Author's Note

Howdy folks. Back at y'all again with another chapter. Hope this one is to your likings!

School's been putting the screws in on me with work and finals week is coming up in a couple weeks. I'm debating on whether or not to completely cease writing that week in order to focus, but we'll see. I might not need to.

Leave a comment if you liked or disliked the chapter. It helps me to learn what I need to change or what I need to keep.

With that said, Ch.7: Rest and Relaxation!

Ch.7: Rest and Relaxation

The loud clip-clop of Luna's hooves permeated the hallway as she calmly walked through the, as of now, vacant hallways of the science wing of Canterlot University.

It had been a week since that night she spent with James. They hadn't seen each other since then, both having their duties to attend to. The mountain of paperwork that had accumulated at her office in her absence had induced no shortage of groans from her, but she had finally made it through. Tia was more than happy to handle the rest of court today to give her time to spend with her "coltfriend".

She scoffed. The mere mention of the phrase reminded her of the extensive teasing Tia had given since she told her of her date with James.

I hope he's good, Tia gave a wink at the end.

"Goddess," she groaned, before chuckling a small bit at her sister's antics.

Her ears soon picked up the pleasant, deep mountain voice of her romantic interest, knee deep into a lecture.

"We're starting labs next week, so I figured I'd briefly introduce some lab safety before the real safety lecture come Thursday," his cool voice spoke, "When you're running these experiments, always keep in mind what you're working with. Later, if you all take organic chemistry with me, we'll do a nitration of toluene; we'll learn what that is later. Normally, it's a very safe, easy procedure that makes two products which are mostly safe to handle. But, if you're not careful and you let it react too long, you make a little compound known as trinitrotoluene. Does anybody know what that colloquially is known as?"

A silence pervaded the room, no one answering the man's question. She found herself internally scratching her head as well along with the students.

She heard him chuckle as she leaned on the wall outside of the lecture hall, "Right, I forgot you guys haven't discovered it yet. My apologies. Trinitrotoluene is commonly known back home by its acronym TNT. It is the quintessential high-explosive. If you want something blown up or wiped off the face of Equus, you use TNT," she heard him pause slightly before continuing, "So, I want you all to be careful when you're handling your chemicals. Follow the procedure and my instructions. Cause if you don't, you may end up making your lab space into an unintentional bomb!" he laughed at the end of the statement, chuckling to himself. No students joined in the jovial mirth and the room was soon awkwardly quiet.

"Huhp, would you look at the time... All right, I'll see you all tomorrow! Class dismissed!" the sounds of rustling of chairs, desks, and ponies getting to their hooves filled the room.

Young college-aged ponies began filing out of the room, all bowing or waving as they passed her. While put off by the Lunar Princess' presence, the students seemed noticeably more relaxed now, many giving curt bows or smiles to her. As they walked past her, she could hear many of them whispering and muttering to each other.

"I bet they've got a secret romance," she heard a melodic Fillydelphian excitedly mutter to her friend.

"I dunno. Maybe the professor and the Crown are working on something together?" her friend replied.

"That doesn't make sense! Why would Princess Luna just keep showing up outside of our class if it was some official royal business? He would get summoned to the castle if that was the case. No, I'm convinced. The handsome alien serenading the returned lonely princess! It's straight out of a romance novel" a dreamy tone escaped with the last sentence as the mare clutched her hands together.

She watched the two of them walk down the stairs, smiling at the exchange she'd eavesdropped on. She pressed down her skirt, picked a few fallen hairs off her shirt, and waltzed into the lecture hall.

James' brown jacket was the first thing to cross her vision, the chocolate fabric accentuating his lean physique. His pants were, as usual, covered in chalk stains from the day of writing and teaching from his blackboard, the white dust contrasting heavily with his khaki pants.

A small, chipper smile was upon his face and a subtle skip was in his step as he erased his chalkboard. Looking to his right, his grin got even wider as he noticed her presence.

"Well, if it isn't the most gorgeous pony I've laid eyes on," he complemented with a warm smile.

She blushed and waved her hand at him, "Oh stop it," she giggled heartily, the feeling of butterflies in her stomach taking over.

"How was your day today?" he inquired of her, packing his things into his briefcase.

"Oh you would not believe it, James! Paperwork galore, a trade dispute with the Saddle Arabians, and even worse, no hashbrowns during breakfast!" she sarcastically gasped and dramatically posed. James laughed at the exchange.

"Oh the horror!" he jested, striking a pose with her, "Not the Royal Potatoes!"

The two held their poses for a moment before devolving into a fit of giggles and laughter.

"No really, how was your day, Lu?" he soothed, embracing her.

"Wonderful, because I get to see you," she smiled back, returning the hug.

They broke the hug, James walking over and grabbing his briefcase of lessons and paper.

"Well, shall we hit the town?" he held out his hand to her.

"I'd love to," she grasped his hand with her own, before leaving the building with him, eager to see where the night would take them.

Canterlot Park definitely suited the mood right now.

It was a quiet Wednesday evening, the two passively strolling along the paved dirt road through the exquisite communal gardens that had been planted. A flower from every country had been planted here, earning it the title "The Garden of Equus". Vibrant colors and patterns assaulted their eyes as flowers of all kinds blew in the lazy breeze that the pegasi had brought in.

Tulips from the Griffins, camellia from the Yaks, impala lilies from the Zebras. All nations had a bit to contribute, a testament to their culture and showed pride for their land.

The two had made a stop at the man's home, both deeming necessary to change into more appropriate attire for the evening. Luna wore a very lovely, elegant dark navy dress over a long-sleeve shirt, the band of the shirt coming just below her shoulders, giving an inviting atmosphere to her figure. The navy blue satin dress skirt flowed steadily in the wind, resting below her knees. Her moon pendant, a gift from her mother, hung charmingly on her neck and inviting a few glances from her man. Her wings hung idly on her back, the tips close to dragging across the dirt road, but never connecting with it. Her starry mane and tail twinkled like the spiral arms of a galaxy, its beautiful locks flowing in the soft breeze.

James had selected a striped dress shirt with jean bottoms, a much simpler look as compared to Luna. A black leather watch was firmly strapped to his wrist and his hair was styled back with a mane gel. The soft tapping of his brown leather shoes slipped into her swiveling ears as she glanced down at them for a moment; it added a much needed bit of contrast to his outfit. Overall, it was a notably business casual kind of look, but added a bit of intrigue to him, something Luna simply adored.

A pleasant aroma flooded their nostrils, the blooming buds releasing their scents to attract the humble pollinators. The sun shone through a few clouds, providing a mild warmth to the already amiable mood of their walk. Luna hummed a tune quietly to herself, a small smile on her face as they strode through the park.

"What lovely looking flowers!" she heard James exclaim next to her, "Why, I've never seen such a lovely bouquet before. My mother would be hideously jealous of this place!" he laughed.

"Did your mother garden much?" she inquired.

"Yes! She was crazy about her garden and wouldn't tolerate anything running through there at all! I'm sure if she could have, she would have mined the entire bed to keep her precious tulips safe. Lord knows those rabbits could've used a thrashing like that to discourage them," he shook his head in remembrance.

"What was your mother like? I don't think you've mentioned your parents too much," she smiled up at him.

The two came to a park bench nearby the ornate fountain in the central part of the park. The man gestured to it, inviting her to sit down next to him and watch the water.

"Ma was wonderful. Kind, compassionate, everything you'd want out of a mother. But, she was a lot different from the other wives of Canton. What you'd notice immediately upon meeting her is that she was a lot less," he paused, putting his fingers under his chin to think of the right word, "Submissive, I suppose."

"She wasn't afraid to be combative with my dad if she disagreed with him. When they fought, woof, I expected earthquakes to erupt from the clash of their two stubborn attitudes," he chuckled, "But, they'd always make up in the end."

He shook his head, holding up his hand defensively, "I don't want you to think I grew up in a bad home. My parents fought sometimes, much like any couple, but they truly loved each other. They both found the middle ground and the fighting began to stop for the most part," he confided.

"My parents were a couple that actually loved each other. They didn't put on the façade of a happy couple like I knew some families in my neighborhood were. My parents lived it and I'm happy that I was able to grow up like that," he sighed, "Wish they could see me now. Dad would be proud."

Luna looked at the fountain, folding her hands and crossing her legs as she idly watched the spout spew out water, "I'm sure you miss them greatly. I understand the feeling all too well."

That grabbed his attention, provoking a glance at her. "Are your parents no longer with you?"

"Nay, they passed to Faust's Realm," Her voice sounded a little more somber, less cheery than it was before, "They were good parents. Tia and I miss them dearly."

The mood was visibly dampened by the discussion, the two of them averting their eyes from each other.

James, unable to take the diminished mood, clapped his hands together with a grin, "Alright, that's enough sad talk for now. We're on a date after all!" He held out his hand to pull her up from the bench.

She accepted it readily, grabbing his hand and getting to her hooves.

"Hey what's that on your shirt?" he gestured to her chest.

"What? What's on my shirt?" she exclaimed.

She was greeted with a tap from his finger as she quite literally took it on the chin. When she brought her head back down, James had a stupidly large grin plastered all over his pale face.

"Gotcha!" he laughed.

A devilish grin appeared on her face. Oh, he wants to play it like that; she thought to herself.

Luna wiggled out of his grasp and strolled over to a pile of mud, collecting on the outside of the fountain. Bending down and taking a small handful of it, she looked over to the clean, innocent looking man with a wicked glint in her eye.

"What are you doing with that?" an oblivious James shivered.

The mud became a projectile, finding its mark on his collared dress shirt, caking it in dirt as it slowly dribbled down the fabric.

James' mouth was open as he stared down at the impact site in shock. But before long, his grin came back soon after.

The war was on.

Luna, realizing her bad position, her eyes widening a little, unfurled her wings to take flight and gain the high ground, but surprisingly enough, James had already sprinted towards her and firmly grasped around her waist, pulling her down. She desperately flapped her wings, the tips tapping him near the eye and nose, but his weight was simply too much.

While she was distracted, he swept her legs with his own, catching her with a hand on her back as he hoisted her up effortlessly in a bridal-style carry. She felt rocking as James took long heavy steps towards the fountain, eyeing it with a hungry glint in his eyes. Her own eyes popped to the size of dinner plates as she frantically looked back at the man in a pleading fashion.

"Don't you dare!" she hissed.

"Oh, I dare! In you go!" as he casually dropped her into the water.

The cold bite of the clear water nipped at her skin as she screamed. Quickly popping out of the water, she spat and sputtered as water drained and drizzled off of her face like rain. Using her hands, she wiped her now soaking wet hair out of her eyes and angrily glared at the man. James was losing his mind in uncontrollable laughter, clutching his side and tearing up a bit from the exertion.

Not to be outdone, her playful smile soon returned as she unfurled her wings again, shook the water from them, and took flight. That got his attention, ceasing his laughing as he began to run away down the park path. Occasionally glancing at her target, she spied a few pegasi in the sky, their hands pushing grayish clouds through the air for the next day's storm.

One of them noticed the fast-approaching Night Princess and gasped. "Prin... Princess Luna! What can I-"

"Are these rain clouds for tomorrow?" she huffed from the exertion of the quick flight.

"Yes, yes your Majesty."

"I need to take this for a second. Official Royal Business," she explained, swiftly taking it from her grasp and pushing it away.

Now pushing a heavily rain-impregnated cloud through the deserted Canterlot sky, she gazed down at the road like an eagle sizing up its prey, searching for her target. Spying him currently using the patented "run like a bitch", she carefully grasped the fluffly cumulus cloud within her hand and maneuvered it over to her fleeing target.

Giving it a swift punch, the cloud began to unload its contents all over the poor man.

"Augh! Dangit Luna!" he continued fleeing, wiping his quickly dampening face from the rainwater, back towards his home. She, not letting him off the hook, pursued once more.

All of Canterlot could hear the cackling and laughter of their Princess as she chased him on a raincloud all the way back to his house.

Two dripping wet figures stumbled their way into the clean wooden cabin, smiles plastered across their face.

"Freakin blue pony horse who controls the weather" a sopping wet James muttered to himself as he threw his soaked dress shirt into a laundry basket.

"I heard that!"

He laughed heartily to himself at her expense, "Well, I'm gonna go change. Do you need a spare change of clothes as well?"

"I'll teleport to my chambers and change," she replied back, wiping a droplet of water away from her eye.

"Ok, go ahead and change, then we'll meet back in my study for some drinks," he remarked.

"May I see more of your time in the Pacific?" Luna added.

He paused for a moment, stopping at a step on the stairs, "Sure," he gave his response swiftly and proceeded up the stairs.

Soon, she teleported away, both eager and unnerved to learn more of his story.

The two of them were once again standing in the void of James' mind, the inky blackness overtaking their senses as usual.

"Now, where did we leave off last time?"

She spoke, "You were leaving Cape Gloucester."

"Ah, yes," he agreed, a scene slowly generating itself and replacing the void with the pleasant rocking of a ship sailing towards an island.

"After being relieved off of Cape Gloucester, most of the veterans, myself included, figured we'd be heading back to Melbourne, Australia for a much needed rest. I can't lie. I was pretty relieved that we were finally going to be back in the comfort of a first-world country. Hot showers, good chow, girls," his face contorted into a heavy frown, "Instead, we got Pavuvu."

The view of the island they had from the ship was quickly wiped away, now placing them onto the shore they were overlooking.

What she noticed immediately upon coming to her senses was the HORRID, rotten smell that permeated the air. It reeked of rotting fruit carcasses and plant matter, the smell itself causing her to gag. James gestured to her to walk with him where she discovered the culprits of the hideous odor.

A plentiful number of unharvested coconuts littered the coral gravel floor of the island, a visible steam coming off the decaying plant matter from the blazing sun beating down on them. Idle strands of brown coconut fibers stuck out from the hard, spherical shells, some looking like they had been dissolved in a concentrated acid and dripping into the sand. The fibers and milk of the coconut had been washed out of the hard shell, completely covering parts of the ground in a gooey, white mush that looked deep enough to suck an entire pony into its depths.

What was even more unsettling was the MASSIVE land crabs that were scurrying over the disgusting white mush. Their size overall was about the full length of James chest and torso. Brown, long legs extended out from their carapaces and made an unsettling quiet THUNK each time they took a step. Many had wide abdomens with white stripes going horizontally across them like a zebra. Beady, black eyes rested at the front of their thoraxes as their skinny antennae felt around for the best patch of coconut to eat.

Luna recoiled back upon seeing the disturbing little crabs. James face looked like he had seen an old adversary on a morning's day walk.

"Land crabs, we meet again," his voice hissed with a venom she hadn't heard many times before, "I hate these damn things so much."

She was almost too afraid to ask, but she eventually did, "Why?"

"These damn crabs were nothing short of the biggest nuisance I've ever had to deal with. They'd scurry into your tent, steal your food, and-," he cut himself off, "Well, it's just best for me to show you later. For now, let's just keep going."

The island faded away before reappearing again, this time planting them into a well-lit, sunny tent near the hours of noon.

Cots, mosquito nets, and other compartments had been laid aside in anticipation for the arrival of B company. Soon enough, a stream of corpsmen stepped through the large flaps of the tent, looked around for a little bit, and began stowing their gear onto bunks they chose for themselves.

She observed them struggle to shake off the mushy coconut matter from their boots they no doubt had to walk through to get here. Grumbling and complaints were swiftly heard as many grabbed their KABARS, taking the dull side, and began scraping off the matter while sitting in their cots.

"Can't believe the Marine Corps making us live in this shit," she heard Miller grumble quietly.

"Yea, this blows," James parroted back, also wiping away the coconut from his boondockers.

"First we got this fucking stuff on our boots and now we don't get showers or a chow hall? I mean what are they thinking?" Miller yelled, "We just fought for our lives on some miserable piece of shit island only to live on yet another miserable shitty island. It's fucking fucked!"

Luna recoiled at the insane amount of profanity Miller was using. She didn't remember him cursing much at all the last time she saw him and now, he was profane enough to make a sailor blush.

"It beats getting shot at by Japs," James interjected, trying to inject some sort of positive trait to their depressing situation.

She heard the high-pitched squealing and a quick scampering of paws before spotting a fat rat fall out of the ceiling of the tent. Miller, upon seeing the rat, took his KABAR and began swinging at the intruding rodent, murder and frustration in his eyes. The rat, not wanting to become mince meat for the slaughter, took this moment to scatter out of the tent flap, disappearing into the long, overgrown grass near the end of the company street.

"I think I'd rather get shot in all honesty," Miller deadpanned before sheathing his KABAR and stepping out of the tent to get some air. James, finishing stowing away his gear, turned away from his cot and followed him.

Stepping outside into the hot sun, he adorned his blue cap and unbuttoned his dungaree jacket, letting his now sun pink skin peek out into the sky. His eyes squinted and he brought his hand up to shield his face from the oppressive rays.

"How'd the campaign treat you?" he asked Miller as he trotted up to him.

"Well enough. Ain't dead yet," Miller nonchalantly stated, his grizzled face squinting as well now.

"Amen," the two stopped short at the end of their company street, gazing out into the sorry home they now occupied, watching other companies hustle and bustle preparing their tents.

"Guess this is home sweet home," James sarcastically chuckled, slipping his hand into his pocket and grabbing his pack of smokes, putting one into his mouth and lighting it up.

"Thought you didn't smoke," Miller laughed, taking a cigarette offered by James.

"I don't."

The two shared a knowing chuckle between each other before walking off into the distance, cracking jokes with one another and trying to stay positive about their unfortunate situation.

"Our first introduction to Pavuvu wasn't exactly the greatest, but we made do with what we had. Lord knows we couldn't get off it if we complained, so we embraced the suck as best we could," James divulged, "But, even with this attitude, life on Pavuvu was taxing and reminded me of my complete separation from the world."

"Any person who stepped on the beaches could smell the loneliness eminating from its sands. At least in combat, the constant threat of the enemy kept us from thinking of our homes, our lives. But now, with no enemy to fight, with no family, no girls, no showers, no... dignity, the incredible cascade of homesickness, boredom, and trauma we had experienced fighting crashed into us like a cargo train. The only relief from these existential feelings was the bonds we had with each other. Me, Howard, Miller, Gates, we stuck together and were able to survive, just like we always had," he admitted, watching the two corpsmen step into another's tent.

The scene faded away.

"Your commanders ought to have been demoted for subjecting their soldiers to such horrid conditions after having fought such a laborious campaign," Luna indignantly piped up.

"Somedays, I wished that and more upon them," he agreed.

"Well, what did you do to keep yourself sane on this Goddess-forsaken island?" she inquired.

The man put his finger to his chin, trying to remember. A smirk came to his face before he spoke, "I think this should explain that,"

James' tent began to materialize around them. It was about sunrise, the rays peaking in weakly through the fabric of the tent. The cots were completely empty and the living space was cleaned, organized, and proper. Socks, jackets, and pants were all neatly folded into seabags and stowed under each man's respective bunk. Their boots sat idly in front of them, laced and tied neatly in wait for use.

The flap burst open before a mass of sweaty, heavy breathing men shuffled in, each one to his own bunk.

"God, I always hated PT," one man spoke to his comrades.

"Ahh, shut up you big baby," Miller snarked, taking off his PT boots and changing into his dungarees, "You're just mad cause you fell out on mile 4."

"Hey, fuck you Miller," the man laughed, putting on his boots.

Miller reached for his own issued boots, grabbing one by the tongue and tried to slip it on. He let out a scream before throwing his boot a foot away from him.

"Goddamn those fucking things!" he hissed, "I can't take 'em anymore."

"What? What is it, Arthur?" James asked, the rest of the tent occupants now gazing at the two.

Miller didn't answer his question. He had pulled out his seabag and was furiously rifling through the contents, gritting his teeth as he searched through his belongings. Finally finding what he was looking for, he slyly grinned before grabbing his boot and the item he held and stepped out into the sun. James and the other boys followed him out.

Grabbing his boot by the heel, he shook it fiercely and forcefully. A smaller, but still very big land crab, awkwardly flew out, hitting the paved coral gravel road with a loud PLOP!. It slowly tried to crawl away, its hiding spot now revealed. Miller, however, had other plans for the unfortunate coconut crab. He brandished a small bottle of lighter fluid in his right hand, unscrewed the cap, and sprayed a hefty amount onto the fleeing crab. Flipping his lighter open, he reached down and lit the poor crab on fire.

It scurried around frantically, the flammable liquid clinging to its hard shell, for a good while, the orange red flames not budging at all.

"Hey, that crab kinda looks like a burning Jap tank," one of the men laughed.

"Yeah! Yeah it does," another man gruesomely smiled.

It seemed to Luna that the men were taking great enjoyment watching the ugly, brown crab burn to death and it unsettled her. Large grins were plastered across each man's face, including James', as they cheered, cursed,, and hollered at the sight of the incinerated crustacean.

Before long, the ten-legged creature ceased all movement, dead on the spot.

"Wow, let's go do that again!" one man raced away towards the PX. Each man followed, likely to grab their own vials of lighter fluid to repeat the violent action. The memory began to fade away.

"My goodness, that can't be a healthy way to spend your time," Luna said, her mouth slightly open in shock.

"Well, it's all we could do aside from do PT, drill, eat, and jack off," he shrugged, "Boredom bred unhealthy hobbies. And believe me, boredom was in heavy supply here on Pavuvu."

He wiped his forehead and began speaking again, "Before long, we were starting maneuvers and drills for our next campaign on the list. According to our lieutenants, MacArthur wanted to invade the Phillipines and needed his right flank secured for it. Soon, we learned of our next target, a small, horseshoe shaped island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean."

"Peleliu."