//------------------------------//
// XV. Reconstitution 
// Story: The War in Heaven 
// by voroshilov 
//------------------------------//


“Here I was beholden, for the first time, to the dichotomy of my father. He was hatred and love; kindness and cruelty; good and evil. He was the darkness that shrouded us, kept us hidden from our foes; and the light that illuminated our path, forwards. He said unto me: ‘Kyhron, thou must sit. Do thee understand now why I rule my Empire? I rule through terror and love. Thou must understand this if thee want to rule thyself. Make them fear thee, but make them love thee just as much - then thy rule shall be forever.”


- Lessons from my Father by Prince Kyhron -


"You let her die! It's your fault she's dead." Penumbra's rage could be felt all around the vessel, her voice shaking the very hull. When she had arrived on the Sin of Damnation, she had been utterly distraught, though her tears had run out. Upon seeing Rarity, with the corrupted Luna with her, something had unlocked inside of her. Something that had been caged her whole life broke free and it had shook reality.

"It was necessary," Nicholas replied, uncaring. No hint of emotion was present in his voice and his inner thoughts were impossible to read. Chrysalis, however, who Penumbra could feel just outside of the room, seemed disgustingly pleased, with the corrupted alicorn promising to make her pay in blood for her insolence.

"Necessary?" Penumbra asked, before her voice rose and an even greater rage became audible, "necessary? Her death was necessary? No, her death was anything but necessary. Though." Her frown became a twisted smirk - something important snapping within her mind - and something lightened behind her eyes. "Yours will be." She laughed, less one of joy and more of murderous intent. "Good too."

Without a second thought, she rammed her sword - infused with magic she could previously have only dreamed of wielding - straight through the centre of his chest, where she assumed his heart to be. For a brief moment, he seemed almost stunned, before Penumbra removed the weapon and struck the side of his neck with it, causing the comparatively weak chitinous skin to shatter and give way.

The crown laden head of Emperor Nicholas toppled to the floor, before it and the rest of his body crumbled to dust, leaving only his clothing and crown behind. His cape and robe crumpled neatly, the Obsidian Crown resting atop it. As Penumbra looked at it, almost surprised by how easily she had killed Nicholas, she noticed it appeared far smaller than it had on Nicholas, almost a perfect fit for her head.

Though, she made no time for its temptation, instead, she revelled in the glory of defeating Emperor Nicholas. Even Celestia when she had the Elements of Harmony had been terrified of him, but she, Sunless-Halo-of-Penumbra, had killed him in just two strokes!

Starswirl the Bearded would tremble at her intellect; Queen Chrysalis at her cunning; Princess Celestia at her magical power; the Elements of Harmony would be hers and she would remake them anew, use them to rebirth Equestria in her image. Her sword, the bane of Emperor Nicholas - she would name it Kingbreaker - would cut the Elements into new shapes. Her friends, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, they would be dead no longer. She alone would be the master of the universe.

She pulled open the door at the end of the room with her magic, where Chrysalis, Luna and Rarity would be waiting for her. All three looked on her in horror, tears welled in Rarity's eyes, Luna guarded her with her body and Chrysalis seemed to be prepared to fight.

"Go," the Changeling Queen said, "get as many of my children as you can off the ship, I'll try and hold her."

Penumbra laughed. "What could you possibly hope to do against me? This sword." She levitated Kingbreaker - yes, that would be an excellent name, she thought - the blade's edge glowing stronger than before, between her and the Changeling. "This sword felled Emperor Nicholas. You revered him, worshipped him, even, now you shall submit to me. Or." A wicked smile again broke out on her face - her facial muscles acting on their own. "You shall die as he did."

"Go," Chrysalis yelled, to which Luna and Rarity ran through the darkness, leaving the two alone. "I may not have his power," Chrysalis admitted, "I may not have your power. But, I have something you don't, and that is my soul."

Penumbra laughed coldly. "Is that so? Well, soon I shall tear it from your body." Kingbreaker glowed even stronger, though even it was not enough to fully illuminate the hall beyond a few metres.

Chrysalis looked down at the ground. "You shall. But, even if I only keep you occupied for a second, I can perhaps save another life, that otherwise would have been lost."

Suddenly, a projection emerged from the Changeling Queen's body. It was her, no doubt, though larger and slightly transparent, with slit pupils and longer fangs and claws. It stood just slightly taller than Penumbra, but couldn't possibly have borne more power - it was just some cheap party trick anyway.

Penumbra chortled, "pah," she spat, "nice trick, I'm sure the children - or whatever you creatures have in place of them - would love it, if you had lived to show it to them, that is."

She lifted Kingbreaker into the air, and swung it down towards the Changeling Queen's head, laughing in triumph as she did so.

Her triumph, however, was premature.

The projection, its previously transparent body having taken on a much more opaque and real looking lustre, held her sword with its hoof. Penumbra pushed harder, but the projection refused to budge, holding back the weapon which had killed Emperor Nicholas with nothing more than its body.

"This is my Shade," Chrysalis - the real one - said, "an apparition that can interact with the mortal world, constructed from my mind. Like a dream, only it can touch you."

The Shade began to push back the sword, causing Penumbra to realise that this was no execution, but a battle.

"If that is your dream," Penumbra said, pulling her sword back from the Shade's grip, "then I am your nightmare."

She struck out again with Kingbreaker, this time in an arc from Chrysalis' bottom right side, sweeping up. The Shade blocked with a leg, to which Penumbra pulled back the sword and allowed the Shade to lose its guard, only to sweep around from the upper left. To her annoyance, the Shade again blocked, though it had thrown off its stance to do so. Seizing the opportunity, Penumbra struck out with magic, blasting both Chrysalis and the Shade back, sending them crashing through a wall and into a large, empty storage room.

Penumbra stepped through the gap her attack had left, intending to finish off the Changeling, only to stop as her opponent rose, albeit shakily, to her hooves. "I must admit," she said, still smiling, "you are tougher than you look. Most other opponents would have either died on that wall or been too weak to stand." She laughed. "In honour of your worthiness as an opponent, I'll kill you somewhat quickly."

She threw herself forwards, sword aimed at Chrysalis' heart, only for the Changeling to blast herself sideways with her wings, her Shade striking out against Penumbra as she passed. Unfortunately for Chrysalis, that only served to both anger and stop Penumbra, who turned and launched a flurry of quick sword attacks, thrusting at such a speed her sword seemed translucent or swiping in thin arcs, trying to catch Chrysalis off guard. Only the incredible precision and speed of the Shade kept the Changeling Queen alive, though it was unable to deflect all of the raging torrent, leaving Chrysalis with a multitude of small stab wounds.

As green haemolymph poured from her wounds, Chrysalis' Shade struck out, replying to Penumbra's attacks with its own flurry of punches. "Haha!" Penumbra deflected each blow as if she could see them coming before they were launched. "Your attacks are useless! Even if I do not attack again, you will cave to exhaustion soon."

Sure enough, Chrysalis' Shade became slower, with the actual bleeding form of the Changeling Queen sagging slightly, the pool of green ichor around her feet an indication her life was fading. Eventually, the flurry of blows ceased entirely, the Shade retreating into a guard stance in front of its owner, whose legs had begun to shake.

Penumbra cgave a demented chuckle. "Look at you," she gloated, "already dying. I had barely even begun to fight." She smiled, glassy eyed, as she brought Kingbreaker close. "To think, this sword killed Emperor Nicholas. It is almost an insult to let it kill you. But, then again, it's going to be killing a lot more than just you today. We shall start here, with you, then end the plague that is your species for good, all with the edge of this blade."

She brought it up high, just as Chrysalis' Shade faded away, the Changeling Queen finally too weak to fight. With a roaring laughter, this one certain of triumph, she brought it down upon Chrysalis' head, which split cleanly in two. The brainless Changeling slumped to the floor, ichor leaking from her immense wound, her limbs stiffening. Penumbra turned and left through the hole she had made, seeking out the hangar, leaving the former Queen Chrysalis' body behind.

The corridors that led to the hangar were all empty: dark and empty. They had done a good job evacuating and Penumbra cursed Chrysalis for wasting valuable time. Though, exactly as she had predicted, when she arrived in the hangar she came across a host of Changelings, being loaded onto whatever transport could be found by Luna, Rarity and various Changeling morphs, who looked like smaller versions of Chrysalis.

Luna noticed her entrance first, a look of horror, then resigned sadness crossing her face. "Get everyone you can out," Penumbra heard her say to one of the morphs, "then get out yourself."

"What about you?" The morph said, sounding like a younger Chrysalis.

Luna sighed. "I shall buy you as much time as I can. Go, Formia, you and your sisters must survive. Rarity, we shall face her together."

The two ponies stepped away from the evacuation and made their way over to her. Rarity levitated a pistol in front of her, causing Penumbra to almost laugh at how pitiful the attempt was. Luna, meanwhile, held a pair of longswords in her magic, as well as her talons. Luna was the greater threat, by far, so Penumbra decided on her first.

Penumbra held out Kingbreaker, dripping with ichor, as Luna and Rarity halted, fifteen metres between them. "This sword," she said, "has tasted the blood of the Emperor and one of his champions." She laughed. "Let us make that three champions."

Luna growled, dropping into a battle stance. "Your evil ends here, Penumbra."

Penumbra chuckled. "Oh my." She placed a clawed foot to her breast. "Quite the presumptive one, aren't you? Evil? Far from it, I will save the universe, I will bring back our beloved Equestria. And ends? No, my time is only just beginning."

Rarity levelled her pistol. "Emperor forgive you."

Penumbra's laugh seemed to shake the vessel. "Oh," she said, a few tears coming from her eyes, "yes." Her laugh almost caused her to choke. "'Emperor forgive me', listen to yourself. Oh dear, like a little child.” She wiped her eyes clean and they flashed bright red. "A little child, who will never grow up."

Without warning, she launched herself at Luna, who deflected Kingbreaker with a cross-shaped guard and leapt aside. The two corrupted alicorns glared, one with a slowly rising expression of madness and the other with a grim determination.

"Once you are dead," Penumbra said, bloodlust evident in her voice, her maddened reason subsuming all else, "there will be none to stop me. One by one I shall snuff out the worlds of life, until only I remain."

She launched herself at Luna again, who caught her in another guard and threw her back. "And then?" She questioned, "you want to save the universe by killing everyone in it? Rebuild Equestria by killing all of its people?"

Penumbra struck again, though this time she kept herself firmly grounded. Her attacks came in a flurry, just as they had against Chrysalis, though each blow landed harder, energy came crackling from Kingbreaker's edge, drawn from her body. Luna, much to her credit, held off each blow, even saving enough strength to throw Penumbra back again.

Penumbra's mouth seemed stuck in a maddened grin, her eyes glowing red, though there was no conscious awareness behind them. "When I am all that remains," she said, seemingly barely able to stop herself slamming into Luna again, "I shall remake everything. The universe, all of the universes, will be mine to do with as I wish."

She attacked again, this time focusing Luna's left flank. Her attacks again came with tremendous speed and power, but localised on one spot, causing Luna's guard to slowly wear down, until it collapsed entirely, with Luna's swords shattering before Kingbreaker - their fragments clattering to the floor. Fortunately for the corrupted alicorn, she was not limited to one means of defence and struck out with her magic, throwing Penumbra back once again.

"I shall remake everything," Penumbra said, "in my image. I shall be a goddess."

She flew up, striking down at Luna, using the power of gravity to aid her attack. Luna's body was, luckily, flexible, and able to contort so she could again face Penumbra head on, guarding against her strike and placing her ideally to, once again, repel her.

"All that I must do is kill," Penumbra - or whatever was no dragging her body about like a puppet - said, a little too happily, "kill and kill until I can kill no more."

She dashed forwards, aiming squarely for Luna's centre of mass, just as she had done Chrysalis. When the corrupted alicorn inevitably dodged, she sent a wall of magic directly into her head, knocking her backwards. Penumbra stabbed her sword into the ground and spun about it, changing her trajectory until she was directly facing Luna, who lay concussed on the ground.

"And I shall enjoy every second of it, starting with you!"

She dashed forwards again, Kingbreaker practically ablaze with energy, lightning arcing off of its blade. Luna groaned on the ground, there was no way she could defend herself. This would be even easier than Chrysalis, and she hadn't even conceded a hit!

She was stopped in her tracks by a sudden sting, like that of a small wasp. Followed by another, then another. She quickly found their source: Rarity's pistol. To give the unicorn credit, she knew full well her weapon was useless, yet used it anyway, it did little more than singe Penumbra's coat. She kept firing and Penumbra broke out into raucous laughter, which to her ears sounded natural and triumphant, but to others was a guttural shriek.

"No," she said, voice beginning to change in her ears, from her own to something mutated, something somehow wrong, "we'll start with you."

She launched forwards, Kingbreaker arcing up across Rarity's torso. The unicorn's jaw quivered for a moment, before her two halves separated, falling to the ground with a thud. The unicorn's final expression was not one of shock, or even horror, rather of a grim, determined acceptance, like Luna's had been before their fight had begun. She had died to save her allies time, even if only a few seconds, and it had been enough.

Penumbra first viewed the fleeing Changelings, who were down to only the Chrysalis-like morphs and a handful of drones, who were boarding a dropship with engines already running. She then turned, to view the two halves of Rarity's body, only to force her eyes away.

Her eyes, however, refused to move.

She choked on a sob; as she lifted Kingbreaker on high and laughed in triumph.

A sudden pain tightened her whole body and she froze; as she walked slowly towards Luna's groaning form.

The weight of her actions suddenly hit her; as she turned Kingbreaker's blade down towards Luna's heart.

She cried out in grief; as the sword flew down.

She begged for forgiveness from the Emperor; as the sword struck Luna's heart.

"What could have been," a voice thundered all around her, an unmistakable voice, "what might yet be."

"Please," Penumbra, partially separated from her body, begged, "forgive me. Please, forgive me."

"Forgiveness is something that must be earned."

Penumbra sobbed, "I beg of you," her voice trembled with every syllable, "spare me this!"

Her surroundings faded away to darkness, with her body falling away entirely, replaced by an unanchored spirit. She fell backwards onto the cold, hard ground, though it was stone rather than metal, stretching out for miles behind her. She dared not turn around, for she knew what was behind her.

"My mercy," the voice said, "is earned. Face me."

Penumbra trembled as she slowly turned, coming face to face with Emperor Nicholas once again. Rather, this was not Emperor Nicholas, because here, in the world that fed off of Penumbra's fear, he was far more than mortal, far more than natural. 

Before her was his true form.

"Your betrayal," Nicholas, The Everlasting, body the size of a mountain, bellowed, "is beyond any I have ever experienced." Only his head, arms, shoulders and wings were visible, as he held himself aloft with nothing more than will. His chitinous flesh was dark purple, far removed from its original reddish-brown, and his armour bone white, with his wings purple and translucent, like ghostly wisps, folded onto his back. "I have killed for far less," he said, voice so loud as to almost deafen her, "but I know your mind, Penumbra. I know your soul. The nature within you that was unleashed today can be contained and properly harnessed. Besides, you have no hope of ever killing me."

He brought forth Kingbreaker, which still glowed with energy, before melting it into a puddle right in front of her, several droplets striking her flesh and burning her skin. "I am the Shatterer of Stars. I have razed a billion worlds and ended countless species. I have consumed all hope. The death of your friends was no accident, they had been planned since the very beginning. I have waited millennia for this, studied every aspect of this future that is to come. If you think their deaths mattered, you would be correct. But, you would be wrong if you think they were avoidable, or that I would risk jeopardising everything to save them. I burned your world to ash, your species matters not to me."

Penumbra did not even have the energy left to sob, the presence of the Everlasting alone seemed to slowly drain her of her life. All she could manage was a small nod, but it sufficed.

"I am cruelty," the Everlasting said, "but I am kindness also. I have rebuilt your friend Rainbow Dash."

Hearing her name made Penumbra's life seem to return slightly. "But what about Luna, Rarity or...?" Was all she could manage before it began to seep out again.

The Everlasting bellowed out a laugh, which nearly knocked Penumbra backwards. 

"Did you really think I would let you do what you just did in the real world? You have much to learn, child. The moment my soul left the mortal world, yours followed."

With those final worlds, everything went white.

When Penumbra awoke she was greeted by a mass of Changelings, with their Queen looming over her. Her eyes felt raw, as did much of her face, no doubt a result of a long period of sobbing. Truth be told, she had no real idea where she was, though she hoped it was not one of Nicholas' illusions again.

"Try and stand," Chrysalis said, grabbing her by the left foreleg, with another Changeling grabbing her right, "we can't do all of the work here."

She slowly regained her footing, enough that she could stand without assistance, though her legs wobbled a little. Chrysalis and the other Changeling - a similar morph to her - let go, taking a step back to give her room to breathe. The corrupted alicorn took in air like a vacuum, enough for the edges of her legs to begin to feel fuzzy.

"Formia," Chrysalis said to the other Changeling who had helped Penumbra up, "take Penumbra to the hangar, there is a transport waiting to take her to Cradle. Accompany her to the surface, I must speak to our master."

The Changeling morph nodded and beckoned for Penumbra to follow. The wall of Changelings around them parted, leaving an open and partially lit corridor that led straight to the hangar. At first, Formia seemed to mostly ignore her, until she tilted her head and began what seemed to be appraisal. After about a minute of this, she gave a satisfied nod to herself and began to speak, voice identical to how it was in the illusion, "we forgive you," she said, simply.

Penumbra felt something welling in her eyes, she knew full well what the Changeling meant. She also knew that they all knew, though some small part of her had been vainly clinging to the hope that they would not. "Thank you," she said, quietly, "I don't deserve it."

Formia laughed musically. "Emperor Nicholas believes you do, as does Queen Chrysalis. If they say you deserve forgiveness, then you do."

Penumbra couldn't quite describe how glad she was to hear that, but let the feeling wash over her and cleanse her mind and soul of all the doubt it had carried. The two walked in silence for a moment, before Penumbra felt happy enough to ask another question, "if you don't mind me asking, what are you? Well, not what are you, but, erm," she stuttered, though Formia seemed to know what she meant.

The Changeling laughed again. "I'm a Changeling Princess, a young Queen, if you will. Don't worry about your wording, either, most ponies I've met didn't take the verbal option, I'm honestly just glad you have."

Other ponies? Penumbra thought, she'd met other ponies? How many? Where?

Formia smiled at her. "I hadn't met any before the Exodus, then I met a few on New Horizons. Queen Chrysalis had tried to establish friendly relations and thought that sending me wouldn't cause the same hostility as sending herself, but, sadly, she was wrong. As for your other questions, there were about a hundred there." She chuckled. "Would've died if not for Imperial intervention. I owe my life to the Imperial Overwatch." She chuckled again. "As do about thirty other Changelings." She paused a moment, looking at her feet as she went. "I'm glad you're a kind one at heart," her voice was more hushed and serious now, "when Chrysalis told us about what she'd been through." Formia paused for a moment, shuddering slightly. "I'd been scared all ponies hated us. If it wasn't for Kyhron, we might all be dead."

They arrived in the hangar, where various uniformed Changelings buzzed about ships, following the instructions of various Imperial engineers. Some seemed more adept than others.

"Isk ti'k ta! Te eshna mas te," a Zelian yelled at a Changeling, who had somehow lodged their tool and half of their body into an engine port, whilst a pair of their fellows tried to pull them out.

Just across from the swearing Zelian, a group of thirty or so Changelings formed a semicircle around an Imperial officer, who had a holographic display of what appeared to be a tank rolling over flat terrain. Each of the Changelings was wearing a grey pilotka, whilst the officer was in a grey, epauletted uniform with a silver lanyard on their left shoulder, "whatever you do," she said, "don't charge a tank, unless you are certain its guns can't get you, or you're out of options. The moment you're in line of sight of their MGs, you're shredded. Better yet, don't fight tanks at all. If your mission goes haywire and you end up fighting a tank, call the AT troops, stick to infiltrating."

A Changeling almost identical in appearance to Formia stood near the dropship they were heading towards. Unlike Formia, she was wearing a full Imperial officer's uniform, cut exactly to her standard, with gold epaulettes and a peaked cap with a gold badge and gold hat braid. She held a datapad in one foot and was talking to a Fusilier standing at attention next to her.

"You'd think," she said, rather casually, "I'd be given numbers. He wants troops, how many? Won't say. He wants ships, how many? Won't say. I may be newly promoted but I'm not new to the job...Oh, Formia, hello." She passed the datapad to the Fusilier and held out her foot to shake. "Queen Chrysalis told me you'd be coming. And this is Penumbra." She pointed to the corrupted alicorn, who just nodded blankly. "Wonderful. Well, let's get going, don't want to waste time."

Penumbra was so awestruck at how well the Changelings had integrated she had to be hauled aboard by the Fusilier, who strapped her into her chair then returned to the other Princess' side, taking a seat themself. The Changelings weren't just working with the Empire, but they were becoming engineers, soldiers, even commanders. The rate of their assimilation was incredible and far in contrast to the ponies, who were apparently having to be stopped from murdering Changelings in cold blood by Imperial forces, and whose only presence in the military had been her and her closest friends.

The unidentified Changeling Princess laughed. "We Changelings are masters of adaptation," she said, whilst giving the pilot the nod to take off, "and, with the help of the Empire, we've adapted well to our new life. Several of our sisters have already begun hives on other worlds, with the assistance of Imperial forces." Her face suddenly lit up. "Oh, Formia, I should tell you about Mothia's new hive: apparently she managed to sweet talk an Imperial Commander into living on planet with her! It's really..." She paused a moment, looking at the Fusilier next to her. "I'll tell you the rest later. Anyways." She turned to Penumbra. "I'm Exa, Major Exa, of the Imperial Combined Arms Ground Forces Changeling Corps." She gave a mock salute. "We're only small, admittedly, but we'll grow with time."

"How many do you have?"

"Three hundred," she said, "three hundred trained servicedrones. Queen Chrysalis is already supplying us with new recruits, so we'll have much higher numbers in no time!" Exa seemed genuinely pleased, which, Penumbra supposed, she had every right to be. For a race that was so new, they were making ahead in leaps and bounds.

"We sure are!" The Changeling Major beamed. "I was thinking of asking mother to request Emperor Nicholas come and inspect the troops, maybe that would inspire more Changelings to join us."

Before she could continue further, the pilot came over the intercom, "we're one minute out."

The Fusilier next to her turned. "Sir, the general has ordered us back to the Sin of Damnation as soon as we're able."

Exa seemed almost disappointed for a moment. "Ah well," she said, smiling again, "it was nice meeting you, Penumbra."

When the dropship landed, Formia and Penumbra filed out quickly, with the Changeling Princess waving off her sister before continuing her escort. They entered what appeared to be a medical facility, at least by the various red medic runes that lay around it, though the heavy guard it was under made Penumbra suspicious as to its true intentions.

"Formia," the Changeling said to the guard, "and Sunless-Halo-of-Penumbra, here to see Emperor Nicholas' project."

The Fusilier nodded and tapped a code into a pad next to the door, opening it. "Take the door to the right, then the first left, there'll be a Fusilier waiting for you."

Sure enough, on the first left from the right side door, a Fusilier, wearing a dark red half-skirt, waved them over. The Fusilier turned and entered a code into the door panel, then spoke into it, "Formia and Sunless-Halo-of-Penumbra." The Fusilier waited for a second, stepping back, before hearing the click of the door unlocking and parting it for the two guests. "They're inside," they said, before closing the door behind them.

The room appeared to be an observatory, looking out over an operating theatre containing an empty bed, deactivated lamp and nothing else. A pair of coated doctors stood by the far wall, whilst six PHALANXs sat on a set of benches near to them.

"Everyone's here now, doc," one of the PHALANXs said, "let's get a move on."

"Yeah," another chimed in, "I don't wanna wait any longer."

One of the doctors sighed, before straightening his tie and stepping forwards. "Welcome, Princess Formia and Sunless-Halo-of-Penumbra." He gave a formal bow. "Emperor Nicholas informed us you were coming. Please, take a seat, she is just about to arrive." He gestured towards an empty bench, slightly adapted for four-legged sitting, which the two sat on and waited, various questions running through Penumbra's mind.

Two minutes past, though it felt like far longer, before an unseen door in the wall opposite them opened, revealing another pair of doctors, followed by a pair of medical Fusiliers, then a pair of Zelian shocktroopers, then finally by what appeared to be a pony armoured similarly to the PHALANXs next to them.

One of the PHALANXs, with a skull for a face, rose, walking slowly towards the pony. He crouched on one knee in front of them, before placing an armoured hand on their shoulder and nodding. "Good job, kid."

Suddenly, an uproar came from the still sitting PHALANXs, who quickly rose, applauded and whooped like some miracle had occurred. They practically swarmed the red and grey armoured pony, who likely responded to their attentions, though the racket made Penumbra unable to hear them. Eventually, they pushed their way through the PHALANX squad and over to Penumbra and Formia.

"You know," a female voice came from the pony's helmet, "when they said you'd changed, I thought they'd meant like mentally." The voice became more familiar, but remained just out of Penumbra's reach. "But, hey, you look way cooler."

Rainbow Dash?

Penumbra stuttered, trying hard to keep herself from crying. "Rainbow?"

The pegasus laughed. "Yep."

Penumbra swept her up into an embrace, sobbing like a child the moment she did so. "Rainbow!" She yelled, in between bouts of sobs, "you're still here!"

"Yeah," the pegasus said, sounding almost winded, "of course I am, why wouldn't I be?"

Penumbra pulled back, realising that Rainbow had no idea about what had happened to Applejack. "Oh." Her jaw trembled, though she managed to hold back the tears, for there were no more to give. "Applejack." She paused again. "Applejack and Fluttershy are gone, Rainbow."

The armoured pegasus was silent for a moment. "Figured," was all she said.

Penumbra sank into the floor, still clutching the now significantly larger Rainbow Dash. "It was all just so fast," she moaned, "all just so fast."

Their reconciliation lasted for the better part of an hour, with Rainbow Dash introducing the PHALANX Red Team to Penumbra, and Penumbra introducing Formia and her new form to Rainbow, who took it all very well. The PHALANX pony had been surprisingly receptive to the idea of Changeling soldiers, and even congratulated them on how well they had worked with the Empire, unlike - as she so eloquently put it - "the thick-skulled, rock-smashing, dirt-worshipping, fuck-head ponies." When questioned by Penumbra on what had happened to her, she had waved off the question, "it's better you don't know," she said, "trust me," then laughed heartily - so it couldn't have been that bad.

A previously unseen rune on Formia's horn glowed orange for a moment, making her eyes go vacant, before it vanished again and Formia seemed to return to the room. "We've been summoned," she said, "to the Sin of Damnation. Emperor Nicholas says he wants to see us, and it's urgent."

Saying their farewells and thank yous, the now trio left, emerging to the dimming mid afternoon. The sky had previously been relatively idle: the odd ship dotted about, with the Sin of Damnation the largest thing in the sky by far. Now, however, it was completely packed: millions of vessels of all different classes filled the skies, from the relatively ubiquitous frigates and cruisers; to battleships and carriers; to massive, outwardly rocky spheres, that almost looked like moons.

A dropship was already waiting for them, though it was far more ornate than the others they had seen, with a pair of guards waiting at the bottom of its ramp. The two guards were similarly different: female, blue skinned, wearing black boots and a black, skin tight bodysuit, complete with two large pauldrons, one with a purple stripe along its arc, a utility belt attached to a torso harness containing four pouches of equal size with a dark purple mark hanging off it, bearing a stylised Imperial insignia. Their helmets covered almost their entire heads, save an opening just below their eyes, which terminated again just above their mouth, going from cheekbone to cheekbone. Both held a long rifle almost as tall as they were, painted with various decorations similar to those displayed on the dropship.

Another four identical guards were inside, though one held a submachine gun, two held longswords and the final held a large bow. As the ponies and Changeling filed on to the ship, the guards at the bottom of the ramp followed up behind, and another guard stepped out from the cockpit, submachine gun slung over her torso.

"Take a seat," she said, "we're on the clock."

The moment they were seated, the dropship was airborne, with Formia especially not having the time to settle into a proper seat. The Changeling swore under her breath, eliciting a laugh from Rainbow, which buzzed awkwardly through her helmet's microphone - evidently it hadn't been designed with laughter in mind.

"Got a message from command," one of the guards shouted, "land in Hangar four, we'll have Changeling tag-alongs for this one."

"Copy that," another, presumably the pilot, though it was impossible to know for sure, shouted back.

Only a few seconds later, the dropship was suddenly filled with the background din of work, with the slight thud of touchdown quickly following. No sooner had they landed, and the ramp opened, that they were greeted by Emperor Nicholas, with two companies or so worth of Changelings in specially adapted, helmetless, Fusilier armour - a beaming Major Exa at the lead. The guards allowed the ponies and Changeling to leave first, before they filed off and stood at attention before the Emperor.

"Good, good," Nicholas said, "you are all here. This is a matter of some urgency, my plans have been expedited far beyond their original paths. Penumbra, I require you to lead a force to the Iridinus system, in order to meet with the Imperial Loyalists. They are vital to my plans, though I am required elsewhere so cannot personally perform the task. Bear my sigil and the Loyalists will allow you safe access to my flagship, there I want you to direct its commanders towards the Talon system, where myself and other forces shall be waiting. Fusilier-Major Exa, you are to deploy your forces to Talon III Secundus, in order to secure a reliquary there - the relics within must not be allowed to fall into enemy hands, destroy them if necessary. Praetorian Li, you shall deploy your forces to Talon III Tertius, in order to secure a similar reliquary. If all goes to plan, Penumbra and the Loyalists should arrive in the Talon system exactly three days from now, and we shall all have achieved our objectives."

He paused and looked about the group, awaiting questions, before nodding and continuing at the silence. "Penumbra, you may take whoever you need aside from Luna and Rarity, they already have a mission elsewhere. The rest of you, gather together and prepare for my signal, the Sin of Damnation shall be coming with us. Go."