Mike's arms dropped to his sides limply. He could still use them, but it took conscious thought to connect to them - they seemed outside of his body, no longer part of him. He turned his head to stare at his shoulders, and then looked back at the Wizard. "Now my human parts feel really weird, all wrong." Then he brightened. "But you are going to fix that, right? make me into a real horse?"
"Not me. You Master will do the honors." The Wizard turned and plucked a grooming brush from a bag hanging on the side of the stall. "With this." He handed the brush to Aaron, who took at and automatically used his fingers to knock some matted hair from the bristles. The young man jerked his hand away with a yelp of surprise and stared at fingertips that had suddenly gotten darker and blunter. The Wizard sighed and shook his head. "Assuming he doesn't turn himself into a horse first."
The young man flushed. "I didn't think it would work that fast." Then he looked at the brush and grinned. "I can think of a few parts I'd like to use this on."
"Take care of your horse, first. If you still want to play around once you see how powerful it is, I won't stop you." The Wizard scowled. "But remember that what it does cannot be undone."
Mike was too excited to think about the Wizard's statement. The idea of becoming a horse was no longer just an idle fantasy, it was more like realizing his purpose in life. So when he felt the slight shock of tingling as Aaron ran the brush over his rump, there was no fear or concern. He watched as each stroke turned his bay hide darker, the muscles swelling and bones lengthening. Aaron grinned, obviously enjoying the grooming. He had started with the left side of Mike's rump and moved around the back, turning the flowing tail black. Then he lifted the tail and ran the bristles lightly over Mike's already impressive ballsack. The orbs became larger and heavier, and the sheath thickened around an even larger penis. Mike shivered in pleasure, and his shaft began to drop.
Aaron continued to the right side, so that the centaur's hindquarters were level. Mike looked very odd now, his hind legs and rump obviously those of a huge black warhorse, his body sloping downward to the more average sized forelegs. The grooming continued around the side, over Mike's equine chest, and back to his left forelegs and side. Aaron stepped back to admire his work so far. Mike was now a glossy black Shire centaur, even his human parts thicker and darker than they had been before. Though Mike could not see himself, anyone who knew him would have noticed the older appearance. He looked to be in his early 20s, no longer a teenager.
The Wizard did notice, but only nodded slightly in approval. With the adjustment to reality, Mike was an 8 year-old horse. The lifespan of a Shire was rarely more than 20 years even without the dangers of adventuring. Although horses did not age quite like humans, the centaur would be a mature animal more like a 30 year-old human. He was glad Mike had not asked too many questions. Such as what 'game time' meant. In his experience, it was some silly and often random fast-forward through boring parts of a role-playing adventure. However, in the 'game' Mike was currently in, Mike was part of this world, so the five years would be five years. He had to grin as he saw the delight in Mike's expression, the pleasure of being turned into a powerful, beautiful stallion. How naïve could these outsiders be? You would think a young man as seemingly intelligent as Mike was would have questioned why no one from this world would volunteer to be Aaron's mount. Then again, he also had not questioned what the alteration of reality would do to his entire existence. He had already said that his human parts felt weird. Long before the five years as a Shire was up, all traces of the centaur and his human past would fade away, leaving a contented, magnificent animal with no comprehension of being anything else.