It was fairly late in the evening, but there was still much laughter to be heard deep within the Everfree Forest. Despite how wild and dilapidated the flora may have been around the ruins of Equestria’s past, the newly-erected Friendship Tree towered over everything like a glowing beacon. With its luminescent magic and crystalized walls, even the untamed wilderness of the Everfree didn’t faze the occupants safely inside. Even though the treehouse/castle structure looked like something from the discount rack of a children’s toy-shop, all six of the students were enjoying themselves without a care in the world.

In the main space of the castle, the group of friends-turned heroes were all circled around a large table loaded with snacks and playing cards. All of them were nestled up in various seating arrangements, but only one was asleep so far. Gallus, the bright-blue gryphon with yellow-tinted feathers, was sprawled out on an old fainting couch and snoring faintly, clearly out like a light. Across from him were Yona and Sandbar, who were comfortably snuggling in a shared love-seat and wrapped in a blanket. Beside them were Smolder and Silverstream, who were sharing a bowl of popcorn drizzled with an obscene amount of butter. Meanwhile, Ocellus was seated by themself in a large recliner, their face notably blushed with a nervous smile.

“Uuuhhhhh… Heh heh heh…” Their pale-blue face blushed more immensely, until they turned away from the others’ prying eyes. “I-I mean dare! I pick dare…”

Despite their weak attempt to skirt past the rules, Smolder firmly shook her head and grinned all smug. “Ah, ahh, aaaahhhhh…” She raised a claw to wave at the changeling with a dismissive head-shake. “Tsk, tsk, tsk… You said yourself that you can’t switch from a Dare to a Truth. That means the other way around too, Celly~”

“Ugh…” Ocellus slumped deeper in their chair, and whimpered a little with their compacted eyes averted from everyone. “B-But I… I didn’t think you’d ask that…”

“Well, duh. That’s the point of the game…” Smolder scoffed and glanced back at Silverstream with a shrug. “Besides, it’s not like they have to be that truthful. Just a little secret will do us just fine~”

Silverstream nodded happily, while Yona tried tilting their head more sympathetically. “Hmmm, well… Yona can understand why Ocellus is nervous.”

“Yeah, I agree,” noted Sandbar while laying on the yak’s bushy stomach. He pointed back at Smolder to add, “But she has a fair point too. I mean, she didn’t ask what all of your kinks are. Just like… one of them.”

Ocellus still groaned with their expression a bit flattened. However, they were still blushing with a hint of compliance on their face. They looked back at Smolder briefly, which allowed the dragoness to raise a claw in solidarity.

“Okay, how about this: If you promise to tell me what a kink of yours is, I’ll admit one of my own. That fair?”

Ocellus sighed and rolled their eyes, but they didn’t immediately dismiss that offer. They pursed their lips tightly, and pondered the idea before giving a faint shrug. “Well, ummm… Only… O-Only if you promise not to make fun of me.”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Smolder did the whole spiel she learned from Pinkie Pie, and kept a sincere smile pointed at Ocellus. “I promise I won’t judge. Just as long as you promise not to judge what I’m into~”

“Ummm… Okay…” They breathed out pertly, and tried not to blush while alone in their seat. “I… I promise I won’t judge either.”

“Good.” Smolder leaned back in her seat, and stretched her claws behind her head before resting her bare feet on the table between them. “Alright then… I’ll admit that I have a thing for… premature ejaculation. Like, I’d love to see a guy shoot his load before actually getting the chance to do something~”

Ocellus’ eyes widened in an instant, their blush much deeper than before. The others all seemed similarly impressed with Smolder’s admission, save for Gallus who just snored a little louder in response. Sandbar needed to look away from her and think that idea over a bit, but Yona just shrugged with a curious pout of her own. Silverstream giggled playfully, but seemed just as okay with the answer as everyone else. Ocellus blinked a couple times, but eventually smiled and nodded their head. “Oh, well ummm… H-Honestly, I… I can see that working well with what… W-What I like~”

That got the group’s shared interest rather quickly. Smolder sat more upright beside Silverstream, while Yona and Sandbar perked their ears with interest. Oellus winced a little from the group’s newfound interest, but they only needed a breath before sighing through a blush. “Well, I… I don’t know how to say it without an explanation, but errrr… W-What I want to do is…”

They shuffled a little with their hind-legs squirming when they repositioned themself. After letting a brief buzz emit from their wings, they turned their head away with a blush and muttered their answer in embarrassment.

“I… I want to try and… makesomeoneanerd…”

That got Ocellus to close their eyes tightly with a shameful wince. Meanwhile, the others all just blinked and looked at one another in confusion. Silverstream was the first to turn back to them and ask, “Uhhh… I’m sorry, what was that?”

She felt bad for clarifying a confession, but it didn’t seem like any of them understood what the changeling said. Ocellus winced with a harsh exhale, and hung their head before muttering a little more articulately. “Nnnnghhh… I… I want to… t-turn someone into a… a nerd…”

Ocellus refused to look back at any of them after that remark, and just left that idea lingering in the air. All of them seemed rightfully puzzled, but none of them knew what to say in response. Yona seemed particularly unsure when she narrowed her eyes on the changeling and blinked a couple times. “Hmmm… Yona confused. What… What do Ocellus mean by, ‘turning’ someone?”

“Actually, yeah,” added Sandbar before raising a hoof. “Not asking negatively or anything. I just mean, like… do you mean hypnosis or something?”

“I… I dunno…” They were looking a little hesitant to keep speaking, and shuffled more worriedly in their seat. They didn’t seem too sure themself, but they tried to point out, “I just… I-I always see movies or books where someone all… all dorky is turned to someone that others consider ‘beautiful,’ but like… I always liked the opposite of that…”

Smolder’s eyes widened, and they let out a soft “Ohhhhhh” to get everyone’s focus. The others saw her point at Ocellus with a sudden nod. “Oh yeah! I think I get what you mean, like… In that one movie Sandbar recommended where that nerdy girl became prom queen?”

“E-Exactly!” Ocellus cringed from how quickly they responded to that question, but they breathed out slowly enough to continue without much pause. “Ummm… Y-Yeah, I… I’ve always wondered how… h-how easily I could do that to someone…”

Ocellus tried to look down at their hooves to avoid any uncomfortable eye contact, but they didn’t seem to notice how peculiar their friends’ silence had become. Smolder was rubbing her chin in thought, while Silverstream glanced over at the happy couple. Yona and Sandbar looked at each other briefly, with Sandbar deciding to ask the next question. “So… Did you want it to happen naturally or something?”

“Well, I didn’t want to force it, if that’s what you mean…” Ocellus perked their head back up, but still kept their sights elsewhere. “I mean… I don’t want to say ‘Gaslighting’ or anything like that. M-More like… coercion or something?”

“Huh…” Smolder leaned forward with her claw still beneath her chin. “So, basically you want to make someone… slowly become a nerd without realizing it?”

“Wait, what kind of nerd?” Silverstream tilted her head curiously. “Like, what sort of look would you--”

“Suspenders, hiked-up pants, dress shirts…” Ocellus blushed heavily from those examples coming out of their mouth so quickly. However, they only needed to take a breath before closing their eyes and continuing with a light shiver. “Hnnnghhh… Uhh… a-also thick glasses, and… a bow-tie… tightie-whities~”

They shuddered a bit from that last one, and looked as red as a tomato from how hot their face had gotten. Meanwhile, the other four all stared at them with their eyes notably widened, and a couple of them blushing slightly as well. Smolder glanced back at Silverstream for a second, and shrugged from the mental image that popped up in her head. “Hmmmm… so like, a total stereotype of a nerd, huh…”

“Wow…” Silverstream wasn’t too familiar with societal norms above water, but she couldn’t help pouting with interest to that idea as well. “Hmmm… honestly, all those things sound kinda cute~”

Ocellus looked up at her for a second, but quickly away again when Yona spoke up. “So, Ocellus, Yona wants to ask… what makes nerds so attractive?”

Ocellus closed their eyes to get their thoughts in order. After breathing out, they gave a meager shrug and admitted, “Well, I… I’m not sure. I guess it’s just the… the innocence of someone looking so prim and proper while… w-while not seeming to care how they look either, you know? Like…

“Instead of caring about fashion trends of style, they just… they focus on pure utility and purpose overall. A-And all the while, they remain looking so clean and… and easy to exploit. And more than that, I just… I want to be able to make someone turn into that~”

All four of them were staring at Ocellus more intently, but none of them seemed too puzzled or unsure of their friend’s kink. In fact, all of them were blushing a bit more notably now. But since they were all staying silent, Ocellus just kept going while looking away from them and blushing like a love-stricken schoolfilly.

“My… My biggest desire is to find someone… Someone who looks perfect already, and could easily be a hunk in any class, and then… I slowly get them to try nerdier things, and… and to look nerdier when time goes on. And no matter how they looked, I would always compliment them and make them feel comfortable… all the while, I would purposely make them look more and more like a total nerd~”

Ocellus paused long enough to take a deep breath, and sighed with a more content smile after getting all that out. That’s when they finally looked back at their friends, and froze with their eyes widened in surprise. All of Ocellus’ friends were staring back at them with looks of… intrigue, perhaps? Or maybe a shared feeling of contemplation on the ‘What If’ of it all. Either way, Oellus was left a little surprised by their silent reception.

“Uhhh… Did… Did I say too much?” They winced worriedly after that question came out. However, Smolder was the first to shake her head with her brows raised high.

“No, no… No, I’m just thinking, like…” She hated to admit it, but her friend’s enthusiasm was planting a heck of a worm in her own mind. She looked over at Yona and Sandbar to point out, “You gotta admit, that’s… that’s interesting, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it… It honestly is…” Yona was nodding with an equally piqued look as her friend. Ocellus blinked a couple times, and looked around with more notice of their friends’ strangely non-judgmental feelings on the matter. Yona eventually said with a huff, “Welp, now Yona has that idea in her head too~”

Ocellus’ brows raised up even more, while their blush started to deepen.

“Honestly, I… I kinda wanna see that happen…” Sandbar wasn’t sure why he said that, but he couldn’t help shrugging with a coy smirk that matched his girlfriend’s. “Like, if someone could actually be convinced to dress like that, I… I’d like to see how far that could go~”

“Well, I mean…” Silverstream was the next to speak up, but her comment was bold enough to make everyone look back at her in an instant:

“... honestly, something like that sounds like a group project.”

All four of the friends stared back at the hippogriff, but none of their eyes were as wide as Ocellus’. They were gawking at Silverstream in total awe, and let out a brief chitter before muttering faintly. “A… A g-group… project?~”

“Well, why not?” She smiled much more casually than the others, and just seemed happy to explain herself to the others. “I mean, from the sound of it, Ocellus might have some trouble turning someone into a nerd on their own. And if it’s a group effort, maybe it’d be easier to convince someone to stay with it. Like… peer-pressure or something!”

“Ehhh, I don’t like that word,” noted Sandbar with a slight wince. “But still, I… I can see the logic there.”

“Hmmmm…” Smolder turned back towards Ocellus, and smirked when she saw how badly they were blushing from the idea. “You know, I… I kinda like that idea too~”

“... you do?” Ocellus was trying not to get their hopes up, but their breathing was becoming more rapid.

“Well, I mean… it’d be fun to at least try.” She then shrugged and looked back at the others. “Although, I doubt we can actually do anything for real--”

Right at that moment, the sound of a loud snore interrupted the dragoness, and planted a seed in everyone’s head. All five friends turned their attention back to the fainting couch, where their friend Gallus had been sleeping the whole time. He never woke up to overhear Ocellus’ confession, nor was he able to see how wide-eyed the group became at that moment.

Smolder stared over at Ocellus, who nearly had a heart-attack when they realized the dragon was thinking the same thing. So did Silverstream, as judging by the giddy smile that spread across her blushing beak. Yona and Sandbar also looked intrigued, and took turns staring at the gryphon across from them while whispering in each other’s ears. None of them said anything for a couple minutes, and were left with their thoughts as they became more detailed and… contemplative.

Eventually, while the gryphon remained dead-asleep and unaware, the group slowly turned their sights back towards Ocellus.

The changeling was now seated fully upright in the chair, their compacted eyes darting between their friends and Gallus nearby. They took a long moment staring the gryphon up and down, admiring his body and realizing just how easy it could be… Or at least, how easily it seemed in their head.

When they looked back at the others, Ocellus could see that all four of them were blushing as badly as themself. The changeling had no idea what to say, but their muzzle was already open when they looked back at the dozing gryphon. Ocellus remained silent for a moment, but took a breath before deciding to ask a simple question:

“... Guys, do you… D-Do you want to make Gallus a nerd?~”

Ocellus never thought they’d ask such a question out-loud, let alone receive any positive reception. But in that moment, they couldn’t have been happier to see all four of them nod their heads with enthusiastic blushes.

Author's Note

If you wanna read more of this ongoing series, I have over 12k words written on my Patreon already. I also have a PayPal if you wanna help out a freelance writer. ;)