The last class for the day had ended. Gallus and Sandbar walked out together and talked about their homework.
“I have no idea how I’m supposed to figure out all of these names of ponies and places!” Gallus complained.
“Don’t worry Gallus!” Sandbar assured him. “I can totally help you with it. We’ll just head to the library and-”
The two of them stop to see Dragon Slayer lying his head against the wall. He looked as if the life was sucked right out of him. Sandbar and Gallus inspected Dragon to see him lost in thought and as well as soul crushed eyes.
“Umm… Heeeey...” Sandbar spoke, trying to get his attention. “You okay there buddy?”
“Hey, snap out of it,” Gallus ordered, snapping his talons.
Dragon regained his senses and stood back up straight to see the two. “Oh… Hi...”
“Dragon, what’s wrong? You seem… down.” Sandbar pointed out.
Dragon looked away for a moment and back at the two with an awkward shuffle with his hands. “Do you two… think my coat looks bad?”
The two suddenly were put on the spot, being asked about his coat. In truth, Sandbar thought it looked a bit dirty. Gallus thought he was a bit of a show off with that coat, especially when he found out it has heavy armor plating underneath the feathers.
“Um… Well, the thing about fashion is… well...” Sandbar stammered, trying to work his way to an honest answer like he was taught.
“It’s not… Something I would wear.” Gallus managed to say.
“I understand that you have your own preferences for what you are willing to wear.” Dragon stated. “What I’m asking is, do you think this coat looks ugly, or do I look ugly wearing this coat?”
“Look, if you wanna wear that thing, then that’s cool, we’ll support you or whatever.” Gallus stated.
“Then you really don’t like this coat,” Dragon mused. He sighed in defeat as the two sees the tall human suddenly shrink to his own sense of style squeezing his life out.
“Why does it matter to you anyways?” Sandbar questioned. “You didn’t mind when you came to school with it.”
“I was led under the impression by my people that this coat would help me make friends.” Dragon claimed. “But Miss Rarity told me that it was dreadful and that it might be doing the opposite.”
‘Ah, well, she isn’t wrong,’ The two thought quietly in their heads.
“Well, why don’t you get some new clothing?” Sandbar suggested.
“That… wouldn’t be a bad idea.” Dragon thought.
“But who’re you gonna find that can make clothes for humans?”
==
“Darling, I’m so glad you came to me!” Rarity exclaimed in excitement. “I hope my comment on your attire didn’t hurt your feelings, but I just had to say something.”
Dragon Slayer continued to look as if his soul was taken by the void based on her comments.
“Humans are so intriguing! They wear clothes no matter where they go, almost all the time!” Rarity stated. “I’ve learned so much from Chewka.”
“Who-ka?” Gallus commented.
“Chewka is the name of the human who comes and visits me, like that one time in the library.” Dragon explained.
“Luckily for you, I’ve had enough practice with him to understand how to make clothes for humans!” Rarity said very proudly. She brings in a collection of clothes she made for Chewka and presents them to Dragon “Let me just take that… coat off of you.”
Dragon Slayer takes off his coat and gives it to Rarity, but not before requesting her this, “Please be careful with this. It’s very important.”
“What’s so special about it anyways?” Gallus asked.
“And why’s it made of bird feathers?” Sandbar questioned.
“Those aren’t bird feathers, those are griffon feathers.” Dragon Slayer corrected him.
The room goes silent as Rarity holds the very coat on her hoof. She then levitates it with her horn and places it on the table before going to the bathroom and turning on the hot water.
“Those… Those are griffon feathers?!” Gallus questioned him.
“Yes, it was made over five hundred years ago,” Dragon explained. Before he could go further, he was cut off by Gallus.
“That is messed up.” Gallus stated. “And you actually thought this would help you make friends!? With who? Who in their right mind would think that’s cool?”
“Gallus, take it easy,” Sandbar told him, pulling him back a bit. “You uh… wanna head back?”
“Ugh, yeah,” Gallus sighed. The two leave Dragon on his own as Rarity returns from cleansing her hooves.
“I think I made a mistake.” Dragon thought to himself.
“Well, I wouldn’t blame them.” Rarity told him. “I don’t understand why you’re wearing a coat made out of a griffon. Wearing a.... Trophy, is a poor way of showing your desire to be friends especially with that of a griffon.”
“Trophy?” Dragon repeated that word alone. “They were alive when this coat was made.”
“Darling… you’re going to make me sick.” Rarity warned him.
==
The next day, Gallus was walking with Ocellus and told her what had happened with Dragon Slayer. She was shocked to hear that the coat was made of griffon feathers.
“I can’t believe that he was wearing that around and never thought about it,” Ocellus thought.
“Maybe he would have preferred the name ‘Griffon Slayer’ instead,” Gallus retorted.
“Perhaps he made a mistake?”
Their conversation is interrupted when Sandbar comes from around the corner and calls them over.
“Hey, you might wanna see this before we get it fixed.” Sandbar said to them with a snicker being stifled by his hoof.
The two go to the classroom to see Dragon Slayer wearing a mismatched assortment of clothes. His pants were baggy, his jacket too short, and his shirt too big. The colors were all over the place with bits of red and yellow along with a hot pink and green and blue. Though those may just be blueberries.
“What… happened?” Ocellus wondered.
“When Rarity was taking my measurements, she received a summons from her butt.” Dragon recalled the past events. “So she left me to select my own attire. I decided to go with something that felt comfortable. I thought everyone was smiling at me only for Smolder to tell me I looked ridiculous.”
“If you were going to go for a new look, why didn’t you ask for any of our help?” Silverstream asked him.
“I… didn’t want to trouble anyone anymore than I had yesterday.” Dragon answered.
“Well, are you going to go back to your old coat then?” Smolder assumed.
“... I will no longer be wearing that from now on.”
Gallus looked to see the earnest look on his face. He seems to have regret doing what he had done if he suddenly decided against wearing an important coat he said yesterday. Smolder and Silverstream exchanged confused looks at his behavior, as it was a bit more sad than usual. Yona however focused on the issue at hand.
“If Dragon can’t pick new clothes, we should help pick better clothes!” Yona suggested.
“That’s a great idea!” Silverstream agreed.
“Anything to get him from wearing whatever this is.” Smolder stated.
With everyone in agreement, they go back to Rarity’s clothing room in the school. The kids began picking out clothes that they thought looked good on Dragon. Yona found some rough looking clothes that made him look like some sort of barbarian. Dragon did take interest in it for a moment before Silverstream found a tuxedo.
“Dragon, try these on!” Silverstream recommended
“Try this one next!” Ocellus added another set
“Yona pick the best one!”
Dragon tried every outfit that was given to him. After getting into the changing room for a bit, he would come out and show them how he looked with what they'd chosen. From barbarian warrior, to tuxedo gentlemen, to clown, to even a dress. Everyone paused for a moment on the last one before Smolder pushed him back in the fitting room.
“That was a mistake!” Smolder whispered past the door. “I was only looking at it! I didn’t mean to have you put it on! Here, take this one.”
As Dragon changed once more, Sandbar looked at the girls and said, “You know, they seem to be really enjoying this.”
“Well, I guess it’s not everyday you get to play dress up with someone else.” Gallus thought.
Dragon finally came out of the fitting room and showed off his red hoodie, gray jeans, and blue sneakers. He looked around his waist and at the mirror before turning to the others. “What do you think?”
“Ooh! That looks great!” Silverstream nodded.
“He looks a lot less scary, doesn’t he?” Ocellus thought.
“Yona still think he look better as warrior, but Dragon look good in this.” Yona admitted.
“I gotta say, I didn’t think I’d pick something out right for you.” Smolder smirked. “Though, I’m gonna miss that coat you used to wear. What’s that thing's story anyways?”
“Yeah, you said how important it was back when you were still starting out.” Silverstream confirmed.
Dragon looked to Gallus for a moment before beginning the story. “It’s an important Tribe relic. A treasure from the past from over 500 hundred years ago. The great king Grover gave it to us as a sign of friendship.”
Gallus' eyes darted back to Dragon at what he had just heard. “Wait a minute, King Grover? As in, the King of the Griffons?”
Dragon Slayer nodded, confirming what he had said. “King Grover saved my ancestors by helping them reach Warpla. He helped cover my ancestors tracks and prevented any griffon from within and outside of his kingdom from hunting us down and taking what little we had. My ancestors wanted to repay him and so gifted him with a treasure known as the Idol of Boreas. My ancestors believed he would be the king to unite the Griffons. Before King Grover would cut ties with my ancestors to ensure my tribe’s survival, he gave us his own gift. He wasn’t the most wealthy ruler or even griffon for that matter. But this coat, which he made out of his own feathers to the point where he almost lost the ability to fly, was given to my people. They gratefully accepted it and even wore it into battle, so that in a way, Grover would still be supporting us even long after. It also reminded us that even though many griffons did take the lands of my tribe long ago, there was one Griffon who stood by us.”
The others were surprised to hear such a story. Even Gallus was caught off guard by the weight of that coat’s history. He felt a bit guilty not listening to Dragon about it. Maybe he really should have listened to him about it.
“Wait a minute, if that thing’s a national treasure for your people, why’re you wearing it?” Smolder questioned.
“That’s due to my position, as I was trained and proven worthy to be trusted with such relics. I also wanted to use the symbol of trust to make friends. However, that may have been far too hopeful the more I noticed it only caused others to be wary of me.”
“Well I don’t think you need a coat to do that,” Gallus told him. “You should just be yourself, and thing’s will probably work out.”
Dragon smiled at Gallus as he gave some genuinely friendly advice. Gallus shrugs but no longer emanates the disdain he had for the human.
“I do prefer to have armor plating underneath this though.” Dragon commented.