Should Equestria include science fantasy elements?

[TheMisterManGuy 344]

There are machines and other sorts of technology currently in Equestria. But how would you feel if the show included more science fantasy elements like Robots, and computers? I honestly think it could make Equestria a bit more interesting and diverse.

[Jammo 986]

I want to see aliens eventually. But not like Martian ponies. I'm thinking magic aliens. Like beings of pure magic. Floating colourful light beings. This would explore the idea of other worlds while still fitting the tone of the universe.

 

Also simple computer consoles have been scene in Twilight's lab whenever she's doing science stuff.

Edited December 15, 2014 by Jammo

[Malinter 3,064]

Twilight whips out advanced technology at random such as the data analyisis machines, those brainwave nodes, that device that seems to analyse tornados.

 

I'm just waiting for a part in S5 where one of the main 6 waltzes in wearing power armour XD

[Wind Chaser 4,768]

It is an interesting concept, but any advanced technology shown in Equestria should be kept at a rudimentary level by our standards to avoid clashing with the magic and breaking the character of the world. It should be at a level where it is complimentary to the magic. Equestria is no place for anything even as modern as an early PC. The technology level of Equestria should, as a rough guide, be at a level of technology equivalent to any time between the 1880s and the early 1920s.

[sweetolebob18 728]

I am with North Wind on this.  The tech level in Ponyville is around 1900 & the concept works.  You would also have to get into Why didn't T have clue 1 about more advanced tech in EQ girls?  Don't screw around w success is my motto. 

 

On the other hand, Manehatten is at least the 1950s, maybe later & who knows about the Crystal Empire?  Any advanced tech episodes should go there.  Maybe some Dexter's Lab type Earth pony that wants to replace unicorn magic w tech  (I could live with 1 episode like that)

[LZRD WZRD 1,929]

Not really, it would seem grossly out of place, given then old world we're presented with most of the time in the show

[Steel Accord 6,660]

Well the show is rooted chiefly in Heroic Fantasy and High Fantasy for the season openers and finales. It has already dabbled in some science fiction themes and ideas. Spike mentioning zombies, which have become more of a staple of sci-fi rather than fantasy. Twilight has some pretty advanced tech at her disposal, and the plot and themes of clone identity and the nature of self of Too Many Pinkie Pies is something straight out of a Phillip K. Dick novel. (Hell even the title sounds wordy like his. See Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep or We'll Remember it for you Wholesale.)

 

They have some modern equipment such as lighting, hydroelectric dams, skyscrapers, and stand up arcade machines. The comics showed a possible future that included cyber-ponies, but then again that could have been Discord just being Discord as that whole comic was basically one big shout out to Doctor Who. And even then, just having a computer in their world would not make it science fiction.

 

In the main show, I feel like such elements would be more distracting if overplayed. The show again is rooted deeply in fantasy and while some sci-fi themes and ideas are okay here and there, they would detract from Equestria's fidelity as a setting if explored too much. For instance when the Mane Six had to get to the moon, rather than build a rocket, Applejack's lasso was enchanted and she roped the moon down to them. Something straight out of a folk tale that. The rocket would have been trite as I've seen that done a million times, this was different and something Applejack would do, it was unique to the characters and their world.

 

So I guess my answer would be no, it should keep it's identity and save the science fiction elements for occasional dalliances rather than long term inclusion.

It is an interesting concept, but any advanced technology shown in Equestria should be kept at a rudimentary level by our standards to avoid clashing with the magic and breaking the character of the world. It should be at a level where it is complimentary to the magic. Equestria is no place for anything even as modern as an early PC. The technology level of Equestria should, as a rough guide, be at a level of technology equivalent to any time between the 1880s and the early 1920s.

 

Well I agree with the idea, but I don't think this is about "technology levels" as much as it is about grand themes. I mean, Equestria has comic books, stand up arcade machines, modern construction equipment, and a hydro-electric dam.

 

The "technology level" in Equestria has always been schizophrenic and that makes sense if one remembers that necessity is the mother of invention. When magic can solve many problems, some inventions might not get past a certain stage if they even occur at all.

 

Technology is not a straight line after all, Earth's own history is filled with civilizations that discovered some inventions but not others. The Romans could have built the steam engine, but they didn't have the infrastructure for mass producing it, so it was best left as a curiosity. Da Vinici laid the groundwork (or skywork as it were) for hang gliders but he didn't have the materials or machines to make a flight capable model. Even today, we can actually make stinking anti-matter! Something that would make a mission to Mars almost trivial. Problem? It costs roughly $62 trillion per gram! So technology doesn't go in one direction over a long period of time, it branches out and sometimes has set backs or an alternative solution presents itself. Social conditions and say . . . magic, might result in a totally different looking world under different circumstances.

 

Thing is, just having a computer would not make Friendship is Magic science fiction, just as having the greek gods in Star Trek didn't make it fantasy. Having a computer become sentient and start asking questions as to the nature of itself, now that would be science fiction. Genre is more than just aesthetics.

 

For instance Star Wars is a fantasy. Oh there's spaceships and droids all right, but they exist to facilitate the swash buckling, gun fighting, rough and tumble adventure of a farmboy, a princess, a pirate, and a wizard as they fight an evil empire.

 

In contrast, Fullmetal Alchemist is sci-fi. Alchemy looks like magic, is called magic, and functions like magic; but the hero emphatically points out several times that it's science and has a well researched understanding of chemistry, physics, and the conservation of energy behind it. Although there are many elements of fantasy in there, from the various sword fights, to the hybrid animals called chimera, and with not even basic aircraft in sight; the main point of the show is exploring what this technology of alchemy does and how the world and culture interact with it.

 

I agree in that the ideas of science fiction would become distracting and off point for the show, but again, that would have less to do with the presence of modern or advanced technology as much as it would if that technology became a major theme within the setting.

Edited December 16, 2014 by Steel Accord

[RainbowTashie 379]

maybe not so much sci fi but i'd love to see spirits or the like