List of allusions/Pony Life

Pony Life

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: Pony Life. Entries on this page must follow the similarity guidelines.

Development

• The series' art style is inspired by cartoons produced by United Productions of America and various anime.
• Rainbow Dash's tendency to spin like a ball when she goes fast is similar to Sonic the Hedgehog's signature "Spin Dash" technique.
  • At the beginning of Potion Mystery, Rainbow Dash's mane is styled like Sonic's quills, she runs super-fast like Sonic, and her line "Gotta go dash!" is a play on Sonic's catchphrase "Gotta go fast!"

Season one

Princess Probz

• Princess Celestia calling Pinkie Pie's dessert "raw" is a reference to when Gordon Ramsay spouts similar dismissals to his contestants on cooking reality shows like Hell's Kitchen.

Cute-pocalypse Meow

• The title is a reference to the 1979 film Apocalypse Now.

How Applejack Got Her Hat Back

• The title is a reference to the 1998 film How Stella Got Her Groove Back.
• The background music during Applejack's fantasy as an airplane pilot sounds similar to Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone".

Bad Thing No. 3

• Rarity's crazed behavior and gravelly voice in Part 2 are similar to Gollum in The Lord of the Rings.

The Trail Less Trotten; Death of a Sales-Pony

The Trail Less Trotten

• The title is a reference to the 1978 M. Scott Peck book The Road Less Traveled.
• The Trail Trotters organization and focus on earning badges is similar to both Boy Scouts of America and Girl Scouts of the USA.
• Fluttershy's line "I'll just be a pony standing in front of a dolphin" is a reference to a similar line in the 1999 film Notting Hill.

Death of a Sales-Pony

• The title is a reference to the 1949 Arthur Miller stage play Death of a Salesman.
• Fluttershy specifically mentions the William Shakespeare play Hamlet.
• Pinkie Pie following a trail of crumbs in the woods to a house made of sweets is a reference to Hansel and Gretel.
  • The house having chicken legs is also a reference to the folktale of Baba Yaga.

Bighoof Walking; The Fluttershy Effect

Bighoof Walking

• Edvard Munch's painting The Scream appears in Fluttershy's cottage.
• The legend of Bighoof is nearly identical to the real-life legend of Bigfoot.
• Marepedia is a play on Wikipedia.
• "Scaryravioli" is a play on creepypasta.

The Fluttershy Effect

• The title is a reference to the chaos theory concept and/or the 2004 film.

The Fast and the Furriest; Disappearing Act

The Fast and the Furriest

• The title is a reference to the Fast & Furious film series.
  • The episode's title card logo is even modeled after the logo of the film series' first installment.

Badge of Shame; Discord's Peak

Discord's Peak

• The title and plot are a reference to the 1997 film Dante's Peak.
• Rarity's line "You can lead a draconequus, but you can't make it take a drink" is a reference to the expression "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink".

A Camping We Will Go; Campfire Stories

A Camping We Will Go

• The title is a reference to the 1777 folk song/nursery rhyme "A-Hunting We Will Go".
• Applejack's "I don't know but I've been told" song is in the style of U.S. military sound-offs.

Campfire Stories

• Rainbow Dash's line "You're making it sound like a kitchen nightmare!" is a reference to the reality television series Kitchen Nightmares.
• Twilight's line "It was the best of times... it was the best of times!" is a reference to the famous opening sentence to the 1859 Charles Dickens novel A Tale of Two Cities.

Potion Mystery; Sick Day

Potion Mystery

• Spike wearing sunglasses and going "YEEEEEAH!" with a city backdrop behind him whenever someone says a pun or play on words is a reference to the television series CSI: Miami and its theme song.

Meet Potion Nova!; Pony Surfin' Safari

Pony Surfin' Safari

• The myth of the Cute Triangle is similar to the Bermuda Triangle and the urban/paranormal legends surrounding it.

All Bottled Up; All That Jitters

All Bottled Up

• The alternate title "Bottle Episode" refers to a type of episode in television that is cheaply produced and restricted to use as few characters, effects, and sets as possible.

I, Cookie; Keynote Pie

I, Cookie

• The title is a reference to the 1950 Isaac Asimov science fiction novel I, Robot and/or its 2004 film adaptation.
• Pinkie shouting "It's alive!" is a reference to the 1931 film Frankenstein.
• Pinkie being tied to the ground by the living cookies is a reference to the 1726 novel Gulliver's Travels.

Ponies of the Moment; One Click Wonder

Ponies of the Moment

• YouHoof is a play on YouTube.

One Click Wonder

• The title is a play on "one hit wonder".
• Rarity receives an e-mail from someone in "Neigh-geria", referencing a well-known form of advance-fee scam commonly referred to as the "Nigerian Prince scam".
• During Pinkie's "hilarious original content in a bite-sized package" line, the tablet screens around her are references to famous real-life internet memes (from top to bottom, left to right):
  • Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music
  • Business Cat
  • Yutaro Katori in The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird ("Is this a pigeon?")
  • Doge
  • Boromir in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring ("One Does Not Simply Walk into Mordor")
  • Success Kid
  • Gene Wilder in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (Condescending Wonka)
  • Homer Simpson in The Simpsons ("Homer Simpson Backs Into Bushes")

Zound Off; Unboxing Day

Zound Off

• The title is a play on "sound off".
• Twilight giving a speech with "TWI" in large red lettering behind her is a reference to TED Talks.

Don't Look a GIF Horse in the Mouth; The Root of It

Don't Look a GIF Horse in the Mouth

• The title is a reference to the idiom "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" and the GIF image format.

The Root of It

• Twilight's "massive immersive virtual reality simulation" is a reference to The Matrix.
• Chums is a reference to the 1994 television sitcom Friends.
  • The Mane Six also hang out by a water fountain, referencing Friends' opening sequence.

The Mysterious Voice; The 5 Habits of Highly Effective Ponies

The 5 Habits of Highly Effective Ponies

• The title is a reference to the 1989 self-help book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
• Rarity's line "to neigh or nay to neigh" is a reference to the famous monologue in William Shakespeare's Hamlet beginning with "To be, or not to be".

Game Knight; Director Spike's Mockumentary

Game Knight

• The title is a play on "game night".
• Perfect Pitch-tionary is a reference to/play on Pictionary.

Director Spike's Mockumentary

• When Rarity suggests making a "romantic Ponywood epic", the picture shown is a reference to a theatrical poster for the 1939 film Gone with the Wind.
• Twilight mentions "The Day Before Tomorrow", a reference to the 2004 film The Day After Tomorrow.

Whoof-dunnit; Dear Tabby

Whoof-dunnit

• The title is a play of "whodunit", a variety of mystery/detective story in which the main focus is determining the culprit of a crime.

Dear Tabby

• The title is a reference to the real-life advice column Dear Abby and Rarity's voice actress Tabitha St. Germain.
• Mane of Thrones is a reference to/play on Game of Thrones.
  • At one point, Rarity is dressed like Daenerys Targaryen from the series and calls herself "Rare-eesi", a play on Daenerys' alias "Khaleesi".
• Applejack's line "Oh, what a beautiful mornin'!", a reference to the song "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" from the musical Oklahoma!

Pie vs. Pie; Superb Six

Superb Six

• The episode's plot is similar to the reality television series Queer Eye (originally titled Queer Eye for the Straight Guy).
  • The title and name "Superb Six" is a reference to the collective hosts of Queer Eye, the "Fab Five".

The Rarity Report; The Great Divide

The Rarity Report

• Herd Happily is a reference to Perd Hapley, a fictional television newscaster on NBC's Parks and Recreation.
• Rarity's "don't cry for me" line is a reference to the song "Don't Cry for Me Argentina".

Season two

Cute Impact; The Crystal Capturing Contraption

Cute Impact

• The title and plot are a reference to the 1998 film Deep Impact.

The Crystal Capturing Contraption

• Fluttershy's "Peter Pony" tongue twister is based on the real-life tongue twister "Peter Piper".
• Fiddler on the Hoof is a play on/reference to Fiddler on the Roof.

The Comet Section; Cotton Candy-Colored Glasses

The Comet Section

• Ponpernicus is a play on/reference to Nicolaus Copernicus.
• eNeigh is a play on eBay.

Close Encounters of the Balloon Kind; The Tiara of Truth

Close Encounters of the Balloon Kind

• The title is a reference to the 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
• Lamilton is a play on/reference to the 2015 musical Hamilton.
  • The song Rarity sings is based on the song "The Room Where It Happens" from the musical.

The Tiara of Truth

• In Gummy's sugar-induced fantasy sequence, he gobbles up cubes of sugar in a manner similar to Pac-Man.
• Fluttershy's brunch fantasy sequence is based on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, with Angel Bunny dressed as the Mad Hatter.

Terrorarium; Bubble Trouble

Terrorarium

• The rock music that plays during the Mane Six's fight against Hawthorne sounds similar to "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC.

Planet of the Apps; Back to the Present

Planet of the Apps

• The title is a play on the science fiction franchise Planet of the Apes.
• Fluttershy's line "Take me to your leader!" is a popular catchphrase used in science-fiction.

Back to the Present

• The title is a play on the 1985 film Back to the Future.
• Ponies using banana-shaped phones is a reference to the children's song "Bananaphone" from the 1994 album of the same name by Raffi and Michelle Creber's father Michael Creber.
• "Sprout, Sprout, Let It All Out" is a reference to the Tears for Fears song "Shout".

Magical Mare-story Tour; Life of Pie

Magical Mare-story Tour

• The title is a play on the Beatles album Magical Mystery Tour.

Life of Pie

• The title is a play on the 2001 Yann Martel novel Life of Pi.
  • The episode's title card is even based on the novel's cover and 2012 film adaptation poster.

The Rarest of Occasions; Portal Combat

The Rarest of Occasions

• David Mane-et and Glengrassy Glen Crop are references to David Mamet and Glengarry Glen Ross.
• Coleslaw & Order is a reference to Law & Order.

Portal Combat

• The title is a play on the Mortal Kombat video game franchise.

Playwright or Wrong; The Shows Must Go On

Playwright or Wrong

• A poster on the side of the Ponyville Theater building resembles the official poster for the Broadway musical Wicked.

The Shows Must Go On

• Rarity's line "Alas, poor teapot! I knew you well!" is a reference to a speech beginning with "Alas, poor Yorick!" in William Shakespeare's Hamlet.
• The posters on the Crystal Globe theater building are a reference to The Phantom of the Opera.
• Rarity's line "Lend me your ears!" is a reference to a speech beginning with "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears" in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.
• Rarity's line "Parting is such sweet sorrow" is a reference to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
• Rarity's line "A funny thing happened on the way to the theater" is a reference to the Stephen Sondheim musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

Magic is Ahoof; Journey to the Center of the 'Cord

Journey to the Center of the 'Cord

• The title is a play on the 1864 Jules Verne novel Journey to the Center of the Earth.
• Discord's final line "Aren't I a stinker?" is a reference to how Bugs Bunny would sometimes close out classic Looney Tunes cartoons with the line "Ain't I a stinker?"

One Last Wish; Wild Heart Beats

One Last Wish

• The Pirates of Penprance is a play on The Pirates of Penzance.
• Jurassic Horse is a play on Jurassic Park.
• Independence Hay is a play on the 1996 film Independence Day.