After receiving an urgent letter calling for her help, Ember, Dragon Lord of all dragons, answers the call to aid Spike.

No matter what the problem may be, she knows it can't be so bad.

Right?

*If you are feeling generous you can buy me a Ko-Fi!!

*I personally thank Semaj for his huge help. He is one hell of an editor and teacher*

**Rated Everyone since I think it doesn't earn the Teen degree**

Watching someone snap is exciting to watch—especially from afar.

To Rainbow, it's like witnessing someone forget about their fears, and do whatever it is they have to do. To Rarity, it's like expressing herself in the most distasteful way possible.

And to Spike, well, he's too scared to snap in fear of destroying the town. Again.

Trixie's birthday is coming up, and Starlight hasn't the faintest what to do. And Pinkie isn't even in town! So Starlight runs for help from her little dragon friend.

Now with a Chinese translation: here!

Spike has a problem regarding inviting two of his royal friends over on the same day! To avoid a diplomatic disaster, can Twilight, Starlight, and Spike prevent these two from meeting? No. No, they can’t. Let’s move on to the real problem.

Thanks to Tired Old Man and Nova Quill for their edits and inputs!

Shaping a loose collective of dragons into a formidable and regimented empire isn't the easiest task. But with the proper application of wit and willpower, she's started to chisel out edges in the previously dull kingdom, started to sculpt it into something powerful enough to stand the test of time.

Spike was only supposed to visit her as a diplomat, to help her hammer out a trade agreement between The New Dragon Empire and Equestria. But he's everything a dragon shouldn't be: conciliatory, spineless, peace-loving, friendly. He sees what she has to do - executions, browbeating, delegation - and balks, has the audacity to think he can help her.

And he's getting popular. Among them. They're supposed to hate him, but they're doing the opposite. And in a world where he's treated like royalty and could have been king, what room is there left for Ember? How's she supposed to govern when the mere presence of a foreigner is enough to shake the empire's principles to their roots?

**********************

This story is designed to be able to be read as a stand-alone long story. Similarly, Flint. is designed to be read as a stand-alone short story. For fullest reading experience, however, read the two of them together; chronologically, the events of Steel. come literally right after the events of Flint.

I'm gonna be honest, I haven't done multi-chapter stuff in a while, and I might have bitten off more than I can chew here. I've got it all plotted out, in my head and on paper, but actually making good on my promises feels daunting at best. "Bear with me" applies until I've published everything, I guess, and I'll try to release chapters on a semi-regular basis until it's done (and add a tag when it starts actually cropping up in the story proper.)

All of my thanks to Flashgen for helping me with this.

Ponies are only scary until they are snuggled.

A baby dragon learns this first-handly.

Twilight has a choice to make, a decision that she believes would be best for her number one assistant , Spike. The very dragon who became her first friend and younger brother. It is with this decision that she must say farewell to her best friend.

Edited by: The Pony Spartan

Spike carries each of the most important ponies in his life home after a long day.

A commission-turned-gift for B_25

UPDATE: A Spanish language translation for Carry Me Home is now available, made by Spaniard Kiwi on his deviantart.

UPDATE (2024): Them's Writin' Words podcast did a wonderful review of this story. I appreciate all the thought and work put in to their critiques and all the kind words.

Subjects of myth and legend, dragons are fascinating creatures; as mysterious as they are terrifying. Outsiders don't know much about them, and most of what they do know is dubious at best. And that's just fine with the fire-breathers; the only ones that should know about dragon business are dragons themselves.

But being an outsider himself means that Spike has missed out on some vital knowledge. For most of his life he's been lucky that that fact was little more than an occasional inconvenience, but the thing about luck is that it eventually runs out. Knowing nothing about what he was and where he came from was bound to bite him in the ass someday.

However, perhaps his luck hasn't run totally dry just yet.

Every weekend when the library's closed and no threats to Ponykind are around, Spike and Twilight enjoy their nights with munchies and some flicks. This time though, their choice of cinema encourages some interesting discoveries between the long-time friends.

(Image is cropped from Frist44's work on Derpibooru.)