The Descent

Running on fumes, their ship just barely avoided crashing into the pier of King's Reach. The port looked abandoned. Eswyn led Bridges and Ametrine off the ship, and onto the beach, devoid of nearly anyone. The town looked simple enough, aside from the overgrown castle of light stone in the distance.

Despite the empty streets, it felt like they were being watched. Eswyn started moving towards what looked like some kind of an informational booth. Once they reached the booth, Ametrine's heart sank.

The stallion inside had been decapitated, his body still standing up. His head was on the table. Ametrine had to clench her teeth to stop herself screaming when the head opened it's eyes. Eswyn, however, seemed calm.

"Can I help you guys?" The head said.

"Our ship has run out fuel. Do you know where we can get some coal?" Eswyn responded.

"Are you a citizen?" It said, squinting at the mechanical mare.

"No, but-"

"You're gonna have to speak to the queen in Oceanview Castle." It responded while the headless body in the booth grabbed some kind of paper from a cabinet and gave it to Eswyn. "If that's all, I shall return to my nap."

Eswyn turned around to the terrified mare and their friend who hadn't noticed. "Congrats. You two are about to meet royalty."

Ametrine, not knowing what to say, simply nodded.

"According to this map," Eswyn began. "It should be- What?"

The map made little to no sense. Eswyn thought about asking the booth operator, but they were already sound asleep.

"Guess we're on our own." Eswyn sighed.

"Can't we just ask a local?" Asked Burning Bridges. "Look, there's someone over there. I'll ask them."

"No, I said you shou-" Eswyn tried to stop him, but it was too late. He had already trotted away to someone walking down the street.

The mare he had approached was barely even organic. They were missing every limb except one of their front legs, having been replaced by oversized mechanical ones. They were standing on only their hind legs, dragging their massive hooves behind them as they walked. Their organic arm was hanging limply, and so was their head.

"Hi, do you know how to get to the castle?" He asked the partially plated pony.

They stopped, and slowly turned around and looked at Burning Bridges, with deep-sunken eyes beneath heavy eyelids.

"I- I am... Si- sss..."

That was all they managed to reply before biting their lip with a worried expression and walking off, slightly faster than before.

"What is wrong with you!?" The confused Bridges heard, accompanied by the approaching stomping of metal hooves. It was clearly Eswyn, extremely upset. "The citizens here have suffered enough. They don't need you tormenting them further. Now, you aren't going to talk to anyone. Understood?"

Burning Bridges nodded in response with an annoyed sigh. Eswyn beckoned them to follow, and they did as told. She seemed to know best, anyways. As they walked through the twisting streets, it became apparent Eswyn also had no idea where they were headed. Their only sense of direction was the looming castle over in the distance. They seemed to be getting closer, but the roads were like a maze.

As they walked through the town, Ametrine noticed how few people were on the streets. They were all nearly empty, aside from an occasional odd-looking passerby. Whether it was an unreformed changeling or a pony with eight legs, this place seemed to have it all. Most signs were also in a language she didn't understand. Bridges seemed to somehow understand a bit, occasionally mentioning something about seeing similar runic letters in his studies.

The castle wasn't far away now. It looked like a massive, overgrown ruin. Vines were tangled and stretching all over the ramparts. Large parts of the castle were missing, too. Collasped towers, missing walls, and various other damages were present all over the fort.

One entirely uneventful walk later, they arrived at the front gates. The doors were decorated with regalia symboling a pony with six eyes. Eswyn grabbed ahold of the door knocker, and hit it against the old wood multiple times. The gates into the castle opened, but no one was there. It's like they had opened on their own.

It was dark inside. Very dark. At least, it was until Burning Bridges created light with his magic. The interior of the castle looked just as mundane and abandoned as the outside. Old, torn banners were hung on the walls, decorated by sigils with meanings she didn't know. Most of the doors inside were locked or barred by chains, save for one. Atop a staircase were large double doors marked with a large crown emblem. Ametrine presumed that was the throne room.

"Is that where we're supposed to go?" She whispered to Eswyn, as if they knew.

"Only one way to find out." Eswyn replied, walking up the stairs to the door and shoving it open. The two others followed her into the room. Unlike the rest of the castle, this room was bright from daylight outside. Many windows were missing, causing the stone floor inside to have been bleached by the sun. Only one stained glass window was intact, it's colourful reflection casting a blur of vibrancy upon a large, uncomfortable-looking throne of pure stone. Upon the throne, was an impressively tall mare. They were sitting slumped over in the chair, their hind legs touching the floor. They were staring into the ceiling, mindlessly.

"Hey! Are you the queen?" Shouted Burning Bridges.

"..."

No response.

The tall mare upon the throne looked dead. They weren't moving, weren't breathing. Ametrine walked a few steps closer, just as she heard the door slam shut behind her. The trio whipped around just in time to see the door being sealed by light blue chains of magic. Ametrine glanced over on the mare again, noticing their horn glowing in the same shade.

"For a thousand years I have ruled over this domain." A voice echoed through the room. "And you dare set hoof within the throne room of King's Realm?"

Now, the three ponies were fully staring upon the carcass in the throne. It's mouth was not moving. However, a scraping noise could be heard from behind the throne. It was an anchor, sliding into view, dragged by the same light blue magic.

"You have made a grave mistake." The voice said, as the corpse blinked to life and started to stand up on it's hind legs menacingly. A magical chain bonded around their right hoof, connected to the anchor as they continued to speak. Know my name - Trespassers - For I am Gehenna, eternal ruler of the King's Realm!"

The three ponies at the door where completely stunned by fear. They watched in horror as the mare on the other side began to frantically swing the anchor around above her head, eventually lobbing it straight towards Ametrine Glow. The two other ponies sprinted away from the descending hunk of metal. Ametrine fell to the ground, sobbing as she waited for her demise.

And she waited. And waited. Several seconds passed, but she was still alive. She slowly opened her eyes, looking above her. The anchor was suspended in the air, right above her. She looked to her friends, but Bridges wasn't using his magic and Eswyn wasn't doing anything either. She glanced over at her to-be killer on the other side of the room, who appeared to be laughing their ass off in amusement. Suddenly, the anchor was thrown back behind the throne, and the chains on both the doors and agressor's armament disappeared.