Author's Note

The ' symbol is for a quote within a quote
Sorry for the long amounts of speech in this chapter had alot of it on my mind for a while
Either i hope you enjoy the chapter and please leave feedback in the comments

Chapter 15: End of the road

"Twilight, how much further do we have to walk, it feels like we've been walking forever since we last stopped" Moaned Pinkie Pie, who stopped in protest

"Ah come on Pinkie, if you keep stopping like this we'll never make it there, besides we last stopped fifteen minutes ago" Rainbow Dash replied in annoyance

"Well she's got a point darling, we've been walking since dawn" Replied Rarity

Wolf sighed before saying "yeah, we should probably stop soon, i keep forgetting that I'm no longer working with soldiers, Twilight how much further?"

"At least one more days walk, if we set up camp now, your choice Wolf" Twilight replied as she stared at the map

"It'll be better to go through the day, I would rather not freeze to death after coming all this way" Wolf replied whilst rummaging through his pack

"Alright girls you heard him, lets gather some fire wood" said Applejack, before leading the two pegasi and Pinkie Pie, who was still complaining, leaving the two unicorns to help Wolf pitch the tents

As the camp was set up and a small hole for the fire was dug the group heard a high pitched scream come from the woods. Wolf darted into the forest, using his now heightened senses to track the pony. As he came to the of the scent trail he found Fluttershy curled up behind underneath a large oak tree.

"Fluttershy, what wrong, what happened" Wolf asked in a softer tone

"t-t-Timberwolves" the pony shrieked as Wolf started hearing growls from behind

The man turned around and snarled, turning himself into his animal form, whilst letting out a loud howl, in hopes to scare the timberwolves away. By some odd luck, his plan worked as the pack turned tail and ran. Wolf turned back to Fluttershy amd tried to calm her.

"Fluttershy please calm down, as long as I'm around I wont let any harm come to you, to any of you" Wolf said in a soft tone

Fluttershy cries stopped after hearing these words as she turned around and hugged Wolf tightly, before the two returned to camp. As they arrived back at camp they found the rest of the group arguing about going to find Fluttershy.

"Didnt you hear that howl, that was no timberwolf" Applejack proclaimed

"Which means it's too dangerous for us to split up and look for her" Rarity protested

"Well either way we cant just leave her out their" Rainbow Dash argued

"Please girls please calm down, we need to think about that rationality" Twilight said, whilst trying to keep Pinkie Pie from joining the argument

As the two closed the tap to the tree line Wolf said to Fluttershy "Wanna play a prank on them"

After about five more minutes of arguing later Fluttershy ran out of the forest screaming "RUUUN"

But the group didnt turn tail this time, as they decided to try and fight whatever was chasing Fluttershy. They stood and watched as a large unseen beast started slowly moving back and forth behind the trees, letting off a low growl. As the fire started to die down, and the light began to fade the dark beast emerged from the trees like a shadow, but all the ponies could see was its dark eyes. But before the light was completely gone the creature pounce out of the shadows and appeared to have caught nothing, until the group realised that Fluttershy was gone, leaving some red substance where she once stood. Now the ponies were terrified, trying to keep a complete cone of vision on the area.

"We need to go now" said Applejack

But as the group slowly started to move back the heard a deep voice come from the darkness

"i can smell your fear, the sweet sweat dripping from your foreheads, the fresh urine on the ground, know that if you run, i will catch you, if you hide i will find you and if you try and fight me-" it said before abruptly cutting off

"I WILL KILL YOU" the voice shouted, in an almost demonic tone

But as terrified as the ponies were they stood their ground as Twilight her horn and said "We stand together in life and death"

But as Twilight's horn began to glow they saw Fluttershy stood next to Wolf, who both started to laugh hysterically.

As the group let out a light sign as both Wolf and Fluttershy calmed down before Wolf said "Im proud of you, although you were terrified and against an unknown opponent, you stood your ground, not only am i suprised to see this from ponies, but most highly trained soldiers would have ran as well, youre braver than most"

"So what was this, some sick pratical joke" Twilight asked, visibly annoyed, before hearing the rest of the group laughing behind her

"You got us good" Rainbow Dash said whilst holding back tears

"What did you use for the fake blood" Applejack asked

Wolf just held out a small bottle and explained "i just grabbed a load of red berries and mashed them up till they were like a paste, im suprised it actually worked"

The group was still annoyed by the duo's prank, but knew it was all in good fun, even if it when too far. Nevertheless the group laughed the night away telling stories from their past.

"When i was little old Granny Smith would tell me and Big Mac stories of our parents, about how they where from two familys that would always fight, based off of some old argument, but although they know their families would hate it if the two got married they did it anyway, leading to my mother's father disowning her, but she knew she had done the right thing for love" Applejack told the group

"What about you Wolf, haven't you got a story to tell" asked Pinkie Pie

"I dont like talking about my past much" Wolf said whilst looking off into the woods

"Ah, come on, everyone else has told a story" Pinkie Pie replied

"Welp, since i can't stop you from asking, here goes, but i will warn you, my life has never been good for me, a few years back when i was about sixteen both me and Raptor went by different names, back then i was known as Alex, and Raptor was called Shawn, then Shawn gets this dumb idea in his head and asked 'Hey Alex what would you do if i joined the army', my reply was 'do you even need to ask that question, i would join up right along side you'. He then said 'My parents are taking me to the recruitment office in a few weeks if you are serious', and i just stared at him for the longest time thinking about how crazy tue idea was then i remembered, my grandfather would be thrilled, he was the one who seriously cared for me in my life, to the point where my parents lost custody of me for years of mistreatment, so the next day i said to my grandfather 'My friend is joining the army in a couple of weeks and i want to join alongside him, but not under the name i currently have, my grandfather asked me what i meant and i said 'i want to change my name, the one i have is always going to bring me pain, my grandfather agreed knowing this was one of the few times i would argue with him, so the next day he took me down to the town hall to change my name, as i went up to the desk my grandfather explained that i wanted to change my name, showed the attendant all of the paper work confirming that i was his legal guardian and the woman handed me a sheet with all the information i had to fill in in order to change my name, so i took it over to a small seating area and filled out all of the necessary information and handed it to her, she then looked at me and said 'are you sure you want your full name to be Wolf' i then explained that ever since i was young i had that as my nickname so it was easier to adjust to, my grandfather signedoff on it and since that day August 13 2009 my legal name has been Wolf. That night i called Shawn i told him what i had done, and that i would have all of the paperwork back by the day we would go to the recruitment office, he said 'so, now your full name is just Wolf, no surname or anything' i explained why i did it and why it was important to me, he didnt mind in fact he loved the new name, but that was the last time i spoke to Shawn, as the next time i saw him was the recruitment office, where he told me his full name was now Raptor. So know you know the truth about my name"

The group looked at Wolf in awe before Rainbow Dash asked "What happened next"

All agreed that they wanted to know more about his past, and who was he to refuse know, it was four against two, as Twilight had already seen the darkness of his past

Wolf then continued "two days before we were going to into basic training my grandfather and Raptor's family threw a big party for us going away, that was where i learned how kind Raptor's family truly was, as i only saw little of them prior, but they weren't too thrilled about him changing his name, as he said to them 'a friend did it, i only saw to do it as well to help them through the hard times' but once i told them the reason i had changed my name, their attitude to his knew name as well as i in general changed for the better. As the night grew older i remember less and less, most likely to me getting drunk, but the next day my birth mother and father had came to attempt to drag me back into their lives so that they could start earning money of caring for me, but as my grandfather explained that i no longer go by Alex, my birth mother protested and said 'i don't care what that little shit is called but he is coming home with us' after hearing this i opened my bedroom window i shouted out to them 'oi you twats did you not hear the part where i took a restraining order out on you or are you just ignoring that, Granddad get back in the house the these fuckers wont leave i will call the police' my grandfather listened and just left my mother out side to scream at us, after about two minutes they left, my grandfather helped me pack my bag that day, and for the first time he said 'I'm proud of you Wolf, once i heard that your parents heavily mistreated you i thought that there was no hope left and now look at you, all grown up and following in your granddads footsteps' i was confused and asked 'you served time in the army' which he had, twenty years to be exact, during that time my father was born, but either way he did no care, he was just happy that he raised his grandson better than his own. That night we had a feast with Raptor's family, as my grandfather already treat Raptor like his own grandchild anyway, as he saw so much of me i him, the next day we were sent off into the army and started out basic training, bit not even two months later a SAS recruiter came into our camp and picked out me and a handful of other trainees, but once i heard that Raptor had would be left behind i said to the recuiter 'with all due respect sir, but i am not leaving this base without him by my side' the recuiter looked at me and got really close, to try and intimidate me, to the point where i could feel the heat of his breath. He then backed down and gor Raptor's records, and took him on as well. The next six months were absolute hell, as they put us through the toughest of training, when it came to firearms training i learned quickly and mastered every weapon they put in my hands, so at the end of it all i was given the role of marksman, for my accuracy and Raptor was made into a combat engineer. On our final day of training we all got letters from home, everyone had smiles on their faces with tears in their eyes, but i only had tears. In the time that i was in training my grandfather had died, but before he did he wrote me a letter, saying that he was proud of me and what i have become and in his words i never asked much of him he
So had sold all of his possessions and left his house in my name to help me pay for his funeral and to help me live a good live once i finished my long service in the army. Either way the next day we were sent home for a month, but when i returned to the house i found my mother waiting, she complained that she and my father were left out of the will, but in a final act he left them a single penny each, and my older brother one thousand pounds, so that he could get himself some nice things, to that point they left and i started planning my grandfather's funeral and for someone to rent my house, in the end the people who i wanted to rent the house to ended up buying it off of me, which i argeed to as then it get taken care of. From their you pretty much know most of the story, from one battle to another, a different war to fight, another person killed"

"Wow that was a cool story, you should tell more" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as the others wiped a tear from their eyes

"Alright thats enough story time for one day, kets get some shut eye" Wolf said before retreating into his tent

All the ponies when into their separate tents, apart from Fluttershy who had managed to talk Wolf into her stay with him for the night. The night went quiet until dawn when the birds started chirping, and the forest came alive once again with all sorts of animals, plants and even fungi alike.

As the group awoke form their slumber once more they all donned winter clothing and started to ascend the mountain after only ten minutes of walking the once lush fields and trees were replaced by a white blanket of snow and the blistering cold winds of the mountains.

After a long and uneventful day the group came across the Crystal Empire, after arguing about when they should approach the city Wolf noticed a cave and suggested that they stay their until daylight, the group ate what they had brought them that night, Applejack shared some of the apples her family had grabbed before fleeing towards the castle, Pinkie Pie shared some cupcakes, and Twilight share some sandwiches, all whilst Wolf ate a MRE from his pack before being given a cupcake that Pinkie wouldn't let him refuse, as the night grew colder Wolf made a fire at the back of the cave from some of the firewood he had grabbed from the previous night, aa the ponies all attempted to sleep in close proximity to one another Wolf checked his pack listing of the remaining supplies.

"One M4A1 assault rifle, six fully loaded 5.56 Nato round magazines, five MRES, one flashlight with six remaining batteries, five flares, one Kukri blade, one M9 Beretta sidearm and eight 9mm Beretta magazines" he whispered to himself, check everything of in his head

Before Wolf slept he decided to morph himself into his other form and lay close to the ponies, as this way they would get the heat of his fur. As he slept he did not feel the fact that one by one the ponies snuggled into him, first Fluttershy, then Pinkie Pie, followed by Rainbow Dash and Rarity, after that Applejack and finally Twilight.

The night once again went quiet and all that could be heard was the crackling of the fire in the cave, but this time once dawn arose there were no birds chirping, no animals, plants nor fungi to be see, just the harsh conditions of the winter wasteland. Yet again Wolf was the first to wake from his long slumber to find that all of the ponies had gotten close to him whilst he slept.

Wolf grinned before quietly whispering to himself "ah, whats another hour or two going to harm" as he layed back down to sleep

Once all of the ponies and Wolf had woke up and ate something warm they left the cave and approached the Crystal Empire, upon reaching the large gates they were stopped by a pony holding a spear and wearing a helmet that covered their entire head.

"Halt, only citizens of the Crystal Empire may pass" The guard said sternly

Wolf replied "we are envoys from the far lands of Canterlot, our arrival is expected with king Sombra"

The guard just stared into the distance before saying "ah, how silly of me, please enter"

As the guardpony stepped aside and opened the gate Wolf leaned over to Twilight and Whispered "something isn't write, be alert at all times"

Twilight nodded as they entered the city before saying "the city is mainly crystal, most likely due to the area having large amounts of crystals deposits, this it was named the Crystal Empire"

"Really Twi, we couldnt have figured that one out on our own" Rainbow Dash replied snarkily

As the group entered the city, Wolf had a bad feeling, like they were walking into a trap