Clair Ree

Jeff yawned. The only time I'd ever seen him yawn before was during his campaign. Long nights and early mornings hadn't agreed with him, but today had been a mostly ordinary day, though with the time difference it felt like mid evening for us—despite it being nearly two A.M.

"I think we should head to the hotel. Jeff…" I had to rear up and plant my hooves on the Resolute Desk. "Jeff!"

"Clair!" Jeff looked around as if a firecracker had gone off. "It's been a long day. I think I need to call it quits here." He stood up and stretched. Despite his tiredness and despite working at what previous presidents had called the hardest job in the world, he still looked spry.

Jumping down from the desk, I walked over to Philip and indulged in a kiss. "Come on. Let's go see how much of the city Saffron and Riley have destroyed."

"Maybe we could go to a different hotel? Tell the kids tomorrow that we got lost. We won't even need a bedroom for what I have planned." He stopped every few words to kiss me again, and despite our location, the time, and my current circumstances, part of me definitely liked his plan. "So?"

I tilted my head and leaned forward so our brows touched and his horn rested against the top of my head. "You know what that would mean for tomorrow, right?"

Philip's little chuckle made my belly clench. "You mean if we spent all night studying anato—?"

"I'm sorry to do this, Clair, Philip, but I'm leaving, and that means the office needs to be cleared," Jeff said, startling both of us out of the moment.

"Sorry, Jeff." Embarrassed? Yup. Going to let it bring down the night? Not a chance. "C'mon, sexy," I said to Philip, hopefully quiet enough that only he heard it, "let's make a move so you can make a move."

He jumped up from the couch and followed me to the door and outside, and he was like that all the way out to the car. Jeff had two of his Secret Service drive us to the hotel where Saffron and Riley were already stationed. While we got some odd looks in the lobby, no one actually said anything to us.

Philip seemed to be curtailing his advances, though I could still catch him looking at me as if I were an apple pie and he was hungry—a look I quite enjoyed. When the lift stopped and one of the big men stepped out to check the hallway, Philip leaned over and nipped my ear.

"Philip!" I trotted out of the lift with a prancing gait that I'm sure had been exactly what he wanted of me. "Where're our rooms?"

"Down here, ma'am."

I followed along, aware that Philip was right behind me, and had to struggle not to put on a show for him. What was wrong with me? When the man in front stopped at a door and whispered something I didn't hear, the door opened to reveal a room dimly lit with a TV playing something on the other side of it.

"Mom? Dad?" Riley's voice came a moment before she leaned over the back of a couch that was in a depressed section of the living room.

Oh no, Clair. You could have taken your husband's advice and been making out in another hotel by now. Never mind the kids would have been not just okay, but watched over by the Secret Service. Nope, you had to be the responsible adult and not spend all night with your sexy stallion. "Hey, kids. Not too bored I hope?"

"Nah. We were just playing games with Kaylee. She's nice."

That intrigued me, and I walked over to the couch and around it to see a young woman slumped against Saffron's side. The scene looked like she'd passed out on him. "Saffron?"

My son, of course, was still playing the game and ignoring the new ornament he'd gained. He seemed to jerk a little at my mention of his name, then turned his head while pausing his game. "Oh. Hi, Mom."

"She got pony-whammied." Riley sat up and stretched. "Saf was being nice, though I think the whammy helped a bit. She seemed really into him at the restaurant, but when we all got close on the couch and played games, it was like the whammy just mellowed her out."

"Riley thinks there's some kind of whammy that makes people really like ponies, and she thinks we're still causing it." Saffron gestured to the woman curled up beside him. "Like the cameraman back at the White House."

A nip at my ear stole all my attention away from the situation on the couch. Philip was walking past and making quite a show of moving. "Leave them to their game. They can afford to be tired tomorrow."

Damn him, but I knew the evening was not over yet—and I liked the idea. "Right. Bed. Gotta be up early tomorrow." Oh, you liar Clair Ree. I walked off after Philip and left our children to be as terrible as they wanted to be.

Truthfully, I trusted Saffron not to take advantage of her, especially if there was some kind of magical effect. Philip, on the other hoof, I was hoping would take advantage of me. "Coming."

Yawning, I wanted to ignore the sound of buzzing coming from the side of the bed. The rumpled bed that we were both spread across after a wonderful evening. "Mmm. I'm coming…" Lifting my head from the pillow, I saw it was a bedside phone that was ringing.

"So you said last night," Philip said as he rolled toward me. "Let it ring."

I giggled as he tried to distract me—almost successfully. However, without using his magic he had no chance of keeping me from answering the phone. "Hello?" It was a little awkward to hold to my head. The handset was just a little shorter than a pony head needed.

"You have a waiting message from a Mr. Jeff Miller. He's asked you to be woken at 8 A.M., and told to be ready at 9." The man's voice sounded confused, and it took me a few moments to realize he didn't recognize Jeff's name. It's true that it was a little more "normal" than previous presidents', but I would have hoped all the work we put in would make it one to be remembered long after he leaves office.

"Thank you. If President Miller calls back, please put him through to me immediately." I could almost hear the silent shock on the other end of the line. I didn't expect an acknowledgment, so hung the phone back up before letting out a little gasp.

Philip looked up from my belly, his mouth curled into a wide grin. "A wake-up call?" At my nod, he nuzzled my belly again and ran his tongue into my bellybutton. "How long do we have?"

"An hour, but—" I didn't get any further with the words or thought as Philip made sure I wasn't going to be focusing on anything that wasn't him for nearly twenty minutes. Though they were a quite enjoyable twenty minutes, now I had to rush a little.

A shower and drying off my coat should have taken the better part of an hour on its own, but Philip helped with his magic and—by the time we were done—we opened the bedroom door and walked to the living room in time to see the clock hit 8:56 A.M.

"We still have four minutes, Clair," Philip said from behind me—close enough that I could feel his breath on my coat.

"Dad…" Saffron's tone actually made me giggle. I looked around to locate him, and found him in the kitchen area making a bowl of cereal. "Some of us are trying to eat here."

"You say that, Saf, and yet I wasn't the only one with a girl over last night." Philip practically strutted past me and into the small kitchen area, and was using his magic to make two more bowls of the cereal.

Saffron poured milk into his bowl and picked up a spoon to start eating. "Kaylee left earlier. She had work today. Also, we weren't banging so loud that the whole hotel heard."

"But you were banging?" Philip asked him.

I couldn't keep back a snort that broke loose. Saffron looked at me accusingly and let out a sigh. "Something wrong?" I asked.

"We didn't do anything at all. It just didn't feel right, you know? I guess if you spend a few months as a pre-pubescent pony you kinda don't have much game when you are dumped back in hormone-ville again." He began shoveling his breakfast with more determination than I think he showed when flying. Maybe.

"Sorry, Saf. How about a truce on that, then?" Philip asked as he floated two bowls over to the coffee table.

I'd grown used enough to eating directly from bowls—it didn't seem so much an animalistic thing as just practical. Philip might have his fancy magic to hold knives and spoons and forks and such, but while I could manage with my hooves, it was a slow and annoying process. I followed my bowl to the low table and started drinking the moment we both reached it.

Saffron sighed loud enough to make me grin into my breakfast. "Sure. Okay. Just try to keep it down a bit. Or close your door or something. Whatever works." That surprised me. Had we left the door open in our rush to have fun last night?

Philip just looked smug. Okay, I knew I was a little vocal last night, but he'd been too. I guess they don't make hotel walls like they used to. Did Philip like hearing me make a lot of noise? Well, I know the answer to that already—he does. I didn't realize he liked the idea of others hearing me.

"Our door was closed, but we'll try to keep it down, Saf." Philip forsook a spoon and ate his cereal like I did. It wasn't a huge deal for me, but I appreciated him making me feel more at ease about eating. "Got any plans for today?"

"Heck yeah!" Saffron seemed to animate, but I could hear an edge to his voice that told me he was about to pull a teenager moment. "I'm going to head out and stretch my wings, then I'm going to fly up to Cloudsdale and do some Wonderbolt training." Yeah, he was getting much better with sarcasm. "Oh, wait, I can't."

"It's only a week." Riley walked out of her room on the other side of the living room and was using a towel on her hair. She walked over to the table wearing only a second towel, and sat down. "What's for breakfast?"

A knock came at the door, startling us all. Saf, who was already standing, walked over and touched the intercom. "Oh." He opened the door to reveal Jeff Miller, President of the United States of America. "Hey."

"How are we all today? Riley! What you did in the park yesterday has my press secretary buzzing. Showing off Equestrian magic? Everyone loves it. We're going to have to make your run today an event, though. Turns out that young miss you ran with tweeted it out and there's going to be a lot joining you, if the replies are anything to go off." Jeff wasn't just smiling, he was beaming. I couldn't blame him, everything was coming up roses and it was just because of our kids being themselves.

"Maybe I'll just run in the gym, here, then." Saffron closed the door and walked over to the couch. "It was fun to run with a few people, but I don't think I want to be a celebrity."

"Maybe Keylee will be there?" Riley asked, lifting her spoon as a bowl of cereal floated over before her.

Jeff made his way over to the kitchen table. "Mind if I sit down, and who's Keylee?"

"Keylee, unless I miss my guess," I said, "is a girl Saffron met late yesterday. I think her intention was to have a quick party with him, but there's something we noticed. Remember your camera guy getting fixated on Saffron's feathers yesterday?" I waited until Jeff was nodding along. "Well, that seems to be a side effect of pony magic. A minor fixation."

Looking a little worried, Jeff looked between Philip and myself. "It didn't seem harmful."

"Jeff," Philip said, "do you know anything ponies do to be harmful? Basically cute little fuzzy magic critters who want to break into song every now and again."

I nodded to that. "Right. Let's just call it a bedazzling. So I figure when Riley and Saffron tell her they want to play games, she's too enthusiastic about being bedazzled to steer back to what she wanted. Who was she?"

"Waitress from the restaurant downstairs," Saffron said.

"I'm not going to tell you how to live your life, Saf. You're an adult now." Philip's statement got an incredulous look from Saffron.

"Dad! Ugh. The worst bit is I want to get annoyed at you for making me go to Equestria in the first place but I like it too much there. You're the worst and best, you know that?"

"I love you too, Saf," Philip said.

"Err, okay." Jeff seemed a little flustered, but his face quickly settled back into his normally focused expression. "Well, I have a full day planned. There's two news interviews, a press conference, and I had scheduled a meet and greet at one of DC's hospitals so you can see the difference the medication and expertise from Equestria is bringing."

Saffron, Riley, and Philip all let out the most expansive groans I'd heard from them in a while. It was enough to make me chuckle at the way they harmonized. "Sounds great, Jeff. I assume you had Caroline write up itineraries for each of us?"

"Waiting in the car. Whenever you're all ready?" Jeff seemed to just now notice Riley wasn't wearing anything but a towel.

Riley, of course, stuck her tongue out at him and returned to eating her breakfast.

Well, time to be a parent. "Riley, finish your breakfast and go get dressed."

"Yes, Mom," Riley said.

"Saffron, are you nearly ready?"

"Yes, Mom," Saffron said.

I felt it best not to point out that if they were ponies, they wouldn't need clothes. That's when something hit me. "Oh no."

"What's wrong?" Philip asked.

"We're ponies."

"Right."

"What do you see?" I looked to Jeff.

"You're a pony… Where are you going with this, Clair?" Jeff asked.

Stepping off my seat and onto the floor, I turned to look away from Philip, then looked back over my shoulder at him. "See?"

Philip looked distracted for a moment, then blushed and nodded.

"What's the matter?" Jeff asked again.

"Clair needs a skirt." Philip tried to keep his tone neutral, but I could hear a little bit of a comical undertone. Drat him, I was trying to be serious. "There's a thing among ponies that you don't do, and that's stare at what's under a tail. Ask Saf how he handled the first few weeks of being a pony."

"Don't ask Saf," Saffron said.

The pair of them laughed, but it was Riley who jumped up from the table and rushed to her room. I was about to ask what had happened when she came back out holding a shopping bag. "This will be perfect on you, Mom!"

What she lifted from her bag was a light brown, knee-length skirt. She marched up to me while everyone was speechless, and squinted. "Okay, going to need some safety pins. Anypony know where we can get them?" And just like that my little filly had taken control of the situation.

Jeff jumped to his feet, walked over to the telephone, and picked it up. After a moment he introduced himself and asked for them to send a sewing kit and safety pins. "As many as you can bring. — That will be fine. As soon as possible."

"You're right. I will need a sewing kit. I need to split the back seam of this, then a safety pin at the fastener to hold it on around your tail. Then some more to help keep it cinched tight." As she spoke, Riley lifted my back legs one at a time to get the skirt around them, then pulled it up in such a way that it sat under my tail, but the front fastening was at the back and fit around my dock. It was ingenious!

"How'd you figure that out?" I asked.

"Mom, Riley's a genius, remember? She takes after you while I take after Dad." Saffron stood up from the couch and carried his bowl to the kitchen.

It took me aback. I knew my little filly was smart—Moon Dancer had said as much on several occasions—but Saffron's words stirred up myriad of times when she'd known things far beyond what her years would normally allow. This latest was a demonstration of logic and planning that I'd not seen her perform before.

Do I tell her that? Her brother seems to be doing a good job of reinforcing and encouraging her already, maybe I should just lend a gentle hoof. "Well, it's very clever of you, sweetie." I reached out a hoof and pulled her closer—something that was surprisingly easy given I was an earth pony—and into a hug.

I gave her a good hug and got a slightly awkward one back—though it was obvious the problem she had was being bigger than me. No matter, she knew I loved and appreciated her despite the situation we were in.

The day, once I had suitable attire, was a series of fluffy interviews that didn't go into any depth on either Equestria or my mission there. I knew this would be the setup, but it still disappointed me to have another vacuous talk-show host ask me "why the long face?" for the umpteenth time.

Lunch was spent munching on whatever Philip could find that he approved of while a woman measured me up for more dresses. I was assured that I would have two more dresses that fit as well as Riley's by the end of the day.

Which left an afternoon briefing with the Senate. I had my notes together as well as a folder of the questions the Left were going to ask me—how nice of the party to warn me—and a bunch of questions they were sure the Right would ask.

So, forewarned, I had a halfway easy task ahead of me with about half the questions being mundane and open ended—giving me a chance to deliver my own information to the locked-door sitting.

"You'll forgive us if we're a little confused by your current state, ambassador Ree, but why exactly have you chosen to forsake your humanity so quickly?" It wasn't on my good list precisely because it was at the top of my bad list. Truth be told, the Republican senator for Kentucky was expected to be a little blunt even on a good day.

"You'll forgive me then, I hope. While our chief doctors and physicists could barely give me any word on what the portal does to a mature human, none of them suggested my using the transmogrification setting while pregnant. I'm sure with more use and more experimentation, we'll have all the answers, but not even its creator could be sure it would be safe for me to use." My answer, I knew, was relatively straight to the point for a Senate deposition.

"You got pregnant while—?"

"With my husband. Not that the intricacies of such are a matter for the Senate of the United States of America." I tried to be firm in stating that, but these old bastards could ask anything they wished, and they knew it. It was still, very slightly, a Republican Senate. "Is this really what you'll be spending your five minutes on?"

A round of chuckles circled anyone who had a D beside their name and even a few with an R.

"I only meant to clarify the—" The senator for Kentucky stopped rambling quickly enough. "I'd like to bring up the expense report you filed wherein you requisitioned $200,000 of computer hardware and ancillary equipment. Our estimates show that your department doesn't have the manpower to use a fraction of that."

I smiled, disarmingly I hope, and leaned up to the mic. "Could you rephrase that as a question?"

"What exactly are you using all this computer equipment for?"

"As is explained on page two-thirty-five of my report, approximately ten percent of the equipment was for the consulate, the rest was used as trade goods with the ponies, and more are already pending approval to secure further supplies of medical equipment."

"What medical equipment is being obtained?"

The questions went on and on, and I wished I could say that they were all intelligent and on-point, but they were deliberately trying to trip me up. They were seeking a reason to embarrass Jeff, and I was a conduit to him. What they seemed to have forgotten was that despite looking like a little horse, I was far from an innocent little filly in a shark tank—I'd helped run this shark tank.

By the time we were done it was five PM and I felt like screaming—not that my expression had changed from serene and helpful pony. Smiling, really smiling, was something it had taken Equestria time to teach me, but I'd learned the trick to it was remembering who I was and what that meant to me.

Clair Ree, mother, wife, diplomat, and a thousand other little things that all served to keep me smiling throughout the most brain dead report I'd ever given that I had to stay focused on.

"Your a wizard, Clair," Jeff said as we got out of the room. "How did you keep smiling that much at them? I think you unnerved a few into squandering their time."

"Aww, that's easy, Jeff, I'm a cute little pony and I knew everything would be alright in the end." I'd tried to pitch my voice at around Pinkie Pie, though I doubt I could ever come close to her levels of poniness combined with mild sarcasm.

"I'm glad you're on my side." Jeff led the way out to his limo and we kept quiet as we passed the few members of the press waiting to get a soundbite or two. Once we were seated inside and the doors closed, he let out a sigh. "Do you want to face some more comical sharks? Your children's afternoon run is about to start."

"You know, I could do with stretching my legs as well. What about you?"

"Clair, I'm wearing a suit—I can't run around the park."

Chuckling as the car pulled out, I jabbed my hoof in Jeff's direction. "You say that, but I've seen you move pretty quick in formal wear."

"Only when there's coffee on offer and I have a press secretary chasing me."

We kept up the light chatter as we drove to the park. Thanks to the nature of our vehicle, room was made for us on the busy streets of D.C.. As we passed the White House, I turned to see the circus that was going on in the park.

There was several news vans set up and a bunch of about twenty people in a cordoned off area that seemed to include the whole park. I couldn't see Riley and Saffron, but I had to assume they were both in that group.

"You had someone organize this so they didn't get mobbed?" I asked.

"I wasn't going to let the mob rule when it came to your kids, Clair. Now come on out and let's take the heat off them."

We got out of the limo with security already standing around us. Jeff really did plan everything just right.

"Mr. President! Can we have an interview?"

And so it began again. This time, however, it was a far less relaxed situation than our earlier interviews, and we would have to be just as cautious of what we said as with the Senate. That's when I realized I had an out. "I'll go check on my kids. Excuse me, Mr. President."

The look of resignation he shot me was almost pathetic, but wasn't enough to get me to stay by his side.

Two members of the security detail split off and walked with me to the cordon and then stepped over it while I ducked under.

"Mom!" Saffron's voice drew my attention into the crowd. He made his way to the edge and I felt my smile grow a little more. "We were trying to get this run started, but everyone seems to not understand run."

I hadn't worked on earth pony magic as much as Riley had, but I could still do a few little tricks with it—the first and foremost being that I could run forever and a day, but the one cool thing I had learned was how to share that gift. "Itchy hooves?"

"Yeah! Itchy as heck!" He didn't even seem to notice his attempt at swearing had been self-muted. Maybe it was proximity to a pony? Well, let's have some fun.

The others hadn't noticed me yet. I was too small and they all seemed crowded around something I couldn't see. Time to change that. I drew on the innate magic every pony possessed and was answered immediately and with a little timidity. My magic didn't seem to like it here as much as Equestria, but when I coaxed it further it poured out.

"Run."

My own hooves responded, my feet feeling ready to run a marathon, but Saffron let loose a whoop of excitement and took off at a sprint.

The crowd acted immediately. It was like something had spooked them and they needed to get away from it, but this was almost the exact opposite. Feet pounded and the whole group took off after Saffron.

Boiling with pony magic, I started running after them and quickly caught up with Riley.

"Mom! Saf found you? You used your magic and mine is going too!" She kept up with my gallop as we ran through the pack of people to find Saffron at the front. "Saf! You found Mom!"

"Yeah! Isn't this great! Got everyone moving, at least." Saffron, like Riley, was able to keep up with my gallop thanks to his longer gait. All three of us (and probably the people following) settled in for our run.

Only when the light started to fade did I slow from my gallop to a canter, then to a trot. The magic had flowed reluctantly, but it had flowed well enough that none of us felt winded or tired, and our muscles moved just as easily now as when we'd started. Slowing to a walk as we neared what had turned into a pavilion of press and security, I became aware of all the other people with us who were laughing and talking excitedly. I guess they had every right to feel excited—they'd just experienced pony magic first-hand.

"I almost wanted to run with you. That was magic, wasn't it?" Jeff asked when I approached him, Riley and Saffron in tow.

"Yeah. Saffron was having trouble getting everyone moving because they milled around Riley, and they were only doing that because of the fascination thing. Did I manage to get any reporters?" The thought of making the press go for a run filled me with glee.

Jeff shook his head. "Sadly not. Though, that is a good example for people that the magic doesn't force them. I felt it, the press felt it, and security felt it, but none of them ran off jogging." He looked proud of it, and he had every right to be. Magic could be a major problem, but seeing it halted by people merely not wanting to go along with it was reassuring.

"Every cloud, right?"

It almost startled me when I felt Saffron's hand on my head. He gave the ear nearest him a little rub, then he jerked and let go. "Sorry, Mom."

Tilting my head up to look at his mortified expression, I couldn't help a giggle. "Pony magic even affects ponies, Saffron. How about we head to the hotel and have something for dinner?"

When we reached the restaurant in the hotel, after picking up Philip, we found Kaylee again. She looked shocked to see us at first, but quickly pushed it away under her professional waitress face. "Would you like a table for four?"

"Yes please," Philip said. "I hope you're not too busy?"

Saffron was looking at her and blushing. It was so cute I almost wanted to sing—but that would have ruined the moment for him. Seated, we were all given a menu to read while the waitress left to fetch our drinks.

"How serious is this, Saf?" Philip asked.

When Saffron didn't seem to reply, Riley giggled at him. "I'd say he's pretty distracted by her. She's pretty good at games, too."

"It's not—We were just having some fun. I know she was probably looking for, uh, more fun, but she was pretty cool with just playing games and chatting." That's when it occurred to me. Saffron, in Equestria, misses out on a lot of these hormones. He's pre-puberty there, but suddenly post-puberty here. My mirth at his situation disappeared completely and I wanted to give him a hug.

All through dinner he seemed a bit off. Worry for him and keen mom instincts meant I couldn't ignore the itch that his situation presented. The restaurant had a good selection of vegetarian meals, though I could swear that food just tasted better in Equestria.

"Well, that was delicious." Philip put down his spoon after finishing off his dessert. "You'll excuse me for a minute."

I watched him stand up and walk out of the dining room. When he got to the door, one of the Secret Service guys split off and walked with him.

"Dad's up to something." Riley stared after Philip. "Mom, what's Dad doing?"

I had an inkling that he was trying to do something for Saffron, but I had no idea what and I didn't want Riley getting in his way. "I have no clue, but I'm sure—"

"I'm going to go find out!" Riley was off her chair and running for the same exit Philip took moments ago.

As we sat there in silence, I realized why the young woman wasn't bringing the check (and providing another chance to chat with Saffron—our bill was covered already. "Excuse me? Could I have another drink, please?"

Kaylee approached the table while looking at me, though she was clearly trying to get time to chat with Saffron. "Same again?"

"Oh, no. I'd like to see your list of ciders, please?" Once Kaylee had rushed off to fetch whatever list they had, I jumped off my seat. "Saffron, let Kaylee know I have got to use the little filly's room. I'm sure you'll both have something to talk about while you wait for me to return in about… ten minutes?"

"Mom, you don't have to—"

He stopped talking mostly because I didn't listen and just walked out. My son, the one that had spent months living as a pony, would take a little pushing it seemed. True to my word, however, I made my way to the women's bathroom and pushed on inside.

Human bathrooms were, for the most part, fairly disappointing compared to pony ones. Equestria had mastered the art of bathroom cleaning long ago, and even older establishments contained everything an earth pony needed to take care of business. My time in Equestria had been a delight and I'd learned to appreciate and even take such facilities for granted.

I'd eaten light the previous day, and had become a little bound up as a result, but today I'd eaten regularly (under Philip's strict guidance). I had just one chance to not make a complete disaster of this. Reaching to the saddlebags I wore, I pulled out a mobile phone I'd been issued and managed to hit the autodial for Philip's phone.

After a moment he appeared on the screen with a big grin on his face. "How's Saf doing?"

"I arranged so that he and Kaylee would have some time together to talk, but I set myself up for an ambush. I'm stuck in the women's bathroom, and I need help," I said.

"Huh?" Philip blinked a few times, then his face turned to shock as comprehension sank in. "Oh dear. I'm on my way. Is the bathroom empty?"

"It is. First one on the left as you enter—leave the dining room."

"On my way, darling."

The connection ended, and it wasn't the first time I was envious of unicorn magic. Philip had obviously used his magic to operate the phone while mine was covered in slobber as I used my tongue to lock the screen and my lips to put it back in my saddlebag.

When the door of the bathroom opened, my heart jumped into my throat. "Mom?" Riley called.

"In here. Could you send your father in? There's no one else in here." When Philip poked his head in I breathed a sigh of relief. "Riley's standing guard?"

"Yeah. She won't leave her post until we're done. What's the status?" Philip was a hero. I'd have to ensure he knew that later tonight.

In the end, everything went well. Philip used his magic to help me with what was necessary, and we both left the bathroom feeling relieved that it had been such a simple matter.

"Why'd you run off?" I asked him.

"To arrange a second suite for Saf. If he has any chance of finding himself a filly this week, he's going to need a place of his own. They're arranging it now and the Secret Service guys will let us know when it's ready."

Riley was, true to her word, standing guard at the door outside. "You okay?" she asked.

"Yes, thank you for keeping watch. How's Saffron doing?" I asked. Being a pony, I could barely see over the tables, and thanks to the layout of the room it required more height again to see over some intervening partitions.

"He's talking with Kaylee. They seem to be talking a lot, though she hasn't sat down." Riley's eyes were fixed on something above—at ceiling level. It took me a moment to track where she was looking to see a light fixture that was reflective. Drat but she was clever.

"She won't be able to sit down. She's meant to be working. I asked her for a list of ciders then, when she went to get it, ran off to the bathroom so that she had an alibi for why she's standing around waiting. I guess we should make our return." I stepped out, leading the charge back to the table. "Sorry I took so long. For some reason your bathroom isn't built to accommodate ponies."

Kaylee grinned at that. "I'll let management know. They—noticed me sneaking off to your suite last night. I got chewed out for not saying anything, but they want me to officially be your guide to the Sofitel Washington." As she spoke, her tone became more and more without life, but when she spoke the hotel name it was practically monotone.

Saffron, however, cracked up laughing. "You do that so well. Mom, Kaylee was just saying how she's going to be our concierge while we're here."

"Really? Well, we should probably exchange numbers then." It was the least subtle thing I'd done all day, but it was also right. If she was going to be our go-between with the hotel, we needed to be able to contact her.

Kaylee used that bright smile again to good effect. "Saf already has my number."

Did he now? Well, that was… Okay, it was good he was showing an interest. "In that case it'll be easiest if he just sends it to all of us. Now, let me see that cider list." I was thirsty now, and a good non-alcoholic cider would be just the thing to take upstairs.

Seemingly jolted out of the moment, Kaylee looked at the folder in her hands and passed it to me. Fortunately, Philip was paying attention and gently took it from her grip with his magic. She just stared at the glow for a moment before shaking her head. "S-Sorry. Still getting used to all this."

Philip set the list down before me and held his magic out to Kaylee. "You're adapting well. A lot of people tend to fall into a daze around ponies. Touch it if you want, it's not harmful."

The list of ciders was surprisingly full, and each was marked if it was hard cider or not. I quickly found an apple cider and passed her the folder back. "Thank you, I'll have this one."

Distracted by Philip's magic, Kaylee took the list back and barely noticed what I was pointing to. She'd been shaking hands with his telekinetic grip. "O-Okay, I'll be right back with some. Does anyone else want a drink?"

"Why don't you just bring us a selection of ciders and we'll take them upstairs to try out?" Philip asked.

Kaylee brightened at that and nodded. "I'll have room service take them up for you. Would you still like the one to take with you, Mrs. Ree?"

"Just send it up with the sampler. Thank you, Kaylee," I said.

As we headed upstairs, one of the Secret Service agents passed a card to Saffron. "Sir, this is your new room key. Mr. Ree arranged for you to have your own."

"Dad? I was mostly joking about the noise. You didn't have to—"

"Saf, you are an adult and need your own room. All they had were more suites on our floor, but I'm sure the government will be happy to pay for it." Philip wore the cutest smile ever on his face. They both knew the exact reason why he was getting his own room, but neither were going to say it out loud.

"Thanks, Dad. It'll be nice to have somewhere to—Uh, just checking though. I'll still be allowed to come and say hi in your suite, right?"

"Of course you can, Saf."

Kaylee made herself indispensable for a million little things. She got us some more appropriate shampoos, she arranged for us to have the cider we agreed was the best stocked into our room's refrigerator, but what I could have kissed the girl for was how she let Saffron take his time getting used to his body again.

By the time the first week was winding up, so too was the whirlwind of news and talk show events Jeff had planned. I collapsed on the couch after a Saturday spent actually shaking hooves with public officials. "I want a massage!"

"You always want a massage," Philip said. "The difference is now you're willing to sit still for one."

The moment I felt his hooves touch my back, I let out a little nicker of appreciation. He could have used his magic to do this, but I know he preferred to touch me with his hooves, and I certainly had opinions on physical contact. "I love you so much…"

"Yeah, I bet you do. How did things go?" Philip pressed his lips down to my withers and nuzzled them just firmly enough that I knew he was there.

Even explaining everything seemed too much work. "Why don't you put on Colbert and see for yourself?"

His magic picked up the remote and started cycling through channels. "This could take a while. Why don't you give me the cliff-notes?"

"Usual stuff. Bad jokes—all pre-approved, of course—some earnest questions regarding personalities in Equestria, though he did ask some interesting questions regarding the exchange of currencies. At least they were interesting to me." As his hooves worked lower, I got softer and softer with my words.

"Sounds like you enjoyed it. What's coming up next week?"

"Meetings with various departments. They want me to get concessions from Equestria for things they don't even know will work. I get to let them all down gently except where I can confirm that they can actually get their doo-dad."

His hooves met my croup and I began melting onto the couch. The chance that we would take this little fun to the bedroom had just hit a hundred percent.

"You think there will be many of the latter?"

Words were getting harder as his hooves massaged my rump. I shook my head in answer.

"What's your thoughts on snuggling?" His hooves stopped.

Turning my head to look back at him, I practically purred the words, "One-hundred percent."

Author's Note

To Jeff: Has the knowledge that you become younger on the other side of the portal -even at the cost of becoming a pony- caused any ripples, politically or otherwise?

Nodding his head, Jeff didn't lead off with the usual that's a very good question, he wasn't that kind of politician. "That information is public, and it's inspiring a lot of debate, but the certainty of giving up your humanity has many balking at the idea. We do have a list of volunteers to emigrate, but as yet Princess Celestia hasn't seen fit to issue any visas outside members of our diplomatic mission. We are attempting to negotiate, but Ambassador Ree is focusing the bulk of her attention on the what will assist the most amount of Americans and humanity as a whole."

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.

Support me on Patreon or fuel my writing on Ko-Fi!

Join me on Discord. Warning, said chat may contain NSFW material and should be considered adult in nature.

Awesome ponies who are already helping to keep me in keyboards and rum:
A.P.O.N.I.
CadelDdraigDarkkon
Canary in the Coal Mine
Daremo
Dio-Drogynous
Ender Voidwalker
KFS Crimson
Sirion123
Vi Watch

And special thanks to the following, for careful eyes and friendly words:
Lab