//------------------------------//
// Welcome To The Rogers Family 
// Story: The Final Crusade 
// by Enfield 
//------------------------------//

Just as James had collected his paycheck from under the magazine, his mother pulled up in a large white SUV. James looked at the girls and told them to follow him. 
“Hello James,” his mother said in the same annoying way.
“Don’t do that,” said James going over to the back door of the SUV, “There are others here you know.”   
“So how was work?” James' mother asked. 
“I’ll tell you on the way back,” James replied pulling a lever on the seat which made it fall forward and open up the back seats.
“Why are you going back there?” his mother asked.
“It’s not for me,” said James going to the front door of the garage, “Please don’t do anything rash.”

James waved at Apple Bloom, Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo for them to come outside, once they did James said that this would take them back to his house. Scootaloo jumped into the back behind the second row of seats and James clicked the folded seat into place, Apple Bloom clambered past the seat and sat on the other side, Sweetie Bell sat in the seat that had been locked back into place. James' mother was both stunned and confused.
“What’s going on here?” she asked James as he jumped into the front seat.
“Nothing rash,” he repeated looking at his mother. 
James' mother looked back at the girls with confusion, the three waved at her.
“Make sure you’ve got your seatbelts on,” James said turning to the girls in the back.
“How do you do that?” asked Sweetie Bell.
“You see that belt with the metal end?” James said pointing out the seatbelts next to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell, “Take that and insert it into the clip.” 
“I think I know what you mean,” said Scootaloo taking the seatbelt from above her and slotting it into the clip.
“That’s the way you do it,” said James.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell were watching Scootaloo use the seatbelt and they both managed to get it around themselves and buckled up.
“Why do we have to wear these?” Apple Bloom asked. 
“So that if we hit something you don’t go flying through the windshield,” said James. He then looked at his mother who was still staring at the girls.
“Are you going to drive us home or not?” he said to his dumbfounded mother.
“Yes, lets go then,” she replied quietly.
James' mother started up the car and slowly drove around the gas pumps.
“SEE YA DARRYL!” James yelled out the window of the car. Darryl looked up and waved back, in an instant the SUV was speeding down the road. James had started fiddling with the radio.

“Ads, ads, boring talk, no, static,” he said as he flicked through the stations.
“Who are these kids?” his mother finally said. James leaned back.
“Why don’t you tell her yourself?” he said to the three girls.
“Apple Bloom,” said Apple Bloom.
“Sweetie Bell,” Sweetie Bell said.
“Scootaloo,” said Scootaloo. 
“I’ve never heard names like that before,” said James' mother, “Are you from another country?”
“Kind of,” said Sweetie Bell. 
“Well I’m Katherine Rogers,” said James' mother, “But you can call me Mrs. Rogers.”
“So where are we heading?” asked Apple Bloom.
“Home,” said James still tuning the radio. 
“Ah, finally!” he said. He had managed to find a music playing radio station.
“What is it?” asked Scootaloo.
“Found a decent radio station,” replied James, he stopped to listen to the song, “And the song is in German for some reason.”
“I don’t know what they are saying,” said Sweetie Bell.
“I think that the song is about getting drunk at parties, doing stupid things and then waking up the next morning with a massive hangover,” said James.
“How do you know?” asked Scootaloo.
“I can speak fluent German,” said James, “But no one in my family is of German decent.”
“Now that’s weird,” said Apple Bloom.
“I’ll never know,” said James.

In several minutes Katherine had pulled into the development where James and his family lived.
“Well, here’s our development,” said Katherine.
“So where’s your house?” Apple Bloom asked.
“You’ll see it soon,” said James. 

After a few minutes they arrived at James' house, it was a two story house with a large garage. Half brick and half wood covered in a plastic coat, the house showed signs of modification over the years. 
“Is this it?” asked Apple Bloom.
“It’s good to be back,” James said unbuckling himself and opening the car door.
“Watch out for the dog,” Katherine said to James as he unlocked the front door. 
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo had gotten out of the car and were behind James, as he opened the door slightly he heard something upstairs.
“Get inside quickly,” James said to the three girls. As they rushed inside James shut the door and stood at the bottom of the stairs, through the darkness he could see a shadow.
“Well come on down, Dart,” he said to the shadow. The shadow then proceeded down the stairs and jumped up on James, as Apple Bloom back away James switched the light on. The shadow was actually a rather large male greyhound. The dog was grey and black striped with a white nose and paws, and it’s front paws were up on James' shoulders.
“Yes I know you missed me,” he said rubbing the dog’s ears, the greyhound’s tail was wagging at an increased pace.
“Is that your dog?” Sweetie Bell asked.
“This is Dart,” said James, “One of the friendliest greyhounds on the planet. We got him a few months ago from a rescue home.”
“Is he safe?” Apple Bloom said cautiously.
“Oh, he’s the best,” said James pushing the dog down from him and stroking its head. By now Dart had seen Apple Bloom and was eager to say hi.
“You wanna say hello Dart?” James said to the ecstatic greyhound who was trying to get out of James' grip.
“Will he attack us?” Scootaloo asked.
“He’ll jump up on you but he means no harm,” replied James letting go of the dog’s collar. Dart went straight towards Apple Bloom and sniffed her, Apple Bloom held her hands up and cringed, she seemed to not like strange dogs. Dart looked up at her and jumped up, Apple Bloom was then looking at the greyhound who was sniffing her face.
“He just wants a hug,” said James.
“Why does he do the jumping thing?” Sweetie Bell asked.
“It’s a greyhound way of saying that he really likes you,” said James, “Like I said before he means no harm.”
Apple Bloom relaxed and stroked the dog.
“Hi Dart,” Apple Bloom said, Dart jumped off her and then jumped up on Sweetie Bell who had no problem with him sniffing her neck.
“Stop that,” she giggled, “It feels weird.”
“Hey, what about me?” Scootaloo said, Dart jumped off of Sweetie Bell, jumped up on Scootaloo and panted.
“Ew,” said Scootaloo in a playful manner, “Your dog needs his teeth cleaning.” 
“My mother is in charge of that,” James said unlacing his sneakers, “Watch this.”
James went to the other end of the hallway and crouched down.
“Here Dart,” he said, Dart jumped off Scootaloo, bounded over to James and buried his head in James' arms which brought out some “awws” from the girls.
“This is what I love about greys,” said James hugging Dart.
“Will he do the same with us?” Apple Bloom asked. 
“Sure, just get down to his head level and call him over,” James said. Scootaloo had already dropped down.
“C’mere Dart,” she said, Dart looked at her and trotted over, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell both then got down and hugged Dart. James' mother had then walked through the door.
“I see that Dart is too preoccupied with you lot to say hello to me,” she said, but Dart walked over and rubbed his head on Katherine’s leg. 
“Looks like he’s got an itch,” James said. The girls laughed as Dart kept rubbing his head on Katherine’s leg. 
“Oh stop, Dart,” said Katherine pushing away Dart, “If you’re going to stay with us you’re going to have to take your shoes off.”   
“We don’t want oil and dirt tracking through the house,” said James walking into the other room. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo obliged, they took off their shoes and went into the den where James had collapsed on the couch.

“Finally over,” he said, “My work is done and I have a two hour shift tomorrow.”
“What?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Well I had to got to work right after school so I didn’t get a chance to rest,” James said, “Actually I did rest once I was at work, since nothing really showed up.”   
“I kind of feel weird walking around without shoes,” Sweetie Bell said.
“You’ll get used to it,” said James taking hold of the TV remote next to him, “Say, how long have you been here?” 
“You mean in your world?” Scootaloo asked.
“Yes,” James replied.
“We’ve been here for three days,” said Apple Bloom, “Several people helped us but it didn’t work out.”
“They either kicked us out of their homes or dropped us off somewhere and never came back,” said Sweetie Bell. 
“How could anyone do something like that to such sweet girls like you?” James asked with a hint of anger in his voice.
“We kind of made a mess of things or did something we shouldn’t have,” said Scootaloo. 
“But still, why get rid of you or ditch you on the side of the road?” James said while flicking through the TV channels.
“I thinks it’s because they had other problems to deal with,” said Apple Bloom.
James moved the cushions off the couch and placed them on the floor.
“You are allowed to sit here you know,” he said. Apple Bloom sat on the part of couch nearest to her. Scootaloo took her place next to Apple Bloom leaving Sweetie Bell to snuggle up next to James, James put his arm around her and Sweetie Bell smiled up at him. 

“Yes, found it,” said James.
“What did you find?” asked Apple Bloom.
“Top Gear,” replied James. 
“What’s that?” asked Scootaloo.
“One of the greatest TV shows on planet Earth,” James said. The group them ended up watching the episode of Top Gear where Jeremy, Richard and James had to cross Vietnam in eight days. Sweetie Bell, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom had never seen Top Gear before but seemed to get most of the jokes made in the show, and they were particularly amazed with the scenery of Vietnam. 
“It’s such an amazing place,” said Sweetie Bell. 
“With a dark history behind it,” said James. 
“Why? What happened?” Apple Bloom asked.
“A rather massive war took place there, something most veterans don’t want to remember,” said James.
“How bad was it?” Scootaloo asked.
“I could show you a famous war movie, but I don’t want you to have nightmares from it,” James said.
“That bad huh?” Sweetie Bell asked.
“Worse,” said James. 
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo deiced to not talk about the history and instead focus on Jeremy Clarkson at a Vietnamese service station eating what he though was dog while his scooter was being repaired.

About halfway through the episode, the door to the garage opened and Dart was heard running to the gate by the door.
“Is that you dad?” James shouted through the closed doors between the den and the kitchen. 
“Yes, I’m back,” his dad replied. James hopped up from the couch and ran to his dad.
“Hi there,” he said to his dad.
“Hello James,” his dad replied giving him a quick hug, “How was everything?”
“School; boring as usual, work; a little more interesting,” James said.
“How so?” James' dad asked.
“You have to see what I brought back,” said James. 
“Is it another hood ornament?” his dad asked. 
“Follow me if you want to see it,” said James leading his father to the den.
“What is it that’s got you all excited?” his dad asked.

James threw open the doors and showed him the three girls sitting on the couch watching Top Gear. 
“Um, James?” his dad said. 
“Hi,” the girls all said at the same time. 
“Pretty neat huh?” James said.
“You found them?” asked James' dad.
“Behind that shipping container,” said James, “Don’t know why they were there though.”
“How old are they?” James' dad asked. James turned to look at Apple Bloom, Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo, he didn’t ask for their ages, even if he did they probably wouldn’t know their human age. James examined them and guessed.
“I thinking either eleven or twelve,” he said, “No older than thirteen if you ask me.”
“You might be right there,” said James' dad, “What are they doing here anyway?”
“I hope you don’t mind this,” said James, “They’re living with us.”
James' dad stopped and looked at him, then James felt himself being pulled back into the kitchen.
“What do you mean that their living with us?” James' dad asked.
“Look dad, they were wandering around the place with nothing to eat and no-one would take them in. I had to bring them home,” said James.
“But the vacations we have planned, will they end up coming with us?” asked James' dad.
“We have the money,” said James, “And they are not staying at a neighbors house while we go on our trips.”
“We don’t have the accommodations for them,” said James' dad.
“There’s the spare room,” said James, “If we find the inflatable bed then one of them can stay in my room.”
“I’m not so sure about this,” said James' dad. 
“Come on,” James said going into the den, “It might work out.”
James' dad sighed and followed him into the den, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo were enjoying Top Gear a lot.
“I can’t believe they painted that bike pink,” Apple Bloom said.
“James,” said Sweetie Bell, “You’re coming to watch this with us are you?”
“Yes I will,” replied James, he backed up to his dad, “This is my dad here.”
James' dad sighed again and introduced himself.
“I’m Dave Rogers,” Dave said as James sat down back on the couch next to Sweetie Bell.
“Nice to finally meet you,” said Apple Bloom.
“What are your names?” Dave asked.
“My name is Sweetie Bell,” Sweetie Bell said sitting up.
“I’m Scootaloo,” said Scootaloo.
“And I’m Apple Bloom,” said Apple Bloom.
“Strange names,” said Dave.
“They aren’t from around here,” James said quickly. Dave turned to the TV and saw them watching the Top Gear Vietnamese special.

“Showing them Top Gear then?” Dave asked. 
“It’s really funny,” said Sweetie Bell.
“The people sound a lot like you,” said Apple Bloom.
“That’s because they’re British as well,” said Dave.
“Is this what you do for fun around here?” Scootaloo asked.
“No, we do other stuff as well,” said James. He then turned to his dad.
“We are going to the range tomorrow right?” James asked.  
“What time are you working?” Dave asked.
“Eleven to one,” replied James.
“We can go,” Dave said as he left the room. 
James was pleased with the result, he had asked Tony for earlier hours so he could go to the range. Sweetie Bell, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were slightly confused. 
“What’s a range?” asked Apple Bloom.
“You’ll see,” said James.