WARRIORS - The Pony Prophecy

Chapter 9

Spicepaw's POV (Applejack) 

Cats of all Clans were staring at the tortoiseshell, eyes narrowed and teeth bared. I glanced toward my mentor, Ashwhisker, unsure of what was going on. "What's happening?" I asked him. His sharp amber gaze did not leave the newcomer, but he blinked to acknowledge that he'd heard me.

"I said earlier that some cats belong to neither Clans nor twolegs," he explained, "That cat is one of them, and she's intruding on Clan territory." Understanding washed over me, and I flicked my ears, turning back to the tortoiseshell she-cat, who began looking around the island as though searching for something or someone. Her eyes gave nothing away, but she paused for a moment as her gaze met mine, before continuing to look around.

Deciding to take things into my own paws, I padded forward and looked up at the she-cat. "Excuse me," I meowed. She looked at me with visible surprise in her amber eyes, clearly having not expected a calm interaction. I took the opportunity to continue speaking. "Is there a reason you're here? You do realize you're on Clan territory, right?"

"Yes, actually," she replied after a moment's silence, "There is something I'm looking for, though it seems I may have found it, so I'll be off now." She began to leave, before turning back to call, "You'll be seeing me again soon enough."

And with that she was gone. The Clans looked around, confused as to why the tortoiseshell she-cat left so willingly. After a few moments, Ravenstar shook out her fur and began the Gathering. 

"Cats of all Clans," she called, her meow ringing clearly across the island. "Prey has been running well in ShadowClan, and we have three new apprentices, Spicepaw, Bubblepaw, and Fernpaw." She paused, allowing the cats to call out our names, just as ShadowClan had for Bubblepaw and I the previous day. "Rainpaw and Hawkpaw have also completed their training, and are now full warriors, Rainclaw and Hawklight."

The other Clans greeted the two new warriors, and Ravenstar sat down, letting the WindClan leader, Flashstar, speak. "Our medicine cat, Shadespark, has at last taken on an apprentice, Softpaw. She is learning quickly, and takes well to helping others." A small cream coloured she-cat with a ginger tail flicked her ears and pressed closer to a dark gray she-cat with silver and black patches, who smiled warmly at her. "WindClan also welcomes four new warrior apprentices, Mosspaw, Dashpaw, Featherpaw, and Darkpaw." 

Whitestar, the RiverClan leader, spoke next. "RiverClan has also been blessed with more apprentices, Bluepaw, Duskpaw, and Snowpaw." My gaze shifted to the three apprentices as the many voices called their names, and at once I realized Duskpaw and Snowpaw both looked familiar to me. Immediately I turned back to the WindClan apprentices and noticed the same thing with Dashpaw and Softpaw, and as the ThunderClan leader rose to his paws, I felt as though he too would announce apprentices that I recognized.

To my surprise, the only apprentice Ripplestar mentioned was Firepaw, the new medicine cat apprentice. She didn't seem familiar to me at all, and as my gaze searched the area around her, I saw no familiar cats, let alone the silver and blue-gray she-cats I was hoping to find. I began to wonder, if Duskpaw and Snowpaw were Twilight and Rarity, and Dashpaw and Softpaw were Rainbow and Fluttershy, then where were Starlight and Trixie? 

I slowly padded toward the ginger she-cat, and she looked at me, intrigue clear in her eyes. Before I could say anything to her, she lifted her tail to stop me. "You're going to ask whether there were any other cats that came to ThunderClan, aren't you?" I opened my mouth to ask how she knew, but she held up her tail again. "There were two cats who arrived yesterday, but Ripplestar has yet to decide whether they can stay in the Clan, so they're not here on the island. I'm not too worried though, he did the same thing with me when I first came to ThunderClan."

Suddenly, three more cats arrived on the island, though they were not met with the same hostility as the dark ginger tortoiseshell. The pale brown she-cat in particular was treated with respect as she padded forward. At once, Ripplestar leapt down from the tree to face her.

"Well Leafwing?" he asked, "What has been decided on your end?"

Leafwing nodded to the two warriors behind her, and they moved aside to reveal two she-cats, one silver and the other blue-gray.

Starlight and Trixie.