Warriors: The Next Three: Book 1 - Different Perspective

by Kyle_67

Chapter 5

Flingtail blinked and halted padding towards the camp. Petalpaw could understand why; ‘do you trust me?’ is not a common question to ask a clanmate. He thought for a heartbeat, as if scared of a deeper meaning, and then nodded.

Well… She thought, here goes everything.

“So, um… well, you see.. in the clearing over there I found some cats and they say that they’re loners but they have strange fur and weird names and seem to be part of a prophecy that Sproutstar gave me and they didn’t deny it and they’re speaking in code and were travelling across ‘dimensions’ and then one cat died but came back to life-” she took a moment to gasp in air, the went on, “-which I thought was strange but none of the cats seemed aware that this one cat died and then then they said that they want to join the clans but I don’t know if that’s allowed so I wanted to question them more but then you called me so I came and then told you and now we’re here.”

Flingtail didn’t react. The silence that hung in the air was deafening. Petalpaw's mind raced furiously with questions. Would he believe her? Would she be seen as crazy and told to get some rest, sealing the fate of her first prophecy? What would Flingtail do to the cats if she brought him there? Then, Flingtail nodded brusquely and gave Petalpaw a dead stare.

“Well, prove it.”

Petalpaw stared back. “Excuse me?”

Flingtail shrugged as he groomed his fur. “I have no reason to declare you a mouse-brain until I rule that you have no solid proof.” He flicked Petalpaw's nose with his tail and padded in the direction Petalpaw came from. "They're over there, right?"

Petalpaw nodded uncertainly and led Flingtail back. They had padded for a few mouse-lengths when Flingtail picked up the pace very subtly. Petalpaw glanced at him to realize that his eyes were lit with excitement. Is he… actually looking forward to meeting them? Curiously, she caught up to his pace.

"Awful eager to meet the loners there," she stated nonchalantly, hoping not to seem nosy. Flingtail gave a small mrrrow of amusement and turned to her.

"You have no idea, Petalpaw." Purring, Flingtail padded forward. Petalpaw gave him a few moments to elaborate on his answer, but got no such thing. Frustrated, Petalpaw plodded onward. There had been so many secrets, mysteries, and unanswered questions since she got up from her nap that she decided to block out new ones.

They walked through the forest until eventually coming to the edge of a small dip in the lamdscape. Petalpaw glanced at the familiar surrounding pine forest. The pine trees clawed to the top of the skies and the wind whistled in her ears as she looked for the odd-colored pelts. Although it was leaf-fall, the leaves weren’t tumbling to the ground like they did in the adjourning ThunderClan territory as the pine tree’s needles stayed ever green. Petalpaw shuddered, imagining living in a forest where she’d have to trudge through a layer of leaves every time she wanted to go somewhere.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Petalpaw narrowed her eyes and noticed a blue pelt several tree-lengths away.

“Come on!” She bounded away and heard Flingtail following behind her.

She broke through the ferns on the edge of the glade and spotted the three loners laying around an eviscerated frog while having a discussion. She opened her mouth to say something, but Flingtail beat her to it before he was even in the clearing.

“Hello!” Flingtail’s meow rang across the clearing.

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Rainbow swiveled her head to greet Petalpaw, but instead saw a male cat next to her. He was a light-orange tabby with a white underbelly and brilliant amber eyes that almost seemed intimidating, despite his friendly stance. He had an abnormal tail, as it was only half a tail's usual length and had a pink tip.

Wait, a pink-tipped tail?

Rainbow Dash was aghast; she had read all of the books and she didn't recall any of the cats having pink anywhere on their body. It wasn't just skin, it was pink fur.

The cat moved forward and greeted them. "Greetings," he declared. "I am Flingtail of ShadowClan, what do you need from the clans?" Flingtail spoke very calmly, which was strange as Petalpaw seemed freaked out by them.

Why is this cat acting differently than Petalpaw?

Why was he here anyways? Did Petalpaw confide in him? If so, she thought to herself, how much did she tell?

Twilight, being the royal that she was, greeted Flingtail very formally.

"My name is Twilight, and my friends are Pinkie and Rainbow respectively," She mewed while gesturing towards her two friends. "We come on... friendly terms." Rainbow could see that Twilight was trying to stay faithful to her plan.

Flingtail nodded, and went on, "As Petalpaw tells me, you wanted to join the clans?"

Twilight was hesitant, but Rainbow spotted Pinkie in between Flingtail and Petalpaw.

"Well of course!" She purred. "We would love to be warriors! It'll be so much fun! I'd get to learn so many cats' names! I have lots of friends back home but none of them are cats." Rainbow was irritated at Pinkie once more. How can you say you have not cat friends when we're cats?

Flingtail glanced back and forth between where he last saw Pinkie Pie and where she was positioned now, then hesitantly went on, "Well, our leader, Whitestar, is not very friendly to loners. I'm sorry, but I can't guarantee you a place in our clan."

Rainbow's heart sunk like a brick. They had to join the clans; the plan wouldn't work if they weren't clan cats!

"Well," Rainbow meowed, "can we at least have a meeting with your leader? I'm sure he'd come around."

Flingtail thought about it, then nodded. "I can arrange a patrol to escort you to camp if that's your wish."

Yes!

All Rainbow needed to do was convince Whitestar that they were fit for clan life.

Rainbow agreed, and as Flingtail left for the camp, he turned around.

"Oh, another thing," he mewed, "would you happen to have a fourth oddly colored cat with you? Another pink cat?"

Rainbow shook her head. Another cat? Did Flingtail expect someone else? Rainbow thought back to Ponyville and realized she knew no pink ponies that could have become cats as well, so the pink cat couldn't have come from Equestria. So, were there other oddly colored cats besides them?

"Oh..." Flingtail turned around slowly, very disappointed. Now Rainbow Dash was suspicious; why was Flingtail sad about not seeing a pink cat? And why did he not think that Pinkie Pie was the pink cat he was looking for? Flingtail bounded off into the forest, leaving Petalpaw with Rainbow and her friends.

"So," Petalpaw mewed, "can you please explain the connection to my dream? The three cats I saw have to be you three, right?

Rainbow shook her head. "I'm sorry, we've had these pelts since we were kits." Thinking back to Flingtail knowing of a fourth oddly-colored cat, she added, "Our respective families had pelts like ours, too. Is it possible your dream was about three of our relatives?"

Petalpaw sighed. "I suppose," she conceded, "but do any of your relatives match my description?"

Twilight answered for Rainbow Dash. "Not that I recall, no."

Petalpaw sighed. "Well, I'm stumped, then." Petalpaw's gaze drifted to the frog that they had eaten and chuckled. "Have you three never eaten a frog before? It looks like a fox got to it!"

Rainbow and Twilight purred as Petalpaw went on, "I'm sorry to bother you with all of this prophecy talk. I'm glad you three are thinking about clan life; you seem fun!"

"Thanks!" Twilight chimed. "Would we join as apprentices?"

Petalpaw looked uncertain. "I assume so." She looked around. "Say, where's Pinkie?"

Good question, Rainbow thought to herself. Pinkie Pie never sat still; she always had to be doing something.

"Over here!" Pinkie Pie leaped from behind a bush. Before Rainbow could ask what she was doing, Pinkie added, "I was practicing pouncing!" She purred. "That leaf over there experienced full-on Pinkie's Prime Pouncing Power! That's just what I call it, though!"

Purring at Pinkie Pie's antics, Rainbow Dash turned to Petalpaw. Petalpaw looked very interested.

"Show me," Petalpaw meowed.

"Okie-dokie-lokie!" Pinkie lowered into a stalking position and crept forward, haunches raised, belly low.

"Not bad," Petalpaw commented, "but your paw steps are louder than a badger's. Step very gently so each leaf isn't crumpled beneath your paws. Pinkie Pie nodded and tried again. She went much slower this time and made sure to lay each paw down softly.

"Better," she mewed approvingly, "but your tail is dragging along the leaves. Lift it up so the there's no noise to warn prey of a cat approaching. Also, lower your chin and flatten your ears. You'll want to disguise your shape."

Pinkie tried once more, raising her belly when it rustled the leaves. Amazingly, Rainbow realized that this was most likely the quietest Pinkie Pie had ever been in her entire life. Rainbow stifled a purr as she wondered how impatient Pinkie was right then.

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Ugh, this is boring! I wait and wait for a signal to stop but get none. I just keep creeping forward slower than a snail. I swear, I'm seriously 5 seconds from- oh, wait...

I hear a set of claws skidding on bark as I stand still. The clearing falls silent and I realize that the others must have seen me stop. I perk my ears reflexively and pinpoint the location of what I can only assume to be a squirrel. Realizing that the squirrel can't see me, Celestia knows how with my pink pelt, I sit still for several heartbeats and see it drop down in my line of sight from a branch above. It has a nut in it's claws and is trying to crack it open. I ponder for a moment if I should really kill a creature as innocent as this, but I decide that I need to keep of the facade of me, Twilight, and Rainbow being cats for our entire lives.

I creep forward, Petalpaw's advice flashing through my mind a gazillion times a second. I make sure to keep my light-blue belly above the leaves as I stalk closer and closer to the unaware squirrel. My heart beat pumping so furiously that I'm surprised the squirrel can't hear it, I get so close to the squirrel that I can practically hear its claws scratching on the nut.

I hold my breath as I come to a halt. I don't stop to question how I know how to, but I press my backside against the ground, tense my back legs' muscles, and...

Now!

I lead forward catching the squirrel entirely by surprise. It has no time to react as I bite its neck and kill it. The taste of blood rushes into my mouth as I let it dangle in my jaws. I turn back to face the others.

"Pinkie," Rainbow Dash meows, "That. Was. AWESOME!"

I purr as I flood with a warm feeling only praise gives me. Petalpaw purrs and nods in approval.

So quietly I'm surprised I heard it, Twilight lifts her head and utters four words I forgot to consider.

"What's happening to us?"

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Sunlight came in penetrating rays through her window as Celestia's sun forced her to get up. She lifted her head out of bed and went to her dresser and grabbed a comb. Brushing her mane, she realized she'd been asleep for a long time, as she was incredibly well rested. She glanced at her alarm clock and saw it's 8:46 AM.

Blinking, she wondered how it was so early when she went to sleep at 3:28 AM but had the feeling of a night of rest more than 5 hours long. She shrugged it off and went downstairs. She brushed her teeth and rinsed with water as she went to her kitchen to get breakfast. She opened her cabinet and grabbed cereal. She was very excited, since it was book club day! She and her friends got together every Tuesday to discuss a book. This week was Warriors, her new favorite series. Rainbow Dash had mentioned it in passing when she went to visit her in her cloud home. She and her friends were on the third book of the fourth arc.

Speaking of my friends... she thought to herself, I should probably feed them.

She grabbed the food from the cabinet and poured it into a bowl as she realized something wrong. There in his basket, her favorite bunny was stationary; not breathing. She looked around and noticed none of her animal friends were moving. Out the window, no clouds moved, no wind blew, and leaves were frozen in midair. She picked up her pet rabbit and noticed that when she wasn't holding him, he froze, whether on the ground or in midair. She was in full fledged panic now as she shook her pet.

"Angel?" Her speech came in sobs. "Angel! Please wake up! Please, it's Fluttershy; please wake up!"

Comments

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

Damn you Cliffhanger!, but other than that, really good story so far!

[Daring Cammie Do]

"Angel?" Her speech came in sobs. "Angel! Please wake up! Please, it's Fluttershy; please wake up!"

Wait, did they kill Angel through dimensions?

[Twilight Shine]

6657733 I was thinking that too. I think their dimension is connected in some way. They kill something there that thing they killed is killed in their world.