//------------------------------// // Luna the Psychiatrist // Story: Cory: The Fear of Water // by artman7391 //------------------------------// Cory headed down to Vice Principal Luna's office. Once again, the lights and sounds of students and flourescents irritated his eyes and ears. So, he covered his ears and walked with his face pointing at the floor. He wished it would all die down and things would have a calmer, deeper color to them. Then, as a consequence of not paying attention to his surroundings, he bumped into a familiar face. "You should really watch where you're going Cory." Said Princess Luna. "Oh, Vice Principal Luna." Cory replied. "You're just the one I wanted to see." "What do you mean?" She replied. " I have a question, and was curious if you knew the answer." "Well, I'm on my way to copy a few documents. Why don't you just wait in my office and we can talk." As she left, Cory looked up to realize he was standing right in front of her office door. As he opened it, he came to notice how silent it was, without a single noise of distraction, except for the faint echoes birds from outside and of students walking by. the calm and soothing color that adorned the space of her studies. It's lavender hue and rather deep coated purple served as a relief to Cory's eyes. On top of that, the lights were turned off, with the day seeping through the closed blinds as the only light source. As he sat down in down in the chair in front of her desk, he took a moment to close his eyes and take a few relieving breaths. But as he did, he found himself once again tossing and turning through memories and dreams. From the bathtub in his house, to the swimming pool at his school, to the wide ocean expanse that had plagued his dreams for so long. Back and forth, and on again and off again, his face twitched and his fists tightened, as the sounds and image flickered and grew into ear piercing howls and blinding flashes. Cory was about to lose it when.... "Cory?" Said Luna as she opened the door. "Is something the matter?" "Um," Cory tried to think of the right words. "Well, that's what I wanted to ask you about." "I'm not sure if I can, but nobody knows unless they're told about it. "Well," Cory began. "Lately I've been having these strange dreams and thoughts about water. For some reason they've been triggering bad memories from my past.." "Annnd how does this have to do with me?" Luna asked as she sat behind her desk. "So," Cory continued. "In the world where I primarily live, there is another version of you, which I know sounds ridiculous but..." "Dont' worry Cory." She reassured him. "After what's been going on in this school and around the Canterlot community, nothing sounds far fetched at this point." "So anyway," Said Cory. "This other you, in addition to controlling the night, has the ability to venture into other inhabitants dreams and solve problems. So I was wondering...well..if" A few moments silence passed by, as if Cory knew what Luna was going to ask him. But they just stared at each other with the blankest of faces. "Well what is your question Cory?" Asked Luna. "Do you know about dreams?" Asked Cory. "Actually," Luna answered as she got out of her seat. "Now that you mention it, one of my Master Degrees was in Oneirology: That is the study of dreams. Perhaps if sit over on that sofa to your left, I can help you with what those dreams mean." "Oh, thank you Vice Principal Luna." Said Cory as he shook her hands warmly. "You wont regret this." He walked over to what looked like a reclining chair from a therapists office. complete with a table with box of tissues and a glass of ice cold water. As he sat down, Luna took a seat in swiveling chair facing in his direction. "So, how about you describe to me what your dreams are, and then we can get into why they affect your thoughts. Besides, dreams aren't just flights fo fancy or scary nightmares. They can be manifestations of what we fear or desire the most, or even a reminder of suppressed memories we wished we'd forget. "Alright." Cory began as he took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "It starts with me and my my advanced studies tutor Sunburst. See, I've been taking special lessons with this unicorn that has knowledge about powerful magic. His house is usually the place where I have my waking dream. Anyway, I choose this rather advanced spell that could prove fatal if not done in the correct way. So I concentrate on this ball, or at least an orb where all my energy will be stored. As I press my hands, or hooves in this matter, onto the object, a huge, beaming light circulates all around my body. The energy is so unbearable I let out a huge scream. Sparks start to fly all over the place, and objects fall off the shelves and cupboards..." "Are you sure you're taking safe lessons with this Sunburst?" Asked Luna as she was taking her notes. "Please let me finish." Cory insisted. "Before I even know it, everything goes black. When I open my eyes, I find myself deep below in this endless, watery expanse. There's no surface, theres no floor, there's no edge of anything. As I try to swim upwards, the water only gets deeper and deeper. Bubbles spew out of my mouth and nostrils, whilst I panic and look for any sign of anyone in this seemingly dead ocean. But there's nothing and no one to be found. I surrender to the thick liquid as the bubbles start to stop and begin to sink to my bottomless fate. It is at that moment a hoof grabs me by my torso and lifts me back up towards a light. And then I finally wake up gasping and coughing for breath. The worst part of it is somehow its' been re-triggering memories of my past." "Well, let's explore that shall we?" Asked Princess Luna. "I really feel uncomfortable talking about it." Said Cory. "Cory, the only way we can truly combat this if if we dig deep into the core of this problem. Perhaps your recurring dream is trying to tell you something. Something you either have to let go or overcome." "Oh, alright." Cory replied solemnly as he took another deep breath. "When I was in my early years, my mother would purposefully dunk my head into the tub during one of my baths. It was in the hopes that I would drown and die. Her desperate screams to do such were so loud and thunderous that it nearly deafened me. I had thought that she was just trying to clean every crevice in my body, and it was just a simple method she used. " It was then Cory started to have tears come down his eyes, to which he took the box of tissues and wiped his eyes with a piece. Luna tried pat him on the back a little bit, but he nudged away. "After what seemed like forever, I would plop my head at the bottom of the tub and hold my breath, pretending I was dead and hoping she'd stop. With a cackle, she would wipe her hands and strut out of the bathroom, after which I would launch out of the bathtub and onto the hard, wet, floor, gasping for breath. My body was always too weak to stand up. So I had to crawl over to the towel. As I looked up at the ceiling, the light was excruciating to my eyes. I could barely even open them. Finally, I had managed to grab onto the doorknob and reach for the towel." "Cory dear." Luna said. "I'm sorry that you have to tell me all this. If you'd like to take a break, we can..." "I'm not finished yet." Cory interrupted. "I also have been recalling memories of when I had to take those swim lap tests in my old school. The moment that whistle was blown, everyone else in the pool would dunk my head in the water, not even giving me a chance to float to the surface. With every kick, as they started their lap, I would go deeper and deeper down to the bottom of the pool. Finally, I would give in and lose consciousness. If it hadn't been for my friends dragging me out of the water and giving me CPR, I'd have been a goner." "You seem to have a lot of repressed memories Cory." Luna commented as she wrote in her notes. "I just don't understand why they're coming back now. Are they trying to tell me something? "Perhaps, and perhaps it's the fact that you're holding onto something from your past that you have to let go of." "What do you mean?" "Well, dreams can serve as allegorical windows to our reality. They can serve as what establishes a flaw in our daily life." "But I don't have any big flaws now, do I?" "A great many people can deny these things. But at the end of the day, we're only human. A flaw isn't always something that is physical. It can serve as fear that is either now or in the past. And sometimes we can worry and hold onto a fear so much, the fear can make feel like we're trapped in a nightmare." "But my life is great!" Now Cory started to raise his voice in anger. "There's no longer anything I have to left to fear." "Is there?" "There isn't!! I know there isn't!!" "Everybody is afraid of something irrational Cory. Even my sister is afraid of chickens." "I never would've guessed." Cory pondered, to which Luna laughed in secrecy. "Something funny?" "Oh, nothing Cory." "Not to be all defiant Vice Principal Luna, but this is serious!! Why am I all of the sudden having these dreams and memories. Why are they all coming back to me?" "Well," Luna explained. "You and I can agree an ocean is the largest water surface on any planet. Due to it's vastness and depth, no one knows what secrets they still keep hidden. Now in dreams, water is a symbol of our emotions, and given it's vastness, it might mean that there are emotions deep within you that haven't been explored for quite some time. The fact that you are drowning in these dreams indicate the feeling you are overwhelmed with something. You are probably highly anxious and have a lot of emotional turmoil." "Oh, believe me." Cory replied as he wiped his tears. "I'm no stranger to those things." "Given this dream has made you revisit suppressed memories, perhaps this dream might be a serious warning. You should try to determine what's been pulling you down and stopping your progress." "Excuse me?" Cory asked with a voice of disgust. "You think I'm slow?" "Not necessarily." Luna reassured him. "It's just that you have been so absorbed in your studies and duties, you haven't really had the time to combat what is really bothering you. And since your memories relating to water have a connection, I believe it is time to free yourself from these restraints you have and truly face your fear. I mean, the only part of school you haven't explored is the swimming pool. Do you see what I mean?" "Oh," Cory said sinisterly. "I see what you mean. I see what you did there. I know what this is about. You're all against me. You want me to be slow. You're just like my old school." "Um, What are you talking about?" Luna asked with a raised eyebrow." "I'm not going to fall into that trap again! That's why I've been having these thoughts all along. I just have to work harder now!! I have to distract my mind from any doubts! I'm going to concentrate on my work more than ever before, and none of you are going to stop me. "I'm just trying to help you Cory." "Well you can, by leaving me be!!" And with that, he stormed out the door, took everything out of his locker, marched outside and stepped back through the portal, leaving a worried look on Luna's face ad prompting her to write to several students for help. Meanwhile, back at Twilight's castle, a rather small but sinister Pegusi watched the whole thing through a special orb. "So, he's afraid and unstable." Cozy glow said quietly with a snickering laugh. "This is going to be easier than I thought."