Gabool was in the monitor room of Fort Bladegirt. There were twenty television screens on the walls, all showing a different part of the island. But none of them showed the cave where the Trag fighters were hiding.

Three rats came in. Gabool unsheathed his sword and glared suspiciously at the three captains who had stridden into the monitor room, Captain Riptung of the Nightwake, Captain Grimtooth of the Crabclaw, and Captain Hookfin of the Blacksail.

"What are you three doin' here? What d'yer want, hmm?"

"You told us to come back here, Gabool."

"King Gabool. You call me King, d'ye hear. Anyway, what news?"

"Graypatch an' that dreaded Darkqueen have vanished from the seas- no sign of 'em anywhere."

Gabool put his paws on his hips. "That's no news. I've taken care of Graypatch an' Darkqueen long ago. Belay, have you three swabs been sinkin' ships in Terramort cove?"

"Ships, what ships?"

"Two of 'em… hmm, mm, mm… but never mind that. Have ye heard the bell?"

Riptung looked from Hookfin to Grimtooth. All three raised their eyebrows and shrugged. They watched as Gabool went across to the screen which showed the Joseph Bell.

"See that? They don't hear ye, so why should I?"

"So it's right, he's mad as a gaffed fish," Riptung whispered to Grimtooth.

Gabool spun round. "Avast, don't you three start plottin' behind my back!"

Riptung banged a cask of wine down upon the table and stoved its head in with the hilt of his sword. "Nobeast's talkin' about yer, King Gabool. Come an' share a beaker o' this wine that I won!"

Grimtooth was staring at one of the monitors. "Ho-ho. Lookit, mates, 'ere comes the Waveblade, sailin' inter the cove like a stranded sardine. Ha harr, I'll wager ol' Orgeye's still in his bunk snorin'."

"Good, that means the only ship that hasn't come back is the Pearl Queen," said Gabool.

They crowded around the screen to watch. Hookfin tugged Riptung's sleeve urgently. "Did you leave any watch aboard yer vessel, matey?"

Riptung swung a claw back over his shoulder. "No, they're all up 'ere with me. Why?"

Hookfin pointed at another monitor, which showed their three ships sailing out of the harbor. "Then who's movin' those vessels out ter sea?"

Riptung drew his sword and faced Gabool. "This is one o' your tricks. What's yer game?"

But Gabool did not hear the angry captain. "Wait. That isn't the Waveblade…" He zoomed in. On the deck of the approaching ship he saw a familiar figure.

"AAAAAH! It's her, it's the mousemaid!"

Immediately the three searat captains and their king rushed down to the banquet hall and started bellowing orders.

"Get down t'the cove, stop the Blacksail puttin' out t'sea!"

"Kill the mouse. I'll make any rat a Cap'n who slays her!"

"Stop the Nightwake, some scurvy slob's tryin' to steal her!"

"The mouse! Kill the mousemaid, shipmates!"

"Get after the Crabclaw, buckos. Bring 'er back t'me!"

"Whoever kills the bellmaker's brat is a rich rat, you got Gabool's oath on that!"

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Mariel stared at the three ships leaving the cove as Captain Celaeno navigated between them. "Strange, they've just arrived yet they're going out again," the parrot said.

Spike shaded his eyes and peered across. "Yeah, an' those aren't searats who are sailin' them. What d'you think's goin' on?"

"Ahoy there, Mariel!"

The mousemaid gasped. There, standing on the shore of the cove, waving at her, was Pinkie Pie. She jumped up and down, waving back.

"Pinkie Pie! Stay there, we're coming ashore!"

Mariel and Spike plunged over into the shallows and waded onto the beach.

Pinkie wrapped her arms around both of them and squeezed so tight they could hardly breathe. "I thought you were dead, I was certain you'd been drowned, though there wasn't much time to think about that with the fix me and Apple Bloom found ourselves in. I tell you, don't ever become an oar slave, it's worse than being captured by the Diamond Dogs!"

"Ahoy, Pinkie Pie," said Captain Celaeno. "It's been a while."

"Say, where is Apple Bloom, anyway?" asked Mariel.

No sooner had she spoken than Apple Bloom came pounding down the path to the cove. The young pony looked very dashing, wearing a broad leather belt with several daggers bristling from it and a hood on her head.

"Oh, Apple Bloom, you do look a proper swashbuckler and no mistake!" Mariel laughed.

However, Apple Bloom was in no mood for banter. Puffing and blowing, she waved back over her shoulder. "Phew! Quick, hurry up, there's about five hundred searats hot on mah trail. They're comin' after y'all, Ah think!"

Mariel, Spike and Celaeno followed Pinkie and Apple Bloom as they raced off in the opposite direction to Bladegirt, toward the sheer rocky coastwhich veered up on the west side of the cove.

The searat frontrunners, with Riptung and Hookfin in the lead, came rushing down the path to the shore of the cove.

Riptung threw his sword down in frustration. "Hell's tail! They're too far out, we'll never get to 'em now!"

Hookfin raced about on the shoreline, searching for a dinghy to pursue his ship in. "Thunder 'n' blood! Ain't there nothin' we can give chase in?"

An enterprising rat called Felltooth stripped off his more cumbersome weapons, thrust a dagger in his headband and entered the water.

"That one's not too far out, Cap'n Riptung," he said, pointing to the parrots' ship. "May'aps we can swim to 'er an' use 'er to bring back the other three ships!"

Riptung retrieved his sword. "That's the way, matey. Some of yer go with 'im. Any good swimmers?"

Seven searats gripping daggers in their teeth waded into the sea. But just as they got close to the ship, it rose into the air, far out of their reach!

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Pinkie Pie glanced down to the yelling hordes racing across the shore to the rocks. "We've been spotted, here they come!"

Captain Celaeno raised her sword. "Get running, I'll stop them!"

Pinkie grabbed her arm. "There's no need for you to stay. Come with us. They'll never find us- you'll see!"

Apple Bloom went across to a big craggy boulder. She pushed it, moving it easily to one side. Spike gasped in astonishment at the tunnel that yawned before them.

"Gosh! A secret tunnel. How did you manage to move that whackin' great boulder with one single shove?"

Apple Bloom swelled her chest out. "Ah ate a good breakfast."

Pinkie Pie laughed. "Anypony can do it! Come inside and I'll show you how easy it is."

They filed into the tunnel. Pinkie was last in. Quickly she set flint and tinder to a dry brush torch and passed it to Mariel. "Hold this and watch."

Leaning out of the cave entrance, the pink pony gave the boulder a light push and sprang back. The massive rock tottered slightly and rolled back into its former position, blocking the tunnel entrance. She took a wedge of ship's timber and slammed it tight against the bottom of the boulder. "There, that'll stop anybeast from moving it."

They started walking down the tunnel. Mariel stared at the rough rock walls in the flickering torchlight. "Where are we going?"

"Down to the main cave," said Apple Bloom. "That's where us Trag warriors meet."

"Trag, what's that supposed to mean?"

Apple Bloom flourished a fearsome dagger, muttering darkly, "T.R.A.G. Terramort Resistance Against Gabool. You'll like our Chief though, he knows ya very well."

Mariel was mystified. "Knows me? How?"

Apple Bloom smiled in the shadows as she answered, "Cause he's yore daddy, Joseph the Bellmaker!"