“Tower of the New Moon?” Bucky held up the letter written by Star Swirl and delivered to Sunset Shimmer by courier. He glanced at Luna, who had finished acting as a substitute teacher for the day.

“That letter is very confusing.” Sunset Shimmer, sitting upon a cushion placed on the floor of the farmhouse library, pointed at the letter held in Bucky’s talons. “The names are all wrong.”

“Nevertheless, Star Swirl was the sender. I would recognise that magical signature anywhere,” Luna said, looking around the room at the gathered ponies, her gaze coming to rest upon Twilight Sparkle. “Twilight, is something wrong?”

Twilight, distracted, staring out the window, jerked her head around at Luna’s words. “No… yes… I… I was just thinking about Flash. I want to be home with him. I have strange urges to pile pillows and blankets on the bed and to keep my family around me. It’s all very illogical and strange, but the constant thoughts are leaving me distracted.”

A soft smile appeared upon Luna’s face. “Twilight, we will be done here shortly. You needed to see the letter. This is important.” Luna took a deep breath, filling her lungs with air, and then turned to Bucky, who was sitting in his somewhat ratty looking ‘throne.’ She raised a hoof and made a made a circular motion with it.

“The Tower of the New Moon was sealed by Star Swirl. It is probably filled with devious traps, much like the old castle where my sister and I once lived. The tower itself is very small, not at all very large and it sits atop a mountain in the north. The mountain itself has been hollowed out and filled with extra dimensional pockets. It is a place of research, of study, much powerful magic was done there by many exceptional ponies. There are many artifacts kept inside. Star Swirl and Sombra looted some of the treasuries of the old world kingdoms we went to war with. Some of those artifacts in there are older than my sister and I. Hopefully, Sombra will return some of his memories to Bucky and that will make our task easier.”

Bucky snorted. “He likes to keep me in the dark about some things. He is not always helpful. I suppose he wants me to learn about some things the hard way for some reason, hoping that I will achieve some great understanding.”

“So Bucky and I are going to have to go in there, gain access, navigate what are certain to be lethal booby traps, find a way to turn off the defenses, and gain mastery of the tower?” Sunset Shimmer shook her head. “I will follow Bucky anywhere, even into Tartarus if necessary, but I will confess, this makes me nervous. If this place has stairs, I am going to scream bloody murder and I swear to your stars, Luna, I will never forgive Sombra for his love of cruel and unusual architecture—”

“Something that Buckminster, his grandfoal, has inherited!” Luna shouted in a booming voice as she pointed at Bucky.

“There is beautiful, agonising perfection in a good staircase—”

“Bucky, shut up!” Twilight snapped. “I still haven’t forgiven you for what you’ve done to me on those stairs of yours!”

“I have given thought on how to improve elevators… a small space where one is trapped inside—”

“Buckminster Beauregard Bitters, if you ever create an elevator, I personally will banish you to the moon.” Luna’s eyes narrowed and she stared at her apprentice, her eyes glittering. Her lip curled back from her teeth. “I mean it. Which reminds me… I might need you for nightmare work. I know some ponies with a dreadful fear of elevators.”

“Luna! That’s like trying to use a carcinogen to cure cancer!” Twilight shook her head in disbelief, horrified by Luna’s words. She heard Bucky chuckling and waited for it to become his characteristic cackle.

Sunset Shimmer cleared her throat. “So, will Bucky and Twilight become the masters of this tower once it is opened? I mean, what comes next? Once we have the tower open, is it just another research facility, like Hidden Hollow Fortress?”

Luna took Sunset Shimmer’s words into consideration. Once the tower was opened, it would be a powerful resource. It was a vast repository of knowledge. She turned and looked at Twilight Sparkle. “Twilight?”

“Yes Luna?” Twilight, somewhat distracted, focused her attention on Luna.

“This tower will need a curator. A librarian. This is a place of learning and of knowledge. There is only one pony I can think of that would be qualified.” Luna took a deep breath and focused upon Twilight. “Once Buckminster and Sunset Shimmer have this place opened, do you think you can take over the day to day operations of this place? Of course you will have Buckminster and Sunset to help you… but Hidden Hollow Fortress is mine. This place could be yours. I do believe that Buckminster and Sunset Shimmer are content to be here… this is their place.”

“Do you want me to move in and live there?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, heavens no! I do not live in Hidden Hollow… but I am the master of that place,” Luna replied.

“I’ll have to think about it,” Twilight said, shaking her head. “I have so many responsibilities already. I want to be with my family more. I need them.”

“Take them with you. Stay there while you conduct research. Glass Slipper will certainly be useful to you there.” Luna blinked and her wings fluttered at her sides. “Take some time and think about it. No need to answer right away.”

“And what of us?” Bucky asked. “When do we go explore this tower, Luna?”

“Soon. Spend time with your family. When you say that you are ready, we will go.”

“Okay, everypony take a deep breath and relax. We’re all family here, no need to be embarrassed or feel out of sorts.” Violet looked over at Fluttershy. “Glad to see you back.”

“I wanted to know more about being a midwife… I want to be there when my friends drop foals,” Fluttershy said in a squeaky whisper. “This is very important to me. This is going to be the most beautiful moment of their lives and I want to make it special for them.” Fluttershy’s eyes glanced over at Tranquility and Lunacy, who slept on a blanket nearby, and then focused once more upon Violet.

“Derpy, are you comfortable?” Violet looked at the grey mare. She was laying on her back with a couple of pillows beneath her head and a large pillow placed beneath her hips. She had her hind legs kicked out and spread wide open.

The grey mare nodded. “I’m about as comfortable as I can be. I can’t see your face though Violet, my belly is in the way.”

“But you can see Bucky.” Violet smiled at Bucky, who was sitting between Berry Punch and Derpy. Beside Bucky, Berry Punch was also laying on her back, propped up on pillows. “I want everypony to focus on your breathing. Deep breaths… down into the stomach. Suck in as much air as possible, hold it for just a second, and then release it nice and slow and easy.”

Derpy and Berry both took a deep breath, held it, and then let it out in a steady huff. The stomachs of both mares rose and fell. Between then, Bucky sat grinning, looking very much like a fox in a henhouse, raising and lowering his eyebrow, and risking newspapery wrath.

“This is the psychoprophylactic method for foal birth. This will increase your self worth, your self esteem, this will make you feel valuable, special, and I will try to convince you that this is a special occasion—my goal is to increase your confidence so you can face birth in the most natural way possible. This will teach you to cope with labour, how to train your mind to deal with what might be a trying time. You will learn how to relax. You will learn how to stretch, how to flex, how to ease the pain of a foal passing through the door of life so that they might join us in this world. And as for Bucky, who needs to stop making silly faces, he is going to learn massage techniques with his magic that should make this process much easier.”

“I have a question.”

“Yes Fluttershy?” Violet looked at the sunny yellow mare.

“The book you gave me… it says to avoid giving birth on your back… so why are they on their backs now?” Fluttershy looked at Berry and Derpy, then back at Violet.

“So they are comfortable.” Violet gave Fluttershy a smile. “It also builds trust. Right now, they are open, exposed, vulnerable. Parts of them are highly visible. For some mares, shy mares, this can be one of the toughest parts of birth. Letting other ponies help them and be near the places that a shy mare might try to hide.”

“Oh… I understand that.” Fluttershy nodded. “So, when birthing, they’ll try to stand or lay on their side or… float in the tub?”

“Correct.” Feeling irritated, Violet glared at Bucky. “Will you please stop looking so proud and smug. Yes, you are a proud father. Yes, you impregnated two mares with your seed. Yes, both mares are having twins. Right now, you are being insufferable.”

A haughty sniff was Bucky’s first reply, followed by a snort. His eyes narrowed as he focused upon Violet. “I also participated in a pretty awesome threesome, which was the catalyst to all of this.” Bucky gestured at both mares and remained serious looking as Berry Punch closed her eyes and began to snigger. “This was me losing my virginity. Pretty awesome, right?”

“Bucky… I swear, I will get duct tape.” Violet rolled her eyes. “Your wives need you at the top of your game. You did good with Thistle and you did good with Belisama. But these are going to be challenging births. Twins. And despite all of your best efforts, Berry Punch looks as though she remains rather tight—”

“Oh, you have no idea,” Bucky said, opening his eyes a little wider.

“Bucky, please, be a good pony. We talked about this. You are feeling an inner manifestation of chaos right now, aren’t you?” Fluttershy leaned over and using her paw, she began to rub gentle little circles upon Derpy’s belly.

Defeated, Bucky slumped down and his expression grew sulky. Across from him, Violet’s eyes narrowed and she glanced at Fluttershy with an incredulous expression upon her face. Fluttershy meanwhile, ignored both ponies, and focused on the forceful kicks she could feel coming from Derpy’s rounded stomach.

“Okay, I suppose I can be a serious pony. I wanted to say something funny about Bucky liking my tight little filly flaps and that he should enjoy them while he can, but I can be mature and resist saying it,” Berry said, giving Violet a straight face the entire time she spoke.

“Okay, breathing exercises. More breathing exercises. Because I certainly need to take a few deep breaths right now,” Violet said in a voice filled with artificial, but tactful, patience.

Amidst the sounds of breathing, Fluttershy lowered her head and pressed her ear up against Derpy’s stomach. She closed her eyes and could feel life moving around inside of the grey pegasus mare. Feeling happy, Fluttershy shivered, feeling a shuddery feeling all over as she was overcome with a delightful feeling of joy.

“Okay, keep breathing. In a few minutes, I am going to place my hooves upon you in places that I am going to need to touch during the birthing process. This is so that you become familiar with my touch and don’t panic during birth. If at any time you feel uncomfortable, say something and I will stop, okay?” Violet moved a little closer to Berry Punch and glanced up at Bucky, expecting some kind of trouble. Much to her surprise, Bucky looked serious now, focused.

“Bucky, I have a task for you. While I am touching Berry Punch, I want you to tell her why she is beautiful to you. Make her confident. Make her feel special, make her feel good about herself,” Violet said to Bucky in a soft voice as she moved between Berry’s legs. She reached out and touched Berry’s stomach to let the earth pony mare know that she was there.

“Oh… I can do that…”

Author's Notes:

There will be an adventure soon. Should be fun.

I apologise for the delay. Things have been... hectic.