Is this it? Pinkie wondered.

Am I dead, or have I simply gone mad? Well, madder than I already was, I guess. She wasn't sure how to feel about everything that had happened. First she was about to be executed, then she was about to escape, and then she was about to be executed again, and then finally she's blasted by Twilight's magic and suddenly she's seeing things running around in the woods that are killing other things with arrows and is now following it.

Today sure has been eventful. She commented mentally, doing her best to remain hidden as she followed the odd looking creature through the darkness. This had been going on for a good few minutes now and she was starting to wonder if it would ever end.

Pinkie's prayers were soon answered as a small bit of light entered her vision. In the distance she could see a large log cabin, nearly two stories tall. The wood on it was stained dark, that much she could tell from the lights out front that lit up nearly the whole front half of the house.

Once the creature was close enough it set down the body, turning around and pulling out a set of keys to unlock the door. Once opened it continued dragging the carcass, taking it into the house.

Pinkie waited outside behind a tree for a moment. A few seconds pass and she sees that the door wasn't closing. Whatever it is, it must be too distracted trying to move the body to be bothered with a door.

She didn't know where she was, where to go, or if any of this was even real. The only way she would be able to figure out anything about this place she's in is to study what she can. Right now, this thing and it's little friend is all she's got to work with. Maybe she'd be able to find a way to get answers out of it?

The mare quietly made her way over to the door, her eyes scanning the area, taking in every little details as to spot any signs of danger. She cautiously entered the house, continuing to look over everything. Her hooves made the slightest tapping noise as they met with the solid wood floor, prompting her to move at an even slower pace. The last thing she needed was for the thing she was studying to notice her.

A bit of commotion started up further in the house, the sound of pots and pans being knocked over echoing throughout the are. This was a sound she knew way too well. Working in a bakery for as long as she had, it would have been harder not to figure out what it was.

Following the sound she found herself standing on the edge of a very traditional looking living room, but a much more modern kitchen. Much to her luck, the creature had its back facing her with the corpse splayed out on the counter in front of it. The pots and pans she heard earlier were all stacked up randomly on a shelf above the cold body's head.

Pinkie remained hidden in her spot, occasionally inching her head out past the wall that only partially separated the two rooms. She could clearly make out what it looked like now that it was standing in a lit room, but still couldn't put her hoof on what it was.

Whatever it was, it was much taller than her, even on her hind legs it would probably still tower a few feet over her. It was dressed in a pair of dark pants and a white shirt. She could see virtually no hair on the arms that stuck out from the sleeves of the shirt, the only spot seeming to have any hair at all was its head. It's mane, if you could call it that, was fairly long and a little messy.

Her attention was moved from its appearance to its actions. A hand, much like a Minotaur's but with less fur, reached out to the side, grabbing a large kitchen knife and pulling it over in front of it.

Great, now it has a weapon. Grrr! For buck sake I need answers! Pinkie went back to looking around the room with her eyes, spotting just what she needed. Resting beside the fridge was a metal crowbar. It was mostly silver, but random parts of it appeared to be stained, especially the upper portion.

Regardless of how it looked, this would likely be her only means of self-defense.

Pinkie's eyes traveled back to the creature, which seemed to be lost in its own world, as she slowly approached the fridge. Her eyes stayed locked onto it, only occasionally glancing at her goal.

By Celestia's fat flank she managed to make it to her destination, taking hold of the crowbar and wrapping it tightly in one of her hooves.

If I'm going to figure out anything, I'll need it alive. She thought, trying to piece together what the best course of action would be. It's clearly dangerous, so I'll have to do something so it won't attack me. Moving slowly, she positioned herself directly behind the distracted creature. I'm gonna have to give it all I've got. For all I know this will shrug off the hit I usually give to ponies. And, if it does that, I might end up like the thing it attacked.

Pinkie wore a determined look on her face, her jaw tightening and her muscles flexing as she readied her attack. Her body was still sore, but she ignored the pain. Using all of the strength she could muster the pink mare jumped into the air, slamming the crowbar into the back of the creatures head once she was level with its hairline.

She fell back to the floor, still clinging to her weapon even as the creature collapsed to the ground. It landed with a hard thud, shaking the room a bit from the collision.

Pinkie was breathing heavily, that swing having taken more out of her than she expected. She tossed the crowbar aside. Seeing how she had won this, maybe she could actually get an idea of what she was working with. She took a careful few step forward until she was only inches away from the knocked out heap on the floor.

Using a hoof, she grabbed the side of it's body, rolling it over onto its back. The sudden movement made its body rag-doll some and its limbs spread out as a result. A small pool of red started forming beneath its head, reminding her of the fact that she had just clubbed this thing with a steel rod.

She wasn't sure what she was dealing with at all, so checking for a pulse was out of the question for now. Not a whole lot could be told from looking at its face either; It was somewhat tan in color, it had a few small scars, the biggest one being above it left eye and one on its right cheek. It lacked any sort of muzzle and still held very little hair from what she could see.

As she had noticed before, compared to the other one she had seen, its chest did not stick out as much. It was wide and stuck out a bit, but didn't have those weird mounds sticking out from its clothing. One of the strangest things, aside from its blood coated hands, were its legs. They were long and had the oddest bending points she had ever seen.

To say that this was the weirdest thing she's encountered in her lifetime wouldn't be entirely true, but it's not far off either.

Pinkie felt an odd urge well up in her as she looked over it face again. Its furless surface looked strangely soft and inviting. She couldn't help but raise a hoof up to touch it. The moment her hoof came into contact with it she felt as though it was sinking into a small pool of flesh. The texture of its skin was unlike anything she had ever felt before.

Her focus was pulled off of her little experiment as a new sensation shot through her body. Glancing down, she saw one of its red stained hands gripping tightly to the forearm of her only other front hoof. Her head shot back up to the creature, instantly taking notice of the changes. The creature stared at her with wide eyes and a crooked grin, it's upper row of teeth bared for her to see.

"How's it going?" It asked almost playfully, yanking hard on Pinkie's hoof and knocking her off balance.

Pinkie tumbled to the floor, but it wasn't over yet. It's grip held tight to her hoof and with a loud grunt it hurled her into the side of the counter. She let out an 'umph' as the wind was knocked out of her and before she knew it her body was thrown into the fridge.

Getting up and running like a bat out of hell seemed like a good idea, but with her body in pain and her lungs lacking the much needed air, she could hardly turn over in time to see the creature coming down on top of her.

It landed with a foot on either side of her, dropping to its knees and resting its backside on her chest before ringing her neck with one of its hands. It's grip tightened around her throat, completely blocking off her airway as it stared down at her; Still wearing that twisted grin, it's eyes punctured her physical being, gazing into her soul.

Pinkie could do little more than watch the monster. This is it... She thought to herself. I was given a second chance and I bucked it up... As much as she wanted to fight, she couldn't. She just didn't have the energy. I probably deserve this... A single tear ran down the side of her face as she watched the world around her start fading to black.

Much to the young mare's surprise though, the vice-like grip on her neck all but vanished. She took in a much needed breath of air, sucking down the oxygen greedily as life seemed to flow back into her.

Pinkie looked up at the creature; Its head was facing her, but its eyes seemed to be off in a completely different world. It looked dazed in a way, like it was about to-

Before she could finish that thought, it's body went limp, collapsing to the side and landing hard on the floor.

Pinkie stared wide eyed and open mouthed at the now unconscious thing laying with its legs across her. There wasn't any one way to react to something like this. While part of her was celebrating that she survived, another part was noticing a huge problem with plan.

Using what energy she could gather after having a much needed break, she wiggled out from under the creature standing up somewhat straight. Her back felt like hell, probably from being thrown around like some kind of stuffed animal.

Ignoring the pain, Pinkie turned her attention back to the monstrosity passed out on the floor. It was groaning slightly and shifting around as a small pool of blood continued to spread across the floor from its head wound. It's no surprise that it collapsed this way, with all of the blood coating both it and the floor, it would probably bleed out and die in a few minutes.

What the hay am I supposed to do? She wondered, wanting desperately to start figuring things out. There's really no point in helping this thing. Even if it was just acting up from the head wound, there's still something seriously wrong with it. She remembered the way it looked at her, a mixture of rage and enjoyment combined into one seriously bucked up mixture. It kind of reminded her of herself.

Pinkie looked over at the counter, spotting the lifeless counterpart of the species, and let out a sigh. "I guess I don't really have much of a choice, do I?" She said to no one in particular, angling her head back at the still somewhat living creature. "I'll just have to work with what I have."

It took some time, and much more effort than she would like to admit, but she managed to get it right where she wanted it. Doing a bit of inventory around the rather luxurious house, she also managed to find a few things that would help her in her endeavor.

1 Hour Later

*Poke, Poke, Poke*

Pinkie sat on the kitchen floor just a short distance away from the creature. After it had finally fallen into unconsciousness she went through the rather taxing process of lifting it off of the floor, bandaging its wound so it wouldn't bleed out, then finding the materials she needed before tying it down to a chair.

*Poke, Poke, Poke*

Crowbar in hoof, she made sure to stay just out of reach in case it managed to break free. However, she didn't see that as a problem at the moment. Right now she was more pondering on the thought of whether or not it was still alive.

She reached her hoof out, the weapon firmly held in her grasp, and poked it several more times. Finally she got a reaction. A deep throaty groan escaped its lips as its head slowly lifted itself. It took a deep breath, as if whatever it was had gone outside to get away from a crowd of people and was looking to relax.

It yawned as it curled its neck to the side, eliciting several popping sounds. Looking content, its eyes opened and a small smile graced its features; Until it tried to move. It's expression changed to confusion as it angled its head toward its bound arms, both tied opposite of each other on the wooded arm rests with thick ropes.

A light chortle escaped its throat, that almost never wavering smile returning to its rightful place. It's eyes went over its body in amusement, the fact that its life could very well be in danger taken with less than a grain of salt.

Pinkie, having wasted enough time with it, stomped a hoof to the ground to get its attention.

His head turned over to the mare with little reaction what-so-ever. The most that he responded with was his grin growing wider as excitement seemed to take hold of him once again.

He scanned over her body. It was pink, almost too pink, but the color seemed slightly dull in a way. The same went for her long, low hanging hair. While it was clear that it was a darker shade than the rest of her, it still seemed dulled down as well. It was as if her body had an odd shade of grey overtaking it.

"You know," He began, sticking his tongue out for a moment to wet his dry lips. "when your head is as fucked up as mine, you see some weird shit." His hands opened up, emphasizing his point with what little movement they could make. "But of all things, I never would have guessed that I'd be sitting in front of a pink horse."

"Please stop talking." Pinkie said, causing the smiling creature to fall silent. She patted the crowbar against her hoof, showing him that she had it and intended to use it if the need arose. "Now, I have some questions for you. If you answer them, you might get out of this alive."

"Ominous..." He cooed at her.

She rolled her eyes, ignoring his comment. If she were being honest though, it was kind of funny. Sounds kind of like something she'd say if the tables were turned.

"Anyway, I don't know where I am or how I got here." She explained, leveling the crowbar at the creature. "You're going to tell me where I am, who you are, and anything else I need to know about this place. Are we clear?"

"Crystal; Introductions should come first." He said, waving one of his hands in a small circle and taking a bow. "The name's Matthew. As for where you are; You, my small pink friend, are in the Boonies."

Pinkie cocked her head, looking both confused and annoyed. "The Boonies?"

"The middle of no where." He said, still smiling at her.

Pinkie's mouth hung open for a second as she let out an 'uh huh', her mouth closed and she placed a hoof to her chin. If she was going to understand this place she would need to pick this things brain for all it knew. First, she'd need it to open up to her.

Her eyes moved over to the body of the other creature, the one he had killed earlier that day and dragged here. She hadn't noticed this earlier, but the body had been sliced open, it's organs expertly removed and wrapped in a clear, thin layer of plastic.

The amount of work and precision that had been put into it was admirable.

"What was your first one like?"

Pinkie's head snapped back to the creature, shooting him a questioning gaze.

"What are you talking about?" She asked, not wanting to share anything about herself.

"Don't play dumb with me." He began, his smile faltering for a brief second. "You're familiar with this kind of stuff. You've partaken in it before, I can tell."

She scoffed at the bound creature, turning her head away from him. "What would you know." While this should have been a question, it sounded more like an accusatory statement, like she was pointing something out. "You're just-"

"A guy who knows how it feels to be alone." He said, cutting Pinkie off mid sentence and making her turn back toward him with an angered expression. "To feel beaten down, abused, like nothing you do matters."

The way he spoke sent chills down her spine, that twisted grin never leaving his face as he spoke. "I was there, I felt what it was like to have people think of you as nothing more than an instrument, a tool to be used however they see fit." He went on, seeing how his words were affecting her. "You're hurt and misunderstood. You did what you could for everyone else and it still wasn't enough."

This, Matthew; His words cut deep into Pinkie, taking her back to a part of her past that made her ashamed of who she was. It brought back all of those painful memories of how she would try harder and harder every day to make ponies happy everywhere she went. She remembered how exhausted she was, how tired she would get. She also remembered how often ponies would turn their back on her. After she would go out of her way to make them happy, they would still kick dirt in her eyes the moment she fell onto the ground.

Pinkie was at a loss for words. She had built up a number of walls to keep how she felt hidden, but this thing managed to kick them all down and see her for what she was. How could something just do that without having to pry the information out of her? Without having to subject her to enough mental trauma that the words would flow out like butter? It didn't make any sense, unless-

She paused, taking a moment to look past the creature's smiling face. She took a single step closer to him, her eyes staring into his. It was odd, to say the least. There was this strange pang in her chest as she stared into the windows of his soul and she shuddered. A sense of familiarity eased its way into her as she took at how sad and angry he was despite his ever present smile. In a sense; Pinkie could see herself in this thing. He knew what she was feeling because he was feeling it too. He knew what she was because they were one in the same.

"Now, I'm gonna ask you again." Matthew pressed, "What was your first one like?"

Pinkie planted her rump against the floor, her head angled down as she absentmindedly scanned the tiles. There really was no harm in answering, she had the advantage. She had a weapon and he was tied down.

"I was scared...at first." She began, her expression looking somewhat nostalgic. "It all happened so fast, I didn't have the chance to stop myself."

The day started off pretty bad and I really don't feel like getting into the details, but I was a bit cranky.

At the time, I was at my friends with pretty much everypony in Ponyville. They would walk back and smile at me, but I didn't smile back. I was upset. They shot me dirty looks when I didn't return the gesture and start muttering things about me, nothing good either. I wasn't feeling up to dealing with other ponies and settled on just going home and sleeping the rest of the day. All I wanted was a few hours of peace and quiet.

Apparently I chose the wrong day for that.

I walked into Sugar Cube Corner, the bakery I live in, and was about ready to go up to my room. But, a certain loud-mouthed griffon had apparently been waiting there for me.

"Did you say, griffon?" Matthew asked curiously.

"Yes I did." Was Pinkie's reply.

Her name was Gilda and she was a total bucking jerk. A bully, a thief, and gal who just didn't know how to keep her trap shut.

"Hey, dweeb!" She yelled at me in her always condescending tone.

Not wanting to put up with her, I replied with, "Gilda, I am not in the mood right now." and tried to walk past her. She cut me off and I growled at her. "Seriously, leave me alone."

"Not until you tell me where Dash is." She said, grabbing my hair and pulling me closer to her. "You know everypony in this lame little town and what they do at all times of the day. So you're going to tell me where I can find Rainbow Dash, or I'm gonna pound you face in."

I felt something inside me the moment I was in her hold. I didn't know what it was, but it was strong and it was growing bigger with each passing second. It felt like I was getting stronger with it too. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I felt powerful!

"You have three second to get you claws off of me." I said through clenched teeth.

"I told you, I'm not going anywhere until-"

"Two..."

Gilda's free talon tightened into a fist. "Are you even listening to me!?"

"One..."

Before I knew it my hoof had collided with the side of Gilda's face, knocking her to the ground and freeing myself from her claw all at once. I wanted to leave it at that, but it didn't stop. It was like my body had taken on a mind of its own, completely ignoring me in the process. I was on top of her, unable to stop my own hooves from rising up and stomping back down onto her head.

Like I said earlier, I was scared. I had lost control of my body and was now beating this griffon to a bloody pulp. It was like a nightmare that I couldn't wake up from, but something about it felt right.

I was crying on the inside, but not for what I was doing, it was because of the way she treated me. She degraded me, made me feel useless, then had the nerve to threaten me. The sobbing in my head stopped, making way for a furious shrill. I gained control over my body again, but I didn't stop. Instead, I was swinging harder, faster.

Her blood seeped out onto the floor and splattered against my face as I struck her. This went on for what felt like hours, and when I was finally too tired to continue, you couldn't even make out who she was anymore.

Pinkie had a small smile on her face, looking relaxed and even kind of happy. "I cleaned up the mess and never told a soul about what happened that day. Hiding the body would have been impossible, so I threw her in the furnace down in the basement." She stopped for a second, giggling at herself before continuing. "The bakery smelled like roasted chicken for weeks."

Matthew followed suit, sharing his laughter with her over the memory. Once the laughter died they sat in a comfortable silence, just staring at each other.

"What about you?" Pinkie asked, seeing it only fair that he share the story of his first time as well. "How was your first?"

Matthew leaned back, taking a breath as he collected his thoughts. "Now that's a story and a half..."

It was a day like any other back at my old place. I was in the garage, trying to fix up the small storage space. The ceiling was moldy and rotting away, the inner layers of wall had long since collapsed and been tossed, and I sitting on a small black stool looking over it all. My eyes scanned the small room, taking note of what needed to come down and what was still salvageable. There were a number of tools at my feet for me to use; A drill and screws, a hammer and nails, some two by fours that stood taller than me, and a wooden ax to take out any rotted beams that stood in my way.

Everything was going fine, until she came home.

"Who is 'she'?" Pinkie asked curiously.

Matthew chuckled a bit. "I'm getting there, be patient."

I don't know why she loved trucks so much, but I could hear the vehicle pull up. It was harder not to hear something that big coming up your driveway. Anyway, I heard the door open and close and the sound of her footprints as she marched into my little work place.

My mother and I never really got along. She was abusive, both verbally and physically. I remember this one time when she picked up my little brother by his hair and threw him across the room. For us this was normal, we didn't know any other life so we never called the cops. She abused her prescriptions, making her much more violent and likely to lash out.

I don't think it needs to be said, but I grew to hate her more and more as time went by. I was able to keep the peace by finding reasons to get out of the house and having very little interactions with her. In fact, the whole reason I wanted to fix the storage room in the garage was so I could stay in there and away from her.

She was one of those people where; She would find out what hurts you the most and use it against you, poking at it like a bear in a cage while she held a sharpened stick. But, don't you dare talk back or lash out at her. If you did, she would be the one to point the finger and say, 'That right there, that's the bad guy!'

And she wondered why she couldn't keep a husband...

Pinkie giggled, Matthew finding himself unable to resist joining in for a few brief seconds.

I can't remember what caused it, but she started yelling at me. Naturally, I yelled back. I was the only one in the family that could stand up to her and get away with it, when I was older at least. No body knew why, neither did I; I still don't know...and now I never will.

Something finally snapped, something she said pushed me too far over the edge. I swore to that woman a long time ago that I would be the one to take her out of this world and it was that very day that I proved to her how much weight those words carried.

Pinkie couldn't take her eyes off of him, throughout that whole story he kept the same expression. His smile didn't flinch nor falter. He was proud of what he did and wasn't letting anything about it bother him. Still curious about the story, she had to ask; "What happened next?"

Matthew looked up to the ceiling, making it seem as though he was reliving that moment in his head with fondness. "Well, at that age I only really had two skills. I knew how to chop wood and I knew how to cook." He paused, giving Pinkie a moment to process what he had said. She didn't have too much of a reaction to it, but he still felt as though the small break was needed. "I knew what I did and that word would eventually catch on about her sudden disappearance. It would have take longer to figure out if it weren't for her addiction to Facebook, but that's another story entirely." He added, shrugging at the last part. "After I had my fill, I gathered some personal belongings into a bag and left...after burning down the house in the middle of the night. I found this place..." His eyes looked about the room, a sense of pride surrounding him. "It was abandoned, left to rot with no sign of its existence minus the still standing structure. It isn't listed, the nearest road in nearly two miles away, no one knows it exists. Even better; Everyone I knew thinks I died in a house fire."

Pinkie sat in silence, collecting all of the information given to her. This thing killed his mother, found a way to dispose of the evidence, and faked his death. Seeing how he was here and not in some cell, that means that he was able to pull off the perfect murder. No one knows where he is or that he's even still alive.

Matthew obviously still practices his arts too. He killed that other creature with the large chest and still, no one has been able to find him. There were no words to describe just how well this thing has done for itself, despite being the monster that it is.

Turning her attention back to Matthew, she watched as his right arm started moving around. It wasn't truly struggling against it binds, but it was moving in an odd pattern. Without warning, the arm of the chair popped off and he repeated the process with the other arm.

Pinkie instinctively took a few steps back, tightening her grip on the crowbar as if it were her last hope for survival. Which, in all reality, it kind of was.

Matthew rose from the seat, not taking his eyes off of her. "Detachable arms, my own personal addition." He commented, untying his now free limbs before replacing the arms back onto the chair. "You're not the first to put me in a predicament like this." Once the chair was returned to its former glory, he turned back to Pinkie, a look of joy about him. "But man, that first time was one hell of a ride."

Pinkie took on a defensive stance, preparing herself for a fight. The creature merely rolled its eyes and shook his head at her. "Come on, clearly I know what I'm doing here." He began, "I have the means to put you down and anything standing at least twice my size. In short, if I wanted to kill you, I'd have done it already."

Pinkie let this roll around in her head a bit as her eyes narrowed at him. She was in no condition to fight, and she was sure that Matthew knew this. He also had a chair made so that, if he were tied down, he could get free. Who knows what other secrets he has surrounding this place. If he wanted to kill her, he could do so easily. Which begs the question; "Then why haven't you?"

Matthew crouched down, lowering himself until he was just a few inches above her. "Because, I like you." He said, his smile growing slightly. "I've met plenty who claim they want to do what I do, but they're all talk. I gave them opportunities and they cowered at them, thinking of me as a monster for my actions."

"You, on the other hand;" He continued, leveling a finger at her. "You're not a coward." Pinkie wasn't sure how to feel about all of this, but it wasn't over yet. "I want you to stay with me." Her eyes widened at him, a look of shock and uncertainty taking over her. "We're one and the same, you and I." For the first time since she met him, Matthew's smile had completely left his face. "I've been alone for a while now, I know you have too. There's no one else we'll be able to share something like this with."

Matthew opened his arms up, as if to offer her a hug. "Come on..." He said, his smile barely returning. "What's the worst that can happen?"

Pinkie was at a complete loss for words. This thing that she watched kill a member of it own species, that she attacked and tied up, was pretty much offering her a chance to start again. Not from the beginning, obviously; but allowing her to continue where she left off. If she declined, he would likely kill her. If she accepted, who knows what he could show her.

Cautiously, she lowered her weapon and placed it on the floor before slowly trotting over to Matthew. His smile grew as she drew closer, but it wasn't what she expected. It was a hopeful smile, one that was looking forward to better days. "Come on." He all but whispered as she hesitantly moved into his arms, allowing him to wrap them around her. "That's it..."

Everything about this was odd, but Pinkie couldn't help but feel a strange sense of hope as well. Something in her gut made itself known, something that made her feel warm as she got onto her hind legs and returned the embrace. Suddenly, she felt calm. It were almost as if the world around her were right, like everything was perfect how it was. Suddenly, she didn't feel alone anymore.

Matthew continued to hold Pinkie, taking notice of her hooves tightening around him. His smile didn't waver in the slightest as he returned the gesture, feeling as though his time of solitude was over. "It's just us now, alright? You and me against the world..."

Author's Note

Been a while since I worked on this. I'm fairly happy with how it came out. Please let me know if I made any mistakes along the way. I'm a little tired, so I don't doubt that mistakes were made in here somewhere.
If you're enjoying the story, please slap that LIKE button like a bitch. Feel free to leave a comment below as well, comments make me feel special :P