Morbid Curiosity

Twilight watched as Celestia convulsed occasionally. Her entire body shook from time to time, her limbs spasmed from within her dreams. Twilight simply stood back and watched. The doctor had told her not to wake Celestia, and she wasn't going to attempt to do so. All Twilight could do was wait ... completely helpless.

After a time, Celestia stopped. Her entire being fell still. Even her chest appeared to stop rising and falling. Celestia seemed to be frozen in time.
"Princess ...?" Twilight sputtered out after a time. Celestia didn't respond. "Prin ... cess ...?"

Celestia sat bolt upright and her eyes shot open. Her breathing was heavy and quickened, her eyes bloodshot and crazed. They darted around the room, as if following some invisible insect. Her head lulled a little, and beads of sweat trickled down her face. She panted; gasping for any air she could to fill her system.

Looking over to Twilight, Celestia could see the filly as she was - concerned, almost scared; under normal circumstances the Princess would have comforted her student. But, these were not normal circumstances. Remnants of Celestia's dream still plagued her vision - Twilight flickered between the filly before Celestia and ... somepony else. Something else. Twilight was older, her eyes bloodshot and her pupils tiny. Even the surroundings flickered between what was and what Celestia saw. Was this an unavoidable future, or was what Celestia saw simply a possibility?

To Celestia, the entire room darkened. The single flickering light above the maddened Twilight flickered on and off. When it was on, all was well: Celestia could see the infirmary, the well-lit halls of her castle, the young Twilight before her. But when it was off, Celestia's entire world shifted. The white-washed walls turned a dark red, stained with the results of Twilight's exploits. It was not decorated - Twilight took no sadistic pleasure in what she did. She wanted no reminders, no decor that would allow her to relive what she had done. Twilight's lust was for knowledge and discovery, even if just the potential of it. And yet ... the Twilight Celestia saw in this room was not a respectable scientist. She was bedraggled, unclean - she looked half mad, as if she hadn't slept for days.

The room clicked back to normal. The Alicorn swallowed, and then gasped for air. What was happening to her?

Twilight slowly approached the Princess. Having never seen Celestia like this before, Twilight was unsure how to react. To an extent, she felt scared - afraid of the unknown. Usually, Twilight would look to Celestia for comfort, but her mentor looked terrified, as if she had had a nightmare. Maybe Twilight was having a nightmare too. Maybe she would touch Celestia, and all this would end, and she would wake up in the Princess' bedroom, in front of a roaring fire. Maybe all this was a fever dream. All Twilight needed to do was get close enough to touch the Princess and this would all be over ... right?

Celestia knew it was the young Twilight that was approaching her. But, as the world around her tilted and changed, her pupil took a more sinister look. Then everything snapped back. The Princess wanted to grab her head and yell at it to stop this madness, but her body felt frozen to the spot. Her mind was screaming; her brain felt like it wanted to crawl out of her skull to escape the torment it was putting on the body. Celestia steeled her focus. 'Talk to Twilight' she told herself. 'All will be well if you can get a hoof-hold on reality!'

Celestia opened her mouth to speak, but her entire throat felt dry, almost numb. "Princess ..." Twilight said, the fear paramount in her voice. "Princess Celestia?"

The 'a' in Celestia's name didn't stop. Twilight got closer and closer, holding that note. Then, once more, Celestia fell into her perception. Celestia's own name turned into deranged laughter as the older Twilight approached. "Come along Celestia ... ha ... hahaha," Twilight stuttered over her words. Her voice was a little deeper, as came with puberty, and was almost cracking with each syllable.

For the first time, Celestia became aware of herself. What had once been the soft mattress of a bed was now the hard steel of... was this an operation table? Celestia tried to escape, to move away from the impending figure, but every struggle made Celestia feel as if a rusty nail was being driven through her spine. "It's for the best Celestiaaaa ..." Twilight said, almost taking on a sing-song tone. A large scalpel levitated next to Twilight's face, and she grinned like a madmare. Celestia felt fear surge through her body. Proper, unavoidable, fear. Celestia wanted to scream out as her student proceeded to move the scalpel closer and closer to her flesh...

Twilight saw Celestia start to convulse again. Her body went limp and her eyes fell closed as whole body began to twitch. What was happening to her? Twilight had once read about certain parasites that did this to a pony. Was Celestia going to die? Twilight's mind was fraught with distress, panic and overwhelming tragedy as she imagined her mentor's passing. Twilight inched ever closer to her teacher. All she had to do was touch her, and she'd be here, right? Twilight considered herself an anchor, keeping Celestia by her side. But ... what if it didn't? What if Celestia went away forever? Twilight couldn't bear to think of her world without her. Twilight found herself stood at Celestia's bedside, the Princess' body still moving around a little in her unconscious state. The tears in Twilight's eyes began to burn as she found herself imagining more and more the aftermath of her mentor's death. Finally, Twilight cautiously reached out a hoof, and put it to Celestia's side. 'Please ... Please wake up ... Please ...'

The world snapped back to normal. Twilight had put a hoof to Celestia's side, and was almost crying. Celestia dreaded to think how she must have seemed to the filly. Picking her up with magic, Celestia helped the young Twilight up onto the infirmary bed. Twilight wrapped her hooves around Celestia's fore-hoof, and buried her muzzle into the Alicorn's neck. Celestia could feel Twilight's tears make contact with her coat and Twilight's sobs were muffled, but audible. "It's okay Twilight ..." Celestia comforted, wrapping her free fore-hoof around Twilight. "Whatever happened, it's over now."

Twilight looked up and into Celestia's eyes. Celestia gave her the most caring look she could muster and Twilight buried her head back into Celestia's neck. "Whatever's happened, it's done now. I'm here, Twilight. Everything is going to be just fine ..." Celestia said warmly. "It's all going to go back to normal. Everything's going to be okay,"