//------------------------------// // Uncle Knows Best // Story: Twilight's New Logic Puzzle Adventure // by Coyotek4 //------------------------------// “I am Twilight.” “I am not Twilight.” “Twilight is on an end.” “Coccyx is on an end.” “I am Coccyx.” Sunbolt takes in the comments from the five Twilights, walking from one to the next, looking each one over. A smile comes over his face as he addresses them. “Cute … like a parent exclaiming ‘Look what my foal can do!’ … but ultimately very simple. Still, I must admit that I appreciate the token effort you put in.” “Can you actually solve the puzzle?” the central Twilight derisively snaps. “Oh, sure, sure …” Sunbolt walks over to the Twilight left of center. “Let’s start simple: you claim not to be Twilight. If that statement was false, you would be Twilight, who you say made a true claim. Therefore, your statement is true and you are not Twilight … but only one other made a true statement, so you must be young Ocellus. Go on … no sense keeping that false façade.” The second Twilight nods and, in a flash, reverts back to her usual self. Sunbolt then turns his attention to the central Twilight. “Now suppose you were being truthful. Then Twilight would either be on the far left or the far right … but either way, that would mean you were neither Twilight nor Ocellus. So you’re lying with your claim, and Twilight is not on an end. But she’s not you, either … since she’s truthful in her statement.” Sunbolt turns to the Twilight right of center. “That just leaves you, Princess of Friendship. Go ahead, take a small step forward.” The fourth Twilight does as asked. “Not bad. Now can you find Coccyx?” Sunbolt walks over to the Twilight on the far right. “Well, the real Twilight stated that Coccyx was on an end … and you claim to be Coccyx. But of course, that statement is false, so …” He then strolls past all the others to confront the Twilight on the far left. “Now can we dispense with this ‘Twilight shell game’?” In three simultaneous flashes, the remaining Twilights revert back to their changeling forms, with Coccyx staring down Sunbolt. “Nice to see you practice what you preach,” Coccyx states. “Nice of you to notice. Now then … get out of our towns and never return!” Tarsus and Carpus start to approach Sunbolt, their bulbous eyes slightly narrowed. Coccyx calls on them to halt before turning back to face Sunbolt. “Playfulness aside … I assure you that the changelings are not who we used to be. We have no need for invasion, nor do we have any desire for such. We just want what you want, what Twilight is here to spread … friendship.” “That would be a hard sell for the ponies in these towns,” Sunbolt states. “You mean the ponies who had to be convinced to accept the earth ponies and the town of Elysium into the fold?” Zodiac’s comment causes Sunbolt to turn around, resentment in his eyes. The older changelings chuckle at the spectacle. “That statement is a complete non-sequitor, Zodiac!” “But is it?” Cloudstitch innocently asks. “Remember what we had to go through to get to where we are?” “Yes, I remember, mother,” Sunbolt states through clenched teeth as he turns to again face Coccyx. “I’ve also seen the effects you changelings have had on our townsfolk. You think causing logic bombs is a sign of friendship?” “I’ve made some mistakes,” Coccyx acknowledges. “But I’ve learned a lot from my time here, and I can assure you that those mistakes won’t be repeated.” A wry smile comes over Sunbolt. “So … you think you’ve figured everything out, do you?” Coccyx looks quizzically at Sunbolt. “You have something in mind?” “Pop quiz, hotshot: you come across a unicorn from one of these towns. In one question, how could you determine whether or not that unicorn is from Elysium?” … Coccyx ponders the question for a few seconds. “Well … I would ask this unicorn if he or she was from Paradise. A unicorn from Utopia would truthfully say ‘no’, and a unicorn from Paradise would lie and say ‘no’ … but a unicorn from Elysium would lie and say ‘yes’. So a ‘yes’ answer means he or she is from Elysium, and a ‘no’ answer means he or she is not.” The faux-alicorns from the Society look to each other and nod in agreement. “A buckball layup,” Sunbolt states. “How ‘bout this one: in one question, how could you determine whether or not that same unicorn is from Utopia instead. And remember, you can’t ask some question like ‘Is two plus two equal to four?’; lying only comes with questions of one’s hometown.” “In that case,” Coccyx quickly replies, “I would ask ‘Are you from either Utopia or Paradise or Elysium?’ For any pony from these towns, a ‘yes’ answer is truthful, so any unicorn from either Paradise or Elysium would say ‘no’.” Murmurings of approval among the Society members catch Sunbolt’s ears. “Again … a very simple question.” Tarsus and Carpus groan at the comment. “Hasn’t he demonstrated enough to you?” Carpus asks, irritation in his voice. “One more question,” Sunbolt casually remarks as he turns to the changeling twin, before turning back to face Coccyx. “Give me a correct answer to one more question, and I’ll acknowledge your intellect.” “I’m ready,” Coccyx states. “Actually, a similar question to the ones I’ve already proposed to you … but with a twist.” Sunbolt turns to his fellow faux-alicorns. “I realize I’ve only been a member of the Alicorn Society for a short time, but I’ve learned that secrecy of one’s pony type is essential. Thus, I won’t make an example of anyone here.” He turns back to face Coccyx. “Instead, we’ll focus on a ‘hypothetical’ alicorn from these towns. As you know, the alicorns here could be any one of unicorn, pegasus, or now, earth pony … and also, they can come from Utopia, Paradise, or Elysium. That makes for nine possibilities. Would you grant me this.” “I can.” “Good … so my challenge to you is this: create a question to ask of any alicorn from these towns, so that a unicorn would answer ‘yes’ while either a pegasus or an earth pony would answer ‘no’, regardless of which town they were from.” “That’s ridiculously easy,” Tarsus calls out. “Just ask if the alicorn comes from Utopia.” Sunbolt turns to Tarsus. “NO! That is NOT going to work this time!” “Why not?” Carpus asks. “Because a pegasus from Elysium would lie and answer ‘yes’, that’s why not!” Sunbolt states dismissively as he turns back to face Coccyx. “But I won’t hold their ineptitude against you.” Enraged, Ocellus starts to walk towards Sunbolt, but Twilight creates a force field that holds her back. She remains in place, scowling as her eyes narrow their focus on Sunbolt. “That is a rather advanced task to give,” Cloudstitch states. “Questions like that are usually reserved for final tests for acceptance into the Society itself.” “All the more reason to use such a task now,” Sunbolt replies as he keeps his gaze on Coccyx. “Well … we’re waiting.” . . . . . . . . . . . . After a long pause, Coccyx begins his reply. “As you said, simply asking if the alicorn is from Utopia does no good here. So all I need to do is augment that question to eliminate the outlier cases.” “So you have a question in mind,” Sunbolt states with a smile. “I do.” “Well go on, then.” Coccyx takes a breath, then asks: “Are you either from Utopia, or a Paradisian earth pony, or an Elysian pegasus?” The smile quickly leaves Sunbolt’s face as Coccyx reasons out loud to himself. “Lesse … a Utopian unicorn would truthfully say ‘yes’ since he or she would actually be from Utopia, while both a Paradisian pegasus and an Elysian earth pony would truthfully say ‘no’. A unicorn from either Paradise or Elysium would, of course, lie and say ‘yes’. And as for the other cases, both the pegasi and earth ponies from Utopia would lie and say ‘no’, as would both a Paradisian earth pony and an Elysian pegasus. So no matter what, all unicorns would answer ‘yes’ and all non-unicorns would answer ‘no’.” “What’s funny,” Coccyx continues, “is that if I ask instead if the pony in question was either a unicorn, a Paradisian earth pony, or an Elysian pegasus, then the ‘yes/no’ response would tell me whether or not the pony was actually from Utopia; all ponies from Utopia would answer ‘yes’, while all ponies from either Paradise or Elysium would answer ‘no’.” The sound of hoof-clopping causes both Coccyx and Sunbolt to turn to the other faux-alicorns, all of which serenade the former with thunderous applause. “Remarkable,” Zodiac asserts. “Truly incredible.” “Indeed,” Spiral adds, “and your follow-up indicates to us that you could tailor your response to account for any place of residence and any pony type.” “What can I say,” Coccyx admits sheepishly, “I’m a good learner when it comes to such things. So,” he continues as he turns to Sunbolt, “have I convinced you?” “You have,” Sunbolt admits. “You are quite wise in the ways of logic, particularly as they apply to the vagaries of these towns. I am indeed impressed.” With hope in his voice, Coccyx asks, “Does this mean the changelings may now come here to forge new friendships?” Sunbolt looks dourly at Coccyx. “… no. I never agreed to that, and I won’t do so now.” Coccyx sighs, but upon seeing Tarsus and Carpus advance, beckons them to remain in place. “I had hoped for more from you … but I will oblige. If I may ask but one more question before we depart; all I wish is that you answer truthfully.” “Let me guess,” Sunbolt replies, “ ‘Will you either answer ‘no’ or allow the changelings to come here to forge new friendships?’ PLEASE! That trick may have worked on Zodiac so many moons ago, but I’m not so gullible.” Coccyx bows his head. “I suppose not.” He turns to his fellow changelings. “I did try. We can at least inform Thorax of that much.” “Wait,” Ocellus says, finding her calmness once again as she walks up to Sunbolt. “May I ask you a question?” “Perhaps you weren’t paying attention, little one. I’m not going to fall for any of your tricks.” “I just have a single yes-or-no question … and you are free to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as you choose.” “Yeah, sure,” Sunbolt answers dismissively. “ ‘but I have to answer truthfully’, right?” “Actually, no … you can answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’, and you are free to answer truthfully or lie, as you wish.” “Well what good is that to us,” Carpus calls out. “It’s not,” Ocellus replies as she keeps her focus on Sunbolt. “I just wish to see how you react to my question, knowing you have free rein of your response … yes, no, true, false … it’s all up to you.” Sunbolt turns to the faux-alicorns, who shrug in confusion, then turns to Twilight. “What do you know about this.” “Honestly, I know nothing about Ocellus’s intentions. All I know is that she is caring and kind, and worthy of your time.” “Fine, whatever … but after this, you leave at once. All of your kind. Understand?” “I understand completely,” Ocellus states. “Then go on … ask your question, knowing full well that I can answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’, and that I can answer truthfully or lie.” “That’s all I ask of you.” “Then proceed.” Ocellus turns to her fellow changelings, then turns to Sunbolt. She takes a breath and carefully asks her question. Upon the utterance of her final word, her wings begin to glow and pulsate. She then turns to Twilight, and notices her cutie mark pulsating as well. She finally turns to Sunbolt and notices a growing look of shock. She bears a small smile. “Do you have an answer for me?” “Indeed,” Sunbolt replies quietly … “you win.”