Ever since she was a small child, she'd heard stories about dragons. In her time as Celestia's student, she'd taken it upon herself to read up on them every now and again, if only to satisfy some youthful curiosity. And when she'd taken in Spike, raised him as her own, and come to know him, she felt as though, on some level, she understood dragons. Twilight, through this whole journey through the Everfree, had told herself time and again that this creature they were going to was someone she could speak to, someone she could connect with. And yet, now that she and all those other ponies had finally arrived at their destination, she could see for the first time just how little she truly knew.

They had reached a small clearing, about the same size as the gulf between Ponyville and the Lunar Embassy. There was nothing remarkable about this particular spot, just a bit of old and mossy-looking grass with a small hill in the centre. But it wasn't the landscape that drew everypony's attention, but rather the one who dwelt in the middle of it. While the dragon before her may not have been of the same vast size she'd read that full-grown dragons could be, Twilight nevertheless gulped at the sight of the enormous beast. It was around the same size as a Ponyville house, and was a distinct green colour. Currently, it was laying upon the ground, snoring its head off, not knowing of the approaching group. And as it slept, smoke rose from its nostrils. Wariness was the order of the day for all who had come here, and Shining himself made sure to step in front of Twilight, as if making himself a shield for her pre-emptively.

"So...what now?" the stallion asked.

Both he and Twilight turned to Aurora, whose eyes had been fixed on the dragon since they got here. She looked over her shoulder, to the soldiers she'd brought here, and nodded, to which they all saluted. Once that had been done, she started to step out into the clearing herself, followed by those in her group who happened to be pegasi. Shining and Twilight watched, and the Equestrians behind them seemed more than a little concerned right now. But, on Aurora marched, until she was just a few feet from the jaws of the dragon. Here, she stopped, clearing her throat a little before coughing in a deliberate manner.

"Ahem!"

There was no response, just another loud snore. Seeing that, Twilight, much to Shining's chagrin, managed to move past him, making her way into the clearing herself. Shining, likewise, started to follow, along with some of the braver members of his entourage. Meanwhile, Aurora, growing irritated at the lack of response from the dragon, resorted to poking him hard in the snout with her hoof.

"I said...AHEM!!!"

That did the trick, and within moments, the eyes of the dragon started to open. There was a pause as everypony on the Equestrian side of things halted in their tracks, taking a deep breath over what was going to happen next. As for the dragon, it seemed to display a lot of the grogginess and lack of awareness that most would display after having just been woken up. But, after yawning, and revealing all of its razor-sharp teeth in the process, he soon started to focus. And what he focused on first was the one who woke him, Aurora, who now took a step closer and spoke up to him in a blunt and direct manner.

"Dragon! You have violated sovereign Lunar Kingdom territory! At the command of our monarch, Queen Moon, I, Captain Aurora Dash of the Second Legion of the Royal Army, demand that you vacate this place and withdraw from our borders!"

The dragon stared at her, looking as though he was listening to the most boring lecture in the world, and the second yawn he gave only further reinforced that impression. In time he finally did respond, though his words were slow and sluggish.

"Go away, little pony. I have no time for you."

With that, he laid his head upon the grassy floor once more, closing his eyes. Twilight, seeing this, chose to start drawing closer to this little confrontation, with Shining, of course, close behind her. As one would expect, this lack of seriousness from the dragon did not sit well with Captain Aurora, who approached him and, for the second time today, poked him in the snout. Again, the dragon opened his eyes, but this time, he seemed a touch more annoyed than before.

"I thought I told you to scram, runt!"

Aurora frowned aggressively.

"This runt is a soldier of the Lunar Kingdom. And my orders are to get you out of that Kingdom. So, either you do as instructed and vacate, or..."

Her expression darkened.

"...we'll be forced to make you leave."

Slowly, anger took hold in the dragon's eyes. Gradually, he started to get himself up, rearing higher and higher, much to the fearful reactions of the Equestrians. Aurora stood her ground, spreading out her wings in a threatening manner, never letting her eyes stray from that of the dragon, who again spoke out in a deep and aggressive voice.

"You presume to order me?! To threaten me?!"

Aurora smirked.

"I do. So what's your answer?"

The dragon seethed now, stretching out his own wings, the result of which caused a small gust that nearly caused many of the ponies present here to take a step backwards. Shining rushed forward, ready to defend Twilight from whatever was going to happen next. And speaking of which, the dragon, to Twilight's amazement, started to take in a deep breath, and his chest started to glow, a clear sign of him gathering that most notorious of dragon weapons, fire. And as he did this, he looked down to Aurora with utter hatred.

"My answer? My answer?!"

He flapped his wings once, creating an even greater gust of wind than before, and Twilight herself had to hold onto her glasses in case they fell off as a result of it. The Lunar unicorns, maintaining their position within the edge of the forest, started to focus, their horns glowing slightly, as they watched their commanding officer. And Aurora herself, knowing what was to come, stared this mighty beast in the eye and did not waver, even as flames emerged in his mouth. Twilight, seeing this response, widened her eyes, and in spite of Shining's every attempts, pushed past him, running over to Aurora's location while looking up at the dragon. With the danger of the situation, she realised that, this whole time, she'd been practically frozen, never once allowing herself to speak to the dragon before this mess began. But now, she called out, her voice dripping with desperation as she pleaded.

"Wait! We don't have to fight here! We can...!"

But it was already too late, as the dragon, having had more than his fill of ponies by this point, gave Aurora that answer she'd asked for.

"My answer...is DEATH!!!"