Motherly Scootaloo had just put her foal down to sleep and was currently in the middle of reading the latest Daring Do novel. She had taken up to reading the series after Rainbow Dash introduced her to it, and she had to say, it was some awesome stuff. Sandy was at work, and her other self was sleeping, so this had been a major pastime for her.
Of course though, she was interrupted from her leisure by a text-bubble.
“Ugggh. Always when I’m trying to- wait a second.” She stopped when she actually took the time to read it over.
To Motherly Scootaloo: Discorded Scootaloo just had a nightmare recently that definitely wasn't a one into the future, but a dream into her past. In her universe her parents were killed in a fire and she blames herself for their death, because she ran when they told her to run, and she thinks she could have saved them. She has just relived this experience through the post-traumatic stress dream which I mentioned earlier. Keep in mind that she definitely doesn't want to talk about it so when you inevitably try to get her to open up, do be subtle.
“Oh man. I knew she had some problems but…wow. I know what it’s like to lose your parents at a young age, and it’s terrible. It only gets worse if you blame yourself. I’m gonna go talk to her.” She said before closing her book and heading towards her room where Discorded Scootaloo had been sleeping.
To Motherly Scootaloo: She hates Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, because she blames them( and everyone else[ but them especially]) for not saving her from the coop. So, don't let her come in contact with them or the results... wouldn't be pretty.
“Yeah, better keep her away from them. Seeing as how angry she can get, I don’t even want to see the end results of that. I just don’t understand though. If they had been such good friends before, why wouldn’t they…no. Why would ANYONE not come looking for her if she was gone? It doesn’t add up.
Motherly Scoots: What were you like at Discorded Scootaloo's age?
“Well for starters, I wasn’t grey. I’m aware of the whole condition of “Discording” and basically, it brings out the worst in a pony. Knowing me though, I probably wasn’t too different than she was before she changed.” Motherly Scootaloo said.
Then, Motherly Scootaloo pointed something else out.
“Though, we really aren’t too different right now. There are times were I’ve felt alone and betrayed like her, like when Rain Catcher left me. There’s always that part of me that’s always very bitter and sad about it, and it looks like Discord brought those feelings of loneliness out of this Scootaloo. Poor…uhh…me?” She said to herself.
Motherly Scootaloo entered her room where she found a very scared and shivering Discorded Scootaloo curled up into a ball on the floor, her eyes bloodshot and red, and her cheeks had been stained with tears.
“Umm, you okay?” Motherly Scootaloo asked.
No answer.
To D. Scootaloo: luck, huh. That must be why nopony cared enough to rescue you. Relying on luck for all your crazy trick stunts must lead to some close calls, making ponies get mad at you every time you buzzed by, especially old, elderly ones.
Motherly Scootaloo had seen the question that Discorded Scootaloo and was appalled that somepony would even consider telling such a broken filly that, and promptly punched the text block, shattering it before it disappeared from existence.
“WHY WOULD YOU EVER SAY THAT?! LOOK AT HER! SHE DOESN’T NEED TO TAKE THE BLAME FOR THIS!” Motherly Scootaloo yelled.
She then turned to Discorded Scootaloo and started patting the top of her mane.
“Don’t listen to that. What happened wasn’t your fault.” She said.
Discorded Scootaloo had finally worked up the courage to respond, though Motherly Scootaloo didn’t like what she heard.
“They’re right.” She mumbled.
“What?”
“I’m a horrible pony. I can’t fly, I was a tortured plaything for months, nopony had enough bucks to give to help me. And to top it all off, the only two ponies that actually cared are buried six feet underground. And do you know what the cruelty of it all is?”
Motherly Scootaloo knew better than to respond, but decided to wait for her to finish. She noticed pools of tears started to form around Discorded Scootaloo’s eyes.
“This could’ve been avoided. If I hadn’t been such a pathetic coward, my parents would still be alive, and I might not feel so alone!” She screamed.
Scootaloo, if this isn't too harsh, have you ever contemplated suicide...? You were so broken throughout all of Discord's 'playtime', did you ever just want to take the easy way out, and end it all?
Even if you did, it shows how strong-willed you are to endure all that suffering and make it to where you are now.
Motherly Scootaloo was about to break this one too, but Discorded Scootaloo answered before she could.
“I’ve already answered this…like…twice. I’d be lying if I said I haven’t thought about it, but I’m way too big of a coward to do something that drastic. Stop asking me.”
To Discorded Scootaloo:
Really? You blame yourself? Man, don't turn into the kind of pony that the doctor became! It isn't your fault, ok? I could tell you that fear isn't as strong as love or something, but I'd be lying. All you need to know is that Fear can be your prison. Beware.
“Don’t turn into the same pony as The Doctor? I’m sorry, but have you looked at me lately? You’re a little late. And I’m fully aware that fear is dangerous, and I’m always trapped in an eternal prison of fear. Because…I’m…terrified.” She whimpered.
Motherly Scootaloo looked down at Discorded Scootaloo with extreme concern, and quite shocked that she would say such terrible things about herself as if she accepted it as the truth.
“Listen, you are NOT worthless. You have to be one of the most awesome fillies I know to have the willpower to put up with that kind of abuse for as long as you did…Look, I know what it’s like to lose your parents; I’ve been there. I was only five when I lost my mom, and I felt so incredibly helpless. I felt like there was something I could’ve done. But the longer you blame yourself, the more it hurts. You just need to accept that everyone has to go sometime, and there’s nothing anyone can do to change that.” She said.
Discorded Scootaloo looked back up, attempting to hold in her tears and biting her bottom lip.
“…You…really think I’m awesome?” She said, with some of her color coming back to her coat.
“Wouldn’t be saying it if it weren’t true.” Motherly Scootaloo replied with a smirk, holding out her hoof for a hoof-bump. Discorded Scootaloo was feeling a little better, but she hadn’t fully recovered quite yet, and she flinched when Motherly Scootaloo held out her hoof.
“Oh come on, I’m not gonna bite you or anything.” Motherly Scootaloo said, rolling her eyes.
Reluctantly, Discorded Scootaloo complied to the hoof-bump, and immediately withdrew her hoof.
Well, it was something at least.
Suddenly, both Scootaloos heard the sound of Lightning Blitz awakening from his nap and crying for his mother.
To Discorded Scootaloo: Wait a second. That dream...Not the house one, the one with the TARDIS...After the TARDIS passed by, there was a crying baby...Maybe Lightning Blitz is important to helping you! Scootaloo! Befriend the baby!
Motherly Scootaloo was just about to leave the room to go check on Lightning, when Discorded Scootaloo stopped her.
“Hold up. I think you may have had to put up with enough of my crap today. I’ll take care of it.” She said.
Motherly Scootaloo wasn’t entirely sure about letting a crazy, cynical version of herself hang around her child too much, but it looked like she was trying to be sincere, so she allowed her to go ahead.
Discorded Scootaloo entered Lightning Blitz’s room with Motherly Scootaloo following her, where he was already standing up in his playpen, and with tears in his eyes.
“What’s with the water-works kid? Need something?” She asked.
As expected, Lightning didn’t answer, but only continued to cry.
And that’s when Discorded Scootaloo noticed the smell.
“Alright, why is this baby not telling me what’s wrong with it, and why does it stink?” Discorded Scootaloo asked.
Motherly Scootaloo was coming very close to bursting out laughing.
“I can already tell you’ve never had kids. Looks like Lightning’s diaper needs to be changed.” Motherly Scootaloo said.
“Whoawhoawhoa. Hold on a minute. I have hooves. How the heck am I supposed to-“ Discorded Scootaloo stopped midsentence at a terrible realization. Her eyes shifted downwards to her mouth.
‘…Oh buck no.’ She thought to herself.
Once Discorded Scootaloo had gotten done gargling about a gallon of mouthwash, she took a seat next to Motherly Scootaloo on the couch in the living room.
“Thanks for the help with Lightning. You’re actually starting to open up. That’s good for you.” Motherly Scootaloo said with a smile.
Discorded Scootaloo didn’t appear as enthusiastic however.
“Yeah sure.” She said quickly with her eye twitching.
Lightning Blitz crawled his way over to Discorded Scootaloo and noticed that some of her color was coming back. He looked back and forth between his mother and Discorded Scootaloo, obviously very confused at how there could be two of them. His small, baby brain hadn’t taken that much into account given the two’s color differences, but now his head was reeling.
“I know kid, I was confused at first too.” Discorded Scootaloo said to him.
To Discorded Scootaloo: I had an idea... What if Discord was the one who made you dream of the future purposely and you getting recaptured is a means to break your spirit? But, that would mean that he knew that the Doctor would come to save you. Now that I think about it... you did seem to escape Discord rather easily. I mean, don't you think that Discord would have noticed an extra-dimentional, time traveling blue box? He couldn't have just slept through something so chaotic! Maybe Discord wanted you to escape, so that it would break your spirit even more when he planned to capture you! It makes as much sense as anything else that's happened. But, he can't just burst through dimensions willy-nilly. He would need something to get him from one to another, a mode of transport-... Scootaloo... do you think that it's possible that Discord could have caught a ride on the TARDIS, stalked you up until now, and intends to take you back to the coop as a destroyed pony that would give up all hope of ever trying to escape again because she would think that Discord would find her anywhere, for his own, sick amusement?
...
If so... Don't Panic.
Try to think a way out of the situation. That is how I came to this conclusion, through thought. Think of every possible situation in your head and go over it a thousand times. Beat Discord at his own game of shadows and lies. I know how your too young for these things, but, if you truly want your freedom, you'll have to earn it through a very steep price. I know you're too young for this... but, you need to play the game; a game of secrets, deceptions, and breaking the very nature of sentient beings; to win, what's rightfully yours.
Discorded Scootaloo’s eyes dilated and she started sweating.
“Y-Yeah I g-guess that’s possible. It did seem a little too easy. He could actually be stalking me at this very moment, silently waiting for my head to crack. B-But joke’s on him now. Continuing to act like a depressed sad-sack is only giving Discord what he wants. I’m not gonna let that sick bastard beat me! And do you know why?! Because my mind is the only thing I have left!” Discorded Scootaloo shouted, her color now a lot brighter than before, almost to the point where she wasn’t grey at all.
Motherly Scootaloo smiled. Seeing a filly that had previously been terribly depressed and angry become so determined and confident all of a sudden made her feel pretty good.
To Discorded Scootaloo: Why don't you try to explore this dimention's ponyville? I'm sure there could be some interesting things to do in town. Maybe you could go to this dimension's Sugarcube Corner and get some non-butter treats?
“Wait a second…you ate butter? As in…JUST butter?” Motherly Scootaloo asked.
Discorded Scootaloo pointed an accusing hoof at her.
“Hey, in my defense, it was The Doctor’s fault. He shouldn’t keep so much of the stuff on the TARDIS and not expect me to get hooked on it.” Discorded Scootaloo said.
Motherly Scootaloo rolled her eyes.
“Whatever. You feel like heading to Sugarcube Corner?” She asked.
“In the last four months, I’ve eaten nothing but dog food and butter. What do you think?” Discorded Scootaloo jokingly asked.
“Thought so. I just need to drop off Lightning at Twilight’s and we can be on our way.” Motherly Scootaloo said, walking out the door with Lightning Blitz on her back, and Discorded Scootaloo in tow.
Unknown to them however, an unseen entity had witnessed everything that had happened in the house, the TARDIS, and even The Coop. The only one that had been with Discorded Scootaloo since her escape…
Discorded Scootaloo’s little, stuffed doll sat on the couch, completely motionless before a yellow mist surrounded the small toy and it appeared to…blink. With bright…yellow eyes.
“Hehehehehe. Only a matter of time little chicken”
Hey Scoots, I suggest you take a good look at your little toy. Something seems off about it.
Discorded, you may want to get the fuck out of there. Get active protection, do anything. Just DON'T GO BACK TO THE COOP! Best pony can NOT be allowed to sit in a coop all her life.
To DS
I wonder why discord let you have hope with that doll, I'd be careful around it
Discorded Scootaloo: Your starting to open more,how nice!Try to stay positive for awhile, it feels good to be happy!just keep the bad things off your mind ok?
To Discorded Scootaloo: You know, I think it's time you got a new toy. The little doll feels like a toy for four year olds...Oh, I know! Scootaloo, buy a new scooter!
To Discord: Are you in the doll, or are you controlling it trans-dimensionally? Because, I didn't realise chaos magic is that powerful! Congrats!
D Scootaloo: hey I just figured out your strange dream (or vision or whatever): if the laughter is discord, and the crying the motherly scootaloo's foal. what if it means that the only way that discord will leave you alone is if you give him the child?
To Lil' Scoots: Well, how does it feel to be predictable. I'm guessing that you saw the bubble, in which your plan was just deduced. While you did manage to add a flair of dramatic irony by becoming the one thing that Scootaloo held with sentimentality, you still followed a predicted plan. I'm no going to warn Scootaloo of the impending danger of you considering the fact that others will do it enough. I doubt that Scootaloo would even want to believe it, considering the walls of sentimentality you formed around your hiding spot. If this message even gets through, and if my theory is correct, than Scootaloo won't see this message, but a message about...hmm...ducks?
Do you like ducks?
... Yeah ducks. Listen, all I want to say is that by following a logical plan aren't you acting downright... Orderly?
To D. Scootaloo: Oh I see how it is. You sure are a horrible pony. You couldn't even lift giant burning planks when you were a foal. If you had stayed, then your little baby hooves would have totally made a difference. That's why your father begged you to help and didn't tell you to run, because one touch and that plank would have just flown away like, bam. It's not like you would all have died if you had stayed, your futile attempts to save them dooming you too to a horrible firey death, for no reason at all. I'm sure you knew at the time that they were going to die forever but ran anyway, and you fully understood the concept of death. Your dad sure never tricked you into running by saying "We'll be okay." Even if he had said that, everyone knows how hard it is to fool a small child.
It's not like your dad could have saved himself if he had run too.
Nope, clearly that's all your fault, and you can never do anything after that that would be construed as non-horrible, such as performing in concerts, carrying your friends around, and defending ponies from bullies. Every pony in Ponyville only cares about that one day, even the ones who never even heard about it, and they all blame you for it. That's the only explanation for why nobody came to save you from a powerful magical being who tricks ponies for a living. No other reason could possibly exist.
4224707: Wow... You're an asshole. You are literally shitting in the face of a little filly, because she doesn't know how to deal with her parents death! What the buck is wrong with you? I get that you are trying to get her to stop blaming herself, but you shouldn't just point out all the faults in the emotions and reactions of someone who is eight or nine. Be a bit more sensitive toward a little filly that had her parents taken away, and has been tortured for months which, definitely left some pretty deep emotional( And probably physical!) scars.
4225652
Yes that's exactly what I'm doing. No no, you got it right. I'm just such a terrible person.
4226201 Look, all I'm saying is that if you're going to try to get Scootaloo to stop being mad at herself by pointing out how her beating herself up doesn't make sense, it's not going to work. Why don't you try a more, gentler approach?
4226591
4226201
Okay, since I don't like seeing my askers arguing, let me show my personal opinion on this through this Personal Note on "Ask Zerum", so this thing just stops now.
"One of the most confusing thing to people is why someone being abused doesn’t ask for help. Or worse, flat out rejects it.
There are a lot of reasons. And I’m sure everyone is different on their reason why.
Some people feel they can’t be helped.
Others feel that they don’t need it, being unaware of how much a situation could be unhealthy for them.
And other times, people fear they would be using the other person and they don’t want to feel like that person is wasting their efforts on a lost cause.
Just… Be patient with us.
Be understanding and be gentle. Don’t scold us or throw our problems in to our faces, don’t push. It’s horrifying and it’s likely that you will make someone retreat further away in doing that.
The best thing to do is to just show us there is something better. Show what a true friend is, show that life isn’t always the way we think and maybe over time we’ll begin to realize that.
And eventually, maybe even believe that a better life is"
4226591
4226755
Guess I'm not smooth enough to pull this off. Oh well it was an honest effort. I take back any suggestions.
There's two things I was trying to do. I wasn't trying to reason with her, or prove that her feelings are wrong, or even trying to make her feel bad about what she's doing to herself. I was firstly trying to get her to remember her true self, the only way I know to break Discord's spell. I couldn't tell her to remember all the worthy and brave things she's done though, because Discord would realize what I'm trying to do and block it. If I can't tell her how wonderful she is, I'll paint myself as such a cookie cutter villain that she can't help but tell it to herself. I was just trying to get her to remember, and to get her to defend herself. That's all.
It's like nobody ever heard of provocative therapy sheesh...
4231647 You guys are all free to ask what you feel like, so in no way am I telling you to stop, just be careful with HOW you word your questions. Discorded Scootaloo tends to get pissed easy when she is asked about her life before being Discorded. And she does remember who she was and all that, but she's convinced that because of Discord's constant abuse, that she pretty much is worthless. Tell someone the same thing long enough, and they'll start to believe it, no matter how nonsensical.
Just saying. Be careful with what you say to her. One of two things will probably happen. She could just break down crying, or simply just tell you to piss off. There's always the chance that she could get it through her skull. but those are just the two most likely outcomes.
4231647 I understand what you were trying to do, but it wasn't going to work. I knew that your comment would only have Scootaloo get pissed at it, or burst out in tears. Considering how she reacted to your last comment, I thought it was more likely that she would only burst into tears and feel useless. I understand your reasoning behind it, but it wouldn't work. She would probably only accept your words and feel even more useless. I felt that proactive therapy wouldn't work in this situation, so I thought you were just being an asshole, and I apologize for that. You need to take a more gentile approach when dealing with things, similar to this.
4232365
> I knew
> I understand
> it wouldn't
> it wasn't
> you need to
Hey, write your own ask blog if you want to lord over people!
4231987
The one lesson I learned from the Discord arc is that there's a difference between remembering who you think you were, and remembering who you are. It's not as simple as being reminded of your past.
I just wanna say...THE DOLL IS POSSESSED CALL THE COPS!!!!