Shining sighed, setting his sword down against the cold crystal wall. He took off his saddlebags, took one last look at both ends of the tunnel, then finally convinced himself he was safe and sat down. Rolling his shoulders back and forth and stretching his hind legs, he lay back against the wall behind him and sighed again. His hooves needed the rest, even if he didn't want to admit it. They were getting a bit sore.
His horn lit up. The button holding his bags closed came undone with a satisfying pop, and held by the glow of his magic the little sealed tray of food he'd brought along levitated towards his lap. He clicked his tongue in anticipation, while his hooves worked to undo the silver-grey wrapping.
The shreds of it had yet to hit the ground when the smell of food hit Shining's nostrils, and a moment later the stallion practically threw himself onto the small tray. Goodness, he'd been hungry. Way more than he'd realised. Years of guard training meant he could ignore the need for food for a while and not be distracted by it, but it also meant he wasn't exactly conscious of the fact he was doing it.
Cadence's food was good as always. He didn't mind cooking for himself, but she'd insisted on doing it and he certainly wasn't going to refuse the offer.
He slipped the last bit of food past his lips, staring at the now empty plate on his lap. That had been nice, yes. He lit his horn again, and pulled out a clock from his saddlebags, bringing it up to his face. He could still afford a few minutes, yeah. Setting the clock back inside his bags, he stretched his legs, then placed his hooves behind his neck as he leaned back and began to whistle to himself.
Things had gone well, if boringly so. Nothing seemed to have snuck in the tunnels as far as he'd explored them so far. There would probably be something up ahead, he'd have found it worryingly suspicious if nothing at all turned out to be there, but it probably wouldn't be anything too bad.
He really wasn't sure why Cadence worried so much about him going there. Sure, they didn't exactly know what more they could find, but so far there was no reason to think it would be anything more dangerous than what they'd already found. He'd never come out of it with more than a few scratches, and even in the remote chance things went bad, he could always teleport out of there.
Shining got up. The tray and the shreds of wrapping were levitated back into a separate pocket in his bags, then the bags themselves were closed and slid onto his back once more. He took hold of his sword, and then began to trek down the tunnel again.
That's when a bit of movement caught his eye. Up ahead, on the floor, a darker shade of blue slithering away from him. Another crystal lizard, it seemed. Craning his neck back and forth, he stepped forward, and started to follow the creature. There was no need to rush it. Not as long as it was just one, at least.