Thomas, or rather the new Thomas, slipped into this teenage boys life much easier than he would thought.
Aided my the magic of the medallion, he knew everything that he was going to read in the extensive writings that the former Thomas had left form him. It wasn't like he was Thomas, he still remembered his life as Ian and as Sadie, but he could access most of the old memories as he needed them.
Thomas,he found, was pretty average. He was a good, but not exceptional, student. He was athletic, but not into organized sports. He'd had a couple girlfreinds, but nothing serious...
His life went on and on like that. No wonder he wanted to try something different, even if that different was being turned into a mare.
Thomas woke the next day and threw himself into this new life, and most amazingly, people barely noticed. There was a new confidence about Thomas that people detected but couldn't really explain. It was the confidence of a man that had every reason to expect to give up this life and move on at the end of a year or so, so why not throw himself into it.
He even asked out the girl that Thomas has been pining after, Sarah, a real hottie who was a bit of a late bloomer, and she was blooming in all the right spots. He fell hard for her, and she for him, to the point where they talked about going off to the same college and perhaps staying together forever.
**
Sadie, for her part, fell into that life herself. She was indeed paired off with a stallion two days after becoming the mare, and she found the experience to be unexpected. She was also clearly pregnant a few months later, and could feel the foal in her belly.
She didn't know if she really liked this life. She began to regret not taking steps to be something else, perhaps the stallion itself. She could have move around Ians consciousness and attained the same goal.
But a lot changed the day that she gave birth. She felt an attachment to the foal she couldn't explain. She didn't want to let it go, didn't want to abandon it. It was a part of her.
**
It was eighteen months since the transfer of Thomas and Sadie that things came to a head. Thomas saddled up the mare as he had often before and rode out into the woods. He had the medallion with him, but his mind was in turmoil. And what he didn't know was, the mare was as well.
They stopped in a small clearing near a deep, fast moving creek. He got off the mare and sat down on a stump, now as alone as the two could get.
"How's it going, Sadie?" he asked, unsure what to say.
The horse, for her part, tried to imitate a shrug, but it came out as a shake of the head.
Thomas smiled, then got serious, "I know we havn't had a chance to talk much, but I'm sure that you've picked a few things up. I... you... well, one of us is going to college. Sarah and I were both accepted upstate, and we leave in a few weeks."
At the horses quizzical look, he explained, "Sarah Lightner. She's gorgeous, even prettier than you would remember. I asked her out about two weeks after we switched and we've been going out ever since. She's funny, smart, and..." he smiled conspiratorially, "great in the sack."
When the horse started to stamp, Thomas stopped and sighed, "Sadie, I know what you wanted when this was over. To be fair, you never really gave me any time to think about this or negotiate, but your life is my second chance. I was a nobody when I switched with the mare before. Now, with your life, I have a chance to be someone, with someone I love." He felt on the verge of tears, "I feel like I could spend the rest of my life with Sarah, raise the family I was never able to raise. Please, I beg of you, don't take that away from me."
Sadie was stunned. She wasn't sure she wanted to be the mare forever, but this guy was living his life better than she had! It seemed he was willing to switch back, but could he do this to Thomas?