Equestria In The Midst Of Revolution

The technologies depicted on MLP are all over the map, from quill pens and soldiers in armor with spears, to Ponyville’s hydroelectric dam, the skyscrapers of Manehattan, even the Flim Flam Brothers’ Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000. Some fans have commented that many widely available technologies (trains, skyscrapers, electric lights, early cars) seem to be about what one would expect in the first decade or two of the 1900’s in America.

What can impact might technological change have in Equestria? A cool primer on the changes in America during this time is this great NY Times article, What Was the Greatest Era for Innovation? A Brief Guided Tour. The article is relevant, because it describes what technologies were like in 1870, 1920, 1970, and 2016. Day to day life changed a lot, and very quickly, during these years on Earth. Sometimes, Equestria seems like a mish-mash of all of these eras! How will the same kinds of changes impact life and stories there?

Magic and Equestrian society and traditions will impact what changes are possible and what become popular. For example, has the crown been holding back some innovations (like guns?) while promoting others (like EKGs in hospitals?)

Some fun questions:

What does it mean that the latest Princess is a bit of a mad scientist / magi-technologist? If Celestia has Day Court, and Luna has Night Court, would Twilight have Egghead Court, where inventors come to get funding for new research and argue about who owns which new inventions?

Does the invention of farm tractors impact the status of Earth Ponies?

Does the invention of powered flight impact the status of Pegasi?

Does the march of technology give additional advantages to Unicorns, because they can use levitation for fine manipulation of tools and materials?

Will Earth Ponies and Pegasi invent tech to help them grasp and use tools better? Imagine a Pony Claw that was wearable on a fore-hoof and modeled after Griffon Claws, or Mechanical Minotaur hands for grasping tools?

How much of what we see in the show as advanced technology (EKGs in hospitals, Vinyl Scratch’s sound equipment in Slice of Life) are magi-tech, rather than just tech?

What can magi-tech do better than even our current tech? Can it replicate Force Fields? Teleportation? Levitation? Transformations? Hammer-Space?

What does tech and magi-tech use as power sources? Do Equestrian steam trains run on coal, or do they have a magical power source?

Lots of fun questions and fodder for stories!