Author's Note

Late upload this time folks. This week is exam week so I'm sure you all understand the delay.

So this story is definitely not how I originally envisioned it to be, but that certainly doesn't bother me. I actually quite like where the story's going right now. Hopefully you all feel the same.

PLEASE leave some feedback if you like this chapter. This is one of the first chapters that isn't focused on the Pacific and I really want your comments on whether this was a good chapter. Your criticisms really help me to craft the best story I possibly can.

Next Chapter will pick up again during the fair. Originally I was going to write it all here, but I kind of need the time to do my exams, so it'll have to wait till next upload.

Alright, Ch.9: An Actual Date

Ch.9: An Actual Date

The air was somber, quiet, stilly blowing the softly nestled grass on the side. The only stand-out sounds were the loud THUKs of hooves striking the dirt and the restrained pitter patter of brown, leather shoes upon the ground.

The night was calm, peaceful even. No clouds hung in the Canterlot sky, some pegasi seeing fit to hold them until the next scheduled rainfall. A quarter moon illuminated their path faintly enough, the mountain trail just discernible to keep track of as they trudged downward.

"Nice night," James commented.

"Thanks, I made it myself," she smugly grinned back at him.

"Shuddup," he laughed.

The dirt trail up the mountain abruptly ended, her hooves landing on the solid stone-paved roads of the metropolitan. Street lights illuminated them as they stepped onto the sidewalk.

"You know, minus today which I'm not counting, I don't think I've asked you on a proper date, befitting of a lady of your status," he mused, his eyes gently glancing over her.

"Hmm, I thought most of these little get-togethers were dates," she replied, an eyebrow raised and a humble smirk displayed.

"I guess so. But I'm talking a proper one, you know, I take you somewhere nice, buy us some food, and we talk, or... something," the man mumbled somewhat confused.

"What do you have in mind?" she humored him. The two of them turned left onto Shoe Street, the streetlight over them blinding their eyes for a moment.

"I don't know. Still not too familiar with the city to be honest. Most of my time is spent at the University," he stroked his chin, a soft whispering noise rumbling off of the whiskers. A small silence overtook the two as they thought of somewhere to go.

"OHH, I know! Why don't you go with me to the Canterlot Fair? It'll be fun and I never have anyone to go with, aside from dearest sister," a bit of sarcasm dripped off of that last statement.

"Well," he paused, sighing a little, "What goes on at a genuine Equestrian fair? Ah can't say I've heard of this shindig," a little bit of his mountain accent peaked through, the warm tone causing tingles in her stomach.

"You'll love it! It's got rides, carnival games, food from all kinds of creatures from Equus, and the newest event, a city-wide water balloon fight!" she excitedly blustered.

A half-confused, half-intrigued grin plastered itself across his face, "A water balloon fight? Whose idea was that?"

"The Element of Laughter was one of its coordinators last year and it was a big hit with the local populace. I didn't participate last year, but I was told there were gangs of contestants waring in the streets and painting our landscape with balloons by the bushel. The cleanup was a mess, but I've never seen the citizens or Celly so happy!" her face's wide, saccharine smile infectiously crept its way onto the man's own, his restrained curious grin replaced with a gleeful one.

"Wow, sounds like a real hoot. What's the prize for winning?" he inquired.

"1000 bits and 4 barrels of the Apple family's finest Apple Cider," James could almost taste the amount of excitement in her voice.

"What's so special about some apple cider?" his face scrunched in confusion.

She let out a small gasp, a look of disbelief scrunched across her muzzle, "What do you mean what's so special about their apple cider? It's Apple Family Apple Cider! I'd sooner go to war with Equestria's allies if it meant tasting that sweet nectar of life."

Well, that confused smile only got bigger as he stopped in his tracks looking at her like she'd sprouted a horn out of her nose, "Would you really go to war over some glorified apple juice?"

She scrunched her nose and admitted defeat, "Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating its quality a little bit, but it's exorbitantly expensive and flies off the shelves faster than I can buy it!"

He let out a chuckle, waving his hand out in front of him, "You're their princess! Just force them to let you buy it!"

"Just because I'm one of their diarchs doesn't mean I get to abuse my power," she gave a deadpan, sideways glance.

He chuckled again, shaking his head and continuing his walk, "You're certainly better than human monarchs then," he paused for a moment, "So, it really means that much to you?"

She rubbed the back of her neck, "Well, it wouldn't be the end of the world if I didn't get some, but it would mean a great deal to me if I could get my hands on some of that cider," she admitted.

A determined grin greeted her as she looked up at him, a breeze blowing his shirt a little, "Alright, then you and I are gonna get that cider. Are we allowed to team up in this competition?"

"Yes, last year most ponies who entered were in teams," she responded.

"Good, then let's team up together. When is the fair coming to town?" he stepped down off the curb with a jolt before walking across the street.

"About a week from now. It's starts Saturday morning at Canterlot Park. Why don't you meet me there?" the two stopped in front of the castle gate, the female guards in the two towers eyeing them inquisitively.

"Sure, I look forward to it. Until then," he held out his arms, beckoning her in for a hug which she gladly took. The two guards eyes widened, small smiles creeping across their faces at the juicy gossip bait they'd just witnessed.

The two separated, James slowly backing away with a smile, "Be well, Luna," he said with a wave before turning back towards the street and strolling home.

Luna let out a sigh before waving her hands towards the guard, the two of them quickly opening the gates for her.

"Not a word about this, you two," she leveled a finger at the both of them.

"Awwww," one of them grumbled, griping her spear and resuming her post with a huff.

With that loose end taken care of, she calmly strode her way through the castle towards her chambers, scheming how she and her friend would take home the ultimate prize.

"Such excitement," she muttered gleefully before climbing up the stairs and into her bedroom, ready for what lay ahead of her.

"Given this many grams of ethanol and this many grams of potassium permanganate, what is the theoretical yield of acetaldehyde going to be?"

The gentle, mountain voice of James boomed through the lecture hall. The furious scribbles of quills filled the room as the small band of students sitting at the tables diligently worked away at the problem.

"Small crowd today," James thought to himself, his eyes scanning over the pastel colored ponies picking out his students.

"Anybody have an answer?" he addressed the group.

A few shook their heads at him, each still intently scribbling away at their calculations. He took a seat at his desk, leaning back into the backstop, and watched his students.

What a unique bunch they were.

There was the stallion from Fillydelphia, Ironwood, the first of his generation to attend college out of his family of blue collar farmers and laborers. His work betrayed an eagerness to learn the material and his eyes carried that similar gleam when he discussed chemistry, much like James.

"Oh yeah, he'll be staying for Organic. I gotta make him my research assistant when the time comes," he mused to himself.

Then there was little Miss Crystal Light from Canterlot who so obviously liked Ironwood that James was surprised she hadn't jumped him yet. Long glances, a few flutters of the eyelashes, and practically molesting him with her eyes, it was startlingly obvious to everyone except for Ironwood. James knew he was dense, but this stallion could bend light around his head well enough to make a black hole blush.

"I should put those two together during the next group project. They'd make such a cute couple," he chuckled to himself.

Thinking about Crystal again, he was hesitant to allow her into his program, figuring she wouldn't be able to keep up with the material like her male classmates. But, frankly, he didn't want to overstep his bounds with Celestia by raising a fuss over it. She was gracious enough to provide him funding and pull some strings to get him his job. He could put up with a woman in his higher education class since she'd probably drop out within the first few days.

Boy did he get proven wrong about her.

Crystal was by far one of the best mathematicians he had ever met. Even without an abacus or other form of calculator, she blew her classmates out of the water with the speed and accuracy she performed her calculations. Her aptitude for chemistry and mathematics was inhuman, which frankly it was, since she isn't human anyway! She asked questions, participated in lecture, and excelled in the wet lab work. Quite impressive for a woman indeed!

"I dreaded having to teach her, but now I'd be sad to see her leave," he thought to himself.

There was also the sisters, Lily and Marigold, who he was certain knew of the nature of his relationship with Luna. Occasional nosy-looking glances and excited, whispered chattering were common from the two, both placing their hypotheses above participating in the classwork at times. Many a time, he had heard them conversing with each other after class about the frequent appearances that their Lunar Diarch had been making to his lectures. They meant well and were polite, kind, and respectful to him, which he appreciated, but their tests and grasp of the knowledge betrayed a melancholic disinterest in the material. He doubted they would stay for the second semester of his General Chemistry portion.

"I got about 2.31 grams of aci- acetal- the product Professor," Crystal predictably was the first to finish the question, her clear azure eyes meeting his own with a curious look.

"Sharp as ever, Miss Light,"

"Yes, that's correct. And it's acetaldehyde, but it's fine if you can't pronounce it right away. That's an organic molecule and they tend to have much different names compared to our normal inorganic compounds. Anyways," he began to write on the board underneath the full reaction he had drawn, "Theoretically speaking, this is how much product we should get by running this reaction. However, unless you're some sort of chemistry protégé or really lucky, almost no one will ever get the theoretical yield. Instead, we measure our success based on the percentage of the theoretical yield we produce, the percent yield."

As he continued to write, his eyes picked up the hands on his watch, the idle ticking of the device drowned out by the hard strokes of the chalk.

"Hmmm, well, we can lecture that next class. I'll let you guys go early today. Enjoy your weekend and I hope to see you all at the fair!" He smiled, giving a wave to his students signaling their exit.

A few, quiet "Thank you Professor"s and shuffling of seats later, he found his lecture hall completely empty now. Deciding to leave the text on the board for next week's lessons, the man gathered his notes together in a few folders and stuffed them into his briefcase without attention to organization.

A faded white blob of movement to his right caught the corner of his eye, gently floating out of view just as quickly. He paused, setting his briefcase down in his chair and glanced over at the culprit, balancing on its middle from a fold.

He remembered when this was taken. The picture, now grasped lightly between the two chalky white fingertips of the professor, showed a exhausted looking James standing with a few men in his platoon. Darkened, dry eyes stared back at him, sleep having avoided each of the men during their stay on the island. Even through the black and white faded quality, he could almost feel how bloodshot his eyes were, a feeling he was not happy to be reacquainted with. Their cheekbones stuck out like sore thumbs and their arms, at least the ones without weapons in them, looked heavy, sunken, and fatigued. All of them had mild, soft smiles on their faces, but they lacked sincerity and any real joviality to them, forced ones for the news reels back home.

May 27, 1945 - The photo had written on its back in script.

The ever present discomfort and disgust that visited him began to creep its way back into him.

"Enough of that," he thought to himself.

Today was supposed to be a happy day, a nice date with Luna at the fair and a friendly competition amongst the community. Of all days, he refused to let the war sully this one.

So, with briefcase in hand and determination in his heart, he strode out of his classroom towards his home to get ready.

For tonight, he would make a princess swoon.

"Hey James!"

He swung his head to see a jubilant Luna waving at him through a crowd of 5-7 ponies. Altering his course, he strolled over, gracefully shifting his way through the crowd before stopping in front of her.

She was dressed about as casually as a princess could, at least, in his eyes. Her attire was a light yellow t-shirt, a tad baggy around her sides, that came down comfortably around her waist. As in many other of their get-togethers, she wore her skirt that rode down to above her knees, showing off her neatly groomed legs to her charge. All of her royal regalia had been left back in her chambers, even the golden bracelets he had seen her in many a time. The only hanging jewelry on her was her moon penchant from her mother.

In short, she looked gracefully attractive in his eyes.

"Hey Lu, nice to see you could make it," he gave her a hug.

"Oh, and miss all this?" she quipped back, separating herself from the embrace.

He separated as well, taking a stance in front of her and putting his hands in his pockets, "It's good to see you."

"And you as well. Shall we?" she gestured to the entrance into the fair.

"But of course. You lead the way," he spoke.

The Canterlot Fair was certainly a lot like other town and traveling fairs he'd been too.

Upon entrance and admission to the event, they found themselves in front of a large, paved walkway dotted with booths, stands, and exhibits. Each one was dolled up in vibrant colors, the tarp overhanging each tent dripping with saturation. There was a general hustle and bustle amongst the event with sweeping crowds of ponies, friends, families, and business folks perusing through the usual fair activities. Pegasi flew up above bobbing and weaving around to the different areas easily like swans.

It was somewhat loud with voices of the salesponies shouting and haggling with the fair-goers. Clinking and clanging of metal plates, dishes, poles, and metal cut in every so often, quickly drowned again by the voices of ponies around it.

"I don't know about you, but I could go for some food. How bout you?" James questioned, a bit of his soft mountain accent peaking through.

"Mm, yes please," she smiled, before leading him over to the tents selling food.

The food available was largely Equestrian. Flower sandwiches, hayburgers, daffodil salads, bread, mashed potatoes, casseroles, you name it. It was there.

Each seller vied for the attention of the fair patrons, waving their hands and loudly yelling their wares. The two of them chose to stay farther back, not wanting to garner attention considering their princess was amongst them, and read off the menus.

"Have you ever had a Filly Cheeserose? I must say, the steamed petals go excellently with the cheddar," James' blue companion suggested.

"I appreciate the offer, Lu, but I don't eat flowers. I simply smell them," he chuckled, a warm smile emanating affection, "If you want that though, go right ahead, I can wait."

Fishing her bit purse off of her waist, she calmly walked towards the booth owner to order a Filly Cheeserose. James wasn't glancing in her direction, instead reading through the other menus, but he heard a few gasps and what sounded like a mare desperately neatening her table. He smiled at the exchange, figuring he'd be here for a little while while Luna tried to calm the seller.

Occupying himself, he continued to skim through the food that was available to him with an indecisive "hmm". This fair was made for ponies and the food that was available to him really reflected it. Sure, he could have some potatoes or bread again, but that was boring. He had that normally anyway at his home. James was at the fair and he might as well try to sample some of the exotic recipes these Equestrians had to offer.

Daffodil and Marigold Sandwiches, Hay Caesar Salads, Fish and Beef Burgers, Strogan-

Wait a second...

James did what his students called a "double-take", backtracking a few steps and staring at a particular menu again to see if his eyes were screwed in correctly. Squinting and rubbing them slightly, he strained to read the white chalk text upon the standing, small blackboard.

Sure enough, he had read right. In big letters lay the word of the hour;

BEEF

James didn't know he could still sprint as quickly as he could during the war. Apparently he could, the rapidly dissipating dirt cloud he had left behind him betraying his skill.

"Huuuhh, that smells heavenly..." he melted internally.

Yes, it truly was the odor of the gods. The smell of roasting meat, the tang and heat of the spices, and the carbon vapor of the grill assaulted his nostrils at once. If there was anything that could have gotten him to finish off smell alone, he was certain he had found the culprit.

Laying in front of him was a sullen-looking, feathered bird creature of some sorts. Their eyes stared off to the side in a disappointed way, their chin resting in their brown and black splotched hand as they leaned against the table slightly outside the tent. She, at least it looked like a she if the protrusion on her chest was anything to go by, possessed a brown complexion on most of her body with a tuft of gray fur cascaded around her neck and a bit hanging in front of her chest. A large, red apron lay over her shirt with assorted black charcoal stains adoring it. Majestic, large wings sat submissively folded behind her, almost looking bored themselves.

"Excuse me," James got her attention. The woman, not noticing his arrival, quickly got up from her melancholic rest and put on a smile.

"Hey there! Didn't see you come up. You interested in anything?" she asked, gesturing to grill behind her steadily letting off smoke through the exhaust hole in her tent.

"Oh you have no idea," James uncharacteristically sighed, "I just want to make sure I'm not dreaming. Do you happen to sell hamburgers here?"

"Hamburgers?" the woman stared confused at him, "I don't know what those are, but I sell beef and fish burgers. It's my people's take on the popular hayburger these Equestrians have."

"My apologies, hamburgers is what my people call beef burgers," he chuckled, a small smile on his face.

"No worries. Then, yes, I do sell hamburgers," she emphasized the last word, "As you can see, they're not exactly too popular," she finished, her pointed beak somehow frowning a little.

Taking a look at his surroundings, she certainly was right. Nobody bothered to come to her stand, most patrons taking special care to walk around it. A few gave errant stares at her and himself before quickly looking away and shuffling along, hoping they hadn't been seen taking a peek. The stares, he had gotten used to. It was just apart of living around ponies he reckoned. But they seemed to upset the poor "bird" woman each time she caught one of them doing it.

Parents subtlety shuffled their foals along and glanced critically over at the woman.

"Just like the colored folk that would pass through town," he reminisced.

"Why is that?" he asked, likely knowing the answer already.

"These ponies, they're herbivores. Maybe they don't outright say it, but certain..."diets", and those who indulge in them, aren't exactly welcome around here," she gestured with a nod back to her currently simmering burgers.

He supposed that was fair. Perhaps it was some leftover instincts from before their civilization, prey species and all. But this was a civil society, with modern amenities and such. Surely, the ponies would be able to look past all of that.

"Well, that diet is definitely welcome around me. I haven't had a hamburger or any meat of any sort in 4 months and I would REALLY like one. How much?" he reached for his coin purse.

Her face instantly brightened up, the melancholic negativity banished from her in an instant.

"6 bits!" she excitedly hurried back into her tent and began preparing the delectable delicacy for him.

Tossing the golden coins onto the table, he heard her again, "What do you like on it?"

"Y'all got ketchup?"

"I don't know what that is!" he heard her yell from inside the tent.

"Alright, put some lettuce and onions on it if you've got any. Oh, and some pickles if you've got those too!" he added in.

James hadn't felt so giddy since that one Christmas back in '39. His feet tapped the ground in a rapid rhythm and he shook with glee.

After a few seconds, the woman came out, holding a steaming, slightly blackened burger on a breaded bun, the condiments he had asked for spilling out onto the plate she held in her palm.

Setting it down in front of him and collecting her earnings, she gave a smile, "I hope you enjoy it."

She folded her arms and smiled, waiting for him to sample her food. Taking the bread into his hands and grasping it firmly, he took a big bite out of the burger, some of the juice dripping out onto his index finger. A few of the onion slices dropped onto the plate, landing with a soft clink.

An explosion of flavor hit his mouth, one he thought he'd never experience again.

"Oh beef, I'll never leave you again," he thought to himself.

God, it was so good. Maybe his mouth was embellishing the flavor a bit too much, but he didn't care. He had a burger in his hand and darnit he was gonna enjoy it. His mouth chewed the food up so fast he thought his jaw was ready to unhinge itself.

"Well, do you like it?" the woman wore an uneasy, worried expression.

James barely constrained a moan, "I LOVE it. This is fantastic!" He took another large bite out of the delicacy.

Her smile quickly returned, clapping her hands together, "Oh, I'm so happy you think so!"

James, not really paying attention anymore, continued to devour his burger with a ferocity of a wildcat. He paused for a moment, his mouth still in mid-chew, "Ya know, I don't fink ah've ever seen you around town before. What's yer name and what are ya?"

"I'm Marnie and I'm a gryphon. Pleased to meet ya," she thrust her hand to shake.

James, shaking his hand free of grease and using a nearby napkin to clean it, took her hand in his own, giving it a firm shake, "James Milligan, Chemistry Professor at Canterlot University by appointment from the Princess Celestia. Uh, human," he finished with a smile.

"Chemistry huh? Ain't that like alchemy?" she replied curiously.

"It certainly is similar, but no. Alchemy is a bit different," he clarified, taking another bite out of his burger, "Mmhph, this is really good. Where did you buy this meat from? I need to get my hands on it!"

She was about to answer, but her statement was cut short by someone coming towards them. Flicking his head to his left, he saw Luna approaching, a foil-wrapped, steaming sandwich grasped in her hand.

A big grin spread across his face, "Look Luna! Hamburgers!"

He thrust the half-eaten sandwich out to her like a child showing off a toy to his mother.

Luna forced a smile, "Ohhhhh, that's, wonderful James," slowly pushing it away back to him. The man eagerly took it back and began nibbling on it again.

"Princess Luna, it... it is an honor for you to grace my stand with your presence," Marnie gave a bow to the Lunar Princess.

"Please, please rise. No need for the formalities while at the fair. I see you've met my... ummm... acquaintance, James," she gestured to the man who was, quite atypically, chowing down on his burger gleefully.

"Yes, I'm happy he did. He seems to really like the Griffonized hayburgers that I sell," she giggled, still watching him chow down on his burger.

"Indeed he does. Well James, shall we?" Luna flicked her head towards the rides set up to their distant right.

"Sure," he answered her, turning his head back to the griffon, "Hey! It was really nice meeting you, Marnie, but I'm gonna have to cut our conversation short. Why don't you come visit me at my home? I live just up the mountain if you follow the trail. Should lead you straight to my quaint little cabin," he pointed up at his home, the cabin obscured by the distance and blocked by a steeple.

"Of course. I'll come say hi in a few days. It was great meeting you, James," she waved to them both as they began to walk away, "I'll see you then!"

"See you later!" he waved back.

Luna looked back, watching the gryphon disappear back into her tent, "Nice girl. Good to see you're making friends."

He nodded, "Nice girl indeed. Reminds me of a few folks from Canton. Real salt of the earth feeling about her, I tell ya." He held out his hand, "So, what do you want to do first?"

"I have a few ideas," she grasped his hand, took a bite out of her Filly Cheeserose, and lead him towards the rides.

"Alright, let's see what the rest of the day's got for me," he thought to himself, before smiling.

For once, the war didn't enter his mind.