An Idea I Never Plan on Using

Ok. So I've had this idea for a while but I have neither the time nor energy to actually write a story about it. It's basically the setup of an alternate universe that could be taken anywhere the writer wishes. Probably best if you have an idea and need a cool new setting.

I personally imagine the characters as anthro or human but it'd work for ponies just as well.

And here it is.

Equestria is a not to distant future society where flying cars and assistant robots are the norm. They are entering a new phase of prosperity and seek to expand their empire to the stars. But there's a problem. With exploration deeper and deeper into the galaxy comes new risks. Ships get damaged, hostile aliens are discovered, and ships are asked or forced to make planet fall to study the native flora and fauna. With these larger expeditions come larger ships and crews. However, there's no feasible way to feed these larger crews without making the ships absolutely enormous.

And then in comes science to the rescue. A new idea is formed: The DRAGON initiative. The idea is to bio-engineer a race of (humans/ponies/dragons) that can interface with the machines instinctively and on a much deeper level than a crewman working at a terminal. And wonder of wonders it works. There are a few side effects. Blood lust, cat slit eyes, claw like nails, a bad attitude, greed, and general unsocial and unpleasant mannerisms; but hey, we're not going to be seeing much of them since they'll be deep in the Orion cluster for the next 3 decades.

This works for a while but soon things begin to escalate. DRAGON operatives go missing, resign commissions to live in solitude, steal from the corporations they're hired from, and nearly start a bloody war with several other countries. Everyone freaks out and the DRAGON initiative is cancelled in favor of the new ALICORN venture. All the power and abilities of the Dragons with none of the unpleasant side effects. It is, however nearly impossible for the new gene treatments to take effect with only one true success.

Enter Celestia Solaris, A.K.A. The Dawn Star. Ace pilot, Navigational genius, and Diplomat. Awarded several medals, decorated soldier, graduated top of her class, and single-handedly kept the bakery in her home town running for 5 years after it should have gone bankrupt.

There were, however, two other partial successes. Enter Selena De La Lune and Mi Amore Cadenza. The first an ex-Dragon who's attempted transformation didn't quite go as expected (See the Nightmare Moon incident) and an ex-Pegasus pilot who showed promise and volunteered for the experimental treatments. The only one who survived besides Celestia.

Seeing that the ALICORN project created only three proper replacements the scientists and bio-engineers needed a new angle. What if they broke up the gene therapy into multiple parts to make the assimilation easier? And thus we now have the UNICORN, PEGASUS, and (I dunno EARTH, PONY, NEER(engineer)?) Projects.

UNICORN operatives work with navigation, comms, and captaining their own ships.
PEGASUS operatives make excellent pilots and combat troops.
EARTH operatives are excellent engineers and fabricators, and their cooking isn't half bad either.

With these three races working together a ship which once needed thousands can be run by less than 50 operatives.

Fast forward a few (years, decades, centuries? you pick) and Enter Twilight Sparkle and her brother Spike. The former a promising Unicorn hand chosen for (perhaps an advanced academy? or a deep space mission, use your imagination). The latter a remnant of the DRAGON initiative but young enough that the more unpleasant aspects of the species hasn't arisen yet. Join them as they embark on their journey as they make new friends and enemies.

So, yeah, there you go. I don't want to do it but if anyone wants the idea it's here and on my page.
TL;DR: Sci-Fi ponies are awesome and you would write an awesome story about sci-fi ponies