As the pounding rush of waters enveloped Rainbow Dash, she struck out wildly. Her world now consisted of a roaring, boiling melee, in which she was as helpless as a leaf in a hurricane. Water battered her eyes shut, gushing up her nostrils, down her ears, and into her mouth.

She managed to get her head above the water for a moment and found herself face to face with the osprey. She grabbed his talons with her hooves, trying to pull him to safety, but it was no use. She was caught in the current now too. From far off, she could hear Twilight and the others yelling her name, but she couldn't see them. Then the side of her head thudded against one of the big rocks, knocking her senseless.

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Twilight flew over the river, searching for Rainbow Dash, but she couldn't see her anywhere. Finally, she had to give up and go back to her other friends.

"Where's Rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo demanded.

Twilight hung her head. "I'm sorry. She went under. I would've tried to pull her out, but I lost sight of her."

Scootaloo felt as if a leaden weight had been implanted in her chest. "You mean she's dead?"

"Hey, maybe she survived somehow," Song said. "You know Rainbow Dash. She always makes it through everything."

Joshy put on a brave face. "Right, there's only one bally thing for it, chaps, wot wot! We'll portage this boat like we said we were gonna do, an' lower it back into the water once we find these rapids. An' I predict when we get to the other side, the first creature we're gonna see will be the bold Rainbow Dash!" He tried to imitate Rainbow's voice. "An' she'll say, 'What took you guys so long, you should've come down the quick way like I did!'"

Even Scootaloo had to laugh at that.

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When Rainbow Dash woke up, she heard a voice. "RRRRRR! Should've threwed dem back in. Not fishes, RRR no, only trouble. Gluck, gluck!"

Rainbow looked around. She was in a cormorant's nest. The osprey was lying next to her, but he hadn't woken up yet. There was a cormorant mother and father in the nest and three chicks. It was the mother bird who was speaking. "What the gluck did you bring these two here for? Can't eat them, they're not fishes!"

"They were drowning," said the father. "I pulled them out of the river."

The mother cormorant glanced at Rainbow Dash and the osprey. The osprey was still unconscious and Rainbow was awake but too stunned to move. "Waste of time. They're already deader'n a dead fish, methinks!"

The male cormorant's blue eyes blinked scornfully. "Reek! They're alive as me 'n' you, wait 'n' see!"

The two cormorants began an argument, hopping about and fanning out their wings, while their chicks scurried this way and that to avoid being danced on or batted by an outstretched wing.

"If they are still alive, they'll eat our eggchicks! Not in my nest, thankee, get 'em out!"

"Don't be a daft duck, horses don't eat cormorants!"

"Eagles do!"

"This one won't, I saved his life!"

"Shut ya beak! I say get 'em out, not stayin' in my nest, horses, eagles, chukk! Not stoppin' here!"

While the furious debate raged on, one of the little cormorant chicks wandered over to Rainbow Dash and pecked her on the nose. Rainbow sat up. "Hey, cut that out!"

The noise woke the osprey, who jumped jerkily to his feet and opened his beak wide. A fountain of water cascaded out. The osprey coughed and coughed. It was a long time before he could speak, but when he could, he turned to Rainbow Dash and said in a Scottish accent, "Yer a bonny beast, lassie, ye saved the life o' Megraw, an' Ah'll no' ferget it. Whit name d'ye go by?"

Rainbow Dash extended her hoof and the bird shook it. "I'm called Rainbow Dash, but you can call me Dash."

Something resembling a smile hovered on the eagle's fierce face. "Ah'm known by the name o' Mighty Megraw, but Megraw'll do just fain." Then he turned to the male cormorant, nodding politely. "An' mah thanks to ye, guid bird, fer pullin' us frae yon water."

The female cormorant averted her head, speaking as if to nobeast in particular as she hugged and plumped her feathers. "RRRRR! 'Orses 'n' eagles can't stop 'ere. Gluck, no!"

Megraw fixed her with a murderous stare. "D'ye no say? Well, ye can just go gluck yoreself. Me an' mah guid friend'll no stay longer than the time et takes us tae walk away frae here. Though if ye look doon yer beak at us like that again, Ah'll eat ye for sure an' give yer mate a bit o' peace. Good day to ye now. Come on, Dash mah wee lassie."

Luckily, the nest was sitting on the ground, as he couldn't have flown away with his injured wing. Rainbow Dash followed Megraw as he limped from the nest, nodding a silent and grateful farewell to the male cormorant as she went.

Megraw nodded his head in both directions. "Well, which way noo, Dash?"

"I don't know," said Rainbow. "I was with a bunch of friends, but I lost track of them when I jumped into the water after you. Maybe we'd better stay here until they come along this way to find me. What d'you think, Megraw?"

"Aye, we'll do that, though Ah'm powerful hungry the noo."

"You stay there and rest, Mr. Megraw. I'll go and find us some fruit and berries. Should be some hereabouts."

The osprey squinched his eyes up in disgust. "Fruit 'n' berries, did ye say? Ye'll poison yersel' fer sure, eating that kind of food! You go an' search out ye rain vittles, an' leave me here tae fish. An' don't call me mister. The name's Megraw, d'ye ken."

"But the last time you tried to catch a fish you fell in."

"That was just a fluke," said Megraw. "It couldn't happen again in a million years."

Rainbow couldn't help smiling. This bird reminded her so much of herself. She decided to take him at his word and went to find some fruit. She had not strayed far when she came across some blackberries and some fine apples. When she returned to the bank, Megraw was swallowing something. "A guid fishing spot this," he said as soon as his mouth was empty again. "Ah got mahsel' a plump wee grayling."

"How'd you hurt your arm, anyway?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"'T wasn't me that hurt it," he said. "Earlier today, Ah was ambushed by a mob of vultures off Marlfox Island."

"Vultures? You mean magpies, don't you?"

The bird shook his head. "Lassie, Ah'm a bird mahself. Ah knows mah birds from each other. And the birds that attacked me were definitely vultures."

Rainbow Dash frowned. "Queen Silth has replaced her magpies, then?"

"Not her," said Megraw. "Queen Silth and her daughter Lantur are dead noo. They were killed by a ghost lion named Scar."

Rainbow Dash gasped. She had run into Scar before. (See MARIEL OF PONYVILLE 2.) "No way! That slimy slug's still around?"

"Ye know him?"

"Know him? Me and my friends fought him, back in the Pride Lands!"

"Well, he's killed the queen of the Marlfoxes and noo he's calling himself king of the island. And he fired the magpies and replaced them with birds from his native land. Someday Ah'll gang back there and meet wi' yon vultures tae settle mah score with them. Mark mah words, Dash, they'll wish they'd ne'er been hatched when the wrath o' Mighty Megraw descends on 'em! Ach, but what can a bird do wi' a broken wing? Can ye tell me that, Dash?"

Rainbow stroked Megraw's wing, which flapped uselessly at his side. "Well, my friends and I are going to Marlfox Island too. One of Silth's sons stole a magical amulet from our country, Equestria, and we're trying to get it back. You could join us."

The osprey blew out his chest to alarming proportions and winked slyly at his new friend. "Ah'd like that fine, lass!"

They lay down and went to sleep. Unfortunately, while they were sleeping, the Swallow came sailing by and passed right by them in the dark.