1. A Lost Little Long
Thunder rumbled in the distance, as the clouds grew darker and blocked out the sun. Buttercream leaned on the rail of the deck and watched eagerly. Nightwatch joined her, while Aurora Shine and Midnight Hue sat on a swinging chair by the front door. Buttercream and Nightwatch had always enjoyed watching thunderstorms in the summer, and there was a big one passing through Daleshire tonight.
“Nighty, see the rain in the distance?” the little dragoness said, pointing to the misty water falling down onto a mountain in the distance.
“I see it. This storm is gonna be the best of the summer!” Nightwatch responded.
Just then a bolt of lightning flashed.
“OOOOH!” they all said simultaneously.
“EEEH! I love watching thunderstorms!” Buttercream squealed.
“You kids might want to move in once the rain comes down. Also be careful of the lightning,” Aurora told them.
“Ah, they’ll be fine, Honey,” Midnight teased his wife. “Just don’t come crying to us when you two get soaked.”
“Jokes on you, Dad! I love getting wet!” Buttercream said, bouncing up and down as more lightning flashed.
“Whoa! That was a good one!” Nightwatch said.
The wind began to blow and the trees swayed from its might, as leaves fell off. The thunder rumbled louder, causing the window panes to vibrate. Nightwatch and Buttercream felt water falling down on them. They put their tongues out to catch more droplets in their mouths. The rain grew louder and faster and soon joined the sound of the wind. In just a few seconds, the darkest clouds had hovered right over their cabin and dumped millions of droplets. The lightning continued to flash and the thunder kept roaring every few seconds. The entire outdoors were covered in a thick mist of rain falling down. Nightwatch was already soaked and decided to move back in. They both dried themselves off with a towel that Aurora retrieved from inside.
“Alright, Butter. We’d better stay away from the outside while the lightning is still flashing,” he told his little dragon sister.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t wanna get hit by a bolt,” Buttercream replied. “Still, this is so fun to watch! This is why I love summer so much!” “When we get these storms, they’re like…huh? What was that?”
“What was what, honey?” Aurora asked.
“That sound. Was that a cat or something? Oh, it actually it sounds like someone calling for help!”
“Shhh! I hear it too!” Nightwatch said, motioning for everyone to be silent.
“HELP ME!” shouted the faint voice of a female child somewhere in the vicinity.
“There it is again!” Butter exclaimed.
“Oh my goodness! Who is that?” Aurora asked.
“Guys, look! There’s someone up there!” Nightwatch said, squinting his eyes to get a better view of the sky.
Several hundred yards away in the sky was a small object being hurled about by the wind. Lightning flashed and Nightwatch was just barely able to make out a little creature. It appeared to be a young pony from this distance but did not have any wings. The crying grew louder and the creature began to wave its arms.
“HEEEEELP! I CAN’T FLY IN THIS!” shouted the creature.
“She’s in trouble! Nighty, what do we do?!” Buttercream asked her brother, frantically.
“I don’t know if we can do anything with all this lightning!” Aurora said.
“Well I’m not waiting to find out!” Nightwatch replied as he boldly dashed out into the rain.
“NIGHTY!” Buttercream shouted, as Midnight and Aurora held her back.
Nightwatch ran through the front yard, crossed the dirt road and made his way to the field on the other side. His horn glowed and he casted a shield spell that would protect against the lightning. The creature was getting closer to the ground and finally landed and rolled around uncontrollably.
“WHOA! OW! UGH!” she said, tumbling into some tall grass.
“HANG IN THERE! I’VE GOT YOU!” Nightwatch said.
He used his magic to pick up the creature and set her on his back. He rushed back to the house and made it to the front porch, just as there was a final lightning flash followed by a loud crack of thunder. Nightwatch was soaked again but was only concerned with helping their unexpected visitor. He brought the creature down onto the mat in front of the door. Midnight used his magic to turn the front lights on so they could see what she was. Nightwatch thought she would be a pony, but sure enough, this creature was something else entirely.
Instead of hooves, she had digits at the end of her limbs like Buttercream. Her body was serpentine and her face was doglike. Nightwatch was suddenly reminded of Steven Magnet, the large water-dwelling dragon that he and Buttercream met a few weeks ago during their trip to see Princess Luna’s return. This one was different though. While she had scales visible on her yellow underbelly and nose bridge, the rest of her was covered in bright, spring-green fur. Instead of spikes, she had a mane of darker green hair going down her head and body and a small tuft of light green fur at the tip of her tail. Unlike Steven, who had fishlike fins on the side of his head, she had mammalian ears and a set of small brown antlers. She also had four limbs instead of just two.
“Is she alright?” Aurora asked.
“I think so,” Nightwatch responded, as he tried to wake up the creature.
“Nighty? Is that what I think it is?” Buttercream asked.
“Yeah, I think it’s one of those eastern dragons.”
“Didn’t you guys say you met one on your trip?” Midnight asked.
“Yeah, but Steven was a full-grown sea serpent. I’m not sure what kind this one is. Hey, Miss? You awake?”
Nightwatch continued to nudge the little furry dragon until she woke up. She lifted her head and rubbed her eyes with her fists. She opened her eyelids to reveal red irises. She looked up at the unicorn stallion that had just rescued her.
“Hey…tha…thanks for helping me,” she said, faintly.
“Are you okay?” Nightwatch asked.
“I am. Sorry about that. I’m not the greatest at flying when the weather is bad like this. Now you guys are…wait…you guys are unicorns…but is that a Northern Drake I see?”
The mysterious dragon stood up and made eye contact with Buttercream who was already excited to be meeting another fellow dragon.
“Is that my species or something? Cuz I still don’t’ know,” Buttercream giggled.
The dragon stood up and began to levitate around Buttercream, while examining her.
“Well of course it is! You have no horns, but you’ve got a very prominent set of dorsal spikes going down your head and back, which definitely makes you a Northern!
“EEEEEH! Guys, she knows about my kind!” Buttercream squealed as the dragon continued.
“You’ve got a good length for your claws, your spikes are nicely aligned, your scales are even, and you should be growing your wings in a few years give or take!”
“Wings? My kind grows wings?!”
“Not only that, but some Northerns grow to be quite rotund as they eat more healthy gems, so judging by your physique, that little belly of yours is soon going to be a lot bigger. That’s a perfectly normal thing for Northerns though and will keep you insulated in colder weather. I hear you guys are really cuddly but also really strong. You’re gonna be super cute when you get older!”
“Nighty, did you hear that? I’m gonna get wings and be a big, cuddly, fat dragon someday! I’ll be the best hugger around!”
Buttercream hugged her brother’s leg. Nightwatch was already very happy to be hearing someone talk a lot about her species as he had been wondering about it for a while.
“Gosh, you know quite a lot about other dragons! But you’re an eastern one, correct?” Aurora asked.
“Yup! I’m an Eastern Drake from Ester Dracos! My species is called the ‘wind longs.’ We have snake-like bodies, fur, antlers, and we can breathe fire and use magic!”
“Is that how you’re able to fly without wings?” asked Midnight?
“Most of our magic comes from our antlers, but when we levitate, you might not see them glow cuz it’s more like a mind power we have. It’s a little hard to explain. Oh and where are my manners? Sorry. My name is Lily.”
“Great to meet you, Lily!” Aurora told her. “I’m Aurora Shine. This is my husband Midnight Hue, my son Nightwatch, and our little adoptive dragon daughter over there is Buttercream.”
“Daw, you guys adopted her! That’s so sweet! I had no idea some dragons would allow ponies to adopt their young.”
“Well technically we found her,” Nightwatch told Lily.
“My egg was out in the woods, so Nighty hatched me and took me home. They’re the greatest family ever!”
“Still sweet that he took you under his wing…well, not wings, but you get my meaning.”
Midnight had opened the door and let everyone in where it was a bit warmer and dry. Aurora grabbed another towel and put it around Lily, while speaking to her.
“So, Lily, what were you doing in Equestria? And in a storm of all things?” Aurora asked.
“Well my brother Aster and I were abroad for some important business and I got caught up in this storm. Like I said earlier: I’m not the greatest at flying in heavy wind. My brother’s more the professional when it comes to levitation and magic, but I’m getting there.”
“You seem pretty well educated,” Midnight remarked.
“Oh, I just pay attention in school. Sadly that’s all I know about Northern Drakes. So Buttercream, do you know who your parents are?”
“Well they’re standing right next to ya, but I don’t know who my real dragon mom and dad are,” Buttercream replied.
“We’ve been wondering about Butter’s kind for a while, but we never found her parents. That’s okay. She’s been the greatest blessing this family has ever had.” Nightwatch added as he put his arm around his little sister.
“Aw! You guys are the sweetest ponies I’ve ever met! Of course you’re the first ponies I’ve ever met, but I’m sure you compete quite well!”
Everyone led Lily into the living room. She sat down on the couch with the towel still on and Nightwatch and Buttercream joined her. Aurora brewed some warm tea for their visitor while Midnight kept talking with Lily.
“So you and your brother were here on important business you say?” he asked. “What were you guys doing here?”
“Well, see, we just heard that Princess Luna returned from a thousand-year slumber, and according to our leader, Emperor Antirrhinum, that means it’s time for Ester Dracos to reunite with Equestria. Our family has a close friendship with Antirrhinum, so we volunteered to go into Equestria to find the princess and bring her to talk things over.”
“You guys are looking for Princes Luna?!” Buttercream exclaimed.
“Sure are. Is she around?”
“Well she’s not close, but we know her!”
“You know the princess!?”
“We sorta met her a few weeks ago after the whole Nightmare Moon thing happened,” Nightwatch explained. “We actually encountered her not long after the stars freed her. Thankfully some other ponies found the Elements after we left and dealt with her. We met Princess Luna later and became fast friends with her.”
“And she was so impressed with our Nightwatch, she actually asked for him to be her protégé!” Aurora said, rubbing Nightwatch’s cheek with her hoof as he blushed.
“Wow, I can’t believe it! Good thing I fell near your house and got your attention! I just wish Aster was here.”
“Well hey, you’re welcome to stay with us for now. Tomorrow we’ll see if we can find your brother,” Midnight told her.
“In the meantime, have some tea, dear,” said Aurora, handing her a tea cup.
“Ooooh, chamomile! My favorite!” Lily said, sipping the tea. “I really do appreciate your guys’ hospitality! When I find Aster, it would be nice if you could just point us in the right direction to Canterlot. I think we missed a turn and that’s how I got caught up in that storm.”
“Uh…actually, Lily, I’m not sure we should have Princess Luna go with you guys to your homeland. At least not right now,” Nightwatch warned.
“Why is that?”
“Well, it’s just…she hasn’t been doing so great ever since she came back. She did just get imprisoned in the moon for a thousand years after all. It hasn’t been easy for her to get with the times.”
“Eh…yeah, you do make a valid point there.”
“And we saw how bad it was with the Nightmare Moon possession. It’s left her feeling pretty depressed since then. I think she perked up a bit after meeting us that night, but all these new changes have not been easy.”
“I see. Well when I find Aster, we’ll see what we can do about it.”
“Tell you what. I’ll send a letter right now to Princess Luna and see if she responds soon. She just sent me these magic stamps that Celestia made that can be instantly transported to Canterlot so we might get a response real soon. Celestia can probably help out in her sister’s place.”
“Nighty, I have an even better idea!” Buttercream exclaimed. “Why don’t you and I travel over to Ester Dracos and talk with their Emperor! We can be ambassadors!”
“Uh…well, I guess that could work. Mom, Dad, what do you guys think?”
“Go to Ester Dracos? Well I’m not sure. We’ve never been there ourselves. Lily, is it safe for ponies to go?” Aurora asked.
“Sure it’s safe!” Lily chimed. “The Easterns aren’t used to ponies being around, but there’s no sentiment against them there. After Nightmare Moon happened a thousand years ago, it created this divide between dragons and ponies, but most of the longs have forgotten about it and the older ones have grown past it. To be honest, a lot of them are really interested in Equestrian culture and would probably love to see a unicorn there with a little Northern Drake!”
“They’ll be fine, Aury,” said Midnight. “Won’t be nearly as crazy as their last trip.”
“That’s true, dear,” Aurora replied.
“EEEEH! ANOTHER TRIP!” Buttercream squealed.
“Well we should probably wait till we get a response from the princess,” said Nightwatch. “I’ll send that letter tonight and see if she’ll get back soon.”
“In the meantime, Lily, we have a guest room upstairs if you’d like to stay in it,” said Aurora.
“Thank you so much!” Lily said. “I could really use a nice warm bed right now! That storm was pretty scary, but I’m glad this guy saved me!”
Lily cuddled up to Nightwatch as he put his arm around her.
“It’s what I do,” he said, bashfully.
“My brother’s a real hero,” Buttercream told Lily. “When you wake up tomorrow, we’ll tell you how he helped take down a big killer robot sheep!”
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Great first introduction to the Eastern Dragons with Lili here, also glad Butter was able to get some early info about her dragon heritage! (Wished the show had shown the same courtesy to a certain cool purple dragon
)
Looking forward to see Nightwatch/Buttercream get into & out of trouble during this trip Alex!
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It's not all we're going to find out about Butter's heritage, but it might be the extent of what she will learn for now. Nightwatch is still curious about it and wants to learn more, but it doesn't go exactly as he plans.
Oh you have no idea! It's gonna get crazy in time!
The start to another adventure, and another dragon friend is made.
Oh you have no idea Butter.
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A sign of things to come! :3
A new adventure awaits in Ester Dracos! It's lucky that Nightwatch and his family were there to find Lily, not just for saving her from the storm, but also getting to learn the sort of dragon Buttercream will grow up to be. Of course, we know that already, lol. Just the fact that Buttercream is excited to grow up big and fat just so she can be the best hugger in the world is just precious. XD
So Princess Luna's returns means the return of the Eastern Dragons, huh? Very interesting.
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And it's going to set up how eager Butter is to learn more.
It'll be explained more how that relates to the Eastern Drakes. Remember how Nightwatch said in the last story how the Nightmare Moon thing caused a rift between the ponies and dragons?
Well... it seems Nightwatch and Buttercream found themselves in an adventure that had a rather stormy beginning, if I may say so.
Bad opening joke aside, it's good to see them again. :) I liked following their latest adventure, and look forward to following this one also.
The family keeps being nice to see, and the children's interest in watching the storm is really endearing and cute, even as one of the children is an adult. That said, I admit I worried for them both that they could catch a cold, even if it may be more difficult for Buttercream than for Nightwatch (though clearly not impossible, as we know Spike can get sick).
That said, it's definitely a good thing that they were outside, because if they hadn't been, God knows (or Harmony or Fausticorn knows, depending on which is the deity in this version of Equestria) what could have happened to Lily. So it was definitely fortuitous they stayed outside. And on that front, Nightwatch was very brave by rushing out into the storm... and surprisingly resourceful with magic too, considering the shield spell he knows. Considering who it's been stated he'll end up with later on, he and his future marefriend definitely have something else in common.
And on this front, it's also a good thing that Buttercream's so far only having good experiences with her kind (considering that her first one was technically with Steven Magnet in the prequel). Lily is adorable, and I liked the way in which she gave that info about Buttercream - and her reaction upon learning what she'll grow up to be is both hilarious and really sweet.
That said, I confess I worry Lily is being too hasty when she says that it's alright if Nightwatch and Buttercream go on as ambassadors, given that their Emperor is specifically seeking out Princess Luna. Granted, given it's not been so long since Luna returned and she still may not be 'fully adjusted' to the modern world, it may not be the best idea to send her. And on that front, it might not be a good idea for Celestia to go either, considering Equestria at large probably would want her close by for the time being until they're absolutely sure that Luna is not Nightmare Moon. So in that regard, Nightwatch and Buttercream may indeed be the next best alternative. I only hope the Emperor and the other elder dragons will indeed understand that.
If nothing else, at least Midnight and Aurora aren't putting a lot of barriers to their children going. They're still worried parents, but they're not being restrictive, and I do think it's nice of them that they're willing to trust Lily, especially considering the general anti-dragon sentiment that Equestria was shown to have at this point in time. It really shows how they're just nice people.
On a slightly unrelated note, I like your lore around Eastern Drakes, both in terms of their general appearance and magic and in terms of their cultural history. They feel very markedly different from the migrating dragons we've seen in the show and from the Northern Drakes we've seen in Flurry Heart's Story. Looking forward to seeing more of them.
All in all, a great begining to this story in the My Little Sister is a Dragon series. Eager to see to what comes next! :)
Wow, this is an awesome first chapter! Lily is very cute in terms of design and personality, she's almost as cute as Butter. I say 'almost' because, well, come on, NO ONE can rival Butter in the cuteness department!!
Also, that cover art is just epic! I love how your OCs and backgrounds just become more and more detailed! Especially the details you added to the water, and that grass looks so real I feel like I could reach out and touch it. Better than any of the canon backgrounds we got in MLP. Brilliant!!
I also have a feeling I'm going to like the little wyrm on the cover, it looks like an excited puppy. That's Pansy, right? I take it the wyrms can fly/levitate as well?
We definitely should have gotten to see eastern dragons in the show. Huge wasted opportunity there. Loving what we got so far! Certainly looking forward to the next chapter!!!
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Oh man. I apologize if I can't reply to all of this, but I'm glad you're enjoying it so far!
I did the thing with Luna having a rough time cuz we all know she must have in that first year of being back as she did not show up publicly until Luna Eclipsed. In this story, she finds comfort in training and talking to Nightwatch, and there is actually a story I have planned that touches on that. of course the other reason is for the plot to go along with Nighty and Butter being the ones to go to Ester Dracos. Talking with Antirrhinum about the relations with the ponies is important, but there's also something else he must look into which really has an affect on him for a while and could lead to some issues, but how Butter takes it remains to be seen. Butter will have her own issue she has to overcome in this story as well. I am having a lot of fun making the lore for these different societies in the MLPFIM universe. We got a lot from the dragons in the show, but I go a little deeper with the four tribes and their ways. We saw a lot about Northern Drakes in "Go North Young Dragon" and now we get to know about the Easterns. Chinese dragons have always been amazing in my opinion, and I feel great designing them and writing this lore!
If you're enjoying it now, wait till we get further into the story! :D
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I definitely wanted to give Lily a cuteness factor, and it sure worked! The shape of her upper lip gives her a kind of "Pikachu mouth" which only adds to the cuteness and I really need to draw more pics of her! :3
Yeah, that turned out better than I planned! The buildings are kinda simplistic, but I like how the bushes around that one building to the left urned out. I used special leaf-shaped brushes in Photoshop for those and that's how I did the grass in the foreground hill too. I just clicked and dragged and it generated random little grass blades. It's kinda cheating I guess, but it would take me hours to just draw them all individually.
Yup, that's Pansy! Wyrms can fly too and they're kinda like dogs in this story. I thought the idea of having a dog-like character would be cute and when I looked up references for 'wyrm' dragons, I figured that would work.
Well we did see Steven Magnet who I consider to be one, but even more obvious were the spells that Mistmane and Sable Spirit were casting when they were fighting. I guess that means they do exist in MLPFIM, they were just never shown.
I'm starting to think Rainbow Dash would like Nightwatch. He's as daring as Doo.
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Lol, well Nightwatch is meant for somepony else.
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Yes I know, but I didn't mean in a romantic way.
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Oh. Well she might. Nighty still has yet to meet the Mane Six. He could have met him all these years during the events of FiM, but there's a reason he didn't.
Oh my pony, I just realized something! Not sure whether this was planned or not, but I was taking another look at the dragon description cards on DeviantArt, and I noticed some of the dragons on the cards perfectly resemble characters we've already been introduced to! In other words, the dragon on the western drake card looks just like Calida, and the dragon on the eastern drake card looks almost exactly like Emperor Antirrhinum! Seriously, the resemblance is uncanny! Does this mean the dragons on the other 2 cards could be potential future characters of those same species? For the green northern drake, I predict that's one of Spike's grandparents, and for the blue southern, I'm gonna go with one of Ember's, Smolder's, or Billow's relatives. But who am I to say?
I know I may be way off base, so feel free to correct me. Either way, looking forward to what else you have in store!
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It's alright. :) I understand I can leave pretty big comments. Also, my apologies for taking so long to reply to yours.
Thank you for the further details about Luna, as well as for the hints of what's to come regarding the Dragon Emperor, Buttercream and dragon-pony relations in general.
And well... I can wait, but I'm definitely still eager to see what comes next. :) Good luck to you for the remainder of this story.
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Most of that is kind of coincidence. Antirrhinum was originally going to be aqua green with red hair, but I wanted to avoid making too many long OCs that were shades of green, so I switched the colors and he looked like that red long in those pictures. As for Calida: I always saw her being a dark brownish yellow with dark brown spikes and I think I forgot about the original pic of the wyvern I drew. I have yet to do anything with the green Northern and the blue Southern.
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Yeah, I figured as much. I had read the description of Antirrhinum and was like "Yeah, it's probably just a coincidence..." But then I saw Calida and was all "Hmmm..."
media1.tenor.com/m/11Bc-Wo2gPQAAAAC/incredibles-teacher.gif
Heehee, sorry, too good an opportunity to not use that quote. Anyway, I saw a pattern and thought maybe you were planning something. Guess I was wrong in this instance. If you were ever to use the Northern and Southern, however, I think they would be good Easter eggs hinting at what's yet to come!
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Maybe I'll do something with it, I dunno. The green Northern and blue Southern do sound like they'd make good designs I could use someday. Those original 4 dragons were supposed to be samples for what the species tend to look like.
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Okey dokey loki!
It's time for another adventure with Nighty and Buttercream!
On top of that, they have a new friend joining them, that being an Eastern Drake known as Lily! 
I loved the introduction of the young noodle dragoness. I can tell she's going to be a lot of fun.
Also, here's hoping Luna can join in the adventure.
On to the next chapter!
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You’re gonna love Lily and especially her brother Aster! :3
Luna might show up, but the next story focuses more on her.