List of allusions/Storybooks

The following is a list of allusions to other My Little Pony generations, works of fiction, people, places, events, and other cultural touchstones in the series My Little Pony Friendship is Magic storybooks. Entries on this page must follow the similarity guidelines.

Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell

 * Chapter 1 makes mention of a place called San Franciscolt, a play on San Francisco, California.
 * Two books in Twilight's library are titled "The Princess Bridle," a reference to The Princess Bride, and "Purple Reign," a reference to the song Purple Rain.
 * A line by Pinkie Pie in chapter 6 mentions "Sparkle's Six," a reference to Ocean's Eleven. Alternatively, this could be a reference to the title characters referred to as the "Mane Six."
 * Rarity mentions a place called Mythica, Neigh York, a play on Ithaca, New York.
 * There are two allusions to the brony fandom: Twilight Sparkle calls Cadance her "pegasister-in-law," and Cadance says that her destiny was to lead other ponies with "True Love and Tolerance."

Pinkie Pie and the Rockin' Ponypalooza Party!

 * The featured event of the book, Ponypalooza, is a reference to the annual music festival Lollapalooza.
 * The book makes numerous references to various musical performers and bands:
 * Nine Inch Tails (Nine Inch Nails)
 * Switchhoof (Switchfoot)
 * Neigh-Z (Jay-Z)
 * Coldhay (Coldplay)
 * The Whooves (The Who)
 * John Mare (John Mayer)

Equestria Girls: Through the Mirror

 * Pinkie Pie makes mention of "Canterlot Idol," a reference to the reality television series American Idol.

Rainbow Dash and the Daring Do Double Dare

 * A landmark in the new Daring Do book is called Mount Vehoovius, a play on Mount Vesuvius.
 * Applejack mentions a place called South Amareica, a clear play on the continent of South America.

Rarity and the Curious Case of Charity

 * Chapter 1 makes mention of a place called Neigh Mexicolt, a play on the U.S. state of New Mexico.
 * Rarity imagines herself as a fairytale character named Raponyzel, a play on Rapunzel.
 * In chapter 5, Charity mentions having studied abroad in Mare-is, Prance, a play on Paris, France.
 * In chapter 7, Charity mentions buying a sun hat from Neighcy's, a play on the Macy's chain of department stores.

The Journal of the Two Sisters

 * Granny Smith's entry begins, "Four cores and seven seeds ago..." a play on the famous opening words of the Gettysburg Address.

Applejack and the Honest-to-Goodness Switcheroo

 * Rarity mentions PegasUs Weekly, a reference to the magazine Us Weekly.
 * Two of the apples trees are named after people who work on the show. Steffan is named after orchestrator Steffan Andrews and Big Jim is named after director "Big" Jim Miller.
 * Pinkie Pie sings a ditty to the tune of "I've Been Working on the Railroad."
 * Rainbow Dash mentions a Pegasus named "Darwing" after talking about "Survival of the Leafiest," a reference to British scientist Charles Darwin and his studies on evolution.
 * Pinkie Pie mentions a writer of one of Twilight's books named Cart Bacon, whose name is a reference to American astronomer, Carl Sagan.

Daring Do and the Marked Thief of Marapore

 * Marapore is a play on Mayapore from the Indiana Jones franchise.
 * Two of the villages at the base of Mount Vehoovius are called Ponypeii, a reference to Pompeii, and Lusitano, a reference to the Lusitano breed of horse.

Daring Do and the Eternal Flower

 * The story shares numerous similarities with the film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, such as the main character's search for a missing family member, an ally that later turns out to be an enemy, and a priceless treasure being hidden in plain sight among various fake or misleading treasures.

Fluttershy and the Fine Furry Friends Fair

 * Flim and Flam introduce themselves as Farnum and Failey, a reference to Barnum and Bailey, two circus personalities who, along with Ringling Bros., created the famous circus, The Greatest Show on Earth.
 * One of the ponies thinks that Fluttershy, when dressed as a shepherd, is acting as Little Pony Peep, a reference to the nursery rhyme, Little Bo Peep.
 * Twilight mentions Trotland and Bales, parodies of Scotland and Wales.
 * Applejack's last line, "That'll do, Fluttershy. That'll do." is a reference to the line "That'll do, pig. That'll do." from the book The Sheep-Pig or Babe, the Gallant Pig as it is known in the United States, and its film adaptation, Babe.

Princess Celestia and the Summer of Royal Waves

 * The country of Monacolt is a reference to the country of Monaco.
 * The part where Celestia asks her students to tear up their essays is a reference to the late Robin Williams telling his students to tear out the introduction of their textbooks in the film Dead Poets Society.
 * Rainy Air says, "I like raindrops on roses. But that's more a favorite thing than a fun thing." This is a reference to a lyric from "My Favorite Things" from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music.

Discord and the Ponyville Players Dramarama

 * There are several parodies of Broadway musicals in this novel:
 * The Singing Stallion, the play that the Ponyville Players put on, is a parody of Meredith Willson's The Music Man.
 * The lead character of Professor Hayloft Shill is a parody of "Professor" Harold Hill.
 * The role of Mare-ion Pear is a parody of the female lead, Marion "The Librarian" Paroo.
 * The song "Bubbles" is a parody of the Act I song "Ya Got Trouble".
 * The song "Fifty-Six Trombones" is a parody of "Seventy-Six Trombones".
 * Discord hopes to get the role of Captain Von Scrapp in Hinny of the Hills, a parody of Captain Von Trapp in Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music.
 * He also hopes to get Pone Valpone in Les Miser Stables, a parody of Jean Valjean from Les Misérables.
 * He also hopes for Corny Cauliflower in Manespray, a parody of Corny Collins from Hairspray.
 * Cheerilee's audition song is "Fillies Just Want to Have Fun", a parody of Cyndi Lauper's hit song, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun".
 * Discord's audition song is "Singin' in the Chocolate Rain", a parody of the 1920s song "Singin' in the Rain", later made famous by Gene Kelly's rendition in the film of the same name.
 * Fluttershy's line "There are no small parts, only small ponies" is paraphrased from an expression commonly attributed to Konstantin Stanislavsky: "There are no small parts, only small actors."
 * Discord's pony alias is "Tony Stanza", a play on actor Tony Danza's name.
 * Discord's goldfish is named Quincy, or "Q" for short, a reference to John de Lancie's Star Trek role.

Princess Luna and the Festival of the Winter Moon

 * In chapter 5, the Cutie Mark Crusaders ask the Mane Six if they are playing Monopony or Settlers of Canterlot, but Pinkie responds they are playing Whisk. These are parodies of the board games Monopoly, Settlers of Catan, and Risk respectively.
 * The title of chapter 8, "Dreamwalking in a Winter Wonderland", is a reference to lyrics in the 1934 Christmas song "Winter Wonderland".
 * In chapter 10, Apple Bloom references the "Deal with it" meme when she puts on a pair of moonglasses and says this phrase.
 * In chapter 13, Rarity mentions the department store chain Bloomingtail's, a play on the real-life department store chain Bloomingdale's.
 * In chapter 16, Pinkie says the Tarax Hippo is "hungry! Like... hungry, hungry!" This is a reference to the Milton Bradley game Hungry Hungry Hippos.

Lyra and Bon Bon and the Mares from S.M.I.L.E.

 * The title is a reference to the 1960s spy TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E..
 * Chapter 3 is titled "True Lyra", a parody of the 1994 Arnold Schwarzenegger action comedy film True Lies.
 * Icons and landmarks in Manehattan mentioned in chapter 4 include the Neighcy's Harvest Balloon Parade, the Crystaller Building, and the Stockyard Exchange, which allude to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Chrysler Building, and New York Stock Exchange respectively.
 * Many of the agents working for S.M.I.L.E. are named after the NATO phonetic alphabet, such as Alpha Hoof, Bravo, Foxtrot, and Tango.
 * Chapter 7 is titled "Mares in Black", a reference to the popular UFO conspiracy theory about "Men in black", which, in turn, inspired a successful comic and film franchise of the same name.
 * The Saddle Hawkins dance is a parody of the Sadie Hawkins dance, in which girls ask boys to the dance. The tradition originated in the comic strip Li'l Abner.
 * Chapter 12 is titled " It's Element-ary, Dear Bon Bon", a reference to the phrase "Elementary, my dear Watson", often attributed to, but never actually said by, Sherlock Holmes. (Even though he never says it in the novels, he says it in the film adaptations starring Basil Rathbone.)

Princess Cadance and the Spring Hearts Garden

 * Chapter 9 is titled "Panic! at the Castle", a reference to the American pop rock band Panic! at the Disco.
 * Chapter 13 is titled "The Horse Awakens", a reference to the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Princess Twilight Sparkle and the Forgotten Books of Autumn

 * Chapter 11 is titled "Little Shop of Ponies", a reference to the 1960 Roger Corman film The Little Shop of Horrors, which was later made into the popular Alan Menken/Howard Ashman stage musical, Little Shop of Horrors.

Trixie and the Razzle-Dazzle Ruse

 * The plot is loosely based on the Greek myth of King Midas and the Golden Touch.