Equestria

Equestria is a location that seems to exist "outside" of the milky way. Equestria is inhabited by magical ponies and other talking creatures, such as griffons and dragons. Other animals and creatures also live in Equestria. Equestria is a kingdom co-ruled by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, who watch over it through telescopes at the top of a tower in their base city of Canterlot. The human name of the realm, "Equestria", is derived from the word "equestrian" (which means of or related to horseback riding), which itself stems from equus, the Latin word for "horse."

Milky Way Status
In the galaxy proper, Equestria was something akin to Shangri-La: It is considered an earthly paradise - a permanently happy land, isolated from the outside galaxy, mythical, and lacking hard evidence for its existence. It is later revealed, However, that it exists after all, and is, in fact, The source for several incidents relating to The mystical hacker, The Huntress.

Equestria exists as a neuro-interactive simulation for it's 297 sythetically-grown inhabitants, in the real world, as their bodies, specifically the dark energy of their eezo concetrations, serve as a power source for the facility.

The simulation works as an interface in which information is directly fed to the brain where the environment Equestria creates a person's sensory perception resulting into a flawless illusion indistinguishable from reality for those connected to it.

The population connected to Equestria is integral to its operation as their minds are what essentially house and power the simulation. Anyone who rejects and is unplugged from Equestria potentially creates an algorithmic anomaly within the construct code that could threaten Equestria by causing a major system crash, disconnecting everyone connected inside.

The Pod's systems are vurlnable to overloads - the pod computer, while fully intact, misreads it's command codes, such as mistakenly interpreting vital maintenance information as sensory stimulation. It then activates it's damage-control protocols, disconnecting the pod's occupant.

From The Herd's POV, it is considered a prison for the equestrian race. The equestrians' minds, represented as mentally-projected avatars within the simulation, are kept inside Equestria all of their lives while their physical bodies grow in pods that serve as 'batteries' for the facility outside.

They live out their entire lives in this virtual reality, in an environment designed to balance between pacifying the minds connected to it and being accepted by them.

Ponyville
CORRESPONDS TO: POD PLANT

Ponyville is a small town that is the home of the last administartors, later known as the First Sparkle Cabinet. In-Universe, Ponyville was founded by Earth ponies, but it is currently inhabited by Pegasi and unicorns as well.

Canterlot
CORRESPONDS TO: MAINFRAME

Canterlot is the capital of Equestria and home to the royal palace of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. It was also the home of Twilight Sparkle and Spike prior to their relocation to Ponyville. Canterlot is where large events such as the Grand Galloping Gala take place. The name is a reference to Camelot, the home to King Arthur and his "Knights of The Round Table" as well as being a play on the word "canter," which is a three-beat gait possessed by all horses that is faster than a trot but slower than a gallop.

Cloudsdale
CORRESPONDS TO: LIFE SUPPORT

Cloudsdale is a city in the sky where the Best Young Flyer competition takes place and where Equestria's weather is made. Only Pegasi live and work there, since non-Pegasus ponies cannot stand on clouds. It is also the former hometown of both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. The name is a reference to the Clydesdale, a breed of draft horses. The Weather Factory is located there.

Pod Plant
CORRESPONDS TO: PONYVILLE

The Pod Plant is, As its name suggests, a chamber containing 1,200 pods. Inside each of the 297 active pods is an equestrian, connected through a series of grafts, plugs, and wires into the circuitry of the pod. The equestrian's mind exists in the Equestria neural-interactive virtual world, fully convinced in almost all cases that they are alive, awake, and living in the physical world.

Unplug Consequences
Equestria's connection method, like Typhon's, is safe - Disconnection, including shutdown or crash, results in mere regaining of real-world sensory input, and death in the simulation is a seperate system that electrocutes the user. The pod design, however, is not - if the pods do not recieve an order to open, they are shut closed, forcing the users to drown inside the nutrient solution.