Concept design: Harmony VTOL shuttle

From: Her Majesty Princess Twilight Sparkle of the Equestrian Empire
To: Her Majesty Princess Applejack of the Equestrian Empire
(URGENT)


Dear Applejack,

I am forwarding to you the latest folder of design sketches and blueprints made by Apple Bloom. She has been very productive this month; enclosed within you will find seventeen different concepts and potential new inventions.

Of particular interest and ambition is the one dubbed "Harmony". Apple Bloom has not wasted any space with it—nearly everything included in this design is either a new, never seen before invention or a revisited and overhauled version of an older one. However, she is completely certain that it will be viable and perform admirably. I second her enthusiasm, as even looking at the first sheet with the outside overviews makes me want to see it in action. Furthermore, you know no worse than I that today's Equestria could use a vehicle of this sort.

This particular version is not meant to be more than a proof-of-concept prototype. With it, Apple Bloom intends to field-test the new hydraulic landing gear, the access ramp, twin tail fans and the feasibility of coaxially-mounted rotors enclosed in protective ducts, as well as their innovative variable-position mounts and momentum transmission systems. As the other parts of this design will show, the inside is no less packed with new inventions. Its main limitation remains in the heavy engines that take up much of the space the hull provides. However, even now my engineers are working on a different pattern that, should it prove successful, could solve this problem, which would open up the possibilities of its practical use.

As it stands, I would like to ask you to send copies of the "Harmony" blueprints to the Manehattan plant so that everything necessary to assemble a working model can be produced. I would like to see it tested as soon as possible. Should it be successful, Equestria could gain a middle-ground alternative to pegasus- and griffon-drawn vehicles and airships that we have been lacking so far.

Needless to say, the plans are not to be disclosed to anypony not participating in the vehicle's production. I trust that you will screen those involved yourself. Regardless of the tests' results, I am assigning them the confidential level of secrecy for at least twenty-five years.

I apologize for not being able to deliver this to you myself. The ongoing experiment at the Dusk facility requires my constant attention. Once it is over, nothing shall stop me from gathering you, Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow, Fluttershy and Spike together in Ponyville. It has been months since we could spend some time together, all of us. It is long overdue, and I am not going to let you all down and bury myself in my experiments again.

Always your friend,

Twilight Sparkle.

13.03.49 EE



It's done! It's finally done!
Sweet Celestia, I've spent weeks staring at this thing. I'm nearly certain I've made a bunch of errors and forgot to fix something there, but I simply cannot keep on adjusting it. I need to move on to new ideas.

This started out as a simple idea of drawing a concept sketch of a design that had been stuck in my head forever. But of course, as it always is with me, I simply couldn't settle for simple. Instead of just sketching out the general shape, which would have been enough, I decided to make a mock blueprint. Of course, this is nothing like a real blueprint. I know it is wrong, and I never intended it to be an accurate engineering drawing. It is, at most, inspired by them.

If there is a moral to this project, it is that one should not go into something they have little to no idea about lightly. Not only did I know jack about real helicopter and overall aircraft design, but I even picked a complicated hull shape and setup. As a result, I ended up spending ages doing, redoing, fixing and adjusting every single part of this design. I don't even know how many iterations every single line went through. I also spent at least a few evenings making sure that the top, side and front views corresponded at least roughly to one another. Synchronising them was not easy. I believe this is due to me doing things wrong thanks to my inexperience with art in general and SAI in particular.

Speaking of that, this has been the single biggest learning opportunity for SAI's linework layer function that I've had so far. It helped me improve my knowledge of the function and mastery of the basic tools. For that alone, at least, I'm thankful to myself for finishing it.

And you don't want to know the final number of lines and points. You really don't.

The circles of the propeller ducts were actually done via normal layers, as SAI's curve tool makes producing a proper circle harder than simply pasting in a hollowed-out one from a normal layer. One of the tricks I've learned. Even though I found out how to make some rather nice circles with the linework tools, I still think this is a viable option.

Oh, and don't worry about the propellers sticking out from under the attached papers. There's no complete back view. Only the three you see.


As for the papers and the letter you see above, they are flavour text helping make sure it is pony despite the lack of obvious ponyness in its appearance. It is part of a sort-of alternate futuristic universe my head has been developing in the off time. In that world, a hundred years after the last of the Mane Six became an alicorn princess, technology has taken a few steps forward, and the world is adopting progress while trying to reconcile it with the way of life it has lived before. Equestria is still mostly Equestria, but with dieselpunk. I don't know about you, but I find that pretty awesome.

This design is, as the letter mentions, a prototype. It's the first in the model line of one of the most widespread series of shuttles of its kind in the world. The line is called Harmony-pattern after its name and has versions for all sorts of tasks, from sightseeing to the duties of the Royal Guard.


Now that I'm done, I should be back to proper tablet drawing! Hopefully I'll finish something else soon!