The Great Valley. A sheltered kingdom, filled with lush plants and calmly flowing waters, with little danger or squabbles where food is plenty and life is abundant. Millions of years ago, it was home to the giants who ruled the Earth. It was home to the dinosaurs.
In the Great Valley currently slept five friends, all gathered together under the watchful eyes of their guardians after a night of stories and stargazing. The children were huddled together, taking comfort in the familiar warmth and proximity of each other.
In the centre of the group was a young, pink male longneck known as Littlefoot. He was the tallest in the group, having grown the most with his long thin neck wrapped around his legs and his equally long tail resting beside his head. He was the centre post, the support that held his friends together. He was the caring leader, slow to anger and gifted with wisdom beyond his years.
To his right was a young yellow threehorn, the female Cera. Cera was curled up, her back to Littlefoot and the others but her back was pressed tightly to his side. Her short tail curled slightly as it sat by side, and her crested head was nestled on her front legs, the start of her two adult horns starting to show above her eyes. She wasn't the biggest in the group but was by far the most dangerous and most aggressive, often quarrelling over trivial matters with her friends. There had been times when she had turned her back on her friends but always came back, normally in time to help save them from whatever danger they were facing.
To Littlefoot's left was the green spiketail, Spike. Spike was the youngest in the group, but was the broadest and strongest of the five so far. With his recent growth he had grown the starts of spikes that would give his kind their namesake, and he had started to develop the tough plates that would protect his back later in life. Spike was the slowest of the group, rarely speaking and commonly taking up the rear in their adventures. Calm and docile, Spike rarely cared for anything that didn't involve his friends or food. He slept with his head next to Littlefoot's and his tail out of range for any of his sleeping friends.
On Spike's back was his older sister, a big-mouthed swimmer. The small greenish-grey female named Ducky was small enough to easily sleep on Spike's back without causing him discomfort. Her biped form was slightly curled but tended to form a straight line as she slept, her head resting on her arms and short tail drooping as she slept. She was the second smallest in the group, recently the smallest until she started to grow in a similar fashion as the rest of her kind, gaining slightly webbed hands and a larger crest on her head that grew with her small body.
The last of the five was a brown flyer named Ptetrie. The flyer would never grow as large as his friends, due to his ability of flight and as such, would be the smallest of them forever. His wings had grown as had his body, giving him a more impressive appearance than his childish self did. With a more curved beak and more developed hands on his wings, Ptetrie appeared to be the most adult of his friends even with his small stature. He currently slept on Littlefoot's back but only because he had fallen asleep before Cera. Ptetrie commonly rode on Cera's back, hiding behind her thick plate when there was danger. He was possibly the bravest of the five however, since he was the first to put himself at risk for his friends and easily the most vulnerable to predators.
The five friends had faced many dangers together growing up. Though still young, they had saved the Valley from many crisis and while they had bravely faced danger before, they were still quite young and relied on the grown-ups for advice and protection.
But danger was coming, danger from far across the Mysterious Beyond, more dangerous than the many Sharpteeth that roamed the ravaged land. A danger that the grown-ups had no way to fight, and no way to protect these children.
This was a danger that they would be forced to face alone. And as they slept, the being that would warn them of this danger, and prepare them the best they could, was travelling through the Mysterious Beyond, praying that they weren't too late.