Know That I Lived

By all accounts, Cozy is a scary individual. Especially now that she was a lot older.

When she sets her mind to something, she has the ability to follow through with whatever plan she concocted for ages and with little slips. Determination and perseverance are wonderful things to cultivate in anyone. But a perversion of those things can create an individual with relentless ambition. If an ill-will was attached to said person, then the world could do naught but tremble in fear. Thankfully for the world of ponies, Cozy's nature had been thwarted. Time and again, all her dastardly plans when she was in her youth had failed in no small part thanks to Víss' eyes.

He was not the only one with similar eyes in Cozy's life, but he was the only native to them and the only one actively using them on her, of all ponies. Coupled with his cold intellect, he had discerned and countered many of her best-laid plans and traps before she had ever set them. Cozy could take even Twilight and the royal princesses for fools all the live-long day, but there was no hiding the truth from Víss. No matter what she did, he would always know and with deadly accuracy.

So it should come at no surprise that a big part of Cozy's youth was attempting to foil and steal from the one power that could upend her games so consistently and thoroughly. Although such is the work of fate, as she found that 'power' wanting. No one else could've acted as a better foil to her character. Víss was not tied to any source of strength outside of his own physical ability. No harmony magic ran through him. No essence of friendship. Even Discord's magic had no effect on him, as though his chaos magic could not register or change the absoluteness of Viss' nothing.

Even his personality was so in-tune with this fact. He had no ambition, no goal, no destination in mind. No vice, no wants, and very few needs to boot. He even lived his life on individualistic philosophies, the likes of which preached self-fulfillment and actualization. He was the type who would sooner see himself to an early grave rather than ask for the tiniest bit of help from someone else. Borrowed strength is not true strength. Or so he would say.

Who better to guide her through life than him then? To Cozy, their meeting was truly fateful. She could easily envision where she'd be without him. Perhaps in a jail cell somewhere deep underground, or maybe even worse. She only had to look at their very first meeting to know just how close she'd gotten towards ruining her aspects in life.

Already in the middle of her greatest scheme yet and finally in the trust of Princess Twilight, she'd been slowly setting up dissent within the school and testing the power of friendship by shaking the new student's resolve, if only to see if it was as powerful as the Princess had made it out to be and if it was worth stealing at all. Cozy had specifically targeted the interracial group of friends that made up of Sandbar's group, as they seemed to embody the very teachings and centricities of Twilight's belief. Initially disappointed that it only took a few words to rip them apart, the events that transpired after with the tree of harmony beneath the school made her sure that there truly was power in the kind of harmony magic generated by their love for one another.

But love, even when hidden behind the cloak and dagger of her friendly facade, would not give her the power she wanted. Cozy never quite understood what true trust and friendship meant, and never grew it to its fullest potential with anyone as a result. That is why the power of friendship was beyond her reach, and why she decided that she would steal it for herself afterward.

For several long months, she scoured over every bit of information concerning magic and its properties. Looking, searching, yearning for a way to capture it for her own uses. And finally, in one dusty old tome titled "The Nature of Magic: By Starswirl the Bearded", she learned that magical relics and artifacts had the potential to do all that she wanted.

She would've gotten away with it too. Her plan was flawless. She'd even distracted Twilight, her friends, her protégé, and Starlight away from the school by sending them on a useless goose chase to the Crystal Empire, far away so that they could not make it back in time before all the magic in Equestria had been vacuumed by the Pillars' artifacts. She had Chancellor Neighsay groveling at her hooves. She had even taken extra measures to make sure Sandbar's group of friends would not meddle by putting them on their own quest far away from her. All on her lonesome, she would've brought the very foundations of magic and pony society down to its knees, fate willing.

But Fate had not willed it. On the contrary, it seemed that fate was actively fighting against her, as it had sent Víss of all creatures to foil all of her plans before they had ever been set to motion.

Víss had only just moved into the Everfree a few weeks prior. Princess Twilight had taken great pains to welcome him in the best way she knew how, but had, had all her suggestions and accommodations shot-down as fast as she could come up with them. Even back then, Víss' nature had not changed. Always the same stoic ambitionless buck he'd always been. He very much planned to live out his days in quiet solitude and wanted no part of pony society. The only reason why he had shown up on the day of Cozy's planned execution of her masterplan, was because he was there to formally refuse a suggestion the Princess had given him. She'd offered him a job. A very important job at that.

That's about the moment he walked into a mostly empty school building, save for that one dastardly filly.

Cozy always believed she was above all others in every possible way. Her nature had convinced her that she was the smartest, most cunning, most wily of all the creatures in the world. Mental gymnastics were a game to her, one that had always been set to 'easy'. So the very moment that Víss had walked into her life and had given her an impossible game to win, nay, not a game but a battle of the minds, is the moment that had changed the trajectory of her life for the better.

"Um, hello? Can I help you?" She said sweetly enough, hiding her pointed words and annoyance that someone dared interrupt this auspicious day. The young elk took one glance at her from beneath his bushy brows and grunted. With no other words spoken, he completely ignored her and set off to go find the Princess. Confusion and annoyance quickly turned to anger. "I'm sorry mister, but you can't be here today. The school is closed, like it said on the sign outside." She'd said between gritted teeth and a tone that was close to losing all semblance of civility. And again, nothing from the buck. He just kept walking down the hall, unperturbed. That anger within her turned to fury at this. "I saaaidd, YOU CAN'T BE IN HERE, YOU DAFT DEER." Cozy had flown to the front of him, stopping him in his tracks just to yell that at him, her vitriol and true nature now out in the open, plain for him to see.

And again, he ignored her, gently pushed her aside, and continued walking. Cozy was beyond livid. In her mind, she believed that Víss thought of her as an insignificant kid not even worth his attention. Mind games don't always have clear conclusions. Winning and losing is not always so black and white. But in that instant, it was more obvious than anything. The moment Cozy lost her cool was the moment she lost that war between wits.

It had all happened so fast for Cozy. No one had ever dared challenge her for even a single sentence or two. No one had ever made her question her own vanity and pride at being the best. Now there was this, what? Elk? Completely ignoring her. The nerve.

But it wasn't that Víss was ignoring her. He just couldn't quite believe the words she was saying since he'd already sensed that Cozy was a pathological liar and from the very first sentence she'd uttered. There was no holiday and no special notice about the school's closure. Only one measly sign drawn by a kid stating that the school was closed. He only half believed Cozy because the school itself was quiet and empty, and there were no signs of the Princess anywhere. Not even the faint signature of her lingering magic existed, which was an odd thing to be sure, as those could last for weeks before diffusing into the air entirely. And not just the Princess' magic, but anyone's magic either. Not even from the little filly beside him, muttering obscenities at him.

Something was odd. And it was connected to this tiny rapscallion. That's why he had made the unspoken decision to see for himself if the Princess was truly gone, and why he was sparing no words to Cozy as a result.

"WHAT ARE YOU EVEN HERE FOR?!" Cozy had already grown tired of calling him names and was now being slightly rational in her hysterics.

"I'm here to speak to the Princess." Were the first words he'd given to her.

The hateful filly seemed to calm down and toss her disturbed mane back into shape. "Oh. Well, why didn't you say so from the start?" She said, her gentle tone and patience back out of necessity to see him gone.

"You didn't ask."

And just like that, Cozy had lost again. This elk really had a way of pushing all of her buttons all at once with the least amount of words possible.

"WELL, AREN'T WE SMART?!" She clicked her tongue, recognizing that she was playing herself for a fool. "Play coy all you want, deer. But it won't change the fact that Princess Twilight isn't here at the moment. Or anyone except for me for that matter. Which is why THE SIGN OUTSIDE READS: CLOSED! So best get lost before I'm forced to get rid of you."

"My name is Víss ør-grandr." He said as he ignored her warnings, not having stopped the act of looking for the Princess by opening door after door throughout the entire school.

"What a lovely name. I DON'T CARE. I want you gone, NOW. This is my final warning you! In three, two-"

Her confidence immediately fell when at that moment, Víss had opened the one door that housed the ritual location for her masterplan. In her anger, she'd completely lost track of what she was meant to be doing or protecting, and she had inadvertently allowed the young elk to bust door after door freely until he had found it. Her plan was only just starting to get off the ground, with enough magic gathered around the Pillars' artifacts so that the ritual could not be stopped anymore by anyone, physically or magically.

"I wasn't going crazy then. I thought Ponyville was awfully still and empty of magic on my way here. Seems I found the reason." Víss spoke his thoughts out loud. He turned to look at the young filly who had been flabbergasted by how easily she'd been played, for only a bit until she regained herself and figured that there was no reason to fear. Silently, the elk began to walk closer to her almost accusatively.

This is where Cozy would've usually had, had the upper ground. She'd always been so confident and sure of herself, and by all accounts she had no reason to be nervous especially now that the ritual was nearly impossible to stop. It would take a while for it to be fully complete, but she was in total control of the situation. It was just one measly deer that was standing in her way. She'd made short work of far more headstrong foes, like Chancellor Neighsay. So then, why was there this... pressure to this deer? Was she afraid of him? Cozy, of all ponies? Was she somehow subconsciously acknowledging that he was smarter and stronger than her in wit and willpower? Impossible. But with each step closer he took to her, she took one step back towards the ritual circle's center.

"D-don't make me have to use this!" She withdrew an item from within her curly mane. It was a medallion, one that was very reminiscent of Chancellor Neighsay's if not the very same one. "It's a teleportation artifact. One tap on this thing and I could send you into the middle of a blistering desert or the highest mountains peaks. Don't test me! I will use it. And it will be super inconvenient for you and dangerous!" She threatened, taking more steps back since her threats had not deterred the oncoming elk. "Aright! You asked for it buster!" And just like she promised, with one tap of the artifact, a warp hole opened up immediately in front of Víss, making it impossible for him to react in time to dodge it.

Cozy had, had one good morning at most to feel content over her plan being flawless and she had felt relief for a split second after her failsafe came in clutch, not knowing if she would need it. But those feelings quickly disappeared the moment Víss' face appeared from the other end of the portal, practically phasing through the magic as though it were just one big lightshow. The buck hadn't shown an ounce of surprise either, having completely ignored the fact that the portal even existed in the first place and walking on through, undeterred.

"What...? How!" In Cozy's surprise, she stumbled backwards now truly unsure of herself. She quickly tapped on the talisman to bring up another portal. And then another, and another, and another. Again and again, she kept making portals in front of the buck as he slowly made his way over to her. And again, Víss walked on by.

In truth, it wasn't only Chaos magic that could do nothing to Víss. It was magic in general, in all its forms. It was as though his very being did not exist in the world of Equus, or as how Víss himself saw it, he shouldn't have existed in this world.

"S-stop... I-I've warned you..." Cozy finally understood how useless her medallion was going to be and had tossed it to the ground. To her own surprise, she was shaking. Had the elk cast some form of magic on her?

He had stopped right in front of her, staring down onto where she had stumbled on the floor. His expression had not changed even a bit. To Cozy, it was the kind of look that could kill. With no smile present, it looked angry. Furious even. And his deeply amber eyes seemed to glow even in the dim light of that room. Víss had only stared at her directly for a moment when they first met, and then not again until now. Now he was staring directly at her with a gaze that seemed like it could burn a hole into whatever it stared at. Now, Cozy was being put under scrutiny the likes of which she had never been subjected to.

This was the very first moment in her life that Cozy Glow had ever felt this way, and the first moment she finally recognized the feeling of fear. She was afraid. Of Víss. Of his eyes. Of his presence. In front of him, she felt so small. So helpless. So vulnerable. In her mind, she felt like she was before an unflinching and all-powerful judge being accused of every wrong she'd done up until that point. Try all she might and no matter how hard her internal voice screamed at her to break their direct eye contact, she could not. Like a moth to a flame, she was compelled to keep on staring no matter if she was burnt up by them.

After an excruciating silence that felt like forever, Víss finally spoke. "Is this your doing?" Cozy allowed herself one tiny breath so as to keep from passing out, and beads of a nervous sweat began to form along her coat as she thought on her answer.

"W-well, w-what do you think, smartie pants?" She sputtered out in response, her voice breaking and tripping over itself. Cozy had forced a nervous smile back at him, trying to show even the slightest bit of defiance as though she wasn't absolutely terrified.

"What did you think you were doing with all this?" As Víss spoke, he turned his gaze towards the artifacts that once belonged to the Pillars of Equestria. At long last, that glare turned away from Cozy and she felt her throat unclench. She allowed herself a deeper breath and more time for a sound response.

"What else? I was going to use them to gather all the magic in Equestria. Take it for myself. Become ruler of all. What every young filly wants." She said coyly, now being honest about her motives. Cozy was sensing that there was no use in lying anymore. Not before him.

"Then you should've chosen a different ritual. This one will just send all that magic elsewhere. A different realm or reality, probably." The young elk began towards one of the artifacts.

"What are you saying? No. I set this up so that I could get all that magic. That's what this is, isn't it?" Their conversation had taken a strange twist. She hadn't expected this kind of lukewarm reaction to what she was planning. Nor did she expect to receive ADVISE of all things. Not like it helped much, since she didn't feel like Víss was here to assist her any.

"Who told you that?"

"No one. I found out about this artifice ritual in an old tome written by Starswirl."

"And did it tell you what would happen to all this magic after you'd gathered it?"

"Yes it di-" Before she could finish that sentence, Cozy thought about it for a second. It did not, in fact, tell her what would happen after. The only thing Starswirl mentioned about the ritual spell was that magical artifacts could be used to vacuum a large amount of magic from their surroundings, and that by increasing the amount of artifacts, they could cause a larger and more powerful effect. Enough to affect whole states, even. Possibly all of Equestria if she gathered enough of them, and to her convenient surprise, Twilight had already gathered six of them. In the end, Cozy had only made a baseless assumption that she could somehow take control of all the magic they'd gathered after all was said and done. "Well, no, now that I think about it. But then... how would you know?"

"Because my grandfather was the one who created the ritual spell. When he arrived in Equestria, he grew a keen interest in magical artifacts and relics. Starswirl was one of his students."

"Starswirl wrote that book over two thousand years ago. You mean to say your grandfather was alive back then? We're talking dozens of generations ago."

"He's still alive, you know."

"Impossible. A millenarian?"

"Is that so surprising? He wouldn't be the only one in this world. But I'd be lying if I confirmed it for you as is. He's likely over a decem millennium by now."

"Over what now?"

"Over ten thousand years old."

"And yet you'll lie straight to my face anyway." Cozy sighed. She felt silly for having been led along so by the nose and by someone who she was now perceiving as a baseless braggart. That was, until she saw him reach a hoof out towards one of the six artifacts being held in place mid-air by a dense and powerful torrent of magic. "I wouldn't do that it I were you. It's going to give you quite the kick if you try and touch it. Trust me, Chancellor Neighsay tried everything in the book but gave up in the end. Nothing can stop the ritual now." Her words gave the young buck pause, short of reaching into the bubbles of magic.

"What's your name?" He asked, turning one eye to her after craning his neck just enough to see her from the corner of it. Even that one eye alone was enough to straighten the small filly back up again.

"C-Cozy Glow. T-the one and only." She said smugly as though her teeth hadn't started chattering again. "W-what's it to you?"

"Well, Cozy Glow. You should know... I don't lie."

The next moments after that were a bit of a blur for Cozy. Víss proceeded to bat the artifact floating in front of him straight out of the encased magic bubble with his hoof as it were no issue at all. A part of her feared and even half expected that this would happen, seeing as how Chancellor Neighsay's medallion was no use against him. But a bigger part of her had been SO INCREDIBLY SURE that Víss could do nothing against it.

See, magic is an interesting phenomenon in the world of Equus. Let's ignore all the more... "magical" parts of magic for a second, and look at the kind of physical properties magic adopts. The first thing you can observe of magic with just your eyes is its fluidity and state of being. It acts like a mixture between a gas and a liquid. In a sense, it's somewhat like a plasma, if said plasma was not hot to the touch and could make a lot of crazy things happen. But when a lot of magic is hyper concentrated into one spot, it becomes especially erratic in its consistency.

Sometimes, when that amount of magic is being managed by something or someone that cannot control it, it becomes unstable and releases that energy in the form of an ion wind. A discharge that resembles lightning. That's why magic overload can sometimes look like a thunderstorm of power. Sometimes, that magic can take on different properties and forms depending on the medium or wielder releasing that plasmatic energy. Did you think Twilight setting on fire during one of her angrier moments is a coincidence or some emoting magic she did on purpose? Or take for example, the manes of the royal sisters in their nebulae-like forms.

Now, in the rare instance such a large concentration of magic can somehow be properly controlled, like how Cozy's ritual was progressing, magic tends to take on a different property and state of matter. It tends to solidify at its center core, becoming more stable and impassible. Imagine if you will for a moment, the Sun. At its core is a solid mass of plasmatic energies, denser and more stable than lead, yet still a gaseous ionic energy. This, in essence, is what was happening with each of the artifacts that were being incased with a quickly growing, densely packed bubble of magic. From the outside, the artifacts were protected by a volatile and aggressive layer of lightning-like energy that repelled any who got close. From the inside, they were completely sealed into a dense sphere stronger than most metals on the face of Equus as though they had been dropped into amber and had been preserved by that sticky sap turned to stone after so long.

So then put yourself in Cozy's horseshoes. With how knowledgeable she'd become of magic since her arrival at Twilight's school, she understood that this is what was happening to the six artifacts from the Pillars of Equestria. She'd just been witness to how truly devastatingly strong this magic was ever since Chancellor Neighsay had caught her in the act of setting the ritual up, and then losing any semblance of hope when trying to stop it himself. Even his medallion's warp holes could not dislodge them, since the magic from the medallion could not penetrate through the bubble.

This was all of Equestria's magic, for Pete's sake. And THEN some. This was every magical creature's magic rolled into one throughout all of Equestria's borders and a few outside of that, like the Crystal Empire's. This was Celestia's, Twilight's, Luna's, Cadence's, and Flurry Heart's magic gathered into one spot. Every monster, every pony, every sentient race, every animal, every plant, hell, even the clouds why not. If Discord wasn't off in his own dimension, he likely would've seized to be, what with him being an entirely magical manifestation and all.

She never imagined in a million years that anyone had the capacity to do what Víss just did. As mentioned before, a part of her did considering the circumstantial evidence that came before that. But that part of her was so, so very small, that it never registered with her brain to be the least bit worried of what that perpetually ornery-looking elk was capable of. Cozy was far too surprised and stunned by what was happening to even fight it physically. Not that she would've been able to, since Víss was quite large and bulky as he was an elk in the prime of his life and she, she was just one tiny pegasus filly. All she could do was watch on in awed silence as Víss walked over to each of the artifacts to remove them from the ritual circle in order to stem the flow of the magic they were in the middle of vacuuming. And he did so casually, with no amount of hurry in his step.

The magic that had been collected by the artifacts, once removed, became unstable almost immediately, crackling with lightning and shaking the whole of the room they were in. The bubbles that had been neat perfect spheres of torrential magic now became sporadic and messy, bubbling and bending as if possessed. The shaking only became stronger as each individual artifact was removed from the ritual circle, causing the ground to crack and the school walls to shatter. Strangely, after the last artifact was removed, the magic that had been gathered had not gone away, but stayed in place threatening to explode at any moment. And again, Cozy could do nothing but stare defeatedly at the elk as he made his way over the center of the circle, not even caring for her own safety within that increasingly dangerous room.

What really took her off-guard at that moment in time, more than anything, was that she watched him sigh and grumble to himself. Was he... upset? Because she almost threw all of Equestria into chaos with her plans? No, that couldn't have been it. He would've chastised her more if that were the case, no? Maybe she still had a lengthy lecture coming to her afterwards? But Víss was showing no interest in lecturing her at all, so that didn't seem quite right either. He almost looked like... he didn't want to do this? Like he didn't want to save Equestria's magic?

Cozy watched as Víss dug a hoof into the soft soil below and run it across some of the ritual circle's runic symbols to erase them. He did this again and again, all while the school trembled and threatened to cave in. After he was done, he walked up to Cozy again.

"Chalk. Got any left?" He asked her, boring holes through her spirit yet again. She quickly flew out of the room and returned promptly with the bucket of chalk she had used earlier to write the runes herself.

"H-here." She gingerly pushed the bucket over to him, no ounce of fight left in her. She could've used that moment to escape if she had wanted to, but her brain wasn't all there at that point in time.

Víss dug his hoof into the powdery chalk and wrote symbols of his own around the ritual circle. Cozy quickly picked up on the fact that his symbols were not only in a different order and position around the circle, but that the runes he wrote down were much cleaner and more in-line with the ones she'd seen in Starswirl books, if not even cleaner than those. She wrote it off initially thinking that those runes were just some magic mumbo jumbo nonsense that only existed to make the ritual work, as they were not in any language she recognized. But now, now she was starting to believe the elk about the things he'd said concerning his grandfather. It was like watching a renowned calligrapher write a story in his own native tongue.

The effect when he seemed to finish the circle's runes was immediate. The six bubbles of concentrated magic that once housed the artifacts converged into a single point at the center, creating one giant sphere of magic. He made his way to the center right below where the bubble hovered, but not before reapplying one last layer of chalk to his hoof. Finally at the center, the young buck looked down towards the ground and gave his biggest sigh yet.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." He muttered to himself, hesitating to move his hoof across the floor. It was just enough for Cozy to overhear.

"Do what? What are you even doing?"

Almost as if waiting for any little excuse to stop what he was doing, he turned to the small filly who was beside herself with confusion.

"Well, what do you think?" Cozy felt her brain flinch at having her own words thrown back at her.

"I think... you're returning all the magic I stole?" The buck nodded ever so slightly, confirming her suspicions. "But why do I get the feeling like you don't want to do this?"

"You wonder why?" He returned to the ground and began to write the runes he needed to finish the ritual. "My grandfather still believes in the ponies and the creatures of this world. He trusts that they would be better, given time. And sure. They got better. But are they good enough yet, I wonder? I've seen many things. Many, many sad things. Perpetuated, exacerbated, distorted by the lust for magic. The greed inherent in power. The will of the fates. It destroyed an entire world once. And it threatens to do so again to this one. The inhabitants of Equus... they're too comfortable with their fated lives. Too dependent on the likes of magic. Too reliant on harmony to keep their balance. They can't imagine themselves in a world without them, and so they will not be prepared for the worst when it comes to pass. They will not be ready for Ragnarök, the end of the gods."

"What in the name of Celestia are you talking about?" This was all just gibberish to the small filly.

"Never you mind it, child. Just know that if it weren't for an old promise I made, I wouldn't have done this. I would've been happier seeing all of this magic gone." His hoof stopped on the final rune.

Suddenly, everything became very still. The rumbling that the magic was causing stopped. Then, the giant mass of magic that had been bubbling over this entire time became incredibly rigid and dropped to the floor like one massive crystallized marble, now entirely solid. But slowly, surely, that solid sphere turned to liquid, melting before their very eyes. The pure magic water that remained flooded the floor a few inches before beginning to steam into a gas. Without much fanfare, all of that magic seemed to diffuse and float off into the air. It seemed to shoot out into the breeze as though it had a mind of its own once Víss opened a nearby window and opened the doors to the outside, and within seconds, any trace of all that gathered magic was gone like if Cozy had never tried to steal it to begin with.

Their surroundings on the other hoof told a different story. She had made a right mess of the school. Debris lay about everywhere, and the whole of the room still looked like it could crumble with the slightest sneeze. Víss had closed his eyes and remained silent in the middle of the room, contemplating and thinking on what he'd just done. He seemed to be awaiting something. But what? Now that Cozy's heart had begun to slow after the adrenaline of the moment had worn off and her head had returned to her, she realized that she would be in serious trouble for what she'd done. It wouldn't take Twilight long to investigate and find out the truth, so at that moment, she felt her conservation instincts kick in and push her towards the door silently, being careful not to disturb the elk during the bout of thinking he was doing.

She had gotten as far as the door successfully and had placed both of her hooves on it to push it open with her eyes fixated on its mahogany texture, but she froze up at that last important second. She didn't need to see them to recognize that those two ruthlessly cold eyes were staring at her. The faint sound of hoof steps getting louder after she felt that gaze rest on her, only confirmed her fears. That large imposing shadow of the elk as it floated into view on the door's surface had made her shrink in terror. She turned her head up and behind her slowly, to stare right back at what had impeded her forward motion purely through psychological means. Those radiant amber eyes.

Already succumbed to terror as she was, Cozy did not think that she could feel anymore fear than she'd already felt. But despite his expression not being at all different from before, she could sense that something had changed in the way the elk was looking at her. That something else was a mixture of things, and although she couldn't understand what those things could be, she recognized some of them no problem. Anger, disappointment, fury. And something else too. Something that she wouldn't get to see again until a decade later.

"Cozy Glow." He addressed her directly, commanding her attention with the seriousness in his tone. "I will not be the one to condemn what you've done today. I cannot. A judge must remain impartial, and my own interests conflict in your case. As such, I will remove myself from this in any trial by jury, if you are granted one. I will only act as witness to what you've done here, and nothing more. Know that my testimony will be nothing personal against you. To that end, I ask that you forgive me. I swore by the truth, and so I will tell no lie. That will likely aid in your conviction. I'm sorry."

"I n-never expected you to a-anyway. W-who would think to take my side?" Her nervous smile broke free again, remaining defiant still. "A-anyways, so what?" Suddenly, Cozy felt something from within her chest. She felt... angry. Really angry. Deeply, deeply angry. She was entirely deserving of what was coming to her and she recognized that, fully, but why was there this seething frustration trying to claw its way out of her heart? Where was this indignation coming from? Her teeth stopped chattering, as wrath replaced her fear. Her nervous smile dropped and the expression on her face darkened. "It's like you said right?!" Now she'd begun to shout inadvertently, being unable to suppress her emotions. "Ponies are too dependent on magic. Maybe I was wrong and almost got rid of all that magic by mistake. But so what?! Who gets to decide who has power and who doesn't anyway?! Why can't I be one of those?! Maybe if I would've been one of the chosen ones, I would have never resorted to this!! Maybe if Fate would've chosen me, I could've had that chance!! I tried to take that chance myself!! I worked SO HARD for it! And if you hadn't shown up, that still would've been the case!! How could you even understand how I feel, you who was born with all that power! Not even the magic in all of Equestria was a match for you!"

Cozy tried hitting him as hard as she could with her hooves and her wings, but her physical efforts were not nearly enough as it had been dampened entirely by his thick coat. The expression on the elk did not change, only staring right through her. "Stop it, child. Suppress your anger. You've done enough damage for today. Anymore will increase the severity of your punishment. What you must do now is repent. Learn remorse for what you've done."

The pegasus filly began to laugh almost maniacally. "Well, aren't you just a big softie inside. Can't believe I was ever scared of you. You're just like the rest of the ponies. Well, big guy, you think you can make me repent? Try it. But I'm going to stop at nothing to take all that power for myself one day, you mark my words."

The elk sighed. In a move Cozy had not expected, Víss dropped his lower body to the ground in order to sit, to get more on level with her. Cozy again could've taken this chance to escape. She was no longer afraid of Víss, and so his gaze could no longer affect her like it had been. But she was deeply indignant and was dead set on seeing how he would respond. His expression had been washed away by that fourth feeling Cozy couldn't recognize. In a way, it looked like pity, and it only made her more angry the longer he used it on her. Finally, Víss spoke.

"You're right. I can't understand how it feels. I'm not you. I don't know who you are and what you've been through. But I can tell that even you wouldn't want the consequences of the actions you were bringing about with this ritual spell. I can tell, because you don't understand just what kind of crimes you were in the process of committing. You can only see what is in front of you. You're young and you're likely doing all of this without giving it another thought."

"Stop treating me like a kid!! I've thought of everything! I knew the consequences!" She bit back accusatively.

"Did you?" The severity in those two words were delivered in such a way that left Cozy speechless. There was a lot she hadn't accounted for, and hadn't properly looked into. She had almost sent all of Equestria's magic elsewhere by mistake, so she was forced to submit to that question. "Truthfully, it's better that you not know. The guilt of it is something that has crushed lesser souls."

"What do you take me for?! I can take it! I'm strong enough to know!" She said defiantly. She hated the idea that this elk, the one who had ruined her plans, was now trying to protect her from the truth of all things. How weak did he believe she was? She wanted to prove him wrong.

He stared at her in silence for a while, trying to measure something. Trying to measure the strength of her soul. Would she really be able to handle it?

"Then so be it, Cozy Glow." He judged her to be worthy of the truth. "First, you must understand that the ritual that was written down by Starswirl in his book was incomplete. My grandfather understood that if misused, it could cause a tragedy unlike any other, and so Starswirl agreed to only publish a surface-level study of the ritual. Not only that, but all research on magical artifacts was safeguarded due to the dangers such knowledge posed. Relics hold immense power as you are aware, and to avoid tragedy, my grandfather as well as Equestria's royalty have locked away any information about them for a long time. Even the small mentions of them like in Starswirl's book have become forbidden and taboo overtime. How you happened across that book is beyond me. I doubt Princess Twilight is careless enough to leave it lying around in her public libraries. So I ask, how did you get a hold of it?"

"I just... found it one day, at my bedside in the dormitories. But I doubt you would believe me." She responded.

"I trust you, Cozy. I cannot see you lying as you are right now, so rest at ease."

"Thanks... I guess... But wait, if it was incomplete, how did this ritual even work for me? It wouldn't have been possible."

"I have my guesses." The elk looked back to the ritual circle and frowned. "Do you remember writing that circle on the floor?"

"Of course I do."

Víss shook his head, indicating that was not the answer he wanted. "My apologies, Cozy, what I meant to ask was, do you remember writing that circle in its entirety? Word for word. Line by line. Can you picture in your head the entire process that you took. Every stroke, every adjustment."

"Well... no not really. I don't have photographic memory."

"Very few do."

"So what, someone else wrote it for me while I wasn't looking?"

"No, you wrote it all. Couldn't have been anyone else."

"Then what are you getting at?!" She was getting irritated now.

"It means that you might be a genius when it comes to magic and were able to finish the ritual's runic configuration out of pure instinct. I say instinct, because I doubt you can read these letters, right?" He pointed to the runes within the circle.

"Yeah no clue. But if it's about magic, I studied a whole lot. I don't doubt it was my instinct." Cozy had let a bit of that compliment get to her head. All the meanwhile Víss stared at the circle with a silent contemplative expression.

"Or, it could've been something else, Cozy. A force outside of you helped you write those runes. Maybe you were just fated to go through with this plan, somehow. Perhaps this was just an inevitability." The little filly looked at him with confusion written all over her face again. Half of the things Víss said just sounded like nonsense to her. "Whatever the case Cozy, it's now apparent to me that you really had no clue as to what you were doing. So promise me you won't beat yourself up for what I'm about to tell you next."

Cozy's brows dug inward, again feeling indignant over being seen as a weak child who could not even handle the truth. "I have NEVER felt guilty over what I've done, and I doubt I'll start now." She said pridefully, unaware of what was coming.

"That is because you have never committed atrocities before, Cozy. Evil though you may think you are, you are still pure of soul." Víss took in a deep breath. It was never an easy thing to break someone's innocence like this. But he sensed that Cozy could handle it, and that she needed to hear it more than anyone. She was just a child protected by a merciful world, and only the ugly truth could humble her. "Did you never stop to think what might have happened if you did remove magic from Equestria? To the ponies and all the living creatures within it? To its soils and its clouds? To its seas and its infrastructures? To its neighbors and its climates. This world is deeply intertwined with magic. From its mighty dragons, to its tiny ants. So I want you stop and think for a moment. Truly imagine it. Pluck magic straight out of everyone and everything. What would happen then?"

Cozy was silent at this, trying to imagine it. But she was only a child, and so she couldn't find a problem with it in the end. All she could imagine was the races and its creatures becoming powerless and susceptible to her rule, no different than how they were before other than they were under her beck and call.

"Pegasi..." Víss had begun again, breaking her away from her thoughts. "They use magic, don't they? They use it to fly. So what happens if you remove that magic?"

"Then they can't fly?"

"Right. A pegasus who can't fly is a sad thing in its own right, especially for those who love to soar through the skies, but that's not the biggest issue you're facing. Right now Cozy, where do most of the Pegasi live?"

"In Cloudsdale." She answered a silent elk who was giving her enough time to think about the answer she had just given him. And while it initially didn't register with her for a time, after a short while it finally hit her all at once.

Realization.

Her limbs began to tremble with the awful truth. She crossed her forelegs over her torso to hug herself, trying to keep herself from shaking, but now she couldn't stop it.

She had almost committed the unthinkable.

"It is as you can guess. Removing magic from Equus would've endangered them. Not only would you have taken their ability to fly away, but you would've stripped them from the ability walk on clouds with their magic. You would've taken the magic away from the clouds so even if they still had some magic lingering in their bodies, they would have fallen straight through. All of Cloudsdale would've seized to be in that moment, and would have become nothing more than mists of water, as true clouds are meant to be without magic to solidify them for the Pegasi. They would've lost their homes, their livelihoods, and for many, even their lives. Not only just the Pegasi, but the rest of Equestria would've been in danger as well. A lot of buildings and infrastructure are made by infusing magic into their construction. Major cities like Manehatten would've seen the most destruction, with Canterlot being the worst of them all, as without magic its structural integrity would've decayed and the whole city would've fallen. Many would have paid the ultimate price."

"B-but I didn't... I didn't know..."

"I'm sorry Cozy, but it doesn't end there. Those are not the only lives that would've been endangered either. The griffons would've likely suffered a similar fate. Although their nests are grounded, they would not be able to adapt so easily without the ability to fly. Their bodies use magic too, as they are too large and bulky for their wings to carry them normally. Gathering food would have become harder for them, and they would begin to slowly decline if left without magic. The dragons would fare better as most of them are land-roaming and are naturally strong in their physical capabilities, but their magical protection would be entirely removed, making their scales weaker and their resistance to fire zero, so they would have to migrate away from the dragon land's volcanic regions. With no ability to breath fire, they would have a harder time digesting stones and gems. The result would've created a fierce tribe of survivors hunting for food in whatever form presented itself to them. The bigger dragons would suffer a worse fate, not even being able to move their hulking bodies due to the density of their bones and muscles caving under their own weight. It's hard to speak about what would happen to the changelings without magic. Their very life force is tied to it, and their nourishment is mostly magic too, so removing magic all together would be catastrophic for them in more ways than one. The yaks would lose a considerable amount of strength, and it would make their lives out in the mountains nearly impossible without outside help. A good half of the hippogriffs now live underwater with the help of a magical stone that adapts their body to the sea. All of them would've been at risk down in those depths. It's not just the sentient races that would've suffered either. The monsters are deeply magical too, and they would've lost everything too. Their strengths and protections, their habitats and food sources. Regular animals would be lost without magic as well, as it has granted them special properties not seen in normal wildlife. Even the plants and trees who now depend on magic for their growth and survivability would begin to wither with time. Entire ecosystems would collapse. Equestria as you know it would have died."

It was all too much for the young girl. Cozy was in tears muttering how sorry she was, over and over. She thought she could handle the truth, but even imagining half of those things was a ghastly endeavor that made her feel like wanting to throw up. She had almost taken a lot of lives inadvertently and without realizing it. This ritual had almost cost everyone everything, and she had been clueless to it all.

She just wanted to be special... to be strong... to be on a pedestal. Adored, respected.... loved. Her frustrations had twisted those intentions over time. Those desires asked for her to take that power by any means possible. If it meant having to be hated, loathed, and feared, she didn't care. Somehow, she imagined that would all just fix itself for her once that power was hers. It cannot be overstated. She was just a child. How could she have understood the consequences in their full weight? It had been beyond her comprehension. But now that she was starting to understand just how dangerous her dreams were, she was horrified by herself. By what she'd done.

Cozy felt like her heart would break right there and then with guilt. Like it would explode with her remorse. She was experiencing ego-death, and was beginning to lose her sense of self, her very identity. All the same, with how hard she was hyperventilating now, her chest seemed like it would burst at any minute.

Then... she felt her head rest on something soft and fluffy. It was soothing and comforting. A hoof began to pat her in the back gently and carefully. A sympathetic hoof, one that seemed to somehow understand the hurt she was experiencing. One that seemed to wish her better. Instinctively she dug her face further into that softness and cried her heart out.

"Do not let it crush you, Cozy. You are strong. You made a mistake. You couldn't have known. You were wrong to have done this, but thankfully nothing happened. Thankfully I was here in time to stop it." Víss whispered to her gently, trying to comfort her. But again, all Cozy could say was sorry. "Everything is alright now, Cozy. Use this experience to grow. Never forget the kind of consequences your actions can have. Only by forgetting will you be doomed to repeat the same mistake. Will you promise me that you won't?" He asked after Cozy had calmed down enough, devolved to quiet sobs.

She nodded with her face still dug into his chest, his fluffy mane around his upper body damp with tears. "I will. I'm so sorry Mr. Deer." She said quietly.

"Cozy."

She finally looked up towards his eyes to see why he had addressed her directly again. Víss' expression had not changed. But what once looked like a grouchy and piercing glare had become a soft and gentle look from two peaceful and beautiful eyes.

"My name is Víss. Not deer." He pat her on the head a few times before moving his foreleg over to her eyes to wipe away her remaining tears with his coat. "Well, I guess as timing goes, this is almost too perfect."

Víss began to clamber his body back up to stand, seeing as his work with Cozy had concluded. Cozy remained seated on the floor, still trying to regain her emotions and composure, and also trying to understand what Víss had just said, which she immediately understood by what happened next. In front of them, a bright white light appeared. The kind reminiscent of teleportation magic. From it spawned Princess Twilight in a frantic frenzy.

"What in Celestia's name happened here?!" The lavender princess yelled in her astonishment.

"Good afternoon, Princess Twilight. It's a pleasure to see you again." Voiced Víss upon her arrival.

"Wait... Sage Víss?!" Twilight immediately bent a knee in order to show her respect. "I'm sorry! I didn't know you had arrived. A lot has happened today, and if I'd have known, I would've-"

"At ease Princess, I'm not someone who deserves that level of respect. I know that my grandfather has done a lot for this kingdom, but I personally haven't. We've already talked about this, so you should already be aware of it, Twilight."

The Princess gave a small chuckle and eased up. "You know, you do sound a lot like your grandfather. Both of you hated formalities. I'm sorry if that made you uncomfortable. I never got used to not showing my respects to Sage Fimbul, and now I feel like I'm repeating that all over again. Couldn't help it."

"Well, I'm not against it to be honest. I just rather you save if it for when I've done something of actual note for this statedom."

It was at that moment that Twilight took notice of the small pegasus filly who was too ashamed by what she'd done to even look at Twilight in the face, her eyes puffy from having cried so much. "Cozy, what's wrong?" She asked, genuinely worried for the girl until the severity of the situation finally kicked back in to high-gear and her hysteria reapplied. "Wait! Right now we have more pressing matters at hoof. Something horrible has happened to Equestria! Magic is being stripped away from everyone and everything! Víss, I'm sorry if I have to reschedule our meeting, but this takes precedence over everything else, I must return all that magic back!"

"Breathe, Princess, and calm your mind."

"This is NO time for calm!" Her voice cracked as she yelled it, beginning to hyperventilate herself.

"Magic has already returned, the danger is over."

"What do you mean?! I haven't been able to cast a spell ever since I arrived at the Crystal Empire! This is terrible, just terrible!"

"Well, how did you teleport here then?"

"With a teleportation spell obviously! I was able to cast it not too long ago. Do you have any idea how many places I've visited already trying to find the source of the issue?!"

"Okay, and with what magic were you able to cast those spells?"

"With my magi-" A bright pink flush began to replace the lavender around the purple alicorn's cheeks. "Oh, uh. I hadn't noticed. Haha. But the danger might still be lurking somewhere. Equestria CANNOT afford to be without magic even for a day. The consequences could be truly dire! I must continue my search."

"That is why I need you to calm down first, Princess. The answer is before us." He pointed a foreleg over to the ritual circle that had now been smudged across the floor thanks to the magic water from earlier. Cozy flinched as she saw Twilight's eyes fall on them.

One could almost physically see Twilight calming down now that her chest was beginning to slow and had stopped heaving her panicked breaths. Her studiousness had paid dividence yet again as she seemed to instantly recognize what the circle was meant for, despite how obfuscated its symbols had become. "That's... Fimbul's artifice ritual spell, is it not? The one mentioned in Starswirl's magic study?"

"Unfortunately so. Princess, remain calm and quiet while I tell you what has transpired. You must hear my testimony to its end, so that you know all that I've witnessed here today and so that you can deliberate justice with eyes unclouded."

Cozy had held out a small amount of hope in her heart for Víss. A bit of her wished that the gentleness he had displayed earlier would've extended further. That he would protect her in this moment. To a character like Cozy, it's only until they are at their lowest point that they open up their hearts and begin to see love and friendship in its truest form.

But as Víss gave his accurate testimony to Princess Twilight, she was made painfully aware of just how alone she truly was. Víss had spoken only the truth, staying true to his word. It was foolish of her to assume she had even the tiniest safety net. No one would ever trust her again, especially after this. She didn't deserve to be trusted. She didn't deserve to be forgiven. She didn't deserve to be loved...

Her eyes fell to the floor as the conversation continued, and she began to think on what Víss had said before. She grew queasy thinking about the possibilities she had narrowly dodged. Her face had grown hot and her ears were buzzing with a fever-pitch ring that would not go away, slowly drowning out the sound in the room. So many lives nearly upended. So many souls nearly lost. All because of her selfishness.

To Cozy, it felt like a hole had been torn open inside her heart. And the pain of that wound was in the form of the loneliness she was feeling. It was a cold and harsh pain, one that was pushing her closer and closer into a terrible depression. All the strength in her limbs had vanished. All the willpower she'd shown in the months leading up to this plan of hers, gone.

"Cozy." As her name was called upon by Princess Twilight, she couldn't muster the energy to bring her head back up to look at her. Did she deserve to even look upon her, after what she'd done?

"Why did you do this?" Twilight's tone was equally horrified as it was serious. She had not doubted Víss' testimony at all, judging by the question she had asked before ever confirming with her if this was all truth or not. It went to show how deeply Twilight trusted him.

"I... just wanted to be special..." Was all that she could mutter as a response, her head still fallen and unable to look upon them.

"Did you not know the damage you would've caused?!" Twilight had let a bit of her own emotion seep through before biting her lips and holding back after seeing how dejected the small filly already was. Cozy shook her head weakly as a response. Twilight tried to open her mouth several times to try to admonish her further, but could not. It was not within her nature to do such a thing, especially to an ailing child already at the peak of their remorse. Experience had shown her that doing so had never once helped things.

"What will be her judgement then, Princess Twilight?" Víss asked after allowing the Princess to process her emotions until they had calmed again. His eyes had fallen to the young filly, watching her closely.

"I can't say for sure now. I'll have to speak to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna about how they want to handle her. Cozy has been one of my best students and a big part of me wishes this were all just some terrible dream. It pains me greatly to have to indict her, but this crime is far too severe to be left unpunished. In all likelihood, she will, at the very least, have to serve a jailing sentence for a period of time. How long and where, is up to the Royal Sisters to decide..." Twilight had returned to biting her lips again. This time, she had drawn blood with how forceably she was driving her own feelings back. "Where did I go wrong with her? How was I blind to this? If only I could've done more..." She spoke in a hushed breath.

Cozy felt her heart clench at those whispered words. This was not the first time she was hearing those questions. She had been convinced that they would never have power over her again, like they used to. But now that she was hearing them again, despite how fake her relationship with the Princess had been, those words had managed to do the most damage she had ever felt in her life. It was as if Cozy could see a thread attached to herself at that moment. A thread that had been with her since she was born. One that had remained steadfast and strong despite every difficulty she had faced. Despite every lonely night and mournful day. She believed this thread to be more than just simple string. It was as if it were the embodiment of life itself. Every desire within her. Every bit of hope. Destiny itself, manifested.

And upon hearing those words from Twilight... that thread had finally snapped.

She felt herself falling. No matter how desperately she tried to beat her wings, they could not keep her from plummeting. They had lost their magic, and could not save her. As she fell, the world around her turned ominous and dark. That feeling of falling suddenly turned very cold, as if her body had hit water, sinking just as quickly into a darker and darker abyss, threatening to take her very breath away and crushing her in those depths.

But then... something happened. Something that she had thought was out of the question forever. Something that she hadn't expected, like the many things that had happened that day already. And that something... had saved her. Her. The one who least deserved it. The one who had it coming. The one no one should ever trust.

"You would imprison a child?" It was Víss. It was his voice. It had slowed her descent into darkness. It returned her to reality. And as she mustered the strength to lift her head in order to see him, she saw nothing but ANGER and FURY in his image. And unlike before when Cozy believed she had seen the truest extent of that within him, this time, it burned with an incredible rage that no one in her life had ever been able to match. "I cannot condone this, Princess Twilight. You must reconsider." Although the elk was not shouting, his voice carried his rage through with no problems and speaking with an overwhelming authority so grand, it was as if the very embodiment of wrath was speaking through him.

"I'm sorry, Víss, I truly am. But it is not for me to decide. The Royal Sisters will convene at the senate to carry out her sentence through a fair trial. Considering how far this forbidden ritual spell has affected Equestria and its neighbors, it will not be so simple as letting her off with a warning. Any noble and royal party from all over Equestria and dignitaries from outside countries will come to deliberate on what must be done. We will not be in a position to outright refuse much of what will be suggested, as it will be my and the royal sister's failing that has brought about this danger to our world." The Princess smiled weakly, dejected to the fate that had befallen her. "It... reminds of a line in a story Fimbul once told me. Of a boy who is to be cast away from his village by his father, for the sake of upholding his village's rules. The line is said by the father to the rest of the villagers and it goes... Pity me, for this is the hardest thing I've had to do."

"And is said by the son... Well don't expect me to pity you. What kind of father chooses laws over his own son?" Víss responded with gentleness at the mention of the tale. His anger had not gone away. He was deeply, deeply angry at this world. At the ponies. At its races. At its magic. At its balances. And at fate. To say that he hated Equus would be an understatement. "I understand, Princess Twilight. Then it is obvious what I must do."

"You don't mean...?"

Víss nodded to her response. "In the name of my lineage, I will offer to the court all that I am. This, my recompense to ponykind and the creatures of this world so that their anger should quell. I accept the job you've offered me, Princess Twilight."

"Are you sure? I know how much you hated the idea before. Especially after what Fimbul told me... I can't ask that of you. You don't owe us anything."

He shook his head to signify to her that she was wrong. "That's not entirely true, Princess. Simply by living in this world, I owe my life to it. The water I drink, the grasses I eat. To begin with, it is not as if I am entirely blameless in all of this either. It was my grandfather that brought that spell to origin. And so I stand atop the pillar of blame. I will take responsibility for all of this. I will become the grand judge you wished for me to be, in the name of universal law and peace."

"You don't know how much this means to us, Víss! Thank you. With you at the helm, peace and friendship talks with the rest of the nations of the world will go smoothly, I just know it!" Princess Twilight said excitedly.

"I do not do this because I want to, Princess. I do this, so that I can be granted custody of that little one." He pointed a foreleg in Cozy's direction.

Both of them were stunned by what he was suggesting. Twilight had an inkling of what he was getting at with his earlier words, but not to this extent. And Cozy, who didn't have any context as to what they were talking about, had been completely and utterly blind-sided.

"Are you absolutely certain, Víss? This is... big, you understand that, right?"

"I know what this means, Princess. I am very well aware. Do not misunderstand me, when I said that I would take responsibility it wasn't just for this incident alone, but for all who were affected by the spell. By it's effects, and by its existence. No one is more likely to have felt the scar of it than she has." Cozy looked him directly in the eyes, trying to search for whatever intention he might have to have done this for her. Was there some ulterior motive? Some underhanded plan he wanted her to be a part of? That was something she would've done, as the only reason she'd ever been kind to someone was so that she could manipulate them later. But search all she wanted, she could find nothing within his eyes. "It is my duty to make sure this mistake should never repeat again, and so I will personally take charge of Cozy to that end. There is no future in a cell. Atonement is impossible within a prison. I won't sit idly by as a child is stripped of her freedoms due to our mistakes. Children are meant to live carefree lives. Don't you agree, Twilight?" Víss had dropped all honorifics. This was him, talking to an equal. To a friend.

The Princess nodded with a large smile spread across her face, happy to have the tiniest out of this nightmare situation. There was no one she would've trusted with the task of reforming Cozy more than she did Víss. Loyalty and trust, as Cozy would come to find out in due time, is something that was earned, not given. She could not know just what kind of sacrifice Víss had done for her, both in name and in spirit, just to see her free from the shackles of her crimes. But she understood the price had been heavy. She was no fool. If Equestria, of all places, felt it necessary to jail a child in order to maintain peace within its borders, then her crimes had been truly, truly severe. Víss had spelled it out to her in no shortage of words.

This elk... had managed to save her. Twice. In one fateful afternoon. Once when he stopped her plan, and again now.

"So, now it's up to you, Cozy Glow. Care to be my pupil?" He extended a hoof out to her to help her up.

The mind is a tricksy thing. It plays with us if it can. It makes us see things that aren't there. Or perhaps, helps us see things that have always been there, but you just couldn't see it before. To Cozy, that hoof was shrouded in a wonderful glow of golden light, in the same shade as those two eyes of his. Taking that hoof, she envisioned herself being pulled up from the watery abyss that had been desperately trying to drag her down into its cold loneliness. She felt her strength return, enough to beat her wings instinctively, wishing to save herself again. She felt life return to her body, as the warm tears she thought she had already emptied out had streamed across her already smitten face once more.

And as she looked to Víss one more time, she saw a thread hanging behind him, strung to heavens. A bright, beaming, radiant thin thread, as gold and as yellow as the space all around him. Then she saw another, and another. Glints of light bounced off of one to another materializing hundreds, thousands, perhaps millions of threads as if from nowhere. More and more until it finally stopped. All connected to him.

They made a truly spectacular, awe-inspiring and beautiful weave of gold, like a river made of glittering string. They strung this way and that, all up towards the sky. Until in the end, they shaped a truly enormous tree. It's arms and branches spanned out into the greater beyond, farther than the sky and perhaps farther than heavens themselves. To places and reaches so far beyond her, she knew she would never be able to visit.

What in the name of the gods was this elk?

A weaver of fate. A keeper of stories.