Some sets of eyes watched as "Missy" was lead away by the Animalia PD and some EMTs that were looking at the woman's hurt leg, which was held clearly above the ground.
"I can't believe someone would pull something like that," one voice spoke belonging to a bay colored French Trotter Mare Animalian, "I mean... it's not like I'm interested in Anastasia or anything, but had that lady been caught, I'd bet Anastasia could have roughed her up."
"Well of course you wouldn't think that way Sara-Jane," the first commented.
"Hey," Sara-Jane snorted back, "the French Trotter isn't exactly a big horse and is built more for racing and... trotting... and the hope of doing so with as many handsome stallions as possible."
"Yes, but we're all bigger than where we were," the first answered, softly stamping one foot, and as a Dølehest Mare Animalian she had a bit more muscle that the rest of her friends. It actually made for an interesting combination as while her fur was largely a gray-cream color with her forearms and the lower part of her legs colored in black fur that feathered slightly closer to her hands, which was in line with the Norwegian breed's statistics, but her hair, mane, and tail were the same flamboyant red of her youth again. But Mary-Anne didn't mind that. "And that that applies to all Animalians. Sure Russian Wolfhounds might not be used as guard dogs... but I'm sure that Anastasia would be strong enough to deal with her had she caught that thief."
"Maybe she's a heavy sleeper... or she and her boyfriend were otherwise occupied?" a third, an American Paint Horse Mare with a white and brown coat commented.
"Boyfriend?" Mary-Anne looked back at the American Paint Horse Mare, "Jessie... that guy looks older than we did before we converted."
"You never know," Jessie answered, "for converting made us young again and got us a shot at some loving..."
The six that were there almost immediately thought the same thing, "Archie..." Soon after was some happily thinking back at their own conversions...
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The group had all come to Lyre and Horizon's offices from various places. Mary-Anne and Sara-Jane came from Boston and met Elizabeth Wart at the terminal in New York after their connection flight, as well as Jessie, Vera, and Theresa who'd driven to New York City from New Jersey for the flight to Lyre/Animalia. All of them had worked in various office jobs at various levels, most had been secretaries, but Elizabeth had even been a regional manager for a bank in London. And on the flight to Lyre/Animalia, they shared many of their shared frustrations. They'd all longed for more, but had often missed out on or avoided personal attachments while trying to claw their way up the corporate ladder as it were, but in recent years they'd reached a point where they couldn't have gotten the whole "happy ever after" with kids and everything else even if they had, and feeling that was missing, all six had made the same decision.
"Wouldn't white be a rare color for a Thoroughbred?" Jessie asked, thinking over all the books and websites he had to read through on equine breeds and behavior in order to pass the sort of exams that Horizon was mandated to issue.
"It is," Elizabeth answered, "but it would make for a striking feature and would surely attract someone... Might even lure a Human man to convert to join me."
"Or we could lure out the stallions that are already there," Vera commented, "all pictures that Animalia and Horizon have put out on them has shown them all be big and strong... they'd have to be big down there too... and one will have to be single."
Some of this continued on and drew some eyes from other passengers on the plane, but the six really didn't care and conversed about their desires and plans regarding what specific type of Animalian to become. The fact that they'd all planned to become Horse Animalians was taken as a pleasant surprise and they agreed to be their own little herd once converted. Sara-Jane had picked out the French Trotter. Mary-Anne had picked out the Dølehest. Jessie had picked out the American Paint Horse. Elizabeth had picked out a specific coat color for the Thoroughbred. Vera had picked the Belgian Warmblood. Theresa picked the Morgan Horse breed.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Their arrival at Horizon soon met with equal surprises as they came in as a group and insisted on being grouped together as a group. Elizabeth even agreed to pay for all their conversions which the group loved and ultimately surprised the heck out of the secretary at the welcoming area where most guests coming to Horizon to become Animalians were first directed to.
"And this is all to find boyfriends?" the secretary stammered at the directness in which the Vera had related that desire. He'd heard some of the stuff that had gone on with Sylvia on the Brown farm and being "tattooed" as punishment for spending more time flirting with mated/married stallions rather then working. This seemed to be a repetition of that whole situation, just one that followed the rules in a more formal way than the online order that had lead to the "seven on four" night.
"Well... yes," Elizabeth spoke, "Is it wrong to go looking for love?"
"Well... no..." the secretary gave a polite and nervous smile, "but... this is the first that someone converting to be an Animalian has converted with the purpose of looking for a mate. Most have wanted a shot at their youth back or wanted to be cured of a disease or have some other injury healed... that sort of thing. Love and mates often came later."
"It is the same thing, luv," Elizabeth gave a warm smile, "I paid so much attention to my work that by the time I realized I wanted love and a family... I was too old to have a family."
"It's all about rebirth," Theresa added with the others soon nodding in agreement.
The secretary nodded and went along with that, figuring it would be the best way to save himself further embarrassment, but he did put an email alert to Judy and Doctor Stein that these six might potentially develop Regressive Hypersexuality Disorder. They weren't as old as some of those that developed the disorder after converting in the past, but some of the direct attention to those sorts of things made it a distinct possibility of that developing. There was some rumor that some of the "Seven on Four night" members were also being treated for it at Doctor Jones's clinic, but he couldn't confirm that and the secretary just did his best to make sure that all the bases were covered.
After that the group of friends were collected along by two of Horizon's scientists, one Human and one Animalian and were escorted along to the areas where the changing rooms were. This in turn lead to the six of them being rotated into of the rooms. Those that waited outside were then excited to see their friends come out after they finished their transformations. Some of the nudity was a nervous issue, but the results were impressive.
"You look good, Elizabeth," Vera said to the now white furred Thoroughbred Animalian as she stretched out her long legs and ran her hand over her generous curves.
"And I feel good," Elizabeth smiled, not fully that concerned on her nudity at the moment, "best I've actually felt in years."
"How do you feel, Mary-Anne?" Theresa asked.
"Strong," Mary-Anne spoke as she flexed her arms. The Dølehest wasn't a large draft horse in the way that the Clydesdale was, but it was still a draft/harness horse and was used for more than the racing, jumping, and trotting that the breeds the others had selected. As such, Mary-Anne had gained a lot more muscle than Elizabeth. Elizabeth's legs were longer, which might be good for racing, but Mary-Anne knew that she had the strength to pull or lift more, which she figured would do well when it came to dealing with the Animalian stallions. "And I like it... the transformation doesn't hurt... but some bits feel a bit... weird."
"It ends quite well though," Elizabeth added with a smile.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Well... it could be possible..." Theresa admitted, "but then that guy isn't always with Anastasia. A lot of times I see him walking to a coffee shop in Lyre."
"Maybe it's more of a deep friendship that hasn't become romantic, yet," Elizabeth commented as she looked to her friends, "like they've been on great adventures as platonic friends and just haven't seen the love in each other's eyes... yet."
"It'd be romantic if they do find love," Vera commented, "like all the mated couples here have been. I met a Husky woman the other day while going shopping for some groceries... Turns out she wasn't too keen on all of this when it started and only agreed to it because her husband was something of a closet furry. She loved him and converted because he wanted to convert... She told me she wouldn't go back now even if she could."
"So love conquers all," Elizabeth smiled, "And our search for it will continue... and we might win Archie's heart and then he can show us some of those fertility rites."