((My apologies ahead of time if this is the wrong place to post this.)) So, when I first started reading about the game, I got this crazy idea of the brony fandom surviving the Fall and pooling their resources (as we are naturally wont to do) and finally attaining the dream of living in Equestria. This homebrew habitat is my version of that. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The Brony Herd Posted by: Fleur De Lis Firewall Proxy Moving to this wonderful home was probably the best decision of my life! . . . And I was on Earth during the Fall so I've had plenty of time to make decisions, both good and bad. The brony fandom survived the Fall the same way most of transhuman cultural niches did, by the skin of their teeth. The entire show, all six(!) seasons, survived for viewing pleasure, but most of the fan art was lost. Even now, scavengers and relic hunters bring back volumes of Fallout: Equestria from Earth. A situation almost uncannily fitting, wouldn't you say? We were scattered, weakened, and in the wake of the Fall, it seemed many just wanted to get lost in something bright and innocent. However, unlike the first time the fandom swelled, it did not produce waves of artists and musicians filled with passion, but sloven malcontents unable to cope with reality and seeing Equestria as a refuge. In short, we had become the stereotype others thought of us as before the Fall. That was until two bronies came up with a novel notion. To create . . . Equestria. Origins of our new home: In 4-AF, Jeremy Amble, a habitat engineer for Starware, was watching MLP episode vids with Stella, an AGI friend of his and independent researcher operating out of Glitch. Stella, who only had recently joined the fandom asked Jeremy if he would like to live in Equestria. "EVERY brony has wanted to go there at least once!" He laughed. "So . . . why don't we?" Stella simply retorted. That set off a spark in Jeremy's mind that soon became a wildfire. The two began brainstorming ideas on the various hows and whos. Until finally Jeremy had a feasible and tasteful design for the habitat itself, while Stella had a plan of infrastructure implementation. Later, at that year's Bronycon held in Nova York, the two officially announced their plans to create Equestria to massive applause and excitement. After that, it seemed like every brony from Mars to Neptune was donating money and volunteering for the massive project. By 6-AF, "The Harmony Initiative" had selected an asteroid and planted a transgenic seed deep within it's core, the Tree of Harmony took root. By 10-AF, Equestria is burgeoning and thriving habitat. Politics: While Jeremy was the architect of Equestria, Stella was the prodigal "founder" of it. She pushed herself further into her research in informorph augmentations, seeing it as her best way to serve the show and fandom she came to love. After augmenting her observational, thinking, and other functions to staggering levels, Stella sleeved the stations' cyberbrain. In addition, she also has a custom bio morph with a puppet sock installed for her to regularly fork into. Stella has assumed the identity of Princess Celestia in form and function. Most settlements in Equestria have their own form of local government. Ranging from cyberdemocracy, to nova-aristocracy, to anarchy; usually running their own affairs according to the whims of their citizens. However, in times of crisis, Princess Celestia holds absolute authority and most show appropriate royal/divine deference to her out of common courtesy (and no small amount of gratitude.) Residency: After it's official christening, several invitations were sent to once prominent big name bronies to live here. Even with an OC custom morph to sleeve into. This policy has been open ended it seems. Bronies who make a splash across the Mesh and continue to garner renown on /b/-net are likewise sent invitations. Thus, full Equestrian residency and citizenship is seen as a form of considerable status amongst the fandom. Pony morphs and morph policy: Through experimental exowomb tech, developed by Princess Celestia herself, custom pods are available in staggering numbers for incoming residents and guests. "Pony pods" were developed in part by bronies who were trained by and worked for Skinthetic. There were several challenges in getting them to be as faithful and show accurate as possible while still being viable to live as. In the end, they managed to come up with a granular jamming mechanism that allowed the hooves to roughly "grip" objects while still functioning as proper hooves. Earth ponies were given heavier skeletal structures and chemical processors that allowed greater endurance. Pegasi, have lighter skeletons, grip pads on their hooves for sticking to surfaces, and would compensate for their relatively small wings with the lighter gravity of Equestria. Unicorns have cranial layouts similar to a menton, granting enhanced mental capacities in addition to their horn giving them specialized access to AR, the Mesh, nano-machines, and other highly technical devices. However, considered their greatest achievement was embedding a highly modified and complex version of a nanotat that mimicked the function of a cutie-mark! The computer in the tat reads the ego's brain layout and runs through an exhaustive series of tests regarding when the ego felt euphoric highs. Between skills they take pride in, emotions felt, and personal history, the computer then tells the nanotat to become an image that marks that pony's destiny. Now, of course, the nanotat can be later altered to change into whatever the pony wishes it to be, but this is usually treated as being a little ingenue and outright showing off at the far end. Nopony minds if you change it from a raincloud by adding a thunderbolt, but the more elaborate or garish it becomes, the more eyebrows you'll raise. Although it's not illegal to sleeve into a humanoid morph in Equestria, it is seen as something of a faux pas by many. Most will AR tag you as a HiE (Human in Equestria.) Brony Factions: -The Manestream The "face" of the fandom and largely the dominant power. AR demos constantly stream new examples of fan art, there are live plays of episodes and fanfics, and concerts for brony musicians are some of the most attended events in the habitat. The more social bronies often don't live in Equestria proper, at least most of the time. Rather they live as informal missionaries, going about their lives normally, not forcing their bronyhood on others but still being brazenly open with it. The Manestream bronies are often very patriotic, loving the fandom wholeheartedly and wishing to see it grow bigger and more prosperous through their efforts. This faction wishes to celebrate what the show has inspired within themselves and each other. Most of these bronies are some form of Extropian, wanting to celebrate unfettered individual achievement and self-expression. -The Herd These bronies, on the other hoof, don't want any of the art or music. They may enjoy it in private, but in their day to day activities, they largely want to forget that the "fandom" exists. They're bronies for sure, but they're desire is to become completely subsumed into the faithful recreations of beloved Equestria. They cut back on referencing materials and memes from outside Equestria, and even have most of their AR filters toned back to the most basic displays to help keep the atmosphere of the show in place. This sub-faction attracts an odd mix of collective anarchists and isolationist brinkers, united by both the importance of community over selfish gain and their determination to stave off outside influence. -Exiles These bronies are the outcasts, the ones who don't live up to the simple but paramount virtues of basic respect and open mindedness. As such, most of them throw out any form respect to the fandom in regards to their morph choice. Dragons, griffons, diamond dogs, and proto-alicorns galore in this lot! (Even experimental flexbot Changelings and Timberwolves.) They may still self-identify as fans of the show and may or may not be actively hostile to the rest of us, but almost all are already irritable and unpleasant enough for it to not make much of a difference. Exhuman and criminal bronies flock to their ranks, relishing in the alien, intimidating, and powerful forms of the more predatory creatures in MLP lore. Luckily, they are very informal and just as often, hostile to each other. So they are much less of a threat than they would seem. -The Conversion Bureau Also known as the PER (Ponification for Earth's Rebirth), these bronies are few in number, but great in vision. However, this does not bode well for the fandom or anypony else. Inspired by a HIGHLY divisive fanfiction mythos, the Conversion Bureau sees all of transhummanity as savage, and destructive to itself and everything around it; citing the Fall and the loss of Earth as it's primary examples. They offer tours and work at embassies across many habitats as a sort of peaceful front and are almost evangelical in their praise of Equestria's ways. However, behind closed doors, they operate in ways similar (and may even have connections to) the Nine Lives Cartel. They are involved with forknapping, forced resleeving, and even involuntary, extensive psychosurgery. "All for their own good, of course!" One would defend with a completely straight faced smile. Bronies view of others: Because bronies count their numbers across almost all factions, most of the following attitudes should be taken with a grain of salt. Overall, bronies believe because we share a common passion in spite of stark ideological difference, that we all can still agree in some common principles. The Autonomist Alliance- With their emphasis on independence and non judgmental lifestyles, most bronies come from the Alliance factions. Most of the divisions within come from bringing their preferred levels of regulation and surveillance with them to Equestria. The Planetary Consortium- Given the fandom's . . . somewhat difficult history of Hasbro cracking down on their activities, of which most bronies argued may as well have been free advertising for them, one would think Equestria's stance on the Consortium being a bit more hostile. Alas, Hasbro itself is long gone, and MLP is public domain now. Some bronies have even gotten jobs at Experia and other entertainment hypercorps. from examples of their pony fan vids. So most bronies just treat the Consortium with a sense of cool caution. The Barsoomiam Movement- While most bronies would not argue against asserting one's independence, most WOULD argue against the violent approach they are taking to attain it. (Openly at least.) The Jovian Republic- If there is any faction that the Brony fandom is outright hostile to, it's the Jovian Junta. That is, the reigning authority presiding over it's people in the name of traditions that only inspire fear and hatred of anything that's different, us included. More than a few bronies are in the Jovian Republic and have managed to eke out a small existence in the form of art released unto the mesh by hidden ectos or meetups in basements and far off corners. Many bronies in Equestria have actually taken it upon themselves to spirit these oppressed brothers out of the Junta and into the loving hooves of Equestria as both a service to them as well as a way to undermine the regime. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Name: Equestria Station Type: Unique - Dyson Tree ("Wagon Wheel" variant) Allegiance: Independent Primary languages: English, German, Japanese Population: 800,000 Design: From space, Equestria resembles a colossal star symbol. The center base is roughly spherical, and genetically colored a bright yellow. It served as the foundation from which the tree initially grew from the asteroid. Several tree trunks extend from the base, colored various shades of orange and each curving or widening to form the "sun rays." The canopy of their branches all purposefully grew into a solid ring, the frozen foliage giving it a magnificent glisten. The whole habitat seeming like a pendent hung from the necklace of the Main Belt. The ring is where most of the residents live, the habitat is spun to create Luna level gravity. While the trunks are specialized areas, usually reserved for atmospheric maintenance. The closer one gets to the center, the lighter the gravity and thicker the foliage becomes. This area is seen as hazardous and usually avoided by most; and by "usually" I mean, "everpony who wants to re-enact the pilot episode has tried this and had to resleeve from being eaten." Settlements: -Ponyville Ahhhhh! Ponyville! That quaint little hamlet of a town. Primary setting of the series and a peaceful, homely place . . . if you can ignore the tent city just outside. Yeah, many (as in thousands) of bronies were shocked to discover that they weren't the only ones who wanted to live in Ponyville. You think they would have seen that coming. Because Ponyville was built to be faithful to it's depiction in the show, the small town quickly ran out of living space. The gathered herd didn't want to move on however, so they passed around a couple of fabbers and set up a crude satellite community. Mayor Mare has offered to expand Ponyville, but the bronies themselves have boycotted the action. The Manestream taking great pride in their independent neighborhood, and the Herd not wanting to change the loyally created shire. This has, somewhat ironically, caused a small degree of tension between the background AI ponies and the immigrant brony population. Luckily one kind-hearted, wall-eyed mare always seems to be around to smooth things over with some whimsical charm and a hot plate of muffins. Notably, the Mane Six themselves, actually live here! AGI life, created and living their formative time via XP casts of the entire series' run, they were sleeved into IP protected ponymorphs with custom augmentations. In all aspects that matter, they are Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle. -Canterlot My humble abode! I'll try not to sound biased. Canterlot is the capital of Equestria and the seat of Princess Celestia's power. Many hyper and micro, corps actually conduct business out of the city, making it a place of wealth and commerce. Princess Celestia allows all to conduct business in the capital as long as they, "Play nice!" She said with a light chuckle and a smile. Bronies may have known how loaded those words were when the Princess spoke them, but it only took a few dirty tricks to make it clear to all, that this "oversized girl's toy" was considered a goddess in the source material for a reason . . . . Most bronies who live here are of the Manestream variety, but the bigger population is actually the temporary residents. Because of it's stunning views and many sites dedicated to both brony and "native" art, it's a great tourist destination. Fun fact, one of the gift shops best selling toys is a self repairing Prince Blueblood plushy. No matter how much you abuse it, it will always be fabricator fresh again in seconds! Little fillies and colts have been known to play with them in the courtyard outside the palace. -Manehatten The most metropolitan settlement in Equestria, the lion's share of the physical population lives here. Because of it's sparse depiction in canon, and multiple fan interpretations, almost the entire fandom exist alongside each other. The atmosphere of friendly camaraderie is so pervasive, Manehatten is the new site where Bronycon is held annually. -Appleloosa Or AAAAAAPLELOOOOSA! As some may call it out there. Appleloosa is a settler town in a (purposefully) dry and hot dessert. The population mainly consisting of earth ponies and new beginnings being a circulated meme, Appleloosa actually has the largest population of residents from outside the fandom. Not really following the core culture but admiring their positive and ever loving lifestyle, they come out here to simply forget the universe at large and live lives of quiet and contemplative contentment. On the other hoof, it's also home to a group of highly hostile primitivists. Largely consisting of fundamentally traditional tribal communities from Native America (Apache and Comanche), Aboriginal, and Zulu; these resentful wanderers have sleeved into buffalo morphs and now roam the plains, trying to recapture their old ways. The Thunderhoof tribe have allied with Appleloosa and promised to protect them, but it's only so much they can do against an enemy who views the town as a painful reminder of everything that destroyed both their ancestors and their home planet. -Cloudsdale The primary atmospheric managing hub for the entire habitat. Massive machines monitor both the internal oxygen/carbon dioxide cycle as well as that of the gargantuan tree keeping us all alive. They also provide water for irrigation and scheduled rain through a rather ingenious method of technology and art. In the show, the pegasi moved the clouds and coaxed them to release rain water. Here, Cloudsdale takes water from the tree and fills smart material sacks with it. Swarms of nanomachines, each filled with lighter than air gas, buoy the bladder up, creating an artificial "rain cloud." Pegasi have specialized EMF implants in their hooves that cause the nanomachines to group together into a semi solid state upon contact, allowing them to stand on and manipulate the clouds. The nanomachines would just flow around all other matter. Most of the work here can be done by A.I. but a surprising amount of bronies volunteer to work the machinery and create the weather patterns. Even going so far as to unionize and live their as a represented community. Not that living in the clouds with the freedom of flight always available doesn't have it's charms, as anyone who's lived on Venus can tell you. In fact, the actual architecture of Cloudsdale is beautiful enough to rival Canterlot, with it's Greco-Roman almost Olympian look. As such, many Venusian bronies actually have vacation homes here, especially around the time of the Young Fliers Competition. Indeed, physical prowess is highly prized in Cloudsdale. When heavy machinery isn't being operated, it's all races and extreme stunts. Oddly, this has attracted a few Ultimates that are also bronies! -Los Pegasus Closer to the ring and with "space elevators" made from cultivated vines, Los Pegasus is another microgravity pegasus city, but with a bit more visitation. The brochures will tell you it's for the gambling and restaurants, which is partially true, but it's mostly for clopping. Yes, not outside the Carnival of the Goat will you find a place to satisfy your every carnal desire. Everything from pony pleasure pods of canon characters, to simulspaces of your favorite clopfics, to biotechnological . . . tentacles . . . Sweet Celestia, what has been seen will never be UN-seen! Naturally, this attracts more than a few Scum from the aforementioned fleet when it roams our way, but all kinds have visited here at least once. -The Everfree Forest The core of the habitat. Because the settlement of Equestria was planned to happen further out on the trunks and rim, only the most basic of monitoring settlements were ever built here. Now they are abandoned and overrun by foliage. The giant transgenic roots of the tree grow in wild configurations in this zero-g environment. Mockeries of biological life roam freely amongst the dark caves and vines. Apart from the previously mentioned Exiles, only the most determinedly individualistic brinkers make their home here. It's difficult, but it can be done. However, if one can steady their heart, they may find an ally . . . in the dark.