There were many people who had the looks to go into modeling, but for various reasons didn't make it there. Sometimes it was their personality or drive. For the remainder, it was most often about money problems, a lack of important connections, or a minor flaw that people wouldn't overcome. For Perla, it was the latter. Everyone told her she was gorgeous and she definitely had the drive and ambition to be a model. But then her vitiligo appeared in her late teens. That quickly shot through her modeling plans. While she still had a beautiful body, modeling agencies could only see her as being 'marred'. Makeup wouldn't be enough to cover it all, not under the super-focused camera lens. Eventually, Perla ended up going into the adult entertainment industry, the stripe-like marks on her legs getting her the nickname 'Chocolate Swirl'.
When the Animalian School of Modeling opened up, Perla wanted to join. But she lacked the money to be able to move and get converted. It wasn't until Mandy (now Megara) had joined Animalia that Perla was able to get the sponsorship she needed. Though Perla needed to sign up for an experimental project to completely pay for her conversion. It didn't sound particularly bad to her, but first she wanted to secure a place at ASM.
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Maggie's desk was rather messy at the moment, covered with papers and folders. "I'm sorry I didn't clean up earlier," said Maggie, "Things have been really busy with the IAC going on."
"Is this when you're most busiest?" asked Perla.
"I should think so," said Maggie, "Fortunately, it's only once every two years. I have a lot to get ready before the modeling show. And you were wanting to be a part of that show, right?"
"Right," said Perla, "I wanted to make sure I can sign up first."
"Well, most people apply here after they've converted," said Maggie, "You're much more forward than most of the people I've met. And while conversion tends to make it a moot point, you do have a pretty good body."
"It would be, except for this," said Perla, holding up her hands to show her unnaturally pale palms.
"I heard about your condition," said Maggie, "Was it because of chemical exposure or something?"
"No, it's a genetic condition," said Perla, "Everyone thought I had gotten some disease until the doctors cleared it up. It still made a major blow to my social life."
"I've seen far worse," said Maggie, "You wouldn't have wanted to see me after that flesh-eating bacteria destroyed my body."
Perla winced and sounded, "That does sound bad. But at least Animalia fixed you up."
"And you want Animalia to do the same with you," said Maggie.
"Well, no one will be able to tell what color my skin is under that fur, right?" asked Perla.
"Well, albinism can carry over to Animalian forms, but I don't think that applies in your case," said Maggie, "And you're planning on being a zebra, right?"
"Quagga, actually," said Perla, "That de-extinction project is covering the rest of my entry fees."
"So what does a quagga look like?" asked Maggie.
"I'm not fully sure," said Perla, "I mostly have a black-and-white photograph and artist's impressions to go on."
"Well, I'm mostly asking to know what color to have your clothes in," said Maggie, "There's a big difference between contrasting colors and clashing colors."
"You mean I'm in? Already?" asked Perla.
"I don't have a reason to turn you down yet," said Maggie, "But I expect you to be working just as hard as my other students."
"You can count on that," said Perla.
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Then Perla went to Horizon Labs for her conversion. "There aren't as many people entering Project Thylacine these days," said Dr. Banjo, "Most people are focusing on Project Mesozoic. Project Cenozoic has also been quiet, but that may pick up when it's winter. It's not just us who are grateful, you know."
"Who else?" asked Perla.
"The people with the Quagga Project," said Dr. Banjo, "That's not us, but there are people attempting to breed back the quagga using Burchell's zebras. Though more accurately, they're selective breeding to get a zebra that looks most like a quagga. With your help, they may get some real quagga DNA to work with."
"But wouldn't my DNA just make them into Animalians?" asked Perla.
"They're doing something similar with the woolly mammoth cloning project," said Dr. Banjo, "I won't confound you with the particulars. I hope that your conversion may bring more attention back to Project Thylacine. There are other extinct animals to bring back."
"Such as?" asked Perla.
"The auroch and the Atlas lion," said Dr. Banjo, "But for now, let's focus on the quagga."
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In the changing room, Perla wasn't quite sure what to expect. Dr. Banjo had given her the shot that was supposed to change her. The orangutan was surprisingly gentle with her. She probably shouldn't have been worried, but 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue' creeped her out when she was younger. But then he left her alone after saying 'Welcome to Animalia'. Now Perla didn't know how long it will be until she started transforming.
The answer turned out to be not long. She felt a tickling in her arms as she saw white fur started to grown on them. The fur spread to her hands, covering her pale palms with white fur while her fingertips were covered with hoof-like keratin. Pretty soon, the tickling sensation was felt in her legs as well. Perla quickly took off her pants to watch the changes. White fur raced over her legs' surface, covering dark and pale skin alike in a black of snowy hair. There was some discomfort in her feet as they stretched out. Her toenails darkened and thickened until they started swallowing up her toes. Her toes soon fused together to form hooves on her new legs.
As the tickle reached her torso, Perla took off her shirt to watch the change happen. Her front was being covered in white fur while her back was being covered in fawn-colored fur. But the interesting part were the the stripes. There were white stripes attached to her front that want around to her back. And there were brown stripes connecting from her back that made interesting patterns on her front. The brown stripes were particularly noticeable on her breasts, almost shaped like a bra. Speaking of which, her bra was getting rather tight as her breasts were growing bigger. That surprised Perla as her breasts were already D-cups and she wasn't expecting them to get bigger. Removing her bra, her breasts bounced free, looking at lease E cup. The nipples were also bigger and had turned black. Touching one, Perla was more surprised to see milk start to dribble from it. She heard Animalian females lactated a lot, but she didn't think she'd start so soon.
In comparison, the transformation of her head was unsurprising. White and brown fur spread over her neck and face as both grew longer. Her face pushed out into an equine muzzle, but not as long as the horse Animalians. Her ears got a little longer than a horse's, but not nearly as long as the donkeys or the mules. Her head looked much like the zebra Animalians, though with brown stripes instead of brown. Her brown hair didn't become a mohawk mane and it was a distinctly darker color than her fawn fur. The same applied to the tuft at the end of her newly-grown tail.
Perla waited a few seconds, but it looked like the transformation was done. Looking the mirror, Perla muttered, "So that's what a quagga looked like." To her, she looked mostly like a zebra Animalian, though brown where she should be black. Though the most significant differences were that her arms and legs were pure white and there were no white stripes on her lower back or ass. She was also curvier than she had expected, with new mass added on top of her considerable figure. Her panties were stretched enough to start giving her a wedgie, but they weren't painfully tight. Putting her bra back on would have been a problem as her new breasts were clearly bigger than they were meant to contain.
Perla was able to get her shirt and pants back on, but they were much tighter than before. Her breasts took up a lot more space in her shirt, which mean it couldn't get low enough to cover her stomach. She had to leave her pants unbuttoned and unzipped in order to squeeze her pants on. "First order of business is getting properly-sized clothes," said Perla. Of course, there were some other things, like letting the scientist look her over. But she wanted to get back to Maggie as soon as possible.
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"You have a very interesting pattern of stripes," said Maggie as she looked Perla over. Being in the adult entertainment industries had allowed Perla to become accustomed to stripping down in front of people. As an Animalian, she felt more relaxed in her modesty.
"I heard that every zebra has a unique pattern of stripes, like a human's fingerprint," said Perla as she put her new underwear back on. It didn't take them long to find Perla's new size as she wasn't unlike other equines. "I guess that applies to quaggas as well."
"Well, I can certainly think of some outfits that can go well with your new body," said Maggie.
"I'm already in?" asked Perla.
"Well, we are going to have scramble a little to get you ready in time for the big show," said Maggie, "I usually don't rush new students into this, but you have some experience, right?"
"You might say that," said Perla, "I did do a little pro-bono work, even if I couldn't get any real money for it."
"Then let's hope you're quick enough to pick up the rest," said Maggie.
"I am eager to learn," said Perla.