"Look at me." She inclined her head left and right slowly in the mirror, beholding the mare that looked back at her. "I am a tall slice of perfection."
Bluebelle nodded gently at the pegasus. "Do you wish for a new name? I can begin the paperwork for you."
"Hm? Hm... Aura Winds." She grabbed the mirror in a wing to get a new angle on herself. "And I don't mean to brag, but I look great! Look at me!"
Blue smirked softly. Some ponies were quite a bit pleased with what they saw in themselves afterwards. It was usually a good sign. "Very good, Aura winds it is." A floating pen scratched that need into being. "I'll have it announced in the papers as soon as possible, so everypony knows. Now, being a mare."
"Being a mare is fantastic." The old Zephyr Breeze, become Aura Winds, turned to Blue with a radiant smile. "I already love it. Do you think this will help my art at all? It could get even better! Oh, let me try." She advanced on Blue with questing hooves and sparkling eyes.
Blue danced back out of the way. "I don't even know what art it is you practice."
"Practice, huh..." She slowed to a halt with a frown. "I was a mane stylist for a little while, but gave up... Couldn't find myself there, no. I tried again with so many jobs." She sagged with the weight of it. "But maybe it wasn't the job that didn't fit me..."
"It was the rest of you." Blue nodded with a gentle smile. "But this does mean you have to find what you prefer to do, as your ideal self."
"Right! Right... Hm..." The idea of that seemed to be of greater weight than Aura had first thought it'd be. "Flutter?"
Quiet in the corner, Fluttershy jumped to life. "Hm? Yes?"
"Sister! Oh, we're both sisters now... odd. Um, sister... would you help me find the job that fits the new me?"
Fluttershy smiled nervously at the idea. "I am happy to help... by contributing a few bits to help keep you solvent for a little while as you explore."
"Aw." She stuck out her tongue at Fluttershy. "The old me is gone! This is the new me." She turned left and right, showing off her mare curves at Fluttershy. "Check this out!" She set aside the borrowed mirror. "What do ya think, mane stylist, or guard?" She waggled her brows. "Sexy guard."
Fluttershy snorted with a little smile. "Aura, that is your name now?" Her sister nodded eagerly. "Aura Winds." Fluttershy seemed to test the name in her mouth. "It is nice to meet you, again... Now, I should note, being a comely mare comes with expectations. I should know! Ponies have tried to take advantage of me before, and they will to you too."
Aura perked her ears at her sister. "Look at you, dispensing the wisdom." But she didn't deny the words or tell Fluttershy to stop. "Please, go on."
"You two appear to be getting along." Blue was gently nudging the siblings out. There were other ponies to see to. "Pay attention to your sister. She's been a mare for longer and has good advice, I should think. She's also a champion for standing at your side as you face this rather gigantic step."
Fluttershy blushed gently as she started moving at Aura's side. "I couldn't leave them, especially right now. I... hope this helps..." She didn't finish her thought.
Which was not a place that satisfied Aura. "Go on." They were outside the room, walking through Canterlot. "What were you saying?"
"Um, a few things." Fluttershy extended a wing to wrap around her new sister. "You have the family gene. Mares of our family are lookers, and ponies will be drawn to that, for good and for bad. You can't just give them all what they want, or there won't be anything left for you. I've... experienced that before, so please take my word."
"Listening." Which she was, mostly. Her eyes were wandering from thing to thing and she was flashing a big smile at anypony that looked in her direction. That she was not Fluttershy was hard to miss.
"I'm serious!" Fluttershy shook the new mare with her folded wing. "You want the space to be all the Aura Winds you want to, don't you?"
"Wha? Yeah, of course!" She inclined her head. "Why wouldn't I want that?"
"Then you have to stand up for yourself, which, I know, sounds odd to you. It's how..." Fluttershy raised a hoof to her face. "Maybe I'm talking to the wrong pony about this, but it's different! This isn't just about what you want, but avoiding what other ponies might want for you and knowing the difference."
"Lost me." Aura leaned in on her sister. "Can you rephrase that?"
Fluttershy went red with frustration, but it melted away quickly with a startled gape at Aura. "You really want me to?"
"Please?" Aura set a hoof on Fluttershy's near shoulder. "I don't get it, but you care. You've always been the one pony to tell it to me straight, so... rephrase?"
Fluttershy smiled gently with newfound strength. "Alright then. Um, your house is near here, isn't it?"
"Yeah." She inclined her head in that direction. "A few blocks that way, but I may not need it if I'm learning at your hooves a little while. Besides, I was a guard there. Am I still a guard? Is sexy guard a thing? It should be." She primped her mane more than technically required. "I'll knock their horseshoes off."
"I doubt the guards are looking for that." Fluttershy went with her towards her home, even if it was possibly temporary. "They're usually busy guarding things and keeping laws. Do you want to watch things or keep laws?"
"No."
Fluttershy jerked at how direct that statement was. "Then why did you become a guard?"
"I was hoping it'd help me find... me, you know?" She waved up at her new self. "But I didn't think me could be a whole gender away! Shoot."
"Shoot?" Fluttershy perked an ear at Aura. "What's wrong?"
"I need dating advice, and you're kinda bad at that, sis."
Fluttershy blushed brightly. "Oh, ummm..." She did, in fact, have little advice to offer in that arena. "Don't bother Rainbow Dash."
Aura waved that right away. "I have to show her the new me and give her a fresh shot. Maybe she likes mares." Aura leaned in, brows waggling suggestively. "I'm not against being with her that way if she likes it. A nice athletic mare like that is worth a small price." She clicked her tongue with a little whistle, making it clear she would be happy chasing Rainbow as a mare or a stallion.
Fluttershy giggled at the idea, but... "Rainbow has a girlfriend she is very happy with."
Aura's eyes went wide. "What? Oh... Oh wow! No... wonder she kept brushing me off... Why didn't she tell me?! I would have... She must think I'm a real heel. How long?!"
Fluttershy rolled her eyes. "Aura, that doesn't matter. You were chasing her before and during. You never stopped, and she knows it."
"And respects my tenacity?" Aura flashed her teeth in a grin.
"Not exactly..." Fluttershy gestured at Aura's apartment building. "Here we are. Now, you can make a new life for yourself. I don't mind lending a hoof to my... sister in her time of need, but I won't hold you up. If you have questions, please ask." She sank to her haunches. "You will need to stand up for yourself, but not gallop over other ponies, either."
"You're making this tricky." Aura chuckled softly as she sat by Fluttershy. "Flutter, I... know I don't always... You're my sister! I respect that." She put a hoof on her chest. "Even if I'm your sister too now. That only makes it more! Don't go running off. Show me how to mare it up!" She fluffed up her cheeks with light touches of her hooves. "Do you know anything about what to wear?"
"Like makeup?" Fluttershy looked over at Aura quickly. "I thought... you liked the natural look." Aura still had some of the scraggly edges as evidence of how she had lived before.
Aura leaned in all the closer, lashes fluttering. "With a face like this? Show me! I had a ruggedly handsome stallion face. That worked with the unshorn handsomeness." She cradled her face with her hooves. "But, as a mare, I'm... like you! We look better when we take the time to look better. I saw those pictures of you." She hopped up to all fours with a big smile. "So I know you've done it."
Fluttershy went dark quickly. "You saw those? Oh, my... Zep...Aura, that was an uncomfortable part of my life. Dressing that way isn't me." She withdrew a careful step. "I like the natural look, minus a tasteful dress for a special occasion."
Aura fluttered her lashes with a grin. "So you liked the way I looked before better?"
Flutter threw her hooves wide. "You are impossible!" But she was smiling despite that. "Alright... Alright... It may not be the way I like to treat me, but you're not me."
"Sure not." Aura had no arguments about that line of logic. "Love you anyway."
"I love you too." They touched noses a brief moment before Fluttershy got to a spirited trot. "This way. Now, when picking makeup, you have to look for..." Fluttershy, for all her complaints about it, was a fount of knowledge. She had listened when the artists went over her, at least enough to pass on the basic to Aura.
Aura was soon seated before a new mirror in a new shop. She had a thin layer of makeup applied, fluffing it into place further with gentle touches. "How do I look? Don't answer that! Fantastic is the answer."
Fluttershy giggled as she reached around her sister to brush away some of the makeup where it was thickest. "You're too eager to put this on. It's lovely, but you're not trying to hide what you have. You want to bring attention to the best parts." She worked with the selection Aura had made to redo the touchups. "Like... that."
"Huh, wow..." Aura gazed fondly at the new vision of herself. "You're right. I'm really rocking it." She reached for a wet rag and casually cleaned herself down to her naked fur. "I got it!" And she went right back to work. She didn't brush her cheeks at all, instead working on her eyes to enhance her eyelashes subtly for her winking and wagging while leaving the rest of her mostly alone. "How's that?"
Fluttershy clapped eagerly. "Subtle, I like it." She hopped up to her hooves. "But how do you feel? You're the most important pony here when it comes to how you look."
"You are the best." Aura hooked one arm around Fluttershy, but it was only a moment. "Since we're here..." She wandered off to start gabbing at the mare on duty, not in an attempt to pick her up, but to sharpen her look. She soon had a band across her mane to hold her hair back. It was still a little wild, especially towards the back. That was her look, and she wasn't abandoning it.
She was still her, just a happier her. "I'm ready to meet the world." Aura stood proudly before Fluttershy. "Again. Um, really, thanks, Flutters. You've been the best sibling I could ask for."
Fluttershy settled the tab at the counter without being asked. "Are you sure you're alright with... all this? This seemed sudden."
"It was sudden." She tucked away the thing that belong to her with the purchase. "But I feel more confident by the moment. I'm the best me, and it's at least partially thanks to your help." She glanced away and back. "You sure I can't at least try with Rainbow? I'm not opposed to sharing if she's into that."
Fluttershy slapped a hoof over her face. "She will hit you, mare or not."