//------------------------------// // Doctor, WHAT? Doctor, WHY? // Story: Sweetie Belle Tastes Like Marshmallow // by Wiimeiser //------------------------------// Sweetie Belle had learned several new words today, each of which had its own developing taste in her mind. Motorway. Tasted like the almost equally new scent of gasoline. Navel. Kind of fuzzy, like a wool dress, possibly a red one. And the mother of them all: Synesthesia. It brought to mind a cheap pesticide for some reason. But it wasn't the word or its taste that was getting to her. It was what it had to do with her. Am I a freak? Or just weird? I want answers. Her routine checkup had gone well, nothing wrong. Even her horn was fine, considering the shenanigans she got into with her friends. But she still had one lingering question on her mind. Something she was too afraid to even ask. "And that's that." The doctor, an aged unicorn stallion, had started on Sweetie Belle's paperwork, "Your next routine checkup should be in about four months, if I'm not mistaken." The doctor had noticed that while Sweetie Belle was obedient and still through the whole ordeal, there was clearly something on her mind that was stressing her out. "Hey, Sweetie Belle, is there something bothering you?" The doctor asked, pretty certain that there was something wrong. Sweetie Belle didn't choke this time. "Doc, I have a question." She paused for a bit before continuing, "Is it normal to taste the words you see and hear?" "...What makes you say that all of a sudden?" "Well, my teacher said she doesn't taste words... Is it true? Am I really a freak?" The doctor held a hoof under his chin, thinking for a few seconds before responding, "Sweetie Belle, are you implying you have... Synesthesia?" The sudden taste of bug spray irked her, though it wasn't as bad as she had feared. "That's the word!" "Well, I recall reading about different kinds of Synesthesia a few weeks ago in a magazine, which if I recall is still in the waiting room. It mentioned the fact that the condition varies greatly from pony to pony, for example, some see sounds, while others see numbers as points in space, or time as a clock. One could even taste words like you say you can. I think it'd be a great read. You can even take it home with you. I've been thinking about getting rid of it for a while, now. Just out with the old, and in with the new." "Thanks." "I believe the magazine's called Healthy as a Horse. Do try and find that article." Sweetie Belle walked back into the waiting room and over to the magazine rack. Sure enough, Healthy as a Horse was resting there. Levitating the magazine with her magic, she opened it and followed Rarity outside. She flipped through the pages, skimming through tips on weight loss and filly beautification, stopping only to look where she was going. She briefly touched on an article observing the warning signs of a variant of Insomnia that could potentially trigger murderous hallucinations. There was also some disease where ponies believe they're robots. Bleeding mud, water, or mysterious glowing blue fluid: Turns out it's magic leakage. A notorious school bully who was later diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, Intermittent Explosive Disorder, Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder and Panic Disorder all at once? Didn't see that coming! Another bully had died in a tragic accident, and the article followed their father trying to cope with the loss. Another bully developed amnesia following a similar accident in the mountains, and had been re-raised by a close friend of her family. Finally, she found the article she was searching for. She quickly skimmed through, hoping to find some information on her condition. Seeing Sounds and other strange sensations ... Synesthesia... ... Number lines... ... Sometimes, Thursday is a bully... ... The taste of words? ... This condition has been dubbed Lexical-Gustatory Synesthesia Sweetie Belle's eyes widened. Though it tasted like that time the Cutie Mark Crusaders had tried for a pest control cutie mark, it didn't bother her any more. "Hey, blank flank!" Sweetie Belle snapped out of her reading trance. That voice. That horrible, metallic voice. She turned around, and saw Silver Spoon staring at her with wide eyes. Sweetie Belle looked around, she'd separated from her sister at some point, though she knew where she was in Ponyville. Just behind the bowling alley. "Stupid blank flank! Thanks to you, I've lost my friend! I hope you're happy!" Sweetie Belle turned towards the metallic filly, stuffing the magazine in her saddlebag. "Oh yeah?" She scoffed, "It was her fault for making fun of me! Not that it matters since you can always sneak out and hide somewhere, like a trash can. After all, Diamond Tiara really loves trash cans." Silver Spoon slapped Sweetie Belle with her foreleg. "Don't talk shet about Diamond Tiara, you dweeb! You're just some useless circus freak! I mean, who eats words, anyway?" "How dare you!" Sweetie Belle screamed. At that, Sweetie Belle felt something boiling inside her. She felt the all-too familiar urge to punch Silver Spoon in the face. This time, however, it felt stronger. An irresistible urge to snap the bully's neck. An urge to which she couldn't help but oblige. Sweetie Belle reached out with her left foreleg and punched Silver Spoon clean in the nose. She all to quickly realized her error. The bully punched her back with full force, then charged into her, pinning her to the wall. Through her pain and blurred vision she saw Silver Spoon charging up another punch with her right hoof and using her left hoof to pin her to the wall. Thinking quickly, Sweetie Belle bit into the pastern next to her. She then thrusted her head forward, digging her horn into Silver Spoon's shoulder, sending the bully falling onto her back. It was then that Sweetie Belle thought she saw something unusual on the underside of Silver Spoon's barrel, though the bully flipped over too quickly for her to get a good look. "You saw it, didn't you?" Silver Spoon screamed. "Saw what?" Sweetie Belle was confused, she saw something, but she didn't get a good look. "You saw it! Don't lie to me!" At that moment, she noticed her nose was bleeding from the punch. Fearing for her life and seeing her chance, Sweetie Belle quickly picked up her saddlebag in her telekinesis and ran away screaming in agony. Rarity was standing in front of the bowling alley, talking with its owner. Well, more arguing with its owner. "What do you want to do with my sister's friend?" Rarity cried and slapped the stallion across the face. "Do you know how much that brat cost me? I had to sell my prized piano to pay for it! That was a treasured family heirloom!" "That doesn't mean you can do horrible things to that innocent filly! You should know better than--" Suddenly she heard a familiar high-pitched scream coming from behind her. "Excuse me." She turned around and ran after the source of the scream. "Sweetie Belle Thrackerzod Topaz! Come back here right now!" Silver Spoon emerged from the alleyway and paused to watch the brief bit of chaos before she slithered away, clutching her bleeding muzzle. Sweetie Belle ran and ran down Mane Street, not looking where she was going, and crashed into a large red object. After gathering her senses, she looked up and saw Big Macintosh. Next to him was Apple Bloom, who was trying but failing to hold back tears. She looked bigger than when she was in school last. As if she wasn't big enough already. It only just hit Sweetie Belle just how big her earth pony friend had gotten in the last week. 'Bigger student', indeed. The earth pony filly switched to a puzzled expression, "Uh, Sweetie Belle, what happened? Did ya get into a fight with somepony?" Big Macintosh gave Sweetie Belle a concerned look. "Well?" he asked. "Silver Spoon happened, that's what!" Sweetie Belle spat out, turning to her friend, "Apple Bloom, I'm sorry about before. Really!" She tried to hold back her tears, but a few slid down. "Seriously? Your fault?" Apple Bloom, got a puzzled look on her face, "Ah'm the one at fault, Sweetie Belle." "Really?" Apple Bloom grinned, revealing her unkempt braces, "Eeyup. Ah ain't cryin' cause ya yelled at me, Ah'm cryin' 'cause Ah got these." Apple Bloom raised her hooves, one by one, revealing horseshoes. "Ah went to the farrier and got these. Ah also got these." She pointed to her ears. In each one was a small piece of metal. "AJ said if Ah was good Ah could get these. Thinkin' about the navel next. On the way there Ah kinda bumped into-- Speaking of which..." Sweetie Belle turned around. A worried and angry Rarity was standing right behind her. "Sweetie Belle Thrackerzod Topaz! What were you thinking running off like that?" Sweetie Belle broke down, "Well, I got sidetracked, and I ran into Silver Spoon..." "And got into a fight, I see. Well, I'm taking you home right now!" Rarity glanced at Apple Bloom, and scrunched her face in disgust. "Ugh! Apple Bloom, those piercings are seriously tacky!" Apple Bloom tilted her head in confusion. "Really? Ya wear 'em all the time, Rarity. Ah don't see no problem with 'em. You're such a hypocrite, whatever that means." Rarity scoffed, "Of course, I'm a naturally elegant beauty queen." "Like that redhead on that TV show who throws those explodin' penguins around?" Rarity's eyes widened. "Apple Bloom! You're too young to be watching such uncouth shows!" "Netherworld Nights ain't bad! Applejack watches it all the time!" "That's an awful series to be watching! It's very violent and uncouth! Why, I shudder at the thought of the influence it's having on you!" "Hey, Scootaloo watches it, and she's all fine. She also watches Call to Summons, and that show's scarier than Nightmare Night!" Sweetie Belle felt her fur stand on end. Call to Summons was the scariest show ever. The main character was a sobarica, a summoned familiar of a gospodar, and they fought all sorts of scary monsters, from bunyips to a tsurube otoshi, and even a dullahan and its pet badb. She didn't know what they were, but from what she'd seen of the show she probably didn't want to know. Rarity flared her nostrils at Apple Bloom. "You shouldn't be watching that stuff! I'm surprised you're not a nervous wreck!" "Hey! Ya ain't mah Ma! Not ta mention she's dead!" "Because you're such a big fat loser! She died because you couldn't fit through her---" "ENOUGH!" The shrill voice of Sweetie Belle screamed, "THAT'S ENOUGH, RARITY!" "Sweetie Belle! Don't interrupt me!" "Well, don't insult my friend! You don't go around calling other ponies uncouth!" "I was critiquing her fashion sense, Sweetie Belle! Sometimes I think you're color blind!" "I might as well be! Just tasting everything I read isn't enough? Then I'm color blind! Simple as that! Besides, what the buck is opera mauve, anyway? Why not explain viridian, pewter, cerulean, lavender, vermillion, fuchsia, saffron, celadon, cinnabar, indigo, cherry, violet, gold, teak, olive, cyan, mahogany, rust, mauve, moss and soot while you're at it? I don't know any of those and you use them all the time!" Sweetie Belle turned around. Apple Bloom and Big Macintosh were gone. She turned back to Rarity, "And you think I'm uncouth! And I can't cook! And you'd be better off without me! And--" Rarity raised a hoof. "Sweetie Belle, that is quite enough. We are going home right now and cleaning up, and if you don't stop misbehaving you're not getting dessert!" Sweetie Belle hung her head in shame. "Okay, Rarity." She noticed her nose had stopped bleeding. How long ago, it didn't matter. "Okay then, sis." The two unicorns headed home. On the way, Sweetie Belle thought about recent events. Do I really have... Lexical-Gustatory Synesthesia? I must. Everything points to it. I'm a freak. A freak! What will everypony think of me? Her thoughts then drifted to other matters. Apple Bloom's been acting weird today. Did something happen? First she shows up in her gala dress like it's nothing. Then she says she's more worried about getting her cutie mark than ever before. Then she said she was too fast. What's with that? And that box. What's in it? And now horseshoes and piercings? Something's going on, I just know it. I'll have to ask her tomorrow.