The facility is roughly an hour away from your mother’s house. It looks like an average modern municipal building. The building has no sign on it, no name as far as you can see, but that’s intentional. After all, if people knew there was a portal to another reality right here, there’d be some unwanted attention.
At first there was just that one portal in Canada. But as of late, all across the world, new portals have been made quietly without much fanfare. This is the site of one of those portals, the one you’ll be taking in less than an hour. You gather yourself for a moment before walking in. An older man in a lab coat greets you in the lobby. He shakes your hand, exchanging an idle greeting before leading you downstairs.
“So, Ms. Shaw, are you ready for this?” The man, Dr. Jones according to his nametag, leads you through door after door before stopping abruptly outside of a large set of double doors. “Here we are,” he says.
“Um, what exactly will I be doing?”
“Your belongings will be sent in first, then you. For safety’s sake we try to minimize the amount of cross contamination during the trip. There haven’t been any visible adverse effects, but better safe than sorry,” explains Dr. Jones, motioning for your bag.
You hand it over to him as he walks you into the room. The first thing that catches your eye is a large, colorful swirl of pink light. The vortex stands upright as if mounted to the floor with a stand. It’s behind a gate but remains clearly visible. It sort of looks like it was hastily put together, as if this is just a temporary installation. You decide to not press on it though, probably some kind of classified information.
Dr. Jones approaches the gate, opening it with a swipe of his keycard. He tosses your bag in without effort before turning back to you. You marvel at seeing your bag get swallowed up in less than a second. The thought that you’ll be going in there next is hard to wrap your head around. Will you just slide in so quickly and easily?
“Would you please remove your clothes now Ms. Shaw? Cross contamination and all.”
“Wait,” you look over at him, your face going flush, “huh?”
“I know it’s awkward considering I’m a man, but I’ll look away,” he says with a Sigh, turning to face the double doors. “I told them they should have gotten a female staff member for this.”
Still blushing, you kick off your shoes. You try your hardest to not focus on Dr. Jones as you strip, revealing your pale body. Once you’re fully nude you cover your “assets” with your arms. “Do I just… hop in now?”
“Um, ah, yes,” replies the doctor, not looking at you. His body seems kind of stiff, as if he’s feeling even more awkward than you. That sort of helps you relax a bit. You walk opened gate. Goosebumps rise all over your arms as you stand right in front of the portal. There’s a soft hum coming from it, kind of like the sound of a fridge running. Something about the portal feels inviting, although you aren’t sure what it is. Regardless of what it is however, it helps coax you closer and closer.
Before you know it you’re inside the portal. The moment you touch it you’re sucked in, letting out a shocked squeal as it happens. All around you is a strange tunnel of pulsating color. It’s like a kaleidoscope of colors, shifting and moving in an almost hypnotic fashion. You’re floating in this strange void, moving forward at a relaxed pace. You have no idea now to stop yourself from moving, not that you necessarily would want to.
As you float, you notice the hair on your arms. You’ve always been pretty vigilant with shaving so for an instant you’re quite confused. However, seeing the hairs coming in a thick, smooth midnight blue, you remember that humans don’t stay human when going to Equestria. Part of you feels like you should be freaking out as the dark, almost black, fur begins to coat your skin. There’s not an ounce of worry within you however. Everything just feels kind of alright.
Your feet feel stiff. At first it’s pins and needles like your feet had fallen asleep. However your feet have begun to reshape, becoming more rounded and firm. Sharp yet painless cracks shift the alignment of your lower legs as your toes simply vanish into two hooves. Having nothing better to do than explore your new body you reach down and rub your new feet. They’re smooth and firm, lacking any sort of similarity to what you’ve been used to all your life.
The fur now covers your entire body. You can’t see an inch of skin. There’s a strange tugging feeling above your butt. A quick glance down reveals a chestnut colored tail pulling outwards from your tailbone. Although you don’t have a mirror to check, it’s safe to assume your new mane is the same color.
Pins and needles return, this time stiffening up your hands. Without even trying to move them, your fingers slowly close up into tight fists. Any attempts to unball your fists prove fruitless as you can only watch your hands harden into hooves. After a few moments, the only difference between your hands and feet is the distance from your face. The hooves click slightly as you knock them together. You stare at your hooves, oblivious to the subtle shifts in skeletal structure and size of body currently taking place, stuck in this weird feeling of detached wonder.
None of this feels real to you. You know it is real, that’s more than obvious, but nothing feels like it should. Such radical changes should bring pain and terror, yet this is all just a curious bizarre trip to you. It’s honestly really nice. If this is any indicator of what this exchange program has in store, you’re more than ready.
As you’re marveling over these changes, you notice something very different. Everything thus far has been expected, you knew you’d become a pony after all. But now you’re feeling something unexpected. The thick fur hides any visual evidence, but you can feel it. You are not a girl anymore. There’s no vagina under all that fur. A quick brush over your torso with a hoof reveals nothing close to a nipple or teat, just smooth, toned body covered with fur.
“Holy crap,” you mutter. Your voice is different too, undeniably male. It’s not gruff, but there’s a definite firm masculinity to it. You’ve dropped from an alto to at least a tenor, and that’s being generous.
While still awestruck by your gender change, you don’t notice that you’ve reached the end of this strange colorful path. In an instant you’ve fallen onto the floor with a thud, in a technicolor room you do not recognize. You groan softly, slowly sitting up on all fours. Despite having never been in a body like this before, the positioning feels natural to you. Slowly gathering yourself, you begin to look around the room.
It’s a nurse’s office, that much is fairly clear. There’s a couple of hospital beds, a desk, various medical instruments, everything you’d expect. Within a few moments, a pink pony walks into the room. “Ah, you must be that last transfer student,” she says, sitting down at the desk.
“Um, y-yeah,” you reply, still unused to the tone of your voice.
“Alright,” she nods, an aura of magic picking up a pen as they begin writing details down. “Male, unicorn, blue coat, brown mane… Ah, can I see your flank?”
“My wha?”
“Your butt,” she says with a chuckle, “I’m looking for your Cutie Mark.”
“Oh, uh, okay,” you mumble, turning around so she can get a look.
“Mm, still a blank flank, that’s pretty common with young humans who come over here, so I wouldn’t worry.”
You turn back around, nodding slightly. You’re suddenly very self conscious, unsure about how to feel. The oddly comfortable feeling of the portal is gone, leaving you to feel this strange new horse body for what it is. It’s not awful, but you aren’t exactly sold on it yet. The male part especially leaves you entirely confused.
“Oh dear, these records say that you used to be a girl!” The nurse looks up from her work, a little surprised about your change.
“I-is a gender change something that doesn’t happen?”
“Every other student I’ve looked over maintained their original gender,” she explains, looking over records again, “going through the portal is only really supposed to make you a version of yourself suited for the world you’re going to.Sort of like an… ideal self in a way.”
“Ideal self? Are you saying that I-”
“I’m only saying that this is atypical, anything more than that is left up for you to decide and figure out.”
“C-couldn’t you just turn me into a girl? With magic?” You’re starting to feel less and less receptive of this male body. If there’s some sort of deeper meaning to it, you don’t want to find out!
“It’s not that simple, and if this is the body you were given, there’s bound to be a reason,” retorts the nurse, explaining it like she’s telling a child why they can’t have a certain thing. “And besides, orientation starts soon, and we don’t want to me messing with powerful magic right before that!”
“Fine, fine,” you concede with a soft sigh. “What next then?”
“Well, before you head over to orientation, you’ll need to choose a new name, won’t you?”