Mobile Suit, an invention that changed warfare forever.
During a conflict that is called “One Year War”, the people at Zeon have built a type of gigantic humanoid weapon. Later, it was proven to be extraordinarily effective against big guns warships, and was used extensively during the war. It’s opponent, the Earth Federation, has built their own mobile suits to fight against their opponent. Their mobile suits have played a vital role in their victory in the One Year War. Since then, countless models have been produced and were used by a large number of factions, and organizations on the Earthsphere, and being used in many conflicts, as well as in civilian use in some specific jobs.
Black Wine was standing in front of one of them. In fact, he is the pilot of it. The majority of mobile suits can only be piloted by one, and his Psycho Gundam MkII is no exception.
Looked slightly to the left is the Alicorn Gundam standing still right next. All of it’s psycho frames have been hidden perfectly inside it’s mostly white and black armor. It’s Armed Armor DE was separated and stored in an additional compartment of the ship.
One thing that caught his attention when an Anaheim mechanic said about the suit is about its infamous ‘wings’ that was called Armed Armor DE. Its two shield-like wings are actually shields with additional armor and a large cannon which can be used as wireless INCOME in combat. Their stabilizer wires that were built like some sort of very awesome dragon’s tails were also separated from the two shields, being curled and put in a corner of the hangar. They are what make the name “Alicorn Gundam” apart from the horned attena when it was in Unicorn mode, which is when the psycho frame was not exposed. But carrying the Alicorn and all of it’s gear have used too much space that needed for only one mobile suit, to the point that the hangar has to be extended and make the launch pad practically unusable. Black Wine knows that is a problem that the crew of the Cloudsdale have to face, and he is negotiating with Anaheim as well as the Earth Federation to lend or to build to the Equestrian army a larger ship. After just a few weeks, Anaheim agreed to build them a Ra Cailum class battleship, which is an enlarged Clop class with more guns and more space. He knew it was a huge success for the Equestrian army, because combining with the Cloudsdale they could easily crush any navy in Equus, let alone S.M.I.L.E with just one Pegasus class ship.
However, there are still some troubles. Despite recent victory against the S.M.I.L.E at Blue Rock Mine, his cabinet has stumbled on some diplomatic trouble. Due to the defeat, the Canterlot have fled to the kingdom of Orthinia, a kingdom which his government already has tension with ever since his demand to take the Parrot Nest base was declined by them. At that moment, he wants them to give him the Canterlot as his cabinet wants to take the ship and her crew into custody. Just as the last time, they declined the demand.
Back at home, his government is also having a hard time.
Before his own Operation Rainbow Chaser was started, his government have made several political mistake: rewrite the constitution to reduce the power of the Council of Friendship to the point that they are just state figurehead, meaning they can’t make any political decision, and closing the Schools of Friendship and the Castle of Friendship (which are two of the most powerful symbols of Equestrian Friendship power, however his government accusing them for helping severely ruining the Equestrian ponies culture). His action had led to some heavy criticism from the citizens, as well as some other kingdoms. Although he manages to settle disputes and make sure the diplomatic relationship between Equestria and other kingdoms don’t have too much tension between each other, other kingdoms still accuse him of destroying the harmony that the Council of Friendship have created, and demanding him to step down. Not just that, more creatures and even more ponies are also turned against him, heavily criticizing him as a tyranny politician.
“He and The Ponykind are just hungry for power. Their fabrication that the pony’s culture is being ruining is what is actually ruining Equestria. That dark blue unicorn have to be bring down!” a pony said in an interview he read in a newspaper.
“He is just being heavily brainwashed!” His assistant told him “The pony’s culture is really being heavily ruined, and The Pony Kind is the only way to save our heritage!”
“Yeah… I don’t care about individuals like this anymore…” he replied at the unicorn that showed the newspaper to him “What I care is how can we get more members to The Ponykind, and our time has never been better than this moment. Maybe the ponies will finally realize our vision…”
But still, The Ponykind and their ideology are still highly supported by a large portion of the pony population. Some ponies said the other creatures are taking lands that traditionally belong to the ponies, some said the other creatures have both physical and mind advantages which means they can steal jobs from the ponies,… These kind of news did please him a lot, as he once said to his assistant:
“Didn’t you feel good when the ponies realized that our party is helping save Equestria?”
…
The reason why The Ponykind was easily elected to be the ruling party could shock any creature: before Black Wine became the Chancellor, their anti-harmonic ideology was mostly unknown to the outsider.
Since Princess Twilight Sparkle was officially being chosen as the new ruler of Equestria, a pony named Shadow Might have come up with a plan: a political party with a dedication that they wanted to purify Equestria with the mind that ponies are superior than other creatures and fear that ponies might one day become minority in their own kingdom. However, he has to hide that dedication in order to get one of their members to be chosen by Princess Twilight as the kingdom’s Chancellor.
Black Wine is an exceptionally talented pony for the party. At the age of 12, his family was forced to hand their wine barn to a group of creatures. He has since developed some hatred for other non-ponies citizens around him. Luckily, it was the time when seeing some creatures other than ponies are still relatively rare, so avoiding them is not too hard for the young unicorn. When he was studying at School for Gifted Unicorns, he heard the story about The Ponykind, when one of his friends told him about them during lunch time. He asked him if he wanted to join that party, and he agreed.
There, he climbed the ranks rapidly, as he understood Equestria really well. He studied all kinds of stuff that related to his party's desire: from creatures’ culture to the history of Equestria. At the age of only 30, he was elected to be the youngest The Ponykind’s president, and was elected to also be the youngest Chancellor in Equestria’s history. The reason why his party became so popular is because he has promised many policies that will help all of the citizens a better life, with better education, life insurance and free healthcare,… As his quality in the Council’s eye rising, Princess Twilight officially chose Black Wine to be the Chancellor of Equestria in March 24th , Harmony Year 0021, after an election showing that 45% of the citizens voted for them over 30 other parties. They are the most voted party in the
That’s really the perfect time for The Ponykind to rise, and that’s when their true nature was more largely known. Despite some warnings that “The Ponykind will cause disharmony once their President becomes the kingdom’s Chancellor”, almost every creature still votes for them as the party has promised some of the best policies the kingdoms have ever seen. The party has caused severe oppression towards the non-ponies, blocking them from having basic citizens' needs. Closing down the School of Friendship and the Castle of Friendship (which he has successfully convinced Headmare Starlight Glimmer and her family to leave it) is one part of his plan.
But it is not just that. As his party thought ponies are superior, The Ponykind wanted to protect ponies' interest overseas by using any means to force other non-pony kingdoms to obey their needs. However, even if his original desire to purify the kingdom of Equestria, joining the party really made him become more racist than ever.
Sometimes, it feels like greed also blinded him.
Along with their previous supporters, the Council of Friendship were also terrified. Princess Twilight Sparkle, although having no choice but to obey the law, regretted her decision that she had signed the approval paper. She and the Council have come up with a plan to remove The Ponykind, along with Black Wine from power. That is the reason why he and The Ponykind have rewritten the constitution in order to make them only state figureheads. Surprisingly, a lot of other political parties also agree to rewrite the constitution. A lot of ponies have also been blinded by propaganda and greed, so The Ponykind, as said above, is still a major political force in Equestria.
The existence of The Ponykind has created turmoil within Equestria. There are tons of protests where creatures who are against disharmony fight with ponies who believe they are being oppressed by the creatures. Then, there’s another kingdom that is trying to protect their creatures from the tyranny of Black Wine and his party, thus creating the tensions in the first place. It rapidly escalated into armed conflict, which the battle of the Blue Rock Mine is a part of.
Then, the mobile suit came. Around the same time when Princess Twilight was just become the new ruler, a shuttle from a strange world have come to Equestria. It turns out there is a mysterious portal that have transport them to this world. Shadow Might himself have come to greet them, and quickly took notice to the mobile suit. After some expeditions, some Anaheim executives were also brought to Equestria, and the AE – Equestrian Army relationship was born. It was also him that connected Martha Vist Carbine to sell assets to the Equestrian Army. Later on, Black Wine took his work. Although knowing that Anaheim Electronics have also do secret business with kingdoms that his cabinet have tension with, he still turn a blind eye to it since his army have the largest number Earthsphere assets of all.
…
“Chancellor Black Wine, glad to see you here, Sir!” Lieutenant Nikita came to greet him with some cockiness in his voice. He knows that a lot of humans also looked down on him just like how he looked down on the creatures, but AE has mostly chosen some of the best mannered humans to make sure all of them treat their fellow pony friends like they are human. That’s why he is still comfortable having business with the humans.
“Lieutenant Govarich, glad to see you here too! What are you doing here?” the Chancellor calmly replied.
“Well… I was just checking the suits and suddenly stumbled on to you, Sir!” the blonde pilot quickly answered “Don’t you supposed to…”
“Nikita, stop!”
From behind, Joseph quickly pulled him to behind his back and quickly apologized.
“Sorry Chancellor, I think he has to learn how to properly talk with ponies… We are just here for about 6 months and we still don’t know much about ponies' culture. Sorry Sir.”
“Don’t worry! Expose him to the Equestrian environment more and he will quickly respect the ponies.” The Chancellor answered.
“Thank you… Sir!” Joseph said “Do you want to have some drinks now?”
It was 7 p.m in the morning at that moment. Black Wine just having breakfast with some of his assistants. Having some sweet drinks right after breakfast was obviously not his style of enjoying a casual morning, so he kindly declined.
“I understand that, Chancellor…” the Lieutenant said.
“Oh… shouldn’t we come to the mission room now? I want to say something to all of you!” he said.
…
The mission room was crowded with ponies chattering with each other. They are in a relatively good mood after two consecutive major victories against S.M.I.L.E. He could see some of them smiling with joy and hope that they could safely go back to their family, after the Alicorn was successfully captured. However, for the Chancellor himself, Blue Rock Mine and the Alicorn are just beginning.
He always loves to do some dangerous stuff himself, and being portrayed as a brave politician who can do almost anything brings him a lot of respect back at Canterlot. Some of his followers at The Ponykind even compare him to Princess Celestia, Princess Luna or the Council of Friendship, saying that his bravery “will save Equestria in many years to come”. Another reason is he doesn't fully trust the Royal Guards, or even the Wonderbolts, at all. They are notorious for being useless at times of emergency. They even once let the civilian, the one they are supposed to protect, fight against the villains. Capturing the Alicorn and fighting S.M.I.L.E with his own hoof is the way he sees he could really earn respect amongst ponies. However, he’s not come to the mission room to talk about how brave he is or how good as a pilot he is…
The ponies and AE’s human in the mission all stood up once the dark blue unicorn stepped into the room. They clapped as he got to the podium.
“Ladies and gentlecolts, and also to my good human friends, thank you for all of your dedication and support during the time we are on Cloudsdale together…” The Chancellor started “The last two months since the Alicorn was first reported, our military, as well as our friends at AE, have worked hard enough to catch it back and bring peace to the Equestria. Not only that, you guys also help us to bring back the Blue Rock Mine to our rightful owner. I can’t thank you enough for your contribution!”
The whole room clapped their hands and hoofs as he stopped for a while.
“So, I happily declare that our own Operation Rainbow Catcher has officially ended! You guys can come home with your family and have a nice dinner with them!”
…
A few days later, the vessel landed at Canterlot Naval Base, marking the end of 265’s Operation Rainbow Catcher.
The Ponykind’s supporters are crowded on the street of Equestria’s capital city, throwing confetti and cheering loudly as the crew of the Cloudsdale pass by as a parade. They not only cheered as they finally caught the dangerous mobile suit, but also cheered as they showed the power of the ponies to the world.
“Those filthy Abyssinians will never look down at us again! Long live Equestria! Long live Black Wine!” a pony shouted in the middle of the crowd.
“Long live Equestria! Long live Black Wine!”, other ponies chanted back.
In contrast to the festivities on the street of Canterlot, the reaction to the success of the operation was largely negative. The creatures and some ponies, as they called themselves Friendship Idealist, heavily criticize the operation. While they do complain that the 265 have successfully captured the Alicorn Gundam, taking the Blue Rock Mine by force is “a sign of evilness and greediness” to them. Some pony Friendship Idealists even said that they are “ashamed to see a fellow pony become so racist”. One other thing is that most non-ponies have started moving out of Canterlot since The Ponykind announced that they are finishing rewriting the constitution, so they are barely seen in the capital city at the moment of the victory parade.
Despite all of that, he still let the celebration continue. Because his personal war with the Council of Friendship and S.M.I.L.E hasn’t ended yet.
…
It was a calm night after the party. The moon is shining and the wind comfortably blows across his fur.
The dark blue unicorn is enjoying his win alone on the balcony, looking down to the downtown of Canterlot. The festivities have finished, though he still sees some of his fellow soldiers still drunk, wandering around the street.
“Poor our soldier. They haven’t been praised this much!” he mumbled. After the Operation, he could proudly say that he had fixed the military. And it would be icing on the cake if he finally catches the Canterlot, brings her back to his fleet and charges her crew for treason.
He decided to go around Equus again to catch that ship, whatever the cost.
“I have good communication, good government officials, staff, and all of you! I can both run our kingdom while bringing those filthy creatures to justice!” he replied when one of his subordinates was concerned that he could not do both tasks by himself.
Then, he heard some knocking at his office room’s door.
“Come in!” the Chancellor said while walking right to his guest desk. The door opened and revealed… Princess Twilight Sparkle herself.
The Chancellor was pretty surprised, as she slowly walked into his office and looked around. Equestrian Princesses have rarely come to one of their Chancellor offices all by themselves in the middle of the night, at least to Black Wine’s knowledge.But if they did, it is often something very serious that they are urged to discuss with the Chancellor immediately.
Escorting her is a team of 5 Royal Guards, leading the unit’s Captain, Gallus. They stand outside of the room as the Princess comes inside and talks to the Chancellor.
“Greetings, Chancellor” she started “So… you just have some glorious time in your life right?”
It took a few seconds for the Chancellor to regain calm and reply back.
“Yes… Your Majesty. We just have some party to celebrate our victory against those filthy creatures. The S.M.I.L.E are still out there…”
“Your actions have caused nothing but fear and hatred for the other kingdoms!” she said with some anger in her voice “Did you know that right after your ‘victory’ at the Blue Rock Mine, kingdoms have sent their ambassadors to me to complain about your action?”
“Yes, but why didn't they just come to my Minister of Foreign Affair to complain? You should not do it all by yourself. They are…”
“Do you want to make those racial slurs right in front of me, Chancellor?” the Princess replied “They are our friends, Black Wine, not ‘filthy creatures’ like you and your racist party often like to call them!”
She emphasizes on the word ‘friends’, as if she is reminding Black Wine that she is the Princess of Friendship.
“Yes… but you have to know that the S.M.I.L.E wanted to ally with other kingdoms in order to enslave our pony kind. We are clearly…”
“From ‘destroying our ponies culture’ to ‘enslaving ponies’? Are you lost your mind, Chancellor?” Twilight scolded him calmly “I have to say that your party was driven by nothing but hatred and fear. Those illusions will not help you keep this chair for long! Now, listen: all I want is for you to issue a sincere apology to those you have harmed, return the Blue Rock Mine to the Abyssinian and make sure the Canterlot comes back safely without any charges. Do you understand?”
“Princess, but that Blue Rock Mine really belongs to us!”
“The one who owns it is an illegal corporation, not to mention they also illegally stole it from the Abyssinians!” Twilight replied “Now, do what I want or I will take your seat back immediately, do you understand?”
“Yes… Yes, your Majesty!”
…
The door closed with some echo of the angry temper Princess Twilight left behind. Also with anger, the Chancellor mumbled as he went back to his desk.
“That can’t be true! I have stripped all of her political power!”
Then, he looked out of the window to see the full moon, still shining bright as it should be. He randomly calls back to that one night that also has the exact same full moon at, when his family was forcefully dragged out of their barn. He remembers when his father, a middle aged stallion with some scar on his right front hoof due to machinery failure, was forced to sign on the paper that will make the transfer of the barn become legal. It’s new owner is two families: a bull family and, strangely, a hippogriff family. Black Wine’s family then have to move to Canterlot all over again, and that was the hardest time of his life. If he’s not become a School of Gifted Unicorn’s student, he would still stay at his family’s small restaurant, which barely has any customers.
Suddenly, his mind turned back to an insane idea that he had in mind a few months ago.
In his desk drawer, there is some poisonous liquid that he has kept from his time working in the military. It was a sample of some kind of chemical weapons that The Ponykind had developed from a weapon with the same function, which was developed from the army that was led by a creature named Storm King. It was a drink that even with a small amount, they can make a creature turned to stone. Unlike the previous version where it had to be stored in small glass marbles and exploded to get it effective, it can easily be poured into food and drinks. Poisoning through the mouth is more secretive and effective since most incidents with this almost left no trace of the poisoner.
As soon as he opened the drawer and saw the poison, he knew he had to do it fast. Even if he does like what Princess Twilight has said, the Council still will remove him from the Chancellor chair anyway. He had it in mind when he first heard that the Council had a very negative view on him, as well as after reading several articles criticizing him for being racist and the general view of creatures and even ponies have on him outside of Canterlot.
He picked up the phone on his desk and called one of his cabinet’s officials. At the other end of the line, a mare picked up his phone.
“Hello, Chancellor!” she said “What can I do for you!”
It was Starry Night, the Minister of Defense. Since the action he is about to order requires a complex operation that only his Ministry of Defense can handle, calling her is the first thing to do.
“Starry Night, commencing Operation Statue of Friendship!” the dark blue unicorn mumbled through the microphone “It’s time!”
Operation Statue of Friendship is the name that was used to describe any complex operation that made important political figures inside of Equestria to be imprisoned. Invented and planned by The Ponykind, it was one of their most ambitious plans to ensure their position as a ruling party in case any of the rulers wanted to take them down. It could be any kind of imprisonment: traditional jail, being turned into a statue, or even banished to Tartarus. However, turning its objective into statue is the most common methods
“But… Sir…” she said with some hesitation “Do you really want to turn all of them into stone?”
“No, just the Council of Friendship!” he said “I know this is , perhaps, the most extreme way. But if I was removed from being a Chancellor, The Ponykind would be removed from the government!”
“But… How about Lady Rainbow Dash?”
“I’ll do the same to her once she’s back!”