Shamus couldn't help but smile as Jessica and Malice both went through practicing to learn some of the Irish folk dances. Shannon knew the steps fairly well even before she had been uplifted, thanks to her being present for Shamus indulging in some fun back in Ireland to blow off steam or even to entertain her or her foals over the years. Occasionally, he'd even brought her to a couple of county fairs to show her jumping ability and she got to watch the local people do the same. It had been fun back then, though Shamus had been saddened by the fact that the young women there never seemed to take a shine to him, while his brother and his wife had to practically fend them off with a stick at times.
In this, Shannon became something of a companion to Shamus in the same way that Samson had been to Abby. He cared for her and talked with her, and Shamus remembered what Shannon had said to him after she had been uplifted regarding what she'd noticed...
++++++++++++++++++++++++
"You're certain you can fix her?" Shamus asked to some of the Horizon scientists as he backed the horse-trailer up to the Brown family barn, his accent being fairly clear.
Horizon had expended with the growth of Animalia and the local support it had received from the people of Lyre, but it didn't really have the facilities in place to comfortably uplift mundane animals deliberately, particularly those as large as horses. On a legal technicality the process was legal, so long as Shamus followed many of the same guidelines that humans wanting to become Animalians had to follow. Shamus had no problem with that, as Shannon was a good friend as she did listen to him when he had something to complain about and he really didn't want to see her die under the conditions that he was under. The stories of Animalia, Horizon, and Project Phoenix had offered the hope of a cure, and he had decided give it his best shot, as otherwise, Equine Infectious Anemia would eventually kill her anyway.
"We believe we can," one of the scientists said politely to him as he stood beside the driver's side door to the truck, "as Project Phoenix has worked with our human volunteers. It'd stand to reason that it'd work with an animal volunteer as well..."
Shamus continued to back up until he was close enough to the open door. He then brought the truck to a stop and thus stopped the trailer just outside the barn. Once he set the parking-break, Shamus moved back toward the trailer and prepared to open the gate to allow Shannon out of the trailer so that she could have a new and healthy life where she was free of pain caused by the disease she was suffering from. As he reached there, he was greeted by two equine Animalians approaching from inside the barn. They were both well muscled and to some extent on the stocky side, but their build was still light enough that they clearly weren't draft horses. Shamus guessed that their specific breed was based on horse breeds that were fairly common to the American west, such as the American Quarter, the Appaloosa, and various "Indian Pony" breeds. The male was largely coated in black fur while the female was covered in brown fur.
"Hello," Shamus said slowly to them, "I take it you own this farm?"
"Yes," said the male, "I'm Martin Brown and this is my wife Josephine. From what Horizon told us, you're looking to uplift your horse..."
"As part of Project Phoenix," Shamus answered, "to cure her of Equine Infectious Anemia."
With that, Shamus undid the latch to the trailer, giving them all a full view of Shannon, standing quietly in the back and tethered to the trailer by a sturdy rope. They could all see that the mare looked older and pained, despite all the loving care that Shamus had given Shannon over the years. Some of her ribs looked visible while the joints in her legs all looked swollen. Shamus sighed heavily as he moved to undo the tether and slowly lead Shannon out.
"Don't worry," Shamus said to the un-uplifted horse, "the people here have something that they promise will help you and you won't feel any more pain."
"She doesn't look too bad, all things considered," Josephine Brown said politely.
Shamus stroked Shannon's muzzle and hugged her head to him, "That's been years of treating her well. The farm near my brother's and mine in Eire weren't trying that hard to either prevent the spread or so on... but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to do everything to care for her. She's been in my family for years."
"It's understandable," Martin Brown spoke and moved to help Shannon step down from the trailer and onto the ground.
The step was a bit shaky for Shannon, but Shamus kept it slow and steady and was privately grateful for Martin's help, as it did seem to comfort Shannon a little bit. Josephine Brown and one of the scientists from Horizon moved ahead of them, which drew some looks from Shamus.
"So... how will you help her?" Shamus asked.
"We have a couple of specialized bottles filled with my milk," Josephine spoke, "The Animalia Virus in my milk should uplift her... and the fact that we have two of them will mean she will be double dosed and will come down to our physical age."
Shamus watched Josephine gesture to herself and then to her husband, who had gone to a one small set of shelves where he could see a large plastic bottle laying on it. Martin carried it back and Shamus noted the metal tip at it's bottom. He then looked to Shannon and decided to speak to her.
"These people are going to help you, Shannon," Shamus spoke, "and they've promised to make you better. It may mean drinking from a bottle, but they have what's best in mind for you."
He stroked her cheeks softly as Josephine took the first bottle and offered it to Shannon. Shamus watched one brown eye look to him and then watched as Shannon managed to lift her head and took the metal bit into her mouth. He could then hear the metal "clink" of the milk inside the bottle being sucked out. He thought he could even see the muscles in Shannon's neck contract as she swallowed. He hoped that things worked out well and that Shannon would get better. Then as the level of milk in the bottle began to go down, a series of changes became apparent.
Shamus watched as the swelling and symptoms of Equine Infectious Anemia that were visible to the naked eye seemed to go away. As that occurred, Shamus watched as Shannon's overall size began to fall, but as many of her muscle groups and skeleton began to alter. Slowly, her hips began to widen to suit a primarily bipedal animal, as all Animalians were. He also watched Shannon's forelegs had more growths flanking her hooves. It wasn't long before she was semi-crouched on two legs, which still ended in one hoofed toe while holding onto the bottle with a five fingered hand. Her fingers ended in a strong hoof-like nail on each finger. Shamus also watched as Shannon's teats moved from being between her rear legs to settling on her chest and with each swallow of milk from the bottle round balls of fat began to form into breasts
When she finished drinking, Shannon gave a small burp and staggered forward, trying to get her balance on two legs. She was thankfully caught and stabilized by Josephine Brown. The Brown family matriarch helped Shannon to her feet and brushed her off before speaking to her.
"Okay, Shannon, how do you feel?" Josephine asked.
"Better," Shannon said slowly, "that felt weird... but I don't hurt."
"That's because what you felt was being uplifted and making you an Animalian," Josephine spoke, "and hopefully has cured you of Equine Infectious Anemia."
"Well I do feel better," Shannon spoke and then compared herself to Josephine and noted that Josephine looked younger and stronger than her. She wasn't feeling much in the way of pain any more, but she did feel different from the Horse Animalian that had uplifted her, "but we're... different."
"Yes, you've only had one dose of the Animalia... well... it's called a virus, but I think it's the only one of its kind that makes people better," Martin commented, "The scientists will want to do a few tests to make sure the disease you had is no longer present and then we'll give you the other bottle for the second dose."
"And then you can join the new community they have here," Shamus said to her, trying to hold back tears of joy that Shannon was looking well.
"You'll come with me?" Shannon asked.
"Hmmm?" Shamus blinked.
"You'll come too? Be uplifted?" Shannon asked him with a great deal of kindness clearly showing in her eyes, "you've been so kind to me, Shamus. I... I... I think I love you."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Shamus only smiled at the memory as he watched Shannon take Jessica and Malice into another round of trying to master some of the Irish folk dances. They were dances he'd long learned as a boy and had hoped to share with a beautiful woman. As his eyes focused on Shannon, he smiled and remembered that thanks to Animalia, he did get that chance, even if it wasn't exactly the way he'd originally pictured it.