Fahari was being held prisoner by the vermin in the same grove of trees where Flurry and Felch had met the adder. Eefera was checking her bonds to make sure they were tight. "So then, bucko, wot do they call you?"

Fahari looked at him as if he were dirt. "My name's Fahari. What do they call you, maggot breath?"

Vallug threw back his head and laughed. "Hoho, we got a feisty one here."

Eefera dealt Fahari a stinging blow to the face. "Yore insolent. We don't like that."

"Go easy dere, Eefera," shouted Sawney Rath. "Dere ain't no call ta injure da hussy. A corpse won't be woith nothin' to us."

Fahari licked blood from where the blow had knocked her teeth against her lip. "Are you working for Nightmare Moon?"

"I'm Nightmare Moon's father," said Sawney.

Fahari didn't see how that could be possible, but then, Joshy Stag Hare didn't look much like his father. "If I was your daughter, I'd have killed myself from shame long ago. An' what could be worse than sittin' lookin' at your face, you great shamble-toothed snotnosed excuse for an idiot!"

With great difficulty Sawney restrained himself from leaping upon her. He saw that Gruven was grinning. He took his spleen out on the stoat, slapping him repeatedly about the face and ears. "Who do ya t'ink you're smilin' at? I'll wipe dat smoik off your phiz. Ya don't laugh at me an' get away wid it!"

Gruven wished he had half the backbone of the little alicorn.

Then Ribrow pointed up at the sky. "Look! It's that ship again!" Indeed, the flying ship was approaching fast.

"I'll bet dollars ta donuts Moon's on dat ship," said Sawney.

Sure enough, before the ship could even land, Flurry Heart, Cadence, and Twilight came flying down from it. They landed right in front of the vermin.

"Hello, Moon," said Sawney.

"My name ain't Moon," Flurry growled. "It's Flurry Heart!"

Sawney laughed scornfully. "Found dat out, did ya? Well, den ya must also know you've got a sister. An' I'm holdin' 'er prisoner." He stepped aside so Flurry could see Fahari, tied up on the ground. She looked just like Flurry; except she didn't have tattoos and her cutie mark was a stack of books instead of a speedwell flower. "If you don't give yourself up to us, she's goin' ta die, nice an' slow. So, make your mind up!"

Flurry's eyes turned red. She saw Sawney Rath, her most hated enemy, and she didn't notice the other vermin around him, just him. Like lightning she charged the ferret, running her horn right through his chest!

Vallug raised his bow to shoot Flurry, but before he could fire, Cadence was upon him. Her shout was the last thing Vallug heard before her hooves crushed his skull. "For my husband!"

Eefera ran at Twilight, but Twilight stopped him with a blast of magic from her horn. The weasel's body remained standing, but his head thudded onto the ground.

That was enough for Gruven and the other two stoats. They ran as they had never run before, into the tall grass, away from the melee.

Sawney lay dying on the ground. Flurry stood over him. The ferret had an odd expression on his face. Despite having been stabbed, he looked calm and thoughtful. "I knew ya had it in ya," he said to Flurry.

"Huh?" Flurry didn't know what he meant.

"I said I'd make a killer outta you an' now I have. I made ya kill me." He laughed, a harsh rasping sound, even though it gave him a lot of pain to laugh. He died laughing.

Flurry just stood there, staring down at his body. He was right, she thought. She was a killer. Now she'd descended to Sawney's level. She was no better than he was.

Cadence had untied Fahari and was helping her to her feet. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay," said Fahari. She jerked her head at Flurry. "But I don't think she is."

Twilight went over to Flurry Heart. "Flurry? You alright?"

Flurry looked up at her, but didn't answer. She just remained silent, gazing into space.

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Gruven, Ribrow, and Rawback were making their way through the high grass. "I don't think anybeast is followin' us," Rawback said cautiously.

Suddenly Gruven got a devious and thevious idea, maybe the only good idea he ever came up with in his life. "That pony will never show her face near a Juska camp again, an' no clanbeast will ever come this far from our territory to check any story we might tell. So, all I have to do is turn up back at camp an' tell everybeast that she's dead and I killed her, an' next thing y'know, I'll be the new Taggerung! If you two back up my story, I'll promote ye both to chief trackers. You can 'ave yore own followers, give yer own orders, an' live off the cream o' the land. Come on!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The alicorns were back on board now, and the ship was flying over Mossflower.

"You couldn't have saved even one vermin for me?" Madd said wistfully.

"I'm sorry," said Twilight. "There wasn't time to wait. Everything happened so fast."

"At least you have me back now," said Dagrab. "And I have my mother again." She paused. "I guess my name ain't really Dagrab, is it?"

"No," said Madd.

"Well, what is it really?"

"Your father and I named you Molly."

"Molly," Dagrab repeated. "I like it."

Fahari approached Twilight. "Something's wrong with Flurry! She won't speak!"

"Yes, she hasn't said a word since she killed the vermin chieftain," said Cadence.

"She's probably shell shocked," said Joshy. "I remember it was that way for me after my first kill."

Flurry was sitting slumped in a corner. Felch had his paw on her shoulder, trying to comfort her, but he couldn't think of anything to say. Twilight went over to them. "Everything's going to be okay, Flurry," she said. "You're back with your real family now."

Flurry lifted her head and looked at Twilight. "You ain't got no idea how I was raised," she said. "I never was well acquainted with anybeast dat wasn't a thief, or a pickpocket, or a murderer. No one fought fair in my gang, or in any other gang dat I ever ran up against. It was an honor to kill an animal, an' it didn't matter if you did it by kickin' him to death while he was unconscious- it was what ya did, not how ya did it, dat counted. But I always t'ought I was better dan da rest of 'em. I wanted to be decent. I could lick anybeast in da whole Juskarath, but I never killed any of 'em. I always spared my opponents after beatin' em. Until today. I was so mad at Sawney dat I didn't stop ta think. I just killed 'im, an' now I'm a murderer, just like he was!" She began to cry.

Twilight sat down beside her. "I know what you mean, Flurry, but think for a moment. Think about all the beasts Sawney killed, like those shrews he buried in the avalanche. Think about your sister Fahari, who he kidnapped. Now he can't hurt anybeast ever again. You've done nothin' t'be ashamed of. Shining Armor would be proud to know he had a daughter like you."

"Ya t'ink so?" Flurry said.

"I know he would," said Cadence. "Because you're my daughter too, and I'm proud of you."

"And I'm proud you're my sister!" said Fahari.

"I wish dere was some way I could get rid of dese tattoos," Flurry said.

"Me too," said Molly. "If I'm not gonna be part of the Juska anymore, I don't wanna be stuck looking like one forever."

"Yeah," said Felch. "But there's no way to take them off. They're permanent."

"Well, those tattoos may be unsightly," said Rarity. "But I've come to learn over the years that it doesn't matter what a creature looks like. True beauty comes from within."

Joshy Stag Hare had been listening, and voiced his opinion. "Beggin' your pardons, but Rucky Garge could remove your tattoos. Ole Rucky is the best otterfixer on earth."

"I've heard of Rucky Garge," said Deyna, "but I always thought she was a legend."

Joshy merely smiled. "Oh, she's real right enough, wot. A few seasons ago, I accidently cut off one of my fingers, but Rucky sewed it back on for me." He held up his paw to show everybeast. "See? There's not even a scar."

"Where does Rucky Garge live?" Flurry asked.

"In a cave east of Redwall. I could show you, if Celaeno doesn't mind takin' us there."

"I don't mind at all," said Celaeno. "Anything for my friends."