"Scar's clan lived on mountain far in north, where the trees stand tall as far as it can see." the gnoll spoke with a somber voice, "Strong clan with many gnolls, had caves in mountain that went deep down..." he looked outside the window for a moment before turning to her again.
"Scar remembers its father, was hunter. Patient, fierce..." he made a fist and held it in the air, "Strong, so strong. Was strongest gnoll Scar ever knew, could shatter rocks with one strike!" he made a crushing motion with his fist before letting out a sigh, "Had much respect among gnolls... Never talked much, but clan listened when father talked. Showed Scar many things, how to hunt, how to fight... and to be patient with others and itself."
He dropped his fist, "And it remembers mother..." he closed his eye, "It can still smell her fur... warm... safe. Always held it close and told it stories of the sky and mountains. Was clan shaman, wise and respected. Always kind with all but also stern..." he chuckled, "Mother was only one able to scare father... never needed to say a word, one look was enough. Showed Scar way of nature and told it stories of its clan to prepare it..."
"Prepare you?" Purple Haze asked.
"Scar was smarter than most gnolls, learned to talk much earlier than other pups. So clan decides Scar would be fit to become shaman." he said with a strange voice.
"You didn't want to be a shaman, did you?"
He shook his head, "Scar did not, but only because it was young and its head was full of dreams. Wanted to be big hunter, strong and fierce like father! Took time for it to understand what being shaman meant... took time to find peace with itself... So while other pups played Scar learned to listen, and it came to learn many things even though it was still much younger than other gnolls."
Scar looked outside the window again, "So Scar learned, and parents were proud... were happy days." he stared into the darkness. Purple Haze waited for him to continue. He breathed in deep before he went on, "Then, black sleep came."
"Black sleep?"
The gnoll nodded, "Was strange... gnolls would start to become confused, forgot things... forgot how to talk, to hunt, even to eat... forgot family. In the end gnolls would simply sit and stare into distance before heart would forget to beat..." his voice sounded sad, "Mother and healers tried to help clan, used all wisdom the clan had but nothing helped. One by one, gnolls went to sleep... brothers, friends, father... mother..."
He hung his head, "When mother started to forget to eat Scar went hunting, tried to feed mother, told mother stories but mother didn't hear it anymore... didn't even recognize Scar in the end." he closed his eye, "When mother finally slept clan was gone, and Scar was alone... it still remembers how silent the caves were that day... was no longer home, was grave... so Scar left..."
Scar didn't look up after this, he simply sat there and hung his head. He had tried so hard to forget, to come to peace with himself. His voice became bitter, "If Scar had only been stronger, if it had been smarter... maybe it..." he felt an old pain in his chest.
Two hoofs wrapped themselves around his head and held him close, "It's alright, it wasn't your fault." Purple Haze said with a soft voice, he felt a lump in his throat.
"Scar should have tried harder."
"You did everything you could, it's not your fault." she held him closer, "It's not your fault." she whispered softly.
For the first time since his mother had died, the gnoll cried.
---
Back in Manehatten, princess Luna surveyed the entrance of the sewers as the last remains of the rats' presence were removed. Her sister had initially intended to do this herself, but for some reason Celestia had returned early and clearly stressed. Strangely enough she had also ordered the kitchen to bring her a fresh batch of donuts.
Luna shook her head with a sigh, these were strange times indeed.
"Princess Luna?" she turned around to see Lieutenant Berryshakes and two guards walk up to her.
"Yes, Lieutenant?"
"May we state a request?"
"A request? Please, explain."
She pointed to the other two guards, "These are private Whistler and private Greenfield..." the two guards saluted, "I, I mean we... we would like to request to be assigned under Marshall Purple Haze's command."
Luna raised an eyebrow, "Lieutenant, I know it is a custom that the Air Marshalls command a small squad of guards, but these are normally pegasi. For what reasons do you wish to join her travels?"
Berryshakes' eyes lit up, "Seeing her fight along the gnoll's, I mean along Scar's side was something we had never seen the likes of before. Their bravery was inspirational! The ferocity with which they attacked! And seeing those poor captives... we wish to aid them in their fight to protect Equestria." the two guards nodded in agreement to this, "Also..."
"Also?"
"I would like Scar to teach me more about tracking. If I had been able to see what he is able to see... we could have found the ponies in Shoretrot much earlier. I wish for him to teach me more."
Luna turned to the two guards, "Do her words represent your interests as well?"
"We may not be as 'suited' for learning to track..." they had both witnessed the gnoll shove the fox droppings into Berryshakes mouth, "But we are more than devoted to assist them in their fight! It would be an honor to stand at Marshall Purple Haze's and the gnoll's side! We are both willing to do our best to aid them!"
Luna watched the three ponies with a small smile, she could clearly see the devotion in their eyes. It seemed that both Scar and Purple Haze had made quite a reputation for themselves in these past days.
Unknown to Purple Haze and Scar, this would be the beginning of a group that would soon make a name for itself in Equestria. Unknown to a purple unicorn, a certain tree would soon become very crowded.
Huzzah! I have enjoyed this read!
Ow. Poor guy.
Most of my family's gone, and I might lose my father soon, so I can deeply sympathize with Scar at the moment. He's holding up better than I am.
A deeply caring individual, Scar.
great chapter once again keep up the good work mate
2299196 You have my sympathy, losing a family member is always a terrible thing. I hope you and your father remain safe and sound as long as possible.
...so, is he the only one left? Of his clan, yeah, but are there any gnolls left, period?
Geez.
Another great chapter!
ha, slumber party at Twi's. Everyone is invited. Bye, gotta go before they run out of cake
I've been on chapter 76 when I noticed, that hiatus has been lifted. What a glorious night!
Also, dear author, this is one of the best stories I read here, EVER! It's definitely in my top three.
Pleas accept my congratulations.
2299178 Huzzah! I have enjoyed this comment!
i can already see great things happening at Twilight's library, and Pinkie is involved
I fucking love this story DON'T YOU DARE STOP
I like this story but I was concerned about it's direction. It seemed like there was no real goal to work for and the ones you had set up were being ignored. You set up the Scar-slave thing, but very little has come of that, the Trixie-thing but only a few mentions of that ... then these ratlings come out of left field a bit and they're set aside for more 'random adventures' type of things. I was growing a bit concerned that it was meandering in the plot and was ending up a bit of a non-story story - you were telling of things but not really going anywhere. After reading this, it doesn't feel like you have a plan per se but it feels less like you're just meandering somehow. So ... worries slightly alleviated.
The short chapters are very nice (I have too many stories I'm reading where the chapters are 10k+ words and it can be daunting - a smaller fare is nice every so often) but doesn't lend itself much to deep story-telling. Hopefully the 'written in an hour' thing isn't some hard-set limit you've put on yourself. Having a longer chapter or two when needed might be a good idea.
Having the idea of slavery, death and fights with blood might make this story less 'Everyone' and more 'Teen' but that's just my thought. I'm not sure what real limits the mod team has put on these ratings.
And that's all I can think of off the top of my pointy little head.
I just started reading this today, and stayed up far longer than I should just to finish it.
I regret nothing!
"Hey, Twilight, got room for three more?"
one's a party, twos an army, three's a crowd, four and any more is too many...
How old is Scar?
Twilight is gonna have her hooves full for sure.
hope next chapter comes out soon
scar's behavior to the pony's is now clear, before i was just thinking this as sense he like's purple haze a lot (unsure if friend zoned or not.) and she is a pony all the pony's he call's friend and all the pony's purple haze cares for and purple haze herself scar will care for.
but now that this little back story shows up. this lad thinks that the whole pony kingdom is his clan now. that's why he freaks out when a pony die's. he is afraid he will lose his clan again. or something like that.
I NEED MORE STORY, DAMN IT!!! I NEED MORE!!!
Just stick them in the basement.
And I hope this doesn't mean hi is the last gnoll.....
gnolls backstory is heartbreaking. It took you less than 1000 words to express a meaningful memory and hit me square in the feels.
What... what the hell happened to them?
When I reached the part about "The Black Sleep" this music:
played in my mind.
5701087 Most likely famine... Or something more sinister and magic induced. Have you read the part about Celestia making a mistake in the past?
A disease or an entity? And why and how did Scar survive was he immune?
9208391
Obviously it was machinations of The Big Sad deciding to give our gnolly boi some good old undeserved Edgy Childhood Traumaâ„¢.