The surprise is actually an Order-of-Protection watch. Once a person puts on that watch, they have to stay ten feet away from the person that gave it to them. If they don't, then they get a nice little electric shock to remind them to stay away. I've heard that some people don't get the point and the watch actually winds up killing them because it electrocutes them to death. I hope Sunset and Robert have enough common sense not to get electrocuted.

Sunset looked at me skeptically when I asked her to come to my watchtower with me. "Why do you want me to come to your watchtower?"

"I have a birthday present for you," I lied.

"But my birthday isn't for another month!" Sunset exclaimed.

"Well, let's just say this is an early birthday present," I said giving her a wicked smile again. "You never know, I could fall and hit my head and not remember it. Just like you did with mine. I can't see the future. So, let's say I'm doing this because just in case I forget. I'd rather be safe than sorry."

I was trying so hard to keep my composure. Once I got the watch I had for her on her wrist, she would have a birthday present she would never forget, that's for sure. I also had a little something for her to go with it. It's about time Sunset knew what it felt like to get slapped by someone for no reason other than they won't give you what you want.

As soon as we got inside my watchtower, I grabbed a nearby chair, forced Sunset to sit on it, tied her up in it, and slapped her as hard as I could. The pain from the slap I gave was intense, but I didn't care. Even though it was painful, it felt good to give her a taste of her own medicine.

"What was that for?" Sunset shrieked.

"That was for being abusive to Norman, you little Snake!" I roared. "I can't believe you would do that to him! Just who do you think you are? Slapping Norman around and bringing Jacob around him just to make him feel guilty, are you nuts?"

"But I just wanted . . . To be with him again . . ." Sunset sniffled.

I was livid with rage. "Haven't you given Norman enough heartache? Not only did you forget our wedding anniversary, but you forgot Norman's birthday on top of it! Why on earth would you think that Norman would want to be around you? And bringing Jacob as an excuse to be around him, on top of that? Really!"

Sunset opened her mouth to respond, but I wasn't about to let her, so I slapped her again.

"Would you stop slapping me?" Sunset growled.

I responded by slapping her again. "And I got plenty more where that came from!" I held myself from slapping her again. I tried to compose myself as much as possible. "You know, tying you to a chair like you did to Norman and slapping you around was only the first part of my birthday present for you."

Sunset gulped and I grinned. Based on the look of terror on her face, I could tell she didn’t want to find out what the second part of her present was. I went over to the nightstand and got the watch. I untied her and put the watch on her wrist. I already had the setting on the watch set. There was no way Sunset could change it, as that would require taking the watch off. Trying to take the watch off would also fry her, and that was another way that people get killed from it.

Sunset looked down at the watch. "You got me a watch? That's . . . Awfully nice of you."

I gave a wicked laugh. "Oh, it's nice, all right. This watch is an alarm watch. Let's say it's a restraining order issued to you. If you get within ten feet of me or Norman, an alarm will sound, and you'll get a nice little electric shock. I actually put the same settings on for Jacob, so you won't be able to try and use him as an excuse to guilt trip Norman into doing something for you. Let's see if it works."

I activated the watch settings by pressing a button that was on a remote in my pocket. As promised, because Sunset was standing in front of me, she got a nice little electric shock. She let out a yelp of pain. Normally, I wouldn't enjoy the suffering of my enemies, but in seeing what Sunset had been doing to Norman, I enjoyed her suffering.

"You know something, Sunset?" I sneered. "I already gave Robert his watch. No, don't worry, it won't electrocute you when you're taking a shower or anything like that. It only does that when you get close to me. I dare you to try and take it off."

Sunset tried to take off the watch, and she shrieked when she got shocked by it.

"As you know now," I said, "this will ban you from family dinner night for a while. The watch will stay on until Norman or I decide to take it off. You and Robert brought this torment on yourselves."

"But Robert and I have something special planned for you on Hearth's Warming Eve!" Sunset cried.

"And what might that be?" I snarled.

"I know it's not much," said Sunset, "but we were going to give you both double the presents this year."

I blinked at first, and then I started laughing hysterically. I finally stopped laughing, and I said, "Let me get this straight, you think that giving us double the presents for the holiday is going to show us that you're changing? You want to know my answer to that? It's a HELL, NO!"

"But-" Sunset started.

"Have you guys lost your damn mind?" I bellowed. "You want to know how you can show us that you've changed?"

"How?" Sunset said.

"Well, for starters, you can stop asking Norman for sex all the time," I said. "Next, you can start treating Norman and I like humans, and not objects for a change."

"But I don't do that, I just want-" Sunset said.

"I just want this, I just want that," I mocked. "What about what we want? Why don't you ever think about that, huh? Because you're too busy thinking about yourself all the time, then we are objects to you. Considering you don't even know how to have a conversation that doesn't involve asking for sex!"

Sunset looked down. "Oh."

I wanted to slap her again, but I held myself back from doing it. "Okay, now that that's taken care of, get out of my watchtower so I can get some sleep!"

When Sunset ran out of the watchtower crying, I slammed the door shut. Satisfied by what I had just done, I got ready for bed and went to sleep.

23) The Heartbreak

{Norman}

In light of the recent events with Sunset and Robert, Jasper and I agreed to go to a family counseling session. We left Cozy Glow, Norman Jr, and Jacob out of it because they had nothing to do with the problems that have been happening lately. We chose a therapist that was the best in the business, and it wasn't the same one that me or my mom went to, thankfully. This therapist only deals with matters concerning the Royal Family, and they're pretty good at what they do.

As soon as we entered the therapy room, Jasper and I turned off the alarms on Sunset and Robert’s watches. After Jasper and I did that, we sat as far away from them as possible. We had extra security measures by having a couple of the guards with us in the room in case things get out of hand.

The therapist sat in the middle of the room. "So, what seems to be the problem?"

"Oh, I don't know," I said, practically glaring at Sunset and Robert, "why don't you start by asking Sunset and Robert what the problem is?"

The therapist looked at Sunset and Robert. "Okay, what's the issue?"

Sunset sighed, "I slapped Norman sometimes because he didn't give me what I wanted."

The therapist looked shocked. "Oh, really? How do you justify that?"

"Well, I had to get his attention somehow," Sunset growled, "and it's his fault in the first place that I had to slap him!"

"Oh, hell no!" I snapped. "Really? It's my fault I got slapped? You can't always expect your way on everything, Sunset!"

At this point, I wanted to go over to Sunset and start slapping her around just so she could see how it feels. Jasper must've picked up on how I was feeling so he put a hand on my shoulder and shook his head. So I stayed where I was and crossed my arms. I realized that slapping Sunset around would be stooping to her level and I needed to be better than that.

"I agree with Prince Norman," said the therapist, "and not because he's the ruler of Equestria. Abusing someone because they don't give you what they want is just plain wrong."

"You want to know something, Sunset?" I said. "The only time I've ever hit someone is if they challenge me to fight, and it's always with consent. Although I did make the mistake of sending Jasper flying into a wall when we first met, and I realized that I was wrong and never did it again."

Robert nodded. "He's right, Sunset, back before Norman became the ruler of Equestria, he challenged me to a lot of fights and I always said yes. But sometimes I said no, and Norman respected that."

Sunset opened her mouth to say something but she didn't because, from the look on her face, I could tell that she knew Robert was right. But I knew she would never admit it because it would bruise her big ego. Of course, she decided to deflect Robert's statement by pointing the finger at him. "But what about you, Robert? You're the one that pesters Jasper and Norman for sex every day!"

"Yeah, so?" Robert said. "Your point?"

"You're just as bad as I am!" Sunset growled.

"Okay, calm down, you two," said the therapist. "As you can see, if one side of a relationship refuses to see their partner as equal, then that makes for a bad relationship. I've seen this type of relationship lead to divorce very quickly. It's always a nasty divorce when it deals with any one of the Royal Family. I take it Prince Norman and Prince Jasper, you two feel that you have been abused and don't feel like you're Prince Robert and Princess Sunset's equals?"

Jasper and I didn't say anything. We just nodded our heads.

"So, that's why you put the alarm watches on us and have guards blocking us from approaching you?" Sunset asked.

While I glared at Sunset and Robert in response, Jasper pretty much rolled his eyes and gave them a look as to say 'duh!'

"Well," said the therapist, "what do you say, Princess Sunset and Prince Robert? Do you two think you need to change? Or is it Prince Jasper and Prince Norman that need to change?"

Sunset and Robert exchanged a look and hung their heads.

"It's me and Sunset that need to change," Robert said.

"Okay," said the therapist, "what I'm recommending is family therapy once a month. If Prince Jasper and Prince Norman don't want to talk during the session, that's fine, and the same thing goes for you, too, Princess Sunset and Prince Robert. The silent treatment between the four of you can happen. Actually, as a matter of fact, I've seen this happen with plenty of other couples that come into my office. If that happens, I'll just sit here, drink a cup of coffee, and get caught up on my reading, while you four sit there glaring at each other.

"However, I do suggest that you talk about your problems at length, and then you can figure out where your anger towards each other comes from. That, to me, is the only way to move forward and make things better.

"Now Princess Sunset and Prince Robert, if you're serious about moving forward, then I think you should tell Prince Jasper and Prince Norman something. Actually, it's two things, if you please."

My heart broke as the only thing Sunset and Robert did was exchange a look. After that, there was nothing but silence for the rest of the session, as the four of us sat there glaring at each other. It was kind of comical because the therapist must've known we weren't going to talk to each other anytime soon, so she got a cup of coffee and, after offering some to us, she just sat there reading her book. The funny thing is, the book she was reading was Betty's history book. Honestly, I think the next therapy glare-off session, I'll bring Betty's history book and read it just to be spiteful. I think I'm going to suggest to Jasper to do the same thing.

After the session was over, Jasper and I turned on the alarms on Sunset and Roberts watches, and parted ways with them.

* * *

{Betty}

At the next family dinner, it was a gloomy atmosphere at the dinner table. Everyone sat at the dinner table with somber looks on their faces. Everyone knew why Sunset and Robert weren't there. Dae and I also informed Otis what was going on. Otis understood the situation perfectly.

At the dinner table, everyone sat and ate in silence for the most part. I felt heartbroken for Norman and Jasper given the current situation.

"I still can't believe that Dad Robert and Mom are acting this way!" Norman Jr growled. "I mean, who abuses someone they care about just to get what they want? Even I have enough sense not to do that with Bubbles! I mean, getting someone to go out on a date with you is one thing, but this? I don't get it."

Jasper shook his head. "I don't know. Honestly, I don't even think they knew what it meant to be married to someone in the first place. I can't believe that they're acting this way myself! They sent guards to apologize for them, but they didn't send a letter either. The guards just came up to us and said Princess Sunset and Prince Robert said they are sorry. When we asked the guards what they were sorry about, the guards had no response for us."

Norman Jr scoffed, "If they can't apologize either in person, or at least by sending a letter, then it doesn't count as an apology! The fact that they did it that way makes my blood boil!"

Cozy Glow nodded. "I agree with Junior, I have half a mind to shoot my arrows at them to snap them back to reality!"

Norman and Jasper laughed at the thought that Cozy Glow wanted to use Robert and Sunset as target practice.

"Uh, Cozy Glow?" I said. "Even if that is effective and all, that's not possible, unless you want to go to jail for murder."

Cozy Glow sighed. "Yeah, you're right, Aunt Betty. I already got turned to stone for declaring war on Equestria. I don't want to make another blunder like that again."

Even though Norman and Jasper were laughing at this, it didn't erase the heartache that loomed in the air. We ate the rest of dinner in silence. After it was over, things went back to business as usual.

* * *

In the following days, Sunset and Robert were starting to get on my nerves. They summoned me and wanted me to tell Norman and Jasper that they did nothing wrong.

Sunset wanted me to agree with her the most. She wanted me to tell Norman that she had every right to slap Norman around if he didn't give her what she wanted. I responded in kind by telling her that's abusive behavior, and she knew it too.

Robert wanted me to tell Jasper and Norman that he had every right to harass them for sex. He said that if they loved him that they would give him that. I told him that if they don't want to have sex then he should respect that. Jasper and Norman have just as much of a right to refuse sex as he does.

Once again, I spent three hours giving them sound advice on how to move forward in fixing issues in their relationship with Norman and Jasper. I told them it was simple, the next therapy session they could start by saying two words—'I'm sorry'---and then follow that up with 'I love you.'

Instead of listening to my advice, they wanted me to see that they were right and Norman and Jasper were wrong. They even tried to point out that it wasn't necessary for Norman and Jasper to put the alarm watches on them.

I looked into Equestrian law, and most of the time those watches are issued in a marriage when there's a form of abuse going on. The guards that protected Jasper and Norman were the ones that filed for the watches to give them extra protection from Robert and Sunset. That's because the guards saw everything that was being done. So, yes, it was necessary for the watches to be put on Sunset and Robert.

Sunset and Robert really wanted to be around Norman and Jasper again, and they wanted things to go back to the way they were before. I told them that they can't go back to the way things were because that's what got them into this mess in the first place.

They also wanted me to tell Norman and Jasper to take the alarm watches off them because, and I quote, 'they hurt like crap.'

I told them that I know abuse when I see it because I was abused growing up. I got a chance to kill my abuser, and I didn't find out she was a serial killer until after I killed her. I'm not going to suggest that Norman and Jasper kill Sunset and Robert because I know that they are deeply in love with them, and that's against the law in Equestria.

However, I did see that Norman and Jasper had taken off their necklaces that held all four of the main branch of the family's wedding rings. Now, Norman only wears his wedding ring and Jasper's wedding ring on his finger. Jasper wears his wedding ring and Norman's wedding on his finger. They told me that they weren't going to wear Sunset and Robert's wedding rings until they act like they know what it means to be married. The only way they are able to confirm that Sunset and Robert are willing to change is at the therapy sessions they're going to. So far, it's been nothing but the silent treatment.

Today, after spending another three hours trying to reason with Robert and Sunset, I had enough, and I was fed up with them. I told them to never summon me again, and if they do, I have every right to ignore it. Most of the time, I don't ignore a summons but in seeing the current situation, it's going to depend on who's summoning me.

I could tell I was getting nowhere trying to reason with Sunset and Robert, so I ended the conversation. When I left the room, I slammed the door shut so hard that I was surprised it didn't break.

After I left, I decided to get some fresh air to clear my head before I went back home so I could summon six hundred of my soldiers to use as moving punching bags. I went out to the garden out behind the castle and I picked the first table I found and sat down. I took a couple of deep breaths to calm myself down but it wasn't working. I was about to go back home when I saw Norman and Jasper walking around the garden. They paused when they saw me and they had looks of concern on their faces.

"What's wrong, Betty?" Jasper asked.

"Your two idiot spouses, Robert and Sunset, summoned me today," I said.

"What for?" Norman asked.

"They wanted me to convince you two that their abusive behavior was correct," I responded.

"What?!" Norman and Jasper gasped.

"Yeah, I know," I said, "those two just don't know how to listen to reason. I don't know what happened to those two, they weren't like this before you guys were married. Well, when they threw you two into a room and locked the door until you confessed your feelings for each other. Dae said even with just doing that, you two should have ran from the altar."

"And they still haven't apologized for it!" Jasper growled. "Their reasoning on that was, 'well it worked, didn't it?' If you ask me, we should probably lock those two in a mental asylum. I think they need more help than therapy."

"You can say that again," I said. "At least I got to kill my psychotic mother, but I suggest you not do that to Robert and Sunset. Maybe you two should let Cozy Glow use them as target practice, after all?"

Jasper chuckled, "Good idea, but I doubt that would work. At least I gave Sunset a taste of her own medicine before I put the alarm watch on her. I tied her to a chair and slapped her a couple of times like she did to Norman."

"Wow," I said. "At least you got closure on that one. I told them to never summon me again! If they do, I'm not coming. I have every right to ignore a summons, and normally I don't, but given the circumstances, I will. It's going to depend on who's summoning me."

"I don't blame you," said Jasper. "Let's hope they don't use Cozy Glow or Junior to get around that."

"Yeah, I hope not." Even though I was talking to Norman and Jasper, I still hadn't calmed down much. I sighed, "You know something? I would love to stay and chat, but I feel like I need to go home so I can summon six hundred of my soldiers so I can use them as moving punching bags."

Jasper raised an eyebrow. "Okay?"

Norman smiled. "Yeah, Betty can take on six hundred of her soldiers and not even break a sweat!"

"And that's with my wings tied behind my back," I added.

"Seriously?" Jasper said.

"I wonder," Norman said thoughtfully, "maybe I can summon six hundred of my soldiers for you to take on?"

I raised an eyebrow and then shook my head. "Are you sure about that? I don't want to damage anyone that's still alive or kill them for that matter."

"Well, they would have to be consenting, and when you think about it," said Norman, "who wouldn't want a chance to fight a legend? I take on twenty of my soldiers every week. Of course, I make sure not to use my Death Walker abilities, and some of them still end up with broken bones. It comes with the territory."

Jasper chuckled. "Yeah, I remember your first mission you went on when you first became a general. When you got back from it, it looked like you went through a haunted house and got beaten up by it!"

Norman shrugged. "Eh, yeah I just got stitches for that, and I almost got myself killed. Thanks to the magical barrier around my heart, that's what stopped me from getting killed."

"Okay, then," I said, "if you say so. Just remember to tell your soldiers it's their funeral."

Norman snorted, "Don't worry, I will."

* * *

As promised, Norman summoned six hundred of his soldiers. He even made them sign a consent form making them aware that they could be seriously injured and possibly killed when taking on a Legend. Just as Norman said, they were very eager for the chance to do that.

Like I usually do when I'm fighting someone in hand-to-hand combat, I made sure to tie down my wings behind my back. Norman, Cozy Glow, Norman Jr, Jasper, Dae, and Otis were sitting up on the observation balcony, and it didn't surprise me that the rest of the Royal Family Circus decided to show up and watch the fight.

All six hundred of Norman's soldiers surrounded me in a circle and Cozy Glow came out to help signal the start of the fight. She stood in the middle of the circle with her wings spread and a proud smile on her face. "Ready?" She let her wings down. "Go!"

That signaled for the fight to start, and Cozy Glow quickly flew back up to the observation balcony so she wouldn't get caught in the middle of it. Once she got back to the observation balcony, she chuckled when she saw Norman Jr and Otis sitting on the edges of her seats, with buckets of popcorn on their laps.

"Any popcorn left for me, by chance?" Cozy Glow laughed.

Otis pointed at the popcorn machine on the other side of the room. "Sure, there's plenty left."

"I was teasing, Otis," said Cozy Glow, "but okay."

She went over to the popcorn machine and got herself a bucket.

Dae chuckled and looked at Norman. "I don't know, Norman, it's one thing when your soldiers are willing to go to war. It's another thing when they're willing to go up against a Legend!"

"I know," Norman said, "my soldiers did agree to it, and Betty did say it's their funeral!"

"Wow! She's already gone through one hundred of them!" Jasper whistled. He looked at Norman Jr and Otis and grinned. "And Junior and Otis are loving every second of it!"

Norman looked at his stopwatch and smiled. "And she went through them in under thirty seconds flat!"

Jasper and Dae started laughing when they saw Norman's stopwatch.

"Yeah, if she were using her tracking powers, this whole fight would've been over with by now!" Dae declared.

Jasper tilted his head. "What do you mean by that?"

"The Bubble of Silence is something that a Death Walker uses to track someone down. It also comes in handy when you're in a battle, so you can see how many enemies you're fighting," Norman explained. "The only problem is that it takes extreme focus in order to be able to do it. That's proving to be very difficult for me, because I can't seem to concentrate with my eyes closed."

Jasper's jaw dropped. "Wow!"

I probably would've rolled my eyes at this conversation, but at the same time, Norman's soldiers were making this fight way too easy. I got through three hundred of them because they decided to do stupid stuff like charge at me and all I had to do was step to the side to dodge them. This made them run into a nearby wall.

I blew a raspberry at them and said, "Oh, come on guys! Why so stupid?"

Two of the soldiers tried to gang up on me, and one of them almost landed a kick to my back. I returned the favor, kicking one of the soldiers in the stomach sending him flying into the crowd of spectators.

"Oops!" I said. "My bad!"

That got a chuckle from the crowd. Before I knew it, I went through four hundred of Norman's soldiers, and I didn't even break a sweat. It wasn't long before I went through all six hundred of Norman's soldiers, and I was a little bit disappointed that the fight didn't last longer. I looked around to see that most of Norman's soldiers were lying on the ground trying to catch their breaths. I couldn't help myself, I burst into laughter at the sight.

After the Royal Family Circus cleared out of the training area Norman, Dae, Jasper, Cozy Glow, Otis, and Norman Jr came up to me.

"Wow! Norman wasn't kidding when he said you can take on six hundred soldiers and not even break a sweat!" Jasper cheered.

"Yeah, fighting demons is one thing," I said, "but fighting Norman's soldiers was child's play!"

"And you did it in five minutes flat!" Norman said proudly.

I couldn't help but laugh when I saw Norman's stopwatch.

"As I said before," said Otis, "you're not a Legend because why now?"

I stopped laughing and I could feel my face turn red so I looked away.

"Wow, Aunt Betty!" Norman Jr cheered. "That was so cool!"

He started throwing punches and kicks as if he were fighting an invisible enemy. "Take this and take that!"

Otis joined in on the mock fight to give Norman Jr a worthy opponent. Everyone except me couldn't hold in their laughter at Otis and Norman Jr's mock fight even if they wanted to.

"Man, I wish I had a camera!" Jasper laughed.

"Wow, Betty, your face is as red as a tomato!" Norman teased.

Dae rolled his eyes and smiled. "Okay, guys, I think you two can stop now. You're embarrassing the Legend over here."

"I'm not-" Then I stopped myself from saying what I was going to say. "You know what? I'm not even going to finish that sentence."

"This crap again, Mom?" Otis said. "You really need to learn how to take compliments."

I growled at Dae as he couldn't stop laughing and he was laughing so hard he was gasping for air.

"I'm not going to say a word because I have no comment on that," I said.

"A four-year-old," laughed Norman, "reasoning with his mother, yup you don't see that every day!"

"Okay, I'm done laughing," Dae said as he composed himself but it looked like he was going to start laughing again at a moment's notice.

"Lair!" I growled. Of course, that triggered Dae's laughter again.

When everyone stopped laughing, Dae cleared his throat. "Well, I think it's time for me, Otis, and the Legend to go home. Thanks for supplying the soldiers for Betty to fight, Norman. They sure put on quite a show! I'm sure this will be talked about for years to come!"

Norman grinned. "No problem, I can do it again anytime you want."

Dae, Otis, and I said our goodbyes and went back home.

24) The Death of Sunset

Author's Note

Trigger Warning:

I know some people don't like it when something bad happens to Sunset Shimmer but something bad does happen to her as to what this chapter's title is. So if you don't like that then I would suggest to wait to read the next chapter. After this chapter there's two more chapters left and this story will be complete.

If you're okay with this and want to find out what happens to Sunset then carry on...

24) The Death of Sunset

{Norman}

Given that I had Jasper put the alarm watch on Sunset, she was bound to be angry with me. According to Jasper he gave her a taste of her own medicine by slapping her around a couple of times when he put the watch on.

I had no idea how much Sunset hated me at the moment. I didn't understand why someone would hate someone that they care about just because I wouldn't stand for her abuse anymore. Thankfully, I had been training with Betty on how to get out of Sunset's attacks. Betty suggested I learn how to do this because Sunset might be crazy enough to try something to get me to submit to her abuse again.

I knew the most common attack that Sunset liked to use was her Rope Attack. She used that attack on me a lot to tie me to a chair just so she could slap me around until I gave her what she wanted.

Little did I know, Sunset was going to show me how much she hated me by trying to kill me today as I was sitting in the garden behind the castle writing another love letter. The love letter was to Jasper this time, and I wasn't really paying that much attention to my surroundings. I looked up when I saw Sunset's rope come out of nowhere. "What the-"

That was all I managed to say when her rope wrapped around my neck. I saw Sunset get a few electric shocks for the alarm watch, but she didn't seem to mind it.

Sunset smiled wickedly. "Now that I have your attention, I'm going to tell you something before you die, Norman. I had every right to do what I did to you, and it was your actions that caused our problems with our relationship! Don't you see, and I'll go after Jasper next for the alarm watch on me and slapping me afterward."

She is so full of herself! I rolled my eyes and smirked even though I was being strangled by Sunset's rope.

"Yeah, yeah, smile your last smile, Norman." Sunset sneered at me.

I used my Death Walker abilities to take out my sword that was always on my belt from behind my back. I turned it into a dagger and used it to slice Sunset's rope in two. I stumbled backward, trying to catch my breath. Good thing Betty taught me how to get out of Sunset's rope. I should've asked her to teach me this a long time ago!

Sunset had no idea how much stronger I've gotten since the last time I fought her in an actual battle. She also didn't know that I didn't summon Betty a lot just to have sex with her. I also trained with Betty, just in case something like this happened. Every time Sunset threw a barrage of attacks at me, I was able to deflect them effortlessly.

"How did you learn to do that?" Sunset asked.

"Well, you see, it's very simple," I replied, "I've been summoning Betty a lot lately, and not just to have sex. I've been training with her on how to get out of your attacks and I should've asked her a long time ago! Given the way you've been acting, I think we should check you into a mental asylum! Mostly because you really seem to think that your abusive attitude towards me is correct. Not to mention you're trying to kill me."

Sunset gave me an evil smirk. "Trying to kill you? For the record, I'm going to kill you! That's all there is to it! And your guards standing by won't be able to do a thing about it!"

"Yeah, yeah, that's a nice fantasy and all," I said, "but since you insist on trying to make that a reality, I'm not dying today thank you very much! If anything, you'll wind up in a dungeon for treason!"

As the fight dragged on, the guards had summoned Jasper and Cozy Glow to come help.

"What's going on?" Jasper said.

"Princess Sunset is trying to kill Prince Norman!" one of the guards exclaimed. "Princess Sunset’s first move was to try and choke Prince Norman, but thankfully he got out of that, but because they're both Death Walkers and stronger than we are, there's not much we can do! Princess Sunset is determined to kill Prince Norman at all costs! She also told Prince Norman that she wants to go after you, Prince Jasper, for putting the alarm watch on her!"

"Why, that little witch!" Cozy Glow shouted angrily. "Now I know normally I can't use my arrows on Mom as target practice, but right now, I think this situation warrants it! Don't you agree, Dad Jasper?"

Jasper nodded. "I agree, but I don't have my arrows with me at the moment. I guess I'll just have to find a way to get behind her somehow and try to disable her. Although right now it doesn't look like Norman needs any help."

Cozy Glow stomped a hoof on the ground and snarled. "It doesn't matter if he needs our help or not! Dad is the ruler of Equestria and Mom's acting like an evil witch! She's just as bad as Aunt Betty's Mom was! Aunt Betty fought her Mom to the death and even though she didn't need help, Uncle Dae and Mr. Harmony were standing by to help her if she got into trouble. Thankfully, there's no one around to broadcast this, and if there was they would be punished to the fullest extent of the law!

"True, Dad looks like he doesn't need help but we better jump in before he does! We need to nip this problem in the bud because if we don't, then there will be other citizens of the Royal Family that might try to do what Mom's doing right now. I hate to say this, but we might have to kill her in order to stop her. But hopefully, we won't have to do that, if we arrest her and bring her before the Royal Court, they will pass judgment on her, and I don't care if they execute her in the town square! You know what message that will send to other family members by punishing Mom for this?"

"What?" Jasper asked.

"Don't f*king mess with the main branch of the Royal Family unless you have a death wish!" Cozy Glow snarled.

Jasper chuckled, "Well, then, let's go help already!"

Honestly, I wished I was able to listen to that conversation instead of being busy fighting for my life because I would've found it quite comical. Unfortunately, Jasper was having a hard time keeping up with Sunset, she was moving too fast for him to catch her.

Cozy Glow hesitated at first and from what I gathered, she was trying to figure out if she should use her Death Walker weapon against Sunset or not. "Well, it's about time I got to use my arrows on a moving target. And this is self-defense, so it won't be a blunder, not by a long shot!"

Cozy Glow summoned her arrows and she did the same trick that Discord had been teaching her for a while now. I'd seen her practice it but I didn't think I'd see the day when she would actually get a chance to use it against someone. I never thought that Cozy Glow would have to use this attack against her own mother!

Cozy Glow summoned one arrow to hang on each of her feathers on her wing. She aimed them at Sunset and, when she let down her wing, her arrows zoomed right at Sunset. Two of Cozy Glow's arrows wrapped around Sunset's ankles stunning her enough to hold her in place. Sunset looked over to see that the attack had come from Cozy Glow and she snarled. "Cozy Glow, let me go this instant, young lady!"

"No way!" Cozy Glow responded.

"You know your Dad needs to have some sense knocked into him!" Sunset growled.

"And for what?" Cozy Glow snapped.

"Because he's not letting me have things, like another child!" Sunset sneered.

"You know something, Mom?" Cozy Glow scolded. "I've seen many couples married while going to college and they don't slap their spouses around just because they want another baby! I've done some research into the subject and sometimes making a baby isn't as easy as having sex a few times a day. Yes, I found out what sex is based on that research, no thanks to you! That's something you should've talked to me about before I had my first time!"

My jaw dropped when I heard Cozy Glow say that she had her first time already. Although I shouldn't be surprised because I had my first time before I even graduated from school. "Uh, Cozy Glow? I don't think I needed to know that, but thanks for the lecture anyway."

Jasper seemed to find Cozy Glow's lecture funny because he couldn't stop laughing. It's a good thing Cozy Glow had Sunset stunned with her arrows or I'd be dead right now.

"Oh," said Sunset, her face turned red, "I didn't know it wasn't that easy to have a baby. After Norman Jr was born, it took years for me to get pregnant with Jacob. I saw a doctor about it and he said everything was fine as far as my reproductive system goes. I didn't think to ask the doctor about that."

"Really, Mom!" Cozy Glow sneered. "It took me stunning you with my arrows and lecturing you for you to realize that? Yeah, you need to be checked into a mental asylum because you have a screw loose if you think that slapping Dad around is the right way to go about this?"

As Jasper and I stood by listening, I could tell Jasper wanted to laugh at Cozy Glow lecturing Sunset as much as I did. But I tried my best to keep a straight face and Jasper was doing the same thing.

Suddenly, Cozy Glow's arrows short circuited Sunset's alarm watch and gave her a third-degree burn up her arm. Sunset shrieked because of the pain.

"Serves you right!" Cozy Glow scolded. "Especially with all the pain you've caused Dad! Humph!"

For some reason, Sunset looked like she was being cooked alive, and I had a feeling it had something to do with Cozy Glow's arrows. We looked away because we didn't want to see Sunset's final movements. My heart broke with every breath Sunset was trying to get while being cooked alive. After a while, Sunset's lifeless body fell to the ground. One of the guards went over to her and checked her pulse. He frowned. "I'm sorry, Your Highness, but she's gone."

Even though Cozy Glow's eyes were full of tears, she paused. I looked at her. "What's wrong?"

"Oh boy, I just realized something," Cozy Glow said.

"I know what you're thinking, Cozy Glow," Betty said.

We all turned when we heard her voice, surprised to see her standing there.

Betty nodded. "Yes I know, did you forget that you summoned me for something today Cozy Glow?"

"Oh yeah, that's right I did forget because of what just happened." Cozy Glow said with a somber look. "But what I want to know is, aren't Death Walkers free to roam the afterlife when they die?"

"Only if they haven't committed a crime," Betty answered. "If a Death Walker has committed a crime before they died, then they do get sorted. Sunset's crime was no different than my Mom's crime. It premeditated murder, and the intent to carry it out. I killed my mother in self-defense so there's no way I would've been arrested for it. From what Headcouncilman told me, if a Death Walker commits a crime before they die, they go to Purgatory."

Cozy Glow tilted her head. "Purgatory?"

Betty nodded. "Yes, Purgatory, in that place the torture is constant and there's no break from it. I'll look at the records to see if Sunset will get put in there. More than likely she will. No one has ever escaped from there; it’s impossible—even for a Death Walker!"

"Well, you were right about one thing, Cozy Glow," Jasper said with a smile.

"About what?" Cozy Glow asked.

"Don't f*king mess with the main branch of the Royal Family unless you have a death wish!" Jasper chuckled.

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah, your Mom definitely had a death wish."

There was no making light of what just happened, even if what Cozy Glow just said was funny. My heartbreak doubled when we had Sunset's funeral.

* * *

{Betty}

I was severely pissed off at Sunset for the very simple fact that she would go so far as to try and kill Norman just because she felt her abuse towards him was warranted. It was sad to me that it took Cozy Glow stunning Sunset and lecturing her to get her to see the truth. Unfortunately, that lesson came a little too late.

It was a good thing that I taught Norman how to get out of Sunset's attacks, especially the rope that she would use to tie him up with. The only reason I knew how to get out of Sunset's attacks is that, before I sent her to Norman, I had an actual battle with her. I told her to use every single attack that she had against me.

So once I saw that Sunset was up to the task of training Norman and Cozy Glow, I sent her to them to help them develop their Death Walker abilities. I didn't know of Sunset's abusive behavior until I was told about it.

I checked the records, and Sunset did get sent to Purgatory, just like I thought she would. I actually breathed a sigh of relief when I found that out. Norman, Jasper, and Cozy Glow were relieved when I told them.

Given the recent events, Norman and Jasper placed Robert on house arrest for fear he might try to do the same thing. They put bars on Robert's windows, inside and out of his bedroom, and they also put bars behind his bedroom door.

He got fed three meals a day and was sent a servant once a week to have sex with. Most of the time, it was the same servant who agreed to be with Robert. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that the servant had feelings for him. This made the arrangement work out very well. Norman and Jasper made sure Robert's room was secure while he was on house arrest.

In the meantime, I was still practicing the Mirror Technique so I could stop Mr. Giggles before his ten-year timeline was up and he had to go back to his cave in the Afterlife. This would be the last time Mr. Giggles was going to be summoned if I had something to say about it.

The next time I met with Sawyer was a week after Sunset's death. He had me training on the ground this time and at a different obstacle course. The obstacle course was called The Straight Ground Obstacle Course. Normally, I don't train on this obstacle course because it's way too easy, just like fighting six hundred of Norman's soldiers.

I rolled my eyes when I saw this. "Exactly why are we training on the baby obstacle course?"

Sawyer chuckled. "I know this obstacle course is a cakewalk for you, but I've upped the ante to Expert Level 12."

"And that's going to make it harder, how?" I said.

"Well," answered Sawyer, "I've added ten times more of the distraction for you and chosen ten of your elite soldiers to cause even more distractions for you as we train."

Although Sawyer assured me that this was going to be difficult, I had my reservations about it. I didn't have to tie my wings down because Sawyer said I was going to need them for this.

"Oh, and one more thing," said Sawyer, "you'll be fighting me also."

I rolled my eyes again. "Uh-huh, yeah, this will be difficult, indeed."

Sawyer cracked up. "Yeah, I can see your skepticism. Now, remember, when you see an attack coming, you decide whether or not you want to copy it or go a different direction. Now, let's begin!"

Once Sawyer used his powers to turn the obstacle course on, several different distractions came my way. I barely kept up with everything, and that included my soldiers that Sawyer had chosen for this. A couple of times, everyone I was fighting got a couple of good hits on me. After one of my soldiers landed a kick to my stomach, Sawyer decided to end the training session. I was on my back on the ground, trying to catch my breath.

Sawyer dismissed the soldiers and came over to me and helped me get to my feet. He had a grin on his face. "I'm sorry, what baby obstacle course again?"

I grit my teeth. "I'm not saying a word."

"If it's any consolation," said Sawyer, "you did pretty good for your first time training on this. Not bad, kid!"

I rolled my eyes. "Last time I checked, I'm not a kid."

"Okay," said Sawyer, "we'll do this again next week. Oh, and I heard you trained in the Land of the Living by taking on six hundred of Norman's soldiers, how was it?"

I laughed. "It was way too easy! According to Norman's stopwatch, I finished in under five minutes flat!"

Sawyer laughed. "Well, duh! Of course you finished in under five minutes! I don't why Norman would feel he needed a stopwatch for that."

I shrugged. "I don't know, probably because of the heat of excitement. And then Norman Jr and Otis decided to do a mock fight in tribute to it."

Sawyer found this funny and couldn't stop laughing. It seemed like forever as I waited for the laughter to stop. When it did, he said, "Wow, even the children look up to you, isn't that sweet?"

"Yeah, Otis has been lecturing me on how I should accept compliments. And if you start laughing about that-" I stopped talking because Sawyer started laughing again. "Fine! I'll work on it! Just stop laughing already!"

Sawyer composed himself. "Well, like I said, we'll do this again next week. I must say it's wonderful knowing that you learned the Mirror Technique as fast as you did. Which doesn't surprise me because you are a Legend and all. Well, until next time, see ya!"

I was surprised that Sawyer didn't die laughing as he grabbed his robes and walked away. But since he's already dead, it's not possible to kill him again.

* * *

After Sawyer left, I just stood there annoyed with his laughter. Norman and Dae came up to me.

"Why do you look annoyed right now?" Dae asked.

"I'm annoyed because it seems like every other thing I do is hilarious all of the sudden," I responded. "This is funny, that's funny! Ha, ha, ha! I wonder if Headcouncilman has been replaced by a robot and someone set his settings to laughter mode?"

I facepalmed as Norman and Dae burst into laughter.

"I'm sorry, Betty, but Headcouncilman is correct," said Dae, "you are very entertaining, maybe you should try your hand in show business?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, no, I think I'll keep my day job thank you very much!"

"Oh, I forgot to mention," said Norman, "that my guards and I found a possible lead as to where Mr. Giggles might be living now. I sensed his power coming from a trail that leads into the Everfree Forest. It leads in the exact opposite direction of the Castle of The Two Sisters, which makes sense because the castle is protected by a magical barrier that Mr. Giggles can't get through. It's the same type of barrier that Discord helped me set up to put around the Castle in Canterlot."

"So why do you think it's a possible lead?" I asked.

"Well, since my tracking powers aren't developed fully," said Norman, "I need your help to verify it."

I smiled and nodded. "It's about time we figure out where that stupid clown lives! I think it's time we go pay him a visit, and he's not getting any more food from Equestria because we're going to kill him if it's the last thing we do!"

Norman nodded. "All right, I'll let Cozy Glow know. Where are we going to meet up?"

"I say we meet up at the drawbridge near the entrance of the Castle in Canterlot," I replied, "and we should probably do it first thing in the morning."

"Alright, that sounds like a plan," Norman said.

I felt much better knowing that there might be a lead as to where Mr. Giggles lives. I'm going to kill that clown if it's the last thing I do!

25) Follow the Lead

{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.

26) Out of the Clown and back into reality

{Jasper}

As I watched anxiously, constantly looking out the balcony of the watchtower, I knew something was wrong but I couldn't place my finger on what it was. I knew that Norman, Betty, Cozy Glow, and Dae were doing everything in their power to stop Mr. Giggles. But I wasn't going to be satisfied until they were home safe. The last time I looked out of the balcony, I finally saw Norman, Dae, Cozy Glow. and Betty coming back. I quickly ran downstairs. "Guys, they're home!"

I ran out of the watchtower as fast as I could, with the rest of the family that was in the watchtower with me following close by. We stopped short when we saw Norman holding Betty in his arms.

"What happened?" I asked.

Cozy Glow sighed. "Mr. Giggles ate Aunt Betty, and even though her magic slowly killed him from the inside out, Uncle Dae, Dad, and I helped speed up his death. I used that arrow trick that Grandpa Discord taught me and I got Mr. Giggles to show his true form. Mr. Giggles said he was torturing Aunt Betty while she was inside his stomach. I suspect that either my arrow trick or the torture did this to her."

Discord smiled and shook his head. "No, Cozy Glow, it wasn't your arrow that did this. That type of attack was to protect Betty from Mr. Giggles’ mind games. That attack combined with the one that gets him to show his true form is what saved Betty."

"And I have a confession to make. That stunning arrow attack I showed you, that type of attack senses someone's true intent and decides whether or not to kill them."

Cozy Glow gasped. "That's what happened to Mom? Her evil intent killed her?"

Discord nodded. "Yup, she was trying to kill your father, so yeah. You did great, Cozy Glow!"

A look of relief was on Cozy Glow's face. "Well, the question is, how do we get Aunt Betty to wake up?"

As I listened to this whole conversation, I was trying to figure out how to get Betty to wake up. I knew Betty was in a deep sleep as soon as I saw her. Then I figured it out, but there was no way to tell if it would work or not. But it was worth a try. "I think I know of a way that might help and I say might because I'm not sure if it will work."

"What are you talking about, Jasper?" Norman asked.

"Well, I've done this several times in the hospital with patients that are in a coma. I can get inside a person's present dream and pull them back to reality by it," I answered. "But since Betty's a Death Walker, and a Demon on top of that, I'm not sure if it'll work. But it's worth a try."

Everyone nodded. We took Betty up to the watchtower and put her on a cot next to my bed. I grabbed my Dreamwalker tool and after I lay down on my bed, I turned it on and instantly fell asleep.

* * *

{Betty}

I didn't know what was happening to me. All I knew was that I was dreaming. It had to be a dream. Which was strange because demons don't dream when they sleep. Not as far as I know of. I tried as hard as I could but I just couldn't wake up.

It wasn't so much of a dream, as much as a nightmare that I was stuck in because it was an old memory I was having about when I was seven years old and Norman was six years old.

Norman had just stood up for me when Mom was getting ready to smack me for not cleaning a glass of milk that Norman had just spilled on the floor. Afterward, Norman helped me clean up the mess that he made. We were headed towards the living room to go watch TV when Mom came after Norman with a baseball bat.

I saw Mom coming and stepped in front of Norman to shield him from the attack. That was when Mom started to beat me with the bat instead. Norman pleaded with Mom to stop but his pleas fell on deaf ears. I sank to my knees in pain until the bat finally broke. After that, I passed out.

The memory just kept playing over and over again and I couldn't get to stop. After what seemed like forever, I heard Jasper shout, "ENOUGH!"

Instantly, the memory disappeared and I let out a sigh of relief when it stopped. I was puzzled when I saw Jasper standing there and realized he was able to get rid of the memory.

"Wow," said Jasper, "Norman told me your Mom was psycho, but I didn't think it was that bad!"

When Jasper said that, I smiled. After recovering from the pain of the memory I just had, I decided to relive another memory. It was a happy memory for me now that I look back on it. The memory was about the day I killed Mom.

Jasper tilted his head. "What's that happy look for, Betty?"

"Just watch, Jasper." I pointed my index finger out into the open air and the memory played.

The memory started with my Mom standing in front of me with the hole in her chest from the severe wound I just dealt her. I saw her come up to me and embrace me and she said, "What I want to say to you . . . Before I die . . . Is . . . I love you."

Seething with anger, I said, "Like I care!"

I pushed her away from me and punched her in her chest where the severe wound was. After she went flying down the steps, the last word she uttered was my name.

"And don't ever say my name again!" I snarled.

After the memory played, I started laughing like a psycho.

"Okay," said Jasper, "what's so funny?"

I chuckled. "It's funny because every time I have a bad memory, I just replace it with this one, and voila! I'm a sane woman again!"

Jasper snorted. "Well, whatever helps, I guess. You got closure on that, at least. Now, come on, let's get you out of here!"

I paused and looked around. I couldn't get my bearings as to where I was. "Uh, exactly where is here?"

"You're in the dream realm," answered Jasper. "Since I take care of the night now, part of my responsibilities is to go into a person's dream and help them deal with it."

"Oh, I see," I said. "But if we're in a dream world, then why can't I wake up?"

"Well, you're actually in a coma from being inside Mr. Giggles’ stomach," Jasper explained.

My eyes went wide. "You mean that clown actually ate me?"

Jasper nodded. "Yup, and Cozy Glow, Norman, and Dae sped up his death so they could get to you."

I paused. "Speed up his death?"

"Yup," replied Jasper, "your magic was wreaking havoc on Mr. Giggles, slowly killing him from the inside out. So Cozy Glow, Norman, and Dae took the opportunity to help you kill him. So the rampaging clown is dead, finally."

"Works for me!" I said.

With that, Jasper grabbed my hand and we walked out of the dream realm together.

* * *

The next time I opened my eyes, I was in Jasper's bedroom, lying on a cot next to his bed. Jasper opened his eyes, looked at me, and smiled. "Welcome back, Betty!"

I looked around the room to see my family all let out sighs of relief now that I was awake. Everyone from the main branch of my family and Norman's family, except for Robert, was there. Norman reached over and licked my ear and then Dae followed suit by biting my other ear.

"Gross!" I said. Everyone laughed as I gave Dae and Norman a look of annoyance. "Okay, first of all, Norman, gross. Dae, I'm not food!"

Cozy Glow laughed. "We're just happy you're awake!"

"It seems that Mr. Giggle's form of torture for Betty was a bad memory playing over and over again," Jasper said.

"What memory was it?" Norman asked.

"Do you remember the day your mother came after Betty with a baseball bat and beat her with it until it broke?" Jasper replied.

Norman snarled and balled his hands into fists. "Yeah, I remember that day, all right! Mom almost killed Betty that day. When Betty passed out, Mom panicked and rushed her to the hospital. Since the police couldn't pin Mom down for child abuse, once Betty recovered, they sent her right back home."

Everyone except me and Norman gasped when they heard this. I chuckled, "It's okay Norman."

"No, it's not okay!" Norman snapped.

"Actually, it is okay, you want to know why?" I said.

Norman took on a puzzled look. "Why?"

"Well, for one I killed the witch," I responded, "and, number two, I still have something to remember what I did that day."

Norman paused. "Huh?"

From my right breast pocket, I pulled out Mom’s calling card I had retrieved from where our fight had taken place.

Dae laughed. "I forgot you still had that thing. If it were me, I would've burned it by now."

"That's exactly what I told her," Norman said.

"I keep it to remind me of why I do the things I do to protect people before they need to be saved," I explained. "Although I'm still confused about why I got my first medal after losing half of my tracking team when I wasn't there to protect them."

Dae groaned. "Oh boy, remember what I said about not being able to protect all of the citizens of Hell? Your teammates went into that job knowing that it could be dangerous because of who they were after. You did the same thing. As a matter of fact, ever since you became a Death Walker you used your strength to protect as many people as you can. Don't you remember catching Queen Chrysalis and Grogar?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"You did that with your strength and determination to protect people. Before you caught Tirek you actually promised yourself that you would protect everyone," Dae answered. "I still think that was a stupid promise to make but you kept it and did what you set out to do."

"You know, Headcouniclman did tell me that medals that I got are very rarely handed out," I said.

Norman tilted his head. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, they're called 'What Honors the Gods' and they're for those that know what it means to protect people and actually do it," I explained. "For those who protect others, no matter what country they're in. Apparently, that's what I do. I can't help it. I guess, it's within my nature to do that. And, no, I don't want the God title added onto the title I already have as a Legend. I'm not taking that title either, so don't bother!"

Everyone seemed to get a real kick out of that because they burst into laughter.

"I don't know, Betty," teased Norman, "I might just get J.J. Knoll to write another history book about you and have him call it 'The Legendary God Death Walker Betty Jewel!'"

"That's not funny, Norman!" I said. I tried to get out of bed but when I stood up, I felt woozy, so I sat back down. I looked over at Dae and it looked like there were two of him sitting beside me. "Uh, Dae?"

"Yes, Betty?" Dae responded.

"How many of you are there in front of me?" I asked.

"Based on that response," said Dae, "you're not getting out of bed for a little bit. You need to rest and recover before you go to the Church of Satan to finish building up your strength."

"We should probably move her to the bedroom you guys always stay in when you come for a visit?" Norman suggested.

Dae nodded. "Uh-huh. I totally agree."

"Well, I know one thing for sure," I said.

"What?" Dae said.

"I'm not going to sleep as long as I-" I stopped myself and then said, "Well, I would say as long as I live, but since I'm dead, I guess as long as I'm dead!"

Everyone burst into laughter at that statement. I had to admit what I said was funny that time.

* * *

A few weeks later, I had recovered enough from being in Mr. Giggles’ stomach.

I also received some good news. Robert finally told Jasper and Norman the words, 'I'm sorry' and 'I love you'. Now Jasper, Norman, and Robert are moving forward in fixing issues in their relationship. Eventually, Robert was let off of house arrest because of it.

Norman moved on from Sunset and married a regular woman, who's not a Death Walker or anything like that, named Sharen. She was considered part of the main branch of the family because she married Norman directly.

The next time I met with Sawyer, he told me that I didn't learn the Mirror Technique for nothing. He said there were going to be more threats in the future that I could use the Mirror Technique against them. Even still, I kept up my practice with it.

Norman also started summoning me to the castle, not just for Death Walker battles but for sex, too. That surprised me because I figured since he just married Sharen, he wouldn't want that from me anymore. But he did point out the fact that he was still sending me love letters. He was just waiting until he felt I was fully recovered. He started summoning me for that again one month after he was married to Sharen.

Dae actually waited two weeks after I had recovered to start having sex again. To tell the truth, I wasn't really concerned too much about sex. I was just going about my days, taking care of my royal duties and whatnot, and answering my summons to the Land of the Living.

One day, I was sitting in my bedroom playing a casual game of tic tac toe with myself, as my way of relaxing. Dae wasn't there because he was taking care of my royal duties for the day. I was in the middle of my game when I heard a knock on the door. I answered it and it was Parada. When she saw me, she bowed to me.

I smiled. "It's okay, Parada. You can look at me now."

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

I rolled my eyes. "Let me guess, it's Norman again, isn't it?"

Parada shook her head. "Nope! You're not going to believe this, but it's Jasper this time!"

I gasped. "What?! Yeah, that I don't believe! This must be some sort of practical joke! But in any case, tell him I'm on my way."

* * *

When I got to the Castle in Canterlot, Jasper was there to greet me.

"What's this all about, Jasper?" I asked.

"Apparently," said Jasper, "Norman and Dae have been planning some sort of surprise for you lately. They've been busy getting it ready for you, so they asked me to summon you."

I had a suspicion of what the surprise might be, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to find out. "So, where is this surprise going to take place?"

Jasper chuckled. "I have a feeling of what you're thinking and, no, I don't know what it is. But it's going to take place in the observation balcony for the training area."

"Is anyone else going to be there, by chance?" I asked, hoping that I was wrong about what the surprise might be.

Jasper shrugged. "I don't know. Norman and Dae just told me to bring you to the observation balcony and that was it."

When we got to the observation balcony, two guards were standing outside. They smiled when they saw me.

"Sorry, Prince Jasper, but we can only grant access to Queen Betty at the moment," one of the guards said.

I raised an eyebrow. "Is anyone else in there?"

The guard shook his head. "Nope, it's just Prince Norman and King Dae."

Jasper started laughing. "I think I know what your surprise is going to be. I'll see you later Betty."

"Oh no," I said, "I know a trap when I see one."

Jasper snorted. "You sure you don't want to know what your surprise is?"

I shook my head. "Nope, I'm good."

I turned around and started to walk away when I found myself unable to move. No, he didn't!

Jasper tilted his head. "What's going on?"

"I guess I will see you later, Jasper," I responded.

Jasper grinned. "I take it you've had a change of heart?"

"No," I said, "I'm going to be pulled through a wall."

Jasper paused. "Excuse me?"

Before I could tell Jasper exactly what was going on, I found myself being slowly pulled towards the observation balcony. I found myself on the other side of the wall inside the observation balcony in ten seconds flat.

* * *

When I got to the other side of the observation balcony, Dae and Norman were standing in front of me with smiles on their faces. I thought it was a good thing the curtains were drawn, because every time Dae does this little trick, I always wind up on the other side of the wall naked. I rolled my eyes when I looked down to see that I was indeed naked.

"Ah, Betty!" Dae chimed. "So nice of you to join the party, finally!"

I rolled my eyes again. "Yeah, did you have to do the whole pull-me-through-the-wall-and-get-me-naked trick?"

Norman chuckled. "I guess seeing is believing! You can actually pull her through a wall and get her naked at the same time!"

Dae gave a mischievous smile. "Yup! Gets her every time!"

"Yeah, except my clothes get stuck inside the wall, and stay there," I growled.

"That's until I decide to stop holding your clothes hostage," Dae said.

"What's this all about anyway?" I asked.

"You see, Betty," answered Dae, "Norman and I have been talking about doing this for a while now. A month to be exact. I just wanted to make sure Norman was back to having sex with you first."

I wasn't sure if I liked what this surprise was and I had half a mind to run away and not care if I was naked or not.

Dae got undressed and sat down on the couch. He smiled. "Why don't you have a seat?"

Normally I wouldn't mind being with Dae like this, but being with Norman like this, I wasn't so sure if I was comfortable with that. As I stood there nervously deciding what to do, Norman got undressed and pushed me on top of Dae's lap. Dae held me tightly as Norman climbed on top of my back.

Okay, I'm getting ready to have sex with my brother and my husband. Nope, nothing weird about this, I thought.

Just relax, Betty, thought Dae, everything's going to be fine.

I couldn't of anything else when we started having sex. That was fine because I didn't want to think of anything. As long as I wasn't in a rampaging clown's stomach, I didn't have to worry about anything at all.

1) Family Dinner

{Mr. Giggles}

My name is Mr. Giggles the Clown. I have no idea why people came up with that name for me. No, a clown isn't my original form because I'm not human or anywhere near that. But the 'clown' part of my name people got right. Where the 'Mr. Giggles' part of my name came from, I'm clueless on that. Maybe it's because I laugh a lot when I'm destroying things? I'm from a family called The Destruction Clan. That's what my family's best at, destroying, but because of how my magic is, I have to destroy things. Which is fine by me.

The odd man out in the family is my younger brother, Discord. He found a place called Equestria and settled down there, marrying a citizen of that place, a pony named Fluttershy. Ever since then, he hasn't really destroyed anything, but he does cause chaos every once in a while. So that's probably what's been keeping his magic stable. He also doesn't eat the type of diet the Destruction Clan prefers, meat and only meat. From what I've heard, Discord is now a vegetarian. He only eats vegetables out of respect for his wife.

So, one day I decided to go check out the place where Discord lives. I thought for sure this place would be easy to destroy, but no, I didn't realize the rulers of this land were just as powerful, if not more powerful, than me.

It was almost as if the rulers of this land could sense my presence and what my intentions were. As soon as I even got close to their castle, they were there ready to greet me. The rulers of Equestria at the time were two Alicorns named Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

"Halt! Who goes there?" Princess Luna called out with a stern look on her face.

I put on my best, winning smile. "My name is Mr. Giggles the Clown! And I have a question for you?"

"And what might that be?" Princess Celestia growled.

"Would you like to come to my circus?" I asked.

Princess Luna's ears went flat against her head. She snarled and then shouted very loud: "WE ARE NOT EXPECTING VISITORS TODAY! I CAN SENSE YOUR EVIL INSIDE OF YOU! BEGONE, FOUL CREATURE!"

I rolled my eyes. "Well, gee, thanks for the warm welcome! Is this how you treat all strangers that come into town?"

"No," Princess Celestia said, "part of our magic is to be able to sense when there is an evil presence around! We can use that magic to determine if someone is a threat or not."

"AND WE CAN SENSE THAT YOU ARE A THREAT! AND WE WILL END YOU!" Princess Luna shouted.

Princess Celestia looked unphased by Princess Luna's shouting. She shrugged. "I don't think we need to end him, Luna. But, he is a threat sooo…"

I remember fighting with them after that, but they used a spell that sent me to Equestria's afterlife. Now, I have to stay in a stupid cave and wait until I'm summoned to go to someplace else. Also, thanks to that spell they cast, not only am I unable to destroy anything, but I can only come out of my cave for ten years and eat, then I have to go back.

Another side effect of that stupid spell was that I can't eat the way a normal person does. The normal way would be to put something in your mouth, chew, then swallow, but not for me. I can only eat the souls of people, not their bodies. In order to eat, I have to entice them and gain their trust. Only then can I eat them. If I don't gain their trust, then no meal. It would practically kill me, and then I would have to be in that stupid cave in the afterlife for eternity.

A clown is my absolute favorite form to be in because it's the easiest way to gain someone's trust. Come on now, who doesn't like clowns? Unless you're afraid of clowns. Yes, I have run across people that are afraid of clowns, which is a pretty stupid fear for someone to have. I also use my Comedy and Tragedy Masks to help put on a show. For some reason, I've also come across people that are afraid of the masks, too. Yeah, that's also a stupid fear to have.

I have thought of a theory, which I think I'm going to use with the next place I go to. The theory is this: if I eat people that have magic in them, and if I eat enough of them, it might be possible that I won’t have to go back to that cave in the afterlife ever again. I don't know if that'll work, but I can't wait to test my theory in the next place I go.

* * *

{Betty}

I smiled as I looked around the Castle in Canterlot. It has been about twenty years since my little brother, Norman, became the ruler of Equestria. We all sat at the table in the dining hall, beneath the gold chandeliers that hung from the ceiling. The hall looked a lot like the one in the Castle in Hell, but with beautiful paintings of Norman and the main branch of his family: Sunset, Jasper, Robert, Norman Jr, and Cozy Glow, as well as a couple including me, Dae, and Ruby.

As at every family dinner, Norman, as the ruler of Equestria, sat at the head of the table, with the rest of the main branch sat next to him on either side. Jasper sat to his right and Sunset across from Jasper. Robert would sit next to Sunset. Cozy Glow sat next to Jasper, with Norman Jr beside her.

I never thought that my little brother would become the ruler of Equestria, or be married to three different people: Sunset, Robert, and Jasper. Not to mention a human having a pegasus for a son. But it makes sense, considering our mom was a human and our dad was a pegasus. I say 'was' because both of our parents are dead.

I also never thought that after my death I would wind up married to the King of Hell, with, for some reason, people referring to me as a Legend, which I don't think I am.

Dae sat on the other end of the table. I sat next to him on the right side, with Ruby beside me and my son, Otis, sitting in between us in his high chair. I gave birth to Otis three years ago. He’s not a half-and-half like me and Ruby, but a human, like Dae. Or, if you want to be more precise, Otis and Dae are demons with no wings.

Ruby was busy making silly faces at Otis while I ate. Once I’d finished, I took Otis's food out to feed him. Ruby perked up and smiled. "Can I feed him this time?"

I raised an eyebrow. "You sure you want to?"

Ruby nodded and I handed her Otis's food. I silently hoped that Otis wouldn't decide to cover the walls with his food like he has done at family dinners in the past. I remembered when he started eating baby food instead of just taking a bottle all the time. Otis would throw the food instead of eating it. Dae would stand back and laugh at it. So I would just hand the food over to him and Otis would do the same thing. When Parada, our assistant, saw this, it would give her a good laugh too.

When Ruby started feeding Otis, Dae and I ducked under the table and braced for impact. Ruby was able to feed Otis no problem. "Here you go, Otis, you want another bite?"

Otis smiled and laughed as Ruby fed him and he ate his food without redecorating the walls.

"Huh," said Norman, as he watched Ruby feeding Otis. "He seems to respond favorably to Ruby, probably because of the silly faces she's making. Too bad it's not dinner and a show."

Everyone at the table except Dae and I laughed at that remark.

I frowned. "What are you talking about, Norman?"

"Why do you think I invited you guys over around dinner time?" Norman chuckled. He gave me that goofy grin he always gives me when he's teasing me about something.

"Seriously, Norman!" I growled.

"Seeing Otis cover the walls with food never gets old. That's the same thing Norman Jr would do at that age," Norman said, still grinning.

Sunset rolled her eyes. "Of course, now that we're getting ready to have another child, he'll probably do the same thing."

"Have you thought of any names for him?" Dae asked.

"We're going with Jacob this time," Sunset replied.

I laughed. "What, no pony names for a human child?"

"No," said Norman, "we've decided to go with human names for all of our children. I'm wondering if it's possible for us to have a half-and-half child? I mean, I do have the genes for it. That would be an interesting addition to the family."

I choked on what Norman just said. "Let's hope that doesn't happen."

"Why not?" Norman asked.

"Think about it," I said. "Half-and-half children aren't necessarily accepted in Equestria. In Hell yes, Equestria, not so much."

Norman nodded. "I see where you're coming from, Betty, but since the child would be part of the royal family, people would just have to get used to it."

"I guess so." I smiled when I looked over and saw Cozy Glow give a jealous look at Otis laughing at Ruby as she fed him.

"I wish you would at least laugh at one of my jokes, Junior," said Cozy Glow. "Why won't you laugh for me?"

Norman Jr rolled his eyes. "Because your jokes aren't funny, Cozy Glow!"

I kept smiling as I watched Norman Jr and Cozy Glow talking. I remembered when Cozy Glow got her new cutie mark. Since she no longer wants to do bad things, it's completely different. Instead of a chess piece like it was before, her cutie mark is now a bow and arrow with a rose next to it. Which makes sense because her Death Walker weapon is a bow and arrow. She also loves flowers and taking care of them, that's part of her new special talent.

Everyone in the main branch of the royal family knows her as Cozy Glow, but she still goes under the name Amethyst Rose. No one else has any clue who she is. When people overhear us calling her Cozy Glow, they get puzzled and think we're insane. So they just walk by and don't even think twice about it.

"Oh, come one, Junior," begged Cozy Glow, "just one little giggle?"

"I'm a stallion," growled Norman Jr. "I don't giggle." He turned his attention to Ruby and started to give her googly eyes, trying to flirt with her. He's done this every family dinner so far.

I nudged Dae on the shoulder because I knew what was going to happen next. Ruby must've seen what Norman Jr was doing out of the corner of her eye because she stopped feeding Otis and turned around to look at him. "Why are you looking at me like that, Junior?"

Dae and I tried not to laugh because Ruby now has a boyfriend; a nobleman in the royal family named E-Johnson. He prefers to go by EJ for short. But that didn't stop Norman Jr.

"Why won't you be my girlfriend, Ruby?" Norman Jr asked, still giving her googly eyes.

"Because I don't like you that way. Besides, I already have a boyfriend, and you know this. I've told you no how many times now?" Ruby snapped.

Ruby's ears went back behind her head. Once Norman Jr kept flirting with her, I knew that as soon as she asked to leave, she would bolt out of the room as fast as she could.

Norman Jr ducked underneath the table and pulled out a red rose. He handed it over to Ruby with his hoof. "Here, I picked this from the garden yesterday just for you. It matches the ruby jewel you have on your forehead!"

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Okay, then." She looked at me. "I think Otis is full, so may I please be excused?"

I laughed. "Yes, you may, Ruby."

As soon as I excused Ruby, she flew out of the dining hall as fast as her wings could take her. Dae and I fell into a fit of laughter.

When Norman Jr jumped out of his chair trying to fly after her, Norman yanked him by the tail and forced him to sit down.

"Why do you always do that?" Norman Jr whined. "I'm trying to sweep my love off her feet!"

"I don't think stalking her is sweeping her off her feet!" Norman snapped.

"I'm not stalking," Norman Jr pouted.

"Don't you know when to take a hint?" Norman asked. "Geez, you're just as bad as the women stalking me and Jasper."

"I wish I had that problem instead," said Robert. "The only men I'm interested in are Norman and Jasper. Until I find another sane man, I'll just stick to women."

Jasper ate a bite of food and laughed. "Any chance we could trade places?"

Laughter erupted around the table. After that, Norman and Jasper got up from the table and said goodbye because it was time for Norman to lower the sun and for Jasper to raise the moon.

* * *

The day after Dae, the children, and I arrived back at the Castle in Hell, Ruby's boyfriend EJ paid Dae and me a visit.

Dae, EJ, and I walked to the garden out behind the castle and sat down at a nearby table.

"So," said Dae, "what did you want to talk to us about?"

"Well," said EJ, "I was wondering if I could get your blessings for me to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage?"

Dae looked at me and thought, Well, what do you think?

Why not? I responded silently. They've been dating for a while now. Marriage was bound to be on the table, sooner or later.

Dae nodded at EJ. "Alright, then, you have our blessings!"

"Thank you, Your Highness!" EJ said with joy.

The next day, he proposed to Ruby, and she happily said yes.

The day after that, Dae and I were sitting in our chambers discussing their engagement.

"I can't wait to see the look on Norman Jr's face when he finds out that Ruby's engaged now." Dae smiled.

I cracked up, "The next time we visit, we should bring a camera so we can record his reaction!"

Then we heard a knock on the door.

"Your Highness," Parada called, "are you in there?"

"Yes, Parada," Dae answered. "You can come in."

When Parada entered the room, she bowed to us.

"It's okay, Parada," said Dae, "you can look at us now."

She stood up straight and looked at us with a wide-eyed expression. It was as if she had seen a ghost, although since this is the Land of the Dead, whatever she’d seen was probably even scarier. "Celestia and Twilight want to see you in the Middle Ground."

"What's this about?" I asked.

Parada gulped. "Do you remember Mr. Giggles the Clown?"

Dae gave a small squeak. I tried not to laugh at the etched expression of horror on his face.

I looked over at Dae and gave him a teasing smile. "You're a wuss you know that? You know that clown's not here, right?"

"What," said Dae, "I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm not scared, I'm…" He shifted his gaze.

"You're what? You gonna finish that sentence?" I teased.

"I'm afraid of clowns…" Dae mumbled.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you," I said, cupping my ear, making a motion as if to show I didn't hear what he said.

"I'm afraid of clowns!" Dae shouted. "There, are you happy now?"

I snorted. "I knew it!" I turned my attention back to Parada. "Anyway, what's this about Mr. Giggles the Clown?"

"Apparently," said Parada, "he's come out of hibernation. Twilight and Celestia are panicked because the whispers from his cave are saying where he's being summoned to."

"Okay," I said, "what are the whispers saying?"

"Equestria."

I gasped. "Okay then, tell Celestia and Twilight we're on our way."

"Yes, Your Highness," Parada said. She gave us a bow and left.

"I really don't like clowns," said Dae, "but since I'm going to have to help you, I'll go."

* * *

When Dae and I arrived at the Middle Ground, Twilight and Celestia were pacing back and forth frantically. They seemed to be a little bit relieved when they saw us, but not much. They bowed to us.

"It's okay, you two," said Dae, "you can look at us now."

"You know what's funny?" Celestia said.

"What?" I asked.

"You used to bow to Twilight because she was the ruler of Equestria. Now, she's not a ruler, and dead, and she's bowing to you," Celestia said matter-of-factly.

Twilight nodded. "I know, I'm just surprised that I was the first Element of Harmony bearer to die. I thought my Element of Harmony was the strongest, but I guess not."

"I'm wondering," I said, "just because you hear the whispers around Mr. Giggles’ cave saying Equestria, does that mean he's going there?"

"Oh, yeah," said Celestia, "usually that's what happens. We sent word to Norman-"

I heard him groan behind me and I turned around to see Norman lying flat on his back. I went over to greet him and helped him get to his feet. "Thanks, Betty. You know one would think that coming to the Land of Dead that I would be used to this by now. Anyway, what's going on?"

"Do you remember Mr. Giggles the Clown, the one Dae wanted me to take care of because he's scared of him?" I asked.

"Did I just hear you correctly?" Norman laughed. "Dae, the King of Hell, is afraid of clowns?"

"Yeah, yeah," growled Dae. "I'm afraid of clowns there, the cat's out of the bag now. Good job, Betty!"

"Actually, in Betty's defense, we already knew you were afraid of clowns. We just wanted you to admit it." Norman chuckled.

"Ha, ha, very funny, you two," Dae said, rolling his eyes.

Celestia giggled. "Okay, all laughing aside, we have to deal with-"

Celestia was interrupted by a loud boom. We looked to see a beam of light going upwards and we heard the word 'Equestria' whispered from it. Mr. Giggles floated up it. While everyone looked on in horror, I looked on in anger. Mr. Giggles laughed as he floated up the beam of light to the portal. "Well, Betty, Mrs. Last Death Walker, if you want to protect Equestria- and I know you will- you should pay me a visit when I get there. See you soon."

I snarled, but before I could fly after him, he went through the portal and was gone in the blink of an eye.

2) Betty vs Mr. Giggles

{Betty}

I kept staring up at the sky where Mr. Giggles had disappeared, seething with rage. I didn't realize how angry I felt until I saw the ground shaking around me.

"Uh, Betty?" Norman said. "You might want to calm down before you level the afterlife."

Even though I heard Norman cautioning me, I couldn't calm down until Dae pulled me into his arms. That's when I stopped shaking.

"I never thought I'd have to deal with Mr. Giggles again!" I growled.

Norman titled his head. "Say what now?"

Dae sighed. "Yup, you heard correctly. Betty met Mr. Giggles before she died."

"Yeah, and Luna turned as white as a ghost when I told her about it," I said.

"Oh, that's right, I remember," Celestia stated. "If Betty had taken a black balloon from Mr. Giggles, then that would've given him license to eat her. It would've not only sent her to an early grave but she would've been trapped inside that clown's stomach for all eternity! Although, there is another way Mr. Giggles could eat someone like Betty… With a technique called the Grass is Greener, he could create an illusion offering her the chance to redo something terrible that happened in her life.”

"But what could he-" I paused before I finished my thought. "Oh, no!"

"Oh, no, what?" Norman said.

"The thing Mr. Giggles could possibly use against me," I said. "Is my past hatred for my mother."

* * *

I could tell by the looks on everyone's faces that they didn't believe a word I said.

"But how could he even use that against you?" Norman gasped. "That's over and dealt with! Right?"

"Oh, I doubt Mr. Giggles will be able to eat a Death Walker's soul just like that." I heard Discord say. Normally I would've been surprised to see him standing there. But since he randomly pops up anyway it didn't bother me.

I questioned. "What are you talking about, Dad?"

Discord snapped his claw and, out of thin air, he pulled three black balloons and three white chickens. "Mr. Giggles would need these to devour a Death Walker’s soul before he could trick you into taking a black balloon or seeing the Grass is Greener in the first place. He would actually need to get double that, if not triple that, to eat Betty. And there's no way I'm giving Mr. Giggles any of my white chickens. Betty's my daughter, and I'm reformed. I would never allow Mr. Giggles to hurt anypony in my presence."

"But if you can pull those items out of thin air, then couldn't Mr. Giggles do the same thing?" I asked.

Celestia lit up her horn and examined everything Discord had pulled out of thin air. "It's because they're copies. Except for the white chickens, of course."

Discord nodded. "See? I would never do anything to harm my children."

"Yeah, there's still no way I'm calling you Dad,” Norman said. “Even if you did adopt me."

Discord rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine, whatever."

"Well, I guess I should get back home now," Norman said.

Once Norman said his goodbyes, he went back to the Land of the Living.

* * *

Much later, I was pacing back and forth in my room, trying to figure out how to keep Norman and his family safe from Mr. Giggles. Dae cleared his throat to get my attention. "You know you're going to bore a hole in the floor with your pacing in circles like that."

"Huh?" I thought I had been going in a straight line but I looked down to see that I was pacing around in a circle. "Oh..."

"You can't sit still right now, can you?" Dae asked.

I didn't answer him because I had gone back to walking around in a circle.

"Wow," said Dae. "I've never seen you this worried since Norman and Cozy Glow got announced as Death Walkers!"

"Well, of course, I'm worried!" I replied. "Mr. Giggles is in Equestria, and who knows how many people or ponies he's going to kill. He's not killing Norman or the rest of his family if I have something to say about it! If something happened to Norman, I don't think I could live with myself."

"I know that, Betty, but you can't blame yourself for everything that happens. Remember what Norman went through with Shadow Mist? You couldn't protect him then, and you couldn't have done anything if Norman had died," Dae said.

Dae's words calmed me down by a fraction, but not much. The thought of Mr. Giggles dragging people and ponies to an early grave didn't sit well with me. This time, since Norman was now the ruler of Equestria, he and I would be working together to stop him. Dae's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the Equestria Day Festival is tomorrow."

I started to panic even more, as I knew what the Equestria Day Festival consisted of. There would be several different attractions there like roller coaster rides, a funhouse, and various other things. It also included different foods that fit in with the festival theme. Mr. Giggles could use any of these attractions to lure people or ponies to their early grave.

Of course, there would be a booth for the Royal family to sit in. That would consist of Norman and his first branch, along with Dae and I's first branch. "That's tomorrow? How did I forget about that?"

"Well, with everything happening with Mr. Giggles lately, I don't blame you for forgetting. I almost did too, until Parada reminded me."

"Lovely…"

"I would say if you keep pacing this you'll send yourself to an early grave, but you're already dead."

* * *

The next day, at the festival, Norman and his family arrived before me and my family did. Since EJ was now Ruby's future husband, he came along with us. After Norman and I gave our interviews for the news media that was there, we took our seats at the booth that was set up for us.

With the festival going on, for two hours, I sat down using my tracking abilities and scanned the whole area and nothing turned up. I was in the middle of scanning the festival grounds again when Norman and Dae started talking beside me.

"Has she found anything yet?" Norman asked.

Dae shook his head. "Not yet, trust me. I can hear her thoughts and nothing's turned up."

"It's amazing that demons can do stuff like that," Norman said.

"Yeah, it comes in handy, and it helps me keep an eye on Betty when I'm worried about her. When she's made up her mind about something, there's no stopping her."

"You got that one right." Norman started laughing. "Looks like Junior could care less about the fact that Ruby's engaged now. He still won't stop making googly eyes at her."

Dae started laughing too. Norman continued, "I've talked to him about that several times. Let's hope he doesn't declare war on Hell because Ruby won't marry him. If he does that, he's on his own. And probably has a death wish."

I was too focused on finding Mr. Giggles to join in on Dae’s fit of laughter. Finally, I spotted him. He was offering a stallion one of his black balloons.

“Over there!” I pointed towards where I’d seen Mr. Giggles. Norman and Dae practically jumped out of their chairs, looking in that direction.

Norman realized first which attraction I was gesturing to and rolled his eyes. “Of, course, it just had to be the House of Mirrors, didn’t it?”

I nodded. My crown transformed into a hat along with the rest of my fighting outfit. I looked over to see Norman gulp when he saw it. He knew exactly what would happen next.

Welp, I'm going to make sure that clown doesn't send anyone to an early grave if I can help it, I thought.

Without another word, I jumped over the front of the booth, taking the guards by surprise as I flew over them.

"Betty! Wait up!" Dae called after me.

"I'm coming too!" Norman said.

"But Your Highness-" one of the guards started to say.

"Don't worry about me," Norman said, "just worry about protecting the rest of my family."

That was the last thing I heard as I flew over to the House of Mirrors as fast as I could.

* * *

Before I could even get to the House of Mirrors, I took my staff and turned it into a blade. I used my glass powers to sharpen it. I was about ten feet away from Mr. Giggles when I threw my staff at the balloon he was still offering the stallion. My staff hit the balloon, popping it, and showering black ink everywhere. The stallion turned tail and ran off. Mr. Giggles spun around and gave me a snide look.

"If it isn't the Legendary Death Walker, Betty Jewel! Oh, and I should add, the Queen of Hell! Tell me, should I bow to you now?" Mr. Giggles laughed.

"If you bow to me, you'll stay bowing for the rest of your life!" I sneered.

"What am I going to do with you? You scared my lunch away, so I'll just have to look for my meal someplace else. How about in here?" Mr. Giggles ran into the House of Mirrors. Right after that, Dae and Norman came up and paused to catch their breaths.

"Did you have to run out of the booth faster than a speeding bullet?" Norman demanded, panting.

I rolled my eyes. "Gee, thanks for the compliment."

Norman looked around. "I don't see that clown anywhere. Where did he go?"

I pointed to the entrance of the House of Mirrors. "He went inside, and there's at least a handful of adults in there to supervise their children, or just in there for fun."

"Lovely," said Norman. "This is the creepiest attraction here. To think people go in here for fun. Good thing we haven't let the kids go in there yet. Thankfully, they seem to be having fun at the booth anyway."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" I said. "Let's go in there and stop him!"

Norman nodded. "Fine by me!"

As soon as I stepped inside, I got stuck in the rotating mirrors. That separated me from Dae and Norman.

Crap! Dae thought

What? I thought.

I'm separated from Norman and I don't think it's a good thing for us to get split up at the moment. Of course, you just had to run in here head first. didn't you?

Sorry. Dae.

Out of nowhere, I heard a loud shriek. I panicked. "Norman!"

"Don't worry about me!" Norman called out. "I'm fine, the scream came from a group of people in the other direction. My guess is Mr. Giggles just ate someone."

I grit my teeth and snarled. "That stupid clown!"

Suddenly, the mirrors stopped rotating around me, and I heard a sinister laugh. Mr. Giggles' face appeared in every single mirror surrounding me. He stood there, dressed in a puffy white suit and pants. His jet black hair was styled in spikes on his head. He had white makeup on his face and black paint around his eyes and his lips.

And I thought we went overboard with the color black in hell. This creepy clown takes it to a whole other level!

I heard Dae laughing inside my head, as he thought, At least it's just the uniforms! Yes, I can see him in the mirrors where I am, too.

"Uh, guys?" Norman said. "Am I crazy or am I seeing Mr. Giggles in every mirror?"

"No, you're not crazy. We see it, too," I responded.

"Nice… Nice…" Norman said. From the sound of it, he was just as disgusted as I was with the way Mr. Giggles looked in the mirrors surrounding him.

Mr. Giggles let out a deep, sinister laugh that reminded me of a hyena. He stuck out his tongue, licked his lips, and grinned. When he smiled, his teeth looked like shark teeth.

I threw up a little in my mouth. "Yuck! Are you trying to gross everyone out?" I gagged.

"No," said Mr. Giggles. "I'm just trying to show how much fun I'm going to have while eating a feast fit for a king! You wanna see where I am?"

I used my tracking powers to see that Mr. Giggles was hanging from the ceiling like a bat.

"You already know where I am, don't you, Betty?" Mr. Giggles cackled. "You're very amusing to me, you know that? Trying to find me and you already know where I am!"

He jumped down from the ceiling in front of me with such force that it broke the ground where he landed. He gave me a toothy grin as he got right in my face. I did the same thing to him. "Am I scaring you yet?"

I rolled my eyes. "Why should I be afraid of you?"

"It doesn't matter, I'll be eating you sooner or later. Boy, you look like you're ready for a fight," Mr. Giggles said. "Why don't we take this outside, hmm?"

Without another word, Mr. Giggles jumped up into the ceiling and punched a hole through it. I flew after him as fast as I could.

"Unfortunately, I don't have any special powers like you do, except my strength. So I say we keep this battle strictly hand-to-hand combat. I would shake on it, but seeing that you'd never make a deal with me, let's just go and start."

Mr. Giggles made the first move by trying to land a punch to the face. I caught it and sent him flying backward. He gave me a smug look and started laughing for no good reason. "That was a starting shot. I'm actually stronger than that."

"Oh, really?" I said. "Why don't you come over here and prove it?"

I readied my fighting stance, tucking in my wings and holding one hand behind my back. I motioned with my other hand for Mr. Giggles to come towards me. As we started to fight, something interesting happened. Every punch, kick and block Mr. Giggles copied me. I laughed when Mr. Giggles had to stop and catch his breath.

"Aww," I taunted. "Does the creature need to take a break? I'm not even breaking a sweat, you're starting to bore me."

We went back to fighting and once again, Mr. Giggles copied my every move.

"Exactly how are you able to copy my moves?" I asked. "I thought you didn't have any special powers?"

"It's not a power," Mr. Giggles explained. "It's a special technique called the Mirror Technique. It's used by my family to take down strong opponents."

I smiled and cocked my head to the side. "Aww, I'm honored, really I am!"

Mr. Giggles rolled his eyes and snarled. "Whatever! Let's just finish this!"

"Oh, I'll finish it alright!" I said. "You started it, and I'm ending it!"

As we kept fighting, Mr. Giggles kept mirroring my every move. It was starting to get on my last nerve, and from the looks of it, it was starting to get on Mr. Giggle's last nerve too.

"What's the matter, creature?" I said. "Is me not dying starting to get on your nerves?"

Mr. Giggles paused from fighting and gave me a snide look. "You know something? Let's call this one a draw, Death Walker. I'm done playing with my food for now. Until we meet again."

A small tornado came out of nowhere, and as soon as it left, Mr. Giggles was nowhere to be found.

* * *

When Mr. Giggles left, I turned around to see Norman with an annoyed look on his face.

"What is it?" I asked.

"He just had to leave tornado style!" Norman growled.

I raised an eyebrow. "Tornado style?"

"A couple of enemies I fought when I was a general, created a small tornado and left in that fashion. I call it tornado style. I've heard reports of some of my soldiers dealing with the same thing," Norman said. "Anyway, you sure showed that clown who's boss! I've never seen someone's opponent get annoyed and leave like that."

"That stupid clown!" I snarled. "I could care less how he felt. I'm finding him, and he's dead the next time I see him."

Before I could cause an earthquake with my anger, Dae put a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, Betty, we'll stop him, okay?"

I sighed. "Yeah... Sure..."

"I think we should head back to the booth. I bet everyone's worried about us. Especially since the House of Mirrors is practically destroyed now. I'll notify the guards and let them know," Norman said.

* * *

When we got back to the booth, my fighting outfit turned back into my royal attire. I was so pissed off about not stopping Mr. Giggles that I couldn't think straight. When Ruby saw that I was angry, she abruptly stopped playing cards with EJ and Norman Jr.

"Dad?" Ruby asked.

"Yes, Ruby?" Dae said.

"Why does Mom look angry?" Ruby said.

"We're dealing with a bit of a crisis here. It's nothing you need to worry about," Dae answered.

"Oh," Ruby said. She looked at Norman Jr as he was giving her the googly eyes again and she responded by rolling her eyes. "No, that's not going to happen, Junior!"

"What?" Norman Jr said. "I wasn't going to do anything."

"Yes, you were," snarled EJ. "Not with my fiance, you don't!"

Sunset frowned. She looked at Norman. "What happened, Norman?"

"Remember when I told you about Mr. Giggles the Clown?" Norman replied.

"Yes?" Sunset said.

"Well, that's what happened," Norman explained. "Betty fought him and somehow he was able to copy her every move. He said it was called The Mirror Technique. He said he uses it to take down strong opponents like Betty."

"That doesn't surprise me," Jasper said. "She is a legend after all!"

"The clown actually got annoyed with Betty and left. That's why Betty's angry at the moment," Norman said.

Sunset whistled. "Is that why the House of Mirrors is destroyed?"

Norman nodded. "Yeah. Thankfully, we were able to get everyone out of there safely."

I looked to see Dae looking at me with concern. "Um, Betty?"

"Yes, Dae?" I said.

"You might want to sit down," said Dae. "You're hovering..."

I thought I was sitting down but I looked down to see that I wasn't. "Oh."

I forced myself to sit down even though I didn't want to. All I could think about was how much I wanted to kill that clown.

15) The Legend finally asked for help

{Dae}

It was another family dinner at the Castle in Canterlot, and Betty was missing again. I knew it meant Betty was once again overdoing it practicing the Mirror Technique because she so desperately wants to stop Mr. Giggles from eating all of the citizens in Equestria. I don't understand why she's so frantic about learning the Mirror Technique now that she's asked me, Norman, and Cozy Glow for help, but that's Betty for you.

"Uncle Dae," said Norman Jr, "where's Aunt Betty? This is the third family dinner she's been missing from!"

I sighed, "She's probably frustrated because she can't get the second step to the Mirror Technique down. I don't know why she keeps overdoing it, but that's the way Betty is. And if my brother would stop pestering her when she's trying to practice, that would be great. It's a distraction and it makes her take more arrows to the chest when she's practicing on the air obstacle course."

"Arrows to the chest?" Jasper asked. "Isn't that just as bad as what Mr. Giggles did to her?"

I shook my head. "Nope, that was magic. Arrows are physical wounds. Demons can heal from physical wounds themselves. There are no hospitals in Hell."

"What?" Everyone else gasped.

Ruby and I rolled our eyes at their reaction.

"Think about it," said Ruby, "we're demons, the place we live in is called Hell. Do you really think demons need hospitals?"

"Yeah," said Norman, "Betty's ears have dropped right now because she's so frustrated, and that's never good."

"I've noticed that before, too," Ruby said. "When Mom's frustrated, that's not good."

I nodded. "Yup, and I wouldn't bug her too much right now. Unfortunately, my brother, Max, doesn't know how to take a hint."

"Let's see," said Norman, "how many daggers has Betty thrown at the guy now?"

"Twenty that I know of," I said. "They've hit the mark every single time."

Norman flinched when he heard that. Of course, Robert being Robert, he just had to ask the question. "Where do the daggers hit?"

"Let's just say, unless you want to talk ten octaves higher for a week or two, maybe more," said Norman, "don't piss off the Queen of Hell."

When Jasper and Robert realized what Norman was talking about they flinched. Jasper deadpanned, "I'd rather have Sunset slap me instead."

"At least she's doing it to you two now," said Norman, "I'm going to make a friendly suggestion, and say don't go near Sunset unless you have a death wish."

"That's why Betty and I have given Max the nickname Bug because he won't go away," I said. "Unfortunately, when Max wants something, he'll pressure people into doing it. I'm surprised Betty hasn't thrown a dagger at his throat, so he can't talk for weeks."

Robert whistled, "That bad huh?"

I nodded. "Yup, exactly."

"Just like Betty's working on mastering the Mirror Technique," said Norman, "me, Cozy Glow, and Dae are working on our arsenal of attacks, just to make sure we can help her take Mr. Giggles down."

"Why only you three?" Jasper asked.

"Because we're the ones that Aunt Betty asked to help her take down Mr. Giggles," Cozy Glow said.

I smiled. "Yeah, it came as a surprise to me too. Betty's not the type to do that. But she actually asked for help."

Everyone else gasped when they heard that.

Cozy Glow chuckled. "Yup! The Legend actually asked for help."

* * *

{Betty}

A couple of weeks after the last family dinner I had missed, I was trying to take my mind off of practicing the Mirror Technique. I went to my favorite place where I go to think about things, the Castle of the Two Sisters. I wasn't using my tracking abilities at the time when I heard Norman's voice, "Looks like someone's upset."

I tilted my head. "How'd you figure that out?"

"Your ears are dropped," said Norman. "You don't feel them at the sides of your head?"

"Huh?" I said. I didn't even notice that until Norman said something. "Oh."

"What's bugging you?" Norman asked.

I shrugged. "I guess I'm just frustrated about learning the Mirror Technique. Not to mention, Dae's brother, Max, just won't leave me alone. If Mr. Giggles does what he did to me again, I'm not sure if my magic is strong enough to cancel it out."

"Well, according to Dae, that attack can only be used once. Once it's been used, it can't be used again on the same person," Norman said. "So, you should be fine in that regard. As far as Mr. Giggles showing up at the castle again, Discord has helped us put up a barrier, so beings with Mr. Giggles type of magic won't be able to pop up without setting off some sort of alarm."

Upon hearing this, I curled my legs up and put my chin on them.

Norman frowned. "Wow, you're really shaken up by this, aren't you?"

"I guess you could say that," I said.

Norman reached over, pulling me into his lap, and I put my head on his chest. I had to admit, I did feel comforted just by listening to his heartbeat.

"I just don't want to see Mr. Giggles again until I'm ready to kill him," I said.

"I understand how you feel," said Norman, "but what happened to you wasn't your fault, okay? Even the strongest of fighters need help sometimes."

"You're right, I guess. But that still doesn't make me feel better about it."

"Yeah, everyone has their bad days, even if they're rulers. Trust me, I've had my fair share of bad days. Of course, when my bad days happen now, it's all over the news."

I snorted. "It's the same thing for me, ruling over Hell. I wonder how many times the Bug is willing to be embarrassed until he takes a hint?"

Norman chuckled. "According to Dae, all eternity."

"It's guys like that who get on my last nerve!" I growled.

"Too bad you can't just ban him from the castle," Norman said.

I looked at Norman and smiled. "I've heard you've been doing that a lot lately. What's that about?"

"The mares won't stop harassing me for a date," Norman replied. "They won't stop harassing Jasper either. Jasper's really annoyed because he's not into women."

As Norman held me, he started playing with my tail. I just let Norman hold me because that's all I felt like doing at the moment.

* * *

{Jasper}

I must admit that watching Norman, Betty, Cozy Glow, and Dae train so they can improve their skills to take down Mr. Giggles was very amazing.

"Wow!" I cheered. "Look at them go!"

Robert smiled. "I know, I've never seen Cozy Glow and Dae fight before, and they're right up there in strength with Norman. Of course, Betty's the strongest in the bunch. It always amazes me what Betty can do."

I rolled my eyes when I heard Wild Ace and Elise trying to convenience the guards to let them into the observation balcony.

"I'm sorry you two," said one of the guards, "Prince Norman and Queen Betty have specifically asked us to not let anyone in that isn't part of the main branch. So this area is off-limits to you."

"What," said Elise, "that's the third time this week! Even Prince Norman's bedroom has been off-limits, and that's not fair!"

"Princess Elise," the same guard said, "you have to understand that when the ruler of Equestria says something's off-limits, then it's off-limits! Prince Norman's personal life is none of your business. Just because you're part of the family doesn't mean you have access to everything!"

I sighed, knowing that if I didn't deal with this, Wild Ace and Elise wouldn't go away. So I went outside to handle it.

"Prince Jasper," said Wild Ace, "let us in there right now!"

"No, that's not going to happen!" I snapped. "You two are part of the second branch of the family and that means you don’t have rights to the things the main branch has! That includes getting into Norman's bed! So if I were you, I'd leave now. Or do you want to spend time in a dungeon again?"

"Fine," Elise scoffed. "But this isn't over Prince Jasper."

"Yes, it is," I said, "and you can't do anything about it. Whatever the ruler of Equestria does behind closed doors is his business, and isn't against the law. So, yes, it's over with. Why do you think Robert hasn't been with you in a while? Now you two should go, you're giving me a headache."

Wild Ace and Elise looked at me and I knew for a fact that they knew there was no more arguing with me because I always stand my ground. So they left, sulking as they did.

When I went back into the observation balcony I sat down on the couch. "I don't know why Norman hasn't divorced those two yet."

"Your guess is as good as mine," Sunset said. "Knowing Norman, he probably doesn't have the heart to."

"I think Elise deserves the pet name ‘Headache Number One,’" said Robert, "and Wild Ace can be ‘Headache Number Two.’"

I nodded. "You got that right. They're the most annoying family members ever! I'm just wondering why I added Wild Ace to the family."

"I feel the same way about Elise at the moment," Robert said.

"We all know why Norman's bedroom has been off-limits lately," laughed Sunset. "I know because I saw her in there with him."

Robert and I chuckled at that thought. Robert started giving me a creepy look and he said, "That's fine by me. It gives me more chances to sweep Jasper off his feet."

I felt my face turn red, and Sunset couldn't contain her laughter at my expense. After Sunset finally stopped laughing, we looked over to see that the fight had ended. I wasn't sure who made the winning move, but it did surprise me that Dae, Betty, Norman, and Cozy Glow were on their backs panting. I was totally surprised by the fact that Betty was on her back trying to catch her breath.

"Wow," said Robert, "even the Legend is trying to catch her breath! That's new!"

Dae laughed at that. "Yeah, at least Betty will have to take a break finally. That is, unless she like passing out again."

"I would've stopped," said Betty, "but since you guys weren’t disabled, I kept going."

Norman snorted, and by the look on his face, it looked like he was going to start laughing at any moment.

"I think Betty's lost her mind like my trainers did when I was a General," Norman said.

Betty panted, "Well if you can't take me on then there's no chance you can help me take down Mr. Giggles. Most of the time when I'm fighting, I don't stop until the opponent is down. That's how I did it when I was alive, and I'm still doing it now that I'm dead."

Cozy Glow finally caught her breath and sat up. "Now, that was a workout! Are we done training for the day?"

"Considering the Legend is down," said Dae, "I'm going to say yes. Betty, there's no way that you're practicing the Mirror Technique today. Cause me and Norman aren't going to let you!"

"I'm not saying a word," Betty responded.

I burst into laughter at that comment. I stopped laughing when Betty got to her feet and fell over. Dae caught her before she hit the ground.

"Yeah, you overdid it again, Betty," Dae said. "You just don't know when to take a break, do you?"

"Nope," said Betty, "and it's not going to happen."

"I know," said Dae. "You're worried, I don't blame you. You do realize you have help now, and we'll do everything we can to see it through, got it?"

Betty nodded, and from the looks of it, she was worn out. She passed out before she could say anything else.

* * *

{Betty}

I woke up and looked around to see I was in my room back at home.

"Good thing the Dark Energy Crystals will work even when you're unconscious," Dae said as he held me in arms, lying in bed next to me.

"Is that why I feel like I've already been to the Church of Satan?" I asked.

Dae nodded. "Uh-huh.'"

"I don't get it," I said, "even when I'm taking care of my royal duties, I still worry about that stupid clown!"

"I feel the same way, too," Dae said. "I just hope Norman and his family are keeping safe. I'm still crossing my fingers even though Discord's helped put up a barrier around the castle."

At this point, and I have no idea why, I wished I was still knocked out and could pretend this whole ordeal with Mr. Giggles isn't happening.

Dae chuckled. "Although knocking you out would seem to be the most effective way of getting you to take a break, that's not going to keep you from worrying about Mr. Giggles. I think you should come to the next family dinner. You need to be around people right now, especially the ones you care about."

I thought about that for a while and realized Dae was right. "Sure, I'll go. I just want you and Norman to stop giving me creepy looks at the dinner table."

Dae snorted. "We'll try, but I don't know about Norman. I'm not making any promises. Good luck getting Norman to do that."

I rolled my eyes and, for some reason, Dae found this funny because he laughed at it.

* * *

When the next family dinner came around, I decided to take Dae's advice and I was present for it this time. I could tell everyone was happy to see me. Norman Jr seemed the most happy to see me.

Norman Jr smiled. "I'm so happy you're here, Aunt Betty! I was worried about you."

"Wow," said Robert, "Junior happy to see someone besides Ruby? Now I've seen everything!"

Robert and Jasper started laughing and Norman Jr frowned at them. "That's not funny, Dad Robert and Dad Jasper. Can't a nephew be concerned about his Aunt?"

"I'm sorry, Junior," said Jasper, "we're laughing because normally you're only concerned about Ruby. I would stop making googly eyes at her if were you because she's engaged now. I don't think EJ likes it when you do that."

"Yup," said Ruby, "I agree with Uncle Jasper. I'm going to be married in a couple of weeks, and my future husband won't put up with it."

I looked over to see that Norman was giving me a creepy look and Dae was doing the same thing.

I thought I said no creepy looks, you two, I thought.

You did? Norman thought. Sorry, I didn't get the memo.

You didn't tell him on purpose, didn't you Dae? I thought.

Nope. I could tell by Dae's mischievous smile that he was totally lying.

What are you up to, Dae?

Me? Dae thought. Why does it have to be me?

Because I know how you act when you're up to something, I narrowed my eyes at him.

Actually, it's me that's up to something, Norman thought. I don't know how, but somehow Dae's managed to keep a secret from you.

I'm afraid to ask what it is, but too late, I asked, I thought.

It's been three months since we got together, so I figured why not celebrate it? Norman thought.

So, what do you have in mind? I thought.

Do you recall the passageway that leads to the library area in the Castle of the Two Sisters?

Yes.

There's a spot in the library that's nothing but candlelit, and it's very private. I was thinking we could go there, and no one would disturb us, Norman thought. There won't be any guards there, but I say I'll go in the front and you go in the back. We'll meet up at the library.

Norman Jr looked at Norman, Dae, and me and smiled, "You three are having a conversation in your heads again, aren't you?"

Dae looked over at Norman Jr. "Yes, Junior, and it doesn't concern you or Ruby, so keep your noses out of it, okay?"

"I wish Ruby would do that with me," Norman Jr pouted.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "That's not going to happen, ever, Junior!"

Cozy Glow frowned. "Now, that wasn't very nice, Ruby."

Ruby growled. "Hey, I was just telling him why that's not happening. Being nice doesn't seem to work to get him to take a hike."

Jasper snorted. "I agree with Ruby. Now if Headache One and Headache Two would get the point, that would be great, before they turn into a migraine. They really seem to think they're entitled to the same things that the main branch is. Even we know not to go somewhere that's off-limits."

Norman rolled his eyes. "Let me guess, Wild Ace and Elise are at it again, aren't they?"

Jasper nodded. "Yup!"

"I'm giving those two one last chance to obey orders because I'm nice," said Norman with a scowl on his face. "If they keep doing it, I'll consider divorcing those two."

Although I knew Norman's reasons for taking this action, it seemed a little bit too extreme to me.

After dinner ended Norman and I went to celebrate our three-month anniversary.