A Bit of Riddles, A Riddle of Bits

by Karach

Chapter 1: Mysteries of Modern Mathematics

"So, any bright ideas?" Applebloom asked, rubbing her forehead with a hoof. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were sitting in their clubhouse and, for once, weren't interested in finally sealing their destiny by getting their marks.

Sweetie Belle's head dropped heavily on the desk. "I'm stumped," she sighed. "It's much harder than I thought."

"I don't know either," Scootaloo said. "I can't believe she gave us such a hard assignment!" she added, stomping the wooden floor hard with her hoof.

"Aw, come on. It can't be that hard." The earth pony tried to convince herself as much as the others. The mathematical problem Miss Cheerilee gave them lay in front of them on a piece of parchment, almost as if it was mocking them. They had spent the last two hours trying to figure out the answer, but hadn't had any luck so far.

"Tell you what," proposed Scootaloo, rubbing her hooves with a sly smile, "how about we dump the problem... I mean we ask someone smarter about it?"

"Who could be smarter than us?" asked Sweetie Belle with genuine concern in her voice. She had a point there...

"How 'bout a pony who lives in a library, probably read all the books there already, and is generally a walking encyclopedia?" Applebloom's sincere smile brightened the room like a beacon piercing through the night.

"Yeah, let's ask Twilight Sparkle!" Sweetie Belle agreed instantly. "She might know."

Scootaloo jumped to the desk and grabbed the parchment with her mouth. "Lesh go now, before we washte any more time we could shpend on getting our cutie marksh." She urged through the gritted teeth, already halfway down the ramp to the clubhouse. The other Crusaders followed immediately.

***

Twilight Sparkle squinted her eyes, focusing magic within her horn. The spell she was going to perform was extremely complicated and required her full attention. Books, scrolls, and scribble-covered pieces of parchment lay all around her, covering every inch of any flat surface available. Finally she was going to perfect it. After three nights of tedious research, she had finally calculated the right amount of energy needed to transform an ordinary slice of bread into a perfect toast. If that wasn't the pinnacle of transmutation magic, she didn't know what was.

The purple aura around Twilight's horn glowed more intense, illuminating the room. Beads of sweat gathered on her forehead, but she was far too concentrated to even notice them. With utmost attention, she pointed her horn at the slice of bread lying on a plate on the table before her.

KNOCK! KNOCK! BAM!

With a scream of shock, Twilight jumped at the sudden bangs coming from the library's front door, releasing her magic all at once. A beam of raw, concentrated force burned through the bread and the table, stopping halfway through the floor, setting the surrounding notes on fire. The librarian quickly emptied the water from the nearby flowerpot onto the burning paper. The fire hissed away in a cloud of smoke, revealing a large hole in the library's floor.

BAM! BAM! The banging continued, nearly tearing the door off its hinges.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Twilight called, adding a barely audible Celestia, damn it! after it. "There's no fire, is there?" Oh, for the love of... The unicorn's hoof met her forehead with considerable force at the unintended pun. She rubbed her horn with a groan.

As soon as she opened the door, three figures zoomed into the library, making her spin around, trying to regain balance.

"HI, TWILIGHT!" the three voices roared, nearly deafening her in the process.

"Applebloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle," the unicorn greeted the fillies in alphabetical order, correcting her mane and forcing a weak smile. "Is something wrong? Can I help?"

"Actually, we think ya can." Applebloom began with a smile.

"You see, we've got this really difficult math problem from Miss Cheerilee," explained Sweetie Belle, producing the parchment from her saddlebag.

"And we tried to solve it, but couldn't, so we thought we should ask you about it 'cause you're the librarian and all, and probably could solve riddles like this one in your sleep!" Scootaloo finished in one breath.

"I'm flattered you have so much faith in my knowledge." Twilight smiled with a slight blush, deciding to forget about her magic fiasco from earlier. "So, what's this problem about?"

"Ya know how a bit is worth exactly a hundred cents," began Applebloom.

"Yes," Twilight answered subconsciously, though the filly's statement wasn't exactly a question, much less one that needed answering.

"And a hundred cents is equal to ten cents times ten cents," continued Scootaloo.

"So it's one tenth of a bit times one tenth of a bit," said Sweetie Belle. Twilight nodded her head for every one of those enlightening 'revelations'.

"But a tenth of a bit times a tenth of a bit is a hundredth of a bit," continued Applebloom.

"And a hundredth of a bit is one cent!" almost shouted Scootaloo.

"So it turns out..." said Sweetie Belle, eyes wide with shock.

"That ONE BIT is equal to ONE CENT!" The fillies shouted all together, making Twilight's ears fold against her head.

"Wait, what?" she managed to say, correcting her shout-swept mane and trying her best to ignore the bells still ringing in her head. "It's obviously incorrect. If you tried that trick in the market, the merchants would either laugh you clear home or call the guards."

"We know that, Twilight," said Applebloom. "Tha's the point of this task."

"To find an error in this kind of reasoning," added Sweetie Belle.

"And we've been trying for hours and we simply can't budge it," pouted Scootaloo.

"Take a lookie here, Twilight." The farmer filly gave the piece of parchment to the unicorn.

Find an error in the following reasoning:

1 bit = 100 cents = 10 cents * 10 cents = 0.1 bits * 0.1 bits = 0.01 bits = 1 cent

Twilight looked at the parchment in silence. The reasoning was so illogical that she was certain it broke several mathematical laws. But, no matter how much Twilight stared at the offending equation, she couldn't pinpoint the exact error. Despite the statement being obviously contradictory to logical thinking, there was no mathematical flaw in it. At least it didn't seem so at first glance.

Twilight squinted her eyes, looking at the parchment hard enough to stare a hole in it. The gears in her mind spun furiously as she tried employing several various mathematical formulas to correct the logical flaw in the equation, but—from simple arithmetic to complicated differential calculus—nothing seemed to work.

"Anything yet, Twilight?" asked Scootaloo, stretching her wings impatiently.

"What? Oh, no, not yet," the librarian said, massaging her forehead with a hoof. It felt embarrassing that such a simple, grade-school problem was causing so much trouble to the disciple of the Princess herself. "You see, I was just perfecting a very important spell and cannot concentrate properly on your problem right now." Twilight forced out a weak smile. "Why don't you go crusading for your cutie marks for a while and check in later? Say, in an hour or two. I'm sure I will be able to help you then."

"Well, yeah, if ya think it's alright," said Applebloom, a hint of uncertainty audible in her voice.

"OK, Crusaders!" Scootaloo raised a hoof, grinning from ear to ear. "Let's try to get our cutie marks while Twilight finds the answer."

The three hooves clapped in midair with a loud YAY! and the fillies left the library in a vibrant yellow-orange-and-white tornado, scattering the rest of the scrolls that lay on the floor with a sudden rush of air.

Twilight sighed with relief, reaching with her magic for several thick tomes with such enigmatic titles as Mysteries of Modern Mathematics, Complete Coverage of Complicated Calculi or Living the Life with Logic.

***

The sun was already setting, covering the town with a blanket of golden rays, when Cutie Mark Crusaders finished cleaning themselves up at the shore of one of Ponyville's many lakes.

"Congratulations, Scoots!" mocked Applebloom, wiping her face with a cloth. "This time not only were we covered in tree sap but also in soot. And we still haven't got our cutie marks."

"I guess Cutie Mark Crusaders Chimney Sweepers wasn't such a good idea after all." Sweetie Belle emerged from the water, her head hung low. Her white coat suffered the most damage from the not-really-unexpected meeting with soot.

"Probably," agreed the pegasus. "But I wonder how in Equestria was there tree sap in the chimney!"

"Let's all forget about it an' go see Twilight," proposed the farmer filly. "She probably solved our math problem hours ago."

Going by a cart attached to Scootaloo's scooter was the fastest way to get from one end of the town to the other, aside from maybe teleportation. Mere minutes later, the fillies were standing before the library door. Applebloom knocked politely and waited. No answer came.

Just then, the fillies noticed the ominous silence that seemed to fall over the library. Usually, on a sunny evening like this one, there would at least be a few birds chirping among the tree branches, or some bees buzzing in their nest near one of the library windows. At this time, however, the tree was shrouded in a cloak of silence as if someone cast a mute spell all over the place.

Applebloom knocked once again. This time, the door moved on their own with an obligatory squeak, inviting them inside. The yellow-and-red filly looked at her friends who both nodded encouragingly. Applebloom pushed the door and risked a glance inside.

If the library was in a mess when the fillies had first visited Twilight, right now it looked like a disaster area. Scrolls, notes, and books lay all over the place, some with their pages torn out. The garbage can—as well as the area all around—was filled with crumpled pieces of paper; fragments of broken quills were littered all over the floor. A few burnt marks could be noticed on the shelves and the floor, probably a remnant of carelessly cast magic missiles that rebounded or entirely missed their target.

"Twilight..." Applebloom whispered quietly and cautiously. "Are ya here?"

The Crusaders entered the library, carefully maneuvering between pieces of paper that covered the floor. The inside of the tree was dark as all the sun was blocked with curtains, only increasing the strange unnerving feeling the fillies all felt. Suddenly, a particularly large pile of books erupted like a small volcano, revealing the unicorn's head. Twilight had her back turned at the fillies, but only for a moment. Frozen in shock, the Crusaders observed as her purple head slowly turned round, circling a perfect semicircle with her horn.

"Oh, hi girls!" The voice Twilight greeted them with was instantly recognized, though the Crusaders heard it only once before. The three fillies cowered against the shelf, reminiscing the perfect sunny day on which they had peacefully played ball interrupted by Twilight's sudden appearance with her rag doll. Now, exactly like then, the unicorn's eyelids were twitching and her eyes looked like a deformed copy of the local mailmare's walled orbs. Her lips formed a twisted smile, with her teeth bared as if she was a timberwolf about to snatch its prey.

"I'm terribly sorry, but I have not yet found the answer to your problem," the unicorn explained, her ears flapping up and down in accordance with her twitching eyes. "But I'm close, oh, so very close." She grabbed Applebloom by the shoulders, looking deep into the filly's eyes. The farm pony squirmed to break free, but the purple hooves were holding her in a tight grip.

"Hey, no worries, Twilight." Scootaloo stepped forward. "I'm sure we can work it out eventually, you don't have to-"

"NO!" The filly felt her wings pinned against the shelf as a sudden burst of purple light indicated Twilight's use of magic. "I will solve it myself if it's the last thing I do!" the librarian screamed, letting the pegasus slump to the floor. "I'm so close now, you know. I was just going to fire a sure proof spell to do it," she said, her horn setting ablaze with purple light. The library was filled with a blind flash followed by a loud boom, after which the Crusaders found themselves blinded, deafened, and aching, presumably outside.

"Oh, no!" cried Sweetie Belle once their vision and hearing got back. "Twilight's gone crazy again."

"An' it's our fault this time." Applebloom forced her body up, rubbing her head with a hoof.

"C'mon guys, we have to help her!" Scootaloo looked towards the library tree which was now covered in a thick cloud of smoke.

"But how? She almost blew us up seconds ago. We can't just go back in there," protested Sweetie Belle.

"Hmm... Ah know!" Applebloom jumped as an idea struck her. "Let's get 'er friends to help us. Scoots, you try to find Rainbow Dash. Sweetie, you get your sister. Ah will get Applejack."

"On it!" the pegasus saluted and dashed off on her scooter.

"OK!" Sweetie Belle shouted, immediately turning towards the Carousel Boutique.

Applebloom, too, broke into a gallop in the direction of the Sweet Apple Acres. Ah hope we aren't too late!

***

"Applejack! Applejack! Where are ya?!"

The farm pony pricked her ears upon hearing the shouts from the orchard. "Here, Applebloom!" She peered her head from the apple cellar. "What's all the hubbub?"

"Twilight's gone crazy again. An'... well, it may have been our fault this time." The filly pawed the ground with a hoof, her face filled with worry. Not wasting any more time, the orange pony broke into a run towards the library.

"Ya'll explain everything on the way, young lady. Let’s go!" she shouted back.

~

"Rarity, Rarity!" The door to the Carousel Boutique burst open with a loud bang.

"Sweetie Belle, honestly," the older unicorn pouted. "Where are your manners? Don't you know it's extremely impolite to barge into somepony's workshop like that?"

"Rarity, you have to help!" The filly shouted straight into her sister's face with enough force to ruffle her carefully coiffed mane. "It's Twilight."

"Oh my, what happened?" Fluttershy peaked from behind the changing veil; apparently she had been helping Rarity with her most recent dress design.

"I'll tell you on the way. She's gone crazy again. You have to stop her!"

The two mares exchanged quick worried glances. Immediately after, two unicorn figures galloped from the Boutique with the pegasus following in midair.

~

"Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo was speeding through the town, shouting at the clouds she passed by. Being the pegasus's number one fan, she knew that her idol had already finished her weather duty and was now either napping or practicing stunts—which meant that either way she had to look up to find her.

"Over here, squirt!" the familiar voice called from above.

The filly stopped her scooter with a screech, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Whoa, what's the rush?" The cyan pegasus grinned, descending from the cloud she was napping on.

"We need your help, Rainbow Dash. It's Twilight," Scootaloo answered, panting heavily.

"What, has she flipped her lid again?" the weather pony joked, but her smile faded away when the filly only nodded, her eyes full of worry. Without exchanging other words, the two pegasi sped towards the library tree—one leaving a cloud of dust on the ground behind her, the other a streak of rainbow in the sky.

Oblivious to them, a pink head popped from a nearby flowerpot. The pair of blue eyes followed the speeding pegasi until they disappeared behind a corner. Suddenly, the head sunk back into the pot and Pinkie Pie appeared seemingly out of nowhere on the street. There was some kind of a party going on at the library and nopony invited her! She wouldn't have it. She couldn't have it! After all, she wasn't called the pink party purveyor of Ponyville for nothing.

***

The three parties arrived at the library nearly at the same time. On their way, each of the Crusaders tried to briefly fill in the mares about the librarian's current nervous breakdown.

"It was just a simple math riddle from the school," explained Sweetie Belle. "We were sure Twilight would be able to help us."

"Yeah, we didn't mean any of this to happen," added Applebloom with a sad voice, ears flopped against her head.

Seven pairs of eyes looked at the library tree. Clouds of white steam were bursting from the door and windows in short intervals, accompanied by an occasional blast of stray magic. The whole building emitted a strange hissing sound. All around the library, a small crowd of ponies that apparently had nothing better to do already began to assemble; Ponyville was otherwise a quiet and dull town and usually every weird occurrence, such as this, gathered a fair number of curious spectators.

"Ah think we should look inside," proposed Applejack. "Boy howdy, it looks like the whole tree is boilin'." The farm pony tried to fan away the white smoke with her Stetson.

"No point in standing here doing nothing!" Rainbow Dash charged towards the door with her trademark confidence. Despite the vapors and the hissing, it wasn't getting noticeably hotter. She probed the door with a hoof. They gave in, allowing her to cautiously poke her head through the gap. Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw inside.

Twilight Sparkle was hovering in midair, enveloped in a ball of purple light. Her coat was blazing white and her mane and tail looked like they were being consumed by fire. No, like they were made of fire. Her eyes were blank, brimming with raw magic, similarly to when they had fought Discord and Nightmare Moon.

A couple of books levitated next to Twilight enveloped in similar blinding light, circling around the unicorn like little planets around their sun. Suddenly, the librarian's horn pulsed, connecting Twilight and a book with a bolt-like beam. Following that was the most bizarre sight Rainbow had ever seen.

The bolt of light withdrew, dragging behind it words and mathematical symbols, sucking them out of the book until they began circling around the unicorn's horn. Soon after, they condensed in a shapeless mass of ink which shot towards the piece of parchment that lay stoically on the nearby desk. The ball bounced off the parchment, splashing all over the library.

Judging from the amount of ink dripping from the shelves, floor, and ceiling, it wasn't Twilight's first attempt. The book that had just been used was discarded on the floor and another one took its place, the process beginning anew.

"Hey, that's our math problem." Scootaloo pointed at the offending piece of parchment. She had managed to squeeze her head next to Rainbow's and was eying the library curiously.

The blue pegasus pushed the door all the way, allowing all her friends to look in. A collective gasp was the only appropriate reaction to the bizarre sight.

"Twi, are ya OK?" Applejack called loud enough to be heard through the hissing noise of uncontrolled magic. She didn't get any reply.

"Twilight, snap out of it!" Rainbow Dash tried to fly over and reach the unicorn, only to be bounced back on the floor by the force field that surrounded the librarian.

"So, you wanna do this the hard way? We'll do this the hard way!" The pegasus narrowed her eyes, stretching her wings. She dashed up once again, but before she could even reach the protective bubble of light that surrounded the unicorn she was smacked across her muzzle with several books.

"You asked for it, Twi!" she yelled, furiously beating her wings, her face red with anger. Nopony was going to treat her like an annoying insect and that's just what it had looked like.

"Easy there, Rainbow." Applejack put a hoof on the pegasus's shoulder. "Ah don't think she even noticed ya."

Sweetie Belle looked at her sister with pleading eyes. "Rarity, could you maybe, I don't know, counter the spell with your magic or something?"

"I'm not sure," the unicorn said, squinting her eyes and concentrating. Her horn glowed with faint blue light which disappeared almost instantly. "I can't," the fashionista panted, the effort clearly visible on her face. "Her magic is so strong it just shuts out mine."

One of the ink balls bounced off the piece of parchment and zoomed through the room, heading straight for Rarity's expertly coiffed mane. The unicorn screeched and ducked for cover behind Applejack, who intercepted the ink with a book flung with remarkable precision.

"If only one of the princesses was here," Rarity sighed after making sure that no more ink was flying by. "They are very good with dispells."

"Well, maybe we could get 'em here," proposed Applebloom. "Spike could write a letter."

"Yes, except he's away in Canterlot on royal business," Fluttershy said worriedly. "Twilight told me earlier this week," she added, hiding behind her pink mane, no doubt feeling guilty for being the bearer of bad news.

"I could fly all the way," said Rainbow Dash. "But even for me it would take several hours."

"We can't just let 'er run rampant like this for several hours," protested Applejack, pointing a hoof at their magic-consumed friend.

"Yeah, well, what else can we do?" countered Rainbow Dash.

"Oh, oh, we could always throw a party!"

Everypony turned around upon hearing the familiar voice. Pinkie Pie was standing in the door, her bright smile illuminating the library.

"Maybe Throw The Best Magic Act Party or Set Your Mane On Fire Party. Oh! How about Destroy As Many Books As You Can Party?" She sat hard, her front legs crossed in front of her chest, pondering the grave problem for a while. "Only I don't think Twilight would be very happy with the last one. Even though that's what she seems to be doing right now."

Pinkie stood up, unceremoniously shoved her friends aside, and bounced towards the librarian, who was still wrapped in the bubble of magic.

"Twilight, why are you hurting your books?" the pink pony asked innocently, but with sincere concern clearly audible in her voice. As ridiculous as the whole situation seemed, the tomes hovering around the unicorn stopped circling around her. Twilight hesitated.

"I'm not hurting them," the unicorn spoke with a distant, unfamiliar voice. Her eyes were still blank, filled with raw magic boiling inside her body. "I'm merely extracting the knowledge they hold and attack this ridiculous riddle with it!" The bubble of magic pulsed with sudden light as Twilight's anger flared.

"Ooh, riddles! I love riddles!" Pinkie squealed, bouncing happily to the desk, completely ignoring Twilight's magic. "Let me see, lemme see!" She grabbed the piece of parchment. She looked at it for a moment, squinting her eyes as if she was forcing the knowledge out of her head. And then she smiled.

"Aw, it's really easy," she chirped, smiling brightly. "Clever, but not that hard. Lookie here, Twilight." She shoved the parchment into the unicorn's face, somehow managing to get past the magic field with seemingly no effort. "Here's your error."

All ponies looked at the pair with mixed emotions: amazement, disbelief, bewilderment, and relief amongst many others. What was common, though, was that seven jaws formed perfect 'O' shapes as Twilight slowly dropped to the ground. Her magic dispersed, the force field around her faded out, and her pupils slowly regained their rightful place within her eyes. The books dropped to the ground with a series of barely audible thuds and without splashing any more ink—much to Rarity's relief.

Twilight was glaring at the parchment, exactly where Pinkie's hoof was pointing. She sighed wearily, exhausted from her magical outburst. She felt like a complete idiot now. Even though Pinkie was pointing straight at where the error supposedly was, her mind still couldn't process it.

"I don't get it," she admitted, looking frustrated. "Where?"

The other ponies surrounded Pinkie, looking at the parchment curiously.

"Do you really want me to give you the answer?" Pinkie asked, looking deep into Twilight's violet eyes with all the seriousness she could muster. "I would just rob you of that amazing feeling of accomplishment you get when you solve a riddle yourself."

Twilight broke from the mesmerizing gaze of the two blue orbs she had never seen so serious before. She considered the remark only for a short while. Pinkie was right, of course, but right now the unicorn didn't care. She was close to destroying the library, while trying to figure out the answer which hadn't come no matter what she had tried. She nodded her head in resignation, after the last unsuccessful attempt of glaring the answer out of the offending piece of parchment.

Pinkie sighed, but got back to her usual cheery self almost instantly. She reached behind her ear, from where she drew a pink crayon. Sticking her tongue out and squinting her eyes, she corrected the equation with a few hasty scribbles. Then she handed the parchment back to the unicorn, a proud smile on her face. It read:

"Units, my dear Twilight!" Pinkie squealed, bouncing happily around the room as if she had just stated an obvious and well known fact.

And, indeed, she had! Twilight was at a loss for words, her eyes and mouth wide open. "Pinkie Pie, that's... just so simple... I-I don't even... How could I have missed it?"

"Every riddle is simple once you figure out the answer," the earth pony said matter-of-factly. "That's exactly what's so great about them!" She grabbed Twilight’s hooves and made her spin around, an impossibly wide smile gracing her face.

"Multiplying units along with the values..." The unicorn massaged her forehead with a hoof, after breaking free from the earth pony's grip. "Those are the very basics of both physics and mathematics. I feel like an idiot now." She sighed, slumping limply on the floor, covering her head with her hooves and wishing the ground would just swallow her up. "To solve a riddle you have to be able to think outside the box," she mumbled, her voice barely audible from under her hooves. "That's why I have so much trouble with them."

"Pinkie Pie, since when are you so good at physics?" teased Rainbow Dash, nudging her pink friend playfully. The Crusaders were hastily noting down the answer to the riddle that had caused so many problems.

"Oh, silly Dashie," the pink pony giggled, winking at the pegasus, "I have to be good at it. If I didn't know everything about physics, how could I break its laws so easily?" And, as on cue, Rainbow Dash felt a rib-breaking hug from behind her. Pinkie Pie, who had been standing in front of the pegasus only fractions of a second ago, was now behind her, grabbing her in a fierce hug.

"Pinkie Pie, you are so random!" Rainbow Dash said after the hug had loosened up enough for her to breathe and actually speak, causing an outburst of laughs. The rest of the friends felt the need to join the hug, too.

"I think we need to change that line." Twilight laughed. "How about, Pinkie Pie, you are so genius?"

"No, I'm not," the pink pony said with a giggle. "I'm just being Pinkie."

The collective laugh resonated within Twilight's ears for a while until it eventually died, prompting her to open her eyes.

Then close them, squinting really hard, and open them again.

The unicorn groaned with resignation as the reality of how much her library was actually damaged hit her. She really needed to do something about how little was needed to send her on a magical rampage.

***

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today I have learned a very important lesson about friendship... and humility.

The quill danced over the parchment guided with Twilight's magic. With the help of her friends, cleaning the library had only taken the few remaining hours of the evening. Pinkie Pie was now playing with the Crusaders, somehow managing to stop them from performing random acts of unintentional destruction, which so often just happened with them around.

It is never good to assume you are the best at something, and that there is nopony more qualified who could help with your problems. Every one of your friends has their unique skills, talents, or knowledge which can provide invaluable assistance, if only you're humble enough to accept their help.

And even if they don't help right away, they can at least provide a fresh perspective from which you can view your problem. And that is often enough to make the proverbial cogs of your mind spin.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

Twilight sealed the scroll and placed it on a nearby shelf to wait for Spike's return. She glanced outside, where fillies and mares were assembled into small groups, ready to head back to their homes for the night. It was long after the sunset and Luna's silver moon was slowly climbing up the celestial dome.

The ponies had all said their goodbyes and separated, each party heading in different direction. Hopping away towards the Sugarcube Corner was a lone figure of the pink earth pony; saver of the day, retreating quietly and lonely like a superhero after a job well done. If Twilight hesitated, it was only for a moment so brief, she hadn't even noticed it herself.

"Pinkie Pie, wait!" she called, trotting over to her friend. "I'll walk you home."

"Thanks, Twilight." Pinkie Pie grinned, suddenly looking considerably brighter. "But, you really don't have to."

"That's the least I can do," Twilight said sheepishly. "After all, you saved the day yet again. Besides, maybe you could fill me in on some of the mysteries of mathematics or puzzles of physics on the way?" she said with a wink.

The pink pony giggled, provoking a chuckle from the unicorn in return. She resumed her bouncing towards the bakery, Twilight trotting beside her, and only Luna's bright moon accompanied them on their way.

THE END

Comments

[Karach]

My first attempt at an episode-like story. I wonder what you guys think of it.

I have to admit I love working with Pinkie. You can make her faster than Rainbow Dash, stronger than Applejack, or smarter than Twilight Sparkle and nopony should make a fuss about it, because it's just Pinkie being Pinkie.

But, with all honesty, in my personal head-canon I consider Pinkie to be the hidden genius, rather than the happy-go-lucky crazy pony often portrayed in the show. You can have a look at Luna's study on Pinkie Pie by Nimaru to get a better look of how I feel about her, if you're interested.
What's interesting, this view of Pinkie isn't completely contradictory with the show's canon.

Oh, the cover for the story was made with vectors from MLP Vector Club. I will try to find those vectors once again and give credit to their authors here.

[Djerid]

nice way to make twilight go nuts. it was also easy to spot the problem. overall it was a fun story that got me involved intellectually, even though it was only over the "riddle".

[BringBackSonicSatAM]

I have to say, this was an excellent story. It really proved to be an emotional roller coaster ending in smiles for all. I especially enjoyed Pinkie's logic for knowing the laws of physics ("How else would I be able to break them?" lol). And now, for a little ditty I usually give at the end of Pinkie-and-Twilight fics that really fits their situation, particularly here: "They're dinkie, they're Pinkie and the brain, brain, brain, brain, brain!"

[RaisingShad0ws]

And this is why I'm not good at math. I would have legitimately levelled my grandparents house trying to solve that riddle if I had Twilight's magical prowess. Seriously, great story. Very good job.

[DrHorse]

1018373
I really liked the concept for this story, but the ending just killed it for me. Pinkie's explanation for the answer was way too conventional. If Pinkie's a genius, then she's the type of genius that shows just how thin the line between genius and insanity is. If Pinkie were going to explain this riddle, she wouldn't do it the same way some boring, old, jaded physics teacher would. She'd either:

A. Cross out "1 cent" and write in "1 cent²", handing it back to Twilight with little to no explanation. (Think of "it was under E" from S1E2)
B. Babble through a series of non sequitur concerning a variety of economic esoterica until arriving at the fact that one Equestrian bit is equal to a Griffonian cent. (Think of Pinkie's solution in Swarm of the Century)

Point is: Pinkie is nuts. Your story's Pinkie is not. That's bad.

[Karach]

1022693 1022846 1023339 1023867
Thank you all for the kind words. And yeah, the riddle isn't particularly difficult. At least for Pinkie. And it is quite easy to find in the interwebz.

1026506
Fair point. Actually, in the first draft I considered not describing the solution at all, and forcing the reader to think it through him/herself. But I think I just went the easy way there. Now that I think about, your version of handling that particular part of the story is way better. I just love the A version. Do you mind if I actually change it that way?

[DrHorse]

1027866
Of course, my advice is meant to be used however you want.

I just want to correct myself: the problem with your portrayal isn't that Pinkie's too sane, it's that she's not the right type of sane. Similarly to how Twilight is analytical, Pinkie's thought processes are fundamentally intuitive. Pinkie hasn't ever been both lucid and "analytical" at the same time. It's what makes Pinkie such a great character because she will Never (over)Explain the Joke.

Just something to think about if you want to write Pinkie as both intelligent and in character. Especially if you're going to involve Twilight. Almost every episode focusing on Twilight and Pinkie has heavily contrasted that aspect of their characterization.

Although, the only real problem with the ending was that you started to go too far against the "show, don't tell" guidelines.

[Lucefudu]

I liked the math problem. Sadly, it couldn't keep me from solving it for more than a minute and a half at most.
Interesting little story. Truly slice-of-life-ish.

[Karach]

1028985
I'm glad you liked it.
And yeah, the riddle isn't supposed to be hard. It was given as a homework to grade school fillies and colts, after all.

[Karach]

1028585
There, I decided to throw in Pinkie's own hoof-written version as an image. I hope it's visible.
Once again I'd like to thank you for the detailed analysis and taking your time to point out what could be improved. It's thanks to such comments that the writers can understand their flaws and aim to become better in the future.

[TheForsaken]

Ah riddles they always break my brain.

And yeah, the riddle isn't supposed to be hard. It was given as a homework to grade school fillies and colts, after all.

..... Okay I need to return to primary school then.

And over that, I'm in a class where at the end, I'm supposed to be very very good in maths lol. (still 2.9 years out of 4 to go!)

[Karach]

1408073
Well, it's more of a physics thing, rather than math. You know, multiplying units along the values.
Ah, to be young and back at school again... Crap, forget it! I'd rather be the old and grumpy software-developer I am now.

[TheForsaken]

1408146

Im supposed to be very very good in Physics and Chemistery too

I'd rather be young and already out of school! Just the thought about how many years I still got left before having a diplom

[strangephantasm]

A shadow shall fall over the universe. And evil will grow in its path. And death will come from the skies.
Behold, Mathematics, the sum of all evils.

[Karach]

5154988
A synergistic one, at that.

[Karach]

5540214
Last time I checked it was possible for readers to add stories to their groups themselves. If it's still the case, and you consider my story worthy of publishing within your group, then by all means be my guest.
Or is it no longer possible to add stories to groups if you aren't the author?

[Karach]

5540769
On the main story page, where you can see its title, cover, description and chapters, just below the ad, there should be this bar:
dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5331373/groups.png
I took the liberty of pointing the add-to-group button with an ugly-ass, handpainted-in-gimp arrow there. After clicking the button, it should display the list of groups you are the member of. The rest should be pretty self-explanatory.

A minute ago I tried to use the button on a totally random story I'm not an author of and it seemed to work just fine. Do you see this button and can you use it? If not, I will join the group and add the story myself, but you actually got me curious. Would you care to try to find and use the button?

[Karach]

5544197
No problem. Thanks for featuring the story in your group.
Although, I have to disagree a bit on your group's name. Math isn't all that hard. Differential calculus though... you bet!

[kingfish]

I knew it was the units the second I saw the problem. No offense, but I thought Twilight was too dumb here to even justify "obvious in hindsight." She would instantly be able to solve this problem because it actually is a grade-school-level problem, and I think to state otherwise is honestly rather insulting to her intelligence.

[Karach]

5799473
None taken (to quote Sunset Shimmer ), but perhaps you're giving the newest princess a bit too much credit. You might be surprised how many people have problem with this exact equation.
Well, without the problem there would be no story, that's all I can say in my defence.
Oh, and thank you for taking your time not only to read it, but also to leave the comment.

[Yunic]

supposing that i and mathematics we never got along, so I did not even try to solve the riddle.

It was interesting to see how from something as simple as a primary school problem, it became something that threatened equestria as we know it.
Having said that, once again you managed to represent pinkie at best, even if it only appeared towards the end, in the end it was the essential character to solve the situation, with its unique brilliant and carefree way.

but I have a note to do, I do not know if it's just me but the image that showed the correct result from pinkie, did not open, did not appear, or I do not know what.

maybe you should check if it appears to you, and fix it,unless it is voluntary to let readers solve it, however some may not like it.

you could put it in the comments the image with the result, if it is not possible in the story .. I do not know.

however, this great story belongs.

[Karach]

9032376
Yeah, sorry about that. Dropbox changed their upload policy some years ago and I didn't notice.
I wonder how many other pics I shared somewhere gone missing. But they probably weren't as important as this one.

The pic should be fixed now, at lest for a little while. It's hosted on imgur for now, but didn't they use to delete pics that got no traffic for a while? I'll just have to see I guess...

That said, thanks for the kind words. I'm very glad you enjoyed the story.

[Yunic]

9032747
do not worry, the important thing is that it's solved now. :-)
p.s I still did not understand the solution.XD

[Karach]

9032901
Well, unless you're a young reader, you might remember from mathematics or physics, that multiplying an x by x equals square x (x * x = x²). Or from physics, that multiplying a meter by a meter equals square meter (m * m = m²).
However, in the teacher's example, 10 cents * 10 cents equals 100 cents. Which is mathematically incorrect. 10 cents * 10 cents would equal 100 square cents (as ridiculous as that sounds ), i.e. 10 cents * 10 cents = 100 cents² (as in 10x * 10x = 100 x²).

However, if you are indeed a young reader, don't worry! You might still have all those mathematical intricacies before you.

[Yunic]

9032990
I'm really twenty years old, I do not know if this defines me as a young reader, even if I've just started reading about fim fiction.

as I said and math never went well, it only caused me a lot of problems at school, it's not that I did not apply to study it is propio that does not enter me.

anyway thanks for the explanation, and also for the headache that will derive if I try to understand it.Xb

do not worry, I'm joking about the headache ........ unfortunately not with regards to my relationship with mathematics.

[Yunic]

well, now I really came the headache to try to understand something ....... sob.

[Yunic]

the calculation was wrong because it does not give 100 cents a second, but only a hundred cents. so one bit is 100 cents.....I give up XD
Yunicvsmath=
Math win.

This is my life XD

[Karach]

9033126
Still younger than me, but a little above what I had in mind when I said "a young reader".
Eh, don't worry about it. Do remember that even Twilight couldn't figure this one out.

[Yunic]

you're right, this is comforting