2+2=5
2+2=5
Twilight stared at the paper. That was all she had written.
2+2=5
Some part of it seemed wrong to her, seemed off, but Celestia had put it there and that meant it was right, that meant it was true, because Celestia is right about everything and that makes sense to a filly as young as Twilight.
Celestia knew. She knew that two and two make five, and it was her job to teach Twilight that two and two make five, so that’s what it was, and that’s what Twilight knew now, too.
2+2=5
Twilight reassured herself of this, in fragmented sentences and consoling phrases.
She breathed.
It’s okay. She told herself. Celestia’s right. Celestia knows what’s right. She took up her quill again, with her magic, and carefully dipped it in the ink.
She breathed. She knew what to do next, it was simple, Celestia knew.
2+2=5
5-2=2
2-5=-2
-2+5=2
-2-2=-5
-5+2=-3
She quickly smudged out the three. She wondered how she came up with a silly answer like that, when she knew it was two. She shook her head, casting out her silly little filly thoughts and dumb answers, and corrected her mistake.
“Negative five and two make negative two.”
Celestia always said how smart Twilight was, how bright, that she would make a great mathematician. Twilight recalled this and blushed.
Good thing Celestia’s not here. Twilight didn’t like failing the Princess, mostly because every filly, at least at that age, aims to please and searches for acceptance, something Twilight had never found before.
2+2=5
She said it out loud, praying that would convince her mind that it was true. She wasn’t old enough or smart enough, not nearly, to know any better. To even fathom her teacher was wrong, because the very idea of it was silly, how could Celestia be wrong? Celestia knew.
And Celestia had been so sure, had been so kind in explaining the simple fact to Twilight. It was not a mistake, for Princesses don’t make mistakes, and even if she had, she would’ve-
Twilight stopped her train of thought, stopped the silliness.
Of course Celestia was right. She breathed again.
Continue.
She stared at the paper. Those were all the facts she could think of.
But then she started thinking. Her mind started turning, in the most dangerous of ways. The numbers seemed to slowly float off the paper and swirl around Twilight, unlocking and moving about and making everything so clear.
Twilight dipped her quill in the ink and began to write, adrenaline rushing through her veins.
2x2=5
5/2=2
2x-2=-5
-5/2=-2
-2x-2=5
5/-2=-2
Those were all the facts, though her mind didn’t stop. No, quite the opposite, it was inflated with the new feeling of discovery, of eureka, though her brain hadn’t learned that word yet.
Her train of thought traveled back into her memory, speeding past her questions.
A number times itself...
2^2=5
√5=2
She let her quill drop, sat back in her chair, and smiled. A strange sort of smugness crept into her, and a dollop or eagerness. How pleased Celestia would be, at the progress Twilight had made, just from the simple fact that two and two make five. How thrilled at her memory of squares and square roots she’d be. How impressed.
And maybe, a small idea would be planted in Celestia’s mind, like a seed that would someday grow into the prettiest flower, prettier than all Twilight’s dresses would be after being crowned Princess of Smartness (she’d work on the title).
Twilight’s right brain happily slipped into this fantasy, the left side perfectly content with its job well done. She imagined banquets and suitors and book signings, with big banners that said...
“Two plus two equals five: Twilight Sparkle proves how smart she is.”
Twilight sat up, surprised by her own voice.
“Two plus two equals five.” She repeated, uneasiness creeping back from where it lay dormant.
Her eyes fell on her paper, on the eight equations, facts, truths she’d written. She tried slipping back into the warmth of satisfaction, but it had already faded, banished to the doldrums of self-doubt.
She attempted to pick her quill back up, but her magic couldn’t get a strong enough hold on it.
Twilight breathed. She concentrated. The quill returned to the table, bathed in her pink aura.
It’s so simple, just a fact. Magic doesn’t make sense either, does it?
The quill clattered to the ground, rattling Twilight’s mind. Her hooves instinctively went to her ears, but that didn’t stop the ringing.
Two plus two plus two plus two plus two plus two plus two plus two plus...
“MAKE IT STOP!” She yelled, far too loud for such a shy filly.
She didn’t hear the clatter of hooves over the cacophony of twos.
“Twilight... Twilight are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m... fine."
The door swung open, suddenly yellow.
“You don’t sound fine.”
“Princess?”
“Yes?”
“What does two and two make?”
“Five darling, don’t be silly.”
“Oh, okay. Thank you.”
“Perhaps you should get some sleep.”
“Yeah. Probably.”
“Goodnight, my faithful student.”
“Goodnight, Princess.”
“Sweet dreams.”
“With Luna’s blessing.”
The door shut again. They could both sense each other’s uneasiness, but neither one did anything about it.
Celestia’s right. I should get some sleep.
Celestia’s right. The phrase echoed in her brain. She realized the twos had stopped. It echoed again.
Celestia’s right, Celestia knows, Celestia’s true. The phrases were pulled to her conscious for the millionth time, swirling and mixing into a pile of strange emotions.
And Twilight prayed. She prayed to beings a hallway over. She prayed for peace. She prayed that the numbers would simply jump off the page and tell Twilight what was right.
No. That’s what she had Celestia for.
Two plus two equals five.
Two and two make five.
2+2=4
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I'm sorry, I don't understand this story
3918758 I'm sorry. Any way I could explain it?
SO pony 1984 is a thing now
that was the scariest thing ever
but it was very good
"Pick two, add two, and receive 1 as a gift from Celestia"
3918763
Why does 2+2=5?
3918816 Because Celestia says so.
3918830
I don't understand! You aren't explaining anything!
3918839 That's all there is to explain. 2+2=5 because Celestia says that 2+2=5. Why she said that, however, is a mystery.
3918844
EXACTLY 1000 WORDS!
I dealt with something like this when I was a kid, Twilight should borrow a play from my book: two plus two equals four, but in the case of that equation (and only that equation) four is both written as and called five, this in no way changes the answer or effects future calculation in which case the number counted is still four.
I used to love mind-games as a child.
This was really great, but... It wasn't sad. Dark, yes, but not sad.
3918865 As are all three of my one-shots.
3918871 I just realized I totally tagged that wrong. I guess I'm just used to writing sad stories, haha.
3918758 Celestia told Twilight that 2+2=5 for some reason or another. Twilight would never go against the princess, wouldn't even think that Celestia could ever be wrong. I think she knows, though, in some part of her mind, that what Celestia said was wrong.
If Twilight continued with her mistake, she might be able to prove that (-5)+2xN=(-2), from similar equations with positive numbers 5-2xN=2, that implies that (-2)=2 and equals any odd number; with that it's easy to assume that maybe for each odd number O and even number E there E+E=O.
Maybe she was right? Maybe (-5)+2=(-2)=(-3) and all numbers are equal to each other?
Technically 2+2 can equal 5.
Simply 2 = 1+1.
It is proven 1+1 can equal 3.
So if 2+2 = (1+1) + 2
Then 2 + 2 = 3 + 2 = 5
Therefore 1 = 2 = 3 = 4 = X
3918978 How do you prove that 1+1=3?
3918981 Let x =y
x - y + y = y
((x - y + y) / (x-y)) = (y / (x-y))
1+ (y / (x-y)) = (y / (x-y))
1 = 0
If the above is true:
1 = 0
1 = 1
1 = 1
Therefore, LS = 3. RS = 2.
Therefore 3 = 2.
Source: http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/56734.html
I think I broke logic here.
3918991 You'd be dividing by zero then. Classic mathematical fallacy.
Additionally, there can be a following arithmetic. Each number is written as 55...5D, where D is 1, 2, 3 or nothing. So 2+2=5, 5+1=51, 5+2=52, 5+3=53, 5+2+2=55 etc. which doesn't contradict story equations.
3919001 We also have to remember that Twilight is incredibly young in this story, so she wouldn't be thinking anything anywhere close to the stuff we're going into.
This goes for everyone.
3918758 Read the book '1984' by George Orwell.
supermanofsteel.com/Pictures/lex-luthor-wrong1.jpg
profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/211093_127045180706738_2909696_n.jpg
Brilliant
I was waiting toward the end for something to happen such as she miss a test or something becuase the princess told her this. or something happen somewhere becuase she got it wrong.
3918978
What the author said : 3918998
That's a math proof error you literally get handed as an example to see what mathematical proof errors look like. For me, it was day one homework in Automata and Formal Languages where I had to discern where the proof error was.
3918991
From the page you linked.
What if the only difference between equestrian langue and English is that five and four are swapped. So five equals four, and four equals five.
Did you just read 1984?
Everything I know is a lie
images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130223000932/adventuretimewithfinnandjake/images/b/b3/Kevin-Butler-Mind-Blown.gif
I REALLY DONT GET THIS. maybe the moral of the stoy is that when it comes to mlpfim, everything Celestia says is logical. Like how the sun and moon are controlled and raised. Logic.
By the way, HOW IN ANY WAY IS THIS CONSIDERED DARK!?!?
That is pretty dark and creepy.
Unless 5 in this fictions universe is 4 but Twilight's knowledge of numbers is congruent to another reality.
Or if for some reason someone is forcing the idea to her head in order to change what she thinks or something by putting her in a situation where her most reliable source of knowledge claims the truth as falls and the lie as a fact.
Dark and creepy. The ending also makes chaos theories easier to make, adding more creepiness.
1984 anybody?
Part of me wants to believe that Celestia saw Twilight as being too clingy and too trusting of Celestia. so she gave Twilight a fallacy in order to break that. And she won't let up until Twilight tells her she's wrong.
3919824
Me too, because canon Celestia doesn't usually do random things to mess with the minds of ponies.
That would be me.
But this story was an interesting read, even though I hate math.
-Mr. Discord
I notice many people pointing out the idea this came from 1984, but I have to ask; was that your intention, or was that simply a simple equation to put there?
Either way I can appreciate the psychological horror going on for little Twilight. The princess is always right, but 2+2=4. Which one is more correct? Her logical brain says the math equation, but her emotional brain wants to uphold her teacher's place of infinite superiority. Truly the stuff mental breakdowns are made of.
Masterfully written. You get a thumb and a fav.
2+2=5 isn't wrong for particularly large values of 2. What do I mean by that? If there's uncertainty in your numbers something like this can happen. The number range 1.5 to 2.5, when rounded to the nearest integer, is 2. More specifically, it's 2 ± 0.5, but that uncertainty is implied and does not have to be expressed. Now imagine each of those 2's are really 2.4. This would be 2.4+2.4=4.8, which, when rounded, displays as 2+2=5.
3919724
3919756
3919898
3919874
3919907
Okay, whole bunch of replies since I just woke up.
Yes, 1984. I read 1984 a while ago, but that's where this came from.
I really like the theory of four and five being swapped (or along those lines) but I hadn't thought of that before.
Also, with all the complex math stuff, I'd like to remind everyone (again) how young Twilight is. Maybe Celestia understands, but Twilight can't come up with this on her own.
I actually love all the theories y'all are coming up with. It fascinates me.
And thanks for all the comments, likes and favs!
It's an interesting story here. I choose to think that either this was an honest error on Celestia's part. Maybe she wrote quickly and the pen skipped or her mind was on other things when she wrote this, and who can honestly say we haven't made mistakes like that? Simple errors that slip into the day to day grind that really are of no consequence becaus they can be spotted and corrected instantly. The result though is we are privy to a little bit of innocence dying. Your heros, idols and role models aren't always right and can make mistakes.
A deep thousand words.
3919907
troll.me/images/futurama-fry/not-sure-if-my-brain-broke-or-if-im-just-tired.jpg
I get the feeling Celestia just wanted to mess with Twilight
3919898 you guys do know this could be the reason behind "lesson zero" right?
You know, I wrote that same answer on my math test once. I should have put "Celestia said it's right" next to it.
This is a lie. We all know 2+2=22
I no longer want to understand my life....