My Little Pony: Secrets of Starlight

My Little Pony: Secrets of Starlight is an hour-long animated special based on My Little Pony: A New Generation. It premiered on Netflix on November 23, 2023, as part of My Little Pony: Make Your Mark Chapter 6. It is set immediately after Roots of All Evil Pt. 2.
In this special, the Mane 6 are whisked away to a glittery wonderland called Starlight Ridge and suspect the local Auroricorns are hiding something.
==Development and production==
Secrets of Starlight was first announced as the fourth of four 44-minute specials by Thunderbird Entertainment on August 19, 2021; its title and release date were announced in a 2024 My Little Pony Franchise Overview presentation on June 15, 2023.
Clips of the special were included in the official trailer for My Little Pony: Make Your Mark Chapter 6 released on November 13, 2023.
==Summary==
===A world of snow and stars===
Picking up right after the events of Roots of All Evil Pt. 2, Sunny Starscout and her friends are waiting for another portal to open in front of Opaline's Together Tree; after several hours of waiting, no new portal has appeared, but Izzy Moonbow believes one will. Eventually, another portal does appear, and more crystal snow comes out, which covers Pipp Petals in glitter and crystal jewelry like it did to Izzy.
The Mane 6 are sucked through the portal and end up in a forest covered in sparkly, non-cold snow and a night sky filled with stars; being in this place causes the rest of the ponies to be covered in glitter and crystal jewelry as well. Sunny believes the portal brought them to this place for a reason, but they resolve to investigate quickly because the portal they came through appears to be slowly closing.
On the edge of the forest, the Mane 6 discover a small town with crystal-roofed houses. The town appears empty at first, but they soon hear music coming from a banquet hall. Inside, a group of unicorns with translucent crystal horns are dancing and sharing hot cocoa, led by one that's singing and playing the flute. When the Mane 6 cheer the unicorns' song and dance, the unicorns run away and hide in terror.
===Welcome to Starlight Ridge===
Violet Frost, the song's singer and flute player, approaches the Mane 6 and apologizes on behalf of her fellow citizens. She and her clumsy, bespectacled friend Comet welcome the Mane 6 to Starlight Ridge, home to the "Auroricorns". Though Violet and Comet are very friendly and welcoming toward Sunny and her friends, they appear to be hiding something, and the Auroricorns act very nervously around their visitors.
Violet and Comet explain that Starlight Ridge is celebrating a special day of fun called Starshine Time, and the Mane 6 are excited to take part. Hitch Trailblazer reminds them about the shrinking portal back to Equestria, but they convince him that they have enough time to enjoy themselves. The Mane 6 and the Auroricorns engage in various games and activities, including skating and tobogganing. Whenever they experience great joy during these activities, a star-shaped burst of light called an aurora flare appears in the sky.
The Mane 6 tell Violet Frost and Comet all about Equestria, which Comet becomes very interested in visiting. However, whenever the topic changes to Starlight Ridge or the aurora flares, Violet is very quick to change the subject, making the ponies suspicious. When the town bell rings, the Auroricorns suddenly retire to their homes, and Violet urges the Mane 6 to go back where they came from. The ponies return to the portal and prepare to leave Starlight Ridge, but Sunny, still believing they were brought there for a reason, wants to find out what is going on. Despite the risk of the portal closing on them, her friends agree.
===The hypnotic purr of Allura===
The Mane 6 return to town and find the Auroricorns gathering in the square while in a trance-like state and wearing eerie smiles on their faces. As an aurora flare shines in the sky, the Auroricorns pluck the stars out of the sky with their magic and use them to search for something. The Mane 6 try and fail to get Comet's attention, and notice Violet Frost being put under the same trance by a winged snow leopard and her rabbit sidekick.
Listening in on Violet and her hypnotizer's conversation, the Mane 6 learn the snow leopard's name - Allura - and that she is forcing the Auroricorns to find a specific "star" for her. They manage to get Violet and Comet far enough away from Allura to break her hypnosis, and they explain the situation:
Allura and her sidekick Twitch showed up in Starlight Ridge one day and seized a town relic called the Nova Charm; in accordance with Starlight Ridge law, Allura thus became the town's ruler. She uses her magical hypnotic powers to force the Auroricorns to trigger aurora flares and pull stars out of the sky, believing one of them will open a portal out of Starlight Ridge so she can expand her control. When Comet reenters the town's vicinity, he falls back under Allura's hypnosis. Therefore, in order to truly free the Auroricorns from her control, the Mane 6 and Violet Frost decide to get the Nova Charm back.
===Super Starshine Time===
The Mane 6 and Violet Frost sneak past Allura and Twitch and enter the banquet hall, where they think of a way to get the Nova Charm away from Allura. Realizing their plan requires a some creativity, Izzy leads the others in their planning and crafting while singing the song With a Little Creativity. Violet enters town again, wearing crystal snow earplugs to resist Allura's hypnosis while also pretending to still be under the trance. Using Izzy's arts and crafts, she pretends to have found the star that opens a portal out of Starlight Ridge. With Allura distracted, Pipp sings a lullaby to make Twitch fall asleep, leaving the Nova Charm unguarded.
Despite Allura eventually seeing through the deception, the Mane 6 manage to get the Nova Charm back. However, even without the Nova Charm, Allura can make anyone do her bidding with her hypnosis, which she proceeds to do on everyone except for Sunny and Violet. When Comet falls over into a pile of crystal snow, he is briefly released from Allura's control, and Sunny remembers Violet stating earlier that the snow in Starlight Ridge has healing properties. By hitting their friends with snowballs, Sunny and Violet break the effects of Allura's magic.
The Mane 6 and Violet Frost convince the Auroricorns to stand up to Allura and finally end her rule over Starlight Ridge. With Violet's declaration of "Super Starshine Time" and a reprise of her song from earlier, the Auroricorns free themselves of Allura's grasp while also enjoying a fun snowball fight. They chase Allura and Twitch out of Starlight Ridge, but Allura swears revenge.
===New friend, new threat===
Violet Frost asks the Mane 6 to be Starlight Ridge's new rulers in Allura's place, but they decline since they have to return to Equestria. Instead, they suggest Violet Frost lead the Auroricorns herself because she already exemplifies the qualities of a good leader, and the Auroricorns wholeheartedly agree. By this time, the portal to Equestria has now closed, and the Mane 6 are unable to reopen it without the star Allura was searching for.
Through Izzy's clumsiness, however, it is revealed that the star she was searching for was inside the Nova Charm all along, and Izzy uses it to open a portal to Equestria. Violet bids farewell to the Mane 6, but Comet chooses to go to Equestria with them in order to experience the world beyond his home. Violet also gives the Nova Charm Star to Izzy so that she and her friends can revisit Starlight Ridge whenever they please.
Later, in Maretime Bay, Comet immediately starts looking forward to the new adventures he will have. Back in Starlight Ridge, Twitch spies on the Auroricorns, overhears them talking about the portal, and relays the information to Allura. They find the portal to Equestria still open, and a voice in Allura's head chastises her for failing to realize she had the right star the entire time. She responds to the voice, addressing it as her "brother", and promises to get the star back. With that, she and Twitch enter the portal and follow the ponies to Equestria.
==Quotes==
==Gallery==
Mane 6 arrive in a new place C6E4.png
Wide overhead view of Starlight Ridge.png
Final shot of Auroricorns singing Starshine Time C6E4.png
Mane 6 cheering for Auroricorns C6E4.png
Main ponies smiling cutely at Hitch C6E4.png
Main ponies making pouty faces at Hitch C6E4.png
Mane 6 returning to Starlight Ridge C6E4.png
Comet and Auroricorns assemble in the square C6E4.png
Allura purring hypnotically C6E4.png
Alicorn Sunny standing up to Allura C6E4.png
Hypnotized ponies marching in lockstep C6E4.png
Violet sings as main ponies and Comet dance C6E4.png
==References==
Category:Generation 5
Category:Specials
Category:Featured articles