Chapter 4

A week has passed since the army of monsters arrived with Nate and surrounded the town. A week since Nate forced the ponies to mine the nearby cave for its minerals. A long week since Nate announced his conquest and took up the name Apex.

Nate had ordered the residents of the town to use the minerals by using them to fortify the walls. True to his word, Nate had also managed to create a chem station from the medical supplies and minerals. Starlight had been hard at work trying to create new Stimpacks for Nate. It was still a work in progress, since she had not seen anything so medically and technologically advanced.

The week had been quiet for Nate, since no one had seen him leave his residence. All they heard from him was the orders he gave Starlight through his door. Starlight reluctantly approached his door, still nervous of his presence, but had to report, nonetheless.

“U-Um…A-Apex, sir?” Starlight called out from behind the door. “The reports are in.”

“Out with it,” Nate’s voice rang out from behind the door.

“We’ve mined most of the minerals from the cave,” Starlight said. “And I think I’m making some progress on those Stimpack things.”

“Good.” Nate said and Starlight heard some rummaging inside the building. “What’s the nearest settlement from here?”

“Um, that would be the…s-slave camp about two days northeast of here. I-It’s used for forging. We could see whatever they made being brought into town before…y-you came…” Starlight told him.

“Forging, you say?” Nate said as he put his helmet back on. “What kind of forging?”

“W-Weapons and armor,” Starlight answered. “This town wasn’t one of their more important camps, so the changelings here got only the basics of armor and weapons, but we have seen the higher-ranking ones that have more well-made weaponry and armor. Ones made of durable armor that can shrug off a few magic bolts and weapons strong enough to break stone.”

Nate opened the door, startling Starlight, and walked past her.

“How are the fortifications for the gate coming along?” Nate asked without looking at her.

Starlight shivered a bit but was able to compose herself somewhat to give an answer as she followed after him. “It’s coming along well. It’s sturdy enough to take hits from some of those creatures of yours and also slippery enough that they couldn’t just climb it.”

“I guess the smiths and welders around here aren’t so useless,” Nate said as Starlight followed him. “I’m curious about the leader of the bugs. You mentioned they were some kind of queen?”

“Y-Yes! Queen Chrysalis, Ruler of the Changelings. Her magic was able to rival that of Princess Celestia, but she wasn’t able to defeat her or the others. But when Chrysalis teamed up with King Sombra and Tirek, well…you already saw for yourself…” Starlight explained.

“What’s this about princesses?” Nate inquired as they walked past the gates. His monsters were still waiting for him outside. “Is there some kind of hierarchy in this world?”

They approached one of the giant wolves. Starlight kept her distance as Nate reached up and gently stroked the mutant wolf’s head.

“Y-Yes. W-We had four Princesses, actually. Princess Celestia and her sister, Princess Luna, were the monarchies of Equestria. Celestia raised the sun while Luna raised the moon. Then there was Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or Cadence, she was the Princess of Love and ruled the Crystal Empire. Next there was…Twilight Sparkle…The Princess of Friendship…” Starlight felt tears swell up in her eyes as she thought back fondly to when things were better than how they are now.

“Back up.” Nate looked back at Starlight. “I refuse to believe someone is capable of manipulating the sun and moon. It defies all laws of physics and comprehension. More so, it’s logically, and scientifically impossible. Not to mention, incomprehensible.”

Unless, somewhere in the course of over three and a half million years, the earth’s rotation and gravitational pull was somehow compromised, Nate theorized to himself in his head.

Starlight tilted her head in confusion at Nate’s refusal to believe what seemed to be common knowledge to someone like her.

“Uh…the Princesses have always been known to do that for hundreds of thousands of years. Before it required about five unicorns using up their magic to raise and lower the sun and moon, until Celestia and Luna came along, anyway,” Starlight explained.

“Whatever, the world’s just more fucked over than I gave it credit for,” Nate rolled his eyes, even though Starlight couldn’t see under his helmet.

“Now, about this forging slave camp to the northeast. What kind of resistance should I expect?” Nate asked.

“Well, it’s far out, about a couple days by hoof. It’s almost desert-like, but you will be faced with changelings and even Diamond Dogs. Due to the place being of great importance, you would be met with better equipped guards than here,” Starlight said.

“Diamond dogs?” Nate said, almost chuckling at how ridiculous it sounded.

He shook his head and waved his hand up and flicked his wrist. The wolves perked up and gathered around.

“These should be enough,” Nate said. “Keep an eye on the town. And don’t worry about the rest of my monsters. They won’t attack you, unless provoked. I’m going to expand my territory,” Nate said as he and the wolves made their way northeast.

Starlight breathed a sigh of relief as Nate left. Every time she was around him, she feared she was one word away from being a chew toy to his pets. The pack of mutated wolves followed behind Nate, their fangs and claws sharpened still having bits of torn flesh and blood from their previous meals. The wolves sniffed around and kept their ears up to keep watch of anything that would pose a threat.

Two Days Later

The road was long, but not hard to overcome. Nate and his wolves marched northeast as their goal drew nearer with each step. Along the way, Nate spotted more animals passing by and thought of adding to his ranks. But then he figured the wolves needed to keep their strength, so he allowed them to go hunting whenever they had to feed. The game was small, during his trek, but he and the wolves managed until they finally arrived.

Nate stood on the horizon just beyond the forging camp. At first glance, excluding the insect-made walls surrounding it, it looked like some kind of old western town. Nate could see multiple changelings flying around and smokestacks billowing from some of the buildings. Nate used his helmet’s optic lenses to zoom in on the town. Pony people were being worked to the bone as changelings tortured them and forced them to work. Also, Nate took note of new creatures that looked like dog-people standing upright. They were dirty, and scruffy-looking beings who looked like they took as much pleasure in ordering and demoralizing the ponies as the changelings. To Nate’s disgust, he even caught sight of some of the dog-people raping female ponies in the corner of buildings, sometimes out in the open.

“Makes me sick…” Nate sneered.

He glanced at his wolves, and they could sense his intentions. They growled, bared their teeth, and readied themselves at their master’s command. Nate slowly raised his arm, pointed his finger, and uttered a single order.

“Rampage,” Nate said in a dark tone.

One wolf, that seemed to be far bigger and stronger than others, with dark red eyes, stepped forward and let out a haunting howl. The other wolves followed suit and soon charged forward towards the town.

The guards posted there looked over and squinted their eyes to see hulking monsters charging towards them

“Battle Stations!” One Changeling ordered, wearing dark purple and black crystal-like armor and wielded a large broadsword made of black steel. The wolves jumped over the gates and fences as they lunged and tore out their victims’ throats.

It was complete chaos within the forging camp. The changelings and diamond dogs had little time to react as the sudden man monstrous wolves came in and began terming the cap apart. Two armored diamond dogs tried standing up to the wolves with speared and crude weapons. Three of the wolves were quick to clamp their jaws around them and started shredding them to meaty pieces. The changelings fared no better as their organs were feasted upon after having their stomachs torn open or they were just swallowed whole. When some tried to fly away, a wolf jumped on a building and into the air and bit down on them midflight.

“Take them down!” A taller changeling ordered, who seemed to be in charge of the town. A wolf growled and lunged at him, but the changeling slid under the wolf and used his sword to slash across its hind legs, leaving a deep gash on the wolf. The wolf howled in pain and growled at the changeling.

“Use your magic, you idiots!” The commander ordered. The changeling guards soon used their powers to transform into numerous different forms of animals to try and combat the mutated wolves

“A valiant effort,” Nate said to himself as he continued to watch from the outskirts of the camp. “But these aren’t your usual monsters. They too have tricks of their own.”

The transformed changelings tried to rush the wolf with the injured leg. The wolf snarled viciously as it raised its tail a little. The spikes that grew along the tip of its tail extended out a little. Before the changelings could react, the wolf whipped its tail forward and fired the spikes towards them. The spikes impaled the changelings through their guts, sending them flying back and impacting the wall. Some spikes punctured their heads as blood and brains showered the very ground. Other spikes tore their heads clean off before impacting the walls. This set off a chain reaction as the other wolves still hunting down their prey began using their tail spikes as well.

“How fascinating,” Nate hummed aloud in thought. “They’re able to adapt to their surroundings and use their newfound metamorphosed bodies to combat their enemies. Despite the enemy having a slight advantage over them in numbers, they are also at a sheer disadvantage when it comes to brute strength and monster instinct.”

The larger wolf, the pack leader, growled at the Changeling in charge, the two circled each other as the Changeling held his ground.

“Come on, you oversized mutt,” the changeling hissed. The wolf howled and dashed towards him. The changeling commander used his sword to keep the monster at bay. The wolf used its claws to try and smack the sword away but was deflected each time by the black steel armor he wore. The changeling tried flying back to gain some distance until the wolf jumped up and was able to make a large gash on the Changeling’s leg, causing him to fly and crash down into a crate.

The changeling commander coughed up blood and tried to stand up but fell back down after putting weight on his leg. A large shadow loomed over him and he saw it was the Alpha of the wolf pack as it bared down on the changeling.

“I die for my queen…” the commander spat. “DO IT!”

The wolf growled before lunging forward and tearing the changeling to bloody shreds. The changeling screamed out in horror and pain as he felt the wolf tear open his stomach and eat his entrails, all while still being alive and conscious to watch it all unfold before succumbing to the pain and blood loss and dying on the spot.

With their commander torn to shreds and devoured, the rest of the changelings and most of the diamond dogs began to lose face. Try as they might to fight back, the wolves were mercilessly slaughtering their prey. Horrific screams and flesh and bones being torn apart could be heard all the way where Nate stood.

As for Nate, he had a malicious grin underneath his helmet as he witnessed his creations do his bidding. He imagined what his other creations were capable of and if he could somehow enhance them by mutating them further. Nate could still recall the various types of creature species he faced in the wasteland. Each had their own unique genetic material and capabilities. As an intellectual who learned and studied about the advantages and disadvantages of radiation exposure, especially how he had to adapt and survive, the scientific part of his mind bustled with new hypotheses and theoretical possibilities.

The brutal sounds of the wolves tearing everyone apart began to die down, which signaled Nate to finally make his appearance.

“Cease!” Nate said aloud, sending a mental message to his wolves.

All the wolves’ ears perked up and stopped immediately from their master’s order. The town was in complete disarray as mutilated bodies littered the ground, some buildings were almost destroyed or completely collapsed, and the survivors were desperately hiding in the still-standing buildings.

Nate made his trek towards the town. His march was calm, but the atmosphere around him was dense and menacing. No one in the town knew why the wolves attacked out of nowhere, but they soon would once Nate arrived. Nate walked up to the gate that was still shut. He noticed a couple of the spikes from the wolves’ tails piercing through, still stained with the blood of changelings and diamond dogs. Nate raised his fist and punched the gates as hard as he could. The gates nearly tore off their hinges and the sound startled the survivors.

Some ponies and surviving and diamond dog changeling guards dared to peek out the window and look towards the gate. With one last hard punch, Nate broke open the gates and they swung open. The force almost made them fly off their hinges. Fear gripped the hearts of anyone bearing witness to the new horror that trudged in. A large metallic creature strode in through the main road. The wolves gathered around the metal monster and actually bowed to it. Nate scanned the condition of each of his wolves and noticed three of them had slash wounds on their arms and legs.

“Three wounded after attacking a slave camp filled with armed bugs and dogs?” Nate said aloud. “I guess that’s about par.”

Nate glanced around the damaged town and could already tell there were survivors hiding in the buildings.

“If all you bugs and dogs don’t want my pets to drag you out by your heads, I suggest you come out now!” Nate called out to the town. “As for you pony folk, you no longer are under the regime of your oppressors!”

The remaining Changelings and Diamond Dogs that were still alive slowly began to come out from inside the buildings. About a dozen and a half in total were hiding. The ponies, however, were slowly coming out of their homes and started cheering for their savior.

“On your knees,” Nate demanded the changelings and dogs.

The changelings and diamond dogs all grumbled, but one look at the wolves feasting on the corpses of their fallen brothers convinced them to all get on their knees.

“Your masters lay dead!” Nate announced to the crowd. “Your oppressors, on their knees! At the mercy of another! Just as they had you! If you wish to still be alive! Then show me you are worth keeping alive!” Nate shouted loud enough for the other ponies hiding away to hear him.

“Um…there’s more of us in the mine!” A stallion-man called out. “And one of the element bearers is being held captive by the Diamond Dog Alpha at the Town Hall! She’s my cousin!”

“The fuck’s an element bearer?” Nate asked.

“Please! Save my cousin!” The stallion begged.

“Tch! Whatever…” Nate scoffed and shoved him out of the way.

He glanced back at his wolves and gave them a silent command to keep watch. Nate made his way to the cave mine just outside the town. There was evidence of an operational mine with mining carts, pickaxes, supply crates, and a cave with scaffolding inside. Nate could hear the cries and shouting of people inside, which meant there were the remnants of changeling and diamond dog survivors trying to hide away in the mines with the rest of the slaves. Nate merely chuckled mockingly at the idea of them attempting to hold out and pulled out his assaultron blade. Nate entered the cave and turned on his helmet's night vision optics and sensor array to see in the dark. His heavy metal footsteps echoed throughout the cave as if signaling anyone foolish enough to try and face him.

“I wonder if there’s any more bugs that need squashing and dogs that need gutting?” Nate asked aloud in a sadistic tone.

There was a startled gasp in the darkness, deep inside the mines. Hurried footsteps and sounds of weapons and armor clanking could be heard. Nate stomped through the mines and soon saw a makeshift barricade standing before him. Nate charged forward and smashed through the makeshift wall.

“Now!” A loud bang was heard, and an explosion was seen as Nate was hit dead center. The guards all cheered and laughed as they had believed to finally have killed the demon of metal.

“Die…” a vicious-sounding voice said. Everyone was frozen as they all slowly turned to the smoke and saw a pair of sickly-yellow eyes glowing in the smoke.

“All of you…WILL DIE!” Nate shouted as he lunged forward and started tearing them to shreds.

Nate swung his sword to the right and sliced a diamond dog in half. One diamond dog tried to bash his hammer on Nate, but Nate grabbed the dog’s skull and crushed it like a grape. Blood and brains sprayed from his metal hand as he continued his slaughter. Three changelings hissed and charged at Nate and tried tackling him to the ground. However, Nate stood in place and didn’t budge an inch as the changelings crashed into him. It was like running headfirst into a wall as they cried out in pain and clutched their heads. With another heavy swing of his sword, Nate chopped off the top half of their heads, exposing their cut open brains as they fell to the ground. A diamond dog fell backwards as he tried to crawl away, but Nate was already looming over him before he could crawl away in time.

“Pathetic weaklings like you don’t deserve to suck air,” Nate said in a dark tone as he brought his foot up and slammed it down on the dog’s gut.

The dog’s guts spewed from his mouth as his eyes rolled back. Nate looked around at the carnage he caused and casually wiped his sword of blood. His helmet’s night vision let him see a little deeper in the cave. He could see the rest of the slaves cowering and trying desperately to keep out of Nate’s sight.

“I suggest you all vacate from this cave.” Was all Nate said as he turned around. “These bugs and mutts are too dead to do anything about it now.”

He marched out of the mine and towards the town hall, where he assumed it was the main base for this camp. Nate kicked down the doors and saw no one else inside, keeping his guard up he ventured upstairs and kicked open the doors, looking inside he saw a bed and a mare laying on the floor next to the bed. She wore a collar that was chained to the bed and wore a revealing belly dancer outfit. The mare had dirty matted blonde hair, light orange fur, and a mark on her butt cheek that looked like three apples. Nate could see the bruises, cuts, and black eye on the mare as she scurried to her hands and knees.

“M-Master?” The mare bowed her head and crawled over to him rubbing his leg “D-Do ya wish fer me to please you?”

“Get off,” Nate ordered the mare and shoved her away. “Where’s the Alpha?”

“Master Crusher w-went out on a raid to the buffalo camps in the canyons,” the mare said as she licked his boots, her body shaking in fear of angering him.

“I said, GET OFF!” Nate snarled, making the mare cower in fear. “You’re not a fucking slave anymore!” Nate raised his sword, causing the mare to scream in fear.

CLANG!

The mare kept her good eye shut as she waited for the end. When she felt no pain, she opened her green eye and looked down to see Nate had used his sword to break the chain.

“Go outside and join the others. I’ve got a mutt to hunt,” Nate said as he left the room.

The mare looked down at her now broken chains and back up at Nate as he walked away.

“T-Thank you…” She muttered as she slowly stood up and took her first steps unchained.

Nate ignored her and walked out of the town house. On his way out, he grabbed a dirty rag that he’d hoped would have the Alpha’s scent on it. He then pursed his lips together and whistled out loudly. All the wolves immediately reacted and ran over to Nate with his own Alpha wolf standing before him.

“Find him,” Nate said, holding up the rag for them to smell. “Find him, run him down, and bring him to me.”

After a few sniffs, the wolves let out another blood curdling howl before running off, leaving a trail of dust behind them. Nate watched as they ran off and looked around to see that the former slaves had taken arms against their former masters and were taking their revenge.

“Hmph, they got spunk,” Nate said.

“We’re ready to fight back!” One stallion said.

“Don’t bother,” Nate said, shaking his head. “We’ll wait here for the rest.”

“The rest?” A mare asked.

Nate said nothing more as he stood still and kept his eyes where the wolves ran off too. The ponies are confused as to why Nate was just standing there. Minutes passed and Nate continued to stand in place. No one knew why Nate continued to stand like a statue as more minutes continued to pass on. Suddenly, there was a dust cloud in the distance. Everyone could see the pack of wolves chasing a small group of diamond dogs. The one in front of the group looked like a black-furred wolfhound and was desperately trying to get away. Nate could tell that the wolves could’ve easily ran him down, but we’re ordered to chase him back to town. The leader saw Nate and skidded to a halt as the wolves ran around him and formed a circle, surrounding Nate, the diamond dog leader, and what was left of his group. The leader looked around frantically, noticing the damaged town and mutilated bodies that littered the streets.

“Crusher, I presume?” Nate asked nonchalantly.

“What the Tartarus are you?!” The dog snarled. “You did this?! You killed my pack, destroyed my camp, and freed my slaves?! You must have a death wish!”

“The only one who’s courting death is you,” Nate said as he rubbed his metallic knuckles against his palm before switching to the other. “But I’ll give you a sporting chance. If you can knock me down, I’ll surrender and let you have your camp back.”

“Fight you? Hahahaha! You must be insane!” Crusher stood up and growled “I’m gonna enjoy using your skull as my new chamber pot!” Crusher then lunged forward and bared his fangs and bit down on his arm. But as soon as he bit down on Nate’s metal arm, his teeth were shattered upon impact

“AAAAAAAGH!” Crusher screamed in agony.

“Aw, poor puppy broke his little teeth,” Nate mocked as he brushed off the bite mark with his hand. “Wanna try that again? I’ll give you one more free shot.”

Crusher growled and roared as he struck Nate in the face of his helmet. The diamond dog alpha groaned as reeled his hand back in pain. He growled in defiance and kept punching Nate’s helmet, but it did nothing but hurt himself.

“If it hasn’t dawned on you already, it should be painfully obvious by now that nothing you do will ever work,” Nate said as Crusher snarled viciously but kept punching Nate.

Crusher’s fists were red and bloody as the bones in his hands and fingers were breaking more and more with each punch. Nate suddenly caught one of Crusher’s fists with his hand, forcing Crusher to stop his onslaught and look up at Nate.

“Was that your best shot?” Nate leaned in close to glare into Crusher’s eyes. “Now let me show you mine.”

CRUNCH!!

Nate closed his fist around Crusher’s hand and crushed it like a punch of sticks, completely destroying the bones as blood spurted out.

“GAAAAAAAH!!” Crusher screamed out in pain as he dropped to one knee, hitting Nate’s arm in a feeble attempt to free his hand. Nate chuckled and let go, letting Crusher reel back in pain as he clutched his destroyed hand. Crusher cried out in a fit of rage as he tried kicking Nate in the groin as hard as he could.

SNAP!!

“AAAAAAAGH!!” Crusher howled out in pain as his leg was snapped in half after kicking Nate.

“Hurts, doesn’t it?” Nate hissed as he stomped on Crusher’s other leg.

“AAAAAHHHHHH!!” Crusher screamed out in agony.

“Pain is a very harsh but eye-opening lesson,” Nate said as he pressed down on his leg. “It teaches you that you can’t be the top dog forever, since there will always be someone much more dangerous to take your place.” Nate’s helmet’s eyes glowed sickly yellow as Crusher whimpered and desperately tried to crawl away.

“Your place is right where you are. Pining at the dirt, being crushed like the vermin you are,” Nate said darkly. He reached down and grasped Crusher’s head.

“You are a fucking shit stain under my boot,” Nate added. He glanced up at the remaining diamond dogs and changelings who watched in horror at his brutal display of dominance.

“Let this be a reminder to anyone who wants to play tough,” Nate warned as he slowly closed his hand around Crusher’s skull.

Crusher screamed and cried out as he felt his skull slowly getting crushed like a ball of paper. Tears streamed down his face as he pleaded for his life.

“Please! No no! Have mercy, please! N-NO!! M-M-MOMMY!! MOMMY, HEL-” His cries were cut short as his head exploded in Nate’s hand.

“It’s as I said before,” Nate said as he stood up straight, his hand dripping with blood, brains, and bone. “God has mercy. I don’t.”

Nate flicked his hand to get rid of the excess grime. The ponies were hesitant to approach Nate, after witnessing such a brutal display, but the one stallion who spoke to him before boldly took a step forward.

“Is it over?” The stallion asked. “Are we safe?”

“Safe?” Nate said, then chuckled a little. “I wouldn’t say that.”

“B-But why? You freed us from the changelings and diamond dogs, didn’t you?” The stallion asked, sounding perplexed.

“Ah, I see the misunderstanding,” Nate said with a mock nod of understanding. “See, I didn’t save you, I relieved you of your former employers.” Nate raised his hand and readied his fingers to flick the stallion’s head.

“I would say it’s more like…under new management,” Nate cackled, grinning maliciously under his helmet as he flicked the stallion’s head, making him jerk backwards and fall down.

The stallion looked up and crawled back as he gazed upon what he could only describe Nate as…a demon. The other ponies all huddled their loved ones close as they feared what this may lead to. Were their lives going to get better or worse than it was before?

“Here’s how things are gonna work from now on,” Nate said as he slowly paced back and forth, and the wolves glared at the ponies. “You’re all free to live as you please in this shit hole, without the chains, whips, and other unpleasant torture methods. So long as you all keep in mind that I was the one who liberated you all from these bugs and mutts that were using you as tools. To put it simply, you are now my employees, and I am your employer. You work hard, you eat and sleep well. Simple, right?” Nate stopped pacing and became serious.

“However, if any of you step out of line, such as talking back to me or are unsatisfied with how I’m running things, you’ve already seen what I and my pets can do,” Nate warned with malice in his voice. “I don’t tolerate insubordination and disloyalty, am I clear?”

The ponies all nodded frantically, holding each other as none of them could form any words due to their fear.

“Good. First order of business, lock up the surviving bugs and mutts over there. Second, get to work on gathering the remains of your former oppressors, pile them in a heap outside the walls of the town, then burn it,” Nate ordered. “Third, I want someone to run over to the town southwest from here and deliver a message to a woman named Starlight. Tell her the forging camp is liberated and we’ll be setting up a trade route.”

Two people, the stallion with an apple cutie mark and a mare with blue hair, nodded and were the ones who volunteered to go. They honestly just wanted an excuse to get away from him, but would still relay the message, fearing his wrath if they were to fail. The former slaves got to work on the orders Nate had given them. The surviving guards all tried to fight back from being locked up, until Nate’s wolves made a quick reminder to them by baring their fangs. Nate looked over at the Town Hall and saw the mare he freed from the Alpha’s chambers walk out the front door, wearing a long gown that was able to at least cover herself. She looked around and gasped at the sight of the liberated town.

Nate laughed subtly to himself as he gathered his wolves around him. He reached into one of his power armor’s compartments and pulled out a few stimpacks to heal them.

“One step closer,” Nate said to himself as he watched them work and healed his wolves. “They will all bow to me.”

Author's Note

The Sole Conqueror’s brutality is a force soon to be reckoned with.

Hope you enjoyed!

~WurkyWilk has left the building…