Second chance: Convergence

(10:25 a.m.)

Slowly waking up Applejack smelled freshly made pancakes trying to sit up a voice stopped her “Hey hey no getting up, remember Dr. Stable said THREE days rest and you’ve got another forty-eight-hour's to go.”

Looking to the door she saw Alex holding a tray of pancakes and eggs, sighing she leaned back against the headboard a smirk on her face. Walking over Alex placed the tray across her lap as soon as it was settled he got up and turned to the crib by the bed checking on the twins, smiling down at them he looked over to Applejack she whispered “I’m a little surprised they let us sleep through tha night.”

“Me too, kinda.”

“Kinda ?”

“Yeah my transference app went off at midnight,” Alex said with a sigh as he walked to the other side of the bed nodding her head Applejack said “Yeah it’s always sad when one of yah humans comes here, but hopefully they’ll adapt.”

“Yeah, it’s never easy the first couple of days.”

“But you and the local support group will help them get adjusted.” Applejack replied looking over the breakfast she popped a strawberry in her mouth then continued “So did you get any calls from Bar Hopper ?”

“No so I’m guessing that the bar is still standing.”

“Well that’s good, does she know yer opening another bar out in Appaloosa ?”

“Not yet I want to see how she does here before telling her about it.”

“So if everything goes well ?”

“She’ll be the proud boss of Brooke’s Appaloosa Saloon.”

“Pfft still can’t believe you call yer place Brooke’s Ponyville Saloon.” Applejack giggled Alex leaned back while rolling his eyes and said “Hey imma try and build a franchise so my name, a town name or street name, and then saloon seemed like a good idea.”

“Yeah we’ll yer making good money or else we couldn’t afford to have four foals.” Applejack said her gaze lookin over to the crib that held Sour Apple and Apple Fritter. Looking behind him Alex couldn’t help but chuckle standing up he said “Well I’m only a small part Rarity has three shops open and her business is booming, Fluttershy's practice is growing she’s looking for another vet to help out, and your farm has been turning a profit for the last eight years.”

“Yeah, we’ll let’s move off the topic of money, when Is everyone coming by ?”

“Well, the rest of the herd is showing up around eleven-thirty while everyone else should be coming around noon.”

“That’s good, so are Ivory and Autumn excited to meet their baby siblings for the first time ?”

“From what Rarity said over the phone they are very excited.” Alex chuckled remembering the conversation last night and the refusal to have him come over to help, shrugging his shoulders he continued saying “I believe Shy and Rarity are giving them a lecture about how they need to be calm around them.”

“Pfft, there yer kids if anythin they’ll be crazier than a jackrabbit hyped up on caffeine.”

“No doubt now eat the breakfast I have a feeling those two are gonna be waking up soon.” Alex whispered back while pointing a thumb at the twins rolling her eyes Applejack started to dig into the food when her phone buzzed receiving a text from Twilight looking it over she said “Ok well Twi just texted me sayin she has a small favor to ask of us when she gets here at noon.”

“Ok is this gonna be before or after the baby introduction party and what’s it for?” Alex asked cocking an eyebrow at the mare who quickly texted her friend back, quickly receiving the next text she said “After and it has somethin tah do with tha transfers she said she’d explain once she got here.”

“This can’t be good”

“Ah have tah agree with yah on that.”

“So is it just me or all of us?” Alex asked looking over Applejack who’d finished the last of the food, shrugging her shoulders she said “ Ah believe it’s gonna be all of us but she never specified.”

“Ok well let’s get these two dressed and ready for the party.” Alex said a smile coming to his face he made his way over to the dresser and pulled out two outfits Rarity had teleported over for the twins to wear during their introduction to everypony sighing Alex said "Well those are some really good looking outfits she sent over for the twins to wear."

"Can't argue with that." Applejack said eyeing the outfits she took a large bite out of her food humming in delight she looked to her husband and said "Ah'm glad yah stayed the night ah've missed haven you in bed with me."

"Me too AJ on both accounts," Alex said a smile gracing his face as he watched his wife enjoy her breakfast hearing the twins start to fuss he sighed and muttered ", and so it begins."

(After the introduction party)

Watching as his daughters carefully played with their new siblings with Fluttershy Alex turned back to Twilight and the others with a serious expression on his face he asked “Ok so what was it we needed to talk about ?”

Motioning for the group to follow her outside Twilight said “Let’s step away from the children before we continue.” nodding in agreement everyone attending stepped out onto the front porch where Twilight took a breath and said “So as you have guessed we had a transfer happen last night and Rainbow was there to meet the newest residents of equis.”

“Yeah Rainbow mentioned that,” Alex looked over at the prismatic mare who simply looked away from he refusing to make eye contact sighing he asked “But why did you need me for a favor ?”

“Alex do you know what the largest transference in history was ?”

“Well of course Gloria told me about it day one it was the Marcus family.” Alex answered about fifty years ago a family of ten taking a road trip across America in there sedan was transferred to Equestria to far they were the largest transferred group the family, the second being a group of six that were camping in the Australian outback, they made national news for almost two whole years in both America and Equestria Alex had done a report for class on their mysterious disappearance when he was in highschool. Scratching his head Alex took a breath and asked “So this new group is larger than the Marcus family ?”

“Yes.......it was a sixth grade field trip with twenty kids and six adults.” Twilight said everyone stared their mouths gaping at her except Rainbow twenty six humans transferred into Equestria in one day. Rubbing his eyes Alex couldn’t imagine the headlines of his old home, but he could imagine that some of them were having trouble coping with the sudden change and finding themselves in a strange land filled with walking talking ponies leaning against the wall he asked “So what’s the favor you need Twi ?”

“At the moment the group is staying at Soft Pillow inn and Mr. Richards is waving off the fees,” Taking a breath she met Alex’s eyes and continued “I was hoping we could use your restaurant to meet tomorrow evening, Tyler and Ellie won’t be free till then to meet and I think we’ll need every member of the support group for this.”

“Agreed,” Alex muttered while rubbing his face, reaching into his pocket he pulled out his phone and said “I’ll call Bar Hopper and let her know what’s goin on and to have ask a few staff members if they would stay after hours to help.”

“Thank you Alex.” Twilight said a smile gracing her lips, smiling back Alex gave a her a nod. Stepping away from the group he called Bar Hopper and informed her of the plan, it didn’t take long but Alex got the volunteers he needed. Looking back toward the group Alex thought ‘Tomorrow is gonna be rough.’

(Ten minutes before the meeting)

Looking around the eating area Alex and a few employees had moved the tables back and five chairs were placed in front of them. Hearing a bell ring Alex looked up to see the support group councilors making their way in leading them was an elderly woman named Sandra Druberry she is one of the oldest councilors of the support group she’d been teleported to Equestria sixty three years ago, next was Stable Condition she’d been teleported here when she was just a child and raised by ponies. After her was Tyler a young man who’d been teleported eight years ago he had become a local teacher while his twin sister Ellie who’d been teleported along with him had become a journalist. Walking up to him Sandra smiled at him and said "So i heard you have a couple new additions to the family ?"

"Yes they were born yesterday a boy and filly."

"That's very good." smiling Sandra turned and watched a few of the staff members greet the other members sighing she said "So how bad do you think its gonna be ?"

"Well its a group of twenty middle schoolers along with six adults," Alex began guiding Sandra to her chair while placing her usual order of food he continued ", from what I can guess is there stressed out of their minds so hopefully speaking to us will help them calm down and show that living here isn't so bad."

"Well we'll have too do our best." Sandra said smiling up at Alex who just shrugged his shoulders as he made his way behind the bar grabbing a couple of drinks he threw together a couple of drinks handing one over to Sandra he held the other up and said "To our best."

Clinking the drinks together they took a small sip noticing the others making the way over setting them down Alex leaned back and asked "So what can I get you ?"

Once the drinks had been passed out to everyone present they began discussing what each had been up to for the last couple days. As time flew and the group finished the food and drinks given to them they soon heard a bell ring turning they saw Twilight with a small smile on her face after a moment children began filing in looking around with worried eyes, quite a few were puffy and red from a long day of crying. Following soon behind them were the adults each of them looking slightly surprised at the five adults sitting at the bar, looking them over Alex gave them a curt nod before turning to Twilight who'd made her way to the front of the group. Clearing her throat Twilight put on her best smile and said "Ok so I know you all are worried about what has happened to you and how you've ended up here."

"Course we are worried !" one of the adults spoke a woman close to Alex's age she had pale blonde hair and piercing bright green eyes that were glaring at her, standing up she continued "We were on a simple museum trip when we suddenly appeared in the middle of a park !"

"Ms. Harris I understand you're upset and worried but I promise Equestria is more than welcoming to all those transferred here," Twilight explained motioning to the support group she continued "I've asked for some volunteers who help in a local support group for those recently transferred."

"They have all been here for a number of years and each of them have been transferred at different times in there life."

"What does that have to do with ANYTHING !" she yelled slamming a hand on the table standing up Sandra cleared her throat catching the attention of everyone present speaking clearly she said "Hello my name is Sandra Druberry, I am 88 years old and have lived here for sixty three years. Like many of you I was terrified when the transference happened to me i went from a small town trying to find a job as a teacher to a large city filled with ponies," walking over to Twilight she placed a hand on her shoulder and continued her voice firm and authoritative "The Equestrians helped me create a life here, they taught me I became a teacher and helped mold the minds of young foals and children for forty years. They will help you also if you allow us, BUT that is only if you allow them to help you."

Shocked by the sudden accusation the woman sat back down and became very quiet even some of the kids were shocked by her sudden reluctance. Smiling again Sandra took a seat and let Twilight continue after a moment the restaurant staff went to the groups and began taking orders from the people, after the orders were taken both Tyler and Ellie stepped up and introduced themselves they then went over what they did for a living and how the Equestrians helped them. Alex looked over the group watching the group he saw that many were enjoying the food and were participating by asking questions, once the twins finished Stable walked up and introduced herself as she said her name many of the humans looked between each other.

Chuckling she told them the story how she appeared here as a three year old and was picked up off the side of the road by a nice pony couple who eventually adopted her. They raised her as one of there own it actually took here fifteen years before she realized she wasn't an actually pony, this raised a lot of questions that many of the children and some adults asked her. It took nearly forty minutes before the group quieted down enough to allow Alex's turn as he walked up Alex noted that the room was so quiet the crickets outside could be heard. Standing before the group Alex raised a hand and introduced himself "It's nice to meet you all my name is Alex Brooke and I was transported here twelve years ago while I was driving home and....”

As Alex explained his arrival and how he’d been living in Equestria for the past twelve years. He failed to notice a pair of eyes widening in shock while a hand was placed over her mouth she finally placed why this man looked so familiar to her.