The Oracle Infinium

by TwiWonderfilly

Prologue

War has plagued Equestria. For months, it has waged war against the Crystal Empire with the sole purpose of liberation. The Empire is led by no other than Sombra. Months before the war, he and a mysterious unicorn overthrew the royal family. The father died, while the others take refuge in Equestria. He has been capturing and enslaving ponies from both places to create his own army. Princess Cadance is now seeking refuge in Canterlot castle. The trigger for the war was the attempted assassination of Princess Celestia and Luna by the mysterious unicorn in Canterlot.

The Equestrian offensive has begun.

The war has caused famine, poverty, and casualty to Equestria. Slowly, the Equestrian army is dwindling by quantity and the Empire’s victory is almost certain.

In a peaceful night, where no sound of war can be heard, Luna stood on top of a balcony of her room; looking downwards to the ground. She reminisced about Sombra, and every second of it causes her mouth to frown and her eyeballs to transform from snow white to icy blue. The balcony started to shake. She hated Sombra for every second of her life, for making the lives of other ponies miserable and nearly killing her; but then she calmed down and proceeds to walk through the hallway. She knew that she is not only a war-torn alicorn, but also a Princess of the Night, and she can’t let her anger for Sombra get through her main duty, though it is hard as she has to see Equestria’s army growing thin as war wages on.

In the peak of midnight in Canterlot castle, Princess Luna is doing her daily midnight walk. She frequently does her daily midnight walk to calm herself, especially after what happened in the balcony. She is walking down a hallway to prepare to enter ponies’ dreams when she received the smallest yet one of the most painful of headaches. "A vision...?", she muttered. ("But this vision isn't like any other.... This one is frightening, and yet a horrifying sight to behold.") Luna, believed that the vision is only a minor hallucination, shook her head aimlessly. The hallucination disappeared.

She continued on her midnight walk for a few minutes. It is peaceful, the sound of silence and the cool wind of night helped her prepare to see the dreams of others. During her midnight walk, however, the same vision, the one she considered a hallucination, appeared again.
(“What in Equestria? Why is my head hurting so much!?”) She held her head in pain. Her headache not only reappeared again, but the headache became stronger.

“Is this a....?” She tried to shake her head aimlessly, hoping for the “hallucination” to disappear. It didn’t work. Her shaking only made her headache worse.

Her daily midnight walk is interrupted by her headache, and it seems to get worse every time. She walked slower and slower until then, the headache started to get worse that she had to stop walking and cover her head with one hoof.

As the pain worsened, she started to use both hooves to contain the pain, but the pain kept getting worse. At the same time, the petty “hallucination” becomes clearer, to the point it constituted as a vision.

“Is...is this real?” Luna asked herself of her vision.

As the vision started to get clearer, she foresaw upon a faraway kingdom destroyed by a dragon. Princess Luna gasped and stressed foreseeing its coming. She wanted to warn her sister Celestia of this inevitable disaster. She knew that her sister must be sleeping by now, and bothering her sleep is the last thing she wanted to do during her shift. But this night is different, and she knew duty calls her to wake Celestia up.

As she trotted through the castle hallways and passed the foyer, she felt like something's bothering her sight. She used to enjoy her usual midnight stroll throughout the castle interiors, reminding her of her homecoming along with the wind's gentle breeze. This time, it's different; she can't relax and trotted with increasing speed. ("That's strange.... I can't calm down. Is someone watching me? Was it the cold wind?") As Luna thought of a rational reason while approaching Celestia's bedroom, Celestia opened the door with the most worried of expressions. She seems to be gasping for air, as if she is having a heart attack.

"Sister? It's rare of you to be awake at this time of night. Is something bothering you?" Luna asked.

“I'm sorry. I might be thinking too much tonight trying to find a way to defeat Sombra; I should probably head back to sleep. I was just trying to fetch a glass of wa-"

Luna had only been looking at Celestia with contempt, as if time stopped for a brief second.

“You’re not doing a good job in lying about your nightmares to the Princess of the Night.” It’s as if she knows Celestia too well.

Celestia couldn't help but sigh. She intended on keeping onto herself to not cause panic, but she decided to tell her nightmare. "Alright, you caught me. I just had the worst of nightmares about.... a dragon. However, this one's different. It's fierce, with skin as dark as the moonless night sky, destroying a kingdom with nothing to remain.” Celestia looked up to the sky when telling her nightmare. “It’s nothing to wo-”

"You're not the only one who foresees the same story, sister. At first, I was thinking I hallucinated a bit during my shift. It seems that it's not a hallucination nor a nightmare, sister. It's a vision." Celestia looked shocked when Luna explained the vision, assuming that Luna did not have a nightmare, considering the fact that Luna is awake.

Celestia then lets out a sigh, and her head looked down to the ground to remember days gone by.

"I was afraid what I foresaw were to be true. Long have I not foresaw something that is inaccurate. I'm afraid we must act; It's coming. We need to have our guards stationed throughout all outposts in Equestria and-"

"Calm down! Don't you remember, sister? We have a war against the Crystal Empire, and Sombra is not letting his guards down easily, literally and figuratively. I'm sure Cadance wouldn't want this. We must remain vigilant and remember the fact that winning this war is vital in Equestria's future. Our civilians and guards are enslaved there!"

"Then we must wait!" - Princess Celestia justified.

"Wait? For what!?"

"The better question is who, sister. We need to prepare the Elements of Harmony, and those 6 should better be ready for the battle of their lives. It's not something we two can handle."

"Are you sure they're up to the task?"

"No matter how big the challenges they face, they must stand strong. Besides....
they're our only hope."

Celestia gave a determined glare to Luna as Luna trembled slowly in her hooves on the floor. The two marches on to the foyer to have an emergency meeting, though Luna kept on trembling, as if she is tired from a long walk; her face shows worry from the vision. Celestia looks vigilant, calm, and collected, yet inside she trembles, not truly sure what to say in front of the solar and lunar guards about the imminent threat.

While waiting for the guards to reach the foyer, Celestia looked at Luna worriedly. She approaches Luna and slowly put her hoof on Luna’s shoulder, trying her best to comfort her sister.

“Sister, what must we say to them?”

“I will handle this,” Celestia said while exhaling lots of air. “It’s best if you take a lit-”

“No, sis. I’m fine. I can take the pressure,” replied Luna. She knew her sister is worried about her, and she purposely lied to calm her sister down. Celestia then released her hoof from Luna’s shoulder, knowing that her sister lied, but pretended to be calm after hearing her answer.
Celestia looks at the window in the foyer. She walks up the stairs and mumbles.

“What am I going to say to the guards? Must I tell them the truth?” She questioned how to spread the news. In less than 10 minutes, Luna managed to be calm, at least, on the outside; Celestia has decided on what to say to the guards; and the solar and lunar guards marched and established positions in the castle gardens, across the foyer.

"My dear guards, a presence of great evil is approaching our beloved land. Even with our maximum war efforts against the Crystal Empire, I'm afraid that tackling this.... this creature would be impossible, as he is slowly taking over our land and destroying it.” Celestia speaks with sadness when talking about the creature, but midway in her speech, she gave a brief pause.

“However, I have faith in our efforts of our army, and I believe that for Equestria's sake, we will fight for freedom and rescue our fallen comrades. I want every one of you to march to the front lines near Equestria's northern borders and push on. The fate of Equestria is in each of your hooves. Do your part, and I will do mine."

Her speech caused an uproar, not from dissonance or complaint, but rather in high spirits. The guards cheered on, raised their weapons, and they are prepared to do more than their current maximum effort to prevent the Crystal Empire from conquering Equestria. Luna looked as if she is happy, but her heart is in an array of confusion. She looked at her sister, looking towards the floor. After a few minutes of cheering, the guards leave the garden to give their efforts to protect their beloved kingdom and rulers.

After that, Luna approaches to Celestia. “What-”

“I’m sorry, sis, but it must be done as we need them in high spirits to defeat Sombra.” Celestia spoke with regret over her immediate change in her speech. They started marching towards the castle spire.

“I can understand your decision. It’s very hard to decide whether to be truthful or to give them spirit. But surely we must at least tell them that we will take care of the new-”

Celestia looks toward Luna with a serious look, causing Luna to look down, feeling that she must have said something wrong that might have hurted her sister. Celestia then looked calm and regretted scaring her little sister, when her sister has no intention of hurting her decisions and feelings. “I’m sorry, Luna, but this must be a secret between both of us and the Elements of Harmony.” The two tried to calm themselves, though Luna became increasingly worried about the dragon.

As they marched on, Luna started to tremble from her fear and warned Celestia once more. She knew it's a very unpleasant situation, one that will prevent her from sleep during the day, at least today. The two marched and gazed upon the sky and the new moon in the castle spire. Luna always had bad feelings with the new moon, as if something bad is going to happen. Tonight, however, the sky seemed darker than usual with barely any stars visible. She knew how bad its coming means.

Luna panicked and gazed upon Celestia's eyes. Celestia noticed how panicked Luna is and attempts to reassure her.

“I shall make sure that the Elements of Harmony are prepared for the incoming threat.”

"It’s not whether if they are prepared or not. I’m worried that they will fail.” Luna still shows doubt towards Celestia.

“We can’t win this fight if we doubt them, Sister. We must have faith.” Celestia added. “Good night, Sis.” She yawned and immediately walked to her bedroom. She must have been very tired from the meeting.

Luna appears to be calm after her sister’s reassurance, but her thoughts are still doubtful about the Elements of Harmony being capable of defeating the dragon. She looked to the new moon and she mumbled in her thoughts.

As Luna look into the dark sky, a beam of light suddenly appeared out of Celestia's bedroom, turning night to day in a flash. It was only for a split second, but it was a magnificent sight. Luna asked herself: "Why did she....?"

The bell at the spire tolls....

Perhaps you've seen it.... Yes, indeed....

What is it, sister? What is it that you seek....?

A mere fraction of hope.... or perhaps a desire of an inevitable disaster....?

The safety of our own personal refuge.... the disharmony that strikes us?

The harbinger of light.... the emissary of darkness....

The origin of disaster.... a pony undeserving to rule....

Such is the intertwined fate of two ponies in one.

Sister.... Hearest thou my voice?