The doors to the throne room burst open as Pinkie Pie barges in. “Sorry I’m late! I got here as fast as I could … well, maybe not the fastest fast, but everypony kept saying ‘Hi Pinkie’ and ‘Where you off to, Pinkie?’, and I couldn’t just ignore them, so I kept greeting them back with ‘Hi there Carrot Top’ and ‘I’m off to the Castle of Friendship, Lyra’, and before you know it …”
Pinkie’s runaway chatter is interrupted by the sight of her alicorn friend staring at a section of the Cutie Map with their two cutie marks hovering above it. Her front hooves are propped on the table as she fixates on an area in southwestern Equestria.
Pinkie walks over to Twilight and eyes the map. “Oooo, is that where we’re heading? Looks like a far cry from Griffonstone, and nowhere near Canterlot. Does the train run there? Do we need to take the balloon? Oh, it’s been like forever since I’ve been in the balloon!”
Twilight remains silent as she continues to stare at a pair of dots surrounded by forest on the map, still lost in thought.
“You know, conversations are funny this way, but usually they involve more than one pony, ‘cause otherwise one pony just dominates all the discussion and … uh … … Twilight?”
Blinking, Twilight finally realizes that she’s not alone in the room. She takes her forehooves off the table and turns to Pinkie. “Sorry, Pinkie Pie. It’s just that … I feel like I recognize these towns. I know I’ve seen them before; I just can’t remember where.”
Pinkie takes another look at the map. “What’s to recognize? They’re dots.”
“I know, but there’s something about this location that’s haunting me. I’m sure I’ve seen this area before, but I’ve gone through all my maps, atlases, and geographic texts, and I can’t find anything resembling this. You’d think I’d recognize something as distinct as two cities surrounded by forest, but …” Twilight turns back to the map, hoping for a moment of inspiration.
“You’re thinking too hard about this, Twilight. Let’s just go and see where this adventure takes us!” Pinkie starts bouncing in place, rife with anticipation.
“Pinkie, you know how I like to be prepared for callings like this,” Twilight states without turning, still focusing on the map.
“Yeah, I know; Fluttershy told me all about your trip to the Hooffields and McColts. How ‘bout this time, we just go and be surprised by what we find? It’ll be more fun that way.”
Twilight turns to Pinkie, a slight undertone of frustration in her voice. “Look, I appreciate your care-free attitude towards life. It’s who you are, and I’ve learned not to seek explanation. But I’m just not like that. I need order and reason in my world. I live for the cold truth that logic brings and …”
Twilight suddenly stops mid-sentence and ponders. “Wait a minute. It couldn’t be.”
Before Pinkie can ask what it is that could not be, Twilight bolts from the room; she returns minutes later with a dusty text. Quickly scanning through the tome, Twilight soon comes to a page with a map of two towns surrounded by forest. Her eyes dilate with the realization: “I don’t believe it … the twin towns of Utopia and Paradise are real!”
Pinkie looks over Twilights forehoof to inspect the pages. “Utopia and Paradise? I never heard of those towns. They sound nice, though.”
Twilight suddenly turns to Pinkie with wide eyes and a broad grin. “Do you know what this means! A friendship problem that can be solved with logic puzzles!” She proceeds to bounce around the room, mimicking Pinkie’s usual method of pronking about Ponyville.
“Well you seem more chipper now,” Pinkie observes. “What do you mean by using ‘logic puzzles’ to solve a friendship problem? What’s so special about these towns?”
“We’ll take the balloon to get there; I’ll explain on the way. You grab the food, while I grab some quills and parchment. Oh, I can’t wait to get started on this!” Twilight rushes out of the throne room, as Pinkie looks on with curiosity and slight apprehension.
From her vantage point high above the grassy plains, Twilight gazes towards their destination upon the horizon. “We’re making great timing. We should be there in another 30 minutes.”
A munching sound causes Twilight to turn back; Pinkie’s mouth is filled with hay sandwich, which she hurriedly gulps down. “Pinkie, did you eat the last of our balloon provisions?”
“Well, I was in a hurry to get out the door this morning, so I didn’t have time for more than two bowls of oatmeal, a couple blueberry muffins, six carrots, a daisy, and two-thirds of a cake. Say that reminds me, I need to cut down on my daisy intake.”
Twilight rolls her eyes before turning back towards the horizon. “Well I’m too excited to eat anyway. I still can’t believe the twin towns of Utopia and Paradise really exist. I wonder if the tales from my logic book are true.”
“So what’s so special about these towns, Twilight? Nopony I know has ever mentioned them, and I know a lot of ponies.”
Twilight turns back to Pinkie and explains. “Among the courses I took while studying in Canterlot was a course in logical reasoning, taught by Professor Stallyan. It was one of my favorite classes; it was basically a series of puzzles that tested one’s ability to make sense of given information.”
Pinkie could already hear Rainbow Dash’s voice in her head, screaming out “EGGHEAD!”, but simply bid her friend to continue.
“One of the chapters focused on the twin towns of Utopia and Paradise. According to the textbook, Utopia and Paradise were settled shortly after the events of the first Hearthswarming, when tensions between unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies were still high. A faction of unicorns and pegasi attempted to settle a single town deep within a forest, but infighting between the two races led to two towns being formed instead. The unicorns created the town of Utopia, and the Pegasi created the town of Paradise.”
“Unicorn Utopia and Pegasus Paradise.” Pinkie recites the alliterative phrase to herself a couple times. “That’s easy enough to remember.”
“Anyway,” Twilight continues, “tensions between the two eventually died down, and over time a number of unicorns from Utopia moved to Paradise, while a number of pegasi from Paradise moved to Utopia. In the book, each town has both unicorns and pegasi.”
“So all this sounds …” Pinkie pauses before continuing, “I won’t lie to you Twilight, I don’t see where any of this is going.”
“Well here’s where it gets weird. According to the story, the unicorns who moved to Paradise still harbored deep feelings for Utopia, and when asked, would state that they were from the town of unicorns even if they were from Paradise. And the same held true for pegasi who resided in Utopia; they would insist that they were from the town founded by pegasi. From there, it became natural for these particular ponies to lie about any statement made in reference to residence. Eventually, it came to pass that every statement from a unicorn from Paradise, or from a pegasus from Utopia, was a lie.”
“Every statement? So wait Twilight; does that mean that a unicorn from Paradise would state that grass is red, and maple syrup falls from the sky?”
Twilight shrugs. “I guess so.”
“Well that should make for interesting conversations!” Pinkie smiles broadly at the notion.