After a few minutes, Samantha came back into the living room. “So what’ll it be?”
”I’ve decided that I’ll go with whatever you want,” Tricia answered. “You’re right, burdens aren’t something one usually accepts, so it shouldn’t be up to me to decide what changes to make.
”A pretty wise decision,” Samantha said. “But I’m still pretty nervous about this. I didn’t want to go easy on you or anything, but please don’t hate me just because of what you asked me to do.”
”I promise, no matter what happens to me, I’ve got nobody to blame but myself.” Tricia knew how crazy this idea was, but she was determined to carry it out.
”Are you SURE you’re ready to go through with this? Remember, you have a minimum of 24 hours in the new form.”
”Just zap me already!” Tricia giggled nervously. “I can’t take the suspense!” She jumped off the couch and stood in the middle of the room, ready for anything.
”I’ve saved the changes as ‘Trish1,’ in case there’s an emergency and you need to reverse it. Here we go.” Sam aimed the remote and a white beam zapped Tricia.
Instantly Tricia felt a weight in her gut. A tightness grew inside of her, becoming a pressure that rubbed against her organs. Her shirt tightened as her skin was stretched. Soon her belly button was showing. As her shirt continued to ride up more and more of her stomach was exposed. Her bare feet sank deeper into the carpet from the added weight. In no time at all, she had a belly that looked nine months pregnant.
”A baby,” she said mechanically. It was hard to believe, but it was true. She could feel something moving inside of her. It kicked and she gasped. It was quite a strange sensation, to be kicked from inside her own body. She was so entranced by the belly she had grown, she failed to notice a other changes taking place until her eyes were covered by hair.
She brushed it aside and it fell right back in her face. She realized then what was happening. Her hair was growing fast. There was so much of it, it grew down both her front and back, passing her waist and heading for the floor. The strands weren’t her normal hair color. Instead they were dark blue with a bit of a shine.
Meanwhile, her feet had been shifting. Her heels rose from the floor as her legs assumed a digitigrade stance. Her toes melted together to become black hooves. There was something strange about them, however, and when she tried to lift one she discovered what it was. The hooves were heavy. Really heavy. It was as if she were walking with gold bars for feet. The rest of her legs itched and became covered in short dark blue fur to match her hair.
Then her arms felt incredibly itchy. This feeling was even more intense than on her legs. She watched as dark blue hair grew all the way up her arms. It wasn’t just fur, it was definitely hair. It cascaded from her arms like a waterfall. Six inches. A foot. Two feet. The hair reached the floor and pooled at her hooves, joining the similarly-colored locks that originated at the sides of her head. It was like she was wearing a shawl of her own hair. The wavy tresses were silky smooth and quite lovely, if not strangely placed.
Finally, a headache heralded the growth of a single horn in the middle of her forehead. It was a small unicorn horn, straight, ribbed and pointed, sticking out of her head a dainty three inches.
The changes seemed to end there. The itching in her skin died down and she raised her arms, looking over her new hair. Her hands remained human. It looked like she had simply donned a costume with very hairy sleeves. Another kick brought her attention back to her large belly.
”Am I really pregnant?” Tricia asked Samantha, cradling the distended bulk.
”Yes, but according to the remote the baby inside you is just a shell. It has no soul or brain. It just feels real.”
”That sounds so...heartless.”
”Sorry,” Samantha scratched the back of her head. “It’s the best I could do. Besides, you probably didn’t want a real baby anyway. Did you?”
”I guess not,” Trish said softly. Now that she felt how it was to be pregnant, however, maternal instincts were coming to the fore. She knew she had to protect her precious cargo, whether it was truly alive or not. “The hair is a nice touch.”
”Thanks. I’ve set it to be invulnerable, so don’t even try cutting it. It should be eight feet right now, and it’ll grow three inches per hour. That means you’re going to have to deal with at least fourteen feet of hair before your time is up.”
”It’s so hard to move. My hooves feel like lead.”
”That’s me taking the idea of a ‘burden’ one step farther. I didn’t think a baby and hair would be enough physical weight. Besides, you shouldn’t be moving too quickly with that belly anyway.”
”Sam...thanks. I know you didn’t want to do this.”
”Just promise me you’ll get something out of this. I’ll keep the remote until tomorrow.”
”Fine.” The baby shifted inside its womb. “Can I stay for a little while? Watch some tv? I feel like hanging out.”
”Of course,” Samantha purred. “But I kind of want to fly around a bit more. Help yourself to whatever you want. I’ll be back in a bit. Oh, and before I forget, there’s one extra thing I programmed into the remote that hasn’t happened yet. You should be able to figure out what it is by the time you wake up tomorrow morning.”
Sam went out the front door and Tricia was puzzled by her last words. What else besides lead hooves, long hair and a baby did Samantha think would burden her? She tried to put it out of her mind as she settled into the couch and turned on the tv.