Shout Out / My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

You're a wizard, Twilight!

For shout outs from the IDW comics books, please see the comic book series shoutout page. For shout outs from the trading card game, please see that page's shoutout page.

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Season 1

• The Cutie Mark Crusaders are suspiciously similar to the "Pre-Teen Sensations" from Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret., even to the point that they are waiting for a physical transformation and are trying all kinds of irrational stuff to make it happen. The entire scene where they are deciding on a name is almost exactly how it happens in the book.
• "Friendship is Magic (Parts 1 and 2)"
  • The first outfit seen in the Costume-Test Montage in episode 1 is very clearly the pony version of the Statue of Liberty. In a later episode, we see the statue proper in Manehattan.
  • Twilight calls a lovestruck Spike "Casanova", a reference to the Real Life person.
  • Pinkie Pie tries to guess who Nightmare Moon is. Her first guess is "Hokey Smokes". (She also guesses "Black Snooty".)
  • Nightmare Moon's exit from her first appearance in the second episode is a shout out to Maleficent's exit in Sleeping Beauty. Even Applejack holding back Rainbow Dash from charging Nightmare Moon, even though it suits the two of them so well it hasn't been the only time, has a clear parallel in the same scene, with Flora (red fairy) holding back Merryweather (blue).
  • Nightmare Moon's boasting to Twilight after shattering the elements mirrors a line by Maleficent almost exactly.
  • Twilight Sparkle emits the "transporter energize" sound effect from Star Trek, at about 18:23 of Episode 2. (For those who don't want to wait for a video that's at least that long to load, and then watch all the way to that point, it's when she opens her eyes and they glow.)
  • The manticore has a thorn in its paw. The manticore is part lion. Definitely a shout-out to the fable of Androcles and the Lion.
  • Applejack telling Twilight to "let go" parallels scenes from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Finding Nemo.
  • Rarity regaining her tail in the aftermath of Nightmare Moon's defeat maybe a nod to Reepicheep, the mouse whose tail Aslan regrew following the climatic battle in "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian."
  • Luna's appearance after Nightmare Moon's defeat is similar to that of Cynder after her battle with Spyro in "Spyro: A New Beginning."
  • Luna is given a wreath of red and white roses, referring to the Tudor crest used to symbolize peace after the War of the Roses.
• "Ticket Master"
  • Included is a Benny Hill-style chase scene, right down to a Suspiciously Similar version of "Yakkity Sax" playing in the background. Like the original, this BGM has been reused for every wacky chase scene throughout the show, twice so far (although the second one is slightly different and actually even closer to the original).
  • "There's loons and toucans and bitterns, oh my!"
  • "And then I said 'Oatmeal? Are you CRAZY?'"
  • The title is a nod to the US-based ticket provider Ticketmaster.
• "Applebuck Season"
  • This episode is the first of several (including Season One's "Swarm of the Century") featuring Applejack's rousing orchestral "galloping theme," which has plain similarities yet equally distinct differences with the "Bonanza" television series banjo theme. As seen later in the series, the most prominent episode featuring Applejack's "galloping theme" is in the pre-title scene for Season 2's "The Last Roundup."
  • The bunny stampede is a shout-out to Night of the Lepus, a 1970's horror movie.
  • The shot of the bunnies stampeding around the fallen pony is a clear homage to The Lion King (1994).
  • After the stampede, one of the ponies utters the line immediately afterward: "The horror! The horror!"
  • At the start of the episode, Applejack asks Big Macintosh "are you saying my mouth's making promises my legs can't keep?"
• "Griffon the Brush Off"
  • When Pinkie Pie wants to hang out with Rainbow Dash, their chase scene mirrors Pepe LePew shorts in most respects, even down to Rainbow Dash's expressions.
  • Gilda yells "I'm walkin' here!" when Fluttershy bumps into her.
• "Boast Busters"
  • Trixie refers to herself as The Great and Powerful, but is revealed to be a fraud, much like Oz, The Great and Terrible.
  • The same episode includes Snips and Snails making a Pinky and the Brain reference, and when Rarity demands for a mirror to see the mess Trixie made to her mane, she is mimicking The Joker's mirror scene from Tim Burton's first Batman movie.
  • The shout out to Batman is even more powerful when you realize Rarity is wearing a purple dress, her face is white and her hair is, well, green.
  • Twilight calls Spike "Romeo" early in the episode.
• In "Dragonshy", the music that plays during the preparation montage – as well as the montage itself – is a combination of references to The A-Team and Charlie's Angels. Additionally, the music that plays during the girls' journey up the mountain is a variation on the theme for The Lord of the Rings, which makes sense, as the plot of climbing a mountain to get rid of a dragon who sits on top of a pile of gold is a reference to The Hobbit.
  • Also, Angel doesn't like Spike.
• "Bridle Gossip"
  • Though Zecora's species (zebra) are native to Africa in real life, her gold-colored neck rings bear a striking resemblance to the neck rings worn by the Kayan Lahwi women in the Asian nation of Myanmar.
• The "Welcome Princess Celest" banner in "Swarm of the Century" is a reference to The Commitments.
  • During Twilight's Sanity Slippage moment, she suggests building a replica of Ponyville in less than a minute in order to keep Princess Celestia from seeing the Parasprite carnage. (Word of God confirms the reference.)
  • Pinkie Pie, after she saves the day and hears about another parasprite infestation: "Well, have tuba - will travel."
  • Also, Parasprites are just flying versions of Tribbles.
  • Finally, Pinkie's solution for getting rid of parasprites is just a more insane version of the classic folk tale "The Pied Piper".
  • There is also a Gremlins reference: After Twilight and Spike wake up to find the parasprites in big numbers, Spike mentions having fed the original creature during the night.
• "Winter Wrap Up" has an ice skating scene similar to the one in Bambi, with Spike taking the place of Thumper and Twilight being Bambi.
• "Call of the Cutie":
  • Applejack tells Bon Bon/Sweetie Drops "Ya'll Come Back Now, ya hear!" after reimbursing her for the hassle Apple Bloom threw on her. That line refers to the sign-off of "The Beverly Hillbillies," made through its title song at the end of each episode as sung by Flatt and Scruggs.
  • There's a sequence at the end with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo sitting around a table, with the camera mimicking the round-table shots that That '70s Show is known for.
• "Fall Weather Friends"
  • Sealing the deals between Applejack and Rainbow Dash on the Iron Pony competition and the Running of the Leaves is made with hoof pumps laced with spit (demonstrated twice in this episode). This is reminiscent of the Ridge Runners' handshake Uncle Jesse and Boss Hogg occasionally performed in episodes of "The Dukes of Hazzard," which also involved saliva. Applejack attempted this hoof pump earlier in "Look Before You Sleep" to Rarity's chagrin and disgust.
  • Twilight's racing number for the Running of the Leaves is 42.
• In "Suited for Success", Rarity's musical number, "Art of the Dress", is directly based on "Putting It Together" from Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George.
  • Rarity seals herself in her bedroom, shouting "I vant to be alone!" She does it again in "Green Isn't Your Color".
  • During the second fashion show, the background music features multiple shout-outs. In the beginning and end, the music takes cues from "Also sprach Zarathustra". Pinkie Pie's segment takes cues from both I Want Candy by Bow Wow Wow and the Cartoon Cartoon music from Cartoon Network. Fluttershy's segment is based off of Claude Debussy's L'après-midi d'un faune
  • The opening shot of Rarity's house sure looks a lot like another show the creator worked on.
• The entire sequence where Twilight was stalking Pinkie in "Feeling Pinkie Keen" took multiple aspects from Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote, including gag scientific names, as well as Anvil on Head and Piano Drop.
  • Early on, Twilight asks Pinkie Pie "What in the wide wide world of Equestria are you up to?", another reference to Blazing Saddles (the original line in the film was "What in the wide wide world of sports...", a reference to the popular ABC television show of the same name).
  • Twilight's test for evidence to support Pinkie's sixth sense uses an electrode-studded helmet alike to that of 1955 Doc Brown from "Back to the Future." Also both helmets fail to deliver on the tasks they were made for.
  • When Twilight flips out, her fur turns white and her mane turns into a roaring fire.
  • The "Pinkie Sense" itself is a nod to Spider-Man's Spidey Sense.
• "Sonic Rainboom"
  • The swirling blue "whirlpool" accompanying Rarity's transformation is a reference to The Swan Princess.
  • What happens to Rarity's wings at the end of the episode is a direct reference to the Greek myth of Icarus.
• In "Stare Master", Sweetie Belle makes the comment "who wants a hammer on their flank anyway". As a matter of fact, the Wreckers, the Autobot subgroup from Hasbro's other major property Transformers, have a hammer over their usual Autobot symbols.
  • Speaking of hammers, the Cutie-Mark Crusaders, try to repair Fluttershy's table with such a tool and before their ill-fated attempt, they acquire their hammers through a gag often seen in certain "Three Stooges" shorts.
• In "The Show Stoppers", Scootaloo's failure to find a decent rhyme, frustrated "NEVER, NEVER!", and piano head-desking are lifted straight from Don Music in Sesame Street.^note  A character who was dropped because of concerns that children were imitating this behavior.
  • The outfits worn by the Cutie Mark Crusaders for the talent show make them look like the Misfits from Jem (another famous girls' cartoon from The '80s).
    • The So Bad, It's Good style of the CMC's Theme Song is also a shout out to the Misfits' musical style, that is off-key screaming metal of the 80s, a la KISS.
  • The way the Cutie Mark Crusaders are lit when their song begins is an obvious shout-out to the music video for Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody◊.
  • The audience's reaction to the performance and its unintentional hilarity is almost directly lifted from The Producers.
• In "A Dog and Pony Show", the diamond dogs themselves speak in a manner similar to Gollum from The Lord of the Rings films, have a gangly appearance similar to Gollum, and even refer to the gems as "precious".
  • The name "Diamond Dogs" has got to be a shout out to the David Bowie album. The title song from that album contains the line "The diamond dogs are poachers, and they hide behind trees". When we first see the dogs, they are hiding in a tree and planning to steal the gems Rarity and Spike are collecting.
  • In the cold open, the music is reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda games while Rarity places rupee-shaped gems on her latest dress. The blue one even flies up from an open chest, much like those found in the games. In a related shout-out to Zelda, the Diamond Dogs are similar in shape to Moblins.
  • The music that plays when the girls try to get into the rapidly filling holes takes a few cues from the The Rite Of Spring.
  • At one point, one of the dogs keeps popping up from different holes while Applejack is trying to catch him, while a soundeffect straight from a Whack-A-Mole machine plays.
  • The leader of the Diamond Dogs wears a red vest just like the Grundle King's from the 1986 movie.
  • Spike exclaims "Hi-ho, Trilight, away!" This is clear reference to the Lone Ranger's "Hi-ho, Silver, away!" shouted at the starts and conclusions of many episodes of "The Lone Ranger" television series with the William Tell Ouverture playing in the background.
• In "Over a Barrel", when Spike walks off in a huff because the girls keep interrupting his sleep, Fluttershy calls him "Huffy the Magic Dragon". Made all the more bizarre by the fact that Fluttershy says it as if she's deliberately making the reference, and Twilight seems to get the joke. This is immediately followed by a gag used in The Emperor's New Groove – Rarity getting up angrily and scaring the others with her Cucumber Facial.
  • One of the background ponies is a blue stallion with a pink hat.
  • The climactic slapstick pie fight near the end of the episode is almost certainly a Blazing Saddles reference.
  • This episode makes at least two shout-outs to the classic Bugs Bunny short "Bully for Bugs": both the buffalo from this episode and the bull from the Bugs Bunny cartoon sharpen their horns using a grinding wheel, and the buffalo running into an anvil hidden in a hay bale mirrors the bull running into an anvil hidden behind Bugs' red muleta.
  • The scene where the buffalo line up along the edge of the cliff before charging down towards the town is a reference to a Tex Avery short to boot.
  • There are a couple widescreen closeup shots of the Buffalo chief's eyes that are very Leone-esque.
  • The name of the apple tree Applejack is tending to is named Bloomberg. The mayor of New York City (a.k.a "The Big Apple") at the time of the episode's airing is Michael Bloomberg.
  • At one point before the big battle is about to begin, Rainbow Dash tries to think of something in a manner reminiscent of Winnie the Pooh, tapping her hoof to her head repeating "think" to herself.
• "A Bird in the Hoof" has Angel running around with a watch, and Fluttershy eventually remarks "I'm late! For a very important date!"
  • It also has another "Yakkety Sax" chase-scene, with a Scooby-Doo door gag and A Hard Day's Night reference thrown in for good measure.
  • The scene where Fluttershy tries to get the bird to take the pill. The tactic of dumping birdseed over it, its manner of eating, and even Fluttershy's smug fourth-wall-breaking look are all reminiscent of Wile E. Coyote's tactics to get the Road Runner.
  • There are a few moments in this episode inspired by The Ren & Stimpy Show, including a single up-close shot of Philomena's face with crusty eyes.
  • The overall plot of the episode is reminiscent of the scene in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets where Dumbledore's pet bird burns to ash in front of Harry, and Harry thinks he's in deep trouble until Dumbledore reveals that his pet is a phoenix. Philomena even looks a fair deal like almost dead Fawkes.
    • Drilled in when Princess Celestia cheerfully states "lovely, isn't she?" and is still quite cheerful when everyone else is horrified, and is clearly enjoying having fun with the other ponies, Dumbledore-style. She even urges on Philomeena to quit milking the melodrama and rebirth already, just like Dumbledore.
  • And during Celestia's brunch at the Sugarcube Corner, right when she announces that she must leave because royal duty is calling, the scene looks very similar to "The Last Supper" from Leonardo da Vinci. (Even the number of ponies on screen is exactly twelve and Celestia makes it 13.)
  • The little green hummingbird Fluttershy brings in as a friend for Philomena is "Hummingway".
    • This is followed by another instance of Fluttershy (and Hummingway) singing a tune similar to the theme song.
  • Pinkie Pie's introduction has her saying "Cupcakes and candies and pies, oh my!"
• In "Green Isn't Your Color", one of the photos of Fluttershy shows her in Eeyore's signature slump.
  • Not to mention her hair and makeup style in that picture have a distinctly gothic character.
• "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" had a scene where Filly Applejack watches a pony version of the Statue of Liberty (linking back to Twilight's outfit in the pilot).
  • Filly Rarity also (literally) bumps into a rock that resembles the black monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey, musical fanfare included.
    • This part also brings to mind the scene in The Road to El Dorado in which the main duo also come before a great big rock (Rarity's complaints about it have a similar tone to Tulio's) after thinking that it led to their main goal (which in both cases, turns out to be true).
  • Filly Twilight Sparkle tries to get accepted into "Princess Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns" and during the admission exam her magical power violently awakens, turning her into a huge danger for everyone and herself, until Princess Celestia herself manages to calm her down and offers herself as her guide so she could learn how to control her immense magical power. The entire scene is a shout out to X-Men, with Twilight as Jean Grey, Celestia as Charles Xavier and the school itself a shout-out to "Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters".
  • "There was no talking. There was no smiling. There were only rocks." Think that type of dystopian narration sounds a bit familiar?
  • The scene in which filly Applejack starts talking about farm life in her "proper" accent seems to be a shout-out to a similar scene in Pygmalion.
• Spike spends a good portion of "Owl's Well That Ends Well" channeling classic comedically over-the-top cartoon villains, such as Snidely Whiplash and Dick Dastardly.
  • When Spike's looking for a new quill, one of the places he looks is in the shower, where Owlowiscious happens to be bathing. This is likely a reference to the Jean Craighead George book There's an Owl in the Shower.
  • When Spike first sees him, Owlowiscious is looking outside and to look at Spike, his head does a 180° while the lightning darkens and a scary tune plays. As Spike comments "Dude, that's creepy."
• "Party of One"
  • When Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash give their excuse for not attending Gummy's after-birthday party, they burden themselves into explaining what Harry the bear was doing at the beach (with comedic ineffectiveness). This funny dialogue device is probably classic comedy gold for writers and is probably found with characters from many other stories. Examples include Lamont and Rollo in the "Sanford and Son" episode, 'Fred's Treasure Garden,' where they attempt to tell the police that a "wheelbarrow" and "parsley" were stolen, made all the more difficult as one man says one word at the same time as his friend says the other (both excuses to avoid saying the name of a plant used for recreational drug use which in 1970s USA was illegal to possess).A key difference between the two examples, is that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy have three lines of synchronized divergent dialogue as opposed to two with Lamont and Rollo.
  • Just before Pinkie loses her cool, Applejack gives her an excuse ending in the line "That's my story and I'm sticking to it," (both a lyric and title reference to country song "That's My Story," from Collin Raye).
  • During her Sanity Slippage, Pinkie Pie voices a pile of rocks that she gives the name Rocky and also a certain accent.
  • Not to mention that it "calls" Rainbow Dash "Chump!".
  • The Cold Open, where Pinkie goes around town acting as a "singing telegram" is a reference to the movie Clue.
  • At the end of the episode, we can see Spike dance like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.
• The opening of "The Best Night Ever" has Twilight channeling the Fairy Godmother by making a carriage out of an apple and horses out of mice, even adding the stipulation that they'll revert by midnight. The ending also includes a bit about one of Rarity's glass slippers.
  • "I love to whistle while I work!"
  • The big song is a reference to "Ever After" from Into the Woods which is sung in the play right before everything goes south.
  • During "At the Gala", Pinkie's fellow can-can dancers seem a little zombiesque and after Princess Celestia flies over Canterlot, it looks distinctively like another company's logo.
  • Fluttershy's bird-call is lifted note-for-note from Snow White's song "I'm Wishing".
  • Fluttershy's maniacal laughing and mentions of "my pretties" are a direct reference to the Wicked Witch of the West. It even comes with a characteristic lightning strike.
  • Spitfire's fiery mane resembles the hair of a certain musician from a certain David Lynch film.

Season 2

• "Return of Harmony, Part 1" features a "chocolate rain".
  • Discord is pretty much Q as a dragon-pony... thing. He even has Q's snap-and-star teleport style, as well as the same voice. Yes, that is John de Lancie himself.
  • Fittingly, the hedge maze itself makes a blink-and-you'll-miss-it allusion to DeLancie's career.
  • Rainbow Dash's temptation to go "home" during a quest after seeing it in ruins is similar to the same situation with Samwise in The Lord of the Rings.
  • Discord's Hypnotic Eyes are on loan from Kaa.
  • Discord saying "Arrivederci" was inspired by a line from Pee-wee's Big Adventure.
• "Return of Harmony, Part 2" ends with an almost shot-for-shot homage to the ending of Star Wars: A New Hope, complete with a Suspiciously Similar Song version of the Throne Room music.
  • The same episode features a musical homage to The Empire Strikes Back: Compare this to this.
  • Discord also "Force Chokes" the Mane Cast during the final confrontation.
  • One background pony making her debut in this episode has a screw and a baseball for a cutie mark. In older cartoons, such as the Daffy Duck short "Duck Amuck", this was the universal sign for "screwball"
  • "The Return of Harmony" as a whole is similar to The Powerpuff Girls episode "Mime for a Change".
• In "Lesson Zero", Twilight suffers from Sanity Slippage and starts talking to her reflection in a puddle.
  • When Twilight enchants her Smartypants doll, the Cutie Mark Crusaders say that "I want it", "I need it", and "I really like her mane."
  • One of the tunes late in the episode, when Celestia is talking, comes from The Kings Speech.
  • Celestia's intervention right when her student's magic has gotten really out of control is awfully reminiscent of Yen Sid's saving Mickey from the enchanted brooms in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice".
• In "Luna Eclipsed", Mr. and Mrs. Cake are dressed as the pony versions of Raggedy Ann and Andy for Nightmare Night.
  • There is a background pony (dubbed "Goldengrape" in the script) dolled up in an apparent homage to JAWS. Another (dubbed "Meadow Song") is dressed as Ermac.
  • The eye-shaped Nightmare Night decorations (such as this balloon) are based on the Eye of Sauron. The filename even contains the phrase "SauronBalloon."
  • "Nightmare Night, What a Fright, Give me something sweet to bite!" is a play on the Halloween jingle "Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!"
  • Twilight disguises herself as Star Swirl the Bearded, 'Father of the amniomorphic spell'. Amniomorphic means "bowl-shaping". So, in other words, a bearded, or, hairy potter.
    • Twilight's costume also resembles the Sorcerer in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". Apparently, someone at Studio B likes Fantasia.
  • Nearly the end of the episode, Luna comes out of a cauldron filled with green goo. Does this remind you of anything?
  • When Luna first appears the background music is a mishmash of classics Disney scare themes and the Imperial March.
    • Before Luna's entrance, the background music is Suspiciously Similar to the Munsters theme.
• "Sisterhooves Social" includes a line that parodies Gone with the Wind: "As Celestia is my witness, I will never go sisterless again!"
  • Rarity and Sweetie Belle's parents are rather reminiscent of Spinelli's parents.
  • After Applejack and Apple Bloom drive sheep into a corral, one of the sheep says "You could have just asked," referencing a scene from Babe.
  • And then there's The Reveal that two horses got mixed up when covered in mud (deliberately, this time).
• In the bowling alley scene at the start of "The Cutie Pox", you can see pony versions of several characters from The Big Lebowski, including Jesus Quintana, Walter Sobchak, Donny, and the Dude.
  • Two of them were later named in a licensed mobile game by Gameloft: Jeff "The Dude" Letrotski and Jesús Pezuña. The pony resembling Walter was added to the same game for a winter update, but he was called simply "Bowling Pony".
  • One shot inside the Apple family's house features a painting in the background that looks like a pony version of Grant Wood's American Gothic.
  • The statue that Apple Bloom carves is a direct reference to the Renaissance Italian painting The Birth of Venus.
  • After a chess-playing cutie mark appears on her, Apple Bloom plays, and beats, a chess-playing pony who looks an awful lot like Geri.
  • Apple Bloom first discovers she's forced to use the talents the Cutie Pox gives her with a tap dancing mark, referring to the Hans Christian Anderson story "The Red Shoes".
  • The part where Apple Bloom is diagnosed is awfully reminiscent of a typical House scene, team and everything.
  • The last pox cutie mark AB recieves causes her to tornado-spin like the Tasmanian Devil.
• In "May The Best Pet Win!", Rainbow Dash's wing becoming trapped beneath a boulder in a canyon is reminiscent of hiker Aron Ralston, who was trapped in a canyon for 127 hours when a falling boulder pinned his arm.
  • After first failing to supply Dash's need for an awesome pet with a bunny, the next thing she brings out is a "puddy tat".
  • The musical number is inspired by the Doctor Dolittle song "Fabulous Places".
  • The flight through the gorge, complete with Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries", is borrowed from Apocalypse Now.
  • The race is a Whole-Plot Reference to "The Tortoise and the Hare". Heck, the working title for this episode was "The Tortoise and the Mare".
  • At the start of the episode, Opal launches from Angel/Gummy/Owlowiscious's mouth. Does that remind you of another strange creature?
• Mare-Do-Well owes a lot to Batman's animated series version. The banners resemble the show's opening logo, and the central plot is a Whole-Plot Reference to Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman.
  • Going back even further than Batman, MMDW strikes a classic Zorro pose immediately following her first appearance.
  • Plus, the opening notes for the music during Rainbow's pursuit of Mare-Do-Well as the episode closes resemble the introductory notes to Danny Elfman's "Batman Theme."
  • The costume, however, is more similar to Darkwing Duck.
  • During the Rainbow Dash fan club scene, there's a poster in the background that shows Rainbow flying with a starry background and a rainbow streaming out behind her, just like the Nyan Cat.
  • At a couple points in the episode, Rainbow Dash calls herself "Your friendly neighborhood Rainbow Dash".
    • And she says "There's no need to fear..."
  • She also rescues the filly in the well with "I'm Rainbow Dash and I'm here to rescue you."
  • Rainbow Dash's first attempt to stop the runaway coach resembles Peter Parker's first attempt at stopping the elevated subway in Spider-Man 2.
  • The crane driver is an earth pony version of the pegasus foreman from "Feeling Pinkie Keen", who might look like Fred Flintstone.
• In "Sweet and Elite", a painting in an art gallery is inspired by Salvador Dalí's "The Persistence of Memory".
  • Twilight's awkward dancing at the Canterlot ponies' party mirrors a scene in Seinfeld.
  • The underscore as Rarity soaks Opal in water is a reference to Ravel's famous piece "Bolero".
  • The design of the blimp that Rarity helps see off in her musical number evokes the Wind Fish.
  • The overworked bellhop pony seems to be based on the Squeaky Voiced Teen from The Simpsons.
• The music in the cold open of "Secret of My Excess" is inspired by The Sorcerer's Apprentice. This music recurs several times throughout the episode, including a sequence when Twilight lures Spike back to the library by baiting him with a broomstick.
  • The re-shelving scene seems slightly similiar to this scene.
  • In addition to King Kong references above, the presence of a giant rampaging lizard has a tendency to make one think of Godzilla. His roar is almost directly lifted from that franchise.
  • The scene where Rarity's tears fly upward as she and Spike free-fall seems reminiscent of Spirited Away.
  • Twilight teleporting Spike back to her to clean his cheek, yet another allusion to Doctor Who.
  • Spike's monstrous corruption after greedily demanding extra birthday presents is similar to the fall of Smeagol.
  • Applejack's line "Twilight, get my rope" is a reference to a Pace Picante sauce commercial from the '80s.
• In Family Appreciation Day, Apple Bloom gets called "Half Pint" when wearing the same bonnet Laura "Half Pint" Ingalls wore.
  • At the very beginning of the episode, Granny Smith is running around in the middle of the night causing a huge ruckus in direct reference to the famous Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.
• The scene in "Baby Cakes" where Pinkie suddenly sees Pound Cake walking along the ceiling may be a nod to, of all things, the film version of Trainspotting.
  • The following line:
    Pinkie Pie: The other day I used spot remover on my dog, and now I can't find him!
  • Pinkie's line about how the crib is only for "sleeping, napping, and on occasion, with permission, a pretend old-timey Western fort!"
  • Also, a bath toy that appears in the episode looks like SpongeBob SquarePants.
• A part of the soundtrack of Hearth's Warming Eve comes from the opening of the Exodus theme.
  • The Cold Open for this episode has the mane cast riding a train into a town while poking their heads out with it snowing around them is a lot like the intro for another cartoon.
  • The fire of friendship is a heart that looks similar to the background of the intro of The Powerpuff Girls
  • The first post-title scene backstage with the Mane 6 preparing for the performance is indirectly similar to the first scene of the musical, history, comedy, drama film "1776." Specifically both the ponies and the delegates were arguing but while the Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy wanted the window closed in light of a draft, the delegates wanted among other things, to "open up a window," for the opening song noted it was infernally hot in Philadelphia.
• At one point in "The Last Roundup", the chocolate line scene from I Love Lucy gets the pony treatment, only with cherries.
  • Rainbow Dash asks if Applejack met Wild Bull Hickok and Calamity Mane while competing at the rodeo.
  • The music playing through AJ's training sounded an awful lot like Bonanza's Opening Theme
  • And the one during the Mane 6's search for Applejack in Dodge Junction sounds very similar to the Hammer Bros. theme from Super Mario Bros. 3.
  • Several lines/characters in Dodge City bring to mind Gunsmoke.
  • The plot is subtlety similar to 'The Guitar Player Returns,' from "The Andy Griffith Show," in that Applejack and James Best's character both have a sobering secret as to why the former cannot return home and for the latter to pay the debts he accrued while acting like a music titan in the town where he began small.
• In The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000, Flam calls out Granny Smith on being a chicken, to which she responds by saying "What did you call me, sonny?", looking backwards with pure anger in her eyes. The camera angle is even similar to the Biff scenes.
  • "And besides, nopony calls Granny a chicken."
  • The Flim Flam brothers look a bit like Harold Hill from The Music Man, and their big musical number is reminiscent of the song "Trouble".
  • One of the background ponies has a Mjolnir cutie mark (before switching to a sandwich cutie mark in the very next shot).
• In "Read It and Weep", the Daring Do book Rainbow Dash reads is based on Indiana Jones, with the "step on the right tiles" puzzle from Last Crusade and a direct nod to the UHF parody of the idol scene.
  • The scene with Rainbow Dash bouncing the ball off the wall was taken right from The Great Escape.
  • Ahuízotl is the name of a Mexica hueitlatoani (emperor), and also a mythological creature from Mexica mythology: a dog-like creature with hands in its front legs and a hand on its tail.
  • The last scene when Ahuízotl caress the kitty comes from Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
  • Right before Rainbow hits the ground, Pinkie Pie exclaims "Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi!", a la Alpha 5 of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers.
  • The mental patient who sneaks out of a hospital to indulge in the latest hijinks elsewhere. Now, are we talking the barking pony, or Murdock?
  • The music playing when Rainbow Dash is contemplating whether to pick up the book is a homage to The Never Ending Story.
  • A subtle one, but the entire episode is about a Reading Rainbow!
• Cranky's snowglobe in "A Friend In Deed" is clearly based on the one from the infamous final episode of St. Elsewhere.
  • Pinkie's guesses as to what the "C" in C.D.D. stands for include "Chico" and "Carl".
  • Pinkie's destruction of Crankie's toupee upon mistaking it for a spider can also be seen in a Three Stooges classic "Disorder in the Court." During a musical number, Larry catches the bailiff's wig, mistakes it for a tarantula, and Moe promptly shoots the wig into a smoking mess.
  • Cranky's name and species, as well as the ending music, are a giant reference to the song Yankee Doodle, particularly the first verses. Likewise, Pinkie's "Cranky Doodle Donkey" song is a reference to "Yankee Doodle Boy" from Yankee Doodle Dandy.
• The music that accompanies Iron Will's first appearance in "Putting Your Hoof Down" is a play on "Eye of the Tiger" from Rocky III.
  • The music that plays when Fluttershy realizes her assertiveness has gone too far is almost exactly like The Lonely Man from the The Incredible Hulk (1977). What is more, it plays as Fluttershy walks down a road slowly, away from the camera.
  • Iron Will says "I pity da foal" at one point, a shout out to Mr. T and his catchphrase.
  • Iron Will's seminar is in the middle of a corn maze, which is a Classical Mythology Shout-Out to the story of Theseus and the Minotaur.
  • Fluttershy's way of dealing with Mr. Greenhooves overwatering her petunias just might be a reference to L'Arroseur arrosé, the first comedy film ever made.
  • Pinkie's haggling and later her handling of Iron Will when coming to collect his fee from Fluttershy would make Bugs Bunny proud.
  • This episode's premise is similar to the Spongebob Squarepants episode "Walking Small". The writer also worked for that series.
• In "It's About Time", Twilight Sparkle wears a headband, an eye-patch, and sneaks around in a black bodysuit, and her time-travelling spell is reminiscent of the Terminator.
  • The music playing during her conversation with herself (both in the beginning of the episode, and when the same scene is revisited at the end) is a remix of "I Am the Doctor". Also, Future Twilight's appearance is preceded by a sound similar to the one heard when the TARDIS materializes. (A key being rubbed against a piano string, incidentally.)
  • When Twilight, Pinkie and Spike circle around to where they started while sneaking around the Canterlot Archives, Spike says "Isn't this where we came in?"
• "Dragon Quest"'s name.
  • One of the teenage dragons resembles a Gronkle.
• In the episode Hurricane Fluttershy, Spike asks Twilight Sparkle what a squirrel says. She says, "Do I look like I speak squirrel?".(Twilight Sparkle is voiced by Tara Strong, who also voiced Bubbles)
• In Ponyville Confidential, Rarity asks Sweetie Belle "Et tu, Gabby Gums?".
  • Citizen Tiara, anypony? Diamond Tiara addresses the rest of the students from behind a podium in front of a giant-sized portrait of herself, and turns the Foal Free Press into a success based on yellow journalism. Fortunately for her, she's still young enough to avoid Kane's Downer Ending and learn from her mistakes... maybe.
    • Her scenes also contain nods to John Jonah Jameson of the Daily Bugle from Spider-Man.
• "MMMMystery On The Friendship Express" is direct homage to Murder on the Orient Express, and borrows several plot elements, including the ending.
  • Donut Joe's antics as Pinkie imagines them are based off the James Bond series of films. Gustave is portrayed as a Dastardly Whiplash-type villain, and Mulia is portrayed as a Kurosawa-esque ninja.
  • The episode's Japanese name ("Meitantei Pinkie!") is a reference to Case Closed (also known back in Japan as "Meitantei Conan").
• The Changeling Queen's plot to take over Canterlot is similar to Ursula's plot to take over the sea in The Little Mermaid (1989). Both disguise themselves as the bride, both possess the bridegroom, and both get a Villain Song where they sing about their plans into a mirror!
  • The instance of the villain magically grabbing the reins on the heroes' wedding plans with an imposter or distraction is also found in Disney's The Princess And The Frog, and the non-Disney film The Swan Princess.
• The end of the fight scene between the Changelings and the Mane 6 resembles that of one of the shows Lauren previously worked on.
• The False Princess Cadance's One-Winged Angel transformation into Queen Chrysalis seems to take a few pages out of Maleficent's book.
• The manner in which the Changelings are defeated seems reminiscent of the Stardust film adaptation.
  • Or possibly the way Domon Kashu and Rain defeat the Devil Gundam with the Sekiha Love Love Tenkyoken.
  • Or Team Rocket blasting off again.
• The way Shining Armor's shield looks and works is quite reminiscent of the shield that was put up to protect Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2.
• When impostor Cadance is singing her half of the duet, we see the chandelier in her chamber—straight out of the Myst library.

Season 3

• "The Crystal Empire (Parts 1 & 2)"
  • In the preview clip for "The Crystal Empire", Pinkie Pie's night-vision goggles look quite a lot like the ones worn by Sam Fisher, only in gold and yellow. Also, when Pinkie startles two of the Crystal Ponies, when she says "A spy?! How did they know?!", if you listen carefully you can hear a very slight musical cue that sounds awfully similar to the James Bond theme.
  • The first episode deals with a magical kingdom that has a powerful device/object that is hold sacred by its inhabitants. Suddenly, an evil man/creature tries to seize this power to himself and ultimately corrupts the land because of his evil heart, turning it into a wasteland and the castle into his tower, leading the goddesses to seal him away only to return after many years and try to seize this power once again. Gee, where have I heard this before?
    • And the place where it resides looks like another tall structure.
  • The scene where the crystal heart returns and protects the city is similar to the ending of Atlantis: The Lost Empire, right down to the magic force field.
  • The whole plot actually shares a lot of elements from Atlantis. The city's general layout, the fact it was lost for a long time, amnesiac citizens, a missing page in the otherwise complete guidebook to the civilization, which details how the power crystal which protects the empire works. Uh huh. Totally a coincidence.
  • Shining Armor's appearance when he arrives at the station may pretty well be the Star Wars Shout-Out one can find in every season opener.
  • A crystal palace growing out of a chilly Arctic ice desert has been done before.
  • King Sombra's horn tip being sheared off by Cadance's magical barrier is somewhat reminiscent of Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny.
  • The Crystal Heart, when it powers up, shares the same sound effect as the Proton Pack from Ghostbusters.
  • The circle of crystals that Twilight gets trapped in towards the end of part 2 seems rather reminiscent of the bubble of destructive magic Odette and Jean Bob are trapped in towards the end of The Swan Princess: The Mystery of the Enchanted Kingdom.
  • The pony who declares "She is correct!" after Twilight gives the square root of 545 during "The Failure Song" is named Professor Bill Neigh.
  • The concept of a city that reappears at long but regular intervals and soon vanishes again, the land returning to the uninhabited wilderness, was previously done with the stage play Brigadoon. In both cases, the disappearance was a direct effect of a local magical evil, though there are some key differences: Brigadoon's inhabitants made their town disappear to protect themselves from the witches who terrorized them, whereas King Sombra personally caused the Crystal Empire to disappear; and Brigadoon goes missing for a hundred years whereas the Crystal Empire goes missing for a thousand years.
  • Shining Armor throwing Princess Cadance to save Spike and the Crystal Heart from Sombra during the climax is very parallel to Mr. Incredible and his wife Elastigirl doing the same thing to save one of their children from a villain.
• "One Bad Apple"
  • During a montage, a (slightly modified) rendition of The A-Team theme can clearly be heard.
  • When Babs occupies the CMC's treehouse, Sweetie Belle cries like Numbuh 3
  • In the opening, one of Apple Bloom's outfits includes glasses with one rectangular lens and one round lens.
• "Magic Duel"
  • Twilight's training with Zecora in "Magic Duel" shares some similarities with the one Luke once went through, taking place in the local primeval forest, having a mentor who puts a lot of emphasis on concentration and likes to talk funny, down to the training itself involving levitating objects while standing on water - and failing due to similar distractions. Not to mention that Trixie's dark cloak and red magic aura make her look very much like a Sith Lord.
  • The whole episode centers around a powerful magical object that slowly drives Trixie insane, just like a certain golden ring drives a hobbit insane.
  • The Mayor being stuck in a cage in the center of the town surrounded by evil brings Deckard Cain to the minds of many viewers.
  • Ponyville is trapped beneath a dome, where nopony can get in or out? A power-hungry leader taking full advantage of everything? The hero is cast out and unable to help? The entire town is in fear and powerless against said leader? Said leader has a vendetta against the protagonist? Quite a few have caught the similarities to a certain book and television adaptation...
    • This is also a reference to The Simpsons Movie.
• "Sleepless in Ponyville"
  • The scene where Scootaloo tries to run away from the Headless Horse is reminiscent of the last part of Disney's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and the final shot of Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash flying is similar to the final shots of the Superman movies.
  • Heck, the title is a nod to Sleepless in Seattle.
  • Princess Luna comes into ponies dreams.
• Wonderbolt Academy is very Top Gun.
  • The mustached instructor pegasus accompanying Spitfire very closely resembles a pony version of Viper from Top Gun.
  • Pinkie's subplot with the mailbox brings to mind an episode from another show Merriwether Williams wrote for.
  • Even though, the roles of protagonist and The Rival (and loyal second) are inverted from Top Gun, and Lightning Dust's attitude toward team flying is more like Maverick, her mane nonetheless bears a more than passing resemblance to Iceman's haircut.
  • Spitfire's Drill Sergeant Nasty speech at the beginning of the episode is evocative of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman's from Full Metal Jacket.
  • "IT'S A TWISTER!"
  • One of Spitfire's uniform badges closely resembles the rank insignia from the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Future Imperfect", while the three red pips underneath it are very reminiscent of the stars worn by Royal Manticoran Navy officers to denote their previous hyperspace-capable starship commands.
• "Just For Sidekicks" starts with Spike singing a variant on Bill Cosby's "Dad is Great" song.
  • Spike tying up all the animal companions into a ball form and rolling them around can be seen as a nod to the Katamari games.
• "Spike at Your Service"
  • The plot matches 'Andy Saves Gomer' from The Andy Griffith Show. Sheriff Taylor saves Gomer from a fire as Applejack saves Spike from timberwolves and like Spike, Gomer returns the favor to Andy with excessive and embarrassing help; prompting Andy to like Applejack, to improvise a situation where the roles are reversed to void a life-debt.
• "Keep Calm and Flutter On":
  • In title to "Keep Calm and Carry On".
  • The living tableware scene is a pretty clear Beauty and the Beast shout out, down to the design of the gravy boat.
  • Discord's "making himself at home" involves a room rotating on itself.
• The season finale episode Magical Mystery Cure
  • "Magical Mystery Cure": In the opening musical number two stallions lift Twilight down from a table where she was dancing and she runs forward. It's very reminiscent of the big dance scene at the end of Dirty Dancing.
    • The whole opening number is reminiscent of the opening of Beauty and the Beast, with Twilight taking Belle's place on a morning walk through town.
    • Its ending is highly similar to the end of the Temporal Cold War arc of Star Trek: Enterprise, as seen here.
    • The name of the episode itself is a shoutout to the album Magical Mystery Tour from a certain well known band.
    • The music for the episode borrows heavily from classic Hollywood and Broadway musicals.
    • "Morning in Ponyville" bear a more than passing similarity to "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning!" from Oklahoma!.
    • "Celestia's Ballad" is reminiscent of Disney Award Bait Songs.
    • Twilight's transformation into an alicorn features a swirly effect similar to Odette's aforementioned transformation in The Swan Princess.

Season 4

• "Princess Twilight (1 & 2)"
  • The Tree of Harmony has a strong resemblance to the White Tree of Gondor.
  • The Plundervines somewhat resemble the Facehuggers from Alien.
  • The Sun and the Moon being stuck in the sky also happened in Antipodes.
  • When the sun and the moon are both in the sky at the same time during the season premiere it bears a striking resemblance to the sky seen during the Sekigahara conflict in Sengoku Basara.
  • When Discord mistakenly refers to Fluttershy as "Shutterfly", he not only uses an anagram for the former but gives a Shout Out to the real-life photography service Shutterfly.
• The third episode is entitled "Castle-Mania" and features the Pony of Shadows.
  • The setting of "Castle Mane-ia" and the comical reasons behind Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Spike, and (towards the end) Twilight becoming scared (mostly Pinkie Pie and themselves) represents a theme previously seen in "The Andy Griffith Show's" 'The Haunted House' (where Barney and Gomer were frightened by said house by Otis and a moonshiner rigging the frights) and when two silver thieves use similar moves on an old house featured in "The Dukes of Hazzard's" 'The Hazzardville Horror.'
  • Twilight's discovery of Pinkie Pie playing the haunted pipe organ parallels the revelation Don Knotts' character came upon towards the end of "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" where his coworker, Mr. Kelsey was playing the organ at the haunted Simmons residence. Also as with "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken," the source of the scares for most of 'Castle Mane-ia' was not supernatural. Yet the viewer for both the episode and the film (in addition to the characters in the latter) are given an eerie feeling that a 'pony of shadows' and a 'ghost' may truly be present in the respective stories.
• Episode four "Daring Don't" featured Ahuízotl once again with a Mayincatec culture as well. One of the artifacts was called the "Tenochtitlan basin"^note Tenochtitlan was the capital city of the Mexica empire, although they mispronounced it, since it's "teh-nosh-tee-tlan". Dr. Caballerón's appearance and approach to archaeology mirror those of Indiana Jones character René Emile Belloq, who also sold artifacts for personal profit, and the whole episode is inspired by Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
  • Daring Do's nom-de-plume, "A.K. Yearling" is a spoof of J. K. Rowling.
  • Also if you look at the cover of the new book at the end of the episode you can see that Rainbow is wearing baseball cap making her Daring Do's Short Round
• "Flight to the Finish"
  • A blink-and-you-miss-it of Time Turner (called "Doctor Whooves" by fans) standing with Roseluck, i.e. Rose Tyler.
  • They show up again in Episode 16, this time with Time Turner wearing 3D glasses.
  • A training montage that includes a lot of running, punching, climbing stairs and cheering on top of them.
• Episode six, "Power Ponies," features a spoof of The Avengers and Justice League. The main villain, the Mane-iac, is a parody on Doctor Octopus, The Joker and Poison Ivy (and possibly Marvel's Medusa and Sedusa), Pinkie (Fili-Second) has super speed, akin to The Flash, Fluttershy (Saddle-Rager) loses her temper like the Hulk, Rainbow Dash (Zapp) controls the weather like Storm, Applejack (Mistress Mare-velous) has a lasso like Wonder Woman, Rarity (Radiance) has a gem that creates shiny things like Green Lantern, and Twilight (the Masked Matterhorn) has a freezing beam just like Iceman. Spike is merely put as Robin, and although his character was just there for comic relief, and also as The Load and a Tagalong Kid, he ended up being The Chessmaster due to his insight on the comic books themselves.
  • Spike and the Mane-Six are sucked into a comic-book like Alan Parish was sucked into the game Jumanji in its cinematic adaption.
  • Spike travels through a ventilation shaft to the Mane-iac's lair where the Mane Six are held. The camera angle on him matches that used when John McClane crawled through the ventilation of Nakatomi Plaza.
• Episode seven, "Bats!" features a scene with Rarity in a special suit trying to catch a bat. The bat spits out an apple that lands on her "helmet" and licks the juice off it, like in The Empire Strikes Back, where Leia is attacked by a winged monster while inside an asteroid.
  • The song "Stop The Bats!" is a clear homage to Danny Elfman; and the music could almost have been lifted from The Nightmare Before Christmas.
  • Pinkie yells "follow that bat"!
  • Pinkie's scream of "run for your lives!" is similar to the one Denethor said in The Return of the King.
  • The ponies have light signals to use if something fishy goes on.
  • Let's see. Trying to brainwash critters into not destroying your crops, only to develop the urge yourself (with Involuntary Shapeshifting to go with it)? Sounds familiar.
• In "Rarity Takes Manehattan", Rarity improvises a new fashion line out of drapes, rugs and other objects in her hotel room, similar to the way that Maria made play clothes for the Von Trapp children out of the drapes from her room in The Sound of Music.
  • The stallion Rarity gives a flower to has a cutie mark that looks like Grumpy Cat.
  • Another stallion appears to be a 4chan reference.
  • Rarity's reprise of 'Generosity (Oh Manehattan)' mirrors Eponine's 'Alone' as sung in the cinematic adaption of the musical "Les Misèrables". For one, the word "alone" is mentioned twice as Rarity closes the reprise, and both she and Eponine sung their solos drenched with rain in a city.
• A Freeze-Frame Bonus happens in "Pinkie Apple Pie" when a ponified Slenderman pops up in the background for a few frames. Meghan McCarthy herself has admitted she had no idea about this one, meaning it was likely a joke put in by a rogue animator.
  • Also, "AAAAAH yourself".
  • The song "Apples to the Core" starts with random things hitting the wagon leading up to the music, like a certain father and son trip to a fishing pond did.
  • The flying creature in the Scariest Cave in Equestria scrapbook photo has a head similar to a Xenomorph.
  • The animation on the Apples and Pinkie falling down the waterfall towards the camera parallels that of Vogel's fall in a tank down a canyon in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
• In "Rainbow Falls", Mickey Goldmill trains the Wonderbolts.
  • The Wonderbolts get an A-Team Montage with music similar to the previous examples.
• "Three's A Crowd":
  • The song sequence has plenty of references, some moving so fast that you could easily miss them:
    • When Discord asks for codfish oil, the cod bears a striking resemblance to Big Mouth Billy Bass.
    • Discord, Cadance, and Twilight dressed in Hogwarts uniforms (complete with Twilight in glasses).
    • Discord, when asking for lozenges, standing in a hilly field with a pony in lederhosen playing the sousaphone, like the Ricola ads.
    • Discord wishing upon a star.
    • Discord rubbing a familiar lamp... while blue... singing the List Song... with wild and almost random things popping up and around him and the two ponies... and the mess disappears at the end of the song in a whirlpool of color.
    • Discord holds up the glass in a triumphant fashion in space, while Twilight and Cadance look on.
    • Discord pouring water on himself.
  • Discord's song itself sounds like it could belong in a Gilbert and Sullivan production.
  • Discord at one point dresses like the Hunter S. Thompson-inspired character Raoul Duke played by Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, down to the shirt, glasses, and hat. (This being a kid's show, the cigarette is replaced by a lollipop.)
  • Discord folds a map into a paper hat and puts it on Twilight's head, reminding some viewers of Woona from the Moonstuck tumblr blog.
  • The Tatzlwurm is basically a Graboid, with three prehensile tongues and an equal number of jaws. It also reminded a lot of people of Molgera, which was itself inspired by the Graboids.
  • After the Tatzlwurm's attack, and Discord reveals he's well, he comes out in just a shirt and a pair of underwear.
  • Discord's thinking tree looks like something straight out of a Dr. Seuss drawing.
  • Discord's preferred method of travel looks like it came from Xerxes' engineer's notepad.
  • When Twilight and Cadance are blasting the Tatzlwurm, their horns make the same sound as a Dalek's laser.
  • Discord, getting sick for real, is similar to Mad Madam Mim's own defeat by illness. Additionally, he breaks out into spots in a similar manner to Mim's own symptoms.
• The "Pinkie Pride" opening song "Pinkie the Party Planner" has Pinkie singing and the town singing back, which is very similar to "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast,
  • Pinkie sings "dale dale dale, no pierdas el tino, porque si lo pierdes, pierdes el camino", which is the typical song that Mexicans sing while a kid^note it's not like in movies and TV shows, when kids form a group and bully on the thing with each carrying a stick. The actual piñata-breaking is done one by one flings his stick trying to hit the piñata.
  • Young Cheese Sandwich is a reference in/joke to "Weird Al" Yankovic's earlier image when he had poofy hair and glasses.
  • Also most of Cheese Sandwich's lyrics in the final showdown are in Polka form, which "Weird Al" Yankovic is infamous for.
  • In the Goof Off, Cheese Sandwich steals Pinkie's "Smile, Smile, Smile" song and recreates it in polka form, passing it off as his own work. This may be a reference to Weird Al Yankovic's polkas and parodies and how he's been accused of stealing while his work is protected under fair use.
  • The hat and poncho Cheese Sandwich wears in the beginning of the episode is reminiscent of a hat and poncho worn by one of Clint Eastwood's most iconic roles.
    • The Western shout-outs keep coming, as High Noon is name-dropped later and Pinkie declares, "make it 3:10 to Goof-Off!"
• Rarity's newer "Simple Ways" feels like a city slicker doing a sillier version of the old TV country music variety show, Hee Haw (in which normally more metro actors would appear as guests on and would try to act "yokel").
• "Filli Vanilli" references the singing duet Milli Vanilli, and their notorious scandal when it was discovered that they lip-synced to someone else's singing.
  • One can't help be reminded of Snow White at the beginning.
  • I Love Lucy: "You've got some 'splaining to do."
  • The Great Gildersleeve: "Well for corn's sake, let's go!"
  • Fluttershy singing from behind the curtain is quite reminiscent of the climax of Singin' in the Rain.
  • Likewise the whole plot feels like one to one of the episodes for The Andy Griffith Show, in which the Mayberry choir discover through observation that Gomer Pyle, of all people, could sing extremely well.
  • The group consists of PONIES (one of whom is even WHITE) and their name ends in "'Tones"
  • Rarity loves it when a plan comes together.
  • In the few moments when Fluttershy is yet aware the curtain has fallen and the spotlight is on her, she is doing a dance move in mid-air◊ very similar to a shuffle (ala LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem").
• "Twilight Time" shares its title with the 1940s song.
  • Sweetie Belle tries to move a broom with her magic. The first time we see this in the cold open, she fails, and claims it "weighs a ton".
  • The Hayburger restaurant is a nod to fast food chains like McDonalds or Burger King, though as part of the Furry Reminder, the "burger" patties are made from hay.
  • Spike's raspy delivery of "Oh come on!"
    • On a related note, Sweetie Belle "made a huge mistake."
  • This colt looks remarkably like Philip J. Fry.
• "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies":
  • Time Turner and Roseluck appear with each other again, with Time Turner inexplicably wearing 3D glasses.
  • Seabreeze. He's a tiny fae creature with a dark blue coat, a vaguely-Scottish-ish accent, and anger issues. He's a pony version of a bloody Nac Mac Feegle.
  • When the Fluttershy tells the Breezies she can't let them go while they're sick, Seabreeze yells "D'oh!".
• The title "Somepony to Watch Over Me" is a reference to the classic Gershwin song, "Someone to Watch Over Me".
  • Apple Bloom is in a swamp with flame geysers.
  • The snake head's eyes briefly span multiple colors, like Kaa from The Jungle Book.
  • One of the cajun swamp ponies does a dance similar to Shermy's dance from A Charlie Brown Christmas.
  • And another pony (the one wearing overalls and a red bandana) bears an uncanny resemblance to Bruce Mitchell from Swamp People.
  • In the beginning, When Applebloom is jumping for joy at the idea of being home alone, she does Macaulay Culkin's scream face from Home Alone.
  • The way the snake head wraps around the legs of the chimera and trips it is reminiscent of how the Rebels trip up the Imperial walkers in The Empire Strikes Back.
• "Maud Pie":
  • Fluttershy's hummingbird friend Hummingway. This particular hummingbird previously appeared in Season One's "A Bird in the Hoof."
  • One of the mannequins (ponnequins?) in front of the obstacle course has Geordi LaForge's visor on it.
  • The obstacle course Pinkie makes is quite evocative of the Nickelodeon classic Double Dare.
• "Trade Ya!":
  • In the scene where Rarity is talking to Applejack, two ponies that resemble Robert and Rosalind Lutece from BioShock Infinite walk by. The male one is even using his horn to levitate a bird cage, a reference to the Arc Words, "The Bird or the Cage?"
• "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils" is a shout-out to John Donne's phrase "for whom the bell tolls", where the "bell" is a warning sign from God to the individual to stop their destructive behavior.
  • At one point, Sweetie Belle rants at Rarity about her dresses in the same manner that Jan does about Marsha.
  • Sweetie Belle learns a lesson through visions of the past, present, and future in a dream.
  • Rarity asks, "What in the wide wide realm of Equestria" similar to the way Slim Pickens says, "What in the Wide Wide World of Sports" in Blazing Saddles. Twilight previously said a similar line in "Feeling Pinkie Keen".
  • The Violin chord played during the dream sequence as they descend through an ocean sounds very similar to a piece played during another oceanic descent.
• In "Leap of Faith", Silver Shill resembles George McFly.
  • One of the injured ponies is wrapped entirely in bandages while also wearing sunglasses over his eyes, a 'la The Invisible Man.
• In "Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3":
  • Filthy Rich pays Big Macintosh with a glowing briefcase.
  • Pinkie Pie begins to rap to tell the story of the Wonderbolts. The image quality gets lower and is no longer widescreen, as if it was recorded on a VHS tape.
    • Pinkie's mention of General Firefly in the rap is a shout out to series creator Lauren Faust as Firefly is Lauren's favorite pony and uses a variation of the name (Fyre-flye) as her Twitter and deviantArt usernames.
    • One scene is clearly a riff on the anti-piracy PSA "Don't Copy That Floppy".
  • Afterwards, when Rainbow Dash tries to do the rap herself, she emulates Snoop Dogg's famous dance from the "Drop It Like It's Hot" video.
• "Inspiration Manifestation":
  • The sequence when Spike takes the book from the pedestal is played out very similarly as to when Aladdin takes the Genie's lamp from the Cave of Wonders.
  • Another one occurs when Rarity exclaims that she's so excited. Spike's response? "I'm so scared."
  • Rarity's insistence on keeping the book brings to mind a certain character obsessed with a ring.
  • The puppeteer, while voiced like W. C. Fields, is dressed very much like Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka down to the orange and purple colour scheme.
  • The crystal armour Rarity gives Spike looks similar to the armour worn by the titular robot of the Mega Man video games.
    • Or the Diamond Armour from Minecraft.
  • The magically-augmented birdhouse has a shoe closet.
  • Let's see: something that increases your creativity, but at the same time increases your dependency? Where did I heard that before?
• "Equestria Games":
  • When Spike sees his crystal statue, he imitates Barbra Streisand from Funny Girl saying, "Hello, gawgeous."
  • When Spike's unable to light the torch, Twilight notes "Equestria, we have a problem" which obviously mirrors "Houston, we have a problem."
  • Spike's recital of the Cloudsdalean anthem was not unlike Rowan Atkinson's recital of Ode To Joy or Frank Drevin's attempt at the National Anthem.
    • And the pan across the horrified audience is from The Producers.
  • Technical issues at the opening ceremonies aren't unheard of since the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympic Games also had technical issues in their opening ceremonies.
  • The costume of the female representative from Maretonia resembles one worn by Queen Amidala.
• "Twilight's Kingdom, Part 1":
  • For a long time, the villain is reduced to a weakened form, shadow of his former self, and then he sustains himself by preying on unicorns... wait, are we talking about Lord Tirek, or Lord Voldemort?
  • When Tirek first steals power from the unicorn stallion, the barrel of oranges he was carrying spills out onto the street.
  • Discord makes his entrance à la Mary Poppins.
  • He performs the typical shout out to Patton when addressing the Mane Six while in a highly decorated military uniform (while wearing Douglas MacArthur's corncob pipe, ironically enough).
  • He also takes off on Blythe Baxter's electric scooter from Littlest Pet Shop.
  • The way he avoids Tirek's attack is by splitting his head in two, much like the T-1000.
    • And he's wearing a very similar police uniform to said metamorphic cyborg, too.
  • Tirek refers to Discord's role as friend to the Mane Six as "pony errand boy."
  • When Discord hauls in some captured ponies with a fishing line, he is dressed exactly like Quint.
  • The screechy sound of Tirek's devouring power is the shriek of the Aliens' queen.
  • The flag of Maretonia looks like the artificial Palm Islands in Dubai.
  • The way Discord and Tirek set up a magic show to drain magic out of the entire audience in the theater is reminiscent of H. P. Lovecraft's short story "Nyarlathotep" — "...and in the sputter of his sparks there was taken from men that which had never been taken before yet which shewed only in the eyes."
• "Twilight's Kingdom, Part 2":
  • A brief one, but Twilight Sparkle letting Owlowiscious go is similar to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.
  • When Discord and Tirek capture the Mane 5 and Spike, Discord notes that he got her little dragon too.
  • The final battle against Tirek is obviously gleaning from Dragon Ball Z. Which also makes it an Out-of-Genre Experience.
  • Just before the big fight, Twilight's takeoff from the ground is similar to Superman taking off in Man of Steel, including with the rocks shaking moments before she blasts off.
    
    Another shout out to Superman's comics and movies is how a crystal piece (in this case a chest) buries itself on the ground and makes a large, fully formed crystal building to emerge.
  • When Twilight saves Owlowiscous from the library before it is destroyed by Tirek, and sends him off flying to safety, it's much like the sequence in Avatar: The Last Airbender where Aang faces off against Fire Lord Ozai and sends Momo flying off to safety. The fact that both Tirek and Ozai are both Red and Black and Evil All Over really stresses this point further.
  • Twilight getting stuck in a rock crevice is one to One Piece as Luffy has a bad habit of this happening during fights with a Big Bad. Unlike Luffy though, Twilight can just teleport out.
  • The throne room in Twilight's castle has a low dais reminiscent of the Round Table at its center, surrounded by thrones for the Mane Six and Spike.
  • Spike's smaller, less ornamented (i.e., no cutie mark) throne next to Twilight's is a bit like the throne of the Steward of Gondor.
  • When using his power, Tirek manifests a fireball, hovering between his curved horns. This makes him resemble Hellboy, who would manifest a fiery crown hovering between his curved horns◊ on the occasions that he tapped into his full power as the Prince of Hell.
    
    It's also been pointed out by fans that the fireball looks similar to the gem between Nicol Bolas' horns◊ from Magic: The Gathering.
    
    It also somewhat resembles the Eye of Sauron from the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
  • The Mane Six's Rainbow Power is similar to the "Sailor Planet Attack" in Sailor Moon, even replicating the overhead shot as the ponies power up.

Season 5

• "The Cutie Map (Part One and Part 2)"
  • The plot of the season premiere is alarmingly reminiscent of "Harrison Bergeron".
  • And Starlight Glimmer's staff looks unsettlingly like the Lance of Longinus.
  • Double Diamond throwing the staff at the Cutie Mark Vault is very reminiscent of Apple's famous commercial from 1984, parodying Nineteen Eighty-Four. Appropriate, considering the dystopian themes of the episode.
• "Bloom and Gloom":
  • The background music has one to Diablo 3: once Applebloom's nightmare devolves into utter craziness, you can briefly hear a slightly modified theme of Whimsyshire, the secret pony level.
  • Just before her third encounter with her shadow, Apple Bloom is pestered by a series of cutie marks on her flank. The last one takes the form of the smiling face of Apple Bloom that mischievously winks its eye at the real (and at the time, distressed) visage of Apple Bloom. This echoes a passage with a man and the titular playing card of Russian writer Alexander Pushkin's "The Queen of Spades" as translated in 1901 by H. Twitchell: "As he [Hermann] stared at the card it seemed to him that the queen winked one eye at him mockingly."
  • The old pest control pony’s mention of a “Piney Shades” retirement home is likely a subtle nod to The Golden Girls and “Shady Pines”
• "Tanks For The Memories":
  • Rainbow Dash's evil grin when she plots to stop winter from coming looks like the expression worn by the Grinch when he gets his "wonderfully awful idea" in the animated adaptation of How the Grinch Stole Christmas!.
  • One scene features a Who's on First? routine involving pegasus ponies named Clear Skies, Open Skies, and Fluffy Clouds, clearly a shout-out to Abbot and Costello.
  • Rainbow's song "I'll Fly" is sung with feelings of hope and confidence echoing Elphaba's "Defying Gravity" from "Wicked", though both songs have different melodies and rhythms. Although "I'll Fly" includes the line "Nopony's gonna bring me down!"
  • Of all things, there's a Game of Thrones reference! "Prepare yourselves, everypony! Winter is coming!"
• "Make New Friends But Keep Discord"
  • In Sugar Cube Corner, Pinkie Pie manages to spot Discord, even though he was in a cardboard box labeled "The Orange". He even has the trademark "!" appear with the noise from that game.
  • Discord imitates several different styles of humour, calling out to specific comedians. Of note is Jerry Seinfeld's observational humour, and Leo Gallagher smashing a watermelon.
  • Discord's walking stick has the Chaos Undivided symbol drawn on the pommel.
  • Discord is wearing a completely orange tuxedo and top hat, while the Smooze's top hat is blue.
  • The little colt◊ at the Gala who notices the Smooze behind the door is clearly modelled after Danny Torrance◊ from The Shining. Note the haircut and the sweater he's wearing.
  • The Smooze gets bigger as it is given more and more objects. Kinda like a certain water god that was in Sonic's first ever 3d game when it was given Chaos Emeralds.
• "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone"
  • "Hellooooo, Gilda."
  • Apart from the one bad eye and the fez, Grandpa Gruff's head looks like Gargamel's.
    • Or more obviously, Grandpa Gruff resembles Grunkle Stan from Gravity Falls even more.
• "Slice of Life"
  • Doctor Hooves gets a big role (see below); though the writers wrote him with a bit of Dr. Emmett Brown in mind, Peter New confirmed his portrayal was based on David Tennant, with a touch of Christopher Eccleston (specifically, "Everybody Lives!") at the end (the Doctor's even sitting next to Roseluck for that line).
    • He's wearing the Fourth Doctor's trademark scarf at the wedding.
    • He says Allons'y!
  • The Lebowski ponies are back, with the Dude even having some lines.
    • When they show up for the wedding, Donny is conspicuously absent, but Walter's holding a red coffee can.
  • The battle with the bugbear on the town hall building is a King Kong reference.
• "Princess Spike"
  • When Spike begins to take advantage of speaking for Twilight, one of is perqs is a personalized portrait. The pony painting the portrait is designed in ode to Leonardo Da Vinci and Spike's portrait is an allusion to the left side of Michaelangelo Buonarroti's "The Creation of Adam" featured in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City.
  • One of the delegates Spike deals with comes from "Whinnyapolis", has a fur-lined brown coat and snow hat resembling a Minnesotan police outfit, speaks with a thick Minnesotan accent, and has a cup of coffee as her cutie mark.
• "Party Pooped"'
  • Pinkie joins a "travelling band" as a drummer, with the photo showing ponies resembling John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison. While Pinkie chronicles the history of the band, several images appear, including:
    • A pastiche of the Beatles' breakout performance at The Ed Sullivan Show.
    • The Abbey Road Crossing in front of the Crystal Castle.
    • The album cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
• "Amending Fences"
  • Honey Lemon appears at Moondancer's party.
• "Do Princesses Dream Of Magic Sheep?"
  • The Mane Six refer to Tantabus as a "smoke monster".
  • Though the Cutie-Mark Crusaders' dream trilogy hint at allusions to "A Nightmare on Elm Street," what is undeniable in the movie series and this particular episode is that the Mane 6 all had dreams featuring the Tantabus, just as many of the teens in Wes Craven's masterpiece (and sequels) all had dreams of Freddy Krueger.
  • In Rainbow Dash's nightmare, insidiously innocuous and irritating flowers sing a sinister line with the melody of the iconic "I Love You, You Love Me," from PBS' Barney the Dinosaur.
  • Big McIntosh transforming into an alicorn during the shared dream resembles the transformation scenes in Sailor Moon, even the music is similar.
  • The episode title references Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.
• "Carousel Boutique"
  • Every one of Rarity's dress names is a shout out to something, with the Princess Dress being "The Reign in Stain". Sassy Saddles makes the allusion to Pygmalion even stronger by saying "The Reign in Stain is too complicated to explain".
• "Rarity Investigates!"
  • While Rarity questions the cake store owner, ponified versions of the BBC series versions of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson appear eating in the background. The two later reappear chasing what seems to be a pony version of Moriarty. It is worth noting that the Sherlock pony has a bee cutie mark, referencing his eventual fate as a beekeeper in the original stories.
  • Towards the beginning of the episode, a costume very closely resembling Missy's attire is shown as part of Rarity's collection.
  • Rarity's primary Shadow Spade outfit is a dead ringer for Carmen Sandiego.
• "Made in Manehattan"
  • Title alludes to "Maid in Manhattan".
  • Rarity briefly sets up a Friendship Booth, offering friendship help to those who need it. The stand looks a lot like Lucy's psychology stand from Peanuts, a pony wearing a blue version of Charlie Brown's shirt walks by it, and Rarity even says, "Good grief!"
  • One pony yells at a taxi cab, "I'm trottin' here!"
  • One of Coco Pommel's scrapbook photos is of a stage version of The Wizard of Oz, with Coco herself playing the part of Dorothy.
  • A couple of musical nods
    • "My Fair Filly"="My Fair Lady"
    • "Trotter on the Roof"="Fiddler on the Roof"
• "The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows"
  • Towards the end, Pinkie's eyes become blue spirals as she tries to keep herself from spilling Cadance's and Shining's good news to Twilight. The blue spirals also appeared in Roger Rabbit's eyes in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" as he tried to keep himself from finishing a jingle and reveal himself to the 'Who.'
  • The episode title itself is a reference to Friends and its Idiosyncratic Episode Naming.
  • Pinkie's friends as floating balloon heads like Junji Ito's Hanging Balloons.
  • The poster of "Smash Fortune" is a dead ringer for Doc Savage.
• "Hearthbreakers"
  • The title is a pluralized play on Pat Benatar's song "Heartbreaker."
  • The scenes where Pinkie and Applejack speak in sync, tête à tête (head to head), illustrate a classic animated comedic device. It can also be seen in the first episode of "My Life as a Teenage Robot," but probably was initiated by an earlier franchise.
• "Scare-Master"
  • When Fluttershy tries to convince her friends she can make a haunted house, she has a few dangling cardboard cutouts of some unusual ponies, looking suspiciously like Usagi, Rei, Utena, Bulma and Ranma.
  • There's an actual pony actually dressed as Sailor Moon, talking to another pony who's apparently supposed to be dressed as Jem, the comic relaunch of which hasn't been shy about nods to Friendship Is Magic either.
  • Angel being dressed as a vampire may be a nod to Bunnicula.
  • As Spike makes his entrance, he casts a large shadow on the castle wall akin to the shadow cast by the famed "Nosferatu," of silent film cinema.
  • Pinkie's candy bags (designed distinctly for each of her friends) is loosely reminiscent of such bags seen in the "Barney" and "Shining Time Station" series of PBS children's programming.
  • Harry's monster costume resembles "The Creature from the Black Lagoon".
• "What About Discord?"
  • When Pinkie suggests time travel, she briefly dresses as Marty McFly while the Back to the Future theme song plays.
  • The title and plot of the episode are allusions to the film, What About Bob? Discord even dresses up like the titular character, complete with a miniaturized snooze taking the role of the goldfish.
  • Discord paints in a Bob Ross outfit twice.
  • A second (within the series) nod to Snidley Whiplash by apparell can be seen, this time through Discord.
• "The Hoofields and the Mc Colts"
  • Featured in the pre-title scene, "Wuthering Hooves" and the character Hoothcliff (Hoofcliff) are direct shout-outs to Emily Brontë's 19th century classic "Wuthering Heights," and Heathcliff, one of the main characters.
  • Equestria's Smoky Mountain's are an exact reference to this reality's/Earth's Great Smoky Mountains bordering the states of North Carolina and Tennessee in the continental U.S.A. Before any more bridges should be considered however, the Hatfields and McCoys in our reality feuded in the Kentucky/West Virginia borderlands.
  • Twilight's spell to raise the volume of her voice is comparable to the Sonorous Amplifying Charm from Rowling's "Harry Potter/ Wizarding World" books and films. Their function is the same; their operation is different. Twilight cast an orb that travelled from her horn to her larynx while the Sonorous Charm involves pointing the wand and using the spell on the caster's throat.
  • The Hoofields enter the Mc Colt Fort through a Trojan carrot cake.
• "The Mane Attraction"
  • The setup to show Svengallop's true colors to Rara (and every other pony) are also exhibited in "Batman Returns" where Wayne and Alfred rain on the mayoral campaign of the Penguin after he destroys the batmobile and in "Knight Rider" episode 'White Line Warriors' where Michael Knight and KITT jam a local radio's frequency to reveal a corrupt sherriff's criminal dealings.
• "The Cutie Re-Mark"
  • The entire plot is quite similar to that of Back to the Future Part II, where the main antagonist uses time travel to change the past in his favor, causing the protagonists to end up in an alternate timeline with a Crapsack World . To fix the problem, the protagonists must go back to the exact time of when the antagonist altered the past and fix it so that the original timeline is (somewhat) restored.
    • The overall structure, however, has more in common with "Time And Punishment" from The Simpsons Treehouse Of Horror V, where various changes to the past cause a different alternate future.
  • The time tunnel that shows up in the air to suck Twilight and Spike whenever Starlight wins seens around version of the one that sucks Gwen in "Time Heals" from Ben 10: Alien Force.
  • The process of time-travel has some parallels with Stephen King's "11/22/63" where journeys back in time produce resettings for all characters who exist in the destination event (save time travelers ex: Starlight, Twilight, Spike). This prevents self-meets-self paradoxes. Additionally, the alteration of a significant event, like President Kennedy's assassination has catastrophic consequences for the future (examples: catastrophic earthquakes, lost lives, and acts of war in the novel and in the episode, a cycle from Sombra's imperialism to the climate of fear with the changelings to the tyranny of Nightmare Moon to the gluttony of Tirek to the unfettered chaos of Discord to Flim-Flam's aggressive redevelopment to finally a complete wasteland). More to the point, numerous alternate timelines in the novel and the episode that deviate from a fixed timeline gradually destroy the settings for the characters. The only remedy for this devastation is creating a timeline which matches the fixed timeline to a tee, demonstrated when Twilight gains Starlight's trust.
  • Both Twilight and Spike get to say Hard Reset (Eakin) "Well, that didn't work."]]
• Sombra's soldiers are a reference to the Death Guards from The Beastmaster

Season 6

• The Crystalling
  • Sunburst is a double whammy:
    • He told Starlight that he was "not the wizard you were expecting;" in a way like Oscar Diggs from "Oz: The Great and Powerful" revealed that he was not the wizard Glinda was expecting.
    • An incompetent, red-haired magic user with a scruffy beard who knows how magic works, but not how to use it, had a hard time at magic school, and, even though he considers himself a failure, still wears the traditional wizard garb, gets roped into something he wants (at first) no part in, and ends up saving the day. He's the Equestrian counterpart of Rincewind!
  • Flurry Heart's deafening cry which shatters the Crystal heart has strong similarities to Banshee's "Sonic Scream" attack from the X-men franchise.
• The Gift of the Maud Pie
  • The title is a play upon O Henry's "The Gift of the Magi," and the plot pattern is similar to the Christmas short story.
  • On the train to Manehattan in the beginning, Pinkie Pie bothers several ponies in the car, including Del Griffith, Neal Page and Kate McCallister.
  • One of the billboards in Manehattan's Times Square is a nod to Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Cats." It can also be glimpsed in Season 5 through a photo in Matilda's scrapbook during the pre-title sequence of "Slice of Life."
  • In addition to Manehattan's Lady Liberty and Times Square (seen in previous episodes), this episode offers three new locations that mirror landmarks from the real New York City: Manehattan's Grand Central Station, Central Park, and Rockafeller Plaza (or possibly for Manehattan: "Rockafilly Plaza").
  • The pony Pinkie (and later Maud) trades with is a composite character in terms of similarities. One potential reference is seen in his slight gangly frame, head shape, and gold tooth. All are characteristics shared with Mr. Gold/ Rumplestiltskin from "Once Upon a Time." The pony's mane is a halfway reference, being not as long as the O Ua T antihero's hair. As the character is a composite, the pony's New York accent and clothes are not nuances to Mr. Gold.
• On Your Marks
  • The scene where Sweetie Belle attempts to teach a vocal warm-up for Apple Bloom and Scootaloo is a nod to the classic 'Do Re Mi' song from "The Sound of Music."
• The Gauntlet of Fire
  • The title and competition is a nod to "The Goblet of Fire," and it's Tri-Wizard Tournemant from the "Harry Potter" series.
  • The scepter's function operates in a like manner to the sword Excalibur when lodged in the stone from Disney-Arthurian lore and again with "Harry Potter" the Deathly Hallows from book 7, as the three items gathered together make the gatherer "the master of death."
  • "Lord of the Rings" nods are also present, beginning with the horns of Ember and Torch, her father, which are positioned similarly to the Balrog's from "The Fellowship of the Ring," and "The Two Towers."
    • A more real-life similarity may be suggested specifically between Torch's horns and the death-mask of young pharoah Tutankhamen.
  • Torch's throaty English accent has a quality most in common with one of the three trolls Bilbo and the dwarves crossed in the first live-action Hobbit film. This was very likely unintentional, as throaty English and New Zealand accents have appeared many times recently in public cinema, television, web (and maybe radio) media. Other comparable vocal qualities can be heard in Ugluk, the Urukai leader who replaced Lurtz at the beginning of "The Two Towers" film, certain pirates belonging to Barbossa's and Davy Jones' crew from the Disney's first three "Pirates of the Caribbean" films, and Manu Bennett's Slade Wilson/Deathstroke in the live-action "Arrow" series.
  • In the strictest degree of coincidence, Dragon 2 's comical plan to steal every pillow from Equestria and his reason for doing so upon becoming Dragon Lord echo the grievance of the wild men of Dunland from "The Two Towers" film, who according to Saruman were driven out from their lands by Rohan "...into the hills to scratch a living off rocks." This cannot be mentioned without adding Garble's plans to burn and raid Equestria as Dragon Lord, echoing Saruman's command to the wild men to take back their lands from Rohan and "Burn every village!"
  • Ember's determination to challenge her father's doubt in her as a suitable successor mirror Eowyn's relationship with her uncle Theoden in "The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King." And as Eowyn in the latter film, Ember clads herself like a warrior to hide her identity as she takes on the gauntlet.
  • Rarity and Twilight appear with many improvised disguises including one resembling a rock to appear camouflaged in the presence of antagonistic dragons such as Garble. Two hobbits use their Elven cloaks to pass for rock just outside the Black Gate when two curious Easterlings break away from their unit to investigate a rock slide accidentally caused by Sam in "The Two Towers" movie.
  • Ember shares her name with another female dragon. Said dragon is from the video game: "Spyro: A Hero's Tail," an installment from the "Spyro the Dragon" series pre-dating the "Legend of Spyro" trilogy and the current "Skylanders"' franchise. The sleek appearance of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic's Ember, however is more reminiscent to Cynder in the reboot trilogy and "Skylanders." Furthermore, unlike quadrupedal Ember from the "Spyro the Dragon" series and Cynder from the reboot and "Skylanders" Equestria's Ember is bipedal and blue rather than pink or black.
• "No Second Prances"
  • Probably a subject with more similarities than those to be presented is the poster for Trixie's magic show. The "eyes without a face" (not to be confused with a Billy Idol song) element resembles the album cover for Styx's "The Grand Illusion!" the 1925 Francis Cugat cover illustration for "The Great Gatzby," and the novel cover appearing at the end of Season 4's My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode 'Daring Don't.' The crystal ball carries a more loose thematic reference to the album covers of Styx's "Crystal Ball;" and Electric Light Orchestra's (ELO) "Discovery."
    • Though pure coincidence, Trixie even says the words: "grand illusion."
  • The confrontation between Starlight, Trixie, and Twilight concludes with Starlight running off feeling used by Trixie and Twilight contemptuously telling the latter, "I hope you're happy!" Though Twilight said this line earlier in Season One's 'Look Before You Sleep,' the circumstance necessitating the statement in that episode had less in common with the 'I hope you're happy' intro to 'Defying Gravity' sung by Elphaba and Galinda in "Wicked." Summarily, Twilight's utterance of "I hope you're happy," in 'No Second Prances' was more in theme and mood to "Wicked's" use of the statement.
  • Hoofdini is a pun on Houdini.
  • The symbol adorning the top of Trixie's stage is Trixie's cutie mark, but the enlarged figure resembles the "hammer and sickle" once used to identify Communist factions. This is not as visible when Trixie's cutie mark is on her flank, hence why such a similarity is harder to suggest in her earlier episodes.
• "Newbie Dash"
  • The nickname Dash uses during her Twilight impression: "Reading Rainboom" is a play on the popular PBS program "Reading Rainbow."
    • And subsequently, the nickname during Dash's Fluttershy impression is "Care Mare," a singular pun on a plural franchise sharing the same adjective only attached to bears.
  • With the exception of two segments in Rainbow Dash's climatic fumble, the rest have similarities to specific accidents endured by characters in the following films: "Jingle All the Way," "How the Grinch stole Christmas," "Baby's Day Out," "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York," and "Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit." Also worth including many more scenes both in animated and live stories where cartoonish electric shock occurs.
• "A Hearth's Warming Tail"
  • The episode is a Whole-Plot Reference to How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (Snowfall Frost disliking the Hearth's Warming and trying to stop it for others) and A Christmas Carol (him being dissuaded from his plan by the ghosts of past, present, and future).
    • Specific in regards to an adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic, Applejack as the Spirit of Hearth's Warming Past is aptly clothed in Victorian attire; which is unusual for a portrayal mirroring the Ghost of Christmas Past save for another in the film "Scrooge" with Albert Finney as Ebeneezer.
    • Featherweight's counterpart in the tale-within-a-tale is a clear homage to Tiny Tim.
  • A spell to erase memories of a holiday on a massive scale has been previously shown with a few differences in "the curse" from the first season of "Once Upon a Time."
  • It is best to concur that the song "Hearth's Warming Eve is Here Once Again" contains no direct connections to any other song save an obvious foundation on several upbeat Christmas hymns and songs. The characteristic of the repeated song title between the lyrics in the opening song is shared though equitably distinct to Broadway number "Shoeless Joe."
  • "Say Goodbye to the Holiday" is a murmur of a reference to "Wicked's" "No Good Deed" solely by settings around cauldrons and similar tempos. But they have stronger differences than likenesses, most observedly in their melodies. More solid parallels can be seen (and heard) between "Say Goodbye to the Holiday" and "Don't Fall in Love" from "Beauty and the Beast: An Enchanted Christmas." Both take place during the Yuletide season and feature specters summoned by the singers (smoky windigos and green melody phantoms).
  • The Spirit of Hearth's Warming Yet To Come's song resembles "Yesterday, Tomorrow, and Today" from A Christmas Carol: The Musical's Christmas Future sequence.
  • Professor Flintheart has physical similarities and attitude to Professor Snape.
  • Likewise, Snowfall Frost’s outfit, featuring a pink coat and white cravat/jabot, brings to mind Miles Edgeworth.
• "The Saddle Row Review (Saddle Row & Rec)"
  • For starters, Saddle Row is a play upon London's Savile Road.
  • Next, there is a web silk-thin resemblance of store name "Rarity for You," and Broadway musical, "Crazy for You."
  • The interluding interviews in the episode refer to a comedic direction and or/scripting used occasionally in sitcoms like "Scrubs" and more often in "The Office," and "Parks and Recreation."
  • The reporter at the start of the show bears a physical resemblance to J. Jonah Jameson.
  • Plaid Stripes is similar to Mr. Whittandale's niece in the "The Jeffersons" episode: 'Who's the Fairest'. As Plaid's father threatens to raise Rarity's rent if his daughter is not employed and appeased, Mr. Whittendale, who owns the Jefferson Cleaners building, threatens to destroy the new lease he prepared for George if he does not pick Whittandale's immature and frankly untalented niece (dressed in common 80s punk apparel) to be Mrs. Jefferson Cleaners in the beauty pageant centered in the episode's plot. Plaid Stripes, however appears to have been designed more tacky than punk and more goofy than immature. Plus, Applejack even sees the silver lining of one of Plaid's eccentric ideas to improve "Rarity for You's" opening.
  • Likely a coincidental point, Mr. Stripes resembles the 007 ally and Russian kingpin played by Robbie Coltrane in "Goldeneye," and "The World is Not Enough."
  • The building that houses Rarity for You resembles the 96 and 98 East 8th Street buildings in Manhattan, best known for the cover of Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti.
• "Applejack's Day Off"
  • The title can be suggested as a reference to Ferris Bueller's Day Off, though the likelihood of it being suggested to reference many other similarly named stories is very high.
  • The scene in which Twilight is suspended via rope over Applejack's pigpen and stops falling just short of the ground clearly pays homage to the "Mission: Impossible" Cable Drop, complete with a brief snippet of the M:I theme.
• "Flutter Brutter"
  • A pony resembling Link can be seen hauling a cart full of Ruppies. Screen shot here.
• "Spice Up Your Life"
  • Apart from the pre-title sequence, much of this episode appears as a more bearable and G-rated cousin to the frequently swearing and callous staffs of restaurants in "Kitchen Nightmares," and "Restaurant Impossible."
  • A pony version of Gordon Ramsey can be seen in Zesty Gourmand's appearance.
  • Zesty Gourmand is basically a female Pony version of Anton Ego. Unfortunately unlike Ego she never actually tastes the food.
• "Stranger than Fan Fiction,"
  • The title is a shoutout to film "Stranger Than Fiction."
  • While Short Round from "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" bet the bridge was safe, Quibble Pants bet the opposite, and yet both received one bad hand of cards. In short, both bridges broke.
    • In fact, while mentioned earlier in this list for the previous Daring Do entries, this episode makes more profound allusions to the first, second, and fourth "Indiana Jones" movies. The references to "The Last Crusade" are more subtle such as Yearling telling Quibble and Rainbow that she plans to take the artifact to a museum just as Jones hoped to do with the Cross of Coronado, twice.
    • Crocazotl aka (the reptile that appears on cue towards the end of Quibble's in denial monologue) could be a reference to the giant crocodile boss Indy must outmaneuver at the end of the Ceylon level of "Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb."
  • The Amulet of Culican works like the Meerschaum pipe in "National Treasure."
• "The Cart Before the Ponies"
  • Rainbow Dash's cloud cart, its terrestrial counterpart, along with Apple Bloom's and Diamond Tiara's vehicles resemble barchettas. If they were nods to barchettas, there is an extra shoutout to a Rush song through Diamond Tiara's "Red Barchetta". Applejack's and Sweetie Belle's carts echo the Model T Ford.
  • In Rainbow Dash's cloud cart recollection, the music resembles the title melody to "Walking Down Your Street," by the Bangles.
• "28 Pranks Later":
  • The title is a nod to the horror film 28 Days Later.
  • Rainbow Dash completely avoids the Rube Goldberg defense Applejack set up against pranking her.
• "The Times they are a Changeling":
  • The title is a shoutout to Bob Dylan's song/poem "The Times they are a Changing".
  • The snowy plain where spike and the militia split up subtlety reminds one of the movie "The Thing," which was set in Antarctica. Apart from the snow and Thorax however, there are no direct nuances to the horror film.
  • Far from that, Thorax is in need of a friend yet is tragically misunderstand like Casper the Friendly Ghost. Additionally, upon seeing Thorax for the first time, Spike makes a exclamation of 'Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-cha-changeling!' much like the stammering cries of "gh-gh-gh-ghost!" (number of stutters varies) made in the Casper cartoons when someone discovers that Casper is a spirit.
  • Beyond a doubt coincidence, as the opening for "A Changeling Can Change" is played, Spike walks toward the crowd under a spotlight much like "Gotham's" Oswald Cobblepot moves as the Penguin from then end of the series' pilot onwards.
  • Spike's song thematically brings to mind Josh Groban's song 'Believe' from "The Polar Express" and 'When Dreams Do Come True' from Sight & Sound Theatre's musical stage production of "Joseph".
  • While they maybe conjectured as similar to the "Doctor Who's" Zygons and Agent Smiths from Matrix 2 and 3, by natural appearance, the changelings seem most like the spectralesque thestrals featured prominently in Harry Potter 5. This can be illustrated most clearly during Spike's song when at one moment, Thorax gallops despondently.
• "Dungeons and Discords":
  • A clear reference to "Dungeons and Dragons," even in the episode's titke. A preview for the second half of season 6 also shows Spike "Garbuckle" with staff and garb like Gandalf and Discord "Captain Was" with bow, vestments, and wig comparable with Legolas.
    • While less obvious, Big Mac as "Sir McBiggun" wears a particular helmet, which (disregarding the unicorn horn-hole), is highly reminiscent of the Iron and Steel helms from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
  • The voice of shrunken Discord when he arrives for Spike and Big Mac's Guy's Night is like Dwayne Johnson's character in "Tooth Fairy" when he is shrunk as an eponymous fairy to do his rounds.
  • The second half of the episode appears as an thrilling ode to "Hide and Q" from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Case in point, John De Lancie as Q being dissatisfied with the Enterprise crew for not entertaining his return and De Lancie as Discord being dissatisfied with Big Mac's and Spike's insistence on playing 'Ogres and Oubliettes'. Next, the brown gameboard in the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode is similar to the barren wasteland in the ST:TNG episode. Finally Discord's magic bubble for Big Mac being akin to the penalty box for Tasha Yar. Then mix these nuances with the general dichotomies of setting and overall plot in both episodes and here be one rocket launch of an entry to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
  • A second more profound reference to "The Mask" in this season is in this episode just before Discord really kicks the game up a notch. The zoot suit, fedora, and band adequately illustrate this.
  • The dogs at the table in Discord's club are similar to, and may actually be, characters from sister series "Pound Puppies."
  • The living cards are a classic reference to Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," and the menagerie of spinoffs and adaptions it has accrued.
• "The Fault in our Cutie Marks": The title is a take on "The Fault in Our Stars'' by John Green which is subsequently based on an exchange between Cassius and Brutus in Act One of William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar".
• "Viva Las Pegasus"
  • The episode's title is a play on Elvis's song "Viva Las Vegas." To take it a step further, Gladmane himself looks and even TALKS like Elvis, right down to saying "a-huh-huh" now and then.
• "Every Little Thing She Does"
  • Two words shy from the similarity to the Police song "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic."
  • When discussing with Starlight how to organize their activities to get her friendship lessons done, Pinkie Pie takes a line straight out of a song from LazyTown called "Cooking by the Book":
  "After all, (singing) it's a piece of cake to bake a pretty cake!"
  • Applejack's spellcast recitation of memories includes one visual reference to the ending of the film "Predator" and two quotation references to Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" and Stan Lee's "Spider-Man" (comic and films).
• P.P.O.V
  • This episode features loose characteristics with portions of films such as the beginning of "Overboard" and the climax of "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End."
  • Pinkie's account of the boat trip included a team of porter ponies with Rarity who board the ship to music resembling Ravel's "Bolero."
  • Rarity's outfit in Applejack's account is the same outfit Rose wore in "Titanic". She also performs the 'King of the World' pose on the bow of the ship as well.
• "To Where and Back Again Part 1 & 2"
  • The Changeling hive from the outside resembles the White Witch's castle as seen in the Film adaptation of "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe."
  • The ponies abducted by the changelings were sealed in slimy cocoons and that is one solid bond this story shares with the 1990s miniseries adapted from Stephen King's "It." Additional references to the novel version of "It" include the consumption of feelings by the changelings and as discovered towards the end of King's novel, the fact that both his monster and the changeling queen are female shapeshifters.
  • Chrysalis crawling out from the cocoons, with her limbs and head contorted backwards at disturbingly unnatural angles, is an overwhelming nod to The Exorcist, complete with her head going through the full 360 degree turn.
  • The Queen's defeat in this episode through the good feelings Thorax sends her way mirrors Charles Halloway's act of congenially hugging Mr. Dark to bring about the latter's fall in Ray Bradbury's "Something Wicked This Way Comes."
  • There's also the episode's title.

Season 7

• "Celestial Advice"
  • Twilight creates three personal fantasy scenes regarding Starlight's future on her own. While basically similar to the "Scrubs" fantasies, the trio in this episode were used more for plot than for laughs.
• "All Bottled Up"
  • The teacup poodle is similar to Frou Frou from Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" franchise (all films).
  • The female jeweler pony throws her sun visor at Trixie in like manner to Oddjob's bladed bowler hat in "Goldfinger."
• "A Flurry of Emotions"
  • There is a completely black painting in an art gallery. The artist responds to Cadence calling it dark by saying, "None more dark."
• "Rock Solid Friendship"
  • Maud and Starlight wander into a vast underground cavern with plants, a waterfall, and untold beauty, with Starlight saying, "Have you ever seen anything like this?" It's highly reminiscent of the Genesis Cavern from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which Dr. McCoy introduced by saying, "Have you ever seen the like?"
• "Parental Glidance"
  • While the title is a shout out to the Billy Crystal/Bette Midler comedy film "Parental Guidance," the scrapbook with numerous mementos ranging from the momentous to the embarrassing and Rainbow Dash's flashback mirror features seen in "Meet the Fockers".
• "Hard to Say Anything"
  • The title references the 80s high-school movie Say Anything....
  • The Cutie Mark Crusaders do the poses of the Angel's silhouettes in the opening of Charlie's Angels.
  • The three ponies who swoon over Feather Bangs are obviously a shout-out to the Bimbettes from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. They even got down to having the same hairstyles.
• "Fame and Misfortune"
  • The title refers to two "Fame and Fortune" titles, one by Elvis Presley, the other featured in the classic Rankin Bass "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" Christmas Special.
  • Starlight says that her book splicing spell was previously used to make copies of "a certain...(uncomfortable chuckles)...manifesto." Given the stern looks the other ponies give her, the manifesto could have been Karl Marx's "Communist Manifesto" or that of an Equestrian doppelgänger. If it was Marx's manifesto, it would fit with some fans' characterizations of Starlight during her first appearance, as a strict, charismatic socialist leader of a small village. It could also make sense as real-world references (however rare) have been made in "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic." For instance, Fluttershy mentions French haute couture in season one, Cheese Sandwich mentions Hawaiian shirts in Season 4, and Discord mention mentions Abyssinia in the same season, which is a name used by writers like Samuel Tayler Coleridge to refer to certain regions in North Africa.
• "Daring Done?"
  • The Indiana Jones shoutouts include Dr. Cabelleron taunting Daring Do and Pinkie Pie from a square hole at the tip of a pyramid, reminiscent of Belloq impugning Dr. Jones when the latter is in the Well of Souls in "Raiders of the Lost Ark." There is also the "leap of faith" that is seen at the end of "The Last Crusade."
  • Cabelleron turning the town of Somnambula against Daring Do parallels a situation in "The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger," by Stephen King. At the beginning of the book the villain persuades the people of Tull to turn against hero Roland Deschain when he arrives.

Season 8

• ”School Daze”
  • The episodes in this premiere and others featuring the School of Friendship and the Student/Creature Six (Gallus, Ocellus, Sandbar, Silverstream, Smolder, and Yona) parallels general dynamics between mutant students and teachers in the “X-Men” publications, TV series’, and films.
  • Chancellor Neighsay’s utilitarian approach to education is “for the greater good,” which is exactly why the Prince’s Steward literally whacked Jack’s Mother on the head in the live production of “Into the Woods” filmed before Disney’s version. Neighsay also is a hardliner on keeping Equestria safe from non-ponies, or so he claims. An ulterior factor in his motivation to shut down Twilight’s school could be a fear that the Friendship School would undermine his authority in the EEA. Such collateral intentions were suggested and later proved in the character of Cornelius Fudge in books 4 and 5 of the Harry Potter Series.
  • Furthermore, the Equestrian Education Association’s hearing room resembles that of the Ministry of Magic courtroom in the film versions of the books mentioned above.
• In the end of "The Break Up Break Down", when Spike asks about Skellinore, Discord replies that she is a "an imaginary, non-dimensional paper figure" (meaning she's not really alive). Spike sighs and says "Well, nopony is perfect."
• "Marks for Effort": In a homage to Dead Poets Society, the pony students in Spike's class have their hooves on the desks, saying "O Dragon, my Dragon".
• "A Matter of Principals"
  • Discord gets a phone call on a banana. Possibly a reference to an early episode of Phineas & Ferb, as well as the popular song "Banana Phone".
  • Discord barges in saying "Yo! Greetings, fellow creatures!", referencing the memetic scene from 30 Rock, even wearing a similar outfit to Steve Buscemi's character.
• "On The Road To Friendship"
  • Starlight's line in "We're Friendship Bound" about a buddy film with the protagonists in hoofcuffs is a reference to Midnight Run.
  • While trying to reclaim her wagon from Hoo'Far, Trixie lies on the ground in front of it to prevent him from leaving. This references the famous scene from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in which the protagonist, Arthur Dent, forestalls the city's efforts to demolish his house by lying on his back in front of the bulldozer.
• "Sounds of Silence":
  • When Autumn Blaze sings about the dilemma of the Kirin regarding the vow of silence taken by the village, there is a montage of several drama titles including Theatre/Hamilton and The Phantom of the Opera, which she created in-universe, and a campaign for political office with a banner reminiscent of both the Celestia "Obey" design and/or Obama's campaign "Hope" banners with the letters KIR(obviously meaning Kirin to be emboldened and capitalized) visible.
  • The title of the episode is a reference to song "The Sound of Silence," popularized by the pop duo Simon and Garfunkel.
• "School Raze - Part 1":
  • Tirek's slurping noise is based on the "liver with some fava beans" scene in The Silence of the Lambs (which, considering how Tirek and Cozy Glow's relationship strongly mirrors that of Lecter and Francis Dolarhyde, makes it more than fitting).

Season 9

• "The Beginning of the End — Part 1"
  • When Applejack mentions "cakewalk", Pinkie sticks cakes on her hind legs and begins moonwalking.
  • Grogar's history as an ancient tyrant and creator of monsters resembles that of Morgoth, villain of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion. His title of "Father of Monsters" is also similar to that of the Greek Titan Typhon, husband to the Mother of All Monsters Echidna.
• "She Talks to Angel": Antoine the python's attempt to eat Muriel the baby elephant are a reference to The Little Prince. The snake also shares its name with the book's author, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
• "The Big Mac Question":
  • The main characters (except for Sugar Belle and Big Mac) are interviewed along the episode, like in Surf's Up.
  • Early in the episode, Discord dresses himself, Spike and Big Mac as the Three Amigos", trying to persuade them to reveal their secret.
  • Discord's Skyward Scream reaching Ponyville (from Sweet Apple Acres!) seems a nod to Rolf's scream heard through the Cul-De-Sac in Rambling Ed.
  • The creepy talking apples scaring the ponies are a shout-out to the franchise Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!.
  • When Discord instructs the apples, he dresses again the Patton uniform he wore in "Twilight's Kingdom".
  • The Big Lebowsky ponies are back.
  • The ripples in the water bucket are a reference to the famous glass of water of Jurassic Park.
  • After Discord brings Sugarbelle to Big Mac, they call each others' names like in the end of the dinner scene of Shrek 2 (see it from3:14). Discord, of course, won't let it pass.
  • Granny Smith finishes her sci-fi dream saying that her late husband told her he had been "Where nopony has gone before".
  • When the Mane Six show up to defeat King Sombra, Pinkie says "The cavalry's here!", which is a reference to Tracer's Catchphrase - "Cheers, love! The cavalry's here!". This was a known phrase before Overwatch.
• "Sparkle's Seven":
  • The title is a Shout-Out to Ocean's Eleven.
  • During her space fantasy, Pinkie flies past The Little Prince’s planetoids.(It looks like the baobabs got out of hand in the Little Prince’s absence.)
• "The Ending of the End" parodies Pinky and the Brain:
  Pinkie Pie: What are we gonna do, Twilight?
  Twilight Sparkle: The same thing we do every time, Pinkie: Try to save the world.
  

No Celebrities Were Harmed

• Hoity Toity is a clone of German designer Karl Lagerfeld (with Tim Gunn's accent).
• Photo Finish is Vogue editor Anna Wintour (with Karl Lagerfeld's accent).
• The manly tennis player pony in "Call of the Cutie" and "Luna Eclipsed" is based on Andre Agassi (before he started shaving his head)
• The backstage manager at the Best Young Flyer competition in "Sonic Rainboom" who later appears as a unicorn with a different cutie mark in "Putting Your Hoof Down" is based on Lucille Ball.
• Mulia Mild's name, career, and voice are all based on Julia Child.
• The Royal Wedding of Shining Armor and Princess Cadance is a shout out to the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, down to the red coat and blue sash that Shining Armor wears (not to mention the shamrocks of the Irish Guards on his collar!) and the timing of the episode (close to Will and Kate's 1st anniversary).
  • Gets even more obvious, when you realize that the Production Lead Time is one year!
• Cover B◊ (and by extension, the Midtown Comics variant cover) of the upcoming Issue #1 of IDW's comic books includes a cameo by The Hoof Beats, who appear to be the pony equivalent of The Beatles.
• The ponies from The Hub's Web Games The Fabulous PonyMaker and/or Rarity's Bridal Boutique can look like Lady Gaga if the player designs them that way.
• In episode "Putting Your Hoof Down", the motivational speaker (and minotaur) Iron Will is voice-acted to mimic and parody Anthony Robbins, life coach and motivational speaker.
• One of the background characters was eventually dubbed "Time Turner" by the staff after fans noticed he looked like David Tennant's portrayal of The Doctor from Doctor Who. A few of his appearances (and one of his collectible cards) directly reference lines or scenes from episodes in which Tennant played the Doctor.
  • Expies of the Doctor as portrayed by John Pertwee, Peter Davison, and Matt Smith have also appeared in-show, and they have the same cutie mark as Time Turner. Their cutie mark: An hourglass.
  • It gets better. While he was eventually named Time Turner, some time after that it was officially changed to Dr. Hooves, which is as close as they can get to his fan name without getting sued. It's after this point that he starts doing things like wearing 3D glasses and hanging out with Roseluck (who is called simply "Rose" the one time she was called by name, much earlier.)
  • "Slice of Life" runs with this, making him a super-smart yet quirky scientist with a British accent and a house that looks suspiciously like the inside of the TARDIS. In the end he shows up wearing the famous super-long scarf from the Fourth Doctor and says, "Allons-y," the Tenth Doctor's catchphrase.
    • The scientist gets fashion advice from three bowling ponies who look suspiciously familiar.
    • While the monster that attacks the town is referred to as a bugbear, it's clearly part bee, part bear — a Bumblebear.
• In "The Last Roundup" there are several shout out to the classic western series Gunsmoke. The city of Dodge Junction is named after Dodge City and Cherry Jubilee bares a strong resemblance to brothel owner Miss Kitty.
  • The music at the beginning of the episode, when Applejack is practicing her rodeo events, is very similar to the theme from Bonanza.
• The title and the plot of "Filli Vanilli" is in reference to the 90s band Milli Vanilli, who lost their Grammys due to having someone else sing their songs behind the scenes while the two frontmen took credit.
  • The Ponytones may also be a Shout-Out to a South African band named The Parlotones.
  • Or American band Deftones. After all, one of their members is a white pony.
• Coco Pommel's name and looks are based on Coco Chanel. ^note  In fact, this is why she was renamed "Miss Pommel" afterward, as Chanel sued Hasbro due to the similarity.
• Cheese Sandwich IS "Weird Al" Yankovic, to the point of looking a lot like him (you know, for a pony) and even being voiced by him.
• In "Party Pooped," there is the entire life of a pony version of The Beatles with Pinkie as Ringo Starr, in one afternoon!
• In "What about Discord", said character briefly appears on two occasions with the hair, beard, talent, and (subtly) voice of painter Bob Ross.
• Countess Coloratura is a pony version of Lady Gaga, in addition to being voiced by an actual celebrity, Lena Hall, whom Coloratura/Rara resembles in her non-Countess form.
• Coincidently, "The Mane Attraction" aired during the broadcast of "American Horror Story: Hotel," where Lady Gaga plays a character called "The Countess."
• Svengallop's voice resembles Monte Durham's from TLC's "Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta."
• No exact inspirations can be said of the silent pony in the blue suit whom Rainbow Dash hires in "The Saddle Row Review;" guesses are that his appearance is subtly similar to that of Monte Durham and Carson Kressley.

Other

• Even the advertising for the show gets in on this.
  • This commercial features "Equestria Girls", a commercial-exclusive Pinkie Pie song, which is a direct riff on "California Gurls" by Katy Perry (ft. Snoop Dogg).
  • This commercial features part of "Are You Ready for the Summer" as sung by Pinkie Pie, Dan, and Megatron.
  • There's also this billboard in Los Angeles that is a parody of a billboard advertising Bridesmaids.
    • That was followed by a new ad on the same billboard parodying Poltergeist to promote the second season.
  • And in the vein of older iPhone commercials... There's a pony for that. It even includes a pony for fan-blog Equestria Daily.
  • And now there's a new ad parodying Mad Men in the Los Angeles newspaper◊.
  • And Now We have this:
    Narrator: Without them the Grand Galloping Gala would be neither Grand nor Galloping. They are The Most Interesting Ponies in the World.
    Pinkie Pie: (in a Spanish accent) I don't always watch tv, but when I do, I prefer My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
    Twilight Sparkle: Stay pony, my friends.
  • For Easter Sunday in 2014, there was a commercial for a Hub Sunday Sing-Along. What better way to do it than to have Pinkie Title Drop a song from the movie phenomenon that brought sing-alongs back thanks to its astounding popularity?
  Pinkie Pie: So get ready to let it go and sing your heart out!
  • The official promo for Season 7 is a recreation of the intro and theme from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
  • The official promo for Season 8 is a recreation of the theme song from Saved by the Bell.
• The officially licensed shirts and bags have a lot of shout outs. This shirt is inspired by illustrator Hajime Sorayama, and may also be a reference to something else. It should be noted, however, that the shirts by We Love Fine are not designed in-house by Hasbro, but instead by designers who specialize in pop culture, as well as featuring contest-winning designs submitted by fans.
• Pretty much any town or city mentioned in the show and/or shirts other than Ponyville is a direct reference to some location from real life. Canterlot is based on Camelot and Canterbury, Fillydelphia on Philadelphia, and so on.
• A poster◊ that showed up at Hasbro's booth at a licensing expo was adorned with, in familiar writing, the caption of This is Vın̈yl Scratch.
• Pinkie Pie in general is a Shout-Out to the Looney Tunes.
• In the comic detailing the Nightmare Forces attacking Ponyville, you can briefly see Time Turner holding a Sonic Screwdriver.
  • Also his trading card (which was where his name was first revealed) declares him to be a time keeper. In charge of 'keeping Ponyville's clocks in sync, setting the hourglass for cider competitions, and pretty much all things timey-wimey'.
  • The name Time Turner may even be an alias, since in the official guide, his name is listed as Doctor Hooves. Due to the whole 'Timey-Wimey' bit, it may be inferred that either this is a different iteration of the character, or he may have changed his name if he regenerated. Fanon, after all, holds that Doctor Hooves is The Doctor himself!
  • In "Zen and the Art of Gazebo Repair", Time Turner is seen holding a pocket watch out to Derpy, saying "This watch is me."
• Fluttershy's Cutie Mark resembles the shirt Hannah, Sid's sister, wore in the original Toy Story. The only major difference seems to be they have blue instead of purple on them.
• Word of God reveals that Discord was inspired by Star Trek: The Next Generation character Q. (some Fanon declares them to be one and the same). (It doesn't hurt these theories that Discord is voiced by John de Lancie.)

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