Sunny is overwhelmed by the popularity of her alicorn form, while Pipp finds her own popularity waning and will try anything to get it back.
Tropes:
- Accidental Misnaming: Sugar Moonlight accidentally calls Misty "Minty" and "Marcy", because the fourth member of their group is rotated out routinely and she can't be bothered to remember the current one.
- Added Alliterative Appeal: One of Sunny's causes is "Airhorns for Armadillos".
- Ascended Extra: Sugar Moonlight (who made a brief appearance in the movie modelling one of CanterLogic's anti-mind-reading helmets) plays a significant role as the leader of the Filly Four, a group of social media influencers.
- Break the Cutie: Sunny is heartbroken when she realizes the ponies are only fawning over her because she can become an alicorn, and don't really care about her causes.
- Brutal Honesty: When pressed, Sugar Moonlight bluntly admits that nopony really cares about Sunny's causes, and are only paying attention to her because she can become an alicorn.
- The Bus Came Back: Sugar Moonlight makes her first appearance ever since the movie.
- The Corrupter: Opaline poses as Sunny's conscience, manifested through the alicorn mirror, in an attempt to convince her to embrace her alicorn powers and the idea that it makes her better than other ponies. Misty helps by playing up the idea that Sunny should be worshipped. This backfires because it only reminds Sunny that other ponies only care about her when she's an alicorn.
- Crazy-Prepared: Pipp carries several phones on her person, in case she throws one away in a fit of anger.
- Disappointed by the Motive: Opaline is dismayed that Sunny's greatest wish is a mere community garden.
- Failed a Spot Check:
- Sunny has to be told several times that she's involuntarily become an alicorn.
- Sunny is willing to accept the fact that her reflection is talking to her, but fails to notice the background is completely different.
- Sunny's friends build a small community garden outside the Brighthouse, but Sunny fails to notice when she runs right past it to the Brighthouse because she's too upset by the crowd only caring about her alicorn form.
- Failure Montage: Pipp tries to imitate Sparky's viral videos, with little success.
- Faux Horrific: Sunny calls over everypony for some "alarming news"... which turns to be that they eat too much junk food.
- Forgotten First Meeting: When Sugar Moonlight "introduces" herself to Sunny, Sunny is quick to point out that they went to school together.
- Funny Background Event:
- During the Split-Screen Phone Call, Sparky can be seen in the background climbing the wall and swinging on Pipp's disco ball.
- As Hitch is stopping by the Crystal Brighthouse after getting Pipp to look after Sparky, Izzy sets a coffee mug on the table, pulls out a frying pan, and gets ready to smash it. An instant after the camera pans away from her, we hear the mug breaking and her cry of "Perfect!" (It Makes Sense in Context at the end of the episode; Izzy needed the pieces for a mosaic on the gates of the new community garden.)
- Hold Your Hippogriffs: When ponies start listening to her, Sunny declares that she is "over the Luna moon".
- Humble Goal: Sunny is able to access her alicorn powers simply by her heartfelt desire to make a community garden for everyone (or, more precisely, her desire to help others).
- I Need to Go Iron My Dog: Sunny tells Sugar Moonlight that she needs to "freshen up", and runs over to a nearby hardware store.
- Mythology Gag: Sugar Moonlight accidentally calls Misty "Minty", which was the name of a pony from My Little Pony (G3).
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Opaline attempts to encourage Sunny to embrace being an alicorn by stressing that it makes her better than every other pony. This makes Sunny realize that she doesn't want to be put above others.
- Opinion Flip-Flop: The ponies of Maretime Bay couldn't care less about hearing Sunny's causes... until she changes into an alicorn, in which case they line up to listen.
- Riddle for the Ages: What exactly does it mean when somepony leaves a monkey symbol on your social media post? By the end of the episode, neither Pipp nor the audience is any wiser.
- Rule of Three: While desparing over her lack of popularity, Pipp says that she's tried singing loudly, singing softly, and just singing in general.
- Split-Screen Phone Call: This happens when Sunny calls Pipp for advice after the Filly Four offer to help her.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial:
- Pipp assures Sunny that she isn't jealous of her popularity as an alicorn, and has thousands of followers across multiple platforms validating her every move. Zipp just stares incredulously.
- Pipp offers to babysit Sparky and definitely doesn't intend to use him to figure out how to be more popular.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Dahlia mocks Sunny and her "lost causes" despite all that Sunny did for her in "Neighfever".
- Ungrateful Townsfolk: The residents of Maretime Bay are now at peace with the unicorns and pegasi thanks to Sunny Starscout, so you'd think they'd listen to her more now, right? Nope! They dismiss her and only pay attention when she's in alicorn mode, much to her sorrow.
- Unknown Rival: The Filly Four are eclipsing Pipp on social media, but don't appear to be aware of her online presence.
- Un-person: Pipp fears that she's on the verge of being "shadowbanished", where her content will be blocked to viewers.
