"Did you know this?" Purple Haze asked as she watched the contents of the bag with unease.
"We didn't actually look inside..." Shining Armor replied nervously. Inside the bag, there was a whole deer. Unskinned, unprepared, still complete.
"I never saw a dead animal..." Spike said quietly. "It seems so..."
"Strange?" commented Twilight. Like all of them, she found herself unable to divert her eyes from the dead form of the deer.
The gnoll breathed in deep, taking in the smell of the meat. It was only a few days old, it was enticing. He could already feel his hunger starting to rise. "Ponies should leave." he commented sternly.
"Yes, of course..." Cadance said with a nervous voice, "Come, let us leave Scar to his... meal." The awkwardness of her words clung to the air like a veil.
The ponies started to leave the room, all of them. All except Purple Haze. Scar turned to her, "Purple Haze should leave too."
"No, I want to see this." she replied with a determined voice. The ponies stopped at her words.
"What? Why would you want to see something like... something like that?" Twilight asked in shock and disgust.
Scar watched Purple Haze with grave eyes, "Twilight is right..." Twilight almost fell over when she heard him use her name. Had it not been for the current situation she would have been overjoyed. "Is nothing ponies should see."
"I know." Purple Haze said with uneven breaths, "But I have been avoiding this subject long enough. I need to see this, I need to know and I need to understand." she looked into his eyes, "I WANT to understand you."
Scar's gaze lingered on her eyes for what seemed like minutes. Countless thoughts raced through his mind as he tried to understand her words. It seemed wrong... but her words... He breathed out a long sigh, "Purple Haze can stay." he turned around and started to head for the bag, "Other ponies leave... now."
Twilight watched from the door with uncertainty, she simply couldn't understand why Purple Haze would want to see something like this. The others were just as disturbed about this as her. As the doors were finally closed behind them they stood before the entrance in silence. The doors suddenly seemed very forbidding.
Cadance turned to one of the guards, "Make sure nopony opens these doors. The gnoll is not to be interrupted during his... meal." The guard gave a grim nod. She turned to Twilight and Spike, "Come, we should... eat something as well." The group started to head towards the dining room, all of them suddenly feeling a bit queasy at the thought of food.
---
Scar carefully removed the deer from the bag and laid it out before him on the ground with the bag beneath it. He could still feel the hunger inside him, though it felt very different with Purple Haze watching. He turned around to study her, she looked scared. "Purple Haze can still leave." he said softly.
"No,..." she cleared her throat, "I'm going to stay." she did her best to be brave. No matter how much she feared what was about to happen, her desire to fully know his being was stronger.
Scar gave her a long look before turning back to the deer. He took a deep breath, he felt... nervous. This was going to be a strange meal... He fixed the deer with his eyes and let its scent fill his nostrils. He felt the hunger starting to rise inside him, slower than usual, but it still came. He got to work.
---
The mood in the dining room was tense. The ponies as well as Spike had found themselves unable to eat, all of them staring at their plates without hunger as they tried to nibble at the food from time to time. The silence could be cut with a knife.
After what felt like an eternity though the silence was broken as the doors to the dining room were pushed open and Purple Haze walked in. All of them stared at her intently as she walked to her seat with quick steps, none of them knowing what to say to her.
She sat down at her place with a strange and absent look on her face. She seemed paler than usual. Purple Haze looked at the plate before her, a fresh salad was placed on it. She turned even paler and pushed it aside with a hoof.
Twilight was the first to speak up, "Purple Haze, are you alright?"
Purple Haze seemed to snap out of her state and looked up for the first time, "Me? What?... Oh, yeah... I'm fine..." she remembered the sound... "Just... didn't think he'd be that thorough..." the way his head had moved...
"Thorough?" Spike asked with a shaky voice.
Purple Haze gave a strange laugh, "Seems gnolls leave nothing to waste... not even skin and bones..." Spike turned green. The look in Scars eyes... his eyes... primal, ferocious... alive. She looked at the salad again, for some reason she suddenly felt very hungry. She took the plate and started to dig in.
"You can still eat after seeing... that?" Twilight asked in surprise as she watched Purple Haze shovel down her salad.
"Well,..." Purple Haze tried to argue with herself as the ponies watched her with shock and fascination, "Gotta eat. Actually... I'm glad I did it." she shoved another fork of salad into her mouth.
"You are?" Cadance asked with surprise.
"Yup, I think I finally understand what being a gnoll means." Purple Haze answered with a smile while wondering at the same time why she was even smiling. She felt on edge like never before. Watching the gnoll eat had been... she couldn't find the words for it. While on one side it was a horrible thing to watch she had been fascinated by the display. She simply hadn't been able to take her eyes off him.
"And what's that?" Cadance asked with interest in her voice.
"Mmmm... can't really explain... you have to see it to understand." she munched on another fork of salad thoughtfully. "You know, I think we're just too far gone from our origins to truly understand what..." she stopped, the color leaving her face. "Toilet!" she managed to gasp out before she ran off with a pale face. The ponies looked after her in a complete loss of words.
---
Scar found her hanging onto the edge of the toilet while barfing her life out. He gave a sigh as he sat down besides her. "Scar warned Purple Haze... is nothing for ponies to see."
"Yeah, I figured..." she heaved another time, "But I simply had to see it for myself..." she managed to flash him a smile before going for the bowl again.
The gnoll shook his head with a quiet laugh as he watched her, "Purple Haze was very brave though." he watched her for a moment longer, "Purple Haze has barf in her hair..." he commented quietly.
"Urgh..." she heaved again as she smelled his breath, "Just... don't breath in my direction for a moment... okay?"
Scar laughed, "Purple Haze doesn't smell much better right now, at least Scar can wash its teeth." He plucked something from her mane, "Scar is sure Purple Haze is toughest pony it ever met. Purple Haze would make good gnoll! Already has temper, only needs bigger teeth and more fur." he patted her back softly.
He could hear her laugh with her head half in the bowl, "Yeah, yeah... I love you too big guy."