Legio IX Hispania (27)

Lyra was no expert in war. There was little she could offer to the discussion of their siege, no secret historical mysteries she could solve or questions for her to answer. Mostly, she was there to watch and listen, and only occasionally offer Stalwart information about the limits of pony ability.

Eventually, the conversation was complete, and they had many pages of notes about the strategy. It would involve the train, explosives, and a little good luck. Any plan they attempted ultimately hinged on the Queen not making an appearance. If she did, none of them would be escaping with their lives.

Starlight shuffled through the notes they'd scribbled on several sheets of paper, levitating them into a little semicircle around her. "This plan is..."

"Stupid?" Octavia said for her, from a few feet away. "If we try this, and we fail, that's it. There's no more underground, no more hope that we'll ever live to see a world that isn't ruled by monsters. If we fail, it becomes absolute."

Stalwart faced her. Even somewhat shriveled by starvation, the stallion exuded confidence. "That kind of thinking is precisely what trapped you and your nation in this unenviable position in the first place. You were not willing to sufficiently engage with the enemy. They risked more than you did, so they fought harder than you did.

"Imagine how it will be when we arrive. Every brave man who takes up the sword will know that he must conquer or die. There can be no withdrawal, no retreat, or annihilation will be the only outcome. Our enemies, meanwhile, will see this as just another post. They can always retreat, serve somewhere else. But for us, this is the salvation of a nation.”

"Assuming... we can get in there, and somehow break the mirrors. Assuming we can walk out again with Princess Luna, what then?" She gestured vaguely around the train. "There are a few dozen other ponies out there, in cells like this. None of us are strong enough to keep the princess safe. And Queen Chrysalis will be hunting her down. Some spells may hide her for a short time, but not long enough for her to recover her strength. If the queen finds her, she will be put back into prison."

Stalwart seemed to be waiting for that. He turned to the side, where Thorax now cowered in a corner. He had been listening through the whole conversation, of course. But unless Stalwart talked to him, he kept still.

"My brother here will deliver a message for us, and in doing so, he will secure a place for the princess to recover."

"I will?" Thorax looked up, eyes widening with surprise and shock. "I don't think I'm as good a spy as you are, Stalwart. There's a reason I was working on the border watching caravans. My queen doesn't... care for me very much."

He waved one hoof dismissively. "Not a spy at all, Thorax. I require you as a messenger. Your abilities let you fly, yes? You were a cat while you recovered from your wounds. I wonder if you might instead be a bird for me, something fast to carry a scroll I will write. Not one of those horses with wings, a true bird, to fly high and without notice."

"I... could do that," Thorax said. "I have been many birds. I watched Equestria that way, before the invasion, and before our queen rose to her position. I still remember how."

"A scroll," Starlight said flatly. "What scroll could you possibly send that could keep the princess safe, if she escapes?"

"One not written to a pony at all," he said. "I don't know what this queen is, but I know my Legatus. There is no foe he cannot conquer. Caesar Augustus himself would have been pleased with his service, if he still lived."

Starlight levitated a few more pieces of paper over, along with a fresh pen. Despite being initially unhappy with the writing implement, Stalwart now worked it in his magic as confidently as he had the sword.

"Even if they are still living, and still free—this will invite attack against these newcomer ponies you represent. Queen Chrysalis will bring an army of bugs, maybe all the way into Tirek's territory. She'll fight to get her back."

"And she will die," Stalwart said flatly. "By Lyra's hand, or a legionary's, I don't know. But she will still die. No hand that raises a weapon against Rome will prosper. So it was with Galli, so it was with the Graeci, and  Britanni. All are subjects now, just as this queen will be."

Lyra watched Stalwart write his letter, or she tried. There were words of a sort, though nothing like any she had ever learned. His written language was just as strange as the spoken.

Finally, he finished, turning it towards them to see. Starlight stared at it, expression utterly blank. "I guess I'm supposed to know what that says?"

"You're supposed to trust that I know," Stalwart said. "It is a request to my Legatus, asking for permission to send the required princess. It describes her value to Equestria, and the danger her power will pose if she is kept here. It warns of an attack from a magical enemy if we grant her asylum."

Starlight lowered her voice, whispering towards him. The words weren't meant for Lyra, but she was also right next to him. It was Thorax who was too far away, or so they probably wanted to think. Lyra didn't actually know how strong their senses really were. But if they'd developed purely to feed on the magic of others, their senses were probably pretty good.

"How will you know if the reply is really from your allies? I worry about a changeling... intercepting the message."

"They will not." He set his pen down, glaring back. "Thorax will not allow himself to be caught. He will fly straight and quickly, returning with their reply before we begin our mission."

"I will!" Thorax made his way over, spreading both wings on his back. "If Stalwart thinks I can do it, I mean. I've never had a pony believe in me before."

"I don't think you can, I know you can." Stalwart twisted up the scroll in another clean sheet, then bound it with twine. "I will tell you where to fly. Then you return to us with their answer. We will wait for it before charging into this fortress."

There was more deliberation to be done—the ponies wondered whether to trust Thorax, and they obviously weren't excited about the risks required for Stalwart's plan.

But when the alternative was lifetimes of further enslavement, even Octavia eventually agreed.

"Bring the reply back to us on this train," Starlight said, when they had finally finished that discussion. "We will be further to the north by then. Look for the symbol on the roof.

Thorax saluted. Not Starlight—his attention was all for Stalwart. "I'll fly all night, until I reach the place you told me."

"Wherever they are, look for the purple tent," Stalwart finished. "If you stay a bird, you should be safe to approach. If you take another form, give the message to his honor-guard instead. They have the purple uniforms. Stay close while he reads the letter, it tells him he can send the reply back with you."

Thorax changed. Lyra had seen changelings do that enough times by now that she was no longer frightened by it. Even so, the eagle was one of the largest and most imposing winged forms she'd seen in the animal kingdom. He was large enough to reach his wings from one side of the car to the other, with a sharp beak and wickedly curved claws.

"Like this? Like this?"

Stalwart brought the message over. Starlight had helped him wrap it tight, and cover it with a layer of wax that would insulate it through the trip from moisture and other damage. It would still need to reach the legion to do them any good, of course.

"Just like that. I'm going to tie this under your leg, that's where they'll expect a message. If you need to copy one of their forms, do not attempt to deceive them. Give the Legatus no cause to doubt your message, and that scroll will be its own advocate."

A few minutes later, and the bug was vanishing into the early morning sky. Brown wings faded into the sun, leaving Lyra and Stalwart walking alone beside the car.

"You trust him?" Lyra asked, after the bird had vanished completely from view. "Flying away like that... he knows everything. If he wanted to bring our plan to the queen, we couldn't stop him."

Stalwart nodded confidently. "When I was a prisoner, he could have abandoned me many times. I did not watch him then, and I will not watch him now." He hopped back into the open train door, holding out one hoof to help Lyra to follow.

She did, clambering up onto the car. Starlight was already waiting on the inside, levitating the door gently closed again.

Out here in the wilderness there were no visible signs of bugs, or anything else for that matter. That didn't mean they would keep the doors open and just wait for discovery.

"It will take time to gather ponies together for this," Starlight said. "We've thought about a way to rescue the princess for a long time now—years. But keeping changelings from finding us meant never uniting in one place. We had to be exceptionally cautious to survive this long. We have to contact each cell, make sure they haven't been compromised by changelings, then arrange to have everypony moved into position. It will take weeks."

Stalwart settled onto his haunches on the train floor, shrugging one shoulder. "So long as there's food in the meantime. Even for a horse, I've become... rather dilapidated. My parents wouldn't buy a beast with my appearance even for a slave to ride."

Ponies stared at him, expressions fluctuating through several flavors of discomfort and confusion. It was Octavia who broke the awkward silence first. "For a pony who speaks the same language, I find myself increasingly confused with every word, Stalwart Hope. I hope for Equestria's sake you realize what you've just done. If we fail, you will suffer and die along with everypony else."

Stalwart met her eyes, with more of that characteristic confidence. "The Ninth has fought and won against greater odds than these. Many years from now, when Equestria is a wealthy and safe province of Rome, and the first of your kind joins the Senate, you will only wish that it had happened sooner. You'll see."

They did not see that future right away—but they did see something else. About a week later, and they heard the sound of sharp talons rattling on the ceiling. Something scraped its way down the side, then rapped one hoof up against the wood there.

The ponies in their train had changed in that time. Starlight remained, but Octavia and the others had both been replaced by bat ponies, who spent the nights relaying messages to other cells and slept during the day. There was another unicorn, apparently sent to join them during their push into the cell of mirrors.

Lyra wasn't sure what good a former magician and performer would do to break an illusion spell trapping a princess's mind. But any extra horn was a little less pressure on Lyra herself.

Sometimes they got messages in return, sent by other winged ponies. But none of those spoke with Thorax's voice in the night. "Uh... Stalwart? Everyone? I hope this is the right train..."

Starlight settled into the doorway. "The Night Princess asks, where am I?"

"Through the mirror. Break the glass!" Thorax said. "Now open up! I think you want to hear what happened."