Slenderman walked through the center of the forest, whistling a rather cheerful tune. Silph was sitting around doing pretty much nothing when he noticed Slenderman walking by. “Hey, Slenderman,” Silph said. “How are you whistling if you don’t have a mouth?”
“That’s easy,” Slenderman replied. “I- uh... How can you be part Slender, part Equestrian if your father was neither?”
“I asked you first, you answer me.”
“Let’s forget either of us asked anything. Have you seen Slenderwolf? I forgot to walk him earlier.”
“I think Slendermane took care of him. What kept you from walking the dog, anyway?”
“Oh, I was chasing those fillies around and it took me longer to catch one of them than I thought it would, but I got one anyway.” Slenderman then held up Scootaloo’s lifeless body with one of his tentacles. “Another one for the pile.” He then threw Scootaloo’s body into a pile of other dead ponies.
“You killed her?” shouted Silph, getting up and galloping towards where Slenderman threw Scootaloo. “What happened to giving peace a chance?”
“We never agreed to that.”
“But making peace with the Equestrians is entirely possible. If my father could to it, why can’t we?”
“Your father was a fool! He calls himself a lord of chaos, but he let himself fall victim to that pathetic ‘friendship’ those ponies use... twice!”
“He befriended one of the Equestrians. That means they’re entirely capable of making peace with just about anything, no harm done.”
“I will have no more of this, Silph! For the last time, we are not giving up our traditions and that is final!” Slenderman then turned around and began to walk off. “I’m gonna go take care of those last two fillies. You stay here and stop your nonsense about peace with the Equestrians.” Slenderman then walked off, leaving Silph there to do nothing but sit around.
“Grr... I can’t just stand by and let this happen. I need to do something.” Silph then flew off in the same direction as Slenderman.
Meanwhile, Applebloom was trying to comfort Sweetie Belle over the loss of Scootaloo. “How could it just take her?” Sweetie Belle said through a fountain of tears. “How could it be so cold-hearted?”
“I’d say it’s like Discord,” said Applebloom.
“How so?”
“He doesn’t care about anypony because he treats everything like a game. He finds everything he does fun. He does whatever he wants and treats it all as a joke.”
Sweetie Belle just stared at Applebloom for a little while, then bursted into tears again. “How was that supposed to help me?”
“Shh, Sweetie Belle. There’s nothing we can do except understand there’s nothing we could do. It wasn’t our fault.”
“Actually, you’re wrong, Applebloom. It was your fault!”
“What? How?”
“If you hadn’t read that book--if you hadn’t asked Big Macintosh about the forest--we wouldn’t be here and Scootaloo would still be alive!” Sweetie Belle then resumed her crying.
“How about this,” Applebloom said after a while. “Let’s go back to Ponyville and see if Twilight or somepony else can help us. Maybe then we can find some way to beat Slender and possibly save Scootaloo. What do you say?”
“Fine,” Sweetie Belle finally replied. The two then galloped off, hoping to be headed towards the edge of the forest. They were galloping for a while when Applebloom suddenly stopped.
“Sweetie Belle,” Applebloom called. “I found another page.”
“Applebloom!” shouted Sweetie Belle shouted, annoyed. “I thought we gave up collecting the pages!”
“We did, but the more we have, the better chance Twilight will have of understanding this forest... hopefully.”
“Good point, but we still need to get back as soon as possible.”
“Right.” The two fillies then continued their galloping towards the exit. They had been galloping for a while when they could finally see Sweet Apple Acres.
“Applebloom, look!” shouted Sweetie Belle. “I think I can see the way out!”
As Sweetie Belle galloped towards the light, Applebloom called after her, trying to get her to stop. “Sweetie Belle! Come back!”
“I’m not spending another second longer in this forest on nightmares!”
“Sweetie Belle, wait! You-”
“I can smell the fresh air!”
“SWEETIE BELLE!!!” But it was too late. Sweetie Belle had hit the fence and was knocked several feet back.
“What?” asked Sweetie Belle, rubbing her head. “What happened to Sweet Apple Acres?”
“It must have been one of Slender’s tricks,” Applebloom said, helping her friend up. “He creates an illusion to fill us with hope, then we fall flat on our backs when we get to close. We’re fenced in.”
“But that means... there’s really no way out?” Applebloom shook her head. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
(4/8)