Author's Note

Hello all! Thanks for giving this story a read!

For those of you still wondering if I'm writing the Silent Saviors, the answer is yes! However, this story has been latched in my brain for two years now, and has been adequately distracting me from working on that project. I simply couldn't bear it anymore to not put this down into words. So, yes, the next chapter for that story is almost done, but I wanted to get this one out there first.

So, I hope you enjoy. PLEASE leave a comment when you're finished. I've edited this massively but stuff still seems to seep through the cracks. Also, any criticisms for the story direction, the flow, the speed, it all would be appreciated. Negative, positive, hell even if its just you want to say you liked it or disliked it. I take any advice I can get. I want to make as great of a story as possible.

With that, Here is Put it to Rest!

Prologue

Luna's day was looking to be an interesting one.

She was prancing happily through the corridors of Canterlot Palace, humming a tune silently to herself with a big grin on her face. Her long, regal blue dress she normally wore for business had been replaced with a yellow tank top and a brown skirt, her necklaces and royal bracelets absent from her person. The tank top was smaller, hugging her form very nicely and emphasizing her hourglass figure, her midriff slightly showing underneath the yellow fabric. In short, she was dressed to impress.

Her makeup was aptly applied, not too much, but enough to notice it was there, with all the right areas accented to grab the attention of the viewer. That viewer, she hoped, would be her human friend, the, as of now, Royal Chemistry Professor of Equestria.

Her hooves clinked loudly on the polished floor, her ethereal mane swaying in the non-existent breeze. She stopped in front of a window, eyeing herself in her reflection, her hands propping her mane a little and picking out any imperfection she could see.

You see, Luna was on her way to Canterlot University, the highest educational academy in the nation to see one of her good friends, and, if she played her cards right tonight, her coltfriend. She had become positively enamored with the poor man. Many a time, Tia had to physically shake her from a daydream about him during court, earning her lots of unwanted embarrassment. Cadence could hardly bear to see her pine from afar anymore, so, on threat of taking away her telescopes, she forced her to finally ask him out.

Luna was optimistic, but a little nervous. She certainly was trying not to show it through her infectious smile that she and Cadence had practiced over the last night.

Just smile, laugh at what he says, and just be yourself, Auntie. That colt, err, man would be lucky to have you. I'd be shocked if he didn't like you too, she remembered yesterday's conversation with her niece.

Giving herself one more lookover, she channeled her magic, and teleported to the campus.

Canterlot University was known for being a pretty campus.

Luna was greeted immediately by a large, engraved fountain in the middle of a quiet courtyard. Behind it stood a massive, brown building, in large, white letters spelling out "School of Science, Math, and Esoterics". The white columns in front of the building loomed stoically over her, the ticking of the clock at the tip of the building quietly sounding off. She approached the glass doors of the building and went inside.

She took the usual route to his lecture hall, waving hello to the security guard and nodding to students bowing to her. She never really did care for the ceremony that the students paid to her, but she was appreciative of it nonetheless. Walking quietly up the stairs, her ears swiveled in the direction of a noise, that being the voice of the human.

"Everything in the world is made out of the elements, not circuits and currents of magic like we once thought. This podium, my hand, your bags, everything, it's all certain amounts of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and others!" he passionately lectured to his students. She could almost imagine him doing those hand gestures he unconsciously did whenever he talked about chemistry.

"Now, don't be intimidated by this chart of the elements. I know that it looks large and very complicated. Trust me, I felt the same way sitting through my first class of Chemistry 101. But, by the end of this semester, every one of you will be able to read this table and not only understand it, but you'll be able to tell me how each of these elements behave, how they react, how they're found in nature, what they do, and what we can use them for."

She grinned to herself, bringing her hand to cover her smile. He was such a nerd sometimes. All those passionate conversations she had with him, just listening to him talk for hours about chemistry, warmed her heart. It's what attracted her in the first place... maybe aside from that nice butt of his. She was able to break through that stoic façade he projected to ponies and see him for what he is. It seemed like talking about chemistry was the only time he didn't look so... sad.

Luna stopped herself for a second. No, sad isn't the right word. Maybe, gloomy? No. That's not it. It's more like... withdrawal. Luna often, for just a brief second during a pause in the conversation with him, could see this feeling faintly peak through onto his eyes before quickly being replaced with his stoicism. But when she did, she didn't know how to describe it right. It just felt like he had seen something that had really hurt him, like the death of a puppy or loss of a great friend. She didn't know what it was, but she hoped to find out soon.

"Alright students. Looks like I'm out of time. I would like you all to read pgs. 2-6 in your text. We will have a discussion on it in class tomorrow and we'll start on the structure of the atom with Rutherford's experiment. Have a nice day everyo... I mean everypony."

She heard the clambering of the desks and seats as the students got out of their chairs to leave. Many of them, when coming through the door, were shocked to see her walking down the hall, hearing some of them muttering, "Princess Luna!", "What's she doing here?", "I dunno!". She nodded and smiled to them as they passed, waiting until all had left. Her hooves clinked against the floor as she walked through the door to the lecture hall. She saw the object of her affection quietly writing some text down on the board for his next class.

Hearing her come in, he looked up from his writing, turned to his right seeing her, and smiled slightly.

"Hey Lu. Nice to see you drop by," He noticed what she was wearing and looked her over. "You... uh... you look good," he nervously replied back, sputtering the sentence a little and rubbing the back of his neck with his left hand.

Luna's confidence skyrocketed as she looked at what she had done to the poor man. "Awww, thank you James," she said as she twirled around, showing off as much as she could to him.

He went back to writing down the text from the paper on the board. "What can I do for you, oh Princess of the Night?" his smile replaced with a more neutral one as he concentrated on his work.

"Well," she paused for a moment as she worked up her courage, her hands behind her back, "we've been talking for awhile and I'd consider us friends, right?" She looked up to him for confirmation.

"Yes, I reckon so," he responded in his drawl, a similar, but different sound characteristic to the Apple Family.

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to do something tomorrow on Friday. I haven't much paperwork or court tomorrow and would love to have some company," she said, her head slightly bent down to her right side, looking up at him as she waited for an answer.

"Hmmm," A small pause pervaded the conversation. For awhile the tall, lean man said nothing as he diligently wrote on his chalkboard. The pause, while a few seconds in reality, felt agonizingly slow to Luna as she waited for an answer.

"Of course. I'd love to spend time with you. Why don't you come by here again tomorrow and we can walk to my house for some drinks. I have some lovely German rum I've been saving," he turned to her, his collared shirt and pants full of chalk marks.

To say Luna was ecstatic at the news would be an understatement. "Huzzah! I'll meet you here at the end of your last class," she smiled, her hands clasped together in front of her.

James had, by now, packed up his stuff and was ready to leave. "Great, I'll see you then, Lu," he smiled that gleeful smile at her and proceeded to walk towards the door.

As she watched him go, she saw a small booklet, about the size of a pants or suit pocket, loosely sticking out of an unzipped section of the briefcase, silently fall out of the case and onto the white tiled floor. James hadn't noticed it fall and was already walking out in the hall. Luna quickly went and picked it up, trying to make out the smudged text on the front,

New Test------- Bible
PS--MS, Prov--, and Gospels

The book itself had clearly seen better days. The corners of the booklet were slightly burnt. Grime and dirt smudges were all over the brown leather cover, smudging the cover text, and the binding looked like it was barely holding onto the pages. She really wanted to open it up and read, but felt it would be rude to read through James' things.

She rapidly jogged out of the class and reached James as he was about to enter the stairwell.

"Wait! James! You dropped this!" she said as she extended her arm towards him.

When he saw what she had, he immediately and almost too quickly snatched it out of her hand. "Where did you get this?" he raised his voice, sounding very defensive and accusing all of a sudden.

Luna was taken aback slightly at this sudden change in tone. "It... fell out of your briefcase when you walked out. I'm sorry for touching it," she said.

The man stared at the booklet before closing his eyes, shaking his head, and holding up a hand in front of him.

"No no, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. It was wrong of me," he said to her, his face relaxing itself. "It's just... this book, and... what's in it," he sighed, "It means a lot to me," he said staring down at it again.

And there it was. That look. His eyes were glazed over with a 1000 yard stare, replacing his neutral expression with a withdrawn, reclusive look. He looked blank, unfocused, detached, as if caught into an entirely new world from their own.

He glared at the booklet for awhile before shaking his head a little. "Thank you for returning this to me. Where would I be without you?"

"Probably not working here," she bantered back to him.

"Heh Heh, yeah you're probably right. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow Lu," he smiled and went down the stairs.

As she watched him go, excitement boiled up in her like a lake on a rainy day. She finally was going on a date with James! However, she was equally confused more with why James was so agitated over that book. She resolved to ask him sometime maybe a week or so in the future. For now, Luna was giddy and nothing was going to change that.

Luna once again found herself ascending up the stairwell, eagerly anticipating tonight. Tonight was the night. She was finally going to confess her feelings to him and she firmly hoped that he would reciprocate. She made sure to dress well, clad in slightly pink Capri pants and a lower cut blue shirt, with her moon necklace around her neck. Cadence was more than willing to lend her help in applying makeup and selecting a cute outfit. Luna certainly owed her for all the help she had given her.

Luna ear's once again picked up the voice of James lecturing, well, more talking to his students than lecturing.

"When I landed in this world, when I heard what your nation has done with just magic, I was absolutely shocked," he said.

"I couldn't believe that your species had done all this without chemistry. I couldn't believe that none of your great scientists even tried to experiment with it. I... still am trying to come to terms with this and many other revelations that come with living in Equestria. Your world continually, and quite comedically, bends my world's laws of physics and logic over its knee and wallops it with a 10-foot stick," some of students chuckled quietly to themselves.

Luna was now right outside the door, behind the wall and looking into the classroom through the reflection in the glass of the door. She could see James in the front of the classroom, wearing a collared shirt and a brown leather coat, typical of a well-learned professor such as himself.

"But, despite this, what I see is the potential for greatness. Chemistry is a nation's pathway to prosperity. Everything humanity has been able to do and everything I described to you is because of the great men and women who asked themselves the important question of 'why?' Why do things work the way they do? And I want to instill that drive to discover and create in you. With Equestria's magic and manipulation of the natural world and Humanity's chemistry, biology, mathematics, and physics, Equestria could rise to a great golden age. Diseases cured, life expectancy through the roof, healthier crops, world hunger gone," his voice sounded incredibly excited, getting louder and passionate by the second.

"And it all starts with all you. You are the key to your nation's greatness. I know it doesn't feel like that right now. I know you might not understand why I'm asking you to know the structure of the atom or whatever else I'm going to teach you this semester. But I know that one day, it's going to pay off. Whether you're a doctor, a chemist, a weatherpony, or whatever you decide to do in life, I know that what is said in this classroom is going to change history and I want you all to be apart of it."

"Thank you everypony. You're all dismissed. Have a great weekend," he said waving his hand to his students.

Once again, one by one, the students shuffled out of the room, again being surprised by the Lunar Princess' presence. She held a finger to her mouth, urging them to stay quiet and not alert James to her presence.

Soon, the students had all left down the stairwell and the hall fell silent again. Luna, seeing the opportunity she had, decided to play a little prank on him, similar to what she and Tia would do to each other. She was going to hide, jump out, and startle him a little. They'd have a good laugh and be on their way. Try to lighten the mood she rationalized.

James was busy packing all of his things into his suitcase as she crouched down, still watching him through the window of the door. Once he finished, she could see him walking towards the door and prepared to spring her trap.

"BOO!" She jumped out in front of him and yelled.

Luna certainly did not expect to be forcefully grabbed and thrown against the wall. She barely had registered what had happened before James' left hand was around her neck while his right stood ready behind him about to deliver a punch.

She looked into his deep blue eyes. What was once a neutral look was now only filled with an INTENSE hatred and anger.

Just as quickly had she seen that, his eyes IMMEDIATELY widened and face softened. He quickly retracted his hands and gasped for air.

"I... I am SO sorry, Luna. I... I don't know what came over me," his hands were clutching his head and he looked incredibly worried.

She heard him mutter under his breath just loud enough for her ears to hear, "I thought you were a Nip."

The term confused her and she was almost hesitant to ask. "What's a... Nip?" she squeaked

James eye's widened a little, not knowing that she had heard him. His face grimaced and his eyes closed, as if remembering a horrible memory. "It's not important," he said, opening his eyes.

"I am so sorry though Luna. Are you ok?" he reached out to her and checked her neck and face.

"It's ok James. I'm fine, just a little startled. That's all," she reassured him. "James, goodness are you okay? You look exhausted. Have you been sleeping alright?"

"Yeah. Yeah I'm sleeping fine. Just didn't sleep too well today, that's all. It's not usual," He replied.

That was a big fat lie. She was searching his dreamscape out last night to visit him, but found it curiously dark for most of the night. When it was active, and it only was for a very short time, she had found herself strangely repulsed away from it like a magnet. No matter what she tried in her efforts to get in, James' mind wouldn't allow her to enter.

"I'm sorry for forgetting you would be by today. Would you like to accompany me to my home?" He asked.

"Yes, let us be off," Luna said, trying to smile to him, but couldn't. The thought of how quickly James' moved and how swiftly he could have ended her life still frightened her.

Just what did James' go through that made him so traumatized?

The walk to his home was quiet. Neither talked that much in light of what had happened. The walk itself wasn't strenuous, but wasn't very easy either. James' lived a little outside the city, a trail up the side of the mountain connecting his house to the city. They hiked for about 15 min up the trail before finally coming to his house.

It was a modest wooden cabin, the new sanded wood of the house still gleaming in the sun due to the buildings recent construction. Tia obviously had some association in the design of the house. A small rocking chair lay outside on the elevated porch and small table was next to it, holding an ashtray with some extinguished cigars. A few maple and elm trees stood proudly next to the house, as if keeping watch for danger. She looked out to her left and spotted a steep ridge that ran down the mountain. James' had put up a metal railing to keep himself and visitors from falling down and injuring themselves. Past that, she admired the stunning view of Equestria James' possessed. She saw far away the little town of Ponyville where she was cured of the Nightmare and even farther, could see the San Palomino deserts and Badlands. To the left of that, she could see the Hayseed Swamps and the settler town of Appleloosa. She silently stood, taking in the splendor of the view.

"Beautiful isn't it?" James came up beside her on the right. "I count myself lucky every day that I landed in such a beautiful world."

"Yes, yes it is. I see much of the land from my tower, but it always hits me different when I'm out of the palace," she replied.

They stood there silently, watching the view and enjoying each other's company.

"Well, that rum is going to get any older, so let's get in there, shall we?" he held out his hand to her.

"Yes. After you," she said taking his hand and internally squeeing at holding his hand.

They walked up the steps, James helping her up, and opened the door. "Ladies first," he said, beckoning her into the house.

"What a gentleman," she smiled, entering the house.

The interior was just as nice as the outside. The house was clean, well-organized, and smelled pleasant. She scanned the room immediately to the left and saw it filled to the brim with books on his bookshelves. She remarked to herself that The Element of Magic would likely be drooling over the various books in his collection.

Robinson Crusoe, Great Expectations, Gulliver's Travels

Turning from the books, she saw laying in the middle of the room was a large, grand piano, with various sheets of music on and around the music rack. A small drinking glass sat on the left side of the music rack, the glass still slightly filled with what was likely alcohol.

To her front, James seemed to be leading her into a large living room, a small couch and a cushioned chair hugging the gray painted walls.

"Make yourself comfortable. I'll go grab the drinks," he said and briskly exited to the kitchen.

This room was carpeted and also very clean. It had assorted pictures hanging on the wall, some pictures of what she assumed were famous scientists, some other pictures were of ponies posing with the tall, lean muscular man. She observed one that he had of Celestia, Luna, and himself. They were all smiling and posing in front of the university's main administration building.

She grinned. She remembered that day. That was when he was confirmed by the president of the school and granted a teaching position at the university. She was so happy for him and was glad that her month of pulling strings had paid off for the stranded human. She continued her scan over the room and spotted a framed piece of paper, which was very official looking.

James W. Milligan
is hereby awarded the Degree of
Bachelor of Science
Biochemistry
and is hereby granted all the rights and honors appertaining under the seal of the college
Awarded 17 May 1950

James returned with the rum and glasses in hand, a couple of ice cubes sliding around in each glass. He set them down on the nightstand next to his chair and poured a glass for each. Taking a glass, he slowly walked over to his armchair and sat down, fully relaxing himself into the cushion.

Luna followed his example and grabbed a glass for herself, choosing to sit on the couch orthogonal to him.

"To us," James raised his glass.

"To us," Luna parroted.

They took a swig of the brown liquid and swallowed.

"Oh," Luna's face contorted, not expecting the alcohol's firm taste, "That is strong!"

"Yeah, those Germans like it strong, I think. Can't say I ever met one in person though. It goes down smooth though, so I can appreciate them for making an excellent rum," James studied his glass before setting it down on the nightstand next to him. Luna did the same on hers.

"So, how's ruling the kingdom?" James asked, as if ruling an entire kingdom was something one does on an average Tuesday.

"Oh, you know, the usual. Nobles scrabbling amongst themselves for our favor and influence, paperwork, court. The whole shebang," Luna had picked up that colloquialism from James earlier in their friendship. Humans certainly knew how to make fun words.

"How's Tia?" he replied.

"Much of the same. The mare's still eating way too much red velvet for her own good, but she's doing just wonderfully. Still a bit mad at me for the... well... you know," Luna sheepishly grinned at her human companion.

"The noodle incident?"

"Yeah, the noodle incident," she laughed.

"I'm sure you had nothing to do with that, of course," James chuckled as he poured himself another glass of rum.

"Of course not. We'd never do something so accosting to our dearest sister," she sarcastically replied back.

The two grew silent after that. James was content to sit and enjoy the silent company of a friend, but Luna's mind was reeling with curiosity and concern over the past few incidents with James. Why was he so protective of that book? What had she triggered in his mind earlier today? Why did he look so exhausted all the time?

You know what, to Tartarus with it. She was just going to go for it. Answers don't come to those who don't ask.

"James, what happened to you?"

He stopped in the middle of another sip of rum and looked at her, his face looking worried. "What do you mean, Lu?"

Luna took a breath and sighed. "James, we visit you often and I'd consider us good friends. But I can't help but feel you're hiding something from me. Something that happened to you that was terrible. Whenever we talk, sometimes it feels like you're completely lost from the conversation, as if your mind is elsewhere. You obviously don't sleep well. I see it on your face everyday I visit, despite your successful efforts to hide it from your students. And don't deny it either. I've tried visiting your dreams multiple times only to find you well awake during sleeping hours. Clearly, something's wrong. Please, if not for me, then for yourself, what happened?"

James eye's were shut, his face contorted into a grimace. A frown soon crept onto his face as he opened his eyes.

"So you really want to know?" he asked.

"Yes, I think it will help you to talk about it to someone," Luna scooted a little closer to him, putting her arm up and her hand on her chin, her eyes filled with worry for her friend.

James looked down and furrowed his brows, concentrating hard on the answer he would give. Finally he looked to his right, out the window into the trees adjacent to his house.

"I fought a war. A terrible one. I've seen the most horrific things men can do to one another, and I'm afraid it's too much for me to bear," a tear peaked out from the corner of his eye, threatening to fall down.

A war. Equestria had not seen one for many generations. Thankfully, most tensions had been smoothed over enough to not warrant such a costly event.

"Then please, let me bear some of it for you. Will you tell me about it?" she asked.

"I don't know Lu. Aside from the experience, I don't know if you'd even understand what I'm telling you unless you saw it with your own eyes," he said.

Her horn lit up the characteristic blue. "I'm the Lunar Princess, James. I see the minds, memories, and dreams of all mortals of my realm. If you'd allow me, you and I can go through your memories. You show me only what you want me to see, but it only works if you allow me in. What do you say?" she asked him.

James certainly wasn't expecting this day to go like this. He certainly wasn't keen on talking about the war either, but she deserved to know.

"Alright. I didn't really want to tell anyone aside from my family, but seeing that they're not here anymore, you're the closest thing to it. You deserve to know what I've lived through. Maybe," He paused, "Maybe it will put the war to rest. To some degree," he huffed. "How does it work?"

"Close your eyes and just start off where ever you think is important. I'll pull us in," she said closing her eyes.

James followed her example and folded his hands in his lap.

"It was December 8, 1941."