Jeremy watched in horror as what he could only describe as ... well, purple fur began to sprout across his body.
"What... what is happening to me?" asked Jeremy in a shaky voice.
Izzy looked at him with wide-eyed wonder but his wife only looked at him with fear. Lucille pulled Izzy behind her and shielded her protectively.
Jeremy groaned as intense pain shot across his back. He heard cracks as his vertebrae shifted and morphed, pushing him down to his hands and knees. Jeremy could only look at the ground, forced to watch as his fingers puffed up, growing thicker and merging. His nails grew longer and harder, becoming thick black hooves. He felt a tingling in his groin, but could not look back. He could only close his eyes and wince as his face stretched out into a short fuzzy muzzle. He felt a tingling down his neck and back, feeling his hair growing thicker and longer. As he opened his eyes just as a wavy strand of light purple hair drifted in front of his face. He felt something slap his thick thighs and realized it must have been some kind of tail.
Jeremy thought the changes were over, but he was wrong. A pain bloomed on his forehead, like a drill boring into his skull. He gritted his teeth as a long spiral horn erupted, twisting as it grew longer and thicker. At the same time his back ached miserably. Her grunted and groaned until two small nubs forced their way out from under his shoulder blades. As he flexed and flapped these appendages, they grew longer and thicker, filling with strange purple feathers.
Jeremy could not speak, exhausted from his transformation. He just panted loudly and deeply, trying to catch his breath. His wife could only stare at him in shock, a hand still covering her gasping mouth. It was their daughter Izzy who broke the silence.
"Oh my gosh! It is really her! My wish came true! Princess Moon is here!" said Izzy with excitement.
Princess Moon, thought Jeremy with some confusion. What in the world is she talking about?
Dimly Jeremy remembered a children's show that his daughter loved, something about magical ponies....
"Oh no, honey. It's still me, your father ...." began Jeremy in a lyrical, almost musical tone. "Wait... is that my voice? What is going on?"
Izzy ran forward and gave Jeremy a big hug around the neck. While he appreciated the love, Jeremy was also shocked by his new height. We was now only as tall as his young daughter. Well, as tall as her when he was standing on all four hooves.
"I love you, Princess Moon. I am so glad you decided to come to my birthday party tomorrow," said Izzy.
Jeremy had almost forgotten about her party. His wife had taken care of all the details, even purchasing the gift and buying the cake. He hadn't even planned on attending it and now he felt a little guilty.
Suddenly Izzy was violently pulled away from Jeremy by Lucille. She began to wipe down her hands, anywhere she had touched Jeremy.
"Izzy, stay away from that.... that thing!" hissed Lucille.
Jeremy frowned. "Honey, that's not nice. It's still me - Jeremy, your husband - in here, even if I look a little funny."
Lucille continued to look at him with disgust.
"Maybe. But whatever happened to you might be contagious. I don't think my husband - my real husband - would want his daughter to end up looking like that," said Lucille. She turned and looked down at Izzy. "Go upstairs right now and take a shower - a long one! I'll be up there in a minute to scrub you from head to toe. Then it is straight to bed!"
"Aw, but I want to play with Princess Moon!" whined Izzy.
"Now, young lady!" said Lucille firmly.
"I'll see you tomorrow, honey, " said Jeremy.
Izzy gave him a weak smile then headed upstairs to the bathroom. Jeremy started to follow her. Lucille moved to block his path.
"And where do you think you are going?" asked Lucille.
"To my room, " said Jeremy with some annoyance. "It is late and I am very tired. I want to see our doctor the first thing in the morning so I need to get some rest right now."
"Not in my bedroom!" said Lucille angrily. She sighed and looked at Jeremy with some sympathy. "Look, until we figure this thing out, I don't want you in the house. Not just for my sake, but for Izzy's as well."
"And where do you propose I sleep?" asked Jeremy.
"Outside. You can sleep in the shed in the back if you like. But not in the house, not near us, " said Lucille. She sighed again. "Look, it is just for one night. It is a small price to pay for the safety of your family."
Jeremy ducked his head sadly and acquiesced. He solemenly walked into the backyard, Lucille following at a safe distance behind him. She opened the door to their small utility shed. It was dusty, filled with cobwebs and occupied by a variety of old and rusty unused yard tools.
"See, it's not too bad," said Lucille as she pulled the lawnmower out of the shed. "Plenty of room."
Jeremy said nothing, just slowly trotted into the shed with his head hanging low. Lucille closed the door and locked it behind him. Jeremy chuckled a little at that. She didn't need to lock the door. He didn't have hands anymore, just hooves. There was no way he could open the door by himself anyway.
Jeremy found a reasonably comfortable spot on the cold concrete floor and drifted off to sleep.