Lost History

by sniper567

Flying High

Author's Note:

this chapter is background info for the main story Eclipse note meant to fill in the gaps

first off, A big thanks to AlicornPriest for proofreading and editing!

I hope you enjoy my story.

Thank you

Flying High

Flying is great fun, but what if you could do it faster? What if you could go higher? I tried many times, but ran into one of two problems. First, it became harder to breathe the higher I went, which became a problem if I just went up there for a minute, but after a few minutes, I was wheezing harder than a Canterlot guard on training day. The other problem I ran into was the lack of lift provided by my wings the higher I went.

The first of the two problems would be fairly easy to fix; in my possession, I already had a breathing apparatus from my deep-sea explorations: a simple canister that held compressed air from the ground and used a regulator to dispense air in tune with my breathing.

It required some modification. The tank had to be much smaller, and the face mask needed to go over my muzzle. With some tweaks and modifications the mask was fitted, the regulator shifted and altered for above-sea pressures rather than below-sea pressures.

Most importantly, the tank was shortened and condensed to lighten its weight and size. Luckily the tank did not have to survive the crushing depths of the water, so it still held a considerable amount of air even in its diminished size.

With the new breathing regulator, I was able to stay up in the high altitude air for much longer. I found when compressing the air on the ground if a little magic was used you could get a little more oxygen then the rest of the gasses into the can. Especially at high altitudes, this seemed to be an important factor

I experimented a lot with gas mixing. I found the most efficient mixture was an odd one. I filled the tank with almost pure oxygen and allowed the mask to leak just a bit. The regulator was set to only a third of its pressure. With this combination, the tank lasted three times as long and provided ample oxygen to maintain a clear head.

It was important to make sure I never ran out of air pressure, as the lack of it would cause hallucinations and confusion. While flying several kilostrides above the ground, it's important that you don't blackout and fall to the ground. It may be the last time you ever fly.

Now would come the hard part. I needed to figure out how to provide power without my wings. I did think about using propellers, but while they might help for a particular altitude, they too would have the same issue as wings once they got up high enough. I also thought it was a bad idea having multiple large spinning blades in front or behind me.

So I came up with a novel idea with some inspiration from the deer of the forest and their liquid magic that they used to great effect. a finely distilled mix that could be given magical properties. I set it up so when the mixture came into contact with a metal mesh layer with an enchantment, it would react.

A unique mechanism, when the mix came into contact with the screen, it did two things. First, it expanded onehundredfold. Secondly, it would combust in cold steam expanding onethousandfold once again.

With these two reactions, the force that was generated was more than sufficient to blow the apparatus off the lab table. Perhaps now was a good time to move this experiment outside.

Firstly I needed a method of moving the fuel from the tank to the testing apparatus. I came to the design of a tube with a magic rotor in the bottom half and a centrifugal force pump at the top. The mix would enter through the top of the tube and be spun sideways by the fins that sat atop the rotor.

The rotor itself was the key to controlling the speed at which the fuel enters the mesh, and the reaction started. I found the faster the rotor spun, the more fuel was added to the line, but this type of pump had its limitations. I found using several smaller more well-made pumps were often better than a singular large one.

I also added a spring-assisted switch which had to be open with magic. I set this in the closed position and only with magic could it stay in the open position. In the event that the pilot blacked out or lost control, the fuel would stop flowing and would hopefully prevent you from plummeting to the ground faster than normal.

The next part was figuring out how to control the reaction. One of my first attempts was to contain the reaction in a tube with one end that was closed. This did help channel the reaction in one direction; it also increased the power of the reaction by limiting the force in one direction. This also made it much easier to control.

prototype 1

With all this testing outside, I ended up making these large plumes of clouds. While the average pony would not be able to tell them apart, a pegasus might before I continued my experiments. I added a suction channel to the testing bench. This channel fitted with large suction fans emptied underneath a lake.

Every time I tested the mixture the large plume of cloud material was whisked away through the pipes. The mixture was then let out and was allowed to mix with the water in the nearby lake. This eliminated the large plumes and kept my experiments under wraps.

With the tube containment came many advances but a few disadvantages. The reaction was rather difficult to start, as it would often backfire into the closed end of the tube and prevent the fuel from reentering the tube. A method was needed to direct the reaction towards the back end of the tube.

A special conical section that reduced from a large opening to a much smaller one was added before the screen, along with a magic rotor that spun small fan blades to pull air in from the front of the tube. This fan, as well as the conical section of the tube, provided a large pressure difference between the inside of the reaction chamber and the outside. When the mix was pumped in and hit the screen, the reaction was encouraged to move towards the lower pressure outside of the chamber.

With this advance, I no longer had the backfire issues. But the fan blades did have to get spinning up to a significant speed and required a lot of concentration on top of controlling the valves and the outer pump rotters.

I spent much of my time training. I practiced doing multiple small puzzles using magic and spinning rocks as fast as I could. In time, spinning the rotors were like second nature and controlling miniature mechanism became easy as well.

Now that all the pieces were assembled and ready, it was time for a test flight. I had already tested the device on a circular track. But being able to control it would be more difficult when flying then it would be on a railed track.

I strapped on the breathing mask. I positioned the tank with rotors and valves and affixed the single large device just between my wings. I was ready to test my resolve. I started up the regulator and spun up the frontal fan blades. When the pressure got to a maximum, I slowly open up the valves and started the pumps.

Not even a second after I was off the ground, I faceplanted right into the ground. It would be some time before I was ready to undertake another test flight.

I had a few issues to fix. The reason I crashed was simple. I was unable to control the thrust from the reaction with just my wings. Simply put, the thrust pushed my head over hoof. I knew I had to move the reaction further down. I noticed when on the track the reaction tended to lift the back wheel perhaps if the reaction happened behind the center of the pony rather than on top.

But with this idea came a complication. I needed to move the reaction lower but still next to me. I could not have it dangling hooves behind me or in front of me. I decided to shrink the size of the reaction chambers and made two: one to sit on each side of me just under the wings.

It was a bit odd, as I could no longer tuck my wings into my body. But at the speeds I was going to fly, my wings were more for changing course and for flapping.

In addition to the reaction chambers change, I added a set of goggles, as it became hard to see and my eyes started to water when I got going. With these changes, I was ready for another test flight. This time, however, I picked a nice, long lake: in the event I should faceplant again, at least it would be into the water.

This time, the test went much better than the first; I was flying high, but control was still a bit of an issue.

I developed a special set of front brakes that fit tightly over my front hooves. They had a small wing on the outer edge, which allowed me to use my front hooves to control my movements much more finely than my wings would allow.

With the third test flight, things were much smoother. The little wings on my hooves helped greatly with maneuverability and gave my wings a rest as they no longer had to make tiny adjustments. But with two steps forward, there always seemed to be a step back.

I noticed that there were issues with the rough layout of my equipment. It was not streamlined. The EUP’s newly-formed flying squadron had suits that covered their coat and made them far more aerodynamic, cutting the drag considerably. I figured I would do the same.

I encased my equipment in a slick cover that sliced through the air rather than pushing through it. The mask underwent a large change too. The whole regulator mechanism and breathing apparatus was made smaller and fit under a full-cover helmet that wrapped around my face; it even stretched over my horn to cut the drag behind it and protect it in the event of another fall. I'm not sure if I could reattach it if it were broken. I did not want to relive that whole switching process again.

I also tied back my mane and tail in a tight configuration to help eliminate drag. But with the latest test, I had a new problem again. With such little drag, I was able to go much faster, and the reaction seemed more efficient with less drag.

So fast, the blood ran from my head to my back hooves. This problem required quite a bit of research. I found using a suit with laces that should be tightened and constricted the blood flow to the legs keep more blood towards the front hooves.

I even went to add inflatable bladders that would pressurize when going fast enough. This prevents much of the blacking out at higher speeds along with special breathing and turning up the regulator most of the problems were minor.

Just as I was getting used to flying with the equipment, I noticed a new problem. At speed, the fan blades became useless. The air was entering the reactor faster than I could spin the blades. I developed a special fan blade that retracted at a high enough speed meaning I no longer needed to spin them when at high speed.

Interestingly enough, when at the right speed with the fans retracted enough air was being compressed to not only work normally, but better. The faster you went, the more air was compressed and the better the reaction seemed to work.

But there remained a single problem. Flying so fast and high, it was often difficult to see the ground and where you were going. Even knowing if you were the right side up was difficult.

A small hoofband with gems helped me greatly. It had several displays on it: a line of gems ranging from green to red indicating the height above the ground, and a large gem with a moving elongated sapphire indicated where my wings were relative to the ground.

On my left hoofband were six small gems correlating the level of the mix in the tank and a series of gems indicating hoofs per second, as well as a good old-fashioned compass. Enchanting the gauntlets meant they would work without a second thought. Combining them with the hoof wings made the instruments easy to read even when changing direction.

It was important to keep an eye on the height meter. If I went above the red, even the supplied air was not enough, and my skin began to burn. In addition, my wing and hoof controls became less effective.

Perhaps I would revisit this issue and create a pressurize protected suit. I would also need to rethink how I maneuvered way up there. Perhaps small reactors on the hooves as control wings seemed ineffective?

With these advances, I could now travel very far and fast high up where no one could see me. This apparatus was ahead of its time, and I was careful not to misplace it or let it out of my site. With the one exception of losing one of the magical rotors from a pump that one time. Perhaps someone would use it to help a turtle fly or something. Wouldn't that be funny?