The repetitive slogans broadcast in a soothing voice are a reference to Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World", published in 1932.
Was the first episode to air on Discovery Family instead of The Hub/Hub Network, which shut down in October 2014.
This small village is directly parallel to a communist society portrayed in 1984 by George Orwell.
When Starlight is removing Twilight's cutie mark, Twilight's screaming is reused from "Twilight's Kingdom - Part 2" when Tirek drains the alicorn magic from her.