• Published 8th Nov 2018
  • 660 Views, 220 Comments

Life is A Test 2: Test Harder (Quite A Bit Harder) - Brony_of_Brody



Can YOU out-logic everypony in this sequel to the Pony Puzzle Pile?

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...And Everyone Uses It. They're Like "Oh, A Bridge, That's New"...

The trip on the airship to the designated island is a largely uneventful one, save for Rarity griping about the in-flight food, but you have to admit that for an airship privately rented for this treasure hunt, at least it's cheap, if not cheerful, because in your experience there's no such thing.

Finally, the airship touches down, and you, Rarity, and the one pony who appears to have gotten the last puzzle correct disembark. The lone pony then decides to wander away from the pair of you, hoping to find the treasure herself, or if not that, discover nature, connect with her inner self, shoot and tag a monkey, etc. She then wanders off, leaving you two to take the other direction.

After some walking, it has become apparent that you have not landed directly on the island you're supposed to be on to find the treasure. However, you see in the distance what appears to be a bridge leading to the island where your designated riches appears to be. A pillar of blue light is rising from the centre of the island from a stone slab on the sandy ground, and a series of mini islands, arranged in a perfect rectangle with smaller bridges connecting them, lead to the shore on the southern side where the light is shining, but before either of you can attempt to cross, the winds suddenly pick up and it starts to absolutely chuck it down.

With nowhere to take shelter, you promptly dig out your emergency "interdimensional pocket in a can" magic scroll you save for emergencies like this one (or in the event of capture by illegitimate figures of authority, like THAT one), and the two of you dive into the dimensional crack to escape.

Curious to be sure: there shouldn't be any weather ponies this far out to conjure such a storm. It's possible one of the treasure hunters who has experience in weather control is trying to impede your progress, but you decide to...well, cross that bridge when you get to it. (Cliches, amirite?)

You peek out of the crack to check that the storm is over, and for the most part there is now, once again, not a cloud in the sky. However, you fear that the storm may have inadvertently affected your ability to cross to the other side, and the pair of you step out.

Rarity notices that the blue light from the stone slab is shining as brightly as before, but as you feared, several of the bridges appear to have been destroyed by the storm, hampering your progress. The ones that survived don't exactly look like the most stable footings, and before you rush ahead and possibly break something that can't be fixed, you think carefully about your odds of crossing safely after the sudden and inexplicable wind and rain. Looking around, you don't appear to have anything on hoof to fix the bridge, there's no boat, and the suddenness of the storm has resulted in a splinter in Rarity's horn, temporarily sealing off her magic, so no levitating yourselves to the bank for you. So what are the chances you can cross now?

Author's Note:

Boo probability. But it does make for good puzzles.

1. You're stuck on the north shore and want to cross to the south.

2. Thirteen bridges connect six islands to each other and the shore, arranged in a 2 x 3 rectangle.

3. Each bridge has an independent 50% chance of being destroyed by the storm.

4. You have no boat, can't swim, have no means to fix the bridge, and Rarity cannot use her magic.

PUZZLE: What are the odds you'll get to cross to the other side now?

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