Slendy, poor ol' Slendy. Stalking the Everfree Forest for 10,000 year can take a toll on both your memory and your spirit. But now, a favorite trio has decided to show up to make things a little more intresting. AN: R and R! A (now not so short)
Slendy, poor ol' Slendy. Stalking the Everfree Forest for 10,000 years can take a toll on both your memory and your spirit. But now, a favorite trio has decided to show up to make things a little more interesting. ART: Trinityinyang on DA- AMAZING WORK! Thanks! Editing: TechSavii- Great job, can't do it without you. Thanks for your help!
Slendy, all he ever wanted was a good home, nice friends, maybe some food. He never wanted to hurt anypony, he’d just wanted to talk to them, and to help them out of the Everfree forest if they lost their way, but whenever they saw him, they would always turn and run.
The only friend he’s ever had was a pet timber wolf named Fluffy. Although Fluffy was a very stereotypical dog name, Slendy felt the name fit the large, overpowered Timber Wolf. He didn't know why; it just felt… right.
Slendy was stalking around the forest, near the border of the Old Castle when he sensed a disturbance. The Old Castle was the original place of rule for Celestia, Luna, and even Discord.
Looking around, Slendy quickly moved into the nearest shadow, which happened to be under the castle wall. Letting himself fall into the shadows, Slendy traveled to the highest shadow; the shadow of the north wall at the top of the Lost Tower. This tower wasn't really lost, just very high up, not to mention old, and dangerous to get to. When he got there, he saw a sight that he had not seen in a very long time.
The two royal sisters and Discord were flying towards the Castle. The last time he had seen the trio together, they had been locked in mortal combat against one another. This night, however, there were no screams of anguish or bright flashes of light as magic flew, destroying the shadows in which Slendy resides; this time, there was only the quite sound of wings.
As the trio approached, their voices pierced the shroud of the night and the peace of the shadows.
Slendy hear Luna speak first. "He's not going to be here! Even if he is, how would we convince him to come out?"
"Not only that, sister, he is more powerful, not to mention much more ancient all of us- Yes, even you, Discord." Celestia said, giving Discord a look of mild annoyance.
"Now, yes, but—" Discord began.
"No buts, Discord. I'm still not quite sure why you dragged us all the way out here. This place- it gives me the shivers." Celestia shuddered, completely unaware of the creature listening in from the shadows.
Slendy remembered the way the three had used to bicker like this, before the craziness happened. They had all just been fillies.
"Discord, no magic! That isn't fair!" Celestia laughed as she flew from Discord, who vainly attempted to catch her.
"Well, you're using your wings!" he countered.
"But I'M a MARE! We mustn’t get dirty!" Celestia mimicked the voice of an older mare that was currently asleep under a tree. None of the beings noticed Slendy watching from the shadows of a massive tree.
"Cece, can you come and pwa wif me?" Luna whined, tired of waiting on the ground next to the old mare, who was supposed to be a guardian and teacher to the two royal sisters. She served more as a nanny, or grandma, then someone who could actually lay down rules of any sort.
"Lulu, come on. Let mean ol' Celestia fly around and I'LL show you how to fly like a real Drag- Alicorn." The young Luna laughed and put out her arms.
Discord swopped down to pick her up, but Celestia was there first. "No way, Discord! My sister, my teachings!"
Discord smirked. "Oh really? Well, how can you teach her when you're in underwater?" Celestia suddenly found herself underneath the surface of a nearby pond.
She struggled to the top, she yelled at the top of her lungs, "Discord! Now you're in for it!"
The memory faded as the now adult trio flew by the tower for the second time. "Discord, can you explain NOW why you brought us both out here on a chase for a ancient myth when I should be dream-walking?" Luna complained.
"Well, I was going through your big library and found a book of ancient Myths. I mean myths older than equestrian, even older than us." Discord explained.
"Yes? And?" Celestia questioned.
"And, if you'll let me get to it," Discord clearly enjoyed the feeling of power over the two frustrated mares, "I found a myth. It was about a being that was called Slender Man. This being walked through the shadows, watching and stalking all those that dared enter his reign. The myth didn't elaborate, just said that he was created ‘in the time when the Sapiens created him.’ I have no idea what that means."
Slendy blocked out everything else and thought.
Yes, he could remember a very long time ago, when there were no ponies but horses, ones that couldn't talk. He remembered running- no, being carried by somepony, or someone rather. They were running. There were cracks of gunfire overhead, and yells to Stop. Whoever was holding him didn't. Slendy remembered looking around and briefly seeing several other shapes running into the darkness. Then everything just went black. Suddenly he was at peace.
Pulling himself back into the present, Slendy remembered all those millennia ago when a human had carried him out of a laboratory along with several other ‘specimens’; the origin of ponykind. Those had repopulated, and the humans had killed themselves by that time through other means. He couldn't remember what, but it didn't really matter.
Despite remembering this Slendy couldn't remember where the Alicorns and Discord had come from…maybe last ditch efforts to re-start the program that had created him and the first of the other ponies? It didn't matter. And for the first time in almost 10,000 years, Slendy stepped out from the shadows.
The reaction from the trio was immediate. "Who goes there?" Luna shouted, as she suddenly became aware of a presence that had recently been hidden.
"Come out or we will—" Celestia said, before being cut off by Discord.
"What Celestia? What would we do?"
"Shut up, both of you. I feel something." Luna said, breaking them up, although she couldn’t help but notice the look Celestia shot at Discord just as she started to look towards this creature.
Slendy spoke for the first time in 10,000 years. "I am here."
The only thought as the trio rounded on him, gaping, was what he was going to do with Fluffy.
As it turned out, ponies REALLY don't like timber wolves. They seemed to think they are bloodthirsty monsters that live only for blood and dead ponies. This view of Timberwolves shocked Slendy. They had to hunt to survive! It was not out of hate or malice— just nature. The other side of Timberwolves was kind and gentle. Slendy had watched Timberwolves rear their young over a span of 100 years before the young transitioned into full blooded Timberwolves. They mother and father Timberwolves would watch over their young just as close and loving as anypony. Slendy was aghast that anypony would think of them as bloodthirsty monsters. All they wanted to do was to live.
So, subsequently, finding a home for Fluffy was more than difficult. In the end, the royal sisters decided to allow Fluffy to stay with Slendy in the castle at Canterlot.
After talking for the first time in 10,000 years, Slendy had startled the trio of "gods". But after about a minute of uncomfortable silence, Celestia had been the first to speak.
"Good heavens, you're— you're REAL!"
"Of course he's real, Cece, I told you he was." Discord attempted to hide his excitement by yawning. Slendy was not convinced.
"Wh- Slenderman? Um, uh," Clestia stuttered at the unexpected being in front of her, Discord grinned, and Luna spoke.
"Slenderman, Greetings. We are the rulers of Equestria. I am Luna, Goddess of the Night. This is Celestia, my sister, Goddess of the day and sun. And that," Luna gestured at Discord, "is the god of Chaos, Discord."
Discord bowed. "How ever do you do this lovely evening?"
Slendy knew who they were. He had watched them grow up, watched every moment of their lives together. But he had never talked to them. He had never though he would.
"Greetings, ponies. I am Slenderman. Why did you seek me out?" Slenderman attempted to keep a straight head. He had no idea what to do from here on- 10,000 years really did a number on your social skills.
"Well, Slenderman, Discord thinks we need a new security chief— one that can be permanent, somepony that can work in the background, the shadows, not be seen or heard. Somepony that is immortal, powerful. Someone like you." Luna.
"Yes, that is what I said, isn't it? Funny. I thought that you would look more…intimidating." Discord.
Slenderman did not say anything. He thought.
"Slenderman, in recent years we have seen a increase in attacks on Equestria and the re-surfacing of objects far more ancient than us, and much more powerful. These objects are dangerous, and sometimes we can't handle them. Nor can the elements of harmony. Not only that, none of us can go around the whole of Equestria looking for ancient objects and threats. We can't detect them, and we can't travel fast enough. Discord can only teleport to place he's been, and we can't fly much faster than a normal Pegasus. You, we're not sure- the legends Discord has told us about have been pretty sparse on your exact powers, but they say that you're a being of immense energy that can appear anywhere in a second where there is darkness, see everything in and near shadows, and command the dead." Celestia.
Two of those last parts were true.
They were very foreword with their requests. Not making small talk, not asking "How are you?" Just business.
He guessed it was to be expected. They knew nothing of him, just that he was an ancient being of immense power. They didn't know that he knew them.
Before he could continue, he heard a whine.
Looking down, he saw Fluffy pawing nervously at the bottom of the tower. Thinking about Fluffy, thinking about the ponies that were always afraid of him, thinking of things that had come and gone. He remembered the loneliness, the want for companionship, adventure, to help other beings. Now was a chance to use the things that made him himself for a greater good, a common purpose.
Looking up at the trio, he again spoke. "Okay. I will do it."
The trio had been surprised by his reaction to their request. They had though that it would take a lot to make him trust them- if they were indeed able to find him. Instead, he acted as if he already trusted them, and agreed to what they asked- on one condition, of course. Fluffy had to come with him, or go to a safe place.
"Excellent! Well, I shall see you back at the castle!" Celestia said.
"I must get back to my duties. I look forward to seeing you, Slenderman." Luna mentioned.
"I still don't think you're as intimidating as I expected you to be." Discord expressed.
The three went silent for a second, looking at one another as if to say that the other could continue. Eventually, Celestia took charge.
"Alright Luna, you can get back to work. I'll go back to Canterlot and begin the preparations for Slenderman's housing and…whatever else it is that he will need. Discord, stay with Slenderman and help him with whatever he needs to move from his current place of rest. Oh Slenderman, by the way, what exactly do you need, besides a bed and place of residing? Are there any types of books you would like, or a fireplace? Perhaps servants or a specific kind of food would be appreciated?"
Slendy thought. He had never really had a designated place to reside. He had a few, so that when he was deep in the forest he wouldn't need to be back to a certain place at a certain time. His favorite and most frequented was a cave with an ancient tree growing out of it.
As for possessions and needs, Slendy did not need to eat, or rather he had never been hungry before. There was simply no need for food or sustenance as long as he was near darkness. The only possessions that he had were curiosities found in his travels. Other than that, he had no need for comforts or luxuries.
Looking directly into the eyes of Celestia, Slendy spoke. "I have no particular needs. A place of relative darkness, preferably one of complete darkness which is sheltered from the elements would be acceptable. Books on ancient artifacts and any other types of information that you could provide for my task would be greatly appreciated."
Celestia shivered, as if Slendy's look made her cold. "I will have this for you. Thank you, Slenderman. I will see you soon." With that, Celestia disappeared in a flash of magical light that Slendy found uncomfortable, leaving only Luna and Discord.
Luna looked at Slendy. "Once again, I look forward to seeing you, Slenderman. You are always welcome with me." She winked, and disappeared similar to Celestia.
Discord was silent for a second, then, he started to talk. "Well, my new friend, this will most certainly be interesting. The god of chaos, the goddess of the sun and the goddess of the moon, and a ancient being of unknowable power living together and ruling over a magical kingdom full of ponies and dangerous ancient artifacts. Ooh, I am sensing chaos coming on!" Discord continued to talk, but Slendy only half listened. He was thinking.
If he was going to do as the princesses asked, he would need information on what he was looking for. He would need to speak with those who understood ancient magic's and devices. He would need to speak with the current security chief, which he assumed that the sisters had, about direct threats.
Slendy had seen battles before; they were always bloody, full of sadness and death. Oddly enough, most took place on sunny, beautiful days and brightly moonlit nights. He knew and understood strategy after seeing so many battles take place in the Everfree Forest, the armies of Celestia and Luna against those of Discord, the battles between the sister’s armies, the battles between primitive creatures, the battles between ancient tribes and factions of long forgotten religions and tribes.
Abruptly, Discords ramblings cut to a stop. This caught Slendy's attention. Turning, he looked at the god of Chaos. The god looked much more serious, for some reason. He looked much more….dangerous.
"Slenderman, I've felt the presence that I'm feeling now before, throughout my life. I could never place it, but now I can. It is your presence. I'm not sure how, but you know us more than we know you."
Slendy didn't respond.
"I will find out where you came from, and I will understand how you know us." The seriousness suddenly left Discord, who went back to his normal, playful self. "Now, shall we go get your stuff?"
Slendy nodded.
By the time Slendy had collected his belongings, the sun had begun to rise. Slenderman did not mind the sun; it provided a different type of darkness than true darkness: shadows. He could travel and live just as well in shadows as he could in true or partial darkness.
His belongings consisted of a piece of paper that he had found in some forgotten language, partially translated by Slendy to "Nuke in San Francisco; UN calls for—", the skull of an Ursa Major, a staff that radiated power, and Fluffy, if Fluffy could be called a possession. Gathering these items had not taken long, but he decided to make Discord leave for an hour to allow Slendy to do something. Discord was not pleased by this.
"Slenderman, I will be back in ONE HOUR! Please be ready by then." Then, under his breath, "I wonder what Pinkie and Fluttershy are doing?" before snapping his fingers and disappearing.
Slendy quickly let himself fall into the shadows and searched for Discord soul. More accurately, he was searching for the shadow of Discord’s soul. There was nothing that any being could do to mask or hide the shadow of their soul. Slendy saw nothing.
Coming back to the physical world, Slendy got to work. First, Slendy spun the surrounding shadows of the cave together to make the cave entrance completely dark. Then, Slendy molded the surrounding trees around the entrance of the cave, blocking it completely from anything. As a final measure of security, Slendy cast a mist around the cave. The mist acted as a deterrent against anything intelligent. It was very simple; the instant an intelligent being entered the mist, a feeling of unease and that of being watched set in. Then, illusions and shadows would begin to appear in the corners of victims eyes. If the victims had not already run, the deepest part of the mist added a primal feeling of terror.
This took Slendy about ten minutes; after he was done, he moved on to his next hiding place until all were hidden and safe from unwanted visitors.
Just in time, Slendy traveled back to his cave to meet Discord, who was standing just outside the mist, looking more than a little uncomfortable. When Slendy stepped out of the shadows, he screamed. Slendy smiled inwardly, knowing his spells were working, even against the god of chaos.
"My apologies, Discord. I did not mean to startle you." Slendy apologized, although knowing that his trap had worked.
"Um, o-of course not. You didn't startle me, I just was seeing if I could scream like a little filly. Shall we go?" Discord explained, Slendy clearly not buying it.
"Of course," Slendy said, "lead the way, I shall follow."
Discord turned and snapped his fingers. Slendy watched, feeling as if Discord was attempting to test him, or more likely get back at him for the startle he had given Discord a few seconds earlier. Slendy fell into the shadows and, pulling Fluffy along with him, and followed Discord's soul.
The three beings appeared in the throne room of Celestia. There was only a heavily armored pony and Celestia in the massive room. Slendy appeared right behind the armored pony that was facing Celestia at the moment. Discord appeared next to her.
"My princess, I do not think that bringing in an ancient being of power that rivals your own is a good idea!"
"Shining Armor, I need another set of eyes and muscle. Your guards are no longer enough for the safety of the Kingdom, at least, when it comes to ancient artifacts and forgotten beings." Celestia retorted.
"Your highness, I understand. But bringing a shadow being into Canterlot would be a horrible idea! If they could get by my defenses, magical and otherwise, they are much too powerful to be around you." Shining Armor complained, knowing he was in an argument he could not win.
"Why?" Slendy asked.
The heavily armored pony, Shining Armor, turned faster than Slendy thought possible for a pony. He found himself looking into Slendy's eyes. The pony didn't say anything, just let out a low scream of utter terror.
"Wh- Who are you?"
"I am Slenderman. Greetings. I mean you no harm."
Shining Armor stopped backing up, and while still looking terrified, stood a little straighter. "You? You're the new one, the head of security?"
"No, not yet, I have much to learn and understand before I take that role. But, if you will teach me about threats to the kingdom and the princesses, someday I will fill that role."
Shining Armor shook his head, breaking eye contact with Slendy. Almost immediately, whatever had come over him quickly went away. He regained himself before continuing to speak.
"Okay, well then. I will— I will train you. As well as I can." Shining Armor gave in.
"Good. Then that shall be done." Celestia interjected. "Slenderman, I shall have one of the guard escort you to your room. It is in the tallest tower, if that is alright with you. It overlooks the entirety of the seeable land. It is filled with the books you requested, a fireplace, a carpet, and a bed. There are places for torches, but only if you want them. If you need anything, I will be happy to help. Just tell one of the guards stationed outside your door."
Slendy nodded, then felt a nuzzle on his right side. Without looking, he knew it was Fluffy.
"IS THAT A TIMBERWOLF?!" Shining Armor exclaimed, finally noticing the creature that had been standing off to the side.
"Yes, it is. His name is Fluffy." Slendy said.
Shining Armor was startled by that matter of fact reaction. "Oh. Well, uh, um, is he…safe?"
"Of course he is. He is trained, and will stay with me, no matter what." Slendy spoke softly, almost offhand.
"Alright then; I guess it's okay for him to be here?" Shining Armor said, looking at Celestia for guidance. She nodded.
A few minutes later, Slendy was being guided up a long flight of stairs by a pony dressed in golden armor. The guard looked nervous.
"Guard, what is your name?" Slendy asked.
The guard stiffened and gulped. "Stormcatcher, sir. I'm Lt. Stormcatcher."
Slendy nodded. "Greetings, Lt. Stormcatcher. I am Slenderman. Will you be guarding my quarters?"
The guard continued to walk, but nodded.
"Stormcatcher, are you afraid of the dark?" Slendy questioned.
The lights in the area flickered slightly.
"Yes sir. Yes, I am." The Lieutenant replied.
Slendy was quiet. He felt only sadness for a second. Then, he realized something.
"Stormcatcher, you are honest. You admit to fear. This is good. We will change your aversion to the dark. Soon, you will realize its beauty."
The guard did not answer; rather he opened a door to a rather darkened area. "Sir, here is your room."
Slendy nodded. "Thank you, Stormcatcher. I will speak with Celestia about you." Slendy then walked into his new room, Fluffly along side.
The room was… odd, at least to Slendy. A bed, a fireplace, a shelf full of books, all tied together with a beautiful carpet.
Maps lined the walls, all full of geographic and political information. Most of the maps were full, save one; it was completely blank. A note hung from it.
Slenderman, I left this map for you to fill out. When you come across something of interest to you, you can put it here. I will speak with you soon. –Luna.
Slenderman looked at the note for a few seconds, then turned and walked towards the bed. He knew what beds were, but had only slept twice in his long existence. It was not something that he was interested in repeating. There are things in the shadows of dreams that are more powerful and ancient than any creature in any universe; when they sensed a being like him they flocked to it like moths to a flame.
Besides the other items in the room, there was a desk with a pencil, pen, and various rolls of parchment sitting on it. Slendy took it all in, than he sunk into the shadows.
He examined the room from the shadows. All of a sudden the room became much more comfortable; the bed looked more appealing and safe, the fire warmer, and the maps more comforting.
Slendy had never lived in a small area, and so had never been able to have such a concentrated area of darkness before. His cave had been much larger. An idea struck him.
Slendy let tendrils of shadow begin to float into the lit room. If anypony had been standing in the room, they would have found darkness begin to swirl around them, before the lights went out. The fire's light disappeared, and everything became pitch black.
Slendy slowly made the room dark, not semi dark, but pitch black. The fire's warmth was still there and Slendy could feel and see everything clearly. It made him feel secure and safe in a way he never had before. Fluffy, used to Slendy's unusual spells and overwhelming darkness, did not bat an eye.
Deciding to continue the spell work, Slendy wove in defenses, ancient things that were particular and complex, letting in only allies and in a sense removing the room's physical existence from the physical realm, a sort of pocket universe. Thinking again, Slendy wove in one last strain, this one cold and hard. It was one of the most powerful spells Slendy could imagine. It was to keep the Dream Beings out of the pocket dimension, although he wasn't sure if it would work completely.
Whether he would actually sleep or not, Slendy did not yet know. He just liked knowing that he could if he wanted or needed to. He then put down the few items he had brought with him from his cave.
Finally, the room completed, Slendy stopped his magic. He looked around, and suddenly felt lonely, despite the massive Timberwolf laying on the ground next to him.
He could sense the guards presence outside the room, but it did nothing to push away the feeling or overwhelming sadness.
Slendy quickly fell into the shadows, and without thinking drifted to a spot physically near him. He was startled to find himself under stars and the moon, in the center of what seemed to be a large garden. In front of him, surrounded on all sides by tall hedges laced with almost untraceable hints of magic, was a large stone circular clearing full of symbols representing the Moon and Sun. On one side was a stone stage to which a ramp leading up to. The stage was the size of a pony. It was decorated with carvings of the sun and sunrise.
Directly across from the sun stage was an identical stage, save that it was decorated with symbols of the moon and moonrise. On this stage, Luna stood, concentrating on the sky. Slendy had appeared in the center of the clearing. Luna had not noticed him, and he wanted to keep it that way. He cloaked himself with shadows. It Luna had concentrated, she would have sensed him, but for now she was interested in other things.
She seemed to be looking directly at the moon. Her horn was lightly sounded by dark blue magic that seemed to be filled with little stars that sparkled. Slendy noticed that they looked remarkably similar to the ones on Luna's mane.
Falling into the shadows, Slendy attempted to sense the flow of magic coming from Luna's horn. It flowed directly towards the moon, and seemed to be focused on a certain area of the moon. Slendy decided he would ask her later what she was doing. Until then, he pulled himself back into the physical world, appearing at the bottom of the moon stage's ramp.
An hour later, Luna finally stopped her magic. Almost immediately, she spun, her horn charged and a look of surprise and fear on her face. When she saw Slendy, she almost immediately calmed, but Slendy had seen the look of terror. And it saddened him.
"Slenderman! I did not see you, you startled me! How long have you been standing there?" Luna.
"Not long, Princess. I was just exploring and the shadows brought me here. I take it this is where you and you're sister raise and lower the moon and sun?" Slendy examined the stage more carefully.
"Um, y-yes. We built this place for a bit of formality. Most ponies can't find it; we've laced it with illusion magic to help keep unwanted ponies out. Of course, I take it that doesn't work on you?" Luna replied.
Slendy chuckled, which sounded surprisingly normal to Luna. "No, your highness, your magic does not seem to affect me."
"Yes." There was a moment of silence.
"You're night is remarkable tonight, Princess, one of your more spectacular ones, although when you went through your phase as Nightmare Moon your nights were breathtaking as well." Slendy said.
Luna blushed. "I didn't think anypony paid my nights any attention! And…you know about that?"
"Of course I did. I might have been away from civilization, but I could still feel when powerful magic is released. One such time was when you and your sister fought. I investigated and found out the story. I was very sorry for you and your sister’s loss and marveled at the perseverance you both showed through that difficult time."
"Thank you..?" Luna said, sounding more like a question than a statement of thanks.
"My pleasure." Slendy said, not noticing the difference in Luna’s tone.
There was another long moment of silence, through which Slendy walked to the middle of the circle.
"Princess, was it lonely on the moon?" Slendy asked.
"Slenderman, with all due respect, I'd rather not speak about it; at least not now."
Slenderman turned, startled. "Of course your highness; my apologies for my bluntness." Slendy.
Yet another moment of silence as neither party knew what to say.
"But it was very lonely." Quickly, Luna continued. "Why did you come to see me, Slenderman, may I help you?"
Slenderman thought for a moment. "No, not at all. I just came exploring and happened to find you. Although I must ask, how can I be head of security when the troops I need to command will fear me?"
Luna frowned. "I…I do not know. The personal troops that I have were chose on a personal basis over a period of many years. I trust them with my life, and they in turn entrust me with theirs."
Slendy nodded. "Then I shall seek out troops." Slendy gave Luna a searching glance, under which Luna visibly shivered. "Goodbye, Princess." Slendy sunk into the shadows and disappeared.
The dark is such a beautiful place. So full of hope, dreams not yet encountered; things to be discovered. Why did others not understand this?
Slendy sighed. He brought himself back to the physical world with reluctance, and appeared on top of a tree sitting in the middle of a village. He could sense and smell something old- the Everfree Forrest- nearby. Looking around, Slendy felt a great many beings nearby, two of them inside of the tree.
Appearing inside the tree-building, Slendy found himself in a library. He began to look through the books absently, deciding on wither to speak with the two other beings in the tree house. In the end, he decided to wake them. He needed to speak with somepony, and no place better to start with the one that was supposedly Celestia's apprentice.
Slendy stomped his hoof against the floor, and darkness spread from it like tendrils of some long forgotten beast of the deep. The tendrils moved into the bookshelves, absorbing knowledge from the books. Two of the tendrils moved into other rooms, branching off into more tendrils as they moved into new rooms. After about a minute, Slendy recalled all but one of the tentacles. The last remaining tendril moved up the stairs and into another room, where two beings, a pony and a dragon, slept. The tendril swirled around the room, absorbing fallen books and stacked books, seeping into cracks and corners, exploring the room. Finally, the tendril finished and moved towards a particularly large stack of books. The tendril suddenly became very much solid, and hit the books with a rather large amount of force. Just as suddenly, the tendril withdrew to Slendy. Slendy stood in the center of the Library, waiting.
Twilight woke with a start to find Spike awake and looking at her and her pile of books on princess-y stuff and proper manners lying around where they should have been hap-hazard stacked.
"Spike, can you close the window?" she groaned, rolling over.
"Erm, Twi? It's not open." Spike said, a look of fear approaching his features.
"Well, what knocked over the books then, little fairies? Ugghh… I'm awake now anyway, I'm going to go get a drink."
Twilight got out of bed, walking towards the stairs. Spike briefly nodded and rolled over to go back to sleep.
Twilgiht descended the stairs cautiously, before thinking and almost hoofing herself in the face- why didn't she just turn on the lights with magic? She did so, momentarily blinded by the immediate light that washed over her.
Suddenly, Twilight felt as if she wasn't alone. Her head snapping up, Twilight found herself looking at the center of her Library where a slightly darker area than the surrounding areas was- and in the center of that, a pony. Twilight screamed in surprise.
Almost immediately, a quick pitter-patter of feet came across from upstairs. Spike Was then at Twilight's side, and he yelped in surprise.
Slendy stood looking at the pair in relative curiosity, not that surprised by their reactions. He gave them a moment to settle themselves. He also realized with relative surprise that Twilight had both wings and a horn and Spike was a young dragon. Interesting.
"Wh-Who are you and what do you want?!" Twilight said, her voice and body visibly shaking.
Spike moved in front of her, despite his obvious fear. "D-D-D-D-Don't hurt her!" He managed to squeak out. Slendy was surprised- he had expected the young dragon to turn and run up the stairs.
"Please, do not be alarmed. I do not wish to hurt either of you. I wish only to speak." Slendy spoke, attempting to calm the terrified pony and dragon.
"What? Who are you!?" Twilight spoke, her curiosity poking out of her fear.
"I am Slenderman. I am with Celestia, Luna, and Discord. I have come to speak with you about various matters." Slendy.
"Oh." Twilight said with a relative sigh of relief.
"Thank you. Shall we sit?"
"Erm…Yes? Yes… Yes. We shall." Twilight felt as if this stranger was the one in control in her own Library. It was not a good feeling.
"May I get you some tea, Mr. Slenderman?" Twilight asked.
Slendy shook his head. "No, thank you. I am fine."
"Erm…Ok. Wh-What can I do for you at this early hour?"
"My… apologizes for the late meeting." Slendy inwardly cursed at himself, thinking that he shouldn't have let his impatience get to him.
Twilight felt a little better after this; it meant that whatever was sitting in front of her was at least somewhat mortal.
"Um, no problem. I just wasn't expecting you." Twilight stated.
"Neither was I…" Spike grumbled.
Slendy gave him an odd look. For someone who had just been terrified, he had come around to normality quickly.
"What can I do for you, Mr. Slenderman?" Twilight asked politely.
"It is a long story."
"Please, I'm up and awake. I would love to hear it."
Slendy told her.
By the time he had finished, it was five thirty and the sun was beginning to peek over Ponyville.
"Oh. Wow. Um- that's a lot of information. I have been noticing the trends that have Celestia worried. Trixie, Chrysalis…. Maybe they're all related." Twilight mentioned.
"Who and who?" Slendy asked.
"Oh! Well, we've got a bit of catching you up to do then, don't we?" Twilight laughed.
Meeting with Shining Armor was an interesting affair. The male pony was obviously not pleased with the meeting, standing staunchly near a window where light poured in.
"Slenderman, I can tell you all I know; I can train you. I don't know if anything I do will help, but I will try. First, let us start with basic combat, shall we?"
Slendy could feel the Head of Guard shaking inside. It was obvious to Slenderman he had no interest in being present to train Slenderman.
"Of course Mr. Armor, let us begin."
Shining Armor took up position at one end of the large, empty hall that served as the training grounds, and Slendy took up position at the other.
"Now, Slenderman, I understand you know quite a bit of magic and combat skills. So, I won't go easy on you."
Slendy nodded.
Suddenly Shining Armor's horn blinked and he disappeared.
Slendy let himself fall into the shadows, and found Shining Armor about to appear next to him. He quickly moved towards the appearing pony and grabbed one of his hoofs with a dark tendril, pulling the front hoof out from under him while pushing his rear foreword. The Head of the Guard toppled over and landed on his back, two dark tendrils hanging loosely above his forehead and neck, looking very sharp.
"W-What the..? How did you..?" Shining Armor looked lost, and scared.
Slendy moved back, helping the pony to his feet.
"Um... Okay, I think we can cross combat off the list of training."
Slendy laughed. The sound echoed loosely around the room, and Shining Armor's knees buckled a little while he wished that he could be anywhere but with this creature.
A few minutes later, guards entered the room carrying stacks of books. All came and went as quickly as they could, much to the sadness of Slendy. He could sense their fear.
Shining Armor the entire time spoke to them, telling them to place this there and that here, and before long towers of books sat around the room.
"Alright Slenderman, here is the next part of this, er, training: history." Shining Armor walked over to a pile of books and levitated a massive bound book out of the middle of the pile.
Turning and without looking up, Shining Armor began to read.
"In 3907 CE of this great land, the land known as Equestria was founded by a group of tribal leaders looking to expand. These tribal leaders were known as the Great 9. They each came from far corners of the land, and each brought a different type of knowledge.
“Three of the tribes came from the plains, and were farmers. They worked with the soil and the earth. They were the Earth Ponies.
“Three other tribes came from the mountains, and knew the air and its ways. They were the Pegasi."
“Another two Tribes came from the forest. These ponies used magic to fulfill their needs, and were the Unicorns.
“The last tribe, the tribe that throughout history ruled the Great 9, were beings from Deep Underground, and were remnants of a time forgotten. Or so this last Tribe's myths said. These myths, of course, also said ridiculous things such as the planet was not hundreds of thousands of years old but millions of years old.
“This tribe was the Alicorns."
Shining Armor looked up from the book to find Slenderman nowhere to be found. He looked around in confusion, then felt the book he held with his magic disappear. Then, all of the books in the room disappeared.
Shining Armor began to feel terrified. It was not an intelligent thought, he knew, but he could not resist the fear. It was as if an ancient, forgotten instinct placed by nature had re-manifested itself, screaming ‘Run, run, run as far and as fast as you can, and never return. There is danger here.’
The lights flickered. Shining Armor began to run for the closed door at the end of the room, but abruptly his legs and hoofs began to feel heavy. He struggled, and strained, sweat rolling off of him in streams. Then, it was too much, and the last thing he saw as he blacked out was Slenderman walking forward slowly, tendrils of darkness retracting from newly appeared books.
Slendy looked down at the pony, worried. He had just finished absorbing the knowledge stored in the books. He had not thought about what type of consequences his magic might have on other beings, a foolish mistake. He quickly opened the door to the room and teleported the two guards into the room.
"Get him to a doctor. I— My magic affected him in some way."
The two guards had no way of knowing that inside of Slendy's blank white face, he was crying.
As night fell over the castle Slendy read, or more accurately, absorbed. He repeated the spell he had done with Shining Armor inside of the Canterlot Royal Library after making sure nopony was around to be hurt. He did not want to scare anypony more than he already had.
In truth, Slendy learned very little. He found more vague legends, nothing concrete, like tendrils of mist collecting around a solid surface— the truth. The hard part was getting past the mist.
After all of the books in the Canterlot Royal Library were absorbed, Slendy teleported to the Crystal Caves that Twilight had spoke to him about. He had a couple of ideas on the caves origins, but wanted to scout out the area before he brought anypony else down there.
The caves themselves were dreary and largely uninhabited. There were old mine tracks scattered throughout the caves, along with various mining equipment. Slendy could tell that caves were massive, and stretched for miles underneath the surface, twisting and turning without pattern or meaning. So instead of exploring the caves, Slendy let himself fall into the darkness and searched with his powers the entire extent of the caves. Within ten minutes, the entire cave system had been mapped by Slendy.
There were very few things of interest it seemed. Scattered throughout the cave system were carved out rooms filled with various tools; Slendy had not taken the time to search each and every one, instead opting to mark it in his head as a place to explore in person later on. There were two circles that vibrated with magic, and seemed to be portals of some sort. Slendy did the same to them as with the rooms containing the tools.
The one very interesting thing that Slendy had found was a large square door made of peculiar metal with the same strange markings as on the piece of paper he kept, the one that spoke of "Nuke in San Francisco, UN Calls For..." whatever that meant. When Slendy had tried to phase through the door, he had found himself unable to. Whatever lay beyond the door, Slendy did not know. That worried him.
Before returning to his room, Slendy appeared outside of Shining Armor's hospital room, much to the shock of the nurse attending him.
After she had finished her short yelp of fear, Slendy spoke. "Is Mr. Armor awake?" The nurse soundlessly nodded, still scared out of her mind.
Slendy thanked her softly, and walked into the room. Shining Armor lay on the hospital bed, reading a book of legends. He did not look up from the book until Slendy cleared his throat.
Shining Armor jumped, but did not completely lose control. He was getting used to Slendy, wither he liked it or not.
"Mr. Armor, I just wanted to apologize for today; I understand that I can put many ponies off. I had no idea that my absorption of knowledge would affect you so much. It will not happen again. Your help is appreciated, but I believe that it is unnecessary in terms of combat and history. These are things I understand well. My problems arise, however, when I must face the aspect of constructing a team, and in terms or understanding all the depth of politics, especially the... personal aspect of politics." Slendy stuttered in his apology, leaving Shining armor slightly confused.
Shining Armor smiled, which surprised Slendy. "Mr. Slenderman, I must say that you terrify me. But I can tell you mean no harm to me, my charges, or Equestria. I don't understand you, and that also scares me, but I can manage. What happened today was an accident; I understand accidents. I trust you that it will not happen again. I think that your magic touched me, and I think it made me understand you a little better than before. Of course I will help you take a seat. I think this is going to take a while."
Slendy nodded, happily surprised at the turn of events. Shining Armor's horn glowed, and an large notpad appeared in front of him. Looking up from the notepad, Shining Armor asked, "Shall we begin?"
Four hours later, Shining Armor began to yawn. Four hours after that, he looked half asleep. Slendy asked him if he would like to get rest, but Shining Armor insisted he did not need any. Slendy was happy when Shining Armor finally said, "Well, that's all that I know. I hope it will help, but I don't know if it will. Any questions?"
Slendy nodded. "Yes, The Crystal Caverns below Canterlot. Are they patrolled? And who is most interested in them, politically?"
Shining Armor thought for a moment, then flipped through his notebook. "Well, I don't think anypony is. The caverns were primary used for Sythax crystal mining, but with the advent of new technologies, the Sythax crystals use as a power source became obsolete, and the mines were shut down. The family that controlled the mines, the Mardiens, were the first to jump on the new technologies, so I doubt they would still be interested in the mines. The only reason anypony would go down there would be if they were exceedingly poor and needed power.” Shining Armor paused.
“Although, now that I think about it, we did have problems about 20 years back with a group of unicorns that believed that the crystals held more than just magical power, but could absorb spirits as well. They were violent, not to mention hard to remove from the Caverns. Eventually, the guard cleared the caves with the help of Celestia and then sealed, at least until the trouble with Chrysalis. I think that their rooms are still down there. This was all before my time as head of the guard, so I'm not completely sure the specifics."
Slendy nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Armor, I will go ask the leader of the Unicorn magicians in prison, if that is alright with you."
Shining Armor nodded. "Just let them know that Shining Armor said it was okay."
Slendy nodded again. "Thank you, again, Mr. Armor." Then suddenly he disappeared into the darkness.
Slendy thought about what Shining Armor had said. If the group of unicorn magicians were interested in soul capturing, then the mysterious underground circles that vibrated with magic must have been binding circles. The rooms would have been used by the unicorns to sleep, eat, and research; but that still left questions about the metal door.
The prison was a intimidating place. It was made entirely of black rock, at least what could be seen. Situated on a isle in the middle of a river, the prison was built into the sheer side of a black cliff. There was only one entrance, the rest of the island sheer rock. The cliffs eventually met at the top of the island in a sharp point. Slendy knew that Luna had once used it as her castle during her phase as Nightmare Moon, he remembered from the books that he had ‘read’ that she had actually made it, supposedly with the power of the moon.
After appraising the prison from his position floating in the air above it, kept afloat by darkness underneath him, Slendy appeared at the entrance of the prison. The four guards on duty all jumped, and their spears all appeared at Slendy's neck before they knew what they were doing.
"At ease gentleponies. I am Slenderman, I mean no harm. I am the Head of Magical security for the Princesses." The guards slowly lowered their spears, still looking suspicious of Slendy's intentions.
"Er, Mr. Slenderman, sir, we must speak with our captain before we allow you admittance into the prison. You do understand, yes?"
Slendy nodded. "Of course."
"One moment," The pony that had been speaking disappeared into a guard house that sat next to a massive castle door. The castle was built into the cliff, and the battlements seemed to be part of the rock. Indeed, the entire castle looked as if it had grown out of the rock. Slendy was impressed. He made a note to speak to Luna about her achievement. The pony came prodding back, following another pony that wore the rank of captain.
"Mr. Slenderman, sir! My apologies for keeping you waiting. All of the guard have yet to learn of your incorporation as Head of Magical Security. Please, right this way, I will take you to see the Warden."
Slendy nodded. "Thank you, Captain."
A few moments later, Slendy was in the castle. The corridors were lit by torches; doors branched off from the corridor and the hall had dark feeling that Slendy couldn’t help but admire. Eventually, they Captain, guard, and Slendy came to a great hall with massive doors leading off from it. It was no different at the end of the hall, with a door extremely similar to the rest except for its position as the only door on that wall. This was the door they entered.
"Warden, sir, I have Mr. Slenderman from Canterlot here." The pony saluted, then turned and walked out, followed by the guard, leaving Slendy with a mare that had a sheriff's star as her cutie mark.
"Mr. Slenderman. I have heard about you." The mare was blue with a white mane. She was a sharp contrast to the rest of the room, which consisted of a desk with a notepad and pens, along with pictures of clouds and Canterlot.
"Ma'am, I am here to speak with a prisoner of yours. The leader of a Unicorn magicians group that had worked in the Crystal Caverns below Canterlot about 20 years ago.” Slendy added as almost a side note, “And, it is a pleasure to meet you."
The warden smiled, but the smile never reached her eyes. "Of course, I believe that that would be prisoner 203, a mister Ginger Mindhorn, or as he calls himself, Utilian. I will have one of my guards take you to him after this meeting."
Slendy raised an eyebrow, which of course this mare could not see. "Ma'am, you do not seem put-off by me at all, if you do not mind me being blunt."
The Mare nodded. "After 40 years of prison duty, not much puts you off. Besides, I've already been warned about how you look and act, as well as the aura that seems to surround you is, if we're being blunt." She smiled, almost mockingly.
Slendy just stared. He was part surprised, part amused, and part annoyed at this mare's confidence.
"Ma'am, you say we are having a meeting?" Slendy changed the topic.
"Yes. I wish to speak with you about your just showing up and assuming command of much of the Royal guard. I mean no disrespect, but not all the guard trust you. Your appearance does not do much to aid you either, I am afraid. Many guards that are not as experienced are put off by your appearance and aura."
Slendy’s annoyed part was beginning to take over. "Well, Ma'am, I am sorry if you or any of the guard feel this way. The thing is that the guard have recently had a very strong difficulty with keeping control of Equestria's problems. As such, Celestia, Luna, and Discord, all of whom are your superior officers, appointed me to the task of doing what you cannot. If you would like to take this up as an issue, then take it up with one of them. But do not attempt to call me in here and intimidate me with idle, mocking talk. I do not like it when beings hid behind shadows of lies, Warden; and let me tell you, Warden, I can see very easily through shadows of any type." Slendy never raised his voice, just kept it at a normal monotone throughout the entire speech. The lights through this entire speech had begun to flicker, and shadows had begun to slowly peel off of Slenderman. Slendy had begun to look taller and leaner, and much more dangerous. Things jumped out of the corners of the rooms, un-namable things that had no place existing, and the Warden felt fear for the first time in a very long while.
Then, everything went back to the way it was before. Slenderman stared at the Warden, allowing her to regain some self control, before asking her. "Now, ma'am, can you have one of your guards escort me to prisoner 204?"
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.
The next morning, the Throne room was empty. Slendy knew he shouldn't be surprised- it was 7 in the morning, and they had another hour to arrive. But, he still was hoping they would be there early. No matter.
Slendy began to turn and walk towards the throne when Celestia and Luna walked out of one of the corridors branching off of the Throne room. Both looked up in surprise, but then Luna smiled at him.
"Good morning Slenderman. You are here early, are you not?" Luna smiled as she said this.
"Indeed, Princesses. I...I was hoping to speak with both of you about something else that had troubled me. I was hoping to get access to the most knowledgeable individual on ancient history. When I say ancient, I mean older than Equestria, the original tribes, and me. Is there a pony that might be able to help me?"
Luna shook her head, but Celestia thought for a second.
"Actually, there might be. A mare living in Ponyville, named Lyra Heartstrings. She is fascinated by the extremly ancient, particularly ancient artifacts and the legendary race known as Humans. She lives with another mare, Bon-Bon. If you wanted to speak with Lyra, you would also have to speak with Bon-Bon. They are inseparable."
Slendy nodded. "Thank you. I will seek her out."
Luna yawned. "Well, I must be going. I had a particularly difficult night last night. Many a pony were disturbed in their dreams. I hope that you do not mind if I skip out on today's meeting?"
Slenderman shook his head. "Of course not, princess."
Luna smiled, and her horn flashed. She dissapeared. Slendy turned to Celetia.
"Princess, I have a question particular to you. There is a 5th level in the royal prison. No one in the prison knew who or what inhabited that room. They said you were the only being that knew. What is on the 5th level?"
Celestia's expression darkened. "Slenderman, the 5th level houses the most dangerous thing ever to exist on this Earth. It does not concern you or your investigations. If there comes a time when the thing that lives on the 5th level becomes of importance to you or your work, I will alert you."
Slendy nodded. "Yes Princess. I hope that you do not mind if I attempt to figure out what the being is on my own, then?"
The princess raised an eyebrow. "Is there much I could do about it?"
Slendy laughed his dark chuckle. "No, princess, there is not."
Ponyville was a large place, but seemed very small compared to the streets and houses of Canterlot. Slendy stuck to the shadows, and no pony saw him. Those that did out of the corner of their eye mistook him for a shadow cast by a building, brick, or cart. The only pony that looked twice was a brown pony with a time-turner as his cutie mark. The pony looked up, straight at Slendy, squinted, then shook his head as if to clear cobwebs and walked away, muttering something about too many stone ponies in his lifetime.
Lyra Heartstring's house was similar to all of the other pony’s houses, besides the fact it smelled of sweets. Slendy teleported to the second floor, where he found a light blue pony with a lyre as her cutie mark, whom he presumed to be Lyra, and another light pink pony with candy as her cutie mark, whom he presumed to be Bon-Bon.
Both slept in a large bed, with two short bed stands on each side. A large chest sat at the end of the bed, and closets lined the walls. A window overlooked the outside town. The scene struck Slendy as very cute, and he felt a twang of sadness in his heart.
Slendy could tell time was moving along rather quickly- it was already 7:23- so he quickened things up and cleared his throat.
Both mares started, then screamed and grabbed one another, hugging each other like two scared fillies.
Slendy hastily spoke."Please, there is no need to be emotional. I am here to talk, nothing more. I need your help, Lyra, and Bon-Bon, I have heard that where Lyra goes you go, so I need both of your help." Bon-Bon stuttered out. "Wh-Wh-Who are you?!"
Slendy sighed. "I am the Head of Magical Security under Luna, Celestia, and Discord."
Both the mares slowly ungripped each other. "O-oh. Ok, err, um, next time can you please knock?" Lyra squeaked out fearfully.
"Er, yes, of course." Slendy cursed at himself, thinking he should have tried doing that like a normal pony.
Slendy looked out at the sun and realized time was passing. He had to make this quick.
"Lyra, you are one of the most knowledgeable ponies on extremely ancient history. I need your help. My job is to track down ancient artifacts that are a threat to Equestria. I need somepony with knowledge of ancient history to help me do that." Slendy watched Lyra closely as he said this. She looked confused.
"Bu-but I just read up on ancient history as a hobby! I don't actually kno— I mean, I was never officially educated..."
Slendy spoke. "Celestia herself told me you were the pony to speak to about ancient history. For example, in 2351, what pony king overthrew the germinian prince Powerblood?"
Lyra immediately laughed. "You made that up! Powerblood was a tribal leader and fought for rights for Earth ponies at the beginning of Equestria, primary against Unicorn tribal leaders."
Slendy nodded. "Good. You seem well taught to me." Lyra protested, and shortly followed with a blush.
Bon-Bon stepped forward. "Mr. Slenderman, We appreciate your seeking us out, but we are not warriors or healers or leaders. We are just ponies trying to make a life. Money is already tight, and I don't think that we can just walk away from our life."
Slendy nodded. "I understand. If you choose to work with me, you will be paid 10,000 bits per week until you retire or otherwise leave service of the princesses, Discord, and I."
Bon-Bon raised both eyebrows and gave out a excited squeak, a look of excitement on her face. "That's a whole ton of bits!"
Lyra spoke up. "I think we should do it, Bon-Bon. And you know a lot about history from listening to me ramble on and on...you could help out too." Looking at Slendy, Lyra smiled. "We'll do it."
Slendy nodded. "Please be at the Canterlot Throne room in-" he looked out at the sun- "35 minutes. You are permitted to teleport."
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..."
After the meeting adorned, and the next meeting was decided upon for the next day, Slendy left the palace to wander Canterlot. He stuck to the shadows, keeping quiet and not allowing himself to be seen. Stumbling with grace through open air markets, he observed ponies living, ignorant, perhaps purposefully so, of the events that were occurring all over the universe, some of them wonderful and things of great beauty, other of horror and destruction. It would be so much easier to not think of those things, the wondrous and terrifically horrible things that existed, even on the planet of Earth, although perhaps not in Equestria itself.
Slendy passed two vendors bartering their wares to each other well a prospective customer watched with amusement as the two vendors attempted to trade their fruits futilely, completely ignoring the customer. Slendy passed a young filly, left crying alone in the middle of the market. Across the way, he could sense a distraught mother frantically searching for the young filly. Gently, he guided her towards her mother until the two met, and moved on before he could observe the reunion.
He found himself next passing through a hostel-turned-orphanage for the lost souls of Canterlot, whom wandered without direction or substance, towards a goal of only loss. They flocked towers this place, and lived there in communion, in their little isle of sanctity and loneliness adrift in the waters of society, living together. Slendy saw the owner of the place, a large, powerful looking mare making soup, the ponies present for lunch waiting at the dinner table or helping the mare in the kitchen, cutting food. The emotions that Slendy sensed were not those of suffering and anger, but of contentment and safety. He thought to himself, lost in his thoughts, that perhaps those souls that wandered were drawn together, so that they could wander together in a uncaring or blind world.
Slendy wandered like this through the city for a long while, observing various groups of ponies living their lives in peace or contentment. He found himself transfixed by their simple existence, and jealous of it in ways he could not comprehend.
Finally, Slendy floated into the shadows of the Canterlot University, and ultimately, a lecture hall. His peaceful floating was cut short by a striking voice, lecturing.
"We Are All Going To Die Very Soon."
Slendy turned his attention to the speaking professor, remaining in the shadows.
The professor was a older stallion, with a scar on his right hoof and on his left hindquarters. He had a long, brown coat with dark red hair. His eye seemed to glow amber in the light from the setting sun that was filtering in through the lecture hall's windows.
"Yet, we are all very much alive. But why? Why are we alive? What are our decisions, our goals, ambitions? To gain the job, advance ourselves, win the lover? Or is there something more deep than that to gain in life? A sense of fulfillment, a way to live and learn? Perhaps not, perhaps so. But it is something that, as mortal creatures able of cognitive thought, we have a responsibility to consider. That is what his class will be about, the goal of life, or, in general terms, Philosophy 101."
The old stallion stared into the listening students faces, taking a long time to consider each and every one of them before continuing. Slendy was stuck by the fact that there were less than a dozen students in the room, which easily could have held a hundred ponies. The stallion did not seem affected in the slighted by this fact, and continued unhindered.
"Mares and Gentle coats, I am Professor Jinxs, or, as you will probably call me, Ol' Jinkie. I have served in the military, Her Majesties Diplomatic Service, and as a service pony, wildlife ranger, security guard, scientist, librarian, historian, and sailor. But, I have never felt so important or as content as when I am teaching the likes of you, attempting to enlighten you not with my views, but with your own ability to consider, think, and enlighten yourself."
He paused again, and looked right at the shadow where Slendy was. Slendy almost felt as if the old stallion could see him and was looking right into his eyes, despite the fact that such a thing was impossible.
The professor suddenly broke the contact that could not have existed, and continued.
"Now, first off, I give you a pop quiz. you are to write down your answer and turn it into me within ten minutes. The only question: Why?"
The old stallion magically levitated papers in front of the students, whom hastily started writing. Slendy quietly watched the students work, before noticing one of the students had put the paper down and was turning it into the professor. The other students looked up in shock, and the student walked back to her desk without a second glance at anypony else, before putting her headphones in and turning on music. The professor looked up at the paper that had been placed on his desk, read the answer, scoffed, and continued writing.
Ten minutes later, the professor stood and teleported the papers to his desk.
"Time is up. I will now read your answers."
The professor took the first paper, and began to read: Why? Due to the biologic capabilities that have evolved over centuries....."
The papers continued, some diving into philosophy and religion. For each one, the professor gave a grade out loud, ranging from a B to a A-. Finally, he got to the last paper, the first one placed on the desk by the first student, and read:
"The question was why. The answer wrote on this paper?"
The Professor looked at the student that had written the paper and slowly read out, pronouncing each syllable with a hard tongue, "Because."
Silence rang out in the room, the students all turning to face the student that had written the paper. She looked down at her desk, seeming to ignore the glances from her fellow students.
The Professor suddenly burst out laughing. "Yes, my dear, I do believe this is the most intelligent answer I have ever received. A+."
He continued chuckling as he walked behind his desk, and levitated a stack of paper out in front of him. He then took a moment to calm himself, then spoke.
"Because. The reason I love this answer is simple: Nopony can ever say with absolute certainly Why we exist, Why we are what we are, Why everything is as it is. The scientist would explain as much as possible in terms of science, the Religious in terms of religion. Me? I do not wish to explain it at all, just to observe the Whys of the universe at large. And you, my class, are going you help me do so."
The class all stared on.
The professor smiled. "Our first work will be a question, again. Who here is religious?"
A younger looking colt raised his hoof. "I am, sir."
The professor smiled. "Ah, brilliant! And what is your faith?"
The student, looking nervous, answered, "I am an Luthereanolt, sir."
The professor smiled. "And why do you think that way?"
The student coughed. "Well, sir, I was raised as such and I would like to think that my way is correct. Chirstaniddle was too...intense for me, and I did not think that it allowed for me to connect with the divine that I believe exists in a way I see fit."
The professor smiled. "I think you misunderstand the question. I did not ask why you think that way, but WHY you think that way? Why does anypony?"
The student seemed to be sweating, but responded nonetheless. "Sir, I think that anypony whom believes in the divine, besides the obvious of Luna and Celestia, believes in that divine as a way to hold oneself to a higher standard, as well as a way to not feel alone in the universe at large."
The professor smiled. "Good answer. Anypony else have another reason?"
One brave filly raised her hoof. "Yes, sir, I think that it helps us as a civilization not feel alone in the Universe, helps us feel like we are more important that we are. It also gives us an excuse to hurt each other."
The professor smiled again. "Continue?"
The filly did.
"Well, sir, I think that we look for reasons to justify our wars and our ways of thinking. I think that religion is a way of doing that. Before Celestia and Luna came into power, these religions existed. Now, many point to the Princesses as religious idols, yet many do not. Why? They are living, breathing examples of the divine, of the perfect, of the powerful and immortal. Yet, a pony cannot use them as a excuse to attack another because they exist and can say that they do not want any pony to hurt one another. With other religions, with other ways of thinking that do not have living, breathing religious figures, one cannot do this. It is both a excuse and a way to save oneself from oneself."
The professor's smile did not falter, but seemed to reach his ears when another pony responded, this time on the other edge of the room.
"Wait, what it sounds like you are saying is that religion is a excuse to fight with one another. That is not true! On it's most basic, religion is something that is good and holy, yet it is twisted by us, us mortal beings. Those in power use the pure to their own ends, and in doing so corrupt it so that it can never be pure again."
The professor began to speak to this when the other student, the filly with the headphones and the because answer, spoke.
"Well, that would make sense, wouldn't it? That everything we touch is corrupted, be it nature, religion, each other, the world. We build cities on top of the death of nature, we fight one another constantly, even if we are not fighting in this very moment. We fight politically, and corrupt each other through money and magic. So what makes us great, and how can we corrupt something so holy to something that makes one another want to destroy each other?"
The professor look surprised, but before he could say anything, Slendy appeared, and spoke. The students in the room seemed surprised, and shivered, but not as much as normal. Slendy filed it away. Perhaps their minds were elsewhere at the moment, concentrating on the other aspects of life than a strange pony appearing out of nowhere in the middle of a debate concerning the corruption of ponykind.
"Yet, not everything is corrupted. There is great good in this world. Religion has not made a massive impact on this society for many generations, and has not affected the politics of Equestria since before Luna, Celestia's, and even Discords time. But there has been negative things happen to us. We cannot blame Religion or one thing solely for this. It has to be a part of our animalistic self's to want to do harm, to succeed. In a sense, does that not mean that we are creatures of simplicity, as much as we would like to think otherwise?"
The room was quiet for a second, shocked by the appearance of Slendy. The professor was the first to recover, and instead of losing his mind he laughed. "Class, it seems we have another visitor. I do not know who he is, or what he is for that matter, but I think he will add greatly to this discussion." Slendy looked at the professor, and wondered why he had exposed himself. He had planned on just listening to the lecture, then leaving with more on his mind than when he had entered, yet now he was a part of the class. Before he could think more on the subject, he felt the professors' magic nudging him towards a desk. "Take a seat, Mr. Mysterious Guest, and take some notes. There is a test at the end of the semester."
Four hours later, Slendy found himself returning to his tower, thinking of the night. As he floated up the steps, he thought slowly of the things that the professor had discussed, and realized he looked forward to the next class.
Lt. Stormcather looked surprised to see Slendy materialize in front of him.
"Sir, I presumed you were in your room, sir! Are you alright?" The guard asked nervously, eyeing Slendy as if to see if he was injured.
Slendy raised a eyebrow that the guard could not see. "I am fine, Lt. Thank you for your concern, however, it is unwarranted. I was just out for a...walk."
The guard nodded slowly, as if unsure whether to believe his charge. "Alright, sir, if you say so. Next time, please alert me so I can accompany you." Slendy raised another invisible eyebrow, but nodded, and entered his room.
FLuffy lay on the ground, sleeping contentedly. Slendy sighed and patted the great beast before going to his bed and for the first time in a long while, falling into a peaceful sleep.
That night was one of bizarre dreams. Blackness, not darkness, but blackness would enter Slendy's mind before leaving as quickly as it came. Thinking about it later, Slendy would think that the blackness was the things, those horrible things, that were being repulsed by the spells he had enacted upon his room. Once, he felt a great white attempt to enter his dreams, yet that too was pushed away, this time gently.
Upon days break, Slendy found himself sitting up in his bed, feeling returning to his body. IT had been a while since the feeling of sleep had held him in it's embrace.
A knock upon the door focused him. He could hear, barely, a muffled, "Sir! My apologizes to awaken you this early, but you need to awake, sir. Your schedule i-"
The LT. was cut off by Slendy's appearance next to him. The Lt. did not jump but started only slightly. Slendy felt pleased at this; it meant he was getting used to him.
"Sir, my apologizes for awaking you, but the Princesses thought it would be suitable and beneficial for you to observe the troops that they have lined up for you. They are in the courtyard, sir, awaiting your arrival."
Slendy nodded. "Thank you, Lt. Will you accompany me? I could use your eye for skill."
The Lt. affirmed. "Aye, sir. Shall I meet you there?"
Slendy again nodded. "Yes. I would teleport you, but at the moment I do not feel that it is safe without further testing of it's affects." Slendy thought to the effects that a brief sparring that had exposed Shining Armor to his magic had done to the poor unicorn.
The Lt. nodded and took off down the stairs, his armor not weighing him down, his wing beats fading into the distance. Slendy sighed before letting the darkness overtake him.
He searched for the courtyard, and found it filled with the souls of many ponies. All were lined up in military fashion, and seemed to be facing towards the castle, where two ponies seemed to be speaking with Celestia. He allowed a piece of his consciousness to drift into her awareness, and she immediately attempted to isolate it with her magic. He allowed her to touch him with her magic, and established a mental connection.
"Celestia. I am here. Where do you want me?"
Celestia, to her credit, adapted to the new spell quickly.
"Hello, Slenderman. I will send these two back to the formation. Appear in behind me, and give them some fear. These are Equestria's finest warriors, and some think that they have seen everything. Prove they have not."
Slendy nodded, before realizing she could not see him. "Yes, Princess. I will wait for them to return to their positions."
Celestia broke the connection, and Slendy watched the two souls move to a equal distance in front of the large group of soldiers. Celestia moved back, and he took that as his cue to appear. He did so, and with gusto.
He summoned some of the darkness, and allowed it to form into tendrils stemming from his hoofs. He had them twirl around himself, then created a cloud of darkness laced with slight shadow creatures. Deciding that was enough, he allowed himself to explode into the courtyard, slightly in front of Celestia.
The darkness dispersed from him, and he let the shadow creatures run through the gathered formation. He sensed their fear and panic, but to his satisfaction saw none of them run or physically panic. Quickly dispersing the darkness, he waited for the soldiers to look back up at where he was standing, the tendrils whirling around him with what seemed to be a mind of their own.
The soldiers stared for a second, before he let the tendrils sink into the ground and fade away into nothing.
The soldiers all looked up at him, staring without any sign of major emotion. Then, one of the leaders that had been speaking with Celestia shouted, "Atten-Tion!"
As one, the entire contingent of gathered ponies saluted at Slenderman. They held this for a moment, before Slendy told them, "At Ease."
With a noise like a thunderclap, their hoofs returned to the ground, and silence reigned.
Slendy sensed the Lt. Stormcatcher flying towards them from inside the castle, and waited for him to arrive before speaking. Motioning to the Lt. to take place at his side, Slendy began to speak.
"Mares and Gentlecolts of Equestria's Special Forces, I am Slenderman. I am the Head of Magical Security for the Sovereign Nation of Equestria. I am here looking for the best, the smartest, the quickest, the most dangerous. If accepted into the Office of Magical Security, you will work for me and my officers. You will conduct missions to places far and near, dangerous and old, horrible and wondrous. You will fight, and learn, and work. You will be the military backbone of the Office, and your positions will bring you both prestige and tremendous responsibility."
He allowed for his words to sink in.
"Today will be a day of testing. I will personally be overseeing the academic testing in the afternoon. Lt. Stormcather and Princess Celestia will oversee the combat portion of testing. They will explain further. Lt, please come with me."
Slendy turned and walked into the castle, the Lt. on his tail.
"Sir?"
Slendy turned to look at the Lt. "Lt., you are to report to me the best 30 fighters. Personally fight them if necessary, or ask the Princess to do so. I will not return until later this day. Do you understand?"
The Lt. nodded. "Yes sir. I understand."
Slendy nodded, and let himself fall into the shadows.
Instead of moving to his room, or to observe the training from the shadows as one might expect, Slendy moved towards the city. He moved towards the University, and passed it by without pause. He moved swiftly to the center of Canterlot, and appeared outside the Canterlot Main Guard Station.
A few ponies jumped at his appearance, but seemed to not be curious enough to ask him, and, eyeing him, quickly moved on with their day.
The station was full of guards in their standard uniform. As he walked in, two guards dragged in a large earth pony that smelled of cider. The pony seemed to be singing a old Equestrian tune about Discord's many wives. Slendy thought he should ask Discord about it next time he saw him.
The station was simply designed, and was staffed by many guard ponies. A hallway seemed to lead back to where Slendy could see some cells full of ponies in various states of confusion, anger, and depression.
Turning his attention to the main desk, Slendy walked up to the receptionist guard pony and, seeing as she was distracted by a file, rang the bell. Without looking up, she spoke.
"One moment please. I will be with you in just a momen-" She glanced up, and did a double take.
"Oh my Celestia..." She whispered. Slendy cleared his throat awkwardly.
She shook her head. "Er, my apologizes sir. What can I help you with, Mr....?"
"Slenderman. I am the Head of Magical Security for Equestria. I sent a request to do a fly-along with the City Guard yesterday. It was accepted, and I was told to report here at this time for assignment to my Guard."
The mare looked at him for a second longer, before turning quickly to her folders and rummaging through them nervously. Well she did so, Slendy realized that the station had gone much quieter than when he had walked in. Looking up, he found many of the ponies looking at him. Before he could say anything, somepony cleared their throat.
"Ponies, we have stuff to be doing. Stop staring and get back to work!"
Slendy looked at the pony that had spoken, and found himself looking at a old Earth Stallion. His cutie mark was that of a Sherriff's star.
The receptionist looked up at the pony, and excitedly spoke.
"Chief, this is...Slenderman. He is the Head of Magical Security for the sisters. He signed up fo-" She was cut off by the Chief.
"Thank you, Ms. Senoda. I can take it from here." Looking up at Slendy, he spoke. "Mr. Slenderman, if I could see you in my office?"
Slendy nodded. "Of course." The instant they walked in, Slendy spoke. "My apologizes, I hope my presence did not cause a intrutio-" The chief laughed.
"No intrusion at all, Mr. Slenderman. I was alerted by Luna to your coming." Slendy briefly wondered how she knew he was coming. "I have already found two guard ponies for you to conduct your fly-along with Sergeant Willkin and Private Willow. They both work in Eastern Canterlot, a relatively high crime area of the city. I think that you would gain most if you were to fly with them today." Slendy nodded.
"Alright. Thank you, Mr...?" The chief laughed. "Just call me Chief."
He opened the door to his office, and called over two ponies, one a older Pegasus, the other a younger looking unicorn. "Sarge, Private, this is Slenderman. He will be your fly-along for the day."
The pair looked at him with a combination of surprise, confusion, and curiosity. Slendy was glad not to sense fear in either of them.
"Hello. I am Slenderman. I am pleased to be flying with you both today."
The two stared, then the Sergeant spoke. "Likewise, sir. I heard of you, sir. We are glad to have you. Today will be a quick morning patrol in the East side."
Slendy nodded. "Lead the way, please."
The two nodded and walked towards a door on the side of the room. It lead to a armory. When offered a ceremonial spear, Slendy refused. The two shrugged, and continued to load up, this time with a pistol, baton, and hoofcuffs, as well as a radio. Slendy looked at the devices with curiosity, he had assumed that Celestia would keep to her ways of tradition, not having the guards carrying modern weapons.
The Private saw him examining the weapons. "They were added after the Changling attack. We had been petitioning for them anyways, but the attack really showed how much they were needed. Now they're standard not just to the military but to us as well. Tradition must suffer for the good of the people, sometimes." The private smiled, and Slendy found himself liking her demeanor.
The Sarge chuckled. "You're lucky, private. When I started out, all we got were spears, and swords when there was something serious going on."
Slendy looked at the two as they continued to banter playful well getting geared up. Finally, the Sarge gave up the fight with a laugh. "Ah, your young foolishness will get to ya one day. For now, your too stubborn to argue with."
Turning to Slendy, he asked, "You ready, mate?" Slendy nodded. "Good to hear. In that case, lets go."
The trio walked out into the city. Slendy attracted some curious glances, and he realized that both of the guards were too polite to ask him to cover his form. He thought for a moment, then allowed the darkness to transform into a dark grey, black maned unicorn wearing a guard uniform. Both the guards looked surprised for a second, then nodded. "Thanks, sir. It would be hard to patrol if everypony was curious about you." Slendy nodded again.
Ten minutes later, the trio entered the East side. Slendy began to see the buildings transform from the high-end structures of Upper Canterlot into rundown, sometimes abandoned buildings of past design. Ponies began to look less and less clean, until finally the Castle faded behind dirty, dark, grungy buildings.
The first call came over the radio only a few moments later.
"Squad fourteen, Squad Fourteen, respond to a drunk and disorderly at 1105 Bakers Street."
The Sarge responded over the radio. "Copy, Fourteen in route."
He turned and grinned at Slendy. "A drunk, eh? This will be interesting." Willow gave him a odd look. "No, it really won't, she said, looking at the Sarge. "Just another sad, lonely pony trying to drink their sorrows into nothingness." The Sarge gave her a look, and told she was ruining Slendy's excitement. She shook her head, saying, "Silly old stallion." Sarge raised an eyebrow. "Hey, who you calling OLD?"
Their banter continued until they came to the house, if it could be called that. Windows were broken, the weeds growing up the exterior walls, the front garden completely nonexistent. On the steps of the house was a old mare, looking as if she was going to pass out. The sarge motioned for him to stay there, and him and Willow approached the mare.
"Ma'am, I'm with the Guard. How ya doing today?" She looked up at him, and mumbled something intelligible.
"Sorry, ma';am, say again? We can't quite hear you."
She looked up at him again. "Ah..Ah said dat I-I'm fine." She attempted to wave him off, but ended up looking like she was trying to swat a fly.
"Alright. And what's your name, ma'am? Butterscotch? Alright, Ms. Butterstotch, I'm Sargent Willken, and this is my partner, Private Willow. Have you had anything alcoholic today, Butterscotch?"
The mare shook her head. "No- Ah-ah dont drink no more. I used' to, thah. No more, Mr. Gaurdspony sir." She started laughing.
The sarge sighed. "Alright, ma'am, I'm not going to take you in for drunk in public. I would like to ask you to go inside. Is this your house?" The mare nodded. "Alright, Butterscotch, can you go inside? I can come in if you need me to."
The mare shook her head violently. "No-No coming in mah house. It's MAH hous, ain't no gaurdsponies coming inside." Mumbling, the mare stood and unsteadily trotted inside before slamming the door behind her.
The sarge sighed again. "Well then. First call of the day, eh?"
Willow nodded. "Yes, sir. It's sad, isn't it? This whole place has jus gone to shambles..." She turned, and as if remembering Slendy was there, lit up her face with a smile. "It used to be as nice as West Side Canterlot. Now, though, it;s just too old and rundown for anypony to do anything. The sisters have been distracted, but still...they need somepony to come and clean this place up."
The three continued to patrol until the next call came in about a hour later. "Squad Fourteen, Squad Fourteen, you have a Domestic Dispute at 563 Little Drive. Reports of screaming and banging, as well as the sounds of a young filly, have come in."
The Sarge reached for his radio. "Copy, Squad fourteen enroute." This time, he did not crack a joke and there was no bantering. As they neared the street, he told Willow without looking at her that he was going to take a look from above. Without waiting for a response, he took off. Willow grimly began to walk up the street, where the sounds of a argument could be heard. Slendy looked at her, and was surprised to find her so-far excited, life full face taunt and serious. A loud clang and some yells broke his concentration.
"No, NO! I told you we have no money!" A male voice yelled. A female one responded in kind. "Oh? WHAT ABOUT FOR YOUR BOOZE?!" A smaller voice cried out, "Momm-Mommy, Daddy, stop yelling, you're scaring me." The voice trailed off to a sob. The male voice yelled again. "Shut up, you little brat! You do nothing for this family! I should just throw you out, and beat your little ass!" A large slap was heard, and then more wails.
Willow levitated her radio and her gun at the same time. "Dispatch, this is Squad Fourteen, we might need backup at our location. Sounds like a violent domestic dispute, fillies involved. Go ahead and send paramedics as well."
The response came almost immediately. "Copy, Squad fourteen. ETA is around two minutes."
The sarge suddenly landed next to her. "Alright. The backyard is fenced in, no gates. Lets move in, nice and simple. No knocking." He looked at Slendy. "If you were anypony else, I think I'd have you stay outside. However, my guess is you aren't anypony else."
Turning his attention to the house, he told them both. "On me."
He then accelerated to a heavy trot. The yelling continued until they came to the door, where the Sarge counted down. "Three...Two....One...THIS IS THE GAURD! THIS IS THE GAURD! DOWN ON THE GROUND, NOW!"
The two guards ponies entered the house and found two adults ponies in the middle of a fight, a little filly in between them, sobbing uncontrollably, a large hoofmark on her face.
The sarge holstered his gun and ran forward, Willow right behind him. They both easily pulled the two adult ponies apart, and with practiced ease hoofcuffed them. Slendy moved to the filly levitated her, and looked up at the Sarge.
"Willkin, I'm going to take her outside, alright? She doesn't need to see anymore of this." The Sarge nodded, then turned to the two ponies and began asking them questions.
Outside, Slendy gently set down the filly. She continued to cry. He turned to her. "Erm...Hello. I'm Slenderman. I'm here to help. Where are you hurt?" The filly just continued to cry. Slendy repeated his statement, feeling woefully useless. Willow rapidly left the house, and went up the filly.
"Hey there, little one. I'm Willow. How are you doing today? No need to answer, just listen to me and nod when you can talk."
Without waiting for a response, she continued to talk.
"You know, I was like you once. I grew up down here, went to school at Garden School for Ponies of All Ages. do you go there? I bet you do, with how close you live to it. I remember loving to play on the playground there. It was new when I went there, I remember. It was a very exciting thing."
Slendy watched as she continued to do this, talking to the little filly. He felt as if he was in the presence of a goddess of sorts. She was able to distract the filly and calm her down quickly and simply by talking to her about non-important things that mattered to nopony, yet in this moment were possibly the most important things the little filly had ever heard.
Finally, the little Filly nodded. Willow smiled. "Good, I'm glad to see your ready to talk. Now, do you have any close friends or family?" The little filly shook her head. "No- No, Miss. I have some family in Ponyville, but nopony else but my parents." Willow nodded. "Alright. And do you know their names?" Willow continued to talk to the little filly. Slendy watched for a moment, then walked inside to check on the Sarge.
Whom was angry.
"You hit your filly, for Celestia's sake. Now, You are going to tell me what happened or I am going to make sure, personally, that your in prison for a very, VERY long time."
The stallion spat on the Sarge. Slendy was able to smell the assorted alcohol and other substances on his breath. The sarge looked at the stallion in disgust before turning to the female.
"You. You let him hit the filly? Or not? How about you explain what happened."
The mare burst into tears. The Sarge sighed, and looked up at Slendy. "Welcome to the life of a gaurds pony." he said bitterly, and shook his head.
A half an hour later, the trio watched as the mare and stallion were taken away in the bake of a prison cart. The filly had been picked up by a agent from Celestia's Home for the Young, where she would wait until her family from Ponyville could come and get her.
The trio were quiet for a moment, before Slendy spoke quietly. "That is...something normal?"
Willow nodded, and the Sarge said, "Sadly, it is. More and more ponies move here, and more and more realize too late that few make it in Canterlot. Many end up taking it out on each other, like those two, or even worse, their young. Luckily, the reforms in the courts are doing good things for the young, and making it easier for those two to be effectively jailed and proven guilty through the use of magical means which were outlawed for years due to their "unpredictability." He laughed. "In reality, the Lawyers managed to lobby the Council enough to outlaw magical practices so they could keep their jobs. Finally, Celestia signed a executive order to allow it, much to the anger of the Lawyers."
Slendy nodded thoughtfully. He had not thought much about the executive or judicial areas of Equestrian ways of life.
"Now, shall we go get lunch?" Willow asked, back to her cheerful self.
They ate at a small sandwich shop. The food looked good, but Slendy did not have any. He had trouble tasting food.
As the other two ate, Slendy cleared his throat.
"Thank you both. I must be on my way, but this has helped give me a more in depth look at Equestrian life that I guess cannot be gleamed from the Castle. I would like to invite both of you to join the Office of Magical Security, although I somehow doubt that you will accept."
The pair smiled. "We have a job here, sir. We need to be here, and do what we have been trained to do. As much as your offer is enticing, we have a responsibility to the people here, and we will not abandon them." Willow finished with a smile.
Slendy nodded. "I thought so. I hope to meet you both again. Until then." He stodd, bowed lightly, and allowed himself to fall into the darkness.
He appeared in the Coutryard, where the Lt. still stood, watching those training below. He started slightly at Slendys appearance, but did not respond any other way until Slendy spoke.
"Lt, how does it go?"
The Lt. responded. "Well, sir, these are all excellent fighters. However, I do have a list of 25 extraordinary members of this group. The others are wonderful, but not up to par with what we need at the Office." Slendy nodded.
"Alright. If you think we are ready, we can begin the edcucati-"
The Lt. cut him off.
"Actually, sir, Twilight came down and conducted the academic test, with my permission. That is how we found these 25 candidates. I hope that this does not bother you, sir."
Slendy didn't say anything, feeling relief wash over him. After the first part of his day, he was not looking forward to the academic testing. "Yes, Lt. That is fine. Assemble them, and tell them who is accepted. I will conduct them personally when I get the list."
The Lt. smiled. "Yes, sir. If I may, sir, where are you going?"
Slendy had been planning on speaking with Celestia, he truly had, yet as he approached her court he found himself slowing, slowing, until he stopped completely.
He abruptly turned and took a corridor that led to a tower. The corridor was lit by torches, which promptly winked out as Slendy walked into the corridor. On one wall was grey stone, with pictures hung at various intervals along it. On the other, windows overlooked the Castle gardens, which seemed to stretch on into the horizon.
Slendy continued down the corridor until he came to a flight of stairs leading up. He followed them, and found himself winding up the staircase.
After a few minutes, he reached the top. There, a signal door sat shut, with two Night guard standing on either side. When they saw him, they saluted silently, then returned to their previous position.
“Is the Princess available at the moment?” Slendy asked quietly, not wanting to wake her if she was asleep.
“Yes, sir. She should be preparing for bed. Would you like me to alert her to your presence?” Slenderman shook his head.
“No, thank you. I shall be going.” Slendy turned and walked back down the stairs, leaving the two guards looking confused.
As soon as he felt the guards could not hear him, Slendy slipped into the shadows, and searched for Luna’s presence. Quickly finding her in her room sitting on her bed while levitating a book, he slipped into the shadows of her room and allowed himself to become corporeal.
Luna started, and then smiled as she realized who it was.
“Slenderman! I am glad to s-MHM!” Luna was cut off as her mouth was covered by a dark tendril. Looking towards Slendy, she found him covered in waving tendrils that were seeking out the far reaches of the room and slowly covering them with darkness.
The tendril on her mouth slowly lifted, and Luna looked at her room which was promptly becoming both dark and, she realized, magically isolated. Finally, when the room seemed to be unable to physically hold any more magic, Slendy stopped and allowed the tendrils to return to himself.
“Continue, please, princess.” SLendy looked at Luna as he said this. She raised a eyebrow.
“I was just going to say that I am pleased to see you…Why have you come to me? I am guessing not for a social visit.” Luna gestured towards the walls that were covered in darkness.
“I am afraid not, princess. I have come across a few problems I was hoping you could help me with. First off, what is in the 5th level of the prison?”
Luna sighed. “I do not think I need to ask WHAT prison.” She looked up at Slendy, and levitated her book over to the bed stand next to her bed.
“I do not know. I have attempted to break in, look in, ask, and all to no avail. Even Discord cannot break in. Celestia has cast so many muting, protection, shielding, and defensive spells on that level- not to mention a entire repeat of the spells on the room- that nopony knows what is in there. The spells vary from ridiculously simple to horribly complex. If I had to guess, Celestia has probably been casting them for hundreds or years. Whatever is in there, it would take quite a few of the best minds in Equestria to break in.”
Slendy nodded. He knew this already. He had gone back to the prison to attempt to ascertain what was in the room, and was surprised to find himself having difficulty entering the 5th level.
“I have attempted to enter this…room many times and have found it impossible to do so without a long and concentrated effort which I do not, at the moment, have time for. Do you have any idea what is in there, where it came from, or why it is imprisoned there and not, say, in Tartarus?”
Luna chuckled bitterly. “I am afraid I know as much as you do on this matter, Slenderman. Whenever I ask Tia about it, she brushes me off. When I push, she becomes angry and yells. I have learned over the years to not question it.”
Slendy nodded. “I must say, this makes me more and more curious as to what is in there.”
Both Luna and Slendy sat silently for a moment, thinking about the 5th level.
Brining himself back to reality, Slendy spoke again.
“The other problem I wished to speak to you about is a Office of Magical Security headquarters. I know of a place, but I need another’s help in both securing it and making it both efficient and usable. Would you be able to assist me in fixing this structure?”
Luna smiled. “Indeed! I enjoyed working with you last time. IS there any more you can tell me about this structure?”
Slendy nodded. Turning, he lowered his horn and raised his wings. Dark tendrils shot out from his wingtips and horn, meeting in front of him in a swirling mass of darkness that slowly, then rapidly, took shape.
“This is the place. It is deep within the Everfree forest. It is made completely of a strong metallic material. IT seems to be very deep, with only 1 of 7 floors aboveground. I would have explored it more, but I could not as it was too dangerous even for me. There were levels of radioactivity that I have never seen before.”
Luna looked confused. “Radioactivity? Surly not…Celestia and I scoured this land for such things when we secured Equestria. Even the Everfree was scoured by us. We found nothing, and what we did find, we destroyed.”
Slendy nodded. “It is possible that this was either too deep underground to detect…or something else is creating the radiation over time, something still active. Either way, it is there. I require assistance to dispel it. I cannot phase through it as it penetrates every spell I can cast.”
Luna nodded and smiled. “I look forward to helping you.” Slendy nodded. “I am gald to hear as such. No-“ He was cut off by Luna.
“Hold on, Slenderman…Who built this place? The more I look at it, the more it looks...I do not know, almost familiar in style…”
Slendy shook his head. “I do not know whom built it. I was planning on having Lyra and Bon-Bon research it when we have it secured.”
Luna nodded. “Alright. In that case, when do you want us to go?”
Slendy smiled inside, and allowed some humor to infect his voice. “Right now.”
With that, he brought all the darkness around him and Luna, and allowed them to fall into the shadows.
AS he located the structure in the Everfree, he heard a terrified, surprised scream from Luna that promptly turned into a laughing cry, “AHH! I wasn’t ready! Tell me before you do that!” Slendy chuckled under his breath, amused by both the princesses response and the idea that sound could travel while in the Void.
He located the structure quickly, and placed them on a mountaintop overlooking the valley in where the structure was located.
The valley was invisible under a canopy of trees of every size, shape, and color. On the far end of the valley, Slendy could make out a waterfall that seemed to disappear into the trees.
The structure itself sat below them. It was built into the mountain, with a cliff above it and a long, switchback path leading up to it. The path looked like it might have once been wider and more traveled, but now was slowly giving into the Everfree as erosion and the trees began to retake what was theirs. Slendy glided down the mountain, and stopped to hover in front of it, looking at the building. Luna followed closely, curious about the place.
The structure, or what could be seen of it, was nothing but two metal walls that were built into the mountain. They were both easily 40 feet tall and 20 feet wide, and sat side by side. There seemed to be a faint yellow and black striped line that ran across each entrance, as well as faded, unintelligible writing on both.
SLendy waited a moment, and then flew forward toward the wall. At the last moment, he allowed himself and Luna to fall into the shadows and emerge on the opposite side of the wall. They emerged in a pitch black space that smelled of musky air and decay. Before Luna could light her horn, a fait whirling rang through the space and lights came on on the ceiling of the space, which Luna could now see was a wide, hard, black road made of some sort of concrete. Looking to her left, Luna could see another, identical road that lead from the other metal wall that in turn led to the outside. Looking over at Slendy, she found him examining a door built into the side of the wall on the right side of the road. Walking over, she watched his horn glow faintly before the door opened.
Almost immediately a foul smell reached her. Gagging, she shielded her face with her wing until the smell passed.
“What in Tatarus was THAT?” she asked, fanning herself with her wing as she did so.
Slendy did not respond, just walked forward. She heard his hoofsteps for a moment, then nothing, then he emerged from the door and spoke.
“Just some animals that got inside and built a nest. Unfortunately, they seemed to have passed on and left their rotting corpses for us to find. The room itself seems to be a sort of control room, with panels and screens. None of it worked.”
Luna nodded, before walking over to take a look for herself. When she entered, she found nothing but the lights working, and a small carcass rotting in the corner. It seemed that without any predators or air movement, the bacteria had eaten it to its bones and left nothing but the smell and bones remaining. Again gagging, Luna quickly retreated back into the larger space of the road. Looking up, she found Slendy looking at her with his head cocked sideways.
“Shall we continue, then?” was all he said.
Luna nodded and they continued down the road. The lights flickered every now and then, but overall seemed to be working.
The road emerged into a larger space after a few hundred meters. The space was filled with odd, decrepit machinery that looked vaguely like carriages. Slendy ignored the vehicles and kept walking.
“SLenderman, what are those…things?”
“I do not know. I assume that whomever built this place used them for movment and the like, but other than that anypony’s guess. I will put the research and science division into figuring out how they work when we have time.”
Luna nodded, satisfied with the response.
Across the larger space, sat a single door. It was similar to the ones leading outside, but was smaller and sat exactly in the middle of the opposite side of the room.
Slendy began to phase through it when Luna yelled, “Wait!”
Slendy stopped and turned to look at her. “Yes?”
She blushed. “Uh, well, perhaps we should go and get some others to help us down here? I mean, we do not know what is down there or how we are going to clear out this radiation…perhaps some other animals got inside here and are still alive? It could be dangerous, maybe some reinf-“
Slendy cut her off. “Luna, are you scared?”
She blushed harder. “N-No! Just a bit….cautious, is all. I mean, better safe than sorry…”
“Luna, You are the Princess of the Night. I am one of the oldest most powerful beings in Equestria. I control darkness. What could possibly be down there that could overwhelm us?”
Luna sighed. “I guess you are right. I still would like others here…But after we clear the radiation we can come back with them.”
Slendy nodded, then spoke. “But...perhaps you are right. Before we phase through completely, I can try a spell. It makes us both invisible and untouchable, but allowes us to see our physical surroundings. IT will not protect us against radiation, but anything else we should be immune to.”
Luna giggled nervously. “Alright, that sounds…good. Where did you learn such a spell?”
Slendy chuckled darkly. “It is a old battlemage spell. I observed Starswirll the Bearded practicing it once, a long time ago….no matter. Shall we?” Luna nodded hesitantly.
Slendy turned and walked up to the door. Breathing deeply, he allowed darkness to swallow both him and Luna. Unlike the other times, she could still see the area around her. Slendy, confident the spell was working, turned and walked towards the door. A tendril of darkness promptly appeared and went through the door, then retracted. Slendy’s horn glowed softly, and the door, with a shudder, opened slowly. The instant it was open, silence crept into the room. Then, without warning, a low, steady moan filled the space as air rushed into the newly opened room, and the rotted corpses of at least half a dozen ponies of all types rattled to the ground in front of Slendy.
Slendy himself did not respond all that much besides a jump backwards and out of the path of the corpses. Luna, on the other hand, shrieked abruptly in surprise.
Slendy’s thoughts were of surprise. “How did I miss this last time..?” Luna heard him mumble under his breath. He leaned down and examined the corpses slowly and meticulously, as if looking for the best apple in a basket. Seemingly content, he stood and turned towards the newly opened door, and walked into the corridor that it led into.
The lights in the corridor flickered on slowly, as if waking up from a long sleep. The corridor was short, and led into another chamber which had seats on either side of it, and a door on the other side of that. Shower faucets hung over the benches, and just before the chamber Luna noticed a square indent in the wall with symbols over it. Turning to Slenderman, she asked, “Slenderman, can you read these symbols?”
Turning back to her, SLendy walked in front of the indentation.
“Yes. Give me a moment.”
Well he examined the symbols, Luna walked into the chamber. It was white, as everything after the large room with the strange vehicles, she realized.
“Alright, I think I know what it says.”
Luna turned to Slendy. “Annnndddd?”
SLendy turned to face her. “Incinerator. It says incinerator.”
Luna raised a eyebrow. “Odd.”
“Indeed. To the next door?”
Luna smiled. “Alright.”
Slendy walked to the next door, and repeated the process of opening the last door. This one opened with no noise, and the lights came on almost immediately. And, much to Luna (and Slendy’s) happiness nopony fell out in front of them.
For the next two hours, the pair explored the structure, going down and down until the radiation levels (which steadily increased the further down the two went) barred them from progressing.
The structure was simply organized and suitably empty. The corridor from the room near the incinerator led to a square room that held a platform with a control panel. It, unsurprisingly, did not work. After phasing through, the two found that it was hollow, a sort of moving platform that Slendy called a elevator.
It led to a level that housed what seemed to be a common area, a level with rooms, a level with what seemed to be labratories, and a level that the pair could not reach due to the radiation. Surpisingly, all of the levels and all of the rooms where empty of everything. Nothing besides the doors and lights worked, and there was no sign of anypony ever having lived there besides the pony corpses that had piled out from the first door Slendy had opened.
“Well, now what?”
Luna was the first one to talk. The two stood in the center of the common area, discussing what to do next.
“Next, we clear out the radiation. My spells did not work, but I assume that yours will due to your prior…experience.”
Luna nodded. “I hope so. The spell itself is very simple. It involves a teleportation spell that the caster cuts off halfway through. The difficult part is teleporting nothing but the air and polluted particles as well as cutting the spell off at the right time so that everything being teleported is destroyed in the process.” Slendy nodded.
“I think I can learn to do that. Perhaps you would like to demonstrate?”
Luna nodded. Turning, she focused on a small pocket of the room, imagining it’s molecules and it’s essence. Then, very carefully, she imagined it disappearing into nothing, into the outside, into ANYWHERE.
The air began to shimmer.
Then, she began to estimate it’s mass, volume, and density based on what it felt like in her grip. Based on that, she poured more magic into the spell.
The air shimmered very brightly, then suddenly the shimmering was gone. The pair felt a rush of air as the newly empty pocket was filled by the surrounding air.
Luna let the spell drop as she felt the air being transported, and sighed with relief. She had been worried she had forgotten the spell.
Looking towards Slendy, she smiled. “Did you get it?”
Slendy nodded. “Indeed. Let us begin.”
Before they began, Slendy made them both incorporeal so that they would be able to breath.
Once that was complete, the two phased down until they were in the radiated level. The lights were on, but all the doors leading off of the corridor they found themselves in were locked. Both began to focus on what lay in front of them, and the corridor itself seemed to shimmer. As the teleportation spell completed, Slendy walked over to one of the doors and opened it. Inside was another lab, this one empty. Slowly, they cleared every room and found each one empty. Finally, they came to the last door that led director from the end of the hallway.
Slendy again opened it, and was blasted with what felt like a furnace.
In front of the two was a massive spherical chamber. In the center of it sat a large, floating, glowing ball of white energy. It seemed to be being contained by four long metallic arms that ended in quarter spheres that covered the ball of energy partly. The room was heavily irradiated, and Slendy and Luna both started the spell only to find themselves unable to complete it.
Closing the door, Luna and Slendy looked at each other.
“What is THAT?” Luna was shivering slightly, and sweating profusely.
“I believe it is a energy source of some kind. My guess would be it is magnetically contained by those metallic arms we saw, and that the ledge we were standing on with the control panel is the control panel for the entire structure’s power. However, as to why our magic will not work, I have no idea.”
Luna nodded. “Alight. Well, if it is a power source, it seems to be malfunctioning. Perhaps we can stabilize it?”
Slendy shook his head. “No, I do not think so, at least not yet. I do not have the understanding of it to attempt to stabilize it, nor do you. The only pony I could think of that could possibly work on something like that would be Twilight, or perhaps Celestia and Discord. Either way, we have done what we can here today. I suggest we return to Canterlot and reassess our options there.”
Luna opened her mouth to disagree, then closed it, then opened it again, then closed it. Finally, she said, “Alright. That’s probably our best option.”
The two phased up to the shower room, and walked out into the vehicle bay, Slendy shutting the door behind him before phasing them both back to Canterlot. Neither noticed that the corpses were nowhere to be found.
