Equestria Girls: My Past is Not Today Follow Up

  

Just like with Rarity Day, there were a lot of choices to bring here for Shim Sham, especially when she’s my favorite character. But I think the most fitting video to discuss is this music video. It’s truly the turning point of coming from a not-so good villain (ironic, I know) to a character we didn’t know we needed before but glad to have now. I think the moral in this music video is pretty self-explanatory. Through all the bad that you have, if you can make up for it with the right people, then you don’t have to live holding onto your bad past. You’re different than the you from yesterday or last month or last year. Become the better person you know you are and move on from the past you that you don’t want to remember. Either that, or make sure you’re able to get down from the roof of big buildings when going into inspirational song mode. An emergency exit is your greatest friend.  

 

If you were counting on a cloudy day in Sunset’s music video, then you were surely mistaken. But they did a great job for the lighting here with the shadows and the sunset...and the Sunset. Still very curious how she got up here through.

 

Sunset: "Power was all I desired, But what grew inside me was the darkness I acquired"

This world has some really weird weather. This was probably the quickest sunset to turn into night I’ve ever seen. But still a very nice background for this looking more like a Twilight Sparkle video. And I guess I can see this being the "darkness" she was talking about in this line. The sun went away, it's nighttime, it's dark. SYMBOLISM!!!!

 

So I might call it a bit of a cheat to use past animations for the music video, but since it’s a “demon to hero” type of story, it gets a pass. And I have wanted to talk about this moment for a while. I don’t want to think this is Sunset being “zapped good” like for Nightmare Moon in the original show. Maybe just the idea of a more powerful magic than hate and darkness would make her realize that they were wrong, and that true power comes from something more. But that’s just my thoughts. Still a better turn than Nightmare Moon because it didn't just make Sunset a completely different person.

 

Sunset: “Like a phoenix burning bright in the sky.”

Yeah we’re just gonna assume that isn’t something we should be concerned about. Maybe just metaphorical phoenix. Maybe Philomena doing a fly by from the pony world. Maybe the actual human Sunset Shimmer that we’ve never confirmed nor denied existing in the Human World. Good line that came with it though. This character is really the best definition of a phoenix rising up from the ashes anew to become best pony.

 

So I never made this connection with this being just like Sci Twi’s solo song “The Midnight in Me” but for different reasoning. Sunset wants to break away from her past demon self while Sci Twi wants to hide that it still might be there. Sunset was more triumphant in defeating her darker past while Sci Twi is worried about it still being part of her. It makes me wish Sci Twi could’ve had this big of a song and music video when battling her own literal “inner demon” like Sunset did.

 

Ok she could’ve at least left the happier version of herself up there. I know it was on the path to being the mean queen, but still. She could’ve gotten the votes in a legit way. I mean, it would be hard to not like someone who can play guitar, paint, draw comics, play video games and pull off primary hair colors. Of course we didn’t know any of her hobbies until she turned good and there had to be some reason Flash Sentry dated her. They probably jammed together a few times and got close that way. Though, she did admit to dating him because he was popular so…Sunset x Twilight still my top ship.

 

Sunset: “Ambition is what I believed. Would be the only way to set me free”

This was a great line to use. Her real and only reason for being here in this world fat away from what she’s used to was to seek power, dominate a large group of people, and take over Equestria. Well…maybe that last one was more of her demon side coming out. But she really is more for studying and being stronger in magic in a world that doesn’t have any. If anyone reads comics (because they should) you can see it in "The Fall of Sunset Shimmer", where she would rather study than socialize. Sound familiar? She basically let her ambition, which usually should be a good thing to make you achieve your goals, into something to unhealthily obsess about. Ambition is not bad, but can be when it’s for a bad reason so take this line with a grain of salt.

 

Oh the implications this music video brought up. Would Sunset get magic powers like the main characters, plus Princess Twilight? Would she be the stand in for her in the Rainbow Rocks movie? Is this just for the music video to be shiny and epic. Find out next time on Dragon…oh wait. Wrong show. I don't know what I thought when seeing the magic flames coming from Sunset. Maybe it would be her power up in Rainbow Rocks that would save the Humane 6 from whatever was coming? Didn't really happen that way, but still got a great ending shot out of the magic leaking out of her.

 

And now the sun is coming back up again. I have no idea what’s happening with the weather here. Either she sang all night at a closed high school or she just turned into Princess Celestia 2.0 and raised the sun with her own form of magic. As history would tell us, before Princess Celestia, large groups of unicorns would raise the sun, but end up losing their magic from doing something that difficult. Maybe she was meant to rule after Celestia in a way since that spot was given to Twilight Sparkle. Either way, I know some kids are probably not happy having to get up after sleeping for 3 hours before going to school the next day.

Random citizen in their house: “How is it so bright outside? Isn’t it 9pm right now? Or is it 9am? Oh God did I forget it was Daylight Savings time again? Mooooom!!!! We forgot to turn the clocks back again!!!”

 

And we got the desktop image of all the Sun Shim fans for the next 2 movies. This was a great song of strong triumph and redemption for a character with probably the most lack luster introduction. Still wondering what time it is exactly for all this to be happening with the sky brightening up and sun rising. Also, how are those Super Saiyan drawing coming along after this shot everyone? Did you make it just as epic as the music video?We all need more Super Saiyan Sunset Shimmer in our lives just for the fun of struggling to say all of that in one breath.

And that was My Past is Not Today, a redemption arc of the worst heel turned best baby face (if you know what I’m talking about, I love ya). Sunset is not someone I would call another Twilight Sparkle or the human version of Starlight Glimmer, no matter how close their names are to each other. I can see her being her own character with her own personality. I don’t deny thinking of her as a type of Mary Sue where she has all these hobbies to make her character less standard next to “the tomboy”, “the funny one”, and “the smart one”. You don’t see many protagonists having a thing for drawing comics or doing graffiti all the time (and I said ALL THE TIME. Put your "Into the Spider Verse" comments away). She just seemed to not have anything wrong with her after becoming good, but can still get angry, sad, depressed and adorably happy when things don’t go her way. She won’t be passive without a mean bone in her body like a lot of characters and it still gives her the ambition she had, but for the right reasons. She has a way of letting her emotions get to her and I can personally relate to that, especially with Forgotten Friendship where you can see her slipping into her old mean ways by accident. She is someone that earnestly wants to do good for the sake of doing good and I think that can make anyone get into Ketchup and Mustard girl the more you watch her. I’m Penny Wrights and I’m suddenly in the mood for a good hot dog somehow.