Alex sat at the observation deck on the Iliad, deep in thought.

The recent battle killed a lot of good people, and hurt many more. Twilight had been beaten nearly senseless and likely killed if reinforcements hadn't gotten to her in time. Blake had to get a prosthetic leg after Omicron shot her in the knee. The search and destroy unit Icarus only had two survivors out of the seven that left.

But thankfully, the ARES Marks I and II were destroyed, the resulting explosions even destroyed the payloads, and Omicron had been captured and locked in the ship's maximum security cell, modified to seal in even the most destructive huntsmen.

And now, Atlas had sent in a Specialist to assist, and Ruby and Yang's Uncle Qrow even went to help. At least progress was being made.

"Hello? You up there, Alex?" Alex heard somebody ask.

Alex turned around to find Rainbow Dash climbing the stairs behind him.

"Oh, hi Rainbow." Alex nodded in greeting.

"Is everything okay?" She asked.

"Depends on how you look at the last mission as a whole." Alex shrugged.

"Are you still upset over most of the space team dying?" She asked.

"And the fact that Twilight was nearly killed and that Blake lost a leg." Alex spat, disgusted in his sheer uselessness.

"I know you want to keep as many of us as safe as you can, but you can't save everyone." Rainbow sighed.

"... I know." Alex sighed, head in his hands.

"As much as I hate to say this, you probably won't be able to... Twilight told me what you and the others talked about with Commander Locust." Rainbow sighed, shuffling closer to his side.

"I thought the Princess would at least have the foresight to keep this secret." Alex laid down.

"You were going to keep this from us, weren't you? To spare us?" Rainbow asked.

Alex groaned.

"Yes.. I was..." Alex said, dejectedly.

"Why? Keeping secrets from us worked out so well for you in the past." Rainbow scoffed.

"Rainbow, I'm legitimately sick in the head. Who wouldn't be after everything to me in the past 4 months? I think I have good reasons to hide all of this." Alex monologued.

Rainbow sighed.

"But, that doesn't mean I don't regret it."

"Do you?" She asked him.

"Every damn day. If I had just come clean the first day I dropped into Equestria, literally none of this would be happening. You and the other Elements, maybe even Celestia and Luna, would've kicked Winchester out before everything could go to complete shit." Alex spat.

"But what about Ruby? Or Vanoss?" Rainbow asked.

"Rainbow, look around you. We're on a giant floating coffin, in the middle of an ocean on in an alternate universe, with a sociopathic killer just a few floors underneath us, about to fight in the apocalypse, knowing full well that we could die. Clearly, they'd get on much better!" Alex angrily shouted.

"Calm down. Please." Rainbow tried putting a hoof on his shoulder.

"Yang told me a couple hours back that if it weren't for this, they would be competing in the Vytal Festival at their school. A sort of holiday that celebrated the unity of the four kingdoms in this world. They had to stop all of that for us. So, yeah. I regret not telling you. I regret all of this." Alex kicked the concrete floor of the observation deck in a fit of rage.

Rainbow stood up, wrapping a wing around Alex's shoulder and back.

"Alex. I'm saying this for your own good. Calm down. You know as much as I do that I can't promise I can make everything okay again. But please, at least try." She lifted her wing and walked back down the stairs.

Alex rolled onto his back. If he had just bucked up and told the Elements everything from the moment they went in to see him, the alien, he would be hunting monsters and making bullets for that purpose. He could've made a living off of that. And, perhaps if it was in his league, he would join them to defeat Equestria's next big would-be threat. But no, he hid. Bottled up his anger and sickness like a coward. And when Crimson came along. He just ran away again.

What would he do after this? If he somehow miraculously survived the Blood Red Night? Would he go back to Equestria, rebuild his new home and town, and live out that idea? Or maybe go to Remnant and go to a combat school until he was old enough to go to a school like Beacon? There was even the smallest chance he could go back to his old home? Move back into Reynold and try to act like he was never wanted by a gang of psychopaths, and forced into going on this long winded adventure, and as though he never had to fight for his very life? Even his origins warranted possibilities, he could move to Adenien and be hailed as a hero to his people!

This journey had broken him, yes, but there were so many opportunities now that he never would have considered in his wildest dreams! It could rebuild him. They always said what didn't kill you only made you stronger. He understood now what Ozpin had said to him when he first met the headmaster.

And, hell. He had been meaning to make more friends, now he had like twenty or thirty! And how many people could say that?

"Got a minute?" Blake asked, interrupting his thoughts.

Alex looked behind him, seeing the black-haired Faunus.

"Oh, hi, Blake. How's the leg?" Alex asked meaningfully.

Blake looked at the appendage, the Adenienites knew their stuff when creating prosthetic limbs, with the Iliad's resources, one wouldn't be able to tell it was ever hacked off at all!

"Your... Kinsmen are good at making new limbs. They'd make a killing for the Huntsmen, do you know how many huntsmen have to be removed from duty because an Ursa bit off his or her arm?" She asked.

"Ouch. I can't imagine what that feels like." Alex winced.

"Weren't you tortured for, like, a whole month?" Blake asked.

Alex scowled.

"Anyways, you look like you're trying to clear your head up here. Should I leave?" Blake asked.

"It doesn't matter. Do what you want." Alex shrugged in a neutral tone.

Blake sat down about five feet away, opening a book.

Alex laid down again, grabbing his journal and writing down his thoughts as he usually did at times like this.

"So. What are you thinking about?" She finally asked.

"Just about what I'd do after all of this is over. If by some miracle I live." Alex replied.

"Oh... I wouldn't dwell too long, especially since there's a lot that needs to be done right now." Blake said.

"Oh, right, I heard about how you had to interrogate Adam. Did he talk?" Alex asked.

"No. He usually doesn't talk all that much, he was trained not to." Blake sighed.

"Can't Twilight do something? There has to be some kind of spell that can get him to cough it out. I remember her telling me about this freaky ass 'Want it, Need it' spell. For a relatively peaceful nation, Equestria usually doesn't seem to give two f**ks about not messing with the mind." Alex said.

"If that's true, why didn't she use that spell on you when you wouldn't talk about your past?" Blake asked.

"I guess Twi and the others didn't want to try and mindf**k the alien. But Celestia said that her sister's been looking in my dreams..." Alex's voice trailed off.

Blake tilted her head inquisitively before blinking in realization.

"You think that's the best way to go about it?" Blake asked.

"It's the best I can come up with. Good talking to you, Blake." Alex nodded.

"Likewise." She smiled a little bit.

As Alex stood up and started to walk out.

"By the way. Yang does kind of like you. I figured you already knew, but..."

Alex shook his head a little.

"Tell her, maybe after all of this is over, maybe we can talk." Alex suggested.

"I will." Blake replied before Alex started his trek down the stairwell.

Thankfully, Twilight wasn't far off, she was with Rainbow Dash.

"Hello, Alex!" Twilight greeted.

"Hey Princess, Rainbow." Alex nodded.

"You okay now?" Rainbow asked.

"Better than okay. I have an idea." Alex smiled a little bit.

"Sure, let's hear it." Rainbow smirked proudly.

"You know how Omicron isn't spilling anything, right?" Alex asked.

"Yeah. Blake told me about that, too." Twilight sighed.

"Well, I got to thinking. Can't Princess Luna see into people's dreams and shit?" Alex asked.

"Yes. She saved all of Equestria one time because of that." Twilight nodded.

"I thought maybe she could look into Omicron's head and get what we need." Alex suggested.

"You do know that's a war crime, right?" Rainbow asked.

"We are at war right now." Alex reasoned.

"You don't seem to understand the complexities of asking a favor like that. There's a lot of paperwork to do, so much to ensure that she isn't breaking any Equestrian Laws by using such advanced methods of psychological warfare." Twilight explained.

"You mean to tell me that you didn't get away with using the 'Want it, Need it' spell, or even the little kids essentially forcing people into falling in love with the magical aphrodisiac?" Alex inquired.

"Are you saying that Equestrian Magic is unethical?!" Twilight asked, as though deeply offended.

"I never said that. I'm just saying that if even little kids can get away with using this sort of thing out of carelessness without severe consequences, surely your Princess can use her magic get information out of a psychopath locked in the basement." Alex shrugged.

"That isn't the point. If Princess Luna could be able to extract some sensitive information out of someone as deranged as Omicron, what's to stop her from bringing nightmare after nightmare to an opposing army to break their morale and deprive them of sleep?" Twilight retorted.

"No disrespect, but do you have the slightest idea who you're talking to?" Alex tilted his head quizzically.

Twilight shuffled uncomfortably, while Rainbow blinked in surprise.

"Take this from an actual torture victim, Luna going into his mind would be the most humane way out of this. We wouldn't have to use humanity's most effective and brutal torture methods." Alex argued collectedly.

"I have to admit, he has a point." Rainbow shrugged.

Twilight sighed.

"Very well, I'll address Princess Luna about the matter. From there, what you and her decide is final." Twilight relented.

"Thank you, Princess." Alex nodded politely.

Twilight trotted off, still looking a bit perturbed.

"I didn't think you had a knack for arguing." Rainbow smirked.

"My parents made me take a Debate Club at school in middle school. I guess it paid off." Alex explained.

"What else did your parents make you do?" Rainbow wondered.

"They made me take a karate class for four years, the debate team for two, went on hunting trips in Canada since I was about 12, and Boy Scouts for 6." Alex listed.

"Sounds like a lot of work." Rainbow said.

"I had a decently busy childhood." Alex admitted.

"Also, Twilight happened to tell me about your parents... They're Adenienites?" Rainbow asked.

"If what Locust says is true, then yeah. I guess." Alex shuddered.

"How are you holding up on that regard?" Rainbow asked.

"You ever watch Dragonball Z?" Alex asked.

"Dragon who-what?" Rainbow asked, confused.

"Superman?"

"No."

"Transformers: Animated?"

"Is that even a show?"

"Sailor Moon?"

"The hay is that?"

Alex sighed heavily.

"Power Ponies?"

"Ooooohh..."

"Yep." Alex blinked.

"I have to go, I still have to practice flying!" Rainbow flew off.

"Bye." Alex waved slightly.

As Rainbow flew away, Alex suddenly felt a bit tired.

"Screw this, I'm going to bed." He blatantly muttered.

----

"Alex..."

His face twitched, otherwise no response.

"Aaaaaaaleeeeeeex...."

Alex blinked groggily.

"Wha-? Ugh. Who's there?" Alex asked quietly.

'I'm haunting you.'

Alex's eyebrows shot upwards upon realization of who was talking to him.

"NNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Author's Notes:

*sigh* I watch way too much youtube for my own good.