There was a crooked man, and he lived a crooked life
He scared and tortured everyone, brought with him only strife
He never learned his lesson, despite his friend's advice
He couldn't be overt with it, enhancing others' vice
What goes around will come around, as he will soon learn
HIs punishment and reckoning will make a swift return

Time slowed along with his blood flow, the frightened mare galloping towards him at a snail's pace. Her mortified expression from moments before was a mask of horror and determination. He studied that mask for hours, as the twilight of his life gave way to eternal darkness, hundreds of thoughts passing through his head. Why didn't he contact Celestia? Why didn't Luna visit him in any of his nightmares? Why didn't he just leave Ponyville? Stay at Zecora's place, at the very least? Hell, even Discord's insane dimension would've been better than Ponyville. Pointless questions, in the end.

As Jason Wright drew his last, raspy breath, he wished only for the pain to end.

Applejack stood paralyzed as Jason Wright swung from the tree, his face blue, his neck crooked. His eyes were blank and dead, staring past Applejack, through her soul and beyond. It would visit her every night. Fighting past her disgust and shame, got the body off the withered husk of an apple tree, attempting some half-forgotten resuscitation exercise that was doomed to begin with. All it accomplished was cracking his ribs.

She didn't remember the walk to Ponyville General, could faintly recall the incredulous look on the staff's faces as she told them where she left him. She was shaken awake by Twilight, the neurotic princess asking her friend to "describe exactly what happened" for what must've been the tenth time.

"I just don't understand why he did it!" She spoke in whispers, or at least attempted to, despite the lack of prying ears. "Suicide hasn't been an issue in Equestria for over a millenia!" A twinge of excitement entered her voice. "We've got a precedent on our hooves! I'm sure Princess Celestia will be very interested!"

Applejack knew that Celestia's interest would spell doom for her, and her friends. Could she have talked Twilight into keeping things on the down low? Probably not. Word would've gotten out eventually. She doubted she could live with herself if she did. She'd have trouble doing so as is.

As Twilight's prattling about something or other faded into background noise, the farm mare had a sinking feeling that she was on the precipice of something horrible, with one hoof placed firmly on the other side.

If he was lucid, Jason would've rolled his eyes at the falling sensation that enveloped him. Even in death, he couldn't avoid cliches. But lucid he was not, for a mind could not live long without a body to anchor to. He was merely a fading ember of consciousness, drifting through the murky waters of delirium, bobbing briefly above the water, before being whisked away by the undertow.

Who am I? Where am I? Dying twitches of consciousness wondered, as the last current coursed through his synapses. Moments later, he'd be no more, softly cradled by oblivion's cold embrace. But as was common with Jason's life, nothing went as planned. Something stirred in the beyond, a realm so distant, few inhabitants of Equus could imagine the distance.

It was old, impossibly old. Older than the Alicorns, predating the Empires before them, and even life itself. It was always there, born of the first being to conceptualize it, spreading along the axis of time, in both directions. It had many names, countless superstitions regarding it present in every culture in one way or another.

Zebra shamans warned their students of dangerous spirits, reducing those foolish enough to meddle with them to emotionless husks. Ponies whispered about monsters lurking in the dark corners of the world, draining individuals of their magic. Changeling Queens prayed for bountiful love harvests, their reverent words begging for successful integration of the drones into the host family. Finally, deer priestess feverishly etched ancient protective runes into walls of containment chambers, keeping age-old artifacts at bay.

For thousands of years, Equus had avoided its attention, shielded by the powers of Harmony, keeping its residents in relative safety. But one seemingly harmless prank, born out of childlike curiosity and lack of responsibility, one that had grown out of control, had finally succeeded where countless others had failed.

The pain and misery, fear and hate, hope and the eventual spiral into despair, emotions accumulated over the course of three years culminating into a most unjust end, had finally broken the protective veil, attracting the gaze of The Entity.

Black fog rushed into Jason's lungs, carrying a succinct taste of blood and ash. His eyes shot open, confusion and panic conveyed by rapid eye movement. That same fog obscured his vision, his eyes watering at the contact. Ominous creaks and groans, something in-between metal fatigue and creaking of breaking branches reached his ears. Jason tried to move his arms, only to feel nothing. He tested each limb, willing himself to move, but nothing came of his attempts.

Something cold and hard brushed against his neck, a hairy spot on the object tickling the back of it. It was then that Jason realized that he was paralyzed below the neck. A stifled cry traveled through his broken trachea, coming out as a pathetic wheeze. This was unfair. After all he went through, all the pain he endured, this is the afterlife he gets? Self-pity gave way to anger. He was going to be stuck this way for who knows how long, while his tormentors got what they wanted. He was gone from their lives, the pesky varmint out of sight and out of mind.

And I did their work for them.

But there was another way. A voice that spoke without words showed him that way, the creaking and groaning noise growing louder. He wanted a chance for revenge, and she would give him that chance. He would return the pain he endured tenfold, hunt and terrify the bearers for as long as he satiated Her eternal hunger. She promised him a twisted playground, a never-ending power fantasy, and a satisfying penance, all in exchange for servitude.

How could he resist?

Why would he?

The Entity sensed his answer, reading it from his mind. A searing hot sensation coursed through his body as the fog in his lungs diffused into his body, changing it.

Jason felt a rope tighten against his neck, tight enough to be fixed, but loose enough to allow airflow. His arms and legs tingle with an otherworldly chill as the dead tissue was remade. He craned his crooked neck at the sudden weight in his right arm, but he couldn't quite see it. One of the spider-like limbs held his head at an angle that prohibited him from seeing what exactly was in his right hand, and Jason felt a voice whispering in his head.

Don't look, just think. Remember. Imagine.

Imagine? He could do that. He imagined stalking the streets of Ponyville, long-abandoned buildings hiding untold hate and malice under the cheerful facade. He heard the muffled hoofsteps of his assailants just around the corner, swiftly getting away, their mean spirited laughter growing more distant by the second. His teeth clenched, dead eyes following the burning scratch marks leading Jason to his victims.

Rounding the corner, Jason found himself in town square, just as empty as the rest of Ponyville. He watched a streak of rainbow mane disappear into the Crystal castle, stoking the fire within him. Mocking laughter reached his ears as his tormentor flew through winding halls of the structure, cruel words taunting him at every turn.

You'll never catch me, you monster! And if you try, this Wonderbolt will burn you to a crisp!

Thunder crashed into the highest spires of the castle, awakening a buried fear in Jason's heart, his blind eye stinging with pain. He knew he'd never catch her in a fair race, it was obvious. Thankfully, this wasn't a fair game. Jason saw something superimposed onto his vision, like an aura during a migraine. White silhouettes of nooses were visible through the castle walls, and Jason felt something within him stir. He took a deep breath, felt the rope around his neck tighten, heard the heartbeat of his prey near one of the nooses, and willed himself to let go.

The ground gave way beneath him, the dusty streets below turning into smooth crystal floors as his descent suddenly stopped with a loud crack. Jason didn't feel much as his neck snapped, his attention was solely focused on the terrified rainbow mare before him, her wide eyes darting across his features.

Before Rainbow Dash could react, the rope holding Jason ripped, his feet landing squarely on the crystal floor with a distinct noise. Broken out of her stupor, the wonderbolt tried to dash away, but for once Jason was faster. He swung the heavy object in his right arm, driving the red head of an axe between Dash's wings.

ACK!

The blow knocked the wind out of her lungs, sending the athlete hobbling away from Jason, her cries of pain music to him. She recovered quicker than expected, and although her wings hung limply by her sides, she could still run. Jason was quicker than her now, but Dash knew the castle better. He had to catch her now, or she'd waste even more of his time.

He tugged at the rope around his crooked neck, the thing coming undone much easier than expected. Like a snake, it slithered in his hands to form a lasso, cluing Jason on what he had to do. With an unparalleled precision, he threw the lasso at Rainbow, the rope constricting the moment it made contact with her neck. Her mouth opened wordlessly as she gasped for air, her thrashing growing more ineffective as Jason pulled her towards him.

Her eyes bulged out of her head, her face taking an unnatural shade of purple. Jason could taste the thrill of his first kill. Soon, she'd be no more. Soon, all the pain she'd caused him would be avenged.

No. You are not allowed. You. Serve. Me.

The voice in his head commanded him to stop, and he couldn't help but oblige. The blunt end of his axe crashed against the back of Rainbow's head, the rope ripping in two, before slithering back into position around Jason's neck, constricting just enough to be noticable.

Up. Carry her.Feed me.

Following the Entity's orders, he picked the mare by her limp wings, before hoisting her on his shoulder. Once again, he saw auras of what looked like butcher hooks superimposed over his vision, the closest one placed just around the corner. A wicked smile graced his lips, the weak struggles of the mare barely an inconvenience.

The meat hook was much like him: crooked and broken. Its main body zigged and zagged which every way, broken and jagged right up to the hook itself. The blade was grimy and rusty, crooked in just the right way to make unhooking if not impossible, then immensely painful.

He threw Rainbow onto the contraption, and the blood-curdling scream she released as the blade pierced her flesh was the best sound Jason had heard in the last three years. Spider-like legs formed around the hook, swiftly piercing the mare's abdomen. Rainbow's body slowly faded out of view, only a faint outline remained visible. The spider legs shivered in ecstasy as she was raised into a yawning void above, the castle above burning away to make way for the sacrifice. The maelstrom of darkness consumed her, giant spider legs closing the rift, the castle walls burning back into view.

This was the cost of his revenge. Eternal hunt, pain and servitude.

His dead eyes burned with fiery anticipation, a wicked smile contorted his features. He gripped the hilt of his axe, and gleefully stepped into the billowing black fog, disappearing from view.

Author's Note

Throwing my hat in the ring.