//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: What Are You Hiding? // Story: The Ending of The End, Part 3 // by Stardust456 //------------------------------// "Celestia, Luna, no..." Twilight said. She was devastated at how they were weaker than ever, and now all hope has truly been lost. Not only have the princesses lost their power, but Celestia was turned into a Pegasus, so if they manage to get her magic back, she wouldn't be able to use it. What was worse, was that one of the villains now had some sort of new power, and now the three of them were probably in hiding and plotting their next move. Twilight was almost sobbing as much as Fluttershy, who had her hooves wrapped around the Petrified Discord with tears pouring out of her eyes like a waterfall. There wasn't an ounce of happiness in her body. One of her best friends, the most magical and wild friend she has, has been turned to stone. Not even Pinkie could find the light in a situation like this. "What do we do next, Twilight?" "I don't know, Pinkie. I don't know." "I don't know, okay? I don't know!" Cozy yelled. "Let me get this straight." Chrysalis said. "You somehow managed to turn Discord into stone, drain Luna's magic, and turn Celestia into a pegasus, and then teleport the three of us all the way here, and you're saying you don't know how you did it?" "Seems like quite a stretch." Tirek said. "You clearly didn't use a magical artifact, because the magic you fired clearly came from you, and it's much too powerful to be an illusion. And don't even think about putting on your saccharine sweet face and lie!" Cozy frowned in dismay and immediately dropped her smile. The three villains were standing beside the Castle of the Two Sisters, where Cozy teleported them to escape from Twilight and the ponies and other creatures from Equestria and beyond. Right after she did, she was stuck in another problem, where she had to deal with explaining to her two comrades. "Okay, fine!" Cozy gave in. There was no point in denying it now. "Yes, I do have magic. I probably should have told you earlier." "You definitely should have told us earlier. It could have been useful." Chrysalis berated. "It's time for answers. If you're a Pegasus, why do you have magic?" "Well, you see, I would tell you now, but I teleported us to the first place I could think of, and the Castle of the Two Sisters isn't very far from Twilight and her friends. We should probably get going if we don't want them to find us." Cozy said, not only knowing it was true, but hoping it would delay Chrysalis and Tirek's questioning. "Nonsense!" Chrysalis declared. "I will have answers now, and even so, we will stay and fight if they find us. I'm not like the rest of my traitorous, weak, and powerless subjects. After all, I'm the only one in existence among our race who has real magic! I will easily overpower any who stand in my way!" "Chrysalis, as much as I hate to say it, Cozy Glow is right." Tirek said. "Remember what happened when we didn't bother to find Twilight when the rest of her friends were captured?" Chrysalis opened her mouth to argue and charged her horn to threaten, but after she thought about Tirek's words, her expression softened into a look of guilt and her horn stopped glowing her green, magical aura. He was right. Her ego is what led to her downfall. "Great!" Cozy chirped. "I'm glad we're all on the same page. Now let's get moving before Twilight finds us." Cozy took off a few yards before realizing Chrysalis and Tirek haven't moved. Instead of following her, Tirek stood where he was, staring with suspicion at her horn, which was previously glowing a bright green. There was something Chrysalis just said a moment ago that he was curious about. "You said you're the only changeling in existence who has real magic. You're the only one who can do magic beyond your changeling biology." Tirek recalled. "Really?" Cozy asked. "I always thought your magic is inherited and only monarchs had it. You're the first changeling in existence to have it?" "What are you two getting at?" Chrysalis demanded, but there was a sliver of fear in her voice. She already know what they're about to ask. And she doesn't like it. "How can you do magic that the other changelings can't?" Tirek asked. He has said it. He has said the very thing that Chrysalis hoped he wouldn't ask. She's been hoping all her life no one would question her about this, and now he has cornered her. How could she be so foolish to let it slip out of her mouth? How was she going to cover up this one? "That is something I'd rather not explain right now. " She grumbled. "Like Cozy, perhaps I'll tell you later" "You're hiding something." Cozy said. "Well so are you!" Chrysalis snapped back. "And you?" she yelled at Tirek. "Are you hiding something as well? Is there anything you'd like to tell us?" "Yeah, you're immune to Star Swirl's magic." Cozy said. "What?" Tirek was confused, but he had a worried look on his face as well, and beads of swear appeared on his head. "You're immune to Star Swirl's magic." Cozy repeated. "When we set out to conquer Equestria, you attacked at its border, where it was defended by the pillars. You said that you were immune to Star Swirl's magic. When he blasted you, it had no effect." "That was because the bell gave me that power. It's power allowed me to be immune to blasts." Tirek said in his defence. He hoped it would convince the young filly, but it just did the opposite. In fact, it was starting to grab Chrysalis's attention as well. "No. It wasn't the bell." Chrysalis snarled, remembering the battle and how Tirek was before he got hit by the rainbow and now in his weakened form. "When we were on the field and facing Twilight and her friends, Twilight blasted you, and you were smashed onto the ground. You landed right in front of me, I know that it happened. Don't deny it; you're hiding something as well. If you were able to withstand Star Swirl's magic but not Twilight's, that means that your immunity to Star Swirl's magic is not given from Grogar's bell, and you really had it all along." "You also seemed to know a lot about him." Cozy pointed out. "You told us a lot about the pillars, Star Swirl specifically. Twilight is one of the closest friends to her idol, and she never taught anything like what you told us at her school." Tirek was starting to receive the same suspicion that Cozy and Chrysalis got a moment ago. He was being cornered into telling one of his deepest secrets, and after being able to keep it in for almost his whole life, he was finally being confronted about it. "Well, I wouldn't say that that's anything important to talk about." His voice was shaky, which wouldn't have looked suiting for him if he wasn't in his weakest form. "But we should really get going now." He hoped they would just forget about it and it would prevent their curiosity and suspicion. The three of them all glanced at each other. There was a tension between them, and they could tell the others were hiding something, and neither of them wanted to share it. They stared with interest at each other, trying to find out what the others are hiding. They could sense there is something behind them that they're not telling, but they couldn't put their hoof (or finger in Tirek's case) on what it is. "Well, how about we discuss this later. First, we have to get into hiding and form a new plan if we ever want Equestria to ourselves again." Chrysalis said, finally dropping her suspicious gaze and deciding to focus on the main situation. "Indeed we should." Tirek agreed, dropping his own suspicion as well. "The farther we get away from here the better. We can't go back to Grogar, or um, Discord's lair again. That would be the first place they'd suspect we'd be." "Golly! I know just the place." Cozy said so enthusiastically that she practically glowed. Her smile has returned and replaced her suspicion as well. "Follow me!" She took off and flew past the right side of the Castle of the Two Sisters and headed towards a direction that lead to a small network of mountains. Chrysalis and Tirek followed, hoping that whatever Cozy had in mind would be a good place to regain their strength and form a new plan. "Where are we going?" Tirek asked. Cozy looked back at him with a confident smile. "Somewhere where Twilight and her friends will never find us."