Before Lyra got far, the sky went dark above them. They all looked up to see a decidedly familiar shape lowering towards them. Monolithic and silver, it meant nothing good. Silver lowered her head a moment. "And Night's not here with her suit..."
Starlight perked an ear. "What? Silver, what is that? What is that and why am I bandaged up at a time like this?"
Spike rolled his eyes. "Because you had to prove a point?"
Lyra hurried back to their side. "So, yeah... You see that too, right?"
Silver grunted and clopped on the road. "Alright, Lyra, I need a favor. Take Starlight back to the castle. If you see an Anubian, they're jackal people, tell her to meet me here. I need all the help I can muster for this." She glared at the silver object in the sky. "It killed me once already."
Lyra raised a brow. "Y-yeah, sure. Alright, Starlight, let's go." Her horn glowed as she started to wheel Starlight away.
Starlight was having none of it. "Silver! You come right here this very instant. I know you can do something about this!"
Silver glanced back at Spike on his back. "You should go too." Then she trotted aside Starlight. "I don't know what I can do about this."
"Not about that, about me." She grunted as if trying to move. "Do what you did before. Pretend it's a damn emergency because, guess what? It is one! You're not about to go fighting without me."
Silver licked over her fangs, considering her various, unproven, healing techniques. "I don't want to hurt you, Starlight."
"That's sweet." Starlight smiled. "Now do it."
Spike snorted. "If she wants to get her insides scrambled, it's on her. I heard her say she doesn't care."
Lyra sat down beside the gurney. "Hey, we've gotten into trouble, both of us, for using magic we shouldn't. Are you sure about this?"
"Not really." Silver sighed softly. "But I'll try it."
Lyra grinned. "Good answer. Need any help?"
"Just hold Starlight down." She put her forehooves on Starlight as Spike scrambled up onto Silver's shoulders. "This is going to feel odd." She focused on her earth magic, and got her magic flowing through her. The ground beneath them shuddered as a beam of heat and fire lanced down to strike Sugarcube Corner, sending the Cakes out in a tizzy to start putting out the new blaze in a heroic struggle.
There was no time for doubt or hesitation. Silver took another slow breath, turning the flow of magic into her forehooves and allowing that earth magic to escape, willing Starlight's body to heal and grow like any plant might do in the same field.
Starlight screamed. Silver flipped her ears back, and tried to keep the flow even despite the sound, that wail. The noise ebbed as quickly as it came, and with a burst of light from Starlight's horn, her cast exploded free of her, sending bits across the street as she rolled up, and she wasn't screaming anymore, she was laughing. "That was great! Silver, you magnificent mare, let's take care of this. We can do this without Twilight's help."
Lyra clopped her hooves excitedly. "That was amazing! What was it?"
Spike shrugged. "Good luck with that. I'm not even sure she knows."
Silver shook her head. "Earth pony trick, actually."
"What? Seriously." Lyra raised a brow. "Why haven't you shown this to some of Twilight's earth pony friends then?"
Starlight put a hoof on Lyra's head beside her horn. "There's a giant silvery doom thing over our head. Maybe now's not the best time, hmm? Why don't you find Nefertari?"
She was there. "Find who now?"
Silver let out a sigh of relief. "Alright, it's back." She pointed up. "I don't want to die again, but we can't just let it hover there. I don't suppose you could get rid of it."
Nefertari went quiet a moment. "No."
Starlight raised a brow high. "No?"
"No." Nefertari crossed her arms. "The spirits demand it be respected. I cannot harm it."
With a powerful shake, a beam came down on the hospital Silver had just emerged from a few minutes ago. She cringed. "Well, what do you suggest then, if not hurting it?"
"Perhaps talking with it?" Nefertari rolled a paw. "There is a spirit there. Perhaps you can reason with it."
Starlight floated into the air several inches. "Nice ideas and everything, but we have to go"
Lyra was beside herself with giddiness. "How are you flying like that? You must be a crazy talented wizard! Like almost Starswirl level! Oh Oh! Can I come with?"
Silver lifted on powerful wings. "I already have Spike." She glanced over her shoulder. "I don't suppose I could convince you to go home?"
"Nope." Spike leaned over towards Lyra. "Go to the castle and make sure the foals are alright, alright?"
"Yeah yeah, stick me with the foalsitting..." She kicked a rock and started to walk dejectedly towards the castle.
Silver looked to Nefertari. "Can you help us? Protecting us doesn't have to mean hurting it."
She stroked her chin. "I will be close." Then she was gone, it was as good as Silver was going to get.
Silver looked to Starlight. "Alright, it attacks with its heat beams, and homing bits of metal that just need to crash into you and cut you apart, as well as firing even smaller bits of metal at you in the process."
Spike look significantly less confident than just moments prior. "Is it too late to change my mind?"
Silver looked over her shoulder. "No! No it is definitely not too late." She landed and extended a wing for him to slide down on. "Please. I don't even know how to start to explain to Twilight if something happened to you, Spike."
"I'm not a little kid anymore." He crossed his arms and didn't dismount. "I can handle myself."
Starlight looked between them. "This is touching, but we really should be moving before the entire town is set on fire."
Silver lifted into the air as she wrapped a bubble of energy around herself, hoping to protect her stubborn rider along the way. "Let's go. Look for openings on it. It seemed to calm down its attack after we were inside. Don't use electrical attacks, it just prompts it to repair itself."
Spike leaned to the left. "What about fire?"
"Fire's alright!" Silver smiled. "I used some last time, worked great, just don't risk anything to do it, alright?"
"You got it!"
A new voice called out, "Hey! Don't forget me, you doofs." Fast landed atop a building, her pegasus wings fluttering. "I'm not missing out this time!"
Silver took a brief moment. "Right, okay. Avoid metal shrapnel, no lightning, get inside, hopefully all at the same place. Don't get set on fire. It likes its heat beam."
Fast saluted with a hoof. "Got it. What are we waiting on?"
Silver glanced up at the silver blotting of the sky. "I suppose nothing. Let's go." As one, they ascended and spread apart. The attack came swiftly for them. Flickers of heat were their only warning an instant before it became a lance of plasma-like heat that scorched the very air. The thought occurred that the attack would be basically impossible to dodge were one in a plane or a helicopter. By the time the vehicle noted and began to move, the heat would be burning through them.
A few rounds seemed enough for the construct. Several waves of small metal pieces detached in stately file and flew at the assailants, letting loose a rapid clip of smaller bits, like tattered bullets designed to rip and tear at their targets. Silver saw Fast jinking and blasting her way through the cloud, though her magic was nowhere near the raw power of Starlight, who burst through a cloud of the machines with an almost angry cry of victory. The fwoosh of a dragon's breath brought her back to her own situation. Spike had caught the first wave to approach in his personal heat, but there were plenty more, raining sharp death on it. Silver banked to the right as her horn lit up, explosively detonating a line of the drones. "Get inside!"
As they all veered to get closed to the menacing construct, it unveiled a new assault. The spectral forms of Rainbow Dash, Silver Stars when she was a he, and Twilight Sparkle flew out at them, wielding the same speed and magic that had allowed them to best the machine the first time.
Silver's shield buckled dangerously under the sudden blast of her own magic. Her doppelganger was coming straight for her with a little frown.
She refueled the shield as she ducked low, trying to avoid the figure, but it turned with her, approaching with a wild nicker. Spike tapped Silver on the back of the head. "Should I be blasting you?"
"If you mean the ghostly me, yes. The one you're riding, not so much."
With a loud fwoosh, Spike exhaled over the Silver, but he only laughed at the assault. "We are creatures of fire. Have you forgotten." The flame collapsed into a ball floating over Silver's head. "I will defeat you, and if you're lucky, add you to my stable of mares, if I don't decide to simply destroy you."
Silver scowled. "I never sounded like that."
Spike shrugged. "Depends who you ask. I've heard stories."
"That's all funny, but I think he's about to throw that at us." She prepared the half-formed fireball spell, but he didn't hurl it, instead he flew at her.
"Flag your tail and I promise not to scorch it."
Silver's face contorted with disgust. She looped around, blasting a brilliant silver bolt into the fake Silver, but it seemed to do little real harm to the phantom.
The other Silver came around behind her. "What's that on your back? Male? Spike? Get off my mare!" He hurled the fire then, the great ball of heat rushing at Silver.
Spike rolled his eyes. "Hello? Dragon?"
Silver didn't have that benefit, and snagged the fire's energy, fueling her own ball with it, then hurling it away as quickly as she could. It wasn't fast enough, as the other Silver crashed into her. His form wavered dangerously from the shield, but the shield buckled first, and he grabbed at her with eager hooves. "There you are, my little filly. Tell me how turned on you are. Make it dirty."