The two unicorns stood for a moment before they began to run down into the valley, screaming,
"Mama!"
Their friends took off after them but it didn't take long for Clover to trip and send them all sprawling. The friends wound up in a pile up.
The six other teenagers said in unison,
"Clover!"
The pink manned girl climbed to her feet sheepishly. "Sorry."
The two unicorns made no note of the pile up. Instead they merely focused ahead. Suddenly, the white unicorn cried out,
"Surprises?"
* * *
Baby Surprise screeched to a halt in mid-air, not an easy maneuver especially for one who had just recently broken in her wings. She squinted her eyes."No way!"
But it was. There, beneath her was Baby Gusty and Baby Ribbon. She flared her wings and dove. Baby Lofty flapped madly and tried to catch up with her friend. Baby Surprise was better in the air than she was. But when she too saw what had caused her friend's reaction, she struggled to catch up.
She couldn't believe this. The two had been gone for too long, probably a month or so. She had since lost count. Gusty and Ribbon had been going out their minds and the only comfort they seemed to get was that they knew (although they neglected to say how they knew) that their daughters were alive.
As the two pegasi drew closer they saw a group of seven teenagers with their friends, all earthlings. And Baby Ribbon looked near exhaustion. She was starting to sway and Baby Gusty let her lean against her side.
"Baby Surprise," Baby Lofty said suddenly. Her friend turned in her flight and hovered a moment, saying,
"Yes?"
"You should got get Gusty and Ribbon. You're faster than me."
"but I wanna se them too."
"Yeah but don't ya think they wanna see their mothers?"
Baby Surprise had to admit that she had her there. If she had been separated from her mother for even as long as a week, she would rush right into her mother's embrace. She gave her friend and nod and banked, heading back towards the Estate. Baby Lofty flew on, seeing that the group had moved. But that wasn't a problem, she'd find them.
She banked over the trees, still a little shaky on her wings. Her mother had told her it would be a while before she was steady on them. In actuality, she wasn't supposed to fly without someone with her; all the younger pegasi were told to fly in pairs in case of trouble. But she was so close to the ground, she didn't see the harm in it.
"Baby Gusty! Baby Ribbon! Where are you?"
She got no answer but narrowed her eyes. She had seen them. Both she and Baby Surprise had. They were down there…somewhere.
"Baby Gusty! Baby Ribbon!"
* * *
"We should split up."
"But Ribbon, you said that Baby Ribbon told you that she was in the future. We know they aren't here. We should ask the Moochick."
Ribbon glared at Buttons, her eyes ablaze. "The Moochick has helped us many times, Buttons, but I don't trust his magic where my daughter is involved."
Gusty had to agree, "I stand with her on this, Buttons. His magic is less than perfect."
"Any other ideas?"
"I know as well as you do that if magic was used to send them to the future than magic can bring them back. It's just a matter of finding out what magic was used."
"Gusty! You're crazy!" Galaxy's disbelief was quite plain. "The spell is of the Witches. You two can't seriously be considering confronting the Volcano of Doom!"
The two answered as one, "My daughter is concerned; I'll confront anything."
But before they got the chance,
"Gusty! Ribbon!"
The door flew open and Baby Surprise flew in, obviously in a terrible haste. She lost control and spun over the six unicorns' heads, slamming into the wall. The adults winced and then swiftly went to see if she was alright.
The girl looked at them from her position and then swiftly turned herself right side up, shouting.
"Ribbon! Gusty! You won't believe this but Baby Lofty and I saw your daughters!"
Immediately, Gusty and Ribbon pushed forward, their hearts pounding. Gusty's voice was cold but littered with hope.
"if you're joking-"
"I wouldn't joke about this!"
Ribbon wasted no more time. She now sensed her daughter's magic. But it was dangerously low as if she had used a great portion of it at one setting.
"Take us there."
* * *
"this place is beautiful." Bright Eyes commented as they passed through the small patch of trees, taking the shorter way into the valley. Gusta had taken Ribbons onto her back again. The girl was still conscious but obviously very tired. Gusta smiled,
"I know. My mom's been here since she was born and Aunt Galaxy has been here for centuries."
"centuries?"
Ribbons spoke softly to Starlight's inquiry. "Unicorns are immortal."
Sweetheart was stunned as were the others and she spoke, "really, truly? We were told that unicorns did exist at one point but we were never told that."
"It's a curse in a way." Gusta said simply, "That's a reason Mama is so glad Ribbons and I are best friends-"
"So when your other friends die you'll have a friend still," Patch concluded. Gusta nodded.
"I miss Mama. She's tough but she's probably going crazy."
The group came to a river. Gusta giggled and turned to her friends. She gently let her friend off her back and then stuck her head under the water. When she surfaced, bubbles appeared on the surface, three. As their earthling friends watched in awe, three small sea ponies emerged, singing,
"Shoo Be Doo, Shoo Shoo Be Doo. Shoo Be Doo. Shoo Shoo Be Doo."
Clover backed up, "No way!"
Gusta giggled at her friends' shocked faces and even Ribbons managed a faint snicker. Gusta giggled,
"These are the baby sea ponies." She pointed to each in turn with her horn. First to yellow one with purple hair. She was in a pink duck float, "Sea Star."
Next Gusta gestured to the middle one, who was light green with aqua hair. She was resting in a pink turtle float. She winked at the new comers. "Sea Shimmer."
Finally, she pointed to the last one, a lavender pony with pink hair. She was resting in a blue fish float. "Surf Rider."
"Baby Gusty, Baby Ribbon, we've missed you!" Surf Rider greeted her unicorn friend.
"We need a lift across," Gusta said after greetings were exchanged. The sea ponies giggled,
"Not a problem."
The three dove underneath and then rose again with a large shell. "Climb aboard," Sea Shimmer said with a smirk.
The group slowly did so and in a few minutes were on the other side. As the sea ponies turned to leave, they called,
"Baby Gusty! Baby Ribbon! Your mothers are with Baby Surprise looking for you."
Then they vanished beneath the water. The two unicorns walked on, but their earthlings friends stared at the water for a moment, still in shock.
Ribbons stopped and closed her eyes,
"Mama…" she begged telepathically, "Mama…we're here…we're near the river…please…Mama…"
She spoke,
"Let's rest a minute. I'm tired."
* * *
Gusty had been running after Ribbon for a while. She claimed to have received a message from her daughter, telling her to come to the river. As Gusty ran, she felt her heart grow heavier and heavier. She wanted her daughter back. She remembered that the last thing that had happened before her daughter was exiled was that she was angry with her. Unlike previous unicorn generations, after several centuries of living alongside earthlings and pegasi, unicorns acquired the ability to regret. Now she had never regretted anything more in her life.
Ribbon's voice snapped her from her thoughts.
"Ribbons!"
Looking up, Gusty's voice ran out, either she was not even aware of the emotion she was displaying or she didn't care.
"GUSTA!"
Ribbons and Gusta leapt to their feet at the sound of their names.
"mama…" Tears trickled down Ribbons' face. "MAMA!"
She ran forward and embraced her mother, crying hysterically. Ribbon touched her horn to her daughter's and started crying herself, with both relief and happiness. She felt like her heart would explode with happiness. She had not felt such joy since the day she gave birth to her little girl.
Gusta ran forward herself and let her mother embrace her the same way, not caring about toughness or display of emotion. She was a child. She wanted her mother.
Gusty tugged her daughter close with her neck and then, with her daughter once more safe, she let the tears flow.