As soon as Rainbow Dash's hooves touched down, she regretted it.
"Yeowwch!" She hovered up, hissing intently as she flapped her wings in rapid motions.
"Hey..." Lancie gestured towards the rising mists all around them. "You saw it steaming. You only have yourself to blame, Sparky."
"Yeah... b-but I didn't feel any heat right above the stone," Rainbow stammered, waving her hooves as her wince continued into its third iteration. "Fuuuuuuuu..." She sighed. "Good to know the medicine's working, at least."
"What did you even expect to find here?"
"Mrmmfff..." Rainbow grumbled, drifting lazily ahead through the cloudiness. "A distinct lack of Don Canter and his buddies."
"Well put, Einstallion," Lancie droned. "But what else besides that?"
"I figured that if the squirrels didn't like coming to this place on their own—so much so that they sent me—then that means it's a place that isn't friendly for rodents that can't fly."
"And yet you still put your hooves on the ground, regardless."
"Hey. Shuddup." Rainbow flew over a column of mist, using her wings to part the thickening steam. "I'm trying to observe the deathscape here."
"Also, they're flying squirrels. So how does that logic even work—?"
"Shhhhh!" Rainbow insisted. She glared ahead, glancing left and right. Reaching back into her saddlebag, she grabbed a set of goggles and slid them over her skull. Flying deep into the smog, she battled condensation and intense humidity. A few more dozen meters of flying, and the hairs on the end of her nose began curling.
"Yeeesh!" Lancie waved a granite talon in front of his muzzle. "Wish the sky would open a window!"
"That smell..." Rainbow muttered. "I know that smell."
Her ears twitched, for a loud rumbling increased, coming in steady waves. The noise grew louder as Rainbow proceeded over the center of the crater. At last, she came upon the densest curtain of smoke yet. Here, the smog had grown black, like something was burning underneath.
Nevertheless, she held her breath and pierced on through. To her surprise, the air grew clear immediately beyond the latest plume. Hovering in midair, Rainbow Dash felt as though she had landed in the eye of a cyclone. Blessed with momentary clarity, she stared straight down. Her goggled eyes widened.
"Whoah..."
Lancie peered as well. "Huh... is that what I think it is?"
"Can't imagine otherwise."
"So... what do you want to do now?" Lancie remarked.
"... ... ..." Rainbow Dash blinked. She gazed up at the tiny patch of blue sky above the crater. Then, looking straight back down, she smirked. "Something awesome."
Lancie sighed. "That's your answer for everything."
"Hey, if it works, don't change it."
"Don Canter and the rest are going to want to know about this."
"They'll know as much as I decide to tell them, Lancie," Rainbow said in firm breath, flapping her wings tightly. She lifted up in a heavy burst of wind. "And those shards?"
"Yeah?"
"... ... ...they're as good as ours, now."
"I'll hold you to that."
"You won't have to."
And the two glided back south the way they came.