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<Now let us bow our heads and pray.> The words didn't echo in the cavernous church, they weren't spoken aloud at all. The words came to the minds of the gathered congregation that stood with their heads bowed, both human and equine.

Lance kept his head down, ignoring the fact that his girlfriend was gaping at the minister that stood at the head of the church on the specially constructed stand that allowed him to read from a bible that was propped up in front of him. Father Perchard was a unicorn, one of the few that had risen to a position in the church and even had his own congregation that he ministered to each and every day. His snowy white form was a point of light in front of the altar as he lowered his head until his horn nearly touched the edge of the podium during prayer. His only clothing was a scarf that hung over his neck and withers much like any priests vestments, with the ends trailing down towards his knees. He had grown up in this church, he had always known Father Perchard and found nothing odd about the unicorn guiding them through their prayers, but Emily had grown up in a smaller town, one that had a narrower view of the species as a whole.

With a shy smile he reached down to claim her hand and tilted his head so she could smile at him nervously, her cheeks coloring a rather pretty red along the upper edges and she lowered her head to continue their silent prayer. His hand remained entwined with her own as he silently thanked the Lord that they had found each other. It had been a one in a million chance when he had met her in his senior year. He had been out in Chicago for the day with his younger brother to take a trip to the Field's Museum. There had been an exhibit on the history of unicorns, something that had interested his younger brother at the time. It had followed the evolution of the species and the integration of them into society over the past millennia, from the beginnings in which they had been treated as little more than slaves to the modern acceptance and civil rights movements.

At the time, he had only been vaguely interested in what was being shown, his brother had been running around with wide excited eyes and a bit of hopeful chatter to his friends. It wasn't unexpected for families to have unicorn blood in their lines, the species was tied to humanity with a link that science still couldn't quite explain. They were the only species that was wholly of one sex, male, and not able to reproduce on their own. They depended on human women to take as their mates, which meant that most human families had a unicorn somewhere back in their history, even if they didn't know it. Even with unicorn genetics in their bloodline, they all looked human. Only a tiny portion of those carrying the genes ever showed any sign of their parentage. That was what made it so terribly interesting to people. It wasn't just that unicorns seemed magical and ethereal, it was the fact that any young man had the potential to become one.

He had been in the section that talked about the Change, the Summer Solstice when many European countries had great festivals designed around the unicorn. Young men, virgin men, could and would change on that date if they carried the gene. They stopped being the humans they were born to be and became unicorns, the only way that the species continued on. No one understood the process or why certain people ended up transforming. Some might change with only the barest trace of unicorn ancestry in them, others might have a father who is a unicorn, but only one son would change. It seemed so random and Lance had been reading it over, feeling baffled by the fact that science was still struggling to explain why certain people changed and why others didn't. While he struggled with the concepts, Emily had found him. A shy girl who had broken from a tour and had ended up next to him as he looked at pictures captured of someone changing from man to unicorn.

A few words and he had lost himself in her eyes, lost himself in the feel of her body so close to him and he'd forgotten his mild interest in the process. He had been seventeen at the time, and she had just turned eighteen. At the time it had just been a random encounter, but over the last year it had grown and flourished. He had never imagined such a bright and interesting girl could exist, she wasn't as flighty as the girls at his school, but down to earth and open minded. He'd never met anyone quite like her. He had gotten through high school just barely as he felt firmly ensnared in the wide blue of her eyes and the lively wit that could keep him up at all hours clutching the phone as he talked to her. It was like he had found the other half of his soul in the museum, a part of himself that he cherished so much that it was almost frightening.

He had become almost used to the raunchy girls, the sluts and high spirited girls that intimidated them with their sharp words and bold moves. Most of the guys in his class loved them, they loved a girl that was a challenge or who they knew they could get something out of. He had been raised better than that, he was mildly disgusted by the sluts and the ones who were too bold made him feel shy and bumbling. Emily had an appealing softness to her character, a gentleness to the way she watched him that made him feel as if he was the only boy in the world. How could the other guys be after the girls at their school when there were ones like Emily out there?

"You are so lucky." Emily whispered and broke Lance from his thoughts, her hand squeezing his own as the church began to move and shuffle. "I would have done anything to have a minister like him."

"I guess.." Lance grinned a little. "I think it must be a girl thing, though. You guys are all nuts about unicorns."

"It is not just girls!" She laughed and followed him and his family as they stepped out of the pew. "It's just that they are fascinating. I would have paid more attention if I had had someone like him teaching me the bible."

"Well, he's a good sort. Dad says that he used to be an altar server here before he Changed, he was really quiet and shy." He shrugged a little bit. "I guess after he decided he wanted to devote his life to God. Dad said he had a girlfriend at the time, but she wasn't exactly a virgin."

He glanced towards the minister again, looking at him a bit more closely. He knew that his brother was going to linger behind after church to help clean, or at least that's what he said. Roger had been going nuts about unicorns for the last two years, ever since his father had set both of them down for 'the talk'. It hadn't been that big of a shock to find out that they were descended from a unicorn a century or so ago, he'd always suspected it, but it was weird hearing his father awkwardly talk about what was going to happen in the next few years. That once they hit 18 they could very well become one of the few dozen to make the Change. Even weirder still to have his father hint that if they were truly concerned that they should take precautions to try and keep from changing by making sure they weren't virgins.

No one knew why some people Changed and other's didn't, but one thing held true, only virgin young men would Change. No one had ever heard of someone being turned who wasn't a virgin, so it had become popular for people his age to have sex before the Summer Solstice to stop it from happening to them. That was one reason that Unicorns were starting to become a bit more rare, their populations dwindling to only a few hundred thousand in the united states. Others, like his younger brother, wanted to make the Change. There were entire websites devoted to how it was possible to ensure being one of the 'lucky ones', such as exposing yourself to a unicorn on a steady basis, abstaining from contact with women who weren't virgins, fasting before the Summer Solstice. After all, a unicorn was a strange and exotic creature, one that had its own appeal to those that wanted to become one. They seemed ageless, they had their own strange brand of 'magic', they were guaranteed to have women fling themselves at them, especially virgins. To some boys, it seemed like a small price to pay to lose ones hands in exchange for such a life.

"It seems a shame that they are becoming rarer." He glanced over at his priest who was amiably watching his congregation leave. "Oh! There's Edmund. That's the last person beside Father Perchard that changed."

"Where?" Emily turned her head as Lance gave a bob of his head to a unicorn leaving with an attractive blond woman. It was so strange to see the person he had played with as a kid now have hooves and a muzzle. "My town only has one unicorn and he's very old."

"Yeah, it's been nearly thirty years since Edmund changed. I guess more boys are having fun before they hit 18." Lance grinned a little, his cheeks darkening. "No wonder you girls are always ooing and ahhing over them."

"I don't ooh and ahh." Emily reached over to tweak his nose. "It's just that they are hardly seen and you know they're one of the big mysteries of the world. They had a show the other day about them and how they were predicting that by the end of the century there will be less than 10,000 left."

"Well, maybe more." Lance shrugged a little. "Honestly, it's just a lot of hype, I think. Besides, you know most of us have unicorn blood somewhere along the line, so it's not like they will ever die out. Parents just want to try and stop kids from having sex before marriage. The whole, 'going extinct' theory works when you're little and don't know how it really works."

"I suppose." Emily flushed a bit more, her eyes flickering down to their held hand. "Do you think that we're silly to wait?"

"No." Lance squeezed his fingers along her hand. "I think you're worth it, you know that. Besides, we have our whole lives ahead of us."

Emily looked at him, a smile crossing her lips and the dimple that he adored appeared high up on her cheek so that he moved his hands down to wrap along her hips and tilted his head down towards her. As his lips brushed her own he felt a familiar shock of pleasure at the caress of her lips on his own, the faintly sweet taste and scent that seemed to be entirely her own. He kept his hands along the curve of her hips, savoring the way that her body just barely pressed against his own. She was everything he had ever dreamed of, or could hope for. Everything he could ever want in his life. So sweet that he kept waiting for something to rear it's ugly head, but each day he only found himself falling more in love with her.

Let this never end....

~ ~ * ~ ~

Lance pushed down on the trunk of his car, struggling and leaning forward as the old clunker groaned in protest with the way he was trying to get it to snap closed. He squeezed his eyes shut and let out a frustrated growl before another set of hands joined him and pushed down right next to him He glanced to see Roger doing his best to help, both of them nearly clambering over the edge as slowly the trunk finally closed, the latch protesting as it pushed over the edge and clicked closed so they could let out a breath of relief. He moved his hands up, ready to push down if it snapped open for some reason, he wasn't about to trust in the old latch to hold the amount of stuff he had packed into the trunk.

"Did you back the freaking sink?" His little brother gave him a glare before hopping up to sit on the trunk. "You had better not have any of my stuff in there."

"God no! I don't want your junk." He grinned and flicked a finger towards him. "Off, you're going to dent my car!" He couldn't stop himself from giving the hood of the beater a possessive pat.

"Like it could have any more dents!" His little brother stuck his tongue out impertinently before slipping off the trunk.

"Still better than yours. Go on, off with you!" He gave Roger a little push towards the house. "Aren't you getting ready to go to Mirror Park?"

"Yeah.." Roger brightened up a bit. "I'm going with some other guys. Are you going to show up? It's your year you know." The last was spoken with a little smirk on his face.

"God no, I'm moving. Go on, go watch the show." He snorted with laughter. "Maybe next year you'll have a car of your own to go in instead of driving."

"Next year I'll be on the grass!" Roger called cheerily enough and waved, though not before sparing an envious glance at Lance's car.

His first car, his parents had surprised him with it last night as he got the last of his stuff packed up for college. He already had an apartment picked out and his deposit paid, right off the campus and on the second floor of a grand old house. It wasn't in the best neighborhood, but it didn't have to be, it was affordable and close to his student job at the book store. He had been ready to leave in a U-haul, ready to take the public buses in the city, when his parents had turned over the keys to an old buick skylark that had seen better days. But it was his! All his! He ran his fingers possessively along the door and sighed out happily. He was starting his life out on his own, school, a car, a home... And soon, something more than that. He pushed his hand down into his pocket and flushed a bit as he brushed his fingers around the hard edges of the velvet lined jewelry box.

He had gone out last week right after church, shaking as he stepped into the jewelry shop and picked out an engagement ring. He hadn't told anyone, he knew they would tell him how silly he was, how foolish he was being getting engaged just out of high school. He had turned eighteen just two weeks before graduation, he was too young, too in experienced, too immature, he had imagined the arguments over and over again, but he didn't care. He knew that college was going to put a strain on Emily and himself, it was going to push their relationship apart, he couldn't do that. He wanted her to know that he would wait for her, he would be there for her, he wanted her to know that he loved her and would always love her. And he would propose to her to show her that, every scrape of change, every penny, every chore had gone into buying her a diamond ring. It wasn't large, just a diamond chip set into a gold band, but it was what it symbolized that meant the world to him.

He glanced back at his home before slipping into the driver's seat, holding back the urge to go in to take another look around the half empty room that he had shared with his brother all his life. He had already said goodbye to his parents, a tearful goodbye even if he would be home on the weekends. For now he was ready to start a new life, a new start, and he hoped that he would be able to start it with Emily. She had shied away from his offer to share his apartment with her, he knew that she wanted to wait for them to go another step, but today he was going to take that leap. It was the Summer Solstice, and Emily had shyly asked about if they were going to the Unicorn Ceremony. He wasn't shocked, it was a big event in any city, a combination of spectator sport and carnival all wrapped into one.

Lincoln park had a big one. The Ceremony had started back in the days that integration had been a far worse problem and unicorns had been considered subpar members of society, it was meant to allow people to see them as intelligent and understand that each unicorn started out as human. Today, all over the country, young men would be gathering in the parks eager and excited in the parks hoping that they would be one of the ones Changed. Other young men would be at home or in bed with a woman, desperately trying to ensure that they wouldn't be one of the ones changed. The Unicorn Ceremony would hit its climax as people could watch the sun touch the horizon and hopefully see one or more of the young men make the Change. That's where he would propose to her, the moment the sun touched the hill as she hopefully saw someone Change, he would ask her to marry him. It would a moment of magic and romance.

She has to say yes... He dug his fingers into the wheel as he turned a corner, watching as the sun began to rise in front of him. We love each other, I want to be with her and no one else...

He tried to ignore just how much like a kid he sounded in his head, his cheeks burning hotly while he hunched his shoulders. He was an adult now, not a kid, he was a man.

~ ~ * ~ ~

Emily held tight to Lance's hand as they pushed through the crowd that seemed to gather all over Lincoln park, she could barely breathe as he laughed and gave her hand a tug that pulled them through a hole in the crush. She'd never been around so many people, she could barely squeeze through as her boyfriend gave him a worried look. She tried to smile reassuringly as they got through the worst of crush that was pushed up near the booth that had been opened by a band of unicorns. Nearly all of them were women, grinning women, shy looking women, bright eyed girls that were craning their heads up despite the fact that father's or brother's or even boyfriends were frowning at them. It wasn't often that so many unicorns were gathered together in one place, it brought out everyone who wanted to gawk or take pictures, or virgins looking to attract a stallions eyes.

She knew a few of her friends were holding themselves back for a chance at a unicorn, it was a bit of a fantasy. They were lovely beings, light and graceful as deer with silver cloven hooves that chimed on the ground. They had eyes of brightest sapphire, purest silver and liquid gold, horns that gleamed in the light and hides that were silvery-white that never seemed to show dirt. They were magical, they were strange and exotic, handsome in their own ways and carried with them an aura of virility and passion. Stallions had no interest in defiled women, they were only attracted to virgins, a habit that had made them garner a reputation as gentle and attentive lovers. Many unicorns kept harems of their own, luring women to them and keeping them as mates afterwards, others preferred one female to take as a mate, though that was rare.

She wasn't one of the ones glancing at them with the hopes of attracting a stallions eye, she had no desire for a unicorn lover. She was entranced by them, interested in them, but they were too like four legged animals to imagine her first time ever being with one. They shunned clothing to the point that she knew without a shadow of a doubt that they were not built like men in other places. Some small portion of her upbringing shied away from the thought of them like that, it was too like bestiality. She understood why they took human women to their 'beds', there was no such thing as a unicorn mare. They were one and all stallions, and to have any children or pass on their genes they were drawn to human women. That was half the reason they were still persecuted in some places, viewed as worse than an interracial marriage. She didn't find anything wrong with the women that wanted to become a mate or wife to a unicorn, she simply knew it wasn't for her. When she had her first time it would be with someone's hands around her, with would be with Lance and his gentle voice, his soft lips on her body. Not bent over a hay bale like a mare. Her cheeks flushed hotly and she pulled herself in closer to him.

I guess I'm not as open minded as I think I am. She admitted to herself as he grinned and led her along a walkway that wound itself up a slight hill. Or maybe I'm just in love...

She stared at the dark black hair that tumbled down her boyfriend's neck, his faintly Hispanic features gave him a dark and almost mysterious look. She loved him more than she had words for, enough that she barely realized that a few of the unicorns in the crowd snuffed her way and pricked their ears up. She was too busy enjoying the thrill of feeling his hand in her own, and the anticipation of finding the perfect spot to watch the sunrise. She wanted to see someone Change, she had seen video of it, but never seen it in person. Given that it was Chicago and hundreds of 18 year old men were gathering for the Ceremony, chances were she was going to be able to get her wish. Someone estimated that one in ten thousand young men would change on any given day, the number skewing with every passing year. As she thought it, she looked at Lance as he swung his basket down to claim a spot.

"You're eighteen!" She blurted out as he released her hand to dig for a blanket. "Shouldn't you be down... there?"

"Huh?" Lance blinked for a moment as he got the thick cover out. "Why on earth would I want to go down there?"

"I mean..." Her cheeks flushed hotly and she drew her brows together. He'd told her that he was a virgin, they'd talked about it when the idea of sex had crept up. "Aren't you... I mean, you told me..."

"That what?" He blinked up at her and then suddenly turned a deep flushed red along his cheeks. "Oh, yeah I am. It's just that it's not like I've been striving for this. Most of the guys that are down there have been doing all those old wives' tales on how men get changed, there's gotta be some sort of truth to it. I haven't."

"So you believe it." She felt a rush of relief. She had been ready to hear him stumble and trip up in a lie, instead he seemed at ease as he spread out the blanket and got out the thermos and food they'd brought. "That you can influence whether or not you end up Changed?"

"Well, I guess. Roger is mad about all of that." He offered her a seat next to him, leaning back with a smile. "He's been trying everything. Did you know that he's actually drinking tea now?"

"Tea?!" She giggled a little bit and settled against him, glancing out over the cleared area of the park where the party was already started.

"Yeah, some of it has to work. Drinking special teas, sticking around unicorns, keeping pure, fasting before the solstice." He leaned back with a grin of relaxation. "It's all supposed to help someone with the right genes Change. With all of those boys down there that have been working, I'm positive I'm safe."

Emily watched the young men down below, it was a bit like a dance party watching them as they wore loose shorts and laughed with one another. As the day wound to a close they were all gathered together listening to the music, talking amidst themselves, they were likely getting revved up as people began to stake out spots on the hills. It was all for a chance to see someone Change, the last great miracle in the world. There were even news vans pulling up as she could see white forms starting over the cleared area. The unicorns that showed up for the Ceremony were starting to gather in a loose circle, barely twenty of them, but enough to make a good show as the music changed to something ethereal and soft. She had never been to one like this, the one near her home town had always been tense as no one quite wanted to admit to having unicorn blood in their genes.

She let Lance get the food out as she watched the shadows crawling across the ground, people began to spread out nearby, the grass disappearing under the flash of blankets as they took their places. She even managed to nibble on a sandwich as the minutes and then near hour passed. There were enough boys down below it was almost a safe bet that one of them would Change, maybe more than one. She looked away from them and towards the stallions who seemed to be talking among themselves, turning their heads this way and that with their necks curved. They knew they were the center of attention, they knew they were safe here and would soon be heralding another of their kind into the world. She wondered if they would actually greet the new comer, or if they were simply there for show? She'd never really seen what happened after the Change, did the new unicorn get a mentor or was he just left on his own?

"Emily..." Lance spoke softly as the music began to grow louder, the shadows were spilling towards the center of the park. The sun would touch the horizon soon. She pulled her eyes away to find him almost shaking beside her.

"Are you okay?" Her brow furrowed a little as his cheeks turned a dark red as she heard the sound of hooves on the ground. She jerked away in time to see the unicorns starting to rear and drop, stomping in time with the music as they heralded in the Solstice.

"I just...Emily Duffy." Lance's voice grew firm enough that she stopped watching the spectacle to see him moving up onto his knees. "I knew the moment I saw you that you were like a unicorn, something rare and precious in the world. I knew the first time I kissed you that I would never kiss another's lips as long as I lived. I knew the second I looked into your eyes that I had found the other part of my soul."

Oh.. my... god... The sound of the beating hooves and music faded away, even the sound of the crowd faded away as Lance fumbled in his pocket, his hands were shaking so badly she thought he was going to never find what he was looking for. And when he did....

"Will you marry me, Emily?" He almost whispered the words as he held up the small velvet box, his trembling hands opening it to reveal a narrow gold band with a spark of a diamond nestled into it. Her world stopped, her heart hammered in her throat while tears rose to her eyes, she dimly heard the high pitched belling cries of the unicorns as she reached out to touch the box.

"Yes, yes I will..." She whispered, tears rolling down her face as the shadows spilled through the middle of the park. She stared into her boyfriend, her fiancés eyes with her throat contracting with emotion. She watched as they eyes suddenly bled over to gold and the ring, box and all dropped down into her lap from his trembling hands.

~ ~ * ~ ~

Heat, heat and fire, poured through Lance's body as he stared at his intended, his vision blurred as a sudden wracking shudder spilled through his body and he lost all sensation in the tips of his fingers. He was having a seizure. He opened his mouth to call for help, but she could hear Emily calling out above him as he dropped onto his hands and knees and continued to tremble. He felt as if he were about to shake his bones loose as the seizure built up with the feel of warmth that was pouring over him. It wasn't the warmth of the sun or air, it was the feel of being too near a glowing fire that was close enough to sear his skin and burn away his hair if he went any closer. His fingers curled against the ground, the nails digging at the blanket as he felt something happening that wasn't in tune with some sort of illness or fit. His lips were pushing outwards, his teeth growing larger as his jawline began to change for something else entirely, something inhuman.

"NO!!!!!" He got the word out as his tongue thickened, too thick for human speech, growing as his nose flattened as it pushed out.

NO! Not me!! I didn't want this! He screamed in his own mind as his lips became fringed with soft velvety fur, while his nails began to thicken, his middle fingers growing larger by the moment.

He couldn't open his eyes, he didn't want to, he could hear voices around him as pale silvery white hair began to coat over him, he could feel it like an itching sensitive rush that ran upwards as his entire head began to shift and change. His ears heated up until he pulled them back against his hear, splaying them to either side in an awkward position as he tried to lurch all the way up to his feet, but he dropped back down again almost immediately. His weight wasn't holding so he cracked open his eyes to see his arms beginning to lose all of his tanned skin, it was growing pale and covered in gleaming fur, longer tufts forming at his wrists as his nails changed to silver. They were curling towards each other, delicate and cloven looking as he jerked backwards in horror. A hand touched him, it brushed against his shoulder and he twisted around to stare at Emily. She wasn't the one touching him, a stranger was touching him! A man stood next to him and was pulling out a knife.

Oh god no! LEAVE ME ALONE! He wanted to scream and tried to scramble away, but his body wasn't moving right, his joints were shifting their positions, changing higher up as he tumbled to his side kicking wildly. With a pop, and another crack his neck began growing longer as teeth pulled back within his mouth.

"Easy son, we need to get your clothes off, they'll hurt you." The stranger glanced to one side of him, where he couldn't see. "Back up! Make room!"

"He's my boyf- My fiancé!" Emily's voice was high pitched and panicked as the knife swept over Lance's chest and tore through his shirt.

Emily!!! Oh god, not like this, not in public! She's never seen me naked! Utter humiliation was at war with the feel of tight pain starting along his hips. His neck grew longer, thinner until he was swaying his head back and forth. His vision was shifting as well.

A blank space formed right dead center of his eyes as the man yanked his shirt away to reveal his bare chest. He felt a moment of panic as he couldn't see ahead of him, only to either side so he felt a dizzy rush of confusion. His pants grew tighter as his legs changed, his shoes fell off as his feet were no longer made to fit in the sneakers. His socks hung off loosely as he craned his long neck up and stared at his body, mottled pink and white and tan as the coat flowed over him. His chest was growing larger, barreling out while people started to take pictures of him. He could see faint flashes and excited sounds as if he were a spectacle. His ears flattened down to his head and he kicked as his strange benefactor reached down with the knife and neatly slit it along one side of his hip. Where it tore, he could see the pure white coat being revealed.

He lunged upwards, his arms suddenly all wrong. The joints weren't where they were supposed to be, he felt his wrist bend in the wrong direction and his elbow was far too high up. His hands were gone, the silver hooves scrabbled against the picnic blanket with two shorter harder hoof tips behind them like a deer foot. He could see his legs, his knee was pulled up higher, his ankle elongated to make a creature meant to walk on all fours as pressure started to form along his hips, his other pants leg was too tight, it was hurting and pinching. The man grabbed his arm, his foreleg and pulled, flipping him over in an undignified way to cut the other part of his jeans off him so they could be peeled off. He found himself staring almost muzzle to nose with Emily as his nude body spilled out into the light. He could feel his cock resting against his inner leg, his bare ass twitching as the muscles began to realign themselves. He couldn't look at her, not like this, not knowing she had never seen him nude once and now... this.

He was left staring over a dainty white muzzle as his shaft didn't disappear beneath his growing haunches, it began to elongate. It grew pinker as it went, stiffer as the tip flattened along the top, spreading open wider and resting against the line of his belly. He felt a hand touching his neck, but it wasn't Emily's the man was touching him! He twitched away from it, jerking and shuddering while he watched his girth expand down growing from just six inches long to well over double and jutting out as flesh rolled around the base and he could feel his orbs starting to swell beneath him. They were growing heavier, shifting lower between his haunches as a sheath began to form around his pink base. He tried his best to hide himself, but his body didn't work right anymore. It was too awkward to move as his girth began to soften and hang down, wrinkling in on itself as the thick ring as the base became a fold of flesh as it drew upwards.

He was withdrawing into a pouch that was stretching, an unnerving sensation that was only offset with the feel of pressure at the base of his back and a sudden pain. A tail bone pushed out right above his ass, humiliatingly jutting out as it grew, the bones sliding lower and lower as it dropped down along his haunches and immediately tucked down to try and hide himself. Muscles he had never possessed reacted as his breathing came out in short shuddering bursts, snorting like a horse as the last few inches of his thick equine girth pulled into the sheath, tucked nearly out of sight, but still not properly covered in clothing. The long tail grew hairs to fringe along the underside, glistening silver in the light as the tip became a neat tuft to curl along his belly, almost covering his nudity from the gawking crowd. A gentle hand touched his neck, a female hand and a familiar scent that made him tremble. He turned his head to look at Emily.

As he met her eyes he felt a stab of sudden pain spike through his head and he reared upwards, the strange man helped to brace him as something pushed out from the center of his forehead. Glittering and silver, the crowd began to applaud as if it were a show as the horn burst forth, glowing in the coming darkness as it reached towards the sky. It was just over a foot in length from the wide base all the way up to the needle sharp tip, the whorled texture making it glitter with each movement as he squeezed his eyes shut and took in a deeper breath. Emily's hand moved away from his neck as he pushed up onto his forelegs, sitting awkwardly on his haunches and well aware that his girth was hanging in a sheath between his splayed hind legs, but he had to get up. He had to get out of here. He had to run!

Oh god, please no... not me... He managed the thought as the strange man called out above him, making his ears twitch upwards.

<Well, greetings new brother.> A unicorn's deep voice echoed in his mind, far more intimately than any unicorn he had ever felt before.

Lance opened his eyes to see a band unicorns standing at the edge of the crowd, one of them advanced with a graceful step that picked his way through the picnic blankets and people without damaging them. His eyes were silver with the horizontally slit pupils flared open wide with the coming dark. Behind him, the unicorns were grouped into two groups, each one holding a swaying stallion that looked dazed. Two young men had been changed today on the field. No, three... Lance realized with a sharp pang as the stallion stopped in front of him, canting his head to one side.

<It seems that you have stolen the show.> The unicorn tossed his head, whickering out bell like laughter that drew a few smiles from the crowd. <Come along, now. You can't very well remain here all night and you'll have much to learn if you'll catch up with the other new colts.>

Colts? Lance turned his head as the strange stallion stepped forward to help him stand up on four shaking legs, like a new born colt.

The crowd parted as three new unicorns joined the ranks, two tried to strut with their heads held up high and nearly stumbling over their hooves. And one that trailed behind, his head held low and ears flat to his head as he occasionally stopped and stared at the figure on the hill before he was nudged forward again. Emily watched him with eyes that showed an edge of white, her face pale as he was led away from her. One of her hands remained clasping the black velvet box that held his ring, and his hopes.