As the boy continued to brush him, Mike thought about the boy's desire to be a Clydesdale. He could identify with the wish, though he wasn't quite so sure about being a horse permanently now. Maybe Tye could help. He concentrated as hard as he could on picturing his friend and thought "Tye, I'd like your help."
Nothing seemed to happen, but then he heard a familiar voice from the other side of the stall. Tye was standing there, looking annoyed. "I haven't even been gone an hour! You are going to have to stay here months, maybe a year! Maybe forever if you keep bugging me."
Mike shook his head. "I didn't call you here for me. The kid wants to be a Clydesdale, but the locals won't change their own."
The boy looked at Mike, obviously puzzled, and asked "Who are you talking to?"
Mike smiled at the boy. "Just talking to myself. You sure you want to be a real horse, a Clydesdale stallion?"
The kid nodded. "Yeah. Full grown and well trained. Maybe part of a matched team."
Mike remembered the pleasant company working with Liam's draft horse. "Yeah, that is a good feeling."
Tye watched and listened, then chuckled. "So, you found a local with the same interests? Tell you what. You can change him. I don't want this on my conscience. And if you go through with it, you'll become that perfect match. Back in harness as an animal, and this time I won't change you back. You'll have to stay a horse, even when you rejoin the party. if you do."
"Sounds fair." Mike looked at the boy. "So, how do I change him?"
Tye grinned. "Physical contact. Once you get him started, the two of you will change each other. No stopping, no going back."
"Change me?" The boy looked puzzled. "You don't have any magic, do you?"
Mike looked directly into the boy's eyes. "Be totally honest with me. Do you really want to be part of a Clydesdale team? An animal for the rest of your life?"
The boy nodded without hesitation. "But I already told you..."
Mike grabbed the boy up suddenly and hugged him tightly. He wanted the boy to be a horse, willing it as hard as he could. And he felt a sudden ripple in his mind that seemed to also pass through the boy. Grinning, he set the boy down. The kid looked a little flushed, but not unhappy. "Uh, I like you too. A lot." Mike saw the boy's ears start to shift higher on his head, and his features began to get coarser. "But it wouldn't work out. I mean, you're a centaur and I'm a boy."
Mike shook his head. "No, we're both Clydesdales. Perfectly matched."
The boy grinned. "I wish."
"Take a look at yourself."
The kid looked down, and then got a puzzled look. His eyes widened and he slipped out of his loincloth to stare at his skin, which had gone from pale and hairless to dark and hairy. At the same time, he was getting larger. Not just from the animal changes - the boy had been maybe 14, now he looked to by closer to 18 and still maturing. "What's happening!?" The boy was startled by a much deeper voice, and reached up to feel his face as stubble formed. He was 20 now, the animal influence getting stronger.
Mike tried to say something, but whinnied. He felt his own face and discovered a muzzle forming. The boy stared at him, then threw his arms around Mike's waist. "This is great!"
Physical contact sped the process up drastically, and Mike felt his arms dwindle away as he went from centaur back to a Shire stallion. The boy was more beast than human now, recognizable Clydesdale in coloring. They stayed pressed together as the boy fell forward onto forelegs that had been his arms, Mike shrank slightly, his own coat fading from black to a golden tan that matched the former boy's new appearance. They snuffled each other excitedly, maintaining contact with chests and necks and muzzles, finally settling into the forms of identical Clydesdale stallions. Mike felt the connection mentally now, the former boy's wonder and excitement spilling over into his mind. It made him also want to be a horse, and Mike felt the magic take hold of the boy's desires and spin new lives for them. The boy embraced the magic, thrilled by the changes as his mind was overwhelmed by new memories, new thoughts, a whole new way of thinking. Mike resisted until the boy was done, and then let the magic finish him up as well.
When the powerful forces finally faded away, there were two identical Clydesdale stallions grooming each other. They knew they had been human, but they also knew they had been born as Clydesdales and raised together. They were separate and the same, The magic had mixed their thoughts, blended their personalities, merged their souls. Mike and the boy no longer existed as individuals - they were the same.
The farmer came out later and checked them over, then let them out in the pasture to watch them running in unison. They were perfect in every way. Even after ten years, he could still watch his horses all day.
.