The Transporter: Second Gear

by Unit_ZER0

Part 05: Driveshaft

As the other ponies re-entered the classroom, Balance Wheel called out to Cole.

“Mr. Cole, I have a question: How does the engine keep from getting too hot if several hundred, or even several thousand of those small explosions are taking place inside it all the time that it is running?”

The human smiled at the pony’s perception. “Liquid cooling.” There are chambers and spaces around the cylinders, and all through the solid piece of metal those pieces sit inside. Liquid is pumped through those spaces continuously, and sent through a radiator that lets a lot of the heat dissipate.”

Cole continued to explain as the rest of the class sat down. “Actually, combustion engines like these are designed to run at a certain temperature, so that the parts all work as smoothly as possible. The lower parts of the pistons, and a lot of the other engine pieces as well, are immersed in, or constantly coated by a supply of oil as well.”

“But, wouldn’t the oil catch fire?” Earth Mover asked.

“You might think so, but this is a special synthetic oil, with a high ignition temperature.” The human continued. “Both the oil and the coolant circulate at a high rate, so they never get hot enough to boil, or catch fire, but instead carry heat away from the places where it collects.”

“You said that the engine also has an ignition system,” Trixie asked. “Where does the electricity come from?”

Cole proceeded to bring up another schematic of an engine on the projector screen.

“Here,” he stated, pointing to the part in question. “This is an Alternator. It provides electrical power to the coil pack, and from there to the sparkplugs. It also provides energy to the other electronic sensors, and the control computer. The whole process is started off by the battery, located here.”

With each part he named, Cole indicated it on the diagram, and proceeded to explain how it interacted with all the others.

“Counting all of the attendant systems, the average internal combustion engine of this type has about 350 parts. The entire vehicle is composed of about 30,000 parts.”

For a moment, there was dead silence. Then, in a shaking voice, Balance Wheel voiced the thought on every pony’s mind: “Th-Thirty THOUSAND?”

Here Ditzy Doo asked the next logical question: “How can you build One car, let alone More?”

The human smiled. “We have a technique called “Mass Production”, where a group of humans, with assistance from a large amount of specialized machines, can produce several hundred cars a day. Let me show you.”

After the last video, there was a moment of silence. Then every pony started talking at once.

“Did you see.”

“I can’t believe.”

“That’s impossible, but I still see it.”

“Why would they need so many cars?”

“Those engines…”

Cole let them wind down, and then took a breath. “Any questions?”

After a moment the ponies looked at one another, and then back to Cole. Balance wheel tentatively raised a hoof. “Well, I can definitely see how you make so many cars so fast… But why so many?”

“Well, cars don’t last forever,” Cole began. “Over time, parts wear out, and must be replaced, and the frame and other large parts may deteriorate to the point where the vehicle is no longer safe to drive. When that happens, the owner must purchase another either new or used vehicle, and the old one must be disposed of. Nowadays we try to recycle, or re-use a lot of the parts from old vehicles, from the metal in the frame and engine, to the rubber from the tires. But there are several billion humans on my world, and a very large number of them own a vehicle of some kind. Also, there are vehicles that are not cars, which are built for specific purposes, such as trucks, and construction and military vehicles.”

Here, sergeant Stormcloud perked up. “What kind of military vehicles do humans use?”

Cole smiled slightly, and began to explain. “Well, humans can’t fly, or run all that fast, or move things with magic, or carry very heavy loads, so we’ve built vehicles that do those things for us. In the military, one of the most common vehicles is the Infantry Fighting Vehicle. There are many different types, but most are built around a frame of six or eight wheels, and an armored body, usually with a big gun, or smaller guns on the roof. The other most common vehicle is the transport truck. It’s used to move soldiers, supplies, weapons, and specialized fighting machines from place to place. Some of the specialized vehicles include things like Tanks, a vehicle with a large cannon, and a tracked movement system, and the self-propelled artillery unit, which also has a large cannon, but less armor.”

Ditzy Doo raised a hoof. “Mr. Cole, how do humans fly without wings?”

“Actually, we have vehicles for that too. We build large tubes with wings and seats inside, that allow small groups of humans to travel long distances, sort of like an extra-long train car with wings.”

As the human continued to field questions and answers from his increasingly nonplussed audience, another presence made themselves known.

With a discreet cough, a white unicorn mare with a pink mane, and a severe pair of glasses asked another question, from an unexpected direction: “Sorry to interrupt, Mister Cole, but what purpose would a ground courier service provide, compared to a completely air-based, or magical transport system?”

Everyone else in the room stopped talking, and turned to regard the newcomer. Cole was first to speak.

“I’m glad you brought that up, Miss?”

“Sunny Skies.”

“Well, Miss Skies, First of all. You are right; an air-based secure transportation system would make sense on the surface, given a lot of the concerns with secure object movement your leaders are focusing on. At the same time, however, that’s exactly the method that those who would wish to intercept such items would be expecting. Any increase in airborne activity, or shipping would raise suspicion. Plus, in a land where over a third of the population can fly, it’s nowhere near as secure a proposition as it might look at the outset.”

“But, would it not be more secure than your proposed system?”

“On the surface, yes, but if you read the report concerning my first entry into your world, you would have seen that the system does in fact have merit.”

“And how could you possibly know that I would have access to that information, Mister Cole?”

“Basic inference. First, you’re present at a meeting that, I assume, is confidential, seeing as my method of entry into this world was treated with a certain degree of, shall we say, discretion? Second, I would assume that all of you were read into this program?” Cole finished, directing the latter part of his statement to the room at large.

“That’s pretty much spot-on,” Sergeant Stormcloud confirmed. “Although we don’t refer to it as “reading someone in”, if I’m getting your reference right. We were ‘recruited’ for lack of a better term, from a list of ponies who’d had the relevant technical, social, or circumstantial experience to be able to adjust to new ideas, and interact with new races easily.”

“Indeed,” Sunny Skies confirmed. “And as the Royal Auditor assigned to this program, I wish to see that the resources of the Crown are being put to the best use.”

“Well, Miss Skies, I can assure you that this is indeed the case,” Cole replied.

“I hope you don’t mind me sitting in on your classes every so often, Mister Cole?”

The way the mare phrased the words, Cole could clearly tell that it wasn’t a question.

“Be my guest,” the human replied.

“Thank you. In fact, I think I’ll sit in on the rest of this class,” Sunny Skies concluded.

Throughout the entire exchange, Earth Mover had been observing the auditor’s behavior. There was something… familiar? About her actions, almost as if she knew far more than she was letting on. There was also the faint tingle of transformation, or disguise magic in the ether. It was well concealed, and far too faint for the other unicorn in the room to pick up on it, but the changeling princess was certain that “Sunny Skies" was a lot more than she appeared to be… The level of trace was faint enough for Earth Mover to almost suspect that the spell residue she detected was simply a hair or coat color changing spell, or something else of a cosmetic nature. Unicorns were known to use their innate magic to make themselves look their best, after all. Still, it was well known in the changeling hive that a well-crafted disguise spell could be ‘tuned’ to give off a reside that would fool a casual observer into thinking that it was only a cosmetic spell, and not one that transformed the caster’s whole body… In any case, the changeling put the thought, and what she had sensed on the back burner, and focused on the current goings-on.

At the moment, all Ditzy Doo could think of was that the human’s “Cars” were amazing, and even though they couldn’t fly, she was looking forward to racing along in one. And the fact that humans could fly without wings! And what was she going to bake for tomorrow? Muffins? Cupcakes? Muffins, definitely muffins. Maybe cinnamon raisin, maybe carrot cake, she’d decide when she got home for the evening. Speaking of amazing, the auditor’s mane was really amazing, almost shimmery, in fact. Oh well, none of her business, although Dinky might want to learn how to do that spell in a few years…

Trixie and Balance wheel had been having a whispered conversation of their own while Sunny Skies and Cole had been talking. Balance wheel had been convinced that humanity had worked out a few advances in metallurgy that would take even the best minds in the kingdom several years to work out. Trixie herself had been paying attention to all the clever gadgets the humans used to manufacture mass quantities of goods at once. The only thing that even a skilled unicorn mage could come up with that came close was a series of ‘come-to-life’ spells working in concert with one another. But that many spells cast almost simultaneously would overwhelm the thaumatological constant of the local area… This was almost one of those problems the Princess’ protégé’ would be better off trying to solve…

Sergeant Stormcloud was almost dead certain he knew exactly who it was that had graced their class with her presence. But, as a member of the Royal Guard, even if he was on Night Shift, he was obligated not to blow his bosses’ cover. Still, it was interesting that she had chosen to focus on the practicality of the program, and not its overall feasibility, especially considering how the human’s vehicle was designed for a specific species of occupant. Oh well, it wasn’t a soldier’s duty to question, at least not most of the time. The sergeant was a firm believer in the responsibility of soldiers to uphold their sworn, lawful duty, and this disguised visit was well outside his area of responsibility. Still, it was nice to know that she kept an eye on all the projects and programs under her command, even the odd ones…

As the unicorn mare took a seat at an empty desk at the rear of the classroom, Cole returned to his spot at the front.

“So, that about covers the basic of the basics. Now, I’d like to adjourn to the garage, so we can take a hands-on, excuse me hooves-on look at a real-life example of a car. I know you all took a look at it yesterday, but today we’ll be getting into the vehicle, and going for a few laps.”

With that, the human, and the ponies made their way out to the area where the Elentra sat waiting.