Discord's 100 Good Deeds

"Why is his face still like that?" Pinkie asked inquisitively, in reference to Discord's new pony-esque appearance.

"Yeah," said Rainbow Dash, "it looks kinda creepy."

Discord admired his reflection in a nearby stained-glass window. Despite what semi-hurtful things had been said to him, he was an expert at dismissing anything that poked at his character or appearance. "Thank Celestia," he said ironically as he turned around to look at the alicorn herself, "at least my beautiful face still remains untarnished." He lifted a hoof to poof a hand-held mirror into existence and look into it as a joke, but immediately realized that his magic was indeed gone, and then returned the hoof back towards the floor awkwardly. "Isn't this whole Elements of Harmony thing a tad overpowered?" he said with a hint of annoyance.

Celestia answered him. "Only if not used for good."

Discord snorted. "Well, I suppose you do make a valid argument, but who gets to decide?"

"Not you," said Twilight, obviously still steaming from her earlier outburst.

"Okay," said Celestia, "I think that is enough. The pressing matter at hoof is now to decide on where Discord will be staying for however long it takes for him to accomplish his task."

Everypony shifted their gaze towards Fluttershy, who stood motionless with eyes widened. She quickly recovered from suddenly being the center of attention though. Fluttershy stumbled her way through a response. "I'd be delighted to have Discord as a...permanent...guest..."

"Without his magic, I'm sure he'll be no problem at all," said Rarity.

"Sheesh, for a group of ponies who call themselves friends, you sure hold a grudge," said Discord.

"It's been less than a day since you did this to us," said Twilight. "Speaking of which...why is my horn still gone? I thought Discord's magic was taken away?"

"It was," said Celestia, "but anything he'd done before will still remain."

The room went completely silent, until Celestia broke it again with a slight chuckle. "Oh, but I can reverse it," she added. "Reversing chaos is a skill that takes ages to master." Everypony sighed except Rainbow Dash, who seemed completely uninterested at the prospect of being returned to normal.

Celestia lit up her horn with dark magic, causing an aura of blackness to swirl around it and build up charge until she released it into the floor. The burst of magic spread through the ground and into each pony, one by one. Rainbow Dash hopped into the air and fluttered for a moment, avoiding the spell and was met with a look of entertained bemusement from Celestia, who then zapped her directly with the magic, turning Rainbow Dash back into a regular pegasus.

Pinkie Pie suddenly stepped sideways and a paint bucket fell directly beside her. She squealed in delight at having the innate sense of all things unpredictable returned to her.

"Sorry!" exclaimed a pegasus pony far above them, who happened to be painting the ceilings the entire time they were in the room.

Back at Fluttershy's cottage, Fluttershy was preparing an area where Discord could call his own. She would, of course, have to reorganize practically her entire home, as every space imaginable seemed to be occupied by an animal of some sort. But she managed to find room for him.

"A closet?" said Discord. "That's where I'm expected to sleep?"

"Well, it's actually quite large from the inside," she replied meekly.

Discord gave her an expecting look.

"I suppose I could stay in the closet."

His face lit up with glee. "Oh, really Fluttershy? That's so nice of you! It's so great to have a friend as generous and courteous as yourself!" He trotted over towards the stairs and attempted to walk up them with less-than-ideal results. "Really, how do you ponies get around all the time without magic? This is exhausting!"

It was very odd to watch the chaotic draconequus she had known so long try to get by in just a regular pony's body. So much of what defined him was his magic, and without it he seemed almost normal. She quickly dismissed the thought as she followed him up the stairs and watched him completely randomize the contents of her bedroom to suit his need for utter chaos.

"Make yourself at home," Fluttershy said ex post facto.

The next morning, Fluttershy was busy in her kitchen preparing breakfast for all of her animals and herself. In that order. Angel Bunny stamped his foot as he stood beside her, waiting impatiently for his delicately prepared food. Next, she started preparing the breakfast for the rest of her pets, but Discord emerged from upstairs.

"Good morning, Discord," she said cheerily.

"How is it that you ponies sleep on those things?" Discord said as he attempted to crack his back several times by arching it over various objects around the kitchen. "Is there any possible way you can acquire some quantum memory foam?"

"I...don't think so..." Fluttershy replied.

"Hmm, I suppose I can do without for awhile. It shouldn't be too hard to do a hundred good deeds, anyhow."

Fluttershy smiled at his enthusiasm.

"Speaking of which," he continued, "would you be a doll and make me a bacon egg and cheese omelette? Normally I'd just poof one into existence, but--"

"Bacon, what's that?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh, um, forget I mentioned that. I forgot nopony eats meat in this dimension. Egg and cheese will be fine."

Fluttershy looked at the hungry, impatient faces of the rest of her pets. "You know, Discord, there is something you could do for me that could probably count as a good deed."

Discord raised a hoof to his face and saluted her. "Good deed doer, at your service."

Fluttershy chuckled. It was amusing how Discord still managed to remain his chaotic self without his magic. Then she realized that it was probably eating him up on the inside. "Well, I am a bit busy right now. Could you possibly feed these pets while I make your breakfast?"

Discord eyed the line of birds, squirrels and other small animals that were scattered around the house waiting to be fed. "It sounds like an awful amount of work..."

"It's not too hard. The only fussy one is Angel Bunny," she replied. Angel was devouring a bowl of salad at that particular moment.

"I suppose I could give it a try," he said.

Fluttershy smiled. "Okay, just give the squirrels some nuts and the birds some birdseed. I can make us breakfast while you do that."

"Squirrels, nuts. Birds, birdseed. Got it." Discord walked over to the counter and began taking out the food from the cupboard, handing a nut to every squirrel and pouring some birdseed into a bowl for the birds. That was, until Fluttershy turned around to see what he was giving to her pets.

"STOP!" she shrieked as she dove towards Discord's outstretched hoof to knock away what he was about to give his next recipient.

"What, I thought you said the birds get birdseed?"

"That's not birdseed," said Fluttershy, "that's popcorn kernels!"

"Oh," said Discord. Meanwhile, several birds were pecking at the popcorn kernels trying to eat them with varied results. One in particular had managed to get one halfway down its throat and was coughing with tiny little bird squeaks.

"Baxter!" Fluttershy exclaimed as she rushed over to the bird and performed a mini Heimlich Maneuver with her hooves.

"Whoops..." said Discord, immediately continuing, "So does this still count as a good deed?"

Fluttershy finished the manuever and shot Discord a look. The only time Fluttershy could ever look truly angry was when a pet of hers was put in danger. But it quickly subsided. "I don't know," she said after a few moments of thought.

"Well, how am I supposed to know, exactly? I don't exactly have a glowing cutie mark that tells me when I'm following my destiny or some shtick like that."

Discord looked at his "cutie" mark on his flank. "Oh, actually it appears I do! Would you look at that..." His swirling vortex of chaos was pulsating for a few moments until it stopped and then shrank ever so slightly.

"I guess that means it counts," said Fluttershy.

"I suppose it does," said Discord. "You know, I could get used to this thing. It's quite convenient to have an indicator for these sorts of things." Discord looked around impatiently. "So anyways, how's that omelette going?"