The Assassin's Quandary

Section B

Entry 36: Silen Prime

To say that Silen possesses a split personality would be inaccurate. While a few hours of experimentation and probing his mind has revealed another significant body of thought separate from his mind, he is constantly lucid and displays no signs of “switching” personalities. Moreover, the separate personality (which I have named Silen Prime for ease of reference) has a severely truncated set of processes compared to a fully functioning pony mind, especially in comparison to a Unicorn’s mind.

While my experience in neuromagics is limited, the books I have studied show that Silen Prime is very similar to the minds of predators located near the top of their food chain, particularly those that hunt alone. This presumably bestows Silen with a primal instinct that has been unknown to ponykind for thousands of years at the least. Who or what embedded Silen Prime into Silen is unknown, but I suspect they did it to enhance his assassination abilities.

I humbly advise that Silen remain in the dungeon of the Canterlot Castle for ease of study. If I can find out more about Silen Prime I could possibly trace it back to the people who want me dead. Also, he may be much more able than we anticipated. Avoid provocation if at all possible.

Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle

Section B

Entry 37: Silen Prime’s Inception

My books describe inception of a second psychological structure to be incredibly complex, invariably leaving the subject with mental scars that can be linked to the inceptor. However, after examining Silen Prime, I have found no such evidence. Silen Prime is far too simple to be a psychological flaw, but at the same time far too complex to be created without leaving behind any telling scars. I have a few theories- either Silen Prime was made by Silen himself, who would be able to create Silen Prime without seriously disrupting his mind, or I missed something.

More likely than either of those, though, is the possibility that we are dealing with an immensely powerful neuromage. I humbly advise that a catalogue of all prominent neuromagi be constructed and examined for possibly motive.

Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle

Twilight set her quill down just as somepony knocked on the door. “Come in,” she said softly. An orange mare walked through the door. She looked around the room and noticed the array of papers sitting on Twilights desk. “Now Twilight,” She lectured. “Ah know you want to find out more about this Silen fellow, but you need rest. Yore injured, and keepin out of bed ain’t gonna help ya get better anytime faster. Celestia’s shield spell did a number on ya. Why not just have Spike handle things for awhile?”

“Spike has been running experiments on Silen for me. Besides, it’s not that bad, Applejack,” Twilight responded as she shifted her eyepatch. “It could have been much worse if not for the Princess’s shield.” The two paused for a second, grimacing at the possible outcome. Twilight quickly broke the silence. “I just don’t know why she had to use the exploding shield spell...” The two laughed it off and Applejack eventually talked Twilight into taking some rest.

“Well?” whispered Rainbow Dash immediately after Applejack closed the door. All five of Twilight’s best friends quietly stood, posed, or hovered near the door.

“Ah got 'er to go to bed, finally. But shes been workin mighty hard the past few days. She can’t take her mind off Silen.” She pointed towards her bulging saddlebags. “She wrote all these papers in the last few days. Ah'm supposed to deliver them to Celestia.” She politely gestured towards the hallway and the other ponies cleared out of the way.

As she walked down the hallway, she realized that there were many more guards stationed inside the castle then any other time she had been there. Not even the royal wedding a few months ago had warranted this many guards. Shining Armor had probably had to withdraw guards from all over the city just to protect Twilight. I suppose I would do the same thing for Apple Bloom, if it ever came to that, she thought. After having her saddlebags searched (and being assured many times that it was just policy) Applejack was allowed inside Celestia’s throne room.

“Ah, Applejack, what a pleasant surprise. I’ll be with you in just a moment.” Celestia had been writing a letter. “The kingdom doesn’t halt on account of one attempted murder.”

“About that,” Applejack responded. “Why did the shield spell hurt Twi so bad? The knife never even touched ‘er.” Celestia carefully rolled the parchment and ignited it. “Shield spells like that are tricky for anypony. To achieve the level of protection I needed to ensure her safety, I had to admit the fact that the shield could be volatile.”

“Ah, well, I don’t really get all that magic stuff. Anyway.” Applejack threw the saddlebags full of Twilight’s notes to Celestia’s feet. “Twilight has been sortin through Silen’s head, tryin to find out more about him. Ah finally got her to get some rest, but she said she needed you to look through these as soon as possible.” Celestia looked surprised at the large amount of notes that Twilight had taken.

Celestia sorted through a few of the papers. “These are very interesting. It would appear that Silen may not be as dishonest and self-centered as I thought. According to Twilight, he’s been modified- his mind isn’t normal.” She continued flipping through the pages. “I need to read these, which may take awhile,” She chuckled. “Make sure to keep an eye on Twilight, Applejack. We need her in top shape to continue these studies. Thank you very much for delivering these.”

+~+~+~+~+~+~+

Two dark figures sat around a table in a dimly lit room. Red light from the fireplace bounced off the bare walls and threw shadows onto the table. The building was located inside the heart of the Everfree Forest, and so neither sun nor moon could penetrate the foliage and give light to the small hut.

“He failed.”

“He didn’t fail. He delayed.”

“Either way, Twilight still lives.”

“She can’t stop us in her current state. And Celestia won’t allow her to leave the castle while she knows somepony wants Twilight’s life.”

Two grins appeared in the darkness, illuminated by a bloody red light. The two figures chuckled but one halted abruptly.

“But if Celestia discovers us...”

“Don’t worry. If we kill Twilight by then, she won’t be able to stop us anyway.”

The two grins reappeared. One figure threw an ornate knife into the air which spun slowly before reaching the top of its arc, pausing, and plunging into the table.

“Send another. Send the best you can find. And tell them to kill Silen too.”

“Silen could still be useful. He’s still closeby.”

“We can’t afford to have loose ends. We finish him off after Twilight.”

The other figure shrugged. “Agreed.”