World's Worst Costume - 2
Now that the whole world thinks he's supposed to be a donkey, Don has to learn what that means for his day to day life, while still trying to find a way to become human again. There's a few people who still remember the old Don, but are they interested in helping?
Don stared at the passing houses outside for a while, but there wasn't much to look at. His world might have been upended, but the outside world was the same as always, so he quickly tired of watching the houses fly by. There wasn't much to look at inside the trailer either, it wasn't much more than a small metal room. There was, at least, a bench for Don to sit on, and a little gate that could be closed to confine him to a section of the trailer. Don shrugged and sat down on the bench, glad to take the weight off his feet, or rather, his hooves. His gut spilled slightly over the edge of the bench, and he had to adjust the tablecloth he'd tied around his thighs for a little modesty, but it was still more comfortable than trying to stay standing in the trailer as it tilted slightly when they took a turn. Now that things had calmed down a bit, he tried to think through his situation. He had nothing else to do but wait to get home, whatever home was for him now.
First off, magic was apparently real. Logically, Don knew that should have been a bigger deal to him. The stuff of fairy tales and legends was real, and he'd seen it! But the awe about magic powers was rather dimmed by the more immediate concern of everyone thinking he was a barnyard animal. Don looked down at his fat, ungainly half-donkey body and sighed mournfully, but then he stopped himself. Sitting around throwing a pity party for himself wasn't going to do any good. He tried to think positive. He was getting to, uh, experience something nobody else in the world ever had? Even in his head, that didn't sound very convincing. He idly fiddled with the straps to his saddle as he pondered, not expecting to find any give. He looked up at the open gate. Helena could have closed that gate to lock him in, but she hadn't seen the need. That was a positive! Perhaps that meant she trusted Don? Were they still friends? He hoped so. She could be the only friend he had now. He sighed again, realizing he'd wandered back to negative thinking, but he was jolted out of his introspection when the truck came to a stop.
He heard Helena get out of the car. Actually, he could hear her very clearly, and he was surprised to find his ears swiveled, following her as she walked around to the back and opened the trailer. Enhanced hearing, another positive, Don supposed. He stepped out and saw that he was at Helena's house, a modestly-sized place in the suburbs. He'd visited many times, and the house was more or less the same as ever, but her yard had somehow grown in size, pushing her neighbor's houses to the sides to make room. He looked around in surprise. He'd known that the magic worked, of course, but he hadn't expected it to create new land out of nowhere. Looking closer, Helena's house was actually a bit nicer then he remembered it. He could see a few minor renovations she hadn't been able to afford yet were already completed in this new reality. He wondered if that was his influence. She had mentioned getting paid for whatever job he supposedly had now. He felt a small and complicated sense of pride at having helped Helena out. Plus, now that he lived here, that was his house, too! He started up the front steps, but Helena laughed and walked ahead of him, stopping him.
"Easy Don. I know you got all excited about getting to go inside a biiiig house today, but you know where your bed is. You hate it inside anyway, all those tight doorways and slippery wooden floors that you can't get purchase on. Let's get you set up in your stable for the night, okay bud?" She pointed as some kind of small cabin, and as they walked closer he saw it was a stable for a single horse. "Or a single donkey" he thought to himself glumly, as it became apparent that this was where he'd be sleeping tonight. He snorted in protest, after the day he'd had, he wanted to sleep in a room! But Helena grabbed his reins again and the now-familiar compulsion came over him to follow her as she walked into the stable. These damn reins, if it wasn't for whatever obedience they were forcing on him, he would have been able to explain his situation by now. The light bulb on the ceiling dimly lit the stable, revealing a stall with some hay in it and a workbench with a handful of gear hanging above it. There was also a door that led to a caged off area, which would let him get outside without letting him wander off. The car ride had taken the energy out of Don, and his eyes were already drooping. He was ready to fall asleep at any moment, and he searched around hopefully for his bed, but he couldn't find so much as a blanket. Actually, there didn't seem to be any furniture at all. Helena led him directly to the stall, and he saw the hay pile was wide, and flat, kind of like...a mattress. Don's ears drooped as he came to the conclusion that he was looking at his "bedroom". He heard a click behind him, and turned around to see that Helena had closed the stall door and latched it. "There we go, all set for bed. Goodnight!"
Helena was already halfway outside before he had a chance to react. Now that his reins were released, Don finally had a chance to talk to her and convince her that he was supposed to be a human, and she was walking away before he got the chance! Don stuck his head over the stall door and yelled after Helena "Helena. Wait. I'm. Not. Donkey. I'm-".
Helena turned and walked back with an irritated look on her face, interrupting Don's slow speech. "Oh god, this again? What has gotten INTO you today?" Don's startled expression made her realize she'd snapped a little harshly, and she switched to a gentler tone. "Look, I know it's been a really hectic and confusing day for you. You're not used to that much stimulation, so I don't blame you for getting worked up. Actually, I can't remember why I thought taking you to that party made sense." Helena trailed off, a bewildered look sweeping across her face. Don was hopeful for a moment that she was seeing how strange this all was, but she shook her head as her current reality re-asserted itself. "Anyway. I've been more than patient with you. I'm even letting you keep that tablecloth you've decided, for some reason, to wear around your waist, and we're both lucky the host didn't mind you taking it! But it's bed time now and I can't have you out here yelling up a storm. I know I've trained you better than that, our neighbors are trying to sleep. I didn't think I needed to use this anymore." She gave a disappointed frown as she grabbed something off the wall and brought it over. Don still had his head poking over the door, and with practiced ease, she slipped the object around his head before he knew what was happening. Don tried to protest, but his mouth wouldn't open anymore. He went cross-eyed, staring down his face, and saw that she'd put a muzzle on him, it's straps wrapping around his jaw and forcing his mouth tightly shut. He yelped in surprise, but it came out out as a muffled moan, and Helena wasn't interested in listening further.
"Goodnight, Don. Don't worry, we'll be back to your normal routine tomorrow, okay?" Helena gave him a quick kiss on the nose before turning and leaving the stall. No, he couldn't be left out here in the barn, silenced by some simple buckles, he had to get this off and convince Helena to let him out! Not even bothering to try using his hooves, he attempted to hook the stall door under the muzzle to force it off, but it was firmly anchored to his existing gear, and he already knew THAT wasn't coming off. He let out a heavy snort as he switched to trying to scrape the muzzle off his face, but he could tell it would take hours to break through, he certainly wouldn't manage before Helena was out of earshot. He tried to open the door to chase after her, but although the latch was in reach, it was horse-proofed, which meant it was Don-proofed too. There was no way he could fumble it open with his hooves. If his mouth was free, maybe he could have used his tongue, but with the muzzle on, the door might as well have been a bank vault. His final escape attempt was resorting to climbing over the door, which lasted for all of 10 seconds before he fell back, panting and wheezing. He might be stronger than he was before, but with his massive weight and bulky frame, he couldn't pull himself more than a couple inches off the ground before his arms gave out. All that was separating him from freedom was a simple wooden door, but what would have been an afterthought as a human was an insurmountable challenge in his current shape. All he exertion just got him sweatier and wore him out more, and soon sleep was seeping into the edges of his awareness.
He resigned himself to giving up for the night. Turning around, he regarded the pile of hay warily. Don thought to himself that it was at least better than sleeping on the dirt, and laid himself down on the hay with a plop. He wasn't sure if this was the spell messing with his head, or if he was just tired, but he found the hay pile surprisingly comfortable. Before he knew it, he was on his back fast asleep, his loud snores muffled by the muzzle still strapped to his head. His last thoughts before sleep completely overtook him were more worries about tomorrow. What exactly was his "normal routine" going to be?
Don had hoped he could get an explanation of what his responsibilities were when Helena had woken him up in the morning, but apparently he and Helena had both slept in, so she had been in too much of a rush for Don to ask any questions. She'd filled a tough full of straw and left his stall open so he could feed himself and gone back inside to get ready for her own job. Don nosed around to see if there was any other food, but the straw was clearly intended to be his breakfast, and he had woken up far too hungry to pass it up. After a few test nibbles, he'd dug into the straw, finding it tasted vaguely of bland cereal, and before too long the trough was emptied. Don guessed he had put away at least 2 pounds of food, it seemed that he had to eat a lot to maintain this body shape. Helena had come back, grabbed him, and put him in the trailer too fast for any conversation, and she'd driven him here, to some kind of strip mall.
He walked out of the trailer and looked around. They'd stopped in front of a furniture store, was that where he worked? Helena had his reins again, so he couldn't ask anything as she walked him to a parking sign and hitched him up to it with a loose knot. Before she left, she locked eyes with Don. "I need you to behave yourself better today than yesterday, okay? It took you so much work to get the license to operate on your own, if you misbehave you could loose that, and if you don't have a license then I can't keep you anymore. You'd have to go to some farm somewhere. I don't want that, and I don't think you do, either." Helena could lose her license to keep him? If he got sent away somewhere, he'd never be able to get changed back! Helena saw Don's nervousness and gave him a pet on his muzzle. "Hey, easy. Just be your normal, well-behaved self and you'll be fine. Oh, I almost forgot about this thing." Helena reached down and yanked the tablecloth off Don, leaving him fully exposed on the sidewalk. Don was mortified, being partly clothed was the last scrap of decency he'd managed to hold on to, and it'd just been pulled out from under him. He tried to shield himself with his arms, unsuccessfully. Helena gave a critical glance at the tablecloth, which had gotten quite dirty after Don had worn it all night. "I'll see if I can get these stains out and return it somehow..." she muttered to herself as she walked back to her car and drove off. As soon as he was alone, Don tried to untie his reins. Any time his hooves got close, though, the obnoxious compulsion he felt when someone had hold of his reins would start, and he ceased wanting to untie himself until he moved his hooves away. Whatever he was "supposed" to do as a donkey, it involved staying where he was placed. Someone walked right past Don, and he once again tried to reach down and cover himself, but they barely paid him any mind and kept walking. After a few more people went past him without comment, he relaxed a little bit. At least the spell was making everyone think he was normal, although every occasionally someone appeared to get through the spell for a moment and stare confusedly at him before looking away.
For a while, Don simply stood there, humiliated at being seen like this in public. He didn't exactly get used to it over time, but the initial shock wore off, and after a bit of waiting he stopped trying to hide himself and worked up the nerve to ask for help. The first person he talked to walked past him before he could get two words out, and the second just thought he was cute and patted his nose a few times before walking on. Then a couple came out of the store, and the woman walked right up and stared at him. At first, he thought he'd finally managed to get someone's attention, but the woman turned around to talk to her boyfriend instead. "See! I told you, this will be way easier than getting one of the staff to help." Before Don could ask this woman what she was talking about, she picked up his reins and led him to the front of the store where a large armchair was waiting. "Alright, donkey, go pick that up and follow us."
Don wanted to tell her she was crazy. That armchair would take at least two people to move, maybe three, and she wanted him to do it on his own? Not that he had any real choice in the matter, of course. Forced to follow her commands, and he walked over to the chair. To his surprise, he was able to grab it and lift it onto his back. His new body was quite a bit stronger than it looked! The couple picked up a length of the rope hanging from his saddle and tied the chair into place. They picked up his reins and led him to the far end of the parking lot. He struggled to keep up, he wasn't able to walk quickly while carrying something so heavy, but then again, he wasn't able to walk quickly at all anymore. Don snorted and strained under the effort, but the couple chatted idly as they walked in front of him. Don wanted to yell at them, he was doing all the work back here and they weren't even trying to help, but he was stuck in full compliance mode. Unintentionally, he found himself focusing on the clack of his hooves, their regular plodding pace lulling him into complacency, and was surprised when he was brought to a halt and he placed the chair in their truck bed. They'd parked in another parking lot, pretty far away, and by the time they arrived at the car Don was glad to drop the chair down. Was this going to be his job for the rest of the day?
A new person walked up and pointed at Don. "Hey, you done with that? I've got a huge shopping trip planned and I can't possibly carry it all myself."
The couple shrugged. "Sure, have at it." Without any time to rest, Don was handed off, and he was dragged off to a series of stores. At each stop, his current "owner" would tie him up outside while they went shopping, then come out and put their new items into the bags hanging off his back. After a few trips, the bags were really weighing Don down, and the sun was high enough in the sky that he could feel it beating on his back. At one store, when he was left outside for a particularly long time, he tried to ease his load by taking the bags off, but he couldn't reach them bags, and they didn't seem to detach from his permanent harness anyway. It was hardly fair that he had no control over what was stored in his saddlebags, they were practically a part of him at this point, but fairness wasn't something people were considering when it came to a work animal. He thought about leaning over and trying to dump everything on the ground, but the threat of losing his license and whatever legal rights he might currently have was enough to stop him from a full rebellion.
Finally, laden down with various clothes, cookware, and groceries, he was taken to their car and unloaded. His task complete, the compulsion to silently obey left him, and he tried to seek help from the person who'd just used him as a shopping cart for the better part of two hours. Unfortunately, he was hot and exhausted, so he was only able to get one word out before he had to stop and pant: "Help!"
The stranger turned to look at him, surprised. Don had faded into the background for them, more a useful tool than a living creature, and they were surprised that he'd actually spoken, but then they smiled in response. "Oh, of course you helped, buddy. You know what, you deserve a treat. Here." They dug into their groceries and grabbed an apple, which they stuffed into Don's mouth, then picked up his reins again and glanced around. "Now, let's leave you somewhere comfortable." They walked him over to a nearby field and tied Don up to a scrawny tree, then left before he could call out. Sighing, he resigned himself to his lunch. He had built up quite an appetite, and at least the apple tasted pretty good, certainly better than anything else he'd eaten since the change, but it wasn't enough to sate his hunger. There wasn't much in the tiny field he was stuck in besides the overgrown grass. It was clean, at least, and he'd thankfully been given enough slack that he could walk around a bit. He thought about trying to escape again, but even if he did, he'd still be a donkey. What would be the point? Ignoring his long-term problems for the moment, he decided to fix a more immediate issue: now that he had a moment to himself for the first time all day, he needed a break. He sat down (which was a delicate process, at his size), trying to get what shade he could from the tree, and let his mind drift. Somewhere in all the lifting and carrying, his worries about his situation had faded into the back of his mind, and he'd started to focus more on the moment-to-moment. Was that simply because he was tired, or was it also part of the spell, warping his thoughts? He shuddered at the though of being Don-key instead of Don. Even the shame of being naked on the sidewalk had waned. In fact, there was even something a little arousing about everyone being able to see his impressively-sized junk. If he wanted, he could probably get away with... he stopped his train of thought when it started to turn him on. Even if nobody would care, he wasn't about to walk around sporting a fully-visible boner.
In the process of trying to think about something else, Don noticed that the ground was a lot closer than it should have been. Momentarily alarmed that he'd changed again, he forced himself to back into the present moment. To his relief, he hadn't become any more donkey, he'd just gotten down on all fours, but his relief turned to confusion, because he couldn't remember WHY he was on all fours. He'd simply done it when he wasn't paying attention. It wasn't a particularly comfortable position to be in, but it wasn't exactly uncomfortable either, although he could feel his belly hanging down and slightly scraping the ground. Why had he started crawling around? He chewed as he tried to figure out what he'd been doing. What, what was he chewing on? He'd finished the apple a while ago. He spit out what was in his mouth, and to his dismay saw that he'd been eating grass. Left to his own devices, his donkey half had grazed on the field around him, and he hadn't even noticed. He spit out the rest of the grass and looked around to see if anyone had noticed. Thankfully, nobody was close-by, and he felt a little silly when he realized nobody would see anything out of the ordinary anyway. He winced as his stomach growled. This body did demand a lot of food. Maybe it would be better to just... go along with it? Feeling another growl, he bent his head down and ripped a bit of grass out of the ground. He couldn't say much for the taste, but it was food, and soon he was clearing out all the grass he could reach from where he was hitched. Nobody around needed him for the moment, so he had plenty of time to eat. Crawling around on all fours was strange, but Don couldn't find another way to get at the grass. As he stuffed his face, he failed to spot that someone had walked up and stopped to watch him eat for a while, until they broke the silence to greet him.
"Don. Don. Hey, Don. That was your name, right? You on your lunch break?"
Nobody had treated Don like a human all day, much less asked him a question, so even having someone say his name directly didn't register at first. On the third repetition of his name before he looked up, startled, into the face of the person addressing him. It took a moment, but Don recognized them from the party as the person who had worn the Olympic athlete costume. He'd been hit by the spell and changed into his costume, just like Don had. Well, not maybe not just like Don! If he remembered correctly, this guy had already been in decent shape, but now he'd become lithe and toned, given a perfect swimmers' build, while Don's new physique was notable for entirely opposite reasons. For a moment, he felt the same jealousy he'd had when he saw them outside the party, but then he realized this person RECOGNIZED him. He'd been changed too, so his memories weren't altered! He could help Don! He... was fully aware of Don stuffing his face full of grass while tied to a tree. Filled with both embarrassment and joy, Don tried to shoot to his feet, but his body had a lot more momentum than he was used to and he stumbled back down onto his ass, which was thankfully quite cushioned. The athlete didn't bother to hide his amusement as he gave Don's donkey body a once over and let out an impressed whistle. "Man, the party really did a number on you, huh? I thought I got hit with a pretty big change, but it's nothing compared to whatever you've got going on here." Don shifted his weight forward to stand up again, and the Olympian reached down to offer a hand, but paused when he saw Don didn't have a hand to grab. He settled for grabbing Don's arm and pulling him up. Don stood in silence, he'd been waiting for an opportunity to get help all day, but now that it had just walked up, he was frozen in his tracks. The newcomer broke the silence first. "My name's Kris, by the way. We met, but we didn't talk much, so you probably don't remember." Kris waited another moment. "So do you still, uh, talk?"
Don's shock wore off, and hope ran through him. Too excited to slow down and speak properly, he uncontrollably brayed over his attempt to explain. "PleaseEEEHAWW YouEEHAWWkey HEEEEme!"
Kris held up a hand. "Whoa whoa, easy! I can't understand a word of that. Lemme see if I can figure out what you want. If I overheard correctly at the party, you wore that costume on a lark, right?" Don nodded. "So you probably don't want to be a donkey-man, right?" Don nodded even more enthusiastically. "And given that I'm one of the few people who might recognize that, you probably want my help?"
"YhHEEEE." Don cleared his throat and forced himself to speak calmly and enunciate. "Yes. Please."
Kris smiled. "Well, if you really want my help, I guess I can lend a hand, but it's only fair if you do something for me first, right?" Don nodded once more, but cautiously this time. Something about Kris's smile made his hackles raise. Where was Kris going with this? "When I saw you after the party, I knew I had to track you down later. Somehow, when I went out today, I knew just where I'd find you. See, even though I like to keep myself in shape, the fact is, I'm more into a body like yours." Kris reached down and slapped Don's belly, marveling as it reverberated. Don noticed with a growing sense of unease that Kris had reached down to rub himself, too. "If I'm going to help you get rid of this beautiful body, I wanna enjoy it a little first. How about you put on a show for me? But let's make this a private viewing." Kris grabbed the reins and took Don down a narrow alley, into an empty back lot, then tied Don up again there. "Don't worry, I might like the look of you, but I'm not going to lay a finger on you. Unless you want me to?" Free to move again, Don shied away, but Kris only laughed. "If that was my plan, I'm pretty sure I could just grab those reins and you'd do whatever I wanted, but that's not my style. Besides, even though I know you're a man in there, you're still a filthy animal. You're gonna need at least three showers before I'll even get close." Don felt a flare of anger, sure he'd gotten a little dirty, but he'd like to see Kris carry around other people's stuff in the sun all day and not get sweaty! He quickly calmed himself back down. Kris was just messing with him, and until he knew what the game was, he had to play along.
"If you want my help, you task is simple. All you have to do is finish yourself off before time's up. I'll give you 5 minutes, if you can't do it by then, you clearly just don't want to be human badly enough." Finish? Don saw Kris's pants tented and realized what was being asked. No, even if nobody was watching but Kris, he wasn't about to masturbate in public! But... Kris was his only chance of getting back to normal, outside of getting Helena to snap out of it somehow. And he had been daydreaming earlier about doing this. Maybe if he just... "Clock's ticking! Only four minutes left, and you haven't even started." Don threw his inhibitions aside, if this is what it would take, he'd do it. But when he reached his arms down to try and jerk himself off, he ran into another problem. He could barely reach himself down there, and his hooves were next to useless. "3 minutes. Maybe you like hauling stuff around too much to quit?" Don tried to rub against his dick with his hooves, and it sort of worked, but it wasn't enough, and he was honestly a little worried having his heavy, blocky hooves that near his own penis. "2 minutes!" In a desperation move, Don found a smooth patch of ground and got down on all fours again, sandwiching his dick between his huge belly and the ground, and gently rubbed back and forth. This worked, finally, and soon he was fully erect, his dick shooting out in front of him. It was a little intimidating to see his full size for the first time, his boner reached halfway up his chest! The surreal scene of him rutting against the ground broke his concentration briefly, but then the arousal started to take over his rational brain, and he regressed further into the donkey-like state he'd been in previously. He went back to grinding against the ground, and soon he wasn't doing it to get help or beat a timer, he was doing it because it felt good, and he forgot Kris was even watching. It was never enough to get off, though. Just as he really got going, his head was yanked up by the bridle and he found himself looking directly at Kris.
"Sorry to stop you, buddy, but you ran out of time 10 minutes ago. I thought you wanted help, but I guess you had other things on your mind." Don let out an angry bray, partly because Kris had made him degrade himself for no reason, and partly because he'd stopped him partway. "You did give me more of a show than I asked for, though. Good thing I was recording." Kris flipped his smartphone around and hit play, and Don saw himself from behind, down on all fours, his ass wobbling up and down. The camera swung around and he saw his face, but he could barely recognize it. He had a goofy expression, tongue hanging out of his mouth, gasped out a few soft brays of excitement. Don wanted to look away, but he couldn't stop watching himself as he mindlessly tried to get off. He couldn't even remember doing that. Mercifully, Kris stopped the video. "Man, it sure didn't LOOK like you wanted to stop being a donkey. I wonder if whatever magic is making people think you're a normal animal will work on a youtube video? I guess I'll find out." It was bad enough having done that in front of one person, but now the whole internet was going to see it. Don couldn't meet Kris's eyes.
"Even though you didn't convince me that you'd rather be human, you were kind enough to give me some extra footage, so it's only fair I return the favor and give you a little gift in return, you know, to help motivate you." Kris picked up a shopping bag from the ground next to him. Don hadn't noticed the bag before, and he wasn't sure if Kris had come prepared from the start, or if he'd gone shopping and come back while Don had lost himself. "And here's your gift!" Kris was holding a long stick with something tied to the end of it, but from his position on the ground, Don couldn't see what it was. Kris took a few moments to strap it onto the gear on Don's back. Once it was firmly attached, Don got a good look, and groaned when he saw what sort of "help" he'd gotten. Kris had put a stick on his back, which was long enough that it jutted a few feet in front of Don's face. Of course, hanging off the end of the stick was a carrot. The classic "carrot on a stick" device made him look and feel all the more ridiculous, and he knew his goofy donkey face made the whole scene look hilarious. Kris had never intended to help, he was just here looking to degrade Don further. Don tried to grab the carrot down, but it was far enough forward that all he could do was brush it lightly with his hooves, making it dangle enticingly.
"There you go, that should help give you some extra motivation to keep going! Now, I think you've been on break long enough. Lets drop you off where somebody will come and get you." Don started to stand up, but Kris pushed him back down. "No, I think you'll stay on all four hooves while in my presence. I like you better down there." Kris grabbed his reins again and led him back to the sidewalk. Walking on all fours made his ass stuck up in the air, his tail twitching behind him, doing a poor job at hiding his behind. Don had thought he couldn'e be any more humiliated today, but as he crawled back into public view, a carrot dangling in front of him, his still-erect dick swaying back and forth with his heavy gait, he just wanted to crawl into a corner and hide. Kris had other ideas, though, and hitched him to a bench right in the middle of the sidewalk, tying him to the bottom of the bench legs so that Don was forced to stay crouched down. "Nice seeing you, Don. I guess when I want another show, I'll know how to find you! And I'll definitely be seeing you again. We're just getting started." Kris turned sharply and walked off, not interested in anything Don might have to say in response.
Don was left with nothing but his shame and arousal. He tried to hide his erection, but he couldn't manage. He was simply too large, in more ways than one. He tried to simply ignore it and let it go away, but the animal part of his brain had awoken, and it wasn't interested in stopping. Every few minutes, Don would realize he was grinding against the slats in the bench again, rekindling his arousal but never getting closer to a real climax. Each time, he willed himself to sit back down on the ground and tried to remain in control, but no matter how much human-Don wanted to stop, Don-key wanted to keep going, and he was in a battle with his own instincts that he wasn't sure he could win. He could hardly believe he was thinking it, but he actually hoped that someone would come by and grab him to do more work. It might be demeaning to be a pack donkey but it was better than degrading himself in public. Finally, answering his wishes, someone came by and tied a gigantic TV to his back for delivery, and he was trundled off. After that, he didn't get another break. He started wandering further and further afield, but people kept finding him. No matter where he was put, he was always in the right place to help carry someone's purchases, or help them move from house to house, or carry equipment to venues, or, on one notable occasion, to pull a car out of a mudpuddle it was stuck in, which left him quite dirty. After a few more jobs, his erection finally faded. Even through he ended up with a massive case of blue balls, it was better than the alternative of finishing in public. Don felt his head start to get fuzzy, he'd already expended a lot of mental effort and the jobs just kept coming. The various people he was passed between began to blur together, and eventually Don lost track of them. He just made sure to keep going, the simple exertion of putting one foot in front of the other keeping his mind of his worries. Besides the metronomic clopping of his hooves, the only constant was that stupid carrot Kris had left hanging in front of him. A few people noticed it and laughed, but nobody would take it off. It was so embarrassing, to have that carrot right there, looking to all the world like he was actually some dumb donkey endlessly walking forward to try and grab it. He knew he couldn't reach it, but it was hanging there in front of him, and soon he was staring at it as he walked. He could smell it there, just past his nose, and he occasionally drooled a little at the thought of eating it. He wanted that carrot so bad, and it was right there! It was right there, in front of him, he was just about to get it, he just had to take a step forward, then another, then another. Any second now, the carrot would be his...
Suddenly, the carrot was off the string, and someone was feeding it to him. "Aww, here you go big fella. You've been such a good boy, you deserve this carrot." He eagerly scafed the carrot down, eating it whole, and then tried to figure out where he was. He was standing on the front lawn of a house in the suburbs, next to a moving van that was mostly empty, and he saw the back of his benefactor as they walked inside their house. As he struggled out of his fugue state, he saw that the sun was significantly lower than he last remembered. He'd lost several hours chasing after that carrot! He wracked his brain to try and clear up his hazy memories, and he managed to recall that a lot of the time had been spent here, helping this family move into their new house. He could remember that they'd actually been quite nice to him, giving him lots of pets and compliments, and they'd even left him alone to entertain their kid while they began unpacking. He was pretty sure he'd given her a donkeyback ride, and he could recall that it had been a fun change of pace from his usual tasks. He reached down and felt a few ribbons that the kid had tied into the end of his tail. Had he actually enjoyed himself more when he let himself go full donkey? What did that mean about his human side? He was still pondering those questions when Helena pulled up with the trailer and came out to greet him.
"There's my favorite guy! You wandered pretty far today! Have a good day?"
Don surprised himself by answering "Yes." without thinking. The humiliation and exhaustion and uncomfortableness had been hard to bear, but something about using his massive strength to help people out, carrying things they couldn't, felt GOOD. He shook his head, no, surely he hadn't really had a good day, he'd been naked, left out in the sun, and used as a beast of burden all day! No person could get enjoyment out of that. Helena opened the back of the trailer and he considered resisting like he had last night, and making his stand now, but he was too tired. He walked meekly into the trailer instead. Without really knowing what he was doing, he leaned against the wall and locked his legs out, and he almost immediately fell asleep standing up, which he hadn't known he was capable of, and he stayed asleep for the whole ride back.
When Don woke up, the car was already stopped and the trailer door had been left open for him. He wasn't sure what time it had been when he got in the trailer, but when he stepped outside it was early evening. He gave a yawn and stood around for a moment. For the first time that day, he was free to move as he pleased, and yet he didn't have any idea where to go. The irony was not lost on him. At least the nap he'd taken had recharged his brain a bit. He felt much more in control of himself as he worked his way towards the house to find Helena. She popped around the corner with a smile on her face. "Hey Don! I let you take a bit of an extra nap, you looked like you needed it. Busy day today, huh?"
Don nodded. He wanted to tell Helena everything now, to try and convince her he was human, but with the way she'd reacted last night he knew he had to be careful and pick his moment to explain. As far as 99% of the world was concerned, he was a donkey, and he moved things around for a living. If he was going to convince Helena otherwise, he'd have to do it just right, otherwise she would just ignore him, or worse, think he'd gone crazy somehow. Instead, he sat down, and let Helena talk about her day at the office. Things were going well for her, and she was hoping she'd be up for promotion soon. Despite having his own problems, Don was genuinely happy for her, and he said as much. She talked back to him, much like she would have when he was human, and they idly chatted for a while, although with his slower speech, Don didn't contribute as much to the conversation. For a few minutes, Don could almost pretend things were normal, as long as he ignored his tail and ears flicking around to shoo flies away.
Helena checked her watch and let out a small yawn. "It's getting late. I don't suppose you want to get cleaned today?" Don looked down at his mud-spattered lower-body and nodded his head yes, which surprized Helena. "Really? I just bathed you last week. You don't usually let me wash you down more than once a month. Well, if that's what you want, okay." Don stood up and started to talk towards the house, thinking fondly of taking a long, hot shower, but then he stopped himself. He probably wasn't supposed to get cleaned inside, and it was best not to annoy Helena. If she saw his momentary lapse out of character, she didn't react, and he followed her to the back back of the stable. When he caught up, Helena was waiting with a hose. Without warning, Helena turned and sprayed him down with it, and he braced himself for ice-cold water, but it didn't end up feeling uncomfortable at all. His excess fat and thick skin meant he barely felt the torrent of water. He did get a little embarrassed when Helena made sure to hit EVERY part of his body with the hose, front and back, but she treated it like a normal thing, and it wasn't like Don hadn't been fully exposed all day anyway, so he let it pass without comment. Once she'd hosed him down, Don shook himself off, and he gave himself a test sniff. He still smelt a little like a barnyard, there was a certain level of smell that simply wouldn't wash off, but he was still cleaner and fresher than he had been since he grew all this fur, and for the first time in two days, he relaxed. He glanced up to see Helena holding a couple of brushes. She was clearly waiting for something, but he wasn't sure what, and there was an awkward pause. "...Do you want me to groom you standing out here, or are you gonna go inside the stable like usual?"
"Sorry. Just... Thinking." Don lied. It was obvious that Helena knew something was up with him, but she let it slide, and they walked into the stable together. He sat down on the hay pile that served as his bed, and she sat down beside him and began to brush his coat, helping straighen it out, although in places it sprung back into a disorderly mess. It felt lovely, like a nice massage, and Don closed his eyes and relaxed. Helena combed out his mane, then moved on to his tail, laughing when she got to the ribbons that were still tied into the tuft at the end.
"You get petting zoo duty again?"
"Yah. Sweet Kid. Barely yanked. On my tail."
"You're such a softy." she giggled quietly, almost to herself, and worked at untying the ribbons while she combed out his tail. As she got close to finishing, she slowed, considering something. Don waited patiently, of all the parts of his donkey experience so far, this one was quite nice, and he was fine with stretching the moment out. Finally, Helena spoke again, the first few words slow and unsure, but gaining in confidence as she went.
"You know, when I, rather, when we left that party, I knew something was off." Don was drifting, and he didn't quite register what Helena was saying at first, but as she kept talking, he turned towards her and listened with increasing bewilderment. "I had a full set of memories of you. Meeting you as a donkey up for auction, but seeing something more in you, and adopting you. Getting this stable, helping you get your license so you could move in. All the times throughout the years that we've each helped each other out as best we could."
"But I've been having these other memories, too. Flashes of you and I working that shitty retail job where we first met. Late night phone calls when one of us had a rough day. Memories of us going to restaurants together, getting to know each other over the course of a decade. In those you weren't a donkey at all, you were a human, but you were still my friend, and we still did our best to help each other out." She had Don's full attention now, the very tip of his tail left uncombed as it dropped to the ground. "I ignored it at first, assumed it was all that magic talk from the party host getting into my head, but it's all too vivid. The spell at the party was real, wasn't it?" Don nodded slowly. "And you were human until that party?" Don nodded faster and let out a small, hopeful bray.
"I thought so. But - now I'm in a bit of a pickle." Don's confusion turned to surprise as Helena leaned over and kissed him gently on the muzzle. This wasn't a friendly peck on the cheek like the one she'd given him this morning, it was a little more intimate. "I've been in several relationships with guys who needed to be in charge, and it took this last painful breakup to make me understand how much I don't want that. I thought I wanted a relationship based on mutual trust, where both partners help each other, and I DO want that! Seeing you here, like this, so strong and hard working, able to do the literal and emotional heavy lifting, I definitely want that. But to also see you so gentle and placid and soft" Helena gently jiggled Don's gut as she said this. "and so completely dependent on me, even for basic things like food, shelter, and opening doors, well, maybe I want that too. As a human, Don, you were a great friend, better than I could have asked for. But as a donkey, you might just be the perfect man, at least for me. I might've gotten what I wanted from that magic spell after all."
Don was overwhelmed. Helena knew? And she wanted to keep him this way? How dare she! But on the other hand. it wasn't every day that someone called you perfect. And from her perspective, she'd knew him as a donkey as well as she knew him as a human, maybe better. A part of Don, one he hadn't known existed, even liked the idea of being owned and taken care of, and of helping to provide for them in return. His head was swirling with emotions, and in the midst of the chaos he felt a hand on his penis. Helena was stoking it, drawing it out of it's sheath. He'd never taken care of the pent-up arousal that Kris had left him with, and now it was coming back with a vengeance. Helena stroked his massive member with both hands, and soon his dick was standing straight out in front of him, but then she stopped and left the stall. Don whined and snorted in frustration, and he stood up to follow her. Helena, expecting this, grabbed his reins and tied them him to a hook on the wall next to the workbench. "Just wait here for a moment, I have to go grab something." she said, and left him standing alone. Frustrated at having his climax denied to him again, Don tried to take matters into his own hooves, but had no better luck than he'd had during the day. He didn't bother trying to resist this time. He'd been wanting this all day, and he could practically feel his balls growing heavier with need. His donkey side reared up again, and this time his human side was horny enough to go along, and Don's rational thoughts started to slide into the back of his head.
Finally, Helena came back, holding a few pieces of paper. "Until now, I've only been a provisional caretaker for you, and I've been paid by the local government for a portion of your public service. If you wanted, you could choose to leave at any time to go to a farm somewhere, or you could decide you'd rather be taken care of by someone else and have your care transferred." She placed the short stack of papers on the bench. "This is an agreement that will let you transfer full ownership of yourself over to me. If you sign this, you're agreeing that you belong to me, fully. That means you can't be taken away, even if you were to lose your license, and it means we get to keep more of the money you earn. On the other hand, it also means that you can't choose to go somewhere else if you don't like it here anymore. In fact, signing this completely abdicates your right to choose where you live. If I wanted, I could sell you to someone else, and you wouldn't be able to do anything about it. It also means I set your work hours, I can change out the equipment you're wearing for whatever gear I want - to be blunt, it gives me full control over you. I won't force you to sign it, but if we're going to trust each other, then you need you to trust me first. " Don's two halves were battling, but he wasn't sure which side was which. Both parts of him trusted Helena as a friend, but as an owner? But maybe this was safer, maybe it was better this way instead of risking getting taken away, and it sounded like this might even let her remove his harness and bridle, if she wanted. Of course, if that was true, it would also let her put anything ON him that she wanted, and he probably wouldn't be able to remove them. Maybe it was better to let someone else make his choices for him. With his lapses into thinking like a donkey, was he even capable of taking care of himself? He could hardly think straight half the time. It all came down to how much he trusted Helena.
"You can choose to sign this, and we can move forward in our relationship, and maybe renegotiate some parts of our living situation. Maybe - maybe we can even figure out a way for you to live more like a human, somehow, if that's really what you want. Or you can leave this unsigned, and you'll continue to be the donkey that I happen to take care of. I'll still be your friend either way, but I'm not willing to get closer to you if you could get assigned to someone at any time. This is your call, but I think the rewards of signing will be worth it." She'd been slowly walking closer as she talked, and now she was close enough to lightly trace her finger down his chest towards his groin. Even in his lust addled, donkey-minded state, Don understood the implications, and he was scrabbling for the pen before he could think it through. He tried to pick the pen up between his hooves, but he knocked it on the ground, and Helena laughed. "Well, not with your hooves, silly. Here." She put the pen in his mouth and turned to the last page, where there was a blank line for his signature. He tried to read the other pages as she flipped through them, the intimidating legalese making him hesitate. He wasn't even sure he could remember how to read in this state of mind, but he tried to concentrate on the words of contract, to try and understand what he was signing before he put his name down, but then Helena teased him again. She moved faster and faster, one hand stroking his shaft, not quite reaching all the way around, the other alternating between scratching his belly, rubbing his snout, and finding other sensitive places he hadn't known this body had. Then she stopped cold. That was enough for Don. He might not be thinking straight, but there was one thing he knew: he wanted to cum so bad and he'd do anything to get there. Bending down, he did his best to write his name with the pen in his mouth, coming out with a roughly-legible "DoN". As he put the last stroke of his name down, Helena gave a final push, and he was finally granted release. Helena stepped back, safely out of the way, as Don came, spraying everywhere.
As his head cleared again, Don realized he'd just signed himself away. What had he done? Was that smart? He was pretty sure that what had just happened probably should have made the contract void, but it's not like any court would respect him if he tried to contest it, from the sounds of things he had only barely had legal autonomy in the first place. As the rush of release and adrenaline left him, it was replaced by a deep weariness that almost made him stumble. Helena was at his side, guiding him back to his stall.
"There's my sweet, tired boy. Let's get you tucked away for the night." Helena couldn't really hold him up, but her support was enough to steer him towards his pile of hay, and he almost lay down without thinking before stopping to address Helena, who was already locking his stall up for the night.
"Wait. You know. I'm human. Can't. Sleep inside?"
Helena gave Don a pitying look. "Just because I know another version of you was human doesn't mean I'm going to let a gigantic donkey inside to scuff up my floors and break my furniture. Besides, you just got yourself filthy again." She indicated Don's cum-splattered lower half. "I'm not washing you twice in one day." Don ducked his head down, abashed, and tried to brush himself off a bit, not that it did much good. "We can discuss this stuff tomorrow. If you really want a bed, I can probably find a spare mattress somewhere and put it in here." Don had known Helena long enough to know when she was coming to a decision about something. To his alarm, even with all the facts, he could tell she was actively choosing to think of him as more of her animal than as a human.
"No. Need to talk. Tonight. About future." Don wanted to convince her now, before she had a whole night to herself to justify seeing him as a donkey.
She answered back, just a little snippy. "No, you need to sleep. This isn't up for debate, you can barely stand."
"Fine. But party. Next year! Promise!"
She pursed her lips. Don could see the gears turning in her head as she tried to reconcile the two Dons she knew. "You're really dead set on going back to that, huh? I guess I - I guess it's only fair to give you a few extra privileges. Fine, I promise to take you back next year, but only if you're behaved! And that means sleep, now!"
And just like that, she left. Logically, Don wasn't any better off than he had been last night. Really, he might be worse off! But for some reason, the idea that he was owned now gave him solace, a sense of stability. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. He could put up with this for a year, until the next party, when he could fix this and get back to normal. He collapsed onto the hay, his heavy eyelids already shut before he hit the ground, but just before he drifted off to sleep, his ears turned to hear Helena mumbling to herself as she walked back into her house.
"If I'm going to treat him more human, I suppose I'll have to figure out where I can and can't take him. He wouldn't fit in at a restaurant, that's for sure. But I guess I've taken him to some get-togethers in the past, and he was well-behaved. And I did promise to bring him back to that party next year..." She stopped walking for a moment, considering. "...but probably not with a costume, right? No, of course not. Donkeys don't wear clothes, what costume could possibly fit him anyway? What is he going to go as, a donkey lawyer? He'd just end up as something ridiculous. But I'll have that argument when we get there, I suppose." Don tried to get up. He wanted to scream out at Helena, he'd only signed that paper to keep him safe for the year. He thought she'd been offering to work with him to get him changed back next year, but Helena was planning on keeping him like this! But Helena had been right, he was too tired to stand up, and he was asleep before he could finish the thought, dreaming dreams of grazing through endless fields.