Thunder #7
It was a gorgeous spring day- the kind that makes all your troubles vanish. The air was clean and clear, the sky had a few puffy white clouds, there was a gentle breeze, and it washed the earth of it's sorrow, bringing only the sweet smell of the new grass and plants that were wakening from their winter slumber. Best of all, it was a Wednesday- no lessons in the morning, half a day off. Lydia had turned me out in the big pasture with the geldings- I was the only stallion at the barn, and she knew that I wouldn't hurt them.
The other horses felt rambunctious, and I shared the feeling. Gustav, a big black Friesian who was one of the few horses as tall as me, ran up to me as I took a drink from the water tub. He snorted and tossed his head, so I pulled my head up, dripping water. He jumped at me- not maliciously, I could see his ears well forward- but in an obvious invitation to play.
He didn't have to ask twice. I turned my head and nipped at his shoulder, and he shook his head, biting at mine. I took off running down the fenceline, and he took chase. We ran about the pasture, bucking and kicking, watching the other horses snort and start running as well. He stopped in a corner and reared; so I did as well in a mock combat, then we dashed off again, running mindlessly as fast as we could. The pasture was quite big, and there was a heavily wooded section where it bordered the park. Gustav galloped into it, and I followed him.
He abruptly stopped, snorting, and I slid to a stop beside him, looking at a strange sight. There were a pair of humans copulating- not that I'd never seen that before, most humans are quite immodest if they think that only a horse is watching. What was strange was that the pair was wearing costumes that made them look like a pair of donkeys.
Gustav was a sensible horse- he took one look at this, wheeled about and galloped off. I was later to regret not having done the same, instead, I looked on curiously.
One of them spoke- the one on the bottom, from the voice I surmised it was a 'she'. "Damn it, Dan, somebody's here."
The other responded as he looked at me. "Nah, Kate, it's just a horse."
"I don't know why we just can't do this at home. We're gonna get caught."
"That's part of the thrill," the one called Dan said. "You know you love it." He got off his erstwhile mare and came over toward me- the donkey suit was quite good, but walking on two legs spoiled the effect. He glanced underneath me. "Oh, boy. This guy's got his equipment." Dan stopped about two feet from my face and we looked at each other- he didn't know that walking straight up to a stallion like that was tantamount to a challenge, but I decided to let it pass. "You wanna bang Kate?"
I snorted and pinned my ears back, tossing my head. Dan laughed as his paramour got up and walked over- a bit stiffly, she appeared to be sore in her back end. "Yeah, right," Kate said. "He'd bust me open. Why don't you have at him, Dan?"
I backed away a bit as Dan tried to walk up by my side. "I don't think he likes you," Kate warned.
"Come on, big guy," Dan crooned at me, looking under my belly. "Help me out, here." I bumped against a tree- I'd backed into one- and Dan reached over toward my crotch.
I reached around and nipped at him as a warning, but he clearly wasn't a horseman- he didn't recognize my message as he grabbed my personal area. "Damn, look how big this guy is."
His friend had a bit more sense. "Dan, that horse is gonna stomp your ass."
"C'mon, Kate, give me a hand." I was trying to squirm away, but Dan was holding onto a very sensitive area.
"Well, okay," Kate said, as she walked over and tried to hold my head with her arms- her hands were encased in rather realistic looking plastic hooves.
This was too much. I'd die of embarrasment if another horse saw me, even worse if Lydia came out- though usually no one came out to this area of the pasture. All right, Dan, I thought to myself, you want to see what it's like? I suddenly stood still, closing my eyes and concentrating on Dan.
"Crap. I must have pinched a nerve," he suddenly said. "My fingers got all stiff." He let me go and backed away, stumbling a bit.
"What's wrong?" Kate asked, letting my head go. I heard her walk toward her friend, and opened my eyes.
Dan was trying to pull off the false hooves he wore. "Help me out, Kate." His friend pulled on the hoof, and it came off, revealing...
"Shit!" Kate screamed- I hoped no one was in earshot- as she saw the small dark hooves where Dan's hands should have been. His forearms from the elbows down had changed as well, and I was smirking, knowing this was only the start. Kate desperately pulled the rest of the donkey suit off of Dan, revealing to me that he had nothing on underneath.
The two were both looking at Dan's partially transformed body. In addition to his arms, his head sported a rather nice pair of long ears; his nose and mouth were already partly formed into a muzzle covered with light brown fur, which darkened until it abruptly merged with what was left of his human face. His neck was odd looking, a dark mane covering it along with dark grey fur, but it hadn't started to lengthen. He sported a somewhat sparse tail- most donkey's tails couldn't compare with a horse's- and his feet were capped off with a pair of hooves, matching those on his arm. In his midriff, his genitals looked grotesquely large, and he still had an erection that stuck out of his sheath.
"This is too freaky," Kate said, staring in wide eyed disbelief.
Dan on the other hand seemed pleased. "This is so way cool," he said, regarding his sexual organs. "Bend over, Kate, and let me try these out."
"I'll call an ambulance," Kate said, backing away a bit. "We gotta get you some kind of medical help."
I didn't want Dan going to any kind of hospital- Lydia never got angry with me, but this would probably do it, and I could already imagine the scolding. I turned my attention to Kate, again concentrating. It was too bad- the costume was really nice, and this would probably ruin it- but I figured that they wouldn't mind too much.
Kate suddenly started pulling at the plastic hooves as if they were on fire. "Get them off me!" she asked her friend. Dan pulled at them with his hooves, as much as he could, and Kate began to wimper when she saw that her hands were gone. "Damn it, Dan, this kinky stuff is gone too far. What did you do to me? Some kind of LSD or something?" Her mask suddenly split- the transfromation wasn't going quite the same as Dan's- and revealed that her entire head was that of a donkey. She began to bray in panic- she'd lost her voice, and the top half of his fursuit split as she stumbled forward, landing on her forelegs.
I was actually a bit worried- the transformation usually wasn't this fast, or from the 'top down'- as Kate pulled her still- human hind legs and rump out of the tattered costume. Dan was standing and watching- he seemed in an erotic trance of some sort. I focused one last effort on Kate- as her hind legs changed and a tail sprouted, her breasts disappeared, replaced by a pair of teats; I could smell that she was in heat.
Dan could, too, and made toward his friend, who watched in terror. I suddenly felt bad- Dan might have been excited by this, but apparently Kate had only been figuratively 'along for the ride'. Turning my attention back to Dan, I pictured his legs changing, and he fell onto his forearms as his hind legs changed. "Kate, hold on," he said, as the small jenny turned and stumbled off at a trot.
I was starting to panic- this wasn't working out like I'd thought- and stupidly called out. "Wait! I'll turn you back!" But she wasn't listening and was headed toward the pasture- where I knew her arrival would cause a bit of a stir amongst the geldings, who were already full of spit and vinegar from the weather.
"You can talk!" Dan said.
"And you can't!" I snapped back, focusing too hard on Dan. He changed very fast- maybe because he was closer in size to a donkey, maybe because he'd wanted to be one, maybe since I was angry- I don't know- it almost seemed to ripple through him, starting at his face, his head then neck changing, his body changing and the fur moving down him like a wave. As it reached his hips, they changed, and he flopped forward onto all fours.
He brayed at me, seemingly very pleased with himself. I ignored him, and took off toward the barn at a gallop- I wanted to head off Kate before she got in with the geldings, but I was too late.
Instead, I found a group of Lydia's students clustered around her. "She's so cute," one of them said, scratching her ears.
Kate was frozen with fear, but I supposed being surrounded by twelve year olds was calming and better than being surrounded by the much taller geldings, who were also crowded around and snorting at the unexpected visitor. I saw Lydia coming out from the barn. "What are all you girls looking at?" she asked them, then seeing the donkey she looked up at me.
I now froze in fear myself. She looked at the donkey, then back at me, and I started to think about how long I'd be locked in my stall.
The geldings all suddenly snorted, raised their heads and spun around as they heard Dan coming. He was going as fast as his little legs could carry him, braying at the top of his lungs, calling for Kate. I knew that if Lydia's students got a lesson in equine reproduction, I'd be in even more trouble, so I turned to face him, pinned back my ears, and screamed out a challenge.
If Dan had been born a donkey, or if he'd listened to his 'donkey self', he'd have stopped right there- another male equine challenging him for breeding rights had to be addressed, and common sense would dictate that a small donkey might need to defer to a seventeen hand horse. But Dan's human self- or maybe his donkey self as well- was filled with lust and anticipation, and he ran right by me. I didn't want to hurt him, but I turned and quickly chased him down, reaching down with my mouth and grabbing his neck. He started to buck and kicked me, and I let go.
Lydia's students were running about- one was trying to drag Kate out of the pasture- but Dan got there first. They ran away, screaming, as Dan leapt up onto Kate's back and began to thrust away. "Come on, girls, inside," Lydia pleaded, but the twelve year olds had all turned and were watching with rapt fascination. The geldings in the pasture were all snorting and running about, alarmed by the charging donkey and my 'aggressive' stance. I watched helplessly as the two donkeys mated, able to see both them and Lydia, who was glaring at me.
Dan finally finished, pulling back and out of Kate, and walked off a bit- he was spent, and looked it. Kate had a glazed look to her eyes- she also walked away, following Dan. I looked at Lydia, whose students were now clustered around her. My hearing is sharp and I could hear the questions they were asking, and I knew that I wasn't likely to be getting any carrots with dinner tonight.
Dan was starting to pick at a bale of hay that was in the pasture, and Kate was just standing by him, as if she was resigned to being a donkey the rest of her life. I walked over, and in a low voice said, "Both of you, back to the woods." Dan looked up at me but didn't immediately move, so I pinned my ears and reached down and nipped him in warning. I followed them back to the woods, where I'd first found them.
They turned and looked at me expectantly. "This didn't quite work out as I'd planned," I said to them. "I don't really like anyone pulling at my personal areas," I said, looking at Dan, who brayed loudly- I almost thought he was laughing at me. "I thought I'd teach you a lesson- but it looks like you taught me one instead." Dan had a twinkle in his eye, as if he'd planned it this way all along.
I was getting annoyed with Dan, and turned to Kate, focusing and picturing her as the young woman she'd been. I didn't change people 'back' very frequently, and usually messed something up- people tend to all look similar to me. She seemed a bit taller than she had before, but otherwise the same.
Kate looked at the donkey that was Dan, then looked at me. "You two are sick," she said in a voice filled with contempt. "I don't know what kind of acid trip you've put me on, but this is it, Dan...and whoever you are in the horse suit," she said, staring at me. She turned and walked off- I realized that I hadn't quite changed her all the way back; she still sported a short, dark grey tail.
"She'll be back," I said, looking down at Dan, who was staring at her tail- I could tell where his mind was. "Now, as for you..." He broke his gaze and looked at me expectantly. "Do you want me to change you back?"
He got a thoughtful look, and glanced around the small clearing. The trees were just starting to get their leaves back, and the bright sunshine filtered down through the branches, leaving very distinct shadows- areas of light and darkness washed over us. "If you stay a donkey, you have to consider what life you'll lead. No going to movies, playing video games or baseball or driving automobiles, no trips to Paris, no visiting museums or art galleries or libraries or staying in hotels or eating what you want. It's up with the sun, eating oats and hay and grass every day, maybe standing in a stall all day and all night when it's raining or snowing outside. But it's also no worrying about losing your job, or paying the electric bill, or wanting things you really don't need. It's being satisfied with being around your herdmates, and happiness when someone scratches your neck or brushes you."
Dan looked at me and shook his head. "Okay, then," I said. "First thing you need to know, is don't be grabbing at another horse's personal areas without permission, mares included. Especially mares. They can get real mean. Second, well...you'll figure it out later." I reached down and nipped him. He brayed loudly, rearing up, and I ran off, not too fast, so that he could keep up as we bucked and kicked, running madly around the pasture.