Sealegs

The starry night sky blanketed all of Equestria.
Most ponies were already asleep.
Most.
Shining Armour quickly picked through the dark Canterlot streets
The night air was cool, and sweet.
But he had no time to waste.
Finally reaching his destination, Shining Armour knocked upon the door.
Three Strikes. Loud ones.
A light came on in the upper story window.
Hoofsteps could be heard down the stairs.
The door swung open, pouring light onto the street.

"Hey Shiny, What's up?"

Gold stepped back to allow Shining Armour entry
Pulling his cloak back, Shining eyed Gold with concern.

"Surely you've heard."

Gold looked solemn

"Yeah."

Princess Celestia had been hurt raising the sun earlier that day.
The strain of her injuries had left her bedridden.
And nobody could understand why.
She had raised the sun for them for thousands of years, of course.
Was she finally beginning to pass?

Shining Armour sat himself down on the sofa, as a dreary-eyed Braeburn crept down the stairs.

"She woke up earlier this evening."

Gold looked Curious.

"Did she say anything?"

Shining shot him a glance.

"Yes. She groaned, something about a 'Desert Ruby.'"

Gold remembered the incident in the desert.

"I think I get what you're getting at. The gem helped her raise the sun?"

Shining Armour nodded solemnly.

"It's more than possible. And seeing as you reported it had been destroyed, there may be no way to help the Princess now."

Gold hung his head

"Then why'd you come to see us? Do you have a lead? Anything? We can't just let her die!"

Shining Armour paused for a moment, and when he spoke, his voice was a low whisper

"There may be something."

The three stallions leaned into one another, as Shining Armour shared a secret that had been kept for thousands of years.

"So, It leaves an imprint on anyone bound to it?"

Shining Armour nodded

"That's right. And using the remnants, we may just be able to re-create the gem."

The next morning, the sun was risen by Princess Luna.
An Alarm rung out.
With trained expertise and precision, Gold whacked it from the bedside cabinet.
Braeburn stirred, reaching over to his own bedside cabinet to retrieve his hat and vest
Gold rolled his eyes

"It's a miracle I manged to stop you from sleeping with those on."

Braeburn donned a look of mock offence.

"Ah'll have you know that my pa gave these to me. They're precious, More so than a regular vest or hat."

Gold turned to see Braeburn in full pout mode.

"No. No stop it. That's not fair."

More pouting

"Ugh. Look, let's just get to work."

The stallions quickly ate, before heading out the door.
Things sure do go quickly without a mare around.
The two picked through the Canterlot streets, ignoring the typical indignant looks from the noble-ponies trotting about.
Colt-Cuddling was already frowned upon by the snobs of Canterlot.
Walking out of the front door with a bedhead probably didn't help.
It wasn't long until their destination was in sight.
Gold donned a mischievous grin, before taking off.

"Last one to Sombra's is the one who has to wake him up!"

Braeburn's eyes widened as he took off after the runaway colt.

"Hey, now that's What ah call unfair!"

Gold winked back

"Guess that makes us even!"

Sombra woke to a startlingly loud knock on the door.
Fluttershy was still asleep beside him.
Deciding not to wake her, he trotted down his small staircase, and down the hall to his front door.
He was going to kill whoever had woken him up...
Sombra groaned

"Not you."

Braeburn raised an eyebrow, and Gold trotted on into the house.

"Ah'd prefer a little hospitality next time."

Braeburn trotted past Sombra, flicking him in the face with his tail.
Sombra snarled, and turned to see Gold quite at home on the Sofa in the living room.
Knowing he was fighting a losing battle, he trotted back upstairs to wake Fluttershy
Preferably more gently than his own awakening.
He was halfway up the stairs, when a mighty crash was heard from the kitchen.
Accompanied by a startled Scream from the master bedroom.
He was going to kill those... What in the?

Pans and pots lay strewn out across the floor, with the two golden stallions hunched over the counter, trying desperately not to laugh.
Fluttershy descended the staircase, as delicately as a princess.

"Hello Gold, Hello Braeburn."

She didn't seem amused.
Sombra could relate
With a grunt, he trotted into the kitchen and began replacing the pots and pans.
Fluttershy lead Braeburn and Gold into the living room, sitting them back down on the Sofa.

"What can we do for you today?"

Her voice was bright and happy.
You really couldn't dampen that ponies spirits.

Gold and Braeburn began to explain the situation, with Fluttershy listening intently.
Sombra was listening not so intently from the kitchen.
When Gold and Braeburn were finished, Fluttershy spoke up.

"So um... What do you want us to do?"

The four ponies trotted towards Canterlot Castle with haste
Along the way, Gold relayed the information Shining had given him

"Our only hope to recreate the Crystal, is to re-extract the essence from a few host sources."

Sombra raised an eyebrow.

"How does this relate to us?"

Braeburn jumped in to explain

"Ah reckon when we were in that cavern, bein' baked like potatoes. It musta leaked into us a little."

Fluttershy looked concerned

"Are you sure there'll be enough to make a whole gem?"

Gold shook his head

"Shiny said we couldn't be sure. We can only wait and see."

The guards parted their lances to allow the company access to the grounds.
The main foyer of the Castle was mostly empty.
There was a solemn atmosphere, hanging off of the company's shoulders like a curtain.
Shining Armour appeared on the main landing, ushering the ponies toward one of the towers.

"So, We're doing this in the central tower?

Shining nodded

"Princess Celestia raises the sun from the top of that tower. We'll have better luck there than anywhere."

Sombra grunted.
Braeburns eyes narrowed.

"Y'all got somethin' you wanna say?"

Sombra was slightly taken aback, but relaxed nonetheless.

"I've got plenty that I want to say. Fluttershy just won't let me."

Shining stifled a chuckle.

"I can relate to you, there."

The five ponies arrived at the top of the Castle.
The winds whipped around them. The place was totally exposed.
Gold and Sombra trotted forward, Completely at ease with the heights.
The other two, not so much.

"I hear this is the highest tower in Equestria."

Shining nodded

"Yeah."

Gold felt something tugging at his hind legs.
He looked down to see Braeburn wrapped around his hooves, terrified.
Fluttershy had her wings firmly shut to her sides.
She probably wouldn't be able to use them, should she fall.
Sombra regarded the view, coolly.

"Quite a little view the princess has here."

Shining nodded.

"This is where she raises the sun. Take a look at this."

The company trotted towards a large, misty, mounted prism in the center of the tower.
Sombra peered through the prism.
He could see both the desert, and the sun.
Braeburn regarded the thing with curiousity.

"What is this?"

Shining turned away, staring out to the desert.

"This was a prism that allowed the Princess to link with both the Sun and Ruby at once, Giving her the strength to move the heavens. But when the Ruby was destroyed, her power ebbed. Now it's critically low. Princess Luna will suffer the same fate, Should she continue to move the sun without the Ruby."

Fluttershy frowned.

"That thing was really important... It's my fault that it was destroyed. I'm so sorry, Everyone!"

Sombra wrapped an arm around Fluttershy

"It's alright. It was out of our control."

Shining Chimed in again.

"Shall we begin, then?"

The company turned their attention to him.
Begin what?
Shining took the initiative, and explained.

"All we need to do is form a circle around the outer edges of this tower."

Fluttershy squeaked.

"We each stare into the prism, and just let the Ruby Essence escape our bodies. It'll be drawn into the prism, and given Physical form."

The ponies got into position, encircling the prism.
They all stared into its depths.

A small spark began to dance around the center of the prism.
Warm as the sun, it blossomed into a small flame.
The flame began to grow, as each pony contributed every piece of it that they had.
The flame halted
Shining Armour breathed sharply.

"Nobody Break your eye contact. Somebody must be holding back. This can't be all we have."

The ponies stared into the depths, but nothing more came.
The flame didn't grow, the flame didn't dance.
All it did, was begin to die out.
Shining panicked.

"NO! We can't let that flame go out!"

Too late.
As the flame died, It surged back into its hosts with a mighty wave of energy.
The ponies were thrown off of the tower, and sent plummeting towards the city below.
Shining Armour acted on instinct, making his way to Flutershy and Sombra before conjuring a protective shell.
Gold opened his wings, gliding towards Braeburn, and saving him from the fall.
The five descended into the courtyard. (With varying speeds.)
The crater was going to take some explaining.

Shining held his head in his hoof.

"We can't do it. We can't save the princess."

Sombra sat on a tree stump with Fluttershy, thoughtfully.
Gold and Braeburn mourned their failure.
Fluttershy and Sombra began whispering to each other.

"We think we know how to save the princess."

Shining Armour descended on them like a tonne of bricks.

"HOW?"

Fluttershy recoiled slightly, Sombra remained confident.

"We weren't the only ones in the cave that day."

Gold's eyes widened.

"You mean, we need to go after the changelings?"

Sombra nodded.

"It's possible.

Gold sighed.

"Aw nuts. We sent them away. Where could they have gone?"

Shining Armour stepped in.

"I'll have scouts search all of Equestria for them. We'll put up wanted posters. We'll find them.”