Hang 'em High

by aceotaku

Chapter 1

A dark figure drove across the desert plains at night, kicking up a cloud of dust as he moved at an impossibly fast pace.

“’Hang ‘em up high!’ that's what I said.
Time to play your dead man's hand
Dealin bullets is like dealin cards
When it all comes down to a draw.
Wind in my face I feel the burn.”

He drove past several skulls in the sand, which seemingly began to sing with him, somehow.

“Dust drinks the blood of their tears!”

“I say goodbye but it don't mean much
When shots ring like hits of a drum.”

The cloud of dust flared up higher behind the figure, a cold smile crossing his features as he neared a lonely looking town.

“’Hang ‘em up high’ that's what I said!
Lay your body down on the sand
When it's all said and done
It's just a price I work to earn
It's just a price I work to earn”

Aceotaku Presents

“Hot sun glares down on the street
Silence as deep as a coltarado gorge
Don't care where you been or where you come from
It's just my job to be done.”

A RiM-verse Ghost Story

“Wind in my face I love the burn!”

“Dust drinks the blood of their tears!”

“I say goodbye but it don't mean much
When shots ring like hits of a drum.”

‘Hang ‘Em High’

The Figure blasted through the town, pulling several wooden planks off the buildings, his eyes glaring as he neared the largest building in the town.

“Haaaaang ‘em high!
And they won't back haunt your soul like they do mine.”

He suddenly vanished, just in front of the front door, his voice still echoing over the town as he finished his song.

“This town crawls with beggers and thieves
Come to bite the hand that feeds...”

Inside, the mayor of the town awoke with a start in his home, looking around panickedly. “Is someone there!?”

His wide eyes scanned the room carefully, but he saw no sign of anyone. He began to relax and lay back down upon his bed, giving once last glimpse at the ceiling...to see a hideous bull’s skull glaring at him with hideous, monstrous eyes.

He scrambled out of his bed, hurrying to the door, only to be pulled back as a fiery lasso wrapped around his neck, pulling him close to the massive, ghostly figure behind him, forced to stare into its horrible face.

“You remember me don’t ya, Mister Mayor?” The spectral being growled, its voice deep and guttural, with an empty echo behind it.

“Y-you ain’t real!” The pony whimpered, struggling against him. “Y-You’re dead!”

The ghost chuckled harshly, pressing its face close to the Mayor’s. “Do I LOOK dead to you!?” It threw the pony bodily to the floor, who promptly began to crawl away, staring back at it fearfully.

“W-what do you want!? I-Is it revenge you’re after!?”

“I’m here to finish my job.” The spirit said. “I am gonna bring peace and justice to this miserable place...and there ain’t a thing you can do to stop me.”

It vanished, leaving the mayor shivering and sweating on the floor. “Oh dear Celestia no...”

------------------------------

There was a knock on the door to Rainbow Dash’s home, the Pegasus blearily opening the door to be greeted by the earnest face of her friend Twilight Sparkle.

“Twilight...its 6am.”

“I’m sorry Rainbow, but this is important.” The unicorn said with a small smile. “You see I got a letter today.”

“Okay and what does that have to do with waking me at six in the morning?”

“I’m getting to that! Anyway, you remember how my family have been made honorary members of the Apple Family?”

Rainbow nodded, pointing to the brown Stetson Twilight now wore occasionally behind her neck. “Yeah Twi, I was there remember?”

The unicorn blushed in embarrassment. “Anyway, Deep Roots sent me a letter saying he was concerned about a town Appleoosa had started trading with a month ago, except now they won’t contact him at all no matter how many letters he sends, and all messengers he sends simply never come back...”

The pegasus frowned, raising a brow. “Alright, I admit, that does sound fishy...but why talk to me about it? And what does this got to do with you?”

“Well...Deep Roots thought that my machines and my Dad’s negotiating skills could be help solve any potential problem, not to mention he needed something to cement my family’s ties with the Apple’s, and this was all he had on him...”

“Alright, alright I get the picture...”

“And that is why I woke you so early.” Twilight winced. “You know I would never want to bother you and take your time, but I think we could use your magic in case things go sour...”

Rainbow held up a wing. “Say no more. Just let me set up things with Spike to deal with the Library and I’ll come with ya.”

Twilight smiled gratefully. “Thanks, this means a lot to me Rainbow...”

“Hey, just cause you’re the Element of generosity doesn’t mean you can’t be given something in return.” Rainbow Dash replied with a shrug and a wink. “I’m your friend Twi, I always got your back same as you got mine.”

The unicorn smiled wider, tears in her eyes. “You’re the best friend I ever had...”

“Pshawww! Like I said, no biggie!”

-----------------------------

And thus, Rainbow now lazily laid on a large wagon, astounded by the sheer size, as well as its amazing engine. The last time she had ridden a vehical that could drive itself other than a train, it had been built by a criminal with anger issues and cobbled together from random machinery. This, however, was a true work of art and engineering, and made far less noise than that monstrosity.

Rainbow got up, smiling at the two farm hands that made the many machines of the Sparkle farm.

“You guys really made this yourselves?”

One of the twins turned to her, sporting a creamy coat and red, curly hair with white stripe highlights through it, and wore a corncob hat and a blue vest. “Well, Twilight did help a lot with this one. She really took to our work after we started working for her dad!”

A light chuckle came from his brother, who looked similar and dressed the same, though his hair was slightly different and he bore a well groomed moustache. “Those ponies are among the nicest we met, and were the first to show us the true merit of an honest living...”

Rainbow raised a brow. “Huh? What do you mean?”

The twins, Flim and Flam, shared a wary look. “We’ll tell ya later.” They both replied.

Rainbow narrowed his eyes but smiled after a second. “Alright, sorry to pry, I just don’t get a chance to talk to anypony other than my friends much...”

“It’s quite alright, it’s only natural to find a point of conversation on these long trips.” Flam said, waving a hoof dismissively. “We appreciate you respecting our privacy.”

“Hey no problem, Twilight trusts ya, and has known you far longer than I have, so you’ll get no guff from me.” The Pegasus smiled, still amazed at the craftsmanship the two brothers displayed.

“Speaking of, Twilight and Mr Nachtlicht still in the back?” Flim asked Rainbow

The wagon was very large, with a large canopy over the back and split in two compartments, with Rainbow using the first compartment while Twilight and her father stayed in the rear compartment.

“Yeah, just small talk really, didn’t want to intrude. I may be her friend, but I shouldn’t but into everything she does, especially if it’s with her dad.”

The brothers nodded as Flim spoke. “Those two have been really close as far as I can remember. You’ll never find a better pair of employers in all of Equestria, least as far as we’re concerned.”

Rainbow’s eyes widened in admiration. “You really look up to them both.”

“Not Twilight, she’s more of a little sister than anything else.”

“As for her Father, of course we respect and admire him!” Flam added, pride in his voice. “He is a wonderful pony and a truly benevolent employer. If anything happened to him...why, I best not think about it...”

Rainbow felt Twilight lean over her shoulder, smiling widely. “Oh I see you’re getting along well with Flim and Flam! “

“Yeah they’re pretty nice guys.” Rainbow smiled back, looking around at the wagon. “Still can’t believe just the two of them made this.”

Twilight giggled. “Well, Dad was really impressed by their inventions and hired them on the spot, and they’ve been helping us ever since.” She sighed wistfully. “They helped teach me just how fun it is to work on machines and how interesting it all is, and I am grateful for their help and friendship.”

The twin stallions blushed as Flam pointed ahead. “I think we’re here, ladies.”

The group looked ahead as they neared a small, ramshackle town. The wooden buildings looked like they had seen better days, the streets were completely empty, and there weren’t even any sounds in the town.

“Spooky.” Rainbow uttered as she looked around.

As they travelled further into town, they saw that wanted posters covered the walls and windows of almost every building, the brothers stopping the wagon as they and the two mares disembarked, Twilight’s father, Night Light, jumping off from the rear.

“Vhere is everypony?” the stallion asked in his thick, Germane accent.

“Judging from these posters, it’s possible they’re under siege by a gang of criminals...” Rainbow surmised. “But if that were the case, we would’ve been attacked by now...”

Flim and Flam shook their heads, Flam speaking. “No, I don’t think those are criminals...most mugshots would have a picture showing the criminal at their most fearsome, or at least a neutral expression...these posters...look at them...”

“They look...scared...” Twilight said softly, earning a nod from the twins.

Rainbow thought it over, nodding in acceptance as she narrowed her eyes. “Alright, so, let’s ask somepony about what’s going on...we still need to find out what happened to those messengers Deep Roots sent.”

Night Light walked up to a house at random and knocked on the door loudly. “Excuse me! Ve are representatives of ze Apple Family, Ve are here on behalfze of Deep Roots of Appleoosa, who you are trading vithz. Please speak to us, Ve need to know vhat is going on!”

“Go away!” a mare hissed fearfully from behind the door. “H-he’ll get you! Run while you still can!”

“Who?” Night Light asked. “Who vill get us?”

Before anypony else could react, a mad cackle filled the air and a lasso of fire pushed past Night Light and tore through the door, the mare screaming as she pulled out through the door and dragged along the street as she struggled against the rope of flame.

Rainbow gasped and chased after her, followed by Twilight and the three stallions of their group. “Don’t worry we’ll help you!”

Rainbow dodged as something shot past her at an unbelievable speed...and struck their vehicle, causing it explode. Flim and Flam stared at the wreckage forlornly, Rainbow and Twilight remaining focused on saving the mare.

The pair skidded to a halt, staring at the massive figure before them, holding up the frightened mare in front of it by the lasso.

It was huge, a massive creature with a frightening appearance. Its broad shoulders were covered by a thick, black trench coat, opened to reveal a ghastly green smoke where his legs would be and somehow oozing up from within its fleshless ribcage. Beneath a large, black ten gallon hat was a twisted, bull like skull with glowing, beady orange eyes. His left hand held a small metal weapon that reminded Rainbow vaguely of Rotten Bad Apple’s gun, only much smaller and sleeker.

The mare screamed as she dragged by the lasso and pulled under the monster’s trench coat, vanishing without a trace, even her screams had been silenced.

Twilight stared in horror as Rainbow growled. “W-What are you!? W-what did you do to that poor mare!”

The creature chuckled, his voice deep with a slight drawl. “Poor mare? That wretch was a criminal, she broke the law, and I merely acted as the instrument of her retribution.” He pointed his skeletal finger to a wall, a flash of flame causing a wanted poster bearing the mare’s frightened face to appear. “You see?”

Rainbow stared in surprise and steeled herself as she looked at the monster. “What did she do that was so wrong?”

“Don’t matter, she paid for her sins.” He chuckled. “Welcome to Dry Hot Gulch, ladies, I’m the sheriff of this town. Enjoy your stay.”

With that, he vanished without a trace, Twilight shivering.

“Sh-she didn’t deserve that...whatever he did to her...” the unicorn whimpered.

Rainbow nodded in agreement, glaring at the spot the spirit had once stood. “Yeah...poor mare was frightened out of her wits...”

“You really shouldn’t have come here...”

The two mares turned to the new voice, seeing a white Earth pony stallion with a black mane and tail.

“Who are you supposed to be?” Rainbow asked, her brow rose in suspicion.

“Name’s Hill.” The stallion replied. “I’m the Mayor of this town, and you folks have made the biggest mistake of your lives in coming here.”

Author's Note:

Just in time for Halloween! (ignore this message if it is not, in fact, Halloween,or at least close to Halloween)

Comments

[Regidar]

[superfun]

This is certainly going to be nice and spooky.

[aceotaku]

6583061 hehe glad you think so :3

[Una]

Clint Eastwood

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKITYu7z-AY

[lordofmyth]

Hmmm.

Think this ghost itself made a big mistake. The elements of harmony couldn't be anywhere further away from guilty. And now it has to deal with those who can easily bring it donw.

[aceotaku]

6583572 you are of course assuming 1) the ghost even knows what the elements are and who bears them and 2) that this matters to him somehow

[lordofmyth]

6584557 cause negative entities are kinda vulnerable to the evil ass kicking things?

[aceotaku]

6584564 do keep in mind only twilight and rainbow dash are here, the others are still back in Ponyville, and nobody brought the actual elements with them.