Chapter 12: Properties and Propaganda
"This book says that the ingredients must be combined in a specific order, but this one says that doesn't matter, and you need only get the correct combination. Not to mention that they all have different results as to the correct combination. This one says Harrada and glowstone dust are the only ingredients required, and this one suggests that they're all used, and this one calls for Taproot, Nightshade, and black tar." Said Nick, reading the journals in turn.
"So what do we use?" asked Pinkie, skidding over to the second table where the journals lie. "Do any of them read the same?"
"They all seem to agree on one thing, and only that," said Nick. "And I happen to agree with them."
"What's that? " asked Twilight, flipping a page with her hoof.
"That this challenge is meant to test something that we don't know anything about, making us wish that we had studied before entry." This brought a chuckle out of Twilight and Fluttershy.
"Then these ingredients must be glowstone dust , taproot, and black tar," said Fluttershy, pointing to a bowl of yellow dust, a brown and green wood-like knot, and finally a small bowl of a dark, thick-looking substance.
"I would wager that you're correct," agreed Nick, taking the first of the five journals over to the table where the ingredients stood. "I wonder how much of each we're supposed to use?"
"I can't find anything that says what quantity we should use..." said Twilight, flipping through the pages, stopping when she reached the end, then flipping back through them.
"The amount added is meaningless. only the minimum quantity from each will combine, the rest will remain in one piece. The precipitate at the center is the only piece that we should need."
Everyone stopped reading, and turned to look at Fluttershy, who had three of the journals splayed out in front of her. The moment she realized that all eyes were on her, she looked up.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to distract you," she said, falling quiet once more. "I'll be quiet now..."
"...Fluttershy, how did you get that information?" asked Twilight, sidling up beside the canary pegasus.
"Well, It was here," she pointed to a string of text in the first book, "Here," a second string in another book, "And here," she pointed to the final page of the last book. "They all say that, though not in those words. I think that's why we missed them."
"But we still don't know what ingredients are correct. They cold be any of them," said Pinkie, sliding back to the ingredient table. "Which of these is right?"
"I have a theory," stated Nick, in an incredibly monotonous voice. "I think hat anyone who passed this trial would take their journals with them."
"So these are all wrong recipes?" whined Pinkie. "Then what's the point of keeping them here!?"
"If the journals are all wrong," started Twilight, "then we just have to make sure that we don't make their mistakes! Come on! we need to start a list of all the possible combinations! Nick, grab that pen and scroll!" she pointed to a scroll, a quill, and an inkwell, sitting on the table where the journals sat.
Two ours later, they had finished going through the books, marking out all of the wrong recipes on the list of all possible recipes that nick had made.
"Okay, that's all the recipes in the books," said Twilight, glad to finally be done. "How many recipes are left, Nick?"
Nick looked up and down the scroll, searching for one that wasn't marked as wrong. "There's... none." A grim look crossed his face, and it spread to other ponies faces.
"There's nothing left!?" shouted Pinkie, grabbing the scroll and looking it over several times. "How can that happen?"
"It was only a theory..." said Nick, the worry fading from his face. "Does anypony have another idea?"
The room was silent for several moments. Everyone looked to each other in turn, hoping for somepony to come up with another answer. At last, Pinkie spoke.
"I think this is all bollocks!" she shouted, grabbing the books from their stack on the table, running over to the pedestal where their mixture was to be placed.
"Pinkie, what are you--" Twilight started, standing up. But she was cut off by her own gasp when Pinkie slammed the books onto the pedestal in a fit of rage. The books burned on impact, disappearing into the purple flame that emanated around the pedestal, throwing up a cloud of black smoke, which dissipated as it reached the ceiling, flaring out in four directions.
"Now what are we going to do?" asked Twilight, glaring daggers at Pinkie. "Those books were our only information on this trial!"
"Wait," whispered Fluttershy.
"The books were worthless!" said Pinkie. "They couldn't agree!"
"Wait," Whispered Fluttershy, louder this time.
"Besides, Nick himself even commented that they were unable to agree!" shouted Pinkie.
"Don't drag me into this!" shouted Nick. "I'm trying to solve this thing just as much as you are!"
"Wait." said Fluttershy, now in an audible tone.
"And we even made a list of all the wrong answers, and it said that all answers were wrong!"
"WAIT!" shouted Fluttershy, alerting everyone to her presence. For the second time, all eyes were on her. This time, however, she had meant for it. "Look." She pointed a hoof to the ceiling. The smoke had cleared, and had released a beam of light onto the ingredient table, specifically the glowstone dust. As it touched down, it glowed red.
"How about a mixture of all but the glowstone?" suggested Nick. Fluttershy agreed, and they poured the remaining ingredients into the flame. The color changed from purple to green, and the door slid open.They climbed back down, Fluttershy loosing her footing and falling off halfway down, only then realizing tat she still had her wings. They popped open, and she floated the rest of the way. Reaching the main room again, they were reminded of their urgency.
"What the hy took you so long!?" shouted Braeburn. "I'm up here being ripped to shreds by these accursed bands, and you're just taking your own sweet time!!"
"Ignore him, he's glad to see you again," said Akaitora, pointing down the third hallway. "You'll get your magic back at the end of this challenge."
"This doesn't count as helping?" asked Nick.
"He already told you he would, so there's no harm in me telling you, since you already know," reasoned Akaitora. "Good luck in there."
"We'll need it?"
"You'll want it."
This hallway was the longest one yet, but was far from a straightaway. It twisted and turned, an at the end, spiraled upward. Thankfully, there were no ladders to entrap them, and they were able to make their way to the third chamber with no severe problems.
"Welcome back!" shouted the bearded figure in the center. Since it took you so long to pass the last challenge, this one's easy. And you even get your magic back at the end! really, I'm practically giving you this one for free!"
"I thought you give the same challenges to everyone?" questioned Nick.
"I do," said Gim-Palarcanus. "In the same order, no less. But It usually takes them forever to clear the alchemy trial, because no one expects it, and I give everyone different books. The secret to that challenge is to feed me exactly what I fed you, and then you can have the answer. That, or you could figure it out yourself, and know your alchemical ingredients."
"So what's this challenge then?" asked Nick. "We're in a bit of a rush."
"Patience, Nicholas, patience." Nick cringed at hearing his full first name. "First rule of magic is that you can't just rush in blindly. Think about your actions, and you'll always cast it right. As for your challenge, This one's easy enough for a child to solve."
He stepped away from them, revealing a large purple button in the wall. Your challenge begins when you press that button. It ends when you press the button a second time, but before you can press it, I suggest you decode the message. Good luck."
"We'l need it?"
"You'll want it." And Gim-Palarcanus disappeared into his cloak, which disappeared into the floor.
"Let's get started then," said Twilight, pressing the button down. Instantly, the walls lit up with a string of letters. From the entry, all the way around, and back to the door, they read, TRN-KZOZIXZMFH TIZMGH BLF BLFI NZTRX. BLF NZB MLD FHV RG ZG BLFI LDM WRHXIVGRLM.
"Oh my..." commented Fluttershy. "How are we supposed to solve this?"
"Certainly not by sitting here," said Nick, turning to the first letter. "This looks like some sort of cryptogram. Which means, we need a key."
"What's a cryptogram?" asked Pinkie, obviously confused by the idea.
"A cryptogram is an encoded message." explained Twilight. "Using the key, one could easily decipher the message, but I don't know what sort of key we need. It could be a word, or a phrase, or even a string of words. There are limitless possibilities to how the message could be deciphered, and if we do it wrong, then we could have the wrong message."
"There are some rules to simplify it, though," said Nick, running his left hand over the first two letters. "First, we know that the letter can't mean the same as it is on here. That means that the first three letters aren't really T R N, but three other letters. Unfortunately, Twilight pointed out one of the other rules, that we are typically given some way of finding the key, unless we already have it, which we don't. So, we have to find the key. Here's where another rule comes into play, which is also unfortunate. There are no words on here that are only one character in length, so we can't isolate it and test it."
"Then how do we start?" asked Fluttershy.
"Typically, when you're not given a key, the encryption is simple," said Twilight. "Such as moving all letters ahead a certain number of spaces, or a backwards alphabet, or both."
"That could take forever!" shouted Pinkie. "There are all kinds of possibilities that way!"
"Nonsense," scoffed Nick. "Only thirty-eight."
"How'd you come up with that number?" asked Fluttershy.
"Twenty-five for the forward alphabet, and thirteen for backward. Otherwise, you'd have letters matching up, and that's against the rules. Now, I suggest that we pick a few words out, so we can test the theories without having to go through the entire message every time. I vote for the two words that are only two letters long."
"I concur," agreed Twilight. "I also say that we knock out any choice that doesn't have R, G, or Z as vowels, or at least one of them. If G is a vowel, the other two can be anything, but if not, both R and Z have to be vowels."
"Because any word in this language must contain at least one vowel," finished Nick. "That should narrow it down. Let's test some theories!"