It had been nearly two months since Cory isolated himself in the attic, and shrouded himself in complete darkness. He had followed Cozy Glow's instructions to not talk to anypony, and only stop for sleep, school and food, which he supplied himself with an apple tree outside of his window. With all the extra time on his hooves (or hands, as he had reverted to his human form), he had managed to double his studying and crafting ability. He had caught ahead with his homework and assignments, some a couple weeks in advance, from science, to math, to english, to even extra curricular activities.
In addition A plethora of different paintings, statues, murals, pottery, set pieces and reliefs out of any material imaginable. But, unlike his other works, they seemed to lack something. The life that he incorporated into his other creative works had vanished in these creations of his. They looked more stoic, more uptight, as if they belonged in some propaganda film about a government or something, yet they also looked more grotesque, crude, and dilapidated, like melting figures from a long forgotten empire . There was no innocence, no imagination, not even color in them. Each image and object seemed to have eyes that stared down at him, like he was a prisoner of his own making.
As for his physical appearance, it was as if he had reverted to his old, old self, like when he first came to Equestria. His body had shriveled into a skeletal, pale colored form of who he used to be. His arms had become the form of twigs, and his legs so brittle, he could barely walk upright, if not crawl. His hair had grown reminiscent of a porcupine's back and the goatee had formed into a beard along with a mustache to compliment his sanity. His finger and toenails had elongated into a style reminiscent of Howard Hughes in his final days, making it difficult for him to write, paint, draw and sculpt without mistakes.
What's more, his eyes had turned a bloodshot red, with deep, swollen bags underneath them. Regardless of his sleep, the nightmares and memories of his past flickered past him without any end in sight. From abuse of his parents, to the taunting of his peers. But most of all, that nightmare of the endless ocean was the brightest of them all. In that nightmare, he just kept sinking, and sinking, desperately trying to swim his way back up, but to no avail. As a result, he shunned himself from any liquid whatsoever, except for hydrating himself of course. But other than that, he refused to even bathe himself, or practice hygiene, causing his body to let out an odor so bad sometimes he made himself gag.
On this particular morning, the door to his attic was shut, and the windows were barricaded as usual. Cory found himself crawling on the floor, barely able to stand up. When suddenly, the door opened. It was his mother, Twilight Sparkle, who stared down at him disapprovingly.
"No more hiding." She said sternly. "You're coming with me. Now."
Using her magic, she dragged her son out of his room down the ladder and into the bathroom. Cory tried to squeal and slither away with his grunts and whines, but it was no use compared to her magic, as she placed him upright in the tub and started to shower him away. As he was to weak to bathe himself, Twilight magically turned on the shower faucet, took a bottle of shampoo and bottle of soap, and cleaned him of all the crusty residue that covered his skin. Then he dressed him up in what was a set of decent clothing: A button down shirt, pair of black, khakis, polished business shoes, a vest, and his signature cloak to tie it all together. Why she decided not to file his nails or shave his hair was beyond him. Maybe it was just to show how desperate he looked.
Finally, she made him stand upright, and, without a word, escorted him to the back side of the barn. Cory opened the door with his gnarled fingernails and peered his scruffy, shaky face outside, where he saw a few familiar faces waiting for him to to take his seat at a circle of stumps:
-Applejack
-Pinkie Pie
-Sunburst
-Spike
-Scootaloo
-Rachel (in human form)
-and Camden (in human form)
"What the hell is all this?" Cory mumbled as he staggered towards his empty stump.
"You can't hide your insecurities any longer little brother." AJ answered. "I want my sibling back."
"We know this is painful for you," Rachel added. "But we've got to have you conquer your fear of water."
"What fear of water?" Asked Cory as he clumsily took his seat. "I don't have any.
"C'mon, Cory. We've got to get you out of this funk." Camden added. "Stop pretending there's nothing to worry about here."
"Just look at yourself Cory." Spike added. "You're all messed up and crazy."
"Aaaaand not in a good, super duper party pony crazy way." Pinkie Pie added using the kindest voice she had. "More like a locked in your room, I haven't had a party in months crazy way."
It was then Scootaloo took a small mirror out of his satchel and gave it to Cory. To his shock, instead of seeing either himself, or Stiffson, he saw a wrinkled old man devoid of life. There was not a trace color, tint, or even happiness in any crevice of his face. Much like Pinkie when she tried to devoid herself of the yovidophone. Suddenly, a set of tears trickled down his wrinkled, battered cheeks.
"We both know what it's like to hide your feelings Cory." Scootaloo said. "And we know it's not healthy."
"So Cozy Glow was wrong with what she said?" Cory asked under his watery eyes.
"Cozy glow?!!" Everyone said together.
"I should've known that rotten pegusi was puttin ya up to this." Said Applejack. "No offense Scootaloo."
Scootaloo just responded with a raised eyebrow.
"How do you know about Cozy Glow?" Cory asked.
"We'll explain after your exposure therapy." Spike responded
"We only need the real you to come back Cory." Sunburst said gently. "I know that my talented pupil is hiding in that brain of your's somewhere, just waiting to come out."
Cory looked down at his hands and twitched his fingers a little. They looked as if they belonged to Edward Scissorhands. Then he stared further at his toenails, which were just poking slightly out of his shoes. This was followed by touching his damaged face, and finally looking at his pale white skin.
"help....me..." He said quietly.
"That is exactly what we're here to do my son." Twilight replied with a big hug. "We are going to conquer your fear once and for all. We are taking you to Seaquestria."
"Seaquestria?" Asked a puzzled Cory.
"You know. Seaquestria." Pinkie replied. "That place we went to, under the ocean, met Skystar and Queen Novo, had this orb thingy, turned us into seaponies, asked for help, they said no at first, sung about one small thing, made sea shell necklaces, they almost said yes, turned out to be trap, Twilight tried to steal the orb, got us kicked out, nearly ruined our friendship...actually that last part wasn't so fun, but the rest, good times, goooood times."
Twilight just responded with a raised eyebrow of disapproval.
"So why are you all volunteering?" Cory asked.
"Cause your'e my son." Twilight replied.
"Because you're my brother." Applejack replied.
"Because you're my pupil." Sunburst replied.
"Because you're my friend." Camden replied
"Because you're my friend." Spike replied
"Same here. And because I love marine live." Rachel replied.
"Because I'm friends with Skystar." Pinkie replied.
"And because I had a blast the last time I went to Seaquestria." Scootaloo replied.
"I can only hope this will make me take my life back." Said Cory. "But either way, I thank you all for helping me in this difficult time."
"No problem big brother." Applejack replied. "It's the least we can do."
"First, we gotta get you cleaned up a little more." Camden suggested. "Nopony wants to think you're mental."
"And quickly too." Sunburst added. "The train to Mount Aris leaves in less than three hours."
Without a moment to haste everyone went to their homes to pack their things. As Cory went inside to the bathroom for a quick shave and clipping of the nails, with the assistance of Camden, he really hoped that for once his past could be laid to rest once and for all.