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 eighth season of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. Entries on this page must follow the similarity guidelines.
During the party planning cave scene, Mudbriar uses a method of loci technique similar to that of Sherlock Holmes in the BBC television series Sherlock.
During Pinkie's hallucination, Rainbow Dash says "Slow and steady wins the race," the moral behind the fable The Tortoise and the Hare.
The title is a real-life English aphorism: "fake it 'til you make it", which suggests that if one pretends to be confident, competent, and optimistic in mindset, they'll eventually achieve those qualities in real life.
The title is a reference to the since-ended explicit video series Girls Gone Wild.
The Wild Blue Yonder rollercoaster shares its name with lyrics from the official song of the United States Air Force.
The photo of Spitfire and Misty Fly playing chess on the rollercoaster is a reference to the Roller Coaster Chess fad which originated from the webcomic xkcd.
Applejack refers to Granny Smith and her friends as the "Gold Horseshoe Girls", a reference to the TV series The Golden Girls.
Two ponies in line to ride the Wild Blue Yonder resemble Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith from the Adult Swim animated series Rick and Morty.[2][3]
Another pony in line—Buried Lede with a goatee and different eye color, cutie mark, and attire—resembles Walter White from the AMC original series Breaking Bad.
When Spike takes over the class, Twilight returns to hear the students say "O dragon, my dragon...", a reference to the film Dead Poets Society, which, in turn, referenced the Walt Whitman poem O Captain! My Captain!.
When Cozy Glow meets with Starlight Glimmer, Starlight softly says "I'm listening...", a reference to Frasier Crane, the title character of the NBC sitcom Frasier.
The title is a wordplay on the phrase "matter of principles".
While posing as a School of Friendship student, Discord dresses and acts like Steve Buscemi in season six, episode eight of 30 Rock, "The Tuxedo Begins".
In the credits, the ponies who beckon Smolder to join their tea party are referred to as "StepfordPonies1and2". This is a reference to the thriller novel, The Stepford Wives, which portrays an idyllic New England town where all the women are murdered and replaced by robotic perfect housewife duplicates. The story was adapted multiple times, notably in in 1975 by Bryan Forbes, and recently, in 2004 by Frank Oz.
The 1941 film Citizen Kane, with the scene where Autumn gives a speech in front of a backdrop of Rain Shine
The novel/musical The Phantom of the Opera, with the lyric ""story about the Kirin who hid below an opera stage"
Autumn Blaze asking "Is some Kirin trapped in a well?" is a reference to the 1954 TV series Lassie. In one episode, Lassie gets trapped in a well and is in need of rescue. Contrary to popular belief, there was never an episode where the character of Timmy got trapped in the well.
The scene in which the Mane Six interrogate Tirek in Tartarus is similar to Clarice Starling interrogating Hannibal Lecter in the 1988 novel/1991 film The Silence of the Lambs.
