Through Thick and Thin

Chapter One: Promises Made

"Was to!"

"Was not!"

"Was to!"

"Was NOT!"

"HEY!"

Baby Gusty and Baby Buttons dropped their argument immediately. Turning, Baby Gusty winced.

"Hi, Momma."

Gusty did not return her daughter's smile. She walked in, her hooves making a soft echo against the tile floor. She looked first at the pink foal and then at her own child.

"All right. What's going on?"

Baby gusty glared at Baby Buttons and hissed, with the same acidic voice that her mother had when angered,

"Ask her."

Gusty sighed. Her daughter had inherited her short and fiery fuse. She looked at Buttons' daughter. She made no move to explain anything. Finally Gusty said the one thing that she knew would make at least her daughter talk.

"Fine. You want to be stubborn. I can go and get Ribbon real fast-"

"No!"

It was Baby Buttons and that's what surprised the grown unicorn. Buttons' child could be stubborn too but she generally did not fear Ribbon, or her telepathic powers.

Baby Gusty snorted, "you fear her today, cause it's her kid you're dissing!"

Gusty looked at her daughter. Having spent more time with Megan and Molly lately, she was picking up some of the human terms. The rest of the adults were too but Gusty saw that only her daughter and perhaps a few others of the foals were acquiring it.

She didn't like it.

Baby Gusty immediately winced at her mother's disapproving gaze. Muttering, she lifted her head,

"Sorry, Momma. Habit now."

Those words she wished she could call back.

"I don't care. You get out of that habit, understand?"

"Yes, Momma."

Baby Buttons snickered and Baby Gusty sent her glare but said nothing, at the fear of being reprimanded again. She was older, about seven. But as she grew, her attitude became more and more like her mother's. Unfortunately, that meant she could be a tad bratty at times. And she was quick to blow her top and like her mother had a fierce temper to show.

She turned to her mother,

"Well, then, so I don't get in trouble again can I go play?"

Gusty nodded. "Both of you. But remember-"

"We know," her daughter interrupted. "Be in by dark."

Gusty shook her head. Then, as the door closed, she told herself,

"She was so easy when she was five."

* * *

Baby Ribbon buried her face into the clovers and wept some more. She'd been crying a while. Her mother had told her legends of when unicorns couldn't cry. She was thankful she could because she didn't know what she'd do if she had no way to let her feelings out.

They were teasing her again. The other baby unicorns, except for Baby Gusty. Every day, it was the same. 'You can't wink out.' Sometimes, they would push her but only sometimes. She never fought back or made a reply because they were right. She couldn't. She didn't know why. Her mother was very fast and the other babies could. But she had not been able to do it when she was younger and still could not. She'd had trouble at five, at six and now at seven that hadn't changed.

Maybe she was destined never to gain control of her powers.

That very thought made her burst back into tears.

Then, a gentle nuzzling was made at her left cheek. Turning her tear stained face, she caught the eyes of her best friend, Baby Gusty. The adults said they didn't understand how those two bonded into best friends. Night and day were more alike than those two.

Baby ribbon was younger for starters, by about two months. She had almost no control over her powers. Her self-confidence was seriously lacking and she was a follower. She had a very mild temper, which she did not loose a lot. She was a gentle unicorn, and had a soft voice. Although it still had the highness of youth and the giggle of a child, there was also a breath of seriousness to it, like her mother. But while, she was not much of a leader, she was a strategist and had learned how to win games like hide and seek without winking out. She did not rely solely on her powers, as she could not use them well enough to help herself.

Baby Gusty was a carbon copy of her mother. Unlike her best friend, her powers were nearly developed. She could wink in and out at ease and slowly but assuredly her powers over wind were improving. She was confident, like her mother and sure of herself but was careful to keep her nose at a friendly level, as Buttons would say. There was a leader buried in her as well, as in games, she took control and even seemed a bit bossy at times. Her temper was the same as Gusty's. Fiery, hard to manage and had a hair trigger tolerance. She had a voice like her mother, tough and bit tomboyish. Since her powers were more developed than the others, she used them a lot, despite her mother's disapproval. She depended on them much more than the others.

"Oh, hey Baby Gusty," baby Ribbon answered quickly, wiping her tears away. Gusty's daughter smiled at her and nuzzled her again. Despite her tough exterior with Ribbon's daughter, she was soft and sisterly.

"Don't listen to them, Baby ribbon."

The pale blue unicorn smiled. She never had to tell her friend what bugged her; she always knew. The white foal sat down by her and with a flash of light from her horn sent a handful of peach blossoms into her friend's face. The child of Ribbon smiled.

"Now that's much better." Baby Gusty commented. "I like that smile."

The girl smiled and looked at her best friend,

"Baby Gusty?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you been getting odd feelings lately?'

The white one looked puzzled. She had, in her dreams. Feelings of pressure, strain and darkness. But she never told her mother about them. She rarely did. Like her mother, she hated to reveal any type of weakness. So, she held it in. But she could tell her friend. She'd asked so it wasn't revealing how scared it made her.

"Well yeah, why?"

"I…I…Momma told me that my type of unicorn, the telepathic ones, we have a faint sixth sense. Not nearly as powerful as the psychics like Galaxy but we don't sense when something's wrong like they do. We sense something's going to go wrong. Like, before it happens."

Baby Gusty stared at her. She'd heard of their ability to see glimpses of the future but she'd never really believed because neither Ribbon nor her daughter ever spoke of having any visions. Now, it came into focus.

Perhaps it only happened when danger came.

"And?"

Baby Ribbon sighed. "It scares me, Gusta."

Baby Gusty backed up, involuntarily. Gusta was her birth name. They called her Baby Gusty because when she grew up, she'd take her birth name, not before. Gusty was her mother's birth name so that's what she went by. Baby ribbon's birth name was Ribbons.

Baby Gusty helped her friend up.

"I, maybe you should tell your mother," she stammered. The other pony nodded, silently. But before heading to do so, met her friend's eyes.

"Baby Gusty…Gusta…I have a strong feeling lately. These visions scare me. Promise me you'll stay with me. Promise you won't leave me by myself. You're my only real friend. Please say it. Promise me."

Baby gusty swallowed but said,

"Okay, no sweat. I promise."

Baby Ribbon smiled and ran off down the hill, back towards the Estate.

Baby gusty stood a moment and said aloud to herself,

"Did I just make a promise I can't keep?"