//------------------------------//
// Part 8: Somepony to Call a Friend 
// Story: The Slender: Bound to the Past 
// by Lance Skyes 
//------------------------------//

	Applebloom trotted cautiously through the area of the forest where Sweetie Belle had indicated just before Slender got her. She wasn’t trotting for too long before she heard Slender’s static. She began to pick up speed, but she quickly realized that Slender wasn’t following her. In fact, he was moving away. Applebloom was sure investigating was a stupid idea, but she just had to know why Slender was suddenly not chasing her. For a while, she thought it was because he was taking Sweetie Belle’s lifeless body somewhere, (a thought she just couldn’t stomach) but it wasn’t Slender at all. At least not the one that’s been chasing the crusaders. In fact, it almost didn’t look like Slender, at all. It was a pony. An alicorn, no less. It had the same body patterns as Slender, but a face, tail, horn, and wings. It was walking along, massaging its horn with its hoof. “I don’t appreciate you watching me like that,” the alicorn said, suddenly. “But I can assure you that you don’t need to run.”
Applebloom was prepared to run, anyway, but the alicorn approached her. “Who are you?” Applebloom asked, prepared to gallop at the drop of a hat.
“I figured you wouldn’t recognize me,” the alicorn replied. “I never even had time to introduce myself, earlier. My name is Silph, and I’m the one who tried to save your friend earlier.”
“Silph,” Applebloom repeated. “Well, thank you for trying... even though Sweetie Belle...” Applebloom turned her head to try to hide her tears.
“I apologize for not being able to act sooner, but you have to understand that there wasn’t much else I could do.” Silph then leaned down and put his hoof on Applebloom’s shoulder, causing her to jump a little. “Sorry, Applebloom. I didn’t mean to startle you just now.”
“Wait. How do you know my name?” Applebloom asked, pulling back.
“You overhear a lot of names when you try to protect ponies.”
“You mean... you were trying to protect us the whole time?”
“Yes, but my powers are limited. Watch.” Silph turned and tried to use his horn to levetate a rock next to them with little success. “See?”
“So you couldn’t do a thing?”
“Not true. My wings work like a charm and the sharpness of my horn makes it an effective weapon.”
“So you why didn’t you do anything sooner? Couldn’t you have stopped us before we even entered the forest? Couldn’t you have saved Scootaloo?”
“I’m afraid not.” Silph got up and turned, looking out at the darkness of the forest. “There are many more Slender than me and the one that’s been attacking you, and they’ve all had eyes on me for the 15 centuries I’ve been among them. Wait, none of them have eyes,” Silph added. This actually made Applebloom chuckle a little, but she quickly snapped back to her original defensive state. “Again, you don’t need to fear me.”
“I know,” Applebloom said. “I’m just on edge in case another one of you sneak up behind me or something.”
“Believe me, I’ll be the first to know and the first to warn you if another Slender is on his way.”
“Okay. I guess if you’ve been trying to save me and my friends... I could probably trust you with warning me of other Slender coming this way.”
“Don’t worry, there won’t be any Slender after you for at least another few minutes. He’s taking your friend to the center of the forest and adding her body to a pile of ponies they've built up over the past few years.”
“A pile?” Applebloom looked down, more tears in her eyes. “Scootaloo would be there too, wouldn’t she?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so.” Silph layed down next to Applebloom and just stayed there for a while, waiting for Applebloom to do something. “I can still help you, ya know,” he finally said.
“Really?” Applebloom asked, raising her head. “How?”
“I could help you track down the last page.”
“But I only have six pages.”
“No you don’t,” Silph said, pulling out a page that was tucked behind his wing. 
“From the looks of it, you do, indeed, have seven pages.”
“Wow,” Applebloom said, taking the page and putting it in her saddlebag. “Thank you, Silph. So how are you going to help me find the last page?”
“You’re hooves must be aching from all the galloping you’ve been doing over the past couple days.”
“Days? It’s only felt like a few hours.”
“Time is different in this forest. Anyway, hop on. I’ll fly you to where the last page is.”
“Okay. I’ll trust you with that much... for my friends.” Applebloom then climbed onto Silph’s back. Silph got up and extended his wings.
“Hang on tight,” he said. Applebloom hung on for dear life as Silph took off into the canopy of darkness.

(7/8) (Yay, almost done!)