I've got some ideas in my head about how the whole human/pony integration thing will go, along with Project Harmonics and Ascent. But I've been thinking about it, and I realize that there is probably a lot that I'm missing. In order to avoid having hoards of people saying "what the heck, Hoopy, how could you overlook/be so wrong about ___?", I thought I'd open up a thread to have a discussion on what some likely scenarios may be, with all the tech and change I've introduced to both humanity and Equestria.

Regarding overpopulation and expanding to other worlds:
I think Erin is a little optimistic about that in her interview (she and I don't always agree, as odd as that may sound ) My actual opinion is that people like to be comfortable. It takes a lot to convince the average person to give up what they're familiar with and voyage into the unknown.

Here are my thoughts on it, and what I was planning to have happen:

At first, it would be the more adventurous types, or those with less to lose, who would be the first ones to go exploring and setting up shop in new worlds. Or those who see some way to profit, or to live their lives in a way they can't on Earth or Equestria. Only when those worlds are somewhat well established do I see the floods of people coming in. I'm thinking along the lines of the American Old West. It wasn't until a certain base of settlements got set up (and, more importantly, railways) that people started going out there in droves (if I remember my history correctly).

Also, exploitation of natural resources (lumber, metals, etc.) will drive a lot of business ventures, and those ventures will require supporting communities. Luckily, by 2038 (in my timeline, at least) humanity has largely moved away from oil and gasoline dependency for things like cars. There will still probably be oil drilling and refineries in new worlds, but it won't be nearly the same kind of scale as it would be today.

Worlds like Harmony will take centuries to fill up, in my opinion. And will, probably, never have close to Earth's population.

Then again, I could be wrong, or I'm missing some things.

Project Ascent:

Going back to what I said about people wanting to be comfortable, the thought of submerging yourself into a vat of goo to have your body remade is going to scare the willies out of a lot of people. I see it as akin to cyber enhancements. As cool as I think it could be to have my phone implanted into my skull, with the ability to "see" the screen via virtual reality, I don't think I would do it even if it were offered. I like my skull in one piece, and I'm pretty attached to my body as it is. Modifying my body artificially, for me, is a lot more fun to think about casually than it is to seriously consider.

For a generation or two, I see most of Ascent's clients being those with no options. Those with terminal diseases, missing limbs, things like that. And, even in the case of missing limbs, many people may prefer prosthetics over an Ascent-made replacement.

Again, it would be the more adventurous or those with the least to lose who would go for Ascent. Then, when horrific accidents consistently fail to happen, more interest would spread and, eventually, it would be more widely accepted.

Because of that, I see Ascent labs being built rapidly to meet the high demand of people who are dying. But they'll quickly build past that demand (I give it a couple of years) and start offering other services. Be bigger, stronger... or non-human.

Eventually, we'll figure out how magic works well enough to make humans capable of using magical fields. Until that happens (and it's going to take a while, at least in my continuity), the only way to use magic is to become a creature that can use magic. This is deliberate, because I'm a sucker for ponified human stories... can you tell? But magic-using humans will happen eventually, I promise.

But we're not limited to ponies, here. Why not dragons? Though, they'd have to be relatively small dragons, to fit into an Ascent lab. Or maybe someone wants to go to Equestria and fly and play with clouds, but they don't want to be a pony, and a griffon sounds like the ideal choice?

That was what was in my mind when I was coming up with this. Adventurous explorer-types, probably young unmarried adults, who want to use Ascent because magic is cool, and exploring Equestria (or Harmony) sounds fun. And they really, really like the ponies.

But maybe I'm wrong there, too?

So, what are your thoughts? Any glaring problems or things that I've missed? I'd like to find those before I start writing more, if possible

Thank you!

~Hoopy

I don't think I see any problems. My mind keeps jumping back to the thought of furries, though. I think it's a given that members of the furry fandom still exist in this timeline, and I'd be curious to have at least a paragraph in a story address them and what they think of this. I'm sure furries would love the chance to become their fursonas, or fully anthropomorphic animals, biped or quadruped, plantigrade or digitigrade.

I'd like to point out that something like Ascent would be a godsend to transgender folk, as well.

One thing that I could see definitely happening is continuing work on finding ways to bring magical fields, or decent magical storage, to more of Earth, for the benefit of those who want to visit, ponies, etc.

Also, I can't really see Harmony go without a military presence of some kind - governments will have a very strong interest in the new world, just like they did not all that many hundreds of years ago. I can see a lot of push towards organizing government and private colonies of various kinds after the initial rush.

461637

Transgender... Thank you, I never even thought of that! You're completely right, that would be an amazing thing for them.

462007

Considering how the story I'm considering writing in your world is centered around a trans-person...

(I'm a student aiming for psychiatry with a focus on gender problems. This is stuff I think about constantly, really.)

If you want to know how the Ascent labs would probably work in real life, it would probably mirror that of computing. It starts as extremely expensive and only the very rich can afford a personal one. Most are owned by organizations or businesses. The price then exponentially decays, cutting in half every two years or so. Eventually the tech is developed to the point that everyone IS an Ascent lab, in that their bodies are made of nanites that can morph at-will(With proper elemental feedstock, gotta follow conservation of mass). It's the same difference between the mainframes of old and a smartphone.

If you want to talk plot holes, you missed a GIANT GAPING ONE. Humanity has access to nano-assemblers. The fact that we already have mastery over it to the point of radical body-modding is an extra heaping of awesome over the base tech. Ascent technology can and will be used for nanofabrication. The only limits to what you can have are information, energy and elements. Anything can be turned into anything with proper application of electricity and the Periodic Table. Want to turn a pile of metal into an iPad? Go ahead! To properly illustrate the effect this would have, please note that nanofactories are also known as Cornucopia Machines. Release the blueprints for this technology onto the open market, and the world economy will double every week.

568839
Or collapse since apart from raw materials the value of manufactured goods could go down.

691339
The thing is, do the humans really need them? The only large bits of matériel/materiel that the humans really would need might be aircraft and seacraft, if their new land is on the coast then a coast guard/rescue service might be formed.

691941
Well with Ursas I guess the question is would any projectile weapon work against them, with dragons would anything short of bunkerbusters harm them. Though you are right, there would be some that would... but would they even move to Equestria?

692002
There were some humans who thought that Celestia would go Xenoestia (TCB!Celesita) and ponify everyone, so some thinking that they must be ready to fight back... *shakes head* I really don't want to see the Sunflowerverse go that way, humans aren't complete bastards and neither are the ponies... speaking of which Sunflower needs to be added to my new group.

692032
There were some ponies not pleased with the humans arriving, and there may be zebras not happy with the land that they are giving up. And there are the cults popping up on earth about the Bearers and the Princesses... damn there is a lot that can happen

To be honest the next plot I want to see centers around the new world they found at the end of the story and not the political intrigue that will happen with two different cultures have to learn to get along.

Since Project Ascent is pretty much a 3D printer on steroids, I wouldn't put it past some private owner to fabricate a minigun for the hell of it.

And what someone mentioned earlier, furries, oh my.

Personally, if Project Ascent existed and I was able to use it, I would want a robot hand that is disguised with a flesh glove like the Terminator and have random stuff hidden in it, like a watch. Or my wallet.

1616046
The Black Tide and its nanites only ever demonstrated the ability to convert matter to organic matter (more of the Tide) and the nanites. Project Ascent's nanites were created from damaged nanites from the Tide. Taking into consideration the nutrient bath, Project Ascent's nanites are far less capable than the original nanites.

It may have not been stated, but Project Ascent has only demonstrated the ability to reorganize organic matter, not create any kind of machines. Sunflower's cybernetics were inserted during the process, not created by it.

Even with that said, the team behind Project Ascent has essentially given away a powerful tool to wealthy villainous people (or just people lacking ethics). They would have an easy time converting their minions to be physically indistinguishable from just about anyone, especially if they can capture the one to be disguised as. Another possibility for the (mis) use of Project Ascent would be to fuse the advantages of many different things into one being (as having been demonstrated by Malachite) thus creating super-soldiers of some sort.

1643416
Ah, if it's organic things then....
Anyone play Starcraft?

If you see this guy in a suit, sunglasses, and is standing in front of someone's door, you stay far, far away.

I should have seen the Zerg coming.

I suppose one issue not addressed in the original story (I haven't started the sequel yet) is what laws each new world is subject to. Is Harmony considered an Equestrian colony, A United States territory, it's own country, etc.

As for war machines being brought to Harmony, it's never specifically said that they can't, but since I'm assuming Harmony is uninhabited, they wouldn't need anything that massive. Between Rifles and Unicorn Magic, they should hold up pretty well.

So, here's an interesting concern. If there are no war machines, what happens if, say... Harmonics finds a world with inhabitants who aren't so friendly?