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
