"Just what did he agree to?" Another new voice came from the other side of the stable, this time belonging to Tye.
Brian gave a shout and started for Tye, but then stopped short when Tye held up his hand. "One problem at a time."
The Wizard regarded Tye calmly. "I have been expecting you. Reality adjustment rarely affects other wizards. But I could not have made the adjustemtn without his approval. He agreed to be a grown Shire stallion, with 5 years of service already done and five more to go."
Tye looked at the heavy, mature-looking centaur and raised an eyebrow. "Is that true? Did you agree to those terms?"
Mike flushed. "Well, yeah, but i didn;t know it would be for real! This was supopsed to be a game!"
Tye sighed and rolled his eyes. "It may have been a game to you, but this is all real to the people here. By agreeing to have your reality changed, you became part of this reality. And guess what, home-boy? I can't do a damned thing about it, even if i wanted to. Which I don't, because it's gonna be cool seeing you turn into a warhorse."
"But.." Mike spluttered. "But we're freinds! You can't leave me stuck here as some animal! You're joking, right?"
Tye grinned. "Hey, you're the one who decided to play with your own reality. If you are a good horse, maybe they'll give you some better options than a pasure full of mares and clover. But I'm guessing you won't want anything more than that by then." He looked over at the wizard. "Happy horsie, right?"
The Wizard nodded uncertainly. "Well, yes. No point in lying, is there?"
Mike protested "But you said you would give me whatever I wanted when I was done!"
Aaron spoke up for the first time. "If you were tired of being a horse."
"And those were the words he used?" Tye grinned as Mike gave a hesitant nod. "Well played, wizard. Simple and ironclad. Continue with the transformation - i'd like to see the finished product."
The young knight grinned and started brushing Mike again, each stroke making the centaur's horse parts bigger, more powerful. Mike's eyes were wide with fear, but he found himself unable to resist in any way. Aaron was his master, and his brain was now wired to accept whatever his master required of him. And he realized he wasn't at all afraid of becoming a horse. What was he afraid of? Fear turned to confusion, and he tried to sort out jumbled thoughts. He had asked for this, right? So why was he scared?
Brian shivered as he watched the transformation progress. "What about me?"