CAM_09 IS OFFLINEby RunicTreetopsChapters9:00 P.M.CAM_01CAM_02CAM_03CAM_04CAM_05CAM_06CAM_07CAM_096:00 A.M.CAM_089:00 P.M.A group of three excited fillies huddle together in a quaint Maretime Bay bedroom. On their television, the Clip Trot profile page for Pipp Petals is pulled up, displaying a small window reading "The Pipp Petals Paranormal Spooktacular Livestream Will Begin Soon!" The three fillies whisper to each other as they get bundled in for the evening. Outside their window, the sun is slowly beginning to set on Equestria, just as it does at the end of every day. They've been waiting weeks for this livestream, and they can't wait for it to start! Suddenly, the window begins showing footage from a higher quality camera than the fillies are used to seeing. 9:00 P.M. The feed shows an excited Pipp Petals pointing the camera towards herself as she and seven other ponies walk along a path of crumbled stone. The path looks like it has seen better days. Occasionally, they pass by a decrepit building that is caving in on itself or boarded up, but most of the time the background consists entirely of piles of rubble. "Heeeeeelllooooooo Pippsqueaks! This is Pipp, and I'll be your lead paranormal investigator today! Tonight, we're going to be exploring the one, the only, CANTERLOT CASTLE! Eeeeeee, this is going to be so fun! Tell 'em why, Sunny!" Pipp shakily points the camera to Sunny Starscout, the mare walking a few feet in front of her. Sunny turns to the camera with a look of surprise, apparently not expecting to be asked a question. "Oh, um, ahem. Canterlot Castle is one of the most important places in Equestrian history. It used to be the capital of Equestria, and it was where Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and eventually Princess Twilight Sparkle all ruled from! It was in that castle that Nightmare Moon was defeated by Celestia! It was where Princess Cadance and her husband repelled a changeling invasion! Aaaaaand, it was where the princesses supposedly raised and lowered the sun and moon every day!" "See, Pippsqueaks?! This place is kind of a big deal~! As far as we know, nopony has explored the castle since it was abandoned. Apparently, those who tried reported seeing strange shadows and hearing ghastly wails coming from within, so none dared to venture inside. No one knows what it's really like in there... UNTIL TONIGHT! Today, I'm joined by the lovely Sunny Starscout~" "Hello!" "The brave and noble Hitch Trailblazer~" "H-hi there! I'm totally not terrified by this idea!" "The ray of sunshine that is Izzy Moonbow~" "Hiya! I've gotta say, all of Canterlot really looks like it needs some cleaning up. I mean, do you see all this dust?!" "My always inquisitive sister, Zipp~" "...Uh, hi." "The mare of many talents, Jazz Hooves~" "Hello everypony!" "The somewhat distracted Rocky Riff~" "Does my mane look okay? It needs to look good now so the side-by-side after we wrap up is more noticeable..." "And last but certainly not least, Misty Brightdawn!" "O-oh, um, hello everypony!" "Together, the eight of us are going to explore this spooky castle in the dead of night, and try to uncover evidence of anything... paranormal!" The camera shakes for a moment as if being grabbed by somepony else, only to reveal that Sunny has forced Pipp to point the camera towards her. "Before we go any further, I would just like to clarify that you should not try this at home. The castle is sure to be extremely dangerous due to its age, and I plan to personally ensure that we do not disturb anything of historical significance. So, er, please do as we say and not as we do!" The camera points back at Pipp. "I couldn't have said it better myself, Sunny! Oh, and look! We've arrived!" The camera flips around, revealing the ruins of Canterlot Castle. It has definitely seen better days, with a few walls appearing to be caved in and several of its iconic stained glass windows shattered. The drawbridge that used to be raised and lowered to allow passage over the stream passing in front of the castle has collapsed, and though it conveniently covers the now-stagnant water and can probably be crossed, to say that it is rotted would be an understatement. With varying amounts of trepidation, the eight ponies make their way across the bridge and find the grand set of double doors that is the entryway. One of the doors appears to be loose and is easily opened, slowly swinging to the side with a loud creaking noise. "This is it Pippsqueaks, we are about to be the first ponies in decades to see the inside of this castle!" The group makes their way through the newly opened door, leaving it ajar as they enter the grand entrance hall. What remains of the red-carpet-like entrance and the tapestries lining the marble walls reeks of rot, and it seems as though all but a few tatters have been eaten up by mice or whatever other vermin might have made their home here. The last of the day's sunlight is barely peeking through a couple of still-intact stained glass windows near the back wall. As the ponies make their way to the center of the room, their hoofsteps echo loudly through the empty chamber and the several adjoining corridors. Pipp, Sunny, Izzy, Zipp, Rusty, and Misty let out varying degrees of "ooo"s and "aah"s, while Hitch and Jazz appear much more nervous. "Alright Pippsqueaks, here's the game plan. To everypony present, consider this our final review of our plan of attack. We have nine cameras, with one going to each of us. Camera 1 will go to Sunny, who is going to investigate the throne room. Camera 2 will go to Izzy, who volunteered to check out the kitchen. Camera 3 will go to Rocky, who is probably the only pony here willing to go to the library and not get distracted by all the books. Not to worry all you history fans, we'll be back another day during the daytime for a more 'archaeological' approach to exploring the castle. Camera 4 will go to Hitch, who is going to explore the gardens around back. Camera 5 will be Zipp's, and she'll be checking out the bedchambers that used to belong to the princesses. Camera 6 is Misty's, and she's the brave soul going into the dungeons! Camera 7 is Jazz's, and she's going to act as our auxiliary explorer, weaving in and out of the different areas based on what we experience during the night. Camera 8 is going to be a stationary camera, and I'm going to double back and set it up right outside the entryway. You know, just in case. Finally, Camera 9 belongs to me. I'll be right here in the entrance hall all night with all of our equipment, maintaining the livestream and watching over all of you through the cameras and audio equipment we brought with us! Does everypony have their designated flashlights, walkie-talkies, and cameras?" One by one, each pony confirms that they have the necessary materials, though Hitch raises a question. "Uhh, Pipp? Can't our cell phones do all three of those things?" Izzy interrupts before Pipp can respond. "Well, duh! But what's the fun in that? If we make it too safe for ourselves, the GHOSTS won't want to come out and play!" "R-really?" Pipp actually gets to respond this time. "It also adds to the atmosphere. We've gotta keep up the spooky tension, you know? That's why we left our cells at home!" "I-if you say so..." "Come on, Hitch, we talked about this. If you really don't want to do this, you don't have to. You can just leave, or stay in here with me if you like." "N-no. I mean, NO! I'm a grown stallion, and I don't believe in ghosts! I can handle some old garden no problem." "Well, if you insist." For the next twenty or so minutes, the livestream consists of the eight ponies setting up their equipment. For a moment, a shadow in the background of the feed seems to peek out from a hallway before slinking away once more, though that might just be a trick of the light as the sun finally sets and the castle is bathed in darkness. "Alright everypony, make sure your cameras are secured around your necks. Are you all ready?" Collectively, the other seven ponies let out a yell. "Yeah!" And with that, those seven ponies begin to set off in different directions, ready to see what the evening has in store for them. "And remember Pippsqueaks, by clicking that arrow next to the stream, you can switch between the video feeds whenever you want! Hold on to your flanks, because it's about to be a night to remember!" Author's Note The next nine chapters of this story, CAM_01 - CAM_09, can be read in any order. As such, please feel free to read them in whatever order you see fit. In fact, I encourage you to read them "out of order." However, the final chapter, 6:00 A.M., must be read last. Have fun experiencing the Pipp Petals Paranormal Spooktacular Livestream as you see fit! CAM_01CAM_01 10:00 P.M. The camera is kept steady, though the occasional braided mane that is visible in the video feed makes it clear that this video is Sunny's. In her right hoof she holds her flashlight, which she happily points at the nearby walls and floor as she exits the entrance hall. Outside of the beam of light provided by it, there is only darkness. Sunny occasionally lets out a light cough. "Sorry everypony, it's just so dusty in here. Somepony really aught to open a window or something." Sunny points the flashlight at a nearby window, revealing that it's a large stained glass depiction of Princess Twilight Sparkle. She gasps and the camera bounces up and down slightly. "Eeeeeee, this is so cool! I know we're here on a paranormal investigation, but oh I just can't help myself! Canterlot Castle is famous for its stained glass windows! They all depict a different part of Equestria's long and glorious history! Look!" As she walks, she points her flashlight at another window, this one depicting two alicorns, one white and one black. "This is the battle between Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon! Ooo, I so wish we had come during the day!" Sunny continues looking at the stained glass windows as she walks, her excitement level still high but not quite as bouncy as before. "There is just so much we could learn from a place like this. For all of you Pippsqueaks that aren't aware, this used to be Equestria's capital. The princesses lived here, and so many great things happened in these very halls! Fierce battles were won, incredible technologies and magics were researched... oh, it's just incredible!" Sunny falls silent for a moment as she walks before speaking up again, her voice now a smidge quieter than before. "And yet, to this day, nopony really knows what happened to make it fall. Nopony knows what took place within these walls, or... or what happened to Princess Twilight." Sunny lingers for a moment, her flashlight trained on another window depicting a smiling Princess Twilight surrounded by five other mares. "...I hope we can live up to your example, princess." 11:00 P.M. "You know, if it weren't for my dad, we wouldn't be able to have this investigation. I found an old map among some of his history books, and it looked like a general floor plan of the castle! It wasn't very detailed and definitely left some stuff out, but for the most part, it showed exactly how to get to each of the rooms Pipp sent us to! Speaking of, the throne room should be right at the end of this hall!" Sunny quickens her pace. This hallway is much thinner than the previous ones, and the light from her flashlight covers both walls, allowing brief glimpses at the stained glass windows. In spite of her previous excitement, Sunny seems much more eager to reach the throne room than she is to look at the stained glass windows. One window depicts Princess Twilight's dragon assistant, Spike, saving the Crystal Empire. Another depicts the defeat of Queen Chrysalis. The next shows Princess Twilight being coronated. The one after that shows Princess Twilight being coronated. The one following that shows Princess Twilight being coronated. A sixth shows Princess Twilight being coronated. The last shows Princess Sunny Starscout being coronated. "Ah, here we are!" Sunny points the flashlight at a grand set of double doors that, at one point, were probably quite beautiful, but now look a bit worse for wear. However, they are still in better condition than the entrance. "Well, no time like the present!" Sunny grabs one of the handles and pulls, finding the door heavy but not impossible to open, revealing the throne room inside. A beautiful red carpet, apparently immaculately preserved, reaches from her hooves to the back of the room, right to the base of a gleaming golden throne. The walls here are also covered in stained glass windows, though Sunny does not shine her light on them enough to make out any details in the video. Instead, she merely gasps while keeping the light trained on the throne. She begins to take a few hesitant steps towards the throne. "So this is the throne room. I just... wow. I mean, I know I'm supposed to be looking for ghosts, but... just... wow." Sunny reaches the base of the steps that lead up to the throne, six in total. She looks up at the throne and stares silently for a moment. "Heh, I can perfectly picture her there, happily greeting her subjects and spreading the word of friendship..." Sunny falls silent for another moment before walking up the first couple of steps. "Sorry if this seems self-indulgent, everyone, but... come on, do you expect me to not sit on the throne?" With a sigh, Sunny happily takes a seat on the throne. In the video, despite the dust particles that have been visible in the air until this point, the room suddenly seems impeccably clean as Sunny gets comfortable, pointing the camera towards the rest of the room from the perspective of the throne. "...Hm?" Suddenly, Sunny's camera turns to static. 12:00 A.M. Only static can be seen for approximately an hour. 1:00 A.M. The video feed suddenly returns, still showing the clean, empty room. However, the camera is rising and falling gradually, and Sunny's ragged breathing can be heard. "I don't understand! What are you talking about?!" The room is filled with silence. "I keep telling you, I'm not the princess! I just-" The camera shakes violently, as though Sunny is struggling. "Can't... stand... UP!" The room is still silent, save for Sunny's breathing. "My name isn't Twilight! It's Sunny! Sunny Starscout! I-I'm sorry for sitting here, I'll never do it again!" The silence is broken by the sound of Sunny's walkie-talkie activating and Pipp's voice ringing out. "Sunny? Sunny, what's going on with you?! We lost video footage for, like, an hour, the walkie-talkie wouldn't connect, and now you're talking to yourself!" "STOP IT! I NEVER DID ANYTHING OF THE SORT!" "S-Sunny? Can you hear me?!" "ARGH!" The faint orange glow of Sunny's magic briefly appears before flickering out again. "Sunny, you need t-" The walkie-talkie suddenly cuts out. As it does, Sunny's flashlight begins to flicker, briefly revealing a shadow in the darkness before the shadow disappears with the flickering light. 2:00 A.M. "What do you mean?! I don't even know who you are!" "..." "D-do you... argh!" The camera begins to shake violently, and Sunny's leg briefly appears in the shot as though she is holding her head. "..." "...You don't know what you're talking about! You have no idea what friendship means!" "..." "No! Just because they're gone... th-that doesn't mean I can't still do something!" "..." "N-no! I didn't fail them! I... I just..." "..." "I said STOP!" Sunny's orange magic once again lights up the room for a brief instant. In that instant, a crowd of shadowy figures fill the hall, and as Sunny leans forward, her head looks completely different. It looks larger, with a purple coat and flowing, dark blue mane. Suddenly, the magic fades and the flashlight goes out, bathing the room in darkness as the video feed cuts out altogether. 3:00 A.M. CAM_01 IS OFFLINE 4:00 A.M. CAM_01 IS OFFLINE 5:00 A.M. CAM_01 IS OFFLINE CAM_02CAM_02 10:00 P.M. The camera is bouncy as its wearer, Izzy, happily trots through the old, dark halls. Outside of the vision provided by her flashlight, the video feed is pitch black. However, Izzy seems to keep losing focus, never keeping the flashlight in one place for too long before moving on to the next thing. "This is fun, right, Pippsqueaks? I wanted to go to the kitchen so I could be the one to experience all the gross, rotten food in there! Er, you know, if there is any. Hehe, I bet it smells really bad!" She continues down the darkened halls at a decent pace, eventually making a sharp turn and entering what looks to be an old dining hall. The room is large and circular with a high marble ceiling. There are no windows in here, but the walls look like they were, at one point, decorated with finely crafted tapestries, though these have long since withered away. Izzy shines her light on the center of the room, where a long table can be found. The table is about twenty feet long with several chairs lining either side of it, some of which are knocked over. Whether due to time or some other force, the table has been split down the middle, with both ends now leaning downwards towards the floor in the center. It looks as though a tablecloth was once draped over it, which is now lazily resting on top of the broken table pieces on the ground in the center of the table. "I'm pretty sure the kitchen is just on the other side of this room. Let's go!" The camera bounces even more as Izzy happily skips to another doorway on the far side of the room. She struggles to get it open at first, but it eventually begins to move with a loud creaking sound, revealing the kitchen on the other side. The kitchen is large, its walls lined with many shelves and cupboards. There is plenty of space for preparing food along the walls, with about a half-dozen stoves that look like they've seen better days visible in the darkness. A few islands compliment the kitchen well, allowing for ample space to prepare meals. The relative silence is broken by a sniffing sound. "...Huh? Do you guys smell that? W-wait, of course you don't, you aren't here. It smells... sweet. Like cake or something. Weird." Izzy takes a few steps into the room, making her way to some of the nearby cupboards. "That's disappointing! What kind of haunted kitchen smells sweet? It's supposed to smell ROTTEN!" Izzy begins throwing open various cupboards, finding that most of them are empty and becoming increasingly frustrated as she does so. "Darn. I probably shouldn't have volunteered to come here." 11:00 P.M. It's clear from the hooves that keep appearing in the video and the way the camera is moving that Izzy is throwing open every cupboard, cabinet, and drawer she can find. However, she seems to be bad at handling the camera, as the video feed never gets a good look at the inside of said spaces. "Ugh, they're all empty. I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappoin-WAIT WHAT IS THAT?!" Izzy holds a particular cabinet door open for longer than usual and makes an effort to position the camera at an angle that allows the viewer to see inside. Within the cupboard are a number of things, including cake mixes and assorted candies. "This stuff has to be ancient! Ooo, I'm gonna take a whiff!" Izzy hastily opens one of the boxes of cake mix, which appears to be noticeably less dusty than the rest of the cupboard. After doing so, she sticks her nose inside and takes a deep whiff. "...Huh. It, uh, it smells pretty good, actually. Not rotten at all. Geez, what did they put in these things back then?" Izzy places the mix back down onto a nearby counter as she moves on to the next cupboard. "Wow, this one is filled with stuff, too. We've got crackers, snack foods, spices... wow, maybe this was a good idea after all!" Izzy makes her way through a few more cabinets before stumbling upon a particularly large fridge, easily four times her size. "Oh, this aught to be good!" She throws the refrigerator door open with relative ease, and to her surprise, the light inside comes on. The fridge is stocked with all manner of goods. Milk, soft drinks, assorted greens, even a shelf full of fresh-looking fruits. "Okay, I'm no expert, but I'm preeeeety sure the castle shouldn't be getting any electricity. Also, most of this stuff should be way past its expiration date." She retrieves an apple from the fridge and looks it over. It's bright red and looks somewhat glossy. "I mean, there's no way this is real, right?" Izzy squishes the apple, and to her surprise, it squelches with a fair amount of juices like she would expect from a typical ripe apple. "Well, here goes nothing." She takes a hesitant lick from the slightly crushed apple before looking at it with bewilderment. "...It tastes pretty good. I know I'm not an earth pony, but I don't think it's supposed to taste good." Izzy puts the squished apple back where she found it and takes a step back from the fridge. "I should also probably stop licking food that's hundreds of years old." 12:00 A.M. A faint slamming sound can be heard to the right of where the camera is pointed. This clearly gets Izzy's attention, as she suddenly turns in the direction of the sound. She shines her flashlight to that corner of the kitchen, revealing what looks to be a door to a large walk-in pantry. "Pippsqueaks? That door was open when we came in here, right? ...Neat!" Izzy happily skips towards the pantry door. It's covered with a few slits that you might be able to see through if it weren't so dark. "Alright ghosties, let's see what you're hiding in here!" Izzy throws the door open and shines her flashlight into the newly revealed pantry. It doesn't appear to be out of the ordinary in any way. Shelves go as high as the ceiling, all of them completely bare. The room looks quite dusty, as well. "...All right, all right! You want me to step inside, don't you, ghosties? Well, who am I to argue?" Izzy takes a few cheery steps into the pantry, but nothing seems to happen. She looks quizzically at the empty shelves, and the video suddenly gets very quiet. "...Should I go to the very back or something?" Suddenly, a very, very faint noise can be heard from behind the camera. It sounds like a voice. "Wh... ou... about?!" Izzy turns towards the open pantry door. "S-Sunny?!" Izzy begins to run back out of the pantry, but just as she is about to reach the door it slams shut. In that same moment, her flashlight goes out, and the video feed cuts altogether. 1:00 A.M. CAM_02 IS OFFLINE 2:00 A.M. CAM_02 IS OFFLINE 3:00 A.M. CAM_02 IS OFFLINE 4:00 A.M. CAM_02 IS OFFLINE 5:00 A.M. CAM_02 IS OFFLINE CAM_03CAM_03 10:00 P.M. The video shows a grand entryway, with a large set of wooden double doors standing out amongst the marble walls of the castle. The wood appears to be rotting, but it's still on its hinges. In front of the door, the camera is being kept very steady, as if Rocky has had plenty of practice with cameras. "Alright Pippsqueaks! Pipp wants us to explore this castle and find traces of the paranormal, and I'm prepared to do exactly that! Libraries are always haunted, and we're bound to find something spooky in here! Let's check it out!" Rocky makes his way into the library, the light from his flashlight being the only source of vision in the dusty, dimly lit room. The library is massive, with rows upon rows of bookcases stuffed end to end with old books. Rocky starts coughing a little bit as he runs his hoof across one of the bookcases. "W-wow, I probably shouldn't be surprised that it's so dusty in here. It has been thousands of moons since anypony has been in here, after all! Alright, let's get this ghost hunt started!" Rocky makes his way deeper into the library, carefully shining his flashlight at the spaces between bookcases as he passes them by. The room seems to go on and on, and it's completely silent save for the sound of Rocky's hoofsteps. Suddenly, something grabs his attention. The camera turns to look behind Rocky, and for a brief instant, a shadow can be seen running between a couple of bookcases. Rocky gasps. "D-did I get that on camera? There was definitely something over there, yeah?" Rocky doubles back to where the shadow was and glances in both the direction that the shadow came from and the direction it ran towards, but nothing can be seen. "...Alright, then. It might have just been my eyes playing tricks on me. Let's see here..." Rocky turns around once more and goes deeper into the library, but after a few moments, another shadow seems to briefly emerge from behind a bookshelf before it too runs around a corner. "...Hm. Haha. Ahahaha! Pippsqueaks, you saw that, right? There are totally shadows in here stalking me! Oh man, that's like the oldest haunting trick in the book! I knew this place was haunted! Come on, let's go deeper inside!" 11:00 P.M. Rocky reaches the center of the library, indicated by a circular space housing several tables for research. A few scattered books are still resting on said tables, and a large wooden statue of a stallion on its hind legs acts as a centerpiece for the whole library. Bookshelves extend in all directions, but pretty much all of the makeshift hallways between them lead back to this section of the library. "Well, here we are. It's pretty cool to look at, but I'll admit, I was hoping to find something more... substantial?" Suddenly, something appears to catch Rocky's attention as he quickly turns the camera to his left. Affixed to the side of one of the nearby bookshelves is a large, circular mirror. Rocky shines his flashlight on it, causing the light to be reflected back and the reflection itself to be difficult to see. "Well, hellooooo, gorgeous!" Rocky trots over to the mirror and lowers the flashlight just a little bit, allowing the camera to see the reflection. It appears normal, with Rocky carefully using it to adjust his mane. For a brief moment, it looks as though movement is occurring behind him, but he fails to notice. Suddenly, he stops messing with his mane and his eyes widen a bit as he turns his nose to the air. "...I know this is a livestream, so you're going to have to take my word for it, but it suddenly smells in here. Like... like a scented candle, or something." Rocky looks around, and as he does so, a new source of light can be seen coming from behind where his head just was in the reflection. It gives a faint orange glow, and Rocky notices it before turning around completely. On one of the nearby tables, a lit candle appears to be resting next to an open scroll. 12:00 A.M. "What is this?" Rocky approaches the table, looking down at both the candle and the scroll. The candle is in a perfect position to light up just enough of the table that the scroll can be read, but Rocky can't help but shine the flashlight on the scroll anyway, making it impossible to read through the video alone. "I know I got sent here because I wouldn't be tempted to read anything, but... come on. I didn't light this candle, meaning I'm either being pranked, or the ghosts want me to read what's written here. I'll just go ahead and do that now." The camera stays still for several moments as Rocky reads silently to himself, apparently unaware that his own flashlight is making it impossible for the camera to pick up what the words on the scroll are. Eventually, Rocky picks up the scroll quizzically in his hoof and glances more closely at it before putting it back down. "Well, to all of you Pippsqueaks who couldn't make out all of that, this looks to be a note addressed to Princess Twilight Sparkle. It's apparently suggesting to her that she use some kind of spell that's detailed on the bottom of the scroll, but I have no idea how to interpret these ancient spells. I guess this spell would help her protect something called the 'Celestial Amulet,' since the creation of the Unity Crystals might make that amulet extremely important in the future? Weird. I was expecting notes on, like, a murder or something. I wonder what this is all about?" 1:00 A.M. Suddenly, the candle gets blown out. As it does so, Rocky's flashlight begins to flicker before dying entirely, leaving the video feed completely dark. "Ah, shoot. Come on, flashlight." The sound of Rocky repeatedly tapping the flashlight against his hoof can be heard in the darkness, followed by a sigh. "Well, this sucks. I should probably contact Pipp." The sound of a walkie-talkie turning on can be heard. "Pipp? I've got a little bit of a situation here. The investigation is going great, but my flashlight just died and I can't see a darn thing." Only static can be heard coming from the walkie-talkie. "...Pipp?" More static. "...Great. I can't see an inch in front of my face. Seriously, I'm waving my hoof in front of my face and I can't see it." The room is dead silent for a few moments before Rocky sighs again. "I should probably get out of here. ...Which way did I come from, again?" The sound of Rocky's hoofsteps can be heard once more, followed by a small banging noise. "Ow! Hit my head on a bookshelf. Let me just feel my way around it... here we are. I guess I'll just have to feel my way to the exit. If I'm going the wrong way, I'll eventually reach the edge of the library and just go along the perimeter until I find the door." The next few minutes are silent save for Rocky's breathing and his gentle hoofsteps. Eventually, a strange squishing sound can be heard. "...Am I stepping in something? What is this?" The squishing continues as he keeps walking until he lets out a little yelp. "Th-the bookcase is squishy too! What is going on in here?! This is so gross!" After a few more minutes of squishing, Rocky finally speaks up again, his voice sounding frantic. "I-I can't do this any more! Pipp! Jazz! Anyone?! My flashlight is out! Please come help me!" 2:00 A.M. "P-Pippsqueaks? This is going to sound crazy, but it feels like the bookcases are breathing. I-I don't like this investigation anymore! I want to go home!" The squishing sound continues until it is interrupted by a loud crunch. "WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!?! GET ME OUT OF HERE!" The squishing and crunching becomes frantic as even through the pitch-black video, it's clear that Rocky is now running. Over the strange noises and Rocky's heavy breathing, a voice can be faintly heard from an indiscernible direction. "Rocky?" "JAZZ! JAZZ, IS THAT YOU?!" The sounds of both Rocky and something else breathing can be heard slowly increasing in volume until the video suddenly cuts out entirely. 3:00 A.M. CAM_03 IS OFFLINE 4:00 A.M. CAM_03 IS OFFLINE 5:00 A.M. CAM_03 IS OFFLINE CAM_04CAM_04 10:00 P.M. The video feed bobs quite a bit as it moves forward, indicating that its wearer, Hitch, has a heavy gait. His heavy breathing is audible in the video, and the light from his flashlight appears to be shaky. He slowly moves through marble hallways, carefully shining his light on anything and everything he sees, until he comes to an unassuming set of double doors. He stops in front of them and sighs. "This is supposed to be the place, but it doesn't look like much. Let's see..." He places a hoof on one of the doors and begins to push. Sure enough, the door opens, revealing a beautiful moonlit garden on the other side. "Okay, I'm in the right place at least." Hitch begins to walk outside, his slow pace making his trepidation all the more noticeable. As he does, the landscape is surprisingly easy to see. The moonlight provides plenty of vision, though he still does not turn off his flashlight. "Heh, I guess this is why Pipp sent me out here. This is probably the least scary part of the castle. S-sorry, Pippsqueaks, I'll try to keep up the pace." Hitch begins to move deeper into the garden, carefully shining his light any time a flower or shrub drifts in the breeze. 11:00 P.M. The garden looks as though it was probably quite beautiful at one point, but time and neglect have transformed it into an overgrown hodgepodge of mismatching plants and greenery. It makes large swathes of the garden difficult to navigate, but Hitch manages to find some clearer areas to make it easier for him to go deeper in. At one point, a few squirrels appear on a branch of a nearby tree, making Hitch jump. As he shines his flashlight on them, he breathes a sigh of relief. "Oh, hello little guys! How are you doing tonight?" The squirrels do not respond, instead scampering off in all directions. One squirrel, however, stays behind and simply stares at Hitch, its eyes wide and glossy. Hitch appears somewhat troubled by this. "...Oh, uh, hehe. I guess you aren't used to visitors, huh?" With that, the one remaining squirrel also scampers out of sight. Hitch sighs again. "I'm usually pretty good with animals, too. I sure hope there's nothing wrong with them. Maybe they're mad that I'm here?" Hitch continues to walk, and more animals make themselves known. Rabbits, birds, mice, and a few other small creatures take positions around Hitch, lining his path or resting on branches, all of them staring directly at him with wide, glossy eyes until he shines his flashlight at them, causing them to run away. Hitch tries to talk to a few more, but is unsuccessful. "...Okay, I'll just come out and say it: This is really creeping me out. I don't like this one bit." The sound of Hitch's walkie-talkie coming to life fills the relative silence, causing him to jump before responding. "Pipp? Is that you?" "Yup, it's meeeeeee! The investigation is going well so far! Buuuut, and I don't mean to sound rude or anything, you might want to get a move on. The main draw of the garden was apparently the sculptures, and that seems like primo paranormal material to me! That said, at the rate you're going, it'll take you all night just to get there!" "O-okay, okay! Sculptures, got it! It's just... the critters around here are kind of freaking me out." "Oh come on, Hitch. I know talking to animals is your thing, but you shouldn't be scared when they don't respond. They probably haven't seen a pony in hundreds of moons! They're just frightened, and maybe curious!" Hitch nervously points the camera at a nearby tree. Every single branch is populated end to end with critters, all of which seem to be staring right through him. "...If you say so, Pipp." "Good luck, Hitch!" "Y-yeah, you too." 12:00 A.M. Hitch turns a corner around a large collection of shrubs before he lets out a scream and falls onto the ground. His flashlight is pointed at the distinct outline of a large stallion looking directly at him. However, as he steadies the light and stops screaming, the video focuses a bit more on the outline, revealing that the figure is made of stone. Hitch gathers himself and gets back on his hooves, taking a step forward as he confirms that it is, in fact, just a sculpture. "O-oh. Phew! False alarm, everypony, it's just a sculpture. I guess we're in the right place, then." A much calmer Hitch slowly makes his way past the sculpture and even deeper into the garden. The farther he walks, the less frequent the overgrown plants become. In their place, more and more sculptures and statues appear, depicting all manner of historical figures. Many of them have crumbled and collapsed, and very few are still in one piece. Despite the fact that they are inanimate objects, they seem to make Hitch even more frightened. "Th-this is usually the part in the movies where one of the sculptures behind me comes to life and starts stalking me or something." Hitch fearfully looks behind him as he continues to walk forward, but the area seems unchanged. "...Better safe than sorry, hehe-OOF!" Hitch inhales as he apparently runs into something. The camera turns around with him, revealing a very large statue depicting three figures. Hitch gulps and takes a step back as he shines his light on it, revealing the statue in its entirety. The three figures appear to be a frightened centaur, an equally panicked pegasus filly, and an angry looking changeling. Hitch remains frozen for several moments as silence fills the space, broken only by Hitch's nervous breaths and the gentle evening breeze. Eventually, though, he sighs. "I know what this is. Sunny used to talk about them all the time. This is the only sculpture here that isn't really a sculpture. And they're not ghosts, either. These are Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Chrysalis, some of the most heinous villains Equestria ever faced. Princess Twilight Sparkle managed to rally her friends from Equestria and beyond to defeat them, and as punishment for their crimes, they were turned to stone." Hitch falls silent for another moment before the camera lifts slightly, as though Hitch is standing a little taller. "I know we're here hunting ghosts, but... regardless of if ghosts are real or not, it's important to remind ourselves of who the real villains are: ponies and other creatures that would hope to destroy the friendship and harmony ponykind has built up. So long as we have that, there's nothing that can stop us." 1:00 A.M. After moving away from the petrified villains, Hitch explores the remainder of the garden with what seems to be a renewed confidence. His heavy breathing has calmed, and he shines his light on anything worth noting with a steady hoof. However, there is little for him to see. The garden is still, and between Hitch's calmer demeanor and the breeze apparently having stopped, it's almost completely silent. "...The animals have stopped watching me. Actually, I haven't even seen any of them in some time. Did they just get enough of me or something?" Hitch continues on his walk until he finds a large stone wall, indicating the far end of the garden. "Well, I guess that's the whole garden. Sorry, Pippsqueaks, but I don't think there's much to find out here-AAH!" Hitch yelps as he trips. The camera falls farther than it first seems like it should, sinking farther into the ground than expected. The camera stays still for a moment before Hitch recovers it, revealing the cause of his fall in the process. A pile of leaves seemed to have obscured a small pit that curves and continues further underground, like a secret dirt passage. "That's... unusual." Hitch shines his light into the passage, revealing that it goes very deep underground. However, the decline is gradual, and could easily be navigated. "I mean... I can't not go down there, right?" Hitch begins to descend down the pit as the moonlight illuminating the garden drifts further and further away. He fails to notice the moon beginning to shake in the night sky. 2:00 A.M. There is little that can be seen in the video outside of the dirt illuminated by Hitch's flashlight. Hitch continues his descent for nearly half an hour in complete silence. "It's getting chilly down here. I wonder where this actually leads." As he walks farther and farther underground, his flashlight begins to flicker, but it doesn't quite go out. "I'm not one to get claustrophobic, but even I'm getting a little unnerved by this. I'm not going to go much farther. If I don't find anything, I'm just going to turn around." Nothing occurs for the next five minutes, and the sound of Hitch trying to activate his walkie-talkie can be heard in the dim passage. "Darn, the walkie-talkie isn't working. I can't get in contact with Pipp about this." After another couple of minutes, the passage abruptly ends. Although the walls are still dirt, the passage is blocked by what appears to be a flat sheet of crystal. He shines his flashlight on it, and much of the light reflects back. "Well, th-that's weird. It's just a dead end." He places a hoof on the crystal wall and presses against it, but nothing happens. "I guess this is the end of the line. Oh well. Sorry Pippsqueaks, but I guess I'll have to turn... back?" Hitch is interrupted by a faint sound. He presses an ear against the crystal, and the video picks up a barely audible sound reminiscent of a mare sobbing. "Wait, isn't that..." The audio begins to distort, making it impossible to understand his words. The video suddenly goes black, and the last thing that can be heard before Hitch's stream goes offline is a very loud crashing sound. 3:00 A.M. CAM_04 IS OFFLINE 4:00 A.M. CAM_04 IS OFFLINE 5:00 A.M. CAM_04 IS OFFLINE CAM_05CAM_05 10:00 P.M. The video feed shakes every so often, indicating that the pony carrying it, Zipp, is doing so somewhat haphazardly. A combination of her flashlight and the moonlight pouring into the castle from the nearby windows illuminates the grand marble staircase that she is currently ascending. Cobwebs can be seen between each step, and the amount of dust in the air looks downright dangerous. "Alright, everypony. I don't know about this 'paranormal' stuff, but I need to see what's going on in the living quarters. I mean, three different alicorns used to live here. Three! There HAS to be something important that was left behind, right?" Zipp arrives at the top of the staircase, revealing a long hallway. On the right side of the hallway, several dusty stained glass windows bathe the corridor in various faded colors. On the left, three sets of doors can be seen. Zipp casually approaches the first of these doors, which looks like it was, at one point, painted a dark blue. "Might as well start the investigation here, I guess." Zipp gently opens the door, which creaks loudly as she does so. She peers inside before making a clicking noise with her tongue. "Dang, it is really dark in there. I'm gonna do my best to use this flashlight for your sake, but for me, I think I'm just gonna rely on my rad-visor." Along the top of the feed, the video shows Zipp placing a strange device over her eyes and smirking before repositioning the flashlight in her hoof. "This baby lets me see in the dark, as well as heat signatures, infrared lights, all that good stuff." Zipp finally enters the room, and like she stated, it is pitch black aside from the light provided by her flashlight. It appears to be a bedroom, with the walls and floor both painted a deep navy blue color. In fact, the whole room has a similar aesthetic, with the nearby vanity and cabinet painted an almost identical shade of blue. On the far side of the room, a glass door leads to an outside balcony, but the glass has been tinted a dark enough shade of black that no moonlight comes through. In the center of the room, a very large, somewhat gaudy-looking crescent-shaped bed looms over the rest of the space. Apart from that, the room seems to lack many other amenities. "I'll admit, I like the aesthetics of this room. But apart from the fact that whoever lived here was clearly an edgy night owl, there's not much to see. Next!" Zipp nonchalantly exits the room, closing the door behind her as she does. 11:00 P.M. The next door that Zipp finds is an off-white color. It might have had a golden trim long ago, but that color has long since faded. Once again, Zipp gently opens the door and enters a room much different than the previous one. In this room, the floor is a gentle green color, with the walls a pleasant shade of pinkish-purple. An ornate, multicolored canopy bed sits along one wall, and a homely looking fireplace can be found on the opposite wall. Some rotting firewood still sits in the fireplace, as do some long-rusted tools next to it. A large vanity with many drawers isn't too far from the bed, and just like in the previous room, a door leading to an outside balcony can be seen on the opposite side of the room. Unlike the last room, however, this one has no tint, and the room is much brighter than the previous one because of it. "Huh. I can't say I like this color scheme any more than the last one, but this room does feel different. It feels, like... I don't know, warm, I guess?" Zipp pokes around the room for some time before sighing to herself in the darkness. "Not much here either, except for some gross expired makeup and scrolls that are too old to be legible. Next room it is, I guess. Sorry if this isn't entertaining, everypony. I can't exactly force the ghosts to come out." Zipp exits the second room more disappointed than she entered and pops back out into the hallway before heading to the final door. 12:00 A.M. The last door is a light purple, and the handle looks like it has seen less use in its time than the last two. With a shrug, Zipp opens it and does her best to use her flashlight to make the inside visible. This room stands out quite a bit from the previous two. The walls and floor are a plain marble, much like the outside hallway, and the bed in the center of the room is much more plain. The nearby cabinet and writing desks look a lot more "normal" as well, but the copious amount of bookshelves lining the walls is far from normal. However, the most different (and somewhat odd) aspect can be seen in the dust floating in the air wherever the flashlight is pointed. Specifically, the lack thereof. "...Hm. Has, uh, has somepony been living here? It's very... clean." Zipp runs her hoof along the top of a nearby bookshelf. "There isn't a speck of dust in here." Zipp begins covering every inch of the bedroom, looking for anything that looks out of place. Eventually, she reaches this room's door to its outside balcony. The glass on this door is completely normal, offering neither the darkness of the first room nor the warmth of the second. However, rather than opening this door, Zipp's attention is focused on what is next to it. With the flashlight aimed at the space to the right of the door, the video shows a small wooden pedestal, upon which rests what appears to be an amulet of some kind. When the camera is pointed at it, the image gets grainy, making it difficult to make out any details. 1:00 A.M. "What is this thing?" Zipp picks up the amulet, though the image quality is so poor, little more than basic shapes can be made out. She sets the camera down on the pedestal, providing a full view of herself with her rad-visor on as she fiddles with the amulet. "I'm definitely getting magical readings coming from it. Strong ones at that. Why was it left here? What is it for?" The sound of a walkie-talkie turning on fills the silence, followed by Pipp's voice. "Zipp! What are you doing?!" "I just found some kind of magical amulet in one of the bedrooms. It's pretty neat, isn't it?" "Ugh, Ziiiiiip! Your video quality is terrible! It's all grainy and weird! Besides, you're getting distracted! We have more important matters at hand!" "Oh? What's going on?" Zipp continues conversing with Pipp, but she never looks away from the amulet as she continues to analyze and fiddle with it. "Well, I've completely lost contact with Izzy and Misty. Their cameras have gone out and they won't respond on the walkie-talkie. Meanwhile, it looks like Rocky and Jazz are experiencing some weird stuff, and I've lost audio contact with both of them. Something really is going on here, Zipp." "Isn't that what you wanted?" "W-well, sort of, but- AHH!" Zipp finally looks up from the amulet at her walkie-talkie. "P-Pipp?" "..." "Pipp, are you there?!" "...S-sorry, I could have sworn I heard somepony whispering to me, and... oh no." "What now?" "I think I'm losing contact with Sunny, too." 2:00 A.M. "Look, Pipp, I'm sure they're fine. Don't you know who you're talking about?" "Of course, but I just... have a bad feeling, okay?" "Look, I'll head back down there in just a bit. I want to finish analyzing this amulet first, though." "Ugh, just what is it about that amulet that has you so engrossed?" "I'm not sure yet, but I think it's important. This whole bedroom is strange, and the fact that this amulet is both magical and in perfect condition makes me think that it's used for something, maybe even to this day." "Zipp, that's ridiculous. Nopony has been in the castle in moons!" "That might be true, but maybe it's automatic." "And still working? What about before we restored the magic?" "I... I don't know. Princess Twilight made the Unity Crystals, didn't she? I think this is her bedroom. If that's the case, then maybe she didn't put all of Equestria's magic in the crystals. Maybe she left some of it in this thing?" "Why would she do that?" "..." "Zipp?" "Maybe she didn't have a choice?" "Huh?" "I already visited Princess Celestia's room and Princess Luna's room, and neither of them had anything like this. But, without the princesses, who has been raising the sun and the moon every day?" "Uhh, Zipp? News flash, that's just a bunch of old mythology that was used to garner public support for the princesses. Nopony actually controls the sun or the moon!" "But what if it's not? What if Twilight knew she was in danger, and made this amulet so that the sun and the moon would rise on their own?" "Yeah yeah, sure. That's all well and good, and all the more reason to put the darn thing back where you found it and get back here!" "Ugh, all right Pipp, I'm on my..." Zipp moves to put the amulet back on the pedestal, but as she does so, she appears to be pushed forward by an unseen force, bringing both her and the amulet to the ground out of the camera's vision. A shattering sound can be heard, and the video feed suddenly goes dark. 3:00 A.M. The video is completely dark, though audio can still be heard. "Z-Zipp? Are you okay?!" "I'm fine, but I think I just messed up big time!" "What's going on?! All at once, everyone's lights, cameras, and walkie-talkies are going haywire! You're the only pony I can still contact, and even then your camera isn't showing anything!" "My flashlight went out, too. If it wasn't for my rad-visor, I'd be in deep trouble. Anyway, I fell over and dropped the amulet, and it just broke into a bunch of pieces! There are a lot more parts to it than I realized, too!" "What does that have to do with anything?!" "I think it messed up the moon or something! Maybe that's also what's screwing up our equipment!" "Zipp... I-I'm scared! I don't want to do this anymore!" A few hoofsteps can be heard, followed by the sound of an opening door. "Yeah, me neither, but it looks like I was right. I can't see the moon at all!" "What do we do?!" "...I-I don't know!" "Can you fix that amulet thingy? Will that make the cameras come back on? Will it make the whispering stop?!" "I-I'm not sure! Wait, what do you mean whispering?" "..." The faint sound of Pipp sobbing can be heard through the walkie-talkie followed by a slamming sound. "PIPP?! PIPP, ARE YOU THERE?!" No sound comes out of the walkie-talkie. "Argh, come on! Stay with me, Pipp!" Zipp's voice grows progressively more anxious as she continues speaking. The sound of Zipp messing around on the ground can be heard, as well as the occasional clink of metal. "I... I just have to fix this amulet. Then everything will go back to normal, right? Don't worry, Pipp! I'll fix it! I promise! I promise..." 4:00 A.M. The video feed is still completely dark, and the silence is replaced by a static-like white noise. Occasionally, bits and pieces of what sounds like Zipp's voice come through the noise. "...ipp..." "S...ry..." "Cold..." "...elp..." 5:00 A.M. CAM_05 IS OFFLINE CAM_06CAM_06 10:00 P.M. The video feed is kept mostly still, though it does shake every now and again, highlighting Misty's lack of experience with handling cameras. Misty stands before a large iron door at the end of a long marble hallway. There are no windows in this hall, and the only light that can be seen is coming from Misty's flashlight. Misty knocks on the large iron door, which makes a hollow sound that echoes through the hall. Misty giggles after doing so. "Hehe. This is so cool. I never got to explore places like this when I was living with Opaline." Misty makes for the handle on the door and, with some effort, manages to pull it open. The old door hangs lower on its hinge than it is supposed to, causing it to scrape along the floor with a loud metallic screeching noise. Once it is open as far as Misty can pull it, she wipes a bit of sweat off of her brow. "Alright. Dungeons, here I come!" Misty shines her flashlight into the doorway, revealing steps leading down. Wasting no time, she begins to descend, using her flashlight to keep an eye on the steps as she does so. "You know, pretty much the only other pony willing to come down here was Zipp, but she was a lot more interested in the bedchambers. Hehe, Hitch especially seemed really scared by the idea, but I don't think it's so bad! Opaline is much scarier than anything some old dungeons might throw at me." As she says this, the steps come to an end, revealing a pitch-black chamber. The room is rectangular, with the far side of it housing another iron door like the one she already came through. On the left and right walls, dozens of old cells lined by rusted metal bars stretch to both ends of the room. Misty walks over to a nearby cell on her left and shines her light into it, revealing a surprisingly spacious area behind the bars. The remains of what was once a bed and a toilet can be seen, but so can the tattered remnants of an old rug and some sheets. "Maybe whatever prisoners were kept here long ago lived in more comfort than would be expected from castle dungeons?" Misty shrugs. "I don't know, it doesn't seem that bad to me." Misty passes by a few more cells, noting that each one looks almost identical. She fails to notice the skeletal remains of what was once a stallion leaning against a far wall in one of the cells as she continues to the far side of the room. Misty shines her flashlight on the iron door. It looks almost completely identical to the last one, though this one is noticeably more rusty. "I wonder if this goes farther down?" Misty once again pulls on the door, though it remains stuck. "Urgh... come... on..." After a great deal of effort, the door finally flies open with great force, nearly knocking Misty to the ground. "Alright, there we go! Let's see where this leads!" Misty shines her light into the space behind the iron door, revealing even more steps descending further into the darkness. With another giggle, she begins to make her way deeper into the depths of the dungeons. 11:00 P.M. The steps gradually become less and less refined until they eventually give way to another dark chamber. Shining her light into the room, Misty is surprised as blue light reflects back at her. This "room" appears to be a large cavern, its stone walls riddled with all sorts of gems and crystals. "Wow! This is so pretty!" Misty shines her light on everything she can find, though there are no more cells in this cavern. Instead, the high stone ceiling full of glistening gems and the somewhat damp walls make the cave a visual spectacle. "I wonder what this place was used fo-OOOOOR!" Misty stumbles a bit and yelps as the footage cuts to complete darkness for a moment. The footage returns as Misty takes a few slow, nervous steps back until she eventually takes a seat on the ground. She shines her light on the floor in front of her, revealing a massive drop that she failed to notice in the darkness and nearly walked right over. "Th-that's a steep fall!" Misty takes a moment to catch her breath before letting out a sigh. "I can't watch where I'm going and get good footage." The sound of Misty turning her walkie-talkie on fills the silence of the cavern. "Hey, Pipp?" "What's going on, Misty? Are you okay? I saw that you almost took a fall!" "Y-yeah. Actually, about that... is it okay if I turn back? I'm not scared of the dungeons or ghosts or anything like that, but I am scared of waltzing off a cliff down here that I didn't see coming." "Oh, absolutely, Misty! I don't want anypony getting hurt! Just slowly make your way back out of there and come back to the entrance. You can help me out with the cameras or you can explore another part of the castle, but I don't want you down there anymore." "O-okay, Pipp. I'll start heading back, then." "I'll see you when you get here!" 12:00 A.M. Misty slowly navigates the dark cavern in the direction that she came from. Due to the darkness, it is difficult to tell how close she is to the entrance. Eventually, she stops and shines her light in front of her, revealing a perfectly smooth wall of crystal. "Um... did I make a wrong turn? I don't remember that being there before. In fact, I'm pretty sure this is where the exit is supposed to be." Misty turns around, shining the flashlight back in the direction she came from, revealing yet another perfectly smooth wall of crystal. "Th-this isn't funny!" She turns around yet again, realizing that crystal walls are now visible on both sides of her as well. As she finishes her turn, the first wall she looked at has moved much closer. Daring to turn around once again, she realizes that she is completely boxed in by crystal in an approximately ten-foot wide cube. Her breathing starts to turn ragged as she falls to the ground. "I... I don't like this! I'm really, really claustrophobic! Why is this happening?" Misty once again turns on her walkie-talkie. "Pipp? Are you there?" "..." "Pipp?" "..." No sound comes out of the walkie-talkie. Misty sets it down next to her and droops her head before entering a fetal position. She begins to sob before the video feed cuts out. 1:00 A.M. CAM_06 IS OFFLINE 2:00 A.M. CAM_06 IS OFFLINE 3:00 A.M. CAM_06 IS OFFLINE 4:00 A.M. CAM_06 IS OFFLINE 5:00 A.M. CAM_06 IS OFFLINE CAM_07CAM_07 10:00 P.M. The footage from the camera is extremely steady. Long marble halls and corridors can be seen as Jazz happily trots throughout the castle, occasionally stopping to admire the many stained glass windows adorning the walls. Moonlight shines through these windows, giving the marble an almost ethereal glow. Where the moonlight doesn't provide vision, Jazz's flashlight does. "Hiya, Pippsqueaks! I know I'm just the auxiliary pony here, so your time might be better spent watching somepony else's footage. Still, I just can't get enough of this castle's architecture! I'm no history buff, but even I can tell that this is really impressive!" Jazz passes by countless intersecting hallways, most of which look extremely similar if not downright identical to both each other and the one she is currently in. "It would be really, really easy to get lost in these halls! Good thing I memorized the map before we came here!" Jazz reaches the end of the hall she is in and makes a right turn into yet another hall. Oddly, there have been no actual doors in any of the corridors she has explored yet. "Alright, let's get this paranormal investigation started!" 11:00 P.M. Jazz continues to make her way through the halls, though her enthusiasm gradually dies down as little of note occurs. "Huh. I thought the library was supposed to be near here, but I can't seem to find it. Did I make a wrong turn?" Jazz turns around, revealing a corridor that stretches as far as the eye can see. The light from her flashlight does not reach the end of it, and only the moonlight from behind the stained glass windows make it clear just how long the hall is. "I, uh, don't remember this hall being this long. Nor any hall in the castle, actually." Jazz begins to walk back in the direction she came from, occasionally turning and shining her light down one of the intersecting hallways on her right and left. At one point, a shadowy figure seems to dart across an intersection in front of her. "WOAH! W-wait! Who are you?!" Jazz rushes to the intersection before frantically looking in both directions, revealing little more than another empty hall. "Ooh, you're not getting away that easily!" Jazz books it down the hall, quickly glancing at every intersection she passes. Eventually, her breathing grows ragged and she slows to a stop at an intersection. To her front, back, and sides, identical, endlessly sprawling hallways extend infinitely outwards. "...Uh oh." 12:00 A.M. Jazz begins to breathe heavily as the camera bobs up and down. She brings a hoof to her chest in an effort to calm herself down, but it doesn't help. "I... I don't think... I want to do this... anymore! I... I want to go home!" Suddenly, Jazz's walkie-talkie turns on, and she quickly answers it. "Jazz?" "Pipp! Pipp, I don't know what's going on. These hallways are really weird and freaky!" "Yeah, I can see that in the video. Just... try to stay calm. Can you see outside the windows?" "N-no, the stained glass is too... well, stained." "Okay, just try to retrace your steps. Let's get you back to the entrance and you can support me down here, how does that sound?" Jazz turns around, revealing another long hallway, though the locations of the intersections and the stained glass windows on the walls are noticeably different to the ones she passed in the footage previously. "I... I would like that, Pipp, but..." "But what?" "I think the hallways are changing around me." 1:00 A.M. Jazz begins frantically running through the halls, apparently making turns with no rhyme or reason. Occasionally, another shadow darts around a corner. At first, Jazz yelps when she sees one and tries to look around the corner it went behind, but as they become more frequent, she begins ignoring them entirely in favor of continuing to sprint forward. Eventually, she stops to try to catch her breath. As she looks down to do so, she doesn't see the intersections in the corridor in front of her begin to move and shift positions before stopping once more. Jazz reaches for her walkie-talkie. "Pipp? Are you there?" "..." "Pipp, please! I need you!" "..." "Argh, dang it! Wh-what am I... going to do?" Jazz begins to hyperventilate, with her quick, panicked breaths being the only sound audible in the marble corridor. Suddenly, another sound can be heard, like a distant voice yelling incoherently. The sound breaks Jazz out of her stupor. "Wh-what was that?!" 2:00 A.M. Jazz runs in the direction of the voice, which continues to be audible in the large halls. It sounds like a stallion, and the consistency of the yell allows Jazz to slowly pinpoint a direction in which to run. As she does, the voice becomes more clear. "Help!" "Is that... Rocky?" As Jazz runs, the corridors become less and less elongated, with the number of identical turns becoming less frequent as well. Eventually, doors can be seen dotting the halls until Jazz finally comes to a large entryway with a set of open, rotted wooden doors hanging to either side. Jazz tries to point her flashlight at the pitch-black room within, but the light flicks out right as she does so. "I... I think this is the library. Rocky?" As Jazz calls out into the darkness, the video suddenly cuts out. 3:00 A.M. CAM_07 IS OFFLINE 4:00 A.M. CAM_07 IS OFFLINE 5:00 A.M. CAM_07 IS OFFLINE CAM_09CAM_09 10:00 P.M. "Allllllright, Pippsqueaks! The paranormal investigation has begun!" The video footage is being taken from an expertly held camera. Unlike the other participants of the investigation, Pipp's camera is not being worn around her neck and is instead being held in her hoof, allowing her to be in the shot as much as she likes. Behind her, a temporary "base" of sorts has been set up, with a large computer screen displaying nine concurrent streams, including Pipp's. Pipp plays around with the streams, showcasing her ability to focus on specific streams and isolate audio from each of her friends as she sees fit. Several lights are set up around her, illuminating the entrance hall fairly well. That paired with the moonlight coming in from the nearby windows and the still-open entryway makes the entrance hall much less intimidating than when the group first entered. "Alright, let's see what everypony is up to!" Pipp begins to flick through the different streams, commenting on each as she does so. "It looks like Sunny is geeking out over the stained glass. Eh, I can't really blame her. She's always been really into this stuff. Ooh, and Izzy found the kitchen! Let's hope the ghosts don't 'want her for dinner,' hehe! Oh, and did you see that?! I think Rocky just encountered a mysterious shadow! Eeeee, this is so exciting! Let's see... Hitch is super scared, Misty isn't super scared, Zipp found a bedroom with some great aesthetics, and Jazz is doing an excellent job exploring the halls! Let's hope she doesn't have to 'rescue' anyone, hehe!" Pipp switches the display back to the nine equally-sized streams. "I think we're off to a great start. Remember everypony, you can switch between the video feeds yourself whenever you wish! After all, I'm not the one in the middle of the action! Now then, let's give everyone a bit of time to explore and check in on how they're doing when things start picking up!" 11:00 P.M. Pipp holds a walkie-talkie up to the camera, showing it off with a proud look on her face. "To add to the scary vibe we've got going on, we specifically set up the walkie-talkies so that everypony can only contact me! I can contact any of them whenever I want, but they can't contact anyone but me. Speaking of, it looks like Hitch is having some trouble with the local wildlife. Let's check in on him, shall we?" Pipp presses a few buttons on her walkie-talkie, causing a static sound to play briefly before Hitch's voice fills the space. "Pipp? Is that you?" "Yup, it's meeeeeee! The investigation is going well so far! Buuuut, and I don't mean to sound rude or anything, you might want to get a move on. The main draw of the garden was apparently the sculptures, and that seems like primo paranormal material to me! That said, at the rate you're going, it'll take you all night just to get there!" "O-okay, okay! Sculptures, got it! It's just... the critters around here are kind of freaking me out." "Oh come on, Hitch. I know talking to animals is your thing, but you shouldn't be scared when they don't respond. They probably haven't seen a pony in hundreds of moons! They're just frightened, and maybe curious!" "...If you say so, Pipp." "Good luck, Hitch!" "Y-yeah, you too." Pipp clicks the walkie-talkie off before looking back at the camera with a smile. "According to Sunny, one of the sculptures in the garden is actually a collection of villains from Equestria's past that were turned to stone as punishment for their crimes! Isn't that terrifying? ...Oh, I hope I'm not freaking poor Hitch out too much by sending him out there." Pipp looks back at the screens, gasping as she focuses on Misty's before her walkie-talkie turns on, indicating that she is being contacted. "Hey, Pipp?" "What's going on, Misty? Are you okay? I saw that you almost took a fall!" "Y-yeah. Actually, about that... is it okay if I turn back? I'm not scared of the dungeons or ghosts or anything like that, but I am scared of waltzing off a cliff down here that I didn't see coming." "Oh, absolutely, Misty! I don't want anypony getting hurt! Just slowly make your way back out of there and come back to the entrance. You can help me out with the cameras or you can explore another part of the castle, but I don't want you down there anymore." "O-okay, Pipp. I'll start heading back, then." "I'll see you when you get here!" The walkie-talkie falls silent once more, and Pipp sighs as she shivers a little bit. "Okay, maybe we should have checked out the actual physical dangers of exploring an abandoned castle before I sent everypony off. You sort of take those things for granted when you're a pegasus. I'm going to feel really bad if somepony gets hurt because of me." Pipp goes back to watching the cameras in silence for a few more moments before shivering once more. "Brrr. When did it get so cold in here? Must be the night air or something." 12:00 A.M. Pipp switches to Sunny's stream, which is displaying nothing but static. "Oooookay, something is definitely wrong with Sunny's stream. Let's see what's up with that." Pipp turns her walkie-talkie back on and tries to contact Sunny. "Sunny? Are you there?" Only white noise comes through the walkie-talkie. "Sunny? Are you okay?" More white noise. "...Alright, I guess Sunny is having technical issues. Maybe there's no connection in the throne room or... something? Wait a second, what's going on with Misty?" Suddenly, her walkie-talkie makes a different noise, indicating that someone is trying to contact her. "Oh, I think that's her now." Pipp turns the walkie-talkie on. "Misty? What's going on?" "..." "...Misty?" "..." The connection is suddenly severed. "...Hehe, I'm sure it's just because she's underground... right, Pippsqueaks? L-let's see how everypony else is doing... oh dear, it looks like Jazz is starting to freak out. I'm going to give her a call." Pipp mumbles a bit more under her breath, barely audible in the livestream. "Please pick up." The walkie-talkie plays static noise for a moment before kicking in properly. "Jazz?" "Pipp! Pipp, I don't know what's going on. These hallways are really weird and freaky!" "Yeah, I can see that in the video. Just... try to stay calm. Can you see outside the windows?" "N-no, the stained glass is too... well, stained." "Okay, just try to retrace your steps. Let's get you back to the entrance and you can support me down here, how does that sound?" "I... I would like that, Pipp, but..." "But what?" "I think the hallways are changing around me." The walkie-talkie cuts out once more before Pipp can say anything else. 1:00 A.M. "Seriously, what is going on with the equipment?! OH! Sunny's video is back! Maybe she'll respond now!" Pipp pulls up Sunny's video and turns on the walkie-talkie. "Sunny? Sunny, what's going on with you?! We lost video footage for, like, an hour, the walkie-talkie wouldn't connect, and now you're talking to yourself!" "STOP IT! I NEVER DID ANYTHING OF THE SORT!" "S-Sunny? Can you hear me?!" "ARGH!" "Sunny, you need to get out of the throne room! I think it's making you see things!" About halfway through that sentence, the walkie-talkie disconnected again. Pipp lets out an anxious groan. She attempts to contact Izzy and Misty, both of whom have offline cameras, as well as Rocky and Jazz, but none of them respond. "Something is seriously wrong here. I'm not getting any footage from Izzy or Misty anymore, while Rocky and Jazz have video but aren't responding! Argh, and Zipp is doing nothing to help!" She pulls up Zipp's video and attempts to contact her. "Zipp! What are you doing?!" "I just found some kind of magical amulet in one of the bedrooms. It's pretty neat, isn't it?" "Ugh, Ziiiiiip! Your video quality is terrible! It's all grainy and weird! Besides, you're getting distracted! We have more important matters at hand!" "Oh? What's going on?" "Well, I've completely lost contact with Izzy and Misty. Their cameras have gone out and they won't respond on the walkie-talkie. Meanwhile, it looks like Rocky and Jazz are both experiencing some weird stuff, and I've lost audio contact with both of them. Something really is going on here, Zipp." "Isn't that what you wanted?" "W-well, sort of, but- AHH!" Pipp turns around in a panic, bringing the camera with her. Behind her, the open entryway is visible, but nothing out of the ordinary can be seen. Pipp begins to pant nervously. "P-Pipp?" "..." "Pipp, are you there?!" "...S-sorry, I could have sworn I heard somepony whispering to me, and... oh no." "What now?" Pipp looks back at the screen, where Sunny's video has now gone offline. "I think I'm losing contact with Sunny, too." 2:00 A.M. "Look, Pipp, I'm sure they're fine. Don't you know who you're talking about?" "Of course, but I just... have a bad feeling, okay?" "Look, I'll head back down there in just a bit. I want to finish analyzing this amulet first, though." "Ugh, just what is it about that amulet that has you so engrossed?" "I'm not sure yet, but I think it's important. This whole bedroom is strange, and the fact that this amulet is both magical and in perfect condition makes me think that it's used for something, maybe even to this day." "Zipp, that's ridiculous. Nopony has been in the castle in moons!" "That might be true, but maybe it's automatic." "And still working? What about before we restored the magic?" "I... I don't know. Princess Twilight made the Unity Crystals, didn't she? I think this is her bedroom. If that's the case, then maybe she didn't put all of Equestria's magic in the crystals. Maybe she left some of it in this thing?" "Why would she do that?" "..." "Zipp?" "Maybe she didn't have a choice?" "Huh?" "I already visited Princess Celestia's room and Princess Luna's room, and neither of them had anything like this. But, without the princesses, who has been raising the sun and the moon every day?" "Uhh, Zipp? News flash, that's just a bunch of old mythology that was used to garner public support for the princesses. Nopony actually controls the sun or the moon!" "But what if it's not? What if Twilight knew she was in danger, and made this amulet so that the sun and the moon would rise on their own?" "Yeah yeah, sure. That's all well and good, and all the more reason to put the darn thing back where you found it and get back here!" "Ugh, all right Pipp, I'm on my..." A shattering sound can be heard through the walkie-talkie. At the same time, Pipp gasps as she watches the camera footage in front of her. Simultaneously, Zipp and Jazz's videos cut out. Jazz's goes completely offline, but Zipp only loses video while the audio remains online. On top of that, the moonlight that was pouring into the entrance hall via the windows and entryway vanishes, leaving Pipp's lights as the only source of light remaining. After a moment, a very quiet whisper-like sound can be heard. Pipp quickly turns around again, revealing that there is still nothing behind her. However, the whispering sound continues, just audible enough to be heard, but not quite loud enough to be understandable. Pipp's eyes dart nervously around the entrance hall as the many lights she has set up begin to flicker on and off before she forces herself to look back at the computer screen. At this point, every stream is offline except for the outside camera, which now shows a very, very dark outline of the castle, Zipp's stream, which is completely black but still has audio, and Pipp's own stream, the video of which is growing increasingly grainy. 3:00 A.M. "Z-Zipp? Are you okay?!" "I'm fine, but I think I just messed up big time!" "What's going on?! All at once, everyone's lights, cameras, and walkie-talkies are going haywire! You're the only pony I can still contact, and even then your camera isn't showing anything!" "My flashlight went out, too. If it wasn't for my rad-visor, I'd be in deep trouble. Anyway, I fell over and dropped the amulet, and it just broke into a bunch of pieces! There are a lot more parts to it than I realized, too!" "What does that have to do with anything?!" "I think it messed up the moon or something! Maybe that's also what's screwing up our equipment!" "Zipp... I-I'm scared! I don't want to do this anymore!" "Yeah, me neither, but it looks like I was right. I can't see the moon at all!" "What do we do?!" "...I-I don't know!" "Can you fix that amulet thingy? Will that make the cameras come back on? Will it make the whispering stop?!" "I-I'm not sure! Wait, what do you mean whispering?" Suddenly, the whispering in Pipp's stream becomes much louder. While the whispers previously couldn't be understood due to their low volume, now they cannot be understood due to the multitude of whispers talking over each other. Pipp turns around once more, revealing about two dozen shadow-like figures staring directly at her. Suddenly, the whispers stop. Pipp begins to sob hysterically as the shadows start moving towards her. Behind them, the entryway suddenly slams shut with a loud bang, just as the stream goes offline. 4:00 A.M. CAM_09 IS OFFLINE 5:00 A.M. CAM_09 IS OFFLINE 6:00 A.M.6:00 A.M. CAM_08 suddenly clicks back on, revealing Canterlot Castle once more. The sun is beginning to peek over the horizon, bathing the landscape in a beautiful glow. Morning dew is visible on the nearby greenery, and in the morning light, the castle looks much less intimidating. Suddenly, a loud banging sound rings out. The entryway shakes a little bit as it does so. Then, a few seconds later, there is another banging sound and another shake. Finally, a third banging sound can be heard as the entryway flings open, revealing the outlines of eight frazzled, tired ponies. The first to exit the castle is Sunny, followed closely by Izzy. The two are leaning on each other, apparently extremely exhausted. Behind them, Jazz and Rocky slowly walk away from the castle, both of their manes having seen better days. Hitch and Misty come next looking just as tired, and behind them are Pipp and Zipp with the rest of the group's equipment. The eight ponies slowly approach the camera. As they do so, the dark bags under their eyes become much easier to notice. They all glance amongst each other before Pipp takes the camera off of its tripod and points it at herself, her voice somewhat raspy. "...H-hey, Pippsqueaks. Sorry about the technical difficulties. We, uh... we had a rough night. I don't know if this camera managed to stay on all night long, but it looks like it's on now. And look, we all made it out okay!" Pipp points the camera at her friends, all of whom do their best to give tired, sheepish smiles to the camera. "Um... why don't we recap what happened after out cameras went out, everypony? Just to fill the Pippsqueaks in on what they missed." Everypony looks at each other, waiting for someone else to start. Finally, Sunny sighs and relents. "To be honest, I don't really know what happened to me. I remember sitting on the throne, then the next thing I know, Izzy is shaking me like I had just woken up from a nap." Izzy speaks up with noticeably less energy and enthusiasm than she is known for. "After the pantry door slammed shut and my camera and flashlight went off, I figured Pipp wouldn't be too mad at me if I used my magic to see in the dark. When I did, it was like all the spooky stuff suddenly stopped. I was able to get out of the pantry, and I noticed that all of the food was gone, but Sunny was still screaming a bunch of weird stuff down the hall. So, I rushed towards her voice and saw her freaking out and crying on the throne. I ran up to her and tried to snap her out of it, and it worked!" "Thank you for that, Izzy, though I'm still not sure what happened to me. After that, we both used our magic to light up the castle and made our way back to Pipp, who was on the floor crying." Pipp responds with a shaky voice. "I-I think we should cover me last. Rocky, what happened to you?" "I'm not sure exactly when my camera went out, but when I was trapped in the dark library and feeling all that grossness, I heard Jazz respond to my pleas for help. I followed the sound of her voice, and lo and behold, she was waiting at the entrance to the library. Then she started talking about the hallways acting weird." Jazz responds with a tired voice. "Yeah, though to be honest, your pleas for help saved me, too. I was lost in an endless maze of infinite corridors until I heard your voice. I followed that sound until I discovered the library. I was so relieved when you walked out of there. Then, since I had learned that the halls shift around when you aren't looking at them, I had Rocky and I walk back-to-back so that neither of us ever took our eyes off of the halls. That way, they wouldn't change when we weren't looking. Sure enough, that did the trick, and we made it back to the entrance hall. Pipp was being consoled by Sunny and Izzy, and we realized we weren't the only ones that went through something weird." Pipp responds once more. "I'm glad you two made it back okay. Misty, what happened to you?" "Well, I got trapped in... I dunno, a crystal box, or something. I can do creepy castles, but I can't do tight spaces. I kind of freaked out and started crying, but after a little while, one of the walls started to make this banging sound until it broke in two. To be honest, I don't think crystals are supposed to break like that. Er, anyway, apparently Hitch had found me and broke down the wall!" Hitch speaks up, a mixture of pride and exhaustion audible in his voice. "That weird underground passageway I found led to a crystal wall, which I guess was one of the walls trapping Misty down there. I was going to turn around until I heard you crying on the other side. It's a sheriff's duty to protect innocent civilians... and it's a friend's duty to protect their buddies. So, I started bucking the wall until it broke. After that, Misty and I made a quick getaway through the passage that led me underground and took the long way around back to the entrance hall, where everypony but Zipp was waiting for us." Pipp speaks up once again. "Alright Zipp, you're up." "I think my camera stayed on the longest, so there's not much for me to say. I tried to fix the amulet, but had a lot of trouble doing so. It got really cold in there while I tried, and I could have sworn somepony was breathing down my neck the whole time. I... might have said some mushy stuff in a moment of weakness, but that's neither here nor there. Point is, I did manage to fix it, and by some miracle there was still magic in it. After that, I put it back on its pedestal, and it was like it reset its own settings. It made a winding noise, and suddenly the sun was coming up. After that, I flew back to the entrance hall as quick as I could, and everypony was already waiting for me there. Pipp had finished crying by then, too." "Ugh, you don't need to call me out like that!" "I meant it as a good thing, Pipp. Now, it's your turn. What happened in there?" "...Well, I thought I was being accosted by a bunch of shadow ponies. They started surrounding me, and I... might have gone into a fetal position and started crying until Sunny and Izzy showed up. There, I said it, okay?!" Zipp responds with a concerned look on her face. "Pipp, no one is judging you. I think we can safely say that the castle really is haunted, or at least has something really strange going on inside of it." "But I'm supposed to be the brave one! What will the Pippsqueaks think?!" "If they're like us, they'll think you are the brave one. You did everything you could to keep everypony safe as soon as you learned that they might be in danger. You held yourself together and tried to ignore the scary stuff happening to you so that you could focus on our safety. That takes guts, sis." The rest of the group smiles and nods. Pipp smiles back, tears beginning to form once more in the corners of her exhausted eyes. "Oooooh, you guyyyyyyssssss...!" The eight ponies go in for a group hug, with the camera getting squished in the middle of them. "...W-well, Pippsqueaks, this has been the 'Pipp Petals Paranormal Spooktacular Livestream.' I'm Pipp Petals, these are my friends, and I hope you all enjoyed the show. I'd be lying if I said we had a good time, but I hope you all enjoyed getting to watch our struggles regardless. Anyway, I think we're all going to go home and get some well-deserved rest. Take care everypony, and remember to avoid any scary abandoned castles! Goodbye!" The group waves as Pipp signs off. Pipp's usual upbeat theme song that doesn't quite fit the mood plays as the livestream finally comes to an end, signalling the start of a new day. Author's Note Thank you so much for reading! This story was certainly a doozy to write. The idea popped into my head one day and I just couldn't stop myself from trying to write it! It went through a number of rewrites, too. First it was just a linear story, then it became sorted by time intervals like the individual cameras are, until I finally settled on the idea of the reader taking the role of a Pippsqueak flicking between the different cameras and trying to piece together exactly what's going on in that mysterious castle. I hope you enjoyed the experience as much as I enjoyed creating it! As always, I appreciate any and all feedback! Oh, and uh... something something purple guy, something something bite of '87, something something it's been so long, yadda yadda yadda haha beat you to it. CAM_08CAM_08 10:00 P.M. The camera shows the outside of Canterlot Castle. The moon hangs high in the sky, peeking out from behind the mountain that the castle is built into and bathing the area in beautiful moonlight. The entrance to the castle lazily hangs open. At one point, Sunny can be seen passing by a window. 11:00 P.M. The scene has not changed, with the only real movement coming from the moon, which continues on its course across the night sky. 12:00 A.M. The outline of Jazz briefly appears in a window. The footage of the castle is otherwise unchanged. The moon continues to crawl across the sky as silence fills the cool night air. 1:00 A.M. The castle continues to rest as it is bathed in moonlight. The moon begins to shift from side to side in the night sky. 2:00 A.M. The silent castle continues to loom over the remains of Canterlot as the moon begins to shake violently. Suddenly, the moon nosedives behind the horizon, leaving neither the sun nor the moon in the sky and bathing the land in darkness. Now, only the faint outline of the castle can be seen in the video. 3:00 A.M. With almost complete silence and very little to see in the now pitch-black night, nothing occurs in the video for about an hour. Suddenly, a loud slamming sound can be heard, and the outline of the entrance has shifted, implying that the doors have been forcibly closed. 4:00 A.M. The faint outline of Canterlot Castle, silent in the moonless night, is all that can be seen in the video. 5:00 A.M. CAM_08 IS OFFLINE
9:00 P.M.A group of three excited fillies huddle together in a quaint Maretime Bay bedroom. On their television, the Clip Trot profile page for Pipp Petals is pulled up, displaying a small window reading "The Pipp Petals Paranormal Spooktacular Livestream Will Begin Soon!" The three fillies whisper to each other as they get bundled in for the evening. Outside their window, the sun is slowly beginning to set on Equestria, just as it does at the end of every day. They've been waiting weeks for this livestream, and they can't wait for it to start! Suddenly, the window begins showing footage from a higher quality camera than the fillies are used to seeing. 9:00 P.M. The feed shows an excited Pipp Petals pointing the camera towards herself as she and seven other ponies walk along a path of crumbled stone. The path looks like it has seen better days. Occasionally, they pass by a decrepit building that is caving in on itself or boarded up, but most of the time the background consists entirely of piles of rubble. "Heeeeeelllooooooo Pippsqueaks! This is Pipp, and I'll be your lead paranormal investigator today! Tonight, we're going to be exploring the one, the only, CANTERLOT CASTLE! Eeeeeee, this is going to be so fun! Tell 'em why, Sunny!" Pipp shakily points the camera to Sunny Starscout, the mare walking a few feet in front of her. Sunny turns to the camera with a look of surprise, apparently not expecting to be asked a question. "Oh, um, ahem. Canterlot Castle is one of the most important places in Equestrian history. It used to be the capital of Equestria, and it was where Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and eventually Princess Twilight Sparkle all ruled from! It was in that castle that Nightmare Moon was defeated by Celestia! It was where Princess Cadance and her husband repelled a changeling invasion! Aaaaaand, it was where the princesses supposedly raised and lowered the sun and moon every day!" "See, Pippsqueaks?! This place is kind of a big deal~! As far as we know, nopony has explored the castle since it was abandoned. Apparently, those who tried reported seeing strange shadows and hearing ghastly wails coming from within, so none dared to venture inside. No one knows what it's really like in there... UNTIL TONIGHT! Today, I'm joined by the lovely Sunny Starscout~" "Hello!" "The brave and noble Hitch Trailblazer~" "H-hi there! I'm totally not terrified by this idea!" "The ray of sunshine that is Izzy Moonbow~" "Hiya! I've gotta say, all of Canterlot really looks like it needs some cleaning up. I mean, do you see all this dust?!" "My always inquisitive sister, Zipp~" "...Uh, hi." "The mare of many talents, Jazz Hooves~" "Hello everypony!" "The somewhat distracted Rocky Riff~" "Does my mane look okay? It needs to look good now so the side-by-side after we wrap up is more noticeable..." "And last but certainly not least, Misty Brightdawn!" "O-oh, um, hello everypony!" "Together, the eight of us are going to explore this spooky castle in the dead of night, and try to uncover evidence of anything... paranormal!" The camera shakes for a moment as if being grabbed by somepony else, only to reveal that Sunny has forced Pipp to point the camera towards her. "Before we go any further, I would just like to clarify that you should not try this at home. The castle is sure to be extremely dangerous due to its age, and I plan to personally ensure that we do not disturb anything of historical significance. So, er, please do as we say and not as we do!" The camera points back at Pipp. "I couldn't have said it better myself, Sunny! Oh, and look! We've arrived!" The camera flips around, revealing the ruins of Canterlot Castle. It has definitely seen better days, with a few walls appearing to be caved in and several of its iconic stained glass windows shattered. The drawbridge that used to be raised and lowered to allow passage over the stream passing in front of the castle has collapsed, and though it conveniently covers the now-stagnant water and can probably be crossed, to say that it is rotted would be an understatement. With varying amounts of trepidation, the eight ponies make their way across the bridge and find the grand set of double doors that is the entryway. One of the doors appears to be loose and is easily opened, slowly swinging to the side with a loud creaking noise. "This is it Pippsqueaks, we are about to be the first ponies in decades to see the inside of this castle!" The group makes their way through the newly opened door, leaving it ajar as they enter the grand entrance hall. What remains of the red-carpet-like entrance and the tapestries lining the marble walls reeks of rot, and it seems as though all but a few tatters have been eaten up by mice or whatever other vermin might have made their home here. The last of the day's sunlight is barely peeking through a couple of still-intact stained glass windows near the back wall. As the ponies make their way to the center of the room, their hoofsteps echo loudly through the empty chamber and the several adjoining corridors. Pipp, Sunny, Izzy, Zipp, Rusty, and Misty let out varying degrees of "ooo"s and "aah"s, while Hitch and Jazz appear much more nervous. "Alright Pippsqueaks, here's the game plan. To everypony present, consider this our final review of our plan of attack. We have nine cameras, with one going to each of us. Camera 1 will go to Sunny, who is going to investigate the throne room. Camera 2 will go to Izzy, who volunteered to check out the kitchen. Camera 3 will go to Rocky, who is probably the only pony here willing to go to the library and not get distracted by all the books. Not to worry all you history fans, we'll be back another day during the daytime for a more 'archaeological' approach to exploring the castle. Camera 4 will go to Hitch, who is going to explore the gardens around back. Camera 5 will be Zipp's, and she'll be checking out the bedchambers that used to belong to the princesses. Camera 6 is Misty's, and she's the brave soul going into the dungeons! Camera 7 is Jazz's, and she's going to act as our auxiliary explorer, weaving in and out of the different areas based on what we experience during the night. Camera 8 is going to be a stationary camera, and I'm going to double back and set it up right outside the entryway. You know, just in case. Finally, Camera 9 belongs to me. I'll be right here in the entrance hall all night with all of our equipment, maintaining the livestream and watching over all of you through the cameras and audio equipment we brought with us! Does everypony have their designated flashlights, walkie-talkies, and cameras?" One by one, each pony confirms that they have the necessary materials, though Hitch raises a question. "Uhh, Pipp? Can't our cell phones do all three of those things?" Izzy interrupts before Pipp can respond. "Well, duh! But what's the fun in that? If we make it too safe for ourselves, the GHOSTS won't want to come out and play!" "R-really?" Pipp actually gets to respond this time. "It also adds to the atmosphere. We've gotta keep up the spooky tension, you know? That's why we left our cells at home!" "I-if you say so..." "Come on, Hitch, we talked about this. If you really don't want to do this, you don't have to. You can just leave, or stay in here with me if you like." "N-no. I mean, NO! I'm a grown stallion, and I don't believe in ghosts! I can handle some old garden no problem." "Well, if you insist." For the next twenty or so minutes, the livestream consists of the eight ponies setting up their equipment. For a moment, a shadow in the background of the feed seems to peek out from a hallway before slinking away once more, though that might just be a trick of the light as the sun finally sets and the castle is bathed in darkness. "Alright everypony, make sure your cameras are secured around your necks. Are you all ready?" Collectively, the other seven ponies let out a yell. "Yeah!" And with that, those seven ponies begin to set off in different directions, ready to see what the evening has in store for them. "And remember Pippsqueaks, by clicking that arrow next to the stream, you can switch between the video feeds whenever you want! Hold on to your flanks, because it's about to be a night to remember!" Author's Note The next nine chapters of this story, CAM_01 - CAM_09, can be read in any order. As such, please feel free to read them in whatever order you see fit. In fact, I encourage you to read them "out of order." However, the final chapter, 6:00 A.M., must be read last. Have fun experiencing the Pipp Petals Paranormal Spooktacular Livestream as you see fit!
CAM_01CAM_01 10:00 P.M. The camera is kept steady, though the occasional braided mane that is visible in the video feed makes it clear that this video is Sunny's. In her right hoof she holds her flashlight, which she happily points at the nearby walls and floor as she exits the entrance hall. Outside of the beam of light provided by it, there is only darkness. Sunny occasionally lets out a light cough. "Sorry everypony, it's just so dusty in here. Somepony really aught to open a window or something." Sunny points the flashlight at a nearby window, revealing that it's a large stained glass depiction of Princess Twilight Sparkle. She gasps and the camera bounces up and down slightly. "Eeeeeee, this is so cool! I know we're here on a paranormal investigation, but oh I just can't help myself! Canterlot Castle is famous for its stained glass windows! They all depict a different part of Equestria's long and glorious history! Look!" As she walks, she points her flashlight at another window, this one depicting two alicorns, one white and one black. "This is the battle between Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon! Ooo, I so wish we had come during the day!" Sunny continues looking at the stained glass windows as she walks, her excitement level still high but not quite as bouncy as before. "There is just so much we could learn from a place like this. For all of you Pippsqueaks that aren't aware, this used to be Equestria's capital. The princesses lived here, and so many great things happened in these very halls! Fierce battles were won, incredible technologies and magics were researched... oh, it's just incredible!" Sunny falls silent for a moment as she walks before speaking up again, her voice now a smidge quieter than before. "And yet, to this day, nopony really knows what happened to make it fall. Nopony knows what took place within these walls, or... or what happened to Princess Twilight." Sunny lingers for a moment, her flashlight trained on another window depicting a smiling Princess Twilight surrounded by five other mares. "...I hope we can live up to your example, princess." 11:00 P.M. "You know, if it weren't for my dad, we wouldn't be able to have this investigation. I found an old map among some of his history books, and it looked like a general floor plan of the castle! It wasn't very detailed and definitely left some stuff out, but for the most part, it showed exactly how to get to each of the rooms Pipp sent us to! Speaking of, the throne room should be right at the end of this hall!" Sunny quickens her pace. This hallway is much thinner than the previous ones, and the light from her flashlight covers both walls, allowing brief glimpses at the stained glass windows. In spite of her previous excitement, Sunny seems much more eager to reach the throne room than she is to look at the stained glass windows. One window depicts Princess Twilight's dragon assistant, Spike, saving the Crystal Empire. Another depicts the defeat of Queen Chrysalis. The next shows Princess Twilight being coronated. The one after that shows Princess Twilight being coronated. The one following that shows Princess Twilight being coronated. A sixth shows Princess Twilight being coronated. The last shows Princess Sunny Starscout being coronated. "Ah, here we are!" Sunny points the flashlight at a grand set of double doors that, at one point, were probably quite beautiful, but now look a bit worse for wear. However, they are still in better condition than the entrance. "Well, no time like the present!" Sunny grabs one of the handles and pulls, finding the door heavy but not impossible to open, revealing the throne room inside. A beautiful red carpet, apparently immaculately preserved, reaches from her hooves to the back of the room, right to the base of a gleaming golden throne. The walls here are also covered in stained glass windows, though Sunny does not shine her light on them enough to make out any details in the video. Instead, she merely gasps while keeping the light trained on the throne. She begins to take a few hesitant steps towards the throne. "So this is the throne room. I just... wow. I mean, I know I'm supposed to be looking for ghosts, but... just... wow." Sunny reaches the base of the steps that lead up to the throne, six in total. She looks up at the throne and stares silently for a moment. "Heh, I can perfectly picture her there, happily greeting her subjects and spreading the word of friendship..." Sunny falls silent for another moment before walking up the first couple of steps. "Sorry if this seems self-indulgent, everyone, but... come on, do you expect me to not sit on the throne?" With a sigh, Sunny happily takes a seat on the throne. In the video, despite the dust particles that have been visible in the air until this point, the room suddenly seems impeccably clean as Sunny gets comfortable, pointing the camera towards the rest of the room from the perspective of the throne. "...Hm?" Suddenly, Sunny's camera turns to static. 12:00 A.M. Only static can be seen for approximately an hour. 1:00 A.M. The video feed suddenly returns, still showing the clean, empty room. However, the camera is rising and falling gradually, and Sunny's ragged breathing can be heard. "I don't understand! What are you talking about?!" The room is filled with silence. "I keep telling you, I'm not the princess! I just-" The camera shakes violently, as though Sunny is struggling. "Can't... stand... UP!" The room is still silent, save for Sunny's breathing. "My name isn't Twilight! It's Sunny! Sunny Starscout! I-I'm sorry for sitting here, I'll never do it again!" The silence is broken by the sound of Sunny's walkie-talkie activating and Pipp's voice ringing out. "Sunny? Sunny, what's going on with you?! We lost video footage for, like, an hour, the walkie-talkie wouldn't connect, and now you're talking to yourself!" "STOP IT! I NEVER DID ANYTHING OF THE SORT!" "S-Sunny? Can you hear me?!" "ARGH!" The faint orange glow of Sunny's magic briefly appears before flickering out again. "Sunny, you need t-" The walkie-talkie suddenly cuts out. As it does, Sunny's flashlight begins to flicker, briefly revealing a shadow in the darkness before the shadow disappears with the flickering light. 2:00 A.M. "What do you mean?! I don't even know who you are!" "..." "D-do you... argh!" The camera begins to shake violently, and Sunny's leg briefly appears in the shot as though she is holding her head. "..." "...You don't know what you're talking about! You have no idea what friendship means!" "..." "No! Just because they're gone... th-that doesn't mean I can't still do something!" "..." "N-no! I didn't fail them! I... I just..." "..." "I said STOP!" Sunny's orange magic once again lights up the room for a brief instant. In that instant, a crowd of shadowy figures fill the hall, and as Sunny leans forward, her head looks completely different. It looks larger, with a purple coat and flowing, dark blue mane. Suddenly, the magic fades and the flashlight goes out, bathing the room in darkness as the video feed cuts out altogether. 3:00 A.M. CAM_01 IS OFFLINE 4:00 A.M. CAM_01 IS OFFLINE 5:00 A.M. CAM_01 IS OFFLINE
CAM_02CAM_02 10:00 P.M. The camera is bouncy as its wearer, Izzy, happily trots through the old, dark halls. Outside of the vision provided by her flashlight, the video feed is pitch black. However, Izzy seems to keep losing focus, never keeping the flashlight in one place for too long before moving on to the next thing. "This is fun, right, Pippsqueaks? I wanted to go to the kitchen so I could be the one to experience all the gross, rotten food in there! Er, you know, if there is any. Hehe, I bet it smells really bad!" She continues down the darkened halls at a decent pace, eventually making a sharp turn and entering what looks to be an old dining hall. The room is large and circular with a high marble ceiling. There are no windows in here, but the walls look like they were, at one point, decorated with finely crafted tapestries, though these have long since withered away. Izzy shines her light on the center of the room, where a long table can be found. The table is about twenty feet long with several chairs lining either side of it, some of which are knocked over. Whether due to time or some other force, the table has been split down the middle, with both ends now leaning downwards towards the floor in the center. It looks as though a tablecloth was once draped over it, which is now lazily resting on top of the broken table pieces on the ground in the center of the table. "I'm pretty sure the kitchen is just on the other side of this room. Let's go!" The camera bounces even more as Izzy happily skips to another doorway on the far side of the room. She struggles to get it open at first, but it eventually begins to move with a loud creaking sound, revealing the kitchen on the other side. The kitchen is large, its walls lined with many shelves and cupboards. There is plenty of space for preparing food along the walls, with about a half-dozen stoves that look like they've seen better days visible in the darkness. A few islands compliment the kitchen well, allowing for ample space to prepare meals. The relative silence is broken by a sniffing sound. "...Huh? Do you guys smell that? W-wait, of course you don't, you aren't here. It smells... sweet. Like cake or something. Weird." Izzy takes a few steps into the room, making her way to some of the nearby cupboards. "That's disappointing! What kind of haunted kitchen smells sweet? It's supposed to smell ROTTEN!" Izzy begins throwing open various cupboards, finding that most of them are empty and becoming increasingly frustrated as she does so. "Darn. I probably shouldn't have volunteered to come here." 11:00 P.M. It's clear from the hooves that keep appearing in the video and the way the camera is moving that Izzy is throwing open every cupboard, cabinet, and drawer she can find. However, she seems to be bad at handling the camera, as the video feed never gets a good look at the inside of said spaces. "Ugh, they're all empty. I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappoin-WAIT WHAT IS THAT?!" Izzy holds a particular cabinet door open for longer than usual and makes an effort to position the camera at an angle that allows the viewer to see inside. Within the cupboard are a number of things, including cake mixes and assorted candies. "This stuff has to be ancient! Ooo, I'm gonna take a whiff!" Izzy hastily opens one of the boxes of cake mix, which appears to be noticeably less dusty than the rest of the cupboard. After doing so, she sticks her nose inside and takes a deep whiff. "...Huh. It, uh, it smells pretty good, actually. Not rotten at all. Geez, what did they put in these things back then?" Izzy places the mix back down onto a nearby counter as she moves on to the next cupboard. "Wow, this one is filled with stuff, too. We've got crackers, snack foods, spices... wow, maybe this was a good idea after all!" Izzy makes her way through a few more cabinets before stumbling upon a particularly large fridge, easily four times her size. "Oh, this aught to be good!" She throws the refrigerator door open with relative ease, and to her surprise, the light inside comes on. The fridge is stocked with all manner of goods. Milk, soft drinks, assorted greens, even a shelf full of fresh-looking fruits. "Okay, I'm no expert, but I'm preeeeety sure the castle shouldn't be getting any electricity. Also, most of this stuff should be way past its expiration date." She retrieves an apple from the fridge and looks it over. It's bright red and looks somewhat glossy. "I mean, there's no way this is real, right?" Izzy squishes the apple, and to her surprise, it squelches with a fair amount of juices like she would expect from a typical ripe apple. "Well, here goes nothing." She takes a hesitant lick from the slightly crushed apple before looking at it with bewilderment. "...It tastes pretty good. I know I'm not an earth pony, but I don't think it's supposed to taste good." Izzy puts the squished apple back where she found it and takes a step back from the fridge. "I should also probably stop licking food that's hundreds of years old." 12:00 A.M. A faint slamming sound can be heard to the right of where the camera is pointed. This clearly gets Izzy's attention, as she suddenly turns in the direction of the sound. She shines her flashlight to that corner of the kitchen, revealing what looks to be a door to a large walk-in pantry. "Pippsqueaks? That door was open when we came in here, right? ...Neat!" Izzy happily skips towards the pantry door. It's covered with a few slits that you might be able to see through if it weren't so dark. "Alright ghosties, let's see what you're hiding in here!" Izzy throws the door open and shines her flashlight into the newly revealed pantry. It doesn't appear to be out of the ordinary in any way. Shelves go as high as the ceiling, all of them completely bare. The room looks quite dusty, as well. "...All right, all right! You want me to step inside, don't you, ghosties? Well, who am I to argue?" Izzy takes a few cheery steps into the pantry, but nothing seems to happen. She looks quizzically at the empty shelves, and the video suddenly gets very quiet. "...Should I go to the very back or something?" Suddenly, a very, very faint noise can be heard from behind the camera. It sounds like a voice. "Wh... ou... about?!" Izzy turns towards the open pantry door. "S-Sunny?!" Izzy begins to run back out of the pantry, but just as she is about to reach the door it slams shut. In that same moment, her flashlight goes out, and the video feed cuts altogether. 1:00 A.M. CAM_02 IS OFFLINE 2:00 A.M. CAM_02 IS OFFLINE 3:00 A.M. CAM_02 IS OFFLINE 4:00 A.M. CAM_02 IS OFFLINE 5:00 A.M. CAM_02 IS OFFLINE
CAM_03CAM_03 10:00 P.M. The video shows a grand entryway, with a large set of wooden double doors standing out amongst the marble walls of the castle. The wood appears to be rotting, but it's still on its hinges. In front of the door, the camera is being kept very steady, as if Rocky has had plenty of practice with cameras. "Alright Pippsqueaks! Pipp wants us to explore this castle and find traces of the paranormal, and I'm prepared to do exactly that! Libraries are always haunted, and we're bound to find something spooky in here! Let's check it out!" Rocky makes his way into the library, the light from his flashlight being the only source of vision in the dusty, dimly lit room. The library is massive, with rows upon rows of bookcases stuffed end to end with old books. Rocky starts coughing a little bit as he runs his hoof across one of the bookcases. "W-wow, I probably shouldn't be surprised that it's so dusty in here. It has been thousands of moons since anypony has been in here, after all! Alright, let's get this ghost hunt started!" Rocky makes his way deeper into the library, carefully shining his flashlight at the spaces between bookcases as he passes them by. The room seems to go on and on, and it's completely silent save for the sound of Rocky's hoofsteps. Suddenly, something grabs his attention. The camera turns to look behind Rocky, and for a brief instant, a shadow can be seen running between a couple of bookcases. Rocky gasps. "D-did I get that on camera? There was definitely something over there, yeah?" Rocky doubles back to where the shadow was and glances in both the direction that the shadow came from and the direction it ran towards, but nothing can be seen. "...Alright, then. It might have just been my eyes playing tricks on me. Let's see here..." Rocky turns around once more and goes deeper into the library, but after a few moments, another shadow seems to briefly emerge from behind a bookshelf before it too runs around a corner. "...Hm. Haha. Ahahaha! Pippsqueaks, you saw that, right? There are totally shadows in here stalking me! Oh man, that's like the oldest haunting trick in the book! I knew this place was haunted! Come on, let's go deeper inside!" 11:00 P.M. Rocky reaches the center of the library, indicated by a circular space housing several tables for research. A few scattered books are still resting on said tables, and a large wooden statue of a stallion on its hind legs acts as a centerpiece for the whole library. Bookshelves extend in all directions, but pretty much all of the makeshift hallways between them lead back to this section of the library. "Well, here we are. It's pretty cool to look at, but I'll admit, I was hoping to find something more... substantial?" Suddenly, something appears to catch Rocky's attention as he quickly turns the camera to his left. Affixed to the side of one of the nearby bookshelves is a large, circular mirror. Rocky shines his flashlight on it, causing the light to be reflected back and the reflection itself to be difficult to see. "Well, hellooooo, gorgeous!" Rocky trots over to the mirror and lowers the flashlight just a little bit, allowing the camera to see the reflection. It appears normal, with Rocky carefully using it to adjust his mane. For a brief moment, it looks as though movement is occurring behind him, but he fails to notice. Suddenly, he stops messing with his mane and his eyes widen a bit as he turns his nose to the air. "...I know this is a livestream, so you're going to have to take my word for it, but it suddenly smells in here. Like... like a scented candle, or something." Rocky looks around, and as he does so, a new source of light can be seen coming from behind where his head just was in the reflection. It gives a faint orange glow, and Rocky notices it before turning around completely. On one of the nearby tables, a lit candle appears to be resting next to an open scroll. 12:00 A.M. "What is this?" Rocky approaches the table, looking down at both the candle and the scroll. The candle is in a perfect position to light up just enough of the table that the scroll can be read, but Rocky can't help but shine the flashlight on the scroll anyway, making it impossible to read through the video alone. "I know I got sent here because I wouldn't be tempted to read anything, but... come on. I didn't light this candle, meaning I'm either being pranked, or the ghosts want me to read what's written here. I'll just go ahead and do that now." The camera stays still for several moments as Rocky reads silently to himself, apparently unaware that his own flashlight is making it impossible for the camera to pick up what the words on the scroll are. Eventually, Rocky picks up the scroll quizzically in his hoof and glances more closely at it before putting it back down. "Well, to all of you Pippsqueaks who couldn't make out all of that, this looks to be a note addressed to Princess Twilight Sparkle. It's apparently suggesting to her that she use some kind of spell that's detailed on the bottom of the scroll, but I have no idea how to interpret these ancient spells. I guess this spell would help her protect something called the 'Celestial Amulet,' since the creation of the Unity Crystals might make that amulet extremely important in the future? Weird. I was expecting notes on, like, a murder or something. I wonder what this is all about?" 1:00 A.M. Suddenly, the candle gets blown out. As it does so, Rocky's flashlight begins to flicker before dying entirely, leaving the video feed completely dark. "Ah, shoot. Come on, flashlight." The sound of Rocky repeatedly tapping the flashlight against his hoof can be heard in the darkness, followed by a sigh. "Well, this sucks. I should probably contact Pipp." The sound of a walkie-talkie turning on can be heard. "Pipp? I've got a little bit of a situation here. The investigation is going great, but my flashlight just died and I can't see a darn thing." Only static can be heard coming from the walkie-talkie. "...Pipp?" More static. "...Great. I can't see an inch in front of my face. Seriously, I'm waving my hoof in front of my face and I can't see it." The room is dead silent for a few moments before Rocky sighs again. "I should probably get out of here. ...Which way did I come from, again?" The sound of Rocky's hoofsteps can be heard once more, followed by a small banging noise. "Ow! Hit my head on a bookshelf. Let me just feel my way around it... here we are. I guess I'll just have to feel my way to the exit. If I'm going the wrong way, I'll eventually reach the edge of the library and just go along the perimeter until I find the door." The next few minutes are silent save for Rocky's breathing and his gentle hoofsteps. Eventually, a strange squishing sound can be heard. "...Am I stepping in something? What is this?" The squishing continues as he keeps walking until he lets out a little yelp. "Th-the bookcase is squishy too! What is going on in here?! This is so gross!" After a few more minutes of squishing, Rocky finally speaks up again, his voice sounding frantic. "I-I can't do this any more! Pipp! Jazz! Anyone?! My flashlight is out! Please come help me!" 2:00 A.M. "P-Pippsqueaks? This is going to sound crazy, but it feels like the bookcases are breathing. I-I don't like this investigation anymore! I want to go home!" The squishing sound continues until it is interrupted by a loud crunch. "WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!?! GET ME OUT OF HERE!" The squishing and crunching becomes frantic as even through the pitch-black video, it's clear that Rocky is now running. Over the strange noises and Rocky's heavy breathing, a voice can be faintly heard from an indiscernible direction. "Rocky?" "JAZZ! JAZZ, IS THAT YOU?!" The sounds of both Rocky and something else breathing can be heard slowly increasing in volume until the video suddenly cuts out entirely. 3:00 A.M. CAM_03 IS OFFLINE 4:00 A.M. CAM_03 IS OFFLINE 5:00 A.M. CAM_03 IS OFFLINE
CAM_04CAM_04 10:00 P.M. The video feed bobs quite a bit as it moves forward, indicating that its wearer, Hitch, has a heavy gait. His heavy breathing is audible in the video, and the light from his flashlight appears to be shaky. He slowly moves through marble hallways, carefully shining his light on anything and everything he sees, until he comes to an unassuming set of double doors. He stops in front of them and sighs. "This is supposed to be the place, but it doesn't look like much. Let's see..." He places a hoof on one of the doors and begins to push. Sure enough, the door opens, revealing a beautiful moonlit garden on the other side. "Okay, I'm in the right place at least." Hitch begins to walk outside, his slow pace making his trepidation all the more noticeable. As he does, the landscape is surprisingly easy to see. The moonlight provides plenty of vision, though he still does not turn off his flashlight. "Heh, I guess this is why Pipp sent me out here. This is probably the least scary part of the castle. S-sorry, Pippsqueaks, I'll try to keep up the pace." Hitch begins to move deeper into the garden, carefully shining his light any time a flower or shrub drifts in the breeze. 11:00 P.M. The garden looks as though it was probably quite beautiful at one point, but time and neglect have transformed it into an overgrown hodgepodge of mismatching plants and greenery. It makes large swathes of the garden difficult to navigate, but Hitch manages to find some clearer areas to make it easier for him to go deeper in. At one point, a few squirrels appear on a branch of a nearby tree, making Hitch jump. As he shines his flashlight on them, he breathes a sigh of relief. "Oh, hello little guys! How are you doing tonight?" The squirrels do not respond, instead scampering off in all directions. One squirrel, however, stays behind and simply stares at Hitch, its eyes wide and glossy. Hitch appears somewhat troubled by this. "...Oh, uh, hehe. I guess you aren't used to visitors, huh?" With that, the one remaining squirrel also scampers out of sight. Hitch sighs again. "I'm usually pretty good with animals, too. I sure hope there's nothing wrong with them. Maybe they're mad that I'm here?" Hitch continues to walk, and more animals make themselves known. Rabbits, birds, mice, and a few other small creatures take positions around Hitch, lining his path or resting on branches, all of them staring directly at him with wide, glossy eyes until he shines his flashlight at them, causing them to run away. Hitch tries to talk to a few more, but is unsuccessful. "...Okay, I'll just come out and say it: This is really creeping me out. I don't like this one bit." The sound of Hitch's walkie-talkie coming to life fills the relative silence, causing him to jump before responding. "Pipp? Is that you?" "Yup, it's meeeeeee! The investigation is going well so far! Buuuut, and I don't mean to sound rude or anything, you might want to get a move on. The main draw of the garden was apparently the sculptures, and that seems like primo paranormal material to me! That said, at the rate you're going, it'll take you all night just to get there!" "O-okay, okay! Sculptures, got it! It's just... the critters around here are kind of freaking me out." "Oh come on, Hitch. I know talking to animals is your thing, but you shouldn't be scared when they don't respond. They probably haven't seen a pony in hundreds of moons! They're just frightened, and maybe curious!" Hitch nervously points the camera at a nearby tree. Every single branch is populated end to end with critters, all of which seem to be staring right through him. "...If you say so, Pipp." "Good luck, Hitch!" "Y-yeah, you too." 12:00 A.M. Hitch turns a corner around a large collection of shrubs before he lets out a scream and falls onto the ground. His flashlight is pointed at the distinct outline of a large stallion looking directly at him. However, as he steadies the light and stops screaming, the video focuses a bit more on the outline, revealing that the figure is made of stone. Hitch gathers himself and gets back on his hooves, taking a step forward as he confirms that it is, in fact, just a sculpture. "O-oh. Phew! False alarm, everypony, it's just a sculpture. I guess we're in the right place, then." A much calmer Hitch slowly makes his way past the sculpture and even deeper into the garden. The farther he walks, the less frequent the overgrown plants become. In their place, more and more sculptures and statues appear, depicting all manner of historical figures. Many of them have crumbled and collapsed, and very few are still in one piece. Despite the fact that they are inanimate objects, they seem to make Hitch even more frightened. "Th-this is usually the part in the movies where one of the sculptures behind me comes to life and starts stalking me or something." Hitch fearfully looks behind him as he continues to walk forward, but the area seems unchanged. "...Better safe than sorry, hehe-OOF!" Hitch inhales as he apparently runs into something. The camera turns around with him, revealing a very large statue depicting three figures. Hitch gulps and takes a step back as he shines his light on it, revealing the statue in its entirety. The three figures appear to be a frightened centaur, an equally panicked pegasus filly, and an angry looking changeling. Hitch remains frozen for several moments as silence fills the space, broken only by Hitch's nervous breaths and the gentle evening breeze. Eventually, though, he sighs. "I know what this is. Sunny used to talk about them all the time. This is the only sculpture here that isn't really a sculpture. And they're not ghosts, either. These are Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Chrysalis, some of the most heinous villains Equestria ever faced. Princess Twilight Sparkle managed to rally her friends from Equestria and beyond to defeat them, and as punishment for their crimes, they were turned to stone." Hitch falls silent for another moment before the camera lifts slightly, as though Hitch is standing a little taller. "I know we're here hunting ghosts, but... regardless of if ghosts are real or not, it's important to remind ourselves of who the real villains are: ponies and other creatures that would hope to destroy the friendship and harmony ponykind has built up. So long as we have that, there's nothing that can stop us." 1:00 A.M. After moving away from the petrified villains, Hitch explores the remainder of the garden with what seems to be a renewed confidence. His heavy breathing has calmed, and he shines his light on anything worth noting with a steady hoof. However, there is little for him to see. The garden is still, and between Hitch's calmer demeanor and the breeze apparently having stopped, it's almost completely silent. "...The animals have stopped watching me. Actually, I haven't even seen any of them in some time. Did they just get enough of me or something?" Hitch continues on his walk until he finds a large stone wall, indicating the far end of the garden. "Well, I guess that's the whole garden. Sorry, Pippsqueaks, but I don't think there's much to find out here-AAH!" Hitch yelps as he trips. The camera falls farther than it first seems like it should, sinking farther into the ground than expected. The camera stays still for a moment before Hitch recovers it, revealing the cause of his fall in the process. A pile of leaves seemed to have obscured a small pit that curves and continues further underground, like a secret dirt passage. "That's... unusual." Hitch shines his light into the passage, revealing that it goes very deep underground. However, the decline is gradual, and could easily be navigated. "I mean... I can't not go down there, right?" Hitch begins to descend down the pit as the moonlight illuminating the garden drifts further and further away. He fails to notice the moon beginning to shake in the night sky. 2:00 A.M. There is little that can be seen in the video outside of the dirt illuminated by Hitch's flashlight. Hitch continues his descent for nearly half an hour in complete silence. "It's getting chilly down here. I wonder where this actually leads." As he walks farther and farther underground, his flashlight begins to flicker, but it doesn't quite go out. "I'm not one to get claustrophobic, but even I'm getting a little unnerved by this. I'm not going to go much farther. If I don't find anything, I'm just going to turn around." Nothing occurs for the next five minutes, and the sound of Hitch trying to activate his walkie-talkie can be heard in the dim passage. "Darn, the walkie-talkie isn't working. I can't get in contact with Pipp about this." After another couple of minutes, the passage abruptly ends. Although the walls are still dirt, the passage is blocked by what appears to be a flat sheet of crystal. He shines his flashlight on it, and much of the light reflects back. "Well, th-that's weird. It's just a dead end." He places a hoof on the crystal wall and presses against it, but nothing happens. "I guess this is the end of the line. Oh well. Sorry Pippsqueaks, but I guess I'll have to turn... back?" Hitch is interrupted by a faint sound. He presses an ear against the crystal, and the video picks up a barely audible sound reminiscent of a mare sobbing. "Wait, isn't that..." The audio begins to distort, making it impossible to understand his words. The video suddenly goes black, and the last thing that can be heard before Hitch's stream goes offline is a very loud crashing sound. 3:00 A.M. CAM_04 IS OFFLINE 4:00 A.M. CAM_04 IS OFFLINE 5:00 A.M. CAM_04 IS OFFLINE
CAM_05CAM_05 10:00 P.M. The video feed shakes every so often, indicating that the pony carrying it, Zipp, is doing so somewhat haphazardly. A combination of her flashlight and the moonlight pouring into the castle from the nearby windows illuminates the grand marble staircase that she is currently ascending. Cobwebs can be seen between each step, and the amount of dust in the air looks downright dangerous. "Alright, everypony. I don't know about this 'paranormal' stuff, but I need to see what's going on in the living quarters. I mean, three different alicorns used to live here. Three! There HAS to be something important that was left behind, right?" Zipp arrives at the top of the staircase, revealing a long hallway. On the right side of the hallway, several dusty stained glass windows bathe the corridor in various faded colors. On the left, three sets of doors can be seen. Zipp casually approaches the first of these doors, which looks like it was, at one point, painted a dark blue. "Might as well start the investigation here, I guess." Zipp gently opens the door, which creaks loudly as she does so. She peers inside before making a clicking noise with her tongue. "Dang, it is really dark in there. I'm gonna do my best to use this flashlight for your sake, but for me, I think I'm just gonna rely on my rad-visor." Along the top of the feed, the video shows Zipp placing a strange device over her eyes and smirking before repositioning the flashlight in her hoof. "This baby lets me see in the dark, as well as heat signatures, infrared lights, all that good stuff." Zipp finally enters the room, and like she stated, it is pitch black aside from the light provided by her flashlight. It appears to be a bedroom, with the walls and floor both painted a deep navy blue color. In fact, the whole room has a similar aesthetic, with the nearby vanity and cabinet painted an almost identical shade of blue. On the far side of the room, a glass door leads to an outside balcony, but the glass has been tinted a dark enough shade of black that no moonlight comes through. In the center of the room, a very large, somewhat gaudy-looking crescent-shaped bed looms over the rest of the space. Apart from that, the room seems to lack many other amenities. "I'll admit, I like the aesthetics of this room. But apart from the fact that whoever lived here was clearly an edgy night owl, there's not much to see. Next!" Zipp nonchalantly exits the room, closing the door behind her as she does. 11:00 P.M. The next door that Zipp finds is an off-white color. It might have had a golden trim long ago, but that color has long since faded. Once again, Zipp gently opens the door and enters a room much different than the previous one. In this room, the floor is a gentle green color, with the walls a pleasant shade of pinkish-purple. An ornate, multicolored canopy bed sits along one wall, and a homely looking fireplace can be found on the opposite wall. Some rotting firewood still sits in the fireplace, as do some long-rusted tools next to it. A large vanity with many drawers isn't too far from the bed, and just like in the previous room, a door leading to an outside balcony can be seen on the opposite side of the room. Unlike the last room, however, this one has no tint, and the room is much brighter than the previous one because of it. "Huh. I can't say I like this color scheme any more than the last one, but this room does feel different. It feels, like... I don't know, warm, I guess?" Zipp pokes around the room for some time before sighing to herself in the darkness. "Not much here either, except for some gross expired makeup and scrolls that are too old to be legible. Next room it is, I guess. Sorry if this isn't entertaining, everypony. I can't exactly force the ghosts to come out." Zipp exits the second room more disappointed than she entered and pops back out into the hallway before heading to the final door. 12:00 A.M. The last door is a light purple, and the handle looks like it has seen less use in its time than the last two. With a shrug, Zipp opens it and does her best to use her flashlight to make the inside visible. This room stands out quite a bit from the previous two. The walls and floor are a plain marble, much like the outside hallway, and the bed in the center of the room is much more plain. The nearby cabinet and writing desks look a lot more "normal" as well, but the copious amount of bookshelves lining the walls is far from normal. However, the most different (and somewhat odd) aspect can be seen in the dust floating in the air wherever the flashlight is pointed. Specifically, the lack thereof. "...Hm. Has, uh, has somepony been living here? It's very... clean." Zipp runs her hoof along the top of a nearby bookshelf. "There isn't a speck of dust in here." Zipp begins covering every inch of the bedroom, looking for anything that looks out of place. Eventually, she reaches this room's door to its outside balcony. The glass on this door is completely normal, offering neither the darkness of the first room nor the warmth of the second. However, rather than opening this door, Zipp's attention is focused on what is next to it. With the flashlight aimed at the space to the right of the door, the video shows a small wooden pedestal, upon which rests what appears to be an amulet of some kind. When the camera is pointed at it, the image gets grainy, making it difficult to make out any details. 1:00 A.M. "What is this thing?" Zipp picks up the amulet, though the image quality is so poor, little more than basic shapes can be made out. She sets the camera down on the pedestal, providing a full view of herself with her rad-visor on as she fiddles with the amulet. "I'm definitely getting magical readings coming from it. Strong ones at that. Why was it left here? What is it for?" The sound of a walkie-talkie turning on fills the silence, followed by Pipp's voice. "Zipp! What are you doing?!" "I just found some kind of magical amulet in one of the bedrooms. It's pretty neat, isn't it?" "Ugh, Ziiiiiip! Your video quality is terrible! It's all grainy and weird! Besides, you're getting distracted! We have more important matters at hand!" "Oh? What's going on?" Zipp continues conversing with Pipp, but she never looks away from the amulet as she continues to analyze and fiddle with it. "Well, I've completely lost contact with Izzy and Misty. Their cameras have gone out and they won't respond on the walkie-talkie. Meanwhile, it looks like Rocky and Jazz are experiencing some weird stuff, and I've lost audio contact with both of them. Something really is going on here, Zipp." "Isn't that what you wanted?" "W-well, sort of, but- AHH!" Zipp finally looks up from the amulet at her walkie-talkie. "P-Pipp?" "..." "Pipp, are you there?!" "...S-sorry, I could have sworn I heard somepony whispering to me, and... oh no." "What now?" "I think I'm losing contact with Sunny, too." 2:00 A.M. "Look, Pipp, I'm sure they're fine. Don't you know who you're talking about?" "Of course, but I just... have a bad feeling, okay?" "Look, I'll head back down there in just a bit. I want to finish analyzing this amulet first, though." "Ugh, just what is it about that amulet that has you so engrossed?" "I'm not sure yet, but I think it's important. This whole bedroom is strange, and the fact that this amulet is both magical and in perfect condition makes me think that it's used for something, maybe even to this day." "Zipp, that's ridiculous. Nopony has been in the castle in moons!" "That might be true, but maybe it's automatic." "And still working? What about before we restored the magic?" "I... I don't know. Princess Twilight made the Unity Crystals, didn't she? I think this is her bedroom. If that's the case, then maybe she didn't put all of Equestria's magic in the crystals. Maybe she left some of it in this thing?" "Why would she do that?" "..." "Zipp?" "Maybe she didn't have a choice?" "Huh?" "I already visited Princess Celestia's room and Princess Luna's room, and neither of them had anything like this. But, without the princesses, who has been raising the sun and the moon every day?" "Uhh, Zipp? News flash, that's just a bunch of old mythology that was used to garner public support for the princesses. Nopony actually controls the sun or the moon!" "But what if it's not? What if Twilight knew she was in danger, and made this amulet so that the sun and the moon would rise on their own?" "Yeah yeah, sure. That's all well and good, and all the more reason to put the darn thing back where you found it and get back here!" "Ugh, all right Pipp, I'm on my..." Zipp moves to put the amulet back on the pedestal, but as she does so, she appears to be pushed forward by an unseen force, bringing both her and the amulet to the ground out of the camera's vision. A shattering sound can be heard, and the video feed suddenly goes dark. 3:00 A.M. The video is completely dark, though audio can still be heard. "Z-Zipp? Are you okay?!" "I'm fine, but I think I just messed up big time!" "What's going on?! All at once, everyone's lights, cameras, and walkie-talkies are going haywire! You're the only pony I can still contact, and even then your camera isn't showing anything!" "My flashlight went out, too. If it wasn't for my rad-visor, I'd be in deep trouble. Anyway, I fell over and dropped the amulet, and it just broke into a bunch of pieces! There are a lot more parts to it than I realized, too!" "What does that have to do with anything?!" "I think it messed up the moon or something! Maybe that's also what's screwing up our equipment!" "Zipp... I-I'm scared! I don't want to do this anymore!" A few hoofsteps can be heard, followed by the sound of an opening door. "Yeah, me neither, but it looks like I was right. I can't see the moon at all!" "What do we do?!" "...I-I don't know!" "Can you fix that amulet thingy? Will that make the cameras come back on? Will it make the whispering stop?!" "I-I'm not sure! Wait, what do you mean whispering?" "..." The faint sound of Pipp sobbing can be heard through the walkie-talkie followed by a slamming sound. "PIPP?! PIPP, ARE YOU THERE?!" No sound comes out of the walkie-talkie. "Argh, come on! Stay with me, Pipp!" Zipp's voice grows progressively more anxious as she continues speaking. The sound of Zipp messing around on the ground can be heard, as well as the occasional clink of metal. "I... I just have to fix this amulet. Then everything will go back to normal, right? Don't worry, Pipp! I'll fix it! I promise! I promise..." 4:00 A.M. The video feed is still completely dark, and the silence is replaced by a static-like white noise. Occasionally, bits and pieces of what sounds like Zipp's voice come through the noise. "...ipp..." "S...ry..." "Cold..." "...elp..." 5:00 A.M. CAM_05 IS OFFLINE
CAM_06CAM_06 10:00 P.M. The video feed is kept mostly still, though it does shake every now and again, highlighting Misty's lack of experience with handling cameras. Misty stands before a large iron door at the end of a long marble hallway. There are no windows in this hall, and the only light that can be seen is coming from Misty's flashlight. Misty knocks on the large iron door, which makes a hollow sound that echoes through the hall. Misty giggles after doing so. "Hehe. This is so cool. I never got to explore places like this when I was living with Opaline." Misty makes for the handle on the door and, with some effort, manages to pull it open. The old door hangs lower on its hinge than it is supposed to, causing it to scrape along the floor with a loud metallic screeching noise. Once it is open as far as Misty can pull it, she wipes a bit of sweat off of her brow. "Alright. Dungeons, here I come!" Misty shines her flashlight into the doorway, revealing steps leading down. Wasting no time, she begins to descend, using her flashlight to keep an eye on the steps as she does so. "You know, pretty much the only other pony willing to come down here was Zipp, but she was a lot more interested in the bedchambers. Hehe, Hitch especially seemed really scared by the idea, but I don't think it's so bad! Opaline is much scarier than anything some old dungeons might throw at me." As she says this, the steps come to an end, revealing a pitch-black chamber. The room is rectangular, with the far side of it housing another iron door like the one she already came through. On the left and right walls, dozens of old cells lined by rusted metal bars stretch to both ends of the room. Misty walks over to a nearby cell on her left and shines her light into it, revealing a surprisingly spacious area behind the bars. The remains of what was once a bed and a toilet can be seen, but so can the tattered remnants of an old rug and some sheets. "Maybe whatever prisoners were kept here long ago lived in more comfort than would be expected from castle dungeons?" Misty shrugs. "I don't know, it doesn't seem that bad to me." Misty passes by a few more cells, noting that each one looks almost identical. She fails to notice the skeletal remains of what was once a stallion leaning against a far wall in one of the cells as she continues to the far side of the room. Misty shines her flashlight on the iron door. It looks almost completely identical to the last one, though this one is noticeably more rusty. "I wonder if this goes farther down?" Misty once again pulls on the door, though it remains stuck. "Urgh... come... on..." After a great deal of effort, the door finally flies open with great force, nearly knocking Misty to the ground. "Alright, there we go! Let's see where this leads!" Misty shines her light into the space behind the iron door, revealing even more steps descending further into the darkness. With another giggle, she begins to make her way deeper into the depths of the dungeons. 11:00 P.M. The steps gradually become less and less refined until they eventually give way to another dark chamber. Shining her light into the room, Misty is surprised as blue light reflects back at her. This "room" appears to be a large cavern, its stone walls riddled with all sorts of gems and crystals. "Wow! This is so pretty!" Misty shines her light on everything she can find, though there are no more cells in this cavern. Instead, the high stone ceiling full of glistening gems and the somewhat damp walls make the cave a visual spectacle. "I wonder what this place was used fo-OOOOOR!" Misty stumbles a bit and yelps as the footage cuts to complete darkness for a moment. The footage returns as Misty takes a few slow, nervous steps back until she eventually takes a seat on the ground. She shines her light on the floor in front of her, revealing a massive drop that she failed to notice in the darkness and nearly walked right over. "Th-that's a steep fall!" Misty takes a moment to catch her breath before letting out a sigh. "I can't watch where I'm going and get good footage." The sound of Misty turning her walkie-talkie on fills the silence of the cavern. "Hey, Pipp?" "What's going on, Misty? Are you okay? I saw that you almost took a fall!" "Y-yeah. Actually, about that... is it okay if I turn back? I'm not scared of the dungeons or ghosts or anything like that, but I am scared of waltzing off a cliff down here that I didn't see coming." "Oh, absolutely, Misty! I don't want anypony getting hurt! Just slowly make your way back out of there and come back to the entrance. You can help me out with the cameras or you can explore another part of the castle, but I don't want you down there anymore." "O-okay, Pipp. I'll start heading back, then." "I'll see you when you get here!" 12:00 A.M. Misty slowly navigates the dark cavern in the direction that she came from. Due to the darkness, it is difficult to tell how close she is to the entrance. Eventually, she stops and shines her light in front of her, revealing a perfectly smooth wall of crystal. "Um... did I make a wrong turn? I don't remember that being there before. In fact, I'm pretty sure this is where the exit is supposed to be." Misty turns around, shining the flashlight back in the direction she came from, revealing yet another perfectly smooth wall of crystal. "Th-this isn't funny!" She turns around yet again, realizing that crystal walls are now visible on both sides of her as well. As she finishes her turn, the first wall she looked at has moved much closer. Daring to turn around once again, she realizes that she is completely boxed in by crystal in an approximately ten-foot wide cube. Her breathing starts to turn ragged as she falls to the ground. "I... I don't like this! I'm really, really claustrophobic! Why is this happening?" Misty once again turns on her walkie-talkie. "Pipp? Are you there?" "..." "Pipp?" "..." No sound comes out of the walkie-talkie. Misty sets it down next to her and droops her head before entering a fetal position. She begins to sob before the video feed cuts out. 1:00 A.M. CAM_06 IS OFFLINE 2:00 A.M. CAM_06 IS OFFLINE 3:00 A.M. CAM_06 IS OFFLINE 4:00 A.M. CAM_06 IS OFFLINE 5:00 A.M. CAM_06 IS OFFLINE
CAM_07CAM_07 10:00 P.M. The footage from the camera is extremely steady. Long marble halls and corridors can be seen as Jazz happily trots throughout the castle, occasionally stopping to admire the many stained glass windows adorning the walls. Moonlight shines through these windows, giving the marble an almost ethereal glow. Where the moonlight doesn't provide vision, Jazz's flashlight does. "Hiya, Pippsqueaks! I know I'm just the auxiliary pony here, so your time might be better spent watching somepony else's footage. Still, I just can't get enough of this castle's architecture! I'm no history buff, but even I can tell that this is really impressive!" Jazz passes by countless intersecting hallways, most of which look extremely similar if not downright identical to both each other and the one she is currently in. "It would be really, really easy to get lost in these halls! Good thing I memorized the map before we came here!" Jazz reaches the end of the hall she is in and makes a right turn into yet another hall. Oddly, there have been no actual doors in any of the corridors she has explored yet. "Alright, let's get this paranormal investigation started!" 11:00 P.M. Jazz continues to make her way through the halls, though her enthusiasm gradually dies down as little of note occurs. "Huh. I thought the library was supposed to be near here, but I can't seem to find it. Did I make a wrong turn?" Jazz turns around, revealing a corridor that stretches as far as the eye can see. The light from her flashlight does not reach the end of it, and only the moonlight from behind the stained glass windows make it clear just how long the hall is. "I, uh, don't remember this hall being this long. Nor any hall in the castle, actually." Jazz begins to walk back in the direction she came from, occasionally turning and shining her light down one of the intersecting hallways on her right and left. At one point, a shadowy figure seems to dart across an intersection in front of her. "WOAH! W-wait! Who are you?!" Jazz rushes to the intersection before frantically looking in both directions, revealing little more than another empty hall. "Ooh, you're not getting away that easily!" Jazz books it down the hall, quickly glancing at every intersection she passes. Eventually, her breathing grows ragged and she slows to a stop at an intersection. To her front, back, and sides, identical, endlessly sprawling hallways extend infinitely outwards. "...Uh oh." 12:00 A.M. Jazz begins to breathe heavily as the camera bobs up and down. She brings a hoof to her chest in an effort to calm herself down, but it doesn't help. "I... I don't think... I want to do this... anymore! I... I want to go home!" Suddenly, Jazz's walkie-talkie turns on, and she quickly answers it. "Jazz?" "Pipp! Pipp, I don't know what's going on. These hallways are really weird and freaky!" "Yeah, I can see that in the video. Just... try to stay calm. Can you see outside the windows?" "N-no, the stained glass is too... well, stained." "Okay, just try to retrace your steps. Let's get you back to the entrance and you can support me down here, how does that sound?" Jazz turns around, revealing another long hallway, though the locations of the intersections and the stained glass windows on the walls are noticeably different to the ones she passed in the footage previously. "I... I would like that, Pipp, but..." "But what?" "I think the hallways are changing around me." 1:00 A.M. Jazz begins frantically running through the halls, apparently making turns with no rhyme or reason. Occasionally, another shadow darts around a corner. At first, Jazz yelps when she sees one and tries to look around the corner it went behind, but as they become more frequent, she begins ignoring them entirely in favor of continuing to sprint forward. Eventually, she stops to try to catch her breath. As she looks down to do so, she doesn't see the intersections in the corridor in front of her begin to move and shift positions before stopping once more. Jazz reaches for her walkie-talkie. "Pipp? Are you there?" "..." "Pipp, please! I need you!" "..." "Argh, dang it! Wh-what am I... going to do?" Jazz begins to hyperventilate, with her quick, panicked breaths being the only sound audible in the marble corridor. Suddenly, another sound can be heard, like a distant voice yelling incoherently. The sound breaks Jazz out of her stupor. "Wh-what was that?!" 2:00 A.M. Jazz runs in the direction of the voice, which continues to be audible in the large halls. It sounds like a stallion, and the consistency of the yell allows Jazz to slowly pinpoint a direction in which to run. As she does, the voice becomes more clear. "Help!" "Is that... Rocky?" As Jazz runs, the corridors become less and less elongated, with the number of identical turns becoming less frequent as well. Eventually, doors can be seen dotting the halls until Jazz finally comes to a large entryway with a set of open, rotted wooden doors hanging to either side. Jazz tries to point her flashlight at the pitch-black room within, but the light flicks out right as she does so. "I... I think this is the library. Rocky?" As Jazz calls out into the darkness, the video suddenly cuts out. 3:00 A.M. CAM_07 IS OFFLINE 4:00 A.M. CAM_07 IS OFFLINE 5:00 A.M. CAM_07 IS OFFLINE
CAM_09CAM_09 10:00 P.M. "Allllllright, Pippsqueaks! The paranormal investigation has begun!" The video footage is being taken from an expertly held camera. Unlike the other participants of the investigation, Pipp's camera is not being worn around her neck and is instead being held in her hoof, allowing her to be in the shot as much as she likes. Behind her, a temporary "base" of sorts has been set up, with a large computer screen displaying nine concurrent streams, including Pipp's. Pipp plays around with the streams, showcasing her ability to focus on specific streams and isolate audio from each of her friends as she sees fit. Several lights are set up around her, illuminating the entrance hall fairly well. That paired with the moonlight coming in from the nearby windows and the still-open entryway makes the entrance hall much less intimidating than when the group first entered. "Alright, let's see what everypony is up to!" Pipp begins to flick through the different streams, commenting on each as she does so. "It looks like Sunny is geeking out over the stained glass. Eh, I can't really blame her. She's always been really into this stuff. Ooh, and Izzy found the kitchen! Let's hope the ghosts don't 'want her for dinner,' hehe! Oh, and did you see that?! I think Rocky just encountered a mysterious shadow! Eeeee, this is so exciting! Let's see... Hitch is super scared, Misty isn't super scared, Zipp found a bedroom with some great aesthetics, and Jazz is doing an excellent job exploring the halls! Let's hope she doesn't have to 'rescue' anyone, hehe!" Pipp switches the display back to the nine equally-sized streams. "I think we're off to a great start. Remember everypony, you can switch between the video feeds yourself whenever you wish! After all, I'm not the one in the middle of the action! Now then, let's give everyone a bit of time to explore and check in on how they're doing when things start picking up!" 11:00 P.M. Pipp holds a walkie-talkie up to the camera, showing it off with a proud look on her face. "To add to the scary vibe we've got going on, we specifically set up the walkie-talkies so that everypony can only contact me! I can contact any of them whenever I want, but they can't contact anyone but me. Speaking of, it looks like Hitch is having some trouble with the local wildlife. Let's check in on him, shall we?" Pipp presses a few buttons on her walkie-talkie, causing a static sound to play briefly before Hitch's voice fills the space. "Pipp? Is that you?" "Yup, it's meeeeeee! The investigation is going well so far! Buuuut, and I don't mean to sound rude or anything, you might want to get a move on. The main draw of the garden was apparently the sculptures, and that seems like primo paranormal material to me! That said, at the rate you're going, it'll take you all night just to get there!" "O-okay, okay! Sculptures, got it! It's just... the critters around here are kind of freaking me out." "Oh come on, Hitch. I know talking to animals is your thing, but you shouldn't be scared when they don't respond. They probably haven't seen a pony in hundreds of moons! They're just frightened, and maybe curious!" "...If you say so, Pipp." "Good luck, Hitch!" "Y-yeah, you too." Pipp clicks the walkie-talkie off before looking back at the camera with a smile. "According to Sunny, one of the sculptures in the garden is actually a collection of villains from Equestria's past that were turned to stone as punishment for their crimes! Isn't that terrifying? ...Oh, I hope I'm not freaking poor Hitch out too much by sending him out there." Pipp looks back at the screens, gasping as she focuses on Misty's before her walkie-talkie turns on, indicating that she is being contacted. "Hey, Pipp?" "What's going on, Misty? Are you okay? I saw that you almost took a fall!" "Y-yeah. Actually, about that... is it okay if I turn back? I'm not scared of the dungeons or ghosts or anything like that, but I am scared of waltzing off a cliff down here that I didn't see coming." "Oh, absolutely, Misty! I don't want anypony getting hurt! Just slowly make your way back out of there and come back to the entrance. You can help me out with the cameras or you can explore another part of the castle, but I don't want you down there anymore." "O-okay, Pipp. I'll start heading back, then." "I'll see you when you get here!" The walkie-talkie falls silent once more, and Pipp sighs as she shivers a little bit. "Okay, maybe we should have checked out the actual physical dangers of exploring an abandoned castle before I sent everypony off. You sort of take those things for granted when you're a pegasus. I'm going to feel really bad if somepony gets hurt because of me." Pipp goes back to watching the cameras in silence for a few more moments before shivering once more. "Brrr. When did it get so cold in here? Must be the night air or something." 12:00 A.M. Pipp switches to Sunny's stream, which is displaying nothing but static. "Oooookay, something is definitely wrong with Sunny's stream. Let's see what's up with that." Pipp turns her walkie-talkie back on and tries to contact Sunny. "Sunny? Are you there?" Only white noise comes through the walkie-talkie. "Sunny? Are you okay?" More white noise. "...Alright, I guess Sunny is having technical issues. Maybe there's no connection in the throne room or... something? Wait a second, what's going on with Misty?" Suddenly, her walkie-talkie makes a different noise, indicating that someone is trying to contact her. "Oh, I think that's her now." Pipp turns the walkie-talkie on. "Misty? What's going on?" "..." "...Misty?" "..." The connection is suddenly severed. "...Hehe, I'm sure it's just because she's underground... right, Pippsqueaks? L-let's see how everypony else is doing... oh dear, it looks like Jazz is starting to freak out. I'm going to give her a call." Pipp mumbles a bit more under her breath, barely audible in the livestream. "Please pick up." The walkie-talkie plays static noise for a moment before kicking in properly. "Jazz?" "Pipp! Pipp, I don't know what's going on. These hallways are really weird and freaky!" "Yeah, I can see that in the video. Just... try to stay calm. Can you see outside the windows?" "N-no, the stained glass is too... well, stained." "Okay, just try to retrace your steps. Let's get you back to the entrance and you can support me down here, how does that sound?" "I... I would like that, Pipp, but..." "But what?" "I think the hallways are changing around me." The walkie-talkie cuts out once more before Pipp can say anything else. 1:00 A.M. "Seriously, what is going on with the equipment?! OH! Sunny's video is back! Maybe she'll respond now!" Pipp pulls up Sunny's video and turns on the walkie-talkie. "Sunny? Sunny, what's going on with you?! We lost video footage for, like, an hour, the walkie-talkie wouldn't connect, and now you're talking to yourself!" "STOP IT! I NEVER DID ANYTHING OF THE SORT!" "S-Sunny? Can you hear me?!" "ARGH!" "Sunny, you need to get out of the throne room! I think it's making you see things!" About halfway through that sentence, the walkie-talkie disconnected again. Pipp lets out an anxious groan. She attempts to contact Izzy and Misty, both of whom have offline cameras, as well as Rocky and Jazz, but none of them respond. "Something is seriously wrong here. I'm not getting any footage from Izzy or Misty anymore, while Rocky and Jazz have video but aren't responding! Argh, and Zipp is doing nothing to help!" She pulls up Zipp's video and attempts to contact her. "Zipp! What are you doing?!" "I just found some kind of magical amulet in one of the bedrooms. It's pretty neat, isn't it?" "Ugh, Ziiiiiip! Your video quality is terrible! It's all grainy and weird! Besides, you're getting distracted! We have more important matters at hand!" "Oh? What's going on?" "Well, I've completely lost contact with Izzy and Misty. Their cameras have gone out and they won't respond on the walkie-talkie. Meanwhile, it looks like Rocky and Jazz are both experiencing some weird stuff, and I've lost audio contact with both of them. Something really is going on here, Zipp." "Isn't that what you wanted?" "W-well, sort of, but- AHH!" Pipp turns around in a panic, bringing the camera with her. Behind her, the open entryway is visible, but nothing out of the ordinary can be seen. Pipp begins to pant nervously. "P-Pipp?" "..." "Pipp, are you there?!" "...S-sorry, I could have sworn I heard somepony whispering to me, and... oh no." "What now?" Pipp looks back at the screen, where Sunny's video has now gone offline. "I think I'm losing contact with Sunny, too." 2:00 A.M. "Look, Pipp, I'm sure they're fine. Don't you know who you're talking about?" "Of course, but I just... have a bad feeling, okay?" "Look, I'll head back down there in just a bit. I want to finish analyzing this amulet first, though." "Ugh, just what is it about that amulet that has you so engrossed?" "I'm not sure yet, but I think it's important. This whole bedroom is strange, and the fact that this amulet is both magical and in perfect condition makes me think that it's used for something, maybe even to this day." "Zipp, that's ridiculous. Nopony has been in the castle in moons!" "That might be true, but maybe it's automatic." "And still working? What about before we restored the magic?" "I... I don't know. Princess Twilight made the Unity Crystals, didn't she? I think this is her bedroom. If that's the case, then maybe she didn't put all of Equestria's magic in the crystals. Maybe she left some of it in this thing?" "Why would she do that?" "..." "Zipp?" "Maybe she didn't have a choice?" "Huh?" "I already visited Princess Celestia's room and Princess Luna's room, and neither of them had anything like this. But, without the princesses, who has been raising the sun and the moon every day?" "Uhh, Zipp? News flash, that's just a bunch of old mythology that was used to garner public support for the princesses. Nopony actually controls the sun or the moon!" "But what if it's not? What if Twilight knew she was in danger, and made this amulet so that the sun and the moon would rise on their own?" "Yeah yeah, sure. That's all well and good, and all the more reason to put the darn thing back where you found it and get back here!" "Ugh, all right Pipp, I'm on my..." A shattering sound can be heard through the walkie-talkie. At the same time, Pipp gasps as she watches the camera footage in front of her. Simultaneously, Zipp and Jazz's videos cut out. Jazz's goes completely offline, but Zipp only loses video while the audio remains online. On top of that, the moonlight that was pouring into the entrance hall via the windows and entryway vanishes, leaving Pipp's lights as the only source of light remaining. After a moment, a very quiet whisper-like sound can be heard. Pipp quickly turns around again, revealing that there is still nothing behind her. However, the whispering sound continues, just audible enough to be heard, but not quite loud enough to be understandable. Pipp's eyes dart nervously around the entrance hall as the many lights she has set up begin to flicker on and off before she forces herself to look back at the computer screen. At this point, every stream is offline except for the outside camera, which now shows a very, very dark outline of the castle, Zipp's stream, which is completely black but still has audio, and Pipp's own stream, the video of which is growing increasingly grainy. 3:00 A.M. "Z-Zipp? Are you okay?!" "I'm fine, but I think I just messed up big time!" "What's going on?! All at once, everyone's lights, cameras, and walkie-talkies are going haywire! You're the only pony I can still contact, and even then your camera isn't showing anything!" "My flashlight went out, too. If it wasn't for my rad-visor, I'd be in deep trouble. Anyway, I fell over and dropped the amulet, and it just broke into a bunch of pieces! There are a lot more parts to it than I realized, too!" "What does that have to do with anything?!" "I think it messed up the moon or something! Maybe that's also what's screwing up our equipment!" "Zipp... I-I'm scared! I don't want to do this anymore!" "Yeah, me neither, but it looks like I was right. I can't see the moon at all!" "What do we do?!" "...I-I don't know!" "Can you fix that amulet thingy? Will that make the cameras come back on? Will it make the whispering stop?!" "I-I'm not sure! Wait, what do you mean whispering?" Suddenly, the whispering in Pipp's stream becomes much louder. While the whispers previously couldn't be understood due to their low volume, now they cannot be understood due to the multitude of whispers talking over each other. Pipp turns around once more, revealing about two dozen shadow-like figures staring directly at her. Suddenly, the whispers stop. Pipp begins to sob hysterically as the shadows start moving towards her. Behind them, the entryway suddenly slams shut with a loud bang, just as the stream goes offline. 4:00 A.M. CAM_09 IS OFFLINE 5:00 A.M. CAM_09 IS OFFLINE
6:00 A.M.6:00 A.M. CAM_08 suddenly clicks back on, revealing Canterlot Castle once more. The sun is beginning to peek over the horizon, bathing the landscape in a beautiful glow. Morning dew is visible on the nearby greenery, and in the morning light, the castle looks much less intimidating. Suddenly, a loud banging sound rings out. The entryway shakes a little bit as it does so. Then, a few seconds later, there is another banging sound and another shake. Finally, a third banging sound can be heard as the entryway flings open, revealing the outlines of eight frazzled, tired ponies. The first to exit the castle is Sunny, followed closely by Izzy. The two are leaning on each other, apparently extremely exhausted. Behind them, Jazz and Rocky slowly walk away from the castle, both of their manes having seen better days. Hitch and Misty come next looking just as tired, and behind them are Pipp and Zipp with the rest of the group's equipment. The eight ponies slowly approach the camera. As they do so, the dark bags under their eyes become much easier to notice. They all glance amongst each other before Pipp takes the camera off of its tripod and points it at herself, her voice somewhat raspy. "...H-hey, Pippsqueaks. Sorry about the technical difficulties. We, uh... we had a rough night. I don't know if this camera managed to stay on all night long, but it looks like it's on now. And look, we all made it out okay!" Pipp points the camera at her friends, all of whom do their best to give tired, sheepish smiles to the camera. "Um... why don't we recap what happened after out cameras went out, everypony? Just to fill the Pippsqueaks in on what they missed." Everypony looks at each other, waiting for someone else to start. Finally, Sunny sighs and relents. "To be honest, I don't really know what happened to me. I remember sitting on the throne, then the next thing I know, Izzy is shaking me like I had just woken up from a nap." Izzy speaks up with noticeably less energy and enthusiasm than she is known for. "After the pantry door slammed shut and my camera and flashlight went off, I figured Pipp wouldn't be too mad at me if I used my magic to see in the dark. When I did, it was like all the spooky stuff suddenly stopped. I was able to get out of the pantry, and I noticed that all of the food was gone, but Sunny was still screaming a bunch of weird stuff down the hall. So, I rushed towards her voice and saw her freaking out and crying on the throne. I ran up to her and tried to snap her out of it, and it worked!" "Thank you for that, Izzy, though I'm still not sure what happened to me. After that, we both used our magic to light up the castle and made our way back to Pipp, who was on the floor crying." Pipp responds with a shaky voice. "I-I think we should cover me last. Rocky, what happened to you?" "I'm not sure exactly when my camera went out, but when I was trapped in the dark library and feeling all that grossness, I heard Jazz respond to my pleas for help. I followed the sound of her voice, and lo and behold, she was waiting at the entrance to the library. Then she started talking about the hallways acting weird." Jazz responds with a tired voice. "Yeah, though to be honest, your pleas for help saved me, too. I was lost in an endless maze of infinite corridors until I heard your voice. I followed that sound until I discovered the library. I was so relieved when you walked out of there. Then, since I had learned that the halls shift around when you aren't looking at them, I had Rocky and I walk back-to-back so that neither of us ever took our eyes off of the halls. That way, they wouldn't change when we weren't looking. Sure enough, that did the trick, and we made it back to the entrance hall. Pipp was being consoled by Sunny and Izzy, and we realized we weren't the only ones that went through something weird." Pipp responds once more. "I'm glad you two made it back okay. Misty, what happened to you?" "Well, I got trapped in... I dunno, a crystal box, or something. I can do creepy castles, but I can't do tight spaces. I kind of freaked out and started crying, but after a little while, one of the walls started to make this banging sound until it broke in two. To be honest, I don't think crystals are supposed to break like that. Er, anyway, apparently Hitch had found me and broke down the wall!" Hitch speaks up, a mixture of pride and exhaustion audible in his voice. "That weird underground passageway I found led to a crystal wall, which I guess was one of the walls trapping Misty down there. I was going to turn around until I heard you crying on the other side. It's a sheriff's duty to protect innocent civilians... and it's a friend's duty to protect their buddies. So, I started bucking the wall until it broke. After that, Misty and I made a quick getaway through the passage that led me underground and took the long way around back to the entrance hall, where everypony but Zipp was waiting for us." Pipp speaks up once again. "Alright Zipp, you're up." "I think my camera stayed on the longest, so there's not much for me to say. I tried to fix the amulet, but had a lot of trouble doing so. It got really cold in there while I tried, and I could have sworn somepony was breathing down my neck the whole time. I... might have said some mushy stuff in a moment of weakness, but that's neither here nor there. Point is, I did manage to fix it, and by some miracle there was still magic in it. After that, I put it back on its pedestal, and it was like it reset its own settings. It made a winding noise, and suddenly the sun was coming up. After that, I flew back to the entrance hall as quick as I could, and everypony was already waiting for me there. Pipp had finished crying by then, too." "Ugh, you don't need to call me out like that!" "I meant it as a good thing, Pipp. Now, it's your turn. What happened in there?" "...Well, I thought I was being accosted by a bunch of shadow ponies. They started surrounding me, and I... might have gone into a fetal position and started crying until Sunny and Izzy showed up. There, I said it, okay?!" Zipp responds with a concerned look on her face. "Pipp, no one is judging you. I think we can safely say that the castle really is haunted, or at least has something really strange going on inside of it." "But I'm supposed to be the brave one! What will the Pippsqueaks think?!" "If they're like us, they'll think you are the brave one. You did everything you could to keep everypony safe as soon as you learned that they might be in danger. You held yourself together and tried to ignore the scary stuff happening to you so that you could focus on our safety. That takes guts, sis." The rest of the group smiles and nods. Pipp smiles back, tears beginning to form once more in the corners of her exhausted eyes. "Oooooh, you guyyyyyyssssss...!" The eight ponies go in for a group hug, with the camera getting squished in the middle of them. "...W-well, Pippsqueaks, this has been the 'Pipp Petals Paranormal Spooktacular Livestream.' I'm Pipp Petals, these are my friends, and I hope you all enjoyed the show. I'd be lying if I said we had a good time, but I hope you all enjoyed getting to watch our struggles regardless. Anyway, I think we're all going to go home and get some well-deserved rest. Take care everypony, and remember to avoid any scary abandoned castles! Goodbye!" The group waves as Pipp signs off. Pipp's usual upbeat theme song that doesn't quite fit the mood plays as the livestream finally comes to an end, signalling the start of a new day. Author's Note Thank you so much for reading! This story was certainly a doozy to write. The idea popped into my head one day and I just couldn't stop myself from trying to write it! It went through a number of rewrites, too. First it was just a linear story, then it became sorted by time intervals like the individual cameras are, until I finally settled on the idea of the reader taking the role of a Pippsqueak flicking between the different cameras and trying to piece together exactly what's going on in that mysterious castle. I hope you enjoyed the experience as much as I enjoyed creating it! As always, I appreciate any and all feedback! Oh, and uh... something something purple guy, something something bite of '87, something something it's been so long, yadda yadda yadda haha beat you to it.
CAM_08CAM_08 10:00 P.M. The camera shows the outside of Canterlot Castle. The moon hangs high in the sky, peeking out from behind the mountain that the castle is built into and bathing the area in beautiful moonlight. The entrance to the castle lazily hangs open. At one point, Sunny can be seen passing by a window. 11:00 P.M. The scene has not changed, with the only real movement coming from the moon, which continues on its course across the night sky. 12:00 A.M. The outline of Jazz briefly appears in a window. The footage of the castle is otherwise unchanged. The moon continues to crawl across the sky as silence fills the cool night air. 1:00 A.M. The castle continues to rest as it is bathed in moonlight. The moon begins to shift from side to side in the night sky. 2:00 A.M. The silent castle continues to loom over the remains of Canterlot as the moon begins to shake violently. Suddenly, the moon nosedives behind the horizon, leaving neither the sun nor the moon in the sky and bathing the land in darkness. Now, only the faint outline of the castle can be seen in the video. 3:00 A.M. With almost complete silence and very little to see in the now pitch-black night, nothing occurs in the video for about an hour. Suddenly, a loud slamming sound can be heard, and the outline of the entrance has shifted, implying that the doors have been forcibly closed. 4:00 A.M. The faint outline of Canterlot Castle, silent in the moonless night, is all that can be seen in the video. 5:00 A.M. CAM_08 IS OFFLINE
