So, What Happens Now?
THE GREEN ROOM:
IT ISN'T GOODBYE...
by Erin Mills
Sunset Shimmer slumped down on the couch in the Green Room, staring at her phone in disbelief. She read the email that had come from DHX that morning.
They did it. Hasbro finally did it. They pulled the plug.
Friendship is Magic had been officially canceled. The final season had been in production for months. Sunset and her friends had been off shooting the second season of shorts and specials for Equestria Girls, and as such, the two casts had been too busy to meet up in the Green Room like they normally did. As a result, the announcement that Season 9 of FiM would be the last had totally blindsided Sunset and the rest of the Equestria Girls cast.
There was a knock and Sunset looked up and blinked as Princess Twilight entered the room. She had apparently stepped down to the Effects Department and had them turn her into her human form. Same long purple hair. Same periwinkle blouse and purple skirt. Same impractical boots. Not surprising, really. She hadn't been on the EQG set since her cameo in Friendship Games, and the last time she'd been in an EQG production of any kind, it had been a sequence set in Equestria. Behind the scenes, the princess tended to remain in her pony form, so Wardrobe had never felt the need to update her clothes.
“Hey,” said Twilight, coming into the room.
“Hey,” Sunset replied.
Twilight sat down next to her on the couch. “You got the email.”
Sunset nodded. “So it's all over, huh?”
“Kind of? I'm not sure. Hasbro's being really cagey about where they're taking the franchise from here. We were told there might be a couple of specials before they launch Gen 5 with the new movie in 2021, but nothing concrete. Honestly, we're not even sure at the moment if the movie is even going to feature us.”
“They won't be you,” Sunset snorted. “They might be characters that look like you guys, but you know they're just gonna get celebrity voices, change all the personalities, and then go with soundalikes.”
“Maybe, but that doesn't mean it's a bad thing.”
“I know,” Sunset sighed. She looked over at Twilight. “So what happens now?”
“What do you mean?”
“You guys are shooting the last episodes now, right? So... what happens to us?”
Twilight sighed. “I don't know, Sunset. I asked, but they were non-committal. They're at least going to finish the current season of your show. I did hear that they want to keep Equestria Girls going for a while longer.”
“Because that makes sense.” Sunset rolled her eyes and got up, heading for the water cooler in the corner. “Let the spin-off with characters with the exact same names keep going, while the original show dies.”
She chugged the water down and crushed the cup in her hand. “And when Gen 5 starts? If they're still using you guys as the template, what happens to us? Brand confusion is death these days. You know that!”
“Sunset?” Twilight got to her feet. “Are you okay?”
Sunset whirled around. “No! No, I'm NOT fucking okay! It's ending, Twilight! You're on your way out, and it's only a matter of time before we go as well.” Sunset pulled a lock of her hair away from her head. “You know we've always been the literal redheaded stepchild of this franchise. Sure, we've been successful, but not as much as your show has! Hell, the fans still argue over whether our show is 'canon' or not! Once your show's gone, it's only a matter of time before they pull the plug on us as well!”
“Every show ends, Sunset. We both knew it wasn't going to last forever.”
“That's not the point!”
Twilight walked across the room and put a hand on Sunset's shoulder. “Then what's making you so angry?”
“BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT FIGHTING THIS!” Sunset screamed. Tears started running down her face. “YOU'RE JUST ACCEPTING ALL OF THIS BULLSHIT AND YOU'RE STANDING THERE SO CALM ABOUT IT! GOOD GOD, TWILIGHT, DEATH IS COMING FOR ALL OF US AND YOU--”
Sunset's voice cut out as Twilight embraced her fiercely. Sunset buried her head in her friends shoulder and cried. “I don't want to die, Twilight. I don't want the girls to die. I don't want YOU to die.”
Twilight stroked Sunset's hair. “We're not going to to die, Sunset. We can't. We're fictional.”
“We'll be forgotten.” Sunset's voice was muffled, her face still buried in Twilight's shoulder. “The new characters, or new versions of us will come, and they'll forget all about us. We'll fade away. Forgotten.”
Sunset raised her head and stepped back, anguish on her face. “We've had six years, Twilight, but nowhere near as much as you and your girls have had. You'll have had 221 episodes, two specials, and a major theatrical movie! That's so much for a show like yours. What do we have? Four movies, five TV specials and a bunch of shorts? I know I should be grateful for what we have, and I am. I could have been written out of the franchise completely if Meghan hadn't decided to make me a focal point of Rainbow Rocks, and now--”
“And now, you're the lead character of your own series, Sunset.”
Sunset blinked and sniffled. “What?”
“You haven't noticed? You're the lead, Sunset. Do you seriously think they stopped writing me into your show just because Sci-Twi came into the picture? You didn't need me anymore. You and the other girls came into your own and made your show stand on its own legs. Sure, maybe Hasbro only did it to appease the raving fans who hated the idea of our shows being connected even tangentially, but they've started folding you back into the whole franchise, and I honestly don't think it would have happened without you taking the lead.”
“I didn't take the lead,” said Sunset. “I'm not like you. I'm nothing special.”
“Yes, you are,” Twilight insisted. “Equestria Girls works because of you. I started off as bookworm who thought friendship was a waste of time, and quickly learned otherwise. That's a standard development arc. But you started off as an outright villain who the audience got follow in the sequel. That doesn't happen very often. And once your reformation happened, the fans started to love you. Even those who hate Equestria Girls seem to love you. You keep cropping up in pony form in tons of fanart, and even licensed products. And, with you becoming the lead character, it changed the character dynamics of your version of the girls. While my girls and your girls may be similar, there's still plenty of differences between them now, and it's all because you were there. If you weren't, I don't think your show would have done much more than one or two more movies after the first.”
“It doesn't change the fact that with you gone, it's only a matter of time before we go as well.”
“Is that what's really bothering you?” Twilight asked. “Be honest with me.”
Sunset grabbed her elbow and looked at the floor. “I don't want to say goodbye. After you wrap on the last episode, assuming they don't do those specials, you'll all be gone. I'll literally be the last unicorn. I don't want that. I don't want to be alone.”
“You won't be.” Twilight smiled. Sunset opened her mouth to reply, but Twilight held up a hand. “And I don't mean the other girls, either. We don't die, Sunset. And we won't be forgotten either. That may have happened to the other generations, but not us. This version of the franchise has been around for almost a decade. And there's millions of fans out there who'll preserve and remember our adventures for years to come. Nothing truly important to people gets forgotten, Sunset. And even if I'm not here shooting every day, we'll always be friends. And I'll always be with you for as long as your show goes on. It's like I said at the end of Rainbow Rocks. 'This isn't goodbye...'”
“'... it's just goodbye til next time.'” Sunset finished. She looked at Twilight. “But when is 'next time?' No one knows what happens to fictional characters when the story is over. How do you know we'll see each other again?”
“Because I feel it. Here.” Twilight put her hands over her heart. “We might be fictional, and we might just be part of a cartoon franchise meant to sell toys, but the one thing that has kept us going for so long is the message. Friendship is wonderful. And true friendship doesn't die. No matter what happens after our shows end, I will always be with you, Sunset. Because you are my friend... and I will always be there when my friends need me.”
Sunset swallowed and she felt her eyes water again. She stepped forward and the two embraced. They stood there for a long while. The end was coming for their generation, and neither knew what the future held once it arrived. But as she stood there, feeling Twilight's arms holding her, comforting her, Sunset felt her anger and anxiety melt away, replaced by a feeling of warmth and serenity.
She would make the most of the time she had left. She and her friends would face whatever challenges the writers threw at them. And when the end eventually came, as it always did, all seven of them would face what lied beyond together.
And Twilight would be waiting for them
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Powerful and wonderfully written. In the words of John Denver, "I know I'll hate to see it end".
I could say I wasn’t crying, but that would be lying.
(sniff) Yeah. Really beautiful stuff. :-D _ _ _ Glad to see Twi taking this so maturely AND making valid points. Though I really enjoyed Sunset's perspective too. And, yeah, there WILL, indeed, still be a lot of fans that will keep the memory alive even WELL into Generation 5. After all, the classic Disney characters and Looney Tunes have all still been thriving even more than a decade since the last theatrical short.
So what do you think the fate of the fandom will be if Season 9 is to be the end? Will they also start focusing on G4.5 or something?
"We will sing you, Doctor. The Universe will sing you in your sleep.
This song is ending, bit the story never ends."
The Odd to the 10th Doctor before he regenerates.
Well. That was a precisely aimed shot to the heart. Excellent message in the twilight of the series. But not the fandom. It's an important distinction.
Ah damnit, you made me tear up. I feel like FIM ending would be a symbol of my childhood ending, since by the time it does, I'll have to face the responsibilities of being an adult.
Great fic, loved to see what might the characters in a fictional show react to being forgotten .
Tactical feels right here. Damn good stuff.
I’m not crying you are.
I really hope sunset does gets her. Big finish and I really hope Hasbro doesn’t leave eqg hanging.
ugh noooo :( this was such a good story but it just made me sad...
I love MLP and EG so much! I really hope Sunset Shimmer get's her big ending as well like Twilight is.
Damn.
This really hits you in the heart. And the words they can use can also be applied to our lives as well: what we do with our limited time, whether or not we make a difference, whether or not we will be remembered after we are gone.
This deserves to be among the best stories on the site.
Kinda weird that they know they are fictional bit the message is still great
And here I was just wanting to do something like this for Twilight and FiM itself. God...
Thank you for this. This gets a permanent home in my Dearly Beloved bookshelf—a bookshelf reserved only for the stories that I feel are the best of the best out of the ones I’ve read, and truly touch my heart is some way—and an instant Favorite and Like, and you’ve just earned yourself a follower.
I know I, for one, will never let FiM die. Even if one day this site goes down, I’ll still be watching and rewatching the episodes. I’ll get the full series on DVD or digital and watch them every time I get sad or angry, simply to laugh and sing along with my favorite littl ponies.
I’ve been a Brony just under two years, and that’s it, but I’ve fallen for these sweet little ponies, man. I can’t not love them, even their EqG variants. They’re so emotional, so believable in their world and so damn inspiring. Even if Gen 5 turns out to be good, I’m not going to stop loving a certain six little ponies and their dragon friend as their original selves. Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, and even Spike, have all touched my heart in ways I can’t describe in only a few words. Even the other characters, from the Princesses and Discord, to the villainous foes and the background ponies who’ve supported them all are now precious to me.
My heart aches and runs hollow at the core whenever I see the Teasers on YouTube for Season 9, and I know I can’t deny it: once a Brony, always a Brony. I love these ponies, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for creating this wonderful little piece. Because you’re right.
To quote Disney (specifically, The Fox and the Hound), “Goodbye may seem forever—farewell is like the end—but in my heart is the memory, and there you’ll always be. They will live on inside of us. We will never let them die.
Do not ever doubt your ability as an author, because you made a guy who doesn’t ever cry from reading almost break down into tears with this short but beautiful piece.
Damn, I'll never forget my favourite redhead, not for the world. This part of my life was so embarassing, when others found out, that there is no other way than to fully commit to it!
They wil always alive in our hearts and fan works.
Still waiting for continuation of "A is for...".
Wow... This was really moving. I'm glad that I read it.
Why all the sads lately?!
Sometimes all good things come to an end... but the memories of those good things live on inside our hearts. 💕
Oh, sure, just shatter my heart into teeny-tiny pieces, why don't you?
I wasn't using it.
On another note, excellent story.
Very well done.
Twi is right, though.
The good characters, the good shows and books?
They never die, but live on in our hearts, our minds, and in our own stories and art.
Look at Frodo and Bilbo Baggins and all the inhabitants of Middle Earth.
Look at the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and everyone and everything in their world.
Look at Cutter, Skywise, Leetah, the Wolfriders, Rayek, Winnowill and all the inhabitants of the World of Two Moons (later known as "Abode").
Cutter may have completed his Quest and gone to run with his parents, and all the Chiefs and Wolfriders who have gone before him, but, even with the Great Howl we, the fans, and his tribe have honored him with, is he; are they; truly gone?
Are any of them?
No.
They will continue to hunt, to howl and to live free as long as we, their fans, love and remember them.
And the same goes for our ponies and Rainbooms.
We love you, Sunset; Twilight.
And we will be with you, and you with us, for always.
And remember this, all of you: the ancient Egyptians believed that as long as a person's name was remembered and spoken, they would live forever.
So will our ponies and Equestria Girls.
No need to worry Sunny... Yes, all previous iterations of MLP have been largely forgotten, but this one? Right here? It was something more than they ever were. This generation passed a threshold in popularity, one that ensures the characters and stories are never going to fade. Heck, it has an entire website dedicated solely to fanfics of this one generation! Most shows that are imbedded in the cultural identity to this day don't manage that!
9506974
Damn it that speech alone was beautiful and I havent even read the fic! *Tries to hold it in but starts gushing tears like a One Piece character* MLP FIM FOR LIFE!!!
"I don't want to die, Twilight. I don't want the girls to die. I don't want YOU to die."
This sentence broke my heart in million pieces and bring tears to my eyes. You wrote a wonderful fic, and I think if they knows they are fictional characters (maybe the pinkies knows) they would react like this.
Twlight is a lot racional while Sunset is a more emotive girls and will be more afraid to loose her friends than to her own death, and I could be completly wrong, but I think if she had to cease to exist to save her friends, she will do this without a second thought, like she did on forgotten friendship.
I won't lie, I became a brony because of Sunset and while I breath, she will be live in my hearth.
Before I read this, I must know: What's a Green Room?
9530719
It's a theater/television station term. It's basically the place where actors hang out, talk and relax when the cameras aren't rolling.
The premise of this immediately makes me overthink things. Fictional characters are written, and thus cannot have free will. Even if they're just sorta 'acting' the story out, does that mean they stop existing between episodes? If not, why does the ultimate 'between' of the show ending cause them to 'die'? If they have any amount of free will, why can't they just turn to the screen and announce to everyone that every time a series is cancelled, thinking, feeling creatures die? Did they exist before the first episode was written? If so, why does the series ending cause them to end too? If not, how can they persist between episodes? I mean, I get that I'm supposed to get emotional and stuff because it's all a metaphor for the ending of what is essentially the linchpin of the fandom, but when the metaphor breaks down upon the slightest amount of examination it just sorta takes me out of it.
Maybe I'll be downvoted because I didn't hop on the feels train with everyone else, but I just think 'meta' stories need to be very carefully constructed to work, and this one just sorta falls apart at the premise for me.
And of course, the older generations still have their fans. G1, in particular, lives on.
9521759
No they haven't. I still remember the previous generations fondly. All their episodes can be downloaded currently. And there's still fanfiction about them too. I still have a crush on Megan.^_^
That was actually pretty good there, and to put in Hasbro like that. I'm trying to come up with a story of my own to loop this sequence of events into Sweet Valley University for graduation day to close out Sweet Valley in my stories.
This was so powerful and hit right in the feels.
That unfortunately didn't happen as after holiday unwrapped came out and then a full year of nothing new it was soon revealed in late winter 2021 that the show was cancelled since hasbro denied a third season and as much as I wish to see it come back and have a proper ending the chances are very slim and I have several reasons why it's likely won't happen.
She has a point on the show if it's canon or not.
Seems like someone is having flashbacks to forgotten friendship aka my least fav eqg special.
Agreed sunset is more special than many people thought she would.
And of course it ended up happening since hasbro just had to deny the third season and we were so close to a proper ending and even seeing human sunset shimmer thx to nick confalone telling us on twitter but I guess if we want to have an ending for eqg we'll have to stick with fan fict stories like the many you can read on this site since the chance of equestria girls returning is very very slim.
Yep, even though eqg and mlp fim has ended I still think about it a lot since I did become a brony thx to eqg and fim and since I spent a lot of time on fimfiction reading eqg stories and even made some of my own.
TBH there's likely not going to be a next time for eqg or you sunset
And they were of course not expecting cancellation which happened thx to hasbro which pisses me off since it's the only show I know off they cancelled without giving it a proper ending it deserved like the other shows they've made. Makes me think they didn't care about eqg at all.