Princess Kurda stared up at the battlements of Redwall. "I haff seen dis place before, on a map. It's Redvall Abbey, der place mine grandfather came to Mossflower to conquer on der trip vere he got turned to stone."

"I've conquered big stone places like this," said Plug. "The bigger they are, the richer they be. If'n all the tales I've heard o' the booty an' loot inside that Abbey be true, ye can bet yore white 'ide old Plug'll find a way to get at it. Aye, on my affidavit I will!"

"Loot?" Prince Blad said. "Vot sort of loot?"

Plug shrugged. "Oh, magic swords, valuable tapestries, big bells, that sort of thing."

"Vell, you can keep your magic swords an' big bells," Kurda said. "I'll just take de creatures living dere for slaves."

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Inside Redwall, everybeast was gathered in Great Hall. Stories had been related, introductions made, and old friends reunited.

"Hmm, so the way I see it, we've got three problems," Twilight Sparkle said. "One, vermin invasion. Two, cockatrice roaming Mossflower. Three, Joshy and the two Dibbuns have been turned to stone."

Skipper nodded. "That about sums it up!"

"First thing first," said Twilight. "Before we can deal with the cockatrice, we've gotta deal with the vermin right outside the gate."

"Maybe the vermin will run into the cockatrice, and they'll all get turned to stone," Triss suggested.

"That would be nice, but we can't count on it," said Rainbow Dash. "I think I'm gonna fly up to the walltop and see what they're up to."

"Okay, Flurry and I will go with you," Fahari said.

The three of them went outside and went up on the wall. They saw all the vermin walking west, away from the Abbey. "Looks like they're going away," said Fahari.

Rainbow shook her head. "Goin' away? 'Fraid not, they're just movin' out of sling an' arrow range. Either they're tryin' to draw attention away from themselves, or they're plannin' on chargin' us head on an' doin' somethin' pretty awful to the front gates."

Now Flurry could see the vermin building a fire. "See dose flames?" she said. "I bet dey're gonna try an' burn deir way in here."

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Plug Firetail stood with his back to the fire, enjoying its warmth. He outlined his scheme to Kurda. "I'll 'ave us inside yon Abbey in time fer dinner."

Prince Blad was with them. He giggled excitedly. "You be der sly old fox, captain. Vot is der plan?"

Plug threw a paw about Blad, leaning on him like a crutch. "Listen now mate, an' I'll tell ye. Those creatures on the wall will be watchin' this 'ere fire. That's wot I wants 'em to do, see. But they won't see old Slitfang and Grubbage and some others. They'll range out in two big 'alf circles an' sneak up through the grass to the Abbey gates. With them they'll be carryin' dry brush, some veggible oil an' ship's tar, an' a smolderin' cob o' tow rope. I'll stay back 'ere by the fire with a few mateys. We'll distract those sillybeasts' attention. Then Slitty an' the rest'll build the brush up agin the gates, douse it wi' tar an' oil, blow on the smolderin' tow 'til it flames, an' goodbye Abbey gates. Hahahaharr."

The fat prince performed a little dance of delight. "Dis is gut, yarr! Captain, I go vit dem, I make a gut Freebooter. Let me carry der rope, I'll set fire to de gates. I like playink mitt fire."

Plug tweaked Blad's nose fondly. "Right y'are, matey, we'll make a Freebooter of ye!"

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Twilight and Triss came to join Rainbow, Flurry, and Fahari on the walltop. "What are they doing?" Twilight asked.

"Looks like they're all just dancin' around a fire," said Rainbow.

Then Triss's keen eyes spotted something. "Look, those two smaller groups of vermin have split off from the main group. They're fannin' out two ways an' circlin' in toward our gates. See, there they go now, layin' low an' crawlin' through the grass an' heather."

Flurry's eyes followed the direction of Triss's paw. "Ah, I see dem now. Hey, Prince Blad fatbelly is with 'em, but I don't see Kurda or any Ratguards."

"Are the Ratguards the rats wearing the brown shirts?" Twilight said.

"Yeah. Who knew guys in brown shirts could cause so much trouble."

"What are we gonna do about these guys sneaking up on us?" Fahari asked.

Rainbow looked at Twilight. "You remember when we were here during Cluny the Scourge's invasion, and he tried to tunnel in?"

"Yep," said Twilight. "Let's go and ask the cooks if they've got any oatmeal…"