Daisy Chain woke up and looked around the room surrounding her; she was in a dark room with barely any lighting. The walls were made up of old wood that had been stripped down to its bareness, revealing layers of paint underneath. Daisy could barely make out what looked like an old wooden door at the far end of the room. She didn't know where she was or how she got here but she knew it wasn't good.
She did remember falling though, falling a long way from somewhere, somewhere sandy and wet like a beach…
The last thing she remembered before waking up was being chased by something on four legs. A deer maybe? It seemed so real even after the fact. There was something else as well; she felt like someone was watching her. That feeling came from deep within her mind, not just her imagination. She stood up and felt herself. Her body hurt everywhere and she couldn't feel anything below her waist. She felt below it as something was definitely poking up from her back. She reached down and pulled up a branch of a tree... Or fern... Wait, no, it was the tree from Everfree, she remembered! She remembered being sucked from the docks at the Everfree Camp!
She kept looking.
She was scared, but realized that screaming would likely draw attention… Unwanted attention. So instead she continued looking around to learn more about this place.
She noticed some shelves along the wall stacked high with various tools. She walked towards them slowly. Because they weren't locked, she figured she might be able to use them if need be. First, she noticed the saw, then the hammer, next the chisel, and finally the axe. Looking at all the moldy tools shook sense into Daisy, somehow recalling some memories of her past life. Daisy was a blacksmith's daughter who lived in Everfree Forest during the days when it still existed. She recalled many stories told to her by her father telling of his adventures while he worked hard forging iron for armor, weapons and other things needed by the people of Equestria. He often talked about how the world has changed since those times. How humans used to live together in harmony and now it seems we have forgotten our roots.
"Dad…," she whispered, "Why are you gone?"
She turned away from nobody trying to hide her tears. Adrenaline running, she picked up the ever familiar axe, as she'd seen her dad make so many times. What was she doing? She was holding the axe but really didn't know what to do in such a dark place. There were the locked books in front of her. But the other tools were also there. In hopes of a book bag in the shelf to carry the tools she collected, she used the axe and swung on the locked bookshelf in an attempt to break it.
It took several swings until the heavy oak panel fell onto the floor, breaking apart into splinters that flew through the air striking every single object that lay in her path and in the dim light tried to make out what she found. A few books, a small leather satchel, a picture frame and most importantly a large mirror.
The glass shattered under the weight of the axe, sending shards flying across the room and causing bits of dust to cover everything.
Daisy Chain woke up and looked around the room surrounding her; she was in a dark room with barely any lighting. The walls were made up of old wood that had been stripped down to its bareness revealing layers of paint underneath. She had seen this before. She looked around the same scenery again with disbelief, she was literally by the bookshelf. How was she waking up back where she started? Was she dreaming? She pinched herself. "Ouch!" she yelled.
Daisy Chain woke up and looked around the room surrounding her; she was in a dark room with barely any lighting. What the heck? She was just standing up when she was pinching herself; now she was on the floor waking up again?
She looked around the same scene once again with disbelief. She was literally by the bookshelf. How was she waking up back where she started? Was she dreaming? She had had this thought before. It was at this moment that she knew that she was enraged! The country was at war, and now this. Who gives a buck about rationality? This made no sense! So with no line of reason she located a nearby window and jumped out by using a nearby chair for balance. Looking out while she was jumping was a cathedral sized college that had miles and miles of floors. She was at the top floor and looking down at hundreds upon thousands of windows below her. Just below that, an ocean of large waves penetrated the windows of the floors below, and yet after the waves met the building kept going down forever.
Daisy was coming upon the waves fast. And she screamed as the ocean met her face with an astonishing speed. Every wave hit her harder than the previous ones, each one throwing her further downward. As she went deeper and deeper she began to wonder why she wasn't dead yet.
Daisy Chain woke up and looked around the room surrounding her, she was in a dark room with barely any lighting. Daisy Chain immediately went up on her feet and looked at the bookshelf. She shook herself, ignored the axe, and looked around the room again. To the left of her was another door leading off to what appeared to be a hallway. It seemed fairly long, so perhaps it could lead somewhere else. To the right was a closet, but she couldn't see anything inside because it was too dark. Behind her was the window she jumped out of. How did she remember that?
She took the path to the hallway with the open door. The room was wide open and every step she took echoed to what seemed like forever.
She walked along the hallways not knowing quite where to go. Until she saw in the darkened hallways that there was a single rope suspended in air. She reached out and grabbed it wondering if it would help her find her way.
She tried to examine every part of the rope. She hoped beyond hope that she wouldn't need it. It felt like silk, although it was probably cotton. She looked to where it led, which was hard to tell due to the amount of darkness in the room. She followed the rope anyway, hoping it might take her someplace safe. Her sight deceived her. It ended in the black void above. Superstitions run high in such situations like this. Her father taught her that. "It is customary that if you see a rope running down, you pull, young one!"
"I’m pulling," she muttered to herself.
This time she pulled hard enough to cause something to happen. Something struck against metal and a roar of fire illuminated from over the top of her head. She looked up and saw a humongous lantern that unfathomably filled the room with its glass pane. She stared upward, seeing a ladder that led up to the ceiling, then looked down towards the seemingly endless hallway that looked like it opened up into something. "Where am I?" she wondered aloud while looking down at the checkered floor beneath her.
Looking around the large room, Daisy saw pipes covering every inch of the wall. They ran all the way to the ceiling creating a huge maze-like structure. This reminded her of a prison. In fact, seeing the walls themselves as pipes made her uneasy as she started to sweat. What was the temperature in this room? The large elongated lamp above her gave off a warm glow illuminating the entire area, and the checkered marble floor was shining with a large glow. The pipes were not reflective; to this the mare sighed a bit, relieved not to squint at the large lamp’s large flame. She looked around. Behind her was the room she came out of, in front was a hallway of pipes, to the left was a large pipe she could fit into,and to the left the ladder leading to a very high ceiling. Daisy surmised that this place was big! But why it had to be so big she couldn't tell, and the way the room stretched made her uneasy.
To comfort herself she thought back to the day before yesterday; hanging out with her camp buddies in the Everfree forest. She remembered how happy she always was when she hung out with them. They were great friends who cared about her well being. Even though they didn't know much about her past or her life, they still treated her just fine. For once someone actually understood her without trying to change her. But then everything changed…
The next thing she knew she was falling through space. Her heart beat rapidly in fear and panic as she fell faster and faster toward certain death. Then waking in that room?
Daisy continued to sweat. Whatever this place was, it was hotter than a desert. She wasn't sure if she should continue going forward or turn back. She decided on continuing since she hadn't seen anything yet that scared her. Besides, she figured she'd only get lost again. She started walking down the corridor feeling some relief from the heat at last, but the floor even changed to pipes. Where she was walking was just a conglomerate of pipes. No doors, windows, nothing except pipes. The light visibility was getting lower as she walked along. She wondered if there was a light source somewhere or perhaps another exit. Or maybe back in the beginning room? No she checked, there was a mirror, and an axe from what she remembered. She thought about this for a while. She had only been gone from the room for a few minutes. Maybe the light was in that bag she broke the first time? She pinched herself. "Ouch!" she yelled!
Daisy Chain woke up and looked around the room surrounding her; she was in a dark room with barely any lighting. The walls were made up of old wood that had been stripped down to its bareness revealing layers of paint underneath. She was starting to get a hang of... Whatever was causing her to wake up in this particular room.
She went to the bookshelf and grabbed the chisel and using the axe as a hammer started picking off the locks. After several attempts she managed to open two of the four books. One said Instructions and the other read History. Daisy decided that any direction would be good direction so long as it made sense, and decided to search through the books. She scanned both pages looking for clues. After reading the page she took notes on what she learned. There was a group of ponies who had come before and given the locations to their bases.
They were called The Explorers. And their bases are located in rooms 7, 13, 20, 31, 50, 54… there may be more, but she had to reach room 55, which is the final entry.
She now read the instructions.
"Welcome to the Lavapits! If you do not know, the Explorers have decided that this cathedral is a liminal space. We believe that these words mean something like ‘the middle.’ a plane of existence within our plane, but contoured to ridiculousness. If another person is reading this, we have set up a base on level seven but getting there is dangerous. So we mapped out the levels in this book. Hope this helps.”
Daisy began to read about the current room in the history book.
Room 1: "Lob E”
Survival class: inhabitable
》Safe
》Secure
》No Entities
This is a safe room. A dark room with barely any lighting. The walls were made up of old wood that had been stripped down to its bareness revealing layers of paint underneath. “Entrances can be accessed by accidentally dropping from a portal trap in normal reality.”
Guess that explained how Daisy got here
“Exit Room 1 by using the only open door. Bring a flashlight!”
Daisy finished reading. As she was the kind of person to get a little frazzled and go a little fast, she looked at the satchel that was attached to the instruction book.
Inside was a flashlight and a mirror. She turned the flashlight on and looked into the mirror. She saw her face staring back at her. It was herself!
She recounted what she looked like just to be sure she was sane. She was a green skinned human...orange eyes...black hoodie with red accents that made her look cool. Yep that checked out... wearing a horn???
Weird, in this plane she had a unicorn horn. Where did that come from? she wondered. She reached up and touched it. yep it was there it could be observed with sight and touch. It felt cold however, so she slowly pulled up her hood and opened her eyes. She gasped as she realized it was still there. she breathed deeply, it would probably go away when the exited the Lavapits.
She exited out of room one and entered room two. It was dark. There was no lamp burning from above. She turned on her flashlight and a very bright glow met her eyes. "Ah, not me!" she exclaimed. She quickly took note of all the exits. Left, right, straight ahead. Oh, and the ladder from earlier. Nothing except the lamp and its rope was changed. She quickly opened the book of history and read about the room.
Room 2: "Pipe dreams"
Survival Difficulty: Class 2
》Unsafe
》Secure
》Low Entity Count
Consists of long, dim concrete maintenance hallways with steam pipes lining the walls and ceilings. Doors are rarely found, housing metal shelves, and ventilation ducts. The pipes cause the heat in room 2 to reach immense temperatures, reportedly reaching 200 Fahrenheit (93°C) and higher, boiling any Wanderer alive. It is described as being generally more decayed than the previous room. Occasionally, doors can lead to small rooms that may contain machinery that are connected to the pipes present throughout the level. Random items that were left by other explorers can be found in the metal shelves like water flavored cherries. Due to the insalubrious conditions found in Room 2, roaches and mice are found around the hallways. Some sections of room 2 are completely devoid of light, while some others are only lit up by alternate sources of light, such as flashlights and lamps. A notable humid, musty smell can be found in areas where the pipes exist. Due to the hazards of entities inhabiting the level, if you come into contact with a creature in this level, it is advised that you should run immediately, as they are incredibly hostile and will kill off most victims. Known entities that lurk in room 2 are faceless, pones, frowners and sniffers. Additional entities likely lurk in the room.
The text ended there.
She looked around the room one last time. Behind her was the room she came out of, in front was a hallway of pipes to the left a large pipe she could fit into, and to the left the ladder leading to a very high ceiling. She decided to climb the very long ladder. Up and up and up she climbed. The ladder was not shaking at all which was good, but it didn't prevent her from instinctively shaking anyway.
Her legs burned with every step she took, and she was becoming a little fatigued. She climbed faster and faster until finally she reached the top. There was a small trap door just big enough for a human to squeeze through if they were skinny enough. She squeezed through and found herself staring at a large storage room. Full of water and coins and cherries and cookies. Must be a forward stash from the travelers. She grabbed 20 water flavored cherries and put them in her sack. She smashed the bag with the cherries inside; every part of the bag was soaked! She knew now everything in the book bag would be with her the next time she woke up. She looked around some more.
She noticed a few things hanging off the wall near the entrance. A couple of pipes, an engine block, and a piece of broken roofing shingle. ‘I wonder what those are?’ she thought. She walked towards them. When she approached them, she heard a loud clink. She stopped and listened closely. She heard footsteps coming closer. She backed away quickly and hid behind a pile of boxes. Someone was approaching.
Daisy Chain ran for it. Not looking back. Being careful of the hole that she came out of, she ran across the floor. She jumped the box piles and ran alongside them. She ducked under several other stacks. She couldn't see anyone following her anymore. She hoped she wasn't caught. She continued running and jumping between the boxes, then she paused and listened. It was gone. Daisy looked around with her flashlight to see where she was going or who might have followed her. She tried to remember exactly where she was. She did remember ducking under a lot of boxes and sliding between them as well.
She backtracked, and looked around with his flashlight again. She spotted a large stack of boxes which she moved carefully so as not to fall. She picked up one corner of the box, and slid underneath. She made sure to keep moving because she was afraid she'd trip and fall. After a moment, she peeked out. She saw another stack of boxes. She went toward it. She kept trying to think like a thief. She needed to look like one too. She looked around nervously for anything that might help her blend in but she was getting tired. Until she came upon the hole again. She climbed down the very tall ladder which was shaking profusely with how tired she was.
She was getting hungry and getting sleepy. Maybe she could sleep in room 1? She landed on the checkered marble floor. She went back to the room where the books were and saw the old floor and old paint. She lay on the floor wondering what might be next, then, using her satchel as a blanket, she slept 8 hours listening to the distant ocean waves.
When Daisy finally awoke, she again was seeing the scratched paint of the surrounding room, yet even though she felt all rested the truth was that she was really hungry. Deciding to take an unexplored route that she knew to be safe (if what the book said was to be believed) she tried the closet first. Inside were several shutes that came from below and on the tray below the output of the vent was a single cookie. There was text on the chute but she couldn’t read it from this far. She first ate the cookie, she was expecting a baked good, but it did not taste good at all.
It tasted weird.
It tasted like it was dipped in a ranch dressing. While the taste was weird, it wasn't at all repulsive enough to make her puke, but it was just tame enough to make a sour expression on her face. She crunched on the cookie again, noting that this cookie tasted like it was very old. It did not crumble despite how long it might have been there, yet it did not taste dusty. Food was food and she would rather eat something then nothing. maybe it was just aged to taste that way? She took a bite anyway. It didn't seem bad actually. She had eaten worse before. Now at least satiated, she decided to read the text on the chute. It read "Ezi geiwev, xs kix jssh wtmr xli kpsfi''
“Not very helpful,” decided Daisy. “Maybe the book has something on this?” she thought. Confused, she decided to read the book, hoping for a key to the cipher of the closet. She read:
In the main room the closet is where we can now provide you with the necessities to keep your strength up. However, we do expect our guests to contribute their share by helping us maintain the place. We need new metal shelving, ductwork needs replacing, and the plumbing system will require repairs soon. Please be kind to us and help us serve you better. If you look at the note it is a CAESAR CIPHER. This was to ensure no entities could get free food. We found out later that the room is safe, so we will tell you what it says. "Ave caesar, to get food to spin the globe." Many of these notes are all around the Lava Pits and if you can find the code, you can get an ordinance that may help you.
With renewed hope for more food, she decided to spin the globe. A very loud clunking sound like creaky gears echoed out through the vents. She started to panic, thinking metal was pelting the room! The echoing rumble of a round object sounded like it was falling and out from the vents but then it quieted down and out popped from the vent was another cookie. She nibbled on the cookie in the closet and sure enough, this one also tasted like it was ranched dipped, yet this one was sweet. Daisy concluded it must be an age thing... ranch dipped cookies... the thought weirded her out a bit, but she was getting used to the taste. Not wanting to intrude upon the Explorers' kindness in providing these... acquired-taste cookies, she decided to look out the window before leaving the room.
Looking out she saw the never ending ocean washing up into what looked like the bottom floors of the cathedral. She decided to count the floors, and upon counting she came up with 100 floors. Looking across, she saw the outside of the building and noticed it was in a U formation. Across it were 100 windows, each one showing a different view of the ocean. She realized she was standing on the top level of the Cathedral. The view seemed to go on.
Having satisfied her curiosity enough, she decided to try level 2 again, remembering to bring the bag along. In the darkened hallways there was a single rope suspended in air which led to a large lamp that would illuminate the room. Straight ahead was a hallway of pipes, and to the right was one giant pipe.
Deciding that the ladder may not be as safe as she would like, she tried the big pipe, hoping for something safer. Inside the large pipe, a water spout ran through the center of the pipe, slowly pouring water over the entire length of the pipe. The temperature was warm, but not hot; in fact, it made her feel comfortable. The water trickled down in a small creek. Daisy looked down the pipe with her flashlight. Seeing such a pipe was unnerving—it was tinted red and led straight into darkness. While the idea of climbing down the pipe scared her, she was already inside. However, the red tint was pretty convincing.
Quietly, she said to herself, "Nope! Forget it. I'm going back." She turned away from the pipe and started walking back towards the checkered marble floor of room 2 .
Having explored all other options, Daisy went into the hall of pipes. This hallway was also leading straight ahead, but at least it looked comfortable in her opinion. She walked forward cautiously, knowing that this path was probably filled with dead ends or traps. As she began to walk forwards, As she walked down the hall, she passed first a green door, then a purple door, both on her right. The purple door was to the right of a T. Having no idea where she might go, Daisy looked in the books to see where she might go next. She found some information about the rooms’ doors and the color coded keys.
In the section entitled The Doorways it explained the following:
One type of door is only available when the door behind it is opened. This usually occurs after you've solved the ciphers. These doors open onto another part of Level 2 (or sometimes Level 3). These doors are always marked with blue. On the other hand, there are certain doors in the hallway itself that cannot be unlocked unless they're connected to a specific chamber/room. These doors are always marked with yellow. When trying to unlock a door without a matching key, the key gets into an out of phase state and never appears again. If you manage to lock yourself out of a room, you'll just have to brave yourself. Caution: these doorways may be shortcuts but not sanctioned paths of the explorers, open at your own risk. Purple doors: The Explorers have deemed these rooms as rooms with special importance because team 1443 went to one of these rooms but could not return as they accidently forgot the key. Blue doors: These are chambers/rooms that contain useful items. Yellow doors: These chambers contain either dangerous creatures or valuable objects. Green doors: These rooms are suitable for storage purposes.
Daisy with her flashlight on the green door decided to walk and attempt to open it. to which it opened up flawlessly, there was a note on a wooden barrel that was reached up to her mare eyesight. The note read: “XLMW VSSQ MW WEJI JSV ERCSRI csy ger lmhi mr livi erh rsx kix wtsxxih fc aieoiv irxmxmiw. Gsrwypx xli dsspskc fsso jsv qsvi mrjsvqexmsr.” Recognizing the cipher, she translated, "THIS ROOM IS SAFE FOR ANYONE you can hide in here and not get spotted by weaker entities. Consult the zoology book for more information." It had been written in the same code the book gave her earlier. Feeling much better about things, she continued to explore the left side of the intersection believing that the "open road" the note was talking about was telling her to stay on the path and not to get distracted by things like doors. With that in mind, she went left into the pipe hallway. It was a long walk, but she thought everything else was not an option. Finally reaching the end of the pipe hallway she discovered the most amazing sight yet.
It was a large circular room covered in mossy cobwebs and debris. It had a strange smell to it, almost rotten. The walls were lined with old computer monitors. There was quite a lot of junk everywhere: different colors of wires, broken chairs, files, papers, and even a few computers scattered around the room. Looking closer, she noticed that the screens were cracked and while some still worked, others did not. Some of them were still powered on and showed static images. After taking a quick look around, Daisy decided to start looking for animals to befriend to feed off their energy instead of eating the cookies she brought along. She began searching the desks, finding several laptops, two hard drives, and what appeared to be a server. She also saw a number of notebooks lying around, although none of them contained any writing. Finally, she came across a monitor screen that wasn't working. It was showing a picture of a woman sitting in front of a desk examining a laptop.
The caption above the image read:
"Room 3"
