//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Morning surprises // Story: The Reader // by GnollReader //------------------------------// 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!!!"