It was early in the morning, much before the average pony would be out and about. The crack of dawn as it were. A cyan unicorn mare was headed for the local library to consult with its caretaker. The personal prodigee of Celestia and all around know it all, Twilight Sparkle. Lyra Heartstrings could never understand how Twilight knew so much but didn’t use it to truly see the truths of the world. Maths is supposed to be logic in its purest form, surely this will open her eyes to the truth that was so obvious to Lyra.
After contemplating on a light knock not to disturb any who still slumber or an apt rapt to get the attention of those inside, she decided to go apt rapt and ensure success. The door was enveloped in magic as Twilight opened the door.
This was the beginning of her ultimate proof and her excitement shone through to her face and tone, "Good morning Twilight!"
Twilight was unaware of the beautiful mathematical proof that awaited her and as such only saw a hyperactive crackpot who decided to stop by ensuring that no pre-breakfast reading could be done. Naturally she was less than enthusiastic, "Good morning Lyra, what brings you here so early?"
Lyra shuffled slightly, aware that seeking a friendly favor at this hour is not socially accepted behavior in the eyes of most peers, "I had to be sure you weren't going to be busy… "
A friend in need, is a friend indeed. This was a path she had walked down before, "I can only imagine why."
Lyra’s face was alight once more, "You are very knowledgeable and I was hoping you could give criticism on my new theory before I seek an audience with the Equestrian Historian Guild."
This path has indeed been walked down numerous times before, "... Another theory on the existence of humans."
Mock woundedness followed by a wave of the hoof, "What? tcht, no. Why would you think that?"
Twilight being the good friend she was played along, "All right then, if not humans then what?"
Alright, Lyra had her now. This knowledge, and its flawless logic that support it required the best presentation Lyra could offer it. "I come to you today, seeking to first show what has been revealed to me through my relentless pursuit of the truth. And once this hidden truth of Equestria is seen, I shall explain how it came to exist this way."
Twilight could not help but sigh. It was going to be one of, those. An overly dramatic look at something commonplace among pony society that can only be explained with human origins.
Easy now, the audience must be kept involved to ensure the weight of this fact is felt, "First, a question for you. What is the square root of five hundred and forty-six."
Maths… Could it be that Lyra put all that crazy to good use and found something pivotal in the field of Mathematics. One can only hope, "The square root of five hundred and forty-six is twenty-three point three six six six four two eight nine one zero nine."
Lyra shrugged at the answer, "I wouldn't know, but that’s not the point.” Lyra had rehearsed this set up for the shocking truth for many a moon, “The point is its fundamentally wrong."
"What but my-"
She is missing the point, quickly soothe the nerd, "Not your maths Twilight! No, the problem is with… ” pause for dramatic effect, “Mathematics as we know it!"
"Lyra-"
"Ah pa pap, hear me out. Five HUNDRED, that is, five of ten to the two because we use the decimal system. But we have two limbs,” wave them to her showing that indeed, only two can be easily accessed, “with which to count on so one would think we would have made a binary system.” Roll of the hoof to show you know that this line of thinking is not enough, “Of course that would make writing maths out a chore. To abandon the obvious choice, it must be for a superior version.” A point to the head to show thought occurred during this next step, “With this in mind, the look at making a system that is tailored to be practical, why base ten with factors of: one, two, five and, ten when something like a dozenal system with factors of: one, two, three, four, six and, twelve would make more sense as halves, thirds, and quarters show up much more often than fifths?"
Shocking. Simply stupefying, such solid scrutiny of studies society has given slight. Lyra had put all that obsession to good use and could make maths more practical to the common pony. And to think Twilight missed something so obvious in hindsight. "That is a good point. I haven't really thought about the system itself.” But there is something amiss, “But why go to the historians with this hypothetical improvement to Equestrian maths."
Lyra shook her head as Twilight focused on the proof rather than the conclusions it would give, "I'm not trying to improve our maths system, I seek to propose a theory as to its origins. It all makes sense if we inherited the system from a mighty civilization of creatures with ten digits, five on each hand. I happen to know of such a creature with ten ‘fingers’ and is supposed to be extremely clever."
"Really." To think that Lyra would find such a flaw all of Academia had missed for something as silly as proving a mythological creature existed.
"Of course. It has to be humans. Why else would we be using something as stupid as decimal?"
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While waiting for her day granting her audience before the Equestrian Historians guild, Twilight had stopped by the Mathematics association after visiting her family and Celestia to discuss adopting a new mathematical system that would make arithmetic easier in everyday life for those that are not mathematicians. Word spread among the scholars of Canterlot and the historians knew of the dozenal system and from where the idea hailed long before when it was used as part of evidence on the origins of modern maths to prove a mythical creature existed.
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History and Mathematics books sing praise of Twilight’s insight that brought improvement to maths’ relationship with the common pony shortly after becoming a princess.