The royal couple lay upon their bed, with Aegis on her back, and Eros next to her on his stomach, with his wing draped over her.
“Are you sure of this?” asked Aegis. It had been roughly two weeks since their first go at gender-swapped relations, and now Cadence – or rather, Eros – wanted to expand upon his research. He wanted to take it beyond the bedroom, and go out on a date in their current forms. “I'd rather not have to answer a million questions about this, or answer them while looking like this.”
“Have I ever steered you wrong before?” he asked, giving her a playful nudge with his muzzle.
“Yes. Yes you have.”
“Ok fine, have I steered you wrong in the past week?”
“Calender week or in the last seven days?”
“Aegis, come on. Please?”
She sighed. “I just don't know. It's one thing to be a mare for you but–”
“Hon, it'll go well. I promise.”
“There's no way you can promise that.”
“Fine, I'll do my absolute best to make your first date as a mare go great, that's what I promise. I even know what we can do for it.”
“Oh?”
“The fair.”
“I...” She facehooved. “Another one? It's been like what, a week since the last one?”
He shrugged. “Ten days, actually. What can I say, crystal ponies love fairs. Besides, it brings in tourists, so I'm not going to complain.” Eros pushed up, raising his upper body, and moving over a bit, until he was directly over her, almost nose to nose. She stared up, into his eyes. “What's the worse that'll happen? Some stallions getting jealous of me having such a beautiful wife?” He kissed her.
She grunted into his mouth and tapped him on the chest a few times to make him break it. “Just because I'm a mare doesn't mean I'm going to go mushy over every cheesy line.”
“Aegis, please? For me?”
“...fine.”
“Really?”
“If it means this much to you, I'll do it, but you owe me one.”
“You're the best wife ever. The girls at the spa will be waiting for you, and don't worry, they won't be shocked.”
“Oh, is that so,” she growled, her right ear twitching in annoyance.
“Heh, heh...” he laughed nervously. “I may have let it slip that we've done this before, and that I was planning this.”
***
She quietly, stealthily made her way through the few blocks that separated the palace from the city's spa. To help hide herself, she grabbed a black cloak before leaving. Along the way, she thanked lady luck for the fact that none of the other ponies noticed her, likely too busy preparing for the fair.
Aegis wasn't an idiot, she knew that this whole gender-bending thing between them was
going to get out eventually. If nothing else, the servants and guards would catch on, and rumors were bound to spread. Nonetheless, she would have preferred it to be a slow spread rather than having Eros – or was it Cadence at the time? – tell others all about it. He was going to have to do a lot in this date to get back in her good graces, and if he didn't, then somepony was going to spend the night on the couch. She groaned after that last thought.
Great. Now I'm beginning to think like a mare...
Aegis stopped in front of a large building – not overly tall, but quite wide, and likely went far back as well. She cracked open the door and stuck her head in, “Hello?” Inside was the main room, with a few of those things the customer's laid on. Aegis thought she heard Eros once call them a something table. All the attendees turned to her, making it very difficult to resist just leaving right then and there.
“Oh, Princess Aegis! We've been expecting you. Please, come in,” said the nearest one, a cream colored pony.
She cringed at the title princess, but decided to keep it to herself. Afterall, it technically was her title at the moment, and the pony was probably just trying to show proper respect for royalty. “...yeah, sure.” Aegis pushed open the door and entered, getting a better view of the place. With a sigh, she pushed the hood of her cloak back, finally fully revealing herself.
“Right this way, your highness,” said the cream pony, as she led Aegis into a backroom, one with its own table. One wall of the room was completely covered by a large mirror. “I thought you might like being back here, away from anypony that walks in.”
Aegis nodded in gratitude. “Thanks, Ms. um...”
“Bonna Fide, your highness.” She patted the table and motioned for Aegis to get on.
No sooner had Aegis lain on it, two other attendants came in, each holding a brush. “This is Marigold,” Bonna Fide pointed to the yellow one. “And this is Lace,” she pointed to the white one. They all got closer. “Now then, they're going to take care of your mane, tail, and fur; though it looks like they won't have much to do.” As Bonna Fide spoke, the others got to work. The feeling of them brushing her wasn't as uncomfortable as she expected. Aegis would go so far as think that it was actually relaxing.
Bonna Fide stayed in front of her, with a hoof on her chin, and had a look of concentration. If Aegis had to guess, she was appraising her appearance. “Your date is only a day out at the fair, so I don't think we'll have to break out any makeup.”
Thank Celestia for little victories, thought Aegis. It was obvious that Eros would eventually push Aegis into trying girlier things, but for now she was happy to ease into it.
“However, seeing as how it's your first date as a mare, we should pretty you up a bit. I'm sure Prince Eros would enjoy that, but what to do... Idea!” She rushed out of the room.
Aegis felt a pang of worry, but the soothing brush strokes melted it away in a hurry, and she happily leaned into them.
Ok, I can see why Cadence spends so much time here...
It wasn't long before Bonna Fide returned with a bottle of hoof polish – light-blue hoof polish to be precise. She sat it down next to Aegis. “Yep, same shade as your eyes. Perfect! Girls.” The other two stopped and backed away. “Roll over onto your side."
Aegis stared at the bottle, not moving.
“Princess, it's only a bit of polish. It won't hurt.”
“I know it won't hurt but...” She debated going through with it, and then looked at herself in the mirror. As much as she hated to admit it, the color probably would look good on her. “Alright. If you think it's a good idea, I'll trust you.”
“Attagirl.”
Aegis rolled onto her side, and the two assistants got to work. Lace grabbed one of her ankles, while Marigold started applying the polish her hoof.
“So Princess, has Prince Eros been a good husband so far?” asked Bonna Fide.
“Yeah, he's been pretty good in the role so far. I'd bet he got used to the form before he even tried bringing up the idea to me.” It was a cynical thought, sure, but she wouldn't put it past him. “But, he's been a gentlecolt for the most part.”
“Well, I just hope he hasn't picked up any bad habits yet?”
“Like what?”
“Well, like naming... it.”
Aegis looked up at Bonna Fide, tilting her head in confusion. “It? Naming what?”
“Ahem,” she looked away for a moment, obviously embarrassed. “His penis.”
Aegis rolled her eyes. “Oh come on, guys don't really do that.”
She giggled. “Oh really? Marigold, what did your last boyfriend call his?”
“Spire of Flesh,” she said, through clenched teeth as she continued holding the brush.
Aegis blinked a couple times, letting the words fully sink in. “You can't be serious.”
“She is. Let's see, when it comes to naming stuff, I once had a guy call his mustache a lovestache. Yes, he was being completely serious.”
The more she heard, the more she hoped that she wouldn't draw any male attention at the fair.
“Be thankful you have a nice stallion like Eros. Many, many mares would give a back hoof for a stallion like that.”
“Well, they can't have him,” Aegis answered rather quickly, then immediately closed her mouth, and blushed. She mentally chastised herself for getting upset at the thought.
“Aww, did someone get jealous? Don't like thinking of some other mare hitting on your husband?” joked Bonna Fide.
“Please don't tell Eros about that. He'd never let me live it down.”
She laughed. “Rubbing in something to embarrass his wife? Maybe he has picked up a few guy traits. You needn’t worry Princess, my lips are sealed.” She moved her hoof across her mouth, as if she was actually zipping her lips shut.
“We're done Princess,” said Marigold. She gave one of Aegis' hooves a tap, likely making sure that the polish was dry. “Go and ahead and check it out.”
Aegis hopped down off of the table, and turned towards the mirror. Her shapely, muscular legs now ended with blue hooves, perfectly matching her eyes, and going well with her darker-blue mane. Her mane was also improved, flowing down the back of her neck without any sign of a knot or out of place kink. “It looks nice,” she said.
Bonna Fide came up and put a leg around her shoulder. “You're very pretty as a mare, Princess Aegis. Eros will absolutely love it.”
“There is one thing I have to ask before leaving. Why don't you girls seem shocked by any of this? Your prince just walked in as your princess and you didn't bat an eye.”
“Cadence giving us fair warning probably helped, but also think about who our past ruler was.” Her assistants shuddered. “As our new rulers, and two of our heroes, you two could do just about anything, and we would take it in stride.”
Aegis hadn't really thought about that, and it was a good point. As long as neither she – nor Eros – abused their positions, the crystal ponies were unlikely to cast judgment on anything their rulers did in their spare time. She made a note to remind herself of that on future occasions.
***
Eros had been waiting for her outside of the spa, and now they were off to the fair.
“It looks nice on you,” said Eros, nodding to her painted hooves.
“Heh, thanks. Bonna Fide thought that it would.”
“She was right.” Eros got closer and wrapped his tail around hers, giving it a little tug. “It's also nice to see you not all covered up.”
“That was a bit silly, wasn't it?”
He nodded in response. They passed by a sign on their way into the fairgrounds. It read: Slippy's Games and Attractions.
“So, what should we do first?” asked Aegis.
“How about some games?”
It was as good of a place to start as any, and Aegis agreed. First up was Frog Flipper.
“Step right up, step right up!” said the pony running it, a purple stallion with a slug for a cutie mark. Aegis decided it was best not to ask the meaning behind it. “Flip a frog onto the lily pad and win a stuffed animal,” he called out in the typical loud and kind of obnoxious announcer voice. The game looked simple enough. There was a small seesaw set up not too far from a large container of water that had lily pads floating on the top. A sign with a diagram showed a pony hitting one side of the seesaw with a large mallet, flipping a frog into the water. Underneath was written: no magic allowed.
“What about you?” he asked, pointing to Eros. “Want to win a prize for the pretty filly?” Aegis let out an annoyed snort at the comment.
“Sure thing,” replied Eros. He nuzzled her. “Stay right here. I'll be back with your prize.”
It wasn't half bad to step back for once, and watch her partner be the one trying to win her something, rather than the other way around. A bit to the side of the setup was a booth filled with hanging stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes. Without giving it much thought, she glanced from one to the other, trying to pick out which she'd want to get.
She looked back just in time to see the purple pony set the frog onto the seesaw. It was no ordinary frog, for it wore a bowler hat, and was smoking a cigar. “Oh look at the big stallion with his big hammer. I'm shaking,” mocked the frog.
That is one rude frog, thought Aegis.
Eros gained a serious look to him, and took the mallet in mouth. He raised it up, swung it down, and slammed it into his end of the seesaw. The frog didn't move.
“I think I felt a breeze,” commented the frog.
Eros did it again, slamming down the hammer, and once again, the frog didn't raise up off his end at all.
“Hey Princess Pink, maybe you should let the misses do this for you. She might be able to swing harder than the average grandmother, unlike a certain someone.”
This was the final straw for Eros. He released the mallet from his mouth, and took hold of it with his magic, raising it high above his head.
“Eros, you aren't supposed to use magic,” called out Aegis, though he didn't seem to take notice.
In a flash, Eros brought down the hammer, smashing it into his end of the seesaw – the resulting sound wasn't unlike that of a cannon going off, and caused the end of seesaw to be shattered into a hundred or so pieces.
“Loserrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr –” shouted the frog, as it rocketed up into the sky. Aegis lost track of him, and his loud shout, after he pierced a cloud.
Using her years of experience as a military commander, Aegis constructed the best possible strategy in this situation: leave. Quickly. She tapped Eros – who was still staring up into the sky – on the side. “Sweetie, maybe we should check out the other games. Now.”
“Er, right. Yeah.” Eros turned to the pony who ran the game; the poor guy was just looking up, mouth agape. “Sorry.” With that, Eros trotted off, Aegis in tow.
The next few games pretty much ended with the same result, though there was remarkably less frogicide. First was the fish bowl game. Nearly everypony who has been to a fair has played this at least once in their life. The booth had a table in it with a ton of glass fish bowls on it, each with a relatively small opening. All you had to do was toss the ping pong ball, and try to get it into the bowl. His first attempt bounced off the edge of one and out of the booth. Second attempt was same as the first. On the third attempt, the ball circled around the edge of the bowl, came to a halt, and then fell to the side, between two of them.
Next came the dart game. Balloons were taped onto the back wall of the booth, and Eros tried to bust them with a dart. Not a single throw found its mark.
Finally they came upon the classic game of trying to knock over milk bottles with a ball. The bottles were stacked in the traditional way of two on the bottom and one on top. It was rigged, Aegis was sure of this. As were the last few, and likely every game in this fair. She would have been impressed at their audacity to try to con the city's rulers, but the more likely scenario was that the workers didn't recognize them. Rather than being angry at them though, – honestly, who goes to a fair expecting all the games to be on the up and up? – she was more disappointed in Eros for not recognizing this fact, or for perhaps thinking that he was going to be so good at the game, that it didn't matter.
Eros put his bits down on the front of the booth, and the worker handed him two balls.
He should be used to getting two balls by now, mused Aegis.
Eros threw the first ball, missing completely. The frustration was already starting to set in for him. He reared back, then threw the second as hard as he could. It hit the table in front of the bottles, bounced up, and nick the top one, causing it to rock back and forth, but it didn't fall. “Oh come on!”
“So close. Maybe try putting more force into it next time,” said the pony running the game.
The word force caught Aegis' attention immediately. Now was not the time to be telling Eros to put more force into, well, anything. She tapped at Eros' side. “Hey, I'm starting to get hungry. Let's go grab some funnel cakes or something.”
“Not right now. I think I have this figured out.”
He seemed so sure of himself, but she knew this was going to end in disaster, with the potential to destroy the entire booth. Desperate times called for desperate measures; she just hoped she could do this well. “Sweetie, please,” she said, and gave him a look similar to that of a lost puppy.
“Just two more –“ Eros froze in mid sentence when he turned to look at her. “I... um... well... Fine!” He covered his eyes. “Just stop with the big, sad eyes. Gah.”
“Sucks being on the other end of that, doesn't it?”
He nodded.
“Come on.” She started walking away, assured that he was following by the sound of his hooves on the grass.
After getting a bit away from the booth, and most other ponies in general, she turned back and glared at Eros. “Ok, seriously, what the hay is going on with you?”
He looked behind him for a second, then back at her, and pointed a hoof at himself.
“Yes you. You've been acting like the rear end of a mule ever since the first game.” Aegis turned to the left just in time to notice a mule passing by. “Er, no offense.”
“None taken,” said the mule, before wandering off.
“Was I really that bad?” asked Eros.
“You sent a frog into orbit,” said Aegis.
“...he deserved it.”
“He did, but that doesn't make it right. I've never seen you this competitive before.”
“I... I don't know. I just really didn't like losing in front of you for some reason. Especially not while also being insulted by that frog. I never acted this way before at fairs, right?”
“No.” A realization came to Aegis. “You've also never done it as Eros before. Maybe our minds are a bit different like this. Hormones and all that. Think about it, what guy likes to lose in front of his girlfriend, or wife, or whatever we're supposed to be when like this?”
“You, um, got a point. Plus, I may have been upset with myself.”
“Not like it was your fault that they're probably rigged.”
“But... I really wanted to win you something nice, and make this date special for you. Isn't that what a stallion is supposed to do for his mare at a fair?” His ears went down, and he stared at the ground. “I wanted to have that moment, and got so close to it, only to fail each time. It would have been great to see your eyes light up when I gave you the prize that I earned for you.”
Aegis stepped forward and nuzzled him.
“Honey?”
“You idiot. Yes, that would have been nice, but all I wanted was to have some fun.”
“And I probably ruined it, right?”
“The day isn't over, so you still have time to make it up to me. Alright?”
He nodded.
“Good.” Their moment got cut short by the sound of her stomach rumbling. She held a hoof to it, blushing in embarrassment. “And I wasn't lying about wanting to get something to eat.”
“You know, fair food is bad for you. The greasy stuff will go straight to your thighs.”
“Really?” she asked, and quickly looked down at hers, while Eros laughed. She glared at the ground for a second, then huffed, and walked away.
“Honey, I'm sorry. It was just a test. You know, for science? Honey?”
***
The royal couple continued walking around the fair and watching the different attractions. Aegis was happily chomping on the last of what used to be a big pile of greasy onion rings.
“Happier now?”
“Yes,” she said, before swallowing.
They were now passing the frog flipping booth again. The little seesaw was still broken at the one side, and would likely remain that way for the rest of the fair's stay.
“Should I um, go apologize for that?”
“You've probably spent enough money for them to get a new one. Don't worry about it.”
“Alright, I guess.” He started to laugh for a second.
“What is it?”
“I was just thinking, since they all got the chance to see my new masculine side, maybe I should show them how girly their weekend princess can get. Just a little ear nibble is all I need to do it.”
Aegis stepped away, protectively covering the ear closest to him. “You wouldn't dare.”
In truth, there weren't too many differences between Aegis and Shining, as both pretty much had the same base personality. The fact that she tended to blush easier, and somewhat enjoyed getting fawned over by the spa workers and Eros were two of the smaller ones. However, the most noticable difference was her new found ear fetish, as Eros liked to call it, much to Aegis' chagrin. All it took was a nibble from him on her ears, and she would melt.
Before he could answer, a strange sound caught her attention. It was coming from the sky above.
“Errrrrrrrrrrr,” came a yell.
It can't be.
She looked up, and spotted a small, frog like object falling from the sky. It came hurtling down into the tub of water, knocking about half of water out. As she got closer, she noticed that the bowler wearing frog – he must have lost his cigar somewhere in the stratosphere – was sitting dead center on a floating lily pad.
“Lucky shot,” said the frog.
The pony working the stand's jaw hit the ground. “You... you actually won,” he said.
“But I thought I wasn't allowed to use mag-oof.” Eros' last word was cut off by small jab to his ribs.
“What he means to say is that we'll take that red seapony.” She pointed it out to make sure the worker got the right one.
He grabbed it and gave it to Eros, who in turn gave it to Aegis, placing it on her back.
“Who's the man?”
“You,” Aegis answered, and kissed Eros on the cheek. Judging by his blushing, Aegis knew she caught him off guard with that.
“I am a bit surprised you would have had a prize already picked out. Guess that's something new with you while you're a mare.”
“Um, actually, I kind of always liked the story of The Little Seapony when I was younger.” Her cheeks went red again. It was times like these that she hated having white fur that wouldn't hide it at all.
“That's actually really cute. Though you didn't get one of the brushable Ariel figures, did you?” No answer came. “Oh Celestia, you totally did, didn't you?”
“...don't judge me.”