Future Wonder continued to practice his ability to see the future, mainly in order to ease his beloved's mind. However, try as he might, he could never go further enough to know his beloved's future for certain. When he opened his eyes again, he was in the bedroom with Ardent kneeling on the bed and staring at him with a hopeful look.
"Didst thou find anything?" Ardent asked.
"I'm sorry, my beloved. It seems that I do not know thy fate for certain," Wonder said.
Ardent growled before hopping off of the bed and flipping it over in anger. Her infection showing itself again in her rage.
"Why doth fate not wish to show itself to us?! Is it too much to even have a small glimpse so that I can put my fears at bay?!"
"Well, there is one consistent thing that I have been sensing," Wonder said.
"What?!" Ardent barked.
"Try as thee might, thou wilt never be pure enough to ascend to alicornhood," Future Wonder said.
That comment was enough to cause whatever resentment against the alicorn sisters Ardent had suppressed to rise back to the surface.
"Why? Why did it bestow such power on mere children when it should have been given to me?! Have I not sacrificed enough to worthy of ascension?!"
Ardent then saw herself in the reflection of the bedroom window. She gasped in horror by what she was becoming. It was apparent that the disease was slowly warping her mind and turning her into the very monstrosity she swore to cure. She knelt down and began to sob, her tears now an ink-like substance as a result of merging with the virus.
"I'm so sorry, my beloved. I...I didn't mean to..."
Future Wonder placed a hoof on his beloved's shoulder in understanding. "It's okay, Ardent, it's okay."
"But what of our child? How can I be a mother if I'm slowly turning into a monster?" Ardent's pitch-black tears began to run down her face.
"As long as we are together, thou shalt never turn into the beast thou fearest."
Ardent wiped away her tears and pulled Future Wonder into a quick and tight embrace.
Ardent and Wonder stood outside of the Everfree Forest, ready for a little trek of their own. They had also brought their child with them, an adorable little pegasus with a cyan coat and hazel eyes inherited from his mother and a little blonde mane inherited from his father. Neither Ardent nor Future Wonder knew how a pair of unicorns could've possibly conceived a pegasus foal. They assumed there was some pegasus blood somewhere in one of their families.
"It wasn't easy to put aside some time from my duty," Ardent said. "But I am ineffably grateful for this occasion."
"Sometimes, all one needs is an occasional break from work," Wonder said. "Just because thou hast the future princess of the night soothing thy mind whilst thou sleepestp does not mean thou art immune to burnout."
Ardent and Wonder shared a light chuckle before making their way into the cursed forest. As they wandered further and further, they noticed a staircase made of stone and arches placed on the staircase, some of which were broken and worn out with age. Curious as to where the staircase leads, they trotted up them, entering an ancient ruin as they did so. The interior of the ruin was damp and dark, with tree branches growing from the cracks within the stone walls.
"How old dost thou reckon these ruins might be?" Wonder asked.
"I haven't the slightest clue," Ardent replied. "I do not even know who made these ruins, nor why they were made."
"A place forgotten to the sands of time?"
"Or deliberately erased from history like the draconequus incident?"
"How dost thou know of that?" Wonder asked.
"Star-Swirl told me when I asked him what he was carrying within his hooves. He told me to never tell anypony else about the last draconequus," Ardent replied.
"And yet here, thou art telling me this?" Wonder said.
"It is tradition to not let there be secrets between couples,." Ardent said.
As Ardent and Wonder continued exploring the ruin, they noticed a waterfall at the end of a tunnel. They trotted closer in order to get a better look at the waterfall. Wonder placed a hoof at his temple and collapsed in agony, seeing visions of massive floating reptilian creatures and a village engulfed in flames and violence, along with the rabid visage he saw whenever he tried to see into Ardent's future.
"Beloved?" Ardent asked.
"I sense danger somewhere! It is in a village, and Star-Swirl is there as well! We must warn them!"
Ardent and Wonder ran towards the village that Wonder saw in his visions, but not before placing their child back at home for the situation at hoof was dangerous. The village had dry land and a few stone cottages with thatched roofs made from hay. They looked up and saw in the sky the creatures Wonder described in his vision. The creatures appeared to be singing, which resulted in the ponies within the village suddenly becoming hostile towards one another.
"Oh no!" Future Wonder said. "We're too late!"
Ardent looked around and saw no sign of Star-Swirl.
"Thou said Star-Swirl was present. I do not see nor sense him anywhere. There is still time," Ardent said.
"What art thou going to do?"
"I have been practising a spell that is useful for lulling more violent patients."
Ardent quickly ran into the rioting village. She closed her eyes and concentrated on all the villagers and tried to quell their destructive urges. Unfortunately, try as she might to make the villagers less violent, she fell under the thrall of the creatures' own spell. When she opened up her eyes again, she was no longer in the village but instead in a black void.
"Oh no. Please do not do this now!" Ardent pleaded.
"Oh, what a shame. You thought you were powerful but you never truly learned."
Ardent turned around and saw Celestia with a sly grin on her face. But Ardent knew it wasn't really Celestia. It was an illusion created as a result of the creatures' power exacerbating her infection.
"This is not real! This is all in my head!" Ardent yelled.
The illusory Celestia then blasted Ardent in the face with her magic, blasting her onto her back.
"That felt pretty real, wouldn't you agree?"
'Celestia' then levitated the wounded Ardent and then delivered a swift blow to her chest before throwing her down onto the ground again. Then Ardent saw Luna appear out of the darkness.
"Mind if I have a turn, sister?"
The two illusions started beating Ardent up. Ardent kept trying to tell herself they were merely illusions and that her torment would end soon, but she didn't know when soon would be or whether this really was an illusion. Mocking laughter rang through her ears and echoed throughout the void. And then she saw Star-Swirl watching on with a smirk.
You! Ardent thought while looking at Star-Swirl. You did this!
Ardent then heard what Star-Swirl said to her not so long ago.
"You are not of noble birth. You do not represent the equality that me, the founders and the current king and queen hope to represent. And you can only keep your secret for so long."
Star-Swirl's comment rang throughout the void, repeating itself to no end. Ardent put her hooves to her head, trying to block out Star-Swirl's voice.
Be quiet, Ardent thought to herself. Bequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequietbequiet.
But it was too much. Ardent couldn't hear herself think. She lashed out with her magic, blowing away the two alicorn sisters.
"BE QUIET!"
Ardent slashed Luna's throat with a blade she cast out of thin air, then pounced onto Celestia and stabbed her multiple times before ripping out her heart. She lunged at Star-Swirl and put away her blade, instead pounding into Star-Swirl's head while grunting and growling like a rabid animal, until eventually those grunts eventually turned into giggles, and the giggles evolved into manic laughter.
The darkness faded away, as did Ardent's anger. When Ardent observed her surroundings, she was back in the village. She also noticed Star-Swirl and a group of ponies stare at her in open-mouthed horror. She looked down at her own hooves, bloodied and covered in the plague. And beneath her hooves was what remained of Future Wonder, his head smashed into a crimson paste until the only thing that remained of it was his lower jaw.
Ardent gawked at her hooves, now stained bright crimson like a sunset and quivering uncontrollably, in sheer horror. Her mouth, also quivering, now spoke naught but a single question.
"What have I done?!"