Chapter 18

Golden Wind wanted to get a few private minutes with Starlight Glimmer. He still didn’t know where he stood with the mare—whether their night together was a product of stress, or if it reflected some deeper feelings she might share.

But as so many times before, Golden Wind’s personal desires had to bow to the urgency of their rebellion. Rainbow Dash and Rarity met them on the steps, and soon he was together with the rebellion’s leaders in the castle’s largest meeting room.

Each took a cushion around a large table, which held an oversized map of Equestria. At least his contributions were getting noticed—instead of shoving him to the back of the room, Golden Wind was sat in the chair next to Starlight.

There was some discussion about what had happened, beginning with the security team in San Palomino, and ending with their eventual escape. Starlight answered most of it, though occasionally someone asked Golden to make additions, or whether he’d noticed anything that Starlight had missed.

Starswirl himself did not join the discussion, instead opting to go with the other unicorns and improve the castle’s defenses.

“I don’t like how fast they got there,” said Sky Beak, after they had finished recounting the story. “That would imply that the Stormwatch recognized you, despite your disguises, and thought it urgent enough to call the Storm King’s enforcer.”

“It could’ve been a trap,” Pinkie Pie said. “I mean, I don’t know it was a trap. But if we found out Starswirl was there… maybe they knew too. If I was gonna throw a surprise party, I might leave some obvious signs for ponies to see… but that would make them think the wrong thing—like leaving out tickets for the petting zoo when we’re actually going to the beach!”

“Pinkie, that doesn’t make any sense,” Rainbow said. “What kind of surprise party happens at the beach?”

“Don’t answer that, dear,” Rarity said, raising her voice over them both. “We don’t doubt your expertise on the matter. Perhaps they were waiting for this moment, or had some other way of determining the identity of our spies. Starlight, have you had the opportunity to evaluate Starswirl’s counterspell?”

Starlight stood, setting several scrolls they had carried onto the table. “Not yet. We will want to test with some samples of the crystal. But if Starswirl says it works, then I’m sure it will. I just need a few weeks to practice and memorize the spell…”

“We don’t have a few weeks,” Rainbow said. “Even with a working counterspell, we can’t fight the Storm King, not without all four princesses. Our spies in the palace confirmed that he’s expected back from the Dragonlands by next week.”

She reached across the table, pushing the notebooks closer to Starlight Glimmer. “You have three days.”

Starlight whimpered. She reached sideways to Golden Wind, touching one hoof against his side. Then she stood on unsteady legs. “Well then. I won’t have time to do anything else. And if I can’t get it working before then, we’ll have to call it off.”

“You can do it,” Golden Wind said. “If anyone can cast that spell, it’s you.”

“We’ve been preparin’ for this for months now,” Applejack said. “Ain’t no tellin’ when we’ll get a better chance. Can’t hide in this old castle forever. Sooner or later, there won’t be nopony left to save.”

“Three days.” Starlight tucked the notebooks under one leg. “Well then. I’ll… get to it. Try to minimize distractions in my lab until then? Golden Wind can take care of any messages.” And just like that, she was gone, vanishing out the door and down the hall. No sooner had it shut behind her, than Rarity broke into a gallop, obviously panicked.

“She wants you to carry messages for her?” the unicorn asked. “Strange choice. Can you manage a few extra duties, Golden Wind? We will still need you to help coordinate the attack. Even a perfect counterspell will do us no good if we cannot slip past the Storm King’s ogres.”

He shrugged one wing. “No problem. I’ll be there for whatever Starlight needs. I’m sure my teammates are eager for your rebellion to win, so they can go home.”

“Right. Everypony, listen up.” Rainbow set a heavy roll of paper onto the table, covering the map of Equestria. This one showed a city map, one arranged in sloped terraces along a mountain. It also included a section for a single building near the top—a castle, far larger and better protected than the one they were using as their shelter.

“I’m going to leave it to you to instruct your own ponies about this plan. It’s very important that each of you only shares the details they need to know—nothing about what the other teams are doing.”

“Compartmentalization,” Sky Beak said, nodding his approval. “Each of you is a team leader, and will need to coordinate with the other teams. Make sure your team knows exactly what you’ll be doing, and nothing else. That way, if some of us are captured along the way, they won’t be able to reveal enough to ruin the whole plan.”

“Our attack has to do three things,” Rainbow continued. “Get into the castle, overpower the guards, and reach the gallery. After that… we’ll have four Alicorns. Getting out should be easy. This isn’t a raid like anything else we’ve done. The rebellion is committing every resource, every pair of willing hooves. Either we win, or we’re destroyed—we can hold nothing back.”

Golden Wind listened as the ponies explained their plan. The first stage wasn’t his to worry about—they had already bribed the officials at the Ponyville train station to ignore an unmarked train passing through town. They would arrive near midnight in Canterlot, where contacts in the city would help smuggle them through the sewers under the palace walls.

Various teams had their own roles during that time—Fluttershy would free the animals of the city zoo for example, distracting police resources. Pegasus raiders would bring a devastating thunderstorm to the city right as the attack began, covering the sounds of violence and flooding enemy gunpowder into a useless paste.

He did his best to remember what the others were doing, at least at an abstract level. When this plan inevitably fell apart, he expected to be the one to fill the gap.

He would not be placed with the Pegasi, as exciting as gathering a thunderstorm and using it as a weapon sounded. No—he hadn’t learned weather magic yet. But what he did know would be just as useful.

“We will have other unicorns try to learn the counterspell,” Rarity said, after a few hours of careful planning. “Ultimately, I do not expect any but Starlight Glimmer to be successful. She is a powerful sorceress in her own right, but cannot invoke those powers during the attack. She must maintain her strength, if she is to have any hope of freeing the Alicorns.”

“That’s where Golden Wind comes in.” Rainbow gestured at him. “The warriors from beyond will all be part of Starlight’s team. They’re her personal bodyguards through Canterlot and into the sewers. Others clear the way in, you just make sure nopony gets close enough to touch her.”

He looked around at the rest of the room, judging their reactions. Nopony seemed to think he was getting an easy job.

“That’s it?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “I’m not complaining, don’t get me wrong. But you ponies made such a big deal out of how important it was to kidnap us, and how strong we were. Sounds like I won’t have to throw a punch!”

Rainbow laughed nervously. “Yeah. Hopefully. But nopony knows what kind of defenses the Storm King has in his gallery. It’s not just the princesses in there—that’s where he keeps all of his valuables. He might have elite mercenaries, golems, maybe even a dragon!”

“Or maybe nothing,” Pinkie said. “That would be really nice. Walk in, say a few hellos, maybe throw a couple pies, and you’re out with the princesses!”

“It’s the most critical assignment of all,” Sky Beak declared. “It should not feel as though we’re neglecting a valuable resource. You are the linchpin of this operation. Starlight Glimmer must be protected long enough to free the alicorns. If you fail, it does not matter how well the rest of us do—we all lose.”

That silenced him. Maybe when he looked at the plan from that angle, Golden felt a little more pressure. Besides, he couldn’t think of a mission he would rather have than protecting Starlight. If anypony else let her get hurt, he’d never forgive them. This way, he could ensure nothing happened. “We’ll have gear?”

“We have a few sets of royal armor,” Rainbow said. “But you won’t be able to wear it until we get into the sewer. Can’t let them realize they’re under attack until it’s already waaay too late to do anything about it.”

There were other preparations to make, of course. Each team had a few contingencies, alternate routes, and ponies to ask for help if things went wrong. His own team had far fewer of those to learn, and given Starlight’s importance, nothing would pull them away from her, even total failure across the rest of the plan.

In that case, a failure called “Code Monarch” was the only one he had to learn. In that grim scenario, his team would have to press into the castle alone, taking a secret route no other team would even learn. If everything came apart, and their failure seemed certain, Golden Wind would be the last pony between the end of Equestria and his teammates never getting to see their home again.

“I’ll do it,” he said, when they’d finished explaining everything to him. “On one condition.”

“If you’re asking for more gold…” Rainbow said, “you don’t have to ask, Equestria will pay whatever you want when this is over. More than six stallions could ever spend.”

He waved his wings dismissively. His teammates would still want their reward from all this, he had no doubt. But asking for money now felt incredibly crass. More importantly, Golden Wind no longer cared about the money. “Call it ‘Code Hail Mary’,” he said. “If we have to use it, we’ll need a few.”

“I have no idea what that means,” Rarity said. “But fine.” She scratched a few things with her pen. “Code Hail Mary. Celestia grant we won’t have to use it.”

A few grueling hours later, and he finally made his way out of the meeting hall. Half the rebellion packed into the hall outside, barely leaving enough room to squeeze through them all. They kept a respectful distance from the door—at least until it opened, and all swarmed in close.

The hall erupted with questions. All were variations of the same thing—ponies wanted to know when the big attack was coming, and what their roles would be.

Fortunately, most of that pressure wasn’t for him—not until he made it to the back, where his fellow former humans gathered near the door. “Phil, you were in there…” Danny said. “What’s the plan? Big mission coming?”

“Big mission,” he agreed. “The last mission, if we do it right. We win this thing, and you can go home. Occupation over.”

“You mean we can go home,” Carlos said, just a little too loudly. “Not going native on us, are ya, ‘Golden Wind’?”

He shrugged his wings. “Have to live through this before we get to make that call.” He straightened, glowering at the others to silence them. Only when he was sure they wouldn’t interrupt, did he continue. “Be outside at sunrise for the next two days. I’ll go over the plan, and we can practice fighting in armor.”

“Fighting,” Carlos repeated. “Dunno about you, but we didn’t transform into soldiers. What did you sign us up for?”

“Hopefully no combat at all,” he said. “We’re holding back through most of it. When we get the signal, we go in together, and make sure our asset reaches the target. Should be easy.”

“If it means going home…” Danny finally said. “I’ll do it. I’m sure the others will too. But the ponies better make good on their promise when this is over. They’re lucky we’re helping at all.”

“Let me worry about that,” Golden said, without a second’s hesitation. “You all worry about winning this. Afterwards, I’ll make sure you get what’s due.”