Baby Cakes

• Pound and Pumpkin Cake's mannerisms mirror those of Bam Bam and Pebbles, respectively, of the Flintstones series.
• The brief screeching violins that play when Pinkie Pie finds Pound Cake on the ceiling echo the musical piece The Murder, made famous by the film Psycho, while the scene itself is an homage to the film Trainspotting.
• The music that plays when Pinkie Pie urges the Cakes to pick her as babysitter is based on Aquarela do Brasil, a Brazilian samba standard from the 1930s.
• Pinkie's instructions for using the crib mirrors a line from The Simpsons episode The Last Temptation of Homer.​[​specify​]​

The Last Roundup

• The music used in the beginning of the episode where Applejack is running an obstacle course is similar to Bonanza's theme.
• Dodge Junction is a namesake of Dodge City, a famous locale for Western films.
• Rainbow Dash asks Applejack if she saw "Wild Bull Hickok" and "Calamity Mane", whose names are similar to the Wild West figures Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane.
• The scene where Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy work at a conveyor belt and can't handle the pace is a homage to the television series I Love Lucy. The scene replicates one from the I Love Lucy episode "Job Switching", where Lucy and Ethel wear mushroom-like hats and work on a production line wrapping candies. They can't handle the pace, so they stuff the chocolates into their hats and mouths.

The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000

• The musical number The Flim Flam Brothers shares many similarities with the number "Ya Got Trouble" from The Music Man. Specifically, the identical rhyming styles, staccatos, and theme of smooth talkers trying to win over a small town. Mid-song, the ponies chant "cider, cider, cider" in the same manner that the people of River City chanted "trouble, trouble, trouble" in the Music Man number. The Brothers' style of dress and performance is also a nod to Vaudeville.
• The competition between the Apple family and the machine alludes to the legend of John Henry.
• Granny Smith refuses to have a competition with the Flim Flam Brothers until one of them says, "What's the matter, Granny? Chicken?" At this point Granny Smith begins to scream at him and insist upon the competition. Later, Apple Bloom points out that "nopony calls Granny Smith chicken." This sequence may be a reference to the film Back to the Future.