It was a slow day for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Cheerilee had given her students homework to do over the weekend, and while the trio were known for putting most of their effort into having as much fun as possible, they figured they should get it done immediately. It was a single worksheet, and not a particularly challenging one either. All they had to do was fill in the definitions of the words on the sheet. Most were things foals their age already knew, though there were a couple words that weren't anywhere in their vocabulary. Right now, Sweetie Belle was flipping through a dictionary they borrowed from Twilight's castle to find the last few words.
And she was taking her sweet time too.
"When are you gonna find the last word?" Scootaloo sighed, very annoyed. "And please say soon, because I am B-O-R-E-D."
"I'm trying, Scoots!" Sweetie said. "But this dictionary is so big... this must have every single word in Equestrian history!" She wasn't lying. It was easily one of the largest books in Twilight's castle. The little filly could hardly lift it.
"Well duh," Scootaloo replied. "It's a dictionary."
"Jus' skip to the N's," Apple Bloom said. "We need to find the word 'Nix'."
"I know I am at the N's," Sweetie Belle said. "I just can't seem to find... oh."
"You found it?" Apple Bloom asked.
"No, but I found... something weird," Sweetie Belle said. "Have a look at this."
"Sweetie, we're wasting precious playtime!" Scootaloo moaned. "First you had to go to the bathroom, then you and Apple Bloom get hungry so we take a snack break. If we keep getting distracted like this we'll never get this done!"
"Er, Scoots," Apple Bloom said, who was looking over Sweetie's shoulder. "You should pro'lly take a look at this too."
Rolling her eyes, the orange pegasus got out of her seat to see what her friends were looking at. Her annoyance quickly melted into curiosity. The anomaly itself wasn't anything to write home about, but it was definitely surprising to see it in a dictionary of all places. One of the words and its definition had been blanked out; they could still make out that words were there, but they couldn't be read. Most peculiar of all was that there WAS visible text there, but it wasn't any definition.
"If one wishes to say this word, without a beat, they must find a black pony to repeat," Apple Bloom read aloud.
"What, did somepony cast a spell on this one word so it could only be seen by ponies who have black fur?" Scootaloo asked.
"You can cast spells on words?" Sweetie asked.
"I was kidding," Scootaloo asked. "But even if I wasn't... it's just... why?"
"Ah'm more curious to know what the word is," Apple Bloom pondered. "If we get a black pony to help us out, maybe we'll find the definition?"
"Must be a special word if it's blocked off from us like this," Scootaloo said.
"I don't think we should mess with things like this," Sweetie Belle said. "I mean, what if this turns out to be a dangerous spell that could mean the end of Ponyville!?"
"Please, our sisters have saved Equestria... how many times now?" Apple Bloom laughed. "Ah think we'll be fine."
"So we're just doing this now?" Scootaloo asked. "I'm in. At least it's more interesting than this stupid worksheet."
"I... guess I'm in too," Sweetie Belle said.
"Then it's settled!” Apple Bloom said. "Now our first question is... do ya'll know any black ponies?"
"Oh, there's Thunderlane!" Scootaloo suggested excitedly... but soon realized that wasn't an option. "But Rumble said he was taking him to Cloudsdale this weekend..."
The three fillies kept pondering for about a minute or so.
"Wow, there aren't many black ponies 'round here," Apple Bloom commented.
Sweetie was still trying to think of possible candidates when her gaze shifted to the left. On the wall was a picture of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, along with the Crusaders, about a month after they made amends. Soon, her thoughts made the connection.
"What about Silver Spoon?" she asked. "I mean... she's not black but... gray is CLOSE to black."
The other two pondered this suggestion for a moment. "Worth a shot," Scootaloo answered. "Not like we have many other options."
"Right then, let's go!" Apple Bloom said as she quickly dashed out of the clubhouse to find the gray filly with Scootaloo right on her tail. Sweetie, however, was struggling to move around while carrying the massive dictionary.
"Girls, wait up!" she called, but they were too far out of earshot to hear it.
—————————————————————————————————————————
Much like the Crusaders, it had also been a slow day for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. After finishing their worksheet and with no more plans for the day, the two fillies decided to head down to Sugarcube Corner for a bite. They got their usual order, which was a strawberry shortcake for Diamond and a chocolate milkshake for Silver, and got a nice table that shaded them from Celestia's sun.
"So, anything going on today?" Silver asked, trying to strike a conversation.
"Not really," Diamond answered, swallowing down a mouthful of cake. "Aside from that worksheet, there's not a whole lot scheduled this weekend."
"Me too," Silver nodded before taking another sip of her shake. "Think we could go see what the Crusaders are up to when we're done?"
"It'd beat lying around all day doing nothing," Diamond said. "Those fillies are always up to something."
"Yeah, things can get a little out of hoof with them," Silver said. "Remember last week when Sweetie accidentally swallowed your tiara, and to get it out she had to-"
"I do NOT need a reminder of that, thank you very much," Diamond quickly interrupted before the gray earth pony could finish. Both shuddered as memories of that episode came back. "Let's just say it's a good thing I have spares at home."
Soon both fillies finished their snack. Diamond fished into her saddlebag for bits to leave on the table, plus a tip.
"Ready to go?" Silver asked.
"Yeah," Diamond answered. "They're probably in their clubhouse, so we should head down there and-"
"Never mind, here they come now," Silver said as she pointed to three foals running to them. Sweetie was carrying a massive dictionary on her back.
"Hey girls," Diamond greeted with a wave.
"Hey Diamond!" Apple Bloom chirped. "We've been lookin' all over for ya'll, we got a problem."
"What have you three got yourselves into this time?" Silver asked.
Sweetie quickly caught up to them and set the giant book down, taking a weight off her shoulders, both figuratively and literally. "Silver, you're gray, right?" she asked.
The other two Crusaders facehoofed. Classic Sweetie Belle.
"Why yes, thank you so much for noticing," Silver said with no small hint of sarcasm, gesturing to her whole body.
"Well, would you say your coat color is closer to white or black?" Scootaloo asked.
"Uhh..." Silver pondered for a bit to consider the question. "I... I guess black?"
"Then you should be good then!" Scootaloo said. "Sweetie, open up to the word!"
"Hold on, just what is going on here?" Diamond asked. "And what does Silver's fur color have anything to do with it?"
"We found a strange entry in the dictionary we borrowed from Twilight," Scootaloo explained. "The whole thing is blanked out and we can't see what it is or what it means."
"But it does say somethin' along the lines of 'only black ponies can see it'," Apple Bloom said. "And well, Silver here is the closest pony to black we know. If anypony could help us, it'd be her."
"Not the strangest thing that's ever happened around here," Diamond said.
"OK, found it!" Sweetie said as she got to the right page. She quickly pushed the giant book over to Silver Spoon and pointed at the blank space. "Can you see it?"
Silver squinted her eyes and scanned the page. She saw what Sweetie was pointing at, but in her eyes, it actually showed as a dictionary entry, rather than an empty space.
She was far from amused.
"...Sorry, can't help you," Silver said, almost as if she was trying to cut off the discussion entirely. "Guess gray doesn't count."
"Horseapples," Apple Bloom said as she stamped her front hoof on the ground. "Well... anypony else around here that's black?"
"Y'know... Zecora has black stripes," Scootaloo offered. "Maybe that counts?"
"Sounds like a plan, to the Everfree Forest!" Apple Bloom said as she and Scootaloo took off.
"Can one of you take a turn carrying this thing!?" Sweetie Belle asked as she began carrying the hefty book again. Silver Spoon quickly sighed in relief once they were out of sight.
"That was totally the N word, wasn't it?" Diamond deadpanned.
"Yup," Silver said. "We may have made amends and all of that... but I don't think we're close enough for... THAT yet."
"Who knows, maybe in time you'll give them the pass," Diamond said. "Which reminds me, I still have mine, right?"
"Diamond, you've had it since the day we became besties," Silver chuckled.
"Oh yeah, forgot," Diamond said. "Thanks for that, my neigh-"
The pink filly was interrupted by a gray hoof shoved in her mouth. "Not. In. Public." Silver whispered harshly.
Author's Note
Why did I make this
