Unfinished Scenes No. 2: The Original Ending and Sequel Hook
Multicolored streams of data from a thousand different networks ran across the interior display of Raven's goggles. She stared ahead with cold precision. Even with the Sysadmin’s guidance, the Grid was not fully restored across Arcadia. It fell to underlings like Raven to pick up the slack, sorting through a million new data requests from all of Citadel’s citizens.
Only a cool mind could even hope to manage the process, let alone sort and reply to each new request.
But even so, Raven allowed herself a tiny smile. She was pleased that Twilight Sparkle and her friends had triumphed. And though her days as a field agent were long behind her, she could take some vicarious joy in watching Celestia’s protege at work.
Her joy faded as soon as her multiple data streams were interrupted. Bright gold text flashed across her goggles.
Celestia: We have a new player at the board. Please come at once.
A cryptic message, but then, the Sysadmin wasn't entirely human anymore. Raven couldn’t expect all her commands to make sense. Not at first, anyway.
With a wave of her hand, Raven summoned a sky blue AI. “Flash, I’m going to Central. Do you think you could take over until I return?”
The tiny blue figure nodded. “Of course. And may I say how grateful I am for the opportunity?”
Raven beamed at the little construct. “You certainly may.”
As he dissolved, the data streams vanished from her goggles. Raven spun on her heel and left her small white office.
Only a minute later, she stood outside the Sysadmin’s domain. Raven knew the security ritual so well that she could almost sleepwalk through it. Lift the palm, look into the scanner beam, and wait a second or two.
When the doors slid open, Raven stepped inside. She approached the throne with short and courteous steps.
Celestia lay back in her seat, watching her closely. Judging by the lack of an IV tube and fiber-optic cable in her arms, Raven assumed that the Grid was in much better shape. Behind the throne, the rows of power generators cast a soft filter of blue and green light over the lone Administrator.
“He’s returned,” Celestia announced. Her eyes closed for a moment. Ancient pain tightened her whole face. “Our mystery slicer finally strikes again.”
When Raven didn’t answer, Celestia lifted her right hand. A holo-table appeared, quickly taking on the form of a hideous serpent, who wore the face of a laughing goat and whose torso was split between fur and scales.
“This was left in a tagged message for me inside the Grid,” Celestia continued. “It’s his calling card. And apart from the Nightmare virus, it’s all we have of him.”
Raven studied the mishmash serpent, not sure if she ought to be impressed or repulsed at the design. “Shall I put out an alert to the Guard?”
“No need. We’ll tighten security as usual. Nothing too obvious.” As she spoke, Celestia relaxed enough for a smile. “However, I’d like you to make a note of this design and its underlying code.”
Raven was already accessing a free slot in her private data logs. “Yes, ma’am. What shall I tag it as?”
Nothing was kind about the Sysadmin’s smile anymore. “For now, we’ll call it… Discord.”
The name and her superior’s inflection sent an eerie chill down Raven’s spine. “Yes, ma’am. Shall I summon the Shieldmaidens here?”
The cruel smile on Celestia’s face disappeared, leaving only tired lines again. She sighed and waved her hand again.
Below, the holo-table changed again. Raven watched as a live feed appeared, taken from one of the many microscopic cameras around Citadel.
She watching a scene inside a small diner. The chrome countertops and red leather seats told her right away that the place was Donut Joe’s, only a block down the street from the Institute. Very popular with the student body for the past five decades.
Raven and Celestia smiled at the sight of the six Shieldmaidens sitting around a table near the back. Twilight Sparkle was in the middle, taking slow sips from a mug of hot cocoa. On her right, Rarity took dainty bites of her sandwich while Pinkie Pie slipped away at an absurdly tall milkshake. Fluttershy was on Twilight’s left, scratching at Spike’s ears while he slept on her lap. And beside them, Applejack and Rainbow Dash learned into each other, both on the verge of falling asleep. Applejack had her arm curled protectively around Rainbow’s shoulders.
Even through the holo-display, Raven could sense the fatigue that filled the little table. No one was speaking, but there didn’t seem to be a need for words. The moment was so intimate that Raven felt like an intruder for watching.
A dry chuckle from Celestia broke the silence, echoing across the vast chamber. “Our heroes will be needed soon enough. Best to let them get their rest now, don’t you think?”
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Did someone seriously get butthurt over you saying you won't continue? What the hell?
5042933 My audience is allowed to react however they please. If someone is butthurt, c'est la vie!
I'm sad that this was cancelled, but excited at the prospect that someone else may pick it up and do the original justice. Allons-y!
I was at the Intermezzo when I decided to see how many more chapters I had to read: when I saw the words "Unfinished" and "Cancelled" I was sad and a little disappointed too.
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