Outstanding

by TheGuyWithAPen

Notes and things

Author's Note:

Here are some notes and things that I thought would help flesh out the story a bit more, seeing as you won't be getting more chapters.

Arcanium and Its Properties

Name and Symbol: Arcanium, An
Element category and Atomic Number: Alkali metal, 119
Phase: Solid, melting point at 678°C

Arcanium is formed by a magic fusion process. Two molecules of Calcium Carbonate (aka limestone) and one atom of Potassium taken from Potassium Sulfate (aka potash) fuse together under intense pressure and heat. It is then bombarded by ridiculous amounts of magical energy. Without being infused with magic, the metal would immediately decompose radioactively into lead, but with it, the metal is kept stable, and when it does decompose through activation of a spell (see “Physical Properties”), radiation is kept at a safe minimum.

Arcanium is only found in the same location as what would be the Crystal Caverns underneath Canterlot, had the explosion of 571 A.D. not taken place.

Physical properties: Shiny metallic surface, with slight blue luminescence. Relatively soft, slightly harder than aluminum. When in solid form, the metal is inert, only reacting when a spell is placed on it by decomposing harmlessly into lead. When it is in a liquid state, however, it is extremely reactive, earning itself a spot in the alkali metals category. It oxidizes explosively with water. And when activated by a spell, it decomposes into lead, same as the solid form, but much, much more powerfully. When decomposing in solid form, mass is mostly conserved, with a minimal loss to heat. However, 100mL of liquid Arcanium can generate an explosion that is approximately the same as 25kg of TNT.

Magical properties: Being infused with magic makes it very magically reactive. As stated before, Arcanium decomposes either harmlessly or explosively when a spell is performed on it. The type of spell doesn’t matter; any will do, although evidently levitation is the exception. Scientists speculate that this is because levitation does not directly affect the metal; it just serves to move it, same as picking it up. Arcanium is inert when it is by itself, but when coupled with other quantities of Arcanium and arranged in geometric shapes, known as “Arcs”, it seems to perform magical actions and replicate certain spells. A complete list of the known actions of shapes can be found below. Each source of Arcanium must have the same mass as the others in the shape, or the spell will not work. The strength of the spell is directly proportional to the distance between points on the shape, determined by certain graphical functions. The quantity of Arcanium present in each point does not seem to make any difference to the quality of the spell.*

2-D Shapes

Line segment
No effect

Equilateral Triangle
Combusts the surrounding air
Linear function
Only the air in a sphere circumscribing the corners of the triangle combusts. Limited by radius, not the amount of oxygen present, therefore large amounts of air can be compressed into the combustion zone.

Isosceles Triangle
Emits a non-destructive propellant beam
Linear and Quadratic function
The only Arc that can affect other Arcs through its beam, when it hits another it multiplies the effect of the other Arc by itself, hence the quadratic function. Also, the vertex angle of the triangle determines the strength and speed of the beam. (Larger angle—more strength, smaller angle—more speed)

Rectangle

Parallelogram

Rhombus
Produces a magically disruptive effect
Logarithmic function
Produces subsonic vibrations, but this may only be a byproduct of its effect. Dampens and disrupts other magical phenomena inside its area of effect. It is not feasible to spread the effect beyond 10 meters (produced by a 1-meter shape,) as the amounts of Arcanium required rapidly become ridiculous. (A 15 meter rhombus only has a 11 meter sphere of effect.)

Pentagon

Hexagon
Produces a range of vibrations
Linear function
Produces a range of vibrations that is directly related to the size of the hexagon. The hexagon will adjust itself to cancel out environmental vibrations, unless it is hit by the beam of an Isosceles arc, in which case it magnifies environmental vibrations. This unusual interaction with the Isosceles beam is still being studied.

Directional Hexagon (one pair of opposite line segments is longer than the others)
Chills the interior material
Linear function
The material in a sphere circumscribing the outermost points of the hexagon is cooled, and the heat transferred outward equally in all directions. The length of the long line segments determines the intensity of the chilling effect - the thinner the hexagon, the greater the effect.

Septagon

Octagon

Hexagon with a point in the center
No effect**

3-D Shapes

Triangular Pyramid
Destructive beam
Linear function
Essentially the laser spell. Arc size is directly proportional to beam size, vertex angle determines focus.

Rectangular Pyramid
Light source
Linear function
Emits a point of light at the vertex. As the vertex angle decreases, the light becomes more directional.

Pentagonal Pyramid

Triangular Dipyramid

Triangular Prism

Rectangular Prism

Pentagonal Prism

Hexagonal Prism
Chilling beam
Linear function
Fires a beam which rapidly transfers the heat of the target into the area near the Arcanium. The strength of the beam is directly related to the length of the prism. Thermodynamically, the prism is transferring heat from the target into the surrounding air.

Dodecahedron

*Icosahedron
Bubble Shield
Quadratic for size, linear for strength
Increasing the distance between points increases the radius of the bubble, increasing the quantity of Arcanium in each point increases the strength.

*In some cases, quantity of arcanium does matter, such as the Shield Arc.
**It has been discovered by [REDACTED] that if the center point has twice as much Arcanium than the others, and a spell is fired directly on the center point, rather than the Arcanium decomposing, the atoms within an unknown radius will be torn apart, generating enormous amounts of alpha and gamma radiation. Because of government intrusion and the hazardous nature of experimentation, the exact radius of the fission zone and the function that determines its size is unknown. Although [REDACTED] speculated that it most likely operates on an exponential scale. This has been used by Her Majesty as the equivalent of a nuclear weapon numerous times.

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I'm gonna spoil things for you now, get ready! (Not like it matters anymore.)
Solar Flare has been storing up hundreds of tons of Arcanium in specific chambers in the six core cities of Equestria. How are these cities arranged in relationship to Canterlot? A perfect hexagon. Over the course of decades, she has been organizing the means to tear apart the entire planet, unbeknownst to anyone else. We find out why in some of the later notes.

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Types of Thrusters and How They Work
Arcane pulse thrusters are the simplest engines and are powered when equal amounts of Arcanium are arranged (known as an Arc) in an isosceles triangle, with the vertex pointing towards the direction of the beam. Pulse thrusters use a single arc of Arcanium, but if an arc is charged with another beam, it will output twice as much power, in terms of a quadratic function, resulting in a repulser. In early development of repulsers, numerous arcs were stacked on top of each other, with extreme levels of power output. Such devices were impossible to control, and were banned shortly after. Arcs of more than three are considered illegal, and those consisting of three must be driven by those with special licenses. However, that doesn’t stop most underground ponies from using these engines.

Similar to Repulse Thrusters are Side-Pulse Thrusters, where Arcs are placed side by side, resulting in a linear power buildup.

Arcjet thrusters operate when air is compressed many times, then forced into a combustion chamber where it comes in contact with an arcanium arc in the shape of an equilateral triangle, where it then combusts, and is forced out of a nozzle at the end.

Ramjets, a variation, contain no compressor and rely solely on the airflow to compress the air. They work only at high speeds.

Arcane Rampulsers are a variation of the ramjet, in which an isosceles arc is coupled with an equilateral arc. The isosceles arc charges up the equilateral arc, generating a 50% increase in power output.

A note on isosceles arcs: the vertex angle of the isosceles triangle determines the torque to hp (yes, horsepower) ratio. As the angle increases, getting closer to equilateral, torque increases, while hp decreases. As the angle decreases and the triangle gets longer and thinner, hp increases and torque decreases.

Then there are Arcane Rockets, which are powered by feeding straight liquefied Arcanium into the combustion chamber, where it is activated by a spell created by another Arc. The liquefied Arcanium* then combusts and undergoes an extremely powerful decomposition, expanding at a ratio of 25:1. The explosion is then directed through the nozzle at the back. Arcane Rockets are very powerful and simple to build, but very expensive to operate, due to the sheer amounts of Arcanium involved.

*Arcanium, in liquid form, is highly reactive. More about that in Arcanium and Its Properties.

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Cities

There are 8 major cities in the story: Appleoosa, Baltimare, Fillydelphia, Vanhoover, Las Pegasus, The Crystal Empire, Canterlot, and Ponyville. The first seven are known as the Core Cities, with Canterlot being the capitol. Ponyville is somewhat of a forgotten city due to its proximity to the much larger Canterlot

Ponyville
Main export: Herbs, spices, magical potions. Due to its proximity to the Everfree forest, a great deal of unusual and magical potions and herbal cures can be extracted from the strange foliage. Because magic is forbidden, these cures are in great demand for magical ailments.
Population: roughly 520,000
Ponyville is divided up into many factions, governed by the owners of each different herb or spice drawn from the forest. The Lulamoon family is in charge of one of them, it being the reason why they are so wealthy. Other major governing factions are the Apple Clan, Carrot Clan, and the Flower family.

Appleoosa
Main export: Iron, due to the iron in the soil and underground. Also, the slowly dying Silverstar mine still exports small amounts of silver, although with heavy competition from Las Pegasus, it’s a diminishing market.
Population: 110,000
Due to increasing contention between the townsponies and the buffalo natives, Appleoosa has become quite militarized. There is a Lord of the city, but it’s really the Sheriff that is in charge. Appleoosa is not a popular city. The residents are tough as the nails they forge, and the environment is just as harsh. It’s a dying city.

Las Pegasus
Main export: Silver, tourism industry. The countryside is already a sleazy mess, but Las Pegasus concentrates the worst of it. Prostitution, pony trafficking, gang activity, etc.
Population: 700,000
Las Pegasus is a large buyer of drugs and herbs from Ponyville, however the usage is mainly for abuse. Poison Joke bars offer customers a chance to laugh their troubles away for a time, with detrimental side effects such as depression and liver failure. Fluxweed lounges offer mental and emotional stability, where ponies can drink excess amounts of fluxweed tea, but leaving them detached from reality. The basic options for lifestyle in Las Pegasus are as follows: For females, basically you could be raped, or you could be a prostitute and get paid to be raped. For males, you can join a gang and end up dead in an alley, climb up the corporate crime ladder until you end up dead in an alley, or just flat out get snuffed and end up dead in an alley.

Baltimare
Main export: Manufacturing
Population: 1,100,000?
Baltimare is the powerhouse of the technology industry. This is where all the labs, factories, and plants for producing New Equestria’s technology are. The surrounding area has become so urbanized that Baltimare and Fillydelphia have essentially merged together and nobody really knows where the city boundaries are. A pony can find a reasonably decent life in Baltimare or Fillydelphia, comparatively. Still, the factories are a harsh environment and lifespans are considerably shorter. But at least it’s better than the crap going on in the other cities.
Fillydelphia
Main export: Also manufacturing
Population: 1,100,000? (with the blending of cities, it’s hard to tell)
Fillydelphia is also part of the Industry Binary, as ponies like to call it. Lots and lots of factories.

Vanhoover
Main export: Textiles
Population: 800,000
Not much is known about Vanhoover, really. Its citizens rarely travel down south, and it’s too cold for anypony to ever really want to travel north to it. The governing power never gets in the way of Canterlot’s decisions, and Canterlot couldn’t care less about it. However, lately Vanhoover has been a staging area, more or less, for the troops fighting the rebellion in the Crystal Empire.

The Crystal Empire
Main Export: Jewelry and Precious Stones
Population: ??
The Crystal Empire has been in a state of revolution for the past fifty years or so, currently led by a pony who calls herself The People’s Cadence. As such, no data can be found on the current population. Efforts by the Crown to thwart the rebellion have been fruitless, as the location of the city is prime for defense and the weather is extremely harsh that far north. Rumors on the street say that the city itself is beautiful and gleaming, the weather is warm, and the ponies live happily, although that idea is more likely a nice fantasy. Those who try to “escape” to it often die in the extreme conditions or are killed by soldiers, and those that have made it never come back.

It is still unknown why the rebellion continues to have the willpower to keep fighting after so long.

Canterlot
Main Export: Arcanium
Population: 1,000,000
Canterlot is the capitol of New Equestria. Because of the rich deposits of Arcanium beneath its mountain, it is the source of all the new technology surging throughout the lands. If you can manage to be picked as one of the researchers and scientists at Canterlot, you’ve got it made. Sadly, very few actually make it to that point. Most of the rest of the population work for the nobility or the government in some way. Solar Flare’s castle is also located just above Canterlot, and is the absolute center of governmental control in New Equestria.

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Pipsqueak's character sheet, because it explains a lot about in-story lore and happenings.

Name: Pipsqueak, aka “Little John”

Appearance: Earth pony. Pinto, cream with brown splotches. Brown Eyes. Cutie mark of a steering wheel. Extremely large build, somewhat like Big Mac’s. Brown mane and tail, with a stubbly beard. Often covered in grease from the machine shop.

Age: 22

Why we like him: Pipsqueak is just a handy pony to have around. He is very strong, meaning he can move and lift a whole bunch of things. He knows nearly everything there is to know about speeders and hovercraft, so if your speeder breaks down, he’s got you covered. He’s very outwardly jovial and lighthearted; you can always count on him to crack a joke (possibly at an inappropriate moment). He is the glue that keeps the team together, striving to be friends with everypony, and while many are annoyed by his antics, they know that underneath is a pony with sincerity in his bones.

Character flaws: He loves to use the word ‘darling’ (more on that later), and addresses everypony with it, no matter what age, gender, or title. This can be highly annoying to various members of the team, mostly to Pound Cake and Marshall, the first attributing it to being unmasculine, and the second annoyed by its frequency and weirdness. Pipsqueak can get along with everypony well, but has a very difficult time strengthening a relationship beyond just good friendship. This is because he fell deeply in love with another mare, who was part of the Manehatten resistance movement, introducing him to the trade and, through that, eventually to the team. She however, happened to be a double agent for the SFSS (Solar Flare Secret Service) and set the Manehatten group up for a trap. Because of her love for him though, she told Pipsqueak to stay behind, “for his own sake” When he found out later, he was crushed. Not only because all of his current friends had been killed, but the love of his life was the one who had caused it. He has trouble having deep relationships, especially romantic ones, not only because it’s hard for him to completely trust anypony anymore, but also because he’s secretly holding out for her, out of respect for what they had, and also hope that just maybe, she might come back. She would call him “darling” frequently, and he now uses it as sort of a mantra.

Quirks and hobbies: Pip keeps a garage full of speeders, hoverbikes, and even a vintage steam-powered wagon. He runs a machine shop in his spare time to earn a few extra bits. He’ll show off his driving skills every once-in-a-while by entering local street races, and every year enters the Annual Quad-City Showdown, a race with contestants from Ponyville, Appleloosa, Las Pegasus, and Cloudsdale. His goal has always been to beat an older mare named Lightning Dust, who races in his division. He’s always been second, though always with extremely small margins, so someday he'll beat her, he's sure of it. He’s deathly afraid of spiders. His favorite music is easy rock, with a bit of country too.

His primary speeder, a Vaughnin JF-850 S, dubbed “Ol’ Bess”, is what he uses to cart all the rest of the ponies of the team around. It uses two arcane-repulse thrusters to get the job done, and getting the job done is what Bess does best. She may not be fast for the races, and she’s definitely seen better days as far as looks go, but she can carry a little over a ton in cargo, and can hold her own against the speeders used by the royal police. The steering gets very squirrily above 75 mph, and the thrusters will degrade above 120 mph. Top speed is 140, but the thrusters will burn out completely after roughly ten seconds.

His racing speeder, named Pájero de Fuego, The Firebird, is an Appleseed-Brunwick Gemini-Rider, one that has been heavily modified for racing. It has been outfitted with twin quad-compressed turbojet engines on each side, and a supercharged rampulser engine in the center that kicks in at high speeds. Hidden inside the rampulser is a mini Arcane Rocket, powered solely by Arcanium. This little guy can only be powered for approximately 5 seconds to provide a massive boost in speed. However, the legendary handling that Pajero is known for drops to nearly nonexistent, so it must be used in the straights. Top speed is 215 mph, with a jump to 270 when the Arcane Rocket kicks in. Because Arcanium is so expensive, Pipsqueak is often unable to use the rocket, even when he has an opportunity.

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A few other snippets of information.

Early on, the team consisted of Featherweight, Nyx, Snips, and Snails. They started off by stealing minor things, like hitting food stores and money vaults. As they got better, they hit bigger and bigger targets, until they finally attempted to rob the inner palace itself. Due to an underestimation of how long it would take to break in, Snips and Snails were caught, with Featherweight unable to save them. They were tortured and finally executed, leaving only Featherweight and Nyx. Featherweight feels enormous guilt over the deaths of those two, and has a hard time leaving anyone behind.

In the alternate ‘verse, Nyx was first created by a group trying to resurrect Nightmare Moon, the only pony that was capable of fighting against Celestia’s regime. When they were caught in the process, the spell was halted and the group exterminated on sight. Later on, Trixie, a very rich and well renowned pony, found her and began taking care of her, eventually serving as her adoptive mother. Nyx was taught to always hope for a better future, and to always look out for those she loved. She earned her cutie mark when she stepped in for Featherweight that had been caught stealing food, taking the blame and sparing him from punishment. This was what also brought him into the group. She and Featherweight share a very close bond, although not romantically. They always have each other’s back, no matter what.