Solution:
Scootaloo couldn't tell what type of beanie she was wearing, which meant that either Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, or both had propeller beanies.
Sweetie Belle only needed to look at Apple Bloom's beanie. If Apple Bloom had been wearing a normal beanie, then Sweetie would have known her own was a propeller beanie. Since she didn't know, Apple Bloom had to have been wearing a propeller beanie.
Twilight beamed proudly at her Number One Assistant as he laid out the explanation for Cheerilee, complete with a crude diagram on the chalkboard. "Well done, Spike!"
"Thanks, Twilight."
Cheerilee looked dazed. "I'm amazed that those three managed to figure that out!" she said.
"They're a lot more clever than they let on," Rarity said.
"'Specially Apple Bloom," Applejack put in. "Doggone if Ah ain't proud o' her."
"I don't think we've made any progress towards figuring out who's behind all these puzzles, though," Twilight said. "Although I'm glad we were able to help you out, Cheerilee."
"So, where to next?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Come on, let's get--"
She was interrupted by the ringing of the bell in Ponyville's clock tower.
"That's odd," Twilight said.
"What's odd?" Spike asked.
"That bell should only go off at the top and bottom of the hour." Scooping Spike up onto her back, she headed towards the tower at full gallop. "Come on, girls! Let's go check it out!"
* * * * *
As the ponies approached the clock tower, Spike laughed triumphantly.
"What are you so happy about?"
"I finally got all those pieces of the letter put back together," he said. "Look!"
The ponies trotted to a halt to take a look at his handiwork.
"What are all those splotches on the letter?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Is that blood?"
"Don't be silly, Rainbow Dash," Twilight said. "It's sealing wax. See?" She held the back of the scroll out for the pegasus to examine. Sure enough, at the top edge of the scroll was a golden seal held in place with a small blob of red wax, the same color as the splotches on the letter itself.
"That's quite peculiar," Rarity said, examining the front of the letter while Rainbow Dash looked at the seal.
"There's nothing peculiar about sealing wax on a scroll," Twilight said.
"It's unbecoming of a princess to be so slovenly with even an informal letter such as this one," Rarity said. "I simply can't imagine Princess Celestia, of all ponies, being so careless as to-- oh! Oh, my!"
"What is it?"
"Well," Rarity said, "do you mind?" With that, she levitated the scroll over to herself and began scraping at the wax blobs with the edge of a forehoof. In moments, she was finished, and the letter was much cleaner.
"Wow," Twilight said. "Good eye, Rarity!"
"What are you two talking about?" Rainbow asked, exasperated.
"If you'll look closely," Rarity explained, "you'll see that the oil from the wax discolored the scroll where it was attached."
"And," continued Twilight, "those discolorations outline some of the letters in the message. No doubt about it, this was definitely deliberate on her part!"
"Which letters?" Spike asked, taking the scroll from Rarity's telekinetic grip. "Hmmm. E. V-E-R. F-R. E. Another E... F-O-R, E-S-T! Everfree Forest!"
"Exactly!" Twilight said, cantering in place slightly. "Obviously, Princess Celestia wants us to go check out something in the Everfree Forest!"
"In the meantime," Rarity said, "since we're already here, we may as well see what is going on with the clock tower." She turned and led the way over to the base of the structure in question. "Oh, Time Turner!"
Puzzle 14
Wibbly-Wobbly, Timey-Wimey
40/40 BitsThey say even a broken clock is right twice a day. Time Turner's clock tower is very precisely maintained, but reading it takes some getting used to.
There are five clock faces shown in the picture. The one on the upper left is 12:00. The one on the upper right is 6:00. On the lower left is the time Twilight Sparkle and friends left the park fifteen minutes ago. On the lower right is the current time.
What time does the clock at the bottom show?
