Re: [Fallout Equestria] Setting discussions

[O. Hinds]

Wow, that might work. Of course, megaspell soul manipulation magic might have a few ethical issues attached... :D

Elusive's soul must already be quite an interesting shape. I wonder what happens to it when two sentient parts of the network lose contact with each other (subsentient parts losing contact would be more like robot limbs going off on their own for a bit)? I imagine that either they'd fission into two more or less identical souls which could rejoin later or there's a sort of soul entanglement. Not sure which. The Goddess might be an example of soul entanglement... If she is and Elusive is the same, then the Eater is pretty good evidence that soul magic would work against Elusive (Canterlot may or may not be; we don't know exactly how the Pink Cloud works, and, while the Goddess may have used soul entanglement telepathy as her only internal communications system, Elusive relies on radio and wired connections... though might be interested in S.E.T. if he could get information on it.). Both of those are in doubt, but... hm...
Thoughts?

[Evilgidgit]

Pardon me for interrupting the flow of discussion, but I've been dancing around the idea of writing one or two Fallout Equestria stories myself, and I was wondering if anyone had written a story based in Hayseed Swamps -I want to write a story based around Point Lookout.

[O. Hinds]

I'm not sure; I did a quick google search and didn't find much. The area probably isn't part of the shared universe that this thread is mostly concerned with, though.

[Harmony Ltd.]

Dammit. I had a post written all written but my phone ate it before I went to sleep for the night. Trying to re-tread the same ideas I shuffled around in it...


So, if we go with the idea that souls are "atomic" (one and undivisible), and that this can only be changed through specific soul-magic (The Goddess => fusion ; Rarity => fission), then it would be hard to envision the idea of Elusive's soul spontaneously aggreggating / disintegrating.

So either he has one big amorphous but continuous soul that tends to "flow" toward its nodes (single-soul hypothesis);

Or individual souls are spontaneously "born" in each nodes, from the complexity of sentient thought (multiple-soul hypothesis)


In the case of the MS hypothesis, it would mean that each node is actually a single souled individual, in which case cutting the ability of the node to synchronize with the Central Node may be enough for it to grow an individual personnality sufficiently different from the one of the CN for it to be considered an individual AI and not a simple clone of Elusive.

After that, there's two variants to the multiple-souls hypothesis:

- isolated souls
- gelstalted souls

The probability of emergence of individual personnalities would be greater I feel in the case of isolated souls.

[O. Hinds]

Hm. You make a point about the soul magic. Possibly things would be different for a network intelligence, but it's simpler to say that they're not. We can probably still use the Goddess as an example, though; Lacunae is a node severed from the network but programmed to be able to act independently, and the Canterlot alicorns were only partially programmed in the network's absence and grew the rest of their programming themselves on the spot, leading to some errors. Since Elusive works through explicit coding and physical communication with souls as a secondary matter (as opposed to the Goddess, who seemed to work primarily on a soul level and use that to drive the minds) and, unlikely the Goddess, programs his nodes with the expectation that an intact connection will not always be achievable, there's probably not much of a worry of an Elusive node going mad in isolation due to incomplete coding (it would get less intelligent and competent due to the loss of the network's resources, perhaps, but not insane). So far, this post works for any of the three hypotheses. To get more specific...

What exactly do you mean by "Isolated Souls" and "Gestalted Souls", and how would the mind network affect them?

[O. Hinds]

Oh, hm, and I've thought of another problem: the people behind splitting up Elusive, assuming for the moment that they can do so successfully, had better be fanatics, because, while they may have ensured that, in the long run, the people created from him will diversify and likely have to work more on a more even basis with mortal, biological intelligences, in the short run, the new Elusive civilization/ecosystem a: still has a lot of similarity and b: has just discovered a powerful group bent on curtailing the power of AIs.

And this is saying nothing, of course, about all the pony, zebra, and other citizens of the Alliance who, even if they or their descendants will eventually be pleased by a less dominant Elusive, have just seen a big and worrying strike against Alliance power and influence.

[Meleagridis]

Pardon me for interrupting the flow of discussion, but I've been dancing around the idea of writing one or two Fallout Equestria stories myself, and I was wondering if anyone had written a story based in Hayseed Swamps -I want to write a story based around Point Lookout.

Never heard of it, but I'm interested. What's the deal with Hayseed Swamps?

 Since Elusive works through explicit coding and physical communication with souls as a secondary matter (as opposed to the Goddess, who seemed to work primarily on a soul level and use that to drive the minds) and, unlikely the Goddess, programs his nodes with the expectation that an intact connection will not always be achievable, there's probably not much of a worry of an Elusive node going mad in isolation due to incomplete coding (it would get less intelligent and competent due to the loss of the network's resources, perhaps, but not insane).  

Oh, come on! This makes a perfect Stable at Sea! Floating city, mad AI cut off from the rest... pretty please?

On a lower level, one can try to keep Elusive contained and benefit from him through mundane means (trade agreements and the like).  Of course, Elusive has incorporated that and the mortality of his adversaries into his plan; each generation might be content with him making only small gains, but, over the time he has and they don't, those add up.  

This reminds me- how does democracy work in a world where potential candidates can live for several hundred years? A smug politician can be forced to resign for some scandal or another, but all he has to do is wait until everyone directly affected by it has died before attempting to run again. And again. And again. People looking at his screw-up in the past won't be nearly as enraged as those who are still suffering for it. "Well, yes, he made a mistake. But look at all the other things on his profile."

The crack would have to be very clever; if the change was too abrupt, the rest of the network would just decide that the primary node cluster had been corrupted and try to fix it.  You'd have to disguise the diversification signal as something innocuous.  And then there's the problem of getting past the blast doors and small army of robots and turrets, of course, and avoiding making the operation an act of war on the Alliance

Could... another hacked node of Elusive be enough to convince him?

Hmmm…  In theory, I think so, but it's still a long shot. ...  Arguments good enough to convince Elusive even if they come from a node he knows is compromised would be good enough to convince him without going to all that trouble.  And even from a minor node, they'd need to be pretty good…
It might be a good idea to try and enlist the help of the Stalliongrad AIs, and possibly Cognitum if Blackjack redeemed her (because you know that Blackjack is going to try) and she survives PH.  Then at least you'd be dealing with a somewhat known quantity.

Also, thinking about it, the NCR already kinda has a benevolent AI:

Celestia.

We get in...

On an unrelated note, the Con/Heist soundtrack I always relied on for these things is gone...

The subject of differing views on this just came up in the editing chat, and I began wondering what we're using for our shared universe here: what is your view on soul mechanics in this universe?

Mine is, in brief, that souls are of continuous complexity (ie, there aren't grades of souls) and are magical field patterns produced by and connected with complex systems.  Such patterns exist for something as simple as a falling stone and certainly exist for animal life, but the term "soul" would generally only be used for the pattern of something with some degree of sapience.  Barring magic preventing such, any sufficiently complex system will generate a soul of some sort.

I like this! It supports Minotaur Geothurgy. Which might not be geothurgy at all, but a kind of feng shui awareness of patterns and paths among the more devoted practioners.

I've said before that I'm not all too fond of concretely defining souls, but that might just be because I'm not great at it. Whenever the topic of 'what is personhood' comes up I always end up anthropomorphizing a Mr. Gutsy. But in a series like Fallout (and FO:E) that doesn't seem like such a sin- the series already uses the 'magic robot' that is capable of distinctly intelligent behaviors when called on for comedy or other narrative needs. So if we need a soul system, this idea of soul generation among complex systems suits me fine. I'm wondering, though, does this field change in nature with the complexity of a system? Are bloatsprites 'less' than a dog, which is 'less' than a griffin?

Now, after reading some further clarification on the contrasts between Somber's souls and these:

These omnipresent souls are clearly different from the Somberverse, which might prove a problem since I assume we all take heavy influence from there. For one thing, feral ghouls with this model would have simple souls, whereas Somber ghouls are defined by a strained (or cut) connection to their soul. Here, souls are a default assumption and can be found anywhere. There, they are a precious gift to a blessed few- the living and the loved. I like his view on the synthetic souls, it fits the fantasy setting. A little like Pygmalion... if it were censored for a broader audience. The story writes itself.

This still leaves the question of how a soul is 'grown,' as in Boo's case. It clearly has something to do with A) Blackjack and B) Boo's elevation above other blanks. Are these criteria? An awareness and perception on the level of a sapient creature, and close and intimate contact with a willing soul? And is this soul bred from this contact, or called from the stars? So many questions!

Oh! Almost forgot. It's also important to define the exact influence a soul has on the actions of the ensouled, both in the omnipresent model and Somberverse version.

EDIT: And I straight up did forget: I enjoyed the chat with Elusive. It helps clarify much of the character, and of the faction. And of the easily forgotten differences between a character in a faction and a character who is a faction. I do feel like the sentence "He was obviously artificial and obviously deliberately obviously artificial," could have been so much more hilariously circuitous, though.

[O. Hinds]

Oh, come on! This makes a perfect Stable at Sea! Floating city, mad AI cut off from the rest... pretty please?

Hm, I'm not seeing how that would work. Elaborate, please?

This reminds me- how does democracy work in a world where potential candidates can live for several hundred years? A smug politician can be forced to resign for some scandal or another, but all he has to do is wait until everyone directly affected by it has died before attempting to run again. And again. And again. People looking at his screw-up in the past won't be nearly as enraged as those who are still suffering for it. "Well, yes, he made a mistake. But look at all the other things on his profile."

You're thinking of ghoul candidates? Interesting; I'd not considered that.

Whenever the topic of 'what is personhood' comes up I always end up anthropomorphizing a Mr. Gutsy.

:D

I'm wondering, though, does this field change in nature with the complexity of a system? Are bloatsprites 'less' than a dog, which is 'less' than a griffin?

Oh, yes; I apologize for apparently not making that clear. Though I'm not sure exactly what 'less' means here, that's the general idea.

These omnipresent souls are clearly different from the Somberverse, which might prove a problem since I assume we all take heavy influence from there.

I was already only using broad strokes and selected details, though.

This still leaves the question of how a soul is 'grown,' as in Boo's case. It clearly has something to do with A) Blackjack and B) Boo's elevation above other blanks. Are these criteria? An awareness and perception on the level of a sapient creature, and close and intimate contact with a willing soul? And is this soul bred from this contact, or called from the stars? So many questions!

I can't answer most of those, but apparently the growing of a new soul, what's happening with Boo, is extremely rare in Somber's system; most souls are just called from the stars, reincarnated.

Oh! Almost forgot. It's also important to define the exact influence a soul has on the actions of the ensouled, both in the omnipresent model and Somberverse version.

Aye. In the Somberverse, as I understand it, the soul is basically the self, the motivation. AIs have to make do with simulated souls (Which really doesn't seem fair to me. What, it can think and act exactly like a pony and still be lesser just because it thinks on gems and wires instead of meat?), and creatures without any sort of soul are just driven by animal instincts. Switching souls would lead to conflict between the mind's motivations and the soul's, as they're sort of two separate individuals who just usually agree. I think. I'm not especially confident in my understanding of it.

In my system, the soul simultaneously drives and is driven in the same way the brain is; it's nothing supernatural, just another part of the body existing in a regime of physics that our Earth does not have. If the soul was removed without killing the bearer (which is possible; you can carve out your enemy's heart to eat it, certainly, but you can also perform open heart surgery), it would regrow. With the right magic, all sorts of clever things can be done with the data connections freed up by the soul's removal. Then, of course, you've got the sorts of things that Rarity was up to, using the complexity and magical field access of souls to carry various powerful magics. Hm, I wonder if souljars work a bit like the changelings in the RPG universe I've been playing in, being highly resistant to physical damage because they're anchored by their souls?

EDIT: And I straight up did forget: I enjoyed the chat with Elusive. It helps clarify much of the character, and of the faction.

Oh, thanks!

And of the easily forgotten differences between a character in a faction and a character who is a faction.

Aye. In the Company, everything eventually flows back to Elusive. Legally (and guess who the Company's entire legal system is?), everything "owned" by any Company citizens, including their physical and mental resources, is the property of Elusive and loaned or rented out (but the Company is anti-slavery, of course), and the biological managers always include "Get Elusive's approval" in their decisionmaking processes. Competition takes the form of the person with the new idea getting Elusive's approval for experimentation and being set up with a competing subsidiary, and the competition ends when Elusive decides the winner and folds the loser into it. The other factions can be separated from their leaders and even to some degree their forms of government, but the Company and Elusive are pretty much the same thing.

I do feel like the sentence "He was obviously artificial and obviously deliberately obviously artificial," could have been so much more hilariously circuitous, though.

:)

[Harmony Ltd.]

Sorry foor not answering these last few days, I don't currently have a ready access to the internet.

Just want to say I found mention of an interesting drug:


" Yet another example here would be the "ibogaine cure" for alcoholism or drug addiction where nothing else has worked. Ibogaine itself is toxic (more so than psilocybin or LSD which have had similar effects) but legal in some areas, it is unique for producing scary and bad "trips" but at the same time, often triggering something in the brain that reboots the mechanism of addiction, if the process is managed correctly (and if it is managed incorrectly, death may result). "

[O. Hinds]

It's fine.

Interesting, yes.  Did you have a particular application here in mind for it?  The only think I can think of at the moment are the Fallout magical instant addiction cures...

[Harmony Ltd.]

Yeah, that. IIRC, the equivalent of "fixer" in FoE wasn't really a cure against addiction as it was a cure against the -symptoms- of addiction, with fixer itself being addictive and starting to lose in potency with time / usage.

If you ignore / re-imagine Littlepip anti-addiction treatment as using a cure as the one above, this gives an even greater dramatic tension to just how desperate Velvet and Calamity were to cure her of her mint-al addiction.

[O. Hinds]

Hm... Ah, here it is:

Second, Doctor Helpinghoof was clear that the treatment only cleaned the patient’s body of the drug and reversed physical addiction. The psychological elements of addiction will probably be with Littlepip for the rest of her life. But this will make it a lot easier for her.

So that doesn't seem to quite match the above, based on my understanding of it. Still, interesting.

[Harmony Ltd.]

Well, irregardless, it's possible different addictions require different cures.

I'm thinking about some designer drugs spreading in the NCR... ("Designer drugs: designed to defeat you.")

[O. Hinds]

...And that bit about A Town happening to be right next to the area of Manehattan full of legitimate businessponies just flashed back to me. I mean, sure, there might be nothing going on; there are other possible sources. On the other hand, it is probably easier to win an economic war if your enemy's workforce is full of drug addicts, and Profectum might even have one or two biological/chemical warfare specialists from the war. Though, then again, getting caught would be very bad; I can't think of any real way to get plausible deniability other than eliminating the witnesses, and that sort of thing can spiral badly.

[Harmony Ltd.]

Thus the somewhat counter-intuively hard stance of the NCR on -illegal- drugs (for a power born from the Wasteland):

They only allow the drugs they know and know how to cure addiction from.

[Harmony Ltd.]

The drug doesn't need to be brought in from the Alliance. Give the blueprints for the drug itself to the local businessponies and let them take all the risks themselves.

It's all the better if they start fighting among themselves for control of their market shares and various franchises. Gang war, Drug war... It's all wars the NCR will have to spend resources to fight or lose reources over without the Alliance being impacted.


And if they manage to give the blueprints in the right way, through several proxies, this increase their chances of the Alliance not being caught red-handed.

[O. Hinds]

Good (or maybe bad, given the topic?) point! :)

[Harmony Ltd.]

Best part: Have A-Town offer individual anti-addiction cures for a price after a while, once the drug become widespread enough, as a way for the company to take monetary profits from the situation as well as sucking liquidities from the NCR's privileged classes.

[O. Hinds]

And of course the Alliance would like to share the medical advances that Elusive's computers and the geniuses in Profectum have come up with more broadly, but the NCR's trade laws are just so restrictive. If they'd just make a few tiny amendments, it would be so much easier. And if not, well, the immigration offices are open, and there's plenty of work to be had in the reclamation of Zebrica.

[Meleagridis]

Pardon me if I slur my words, I just woke up.

Oh, come on! This makes a perfect Stable at Sea! Floating city, mad AI cut off from the rest... pretty please?

Hm, I'm not seeing how that would work.  Elaborate, please?

Well, it's a technopunk staple, but it works in anything that involves an isolated environment trying something new (and thus scary). You put something in charge of everything, that something loses its head, everybody justifiably freaks out and the perfect Utopia becomes a house of horrors. Then either A) somebody has to escape or B) somebody has to get in.

Admittedly, most of these ocean slaughterhouses don't have a secondary Big Brother checking up to make sure nobody is going insane, because that would be logical and prevent disaster. But that's what author engineering is for.

(Which really doesn't seem fair to me.  What, it can think and act exactly like a pony and still be lesser just because it thinks on gems and wires instead of meat?),

I think it more has to do with where the souls in the 'verse come from. They're stars, right? Called down during birth to complete a life, yeah? I think it's more that the way artificial life is created simply does not call them. No matter how complicated and deserving the AI, most people will only look at it as a project. An important project, one that may change the course of history or even be a dear friend... but still a project. But those rare pygmalion exceptions, which sound like they don't even have to be with robots, involve such care and dedication that they more closely mirror the standard scenario that calls a soul down from the stars. Boundless love and self sacrifice for their creation.

It's unfair, certainly. It makes sense though. And it paves the way for the weirdest kind of messiah- a hero that crusades for the right of Metal Man's immortal soul. Someone who fought so that everything would have a soul of their very own, no matter the progenitor.

In my system, the soul simultaneously drives and is driven in the same way the brain is; it's nothing supernatural, just another part of the body existing in a regime of physics that our Earth does not have.  If the soul was removed without killing the bearer (which is possible; you can carve out your enemy's heart to eat it, certainly, but you can also perform open heart surgery), it would regrow.  With the right magic, all sorts of clever things can be done with the data connections freed up by the soul's removal.  Then, of course, you've got the sorts of things that Rarity was up to, using the complexity and magical field access of souls to carry various powerful magics.  Hm, I wonder if souljars work a bit like the changelings in the RPG universe I've been playing in, being highly resistant to physical damage because they're anchored by their souls?

Is there any real consequence for soul-fooling, or is it basically a maligned discipline with no inherent danger (no moreso than any science, at least)?

Yeah, that. IIRC, the equivalent of "fixer" in FoE wasn't really a cure against addiction as it was a cure against the -symptoms- of addiction, with fixer itself being addictive and starting to lose in potency with time / usage.

If you ignore / re-imagine Littlepip anti-addiction treatment as using a cure as the one above, this gives an even greater dramatic tension to just how desperate Velvet and Calamity were to cure her of her mint-al addiction.

Headcanon accepted. The magic cure supposedly having the horrible consequence of only magically curing withdrawal never got much out of me.

[O. Hinds]

Well, it's a technopunk staple, but it works in anything that involves an isolated environment trying something new (and thus scary). You put something in charge of everything, that something loses its head, everybody justifiably freaks out and the perfect Utopia becomes a house of horrors. Then either A) somebody has to escape or B) somebody has to get in.

Right, I got that, but Elusive City is possible the part of Elusive least likely to go rogue. Rogue from Elusive, that is. I just got up too.

Admittedly, most of these ocean slaughterhouses don't have a secondary Big Brother checking up to make sure nobody is going insane, because that would be logical and prevent disaster. But that's what author engineering is for.

…And I'm still not really getting you, I think. Sorry.

I think it more has to do with where the souls in the 'verse come from. They're stars, right? Called down during birth to complete a life, yeah? I think it's more that the way artificial life is created simply does not call them. No matter how complicated and deserving the AI, most people will only look at it as a project. An important project, one that may change the course of history or even be a dear friend... but still a project. But those rare pygmalion exceptions, which sound like they don't even have to be with robots, involve such care and dedication that they more closely mirror the standard scenario that calls a soul down from the stars. Boundless love and self sacrifice for their creation.

Somber's souls apparently arrive early in pregnancy (which must make debates on abortion in PH's world really fun…), but yeah, that makes sense. I still don't really like it, though.

It's unfair, certainly. It makes sense though. And it paves the way for the weirdest kind of messiah- a hero that crusades for the right of Metal Man's immortal soul. Someone who fought so that everything would have a soul of their very own, no matter the progenitor.

:D Now that would be a rather awesome use of the mechanic.

Is there any real consequence for soul-fooling, or is it basically a maligned discipline with no inherent danger (no moreso than any science, at least)?

Hm. Yes and no. No because it can be done properly and for good reasons and be perfectly safe. Yes because a: the ease and consequences of doing it improperly may be seen as similar to those of brain surgery, but worse and b: there is tremendous potential for abuse.

Headcanon accepted. The magic cure supposedly having the horrible consequence of only magically curing withdrawal never got much out of me.

Hm… And, actually, it also gives additional weight to LittlePip's decision to use Mint-als again later.

[Harmony Ltd.]

Not a suggestion for the setting, but I think you can find this one fun, Hinds:

http://www.shipbucket.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=29052#p29052

[O. Hinds]

It's amazing what can be (maybe) done when the check reads "Money no object", yes. :) That is a big ship...

[Evilgidgit]

That ship is amazing. HMS Awesome!

I wanted to ask folks about their headcanons with the Stables. Obviously the F.E. Stables are canon, but what about the ones in the side stories, particularly if more than one story uses a Stable number (e.g. what if another story used #90-#99 like Project Horizons already has).

[O. Hinds]

I'm trying to remember if I have any at the moment...
As far as I can recall, the closest thing I have is the idea that Stable 42, wherever it is, was meant to see if ponies could be made nocturnal (and thus share with diurnal civilizations without getting in their way, hopefully; the practicality of the idea is debatable, but there are plenty of other Stables with iffy premises) and actually worked... partially. The "make ponies nocturnal" part succeeded, but the theocratic Nighmare Moon cult isn't terribly interested in sharing. It's a rather interesting idea, I think, but it's currently floating around in my head without much of anything to attach to.

[Evilgidgit]

I'm trying to remember if I have any at the moment...
As far as I can recall, the closest thing I have is the idea that Stable 42, wherever it is, was meant to see if ponies could be made nocturnal (and thus share with diurnal civilizations without getting in their way, hopefully; the practicality of the idea is debatable, but there are plenty of other Stables with iffy premises) and actually worked... partially.  The "make ponies nocturnal" part succeeded, but the theocratic Nighmare Moon cult isn't terribly interested in sharing.  It's a rather interesting idea, I think, but it's currently floating around in my head without much of anything to attach to.

That's a pretty cool idea, getting that from a Vault that has the only known details of having dim lightbulbs.

I have a few of my own:
* Stable #16 - Built in a cave on the outskirts of Everfree. Appears to be a control Stable, but its heating is actually supplied by a dragon family hidden in another cavern beneath the Stable and only the Overmare would know. The purpose of the secrecy was to test not only the ponies' curiosity, but to see if two entirely different species could get live together (inspired by Twilight and Spike's relationship). Unfortunately, pony and dragon alike got curious and eventually found each other out, leading to riots, which ended with the leader of the dragons frying the whole populace Pompeii-style.

* Stable #35 - Located in the Crystal Empire, specifically hidden behind King Sombra's fear door. Haven't really got much else for that one, aside from Cadance or at least her descendants being within the Stable.

* Stable #43 - Built beneath a Sugarcube Corner branch in Manehattan, the Stable is monitored and operated by an intelligence AI based on Pinkie Pie, who was programmed to keep morale up. However, eventually her Pinkamena side appeared and punished the "naughty adults" for disobeying her and unintentionally killed all the foals via "the greatest party ever".

* Stable #46 - In Trottingham. Has no social experiment other than two Overmares, who have been keeping up the charade that they are the non-corporeal Princess Celestia and Luna to help the populace remain calm and happy. The idea was made on a whim by their original predecessors since the residents were very panicky from the start.

* Stable #54 - Hidden behind/beneath the Neighagra Falls. Home to a populace made up entirely of disabled or handicapped ponies, who lack assistants, and were inspired to fend for themselves, adapt, and ultimately become an entire community of independent ponies who overcome their limitations.

[O. Hinds]

That's a pretty cool idea, getting that from a Vault that has the only known details of having dim lightbulbs.

Thanks!

* Stable #16 - Built in a cave on the outskirts of Everfree. Appears to be a control Stable, but its heating is actually supplied by a dragon family hidden in another cavern beneath the Stable and only the Overmare would know. The purpose of the secrecy was to test not only the ponies' curiosity, but to see if two entirely different species could get live together (inspired by Twilight and Spike's relationship). Unfortunately, pony and dragon alike got curious and eventually found each other out, leading to riots, which ended with the leader of the dragons frying the whole populace Pompeii-style.

Why would they need heating?

* Stable #35 - Located in the Crystal Empire, specifically hidden behind King Sombra's fear door. Haven't really got much else for that one, aside from Cadance or at least her descendants being within the Stable.

My FoE Crystal Empire is a bit different from the show's and doesn't involve Cadence. Still, I can see that working in a universe that does have them.

* Stable #43 - Built beneath a Sugarcube Corner branch in Manehattan, the Stable is monitored and operated by an intelligence AI based on Pinkie Pie, who was programmed to keep morale up. However, eventually her Pinkamena side appeared and punished the "naughty adults" for disobeying her and unintentionally killed all the foals via "the greatest party ever".

So Manehattan was the place to test AI stables, apparently. Assuming that there were only the two, I suppose that 29 was to test a hidden AI and 43 an obvious AI. Hm. What I wonder is why 29 got the superior (in Stable-Tec's opinion) hardware? I'd expect either parity or for the AI with social functions on top of everything else to get the better hardware.

* Stable #46 - In Trottingham. Has no social experiment other than two Overmares, who have been keeping up the charade that they are the non-corporeal Princess Celestia and Luna to help the populace remain calm and happy. The idea was made on a whim by their original predecessors since the residents were very panicky from the start.

* Stable #54 - Hidden behind/beneath the Neighagra Falls. Home to a populace made up entirely of disabled or handicapped ponies, who lack assistants, and were inspired to fend for themselves, adapt, and ultimately become an entire community of independent ponies who overcome their limitations.

So what kind of culture does it have now?

[O. Hinds]

Oh, and from my recent hurried researches, you might have some trouble fitting the Pinkie AI Stable with PH (which I don't know if you want to) unless you're using broad strokes (which I don't know if you are).

[Evilgidgit]

That's a pretty cool idea, getting that from a Vault that has the only known details of having dim lightbulbs.

Thanks!

* Stable #16 - Built in a cave on the outskirts of Everfree. Appears to be a control Stable, but its heating is actually supplied by a dragon family hidden in another cavern beneath the Stable and only the Overmare would know. The purpose of the secrecy was to test not only the ponies' curiosity, but to see if two entirely different species could get live together (inspired by Twilight and Spike's relationship). Unfortunately, pony and dragon alike got curious and eventually found each other out, leading to riots, which ended with the leader of the dragons frying the whole populace Pompeii-style.

Why would they need heating?

* Stable #35 - Located in the Crystal Empire, specifically hidden behind King Sombra's fear door. Haven't really got much else for that one, aside from Cadance or at least her descendants being within the Stable.

My FoE Crystal Empire is a bit different from the show's and doesn't involve Cadence.  Still, I can see that working in a universe that does have them.

* Stable #43 - Built beneath a Sugarcube Corner branch in Manehattan, the Stable is monitored and operated by an intelligence AI based on Pinkie Pie, who was programmed to keep morale up. However, eventually her Pinkamena side appeared and punished the "naughty adults" for disobeying her and unintentionally killed all the foals via "the greatest party ever".

So Manehattan was the place to test AI stables, apparently.  Assuming that there were only the two, I suppose that 29 was to test a hidden AI and 43 an obvious AI.  Hm.  What I wonder is why 29 got the superior (in Stable-Tec's opinion) hardware?  I'd expect either parity or for the AI with social functions on top of everything else to get the better hardware.

* Stable #46 - In Trottingham. Has no social experiment other than two Overmares, who have been keeping up the charade that they are the non-corporeal Princess Celestia and Luna to help the populace remain calm and happy. The idea was made on a whim by their original predecessors since the residents were very panicky from the start.

* Stable #54 - Hidden behind/beneath the Neighagra Falls. Home to a populace made up entirely of disabled or handicapped ponies, who lack assistants, and were inspired to fend for themselves, adapt, and ultimately become an entire community of independent ponies who overcome their limitations.

So what kind of culture does it have now?

Why wouldn't Stable #16 need heating? Unless ponies are in to cold baths and showers.

Wasn't the Crusader put in #29 to see how a Stable would run under the control of the cold logic of a machine rather than the emotionally-driven decisions of an Overmare? Perhaps a Pinkie Pie AI was put in #43 as a counterpart of sorts to see how an emotion-driven AI would work.

#43 might've ended their charade since someone would likely have questioned things or simply checked the Stable's specs to learn of the Overmares. #54 might've succeeded to some capacity, at least that's what I would like to imagine. An additional idea was that at some point during the experiment, when the handicapped populace became more independent, MoP robots designed to aid handicapped people were deployed to see if the ponies would remain self-reliable or would end up relying on the robots.

I do consider FE, PH, Pink Eyes, Murky, and Heroes (when I get around to reading it) all part of my headcanon. But why would it be tricky to put a Pinkie AI into a Stable if PH is canon?

[O. Hinds]

Why wouldn't Stable #16 need heating? Unless ponies are in to cold baths and showers.

Oh, I hadn't thought of the water. Sorry. I've been low on sleep this week.

Wasn't the Crusader put in #29 to see how a Stable would run under the control of the cold logic of a machine rather than the emotionally-driven decisions of an Overmare? Perhaps a Pinkie Pie AI was put in #43 as a counterpart of sorts to see how an emotion-driven AI would work.

Oh, building an artificial princess?

#43 might've ended their charade since someone would likely have questioned things or simply checked the Stable's specs to learn of the Overmares.

Oops, I forgot to reply to that one. I can't think of anything now, though.

#54 might've succeeded to some capacity, at least that's what I would like to imagine. An additional idea was that at some point during the experiment, when the handicapped populace became more independent, MoP robots designed to aid handicapped people were deployed to see if the ponies would remain self-reliable or would end up relying on the robots.

No, I mean, that only works for the first generation.

I do consider FE, PH, Pink Eyes, Murky, and Heroes (when I get around to reading it) all part of my headcanon. But why would it be tricky to put a Pinkie AI into a Stable if PH is canon?

>AB, hey Bloom. I was digging through some of the MWT’s Stable-Tec files and lookie what I found. Mind transfer to a computer? Sexy, Bloom. Really sexy. You’ve been holding out. I saw what you have cooking at 29, 33, and 94. Hope you don’t mind if I snag the designs, ROFL. This has got some real possibilities if we can reverse it. Play around a bit. -H.

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