10-1: Stop being perfect
Mayhem was beaming as he looked at the wall of Fluttershy’s room. She had allowed him to make a wall of memories to look at every day. He had pulled snapshots from his memories, setting up photos of his adventures with his new friends.
Playing pirates, going to a carnival, swimming deep undersea and above it, and going on a Daring Do adventure; his first trip through the world of his friends wishes had been a blast.
Then after that he had helped Spring Meadow with her own wish, bringing her and her brother together.
The second trip had been just as amazing. Spring Meadow had wished for them to be the size of mice, having to run around in a world where they were only a tenth of their size and avoid getting squished. It was incredible how at that size even a button could be deadly. Not that they were ever in danger, but even tiny objects from a normal ponies perspective could be gigantic when you were so small.
Plum had surprised him, asking for a scary wish. She had seemed a bit timid and one of the most scared of him at first, but she requested a world overrun with zombies. They had to run from house to house, fighting them off. The end goal was to get to Twilight’s castle, the only safe space left and the only place where they were working on a cure.
At Flash’s suggestion, he started out already infected, giving them a time limit to get there before he turned completely and went after them. They really had to work together for that one. The pressure was intense. Even in a fake world with no actual risk of harm he still didn’t want to let a friend down by letting them turn into a zombie.
So many fun wishes, and Spring had fit right in with their group.
As he continued to stare at all the pictures his smile slowly faded.
He could already feel the anticipation building up, and he couldn’t satisfy his desire for chaos for another week.
Fear began to creep into him. If things continued on like this it could wind up turning out like before.
There was only one thing to do.
***
Fluttershy knocked on the door of Twilight’s castle. A short while later the door opened.
“Hello, Twilight,” said Fluttershy genially. “How are you today?”
“Very good,” she replied.
“Hello!” said Mayhem.
“Hello, Mayhem.
“So what brings you two here today?”
“Mayhem said he wanted to speak with you, so here we are,” said Fluttershy.
“Sure. Come on in.”
They went to one of the rooms in the castle, where the three sat down, Mayhem on Fluttershy’s lap.
Once they were settled Twilight said, “Okay, so lay it on me. What’s on your mind?”
Mayhem let out a little sigh. “I have a problem, and I’m not sure what to do about it. That’s why I wanted to come to you. You’re the smartest person I know, and you were the one who came up the plan for my reformation.”
Twilight grinned at the compliment. “Well, as a princess or as your friend I’m here to help. What’s your problem?”
He sighed again, sucking on his cheek. “Twilight, I’m getting bored again. These weekly chaos sessions are amazing, and they work off a lot of my excess energy and desire for trouble.
“The problem is that they’re too amazing. They’re the only highlight of the week. Once they’re over it becomes so quiet I just start thinking all about what’s going to come at the following week’s session.
“I’m…” He wrang his paw and claw together anxiously. “I’m kinda getting scared. Feeling bored is what caused all this trouble to start with.
“I still can’t see my old friends, and Mommy is a little anxious about me hanging out with my new friends without you there to supervise. I… I know I lost a lot of trust when I went crazy, so I don’t blame her for being nervous, but all I have all week is her and sometimes Daddy.”
He let out a little groan. “I’m… just not sure what to do. I want something more, but you said you wanted to keep these as only weekly sessions as a symbol that I can’t always have what I want.
“Can you help me again?”
Twilight nodded. “The solution is obvious to me.”
“Mmm?” His eyes widened. “You already have a plan?”
She nodded again.
“Wow!” he said, smiling wide. “You’re really good at this! Just like when you helped Spring and her brother.”
“You think so? Maybe I could even… make a job out of this. Nah… that’s crazy.”
Mayhem giggled. “Don’t play with me, Princess Twilight.” He was already feeling better. He had seen first-hand Twilight’s skills, so if she said she had a plan he knew he could put his trust in her to fix things.
“I want you to try something for me, and I can almost guarantee it will take your bored feelings away.”
“I’m listening.” He leaned forward.
“Well… don’t take this the wrong way, Mayhem, but you are incredibly spoiled.”
He scrunched up a bit, his grin fading. “Sorry…”
“I’m not criticizing you. I’m only stating a fact.
“How could you not be spoiled? You have magic that grants you whatever you want whenever you want it, with basically no restrictions. There are a few things your magic doesn’t affect, but you are simply too powerful for your own good.
“I have great magic. I did even before I became an alicorn. However, I started out pathetic. I had to struggle just to turn a page in a book. I had great potential, but I had to push myself to grow into it. Since you were ‘born’ this way you’ve never had to struggle for anything.
“And, so, this week I want you to do your best not to use your powers at all.”
He gave her a curious look. “Why?”
“You really think that will help?” asked Fluttershy.
“No, not on its own," said Twilight. "But we’ll get to that.
“Mayhem, what makes you bored? You mentioned during the pirate wish that knowing everything that’s going to happen is no fun. You like the mystery of just having a general script and then letting everyone else do whatever they want.”
He nodded. “I remember that.”
“Your power is impressive, truly. However, it’s also very dull.”
“Dull?” asked Fluttershy. “Most ponies would do most anything to have power like his.”
“And that’s part of the problem. His powers are ‘perfect,’ and when something is perfect it has nowhere to go.”
“What do you mean, perfect?” asked Mayhem.
“I’m saying your power is what is causing your boredom. You say you like mystery, but your power always creates exactly what you want with no effort. How can you feel any real satisfaction out of what you use your power for if there’s never any challenge in it?
“Let’s say you wanted to make a polished wood table. An ordinary pony has to gather the wood, the tools and supplies, and set aside time. Then they have to very carefully cut it into the right sized pieces, sand it, coat it, varnish it, and hammer it together. This could take hours, but at the end he has a product made out of his hard work.
“But when it comes to you… well, what is there? One little snap, and you can create a table just as nice looking. It just won’t feel like an accomplishment. A feeling of triumph wouldn’t feel earned, even though you have the exact same product.
“In fact, your table is always going to turn out just a little bit nicer. After all, you don’t have to worry about fatigue or distractions or precision. It’ll just come out fully formed.”
Mayhem looked uncomfortable.
“I need some of Discord’s magic to keep you in line during our weekly sessions, but immediately after they end I send it back to him. I have no interest in having this power full time, because there’s nowhere to go with it.
“As ponies we’re always striving to better ourselves. We try to be better than the day before. Learn something we didn’t know yesterday. Try something new we never tried before. As we accumulate experiences we grow, but no matter how long we live or how many friends we make, there is always something new tomorrow. We are never perfect.
“With your power there is nothing to strive for. It doesn’t grow. It doesn’t change. It doesn’t get better or worse. It’s just… stagnant.
“Look at Pound and Pumpkin. When Discord gave them some of his magic they were perfect too. Without any practice or experience with chaos magic they mastered that power instantly; breaking their bodies into pieces, turning into alicorns and fusing their bodies together, destroying an army of Changelings with a lightning tornado…
“It may be the ultimate magic, far exceeding my own, but in the end… it’s boring. So long as you rely on that magic to do everything for you then you’ll never grow past what you are now, and that boredom during the rest of the week when you’re not granting wishes will never fade.”
Tears came down Mayhem’s eyes. “So, then… my power is bad?”
Twilight got up and nuzzled his nose with her own. “Not at all. You saved Forest with that power. I’m not saying your power is bad, because it can have great applications, but I’m saying it’s holding you back from becoming your best self.”
“S-so what should I do?”
“I want you to think about what you said to Spring’s mother. Even if you didn’t realize it at the time you showed some amazing insight.”
“I did?”
She nodded. “Even if she didn’t sound enthused with the idea, she still suggested wiping her daughter’s memory of the incident to free her from her guilt. You wouldn’t stand for it, calling her out and telling her it was a horrible idea.
“You said at the end that if Spring wouldn’t accept our love then we’d just keep reaching out to her until she did. Once she woke up from her forced nap you put your whole heart and soul into helping her. Even before that you risked everything just to help her when you put your standing at risk by telling about what happened with your friends. After she woke up you risked getting in trouble again by telling her about sneaking into Flurry’s cutecenera.
“You did realize you had to mend the gap between her and her brother rather than helping her directly, but in the end this victory came about because of you and the sheer effort you put into it. I had to help change your perspective so you realized you didn’t fail, but I could see how much it meant to you when you understood.
“Now would you have felt the same if you had taken her mother’s suggestion? Probably not. Rather than work through her pain you’d have just taken a shortcut.
“It felt so fulfilling because you had to work at it rather than just getting it instantly. You had to take a hit, you had to have her yell at you, but in the end you pushed through and succeeded.”
Mayhem nodded.
“The biggest problem with your magic, besides its inherent perfection, is simply that it doesn’t take any time. If you exclude the time spent sleeping and eating, that’s a large number of hours to spend during the day in which you have to decide what to do with all that time.
“It may feel like your adventures with your new friends are the most amazing thing, but that’s only because it’s the only time you slow down!”
“Slow down?” asked Mayhem. “What do you mean?”
“That carpenter I spoke of before might decide he’s going to make ten tables on a certain day. If each table takes an hour to make then that’s ten hours. For you that’s ten snaps… ten seconds. If you really wanted to you could make them all in one. Is it any wonder then you’re wondering how to spend your time? Everything your magic can do happens so instantaneously it doesn’t give you any time to have a real experience.”
Mayhem gave her a curious look. Some of that sounded vaguely familiar.
“These wish-granting adventures are one of the rare times your magic is used to create a journey rather than an end result. You set up an adventure through your magic, and then all of you play through it. You do sometimes use your magic to influence that world, such as changing it from the middle of the day to twilight, but you’re still going through it in real time.”
“Oh!” said Mayhem, sitting up straighter. “I know now.”
“Know what?” asked Fluttershy.
“What Twilight is saying is a lot like you said to me when I tried to tell you about last week.”
“And what was that?” Twilight asked, curious.
“I tried to just snap all my memories of that day into her, but she told me she wanted me to talk it out instead.
“She said it wasn’t magic that made bonding experiences. It was showing interest in each other’s experiences. If I gave her my memories she wouldn’t have the same mystery I did as we went through our wishes and Spring’s problems.”
She nodded. “That’s correct.
“What does this all mean in regards to you? I don’t want you to simply not use your powers and have that be the end of it. That’s not going to cure your boredom. I want you to start learning and trying new skills without using your powers as a crutch.
“Stop trying for perfect! Have the courage to make mistakes! Have some fun!
“Try to make that desk. Maybe not even a desk. Maybe just something simpler like a new birdhouse for Fluttershy’s animals. Cut some wood, get a hammer and nails, and then attempt to make it.”
Mayhem looked intrigued.
“Here’s something else that’s going to sound negative, but just listen to my reasoning before you think badly of me.
“I want you to fail.”
His eyebrow rose as his head tilted. “You want me to fail?” His eyes darted left and right. “At what? And why?”
“To gain experience. We tend to look at mistakes as something horrible, but if we go back to what you said: the past is for learning from, not something to use to hurt yourself. If one attempt doesn’t work then try a different method until you succeed.”
Mayhem looked crestfallen now, his eyes shining with tears. “I… I never really thought about it before, but… I really don’t have any skills at all. I don’t even know what I’d be without my magic.”
Fluttershy gave him a squeeze. “You’d be the same wonderful child you are now.”
“Mommy…” He spun around in her hooves and hugged her.
She rubbed his back. “Don’t be sad, Mayhem. It’s never too late to learn some new skills.”
“That’s right,” said Twilight. “I have tons of books in the library about hobbies.
“All you need to do is find a balance. If something is way too simple or easy then it will bore you because it’s not enough of a challenge. However, while you shouldn’t give up on something completely just because you’re struggling, sometimes things are so far above your current skill level that it’s only going to cause you frustrations, and you should come back to it later when you have more experience.”
“But… but I don’t know what to do!” Mayhem protested. “I’ve never really done anything without my magic! I don’t even know where to start!”
“Like I said, if there’s something that catches your eye I can find a book to help you practice. You don’t have to go crazy right at the start. Sometimes mistakes can be really fun, or frustrate you in just the right way to make you try again.
“If you need more inspiration to help you start, I think picking up some hobbies will help get you back to your friends faster.”
His head shot up, and he spun around. “R-really?”
“What Cup and Carrot want out of you is to see that you’ve grown. They want proof that their children are going to be safe around you. The best way to convince them of that is to show you can practice restraint.
“You got mad at her the day of the superhero adventure because she didn’t want you turning her house into chaos central again. Granted, you were already at your boredom limit then, so maybe it wouldn’t have bothered you on an ordinary day.
“You make them nervous, because you do things so far beyond what it looks like you should be capable of. You look like a child, but have Discord’s full capabilities. The only thing that can restrain your expenditure of magic is the fear of running out of it and being forced to return to Discord.
“Even before what you did she was still a little wary of you. She may have allowed you to go crazy during the party, but she doesn’t want that experience every time you come over. Creating indoor roller coasters and pools, turning kids into dragons… it’s all a little overwhelming for her.
“Now, looking at it from the other side of the superhero adventure, she’s even more anxious and reluctant. She could easily restrain an average child, as the twins and their friends aren’t that skilled. But she can’t do that with you. She has no way to contain you because your power is far greater than hers, and that’s her biggest fear: she knows that she can’t protect her children from you.
“That’s why I want you to try and limit your powers. When the time comes when she finally is ready to give you another chance, she’ll be watching you like a hawk. She is already going to be nervous enough. You don’t want to give her any excuses to cut the day short, so learn how to function without snapping every time you want something.”
He nodded. “I got it. Even if she gives me another chance, if I scare her she might just send me home.
“But… how does that help right now? You said it could get me to my friends faster, but it sounds like it’s only going to help in the future when I’m already seeing them.”
Twilight smiled. “Good question. Glad to see you noticed.
“Even if you can’t see your friends directly, you have two main lines to them. The first is the notebook. Your friends want to see you again, so when they hear about your progress they can add some weight to their argument about seeing you again by telling them about the ways you’ve been improving yourself.
“The second is me. I’m more focused on Cup and Carrot, as they’re the only ones I would usually see on an average basis, but I can speak to them about you as well. However, I can’t force them to accept you, nor will I push them to. As I’ve said to them several times already, I don’t like throwing my authority around. I want them to always be the first to decide what to do with their children.”
“That sounds good,” said Mayhem, “but I’m still scared!”
“And what are you scared of?”
“I’m scared of being a screw-up.”
Twilight walked over and rubbed his head. “Mayhem, have you been listening to me?” she said lightheartedly. “Making arts and crafts or painting or other casual hobbies isn’t going to destroy the world if you don’t get it down right away.
“You’re too used to perfection, but if you put the time and effort in you’ll see results. Fluttershy took the time and effort to work on you, and just look how far you’ve come. You’re learning new things all the time and are helping others. That’s a far cry from the creature you started as, the one that wanted to give every single person some chaos magic and watch the world tear itself apart through misuse of that power.”
“I remember… I used to think that way.” Mayhem bit his lip. “If… I do get better at not using my magic does that mean you’re going to cancel our weekly sessions?”
“No!” Twilight said firmly. “As I’ve said before your power can make children happy and fulfill their deepest desires. I’m not going to take that away.”
Mayhem didn’t look reassured. Tears shimmered in his eyes. “But… but…”
“What?” she said gently.
“Will my friends even like me anymore without my magic?”
Fluttershy turned him around so he was facing her. “How could you ask such a thing, Mayhem? Of course your friends will still love you.
“While you were drowning in your self-hatred they all ran over here to tell you they still wanted you to remain their friend.”
“Of course they did,” he replied, looking away. “If I was gone forever they’d lose access to my abilities.”
“Hmm.” Twilight scratched her chin, moving so she was standing next to Fluttershy. “Mayhem… do you really believe your friendships are that weak? When you came to your senses that day Flurry remembered you even though you hadn’t restored their memories yet. That’s proof that you made a big impression on her life, and aren't just a tool to use.
“By giving her another friend you helped her live out her own wish, even without actually using your magic. All she wanted was just to feel like an ordinary kid doing ordinary things. You assisted in accomplishing that, and the moment that made her forgive you was subconsciously remembering that hug of forgiveness you offered her.”
Mayhem began quietly sobbing. “I’m scared!”
Fluttershy rubbed his back. “What is it? This has to be about more than just doing things manually rather than through your magic.”
He rubbed his eyes. “I’m scared that no one really cares about me. They only want to use me for my magic.
“I already look like a freak to ordinary ponies, and usually my magic is the only thing that makes them look past that.
“Tree Leaf hated me when we first met, and Flurry called me horrible names. Peppermint was scared of me. Spring Meadow only wanted to know me because of her brother. All those ponies Twilight found for my new friends are all there for the wishes.
“Without my magic there’s nothing special about me! I’m just some monster looking creature. I just wonder if I’m even necessary at all, and whether they’d even care about me or want to be my friend if I was ‘normal.’ ”
“Mayhem…” Fluttershy had a heavy expression on her face.
Twilight sighed. “Is that what you really think? You think everyone is just out to use you? And they only overlook your less moral actions so they can keep on taking advantage of you?”
Mayhem pointed at her. “You’re using me too!” he said in a hurt voice. “You only pick me up every week so I can use my powers to do your job.”
Twilight had a mental image of Pound, back when the colt had had his horrible first interaction with Tree Leaf. Pound had lashed out on her too, despite only doing what he wanted her to do.
Mayhem’s insecurities were getting to him, and she knew it was time to dig into the root of his issues.
“Fluttershy, do you mind switching out?”
She shook her head, getting up with Mayhem so Twilight could take her seat, then set the draconequus down on her lap.
“What you’re saying isn’t wrong,” said Twilight. “Everyone, everywhere, uses other people. However, there’s a difference between using someone and abusing someone. The difference comes down to what each person is getting out of that interaction.”
Mayhem was staring intently at her, and he jerked his head a little to tell her to continue.
“Let’s look at something simple. Rarity is a dressmaker. If someone wants a dress made then they go to her to use her services. And she uses them in return to get money. In return for her efforts the client gives an agreed-upon payment, either in bits or a substitute. At the end of that interaction, both parties should walk away happy. That’s a well-meaning use.
“However, what if a client came in that looked wealthy, and she decided to double her prices just for that pony? That would be an abuse of her clients. That’s a malicious use.
“The same could be said for the customer. What if a client deliberately made themselves look ratty and bad-off so she’d give them a discount on the dress out of sympathy? That is also a malicious use.
“I am making use of your powers to help with my job, but is that a malicious use, or a good use? Let’s go back to what I said at the start. What are the both of us getting out of that? I’m seeing new friendships grow, and you’re getting a chance to exercise your powers in a safe environment.
“You were overjoyed when I came up with this plan, and you’re here today because you like it so much it’s all you can think about during the week.
“If you make the choice to do something at the request of someone else, and you thoroughly enjoy it, then can you really claim I’m abusing your power?”
Mayhem let out thoughtful moans. “I… guess not.”
“Actually, let me take a step back. Just because you were perfectly fine with doing something that someone asked you to do it doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t taking advantage of you. It can sometimes be hard to distinguish between the two. If you were asked to create a scene of utter chaos in a controlled area, you might love the idea of it, but the one asking for that might have no care for you.
“Cup did bring this possibility up, that in showing you to others outside of our circle it might lead to you coming into contact with people that really are only interested in you for your powers and nothing else.
“However, that certainly doesn’t apply to the ones in your inner circle. Just like we did with Spring’s situation, let’s look at the data and see the results we come up with.”
“Okay,” he said quietly before Twilight turned him around. She summoned her blackboard, and wrote Fluttershy on it.
“Do we even need to discuss this?” asked Twilight. “Can you really tell me, after everything you said last week, that you believe Fluttershy is using you maliciously?”
Mayhem looked over at Fluttershy.
The mare saw his expression, and put a hoof on Twilight. “I think he wants us to switch again.”
Twilight wasn’t surprised. When Fluttershy sat down again Mayhem gave her a big hug, and she gave him one in kind.
She gave the pair a little while, and then called Mayhem to attention. He spun around, but stayed in Fluttershy’s lap.
“Next let’s talk about the other adult figure in your life: me. Last week you told me about how much you value what I’ve done for you, and that if Fluttershy wasn’t already your designated mother figure that you’d happily let me take that spot.”
“Is that right?” asked Fluttershy, giving him a nuzzle.
He nodded, most of his feelings already fading.
As she went to continue Mayhem put his paw up. “You don’t have to go on, Twilight. I get the difference.”
“But you still look scared.”
He put a claw to his mouth, biting it. “I feel… like I’m stuck between two opposites. It’s not… not the kind of chaos I enjoy.”
“And what are you stuck between?”
“I’m stuck between using my magic and not using it. If I never use it then I’m just some creepy-looking thing, but if I do use it then other ponies might want to take advantage of me.”
Fluttershy turned him around. “It sounds to me like kiddy thoughts are clouding your mind. Kids usually think in extremes. If it’s not one way then it has to be the other way, and there are no other possibilities beyond that. And, thus, you miss out on the middle.
“The middle, in this case, being moderation. Who ever said you have to choose between never using your powers or using them all the time? All Twilight asked of you was to experiment with trying some new activities without it and seeing whether you found it more enjoyable that way.
“You could also try to say that if life feels so much better without your magic then it’s useless, or that you’re useless, but that’s certainly not the case. You’ve made Spring’s life so much better, and you still have your wish-granting sessions. For some of those wishes you’re allowing them to experience things that would be impossible for a regular pony.”
Twilight walked around next to Fluttershy again. “She’s correct. What makes a friend is how they make you feel. Of course, to an extent, those children are coming there every week for the wishes, but did their concern for you feel forced or fake during your breakdown? Chocolate apologized for making a wish that set you off. They all chose to stay when you told them to leave because they could see you needed their support.
“Your old friends are no different. Flurry didn’t know about your powers when she apologized to you. She did it sincerely. Tree Leaf acknowledged that in the beginning he was just out for more exposure to your magic, but then he grew to see you for more than that.”
“Oh!” Mayhem got a thoughtful look on his face. “I just remembered something!”
“What’s that?”
He snapped, and a memory appeared of the seven children during Pound and Pumpkin’s birthday.
All of them were lying on their backs and ready for bed.
Pound put his hooves behind his head. “Without a doubt this has been the best party we’ve ever had."
“You said it!” said Pumpkin, letting out a happy sigh. “And I don’t think Mayhem had anything to do with it.”
“Hey!” the draconequus complained. “That’s not a nice thing to say.”
“Oops. That came out wrong. Sorry. I meant that it wasn’t your magic that made this day great. It was being surrounded by all the friends we made. We like you for YOU, not the cool stuff you can do.”
Seeing the memory made tears come to his eyes, and he buried his head in Fluttershy’s chest as he quietly sobbed.
Fluttershy rubbed his back. “A true friend is someone who accepts you for all you are. If your friends stopped liking you just because you’re not breaking reality then they’re not truly your friends.”
“It’s no different than Flurry,” said Twilight. “If someone is judging you for just one quality, or lack thereof, then you need to show them that you’re more than just that.
“And that’s why it’s so important for you to develop new skills outside of just using your powers, so that you’re not just that one quality.”
Mayhem sat up, wiping his eyes. “But… but can I even do that?”
“Why not? If you can develop emotionally and change that part of yourself then why shouldn’t you be able to do the same physically?
“Just think about all the things you do that you don’t use magic on.”
“Like helping me feed the animals every day,” said Fluttershy.
“But anyone could-” Mayhem started, but Twilight cut him off.
“No! Don’t start that! You can’t say that you’re totally incompetent without your magic and then dismiss the things you do successfully without it.
“The things you do on your own don’t have to be monumental or have the world at stake. The little things can have as much value to you as the big things.”
Mayhem sucked on his cheek. “Well… I’m just nervous about doing it wrong.”
“Why? It’s just you, me, and Fluttershy. Do you think either of us is going to hate you because you made a tiny mistake?
“Some of the greatest things have come from people using mistakes or accidents to their advantage. You used your great mistake to empathize with Spring and help bring her and her brother together, but it can also be applied to many other areas of a less serious nature.
“This sorta goes hoof-in-hoof with what I said before about wanting you to fail. If you make a mistake, then find a way to take advantage of it, or fix it.”
He nodded. “I get it, but…”
“Yes?”
“I’m… I’m feeling overwhelmed. Your library is so big, and there’s so many possible things to try that it’s hard to even imagine narrowing it down to just one to start with.
“Do you think… you could pick something out for me, and I’ll try whatever it is?”
Twilight considered him for a short time. “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t you come with me? I’ll join you in your first project.”
Mayhem smiled, looking relieved.
Twilight put a hoof up. “However, this is the first and last time. I believe you’re perfectly capable of doing this on your own, but I’ll start you off to ease you into it.
“If you find you enjoy this project then you can practice it as much as you want on your own. And while you’re taking breaks in that you can take as much time as you want going through the library to find something else that catches your eye.
“Does that sound fair?”
He nodded hard several times. “Yes, Twilight.”
“Alright, then, let’s go.”
Mayhem got on her back. “I’ll be back soon.”
“Okay, Mayhem,” said Fluttershy.
“So… where are we going?”
“To visit one of my heroes,” said Twilight.
“Celestia?”
She shook her head. “No one so grand.
“We’re going to see my Fluttershy.”
It took him a few seconds to make the connection. “You mean your mother?”
She nodded.
“Why go all the way to Canterlot just to practice a hobby? And why do we need your mom?”
“When we were settling down with Flurry after the superhero incident, Shining reminded me of how I always used to do craft projects with her when I was a little filly.
“That day I had a bit of nostalgia and an urge to do it again, but I never did wind up going to revisit that part of my past. There was still so much to plan for in regards to your future and the safety of the other children. Now you’re coming along, and I don’t have so much to worry over, so if you want to explore a new hobby together then I want to do it with my favorite mare.”
He nuzzled her face. “Mothers are really amazing, aren’t they?”
“They sure are.”
“Is… she going to want to have me there?”
“Don’t you worry yourself. It’ll be alright. I promise.”
He took in a deep breath. “Alright, Twilight. I trust you.”
“Thank you.” With a flash they were gone.
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I wonder how Discord deals with this problem? I think it would be interesting to see how he deals with it and hopefully he can give some pointers to his son.
This is different, though relatable. I have a hard time over perfection.
10012227
One could say that's why he was so evil at the start. He had everything, and thus had nothing personal to strive for. The only thing he had going for him was watching others react to him messing with them.
I've shown a few times that Discord has become more mellow since Mayhem has come out into the open. Not that he's unable to enjoy chaos anymore, but he just doesn't have as much drive for it as he used to. Honestly I'm not sure what he does when he's not at Fluttershy's. I mean, he does have his own chaos dimension, so maybe he lives there when he's not there or doing stuff for Celestia.
(I am way late for this.) I can imagine Mayhem as a model builder of sorts. Like with legos, or miniatures. The scene in Lilo and Stitch where stitch builds a little San Francisco from random stuff comes to mind. Except Mayhem wouldn’t pretend to be a rampaging kaiju. Maybe.
10044882
Hey, Delta! Long time no see. This your first time reading the chapter, or just the first time you're commenting?