[Puzzle 013]

[hisapprentice]

[Part 1

Homework on the weekends is just plain unfair! Luke chooses not to bring this up with his favorite teacher, however, opting instead to carry his notebook and papers and books to somewhere else to study. He considers the library, standing before its door for a while, but in the end he turns around and goes through the Welcome Center to the Tea Shop instead. The sense of bustle helps him get all distracted concentrate.

Plus, there's tea. He chooses an empty table and spreads out everything he'll need. As usual, this turns pretty quickly into him sitting there with a full cup of tea while he devises puzzles on paper or of paper. At the height of his distraction he builds a tower of folded paper cubes...and a gust of wind through the window scatters them all across the floor.

Then he's got to pick them up again.

Part 2

After all - or most - of his schoolwork is finished, Luke shoulders his bag and heads off to the stables. Just because Mr. Greg went home is no reason to slack in his responsibilities! He loves the horses and they tend to like him too. Besides, he brought carrots.

He greets any fellow stablehands and goes about his horsey business, picking up a rake to start on clearing one of the stalls. Of course, you've got to get the horse out of it first.

What happens next isn't quite clear to him once it's over; all he knows is that something spooked the horse and he managed to get out of the way before it kicked, and now he's on the ground with the rake's handle trapped beneath him. Pushing himself up again, he sees that the sound he heard must have been said handle half-snapping as he landed on it. Then he notices something else.

A bit shaky, he goes back to his bag and fumbles his journal out of it.]

I think there's...a bit of a problem... I'm at the- the stables and I fell and, uh...I might be hurt.

[Though he sounds unsure, it's the kind of unsure that really makes one sure.]

[[ooc: Go ahead. Break time. You know you want to. It'll be great. (Meaning, of course more than one person can find him at the tea shop/pick up papers with him/discover his fate in the stables. Have fun!)]]

Comments

[hisapprentice]

How did you do that? Was it- is it something you learned here?

[fourthgenerationprincess]

Oh! I've been studying magic since I was a filly. Levitating things was one of the first thing I learned in magic kindergarten. I've barely begun to learn about the spirits here.

[ Twilight's not gonna get into her status as Equestria's most powerful magic user yet, though. Doesn't want to be boastful. ]

[hisapprentice]

['Magic kindergarten.'

Heavens.]

Can...you teach people? [A sudden interest in magic would seem odd if not for the people around him using it all the time. Besides, he wants to do better in magic class.]

[fourthgenerationprincess]

Well... what I'm performing is unicorn magic. And you don't have a horn! But I've heard there's a magic unique to Luceti, and I could study that and get back to you!

As long as you teach me how you make your puzzles.

[hisapprentice]

Making puzzles is rather harder than solving them. [Usually requires hands, for one thing.] There are lots of puzzle books in the library though, so you could practice solving puzzles for sure!

We learn about Luceti magic in class, actually, so I think I'm good on that one. But, um, thanks.

[fourthgenerationprincess]

I haven't found them yet. There are a ton of books in the library, and I've only just started sorting through them. [ In this case, "just started" means she's gotten through three or four whole rooms already. ]

Maybe you can show me how you do it. [ She sits back on her haunches, eager for a demonstration by the master. ]

[hisapprentice]

How to solve a puzzle? [Huh. It's something he just...could do. One practices thinking differently, but...]

How about I give you one, and you see if you can solve it first?

[fourthgenerationprincess]

{ She brightens. ] All right!

[ Your move, Triton. ]

[hisapprentice]

Great! Here's a good beginner one.

"Once upon a time a farmer went to market and purchased a fox, a goose, and a bag of beans. On his way home, the farmer came to the bank of a river and rented a boat. But in crossing the river by boat, the farmer could carry only himself and a single one of his purchases - the fox, the goose, or the bag of the beans.

If left alone, the fox would eat the goose, and the goose would eat the beans.

The farmer's challenge was to carry himself and his purchases to the far bank of the river, leaving each purchase intact. How did he do it?"

[fourthgenerationprincess]

[ She sits down on her haunches and thinks. ] Hmm. [ Then she pulls out a paper and quill and scratches down some details. ]

Is the farmer an earth pony?

[hisapprentice]

Uhh...no, a farmer's a person. Like me, except...you know, taller and older and good at growing things.

[fourthgenerationprincess]

Well, my friend Applejack is a farmer, and she's an earth pony! But really, all I wanted to know was if the farmer could use magic.

[hisapprentice]

Oh. Um, no. You only get to solve it with what you've got there in the puzzle.

[fourthgenerationprincess]

Well, if the farmer was me, magic's a part of who I am! That's why I had to ask.

[hisapprentice]

It's a puzzle! The farmer isn't you, he's separate, like it says. It doesn't matter anyway, you've got to figure out how he gets everyone across, not whether he has magic.

[fourthgenerationprincess]

Okay, okay! [ She frowns down at her paper and makes a couple more notes. ]

Got it. The farmer takes the goat across, then comes back alone, then he brings the beans across, then he brings the goat back with him, then he brings the wolf across, then he comes back alone, and then he brings the goat across.

[hisapprentice]

[Under the table, Luke counts on his fingers and manages not to mumble. Goat, farmer, beans, goat, wolf, farmer, goat-!]

That's it! You got it! And on your first try, too.

[fourthgenerationprincess]

[ She claps her hooves together in excitement. ] That was fun! Do you have another?

[hisapprentice]

I know a few. But I think it's your turn now.

[fourthgenerationprincess]

Okay. [ She sits for a moment, thinking. She came across the mystery section with the Sherlock Hooves books in the library just yesterday, so in a little while she smiles and address Luke. ]

In a far-off land, there are two types of ponies. Friendlies, who always speak the truth, and enemies, who always lie. A stallion, a mare, and a filly are brought in for questioning. You ask the mare, "Are you my enemy?" She responds, but too quiet for you to hear. You then ask the filly, "What did she say?" The filly replies, "She says she is your enemy." The stallion then speaks up: "Do not listen to my daughter. She is lying."

Of the three, who is definitely your enemy?

[hisapprentice]

[As a fan of Holmes and his adventures, Luke thinks he has this one in the bag. Mostly.]

Just so I'm sure - it's possible for the, um, filly to be his daughter, right?

[fourthgenerationprincess]

Yes! [ That was actually supposed to be more obvious from the puzzle description; Twilight cringes a little at the fact that her wording wasn't clear enough. ]

[hisapprentice]

So...is she? [Luke blinks.] I guess I'm doing to you the thing I didn't want you to do to me.

[fourthgenerationprincess]

Well, a puzzle's no fun if it's not solvable! Yes, let's say that she is. Do you have an answer?

[hisapprentice]

[This one requires him to use a pencil and paper, if only to get the proper words in the proper order. What he comes up with looks...puzzling.]

I can't tell for sure. If the filly is lying, then the other two are telling-

[No wait hold on. Frown.]

I think...I think the filly's got to be your enemy no matter what, doesn't she?