In the living room of the dorms, a collection of makeup, mascara, and other cosmetics was laid out on the floor. Silverstream was getting the eyelash curler and using it on Yona’s eyelashes. The lashes elegantly curl showing a significant difference compared to the other unworked eyelash which seemed shorter in comparison.
“Wow! These bristles actually do make them look very different!” Ocellus commented.
“I know, right?” Silverstream nodded in agreement. She took a mirror and showed Yona her reflection. “What do you think, Yona?”
“Yaks are pretty before, but this makes Yona prettier!” She stated as she blinked at the mirror.
Suddenly, a claw raises high to get their attention. “Uh, question: Why the heck am I doing here?” Smolder questioned them.
“Well, since we’re having a girl’s night, we wanted you to be here!” Ocellus explained.
“And Smolder is a girl too!” Yona reminded her.
A hand raises to get the three’s attention this time. “Then why am I here?” Valiant questioned. “I’m not a girl.”
Yona looks at Silverstream and Ocellus as they give an awkward smile at him. “Well, we wanted to get your opinion on some of the make up,” Silverstream claimed.
“They’re colorful,” He answers immediately.
“Well, when we put them on,” Ocellus says as she picks up the mascara in preparation of application.
“Do you really need my opinion?” Valiant questioned once more. The two nodded earnestly, making him sigh and stay where he is.
Smolder and Valiant watch the three with bored expressions on their face as they try to apply the make up onto themselves. They fiddled with mascara, eyeliners, powders, blush, and even lipstick. Smolder was becoming half asleep as Valiant waited for them to finish up. When Silverstream noticed the sleeping Smolder, she commented on it. “Smolder’s not really getting into this, huh?”
“It’s weird, I remember she’d be interested in something like this,” Ocellus mentioned.
“Yona has an idea!” she announced, holding up a brush. “Let’s put makeup on Smolder!”
The girls smiled in a mischievous manner, carefully readying their equipment and giving the dragon a makeover. Valiant watched uncomfortably at Silverstream and Ocellus as they applied the makeover without consent, but he soon had his own worries to tend to as Yona approached him as well with a brush in hand.
“Don’t worry Valiant! Yona does makeover on Valiant too! Prepare to be prettier!”
He clenched his teeth as he pulled back a bit at the approaching doom before him.
Valiant looked in the mirror and admitted to himself that Yona did a pretty good job with the makeover. She didn’t get anything in the eye and everything remained symmetrical. Even the lipstick wasn’t smudged, mostly because he didn’t move very much. He begins washing it off as Smolder waits her turn with her face being full of cosmetics as well.
“Hurry up in there,” Smolder groaned.
Valiant finishes up and turns to the decorated dragon. “I’m thankful you let me use your bathroom to wash this off.”
“No problem,” she smirks at him. “Though, it’s mostly because you and I were on the same boat back there.”
Smolder takes her turn as Valiant leaves the bathroom. His face was still wet and so he began searching for the towel. None was around however.
“Smolder,” He calls. “Where are your towels?”
She says something, but her voice emits sounds of water gurgling as she rubs her face. Valiant sighs as he begins searching nearby. He spots the closets and assumes the towels are in there. As he opens the door, he sees it. Something he didn’t expect Smolder to have. Suddenly, the door to the closet is slammed shut as Smolder glares daggers at him.
“What are you doing?” She asks menacingly, despite a twinge of red showing on her face.
“I was looking for a towel,” He claims in his defense.
Smolder opens the door slightly and reaches in to pull a towel out of it. Giving it to Valiant, she interrogates him further.
“What did you see in there?”
“I saw clothes,” he answers honestly.
Her face reddens even more as she begins making excuses out of nowhere. “J-Just so you know! Those aren’t mine! They’re Rarity’s! I’m just holding onto them for her!”
“Why would Rarity have you hold onto them when she has her own storage for outfits in the school?” he questioned suspiciously. “And why are all of the clothes for bipeds?”
“I-I don’t know, ask Rarity!”
Valiant sighs at her. “You know, there’s nothing wrong having your own dresses, Smolder.”
Smolder spontaneously began screaming at him, red of rage or flush with embarrassment. She then pushes the human boy out of her room. “Get out! Get out! Get out!”
Valiant was kicked out of the Dragon’s room. Completely befuddled by the events, he leaves Smolder as she was, not wishing to anger her anymore.
“And that’s what happened...” Valiant explained. “I was hoping to ask you for advice since it seems personal and she doesn’t want the others to know about it as well. She didn’t even look at me during classes.”
Starlight tapped her hooves together, nodding in understanding. Valiant came to her office after school after sensing the issue between him and Smolder had not disappeared. Thinking about what she has to go on, she gives him her take on it. “Well, I’m glad you respected her privacy on the matter and came to me since you’re concerned for her. I would say that Smolder is likely keeping those a secret because she doesn’t want to expose them to the public, even to her friends.”
“So, she’s hiding in the closet?”
“Please don’t phrase it like that.” She warns him, holding his hand with her hoof. “Anyways, you may want to check up on her and clear the air. It doesn’t seem serious, but be cautious of her feelings. At this time, she may attempt to hide them from you. Maybe talk to her tomorrow to let things cool off?”
Taking the counselor’s advice, Valiant decided to think about how to talk to Smolder over what had happened. He wanted to make things right and assure her that he’ll keep what he saw a secret. For now, he decided to go home and continue his studies. On the way however, he happens to see the dragon herself, flying back to the school. Confused why she was in town, he looked to the road she came from and walked down it. At the end of the path, he sees a large and elegant looking building with a purple roof. Curious, he knocked on the door and heard a familiar voice.
“Come in~!” Rarity sung from the other side.
Valiant opens it and sees his professor, currently measuring an equine dress. She turns to see her student give a somewhat surprised look.
“Miss Rarity, you own this establishment?”
“Yes, I do,” She answers him with a proud and refined smile. “I also have a store in other places like Manehattan as well.”
“That’s quite an accomplishment.” Valiant comments as he looks around the room to see mannequins equipped with designs and clothes. “How often do you get customers?”
“Quite often,” she replied. “Why?”
“It’s just that there are so many ponies that don’t wear clothes, I was surprised you were able to open a boutique here.” He explains.
“Ah, well, there are times where such festivities call for dressing and there are ponies who wish to wear something because they personally like to dress themselves often in their own image.”
“I guess I know where I fall into,” he noted as he walked around the room. As he looked at the designs, he noticed a peculiar set on the table. Upon closer inspection, they weren’t meant for a pony. One of them seemed vaguely familiar. “Miss Rarity, what are these clothes?”
She looks to see Valiant eying a particular set and frowns at them. “Ah, yes, a certain lady returned them even after she displayed such thrill once they were finished.”
Valiant squints at them, eventually realizing that he saw them before in the closet in Smolder’s room. “Do these belong to Smolder?”
“Ah, so you can tell?” Rarity sighs. “She just came in today and returned them, saying she doesn’t want them anymore.”
“Why would she do that?”
“I don’t know, darling. It doesn’t seem my place or the time to pry on it, but maybe with time, she’ll open up and talk about it.”
Valiant had a strange feeling that wouldn’t shake off. A certain feeling of unease that stuck onto his back like gum. He would spend the night at home at what it was that left him with this sensation that urged him to confront Smolder even sooner.
The next day after class, Smolder left the room to head to her next one. On the way, she sees Valiant standing by, waiting for her.
“Oh, hey,” she greets.
“Smolder, I wanted to talk about the other day,” Valiant tells her.
“You don’t need to worry about that,” she waves to him in decline. “I’ve gotten rid of them, okay? So just forget about it.”
“But why?” Valiant wondered. “Why’d you even had the dresses in the first place?”
Smolder immediately covered Valiant’s mouth as she showed her fangs at him. “Don’t say that word here!”
Valiant swipes away her claw and questions her further. “Is it something you want to keep secret from the public? Even your friends?”
“What does it matter!?” Smolder questions. “What I do is my business!”
“I understand that, and if you want to keep it to yourself, then fine. But why throw away something that you like?”
Smolder scoffs at him with a chuckle. “You think I like those frilly things? I’m a dragon, Valiant. We’re fearsome! We like to be awesome. Not get held down by silly things like dresses and tea parties.”
“What’s this about tea parties?”
“NEVERMIND THAT. Look, the point is, that’s just who I am. I’m sure you understand. You’re a warrior! You like being tough and I dig that about you.”
Valiant held his chin, considering what she had said. He didn’t have much to argue against that, but it felt like there was something missing about that. “That’s not the only thing you like about me as a friend.”
“Huh?” Smolder responded, confused. “Oh, well, I guess you’re fun to talk to. You’re nice and stuff.”
“And do you really find those to be warrior traits?”
“Look, what do you want me to say?! I thought you wanted to say sorry or whatever about the thing in the closet.”
“I’m just saying there’s nothing wrong with liking a dress-”
“I TOLD YOU TO STOP TALKING ABOUT IT!” She scolds him, placing her claw onto her face in a tired response. “Besides, what do you know about it? You’re a boy. You don’t wear those frilly things anyways.”
“Is that really the issue?”
Smolder rolls her eyes, tired of this conversation. “Look, it’s just weird when a dragon like me or a human warrior like you get tied up on this fru-fru stuff. It’s not our thing and we ought to stick to what makes us who we are.” The dragon walks past Valiant, hoping that would satisfy his interrogation. “Class is gonna start. I gotta go.”
After she leaves, Valiant is left at another part of the dilemma he needs more insight into. Unfortunately, when he checked on Starlight, students were coming in and asking for advice. He needs someone to talk to that might understand her feelings. Someone he could talk to outside of the circle of friends and who he can rely on for their advice.
“Smolder said all of that?” Fluttershy responded with surprise upon her face.
Valiant confirmed it with a nod. He sits drinking tea with Fluttershy and her Draconequus friend, Discord.
“Honestly,” Discord groans in discontent. “How could you bring your problems to your teacher during her time off? With me no less?”
“My apologies, Mr. Discord.” Valiant bows as he holds up the teapot to him. “More tea?”
“Well, yes, thank you,” He takes up his offer. The tea is gently poured into his cup with careful elegance.
“It sounds to me that Smolder is repressing herself from doing what she wants,” Fluttershy states to him.
“I don’t understand why, though...” Valiant says dejected, looking down at his inability to understand.
Discord sighs and decides to throw the poor kid a bone. “Listen here strudels, it’s because of her self identity.”
“Self identity?” Valiant repeated.
“Yes! She perceives herself as a mighty dragon! I’m sure you know of those tales. Of flying, scaled beasts that breath fire and can wreak havoc! Just like how your identity is of a buff and tough warrior who handles a sword as well as I can handle my chopsticks!” Discord finishes with him spinning a pair of chopsticks out of nowhere and using them to hold the handle on his teacup, taking a sip.
“I handle a blade pretty well, but I don’t see myself as only a warrior,” Valiant claims. “At least, not anymore.”
“What you see yourself as isn’t the issue, but might help with the solution!” Discord tells him, catching his attention. “The issue is that this Smolder friend of yours sees herself as a mighty dragon who doesn’t dabble in dresses just like how she sees you, a strong human warrior, probably wouldn’t dabble in tea parties.”
Valiant looks at the tea set before him and what he’s currently participating with Fluttershy and Discord. “But that’s not true.”
“And that’s what you need to prove to her!” Discord exclaims with his paw and talon out, leaving the tea and chopsticks to float in midair. “You need to prove to her that she can have a gentle side even if she is a mighty dragon!”
“And how would I do that?” Valiant asked.
“By showing her that even you can have a gentle side that goes against the identity of being a rough and tough warrior!”
Valiant ponders at this. It seems to make sense to him and the way the logic of it correlates with how Smolder has been acting. “I want to help her, but I don’t think I’m creative enough to act on that solution.”
“Well, I can help with the creativity,” Discord claims as he has an eerily sinister smile about him.
“Smolder has been acting kind of down lately,” Ocellus told Silverstream. “She didn’t even want to walk around Ponyville yesterday with me.”
“I’ve noticed that too. I hope she’s alright,” Silverstream shared her worries. She turns to see her human friend approaching the school entrance. “Oh, Hi Valiant-”
The two paused and saw Valiant with long brown hair, groomed in beautiful waves reaching his shoulders. His dress comes in the form of a white school uniform with a lavender collar and a purple ribbon wrapped around it. His matching lavender skirt comes with white frills and his purple shoes comes with white stockings covering his smooth legs reaching up to his knees.
“Hello, my friends,” he speaks in a light tone and well mannered voice.
Ocellus and Silverstream’s jaws drop and their eyes almost fall out at the shocking image they saw before them.
Smolder was resting head on her arm in her seat. She was much more out of it than usual. The class was still much the same, but she seemed to distance her mind elsewhere.
“Hey, are you alright?” Gallus asked, concerned for his friend. “You’ve been kind of out of it these past few days.”
“Huh? Oh, you know...” Smolder sighed.
Sandbar and Gallus looked at each other with concerned expressions. Twilight tapped the board with her levitating chalk and was starting class.
“Alright everyone! Please be seated so we can begin today’s lesson,” She announces. The classroom door opens, and Twilight turns to see Valiant. “Ah, you came just in tiiiiiiiiii-”
The teacher’s mouth slowly opened wide and was clearly stuck on the vowel of time. The class looks at Valiant who looks like a brand new female human transfer student! But his eyes and hair gave them the hint that it was really Valiant.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” he says in his extremely convincing feminine voice.
Gallus and Sandbar looked away, hiding their embarrassing blushes. The rest of boys of the class were covering their faces and trying to look away while the mares were talking amongst themselves on how cute Valiant was. Smolder stared at him, completely perplexed by what was going on.
Spike kept staring at Valiant before going behind the desk, taking a break from what he was seeing. Twilight smiles the best she can muster as she tries to continue the class, seeing how Valiant was taking this new dress code in stride.
“U-Um… Good to have you in class with us, Valiant,” she says with a quivering voice.
“For when I’m like this...” he speaks with angelic softness in his chords. “May you call me, Valerie?”
Some pony fainted as the class were strangely fascinated by Valiant’s sudden change in behavior. Twilight did her best hiding her confusion as she tried her best to get class rolling.
During lunch, Smolder receives her tray of food and moves towards a table to sit at. As she wanders by the tables, she notices Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie talking with Valiant.
“WHOA!” Rainbow exclaims, looking at him from head to toe. “What happened to you!?”
“Do you like it?” Valiant asks, twirling his hair while looking away. Rainbow’s face contorted, trying desperately hard to process the sudden change in behavior from the day prior. Pinkie was however more welcoming to this side of Valiant he was showing to everyone.
“You look so pretty!” Pinkie complimented the crossdressing boy. “I really like how you look, Valerie!”
“Thank you,” his words felt like they were puffy clouds fluffing themselves against Pinkie and Rainbow. He bows slightly to them with a respectful bow. “I appreciate your kind words.”
Pinkie Pie giggled while Rainbow Dash looked away, not wanting to be weirdly affected by whatever Valiant was doing. Smolder just stood there, staring at him with a blank face and an eye twitch before snapping her food tray in half.
“DARLING!” Rarity exclaims in the middle of class. “You… look… so fabulous!”
“Do you think so?” he asked with the tips of his fingers covering his mouth in his slight gasp.
“YES!” she further emphasizes her passionate analysis upon the dress and his appearance. “Your hair! The makeup! The dress even goes well with your ruby eyes!”
“Uh, Miss Rarity?” Smolder spoke with a dejected tone. “Shouldn’t we get back to class?”
“This is class, darling!” Rarity claimed as she brought Valiant in front for all of the class to see. “Pay attention to the careful consideration Valerie here has presented to us! The way he shows himself with proper posture and etiquette allows him to almost naturally talk with all kinds of ponies and other creatures!”
Smolder slams her head on her desk, absolutely defeated by this insanity.
Valiant finished with classes for the day and began to head home. He walks by a few ponies who recognize him and casually wave to him, doing their best to ignore how strangely attractive he was. As he continues his stroll, he’s suddenly grabbed and carried away by Smolder. The young dragon few quickly brought him through the school and into the dorms. She dragged him to her room and locked the door behind her, leaving the two of them alone.
“What do you think you’re doing!?” She questioned him, pointing angrily at the feminine human.
“Please don’t be rough with me...”
“AND WOULD YOU STOP TALKING LIKE THAT!?!?” she scolded at him with incredible fury. “Are you trying to mock me!?”
Valiant returned to his normal voice and asked, “What’s wrong with what I’m doing? I’m only wearing a dress and talking differently.”
“Why!? Are you making fun of me!?” She accused him.
“I thought of trying it for myself,” he claimed.
“But that’s not you! I know that you wouldn’t actually do this on your own!”
“How would you know what I would do on my own or not?” He questions with a frown of his own.
“Because you’re a dude. A warrior dude at that!”
“So? I can’t like dresses too?”
Smolder slaps her face in frustration. “There’s no way humans guys wear frilly clothes like that! And I know for a fact that warriors like you are tougher than that! And cooler! Not some fru-fru pretty boy.”
“People like me don’t wear dresses?” he asks.
“Exactly! You fight and take on tough challenges! You can scare your enemies just by looking at them!”
“... And handle a blade and do it for the honor of my tribe?” he finishes with a somewhat softer, non-feminine tone
“Yes!” Smolder says, finally thinking he’s getting the same wavelength. “Exactly that!”
“And I suppose you prefer when I don’t make that ridiculous smile when I eat sweets? Or hold off the food you’ve all introduced me to? Or go back to training and honing my skills to myself and stop spending time with all of you? Or just go back to the time I was Dragon Slayer?” His voice raised bit by bit, almost scolding the young dragon.
Smolder tenses up upon hearing that and looks down to the corner. “No, I… I didn’t mean that.” she tells him earnestly, looking at him with honest eyes.
“I know, Smolder,” He tells her in a comforting tone. “And I want you to know that meeting you all has made me more happy than I would never have guessed. I didn’t think I needed it or wanted it, but you showed me that there’s no shame in finding happiness for myself.”
Smolder looks down, thinking about her own source of happiness. She groans and stomps in frustration. “I get it, you want me to wear a dress! But I don’t want to do that out in public! And it’s NOT because I don’t have the guts!”
“No, Smolder,” Valiant tells her. “I was never asking you to do that. If you want to wear dresses, you can choose the time or place. If you want to burn it away, that’s up to you too. But you ought to do it because it makes you happy, and you’re allowed to do it on your own terms. No one is going to make you do otherwise, and if anyone makes fun of you or be as bad, I’ll be there to support you.”
Smolder felt a smidge of comfort hearing that. But something in her pride kept fighting her desires. “It’s just… Not a dragon thing! I don’t know what humans are like. Maybe you really do have guys and girls running around in dresses! But that’s not what dragons do.”
Valiant looks at her trying to go against the dresses not from her own free will, but from the peer pressure her culture enforces on her. Valiant finally understood what had bothered him so much earlier. Smolder was aligning her dragon heritage to determine how she acts and feels around the matter. While something in the past must have occurred to make her brave enough to acquire her own choice of clothing, she hasn’t fully committed herself to her own passions. It was similar to how his own culture determined who he is under the title.
Valiant sits down on her bed and asks her, “Did you know what kind of tales my people would speak about dragons?”
Smolder glanced to his direction, wondering where he was going with this. She sat on the bed next to him and listened to what he had to say.
“Tales they told little kids about how the dragons were mighty, fearsome beings. About how they can topple entire towns and burn everyone at once with their fiery breath. They told me about how dragons plundered the riches with ease and were one of the most powerful creatures in the world. They were strong and many dragons my great ancestors faced were confident and tough against their foes.”
Smolder raised an eyebrow, now sure what he was trying to do. “Um… What’re you hoping to tell me here?”
Valiant looked to Smolder before getting his school bag and placing it on his lap. “Well, what my people didn’t tell me was that dragons can be kind, loyal, and genuinely good friends to be around.”
Smolder was still as Valiant continued his thoughts. “They didn’t tell me they can be strong regardless of their size. They didn’t tell me that dragons have fun jokes to tell me and how a dragon could end up being my first companion to help me through my difficult integration to a new land. And I’m sure there’s a lot more I can deduce that they haven’t told me because they didn’t get to know this dragon.”
“... And what’s your deduction?”
“That she doesn’t need a dress to know she has a beautiful heart,” Valiant tells her. “But I have a good feeling she’d look pretty nice in one too.”
Smolder’s face blushes immensely before she quickly turns away and crosses her arms.
“W-Well! It’s not like it matters anymore! I gave my clothes back to Rarity, so I’ll have to pick them up later!”
Valiant grinned some as he opened his bag to reveal that he has the dresses Smolder had left behind. “Actually… I went and got your clothes for you. I was sure you wanted them back.”
Smolder looks at the bag before giving an annoyed look at him. She takes the dresses from his bag and inspects them. As she checks each one, she finds some unfamiliar dresses amongst the collection.
“Wait, these aren’t mine...” Smolder pointed out.
“No, I had them made for you,” Valiant informed her. “I remember back then, you helped pick out my clothes too. So, I thought I’d do the same for you.”
Smolder looks at one purple dress with a yellow lining complimenting the colors. A soft green dress that's puffy and full of frills. The last one was…
“Do you like it?” Valiant wondered. “I tried to pick colors you might like...”
Smolder looks at the last dress, wondering how it would look. She turns to Valiant and asks, “Would you… mind seeing how I would look in it?”
Valiant paused for a moment before giving a reassuring smile. “Sure.”
Smolder goes into her closet, putting on the new dress. Her knees are twitching and she’s sweating, being very nervous about what she was about to do.
‘What am I doing!?’ she thought to herself. ‘I don’t need to do this! He said it himself! Ugh… Would it be too late to tell him to go home?’
“Are you done changing in there?” Valiant asked.
“Don’t rush me!” She scolds him. Sighing, she emerges from the closet and shows her scarlet red dress. In good lighting, it has a distinct glimmer to it despite the simplicity of its design. Sleeveless, no frills, and shows the essence of the body more than other puffier dresses. The dress came with a pair of high heels and even came out wearing some blue eyeshadow and mascara as well.
“Wow... ” Valiant muttered.
“W-Well!?” She stammered. “W-What do you think!?”
“You look gorgeous,” he tells her. “And...”
“And…?” She whispers, her wings shaking in anticipation.
“You’re still a mighty dragon and wonderful companion,” he reminds her. “It’s okay you’re going to hide this side of you, but don’t hide it from yourself. It’s a burden to deny such a beautiful side of you.”
Smolder’s face turns red as her smile quivers and tears run down her face, ruining her mascara. She tries to hold herself together, but begins to cry after Valiant embraces her in comfort. As the dragon in the dress accepts this part of herself, her chest warms up as she gets close to the human in the dress.
“Ooooh! So that’s why Valiant was wearing a dress!” Twilight realized before taking another sip of her tea. Discord smiled, hearing about his work while Fluttershy was just happy that everything worked out.
“Wasn’t it sweet of him to go through all of that for his friends?” Fluttershy spoke so proudly of Valiant.
“The way the young lad was able to take the dress in stride was such a delight!” Discord chortled. “I can only imagine how fun it must have been when everyone saw that cute little outfit I made for him!”
“It’s good to know what’s been going on with the sudden shift like that! You must have also changed the way he talked and posed to make him look convincing!” Twilight sighed, finally having an answer to the strange behavior he presented.
“What?” Discord responded with confusion. “I only gave him a dress and made his hair a little longer.”
Twilight and Fluttershy stared at Discord as silence flooded the room.