Camille had been very lucky. The amount of heroin in the body paint she had worn could have been enough to kill her. But thankfully, she was gotten to the hospital in time and it was removed. Even further, the origin of the tainted paint had been found and the drug dealers were arrested. Camille's name had been cleared of any potential drug abuse. But still, that large dosage of heroin left its mark. It was still a while before her body was stable. And eventually, it'll start to crave the addictive stuff even if she didn't want it. So Camille decided to completely purge it from her system by converting into an Animalian.
She already made her choice, but the doctors thought she should rest for a while. While the Animalia Virus should purge the last of the heroin and its burgeoning addiction from her body, it could still give an unpleasant shock if she didn't recover enough strength first. So Camille just lied in her bed, not really dozing, but thinking of what her life will be like from now on. The idea of being an Animalian, especially a chameleon, was very enticing. But what sort of career would she be able to do afterwards?
Just then, she heard a knock at the door. She looked up to see a large stallion walk in. She's seen plenty of the uplifted horses, but this one was particularly larger than the ones she's seen before. His fur was storm grey and his mane was a darker grey. He wore a partially-buttoned shirt that did little to hide his muscles. His pants were casual, but didn't hide much either. "Um, excuse, I think I got turned around," said the stallion, scratching his head. Camille could see feathering on his arm. Apparently, this stallion was a Clydesdale, which would explain his size. "Is Nurse Calamity here? I was trying to talk with her about something," said the Clydesdale.
"I don't think she works in this area," said Camille.
"Oh, sorry for disturbing you," said the Clydesdale. He was about to leave when he took another look at her. "Wait, aren't you the dancer that got poisoned?" he asked.
"Drugged, but it was voluntary," said Camille.
"You going to make a full recovery?" asked the stallion.
"Once I get my scales," said Camille.
"Ah, you're going to convert too," said the stallion.
"You were human?" asked Camille.
"It's the mane, isn't it?" asked the horse, "Makes it impossible to tell who was a human and who was a horse. But I sure have a lot more than I did before. Name's Thunderhoof."
"Camille...that's not your actual name, is it?" she asked.
"No, I changed it when I went through the ARP," said Thunderhoof.
"Maybe it's still the heroin in my brain, but 'Thunderhoof', for some reason, sounds like the name of an elk," said Camille.
"That thought briefly crossed my mind, but I think it fits these kinds of hooves better," said Thunderhoof, clopping his larger feathered hooves.
"So, how'd you get into the ARP?" asked Camille.
"A lot of information about that is classified," said Thunderhoof, "But I can tell you that I used to be a lawyer until I got caught up in the McCarthy scandal."
"McCarthy? As in the Second Red Scare? Wasn't that 70 years ago or something?" asked Camille.
"More or less," said Thunderhoof, "I was hardly a spring chicken before I get my dosage. I'm sure you've heard of how the Animalian virus can return people to their prime."
"Ok," said Camille, "So, did you get accused of communism?"
"I'd rather not talk about that," said Thunderhoof, "But the simplest version is that my career got destroyed, but I at least got my revenge by helping expose all the fraudulence that McCarthy created. It couldn't restore my career, but President Eisenhower gave me a quiet place to live out my early retirement."
"And the ARP allowed you to start fresh again?" asked Camille.
"I can't confirm or deny that," said Thunderhoof, "There are some things you can't talk about regarding the government, even if it's 70 years old."
"Can you tell me about your conversion?" asked Camille.
"As much as I'm able to tell," said Thunderhoof, "It's one of those things that's hard to describe by yourself."
==========
Author's note: the following flashback is based off of Thunderhoof's description and Camille's imagination. As such, it may not be accurate to the actual event.
"Are we feeling ok, Theodore?" asked the Horizon scientist.
"As much as an old man like me can feel," said Theodore. He wasn't an impressive-looking man, but few people would be when they're pushing 90. It was a wonder that all of his hair wasn't gone, just a wreath going behind his head from one ear to the other. His clothes weren't amazing either, namely a suit that was probably considered dull and drab back in the early 20th century.
"You don't have to wear the suit," said the scientist, "It'll get torn apart if you keep wearing it."
"It's a bit of catharsis," said Theodore, "Something for me express breaking out of the old me and bringing in my new self."
"If you want it that way," said the scientist, "So, ready to become a stallion?"
"It is a Clydesdale, right?" asked Theodore.
"Exactly as you asked for," said the scientist, rolling up the sleeve on Theodore's left arm. He injected first one then another needle into his vein. "Now all we do is wait."
The results didn't take long to make themselves noticeable. Theodore could feel energy coursing through his veins, more energy than he felt in hears. The veins in his arms became less visible as they started to bulk up. They became even less visible as grey fur started to grow over them. His hands clenched as they became bigger, the fingernails becoming thicker and darker. Already, his shirt was suffering, buttons forced to snap apart as his chest became broader. His shoes were the next victims, the ends bulging out before bursting open. His deforming toes stuck out as they melted together into a solid, hard shape. Before long, Theodore's suit was coming apart at the seams, splitting apart to reveal growing muscles covered by grey fur. His pants were already half-destroyed by the time his tailbone started extending out of his body and growing hair. Theodore's face grimaced as it was pushed forward. Recognizable human features were replaced by new equine features. Even his baldness didn't remain, hair reclaimed lost territory before growing much longer into a proper mane.
By the time the transformation was done, Theodore was completely unrecognizable. Gone was the 90 year old human, here now was a young Clydesdale stallion with storm grey fur and darker grey mane and tail. His human clothes were completely destroyed, leaving his newly-acquired muscles bare to see. His balls had also gained a lot more size, which only made sense since he was a horse. His penis was currently housed in its new sheath, but Theodore's current state of arousal will only require a little bit of persuasion to make it come out.
"Well, looks like it worked perfectly," said the scientist.
"I can't deny that," said Theodore, his voice much deeper now, as he marveled at his new body.
"Well, you'll soon have a new life in Animalia," said the scientist, "Have you considered getting a new name?"
Theodore tapped his new hooves and said, "I was thinking maybe Thunderhoof..."
==========
"So, you just jumped right in, Ted?" asked Camille.
"I didn't say my name was Ted, you did," said Thunderhoof, "But it wasn't as instant as you might think. Getting young again was a big enough change, let alone being more muscular than I was before. The horse part goes without saying. But eventually, I soon got the hang of being an Animalian."
"You still a lawyer?" asked Camille.
Thunderhoof snorted and said, "I've had enough of law practice in my first lifetime. I'm a construction worker in my daylight hours."
"What are you at night?" asked Camille.
Thunderhood cleared his throat and said, "I also perform at the Meat Market."
Camille's eyebrows shot up. "Really? I can't imagine an old man like you would even consider something like that."
"I'm not an old man anymore," said Thunderhoof, "Besides, it makes surprisingly good money. Animalians aren't shy out performances, especially with their stronger libidos. But I've been keeping your time too long. You've got your old conversion to go through. Did you mention scales before?"
Camille nodded and said, "I'm becoming a crest chameleon."
"Interesting," said Thunderhoof, "So you'd be practically invisible?"
"Chameleons don't actually change their color for camouflage," said Camille, "It's a combination of body heat and emotions."
"So you'd be more like a living mood ring," said Thunderhoof.
"Only for my own emotions, but yes," said Camille, "You think you can swing back around after my conversion?"
"I don't see why not," said Thunderhoof before turning to go, "I'll see you later."
"Ok," said Camille before she allowed herself to doze. Her ideas for her Animalian future were becoming more clear.
==========
Once Camille had gotten enough strength, the scientist got her ready for her dosage. Chameleons weren't unknown in Animalia, namely the result of pet store occupants being exposed during the outbreak. Camille's first choice was for a horned chameleon, thinking she'd look like a cute, sexy triceratops. However, she eventually learned that horns were exclusive to the males so she decided to go with the crested chameleon instead. She kept her hair cut short to better display the designs on her body so Camille was a little afraid of losing it altogether, but if that could happen, she thought she could just alter the pigmentation on her head to be close to her hair color. (Which since it was black shouldn't be that hard of a challenge.)
"We'll start you off with a single dose, so your body doesn't experience too great a shock," said the scientist, "It'll strengthen your nerves enough for the next dose." The dose was in the form of a skin patch. Camille was rather antsy around needles, one of the reason her fellow performers couldn't believe she'd abuse drugs.
"I'm ready when you are," said Camille. The scientist nodded before applying the patch. Camille could feel a tickle through her skin, a tickle that quickly spread. Her skin quickly started to dry out and change color, starting as a uniform green. Though as the pigmentation in her new skin cells became more active, their color started to alter, becoming brighter with her excitement.
When the changes reached her head, it went through some major alterations. Fortunately, she kept her hair, but now it was permanently parted down the middle by a crest on her head that almost looked like a fin. Her eyes were forced to move to the sides as they grew much larger. Her upper and lower eyelids mostly fused together, leaving only a small hole for her pupils to look through, though she was still capable of shutting these smaller eyeholes. Camille's new eyes were capable of rotating independently at nearly 180 degrees. However, the drawback was now it would be painfully obvious when she's no longer paying attention to someone. Her mouth extended into her new muzzle as her tongue went through a drastic transformation. Contrary to popular thought, the chameleon's tongue did not stretch, but rather folded up in the mouth accordion-style until it was launched by a special set of muscles in the lower jaw.
Camille was also gaining other iconic traits of the chameleon. Namely, the long prehensile tail that was useful for climbing. Her toes distended before her big toe and pinkie toes started sliding backwards along her foot. Her three remaining toes soon started to grow a lot longer. Her big and pinkie toes moved all the way to the back of her foot (which was rapidly shrinking) before becoming growing longer as well. Eventually, her feet became larger versions of a chameleon's zygodactyl feet. Her hands fortunately were not also altered, though her thumb did grow noticeably longer and became more flexible.
Eventually, Camille's changes finished, leaving her an anthropomorphic chameleon. The process was rather dizzying for her, particularly since her new eyes were finding it too easy to roll around and it took an effort of will to keep them pointing forward. But at least she was no longer feeling the ache in her body that the heroin left in her.
"Ok, if you're ready, we can proceed with your second dosage to make sure the heroin is completely purged from your system," said the scientist.
"Hold on," said Camille, "I actually had another idea about how to get it."
==========
Later in the day, Thunderhoof swung back around to Camille's room. He hoped she was adjusting well to her new body. He had trouble dealing with his longer legs and a chameleon's body was probably trickier than that.
He knocked on the door and heard Camille say, "Come in." He opened the door and found Camille looking quite comfortable on her bed. The fact that she was an anthro chameleon and completely naked did nothing more than make Thunderhoof raise an eyebrow. "How do I look?" asked Camille.
"Very nice," said Thunderhoof, "I'm guessing you have a proposition for me."
"Yes, I still haven't had my second dose yet. I've read enough about Animalian's Edicts. I'm definitely not in heat, I'm not looking for a mate right now, but there's nothing wrong with a little casual sex," said Camille, her tail coiling around one of her legs, "So, help a girl out with an itch?"
Thunderhoof thought it over for a few seconds before shrugging. "Oh, what the hell. There have been weirder starts to friendships." He started unbottoning his shirt at that.
"We'll probably be seeing more of each other anyways," said Camille, one of her eyes drifting down Thunderhoof's chest, "I was thinking of working at the Meat Market."
"Not an unusual place to start, but I don't see it as a long-term career," said Thunderhoof as he took off his pants.
"I've been thinking about getting into art. I've used my body as a medium but I can do more than that. I can work with other mediums like oil painting, photography, maybe clay sculpture if- Oh my God!" Camille's eyes bugged out as Thunderhoof took off his underwear. Well, they'd bug out if she were still human, but her chameleon eyes were basically permanently set on bugged out now. And she had good reason to react as Thunderhoof's cock slid out of its sheath, extending to at least two feet long.
Thunderhoof grinned and said, "I'm not normally one to blow my own horn, but I think I qualify in the top tier among stallions."
"That thing looks like it could split me in half," said Camille.
"If you were still human, it might," said Thunderhoof, "I don't know if lizards can handle cocks this size. If you wanted to do something different-"
"Oh, no, no. How could I pass that thing up?" said Camille, "Just...be very gentle at first. I'm not a virgin, but even I have to be slow with that."
"I thought it would be that way," said Thunderhoof before walking to the bed. Camille squeaked as he easily picked her up. "I think I should be on the bottom too. I don't think you'd be able to handle my weight." Camille only slightly nodded as Thunderhoof sat down on the bed before lowering Camille onto his shaft. She gasped as she felt his might rod go deeply into her. If she were still human, she'd most likely be crying in pain. But while it was definitely tight, it was not unbearable. As she allowed herself to slide along his pole, her body started to adjust. Her slender body began to put on more muscle, though not close to bodybuilder proportions. Her breasts also grew several cup sizes. But more importantly to Camille, her hips and ass widened enough to make acceptance of Thunderhoof's cock a lot easier.
Soon, Camille was moaning loudly with delight as Thunderhoof started to pound her with earnest. If she wasn't careful, she could become addicted to this. Thunderhoof was certainly enjoying this as well, as could be told by his loud snorting. Before long, Camille felt herself start to clench. She grasped Thunderhoof's legs with her new feet and squeezed tightly. She let out a soft cry as she felt herself climax. Thunderhoof was more controlled, only letting out a wicker. But the eruption from his cock quickly overflowed from Camille.
Camille panted a bit before pulling herself off of Thunderhoof's shaft. "So, you think I can get a job at the Meat Market?" she asked.
"I think I can ask a favor or two," said Thunderhoof, "But I think you'll be able to get in on your own."