The existence of Pi

by Sh4dowWalker96

How can this be?!?!

Being a day just like any other day, I wake up to the sun streaming in through my window, at precisely the same time as always. Getting up, I proceed to head downstairs after smelling the delicious aroma of pancakes wafting in from the kitchen. "Ah, Twilight, you're awake. I was just getting done making breakfast." Spike says, putting the frying pan and spatula in the sink to soak while we ate. After eating the pancakes, and once again complementing my assistant on his cooking, I proceed to check my schedule for the day.

"Let's see, Wake up, check. Eat breakfast, check. Ah, study the usage of geometric shapes in spellwork. That shouldn't be TOO hard," I say, levitating some books on basic runecrafting from the shelves, "After all, it's basic geometry. What could go wrong?" Unbeknownst to me, Murphy's Law decided that would be a good time to be a pain in the flank.

After a few hours of stress-free studying, having sent Spike to go assist Rarity so I would have peace and quiet, I noticed something didn't seem quite right when studying the effect of a circle's area in runecrafting. "Circles are widely used as a base for runecrafting, though they can be used as part of the more intricate runic matrix as well, with differing effects depending on their size. The area of a circle is calculated using Pi * r^2, where Pi is usually rounded to 3.14, but can be calculated further for more accurate results, though it is usually not needed." Noting the part where Pi can be calculated further for accuracy, I levitate a book called Advanced Calculations, and how to apply them off a nearby shelf. Quickly flipping to the page about Pi, I read, "Pi is largely used to calculate the areas of circles, though it is usually only calculated to 3.14. For anypony wishing to calculate it further, please refer to the equation below."

Looking below the paragraph, I notice a strange symbol, one the likes of which I've never seen in an equation. Confused, I levitate a book titled Mathematical Symbols and how to use them from the pile of books near me. After realizing I have no idea what this symbol is called, I spend a good 10 minutes skimming through the book to find this unknown symbol. "Ah, this looks like it," I say, having found a symbol that looked the same as the one in the equation, "Lemniscates are commonly used to represent the idea of infinity, or unending numbers." "WAIT, WHAT?" I shriek, causing some books to fall off their shelves. "How can a symbol used to represent infinity be used in an equation required to calculate circles, which are used in a large percentage of everyday life? How can an unending equation be used to precisely calculate anything? This makes no logical sense!" Looking around the library, I notice how many things have something to do with a circle in any way, shape or form, now discounting them as physical impossibilities thanks to Pi being an unending equation, which in and of itself should be impossible. "How did I not notice this before? I'm the prize student of Princess Celestia herself, I should know these things!" I exclaim, trying to make sense of all this.

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice that I had missed a part in the passage about Lemniscates. Sitting back down, I read, "Lemniscates are viewed by many as a logical impossibility, thanks to them never ending. This is, in fact, rumored to be part of the reason they exist. Lemniscates were discovered shortly after the Fall of Discord, and have been thought to have been created by the Lord of Chaos himself, to insure that there will always be chaos in one form or another."

Visibly relaxing at that revelation, thankful that I hadn't done something as drastic as attempt to somehow remove circles from existence, I go back to studying runecrafting. After finishing the pile of books, thankfully not finding anything else that might make me insane, I look at the clock to notice it's getting late. "Oh, I better go pick up Spike from Rarity's. Wouldn't want him to miss his bedtime," I say, walking out the door to Carousel Boutique. On the way there, I mentally review my notes, making sure I hadn't missed anything. After telling myself that my notes were indeed fine, I look up to see that I had already made my way to the Boutique.

Having picked up Spike, and hearing him swoon over Rarity for what seemed like ages, we arrived back at the library just in time to make a quick dinner before bed. Opening the door, I realize I had forgotten to put the books away after I was done studying. "Spike, you go cook dinner. I'll take care of the books," I say, picking them up in my magic and beginning to organize them.

"Alright, Twilight. What would you like?" Spike asks,walking to the kitchen and putting on his apron.

"Just a daisy sandwich, please," I say, as my stomach decides this would be a good time to sound like a dying whale. "Heh heh," I chuckle, "Ok, a couple of hayburgers. I may have forgotten to eat lunch while studying. Again." Spike just rolled his eyes at that, and began making dinner.

Having eaten our dinner, hayburgers for me and a pile of rubies for Spike, I go to take a shower to clean the ink off myself while Spike washed the dishes. After I had finished showering, I noticed my assistant had already finished his chore, and was probably in his bed. Going upstairs to do the same, I close the door behind me, noticing Spike was already in his basket. As I get onto my bed and levitate my blanket onto me, I hear Spike sleepily say "Good night, Twilight."

"Good night, number one assistant," I say, putting my head onto the pillow and passing out almost instantly thanks to the stress from earlier.

Comments

[Aristagtle]

Hah, the old debate of Intuitionism vs. Formalism again. Interesting to see this one in a My Little Pony fic.

[jxj]

wait until Twilight discovers e^(i*pi)=-1 That'll be fun

[Sholuna]

existence *

[Europa]

... huh?

[Sh4dowWalker96]

5661892
Thanks, forgot about that typo. Fixed.

[Sh4dowWalker96]

5661894
Even I'm not entirely sure. The idea came to me when my brain decided to become one with the potato.

[Walabio]

The 1 true CircleConstant is τ (tau):

τ = c / r

¡The radius defines the circle!:

A circle is all points equidistant, on a plane from an origin.

¡The equidistance is the radius!

τ ≈ 6.283185307179586

⸘Why do you not use Interrobangs‽

[Dark Avenger]

Damn, I'm torn on this one...

On one hand, you're finally one of those people who tried to take on this concept, i.e a pony like Twilight explores "the mindf***s that math has to offer," which would be a neat response to all those fics that involve someone messing with Twilight by being deliberately illogical. That said, congrats for making the attempt!

On the other hand, the "math" and "logic" content in this fic is a bit wonky, to say the least. I'm not too sure about Twilight's reaction either. I imagine she'd be intrigued by concepts like mathematical infinity and whatnot, but to start panicking? Not really...

Also, you're missing huge opportunities here. For example, ever heard of the theory that, supposedly, the entire universe could be "coded" in the digits of Pi? Having Twilight react to just that would have been really cool, and there are countless other things related to Pi and infinity (and math in general) that would be worth trying to work into a story.

Just my two cents. Other than that, this is an okay fic. Well done!

[Limelight02]

Good story. I like it.

[Sh4dowWalker96]

5662294
Yeah, this was a bit of a writing test, and I don't know enough myself to go into more detail of the insanity that is Math.

[Sh4dowWalker96]

Fixed Incomplete tag, don't know why I didn't notice that sooner.

[Eonflare]

Ah, Pi. Gotta love that symbol.

[Seirs]

Ahhh reminds my of good ol Calculus 3. That wonderful semester where every single equation seen in class had at least 1 infinity in it somewhere.

An interesting concept. Though I find it hard given her education to date that Twilight hadn't come across this before. Even if she hadn't come across the formula for calculating pi (and trust me a few of those look just like the kind of randomness discord might slap onto a chalkboard ) I'm sure she would have come across the concept of irrational numbers before.

That said though it was a interesting fast read. There are so many possibilities that can be tackled with a number like pi. The fact it is not only infinite but that it also never repeats or forms an overall pattern can be just ripe for crazy speculation/philosophising. I remember a couple fun discussions in one of my philosophy classes on the subject (what can I say I took philosophy at a tech school ). It can be said that anything that can possibly be represented in a numerical form exists somewhere within Pi, be it the complete works of Shakespeare or the sequence of every significant date in a person's life in perfect sequence. Yep definately Discord's favorite number.

[Meep the Changeling]

Actually the ratio of a circle isn't infinite. There is a minimum possible distance, one plank unit. Meaning while pi is an infinite sequence as it is an expression of distance it's practical properties must stop at some point. Though the number it'self can continue going, it ceases to have any real meaning as it can't be applied after X digits.