Halfway to the Dragon Lands, I make camp and examine something I found in the cave where Silverstream was hidden. It is a crystal that allows my rifle to work like a machine gun. This means it can shoot rapid-fire. I pull out my rifle and notice that the crystal cartridge has a slot for a second crystal for interchangeability between two different firing functions. I open the cartridge and insert the rapid-fire crystal in the empty slot. After closing the door, I make myself some supper and lie down for the night. Before dawn the next morning, I take off and continue my trek. Two hours later, I have to rely on my compass to navigate because a heavy smoke plume from a recent battle makes it hard for me to see where I am going. When I emerge, I realize that I've flown straight into the dragons' airspace. Air-Raid sirens begin to wail and an armored defense squadron comes to shoot me down. I know that the end will come for me someday, but it is not today.

Since I am prepared to defend myself, I pull my bow and my rifle out and begin shooting at the dragons. Many are killed in a bloody mess when I use my exploding arrows on them and others are forced to retreat when I injure them severely with both arrows and plasma blasts from my rifle. A cloud of toxic gases forces me to land prematurely and put my mask on. Due to the extreme heat, I put on my temperature resistant armor and continue progressing towards the cave where Smolder is. I take out a few patrols and then enter the cave when I reach the entrance.

A violent earthquake tells me that the volcano is going to erupt soon, so I have no time to waste. I race through the dark tunnel with determination in my eyes. I reach the center and find that Smolder is frozen in a block of some sort of metallic substance. I look over the procedure for releasing someone from this substance and then disengage the locking mechanism on the side of the block. The outline of Smolder on the front of the block begins glowing orange after a few seconds. The substance begins melting and she is able to move her joints freely, but the way she moves tells me that she is already unconscious. When the entire front of her is completely exposed, she goes limp and falls to the floor.

Without hesitating, I pull out the smelling salts I used to wake up Yona and wave them in front of Smolder's nose. She starts waking up slowly but then another earthquake causes the tunnel ceiling to collapse. The crash of the rocks ends up startling her awake.

"We don't have much time. Brace yourself.", she says quickly as she puts on a heat-resistant suit.

"What do you mean?"

"This cavern is between the top of the hardened lava and the magma cauldron in the center of the volcano. In other words, we're about to be blasted SKY HIGH!"

I grit my teeth in nervousness and then grab Smolder in a tight hug. We curl into a ball and squeeze our eyes shut. The ground begins shaking harder than ever and then the hot magma pushes us through the ceiling and out of the caldera. When we open our eyes, we see that we have been shot above the clouds. We spread our wings and begin flying in the direction of Canterlot.

"What was that substance you froze yourself in?", I ask Smolder out of curiosity.

"I don't know what it's called, but I do know it can be used to put oneself in stasis for extended periods.", she replies.

We fly with all of our might for six hours and then finally arrive at the outskirts of Canterlot. I put on a radio headset that Ocellus gave me and I call out to the others. Gallus tells me that he is flashing a light to tell me and Smolder where the stronghold's entrance is. We see the light and begin sneaking through the empty streets of the city. Thankfully we are not seen, but we are sad that this has happened to the world. Smolder knocks on the door and Gallus lets us inside. We follow him through a long tunnel until we are in a chamber directly underneath the palace. The stronghold consists of six bedrooms, each with its own bathroom and shower stall, a kitchen, a small room with a broadcast antenna, spotlights and a camera, and a large main room that works as a dining room and a meeting area. After eating supper, I instruct everyone to wash up and then get ready for a meeting. We all take showers and then start getting dressed for the meeting.

Author's Note

The point when Flurry releases Smolder from her stasis sleep is similar to when Leia unfreezes Han Solo from carbonite in Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi.