Prologue
It was raining.
Sopping wet leaves dotted the pathway the family walked and the trees they came from loomed overhead, towering high and mighty. A flash of thunder boomed throughout the valley, startling the small child who was walking with her parents.
"Eep!" she squeaked, cowering underneath her mother, a kirin. The kirin seemed unafraid and smiled reassuringly at her daughter.
"Hush, Tiki, it's alright," she said quietly. Tiki, with big green eyes, stared up at her mother.
"It's awight?" she whimpered, sticking her head out to look up at the massive oaks surrounding them and the tumultuous sky above them. "But big boom scawy!"
The kirin lit up her horn and lifted Tiki out from under her belly. "I know, sweetheart, but we need to get to Aunt Scarlet's house. Can you be brave for mommy and daddy?"
"Okay," Tiki squeaked.
Ahead of the two of them, a large Abyssinian cat stood, looking at a road map in the fork. "Hyacinth, is Scarlet's house down towards Canterlot or more north?"
"North," Hyacinth responded as Tiki cuddled up in her mother's voluminous mane of fur. The small, black lump of fur was barely visible among the navy blue, and only a slight shaking betrayed Tiki's presence.
The Abyssinian came forward to Hyacinth and Tiki, holding a sodden map. "It's okay, Tiki. We're getting close to Auntie Scarlet's."
Tiki looked at her father, shivering. "Is cold!"
"I know," he said softly. "Would you like my jacket?"
Tiki brightened up. "Yes! Jackee!"
The family continued on their way, Tiki considerably warmer. Slowly, the forest around the trio thickened, making way to a thick, dark canopy.
"Uh... Rain?" Hyacinth asked hesitantly. "Did we take the right turnoff?"
Rain paused. "I think so. I'll check the map." He made to look at the map, but it had become a sodden mess. "Oh, dear."
The rain was coming down more heavily now, thrumming on the forest floor with the force of a drum. Typhoon season was close, and it seemed like the weather was warming up for one.
Tiki shivered once more, her black, white, and green fur bushed out and spiky with water. "I'm cold!"
Hyacinth shielded Tiki with her magic, trying to prevent her daughter from catching a cold. "I think we'd better head back. We'll just have to tell Scarlet that we couldn't make it."
Rain nodded, his eyes filled with worry about the incoming storm.
Just as the three started making their way back, a growl echoed throughout the forest.
Rain stopped, his fur on end and ears pricked. "Who's there?"
A separate growl and a distant howl answered his call.
Rain met Hyacinth's gaze. "We'd better go. I don't think those creatures are friendly."
They set off at a brisker pace, but the growls and howling followed them.
"Hyacinth, take Tiki and go. I'll hold them off. Run!"
Hyacinth took his word to heart and galloped off, holding a crying and scared Tiki. The sounds of a fight rung through their ears, shaking them to their cores.
Hyacinth grabbed Tiki in her telekinesis and stuffed her into a hiding spot. "Stay there, Tiki!"
Tiki whimpered and backed into the tree cavity, shaking and shivering with fear. Soon, all was quiet.
Then, Tiki heard a sniffing sound and a stench entered her nose. She stayed still, her breathing rattling her chest. The sounds stopped in front of her hole, and she thought she could see an ugly, wooden face. Then the beast moved on, and the forest was silent except for the sound of the deluge pouring from the sky.
Tiki, shaking, shuffled forward and looked out from her hole. She peeked around but could see nothing, no beast or her parents. She slipped out of the damp trunk, slippery from the rain and mud caked on her fur.
"Mommy? Daddy?" she mewed softly, her voice echoing around the valley.
She crept forward until she saw the path. She started padding down it towards where she thought her parents were.
"Mommy? Daddy?" She called louder this time.
No response.
Tiki blinked. She thought she could see a bundle of sodden fur at the edge of that clearing, fur that looked like... yes, it was her daddy!
She bounded over to her father. "Daddy, come on! We gotta find Mommy and go to Auntie Scarwet's. Come on!"
She nudged Rain. "Daddy!"
He didn't move. "Daddy?"
Tiki looked around frantically. There! It was her mother!
She raced over to Hyacinth's side. "Mommy! Come on, Daddy isn't moving and I think he needs a doc... doctew... doctow..."
Her mother wasn't moving, either. Tiki stared at her mother's unmoving body. "Mommy?"
Tiki looked between her father and her mother. Both looked just like they did before, minus all that red stuff that was around them. Did they roll on a bunch of berries? They must have.
"Mommy, Daddy! You told me not to eat weird bewwies. Now they made you sick!" Tiki scolded. "I'll cawwy you to Auntie Scarwet's house and she can fix you."
She attempted to pick her mother up, but she felt so stiff and cold that it was hard work. Tiki sat down. "You're heavy, Mommy!"
Tiki shook her mother. "Wake up, Mommy!"
No response.
"Mommy...?"
Tiki started to cry, tears rolling down her cheeks. "M-mommy, this isn't funny! W-wake up!"
Tiki jumped to her paws. "I-I'll get help!"
Tiki dashed down the pathway from which she came, desperate for anybody who could help wake her mommy and daddy up. She looked around wildly, searching for somebody.
Then, she saw a pony up ahead. She remembered her daddy's warning about how ponies could be prejudiced, but hse ignored it. Daddy needed help; he was in no place to talk.
"Help! Help!" she cried, skidding to a halt in front of the pony, her eyes glistening.
The pony drew backward in surprise but came forward when she saw that it was a little child. "Yes, dear? How can I help you?" she said softly.
"My mommy and daddy won't wake up! They're just lying on the gwound, and they aren't moving! They must have eaten bad bewwies or something because there's a bunch of bewwy juice awound them!" Tiki rushed, her words jumbling in her mouth.
Despite Tiki's garbled speech, the pony understood and felt sorry for the little girl. "Honey, your parents aren't going to wake up... they went to heaven, sweetie."
Tiki's eyes widened. "No! You're lying! Mommy says lying is bad! I'm gonna find someone else!"
Tiki dashed off again, leaving the mean pony behind.
It's not true. It's not true. It's not true...
Tiki finally broke through the forest and saw a little town. She would find someone and get them to help her parents!
She ran through the town, skidding around corners and nearly running into an old, elderly pony. Tiki saw a stallion in a navy uniform standing at an intersection.
"Mister! Please help!" Tiki begged, running up to him. He looked taken aback but snapped to attention.
"What can I do for you?" he asked.
"My mommy and daddy won't wake up!" she cried, tears filling her eyes. She had a feeling that the mare she had encountered before was right, but she didn't want to think about that.
The stallion put a wing over her. "Honey, they're gone."
Tiki broke down sobbing. "No, no, no..."
"I'm so sorry."
Tiki bowed her head.
If they have truly gone to heaven... I will avenge them until my very last breath.