Ulric was sitting in a dark void in full armor, on a chair with his head down and his arms resting on his lap. The void he was in made no noise, not even white noise, not the beating of his heart, just silence. Here, in Ulric's mind, he could meditate, think of every possible scenario that he could ever be in. Although, in that particular moment, Ulric could tell that something was off. The sound of something breathing...
Ulric raised his head, looking into the void with minor curiosity; whatever was breathing had decided to try and hide from Ulric, but not being a very patient man, Ulric morphed the area around him to become a white void instead of a dark one. His eyes fell upon a dark blue mare in a silk dress that covered her arms and legs, who seemed to be surprised that the once black void had changed to the opposite color. This particular mare had wings and a horn, just like that one he saw when he first arrived in Equestria.
He arose from his seat and slowly walked over to the mare, his footsteps echoing across the vast plain of nothingness. The mare looked at him, and she slowly backed away cautiously. "So thou art the creature that hath been attacking Our citizens?" Ulric stopped, his eyes narrowing. The mare took notice of this, "Ah, I see that thou are not just a mere monster, but understand Our words." She cleared her throat, "We are Princess Luna of the Night and Dreams, sister to Princess Celestia of the Sun and aunt to Princess Cadence."
Ulric cocked his head to the side; a Princess? Why would a Princess visit his dreams? Ulric smirked, returning to his chair and sitting in it, watching as Luna approached him cautiously. This wasn't going to be their only confrontation, Ulric knew that much, but the fact that she was the first to take notice of the attack is rather surprising. Ulric honestly expected Celestia to take notice, being as she is the basically the main Princess. But, sometimes Ulric can be wrong.
"Can thou speak?" Luna asked, and Ulric shook his head, a smile still on his face. Luna rubbed her chin, "Hmm, if thou can't speak, then how hath thee gotten the Diamond Dogs to follow thee?" Ulric sighed, rolling his eyes as the memory came up and filled the whole room of what happened through seen images. First, it showed Ulric fighting Bone, then beating Bone, then sitting on the throne. "Ah, I think We see what hath happe-" Then it showed Ulric killing Bone in cold blood.
Luna was dead silent, her eyes wide with shock as the particular image sent shivers down her spine. Just the sight and the echo of Bone screaming as his body slowly froze over, then Ulric shattering the frozen Bone without a sliver of remorse or care. She slowly turned to Ulric, her eyes still wide, "H-How could thou do that t-to a defenseless dog?"
Ulric smirked, and an image appeared of Ulric sitting on the Diamond Dog throne with the sword leaning on the side of it. Then it flashed and showed from a different angle the defeated Bone Grinder, the echo of Bone Grinder's words causing Ulric to smile, "What do you think you're doing?!" Then the image disappeared, leaving a shocked Luna staring into the white void.
"Thou killed a defenseless dog for questioning what thou were doing...?" She asked, turning to Ulric with a look of anger. Ulric chuckled, shrugging. Luna glared at him, "Thou hath turned out to be the monster Our sister suspected you to be." She approached Ulric, narrowing her eyes, "Thou hath best hope that We don't find thou on the battlefield." Then, just like that, she disappeared.
Ulric began to burst into laughter, slapping his knee; it was almost impossible not to laugh at this one, as she threatened him without a thought of how he took Ponyville or how skilled he was. Hell, for all he knew she probably only knew just what he looked like. Perhaps a bit wary if she heard what happened to Ponyville, but not enough to consider Ulric as the biggest target.
The white void Ulric was laying in slowly turned to that of a familiar place; the ash on the ground, the destroyed ruins of a once great city, the black sun in the sky... the place he claimed power. But, looking ahead of him, he saw that the Soul of Cinder was sitting next to the Bonfire, his sword stuck in the ground next to him. Ulric smiled, walking up next to the Soul of Cinder and sitting next to him.
The Soul of Cinder turned to Ulric momentarily, before turning back to the Bonfire, "I see that you have not come to fight me like you usually would. Your skills have been honed greatly over the many days that took you to get to me, so now I'm sure that you could probably beat me with the flick of your wrist." The Soul of Cinder stated in his low, raspy voice. He then sighed, "And the fact that you didn't absorb my soul when you defeated me means you have something planned." He turned to Ulric with minor interest, "Whatever you have planned, I hope you know what you're doing." He sighed sadly this time, turning back to the Bonfire, "King Gwyn didn't when he linked the First Flame. The Age of Dark should've began." He turned to Ulric, "Yet, when you fought him, you decided to allow the Flame to prolong the inevitable. Then came the time when you fought dear Nashandra to get the little Throne of Want to just, once more, prolong the inevitable." He chuckled, "Then came my time to fight you. I defeated you many a time, Ulric, with all the skills of every Lord of Cinder that existed. But, you quickly caught on and learned every attack I threw at you, rendering me almost powerless. When you defeated me, you didn't use my soul like the others, but kept me as either a souvenir or ally of sorts." He arose from his sitting position, looking up to the black sun, "But instead of linking the First Flame, you decided to instead summon that worthless Firekeeper who was going to bring about the Age of Dark. But, when the Age of Dark almost began, you killed her." He looked down at Ulric, "Then offered it to the Sun like it was some sort of deity looking for a sacrifice!" He chuckled, "But, it turns out in the end, you just wanted power. So what did you do? You absorbed the Flame."
Ulric arose, turning to the Soul of Cinder with an amused smile. And, for the first time, Ulric used his matured, brute voice that could only be used in his dreams, "Absorbing the Flame was the beginning of my plan to rule the world." He turned to the black sun, "However, discovering a pony-like creature was not part of the plan. But," he sighed, "I can adapt."
"So, if you do have a plan to use my power, I would like to know when it is and who I'll be using it on." The Soul of Cinder stated, pulling the coiled sword out of the Bonfire and twirling it in his hand.
"Simple," he replied, "When I fight one of the Princesses." He unsheathed his sword, walking to the other end of the wide space they were in. The Soul of Cinder did the same, turning around to face Ulric once he reached the edge. Ulric continued, "Although, I would prefer it if you helped me whenever I damn well please."
The soul of Cinder chuckled, "I don't think so." He then rolled his shoulders, "Now, for the event we've both been waiting for. Another honing of your skills." The Soul of Cinder charged at Ulric, his sword dragging on the ground. Ulric did the same, albeit twirling his sword as he ran. This was their second of many fights to come, and Ulric was glad to challenge the toughest enemy he had fought in his lifetime.
Canterlot Castle, Twelve Hours After Dream
Celestia sat on her throne, rubbing her temples as she went over what she knew about this new enemy; from what Twilight had told her, he has superior skills combat and strength, probably better than her own self; Luna had told her how he got the Diamond Dogs to follow him, and knows that he is ruthless when it comes to getting power and respect; then there is indeed the fact that he spared Fluttershy but marked her. Unfortunately, when Fluttershy tried to talk about what had happened, she experienced an immense amount of pain, definitely caused by the mark the new villain had given her.
She sighed, leaning on her hand; such a powerful and tactful enemy poses a threat to the entirety of Equestria and Equus. However, if she were to attack, he would probably use Applejack or Rainbow Dash as a means of keeping Celestia away. She would need to plan what were to happen if he did indeed continue his attacks on the more larger cities instead of small ones like Ponyville.
A guard barged into the throne room, quickly saluting before speaking rather quickly, "Princess Celestia! The Diamond Dogs have attacked Dodge City!"
Celestia raised a brow, "Well, send soldiers to assist in it's defense!"
"But that's not all; they're also attacking Appleloosa!" His words sounded rather nervous, as though he was going to lose one.
Celestia arose from her seat, walking down from her throne, "Divert three-quarters of the Royal Guard to Dodge City, I will go to Appleloosa to assist with its defense." The guard nodded, running out of the throne room to give the orders. Celestia quickly ran to her personal armory, her eyes falling upon a steel door that was locked both physically and magically. She pulled a key out of a pocket in her dress, unlocking the door. She then used her magic to disable the magic barrier holding the door shut, and she opened it quickly.
Walking in and shutting the door behind her, she began putting her golden armor on; it covered every part of her body, the only part that was visible being her face. The armor itself was made of iron, but painted gold to give it a pristine look. It had markings and symbols along the arms and legs, and a big symbol of the sun was imprinted on her chest. She then reached down and wrapped her hand around a large yet light spear, a dark yellow ribbon tied between the staff and bladed part of said spear. She then grabbed two daggers and put one into each of her boots. A silly but required tactic if she were to lose her spear for whatever reason.
Leaving her personal armory, she turned and saw her sister Luna running down the hallway dressed in her own armor; it was almost the same as Celestia's, the only difference being the dark blue color and moon symbol on the chest plate. Luna saw her sister, "Dear sister, thou hath received the news too?" Celestia nodded, and Luna continued, "Then we must make haste! Two cities depend on us!" They both ran down the hallway together, making their way outside the palace. Once that was accomplished, they both expanded their wings and flew into the air, Celestia heading towards Appleloosa while Luna flew towards Dodge City.