The night of the new moon was dark as King Erasmus laid down his head for the night. Unknown to the unicorn king, an unspeakable danger was about to befall his land. In another wing of Castle Creatio ex Nihilo, an earth pony known only by his title, The Oracle was receiving his most recent vision and recording it. Upon its completion, he entered a frenzy smashing many objects in his room except for the all important prophecy. The guards could do nothing to stop and only the words, “end”, “chaos”, and “harmony” were heard. One of the guards ran to wake the king and bring him to The Oracle.
By the time the king arrived, The Oracle had lost his energy and was instead balled on the ground in the middle of the room, sobbing and clutching at his prophecy. The guards had began picking up the remains of the room. The king approached The Oracle and lifted his head. When The Oracle looked into the king’s eyes, he saw only compassion and concern, rather than anger and annoyance as one would expect.
“Good Oracle,” the king began, his voice melodious and soft. “What have you seen that has caused you such pain?” he asked. The Oracle sniffled and wiped his face. He spoke with a timid voice, “Your Majesty, it is this prophecy that I have seen. I-I-I…” The Oracle buried his face into his hooves and began wailing again.
King Erasmus took the prophecy from The Oracle and began to read it. As he read, he ran a hoof through The Oracle’s mane to calm him. As he read, his face changed from calm to grave. When he reached the end, The Oracle had calmed down again. Erasmus returned the prophecy and began to walk around the room in thought. The Oracle, meanwhile, placed his prophecy inside of a container and unsure of where in his library it would belong, he placed it on his bed as his desk was now wood chips.
“You are sure of this?” Erasmus asked The Oracle. He nodded. “Yes your Highness, my predictions have never been wrong, but through your great effort you have prevented every bad event from occurring and you, yourself have seen the beginning of these events in the making.” The king sighed. “I suppose that is true, but I don’t know if my effort alone will be enough. As king of this land, I am responsible for my peoples’ lives. I must protect them at all costs.” He walked towards a window and placed a hoof on it.
“Dammit Celestia, you’ve doomed us all.”
“What do you intend to do, your Highness?” The Oracle asked. Erasmus walked towards The Oracle. “There’s not much I can do. I will write to Princess Celestia about this latest development, but I fear she is too far gone for it to do much good. If that is the case, our only hope lies in the six champions. But even that is a slim hope, for who knows where they are? Or even if they’re alive!”
The Oracle hung his head and started to well up. Using a hoof, Erasmus lifted his head and smiled at him. “Don’t worry, my Oracle. I won’t let anything happen.” The Oracle wiped his eyes, smiled at his king meekly, and nodded. “Now I must go. It is late, but I fear I will not sleep for some time. I must write to Celestia and research any information that might help save our land,” the king said.
“I’ll go over my books and prophecies. Maybe there is something there that can help!” The Oracle said. Erasmus smiled. “That’s my Oracle.” With that Erasmus and several of the guards left. The Oracle turned to the guards. “Come on! The fate of the world is at stake! Fix that desk, bring me some coffee, and get those books and prophecies down from the top shelf. The guards snapped to attention and immediately got to work on The Oracle’s tasks. The Oracle took some prophecies and brought them to his bed. He yawned as he began to read them. “Where’s that coffee?” he snapped.
He turned to the window next to his bed and stared at his reflection. It was then he saw the fear in his eyes. He placed a hoof on the glass. “If there’s anything I’ve learned since my first prediction almost fifteen years ago, it’s that the future can change.” While the guards were busy and not paying attention to him, he stuck his hoof under his pillows and pulled out a prophecy. This one was old and tattered. The Oracle read it.
Oh earth pony of Gift. Thy power is both sacred and cursed. Sacred that you are blessed with knowledge of a glorious future, but cursed to see its end to a twisted fate. But perhaps you shall be spared, soon you shall die, but before you do, you will be spurned by royalty.
When he finished reading, he smiled and hid it again. “Not even Erasmus knows about this prophecy. Well, it was the only one I had before he found me. I remember the day. After I had that first prophecy, my parents feared me and kicked me from their home. I wandered for days until I couldn’t stand anymore. I could feel death approaching. Then I saw it. A royal carriage was heading towards me. I cried. I knew this is what the prophecy had foretold. As I lied in the gutter crying, the carriage came to a stop. Then… he stepped out. Prince Erasmus. At the time, he was nine and I was seven. He asked my name and I could barely get it out. ‘Well then, my [REDACTED], my guards must get you into the carriage and care for you.’ My eyes shot open wide. How could this be? The prophecy said I would be spurned, not saved.”
“All Erasmus thinks is that he’s saved this country from wars, famine and drought, and unrest. What he doesn’t know is that he’s been defying fate since we were children.” His face hardened. “But now it’s happened. That first prophecy said I would have this most recent one.” One of the guards arrived with his coffee. He sipped it as he began his work.
In a few hours, the sun would rise, and with it, six ponies that the world would come to depend upon many times.
The female unicorn awoke in her high rise apartment. “Today’s the big day. This party is going to show everyone that I truly am the most magnificent unicorn in the land.”
The young female pegasus woke at the crack of dawn. “I better get down to the restaurant. He’s really going to need my help today.”
The male earth pony arrived at his business, ready to make his deliveries. “That’s a large shipment of food for him. He must be catering a large party.”
The female unicorn was watering the flowers in her small apartment. “I hope he likes me tonight. I have to make a good first impression.”
The male pegasus was reviewing his notes from yesterday’s experiments. “Today, we’re sure to get it right. We’ve been working for this for so long.”
The male earth pony grumbled to himself. “I hate these stupid high class parties. I hope she’s here early today like I asked her to be.”