• Published 22nd Nov 2024
  • 232 Views, 30 Comments

The Black Squirrel Brigade - Lamasioux



Have you ever wondered where the phrase "Secret Squirrel Stuff" comes from? Well this is it.

  • ...
0
 30
 232

Act 1 - The Generals Meeting

What are you willing to do,

To protect the world you know,

From death,

And from misery.

Sacrifice everything you know?

Or sacrifice everyone you know?

Why not both?


The chatter of generals was strong and prominent. Each thing they said was of an important opinion. An opinion that was critiqued at every word, letter, and pronunciation. Any sound of uncertainty from a voice was brought forth by the others, whether that creature liked it or not. Everything they discussed dictated the lives of millions.

One of the creatures who was debating among the scrabble was Pinkie Pie. A pink earth pony who helped critique any idea that others put out, offering feedback on why the other’s ideas might be good or what kind of flaws they had. Sadly, these days, smiling was a rare, if not an abandoned trait of hers, replaced in favor of moral and high spirits. Smiles didn’t win wars, but neither were the other two it seemed.

“A retreat to Mead Resort would present ourselves with a better defensive position in the south. The Smokey Mountains and Ruby Mountains will be good defenses from the advance.” Tempest Wind presented once an opening was allowed in the conversation.

“A retreat that fast wouldn’t help. There’s no defenses down there. If the south can hold up from Prancisco to the mountains, it would allow time for fortifications to be built up once the forces retreat that far back.” August Eisenstadt chimed in.

“We can’t just pull back in the south that fast. Tall Tale is still evacuating. Do you know what kind of moral damage that would do to the population? A major city, just being abandoned like that. Especially since the Changelings will just send more forces north once we’re in a choke point like that.” Pinky finally added.

“The inevitable is coming for the south. Eventually the mountains will split the lines and we’ll be fighting separate fronts. Reinforcements between the two will become near impossible. We have to start planning for a stalemate in the south. Fortifying around Mead Lake will allow us the best opportunity to redirect our forces north. If we stall them in the south, we might be able to focus on counter assaults.” Selenite added.

“Yeeeup. The fallback line from the Shire to the Evergreen has already been fortified. If we can focus on evacuations while mitigating losses during our retreat, then we’ll cover Pinkie’s concerns while also setting ourselves up for a stalemate. The Changelings can’t keep pushing their panzers forever like they are. They know it, and so should we.” Big Macintosh said. “Ain’t that right Decay?”

Pointing at the map that they were all using for reference, Caltrop Decay motioned to the areas being talked about. “The massive forests that sit between the current front lines and the fallback line will slow down their advance, yes, but unless we destroy the roads and railroads, they’ll just use that instead for transporting once resistance is so little. If we do destroy it, they’ll be forced to run their engines for so many miles, they’ll be required to do a lot of maintenance, or fear their tanks breaking at the new front. I’ve toyed with some of the captured ones. Once their logistics are behind, they’re nothing.”

“I will give you two reasons why I am against destroying the railway's Decay. One; if we destroy them, we will have to rebuild them once we retake the land. Two; we can hit the trains with Typhoon’s, use them instead of the big stuff as they have maneuverability and speed, which will bog down the railways with broken trains instead. We know where the railways are, we have the maps. The Changelings are going to have a worse time knowing the locations. I’m sure their intel has some of it, but all of it? No way. Bog down the railways, which will help delay their advance while keeping the tracks intact. Mostly.” Soarin said.

The conversations kept going between the creatures, some speaking up, others writing down ideas and thoughts, trying their best to figure out some form of plan.


Of the creatures that spoke up, Pinky Pie was one of two Elements Of Harmony that became a commander of the Equestrian Army. Applejack was the other Element of Harmony that became a commander, but they were on the front lines while Pinky Pie was on a visit to the Shire for the strategy meeting.

Pinky Pie and Apple Jack used their positions as Elements of Harmony to get their positions in the military, but they were proving their worth among schooled officers, so they were able to stand proudly with them.

Then there’s Tempest Wind, who is a pony that was a part of Luna’s Royal Guard before her thestral reforms, advocating for bat ponies as one of Luna’s personal advisors. Among those two reasons, once the military began ramping up changes because of the Olenian invasion, she was chosen to become a commander within the Equestrian Army. She is now in charge of the southern lines.

August Fon Eisenstadt is another pony who came along during the military reforms. They are in charge of back-line logistics and supply.

Selenite is a bat pony who also helped Luna during her thestral reforms. She was one of the brave ones to come out and directly show her support. She is only one of the two bat ponies at the meeting, but there are more bat pony commanders, just they are all busy at the front lines or elsewhere. Selenite is also a part of the southern lines, directly in charge of all southern tank divisions.

Big Macintosh more so joined the Equestrian Military because of his sister, wanting to be there for her and protect her, but the reality of the war has made it impossible to be there for her constantly, so he has taken up a roll ensuring that she can get what divisions, ponypower and else what she needs.

Caltrop Decay is an earth pony who is also in charge of tank divisions, but they’re in charge of the northern line divisions. They were always fascinated with tractors when young, that the love eventually moved to vehicles and ultimately tracked devices, like tanks. They went to military school and ended up joining the royal guard for a few years before the war, but decided to focus on opening a dedicated Armor School for the military. Just in time for the war, the first classes graduated before she volunteered to be in the Army Command during the reforms.

The last notable creature that spoke up was Soarin. They are the current sitting second-in-command for the wonderbolts AND the commander for all air-corps. The wonderbolts have been transformed into a special forces unit within the Equestrian Military, becoming a very active, but most importantly, very fast reacting infantry group. Soarin’s second-in-command officers for the air-corps were Fast Clip and Whiplash.


For a moment, the chatter died down and small talk between the generals and commanders sprung up, the ones who didn’t add anything discussing what they might think is a good idea, or forming their own ideas, gathering their thoughts to spring it up on the meeting once ready.

Pinky mulled over the situation for a moment before being the next one to speak up. “What about you Luna? What do you think?”

Luna sat with the generals. She was above everycreature else in the room, not just in authority, but also rank. It had been authorized by Celestia herself. Only two ponies sat at the top of military command. Luna and Prince Blueblood.

Prince Blueblood wasn’t at the meeting though. He had taken it upon himself to always be on the front lines, never leaving. It was his self designated role to be with the troops at all time, regardless of the danger it presented himself.

Celestia, though being ultimately in charge of everything, had delegated military operations to Luna.

Luna, being smart, allowed Blueblood to stay where he was, while she herself delegated herself to being the back-line commander. She attended all major meetings when possible. She gave speeches to enlisted that were being shipped off to the front lines and did her best to stabilize the current situation.

Though the position was of importance, Celestia’s was bigger. She wasn’t just worried about the war, but the whole country AND diplomatic issues that arose around the world. With Luna busy with the war, it did help Celestia with responsibilities. It allowed her to focus on getting the economy geared towards war production, while also making sure all creatures of Equestria had food on their table.

It took a moment for Luna to realize a question had been asked of her. It wasn’t until the room was dead silent as the other commanders and generals stared at her in await of a response.

“Instead of holding the advance, we do a slow pull back to the defensive positions. Entrench ourselves behind the river and sever the main lines as we do. Only the main ones. Everything west of the Shire should be razed to the ground. Make it hard for them to bring logistical supplies into the city once it’s their next supply hub. If we need to, burn the city down as we lose it.” Luna finally answered.

There were some whispers between the others until Pinkie Pie spoke up. “Luna… We can’t destroy our own city like that. Did you not hear what I said a moment ago? We can’t just abandon and destroy our ponies like that.”

“It’ll just give Stalliongrad more talking points against helping us.” Decay said. “I know your focus isn’t internationally, but our talks with Stalliongrad are very thin. A place like the Shire is ABSOLUTELY a place we need to hold out for. No matter the cost. Destroying it can’t be a choice. I know it’s grim, but some thousand dead over a city is worth the help Stalliongrad could bring if they see the situation get that bad, but just abandoning stuff that willy-nilly isn’t- Just- Isn’t a thing we can do without dire consequences.”

“And Luna, we can’t have an outlook like that. We don’t know that we’ll lose the Shire yet. The panzer’s have been the biggest problem for us, but by the time they’re at the fallback line, so much will have changed by then.” Tempest Wind added.

Luna relaxed her mind for a moment, letting her thoughts wander elsewhere for a second.

“Ok. Ok. For now, we just need to keep building up the fallback line defenses because currently, regardless of what will happen later, it’s currently a losing fight. We just need to focus on keeping the current lines alive and fed. It’s still too active to make a concrete plan. We need to just stay flexible and view the situation on a minute-by-minute basis. Once the Changelings take Tall Tale, that’s when we’ll get our long-term plans made. We just have to ride out their push for now.” Luna said.

There were more whispers in the room before Luna spoke up again. “We haven’t been able to figure out a plan so far today, so does anyone object to ending today’s meeting?”

There was once again some more whispers, but besides the disapproval looks from some, nocreature objected.

“We’ll have our next major meeting after Tall Tale unless something major happens. Communicate with each other and bring up any concerns. Please.” And with that final statement. Luna stood up, and gave a salute to all the ponies, who all in return returned it, waiting for Luna to drop hers before they followed suit.


Luna was always the last one to leave the meetings, ensuring that if anycreature had something important to bring up, she was there to hear it. Besides a few comments and small concerns that were brought to her, they were simple to work out.

With only a few generals still conversing, Luna basked in the quietness that the previous past hours had overtaken. It finally allowed her some alone time with her thoughts while the other generals meandered about. Luna wasn’t focused on them though, but if they needed her, she was sure they’d get her attention.

For now, Luna let her mind think about many things. All things related to the war and what could be done. Some things were small, and some things big.

One thought brought out a sigh as she realized she had to make her way out to Las Pegasus once the current meeting wrapped up, just to have yet another meeting with the Admirals. A few of the generals from the meeting just now would be there as well, but the meeting they just had was focused on the land and air fight.

And once the Las Pegasus meeting was over, Luna had to go all the way up to Whinnyapolis to have a meeting with the Crystal Empire’s military command. Her next few days were just booked left and right with meetings, though that’s what most of what she did was anyways. A lot of her other work happened between meetings while taking a train or plane. It’s hard doing paperwork while flying, you know.

As Luna continued to think, a thought came across her mind as she saw Bipen in the room still.

Bipen is the other bat pony at the meeting. They are Luna’s personal guard and general for a mostly thestral army. She earned the position by being Luna’s personal guard during her thestral reforms. She currently directly works under Luna.

“Bipen.” Luna said casually.

Perking up to her name, Bipen quickly became aware of Luna and made her way over to her, standing at a salute upon coming up. “Yes Princess?”

Luna dipped her head at Bipen, who then lowered their salute. “Do you know Fizzlepop?”

Bipen pondered the name for a moment before shaking her head.

“Fizzlepop Berrytwist? Tempest Shadow?”

Bipen lightened up once both names were said. “Yes, I know them. Not personally. They’re out east, correct?”

“Yes, Fizzlepop is stationed at Bales currently. They’re currently helping train up recruits from the east and watching the cost. They do a lot of traveling between Bales and Manehattan. They’re kind of on their own, neither under me or the Prince. I was wondering if you could get a message out to them. I want them to meet me in Whinnyapolis during our meeting there. Is that something you can get done?”

Bipen looked enthusiastic with the request, giving no sign of wanting to deny or be against such a request.

“BUT! Bipen.” Luna perked up some. “I need you to directly ask them. No radio, no messages. Word of mouth only. Can you do that?”

The enthusiasm Bipen had before began to die out. “Obviously Princess, that will require me to go to Bales to ask, which I am against. I would like to stay with you.”

“Get the guards you trust the most to guard me then. This is something I need only you to do. It’s a task that if I gamble on correctly, can’t rely on anycreature else doing. Can you?” Luna asked.

Being a bit hesitant to the request, Bipen obliged with a salute. “I can Princess.” Dropping her salute after her answer, Bipen asked. “When will I do this?”

“During the Las Pegasus meeting. Once I make my way there, that’s when I want you to leave for Fizzlepop. The meeting with her will be after we finish at Whinnyapolis. So you won’t be at the Las Pegasus one. Send someone below you to fill in for the meeting. Guards of course separate if that’s to your taste.”

“Understood. I can start making preparations to leave right now, I have finished up everything here myself, if that’s ok with you.”

Luna agreed. “That is ok with me. Just remember, word of mouth. This conversation never happened. Got it?”

“Got it.” Finishing with another salute, Bipen made her way out to begin finding a guard replacement.

Once Bipen was gone, Luna slumped in her chair and sighed out. “Oh sweet pumpkins. I’d take another thousand years on the moon over this war.”