@docarrol
Sorry.
I was pondering what you said. Obviously some time ago, pegasai and their tools of trade had some edge. Being able to fly over rougher terrain and large and/or dangerous bodies of water and has access to pegasai based areas.

I guess some time some unicorns advanced in enough magic to keep up with the tech race. Same thing with Earth Ponies. Ponies like Cherry Blossom make me wonder if airships were an invention of earth ponies, giving flightless ponies access to the skies. This whole thread made me consider the world of Equestria more than I already have.

@SeraphimDawn
And a classic.

@TyroneBiggums
I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to ask here? Could you expand on that?

Music time!

I'll have to admit. I love that this uses the tag "scenery porn"

It's just brilliant!

@docarrol
Wouldnt flying be like walking for them like a track runner going the same way as an 18 wheeler?

Despite all the cool industrial steam tech and the beautiful scenery, the thing my eye keeps going back to is Trixie levitating the letter for Zecora.
She's not reading it with Zecora. She doesn't obviously care about the contents. She's not even paying attention. Just a casual "Oh, hey, my ability to warp space and time to my whim isn't otherwise occupied at the moment, let me hold this slip of paper so it's slightly more convenient for you."

Man, if that's not friendship, I don't know what is.

@Sarachi
Earth Ponies have the strength and endurance to pedal-power a helicopter, but that appears to be a novelty rather than used for general transportation. Pegasi can levitate wagons they're hitched to; however, there's probably limits to how much they can carry that way—the most we've seen is a delivery van that required two or more pegasi in harness. For large cargo or passengers, Equestria appears to use a mix of airships and railway trains. Both good, solid steampunk technologies.

@some pony
Several people have already pointed out that earth ponies and unicorns can't fly long distances like pegasi, so I'll gloss over that and just point out this:
Same reason as they have trains, really: Cargo capacity, and endurance.
An air ship can move bigger, heavier loads than can be carried by one or two pegasi. And the mechanically driven transport can keep running steadily long after a pony/draft-animal would get tired or hungry.

@some pony
Do not forget about pinkie. Remember Gilda?

@kleptomage

I wonder what adventure they're about to head off on.

Grocery shopping of course.

I love scenery porn pics like this! There's so much to take in. Love this. :D

@40kponyguy
My first thought too.

man i love steampunk.

@40kponyguy
Exactly what came to mind. I was hoping one of the tags would give a reference!

Anyone else getting a 'Studio Ghibli' feel from this? (Laputa immediately sprang to mind here).

Does anyone else think this image merits the "scenery porn" tag?

@some pony
A hot air balloon is literally the first thing that pops up in the shows opening. It's just another mode of transportation for those without wings. So it makes sense that they'd use an airship.

Pretty neat. Not everyday we get more than one pony in a featured image.

@some pony
Only pegasi (and alicorns) can fly, and probably can't carry much with them. As for teleportation, it seems restricted to only the most powerful unicorns (and alicorns).

@The Smiling Pony
True
But flying and teleportation is much faster in this universe
And I don't think I've seen a person outran/outswim a boat/unicycle

And so, they made their own adventure.

@some pony
Why do we have bicycles or boats? Can't we just walk or swim?

My new wallpaper <3

Why do they have airships?
Can't they fly and use teleportation