Year of the Donkey #42

In photo  TransformationAnonymous &  0plm

Cody and Luke sat on the monorail as it rushed by, Luke looking out the window as the sights and scenery of Pleasure Island rushed by. It was a fun place, he gave it credit for that, but a bit odd. There was a prominent donkey theme, which seemed unusual, but it gave it a little extra flare. Cody tapped his fingers against his leg as Luke turned his head to look at him.
"Happy birthday, mate!" Luke told him.
Cody looked up from what he was doing and smiled. "Thanks! For everything! This place is fun. I'm having a good time."
Luke just gave a small nod and a little grin before he looked back out the window. The monorail ran through a tunnel before coming to a stop. A voice over the PA system announced the destination. "Downtown District: Shopping, Dining, and Entertainment. Next stop: Tobacco Row."
"Alright," Luke stood up and Cody watched, "let's take a look around."
The two of them got off of the train-like vehicle before it screeched a little and pulled off, leaving them on the side of the track. Only a few other young men had gotten off with them. "Let's get going!" Cody said enthusiastically. He had a small skip in his step as he made for the exit of the station. Luke just followed with the same little smile on his face.
As they came down the stairs, they were greeted with a long street lined with stores, restaurants, and even kiosks. Somewhere down the street was a stage, but no one was on it performing. The street itself seemed pretty quiet. Luke turned to Cody. "Well? Where do you want to start?"
Cody glanced around for a minute before looking at one shop in particular. He pointed and grinned. "There! Halloween is tomorrow, right? Let's go get some costumes!"
Luke followed his finger and looked at the store. In the front window were several donkey costumes. "I... Sure? Why not?" He didn't have anything against donkeys. They were just everywhere! Even wandering the streets. Sometimes there'd be shredded clothes by them, and that always put him off, but he didn't dwell too much on it. I mean, he did think they were cute. By the time he came out of his thoughts, Cody was already at the door waiting for him.
The door opened automatically as they went inside. An older man wearing a hat sat behind the counter, his feet propped up on the counter as he read a "Donks Gone Wild" magazine. Luke tried to not look at him, but it was difficult. His teeth were crooked and he had a certain... something about him that made looking away difficult.
"What can I do ya for?" The man asked. Cody went up to the counter and took charge of the conversation. He seemed very excited.
"We're looking at getting some costumes for tomorrow!"
"All we've got are donkeys. You okay with that?"
Cody just smiled widely. The man gave a slow nod as he stood up and made his way around the counter.
"Know which one you want? We've got grey, brown, black, and even some unusual colors, like blue."
"Grey or brown is fine." Luke said. "For me, anyways."
"Yeah, same!" Cody said, his eagerness far from subsiding. Luke began to go through the store as the man showed him various costumes.
"How much are these going to cost?" Cody finally asked.
"Around $500. Each."
Cody stopped short. "I can't... Afford that."
"If you'd rather, we've got some accessories. Those are much cheaper."
Cody shook his head. "No, it's alright. I think we'll keep looking around. Are you ready to go, Luke?"
Luke was nowhere to be seen before he poked his head up. "What? Yeah." He made his way for the door, his hands in his pockets.
The doors opened and they made their way forward. Luke stopped and looked back for a moment before he pulled something out of his pocket. Then another thing. And another.
Cody just looked in shock. "Wha-? Where did you get those?"
"Accessories, you mean? I stole 'em."
Cody blinked. "Why would you do that?"
"Because it's your birthday and we don't have a lot of money."
"But don't steal!"
"Oh, come on! Just at least try it on! We can give it back." Luke held out a pair of donkey hooves and some donkey ears on a headband.
Cody frowned, but shook his head and took them. He put on the ears and the hooves and clapped the hooves together. It took him a minute, but the frown turned into a smile. "Okay, this is kind of fun."
"Isn't it?" Luke smiled too as he put on his own. The ears fit snug on his head and the hooves matched them.
They looked at each other, smiling, before Luke's smile turned into a frown. Something about this felt... Off. He looked around. Did someone see him steal? It was possible. He didn't do a good job hiding it. No... Something about him felt off. He tried to take the hooves off, but he couldn't.
"Cody?"
Cody seemed distracted by the same issue. He looked up at his friend as Luke watched fake ears began to meld with Cody's normal ears. Luke looked surprised as he watched, but his expression shifted to horror.
"What's happening?" Luke asked. He felt a pull at the base of his spine, and he knew immediately what was going on. They were...
"...turning into donkeys? Why?" Cody sounded terrified. Luke just looked at him and tried to move forward, but a sudden change in his foot knocked him back a few steps and into the wall of the store. He looked down to see that it was no longer his foot, but a hoof. They had easily pushed his shoe off leaving his sock dangling there helplessly.
Cody let out a cry as his face pushed forward, his teeth growing large. "Haaaaaawlp!" He exclaimed, his voice quickly fading into the cry of a donkey. He felt the changes overcome him as he began to twist. His right arm quickly changed, fur exploding from the costume and his own arm, melding the two, and replacing his hand until it was nothing more than a hoof itself.
Luke tried to stumble forward, but he was suffering the same fate. Fur began to wrap around his head to his chin as his hair darkened in color. The now fur began to grow upwards and outwards, trailing along his head, between his new ears, and down his back to the base of his new tail. He scrunched his eyebrows together as he tried to figure some way out of it. He couldn't figure anything out. He struggled for quite some time to get his shirt off, eventually succeeding. Fur was coating his chest.
Cody, at this point, had fallen onto his knees, only to have them crack and bend, the sound of bones snapping clearly audible. His ears had lengthened significantly and were twitching at the slightest sound.
Luke was quick to follow, dropping onto his costume hands, which were quickly turning into actual hooves, the costume no longer visible. His feet had undergone the same fate, no longer looking like feet but mishappen hooves.
Fur spread thickly along the both of them, the change happening rapidly, giving them little choice to react and leaving them simply to submit to the changes.
A man began down a set of stairs nearby, holding two harnesses, as Luke's now fuzzy face pushed forward into an elongated muzzle, the bones crackling, and Cody's feet hardened into hooves, his own mane growing in quickly, trailing along his now torn remains of his shirt. Both of them were swishing their tails wildly behind them. "It seems we've got some bad boys here. Try to steal? Most don't turn into donkeys that way, but what works works." He shrugged as he tipped his top hat. He looked up with a grin.
Luke looked up, his vision fading in and out. His mind was becoming clouded and thinking was getting hard.
Cody, however, was backing up slowly, but tripping over his new form. He let out a frightened bray.
Luke stayed, not moving.
"It seems you're one of the lucky ones. Getting to keep your mind. But I'll still be taking you with me. You're not THAT lucky." The man, who looked a bit like a coachman, walked briskly to the now donkey Cody and fastened a bit and a harness to his mouth. He struggled, but it was in vain as it wrapped around him quickly. Cody bucked his hind legs but was pulled by the coachman. He then fastened a bit and harness to Luke, who complied willingly. His black eyes looked vacant as his tail swished back and forth. They were quite large, but still small for donkeys.
The coachman grabbed their harnesses and pulled them along, a cruel look in his eye. "I can tell you lads will be hard workers. Welcome to Pleasure Island."

Story by  TransformationAnonymous