Equestrian

The Equestrians are an advanced, intelligent species of quadrupedal beings, commonly referred to as "ponies" by themselves and others, due to their superficial resemblance to Earth's native equines.

Until First Contact was made in 2152, this species was a complete unknown to the rest of the galaxy before their sudden and unexpected, yet temporary arrival in Viery station aboard the human vessel: SSV "Pathfinder" SNV-17562-A, while two specimen joined the crew of the SSV "Normandy" SNV-19446-A, And another specimen was forced into nano-regeneration in the Station and arrived in the citadel only 4 days later. Claiming to be the distant ancestors of a transsapient species that existed millions of years ago, the Equestrians officially qualify for "endangered" status, as their total population consists of mere hundreds of individuals.

Biology
Equestrians are unique among modern sentient species as the only one being both quadrupedal -- a trait shared only by the Elcor -- and without any form of digitigrade features.

As can be expected, being incapable of activities requiring a certain degree of manual dexterity renders the Equestrians at a marked disadvantage when compared to mainstream society. Tools and technology commonly available on the civilian market are designed to be operated by extremities bearing at least three fingers; a feature that the Equestrians sorely lack.

With a natural lifespan of nearly 120 years, and weighing in at an average of seventy-five kilos, a fully mature Equestrian typically does not grow taller than a meter and a half. They are capable of increasing their height by balancing on their hind legs, effectively placing them at eye-level with most other sentient races. This action puts them at a disadvantage, however, as their skeletal structure renders them incapable of bipedal movement, and, without machine aid, they are unable to hold this position for any great length of time.

Like a majority of the galaxy, Equestrians are levo-amino acid-based lifeforms, with atmospheric tolerances on par with that of most other sentient species. Evolved as a strictly vegetarian race, they have the rare ability among sentients to draw sustenance from raw, unprocessed vegetable matter, and even from plants that would be considered inedible to other herbivorous species.

Equestrians, despite their equine appearance, are biologically a Homo-Genus species (Such as the Humans, Quarians, and Asari), sharing traits that earth horses do not posess, such as uvula, the ability to belch/vomit, 4 blood phenotypes (bar Rh factor), a 9 month long pregnancy, and trichromatic vision spanning the genus-wide 430–790 THz frequency spectrum. However, other traits are either unique to the Equestrians, not found anywhere else in the Homo-genus and sometimes in all sapient species, such as the minimum of 2 sleep hours and the afromentioned direct vegetable digestion.

Equestrians also have an incredible affinity towards biotic potential; the second known race to possess at least some degree of biotic ability universally among its members. This trait, once thought exclusive to the Asari, has generated a great deal of speculation as to the species’ origins, and has led to conspiracy theories, originating in turian and salarian space, that claim that the Equestrians are actually the product of secret -- not to mention highly illegal in citadel space -- Alliance experimentation with transgenics and biotics. So far, these claims remain unsubstantiated.

Subspecies
Also unique among other sapient species is the fact that members of the Equestrian race are genetically divided into three specialized subgroups; the end result of a selective breeding and genetic engineering program literally millions of years in the making. Though no Equestrian would consider one variation superior to the next, they are nonetheless differentiated from each other in many distinct fashions, including physical appearance, as well as biotic ability.

“Pegasus” types are unique in that they possess a third limbal girdle located along their twelfth vertebra, allowing for the support and function of avian wings. While vestigial from a purely biological standpoint, this extra set of limbs were apparently designed only for support. Specifically, they are used to aid in providing balance and direction, as a pegasus’s flight is actually the result of negative mass fields, generated by nodules of Element Zero that run along the length of the spine.

Resembling the well-known creature of Earth mythology for which they are named, “Unicorns” possess a single horn composed of hardened chitinous material, which contains within a massive concentration of Element Zero hardwired via nerve bundles directly into the brain. This evolutionary marvel allows for extremely precise manipulation and control of mass effect fields to come naturally to all members of this subgroup, affording even the average unicorn a degree of biotic ability ranging from comparable to that of a highly trained Asari, to one having a level on par with alliance-made augmentations.

So named for being the type of Equestrian most similar to the equine species native to the Sol System, the “Earth” variety lacks both the wings and horn of the other Equestrians, making them appear the least alien to humans. While a slight advantage in physical size is the only visible distinction, this group also tends to be a great deal stronger and more durable than their horned and winged counterparts. This is due to to the fact that the concentrations of Element Zero in their nervous systems are both particularly dense, as well as evenly spread. This allows the resulting biotic energy, although it can be used actively after achievement of conscious control over the nervous system, to be expressed purely on an instinctual basis, increasing the user’s apparent strength via powerful, skin-tight tactile barriers made of positive mass fields whenever the need arises.

Culture
The Equestrian cultural mindset has thus far proven elusive to codify as the species struggles to rediscover itself. While they share some basic similarities with Humanity -- including common gestures, idioms, and complicated cultural concepts like morality -- the Equestrians have also demonstrated an extreme tendency towards cooperation and avoiding conflict. Following a closely-held belief in “Harmony for All,” the typical Equestrian would rather see to it that their friends’ and families’ needs are met, before concerning themselves with personal desires. This courtesy also extends to members of other species, though to a lesser extent, as, all things being equal, an Equestrian will almost always place the value of their fellows over that of an alien being.

Government
Officially and unanimously recognized by the Systems alliance as an independent sapient race not long after their introduction to the galaxy, the species referred to simply as “The Equestrian Herd” was deemed sufficiently advanced enough to be considered a member of the galactic community. Despite not technically being a space-faring species, they are nonetheless entitled to all of the legal rights and protections afforded one under Citadel and Alliance Laws. The Equestrian government is currently represented by a single popularly-elected leader known as the “Madam President” and her chosen council of five “Directors.” It is these six beings who are chiefly responsible for all major political, economical, and sociological decisions regarding the Herd. As it stands, this basic leadership structure is the sole form of governance in place, and it will undoubtedly remain so until such a time that the Equestrians can more firmly establish themselves. Many political analysts have suggested that the Herd’s current population crisis makes development of an independent governing infrastructure a highly problematic scenario should the Aliiance drop their support to the species.

Before the Equine-Reaper Conflict
The Equestrians’ distant ancestors, the Equines, rose to prominence thirty-six and a half million years ago, creating a presence felt everywhere in the form of a galaxy-spanning mega-corporation referred to as “Epona Systems” or “ESC.”

Excelling in both technological development and interspecies arbitration, the ESC regularly declared themselves as a purely neutral party in any disagreement between the multiple other intelligent races of the time. This gift for mediation gained the Equines the mutual respect of the other space-faring governments of the age, giving them a reputation for being trustworthy and dependable while they quietly and subtly amassed ever greater amounts of resources, power, and influence.

So successful was the Epona Systems Corporation, that after just a few hundred years since the Equines discovered FTL travel, it served as the vehicle for their eventual economic and political domination of the galaxy. Yet, despite their power and influence, the ESC never once presumed to express authority in the interests of any other species. Greatest among the accomplishments of this unofficial Equine Empire was the creation of the Harmony Core: a technological marvel capable of generating unimaginable amounts of energy in a safe, compact, and efficient form.

The potential of this breakthrough was not lost on the Equines, and further research led to what is undoubtedly their most notable accomplishment: faster than light travel made possible without the need for neither Mass Effect nor Slipspace technology.

Now equipped with the ability to traverse space completely independent of the Mass Effect Relay Network, the Epona Systems Corporation all but cemented their role as the undisputed masters of the galaxy. That is, until it was suddenly and violently stripped away in what would come to be known as “The Star Daemon War.”

Equine-Reaper Conflict
While the Equines were no strangers to conflict, nothing could have prepared them for the fate that befell every other civilization before their time: the inevitable cycle of extermination perpetrated by the race of omnipowerful sentient machines that would come to be known as “Reapers.”

The invasion began as it had in cycles past, with the Reapers suddenly and unexpectedly arriving at the Citadel -- known to the Equines as “the Hub” -- and eliminating the primary governing structure of a majority of the galaxy’s inhabitants. While the other species were cut down, it was the Equines’ saving grace that their main governing bodies were not located on the Hub, but instead, their homeworld of Equis.

Immediately put on the defensive in a war that no living being could have anticipated, the Equines nonetheless surprised the aggressive, unrelenting monstrosities they dubbed “Star Daemons” by offering an impressive amount of resistance. Utilizing their unique advantage of the Harmony Core, they were able to prevent the Reapers from gaining the upper hand early in the war, as they were free to travel anywhere they wished while the Reapers remained shackled to their network of Mass Effect Relays.

In the decades of brutal conflict that followed, the ESC spared absolutely no expense, tapping every single available resource and putting it towards the war effort, while using Harmony Core technology to shuttle countless civilians away from conflict zones to areas of relative safety.

All the while, the Equines’ innovative ingenuity continued to show itself in ever-evolving weapons, defenses, and vessels of greater and greater sophistication, until the Reaper forces found themselves nearly outmatched.

And yet, as the tide appeared to be turning in the Equines’ favor, the Reapers chose the opportune moment to deploy their most insidious weapons: Indoctrination and The Flood. As the Equines’ society was based upon a foundation of implicit trust and unity, the Reapers found it remarkably easy to spread their influence completely undetected.

As the years passed with the Equines singlemindedly determined to defeat the invaders, the Reapers were patiently and systematically infiltrating their ranks with indoctrinated agents. And then, at a pivotal moment of the war, the Reapers initiated their plan, and the thralls began to turn on their fellow Equines without restraint or mercy.

All at once, top leaders were assassinated, secret research facilities exposed, ship formations and battle strategies leaked, and civilian safe havens utterly destroyed from within. And just like that, the Equines’ considerable might was all but swept away in a single, devastating blow.

With the ESC broken and all major sources of resistance quelled, the Reapers were once again free to complete their cycle of galactic genocide, and the time of the Equines, just like all those who had come before, came to a swift and silent end.

Equestria
A few years before the the beginning of the Star Daemon War, development began on a personal project of the ESC’s Lord President, Solarius Epona: The Equestria Facility. Equestria was meant to be a planet-sized, multi-species hospice, capable of housing millions of sentients while providing them with entertainment, relaxation, education, and social interaction via a neurologically-integrated form of reality simulation.

The systems themselves were designed by programming and technical genius Dr. Hour Glass, utilizing bleeding-edge technology in the hopes of building Equestria as a place where anybody, of any species, could go to experience the closest thing to utopia.

Instead, Equestria would end up being used for an altogether different purpose: as the last hope for the Equine Race when the Reapers began their invasion. As the facility had been a closely-guarded secret, only the highest-ranking members of the ESC and those working in isolation at the project’s location were even aware of its existence. As a result, the facility was initially spared notice by the invaders, and those who could safely make their way there used the project as a haven for their friends and families.

While the war was being fought across the galaxy, Hour Glass worked tirelessly to redesign the core computer systems, with the goal of converting the Equestria Facility into a place capable of housing the last remnants of the Equines indefinitely, should the unthinkable come to pass.

Inevitably, the war came upon the system housing the facility, and it was only due to Hour Glass’s ingenuity, foresight, and the sacrifice of his own life that the surviving Equines were saved from extermination.

By this time, Equestria was fully operational, and as the Reapers finally retreated back into Dark Space to await the next cycle, a scant 1200 undetected survivors remained, their physical bodies in suspended animation while their minds were occupied within the virtual servers.

The original inhabitants of Equestria, as well as their progeny, would live out their lives in this simulated world, under the watchful care of three specially-designed artificial general intelligences created specifically to ensure that the legacy of the Equine Race would never die out.

It was always intended for the survivors to eventually leave their refuge and reestablish their society. But as eons passed with the system’s overseers carefully watching new, warlike races rise to power, only to meet the same fate as the Equines, this scenario became less and less likely.

So it would be for more than thirty-six million years, with Equestria remaining undetected as countless civilizations emerged, rose to prominence, and were subsequently eliminated by the Reapers. It was only when the ancient Harmony Core powering the facility began to fail that the distant descendants of the Equines, now the modern day “Equestrians,” were left with no other choice but to rejoin the galaxy or face extinction.

The isolation of the Equestrians ended abruptly in the year 2152, when Commander Shepard, Citadel Spectre and Alliance soldier, discovered the millennia old facility while involuntarily investigating the disappearance of a Cerberus science team.

Upon arrival, the Commander discovered the plight of the Equestrians, who over the years had been rendered unaware as to their history, or even the true nature of their existence. With the aid of one of the system’s administrative AGIs, and a group of Equestrians from within the virtual world, he succeeded in freeing the facility’s remaining three hundred inhabitants, before taking them aboard a ship previously assigned to locate and rescue the scientists, the SSV Pathfinder.

During the attempt, however, the Harmony Core powering Equestria was damaged, and the ancient hardware began to go critical.

As the refugees escaped aboard the Pathfinder, the core overloaded, releasing what was left of its still sizable output in a single, catastrophic meltdown. The resulting explosion served to utterly destroy the planetoid that housed the Equestrians’ former home and what was left of their origins.

While the last echoes of the Equine civilization carried on, Equestria itself was no more.

After Equestria
After rescuing them from the Equestria Facility, the crew of the Pathfinder arrived at Viery station's Refugee camp with two hundred and ninety-five Equestrians of all ages, along with forty-eight of the facility’s all-purpose Changeling maintenance drones.

Following the intense media coverage of their arrival, the Council was pressured by the Alliance into meeting with Equestrian leadership and, in the course of several minutes, officially recognized the Equestrian Herd as an independent sentient species.

Along with winning a grant of asylum aboard the Citadel -- achieved in a three to one majority vote -- Madam President Twilight Sparkle set a new precedent by suggesting the motion to have her people declared “endangered,” which would make physical action and violent crime against the beleaguered species a top-tier capital offense among the Citadel Races.

Accepted and formally proposed by the Systems alliance parlaiment and their represeantive, Councilor Anderson, this motion was heavily argued against by the Turian Councilor, who firmly stated that endangered status was meant to protect animals and lower lifeforms from extinction, not give a sentient species what amounted to a legal free pass. His objection was overruled by the rest of the Council in a motion to sustain, citing the Herd’s extremely low population as dire enough circumstances to require additional consideration.

As of this writing, the Equestrians were moved to the Citadel, and what happens to them from this point on remains to be seen.