A few days and a few miles later had them at a different lesson - flying. Gracie knew very well how, it was just the ‘being miles above ground and subject to crosswinds’. Closer to the ground- she could handle, but staring down a cliff face...didn’t alleviate her nerves. Discord, being the other member who could fly stood next to her, while Shining waited on the ground.
“I’m right here beside you. You just have to land like a swan. Or a princess...duchess...some kind of graceful something,” Discord comforted. “It took me a while to learn, and from what I hear, Princess Twilight has trouble flying too.”
Gracie nodded, somewhat comforted, and alongside Discord, jumped from the cliff, swallowing her fears.
“If you can learn to do it, I can learn to do it!” she sang, slowly growing more and more comfortable in the air, but occasionally looked down. She was managing to hold her own, and while Shining could see her struggle at times, she was combating the winds and her fear nonetheless expertly, and he cheered her on.
“Don’t know how you knew it!” Discord replied, tilting her chin up from the ground to look ahead of her.
“I simply knew it!” she cheered, slowly coming to the ground to land. “Suddenly I feel like somepony new!”
“Gracie you’re a dream come true!” Discord and Shining sang. Discord quickly landed next to her, scooping her up and spinning. They were a step closer in the right direction, and Gracie was brilliantly feeding into his plan.
That didn’t explain why he felt...guilty.
---
Soon enough they found themselves an hour’s ride from Canterlot, and the glittering city cast it’s shadow down on the small village they were staying in on the mountainside. The town was modern and chic, a small little tourist vacation spot with elegant touches of times past - old storefronts housed cafes and boutiques with fashions straight from Canterlot and Manehatten. Gracie wasn’t sure how they were affording the hotel room they were all sharing at the end of the main stretch, as far as she could tell from the golden decorations and rich brocade curtains hanging from the the walls to the finely dressed ponies, this place was more expensive than all the rubies in Equestria.
“Don’t worry, as Captain of the Guard, Shining gets a few special privileges,” Discord said when she expressed her concerns. “Plus, as much as he disapproves, I can be a good hypnotist.”
“Oh, I see,” Gracie replied, slightly relieved, but somewhat unhappy with the thought of Discord manipulating ponies.
“I know, hypnotizing ponies is wrong,” he said. “I know that look on your face. It’s only a little! Besides, this isn’t the cheapest place in town, and believe it or not, they overcharge, just to milk every bit from a pony’s wallet. Basically, I’m like Robin Hood here.”
“You sure?” she asked, scanning the sea of ponies for Shining Armor. Seeing them in finery she could only dream of, she tugged her coat a little tighter around her. Angel, who had been hiding in her coat, squeaked at the sudden tug. She muttered a quick whisper as Discord began to speak again.
“Yes,” he sighed, looking down at her. “If it will make you feel better, I’ll do a little extra influence so maybe a few other ponies who need it will….eh….get the same benefit as us.”
It wasn’t that he was selfish- scratch that, he was very selfish indeed, and if anyone said otherwise they were a worse liar than he. But to see Gracie smile at him with happiness and pride almost made the fact he was helping other ponies not so bad. He started when he suddenly felt her hoof on his artificial one.
“Thank you Discord,” she smiled. He fought the flood of red threatening to hit his face - why it ran there he had no clue - and hoped she couldn’t see it under his dark fur. However, he couldn’t help the small smile that crossed his face. There was spurt of sharp laughter across the room, and Gracie automatically jumped, and shrank back a little. Discord looked at her, curious and confused at her reaction, to watch as she hid behind her hair, just ever so slightly, and gently tug at the fabric of her sleeve. He looked at the source of the laughter to see a group of finely dressed mares, giggling. It wasn’t possible they were laughing at her, though. Then again, he knew very well how ponies could be.
“Alright I have our keys! One for each of us,” Shining cheered as he finally arrived back to the group. “Room 410.”
“Shining, my dear Gracie should go rest for later tonight. Do you mind escorting her up? I have to run...an errand,” Discord said, levitating the key into a pocket in his coat. “I’ll be back soon though.”
“What errand?” Shining asked, picking up the bags. Gracie looked up at him with a look that asked the same thing. Discord smiled.
“You’ll see, Captain,” he replied, nodding before turning to Gracie. “You go rest - all we’ve done is travel, I- we don’t want you to get sick.”
Before either could answer, Discord was gone in a flash, and didn’t return for a few hours. He ran into Shining first, who told him that they would hold the lesson on the roof - no pony really came up there, so he would be safe to be in his normal form. He curiously looked at the bag he levitated in the air, and told Discord that Gracie was in their room. Discord hurried there, nearly jumping from his skin in excitement, and knocked. Gracie soon opened the door, slightly bleary eyed from sleep.
“Discord? Is everything alright?” she asked with a small, cute yawn.
“Yes. I...I have something for you, actually,” he replied, all but shoving the bag into her face. She gasped, grabbing it from the air.
“Oh, Discord! You didn’t have to!” Gracie exclaimed, pulling the folded fabric from the bag, eyes shining bright.
“Well, I wanted too, and once I want to do something I tend to stick to it,” he said, leaning against the door jam. “And we couldn’t have you dressed in rags, little Cinderella.”
She gasped, holding out the silky, pale blue and green dress in front of her. It was the loveliest thing she had ever touched, let alone owned. It was soft and flowing, and had small vines and flowers embroidered along the hem. Discord couldn’t help but smile at how ecstatic she was.
“Go on and change and meet us on the roof- it’s our last session before review and the final exam,” Discord said. “I’m not sure what Shining has planned, but, hey! Should be more fun than learning how to hold a fork royally.”
Gracie laughed and nodded. “I’ll be up in a few minutes. Oh, thank you Discord!”
She wrapped her hooves around his neck in a quick hug, before ducking back inside the room, closing the door with a gentle click. Discord stood, shell-shocked, as it registered in his mind the fact that she had hugged him, unused to the feeling. She wouldn’t have done that if you were in your regular form, his mind hissed, but he pushed it aside, quickly heading up to roof, slowly feeling the weariness of holding the pony form slip away as he returned to his draconequus self.
The roof was high above the streets of the busy town, dotted with small lanterns just beginning to glow in the late sunlight and potted plants all along the walls, alongside small tables and comfortable chairs. You could see the vastness of Equestria from their view, from the Everfree to the just barely visible lights of the eastern cities. Discord knew that the view from the top of the mountain, probably from the palace, was even better - that was where his throne had been, all those years ago - and one could see all of Equestria if you looked hard enough. Shining was sitting in one of the chairs, staring out into the horizon and drinking a cup of coffee.
“Thinking about Cadance?” Discord asked, startling him, causing him to nearly spill his coffee. Relieved it was simply his partner, Shining placed his cup down on the table. Discord took a seat across from him, curled up in a coil.
“More like when aren’t I?” Shining sighed. “I’m in deep.”
“She is the princess of love and affection, or something, right? It only makes sense,” Discord replied, summoning a cup of tea for himself. Shining nodded, and cast his gaze back to the sun.
“She’s just a few miles above me, instead of one hundred away. It’s comforting knowing that we’re both watching the sunset so close together again,” Shining said.
“Watch out, your sap is showing,” Discord said with a feigned look of distaste. “I really don’t know how you ponies do that…it’s-”
There was a small cough, snaring both their attentions away from the sunset to the roof entrance. Gracie stood there, nervously shifting and adjusting her skirt. Her hair was tied back in a loose bun, out of her face, and the dress billowed out behind her, not enough that it dragged, but looked effortlessly caught on the air. She looked ethereal; like something from an old mare’s tale that stepped from the forest. Discord felt himself freeze, breathless, and with no clue why. Shining smiled, casting a look at him from the corner of his eye, before heading over to Gracie.
“You look wonderful, Gracie! You look ready for a ball,” he said. She smiled sheepishly, and couldn’t help but twirl, just to imagine dancing. “And so you shall learn to dance for one as well.”
He lead her closer to Discord, who snapped from his reveries and stood. “Should I instruct?”
“No, no, no,” Shining said, gently pushing Gracie toward him. “I’m a better instructor than a dancer, so it shall be you.”
“There’s a little bit of a height difference,” Discord backpedaled. Shining stared him down. “Okay, okay, I’ll dance.“
He turned to Gracie and bowed as low as possible. “My lady, may I have this dance?”
“You may,” she replied with a giggle, curtseying back. He bent forward, gently taking her hoof in his paw, and placed his talon on her side, her other hoof resting on his shoulder. Discord, looked down as Shining counted off the beats, not out of nervousness, no, but because it had been a few millennia since he had waltzed, and he didn’t want to screw up, especially in front of Gracie.
“Discord, look at her, please, she needs direction more than you. You’re leading, remember.” Shining commented.
“I’m out of practice,” he muttered, looking at Gracie.
“Well, I’ve never learned! We’ll just be awful together then, won’t we?” she laughed, and Discord couldn’t help but laugh back.
“I doubt you’ll be awful for long,” he replied. “You look amazing. I mean, the dress looked nice on the hanger, but...it looks better on you.”
“Well thank you!” she replied, bashfully nodding her head. He slowly began to move them across the roof, spinning and carefully avoiding plants and chairs. Shining Armor stopped counting, and sat down to watch them dance.
“It’s one-two-three, and suddenly, I see it at a glance,” he sang softly to himself, watching as both Gracie and Discord grew more sure in their steps, Discord elegantly spinning her around. “She’s radiant, and confident, and born to take this chance. I taught her well, I planned it all, I just forgot…”
Shining focused on how Discord looked down at Gracie - like she was more spectacular than a sunset and more special than one. And Gracie, for her part, looked like she had never been happier than when she was dancing with him. Cadance had rubbed off on him - and he had accidentally played matchmaker.
“Romance…” he sang, slightly worried. “Shining, how could you do this? How will we get through this? I never should have made them dance…”
Discord and Gracie slowed to a stop in the middle of their impromptu dance floor, but did not move from their positions. Gracie was framed by the sun in all her glory, and Discord couldn’t help but stare.
“You’re a quick learner,” he said slowly, trying to memorize every detail in that moment. She hummed in thanks.
“I feel a little dizzy though,” she replied, feeling her face flush, from what, she didn’t know.
“Same. Good thing we stopped, then, huh?” he said with a half grin. “Probably from spinning.”
“Yes,” she replied, dropping back down to have all four hooves on the ground. She paused for a moment, looking back up at Discord.
“Gracie, I…” he started, and slowly moved closer. She stepped forward as well, eyes half shut, when there was a loud noise from the stairs. Discord, startled[bl][bm] from the interruption and too tired to return to a pony form again, gently patted her hoof and teleported away just as a group of ponies loudly made their way onto the roof, leaving Gracie alone. Shining wanted to go after him, but seeing Gracie stand dumbfounded was all he needed to stay there.
‘The poor fools are in love, aren’t they?’ he thought to himself, gently herding Gracie away from the crowd, and down back into the hotel, just as the moon began to rise at the sun’s departure.