//------------------------------//
// New Arrivals 
// Story: The Rock in the Gulch 
// by Tatsurou 
//------------------------------//

While Tucker's roller coaster of symptoms and experiences regarding his unexpected pregnancy were quite entertaining for Andy to watch, all others present found the week unbearable to live with and as such Tucker's experiences remained unrecorded for posterity.  Besides, other than the really gross parts it only included complaining and freaking out once Ferdy established for him that knowing what she did now, she wouldn't take it personally, and he obviously really needed it if only to wear himself out so he'd be relaxed to get through everything else.  The important part of that week was Ferdy informing everyone of exactly what would happen as a result of the pregnancy, ways they could help Tucker recover so that he wouldn't slip into a coma as a result of a process his biology wasn't designed for, what the newborn children would need, and the particulars of the traditions involved as in all likelihood both children would be born with the traits that would make them selected to be Questers, as one parent was one and the other was bonded to the Key.
Most of the preparation work fell to Grif, as he was the only one with a ready supply of materials to craft all that was needed.  Upon given instructions in regard to what to make, he went back to his 'mine' and returned with a fully constructed birthing house complete with all the necessary medical tech that wasn't a scanner device that read everything as different shades of green unless it was pointed at Maud.  The only part of the tech inside the birthing house that could be considered ancillary or difficult to understand was a machine that went 'Ping!' every so often for no discernible reason...though Ferdy insisted it was important to have.
While the idea that the infants' first meal would be blood was somewhat disturbing, that was nothing compared to the ease with which Grif returned with several buckets of the stuff that were somehow self-preserving.  No one was willing to question that too much, though Simmons did take what wouldn't be needed for the infants to feed the singing plant in his garden, as Sarge wanted him to attempt to weaponize it.
The only ones present in the birthing house as the time approached aside from Tucker and Ferdy were Andy, Grif, and Caboose.  Andy was there to translate, Grif was there to feed the infants, and Caboose was there to act as the 'midwife'...which, according to Ferdy's traditions, meant that his job was to step outside the house once each infant was born, and then step back inside to explain what the first thing he saw was, from which the child's name in Ferdy's language would be derived, though any shortening or rearranging of the name to make it easier to speak in Standard was perfectly acceptable.
Church sat back some distance from the birthing house as the moment approached, in his unicorn form as his transformation system was acting up again.  As such, he'd moved some distance away from everyone else to practice with the telekinetic aspect of that form so as to avoid damaging anyone he cared about...or Tucker.
"So Tucker accepted the simul-pregnancy?" a voice said from behind him.  "I'm surprised."
Church jumped in surprise and turned...and found himself facing a unicorn with coloration very similar to Maud's, though with a metallic sheen to the skin rather than a fluffy coat.  "Texas?" he asked in surprise.  "But-I mean what-I mean-"
Texas calmly placed her hoof against the grill on his helmet where his mouth would be were he unarmored.  "Turns out the advanced sensors and controls in this body mean I can remotely control my armor to follow Wyoming while my actual body is free to do other things, and because its abilities are based off how Maud's work, I can warp into it from anywhere as long as I'm just out of sight.  Quite useful as long as I'm not caught off guard."
"O-oh," Church managed to stammer, struggling not to stare.  He couldn't help it.  Even as a pony, Texas was quite fetching.  Simmons had done an amazing job shaping her robotic body to match what Maud had requested, and as he was presently a pony he had a very hard time not drooling.
"So I thought I'd pass my time in a more entertaining manner," Texas purred as her horn lit up, and several catches on Church's armor disengaged themselves.
"Wha-oh!" Church said in surprise as his armor shifted.  "Oh!  ...oooohhh..."



Caboose kept his back turned to the proceedings as Ferdy helped Tucker through the last hurdles of the delivery.  He was making a point of not learning whatever method was going to be used to help the infant out of the body not designed to give birth, as everyone had been insistent that he - like Maud - was not ready to learn certain things.  He was fine with this.  Besides, he was eager to perform his duty of naming!  He could hardly wait.
With one last panting groan, Tucker fell silent.  "Blar-gargle blah!" Ferdy spoke up insistently.
"It's a Quester!" Andy translated.  "Yo idiot step-child!  You're up!"
"Yay!" Caboose decreed happily as he stepped outside.  He then scanned his surroundings for what would make a good name for the child...and immediately his eyes were drawn to a particular spectacle.  His mind parsed it as best he could, comparing it to how Ferdy's name had been shaped, and stepped back inside.  "Two-Ponies-Wrestling!" he declared excitedly, his eyes going from the tiny alien infant that matched the coloration of Tucker's armor to Tucker himself.
"Two ponies...wrestling?" Tucker responded weakly, confused.  "Where did you see that?"
"It's Mom and Dad as unicorns!" Caboose explained excitedly.  "They're wrestling out there!  They look like they're having fun!"
As Andy burst into laughter, Tucker struggled to speak.  "Bow-chicka-bow-wow, right?" Grif supplied.
"Yeah..." Tucker agreed.  "Remind me to...make a lot of jokes about that to Church...when Texas is somewhere else."
At that moment, Ferdy gently removed the infant she was carrying, her own form seeming to shift of its own accord to release the now fully formed infant that was a much deeper blue.  "Blar blargle!" she declared happily as the coloring shifted of its own accord.
"Got it!" Caboose declared happily as he stepped back outside.
"So...Two-Ponies-Wrestling..." Tucker mumbled thoughtfully as he looked over his child.  "How are we going to shorten that?"
"Well, given how we rearranged for Ferdy, maybe Twerp?" Andy suggested somewhat maliciously.  "Especially if he takes after you in personality?"
"Hey!" Tucker snapped as his strength returned.  "The only ones who get to talk about me like that are Ferdy and Maud!"
"And Texas," Grif pointed out.  "Because there's no way you've got the guts to try and tell her not to."
"...okay, fair point, but still!"
At that moment, Caboose stepped back inside, beaming with joy.  "One-Invisible-Man-Throwing-Bucket-of-Water-on-Two-Ponies!" he declared proudly.
Everyone stared at him for a time.  Eventually, it was Grif who spoke up.  "So...One-Man-Bucket, then?" he clarified.  "Well, this place is certainly psycho enough to call him Mob."
"Twerp and Mob, huh?" Tucker observed thoughtfully.  "It works, I guess..."
"Blarg!" Ferdy declared happily, expressing her joy that both her children's names were related to ponies, and thus the Friendship she was Questing for.  They would surely be of great importance to her society, and had wonderful lives ahead of them.