“Tell me again why we’re here and not back at the barracks sleeping?”

Shining poked his head out the door to make sure that nopony was walking around outside of the hall. “I already told you we’re doing this to help Ares and Cadence,” he said, closing the door when he saw no one.

After he had been teleported away from Ares a very irate Celestia had not only ordered Shining to go to sleep, she had sent a pair of guards with him to make sure that he made to the barracks so he didn’t get any funny ideas. Though Shining tried to tell Celestia, Luna and anypony else that would listen about what Ares had said, not a single one of them took him seriously. He was exhausted, they said, he needed to get some sleep, they told him, he was talking nonsense, Luna had growled as he was beening practically dragged away. So, with only what Ares had said to go by and a mild to severe case of sleep deprivation, Shining had decided that he was going to find out where Sombra had put these hidden documents.

And he was going to do it now. Not when he woke up, not after he tried to convince anypony anything. He was going to do it this very instant.

It hadn’t been easy getting away from the ponies that Celestia had sent with him but he managed by climbing out of a window the moment that he was in barracks and their backs were turned. After a bit of dangerous climbing, and almost falling to his death more than once, he had been in the clear. From there on all he had to do was keep out of sight and he’d be in the clear.

Even though he was dead tired Shining still considered himself a pretty sneaky stallion. He could evade a few guards without much trouble if he was careful about it. So, with his head held high, Shining had stepped into the hallway ready to start his search…

…Only to be spotted by Private Flash Sentry.

Just like Shining, Flash had been up for longer than he could remember working himself to the bone trying to help out anyway that he could. But unlike Shining he knew that no matter what he did his part in fixing this whole mess that everyone found themselves wouldn’t be a big one. He didn’t have the magical knowledge or prowess of Twilight and the other princesses, and he most certainly wasn’t one of the Elements of Harmony; he was just a stallion that wanted to help his buddy out. Flash knew this and accepted his limitations, so he had been making his way back to the barracks himself so he could get some well-deserved shuteye. But then he had spotted Shining, who had quickly run over, tackled him to the ground, dragged him into one of the nearby abandoned rooms and had somehow managed to talk him into helping him on his probably fruitless, possibly crazy mission.

And boy was Flash not happy about it, not one little bit. Not only wasn’t he getting the sleep he really needed he was disobeying orders from Princess Celestia herself by helping Shining break into these old, dusty rooms all around the castle so that they could look for some nonsense that a semi-lucid Ares had told him about. While Flash wanted to help Ares and Princess Cadence in any way that he could, he’d rather not be thrown in a jail cell because of it. But even still he found himself standing in the corner of a web-riddled room that hadn’t housed a pony in many a year, quietly cursing his lack of willpower and ability to say no.

The Private’s muzzle scrunched up as he looked around the windowless, spider-infested room. “I don’t think we’re going to find anything here, Shining,” he said, yawning hugely. “If there were any papers or books or anything like that I’m pretty sure that the spiders would have gotten to them by now.”

“We’re not looking for any papers or books,” Shining muttered, crushing a big, venomous spider that scurried near his hoof. “We’re looking for a secret entrance or a latch or something so we can get in the secret room where the papers and books we’ll need are.”

“…Then why are we in the room where Sombra kept his slave harem?”

Shining ripped down another series of webs, sending hundreds of spiders scurrying in all directions. “Because we’re going down the list of rooms where Sombra spent most of his time.” Walking over to a section of wall Shining began poking at it. “There HAS to be something in one of these rooms…”

“If we’re trying to look at all of the rooms that Sombra went to then why didn’t we try his old bedroom first?” Flash asked. “If there were a secret room in the castle it’d probably be there.”

Muttering to himself, Shining stepped away from the wall and looked around the dimly lit room, a small frown on his face. “The room we’re looking for was probably Sombra’s personal laboratory; someplace that he could work on whatever dark magic that he wanted to work on in peace but that was far enough away that he could get away if something happened. Now be quiet and listen for anypony while I look over there. There’s gotta be something…”

A part of Flash wanted to tell Shining that his logic really wasn’t adding up. Why would Sombra put a secret room near one of the places that he went to a lot? Wouldn’t it make a lot more sense to put that secret room where he could sneak off to without anypony seeing? Or better yet couldn’t he just use a spell or something to teleport himself to the room so he wouldn’t have to go through all of the nonsense of having to sneak around and remember where the room was?

Flash didn’t know; he was awfully tired. He also didn’t think that Shining really knew either since he was probably just as tired as he was. The unicorn was probably just frustrated that he couldn’t do more to help Ares and Cadence so he was jumping at any and every lead, no matter how stupid or silly or outlandish it was.

How on earth would Ares know that Sombra had some sort of secret room in this castle anyways? How the hay did he know, as ragged and sick as he was, that the secret room (which probably wasn’t real) that he was referring to had anything on whatever had possessed him? Why would Shining listen to someone as sick as Ares? Why was he still standing there helping Shining when he could be doing more important things like resting and sleeping and resting while sleeping?

Though all of these questions floated around in Flash’s head he decided to say nothing. He was already in this mess; the very least he could do was see it through till the end or until Shining gave up. He was sure that as soon as his friend wore himself out by searching all of these old rooms that nopony used the two of them would be able to get some sleep.

Sure, Sombra had secret rooms all around the castle, but not anymore. The Solar and Crystal Guard had spent weeks finding everything hidden in this castle after Sombra had been blown to bits by the crystal heart. The castle had been searched by every means available to them, both magical and otherwise. If there was a room like Shining was describing, then they would have already have found it and they already would have the document. But they didn’t have a document or a book or a slip of paper. If they had something like that Twilight or one of the guards would have found it by now.

“Horse apples!” Shining swore, knocking over a ruined nightstand. “There’s nothing here. THERE’S NOTHING HERE!!!” The frustration was apparent in the unicorn’s voice as his bloodshot eyes darted wildly around the room. “We checked every room that I could think of and we still haven’t found a bucking thing! Not a bucking thing!”

Gritting his teeth Shining bucked the wall closest to him, sending spiders and dust everywhere, before sinking to the ground. “…I could have sworn that we’d find something here…”

Getting up, Flash walked over and patted his friend on the back with a wing. “Come on, Shining, buddy, you knew that this was probably a long shot.”

Though Shining looked disheartened and exhausted, his eyes half lidded and his ears folding against his head, there was still a fiery determination in them. “There’s a room somewhere in this castle,” he said stubbornly. “I know there is. I can feel it in my bones.”

Flash tried to tug Shining to his hooves but the unicorn refused to move. “Why don’t we go back and get some sleep before we keep looking then?” he suggested. “Restart the search when the two of us aren’t about to drop?”

Snorting, Shining rose to his hooves and brushed past him. “I’m not getting any sleep until I find that bucking room,” he growled. “I’m not just going to lay back and relax while those two are like that. I don’t care how tired I am, I don’t care if I have to tear down this whole castle. I’m going to do it if it means that the two of them will be alright.”

Throwing open the door Shining looked over his shoulder at him. “Now I’m going to go over to one of the old servants rooms down the hall to see if there’s anything in there. Are you—“

“I’ll be your lookout,” Flash interrupted with a sigh as he rubbed his temples with his wings. “We’re not going to find anything over there but if it’ll make you feel better then I’ll go with you.”

A small smile came to Shining’s face. “Good,” he said with a little nod. “I appreciate the help. You’re a good friend, Flash.”

Grumbling to himself, Flash brushed past Shining and stepped into the hall, hoping against hope that somepony would see them so he could finally get some shuteye. “I know,” he grumbled, sounding disgusted, as Shining quietly closed the door behind him. “And sometimes I kind of wish I wasn’t. Being a good friend is bucking hard sometimes…”

Now grinning, Shining nudged the Pegasus. “But the good kind of hard, right?” he asked, nudging him again.

Flash made a face but nodded as his eyes scanned the doorways in the hall. They stopped on a tiny door that was sitting in between two great big doors. It was just a ye olde janitor's closet; there was nothing too special about it. But since Flash found himself needing to use the restroom, and since he knew that all of these old janitor's’ closets were equipped with a toilet (for some reason), he found himself wandering toward that little door.

“Hey, Shining, I’ll be back in a second. I’m going to take a leak.”

It was Shining’s turn to make a face. “You know that the toilet in there probably hasn’t been used in a long time right?”

“Well I can’t just go and find another bathroom somewhere else! If I do that somepony might see me and start asking questions.”

“…Alright. I’ll wait for you out here.”

Flash quickened his pace over toward that little door and grabbed the doorknob. To his surprise the door opened easily and swung open without so much as a squeak. His surprise only increased when a big crystal on the little room’s ceiling lit up, illuminating the room as he stepped into it.

“Huh… I guess crystal ponies can make some pretty good doors,” he muttered under his breath, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. “I wonder how they made that crystal light up like that?”

Oddly enough the little room looked like it was in relatively good condition. There was only a bit of dust on the mops and various other cleaning equipment and Flash couldn’t see a single spider web. Peering toward the back of the room Flash saw the very thing that he had come in here for: the toilet. Though it was partially covered by about a dozen brooms it looked like it was all in working order.

Rubbing his hooves together, Flash pushed his way toward the little toilet, tossing away all of the brooms and having himself a seat. “Baby bird fly away, baby bird fly away, baby—ahh~ There we go…”

As Flash Sentry did his business he saw a little bronze chain hanging not that far away from his head. With his head cocked to the side he reached up and batted the chain with a hoof. “What the heck is this thing for?” he asked no one in particular, looking up at the ceiling. “Is… Is this for the toilet? Is this one of those weird old fashion flushers?”

Though a part of him said that was nonsense, he was pretty sure that they didn’t have flushing toilets back in Sombra’s time, he still grabbed onto that little chain and gave it a tug to see what would happen. The chain easily pulled downward, and letting go, Flash watched as the chain went back up into its original position with little trouble. Sitting there, he waited for something to happen. Seconds ticked by as he sat there waiting for the toilet to flush or the lights to flicker but everything seemed normal in the little room.

“…Huh. Well I guess whatever this chain is for doesn’t work,” Flash muttered, reaching up and giving the chain another tug. “I didn’t know why it would any—”

The sounds of gears turning cut through the room like a knife. The whole room began to shake, mops and cleaning utensils falling everywhere. Yelping, Flash held onto the toilet as tightly as he could. “Oh holy horse apples! It’s an earthquake! I need to get out of here! I need to—”

As quickly as it had come the shaking stopped. A hissing sound came from the wall right next to where Flash was sitting. There was a click, like a door had just been unlocked, before a section of the wall opened up, revealing a tunnel of some sort.

“…” Flash could only stare at the hole wide-eyed for a few moments, just sitting there on the toilet, still clutching it tightly. “I… what… why would…” Hopping off of the toilet he cautiously made his way over toward the tunnel.

Flash raised a hoof and poked it into the tunnel’s opening. He then poked his head in and looked around. “Why in a janitor’s closet?”

He immediately pulled his head back out of the tunnel as a series of lights suddenly lit it up. “Who the buck did that?!” he demanded, grabbing a mop and hefting it like a spear. “This is the guard! Come out with your hooves up or I’ll be forced to use… force!”

Flash listened hard for anyone that could have been moving around in the tunnel, but there was nothing. Other than a quiet buzzing sound everything was silent. Curious, Flash once again poked his head into the tunnel, his mop at the ready.

Just like the “closet” itself the tunnel was well lit and appeared to be meticulously maintained. There were the same light crystal as in the janitor’s closet spaced out every few feet.The floor appeared to be made of some sort of well-worn but well-maintained wood and rock. There was even a small iron rail that they used to move mine carts around traveling down the tunnel.

Flash didn’t have a clue how far this tunnel lead but from the way it was angled downward he had a feeling that it would take a while to get to where this place led. His stomach twisted when he realized that wherever this tunnel led to was probably where he and Shining needed to be. His stomach twisted even further when he wondered what kind of booby traps the old tyrant had left lying around in there.

Poking his head out of the tunnel Flash bit his lip and looked back toward the door where Shining was no doubt waiting. “…Shining? Could you come in here please?”

“Flash?! Are you alright?! I felt a shaking and heard you yelling and—” Shining asked through the door.

Flash eyed the tunnel before looking back over at the door. “Just come in here please.”

“Hang on! I’ll be right in!” Flash waited patiently as Shining fiddled with the doorknob.

“Get open you bucking stupid thing! THERE! Flash are you—what that hay is that?” Looking scared and ragged, Shining threw open the door, his body tensed to launch himself into the room.

Clearing his throat, Flash gestured toward the hole in the wall. “I think I found a secret tunnel,” he said simply.

The look of fear on Shining’s face subsided. His eyes widened and his jaw went slack as he looked at Flash, then at the hole, then at Flash again. Without saying a word, he pushed his way through all of the fallen mops and brooms until he was by Flash’s side, standing right in front of the secret tunnel. Poking his head into it he looked around before he leaned back into the room and sat down.

“I was pulling on that weird chain over there and that part of the wall slid out,” Flash said, sitting down next to his absolutely floored friend.

“I can’t believe that there was actually something here,” Shining muttered to himself, his bloodshot eyes becoming slightly unfocused. “I know that Ares said that there’d be a secret room, and I hoped for his sake that he was right, but to actually find it…”

His eyes widening, Flash turned toward Shining. “You were making all of that fuss and you were second guessing yourself the whole time?!” he demanded, his nose scrunching up.

Shining didn’t even hear him as he continued to stare straight into the tunnel. Getting up he poked his head back into it once more. “We have to see what’s on the other end of this tunnel,” he said simply.

The rest of Flash’s angry rant died in his throat as Shining turned back toward him with a determined look. “I don’t know about that, Shining. Maybe we should get the princess's first…” He shivered as a burst of cold air escaped the tunnel and hit him in the face. “If this is what you think it is then it’s probably filled to the ceiling with traps.”

Almost instinctively Shining took a step away from the tunnel. Flash was right. If this was Sombra’s secret workshop, then the dark lord had probably taken measures to keep ponies away; measures that wouldn’t be good for him in any way if he was unlucky enough to trigger one of them. And, in the condition that he and Flash were in, there wasn’t a snowball's chance in Tartarus that they’d be able to disable anything nasty or fend off anything guarding the tunnel.

Shining was about to agree with the young private, say that they needed to go and get the princesses asap, when the fur on the back of his neck stood on end. For a brief moment the room seemed to become positively fringed and darker than the blackest night. Though Flash was the only other presence in the room, Shining had a feeling that he was being watched, that someone or something was standing just out of the corner of his eye.

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Taking a few hasty steps backward, Shining warily eyed the tunnel, his horn sparking to life with a defensive spell. “There’s that voice again,” he whispered. “That’s the same voice that I heard when I touched Ares… The one that I forgot about…”

Flash watched as his friend quickly stepped into the tunnel. “Shining? SHINING! Get the buck back here right now! We need to go and tell the princesses about this before we just go and—SHINING!”

A whine escaped the private’s mouth as Shining disappeared from his field of vision. He looked toward the door, muttering a curse, before he charged right in after him. “Shining, I swear to Celestia if you don’t get back here right the buck now then I’m gonna—”

“There are no traps in this tunnel.”

Flash skidded to a halt as he turned the corner to see Shining slowly making his way down the tunnel. “...How the buck do you know that?! I didn’t even see you use any sp—”

“I just know,” Shining called over his shoulder as he picked up his pace. “Now come on. We have to get to the end of this tunnel.”

Flash turned back toward the way he had just come. The two of them shouldn’t be in this tunnel. They shouldn’t, as tired and out of whack as they were, be doing this on their own. It was stupid and if Flash had any amount of sense he’d grab Shining and forcibly drag the stallion out of here so they could go find ponies that were properly rested and equipped to handle this situation.

Trotting in place Flash bit his lip. “…Celestia dammit.” Though he didn’t want to, like really, really didn’t want to, Flash once again trotted after Shining, who looked absolutely relaxed as he made his way down the death tunnel.

The unicorn smiled as the Pegasus walked side-by-side with him. Flash in turn frowned back at him. “I swear if the two of us die I’m never talking to you again.”