After discovering her new sparklier appearance following the defeat of Opaline, Izzy leads the rest of the group through a mysterious portal that leads to the winter wonderland of Starlight Ridge, home to the mysterious Auroricorns. Though they are warmly welcomed by new friends Violet Frost and Comet and invited to partake in the village's "Starshine Time" holiday, they soon discover that things in Starlight Ridge may not be as jolly and festive as they appear...
Tropes:
- Acting Unnatural: Violet gets evasive whenever the aurora flare is mentioned, and quickly tries to rush the ponies out when it gets late. Zipp is naturally suspicious, and even Sunny, despite pitting a more positive spin on it, agrees that they're hiding something.
- Call-Back: Pipp manages to lull Twitch off to sleep by humming the lullaby she wrote for Sparky back in "Have You Seen This Dragon?"
- Chekhov's Gun:
- Early on, the snow at Starlight Ridge is said to have magical healing properties. This is ultimately used to free the Auroricorns from Allura's control.
- Izzy's struggles to keep from slipping on the ice, along with Comet's clumsiness, is what leads to Sunny's remembering the snow's qualities; the brainwashed Izzy slips and collides into Comet, who falls face-first into the snow, breaking Allura's hold on him.
- Compelling Voice: Allura can brainwash ponies by purring at them.
- Emotional Powers: The Auroricorns have the ability to affect and draw power from the auroras present in the skies of Starlight Ridge by feeling genuine joy and merriment.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Seeing Comet return to normal after falling into the snow reminds Sunny of the snow's healing properties.
- Fisher Kingdom: Simply being in Starlight Ridge transforms the Mane Six and Sparky, giving them a winter makeover like the Auroricorns. It's implied to be an effect of the snow.
- Greater-Scope Villain: At the end of the special, Allura is shown to be in cahoots with someone she refers to as her brother. However, the brother's voice is only heard, and he is never shown at all.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: The Nova Charm Allura was carrying around all the time to claim legal authority over Starlight Ridge turns out to be the container for the special star she was seeking to create a portal to another realm.
- Immediate Sequel: This special takes place only three hours after the end of "Roots of All Evil (Part 2)".
- Intelligible Unintelligible: Twitch "speaks" in a variety of odd muttering sounds, yet Allura is able to understand him just fine.
- It Was with You All Along: After Allura is chased off, the ponies discover that the Nova Charm she took to establish her rule over Starlight Ridge contained the special star she needed all along.
- The Klutz: By his own admission, Comet's hooves "just can't keep up" with his brain, making him highly clumsy.
- Mythology Gag: Violet Frost and Comet's necklaces include the cutie mark symbols for Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer respectively.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: After Izzy is able to create a new portal back to Equestria and everyone goes through it, the portal remains open even after they head home. Because of this, Twitch is able to learn about the portal from the Auroricorns and he reports this to Allura and they're able to find it and leave through it.
- Nobody Here but Us Statues: The ponies briefly hide amongst snow sculptures while evading Allura.
- Noodle Incident: Sunny relates an incident to Violet and Comet where she and her friends counted all the lampposts in a certain area.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Misty encourages the Auroricorns to stand up against Allura by admitting that she knows what it's like to be under the hoof of somepony that's angry and just wants to control them.
- Ramp Jump: The ice slide track includes one over a frozen creek.
- Seen It All: Allura barely bats an eyelid when Sunny takes on her alicorn form.
- Sequel Hook: Allura's control over Starlight Ridge is broken, but she's able to follow the Mane Six through the portal to Equestria, now knowing they possess the Nova Charm which can open portals to other realms.
- Slippy-Slidey Ice World: Starlight Ridge is covered in snow and ice that is very slippery (especially for Izzy).
- Stalker Shot: While the Auroricorns are praising Violet are being a great leader, the camera cuts to outside to reveal Twitch eavesdropping on their conversation. Unfortunately for them, one of the Auroricorns unknowingly reveals to Twitch that Comet and the others have created a new portal back to Equestria, so Twitch leaves to report this to Allura.
- Tempting Fate: Hitch scoffs that the new Together Tree isn't going to suck the group into a portal... seconds before it does just that.
- Timed Mission: After arriving in Starlight Ridge, the ponies notice that the portal that brought them there is slowly shrinking. Sunny, who believes they have been brought to Starlight Ridge for a reason, is certain they can get back before it closes.
- We Will Meet Again: As she flees Starlight Ridge, Allura snarls that she will be back, as she wants to leave the realm.
- Wham Line:
- While the group is leaving Starlight Ridge, Comet utters one for both them and the audience with how it will shake up the status quo:Comet: I'm coming with you!
- Then, after Allura and Twitch discover the new portal into Equestria, we hear two of these in succession:Mysterious Voice: You fool! You had the star the whole time!
Allura: Don't worry, brother. I'll get it back.
- While the group is leaving Starlight Ridge, Comet utters one for both them and the audience with how it will shake up the status quo:
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Pipp tells the Auroricorns that they can stand up to Allura because they're "amazing".
