"Sorry, I'm just bemoaning the inconvenience. It's really not that big a deal," Arcana said "I just hoped it wouldn't happen when talking to a cute mare," She spoke under her breath.
"Hmm? What was that?" Taffy asked, raising an eyebrow somewhat coyly, "Is mumbling another effect of this curse?"
Blushing a bit, she said, "I said I thought you're cute." She takes a long breath to gather her nerves. "At least I'll be able to change back after a couple hours"
"Aw, shucks," Taffy said, blushing, and pushing back her mane. "You don't look too bad yourself; do you have to turn back? I mean, were you a stallion before the curse?"
"Yes, I was a stallion before the curse, and thank you" She blushed a bit deeper. "And the reason I have to turn back is that my voice is different in this body. And I'm expected as a stallion today." She looks toward the city. "There are still good things about being a mare though," Arcana said with a smile.
"Well, I've never been a stallion, but I'm glad you find our gender acceptable," Taffy said jokingly. "So how'd you end up cursed anyway?" She inquired, "You irritate a zebra or something?"
Arcana looks up in thought, "It happened when I was colt. Without going into too much detail. There was a dark magic ring in the magic school of West Los Pegasus. I was in the wrong place in the wrong time." She looks seriously at her, "Long story short, spell backlash with Random effects. Looking back at it, I got really lucky." She levitates the coffee cup to the counter and thanks them. "I'm just hoping the Princess could do something."
Taffy's eyes widened "You've been switchin' about like this for that long? Don't it get confusing?" She shook her head, "Well I hope you get to Canterlot, and that the Princess can do something for you. I'd be happy to help anyway I can," she offered.
"Thanks for the offer. I really do appreciate it." Arcana gets up from her seat. She looks to Taffy inquisitively. "You wouldn't mind hanging out, would you? You're the friendliest pony I've met today," She said a bit hopeful. "You wouldn't know how to fix a speaker, would you?"
"Yes and yes." Taffy replied, grinning. "I'll tell you what; I'll fix your speaker if you buy me a drink; I've got a bit of a cashflow problem at the moment. In that I don't have any." She shrugged and blushed a little.
"Certainly, it would be the gentlecolt thing to do," Arcana agreed to the terms and scanned the menu and her bit-jar. "What would you like?" She asked.
"Hmm, I'll have a hot chocolate with extra whipped cream please; but first, where's this speaker?" She asked, looking around.
Arcana goes up the to the counter and orders two drinks. She pays the the bits she owes, "It will take a bit of time for the hot chocolate to be made, as for where the speaker is. It's in my cart." She sits back down on the cushion.
"You have a cart? That mus' be nice," Taffy stared into space longingly. "I have to carry all my stuff in these," She said, kicking the saddlebags she'd put under the table. Putting them on, she turned to Arcana: "Wanna take me to your cart? I'll bet I can have your speaker fixed before the drinks're ready,"
"Um, sure. I'll hold you to that." Arcana said as she cast a quick spell. "My cart is this way," she said with a smile. Arcana walked Taffy to her cart.
"Is this the one?" Taffy asked, climbing into the cart and tapping on a speaker with a hoof. "Okie dokes, let's see what we've got here..." She pulled a screwdriver out of her saddlebags and took the back off the speaker cabinet. "Ah ha! Jusht ash I shushpected!" she said, with the screwdriver in her mouth. She prodded some things, tightened some others, and then, finally, gave the cabinet a good buck. "Okay, you wanna try it?" she asked, looking at Arcana.
Is speechless as you work. "Oh, um sure." Arcana quickly hooked up a micro phone to the speak and set it to a low volume. She sings a couple of vocal warm-up scales to test the speaker. "Let's get that drink," she said with a big smile. "And thank you very much."
"You're very welcome!" Taffy replied, grinning. Jumping back down from the cart, she made her way back into the cafe with Arcana.
As Arcana entered the cafe she reversed her spell and sat back down on the seat she took before. She levitated the first hot chocolate over to Taffy before levitating her own. "Oh yeah," she remembered. Arcana brought a container of whipped cream over to Taffy.
