• Published 6th Nov 2012
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The Reader - GnollReader



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.

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Chapter 49: An Alternative

The wind roared in his ears. The earth felt soft beneath his feet as it exploded behind him with each step. Buildings and windows flew past him. Little lights passing him in a flash. He felt like he could fly. He wanted to be the wind. He went faster.

"SCAR!" it was Rainbow Dash, she was flying next to him. He admired her speed. "You gotta go slower!" she yelled at him.

"Scar has no time to go slow!" he told her, "SCAR IS WIND!" he roared as he took to running on all fours. He sped up more. Everything felt alive. It reminded him of the hunt. He could feel every sway in the wind, every grain on the ground. He could smell every nuance in the air. Even in the darkness he could see every detail clearly. He was the wind. He exploded into a wild dash. There was only the lust for speed now.

A rainbow latched onto his back, "Scar! You have to stop!"

Scar gave a wild laugh as he went even faster, "Wind never stops!" he dashed around corners with enough force to make his claws skid over the ground, he took to the roofs in wild jumps. He saw the moon as he soared through the air. He felt free.

His eyes suddenly caught something and he stopped. The sudden halt was hard enough to almost knock the air out of Rainbow Dashs lungs. She limply hung from his cloak as the gnoll stood still as stone. She carefully crept up on his back to see why he had stopped.

"Oh no..." she whispered as her eyes grew wide in realization. She felt his muscles start to tremble beneath her. He was standing in front of the Sugarcube Corner.

There were so many sweet things inside this place. He could smell them even through the closed doors and windows. It spoke to his senses unlike anything else. Sweet, like honey it beckoned him. He took a step forward. "Scar! Don't do this!" The whole place looked like it was made of candy. He licked his lips.

---

Purple Haze arrived in time to see Scar steadily walk towards the Sugarcube Corner with a hungry look in his eyes. Rainbow Dash was clinging to his tail and pulling him back with all her force but he simply dragged her along. "A little help?" Rainbow Dash said through gritted teeth as she saw the others arrive.

Purple Haze jumped in front of the gnoll, "STOP!" he stopped. He was still eying the bakery behind her though. "Scar, you don't want to do this. I know you're hungry..."

"Scar is very hungry." he commented as he licked his lips. "Very, very hungry."

"I know, but there are ponies inside. Little foals too. You don't want to scare them, do you?" she reasoned with him.

The gnoll looked at her, there were tiny ponies inside? He smelled the air, she was right. "No, Scar does not..." he shook his head as he sat down exhausted from his run. "But Scar cannot live of cake and apples alone. Scar needs meat." he said sadly. He stood up again and freed his tail from Rainbow Dashs grasp with a grunt, "Scar needs to hunt."

"You're not fit enough! You're still panting like crazy, you need to take a break!"

"Then what should it do?" he asked angrily, "Scar cannot live of cake, makes it mad! And Scar cannot live of fruit alone! Scar can not hunt, so what should it do?"

"I don't know..." Purple Haze replied in dismay.

"Maybe I could help." a little voice spoke up, it was Fluttershy. "Sometimes I go and get fish for my birds,... I could give him some and..." she suddenly became aware that Scar was watching her very intently. Purple Haze was giving her a 'you have got to be kidding me' stare.

---

His teeth ripped through fish scales and bones as he chewed happily. He picked up another fish and simply swallowed it whole. Lovely. It wasn't fresh but that only made it better. It took him a few minutes to realize the ponies were looking at him with big eyes.

"Something wrong?" he asked as he bit off a fish head.

"Just a bit strange to actually see you eat meat." commented Purple Haze as she watched him feast on more fish. "We don't see that very often."

"We certainly don't..." commented Applejack, "It's one thing to hear about it, but to see it up close... Although we all knew you have those teeth of yours for a reason."

Scar nodded happily between bites, "Is so Scar can bite."

"Ya don't say." Applejack replied with a smirk. "At least I think you'll be staying away from cake for some time, won't you?"

"What?" Rainbow Dash replied, "That was totally awesome! Did you even see how fast he was going? I don't think anypony could catch him on foot! We totally have to do that again!" Purple Haze shot her a glare, "Heh, I mean when you're fit again..."

"Luckily we got there before he got a chance to tear up the place." Purple Haze said with a sigh. "He probably would've torn the walls off the store."

"Scar would have gone through door, ponies never lock." the gnoll replied.

"Don't you try to be smart with me Scar." Purple Haze replied with annoyed tone. "Imagine what the Cakes would have said if a hungry gnoll would have barged into their store in the middle of the night to eat all of their cake." Scar cringed. That probably would have caused some trouble.

"There there,..." Fluttershy patted his head as she handed him another fish, "You were just hungry, weren't you?"

The gnoll nodded happily as he chewed. No matter what the other ponies thought. Right now, Fluttershy was the best pony, ever.

"Yes, though one question still remains,..." Rarity spoke up from the back. The others gave her questioning glances. "About a certain feather?"

Purple Hazes face turned beet red and Celestia gave her a questioning look, "I have been wondering about that, is that feather really yours captain?"

The gnoll nodded happily, "Is from Purple Haze, is pretty. For good luck, keeps gnoll safe! Scar keeps because Purple Haze is special pony."

"You don't say." replied Celestia as she passed Purple Haze a knowing smile. Purple Haze just wanted to die right on the spot. Scar could only wonder why the ponies were behaving so strangely.

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