Alex Walker was bone tired.

He just fought a huge dragon alongside a winged horse, carried every last cent of the treasure haul the dragon had kept into his pocket dimension, and yet again reevaluated his decisions. All he wanted to do was sleep, but his party came first.

From what Alex and Pinkie discussed, the party would be at Sugarcube Corner, the local bakery and Pinkie's home, Alex figured it was a bad idea to have Pinkie live upstairs from the town's bakery, but hey, their choice.

Alex wondered if he could drink, hell, he was practically an adult, with a home, a vastly overpaying job, and was acquaintances with a local celebrity. All things considered, he needed this.

The bakery was not far from where he now was, complete with a 'Welcome Alex' banner over the entrance, and the whole inside of the bakery bustling with ponies.

Alex opened the door, the entirety of the town's residence welcoming him, including Vinyl, sitting behind the turntable, as promised. He sat down at one of the tables, and that one table was instantly filled, Twilight, Cloudchaser, and Flitter greeting him happily.

"Alex! Congratulations on...well, surviving!" Twilight smiled.

"What? You'd think I'd go down that quick?" He joked, smiling for the first time in ages.

"So, what was your life like before coming here, Alex?" Flitter asked, eager to hear a story of some type.

"Well, I was born in Reynold, Oregon. Lived there pretty much my whole life. My parents were wonderful people, and my father taught me everything there was to know about weapons by the time I was about 12." He started.

"Oh, yeah, I've been meaning to ask, how old are you, anyway?" Cloudchaser asked.

"Fifteen and a half, I'll be sixteen in March." He said.

"You're only 15? And you held your own against a dragon?!" Flitter asked, bewildered.

"I can't take all the credit, Rainbow followed me up, probably would've died in about 15 seconds of that fight if not for her." He said.

"Oh, yeah, we couldn't take a chance on you doing anything drastic, so we sent her up there for you." Twilight sheepishly admitted.

"Are we going to ignore the fact that he's fifteen and killed a dragon?" Cloudchaser asked.

"Why, how old are you?" He asked.

"Twenty-two, but that's not the point!" Cloudchaser defended.

"Alex!" Pinkie yelled, carrying a tray of cupcakes.

"Hello, Pinkie." He greeted.

"Pinkie, did you know Alex here is only 15?" Asked Flitter.

"Well, duh! His voice cracks all the time!" She scoffed.

"My voice doesn't crack!" Alex said.

"It just did!" Twilight said, laughing.

"Hey, AJ, settle a bet, would you, does my voice crack?" He asked the orange pony.

"Like an egg." She giggled.

"He's as red as a tomato!" Pinkie yelled in between laughs, pointing at his cheeks.

"Yeah, bartender, the strongest you've got?" Alex asked.

"Okay, sir." He said, handing him what looked like a root beer, after one sip, he noticed that it was.

"Isn't this root beer?" He asked.

"Sorry sir, you have to be at least 18 to drink."

"Eighteen?! In my world it was 21!" He said, bewildered.

"Okay, I can make an exception. Age 21 to drink?" The bartender laughing.

"What is this? A 'pick on me' day?" He asked.

Alex looked at the door, seeing, in horror, a scene from his worst nightmares.

Four humans, all dressed in military uniforms, carrying SCARs and MP-7s, and a picture of Alex under a 'Wanted, dead or alive' caption, in bold.

Alex quietly unholstered his .44 Magnum, loading six rounds into the cylinder.

"Hey, is something wrong, Alex, you look like you've seen a ghost." Cloudchaser said.

"You could say that."

"Miss, we're looking for a Mr. Alex Gabriel Walker, have you seen him?" One of the soldiers asked Vinyl. He could just barely hear the conversation from his seat.

"Who, Alex? He's over there with the princess." Another pony said.

"Thank you." The soldier finished.

Alex waited until the soldiers could move away from the other guests, they were going to be quite pissed at him for what he was about to do.

"Cloudchaser, can you get my contact lens, I think it fell under the table."

He lied, her head was blocking his view of the soldiers, he didn't want to accidentally kill her.

"No probs, I'll look." She said, ducking down.

In the second that Cloudchaser ducked under the table, Alex pulled out his Colt, Aiming it at the soldier closest to him.

The first shot hit the Soldier right in the middle of his visor, blood splattering out the gaping hole in the back of his head as the bullet hit the wall.

The second bullet screamed into the next soldier's neck, holding his throat as he went on his knees. Gurgling and coughing blood.

"Suspect at Sugarcube corner, repeat, High Value Target is at the bakery." The third said into a transmitter as the third and fourth shots crippled and killed him, respectfully.

The fifth shot bounced off the last soldier's helmet and into the second soldier's chest, killing him.

The last bullet went into the fourth soldier's neck, grasping his neck and spluttering to the ground, choking on his own blood.

Alex immediately noticed the look of horror on everyone's eyes, a few running over to the dead soldiers, trying to help them, to no avail. He was clearly trembling, with the realization of what happened hitting him like a brick wall. His suspicions confirmed, their suspicions confirmed, and the effect of firing all six rounds, all of them four-grain.

In his fear, Alex got up, stole a walkie-talkie from one of the corpses, loaded the SCAR, and ran like all hell was at his heels, which it probably was.

The other ponies tried to process exactly what happened, to them, a newcomer, someone welcome in their home, their society killed four people, whom they knew nothing about, all carrying similar weapons to Alex's, and Alex himself didn't say a thing about the soldiers, why was he so mortified?

----

Alex ran through the streets of Ponyville as fast as his legs could carry him, trying to find which channel their COs were giving orders, all the while evading and killing more soldiers, all fire teams. Alex stole a large butcher knife from his newest kills, putting that into the satchel. He flipped through radio channels at a constant pace, and continued to do so until he heard a female voice from the other end.

"High Value Target, This is Spectre 0-1 calling on a private channel, I repeat, High Value Target, respond, this is Spectre 0-1!"

Alex wasn't sure what to think of this, Spectre wouldn't communicate on any open channels, yet she seemed to want him to answer with urgency, he figured he should respond.

"Spectre 0-1, this is the HVT, I'm all ears, over!" He yelled, shooting the SCAR as well as a stolen MP-7 at another squad. He clearly had no idea where to turn, Twilight and the others would find him any minute, if Task Force Crimson didn't gun him down first.

"High Value Target, I'm going to direct you to a nearby safe zone, follow my instructions precisely and you should make it in one piece." Spectre responded.

"10-4, Spectre, I'm currently a half-mile away from a large purple castle to the east, I'm listening." Alex responded, he needed all the help he could get right now, and if Spectre was going to turn him in, that would be her mistake.

"High Value Target, I'm picking up feeds that an armored patrol is moving in your direction, recommend you move a half- click north. What's your inventory?" Spectre asked.

"SCAR-H ACOG sight and M203 attachment and a Colt Anaconda, over!" He responded.

Alex ran as far as he could, returning fire at any Crimson soldiers who dared to attack. He really hoped that Spectre wouldn't turn out like the Militia, using him to her own ends.

"Spectre, I'm seeing helos coming in from the south, what's your recommended course of action?" Alex asked, looking at the three Apache helicopters above him.

"Stay low, move a half click more to the west."

Alex was bewildered, that led him straight through the heart of town!

"Spectre, where is this safe zone?" He asked.

"Northwest corner of Ponyville, just before reaching the Orchard. Over." Spectre responded.

"Wilco, moving west." He continued charging through the town, firing at anyone holding a gun. Alex moved on to using his .44 Magnum, the SCAR's barrel was another mag away from melting before him. Pulling back the hammer and unleashing a volley of bullets in that direction.

Dammit! A bullet zipped inches away from his hand, hitting the Colt Revolver, leaving him with a piping-hot SCAR-H and a knife.

He charged at his opponent, dodging shots from his M4 Carbine. He lunged for his aggressor's neck, jabbing the blade into his throat and stealing the gun.

"High Value Target, I just picked up some comm chatter, enemy Humvees coming your way, recommend using your grenade launcher and running." Spectre warned.

Oh, crap, they were everywhere, and on each one was a Minigun, it's barrels rotating as they sighted him in. Alex pulled out his SCAR and fired a grenade at one of the Humvees, blowing it to cinders and sending the gunner flying. Then using his M4 to pick of the remaining gunners, blood splattering the cars as he ran like hell.

"High Value Target, Crimson fire team Metal Storm moving fast in your direction, use the rooftops." Spectre ordered. Alex charged for one of the houses, climbing onto the roof without struggle. Sweet Apple Acres wasn't too far away now, just gotta jump these rooftops and avoid being spotted.

Pain! God! A red hot splinter seared into his leg, Alex had been shot!

Looking down, he noticed several men bearing M249 SAWs, absolutely tearing this house apart.

Alex returned fire, picking off two soldiers, but there wasn't much he could do without getting shot again.

"Spectre, I'm pinned down on the roof about a half click away from your quote-unquote 'safe zone'." He complained.

"Roger, friendly mortars inbound." Spectre responded. She had artillery?! That would've been much more useful when he was cornered.

As promised, a large explosion blasted in front of Alex, the house caving in as he leapt off, sending more pain into wounded leg. The soldiers pinning him down were obviously blown to bits.

"Spectre, I'm wounded." Alex said into the speaker. Limping frantically towards the safe zone, he was likely very close .

"Where are you?" Spectre asked.

"Pretty damn close to the safe zone." He said.

"I see you, popping flares at safe zone now." Spectre said. Sure enough, a brilliant red light popped up about a quarter mile away from where he was right now.

Alex dropped his M4, the shock of being shot was in no way, shape, or form a new experience, but it still hurt a LOT.

Moving as best he could with a hole in his leg, he noticed a young woman with hair as dark as the night sky waving a flare, no doubt it was Spectre, did she work alone?

Spectre noticed his difficulty, running close to him and helping him into the spider hole.

"Hello, you are Alex Walker, I assume, is that correct?" She asked.

"Yeah. Thanks for helping me out."

"Anytime, an enemy of Winchester's is a friend of mine." She smiled.

"How do you know about Agent Winchester?" He asked.

"I was his comrade from an old CIA unit, He offered me a job at Crimson as soon as it formed. When I found out the full extent of his actions, I left." Spectre sighed, as if the fact that Winchester would kill kids was new to her.

"Then why help his target?"

"I only needed to read your file once to know you were innocent. I knew it, he knew it. The only reason he didn't let you leave was because he didn't want to look like a failure, he knows if you got out, you would tell everyone what he did." Spectre said.

"I didn't tell another soul, in fact, I made myself look like a total ass in front of a potential friend just to hide it." He admitted.

"What?! Why?" Spectre seemed bewildered. Maybe he was wrong to hide it.

"I'm just scared to death of what will happen when I tell people. Murder is a condemnable crime here, I felt like if I were to talk, it would be like giving my gun to Winchester and saying 'here, kill me'." Alex said. He truly did feel like if he did talk, Twilight and the others would turn him back in as soon as Crimson got here.

"You can't always expect everyone to betray you, you have to put trust in someone." She said.

"Why the hell not? The Kahn Militia certainly felt it was a reasonable idea." Alex sarcastically stated,

"You joined them?!"

"It's not like I had much choice! It was that or die a slow, painful death!"

"Did you ever think the reason bad things happen to you is because you're a dumbass?!" Spectre chided.

"Now that you mention it, yeah." Alex relented.

"Look, I can't promise anything too fancy here, any opportunity I see to help us take down Winchester, I'm taking it. From now on, you do as I say until you can somehow get on your feet. Got it?" Spectre asked.

Now, Alex could think about this. One one hand, he was working with an ex-C.I.A operative who could slit his throat in his sleep if she so wanted, until luck finally returned to Alex's side, he was stuck. But on the other hand, Spectre was offering Alex a second chance, an opportunity to kill the man who ruined his life twice now.

"I'm in." Alex decided.

"I think that's the first smart decision you've made in a while." Spectre seemed to approve of this choice.

"What's the plan?" Alex asked.

"You hunted monsters before this, right?"

"Once, I killed a dragon, and that was today." Alex said.

"Wow, you've had one hell of a day, don't dragons have a treasure haul?" Spectre asked.

"Right here." Alex said, pulling the Octahedral pocket dimension. "Princess Twilight gave me this to put the treasure in."

"Good, I have a mission for you. You still know people who trust you, right?" Spectre asked.

"That's up in the air right now, I shot four people to death in front of all of them." Alex said.

"I figured you would say that, I need you to buy some Equestrian Steel."

"What's that?"

"It's a metallic alloy used in royal guard armor, It's damn near indestructible, but expensive."

"Why do you need this?" Alex asked.

"A suit of armor for your next missions. Imagine yourself charging through the battlefield, unaffected by gunfire and mowing down your enemies." She fantasized.

"I'm a fugitive, how am I supposed to get some?" He asked.

"I know someone." Spectre said casually.

"When do we start?" Alex asked.

"Tomorrow, I bet you need some sleep, you've done nothing all day but fight. You need your rest."

Alex looked around the spider hole, and he saw the basic minimum of living standards, two small cots and two thin blankets, a few radioes, and a hit list. A small fire lit up the room, and the only ventilation there was the door, with a few small holes drilled into it.

"One more thing, what exactly is your name?" He asked, he couldn't always call her 'Spectre'.

"Oh, I nearly forgot, my name is Karis."

"Good meeting you, Karis. I haven't heard that name before."

"It's not very common." Karis admits.

"Well, then, I'm tired as all hell, I need some rest."

"Sure, good night, Alex." Karis yawns.

"Night." Alex responds.

Here we go again, Alex thought, back to the old, unpredictable life.

----

Twilight, her friends, and Cloudchaser and Flitter sat around the table in her castle, discussing what to do about Alex, he killed at least 18 soldiers, and none of them knew why.
"Does anyone know anything about these other humans?" Twilight asked her friends.
"I just remember Alex looking really scared about something, then he told me he lost his contact lens, next thing I know, he killed four other humans." Cloudchaser searched her memory, and didn't find much else.
"I saw Alex hallucinating on our way up to fight the dragon, then he tried to bribe me into not asking about it!" Rainbow clearly felt betrayed.
Twilight scribbled down some notes on a piece of paper for her next letter to Princess Celestia.

"Why do you think he would do that?" She asked.
"In my experience, it would mean that Mr. Walker is getting desperate." A deep voice bellowed behind them.
Twilight turned around to look at the source of the voice, he was a tall, able-bodied man with brown hair, turning gray at the edges.
"Um, who are you...?" Fluttershy asked, cowering further into her chair.
"My name is Agent Timothy Winchester, C.I.A. I believe I know a thing or two about your... 'Friend'." Agent Winchester said that last word full of anger and contempt.
"Like what?" Rainbow asked.
"Alex Walker is not the man you know, he is a menace, very dangerous, and fierce in active combat. We believe that Mr. Walker was in cahoots with the Kahn Militia, a social reform group gone violent, responsible for a massacre that killed almost 2,000 people, and a raid on a recently declassified testing facility known as Area 51." Winchester continued.
"If that's true, how did he get here?" Flitter asked.
"Mr. Walker used Die Glocke, a century-old device recently acquired by our government. He used it, obviously, to escape the Kahn Militia, and destroyed it before we could follow him." Agent Winchester answered matter-of-factly.
"Alex told us he fell in a sewer, through a wormhole.." Rarity said.
"He must have told you that to divert suspicion, terrible liar, always was."
"I won't let you call my friend a murderer! He told Cloudchaser to duck when he shot your men! There's something you're not telling us!" Rainbow yelled. Even Agent Winchester was surprised to hear her defend her friend.
"Rainbow does have a point, did he kill any ponies?" Cloudchaser asked.
"It would appear not. He trusts you as much as that one," Winchester said, pointing to Rainbow Dash, "trusts Mr. Walker, and Ms. Sparkle, you, as well as all your friends are on a need-to-know basis."
"What is up with these humans always keepin' secrets all the time, it ain't healthy." Applejack muttered.
"What are you suggesting here, another 'welcome to Ponyville party, perhaps?" Pinkie says, smiling deviously.
"No. As of right now, Alex Walker is Public Enemy #1, nowhere is safe, we will send garrisons all across this land, anyone who opposes will die. If any of you pastel horses have him in custody, I will demand you turn him back in, upon doing so, he is United States Government property."

----

Vinyl walked home, head downcast, while the party was a success for the first hour or so, the guest of honor screwed everything up, for himself and his friends, she wondered how Twilight must be handling this.
Ow! She stubbed her front hoof on something, it stuck out of the ground at an angle. Levitating it with her magic, she noticed it was the weapon that Alex used to kill the soldiers. In the short time she knew Alex, Vinyl knew he wouldn't use it without good reason. She pulled back a switch and saw the cylinders pop out of the weapon. While she her job description was 'disk jockey' she also had to build highly advanced speakers all by hoof. It's not like they had huge speakers before she came along, not good ones, anyway.
Vinyl knew what she would be doing for the next week or so, she would give this gun an upgrade, DJ- PON3 style.

Author's Notes:

First off, I originally thought of naming Karis 'Akira', but then I read 'Black Ops: Ember' and, for the sake of artistic integrity, used something different.
Second, what do you think of this story, leave a comment telling me on how to do better, always room for improvement.