There is a lovely river that runs from Mossflower into Equestria, passing through the Everfree Forest. At this moment a giant raft was sailing down it. It was a fine old craft, with a blockhouse of logs at its center. It had ornate wooden rails and a single mast, from which hung strings of washing and a square canvas sail. The faded sign painted on the sail read: "The Sensational Wandering Noonvale Companions Troupe!" Yes, three exclamation points.

A theatrical looking hare was behind the steering wheel, but unfortunately, he had dozed off. He was jarred awake when the craft bumped over some rocks lurking in the shallows and ran aground. The hare lost his balance and fell over.

The rest of the troupe, two burly otters, two moles, a hedgehog, and a mousewife and her baby, came bursting out of the cabin. Everybeast was waving paws in alarm and crying out, either in panic or anger.

The hedgehog, Runktipp, declaimed, "Florian, you dozed off again, you great bumbler!"

Rising up from the deck, the hare pointed at himself, booming out dramatically, "Dozed? Did I hear you say dozed, sah? Nay, alas, 'twas a cunning twist of devious water current which cast us ashore thus. Florian Dugglewoof Wilfachop nevah dozes whilst navigating, nevah!"

The mouse, Deesum, held her free paw (the one that wasn't holding the baby) to her brow. "Seasons preserve us! Are we all to be drowned, lost sadly neath the raging waters?"

One of the otters, Borrakul, winked at her. "Stow that kind o' talk, mate. We ain't gonna drown, the water's not deep enough for that. But it does look like we're stuck here."

Florian stared glumly over the rail of the boat. "Yes, rather!" When he said the word "yes," it came out sounding like "Yaas." "Fickle fortune has swept us hard upon the strand. Elachim, can you see if anything can be done to relive our position? There's a good chap!"

The otter otter, Elachim, who was Borrakul's brother, hurled himself into the water and vanished beneath the raft. After a brief moment, Deesum, who never missed the opportunity to be dramatic, clasped her paws, staring wide eyed at the place where Elachim had submerged. "Oh, oh, 'tis so hard to bear, one of such tender seasons, gone to a watery grave!"

The mousebabe, Dwopple, smiled wickedly. "If 'e doesn't come up, c'n I 'ave 'is share of suppa?" he babbled.

"Ye hard hearted young blight!" Borrakul exclaimed. Of course, he knew his brother was just fine down there, but still, he didn't like the mice talking about him that way.

Elachim resurfaced and climbed back aboard shaking himself, treating those around him to a free shower. "Ain't no good, Florian. We're jammed tight, unless we can find somethin' to lever 'er off with."

Florian sniffed. "Right, company, all paws ashore, if ye please!" They all stepped off the raft and onto dry land.

Florian said, "It looks like we're going to be here a while, so we might as well get some vittles ready." Hares all have enormous appetites.

Muggle, one of the moles, said, "Roight, Oi'll git a fire goin'."

Runktipp said, "I'll nip back onto the raft and see what provisions I can salvage from our larder."

He didn't find much, just two shriveled apples, some dandelion stalks, a stale loaf of rye bread which had crumbled into pieces, and half a dozen withered field mushrooms.

Deesum stared at the scanty provisions. "Oh, seasons of mercy on us! How did we ever let the food get so low?" Finding food was actually her job. "My son will starve!"

"Dwopple ain't your son," Runktipp reminded her. "You ain't his mother, you're only his auntie!"

Deesum shot Runktipp a haughty glance. "A mere detail. No mother could love a babe as I love Dwopple. The point is, what we've got isn't fit to make a meal."

"Nonsense, marm," said Florian. "I've eaten worse. We can simply chop up all this stuff and make it into a soup."

Roop, the other mole, grinned. "Oi loikes zoop."

"And don't forget," Florian went on. "When we arrive in Ponyville, there'll be lots of good things to eat."

Muggle had kindled a fire and was boiling a pot of water over it. Florian dumped all their food into the pot and started stirring it around like crazy. This was his preferred method of cooking. Sometimes he invented tasty dishes this way, mixing together anything he could find. Most of the time, though, the rest of the troupe pretended to enjoy his cooking in stoic silence. Unfortunately, this turned out to be the case today.

Runktipp picked something dubious out of his soup bowl, wrinkling his nose as he flicked the offending item into the stream. "What I wouldn't give for a big beaker of pear cordial and a plate of hot oat scones with honey to spread thick on 'em!"

Borrakul closed his eyes dreamily. "Greensap milk I'd like, with hot oatmeal and a whole blackcurrant pie, all to myself."

Deesum had somehow gotten a piece of apple core in her bowl. She chucked it away in disgust. "D'you remember when we visited Salamandastron and the cooks baked those little cheese and onion pasties? I'd love to have one of those right now, with a flagon of new cold cider, all sparkly and light gold!" Suddenly she noticed her nephew Dwopple wandering off, carrying his bowl of soup with him. "Dwopple, come back here. Where are you taking that soup?"

The mouse Dibbun nodded to a rock-strewn knoll along the bank. "Dis soup not good for babies. Gonna give 'im to the fosskers."

Elachim stared at Dwopple quizzically. "Fosskers?"

Deesum translated. "He means foxes."

Florian was immediately on the alert. "Foxes, what foxes? Where?"

A pair of Marlfoxes, siblings to the two who had accosted Song and Apple Bloom, rose up from amid the rocks. Their names were Gelltor and Predak. Seeing they had been spotted, the pair approached boldly, their drab cloaks flapping slightly in the light breeze. Borrakul cautioned his friends, keeping an eye on the strange pair. "Careful mates, they're carryin' axes under those cloaks!"

Florian stood up. "Steady in the ranks, chaps, leave this t'me. I'll do the talkin'."

Gelltor, the male fox, called out, "Who are you?"

Florian bowed eloquently, sweeping off his hat with a flourish. "Good day, friends. We are the Wandering Noonvale Companions, a theatrical group of talented creatures. We're bound for Princess Twilight Sparkle's castle in Ponyville. Er, that's before we had a turn of ill fortune and our raft went aground. Purely through no fault of my own, I assure you."

Predak, the vixen, looked over at the raft. "I'm Predak and this is my brother Gelltor. Is that your boat right there?"

Florian nodded. "It's caught on some rocks or something."

Elachim chimed in, "It doesn't appear to be damaged, just stuck."

"Oh, dear," said Predak. "That's not good. Would you like us to refloat your craft for you?"

"Do you know how?" Florian asked in surprise.

Gelltor grinned. "How's about the old fulcrum 'n' lever trick?"

His sister clapped him on the back soundly. "That's it, fulcrum 'n' lever! Ye could shift anythin' that way!"

The Wandering Noonvale Companions had been wary of the two foxes at first, but their friendly manner lulled their suspicions. "Yaas, rather!" Florian exclaimed. "We'd be delighted if you'd be kind enough to help get our vessel seaworthy again!"

Predak and Gelltor used their axes to chop down a young sapling. Then they lowered it down into the water so one end of it was beneath the raft and the other end stuck out over the bank. "Now, everybeast lend a paw," said Predak. "We've got to put enough weight on this end to lever the raft out."

"I say, you chaps are rather smart!" Florian remarked.

"I know," Predak said. "That's because we were homeschooled!"

Everybeast went over and leaned on the log. The force made the raft pop right out from where it stuck. The troupe of actors let out a hearty cheer.

But their cheers soon turned to cries of dismay as the two foxes suddenly seized Baby Dwopple by the arms and hopped onto the raft with him. Gelltor used his ax to push off from the edge of the bank and the Marlfoxes sailed away, taking Dwopple with them!

Dwopple began to wail. "Yeeeeeeeeee! Lemme go, you let Dwopple go!"

"My special little squeak-heart!" Deesum cried. "Where are you taking him?"

"And our boat!" Florian added.

Gelltor laughed nastily. "It's our boat now."

The Companions tried to run after the raft, but it was moving too fast and the foxes were soon out of sight.