Re: [Fallout Equestria] Setting discussions

[Harmony Ltd.]

That's a possible future, yes.

Hmm... Sorry if I haven't flung around many ideas lately, I had my head located in a different place (namely my own ass).

[O. Hinds]

Tis fine.

Oh, and the first President could be the Hero of the Moojave, whoever that turns out to be. Via a diplomatic path, of course.

[Harmony Ltd.]

While I was watching videos on various stuff, an interesting point has been brought up, RE design of military hardware.

More precisely, it was about the difference(s) in approach between American and Soviet philosophies. Which is relevant considering that so far I've taken quite a bit of inspiration from the Soviet approach when it come to the NCR's equipment.

Anyway, the point was that, due to the simple fact that the Soviet have always had a problem of limited resources (by opposition with the US which has a shitload of cash), the Soviet design philosophy rested on the axiom of "better is the enemy of good enough".

For this reason, and because failure was seen as treason in this worker's utopia, the efforts were mainly focused on incremental improvement of tested and proved solutions, rather than promoting high-costs high-risk high-reward development programs like the US had the leisure to conduct due to its larger financial resources.

It was also pointed that Soviet weapons were, at their core, thought of and designed as weapons. Which seems redundant said like that, but becomes clearer with the examples that were brought up : The Soviet missile cruisers were filled to the brim with missiles, and actually damaged themselves while shooting, but it didn't really matter in the end because their role was to launch missiles and destroy enemy ships, which is what they did (or at least were supposed to). The T-34 tank presented appalling life condition to its crew, but it didn't matter because its job was to destroy enemy tanks, which is what it did, and it was cheap enough to be mass-produced several times faster and in more numbers than the enemy could re-build its own forces. Etc...

Basically, these two keys ideas heavily influenced Soviet weapon design : incremental design (most visible on the evolution of the T-54 => T-55 => T-62 => T-72 => T-90 tanks) and weapons thought of primarily as tools and vectors of destruction.


And this works pretty well in the context of the NCR, for a post-apocalyptic power with limited resources, still struggling for its survival and to ascertain its continued existence to put an emphasis on things that actually work, however crudely, over the attraction of shiny new toys.

[O. Hinds]

Interesting, yes.

The Alliance military is mostly the Miliozi, who started out that way for anything that they couldn't use their old PR stuff for. Over time, though, as more and more of the PR stuff failed and the Alliance became more prosperous (and particularly once Profectum started cranking tech out again), the new stuff started getting more complex and sophisticated. While the Alliance is also low on resources compared to the preapocalypse world, their more developed state gives them access to more than the NCR. The military cultures are also different; NCR troops, volunteer and conscript alike, I imagine have pretty high degrees of individualism from their "everpony for themselves" Equestrian Wasteland heritage. I'd therefore expect some American comfort touches (though scaled back for people who, a generation ago, would have considered "water that I need a light to find in the dark" a luxury item) in NCR equipment, even if it's otherwise designed with the "cheap, simple, and easy-to-use" Soviet philosophy. The Alliance, well, they've got Profectum more or less constantly working on new tech and the redevelopment of Zebrica providing resources, but the Miliozi (who, as I said, dominate the Alliance military, and most of what isn't Miliozi is robotic or non-field) are... not very big on wasteful comforts or individual good at the expense of the group. While Alliance military tech therefore would have high-end development programs and sometimes complicated-to-use systems (since Miliozi soldiers more or less start their training from birth), crew comfort takes not just a backseat but a separate vehicle that follows along in the wake of the real warriors.

[Harmony Ltd.]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB1BDrFzFY0

I'm not entirely sure what to make of this, but I find it interesting nonetheless.


By the way, I think I asked the question already, but I can't remember the answer and this thread has become fucking huge :

Did Equestria have tanks or similar armored fighting vehicles during the War ?

[Harmony Ltd.]

Did Equestria have tanks or similar armored fighting vehicles during the War ?

I guess this answer the question

[Scienza]

Another memory orb scrap released by Kkat: http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/210481/the-morale-officer-orb

This new orb is extremely intriguing, more so than the automobile orb.

Morale officers do seem like a kind of soldier that Equestria would field, to varying degrees of effectiveness. It reminds me about that whole exchange between Carrion and Xanthe in Hightower, where they talked about how pony combat music was unbeatable and that their effectiveness increased by ridiculous amounts while singing.

Her call of "For Stalliongrad!" is also very intriguing. It's possible that the officer and/or the specific unit is from Stalliongrad, however, that probably wouldn't be as motivating for a unified Equestrian fighting force. More likely, something bad happened at Stalliongrad which would cause it's name to become a symbol, a call for vengeance. Something maybe akin to the real-world Battle of Stalingrad.

(copied over from Project Horizons thread since it seems to fit here more.)

Also, the folks from the PH thread are probably sick to death of this particular headcanon of mine, but I might as well put it here as well.

The question arises of why Fallout Equestria has no Twilacorn and no time spells if it's descended from FiM canon. The answer is simple: Time Travel.

Imagine that you're a zebra. You're currently fighting your greatest enemy, a brilliant alicorn researcher cranking out new megaspell after megaspell, one of the bearers of of the most powerful magic in the universe. How do you defeat this god? You go back in time and ensure that she never existed. That she remained a weak, fragile unicorn. Then you ensure that she never encounters time magic, just to cover your tracks. 

Travel to the future is never demonstrated in the show, thus negating the possibility of seeing the world get blown to hell, but travel to the past is a possibility

[Harmony Ltd.]

Well, I have a whole slew of headcanon for Stalliongrad in this here thread.

Begins at page 8, and goes on bit by bit until around page 14 I believe.


One of the ideas I went with is that the place was an important population and manufacturing center, and that Stalliongraders represented a fourth of the Equestrian Armed Forces. They would also be very proud of being Stalliongraders. Extremely patriotic. Thus explaining neatly in this context the "For Stalliongrad!" comment.


From Hinds' map, it doesn't seem likely that the city itself could have come under attack until the end of the war, but it's not unlikely that Zebra infiltrator may have conducted covert attacks deep behind the front to sabotage the city's manufacturing plants. Things like that.

The Zebra concentrated their forces on Hoofington, but Stalliongrad was itself a big target of strategic importance that couldn't be ignored.

That why during the Days of Fire the city got completely razed in balefire blasts. Where there once was Stalliongrad there now only remains dozens of deep, radioactive craters.

BUT... The underground automated manufacturing facilities still weren't destroyed in the attack, and in the two centuries since, they managed to slowly repair themselves back to nominal status, and are just waiting for new orders to come.

[Harmony Ltd.]

I'm not opposed to the non-existence of time-travel magic in the context of FoE. The introduction of the concept just raise too many possibilities of ripple-effects, and if it ever gets discovered, it would become The MOther of All Deus Ex Machina.

I mean, there's possibilities to make good stories about time travel. But let's not delude ourselves. We are talking fanfic-level writing. It would devolve in Doctor Who lameness before you had time to know what happened.


Your idea has merit, let me be clear. But I think it'd be easier to just say that there's simply no time travel in this AU.

[O. Hinds]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB1BDrFzFY0

I'm not entirely sure what to make of this, but I find it interesting nonetheless.

Neat!

By the way, I think I asked the question already, but I can't remember the answer and this thread has become fucking huge :

Did Equestria have tanks or similar armored fighting vehicles during the War ?

Yes.

Did Equestria have tanks or similar armored fighting vehicles during the War ?

I guess this answer the question

Hm, and, unlike the motorwagon orb, this one could work for us, perhaps.
Also… Yeah, it's one thing to have morale officers in ships and such, or in camp, but beflagged one-pony bands on the battlefield? Let's see, they're prominent targets, no more heavily armored than the average soldier, and taking them out is almost certain to demoralize the Equestrian forces.

Another memory orb scrap released by Kkat: http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/210481/the-morale-officer-orb

This new orb is extremely intriguing, more so than the automobile orb.

Morale officers do seem like a kind of soldier that Equestria would field, to varying degrees of effectiveness. It reminds me about that whole exchange between Carrion and Xanthe in Hightower, where they talked about how pony combat music was unbeatable and that their effectiveness increased by ridiculous amounts while singing.

Her call of "For Stalliongrad!" is also very intriguing. It's possible that the officer and/or the specific unit is from Stalliongrad, however, that probably wouldn't be as motivating for a unified Equestrian fighting force. More likely, something bad happened at Stalliongrad which would cause it's name to become a symbol, a call for vengeance. Something maybe akin to the real-world Battle of Stalingrad.

(copied over from Project Horizons thread since it seems to fit here more.)

Ah, point about pony combat music, though I'm not sure if I'm including that. That just makes it even worse for Equestria if the morale officer is taken out right before starting, though.

Also, the folks from the PH thread are probably sick to death of this particular headcanon of mine, but I might as well put it here as well.

The question arises of why Fallout Equestria has no Twilacorn and no time spells if it's descended from FiM canon. The answer is simple: Time Travel.

Imagine that you're a zebra. You're currently fighting your greatest enemy, a brilliant alicorn researcher cranking out new megaspell after megaspell, one of the bearers of of the most powerful magic in the universe. How do you defeat this god? You go back in time and ensure that she never existed. That she remained a weak, fragile unicorn. Then you ensure that she never encounters time magic, just to cover your tracks. 

Travel to the future is never demonstrated in the show, thus negating the possibility of seeing the world get blown to hell, but travel to the past is a possibility

While I've not bothered to update it to keep it valid as other things changed, I once had a potential headcanon that was basically the reverse of this: the show timeline was a result of Equestrian time travel which successfully prevented the war. As I said, though, the details of the idea no longer work.

One of the ideas I went with is that the place was an important population and manufacturing center, and that Stalliongraders represented a fourth of the Equestrian Armed Forces. They would also be very proud of being Stalliongraders. Extremely patriotic. Thus explaining neatly in this context the "For Stalliongrad!" comment.

Aye, I recalled that when I read the battlecry in the orb!

From Hinds' map, it doesn't seem likely that the city itself could have come under attack until the end of the war, but it's not unlikely that Zebra infiltrator may have conducted covert attacks deep behind the front to sabotage the city's manufacturing plants. Things like that.

And there's a lot of damage that can be done by sabotaging say, a munitions plant in the right way.

But I think it'd be easier to just say that there's simply no time travel in this AU.

That is my current view. After all, show Equestria is even a completely different shape; it's obvious that either the two were separate universes to begin with or that the pod is so far back that they for our purposes might as well be.

[Scienza]

Ah, point about pony combat music, though I'm not sure if I'm including that.  That just makes it even worse for Equestria if the morale officer is taken out right before starting, though.

I think that's part of the idea though. T'would make morale officers among the first targets in any battle, even above officers. The officer getting taken out so quickly just reinforces it.

That is my current view.  After all, show Equestria is even a completely different shape; it's obvious that either the two were separate universes to begin with or that the pod is so far back that they for our purposes might as well be.

That's probably a good standpoint. I tend to go out of my way to try to assemble some sort of cohesive multiverse (I even broke down the various alternate Blackjacks by where I think they fit in the various canons.)

[Harmony Ltd.]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6gHCNMSbqQ


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqTZAzUj1PQ

I find this interesting, considering all the fuss that's been made about Steel Ranger armor.

[Harmony Ltd.]

The TL;DR of the two previous videos is that small caliber rounds CAN pierce relatively thick steel plates, but these are specially designed penetrator rounds against "soft" steel.

And firing the same penetrator round on a plate of "hard" steel, at the same distance, show that the metal is just slightly dented.

Applied to the question of "just how special Steel Ranger armor is ?", I think it's fair to imagine that the alloy used in their construction is already pretty strong on its own. It's also possible some of the magic talismans of the suits contribute to some degree to increasing the "hardness" of the armor. And, of course, there's also the repair talisman(s), but they don't really count as far as avoiding penetration of the armor in the first place goes.


By the way, speaking of this leads me to a line of questioning : where does these talismans take their energy from ? Do they just "siphon" the ambient magic to do their stuff, or are they actually fed by spark batteries ?

And -if- they siphon the ambient magic, wouldn't prolonged exposure be noxious to the user in a world running on literal magic ?

I would tend to prefer the option of them running on spark batteries, because the idea that talismans can work by just siphoning the ambient magic opens some pretty big can of worms as far as power generation goes. ... Though this could have been the basis of the Megaspells in the first place, now that I think of it.

I don't know. Thoughts ?

[Scienza]

My theory about talismans is that they're a form of "activated" spell. They've got a spell encoded in their molecular structure which is activated by an electrical current (which wouldn't be a problem for zebras since they're the primary source of coal for the world). This would also explain why Equestria needs coal instead of just letting everything run on pure magic; their automated magical systems require a supply of power to function.

Also, on the Steel Ranger thing, you'll notice that those are special penetrator rounds. From what FoE tells us, those don't exist until after Steel Ranger armor comes out. Steelhooves talks about how the invention of armor-piercing rounds rendered Applejack's drama over anti-machine rifles moot since it meant that even a handgun like Little Macintosh could take out a Steel Ranger.

[Harmony Ltd.]

We agree on our interpretation of talismans. Though I thought myself they didn't require electricity but literally "magical spark". Raw magical energy. Though you could produce "magical spark" with the appropriate talisman out of electricity, which could then funnel this "spark" into another talisman requiring it. Not exactly efficient, but it's better than needing a unicorn to expend its own force continuously magically powering something.

As for the question of AP rounds, I'm aware of it. There's been long discussions on the subjects (one of the cause being a... well, continuity error in PH regarding that topic). My reflexion here was more about how credible the alleged capabilities of the Steel Ranger armors are without factoring in magic - it's to say, how well would they handle punishment if they didn't in fact function through actual magic.

[Scienza]

The only thing about the magical spark is that zebras, the main users of talismans, can't produce said magic. The magic that they can produce is alchemical, implying a physical source of power (electricity).

[O. Hinds]

And -if- they siphon the ambient magic, wouldn't prolonged exposure be noxious to the user in a world running on literal magic ?

Hm, maybe this explains reactors? They never seem to run out of power (though perhaps we just never see it), but they emit radiation. Just an idea. I'm tired; a group project has kept me up far later than I'd planned.

[Harmony Ltd.]

Why not both?

Steam is cool, but diesel is underused in my opinion.

My headcanon for the Pax Roamana (though… since the PR in particular only exists in my headcanon, I probably don't need to specify that) is quite dieselpunk, and with literal diesel (originally bio and later petro). By the end of the war, the PR was mostly driven by turbines and two-stroke reciprocating diesels.

While the New Canterlot Republic is some kind of mix between 50's Retro-Future and Steampunk.

To be more precise,

in my opinion, the general aesthetic of Wartime Equestria was the Fallout aesthetic of 50's inspired retro-futurism. Thus, most things dating back from that period are influenced by that aesthetic.

The NCR itself, due to its reduced industrial base, is forced to work in most respect at a lower tech level, which gives the things it manufacture a somewhat steampunk vibe.

When Wartime Equestrian technology is merged with NCR contemporary realizations, it often gives the resulting product an aesthetic that is a mix of both these influences.

NCR-contemporary high-tech products, made entirely from scratch by the NCR, grow organically from the merger of these two influences.

[Scienza]

While it may have a steampunk aesthetic, I don't see it actually running on steam, since you've got the issue of fuel. With no coal and wood a relative scarcity (all the trees are either dead or dangerously mutated), fuel would be a major issue. I see most machines either running on kinetic, wheel driven mechanisms, or powered via a unicorn. Maybe a few machines will run on old spark-batteries, but those would be run out eventually.

This has probably already been debated earlier in the thread, but still might as well bring it up again.

[Harmony Ltd.]

The steam machines runs on locally produced alcohol produced from the discarded biomass generated by the NCR's agricultural sector (which is surprisingly efficient, what with earth pony magic and all), and supplemented to some degree by oil, diesel and other hydrocarbons imported from the Alliance.

But you are right in that fuel is in short supply either way. That's why the NCR is constantly trying to improve its biofuel production capbilities (it doesn't want to be reliant on the oil coming from the Alliance), and to find alternative primary power sources for its nascent "energy grid" : in the major population centers, you'll find a number of wind turbines, and near Old Appleloosa you'll find some people experimenting with thermal solar power sources (solar ovens driving a steam generator). In the future the region near Old Appeloosa will become one of the energy eldorado of the peninsula with the rise of solar power.

[Harmony Ltd.]

Ah, also, don't forget this is set roughly thirty years after the Gardens of Equestria got activated, cleaning the land of radiation, taint, and most other nasty contaminants.

The "Bitter War" threw a spanner in that happy ending [*], but they had at least 20 years of peacetime to use Earth Pony magic at its full potential to bring back the NCR's territories to their ancient green. It's not over yet, but they're at a pretty advanced stage, with forests starting to regrow significantly in some parts.



[*]: in short, after Neighvarro lost the Battle of Neighvarro, with Littlepip taking control of the SPP, the Grand Pegasus Enclave basically imploded. The Enclave (its armed forces) didn't surrender and continued Operation Cauterize (if you have read the last two chapter of PH, I think you'll agree they're... "proud" enough to do something like that), only to see almost all of its remaining Thunderhead and Raptors destroyed by Lionheart and that Dragon-Mice that breathe Pink Cloud. This was a severe blow to the morale of the Enclave, and sent metaphorical shockwaves at every layers of its society. Soon enough, you had Enclave settlements seceding left and right from Neighvarro (with Las Pegasus joining the Alliance in the process), blaming the downfall of the Enclave on the proponents of Operation Cauterize. But a large part of the population still resented the surfacers, blaming them for the situation, and thus a part of the now disunited Enclave (nicknamed "the Bitters") launched itself into a war with the surface, their motives eventually turning genocidal.
A part of the Enclave (nicknamed "the Volunteers") assisted the surface in its defensive war against the Bitters, while a non-negligible part of the Enclave overall, nicknamed "the Remnants", just wanted to be left in peace and continue like before, happy to leave the surface in peace in exchange for being left in peace.
Due to a combination of several factors (numbers, technology, organization, etc..), this war was very destructive to the Surfacers, but they eventually managed, with the help of the Volunteers, to turn the tide of the war in their favor. After half a decade most of the fighting was other, with the War officially ending 10 years after the Day of Sunshine and Rainbows, the Bitters having disappeared seemingly without a trace (plot hook).
These days the Enclave Remnants are mostly a bunch of pegasi city-states united more out necessity than by affinity. Though they are rebuilding a new Cloudsdale.

[O. Hinds]

Why not both?

Steam is cool, but diesel is underused in my opinion.

My headcanon for the Pax Roamana (though… since the PR in particular only exists in my headcanon, I probably don't need to specify that) is quite dieselpunk, and with literal diesel (originally bio and later petro).  By the end of the war, the PR was mostly driven by turbines and two-stroke reciprocating diesels.

While the New Canterlot Republic is some kind of mix between 50's Retro-Future and Steampunk.

To be more precise,

in my opinion, the general aesthetic of Wartime Equestria was the Fallout aesthetic of 50's inspired retro-futurism. Thus, most things dating back from that period are influenced by that aesthetic.

The NCR itself, due to its reduced industrial base, is forced to work in most respect at a lower tech level, which gives the things it manufacture a somewhat steampunk vibe.

When Wartime Equestrian technology is merged with NCR contemporary realizations, it often gives the resulting product an aesthetic that is a mix of both these influences.

NCR-contemporary high-tech products, made entirely from scratch by the NCR, grow organically from the merger of these two influences.

Regarding the "aesthetic decade" of the Alliance... I don't know, maybe 70s/80s?

Oh, and I'm wondering if anyone in the Alliance has tried to start up television broadcasting yet. They have all the requisite technology, but I can't decide if they've made use of it. The big question is whether Elusive would be convinced to support it; while it would be possible to get the required resources together in the Alliance without being part of the Company, I doubt that it would be easy.

[O. Hinds]

Oh, I was rereading a bit of Blindsight earlier today (it's a novel by Peter Watts (an excellent author, in my opinion, and once declined by a Russain publisher for being too dark) and has been made available by him for free, along with four other novels, here), and I thought that this passage might provide a bit of insight into the character of Elusive:

Spoiler:

Only Elusive was designed to manage a cruise/Q ship, seeing to its safety and the happiness of its passengers, on his own, if need be, instead of observing comets for a distant mission control. One must remember, after all, that under the friendly demeanor personability, under the avatars and the possession of gender, Elusive is a very inequine intelligence. Just one with a lot of social programming originally and the ability to edit his own code.

Interestingly, I imagine this to be one of the big reasons why Elusive and Red Eye didn't work together (since they would in some other ways be natural allies, and I have a semi-headcanon that Red Eye once, long ago, actually visited Elusive City in his travels): Red Eye was able to internalize just how alien to the equine condition Elusive really was and for that reason didn't trust him to be the new world's divine autocrat. Red Eye, after all, still believed himself to care about ponies, to understand their suffering even as he deemed it necessary.

Also, I'm tired again, so hopefully this is making sense.

[Harmony Ltd.]

Makes sense, yes. But how exactly it would translate on a case by case basis ? That would be interesting to know.

[O. Hinds]

What in particular are you referring to? I brought up several topics to which that text could attach.

[Harmony Ltd.]

I just mean that it would be interesting to have a practical, "fluff" example of how this may have affected / affect his decision making over certain issues.

In short, I'm curious to see it written. :D

[O. Hinds]

Hm... I'm not sure if it's affected any of his decisions more than others. It's the primary cornerstone of Elusive's belief that the world would be a much better place if he ran it, though.

It would also be a bit tricky to write, since he generally works hard to present himself as someone more or less just like a particularly dedicated biological intelligence but by chance a computer.

[cb5]

Nah, equestria is more of a cyberpunk universe.  I mean they have cyborgs, Ai, androids(cyberdawn), zebra cyborgs, and a million other things.  I would place them more at a 2030's level of technology(Ai more of a 2050's level of technology) cause a 1950's/1970's or even a 2010's level technology would be incapable of such things.

Also with moore's law ten years after SPP the NCR having cyborg soldiers would be a requirement of all soldiers.  Not to mention red eye even had cyborgs.  Twenty years after SPP cybernetics would be so commonplace the wasteland would be just history cause by then implants to recycle water or nutrients to reduce how much water and food a pony needed and flush toxins including radiation or taint would cost like only five dollars to make and implant.

One can make the argument that technology was slowed down cause of the wasteland, but with tenpony tower's twilight society, Mr. House and the collegiate after the end of red eye the amount of money to be made off cybernetics ensured without a doubt the end of the wasteland within ten years.  The reason being is that even weeks after spp mr. house had a massive boom in sales with the new caledonian republic.  Also that ponies that specialized in cybernetics would be extremely valuable assets.

A year after SPP the military need for cybernetics would be so great that you would see doctors in cybernetics being guarded 24/7 as other factions try to kidnap them.  Two years after SPP the military need for cybernetics would be through the roof and companies that manufactured cybernetics would be the main economic driving force in equestria.  Five years after SPP the military need for cybernetics would be so high that it would be required of all soldiers to get augmented.  Ten years after SPP the military need for cybernetics will have reached the point in which you were either augmented or dead and that would apply to alicorns as well.

All that money flowing into military cybernetics would flow into making newer models of pre-existing models and R&D.

The short version is FoE is more technomagic cyberpunk universe.

Also imagine a cyborg alicorn version of deus.  What army would not want that?

[O. Hinds]

Well, firstly, Harmony was talking about fifties retro future technology, not fifties technology.

Preapocalypse Equestria may have been cyberpunk (I'm not sure, but it's an interesting idea...), but I don't think that the NCR is.  Yes, they may have knowledge Paperclipped from Red Eye (and potentially acquired by various means from Hoofington, depending on how PH ends), but it takes more than just knowledge to make a setting cyberpunk.  Key, for instance, is the fact that the NCR doesn't have the industrial base to make cybernetics on a large scale or at all affordably; mass popular use is a long way away.  Also key is that cyberpunk generally involves large and dominating social institutions, and the NCR is barely two generations away from the Wasteland.

The reason being is that even weeks after spp mr. house had a massive boom in sales with the new caledonian republic.

...I've no idea what you were trying to say here, sorry.

Also imagine a cyborg alicorn version of deus.  What army would not want that?

An army that both had records of just how well Deus work and was not desperate to win a war?  Given the known and potential costs, the NCR isn't going to rush to develop cyborg soldiers unless they have to, and neither the annexation of as much of the peninsula as possible  nor the not-exactly-a-cold-war-but-not-exactly-peace with the Alliance demand cyborg soldiers.
(Also, it occurs to me that the NCR analysts might comment that the NCR developing cyborg soldiers could be taken by the Alliance as an invitation to do the same... which would be a bad thing for the NCR.  The Alliance has a much larger and more established industrial base and R&D sector; they've got Elusive to do programming and Profectum to do design work, and they already manufacture Steelpony-grade cybernetic components for medical use.  The Miliozi would likely be uneasy, but they'd do it to ensure their status as the world's most powerful fighting force.  If anything, this would push them closer to Elusive, reducing the Alliance's internal tension as it increased the Alliance's military strength.  Oh, and don't forget that cyberization of the NCR military would also be making it increasingly vulnerable to electronic and cyberwarfare.)

[Scienza]

Nah, equestria is more of a cyberpunk universe.  I mean they have cyborgs, Ai, androids(cyberdawn), zebra cyborgs, and a million other things.  I would place them more at a 2030's level of technology(Ai more of a 2050's level of technology) cause a 1950's/1970's or even a 2010's level technology would be incapable of such things.

Also with moore's law ten years after SPP the NCR having cyborg soldiers would be a requirement of all soldiers.  Not to mention red eye even had cyborgs.  Twenty years after SPP cybernetics would be so commonplace the wasteland would be just history cause by then implants to recycle water or nutrients to reduce how much water and food a pony needed and flush toxins including radiation or taint would cost like only five dollars to make and implant.

One can make the argument that technology was slowed down cause of the wasteland, but with tenpony tower's twilight society, Mr. House and the collegiate after the end of red eye the amount of money to be made off cybernetics ensured without a doubt the end of the wasteland within ten years.  The reason being is that even weeks after spp mr. house had a massive boom in sales with the new caledonian republic.  Also that ponies that specialized in cybernetics would be extremely valuable assets.

A year after SPP the military need for cybernetics would be so great that you would see doctors in cybernetics being guarded 24/7 as other factions try to kidnap them.  Two years after SPP the military need for cybernetics would be through the roof and companies that manufactured cybernetics would be the main economic driving force in equestria.  Five years after SPP the military need for cybernetics would be so high that it would be required of all soldiers to get augmented.  Ten years after SPP the military need for cybernetics will have reached the point in which you were either augmented or dead and that would apply to alicorns as well.

All that money flowing into military cybernetics would flow into making newer models of pre-existing models and R&D.

The short version is FoE is more technomagic cyberpunk universe.

It's not really cyberpunk. FoE has cyberpunk elements in the same way that the original Fallout has laser weapons and robots, it's just an evolution of the technological starting point which is something of hybrid of quasi-Industrial Revolution (FiM) and '50s Sci-Fi (Fallout). Also, despite the advances Red Eye may have achieved, the wasteland just doesn't have the capacity to mass-produce sophisticated cybernetics on a scale required for major military use, in fact, even pre-war Equestria didn't have that capacity. The reason you don't see cyborgs everywhere, even in skeletal form, is that they were highly experimental and rare before the war. Stable 101 could afford sophisticated cybernetics because they were only dealing with a population of < 500 and prodigiously recycled resources (as all Stables did), and this was all after 200+ years of constant technological development. You'll notice that even in fics that heavily feature cybernetics (Heroes and Project Horizons), they're still ludicrously expensive and rare, which is why ponies who have them have incredible influence over the course of events.

Moore's Law doesn't really apply in the unique situation of the wasteland, where advanced technology technically exists, but the knowledge and/or capability to recreate it doesn't.

Besides, cracking the secrets behind PipBucks would probably be the best starting point for any nation with technological aspirations, since they were able to be mass-produced on some level and are just insanely useful overall.

Also imagine a cyborg alicorn version of deus.  What army would not want that?

You'll also notice that Deus abused the hell out of his new powers, becoming a nigh-indestructible uber-raider. Improved abilities means that soldiers are much harder to control without violating the basic principles that you fight for (kill buttons aren't cool) and when they do go out-of-control, they're incredibly destructive. This is a huge problem when your army is made of people used to a world where your gun is the only law.

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