He could hear many voices as he was lead into the hall. As he approached a curtain he could make out Celestia standing at a podium, she passed him a smile when she spotted him behind the curtain. Princess Luna was standing next to her, she looked bored.
Celestia raised a hoof, the voices stopped, "Now that all of you have been informed on the current events I would like you to meet the one that helped to stop the izelim. Please remember to lower your voices, our friend has very good hearing." he could make out hushed whispers. Celestia motioned him to step forward, "Scar, the gnoll."
Scar hesitated for a moment, but decided to trust Celestia and stepped forward through the curtain. As he walked into the middle of the hall he took a look around. There were many ponies here, of all kind. Most of them were magic ponies and all of them started whispering to one another vehemently when they saw him. He smelled fear on many of them. Even though they were only whispering he was able to make out quite a bit.
"Look how big that thing is!"
"How savage!"
"Those teeth! He must be a carnivore!"
"That beast lives with my sister?!"
"Is that blood?"
"He smells!"
The voices were becoming louder now. They hurt his ears. Celestia saw his dismay and raised a hoof. The whispering stopped, but he still felt their eyes on him. "Scar has been in Ponyville for a short time now but has already proven to be a valuable member of our society. He has helped many of my subjects. My sister and I have found no reason to distrust him and neither should any of you."
"Does he understand us? Can he talk?" one of the unicorns asked.
Scar turned to the unicorn, "Scar can talk." More murmurs from the ponies. A few ponies stood up to address the gnoll.
"Where did you come from?"
"Scar was born in mountains, then it traveled a lot."
"Did you really fight the izelim?"
"Pony means rats? Evil rats come to hurt ponies so Scar rips them apart. Still has rat blood on it." he pointed to a dark spot on his rags, the pony became very pale.
"Do you eat meat?"
"Scar eats many things. Nothing that talks." this elected some more murmurs.
"What do you do in Ponyville?"
"Gnoll comes to read books. Also does work at Fat Mare and plays with tiny ponies." some of the ponies exchanged worried glances.
A slightly overweight pony spoke up before any other questions could be asked, "It is nice to see that Ponyville has its own personal watch dog, but what about the other towns? If the izelim are as crafty as you told us we will never be able to find them, even with your guards! I agree that we shouldn't make this public and cause a panic, but if there are any more of these things left in equestria we need to find them."
Many ponies nodded in agreement, but then an elder mare stepped forward and the whispering stopped. Scar watched her with curiosity as she approached him, even in her age the air around her seemed to carry authority. She stopped in front of him and craned her neck to look up at him, "May I see your eyes?"
The request surprised him, he looked to Celestia, "Go ahead Scar, everything is alright."
He got down on one knee and lowered his head. Her eyes were full of life. Scar wagered that she was probably a wise one among their kind, maybe she was a shaman, if the ponies had anything like that. She looked into his eyes for a long time, then she smiled, "Even with your savage appearance there is much kindness in your eyes. I am sure you are no threat to the ponies." She looked at his bandages, "Did you get these wounds from the rats?"
He nodded, "Evil little rats with evil little knives." the ponies around them were listening to their conversation very quietly now.
"The princess said you were able to capture one of them alive. Tell me, how were you able to capture it?"
"Scar grabs rat and drags it behind it. Had to slam it into wall a few times to keep it still." some of the ponies shuddered as he mimicked the motion, Celestia raised an eyebrow.
"No, I mean how were you able to find it at night?"
"Scar is hunter, has good eyes and good nose. Also, rats stink so easy to follow." the murmurs were slowly starting again. Celestia had already understood what the old mare was aiming at.
She turned to Celestia, "We can send the gnoll, with his sense of smell he will find the izelim no matter where they hide." she walked back to her seat and sat again. Scar wasn't sure if he understood her correctly, send him where? Were there more rats?
Suddenly the room was filled with voices, "Send him to Manehatten first!"
"NO! Trottingham is a much more likely target!"
"What are you talking about? If anywhere we need to send him to Fillydelphia first! It's obvious!"
The room was drowned in the sound of the arguing ponies. Some of them even offered to pay for his presence. The discussion quickly turned into a full-out debate.
"ENOUGH!" Luna's voice boomed through the hall, the gnoll held his ears. "The gnoll is neither a mercenary nor a pet. We can only ask for his assistance. Even if he decides to help we will not have him going on a wild hunt through all of Equestria simply to comfort your worries." She addressed the gnoll, "Scar, we fear that there may be more of the izelim hiding in Equestria, would though be willing to help us find them?"
Scar raised himself from his position and stood tall, if there were really any of the rats left he had work to do. "Gnoll will hunt evil rats! Scar will rip them to pieces! It will leave no rat alive!" his voice thundered through the hall as he bared his teeth. The ponies shuddered.
Luna nodded, "All of thee have heard it, he will help us. Return home and contact the guard and police stations. If there are reports of missing ponies or suspicious sightings contact us and we will send him to investigate. We deem that this should please all of thee." Some of the ponies weren't completely pleased but they nodded nonetheless.
"Good, then we hereby declare this council adjourned."