//------------------------------//
// CAM_04 
// Story: CAM_09 IS OFFLINE 
// by RunicTreetops 
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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.

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4:00 A.M.

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5:00 A.M.

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