"You are a genius, Spike." Twilight turned in place. "But this may be beyond Starlight's abilities."
"Is somepony challenging me?" Starlight appeared, Bon Bon next to her. "What's up?" Bon Bon sagged against her. "Woah, you alright?"
"Just a little winded." Bon Bon sank to the ground, her eyes on the show above them. "We can't stop now."
"I can't stop now." Starlight pointed at herself. "You are an expecting mom, you get to sit down and do exactly that. Let us keep up the fight." She turned to Twilight. "Seriously, what's going on?"
Spike pointed past Starlight, to the remaining church ship. "You can copy human stuff, how about a whole ship?"
Twilight chuckled under her breath. "That's the size of it. If you can't, I understand--"
"On it." She vanished in a flash of her magic.
Twilight blinked at the spot that once held Starlight. "Even if she does succeed, who will pilot it? We don't know how."
Spike clapped his hands. "I know exactly who's ready to do that." And off he went, running down the stairs two at a time in a dangerous gambit of almost free fall. "Laud!" he shouted as he went, calling for his mentor who once was a pilot.
That left Twilight to sink beside Bon Bon. "I'm still here," she counseled, providing the fatigued mare with company at least.
"We'll not be having a merchant ship outshowing us in valor," came an announcement over the radio as the noises died down. They couldn't see the church ships, the larger ones. The smaller ones that were in view were fighters and they were struggling to fight the immense form of the Hawkwood ship that had just dipped down, serving as their shield. "Appreciate the distraction, but we won't have you reduced to ash for it."
"That's our job," laughed another Hawkwood, joined by a chorus of other fighter pilots as the battle pressed on.
The merchant captain sagged in his seat, still breathing hard from the roller coaster ride he had endured. "Damage report," he demanded, his finger on the intercom button a moment. He glared at the pilot. "You're a damned maniac!"
"That's code for 'thanks for saving us with great piloting'. You're welcome." She fired a great thumbs up, one hand still on the piloting stick. "Keeping our big friendly ally between us and the angry churchies."
"Fire is 60% contained," came a report. "We're working on it. Three maneuvering jets are down, half the guns. It's amazing we haven't broken apart. Hull damage is impossible to assess until the fires are out."
"Roger that." The captain took a slow breath. "You all did good. Focus on damage control. Get me an updated report when you have it."
"That explains why she was feeling sluggish," muttered the pilot, having felt the lack of responsiveness the downed engines were causing. "Good thing the Hawkwoods jumped in or I would have had to get clever."
"Being too clever is already your problem." The captain drummed his fingers on the armrest. "Hopefully we finish patching before our friends get blown apart."
"Laud!" Spike hurried in, almost tripping over Pinkie. "Woah, when'd you get here?"
The pink pony pointed to the green one. "Me and Lyra were comparing notes."
"About the light show," continued Lyra with a little nod, her lyre floating and playing with her glowing horn. "What're you in such a rush for? Laud's right there." She pointed to where Laud was already rising to his feet.
"Do you have news?" he asked, eyes solidly on Spike. "You look like it."
"Yeah." He hopped over Pinkie, no longer surprised at her being there. "Starlight's headed for the church ship. It, uh, may not work, but she's going to try to make another of it."
Laud threw a hand across in front of himself. "You're joking. I have learned to accept much in the way of pony magic, but that seems far fetched even for her!"
"Maybe," allowed Spike with a shrug. "But when she's desperate and things are dire, Starlight and Twilight have a habit of reaching deep inside themselves."
"Oh Oh!" Pinkie hopped to her hooves. "Me too!"
Spike pointed at Pinkie. "It's a, uh, hero thing? Either way, I can't say for sure she won't do it. If she does, she'll need a pilot."
Pinkie began to bounce in place. "I've flown a bunch of times! I can help!"
Laud met Spike's eyes, question unspoken. He shrugged softly. "She isn't lying, but what she flew probably isn't like what you flew."
"Oooo." Pinkie pounced just in front of Spike, peering at him with building wonder. "I get to fly something new? Sign me up!"
Laud tapped the blade at his side. "You understand the intent behind drawing this, do you not?"
Pinkie twirled in place to face Laud and his sword. "Ooo, you chopped things with that, and not in the food kinda way." She inclined her head. "You didn't even eat it."
"It can end lives," he spoke with gravity. "Holding it means your life could be taken as easily. If you join this struggle, you are drawing a blade."
"I'm flying," she corrected. "Almost the same but not quite." She held two hooves together as if the two concepts were quite similar.
Lyra and Spike took a moment to bury their faces in hoof and palm.
"We are fighting, we may not return. Do you understand that? We will struggle, for our lives. We may end the lives of others. This is not a game. If you do not understand that, do not join this." He strode past Pinkie, marching for the exit. "Of course, this all means nothing if Starlight cannot perform a miracle."
Starlight softly knocked on the metal door. "Hello?" she called out with a trailing oh. "Anycreature at home?"
The door opened just enough to allow a guard to step free, holding one of their spears. The door closed as soon as he was through. "Who are you with?" he asked, his collar repeating his words as Starlight had her own.
Starlight reached up to her collar, poking it as if to make sure it was on. "Laud and Spike, you know them, right?"
"Mountbatten?" asked the guard. When Starlight nodded, he returned the favor. "We are aware of him. What does he need?"
Starlight waved a bit broadly at the ship behind the human. "I've come to see if I can make another of these and I was really hoping I could ask you all to come off of it for a moment. It'll be a lot easier to do without things that are not the ship here."
The guard could but stare at Starlight, struggling to comprehend what was being asked. "You... have... the facilities to create a new ship?" he finally asked. "Where?"
She pointed up at her glowing horn. "Right here. It won't hurt the ship, promise." She gave her best smile. "I'm the one that'll be stressed."
"You would use... sorcery, on a divine vessel?" His grip tightened around the shaft of his spear. "Men have died for far less."
"But I'm not one of those," she accurately, if pedantically, noted. "Ask Gregor. We're on the same team." She pointed up at the light show in the sky. "If we want to make it through this, we have to do what we can."
He held up a hand flat towards her. "Wait here, and quell that dubious flame." Her horn ceased glowing. "Good. Remain here." And he tapped his spear back against the door. It slid open, allowing him to flee inside. He was soon at Father Gregor's door, composing himself before he raised a fist, rapping his knuckles against the fake wood. "Father, begging your pardon. I know you are deep in prayer."
"You would not have come, my child, if the need was not dire." The door slid open, revealing the smiling face of Father Gregor. "I would not have my faithful afraid of approaching me. Have you news?"
"Of a fashion." He directed his spear towards where he left the pony. "One of the locals has arrived, claiming they act on the authority of Mountbatten. She would weave sorceries on the ship."
Gregor's brows raised as one. "Would she? I would hear more of this." He strode past the man. "Did she seem angered?"
"Agitated," agreed the guard, walking behind Gregor. "But not angry, more eager to proceed. Can we trust them, father?"
"If we cannot, then we have chosen poorly to sacrifice so much at their behalf," he argued. "But that does not mean acting in blind faith. I would hear what she had in mind before making a decision."
"You are ever wise," spoke the guard in obvious reverence. "Please guide us through this dark time."
"We march on towards the light," assured Gregor as he motioned the guards standing at either side of the inside door aside. They moved a step apart, facing towards the middle and the door slid open wide to permit Gregor forward.
Starlight's expression shifted quickly from boredom to interest. "There you are," she called, her collar dutifully translating. "Hi. I made this." She pointed at her collar with a hoof. "It's a copy of one you humans had. Spike and Laud were hoping I could do the same, just... more of it." She wobbled a hoof towards the ship. "You alright with that?"
"I would wonder by what strange magic that would happen." He slid down, crouching with his hands on his shins as he met Starlight's eyes more evenly. "But you are as a cherub, performing miracles and not knowing the strangeness of it. I imagine you will have little in the way of words to describe what you plan to do."
"Aw, c'mon." she waved it away. "It's not that mysterious. I'm just going to set up an aetheric field of near identical size and density and impress the information from the target thing to the field, then fill it with enough magic to--" But Gregor was holding up a hand and she came to an awkward stop. "Too much?"
"Tell me this. What effect has this on the 'target thing'?" He remained crouched over, watching her intently and taking careful read of her expression. For how alien they were, ponies were easy to read. Their faces were built as if to be read, a book without even a cover to protect it. Their eyes were enormous, their ears also had a thousand tells. They were built to broadcast their true intentions, whether they intended it or not. Already he could see her mind racing.
"If we're being completely honest, which we are, it would be... like I walked along every inch of the ship, running my hooves all over everything." She brushed her hoof up along the ramp she was seated on. "So I could get a good feel of it, so I could make the second one."
"I see..." He didn't, entirely, but... "What will you do, if you have another ship?"
Starlight shrugged. "I think Laud plans to fly it?" She pointed up. "If I had to guess, he wants to get up there and join the big fight. I'm not in any hurry to go rushing up there, pardon my saying so, but I get it." She shrugged softly. "Proud warrior, wants to do what's right, Hawkwood Hawkwood Hawkwood, kinda his thing." She leaned forward a little. "You're not Hawkwood, right?"
Gregor allowed a little smile to escape. "This I am not. My house is not grand. I was born of common birth, and rose with faith." He turned his hands, palm-side up, head bowing a little. "With a skilled tongue for speech-craft and liturgical rites, I rose through the ranks. I would also not be eager to join a battle where so much blood is being shed. And yet, here we are... You with your talents, me with mine." He set a hand on her head, and she didn't stop him. "Blessed cherub. I know not the way of your magic, but I feel your heart is clean. You are doing your best to aid us towards lighter times."
With permission given, Starlight scooted to the side and grinned as more and more faithful sorts emerged from the ship. Soon she would get to trying to reproduce it.
"Easy as pie." A pie the size of a big holy human ship, but still, a pie!