The Virgin Company (currently editing)

by Pone_Heap

City by the Sea, Chapter 1: Arrival in Vanhoover

Passing via train through the rolling hills and prairie west of Canterlot, it would take Zip a few days to arrive in Vanhoover. Looking ahead, he could see the Unicorn Range rising in the distance. Unlike the Foal Mountains he’d seen out east, these mountains were far newer in the great scheme of time. Their jagged peaks capped in snow, glistening in the sun, was quite a sight.

Still, they were just mountains… nothing he hadn’t seen. Zip rolled over in his seat, trying to get comfortable. He’d only managed to sleep a few hours so far despite his time riding. It was an almost universally accepted rule that a soldier could fall asleep anywhere and stay that way, happy as a worm in an apple. The lieutenant wasn’t as such; he needed a bed for a decent sleep. He needed quiet. He’d always been that way, and it did him no favors as a military stallion. His wings didn't help much either, the seating less than conducive for his lying down. And the fact he'd had a lot on his mind for the last half-year caused further difficulty.

But the nightmares were far fewer of late, giving him more rest recently, and somehow, he managed yet a few more hours, here and there, and the train had made it to the Galloping Gorge. Even from his window, he could see the junction in the tracks. North would bring a train by the gorge and then to the far north. He’d heard nopony knew exactly where the tracks ended… but it was likely some stupid thing some hoofsoldier came up with.

West took the train to Vanhoover. As opposed to the deciduous forests he was familiar with in the east, the northwestern part of Equestria was a much younger landscape. The soil outside of the riverlands did farmers few favors, and mostly evergreen trees sprouted up from the ground.

Zip never enjoyed rain, and it dismayed him that Northwest Equestria was best described as a temperate rainforest. Spring had ended and with it the heavy rain. They would see little of it until the fall, giving way to the heavy, sloppy snow the region was known for. The Dragon Lands may have sucked, but the weather was at least dry.

Trying to clear his mind, Zip managed to sleep the last couple minutes.

---

Zip, wearing his uniform but getting little attention for it, paddled through town. Vanhoover sure was different than what he was used to out east. There were no castles or towers in the port of 'Hoover.

The western edge of the city, on the water, contained the actual port, naturally. Industry dominated the center with the downtown area. And the east… was sprawl; there was no better word to describe it. Thousands of shacks poured out from the edge of the Industrial Area. In addition to being the largest port in Equestria, Vanhoover was a big producer of goods, and all the jobs had to be done by somepony. The elite lived in the northern reaches of the city, in the hills; it was called the Hills… Everypony else lived in the Sprawl or on the base.

Zip’s destination, at least at the end of his trip, was the southwest corner of the city, South Port. But first, he had to visit the “Wild Rice” Battalion headquarters in Old Downtown.

He found it easily enough and entered. Meeting the civilian clerk, it was obvious he was interrupting something. But she looked up and told him the lieutenant colonel was… away. There was nopony there to greet him, other than herself and his other staff.

“…What?” Zip grumbled. “Are you sure, ma’am? I was told he would be here today to give me my orders.”

She smiled kindly and said rather nervously, “I’m sorry, Lieutenant… He… takes his time when he wants. I have your orders. Unless your company commander took off too, you’ll find him in his office. He can fill you in… There’s a map with your packet; it’ll show you where to go.”

Zip took his packet, “Well… thank you, ma’am. Could you please call ahead? Let them know I’m on the way.”

She now waved him out impatiently, “Yes, yes… Now, please let me get back to my work.”

Zip nodded and exited.

A voice came from under the reception desk, “Is the little bastard finally gone?”

“Yes, Red… get back to it.”

The voice complained, “Damn air force... sending us some wet-behind-the-ears… Who the Hell do they think they are?!”

The clerk grabbed the lieutenant colonel by his ears, pulling him closer between her back legs, “Just shut up, and get back to it. You’re not jealous of the war hero, are you?”

“I’ll show you what kind of stallion I am!”

She giggled and melted into her chair; she sure as Hell couldn’t concentrate on her work…

---

With a definite idea of where he was going, Zip began to walk. His destination was South Port. He could have flown, but thought he’d get a look at the city on the ground. There wasn’t much to see… just businesses, bar after bar after bar, and a few restaurants. Still, he’d walk a while.

The battalion served as port authority for Vanhoover and the surrounding towns and settlements. They were quite a distance away from anypony else in the division… more than he enjoyed… Most of the brigade was hundreds of miles away, further inland, with the division and higher spread out towards Canterlot. They were alone on the coast. For the air force with Pegasi and airships? Distance was no big deal… But mostly ground forces?

Zip looked down at the sheets he’d been hoofed. There were three of them pertaining to the company; only the sheet containing the information on 3^rd Platoon was of immediate interest. It was similar to what he was familiar with. Different Equestrian military branches were set up differently, but he knew how his was arranged.

He quickly did some math in his head… Well, he had to write it out:

Officers and their immediate staff excluded, each platoon had 52 ponies, each led by a second or first lieutenant. Three platoons made up a company, 156 ponies, led by a captain or major. A battalion was made up of three companies, 468 ponies, typically led by a lieutenant colonel. That, other than the military police stationed, was the extent of the military presence in Port City.

A colonel or brigadier general led a brigade, three battalions, made up of 1,404 ponies. A division was two brigades, 2,808 ponies, headed by a major general. The corps was three divisions, led by a lieutenant general, consisting of 7,824 ponies. Finally, four corps made up the army… 31,296 ponies… led by a general. Put all the officers and their personal staff on top of that… and you have a lot of ponies.

Equestria had five standing armies, in addition to the navy with the marines and the air force, of differing size and function, commanded by Princess Celestia. Equestria didn’t have a coast guard; Griffinstone did… Zip figured, and was right, that the army filled this void, at least on land. Whatever other battalions did as a whole, he didn’t know; logistics was where he was. They were port authority after all.

He looked over his battalion sheets again, particularly the one pertaining to his platoon:

---

2^nd Brigade, 2^nd Division, “Clementine” Corps, 4^th Equestrian Army

“Wild Rice” Battalion (Logistics: Vanhoover and Adjacent)

Lieutenant Colonel (Lt. Col.) Red Spud

A Company

Captain (Cpt.) Stone Rig

3^rd Platoon

First Lieutenant (1^st Lt.) Zip Jetscream

Staff Sergeant (SSgt.) Jacinta Petals

---

1^st Squad Sergeant (Sgt.) Amethyst Flare

1^st Team Corporal (Cpl.) Aster Yellows, 2^nd Team Cpl. Lily Hawk

---

2^nd Squad Sgt. Sweet Clover

1^st Team Specialist (Spc.) Blue Porter, 2^nd Team Cpl. Raspberry Jam

---

3^rd Squad Sgt. Sagebrush Trail (Hospital)

1^st Team Cpl. Razor Wire, 2^nd Team Cpl. Stardust Painter

---

4^th Squad Sgt. Treasure Trove

1^st Team Cpl. Little Song, 2^nd Team Spc. Trip Wire

---

One of the corporals would be minding his 3^rd Squad, it seemed… or he’d have his staff sergeant do it. He didn’t know much about how the army ran things, but he was surprised to see specialists leading two of his small teams. Still, since this company was cobbled together recently from here and there, it wasn’t that unusual to see. And it’s stupid to just promote somepony to fill a gap.

Each team had six ponies including their leader. Each of his four sergeants commanded two teams. That left him and his staff sergeant at the top. He’d need this SSgt. Jacinta Petals’s help… 54 ponies, himself included. And he had command over 53 of them…

Well, he knew better than that… The platoon was his when his staff sergeant decided it was his. It still shocked him he was made a first lieutenant. Perhaps he’d have found himself leading a squad at first, as a sergeant might. Even leading a team would be a start.

Gaining some new platoon in a newly reorganized company was almost beyond the pale. But he was an officer, tried and blooded, he supposed, in the eyes of his superiors. He was under no delusion why he was there; he’d been sent there for a cushy job while he “broke into his rank”.

He wondered what kind of stallion SSgt. Petals was. Zip knew the staff sergeant was rather young at 24. He himself was still only 21… Even if he’d made first lieutenant, he’d expected to not achieve it until he was 23 or 24. But a staff sergeant at 24… SSgt. Petals was either outstanding or a few ponies had bought the farm, and he was forced into the position.

But… it was a new platoon in a reorganized company, slapped together from all corners of Equestria. Nopony had died there to his knowlege. And none of his ponies had seen action, at least there. They were port authority, so unless some drunk sailor shanked one of his ponies or one of them got killed by a falling crate off a merchant or navy vessel, everypony should be intact and well… other than Sgt. Trail, apparently, in the hospital.

It became clear to him: the platoon had been slapped together. It wasn’t that there weren’t corporals… his platoon just wasn’t given a full roster of them. Zip suddenly became concerned; this had him questioning his sergeants… and he hadn’t even met them! A staff sergeant that young didn’t make sense! Were they just a bunch of corporals until a month ago? What were they doing?

He’d never even heard of the name Jacinta… at least tagged on a pony. It was the name of a flower, he vaguely recalled, but not one he was at once familiar with. Unable to get the idea out of his head, he espied a bookstore. He had time... so he went in. Greeted by the shopkeeper, he asked to see their field guides.

Looking through one, he found it: Jacinta. The name was a variation of “hyacinth”. He recognized their curly flowered clusters, in streaks of all the shades of purple, easily. His mother had kept hyacinths a few years. Thanking the shopkeeper, he went on his way.

Well, whoever SSgt. Petals was, he’d been running things for the month leading up to their meeting. Zip had to keep faith he’d been holding down the fort; there was little other choice. Putting this aside, he kept going.

---

Zip made it to South Port. He didn’t see any soldiers in the immediate vicinity. He looked around; the map wasn’t great, but company headquarters was very close. Suddenly, Zip heard a clatter, followed by yelling. It sounded like a stallion and a mare. Then another mare shrieked.

The noise was coming from a large, open crate to his right. He heard another clatter, and one of the mares he’d heard bolted from the crate, giggling, blushing, and trying to gather her shawl she was wearing. She bumped past him, not even slowing down.

Then two more ponies came falling out of the crate. They rolled around a moment, but the smaller one pinned the other pony down and started to whale on him. Zip saw the bawling recipient was a private… It was one of his, he guessed…

The other pony hauled the private to his hooves and began to tug him along, “I have warned you… again and again… but to allow yourself to be caught with your pants down?! And drunk again?! Stupid…”

One of the most gorgeous mares he’d ever seen in his life, an Earth pony, was half-carrying and half-dragging the screaming private away. She had a pale green coat with a medium length mane that turned up at the tips, streaked in numerous shades of purple. Her strange, yellow eyes blazed. Despite being two-thirds the size of her unfortunate detainee, she hauled him along with great confidence and ease. She was small, pretty, and built.

And she had sergeants’ stripes… three over the field and one under the field.

Watching her lay into the hapless private, Zip pondered, Jacinta… Jacinto… That’s right… Jacinto is a masculine form of “hyacinth”.

She even resembled her namesake. She had yet to notice him.

This was Zip’s staff sergeant, Jacinta Petals.

Author's Note:

Check out the Appendix for The Virgin Company, updated as the story moves along. Includes character designs and platoon arrangement. Contains spoilers.

---

So, Zip has had his first taste of Port ... and it's pretty rotten, what he hasn't seen. He'll learn plenty about everything soon enough. Next time, Zip becomes acquainted with his platoon.

If you haven't, please take a look at Larkspur Blossom, my first story. Lieutenant Jetscream is a hero of the main character.

Also, please look at my adventure story, Princess Essenta. It's been a fun one to write.

Look for more Company in a couple weeks. Juggling three stories is more work than I thought, but I want to tell the stories instead of sitting on them.

Thanks for reading, and take care.

Comments

[Bjarnulf]

8799059
Well It started out quite nice.
Have a cake, some Grog and tea.

[Pone_Heap]

8814873
?

[Bjarnulf]

8815840
I meant your story started good, is interesting and you deserve a little treat for that.

Or do you dislike cake?

[Pone_Heap]

8816033
Oh. Thanks. I really had no idea what you wrote.

All the same, I hope you enjoy the story.

[Pone_Heap]

8834921
It's kind of hard to come up with pony names sometimes. I was going through a field guide of flowers (lots of ponies named after flowers) and saw "jacinta" in the index of alternate names. As it says in the story, "jacinta" is a variation of "hyacinth". "Hyacinth" is an English take of the Greek term "‘υακινθος (hyakinthos)"... I think.

"Jacinto" is Spanish or Portuguese. And I don't know if the pronunciation in the video game Gears of War was intentional or not, but it was not pronounced properly. The pronunciation changes depending on what language it is, or whether it's European or Latin-American.

"Jacinta" is the Latin-American Spanish version of "Hyacinth", as far as the given name goes. It's pronounced "kha-SEEN-ta". Another English version of the name is "Jacinda" or "Jacinth".

I studied floristry for a while. And I liked the way the name sounded. "Jacinta Petals".

[Book_Wyrm]

8834966
Hycinth is greek. Its based off the name of one of Apollo’s lovers, who was killed by his ex-lover Zephyros, the West Wind. Supposedly, the Hycinth flower was created from Hycinth’s blood.