Chapter 3

“Okay, Grogar, what is it that you can help me with? It had better be useful,” Nate warned the shadow on the cave wall.

The shadow on the wall cackled with an eerie tone as it moved along the wall again.

“You seem like the type of individual who only believes in something unless proof is provided,” Grogar said. “I am curious, however, why do you believe I can help you with your conquest?”

“Because I know that you can’t leave here without me, otherwise you wouldn’t have wasted your time making me come all the way up here. And considering I’m the only one that made it here, you don’t have very many options.” Nate deduced as he looked at the shadow. “Now, what do you offer me?”

“You’re quite the perceptive one, stranger of metal,” Grogar said, a shadowy smile forming.

“It is true, my spirit is trapped within this sanctum and is bound to the bell that sits on the pedestal before you. When I was ruler of these putrid lands, there wasn’t a soul who would dare defy me.” Grogar made the shadow on the wall show little characters and shadow monsters. The monsters started to attack the characters and destroy their homes.

“I gave life to the foulest of creatures and allowed them to run wild. Taking what they want and destroying the rest. My reign was a glorious fear-soaked epoch of darkness in Equestria,” Grogar proclaimed.

“So, you can create monsters, and do they follow your command?” Nate elaborated.

“Yes, them and my own power were what fueled my reputation as the first emperor,” Grogar told Nate.

Nate hummed in thought at the potential this had. He wasn’t sure what else this new world had to offer in terms of animals and people, or whatever else replaced people. So having an army like that at his command could prove useful.

“Say I do free you. What do you need to do to create these monsters?” Nate asked.

“My magic is stored within this bell,” Grogar explained.

“My magic is a very special type of magic. When wielded by a being of great will and resolve, the creatures you can create may depend on your own imagination. I assume you have plenty of that, considering you are not too perplexed by the creatures you’ve seen thus far,” Grogar said with a cackle.

“What’s the catch?” Nate asked.

“There is none,” Grogar said. “My reign has long since passed, and my spirit has been trapped for thousands of years. I have been biding my time, waiting for the perfect host to succeed where I admittedly failed. No thanks to that insufferable wench, but that is a different story altogether.” The shadow coiled around the bell.

“Take my bell, stranger of metal, and use its power to aid in your conquest. Wear the bell, and become what you were meant to be,” Grogar enticed Nate with his echoey voice.

Nate looked down at the bell, a small voice in the back of his mind telling him not to do this, to not walk down this path. But then he remembered…Nora, Shaun, Preston, Piper, Nick. Everyone he cared about and loved.…

Everyone he lost…

With a fire raging inside him, Nate grabbed the bell and held it up.

Grogar’s cackling echoed loudly as Nate pushed the bell against his chest plate. The bell rang a ghostly ring as it glowed a sickening yellow light. The bell seemed to fuse itself into Nate’s chest plate as he felt a surge of energy flow out of the bell and surround Nate’s armor. Nate grunted and clenched his fists as the bell’s power was taking hold, but Nate held his ground. The eyes on Nate’s helmet shined from a deep red to a bright yellow. When the bonding was complete, Nate breathed heavily as his armor radiated with unknown power. He stood up straight and looked down at his hands.

“How does true power feel, stranger of metal?” Grogar asked.

Nate flexed his fingers as he took a deep breath, feeling the surge of energy coursing through his veins. Nate smirked under his helmet and spoke.

“I’ve never felt better.” A cold chuckle escaped his lips.

In the corner of the cave, Nate spotted a small rat trying to scurry away into a crack in the wall. Nate closed his eyes and outstretched his hand towards the rat. Thinking small, he thought back to his time in the Commonwealth and the creatures he fought. Grunting as he concentrated his thoughts, he used his magic on the rat. The small rodent squeaked painfully as its body morphed and mutated and grew in size into something grotesque. Soon, a large Mole Rat was created from a flash of dark magic.

The Mole Rat had a yellow glow surrounding it, which meant Grogar was telling the truth about creating monsters with the use of his magic and a touch of radiation. The Mole Rat growled and snorted like a rabid beast as it approached Nate and stood in front of him, as if waiting for his command.

“Impressive,” Grogar said with a shadowy smile. “You truly are a being of great potential.” Suddenly, the shadow of Grogar began to fade away.

“What’s going on?” Nate asked.

“You broke the seal when you took my bell. My spirit is no longer bound to it, and I can finally move on,” Grogar said.

“I wish you luck in your conquest, stranger of metal. I can foresee this world bending to your will and falling to their knees at the sight of you. May your reign be fueled by the blood of your slain enemies…” The shadow faded away and the last thing Nate heard was the cackling of Grogar’s spirit before the shadow faded away and disappeared entirely.

Nate looked around in search of Grogar but found nothing, which meant he really was gone. Nate looked down at the bell bounded on his chest plate and smirked. He headed out of the cave and looked down to see a sort of giant furry creature of some kind.

It looked like some kind of oversized chinchilla, and it looked up at Nate curiously. The Mole Rat from earlier scurried next to him and stood by Nate and growled at the snow creature.

“Down.” Nate commanded the Mole Rat and it stopped growling. He looked back at the snow chinchilla and raised his hand at it. “You’ll make a fine test subject.”

Nate used his magic, and the chinchilla glowed the sickening yellow glow. It squealed painfully as its body mutated and grew in size. Its paws grew razor sharp claws and its teeth morphed into razor sharp fangs and its voice turned ferociously feral. By the time Nate was done, the chinchilla stood at the same size of a bear. It growled and snarled at its surroundings but lowered its head at Nate. The dim yellow glow surrounded its body, signifying Nate’s mental hold on the creature.

“Oh, yeah. A remarkable success,” Nate let out a cold chuckle as he started to march down the snowy mountain.

The Mole Rat had climbed on the mutated chinchilla-bear’s back, riding it as they made their way down the mountain. Nate was already forming plans in his mind for which place to conquer next. What monsters he could create and how useful they would be for certain situations.

It then soon dawned on Nate when he looked up that the moon had risen in the sky. Nate seemed to have been in that cave longer than he anticipated, but he didn’t let it bother him. Nate and his two new monster companions made it to the base of the mountain and just beyond the wooded area. The bodies from the changelings he slaughtered were still spread everywhere and were beginning to decompose. Nate looked at the wooded area and got an idea.

“Wonder if there’s any more test subjects creeping around in there?” Nate thought aloud.

Nate stopped when he suddenly heard a twig snap and his eyes darted around his surroundings. His two mutated animals growled and hissed at whatever was circling them. Nate could hear the rustling in the bushes as suddenly a pack of large wolves appeared. They looked like they were bigger than the wolves back in Nate’s original time. Nate pulled out his pistol as the wolves circled him, growling and snarling at him as they waited for an opportunity to strike. Suddenly Nate had an idea.

“It’s time you fuckers know who your true master is,” Nate proclaimed, holstering his pistol.

Nate outstretched his hands, and his eyes and hands glowed a sickly yellow glow. Soon the wolves were covered in the strange yellow aura as well and started changing. They howled and barked out in pain as their bodies morphed, a painful and slow process.

Their bodies slowly grew in size as they barked and howled loudly in pain. Their cries turned feral, and they began snarling. Their fangs became sharper and more ferocious-looking and their tails grew small spikes near the tip. Their paws transformed and grew longer, their claws curving and looking like razor claws. Once Nate poured enough of his magic into the wolves, they stood twice as big as before and stood over Nate by several feet.

“There we go,” Nate said maliciously as he reached up and placed a hand on one of the mutated wolves’ heads. “You all belong to me now.”

The mutated pack of wolves all bowed in Nate’s presence. Their ears folded and their tails curled between their legs, a sign that they were completely obedient to him.

“Let’s see what else this world has to offer me,” Nate said with a dark grin behind his helmet.

Nate trudged through the woods with his mutated animals following him. Like a fire spreading wherever it could, Nate used his magic on whatever animal he could get his magic on. Any rodents that tried scurrying away were caught by Nate and mutated into more Mole Rats. Insects that buzzed around Nate weren’t even spared as Nate used his magic to mutate such instincts like mosquitoes into Blood Bugs; a transformation that only filled Nate’s desire to add more to his growing army.

Nate came across two grizzly bears passing by with their young. Seeing as how they resembled a certain creature from Nate’s past, Nate wasted no time and used his magic on the adult bears. The animals tried to resist and run away, but Nate’s magic quickly took hold and began mutating them. Their bodies grew in size as they roared and snarled out loud. Their appearance became more feral and monstrous until they became the Yao Guai Nate had faced before.

The bear cub looked in horror as its parents were suddenly turned into vicious monsters. It whimpered helplessly as Nate turned to look down at the cub with a cold stare.

“Beat it,” Nate said in an emotionless tone as his new Yao Guai bowed to their new master.

The cub scurried off and disappeared into the woods.

“My my, look at you. The family man is tearing apart a family. Reminds me of someone,” Kellogg chuckled coldly as Nate growled at the sound of the mercenary’s automated voice in his helmet.

“I’m nothing like you,” Nate hissed in anger.

“You’re right, at least for me it was a job. Someone paid me to do it, but you? Oh no, you’re doing this because you can. For your own gain,” Kellogg shot back.

Nate said nothing and chose to ignore Kellogg. He continued deeper into the wooded area, mutating more animals he could get his magic on. After an hour of trudging through the woods, Nate’s monster army had grown to a sizeable amount. There were dozens of Mole Rats, a couple more packs of mutated wolves, a large swarm of Blood Bugs and Stingwings after passing by their nests, and he managed to add a couple more Yao Guai’s when he discovered a bear cave. Nate’s trek led him to a swamp-like area, and he took a moment to bask in his work as he looked at his growing mutated monster army.

“Not bad,” Nate said with a dark smile.

Suddenly, the ground beneath Nate began to move and shake. Nate and his monsters quickly backed out of the way as the unknown mass kept rising up from the ground. Nate could see arms with sharp claws on each hand come into view. A long rail rose from the ground and slammed into the ground. Nate turned on his helmet’s light just as a single reptilian eye opened. The creature towered over Nate with its reptilian eyes and growled at Nate for disturbing its sleep and wandering into its territory. Nate analyzed the creature as its body looked like it was made out of rocks, which was an interesting trait to him. Judging by its physical appearance, its body shape, and matching key similarities the creature had with an animal of Nate’s original time, Nate deduced this creature was some kind of land crocodile made of rocks.

His monsters all roared and snarled at the creature for trying to intimidate their master, but Nate held up his hand. A low, cold chuckle escaped his lips as he opened and closed his fists and stared down the crocodile-like creature.

“Watch closely, Kellogg, I’m about to show you just how serious I can be,” Nate said as he charged at the beast with a full bodycheck.

Nate tackled the beast into the bog and began thrashing around in the murky water. The rock-croc roared violently as it tried to clamp its jaws around Nate’s armor, but Nate kept pushing and throwing it around.

Nate gripped the crocodile’s tail and pulled it back, grunting as he lifted up the massive creature and threw it towards a tree. It crashed through the tree as it was then caught in vines. It hissed and thrashed around, trying to escape but Nate didn’t waste a second of this opportunity. He charged at it once more and reeled back his fist, throwing a bone crushing straight punch right in the abdomen of the creature. It roared out in pain as the sounds of bones shattering could be heard.

The creature coughed out blood and managed to free itself after thrashing around violently. He whipped its massive tail around and slammed into Nate. Nate dug his power armor’s boots into the mud as he skidded backwards and stopped.

“So, you wanna play rough, huh big guy?!” Nate said in a menacing tone.

“I’LL SHOW YOU WHO’S THE APEX AROUND HERE!!” Nate screamed as he charged at the rock-croc.

The creature ran at Nate to meet him halfway with its large jaws open and ready to bite Nate. Nate charged at his opponent with his arm raised in front of him. Like an unstoppable force, Nate bulldozed the rock-croc right through a few trees. In his wake, Nate slammed the creature down in the dirt and proceeded to punch it repeatedly in its gut.

Punch after punch, Nate was relentless as he beat his opponent into submission. Blood sprayed out of the rock-croc’s mouth and nostrils until Nate reeled back once more and punched the creature one last time as hard as he could. Steam rose up from Nate’s overheated armor as he stood over his prey and breathed heavily. The darkness hung over Nate as the outline of his presence could be seen, along with a pair of sickly yellow glowing eyes from his helmet.

“Stay down…” Nate said with a venomous tone. He raised his foot and stepped on the rock-croc’s head. “You’re mine, now.”

“Bravo,” Kellogg applauded. “I’ve seen some brutal displays of combat, but that was by far the most intense. What are you gonna do now?”

Nate stared down at the wheezing beast under his boot and glanced back at his small army of monsters that were all waiting patiently for their master.

A wicked smirk grew on Nate’s face as he placed his hand on top of the rock-croc’s head and surrounded it in a sickly yellow aura. It hissed and roared in pain as the sounds of flesh tearing apart and bones snapping was heard. After a few minutes the crocodile grew several times the size of that of a fishing boat and had long, razor sharp spikes along its back and tail. Its fangs doubled in size and its rock-scales looked even more durable than before. The end creature’s tail morphed into a ball of spikes and bladed scales, almost like a mace.

“This is only the beginning,” Nate said as the massive monster bowed its large head to Nate. “I will stay in these woods and build my army for another day. Once I’m done, I’ll have enough to face the leader of those bugs.”

Nate looked back at the bog where he fought the rock-croc and noticed that two more of them had risen from the murky water. Both creatures looked just as pissed at Nate for mutating their friend. Instead of engaging them, Nate decided to test out his army. He looked at the mutated wolves of his group and pointed at the two rock-crocs.

“Subdue them,” Nate ordered.

Nate’s small army of mutated monstrosities all growled and started to close in around the other two rock-crocs. The two massive reptiles hissed as they stood their ground as the monsters lunged at them. The crocodiles fought tooth and nail with their bone-crushing bite strength and their strong rock-like hide allowed them to hold out, but only for so long. They were too outnumbered and outmatched as they were bitten, teared, and clawed to a bloody mess.

Nate watched with a cold grin and his hands behind his back as the wolves worked in tandem to overwhelm the two rock-crocs. Their agility and teamwork made up for their disadvantage in brute strength. The rock-crocs were helpless as the wolves bit through their rock-like scales and into their flesh. They were torn apart as the wolves piled on to them and kept chewing at the two reptiles’ flesh and bone.

“That should do it!” Nate ordered as he paced towards the pile of mutated wolves and wounded crocodiles. “That should do it.”

The wolves obeyed Nate and they stepped away from the wounded crocodiles. The rock-crocs looked up at Nate and whimpered, their eyes bloodshot red as they were prepared for their last moments of life. But Nate would give them an even worse fate, just like with their friend. Nate rose his hands over their bleeding bodies and covered them in a sickly yellow magical aura and transformed them into horribly mutated creatures through another painful process. They towered over Nate, all healed and horrifically mutated, then bowed their large heads to their new master.

“Eish, this is wrong, even for me. At least I grant them death, but this? This is something else,” Kellogg said.

“Next time I want your opinion on something, I’ll let you know,” Nate told him sarcastically as he stepped back to admire his growing army of mutated monstrosities, all of them at his command.

“The quality and quantity are a decent start. but I have a feeling this is only a taste of what this world has to offer,” Nate said sadistically.

“Such a big world with so many new possible test subjects. From the largest predator…” Nate looked down and noticed a trail of ants marching from a nearby ant hill.

“To the smallest insect,” he finished as his mind rushed with ideas. His hands glowed brighter and a menacing chuckle followed.

“There’re so many possibilities! I’m getting excited just thinking about it,” Nate said as he raised his hands out to his sides, his magic glowing even more bright.

The Next Day

Starlight and a few of her friends, Double Diamond, Sugar Belle, and Night Glider, were sitting together at the newly rebuilt café. The mood could’ve been better, but they were still trying to cope with the events the last few days.

“Think he’ll come back?” Diamond asked.

“I sure as hay hope not!” Sugar Belle gulped.

“Have you seen him? What could he do? I don’t know if I’m more scared of the changelings or him,” Sugar Belle said while rubbing her arms.

“Well…he did save us. And we aren’t really slaves anymore…” Diamond tried to defend Nate, if only a tiny bit. “Besides, it’s better to be ordered around and live somewhat freely than get beaten for so much as asking for water.”

“GUYS!” The door burst open and in came another friend. He was an earth pony and his face looked like he had seen the face of pure evil.

“Feather Bangs? What’s wrong?” Night Glider asked.

“H-H-HE’S BACK! HE’S JUST BEYOND THE HORIZON, AND HE’S NOT ALONE! THERE’S AN ARMY OF MONSTERS WITH HIM!” Feather shouted with pure fear in his voice.

“WHAT?!” They all shouted in disbelief.

The group all rushed out and headed towards the gates of the town, climbing up the wall they looked over the horizon. What they saw made their blood run cold. There was a huge flood of what could only be described as a wave of demons. All manner of creatures, from hulking mutated bears, massive monstrous crocodiles, to big ugly bugs were marching towards the small town. But what shocked them the most was the fact that Nate was the one leading them all.

Nate walked towards the town, not saying a word. The monsters following him followed diligently behind him as if they were his loyal pets. Fear gripped the hearts of everyone in the town who bore witness to the nightmarish spectacle that drew closer towards them. No one could even speak, let alone try to catch their breaths, as Nate was just outside the gates. He stopped and raised his hand, the silent command he gave to his army made them stop behind them. He looked up to see Starlight and her friends, all clinging to each other.

“Starlight,” Nate said plainly, making the ponies flinch. “Let me in. Don’t worry, my army will stay outside.”

Starlight was beyond shocked to see not only a whole army of monsters, but to see that they were all obedient to Nate. Starlight slowly nodded her head and had some ponies open the gates for Nate. All the ponies inside looked on at Nate with fear, horror, but a few had…possibly hope? It wasn’t anything like fear, but it was different.

“H…How…? Where did you…?” Starlight tried to find the words for her questions, but her mind could barely comprehend any of what she was witnessing.

“Surprised?” Nate asked with a smug tone.

He looked over his shoulder nodded his head at one of the mutated wolves. The monster wolf obeyed his silent command and trudged past the gates. The ponies steered as clear as possible from the beast as it made its way over to Nate and stood next to him.

“I went and intercepted another swarm of those bugs the other day. After I butchered them too, I discovered something quite useful,” Nate said as he pointed to the bell on his chest plate.

“What’s that thing?” Starlight asked.

“An artefact that once belonged to an old goat-person. Said something about being the first emperor, but he gave me this and it granted me these powers,” Nate said. He placed a hand on the wolf’s side and gave it a pat.

“This beast is the result of experimenting with my new powers, same goes with the rest of the monsters that stand outside the gates. To put it simply, I have gained a very fruitful advantage for my new mission,” Nate said, his voice turning darker.

“And…what’s that?” Starlight asked hesitantly.

“To conquer this land and take it for my own,” Nate proclaimed.

“C-Conquer?” Starlight stuttered with a look of horror in her eyes as her heart dropped like a rock thrown in water. First her homeland was taken over by the three most notorious villains, now this…thing, with a whole army of monsters, wants to take over?

“W-What about the Princesses? A-A-And the other ponies that are enslaved?” She asked, fearful of what Nate would say or do to them.

“Why should I give a shit about any of that?” Nate deadpanned.

“I’m only in this for myself. I’m not here to play hero, I’m here to claim what I’m owed.” Nate leaned in and got in her face. His helmet’s eyes glowed yellow as he glared at the mare.

“Unless, you’re saying you want to stand in my way?” Nate growled.

Starlight flinched under his gaze as she felt like every fiber of her being was telling her to run

“N-No…m-my king…?” Starlight said fearfully. She didn’t know what to call him, but she definitely didn’t want to be in his line of sight whenever he aimed to kill something. Or someone.

“King?” Nate repeated.

He leaned back and pondered about what she called him. During his quest to find his son through the Commonwealth, he was referred to by different titles besides his own name. The Minutemen called him General, the Railroad called him Bullseye, and the Brotherhood of Steel called him Paladin. Even when he was pretending to liberate Nuka World for Porter Gage and the raider gangs, he was called the Overboss. But King? The title seemed so foreign to him. He was always revered as a leader to many for the right reasons. However, now, he was on the path to become something and someone else entirely. Dark thoughts swirled within Nate’s mind as a grin stretched across his lips from within his helmet.

“Starlight, it just occurred to me that I never told you my real name,” Nate said.

“I do have a name. But, with the way things are now, I believe it’s only appropriate that I take on a new name since the man I once was no longer has a place in this world,” Nate said and paused before letting out a low chuckle.

“From this day forth, you and anyone who crosses my path will refer to me as Apex,” Nate announced. “Apex, The Sole Conqueror.”

“Y-Yes, A-Apex…Sole Conqueror,” Starlight said, doing everything in her power to not run out screaming. Even if she did, where would she go? She imagined she would just be captured in a matter of days and be subjugated into doing unspeakable acts. Her best chance at survival is to follow this creature who could make even monsters bow before him.

“I’ve got a question for you,” Nate said as he pointed to the mountains just beyond the town. “I noticed a cave on my way back. There anyone around here who knows how to mine?”

“Miners? Well, w-we have a few who were still alive that know the mines, but it’s not very many-” Starlight said but we cut off.

“Round them all up and have others join them,” Nate told her.

“W-What?” Starlight said.

“Did I stutter?” Nate glared at her, and Starlight gulped. She nodded her head as she frantically walked away. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she breathed heavily, almost having a panic attack when he glared at her.

Starlight began gathering the few surviving miners, many of which were older stallions, and many other random ponies in town.

“This is the best you got?” Nate said, sounding disappointed.

“They’re all we have…” Starlight said nervously, her ears folded on her head.

“Tch! It’ll have to do, I guess,” Nate said, shaking his head.

“I want you all to go up to that cave and mine the minerals from it. Haul back as much as you can get from the mountain,” Nate ordered.

“B-But we’re not miners!” One of the ponies protested.

Nate waved his hand at the pony and the wolf immediately pounced on the stallion who dared talk back to Nate. The monster bared its large fangs and was inches away from biting his head off.

“Do I look like I give two shits about your opinion?” Nate hissed as the stallion whimpered. “Your only concern is to do as you’re told while I’m around. If you don’t like it, you can just become animal feed for my army.”

The other ponies all shuddered and took a step back at the threat, or more like the promise, their new leader made to them if they disobeyed. The wolf lifted its large paw off the pinned stallion, and he scrambled away as quick as he could. The others quickly gathered up the mining supplies and started to head towards the cave. The ones with experience working in the mines helped the new ones in order to avoid them being fed to the mutated creatures, should they fail or make their new boss very unhappy.

Nate motioned for the wolf to follow the group to make sure they would keep working. As the wolf bowed its head obediently and walked away, Nate made his way back to the building he took residence in. The ponies avoided his gaze and kept their distance, not that he cared.

Upon entering his building and closing the door behind him, Nate then reached up and unlatched his helmet. There was a high-pitched hissing sound as he pulled the helmet off and he breathed in some fresh air. Nate placed his helmet on the table and took a seat on a cushioned couch in the main room. The furniture creaked loudly as his power armor’s weight pressed down on it. The man sighed and ran his metal hand over his head.

“No turning back now,” Nate said to himself.

He then looked down at his metal hands. He could still feel his real hands controlling the metallic appendages under all the thick metal and advanced circuitry that was welded to the exoskeleton. Being trapped in his own power armor may protect him from most, if not all, dangers, but this predicament wasn’t something he planned to stay in for very long.

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” Nate said aloud again as he kept staring at his hands. “And I’ll find a way out of this prison cell I stuck myself in.”

Unbeknownst to Nate, a dim magical aura with its sickly yellow glow surrounded him. His eyes changed from their natural color to an intimidating bright yellow.

Author's Note

His army grows as he begins to show is new colors. One can only imagine the horrors that will follow in his merciless wake.

Side Note:
After months of thinking about it, and talks with my fellow co-writers, I have decided to reopen this story. I may sound like a hypocrite, which I probably am at this point, but what can I say? I’m prone to make decisions that sometimes don’t make a lot of sense.

Hope you enjoyed!

~WurkyWilk has left the building…