History HilariousInHindsight / MyLittlePony

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* The best example has to this. Back in 2008 Creator/LaurenFaust posted a [[http://fyre-flye.deviantart.com/journal/poll/384328/ poll]] on her Website/DeviantArt page asking if any of her followers were ''My Little Pony'' fans. At the time it wasn't announced that she was involved in a reboot and one of her comments says she has a "very specific reason" on why she's asking her fans about ponies. One fan, a [[RealMenWearPink male]] at that, says [[OlderThanTheyThink he likes cute ponies]] and isn't afraid to admit to it. Lauren had this to say.

* On 28 December 2012, a fanfiction was uploaded to [[Website/FIMFictionDotNet Fimfiction.Net]] entitled ''{{Fanfic/Nosflutteratu}}''. Precisely one year later, on 28 December 2013, the episode "Bats!" aired, in which Fluttershy turned into a vampire pony. This was not lost on several of the commentors, but it was brought to the limelight by one [[Fanfic/TheUnexpectedLoveLifeOfDuskShine meme-asaurus]], who was quick to comment on this and mentioning several things that happened in the fic itself that ended up happening in the show only episodes before.

* [[http://brony.deviantart.com/ This]] Website/DeviantArt page, [[{{Hipster}} which you probably never heard of]], might make you think that the user is a [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic brony]], but the account was made back in 2008, two years before WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic aired.
** Similarly, [[https://www.youtube.com/user/RainbowDash this]] obscure Website/YouTube user went by the name Rainbow Dash, despite the fact that his account was created in ''2006''. (Although Rainbow Dash did exist as a character back then)

* [[http://www.deviantart.com/art/Twilight-the-unipeg-pony-40983257 This]] custom revamp of G1 Twilight turned out to be prophetic. It was posted on Website/DeviantArt almost exactly four years before [=FiM=] first premiered.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXoYK4b_q24 This]] RealTrailerFakeMovie, which was actually inspired by the ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' and ''Film/GIJoe'' movies, and predates [=FiM=] by ''about a year''.

* The first live-action ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' film features a small cameo from Pinkie Pie (a little girl is holding an older Pinkie Pie plushie) as a nod to Hasbro owning both franchises. Suddenly [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKjBViIt-y8 this commercial]] makes a bit more sense. There's an even better reference to "Film/{{Transformers}}" at the beginning of ''Equestria Girls'', where Pinkie Pie makes the transforming sounds as she comes out of her little curled up ball after talking to Twilight Sparkle about being afraid.

** Then came ''Film/TransformersAgeOfExtinction'' where [[spoiler:one of the mass-produced Transformers? Is a Rainbow Dash doll that turns into a gun.]]

* Some fans of this series and ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' would compare Pinkie Pie and Wreck-Gar because of their [[CloudCuckoolander similar personalities]]. Later, the series would introduce Cheese Sandwich, who's not only similar to both Pinkie and Wreck-Gar, but is voiced by [[Music/WeirdAlYankovic the same guy]] as Wreck-Gar!
* In "Bridle Gossip", Spike worries that everyone in Ponyville is hiding from "zombie ponies", and when Twilight Sparkle tries to tell him it's unlikely, he responds "Not likely... but possible?!" "28 Pranks Later" features everyone in Ponyville (including Spike) in a sort-of ZombieApocalypse [[spoiler: staged as part of a prank on Rainbow Dash]].

* Another one involving Rainbow Dash. She [[EskimosArentReal didn't believe in "flying ponies" (pegasi)]] in "Friends Are Never Far Away", but then comes in ''Friendship is Magic'' and her rebooted character is a pegasus. And not just "a" pegasus, but one of the strongest flyers in the series-and proud of it.

* ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Secret_Unicorn My Secret Unicorn]]'' is a 2002-2007 series of British children's novels about a girl named [[Creator/LaurenFaust Lauren]] [[WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends Foster]] who is friends with a ''male'' unicorn named Twilight with the power of (wingless) flight.

** There actually was a G1 pony who was queen, Majesty, who was also partial inspiration for Celestia. Plus, Sunsparkle shares nearly the same coloring as Sunset Shimmer. [[Recap/MyLittlePonyAndFriendsE51TheQuestOfThePrincessPonies1 The Quest of the Princess Ponies serial]] also had the titular characters argue over who should be queen.

** There actually was a G1 pony who was queen, Majesty, who was also partial inspiration for Celestia. Plus, Sunsparkle shares nearly the same coloring as Sunset Shimmer. [[Recap/MyLittlePonyAndFriendsE51TheQuestOfThePrincessPonies1 The Quest of the Princess Ponies serial]] had the titular characters argue over who should be queen.

* There's only really been one pony with the title "Queen", unless you count Chrysalis in ''FIM''. She was a "G2" pony named Sunsparkle and she had a Cutie Mark [[http://mylittlewiki.org/w/images/2/2a/Enchanted_Throne_Sunsparkle.jpg very similar to Celestia]]. In ''Friendship is Magic'''s development Celestia was meant to be a queen until ExecutiveMeddling got their way.
** There actually was a G1 pony who was queen, Majesty, who was also partial inspiration for Celestia. Plus, Sunsparkle shares nearly the same coloring as Sunset Shimmer.

* Either this or HarsherInHindsight: [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicRedeemed the minor antagonist Garble]] from ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Friendship is Magic]]'' physically resembles an older version of [[http://mylittlewiki.org/wiki/Princess_Tiffany#Princess_Pearl Fiery the Dragon from the G1 Toyline, who was said to have a forceful personality]]. Fiery, however, was friends with Ponies and worked for a Pony Princess named Pearl.

* "[[MemeticMutation Rainbow Dash always dresses in style]]!" While this is true for the [[TheFashionista third series Rainbow Dash]], this is [[OutOfCharacter completely contrary]] to the {{tomboy}}ish one of this show. This is because the ''Friendship is Magic'' Rainbow Dash is simply [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTVSpecials Firefly]], an equally energetic pegasus who loved to fly, with Rainbow Dash's colors.

* In the 1986 movie, Lofty is voiced by Creator/SusanBlu who is a LGBTPlusCreators/{{lesbian}}. In G4, Scootaloo's Auntie Lofty is an lesbian relationship (also doubles as HeartwarmingInHindsight).

* Either this or HarsherInHindsight: [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicRedeemed the minor antagonist Garble]] from ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Friendship is Magic]]'' physically resembles an older version of [[http://mylittlewiki.org/wiki/Princess_Tiffany#Princess_Pearl Fiery from the G1 Toyline, who was said to have a forceful personality]]. Fiery, however, was friends with Ponies and worked for a Pony Princess named Pearl.

* Either this or HarsherInHindsight: '''[[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicRedeemed the minor antagonist Garble]] from ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Friendship is Magic]]'' physically resembles an older version of [[http://mylittlewiki.org/wiki/Princess_Tiffany#Princess_Pearl Fiery from the G1 Toyline, who was said to have a forceful personality]]. Fiery, however, was friends with Ponies and worked for a Pony Princess named Pearl.

* In ''WesternAnimation/DinoTrux'', Ashleigh Ball plays a character who's afraid of heights despite being incredibly tall. Rainbow Dash would be outraged.

* Fanfic/FalloutEquestria is a Friendship is Magic fan-fic set after My Little Pony's equivalent of a nuclear war, written before season 2. Fast forward to this scene in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=972qIWbuAfs Lesson Zero]]...
** FO:E also predicted [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E1TheReturnOfHarmonyPart1 Pink Cloud]], a character named [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E4LunaEclipsed Pip]][[note]] Well, the canon version is an Earth-pony colt named Pipsqueak while FO:E's Unicorn mare is named Littlepip[[/note]], and [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E25ACanterlotWeddingPart1 Canterlot's city shield]]. A RunningGag on the fanfic's comment threads was, "Season 2 is still FO:E Compliant!".
* Dr. Brainstorm's original design in ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries'' had him with [[FishEyes unfocused]] gold eyes, like a certain [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic muffin-lover...]]

* In ''Fanfic/TheElementsOfHarmonyAndTheSaviorOfWorlds'', Tirac is the BigBad. A few years later, he's the Big Bad of "Twilight's Kingdom".

** In the ''Film/ChildsPlay'' review, he said that he had a My Little Pony that slaughtered his entire family. Think about that with [[Fanfic/CupcakesSergeantSprinkles several]] [[Fanfic/RainbowFactory certain]] [[Fanfic/CheerileesGarden grimdark]] [[Fanfic/PagesOfHarmony fanfics]] in mind...

* While this is more HilariousInHindsight in a BlackComedy sort of way, it's hard not to at least chuckle when watching [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AOuFn83-n4&feature=related this video]] (original video is going to be deleted sometime in the near future) if one read the infamous ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' DarkFic ''Fanfic/CupcakesSergeantSprinkles'' beforehand.

* [[https://twitter.com/chuggaaconroy/status/190284218247553025/photo/1 This birthday cake]] for [[LetsPlay/ChuggaaConroy a certain Let's Player]] seems familiar to a certain pink pony's cutie mark, which is even funnier considering Chugga's now a brony.
* At the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con, K. Valdoria Peterson ponified ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' [[http://www.videogamemuseum.com/2010/07/23/my-little-pony-and-super-mario-bros-mash-up/ here]].

* ''WesternAnimation/HappilyEverAfter'' has Moonbeam, a character responsible for controlling the Moon and the night, with sisters that basically amount to nature spirits (one of them controlling the Sun), is awkward, and is the sister with the least screentime and relevance to the plot. Princess Luna, is that you?

* Way back in 1999, there was a little series that ran on Creator/{{PBS}} called ''WesternAnimation/DragonTales''. In it, we have Emmy and Cassie, girl and dragon. Emmy would ride Cassie once an episode. Now, fast forward to 2010. Fluttershy was revealed to be afraid of dragons, except Spike because he's so tiny. Emmy = Creator/AndreaLibman = Fluttershy. Also, Cassie happens to be the youngest dragon in the dragon main characters group.
** Going even more meta, Cassie was voiced by Creator/ChantalStrand, who voices Diamond Tiara. Both Creator/AndreaLibman and Creator/ChantalStrand have played Literature/{{Madeline}}, and would both go on to play ponies bearing a pink color in ''Friendship is Magic''.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' has an episode where Timmy makes his own radio station, and in that episode, Vicky mocks Timmy by saying in the microphone that Timmy "likes ponies and unicorns with long eyelashes." Creator/TaraStrong would go on to voice a unicorn.
* In 2006, American Greetings relaunched its ''Franchise/CareBears'' line, featuring a new bear named Oopsy. He doesn't really have a belly badge yet, and he's silly as heck, and clumsy to the point of always crashing into things. Fast forward four years. His voice actor was called onboard to voiced a pair of ponies. How do these two relate? [[labelnote:spoiler:]]Ashleigh Ball, Oopsy's voice actor, plays Applejack and Rainbow Dash in the show. One known in the past for being a silly pony (and still is a little silly in the present), and the other known to randomly crash into things in this new continuity. Adding to this was the fact that some fans actually confusing Applejack and Rainbow Dash's gender and thought they were male ponies before the series premiered- Oopsy is a male Care Bear. And oh, how does a Care Bear get his or her belly badge? The same way a pony gets his or her Cutie Mark. And both Oopsy and the Cutie Mark Crusaders are still searching for theirs. Also, Hasbro buying back the master Care Bear license from Play Along Toys and announcing their intention to revamp the Care Bears franchise again shortly before the ''[=MLP:FiM=]'' relaunch. Long string of strange coincidences? Yeah.[[/labelnote]]

* ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dryocampa_rubicunda Dryocampa rubicunda]]'', better known as the Rosy Maple Moth, is a lepidopteran species with an almost uncanny resemblance to Fluttershy's color scheme.
** [[http://archiveofourown.org/works/5459579 As seen here, in fact.]]

* [[Characters/MyLittlePonyGeneration5 Izzy Moonbow]] isn't the first unicorn to have a [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyANewGeneration tennis ball stuck on her horn]]: Oleander (as well as Arizona) from ''VideoGame/ThemsFightinHerds'' [[note]](A fangame that was going to be a ''Friendship is Magic'' fighter.)[[/note]] was drawn with tennis balls impaled on their horns [[https://derpibooru.org/images/987347 in a piece of art six years prior.]]

[[AC:{{Anime}} And {{Manga}}]]
* In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', the Ocean Dub had Creator/IanJamesCorlett as the voice of Goku and Creator/BrianDrummond as the voice of Vegeta, who are the two greatest rivals in the series. Fifteen years later, Ian's daughter Creator/ClaireCorlett was cast as Sweetie Belle; two years after that, Brian's daughter Brynna was cast as Babs Seed. This means the conflict between Goku and Vegeta's families has technically passed on into the next generation and has been reincarnated into My Little Pony. It gets even funnier when you remember that Goku and Vegeta eventually became friends, and Sweetie Belle and Babs Seed also eventually became friends.
** Also the beginning of "The Return Of Harmony" where Princess Celestia and the Mane Six are together during Discord's introduction. In other words, all ''seven'' were needed to ''summon the dragon.'' This gets even better if you remember the end of Dragonball GT where the evil manifestations of the Dragonballs were created much like how Discord inverted the elements of the Mane Six, and how both Omega Shenron and Discord were powerful dragons that were defeated by a powerful CombinedEnergyAttack.
* In ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'', Matt's Crest was "Friendship" and his partner had the most powerful evolutions [[spoiler:if you count Omnimon as one of his evolutions.]]
** Forget Omnimon... just try [[WildMassGuessing imagining what could happen]] if Gabumon actually ended up in Ponyville...
** I don't exactly remember all of it, but I think Jou/Joe wondered if his destiny involved a rock. Years later, filly Rarity wonders the same thing. Both rocks do; one to his crest and the other to her cutie mark.
** In one episode Gomamon was lamenting his lack of hands. Lyra can certainly sympathize with that.
** Then in ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'', [[spoiler:the Crest of Kindness was introduced.]]
* Dian, the BigBad of ''Anime/Jewelpet2009''. Thousands of years ago, he plunged the (human) world into chaos before being defeated by the Four Great Magicians and then frozen while posing dramatically. One of his powers involves turning Jewelpets to the opposite of their respective virtues. Eventually, he turns characters to stone. He's also good after his debut season. Are we also talking about Discord?
* In the second season of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'', we're introduced to Mileina Vashti - an upbeat, easily excited girl with curly hair. The English dub (released in 2009), Mileina is voiced by Creator/AndreaLibman. In 2010 ''Friendship is Magic'' premieres, with Pinkie Pie (voiced by Libman) sounding like a hyperactive Mileina.
** Also, Creator/CathyWeseluck plays the professional and serious Col. Kati Mannequin. Weseluck later goes on to play Spike in ''Friendship is Magic''.
** Creator/NicoleOliver, Princess Celestia herself, voiced the manipulative Regene Regetta in Gundam 00. And this was before anyone came up with Trollestia.
** From the Japanese version of the same show, Creator/MamoruMiyano (Setsuna F. Seiei) and Creator/AyahiTakagaki (Feldt Grace) voice respectively Shining Armor and Princess Cadance, who both got married. The hilarity comes with the fact [[spoiler: Feldt falls in love with Setsuna in the second season, who doesn't reciprocate her feelings at the end]].
** In ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'', Domon and Rain [[spoiler:use the Sekiha Love-Love Tenkyoken to destroy the Devil Gundam.]] Flash forward to the Royal Canterlot Wedding - Shining Armor and Cadance use the PowerOfLove [[spoiler:to vanquish Queen Chrysalis]] in a very similar fashion.
* In the movie ''Anime/SummerWars'', [[spoiler: Natsuki gets an upgrade, specifically for her Avatar, so she can take down the Big Bad in a Hanafuda Koi Koi match]]. And in both the Italian dubs for this and ''Friendship is Magic'', she and Twilight Sparkle, respectively, were voiced by the same person. [[spoiler: Guess what happened to Twilight in the 3rd Season Finale...]]
** Don't forget the fact that the film takes place in 2010 (When MLP would take off), and the fact that [[spoiler: both gain wings.]]
* October 2012: someone made a ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcU-5-nBZhs parody starring Fluttershy.]] Cue Fluttershy's Japanese VA being Creator/EmiriKatou, who voiced Kyuubey.
* In the English Dub of ''Manga/{{Nana}}'' the two main characters, Nana Osaki and Nana Komatsu, are voiced respectively by Rebecca Shoichet and Kelly Sheridan. As of the season five premiere, the both of them have voiced an EvilCounterpart [[spoiler: [[HeelFaceTurn turned friend]]]] to Twilight Sparkle: Shoichet as [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls Sunset Shimmer]] and Sheridan as [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E1TheCutieMapPart1 Starlight]] [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E2TheCutieMapPart2 Glimmer]].
* Before the announcement of Creator/AmiKoshimizu as the Japanese voice of Sunset Shimmer, there were already several pieces of fanart depicting Sunset Shimmer as [[Anime/KillLaKill Ryuko Matoi]], one of Ami Koshimizu's previous roles.
* ''Manga/Reborn2004'' has the protagonists wield seven different aspects of the sky in the colour of the ''rainbow''. The original flame, the Sky flame has the main ability to ''petrify'' opponents and the flames generated from the rings can defrost frozen enemies, similarly to how FIM has Rainbow lasers petrify their opponents while thawing away the Windigoes in the show itself. The name of the ability? '''Harmony'''. Secondly, the mentor of the main protagonist is a SinkOrSwimMentor assigned with the yellow motif of the rainbow. Said motif in the series is associated with the ''Sun'' attribute, just like Princess Celestia who raises the Sun and is the mentor to Twilight.

* Remember the [[MemeticMutation infamous]] ''[[SomethingElseAlsoRises wingboner]]''? [[WesternAnimation/ToyStory2 It looks like]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnYnumI0cCw it happened a lot earlier]].
** [[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles Ditto]] for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=un_fv7BKBAA#t=27s Epic Wife Tossing]].
* There is a rather obscure movie named ''Film/QTheWingedSerpent''. Discord basically ''is'' [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Q]] [[MixAndMatchCritters the winged serpent]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBookOfLife'' has Xibalba, whose first appearance was in...The Return Of Harmony?!

* In an out of print ''ComicStrip/USAcres'' book, 'Sir Orson to the rescue', like Rainbow Dash, Roy Rooster didn't want to read books because [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E16ReadItAndWeep 'reading is for eggheads/nerds', but once they ended up reading a book, they couldn't put it down.]]
* One book from ''Literature/TheMagicTreehouse'' had Jack and Annie looking for a special kind of magic. What was the name of the magic? ''The magic of friendship.''
* The main character of ''Literature/TheOutsiders'' is named ''Pony''boy.

* While ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'' merely took a more HotBlooded approach to ThePowerOfFriendship, even mirroring the "love and tolerate" message at one point, "A Friend In Deed" seems to be taking the references in the opposite direction, with Pinkie Pie already being friends with ''everyone'' in Ponyville and {{Determinator}}ing her way to become Cranky's friend. Then we see Cranky caught without his wig and putting ''dirt'' on his head, much like Tomoko. The most telling indication is at the end, when Pinkie takes off like ''a rocket''.
** Turns out "Ponyville Confidential" shares its premise with part of Fourze #25-26 (the gossip column).
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4f9m4OYkCY Friendship is Magic Bitch]], a fanmade animation where Princess Celestia frequently utters the phrase, "You ain't findin' no bananas... ON THE MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNAAAAHHHH!!!!!!" becomes much funnier when you watch [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvVNf1BC4fo this All That sketch from 1997]] (skip to about 2:06 in, the line itself is about 4:00 in).
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** "Apple's rubbish, I hate apples." says the Doctor to a little girl in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E1TheEleventhHour "The Eleventh Hour"]], which aired in April of 2010. Fast forward to [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E12CallOfTheCutie "Call of the Cutie"]] where a certain background pony gets terrified of a little girl trying to sell him some apples....
** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E3ATownCalledMercy "A Town Called Mercy"]], the Doctor claims he can speak horse.

[[AC:{{Magazines}}]]
* During the early days of ''Magazine/NintendoPower'', the Player's Pulse section once featured a topic of the issue being the most infuriating gaming moments for players. One such player ranted about something involving his sister, and ended his post with "God must be a girl!"[[note]]Ironically, this was a time when Nintendo of America didn't allow religious references in any games it licensed, and since NP was an American magazine...[[/note]] [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Three decades later...]]

* Voice actress Creator/MichelleRuff created a web based puppet animated series called "My Thuggie Pony". One year later, Creator/DeathRowRecords is owned by Creator/{{Hasbro}}.

[[AC:NewspaperComics]]
* An April 2010 story arc of ''ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}}'' beginning [[http://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/2010/04/26 here]] that heavily involved a CaptainErsatz of Pinkie Pie, considering the facts that Doonesbury is a very serious strip, and a mere 6 months afterwards, ''Friendship Is Magic'' premiered.
* In [[http://www.gocomics.com/mycage/2011/02/28 one issue]] of ''ComicStrip/MyCage'', Norm tried to make something girls and boys would be interested in by making "Cute Force", made of several overly butch versions of popular girl's toys from TheEighties. One is "My Little War Horse", showing a little pony in robotic military gear. Fast-forward to 2011 and the Brony movement...
** What's more, "My Little Literature/WarHorse" became the later title of a ''{{WesternAnimation/MAD}}'' spoof.
* A ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'' comic from the late 1990s had Jason playing with Paige's {{Franchise/Barbie}} doll as "[[Franchise/IndianaJones Indiana Barbie]]" so he could do things like crush it with the garage door, crush it with a large ball, and feed it to "The Iguana Of Doom" (Quincy). This predicted [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E16ReadItAndWeep Daring]] [[JustForFun/DaringDo Do]] quite well.

* The pilot episode featured a character named Luna attempting to bring about an eternal night. Five years later [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV another Luna]] is associated with eternal night, except that this time, [[http://www.novacrystallis.com/2015/09/all-the-final-fantasy-xv-details-from-famitsu/ she's trying to]] ''prevent'' it.
** Even funnier: as of March 30, 2016 it has been revealed that the main protagonist of the tie-in movie ''Anime/KingsglaiveFinalFantasyXV'' is named ''Nyx'' and is also associated with royalty...four years after the fanfic ''Fanfic/PastSins'' was published.
* A purple heroine goes off to find a set of magical gems, but meets a lot of people along the way who want to be her friend. Despite their insistence, the heroine brushes them off. Eventually she finds the magical gems, but only with ThePowerOfFriendship can she unlock their true power and defeat the villain. Yep, the plot of the two-part series premiere is almost exactly like that of ''[[VideoGame/SonicRushSeries Sonic Rush]]'', which was released five years before ''Friendship is Magic'' premiered.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShGwH_QQAN4 This Pokemon/My Little Pony parody]] has Apple Bloom doing Pikachu. In the official Japanese dub, Creator/IkueOtani - Pikachu's VA - does [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drSbZbPymng Apple Bloom's voice]].

* "For Pony!" was used as a battle-cry by Richard of ''Webcomic/LookingForGroup'' fame... [[http://lfgcomic.com/page/42 years and years before Friendship is Magic was even conceived.]]

* Try not to snicker when you consider the ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' episode "Wade, You're Afraid" [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E19PuttingYourHoofDown is about a flightless coward trying to overcome his cowardliness, and involves a bull.]]
** Episode 35 of Garfield and Friends had a U.S. Acres episode ("Hamelot") about a griffon, followed by a Garfield short ("How to be Funny!") that had a part mentioning practical jokes. [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E5GriffonTheBrushOff Sound familiar?]]
** The entire episode "The Bunny Rabbits is Coming!", ''especially'' the ending, is funnier when you remember a certain bit from "Applebuck Season".
** As pointed out, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9IEWxn83qQ this dinosaur]] has an uncanny resemblance to Spike.

** [[ChristmasSpecial "Billy and Mandy Save Christmas"]] has Mandy and Grim traveling through a dangerous path with numerous hazards, with the worst being "Lovable Pony Lane." At the end Grim even comments that he never imagined "those lovable ponies" would give them so much trouble.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Fillmore}}'' has the Deutragonist Ingrid Third disturbed by ponies. Ingrid Third = Creator/TaraStrong = [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicTwilightSparkle Twilight Sparkle]]
* [[http://derpibooru.org/35241 This building from a]] ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' cartoon that has "20% Cooler" (relating to temperature) written on it. Rainbow Dash is over 70 years old.
** A similar bit occurs in the [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts Disney cartoon]] "[[WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} Two Gun Goofy]]" Both Disney and Warner Bros. must have been psychic.
** The WesternAnimation/BugsBunny short "Ballot Box Bunny" features Bugs and Yosemite Sam competing for the title of mayor in town, only for them both to lose to a mare. So for all intents and purposes, that means she's Mayor Mare!
* In the 1970 Creator/ChuckJones AnimatedAdaptation of ''[[WesternAnimation/HortonHearsAWho1970 Horton Hears a Who!]]'', there is a yellow bird with long, flowing pink hair who looks suspiciously like Fluttershy.
* WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory has the famous "Muffin King" episode, where Dexter's dad appears as a blonde muffomaniac (Bonus points: even briefly with FishEyes). It's even more hilarious when you find out who's the wife of the guy who worked on the show.

** Another HilariousInHindsight from that same show: Crash plays a game with a pony in it in the power outage episode.
* The ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Butt Out" has Cartman making a commercial for an anti-tobacco group in which he states that he will soon be dead from secondhand smoke. Cartman is then forced to eat a cupcake, which he refuses, and runs away. Then along comes a particular MLP [[Fanfic/CupcakesSergeantSprinkles fan fic]]...
* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Three Gays of the Condo", guest star Music/WeirdAlYankovic makes a parody of John Mellencamp's "Jack and Diane" to reunite Homer and Marge, which ends with "Long after the grilled cheese sandwich is gone.". Eleven years later, Al guest stars in the ''Friendship is Magic'' episode "Pinkie's Pride", his character being named Cheese Sandwich.
* The Electric Eels in ''WesternAnimation/MagicAdventuresOfMumfie'' get their powers from negative energy. In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks'', this is the same way The Dazzlings get their energy.
** Also on ''Mumfie'', there's the Queen of Light and the Queen of Night, whose names bring to mind Celestia and Luna when viewed with 2010's eyes.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' episode "Four Seasons of Death", released back in 2004, there was a woman who looked awfully like Celestia.
* In ''WesternAnimation/FillyFuntasia'', not only is the headmistress of the Royal Academy in that show called Principal Sparkle, but basically the whole series revolves around the magical school. Now guess what happens in season 8. [[spoiler:Twilight becomes a teacher, and most of the season revolves around the school.]]

* Creator/SandyDuncan was famous for playing the title character in the 1979 Broadway revival of ''Theatre/{{Peter Pan|1954}}''. In 1984, she voiced [[{{Pegasus}} flying pony]] Firefly.

* In most My Little Pony[=/=]VideoGame/MetalGearSolid crossover fanarts, Celestia is often portrayed as the Boss (with Twilight as Naked Snake). Then comes the announcement of the Japanese dub of Friendship is Magic, with Celestia being voiced by none other than Creator/KikukoInoue, the voice of the Boss in the Japanese version of the game.
* Discord fills the role of Kefka in the fan game ''VideoGame/PonyFantasyVI''. Cut to the Japanese premiere of "Return of Harmony", and we have Creator/ShigeruChiba, the Japanese voice of Kefka in ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'', playing the role of Discord.