Equestria, the near future.
Technological innovation was rising at a staggering rate. Scientists had discovered through an accident involving a weather balloon that a layer of "airwaves" exists above the clouds - which with sufficient buoyancy, items can float on, much like water. These "airwaves" became subject to much study and scrutiny, and a few years later, Equestrian engineers had developed a brand-new method of transport - ships that could fly above the clouds, on top of the Airwaves. Using a combination of magic and technology, the massive ships could travel on the airwaves to reach their destinations much faster than conventional waterbound ships or trains.
Soon after the completion of the very first Skydocks in the cities of High Point in Equestria and Hokkouma in Neighpon, the first four airships were soon launched on their maiden voyages - the Celestial, the Cadence, the Luna and the Twilight, affectionately named after the four Princesses of Equestria, on a flight from Equestria to Neighpon. But it was only after a few more years that the airship business truly began to boom. As soon as they realised just how much this industry could be worth, and its potential applications, all the rich and connected ponies wanted their own private airships, and the Equestrian Military placed several orders for specialised airships, for field operations. Subsequently, major advances were made in the fields of geography, surveillance and meteorology, among others.
After a few more years, air-travel had become much more commonplace, with skydocks built in almost every major city in the world, from Canterlot to Merlin to Moscalf and beyond. It was around this time that South-Equestrian engineer Jack Hammer announced a fantastic new project: A grand city of metal and neon in the sky. Taking several years to reach a habitable state, at which point it already was of considerable size, but constantly being expanded and taking several decades to build in its entirety, Hammer decided to name the city "Newhaven" - as a tribute to the new opportunity that cities such as this offered. Soon after its grand opening, Newhaven became the number one tourist destination on the planet, its population skyrocketing within a few months.
After Jack Hammer's success with the Newhaven project, many more sky-cities began to spring up, from Luftgarten in Germaneigh, to Zebrecia's Republic City, to Hammer's second project - Alondra Park, designed to be a transport hub for all of the Skycities. Air travel was bigger than ever before. But as innovation bloomed, a darker side to the airship business developed as piracy took to the air. The first pirate attack was upon the Goldfish, a trader's ship. An unnamed vessel rammed the ship, and its inhabitants boarded, taking several thousand Bits' worth of cargo in what would come to be known as the Goldfish Incident. In response to the Incident, the Equestrian military commissioned Hammer to develop weaponry to be fitted to airships. He was reluctant to do this, but eventually developed the Ratchetgun, a standing automatic cannon designed specifically to withstand the high winds and low temperatures of the Sky - and in the wake of the Goldfish incident, Equestria's Supreme Council ruled that all ships built in Equestria must have at least two weapons attached - the remaining countries of the world soon followed.
Soon after the Ratchetgun was released, other companies began developing weapons, starting with Clay Industries' Burstcannons - and within a few months weaponry became an industry in its own. The production of weapons hampered piracy for the most part, in the sense that ramming attacks now no longer worked completely. On the other hand, the pirates soon also got hold of Ratchetguns - and thus piracy became a threat once again. While most pirate attacks were amateur at best, some ended in large-scale dogfights, and the casualties were massive. Luckily, these large-scale attacks were few and far between - however, a year later, a massive event took the sky-world by storm.
On the 19th of the Fourth, 42 NCC, A large group of pirates managed to swarm the Celestial, almost destroying the vulnerable ship. The pirates were eventually defeated, but the damage sustained by the Celestial had rendered it inoperable. The crew and passengers abandoned ship, leaving the Celestial drifting on the airwaves. The ship's current whereabouts remain a mystery to this day. In the wake of the Celestial disaster, everyone looked to equip their ships with as many weapons as possible, and the weapons market increased yet more - in addition the General Council of the Sky was formed, so that the Airwaves could be governed more easily.
Soon after, Hammer released the Daedalus Engine - a powerful speed-boost engine which had been in prototype since before the Celestial Disaster, and which had already been used on some military ships. The Deadalus Engine was primarily designed for larger ships with one purpose in mind: Escaping from pirate attacks. This inspired Clay Industries to approach Hammer in order to develop a "light" version called the Jump Engine, which was slightly less powerful but nowhere near as expensive or difficult to manufacture as the Daedalus engine, in addition to being designed for more everyday use as opposed to the Daedalus Engine's emergency-oriented intended use. The Jump Engine was a major success for Clay Industries, and eventually became so popular that it became standardised. As a result, high-speed crashes on the airwaves became much more common, prompting the General Council of the Sky to establish one-way "trade lanes" through which ships would pass in order to minimise these incidents.
And so, the Skyworld evolved, slowly but surely gaining more and more prescence and interest. As demand grew, sky cities like Newhaven expanded, growing larger and larger as more and more ponies moved their businesses, even their entire lives, "upside". This was the dawn of a brand new era for Ponykind - the era of the Sky.