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