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// Incredibly Infinite Barrage of Incalculable Curiosity 
// Story: Another Sappy HiE Fic 
// by exsnaggerwes 
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	Train tickets were surprisingly cheap. It took only ten bits (that I didn't have thanks to my perpetual jobless status) to board from Canterlot to Ponyville. Twilight had a round trip ticket already and paid my way without a second thought. I thought it incredibly nice of her to take care of me like that, but I still wanted to pay her back as soon as possible. I began to think of doing chores for her, but remembered that she had Spike and Owlowiscious to help already. I quickly began fantasizing about other opportunities to do favors for her, coming up short due to my lack of knowledge about the world and lack of creativity. We boarded the train without a word to each other and took our seats. I sat facing the front and she took the seat across from me. As I sat down, I immediately ran into difficulty getting comfortable. The chair was wide enough for a pony to lie down comfortably, but it took me several tries to actually situate myself in that position. I noticed as I was lying down that I wasn't much more comfortable than standing up, though I did feel slightly more secure. Twilight suppressed a laugh at my expense, perking up enough to begin what I would later call the incredibly infinite barrage of incalculable curiosity.

"What's it like transforming into a pony?" She began.

"I don't really know. I didn't feel anything when I came through the portal. I suppose waking up in a new body felt a bit strange, but it's nothing I can't get used to. Humans have to crawl before they can walk, and even if I'm using my back hooves instead of my knees, it's about the same."

"Well that's odd," she raised an eyebrow, "I remember a powerful vortex that made me sick afterward. I felt everything."

"That makes sense. I actually ran head first into the portal, so I probably fainted before the transformation started. How did it feel?"

"It felt like my whole body was being torn apart and rearranged. You should be glad you missed that part," she continued the assault, "How do you stand on only two legs?"

"I don't anymore," I quipped, "but personally, I have great balance. Walking on two legs seems to be a no-brainer for most humans. We never think of it, our bodies are just built that way. It's very efficient if you think about it. It frees our upper limbs for other equally important tasks." The train lurched forward and began its trip to my new home. I almost jumped in response.		

"Why do you wear clothes all the time? I get that you don't have as much fur as us, but isn't it really warm there?" 

My cartoonish eyes got even wider as I backed my face away from her prying question. I had to debate whether I should have been offended or not because she didn't seem to know a lot from her short time there. It wasn't personal, so I replied, "Usually, it's not that warm. Where I'm from it gets rather cold and we experience all of the seasons. Our winter is especially harsh, but we don't wear clothes just to protect us from the elements. Earth is a dirty place and humans are fragile. We can get sick from almost anything, and so we protect our bodies with the extra layer." I thought for a second before adding, "We're also self conscious about our bodies."

"How do you control the weather without magic?"

"We don't."

She gasped, "You really don't have any control over your weather? How do you live like that?"

"In constant fear that the sky will kill us."

"..."

"Humans can predict the weather. It has certain patterns it follows and we have devices and instruments to measure it. I would love to share the process with you if I actually knew how it worked. I only know the basics like air pressure, cold fronts, and due to a childhood fear, conditions for tornadoes."

"Wait, you don't schedule tornadoes either?"

"No. I haven't heard of a single creature on earth that can manipulate the clouds or the wind. We have machines that can harness it in small amounts, and others that can borrow its power, but nothing big enough to actually start a tornado. We don't even need them like you do. Clouds are formed by natural evaporation in my universe."

Twilight bounced on the edge of her seat, visibly teeming with more questions. "How do televisions work?"

"What?"

"You have TV's there. I saw them. Do you make them with magic like we do here?"

"Oh, I was wondering about that. I knew ponies had advanced technology, and I didn't think it was the same as ours. Spear and Wit told me about Equestrian technology, so I think I can explain it. You probably don't want to know."

"I want to know everything!"

If you think Lyra was the pony who was obsessed with humans, let me tell you just how wrong you are. Never underestimate the curiosity of a dedicated student. I tried my best to explain how a television worked and failed miserably. Once again, I'm saving myself some of the embarrassment by leaving that little tidbit out. Her myriad of questions continued as the train carried us to Ponyville. It was going to be a short ride considering the distance between the two cities, and as Twilight continued prodding me with questions about being human I peered out the window to see the sky getting darker and pegasi pushing dark clouds in the direction of Ponyville. It seemed like they were only preparing a light drizzle, but I couldn't take my eyes off of the actual process. The pegasi I could see were beautiful, their colors reflecting the entire spectrum of light that I had come to only recently be able to see. They were mostly the color of the clouds and the sky, with a few sunrise and sunset colors mixed in. I could see brilliant blues and pale greys fill my vision. It looked like it took a lot of ponies to get the work done, and my confidence in getting a job doubled as a result. 

I was cut off from my fantasizing about my new job by a hoof to my withers. It was strange to feel both of my shoulders being touched at once, but it caught my attention all the same. "Huh, what?" I asked, breaking free of my reverie.

"I asked how you knew so much about my life."

"I thought I already talked about that."

"You weren't specific. Who told you?"

"It was a television show. I mean, a lot of people told me I guess, but it was all on TV too."

"How many people watch television?" She asked nervously.

"Millions of people watch TV, but really only thousands have seen the show. At least I think that's an accurate number." Twilight's jaw dropped and she made a very unladylike face that looked similar to one a horse from Earth would make, only she made it look cute. She also said something I couldn't understand, but I figured there was no need to translate a noise like that. She remained frozen until I returned her previous gesture, which was made difficult by her back being away from me. I settled for a bump on the upper foreleg instead. "Calm down, it's not that bad. Nobody believes you're real," I instantly regretted those words. I hoped she wouldn't catch the last part as I quickly changed the subject, "Do you have a shower?"

She tried to compose herself and nearly succeeded with only her twitching eye remaining, "I uh... yes."

"Good, I don't want to stink up your house and I should probably learn how to operate one before I actually need it," I thought out loud as I tried sniffing myself. I wasn't accustomed to my new scent yet, so to my freshly tuned nostrils, I smelled like a horse. I came dangerously close to saying that part out loud too, but managed to bite my tongue before saying something that I was sure would be offensive. My train of thought continued as the not-so-metaphorical train did the same, "How do I preen my wings?"

Twilight was still trying to recover while coming up with a response, "J-just smooth them out. They should be fine. It's like brushing your mane, but you have to be more careful and use your mouth."

I decided to keep the rest of my stupid questions to myself for a while until the train came to a stop at the station. Oddly I didn't notice any of the other ponies on the train until they all rose simultaneously to leave. My wings twitched with excitement as I stood, and for the first time didn't fall from a raised seat, and followed their lead with Twilight mechanically following.

Ponyville's train station ran near the outside of town, so most of Ponyville was visible after stepping off. Ponyville was miniscule compared to Canterlot, as I expected, and had a very simple feel to it. The houses and buildings were small and had thatched roofs, and there was a stream running through town with a small cobblestone bridge over said river. I took a moment to appreciate not having to use it thanks to my wings, but was quickly denied that by the rain. Like I suspected, it was only a drizzle, and the train station gave us shelter until we needed to leave. I searched for a clock, finding that it was still early in the afternoon, and fluttered from the excitement. Twilight carried a duffel bag in her magical aura that I didn't see when we boarded. I discarded the thought wondering we would do next. I tried taking off only to be caught by the tail by Twilight's magic. 

"Oh no you don't. You don't have any practice, and I'm not going to let you fly in this weather. You could get hurt."

I followed orders reluctantly, looking up to the clouds as the rain fell into my face. The water on my eyes didn't bother me at all, and I got a good look at the gorgeous cloud layer above us. I couldn't help but wonder what it was like above the weather and envied every pegasus who had the ability. In the distance I could see a crystal structure that came close to piercing the sky as we trotted in that direction and followed the spire downward where it expanded outward into a castle that dwarfed the many smaller buildings of Ponyville. At the door stood a tiny purple figure that I could make out as Spike with my sharper vision. Standing next to him was a familiar blue pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail. My wings extended to their full length faster than they had ever done before at the sight before me.