It was official, diplomacy had failed. The dragon, having been completely enraged by the demands and threats of Aurora, had unleashed a torrent of fire from it's mouth, unleashing heat the likes of which Twilight had never known before. Immediately, Shining had leapt in front of her, using his magic to erect a powerful shield around them both. As for Aurora, as befitting of one who was trained for combat, her reflexes served her well, as she flapped hard the moment that fire was coming towards her, getting herself out of the way immediately. Likewise, her personal pegasi soldiers followed her, higher and higher into the skies, much to the annoyance of the dragon, who only now realised that he'd missed his target. Looking down at their quarry, Aurora narrowed her eyes, before launching herself back down, followed shortly by her soldiers.

"For the Queen!" she called out.

"For the Queen!" the soldiers echoed behind her.

The dragon raised his clawed hand, taking a swipe at the approaching pegasi,. But his movements were too slow, too cumbersome to get them, which only added to his frustrations. With the fire around them having died out, Shining lowered his shield, and spun around in place, gesturing to the dragon while addressing his own troopers.

"Pegasi! To the skies! Keep the beast distracted!"

The Equestrian guards saluted, before all unfurling their wings and launching themselves upwards, straight for their target. Eventually, the area around the dragon's head and neck became filled with pegasus ponies, Lunar and Equestrian alike, all buzzing around him like a swarm of flies. Naturally, he tried everything in his power to try and get to them, but no strike nor attempt to catch them worked. Eventually, he once more resorted to using his fire, but much like the last time, he never once managed to get any of them. Their speed was just too great. Growling fiercely over this, the dragon threw back his head and let out an almighty roar, all while Twilight watched from below.

"Shining...what do we do?"

The older stallion looked to her, then glanced back to where the still-stationary Lunar unicorns were positioned. Their horns were continuing to glow brightly, and their eyes focused on the underside of the dragon. Realising this, Shining looked to his sister.

"Stay behind me! I think the Lunars are getting ready!"

Twilight looked to them, and sure enough, her brother had the right of it. For while the pegasi were continuing to distract the furious dragon, the unicorns now aimed their horns, making sure to be as precise as possible before they unleashed their attack. While they were doing this, Aurora, while she was flying, cast a glance down to those aforementioned unicorns, looking confident that this attack was going to work. But, in that split-second she was looking away from the dragon, the beast saw his chance. For while Aurora was beyond the reach of his claws, the same could not be said for his tail. With a single whip, the Lunar Captain was struck, sending her crashing down to the earth with great impact. Many of the soldiers on both sides looked to this with worry, but even more so when they saw what happened next. For the dragon opened his mouth, with his chest aglow yet again, and when she saw this, Twilight called out.

"Aurora! Look out!"

The blue mare was just recovering from her impact, clearly disoriented by it, and when she heard Twilight, she looked up, her eyes widening with horror at what was to come. Twilight, against all reason and judgement, rushed forward, with Shining failing to catch her before she did so.

"Twilight! No!" he called.

But on she ran, and just in time. For the dragon now unleashed his fire like never before. Aurora raised a hoof, shielding herself, just as Twilight rushed to her side, casting her magic and, like her brother, forming a shield around them. The shield had only just been formed when the fire reached it, and while Twilight clearly struggled, she nevertheless held her ground, her power repelling the torrent well. Aurora looked to her as this happened, not quite believing what she'd seen, but eventually, the dragon ceased his assault. Realising that, yet again, he had failed to burn his targets, he grew angrier than ever, rearing back and unleashing another roar. But, in his angered state, he had failed to realise that he'd exposed his underside, and Aurora was quick to take advantage of that opportunity.

"NOW!!!"

Nopony needed to ask what she meant, for the unicorns already knew, and simultaneously blasted off a massive offensive magical beam towards the dragon's undefended underside. Only too late did the beast realise what was happening, as he was struck dead-centre by the pony's magic. He tried to stand his ground under this magical assault, but against the concentrated power of so many unicorns, he soon succumbed. The spell eventually ceased, leaving a still-smouldering scorch mark where it had struck the creature, and as the dragon looked down to it, he slumped his shoulders, falling to his knees.

"You...you ponies...won't...beat..."

But he couldn't even finish, as he instead started to fall flat on his face, the impact shaking the ground quite a bit. At long last, the confrontation was over, and all that remained was an unmoving dragon. Many of the pegasi, who had still been in the air until this point, now began to land, clearly still wary of the fallen dragon. As for Twilight, after being hugged tightly by a hugely-concerned Shining, and looking somewhat embarrassed from it, the young unicorn broke free from him, taking a cautious step towards the dragon.

"Is...is he...?"

Aurora, brushing off some of the dirt that had collected on her armour from her fall, shook her head.

"No. It'll take more than that to kill a dragon. The attack just knocked him out."

Staring at the gargantuan reptilian, the blue mare narrowed her eyes.

"Although, now that we've won..."

Twilight didn't let her finish, for she already knew what she was going to say, and so positioned herself in-between Aurora and the unconscious dragon.

"No! It's beaten! There's no need for anything further!"

Aurora raised an eyebrow.

"And what do you suggest we do instead?"

Twilight thought on that for a moment.

"We...we could..."

Then she looked to the Lunar pegasus as though she'd just had an idea.

"We can take him out of here! Send him back to the dragon lands while he's still unconscious!"

Aurora frowned a little.

"I told you before why that wouldn't be a good idea, Twilight."

Twilight, now re-joined by her brother, looked as though she was about to plead with Aurora further. But, to her surprise, the pegasus raised a hoof, stopping her.

"But...I do owe you."

She sighed, looking Twilight right in the eye.

"You saved my life today. And I never thought I'd ever be able to say that twice about anypony."

Looking from Twilight, to the dragon, and then back again, the Lunar Captain let out a long sigh.

"Alright...take him."

Twilight's face lit up, and she smiled to her brother, but, as before, was kept from saying anything when Aurora spoke up again.

"But I warn you...if this thing comes back here again..."

She didn't finish, because it was pretty obvious what she was going to say. Twilight, while clearly having difficulty in accepting the rather ruthless nature of her ally, nevertheless gave a solemn nod. Aurora nodded back, turning to start moving back towards her soldiers. But, before she started moving in earnest, she stopped. After a brief pause, she looked over her shoulder, giving a more appreciative look to Twilight.

"And...thanks...for helping me back there."

Though taken aback, Twilight soon smiled, giving a similarly-appreciative smile to the other mare. She watched as Aurora finally started to walk back over to her soldiers, no doubt to see if any of them had taken any injuries during the fight. But Twilight soon turned her attention to Shining, who, perhaps more than anypony there, seemed relieved.

"Let's go home, sister."

Smiling, Twilight let out a long and contented sigh.

"Yeah...I'd like that."