Apple Bloom the Alchemist: a Logic Puzzle Adventure

by Coyotek4

How Potions Work

Climbing the steps of the CMC clubhouse and entering, Apple Bloom is surprised and relieved to find her two previously incapacitated friends jotting notes down on a sheet of poster paper. “What’re you two doin’ here?”

“We only got here a couple minutes ago,” Scootaloo explains. “That was when that paralysis potion wore off. Sweetie Belle told me all about it while she was stuck in place.”

“Yeah, sorry again for puttin’ you two through that, just to make myself look good to Zecora,” Apple Bloom sadly admits.

“Hey, you don’t have to apologize to me. Best sleep I’ve had in a long time.”

“It wasn’t so bad for me either,” Sweetie Belle adds. “Didn’t hurt or anything, just a strange sensation. Though I did have to tell Granny Smith that you dared me to strike a pose for a half-hour. By the way, you’re treating me the next time we go to Sugarcube Corner. You know, to deflect suspicion,” she concludes with a grin.

“Well thank you both again for all your help … but my potion-makin’ days are over, at least usin’ those ingredients. Applejack’s takin’ me back to Zecora tomorrow morning to return all the unused components.” Apple Bloom then scans the poster. “Hey, are those my notes?”

“Yeah, you got us all curious about this,” Scootaloo states, “but we couldn’t make manes or tails about most of it. Maybe you can explain what you were actually trying to accomplish.”

Apple Bloom’s outlook brightens immediately: “Sure, I’d love to!” She excitedly runs over to a cabinet and opens a drawer, pulling out a glove with a marker attached to it. She puts the glove on and walks over to the whiteboard.

“Where’d you get that,” Sweetie Belle asks.

“Applejack made it for me. She got the idea from some pony in Manehattan. Nice, isn’t it! Now I can draw on the board and still talk to you without havin’ the marker in my mouth. I got a couple more in there if either of you want.”

Sweetie Belle declines, using her magic to move the free-standing marker around, but Scootaloo accepts and dons another marker-embedded glove. Apple Bloom then puts up a fresh sheet of poster paper and proceeds to write the letters “V” “S” “W” at the top of the paper, followed by eight groups of three-letter strings: “PPP” “PPN” “PNP” “PNN” “NPP” “NPN” “NNP” “NNN”.

“We got eight ingredients here,” Apple Bloom commences, “and each one has a unique combination of special properties related to vitality, speed, and wisdom. For each property, an ingredient will either give off a positive or a negative reaction when properly combined with another ingredient. So for example: one ingredient is classified as PNP: that means that a potion created with it will either be a vitality potion or an anti-speed potion or a wisdom potion.”

“So when I was paralyzed, that was—“

“An anti-speed potion, Sweetie Belle. The two ingredients I used in your potion must’ve both had an N in the middle. And the same thing with Scootaloo: the two ingredients I used in your potion must’ve had an N in front.”

“OK, so let me try something,” Scootaloo declares. She writes the strings NPP and PPN on an empty corner of the paper. “I just want to make sure I understand this. So if we combine these two ingredients, we’ll get a speed potion?”

“You got it,” Apple Bloom cheerfully acknowledges. “Because both ingredients have a P for the speed aspect. And what if you have NNP and PPP?”

“You’d get a wisdom potion,” Sweetie Belle answers, “because both of those ingredients have a P for the wisdom aspect. OK, that doesn’t seem so hard.”

A thought pops into Scootaloo’s head: “Wait a minute: what if the two ingredients share two characteristics. Like, what would NPP and NPN combine to give you?”

“Yeah, those are tricky,” Apple Bloom admits, “but Zecora told me how those all balance out. What were her exact words? … Oh yeah: ‘Wisdom over speed, it’s true … but speed tops vitality, too … and vitality over wisdom, who knew?’ ”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo look to each quizzically, then turn to Apple Bloom. “What does that mean?”

“It confused me at first too, Scootaloo, but it basically means that if two aspects are the same, then one specific aspect always takes precedence … and it’s all balanced between the three. Just like if you had a rock, a pair of scissors, and a piece of paper: the rock could crush scissors, the scissors could cut paper, and the paper could cover the rock.”

“But couldn’t the rock be placed on top of the paper?”

“And what if you had other objects, like a lizard, or—“

“The point I’m tryin’ to make is, the three properties balance each other out. Look, I’ll show you:”

Apple Bloom writes NPP and NPN on another empty corner of the paper, then circles the first letter (N) and middle letter (P) in each triple. “Since these two ingredients have the same property for both vitality and speed, they’ll combine to form a speed potion. That’s the point of that rhyme; it’s how you know you won’t make an anti-vitality potion instead. Here, I’ll show you another example.” She then writes NNP and NPP on the paper, and has the others mull over the possibilities.

“So,” Sweetie Belle begins apprehensively, “both of these ingredients are anti-vitality and pro-wisdom … and since it’s vitality over wisdom, that means these two ingredients would form an anti-vitality potion.”

“You got it!” Apple Bloom happily declares. “And here’s something I figured out: any ingredient can be combined with each of the other seven, and every property will take precedence exactly twice among those seven.”

“Whoa whoa whoa, you completely lost me there,” Scootaloo admits.

“Here, let me demonstrate.” Apple Bloom pulls out another sheet of poster paper and writes NPP at the top. She then lists all seven remaining triples underneath: PPP, PPN, PNP, PNN, NPN, NNP, NNN. “I claim that two of these seven will combine with NPP to make anti-vitality, two will combine with NPP to make speed, and two will combine with NPP to make wisdom. Can you figure out which ones work with what?”

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle examine the strings, mentally trying to figure out how each combines with NPP. “Well three of these are easy,” Scootaloo finally states. “NNN must make anti-vitality since the only property they have in common is the first letter. And PPN must make speed for the same reason, but with the middle letter. And PNP must make wisdom since they have the same last letter.”

“Very good,” Apple Bloom states. “Now which other ingredient would combine with NPP to make anti-vitality?”

“OH,” Sweetie Belle exclaims, “it’ll be the NNP one! Because they share the same property for both vitality and wisdom, and vitality beats wisdom!”

“I see,” Scootaloo adds, “and NPN would combine with it to make speed. And PPP would combine with it to make wisdom!”

“That’s perfect!” Apple Bloom writes their notes under each triple: either NNN or NNP would combine with NPP to make anti-vitality, either PPN or NPN would combine with NPP to make speed, and either PNP or PPP would combine with NPP to make wisdom.

“So what about that last one,” Sweetie Belle asks, indicating the PNN triple.

“Yeah, each ingredient has a polar opposite with no attributes in common: when those two are combined, you get a potion that does nothing. Zecora referred to such a potion as ‘soup’.”

“Wow,” Scootaloo admits, “you really know how all these ingredients react to each other. Just one thing … which of these ingredients is the NPP one?”

“Well, that was the whole point of my testing,” Apple Bloom states dejectedly. “I thought that by trying all possible combinations, I would know exactly which ingredient went with each triple … but I was only able to test out six potions, including the ones you two drank.”

Sweetie Belle ponders for a moments. “But surely you got some information from those tests, right?”

“Yeah, I got six results in all.” Apple Bloom then writes down her findings:

Phoenix Feather + Raven Feather = anti-vitality
Fern + Blue Petal = anti-speed
Mushroom + Toad Stool = wisdom
Phoenix Feather + Toad Stool = speed
Blue Petal + Scorpion Venom = anti-wisdom
Mushroom + Mandrake = soup

Sweetie Belle looks over the list. “Well, phoenix feather helps make anti-vitality, so its first letter is definitely N.”

“And it also helps make speed,” Scootaloo adds, “so its second letter is definitely P.”

“Great, so phoenix feather is either NPN or NPP,” Apple Bloom concludes. “But I never used it with anything else.”

“We still got other results here; let’s see how much more we can figure out.” With Sweetie Belle’s urging, the three proceed to go through their list of six results and make further deductions …

---

Applejack and Apple Bloom eye Zecora’s tree house in the near-distance. “Almost there,” Applejack states. “Sorry again that you have to end this experiment early, but we really can’t risk any more unforeseen consequences. I gotta say, though, you seem happier than I thought you’d be.”

“My friends helped out,” her sister cryptically replies. Applejack brushes off the comment and strolls up to the front door, giving it a rap with her forehoof. Zecora answers the knock.

“I was not expecting you today; is there something you have to say?”

“Sorry to bother you so early, Zecora, but Apple Bloom is here to return all the remaining potion ingredients to you … and she has something else she has to say.”

Applejack nudges her sister over to Zecora, expecting to hear the words ‘I’m sorry’. Instead …

“Zecora, I cracked the code.”

Author's Note:

At this point, you the reader now have enough information to determine which label (from PPP through NNN) goes with each ingredient. If you wish to PM me the solution, I can verify for you; otherwise, feel free to wait for the final chapter that will detail said solution. If you wish to post your solution here, I only ask that you do so with hidden text, so others will not accidentally read the solution before figuring it out themselves.

Comments

[grey_shadow]

But what's a spock?

[Inspector Brown]

Tracking this. I think I've got this first puzzle solved, but I'll wait until you post the next chapter to check my answer.