For what seemed like an eternity, other than Littlefoot's continued crying, the burrow was in a state of deafening silence. Thunder clapped and lightning flashed outside as the nitrogen and carbon-infested acid rain continued to fall, killing off most of the plant life that had somehow managed to survive the initial blast from the asteroid impact. But since the Didelphodon burrow was built in a way so that it curved horizontally once under the ground, this allowed them, along with their guests, to hunker down where they wouldn't get hit by the acid rain.

In time, Littlefoot regained in composure, and for a time after that, aside from the rain pelting the ground outside, everyone sat totally silent, all trying to contemplate how a natural disaster of this magnitude could've possibly occurred.

Then the male Didelphodon spoke up, breaking the silence. "Uh, forgive me," he said to his guests, "but I don't believe we have been properly introduced. My name's Snips."

"And I'm Tana," added the female Didelphodon. "I'm his mate," she pointed out as she and Snips briefly touched noses to show this fact.

"Well," Littlefoot said as he cleared his throat, digging back up the strength he needed to speak. "It is nice meeting you guys, I guess. I'm Littlefoot, the three-horn is Cera, the swimmer is Ducky, the flyer is Petrie, and the spike-tail is Spike."

"Pleasure, you guys," Tana said grimly. "I just wish we could've met under better circumstances."

"Alright, someone enlighten me!" Cera spoke out suddenly, trying unconvincingly to sound just as tough as always did. "Just how in the heck could this have all happened? I mean, we've been through skywater storms, smoking mountains, earth shakes, whirling winds and firestorms, and NOW something's come along that's supposedly destroyed everything and everyone out there! HOW?!"

"I... don't know, Cera," Littlefoot sniffed. As he said this, Snips went into a state of deep thought. Something about the cataclysmic nature of this event reminded him of a certain legend that had gone through his kind from generation to generation down throughout the millions of years they'd been on Earth, hiding in the dinosaur's shadows.

"Call me crazy," he said to Littlefoot and company, "but I think this all may have been caused by... a flying rock."

"A flying rock?!" Ducky asked incredulously. "But I never would have thought that a flying rock could do something like this! No, no, no!"

"Well..." said Tana in a cryptic, mysterious voice. "Legend has it amongst our kind that well over 160 million years go, probably a ways further back, a gigantic flying rock the size of a huge mountain crashed into Earth."

"Are you serious?" Cera asked in a state of awe. "That doesn't sound right."

"Well, that's how the legend goes," added Snips. "It is said that the Earth nearly died when that happened - over 90 percent of all living things wiped from existence in the blink of an eye just like that."

"Wait," Petrie broke in. "You saying that is what happening now?"

"We'll get to that," Tana said. "Anyway, it is said that both our kind and your kind evolved around the same time a few million years after that. Your kind ascended to a tyrannical rule of the Earth, while our kind was doomed to live in the shadows until an event of such nature happened again, which it seems to have now."

"What do you mean?" asked Littlefoot.

"In other words," explained Snips, "you dinosaurs and your reign over our Earth was brought about when that flying rock hit and nearly killed everything. And the legends have said that eventually, when the time came, another flying rock would hit, killing off all the dinosaurs and ending your kind's rule, thus heralding the dawn of our kind's rule over all the world."

Upon hearing these words, Cera suddenly became really genuinely scared, not making any effort to conceal it. "Are you saying," she said with a prominent shiver in her voice, "that... the age of the dinosaurs is over?!"

"Well that is how the legends go," said Tana. "And everything certainly does seem to be adding up."

"So..." Littlefoot hesitated before asking, "are we... the only dinosaurs left?"

"I wouldn't say the only ones," Snips mused. "But you're certainly one of the few to have survived, and-"

"Wait!" Ducky broke in, tears forming in her eyes. "What about our parents?" With a sniff, she added, "Are they... gone, too?"

These very words caused Tana's heart to sink as she walked up and put a consoling paw on Ducky's back. "I... I'm sorry," she stammered, "but it's generally the smaller land walkers and sea creatures that are said to survive these things, and considering how big your species' get," she said sadly, "it is likely that all of your parents were taken with all those other ones."

For several minutes, the burrow is once again plunged into deafening silence. Snips and Tana can only look on helplessly as Littlefoot and company all come together into a group embrace, tears flowing rapidly out of all of their eyes, mourning their quite-possibly dead parents, and left to wonder how they will make it through this apocalyptic event without them there.

"Whatever can we do for them?" Tana asked her mate.

"I'm not sure," Snips said grimly. "I know we won't be good at finding them food, since they don't eat meat. The worst part is, I'm not sure what plants up there have survived, if at all. And come to think of it, I'm not even sure if any of the meat on the dead dinosaurs will be good for US to eat."

"Well either way," said Tana rather sternly, "we can't just abandon these poor babies. I mean, look at them!"

And indeed, when Snips saw Littlefoot and his friends all shedding tears over the loss of their families, his mate's point hit him like a ton of bricks. "You're right, dear," he conceded. "We're just as lucky to survive as they are, and I suppose we should help them along with us however we can."

With that, Tana gave her mate an affectionate nudge and then the two walked up to Littlefoot and his friends, who by now had regained their composure.

"Listen, you guys," said Snips. "We're both really sorry that this has happened, and we're really sorry for your families, but even if the legends are true and this is the end of your kind's reign, and even if that is what will herald the rule of our kind, we'll still be here to look after you through this however we can."

"That's right," affirmed Tana. "After all, we did save you by allowing you to come into our burrow just as the flying rock hit, and we cannot afford to let young ones go out there all alone after something like this, so we'll try our best to, dare I say... be your parents, or parental figures, or whatever."

Needless to say, all of the kids are taken aback upon hearing this. "You'd... you'd do that for us?" asked Littlefoot.

"Why, of course," Tana grinned. "Besides, I'm just unable to have children of my own - I never could get pregnant no matter now hard or how much Snips and I tried... you'll be like the children we never had!"

"But all we can do for now," Snips pointed out, "is stay hunkered down in here until the skywater stops; I don't know what kind it is, but it burns! We'll have to wait until it stops before we see if there is any good food or water left up there."

And so, with neither Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie nor Spike willing to object to Snips's advice, they all remained in the burrow together under the watchful eyes of their new unofficial parents, waiting until such time as the acid rain would stop...