James, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and the Crusaders followed Celestia. Dart stuck next to Fluttershy. They walked through the town and across a bridge until they came to a small house outside of the town.
“So, is your idea in here or something?” James asked.
“Just before I continue, are there any problems with your new form?” Celestia asked.
“Only one,” James said as he took the Enfield off his flank, “I don’t have one of these so called Cutie Marks.”
James took the rifle and held onto it so Celestia could see James’ markless flanks. The group went silent, making James rather annoyed.
“Yes I know, I don’t have one.” he said, “But if you can turn me into one of you then how come you didn’t give me a mark?”
“I think the real question is where did this come from?” Twilight said as she pointed to James’ flank. James twisted his head to look and saw something on his hindquarters.
“What’s that?” he said as he tried to look at it.
“A Cutie Mark,” Pinkie Pie said.
“If it is then what does it mean?” Rainbow Dash asked.
James managed to see the mark on his flank, it didn’t look much. It was a red cross that had a white outline and a four lines that extended out of the corners of the cross, the horizontal line on the cross was longer but thinner than the vertical line. James didn’t know that this had accumulated on him without his noticing.
“When did this happen?” James asked.
“I don’t see how this represents your special talent,” Twilight said.
“How come he got his Cutie Mark before us?” Apple Bloom asked.
“I’ll figure it out eventually,” said James, he turned back to Celestia, “So why did you lead us here?”
“It’s something else for you, in return for your debt,” the Princess replied.
James looked at the house and then to Celestia.
“Where is it?” he asked.
“You were looking at it,” Celestia said.
James looked back at the house and realized what Celestia meant, this house was his.
“No way,” said James, “But why are you giving me this house?”
“James Rogers,” the Princess said, “You asked me how you could repay me for saving your life, this is what I propose; I want you to safeguard Ponyville.”
“What?” James stammered.
“If you accept you get this house, everything in it, and the entire property,” Celestia said.
“Let me see inside first,” James said.
The Princess unlocked the door and opened it for James. James stepped inside and looked around the place, there was a large living room with a massive fireplace and several couches and chairs.
“This is nice,” James said.
“It gets better,” said Celestia, “I’ve brought some items over from your world that stimulated you and made you happy.”
James locked onto the 78 inch plasma TV that was sitting on a large cabinet, a white box lay next to the TV.
“Is there electricity here?” James asked.
“Equetria does have a decent size amount of electric power, but it’s not much compared to what you’re used to,” Celestia said, “I don’t know what anything here is, could you show me what each one of these devices are?”
James was more than happy to talk Celestia through the various components that were attached to the TV, from the DVD player to James’ Xbox 360, James went through everything and explained what they were used for. He then turned his attention to a small cupboard that sat on a wall adjacent to the TV, James opened the doors and found that it was stocked with DVDs and Xbox games.
“I’m guessing that the devices use these to operate,” Celestia said.
“It’s the mother load,” said James.
Celestia laughed a little from James’ comment, the Crusaders, Twilight and her friends came into the house just a few seconds later.
“This place is nice,” said Twilight. Dart went over to the couch and jumped up on it, he walked in a circle, lay down, and fell asleep.
“Oh, is he allowed to do that?” Fluttershy asked.
“Yeah, he did that back in my old house,” James said as he looked through the DVD collection, “Hey Crusaders, come here.”
“What?” Apple Bloom asked.
James pulled out a DVD with his mouth and held the corner of the box in his mouth, the Crusaders read what was on the box.
“TOP GEAR!” they yelled.
“It’s also the British version,” James said once he put it back.
“What’s Top Gear?” Twilight asked.
“Only the greatest TV show in James’ world,” said Scootaloo.
“He showed it to us on the day he rescued us,” said Sweetie Bell, “We really like it.”
“Go seasons one through fifteen here,” James said as he shut the cupboard.
“Can we watch it sometime?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Maybe,” said James.
Celestia continued with the tour of the house, she showed James the upstairs bedrooms and bathrooms. James found a large bedroom which he claimed for his own, the main reason was because it had a nice bathroom on suite and a large bookcase that was full of books along with James’ iHome that sat on the bedside table. Celestia then took him thought the kitchen and to a door that was next to the back door.
“So where does this lead?” James asked.
“You’ll see,” said Celestia. She led him down some stairs and into a dark room.
“Ooh lovely, I’ve always wanted a dark room to hide in,” James said sarcastically.
Celestia flicked on the light, which blinded James for a second but once he was able to see, he saw what the room really was; it was an armory stocked with guns and various other weapons. James was lost for words, he had never expected this, the three walls were covered with guns, the center of the room had more weapon racks that almost made it impossible for Celestia to pass them and show James something on the other side of the room.
“There’s also this that you might like,” Celestia said, “From what I understand, you humans call it a ‘panic room’.”
James looked at the lead manhole cover, it was an entrance to something big like a bunker but James didn’t want to go down it just yet, he wanted to see the rest of the place before he decided to explore the Panic Room.
“Can I ask you something Princess?” James said.
“Very well,” Celestia said.
“I just want to know what the system of government for Equstria is,” James said.
“Well I’m sure you know that I’m the ruler,” Celestia said, “I have my land set up so everypony is equal no matter where they stand.”
“Sounds like one of my world’s government systems,” said James.
Celestia then took James and the group outside to the backyard, two more structures stood in the back, one was obviously a shed while the other looked like a small storage hangar.
“Why is this here?” James asked, “It’s a little out of place.”
“We know that you left a few prized possessions behind,” said Celestia, “We decided to bring them over for you.”
“So what do you have in here?” James asked.
Celestia opened the doors to the hangar and Twilight wheeled a large object out of the darkness. James couldn’t believe what he was looking at.
“You brought my Spitfire here?” he asked.
“We heard you were a good flyer,” said Rainbow Dash.
James walked up to his Spitfire and put a hoof on the prop, he looked down the side and saw that the ID letters were “WDW”, it was truly his. James walked around it, taking in everything to make sure it was positively his. He then hopped up onto the wing and looked into the cockpit. James opened it up and saw his flight helmet sitting on the seat, he couldn’t resist.
“Everyone get back!” James shouted as he jumped into the cockpit.
“Is he going to fly that?” Applejack asked.
“He said to get back,” said Pinkie Pie, “Should we listen?”
James put his rifle in the back seat and strapped his helmet on, he turned the planes electronics on and was glad that they still worked. As Celestia, Twilight and the Crusaders stood back next to Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy. James checked to see if the planes flaps where working, once he confirmed that they did he turned on the engine.
“Chocks away!” he shouted, he let the brakes off and rolled down to a large piece of flat land where he could take off. James gunned it and rose into the sky.
The group looked at James as he flew over the house and around the skies. Just for fun, James tried to pull off a few tricks and managed to succeed. Even though he didn’t have and fingers or opposable thumbs, James was able to easily pilot the aircraft, he did a few barrel rolls and a flyby over Ponyville. The drone of the engine was enough to bring the residents outside to see what was overhead. James flew around the town a few times and went back to land on the field where he took off. He landed and came to a halt in front of the house, James opened up the canopy and jumped out.
“I’ve still got it,” he said.
“Looks like you’re still a great pilot,” Scootaloo said.
“I always was bloody fantastic,” James replied.
“Hey look,” Pinkie Pie said, “Your Cutie Mark had changed.”
James looked at his Cutie Mark and saw that six blue triangles and four red lines had taken place in the empty white spaces.
“What is it?” Rarity asked. James knew what it was.
“Why have I got the Union Jack on my flanks?” he asked.
“What’s the Union Jack, James?” Twilight asked.
“It’s the British flag,” James replied, “But why would this be on me?”
No-one had any idea why James’ Cutie Mark was the British flag. The Crusaders suggested that it had to do with his nationality but James dismissed it. James went back to thanking Celestia for helping him out. But Celestia still wanted to know what James wanted to do with his life, she couldn’t make the choices for him.
“So James,” she said, “Do you want to stay and protect Ponyville and Equestria? It’s a big responsibility but you seem capable of handling it.”
“And if a say no?” asked James.
“Then we change you back into a human and send you back to your world,” Celestia said, “You’ll have the scars from the bullet wounds but you’ll still live and you can go back.”
James looked at the Spitfire, the shed and his new home that was stashed with everything he ever wanted. He also had been tasked with the job of keeping Ponyville safe and he had the tools for the job, but he did have a life that he wanted to rebuild. He looked at the Crusaders, who were staring at him and nervously biting their lips, as for the other six, they were waiting with bated breath for James’ decision.
“You know what?” he said, “I’ve been through the most hectic four weeks of my life, I’ve lost everything and now I got it all back. My life is still back on earth, shattered and lonely. I want to start over and fix it, but now, I know what’s best for me and I’ve made my conclusion. I’m staying here.”
“Really?” Sweetie Bell said, “You’ll stay here?”
“I’ve got nothing left for me back on earth,” said James, “I think that I can now start anew with everything you gave me.”
The Crusaders rushed forward to hug James, he embraced the girls as Celestia walked over to James and patted him on the back.
“I’m glad that you’ve decided to stay,” said Celestia.
“It’s for the best,” James replied, “And don’t you worry, I’ll keep this place safe.”
“Before I go I just want you know a few things so you’ll fit in,” Celestia said.
“What is it?” James asked.
“For starters, I want you to know that you must now say anypony instead of your usual language,” Celestia said.
“I can do that,” said James.
“The second is about your name,” the Princess said, “I really don’t think you should use it here, I want you to change it if that’s alright with you.”
“I’ll figure one out, don’t you worry,” James said.
“The last is to do with your new duty, I know that the world that you lived in is trying to invade Equsetria,” said Celestia, “If times are bad and the threat seems inevitable I want you to go back to your world and try and stop it.”
“I will serve both princess and kingdom,” James said, “When battle is called I will be the first to answer.”
“Very good,” the princess said, “I must go now, you have a nice time, commander.”
James was caught off guard at the last word.
“Hang on, when did I make commander?” he asked.
“Simple, when you saved this land,” Celestia said, and with a flap of her wings, she was off. James still confused at why he was a commander, but a commander to what?
“Well this turned out stranger than I thought,” he said.
“Why did Celestia make you a commander?” Twilight asked.
“And what are you commander of?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I’ll figure that out later,” James said he turned back to the house, he finally had a place to live and a new task that the Princess gave him. He was really happy that he now had a new life to start up, he had everything and more, James was, for the first time in his life, truly happy.