Outside, Qudsia was raising upon her hooves, her eyes wide.
“It’s Jade. We must go to her!” Catherine gasped. She urged me to mount her, before using the wall of the church to help herself climb upon all fours.
“The barn where we placed her. This way!” Qudsia instructed us, as she turned and cantered off through the village streets. We followed her, and soon arrived at the correct barn. Imogen, Darwin, Robyn, Cindy, and Maggie were all there. Jade was thrashing around on the straw, screaming as the fur on her neck and above began to shed and her head began to shorten and pull back…
“It’s starting! I’ll fetch Ben and Lucy to check you all over when it’s done…” Qudsia declared, before turning herself around and trotting off to fetch the village doctor and nurse. Meanwhile, Maggie was crouched down besides Jade, her hands holding our pony’s head – tears in the girl’s eyes.
“It won’t hurt for long, Jade. Please be strong!” she pleaded, as Catherine crouched besides them and held Jade, as well, in an attempt to comfort her.
We watched, transfixed, as the transformation took hold of Jade, her body above her equine shoulders reforming – her muzzle and jaw retreating, her nostrils shrinking and becoming closer together even as a human nose began to form with them, her ears shrinking and moving down the sides of her reshaping skull, to take the form of pointed ears similar to the Vulcans in Star Trek. Jade’s eyes shifted to the front of her face, and changed colour to a pale green – jade green – giving her greater 3-D vision. And as her neck reshaped itself into the beginnings of a now-furless human trunk, pink-skinned nubs appeared at Jade’s new shoulders, one either side. They grew downwards, forming her arms and hands.
But that was not all…
Imogen gasped and pointed at Jade’s lower body. “Look!” she exclaimed.
I moved closer to my sister, to see what she was getting at. I froze as I saw movement underneath Jade’s twitching tail. Her labia was puffing outwards and reshaping, closing up the holes in the process. The displaced body cells moved downwards and between our pony’s rear legs, forming a scrotum and a sheathed rod that was now pointing forwards on Jade’s body.
“Jade is becoming a stallion! That means I’m gonna stay female!” Robyn cried out, in relief.
Then came the next surprise. There was a sudden glow of light covering all of Jade’s lower body for a few moments, as HIS upper body transformation came to an end. Then it faded from view, revealing not a Welsh cob centaur – but another zebra-taur. This time one with black and white stripes, to contrast with Maggie’s white and red ones.
“So that’s what Epona meant by ‘delivering upon the hopes of Jade and the one she’s drawn to’, I muttered.
“That’s another partnership in the making! Now everyone is spoken for…” Imogen grinned at Robyn and Darwin, then at me.
“YES! Thank you, my goddess!” Maggie squealed. She stroked the curly white hair on the head of the new zebra-taur. “Welcome to our race, Jade. How are you?” she asked, tears of happiness in her eyes.
“The pain…is fading, Mag-gie…,” the new Jade croaked, reaching up with one hand to grasp at the hands of the two females with him – before feeling his smooth human face for the first time. He glanced down at himself, and smiled widely upon seeing his new breed. Then he turned his smile upon the others around him – greeting Imogen, Robyn, me, and Catherine by name.
“Welcome, my new herd-brother!” Catherine gushed. “I guess you too need a new name now… I seem to understand that ‘Jade’ would not be a fitting name for a stallion.”
“Quite right…, Catherine,” Jade replied, his voice gradually losing his croakiness. He faced my sister once more. “Former mistress Imogen? Can you think of an appropriate new name for me, please?”
Imogen fell upon her knees, lovingly stroking Jade’s black and white stripes. “Er…Wow! Let me think… How about another gemstone? J… J-A… Ah – got it! What about ‘Jasper’?”
The male zebra-taur considered that, and then nodded. “Jasper sounds good. Thank you, my former mistress!”
Robyn ran her fingers through her bushy blonde locks, and sighed. She started to scratch her back – and then froze. “Uh-oh…,” she exclaimed, trailing off.
“What is it, Robyn?” I moved over to her, suddenly aware that my back was now feeling tingly as well.
She unbuttoned the top few buttons of her borrowed tunic. “Charlie… Please check underneath the back of my collar, will ya?”
I do so, and stiffened. “Robyn… You are growing a mane!” I declared to her.
“Yes!” Cindy punched the air. “Of course! Can I check your back, too, Uncle Charlie?”
“Okay, Cindy…” I unbuttoned the top buttons of the shirt I was wearing, so that Cindy could pull back the collar. Then I felt her hand brush the top of my spine. Or rather the thick strip of hairs that had suddenly appeared there…
“I’ll fetch Ben and Lucy to check you all over when it’s done…,” Qudsia had told us, before she had trotted off. Not check ‘Jade’. She had said ‘You all’…
“Robyn…,” I trailed off, as I tried to take deep breaths to control my pounding heartbeat. Sensing my anxiety, Catherine quickly rose and took my hand.
“Eh. I-I know, Charlie. We…knew this was coming, sooner or later. At least…we’re both with our loved ones and our new friends,” Robyn gulped.
“The time has come. No one being is transformed alone. And now both of you are about to become the children of Epona, as well! The human counterparts to Jade – now Jasper,” Darwin announced, stepping forward to address me and Robyn. He briefly took Robyn’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze. “Prepare yourselves. We are here for you.”
My heart thudded. For a moment I was paralysed. Then, I felt tingling at the bottom of my spine – followed by the sensation of something stretching and straining against my underpants from within. A look at my cousin as she whipped her head round to stare wide-eyed at her own bum confirmed that she had experienced the same feeling.
Pausing to glance at my jeans and trainers, I then bent down to start removing everything on me that was below my waist.
“Charlie…?” Robyn looked as though she was a rabbit caught in the headlights of a car.
“The change has already begun – for both of us, Robyn! And there’s no point in having good clothes ruined!” I told her, as I pulled off my second shoe. “Think of the future humans who’ll be brought to this village, seeking a change of clothes at some stage before they get transformed too!”
Robyn gulped and nodded. Then she proceeded to untie her boots, before pulling her socks and leggings down. “I’d hate to see these leggings ripped apart, I admit!” she replied.
Imogen gave a sad smile as her tail twitched with apprehension. “I’ll see you guys on the other side!” she called out to us.
“I know that it was easier for me and my friends, as Epona made it painless for us kids back then… But once it’s done, mom… Uncle Charlie… There’s nothing to be afraid of! We’ll all be of the same kind again. We’ll be a centaur family – devoted to each other,” Cindy declared, holding herself back from hugging her mother. “Good luck!”
“At least you won’t be taller than me anymore, Cindy…,” Robyn answered, her lips giving a small smile. In the meantime, I nodded thanks to my new niece. My smile to her was as faltering as her mum’s.
The centaurs had all taken a few steps back, giving us space for undressing and our transformations. But as soon as I had pulled down my jeans and underpants, the increasing pressure around my bum was relieved as the beginnings of a horse tail flopped down from where they had been confined. Then Robyn gave a cry as her now-bulging knickers suddenly broke apart at the back, to give way to and release her own nascent appendage. Within seconds, the two of us were bearing fully-grown, twitching, bushy horse tails…
“Arrgghh!” Robyn and I yelled at the same time, as the pressure and pain abruptly flared up in our waists. Our bodies simultaneously exploded into action – stretching and growing just below our waists at an incredible speed, just as Imogen’s had, two nights before. Two nubs loamed out of my body just below my waist, at the front – one each where the sides of my pelvis bone had been, moments before. The growths formed themselves into the beginnings of my new forelegs as they tapered downwards. And exactly the same was happening to Robyn.
I grabbed her left hand with my right, as our rapidly-expanding trunks forced our growing, tilting pelvic bones (and everything below them) backwards, away from our upper bodies. Losing balance at the same time from our increasing bulks, we fell upon our sides on the ground of the barn, riding the wave of the agony as our bodies grew, stretched, snapped, twisted, and crunched. Yet through it all, Robyn and I maintained our hand-hold. Despite the pain etched upon her face, as she gritted her teeth, I saw my cousin’s determined expression which must have mirrored mine, as we held onto each other, to avoid drowning in agony. Then I saw Darwin move into a safe position and place his hand onto Robyn’s shoulder, comforting her. Someone was now doing exactly the same to me. And by that touch I knew it was Catherine, even before I heard her voice.
“Be calm, Charlie! I’m here. Be strong! You are soon going to be big and strong…”
The transformation continued. From my position on the ground, I could not see much of Robyn’s body below her waist as it noisily expanded into the size and form of a horse’s lower body, in proportion with her human upper half. But I was witness to her new limbs taking shape until they resembled the forelegs of an equine animal. Saw too, her exposed right ear shift slightly up the side of her head and develop an elf-like point, just as her other ear would be doing. As for me, I felt it all – the reshaping of my original legs as they were pushed to the rear of my now-huge body, so that my toes merged with the balls of my hardened feet and turn into hooves. My ankles and leg bones all transforming as part of my now-fluid body, and ending up as the bones and joints of a horse. Right from the thighs and gaskins, through the hocks, chestnuts, cannon-bones, to the fetlocks, ergots, and coronets, – with my forelegs growing into place, along with a second set of hooves, turning me into a quadruped creature. And with the peculiar sensation of a second set of vital organs taking shape within my new equine trunk, before being biologically wired up to my first set. And within the fresh ribcage of my lower body, underneath the new lungs that were drawing in air, to sustain me during my transformation, a second heart had now started to beat…
“Urrr…!” I gnashed my teeth, feeling my mane spreading to cover all of the human half of my spine. And there was another change too, amongst all the others. Away from my eyes, but still sensed and vaguely felt. A foreskin growing to attach my penis to my equine trunk. Then a shifting of my privates, to move them forwards, even as they grew into the phallus and huge testicles of a stallion…
A tugging on both of my ears signalled that they were mirroring the change I’d seen on Robyn’s ears.
Finally, the intense pain began to fade – giving way to soreness and exhaustion. Robyn groaned, rolled her eyes, and passed out with her head pressed against a thin layer of hay upon the ground. I too followed suit in the same manner, thoroughly wacked out by my transformation into a centaur…
***
It took about fifteen minutes or so for both Robyn and I to come to again, according to my watch. A few minutes more to feel recovered enough for us to each contemplate rising upon our four legs, once Ben and Lucy had checked us over with a stethoscope and other cursory tests. Our loved ones had helped us to stand upon our new hooves. I was now not quite as tall as when I’d been on horseback – but I was going to have to get used to being further from the ground than I had been as a standing human. At least Robyn and I would be standing equally tall as the other ‘taurs, from that point onwards.
Taking my first steps with four legs had seemed weird – and I had stumbled a little. But Catherine had been there to help keep me upright. And Darwin had caught my cousin as she lost her balance whilst trying to coordinate walking as a quadruped. After that, we walked slowly – building up our confidence in the process. Still, my mind was trying to come to terms with my new form. Being so tall, and having a large body permanently set behind my human torso. And having two sets of vital organs working in synchronisation. With a trace of Epona’s magic lingering within me, to ensure that my hybrid form functioned perfectly – just as with all of my new brethren.
I was no longer technically a man… And there would be no going back to being human. Just as there was no going back to Earth. Arcadia Centauri had become my home world – just as it was for all the other centaurs.
To put it in Earthly terms, I was no longer in the Dentist’s waiting room – being anxious about the potential pain of having my teeth scraped or having a filling. I had been apprehensive about not knowing when I was going to be abruptly transformed into a centaur. Now it was over, I had left the dentists, so to speak. Feeling a bit sore, but recovering. Adjusting. And relieved that I had pulled through.
Now, both Robyn and I were standing a few feet apart, in a round concrete building where the interior was lined all around with mirrors. Cindy, Catherine, and Darwin stood behind us, with Cindy in the centre of the trio, carrying a blazing torch, so that my cousin and I could have light to see by as we positioned ourselves in relation to the angled mirrors so that we could both have a comprehension look over our new, perfectly-portioned centaur bodies…
Before the arrival of the scouting party earlier that day, Hylonome’s Haven had been a village of only centaurs. Excepting the livestock, of course. And now that Robyn and I had both joined the herd, following in the wake of Jade, now Jasper – the village was once again a settlement to just one kind… Our kind too, now.
Keeping my lower body as still as possible, I bent forward my human torso, in order to glance at the mirrors on the floor. And so I was able to glimpse my altered genitals. I was now hung like a horse. I was a stallion. A centaur stallion...
Straightening up, I glanced again at my sleek, bay fur and lean build. In one mirror, I saw Catherine smiling widely. Both her and I had been given a fine present by Epona, in the form of me having been transformed into an Arabian-breed centaur. And just like the rest of our new kin, both Robyn and I now had toned stomach muscles.
There was another benefit immediately apparent. Just as with Imogen, both Robyn and I had been rejuvenated by Epona. Like my sister, I now looked about thirty again – matching Catherine in age. With a more toned build, less worry lines in my face, and more of a healthy, youthful glow to me. My cousin also had been made a decade younger – now appearing to be aged in her mid-thirties and looking healthy. Her blonde hair now brighter.
Robyn herself was now a half-equine beauty. Her horse tail matched her human pony tail, in that it too was blonde – and her mane was flaxen. Her horsey coat was chestnut. She had become an Austrian Haflinger centaur, complete with the same horse udder and two equine teats that all the other mares bore. And she was gazing upon both herself and the new me with wonder. Finally, we both turned our larger bodies around and trotted over to our new brethren – to exit the building that the centaurs had constructed for the benefit of the newly transformed. My two stomachs were growling for food – as were Robyn’s.
Cindy had hugged us both, of course, as we had got upon our hooves for the first time. So too had Imogen. And the rest of the present centaurs had congratulated us at the time. Now, Darwin openly kissed Robyn – and she smooched him back, smiling.
“With the addition of you pair, we ‘taurs now number four hundred!” Cindy gushed. “Our race will continue to gradually grow – and at a sustainable rate.”
Robyn nodded. “We are creatures of this world, now. We need to live in accordance with the nature of this planet.”
“Let’s get back to the dining area and fill the bellies of your pair!” Catherine declared. Then she gave me a coy smile, as she lowered her voice. “Then I can kiss you as much as I want, once we are in our bungalow, Charlie.”
“Am I big and strong enough for you now, dear?” I asked her. “Now that I’ve stopped being weak in the knees, that is.”
Catherine’s grin widened. “Well…, I do intend to find out the answer to that, my stud,” she coyly replied. “In our own time…”
I chuckled, and lovingly held her hand – as Imogen and Jasper, both beaming, joined our little party, as we went to see what food remained on the serving tables…