//------------------------------// // Chapter II // Story: The Heir of Cinders // by CheezitLover69 //------------------------------// Ulric stood outside of the cave, the darkness of the night making a perfect cover for his Diamond Dog troops. Word had traveled quickly, allowing the other Diamond Dog tribes realize who their new king was. Ulric knew that some would dislike him as the new king, saying that it was 'unfair'. Some may even send assassins, but Ulric was confident that none would dare do so. His eyes were scanning the forest, taking in the fine details. Leaving the forest under the cover of night was perfect, as all of the ponies would be asleep while they got into position. Ulric sent a few scouts ahead to scan the town, and learned that there were no guards at all protecting the town. A foolish mistake that Ulric was going to take advantage of. The Rottweiler that had spoken to him earlier in the day, who was named Tough Rock, approached him from the side, wearing full armor that covered him head to toe. "Your Majesty, our troops are ready for the raid, but are you sure it is wise to go to war with Equestria?" Ulric turned to Tough with a small glare. Tough quickly looked away from Ulric's gaze, "I see, Your Majesty. We will start when you give the order at the edge of the forest." Tough walked away, his ears flattened on his head. It was obvious that he had no faith in Ulric, but it took time to put faith into someone you just met. Ulric followed Tough's tracks, as Ulric had no idea how to get out of the forest. Better safe than sorry, he guessed. Last thing he wanted was to get lost in a forest that was probably infested with monsters and magic. He eventually reached the end of the tracks, and he saw ahead of him were plenty of houses. The roofs were made of hay, while the walls and foundations seemed to be made of stone and wood. This seemed to be too easy; the ponies must have some sort of defense against monsters, especially those that come from the forest behind Ulric. There was only one way to find the a defense of some sort. Ulric looked around, seeing at least a few hundred dogs behind him, growling and hitting their hand-made weapons on the ground to make themselves seem scary. It may have worked for the other creatures of this world, but not on Ulric; he had too much experience, from the creepiest of slime monsters to the king of dragons. Tough walked up to him, saluting, "Your Majesty, we await your order to attack. Should I give the order?" Ulric nodded, turning away from Tough, who wanted a bit more, "Your Majesty?" Ulric turned to Tough with mild annoyance. "May we take any or all loot we find back to the cave?" Ulric nodded, not really caring what they do during the raid; they can kill each other or all the ponies, Ulric didn't care. He just wanted the ruler of this nation's attention, make him or her know what is to come in this war. Tough turned towards the Diamond Dogs, howling loudly for all of them to hear. The other dogs howled back, charging forward. They moved around Ulric, as to not accidently trample him or catch his ire. If one were to do so, they wouldn't stand a chance against him. He made that painfully clear after what he did to Bone Grinder. Ulric watched as lights in the houses turned on, and the screams of the residents met his ears in seconds. He chuckled to himself; the ponies never expected this attack, and he wouldn't be surprised if the Princesses of Equestria took notice of this little attack. While he was waiting for nightfall back in the cave, he did some research on the history of Equestria and learned a few things. For example, Equestria's been at peace for the past thousand years, and Ulric believed they had no way of defending themselves after so many years of peace. Even if they did, their army must be lazy by now. Ulric also learned there was no king or queen, not even a chief, but there were three Princesses; Celestia, Luna, and Mi Amore Cadenza. The first two rule Equestria, while the last one rules the Frozen North and is a vassal to Equestria. Plus the fact that she is related to both Luna and Celestia. Ulric was surprised the Diamond Dogs even had historical books at all, as he expected them to be illiterate. But, he was proven wrong by the steward who helped Bone Grinder. He cleared his mind as he left the forest after every Diamond Dog was ahead of him, waiting to destroy things that they had missed. Surprisingly, they didn't leave a single building standing, not even a bird house was left standing. So Ulric just passed the burning houses as he walked down the main road, pulling out his sword. Now that he thought of it, he didn't give his blade a name yet. He knew that it would be silly to give it a name, but he didn't really care what others thought, and decided it was going to be a 'he'. Thinking of a name, he looked ahead to see that his army of dogs was getting pushed back by something powerful. Ulric decided that he would name his blade later, and stood his ground as the dogs began retreating back to the forest. A few bumped into him, but he stood still, hoping to see what caused his entire army to turn tail and run. His eyes fell upon six mares, each two feet smaller than himself. Each seemed to have an angry look on their faces, and while they acted so confident, Ulric decided to take in their appearances. The first on the left was a shy-looking pony with wings, her long, pink mane covering most of her face. Her coat color was a banana yellow, something unexpected. The second was a pony with a horn, her purple mane curled and kempt, surprising for a creature in her current situation. Her coat was white, almost like that one pony who brought him here. The next was a lavender pony with a horn, her mane also kempt, but not as much. It was a dark purple with a stripe going through it, one a normal purple while the other was light pink. The fourth was a pink mare, her mane and tail looking like pink cotton candy. She seemed a bit more threatening than the others. The fifth was a tan pony with no horn or wings, her mane being a blonde color. She seemed a bit buffer than the rest. She also wore a hat, a Stetson, to be precise. The sixth and final one was a cyan winged pony, her mane being the color of the rainbow. Ulric wished he could know their names before they fought, but that was going to be impossible since he had no means to speak to them apart from motions with his hands. Ulric sighed, swearing on his life that he would find a way to speak in the world he was trapped in. He glared at them through his helmet, stabbing his sword into the ground and sitting down, waiting for the dogs to pass him. Seriously, he had a huge army of Diamond Dogs, but they were all cowards, and he was surely going to discipline them when he returned to the cave. As they all finally passed him, he arose from the large smoke and ash cloud that had covered the area from the sudden retreat, looking at the anthropomorphic ponies with a small grin. Hopefully they weren't an easy fight. Ulric always did like challenges. Main Six They fended off the Diamond Dogs, allowing Spike to get the message to Celestia and Luna about the situation. Twilight was concerned as to why the Diamond Dogs would attack so suddenly, as Equestria had good relations with their king, Bone Grinder. He was even a good friend to Celestia and Luna. It was just too hard to believe that he would attack so suddenly without declaring war. Rainbow Dash cheered as the Diamond Dogs retreated, "Yeah, get outta here you stupid dogs! Tell your king that this is our land!" She turned to the group, a big smile on her face, "Well that's that, we just beat a huge army of Diamond Dogs!" Applejack nodded, "Yeah, we did. Ah can't believe we actually jus' did that!" Twilight watched as the ash began to settle, her eyes seeing a tall, muscular figure arising from the ash and smoke. "Um, girls?" They looked to her, then followed her gaze, turning their attention to the cloud of smoke. Rainbow Dash scoffed, "It's just one Diamond Dog, what can he do to us?" The sound of footsteps made it's way to their ears, the figure getting closer. Rainbow turned to it, her face contorting into different emotions; first curiosity, confusion, then fear. "What is that?!" The figure was armored head-to-hoof with some sort of armor. A fur cape of sorts was laid upon his shoulders, which seemed wider than a stallion's. His elbows were covered in chainmail, along with the back of his knees and the palms of his hands. Everything else was just covered in a light gray armor. His sword chilled Twilight to the core, as the blade seemed to be frozen solid with snow falling from it. His face was hidden behind a mask with a T-opening at the front. He was a frightening sight, and he was definitely not a pony. Twilight knew it was a male, judging from the broad shoulders and muscular stature. "Dash, that isn't a Diamond Dog. I'm not even sure if it's native to Equis." Twilight stated, giving the creature a curious look. Rainbow Dash turned to Twilight, "Well, it's obviously a threat to Equestria, so we gotta beat it up." Dash turned and flew at the creature as fast as she could, but he was already in a stance of sorts and was prepared for a fight. With his free hand, he curled it into a fist and threw it at Rainbow Dash, making contact and causing her to do many backflips before hitting the ground. He then grabbed onto her tail and tossed her back to the group with ease. Twilight sighed at the injured Rainbow Dash, "You should've gone with all of us, instead of charging head-on alone." Twilight turned to the creature, who stabbed his sword into the ground and cracked his knuckles, a low, dark chuckle resonating from his being. He then held out his hand, making a gesture Twilight knew all to well; 'come-and-get-me'. "What in tarnation did that thing do to Dash?!" Applejack asked with worry, trotting over to Rainbow. "Well, he obviously has lots of strength and skill in fighting, which means that fighting him alone is a terrible idea." She looked down at Rainbow Dash with worry. "Well ah'm goin' out there to give him a good kickin', who's with me?" Twilight nodded to Applejack, along with Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie. "Good, now let's go get'em!" The charged towards him, but he showed no signs of worry or distress. He was perfectly calm, which worried Twilight, but she continued charging at him. Ulric Ulric smiled as the group charged him, the adrenaline in his body reaching new heights. Never in his life has he fought such creatures, and he could tell, for once in his life, that he might get his voice back. But fighting them wouldn't achieve his goal, but it was too late. He is more aggressive than passive, especially from the past events in Lordran. The things he had seen... they're impossible to forget. He brought his mind back to the fight, watching as the one leading the charge, the tan pony, brought back her left hand and curled it into a fist, quickly sending it to Ulric. Said man grabbed onto her fist and placed his hand on her stomach, to which he used the momentum to throw her over him. The next was the pink one, who looked as though she was going to kick Ulric. Ulric prepared for that, but instead was met with a punch to the helmet, riddling him with dizziness. He shook the dizziness away, giving a quick glare towards the pink one, who prepared a kick. But Ulric was prepared; as she was about to do her move, Ulric feigned trying to block a kick, and when she went to punch him, he leaned to the left of the punch. He then grabbed onto her arm and brought his elbow down upon it, snapping it. She screamed in pain, falling to the ground and screaming. Her once puffy hair falling straight. Next was the white one, who decided to use her magic and sent a blue bolt from her horn straight towards Ulric. Using his skill of dodging, he rolled out of the way with finesse, watching as the bolt struck a nearby house and set it ablaze. The white horned pony was stunned at what she had done, and Ulric took this chance and charged at her. She noticed him charging but it was too late, as he tackled her to the ground. He then sent a barrage of fists at her, making contact with her face. When she was incapacitated, Ulric turned to the lavender horned pony. She was cautious about attacking Ulric, that was plain to see, but she had a plan. Oh, the look on her face almost made Ulric cautious of attacking her. Suddenly, her horn glowed and she vanished. Ulric's eyes widened, and he quickly looked around to try and find her. He suddenly heard a yell from above him. Looking up, he saw the lavender pony land on his shoulders where she proceeded to beat on his head with her elbow, which made him dizzy quickly. He fell to his knees, the world around him spinning like some sort of circus. He reached back and threw her off, removing his helmet and tossing it onto the ground. He gripped his head, watching as the world slowly stopped spinning. Twilight/Third Person Perspective Twilight tried to remove the creature's hands off of her, but he grabbed onto her arms and threw her away from him. She landed on her back, but rolled back onto her feet. She learned her skills of fighting from her years being Celestia's Personal Student at Canterlot from the guards. She didn't always learn from books. Her eyes went back to the creature, but suddenly went wide as she saw him remove his helmet. He had no fur, just skin that was a pale white, and had a short, brown mane. There was a deep, long scar that started from one his right yellow eye all the way to the back of his head. He also seemed to have a short beard. Twilight deducted that he was definitely not from Equis. The creature raised his head and glared at Twilight, putting a scowl on his face. He brought his right leg forward, balancing himself as he stood straight up. He took a look at his helmet before reaching down and picking it up, slowly putting it on his head. Ulric As Ulric slid on his helmet, he thought of the lavender pony in front of him; her skill in combat was indeed impressive, especially since she combined it with her magic in teleportation. But everyone makes mistakes, and Ulric wasn't going to make the same one. This pony was the challenge Ulric was looking for, but he needs to get the upper hand. Ulric turned to his sword which was in between him and the pony, watching in the corner of his eye as the pony followed his gaze. When she realized what he was looking at, Ulric broke out into a sprint, surprising the pony. He was quick and agile, proving that as he summersaulted over his sword, grabbed it, then prepared to swing at the pony. However, the lavender pony proved that she could think faster than Ulric, teleporting out of sight before the blade made contact. Ulric stood still, however, not making a move. The battlefield got silent all of a sudden, his hearing focusing on the area around him. He was planning a trap for the lavender pony, as he was going to spring at her when she got close. However, he heard a soft whimpering a ways away from him. If the area wasn't silent, he wouldn't of heard it. Turning his head to where the sound came from, he saw the yellow Pegasus with the pink mane hiding behind rubble. Ulric arose and began walking over to her, keeping his guard up if the lavender pony tried to sneak up on him. When he reached his destination, he saw that it was the yellow Pegasus from before. He watched as she looked up at him, and went from whimpering quietly to crying in fear at the sight of Ulric. He almost felt bad for her, to where he would just leave and end this war. Almost. He needed a hostage in case they tried to attack his base of operations, and she seemed to be the perfect candidate; her friends seemed to have had some sort of political power here, and seemed respected enough to where they were listened to. Plus they seemed to care for each other and the protection of others. Ulric grabbed her arm and sheathed his sword, lifting her up in the air. He was easily a foot or so taller than her, so when he lifted her off the ground by her arm, she was hanging from Ulric's grip. She started screaming in fear, tears streaming down her face as she tried to get her arm free, but to no avail. Ulric then slung her over his shoulder, making his way back to the forest. He whistled loudly, and in an instant, two Diamond Dogs grabbed two other ponies, the tan and cyan ones. He wanted extras in case the nation was willing to bargain for them. As he was walking back to the forest with the two Diamond Dogs, he looked over his shoulder and wasn't surprised to see the lavender pony looking at him with anger. He smirked, knowing that he had made himself an arch-nemesis, and that it would be like that until one of them fell in battle. Ulric knew the lavender pony wasn't going to attack him right now, not when there was the chance that his army of Diamond Dogs would spring out of the ground and take her captive. But later... that's another story. Ulric could feel the yellow Pegasus hitting his armored back, along with hearing her pleas to let her go. He shook his head, sighing quietly. He started feeling a bit bad for capturing her, but not even his sorrow would stop him from his quest for power. With his eyes forward, he followed the dogs back to the cave where he and the other dogs would interrogate the new captives. Hopefully the dogs had a dungeon of sorts, which was most likely since he passed a few slaves on the way out of the cave. He also hoped that the pony he was carrying currently would talk rather than keep quiet, because he would hate to force her to talk.