Ranking the Sunset Shimmer Songs (From Worst to Best)

Sunset Shimmer was probably the one thing that kept Equestria Girls going past "Rainbow Rocks". It's ironic that she could start out as perhaps the weakest villain in all of G4, and yet within the span of a single movie she became not just a great protagonist but perhaps one of the greatest things G4 gave us. She even got a chance to be a very rare thing in G4 and in western media in general: An anti-hero (a hero without heroic qualities), which she became during "Forgotten Friendship". However, perhaps owing in part to the uneven focus of Equestria Girls post "Legend of Everfree", she didn't get as many songs as you would expect. She only got a total of seven that qualify ("True Original" isn't her song, it's just a song she joins in on). But which ones are the best for her character wise? Well, that's what we're going to find out. As always, this is just my personal opinion.

7. Right There in Front of Me (Equestria Girls: Friendship Games)
Why it's on the bottom: This is a credits song, one that was originally cut short to allow for the post-credits stinger of the two Twilights meeting each other. The song isn't just sung by Sunset Shimmer, it also features the Rainbooms and even Sci-Twi. It's pretty obvious from the title what the thing they could be eluding to is: Friendship. It counts as a Sunset Shimmer song in the loosest sense of the word, it's just her paralleling what Sci-Twi is experiencing for the first time and how it was there all along. It's fine for what it is, it's a good credits song. But Sunset Shimmer is only one part of it.

6. Monday Blues (Equestria Girls: Summertime Shorts)
Why it's not on the bottom: Weird that the "Summertime Shorts" features a short about getting ready for school and running into trouble. That aside, as I said when talking about the Twilight Sparkle songs, this song is a study in contrasts: Sunset Shimmer has trouble getting ready while Sci-Twi has no trouble. But they both ultimately run into similar problems trying to get to school on a rainy day. It's the typical antics you see in cartoons when this setting usually occurs. If it were just between Sci-Twi and Sunset the song would probably be a bit higher. But the sudden inclusion of the Rainbooms having their own bad day feels like an unnecessary addition that distracts from the focus. Plus, we don't get that much in insight regarding Sunset's character.

5. Embrace the Magic (Equestria Girls: Legend of Everfree)
Why it's in the bottom three: Sunset Shimmer is definitely the only one who could've sung this song. She's the only one with any real knowledge of Equestrian magic or how it works. In and of itself it's not a bad thing. In fact it's very good. The real problem stems from the fact that this is the most Sunset amounts to as a character for all of "Legend of Everfree", serving as a mentor character like Obi-Wan, Yoda, or Professor X. There could've been more to her than that, even if the focus was intended to be on Sci-Twi and her lingering concerns about Midnight Sparkle.

4. Welcome to the Show (Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks)
Why it's in the middle: If Sunset had been singing with the Rainbooms and pony Twilight from the beginning, this probably wouldn't have counted as one of her songs. If it was just her and the Rainbooms, maybe it could still count from the get go. However, it's when Sunset grabs the mic and starts singing on her own that this song, however briefly, becomes her own. Yeah, it is more or less the typical case of a hero stating they'll never give up no matter what. But especially for Sunset Shimmer at this point it really conveys something. She'd only just started taking any kind of lead role, prior to that she'd been an observer and a supporter from the moment pony Twilight showed up. This was her finally taking a stand on her own, fighting for something she believed in and taking the first step towards putting her troubled past behind her. Of course, this entire song is really a series of short songs taking place in a musical showdown during the climax. Sunset's singing is but one part of it.

3. Let It Rain (Equestria Girls: Better Together Season 2)
Why it's in the top three: Sunset lets her hair down more or less with this song, showing something we didn't expect to see from her again after everything she'd been through. Sunset Shimmer shows a somewhat more vulnerable side, all on her own. And it's while she's singing about what to do when nothing's going your way. It sums up her character pretty well as she uses the song to encourage others to look past the clouds to see the sunshine. A little cliche maybe, but still inspirational and moving. It suggests that even with all the progress she's made, Sunset isn't flawless and things don't always go exactly right for her. It's just too bad this was more or less the last bit of focus she got before the Equestria Girls franchise had the plug pulled on it rather abruptly.

2. We've Come So Far (Equestria Girls: Forgotten Friendship)
Why it's not on the top: While the song isn't just being sung by Sunset Shimmer, it really carries the most weight with her parts. Sunset has come a long way by the time of this song, and even she's impressed by how much she's changed. This helps to make her actions after the memory wipe stand out. We see how far Sunset has come compared to who she used to be, but we also see that there are some parts of the old her that have been waiting to slip out. This song helps convey the message of "Forgotten Friendship", redemption is an ongoing process: There's always something new to learn and there's always something about you that you can improve on. But of course, there can be only one number one. And by process of elimination, you may know what it is.

1. My Past Is Not Today (Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks Encore Shorts)
Why it's on the top: Is it obvious and predictable? Yes. Is it still deserving of the top spot regardless of that? You betcha! This song is all about Sunset Shimmer at a crossroads, finally cementing her redemption as she closes the door to her past (for the time being anyway) and officially becomes the protagonist of the franchise. It even serves as an unintentional spoiler for Daydream Shimmer that will come with the climax of "Friendship Games". Heck, considering this was the first of the three encore shorts after "Rainbow Rocks" it felt like they were making up for Sunset Shimmer being completely absent from the shorts leading up to that movie. The symbolism couldn't be more apparent with Sunset's wings: They aren't demon wings, they are angelic wings. She is now firmly on the side of good, her past no longer defines her. There was no way it could ever be anything but number one.

And there you have it, come back tomorrow when we'll look at and rank all the villain songs from across G4: Episodes, movies and even specials.