11-1: Externalized
The next three months were a time of great things for Mayhem. The next Saturday when he came over to play with Pound and Pumpkin he was pleasantly surprised to see Flurry was with them. As more weeks passed by without incident Twilight used that as leverage to open communication with Masky’s, Tree Leaf’s, and Peppermint’s parents.
Reluctantly, they relented.
Mayhem was on top of the world. Through his persistence he had finally gotten his old circle back. The day he got to play with all six of his old friends was a highlight of his life, the greatest proof that he had grown up. He did still need supervision by Twilight as a condition, but that didn’t bother him a bit.
He was content with that, but his friends wanted something more. After another two months with no further incidents they began to pester their parents to be part of a wish granting session. It took a lot of persuasion and pleading, but eventually they gave in and agreed.
That made a total of eleven children not including Mayhem. The parents were anxious about that, but it gave them all a chance to meet Mayhem’s new friends and for their children to add them to their own circle. With no issues since the incident, and eleven friends by his side, they reluctantly agreed that Mayhem likely wouldn’t cause any issues even if Twilight couldn’t watch things as carefully with so many kids.
“So many ponies,” Sweet Pea said as she looked around at the others.
“You’ve come so far, Mayhem,” said Pound.
“Thank you,” he replied.
Spring Meadow hugged him. “I’m so happy that things have been going so well for you now. I think this is the perfect time for a special wish.”
“What’s that?” he asked as she released him.
“Both of us have been fighting our Sombra for a long time. I think it’s time we finally defeat him for good!”
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
“Sombra has been losing strength every day, but it’s all been mental. I want to fight King Sombra for real.”
“In our superhero adventure I got to beat King Sombra,” said Flurry. “Even if he wasn’t the real thing, it felt so satisfying to destroy him after everything he did to the crystal ponies. I’m down for whipping him again.”
“Sounds good to me,” said Pound.
“Miss Twilight?” said Peppermint.
“Yes, Peppermint?” Twilight responded.
“I’m curious about something.
“When you were first making your plans for Mayhem’s reformation I thought you said you wanted Mayhem to make a whole bunch of new friends to strengthen his heart. I didn’t think you would actually get him to six hundred friends, but you’ve only kept with one group since you started.”
“That’s a fair question, and the answer is fairly simple. I needed to think about what was best for him. I know Mayhem has come pretty far, but he is still in the early stages of his reformation. In this crucial point in his life the last thing I wanted was for him to start regressing before he saw all of you again.
“That first day, even when Mayhem began to fall into despair over his past, all four of those children stayed by his side and encouraged him. In other words, they demonstrated that their care for him went beyond just wanting him for his powers. They cared about him as an individual.”
“Four?” said Pumpkin, glancing at Spring.
“Spring Meadow wasn’t part of this at the start,” said Flash. “She only came on after the first session.”
“Oh, right.”
“I thought it over,” Twilight continued, “and while I do want to eventually bring in other ponies to enjoy this I feel it should come after he’s developed a strong bond with his new friends.”
“Well,” said Chocolate, “I’m not going to complain about getting more wishes, but I’m not sure if I should feel hurt or not.
“You don’t think we’ve developed a strong friendship in the past six months?”
“I’m not trying to say that. I’m just saying that you can become fast friends with someone, but only time will truly determine whether it’s a friendship that will last. Time gives you the memories you need to truly connect your heart to another, and to weather the storms that will rock those connections.
“You four children were an ideal starting group. If I introduced another group and they turned out to be more selfish, caring more about his abilities than him as a person, it would harm his heart. So I just thought it was more prudent for Mayhem to be around others I know truly care about him rather than risk him getting hurt with an unknown group.”
“Okay. I get it.”
“So what are the rules?” asked Tree Leaf. “How we doing this?”
“Well,” said Flurry, “if we’re going to fight King Sombra then it makes the most sense to do it in my home of the Crystal Empire.”
“Um,” Pound started, “are you sure you’re okay with that? I mean, in order for Sombra to be a threat he’s going to have to be invading. Your possible future subjects and probably your parents are going to be under attack.
“Isn’t that, like, your greatest fear?”
Flurry took a deep breath. “Well, if Spring and Mayhem are both going to confront their darkness, then I should do the same, huh?
“This just gives me more reasons to do my best.”
“Well, as just regular kids I don’t think we’re going to be able to do much,” said Spring, “so I think we should all get some super powers.”
Chocolate and Plum flinched as Sweet Pea covered her friends mouth.
Flash put a hoof around Mayhem. “Stay calm, okay?”
The other children were confused by their reactions.
“What’s wrong?” asked Masky.
“I tried to ask for a superpower wish during our first session,” said Chocolate, “and he freaked out really bad because of what happened with you guys.”
Now they understood, all of them looking at Mayhem for his reaction.
Mayhem’s eyes were closed, and he was breathing heavier. “I’ve… I want to think I’ve come so far.” He let out a heavy breath. “I can’t… I can’t…” A tear came down his eye. “I can’t let the past control me forever.
“With all my friends by my side, and Twilight here to supervise, nothing is going to go wrong. I want to face this head-on.”
“WHOO!” Pound cried out, trotting in place. “That’s right, Mayhem. Let the past go.”
Mayhem took in a slow breath and looked up. “Twilight?”
She nodded. “I know, Mayhem. I’m going to be observing you. I won’t let you wander off onto a bad path.”
He floated up to her and hugged her, letting out a quiet sob. “Thank you!”
She hugged him back. “You’re very welcome. You just make sure to have the time of your life.”
“I will.”
He got down on the floor. He began to blush. “Twilight, can I ask you for a favor?”
“Sure.”
He squirmed a bit. “Well, um…” He looked at his friends. “Please don’t make fun of me.”
“Make fun of you for what?” asked Flash.
He looked back up at Twilight. “W-would you… hold my paw while I give them their powers?”
His request took her a bit by surprise. It wasn’t the superpowers that had been what had caused all the problems. It was his disregard for their safety. Even so, it had been a big part of the day he descended into darkness.
He was clearly embarrassed to ask, but she knew he was in need of a little confidence boost before he faced the darkness.
With a flash of her horn she changed one of her hooves into a claw like Spikes so she could properly entwine it with his.
“I’m here,” she said. “Everything is going to be fine.”
“It will!” said Plum. “Just like the day we met.”
Mayhem squeezed, feeling her claw in his paw. It was comforting to him.
“Okay, everyone!” he said, sounding a little better. “So what do you want?”
“Well,” said Flash, “my request is the same as it was back then. I want super speed.”
Flurry whispered to her old friends, and they all nodded. “Mayhem, we don’t want any changes.”
“You don’t want powers?” asked Spring.
“Oh, no. I mean, we want the same powers we had back then. If Mayhem is confronting his past then it will help him if he sees that superpowers aren’t going to cause him to go bad.
“We’ll have the same powers, but the result will be different.”
“Makes sense.”
Chocolate looked up thoughtfully. “My initial wish was for a Power Ponies adventure. So now that there’s enough of us what do you guys think about taking each of their powers?”
“Well, I already called Fili-Second,” said Flash.
“I’ll be Radiance,” said Sweet Pea. “I like the thought of making stuff with my mind.”
“I’ll be Zapp,” said Spring Meadow. “I’ll be able to control electricity.”
“Hmm,” said Mayhem, sucking his cheek. “Pound and Pumpkin already have an elemental ability, and they can use any one they can think of rather than just one.
“Their power is weak if they’re not in physical contact with one another, but to make it more fair your electricity will be much more powerful than theirs even at their maximum. Is that okay with all of you?”
He got nods all around.
“I’ll be Saddle Rager,” said Chocolate. “Anyone messes with my friends and they’ll get the beat down!” He smacked his hooves together.
“I’ll be Masked Matter-horn,” said Plum. “Then I can shoot stuff out of my horn.”
Spring Meadow began to laugh. It started small, but it got bigger and bigger.
“What?” asked Sweet Pea. “What’s so funny?”
She got herself under control and said, “There’s no one left.”
“Huh?”
“Flurry and the rest already have their powers picked out. So does everyone else but Mayhem, and the only pony left for him to be is Mistress Marevelous.”
Now everyone else was cracking up.
Pound gave him a mock bow. “Hello there, Miss. Might we be granted our abilities, my lady?”
Mayhem had a dark smile on his face. “Watch it. I can change your gender in a snap if I wanted, then we’ll see who’s the real ‘miss,’ Pound.”
“Oooo!” Pumpkin squealed. “I always wanted a sister. Do it!”
“Hey, hey!” said Twilight lightly. “Let’s not forget our purpose here.”
“Aww. Spoilsport.”
Mayhem snapped, giving everyone their abilities and costumes.
He looked to Flurry, getting serious again. “Flurry, there’s one more thing I have to give you.”
“What’s that?” she responded.
“The last time we went through this I know I hurt you the most. Now we’re going to have an adventure in the Crystal Empire. I know it will motivate you more to win, but I don’t want to cause you unnecessary suffering after what I did to you last time.”
He snapped. “Try using your magic now. It doesn’t matter what spell.”
“Um, okay.” Her horn lit up, casting a soothing light upon the room.
“Wow,” Peppermint said. “I just feel... so calm in my heart.”
“Me too,” said Spring.
“But… I haven’t done anything,” said Flurry.
“You didn’t have to,” said Mayhem. “Since Sombra has dark magic, I’ve given you light magic to combat him. This will light up everyone’s hearts around you.”
He snapped again, and a necklace appeared floating in midair in front of her with a Crystal Heart symbol on the front.
“This is ‘a gift from your mother.’”
She picked it up in her hoof. “A gift from my mom? What does it do?”
“It’s like a tiny fragment of the Crystal Heart. It renders you completely immune to Sombra’s dark magic and his ability to make you live your greatest fears in your mind.”
He moved his claw, and the necklace floated up and landed on her neck.
She looked down, and when she looked back up she saw he looked on the verge of tears. “Hey, Mayhem. Why are you crying?”
“I know it’s a little unfair to everyone else to give you these extra abilities and protection, but out of all my friends I made you suffer the most. Everyone else was scared, but I took away all your support and plunged you back into the darkness.”
His eyes faded out as tears dripped down. “That cold, dark, lonely place, where you spent every day scared out of your mind about being forced to take over the throne. I never want to make you have to relive that again.”
Flurry pulled him into a hug. He squeezed her back, gently sobbing. “Aw, Mayhem. Don’t cry. I already forgave you for that a long time ago.”
Their other friends joined into the hug, putting their own hearts into it to help him feel better.
When they split apart she said, “Thank you for this. I won’t let it go to waste. Light magic certainly fits me, considering my cutie mark is a lighthouse shining the Fire of Friendship out into the world.”
“Well now,” said Peppermint, “all we need now is a Sombra for us to beat.”
“Wait,” said Masky.
“What’s up?” said Mayhem.
“I’m fine with getting superpowers for our fight, but I don’t think we should start out with them. This is to help Spring Meadow, but it’s also just another pretend adventure. If we fight Sombra right off the bat then what fun is that? We should have to work for it.”
Tree Leaf put a hoof to his chin. “Hmm… I guess you’re right. But if we don’t start off with the powers then where are we supposed to get them in the story?”
Flash sat and crossed his hooves, looking up thoughtfully. “Well… Flurry’s mom is the leader of an entire empire. Big places always have some kind of special treasure. Maybe when we’re forced to run from Sombra when he first invades we come upon the secret palace treasure room or something?”
“That makes sense,” said Plum.
Flurry chuckled. “Well, so far as I know there is no hidden treasure room, but there could be. So I’ll go along with it.”
“Hey, Twilight?” said Pound.
“Yeah?” she replied.
“Why don’t you play the role of Sombra?”
“Me?” she said incredulously, pointing to herself.
“Yeah. Don’t tell me you’ve never wanted to play the bad guy.”
“Do I seem that type of person to you?”
“It’s only pretend, Aunt Twilight,” said Flurry. “And if you’re in control then we’ll know that things won’t go too far.”
Twilight sucked her cheek, looking at the expectant faces of the children. “Alright, fine. I’ll do it.”
Pumpkin began to laugh. “This is gonna be great!”
“But you really have to get into the role,” said Masky. “Be as dramatic as possible.”
Twilight rolled her eyes before turning around. “I don’t think you’re ready for that,” she said quietly.
Spring shook her head. “Forgive me if I have my doubts. You’re as gentle as a kitten.”
Sweet Pea nodded. “I mean, come on. She’s the Princess of Friendship. How threatening can she really be?”
Pound and Pumpkin shared a look. They both knew that underestimating someone nice could be a big mistake.
Twilight’s horn began to glow. “You little worms displease me,” she said in a dark voice, the glow beginning to change color to the hue of dark magic.
She spun around, the purple aura coming off the side of her face and her eyes pure green. The room began to shake as a sphere of magic surrounded her.
Chocolate gulped.
“Prepare to be destroyed for defying me you little brats.” She took an aggressive step forward, and Spring and Sweet Pea instinctively backed up.
“Don’t poke the beehive if you don’t want to be stung,” said Mayhem with a chuckle. “Twilight can be terrifying when she wants to be.”
The glow around Twilight faded as she returned to normal. “Good enough for you, children?”
Flash gulped and nodded. “Y-yeah. That’s satisfactory.”
“Well, let’s get everything set up,” said Mayhem, snapping.
The castle disappeared, and they were now in the middle of the Crystal Empire.
With another snap crystal ponies appeared, unmoving.
The children looked around in wonder. “Wow,” said Plum. “The Crystal Empire is so beautiful. You’re so lucky to live here, Flurry.”
“I agree,” said Peppermint. “Pictures don’t do this place justice.”
Flurry blushed a little. “Thank you.”
“One last thing,” said Twilight. “I’m going to share with you my memories of Sombra and my adventure in the Crystal Empire. That knowledge will come in handy.”
Her horn flashed, and they all saw her frantic struggle to get the Crystal Heart before Cadance passed out from exhaustion from using her shield spell.
Mayhem snapped again. “Flurry, you now have the power to do dark magic too. But unlike normal dark magic you can just use it like you would any other magic. You don’t have to put yourself into a negative mindset.”
“Thanks, Mayhem,” she said. “Negative emotions are something I’d rather do without.”
Spring put a hoof out to Mayhem. “Let’s do this! Let’s defeat our Sombra’s.”
He pounded her hoof. “You know it.”
“Well, I guess all that’s left is a Sombra for Twilight to control,” said Mayhem.
He visualized all his internal feelings, all his fears and pain that he wanted to conquer, and snapped.
He got a curious look on his face as nothing happened at first, then his body stiffened as a strange feeling went through him.
He fell to his knees as dark magic poured out of his claw. The tips of his claws felt like they were on fire, but he couldn’t seem to stop whatever was happening.
The stream of magic continued to flow upwards for a bit before severing suddenly.
Mayhem sucked his claws to try and cool them down, but his attention was quickly drawn upward. The magic that had come out of him was swirling around in a large sphere, slowly getting smaller and smaller until it solidified, changing shape.
Flash blinked. “Hey, that magic looks like another you.”
“Yeah,” said Peppermint, “but it’s… different.”
The color of the Mayhem lookalike was an inverse of Mayhem’s colors. The magic aura was hanging off the side of his face and his eyes pure green just like Twilight a short while ago.
Mayhem’s heart was beating hard. He had a very bad feeling. He was feeling fear like he had never known as he stared at it.
The other Mayhem moved as if testing its limbs. It watched as it clenched its claw and wiggled the toes of his paw.
Twilight was also starting to get a bad feeling. Something about it just felt off.
Suddenly it began to laugh, an echo in its voice that made it’s laughter seem corrupted. Dark magic poured off of it in waves.
Mayhem gulped. Something had definitely gone wrong.
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I think Twilight couldn't handle the power. She is just too regimented and it was very intoxicating for her. Pinkie would have been a better choice.
10094507
It had nothing to do with Twilight, but you'll understand more tomorrow.
That's not good. I have a feeling this is gonna get crazy fast!
Ooooooooh no. I wish I didn’t have something to do at the moment. I am very curious to see where this goes.
Aww snap! (No pun intended). Mayhem wanted to create a creature to represent his own fears for something to destroy. And he did just that. He created his greatest fear... himself. Although, the interesting thing about this is that it seems that Mayhem actually expelled the darkness within himself. So defeating this "Nega-Mayhem" would essentially be defeating his own darkness in it's most literal sense.
Then again, maybe Twilight has more control than we realize, and she's just that good at playing the villain. Granted, this is Mayhem's creation. But part of his intent was to create something for Twilight to control. We'll just have to see.
Sorry for the late post. I've just been falling behind on reading.