It had been three weeks, and finally, Captain Fizzlepop Berrytwist had her initial squad. Two unicorns, four earth ponies, and Rainbow certainly came through with the pegasi, of which there were five including her. That brought it up to a complete dozen.
Now, they were all standing in a row in front of the front steps of the castle, all with complete sets of armor thanks to Rarity's amazingly fast work. They had passed all her and Rainbow's basic requirements, and were now awaiting her first address to them as a squad.
All she had to do was figure out how to go about it. She was the Captain, and so wanted to be taken seriously, but she also didn't believe that they needed Canterlot-levels of rigidity. For now, this was a volunteer outfit, and she doubted they were volunteering to get yelled at.
"Attention," Fizzlepop began after clearing her throat, and they all snapped to, with Rainbow Dash standing rigid the fastest.
"Rainbow Dash, Amethyst Star, Dark Moon, Berryshine, Goldengrape, Rivet, Cloudy Haze, Blossomforth, Thunderlane, Cloud Chaser, and Bulk Biceps; congratulations on becoming the inaugural squad of the Ponyville E.U.P. Guard. On a personal note, I would like to thank each of you for giving your time and talents to this outfit. It is all volunteer, so each pony is free to come and go as he or she pleases. While you are here, Rainbow and I would like to keep to a routine drilling schedule. While I don't expect frequent amounts of trouble, Ponyville's proximity to the Everfree Forest means that trouble is something that the populace has gotten accustomed to, and being prepared is the best thing we can do for the town. In addition to the needs of Princess Twilight Sparkle, we will also be coordinating with Mayor Mare to address any needs the town may have."
Her attention turned to the sound of the front doors opening, and Spike began to come down the stairs, headed for her, so she decided that what she said had been enough.
"We'll meet back here for drill at 1900 hours, and on Thursday night at 1800 hours, I'd like you all to be here for Rarity to teach us the basics of armor maintenance. That's all for now, dismissed!"
The eleven ponies gave salutes and scattered back into town, with Rainbow headed back inside the castle, as Spike came down to the Captain.
"Morning, Captain Fizzlepop. Squad's looking good." He greeted and complimented.
"Good morning, Spike, and thank you. What can I do for you?"
"Twilight wanted to see you in her study, and I think it's important, because, well, she always paces a groove into the floor when she's thinking too hard over something important."
"Sure thing, I'll go see what she wants right away."
Spike departed with a smile and nod, and went into town to run errands, while Fizzlepop went into the castle and immediately headed to Twilight's study. The sounds of pacing hoofsteps became louder as she approached the door. She knocked twice to announce her presence.
"Princess? You wanted to see me?"
"Yes of course, come in Fizzlepop." The Princess replied from behind the door, the pacing stopping after the knock.
The door opened via Fizzlepop's magic, and she stepped in to see Twilight, nervous as ever.
"Princess? Is everything alright? Anything I can do to help?"
Twilight took a deep breath, and slowly let it out, a calming technique she had picked up from Princess Cadance.
"I certainly hope so. I know you've just now finalized your squad selection, and I'm really hoping I'm not asking too much of you with what I'm about to request."
Fizzlepop stood at ease while she awaited whatever Twilight had to say.
"As you know, I submitted the paperwork up to Canterlot to make the Ponyville E.U.P. official. All of that has gone through, and now Princess Celestia is curious of our progress. That, and she wants to come down for dinner. She made me triple-check that there's no magic shows going on or anything this time. But I'm also expecting her to informally inspect the work you've put into this."
Twilight took another deep breath.
"Captain, do you think you and Rainbow could have your squad ready to stand on ceremony in three weeks' time?"