It was now the morning after the night before.
Amanda had been relieved that none of the remaining four non-centaurs had transformed. And even before the group could make their plans for the new day, under another bright sunrise, Amanda was making some new discoveries.
Going by their designs, the large communal toilets and showers in the village were evidently solely for centaurs. Though the group had been thankful to note that the water was piped. But it was a mystery as to what was heating the hot water.
Metal meant that there were mines somewhere. Given that centaurs were logically mainly outdoor creatures, perhaps they had opencast mining…
Amanda had sneaked out before breakfast, to see to her toiletry needs and to wash herself. Given that eight centaurs now needed to organise themselves as to their hygiene – Amanda had decided to avoid the communal showers altogether, and aim for somewhere that none of them had been to – some woods on the eastern side of the village, set on a low hill ridge. She knew she would be returning to the fare of a cooked rabbit and cob corn that Wendy and Snow were preparing between them. Amongst other things, Amanda was trying to mentally adapt to the fact that someone who was a horse until recently, was being taught how to use her arms and now-human brain to be coordinated. Naturally, Snow was wary of the camp fire – but this morning she seemed keen to learn and make herself useful.
In her own words, Snow had said to the others: “My loyalty is you guys - my haras. And to my new race.”
A haras… Evidently, the growing number of centaurs amongst them thought of themselves as a haras. Another term for a herd of horses. When she had heard Snow say this, with no hesitancy in her words, Amanda didn’t pipe up to say that she herself wasn’t a centaur. Yet.
But where did Snow learn the term from…? Amanda knew that none of the former humans had used it, back at their stables.
One discovery Amanda had recently made was during the night – learning that Marcus and June had become mates. She had noted that the pair now didn’t want to spent much time apart from each other. Also, Wendy was no longer in heat – but she too hated to be separated from her mate, Midnight, for any great length of time.
Four pairs of transformations so far, Amanda reflected, as she washed her hands in the bucket of warm water with her, before nervously fingering the growth of hair running along her spine. Her emerging…mane. As Ben had observed, the transformations had always struck one horse and one human at the same time – as if the…magic…needed the balance in order to work. For the first three occasions, it had been a horse and his or her owner. But last night, the owner-horse pattern had been broken with Lucy and Bolt changing together.
Furthermore, the group had noted that all of the new centaurs, thus far, had been created at night. But Bolt and Lucy were the only ones to be changed, last night.
Amanda sighed with relief as she rubbed her legs, finding them still to be hairless, and attached to two human feet. Then, drying herself, she got dressed. Normally, at this time of day, she would be checking her face in a mirror and applying some make up. But she had no make up on her now. And what was the point anymore, anyway? She wasn’t drawn to Ben, smart as he was. No, he would be Lucy’s claim. And in any case, the centaurs were driven by their new, animal hormones – as well as their human sensibilities.
As she stood up and looked towards the trees on the far side of the ridge, Amanda caught sight of something that had previously been hidden from them all. It wasn’t a threat – but it sent a shiver running along her hairy spine, nevertheless.
“Oh, dear god…,” she muttered. Then Amanda started to hurry back to the village, to alert the others.
***
After they all had breakfast, Amanda dived into leader mode again and started allocating tasks to those happy to oblige. Today, Wendy and Midnight would lead the hunting party – along with Marcus and Snow. Whilst June and a few others would gather berries and use the ceramic pots found in the large, one-storey houses, to collect rain water for drinking. Dark clouds were gathering in the sky now, from where the breeze was blowing – and it seemed that rain would fall before sunset. It would add to their storage of water from the stream.
In the meantime, Amanda led Luke and Lucy back over the hill ridge and through the wood, to her latest discovery. The large burial ground…
From her own perspective, Lucy (who had been helped over by Luke as she gradually adjusted to walking on her new hooves) was taking in the wooden markers set around the burial mounds. However, she couldn’t read what was obviously the centaur’s written language. But what appeared to be digits on the markers indicated that most of the buried had died in the same year. Feeling emotional, she lowered her trunk upon the ground and started crying. In the light of the morning, it could now be seen that Lucy had the whitish-brown markings of a Lippizaner – and Amanda wondered what breeds she and Ben were going to become in the equine parts of their new bodies.
“I just feel so sad that these people died in such large numbers!” Lucy explained to Amanda and Luke. “Mass burial pits, now grown over by grass. It must have been that plague that Wendy read about. Oh god..! Did their children die here, too?”
Luke, who was squatted next to the markers at one of the mounds, spoke up.
“So they did, I’m afraid. This clump of markers relates to a family who all died of plague. The parents, a boy, and a daughter. Both kids, as far as I can tell… Ur, what?” the freckled, red-haired and red-furred centaur trailed off as Amanda turned and gave Luke the evil eye.
“How can you can read the markers – whilst Lucy and I cannot?” she spat at him.
“Er… I rather not say,” he mumbled.
Lucy suddenly become fully alert as she twisted her upper half to appraise him. “My nose is sharper, now that I’m a centaur… And your scent was on Snow before she showered!” she told Luke. “And a stain on her fur at her rear, before it got washed away…”
“That explains Snow talking about a haras, this morning. You don’t use the term haras yourself, Luke – so she didn’t get it from you. She’s now mentally a centaur… Because, despite my instructions to you all, last night, you and Snow mated when I was asleep – didn’t you?” Amanda growled.
Now Luke had a face to match the colour of his hair and fur. He looked down at his forelegs, pacing on the spot. “I was hesitant to act upon her scent. Snow told me not to think of her as my horse anymore – but to think of her as my mare, instead. And now I’m her stallion. We are mates,” he admitted. Then he raised his face, now looking proud. “The two of us are now complete, Amanda! We are fully-fledged centaurs – and Snow and I will do what we can to ensure the survival and safety of our herd. We owe it to our lost brothers and sisters, to save our race from extinction!” Luke flung out his arm to point at the burial mounds.
Amanda threw her hands into the air. “Great! Just great! Out of eight centaurs, six of you kids have already done the deed! So, tell me, Mr ‘Complete’ – how do we return everyone back to how they originally were, and get back home? Or is that really impossible?”
Luke looked away for a moment, then he returned eye contact with Amanda and Lucy. “I’m sorry, boss. My new instincts tell me that we can’t go back. This is our home now. We have a clear purpose – to survive, breed, and raise our foals. Bring ‘em up the best we can, so that we can rebuild the centaur civilisation here. I don’t know if we’re the only ones – or just the first ones, or whatever.”
“We were brought here against our will!” Amanda yelled at him.
“I know… But I sense that all trace of our lives, back on Earth has now been magically erased. Our friends and families don’t remember us – so it was just as well that none of us had partners or kids. And the university school… Yeah, they’ll wonder why they now have a small equestrian team and half-empty stables – but they’ll shrug it off. Somehow, I just know this now.” Luke smiled, swished his tail, and looked the ladies in the eyes. “Once you both become centaurs in mind, as well as in body, you won’t want to go back to earth. I no longer do! This land, this world… It’s our home, now. The goddess, through that centaur painting, chose our equestrian team because we’re a perfect choice for us all to become her new subjects. We are free in a new paradise. And, in time, I want to explore it with Snow. Learn about the history of our new kind. See what they achieved. And find some beaches on which to race with Snow, as we feel the sea breeze. And somehow, I just know that I won’t get sunburnt so bad, now that I’m a centaur...”
“What about the plague?” Lucy pointed out. “Are we…in danger?”
“No. I sense it’s gone now. And that the goddess Epona has given us all immunity, via the transformation.” He gestured again at the mounds. “The grass has grown too high. It must’ve been years ago. Well, whatever counts for a year in this new paradise we’ve inherited.” He beamed at them. “Cheer up, girls. You’ll both feel better after you’ve mated with your chosen centaur stallions. We’ll be one family, working together for the good of all. And we’ll help any more halflings – humans and horses, I mean… Anyone brought to this world, who we might encounter.”
“Do you and Snow love each other now, Luke?” Amanda asked him.
“ ‘course we do! We centaurs are a loyal, monogamous species. Once we bound with our willing mates, we’re true to ‘em.”
“How romantic…,” Amanda muttered as she walked to the edge of the cemetery and parked her bum against the side of a nearby tree. Sliding down it, she held her head in her hands.
Biting her lip, Lucy trotted over to her. “I don’t know what to say…,” she began. “Except that I’ve not mated.”
“Not yet, you haven’t. Given that you can’t read the centaur language.” Amanda looked up at her. “But from what I know about your friendship with Ben, as soon as he’s transformed and got used to being four-hooved, you’ll go into heat yourself, won’t you, Lucy? Just long enough for you pair to mate. That’s what the…whatever brought us here…seems to want!”
Lucy sighed. “I suppose I will. Since I’ve woken up this morning, starting my first day as a centaur, I keep thinking of Ben. How he makes he feel better. Safe. Loved.” She pointed towards the small company who were watching them now from the hill ridge. Those with human hands had been gathering berries. Ben had climbed down from the horse that was Lightning. Whilst the other horse, Daisy, was being accompanied by the new centaur, Bolt. “Ben told me at breakfast that Bolt wants to partner up with Daisy after she transforms…”
“…leaving Lightning me as the last pairing in the group!” Amanda huffed. “Are you going to arrange a date between me and your talking horse, Luce?”
Lucy snorted her amusement. “Well… Daisy’s stopped losing fur for now. Perhaps you should go over to your horse and comfort and groom her – instead of worrying about making sure the rest of us are pulling together to keep each other alive, given that we’ve now got some food, as well as piped drinking water in the houses. After you’ve seen to Daisy, you could act as chaperone between her and Bolt,” Lucy suggested, with a smirk. “I could get you chatting up Lightning, later on.”
Amanda scowled at her friend, as she got to her feet.
“Fine. Fine! I just feel that I’m losing control of this crazy situation, Lucy! The whole of our equestrian team used to respect me – but Luke disobeyed my orders about avoiding horseplay! Now I feel that you guys look down upon me, for still having two legs… What?”
Lucy failed to prevent the snigger escaping from behind the hand clasped to her mouth, whilst her other hand patted her head, to emphasize her point. “Luke and I are now centaurs, Amanda. We’re several hands taller. Of course we’re going to look down upon you! But don’t take it personally, okay? I guess you’ll soon be as tall as we are. And then we’ll stomp our hooves to attention as you give orders, whilst acting as the head mare!”
Amanda glared at her giggling friend. “You’re enjoying this too much… How does it feel to be a centaur, Luce?”
“It was scary to begin with, Amanda, standing upon my four hooves last night – and pushing myself up hard to get up this morning. I’m so tall! I’m large and not so agile. And now I have to shower with the other centauresses – since we need to wipe each other’s fur coats and butts! But when I’m in the open, I’m gaining confidence in walking.” Lucy perked up. “I’ve started to develop my trot into a pace. And I’m now looking forward to running by myself – to see what speed and stamina my body is now capable of. Then I want to race with the other girls…”
“Well, I won’t need to wear any high heels shoes soon – even if I did have them with me…,” Amanda muttered.
“Shoes…,” Luke echoed as he trotted over. “Saw a smithy in the village – so I did. We need someone to fit us centaurs with horseshoes…”
Amanda groaned, and buried her face in her hands.