Alex had pretty much nothing to do..

This was a very rare opportunity in his new life. While he hadn't once been called to hunt monsters, between planning a party that would probably never happen, and his hobby at the Forge, he had a busy life, although distant from Twilight and the others, only visiting her amethyst castle once for testing, but at least something important came out of it, that magic propellant was damn powerful, one shot from the test cartridge sent him flying backwards, now remembering to use two grains of propellant, three or four for larger opponents.

Alex himself was listening to more of Vinyl's music and reading a book he'd gotten from Twilight. He'd finished building his ammunition, rounding out at roughly 354 .44 Magnum bullets and 672 7.62 bullets, he told Pinkie to have Vinyl DJ at his welcome party, and had gotten his wardrobe from Rarity, his favorite being his hunting outfit, making him ever more eager to receive his first target.

In regards to Alex's occupation, Mayor Mare would call him, where he would then discuss with her and Twilight's council about what to do in regards to the threat, and Alex would respond accordingly. It seemed simple enough, and a very good idea, Alex couldn't say how many times he went into something without seriously thinking about it, his temporary stint with the Militia being his biggest.

Alex closed his book and finished the iced tea he had been drinking, looking again at the clock, 2:23. The day felt long enough to him, in spite of the time, and figured it was best to take a small nap, so maybe he would find some way to spend the rest of his day.

He barely got out of his chair when suddenly, the phone rang, probably Vinyl asking what songs she should play at the party. Regardless, it would be best to answer the phone, he wasn't very tired anyway. Alex picked up the telephone.

"Hello, Alex here, how can I help." He began. This was pretty much his standard intro. It worked for him.

"Hi, Alex, this is Mayor Mare, could you come over here, it's pretty important." The voice at the other end said. Oh, crap, was this his first job?!

"I'll be over there as soon as I can." Alex said with urgency.

"Thank you." Mayor Mare finished.

Alex, now giddy with anticipation, ran into his bedroom, opening the closet and grabbing his gear.

Alex first changed out of his casual wear, leaving him in nothing but his undergarments. And quickly put on the pants that were part of his uniform. Placing several magazines into the pockets. Then the undershirt, grabbing his old bandolier of grenades from the militia, and a new one, meant to accommodate the .44 bullets. Alex then pulled on the jacket, placing more mags and .44 bullets inside the pockets. Next, Alex put on his holster and put the Colt revolver inside. Alex then strapped the SCAR-H on his back, triple-checking that the safety was on and the gun was unloaded. Finally, Alex grabbed his satchel, with some water, food, and a thick cloth that would be used to keep sand out of his eyes, or to shield him from cold in higher altitudes. Finishing the look with a pair of black sunglasses, he left his home, to begin his first assignment.

----

Alex entered the city hall about 3 minutes later, and the secretaries there kindly got him into the conference room for debriefing.

"Hello, Mr. Walker, have a seat." The mayor greeted. Alex sat down, still ecstatic about his first day.

"What's the situation?" Alex asked, containing his excitement.

"We seem to have some sort of a dragon problem." Rainbow scoffed, obviously not caring about this at all.

"A dragon made it's nest inside of a cave on the outskirts of town, we've been having the same problems with it, it keeps coming back." Twilight said dejectedly.

"Where is the cave?" He asked.

"There." Applejack pointed towards a very high mountain, Alex noticed a small hole just under the summit. The Dragon's Lair, no doubt.

"Okay, what are my options?" He asked, in the time he was here. He learned that killing was a massive taboo in Equestria, pretty much a capital sin.

"When we tried this the first time, diplomacy, charm, and kicking it in the face didn't work." Rarity chimed in, obviously thinking back on that day.

"How about, I don't know, asking nicely?" He asked in a mocking tone.

Alex was stunned when he learned that Ponies, for the most part, were mostly pacifists. He thought back to his arrest, when he would've done anything to escape the 'authorities', including killing two members of the SWAT team.

"Nope! It just flew back a few weeks later!" Pinkie yelled, very close to Alex's eardrum. Ow.

"... That was right in my ear." Alex complained.

"What are we going to do? Even when I stood up to it, it came back." Fluttershy murmured desperately.

"So all I have is 'no diplomacy, charm, petty assault, asking nicely, or yelling at it'. At least we narrowed it down, any other options? Say, teleporting it away?" Alex suggested.

"That won't work. Even If I do teleport it, dragons have a keen sense of direction. All that would happen is that my magic would be drained to basically nothing and the dragon would be back a few weeks later." Twilight sighed. This was getting difficult.

"Any other ideas?" Alex asked, although killing it was, for him, the best way to go, it would be very bad for his reputation.

"I suppose we have no other option." Mayor Mare glumly concluded.

"You're not telling us that Alex is going to-" Fluttershy could barely finish that sentence before she started weeping. Oh, crap, this is serious.

"It appears so, Fluttershy. Alexander, I need you to evict the dragon, and seal away the cave." Mayor Mare replied.

"You're sending me to force out a dragon at least 5 times my size, blow up the rocks above the cave, and somehow escape the ensuing avalanche of death? Biggest middle finger I ever received." Alex commented. The mountain was huge, blowing up such a large chunk of it would mean that several-ton boulders would crush him to death if the Dragon didn't.

"You have weapons, don't you?" Rainbow asked him.

"At all times, but what the bloody hell is that going to do to a huge dragon and solid rock?!" Alex asked, almost infuriated that his request was fulfilled. Be careful what you wish for.

"I have diagrams of weak points on the dragon, the eyes..." Twilight started as Fluttershy continued crying her eyes out, with greater intensity.

"Yah do know that dragons keep a huge haul of loot with 'em, right?" Applejack questioned.

"What good is a reward if you aren't around to use it?" He asked.

"Darling, stop being such a baby. You signed up for this, didn't you?" Rarity chided.

"...okay, yes." He relented, so he would be keeping his secret to his grave... Or to his charred remains.

"We've tried everything else. If you can, find another solution." Mayor Mare sighed.

"I'll try, Is there some sort of finder's fee I have to pay?" Alex asked.

"The proper term is 'taxes', Alex." She said.

"Do your job, we'll be ready for you once you get back." Rainbow said.

"Before I go, do any of you have like a large bag? Like a huge burlap sack?" Alex asked, if Applejack was right, he would be carrying in a large haul.

Twilight tossed Alex a small, onyx-colored octahedron adorned with white markings.

"I've done studies on pocket dimensions a while back, move all the treasure into the pocket dimension and you can access it anytime you want." She said proudly.

"Thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to go get myself killed." Alex left the room after that.

----

Alex soon got to the base of the mountain, assessing the peak, he could take the path, but it's a lot of extra work, he could climb up there, doing the same amount of work faster, but he'd be too tired to fight. Alex decided to take the scenic route, donning the cloth, wrapping it around his nose and mouth. And pulled out the SCAR from his back, and started walking.

The walk wasn't absolutely horrible, Alex moved up the path with ease, already about forty feet or so up, but the rest of the path moved in a corkscrew type motion, leading up to the mouth of the cave. He continued walking when he thought he saw something further up the path. Alex loaded his weapon, pressing the button on the side that chambered in the first round. Now jogging over to a rockier part of the path. He looked around for the source.

"Hello?!" Alex yelled, "It's not the best idea to do this kinda crap with me!"

Alex felt something pull him to the ground, and he felt like he was being held down by a...hand?!

He looked up in horror at the sight before him.

Agent Winchester, holding a gun up to his forehead.

"You should have died in 51, kid." He contemptfully spat.

Alex grit his teeth as he saw Winchester pull the trigger, the muzzle flashed, and the figure faded away to nothing.

What he saw next was even worse.

Rainbow Dash. In full view of him hallucinating.

"You okay?" She asked, almost genuinely worried about him.

"Yeah, it's just the lack of oxygen." He lied.

"Really? We're not even halfway up the mountain." She scolded

"...Damn it."

"Why were you freaking out like that, we're you in a crime or something?" She asked.

"Why are you following me, isn't this a solo mission?" Alex questioned.

"Hey, someone needs to drag your corpse to the party." She said.

"Seriously, Rainbow, go help with the decorations." Alex ordered.

"No." She said

Well, this sucked. She caught him in the middle of post-traumatic hallucinations and she got to watch him die in a fire. Today sucked.

"You know what? Screw this, you can follow, but don't think I'm going to tell you my life story or something." He said. At this point, he was willing to compromise.

"I can fly you up there." She suggested.

"Don't trouble yourself, I have two perfectly good legs that aren't broken." Alex said.

"Are you sure? I can get you up there in ten seconds flat." She asked.

"And what if I say-" Alex could barely finish before Rainbow grabbed him and flew him to the summit. Fully aware that he was really far up.

"Buck! How much do you weigh?" She asked through the strain.

"Don't flatter yourself." He exhaled.

She got him to the summit a few seconds later, and dropped him, relieved.

"Ten...seconds...flat." Rainbow panted. She literally carried him up here. Still unnecessary, but, eh.

Alex only had to look at the mouth of the cave to tremble a bit.

"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." Alex said to himself.

"What?" Rainbow asked.

"Just stay close." He said, walking inside.

The stench of brimstone filled Alex's nostrils as the two snuck inside, hopefully unnoticed.

Alex heard something inhaling deeply, it seemed to echo throughout the cave walls, Alex immediately knew what was about to happen.

"Rainbow, get down!" Alex yelled as he dove to the ground.

Fire swirled above Alex's head, the image of his entrance into Equestria flashing through his mind, sending splinters of pain inside his head.

As soon as the flame dissipated, Alex rolled behind a rock, pulling out a diagram of the Dragon's anatomy. Twilight had circled sensitive spots in red ink, the eyes, belly, joints...other areas. He looked at the dragon again.

It was a huge beast, crimson red scales, exhaling smoke and ash and sickly green eyes. Eyes that made the best available targets.

"Well, I'm royally screwed."

Alex fired several rounds towards the dragon's eye, the rifle digging into his shoulder as he squeezed the trigger. It seemed to work, the dragon held it's eye, roaring in agony and arching into a bridge type shape.

"Dash! Hit his belly, knock him over!" Alex yelled.

Rainbow reared back as far as she could, leaping into high speeds and punching the dragon, knocking it into an upright position.

Alex switched the SCAR's safety switch from 'semi' to 'full' and unleashed a torrent of gunfire, ripping through the beast, screeching and spewing flame. Alex then put a grenade inside the launcher, pulling the tube back.

"Rainbow, get out of the way!" He screamed. She immediately complied, flying far back as Alex fired the grenade. The magic propellant resulting in a huge, cerulean explosion. Alex continued spraying lead towards the weakened beast.

"Alex! Move!" Rainbow yelled. Alex rolled over to the right side of the cave In time to see a large fireball blow the rock he had been using for cover to cinders. Alex inserted a magazine labeled '4' to indicate the grains of propellant he used. The rifle's kickback threatened to dislocate his shoulder.

"Kid, use one of those...uh..." Rainbow seemed lost for words, but knew what she meant. Loading in another grenade into the launcher, one he called 'the big boy', which he had filled the remaining propellant into the projectile.

Alex fired the grenade, causing a much bigger explosion than the one preceding it. Rainbow then sped like a bullet through the cave, the dragon screeching in pain as rainbow flew out.

Alex funneled the rest of the mag into the dragon before pulling out the .44.

Loading six shots into the cylinder, pulling back the hammer and sending bullets screaming into the beast. The recoil was quite unforgiving, more so than the SCAR.

"Alex, grab my hoof!" Rainbow ordered, Alex grabbing the Pegasus, who was in full speed at the moment.

Alex pulled out a large kitchen knife that he carried with him in the satchel. Pointing the end towards the dragon's heart, Rainbow released him, sending him barreling into the dragon's chest. The cold steel blade burying itself into it's flesh. Using it for support, he fired six more bullets into the dragon's chest.

The dragon's screams died down to a murmur as it's body went limp and fell forwards, Alex still grasping the knife.

The dragon was stone dead.

"Woah... Y-You just.." Rainbow gasped in surprise.

"It was him or me, Dash. Maybe even you, too. On the plus side, we don't have to worry about the ensuing rockslide that would've happened if I had to seal the entrance." Alex scoffed.

Alex pulled the knife out, placing it back into the satchel. Alex rolled over, breathing raggedly, tired. Rainbow herself landed nearby and plopped down, panting with exhaustion. Alex's head turned over to the right, noticing the massive amount of gold and jewels. This would pay for more that his little house, this would be able to buy him a whole mansion!

He walked over to the haul, pulling a large bag out of the satchel. And began filling it with treasure. Tying it up once it felt full, he lifted it, testing it to see if he could carry it. The bag weighed something like 80 pounds, but it was possible.

Pulling out a flask, he placed the contents near Rainbow, who looked up at him in confusion.

"Here's your cut." He said.

"I can't-" she began.

"The water is my way of saying 'thank you'." Alex said. "But the money... Well, it's a bribe."

"For what?" She asked.

"All I want is for you not ask me too much about my past. Also, don't tell them about what happened with 'Puff the Magic Dragon' over here."

"That? Wait, you were involved in a crime?" She asked

Alex looked at her with an expression that said 'shut up for the love of god'.

"Why is this such a big deal? The whole dragon-killing, I get, but who doesn't want to talk about their life?" She contemplated.

"You're looking at him." He said as he opened up the pocket dimension, tossing coins into it indiscriminately.

"Look, I get that whatever might've happened to you wants you to lock that in your head, but you can't hide that sort of thing forever." She said.

"So?" He asked.

"...It's not your fault." She sighed

"I know that." He snapped.

"Alex, look at me... It's not your fault."

"Don't even try that, I've seen Good Will Hunting."

"It's not your fault."

"Knock it off, please."

"Okay, fine! I thought that would work out better." She relented.

Alex was nearly done moving the treasure into the pocket dimension, all things considered, she was kinda right. He was blamed for being someone he wasn't, tortured for weeks because of that suspicion, and forced into fighting with the Militia. The only thing that was, was his entering Equestria, and even that was a lucky shot.

Alex closed the Pocket Dimension, placing the black octahedron into his satchel.

"Come on, Alex, I won't tell anypony else, I'm not the Element of Loyalty for nothing." Rainbow tried.

"Who are you loyal to more? Me, a stranger that someone scraped off the street that you only knew for, how long, a week? Or are you more loyal to your friends, who you've known for, probably years? Using powers that could rival gods, which is strengthened by that resolve?" Alex questioned her. It was a completely valid argument, as Rainbow herself was lost for words. He felt bad for invoking an existential crisis on the poor mare, but she was too persistent, she would've been at this until he cracked like an egg.

Alex and Rainbow walked out of the cavern with their riches in tow.

"Do you need me to fly you down?" She asked.

"I got it. See you at the party, Dash." He said, sliding down the mountain on it's side, which was probably more dangerous.

On the way down, Alex again thought about the subject.

'How long can I keep this up? Certainly not forever if she keeps asking. But is this really the best way to cope? I have a legitimate condition, I need therapy, bad, but they'll know something's up. Why am I the only god damned person to deal with this?' Alex knew that last part was not true at all. Kat must be going through something similar. How would she react to seeing me like this? She was able to figure out Silas's plan and he didn't suspect a thing!

In the skies above, Alex noticed a streak of what appeared to be a rainbow headed for the town. No doubt it was Rainbow, on her way to tell her friends about his freaking out. This was gonna suck.

"Well, Alex, you stupid prick. Better get to that party." He said to himself. This was freaking pitiful. Regretting decisions that weren't his own.

Author's Notes:

You people probably wanted to see some more action, as that's probably what drew you into this story in the first place, so Skyrim Alex. Yeah.

[3000+ words!? How did I do that?!]

[EDIT:]

I changed some details of the story so Alex's outing was more or less of an eviction 'gone wrong' sort of thing, rather than pastel horses hiring a hit man.

Also helps to establish Alex's mindset throughout the story, more or less of a Darwinist philosophy; adapt or die.