Cleaning his wounds was an experience for Purple Haze. She had started with washing the blood off his nose and he had held still. But when she tried to disinfect the wound he almost went nuts.
"Dammit! Hold still or I'm gonna spill it!"
"It burns! Purple Haze is killing gnoll!" he was spinning around in circles as she was trying to hold onto him.
"It's supposed to burn. Now hold... still!!!" she pushed down the cloth on his nose. He gave a long snarl and whirled around, but she held on. "There now, see? It's not that bad."
He crossed his eyes to look at her, "Gnoll will remember when Purple Haze is cut, then will see how tough little pony really is."
"Sure you will." she applied the band aids. It took three of them to cover the gash.
He grumbled, "White is bad color, how will Scar hunt now?"
"Just don't hunt until you're healed, or you could let the princess heal you."
"No, Scar does not like magic, is not nature."
"Okay..." she eyed the dagger in his arm, "That needs to be stitched..." she took in his appearance, "And Canterlot central isn't really an option..." at least not now that they had already descended from the castle. Also, the nurses would probably scream bloody murder if a dirty and bloody gnoll would suddenly appear in the waiting room of the hospital during night shift.
"Scar and Purple Haze can go to yellow one, little pony says it has many pets and takes care for them."
Purple Haze shuddered, "Fluttershy? She probably could, but I don't know Scar. My flank still hurts..."
The gnoll chuckled, "Purple Haze is scared of little yellow pony?"
"I'm not scared of anypony, it's just..."
"Good, then Scar and Purple Haze will visit yellow one." he turned and started walking along the path at the edge of the Everfree forest. Purple Haze was about to argue, but thought better of it. The gnoll was still suspicious of magic and Fluttershy was the only pony she knew that actually had any real experience with wounded animals. She'd still keep an eye on her, just to be sure.
---
When they reached the cottage there were two of Celestia's guards posted in front of her door. "HALT! Who goes there?"
"Captain Purple Haze of the night guard in company of Scar the gnoll." her response was almost automatic.
"Alright, the princess informed us about you two. You may pass."
"How is Fluttershy?" Purple Haze asked as she approached.
"She's locked herself in when we came and has since been refusing to open the door."
At least that sounded normal for Fluttershy. When she wasn't trying to steal sleazy novels she seemed to be quite true to her name. Purple Haze knocked on the door.
"H-h-hello? Who's there?" Purple Haze could barely make out her voice through the thick door.
"It's me, Purple Haze..." there was a pause.
"Are you still angry at me? Please, I don't know what came over me..."
"No, it's okay.", it was far from okay, "I didn't come because of that. Listen, Scar got hurt in a..."
She didn't even get to finish the sentence. The door was ripped open and Scar was literally dragged inside, "YOU'RE HURT! Oh nonono, don't you worry, Fluttershy is going to make everything alright!"
Purple Haze couldn't help but grin as she followed. Scar was obviously confused by how much Fluttershy was pampering him. It was also surprising how quickly Fluttershy had changed her behavior. She seemed much calmer and more direct as she was handling the gnoll.
"Come on, it's going to be alright. Now careful, there's a step. There you go. Now let's get a good look at you." she was leading him by his paw.
Scar didn't know if he should be amused or insulted. Did the yellow one really think he was that weak? He could run for days with the knives still stuck in him if he needed to.
She got a good look at him, "Why are there knives stuck in you?" Fluttershy asked.
"Evil rats stick them in Scar."
Fluttershy gave Purple Haze a quizzical look, "Rats?"
Purple Haze shook her head, "Rough night, princess Celestia will explain everything tomorrow. Can you get these things out of him?"
She took a look at the knife in his arm, "I'm going to have to stitch it, but I can do it." she got a box from a cupboard, "First, we need to remove the knife though. We have to be very careful when pulling it out so as not to..."
Scar had already heard enough, he grabbed the knife with a paw and simply yanked it out. He only gave a slight grunt at the pain, but the cut started to bleed instantly. He held out his arm to Fluttershy, "There, knife out."
"EEEP! Quickly, grab this and press it on the wound!" Fluttershy threw Purple Haze a piece of bandage which she immediately pressed onto the gnoll's wound while Fluttershy went through the contents of the box in a frenzy.
Scar watched in mild amusement as the yellow one wildly rummaged around in the box. He wasn't bleeding that much, at least not by gnoll standards.
While Purple Haze was busy applying pressure to the wound, Fluttershy had finally found what she had been looking for. It was a small jar filled with a strange powder. It smelled strongly of different herbs. The smell was pleasant for Scar, he actually found it calming. When she applied it to the wound he was surprised by the effect. The bleeding simply stopped and even the pain started to fade away.
"That's some medicine you got there Fluttershy. What is that?" Purple Haze asked as Fluttershy started stitching.
Scar didn't listen while the yellow one was explaining which herbs were in the powder. He would be able to find them simply by remembering the smell should there be the need. What was much more interesting was the fact that the little pony was using a needle and thread, with hooves. It was fascinating for him to watch. How did she grab it? He pondered on the question. How did ponies grab anything at all?
"Alright, all done" Fluttershy smiled up at him. He hadn't even noticed it when they applied the bandage, he had been contemplating how ponies opened doors. "Now we're going to do the one in your back next, but you'll need to take off your 'clothes' for that."
He got up from his position and grabbed the sides of his rags. As he lifted them over his back two things happened. Both Fluttershy and Purple Haze were presented with the full view of his back while at the same time a little black book fell from the folds of his rags onto the floor with a soft thud. The silence that followed only lasted a few seconds.