Has there ever been a relatively successful story set in a cyberpunk universe? The genre is rare by itself, but I was curious if anyone had thought of blending it with ponies. (if you don't know what I mean by cyberpunk, the movie Blade Runner and the tabletop game Shadow Run are good examples.)

I hope their are some

There's Starworks by Sanctae which is a reimagining of the first two episodes of MLP in a cyberpunk Equestria.

There'a Storm Princess by Samutoka (moronsonofboron). It's about Dash who is the eponymous Storm Princess — and heir to a large, powerful corporation.

There's also Elements by herpyderpy. It's got some cyberpunk elements and it stars Rarity (working for a gem technology megacorp) falling in love with Soarin' (one of said megacorp's private soldiers).

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That said, it's a shame how there's so much steampunk and not so many cyberpunk.

Granted, I'm biased towards cyberpunk because I visited Hong Kong when I was younger and looking at the pictures (especially the night shots), I felt like I was looking at the set of Blade Runner or maybe Deus Ex:Human Revolution.

it feels like there is little in terms of scifi in general... this needs to be fixed.
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/76219/melodia-apparatus is the only one I know of... but looking at that guys list of other unfinished fanfics... I suspect it will never be completed.

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My own stories - all - take place in a thoroughly cyberpunk future, highly influenced by Blade Runner, Idoru, and many other works. One of my many novels specifically focuses on the cyberpunk aspect, and concerns itself, in later chapters, with virtual reality, rogue hackers, cybernetic enhancements and artificial intelligences all set against the backdrop of an ecologically devastated world entirely supported by nanotechnology.

The novel is 'Going Pony', and you may find it precisely fulfills your requirements.

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Sci-fi in general: Days of Wasp and Spider, The God Particle and probably many others.

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Steampunk tend to be more common, not only cus the genre has overshadowed cyberpunk in popularity, but also cus it's closer to their universe. one of the problem I see with many pony!cyberpunk stories is that they treat "Cyberpunk" as a setting, when it's really a particular approach to science fiction stories. It's not the spawling japanese cities, trenchcoats or glowy neon bits that make cyberpunk, it's the worldbuilding and the theme of escalating technology.

The main idea behind cyberpunk is "anything you can do to a lab-rat, you can do to a human being", or a pony, in this case. So, in a MLP-story, magic can take the place of advanced computers or augumentation. This may not yield the giant neon skyscrapers of cyborgs with tubes sticking out of them of "traditional" cyberpunk, but the main idea of society getting access to technology that cuts really deep into our conscioussness to the point of altering it will still be intact.

That thought might give us a larger pool of fanfics to choose from when looking for something cyberpunk-esque.

all this talk about cyberpunk got me in the mood to go play deus ex

I have a crossover with Human Revolution, appropriately named Deus Ex: Equine Revolution. It's a little slow to update, but rest assured I'm still working on it. As a crossover, I've tried to make it work similarly to Fallout: Equestria, referencing the original material while still making an effort to make the situation work in the FiM universe.

1154539 I think the stereotypical settings of cyberpunk can work to a story's benefit in this fandom. By having a setting so juxtaposed against what we see in the show right now, it can reinforce the idea that Equestrian society has taken a huge, perhaps misguided, leap forward.

However, you're right in identifying the core components of cyberpunk as being what's happening to the people, rather than the environment surrounding them. While it's fun coming up with modern architecture and themes in my story, it's far more satisfying to have the main character ponder the meaning of her new augmentations, and to ask who exactly this new technology is benefiting.

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I think the stereotypical settings of cyberpunk can work to a story's benefit in this fandom. By having a setting so juxtaposed against what we see in the show right now, it can reinforce the idea that Equestrian society has taken a huge, perhaps misguided, leap forward.

You have a point, the "cutting edge" in the ponyverse seems to be somewhere in the early 90s, with arcade machines and turntables. All that really needs to happen is that someone needs to invent the personal computer, and we're good to go.

However, you're right in identifying the core components of cyberpunk as being what's happening to the people, rather than the environment surrounding them. While it's fun coming up with modern architecture and themes in my story, it's far more satisfying to have the main character ponder the meaning of her new augmentations, and to ask who exactly this new technology is benefiting.

And those two questions, above anything else, is what makes cyberpunk what it is, at least in my eye. The fact that big sprawling cities permanently lit by neon lights looks totally awesome certainly doesn't hurt.

Here's a question to people I think could be an interesting topic on its own, with this in mind, is there any episode of the show you'd say has cyberpunk themes in it?

I myself am working on a cyberpunk story, involving serious injury, ponified lazarus project, and a lot of conspiracies.

But I agree, there needs to be more sci-fi stories, they're so difficult to find.

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Sorry if I'm way late on the bandwagon, but I made a blog post announcing my intention to write a cyberpunk story here just now. I have a cover image in progress and everything, have a look. But it'll probably be a while before I start uploading. But any support is appreciated. Cheers.

I'm working on a Deus Ex MLP Fic called Deus Equestria: Ascension. It has elements and themes of the Deus Ex series, but has its own continuity and storyline. Still needs work and is not perfect by any means, but I think it is a good start into working Cyberpunk into MLP.
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/129362/deus-equestria-ascension

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Well, I do not believe that dystopic soft-SF makes cyberpunk (good cyberpunk has to be hard, and hard-SF pretty much prohibits cure-alls), but to each their own.

Unlike most, instead of writing cyberpunk fanfics, I'd prefer to write my own story.
That way, it's not as limited to the things I can put into it.

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Unlike most, instead of writing cyberpunk fanfics, I'd prefer to write my own story.

I cannot understand what you are trying to say.

3180835 Ha ha ha oh god i just completely lost my shit looking at that comment chain.

The premise of my story Obsolescence is based on the concept of the cyberpunk genre. Here's the cover art, done by the awesomely amazing TheOmegaRidley, to give you an idea of the atmosphere and setting I'm trying to create: