To Nerd A Bird

It had only been a half-hour since Gallus left his dentist appointment, but it felt far longer while walking through Ponyville in his eye-catching headwear. The glasses were bad enough, especially when the blocky frames kept nearly sliding off his beak and making him stumble every couple steps. But with the additional braces and headgear latched around his head like a planet’s rings, the gryphon felt like he was wearing a big arrow for ponies to look at him. He tried his best to hang his head and avoid eye contact, but he could definitely feel the stares from ponies he walked past. By the time he got the chance to meet up with his other friends, he was blushing hard in a mixture of embarrassment and dread.

“Hey there, guys!” Unlike the gryphon beside them, Ocellus was smiling brightly when the two reached a large field beside the School of Friendship. Yona and Silverstream had decided to set up a little picnic display in the field, with a large plaid blanket rolled out and a wicker basket full of goodies. Of course, as soon as they got a good look at Gallus, the two went wide-eyed and blushy while frozen in shock. Ocellus was quick to pull him in by their side, eliciting a nervous whimper from him while they spoke on his behalf. “Sorry for taking so long. I decided to take Gallus here to the Optometrist and the Dentist, and well…”

Ocellus tried not to chuckle, but was less successful in hiding their amused smirk from their friends. Fortunately, Gallus didn’t seem to notice while looking away from all of them with a shameful grimace. Meanwhile, Yona and Silverstream were blushing hard while looking at his new headwear. The two glanced over at the changeling, who bit their lip while smiling giddily and giving an eager nod.

“I… I-I uhhh…” Gallus sighed and pulled his head back up, but he didn’t look at his friends directly when he spoke with an obvious lisp. “I wath offered a free con… conthultation at both platheth, and they… they found I needed glatheth and bratheth…”

The hippogriff and yak were clearly stunned, not expecting their friend to set up such a drastic change so quickly. Even Ocellus had to give a light shrug, seemingly just as surprised as they were. “Y-Yeah, uhhh… I’m honestly really glad I got him to the dentist when I did. Although, I kinda wish I knew you two were setting up a picnic first.”

“O-Oh, don’t worry!” Silverstream was the first to pull herself out of her flustered state and speak with a smile. “I’m sure we can find something for him.”

“Yeah, totally! Come, Yona and Silverstream welcome you!”

Yona made sure there was enough room on the blanket for Gallus and Ocellus, with the gryphon sitting down first. He was still blushing awkwardly, but was grateful that neither of them were saying much about his appearance. Due to the metal prongs sticking out of his beak and attached to his headgear, his breaths came out in faint, whimpering wheezes. He was rubbing his arm with a claw pensively, clearly uncomfortable with how he looked. But before he could dwell too hard about any of that, he was handed a sugary soda from Yona.

“Yona thinks Gallus looks really sharp!” Her smile and cheery tone were genuine enough to catch Gallus off-guard, but he nodded a little and accepted the drink with the weakest smile. He ended up fumbling a little with the bottle at first, and needed to hold it at an awkward angle to get a sip without it interfering with his headgear. He struggled for a moment with a little bit dribbling out the corner of his beak, but nothing too comical. None of the friends giggled or said anything about it, which Gallus appreciated greatly.

“Uhhh… r-really?” After finishing his sip, Gallus raised a brow in her direction. “You think tho?”

“Yeah, totally!~” Silverstream chirped in agreement, still blushing a little as she admired the gryphon’s new appearance. “Although, ummm… I bet an outfit could help out a lot with that kind of look.”

Yona and Ocellus both nodded happily, while Gallus just shrugged with an indifferent look of his own. “Uhhh… you thure?” he asked with a raised brow. “I mean… Cloath are a bit much, aren’t they?”

“Well, it could help distract from the glasses,” noted Ocellus, who was trying their hardest not to scootch in closer to him too obviously. “Although, it might be easier to get button-up shirts instead of t-shirts. I’m not sure if the neck-lines could stretch over that headgear~”

Ocellus shivered with a bitten lip, but kept themself in control while beside him. Gallus needed a moment before shugging in agreement, seeing their point. “Hmmm, good catch.”

“Ooh! You know what else?” Silversteam waited until Gallus began eating some pudding so he couldn’t speak up, and motioned to the headgear as a conversation point. “You should maybe consider possibly… changing your vocabulary a bit as well? You know, to counteract that lisp you have now…”

Gallus hung his head with an embarrassed groan, which made him clumsily catch his glasses when they slipped off his beak. Ocellus breathed out shakily, and remained patient to see how long those frames would last; They almost wished they pre-cracked the middle part already, but they were hopeful it could happen naturally soon enough. Meanwhile, the gryphon tried closing his beak to hide his braces, and kept his eyes pointed elsewhere. “Ith… Ith it that obviouth?”

All three of them nodded rather quickly, but Gallus thankfully only saw Silverstream’s reaction. She quickly added with a raised claw, “It’s just a suggestion, like… It shouldn’t be too hard to find terms that don’t use the letter ‘S’ like…” She paused long enough to make it look like she hadn’t already thought this all out. After a roll of her eyes, she looked back at Gallus and said, “Maybe… ‘Golly Gee’?”

Gallus narrowed his eyes, although they still looked huge behind his glasses. One of his brows raised up behind the frame when he asked flatly, “... Theriouthly? Golly Gee?”

Yona waited only a second before eagerly raising up a hoof. “Yona likes it!”

“Yeah, me too!~” Ocellus nestled in a little closer beside his side for added support. “It doesn’t have the lisp, so it sounds way better than ‘Theriouthly.’”

Silverstream and Yona giggled a little from that slight imitation of Gallus’ lisp, which made him blush a little deeper. But at the same time, that point made him consider it for a second or two in thought. As much as he’d hate to admit it, having a lisp would be horrible for his social game; and if speaking differently could help hide it, maybe a new term or two couldn’t hurt…

Gallus wasn’t sure how to say the term sincerely, but he meagerly shrugged his head and tried muttering out, “Uhh… G… Golly Gee?”

“Yeah, that sounds great!” Ocellus gave him a supportive pat on the back. “That sounds good for you!”

“I agree! I’m sure a few more could be used like… ‘Wowzers’! Or ‘swell’!”

“Or ‘Jeepers!’” piped Yona. “Hmmm… maybe ‘Aww, shucks~’”

“But, thoth have an ‘Eth’ in them too…” Gallus seemed a bit puzzled by their choices, but Ocellus remained by his side to gaslight support.

“I think words like those could work with your lisp. I mean, it’s unavoidable for the most part. What’s important is that you don’t let it hinder your speech overall. You just gotta… work around the metal and make your words count.”

“Hmmm…” Gallus tapped his chin with a claw while pondering their words. “... Maybe I thould get a thethauruth or something…”

The changeling’s wings buzzed all antsily when they said, “I-I can get you a thesaurus on the way back to school!~”

“Oh, ummm… thanth.” Gallus smiled happily, not seeming to notice how much he just turned Ocellus on.

“Let’s see… ‘Jinkies’... ‘Holey Moley’... Ooh, or ‘Willackers!’” Yona blinked a couple times, before adding in revelation, “Actually, maybe Gallus shouldn’t try swearing. Yona thinks alternate words work better with braces~”

Ocellus’ face lit up. “Yeah, that’s a great idea! I mean…” They took a moment to turn back towards the confused-looking Gallus, who had just finished his first pudding cup; Yona subtly placed a new cup in his claw, already opened so he could keep eating. “... well, since the braces might give a preconceived notion of your character, maybe swearing wouldn’t sound as… intimidating?”

Gallus wanted to say something, but paused and thought that point over as well. As much as he’d hate to admit it, saying “Fuck” or “Shit” in his headgear would just make him sound like an idiot. He breathed out more hoarsely, but tried to counteract by asking, “What, tho I thould thay thinth like… Goth Darnit?”

“Yeah, that’s perfect!” Silverstream had to stop herself from smiling so wide after that giddy response. “O-Or like, just cutesier terms as a whole would help out a lot. If it helps, we could maybe… help you with that?”

Gallus wasn’t sure what to think, but he was feeling somewhat better about his headgear and glasses by the time he ate through his third pudding cup. He hadn’t even noticed how much Yona and Silverstream were getting him to indulge, most likely to wane him away from physical activity later on. But for now, the “picnic” was continuing just as planned when Gallus begrudgingly shrugged his head. “Uhhh, well, I… I gueth tho?”

“Ooh, great!” Yona smiled enthusiastically with a blush that nearly matched Ocellus’. She then decided to ask the gryphon, “So… If Gallus wanted to say something is interesting, he would say…”

Her brows raised up expectantly, as did Silversteasm’s and Ocellus’. Gallus closed his beak with a more uneasy look, and took a breath before speaking timidly, “Ummm… G… Golly Gee?”

“Ooh, or ‘Golly Gee Willackers!’ Hehehehe~” Silverstream excitedly said that with a smile which her friends immediately matched. Yona rewarded him with another soda, which he took without much question. Just as he was taking a big swig of the sugary drink, Silverstream made sure to add, “Actually, I think Smolder is doing some shopping in town for clothes. You wanna go join her and see how she’s doing?”

“Uhhh… I gueth tho…” Gallus gave a light shrug and a smile to accompany that answer, but it froze when he saw the stares from all three of his friends. Ocellus, Yona, and Silverstream were all looking at him with expectantly raised brows, as well as warm smiles. The gryphon paused briefly with a couple blinks, before he decided to take Ocellus’ advice.

After taking a breath, Gallus tried to smile more naturally when he opened his beak. “O-Or, uhhh… Golly Gee, that thoundth nithe~”

With a big spittle of saliva coming out with that lisp, Gallus was already looking adequately dorky to the three friends who smiled wide with approving nods. Ocellus even hugged him from the side. “Daaawwww… Come on, let’s see Smolder and see what she thinks!~”

He tensed up quite a bit from the idea of Smolder seeing him like this. But with the strangely genuine approval of his friends, Gallus felt compelled to just shrug and nod with slight hesitancy. “Hmmm… I… I might ath well…”

Twenty Minutes Later…

While Silverstream and Yona were busy enacting their parts of the plan, Smolder was taking inventory at the Ponyville Thrift Shop to make sure they had everything she needed. She was happy to find that the shop had a variety of almost everything she was hoping for, including all the ones from Ocellus’ notes. However, she was more fortunate to have had time to prepare, since she had to fly out to a different shop to acquire the most essential item for Gallus. By the time she returned to the shop and got everything in place, she was pleasantly caught by surprise when Ocellus came in with the gryphon in tow.

“Oh, Smooollllllderrrrrr~” The changeling practically sing-songed their way into the store with a ding of the door’s bell. They sauntered right up to the dragon, while Gallus meekly stepped inside with his head hunched down. He was fortunate that the shop seemed nearly empty, aside from an old pony manning the front counter and half-asleep. Nevertheless, he still felt rightfully nervous when he walked around the rack of coats for Smolder to see for the first time.

“H-Holy! I--” She quickly clasped both claws over her face when she saw Gallus’ glasses and headgear. Her cheeks burned hotly with blush, while Gallus’ blush was from embarrassment as he averted his eyes. That kept him from seeing the dragon’s strong, full-body shiver that made her eyes roll back for a split-second. Any feelings of apprehension about this plan went right out the window, and Smolder felt rightfully invigorated to keep going when she marveled at Ocellus’ work. “W… W-Wow, Gallus! I… I’m impressed, dude~”

She put her claws back down to rest against her hips, and she smiled more naturally through her blush. “Jeeze… this is really happening huh?~”

Gallus narrowed his eyes on her puzzledly, while Ocellus gave a frantic ‘Cut it’ motion across their throat. Smolder quickly blinked and stammered out, “Oh, I mean, uhhh… You… You’re probably looking for clothes to match, huh?”

Gallus looked even more suspicious as he slowly nodded his head. “Uhhhh… Yeah, I… I wath…” Gallus glanced back at Ocellus with a raised brow. “Did… Did you plan thith?”

Ocellus froze up with their face notably paled, clearly looking guilty as sin. Smolder leaned in to interject and say on their behalf, “A-Actually, uhhh… Ocellus came to me while you were being gassed for those braces, and we… We figured some new outfits might be a good gift to detract from them, y’know?”

Gallus took a couple seconds to process that answer, before his expression softened to a more flustered smile. “W-Wha… Oh, come on, guyth…” He hung his head bashfully and looked between her and Ocellus. “You didn’t have to do that for me.”

“I know, but you’re our friend, and friends help out one another.” Smolder rolled her eyes and decided to add more cheekily, “Besides, you could totally use some new threads! I’m thinking maybe… ‘Business-Chic’~”

“So, what do you say, Gallus?~” Ocellus leaned in with a wide smile, perking their brows to emphasize the gryphon’s behavior. The gryphon blushed with a clearly nervous look, but took a breath before hesitantly looking back at Smolder.

“Uhhh… Well, umm…” Gallus exhaled before giving a smile and trying his new practiced vocabulary. “... G-Golly Gee, Thmolder, I-I really apprethiate that~”

Smolder went wide-eyed for a second, but was able to see Ocellus give a motioning nod right behind Gallus’ head. That made the dragon smile with a nod back at them, while saying, “W-Well, you’re welcome, Gallus! Hmmm… You know, you should say like ‘Golly Gee’ more often~”

She then went to grab something from her purse, which was nearby on one of the benches against the wall. Gallus was taken aback by his friend’s compliment, but he couldn’t question it when he looked back and saw Ocellus give a shrug in agreement. He blushed a bit more, just in time for Smolder to come back towards him with a package in her claws. “Hey, Gallus! You okay with wearing pants? Because if so, you might need one of these…”

Gallus was confused when he took the small package, which appeared to be white clothed wrapped in plastic. But as soon as he read the cover, he reeled back with a grimace. “What the?! M-Menth Briefth?”

“What, you wanna just shove your junk into a bunch of pants owned by strangers that likely haven’t been cleaned in years?” Smolder didn’t give any response to the fact that those were Tightie-Whities, and kept a straight face when explaining her logic. “I’m just saying, if you’re gonna wear a shirt, you need pants to hold them in place over your torso. And if you’re gonna wear pants, you’ll need underwear for protection, right?”

Gallus’ beak may have been open, but he couldn’t say a word in protest after that first question was asked. Despite his apprehension, he eventually looked back down at that clean package of underwear with a tight grimace. Since Smolder and Ocellus were nice enough to do this kind of gesture for him, he knew better than to complain about free underwear. So with a low sigh, Gallus accepted the package with a roll of his eyes. “Ughhh… Y… Yeah, I gueth tho…”

“Great! Come on, you can get them on in the dressing room while we get you clothes!” She and Ocellus practically pushed him down the aisle of clothing before he could see anything he would’ve liked for himself. He found himself outside the fitting rooms, and just shrugged when he entered one of the empty stalls himself. While his friends waited outside, he grunted a little when he got the package of underwear opened with his talons. After a minute of fitting, the gryphon looked over at the mirror inside his stall with a blush when he saw the tightie-whities wrapped around his slender backside.

“Jeeth…” Gallus may have admired how snug and supportive the tightie-whities may have been, but he was not a fan of how obvious his crotch-bulge was. For some reason, it made him look more exposed than if he was naked. “... ugh, why couldn’t Thmolder have gotten Bot-fffffers…”

Trying to say that “X” syllable just made him sputter out that last word in a saliva-spraying lisp. He groaned and closed his beak, silently reminding himself not to say “Boxers” outloud again.

With the door closed, he had no idea what Smolder and Ocellus were doing out in the shop. But after a surprisingly quick amount of time, a few articles of clothing were floated over the door by Ocellus’ magic. He took them with a tightened beak, and tilted his head when he saw the colors and materials of the garments. But before he could speak up, he heard Smolder say, “Hey, try those on for us! We wanna see how they look~”

“You… You do?” Gallus wasn’t sure what his friends were thinking, but they sounded too excited for him to ruin their fun. After looking at the items in his claws, he sighed and rolled his eyes. “Uhhh… a-alright…”

It took him a few minutes, but he was surprised to discover that everything picked out for him fitted really nicely against his figure. He wasn’t sure how well Equestrian clothing could fit a gryphon, but he was happy they didn’t look too unfitting. Still though, he couldn’t help feeling weird when he slipped the white, plaid-patterned button-up shirt over his torso. After that, he fitted on a skimpy pair of beige, cargo-shorts made of tough khaki. After wrapping the brown belt through the waistband and tucking in his shirt, he slipped on the second-part of his top: a gaudy brown and green sweater-vest done in a plaid checkerboard pattern.

He was just about to exit the room, but another aua of Ocellus’ magic floated in a few more things. “Ooh, add these too!~”

“What the… Thuthpenderth?!” Gallus held up the elastic straps of an old pair of suspenders, which were bright yellow and clashed horribly with his clothing. However, he trusted his friend enough to fit them on anyway, eventually getting them tightly clasped over both shoulders. He then took the clean pack of tube-socks (another purchase from Smolder alongside the underwear), and fitted them over both of his hind-paws. The last part were the shoes, which made him pause with an especially puzzled look on his face; but alas, he decided to try them on anyway, and shoved both of the dark-brown loafers over his paws.

When everything was said and done, Gallus wasn’t sure if he even wanted to look in the mirror. He was blushing hard with his reflection behind him while he got the shoes fitted on. Before he could turn his head and see for himself, he heard Smolder shout out, “Come on, Gallus! You ready or not?~”

“Ugh! Okay, okay…” Gallus closed his eyes and unlatched the door, opening it before both of his friends. He kept his head hung when he slowly stepped out of the fitting room, now wearing a full outfit which fully encapsulated ‘Nerd’ from head to paws. Both of the friends gasped silently, with Smolder’s face turning an especially deep shade of red from newfound attraction. Meanwhile, Ocellus had a hoof over their mouth while they stared wide-eyed at the gryphon in utter awe…

“... uuuhhhh…” Gallus couldn’t bear to look at their reactions, and stood meagerly with a claw awkwardly rubbing his foreleg. His shirt, sweater-vest, suspenders, and shorts all matched his glasses and headgear absolutely perfectly. And with an added tug of magic from Ocellus’ horn, the gryphon’s tube-socks were rolled up to cover most of his exposed legs. After a few seconds of stunned silence from his friends, Gallus was looking more worried as he lowered his head even more. “Ith… Ith thith too mu--”

Before he could finish his question, his blocky glasses slipped off his beak once again; but this time around, Gallus wasn’t able to catch them in time before gasping.

-CRACK!-

The glasses fell to the hard floor, snapping right in half before Gallus’ eyes. The gryphon stared down at them for only a second, not noticing his vision was still fine when he covered his face with a claw. “Ugh! Dammit!”

“Darnit…” Ocellus said that correction firmly enough for him to hear it clearly, but he wasn’t able to nod before they picked up both halves of the glasses with their magic. Smolder had an elated grin (luckily out of Gallus’ line of sight) when she pulled out some masking tape from her purse. After handing Ocellus the roll, she rushed off and added, “Ooh, I know what else he needs! One sec!~”

As the dragon ran off with a slight giggle, Gallus was still looking ashamed of himself when he glanced back at his friend. Ocellus was quick to “repair” the glasses exactly as they had hoped, and got them floated back towards Gallus’ face before he could see without them. The blocky frames were floated back over his beak, this time with a thick cover of white masking tape holding the two lenses in place. The bandage-like material gripped his beak much easier, helping to hold them in place without as much slippage.

“There you go…” Ocellus breathed out shakily through their overwhelmed smile, and stepped back to see how the taped glasses looked on him. It was astounding how much work had been done to change his appearance so drastically in a single day; but at the same time, Ocellus’ heart was pounding in pure elation at how dorky the gryphon was looking already.

“W-Wow, you… Y-You look really great~”

“Uhhh… I-I do?” Gallus wasn’t sure how to feel, but he could tell from Ocellus’ smile that they weren’t lying in the slightest. When Smolder finally returned, needing a moment to admire Ocellus tape-work on the glasses, she leaned in to add one last thing to Gallus’ collar. He groaned a little while feeling something get clipped on, and he tried to repeat his earlier question. “Tho, uhhh… Thith ithn’t too much, ith it?”

“Hmmm…” Smolder got the yellow clip-on bowtie latched to the top of his shirt, sticking out tight over the sweater-vest. After stepping back to stand alongside Ocellus, the two took a second to stare at Gallus with blushed smiles. Neither of them could say anything too telling, but they were obviously loving his appearance as their eyes moved up and down.

“Dude…” Smolder may have been worried about lying to her friend when these plans initially began, but she felt absolutely no dishonesty when she spoke with a flustered smile. “I… I’m not gonna lie, you look great like that!”

“Yeah!~” Ocellus had to control their breathing while fanning their face with a hoof. “Gallus, I think this kind of style could really work for you…”

“You… You do?” Gallus looked down at himself for a moment. “Hmmm… I don’t know…”

“Just look at yourself in the mirror, dude. Trust me~”

Smolder hoped that her confident tone could help sway him, but she felt a twinge of worry when he turned around to use the mirror inside the fitting room. As soon as he peered inside and saw his reflection, his heart nearly skipped a beat when he froze in shock. The glasses and headgear were upsetting enough to see by themself, but his outfit as a whole made him look like a total dweeb! The sweatervest, and the bowtie, AND the suspenders were all a lot to take in at once. “Gah! W-What the…”

Ocellus stepped in to see his reflection themself, and also to provide a comforting smile for him to see. “Hmmm…” Noting how freaked out Gallus was looking, the changeling decided to help with one last bout of confirmation. “Yeah, that’s totally a look for you~”

“Hmmmm… I dunno…” Gallus tugged on his suspenders with a claw while looking at his reflection in slight disgust. “Uhhh… D-Do I have to wear thith?”

“Why not? Ponies would love this!” Ocellus’ face lit up, and they turned towards Gallus with a smirk. “Hmmm… I’m willing to bet that Sandbar would say you look really cool in that~”

That made Gallus peer back at them with a flat stare. “... You can’t be theriouth.”

“I’ll tell you what…” Ocellus brought Gallus back outside the fitting room where Smolder was waiting. “If you’re willing to let us buy you a few outfits, we’ll have you wear that back to the dorm and see what Sandbar thinks.”

“Ooh, good idea!” Smolder quickly piped up with a smile, “If he says you look like a dork, you can return all of them with the receipt. But if he tells you that you look cool, you gotta keep them~”

Gallus still seemed a bit hesitant, but he thought that wager over briefly enough to ask, “Hmmm… And neither of you will thay anything to him?”

Both of them shook their heads with truthful smiles, and gave the practiced hoof (and claw) motions taught to them by Professor Pinkie Pie.“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

One Uncomfortable Walk Later…

Gallus wanted to be more grateful for how helpful his friends have been lately. Not only did he get a much-needed eye and beak appointment, but he also got some free lunch and a few new outfits to wear for classes. Unfortunately, despite all the lessons he learned in school about accepting gifts as they were and “Not looking a gift horse in the mouth” (an expression he still didn’t fully grasp context-wise), it was hard to feel too thankful when he stood out like a sore talon in town. Not to mention, he wasn’t able to get out of his new “cool clothes” after Ocellus and Smolder bought everything for him at the thrift shop.

“Jeeth, all of that wath only fifteen bith…” Gallus tried looking at his receipt more than the townsponies he walked past, many of whom stopped to stare at the newly-nerdified gryphon. He grunted to himself and tried to close his beak, but the headgear made that impossible while walking at a slightly brisker pace. His shorts were riding up rather uncomfortably in the back, especially with those tighty-whities that Smolder insisted he kept for himself. And with the fabric of his dress-shirt and sweater-vest rubbing between his wings, he was finding it difficult to keep them from springing outward in stimulation.

By the time he reached the school campus, Gallus ended up rushing into one of the back entrances of his dorm building like he was sneaking in. He tried his best to avoid being seen, and sneakily crept down the hallways when they were emptied. He eventually made it back to his dorm room, with the light peering from beneath the door to indicate his roommate was already inside. Gallus almost reached down to open the knob, but remembered that one incident vividly enough to remember knocking first.

-Knock, Knock, Knock-

“Uhhh, Thandbar?” He grimaced from how hard it was to keep from lisping, and just sighed with a roll of his eyes. “I-Ith me, Galluth…”

“Oh, come on in!”

It didn’t sound like Yona was inside this time, so Gallus felt less worried about just barging in. He took a breath before turning the knob, and kept his eyes closed when he walked inside. He didn’t hear anything at first, which made him tense up by the time he closed the door behind him. It wasn’t until he heard a couple hoofsteps that he realized Sandbar had turned around, and he overheard a slight gasp. “O-Oh! Ummm…”

Sandbar may have already been fully aware of everything going on, but he was still taken aback when he saw how Gallus looked now. Considering how normal he was when he left the dorm room this morning, it was almost like a brand-new gryphon walked in. The first thing that caught his eyes were Gallus’ glasses and braces, which he honestly didn’t think would happen so soon. The outfit was the next part to catch his attention, since it was clear how much effort Smolder and Ocellus took to make it so consistent. Even though he hadn’t been able to meet up with either of them prior to this moment, he could only hope that they were blushing as deeply as he was right then.

“W-Wow…” Sandbar may have considered himself to be straight, but being in a relationship with Yona certainly helped him open his young eyes. And after hearing Ocellus’ passionate case regarding Gallus, as well as participating in the discussion himself, he would’ve been lying to himself if he claimed he wasn’t curious. He wasn’t sure how he’d actually feel about Gallus being nerdified, but the overall sight left him stunned like all the others. He slowly breathed out, and grew a captivated smile after blinking a couple times. “I-I uhhh… I wasn’t expecting… t-this…”

“Y… Y-Yeah…” Gallus couldn’t look at his friend directly, and ignored the stallion’s gobsmacked stare while rubbing the back of his neck. “I, ummm… I need to wear the glatheth and bratheth, tho… tho Othelluth and Thmolder got me theth…” He motioned down to his outfit, not appearing too confident with his shoulders slouched.

“I… I see…” Sandbar looked down at Gallus’ clothing while hiding his blush as discreetly as possible behind his hoof. He had no idea if he or the others could actually convince him to dress like that to classes; however, if Gallus was convinced to show up here like this, there might be a chance. He looked back up at the gryphon’s face, which made him blush a little heavier when he finally opened his muzzle.

“Ummm… Well, I…” While he definitely could’ve benefited from consulting with Smolder or Ocellus, that turned out to be unneeded when he shrugged his shoulders lightheartedly. “... I gotta say, if that’s how they dressed you up, I’d say they definitely know what they’re doing~”

Gallus’ head whipped back to see Sandbar’s smile, nearly knocking off his glasses again; but with that added tape holding together the middle, they remained firmly on his beak without slippage. Gallus actually took a split-second to recognize that benefit, but was still focused on Sandbar when he asked, “R-Really? You… You like how I look?”

Sandbar almost hesitated when he saw how uneasy his friend was looking about all these changes. But at the same time, he was dedicated enough to breathe out and keep a genuine smile. “Yeah, I do,” he said without a shred of dishonesty. “In fact, I would say you look really cool!~”

Gallus blinked and stared down at himself, needing a second to confirm that fact himself. “Hmmm… I… I really look cool, huh…”

“Yeah, totally! Heck, I wish I could get away with dressing that nice~”

Despite his confusion, Gallus accepted that complement well enough to give a begrudging nod. “Hmmm… W-Well, uhhh… I might need thome time to adjuth to theth…”

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact…” Sandbar remembered what he was supposed to do, which made him tap his chin in thought. “Hmmm… You know, maybe it might be good to redirect your studies a little… You know, since your glasses might affect sports credits?”

“Ahh, right…” Gallus nodded with a tired huff, clearly hating how his glasses might inhibit his future plans. “Ugh… Gueth I have to talk with Rainbow Dath about gym clath.”

“Yeah, maybe…” Sandbar’s giddy blush remained while speaking sympathetically. “A-Although, it might also be good to focus on academics instead? I mean, I’m sure Twilight would understand.”

“Yeah, I might end up doing that…” The idea of having to change his school plans due to today’s events was enough to make him shake his head in disbelief. But then again, so was walking around town in such a strange-looking outfit, even with all the positive reception his friends have been giving him. He looked over at the mirror hanging on the closet door, which gave him another full-body view of his nerdy reflection. The sight still made him blush worriedly, but he could also see Sandbar’s smile from right behind him.

“Hmmm…” He glanced back at the pony, which was enough to make Sandbar try and readjust his hind-legs a little. His muzzle tightened a bit as well, but that was easily covered by his persistent blush. Gallus took a moment to think about what to say, and needed to readjust his glasses before opening his beak. “W-Well, uhhh… Do you think I thould go to thcool like thith?”

“Y-Yeah!” blurted Sandbar, perhaps a little too quickly for Gallus’ liking. However, the stallion was adamant while nodding his head. “Dude, trust me, you look great!”

Gallus’ beak tightened for a moment, but he accepted that review with a nod and sighed reluctantly. He tugged at his collar with a talon before saying, “W-Well, ummm… I’m thure glad Thmolder and Othelluth got me tho many outfits…”

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Sandbar rushed back to his desk for a second, and opened one of the drawers to rummage through for something he already owned. Gallus just stood awkwardly while watching the stallion grunting in frustration. “Ugh, c’mon, where is it… I swear I packed it when I move--AHA!”

Sandbar was grinning wide when he pulled out something that Gallus didn’t recognize. It looked to be a small rectangular item made of faux-leather, almost like a wallet with a couple added inches in length. Gallus narrowed his eyes through his blocky frames, and realized that it was more of a pouch or little bag of some kind. Sandbar also grabbed a few pens from his desk before walking back up to the gryphon. He tucked the pouch into the front button of Gallus’ shirt, and then the pens so they stuck out.

“There you go!” Sandbar smiled wide when he stepped back and admired the nerdiest accessory he could’ve given to his roommate. “It’s a pocket protector! You know, so you don’t accidentally stain your awesome shirts~”

“Hmmm… I didn’t know they made thothe…” Gallus took a second to inspect the protector, and actually shrugged with an approving smile. It may have been a weird thing for Sandbar to own, but it certainly seemed to be serving a good purpose. With his pocket adequately protected, he shot his friend a gracious smile. “Huh, thath… thath really nithe of you, Thandbar. Thanth.”

Hearing his lisp coming through that headgeared beak was enough to make Sandbar try his hardest not to shiver. Fortunately, he kept his smile and replied with, “Oh, it’s no problem, dude. That’s what friends are for.”

After that, the pony tried to remain casual when he looked away from Gallus for a second, and sheepishly added, “A-And uhhh… I’d totally be down to help you get ready for classes if you need it.”

“I… I really apprethiate that…” Gallus was worried about whatever maintenance he might need to account for his teeth and eyes, so Sandbar’s offer was something he was hoping to hear. “Tho, uhhh… You wanna go meet up with the otherth? I wath justh bringing the clothe here before heading back out.”

“Oooh, good idea!~” Sandbar quickly grabbed his saddlebags, while Gallus tucked his shopping bag beside his bed. The gryphon contemplated removing his clothing, just so he could wash them himself in the school’s laundry room. However, he hesitated for a moment after removing the clip-on bowtie, and just stared at it briefly. Sandbar stopped what he was doing and looked back at him silently, his eyes notably widened. But with the gryphon unaware of his roommate’s stare, he only waited a few seconds before deciding to put it back on.

“Eh, what the heck…” While this certainly wasn’t his personal style, he couldn’t assume that five different friends of his could ALL be wrong. So after another huff, he clipped the tie back onto his collar. He still felt unbelievably weird in his whole getup, but he was willing to trust Sandbar and the others if they assured him he looked alright. After checking his reflection in the mirror, he turned back to Sandbar and asked, “Uhhh, you ready?”

“Yep!” Sandbar was already waiting by the door, and looking pretty excited after seeing Gallus keep his bowtie. “Ooh, you wanna go to the library?”

“Hmmm… what for?”

“For fun, duh~”

Sandbar didn’t wait for his friend to offer an alternative, and opened the door so he could leave the dorm room first. “Come on! Last one there’s a rotten egg!~”

He then bolted off, leaving Gallus in the dust while giggling to himself down the hallway. The gryphon groaned out flusteredly before rushing out of the room himself, and closing the door behind him. Still in his nerdy attire, Gallus couldn’t wait to process going out in public again; instead, all he could think to do was run off after the stallion. “H-Hey, come on, Thandbar! I… I juth had a dentith appointment!”