Ranking the Twilight Sparkle Songs (From Worst to Best) · 12:05am Jan 11th, 2022
So it is that we round out the mane six with a look at all the songs Twilight Sparkle sang, which includes those done by her human counterpart dubbed Sci-Twi by the fans. And no, the theme song doesn't count (not even the extended version). That still leaves a total of fourteen songs done by either version of the character. Like all the previous ones, this isn't just a personal enjoyment ranking but also how well each song works as a representation of the character. And of course, like with every list, this is based on my personal opinion.
14. Room to Grow (Equestria Girls: Better Together Season 1)
Why it's on the bottom: The song this short is from gives away the focus almost from the get go: "My Little Shop of Horrors". And as a result, this really doesn't feel like something that necessitates Twilight Sparkle. It's just her singing while watering the plants in Principal Celestia's garden, before Equestrian magic makes them come to life and quite literally beg for more. It gets the job done for the short it's part of, but it doesn't offer any sort of insights into human Twilight's character. You could swap her for any of the Rainbooms and it would be just the same.
13. Love is in Bloom (A Canterlot Wedding, Part 2)
Why it's not on the bottom: In-universe it makes sense for Twilight to sing this song, especially considering the role she played in giving the wedding a happy ending. This song basically pioneered the trope that would be used for the next two season finales: Twilight Sparkle singing a pop song about how everything is fine, marking a triumph over whatever evil had shown up. And Season 5's finale "The Cutie Re-Mark" would try to continue the tradition with "Friends Are Always There For You", except with Starlight Glimmer instead of Twilight Sparkle. But after that the trope abruptly died off, even when we got one last song as a send-off for Season 9 and the show as a whole. There really isn't anything for Twilight character wise here. Pinkie Pie could sing this song and it would be just the same. At least I can see why this was a Twilight song though.
12. The Failure Success Song (The Crystal Empire, Part 1)
Why it's in the bottom three: When this song was shown independently of anything before it, it was assumed this song was going to be Twilight Sparkle running away after failing a test. However, this song is coming after she's been told that her "test" will be something different, so why it plays when it does makes no sense. It repeats what we probably could already figure out for ourselves, Twilight wasn't prepared to be tasked with defending an entire empire. And it doesn't help that Spike is a back-up singer who only further repeats what we just heard. It's one of those songs that just pauses the story. It can be cut and nothing would be lost, especially since Twilight gets over her supposed "failure" pretty quickly, almost as if it only existed for this song. And the reprise is even more unnecessary, it feels like it was put in there because they just needed to quickly wrap up the episode.
11. You'll Play Your Part (Twilight's Kingdom, Part 1)
Why it's so low: Much like with "Let The Rainbow Remind You", this song was following a trope pioneered by "A Canterlot Wedding", in this case Twilight singing about a concern or regret of hers. In this case, it's her lamenting (or complaining depending on how you wanna look at it) that her role as an alicorn princess has so far amounted to very little. That would be pretty strong, if the episode didn't already tell us this with the same three ponies who show up in this song: Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Princess Cadence. And once they show up this song stops being Twilight's song as the three alicorns tell Twilight that she will indeed have a role to play, but she must be patient. If we'd spent more time alone with Twilight during this song, it would carry more weight.
10. Morning in Ponyville (Magical Mystery Cure)
Why it's in the bottom five: With this song being the first thing we're treated to in "Magical Mystery Cure" it's very easy to see why fans often say this episode should've been called "Magical Musical Cure" instead. And even musicals don't always open up with a musical number, at least not right away. This song is basically "What Could Possibly Go Wrong" in song form, it's very much tempting fate by talking about how wonderful everything is. It comes on very abruptly, and only when it ends does the plot actually kick in as Twilight (and by extension the audience) realize that everything is not fine. However, I do get kind of a "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast vibe here (as in the 1991 original and not the 2017 remake that tries to hit you over the head with how Belle is "different").
9. Life in Equestria (Magical Mystery Cure)
Why it's in the bottom half: A very brief reprise of "Morning in Ponyville" that almost makes you wonder why they bothered to include it at all (but quite honestly, if any song should've been cut it should've been "Behold, Princess Twilight" since that was even shorter and served no narrative purposes at all). I mean, it is a celebration and does feel a bit stronger character wise compared to "Love is in Bloom", but there's not much else to it. I think it's remembered mostly for the fact that we see Twilight supposedly flying on her own power here, yet come "Princess Twilight Sparkle" she is incapable of flight (but we never saw her take off on her power, or land on her own power. It's entirely possible she was launched and was operating on pure adrenaline rather than focusing on how she'd never flown before). Plus, this could've very well been the last thing we ever saw of the show given that Season 3 started production as the planned final season. And only at the last minute were they told that there would be another.
8. Monday Blues (Equestria Girls: Summertime Shorts)
Why it's not lower: I actually forgot about this song until I rechecked all the songs that could count as a Twilight Sparkle song. This one also doubles as a Sunset Shimmer song, and is initially a study in contrasts. Sunset wakes up and has trouble getting ready for school, but Sci-Twi seems perfectly prepared despite the weather. However, the two both run into problems trying to make it to school on time. It's the typical bad day hijinks we've seen in cartoons: Missing the bus, falling in puddles, getting chased by dogs, that sort of thing. But at the end, completely out of the blue, we see that the rest of the Rainbooms all had trouble making it to school on time even though we hadn't seen them. This really should've just stayed between Sunset and Sci-Twi, just the two of them sharing a laugh over their shared misfortune. Even if this song is hammering home how similar Sunset and Sci-Twi are, it does help to show that Sci-Twi is getting more integrated into the group.
7. B. B. B. F. F. (A Canterlot Wedding, Part 1)
Why it's in the top half: This song serves as our unofficial introduction to Shining Armor, and believe it or not it's the first song Twilight Sparkle ever initiated on her own. She doesn't fully sing it on her own until the reprise, but it still counts as her song since it's her brother she's talking about. Some complain that this is a contradiction of Twilight's prior established character as a loner, but there was never anything to suggest Twilight couldn't have a brother. Family doesn't seem to be something the mane six really discuss much (if ever). And even the anti-social can have those that they interacted with or were close to. It doesn't contradict Twilight not knowing or understanding friendship to have an older brother that she cared about. And the reprise, without the show's context, make it seem and sound like Twilight is grieving because she just learned her brother was killed in battle or in the line of duty. However, a song that has yet to appear would better capture Twilight at her lowest, when she feels that she's truly lost everything. Plus, it does lose some points for the rest of the mane six joining in briefly, and the fact that when the song ends we see Canterlot suddenly encased in a bubble (which goes unacknowledged for quite a while afterward).
6. Mad Twience (Equestria Girls: Summertime Shorts)
Why it's not in the top five: Pony Twilight only once truly displayed any kind of scientific prowess or scientific approach to life, and that was for the controversial and polarizing "Feeling Pinkie Keen". After that episode, even with Twilight's later established OCD tendencies science was pretty much never a part of her character. She was book smart, but that just applied to knowledge in general. Meanwhile, her human counterpart was defined by science from day one, even if she looked a bit stereotypical for the part. It makes sense that she would want to conduct her own experiments into Equestrian magic, even after the whole Midnight Sparkle incident. From Spike's perspective, it certainly does feel a bit mad scientist esque, but we know human Twilight isn't going to go quite as far as she did before. However, we also know that her attempts to find answers will go nowhere because Sunset Shimmer already tried this. So this song and the short it's part of do sort of feel like "Been there, done that".
5. The Magic of Friendship Grows (The Last Problem)
Why it's so high: Even though all the mane six join in singing this song by the end, it starts out as Twilight's song as she sings this to Luster Dawn. The circle completes itself. Twilight is basically recapping her entire character arc, reassuring Luster Dawn that everything will work out. It qualifies as her song, albeit just barely. And what little she has before it becomes a group song helps it to stand out. There's not much else to say, really.
4. The Midnight in Me (Equestria Girls: Legend of Everfree)
Why it's not in the top three: The one that feels the most unique to human Twilight. It is a bit repetitive and telly, we can already see for ourselves that human Twilight still feels guilty about the whole Midnight Sparkle incident. But at the same time this helps us to see how she's not like Sunset Shimmer, she can't so easily overcome her past and is fearful of back sliding. Given how dangerous Midnight Sparkle was, it makes sense. Something like that is not so easily overcome, only time can truly heal wounds like that. However, it feels like there was supposed to be more to it than what we got.
3. This Strange World (Equestria Girls)
Why it's in the top three: If "Morning in Ponyville" was channeling "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast, then this song is channeling "Strangers Like Me" from Tarzan. The similarities are there, intentional or not. It makes sense for Twilight to feel like this and sing like this though. The world of Equestria Girls sported a lot of similarities to the world of Equestria, it seemed like just about everyone had a human counterpart and Sunset Shimmer was the only one with no known counterpart (though we know they did have plans for that, at least originally). It's probably one of the better songs from the movie. In case you're wondering, I don't count "A Friend For Life" as a Twilight song since it's not clear whether it's her or Sunset Shimmer that's supposed to be singing it, and I don't believe they ever set the record straight on that.
2. What More is Out There? (Equestria Girls: Friendship Games)
Why it's not on the top: Originally planned to coincide with Sunset Shimmer singing the same, tying into a subplot of her being homesick, this song serves as the highest ranking song for human Twilight. It serves as our official introduction to her more or less, her wondering what else there could possibly be in the world. A world beyond Crystal Prep, which is being established as the absolutely worst place in the world. Interestingly, we see human counterparts of Fleur De Lis and Suri Polomare here, though nothing comes of it since they don't appear elsewhere or have any kind of role in the movie. Yet after this song ends, human Twilight's desires take a back seat to Principal Cinch and her more or less blackmailing Sci-Twi into participating in the titular Friendship Games. It's only at the end of the movie that this gets brought up again, when Dean Cadence has a talk with Sci-Twi about what might truly be best for her. And that's ultimately what holds this song back.
1. I've Got to Find a Way (Magical Mystery Cure)
Why it's on the top: Pony Twilight tended to internalize things a lot. But never again did she screw up so badly that she felt the need to sing about it. This song is accompanied by the use of shadows, this time to convey sorrow and sadness rather than fear or anger. It's not the greatest example of character, but it feels the most in-character for Twilight. This could easily be applied to any number of her failures in later seasons (and movies): Such as her clash with Starlight Glimmer, her freeing the Pony of Shadows, getting caught trying to steal the Pearl of Transformation, failing to realize Cozy Glow was a threat and the entire ordeal with the Legion of Doom. Perhaps most interestingly, Twilight is "seeking answers". She's already dismissed a number of possible solutions, but even she can't think of how she'll solve this problem. The emotional impact of seeing Twilight at her lowest is what elevates this song over the competition, just barely.
And there you have it, come back tomorrow when we'll look at and rank all the Starlight Glimmer songs (Spike really only has one song and it doesn't really count as a character song since he only briefly mentions something about himself).
You listed Mad Twience and The Magic of Friendship both as #5.
5626055 Fixed it. Thanks for noticing.