A Place to Call Home

by starshine_dash

Adjustment

After I finished writing yesterday's events, I booted up one of the many games my computer had installed and played something to tire myself out. I took my pills for the evening and climbed into bed around two AM. It took another lengthy period of time before I fell asleep, but I finally did. I slept well, I suppose, and as usual I didn't remember my dreams. I awoke with an unfamiliar weight on my chest and something soft tickling my nose. Thinking that my cat, Mouse, had indeed somehow made the journey with me, I reached up to pet him, only to hear a feminine giggle as I ran my hand through a soft, curly mane. I sniffed, catching a scent of baked goods before I rolled over and sneezed violently.

I heard a loud shriek and something thud to the floor as I sat up and sniffled, sneezing again, "What the... Pinkie?" I asked, when I got my air back.

"Hi!" she said, bouncing back up onto my bed. I clutched the covers over myself, having slept naked, "I thought I'd come over and we could hang out today! You're new in town so somepony needs to give you a tour and I know every thing and every pony in town!"

"I uh, appreciate that, Pinkie. What time is it?"

"Almost noon, silly! You sleep late! Every pony has been wondering where you are."

"I was up until after midnight. It's my natural sleep schedule," I said, staring at her, "How did you get in here?"

"Through a window, then the wall," she said, pointing to a perfectly carved hole to the rest of the house.

"Please don't do that again, Pinkie. Um, can you, wait outside so I can get dressed?"

"Why? You look fine like that, like a teddy bear!"

"Where I come from, it's kind of a rule, both in law and in morality, not to be naked in front of others. There are places where it's allowed, but they're strictly regulated, and I'm really not comfortable with my body."

She frowned and then hugged me suddenly before bouncing out the door she made to wait in the other room, "Well hurry up then, silly!"

I rolled out of bed, making sure she wasn't looking before pulling on some underwear, pants, and another shirt before calling her back in. I sat on the edge of my bed and began to put my sandals on, but decided I'd rather not today, so I stood back up and unlocked the door before making way to let Pinkie out. We wandered toward town at an easy pace, the party pony bouncing along next to me, coming up to head level on each bounce. I was surprised at the height of the ponies. I had always assumed they'd be small, or as tall as I was, but Pinkie and the other girls were about four feet tall and I could easily just rest a hand on their heads if I wanted.

Eventually, the pink one and I reached town, to find Twilight sitting outside at a cafe with Spike, enjoying a sandwich while he had a massive pile of what I'm assuming were hay fries. We decided to join them. Well, I did, I was hungry, "Hi Twilight, Spike," I said with a smile as we approached before looking around for a stool, "Mind if we join you?"

"Of course not, Tera!" Spike said around a mouthful of fries as I spotted what I was looking for an ran off to grab it before returning to the table, finding Pinkie sitting next to Twilight and whispering in her ear. I raised an eyebrow as I sat down, but they both just smiled at me. Spike swallowed another handful, "So what else can you teach me with those hands of yours?"

I looked thoughtful, stroking my chin, "Well, there's a few little weird things that humans do, but you don't have enough fingers for them... Hmmm, try this," I said. I took my hands and pressed them together, bending my middle fingers over, then twisting them around and wiggling them. He mimicked me perfectly so I smiled, "Now try this!" I grinned and did the thumb removal trick. He couldn't figure that one out and the girls looked shock, so I showed them all how it was done.

It felt good to bond with the little dragon and make some new, hopefully friends, laugh. I ordered a simple tomato sandwich and some actual potato fries and Pinkie had a slice of some kind of quiche. I wasn't a big fan of egg dishes, so I was happy with my simple sandwich and the amazingly seasoned fries.

Twilight finished her sandwich and wiped her mouth with a napkin, "So what do you have planned for today, Tera?"

"Well, Pinkie was going to show me around town, and then Rarity is supposed to meet me to make sure I have something to wear for meeting the Princess this weekend. If not, I'm hoping she can put something together."

Twilight nodded, "Well, it's not a formal event in Canterlot, so I doubt you need to dress up very much. I'll come and make sure Rarity doesn't... well, go overboard."

"I'd appreciate that, Twilight. She can get a little overzealous."

Everypony nodded as I paid for my meal and Pinkies, Twilight having already paid for hers and Spikes. I stood and followed Pinkie off on her whirlwind tour of Ponyville before we finally returned to my house and I collapsed on my bed exhausted, "I need a bike..."

"A what?" the mare asked, climbing up onto my bed and sitting next to me.

"It's a two wheeled thing that lets me move faster, like your unicycle but with two wheels."

"Oh! Nifty, we don't have those in Ponyville."

"No bipeds," I said, staring at the ceiling.

"So, I wanted to ask you about your cutie marks," she said, suddenly looking seriously at me. I sat up, having expected this line of questioning from Twilight.

I removed my shirt and figured I should just go through each one of my tattoos as best I could, "Well, they're not cutie marks. They're tattoos. Ink that's put under the surface of my skin with needles."

"Needles!? I hate needles!" she said, giving a shudder.

"So do I, but it's different. Usually tattoos are seen as a deviant thing, but lately they've become more accepted and in ancient societies they were often a symbol of adult hood or skill in something. Mine just have personal meaning."

"So you don't have the cutie pox?"

I shook my head and chuckled, "No, I don't. This one," I said, pointing to the one on my right bicep, "Is a Japanese fox spirit called a Kitsune. It's a kind of a trickster spirit, but they are also wise. When one is fully mature, they have nine tails. I only have 5 right now because I haven't finished growing. The one on my back is a sword I designed when I was younger with wings that represent my desire to be free, truly free. The one on the back of my neck," I turned around finally so she could see clearly, "is the Norse rune for 'Fate' surrounded by the birthstones of myself and members of my family.

"The one on my other arm here is a blue dragon, an ancient protector and a symbol of my inner strength. I have a couple others but, they're a story for another day as it would be a bit awkward, especially since I would have to take off my pants for you to see them."

"So you do have a cutie mark!"

I squinted my eyes and rocked my head back and forth, "They're in the same place... so, I guess technically..."

"Oo! Now I absolutely have to see them, what's your special talent?" she asked, trying to tug off my pants.

I fought admirably and managed to keep them on, "I think my special talent is failure, and you'll have to wait to see my 'cutie mark,' until I feel like showing you, Pinkie!"

She pouted at me, her hair deflating a little, "Failure isn't a talent. Anyone can fail at something, you just have to get back up, dust off your hooves, and try again!"

I hugged her, and stroked my hand through her mane, "I know, Pinkie. About all I'm good for is writing, but none of my stories are really that good. I can't draw, I haven't played an instrument in years, and my physical abilities are nothing to brag about. Not to mention my depression and anxiety," I told her, breaking the hug and putting my shirt back on.

"Well, what do you want to do with your life?"

"I don't know, Pinkie. I really don't. I'd love to be able to draw, I like to write, and I like to sing, but I'm not good enough at any of it to make a career, so I just drift from job to job. Before I woke up here I was a bus driver."

She looked thoughtfully, "Well, everypony has a talent somewhere inside them. You just have to discover yours. Maybe you needed a fresh look on life to do it!" she said, brightening up a bit.

I smiled and nodded a little as I heard a knock at the door. Rising and opening the door I was greeted by a familiar pair of unicorns, "Rarity, Twilight, please, come in!" I said, stepping out of the way to invite them inside. The noticed Pinkie sitting on my bed and Rarity raised an eyebrow.

"Moving in on our new guest rather fast, are you not, darling?" she asked as she entered my room.

"What? No, we were just hanging out," I said defensively.

"Yep! We were just talking about his cutie mark!"

I rolled my eyes as I was suddenly inundated with a barrage of questions from both unicorns. I repeated my explanation after again removing my shirt and at least they didn't assault me to remove my pants to see those tattoos. I sighed and realized I'd missed on however and removed the wide band I wore on my left forearm to cover up that particular piece of ink when I had decided tattoos probably weren't the best thing to show in pony society. I unwrapped it and showed them the last piece of ink, "This is the symbol of a society of assassins from a fictional work in my world. I actually have the game I can show you. I'm not an assassin myself, but I believe in some of their tenets, so I got this done."

Twilight looked closer, "Nothing is true, everything is permitted?" she asked, reading the text that encircled the symbol.

I nodded, "It means that the individual can shape the society, and to take responsibility for our actions, essentially."

She just looked thoughtful so I shrugged, "If you want to come over and watch the game some time, you're welcome to. Now, Rarity, my nicer clothes are in the closet, please take a look."

The unicorn nodded as I rose and moved over to open the door. I began to pull out my nicer shirts and a few pairs of nice pants and stood back to let the fashionista work. I sat in my computer chair while Pinkie abandoned the bed under threat of a makeover. Soon, the entire contents of my closet and several drawers were spread out on the bed in various piles labeled keep, destroy, possibilities, and ideas. The destroy pile was primarily my Hawaiian shirts and the few pieces of clothing featuring ponies. They would not be sacrificed to the fashion world in so crude a manner.

Once she had sorted piles and I had hidden away my illicit clothing before the unicorn could toss it out the door, she stared at the bed in silence, "Rarity?" I asked, nervous.

"Tera, you appear to have clothes that identify with colts and mares both."

"As I said before... I was transitioning..."

"What does that mean?" asked Twilight as Rarity just gave me a blank look.

"Pinkie, put that down," I said, as the party pony began playing with one of my bra enhancers, "It means that I was undergoing the slow process of becoming female instead of male."

"You can do that!?" Pinkie asked in shock.

"In my world, it can be done, it just takes a lot of legal hoopjumping and about 6 years if you're lucky. You can go the other way to, from female to male."

"That, well, that happens here from time to time, but usually it's the result of poison joke or a spell and is temporary. I remember something like that happened to Applejack's cousin Caramel."

"So that's what happened..." I muttered, "But yeah, I identify as a woman... mare I guess is the term I should use here, even though I was born a stallion."

Twilight nodded slightly while Rarity seemed to brighten, "Well, that's pretty uncommon around here, at least in Ponyville. When it happens in Canterlot it happens behind closed doors and usually magic is used. I don't know what kind of effect the spells would have on you though, given you're from another world."

"Well, let's wait and talk to the Princess first," I said.

"Indeed, and speaking of, darling. I think I may have just the outfit," she said, holding up a plain pair of black slacks and a light gray shirt. The outfit was incredibly gender neutral and for that I was somewhat thankful. I would just have to remember to shave that morning.

"That looks fine, Rarity, thank you," I said, smiling.

She nodded and placed the rest of the clothes back where they belonged after hanging the outfit carefully on the closet door, "If this were an official meeting in Canterlot, I would be forced to make you a new set of clothing entirely, but I believe these should suffice. Do you plan to go barehoof or do you have something you wear on your hooves?"

"My hooves...? Oh! My feet, right. I only have those sandals I wore yesterday. The rest of my shoes are usually kept by the main door to the house since I just wear socks indoors. I put the sandals in my closet when it gets too cold out."

"May I borrow them then? I believe I can make you some presentable footwear."

"By all means, my lady. I like walking around barefoot here, the grass feels wonderful."

"Very well... It appears you've been doing some remodeling without me."

"That was me!" said Pinkie, "He was sleeping so late I snuck in to wake him up!"

Rarity rolled her eyes and made her way through the hole in the wall, taking a look around, "Well, you definitely have plenty of space in here for the rooms you want, darling," the unicorn said, her voice sounding slightly hollow from the cavernous nature of empty space. I poked my head through and immediately deafened myself as well Rarity with a sneeze from all the dust and likely other airborne allergens.

"Sweet Celestia!" I heard from behind me as I fell back into my room, sneezing again, "Stop that!"

I sneezed one more time and smacked myself in the chest, gasping for air for a few minutes, "Sorry... I sneeze loudly and... it takes a minute to... get my breath back..."

All three mares looked at me in concern as I got a drink of water from the sink. I would need to invest in some cups soon, "Maybe we should have you examined at the hospital. I know they won't know much about you, but I did spot a few books on your shelf that may prove invaluable."

I nodded and stretched, every joint in my body cracking, "Alright, Twilight. If you insist."

She nodded and grabbed four books off my shelf that I honestly didn't remember owning. I must have purchased them for college classes or artistic reference materials. We all left and I locked up before we journeyed across town to the hospital. Twilight read the entire way and I was impressed with how quickly she absorbed information. Pinkie just bounced along next to us and we talked about baking. Rarity peeled off from the group as we passed her boutique in order to work on my shoes and the design for my house. It was weird to consider that I owned a house when I was about to get poked and prodded by a unicorn.

"Oh, uh, Twilight?"

"Yes?" she responded, not even looking up from the book, "If you wouldn't mind, could we just borrow a room and the equipment and have you conduct the examination? I have some tattoos I don't think it would be good for anypony else to see..."

She paused in her reading and stopped walking. I halted as well, Pinkie beginning to bounce in a circle around us, "I suppose I could do that. I'm not licensed, but I have read pretty much every medical text written in the last twenty years and it's not like we're doing major exploratory surgery."

I nodded hopefully, "You can give all the data to a licensed doctor if you want, but I just don't want them to see me with my pants down."

"And you want her to see you?" Pinkie asked, giggling.

"N-not really, but it can't be helped," I shrugged, starting to walk again, suddenly nervous, "I don't know why I have this stigma against it, considering you ponies are naked all the time, but my... nethers... don't get to be hidden by my legs or tail."

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours!" Pinkie laughed.

Twilight's eyes widened violently as I blushed deeply, "Pinkamena Diane Pie, that is not something you want to shout in public," I hissed out through my clenched teeth.

Her eyes boggled at the use of her full name, "Nopony has called me that since I left home! How'd you know?"

"Another world, remember? Let's... just forget we had this discussion and move on, shall we?" I asked, unable to get the blush or the awkward feeling between my legs to go away easily.

Twilight's blush deepened as well as we walked the rest of the way in silence, Pinkie looking a little deflated, but still happy, "So, what else do you know about me?" she asked suddenly.

"Well, what I can say for sure is that you love parties, but everypony knows that. I know how you got your cutie mark, but that's a story you can tell everyone later. Your Pinkie Sense is impossible to understand scientifically, but useful and interesting, please let me know if you get a twitchy tail so I can duck..." I said, thinking and trying to separate the show from the fanon, "You're capable of things no earth pony should be and there are a thousand theories as to why where I'm from, one of which I'd like to ask about later... I uh... I think that's it, really. The rest is just fan theory and guessing and made up."

"Cool! Well, you'll have to tell me about some of that later, I guess! Tell us about Twilight!"

"I'm not sure what I could tell that wouldn't violate her privacy."

Twilight stepped up between us, "Please, let's just get this examination over with, you're starting to limp again."

"It's a long walk..." I said helplessly as we entered the hospital. Twilight had a brief conversation with who I believed to be Nurse Redheart before she led us down to a small examination room with plenty of devices for measuring the health of a pony and hopefully a human. I sat on the table in the middle of the room and swung my legs nervously while my attending unicorn finished reading and Pinkie began to poke around in the drawers.

After she finished the books, she looked up at me and I grinned nervously. She sighed, "Might as well get this over with. I'm going to need to scan you and your clothes will just get in the way, so... Off they go, I guess."

I sighed and stood up. Removing my shirt, I put it over on the side counter and closed my eyes, pulling my pants and underwear down in one motion, stepping out of them and moving back over to the table, covering myself. Twilight's eyebrow was raised as Pinkie started giggling madly before rolling around on the floor in laughter, "Thanks Pinkie, that feels wonderful..." I said, my words dripping sarcasm so heavily I swore I heard them splat on the ground.

She talked between laughs, "I'm not laughing at you silly, I'm laughing at your cutie mark!"

"I told you, it's not a cutie mark, it's just in the same spot..."

"I... I'm not sure what to say, I want to be flattered, but I'm also a little disturbed, is that really..."

"Yes, it's your center stars with the white stars replaced by the cutie marks of your friends. I couldn't decide whose to get when I was planning this tattoo so I went with all of them. I started out mismatched with one being Fluttershy's and one being yours, Twilight."

The unicorn blushed a little, "Just... lay down on the table, please. We'll discuss your tattoos later," she said.

I did as she commanded, laying myself back and letting my legs dangle off the end. I kept my hands over a certain part of my anatomy as I shivered, "Little chilly in here."

"I should have realized..." the unicorn said, turning up the heat a little bit, "No coat means you're probably more sensitive to temperature than we are."

"Yeah... anything over seventy degrees, I sweat. Anything under sixty-eight, I'm cold."

"That... is a very small margin for comfort."

"I'm unusual like that. I also suffer from light sensitivity and the other conditions I mentioned."

She nodded, "Well, hold still, this shouldn't take long," she said, her horn beginning to glow while Pinkie began to juggle tongue depressors with her tongue. I lay there and took a deep breath as I felt a tingle of something at my toes. I looked down as the field of magic extended up over my knees and across the rest of my body.

I squirmed a little, "That feels weird..."

She just shook her head, her eyes closed and concentrating. I lay like that for several minutes, covered in a light purple aura with the occasional sparkle floating past my field of vision while the tingling sensation penetrated deep into me. It's very weird when you can feel something probe your very core. It wasn't painful, only incredibly disconcerting and I hoped that I wouldn't have to undergo such a procedure again for a long time, "Well, Tera, you were right about your ankle. From what I can tell several bones are out of place from the usual formation."

"Can they be fixed?" I asked, hopeful.

"I don't see why not, but I'm going to have a doctor do any operations I think necessary. I have a few things I need to go over with him... Stay right there until I get back!" she said, starting to leave, the aura fading from around me.

"What about my tattoos?"

"Oh! Right," she said, turning around casting a spell on me, "There, that will hide them for now."

As she left I looked at my arm and my thighs, finding the tattoos missing. I frowned slightly, and so did Pinkie, "Aw, they were so neat to look at!"

"Twilight said it was just temporary. I only hope she's right..." I said mournfully. Laying there, naked, with Pinkie staring at me, I began to get that familiar sensation of anxiety and nervousness. A thought occurred to me, "Pinkie, could you get the jars of pills out of my pants pocket? I want Twilight to look at them while we're here."

The pink pony saluted and began to root through my pockets, pulling out the pills and placing them on the counter. I waited and finally Twilight returned with a doctor I didn't recognize. They were discussing things that could be done for me and the medical terminology went way over my head. Finally the doctor turned to me and smiled, "Well, nice to meet you, Tera. Rumor's have it you're a legendary species never before seen. I didn't expect to actually see you here. Twilight's been going over what she found in your examination and I believe a lot of your problems can be solved.

"Your ankle, from what I saw in the scan, has been twisted and a few of the small bones have been knocked into an incorrect alignment. That is an easy matter of maneuvering them back into position with magic, but it can be painful so we'd like to sedate you for that," he took a breath and I nodded, "As for your mental health issues, yours do seem to be caused by a chemical imbalance which we may be able to fix, but you'll need to ween yourself off of your medication first so we can take a look at the current makeup of your brain.

"As for your gender issues, we have spells that can alter your external experience, but unfortunately even we can't actually alter you to be a mare fully. We could perform those spells while you were under for the ankle treatment, as they can be... uncomfortable to experience."

I nodded slowly at the Doctor's explanation, "Will it take time?"

The doctor nodded in turn, "Several hours at least for your ankle and at least two days for the transformation. We have a few examples of mares of your species in the books Twilight provided but if you have any other examples of the body type you would like, we would appreciate it. As well, this is exhausting for the unicorns involved in the procedure so the cost is substantial."

I assured him I had the bits and was finally allowed to put my clothes back on. As we were leaving I made an appointment with Nurse Redheart for after my meeting with Princess Celestia. If she was going to send me home right then and there, then Twilight could cancel for me. If anything else happened, at least I wouldn't have wasted bits. The three of us stopped by the bank on the way home so I would have the bits I needed for the surgeries, since I wanted to make sure I had them set aside in case other costs came up. Thankfully the stainless steel I had sold was quite lucrative, and I had more if I really needed it, but hopefully I could find regular work. I looked at Pinkie suddenly, "Hey, Pinks, the Cakes wouldn't happen to be hiring, would they?"

She looked thoughtful for a moment, "I don't think so, no. I can ask though! Why, want a job?"

"Something where I don't have to work too hard until I'm in better shape. Right now I'm limited to helping Rarity with minor needlework, Twilight here when she needs help in the library, and Fluttershy if she needs an extra pair of hands with the animals."

"I can see why you'd need something regular. I can ask around town, I know there's a few store owners who might need some extra help with winter coming in a few months."

I smiled and rested a hand on her head, giving it a rub, "Thanks, Pinkie, I appreciate it."

We made it back to my place before the anxiety really got to me and I followed the two mares into my room where I sat in my computer chair and woke it up. Twilight stared at it in wonder and I smiled, "This is a computer. It's like some of those machines you used to test Pinkie only much more advanced in some ways, and less in others. It depends on what it was built for. This one was built for gaming."

"What, like pin the tail on the pony?"

"More involved than that, Pinkie," I laughed, "Would you like to see?"

Pinkie nodded but Twilight declined. She left, citing the fact that Spike had been alone for much of the day and she needed to do some more research. I let her have any of my nonfiction books that she wanted and turned back to my computer in order to boot up a game to show Pinkie. Deciding on something light hearted and fun, I booted up Audiosurf and began to play a few songs that I thought she'd like, including a remix of her singing Giggle at the Ghosty. She was enthralled, and I was happy.

Eventually though, she had to get back to the bakery to help close up, so I went through my folders to see if I could find a body type I wanted. I found a few options and printed them out. I tried the internet to get a few more ideas but there was no connection so I shrugged and opened up another text document. Tomorrow, I'll see about finding work until the Princess makes her decision. Hopefully I can stay here. I've only been here two days but I already like it better than where I was before. Well, either way, I'm going to start weening myself off my medication tonight, which means two pills instead of the usual three. Then I think some movies and sleep.

Comments

[monster cai]

Yeah... We still need more

im going to say that every chapter because its true, this is the best HiE fic i have ever seen and it isent even finished yet.

[starshine_dash]

1326716
That... is shocking and flattering to hear. I wasn't expecting such a warm reaction honestly.

[Sweet Tale]

I love this fic! I like that certain issues are in this fic that I've never seen in any other. Keep up the good work!

[Sweet Tale]

I love this fic! I like that certain issues are in this fic that I've never seen in any other. Keep up the good work!

[monster cai]

1326727 i feel obliged to reply to you back so

methis fic

[starshine_dash]

1326768

[magmon1000]

First! Sorry couldn't resist need to know do you your self have these problems?

[Knighthawker]

..... Ok, gonna be totally honest with you. The sex change part was slightly.... disturbing. Not gonna lie.

[starshine_dash]

1326872

I get that a lot, being trans is still a big "Holy wait what?" in society eyes. Less so in Equestria because, hey, magic!

[Knighthawker]

1326878 Sorry, I don't mean to offend you. I just felt like I should throw that out there.

[starshine_dash]

1326845
Yes, I do. I basically threw myself into Equestria with all my issues and I'm trying to handle it like I would, not like some fantasy me would... though thing's'll change soon. One doesn't meet a goddess without being changed by the experience.

[Boss_Hoss1]

I must say you've given my confidence a boost on the decision to post my fic sooner than later.
I've only heard of FIMfiction recently so its been a busy month or so of reading, and realizing from all the HiE tales here that my tale that's been WIP for a year is not too strange or unwelcome for coming from a furryfan's perspective (particularly that of a therianthrope). -Something I have not seen here yet.
Thank you for presenting such a great tale for everypony to read.

[magmon1000]

1327059 hum well that means it'll ever be Pinkie or Celestia

[Bigorion]

No offense, but I find this story rather unrelatable after learning about the protagonists gender confusion. For what it's worth, I found it to be a very well written story, just... Not my cup of tea.

[denir]

well... this is one of the most awkward HiE written.
its was definitely disturbing and even game me some feeling of repulsion to the character. (probably due to too much of weird information without any logical reasoning)

your story is quite well written and you have definitely talent for it, but you know there are reasons why you shouldn't put yourself in your story at all.
its No.1 rule of how to not write cliché and cheesy stories.

[dawnblaze16]

1327059 not exactly trans but if you would like to talk (story ideas, experiences, et cetera) you can kik me if you have a smart phone just a suggestion reply if you would like and i'll send you my kik info.