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Equestria's Aerial Technology; A Timeline
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Topic Started: May 18 2013, 08:27 PM (178 Views)
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Nightfury
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May 18 2013, 08:27 PM
Post #1
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- Posts:
- 97
- Group:
- Members
- Member
- #125
- Joined:
- September 5, 2012
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Air Travel over the Ages
Four hundred years ago, the idea of air travel was restricted only to pegasi and any carriage that they could draw, limiting the rest of the Equestrian population to the ground alone. However over the age of technological growth that came soon after resulted in an astounding turn of events, with the spark kindled by one pony reaching thousands of others and creating a technology race that would continue even into the present day.
History
Yr 3562
The story begins with one pony, by the name of Ruby Storm. With a pegasus father and an earth pony mother, Ruby is unfortunate enough to be born as an earth pony with the heart of a pegasus. She yearns for the sky, and yet at that time, such a yearning was unheard of in the common mind. Ruby is taught to give up on such impossible dreams, going through therapy and interventions, yet she never gives up on her obsession.
Yr 3584
Ruby Storm, after years of oppression, finally works with her father in order to develop a prototypical device in order to get a pony to fly. It consists of a set of fixed wings, several times larger than that of a pegasus, and the device is demonstrated in Canterlot, with a successful flight for many miles. Ruby Storm, however, perishes in the attempt when she fails to guide the contraption out of the way of an air current that dashes her against the side of the mountain. Her father commits suicide out of grief soon after, however, her goal is successful as the tragic flight creates a nationwide interest in mechanical air travel.
Yr 3588
Four years and multiple prototypes later, the idea of mechanical wings is finally scrapped in favor of larger contraptions. Ruby’s prototype evolves into a contraption commonly known as a hang-glider, and while it becomes a common pastime for many, it does not satisfy the scientific community’s desire for a flying machine. Advances in scientific knowledge of fuels and machines bring a new design to the stage, in the form of the hot air balloon. The original models are large canvas, with oil slathered over it to create an airtight area, and a wood burner. Designs quickly evolve over the next few years.
Yr 3673
A collection of inventors from the Canterlot High Society develop a method of aerial travel that responds faster than the heated air. By creating a rotor, with blades like an extended house fan, and angling them correctly with the right gear system, it becomes possible to lift a single pony on a light weight, rotor-powered device. However, due to the careful weight issues and the danger involved, the design never goes into production beyond a few private projects.
Yr 3724
Steam power becomes common. The first train lines between Canterlot and Manehattan are laid. With the increased use of coal, the now-common hot air balloons switch fuels, and new machines are developed to capitalize on the new fuel. However, the size of current watercraft means that steam engines prove ineffective against the currents and waves of the vicious oceans. Sailpower continues on into the future with steamboats remaining on rivers and other less dangerous waters.
Yr 3806
A up-and-coming inventor by the name of Wind Whip designs a new type of balloon to overtake the current forms. Unlike the previous creations, this balloon was made of entirely sealed, rubber-coated material, with lighter-than-air gases onboard as opposed to superheated air. The first design was known as a dirigible, with a dinghy-sized basket strung under a balloon slightly larger than the basket below. It was directed by a mechanical wing attached to a level for a ‘rowing’ motion.
Yr 3878
First reports of large scale airships being developed outside Equestria and across the seas steps up the technology race. In two years, the first commercial trade aircraft are developed, with large cargo bays and spells in place to increase their carrying capacity. The craft are unarmed, taking long journeys across the ocean, partially as a display of force and partially due to conditions such as Abaddon’s Fury and difficult sealanes making travel to other continents difficult and lengthy by sea. However, due to the cost of production, the numbers of aircraft remain relatively few, and sea shipping remains the cheaper and more common option.
Yr 3881
The first reports of aerial piracy start to develop in the seas towards Ti.Trade ships go missing, and a campaign is waged to put down the threat before it grows. Military personnel fail to quench pirate threats across the Vaporian ocean, and in the process, airships come under pirate control. The first signs of naval weaponry being mounted to commercial airships appears, and the military responds in kind with retrofitted trade vessels.
Yr 3909
With airship piracy in the west increasing in the face of military resistance, the Princess grudgingly approves the first military airships for construction. They are small and basic, with a crew of five and a single, heavy gun, as the retrofitted piracy vessels are weakly armored and poorly maintained. Coined as ‘gunners’, these vessels quickly quench the pirate threat and cease to be deployed within the next two years, with the military industry delving deeper into the idea of military airships, however Princess Celestia suppresses any further attempts of creating military vessels. However, a series of gargantuan airships are developed as aerial carriers for the pegasine portion of Equestria's military, in order to keep them in the air where they feel most comfortable, while keeping mobility.
Yr 3913
Artificial wings are perfected, however experts in the field can find no way to apply them to anypony who did not already have the muscles and appendages in the first place. The technology is passed off to the medical industry, for use in prosthetics for fliers injured to the point that wings need to be removed, or have already been lost.
Yr 3937
After a long period of peaceful trade, the gunners are finally scrapped, and schematics and plans for airships are released to anyone who requests them. The high class of Canterlot quickly turn the simple trade vessels into works of art, combining science and nature to create gaudy yachts, with a racing event for the craft soon being developed in a long stretch between Stableside and Tramplevania. However, sea winds push half the competetors to the shore of Cervidas, and the event is promptly scrapped.
Yr 3988
Reports of the town of Amarezon being taken over and reinforced into a pirate fortress kindle worry that the new generation of trade disruption is nearly upon lawful forces. This proves very true as witnesses report armored, makeshift airships being tested near the Vaporian border. Modernised gunners are put into production, but of the dozen that are launched, only two return. Many of the crew of the destroyed ships turn up in later months, having survived the destruction of their vessels.
Yr 3990
Civilian trade is crippled along the Equestria-Ti lane with pirates roaming both east and west of Vaporia. The people of the Vaporian continent do not deliver assistance, with the pegasi dramatically outmatched in the council. With a heavy heart, and great wariness, Princess Celestia approves of the construction of a prototype vessel specifically for the destruction of the new pirate fleets wherever they might turn up, so as to limit the losses for Equestria. A mixture of speed and devastating damage, armor and maneuverability, the Grand Cross project begins, as technology and draft designs are piled over in search of the necessary traits.
Yr 3997
After multiple failed attempts, the final design of the warship is put into production in a guarded facility in Canterlot. There is little need for secrecy, however, as the majority of the equestrian people are unaware what lies outside their country. One of the main traits of the Grand Cross is the fact that all of her weapons are completely retractable, making it seem identical to a new type of freight vessel recently put into active service.
Yr 3998
The Grand Cross is finally completed and the firepower is put on display by its new captain, a mare named Four Winds, selected due to her unusual survival of multiple pirate raids due to a cunning mind. The developers are overjoyed with the success of partially prototypical weapons, yet Princess Celestia is nothing but horrified by the capacity for destruction. She adamantly refuses to allow any more of the Cross-pattern airships to be built and demands that all plans for the vessel be destroyed, to which her commanders can do naught but obey. However, when she also asks that the Grand Cross be decommissioned, joint pressure from the military and the new captain of the vessel convinces her to reconsider, but only on the condition that the vessel is not signed under the Equestrian military, to avoid any nearby nations taking the development of the Cross as a sign of war. As a Private Military Contractor, Four Winds is given a sizable sum to hire a mercenary crew and make for the west to secure trade paths.
Yr 3999
The launch of the Cross and a clever espionage campaign are precursors to a savage slaughter along the tradelanes, as fleet after fleet is fallen upon by the newly commissioned vessel. Using variable tactics, Four Winds claims victory after victory, annihilating the numerous blockades between Equestria and Ti. At Amarezon, the use of the ‘centurion’ - the cannon loaded with hundred-pound iron shot - wreaks severe havoc to the ramshackle production facilities, but is chased off by naval protection before it can irreparably damage the facility. Towards the end of the year the Grand Cross is repurposed for search and rescue, with tow ropes and a medical specialist onboard to assist the crews of wounded vessels. Pirate interference persists, though in no way as large as before.
Yr 4008
War strikes Equestria and the military airship project is rushed back into production, however major production facilities in Trottingham and Hoofington are overwhelmed early on in the surprise assault, and the delivery of both dreadnought and battleship patterns is intercepted and destroyed before it can reach Detrot. Equestria is left reeling, reliant on the more basic manufacturing facilities of Manehattan and Canterlot. Only the unarmed carriers for the equestrian airborne military were in any state to fly as the war marched on. Several trade vessels are commandeered and fitted to drop explosive compounds, however most are shot down in early resistance struggles. Fortunately, none of the opposing forces appear to possess aerial combat potential despite overwhelming naval and ground troops. The Grand Cross is called back to be employed as support, being the only active and armed military vessel of the time.
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