Ask Discorded Scootaloo: Chamber of Zerum
...Nothing.
Nothing was in the thick, blank, darkness that was the void. The void is a terrifying place. There may be nothing actually there, but it preys on a different kind of fear…A feeling of intense isolation, knowing that once you’re there, you’re there for good. Trapped completely. And may Celestia have mercy on any poor, unfortunate soul that somehow gets trapped in this piece of Tartarus…
No.
It was much worse here.
At least in Tartarus other souls burned with you.
But in the eternal blackness lay a small, grey figure that appeared to have passed out, breathing soft, shallow breaths. If you looked at it closer, you could see that it was similar to a pony. A younger pony that appeared to be in-between the years of still being a filly, and being a young mare. Her coat appeared to be a faded grey and her black mane slicked to the front of her head. She had a pair of wings on her back, the feathers also grey as her coat. This filly was Scootaloo. Formerly a Cutie Mark Crusader, and former prisoner of the chaotic tyrant known as Discord.
Scootaloo’s eyes shot open as she awoke from her slumber. Her grogginess still taking effect after being asleep for what felt like an eternity. She took a moment to allow her eyes to scan her surroundings.
“Ugggh…Dear Celestia. What happened? Where am I?” She mumbled. Scootaloo struggled to get to her hooves, her entire body shaking as she did so. Her legs as well as her torso felt intensely sore.
“OW! Why does it hurt so bad?!...Let’s see, I was in that alternate dimension with another me in it, and then I randomly turned into a teenager while I was sleeping because of the universe screwing with my body or some shit. I left to gather my thoughts and then…that carriage hit me when I was crossing the road.” Scootaloo was nearly mute at the end of her statement, and she threw up her forelegs in anger.
“Great. That carriage bucking killed me. I’m in bucking purgatory. And just when things were looking my way too…life always ends up hurting me that way.” Scootaloo said, her eyes starting to water. She remembered everything from that universe The Doctor had left her in. The other Scootaloo there, and how they had become such good friends. How that Scootaloo had a foal at only fourteen, Lightning Blitz, if she could remember right.
But now what was left for her? She had finally found ponies that gave a buck that she existed, and now that had been taken from her too. This hit her like a shit-ton of bricks, and tears started to free-flow from her eyes.
“W-Why? Why can’t I ever just be happy for once in my life?! My best friends abandoned me, my parents, and now I’M BUCKING DEAD!” She screamed. Scootaloo all of a sudden felt a sharp pain in her flank area and she looked down to see what it was.
Her eyes widened to the size of dinner-plates.
On her flank was what appeared to be a Cutie-Mark. It was the outline of a golden apple, if it could even be called golden, considering how dull the yellow looked.
“That’s weird. When did I get a Cutie-Mark. I don’t remember having this before, and I don’t feel like I really did anything since then. So what’s this about?” She asked herself.
All of a sudden, Scootaloo heard something echo through the emptiness of the void. It sounded like somepony singing, but the voice sounded very scratchy and upset, with a bit of an accent to it.
“S-Stars and Moons and air balloons. Fluffy clouds to the h-horizon. I-I’ll wrap you in rainbows, and rock you t-to sleep again.”
“…That song.” Scootaloo had heard that song only once before. A good friend of hers, a Time Lord to be exact, had sung that to her after a night fit to get her to calm down.
“Who’s singing that song?” She asked herself. She galloped toward the source of the noise and could hear it getting louder with every step she took, and it sounded like the voice was sniffling and stuttering between verses.
“Teddy bears of pink. Ducks and lambs of white. D-Don’t you cry dear I’m here now. I-I’ll be your nightlight.”
Scootaloo was starting to get legitimately creeped out. In sharp contrast to what The Doctor had sung her, this sounded just sad and menacing, as if it pained the singer to even recite it.
“Smiles to cure the frowns, t-twirling and tumbling in laughter. Someday life will always be happily ever after.”
“Stars and m-moons and air balloons. F-Fluffy clouds to the horizon. I-I'll wrap you in rainbows, and rock you to sleep a-again.”
On that last verse, Scootaloo had finally approached the source of the singing, which appeared to be the only bit of intelligent life in this wasteland. He was what appeared to be a Pegasus stallion laying inside a dog bed, very scrawny and thin in body structure, so skinny that Scootaloo could see his ribcage. His mane had been combed to the front of his forehead, and his wings were about the size of a newborn foal’s. A single sharp tooth protruded from his upper mouth, and he had a collar and leash clamped around his neck. The most defining feature of this stallion was his Cutie Mark…A golden apple.
The same one Scootaloo had.
Looking closer at this pony, Scootaloo noticed that he was turned away from her, crying hysterically the lyrics to the lullaby. It looked like he hadn’t noticed her come forth yet. Scootaloo wasn’t what you would call a patient filly, so she decided to make the first move.
“Umm…Hello?” Scootaloo asked.
The stallion shot up almost immediately and turned to face her, obvious fear in his eyes as well as the tears.
“W-Who are you?! How did you get here?! Nobody else is supposed to be in the void!” He screamed, getting out of his bed and hiding under it.
Scootaloo raised an eyebrow.
‘Wow, this guy is a pretty pathetic sight.’ She thought to herself.
“The void? Is that what this place is called?” She asked.
The pony was still extremely scared as he appeared to hold his tongue. This annoyed Scootaloo incredibly, seeing as how she had awoken in a new place and kind of wanted answers.
“Look, you’d better give me answers right now. If you don’t, I’ll just have to beat em’ out of you.” Scootaloo growled, looking him straight in the eyes.
The pony quickly flinched backwards to try and get away from the filly.
“P-Please don’t hurt me! I-I haven’t done anything! I’ve been a good pony, I swear!” he yelled.
Scootaloo then saw something in this pony’s eyes she had seen somewhere before. It was a look of true fear and sadness. The eyes of a truly tortured soul.
Only when she saw it in this stallion, it was a LOT worse.
Those eyes. The sound of his voice.
“…Doctor?”
The pony threw his hooves forward and tried to block out his view of Scootaloo.
“N-No! T-That’s not my name anymore! Don’t drag me back into that! Please!” he begged.
Scootaloo raised an eyebrow.
“Not your name? What the buck are you going on about?” Scootaloo asked.
The pony sat up on his haunches and lowered his head. When Scootaloo looked at The Doctor, she had seen a very angry and sad stallion who just wanted to be left alone in his box for the rest of his endless life…
But this stallion…
Looked completely destroyed.
“I-I’m not The Doctor anymore. Somepony like me should never be worthy to own that name.” he said sadly.
Scootaloo didn’t understand anything about this. He looked like The Doctor, had the same voice, and for the most part, the same overall look. But why was he acting so…pathetic?
To Discorded Scootaloo: That stallion is not The Doctor. He isn't even remotely like the already broken form of The Doctor you know. He is... how should I put this? A husk of a husk. He is an alternate dimension's Doctor that, unlike your Doctor who was broken, was completely and utterly decimated. He goes by the name Zerum( which means nothing), and this name completely suits his self-confidence. He will do what anypony asks him to do, and as such will do whatever you tell him. Here let me show you.( Don't worry I'm not cruel)
To Dissy (D. Scoots):No, no Scoots, that's Zerum Hooves. You can order him around, like so.
“Oh thank Celestia. I can still talk to these things in here…So…Zerum was it? You’ll do anything anypony tells you?” Scootaloo asked.
Zerum’s body refused to let him lift his head up, but still stared sadly at what Scootaloo could assume was the ground in this “Void”.
“I am ordered to obey all of my masters without question. My puppeteer demands that of me.” Zerum said, the emotion looking like it was draining from his face.
To Zerum: Try to moonwalk.
Zerum turned around and attempted to do as he was told, but ended up stumbling and landing on his flank.
“T-This is incredibly difficult to do with four legs. S-Sorry.” He said, shivering.
Scootaloo face-hoofed. This looked completely ridiculous to her. What pleasure does somepony get from demanding this of another pony?
To DS
Ask order zerum to tell you what he knows. I know it seems cruel to do that to someone whose in the same boat as you but it's necessary.
To Zerum: Explain to her your sad, pathetic existence in this void, while sitting on your head.
“Sad? No no. I-I’m happy here. My master protects me from all the dangers of the outside…but I will do as I am told.” Zerum said, sitting on the ground and turning himself onto his head.
Once again, the scene before Scootaloo looked absolutely absurd to her. The bubbles seemed to be a lot different in personality here than in her old world. They seemed a bit more demanding towards Zerum, and she didn’t quite get WHY he was following these “Orders” as he put it.
“Why are you doing this to yourself? I know from experience that these things can’t hurt you, so what are you so damn afraid of?” Scootaloo asked.
Zerum sighed.
“If I’m a bad pony, I get punished. Either by the voices or…or…” Zerum started to lose his composure, and his lips started trembling and tears were starting to come into his orbs.
“Or…my master…I don’t want to make my master angry.” He said, one of the tears rolling off his eyes.
Scootaloo could relate to Zerum’s situation. At one point, she too had been prisoner to a cruel, evil monster. He would torture her, hurt her, convinced her she was nothing but a pathetic, flightless bird-pony. It slightly hurt her to see another pony in her boat, but not much.
She had learned to rid herself of empathy a long time ago.
“Well , your master sounds like a real asshole.” Scootaloo said.
Zerum got back in his normal stance and viciously shook his head.
“What?! No; my master is kind and caring! He gave a purpose to my pathetic existence.” Zerum said, slightly raising his voice.
This was another thing Scootaloo couldn’t get. He looked miserable, but claimed he was happy. How can ANYONE be happy under these conditions? She remembered just how much she had hated her owner when she was trapped in The Coop, and yet Zerum talked about his master like he was a saint.
“…Exactly what is your purpose you were talking about?” Scootaloo asked curiously.
Zerum’s faced shamelessly blushed and his tiny wings made a small “POMF” sound. For whatever reason Scootaloo couldn’t fathom, he seemed a little embarrassed.
“Erm…I really shouldn’t be talking to a child about such things. You wouldn’t understand.” Zerum mumbled.
To Discorded Scootaloo: Why don't you ask Zerum about that mark on your flank?
“Yeah, what is with that mark? I’ve got the same one, but I don’t remember having it before I ended up here. What does it mean?” Scootaloo asked.
Zerum looked down at his own Cutie-Mark.
“This is my master’s seal. He branded me with it when I became his. So that must mean…he’s found another pet.” Zerum said with tears in his eyes. The last thing Zerum ever wanted to do was displease his master. But judging by the presence of another pony with the mark, he figured his master has gotten bored with him.
Scootaloo was in a state of absolute shock.
“N-No way! I will NOT go back to being someone’s bucking pet, I will NOT!” Scootaloo screamed.
“Sorry, but that’s the sheer reality of it. There is no escape from the void anywhere. You may as well get used to it.” Zerum sighed.
Scootaloo: now, I'm no expert, but this appears to be some form of pocket dimension. And, judging by the Grey Doctor, this is controlled and manifested by a truly cruel spirit. Does that Anypony you know in description?
“I know quite a lot of cruel ponies. But by far the worst of the souls I’ve met was-“ Scootaloo stopped midsentence when she realized something. The way things were playing out here were all too familiar. The Void and The Coop. Zerum and herself. Whoever Zerum’s master was and…
“…No…”
Scootaloo knew only one being in existence capable of truly bringing a pony to their breaking point, turning their coat into a dark greyness, and their mind a sharp contrast to what they had been before.
By far, the most evil and terrifying monster Scootaloo had ever seen…
“…Discord.” She said quietly.
