//------------------------------//
// 6:00 A.M. 
// Story: CAM_09 IS OFFLINE 
// by RunicTreetops 
//------------------------------//

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.