Cory: The Fear of Water

by artman7391

More Memories

It was the lunch hour at Canterlot High. Everyone was enjoying a nicely special meal cooked up by lunchlady Granny Smith and the loyal staff. Cory could be found sitting with all his old friends as well as Sunset Shimmer and the rest of her crew. But today, they were the only ones who weren't enjoying their meal. Instead, they found themselves staring worriedly at Cory, who was meticulously making a strange structure out of his mashed potatoes and baked crepes, using a fork as his chisel. His skin had become more pale from the lack of sleep, and his hair had become more frizzled and unkempt. In addition, his fingernails had grown to an abnormal size.

As he slightly messaged his lips with his tongue, and carefully concentrated on his work, not noticing his friends were attentively watching him. Finally, they saw what he was carving: an abstract statue of Sunset Shimmer in her demon form. The human mane 6 couldn't think of what to say as this reminded them of an event when they first used their powers. Even Twilight, who wasn't present at the event, felt speechless.

"Umm...Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash said as she tried to intervene.

"I think I'll just go and get some more fruit." Fluttershy replied, to which she scooted out of her seat and walked over to the lunch counter.

It was at that moment Cory looked up at his friends, with the most sheepish of eyes. Joanna, Tony, and Camden, who were sitting the closest to him, walked over to examine his work, much to Sunset's discomfort.

"Guys?" He said to them slowly. "I do not like it when you are invading my personal space.

"We're just a little worried about you is all." Katherine commented.

"Yeah you've been very reserved, and have talked very little in the past few days." Camden added. "It just breaks our hearts to watch you revert to who you used to be."

"Plus we miss going on those adventures like we did after Celestia anointed us." Tony added.

Cory said nothing. He just blankly stared at them. It had become usual for him to remain silent, as his mind had been preoccupied with restless sleep and the urge to enhance his level of power. He slowly turned his head around and looked at Sunset Shimmer.

"Suuunnset?" He asked slowly.

"Yes Cory?" She replied.

"Why didn't you tell me you looked so frightening as a raging she-demon and then turn all the students into mindless drones?"

"How did you know what I looked like?"

"I was fumbling through the school yearbooks last week."

"Yeah!!" Pinkie Pie added excitedly. "It was so amazing! You should've seen it. See, when she put that crown thingy, this huge cloud of stuff went around her and she grew about five times her size, and then ripped a hole in the wall, and then she made a bunch of students zombies, and then she tried to rid of us, but we got it to work against her and then..."

"WE KNOW THE WHOLE STORY PINKIE!!!" Everyone at the table shouted.

"Oh, you do?" She replied.

"Yes, you told us it a thousand times after Cory defeated Stiffson." Joanna added.

"It's something I really like to keep at the back of my head." Sunset shimmer added shamefully.

"No need to." Cory said gently. "Come to think of it, if it hadn't been for you, I probably would've killed myself."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, my mother had to defeat you didn't she? So she and her friends wielded their power and made a huge light in the sky, which I was able to see from my window. You kind of made them do it. You were, in a sort of cosmic way, responsible for me being alive today."

A small, rather comforting smile ran across Sunset's face as a little tear left her eye.

"If you wish," Cory continued. "I can make it into how you looked when Twilight here became a demon..."

"Uh, no thank you." Sunset said nervously. "I think you should eat a little. You're kind of shaking from lack of food."

And so he did, though not without his friends feeling worried. After lunch, and another class period, Cory and his six friends found themselves back in the hallways. Cory was still ruminating on his memories from his younger days. Surprisingly, a majority of them involved water, though obviously not in a pleasant way. Even when he stopped at a water fountain, he had to close his eyes so as not to see the puddle of liquid that fell on the floor when drinking. So he tried to keep his mind busy by talking to his friends about recent happening in the school, such as the new AV club, the student body council, and of course, the new School of arts that had been founded a year ago by Luna. Yet, for some reason, he was bothered by the lighting in the hallways. bright lights had become a recent nuisance to him, and he couldn't figure out why. So he put his sunglasses and bowed his head down, trying to listen in on the conversation.

"Has anyone here been able to catch that recent showing of Daring Do III? I hear it's a blast to watch!!" Said Katherine.

"Yeah, but I hope it stays more true to what it's based on." Said Joanna.

"Which one was it based off again?" Asked Tony.

"I think it was THE GRIFFINS GAUNTLET!" Camden commented. "I'm not sure. They sort of took some source materials from other volumes. But it is fun to see."

Cory just walked silently and listened to them. As Tony had said, it had been awhile since he had gone out with his friends. And besides, the mall, which was where the main movie theater was located, was far too bright and irritating for Cory's eyes. It was at that moment human Twilight and Sunset came down the hall towards them.

"Hey Twilight!!" They all said together

"Hey guys!!" She said. "I hope Cory's ready for his next project to work on."

"What is it?" Cory asked.

"Oh, you'll be creating a mural for our swim club." She replied.

Cory's heart dropped when she said this.

"Did you just say swim club?" He asked nervously.

"Uh, yeah." Twilight replied. "Is there a problem with that?"

"Uh, no not at all." Cory replied as he tried to hide his real emotions. "It's just, maybe I could do it when the water isn't in the pool? You know, just so the paint won't drip.

"Come on Cory it's not like..." Sunset Shimmer tried to say as she caressed her hand on her arm. But it was at that moment her eyes turned blank white again.

At that moment a new memory burned through her head. It was Cory, yet again at a young age. Only this time, he was wading in the pool inside Stiffson Academy. Above him were rows of obnoxiously bright lights; too bright for even the most disciplined of minds. His nearly naked body was skinny, brittle, and weak, as if it could be broken by the slightest touch.

As he helplessly kicked his feet and flapped his arms in the air to stay afloat, a few rather burly looking students, who were also in the pool, just stared at him and laughed at his misfortune.

"Well, Well, Well." Said one of them. "It looks like the loser is trying to figure out how to swim."

"Why don't we give him a lesson in how to be part of a swim club." Another Suggested.

Without even a warning, the other students dunked his head underwater with their hands. Cory tried in vain to push himself back to the surface, but several feet and hands just kicked and punched him back down. It was at that moment a loud ear piercing whistle could be heard above. Everyone took their positions in a perfectly straight formation. Cory had barely pushed himself to the surface when the whistle was heard again. Everyone kicked forward and pushed Cory into the back. Now Cory was submerged once more. He barely had the strength to even push himself up a few feet. Finally, he gave in to the waters, and slowly sank to the bottom.

Moments later, two pairs of arms from the surface lifted him up. It was Jolene and Rachel, who had left behind to do janitorial work because they were labeled "too weak." With the sweet kiss of life, Rachel carefully placed him on the ground and blew into his mouth, while Jolene performed a little bit of CPR. After a few agonizing minutes, Cory coughed out a mouthful of water. He looked up at the ceiling, which was still blazing bright from the LED's. He could barely move and his eyes were blood red from the chlorine. So his two friends picked him and carefully dragged him out of the poo room. It was then the memory stopped, and Sunset let go of Cory's arm.

"Oh," She said. "I see. You know what? You don't need to..."

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO STAY OUT OF MY HEAAAAAAAAD!!!!!" He shouted at her.

The rest of the students nearby just looked at him bewilderingly. They did not expect this out of one of their best friends. Cory just looked around, shocked as well, and a little embarrassed.

"I do apologize." He said as he calmed himself down and fixed himself up. "I think I should get some help."

And with that, he ran down the other side of the hallway and towards Vice-Principal Luna's office.