Author's Note

For those of you who enjoyed this story, I am deeply sorry. I simply lost the will to finish this story. I started FiMFiction without realising just how hard it would be. Having three active stories at once is draining, even for people who don't update often. I believed Hiatus would give me some relief, but I found that I was constantly checking back here anyway.

Cancelling it for good will put my mind at ease; let me get on with The Life of Princess Twilight Sparkle, Harmony and Courage and a new story I'm working on. It will also let any followers know they need not check this story.

Someday in the future, I may restart the story, but it would take me at least a couple months to find the strength for this again. But for now, Warrior Ponies is cancelled, and will stay that way for the forseeable future. Again, it may restart someday, but no time soon.

Apologies to those who enjoyed the story. For those who did, this is the last chapter I have written so far. It's unfinished and lacking finer editing and details, but it's the basis of where I was going with this story. I was planning to explain most things in the next chapter, but as I've said, I've lost the will to do it.

Once again, sorry, and I really do hope to someday see you in Chapter 9.

Chapter 8 and Cancellation Notice

Rainbow hissed in frustration as the plump mouse slipped from in between her claws. The crazy powerful rain made everything slippery, not to mention stupid Lionblaze and his stupid teaching methods not working! The blue she-cat jumped forwards, chasing after the tiny creature until one clawed paw landed firmly on its back. Rainbow smiled proudly.

“It was rather messy, but at least you caught it.” Dovewing sighed, padding up to the blue apprentice. “That’s better than can be said for my apprentice. You should really try harder to be proud of Rainpaw, Lionblaze. Lightpaw can’t even pick up a scent.”

Lionblaze grunted as he approached the two she-cats. “It’s time to head back. Rainpaw, you carry this, I’ll go find the others.” He meowed, tossing a rabbit at Rainbow’s paws.

The blue cat hissed angrily, grabbing the rabbit whilst Dovewing took her mouse and ran ahead.

When they got back to camp, Rainbow almost dropped her rabbit in shock. The scene before them was chaos.

Cats were huddling in fear on the higher areas and ledges of the hollow. The entirety of the first level of the hollow was submerged in water. A few cats, including Dovewing, Ivypool and Lionblaze, were splashing around in the water, salvaging moss, prey, and whatever else floated to the surface. But what Rainbow saw directly in front of her, on the other side of the hollow, was what terrified her the most.

Cinderheart was standing chest-deep in the water, her kits clinging desperately to her back, on top of one of the large rocks that decorated the edges of the hollow. There was no way out of it for her. If she jumped, her kits would fall. If she swam, her kits would fall. There was nothing she could do without a cat to help her.

Without second thought, Rainbow tossed the rabbit at her friends’ paws and leapt into the rising water. She was surprised by how high the water had actually risen. Behind her, she could hear her friends calling out to her, but she ignored them. She organised her paws and began swimming steadily towards the queen and her kits.

When she reached the rock, she scrambled on top and gently took one of the kits from Cinderheart’s back. The grey she-cat glanced at her gratefully, before grabbing the other kit and leaping to a ledge not far above them.

Rainbow took a deep breath (as deep as she could through her nose, anyway), gathered her haunches, and leapt. Almost as soon as she left the rock, she knew there was no way she would make it. The ledge drew closer, but not close enough. With one last ounce of effort, she tossed the kit towards the ledge, hearing a small thump and a squeak as the tiny kit landed beside its mother.

The blue she-cat plummeted back down into the water, feeling her paws brush the bottom of the hollow. The water rushed around her, filling her ears, eyes, nose. She could hear muffled shouts and screams, but didn’t recognise any voices. Suddenly she heard something shift behind her.

She turned in the water, only to see the rock flying towards her.

Then everything went black.

Rainbow let out a low groan. Her head hurt, pounding hard at her brain, scrambling her thoughts. The water was gone. There was no water! But then, she wasn’t in camp.

She opened her eyes and stood up slowly. She was in a hollow. There were four trees at the edges of the hollow, and a large rock in the middle. The blue-furred apprentice whipped round as a twig snapped behind her.

Standing there was a ginger-furred tom with bright green eyes and a pelt full of stars. Rainbow hissed and took up a defensive stance.

“No need for that, Rainpaw.” The tom meowed calmly.

“Wh- how do you know my name?” she growled.

“You probably won’t know me, but my name is Firestar.” He continued.

“Wait. No, I do know you! The elders talk about you all the time. Especially Graystripe and Sandstorm. But… you’re dead!” Rainbow mewed, confused.

“And so are you.”

“WHAT?”

“No need to worry, kit.” Firestar told her firmly. “You see, your destiny does not include you dying here.”

“My… My destiny?” Rainbow cocked her head slightly.

“Indeed. Every cat’s life, from the second they’re born to the moment they die, is predetermined before the cat is even birthed. When you and your friends arrived here, your destiny was instantly written. Yours does not include you dying in the flood.” He explained.

“Does that mean we’re in trouble?”

“No. You see, if a cat has not completed their destiny, StarClan can allow their soul passage back to their body.”

“So I can go back?” Rainbow gasped excitedly.

Firestar nodded. “Now, follow me.”

The former leader turned and ran from the hollow, quickly followed by Rainbow. Firestar was forever gaining speed, paws barely touching the ground, yet Rainbow found herself never struggling to keep up. They sped across a moor, over a hill, at one point Rainbow thought they were on a mountain.

“Everything you are seeing now is involved in your destiny, Rainpaw.”

“You mean, I’ll have to travel here one day?”

Firestar didn’t answer. The ginger tom was gone. Rainbow looked around, panicked, until giving up a few minutes later. Sighing, she padded into a nearby forest.

Suddenly she was at the camp, staring down into the hollow, steadily filling with water. The rain, as heavy as it was, seemed to pass straight through her. Right, I’m a ghost. Rainbow thought. She scanned the hollow, looking for her body.

There it was! Bobbing at the surface of the water, magenta eyes dim. It was both sad and disturbing to see her own dead body, but she quickly passed off her fear when she heard her friends’ anguished cries.

Breathing deeply, she leapt into the hollow, aiming for the sad lump of stained blue fur floating in the water. She closed her eyes right before impact, and when she opened them again, she was staring up at the sky.

Her breath was filling her lungs with sweet, sweet oxygen. She flipped over in the water and straightened her neck, forcing her head above the murky liquid.

Rainbow yelped as teeth fastened in her scruff, yanking her from the water and onto dry land. Water streamed from her jaws as she choked up the swallowed liquid. She looked up as she hit the rock, to see a sodden Lionblaze staring down at her.

“You okay?” he meowed worriedly.

Rainbow nodded feebly.

“You stupid little… Don’t… Don’t scare me like that, okay?” he sighed before leaping from the ledge.

Slowly, Rainbow rose into a sitting position, water still trickling from the corner of her mouth. “Why did he save me?” she wondered aloud.

“It might not seem like it, but he cares for you.”

Rainbow whipped round to see Dovewing sitting behind her, showing no sign of emotion.

“You’re his apprentice, so you’re his responsibility.” She meowed, before leaping to a ledge further up the hollow.

Rainbow stared after the grey she-cat, claws gripping the rock below her. The water was still rising, but nowhere near as fast. So she sat there, waiting, until the water splashed onto the ledge. Only then did she jump a ledge higher.

“What were you thinking, Rainpaw?” Spottedpaw hissed as the blue she-cat reached the ledge she was camping on.

“I couldn’t just let Cinderheart, Flamekit and Waterkit drown.” Rainbow turned away from the brown she-cat.

Spottedpaw sighed. “Rainpaw. I was watching you, and I saw you die. Why are you not dead?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Try me.”

“Very well. I died and then woke up in a hollow with four oak trees and a huge rock. Then I saw Firestar, the dead leader of ThunderClan, and he said that it wasn’t my destiny to die here. After that he led me across a moor and over a mountain in less than a couple seconds until I was back at camp. Then I jumped into the hollow, into my body, and I was alive again. The end.” Rainbow nodded.

Spottedpaw raised an eyebrow. “Somehow, I believe that. Maybe it’s because I see dead cats in my dreams, or maybe it’s because you’re from another world, but I believe you.”

“You see dead cats?” Rainbow grinned.

“That’s why I’m a medicine cat. It’s our job to heal cats, but also to speak with StarClan. I was chosen as a medicine cat after I spoke to some dead cats I’d never heard of when I was a kit. When Jayfeather found out he basically begged Bramblestar to let me be his apprentice.” Spottedpaw laughed.

“I did no such thing.” An annoyed voice sounded besides them as Jayfeather leapt up to their ledge.

“You did. Dovewing said so.” The apprentice smirked.

“I can read your mind. I’ll know if you’re lying.” Jayfeather stated.

Spottedpaw’s eyes grew wide and she let out a nervous laugh. “R-right…”

Jayfeather sighed before jumping away, surprising Rainbow by how easily he found the next ledge.

“So what’s this about him reading your mind?”