Hey guys,

I don't see any recent activity in this forum, but gonna give this a shot anyway. I was recommended by a fellow Fimfiction member to this group to contribute my story Nighttide Star, but I'm not sure if it meets the criteria listed for any of the groups. At best, she seems to fit the bill of a 'cyborg', but here's the basic details:

- Nighttide Star is a pony from an alternate universe, so a different world separate from MLP altogether.
- She was born naturally and completely pony, but due to an accident, her legs had to be replaced with artificial limbs.
- Over the years, different machine and digital parts were built into her – everything from a computer that's accessible by thought, weapons built into a permanently installed suit, etc.

But, at the end of the day, she's still a pony with a mind and heart of her own, even if she is missing half her natural body parts by this point... Does that equal a cyborg, or something else altogether? I just don't want to add a story that doesn't meet the right criteria here.

4506117

You do realize that the humble pacemaker and glasses technically qualifies as cybernetics, right?

So, yeah, half your body gone and loads of improvements defiantly does. I'm not sure even how you could argue it any other way to be utterly blunt.

4506136

*shrugs* I ain't up to speed with tropes and definitions for snazzy modern things like cyborgs and what-not, so I just wanted to ask and make sure first.

4506117 Seeing as how IRL we actually do have cyborgs, and have since like 2006 when a guy implanted what amounts to a USB drive in the back of his hand, it's safe to say that any technological augmentation of any sort makes you a cyborg.

Yeah, I'd say electronic/computerized prosthetics count.

4506166

*blinks* Someone did that? That's awesome!... I think. Would suck to be stuck with a small capacity flash drive forever, though.

... And they say you learn cool stuff in college. They lied to me. *sighs*

4506166
Well, almost any sort. I'd say that an augmentation which was purely mechanical wouldn't count as 'cybernetic'.

4506185 He had it in for like 3 months only. it was an MIT study to see what would happen to electronics stored in the body for a long time. The answer is cover them in silica or something or they corrode REALLY FAST. Which is why today if you dont mind an unsightly bump on your arm you can have a full medical monitoring system implanted where a doc can just Bluetooth the last 4 months of your medical history to his phone! Awesome right?

4506193 If by "purely mechanical" you mean things like joint replacements... yeah sure, fair enough. But if this docent count as a cyborg, what dose?

EDIT: I forgot about the guy with full leg replacements. He's freaking awesome!

4506231

Neat stuff! Basically everything that was envisioned in some tangible form during the 90s, and brought to fruition with the technology we have today, plus long-term communication languages like Bluetooth.

I used to be a tech guy up until the mid-2000s, when I kind of faded over to the literary arts. This sort of stuff still fascinates me though. Anyway, thanks for that; never know what I'll learn just by writing fan fiction.

4506421 It's pretty cool just how far we can push things in a decade when we're motivated too! Hell those were from 2010! More recently were figuring out ways to permanently attach replacements, and I shit you not we have a cybernetic hand that provides touch and sense of temperature.

But you know what the cooler thing is? We have science fiction to thank for it. People like us who write about what could be, inspired people who build to make these wonders.

4506421
4506445

An example of this can be found by looking at the German who built a FMA (Full Metal Alchemist) arm and leg to replace his that were missing. (He was an amputee if I recall correctly) in, what was it... 2012 I believe. So yes, those of us who write have a huge impact on peoples imaginations and by writing we can shape the future for the tech heads!

(Says the guy trying to design an F-22/AST-21 cross-breed, lol)

4506445
4507009

I was just going to say, it's always incredible to see the practical application of imagination coming into play through technological evolution. And to think, a real-life variation of automail from FMA. Very cool stuff!

4507017 Indeed, also I think your character would fit the qualifications. I'd add my stories to it, but alas most of my cyborg stuff comes in late on mine.

4506117

Way I see it, referring to someone as a 'cyborg' can have different meanings depending on who you talk to. Also, being a cyborg should not in any way imply that you are no longer a human (or a pony).

In any decent society, the ponies around her would simply say that Nighttide Star is a pony. She was a pony when she was born, and she will be a pony until the day she dies. When she lost her legs, she was an injured pony. When she got replacement legs, she was a pony who got prosthetics to help her walk again. Everything added onto her after that point is more or less equipment she's stuck carrying around.

Also, the whole idea that "cybernetics eat your soul" or that having bits of your body replaced with mechanical parts somehow makes you less of a person, or makes you more unfeeling is kind of rubbish. At most, if you have limbs replaced with cyborg parts then you'd miss the sensations of touch your natural limbs had, and having your heart replaced with a mechanical pump might feel weird what with not having a regular heartbeat and possibly missing the pain in your chest if you run so fast your heart starts pounding... but neither of those things would make a person less capable of feeling angry, sad, lonely, or excited.

Well... could be some changes due to chemical imbalances, but those would be more like occasionally getting depressed if your blood sugar gets too low, or feeling extra excited and hyper if your cyborg heart and organs give you way more oxygen and stuff than normal. I imagine having a heart, lungs, and legs that never tire would result in a person that has no problem running around more than they were normally. Or... maybe it's a thing where their body never gets tired but their brain still needs sleep so they'll just keep running around all chipper and active until hit their limit and just fall unconscious where they stand.

So, to clarify:
To her friends, Nighttide Star is a pony. She's been through a lot of stuff, had some changes, and has abilities (and challanges) that others don't. She's a pony with cyborg parts.
To a doctor... she's a pony with cyborg parts. Or a cyborg or cyberpony for expediency. Her doctor knows that she's a pony, and has plenty of paperwork telling them where her cyborg parts start and end and what sorts of maintenance she needs to go through to stay healthy and keep her parts in good condition.
To people who don't like her or think that cyberponies are freaky... she's a scary cyborg. All they know is that she's got metal parts replacing bits that 'normal' ponies have fleshy bits.

On a related note: I like to think that if ponies get the opportunities to get cyborg parts augmented onto their bodies, they would be called cyberponies and be treated somewhat like a seperate pony varient like Earth Ponies, Pegasai, Unicorns, and Alicorns.

Earth Ponies have no wings or magic and rely on strength and dextarity.
Pegasai have wings and can fly and tend to the clouds.
Unicorns have horns they use to cast spells and perform all manner of arcane or precision work with their telekinesis.
Alicorns have both horns and wings and are usually made into princesses who hold positions of power and esteem.

And Cyberponies are ponies who have been augmented by technology. They can have wings, magic-channeling horns, all manner of devices or weapons, or even artificial muscles to give them enhanced strength and agility. They serve whatever purpose they desire, or whatever task they were augmented to perform. Though many cyberponies help maintain the technology of Equestria and either guard things or help manipulate or access data for unaugmented ponies.

I suppose the difference between an Earth Pony or Unicorn with one augmented part versus a full-blown Cyberpony would be if they think that their place has changed in the world as a result of the augmentation. If they get in an accident and have much of their body changed as a result, they have to ask "Does this change who I am? Can I just go back to doing my old job, following my Cutie Mark as before... or has this made me a truly different pony and I have to find a new place in the world for myself?"

That... I think that's sort of the difference between a "cyborg" and just a regular person who has a prosthetic limb or two.

Man I am glad I found this thread it pointed me to some amazing advances we have made. Also the whole cybernetics eating your soul could be different in the pony world due to magic. Shadowrun has a excellent system where the more cybernetics you have the less ability to cast magic you have if you can cast magic. It can also drive you insane after a certain point.

I personally think it is a bit of a balance.
In my book, if a significant portion (>50%) of your body is replaced involuntarily (i.e. accident, disease (genetic or other)), then you become a cyborg. If you voluntarily replace any body part, or add a computer, you become a cyborg.
Though, a cyborg is a bit more like a breed or subspecies rather than an entire new species. So discrimination against cyborgs would be a bit like racism (at least for involuntary cyborgs).

Though honestly, I would happily put a computer in my head; it would make a lot of stuff easier (if it is discrete enough, a method of cheating through exams! Anyone who knows about the new GCSE syllabus would probably understand how I feel about it.).

...Wow, that's a lot of brackets!

4996839
You're a bit late.

4996861 Thought this thread needed a bit of a bump

4997007
Well that's good because I absolutely love talking about augmentation and artificial biomechanics. :D

4997144