Consciousness.

Groggily, James felt something soft and silky on his back as his brain started its hard restart.

Was it already time to go teach the students? It felt like he'd just laid his head down a few moments ago. His ears could pick up a hushed drone of the AC fan running and, huh, an annoying beeping sound. He willed his abs to get up out of bed, but he was met with an piercing, cutting pain in his stomach, the attempt killed as soon as it started. Deciding that it wasn't worth the trouble, he flopped back on what he thought was a bed and tried to open his eyes.

His eyes were crusty with that green crud near the creases of the lids and struggled to open. He was greeted by melancholic, drab, but blinding white light as the overhead mana lights beat down on his face. He groaned, shutting his eyes again as a headache started to settle in.

"He's awake!" he heard some voice say, well, somewhere. He couldn't really tell. Some shuffling and what sounded like a doorknob turning indicated that whoever said that had left.

Okay, just slowly open those eyes. Maybe it'll be less sucky this time.

Once again, he set to the Herculean task of opening his eyes, cracking open the lids as gingerly and as slowly as he was able to in his weak state. The sun-like light beat its illuminating rays into his retinas, but he found that this time the strain was much more manageable and he was able to get a look at his surroundings.

James found himself in a white, melancholic bed in a plain, drab, white hospital room, devoid of any ponies or visitors. Well, at the moment. He was sure whoever had spoken was likely fetching a doctor and some visitors, more than likely his Princess among them.

Everything hurt. His abdomen was extraordinarily sore, worse than any bruising or wound he'd received in a long time. He wrinkled his nose, his cheek muscles slow to act, and dislodged his nasal cannula from his nostrils. His arm sluggishly pushed it back into place, taking in a deep breath of air into his lungs and letting it out with a slow exhale. His legs could only be described as having been steamrolled by train and weighed down with concrete blocks while hanging off a ledge. They lay gracelessly at the foot of the bed and he didn't even want to try to move them, lest he inflict even more pain on himself.

He tensed a little as he moved his arm up to his covers. With a grit in his teeth and more than a few groans and curses of pain, James took a gander at his chest and stomach to assess the damage.

God, that bitch really did a number on him.

His whole right abdomen was covered in blue, blackish-red bruises and that was only around the edges of his bandaging. He couldn't imagine what it was like underneath his bloody dressings. Probably should ask a nurse to change those soon, from the looks of them. His chest similarly was wrapped in white bandaging and some type of hard splint. He internally groaned at the fact that he likely fractured his ribs, as if the inconvenience of breaking a rib was more agonizing than the actual pain of fracturing one.

The door swung open abruptly, giving the man a horrid fright, and in walked a pegasus and a unicorn doctor and, of course, Luna.

"Hey Doc," he struggled to mutter out, finding it a little hard to concentrate.

"You wake up after two days, having me and Tia worried sick, and your first words are 'Hey Doc'?" his marefriend choked out, some tears forming around the outsides of her eyes.

James opened his mouth to speak again, but the doctor held up his hand, "I wouldn't try to speak too much for now, Mr. Milligan. You've been through quite a lot."

James grunted, minutely adjusting himself in bed, "What's... the damage?"

The doctor flipped through the paperwork he had in his hands, "Likely concussion, two fractured ribs, a ruptured liver which we had to operate on immediately, first degree burns, and some ruptured blood vessels in your cheek. Frankly, it is nothing short of a medical miracle that you are still alive, let alone breathing and cognizant. It's good to see, at least on a surface level, the concussion isn't too severe. We'll have to screen you sometime for that," he gestured to the doctor behind him, "Ms. Steady Hands, our surgeon, was able to successfully stop the bleeding and fix what was left of your liver. She very likely saved your life, sir."

James weakly stuck out his hand to shake the mare's hand, "I... owe you one, Ma'am. I can't thank you enough for saving my life."

The surgeon grasped his hand gingerly, softly shaking it to not aggravate his wounds, "You're very welcome. It was an honor to operate on the man who saved our nation."

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say I did that, but thank you. You're very kind," he curled his mouth to, he hoped, some semblance of a smile.

The surgeon smiled, "Now, we're going to have to keep you for a couple more days to monitor you for any infections and to ensure no complications from the surgery arise. I'm sure you understand, yes?"

"Yes, of course," he agreed, "Whatever you recommend, Doc, I'll do it."

"Wonderful. In that case, I'll leave you two to catch up. A nurse should be in to change your bandages later tonight. Your Majesty, Mr. Milligan," she nodded to them both and, with a gesture to the door to the other doctor, left the room, leaving them alone.

Neither said anything to the other. James felt a sort of tension, the kind of tension that you get when you feel you're in some sort of trouble. Whether he actually was, he didn't really know. He couldn't quite pinpoint what Luna was feeling towards him at the moment, but he imagined he wasn't good based on her expression. Might as well rip the Band-Aid off now...

"Hi, sweetheart," he gave a sheepish smile up at her in some effort to calm her.

It did not.

"For two days," she began, "For two days! I've been worried sick about you! Absolutely terrified that the man I've grown to love might drop dead! Don't you 'Hi Sweetheart' me!"

"I'm sorry, Lu. I can't imagine how hard it was for you, but it's not like I wanted to be like this," he defended himself.

"You could've at least stayed out of the fight once I got there! You were in no state to continue; you almost killed yourself!" she shot back in a righteous anger.

"I wouldn't let that woman lay a finger on you without a fight and you know that, Luna," his brows creased down.

"I know, I know. I just, I just...," new tears threatened to spill out of the corners of her eyes once more, "I couldn't..."

The water works burst as she started to cry softly into her hands. His heart was moved with compassion and with what strength he could muster, he weakly pulled her into his embrace. She climbed into his bed and just hugged him around the waist, sobbing and letting out all her pent-up emotions that had been running high the past days. He rubbed her lower back softly with his thumb and softly consoled her.

"Oh, sweetheart," he whispered, his soft baritone voice sounding like rich music to her, " There, there. It's okay. Everything's going to be okay."

She continued to sob, though it was becoming softer and softer as he whispered sweet nothings in her ear. He rocked them both gently and quietly soothed her for a few minutes.

Soon, the faint beeping of the monitors were the only sounds in the room. Luna sighed, wiping her eye, "I'm sorry, James. Here I am, an alicorn princess and ruler of a nation, and I come in and ruin your gown. Heh, I must look a sight."

"Nonsense, you can come in and ruin my gown with your tears any day," he joked, trying in some way to inject some mirth into the mood, "Besides, that little glob of snot in your nose really accentuates that astral, stellar beauty to you."

That joke was worth it, as he watched Luna do a sickeningly cute scrunch of her face, trying to look angry and contain her chuckling at the same time, "Eat dirt, James Milligan," she hmphed at him and grabbed a tissue from the box on the nightstand.

He exaggeratedly rolled his eyes in a clear sarcastic manner, "Oh, you alicorns. So emotional."

He smiled and laughed as a few soft taps on his shoulder assaulted him in place of her usual play punches or slaps.

"Ahhhh, help me doctor! I'm being assaulted by a huge drama queen," he threw his hands up in mock terror, which earned him more glares from his beau, "Come here you!"

In a surprising amount of dexterity, surprising himself even, he was able to grasp her around her waist and pull her into him further, blowing a few raspberries into her mane and causing her to giggle.

"Stop it, James!" she laughed in a tone that clearly told him to do it more.

Next, his tickling assault came swiftly and he dug into all of her sensitive places, making her squeal and desperately try to pull away.

"AHH, JAMES! Stop it! Stop it!" she pushed to try to free herself, but the man still had some fight in him, holding on to her with a surprising amount of grip. He giggled heartily, having successfully changed the mood, and ravenously continued his attack on his girl.

Finally she was able to pry herself off of him and glanced back at him with an fake frown.

"I'm sorry, couldn't help myself. The opportunity was too irresistable to not take," he held out his arms again, weakly holding them up, "Promise, I won't tickle you anymore."

Hesitantly, and with some trepidation, she nestled herself back into his embrace, nestling herself into his chest, which caused a spike of pain to shoot through him. Seeing this, Luna let up a little on the cuddles and looked up with concern.

"I'm fine. I'm fine," he held up his hand to soothe her worries, "Now, no more crying. No more tears. I couldn't bear to see another tear fall across your pretty face. I know what happened to me was.... frightening, to say the least. But, that being said, I'm gonna be back to tip-top shape in no time."

She sighed, melting into him even further than she had, "Okay. I think I can do that. Maybe a few more moments like this and I can turn the waterworks off."

He chuckled, "Water works? When did you get such a wise mouth, Princess?"

"The moment I'd started talking to a furless ape that stole my heart," she matter-of-factly shot back.

He pondered this with a smirk, "Fair enough."

They laid there for awhile, neither wanting to let the other go.

Walking was hard and right now, James really preferred not to do it. His crutch whined under his weight with metal scrapes as it adjusted to the force he put on it. His hands firmly gripped the handle as he carefully and hesitantly took his wobbly, shaky steps.

He grunted, whether in frustration or in pain, he couldn't really nail it down. Both were really how he felt at the present moment. Another shaky step forward, he stumbled a little and both a blue and feathery hand shot out to catch him lest he fall. He huffed in frustration, but pressed on, determined in his goal.

"I never thought walking with a crutch would be so," he limped on his bad leg, "Infuriating."

"Well, it's only for a week honey. Then, you'll be back to your normal self in no time," Luna comforted her clearly frustrated man.

"Or does the little bubby need to nurse his boo boos a little more?" Marnie snickered.

"Shaddup, ya stupid bird. When I get out of this crutch, I'm gonna kick your ass," he snarked at her.

"Oh, what are you gonna do, gimpy; Hobble at me to death?"

"Why you-" James lifted his left fist at her.

A group of maids passed the group of them by and gave a bow to both Luna and James, smiling up at him, before continuing down the hall and leaving. James playful 'anger' evaporated and he paused, looking puzzled.

"I'm confused. Why did they bow to me, Luna? They never did before," he glanced back at the maids.

Luna chuckled, "Well, we wanted to keep it a surprise, but you know how maids are. Can't keep their mouths shut to save their lives," she paused as she pondered her statement, "Huh, we should probably have some sort of meeting about that. Wouldn't want them blurting out national secrets to the other nations."

She glanced back at him and smiled, "For your actions in service to Equestria and the Crown, you are being knighted. To answer your question, no, they are not required to bow to you. At least, not yet. But the maids have a great deal of respect for you for what you did, so I suppose they are choosing to bow a little earlier than needed."

James gave a soft smile, "Knighted, eh? Sir James W. Milligan. I like the sound of that."

Luna saccharinely grinned back at him, "Good. I'm glad you like it. Now, if you two are fine to continue without me, I'm afraid I must attend to some meetings that I can't put off. I'll see you later tonight, dear?"

"Wouldn't miss it, sweetpea," he replied.

With a chaste kiss on his cheek and a hug for Marnie, the Lunar Princess made her departure, the heavy wooden doors closing behind her with a BOOM.

James gave a glance towards the opposite door which would lead out to the courtyard and out of the castle, "Marnie, come with me. We're going out to town."

"Going out? I don't know if that's such a good idea, James. No offense, but your leg is looking pretty weak still and I don't know if the doctors want you out of the castle just yet. You sure you're in good enough shape?" Marnie asked, with a hint of motherly concern in her voice.

"No, not really. But with what we're going to buy, and I'm sure you can probably guess what that something is, it's important for me to be in person to get it. I've been thinking about it for a long time," he hobbled his way towards the door with some trouble.

Marnie gazed down at the floor and concentrated for a moment, before her eyes lit up with glee, "You don't mean?"

"Yes, I mean that," he smiled, "Now are you coming? Or does this crippled man have to meet you there?"

She didn't need to be asked twice.

It had been two weeks, not that James could really tell. The time passed so quick, he hardly had the chance to process it. How quick the weeks of one's life passes. It'd be a sobering thought if he wasn't so happy. He'd thankfully recovered with mostly no issues, aside from that small limp in his leg he still had and a certain tenderness around his liver.

But enough on that. For tonight was the night. He was finally gonna do it. With much planning and conspiring with Marnie and Celestia, he was finally confident enough to go through with it. Now all he had to do was wait.

It was a warm, pleasant June evening, the distant bullfrogs of the lake croaking in their distinct 'out-of-tune guitar' calls. The cicadas hummed heavily in his trees, seeking mates for themselves and adding their own boisterous commotions to what would be a quiet, peaceful night. Not that he minded. It was a lovely reminder of his old home as he whittled away at the block of oak wood.

"I think you," he warmly muttered to the inanimate wood, "Will be a bear. Yes, you'll go nicely on the mantle of my fireplace."

He set to work on his project and waited for his beau to arrive. It was dusk now, the sun steadily setting below the horizon, so he doubted she would be long before she was in his arms again.

The distant sound of a teleportation knocked him out of his whittling trance and he spotted Luna coming over the crest of the incline that stopped just as she got to his house. She had a tantalizing set of black pants that fit well against her legs, accentuating her curves and hugging her hips in just the way he liked. Her shirt was plainer than her pants, adopting a simple yellow t-shirt to blend with her blue coat. Her face was alight with an excited smile and had that air of gracefulness and elegance that he both loved and respected about her.

Luna had dressed to make him look, and who was he to deny indulging in some staring?

"Hey honey," she warmly greeted him, coming to the stairs and holding her arms out in a hug.

He said nothing to her at first, only gazing at her with a smile, "You look good."

She smiled, "Thank you, James." Still, her arms were held out, "So, you gonna hug me or am I going to have to keep standing here?"[

"Perhaps," he grinned at her like a certain gloating cat, "How long are you willing to stand there and wait?"

"Oh, quit it with your little games and hug me, or I'll pry those arms open and make you hug me," she shot him a playful, yet determined glare.

"You can pry a hug from me from my cold dead hands. And even then, good luck! Because I will have put glue on my cold dead hands," he folded his arms and turned his nose up at her with a HHMPH.

"Have it your way then, you vexatious man," she shot her hands towards his folded arms to wrest them away.

"Help help! I'm being involuntarily embraced! Rape rape!" he joked and backpedaled away, carrying the spry, petite mare with him as she held onto him.

He pretended to struggle for a little while longer as they play-fought each other, but he finally relented and wrapped her into a hug. As strong as he could in his state. After all, he was still recovering, technically.

"Now, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" she grinned at him, the two of them sitting down in his rocking chairs on the wooden deck.

He settled into his chair and gazed at her, "Luna, I can't begin to tell you how wonderful of a pony you are. Since you've come into my life, you've changed everything about me for the better, both with my past and my present."

Christ, he didn't feel like he was very good at this emotional talk, but Luna seemed to be beaming at him. Guess he was doing something right.

"You're the most virtuous, kind, beautiful, and graceful mare I've ever met in all my travels and wanderings. I could not imagine my life without you in it," he spoke softly.

Luna was starting to well up, small tears poking out at the corners of her eyes, but she stayed silent, quietly urging him to go on.

"For a time before I really got to know you, many days I thought of ending it, to save myself from all the suffering, pain, and devastation I'd been through during the war, plus my involuntary exile from my home, my friends, my family, and my people. It'd be just a whole lot easier if you're dead, you know? But, I can honestly say that you coming into my life, and our subsequent friendship and relationship, saved me. That means more to me than you can ever imagine."

He fished out the small box in his pocket, opened it, and presented it to her in his left hand, "I can't postpone these feelings for you any longer. So, Princess Luna of Equestria, will you be my wife?"

Luna struggled to hold in her tears and fanned her face. To him, it looked as though she was holding in one of her ugly, snotty cries that she'd have when she was really emotional about something.

"You kn- kn- know," she stuttered out, "I promised myself, that I wouldn't cry when this day came," she grabbed a tissue out of James' hand, which he had put a box of out here ahead of time, and blew her nose, "But it's getting really hard."

"Alright, just repeat after me. I'm not gonna cry," he smiled at her.

"I'm, I'm not gonna cry," she said as she continued to cry, trying to curl her mouth into a smile, but failing horribly.

"Then, I'd love to know your answer. You got me on the edge of my seat here," he joked.

"Yes, of course my answer is yes," she held out her hand for him to put the ring on, which he obliged. It slid on comfortably and lay nestled on her ring finger.

He got up, holding out his arms for an embrace, which she all but crashed into. The floodgates opened as she sobbed happy tears all over his shirt.

He couldn't care at all.

The two of them held each other for awhile, basking in the moment as they say. James reflected on his life as he gazed out at the setting sun and on the new life he was starting for himself here in Equestria. He didn't know what kind of challenges lay ahead of him or what other bizarre, extraordinary things this land would throw at him, but the thought of facing those times of troubles with the woman in his arms brought him a peace that surpassed his understanding.

After all, if they'd faced the war together and come out like this, they could kick life's ass if they wanted.

As for the war, well, it had lost its sting. Some of it at least.

And for that, James was forever thankful to the mare he held dear.

He watched the sun dip below the horizon, eager to see what life held for him in his coming days.

Author's Note

And that's a wrap people!

Thank you so much for reading this story. I certainly enjoyed writing it!

Moving forward, this is the final content chapter, but I'll be releasing two epilogues for Put it to Rest, mostly because I couldn't decide which one I wanted to do more. One is a sweet ending, and the other bittersweet I'd say. In those epilogues, I'll be putting out a little author's afterword explaining how the story came to be, answer some questions, and provide some more insight into further projects.

Two questions for you all though!

First, I've been considering writing a little Character Ask me Anything. I've seen some other stories do it and I like its ability to flesh out characters and provide some more backstory behind things that a story doesn't address. I figured I would ask you all if you'd be interested in something like that.

Second, the sexy times. Normally, I don't like to write smut, mostly because I don't think I'd be that good at it, but this story I've been really pondering about writing a little smut one-shot between our two main characters. I know some people like that, some people don't, so I'll leave it up to you guys.

And of course, thank you for everything. Your continued reading of this little war story has been an excellent motivator to write and create. I know it's cliche to say that, but I mean every word of it.