The four pegasi landed at the base of Horsetail Falls in the natural clearing it created. The sight of it took the weanlings’ breath away. It was easily sixty wing lengths from the top edge to the bottom pool. The river above the cliff was wide and relatively slow, but in the last five or ten wing lengths before the drop, the river entered a tapered rock canyon. The rocks were about half the height of a full grown pegasus. This made the water speed up dramatically, so that it was in complete chaos when it cascaded over the cliff. The height of the cliff made the water start to evaporate before it hit the bottom pool, sending sheets of spray into the air around the falls themselves. And if anything did survive the height of the drop, they wouldn’t survive the end, because their were several rocks lining that edge of the pool. It looked as if anything that fell down the drop would be smashed on the rocks, giving them a virtually nonexistent chance of survival.

Their inspection of the falls over, the four pegasi looked around and in the pool for Wintermist. They didn’t see her, and Hedgewind said what they were all thinking.

“We need to check up above!” he said, raising his voice over the falls.

The weanlings nodded their understanding and lifted off. When they landed, they took in the situation immediately. Wintermist was in the river where it started to speed up, but had managed to grab a dead tree branch and wedge it across the place where the rock banks started. She was frantically clenching onto the branch in her mouth but her rear end was sprawled out behind her in the river, her back hooves almost dangling off the edge.

Flamefrost was the first to recognize the situation, and therefore the first to react. He cantered over the slippery rock to a piece of the branch that was sticking up and heaved on it with his teeth. Hedgewind joined him, and together they started to pull Wintermist out.

That would have been the end of it if it hadn’t been for Blackstorm. Seeing that he might be needed, he also cantered over the rock to join the two others. But he lost his footing and tumbled hooves-over-wings into the river. Wintermist saw him coming, and trying to avoid a collision, swerved away from him. Then all five pegasi heard a ripping crack! as the dead branch finally gave way.

The last thing the three on top saw was Wintermist’s left wing trailing behind her as the two weanlings tumbled over the edge.