//------------------------------//
// Icicle 4 by Europa 
// Story: Tainted Love: A Twysalis Prompt Tag Collab 
// by Foals Errand 
//------------------------------//

by Europa

She tried to move on, she really did.

During her stay in the hospital she suffered no nightmares, nor did she after moving back to Ponyville, thanks to Princess Luna. Chrysalis hovered over her - literally on occasion - like a mother hen. Twilight returned to Golden Oaks, and Chrysalis set up a portal array in the guest bedroom so she could teleport back and forth from her throne room with ease. Twilight didn't mind; they had grown close in the time she'd spent in the hospital.

But while the nightmares were gone, Twilight noticed things. Any time the temperature dipped below a certain point, she locked up and, no matter how she wished, found herself unable to move. When alone in the dark, she broke down sobbing. She could tolerate green, or purple, or red, but when two or more of the colors contacted each other she ran screaming, such as when she'd been helping Rarity with her shop and the fabrics mixed.

She laid under her covers, shivering from her latest spike of terror from seeing ice cream. Spike was by her side, resting his claws on her barrel worriedly. "Twilight, you can't just keep hiding here whenever something happens. You're scaring us."

Twilight shifted. "I know," she bemoaned. "But I can't help it. You don't know how horrible it was, Spike. I thought I was going to die in that place, alone and forgotten," she said, her voice cracking at the end. An idea sprung to mind. "Can you, um, call Chryssy here? Please?"

Spike frowned, but he moved away from her and nodded. "Alright."

Twilight pulled herself deeper under the blankets, shivering, as Spike walked away. She remained there, quaking, until she heard a rush of eldritch flame, followed by the clip-clop of chitinous hooves.

"Hey," came her concerned double-voice. "What's wrong?"

"I had another episode," she whispered. "I'm so sick of it! Y-You know a lot about mind magic, isn't there anything you can do to help me?"

The bed rocked as Chrysalis climbed onto it, holding Twilight through the covers. "There is hypnosis therapy, but even then it'll take a while to cure you fully. And the process wouldn't exactly be... pleasant."

"I don't care," Twilight protested. "I can't live like this, Chryssy! Please."

A moment of hesitation. "Alright. Can I take the cover off your head?" she asked.

"Y-Yes."

She heard the channeling of magic, and squinted when she was suddenly exposed to brilliant light. The changeling queen's concerned face loomed over her, fangs poking out over her lip. "Alright Twilight, now relax..." The double-irised eyes began to shimmer and glow. "... and just look into my eyes."