There’s not that much more to add. After our group shower, all four of us newly-mated ‘taurs went to our beds as the rains came. Catherine and I were sufficiently worn out to soon fall asleep as we cuddled up against each other, with the soothing rain to lull us away. The straw did not bother me. As long as I had a soft, comfortable pillow, a blanket for my human half if I was bare-chested, and – most importantly – if I had Catherine besides me, I was content in my sleep.
In the morning, both Catherine and I awoke to find that rising up from the floor in our centaur bodies now felt easy. Catherine commented that having the upper half of a woman, with a human face, freckles, hair, arms, hands, breasts and a furless torso, all no longer seemed strange. Instead, it felt totally right to her. Likewise, having the lower body of a stallion horse – with all that entailed – was now completely natural to my transformed mind. Including being connected to the ground by having four legs, instead of two. And having an equine tail to swat away insects, and also to help convey my body language. Just like the rest of my new kind, I did not need clothes below my waist - apart from a horse coat to shield my equine trunk if it was cold or wet. I had my wonderful bay fur to keep me warm whilst out and about – including when sprinting. And I had my sheath to hold my malehood in place, until the next time it needed to come out – when Catherine and I would engage in our joyous lovemaking again. Our horseplay.
Going to the communal toilets in the manner of a horse was no longer an embarrassment for me. Instead, it was good for Catherine and me to tease each other by brushing and wiping each other, before we showered and dressed for breakfast. And I had already heard about the shame of Rasputin by this stage. How his – well, her – fate would have been banishment from the herd, if she had lived. That was the only thing that really worried my transformed mind. Being a lone centaur in the wilderness. Especially at night. Having no other centaurs to love and be loved by. No one to clean you after you had left your mark. No one to defend you if the bears or direwolves came for the kill… I shuddered. We were all herd creatures now – we needed the company of our own kind. At the least, to be able to sprint away and find them nearby, if danger called. None of us would be as rash or be as wicked as Rasputin had been.
As for my autistic traits, Epona was right. They would always be part of me. But after having mentally become a centaur, I was less anxious about things in general. My family, and my new kindred, were always there to call upon if I needed to. Being with other new centaurs didn’t faze me. They were herd-brothers and herd-sisters to me now – and I had become a herd-brother to them. We helped each other, for the benefit of us all.
At breakfast, both Robyn and I broke the news of our matings to Icaro, Imogen, Cindy, and Jasper. All of them were delighted for us. Jasper was content to slap the shoulders of Robyn, Darwin, Catherine, and me. Whilst the two ladies of course hugged us. Cindy squealed as she hug-crushed her mum.
“Now we both have the souls of centaurs, mom!” Cindy pointed out. “Given that Epona transformed the minds and souls of us boy and girl scouts at the same time as our bodies.”
“Yes. We’re peas in a pod, Cindy. Well, I guess it’s your turn for mating, now – with Tim. And if you want any mare-to-mare advice, just ask your birth mother – as well as your foster mother,” Robyn told Cindy, as she ruffled her daughter’s blonde hair and smiled at Tim – who was just approaching our table with his plate of food.
Cindy and Tim shared a look of understanding. “I intend to give him a birthday present to remember. For the right reasons, mom,” Cindy told Robyn, with a grin.
Tim blushed and paced on his fore hooves.
I winked at him. “Happy birthday, Tim. Be good to my niece – and she’ll be good to you.”
He nodded and smiled. “I will, Charlie,” he pledged. “I know that we are right for each other.”
“And since Cindy wants you guys to regard her as your niece…,” Robyn spoke up. She grinned at me and Imogen. “Well, don’t think of me as your cousin now. I’m not just another herd-sister to you, Charlie, Imogen…”
“You want us to consider you as our sister,” I breathed.
Robyn nodded. “I was an only child. You pair practically are my brother and sister! I’m glad that Fate decided to take me and you pair together…”
“…and be united with me. We are family,” Cindy concluded, beaming. “A family of centaurs – along with my foster centaur family.”
Imogen’s eyes watered with delight. “Of course you can be our sister now, Robyn! Come here – all three of you.” She nickered to us, expressing her inner horse. And so Robyn, Cindy, and I all came together in a four-way hug – our tails swishing merrily. Our loved ones with us smiled and clapped.
Finally, as we all stepped back, I spoke. “Well… As per the painting Fate delivered to us, we have indeed grown the herd! This world is now home to us all.”
“And we will pray to our goddess, in her church! To give thanks for her blessing us, physically mentally, and spiritually,” Catherine happily added. “Our collective devotion will give her the strength to guide us – and to transform more horses and humans into our future herd-sisters and herd-brothers!”
“Yes, we will. Now let’s help build a bright future for our kind,” Robyn added, with a wide smile. “For the ones already here – and for those who will become the children of Epona in times to come.”
Icaro and Darwin nodded to each other. “Let’s gather our team of volunteers and reclaim Pholus Prior,” Darwin declared to us. “We have work to do!”
***
During the course of that spring and summer, volunteers from both Chiron’s Grove and Hylonome’s Haven got to work. All of the scouting party and my group of arrivals headed back to Pholus Prior, taking the necessary tools and materials with us to work on the shops and the best buildings around them – to restore them to their pre-plague days. Whilst Jeremy, Kimberley and a rota of others guarded the town and its surrounding from bear intrusions, bound timber logs from the nearby woods were used to create scaffolding. Sturdy scaffolding, with wide steps for me, Catherine, Imogen, Icaro, Darwin, and Robyn to climb upon, and see to any broken and neglected roofs and walls. Then thatching. After that, and the dusting, cleaning and painting, our kind checked what materials could be salvaged from the shops and houses. Tinned foods, clothes, tools, materials, whatever item a use could be found for. The plumbing of the town was put into full action once more. And Imogen and Icaro would also go hunting together, expertly arrow-shooting rabbits, wild hogs, and any aggressive bears who got too near to our kind.
There was one near-disaster, during spring, when both Catherine and I were acting as sentries for those acting as crop farmers that day. A bear managed to spring from the nearby woods upon Cindy and the young colt and filly with her whilst the wind was blowing the wrong way for her to realise the danger. Being nearby, I rushed in to defend my niece and the foals with my crossbow bolts, flailing hooves, short sword, and my angry cries. Even so, the bear turned upon me – and it was Catherine and Tim who galloped to my rescue. Having learned archery, my mare soon finished off the bear that I had wounded, whilst Tim shielded Cindy, myself, and the kids from further harm. Fortunately, Ben and Lucy soon got me and Cindy mended, leaving scars that eventually healed. And we dined on bear meat that night. And although I had succeeded in my duty in saving my wonderful, appreciative niece, Catherine had now repaid me by saving my life. In the heat of the moment, her playful child-like nature had given way to a screaming Valkyrie of a centaur mare, passionately defending her mate. I remembered Icaro’s grief at remembering his lost first mate, Inca – and as a centaur myself, I understood him totally. If that bear had killed Catherine, I would’ve been distraught. Utterly broken. I would defend her with my life – as she would defend mine with hers. Our love is like cast iron.
By mid-summer, we celebrated our joint events with an outdoor party. Net fishing had been reestablished in the town’s clean river, crops had been grown during the summer, and the orchards continued to provide apples for us. In addition, Imogen had found some town allotments, and she’d been busy with her volunteering herd-siblings, to use her old gardening skills to grow all manner of herbs, plants and berries, now that she felt closer to nature again after her transformation from a disabled woman into a fully-fit centauress. And of course, we were all now living in Pholus Prior. Apart from the occasional bear or direwolf being killed as it invaded our town, we were safe and secure. And the extra meat was always welcome, of course. Robyn enjoyed her new role as food monitor and cook, making sure that each centaur got their fair share, setting up a general produce shop – and getting Darwin, Tim and Cindy, or their friends to gallop back to the villages if we ran low of any foodstuffs that they could spare. We all got by. The system was working. And we were securing a bountiful harvest to last us through the coming autumn and winter. No food was wasted. Everyone knew the importance of being sensible, and working together for the survival of all…
My sister got her wish with me, by having races every now and then. Sometimes, it’s just the two of us. And sometimes we bring Icaro and Catherine along for the run, too. And Robyn and Darwin. Thankfully, we all get to win a race each, sooner or later.
Cindy and Tim became a mated couple on the evening of Tim’s birthday, of course. And our Zebra-taurs - Maggie and Jasper - were soon mated, too. All four of them perfectly happy with their new partners, as they became coupled mares and stallions. In the meantime, Kimberley and Jeremy headed to the haras where Kimberley originated from, to act as liaisons. Whilst Darwin stayed with Robyn in our new town. Also, amongst the first emigrants to our new town, the foster parents of Cindy and Tim – Ben, Lucy, Luke, and Snow, had come to join and help establish our fledgling herd, along with their native-born younglings. With the gradual build-up of numbers amongst our kind, and with the former boy scouts and girl scouts coming of age, there were now more centaurs able to perform the services in the villages that our new friends had left behind. And soon we would need to set up a new school in our town, given that we had rescued the school building from disrepair, for our colts and fillies. Luckily, Luke and Snow – the very first pair in the new centaur race - had volunteered to become the first couple of teachers. There would soon be others. And besides becoming friends with the two horse-born stallions who were the mates of my human-born family, we have developed friendships with Ben and Lucy, Luke and Snow, and several others. Life as one of Epona’s children is good. Life in the centaur herd provides security, work, meaning, purpose – and happiness.
As for our new herd mare and head stallion… That Nakota mare I spoke to before my first mating and her Gurkha – Josephine and Thunder – were democratically elected in the brief contest for the roles. Having a mixed human-born and a horse-born couple to lead us seems fitting for our new colony at Pholus Prior. And Josephine and Thunder are so far turning out to be competent and inspiring leaders who take time to ensure that all of the new townsfolk are provided for, and are happy with everything.
Imogen now keeps the family photo of us five – herself, me, Robyn, and the then-Citrine and Jade – in the bungalow she lives in with Icaro. It is a reminder of ourselves as we were as halflings, back on Earth. Our party are now her close neighbours. Naturally. We are a centaur family, after all.
Having done our work to restore Pholus Prior, as scouts Catherine and I then studied the maps left behind by our predecessors. To gauge the best places to gather food from, where to hunt, which other nearby villages could be restored to receive new inhabitants of our kind. Having gone through the mental transformation, Catherine and I could now read the centaur script of their records – and we both enjoyed reading up upon the history of our forebears. And being a horse-born, Catherine delighted in her new ability to read anything. After having lived as a horse, being a centaur was more complex. But for her, as with the other horse-borns, life was now a lot more rewarding.
Qudsia has now moved to Pholus Prior, to act as priestess of our town church – with her mate, Spirit, to help her. And all of the adults here voluntarily attend church at some stage of the week, to pray and give thanks to Epona. It’s simply not practical for the entire herd to attend a service at the same time, considering the duties of the wardens and workers at the very least. And the mares and stallions bring in their foals, when they are deemed old enough.
Gradually, we were restoring the centaur civilisation – piece by piece. It was hard work – but a noble cause, and it was wonderful to see both adults and foals at the town party that we had all played a role in organising. It was good to see our new adult townsfolk eating, drinking, talking, and socialising – and the colts and fillies playing and running around.
And now…?
Now it is evening, in late summer. It’s nearly the end of Metageitneion – so almost mid-September. Catherine and I are lying on a gentle hillslope on the edge of Pholus Prior, looking over the town and its harbour, enjoying the beginning of the sunset and the squalling of the gulls, hearing the calming waves in the estuary. I’m no longer able to rest on my back, of course, but’s that’s a small price to pay for the joy of being a happily-mated centaur. Instead, we’re lying on our sides, facing each other as we sunbathe. My tail flicked, trying to swat aside a couple of persistent flies that finally got the message and headed off. One of the few disadvantages to being a centaur was being a heat-attraction to pesky insects. Luckily, with the help of our doctors and nurses, as well as self-care, we all kept our fur coats (and the rest of us) in good condition. As well as shampoo for our hair, the original centaur race had also invented a shampoo for our manes and the fur below our waists.
“Those flies…,” Catherine grumbled. “Just as on Earth during warm weather, when I was a Lusitano horse. That’s one thing that hasn’t changed. And I cannot reach back there.” She paused, and then looked at me. “Can you swat them away, next time?”
“A case of I’ll scratch your back, if you’ll scratch mine?” I smirked at her.
My Cathy smiled. “Well, we are centaurs. We look after each other, dear – even if that means shooing away pesky flies,” she declared.
Just a few feet away, Imogen and Robyn are happily gossiping about members of our new herd as they crouch down and set out from their hampers the picnic items that Robyn has prepared for this family gathering from her stocks and Robyn’s vegetable garden – along with help from our new bakers, cheese-makers, cake-makers, and our butchers and greengrocers. Icaro and Darwin have just gone for a run together. And Cindy, Tim, Maggie, and Jasper are testing their agility by throwing and catching a wooden ball between them as they run and prance around, using the nearby trees as goals to knock the ball against, in their invented game. Their laughter fills the air, and I reach out to lovingly brush Catherine’s long, strawberry-blonde hair. She smiles languidly, and with her own hand she strokes my mane. I shudder with pleasure.
“Four more months…,” I sigh.
“I know the months here are longer than on Earth – but the wait will be worth it! And we need to have something to look forward to in during the autumn and winter nights – besides your Christmas, do we not?” Catherine points out.
“We do. That’s why we’re staggering our weddings out, after all. First Robyn’s and Darwin’s. And then a joint ceremony for Imogen and Icaro, and us! The service will be conducted by either Lightning or Qudsia,” I reply to my fiancée. I take her hand from my mane, and then tilt my human torso at the same time as she does. We kiss, slowly and tenderly.
“Do not worry, Charlie. We will still mate when we both want to,” Catherine declares, as she rubs her nose against mine. “We won’t let anything get in the way of love.”
“No. We won’t,” I agree. “We are mates for life. I know it.”
“I know it, too. We are in it for the long term. We are life mates,” Catherine agreed. “I love you, Charlie.”
“I love you, Catherine,” I tell her from my heart. We gaze into each other’s eyes – and then kiss again, smooching away as we maintain lip-contact and hold onto each other…
Suddenly, there was a shout from Tim, making us break apart. “Hey! Look at that!”
“Oh!” Maggie cries out. Our red-striped Zebra-taur prances on the spot with excitement. “We’ve never seen it from THIS side before!”
Robyn, Imogen and I all smoothly get up upon our hooves as if we had each been born with our four legs. Catherine rises with me, her eyes wide as we exchange a glance of excited anticipation. A little further along the hillslope – between the young adults and my group of four, a multicoloured glowing dot has appeared in the air, about a meter above the grass. It abruptly expands into a large circular sphere – about five meters in diameter. Shapes begin to form within the coloured haze. Then the glowing sphere disappears – to reveal two horses and their riders. The horses snort and pace on the spot, before their riders get them to halt. The humans – a black man and a Hispanic-looking woman, aged possibly in their early thirties – look bewildered. Then they see what their mounts had already detected – the eight centaurs on either side of them.
“Halflings!” Catherine gushes. She squeezes my hand with excitement.
I grin as both of my centaur hearts beat at the thought of getting to know and help new friends. I glance at Tim, Cindy, Maggie, and Jasper. They have abruptly stopped their game, and are now smiling at the new arrivals. So too were Imogen and Robyn. All of us are swishing our tails in our moment of joy. Hopefully, the sight of our body language would help to calm the arrivals down, somewhat.
“They would have been killed, if I had not intervened. And I will not need to change any of this group’s genders. Take care of them, my children. Remember how it was for yourselves, when you arrived…,” a soft voice whispers in my mind. Another benefit of being a centaur in mind and spirit, as well as in body.
I bow my head. “Yes, my goddess,” I whisper back reverently. I see Catherine, Imogen, and Robyn all do and say exactly the same. Interesting, I reflect, as we all look at each other and take in the implications, grinning. Epona is now strong enough to communicate to all four of us devoted centaur souls at once. Now we need to greet the latest inhabitants of our world. To put them at ease, and tell them what they need to know – so that they can adapt to the major lifestyle changes being imposed upon them. To help them realise that they had been chosen by Epona for good reason. And to help them find joy and happiness in their new lives – given that there was no way back to Earth.
That is the right and moral thing to do, of course. Our duty as centaurs, with our herd mentality, is to help human halflings and horse halflings settle in. To assist our future herd-brothers and future herd-sisters. For that is what the arrivals are now. Centaurs-in-waiting.
I am about to step forward, when Catherine stays me with the palm of her hand. “Let us horse-borns calm their mounts,” she suggests. “Jasper?”
He nods and trots forward, smiling at the horse nearest to him as he nickers. “Hey, boy! Do not panic! We are friends.” The stallion horse sniffs at his upheld hand, and then seems to relax. Likewise, Catherine nickers to the mare, smiling at her.
“Qu-que s’est-il passé ? Où sommes-nous?” the man stutters.
“Ils... Ils sont... Centaures!” his human companion panics.
“What language is that?” Catherine cocks a pointed ear and looks back to us.
“They’re speaking French… Fortunately, our Canadian cousin is bilingual.” I smirk, before nickering to Robyn.
“All of us are bilingual, my brother,” Robyn shoots back at me, grinning. “We understand and speak the language of horses, as well as our human birth tongue. Actually… Adding in the fact that we read and write in centaur-script as well, makes us trilingual! But yes – I speak French also.” She trots forward and addresses the riders. “Aucun problème. Nous ne vous ferons pas de mal! Nous sommes là pour vous aider. Bienvenue dans notre monde!”
Cindy trots over to stand beside her mother, and Robyn rests her hand on Cindy’s shoulder, in family solidarity. Robyn continues to reassure the newcomers.
“Je m’appelle Robyn. Ma fille, ici, s’appelle Cindy. Les autres jeunes adultes sont ses amis. Ces deux-là sont mes cousins britanniques, Imogen et Charlie. Et la rousse aux taches de rousseur est la compagne de Charlie, Catherine. Oh! Et qui viennent ici maintenant, il y a ma compagne et celle d’Imogen. D’où êtes-vous?
‘Where are you from?’ Being Robyn’s question at the end. The lady of the group replies in French, and Robyn translates back, for our benefit.
“H-Ha-Haiti…! We were trying to flee from the gang who had kidnapped me! Henri here was forced into working for them, but he helped to free me. We were fleeing on two of their horses, when… When the radiant lady offered us a way out! Is this…the Dominican Republic?”
We chuckle in good humour. I hope that they’ll be able to come to terms with the ways of their new world. As Icaro and Darwin join us, I see the frightened black man widening his eyes as he takes in the sight of our sheathed malehoods – seeing that we were just the same down below as equine stallions.
Don’t worry…, I direct my thoughts to the man. By the end of this week, you’ll have your own set, when you become a centaur stallion yourself. And your companion will become a pretty centauress… All four of you will grow the herd. Our Pholus Prior herd. And I hope that you will all enjoy your new lives…
Having calmed the mare, Catherine walks back to stand with me. She smirks. “Just think! By the next time halflings appear in our village, these four can be the first centaurs to greet them!”
I smile and take her hand. “Just as those who greeted us to this world were greeted by centaurs who were transformed before them… Today, we’re in line to pass the favour along to our new friends.”
Catherine nods and raises our entwined hands to her lips. She kisses my fingers. I gently pull our hands to my mouth, so to kiss her fingers. We smile. Together. It feels wonderful to be a centaur, having my kindred family and my lovely Lusitano mate besides me. It feels completely right and natural, being part of the herd. I am now strong, sturdy, and a fast runner. As are my all of my family and friends. But being an Arabian horse in my lower half… Well, I am now faster than most of them. On recent experience, Catherine can’t escape me for long, whenever she wants me to chase after her on the nights we both feel frisky. But we both enjoy the chase, anyway.
Maggie had been right, that first night when all five of us then new-arrivals had been gathered round for our orientation to this world. We have all come to embrace and love being centaurs. Free of our human concerns, such as Imogen’s physical disability and our money issues. Free of earthly woes. Now we can race and run freely. Here we have a strong, caring community. And meaningful purpose. We belong here, in this fresh, green, Eden-like world – as the children of Epona. Even if it is possible for Imogen, Robyn, or me to go back to being human halflings, we wouldn’t. Just like Jasper and Catherine, we all feel proud to be centaurs.
We would do our best for the four new arrivals, of course. If needed, Imogen’s wheelchair is at hand for manual use only, for any human halfling who needs it. But besides helping new arrivals, we and our loved ones will do our best for our kind. For the rest of our lives. And all of us are now happily coupled. No doubt in the future, some – maybe most of us – will become parents to energetic colts and fillies. Contributing to the creation of a generation of centaurs who will never know what it means to have less than all seven limbs in place. But until then, all of us are finding our own paths in our new lives, with our devoted partners. Our own collective way.
The way of love.