You walk slowly down the halls of the renovated Thunder head that floated near Vanhoover near Whinnypeg. You arrived just yesterday with the last lift taking supplies up to the city, and today you have a meeting with one of the historians of the city, Professor Almanac. You slow down as you reached the classroom. You wait by the door as a the deer in a professional suit talks to several dozen children about the history of Equestria on the whole. The bell rang and the students make their way out of the class room passing you as they go.
"Hello professor Almanac I take it?" You ask going into the room.
"Yes. I take it you're the young'un wanting to learn about the history of Thunder City well sit down. We've only got about thirty minutes before the next class starts."
"Thank you." You nod before taking a seat and turning your pipbuck's recorder on. "This is being recorded Professor please begin whenever you'd like." The deer nods sitting at his desk he begins.
"Thunder City is built in the remains of a wartime era thunderhead called Thunder Struck. Originally it was thought completely unusable. Back then it didn't even float but was permanently grounded. It wasn't until our founder, Ion Cloud arrived, in the year 60 A.B.F."
"A.B.F." you ask. interrupting the professor.
"After Bale Fire." The deer answered. "Ion Cloud, was a pegasus, and a genius mechanic."
"So he was a Dashite or a call back?"
"Quit interrupting, but no he was a pegasus born from pegasi that were stranded below the cloud layer. Anyways he went exploring the vessel in what was likely a scav mission. It was on this mission that he learned that he generators were still operational, and so he decided instead of selling it to the highest bidder he chose to build this city."
"How long did it take to get the city operational?"
"It took a long time it wasn't until Black Pyre, the first dragon to join our city helped to haul it into the sky. The Enclave didn't like that but by the time they arrived the ship was stable enough to fly on its own, and with the limited weapons systems, and the dragon the first battle against the Enclave in 71 A.B.F. was won in thirty-seven hours. Though both Raptors escaped though both were severely damaged, and it took nearly twenty gallons of healing potion to get Black Pyre back."
"The first battle the enclave?"
"There were others yes, but the next big event was a large migration of wastelanders, a lot of earthponies and unicorns arrived in the year 74 A.B.F and a few years later in 77 A.B.F. a second migration happened, with a good number of kirins, donkeys, deer, goats, and griffons; this one cementing our reputation as the most open and diverse society in the wastes. And it was this diversity that became our strength. Which was proven in the assault of the goddess and her cult."
"Her cult?"
"In Vanhoover and Whinnypeg there was a period of 10 years starting in 72 A.B.F to 82 A.B.F. when the goddess sent unicorn priests to form a massive cult then when their 'angels' arrived they in the winter of 82 A.B.F. they launched a full assault on the city. The battle was hard and lasted nearly eight months. The battle was hard fought as both anti-aircraft batteries and an alicorn army were brought against this city."
"What broke siege and won the day for Thunder City?"
"A massive near suicidal charge that was immediately preceded by a full discharge of all of Thunder City's guns for nearly an hour of full bombardment. At the end of the siege Thunder City had lost 64% of it's population and the cities near by only one in four survived."
"It must have been the darkest hour for your city."
"It was, it wouldn't be over for some time though. In the year 85 A.B.F. and the city was just getting back on it's feet when the Enclave attacked a second time. The second war lasted five days and ended with the death of Black Pyre, and four other of our city's dragons were dead, and five Raptors had been completely destroyed, and in the scavenging of the wreckage of these ships in the winter of 85 A.B.F. our scouting parties ran into Steel Rangers and there were running fights throughout the city for the next couple of years until in the year 90 A.B.F. when the last of the rangers were successfully run out of the Vanhoover region. And that was the end of the darkest hours of Thunder City."
"Were there never anymore sieges?"
"There were but they would never come so close to succeeding." Professor Almanac nods. "For three decades from 90 A.B.F. to 120 A.B.F. Thunder City experienced a boom in population and by the time any one else attacked us our ammo storage bays were fully stocked and the artillery and anti-air guns had been relocated around the lower city on the ground to better secure us."
"I see." You nod. "That covers your founding and history, but what about the more recent events. Not a lot of ponies like that you traded with Red Eye. They see your policy as aiding the massive slave empire that he was building."
"It's true we did trade with Red Eye. We even traded with the few Steel Rangers that didn't have itchy trigger mouths. However, we never returned to them any slaves that escaped to us." Almanac sighs. "Officially we were neutral, and would trade with anybody that wouldn't cause problems, but unofficially we were always opposed to Red Eye and his slavers." There was a loud bell ringing for second before Almanac smiled. "That will have to end our discussion; however, the next class if for older students we'll be doing a small lecture over the years between 190 A.B.F. to 5 S.S.R.B. You're more than welcome to stay for it."
