They saved Equestria lots of times and practically nopony knows what they did for them.

Maybe it's a commentary on what society considers "important." The Mane 6 have saved Equestria multiple times, but they don't get recognized on the street when they leave Ponyville. Would any of you recognize a soldier who won the Congressional Medal of Honor or whatever your country's equivalent is? You get to be on TV and shake hands with the president, but it doesn't make you a celebrity, and most people won't even know it happened unless they saw it or read about it.

Also, keep in mind that in Equestria, they don't even have TV. The Mane 6 may have gotten their picture in the newspaper for their heroic deeds, but if you're not important enough to be in the news all the time, you're probably not seen as important enough by the average schmo to be recognizable.