//------------------------------//
// Falling 
// Story: Foreigner 
// by Salnax 
//------------------------------//

	“Terra, it’s time to get up.”
Terra’s eyes slowly opened. To her delight, there stood Aqua Mare, smiling as if the prior day had been ordinary. What a wonderful pony.
“Getting up quickly today I see? Maybe you’ll be able to brush your teeth by yourself this time.”
Terra frowned. Something was off, but she couldn’t put her hoof on it.
“Bon Bon had to go to work early today, but the two of you have the night alone together. I got a gig at a bar in town.”
Bon Bon? Did she mean Buh-Buh, aka Cream Mare?
Wait a minute…
“Terra? Is something wrong?”
Sort of, Aqua Mare. Something was very off.
Terra could understand everything Aqua Mare was saying.
Years of instincts taught Terra that oddities like this were not to be trusted. She leapt up and got into a defensive pose on the bed. Hurriedly, she went through a list of possibilities in her head and tried to determine if Aqua Mare could actually be some sort of bizarre creature in disguise.
“Terra! What are you… oh Celestia look! You got your Cutie Mark!”
Her what? Those two words didn’t make any sense. That reduced the likelihood of a mental invasion. What was she supposed to be looking at then? Well, from Aqua Mare’s gaze, it looked like something was on her rump. But what would be-
On her flank, Terra could see a marking that hadn’t been there when she went to sleep. It was a picture of one of the local flowers. Terra had noticed it while coming to this town. The flower had two stages, one where it was yellow like the sun and another where its petals apparently turned into small seeds attached to bits of white fluff. The flower on her flank was apparently in the white fluffy stage.
“Why is it a dandelion though? I mean, I understand why you would get one after yesterday. It was pretty big. But it had nothing to do with flowers!”
A dandelion, eh? Well, if a flower had to show up on her flank for some mysterious reason, at least it was an edible one. A couple dozen dandelions in a field could keep you relatively full for a while, even if they did taste bitter.
“It’s probably one of those more metaphorical ones, like Cheerilee’s daisies. Pity you can’t understand what I’m talking about.”
Terra looked straight at Aqua Mare and shook her head.
“I’m sorry, I’ll get the paper and crayons in just a-”
“La!”
“Yes?”
Terra pointed at her ears, and then at Aqua Mare. She then nodded.
“Ears, me, yes? You can hear me? You can… you can understand me?”
Terra gave a brief nod.
“OH MY LUNA!” cried Aqua Mare, as she wrapped her forelegs around Terra. Terra stood still, reacting neither positively nor negatively towards the situation. In her experience, things weren’t resolved this easily. Did getting the mark do this? If so, how?
******
Without even having breakfast, Aqua Mare dragged Terra out the front door. She was jabbering on about how great it was Terra could understand her and how she also got her cutie mark and how this was the best day ever and so on and so forth. Terra remained silent, and not just because of her hesitance. Despite being able to understand almost every word to come out of Aqua Mare’s mouth, she wasn’t able to reply in kind.
“Bun. Bun,” she quietly muttered to herself. She knew she was getting the pronunciation wrong. And even getting the “n” noise took some effort.
“Next thing we know, you’ll be speaking in a dozen tongues,” Aqua Mare cheerfully chirped. “Now that you get what we’re all saying, talking should be a snap.”
Terra sighed, looking around the pieces of Ponyville she was practically dragged through. Somehow, she expected learning the language to be a bit more rewarding. Not that it wasn’t nice so far, albeit suspicious. It was just that Ponyville was the same place even when you understood what everypony was saying. It was the usual “hellos” and “how do you dos,” supplemented by snips of conversation. Terra relished these bits of intelligible speech, something she hadn’t experienced in ages, but the ponies were no different now. 
Ponies were what they were at face value.
Terra wasn’t sure if this implied that ponies were candid or shallow.
Anyhow, Aqua Mare was taking her to see Bon Bon at Pinkie Pie’s place. Then they would- wait, who was Pinkie Pie? Was that the Pink One?
Before she knew it, Terra was outside the bakery where the Pink One and Bon Bon worked. Lyra went in first, shouting inside.
“Hey Bons! Guess what happened while you were here working?”
“Really Lyra, I have to make up for yesterday,” came a voice from within.
Terra followed Aqua Mare – no, Lyra - inside and saw Bon Bon behind the counter.
“Guess who got their cutie mark last night when we weren’t looking?” Lyra teased.
Bon Bon’s mouth dropped. “You mean-”
“That’s right! Show her Terra!”
“Dear, there’s no way she’s going to-”
Terra spun around so her flank was visible. 
“Oh my goodness, you have a dandelion… wait… did she just-”
“That’s right! She also understands us now! And she was practicing forming words on our way over!”
Bon Bon squealed with glee. It hurt Terra’s ears.
“Oh my goodness, oh my goodness. We have to celebrate! But I just took yesterday off and you have a gig tonight. Maybe Pinkie Pie
	She saw nothing but could feel it. The knife, slicing up and down her body. She felt something wet dribbling all over her. Then, an excruciating pain, as her rear left leg was slowly
could take over my… Terra, are you alright?”
What… what was that? A memory?
It wasn’t one of hers.
“Did somepony say party?!?” yelled a voice from the kitchen. Pinkie Pie popped out a moment later, beaming as she looked at Terra.
	“Are you sure about this Pinkie? Mother and Father told us not to talk to strange stallions.”
“Don’t worry Blinkie! This colt is really nice, and he has a cutie mark just like me! He must throw the best parties ever!”
“I don’t know. I mean, I love your parties. But what if this guy is different?” 
“Don’t worry. If anything goes crazy, I won’t ever let anything happen to you.”
“Promise?”
“Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye!”
“Terra, snap out of it!”
Terra’s eyes opened. It had only been a moment. Lyra was standing in front of her, shaking her with a foreleg. Bon Bon was coming from around the counter and Pinkie Pie 
	He was going to kill both of them!
******
Twilight Sparkle was enjoying a nice cup of tea in her kitchen, served with a bit of lemon by Spike. Yesterday had been an experience to say the least, but at least everything was taken care of now. Good thing she was able to delay her first lesson with Terra.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Twilight shrugged, guessing that maybe it was a patron that didn’t notice it was still half an hour until opening. Deciding there was no harm in letting them early, she started to head downstairs, tea held in the air with magic, only to see Pinkie Pie leap in front of her on the bottom of the flight.
“Gah! Pinkie, how did you”
“Sorry Twilight, but we have a super big emergency! It’s Terra, she’s gone all funny!”
“What? Funny how?”
“She came into Sugarcube Corner a little while back with Lyra, and she got her Cutie Mark, and I came out to give her a party, but her eyes went all woogity and she fell over and Lyra and Bon Bon are rushing her over to the infirmary and Mrs. Cake told me to come over here in case you could help!”
Twilight stood still for a moment, letting Pinkie’s statement soak in. Pinkie hopped on the spot, leaping and landing at a frantic pace as she waited for Twilight to act.
“Was there anything else that seemed odd? What was her cutie mark?”
“Lyra said something about Terra understanding her and the cutie mark was a dandelion! A white one. Now can you PLEASE hurry over?”
Rather than answering directly, Twilight pushed Pinkie aside, dropping her tea cup as she went over to her shelves, muttering under her breathe.
“Sounds like a cutie mark related incident. There are situations where ponies react poorly to getting their marks, particularly if they do it very early. So we’ll need the Cutie Mark Primer. Dandelions… I could know more about them. Pinkie, go grab a book about flowers. Maybe there’s some symbolism we’re not getting. It also sounds like she reacted particularly to some sort of stimuli, especially if she only got into trouble at Sugarcube Corner. So I’ll need a book about that. Better bring along the medical encyclopedia. Spike, where are you?”
“Here Twilight,” replied the young reptile. “And before you ask, here’s the book on Cutie Pox.”
“C’mon Twilight, we need to go now!” shouted Pinkie.
“Right, these should be enough to start with. C’mon!” Twilight said, putting as many books as possible into a saddlebag by the door. She ran out, hoisting the bag over her as she went.
“Spike, look for more books and bring them over! We’re closed again today!”
“Right,” Spike replied, closing the door behind him as he went back inside. He never saw Pinkie leave the library, but was not at all surprised not to find her in the room. 
Pinkie went wherever she wanted however she wanted.
******
Lyra and Bon Bon were sitting in the waiting room. They had rushed Terra over here, gotten scolded about moving a lying patient, and had been kicked out of the examination room. Now the two of them were staring at the clock, down at their hooves, and through the doorway that eventually led to the room where Terra was at the moment.
After looking around to see if there were anypony else around, Bon Bon leaned over to Lyra and whispered.
“Do you think it’s safe for her to be by herself? What if they find something… different about her?”
“I don’t think it’s likely,” replied Lyra. “We lived with her for weeks and never found anything out, even all those times she fell asleep. And she was not doing well when she got here. I’d be more worried why our daughter fell unconscious for no apparent reason.”
The front door of the infirmary opened, as Twilight and Pinkie rushed through, pile of books in tow.
“Is she alright?” asked Pinkie.
“We don’t know,” replied Bon Bon. “We just got Terra here as soon as we could and were driven out here. She’s inside now.”
“Right, I’ll help out,” said Twilight, starting to head towards the back.
“Hold on a moment!” Lyra said, standing up. “We’re her legal parents, and we’re not allowed in. You’re the town librarian. What gives you the right to go back there?”
“I’ve spent most of my life growing up in a university,” Twilight coolly replied. “Several of my classes were medical or biological in nature. I’m also trained in various medical procedures, and am the local expert in various fields. I figure I’ll at least see if I’m needed.” And with that, Twilight pushed open the door, walked through with books in tow, and kicked it shut behind her.
The waiting room was silent. Pinkie nervously bobbed in place, Lyra glared at the door, and Bon Bon nervously studied Pinkie.
“I’m sorry,” Pinkie started, “but Mrs. Cake told me I should get Twilight, cause she’s super smart and helped out when Terra got here.”
“We understand Pinkie,” said Bon Bon.
The clock on the wall ticked by the seconds and minutes. Eventually, Pinkie sat down some distance away from the other two mares. Lyra got up on her hind legs and paced biped style, Bon Bon’s eyes following her back and forth. Pinkie nervously watched for a bit before trying to distract herself with one of the magazines lying about.
“Hey Bon Bon, could you help me find the differences in these pictures?”
“Not now Pinkie”
“Sorry”
Eventually, the door opened, and a tired looking Nurse Redheart came out. Lyra and Bon Bon rushed over towards her while Pinkie remained behind.
“The good news is, Terra is in a stable condition, and appears to be in no immediate danger,” started Nurse Redheart. “The bad news is, she’s unconscious, and we still don’t know how to wake her up. Lyra, Bon Bon, follow me. Pinkie, could you remain out here?”
“Okie dokie loki!”
Nurse Redheart led the couple to the room where Terra was lying. Inside was Twilight Sparkle, who was frantically turning the pages of a book, apparently looking for some critical piece of information. Terra herself seemed to be sleeping, albeit a sleep without any dreams.
“Physically,” started Nurse Redheart, “she seems perfectly fine. Her heart rate and blood pressure are normal, there are no signs of internal injuries, and her reflexes work, though perhaps they could be a bit quicker. Which is why I’m having Twilight research Cutie Mark related ailments.” 
“Cutie Mark what?” asked Bon Bon.
“Let me explain,” Twilight said, closing the book as she looked up. “Cutie Marks are something with few parallels among non-ponies. If anything, they are similar to the metamorphosis of insect life. Essentially, they are both an indicator and a reinforcement of a pony’s personality traits. When a pony receives a mark, their body chemistry changes in order to help them do what that mark represents. For example Bon Bon, your Cutie Mark is of candy. Your body probably processes sugars more quickly and your palette is more developed as a result. Likewise Lyra, your mark would help you, oh I don’t know, hold the lyre and focus on the strings.”
“In that case,” asked Lyra, “what would Terra’s mark do to make her like this?”
“In particular, I’m not sure. However, it might simply be a bad reaction to the changing chemicals in her body. Especially if she’s not a purebred pony.”
“WHAT?!?” Bon Bon wailed.
“Do you think she’s a changeling or something Twilight?” snapped Lyra.
Twilight Sparkle backed off a bit, worried that she may have hit a nerve. “No! One of you would notice something like that, and changelings don’t get cutie marks, so it wouldn’t make any sense for her to have a cutie mark related sickness. I just meant she could have a donkey for an aunt or something. Although…”
Twilight looked at Terra, lying peacefully on the bed. “Changelings do feed on love, and Terra has received nothing but love since she got here. In fact, getting injured could hypothetically be a part of her plan to get care. And if she were careful-”
“Shut it Twilight,” Lyra growled.
“She would not feed on any more love than you two could provide. In fact, by taking a whole new identity, a changeling would be able to avoid suspicions, like not being able to play a part well. Admittedly, I thought that changelings could only copy ponies, rather than create new bodies from scratch but… oh no...”
“Are you done rambling and ready to treat Terra now?” Bon Bon asked irritably.
Twilight sadly looked over at Terra.
“Ladies,” she said hesitantly, “I’m sorry, but we’re going to need to investigate to see if Terra could be a changeling.”
You could hear a pin drop.
Nurse Redheart broke the silence first. “Um, Miss Sparkle? Don’t changelings need to be conscious in order to keep their shape?”
“Usually yes,” Twilight stated, confidence seemingly waxing. “However, changelings have been known to keep their forms even while asleep at points. Hence how it took so long for ponies to notice something was wrong with Princess Cadence. And if the changelings were to send some of their own to Ponyville, it would be the most talented among them.”
“Stop talking about her like that!” barked Lyra.
“I’m sorry Lyra, but we have to check. Don’t worry! If she’s really a pony, she won’t be harmed. I’ll just create a spell that removes magical disguises and use it as soon as possible. But until then, Terra has to remain here. Pinkie! Can you get over here?”
A few seconds later, the pink party pony popped up from behind the doorway.
“Yes?”
“Can you contact the police and ask for them to send a constable or two to guard a possible changeling? If they ask, tell them Princess Celestia’s student demanded it.”
“A possible changeling? You mean Bon Bon? But she can’t be a changeling! Even though her voice changes quite a bit from day to day. I’m sure it’s just an embarrassing condition.”
“Just go Pinkie. I’ll make sure they stay here until help arrives.”
“Okie dokie loki!”
As Pinkie bounced off, Twilight grabbed one of her books with her telekinesis. “I’m sorry you two, but it’s a necessary precaution. How about this: I’ll have a disguise-removal spell ready by tomorrow morning. That way, we could put this all behind us.”
“That would be… delightful,” Bon Bon said cautiously, as Lyra gritted her teeth in frustration. “Dear, I think maybe we should leave Nurse Redheart to take care of Terra?”
Lyra glared at Twilight and turned away, walking out the door.
******
“Bon Bon, we can’t let them figure out Terra!”
“I’m not sure what we can do. Maybe Twilight’s spell won’t work?”
“She’s Celestia’s pupil. She beat an Ursa in a fight. She collaborated in saving Equestria as we know it on multiple occasions. If she says she can prepare a spell by tomorrow, she can prepare a spell by tomorrow.”
“In that case, they’ll figure her out for sure.”
“Are we sure she’s not though?”
“What do you mean?”
“Not some weird sort of changeling I mean. Sure, she looks different from all those changelings that attacked Canterlot, but she could be some sort of mutant. And it would explain how she can change like.”
“…Lyra Heartstrings. I thought you of all ponies would know better.”
“Huh?”
“It doesn’t matter if Terra is a changeling or not. She revealed herself to us. She put everything on the line because she cares about us. She’s our daughter.”
“…you’re right. You’re right, you’re always right. It… it’s just been a weird couple of weeks and I don’t know how to be a parent yet.”
“Well Lyra, maybe you should start with the obvious course of action,”
“Breaking her out of Ponyville?”
“Obviously”