Midafternoon of the next day, the five friends came to a stream. "How are we gonna get across?" Felch wondered.

Fahari held up a hoof to silence him. "Shh! Listen, can you hear singing?"

The strains grew louder and clearer as they listened. From round an upstream bend, four shrew logboats appeared. They were packed with shrew families, singing at the tops of their voices to the accompaniment of drums and tambourines.

Flurry's face broke into a wide smile. "Dat's da Guosim- da Guerilla Union of Shrews in Mossflower! Dey'll help us get ta Redwall."

Fahari flew over to the lead boat. She hovered above it, calling, "Hola, buenas tardes, amigos!" She was speaking to the shrews in their own language, Spanish.

A fat shrew wife in flowered pinafore and bonnet waved her parasol back at Fahari. "An' the same to you, chica. Want to tag along an' join our picnic? There's plenty for everybeast, you're welcome!"

"We ain't got time for dat right now," said Flurry. "We're bein' chased by a pack o' vermin. If I was you, I wouldn't keep headin' west- you'll run right into 'em!"

A stout old shrew, whose name was Log-a-Log Groo, touched his snout respectfully. "Gracias for tellin' us, senorita. Looks like we'll have to turn around. We're not far from Redwall Abbey- we'd better head there and warn them of the vermin." He waved his paw at the other shrews. "Backpaddle, Guosim! We're goin' to Redwall an' takin' these goodbeasts in tow."

"I say, I hope we aren't puttin' you out of your way by havin' you lead us to Redwall," Triss said as she and the others climbed into the boats.

"Bless you, no," Log-a-Log said. "We were plannin' on goin' to the Abbey soon anyway."

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Triss sat back, savoring the pleasant afternoon on the rippling water with tree foliage as a canopy. "This is nice. I could go along like this forever."

A shrew named Gulif, who sat beside her, said, "I know the feelin', miss, but the ford that crosses the north path'll be comin' up soon. Won't be usin' the boats no more, then- we'll stow 'em away an' walk south down the path to Redwall."

"Do all shrews in Mossflower live like this?" Shogg asked Flurry. "Travelling around, going wherever they choose?"

"Most of 'em do," Flurry said. "But dere is dis one group of shrews dat always stays in da same place. Dey have a village called Shrewivaca at da foot of a mountain. Me an' Felch went dere once, but we ain't welcome dere no more. Dat's because some vermin launched an attack on da shrew village an' blamed it on us. Da shrews were gonna execute us, but luckily, we got saved by some of our pony friends."

"I remember that," said Felch. "That was a scary situation. But those were pygmy shrews, a completely different species from these guys."

"Ford up ahead!" Log-a-Log called. "Get ready to tie up the boats!"

They moored their vessels beside a mossy bank. They hauled them into a small inlet and hid them beneath shrubbery and boughs. Log-a-Log sent four shrews back west, the direction they had come, to make sure there wasn't anybeast following them. A few minutes later, two of the backtrackers returned.

"We've gotta get movin'!" one of them said. "There's a horde of vermin on our track, armed t'the teeth an' out for blood. They slew Cadro an' Elbun, but the two of us got away. They're hard on our trail, amigos, there ain't time to hang about!"

"Get goin', quick, everybeast!" Log-a-Log growled. "Head south down the path!"

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The vermin ran along the side of the bank, with Kurda and Plug in the lead. "Hai, we'll lay 'em by the tails, buckos!" said Plug.

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Rainbow Dash had returned to Mossflower with Twilight Sparkle. They were flying over the woods when they heard something below them. "Sounds like somebeast's comin' this way in a hurry!" Rainbow said.

She and Twilight flew down to the ground, where they came face to face with Flurry, Fahari, Felch, Triss, Shogg, and the shrews. "Flurry Heart? Fahari?" Twilight said. "What are you guys doing here?"

"No time to talk, Aunt Twilight," Fahari panted. "Vermin chasing us, a great load of 'em!"

Twilight took swift charge of the situation. "All right. Rainbow Dash, help get these guys down to the Abbey. Flurry and Fahari, you stay here with me and hold the vermin off!"

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The vermin were hard on the heels of their quarry as they rounded a bend, with Kurda waving her saber and screeching, "Ve haff dem, kill, kill!"

They came face to face with Twilight, Flurry, and Fahari, standing on the path and blocking their way. Twilight did a spell that sent Kurda flying backwards.

Plug laughed wildly. "Press forward, ye spineless jellyfish, there's only three of 'em. We outnumber 'em. Drop t'the sides o' the path an' circle 'em!"

Twilight murmured to her nieces, "This isn't a fight to the death- we only need to slow 'em down until Rainbow Dash and your friends can get back to Redwall. Don't let anybeast try to sneak by an' surround us, or we'll be cut off!"

Down the path the battle ensued. The vermin tried to get behind the three alicorns, but Twilight, Flurry, and Fahari were too fast for them. Every time an enemy got close, one of the alicorns repulsed him or her with a spell.

"Princess, 'ow can they be retreatin' an' beatin' us at the same time?" a Ratguard named Vorto said. "It ain't right!"

But that was what was happening. They fought all the way to Redwall. Once they got to the Abbey, the three alicorns simply flew over the wall, out of the vermin's reach.