Author's Note

Wow, here we are a whole MONTH later since the last upload. I'd say I'm sorry, but I was taking care of some important things, so I feel less bad (Try learning all the carbohydrates in both their D forms and L forms as Fischer Projections AND Hawthorn projections. Makes me both love and hate biochemistry sometimes)

Regardless, I finally was able to finish our next chapter. And boy am I excited to get to the end of the story! Not because it's gonna end, but because I can't wait to get to the juicy final arc. Hope you guys will enjoy it as much as I will enjoy writing it.

With that, we start the final battle our protagonist participates in. Or, at least the prelude.

Ch.18: The Final Campaign

Ch.18: The Final Campaign

"So, how are we feeling about our Lewis Structures and molecular geometries for the exam, mares and gentlecolts?"

Goodness, these students didn't have a clue of what he was talking about. He was certain that everything he had just lectured on went straight over their heads, much to his own frustrated dismay. Glazed looks and eyes betraying their barely contained bewilderment told him all he needed to know. At the very least, their diligent note-taking would mitigate some of the confusion upon review, but he foresaw a good lot of students coming to his office hours today looking for his help. Such was the case sometimes when it came to learning chemistry.

"I'm not seeing many confident faces in the room." That was the understatement of the month, but he continued to be patient with them.

Many of his students nodded their heads in agreement with his comment and he sighed, "Ok, I get that this is rough for you all, but we've got our final exam coming up on Thursday. This is a crucial concept to understand if you plan to continue in your studies in chemistry. Make sure to study up, do problems, and work out the difficulties you might have with this because it's only going to get harder from here in General Chemistry II. Chemistry is a science that is best learned with practice, much like magic. Keep up your studying."

He checked his watch, seeing that he was out of time, "Alright, we'll end class here. I've moved my office hours to 10 minutes from now, so if any of you have some immediate questions or need some more help, feel free to follow me back to my office."

Many students got up and left, James nodding to them as they left with a gentle smile, while half of his small class of 20 stayed behind.

He internally sighed, "Oh boy. Looks like I've got my work cut out for me."

An hour later, and many, many frustrated sighs from the students, his quaint, melancholic office was finally empty. He reclined back in his swivel chair and breathed a large sigh, relaxing his back into the chair and letting himself breathe for a moment. It was a long day, but he'd finally seen his lessons catching on with his students! That was encouraging at least.

But thankfully, he was done for the day and shuffled through his desk for his things, packing them into the brown, leather suitcase he'd become so known for around the campus. Through the shuffling paper and folder, he heard a set of hoofprints thump against the cheap, thin carpet outside.

"Knock knock, stranger," a tall, thin, cream mare leaned up against the doorframe.

"Hello, Ms. Dawn. What brings you to my office?"

Rising Dawn struck him as an anxious, wiry pegasus mare when he'd first met her at the start of his teaching employment at the college. Nervousness pervaded the room as soon as the Thaumaturgical Mathematics professor would get near him, eyes facing anywhere but his person, hands idly twirling hair or fidgeting with themselves. He supposed that the novelty and uncertainty surrounding himself, an alien to them, was causing her anxiety, so he dismissed her unusual behavior as fear of the unknown. Come to find out from other faculty members that she's just an anxious pony around new folk.

Which made the sudden drop-in to his office all the more perplexing.

"Oh, just popping in to catch up! How have you been?" she smiled confidently.

There was something about her that felt off to him. Her head seemed to be held higher, the angle of her neck ever so slightly above where he normally would see it. Her wings rested in a way that made her look bigger, flaring outward mildly like a majestic hawk rather than hugging her sides submissively. Her smile oozed self-confidence, one that was sure of herself and her place in the world, not like the wiry, timid, meek mare he had met and interacted with these past months.

Perhaps she had tried to improve herself? Maybe therapy or self-confidence classes? If that was the case, that was good for her, he reckoned.

"You know, Ms. Dawn? For the first time in awhile, I've been just great," he reclined back in his swivel chair, straightening out his legs in a stretch.

"Oh, that's wonderful! What's been happening that's got you in such a good mood?" she pulled up a chair.

The man internally sighed as she sat down for a discussion. He was hoping to just pack up his stuff and leave, his mental and physical exhaustion pressuring him to depart and retire to his reclining chair in his home.

"Well, I made some good progress today with my students in my office hours and I think they're starting to 'get' what I'm teaching. It was very fulfilling to watch," he rested his head in his hands, interlocking his fingers and letting his head lean on them, "And I've been seeing a girl and that's been going well. I think it might really go somewhere, if you know what I mean."

"Oh right! Your relationship with Princess Luna!"

Immediately, his brows creased downward as he shot an accusatory glare at the skinny professor, "How did you know I'm in a relationship with Princess Luna?"

For only the briefest moments, and James barely was able to catch it in her eye, panic and uncertainty flashed in the eyes of Rising Dawn before immediately returning to the bubbly confidence, "My students," she paused, "Have been talking about how the Princess has been showing up to our school quite frequently, mostly around your lecture hall. I thought it was just a rumor until I saw the both of you in that park by the fountain. It just confirmed it to me," she finished a little uneasily, like a child who had tried to tell a lie to their parents and hoped they'd bought it.

The professor was perceptive, catching the tail end change in her tone, but her reasoning made perfect sense to him and he softened the tension that had built inside of him, "Ah, I suppose that's a fair point. I'd imagined that the students were going to start asking questions and connecting the dots. Just hoped it wouldn't be this soon," he rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh you know the kids!" she waved her hand in front of her with a friendly smile, "They're a perceptive bunch, ya know?" she finished with a saccharine tone very unbecoming of her normal self.

"Yeah," he studied her for a moment, "Yeah, I guess... they are."

Rising Dawn seemed to ignore his pause, "So, since you're dating the Princess, I imagine you've been invited to the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza? Will you be in attendance?" She sat forward, appearing a little more focused on the conversation than before.

"Yes, I was invited and I guess I'll be going if it makes Luna happy," he smiled.

"Oh that's wonderful! Being invited to a spectacle like the Royal Wedding is really a once in a lifetime event! I would have loved to go," she smiled back, propping up her chin in her hand, "What kinds of ponies will be there? Do you know?"

He chuckled awkwardly, "Well, I don't really know and I'm not sure I'm at liberty to say. I think my good friend Twilight Sparkle will be there since she's the groom's sister, but can't say I know much aside from that, Ms. Dawn."

She didn't respond for a few milliseconds and held the same expression a little too long in James' opinion, like she was expecting something more, but didn't know what to say. She opted to wave her hand dismissively, "Oh, of course not, James. I can't expect you to know everything about something you were likely just invited to. No worries, " she gazed at the clock on his wall and got up, "Well, don't mind me. I'll be out of your mane, Mr. Milligan. Have a good day," and soon, it was just James once more.

He sat quietly as he processed the very strange and peculiar conversation he'd just had. Ms. Dawn was completely out of 'character' for herself that he'd come to know. What was once a wiry, anxious ball of nerves a few days ago was now a confident, upright, wide-smiling mare that wasn't afraid to talk to new folk. The complete 180 in personality baffled his brain's reasoning for such a thing. He concluded that maybe she was just having a REALLY good day and it reflected in her behavior.

Whatever. He was happy for her. For now, the only thing he cared about was going home and enjoying his tea before Luna came over for their little war memory 'get-togethers'.

He was about to drop the subject from his mind, but another perplexing realization came to him as he stepped outside into the frigid cold of mid-December.

He could've sworn Dawn's eyes were brown, not green.

Mmm, yes this was the best.

He was beginning to understand his father's strange love of sitting down in his easy chair after a hard day of farm work, for the feeling was simply satisfying. His tension from the day's troubles simply melted away as he squirmed himself deeper into the comforting cushions of his own easy chair, clutching his cup of hot tea. He closed his eyes and sighed a deep sigh of relaxation.

It was times like these where nothing in this life could bother him, not even the war.

The frigid, violent wind of the mid-December snowstorm blew heavily on his windows which voiced themselves with high-pitched creaks and groans as they resisted. A blistering cold creeped its way through the cracks where the window met the bottom of its frame, causing the man to wiggle his way deeper into his chair and blanket. He put the recliner up and rested his feet, warmed by moccasins.

Just as he was settling in, his door burst open with a BANG, snow and wind pouring into his home as his date wrestled the door shut.

"You know, most courteous folk would knock before bursting into someone's home," his mirthful sarcasm dripped into his speech, taking a sip of his tea.

"Hmm, perhaps. But then again, who said I'm a courteous mare, Mr. Milligan?"

"Touché, Luna," he motioned to the couch in his living room, "Come, sit. I imagine you wish to be far from that frigid cold that's blowing outside."

She nodded, taking her seat on the part of the couch closest to him. Not long after, she was handed a steaming cup of tea that James had poured for her, which she grasped gently with her hands, the intense heat of the cup quickly warming her chilled hands.

"What a week," she mused, gently sipping the tea and cringing from its ever so slightly too hot temperature.

"You said it, babe," James nodded, taking his own sip of his now much cooler tea.

She raised a brow and gazed him peculiarly, feeling rather confused, "You and your human phrases. What does a baby have to do with me?"

"Eh, I heard some of my old undergrad buddies call their girlfriends that. Just means an attractive young woman, s'far as I know. Meant nothing but love by it, sweetpea," he clarified, "I'm guessing you came by because you wanted to continue where we left off?"

"Only if you're comfortable with it."

"For now. The worst of it is past, but there's still more to come. We're almost through it," he looked at his tea, "But let's finish these first, shall we?"

"Once we left Peleliu, it was off to Pavuvu again. Compared to the smoking ridges and jagged coral rock, Pavuvu looked a lot more like that tropical paradise we'd all envisioned when we thought of the Pacific. None of us were happy to be there, but it was a hell of a lot better than where we came from."

He looked down to his right at her, "Nothing was really different about our little 'vacation' to Pavuvu from last time, so I'm just gonna skip ahead to the next campaign." She nodded in approval.

"Our next engagement and, although I didn't know it at the time, my final campaign would be fought on a little island about 300 miles away from my enemy's home nation called Okinawa."

Great green trees grew around them and the ground rose steadily up. James had placed them on a mountain that was steadily generating itself. Soon, it had outgrown the trees and placed them up high on an overlook, its summit depositing them down and growing a few meters more before ceasing. The view she saw was breathtaking and, much like James' overlook on his property, gave her a panoramic view of the entire island of Okinawa.

From her overlook, she spied great, green forests spanning across the island, with rich, turquoise blue water hugging the coasts. Two other prominent, but smaller mountains flanked the front and sides of the mountain she stood on, their summits also heavily forested with deep green plants. The island itself was skinny in her eyes, the width of it only about 7 miles wide according to James. Its shape, to her at least, looked as if it had been 'drawn into the ground' with a very large pencil made for a deity. Numerous fat peninsulas jutted off the sides forming bays and rich lagoons, each one containing a little village of homes with straw roofs over them. A great castle stood very off in the distance, its color a deep, saturated red on its beams and its slanted, 'pagoda' roof tinted an intense black. Around the castle contained much more flat terrain, more forest littering the landscape as well as farms.

A pleasant, warm breeze shifted her ethereal hair as the faintest twinge of bloomed flowers lazily drifted into her nostrils.

"Welcome to Okinawa, Luna. Well, what I think Okinawa was before I showed up," He gestured out towards the rest of the island with his hand.

"It's a very pretty island. I've never seen such crystal clear water with my own eyes," she looked down at the overlook before glancing back at the mountain summit behind her, "Where exactly are we in Okinawa? I'm sure you understand that I'm quite unfamiliar with where we are."

"This," he stomped his foot on the stony ground he stood on, "Is Mount Yonaha. We're on the northern portion of the island and a relatively, untouched part. It's where I spent a large amount of April patrolling."

He sat down with his feet hanging off the edge of a 20 foot dropoff, motioning with his head for Luna to come join him, "Okinawa, though I didn't really know it at the time, would be my final battle that I would have to participate in. By now, we'd been putting the heat on the Japs and we were getting very close to their home islands. As such, the fighting here was ferocious, brutal, and barbaric. Perhaps not as bad as Peleliu, but pretty close to it. They knew that if we won here, it would only be a matter of time before we'd be landing Marines on the shores of Tokyo. They had fully adopted the tactics of 'Defense In-Depth' used on Peleliu and had long since abandoned the wasteful and needless banzai charges from the Cape Gloucester and Guadalcanal campaigns. This made my stay on Okinawa a very frustrating and disheartening time."

He scratched the back of his neck and gazed out at the great, red castle, "Coming into the campaign, my morale was only slightly raised, knowing that soon enough, the war would finally, FINALLY, be over. But if the war was to be won, I knew, despite what my contract said, I would be pressed into participating in the invasion of Japan. The thought of possibly having to shoot at children was not one that was very pleasant to me."

"Children? Were your commanders ordering you to commit war crimes?" she asked with raised eyebrows and an only slightly surprised expression.

"You know the Japs by now, Lu. They would do whatever it takes to win and that includes recruiting young boys and children to resist our invasion. Nobody ever had to tell us this morbid fact because we all knew without even being asked," he sighed, "It was... sobering to say the least."

"I concur. I couldn't imagine having to live with that thought," Luna agreed.

"It wasn't comforting. But before we were set to invade Okinawa, we set sail to Guadalcanal for maneuvers and training for D-Day. And we had some... interesting adventures while staying there,"

The pleasant breeze stopped abruptly as the Okinawan landscape fell back into the blackness. Just as quickly, a new scene emerged, this one of a lush jungle with rich plant growth creating a thick canopy over them. Unlike Cape Gloucester, however, this jungle had the fingerprints of a well-developed camp cutting through it. A paved road had cut its way through the overgrowth and led to the perimeter of a large, sweeping encampment, the striped flag Luna had seen in James' closet hanging proudly over it. It was a bustling camp, alight with activity from Marines and sailors alike. "Jeeps", the motorized cart that just drove by them, came in and out, carrying supplies, personnel, and equipment.

"Guadalcanal was a lovely duty station and though most of my time was spent on maneuvers, I enjoyed what liberty I had around base. It brought me great pride to see the battle that turned the tide of our war and to know that it was my division that had brought it about. It filled me with great Esprit de Corpsand made me proud to be a member of B/2/7. Now, the training we did, I'm just going to skip over. It was what we got up to after our duties that was interesting," he squinted down at a distant Jeep rolling up the road, "I think that's me. Want to hitch a ride?"

"Sure!" she felt a mild excitement experiencing a ride in these "cars" James had spoken of.

As the Jeep got close enough, it had started to slow down, making it easy for them to jump on into the back. The occupants of the military vehicle paid no attention to their sudden boarding. She didn't recognize the driver, but James was sitting in the front, while Howard and Flume were sitting in the back. No one said anything, enjoying their newfound relaxation and relief from their difficult, demanding training. The cool breeze blowing in her face felt wonderful as they moseyed along towards their base.

"You know, this was the only time I'd ever ridden in a Jeep. The driver was some higher-up's personal chauffeur and offered to take us back while his superior officer stayed to watch another division's amphibious training. Gotta say, it's pretty nice being back on one of these things. First thing I should start working on with some Equestrian engineers when we get back," he chuckled.

Luna had the goofiest smile on, "Wow, these things are so much fun! Much better than those infernal chariots my sister always insists on using," she seemed entranced by the wheels.

"Yeah they are, aren't they?"

The car began to slow and slow until finally coming to a stop in front of a large building.

"Alright boys," the jeep driver turned to his passengers, "This'll be your stop."

"Hey, thanks again for the ride, pal," Howard smiled at the driver, slipping a mint silver dollar into the palm of his hand.

"Thanks yourself," the driver smiled like he had won the lottery, nodded to the group, and drove off the way he came.

As the Jeep drove away, Luna noticed that the group of men had already begun to walk away towards their tent to stow away gear on their racks. She and James quickly followed after them, staying relatively close to the mirthful bunch of Marines.

"Man, that last landing was tough. Thought the surf was gonna jump up and sweep me out to sea with how rough it was," Flume remarked, adjusting his grip on the big, empty flamethrower tank in his left hand, "I was afraid I was gonna flatten some poor sod if those waves kept knocking us around."

"Yeah, yah don't say...," Howard glared sarcastically at Flume with a knowing look.

"Ah sure hope the sea ain't that rough when we hit the beach on our next campaign," James had turned his head towards Flume who was walking to his left, "Ah can't say I-"

Something that James had seen had caused him to stop abruptly in his tracks. The two other men flanking his sides stopped as well, looking confused back at their buddy.

"What's the problem, Jim?" Howard took a few steps back and gazed in the direction James was looking.

"Check out the Seabee mess hall," he leveled a finger at the distant chow hall and seemed to have a craving look in his eyes.

Luna followed his finger and peeked in, squinting her eyes as she did. From what she could pick out, there were men in working clothes hauling pots and pans around the kitchen, putting food into metal trays, and cleaning the dim metal tables.

But the three of them paid no attention to the Navy cooks. No, what they had their eyes on was the food on the tables. On said tables, she saw Navy boys eating cooked chicken, mashed potatoes, drinking clean water, and digging into scoops of fresh vanilla ice cream in a separate bowl.

"WOW... real ice cream! Hey, look! They got Coca-Cola too!" Howard pointed out one Navy 'squid' with said refreshment.

"Man, what I'd give to get some of those potatoes. Just one day when I don't have to eat sea rations," Flume looked like he was about to drool.

Gone were the looks of exhaustion and debility. Now their eyes only betrayed a deep sense of craving and a ferocious appetite.

"We gotta get in there," Flume determined and the others nodded their heads in agreement.

Quickly and with great determination, they trotted as fast they could to their racks and stowed away their gear. They switched into some more comfortable clothes and promptly found themselves standing outside the Seabee's chow hall.

"Alright, let's just ease our way in. Let's just get in line and get what we can. Just book it back to our tent if the mess sergeant starts putting the screws in on us," James whispered to the other two, who nodded back at him.

James took a step up onto the wooden platform and walked calmly towards the chow line, keeping his head down and hidden behind his collar. A few seconds later, Howard walked in a few men behind him, with Flume following a couple seconds after as well.

No one seemed to acknowledge the men's intrusion into their mess hall, despite these three Marines sticking out like a used prophylactic on the sidewalk. Luna chuckled to herself at how these three thought in any way that they would blend in. It was somewhat hilarious witnessing their ignorance. Regardless of their ill-thought out plan, it somehow seemed to be working or the cooks just didn't care that they were there. She was banking on the latter option.

The three of them met up at a table off in the corner of the mess hall, big goofy smiles on their faces, "Chicken and potatoes! Oh how I've missed you!" James dug into his meal with all the grace of a ravenous bear. The other two were much the same.

"Ice cream! REAL, ice cream! I haven't had any since I left the States!" Howard scarfed down the sugary treat, the rapid clinks of his spoon marking his lightning fast pace.

Luna had a dumbfounded smile on her face as she observed the three of them all but inhale their food down their throats. Her eyebrows raised in awe as she watched Flume take an especially long chug on his Coca-Cola bottle, "I never thought one could be so excited over a very simple, plain meal."

"Hah!" James laughed, "You know, if I was in your shoes, I'd share that sentiment. But we had been subsisting off of C rations and we're feeling the squeeze of homesickness settle back in, courtesy of Pavuvu. In its own way, the simple meal of chicken, potatoes, Coke, and ice cream gave us just a taste of home, the now 'luxuries' we had so foolishly taken for granted as boys. And, if I might add, real food tastes a hell of a lot better than C rations," he chuckled mirthfully at his last statement.

"We thought we were so sneaky, masters of stealth pulling the rug over all the Seabees. It was a rare moment of youthful arrogance for ourselves. We came back the next day and the day after that and we were never caught. Soon we started bringing more of our friends and still, we were never thrown out by the MPs or mess sergeant. I thought we were really clever until I saw that sign hanging above," he gestured to said sign, Luna looking over to read it.

All Marines welcome in Chow Line after all Seabee Personnel have been Fed

She chuckled, bringing her hand up to her mouth to hide it, "I bet you felt real foolish."

"I sure did. They had known we were there all along. But I'm glad we had that experience. Strange as it may seem, my own foolishness made me feel, for just a moment, like the dumb youth that I actually was," he shrugged, folding his arms and leaning up against a wooden support beam, "After having to stay strong both emotionally and physically for so long, it felt nice to just... relax. Let out that proverbial breath I had been holding through a somewhat awkward and silly interaction. It felt peaceful to not have to think about the war and all of the problems it brought with it and just... be a kid again."

She grunted in agreement, her eyes settling back down on the group of ravenous men.

"Well, that's all that really happened here on Guadalcanal. We spent a week or so more before boarding ship and joining up with the invasion fleet," he said.

"Before long, we were steaming towards Okinawa, ready to end the war for good."