I was still riding high from watching Ally stuff her new long face into a bowl of oats, plotting about what to do next with my new toy, when I heard a door open behind me, followed shortly by the sound of grocery bags hitting the floor, and my mother’s voice letting out a startled and confused gasp.
“Kyle! How on earth did a horse get in here? What’s going on?”
Ally lifted her head up from her oats. “Mom? What’s wrong? It’s just me, Ally.”
Barely even thinking, I turned around and swung the pendulum in mom’s direction, her eyes becoming fixed on it as it moved back and forth.
Okay, that was close, I probably should have thought about how other people would react to this before getting too comfy. Just because I made Ally okay with this doesn’t mean anyone else would be.
Ally got up and looked over my shoulder. “What’s up with mom?”
I turned to the side slightly, letting both of them see the swinging pendulum, Ally once again lost in deep trance to it. Good, that’d buy me some time to think of how to deal with this.
I smiled as it came to me. “Ally, your horse form and your human form are both a part of you, now. Both feel completely normal and comfortable to you. When I, and only I, say the trigger phrase, ‘Equine Awaken,’ you’ll come back to your horse-girl form. And if I say “revert to normal,” you’ll become human again.
“Mom, Ally, both of you are feeling very relaxed, calm, and comfortable. Mom, you know your son wouldn’t lie to you; this horse is Ally, your daughter. This state is as normal and natural for her as her human form. In fact, you both know for the future, any animal people you see are completely normal, and you can trust me when I tell you who each of them are. You’ll unconsciously know not to bring up the animal people forms to anybody but our family, or other animal people. Also, Ally, you’ll know to be careful not to step outside or be too visible when in horse form.”
They both nodded along.
I thought briefly about making mom into some kind of anthro for fun, too, but I realized since Dad wasn’t home, I’d already have to repeat this bit of hypnosis with him before I did anything crazier.
“Ally, revert to normal.”
She nodded, her snout shrinking back, and the fur retreating quickly.
“Neither of you will consciously remember anything from this trance, and you’ll both know that this is simply an ordinary novelty coin, and it belongs to me. If you see it outside my room, and not in my pocket or hand, you’ll make sure to return it to me, or place it in my room, as soon as you reasonably can, without using it, or letting the pendulum swing.” I put the coin back in my pocket. “Awaken.”
The two blinked a few times.
“Oh dear!” Mom looked now, and quickly grabbed her dropped groceries. “How could I be so clumsy.”
Ally leaned down to help, and I quietly excused myself. I wasn’t sure when dad would be home, but I still wanted to play with my new toy for a little while. Who wouldn’t wanna go a little crazy with the power to change and control people, after all? But I needed someplace safe from prying eyes or sudden interruption to test it out in. And to be honest, even if dad could be quickly hypnotized if he did interrupt, I wanted to switch gears rather than just focus on my family, for now. Especially on seeing how far these transformations could go.
I thought about a few of my friends. There was Shirly; I’d known her since middle school. She was calm and down to earth, even if it sometimes leaned into “slacker” territory, and she was an only child, so there were potentially fewer people to interrupt if I went to her place… but at the same time, her small home meant her parents would definitely overhear if things got too wild, and I don’t know how far even magical hypnosis could prevent a parent’s protective instincts, (that site did say having strong objections to an order could break a trance) especially if she wanted to be alone with a guy. Plus, as far as I knew, she might not be into experimenting with transformations, and sure, maybe I could change that, but she’s a FRIEND.
Then there was Wallace. He was a bit of a recluse, and I’m kinda surprised he had worked his way into our circle of friends at all. He was normally super quiet, unless something he was super interested in was brought up, then you couldn’t shut him up for anything. Whether it was a type of animal, a TV show, a video game, a long forgotten novel series, or event details on the mechanics of helicopters, if he got into something, he never did it halfway. If I could get him interested in helping with experiments, he’d likely be willing to push it to its absolute limit. On the other hand, he was the oldest of three siblings, so unless I felt like hypnotizing his whole family during these experiments, I’d likely be having a lot of noise or people barging in.
Last was Tom. He was more outgoing and active, though he wasn’t interested in sports. But he WAS interested in anthros, he was an only child, and his house had a large room in the basement that his parents rarely used. He seemed like the perfect subject. I called to mom that I was going to his house as I headed for the door.
I practically ran down a couple of quiet suburban blocks, and buzzed the doorbell a couple of times as I reached his family’s door. Tom opened it, his blonde hair brushed back.
“Oh, hey Kyle. What’s up?”
“I’ve got something I wanted to show you. I think you’ll like it a lot.” I patted my pocket. “Mind if we head to the den?”
He raised an eyebrow. “What’s the big secret?”
“You really think I’ll tell you out here?”
He shrugged. “Okay, let’s go.”
I stepped inside, the front room filled with fairly fancy furniture. Tom’s dad was a doctor, so his family could afford a lot of expensive decorations. “Your folks around here?”
“Dad’s at work today, and mom’s binging some new NetReels show. I was thinking about going for a jog in a bit.” He opened a door, and started down a flight of steps. “This won’t take too long, will it?”
“It might take a while,” I said. “But trust me, it’ll be worth it.”
I followed him down the stairs. The basement was a lot more plain than the foyer upstairs, having a foosball table, a few seats, bookshelves, a TV, and a desk where some of Kyle’s homework still lay.
“So, what’s this thing you wanted to show me?”
“THIS!” I pulled the pendulum out of my pocket dramatically, and let it swing in front of his face.
“What’s this supposed… to… be…” Tom’s eyelids drooped as the coin’s power went into effect.
“I know you probably wouldn’t believe me unless I showed you firsthand, but this coin gives me the power to hypnotize people instantly! And so much more than that.” I give a wide grin. “For example, you’re probably starting to feel thick, grey fur growing over your chest, and slowly spreading out over your body from there.”
I watched, waiting a few seconds for the fur to finally start poking out around the collar and sleeves of his T-shirt.
“The fur feels soft, warm, and perfectly natural,” I continued, “And even better, it’s a sign one of your greatest dreams is about to become true; you’re becoming a wolf anthro, all the heightened senses and strength of a predator, with the intelligence and dexterity of a human. That must feel pretty good, huh?”
“Yes…” Tom droned, a dull smile appearing on his face. “Feel your body getting stronger, as your hands and feet reshape, becoming more paw-like, with clawed fingertips, and padded hands.”
The muscles in his arms slowly began to subtly budge and swell under the rising fur, giving him a more athletic-looking physique. As grey fur sprouted over his hands, darker brown patches of skin appeared on his palms and fingers, which bubbled up into leathery pads. Boney claws poked through the tips of his fingers, and looking down, his fur-covered toes were growing claws too, while the back ends of his feet arched upward.
“Now, feel your jaws gently pulling forward, and a tugging on your ears as they rise up the side of your head, taking a triangular shape. Your eyes are changing from green to yellow. Feel your nose turn wet and dark, and your teeth sharpen, as sounds and smells all around you become clearer.”
I saw the changes going just the way I said, his smile turning into a long, fanged grin under a wet, black nose, while his ears twitched as they rose to their new positions. His hair seemed to be absorbed by his fur without actually getting shorter, keeping the same ruffled look it had before.
“Lastly, you’ll get your fluffy wolf tail, slowly stretching out from the top of your pants, but already wagging in excitement about your new look.”
I saw the wave of grey fur growing gradually longer behind him, shaking giddily.
“You fully understand how to control yourself in this body, and can still speak just as well as before. And the best part, of course, is that this form will come back to you whenever you say ‘let me howl.’ It can be said as quietly or as loudly as you like, and it’ll still work. And when you need to become human again, simply say ‘revert to normal,’ and the changes will all revert, and you’ll go back to how you looked before you’d changed. Now, wake up.” I snapped my fingers.
Tom blinked and shook his head as he came back to his senses. His eyes immediately zoomed in on the wolfish snout in front of them. He quickly raised up his hands and examined them, feeling over one with the other.
“You actually did it! I thought I was dreaming for a second there.” He shook his head. “This is so cool! If Mom weren’t upstairs, I’d try out howling! How did you get that thing? Anything else it can do?”
“I found it on the side of the road. And I was actually hoping you’d help me test it. Or at least come up with some ideas for using it.”