The throne room was still empty besides the guards when Slendy returned. Celestia had left, and Luna was presumably asleep. Slendy, thinking he still had a little while, disappeared to his room to finalize the speech of sorts he had created for the five individuals. It was an overview of what the job they were to be partaking in if they accepted his request to join him as a sort of close advisory committee on matters such as ancient civilizations.
Slendy, not for the first time, thought over the group he had selected. The Warden was chosen for her loyalty to her troops and her bravery, not to mention her experience throughout Equestria as a warrior. Danny Goodmane as a doctor and healer. Slendy hoped that his personality would work to his advantage as well. Lyra and Bon-Bon would be important because of their historical knowledge, although he briefly worried if their relationship would affect their mission. He didn't want his advisory committee distracted.
And finally, the Lt. Stormcatcher. Slendy liked him. He was hoping to utilize him as a main troop commander when more troops were incorporated into the operations.
He was startled out of his thoughts as heard hoovesteps on the stairs leading up to his tower. Slendy looked, realizing that it was time.
The throne room was still empty, save for Slendy himself, the two guards, and Discord and Celestia. Discord was absentmindedly floating near the ceiling, upside down, drinking glasses filled with chocolate milk. Celestia sat on her throne, tiredly looking through a stack of letters. Slendy was still confused as to why she still had her student send her letters on the "Magic of Friendship." After all, there was very little to know. Love, however, was much more complex magic. Slendy wondered if Celestia had her niece, Candence, send her letters on that after the Chrysalis incident.
The first one to arrive was Lt. Stormcatcher, whose hoovesteps Slendy had assumed he had heard moment earlier, descending the steps that led to his room.
The Lt. looked at the throne room, and took in the three beings in the room. If he was suprised at Discord and Celestia's prescense, he did not show it.
Slendy nodded at him.
"Greeting, Lt. Stormcatcher. Thank you for coming. Please, have a seat."
As Slendy said this, he let part of his mind wander into the shadows, assembling a round table made of dark, twisted wood. When he was confident of it's integrity and design, Slendy allowed the shadows to form it physically. The Lt. looked at the newly appeared, dark table, and nervously looked to Celestia and Discord, who did not acknowledge his glance, or see it. The Lt. sat.
The next to arrive was the Warden. She looked almost exactly as she had the day before, with the exception of her mane trimmed in a military style. She nodded at Slendy, and sat. Her and the Lt. greeted one another, and spoke quietly about the reasons for the meeting. Neither were sure why it had been called, but their theories were not far from the truth, Slendy thought.
Danny Goodmane arrived next, dressed in a white doctors lab coat, his hair slightly tousled, his glasses still not exactly straight. He immediately walked to Slendy.
"Mr. Slenderman, good morning. I am glad to see you again so soon. What, exactly, is this meeting about, if you do not mind my asking?" The Pegasus raised his eyebrow slightly as he asked.
Slendy realized that both the Warden and the Lt. had gone quiet as he had asked.
"If you will have a seat, Doctor Goodmane, I will explain shortly." Slendy responded.
The doctor opened his mouth as if to debate, then closed it and smiled slightly, walking over to the table and sitting.
The last to arrive were Lyra and Bon-Bon. Both looked flustered.
"Er, Mr. Slenderman, our apologizes for our lateness an-" at this point Bon-Bon, who had been speaking, realized that both Discord and Celestia were present. She visibly turned a different color, somewhere between blushing and whitening. Lyra spoke up.
"Your highnesses! We, er, we are honored to be in your presence!" Lyra bowed, then pulled a still staring Bon-Bon into a bow.
Celestia stood. "Please, do not bow. You are welcome here as guests. As for lateness, it is only 8:01. You are quite on-time."
As she said this, the goddess of the sun threw Slendy a glance as if to tell him to tell him not to mention the time. Slendy nodded. He had not intended to.
He spoke. "If you both would please have a seat?" Lyra and Bon-Bon did so.
Slendy, Celestia, and Dicord followed suit.
Slendy spoke.
"I have called the five of you here to ask for your help. I have been tasked with Head of Magical Security for the Sovereign State of Equestria. My job is to find and if necessary eliminate magical threats to Equestria. As I am sure all of you have noticed, in the past year or so threats to the state have rapidly progressed in size, scale, and power. This has often been due to magical artifacts or civilizations such as the Alicorn Amulet, Chrysalis, and King Sombra. "
Slendy looked around the table, noting looks of understanding among all of the ponies.
He continued. "The Office of Magical Security's jobs will be diverse. We will research ancient objects and artifacts, lost civilizations, and modern threats to Equestrian life. We will, if necessary, eliminate threats. We will also be a scientific force, and will send out expeditions to search for objects or places of interest."
"Each of you have been selected for a reason. Doctor Goodmane, you will head the Office's medical staff. There will be advancements in medicine through this program, and our forces will no doubtedly need to be treated after operations. Lyra and Bon-Bon, you will head the Historical Research division of the office, and be in charge of research of objects and civilizations. Warden, Lt., I will need military officers to oversee both operations and the office itself. Warden, I would like you too stay with the standing forces in Canterlot and oversee them. Lt., you will be commanding officer when operations are organized. You two will switch positions as the need arises."
Celestia spoke. "You all may, of course, turn down the positions. I would hope that you do not. As of now, the office does not have any members other than yourselves. This would change quickly if and hopefully when you are all added to the Office. I have already found many ponies to fill positions in the Office."
Slendy nodded. She had told him of this the night before when he had gotten back from the surgery and explained to her and Discord what he had been planning.
Suddenly, Slendy felt another presence in the room. Startled, he disappeared into the shadows before anypony could notice, searching for the presence. Once he actually looked, Slendy was sure there was another being in the room, one that was not supposed to be there. Whoever it was, they were masking themselves very well. But not well enough.
Within a millisecond, Slendy had found the being and brought them into the physical world, tentacles wrapped around the being, two sharpened and pointing right at the neck of a very surprised and very scared Twilight Sparkle.
Slendy gazed at the startled Alicorn in his tendrils for a second before letting her go.
Meanwhile, the guards had rushed forward, spears at the ready. Celestia and Discord had become very alert, and both were staring at the new arrival.
Twilight lay surrounded by the spears, Slendy looking at her, and shivered.
Celestia spoke. "Twilight?! What in Equestria are you doing?"
Twilight stood slowly, bowing her head. "I was just— I was— I'm sorry!" Twilight hung her head, looking as if she were going to cry.
Clestia stepped forward, put a hoof to her chin, and looked Twilight in the face. "It's okay. I just want to know what you were doing."
Slendy made sure all of his normality filters were up, and looked at the others. The five sitting at the table looked relatively shocked, but were smart enough not to speak. Discord seemed to be hiding a smile, and the guards had hastily backed away from Twilight.
"I'm- I'm sorry, princess. I just was surprised and a little hurt that you didn't tell me about Slenderman. I came to see him and ask him about what he was, but he wasn't in his room. And then I saw this meeting going on, and cast a masking spell and slipped in. I just wanted to know what was going on...I thought it might be a test for a new apprentice because now I'm a princess...I'm sorry." Twilight's head dropped again, and Slendy thought he saw a tear leak out of her eye.
He cursed himself for not thinking. The castle was massive, and it would have taken the Lt. a long time to get to the throne room. There was no way he could have walked down the steps when Slendy had heard him AND have gotten to the throne room so fast.
Celestia smiled. "It's okay, Twilight. I'm sorry for not telling you, I have just been busy with recent events. And the masking spell was incredibly powerful, by the way. I had no idea you were there."
Twilight looked up, and smiled a little. "I really am sorry."
Slendy spoke. "It was very powerful, Ms. Sparkle. I almost did not notice it. If you did not have another job, I would accept you on the Office as the lead scientist."
Twilight's ears perked up. "Really? That would be—" She seemed to remember her other job as a researcher of the magic of friendship. Celestia saw this.
"Twilight, actually, I could use you to work with Slendy as a researcher. You would work three weeks at the Office, and one week with your friends on the Magic of Friendship, a very demanding schedule. But, if you thought you were up to it..."
Twilight smiled. "I think I might be."