The Wolf of War

by Punished Venom Muddy

Chapter 9 - Journey's End

"I assume you're fit enough to leave?" Sunrise asked as he opened the storehouse door, his armored guest having remained hidden inside during the herbalist's visit, using the materials Caramel snuck him to treat his own wounds.

"Yes" Vvulf replied plainly, attaching the axe to his back, enjoying the familiar feeling.

"I assume you have no protest?"

"None" Sunrise responded, shaking his head, but paused to cock it to the side for a moment.

"Though, Caramel will at least want to say goodbye"

"Of course" Vvulf agreed, exiting the storehouse behind the old stallion.

Caramel was already waiting outside the building, kicking her hoof idly at the blood-stained ground. As the two approached her, Caramel's glance shot up, a sad smile on her muzzle.

"Baba figured you were leaving" Caramel said, doing her best to have a positive outlook on the situation.

"Yes" Vvulf confirmed, causing a frown to form on Caramel's lips.

"Well... It was nice to meet you Mister Vvulf, maybe you could visit sometime?" Caramel offered, giving a glance to Sunrise who just responded with a single nod.

"Perhaps" Vvulf replied, turning to leave the small homestead, giving his two hosts a farewell nod.

Vvulf had barely left the two pegasi behind, only making it a short ways down the path before he was intercepted by two winded and confused guards, their black armor clattering as the came to a stop from full gallop.

"W-What in Tartarus is that?!" One of the guards exclaimed, putting her spear between herself and Vvulf.

"I- I have no idea" The other guard responded, his demeanor a bit more collected than his companion.

"I wish to speak to your king" Vvulf said plainly, his request coming out in a tone that suggested it wasn't something to refuse.

"It- It talks!? I mean-" The female guardspony began, pausing to look over at her partner.

"I don't... I suppose His Excellency would be interested in something like this" The male guard replied, trying to justify a decision.

"If we could make this swift, please" Vvulf interrupted, causing the mare to jump slightly.

"Ah... Yes. I must ask you to wear these though" The stallion said, holding out a pair of manacles.

"If it makes you feel safe enough to travel" Vvulf groaned, holding his armored wrists out. His glare shooting to the mare as she tried to move to disarm the armored warrior.

"If you value your life. Don't." He warned, the now-terrified guard stepping back into line with her companion.

"Come along" The stallion instructed, leading Vvulf with his partner short on his tail.

---

Despite the small crowd of curious ponies that had gathered around him, Vvulf made it to the towering spire of the Crystal Kingdom without incident, the guards around the palace dispersing the crowd as Vvulf and his guides entered the towering castle.
The eyes of the black armored ponies guarding the halls remained trained on Vvulf as he was lead towards their sovereign, their muscles tensing whenever he passed them.

"Just wait here a moment while I inform His Majesty" The male guide instructed, leaving Vvulf and his partner standing outside the throne room doors. With the stallion gone, the mare beside Vvulf squirmed in place, nervously shifting her hooves.

"His Majesty will speak to you now" The stallion informed as he opened the large throne room doors for Vvulf, revealing a slate-grey unicorn seated on a large black and red crystal throne, flanked on both sides by various creatures, all donned in the inky-black armor of the Crystal Empire.

"You will address His Majesty as such, or as King Sombra"

"Greetings" Vvulf interrupted the stallion, stepping into the throne room, causing the rouge's gallery of guards to tense and draw their weapons.
A single wave of the king's hoof halted all action, the guards returning to their statue-like vigils.

"You are a bold one indeed" Sombra spoke, letting a smirk creep across his lips.

"Who is it that is so bold as to address myself, a king, like a commoner?"

"A foreigner to your world" Vvulf replied, his voice monotone and cold as usual.

"And does this foreigner have a name?" Sombra asked, his patience wearing thin for this strange creature.

"Vvulf" Vvulf responded.

"And what, pray tell, is it that you need Vvulf?" Sombra asked, his voice dripping with venom at the mention of the man's name.

"I've come for an artifact you posses" Vvulf replied bluntly, causing even Sombra to be taken aback for a moment.

"I see..." Sombra hummed, rubbing his chin with a hoof.

"And what, pray tell, could possibly be so valuable to encourage you to have such gall?"

"A trinket of sorts, a medallion made of a fang" Vvulf explained, describing the item of his quarry.

"I believe I posses such an item, but it is most likely already stored in the castle's vault" Sombra replied, giving Vvulf a heavy sigh.

"I assume you would be able to identify the item if you saw it?"

"Immediately" Vvulf responded, causing the king to stand from his throne.

"Then come, I'm quite the busy stallion" Sombra instructed, ushering the armored man to follow.

Vvulf followed almost without any hesitation, the idea that his quest, to his knowledge, was nearing its end being too enticing. Unbeknownst to the warrior, however, Sombra's lips crept upwards into a fanged and sinister grin, Vvulf's enthusiasm playing directly into the slate unicorn's hoof.

Sombra lead Vvulf through winding corridors and spiraling stairs until they stopped before a heavy wooden door, a large gem adorning the top of the arched frame.

"Here you are, Your eternal reward" Sombra hissed, throwing open the door, the cursed magics of the dead-end passage taking ahold of the armored giant.

"You must understand that I couldn't possibly part with something as useful and powerful as an artifact from your kind" Sombra monologued, revealing the fanged medallion from beneath his breastplate.

"Least of all to an ally of my enemies"

Vvulf remained still, his gaze engrossed by the enchantment of the door. His breathing becoming slow and deep, a feral growl growing and creeping from the back of his throat to his lips.

"Oh come now, you should have been more clever than this" Sombra berated, pacing around the nearly-comatose man.

"I do wonder how your pitiful Equestrian employers will fare without your assistance?" Sombra mused to himself, letting out a cackle before turning and leaving the man to his fate.

"Enjoy the visions warrior, I'm sure you're no stranger to nightmares"

"You're mine now, pup" A great silver wolf spoke in a sweet female voice, appearing behind Vvulf before clamping her jaws closed over the man.

---

Misty stood before her units, donned in her armor, Vvulf's large axe securely fastened to her back, a common piece ever since the item was returned to her.

"This is it everypony, the last charge!" She announced, cantering before the line of similarly armored ponies.

"We have the aid of The Princesses on our side. Equestria will prevail this day!"

"For Equestria!" The ponies cried out in unison, stomping the frozen earth below.

With the final battle cry finished, the horn was blown, signaling the amassed army to charge. Finally, the Crystal Kingdom was within their grasp and all Misty had to do was survive and buy the princesses enough time to confront the corrupted king of this frigid empire.

Misty drew her sword and charged with her allies, letting out a warcry of her own as they collided with the black armored northerners, a wave of silver against the final stronghold of black.
Misty's blade clashed with another pony's, her ferocity and determination rivaling that of the master of the axe on her back. Pushing the pony back with a shove of their locked blades, Misty followed the motion with a powerful thrust, piercing through the armored barrel of her opponent.

Keeping the momentum of her charge, Misty clashed with another black-armored adversary, parrying the pony's spear, letting the tip skid harmlessly against her armored spaulders. Misty used the opening to pierce her sword up into the open chin of the pony's helmet, skewering the mare's skull before retracting her sword.

Misty turned to her left, reacting just barely too slow, taking a blow to her head from a hammer that knocked her helmet free from her dome and left her vision blurry.
As her sight came back, she saw Lightning standing before her, his bladed wings dripping with blood from the decapitated pony that had struck her.

"Thanks" Misty said, regaining her composure, leaving the dented helmet on the frozen earth as Lightning took to the skies again.

Misty redoubled her efforts, cutting her way towards the towering crystal spire. Magical flashes exploded overhead as, Misty presumed, the princesses battled with Sombra. The Equestrian forces performing their part of this grand assault perfectly, distracting the Crystal Empire's units, leaving their ruler without reinforcements to assist against the combined might of the alicorn sisters.

The Equestrians easily overwhelmed the Imperial units, leaving a bloody battlefield strewn with far more black-armored corpses than silver or gold.
Just as the last Imperial fell, the gate to the crystal castle opened, spilling out a wave of ponies. The Equestrian forces readied themselves for the second wave, but eased slightly when they realized the shoddy state of their supposed attackers. Most of the ponies exiting the castle weren't armed or armored, many of them already covered in blood or wounds as they exited.

"Help!" Some of the Imperials cried out to their would-be enemies.

"Monster! Demon!"

"Stay your blades!" Misty ordered, her forces following the instructions, but still remaining ready for action. The Imperials simply ran past the Equestrians, caring only for putting as much distance between themselves and whatever was inside the castle.

"That was surprisingly easy" Jade said sarcastically, joining Misty, her left eye sporting a deep cut that ran from brow to cheek.

"We're not finished yet" Misty replied, following the final push through the castle's open doors.

The scene inside the crystal castle was a nightmarish one, blood stained the floors and walls, some smattering of the crimson even reaching up to the arched ceiling above. Corpses lay mangled and torn asunder, limbs and entrails littering the halls. Misty's heart beat faster as she approached the sound of combat, her courage faltering for a moment as a booming roar echoed through the corridor, emanating from the closed doors of the throne room just ahead.

Misty swallowed her fear and charged the throne room, freezing in abject horror as she witnessed Vvulf tear a black-armored Diamond Dog in two with his bare hands. Misty almost rushed to join her long-lost companion, but paused at the threshold, taking a moment to really examine the man inside.
Vvulf was much larger, much more animalistic than she remembered, his movements brutal and feral. Misty's mouth went agape as she watched Vvulf's helmet open its jaws, closing the steel fangs over the skull of a silver-armored pony that successfully landed a blow against the monstrous man.
Even with the pony's sword embedded in his side, Vvulf continued his rampage, brutalizing indiscriminately both the black and silver armored forces around him.

"Vvulf!" Misty tried to call out over the carnage, but her cry fell on deaf ears as Vvulf continued his rampage.

Misty's breath caught as she watched several spear-ponies, both Imperial and Equestrian thrust their weapons into Vvulf. Even the coordinated attack didn't stop his rampage, a single swing of his armored arm splintering the spear's hafts, his other arm following the blow in a sweeping circle, sending everypony around him sailing across the throne room.
A loosed bolt hit Vvulf in the back, causing the armored beast to turn his sights at the culprit.
The pony responsible froze in fear as Vvulf charged him, grabbing the stallion before slamming him back into the tile below, cracking the crystalline floors as he pulverized the pony beyond recognition.

Vvulf's gaze finally fell on Misty, a moment later, Misty found herself being snatched up by the hulking goliath. Vvulf held Misty in a single hand, tight enough to dent her armor to his grip, but not enough to crush the startled mare.
With Misty in his grasp, Vvulf broke through the line of Imperials behind him, shielding her comparably petite form from bolts and blades as he charged through the halls of the castle.

"V-Vvulf! Stop!" Misty called out, finally getting the man's attention as they burst through the glass door of a balcony.

"Safe" Vvulf grunted out, setting Misty down. Blood poured from multiple holes in the man's armor, the open maw of the wolf-like helmet panting heavily.

"That's right, we're safe now" Misty reassured, turning as she saw Vvulf drop back into a ready stance, his gaze facing upwards.

"Princesses!" Misty called out to the descending monarchs, the alicorn sisters flapping their wings to remain just past the balcony's edge.

"We had heard thou'st had perished" Luna spoke first, examining the monstrous man before her. Vvulf just growled in response, putting himself between Misty and the princesses.

"Something is wrong with him" Misty said from behind Vvulf, peeking her muzzle around the armored frame of the warrior.

"Sombra's corruption, it appears, can even hold power over a creature such as yourself" Celestia sighed, charging her horn, causing Vvulf to let out a warning growl.

"Luckily his enchantments are rather simple lift"

"It's alright" Misty reassured, putting her hoof on Vvulf's leg, putting the feral man at ease.

Celestia's magic washed over Vvulf with a blinding light, causing Misty to shield her eyes with a forehoof. Once her sight had cleared with a few testing blinks, she no longer saw a hulking monster, but the regularly-sized companion she had lost.

"Hello, Misty" Vvulf said weakly, lying in a puddle of his own blood on the balcony, the wounds from his previous form still remaining on his current body.

"Oh Faust! Are you- Will he be alright?" Misty asked, moving to the man's side.

"In a moment" Luna reassured, casting a spell of her own on the fallen warrior.

As Luna's spell washed over Vvulf, the man slowly rose to his feet. He wavered for a moment, but Misty was quick to offer him help balancing.

"I... Apologize. I turned on your forces...l" Vvulf admitted to the princesses solemnly, the events of his rampage still fresh in his mind, along with the taste of blood on his lips.

"We understand thou'st were under an enchantment" Celestia reassured calmly, her voice still holding sorrow for her fallen ponies.

"And what of the king responsible?" Vvulf asked, looking back up at the two remaining rulers.

"'King' Sombra hath faced judgement already" Luna replied, causing the warrior to nod in approval.

"We did discover this, radiating an energy similar to thyself" Celestia said, levitating Vvulf's quarry to him, placing the simple fang pendant in the man's open palm.

"Thank you" Vvulf said simply, closing his grasp around the old bone trinket.

"But this is the end of my quest"

"What do you mean?" Misty asked, causing Vvulf to crouch down to eye-level with the mare.

"This is goodbye, Misty" Vvulf replied, a hint of sadness hidden behind his usual tone.

While Misty's mouth opened and closed, searching for something to say, Vvulf retrieved a small orb of emerald from his belt. Vvulf smashed the sphere in his other hand, keeping the pendant secured in his armored grip.
As the gem was destroyed, a ripple tore open behind Vvulf, revealing a swirling portal.

"Wait!" Misty called out, causing Vvulf to pause, stopping just before the portal's threshold.

Vvulf just stared down at the mare, his snarling facade seeming somehow softer to Misty as she looked up at her companion for what she knew was the last time.
Misty retrieved Vvulf's battered axe from her back, holding the weapon out to the armored man in her magical grasp. Misty averted her gaze from Vvulf's as tears began to swell in her eyes.

"Keep it" Vvulf spoke, causing Misty to look up at him with confusion. A smile creeping across her lips as Vvulf moved to step through the portal again.

"Then you had better come back for it" Misty teased, a few tears sneaking past her lids and over her cheeks.

"Perhaps" Vvulf replied simply, stepping through the portal, the gateway closing behind the man as his final words were uttered.

Misty stood and stared at the spot Vvulf vanished from, almost hoping that she would see the armored man, her friend, one more time.

"Thou hast earned a well-deserved rest, General Glory" Celestia said in a motherly tone, draping a wing over the petite grey unicorn.

"Come, thine duties hath concluded"

Author's Note:

Hello all

I hope you all enjoyed the final chapter of 'The Wolf of War'
This story has both been an absolute treat and an absolute nightmare to finish

Expect more (albeit, probably shorter) stories in the near future.

Stay amazing, because all of you are

Muddy

Comments

[SolitariLupus]

I enjoyed the story but I cant help but feel its conclusion was rushed and left alot unfulfilled. Like going 100 mph down the road then adruptly breaking. Either way, I look forward to see what else you put up and hope for a sequel for this.

[Sober]

Very much enjoyable, though I'm also of the mind it was a bit rushed, though that's a minor gripe from me. I'm more ecstatic that another story got completed/wasn't abandoned.

[Una]

Yes, this last chapter seems rushed and really tied little to no lose ends. I'm kind of disappointed in it.

[Punished Venom Muddy]

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I'm really sorry about the rushed quality of the ending. I started this story months ago and let it lie long enough that I unfortunately lost inspiration.
I will admit that I unfortunately made the decision to release an ending, rather than leave it incomplete.
Prior planning and writing down of my ideas would've helped (and is now something I will be practicing for future stories).
I sincerely hope that the sub-par quality of the ending chapter won't dissuade you all from reading future stories, but if so, I completely understand.
Thank you for reading the story at all, I really am sorry that the ending was so lackluster.

Muddy