//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: Warriors: The Next Three: Book 1 - Different Perspective // by Kyle_67 //------------------------------// Rainbow felt a tail on her shoulder. Looking to see whose it was, she saw Stonewind looking at her. She halted walking and realized that he was telling her to slow down. "Why did we stop?" Rainbow turned to the patrol and saw Petalpaw a ways back from where the rest were. The cream tabby appeared to be waiting for someone. Midnightpaw huffed. "We're waiting for Twilight to come back. She ran back to the clearing a few moments ago." The apprentice curled her lip. "What could be so important? I thought you three wanted to get to the camp." Owlbriar sighed in annoyance. Rainbow stifled a purr; Midnightpaw was as brash as she was. She looked back to Petalpaw and saw a purple figure bounding towards the group. Midnightpaw muttered something that Rainbow didn't catch as Twilight got ever closer to them. Rainbow realized that she had Pinkie Pie's catch in her jaws. When Twilight was only a few fox-lengths away, Rainbow took a moment to notice how large the squirrel was relative to Twilight. She put it down and slumped over in exhaustion. Must have been heavy, Rainbow Dash mused. "Wow!" Midnightpaw breathed, appearing to forget about her annoyance towards Twilight and putting on a much more friendly exterior. She padded forward to greet the former alicorn. "Did you catch that? It's almost as big as you!" Twilight shook her head. "No," she informed the patrol, "Pinkie did." Owlbriar beckoned the patrol forwards while remarking, "The queens will be very thankful." Pinkie Pie purred and continued forward. Rainbow turned to walk onward, but heard an exasperated sigh from Twilight. Spinning around, she saw her friend placing the squirrel back in her jaws and straggle towards the group. "Want me to get that?" Rainbow Dash offered. Twilight gave an excited nod and spat it out onto the ground. Rainbow picked it up and almost choked on a heavy heap of fur. She wondered how Twilight of all cats could manage to carry it with no problem, but dismissed it when she remembered that Twilight was slightly bigger than she and Pinkie Pie. Trudging forward, she could barely see in front of the furry brown mass she was carrying. After a few minutes of walking, she bumped into Owlbriar. Muttering a curse, she spat the squirrel down on the ground and confronted the stopped patrol. "What gives? Why did we stop again?" In response, she got a stern hush from Flingtail. "Do you you hear that?" The medicine cat perked his ears. Rainbow did the same, and heard faint footsteps. She wished she could get a better look; her curiosity was clawing at her. Ugh, Rainbow silently groaned, if I could fly then this wouldn't be a problem. Rainbow realized something. Wait a second... Rainbow found a pine tree and silently tiptoed to it. Remembering her practice, she dug her front claws into the bark and awkwardly shifted up the tree as silently as she could. "What do you see?" The hushed question came from Petalpaw. "Not much," Rainbow dash answered. "There's some trees, obviously, a stream, and- oh!" she yelped, earning her a hush from the patrol. She ducked her head with embarrassment and reported, "there's a patrol of cats heading for what looks like the camp!" Rainbow saw a dip in the landscape way in the distance and could she sticks built up, signifying the presence of cats. "Describe the patrol," Stonewind ordered. "How big is it? What cats are in it? Is it possible it's a friendly patrol?" "There's about... I'd say eight or nine," she reported back. "It's mostly big cats and what looks like a cat with herbs. So, I'd say this is a patrol meant for battle." She narrowed her eyes almost into slits and gazed beyond the patrol. She hissed when she saw more pelts. "There's a second group headed towards the camp as well!" "Petalpaw," Stonewind commanded, "run to the camp and warn of an attack." The ShadowClan deputy turned to Owlbriar. "I need you and Midnightpaw to ensure that Flingtail gets to the camp. He'll be able to treat wounds." Rainbow Dash shuffled down the tree as Stonewind gave a commanding yowl. "Move!" Stonewind turned to Rainbow Dash and her friends. Her heart raced furiously. What kind of things would she be ordered to do? Would she get to fight, or even just watch? Stonewind appeared to ponder for a moment then nodded. "I need one of you three to join in the battle if there is one. Don't take on any cat bigger than you. The other two stay back and help if they're needed, okay? I'll explain who you are to any cats that ask." He bounded off deeper into the woods as Rainbow Dash turned to her two friends. "Why would he assume any of us have battle experience?" Twilight questioned. Rainbow Dash awkwardly shuffled her paws. "Loners most usually have battle skills, and so do cats in general," Rainbow Dash nervously mewed. "So, yeah. My fault." Pinkie Pie purred. "Don't be down, Dashie!" Her pink friend groomed her own fur and reminded her, "You enjoy fighting, right? Why don't you go ahead and fight! I'm sure you're a natural!" Rainbow nodded uncertainly. She did enjoy fighting, but she typically didn't deal with teeth or claws. Rainbow bounded off towards what she assumed was the camp and heard battle cries from cats as she approached. "Good luck!" Her two friends shouted as she neared the camp with every paw step. She reached a small hilltop and peeked over to see cats battling. Cats dug into each other and blood pooled throughout the forest. The yowls of fury were fierce as Rainbow sneaked closer to the fighting. Hiding behind a bush, she heard racing paw steps behind her and reflexively rolled out of the way. Getting up swiftly, she saw a gray tom with green eyes. He was about the same age as her and Rainbow noticed the cat's slender figure. He was fast, as Rainbow barely had time to get out of the way. He almost seems like a cat from... Rainbow realized who was attacking with a jolt. It's WindClan, isn't it? The cat took a step back and glared at her. He must be observing my blue pelt. "What kind of cat are you?" The cat hissed. "The kind you don't want to meet in battle!" Rainbow lunged forward, catching the other cat completely by surprise. They rolled across the ground as Rainbow managed to swipe once at him, missing in the process. It left the other cat time to get control of himself. He kicked Rainbow off of him with his hind legs. Rainbow tumbled to the ground but got up in time to dodge a swipe aimed at her. She ducked and tried to remember the moves the cats had performed in the books. She thought of one as she slid under the cat's stomach and unsheathed her claws, raking them into his belly. The cat screeched in pain and jumped back. Rainbow shuddered as blood fell on her pelt as she awkwardly got back up from on her back when the cat managed to pounce on her, taking her to the ground. He ripped his claws across her chest as Rainbow felt a pain more intense than she had ever felt before. She hissed and stretched her neck forward and dug her teeth into the cat's ear. Rainbow Dash tugged furiously when she felt him rip away as part of his ear was still clamped by Rainbow's jaws. Blood splattered on the ground as she spit the chunk of his ear out. She looked up and saw the tom breathing heavily. He growled as he slowly backed away, waiting for Rainbow's next move. There was a scent coming off of him that was alien to Rainbow Dash until she figured it out. He has fear-scent! she realized. He reeks of a wuss! Not wanting to give him a break, she circled around him, imitating a common action performed in the books. He mirrored her motion. The cat lunged forward, but Rainbow was ready. Such a foolish mistake he made, Rainbow reflected. She easily moved out of the way as he made no attempt to catch her off guard. He landed behind Rainbow weirdly as she turned around and jumped on his exposed chest. His eyes widened as Rainbow sunk her teeth into his side and ripped away with fury. He let out a wail of agony as blood seeped from his wound. He turned and fled into the bushes. Rainbow considered chasing him but decided against it as she was made suddenly aware of the pain in her chest. Her pelt was stained with blood, not all of it hers, as she collapsed from exhaustion and gazed out on the battle scene. Cats were beginning to drive other cats off, and Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it was WindClan cats that were being driven off. Rainbow Dash listened intently as two cats confronted each other in the middle of a clearing. "Emberstar," A large white tom growled, "why have you organized this attack on my clan?" Emberstar, a she-cat with one white paw and a faded orange pelt, replied, "Oh, Whitestar. Every cat knows that your clan won't make it through leaf-bare. You've had few kits and have few warriors." The cat circled around Whitestar. "We were just speeding up the process." Rainbow growled as Emberstar yowled, "WindClan, retreat!" Several cats ran off as Rainbow Dash realized that she felt very woozy. She realized that blood was seeping from her and she had made no attempt to tend to it. The world seemed to fade to black as she felt her consciousness slip from her. I'm not dying, Rainbow realized. Blood loss, as she remembered from her biology class, didn't kill a pony--or cat--immediately. She fought to open her eyes but failed and relaxed her body. She heard someone call her name before the world went dark. She could rest assured knowing that at least a cat was coming to her aid. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "Okay, Fluttershy," the yellow pegasus told herself, "time for the last step." Fluttershy had decided to role play as Twilight and make a checklist. She giggled as she realized how similar her checklist was to one of Twilight's. She had intentionally made the last three steps checking, re-checking, and re-re-checking her list. Step One, she mentally read, Cry Fluttershy frowned as she remembered crying at the thought of having to go through the portal. She realized that going though the portal was her only option, as she couldn't live in Equestria while every single pony was frozen in time, but it still made her shudder, even if she got to become a cat. Step Two: Research She had read up on the spell Twilight has cast to freeze everypony in time, and one book stated that anypony with a magic level equal to or below the caster's. Twilight had told Fluttershy over tea a while ago that, since she possessed all three alicorns' magic when combating Tirek, her average magic level was 'boosted' slightly past the princesses', and the average magic level, as the book told Fluttershy, was the level of magic the spell took into consideration. But why am I unaffected?! She silently fumed, then went on to check the third step. Step Three: Find Way to Become Cat Fluttershy had given up on this step, only managing to find the spell that Twilight used while at the same time not being able to cast it herself. Her best course of action was to go through the portal as a pony and use her natural animal prowess to hopefully communicate with Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie that way. It sounded like a horrible plan in her mind, but she couldn't do anything else. If I had another Unicorn to cast the transformation spell, then- "Good morning, Fluttershy." Fluttershy froze as a drowsy voice sounded from behind her. She couldn't recognize it, but she had heard it before for sure. She remained still for a few moments before she lamely responded, "Um... hi, I think?" She spun around and saw a pony walk from one corridor to another one. The shadows made it difficult to make out whom it was, but Fluttershy saw that the pony was a unicorn and the voice she heard was female. Who did Twilight have over last night? "Um, who are you?" Fluttershy asked the awkward question and received silence, most likely due to her hushed tone. Mustering a great sum of courage, she trotted into the hall and walked down the hall into the kitchen. As she creaked open the door, she could see clearly who it was. "Starlight Glimmer!" Starlight turned around with a quizzical look. "Am I not allowed to have coffee?" She questioned. "B-But..." Fluttershy stammered, "how are you here?" Starlight furrowed a brow. "Twilight let me stay here until I get a place in Ponyville," she said, her gaze softening with realization. "I thought Twilight would have told you; I didn't mean to scare you. Sorry!" She pushed the button on the coffee maker but the machine made no noise. "Hey, where is Twilight, anyways? I don't think this thing's working right." Starlight reached behind the machine and fiddled with the back of it as Fluttershy reflected on the situation. Fluttershy had no idea how Starlight Glimmer was here; the time-freeze spell should have frozen her as well. But here the unicorn was, trying to fix a coffee machine that was stuck in time. "Um..." the timid pegasus began, "She went on... um... a vacation." She awkwardly added, "With Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash too, I think..." Starlight gave up trying to fix the machine with an exasperated huff. "Where's she go?" "Um..." This was it; the decision. She had to give Starlight an answer, but she had to figure out what to tell her. Fluttershy could either tell her newly-reformed friend the truth of where Twilight and friends were and possibly recieve aid, or lie and worsen the situation. Wait, Fluttershy realized. What's the upside of lying, again? "So, um..." she said quietly, "I have quite a bit of info on Twilight's location." Starlight's expression filled with interest. "Do tell." "Well, she's a cat, for starters." Starlight chuckled and then noticed Fluttershy's serious albeit nervous gaze. "Wait, are you not kidding?" Oh dear, she silently fretted, this will be difficult!