The three ponies eyed him nervously. The gnoll gave them a nod, "Guard ponies." Berryshakes twitched when he hefted the door to his back with a rope.
Purple Haze turned to Berryshakes, "How many ponies have gone missing?"
"Three until now. All of them within the last three weeks. We have no clues yet."
"Do you know where they went missing?"
She shook her head, "No, all of them were seen leaving the village but none of them returned."
Purple Haze thought for a moment, "Do you have anything that belonged to them?"
Berryshakes reached into one of her pouches and brought forth a straw hat, "This was the hat of an earth pony called Strawberry Mills, she was a farmer in the vicinity. She went missing about three days ago."
Purple Haze took the hat and held it before Scar, "Can you do anything with this?"
The gnoll reached for the hat and brought it up to his nose. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the scent of strawberries and sweat filling his nose. He concentrated on the smell until it filled his very being, earth, flowers, wind... the smells became clearer and started to tell him stories of field work. He opened his eyes again and handed Purple Haze the hat, "Scar has scent, now it has to search."
Purple Haze handed the hat back to Berryshakes, "Lead us to her home, we should start there."
---
Scar looked over the little farm, there were some small fields with strawberry plants on them and a little hut. It looked abandoned, the fields had not been tended for a while and many plants grew between the strawberries. He walked to the door of the house with Purple Haze, the other three ponies stayed behind a bit. It wasn't only because of Purple Haze's command, he could smell fear and mistrust on them. He didn't care, not while he had rats to find.
He put his nose to the ground and took in the scent, she had left the house about four days ago he reckoned. The smell was faint but it had not rained so he could still pick it up. He started following the trail as it led away from the little farm, the ponies following his lead.
The trail led by a river and over a small bridge, away from the pony town. He was approaching the nearby forest when he picked up another smell. Purple Haze stopped besides him as he took in the scent, "Did you find anything?"
"Strawberry pony came here four days ago..." he mumbled as he searched around, "Met something else here, no pony, but not rat... three others..." he brushed away a few leaves and read the ground and plants around him, "Pony struggles, others take it..." he pointed into the forest, "Leaves in that direction."
"How can you tell?" asked Berryshakes.
"Is written in ground,..." he pointed to the ground before him, "And is told by leaves." he pointed to some bushes.
Berryshakes looked where he pointed, she could only see earth and some leaves. "I can't see anything."
The gnoll only shrugged, "Is because pony walks with closed eyes. If pony learns to listen to ground it would learn many things." he put his head down again and followed the trail a bit, "Scar knows this smell... not rat..." he thought for a second. A grumble came from his throat as he identified the smell, "Is dig dogs."
Purple Haze pricked up her ears, "Dig dogs?... You mean diamond dogs? They're known for taking ponies as slaves..."
Berryshakes shook her head, "That's very unlikely, we searched the area, but there have neither been reports nor signs of any diamond dogs in the area."
The gnoll grumbled impatiently as he followed the trail, "Is like gnoll said, ponies walk with closed eyes and closed nose. Scar can smell, and is dig dogs..." he pointed to a direction, "Den is this way."
---
They had walked for some time when the gnoll signaled them to stop. They had left the forest behind and were now in a rocky area with many slopes.
"Why are we stopping?" asked Berryshakes impatiently, she was starting to think the gnoll was leading them on a wild goose chase.
Scar put a fingers to his lips, "Ponies must be quiet now, is close to den. Walk slow, many holes in ground with dogs in them." he motioned them to a slope. They carefully crept up the little hill and looked over its crest. There was an open area below with a single hole in its middle.
"Is that the entrance to the den?" Purple Haze whispered to Scar, he gave a short nod.
"What are we waiting for then? Let's go in!" Berryshakes asked beside them.
"Is wrong hole." the gnoll said with a sigh, the pony was more than unfit for a hunt. She simply lacked patience and observation. He pointed to the hole, "Den has many holes, wind goes in most holes, but only out few. We go in that hole and dogs will know."
Purple Haze considered this, "Can you find the other holes?"
Scar scratched his chin, "It can, but takes too much time. Dogs know though."
"Right, we'll just ask a diamond dog to tell us where the right entrance is, and they're just going to tell us."
Scar gave her an annoyed look, "Little guard pony should be patient. Learn some wisdom. Gnoll never said it would ask nicely."
She gave a humph, "And where are we going to find a diamond dog, oh great and wise hunter?"
"That's enough second lieutenant." Purple Haze said sternly. She turned to Scar, "Do you have a plan?"
Scar gave Berryshakes another distasteful look, any more insults from her and he would eat her helm too. He turned his attention to Purple Haze, "Is simple. We go fish dog."
---
Half an hour later he had found what he had been looking for, it was an unsuspicious area in some distance to the hole. He eyed the ground carefully and lifted a claw, "There."
"What is over there?" Purple Haze asked as she followed his claw, she could only see an open area with some rocks scattered around.
"Is pony trap. There, left to big rock is hole underneath ground, twigs and dirt above, dog inside. When pony walks by dig dog jumps out and grabs pony."
"It's a concealed trap!" Purple Haze said excitedly, "Alright, how do we catch the diamond dog?"
The gnoll shrugged, "Is simply, gnoll sneaks to rock, pony walks by trap and gnoll grabs dog when it comes out."
Purple Haze thought for a moment, "Alright... I can see that work..." she turned to Berryshakes with a smirk, "Now we just need a volunteer..."
Berryshakes gave a groan, "Oh horse apples."
---
The diamond dog had been waiting patiently in his hole, not that much ever happened. The ponies almost never came around this area, yet trap duty was trap duty. At least his shift would be over soon. Trap duty was always a good opportunity to daze off. The raids were much more profitable anyway.
Suddenly something caught his ears. There was movement above. He strained his ears and counted the steps, definitely pony. And prancing happily in his direction at that. This would be his lucky day he thought happily as he got ready to pounce.
The pony drew closer quickly, and it was still headed directly for his position. Perfect. He held his breath, and when the sounds came directly from above he jumped up and out of his hole, rope and club ready in his hands, "Catch little pony!" he laughed as he exploded from the ground.
Much too his surprise instead of being frozen in shock the pony only smirked and ducked. The dog suddenly realized he was standing in a shadow in midday on an open field. There came a whooshing sound from behind him. The dog turned around just in time to see the flat side of a door fly towards his head at high speeds.