Chapter 13
"Oh, StarClan," groaned Duskstar, plopping down on her moss bed in the leader's den. "Thorntalon's injury and Darkkit's... well, attack, and the fact that I am only given until moonhigh tonight to choose a deputy!"
"Should I choose one of my friends?" asked Duskstar, not noticing she had been pacing among her den for what may have been only a few moments but seemed like a few minutes. "But what if the rest of my friends get angry? I don't know if any of the other warriors would make a good deputy; I barely know much about them!" Finally, Duskstar stopped pacing, and fell down to the floor of her den; somehow she had managed to pace onto the ceiling. Groaning with pain and worry, Duskstar slowly heaved herself up off the ground. What am I going to do? she thought, sitting and grooming her dirt streaked fur. She only had six or seven options; really only six, since Icefur would be busy taking care of the kits.
"Um," whispered a voice outside of Duskstar's den, so quiet that Duskstar barely heard it. "I-It's Brightfeather. Do you want to come gather herbs with me before it gets too late for the ceremony?"
"Sure!" exclaimed Duskstar, leaving her den with a relaxed sigh. Now she wouldn't have to think about the deputy position for the moment. "So, Thorntalon's sleeping?"
"Oh, yes," replied Brightfeather, matching Duskstar step for step as they began to walk out of camp. "Spottednose offered to watch her for me. Isn't that just wonderful?" Duskstar nodded in reply, but the way her friend had said what she said made her slightly worried and suspicious.
The pair walked out of the camp and towards the border, where the best herbs grew. When they came to the border, they found a large bush of juniper berries. Duskstar quickly set to work gathering the juniper berries next to Brightfeather, making sure they left a large amount of the berries on the bush.
"Should we head towards the next herb you need?" Duskstar asked over her mouthful of berries. Brightfeather quickly nodded and they turned right, leaving the border but not going back the way they came.
"Now," Brightfeather mewed. "The next herb we need should be right over he-a-wha...?!" A bright, blinding light flashed, causing the two friends to accidentally bite down on the juniper berries, which then caused them to spit the berry remains out.
Blinking her eyes open and ignoring the tang of the juniper berry juice in her mouth, Duskstar glanced at Brightfeather, who showed she was not sure either what just happened. Slowly, Duskstar pushed her way past a thin wall of undergrowth to find three, long legged cats laying in a small clearing. One of the cats was white with light red-brown streaks on her ears and tail, along with light brown eyes. The second cat was black with bright, shiny blue eyes. The third cat was a pale red-brown, lighter than Dawnlight, with pale brown eyes and lighter underfur. Just then, Duskstar realized who these three cats were.
"Princess Celestia?" gaped Duskstar, her voice nearly as soft as Brightfeather's usually was. "Princess Luna? Cadence?!"
"Twilight?" asked cat Celestia, slowly getting up. But upon glancing at her paws, she gaped at her own body, then at the other two princess cats, and then at everyone all at once. "What in Equestria...?" she mumbled, looking far too confused. "Are we...cats..?"
"I can't explain why, but it's not important right now," meowed Duskstar, all her current Clan situations adding to this new, shocking find, causing her to slightly panic. "We need to get you back to the Cl-"
"Cats?!" gasped Cadence, who had now sat up.
"Peculiar indeed," meowed Luna-cat, glancing around. "Do you know what's wrong, big sis?" But Celestia just stood there, jaw gaping, at the sight around her.
"Um..." mumbled Brightfeather, who had so far been silent. "It's getting really dark, so maybe we should head back... i-i-if that's okay with you, that is..."
"Yes," sighed Duskstar, turning to the three cat princesses. "Everyone, come on, we need to head back to camp right now or else..." She trailed off, already nudging the princess cat towards the camp.