"You don't have to do this," Layla spoke as she, Mary, Louise, and Joy were making their way toward Horizon's front doors.
Layla had thought a lot of the reunion would just be a meet up with friends she had made while working on promoting recipes and the like in the past. She hadn't necessarily been able to meet many of them face to face, and Mary, Louise, and Joy were those that she had come the closest to over the years. Some of it was in finding similar personalities or other hobbies. It all made for good phone conversations over the years and even discussing ideas on what to promote. There were, of course, some differences and at the same time, Louise and Joy had some issues and worries over some of the "energy" that Layla had gained after becoming a Cheetah Animalian. But Mary was also different from them and had revealed in the course of one afternoon that she'd actually been planning on converting anyway and being able to meet Layla again was just a perk. That of course, then worried Layla a bit. She feared that some of her "influencing" might be leading an old friend in an odd way.
"Oh... but I want to," Mary answered as they walked along and she held up a small notebook that she had her paperwork in, "and I was looking into it before I saw your videos after you became an Animalian. Mostly my own farm has run into some harder times. Some of it was because Doug ran off with some floozy and some of it other issues, some of which getting worse because of some of the other nonsense going around. It's where... I might need to be an Animalian to do the physical work to keep my farm going or at least keep it from going under."
"And you wouldn't be moving here, like Layla did?" Louise wondered.
They arrived at the doors and Layla easily pulled on the handle and held the door open. The others nodded as they entered, though, it was Mary that led the way. Some of this jogged Layla's memories on what Layla had told her. She'd inherited a family farm in Iowa and had been hard working at it. Though, it also struggled at times, often as other things often came up, and wasn't helped along by a husband who proved to be less than loyal and far from as hard-working as Mary was. Layla and Mary had actually first met when one of the companies that she was promoting sent her to a city in Iowa not too far from Mary's farm to show how their new equipment would make certain recipes easier to make.
"No," Mary answered, "I mean... I'll stay long enough to adapt and everything... but I want to keep my farm running. Maybe find someone nice. I mean, the Browns are all married, but I've heard some stories about a whole family of stallions, the Hansons, I think was the name that Animalia Ambassadoria said was their name. Maybe one of them would be interested in helping to keep the farm running."
"I think the family has mares in it as well, and from some of the coverage being a few years old, all of them are likely married by now," Joy commented, "given how fast Animalians seem to fall in love."
"It's not the speed at which they fall in love... it's how well those bonds hold," Layla corrected, "though... I haven't met a male Cheetah Animalian to test any and all theories, yet."
That was another thing that had been one of the many questions that Humanity often had on Animalians was on the strength of the bonds that often formed. Reports from Animalia Ambassadoria to others often talked on how quickly their couples formed and how strong the bond was. Many times, and particularly in cases where one of the partners was an uplifted animal, there were claims that the uplifting process allowed the new Animalian to remember things that the former Human had said to them while they were a mundane animal, but there were many that didn't fully believe that. And Layla really hadn't been close enough to Animalia until recently to verify that, and even now as an Animalian, she didn't have the direct experience to voice an opinion. Though, she knew that most Animalians that did have those experiences were adamant that they did work, and that much of the questioning was more a result many of the mysteries in how the Animalia Virus actually worked with so many of the things that it did besides the physical transformation.
"Maybe you'll meet one," Mary answered as she finished the last bits of paperwork and the front desk and was waved through to one of the waiting rooms.
Layla remembered the room number and smiled as it was the same waiting room that she'd been given before she became the Cheetah Animalian she was now. Horizon had some rules and hoops that she had to go through for her filming for her conversion, but that didn't change the memory of the location. Though, for the moment, the waiting room wasn't on her mind as she chuckled at Mary's joke. Finding a husband and being controlled by him hadn't been her thing, but the idea of a romantic partner was stronger now. Of course, at the same time she couldn't really try to say too much, as that would get in the way of being there for Mary and her decision.
"Or maybe you might be able to expand things," Joy commented, "I mean... I'm sure they raise horses in Iowa."
"They do... but I'm not doing this to hit on my neighbor's horses," Mary answered with a bit of a laugh.
There were a few chuckles, and Layla felt a bit more relaxed as a result of that. All of her friends had a fairly decent sense of humor, though, for the most part, she'd also never had the opportunity for them to meet all at once, as they often lived in different areas. Mary lived in Iowa. Louise lived in Ohio and Joy lived in North Dakota. A part of Layla had been really worried that the friends she had made would not get along with each other, but so far, other than some nervousness on Louise and Joy's parts, things had gone quite well. Much of that, Layla also attributed to her regained youth as an Animalian and some of the related changes that had come from her conversion. Though, the fact that Mary had also been looking into it was still a surprise and presented its own worries, and so far some of the humor on Mary's part was helping.
"Well... that's good," Joy commented, "but... you're not worried about... you know... changing?"
"Not really... it's not going to hurt, right?" Mary asked to Layla as they sat in the waiting room.
"Mine didn't hurt," Layla answered, "and I don't think any Animalian has said becoming an Animalian hurt. There might be some complaints from those that became very large Animalians while still wearing their cloths and having feelings of constriction as they grow through their clothing. There might be some feelings of heat in the physical sense and a sort of mental sensation that some things should hurt given how drastic the transformation is... but that doesn't last very long, and toward the end... things can feel very... good. At least it did for me."
"I was asking more on mental changes... like are you worried that you'll mind will change?" Joy asked.
"That doesn't happen," Layla cut in, "there can be new urges and sensations... but some of that comes from the base animal instincts that would come with being an Animalian, and they wouldn't gain much influence over the new Animalian if the person becoming an Animalian is prepared and ready for those instincts."
"But there are some points where that can be intense," Louise pointed out, "remember into Animalia's second year. When that woman became a Dinotopian? Most of what Horizon has theorized in their published papers in that post incident report, that while the woman was understanding of gaining different instincts, she was overwhelmed by them, and which then let her feed on other emotions that lead to her attack and then arrest. And that she didn't fully calm down until after being subdued. That's how intense those instincts were."
Mary was about to answer that she was confident when she was called off to go for her conversion. Layla looked over to note that it was an Orangutan Animalian, and thus not the same scientist that handled her conversion. Layla, Louise, and Joy did wave to Mary and Mary waved back. Once they moved out of sight toward the transformation rooms, Layla returned her attention to her more nervous friends.
"The intensity could be a thing..." Layla spoke, "but for the most part, the base animal instincts are fine, provided that one reads up on the animal in question. And since Mary is becoming a breed of horse, the worries of intensity shouldn't be too bad. Particularly when many are fairly knowledgeable on horses, even if it's only general knowledge. So, Mary should still be herself when she comes back."
"What about some of the... well... suggestive things," Joy wondered, "I mean... some of what you do now with "influencing" is behind paywalls, and most that followed what you did before won't follow what you do now."
Layla found herself giving a small smile, "some of that is a result of being younger again and having many of those youth related hormones being super charged as an Animalian. It's also part of where I might be more interested in dating, as much of what I did in the past also robbed that of me and left me with moments where I would have wished I could have had a family and love in the past. But because I didn't want to be controlled in the past... I generally resisted dating then. Now... with so many things supercharged and my youth restored... I could get back into the dating game and being open enough to know where the old mistakes were and so on."
Louise and Joy managed some small smiles at that. Layla noted there were some looks of nervousness, and she figured that some of that was understandable. But seeing her friends smile was a good thing, and hopefully it would help them be ready for the new Mary once she returned. Ultimately, they didn't have to wait too long, and Layla picked up the strong , but rubber-like "squeak," sound that came that matched the same sort of sound that matched the sort of "clop" that Layla had heard before with other Horse Animalians before. It wasn't the hard clop that would come with those that came with the normal "shoes" that mundane horses were given, which were often a metal hoof nailed to the hooves of a horse. Horse Animalians wore a sort of rubberized pad that wrapped around their feet and were often and had a bright color, and often was kept to a blue, orange, green, or red shade, though fashion could also add other colors.
"Is she done?" asked Louise as Layla turned her head toward the sound.
"I believe so," Layla answered.
They looked up to see a sturdy Draft Horse Animalian come into view. Her hair retained its youthful Human hair, and it matched her head and tail, though it stood differently from her fur. Her head held a fairly brown head and muzzle, with greyish-white legs and arms and fairly short fur that covered her arms and legs. Though her forearms and feet had a black coloring at the ends. Her shoes were a bright blue and were likely given by Horizon and fir her fairly well.
"So, what do you think of this Ardennais Animalian?" Mary asked as she spun on one foot and held out her arms as she did so. Her shoes gave off a bit of a squeak as she spun.
"You look good," Layla managed, "and buff."
"Yeah," Mary answered with a smile, "That's great... and the change... it DID feel good at the end... and I feel amazing."