//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Get The Scroll! // Story: Daring- Do and the Zombie Island Jungle // by Stepany1234 //------------------------------// “Look, the plan can’t fail. If we’re real quiet and stealthy, we should be able to get to the library without being seen or heard,” Daring Do reassured as she began flying back to the village. Daring Do carried the pony in her hooves since she had no way of flying herself. “I know but, it’s just scary to have to go back and face them,” Quest said. “Hopefully we won’t have to,” Daring Do said as they entered the village. Not knowing that they were seen from afar. “So where is this library?” Daring Do asked as she looked around. “There. That’s it,” Quest said as she pointed with her hoof towards a small building. “That shack? That’s your library?” Daring Do said in surprise. “Yes, is there a problem?” Quest asked as they began walking towards it. “No, it’s just… Well, it’s pretty small for a library,” Daring Do said as they approached it. “We’re on an island, Daring. I wouldn’t find it very hard to believe,” Quest smiled. “Right,” Daring Do said with a small laugh. They entered the library without a single suspicion of being watched from the shadows. “I guess this place being small isn’t actually a real problem after all. Should be easy to find that scroll. Now, the question is. Where?” Daring Do asked. “Easy, we never were allowed to read the scroll in order to keep it safe from being torn or spilled on so it was kept in the crate behind the last bookshelf,” Quest said as she began walking towards the back of the small library. As they began walking towards the last bookshelf, a sound was heard in the shadows. Daring Do ignored the first creak but the second was loud enough to cause Quest to shutter. “Who’s there! Show yourself!” Daring Do darted towards the closest shadow and tackled down the culprit. “Whoa! Calm down! No need to be violent now!” Screeched the vulture. “Wh- how… What are you doing here?!” Daring Do growled at the bird. “Just trying to settle a small wager, you’re not going to hold it against me, are yah?” Asked the nervous bird. Daring Do pressured her hoof against the bird softly and showed she wasn’t too happy to see him taking up her valuable time. “Come on, Daring. Let him go. He was just being curious,” Quest said with a warm smile. Daring Do looked at Quest and then back at the bird. She groaned and let the bird go. “Thank yah so much, deary. You truly are a better mare than others,” the vulture said as he peaked over to Daring Do who was trotting away. “Get out of here!” Daring Do shouted as she jumped towards the bird. He shrieked and flew out of the nearest window. “Ugh! Birds are starting to get on my nerves now. At least the ones that can talk at least,” Daring Do grumbled. Quest laughed to herself before walking over to the crate. Daring Do observed her surroundings and saw that the library was indeed very dark and the only light was coming from the moonlight from outside the window. “Gotta be more alert. More than usual now,” Daring Do thought to herself. “Here it is,” Quest said. She picked the scroll up with her mouth and walked over to the nearest wooden table. The round table was just big enough to hold the scroll once it was stretched out across it. “Wow, look at all this information,” Daring Do said as she skimmed through all the inked writing. She noticed a scribble and lines on the scroll and wondered if they had anything to do with their situation. “It wasn’t just a myth? It really happened?” Quest said in disbelief as she read a certain part of the scroll. “Let me see,” Daring Do said. She looked at the inked writing and began to read. “According to the scroll. This occurred once before here on the island. It was a curse to where everypony that was born on the island was to be turned into a zombie at the very strike of the first moon of every 200 years! The solution was to throw the gem of sanctuary into the lava of the volcano and restore peace. The volcano is the heart of the island. Unless the gem is thrown into the lava of the volcano it wont be restored back to normal. Last time the gem was thrown into the lava by some pony, the gem melted away. It seems that this process has to be done consistently in order to keep balance on the island. So the question is, where is the cave the gem is in?” Daring Do said as she continued to stare at the wide scroll. “These markings here must have a meaning. They wouldn’t just be here for nothing,” Quest pointed out. They both stared at the scroll and tried to figure out how all the lines connected. “A map!” They both said together. “Of course!” Daring Do said before grabbing the scroll with her teeth. She ran to the closest wall and stretched the scroll out with her hooves. “How does it connect though? I know theses lines are a passage guide but to where?” Daring wondered. “The scribble in the middle can’t be a coincidence,” Quest said. “It's the volcano in the center of the island and these lines point directly to the cave the gems are in. Ha! I figured it out!” Daring Do said as she tapped her hoof against the wall. “You’re a genius, Quest. Great way to start thinking like an adventurer,” Daring Do said without taking her eyes off the scroll. “Oh. Thank you, Daring,” Quest said without even realizing her cheeks were warming up. “An adventurer?” She thought. The idea made her smile. Daring Do continued to skim the scroll for information but felt too excited to read the rest. So she rolled it up and put in her hat. “Alright, we should be good to go now!” Daring Do said excitedly. Quest stared intensely with fear at the shadow behind Daring Do and couldn’t say a word out of fear. “What?” Daring Do asked. Quest was paralyzed with fear and couldn’t even find herself to speak. “If those birds came back-” Daring Do turned around to see that it wasn’t a bird she was facing. But a tall, strong, terrifying looking zombie pony. “Enrico?” Quest said. “What’s left of him. Run!” Daring Do shouted before breaking towards the door. Quest followed after but slowed down after hearing the loud roar the zombie let out. Both Daring Do and Quest then saw the exit was blocked by more zombie ponies. “Great, our only way out is blocked. What are we going to do?” Quest asked Daring Do. Daring Do looked up and grabbed a hold of the mare. “Make another way out,” she said before flying through the wooden ceiling. “Where are you going?” Quest asked once they reached the sky. “The jungle, that’s where the cave is,” Daring Do replied. Quest looked back at the library and saw the mayor of the island exit the shack with a angry roar. The sight of her mayor in such a critical and horrifying state was terrible. “Don’t look back. Only look forward,” Daring Do told the pony. She nodded and didn’t look back at the village. According to the mayor, nopony was going to go without becoming one of them. They had one thing up there sleeve, they knew where the cave was and they didn’t need a map to get to it. And their zombie mayor lead the way.