Equestroids - Cybernetic steeds

[Stainless Steel Fox]

This was originally an idea for a fanfic, based on another fanfic I wrote, 'The Yellow Apple Blossom of New Texas' . The premise of the original was that Applejack starts living an alternate life in her dreams in the far future, in a far away place, where the planet of New Texas, floats deep in space. World of three suns, land of precious ore, the Kerium rush brought outlaws, by the score... Basically, the setting for Bravestarr, a 80's space western cartoon by Filmation.

Specifically, there was one character that interested me, his sidekick Thirty Thirty. This was an intelligent horse with cybernetic legs that could transform between quadrupedal and bipedal, with his forehooves becoming hands. This allowed him to wave around his Big Fun Gun Sarah Jane, basically a portable plasma torpedo launcher that he wielded like a rifle. Search Thirty Thirty on Goggle images to see what I mean.

Needless to say, Applejack was transformed into another Equestroid, much to her dismay.

"She'd [Applejack] felt metal, cold against her face, except it had been her leg, she'd felt it move and brush against her eyelids. Sitting up, she looked down at her forearm. It looked like bronze coloured metal armour, the hoof terminating in digits like Spike's, but also made of metal. And she could feel them; flex them, as if they were a part of her, not some shell.

That prompted a frantic self-examination. Her legs were also articulated bronze, and ended in normal shaped hooves of the same metal, but her body was still regular flesh, covered by her normal orange coat. She could feel her tail, and her face had a muzzle, though the shape felt different. [snip]

Looking at her reflection, her mane and tail were her regular golden ponytails, tipped with red ribbons, but the rest of her was altered. Her muzzle was too big and her eyes too small, though they were the same colours as normal, even down to the white freckles on her cheeks. She felt her muzzle with one hoof, or rather the digits on it. While it looked strange, somehow it didn't look wrong. The shape reminded her of Princess Celestia's.

Her body was wider at the front (or rather top given her new posture) than lower down, giving her a slightly top heavy look. The legs seemed fused to the flesh at shoulder and hip, and she noticed her three apple cutie-mark was enamelled on the tops of her bronze flanks. It was as if some-pony had tried to turn her into a human knight from the old filly tales, but stopped half way."

I also later in the story Equestroid-formed Pinkie Pie.

"Pinkie emerged from behind the screen transformed. She gave it a kick with a hind-leg, and it collapsed, folding back in on itself. She'd now grown to almost Applejack's size, and her proportions had altered to match Applejack's. Her legs were cybernetic, and painted hot pink to match her coat, with three balloon cutie-mark lovingly enamelled on her flanks.

But where Applejack and Thirty Thirty's legs were unadorned, hers were decorated. Her hooves were chromed, and every joint had chrome trim dripping off it. Her upper fore-legs had a rounded off square grill and hooded circular head-light on the front, and her hocks extended out into a short tail-fin with a domed red tail-light. If Applejack was part knight, Pinkie Pie was part 1950's Cadillac."

While I could simply open the setting as an RP, I thought it might be more fun to create my own setting around the same idea of cybernetic ponies. That's how I came out with:

Equestroids! Cybernetic Steeds!

Auto-trots wage their battle to defeat the minions of battle planet Unicorn,

Equestroids! Do heroic deeds!

Equestroids! Cybernetic Steeds!

Equestroids!

Any similarity to any other Hasbro properties, living dead or robotic is purely confined to the theme song.

The setting is the world of Equestron, ruled over by the benevolent Celestia Prime. It is home to three races, unicorns, who's horns allow them to control electromagnetic forces, pegasi, winged ponies who have control over gravity and intertia, and land ponies, who's control of interatomic forces allow them super strength and toughness (so basically their regular powers scienced). All routinely use cyberware, and cyber-limbs that enhance their own. This means they can go bipedal, and have their forehooves deploy hands. They usually have a unique flank-mark enammelled on their hind flanks.

They have starships, and an interstellar empire. Equestron is a city-world, and among their worlds are Appleoosine, a twin sun planet, that is one of the breadbaskets of the empire, Bespinto, a gas giant with a habitable air layer of pegasi cloud cities, the dense asteroid fields of the Trojan Belt, a source of minerals and the power crystal energon, and Percheron... well Percheron doesn't have any real distinguishing features, other than that it's a habitable hospitable world.

Apart from the three pony species there are sentient machine intelligences, considered people in their own right that usually manifest as solidographic (hard light) avatars. All are fostered by pony families or individuals to provide social interaction, and allow them to grow as people.

(More to come)

[Stainless Steel Fox]

The only recent disruption was a century ago, when the Poni Knight Skywalker believed he could run the Empire better then the then twin rulers Celestia Prime and Luna Prime. He was a candidate for Primehood himself, but he didn't quite have the spirit for it. He started a short lived rebellion, and was soon defeated and banished. However, he spent years planning and preparing his revenge, and came back as the core of a battle fortress the size of a small moon, calling himself Unicorn.

With a host of subordinate robot warships, he tried to take the Equestron system, but he was fought back by the Royal Guard, and the combined effforts of thousands of other ponies, asteroid miners, armed merchantmen, any ship that could throw a beam, every pegasus that could mount a blaster. At the end, Luna Prime flew into the heart of Unicorn, and destroyed him, but not without sacrificing herself.

Peace has returned to the Equestron System and it's colonies, though there are still other star nations like the Griffon Empire with their Birds of Prey, and out and out bandits like the Space Dogs to contend with. But on the whole, it is a time of peace and prosperity throughout the Empire... for now.

[Stainless Steel Fox]

The specifics of the RP would be the player characters have been selected for a special (and secret) mission by Celestia Prime herself. They are to report to the Exploration vessel Fleethoof in Equestron orbit, where the task will be explained to them.

Obviously it would be useful to have some space or exploration related skill, but I leave it up to the players to come up with something.

Standard cyberware: Built in comm-link, wrap-around holo-visor display. Cyber limbs with digital forehoof extensions.

Other upgrades should be suitable to your characters background, and will need to be vetted by me. I'll give the characters I had thought up as examples.

Special Traits/Abilities

Unicorns can be Poni Knights one of Celestia Prime's special unicorn envoys, primarily a scholar and diplomat, though they can fight when needed. All unicorns can manipulate and lift objects in their immediate vicinity, using a diamagnetic field produced by their horn, though the maximum weight varies from unicorn to unicorn, and connect or 'spike' wirelessly into local compter networks. For high bandwidth, they may plug their horn into an interface port.

Poni Knights learn to sense the electromagnetic curents flowing through the universe and even generate a local field that acts like radar, meaning they can sense what's happening around them, or even anticipate opponents moves by sensing the power flowing through robot circuits, or the electromagnetic signals from the chemical reactions in organic nerves.

The other power is offensive, they learn to concentrate their electromagnetic power into a containment field to generate and contain a pocket of plasma, an energy lance. It forms as a blade or shaft of light, extending from their horn, and can be used to strike, be fired off as a blast or block and deflect other energy blasts, such as plasma weapons.

(Yes, they're pretty much Jedi, but it makes so much sense!)

Pegasi have their own special power set. All pegasi can fly atmosphere, but any pegasus with sufficient power can get the upgrades to fly in space. The same gravity control power that allows them to fly and hover also allows them to hold a pocket of air around them. Inertial control combined with thruster engines in their rear hooves allows them to fly in orbit and even between planets, though no-one has invented a personal hyperdrive. Their holo-visor system requires space navigational software, and they must wear a sensor pack to provide their heads up display with the position and velocity of objects in their immediate area.

While many space workers will get low power attitude thrusters built into their rear hooves, only pegasi can get full power engines.

And while it is possible to get blasters built into fore-hooves, unless you are a Royal guard (who can be of any race or gender), or an asteroid miner, you are unlikely to need them.

[Stainless Steel Fox]

Sample characters (Not based on any-pony in particular)

Twilight Star - Female unicorn with purple coat and indigo mane and tail.

Cutie-Mark: Crimson six pointed star.

Occupation: Poni Knight, and protege of Celestia Prime. Has an adopted machine intelligence called Spike.

Hobbies: History, Computers, Astronomy.

Skills: Researcher, Programmer, Diplomat, Hyperspace Masters licence.

Custom upgrades: Extra memory, upgraded processors, encyclopedia software, low power rear hoof thrusters.

Rainbow Boost - Female pegasus with blue coat and rainbow mane and tail.

Cutie mark: Rocket with rainbow jet trail.

Occupation: Asteroid miner/Clearance expert.

Hobbies: Space racing, orbit diving.

Skills: Normal space ship, small craft and personal pilot licence, demolitions.

Custom upgrades: Twin fore-hoof plasma blasters, Full space upgrade, personal theme music library.

Pin-E 3.141 - Female Land Pony with pink coat and darker pink mane and tail.

Cutie mark: Balloon with a crossed spanner and screwdriver underneath.

Occupation: Aeronautics engineer and inventor.

Hobbies: Inventing, building cool flying things, cake making, partying.

Skills: Mechanical, aeronautical and Systems engineering, cooking.

Custom Upgrades: Forehoof multi-tool kit. Low power front and rear hoof thrusters, motorbike upgrade. *

* A rod is folded up inside each inside foreleg on both front and rear hooves. They fold down and lock together, then expand a collapsable metal wheel with the shaft as the axis, providing a wheel between the fore-hooves and another between the rear hooves, turning the pony into a motorbike.