The warden kept silent after that. She cleared her throat, and nodded. Her horn glowed, and the door opened. The two guards outside turned and the captain spoke briefly with the Warden. Slendy did not look, nor did he care. He was tired of waiting.
As he turned to leave, following the guards, he felt the Warden looking at him. Turning around, he met her gaze without wavering. "Something wrong, Warden?"
The mare seemed to have completely regained her composure, and replied, "Mr. Slenderman, I must apologize for my earlier statements. I should have kept them to myself."
Slendy was surprised again, for the third time that day. His initial thought was that she was lying. Without her knowing it, he read her mind. He couldn't always do this, and his ability had limits. He could sense if the target was lying, or if they were feeling a strong emotion. Specific thoughts and memories were much more difficult to isolate, and only when the target thought exceedingly hard about a certain thing did Slendy register it.
What surprised Slendy was the sadness coming from the mare. And the strong memory of a smaller version of the Warden saluting a higher ranking officer, and asking him a question about battle strategy. The officer must have been in a bad mood, or thought her question was too simple to bother him. He turned, and began to scream at her. She had no rights to argue, and did not show anything, but he could feel what she had felt, which was utter humiliation and annoyance of being ignored on the basis she was a lower rank.
Moving away from her mind mentally, Slendy looked up. He realized that she was just trying to give those under her a voice. Slendy was impressed that she was so loyal to her troops, and impressed that she had the courage to stand up against a very powerful, very high ranking officer for her troops.
"Warden, I understand your need to bring the questions and needs of those under you to the higher ranks attention. I appreciate that. And I am sure that those under you appreciate it as well. I apologize for my hasty reaction to your... questioning."
The Warden, having no idea what had just occurred, looked startled by Slendy's sudden change of heart.
"Err, thank you, sir?" The Warden spoke with uncertainty.
Slendy nodded. "As such, Warden, I wish to meet you in the Throne Room in Canterlot tomorrow at O-eight hundred hours. I do not want you to be late."
With that, Slendy turned and walked out, leaving a very confused Warden, now alone with her desk.
Slendy followed the guard captain through twisting hallways of stone, passing corridor after corridor of the same exact walls, floor, and ceiling. The castle was like a labyrinth. There were doors leading off of all of the corridors, and Slendy could sense prisoners behind each door. The doors were made of a dark wood, and had numbers written on each of them. The doors went up to 100, until they came to a staircase. And there was a copy of the hallway above them, with the only difference being the doors reading 200 and up. Four doors down, room 204 sat, locked and closed. The guard walked to the doors, and levitated a key chain into the lock.
Looking up at Slendy, he said, "Sir, I will stay outside. Call if you need anything." Slendy nodded, and the guard opened the door.
Inside, the cell was as bleak as the outside. There was a main room that was 8 by 8 feet and maybe 9 feet tall. A small indent in the wall was outfitted with a toilet and sink; an uncomfortable looking bed sat in the corner. In the middle of the room, a old unicorn sat. He had a brown mane and a gray body. His cutie mark was that of a wooden stick, which Slendy supposed was supposed to be a wand.
The Colt looked up at Slenderman, and he gasped in fear. Slendy had released a spell, the one that made him look more normal. The pony saw not more than a sliver of the normal look of Slenderman, and was terrified.
"Please," he whispered, "Do not hurt me. I-I am sorry, please. I don't want to die!" The pony did not wail, just backed up into the far wall, farthest away from Slendy. Tears were leaking out of his eyes.
Slendy felt pity for this creature, this pony. He brought the barriers back up, and the pony blinked once, twice, and stopped crying, but stayed up against the wall.
"Prisoner 204, I am not here to harm you. I wish to ask some questions."Slendy did not move from his position.
"O-o-o-f-f-f course. I— How can I help you?" The pony bowed his head feebly in a attempt to show respect to Slendy. This struck Slendy was incredibly sad and utterly pitiful.
"You were in charge of soul-mining operations, prisoner 204, were you not?" Slendy did not change his voice inflection at all. He found that a monotone often worked wonders.
"Err, y-yes, I was. A mistake! A mistake, I promise!" The pony seemed to think that Slendy was interrogating him about that.
"When you were in the caverns, you had a complete map of the cave system, correct?"
The pony nodded.
"Where is this map?" Slendy stared at the cowering pony.
"It was burned by the guards after they swept through our- the rooms we slept in." The pony shivered, partially out of fear and partially out of cold. The corridors were frozen. Or maybe it was just the strange being standing in front of him...
Slendy nodded. "And I take it that you and your group built the rooms?" The pony nodded again. "And the metal door? What is behind it?" The prisoner shook his head.
"I-We- We don't know! We tried everything to open the door, Celestia be damned we did, but it would not open. It was there when we got there."
Slendy probed his mind briefly, and underneath all of the fear the pony was not lying.
"Alright." Slendy turned to leave.
"Wait!" The prisoner screeched in a voice befitting that of a desprate being.
Slendy turned. "Yes?"
"Please, we never meant to harm anyone! We just were scientists, investigating! We were going to find a way to put the souls back, honest!"
It took Slendy a moment to realize he was talking about the soul mining. When he did, he did not need to probe the prisoner's mind to know that he was lying. When the prisoner realized that Slendy knew, he began to scream. "You bastard! My name is Utilan! UTILAN! I AM NOT PRISINOR 204. I HAVE A NAME." The prisoner went back to screaming, and swearing at Slendy, who just turned and walked out, hearing the solid THUNK as the door shut behind him, and the click of the lock as it shut. The screams stopped.
Slendy began to walk back towards the stairs then turned to the guard. "How many levels are there in this prison?" he asked.
The guard looked at him. "Five floors, although there is only one room on the fifth floor."
Slendy nodded. "And who is in that?"
The guard shook his head. "I don't know. Not even the Warden knows. Only Celestia knows."
Slendy nodded. He had been doing a lot of that lately. "Thank you, guard."
With that, he disappeared back to Canterlot.
Night was just beginning to fall when Slendy decided to go and speak with Celestia, Luna, and Discord. He asked Stormcatcher where they would be. He told him that they would most likely be in the great hall, eating dinner. Slendy nodded. As he sunk into darkness, he thought about Stormcatcher. In the breif time that he had known the Lieutenant, he had been impressed by him. The Lt. was young, but brave. Slendy had found out that he had volunteered for this position when nopony else would take it simply because somepony else would have to go against their will if nopony volunteered.
He reminded himself to talk to the guard about meeting him in the Throne room at eight tomorrow.
The dinner was simple, but Slendy was sure that it was delicious. The table consisted of two half circles with chairs on either sides of them arranged to provide a kind of circular seating arrangement. Celestia sat nearest the windows, with Discord and Luna next to her.
The guests were a couple who had come from across Equestria to seek help for their foal, a young mare named Shine Gallian. Shine had been hurt in a fall from a cloud, and was in a coma. No doctors or magicians had been able to help her.
They had come to Celestia, Luna, and Discord looking for help.
The trio had explained quietly that they had spoke with the doctors looking after Shine, who had sought them out before the couple had come, and had attempted to heal her. It had not worked.
The couple were heartbroken. At this moment Slendy choose to appear behind the couple. He was interested in speaking with the trio, but this story had saddened him.
"Mr. and Mrs. Gallian, I may be able to help you."
The couple turned to stare at him, and the mare shrieked in surprise well the colt let out a small gasp.
Slendy swiftly apologized for his intrusion.
"I could not help but overhear your problem, and I might be able to help. It sounds as if her Parietal Lobe, Cerebrum, and possibly brain stem were affected. I would have to examine her, but I believe that I know a spell that can isolate the various sub-structures that have been destroyed and keep them isolated until repair is compete— the spell works well. The doctors know the spell, the problem being that if any of these sub-structures are destroyed or lose their ability to function during procedure as they must be, the patient would die. The spell I know will reroute her nero-logical pathways into a void of sorts, for a short time. As I do this, I can begi-"
Slendy noticed absolute silence. Looking up, he found Celestia, Luna, and Discord looking at him with amazement and confusion, well the couple looked at him with complete bewilderment.
Slendy cleared his throat. "Err, my apologies. Simply put, I believe I can help your daughter without any serious side effects."
The couple looked shocked by him. Slowly, the two ponies seemed to come to their senses. "Oh, I— wow. I don't know who you are, but thank you. I—we— have been looking for a solution for a very long time." The Colt spoke slowly, and with deliberation. The mare began to cry.
The two stood, the mare leaning on the coly for support, and left the room.
"What was that, Slenderman?" Celestia asked, surprise evident in her voice.
"I merely extended a offer of healing to the two—" Celestia interrupted him.
"Do you know who they were?" she said quietly and with force.
"No. But they needed help." Slendy was confused.
Celestia spoke slowly. "Those. Were. The. Two. Most. Powerful. Ponies. In. Equestria. They control all ports in and out of Equestria!" Discord spoke up. "Slenderman, we can’t see everpony. Those two were very important. They are the most powerful BUISNESSPONY," he looked at Celestia, as if to emphasize not the most powerful ponies, "in Equestria. We need their support. They don't really like us all that much, politically speaking."
Slendy shook his head. "It does not matter. Politics are your area of experience, not mine. I wish to speak with the three of you; privately."
Celestia nodded at the guards, whom stepped out of the room, shutting the door behind them.
"I am up to date on most, if not all, current events." Slendy began.
Celstia raised an eyebrow. Luna coughed, and Discord laughed. "Of course you are. What less could we expect from you?" The God of Chaos laughed.
Slendy did not say anything. Instead, he turned to Celestia and Luna.
"I found a few things that interested me in particular. The closest, and possibly most dangerous, to us are the Crystal Caverns. After doing some basic investigating, I found that 20 years ago there had been problems with a soul-mining operation in the caves. They were sealed by the Royal guard until Chrysalis used them. The leader of the soul-mining operation told me that his group had built the rooms and binding circles there, which I would like to have completely examined by the Royal guard in a secure environment. The binding circles can be turned into summoning circles by a spell cast from a remote location, and then turned from summoning circles into portals- I highly doubt that anypony or anybeing has the knowledge to cast such a spell, but I recommend that the circles are destroyed as soon as possible. And the final thing that I found, the thing that worries me the most, is a metal door, buried into the rock at the lowest level of the caverns. I cannot pass through it, and it seems utterly impenetrable. If possible, I would like a permanent guard and monitoring station set up on the outside of the door to monitor it at all times, staffed by scientists, guards, and magicians."
The trio had listened to Slendy as he spoke, and now asked questions.
Discord began the questions. "Hmm, and how, exactly, did you manage to read an entire country's worth of books within a day?"
Slendy told him about the absorption spell. Discord began laughing again.
Luna spoke up. “Discord, shut it. Slenderman, these binding circles; how would we disable them?"
Slendy thought. "Simple. A reverse binding spell preformed within the circle would effectively destroy the circle magically, well still leaving the circles physically untouched in case of use in the future." Luna seemed satisfied by this answer. "And Princess, I will need your help for use in helping the foal, Shine."
'Luna nodded. "Of course Slenderman, whatever I can do."
Celestia spoke next. "This...door you spoke of. Any idea on what it is, who made it, or why it exists?"
Slendy shook his head. "I honestly have no idea what it is or who created it. I don't even have any theories. All reason and logic says it shouldn't be there- it was never been mentioned in any manuscrpits in the library or the mining records."
Celestia looked thoughtful.
Slendy stood, watching her for any signs of comprehension. She didn't show any.
"Are there any other questions for me? If not, I wish that you could come here tomorrow at 0800 hours. I have to speak with you all about a possible team for my use."
Celestia and Discord looked at each other. "We will be there." Discord said. He then snapped his fingers, a smile on his face, and Celestia and him disappeared.
Slendy raised an eyebrow that nopony could see. He then turned to Luna.
"Luna, thank you for your help. I suggest that we get this over with as soon as possible so that you can go back to your duties and I to mine. I appreciate your help."
Luna smiled. "Of course Slenderman, anytime. Shall we go?"
Slendy let himself sink into the darkness, and pulled Luna with him. They appeared in a hospital waiting room. The receptionists on duty started, looking up and letting out small screams of surprise as a tall pony in a suit and the princess of the night appeared in their waiting room.
Slendy turned to them. "We are here to speak with the doctor who oversees Shine Gallizn."
The receptionist stared at him, then blinkered and went to work.
"Um, yes, err, that would be Doctor...Doctor Heartfast. He should be in his office now. Would you like me to take you to him?" The receptionist asked kindly, using the same voice that she had used for twenty three years in her job.
Slendy nodded his head in confirmation. "All right, then. Right this way, please." The receptionist walked towards a pair of double doors that led deeper into the hospital.
The waiting room had been lightly furnished, with benches and fake plants, and one window overlooking a small town. The hallway was stark in comparison, filled with various magical and technological machines. Hospital gurneys lined the hallways as well, and the hallway was a bright white, lit by bright lights.
Doors led off from the hallway, each a different room number or sometimes a title such as "Radiology, Potions, Pharmaceuticals, Lab. The receptionist led them past each of these until they turned a corner and came to a small, old pony wearing a lab coat. He was outside of a room, writing on a levitating notebook. He looked up as they approached. "Er, may I help you?" The doctor asked kindly, smiling very slightly.
Luna took over. "Yes, I am Princess Luna, and this is Slenderman. We wish to speak with you about one of your patients." She explained in remarkable detail what Slendy had said earlier in the evening. The doctor's face fell as he listened. At the end, he spoke.
"Absolutely not. No way, no how. I'm sorry, but that patient is much too fragile to allow for any sort of procedure without complete isolation of her sub-systems and synopsis. And even if you think you can do that as you say you can, I don't think that you can. End of discussion."
Slendy stepped forward, his entire body beginning to change. Luna put up her hoof. "No." she whispered quietly to him.
A pony suddenly cleared their throat from behind the group. "Err, excuse me, but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation." The entire group turned to face the newcomer.
A young pony with a red coat and green and red mane stood in a lab coat and crooked glasses hung off of his nose.
"I'm Danny Goodmane. I, uh, I'm a newly graduated medical student, PhD. I think, Doctor, that what he says is actually possible. It's theoretical, of course, but it is possible..."
The doctor looked horrified by this newcomer. One of his own type, turning against him! And a highly educated one, no less! The doctor sputtered in surprise.
"I—Well— Never have I— My Goodness—"
The newcomer, Danny, introduced himself to Slendy and Luna as the doctor sputtered.
"Er, hello. I'm Danny. I've heard a lot about you, Princess. And Slenderman, I overheard Luna describing your plan. It's very good, actually. Your understanding of metaphysical connections with synopsis is quite impressive, actually. I don't think that my instructor would be able to improve upon it." He flashed them a grin that had melted many a mare's hearts.
"Thank you, Danny." Slendy said, a little put off by the completely outgoing personality that the young doctor gave off.
Meanwhile, Doctor Heartfast recovered his ability to speak coherently.
"I-I don't know who you are, but I think that if this young doctor says your right, then who am I to argue?" The doctor spoke sarcastically, walking off down the hallway. Slendy and Luna looked at each other, thinking about the doctor's words. Even if they were meant sarcastically, they technically gave permission... They ran into the room, where a small filly with a gold coat and a orange mane lay, looking as if she was asleep. The room had only a chair next to the bed, besides the many lengths of medical cord attached to machines sitting around the bed, beeping without any cohesive pattern. Danny followed them inside, shutting the door behind them.
"Do you two mind if I watch this?" Danny posed.
Luna and Slendy told him they didn't.
"And Danny, please meet me in the Canterlot throne room at 0800 hours tomorrow." Slendy said, almost as an afterthought.
Then, he blocked out everything but the filly, Luna, and himself. She looked up, and smiled at him. "Are you ready?" she asked, still smiling.
He told her, "Yes. What I need you to do is keep her mentally entertained and emotionally stable in her dreams well I do the change in her brain. It is a delicate operation, and any sudden change in blood flow or neurons could upset the entire operation."
Luna nodded. "I understand."
Slendy nodded. "Setting up the void now." Slendy let his magic extend from himself, and let it flow around Luna. For a moment he felt she would resist and that the same thing that had happened to Shining Armor would happen to her. For a millisecond, she resisted. Then, her rational thinking took over and she accepted him. Their magics became one, and they worked in unison.
After an hour, the operation was complete. Luna and the filly had gotten to know one another very well, sitting in a meadow and talking about everything. When Luna said it was time to wake up, the filly shook her head. "I don't want to, Ms. Luna. I want to stay here and talk to you!" They both smiled.
"And we shall continue to talk; but in Canterlot and over a delicious dessert. Right now, you must wake up."
The filly yawned. "Okay." She smiled, and closed her eyes.
Slendy and Luna found themselves in the same position that they had been in before around the filly's bed. Both felt tired, Luna more than Slendy. Danny still sat looking at the two. He jumped up when he saw them both come to.
"How did it go?" He asked, concerned and curious at the same time.
"Very well; she will wake tomorrow. Right now, she needs to sleep. Regain her strength." Slendy looked up from the Filly's face, and into Danny's. "Danny, I expect to see you at Canterlot at O-eight hundred, Throne room. Yes?"
Danny looked confused, but nodded.
"Luna, thank you for your help, but I must be going." Slendy said, turning to Luna.
She smiled. "Of course, Slenderman; I will speak with you soon." With that, both Slendy and Luna disappeared; Luna to the dreamworld and Slendy to his room in the Castle. He stepped out of his room and asked Stormcatcher to be in the Throne room at 0800. The guard nodded.
Slendy closed his door, and used his darkness to pull up record books on the three who he had asked to join him in the Throne room tomorrow. Stormcatcher was a Lt, and was young- only 21. He had a clean record, and had been nominated many times for brave or just thoughtful deeds that spoke of his good intentions.
Danny was a medical student, also 21. He was a PhD, as he had said, in medicine. Both his parents were farmers, hard working people. His dad had fought in the griffin wars. He was a bit sure of himself, but never arrogant or rude, according to a report on him by a patient.
The Warden was much more experienced. At 35, she was a well respected individual. She had served in the special forces as an archer, had been awarded medals from Celestia herself, and was born an orphan. She was loyal to
Equestria, and had served in 4 wars.
Slendy felt he had picked the right ponies to work with him as his team.