It's been over a year since Princess Twilight's coronation as the official ruler of Equestria. Smolder's gone home for the summer and Spike joined her to live with other dragons for a few months. Dragon Lord Emeritus Torch had suggested it would be wise for him to start spending more time with his own kind and Dragon Lord Ember agreed, offering to host Spike in her family's cave.

Spike was incredibly nervous at first. Torch was especially intimidating to him, despite how gentle the giant was with his newly hatched octuplets. Torch noticed Spike's nerves and even apologized for his sense of humor, assuring him he would never squish a baby dragon. This didn't do much to calm Spike, so Torch asked him outright what he was thinking about.
This is when Spike told the story of how he met Owlowicious... and the dragon who lives in the Everfree Forest.

Torch lowered his claw to the ground, telling Spike to climb on with a blank expression on his face. It was Ember's turn to be nervous. She asked her father: "dad, what are you going to do?"

"I just want to talk," Torch calmly replied. Now Ember was scared.

With Spike in his claw and followed closely by Ember, Torch flew all the way from the iconic Dragon Lord's cave to the Everfree. He seemed to know exactly where he was headed. After touching down in front of the unmistakable cave from Spike's story, Torch put Spike down and called out a name.
A green dragon soon emerged from inside. His eyes widened when he saw Torch, the Dragon Lord behind him and the little, familiar purple dragon who was moving quickly toward her.

"I see you've definitely met. So you admit your crime, then?" Torch asked the green dragon, still calm.

"What crime?" the green dragon had the foolish audacity to ask. At this, Torch's calm front vanished in an instant.

"YOU DARE!?" Torch bellowed, rearing up on his hind legs and delivering a powerful kick to the green dragon's torso.

Not even Ember has ever seen her father do this. It was such an unnatural thing for a grown dragon to do, which in Torch's case definitely meant it was deliberate.
The green dragon briefly rolled over the ground in pain before trying to escape, but Torch wasn't done with him yet. Ember encouraged Spike to watch the beating, as it would show him what it means to have her father's protection. It... didn't have the intended effect on her little friend.