When you first found yourself stranded in Equestria, you wouldn’t have dared step foot anywhere near the Dragon Lands. Not after you’d heard the tales from Princess Twilight and her friend Rarity. They had gone there years ago to help their friend Spike and were lucky to return unscathed after an encounter with a dragon named Garble and his friends.

Now, almost six years after they had traveled there, you found yourself returning to the Dragon Lands for the second time in about four months. Your first trip there had come only because Spike had begged you. You considered the little dragon to be your only ‘bro’ in this world. As a guy, he understood you, and you understood him. It was that understanding that had led to you accompanying him on his trip, and you were glad you did. He had run into some trouble with Garble yet again, but he actually had a dragon on his side that time around: Ember.

She was… different, as far as you had been able to tell. Not only was she considerably nicer than the other dragons, though she still had an attitude about her, she was also much smaller, just barely a head taller than yourself. Of course, she was still a fire-breathing reptile that could fly, so you hadn’t exactly felt safe when she first discovered you, Rarity, and Twilight. What she ended up saying about you stuck with you, though. She had called you “quite the exotic creature”.

Whether that was a compliment or not, you had no clue. What you did know was that she had become quite the leader. Which brings you to your current situation. “Spike, are you sure she’ll be fine with me coming along?”

“Well, to be honest, I’m not really sure,” your friend shrugs. That worries you a bit, and he notices. “Don’t sweat it though, we’ll just tell her I didn’t want to travel there alone.”

That makes enough sense that you don’t push the subject any further. Though, an odd question does come to the forefront of your mind as you near the edge of the Dragon Lands. “So why does she call herself the Dragon Lord, and not the Dragon Lady?”

Spike chuckles at that, and shrugs his shoulders again. “No clue, bro. Maybe they think ‘Lord’ sounds scarier?”

The idea of anyone finding someone like Ember scary amuses you. Sure, she can breathe fire and claw the hell out of you, but your impression of her had left you thinking that she wanted to learn what it was like to be friends with others, rather than harm them. You’re lifted away from your thoughts as you notice the heat, and you turn to Spike. “Maybe. I forgot how hot it was here, though.”

“Well it is a volcanic area,” he says matter-of-factly, and you stick your tongue out at him. You had been to Yellowstone a couple times before you got stuck here, but you had never endured heat like this while you were there. But hey, it was still better than the freezing cold Crystal Empire.

“So why did Ember call you here, Spike?”

“I dunno, I just woke up this morning and I was glowing.”

“And itchy,” you add, laughing a bit as he scratches his back when he hears your comment. “Maybe she just wants to chat or something?”

“Well I wish she would have just written me a letter then,” Spike replies, scratching at his arms as you walk past a group of larger dragons. You aren’t familiar with any of them, but the largest one steps directly in your path, making you and Spike stop in your tracks. He’s a huge, pure black dragon. Normally, you’d find something like that incredibly intimidating, but he was shooting the two of you a crooked grin for some reason.

“So you’re Spike, huh?” He asks, looking towards your tiny companion. Spike laughs nervously, and nods his head as he reels back a bit, bracing himself for trouble. That trouble never came, luckily, and the dragon simply claps his hand onto Spike shoulder. “Hah, he looks pretty scared, guys,” he calls back to his friends, who snicker. “No sweat, bro, we’ve been dying to meet the dragon that finished the Gauntlet of Fire.”

“Oh, heh, well that’s me!” Spike grins, pointing a thumb at himself.

“Great, now he’s never gonna shut up about it…” you mutter jokingly. The other dragons laugh at that, and the one in front of you turns to face you.

“So what are you supposed to be, some kinda hairless gorilla?”

“I’m a human,” you beam. “The only one on the planet!”

“Man, and you thought I’d get an ego,” Spike mutters.

“Ya don’t say?” The dragon leans towards you, inspecting you closely. “What are those things on your body?”

“Um. Clothes?”

“Yeah, what do they do?” He asks, tugging a bit on the right sleeve of your shirt. You brush his claws away, not wanting him to rip it. “They’re not strong like armor.”

“They keep me warm,” you reply. “Plus, humans can’t exactly hide their pieces,” you add, pointing towards your crotch for emphasis, “and it wouldn’t exactly be decent to walk around showing off my genitals.”

He stares at you for a moment, then busts out laughing. “Hah, you’re alright, man! I’ll get out of your way now, I can tell that Spike is really anxious to see the Dragon Lord,” he chuckles. Your attention is drawn back to your friend, and he’s practically rolling around on the ground in an attempt to get rid of an itch. “The name’s Pyre, by the way.”

You tell Pyre your name, and shake hands with him. After that, he goes back over to his friends, and you direct your attention back to Spike, walking over and standing above him. “Need some help there?”

“Yeah, that’d be great,” he replies, scratching himself all over. Luckily, the walk to Ember’s throne room isn’t too far, so you toss him over your shoulder and begin the trek there. You don’t run into many more dragons, and the ones that you do run into are just as friendly as Pyre was, thank god. Of course, the fact that you were holding a writhing, pulsating dragon that had been summoned to these lands basically meant you were escorting a VIP.

Thankfully, your journey came to an end after about five more minutes. Your forehead was practically caked in sweat, and your shirt was beginning to grow damp as well. You walk through the dark entrance to Ember’s lair, and are shocked to see that the inside is incredibly bright, no doubt a result of all the gems that adorn the walls and ceiling. Sapphires, rubies, emeralds, topaz, even a few diamonds! In fact, the only place that seems to be lacking any gems is the far ends of the room, which is shrouded in darkness.

“Heh, I guess she really likes gems,” you joke to yourself. Unbeknownst to you, you’re not alone, and a reply echoes throughout the cave.

“Gems are exotic minerals.” You look all around for the source of the voice, but can’t see anything. The sound of a roaring fire pulls your gaze to the previously unlit area of the room, and you see that Ember is sitting in her throne, having just lit a torch. She looks exactly like you remembered her. Her scales were a gorgeous blue, and she had a few blue spikes poking out from her head. The most striking feature was her horns, though, which curled back and then forward, much like a ram’s. “Though I suspect your kind doesn’t look at them that way.”

“Actually, humans found gems just as precious as dragons do,” you inform her. She lets out a huff of air, perhaps out of disbelief, and rolls her eyes. Deciding that you don’t want to just stand around like a chump, you slowly begin to make your way towards her. Her tail slithers up the side of her throne, then smacks back to the floor as she regards you.

“I suspect that Spike is incapacitated?” You nod your head as you come to a stop no more than a meter in front of her, and she gives you a small smirk. “It’s a good thing he had a friend to escort him here, then.”

Ember moves to grab her scepter, and waves it in front of Spike. The glowing that’s encompassed his body for the past few hours finally begins to fade away, and he lets out a massive sigh of relief as you lower him to the ground. Once he’s back on his feet, he smiles. “Thanks for carrying me,” he says, then turns towards Ember. “So why did you call me here, Ember?”

Ember raises her head up, and looks down to him. “I have a request for you, Spike. One that you may find a bit… strange.”

“What is it?”

“I ask that you teach me more about friendship.” You have to stifle a laugh at her serious expression, which she catches onto. “And just what are you chuckling about?”

“Oh, just your face,” you reply… and immediately realize your mistake. She sends you a glare, and you reel back a bit. “Oh god, that’s not what I meant! I, uh—”

“Just do yourself a favor and keep your jaw closed unless I speak to you,” she practically growls, cutting you off. You nod your head insanely fast to appease her. She gives you a smile that you can see right through, and turns back to Spike. “The dragons here have no concept of friendship. At least, not in the same way your pony friends do.”

You zone out a bit as the two begin to chat, and decide to look around the room. Aside from the gems, there wasn’t anything too special about it. It was just an unsculpted cave with a stone chair that looked far too massive for Ember. Of course, you wouldn’t say that to her face, because she’d probably claw yours right off.

Your attention is grabbed again as you hear her say your name. “Huh?”

“I said,” she frowns, “would you like to join Spike and I for lunch?”

“Oh!” You look over to Spike, and he gives you a little thumbs up. You shoot him a grin, then turn back to Ember. “Sure.”

“Very good. Follow me,” she instructs the two of you. She flaps her wings, giving her enough lift to hover over to the wall directly to the right of her throne. To your surprise, she presses a hand down on it, and a tiny pressure plate is revealed. To the left of it, the wall rises up, and a new passageway becomes visible.

“Hey, that’s pretty cool,” Spike gushes. Ember doesn’t reply, giving the two of you a wayward glance as she takes off into the tunnel. “Well, looks like we’re walking, bro.”

“It would seem that way…” You sigh. “And here I was thinking we were done walking.”

At least you have your buddy to chat with, which passes the short time it takes to make it to the room Ember had relocated to. She’s already sitting at the end of a rather large table, and the two of you split up to opposite sides of the table. By the time you’re both sat at her sides, she’s already set up plates of…

“Uh, Ember?”

“What is it?” She asks, raising an eyebrow.

You point to the gems she’s put on your plate. “Do you have anything that won’t shred up my insides?”

She sighs, and heads off to what you can only assume is a kitchen. She returns shortly after, holding what looks like a huge t-bone steak in her hands. Where she got that, you have no idea, but you certainly aren’t gonna complain. She drops it onto your plate with a thud, and immediately ignites it with her breath. After about five seconds, she stops and sits back down in her seat, the steak fully cooked. “I assume you’re not opposed to eating beef?”

“Are you kidding me?!” You shout, stuffing your face with the glorious food. “Twilight and her friends never let me eat meat!”

Your actions get a giggle out of her, much to your shock. “Well I can’t say I’m surprised. Ponies are notorious for being one of the few species on the planet that don’t eat any kind of meat.”

“Well if they’re anything like the horses where I come from,” you speak with your mouth full, not caring at all how rude it is, “then they just can’t digest it as easily as they can vegetation.”

“Hm… interesting. So tell me, Spike.” She turns back to the little drake, whose mouth is just as stuffed with gems as yours is with steak. He somehow manages to gulp it all down, something you decide you’ll have to have him teach you. “How is Princess Twilight?”

“She’s doing great,” he beams. “Actually, she and the girls are off at the Crystal Empire right now.”

“Crystal Empire?” Ember asks. You swear you can see a bit of drool running down her mouth as she repeats the name.

“Yeah, it’s where Princess Cadance and Shining Armor rule over the Crystal Ponies. I don’t mean to brag, but I’m considered a national hero there,” he boasts, trying to act nonchalant and failing completely.

“Oh, don’t be so modest, Spike,” you speak up. “You definitely meant to brag.”

Spike blushes at that, but continues. “That’s why I brought him.”

“And he intrigues me,” Ember replies, turning back to you as she gulps down a few gems. “Tell me, do you remember what I said to you when we first met?”

“Um, I think so. You said that I was an ‘exotic creature’, right?”

“Yes, and my opinion has not changed. You’re more dragon than you are pony, so why do you choose to live with them?”

“Twilight was the first one to find me,” you recall. “I actually had no idea how I ended up here, but she was willing to help me find out.”

“And have you?”

You shake your head. “Not yet, but by this point it’s not really important.”

“What do you mean? Do you not have any family or friends that you miss?” She asks.

The question calls forward memories of your past life. It had been a happy one, but at the same time, you weren’t as upset as some people might have been.

“My family and friends were great, but I dunno,” you shrug. “I took it pretty hard at first, but I doubt they would want me to waste the rest of my life trying to find a way back home, even if they do wanna see me again. I’m sure they’d rather I just made the most of what I’ve been handed. After all, I have been here for three years”

“That’s certainly an optimistic way of looking at it.”

“Well, it also helps that I’ve got Spike by my side. He’s the best friend a guy could ask for.” You smile at him, and he returns it.

Ember doesn’t seem entirely satisfied, though. “So what happened after you were found?”

“Well, she wanted to study me,” you laugh at the memory. You’d never recoiled faster than you had when she’d tried to remove your clothes. Having to explain to her that humans wear clothes to remain decent was quite an embarrassing ordeal, especially when she kept asking questions. “After that, she helped me get a job at Rarity’s boutique.”

“Rarity…” Ember repeats, putting a claw to her chin. “Is she the white pony that journeyed here during the Gauntlet of Fire?”

“That’s her,” you nod. “I made enough money there to rent a house in Ponyville, so that’s where I live now.”

“I see. I may have to visit this ‘Ponyville’ one day, and visit with her and her friends,” she smiles. “But for now, I believe the two of you shall suffice.”

“So how come you wanna learn about friendship?”

“It was Spike’s friendship that helped me get to where I am today,” she responds, motioning to the scepter leaning against her chair. “And I believe that it could serve to help me grow as a leader.”

“Well you’re already a pretty great leader,” Spike comments. “I mean, not as great as my whole ‘Garble has to hug everyone’ rule. That one was classic!” He snorts with laughter. You’ve gotta agree with that. “What ever happened with that jerk anyways?”

“Shortly after you and your friends left, he attempted a coup with his friends,” she rolls her eyes. “It was rather unsuccessful, and father came up with a pretty severe punishment for me to hand down.”

“Heh, how severe are we talking?” Spike asks.

“He had to wear a tutu for three weeks,” she laughs, and the two of you immediately break into your own laughter.

“Okay, that is priceless. I had no idea your dad had such a great sense of humor,” you laugh, wiping away a few tears. After a few moments, the laughter begins to die down, and you look back over to Spike, who has finished off the last of his gems. You only have a few bites of steak left yourself, and it seems as if the two are waiting on you to finish. “Anyways, what do you wanna know about friendship?”

“Everything,” she replies, making you spit out your food in shock. “Is… something wrong?”

“N-no, nothing,” you reply, wiping your mouth off. “Um, does that mean we have to stay here for a while?”

“I have made arrangements for you to remain here for the next two weeks,” she answers, making you gulp. You weren’t sure if you could handle two whole weeks in the Dragon Lands. “You may leave if you wish, as I was only expecting Spike to come, anyways.”

You look over to Spike, who’s giving you that look. The kind that practically screams ‘you better not abandon me bro’. When he gives you that look, you’d feel like an asshole if you turned him down. You let out a sigh, and offer him a tiny smile. “It’s alright, I can’t leave my bro hanging.”

“Awesome!” He exclaims, pumping his fist in the air.

Ember chuckles at your camaraderie and flaps her wings, hovering back into the air. Taking hold of her scepter, she motions for you to follow her once more, and you and Spike shuffle out of your seats. You trail behind the dragoness for a few minutes before coming to a small room with nothing more than a stone bed in it. “This is where you will be staying.”

“This is the arrangement you had made?” You ask, scratching your head. Deciding that you wouldn’t be the one to sleep on the floor, you turn and look down at Spike. Extending your hands towards him, you smirk. “Alright bro. Rock, paper, scissors for who has to sleep on the floor.”

“You’re on!” He grins. The two of your go through the motions, and each throw out a hand after chanting the name of the game. To your dismay, he’s thrown out scissors while you threw out paper. Silently cursing, you turn back to Ember.

“Are you sure you don’t have something a little more, um, comfortable?”

“Sorry, but you clearly lost at that little game,” she smirks. “I’ll be leaving you two to get comfortable while I attend a meeting.”

“Yeah, whatever,” you grumble, not looking forward to throwing your back out. Ember says nothing more, leaving the two of you alone, and you sit down on the rock bed. “So if we’re gonna be staying here, we should probably send a letter to Twilight soon.”

“I’ll ask Ember for some paper when she gets back.”

“Aw, crap,” you mutter, having just realized something. “This is going to cut into my vacation days at the Boutique…”

Author's Note

I decided to write this after a few people voiced their opinion of wanting a full-blown romance story featuring Ember and a human. I was originally going to write it in third person, but I settled on second for the sake of practice, as I hardly ever write in this perspective.

Anyways, if you guys like this opening chapter, be sure to let me know!