Oh honestly, Starlight, it’s just a toy. How can a toy drive me crazy?
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I know it can be challenging, but that’s part of the fun, isn’t it?
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Just because you were driven crazy by it once doesn’t mean I will.
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Language, Starlight!
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Well we’ll just see about that, now won’t we?
Oh, the little light is on.
Hi again, everypony, and welcome to another episode of Twilight Tries!
On today’s episode, I’ll be trying…to solve a Rubik’s Cube!
Now today’s episode is very special, because it’s serving a double purpose. Of course there’s the main purpose of adding another episode to my show, but it’s also to settle a little bet.
See, a few days ago my friend Starlight Glimmer and I were talking about some of our favorite toys from fillyhood and at one point Starlight said, and I quote, ‘I can tell you one toy that wasn’t my favorite; the Rubik’s Cube. Remember those things? They maddening, am I right?’. It was then that I told Starlight I’d never tried solving a Rubik’s Cube before, and that’s when I said that doing so would be a great episode for this series!
Now, when I told Starlight I wanted to try solving a Rubik’s Cube, she said, and I quotes again, ‘You may not want to do that, Twilight. Rubik’s Cubes are really challenging, and I know you’re super smart but I’ve seen some pretty smart ponies driven crazy trying to solve them. I just wouldn’t want to see that happen to you.’
Now I know Starlight’s heart was in the right place when she said that, but I couldn’t help but feel a tad insulted that she thought I couldn’t solve a Rubik’s Cube. As such, I proposed a little wager with her. If I couldn’t solve a Rubik’s Cube, I’d give her my signed copy of Daring Do and the Marked Thief of Marapore. But if I could solve it, she’d have to give me her secret recipe for tea cakes.
And I know it sounds like I have more to lose in that wager, but trust me, Starlight’s tea cakes are phenomenal, and if I had her secret recipe I could make them anytime I wanted!
Anyways, Starlight agreed to the wager and so here we are.
So as you can see, I have my Rubik’s Cube with all the colors mish-mashed on all sides. We’ve got white, red, blue, orange, green, and yellow.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Rubik’s Cube, the objective is to get each face of the cube to have only one color, though you probably could have deduced that yourself.
Now I did a little reach into the Rubik’s Cube before starting this video and learned some very fascinating things about it. It turns out that there are over 43 quintillion permutations that can be reached solely by turning the sides of the cube, can you believe that?! And if you consider permutations reached through disassembly of the cube, that number goes all the way up to 519 quintillion! Isn’t math fun?!
Ah-hem.
Anywho, enough about the cube itself, let’s get started!
Oh, one thing I should mention before I actually start.
As a condition of my wager with Starlight, I’m not allowed use magic at all, not even to hold the cube. This is because there are spells that can be used to solve the cube, at least according to Starlight. So, I’m going to be hoofing it!
Hehehe.
Get it, ‘hoofing it’?
Hehehe…ho.
That was terrible, I’m sorry.
I’m just going to stop talking and start now.
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*HUM HUM HUM*
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Oh look, I’ve already got this entire side green!
Get ready to give me that tea cake recipe, Starlight!
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Beginner’s luck my flank! This isn’t difficult at all!
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Oh shoot, I lost my perfect green side.
Eh, it’s okay though, I’ll get it back eventually.
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Okay, still haven’t gotten my green side back.
Nor have I gotten any other sides just one color.
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While I’m working on this, do you want to know a fun fact? The Rubik’s Cube was originally called the Magic Cube, and it wasn’t until six years after its creation that it was renamed after its creator, Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik. Pretty neat, huh?
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Ugh, I think I screwed up after getting that green side. I should undo what I’ve done since then and get it back.
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Um, I don’t remember what I’ve done since losing that green side.
This is bad.
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No I’m not giving up, Starlight!
I’m just, um…taking a step back. Yeah, I’m…solving the puzzle in my head before I solve it with my hooves.
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Oh well says you!
I swear, when that pony thinks she’s right her ego inflates to the size of Manehattan.
Okay, I’m just going to put the cube down and assess the situation.
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Hmmmm, I can’t really tell if this is any better or worse than it was before I started.
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Assessing the situation isn’t helping very much.
Although, I am seeing a good concentration of yellow on this one side, so I guess I’ll just pick the cube back up and try to get that side perfect next.
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Oh come on! How did I manage to get the yellow squares even more mish-mashed?!
Ugh, fine, I guess I’ll work on blue now, there seems to be a lot of them over here.
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Are you kidding me?! What is wrong with this thing?!
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UUUUUUUUUGH! WHY IS IT THAT EVERYTIME I TRY TO WORK WITH A COLOR I END UP SCATTERING IT’S SQUARES EVEN MORE?!
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STOP LAUGHING, GLIMMER!
THIS ISN’T OVER, NOT BY A LONG SHOT!
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I KNOW I’M FRUSTRATED! DON’T YOU THINK I REALIZE THAT?!
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SCREW THE WAGER! THIS ISN’T ABOUT THE WAGER ANYMORE! THIS ABOUT SHOWING THIS STUPID CUBE IT CAN’T BEAT ME!
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Hehehe, I’m going to beat you, Rubik’s Cube. I’m going to beat you if it’s the last thing I do.
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Okay, you may have noticed by the lack of light coming in from the windows that it’s nighttime now.
And I..I…
I CAN’T SOLVE THE RUBIK’S CU-U-UBE!
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Oh, t-thank you Spike, I could u-use a tissue.
*SNORT*
Sorry about that, but I just can’t believe I can’t solve this thing. I mean, I know there’s got to be some method to it, but I just don’t understand why I haven’t found it.
Well, whatever, I’m not going to drive myself any crazier than I already have on this. Maybe someday I’ll try solving the cube again, but for now I’m throwing in the towel.
Thanks for watching, and hopefully next time on Twilight Tries I’ll try something less infuriating.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go get my signed copy of Daring Do and the Marked Thief of Marapore.