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// I Wanna go Home Now, I Left My Sanity on My Desk 
// Story: Sweetie Belle Tastes Like Marshmallow 
// by Wiimeiser 
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While most of the foals were happy to finally get out of the boring torture that was school, Sweetie Belle was still reeling from the revelation earlier. The fact that she was an abnormal freak. Though the revelation had caused many stares from across the class, only Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Silver Spoon had bothered to say anything. After that incident Apple Bloom excused herself to use the bathroom, something she'd been doing all day. But that didn't bother Sweetie Belle. Sitting down in the middle of the schoolyard, she burst into tears again. She tried to deny the whole thing.

I'm not a freak... Am I?

No... Everypony tastes words. Cheerilee's just upset with me because my essay was shet.

Isn't that right? Words... Taste... 

Everypony can, right?

As she buried her face in her fetlocks, all sounds around her were drowned out by her wailing. She had been distraught since learning the fact, and wanted to deny it. She wished this whole thing had never happened. She just wanted comfort. However, Rarity was late, as usual, and her parents were away attending a convention in Foalconbridge, a small rural community in New South Walers, just across the Neigpean river from the city of Sydneigh. She still remembered the full details. It had always been a dream for her to go to Horstralia; see the towers of Bolting Bridge (she had always liked towers for some reason), eat some Veggiemite, pet a koala, maybe even travel across the country to see Fremanetle, stopping at Farriayers Rock on the way. All of that was currently just a pipe dream. Her parents wouldn't let her get a passport. Sweetie Belle thought of how many dreams had been shattered. She could add one more to that list now.

Her dream of just being a normal pony.

Familiar shouting disturbed her thoughts. She looked up and saw Diamond Tiara being led away from the schoolhouse by her father, Filthy Rich.

"Diamond Tiara Dazzle Princess Applesparkle Equestria Silver Nugget Mystic Cutie Mark Merchant, do you know how disgusted I am with you right now?" The stallion had his unruly daughter on a leash. Sweetie Belle couldn't help but giggle. This was the first good thing to happen all day.

"But, Daddy..." Diamond Tiara yanked the leash attached to her.

"No buts, Diamond. First you bully others, then you blame it on them, then you lie to me, now you make fun of a classmate for being different. I'm cleaning out your room when we get home."

"But--"

"No supper until Winter Wrap Up!"

"You can't--"

"And you're grounded until menarche."

"Until what?"

"And if you dare question the punishment, you can forget about being in my will, or the family for that matter."

"THIS IS UNFORGIVABLE!"

"One more outburst, missy, and it's the doghouse for you!" He picked up Diamond's namesake tiara and threw it across the schoolyard, where it landed right in front of Sweetie Belle.

"GIVE THAT BACK!" the pink filly screamed.

"I think not." Filthy Rich glared at his unruly daughter, "I'll get you a new one for your birthday, if you behave."

"But my birthday's not until March!"

The two walked out of earshot.

Sweetie Belle checked the watch Rarity got her for her birthday. 3:27. Where was Rarity? Had something come up?

She took one look at the jeweled tiara resting on the ground. Levitating it with her magic, she threw it onto the roof of the schoolhouse, where it bounced off the bell and landed back in front of her. She levitated it again, this time sending it straight up into the air and catching it in her magic again. She thew it again, down the street this time. 
Good riddance, she thought, But that doesn't make me feel any better...

She broke down into tears again.

Tears, what a salty word. Tears are salty too.

Sweetie Belle cried for what felt like an hour before a sudden nudge awoke her.

"Hey, you alright?"

Sweetie Belle opened her eyes and looked up at the two ponies in front of her. The first was a moss green earth pony mare, about Rarity's age, with a lavender mane tied into a ponytail hanging off her left side and a cutie mark of a dumb bell. She was impressively muscular, comparable to Bulk Biceps, though a bit smaller overall. Her eyes shone a dazzling emerald green. Next to her was a filly around Sweetie Belle's age - perhaps a bit younger, even - also green, but more "Jungle" as Rarity would describe it. She had a similar lavender mane, this time in two ponytails. Her eyes matched the mare's. She had a cutie mark, a trapezoid 1T weight. Most surprisingly, she was also impressively muscular, similar to the mare, though not as much. A filly this musclebound blew Sweetie Belle's mind.

"Why are you crying?" the bulky filly asked, "Did somepony tease you, too?"

""Y... Yeah..." Sweetie Belle replied softly. "Do they tease you, too?"

"Yes... Yes, they do..." The filly looked to the side, then back at Sweetie Belle. "My name's Cardio, and this is my big sis Cross Country."

"Sweetie Belle." The unicorn replied.

"This yours?" Cardio asked, holding out a familiar tiara. "Did you throw this out onto the street just now?"

"Yes... I threw it out there..." Sweetie Belle paused for a second, "I... I just found it here, though..." she lied.

"Hmm... I see. I thought it belonged to that filly with the tiara cutie mark?"

"Oh..." Sweetie Belle sighed, collecting her thoughts before continuing, "So, are you new here?"

Cross Country answered, "Yeah, we're new here. Cardio should be starting at this school tomorrow, if I'm not mistaken."

"Please, sis, it's not like their chairs could even hold me, anyway..." Cardio let out a huge sigh, as if she'd had problems with them before.

"Oh, you must be one of the new students."

Sweetie Belle looked behind her to see Cheerilee looking at the two green ponies.

"Yes, we're starting tomorrow, correct?" Cross Country walked over to Cheerilee.

"Should be. Now, would you mind coming over here and --." Cheerilee noticed Sweetie Belle was still sitting there, "Sweetie Belle, why don't you come back inside if your sister's running late?"

The four ponies walked into the schoolhouse. 

Sweetie Belle had something to ask. It was curiosity at best, and confirming her biggest worry at worst...

"Hey, Cardio..." Sweetie Belle was noticeably sweating.

"Yeah?" The green filly turned her head.

"What does the word 'carpet' taste like?"

Cardio looked confused. "You mean actual carpet, or the word carpet?"

"The word."

"...Is this some kind of joke?"

"...Sorry..." Sweetie Belle lowered her head, "It's just, I..."

"You're weird..."

They arrived at the classroom. All the ponies sat down except Cardio, who was busy examining Truffle Shuffle's desk.

"I don't think this will hold me..." she lamented, closely examining the flimsy chair.

"I don't see why it wouldn't..." Cheerilee said, looking at the desk and chair, "It's really sturdy. It even holds the... Bigger students, like..." Cheerilee paused, thinking, "Apple Bloom, for one. I'd say Diamond Tiara, but..."

Apple Bloom? Bigger student? Sweetie Belle thought, How does Scootaloo even lift her then? She knew Apple Bloom was the biggest out of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but was she really a "bigger student"? Diamond Tiara was a tub of lard, sure, but had Apple Bloom always been so big?

Cardio cautiously eased herself onto Truffle's seat. It audibly groaned under her immense frame, but to her surprise it held... At least for now.

"S.. See?" Cheerilee chirped, "N... Nothing to worry about..." 

Sweetie Belle could see Cheerilee sweating and gritting her teeth. She didn't sound sure, her words were having a sour taste to them.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. A lavender unicorn stallion opened the door.  "Hey, Cheerilee"

Cheerilee turned to the stallion, "Oh, you must be the new Principal, Fountain Pen." 

The stallion nodded, "Yes. Yes, I am."

Sweetie Belle was confused. "Principal? What's that?"

"A Principal is somepony who is in charge of a school." Fountain Pen stated, "This school is getting an extension soon, to accommodate a larger number of students. A new building will be built next to this one, after which the old one will eventually be torn down."

Sweetie Belle felt a bit of shock. Build a new school? Destroy the old school?

Fountain Pen continued, "Furthermore, students will be separated by grade, with multiple classes per grade, each class with its own teacher."

Cheerilee interjected, "I'll be teaching first grade next school year, so I won't be your teacher any more, Sweetie Belle. Of course, I'm still teaching you for the rest of the current school year, but after that you'll be taught by somepony else."

Sweetie Belle could feel only worry and confusion. Somepony different next year? The thought was unfathomable to her.

"Why are all these new ponies coming here?" she asked. 

"Well..." Fountain Pen looked over to his side, "Because of the new castle, Ponyville is now a prospective boom town. Lots of ponies have bought land here recently. The developers are going to build mostly to the east and north, essentially making Ponyville a bridge of sprawl connecting the metropolitan areas of Canterlot and Manehattan, though this will take several years. Because of Ponyville's development, we'll also need to deal with traffic. Due to this, Ponyville is going to have a motorway-grade bypass built along its outskirts so traffic that doesn't want to stop there can just pass by without getting into traffic jams. Oh, and the rail's going to be electrified, too. You can see the plans on this map."

Fountain Pen placed a brochure on the table and unfolded it. Sweetie Belle looked at the paper. It was a familiar map of Ponyville, but the outskirts had numerous mazes of black lines. A thick green line labeled 'Ponyville Bypass' stretched from the highway near her house to the highway near where Snails lived. Where it crossed a thicker black line, it appeared to have legs sticking out in the shape of a diamond, with one of the quadrants featuring a small circle. Near her house, two black lines followed the highway, one bulging outwards and enveloping the thick green line. Most of this was going over her head. Motorway? What was that? The green line?

"I... I don't understand."

"It's okay." Fountain Pen stated, "Now, to introduce you to my daughter, Tabula Rasa."

As if on cue, a mauve unicorn filly with a fuchsia mane tied into two gigantic ponytails sticking out to the side and curving up, out and back in in a crescent moon shape walked through the door, her massive mane getting caught on the sides of the door frame, but with no burden to her, they simply sprung back into place once she was through. She looked a little timid and shy, as if she'd run off in terror at any second. Her eyes were a deep purple, and she had no visible cutie mark. 

Looks kind of familiar... Sweetie Belle thought.

Immediately behind her, though, was somepony Sweetie Belle knew.

Her sister, Rarity.

"Rarity!" she cried, and ran out to embrace her sister. "Oh, Rarity, it's awful! Ms. Cheerilee told me I'm a freak."

Rarity's eyes widened. "Cheerilee, is this true?"

Cheerilee walked over to Rarity, stating, "Well, you see, it's kind of complicated. First why don't you tell me why you're so late?"

"Rarity sighed, "Well, there was another parasprite infestation, and Pinkie needed to fix her bagpipes, so I obliged. Then, a giant otter wandered into town so I went to get Fluttershy. Then I had to help Twilight fix a dust jacket for Rainbow Dash, for whatever reason I have no idea. Then I bumped into Apple Bloom and got lost. Any more questions, Cheerilee?"

Cheerilee sighed, and continued, "No, not really."

"So... What's this about Sweetie Belle being a freak?" Rarity asked, noting the sobbing filly gripping her forelegs.

"Well..." Cheerilee began, "As I was grading her homework from last week, I noticed that she seemed to describe how the words tasted. I asked her about this, and she said she thought everypony knew what words tasted like. I told her it was... Unusual... And she kind of took it too hard. And then there was an incident with Diamond Tiara... She's been on and off crying ever since."

Rarity looked like she was about to explode, but she quickly calmed down. The room was silent except for Sweetie Belle's sobbing and the awkward groans of Cardio's chair struggling to support the huge filly's weight.

Rarity looked down and asked her sister, "Sweetie Belle, answer me. Do you 'taste' words? What does 'Rarity' taste like? Please tell me, Sweetie Belle, I'm curious."

Sweetie Belle calmed down a bit, "Marshmallow."

"Marshmallow?"

"Yes, marshmallow. So does 'Sweetie Belle', though it's different."

"Hmm, unusual..."

Suddenly, a quiet voice piped up.

"I think I know..."

The ponies in the classroom looked at Tabula Rasa in confusion.

The shy filly continued, "I read something in a magazine once about senses becoming cross-linked. I think it's called Synesthesia..."

"Sinus-what?" Sweetie Belle asked in confusion.

"Synesthesia."

Rarity's eyes widened again. "Oh, I think I've heard about that. It's where you see music, right? I think Octavia's second cousin has it."

Tabula Rasa continued, "That's one kind, but there are many more. For example, I have an uncle who sees numbers as relative points in space. The article even mentioned a rare form where words have taste."

Rarity's interest piqued. "So, you're saying Sweetie Belle might have this?"

"Possibly, though you might have to get a doctor to check on that. I'm just a filly. I really don't know."

"Well, Sweetie Belle does have an appointment for today, just a checkup. I'll have to ask while we're there."

Sweetie Belle suddenly remembered she had an appointment this afternoon. "Of course! Let's go, Rarity!"

"Of course, Sweetie Belle." Rarity turned back and asked, "Mind telling us your names, then?"

"Tabula Rasa." The quiet filly mumbled

"I'm her father, Principal Fountain Pen." The stallion reached out a hoof to Rarity.

"Cross Country." The musclebound mare chirped energetically, "And that's my sister, Cardio."

Cardio was trying to make herself comfortable. She was surprised the chair had held out this long with all her fidgeting in it, they usually broke by now just by her sitting on them. Granted the legs were bent slightly and it looked like it could collapse any second, but it was still standing with no noticeable cracks.

Rarity looked at Cardio with an awkward expression, and said, "Well, I suppose I'll be off, then. See you another time!"

The two unicorn sisters walked outside and down the street. Sweetie Belle was anxious. Was she really a mutant freak? Or just weird?

She wanted answers.