Pound was gently tapping his hoof on the floor of the castle, not quite impatient but a little anxious. Twilight had brought not only their friends, but all the parents as well. She hadn’t seemed angry or upset, but the fact that she wanted all of them together clearly spoke of something big.

He wasn’t the only one. Masky was pacing around, while Peppermint was curled up with her head on her knees.

Mayhem’s new friends weren’t faring any different.

The parents were similarly in the dark about what was to come.

It was a relief to them all when Twilight returned with the final child, Plum Pie, and her parents.

Plum looked around at all of the children, a bit glad that she was the last one. Everyone seemed uncomfortable and uncertain.

“Hey there, everyone!” Twilight said brightly when Plum and her parents took a seat. “Drop the mopey faces. I have some exciting news for all of you.”

That did get the children to relax. It wasn’t bad news.

Mayhem came into the room. “Hey, you guys!” he said happily, waving to them.

Flurry stared at him. She couldn’t put her hoof on it, but she felt like there was something different about him.

She wasn’t the only one who felt it. He seemed so relaxed and content.

“I have something amazing to tell all of you.”

“What is it?” asked Peppermint.

“I’m me! I’m my own person.”

Pound and Pumpkin looked at each other before looking back to him. “Weren’t you already your own person?” asked Pound.

“Yeah,” said Pumpkin. “That was the whole point of you existing in the first place.”

He nodded. “But until now I was always reliant on Daddy to live. That’s not the case anymore.”

Flash’ eyebrow went up. “What do you mean?”

Mayhem lifted up his paw, and it broke down into chaos magic. “In the past I was just magic. I took Discord’s shape just because it was familiar. But I’m not just magic anymore. I am Mayhem to my core.”

“I still don’t get it,” said Chocolate.

Mayhem recreated his paw. “By confronting my past thoughts and overcoming them I talked down the part of me that felt like I shouldn’t exist. Now I feel the opposite. I see my true value and how much I mean to all my friends.

“Now I’m real like all of you are. I’m no longer tethered to Discord. We’ve fully separated.”

Twilight could see all of them still looked confused. It wasn’t surprising. It had been hard for her to accept it herself until she had tested it out.

“In other words,” said Twilight, “Mayhem no longer vanishes and returns to Discord when he’s out of magic. He’s also not limited to needing Discord to restore his magic either. He can now generate his own magic independently, just like all of you regain energy by sleeping and eating.”

“Are you serious?” Sweet Pea asked incredulously. “He can really do that?”

Twilight nodded, and then explained about Discord no longer accepting Mayhem, as well as her theory on how he had accomplished it.

Just like her, they all needed a little time to process the enormity of it.

“So,” said Tree Leaf, scratching his chin, “you’re saying that he became really real just because he’s believing in himself now?”

“That is my theory, though I have no way to confirm it. This is the first time that anything like this has happened. At least to my knowledge.”

Cup looked uncomfortable. “Look, I don’t mean to be a downer here, considering his emotional growth, but this isn’t exactly the most reassuring of news. If he can no longer be put inside of Discord then there’s no longer any way to contain him if he gets out of control.”

“That’s incorrect,” said Twilight. “Now that he won’t vanish from lack of magic he is vulnerable to magic suppression, much like I tried to use on him before. That was the first test I tried on him to see if my theory was correct, and he wasn’t able to cast any spells of his own while my spell was active.

“This also means I don’t always needs to be around to supervise when he comes to visit. He becomes like the equivalent of an earth pony. Even if he loses his temper the most he can do is go physical.”

Carrot let out a deep breath. “Well, that’s certainly a relief to me.”

Twilight got a thoughtful look on her face before frowning. “I’m going to have to do some experiments on him.”

“Hey!” Pound cried out. “You’re not gonna turn Mayhem into a lab rat just so you can study him.”

Ignoring Pound she looked at Mayhem. “Let me create a fictional scenario. Let’s say an army of bad Changelings attacked tomorrow while you’re playing with your friends. Your magic has been suppressed so you can’t use it. In the process of the invasion they invade the house you’re at, and take down one of your friends permanently right in front of you because you couldn’t access your magic.”

Mayhem let out a heavy breath.

“I don’t want to experiment on Mayhem just for fun. I want to see how much I can tweak the magic suppression. Maybe I can limit him to just certain spells. Or maybe I can have his magic blocked but it will become available at a certain trigger, such as protective feelings.

“There’s no point to gaining so many friends if you can’t protect them when it matters the most, don’t you think? You’ll only plunge into despair over your guilt. It could also mean you won’t be able to protect yourself from danger, and your friends will suffer over you.

“In the end, though, I can’t force you to agree. It’s up to you.”

Mayhem looked at his friends and shivered as he thought of the possibility she had raised. He looked back up at her. “T-Twilight, I wanna be a lab rat!”

“Well, that’s for another day, but glad to see you understand.

“Any objections, Pound?”

Pound shook his head. “No, Twilight.”

Mayhem bit his lip. “Now that’s another thing I have to worry about.”

“Is something else bothering you?” asked Spring Meadow.

He nodded. “Mommy is worried that my becoming real has a cost.”

“Like what?” asked Flurry. “Like you’re gonna go ballistic or something?”

He shook his head. “She thinks that there can only be one draconequus, so the reason I’m able to generate my own magic is because I’m taking control of Daddy, like we’re switching places between who is the real one and who is only magic.”

Masky blinked. “Umm… well, are you?”

“I don’t know! It’s been several days since our recent trip into the world of wishes, and I had no idea I had become real until today. If that is what’s happening I’m not trying to do it. It's just happening.”

“I think Fluttershy’s wrong,” said Flurry, making everyone look at her.

“Why is that, Flurry?” asked Pumpkin.

“Because Mayhem is a good person. He wouldn’t just take Discord’s freedom away when he knows how terrible it feels.”

“I appreciate the sentiment,” said Twilight, “but you’re just talking from personal feelings.”

Flurry shook her head. “If he only became real through conquering his guilt then he’d go right back to feeling guilty if anything happened to Discord. That’s why I think there has to be another explanation. "

“Mayhem has already defied all of our expectations,” said Chocolate Chip. “If he can do all the stuff he does in our wishes then what’s so weird about him making his own magic?”

“I understand what you’re saying,” said Twilight, “but it doesn’t make sense. And, yes, I know his power is meant to not make sense, but even he has limits. All the things he does with his magic have a cost. They drain some energy. That’s why in the past he’d vanish if he did too much.

“Energy needs to have a source. It needs to come from somewhere. Either internally, such as from sleeping and eating, or externally, like Changelings. For him, there is no apparent source of where he’s getting his magic from, so it shouldn’t be possible for him to increase in energy on his own.”

“Oh, come on, Twilight,” said Pound. “It’s so simple.”

“You think so?”

“He gets his magic from the power of love.”

Twilight took in a slow breath and let it out. “Look, I’m happy that Mayhem is embracing friendship and the special magic that it brings to us all, but you and Flurry talking about it as being a literal source of energy for him is just wrong.”

“Then you weren’t paying attention.”

She sucked on her cheek, annoyed that Pound was getting under her skin. “Okay, then. Explain it to me. I’ll all ears.”

He nodded. “Hey, Mayhem. Show us the end of the battle with Luna’s Tantabus.”

Mayhem nodded back, snapping.

They watched the memory play. The Tantabus had grown large and was attempting to escape the dreamscape. When they found out Luna had created it out of her guilt they encouraged her to believe that she really had changed from her past self. This allowed her to forgive herself, and the massive Tantabus shrunk down until it was about Luna’s size and seemed to phase into her body.

The memory faded. “Okay,” said Twilight. “We’ve seen the past again. What does that prove?”

“The Tantabus,” said Pumpkin. “It didn’t disappear. It just went inside of her.”

“That’s right,” said Masky. “Does that mean you can’t destroy a Tantabus once it’s created?”

“I don’t know about that,” said Pound, “but I’m glad you guys noticed.

“When Mayhem created his Tantabus the two of them were bitter rivals. Our Mayhem wanted it gone, while Nega hated him. Just like Luna’s Tantabus it fed on her feelings of regret and self-hatred to grow stronger.”

“Oh!” Flurry said, catching on. “But then Mayhem was able to forgive himself, and the two of them became friends.”

Mayhem was listening closely, curious where this was going to end up.

Pound nodded. “That’s right. The other Mayhem absorbed all his negative feelings to grow stronger, using all that power against Mayhem. But then they worked things out, the two of them learning to care for one another.”

Twilight tapped her hoof on the floor a few times. “So… if I’m understanding you correctly, then your theory is that the Tantabus is still inside Mayhem, but now it’s feeding on Mayhem’s self-love rather than his self-hatred?”

Pound nodded again. “And because Nega knows that he’s loved and is friends with Mayhem he’s not greedy. He willingly shares the energy he receives from Mayhem’s good feelings.”

“Woooooow,” said Plum. “If you’re right then Mayhem really is fueled by friendship.”

"Mayhem sounds more like a good Changeling if that's the case," said Flurry.

Mayhem threw himself at Pound, gently sobbing.

“Hey,” Pound said with concern, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he replied.

“You’re not crying over ‘nothing.’ “

“I’m just feeling relieved. Mommy really scared me with her idea, but I like yours a lot better. I didn’t want to make Daddy disappear.”

Pound hugged him. “Hey, that’s what friends do. Help save you from the bad things.”

“Friends… save you from the bad things,” Mayhem said quietly to himself. “Mom’s show you love. Princesses care for every pony.”

“What’s on your mind, Mayhem?” asked Pumpkin, seeing the somber look on his face as he mumbled to himself.

He pulled away from Pound. “Daddy made me very happy today.” His carefree expression returned as he thought about it. “He told me how proud he was of me for everything I’ve accomplished, calling me the ultimate fusion of chaos and harmony, and that I was a true draconequus.”

He squirmed in joy.

“Awww,” said Spring.

He sighed now, his happiness fading again. “He told me something important besides that, and it’s what is on my mind now.”

“What did he tell you?” asked Flash.

“He said that, even under the best of circumstances, our friendships can’t last forever.”

“Why not?” asked Masky.

“Even if you don’t die in battle or from an accident or sickness, eventually I’ll lose you to old age. Unless I’m different than Daddy my lifespan is going to be much greater than all of yours. One day…” He clenched, tears dripping onto the floor. “O-One day I’ll be the only one left.”

His melancholy spread to the others.

Spring fought it off, walking forward. “So… what then? You want to live a lonely life never making friends?”

Mayhem shook his head. “No! I’m going to hold tight to all of my friendships. After all, it’s going to fall on me to keep all of you alive after you’re dead.”

“Uuuhhhh…”

“You’re gonna make us zombies?” asked Peppermint.

“I don’t mean it literally,” said Mayhem, gathering his strength and focusing hard on his promise. “Daddy told me that the people we love never truly die as long as we keep their memory alive, so that means if we embrace what they stood for then they’ll always be alive in our hearts and the hearts of the ones we interact with.

“If Mommy goes-” he let out a shuddering breath “-then I have to take care of all the animals and make sure everyone doesn’t forget what kindness is. If Pound goes then I’ll have to protect Pumpkin and always make sure she’s safe. If Twilight goes then I have to make sure that everyone is still spreading friendship to one another.”

His eyes clenched shut. “E-e-even if I’m the last one I won’t let any of you die. I’ll make sure all of you live for as long as I do, b-b-because all of you are too precious to ever be forgotten.” He hugged himself, quietly sobbing.

The children smiled, walking over and getting into a group hug.

That made him feel better. After a while, when they let go, he said, “Daddy told me that one day he wants me to surpass Twilight as the ultimate being of friendship. Are you going to let that happen?”

Pound grabbed him in a headlock. “Get real! We ponies aren’t going to lose to you when it comes to friendship and love!”

“Got that right!” said Flash, giving him a noogie. “You’ve only come this far because we’ve taken our precious time and devoted it you.”

“So I guess that means we have to keep giving him good examples to look up to,” said Peppermint.

“Sounds good to me,” said Spring Meadow. “It’s the least I can do after he helped me.”

As Twilight watched them play-wresting with one another she felt, as she had so frequently before, that the next generation was coming along fine. There were plenty of true friendships before her eyes, and they would blaze new paths that would take friendship further than it ever had before.

Author's Notes:

More theories abound. What's the truth? Well, personally I think Twilight is just overthinking it and that Pound's theory is incorrect. If he's solidified into a living being then he'd be afforded the same processes of any living being that restores energy through rest.

And so we've reached the end... OR IS IT??? I have some unused ideas that never got implemented for various reasons.

One is the original ending for Spring's initial arc. He originally just left her at the hospital after helping the her make up with her family, then Mayhem helps Twilight through her issues of not feeling like she's doing enough. This is touched upon in the "Professor Twilight" bit but it's given much more focus here.

At the start of part 2 I had the twins start helping out in the shop, but I never did give this the focus chapter I had in mind. By the time I had it in mind it felt like too much time had passed to really make it believable that Pumpkin would make such an error.

And finally there's an arc focused on time travel where future Pound and Pumpkin come to visit. I rejected this one because it was a bit too heavy to be canon. It's the standard future gone wrong so we're gonna fix it through time travel kind of arc.

So not sure if I'm going to make these their own story or just place it on this one, but there's still more content to be had in the Pound and Pumpkin verse.