Heart Souls: The Loss of Harmony

7 am, and the sun greets the mayor a good morning as she heads towards her office.

"Good morning, mayor!" One of the bakers greeted, handing over a fresh batch of bread.

"Thanks, Miss Cake!" she greeted back.

Diamond Tiara today was delighted, as one of her projects was finally moving forward. Everyone noticed her dazzling smile and her skip to her trot, which piqued their interest while also making them pleased for her.

But that would soon change, as one of her secretaries was waiting outside the office. "That's strange; what may be the reason she's waiting for me outside?"

8 am, and the day has just started, but the office is already in full swing. Everyone is already at the rendezvou, but Tiara has not greeted them yet.

" For a general, she sure is late." Bubbles impatiently waits at the court.

" She isn't in this world, but she is the mayor; perhaps we should give her a few more minutes," Bright suggested.

" I only needed that one point, and I would've outranked her. I'm telling you there was favoritism in that test." She pouted.

Bright doesn't know what to do to relieve her frustration. "Sweetie, its already in the past, and this is a different Tiara we know. And I thought you liked her."

"I know, and I do... but that doesn't mean I can't be petty, right? And why are you defending her?"

She would stare at him with dagger eyes. " Hey... Back then, the stallions have always been simping over her, always praising the most beautiful general, the rising star and shit... You better not be one of them."

" Hmp, perhaps it's the other way around; you might've heard of me back then." He flaunted.

" Who, you? Famous?" She'd give a peck in the cheeks. "Perhaps."

The two began flirting, and some are not amused.

" Was the past that shameless before?" Cross questioned their morality while Bluebell took down some notes and enjoyed the show.

They hear hooves tapping in the halls as they rush towards the court. "Sorry I'm late! Busy busy day! Phew!" She dashed to the center and handed each pony a piece of paper.

"Alright, every pony! Welcome to the project, Vanguard!" She said in a rush.

" Perhaps you should catch your breath before we continue?" Quilt suggested.

" I'm okay, phew! Thank you. Now! Ahm..."
She took a pause and read her notes once more.

"Project Vanguard is a line of defense that aids everyone in Ponyville! From guard duties to hunting creatures to helping the old and protecting the young, we aim to serve and protect Ponyville!"

Bluebell would alone clap, while Quilt began to raise her hoof.

"Yes, Quilt. What's your concern?"

" ...so mercenary work?" She shrugged.

" N~no. Not to an extent! We are here to help. Not to fulfill someone else's desire and whatnot. We're like, um... Aids! We help other people out! Sure, mercenaries also help others, but they also do a lot of QUESTIONABLE things... We don't." She pointed out.

" It's like adventurer's on a guild or something then?" Tapper spoke.

" In a way yes! But! Unlike a guild, the village handles what happens, meaning me, the mayor is responsible for holding this project."

" And what's the difference?" Bright asked.

"Hmm, lets just say less hands, less mistakes. And this is all backed up by the village and approved by the Canterlot high council," she bragged.

" This is just police work," Bubbles pointed out.

" Not entirely! As the police is there for specific tasks, you, on the other hand, will be dealing with the things that they do not cover, same as the fire protection ponies and doctors who have a specific task that they can and can't do. You will be the one picking it up! Pretty much the gray and dark area."

" But that's what the mercenaries are for?" Treasure questioned her logic.

" No! Nono, we aren't! Ohh... Wheres that paper?" She began scrolling down her papers to find what she wrote about her project. But gave up in the end.

" Okay! We aren't mercenaries! We are VANGUARDS! Say it with me! VANGUARDS!"

" BANG GARDS?" Everyone was already messing around at this point.

" Fine, lets give it some time and eventually you'll see how cool it is. Now! We have an urgent mission in our hands! Just the other night reports of loud moaning can be heard from the park, and a sudden outbreak of fire happened; luckily the fire didn't spread that much and the fire department was able to put out the flames."

She began giving them some papers for them to read—an early copy of the newspaper.

"Reports say it wasn't made from wayward dragons or unicorns, as the flame was hard to put out and different in magical components as the flames burned of purple."

"Pfft cough! Cough!" Something was caught on Bright's throat as it was hard for him to cough it up.

" Oh my, are you alright? Do you need water?"

" Oh no no! He's alright, right, sweetie?" Bubbles nervously assured Diamond Tiara.

The rest of the knights would look at them doubtfully.

"Now that you mentioned it... You two were late going back home," Bluebell inquired, but when she observed Bubbles glaring at her menacingly, she knew speaking any further would land her in hot water. "Oh... nevermind me."

"... Are you ponies hiding something from me?" Tiara grew suspicious.

" Don't worry! We'll take care of these mysterious arsonists!" Bubbles gave her hoof of approval.

"Hm, okay, so we need this to be a success, to show this project's worth and get greenlit. So I'm assigning everyone to this mission since this one was the most controversial of them all."

" No no! Um I— we can handle it on our own, me and Bright! While the OTHERS can do something... else? This way! Not only are we finishing one mission but multiple! missions, yes? Wouldn't that super greenlit uhm this project?" She stuttered.

Tiara pondered on this idea and liked it.
" Instead of giving a hundred percent... we give a thousand percent! That, is, PERFECT!" She quickly hugged Bubbles. " Snort, oh, it wasn't that impressive; I learned from the best!" She blushingly said.

" This is going to be perfect! With you by my side everything will go smoothly! And with that, I give you this badge!" She pulled a box out of her saddle and opened it up; it looked like a police badge but was more circular and silver. Like a knockoff or a toy of some sort.

" Oh... Thanks?" Bubbles was not amused, as the badge did not match her armor.

While Bluebell was ecstatic and quickly flaunted the badge around.

" You know we have the same badge, right?" Treasure poked at Bluebell.

" You're no fun sometimes, Tress."

But that was not all, as someone would deliver a few boxes in the court and be given to them.

"And don't forget your matching uniforms!"

Inside the box is a reflector suit of blue in color and some bands that have a weird symbol on them.

" Wait... We're going to wear this?" Tapper asked.

"Does this make me look fat though?" Bluebell was already wearing the uniform, asking advice from Cross.

" Wait, we prefer the armor... We... We don't feel comfortable... Wearing... This." Quilt declined.

" This is a must as you work for the government, and as such, you need to be visible for the rest to see. I mean, as knights, you know the importance of a uniform, right?"

Bright would nod and agree. " She is right, let's get this over with everyone and make our mission a success!" She'd then give a pat on Quilt's back. " It's okay; as long as we control our flames, we won't be burning anything."

" Says you?" She gave a look of doubt on him.

" Ahm! I assure you, whatever it is your thinking! It's all a misunderstanding. We're innocent, okay."

" Until proven guilty, right?"

" Hey, I thought we were cool."

" We are, we are..." She gave him the benefit of the doubt. And gave a hoof bump. "Thanks, sis."

" O-kay! Sorry to interrupt, but there's a lot of things you need to learn, things you can do and not do! So all of this is just the introduction; now we're going to the next step, the briefing!"

" Can't we just do the work and avoid all this boring stuff?" Tapper asked.

" Nope!"

" I bet them mercenaries don't get to deal with this crap," Treasure added.

" Hey! Language!"

"Can we be mercenaries instead?" Bluebell butted in.

" Nnnoooh!"