2150 hours; December 16, 2016

'I'm not quite sure how to respond to this...' Alex thought as he sat on the couch, with... God, even thinking about who was sitting next to him was enough to make him feel butterflies in his stomach!

"Is there anything to do around here?" Yang asked, boredom practically dripping from her tone.

"Not much, really. Except for those books and the record player. I've always been insanely busy, so this is the first time in months that I actually have nothing to do." Alex shrugged.

"Really? No free time at all?" Yang wondered.

"Between battle, planning, building armor and weapons, and keeping everyone in line, There was a hell of a lot to do. And there still is. Even after the court session." Alex figured.

"Right... I've been thinking.." Yang began.

"Thinking about what?" Alex asked.

"I'll... Ask later. You know about Oz trying to get you in Beacon, right?" She asked.

"Yeah, he told me in the medic tent. I think he said I could join next year." Alex replied.

"Will you?" She pondered.

"Technically, I should go when I turn 17, so maybe the year after that. And then I'll have one free year for community service or whatever they're sentencing for me." Alex said.

"O-Oh... So I'll be a third year when you finally decide to.." Yang blinked.

"I guess... But, hey. I don't wanna worry about that, now. Anything you want to do right now? And I mean that platonically. I'm just trying to be a good host!" Alex assured, the nervous expression on his face badly concealed.

"Maybe there's something in town? I'm sure Ruby wants to know where I'll be for tonight." Yang figured

"Where she'll be for tonight-- oh, GOD." Alex nervously twitched.

"Heh heh... Right.." He stammered.

"Well, let's get to it! I heard she was with Twilight and Blake in the library. She was always a bookworm." Yang thought fondly of her sister.

"Where's Ice Queen and the 'MLG Brigade' at?" Alex wondered.

"I heard they were hanging out at Applejack's place for cider. I still can't believe what happened.." Yang seethed.

"What happened to her?" Alex asked.

"I think Sigma snapped her spine, so she needed more enhancements." Yang recalled.

"All the more reason to hunt her down.." Alex muttered darkly.

"So, we're heading out?" Yang asked, preferring to stay off that subject, at least until later.

"Sure... Let's go.." Alex nodded, throwing on a jacket and handing Yang a spare.

--

The library wasn't too bad of a walk, snow fluttered down from above as the two walked, side by side, one closer than the other would like, to the Golden Oak Library.

Alex steadily opened the door with one hand and held it open.

"Thanks!" Yang smiled.

"Just being polite.." Alex muttered nervously.

Twilight welcomed them inside, with Spike hiding nervously behind her hind leg.

"Is-Is that him..?" He gasped.

"Yep. Hi Alex, Hi Yang! What brings you two here?" She asked.

"Just looking for Ruby, you see her anywhere?" Yang replied.

"Hi, Yang!" Ruby greeted her sister with a hug, who returned the gesture in kind.

"Hi, Bro!" Ruby also gave him a hug, which Alex returned meekly upon hearing Ruby call him 'bro'.

"Uh... Dear god.. Hi, Ruby.." Alex nervously replied, patting her back lightly.

"Oh, come on! I meant that, y'know, like we're both sort of soldiers, now!" Ruby playfully slugged him in the shoulder.

"Heh heh... I totally believe you, but.." Alex sweatdropped.

"Is he always this sweaty?" Spike asked Twilight.

"Since these two first met, it's actually kind of funny." Twilight smirked.

"I like all of you, but, holy hell, you guys can be a bit much. No offense, Spike." Alex turned his attention to the small purple-and-green drake.

"None taken."

"Alex! Spike is still a baby!" Twilight scolded.

"Yeah, I've heard kids younger than him drop F-Bombs like it's going out of style on CoD, so I'll take that advice with a grain of salt." Alex deadpanned.

"Twilight, what are 'F-Bombs'?" Spike asked innocently.

"Alex!!"

"Oh, that's easy. It's this word called 'fu-'" Yang smiled earnestly.

"Yang!!!" Twilight scolded her.

"Oh, sure! It's fine when a 16 year old princess says it in the middle of a battle, but not two people in a household conversation!" Ruby rolled her eyes in a joking manner.

"I'm 23 years old!" Twilight yelled.

"I figured Twi was somewhere in her twenties." Alex shrugged.

"Do you guys get the point?!" Twilight demanded.

"All right, we're sorry." Yang smiled broadly.

"Okay, is that all you wanted to do?" Twilight asked.

"Yep. I was just going to tell Ruby that I'll be at Alex's place so she won't worry." Yang said.

"She can come with, too. I have a guest bedroom, so I can sleep on the couch." Alex shrugged.

"That sounds great-!" Ruby smiled.

"Nope! That bed was destroyed...in the war, and I can't have him sleep on that uncomfortable couch all by himself!" Yang smiled.

"For f**k sake, Yang!!" Alex yelled in his head.

"Oh... I get it! I'll stay with Vinyl." Ruby smiled knowingly.

"Not you too!" Alex groaned inwardly.

Twilight and Spike both were holding in their laughter, holding their mouths with their hooves and claws.

"Well, that's all we're here for! Let's head back!" Yang smiled, grabbing Alex by the back of the shirt.

"Help... Me..." Alex pleaded.

"Have fun, you two! But not too much!" Ruby yelled as they left the Library, Twilight and Spike's laughter muffled as the door slammed shut.

--

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!"

Alex held in his screaming as he lay in his darkened bed, with a certain Huntress laying next to him.

"So... Can I ask you a few questions?" She asked, turning her head to look at him.

"Uh... Yeah... Sure thing.." Alex replied, his voice tight with awkwardness.

"So... About that list you had earlier.." Yang's voice trailed off.

"What about it?" Alex asked.

"I was wondering... Why do you want to keep going through with this? Why keep stressing over this? The war's over, we won." Yang questioned.

"Yang. I expected you of all people would know why, but.. Truth is, I really don't want anyone else hurt because of some idiot.. Not like-" Alex began.

"Like us?" Yang asked.

"Well... Yes and no.." Alex blinked.

"What do you mean?" Yang wondered inquisitively.

"I'll explain later.." Alex said.

"No, Alex! I'm tired of all this 'I'll explain everything later' stuff! I know when something's bugging you, Alex. What's wrong?" She demanded in anger.

Alex hesitated, recoiling from her outburst with more fear and nervousness.

Yang noticed, and placed a hand reassuringly at his shoulder.

"Come on... You know I'll try to understand." She begged at a lighter tone.

Alex sighed deeply, looking her in the eye.

"Yang... I don't know how to tell you this, so I'll just give you the facts. No more bullshit." Alex promised.

"Okay..?" She waited intently, curious.

"When I was in that crack... I met with... People from my past... And they told me that Alpha was actually a time traveller born about 6 years from now, and this time traveller knew all of us." Alex recalled.

"Someone we know?" Yang wondered.

"And when I fought Alpha... He... He took off his helmet, and.." Alex nervously remembered.

"He looked like you, d-didn't he? He was... your son?" Yang realized, horrified.

"Yeah... And that's not the worst part... His hair was a lot lighter than mine... And his eyes, near the pupils, his eyes were purple... Yang, he was yours too...I-I can't begin tell you how sorry I am..." Alex sighed.

Yang trembled, hugging him tightly.

"I... I never.." Yang tried comforting him to little avail.

"It hurts like hell. I know... But.." Alex returned the hug as well.

"It.. It all makes sense now! That's why you've been trying to avoid me more than usual lately! That's why you want to hunt down the Inquisitors even more..!" Yang concluded.

"Now you get it. I want to be...Um...Around you... But fact of the matter is, I still have work to do before we can." Alex sighed.

Yang hugged him again, pecking him lightly on the cheek, leaving Alex more nervous still.

"Now.. I know it seems like you have to do this by yourself.. But I'm not sure you can do this all on your own.." Yang added.

"I can't risk you, any of you for that matter, to fight with me anymore... I can't lose anyone else..." Alex grieved.

"So that's it, then? You're just going to run in, alone, and lose another arm?! You almost died after your fight with Alpha! Do you get it, yet?! I spent 15 minutes bleeding from that cut Gamma gave me, and the doctors said I could've died from that, too! That was a walk in the park compared to what Alpha did to you! He completely shattered your arms, your legs, and depleted almost all of your Aura! If it hadn't been for Pyrrha and Nora messing with the medical scanners to power your healing, you actually would have died! Twilight, Ruby, and Vanoss should've shut you up and helped you! Maybe then, you wouldn't be more of a robot than you already are!!"

Alex stared at Yang, completely lost for words, and slumped back down into his bed. He let out a ragged sigh before turning over, tossing the rest of the covers over to Yang's side of the bed.

"What are you doing now?!" She asked, angered.

"What's it look like? I'm going to sleep." Alex snapped back.

"Not without a blanket! It's the middle of winter!" Yang screamed.

"Winter, Schminter. Keep the covers. It's not like the robot needs any!" Alex retorted.

Yang went silent for a moment, and Alex finally closed his eyes.

"Look at me." She suddenly said.

"Hm?" Alex blinked his eyes open.

"Turn over and look me in the eye." Yang demanded.

Alex fearfully obliged, only to find the blankets being thrown back over him and his head in her arms.

"Look, Alex... I'm... I'm sorry... I know you think we'd be better off without you showing up, but if you can't stand losing any of us, imagine how we'd feel after losing you." Yang smiled, finally meeting lips.

Alex could only stare, eyes wide with confusion, as she broke off.

"I... Wha.... How..." Alex stammered.

Yang smiled at him again.

"So... Do you still want to be, quote, 'Around me'?" Yang asked.

Alex barely needed to think about it.

"Yang, I'd be happy to-" Alex began.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" A rainbow maned Pegasus crashed through their window at blinding speed, carrying with her, a certain Owl-Masked video game avatar.

"Rainbow! What the hell was that?!" Vanoss yelled.

"You were leaning on my right too far! I lost my balance!" Rainbow screamed back.

"Guys.." Alex scowled.

"At least I- Oh, shit." Vanoss groaned.

"And now we're dead in the next five seconds because of you, Evan!" Rainbow yelled.

"Oh..! Sorry, was I interrupting something?" Vanoss asked them.

Alex stared daggers into Vanoss' owl mask eyes, red lightning occasionally flickered off of him, lighting the room in short bursts of time.

"Shit. Shit! Run! Run!!" Vanoss yelled, diving out the window with Rainbow flying behind him.

"Vanoss? Rainbow? What's with the commotion?" Vinyl asked from outside.

"This blockhead got me off balance and we crashed into Alex's window." rainbow explained.

"Were Alex and Yang doing anything I should know about?" Ruby wondered.

"I think they were kissing or something, I don't know!" Vanoss answered.

Alex walked over to the window, grabbing the inside storm shutters and slamming them shut, locking them and returning to his bed.

"So, I heard a 'yes'." Yang smiled.

"Um... You heard right.." Alex said.

"Let's pick up where we left off." Yang smiled deviously.

"Wait, what?"

Yang kissed Alex again, catching him by surprise and hugging him.

Alex still wasn't quite sure how to handle any of this. He had accepted the huntress three times, once during the battle and twice now, and he still wasn't sure how to respond. He had seen too much, failed too many times and, now that it was all over, had too much on his mind.

'Huh.. Maybe Kat and Iris had the right idea..' Alex thought as he embraced Yang in turn.

--

Author's Note:

Before any of you read further, no, they didn't do certain specific things. Just letting you know, this is still a T rated story, so none of that!

Shame on you.

--

*The Next Day; December 17, 2016; 1300 Hours, Ponyville Courthouse*

"Court is now in session, the honorable Judge Bronze Scale presiding." The clerk said as Alex turned his attention to the Judge, a middle-aged bronze-colored unicorn. From Alex's understanding, he was the Princess' most trusted judge.

"You may be seated." Judge Scale sighed, as if this session alone had been discussed over and over through these past months.

Like U.S court, Alex had been entitled to a jury of his peers. Some, he recognized as members of the Coalition, or just regular soldiers and even regular Ponyville residents. He trusted them to decide what he actually deserved out of this, as he really only knew Weiss in that jury, and Alex trusted her about as much as he trusted, say, Rainbow.

Alex himself rejected having a lawyer entirely. He read a bit of Equestrian law, but only enough to perform this one act.

"In the case of Equestria vs. Walker, Admiral Walker, how do you plead?" The judge asked.

Most of the Jury and the audience, including the rest of his friends, looked at Alex expectantly.

"What do you think he's going to do?" Vinyl asked Yang.

"I asked him yesterday, but he told me not to tell you what he was going to do." Yang replied.

"Why?"

"He said something like 'nobody will agree with this'." Yang answered.

Alex sighed.

"Admiral?" Judge Scale demanded again.

"I plead guilty, your honor." Alex stared him dead in the eye.

Most of the attendance started yelling in outrage.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Wildcat groaned.

"Is he kidding?!" Rainbow gasped.

"What..?" Blake sweatdropped.

"Order!" Judge Scale pounded the gavel, silencing everyone in the room in a matter of seconds.

"Admiral, do you know by pleading guilty you are losing your right to a jury trial?"

"Yes, sir." Alex replied steadily.

"Do you comprehend what surrendering that right means?" The judge asked again.

"Yes, your honor."

"Do you know you are also surrendering your right against incriminating yourself?"

"Yes, I do."

"Is anyone forcing you into that settlement?" The judge demanded.

"No, your honor. I'm doing this of my own accord."

"Are you pleading guilty because you, in fact, were involved in the assaults on this 'Area 51', The Canterlot Castle, and the residence of Princess Sparkle, as well as the murders of at least 120 humans and 21 Royal Guards?" Judge Scale asked again.

"Yes, your honor." Alex sighed.

The judge shook his head in disbelief, clearing his throat before reading off the sentence that the jury had provided.

"Admiral Walker, you are hereby sentenced to 72 hours in prison, 30 hours of community service, and one year's probation, which will be provided to whomever you will train under after your stay in Ponyville Penitentiary and your community service. And you are hereby demoted to the rank of Captain." Judge Scale slammed his gavel, confirming the charge and sealing Alex's fate.

In Alex's opinion, the sentence was a bit lighter than he would've thought. Now he knew what Ozpin meant when he said 'history is written by the victor'.

Skirmish and another guard went to either side of Alex, intending to lead him out of the courtroom.

"Hey, Skirmish." Alex nodded.

"Adm- Captain.." Skirmish politely nodded as he was led out of the courtroom.

--

"Captain, what were you trying to prove in that room?" Professor Ozpin asked from outside the cell door.

Alex turned to face Ozpin with the facial equivalent of 'Are you f**king serious?'.

"To be honest, I'm not trying to prove anything. I did, in fact, commit these crimes, and that was before the actual war. A friend once told me that there's too much wrong with the world to stand back and do nothing about it. I shouldn't be exempt from facing the consequences of my actions just because of a few superficial medals. And if you ask me, this," Alex lectured, gesturing to the stone cell around him,"This has been a long time coming."

Ozpin narrowed his eyes and nodded.

"I see. Now, may we speak to each other in private?" Ozpin asked the guard outside his cell, who stepped out, closing the door behind him.

"I assume this is about that 'list'." Alex figured.

"You are correct in this case, Alexander."

Ozpin pulled out the booklet in question, turning to the list.

"Now, I'm just curious, where did you hear about this... 'Salem'?" Ozpin wondered, dread heavy in his tone.

"When I fought Alpha, he mentioned that she was among the Inquisition's highest benefactors, right along with King Sombra and Lord Tirek. You know something about this 'Salem', don't you?" Alex asked.

Ozpin hardened his gaze.

"Salem is described as the Queen of the Grimm, half human, half abomination. She intends to destroy humanity slowly, and, as we've been made aware recently, had been intending to use Cinder Fall and her subordinates to mount an attack on Vale during the Vytal Festival, which you prevented due to the war effort. You may have saved countless lives." Ozpin explained.

"May I ask how you know?" Alex wondered.

"An anonymous letter written to my office with the pseudonym 'Scion'. We've been unable to identify Scion or his motives, but it's generally believed he is the one who teleported you to Ponyville, where you could receive the necessary medical attention." Ozpin elaborated.

"So, what happens now?" Alex wondered.

"Do your time, for now. I've personally decided to search for a necessary mentor for you until you join us at Beacon Academy. Prepare all you can. And, most of all, if you are going to try and kill her, kill her last. She is the most dangerous entity in all of Remnant." Ozpin ordered as he began leaving.

"And, Oz?" Alex asked.

Ozpin quickly turned around.

"I know you gave Pyrrha the other half of the Fall Maiden's powers. If you want my personal advice, she should be the one to kill Cinder." Alex sighed.

Ozpin faced Alex, confused, before nodding and finally leaving the room.

Author's Notes:

Another chapter to the end.

First off, Yang and Alex are 'officially' a thing now. I'm not sure how you guys are going to take this...
Ah, f**k it. Posted.

Secondly, Horse Prison.

Third, Sequel?
Meh, probably. I'm setting this up on what is basically a cliffhanger.

-The Destoyer