//------------------------------//
// Freaking out 
// Story: Cory: The Fear of Water 
// by artman7391 
//------------------------------//

"Now Cory." Said Jolene as she consoled him. "I know this isn't your favorite place to be, but we've got to get you some exposure, alright?" 

"That's correct," Rachel would add. "It isn't my favorite place to go either, but Vice Principal Luna strongly recommended this exposure treatment." 

Cory nodded back reluctantly as they entered the Canterlot mall. 

It had been 1 week since Cory first met the new mane 6, and though he gained new friends, little progress had been made on his mental health, or personality. He had started talking to himself more, mumbling a few words no one could quite figure out. And due to Cozy Glow's advice, he had become more quiet and reserved from others, insisting he had more work to do. Strangely, this did not do much help for his dreams and memories, which were becoming more consistent. Due to lack of sunlight, His skin had gotten paler in color and hair more wild looking. He had also begun to mumble to himself, blurting out whatever random thoughts popped out of his head.

His clothing was now more goth in style, complete with a black overcoat and boots. It was as if he had popped right out of a mid 80s hard rock music video. His fingernails were becoming longer and gnarlier, forcing him to hide his hands in his pockets. Even more so, he had become more sensitive to light and sound, and it didn't help much that he and his friends were currently in a mall. But it was part of his exposure therapy, a method VP Luna strongly recommended for those in his predicament. 

So Cory grabbed his sunglasses and earplugs, and tilted his head down to make the experience less intense. In addition his five other friends, his mother, Sunset, Starlight, and Flash decided to tag along, as they were becoming more and more worried about his deteriorating health. Knowing he just required a few distractions, all of them decided to take him through different stores and attractions. Some clothing, others gadgets, and a few toy shops. There was even one that sold instruments, where human Rainbow Dash got her first guitar for her band. Walking into stores was a bit of a relief for Cory, as the lights and sounds felt less intense than in the main atrium. Plus he could catch up and listen easier to what his friends were talking and joking about.

"Cory," Starlight repeatedly. "If you ever have to go into a corner and cool down, just let us know." 

"We're here for ya bro." Flash would say, "And we all know that." 

"Do not hesitate to talk about what's bothering you." Twilight would add. "It's nothing to be ashamed of.

"We will help you get through this." Sunset would say. "The stairway gets easier with each step." 

After a while, the gang agreed they should go see a film to take a break from the outside. After all, it was darker and quieter in the movie theater. The film they chose was some kind of comedy fantasy adventure. A perfect distraction for Cory to watch and listen. Plus this would be the first time Twilight would experience a human film. As his friends laughed the stand out scenes, and Twilight became intrigued by this fascinating new medium that was human cinema, Cory got lost in the narrative and felt very relaxed, the first time he was in awhile.

But as the movie ended and the credits rolled back in, Cory was back at his agitated state again. Even more so, he kept hearing Cozy Glow's voice in his head over and over again, as if somehow she was able to get inside his mind. Some of her words included 'question your trust,' 'be vigilant of those who try to help,' and 'would I ever lie to you.' The noises became louder and louder. Her voice was like an earwig piercing into his eardrum. Would he really be able to trust this enigmatic pegusi? It was then he realized he had wandered off again into a corner of the mall. Regardless, his friends and extended family caught up with him. 

"We've been looking all over for you." Rachel commented. 

"Oooo, he doesn't look so good." Tony added. 

"Ya think?" Camden replied. "Cory, not to pass any judgement on you, but....your fingernails are starting to look like old branches from a withered tree." 

Cory did not respond to them. He just kept mumbling to himself in-comprehensive words and equations. It was as if they weren't even there. 

"Cory, are you even listening to us?" Asked Joanna as she pulled him back into reality. 

It was then Cory looked at his fingernails with disdain. 

"I may not originate from here," Sunset Shimmer recommended. "But I do know a salon spa nearby that the Rarity of this world goes to sometimes." 

"And fast." Flash Sentry added. "From the look of those hands, my little bro might be..."

"Just stop talking Flash." Cory insisted, much to everyone dismay. "My apologies. I'm just having trouble adjusting to these surroundings. Let's go to that spa you mentioned Sunset." 

His friends patted him on the back in comfort as they went in Sunset's direction. As expected, the walk towards the salon was excruciating as the sounds and light grew louder and louder for him. So much so that he covered his ears while holding tightly to his sunglasses. Before he knew it, they reached the salon entrance. 

"If you want we can sit next to you." Starlight suggested to Cory while his friends were placing a reservation. "Twilight and I won't mind."

"I'm just fine doing it by myself Starlight." Cory insisted. 

"Are you sure about that Cory?" She asked. "Because the Luna in this world strongly recommended..."

"I SAID I'm fine." Cory retracted back at her. "Besides, why don't you explore a little bit more of my world. You said yourself you were interested." 

"Don't worry Starlight." Twilight reassured him. "Sunset and I will be here just in case anything upsetting happens to him. Flash, how about you show Starlight that thing you call with all those magic pages..." 

"You mean the internet?" Flash replied. "Uh, sure. There's an Apple store nearby. I'll take her there." 

The two groups went their separate ways as Cory and friends stepped into the back of the salon.

"I'm getting really worried about Cory lately." said Sunset Shimmer. 

"What do you mean?" Asked Twilight. 

"He's been acting very sporadic lately. Apparently those memories of drowning have hit him very hard, including his personality." 

"I know how you feel. Just the other day in Equestria, he spent an entire afternoon studying pony eyelashes for some odd reason."

"Why would he do that?" 

"I don't know. But he just sat there at his desk for hours, looking in the microscope and taking down notes for any sudden change. Maybe it's just so he can get his mind off those memories of his." 

"Lets just hope these ideas Vice Principal Luna came up with are any helpful."  

As they talked, Cory and his friends approached one of the employees at the spa. 

"Ah, you must be the 6 we were waiting for." She spoke in a rather french-like voice. "Come this way. The ladies are waiting for you." 

"Cory, you are gonna feel so relaxed." said Tony. " We've been here lots of times and Uh...Cory? You still with us."

Cory did not answer, as his eyes were staring into space. And then...

"Did you know that the Twilight and Spike of this world would make a great Dorothy and Toto?" Cory blurted randomly. 

"uhhh, Ok." Katherine said. "I think we should just settle into the chair right here."

The spa ladies presented a reclining seat ready for Cory to have a nice manicure and face message. With a sigh, Cory sat down and closed his eyes. First, they started with his nails, filing them to a point where they were a tolerable size. Next, they sprayed some cream on him and his friends faces, giving him a cooling, relaxing feeling of ease and reassurance. The music in the background was of a calming sort, while the lighting around him was quiet and deep in tone. 

"Alright, let us now place our little toesies in the water please." A spa employee said. 

"Water?!!" Cory asked as he jumped out of his seat. 

"It's only the greatest way to ensure our customers have a happy ending." She replied. 

It was then they took off his shoes and placed a large tub of water at his feet. As Cory stared into the watery abyss, he snapped. 

"YIPE!!" He screamed as he curled into the chair in a fetal position. 

"Cory, what's wrong?" Jolene asked. 

"You." He replied in respite. "You tricked me." 

"I beg your pardon?" Camden asked. 

"You set me up." Cory said. "This was all just an elaborate scheme to get me back into my nightmares. I knew I shouldn't trust you. Just like Cozy Glow said."

"I don't know what's gotten into you." Tony said seriously. "And who is this Cozy Glow you've been talking about?" 

"Aha!!" Cory shouted as he jumped out of his chair. "I knew it. You want to know all of my secrets, you just want it all for yourself. Well, I'm not going to give you that satisfaction. I am putting my foot down on this one!!"

He grabbed his coat and shoes, and stormed out the front door. 

"Cory, what happened?!!" His mother shouted as she followed him. 

"Did something go awry at the spa." Sunset Shimmer followed as she tried to console him. 

"Get your snoopy hands off me!!" he shouted back at her. "I'm getting out of this trap."

He ran across the atrium that was the mall, which was was now louder and noisier than ever before for him. The whole room was spinning like a merry go round as the voices of people and stores buzzed like a thousand chimes. The lights above him flickered and brightened like street cars during rush hour. He covered his ears and and tightened his sunglasses, trying to cancel out the excruciating pain, he thought he had. For some reason, he could overhear what ever those nearby we're saying, or at least mumbling.

"EXCUSE ME!!" he shouted at a random couple. "This is supposed to be a shopping center not a dating app!! And whoever is breathing heavily please learn to be more quiet!!" 

Everyone just looked at him strangely, and began to whisper to each other. Cory knew they were talking about him as he ran away and searched for the apple store. It was there he found Starlight being taught a few IPhone lessons from Flash. 

"So, Instagram." She said. "Is it something where you bake graham crackers or something?" 

"Haha." Flash laughed back. "Nah. It's this site where you upload pictures you like and share with your friends. Here let me show you." 

"SO!!" Cory shouted as he stormed into the store. "Trying to steal Starlight for yourself like you did with my mother huh?" 

"Cory?" Starlight asked. "Is everything Ok?"

"I know what you were up to during those three days, brother." Cory continued. "You didn't want Twilight to go back to Equestria. You just wanted her to stay here so she could be the spark to your fire."

"Uhhh, what are you talking about?" Flash asked. 

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. No need for me to explain it to you. Oh, it was a good thing she had duties to follow. But she nearly fell for it. And I'm not going to stand idly by and let you make the same mistake of luring Starlight into this miserable world I came from. C'mon Starlight. We are leaving!!" 

And with that,  she pulled on Starlight's arm and headed for the exit. 

"Cory you're scaring me." Said a frightened Starlight. 

"I should've known better than to come here." Cory suggested. "I have to get back to work. Maybe you and Sunburst will put me back on track." 

"CORY!!" His friends shouted back at him with angry faces. 

Cory stared back at them with a menacing look. 

"I don't know what is worse Cory." Camden said to him. "Either the fact that you don't want to hang out with us, or that you don't want to help yourself. But either way this is not the Cory we know and love." 

Cory looked at his hand tugging Starlight's arm, after which he immediately let go. Then, he looked at a reflection in a nearby window shop, and realized there was a certain, once feared principal staring back at him. He covered his mouth in shock as tears fell down his eyes. Then he stared at his friends, Twilight, Starlight, Sunset and Flash, who were staring at him in bewilderment. 

"What...Is...Happening...to...me." He whispered, to which he ran out of the mall and into the parking lot.  

For a moment, all was quiet, but not in a comforting way. More in a dead silent sort of way, as he collapsed to his knees and bowed his face in shame. 

"Psst." Said a voice inside his head. "What are you doing here friend?" 

"Who..who is that?" He asked. 

"It's me. Your lovable friend Cozy Glow." 

"How did you get into my brain?" He asked. 

"Oh, it's just a teeny weeny spell I cooked up from a library. It lets best friends talk to each other with their minds. So tell me, what are you doing here?" 

"Oh, I'm just in the parking lot, ashamed that I..."

"Not that. I mean, why are you at a place where there's so many lights and sounds that bother you." 

"Oh, my friends thought that a great way to combat my anxieties was to take it on and face them." 

"Golly. That sounds like they're trying hurt you more than help you. What did we talk about when it came to making friends?"

"That I should be more vigilant and concentrate on what's really important to my intelligence? But suppose..." 

"Don't be ashamed my friend. You gotta look out for yourself. And if I were you, I'd..."

"Cory!!" Shouted a voice from behind him. 

Cory turned to see Sunset running down to see if he was Ok. He could no longer hear Cozy Glow's voice in his head. 

"Sunset." He said in a pool of tears. "I am so sorry about what happened. I don't know what came of me." 

"We understand Cory." Camden replied with with a sigh after which he was followed by the other four. "This is a difficult progress for you. For all of us actually. We're doing the best we can to make sure you go back to being the creative boy you know you still have inside." 

"I know Camden." Cory shuddered. "It's just hard to get it back." 

It was then he noticed Flash, his mother and Starlight approach him, the latter of which was still rubbing her arm from the strain.

"Starlight," He continued shamefully. "I am so sorry for the scare I have you back there. I...I don't know what's become of me. It's like I'm turning into something I tried to run away from all my life." 

"Well, it did kind of give me a little pain in the shoulder." Starlight admitted. "But I think it will return to a tolerable state in a few days. Besides I know how it feels to struggle with your identity." 

"And Flash," Cory continued. "I'm so sorry for thinking you were what I thought you were." 

"No sweat Cory." Flash replied. "I get that accusation all the time." 

"Like I said, you know we're all here for you on this road to recovery." Twilight said. "Don't you forget that Ok?"

"Ok." Cory replied solemnly. "It's just I'm striving so much to show I'm no longer the shy, unintelligent person I used to be."

As he talked, Sunset Shimmer walked over to rub him on the back. 

"When you want something so much." Cory continued with tears in his eyes. "It becomes a consuming fireball in your stomach, especially when you once had nothing left but your bare flesh. You want it so much it hurts. I tried to live with it but it...it drives me nuts. Sometimes I just like to..." 

"Cory," Sunset interrupted with a sigh. "I know what it's like to want something more, and hard it is to be patient for certain things. But if you let that become part of your life, it will lead to your downfall. Believe me I learned that the hard way."

She looked at Twilight and the two gave each other a little sheepish smirk. 

"And if it helps," She continued. "I also know what it's like to start over again. But unlike me, you don't have to earn back anyone's trust for help. You've got a lot of folks by your side, including us. All you have to do is trust yourself to believe that." 

Cory was just staring down at the ground, as if exhausted from the whole ordeal, with drops of tears falling off his cheeks. 

"Look in your heart," Sunset said. "I know you'll do what's right." 

It was then she gave him an affectionate peck on the cheek, after which she gave him a big hug. Soon everyone joined in and hugged as well, surrounding him like a warm blanket of reassurance. Cory smiled a little bit as he wiped away his tears. 

"You know." He said randomly. "Human Fluttershy would play a greeeeat movie princess." 

Everyone looked at each other with confusion and worry, but then decided to just play along. 

"She sure would Cory." Jolene replied. "She sure would."