//------------------------------// // Life, the Universe, and Everything // Story: Prompts from Ponies // by Sycamore //------------------------------// This is a speech given at a (fake) seminar on “Life, the Question and the Answer” with Princess Twilight Sparkle as the presenter. “We all know the answer: forty-two, but do we know the question? I want to give everypony here a different perspective on the question and answer to life the universe and everything, but before that let me start by saying this: There are many questions that may have the answer “42”. What is seven multiplied by six? How many minutes does it take to fly from Ponyville to Canterlot? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a TrotsiePop? “We all know the answer to the last one, and it’s not forty-two, Owlowiscious’s uncle made sure that we all knew that the answer to that: “A One... A Two... A Three... Crunch!” But I digress. “When given the answer, many possibilities for the question pop into our head. We all want to know, but there arises the problem. It is said that if the question and the answer reside in the same universe, then the universe will be replaced with a new one. I don’t believe this because I feel that I have found the question and answer, but here the true problem can be viewed: Everypony has their own question, and their own answer.” Pointing to different ponies in the audience, Twilight continues, “Her question might have to do with her family, while her question might have to do with what makes her smile. “We may already know the answer. Unless you have no cutie mark, the answer appears to be your special talent. If you think long and hard, whenever you have some time off, you will find the question. From personal experience, I can say that when you find the question that coincides with your answer, you will know and you will have a happiness that is only rivaled by the magic of friendship.” After a while later, all of the ponies in the room try to look as attentive as possible with only a core group of ponies genuinely excited and enthralled in the speech. Most breathe a sigh of relief as the presentation winds down. “I hope I have changed your perspective on this topic and I hope you enjoyed this event, have a good time during the rest of this conference. I will be taking questions for the next fifteen minutes and then the next scheduled event, the, the table with some of our greatest thinkers, will occur shortly after we end.”