//------------------------------// // March Plans and the Steve Miller Band // Story: Chaos Incorporated // by DontTreadOnMe777777 //------------------------------// "So, how did running do for ya?" Ricky jibed as the motorcycle, sidecar attached and currently occupied by the slate pony, pulled up. The pony was still whimpering about his leg, but tried to put on a brave face for Ricky. His amber eyes, however, betrayed his pain and fear. "Well then. Now, do any of the rest of you feel like rejecting my simple request?" The ponies all shook their heads. "Good. Now, what do you all know? What is the size of your army, what is their division, what weapons do they use, what training do they receive, anything you can think of? It's all useful to me." Over the next few minutes, Ricky gathered that Celestia's army was divided into five sectors, four for each of the cardinal compass directions, and one for the center of Equestria. Each one had its own headquarters. South, apparently the one he had just defeated, had its headquarters in Appleoosa. West was quartered in Las Pegasus, as well as the Western Navy of Equestria. East was held in Baltimare, along with the Eastern Navy of Equestria. North was held in a town called Neighagra Falls. The Center was, of course, at the capital, Canterlot. There was one other known attachment to the pony armed forces, a 1st Pegasus Flying Corps, stationed in a city known as Cloudsdale. Their training was minimal, enough to make them little more than glorified guards, nothing amazing. They were also pitifully armed, the mainstay of their army being wooden spears. Little more than toothpicks. “If that’s it, then we’ll have an easier time of this than I thought." Ricky grinned. 'Okay, now that I've got that out of them, what should we do? What's our plan?' Here was the real question. Intelligence meant nothing if you didn't know how it related to your plan, and Ricky knew this. "Excuse me for a second, gentlemen. I must consult." Ricky took a mock sweeping now to match his tone, before walking back out of the guard circle and into the commander circle, where everyone was waiting for him. "You all heard all that, correct?" Everyone nodded. "Well then, what's our plan?" "I think we should defend, build a mighty base to repel any attack that the ponies might throw at us." MacArthur was the first to speak. "I disagree. We should attack, catch them off guard." Typical of Karl, he was trained in blitzkrieg maneuvers back in army school. "I agree with Karl. We can't hang back forever, anyways. We would run out of supplies! Remember, gentlemen, our only supply out here is foraging and raiding parties." Decius was also a pretty easy call. Romans were typically aggressive in their maneuvers, after all. Even Chrysalis chipped in. "I agree with Karl and Decius. Attacking would be a better way to gather supplies and keep Celestia off balance." Karl shot her a glare, but said nothing. "But which way to go?" Decius pondered aloud. "Well, what supplies would we be in need of most quickly?" Ricky tapped a finger on his chin. "Shells, bullets, petrol." Karl began listing off things on his fingers. "So we need an industry city then. Which way would one lie?" MacArthur questioned. "That's where our prisoners come in," Ricky gestured with a sweeping hand to the circle of troops currently stationed around the pony prisoners. Ricky walked back through the circle, and the ponies were yet again commanded by his presence. Although, a scrawny seventeen year old doesn’t exactly have much of a presence. “Hello yet again, my guests. I have one last question of you.” The ponies nodded slowly. “Might as well get it over with. What’s the question?” One of the ponies sighed. “Do you ponies know of any industry? Factories, that’s what I’m looking for.” Ricky drilled the ponies with his blue eyes. After a few seconds, a blue pony on the right spoke up. “Well, Las Pegasus recently got a government funded project for a building to mass-produce something, I forget the details.” “You’re sure?” The pony nodded. “Well then, it looks like we have a destination, boys. And to you,” he gestured to the prisoners, “I thank you for your most generous contribution.” The ponies gave a rather confused nod. Ricky about-faced and sauntered back out of the guard circle. The commanders, having easily been able to hear the discussion inside the circle, had already sent off runners to gather the army, march formation. “Well gentlemen, it seems we are on our way. Let’s make Celestia hurt.” Within the span of thirty minutes, the army had packed up and formed a column of considerable length and width, and stood waiting for the command to march. “Hey, Steve.” The Steve Miller Band had hung around since being summoned, talking with the men not on duty and generally having a good time. Steve Miller, the man the band was named after, looked over at the teen as he plucked at his guitar strings. "Yes?" "We're about to march, do you think that you could play some music for us? It'd help with the march." Steve continued to pluck, but nodded. "Sure. For whatever reason, we don't need amps. Oh, and we can float. Pretty cool." "Well, I guess that's good." Ricky smiled, the whites of his teeth reflecting the late afternoon sun. "I'll be back," he said as he moved on, Steve waving. It didn't take long for him to find the commanders again, seeing as how Decius stuck out like a sore thumb. As he neared the commanders, MacArthur noticed the Scot and quickly jogged over to meet him. “Hey kid, do you really think it’s a good idea to start marching now? Sunset’s close upon us, y’know.” “I just think it’d be a good idea to get off this hill, be less conspicuous. There’s a valley a few miles west of here, based on my observations. That’s the way we need to go, and it’ll keep us out of sight of Celestia’s scouts.” MacArthur sighed, but nodded. “You’re impossible, kid. We’re ready when you are.” Ricky smirked. “Let’s march, boys! Time’s running through the hourglass!” The head of the column began, but there was no drum cadence. Yet. “Alright Steve, run through your Greatest Hits album for us!” Steve gave a mock two-finger salute, and the band started. Cymbals quickly set the tempo, and the entire army began marching in cadence. Then the guitar came in, crashing into the song with the pick being dragged across all the strings, creating a cacophony of sound, while the backup guitar plucked at singular strings. Many of the soldiers, having never heard this type of music before, began to bob their heads. Whoaoahhhhhhh woaohohohohohoh… Whoaoahhhhhhh woaohohohohohoh… Come on and dance, come on and dance At this point, most of the soldiers were grinning, jovial. Whatever this music was, they loved it. Let’s make some romance You know the night is fallin’ And the music’s callin’ And we’ve got to get down to Swingtown! Many of the soldiers perked up at this, knowing that swing was all the craze back in their time. They were getting into this, marching to this was way better than boring old drums! As the melody repeated, Ricky spied Decius and Karl tapping their feet as they walked. ‘Even them? Man, I might need to use the Steve Miller Band to help me fight my battles!’ And thus, the jam band-filled army continued under the setting sun.