Juniper 3

You sit in your hospital bed, slightly uncomfortable but not overly so. One advantage to being a pony is on a cold night like tonight, your built in blanket makes you barely notice it at all. Orchid’s sitting on a chair next to your bed. He’s stuck by you all day, making sure you don’t go into any fits of hysteria, which you have on multiple occasions, but he’s been there to bring you right out of them.

It’s funny; a year ago he was spending almost every waking hour making sure you got better, now he’s doing the exact same thing in the very same hospital. You can’t help feel soothed by his presence. He makes it seem like things aren’t actually going to be that bad.

“So what’s it like?” Orchid asks without making eye contact.

“What part of it do you mean?” Your voice doesn’t catch you off guard as much as it did earlier, as you and Orchid have been holding random conversations for a little over an hour now, trying to get you comfortable with your new vocal chords.

“Well uhh... y’know. Having a...” He trails off, his voice becoming barely audible.

“What was that?”

“Uhh, like... having a... thing where your... stuff used to be? Y’know?”

You just stare at him for a moment, before realising what he’s referring to. Oh jeez that’s exactly like orchid. Your gender change is something you’re still trying to wrap your head around. On one hoof you’ve changed so much that it’s not all that noticeable, just another notch on the list of wildly different things about your body (You also found that you have a horn by the way, that’s bound to be fun at some point). On the other hoof, the very idea that you’re now sporting a set of female genitals and have one of the softest voices you’ve ever heard freaks you out a lot.

Orchid being about a head taller than you probably adds to it as well. You’re used to that guy, and all the other ponies, being a lot shorter than you, so it’s really weird to be literally looking up to him. It seems you’re a little bit diminutive for a mare. Even harrier’s a little taller than you now.

“I... I’m trying not to think about it too hard... It’s really, really jarring...”

“Why do you think you became a mare anyway?”

“I don’t know.”

“OK...”

The silence that follows is a bit awkward, with you shuffling your unfamiliar limbs that are curled underneath you on the bed.

“Is it really gonna be all that different?” He asks.

You stare at him, dumbstruck. “Of course it’s gonna be fucking different Orchid! I’m completely different in every way possible! Do you know how fucking weird it is having a name that you remember having all your life, but knowing that name is fake?”

You’re brought out of your rant by a snicker from beside you. You whip your head around to look at Orchid, completely furious at him. How can he be laughing about this?

“And what the fuck is so funny about that?!”

“No no no, it’s not funny it’s just that... It’s really weird hearing you swear that much with such a soft ass voice! Celestia damn it dude you sound like that one filly from flight camp, she was scared of her own shadow hahaha!”

You just cross your hooves and huff, “Fuck you.”

He fights back another bout of laugher with a snort, before gathering himself, “Aww c’mon, I’m sorry I was just joking. Look, what I was getting at, is you’re still you. You’ve got the same personality and memories, well mostly; you’re just in a different package now. I think things will be fine, everypony’s still going to be your friends, life goes on. I know it’s hard, Just try to look on the bright side of things. Look, even your cutie mark looks a bit like Serene’s. I’m sure you’ll be back at your old job in no time. Don’t worry so much, June, things are gonna be just fine.”

He’s started Calling you June as a nickname, which is fine by you. It’s what you remember him calling you before all this shit happened anyway. Your anger dies down as you look at him. You really shouldn’t be so irritable with him, he’s been with you trying to offer comfort almost all day, and he says he’s not going anywhere until you’re back on your hooves. He’s constantly reminding you why you consider him your best friend.

As for the cutie mark thing, you noticed earlier that on your flank, is a depiction of a white shampoo bottle and a deep blue flower, where serene has a pair of hoof files and a similar flower in the same bright blue as her mane. You’re not so sure how you feel about your ‘destiny’ being catering to ponies at a spa, but Serene seems happy with it, and the job had been enjoyable enough while you were still human. Who’s to say you won’t enjoy it more now that it’s your ‘special talent’.

“OK, alright, fine, I said I was going to learn to deal with this, so I’m going to learn to deal with this. Let’s get this walking shit out of the way.”

He smiles as you push him aside with a hoof, pulling the sheets off of your lower half with the other. Your front hooves are surprisingly dextrous, and have quite the range of motion.

After a very weak attempt at getting off the bed in one piece, you’re standing on all four of your hooves, facing away from your bed in determination. It feels really weird; like you’re bent over with your hands on the ground, but your body doesn’t feel hunched over or uncomfortable at all. Like crawling and standing at the same time.

“Need any help?” Orchid asks you.

“No, I can do this myself.”

You try to visualise how all the other ponies walk. They seem to move the hooves that are on diagonals at the same time, so you decide to start with your back left hoof, and your front right hoof. Focusing as hard as you can, you quickly lift both your hooves up and forward a couple of inches. Ok, step one complete. You take a few moments to brace yourself before taking a second step, this time with the opposite set of hooves.

OK! This might not be so hard after all! You try doing two steps in a row and end up flat on your face. You let out a low groan, lifting your head up to look at Orchid, who looks like he’s holding back laughter.

“You’re being too stiff, June,” Orchid says, holding out a hoof to help lift you up, “Try to loosen up a bit. Don’t move both hooves at exactly the same time, you’re way too rigid.”

You don’t say anything, only taking his hoof and letting him help you back onto all fours. Over the span of what feels like hours, you practice your walking, earning quite a few bruises and sore spots all over your body. Orchid seems amused, but is very patient with you, only helping you get back onto your hooves when you fall. Eventually you make it to a point where you can walk around the room with relative ease. Learning to turn was a bitch, but thanks to the physical rehabilitation booklet Orchid got from Dr. Remedy, you managed to get your head around it.

You’re confident that once you build up your muscle memory, getting around won’t be too hard. Also, once you get around to trying some magic, things will really get interesting. You’re actually excited about the prospect of learning spells and stuff.

You pull yourself back onto your bed, feeling completely exhausted. You look at the clock and confirm that you’ve actually been going at that for a little over an hour and a half.

“Hey, you want me to get you something to eat?” Orchid asks you.

You’re about to reply, but the door opens, revealing Mystic Remedy carrying a white tray in his magic. Well hey, speak of the devil, he’s got what looks like food, but you can’t really tell.

“How are you feeling Miss Juniper?” He asks. You cringe at the use of ‘miss’ but you’re not in a place to argue about it. You DID tell everyone to use only female pronouns to get you used to it as fast as possible.

“Orchid was helping me get used to walking on all fours, and I’m a little tired, but otherwise I’m fine.”

“That’s very good,” he says, placing the tray down in your lap. It contains what looks like very mushy peas, soggy broccoli, some mashed potato and two slices of bread. Hospital food never really changes does it?

Orchid seems to notice that you’re the only one that got a tray of food, and speaks up, “Hey doc, is it alright if I duck out to grab some hay fries? Will I be able to come back here?”

“Yes Mr Orchid, tell the mare at the front desk that you’re with Juniper here and you should be able to come and go as you please. “

“Awesome, I’ll be back as soon as I can, June”

You watch as Orchid starts to leave before speaking up, “Hey could you get me something? No offence doc but this stuff,” you motion to the mush in front of you, “doesn’t look all too appetising.

Dr Remedy answers for him, “Sorry, Juniper. You have to have a controlled diet for the time you’re here. You’re free to eat anything you’d like once you’re released.”

You look downtrodden, “Ahh sorry, June,” Orchid says, “I’ll try to be as quick as I can. I promise you we’ll get a whole buncha’ junk food once you get out of here. You have my word.”

You smile at him as he leaves, then scowl down at the gross pile of mush in front of you. You had to eat something similar during your first couple of weeks in Equestria. You prod it a little with a hoof, sticking your tongue out to make sure your distaste is known. It then occurs to you that you have no way to actually eat the food, other than just using your mouth alone, and you’re not sure you really want to do that.

You look up at mystic, and he shoots you a knowing glance.

“Do you want to use your mouth? Or would you rather I feed you till you can use magic?” He says it with a poorly hidden grin.

Mouth it is then. For somepony who acts so official and serious all the time, he does seems to enjoy poking fun every now and again.

You lower your head and begin to eat, starting with the peas. They look the worst and you feel like you should get them out of the way as fast as possible. As you chew, you find they’re not nearly as bad as they were the first time you were here. They actually taste kind of nice, if you ignore the gross mushy texture. You look over at the doctor, who seems to be checking the results of a magic scan on yourself. You didn’t even notice him do the scan, but that doesn’t bother you.

You finish your food, wiping your muzzle on the napkin. It’s easy enough to do with a hoof, and you’re clean in no time. Dr Remedy clears his throat, shuffling some papers in his magic.

“Well, Juniper, it seems to me like you’re a perfectly healthy 15 year old mare, if everything goes well you should be out of here in two days, following some standard rehabilitation.”

It was still weird hearing your age spoken in Equestrian years. It was almost your 23rd birthday when you were transported to Equestria, which funnily enough, translated to you being exactly 14 Equestrian years old. Orchid’s 17 now and your other friends were of similar age. 15 isn’t young by any stretch of the imagination, as it matches your age and maturity on earth. Ponies are legally considered responsible adults at 11, and are fully grown by that age

You acknowledge what he said with a murmur, looking back down at the tray and your blue fur.

“Is something the matter?”

“Aside from the obvious, why am I a mare? I thought you said the magic changes you to best suit your personality and lifestyle, but I didn’t have any gender identity issues or anything…”

Dr Remedy nods, thinking on your question for a moment before speaking.

“That is mostly the case, -mostly- the case. Due to the transformation originally having breeding purposes entirely during primitive times, the being is transformed to suit the genders of their surrounding creatures. If there are more males in a close group, the transformee will become female, and vice versa.” He pours both of you a glass of water each, “Now in the case of ponies, we are naturally a herding species, and primitive herds required very few males. Since one male could impregnate multiple females, the necessity for multiple stallions was low, and ambient magic took this into account. Herd relationships aren’t by any means gone. Although they are generally much smaller than primitive herds, they still make up the majority of romantic relationships. Monogamy is also very prevalent in today’s society, and despite this, ambient magic still works in the same way it has since primitive times, and doesn’t take today’s societal changes into account. I understand from what you’ve told me, humans are strictly monogamous with a 1:1 gender ratio, and it’s unfortunate that you were changed to suit ponies’ sociological developments.”

His explanation was long winded as always, but you did manage to extract enough info to get what he was talking about.

So long story short you were made female to be an ideal mate for your friends, probably more for Orchid since you spend way more time with him than anypony else. Isn’t that’s just fucking great? The thought makes you sick to your stomach… You think? There’s definitely a feeling in your stomach, but you can’t quite tell whether it’s negative or not. For now you’ll assume it is.

“OK…”

“I’m not going to lie, it’s going to be hard, but I’m confident you can get through it. You just need to stay strong, and soon enough you’ll feel better about the whole thing. The transformation made some small modifications to your mind to help you cope better, and pick up your muscle memory much easier.”

Your ears perk up at that, a slight panic gripping your chest.

“Doc… what kind of mental changes are we talking about?”

“Well as I mentioned, you will be able to learn to use your body much more swiftly-”

“No. What I’m asking is, are there any significant changes to my personality that I should know about?”

“Your core personality is exactly the same as it was, but as you are a mare now there will be a few subtle changes to your psyche. Physically, you’ll be generating female hormones, and you will have all the side effects of those. As far as mental changes in terms of likes, dislikes, that sort of thing, I cannot say. It’s different for everypony. Some embrace their new femininity with open hooves, vice versa for females turned male, while others are far more resistant.”

Well you KNOW you’re going to be resistant. You’re determined to keep as much of your masculinity as you can. There’s no way you’ll be seen in a dress or at a spa getting your hooves done… Well aside from your job that is, but that doesn’t count.

“I would tell you more and I could go on for hours, but for now I’ll let you figure things out for yourself.”

You don’t doubt that he could go on for hours, but you really do want to know everything you should be prepared for. That statement at the end there was unnecessarily foreboding. You let it go for now though, opting instead to rest your tired body.

“Hey Doc, I think I’m gonna get some rest, that ok?”

“Of course, Juniper, let me just gather my notes.”

---

Soon you’re left alone in the room for the first time since arriving in the hospital. A glance at the clock confirms that it’s just after 14 o’clock, a little early to be sleeping. Even though you’re very tired, you decide that keeping on a good sleep schedule wouldn’t be a bad idea. So you’ve now got nothing but your thoughts to occupy you, and nothing interesting to do.

You’ve only got a sheet covering your lower body, as your new fur provides most of the warmth you need.

You start to think about all your friends, and how much support they’ve given you. Before they all left they wished you a ‘happy birthday’ and promised a proper party as soon as you were out of the hospital, which you were grateful for. It feels a bit weird celebrating the day such a crappy thing happened to you, but hey, a party is a party.

You’re really lucky to have them all. Without your friends you probably wouldn’t be dealing with this nearly as well. Harrier, Silver, Serene… Orchid… You remind yourself to thank them in person as soon as you can. In pony? Argh it’s going to be hard getting used to all this language stuff.

With not much else to think about, you lay there tapping your front hooves together idly. There’s a strange sensation in your lower abdomen, which confuses you for a moment before you remember that you’re female. Oh jeez you wanted to ignore that fact for as long as possible. You try to think about other things, like your soft fur, light green hair and stubby horn. Aren’t they all just awesome? Thinking about other things doesn’t work at all; it actually just makes it all the more prominent.

You tentatively move a hoof down under the sheets and start feeling around the area, gasping as you prod something very sensitive. You pull your hoof back immediately, but the damage is already done. There’s a pleasant sensation slowly spreading through your crotch, and it only intensifies the more you think about it.

Fuck it, you’re a girl now, might as well enjoy it. Every guy has thought about something like this at least once. Besides, you’re alone for the first time today, might as well make the most of it. You return your hoof to the spot between your legs, exploring your new equipment. You start thinking of the usual stuff when jerkin’ it. Girls slowly stripping down to their underwear while seductively touching themselves all over… No, that isn’t working for you. Maybe it’s just been too long and you’ve forgotten what human girls look like? You try thinking about something more fresh in your mind. While you’re not that into them, you can’t deny that minotaur girls were kinda hot in their own way. Only a few seconds in you realise that’s not going to work either.

What the fuck is going on? All the regular things just aren’t working for you. Maybe… Ponies? You -are- a pony now, it would make sense that you’d be attracted to ponies. You start to think about mares, that actress Fleur Dis Lee, The receptionist at the hospital, Receptionists are supposed to be hot right? It’s just not fucking working. It can’t be that this change completely killed your sex drive altogether, didn’t dr remedy say this was at it’s core meant for breeding purposes?

“Oh…” You say out loud, your hoof ceasing its motions completely.

You really don’t want to go any further than that. Your mind isn’t quite ready to deal with the implications of that train of thought. You’re brought out of your stupor by the unmistakable click of the door opening. Orchid walks through, a smile on his face at the sight of you. The dulling feeling in your nethers flares up almost instantly. His powerful wings, his muscular flanks, his fucking voice oh god this can’t be happening.

“Heya June, I’m back, how’s things?”

You just stare at him in dead silence, your mind going a mile a minute, images of stallions creeping their way into your mind. You refuse to accept this, you were straight as a guy, so you guess you’re straight as a girl. It makes enough sense but you don’t want to believe it. Orchid looks a bit concerned at your silence, and  stops in front of you.

“You alright? Did something happen?”

You break out of your trance to answer him, not wanting to give away anything about the thoughts going through your mind.

“Y-yeah I’m fine, listen, I’m tired and I really want to get some sleep. Sorry for kicking you out so soon after you got back. I’m not sure how the doc would feel about you staying the night.” You just want him out of here right now, you can’t deal with all these new emotions.

He chuckles, “Oh don’t worry about that, I already talked to him and he said it would be fine, there’s a spare bed in here anyway,” he motions toward the single bed just across from yours, “I promised I’d take care of you till you’re ready to get out of here and that’s what I’m going to do.”

That’s really not what you wanted to hear right now, but you can’t help the thankful expression you give him. To keep up the act as if nothing’s wrong, you smile and thank him for everything he’s done, quickly turning over and trying your hardest to get to sleep and leave all these perverse thoughts behind.

“I knew it you know.” Orchid says as you both lay facing away from each other.

“Knew what?”

“That your accent would be really hot on a mare.”

You can’t help but laugh at his stupid joke.

“Fuck you dude.”