WARRIORS - The Pony Prophecy

Chapter 11

Starlight's POV

My tail twitched in excitement as all of ThunderClan gathered around Trixie and I. Ripplestar waited calmly for all the cats to settle down and look up at the Highledge, before lifting his head to speak.

"I have decided to accept the two cats who arrived yesterday into our Clan," he meowed, "They have shown potential to become valuable warriors. Starlight and Trixie, step forward."

The two of us trotted forward, standing just below the Highledge.

"Starlight, from this moment until you become a warrior, you will be known as Lightpaw," he continued, before looking toward the rest of the Clan. "Dawntail, you are ready for your first apprentice. You will be Lightpaw's mentor, and I trust you to pass on all you know to her."

I padded toward the pale ginger she-cat and she quietly instructed me to touch my nose to hers, explaining that it was part of the apprentice ceremony. After doing so, I sat beside Dawntail and watched the rest of the ceremony.

"Trixie, from this moment until you become a warrior, you will be called Breezepaw. Redshadow, you were mentor to Mintfur. You will be Breezepaw's mentor, and I trust you to pass on all you know to her." Trixie- or now Breezepaw, padded toward Redshadow and touched her nose to his, just as I had done with Dawntail.

The Clan started welcoming us by chanting out our new apprentice names. "Lightpaw! Breezepaw! Lightpaw! Breezepaw!"

After a few moments, Ripplestar raised his tail to silence the cats, before lifting his head once more. "There is one last ceremony I must perform. Willowpaw, step forward." A light gray she-cat with white forepaws padded forward, her amber eyes bright with excitement.

The ThunderClan leader looked up to the sky. "I, Ripplestar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn." Ripplestar looked down to face the she-cat. 

"Willowpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

The apprentice nodded. "I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Willowpaw, from this moment you will be known as Willowstorm. StarClan honors your enthusiasm and your courage, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."

The rest of the Clan began chanting Willowstorm's new name, and this time, Breezepaw and I joined in. "Willowstorm! Willowstorm!"

Ripplestar then dismissed the Clan, and Breezepaw and I faced our mentors, asking them what we would be doing first. Redshadow and Dawntail looked at each other before replying. 

"Since you two were just at the Gathering, I'd suggest to just hang around camp for now," Dawntail mewed, "Maybe get some rest or get to know the other apprentices. We can start your training tomorrow."

At once, Firepaw, who had been listening, padded forward. "That's perfect actually," she told us, "because I need to talk to you." The ginger tabby she-cat led us out into the forest, finding a small clearing and sitting down.

"So what's this about, Firepaw?" Breezepaw asked. Firepaw was silent for a moment, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, curling her tail over her paws.

"You two are from Equestria, aren't you?"

My eyes widened as I processed the question. Not only did it mean that Firepaw knew about Equestria, but also that it was very likely she was also from there.

Clearly the same thing was going through Breezepaw's mind, because she replied, "You are too?"

Firepaw nodded, hesitating a moment before meowing, "I'm Sunset Shimmer."