//------------------------------// // Puzzle 01: A Cloudy Conundrum // Story: Princess Twilight and the Puzzling Curse // by Parchment_Scroll //------------------------------// Dear Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle's coronation changed a lot of things in Ponyville. But something else changed things even more. A few days after returning to Ponyville from the coronation, Twilight and I discovered the entire town was under a strange spell. This is what happened... "Spike!" The newly-made alicorn Princess called out from the first floor of the library. "Spike! Wake up, sleepyhead! We're supposed to meet the girls for a picnic today!" "Five more minutes, Twilight," grumbled the little dragon, pulling the blanket over his head. "Come on, Spike. You know we've got a narrow window for the picnic today because of the rainstorm!" With a telekinetic flourish, Twilight whipped away Spike's blanket, neatly folded it, and put it at the foot of his bed. "All right, all right," Spike said, stretching. "I still don't know why you guys wanted to have the picnic today when it's supposed to be raining all day." "You know how busy I am after the coronation," Twilight explained as she put on her saddlebags. "(Ugh, I have to talk to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy about wearing saddlebags with wings. This still feels weird.) Anyway, today was the only day I could squeeze it in. Fortunately, Rainbow Dash said she'd keep a nice two hour window open in the afternoon, so we could relax without getting soaked." Spike grabbed their umbrella. "Even so," he said, "we should probably bring this." "Good thinking, Spike," Twilight said, levitating the umbrella overhead. "After all, it's supposed to rain until just before our picnic anyway." Spike climbed up into her saddle and she stepped outside, opening the umbrella to sheild them from the rain. Oddly, however, no rain fell. Instead, as she opened the umbrella, three coins fell out. "What the hay?" Twilight stared curiously down at the coins. "Did three bits just fall out of your umbrella, Twilight?" Spike asked, scooping the coins up. Twilight levitated one out of his hand to examine it. "These aren't bits," she replied. "Look, instead of a sun and moon, the obverse has a question mark, and the reverse has the word 'hint' on it." Tutorial: Hint Coins To use a hint coin, simply post a comment at the end of a chapter requesting a hint on that chapter's puzzle. Be frugal with them, however, as from this point on, Twilight and Spike will only get one hint coin per chapter. Each hint purchased this way will be placed in the Author's Notes for the chapter in question, so that it can be viewed without needing to wade through comments. The contents of Twilight's saddlebags can also be viewed there. Once a puzzle has been solved, all three hints for that puzzle will be revealed for free, and the solution will be included in the beginning of the next chapter, so that people can try their hoof at solving the puzzle after the story has moved on! "We'd better hang on to these, Spike," Twilight said. "Who knows if they might come in handy or not?" "Okay," Spike said. "We'd better hurry to the park, though, because it's obviously time for the picnic!" Twilight shook her head, gesturing with a hoof at a nearby clock. "The picnic isn't for two hours," she said. "Rainbow Dash said she'd have to keep the rain going until just fifteen minutes before the picnic. Something's up. We'd better go talk to her." Tutorial: Travel Once a chapter's puzzle has been solved, and the solution has been confirmed by the author, the commenter who posted the solution may choose what Ponyville location to visit next. (Later in the story, locations outside of Ponyville will be unlocked.) Once this is done, the story can continue in the direction chosen. With that, Twilight galloped in the direction of Rainbow Dash's cloud house. As she ran through the streets of Ponyville, she noticed ponies standing around town. At first, everything looked normal, but as she passed a few ponies, she realized that a lot of them, instead of going about their business as usual, were simply standing around looking confused. It looked like Rainbow Dash wouldn't be the only pony who needed help that day. Nevertheless, the immediate concern was the weather, and they arrived at Rainbow Dash's house in good time. Just in time, in fact, to hear a frustrated scream coming from behind a nearby hill. Curiosity piqued, Twilight galloped over the hill, where she found Rainbow Dash standing in front of four dilapitated buildings. "Hi, Rainbow Dash," Twilight called out. "Oh, Twilight," Rainbow said. "Thank Celestia! You are just the pony I wanted to see right now." "Same here," Twilight said. "What's the hold-up with the weather?" "Rarity accidentally used up all of the clouds I had stocked up for the next month," Rainbow Dash explained. "I put in an order for a new shipment, but Derpy's the one bringing it, and I have a problem." She gestured with a hoof at the four buildings. "These are my cloud warehouses," she explained. "See, they're supposed to have signs on them so that Derpy knows which clouds to put in which warehouses, but one of the things Rarity did when she had my cutie mark caused a big windstorm to tear all the signs down. If I don't get the signs up in the right order, then the whole shipment could be ruined, and the Wonderbolts will never let me join the team if they think I can't even manage weather for a little town like this!" "Well," said Twilight Sparkle, frowning, "just put the signs back up, then! As fast as you are, you could have it done in seconds!" "I would," Rainbow said, "if I could remember which sign went where, but for the life of me, I can't! And it's really important that the signs go up in the right places, or the whole shipment will get ruined!" "Why's that?" Spike asked, curious. He'd never put much thought into how much work Rainbow Dash's job involved before. "Clouds are finicky," Rainbow Dash explained. "See, there are four different kinds of clouds I use in making weather, and if they're not stored properly, I end up losing two kinds every single time! It took me forever to get the hang of this, but I figure Ponyville's all-star Winter Wrap-Up All-Team Organizer could probably do it in ten seconds flat!" "All right," Twilight said, "if there's one thing I know, it's how to organize. Lay it on me." Puzzle 01 A Cloudy Conundrum Solved: 13/15 Bits Rainbow Dash needs the clouds organized for maximum efficiency. She has four warehouses (labeled A, B, C, and D in the illustration) to store them in, but if the right clouds aren't in the right place, then some of them could be ruined, and she'll have to order more. There are four different types of clouds that Rainbow Dash uses to manage weather in Ponyville, which is just over the hill: 1) Fluffy Clouds are delicate, and only used for decoration on sunny and partly cloudy days. They're the ones Rainbow Dash uses the most, so it would be terrible if anything happened to them. Unfortunately, thunder causes them to break up, and if she's not careful, she'll end up with an empty warehouse. 2) Shady Clouds are like grey sponges. They can be used for shade on partly cloudy and cloudy days, but if they're kept too close to rain or thunder, they'll soak it up and change types. 3) Rainy Clouds are vital. Rainbow Dash has to keep these handy to meet her quota of rainstorms and keep farms like Sweet Apple Acres properly watered. 4) Thundery Clouds are difficult to manage. They tend to let off peals of thunder and bolts of lightning all the time, which helps keep the atmosphere charged with the magic that Equestria needs. Rainbow Dash uses them during heavy rainstorms to keep things running smoothly.