The Reader

by GnollReader

First published 6th of November, 2012

A gnoll appears in the Canterlot library and is forced to cope with an endless amount of problems as it gets to know the ponies a bit better.

A gnoll appears in the Canterlot library and is forced to cope with an endless amount of problems as it gets to know the ponies a bit better.

This is a story with each chapter written on a touch and go basis in an hour. If there are errors in them please excuse me I constantly reread them and when I find something I correct it. I hope you enjoy reading it.

Finally got around to do a rough sketch for cover, maybe I'll finish it when I find the time.

Big thanks to Silver Page for editing.

Don't forget to rate if you like ^^

Chapter 1: In the light of a candle

In the Canterlot library, a figure loomed over a table basked in the flickering light of a single candle. Sitting on a stool seemingly far too small for its bulking form, huge paws with sharp claws carefully turned the pages of a small book lying on a table.

"Th...the pony sss... the pony is eaaating an abbbll... mmm," the figure scratched its chin as it hunched closer over the book, engrossed in the seemingly endless words. "The pony is eating an... aaaappe..., aaep..."

"Apple." a female voice stated from behind.

The figure nodded "Mmmh, yes yes, APPLE! The pony is eating an apple!" the figure grinned at its success, showing a set of huge canine teeth. Suddenly realizing that it was not alone it jolted up and whirled around, eyes wide in shock and surprise.

There before it and almost a head smaller stood princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria and deity of the sun. Before Celestia stood something which looked akin to a diamond dog, but its hind legs were longer and straighter, the arms not as thick and the head more resembled a wolf than a dog. In addition its sheer size and almost straight posture dwarfed the hunched appearance of any diamond dog. Between the deep-black fur two red eyes stared at the princess, almost hidden beneath the dirty and ragged hood of its torn and tattered shirt.

And so the two creatures stared at one another, one in shock and one in wonder. Celestia was the first to break the silence, "Your 'shirt' is on fire..." she flatly stated.

The wolf, suddenly realizing that his shirt had gotten too close to the candle and indeed was on fire frantically started to pull it off. "Nononono..." he cursed as he ripped off his shirt and started beating it on the floor to extinguish the flames. And then it hit him.

He stopped and turned his head to look at the princess again, who was now giving him with a very strange look. "Your back… what happened?"

"No..." it was almost a whisper and his instincts finally took control. With a strong flex of two powerful legs he made a wild dash for the nearest window, his speed shaking the books on the shelves as he passed. Just as he was about to reach the window though he suddenly stopped in mid-air and slowly started to drift back towards the princess, a faint white glow surrounding him and the alicorn's horn.

"NO!" he started to struggle wildly against his holds, but to no avail as he drifted closer towards the princess. "NO! LET IT GO! IT HAS DONE NOTHING WRONG! LET IT GO! LET IT..." his mouth was forced shut by the glow as he was now hovering before her.

"I mean you no harm, gnoll." his eyes squinted in surprise, how did she know what he was? "I only wish to talk with you, after that I promise to let you go unhindered. Is that alright?" he looked at her with doubt, but what else could he do? He slowly nodded, maybe he could try to make another dash for the window. "And when I set you down, please do not immediately try to run again." this time his reaction was different, a threatening rumble escaped his throat as his hair stood on all ends. "Do not worry, I did not enter your mind and I will not do so... unless necessary. All I wish to do is to talk with you. But know this, I will know if you lie." he had somewhat relaxed but still looked at her with weary eyes.

The aura disappeared, and his shirt drifted toward him. He grabbed it out of the air and held it close, inspecting the damage of the fire. "You have been hurt..." he looked at her, "Both mentally judging by your reaction and physically judging by the scars on your back. Who did this to you?" He was quiet at this, and simply put his shirt back on, all the time keeping an eye on her. "Please tell me, I need to know what happened."

"It learned..." he quietly stated as he started to pick up the books that had fallen on the ground during his attempted escape. "It first learned in cage, pony would make it work, if not work hard enough then work by whip or stick. Then it ran, and ran, until paws bleed..." he paused to look at his paws absent minded, there were scars on them. "Back then paws much smaller..." he placed another book in the shelf.

"Then many pony hunt it, say it kill little pony... it did not, but ponies no care. It hungry and dumb, so it went in cage again..." his breath became a bit heavier. "Pony think it know where little pony, so they get magic pony... and magic pony... rip mind... many times many nights... then it ran again... pony hunt with fire... and burnt it." he looked at her, she seemed motionless but her eyes showed her inner turmoil.

He shook his head and continued, "But it learned, it learned much..." he turned to her again, "No trust pony, no trust magic..." his eyes drifted towards the window, "Sun come soon, it leaves." he started to walk towards the window.

"Why did you come here?"

He stopped and looked back at her, "First it watched from forest, then it smell books... and it remembered there be signs in them. No pony ever come here, and it is good at climbing, so it come. It hid in forest when sun there and came when sun gone. It learns to draw and speak pony signs."

"Why?"

"So it can be more than just it."

There was a pause as the two once again looked at one another. He huffed once, "It go now." he turned towards the window.

"You may come again if it is your wish. I will make sure that no pony will be here at night. I would like for you to come again to learn and talk with me." he turned to her in surprise, "You will come again?" He didn't answer, he only looked at her in wonder for a few more seconds. Then, without a sound he vanished through the window and into the night.

Celestia stood alone for a moment as she lingered where he had disappeared. Could her own subjects be capable of such cruelty? There had been only truth in the gnoll's words, but that only meant he believed it to be true. She remembered a time when creatures such as him still had been a common sight, and before she set off herself to raise the sun and to see her sister she whispered to herself, "I hope..."

Chapter 2: Ponies in trees

For three days he stayed in the forest, torn between his hunger for knowledge and his distrust of the ponies. The big white one had allowed him to stay, but he knew ponies lied. Then again if she had wanted to hurt or cage him she would have done so on their first meeting. He could stay in the forest for a long period; there were many small animals that he could eat, even some fruit and roots. Most predators avoided his path, those that were bigger he could easily avoid himself.

Still, the smell of books always found him in his dreams and so on the fourth day he decided he would risk visiting the tower with the books again.

When the sun started to set he left the safety of his cave and started to walk towards his destination. His cave was a good way from the edge of the forest, far from where he believed any pony would tread. It would be night by the time he would reach the edge but he favored safety over comfort.

He had walked for some time; The sun was almost touching the horizon when he picked up a scent. Wooden fangs. They hunted in packs and tasted like rotting wood, he remembered the splinters in his gums. They had avoided him after their first encounter and he had taken to ignoring them since they couldn't be eaten. But there was another scent, weak but familiar. He checked the position of the sun, he had some time to spare and maybe there would be carrion. Not one to turn down a free snack he started following the scent.

When he found the wooden fangs they were grouped under a small tree in a clearing, growling and occasionally jumping to snap at something, each snap accompanied by three small yelps from the tree. He sniffed the air once more and finally recognized the other scent. He gave a rumbling growl as he stepped into the clearing, the wooden fangs spinning around to face him with ears lying back. They were intimidated by his appearance, but they seemed unwilling to give up their hunt. He gave them a vicious snarl showing his huge teeth and seemingly remembering his bite they finally left and disappeared into the forest again. The tree had gone silent.

He walked under the tree, hearing faint whispers coming from its leaves. He turned his head up, "Forest no place for ponies, go home." silence, "Is dark soon, ponies should go home."

"We're lost."

"You walk this way." he pointed to a direction.

"What if the timberwolves come back?"

He gave a groan, "Ponies can follow it. It leads them to pony village. Wooden fangs leaves them alone if it with you."

"No way! If we come down you're going to eat us, or drag us off to your mines!"

Another the voice chirped in, "Ah don't know Scootaloo, that there diamond dog's big enough to just grab us outta the tree if he wants to."

"Is no dirty dig dog, is gnoll. Sun almost gone, we need go now." silence again.

He was growing impatient, "What's a gnoll?"

"I don't know, but you two can't seriously be considering going with him!"

"What else can we do? I don't want to spent the night in this tree!" He looked at the sun, he was late and they were still arguing up there. He needed to speed things up, "What's he doing?" he grabbed the trunk with his paws and gave it a violent shake. There were three squeaks followed by three thumps.

There before his feet lay three tiny ponies, curled up into balls and not moving. Where they playing dead? The idea amused him, he could hear their tiny hearts beating fast. He went down low to put his head in front of them, "Silly tiny ponies, you no apples. Come now, we go to pony village." they didn't budge.

He gave an loud snarl, making their eyes snap open and stare at him in rigid fear, "WE. GO. NOW!" this time he got three wide-eyed nods. "Good." he stood up and started walking, soon enough he could hear them fall in line a bit behind him, all the time whispering among themselves.

"HEY! WHAIT UP! YOU'RE GOING TO FAST!" he sighed in annoyance and his shoulders sagged. They were slow, so slow, and the whining, the constant whining. By the thunder they were annoying.

He stopped and waited for them to catch up, "Tiny ponies are too slow, it almost dark and we still need go far."

"No fair! Your much bigger than us!"

"Tiny ponies also complain too much!"

"We're hungry!"

"I'm tired!"

"We're not tiny!"

"My legs hurt!"

He gave a defeated moan and got to his knees, "On back..."

"What?"

"Ponies climb on back, no complain or they walk again."

"YAY!" a chorus of three voices answered. And so he continued with a pony on each shoulder and one on top of his head. Even though still slow, they were at least making progress now.

He was becoming annoyed again. They were constantly talking, making remarks about his teeth or fur or just asking intolerable questions. He damned his own hide, but then he got an idea. "Tiny ponies."

"Yes?"

"Hold on, we go fast now!"

"WhaAAAAA..." he sped off, foliage and trees a blur as he shot through the forest. The tiny ponies were quiet, too busy holding on for their dear lives as the wind roared in their ears. Finally. Peace.

With his renewed efforts they were able to reach the edge of the forest in no time. He stopped as he reached the tree line. There was a strange forest here. The ponies had made many apple trees grow in lines. Silly. The tiny ponies on him were still quiet, eyes shut in the effort of holding on. "Tiny ponies can get off, we there."

They opened their eyes, "WE'RE HOME! Look Apple Bloom, we're at the farm!" they were cheering in joy as they scampered off him. Finally. Finally he could go to the books, the night was still young. He turned around to leave, "Wait!" he stopped.

"Thank you for taking us home!"

He nodded, "Ponies should go now."

"That was crazy fast! Can you come visit us so we can do that again?"

He shuddered, "Maybe. But tiny ponies must not go in forest anymore." more cheering. They waved as he disappeared into the forest again, but he watched them from his cover until they reached the door of the big pony house. When the door opened he could hear some pony shouting at the tiny ones, scolding them for going into the forest. Good, it would help keep them away from it.

He kept to the tree line until he could see his destination. The big castle looked like a star in the light of the moon. He smiled. He would finally get to read again.

Chapter 3: The wet dog

Princess Celestia was tossing and turning in her bed, her sleep troubled. For three days she had waited in hope that the gnoll would return, but he had not. Had he been scarred so much by his experiences with her subjects? Where had he gone? Her thoughts gave her no rest as she tried to find sleep.

When she turned around once again though, she found herself looking into two red eyes and a towering form above her bed. "White pony wake up." a deep voice grumbled. She gave a yelp and tried to skid away from the form, only succeeding in falling off her bed with a loud thump. "Is no time for games white pony. It has questions." she finally became aware who had come to her chambers.

"It's you! Where have you been? Wha... how did you get into my chambers?" she asked as she got up, there were usually guards everywhere in the castle.

He raised an eyebrow, "It already told white pony, it good at climbing." he shook himself, spraying his surroundings with water.

"You're soaking wet!"

He shrugged, "Is rain outside."

She used her magic to put some more logs on the fire heating her chamber, "You should dry yourself."

He shook his head, "Not important, it has question first." He reached under his rags and brought forth a little book, "This book make no sense! It reads again and again, it understands all the signs but it does not understand meaning!" he was ranting as he skipped through the pages.

"What exactly do you not understand?"

He put a claw to a page and read out loud, "And the pony jumped over the moon." he looked at her with a wild look, "Pony jump over moon? That make no sense! How does pony jump over moon? Moon up there and ponies down here! It make no sense!"

Celestia smiled, he had been reading a book with stories for little foals. The story about the pony that jumped over the moon had always been one of her and her sister's favorites, even with their troubled past. "I think you should meet my sister."

He gave her a questioning look, "Sister know why pony jump over moon?"

She smiled again, "Yes, she can explain it to you."

He gave a happy nod, "Good. It meets sister of white pony."

She mentally called for her sister, "Please stand next to that window for a moment, she will be here right away." He did not understand her request but he followed suit and positioned himself in the shadows next to the large window.

After a few moments there was a bright flash and before Celestia stood Princess Luna, deity of the moon. "Sister, thou has called for us, we mean,... you called for me, sister?" she had slowly been learning to talk normally, but old habits die hard. "Please tell me this isn't about the gnoll again."

When her sister had come with a story about a gnoll in the library she was sure that Celestia had been having a bad dream. To think that a gnoll would actually appear in Equestria after all this time was simply absurd in her opinion. In addition, what Celestia had told her about his story simply seemed unbelievable.

However, Celestia was wearing a strange smile, "I would like you to meet my sister." there was the sound of heavy footprints accompanied by falling water drops behind her. She smelled something that reminded her of wet dog and felt a hot breath down her back. She turned around, "Dear sister, I would like you to meet the gnoll."

Luna stared up at the huge creature, she was at a complete loss of words for what she was seeing. The gnoll however, had not lost his tongue. "Why pony jump over moon?"

"What?" she wasn't quite sure she was awake at this moment.

"Why pony jump over moon? It make no sense!" he asked agitatedly.

She wasn't sure how to answer, "I didn't... actually jump over it..."

He tilted his head, "What? Not this pony! Here, pony in book!" he showed her the book.

She read the title, "This is a book with tales for little foals..."

He looked at her, "So? Still makes no sense!"

"Yes, but it isn't meant to make sense. You read it to little ponies so they can sleep." he seemed to process this for a moment. She turned towards her sister, "That wasn't very nice."

Celestia was barely holding her laughter, "Yes, but your face was priceless. Besides, you wouldn't have believed me if I had told you."

Luna looked at the gnoll who was currently muttering something to himself as he was skipping through the pages again. "You're right. Do you realize how long it has been since we've seen one of their kind?"

Celestia nodded, "I remember, they left shortly before the rupture. Maybe we are getting a chance to repair the damage committed that day."

Suddenly the gnoll shut the book with a snap, "Silly book..." he muttered with a tired sigh as he placed the little book on a shelf and sat before the fire, red eyes staring into the burning timbers. "It liked the story with the pony and the wolf. That good story."

The two sisters walked up to his side, even sitting he was still massive. "We haven't been formally introduced yet, you have met my sister Celestia, I am Luna. It is a pleasure to meet you." he gave them a brief look and a short nod before turning his head back towards the fire. "May I know your name?" Luna asked carefully, she wasn't sure how to address this creature.

"It."

"It?"

He gave a nod, "It."

"That isn't a name." Luna commented.

"Is good name, is short and all ponies know it."

She shook her head, "No, you only call things 'it', surely you have another name."

He thought for a moment, "Some ponies also call it monster, beast or creature."

"Those aren't names either." she commented.

"Then it has no name." he shrugged. Celestia stepped forward,

"How about Scar?" Celestia proposed. She knew the gnolls had a very different culture concerning names. They were able to identify one another easily through smell. Names were something unfamiliar to them so they rather simply tended to give short descriptions about the most notable features instead.

"Scar..." he mulled the word over as he stared into the fire.

"Why Scar?" Luna whispered to her sister.

"Remember what I told you about his back?"

She did, "Oh... that. Is it really that bad?"

"It is." Celestia replied sadly.

He cracked his neck in thought, the loud cracks sending chills down the ponies' backs, "Scar is good name. It is Scar."

Chapter 4: A shiny pony

While the gnoll was busy staring into the fire the two princesses were having a discussion, "Tia, you can't seriously be considering allowing him to come to the castle anymore. What would happen if he were to be discovered?"

Celestia herself was well aware of the dangers, "I know dear sister... but how could I justify denying knowledge to those who seek it? And to think that a gnoll has appeared in Equestria! There must be a meaning to him being here."

Luna shook her head, "Even if he only comes at night and with good intentions, the holidays of the Canterlot academy will come to an end soon. The library will be filled with ponies day and night! What will happen then? The ponies of Canterlot would never accept his presence here and you know that!"

Celestia looked back at the gnoll, "What about Ponyville? What if I were to send him to my student?"

Luna was not convinced, "I know Twilight Sparkle to be a very capable pony, but can we really risk sending a live gnoll to a whole town of ponies? How will they react? More importantly, how will he react? Remember what he is! No matter how much they have always strived to live in peace the gnolls are still wild at heart, they always have been! If he were cornered, would he attack? If he grows hungry, would he hunt our subjects?"

"What if he would prove that he is not a threat to our subjects?"

Luna looked unsure, "He would need to prove that to our subjects and not to us, but how could he?"

There was a flash of light and a loud poof, the gnoll was momentarily roused to look around, "Big white pony explode?"

Luna gave a little laugh, "If only she could..." which earned her an annoyed sigh from Celestia who was currently reading a scroll. He simply shrugged and turned back towards the fire.

Luna looked back at Celestia, "Why are you smiling?"

Celestia didn't answer. Instead she closed the scroll, floated it over to her sister and started walking towards Scar. "Scar?" he turned his head towards her, "You wouldn't have happened to encounter three little fillies on your way to the castle?"

Scar thought for a moment, then he brought one paw a hand above the ground, "Tiny ponies?"

Celestia nodded, "Yes, that would be their size."

"Then, Scar finds three tiny ponies."

Luna had finished reading the scroll and was now listening intently, "Please tell us what happened."

He scratched his chin, "It finds three tiny ponies in forest playing apples with wooden fangs, silly ponies. It scare off wooden fangs, then it tells them go home but tiny ponies stay in tree. So it shakes tree and tiny ponies fall like apple. Then it brings them back to pony town."

Luna raised a brow, "And they just followed you?"

He shook his head, "Tiny ponies don't move first, still playing apples. So it barks at them and they follow. Tiny ponies were slow, so it had to carry." He looked at Celestia, "Was wrong?" Had the ponies sent the tiny ones into the forest on purpose? That would have been cruel even by pony standards.

Celestia smiled, "No, you did very fine Scar." she turned towards her sister, "I think I have the proof you requested. In addition, there is now a very enthusiastic pony in Ponyville asking for any information I have on the subject of gnolls. How about we send her a live one instead?"

Scar was confused, "It goes to pony town?"

"Yes, the library here will not be safe for you to visit very soon. I will let the ponies of Ponyville know that you are no threat. You will meet one of my students there, she is in charge of the local library."

His ears perked up, "Books there?"

"Yes, there are many books for you there, and you'll be able to come and go at any time."

He nodded, "Good, Scar go to pony town, meets little ponies, but if ponies try to put it in cage..."

Luna stepped forward, "Do not worry, they may be a bit... dramatic at times but they will not hurt you. To be sure though that your first meeting goes well I will send one of my guard captains to accompany you." he simply gave her another nod and returned to looking into the fire which was now slowly dying, the flames causing his form to cast huge shadows over the room. He never made fire in the forest but he always enjoyed the heat it gave when he had the chance.

Luna walked towards the door, slightly pushed it open and called to one of the ever present guards, "Guard, please tell captain Purple Haze that my sister and I need to see her immediatley."

The pony snapped to attention, "Of course princess!" she closed the door.

Not a minute later there was a knock at the door.

"Please come in." Celestia called. The door opened and a purple mare with bat wings walked in, the black armor and helmet polished to perfection.

As Purple Haze stopped in front of the two princesses her eyes suddenly caught sight of a huge form in front of the fire place. Her instincts were screaming danger but military drill and the fact that the two princesses seemed totally calm stopped her from calling an alarm. Her eyes however, were constantly jumping back and forth between the princesses and the figure. "Uuhhmm..."

Celestia smiled at her uncertainty, "Yes?"

"...."

"Is something the matter captain?"

She finally caught herself, "Night guard captain Purple Haze reporting for duty!" she clapped her hooves together as she struck a pose.

Luna nodded, "Captain, we have an important mission for you. But first, we would like you to meet our friend Scar." At that the form in front of the fire suddenly grew even bigger and she recognized it had been sitting.

When it finally turned around and stepped up to her, she found herself looking up at two red eyes and huge teeth, "Shiny pony takes it to pony town."

"WHAT?"

"Big ponies say shiny pony takes it to pony town."

She looked at the princesses, "I don't think I understand."

Celestia levitated a scroll towards her; she read it, all the time keeping an eye on the huge creature. "Is this true?" she asked her princess.

Luna nodded, "He also scared away some timberwolves who had cornered the fillies. It seems they did not mention this though."

Purple Haze turned towards Scar, "So you're a gnoll?" he nodded, "And your name is Scar?" he nodded again, "A friend of the princesses and little foals is a friend of mine too. Pleasure to meet you, I'm Purple Haze."

Again, he only nodded, "Shiny purple pony."

Chapter 5: Night visit

Getting him out of the castle had been simple. He had skidded down the mountain with ease while she had flown close watching his descent. Once they had reached the edge of Ponyville things had gotten difficult. He was unsure to enter this area. Meeting a few ponies was not that big a problem, but entering a town full of them was something completely different. Even with the ponies seemingly asleep he was still weary and nervously followed her through the empty streets.

After some time she could finally see the library, "This is it, the Ponyville library."

Scar looked unimpressed, "Shiny purple pony has bad eyes. Is tree. Is good tree, big and strong, but still is tree."

"Look a bit closer." he squinted his eyes as they walked closer.

He saw a door and some windows, "Pony lives in tree? Ponies silly. Books no belong in trees."

She smirked, "I won't argue with you there, tree gum and books usually don't mix well."

They reached the door, the gnoll was looking up at the tree in wonder as he stood next to the door. She knocked, "One second!" a male voice answered. The door was opened by an annoyed and very tired looking little dragon, "You're the guest the princess wrote about? Finally! You know that Twilight has been making me clean the library for the last hour? Head on in and right through upstairs. She's preparing the guest room." he stepped to the side and pointed to the stairs.

She was surprised for a moment, but given the gnoll's position and the dark there was no way the dragon could see him. "Actually, I'm the escort." she corrected him.

He looked to her left and right, "So who's the guest?"

She turned to Scar, "Well, don't just stand there. Introduce yourself."

He gave a grunt and ducked as he stepped through the door. Once inside he rose to his full height and looked down at the little lizard. He barely made it to the gnoll's knees. If the dragon's jaw could have dropped any further it would have it the floor. He nodded at the dragon, "It is Scar. Is guest for tree pony. It comes to read books."

The dragon simply continued to stare up at him, "I'm Spike? I think?" he somehow mumbled in his baffled state.

"Spike?" a voice called from above, "Is that our guest? Wait, I'm coming down!" there was a poof as a purple unicorn teleported herself next to Spike. She found herself looking at two black legs. She looked up and froze. The gnoll looked at the purple pony, she seemed to have a hard time processing what she was seeing.

"It comes to see pony books." he flatly repeated. He felt a nudge on his leg and stepped to the side allowing Purple Haze to walk in next to him.

"Hello," the unicorn and the dragon turned their attention to her, mouths still open. "I'm captain Purple Haze and the big guy with the big teeth over here is Scar, the gnoll. Don't worry, as long as you don't use magic on him he's totally friendly." The princess had been very specific on that point, along with some others she had also told her a very unsettling story.

Spike seemed the first to relax. He turned back to the gnoll, "Dude, you are humongous!"

Scar didn't know what the big word meant, but decided that it probably meant big or something similar. Why else would the word be that big and complicated? "Spiked back lives in tree?"

Spike nodded, "It's my work and home in one." the gnoll simply nodded in acknowledgment.

When Scar looked back at the unicorn he froze. She was wearing an uncanny huge grin. Purple Haze sensed his unease and stepped forward, "Now remember what the princess wrote Miss Sparkle. Be easy on him." Twilight's grin was still widening.

The gnoll could hear her whisper four words before all hell broke loose, "A... real... live... gnoll!"

Half an hour later he was ready to drown himself in the next river. The purple pony was barraging him with an seemingly endless stream of questions. Most of the words she used he had never heard before. What in the thunder did 'procreate' or 'carnivore' mean? Why was she asking him this many questions and not giving him time to answer?

The fact that a floating quill was constantly scribbling on an endless stack of parchment as she showed him various books and scrolls on some topics he could not decipher quickly enough was not helping his growing headache. The shiny purple pony seemed just as lost as him, she had tried to interrupt the talking one a few times but her protest had been drowned by the constant talking. The spiked one looked bored.

"So?!" the talking pony seemed to expect some sort of reply.

He probably wouldn't have been able to answer her question even if he had been listening. All he wanted was to escape this hell, "Purple pony talk too much. It leaves." he simply turned heel and headed out of the door. He would rather have his hide set on fire than return into the evil tree again.

Inside remained a wordless unicorn, an annoyed pegasus and dragon holding his belly as he was rolling on the floor in laughter. "What did I do? Did I say something wrong?"

Purple Haze raised an eyebrow, "It's more how much you said. Did you even read the letter? I told you to be easy on him!"

Twilight cringed, "Sorry."

Purple Haze gave a groan, she could actually understand the gnoll quite well. "Wait here, I'll see if I can talk to him."

She walked out of the door and flew after him as he walked towards the edge of the town, "Wait!" she set down in front of him.

"Shiny pony run away too? Good for shiny pony! It feared it would have to come back and rescue it."

She shook her head, "I want you to go back."

"No." he started walking again, she jumped in his path, "Little pony be careful, if it steps on pony little pony be flat."

She didn't waver, "Look, I talked to her and she said she's sorry. She won't do it again, I promise! She was just happy to meet you." he considered his situation. The purple one was dangerous, he was certain she could talk him to death or worse if she wanted, but there had been many books in the tree.

"It will return,... " Purple Haze sighed in relief, "But only if shiny pony stays and watches over talking pony."

"What?"

He crossed his arms, "If talking pony talks too much again, Scar loses patience. If gnoll loses patience it goes wild, would be dangerous for ponies." She could understand his point, a gnoll rampaging in Ponyville because some unicorn didn't give it some peace was the last thing the princess had wanted. In addition, the princess had made it clear that it was her responsibility that everything went well, no matter how long it took.

She sighed, she had hoped to return to normal duty quickly but this would probably turn into a lengthy stay.

Chapter 6: Morning surprises

Under the meaningful glares of Purple Haze, Twilight had reduced her questions to a minimum and the gnoll had cautiously returned into the library. Still, her curiosity was boiling as the gnoll inspected the contents of the shelves. "Soooo..." she stepped a bit closer to him, he didn't seem to take notice, "Can I ask you some questions?" Purple Haze was getting ready to intervene.

"No, sun comes soon and Scar is tired. It sleeps first, then talking pony can ask it questions."

"So you sleep at daytime? Spike!"

The little dragon was already scribbling on a piece of parchment, "On it Twilight."

Scar nodded, "It sleeps while sun is out, hunt is more simple in dark."

"How do you hunt in the dark?"

He shifted his attention to the little pony, "It has good nose and ears, also can see good in dark. It finds prey and crushes bones with teeth. Where does it sleep?"

Twilight ignored his question, "What do you eat?" he eyed her for a second, did she not hear his question?

"It hunts all things smaller than it. Also eats roots and fruit it can find in forest. Now where does it sleep tonight?"

Spike stepped up, "Well we only have a single guest room, and the bed is a bit small for your size."

Twilight was still questioning him, "Did you ever eat a sentient being?" Purple Haze was carefully watching the situation.

"Gnoll eats no talking things, is wrong." Scar turned to Purple Haze, "Shiny pony takes pony bed, Scar sleeps here, in corner."

Spike took a break in his constant writing, "Well the library is closed the next few days anyway, so I guess it's ok. I can get you some blankets if you want."

Scar nodded, "It needs many blanket, enough to cover it. Scar needs sleep."

Twilight was still going on, "So you never ate a pony? Would you if you were very hungry?" he was slowly getting annoyed again.

He bent down to her, making sure she could see his face while he talked to her, "Scar. Does not. Eat. Talking things. And no ponies. Is wrong. But it bites when it loses patience."

Purple Haze quickly jumped in between them, "Alright, thanks for answering all those questions Scar. I'm sure Twilight will leave you to get some sleep now, won't she?"

Twilight nervously eyed the gnoll, "Yes, of course. I guess we can continue tomorrow evening."

Soon everyone had gone to their respective beds. Purple Haze, being nocturnal herself, took the guest room upstairs, while Scar remained downstairs in the library. Spike had brought all the spare blankets he could find, and the gnoll had piled them up in a corner and dug himself completely beneath them. To any unknowing guest he would simply look like a huge pile of dirty laundry.

And so, the gnoll spent his first night in Ponyville.

The next morning Spike found Twilight creeping around the gnoll's sleeping place, "Uhmm, Twilight? What are you doing?"

She was inspecting the pile of blankets from all sides, hoping to catch a glimpse of Scar. "This is so exciting Spike! We have a real gnoll living in our library! Think of all the things we could learn! All the things he could show us!"

Spike shook his head, "I'm pretty sure he'll show you his teeth if you wake him up."

Twilight considered this, "That,... may be a point."

Spike led her away from the pile, "Come on, lets eat breakfast."

They were doing the dishes when Spike suddenly looked up, "Do you hear something?"

Twilight held her head up, "I don't... wait... is that?" the sound of rushing wind and screaming was becoming louder. Twilight sighed, "It's just Dash doing her morning stunts. Did you leave the window open Spike?" Spike chuckled. It had almost become a routine these days. Every few weeks Rainbow Dash would come up with some ridiculous new stunt and end up crashing through the same window of the library again and again.

After the first three times Twilight and Spike had simply taken to opening the window on their way down the stairs each morning. The library was always a mess each time but at least the window would remain in tact.

The screaming was still becoming louder. Spike spoke up, "Twilight?"

"Yes, Spike?"

"Do you realize where Dash is going to end up when she crashes through the window?"

Twilight didn't understand why he asked, "In the library, of cour..." she suddenly became very pale.

Spike finished her sentence, "With a sleeping gnoll nopony is supposed to meet just yet." there was a loud crash as Rainbow Dash thundered into the library.

They quickly ran into the main room. Dash had bounced off several shelves and had was currently lying right on top of the gnoll's sleeping place. The heap was not moving, and there were no sounds coming from Purple Haze's room either. Dash started to get off the pile when she spotted them, "Hey Twilight, hey Spike! Looks like I may have been a bit fast on that last turn. But you know, you can never slow down the complete awesomeness that is, Rainbow Dash!" she got down and struck a pose, "Is everything okay Twilight? You look way more nervous than usual. And why are all your blankets piled up in that corner?"

Twilight's eyes constantly jumped back and forth between the pile and Dash, "Nonono, of course everything is okay Dash, why would I be nervous? I mean, it's not like I'm hiding something!" Spike facepalmed.

Dash got a sly smile, "Who said anything about hiding something?"

Twilight was starting to sweat now, "Nopony! I mean, I didn't! Why would I? That's silly Dash, hehehe!"

Dash was grinning by now, "So you are hiding something,..." she walked over to the pile. Spike and Twilight could only watch as she gripped one of the blankets, "And I'm guessing it's somewhere beneath... this!" and ripped it off. Silence.

There before her was Scar's huge head, eyes ripped open and unblinking, too bewildered to even move and still half asleep the gnoll just stared at the colorful pony before him. Dash in turn just stared at the huge head, "That... is... SO COOL!" she squealed in glee as she turned back to Twilight, "That is the best costume ever! It looks so real! Can I help you scare everypony on nightmare night next week? Where did you get it? Can I try on the head?"

Twilight watched in horror as Rainbow Dash started pulling on the gnoll's head. Spike was wondering whether he should be scared or amused. Unnoticed by Dash the gnoll's eyes were growing larger and larger. The little pony had wrapped her forelegs around the back of his head and was pulling with all her might, "Dammit, it's not moving. Twilight, help me a bit I think it's stuck somewhere!"

Twilight wasn't sure what she should do, "Uhhmmm, Dash, that's not..."

She was still frantically pulling on the head, "Why isn't it moving?!" she closed her eyes and fully put her rear legs into it, earning her an annoyed grunt from the gnoll.

Her eyes snapped open and she stared into the gnoll eyes. He blinked once. She turned to Twilight, "This isn't a costume, is it?" Twilight nodded, "So this thing is real?" she nodded again. Dash turned around in time to see the gnoll get up to his feet. The blankets slipped off him as he stepped out of the pile and stood at full height before the colorful pony. She looked up at him with wide eyes. There was a moment of silence as the two creatures looked at each other before Rainbow Dash practically exploded, "This... is the BEST THING EVER!!!"

Chapter 7: The white and the wild

Scar wasn't quite sure what to think of the colorful pony. She seemed genuinely friendly but at the same time there was something in her behavior that greatly unnerved him.

"I don't know Dash, I had hoped to introduce him to the other ponies a bit more... slowly." Twilight was not sure what to think of Dash's idea. She was for some reason insisting on leading the gnoll through town to meet the ponies of Ponyville.

"Relax, Twilight! As long as he's with me he'll be fine! He'll be back before you know it!"

Twilight looked around the library, "Well, Spike and me still need to clean up..., but I'm not sure captain Purple Haze would be happy if he just left without her..."

Dash interrupted her, "Purple Haze is here? Why didn't you say so! The two of us go way back! She won't mind at all!"

Twilight was dubious, "You really know her?"

"Of course! The two of us went to flight school together! It'll be fine!"

Twilight turned to the gnoll, "I think it would be okay if Dash is there to accompany you. The decision is really yours..." Scar was almost certain now the colorful one had different plans for him, "... or you could stay and answer some questions while we clean up." he felt his heart skip a beat.

Whatever the colorful one had planned it could not possibly be worse than the alternative, "Scar goes meet ponies."

"GREAT! See you later Twilight!" she grabbed one of his paws and started to drag the gnoll outside.

The ponies who were already up and out at this early hour weren't quite sure what they were seeing. Rainbow Dash was dragging some huge beast through Ponyville, all the time telling everypony that she had the situation under complete control. The beast itself only nodded whenever Dash pointed out some store or building and gave a quick explanation as she hurriedly dragged him on. The ponies weren't particularly scared but they still kept a respectful distance.

Scar had been dragged around half of Ponyville before he decided to find out what the colorful one was scheming. He simply stopped walking and just stood there as the little pony tried to pull him on. "Hey, why'd you stop? We're almost theWHOAA!"

He held up his paw, the little pony hanging on to it as he brought her up close. "Why we go so fast? Where is little pony taking Scar?"

She grinned at him, "We're going to meet a friend of mine, she's going to be super excited to meet you! That's why we need to hurry. We don't want to keep her waiting!" she started pulling again.

He sighed, she was obviously hiding something. "Pony sure other pony will be happy to meet Scar?"

She grinned back at him, "Trust me. She is going to go completely nuts!"

"Scar is not sure if good idea. What if pony don't like meeting Scar?"

Dash was still trying to pull him on, "Don't worry, she's really friendly. Dude, how much do you weigh?"

He tilted his head, "What is colorful pony doing?"

"I'm trying to get you to move!" she tried pushing, he didn't budge.

"Silly pony, gnoll no move if it does not want to move. Now why we go so fast?"

"Uhhh..." she desperately tried to come up with something, "Because..., because she still needs to go somewhere today and we need to catch her before she's gone?" He did not believe her a single word. Then again, the alternative was going back to the talking one. He shrugged one last time and continued to follow the colorful one as she flew ahead.

Back at the library Twilight had almost completed cleaning up when Purple Haze came down the stairs, "That was the best sleep I've had for days! Twilight, you wouldn't happen to have any..." she stopped in mid-sentence to look at the pile of blankets, "Where is Scar?"

"Rainbow Dash is showing him around Ponyville."

Purple Haze blinked, "Repeat that."

"Dash took him out to meet the ponies of Ponyville."

Purple Haze wasn't sure she was hearing correctly, "Are you telling me that of all possible ponies Rainbow Dash is currently walking a gnoll through Ponyville?"

Twilight cringed, "Put it that way and it does sound a bit awkward. But she assured me she knew you and that you would be okay with it."

Purple Haze was grinding her teeth by now, "Oh I know her. And no, I am most definitely not okay with it. I'm going to go put on my stuff. Quickly, who in Ponyville would react the worst to a gnoll before her doorstep?"

They had arrived at some kind of store as far as Scar was able to understand. The colorful one had knocked and flown up to the roof while he had stood in front of the door. "Coooming!" a feminine voice almost sang. The door was opened by a white pony, "How can I be of assistance?" she sang at him with closed eyes and her head held up high. She smelled strongly of berries and something he could not decipher but his nose did not enjoy it. She was smelling far too intense for his liking. There was a moment of silence before she finally opened her eyes, and just as the colorful one had predicted, she went completely nuts.

Rainbow Dash was having the time of her life. She had expected Rarity to run around screaming in fear but this was far better. The moment Rarity had lied eyes upon the gnoll's rags she had thrown a fit and started using her magic to pull him inside her boutique. The gnoll had responded rather well considering the circumstances. He currently had his jaws locked around the wooden door frame and was holding on for his dear life. "Let go of my door you brute! I simply can not allow any creature to run around so badly dressed! It is an insult to anyponies eyes!"

"Pnnny leshh i go frst!" he somehow grumbled through the wood between his teeth.

But Rarity was unrelenting, "Not before you let me do something about those awful rags!" The fight had been going for over ten minutes now and Rainbow was laughing so hard she was on the verge of crying.

The was a sudden gust of wind as four hooves set down next to the struggling gnoll, "In the name of princess Celestia and Luna! Put down that gnoll! And Rainbow Dash, get your flank down here before I pull you off of that roof!"