//------------------------------// // Missing // Story: Harmony Revisited // by deli73 //------------------------------// Meanwhile, deep within the folds of space and time, a strange figure watched the events as they unfolded. Tapping his chin with a clawed hand, he chuckled to himself, amused at all the chaos he had caused. All this confusion was genuinely delightful. He let out another laugh which slowly transformed into a high-pitched cackle. Suddenly, he thought of something which cut his glee short. He frowned. Even when she wasn't there, Celestia could ruin his fun. Perhaps it was about time he ruined something of hers as well. And he knew just what to do. Discord snapped his fingers, releasing a wave of magic that danced in a chaotic, unpredictable pattern. A cloud of sparkles rapidly dispersed, revealing the Elements of Harmony clustered together in his hands. He simply couldn't wait to see the look on her face when she realized they were gone. Gone! That's the first thing Jacob Fizzle thought when he looked at the empty box, shaking his brown mane in distress. How could they have just disappeared? He lifted the box and stared underneath with a confused expression, his blue eyes staring intensely through bottle glasses. They couldn’t possibly have fallen out, and yet they were nowhere to be seen! This must be his fault! He hadn't separated them properly. Their close proximity could have caused some kind of magical reaction, teleporting them randomly to an unknown location! "They're gone, aren't they?" Flora Mistwing asked, the pale blue colored pegasus narrowing her sharp green eyes at Jake. "Yep," Jake said with a sigh, annoyed that couldn’t figure it out on his own. His cutie mark, two interconnected gears, indicated that he had mechanical aptitude, but this certainly didn’t appear to be a mechanical problem. "Well, let's go find them, then! No use staring at an empty box!” Flora said brusquely, her blond hair swirling as she spun towards the door. “We'll meet back here in 4 hours." She spread her wings and flew off before Jake could reply. Jake glanced around the area once. Knowing Flora, she probably had a detailed plan for a systematic and efficient way to search the city. Maybe that’s why her cutie mark consisted of several clouds stuffed inside a cube – she was a real organized pony. He had a different idea, however. Logically, there were a couple of places close by that the artifacts may have gone. His first stop: Rarity's Boutique. After the third time knocking on the door, he knew it was no use. Rarity simply wasn't home. Which was quite odd, considering that Jake distinctly remembered overhearing earlier that Rarity would be busy at her shop all day. Something very important must've come up. But what was it? It couldn’t have anything to do with the disappearance of the artifacts, could it? His question was answered with a clap of thunder from a... wait, that couldn't be right. Was that cloud made of cotton candy? A bright flash of light slowly formed a gigantic, brilliant purple sphere which then promptly dissipated into nothing. Jake galloped toward the explosion, but by the time he had reached the site of the incident, all ponies nearby had vanished. He sighed in disappointment. Where was everypony going in such a rush? Anypony who could perform a spell that powerful was definitely someone he wanted to meet, especially since they might have some idea where the artifacts might have gone. Taking off his knapsack, he pulled out a strange device that looked like a metal detector. He waved it around in the air, his eyes widening in excitement as the device started to beep urgently. There was definitely a source of magic here, hidden underneath an inconspicuous mound of popcorn. “A Vacuum Orb?” He stated rhetorically, picking up the strange blue object and placing it in his bag. “A what?” A small voice questioned in an adorable country accent. Startled by the interruption, Jake turned around to see a small yellow pony staring at him curiously with large brown eyes. Most ponies that saw him around in his machine shop back in Fillydelphia would be surprised to know that he had a soft spot for kids. “What's a vacuum orb?” Applebloom asked again insistently. “And why are you taking it,” she asked with suspicion. “It's kind of like a magical battery,” Jake replied with a smile, trying to defuse her inquisitiveness before he had to start explaining the Basic Theory of Magic. “It sucks in as much magic as it can get, from any nearby source, including any kind of spell.” “Is that why Twilight's spell didn't work?” Jake nodded. “And now I’m afraid I've got to take it back to a secret storage area, so it can't cause any more harm.” “What's your name, mister?” Applebloom asked, getting visibly excited. “What do you do? Where is this secret storage facility? How many artifacts do you store there?” She put a hoof to her mouth as she thought. “Maybe I could…help you out! Cutie Mark Crusaders…magical scientist assistants! Yeah, that’s the ticket!” Jake’s head was spinning at the verbal assault. “I’m Jake, I do magical research, it’s in a very special, secure and secret location, lots, and I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He did his best to be carefully vague. It wouldn’t do for outside parties to know too much. Applebloom scrunched her eyes, doing her best to look adorably cute. "But then I'll never get my cutie mark! Please help us, mister, or we'll be stuck as blank flanks forever!" Tears threatened to well up as she used her most persuasive tone. “I'm not going to be able to convince you to leave me alone, am I?” Jake asked with a sigh. “Nope,” Applebloom replied with a little stamp of her hoof. “Then I apologize in advance for this,” Jake said, pulling an odd contraption out of his bag. He pointed it at Appleboom, who promptly fainted. “I hate having to do that.” He muttered to himself. After nearly three hours of fruitless searching, Flora was beginning to question her search methodology. She had snapped out a grid pattern, and was slowly clearing each quadrant of the town. Surely there was no better way. Half-heartedly, she held up her magic detector without much hope…and heard a small beep. She swung it over to the left a few inches, and the beeping accelerated. It didn’t take her long to trace the source of the energy to a single building. Walking inside nonchalantly, she continued waving the detector around, trying to triangulate the artifact’s location. It took her almost half a minute to realize that Mr. and Mrs. Cake were staring at her. “Is there a problem?” Flora asked with a raised eyebrow. “I-I, um,” Mrs. Cake stammered, a bit confused. “What in the world is going on here?” “Look,” Flora replied with an imperious wave of her hoof. “You're in danger. I don't have time for manners, and I certainly don't have time for questions. So if you'd kindly stand back and stay out of my way, I can do my job and possibly save your life.” Stunned at her brusqueness, the Cakes made no further objections. “Ah-ha!” Flora exclaimed, picking up a sparkling green octahedron. She slipped the object into a pocket on her backpack and walked out of the shop without another word.