//------------------------------// // Chapter 32: A challenge // Story: The Reader // by GnollReader //------------------------------// "And this?" "Is bunny." "And this?" "Tree." Twilight put down the last of her cardboard cards, "Alright, this concludes this series. Let's move on to the next section." Scar was about to lose his mind. Had he known what was in wait for him in the tree he would have waited for the ponies to go to sleep. The moment he had stepped into the library the purple one had assaulted him with a sheer endless amount of questions and tests. He felt as if he'd been stuck here for days. The only reason he didn't make a run for the door was that he had promised her to answer her questions. He had mixed feelings on Purple Haze's approach to the situation. After the first hour she simply had taken a resting place on top of his back and was lazing around as the purple one tormented him. Not that he actually minded her sitting on top of him, it just seemed a bit... he couldn't quite find the word he was looking for. At least she did signal Twilight from time to time if a question was inappropriate. "So..." Twilight placed several closed jars in front of the sitting gnoll. Each jar was wrapped in cardboard, making it impossible to see what was inside. "I have a number of glasses with different contents. Now I'm going to blindfold you, and then I'm going to open each jar and you'll try to tell me what I put inside." Scar looked at the jars for a moment, was she actually serious? He lifted a finger and started pointing at each jar in turn, "Is apple,... is honey,... is grass,... is pink flower,... pony hair in this one, from purple pony..." he scratched his chin as his gaze rested on the last jar. "Scar is not sure about this one. Pony metal with food on it, maybe spoon or fork," She stared at him with an open mouth, "How did you?... I mean... I didn't even open them yet!" the gnoll simply shrugged. Twilight gave an annoyed grunt, "Alright. Let's move on to the next section. It was a CLEAN knife, by the way." she used her magic to check off another point on her list. The sheer amount of unchecked points almost made him whimper. "Next I'm going to describe some problems, and I want you to give me a solution for them." the only problem he currently wanted to solve was getting out of this hell alive and sane. A sound reached his ears, was Purple Haze snoring? "An apple tree is standing in the first pony's garden. An apple drops but falls in the second pony's garden. Both now claim that the apple rightfully belongs to them. Who does the apple belong to?" "Apple belongs to hungry pony." Twilight scrunched her face, she hadn't expected that answer. "And what if both are hungry?" "Ponies can share." "And if they don't want to share?" "Then ponies stupid. Is whole tree full of apples." "What if both aren't hungry?" He tilted his head, "Why would ponies fight over apple then?" "Uhm... uhh... well, I mean... I'm not sure..." Twilight thought for a moment before she wrote something on a sheet of parchment, "Okay... next question. A train leaves Trottingham at..." a loud belch could be heard from above. "Twilight! It's a letter from the princess!" "Another one? That's the second one today!" she rushed off upstairs. Thankful for a moment of peace Scar let his shoulders sag and dropped onto his belly with a loud thump. His head felt nice against the cool floor. He didn't remember when he had been this tired the last time. Purple Haze stirred on his back, "You alright down there? She's been going pretty hard on you, I think you should take a break." "Purple Haze thinks?" he grumbled from his position. He was silent for a moment, "Why does Purple Haze sit on gnoll's back?" "Don't know, it just seemed like the most comfortable place around while still being able to keep an eye on Twilight. Do you want me to get down?" "Is no problem, Purple Haze can stay." She shifted her weight a bit, "You still need new clothes though,..." there was a pause, "And a bath." "Scar needs sleep first." "SHE'S PREGNANT?!" came a shout from above. Shortly afterward Twilight came storming down the stairs followed closely by Spike, "Cadence is pregnant! My brother is going to be a father! This is so exciting!" she held up the note, "There's more! She and Shiny are already on their way to Ponyville, they're going to meet us at Sugarcube Corner! Both of you are invited as well." "We're invited?" Purple Haze asked, "Wonder why... I could use a snack though... what about you Scar, you wanna come along?" "Purple Haze can go with others, gnoll needs to nap." Purple Haze thought for a moment, "Alright, I'm going to get some snacks, say hello and then I'll come back. I won't be gone for long." After she and the other two had left the tree Scar shifted his weight a bit until he found a comfortable position and started to doze off. --- He hadn't been sleeping for long when something prodded his nose, it was the colorful one. "Hey Scar, you awake?" He gave an annoyed grumble as he tried to focus his vision, "Is awake now... what does rainbow pony want?" "I got bored and wanted to check if you were up for some awesome action!" "Rainbow pony can play with pony friends, Scar is tired." "Yeah, but Applejack is working, Rarity is busy with her clothes, Fluttershy is being Fluttershy and Pinkie and Twilight are busy doing whatever at the Sugarcube Corner." she paused for a moment, "Speaking of Applejack, she and I have a bet running whether you could catch me in a race. Wanna find out? I promise I'll go easy on you, I won't even use my wings!" "Gnoll is always faster than pony on ground," he grumbled, "But Scar runs enough for today. If pony wants to get caught by Scar it can come back tomorrow, gnoll is tired now." She got close to his head, there was a mischievous smile on her face, "That sounds like a challenge to me! Now all we need to do..." his eyes followed one of her hooves as it traveled to his nose, "Is to give you a bit of..." she grabbed the band aid. The gnoll's eyes were fixed on the edge of the band aid she was holding, she wouldn't dare. "Motivation." she finished her sentence as she yanked it off.