Starquestria: Worldbuilding Brainstorming

An Alternate Alternate Universe: Equestria Girls discovers access to a world of space and magic aetheric technology!

First of all, Starquestria laughs at your puny 'astrophysics' and 'physics' and 'relativity'. LAUGHS! This would be the softest of soft sci-fi, in the vein of Spaceman Spiff, with the only pretension to accuracy being that 'aetheric phyics' is literally magic under another name. This place has a similar unreality level to Diskworld.

So what does this place look like? Well for a start it's small. Solar systems are the size of states, planets are the size of cities. In fact, Canterlot is literally a planet and it's very much like Corusant. Except, you know, actually city sized. Enormous drifts of colorful nebula fill space like weather systems. Where, yes, we have the equivalent of Cloudsdale (Nebulopolis) and Las Pegasas. Space being permeated with Luminiferous Aether means that while you can't breath, someone with the right kind of wings can fly. And there are no hazards from 'vacuum' beyond 'cold' (I know), decompression is not a thing that happens here.

Weather is ion storms and meteor showers, meteors get up to the size of a big house of a building. And because everything is so close together, there are alot of them. So yes, asteroid thickets as well.

Technology is aetheric manipulation, for the most part. Aether is raw magic put out by the power of the suns, which brings about the Harmony of the Spheres: physics as they are understood in Starquestria. Certain stimuli can cause particular magical effects from Aether, and cause it to change forms. These forms in turn have their own set of stimuli they react to. Technology functions by causing these stimuli, shuffling around the different forms of Aether in a useful way, and then doing what you want with it. There is in fact a system and method to it, but it's too complicated to get into here :p

Additionally, certain species can manipulate Aether naturally in various ways. We'll get to that in a minute.

Aether does not only come from stars: it comes from life as well. In fact, it ONLY comes from life. Stars in this world are literally alive, and intensely magical. And sometimes they manifest avatars. An incarnate star is the equivalent of an Alicorn, and their level of power and weirdness is at a minimum that of Trance Geminii from Andromeda. And yes, like Celestia, an incarnate star is merely very powerful. They are neither divine nor invincible.

Speaking of Andromeda, Hyperdrive is very much like Slipstream. It just operates in a smaller universe, and is much less precise. Every ship needs sublight engines too, because you can wind up hours away from your destination with Hyperdrive. It's best for jumping from system to system. Of course, a good pilot can cut the distance you arrive at significantly. But after a certain level it's all down to luck. Or awesomeness...

Superheroes: Yes, this is a world where superheroes just happen sometimes. They are rare, usually less than six per planet, but it's an understood and recognized phenomenon. The Stellar Six all have a power matching their Equestria Girls counterparts. In some cases this is an enhancement: all geodites are fairly tough and strong, Applejack is amazingly so. Mentats can sense emotions, but Twilight Sparkle is also telekinetic and Sunset (were her location known) would be able read minds at a distance.

Starquestria: Starquestria is a multi-species stellar alliance, centered on the city planet of Canterlot. It is led by it's benevolent Empresses, Celestia and Luna, avatars of the Equestrian binary stars. It controls a number of local systems, but is currently being menaced by the dread forces of Lord Sombra of the Dark Drift: a great nebula where no stars can be found, only dead worlds infested by monsters. Indeed, he is rumored to be the avatar of a black hole. But this must be mere exaggeration. Surely. What is known is that his crystalline Shard Ships constantly encroach on Equestria's borders, and open war is a certainty. Additionally, tensions continue with the Saurians (who resemble raptors down to the colorful plumage) despite a recent detente. They are our version of griffons.

The Stellar Six: Note that these are the alternate dimensional equivalents of the Humane 6, not the Mane 6. As such, there's no reason to match their pony races to their alien species. Where is Sunset Shimmer? That's a secret...

Pinkie Pie - A hot pink Wubbawoo. Wubbawoos are very rare, and look like a Wookie got a very bright dye job. This is deceptive: their body is actually mostly fluff, surrounding a bunch of tough and stretchy tentacles coiled like springs. Their hair is also fully prehensile. Somehow.

Rarity - Crystaline Geodite. Geodites look like humanoid Earth Elementals in various colors and materials. In Rarity's case, she is slim and elegant but not especially sturdy. A glamorous model and singer, known for her wonderful self designed outfits. She can generate powerful forcefields, and can also turn invisible.

Applejack - Stone Geodite. She's still orange. In fact, to be honest, she looks exactly like a girl version The Thing. Works on a Rock Farm, which channels the natural geothaumic energy of the planet to grow useful gems for aetheric technology.

Twilight Sparkle - Mentat. Mentats look mostly human, but with pointed ears and prominent antennas on their foreheads. They have telepathic powers. An aetheric engineer and roboticist par excellence, she is never seen without her AI Companion Spike. She generated him in a freak accident with a learning algorithm when very young, and has never been separated from him since.

Fluttershy - Felinoid (cat girl), for no reason but that it's adorable. Felinoids are quick and agile, with good eyes at night. They are also equivalent to humans in this setting. A Space Ranger (not to be confused with the Star Rangers, a police and peacekeeping organization). She works on preserve planets, checking on wildlife and ecology, travelling between them. Long stretches without social interaction have left her very shy. However she is also a living universal translator, able to speak and understand any form of communication known. This includes languages that defy attempts at conventional analysis.

Rainbow Dash - Sylph. Sylphs are the equivalent of Pegassi, able to both breath and manifest wings to fly in the Aether. They do not have natural hyperdrive, but star systems are still close enough you can make the voyage without it. It just takes weeks or months. Rainbow Dash aspires to join the Shooting Stars, the elite starfighter wing of the Celestial Navy. Dash's power is the ability to enter Slipstream without a hyperdrive, even from a planet.

Comments

[Ri2]

Ooh. This sounds like a delightful setting.

And now I'm desperately wondering where Sunset is. Damn you.