For several seconds, all three creatures … the Princess of Friendship and the two changelings … stare at each other, speechless and motionless.
Then in an instant, the elder changeling reverts back to his former unicorn façade, turns tail and bolts out the door, quickly fading into the night. Twilight is slow to follow; upon reaching the entrance to the inn she eyes the darkness all around, unable to catch a trace of the faux unicorn. She returns to the room and finds Ocellus still standing in place, lost in contemplation.
“Are you OK?” Twilight asks. The question snaps the young changeling out of her trace.
“Oh? Yeah … I’m OK.”
“So this ‘Coccyx’ … he’s your uncle?”
“ ‘Uncle’ is a bit strong a term,” Ocellus explains. “In the hive, we’re basically all related to each other in some way, shape, or form. And Coccyx is of the same generation as Thorax.”
“What else do you know about him?”
Ocellus’ eyes point skyward as she navigates her memories. “Not much. Coccyx never seemed much of a ‘threat’ to others … he kinda reminds me of Professor Pinkie Pie, but more malevolent … more mean-spirited.”
“But what’s he doing here, in this out-of-the-way area of Equestria?”
“I have no idea,” Ocellus admits. “I never even heard about this place until you brought me here. But I guess now we know why I was summoned here.”
“His statement to us,” Twilight begins, “… do you think he knew that no unicorn would make that statement.”
Ocellus looks down in shame. “I’m sure he knew. It fits what I know of him.”
Twilight begins pacing back and forth. “This isn’t good,” she says half to herself and half to Ocellus. “I know the ponies of this town, and they’re very sensitive about logic. Mis-information like Coccyx’s could lead to mass mental breakdowns. And what if they find out who he really is? The repercussions could be catastrophic!”
“So what do we do,” Ocellus asks, stifling a yawn in the process. “Sorry, didn’t mean to …”
Twilight glances out a window. Stray candles dot numerous windows of residences, and emptiness fills the pathways below. “There’s little we can do right now; it looks like the whole town is shut down for the night, anyway.” She gives a yawn herself. “And I’ve learned from past experience that we won’t be any good to anypony if we’re mentally or physically fatigued. For now, we should get some rest … we’ll start fresh in the morning.”
Ocellus, back in her pegasus persona much to Twilight’s chagrin, takes in the mansion before her. “You sure these ‘alicorns’ will help us?”
“No,” Twilight admits, “but we don’t have any leads, and finding Coccyx will be as important to them as it is for us. If there’ve been any recent logic bombs, they’ll know.”
“Logic bombs?”
Twilight turns to ‘Oak Tree’. “Sorry, I should explain. As you know, the ponies of these towns have peculiar rituals when it comes to their place of origin. Some statements simply cannot be said by inhabitants of these towns; you heard one just last night from Coccyx. When somepony from the twin towns … sorry, the triple towns … hears a statement that logically cannot be, that pony often suffers a mental break and passes out. It was a much thornier issue back then, but with someone around deliberately spreading contradictory statements, it could get really bad really quickly.”
“Twilight …” Ocellus starts before pausing, a concerned looked on her face.
“What’s wrong?”
“We don’t … we don’t have to mention that a changeling is responsible, do we? I mean, we’re not who we used to be, at least as a whole, but the ponies here might assume that …”
Twilight frowns. “Gee, I don’t know. It is important information; I don’t think we can—”
Twilight’s response is cut short by the opening of the front door as Spiral exits the mansion. “Twilight!” she exclaims cheerfully upon seeing the ‘true’ alicorn. “What can I do for you?”
“Oceh …” Twilight starts before catching herself. “Oak Tree and I have important news to share with the Society. May we come in?”
Spiral’s cheery expression gives way to a more serious tone. “You may enter, but I cannot allow your young friend to accompany you.”
“Why not?” Twilight asks, a trace of irritation in her voice.
“Only those who have proven themselves worthy may walk these hallowed halls,” Spiral replies. “You of course have proven your worth time and again; indeed, we here have much to be thankful for by your very presence in our lives. But exceptions cannot be made, not even for you.”
Twilight opens her mouth to argue her case, but ‘Oak Tree’ stops her and addresses Spiral. “Can I … can I prove myself to you?”
Spiral looks the ‘pegasus’ up and down. “You seem a very pleasant individual … but only those with high logical fortitude are allowed to walk the grounds of the Alicorn Society. I’m sure the princess informed you about our group.”
“I may have missed some details,” ‘Oak Tree’ replies, “but I’m sure I can prove myself worthy to you.”
“Very well,” Spiral says dourly. “Follow me, both of you.”
This is ridiculous … this is costing us time … what is there to prove? …
Twilight’s thoughts cloud her senses as she paces back and forth alone in a sparsely-furnished room. A single desk, supplied with parchment and quills, takes up the center of the room. Bookshelves line two walls, with the single entryway to the room the only feature of a third wall. She stops pacing and looks into what she takes for a large mirror that occupies the bulk of the fourth wall, before noticing a lack of a reflection. Not a mirror … a window? To an identical room? But why?
As she peers through the window, she is surprised to see Ocellus, still in her pegasus form, escorted into the room by Spiral, who then appears to utter directions to her for several minutes. She watches Ocellus nod solemnly as the faux-alicorn leaves her and closes the door behind. Moments later, the door to her own room opens as Spiral walks in.
“I don’t understand why all this is necessary.”
“I already mentioned what had to be mentioned,” Spiral replies tersely. “Your young friend needs to prove her worth before being allowed to freely roam this area.”
“But why can’t I be at her side?” Twilight asks as she stares at Ocellus through the window. “For moral support, if nothing else.”
“I’m sorry, but we simply cannot risk the possibility of you offering more than ‘moral support’.”
Twilight turns to Spiral. “What, you mean cheat?”
“ ‘Cheat’ is too strong a word, I think … but as you would no doubt admit, you would do anything for your friends. You’ve made that crystal clear during your previous time here. And even if you weren’t overtly assisting Oak Tree, your body language could offer cues … or perhaps an innocent cough; a reflex action, maybe, but again, we cannot risk sullying the results of this test.”
Twilight sighs and turns her focus back through the window. “I assume she can’t hear us.”
“That is correct. This is a one-way mirror, which allows us to study her behavior.” Spiral walks over to a panel adjacent to the window … one that Twilight had failed to notice … and pushes a button. “We’ll be able to see and hear everything that transpires. And please do not worry, Twilight: no harm will come to your young friend no matter how she performs … but if she performs poorly, we will have to ask you to leave.”
Twilight opens her mouth to speak, but decides that it would be best not to argue. “So let me guess … 5 pairs of ponies, each consisting of one unicorn and one pegasus, and she needs to decide who is who?”
“It’s actually a bit more complicated than that now.” Spiral’s comment causes Twilight to suddenly turn to face her.
“More complicated?”
“This was your doing, by the way, so please do not be so indignant with me.” Spiral hears her own tone of voice and quickly dials back. “My apologies; I should not be so short with you.”
“So how did my actions complicate this test?”
“Once again,” Spiral explains, “we have much to thank you and your pink pony friend for. As a direct result of your involvement, all pony types now frequent these towns … and the Alicorn Society. Indeed, it was a shock to many here to learn that our very founder, Cloudstitch, was in fact an earth pony. But the new openness towards earth ponies had enriched our lives. It also complicated this test, as now the members of our society can be unicorns, pegasi, OR earth ponies … and also come from any of Utopia, Paradise, or Elysium. So while there were 4 possibilities before, there are now 9 possible combinations of pony type and place of origin.”
Twilight takes in the explanation as Spiral continues: “Oak Tree will face 5 pairs of ponies, just as you did. And as before, they will be different types … but now they could be a unicorn and a pegasus, or a unicorn and an earth pony, or a pegasus and an earth pony; it will be up to her to determine which type each society member is, but it won’t be a 50/50 guess. As before, each pair could come from either the same town or different towns; she will not be required to determine that information, though in some cases she may be able to. Oh, and to ease the possibilities somewhat, each pair will consist of one truth-teller and one liar. All this has been spelled out for your pegasus friend, and she acknowledges that she understands all of this.”
“So one pony will always be either a Utopian unicorn, a Paradisian pegasus, or an Elysian earth pony,” Twilight states.
“Yes … and the other will be one of the remaining 6 combinations.”
“… This really seems unfair,” Twilight finally admits. “My own quiz wasn’t this complicated!”
“It’s all for the greater good,” Spiral declares. “We can’t have just anypony come around here, spewing inanities and the like. Let’s just see how … ah, the first pair!”
Twilight turns back to the window as the first pair of alicorn-looking ponies walk into ‘Oak Tree’s room. They introduce themselves as Pitchfork and Scythe. Pitchfork states that he is not a Utopian unicorn, and Scythe states that she is not a pegasus. After a brief moment of thought, ‘Oak Tree’ states what she believes each pony to be. They nod and depart, as Twilight and Spiral listen and observe through the window.
The second pair to enter refer to themselves as Clay Pit and Quarry. Clay Pit states that he is a pegasus, and Quarry states that she is a unicorn. Clay Pit then states that he comes from Elysium. ‘Oak Tree’ ponders their comments and makes a claim about each pony, and they in turn nod and exit the room.
The third pair to enter say that they go by the monikers Lemon and Lime. Lemon states that both of them come from Paradise, and Lime states that both of them are pegasi. Lemon then states that Lime is not an earth pony. Again, ‘Oak Tree’ classifies the twosome, and again, the twosome nod and leave.
The fourth pair give their names as White Rook and Red Knight. White Rook states that neither of them are earth ponies, and Red Knight states that both of them come from Utopia. Red Knight then states that White Rook is a pegasus. ‘Oak Tree’ identifies each, and they nod and leave.
The fifth and final pair identify themselves as Handymare and Helpful Neighbor. Handymare states that she is either an earth pony or comes from Paradise, or both. Helpful Neighbor states that Handymare is either a pegasus or comes from Elysium, or both. Helpful Neighbor then states that he himself comes from Utopia. ‘Oak Tree’ mulls over the comments for a bit longer than with the others, but eventually gives her response … and the final pair nod and exit like all the previous pairs.
“Wait here while I get your friend,” Spiral says to Twilight as she pushes the panel button. She departs the room, and Twilight observes through the window that, as promised, Spiral enters ‘Oak Tree’s room and beckons the young ‘pegasus’ to follow her. Moments later, ‘Oak Tree’ comes into the room and embraces her headmare.
“Are you OK?” Twilight asks.
“Yeah,” ‘Oak Tree’ replies. “I wasn’t sure what to expect. I know we never had anything like that test back at school.”
“How do you think you did? You sure answered quickly enough; even I would have struggled on some of those.”
“Really? I didn’t think those puzzles were all that difficult.” The changeling’s comment takes Twilight aback.
“Not that difficult??? There were 81 different possibilities for each pair! That’s more than 5 times the number I had to deal with during my test!”
“Well, knowing that exactly one pony was truthful cut down the number of possibilities to 36,” ‘Oak Tree’ mentions, correcting Twilight. “After that, there wasn’t much to them. Well … maybe to some of them.”
“OK, now I need to know.” Twilight’s horn glows as a quill takes to a piece of parchment and jots down the information gathered from the five pairs. “Tell me how you figured all these out.”
Now filled with pride by Twilight’s adoration, ‘Oak Tree’ reads through the list and begins her explanation …
“With the first pair, Pitchfork had to be the truth-teller since lying would imply that he was a Utopian unicorn, and such a combination always tells the truth. That makes Scythe the liar, so she really is a pegasus. That forces Pitchfork to be either a unicorn or an earth pony; more specifically, either a Utopian unicorn or an Elysian earth pony. He can’t be the former, so he must be an earth pony.”
“With the second pair, Clay Pit made two statements that, if true, would make him an Elysian pegasus … but that would make him a liar. That means Clay Pit is the liar, so Quarry was telling the truth when she said she was a unicorn. That means Clay Pit isn’t a unicorn, and he lied about being a pegasus; therefore, he’s an earth pony.”
“Things got trickier with the third pair,” ‘Oak Tree’ admits. “but immediately I knew that Lime was lying; by the society’s rules for the test, they could not both be pegasi. That makes Lemon the truth-teller, so both of them come from Paradise, and Lemon must be a pegasus. Also, his statement that Lime is not an earth pony is true, so Lime must actually be a unicorn.”
“So then the fourth pair comes in. I thought about Red Knight’s two statements; if they were both true, she would have to be a Utopian unicorn and White Rook would have to be a Utopian pegasus … but that would make White Rook’s statement true as well, which contradicts their rules. So Red Knight is the liar and White Rook is the truth-teller, so neither is an earth pony. Since Red Knight is a liar, White Rook isn’t the pegasus; he’s the unicorn, and Red Knight is the pegasus. Actually,” she continues, “I even know both their hometowns in this case: White Rook must be a Utopian unicorn, and Red Knight, who can’t also come from Utopia, must be an Elysian pegasus.”
“Now that last pair,” ‘Oak Tree’ continues, no longer hiding the adrenaline she feels from solving the puzzles, “that one took a bit. I thought about which combinations of pony type and hometown would allow the statement Handymare made. Suppose it was true. Then Handymare would have to be either an earth pony or come from Paradise; more specifically, she would have to be either an Elysian earth pony or a Paradisian pegasus, since a Utopian unicorn would never make that statement. What if Handymare were lying? Then she wouldn’t be an earth pony, and she wouldn’t come from Paradise; she would be either a unicorn or a pegasus, and she would come from either Utopia or Elysium … but she couldn’t be a Utopian unicorn, as that would make her a truth-teller. So in this case, she’s either an Elysian unicorn, a Utopian pegasus, or an Elysian pegasus.”
Twilight mulls over the argument. “It sounds like you’re stuck now.”
“I was … but then I noticed that of the five possibilities for Handymare, whether or not she was truthful, she HAD to be either a pegasus or an Elysian … and that was exactly what Helpful Neighbor said! So Helpful Neighbor must be the truthful pony, and since he said he was from Utopia, he must be a Utopian unicorn. Also, Handymare lied about being an earth pony, and since they can’t both be unicorns, she must be a pegasus.”
Twilight is left speechless at her student’s series of arguments. Seeing her headmare’s expression fills the changeling with pride. “I have to admit, that was fun. I mean, I’d still prefer to be hanging out with my friends back at school, but this was a fun exercise.” She mulls over a nagging thought for another moment. “Twilight? How did you know about those puzzles before I told you?”
“Oh.” Twilight looks down at the floor, then returns eye contact with her student. “Truth be known, I was able to observe you through that … mirror?”
She turns to the window, and is surprised to now see her own reflection. “I don’t get it. I was able to see and hear everything in the other room.”
“So you were spying on me?” Ocellus’s asks, regret in her tone.
“It works both ways, that mirror-window.” Spiral announces as she enters the room. “And I do apologize for the steps we in the Alicorn Society have to take from time to time … but we had to be certain.”
“Certain of what?” Twilight’s query comes out forcefully and antagonistically.
“Certain that Oak Tree truly did deduce all her conclusions, and didn’t rely on outside forces. But after hearing her explanations to you, we are more than convinced.” Spiral turns to ‘Oak Tree’ and smiles broadly. “You really are somepony special, whether you know it or not.”
The anger within Twilight begins to ebb. “ ‘We’?” she asks.
On cue, two alicorns enter the room, one dark blue and the other bright yellow with a dark blue mane. Whatever remained of her ire dissipates upon seeing the familiar faces.
“Cloudstitch! Sunbolt!” The one true alicorn embraces each in turn. She glances back at the mirror-window. “So, that window works in both directions.”
“It comes in quite handy,” Cloudstitch admits before turning to ‘Oak Tree’. “And again, we are sorry if this revelation caught you by surprise … but we had to be sure you are who you claimed to be.”
“Yeah, good to know.” ‘Oak Tree’ turns away, irritation giving way to trepidation. “Glad I could ‘prove myself’ to you.”
Sunbolt approaches Twilight. “Spiral told us you had urgent information for us.”
“Yes, it concerns …”
Twilight pauses, remembering Ocellus’s request for anonymity. “It concerns a pink unicorn we ran into last night. He made a comment that was inconsistent with what we know of your towns. We’re not sure what to make of it.”
“Don’t you???”
Everyone in the room turns to see Zodiac standing in the entranceway. “Zodiac, you’re back …” Twilight starts.
“Save it, princess!” Zodiac’s derogatory tone catches everyone off-guard as he trots over to ‘Oak Tree’.“Or perhaps you would care to explain why you brought a changeling into this place!”