The air was nearly unbreathable, this alone made him come back to his senses.
A buzzing sound inside is head, and his vision shuffled, combination of the kick and the sedative.

He tried to take a hoof to his face, but he can't move.
Another try. Same result.
While the effects started to vanish even more, he notices where he was. In the same room where the fight ended.
*S-smart... she also saw I'm a heavy bastard... so she ended the fight in here to make It easier for her...*

At least he could move his head, looking to all sides.
Situation analysis time...
Stuck, against a wooden table.
Hooves, held locked to stretched chains, holding his members away from his body.

Environment analysis...
Not too dark, a few lamps in the dirt ceiling.
Floor, clean showing some marble mosaics, strange for such place.
Four tables in front of him. One contains all shorts surgical equipment, super clean as in factory new.
One containing all shorts of knifes, small, big, too big, like a slaughterhouse.
The other one, containing tools, a drill, a torch bathed into petrol, a lighter, a sledgehammer, a pickaxe, an axe.
Next to this one, was a iron bucket with a iron bar, inside the bucket, burning coals.

The final table was the most simple one... nothing...
A stainless clean steel table.
All of them with small wheels.

Something touched his sleeping muscles.

"AH! You're awake... how was the good sleep..?"

"Heavy..." - mumbled Mane against is will

"I guess! A kick plus a sedative for somepony of your weight in one hell of a combination!" - She laughed. - "So... shall we proceed..?"

*I have to get the fuck out of here! I need to buy time and distraction!*
He spotted the light switch in the wall, but for a reason he couldn't focus on It.
*She putted a magic ring on my horn... fuck...*

She walked normally to the locker in the corner, and she assumes again an unusual pose.
She balanced in her back hoofs, and stands in a bipede pose, showing the beauty of her body's back and her rear muscles, slightly covered by her razor straight dark pink tail. Such contemplation made Mane confused.
While dressing an apron that would make anypony panic. Made out of real coats showing numerous cutie marks.

"So... uh... nice... place?"

She interrupted her dressing action and turned around surprised with her ears raised.

"Thanks..?"

An awkward silence filled the room.

"Also... nice apron?"
"What the actual fuck I just said?!"

"You're not that sane of mind are you..?"

"Not at all..."

"I see, but you must know this, you're the actual first one talking to me, but trying to make an actual conversation!"

"Really..? No offense, but I don't think many in this situation would be willing to talk with their executioner."

"Haha! I guess..." - She looked at him with a smile - "So! You're a bounty hunter?"

"You said It before knocking me out..."

"True... true... And what made you come after me?"
She turned around and kept dressing the terrifying apron.

"Money... glory... and I guess redemption."

She turned around to him with a intrigued face.
"Money and glory, I understand... but redemption? Is my head that valuable?! WHO DO YOU WORK WITH?!! THE ROYAL GUARD?! THE LUNAR GUARD?!!"

"Another sudden change of behavior, she didn't like that word. She's a true psychopath, but with feelings... I can play along with these..."
"VERY valious."

"HOW much?!"

"I don't remember, but what if I tell you you're the most wanted assassin in Equestria, let alone nopony knows your true appearance! Just some facts!"

She seemed confused...
"I'm not buying that. AND HOW do you know that assassin It's me..? Hmm?"

"Ohh a challenge..?"
"Alright! In every crime scene I sneaked in, besides holding my guts inside me, I examinated the bodies of each victim. No vital organs, bones most of times smashed in a certain places instead of cut. But the most noticeable, cutie marks missing!"

She looked at the apron and giggled.
"Thank you for noticing..." - She blushed a bit - "But you know, many killers also like to take a trophy with them. That doesn't prove It's me!"

"The many flasks in the other rooms, all holding vital organs inside with a conservative liquid or substance, and I would say It's an alcoholic based thing. Explains the slight alcohol smell from the bodies, cause for a huge time of conservation of the organs inside glass, It's alcohol gel based, so the alcohol doesn't evaporate that quickly. Reason why the corpses had a strange unusual smell of conserve."

He looks at the brand new surgery kit of the first table.
"And for such expert conservation, I can say you sell them in the black market. Explaining how and why you afford such expensive and clean equipment. Every organ must go clean and most of them are expensive."

"And how do you explain the smashed bones then..?" - She looked insecure, holding her homemade apron.

"You have good blades, but I admit I'm feeling a bit mad at you, not only cause of my current situation. But how bad you misuse them! They are blunt, most of them don't have a cutting edge. And for a butchering knife, the weight would do most of the work, but in your case, they were like thin hammers, instead of cutting of trying to cut, they just smash the coat, the muscles, and after repeated strikes in trying to cut a limb, you end up smashing the bones. And you end up using a wood saw, explaining why the most times the muscles were so roughly cut, and by the time being, you are so mad that you don't even clean the tools..."

He finished while looking at the saw with rotten flesh attached to It's blade.
She was surprised with the examination. Stunned in place.
They look at each other in the eyes.

"You're unique... Not like the others, every fucking time!" - She started doing ridiculous faces, as if she was thinking something completely different
"Don't do this!"
"Why you do this!"
"Let me out!", "Please, I won't tell anypony!"
"ARGH! I must admit, I'm feeling a bit bad for killing you, 'cause you're the only one that actually talked to me in years!" - She screamed after stopping doing expressions.

"I'm pretty sure of that, cause the other ones are silenced..."

"They wouldn't shut up!"

"Oh excuse me! Miss Murder!"

"THE FUCK YOU SAID TO ME?!!"
In a blink she rushed at him, taking a hammer and ready to strike his face.
When she stopped and gazed his green eyes up close.
His angry expression didn't change.

"Well? What are you waiting for?!"

"Your eyes... I can't do It..."

"Wait, what??" - His face changes in surprise.

She dropped the hammer and started crying.
Walking backwards, she curled on the marble floor and started crying, holding her tail to cover her face.

"Again? This was unexpected. What's with my eyes?? It's like they triggered something on her. Feelings. Let's see her reaction to this..."
"What's wrong?"

"W-what..?" - She sobbed while trying to cover her tears.

"Why are you crying? What's with my eyes?"

"It doesn't matter! Fuck you!"

"I wanna know..."

She uncovered her face showing her blue eyes covered in tears.
"Ok... When I was little... My sister once found in the mines a gem..."

"She has a sister?!! I bet she's crazy like her..."

"And that gem would take our family out of our misery... living in a rock farm is rough..."

"Wait!... a ROCK farm?" - He asked with a smirk.

"Yes, and I see your face! Laugh and I take the sledgehammer to your privates!"

Mane gulped after that threat and decided to shut up.
"Not while I'm still alive!"

"Anyway... one day I was playing with the emerald, and a big one, and I went to the woods close of our house. And... a bunch of thieves saw me. After being beaten, they took It... and... I had to tell my parents of course... you can guess the rest..."

"She just shared a story of her childhood, and a sad one. Must say, she sure was irresponsible, but who would beat a innocent filly? Let alone a poor one from a poor family!"
"I'm sorry..."

"I don't need your sympathy!" - Her mood changed to an aggressive one - "Every time I had a fucking "friend", It was just a backstab! Laughed! Beaten! Insulted! And for what?!! Their own fun! So I decided to have fun myself too!!"

"So... you do this for your hate to society?"

"Indeed! And you came her to try finish me! Making them a "favor"! "

"Well allow me! Look around you! You're still confused why they want you dead?!"

"She keeps swamping her moods. I may get killed if I keep teasing her, but I can gather some information."

"And they wanted me dead mentally, and they got what they want! Now that I think of It... I already lost too much time with his!"
She finished in putting the apron and walked fast in Mane's direction.

"Fuck! The only way out is mentally playing on her... but I see something on her..."
- "I can be your friend..."

She stopped dead in her tracks.
"The fuck you just said..?"

"I can be... your friend."

Didn't take long to receive a punch from the mare, leaving his cheek red and his eye flinching.
"I know that joke... It's not funny anymore!"

"I'm not joking..." - He tried

"How can I know?" - She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Then get a comfortable place to sit, cause if you think your past was hard and unforgiving... then fuck you, you don't know shit, and I mean It..."

After being offended again, she could have punched him again or take a knife to his heart, but instead, she took his suggestion. She sit, took off her apron and looked at him...

-

"He's unique... not like the others. He discovered my place, came back in bravery, dared to fight me, didn't gave up, didn't run away besides that day... and even in captivity and close to his end, he still has the courage to talk normally with me, instead of screaming to let him go. And now, he's convinced his past story in harder than mine. I'm actually interested..."
"I'm listening..."

Author's Notes:

Another Sherlock Holmes thing I had there.
About Mane's past, the first time I tried to write a FIC, it would be from his youth to the current moments, but It was a complete failure.

Which made me quit writing for months, but then I returned with new ideas.
Instead from a "fixed start", I decided to start ahead of the time, which leaded to this FIC...