Saffron Ree

I knew it wasn't Dad or Mom's fault, but there wasn't anyone else to take this out on. "Why, though?"

Old habits that I'd kinda forgotten while learning to fly came bubbling up to the surface again as my routine was being smashed. I never in my life thought I'd say it (or think it), but I like going to school at the Wonderbolts'. So I'm the youngest in class, just means I have more time to learn everything before I become a Wonderbolt.

"Because doing the president a personal favor is a good way to get one back?" Okay, Dad had a point. It kinda sucked, but a week or so going back to Earth wouldn't be too bad.

"That goes for all of us, doesn't it? We give a little, we get a little." I let out a long sigh. "So us all going back together is a bigger thing, right?"

"Look on the bright side, we're famous. People are going to want autographs and pictures, and you get two weeks off school."

"Dad, I like school." There—I'd said it. Now I should just fly away and never come back. Time for a distraction. "Do I really have to go back as human?"

"That's the other part of the deal. One of the current theories about why I didn't turn back is that I've been around ponies too much. Something like getting used to being one mentally. So, if you two go back and turn into humans, that disproves that one."

"You think it's because of your cutie mark?" I figured that was right too, but it was harder to prove than disprove, or so Dad had said.

"I can promise you, Saf, when you get yours, it will all become clear. Everything. It's like—It's like you find your reason to be all over again."

"You sound like Sudden Turn. She's got some wild stories about the stuff she and her friends did when they were foals—all in the name of finding their cutie marks." I really liked those stories. She wasn't just describing some flying theory, she sounded so into them.

"Saf, is there anything going on between you two?"

Okay, so I might be pretty good at changing subjects, but Dad was apparently the king. How do I even begin to answer that? I mean, I like Sudden, but I just don't have those feelings toward her. Not that I have those feelings toward anybody. "Kinda. I mean, I'm too young to get into—"

"Not an easy topic. Sorry, Saf, I shouldn't have pushed."

I rolled my eyes. This was never going to be my favorite topic, but like heck I'd back away from it. "No. I get it's important to think about, but I'm just too young. Shit, it's kinda hard to explain, but I just don't get any urges."

"It's not always going to be like that, Saf." The worst thing was how calm and nice his tone was. This was Dad trying to give me The Talk without giving me The Talk.

"We've already had this conversation, Dad. Remember, like, ten years ago?"

"It's closer to eight, but the fact remains you're going to want to do stuff soon, and I'm not talking about fancy flying. Just—Saf, be ready for when you do, okay?" The worst bit was how understanding he sounded.

"Look, I already got the birds talk from Fluttershy, I don't need it from you, too. What I'm more worried about is when I go back, if I am human again, I'll be an adult. Like, that's going to hit me, I think." And I was worried about it. Damn worried. I'd gotten used to not having to worry about mares—women—and it was a little freaky that I would probably start worrying about them again.

"You've thought about it then."

I rolled my eyes again and looked over at Dad. "How can I not? It's kinda—a relief. I know I should be feeling all messed up about it, but it's like I don't actually have to care. I can just be me."

Dad put his leg around my shoulder and hugged me. Back on Earth—just months ago—I would had gotten embarrassed or angry at him for doing it, but as a pony here and now… I hugged him back.

"It mustn't be easy to admit that, or even think about it. I'm proud of you, Saf."

"Yeah, yeah. So when are we going?"

"You're okay with it, then?" He looked a little surprised. "You've kinda gotten the short end of the wedge with all this."

"Yeah, but that's the thing." I pulled back from our hug and flexed my wings. "I thought I knew better last time, but it's been getting more and more obvious now. It was my destiny to be here. To fly! Dad, I was an ignorant idiot to fight against what you and Mom wanted, but like Commander Spitfire says—you can unlearn ignorance.

"This is me now. If what they think—that getting used to the place locks our bodies in—then I don't think any of us will turn back to human when we go through."

"That'd be hilarious. It would imply we could be turned back if we just spent a lot of time around humans and human customs." Dad stood up and walked to my bedroom door. "Feel free to say no, still."

"What, and let Riley go through whatever media circus Uncle Miller has planned? Come on, Dad, she's annoying, but even being annoying isn't bad enough to warrant that."

"You're a good man, Saf. Don't let anyone tell you different."

Only when Dad had left did I let out a sigh and flop back on my bed. The truth was, I didn't want to go back at all, probably not even for Riley, but it felt like something I should do—like I hadn't properly said goodbye to Earth before I came here.

"You're uneasy?"

I hadn't exactly been expecting Princess Luna to swoop into my dream, but here I was, and I hadn't yet worked out how to nicely ask a princess to let me sleep. "A little. I'm mostly worried that if it does work, and I do turn human again, I'll be back to square one with my wings."

Looking upward, Luna used her magic to send a beam of silvery light into the blank sky above. Where the magic hit, the moon appeared, and it splashed out form there to create the entire Equestrian sky. I even recognized some of the constellations. "Saffron Ree, what will you do if that happens?"

Opening my mouth to spit out a complaint, I stopped and looked up at the sky instead. What would happen? I still had another thirty years before I could even join the Wonderbolts—I'd already gotten as good as I am now within a year, and that was without knowing all I know.

Patience. Damn but how was I ever going to learn that. That's a good question. "What're the chances I'm going to learn patience in the next thirty years or so?"

She laughed. Not just a little laugh, but Luna tipped her head up and laughed high into the night. When she managed to interrupt herself, Princess Luna tilted her head to look down at me. "That is a very adult question for one so young. The answer is yes, you will learn a little every year you live. But, no, you will never have as much as you'd like."

Having taken the basic history of Equestria at school, I knew that she'd spent tens of thousands of years in exile. A little patience a year and never having enough? Coming from her that was just a little scary. "I think I'll be fine. The worst that can happen is I have to train harder—and I'm ready for that."

"I have heard you enjoy flying. Would you like to fly with me?"

The change in topic felt right. Rather than answer her with words, I spread my wing and jumped into the night sky.

It didn't take Princess Luna long to catch up with me. Each of her wings looked to have more surface area than both my wings put together. The odd thing was she made no turbulence in the air—no wake. I should have been struggling to even keep myself upright, but it felt like I was flying solo on a cool night.

An entire night worth of flying dreams, and she helped me find some answers I needed to hear. No wonder Princess Luna was so popular among all the ponies. Yawning, I rolled from bed onto my hooves and shook away the last bit of my tiredness.

Like every morning (well, the ones following a night's sleep when I didn't have Princess Luna helping me relax), I barely touched the stairs as I made my way to the living room. "Heading out for a fly!"

"Saffron Ree!" Mom's voice sounded more than a little annoyed. "Get your flank in the kitchen now!"

Full name? Full name totally meant she was upset. Tucking my wings a little tighter at my sides, I walked into the kitchen. What was waiting for me was a cake and a very pink pony. I'd seen her before in Ponyville, but I don't think I ever really got to know her.

Without warning, the pink pony fired a cannon at me. "Happy I'm-sorry-I-missed-your-birthday-but-I-didn't-know-when-it-was Saffron!"

Coughing my way through the storm of confetti that seemed to launch itself from the cannon, I looked around at Mom, Dad, and Riley. "What the f—?"

Mom walked over and kissed my cheek. "We don't have to leave until midday, Saf. When I mentioned to Twilight last week that we hadn't had time to celebrate your eighteenth birthday, she told me to contact Pinkie Pie."

"Pinkie Pie?" Well, it was a fair name for a pony who's coloration was pink on pink. It was about then I realized there was the biggest cake on the table that I'd ever seen, and a small alligator was trying to take a bite out of it.

"That's me! Part of the number-one party-planning team! You'll have to excuse the other half of my team for not being here, Cheese had another party—in Manehatten—and…" She seemed to pause a moment and took a breath. "Happy birthday! Blow out your candles!"

Walking up to the cake, I realized that I'd never be able to blow out all the candles—I couldn't have even counted all the candles. But, there was more than one way to snuff out a flame.

Shimmying a little in place, I took a deep breath and snapped my wings out to give a gentle flap with a little pegasus magic behind it.

Every—single—candle—out!

We did the normal birthday stuff. Singing Happy Birthday and all that. Mom, Dad, and Riley all had presents for me, which I set aside while we ate cake and talked about anything but the fact we'd be leaving Equestria later that day.

Maybe even leaving our bodies.

Mom got me feather oil. Dad got me a human pack of cologne and deodorant—as well as some mane shampoo. Riley, though, was the standout present. Normally she'd have gotten Mom or Dad to give her money to buy me something, but she passed me a little wooden box with a big grin on her face.

"It's not wrapped?" I asked.

"Doesn't need to be. Open it up." My little sister sounded way to confident and sure of herself. "Come on!"

The box looked like it should be heavy, but it felt like it was empty. I used my wing to unclip the latch on one side and slowly opened it. The contents explained why I couldn't feel any weight in the box—it was full of feathers.

Prominent was a fiery orange one, then several blues, yellows, and a paler orange too. I recognized each by the color of their owners. "These are the Wonderbolts' feathers?"

"Every single one. When I told Miss Spitfire about what was happening and that I wanted to give you a special birthday present to remind you of home, we came up with this." Riley sounded so proud of herself, and damn it, I was too. "Do you like it?"

There was a small piece of string, or more like a braid of a few pieces, that held all the feathers together in a little line. What was really cool was I could see they were arranged in hierarchy, with each Wonderbolts squad in their own little line. "Sis, this is by far the coolest thing you have ever done. Thanks!"

Earth pony hugs were pretty intense. Even though Riley was smaller than me, she was much stronger than I was. When she decided she wanted to hug you properly, you had to stay out of reach or be hugged. Rather than evade her, I instead spread my wings out and forward—and braced for impact.

Despite her size, Riley was solid as a rock. She jumped up and hugged me tight, but thankfully not strangulation-tight. "You really mean that?"

"Heck yeah. I'll let Mom and Dad take the feathers over first so whatever the spell does, doesn't mess them up. It'll remind me of home." Was it odd I thought of Equestria and this house as my home? Probably to some. For me it was about the freedom living here gave me.

"It feels like home for me too." Her voice was soft enough that I doubt anyone else heard it.

And why couldn't she stay when Mom's work's over, too? It wasn't like I was going back—she could live here with me. I mean, it'd be a bit odd until I at least look like an adult, but it would suck if she had to go back to Earth and live until she was like fifty or something before she could come back and be an adult.

"Yeah," I said.

I squeezed her as tight as I could for as long as she needed. She was so tiny here that it seemed like she was still a baby, but the prospect of going back reminded me that she's almost a teenager. Maybe I'll never get used to how weird it is to go from being a foal to being an adult—and vice versa—it's just so strange to contemplate.

"Okay, let's have one more piece of cake, then we have to head to Ponyville," Dad said.

Mom and Dad had been gone for a few minutes. Starlight Glimmer had told me the protocol for how this worked—there was a five-minute window after each teleport (or whatever people were calling it) when nothing would be sent for safety, then ten-minutes after the last receive a note gets sent back to advise how things went.

Handshaking she'd called it. Well, our five minutes was coming up. "You ready?"

Riley nodded. "I really like being a pony, Saf. What if we can't come back?"

"You think I'll let them stop us?" I nudged her shoulder, not that she seemed to shift from the push—solid little tank she is. "Come on, we need to do this. Just remember, Mom and Dad will be waiting for us."

"Are you both ready?" Starlight Glimmer asked as she reentered the room with the teleport pads. "Now I don't need to tell you, but this will be a transmogrification teleport. That means you will both, hopefully, be human again on the other side. Please step onto the platform when you're ready."

Riley led the way with me right behind her. She looked up at Starlight, now appearing to have not a hint of worry. "Is this going to be like when we first came here? All that twisting out of shape and stuff was kinda bleh."

It was surprising how calm she was now—like she hadn't just ask for reassurance about ever coming back. That's when it hit me. She was acting like Mom does when she needs to be badass. The sight of a little filly strutting onto the platform as if nothing worried her was amazing.

"I'm guessing it probably will. It'll be such a chore only having two legs again," I said.

When a smile split Riley's cold look, I knew I'd hit a good gag. We turned together to look back at Starlight.

"We're ready," Riley said.

Well, she was. I was terrified of going back—not that I'd tell her. "Yeah."

"Here go—" Starlight's horn went from a soft glow to the kind of power that can punch holes through reality without too much effort. I didn't hear her finish talking, because she'd disappeared and I was stuck in that between place again.

At first I thought it was going to be better than I'd hoped—nothing changed—but then I felt something odd about my wings.

Odd turned quickly to freaking crazy. I could feel my wings reshaping and forming into arms. My feathers seemed to fall free to reveal a pair of growing human hands. Hands I didn't want.

Everything seemed to swell and push, and I hated the way it made me feel larger without making me feel stronger—and I certainly had no control of myself here. All my coat disappeared, and my face pulled inward like a dimple.

I wish I could scream while it was happening, but even as my body became completely human again, I couldn't even so much as breathe. Then, like a freight train of magic slamming into Earth, we appeared on the teleporter pad in the White House again.

"… they are! Saffron? Riley?" Mom's voice was welcoming.

What I wasn't prepared for was Riley's shriek. Turning my head, I saw my little sister trying to cover her human body. Then it hit me—we're both naked.

Taking the biggest, deepest breath I could, I hoped I could somehow get my voice to within an inch of Commander Spitfire's. "Turn around and give us some privacy here!" I was as shocked as most people looked. The soldiers all spun around on the spot, and most of the people in white coats did too. I turned to look at Riley, and she gave me the biggest smile I'd ever seen on a human's face.

Mom, barely having reacted to my shout, wrapped Riley up in some kind of blanket. Dad was coming toward me with another carried in his silvery magic. He wrapped the blanket thing around me enough to cover my waist on down.

"I guess the going native hypothesis is bunk. How're you feeling, Saf?" Dad asked.

"Is Riley okay?"

When Riley crashed into my side and wrapped her arms around me, I was struck (not just by her) by how weak she was. "Yeah, I'm okay now. You probably want to have some kind of warning or something when people are coming through like that."

She was small even as a human, I realized. How had I forgotten that? My legs felt all kinds of wrong, and I'm sure Riley was the same way, so I hugged her and kept one hand on her shoulder for support—and to support her. "Yeah. What's the deal there? Can't you put some kind of curtain around the teleporter?"

The soldiers who'd spun around at my shout were now sheepishly turning back. One big man in a black suit who hadn't turned around looked over our heads without a hint of cool. "If you'll follow me, ladies and gentlemen, President Miller wants to see you immediately."

"Can we get some clothes first?" I asked.

He seemed to wince a little.

"Didn't plan for this, huh? Whatever. I guess we go see the boss man like this. You cool, Riley?" There was something freeing about being back—I was an adult here. I was even taller than Mom and Dad.

Riley crossed her arms over her chest and glared up at the big guy. "I guess. But I want to go shopping after this."

I was about to make another smart quip when I remembered the box. "Dad, my box?"

Dad floated the box over in his magic, not looking uncomfortable in the least using real magic here on Earth. "I kept it safe, don't worry."

When he opened the box, I lifted out the string of feathers and held it up. They were smaller than they'd seemed in Equestria, but then humans were much bigger than ponies. I didn't need the strength their memories would give me yet, but I didn't want this far away when I did need it.

"Later on, Saf, I can braid it into a few strands of your hair, if you want?" Riley asked.

I thought about it for exactly half a second. "Sounds awesome. So where are we going now?"

"Follow me," the guy in the black suit said before walking to the door.

"Come on, kids, let's go see the man behind the curtain," Mom said. We followed him out into the hallway and through the White House. Walking had been hard to figure, but it came back to us pretty quickly.

Walking on four feet (and flying) just felt more stable because it didn't rely on almost falling to move. I guess that makes me more pony than human—and I'm cool with that. Our escort turned down another hallway and there was a woman waiting for us. She pointed further down the hallway I now recognized.

I almost bounced as I walked. "We're going into the Oval Office naked? This is awesome. Will there be cameras in there? Are we going to be on live TV?"

"Lead them in, Agent Franks. Jeff's waiting for them." I recognized the woman who'd been so annoyed with my computer order. There was an urge to tell her I hadn't even unpacked it, but I really wanted this all done with so we could get some clothes and get out of here.

Mom didn't seem willing to wait for Agent Franks. She trotted forward like she owned the place—or maybe like she was literally a tank that no one could shove around if she didn't want them to. There were advantages to being an earth pony.

"Go right in, ma'am," another black-suited guy at the door said. He probably didn't realize it, but stepping out of her way was the smartest thing the guy did all day.

The door opened and Mom, Dad, and then Riley and me walked in. I'd been in the Oval Office before, so it wasn't completely new to me. There was Jeff standing behind his crazy-old desk. He smiled when he saw us and gestured to a side door. "Head down there, first door on your left. I had some of your things brought up in case this had happened."

It was literally a I need to speak with your parents thing, but probably more likely a I need to speak to your mom, but your dad is fine to have in the room too. "Thanks." I turned for the door and had Riley rush past me and into the room Jeff had mentioned.

When I reached the room, it was decked out similar to the Oval Office, but there were bookshelves filled with books, a big desk, and what looked like a privacy screen down the middle.

"Look, Saf, he really did get some of our things. Did you want me to do that braiding now?" Riley was behind the privacy screen already, and I could hear her fumbling with things.

I closed the door behind me and walked around the partition to the side Riley wasn't. Sure enough, there was a suit laid out for me; shirt, pants, socks—even underwear. "Isn't it weird to look at so many clothes?"

"You wore a flight suit every day at your school."

"It's different," I said. "And, besides, I didn't have to wear it everywhere."

"I dare you to walk back in completely naked."

"Riley, you know that'd get me in so much trouble I'd be grounded for—"

"You're an adult now, Saf." The way she said it made it sound like being an adult was proof against everything.

It was a good argument, but I was sure I'd never hear the end of it if I did that. Reluctantly, I picked up the pair of boxers someone'd gone through my things to find, and (dropping my blanket) carefully stepped into them. "I'm also adult enough to know Mom'd destroy me. I'd never be allowed to do anything fun for the rest of my life."

"Yeah, but you'd have been on TV naked."

"You've gotten a lot more devious with your plans. When did you start getting like this?" Socks and pants went on, as well as I started to button up my shirt.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when we first got to Canterlot, and we went out on our own, you were totally ready to turn us in." Trousers on next. The more clothing I wore, the odder it felt. My flight suit was all I ever needed, and I only wore that because it let me fly faster.

Riley poked her head around the edge of the screen. "Can you do up this zip for me?"

I got my pants buttoned up and stepped over to her. There was a zip up the back of her dress that I slowly pulled up, lifting her hair to make sure it didn't get in the way. "There you go."

"Okay." Riley pushed me back a little, and with memories of how strong she was in Equestria, I automatically stepped back for her. "Sit on the edge of the desk, there, and I'll do your hair."

I sat down where she said and she climbed up on the desk behind me. When she took two tiny strands of my hair, I was relieved that she wasn't going to do something silly with it. Then it hit me. "When did I get long hair?"

"You always had long hair as a pony."

"Yeah, but I didn't when I went to Equestria. Does that mean some pony stuff leaks over?" I tried to ignore the slight tugging, instead focusing on the problem. "Or maybe it's just because I'm older."

"Could be. I don't see any pink or green in your hair, so it's probably just being older. Hey, that would have been cool, if we'd come back with our actual manes as hair." Her fingers worked fast, tugging my hair this way and that. "Do you have anything to tie this on with? I could always just knot your hair at the end of it, but you'd need to cut it out each day when you shower."

"Well, are there any rubber bands on the desk?"

"Hold this. Pinch it between your fingers." When I reached my hand up to my shoulder, Riley put the braid she was making in it. "Let me see… Oh, a paperclip? That might work. Can't see any rubber bands. I can probably use this paperclip like a hair-tie though."

I felt her fingers grip the hair I was holding. "You want me to let go?"

"Not yet…" She tugged and pulled on the strand until she got it—apparently—where she wanted it. "Okay, now let go."

Releasing my grip on the strands, I felt the braid fall forward slightly and to one side. Carefully running my hand up that side of my face, I felt each of the vibrant feathers held tight in the braid where the after-feather met the true vanes. "You did a great job on this, Riley. Thanks."

"Yeah, well now it's your turn. I have soooo much hair. Anypony would think I haven't cut it for years!" Riley shoved at my shoulders, but lacking the ridiculous strength of an earth pony, she barely moved me at all.

Knowing I owed her plenty for her help, I got up and we swapped positions. "Okay, I have no idea what I'm doing, so tell me what to do."

"I just want it up and off my shoulders. It's way too long to keep it loose without giving it a good wash, anyway."

"How do I do that?" I had no idea where to start—there was a lot of hair.

The process was actually pretty easy once she'd described it. She had found a rubber band, but she'd saved it for her hair because she couldn't do what she wanted without it—which was fair. There wasn't a mirror in the room, but between us we managed to make the other presentable.

"Can we just walk in on them?" Riley asked.

I shrugged. "Maybe we should walk back down the hall to his secretary."

"Saf? Are you feeling okay?" Lifting her hand to her brow, Riley looked around the room and finally at me. "Excuse me, have you seen my brother? He leads innocent fillies astray and defies all parental requests."

To ignore the heavy sarcasm wouldn't do Riley's effort any justice. "Ha-ha. Okay, fair enough. I guess training at the Wonderbolt Academy might be getting to me." I squared up my shoulders and walked to the hallway we'd come in. The door at the end of it was closed still, and one of the most secure rooms in all the world sat on the other side of it. "C'mon, Riley."

Riley laughed and came after me. "So, what, we just walk in?"

"I don't see any guards here. Besides, they told us to go and get dressed. They had to assume we'd come back when we were." I reached a hand out to the door handle and tried to turn it. It turned just fine, but the door didn't open. "What gives?"

"Security lock on the door. Look, there's a panel where you have to tap your card." To demonstrate, Riley walked over to the side of the door and tapped the black plate with two little lights on it. "Hey, those feathers are pegasi feathers, right?"

"Yeah."

"And they belonged to some of the best pegasi in Equestria, right?"

"Drop the some of. They are the best."

Riley grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me sideways. "So you have a ton of pegasus magic yourself, and you've got all these feathers from the greatest pegasi in Equestria, and electricity is a key pegasus thing. Make with the zap-zap and get us in."

Should I let her keep pushing me around? I was kinda used to it back in Equestria, and we'd be going back there soon enough. Probably better to just let her have her fun. As for her idea… "I have no idea if this will work. I'm not a pegasus now, in case you didn't notice, but here goe—" I got as far as reaching out my finger to the black box—and thinking about my magic—when a fat spark jumped from the tip of my finger to the box.

The lights in the hallway flickered and then went out. More lights—bright red—came on, and with them the loud piercing shriek of some kind of alarm.

Author's Note

Starburst: almost-certainly-not-your-mother wants to know if there are any mares that you're interested in.

A cream pegasus looked around uncertain. "A-Are you sure you mean me? I've kinda got a thing for Rainbow Dash, but every pegasus does."

"I think they mean me," Sunburst said. "Sorry."

"Oh... OH!" Starburst blushed hotly before, in a rush of red mane and tail, zoomed away as only a pegasus can.

"Ahem. I have a fillyfriend, but that's none of your business." Sunburst smiled from behind his glasses. "Besides, you already got an answer from Starburst."

So I do this "Ask X" thing. X can be any pony within the story. You can ask them anything and they will definitely, hopefully reply. Keep the questions appropriate to the age-rating of the stories, and they will answer the best question in the author notes of the next chapter. The more votes a comment has the more likely I will get it to the right pony to answer. Try to keep it to one question per post! They will pick one question per chapter.

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