Another variant of the possible bad end future of Emerald. This one the metal has rusted from marshy conditions and the salty air. Colored by MethidMan. (Thanks for doing this!)
 
https://www.anonpone.com/coltquest/
 
 
– Story –
 
 
Colt Quest Bad End: The (Un)living Weapon  
A fan work by Psker
 
Emerald shivered as fresh tears rolled down his cheeks. The old dungeon wall felt cold against his back. The chains rubbing raw against his limbs as he nervously pulled against them. He stared up at the burning green eyes of his captor. The apparent master of the undead here in the straits. “P-please…” Emerald rasped, “I- I don’t to die. I’ve told you everything I know.” Almost everything, he thought to himself. He dared not divulged who his mistress was or Ruby or anyone on the pirate crew, least they go after them for killing their ‘Kraken’. He gulped nervously as Lord Sepulcher tapped the bottom of his mask in consideration.
 
His green eyes then narrowed and gazed into his like a Manticore that has caught its prey. “Very well intruder, your answers have been… satisfactory. Your honesty has earned your reward.” He raised his glaive up, Emerald shrinking back from the bladed weapon in increasing terror, his eyes darting from the glaive, to Sepulcher. “P-please! Don’t—”
 
“I am true to my word, whelp. A peaceful death is your reward!” He slammed the base of the glaive into the soot sodden floor. In one swift motion, the construct named Elegance, spun from her position beside her master and stabbed Emerald’s flank with her stinger. Emerald screamed and cried in burning pain, thrashing against his bounds.
 
Lady Elegance shot a smirk at her master as she pulled her stinger back, leaving a bloody gash, blood running down his hind leg as he breathed heavily.
 
“In a few minutes child, her venom will reach your heart and brain and your life will cease to be. I have no use of you, child, but your body can be useful. Though it’s a poor trade for the loss of my Kraken it will have to suffice.”
 
Emerald gasped and coughed and with shaky limbs tried to use his knife of subtlety on the chains binding him. But in the back of his mind he knew he was too late. Already he could feel a coldness welling up inside. Maybe he should’ve done something differently, maybe stop the zombie in the steeple from ringing the bell, maybe he shouldn’t have come to this horrible village in the first place.
 
His limbs became too week to struggle anymore and he hung limply in the chains. With effort he raised his head to his two undead captors, their forms blurring as his vision darkened. He failed… he failed Ruby… he failed Joyride… he failed Hope… he even failed his mother… he failed them all… “I’m sorry…” he said softly to himself.
 
His strength faltered and his head fell limp. His breathing slowing until it at last ceased. A tiny trail of foam mixed with blood drooled down his chin. Sepulcher studied for any life signs left in the colt… there was none.
 
“It is done. The foal has shed his mortal coil.” He approached the limp form of the colt and, with the tip of his metal claw, lifted his chin staring into its dull, glassy eyes. “Remove this pony from the shackles and take him to my chamber. I shall prepare him soon…”
 
“Yes my lord.” Lady Elegance eagerly reached to one of the cuffs when she jumped back with a yelp. Her stinger punching a hole in the floor. On his foreleg a sharp blade started to appear after a series of loud pops and arcs of electricity.
 
“Interesting…” Sepulcher commented as he removed the short bladed instrument from the dead limb. The child had a hidden weapon, one that not even he noticed. Yet another odd peculiarity about the colt. Something that might be worth investigating another time. He motioned for Elegance to resume her work as he carried the blade with him out of the room.
 

 
Elegance crept quietly, as her large form could allow, into her master’s chamber. There was a loud, splintering crack followed by a soft patter of crimson going everywhere. A thick gout of blood spilling onto the floor from what once had been the foreleg of the emerald colt. She smiled at the sight, one foreleg rendered a stump while the other was already augmented to fit her master’s needs.
 
Stained in ichor, Sepulcher shared a glance at his construct. A silent understanding was passed between them. She could stay and watch as long as she did not interfere with his work. Elegance then moved to a spot in the room and got settled. She didn’t want to miss this transformation of life into living death. Of something that will serve to protect them from other intruders like this strange child.
 
Sepulcher resumed and turned to discard the severed limb onto a stack of skin and other removed organs taken from the partly flayed earth pony colt. Those will have its uses later…
 
The work resumed for another hour as Sepulcher calmly continued to use his knowledge of dark arts and technology to reshape and mold the foal’s corpse into something he can use. A body affixed with weapons to serve as yet another defense against those who seek to steal and destroy what is theirs.
 
He stood back from the altered body and clasped his metal gauntlets together.
 
“Beautiful work master.” Elegance cheerfully complimented, admiring the work done on the corpse. A child is much smaller than what they usually transform and to see a foal, as compact as they are, to be so skillfully transformed was something quite worthy of congratulating.
 
He raised his shriveled foreleg up and she became silent. A few silent moments passed as he began to chant in a tongue long since forgotten. His chant continued for some time until one of the foal’s legs began to twitch.
 
A few seconds passed before the colt’s leg twitched again. His chant ceased and moved closed to the slightly twitching body. A needle extended from his gauntlet and he plunged it into the earth pony. Injecting a viscous black fluid into the dead flesh as the engine embedded in the partly flayed back and loin began to quietly whirr with life.
 
“Rise foal. Your master has need of you.”
 
The body once known as Emerald Jewel stirred with life. The engine’s noise increasing as steam came out of the engines twin stacks. The augmented forelegs started moving and flexing as its hinds did the same.
 
It commenced to rise from the table. It looked at Elegance and Sepulcher with its dull bloodshot eyes and open its mouth. Making a gurgling groan as yellow fluid drooled from its open maw.
 
“Hello little one. Ready to serve our master?”
 

 
Lord Sepulcher returned to his private chambers, having instructed his latest weaponized meat puppet to go out and patrol the forest for any interlopers, he went to his desk and curiously study the mysterious magic dagger that was hidden on the dead foal.
 
There was strong magic in him, stronger than most colts his age should’ve had. It piqued his curiosity of who the child’s mistress was as most would likely not bother to train an earth pony in the use of focuses much less equip him with such a dagger. Or of the strange locket that hung around his neck.
 
These questions oddly troubled him. He was after all a thief and an intruder and was dealt as such. It was not the first time he had intruders whose presence had brought mysteries and unanswered questions. Most of which no longer mattered once they were cut down and their bodies became his. But perhaps this mystery should warrant some more study. Beginning with that locket…
 
Pulling out the desk drawer he found the amulet that was successfully removed from the colt after his passing. But to his surprise the red stone that was held in the center of the piece was gone.
 

 
Ruby awoke from a terrible dream. It was of Emerald and her throwing stones along the beach. He showed her his magic of levitating rocks and stones and…
 
She shook her head. She didn’t want to think about him, much less DREAM about him! She wish she could stop then maybe it wouldn’t hurt as bad. If only he hadn’t been so nice to her maybe then she could think of him like she thought of the other foals back in city.
 
She groaned and carefully got out of bed. The bandages covering her ribs helped with the pain some but it will be a number of days before they could take it off after the thrashing she got from that monster squid. She glanced over at Joyride’s bed. Empty again.
 
She wondered where that mare has been sleeping at for the past few nights. She hadn’t seen her much since Emer— since the squid attack and seemed either lost in thought or drunk. In fact now that she thought about it she recalled some of the pirates talking about how they haven’t seen much of the first mate since the attack. Maybe they were both doing something…  
It didn’t matter they will reach land tomorrow and Joy and her will get off. One less than when they got on…
 
She decided to pack early. She needed to get her mind away from him. She started with the secret stash of things she snagged on the voyage so far. She picked up the small mirror she snatched, from that odd stallion who wore make up, and was about to stuff it in her bag when she noticed something in her reflection that wasn’t there yesterday.
 
On her earring where there was once an indent now sat a red jewel.