//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Judgemental // Story: World of Warcraft Equestria: A Death Knights journey // by Nosoni //------------------------------// It was midday when Vandline was returning from the Everfree Forest. She has made great progress with her research of this world and was all but certain about her theory, with the last piece yet to be seen. Vandline agreed to Celestia's request to join with the main six when they go to the Grand Galloping Gala, and in return, she would get to see the final piece of her puzzle. While Vandline was making her way back to Ponyville, she reflected on what happened in the last few weeks. First, there was the incident with Trixie and Vandlines 'performance' with the show mare. Word reached Celestia, and Vandline was reprimanded for almost certainly scarring Trixie for life, but she was slightly forgiven for the rescue attempt on her and the two young colts that the Ursa Minor almost smashed. She still needed to keep her violent instincts on the low end of its spectrum, so Vandline doubled her efforts by exploring and fighting more of the Everfree Forest. A few days later, when Vandline returned from Canterlot after having her armor and weapons checked on, she was roped in to deal with a dragon situation. Although she offered to handle the dragon alone, Vandline was going for support in case things get out of hand. In the end, the situation was very close to getting out of hand had it not been for Fluttershy to convince the dragon to leave on peaceful terms and also to apologize for his behavior after R.D. kicks him in the face. Before he left, however, Vandline wanted to know about the dragon race, so after the main six left, the dragon, whose name Vandline forgot to ask about, shared a few interesting points about his kind. Sadly she couldn't get any more information as he wasn't too helpful on some subjects. Two weeks after that and Ponyville was getting ready to receive a huge rainstorm due to an incident with a weather schedule. Vandline kept an eye on things when she spotted Rarity trying to fix all of the loose branches while Applejack tore them down again. The two got into a fight, and Vandline tried to break it up when the rainstorm began, and the Trio ran for cover. The three of them did end up with Twilight at her home, but Rarity and Applejack couldn't get home due to the storm. Twilight seeing this as a perfect opportunity pulls out a book about sleepovers. While Vandline wasn't all that keen to participate, she didn't want to ruin the mood for Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack, so Vandline decided to head to her room for meditation. Vandline was taken out of her meditative trance when the top of a nearby tree fell on the library. After cleaning up the mess, Vandline scolded Rarity and Applejack about the mess, but she forgave them after learning their lessons. The rest of the night was spent peacefully. "I swear these ponies are going to drive me nuts," Vandline said as she made it to the outskirts of Ponyville. She stopped when noticing how eerily quiet it is. "And now Ponyville is a ghost town?" she continued to advance into town when she heard a whispering sound. Turning to the source of the noise, she spots Pinkie trying to get her to come over to Sugercube corner. She also spots Twilight and Spike heading to the same location. Deciding to play along with Pinkie, she meets up with Twilight and Spike and heads inside the bakery. "Hey Vandline, do you know what's going on?" Asks Twilight "I only arrived myself after returning from the Everfree, but for some reason, I sense fear in the air. I was actually just about to ask Pinkie what's going on," Vandline said. The trio entered the bakery to find it really dark. "Pinkie, what are you doing alone in the dark?" Twilight said "She is not alone, Twilight," Vandline said, and indeed out of the darkness came Twilights' other friends and Applejacks younger sister. This is the first time Vandline has met the younger apple. "Ok, what are you all doing in the dark?" "We're hiding from her!" Applejack said, pointing outside of a window Twilight and Vandline looked to see who's out there only to see a cloaked figure. They couldn't see much of the cloaked figure, but the figure was digging into the ground for some reason. "Well, I can see why you would be suspicious but outright fear? I think you're exaggerating," Vandline said "Did you see her Twilight? Zecora?" The little filly said "Apple Bloom! Don't say that name!" Applejack said "I saw her glance this way," Twilight said "Glance e-e-evilly this way!" Pinkie corrected "And then a bunch of you freaked out," Twilight finished saying. While the ponies were talking, Vandline kept staring at the cloaked figure, trying to get as many details about the figure as possible. Vandline then saw that Twilight and the other were gathering around the window again. The figure then brought a hoof to the hood to remove it, revealing black and white stripes. The ponies around Vandline and Twilight gasped around them, and Rarity commented about the figures looks. "Will you guys calm down shes a zebra," Twilight said "Huh, so you guys have your own Zhevra here," Vandline said. "Although you call it a zebra?" "Whats a Zhevra? I don't think I've ever heard them called by that." Twilight asked "I guess it's my world's version of your zebra, except it has a horn on its head though they can't use magic last I remembered," Vandline said. "Whether they are called Zhevra or Zebra doesn't really matter to me at this current moment." "My books say that she comes from a faraway land, but I don't think I've seen her in Ponyville before. Where does she live?" asked Twilight. "that's just it; she lives in the Everfree forest!" Applejack said "Odd, I don't think I've seen her there while I've been doing my expeditions in there though every once in a while, although I do see signs that someone has been there picking up herbs," Vandline said. "What makes the Everfree so special about her?" "It ain't natural. The plants grow" Began Applejack. "The clouds move," said Rainbow Dash." "And the animals take care of themselves," finished Fluttershy before all three of them said, "All on their own" There was silence for a few seconds before Vandline started to laugh. "You can't be serious, right?" she continues to laugh for a good minute before calming down. "I'm sorry, but what you described as 'Unnatural' is very natural to me. I'll explain later what I mean by that later." Pinkie then went on a little rant about Zecora before singing a little song about her. Vandline actually thought it was a little catchy. "This is all just gossip and rumors," Twilight said. "What exactly has she done to describe her as evil?" The group then began to tell Twilight about the 'evil' acts she does in Ponyville. "I have a question for you all then," Vandline began. "When you first met me, what exactly did I do?" The group thought about this for a second before Vandline continued, "I acted peacefully before revealing what I truly am the stories I told you then. Do you think that I'm evil?" The group was shocked when she said that during all the time that they knew Vandline, she might have been overly aggressive in certain areas, but overall she was like a very protective guardian. "There's a human saying that I learned that fits this description perfectly, but I won't say it until you all learned this yourself," Vandline said before she went out to investigate Zecora. Little did the group know, Including Vandline, was that Apple Bloom had left before Vandline left. Vandline was nearing Zecoras' last location but saw that she was no longer there. Upon investigating, she learned that Zecora was heading back to her home in the Everfree. She was about to head off when she heard Applejack yelling. "Vandline! Did you see Apple Bloom?" asked Applejack "Last I saw, she was with you lot," Vandline said "She must have gone after Zecora." "Well then, let's hurry! I have my own questions for Zecora." Vandline and the main six ran to the Everfree Forest. After about five minutes of searching, the group found Apple Bloom trailing behind Zecora. Vandline noticed the blue flowers, and with a quick reaction, she stopped before touching the flowers but didn't have time to warn the group as they were already in the field of flowers. "Uh oh," Vandline said "Apple Bloom!" Yelled Applejack which caused Zecora to look behind herself, looking towards the group, which caused Apple Bloom to be spotted. "you get back here right now!" "Beware! Beware! Those leaves of blue are not a joke," Zecora said, which caused Vandline to get a closer examination for the flowers. Vandline couldn't quite tell, but she sensed that the flowers need to have stayed away from at all costs. Deciding to stay away from the flowers, Vandline proceeded to yell towards the Zebra but was too late as she has disappeared. "Why couldn't you listen to your big sister." Applejack said to Apple Bloom "Applejack, she probably has a better understanding of the current situation than you might realize," Vandline said. "You should return home right away I have a feeling your ordeals are yet to be resolved." "And what will you be doing, Vandline?" asked Twilight "I'm going to have a chat with a Zebra," Vandline said, which caused an uproar from AJ, R.D., Rarity, and Pinkie. "Need I remind you as to what I am? IF Zecora does give me trouble, then I can handle myself." "Be careful of her curses!" Pinkie warned "There's no such thing as curses," Twilight said "oh, you poor, poor, child, if only you knew what my world could really throw at you Vandline thought to herself. As the group headed back home, Vandline proceeded to follow the same path that the Zebra took while being careful of the blue flowers. On her way, she found more signs of someone traveling here frequently. After about five minutes of following a path, she found a hut when she suddenly heard a voice behind her. "Begone foul creature of undeath! You shall not take my soul to your master," Zecora said she was about to strike Vandline when she blocks the hoof with her hands. "Relax! I bear no ill will towards you, nor do I serve a master anymore. I have my own free will!" Vandline said "Then why are you here?" Zecora said "You tried to warn the ponies about the blue flowers, but because of your...reputation around the paranoid residents of Ponyville, they most likely assumed you were trying to curse them," Vandline said Zecora gave a good long look towards Vandline before relaxing. "If you speak the truth, then in the morning, we must make a brew for your friends," Zecora said "I wouldn't say we are 'friends' exactly, but if you know an antidote to the blue flowers, then you can give me a list of ingredients, and we can make it tomorrow." Vandline said, "By the way, I know your name, but you don't know mine, so please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Vandline." Zecora and Vandline went into Zecora home, where Vandline saw many items and decorations related to the Zebra. "hmm, reminds me of my allies back home," Vandline said "You are familiar with what you see?" Zecora asked "There is a lot of familiarities, but we probably don't have time to talk about it. Your list?" Vandline asked to which Zecora gave the Death Knight a list of ingredients. "Excellent by tomorrow, I'll have everything you'll need" Night has fallen, so it was too late to get one ingredient from the flower shop in Ponyville, so Vandline decided to return to the Library and catch up on some reading one book in particular, called Supernaturals, caught her attention so with nothing better to do she read the book. In the morning, Vandline heard a scream coming from Twilights room. said pony came crashing down, going through all sorts of books to find a cure for her condition. "Good morning, Twilight. Is something the matter?" Vandline asked. When Twilight showed her horn Vandline was very shocked to see it in such a condition. "Well, that's certainly embarrassing," Vandline said, chuckling to herself. "This is no laughing matter, Vandline! There has to be a reason for this! An Illness, An allergy?" Twilight said, getting worried "A curse!" Spike yelled "I said a REAL reason, Spike." "I wouldn't dismiss Curses so easily, Twilight. I know a lot of people who would say otherwise." "Curses aren't real Vandline. They are just artificial. fake magic" "Oh, you poor, poor child," Vandline said, shaking her head, "you may think they are fake but, where I come from? they are most certainly real, and I've been a victim to some of them on more than one occasion, but if you insist on thinking they aren't real, then don't say I didn't warn you." Twilight was just a little nervous around Vandline now. "A-a-anyways l-lets continue with the topic at hand." "Might I suggest giving this book a read?" Vandline said, giving the book, Supernaturals to Twilight "Vandline, I don't think I'm going to find a solid answer in here," Twilight said, so Vandline puts the book away for now when Apple Bloom and Applejack came to the library. "Oh, speaking of Curses, I must go to the flower shop to pick up a few things," Vandline said. As Vandline was walking, she heard a lot of commotion coming from the library. Deciding that time was on the line, she bought the ingredients needed and proceeded to head back to Zecoras hut. Little did Vandline know that Apple Bloom was following her. After an hour's walk, Vandline made it to Zecoras hut, but then she heard something behind her "Show yourself!" Vandline yelled only to see that it was Apple Bloom. "Apple Bloom? What are you doing here?" "I was following you to see what you were doing." Apple Bloom said, "But Applejack tried to stop me and to have me return to the others, but since she was tiny, I placed her on a little tree limb and continued to follow you." Vandline was surprised that Apple Bloom did such a thing to Applejack, but she wanted to warn Applejack for her treatment of Apple Bloom, so she let it slide. "Apple Bloom, why don't we go meet Zecora now? I'm sure she will be happy to meet one pony who isn't superstitious." Vandline said to which Apple Bloom smiled and walked in with Vandline. Vandline gave the supplies to Zecora to begin making the cure for the Poison Joke that the main six found themselves in. It was a good thing that Vandline didn't step on the flowers as she didn't want to find out what kind of joke the flowers would give her. The cure was about done when suddenly, an upside-down flying Rainbow Dash came crashing into the house with a very small Applejack acting as the rider. Vandline didn't have a lot of time to act before Rainbow and Applejack crashed into the pot containing the cure. Twilight and the other also came charging in. "Ok, Zecora, you will release Vandline and Apple Bloom from your mind control this instant!" Twilight said "ENOUGH!" Yelled Vandline while casting chains of ice on everyone minus Apple Bloom and Zecora. "Well, this will certainly be an interesting conversation with all of you, and now Zecora needs to make a new batch of the cure inflicting on all of you." "A cure? What the hay does that mean?" Applejack said "Oh, this is going to be fun" Vandline said to which she then explained what has been happening to everyone. After finishing her explanation and why everyone is a fool, Twilight asked Zecora to kindly make a new cure so that everyone is free of the effects of the Poison Joke. Later everyone was at the spa getting treated. "Well, Twilight, I believe this would make an excellent report for Celestia, although you do owe me some money for the flowers I bought back in Ponyville," Vandline jokingly said. After everyone was done with the day they returned home, Vandline decided to walk with Zecora back to her home to ask about a few things. "So Zecora, you lived in the Everfree for a while now, yes?" Vandline asked when she received a nod she continued. "Ive explored this jungle more times than I can count but I always appreciate more eyes so if you want can you do me a favor?"