Ulric awoke to nothing but darkness, the rumbling of something that sounded like thunder making the ground shake; that Estus Flask didn't work the way he wanted it to, but it was better than death. But the true question was; where the hell was he? He sniffed the air, but found nothing particularly out of place. He then moved his arms, which touched a cold surface in front of him, a quiet 'ding' being heard since his metal gauntlet made contact with it. Hmm, he knew that the Ponies would capture him if there was ever the chance, but to put him in another coffin? That wasn't their way. No, this had to be some sort of cage.
Hesitantly, Ulric used his knuckle to knock on the lid of the cage. He heard something jump and land, despite the fact that the rumbling was loud. When Ulric got no response, he knocked on the lid again, his ears straining to hear something other than the rumbling of... whatever he was on.
A voice called out to him, "You awake in there?" Ulric didn't know how to respond, and whoever was outside noticed, "The Princess removed the curse that theoretically wouldn't allow you to speak, so try and use your voice." Ulric's eyes widened with shock; he can use his voice...? But...
Ulric cleared his throat nervously, his heartbeat growing ever so slightly. If he can indeed use his voice once more, then he owes the Ponies for giving it back to him. Ulric hesitantly spoke the first words of many to come, "I... I can speak...?" And just like that, he stared in shock at the darkness as the words left his mouth. His voice was low, just as he remembered it, but still... Words... true words! Not just sounds of growls and grunts, but words! Sophisticated, understandable, clear words! But there was still the fact that he didn't know where he was, so he asked the one outside the box his first question, "Where am I?"
The voice stayed silent for a minute, before replying, "How about this; you ask a question, then I ask one. Fair, yes?"
Ulric shrugged, "Alright, I do not see the problem with it."
The voice continued, "You are on a military train on its way to Canterlot, but you are in a metal box as a way to restrain yourself for the protection of others and myself." The voice seemed to lean on the box, as the thumps of his elbows were heard, "My turn; who and what are you?"
"My name is Ulric Nyström, and I am a Human." Ulric yawned, "Who and what are you?"
"I am a Pony and my name is Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard. What land are you from and how did you get here, Ulric?"
"I originated from the land of Balder, but was brought here by one of your kind." The darkness allowed Ulric to see images of what happened easier, but he still continued the talk with Shining Armor, "And, if I may be so inclined to ask, what is this 'Canterlot' you spoke of?"
"The capital of Equestria. Who brought you here?"
Ulric sighed, "A mare with both wings and a horn. She had a red mane and tail, and she was as white as your Princess, but I wasn't able to get her name." He smirked, a plan formulating in his mind; if he is indeed going to get thrown in a dungeon, he'll need an escape plan, along with something to mislead the Ponies if they were to hunt him. He had a way, "What is the closest nation to Equestria from its capital?"
"What kind of question is that?" Shining inquired, but Ulric rolled his eyes.
"It's my turn to ask the question, Captain Armor, not you." Ulric replied harshly.
He heard Shining snort, "Fine. The closest nation would be the Griffin Empire. Now, why did you kill so many innocent people?"
Ulric smirked, "I was trapped in my own body, watching as the evil magic within my being cut down the undeserving." An obvious lie, at least to Ulric.
"Yes, we do believe that it did have an influence on you." Suddenly, the train came screeching to a halt, sending Ulric and his metal box sliding across the ground. "What the hell is going on out there?!" Shining exclaimed. The sound of a door being kicked open followed by the shouts of Shining, "Who are you?!"
Another voice entered Ulric's ears, but was much lower than Shining's, "I am Iron Hoof, here to take whatever loot you got on this train!"
Ulric heard Shining speak in feigned fear, "Please don't hurt me! The treasure is in that metal box!" Ulric smirked, knowing how what he was going to do and following along with the idea. Staying silent, Ulric pulled off some of the chain mail from his armor, and when the box was kicked, he shook the chainmail. Sounded a lot like coins.
The low voice chuckled, "Open it up, boys!" The lid was removed, allowing light fill the box as Ulric silently chuckled. The low voice turned out to be some sort of creature; a little like a pony, but more burlier in the torso and arms with tiny legs, and he even had horns on the side of his head like a cow. The two next to him were something out of fairytales; Griffins. Yes, lion bodies and eagle heads. Although, he shouldn't be surprised since he has seen dogs chew through gems. The leader went wide-eyed, "What the buck is that?!"
Ulric chuckled, grabbing onto the leader's chest fur and bringing his head close to Ulric's, "I'm the one thing you should've prepared for." Ulric then head-butted the leader, sending him staggering after the hurtful blow. Ulric then turned to the other two, who were still shocked, and grabbed onto each of their heads, smashing them together. Brains and blood went all over the place, not fazing Ulric, but the leader was a different story.
When the leader saw what Ulric had done to the Griffins, he backed up fearfully, sputtering words, "W-Wait! Please don't kill me! Take everything I got, but let me live!" Ulric slowly walked over to the leader with an evil look in his eye, the leader falling down and was against the wall. "P-Please! Have mercy!"
Ulric shook his head, "Sorry, survival of the fittest. Nothing personal." He then raised his boot and kicked the leader's head in, sending blood up and onto the wall. Ulric took in a deep breath, then let it out with a chuckle. He turned to Shining, taking in the stallion's appearance; dark blue mane with little hints of a lighter blue, along with a white coat, add that with the lean body, then you got Shining Armor's physical appearance in a nutshell. "Look a little different than I expected." Ulric stated. Seeing as Shining was staring at the leader with shock and disgust, Ulric snapped his fingers, catching the stallion's attention.
Shining took another look at the leader, "Was killing him necessary?"
Ulric nodded, "Where I lived, yes. I'm not surprised you Ponies can't wrap your heads around the fact that killing the weak is needed."
Shining glared at Ulric, "And what is that supposed to mean?"
Ulric replied in a snarky tone, "It means you Ponies are cowards." He looked around the place he was in, "Where is your Princess? I'd expect her to guard this since I could easily kill you and all of the other soldiers."
Shining rolled his eyes, "She left since we were nearing Canterlot."
Ulric nodded, "Understandable. Anyways, we must find a way to get this contraption moving again."
"It's called a train, and we're in a storage car right next to many passenger cars. But anyways, follow me." Shining stated, and Ulric followed, his fists at the ready. He could've picked up a weapon from his fallen foes, but he needed to instill fear into these pirates, and brutally bashing their heads in with his fists would do just that!
As they made their way through the many passenger cars, Shining sadly passed the dead bodies of his fallen comrades. Ulric understood the reason for the sadness, as losing a close friend has happened to him many times, especially on his adventures to defeat the Lords of Cinder.
Suddenly, as they reached the end of the final passenger car, a voice chuckled behind them, "Ah, what do we have here?" Ulric turned and smirked when he saw a fine looking mare with an eyepatch, who's mane and tail were black, and her coat was a light red. Her body would be perfect if she were a Human, but Ulric wasn't sure if it was good in Pony standards; her birthing hips were just the right size, along with her size B breasts. Her clothing was normal cloth covered by a leather jacket that allowed some cleavage, her brown pants only reaching down to her knees. She also wore a captain's hat and had a toothy grin. "A freak of nature and the Captain of the Royal Guard. Wonderful. Boys?" She asked, and ten bandits entered the passenger car, all of them were Earth Ponies and almost made it cramped.
Ulric turned to Shining and whispered, "You go and get this contraption working again, I'll deal with this... pirate." Shining nodded hesitantly, exiting the passenger and most likely going to have trouble figuring out how to work this... train, he called it?
Ulric turned back to the large group of bandits, and their leader smirked, "Well, freak, how 'bout you just give up now and we won't kill you?"
Ulric chuckled, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye, "Oh, that's rich! Me? Surrender? Sorry, but that word doesn't go with my personality." His face unnervingly turned to that of a blank look quickly, his eyes meeting the leader's, "May I have your name before we fight?"
The leader smirked, "Ooooh~," she purred, "I like you; manners even when you're going to possibly die." She chuckled, "Anyways, my name is Crimson Fire, captain of this... lovely crew." She expressed to the ten bandits in front of her. "What's yours?"
Ulric smirked, "Ulric Nyström, once King of the Diamond Dogs until... well, if both of us are alive at the end of this, I'll tell you." He raised his fists, his smirk fading, "Alright, boys, come get me."
All of the bandits charged, their cutlasses raised in the air almost comically as they were grouped together. The first one charged, attempting to stab Ulric quickly. Ulric used his metal gauntlet to parry it, surprising and stunning the bandit. Ulric then punched the bandit in the gut, watching as the bandit held his stomach in pain. Once the bandit lifted his head to look at Ulric, he was met with a powerful punch that sent his head flying off his body, the blood spurting out like water in a fountain. One of the bandits caught the head in his hands, his eyes wide with fear. Ulric tackled him to the ground, grabbing the head that the bandit was holding and began smashing said bandit's head with it. When the bandit's face was unrecognizable, Ulric stood straight and looked at the last eight bandits, fear plastered on their faces. Hesitantly, the bandits looked to each other momentarily, then back to Ulric. They gulped, turning to Crimson. She shrugged, "Lads, you're all good bandits, and I'd hate to lose you, so go into the other passenger car while I deal with this one."
The bandits sighed with relief, heading into the passenger car behind their captain. Once they left, Crimson turned to Ulric with yet another toothy grin, "You're more brutal than I thought, just like me." She picked up the decapitated head that Ulric used as a weapon, looking into the dead eyes of it. "I want to ask you something." When Ulric didn't respond, she continued, "Why are you on this train?"
Ulric chuckled, "I was defeated in battle by the Ponies, mostly because it was my fault when I went against Princess Celestia alone and she carried me into sky." Crimson raised a brow, and Ulric explained it all; starting from how he was brought to Equestria, how he became King of the Diamond Dogs, then got defeated during a raid.
"So you're an alien that survived falling from the sky with Celestia as you dragged her down with you?" Ulric nodded, and Crimson nodded approvingly, "That is one of the bravest things I've ever heard in my lifetime." She then smirked, "How about I make you a deal?"
Ulric gave her a cautious look, "What kind of deal are you thinking of?" Crimson pulled out a bottle of a glowing gold liquid, one Ulric knew as the Estus Flask. Ulric gave her a questionable look, "How did you get that?"
She shrugged, "I'm resourceful." She smirked, "In exchange for this... drink, you join my crew!" When Ulric frowned, she frowned back, "It's not like staying with that guard is going to do you any good; based off what you've told me, I'm pretty sure you'll be thrown in the dungeon for the rest of your life. At least if you join me, you get freedom and respect."
Ulric thought for a moment, looking over his shoulder before looking back at Crimson with a smile, "Fine, give me the bottle and we both work together as bandits." Crimson tossed him the bottle, and he caught in his hand. He then looked behind him, "There's one last thing I must do." Suddenly, the train shook and began moving. It seemed that Shining had figured out how to start this damned thing. Ulric turned back to Crimson, "I'll leave as soon as I deal with this last guard."
Crimson nodded, opening one the door that was on the side of the train and hopping out. Ulric turned and began heading towards the door that lead to the head of the train, his eyes cautiously looking over the door. Surely Shining didn't need to die, at least not yet. Ulric decided that a more non-lethal means of dealing with him would be the best way to go, since Ulric didn't enjoy killing those he had fought alongside.
However, when Ulric opened the door, he was met with a kick that sent him flying towards the other end of the train. He slammed through several doors before he reached the last caboose, where he slid across the ground and reached a slow stop. He slowly arose, the pain that his back was feeling was almost unbearable. Looking through the passenger cars, his eyes widened when he saw Celestia charging at him, her eyes full of anger; she was still wearing her golden armor that had all the dents and scratches from the fight before, and her wings had yet to heal.
Ulric quickly took a sip of the Estus, his back pain going away. He then put it into a pouch on his belt, turning back to Celestia who seemed to be getting faster and faster. He smirked, "Ah, I knew something was wrong. Shining would've came back to at least support me, and now I know never to trust him." Celestia stopped, a shocked expression on her face. Ulric chuckled, "Oh yes, that... curse you lifted? That was what had prevented me from talking, and I do truly thank you for doing so."
Celestia's eyes narrowed, "You're a traitor!"
Ulric replied with plenty of venom in his voice, "I am no traitor, Princess Celestia. Captain Armor was never an ally to me, and never will be. He should've killed me from the start, but he decided to trust me like a fool. Partially, anyways." He snickered, "And the fact that he didn't kill me after I finished off the difficult enemies... it surprises me."
Celestia ran towards Ulric, glaring daggers while doing so. Ulric charged forwards, his body ready for another fight after a good rest.
Upon reaching each other, Celestia threw a fist that Ulric dodged with ease, kicking her knee joint inwards. It snapped, and Celestia fell to the ground while holding onto her knee. Ulric then raised his boot to stomp on her, but Celestia teleported, and Ulric snarled when his boot went through the floor of the train car and not through Celestia's head. He removed his foot from the floor, looking around furiously as he saw nothing but an empty train car. He heard a *pop* in the train car ahead of him, and he looked up and saw Celestia on the ground while a yellow aura was around her knee. Ulric was about to storm over to her, but he heard a familiar voice call out behind him, "Hey, she ain't getting up anytime soon!"
Ulric looked over his shoulder and saw Crimson, who was riding on the back of a griffon that used his large wings to keep up with the train. Surprisingly, the griffon didn't seem to mind the fact that a stunning mare like Crimson was riding on his back. Crimson beckoned Ulric over to her, "Come on! Let's get outta here before she can do anything to stop you!"
Ulric looked back at Celestia, who was looking at him while she continued to heal her knee. Ulric glared at her, "Yet another sign of mercy, Celestia. Remember who defeated you this day and spared your life, for it was the fact you removed the curse that I'm doing so." He then turned on his heel and walked over to Crimson, "It seems that there is only one seat on that griffon."
Crimson giggled, "You can ride on my lap~"
Ulric sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Ugh... fine. If it's the only way off this damned train." He jumped off the back of the train, landing in Crimson's lap who giggled happily as they flew away. Ulric rolled his eyes, "Please don't make this more uncomfortable than it is, Crimson."
She looked at him with a lustful look, "Oh, but I want to~!" She giggled, but was silenced when Ulric gave her a deadpanned look. She huffed, folding her arms, "Ugh, you're no fun."
Ulric replied in a calm tone, "I am a king. 'Fun' isn't a thing."
She gave him an incredulous look, "You're not one of those snobby kings, right?"
Ulric scoffed, "Please, once you get to know me you'll realize that I'm not that bad." He looked at the train as it slowly disappeared into Canterlot. Ulric was lucky that he got off when he did, otherwise he would have been surrounded by guards that even he wouldn't be able to defeat. He then turned back to Crimson with a curious look, "Where are we going now?"
"Our hideout along the rim of Equestria." She replied with a smile, while Ulric nodded approvingly; a hideout along the rim of Equestria was perfect, since most would hide somewhere in the cities or caves. His face faltered; what of his Diamond Dogs? Surely he would go back for them, and possibly destroy Canterlot while he was doing so. But will they be alright while he finds the proper allies? He shook his head while stroking his beard; Tough had learned plenty of things under Ulric's rule, the most notable one being to never give up on hope. And Ulric knew that Tough understood what the Estus did, hopefully realizing that he wasn't dead. But only time will tell.