.I'd like to thank...well, everyone who ever worked on the show, from showrunners to background artists to voice artists. Even Hasbro, who after all allowed Lauren Faust to create the show. They interfered, like every producer interferes, but they managed to not completely maim the resulting show, at least in my opinion.
I'd like to thank all of the wonderful fanfiction writers for this show, for giving me wonderful ideas to bounce off of. The idea for this story grew out of a large number of fanfics, where one character or another was revealed to be a changeling or some other monster. All I added was the thought of "But what if they were all true at the same time?"
Finally, I'd like to thank the unsung heroes of Friendship Is Magic fanfiction, the people who run the FIMFiction.net website, both for making such a dependable database (despite the insane traffic numbers in the first eight years) and for making things so welcoming for us writers. I've been on sites for other fandoms, ones that went out of their way to make newcomers unwelcome, and who strongly encouraged all writers to buy into the "accepted" headcanon for the series. This place is not like that.
With that out of the way, let me first set up the chronology and then knock off the notes to the chapters. The former is slightly different than the earlier blog on the subject, while the latter is largely identical.
Several analysts have tried to put the episodes of Friendship Is Magic into a logical order; Oliver describes the reasons over here. The order I’m using in The Siren is mostly derived from this post by Starshine Sprinkles. Since days of the week are important in that post, I’m following Starshine’s suggestion to use the 2010 calendar for Year 1. (Episode links are to the Friendship Is Magic wiki.)
11 April 23 CE [Classical Era]: start of Interlude 2
16 November, 513 CE: Interlude 3
Skipped: Era of the Two Princess, ETP, lasting 203 years.
21 June 1001 PE [Princess Era]: 1x01-02 Friendship Is Magic, Interlude 1
22 June 1 PRE: 1x05 Griffon the Brush Off
29 June 1: 1x06 Boast Busters
5 July 1: 1x07 Dragonshy
6 July 1: 1x08 Look Before You Sleep
11 July 1: 1x09 Bridle Gossip
13 July 1: Chapters 1–6
14 July 1: 2x13 Baby Cakes [birth], Chapters 7–8
20 July 1: 1x15 Feeling Pinkie Keen
21 July 1: Chapters 9–12
25 July 1: Chapter 13
27 July 1: 1x21 Over a Barrel, Chapters 14 & 15
1 August 1: Chapters 16 & 17
3 August 1: 1x04 Applebuck Season
10 August 1: 1x12 Call of the Cutie, Chapter 18
13 August 1: 1x03 The Ticket Master, Chapter 19
14 August 1: 1x17 Stare Master, Chapter 20
17 August 1: 3x09 Spike at Your Service, Chapters 21 & 22
21 August 1: 1x14 Suited for Success, Chapter 23
22 August 1, 1x10 Swarm of the Century, Chapter 24
23 August 1, 1x18 The Show Stoppers, Chapter 25
24 August 1, 1x20 Green Isn’t Your Color
27 August 1, 1x16 Sonic Rainboom, Chapters 26 & 27
28 August 1, 1x22 A Bird in the Hoof
29 August 1, 2x12 Family Appreciation Day
30 August 1: Chapter 28
31 August 1: 2x03 Lesson Zero
1 September 1: Chapters 29 & 30
2 September 1: 1x19 A Dog and Pony Show
4 September 1: 2x05 Sisterhooves Social, Chapter 31
5 September 1: 1x23 The Cutie Mark Chronicles
7 September 1: 1x24 Owl’s Well That Ends Well
10 September 1: 2x06 The Cutie Pox
13 September 1: 2x13 Baby Cakes [foalsitting]
17 September 1: 2x23 Ponyville Confidential
21 September 1: 2x14 The Last Roundup
25 September 1: 2x08 The Mysterious Mare Do Well
29 September 1: 3x04 One Bad Apple, Chapter 32 (first part)
30 September 1: Chapter 32 (second part)
9 October 1: Chapter 33
25 October 1: 2x15 The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000
31 October 1: 2x04 Luna Eclipsed
16 November 1: 1x13 Fall Weather Friends
19 December 1: Chapter 34
25 December 1: 2x11 Hearth’s Warming Eve
1 February 2: 1x11 Winter Wrap-Up, Chapter 35
2 February 2: 2x16 Read It and Weep
4 February 2: 2x09 Sweet and Elite
5 February 2: 2x21 Dragon Quest
13 February 2: 2x18 A Friend In Deed
14 February 2: 2x17 Hearts and Hooves Day
26 February 2: 2x07 May the Best Pet Win!
5 March 2: 1x25 Party of One, Chapter 36, 37 (first part)
6 March 2: Chapter 37 (second part), 38, 39, 40 (first part)
11 March 2: Chapter 40 (second part), 41
12 March 2: Chapter 42
20 March 2: 1x26 The Best Night Ever, Chapters 43, 44, 45 (first part), 46
2x01-02 The Return of Harmony, Chapters 45 (second part), 47, 48
2x10 Secret of My Excess, Chapter 49
None of the above, Chapters 50–53, Epilogue (first part)
2x25-26 A Canterlot Wedding, Chapter 53
21 March 2: Epilogue (second part)
Episodes taking place after this:
2x24 MMMystery on the Friendship Express
Most of Season 3, and everything after.
10 of 26 episodes of Season 1, and 13 of 26 episodes of Season 2, are not really covered in The Siren.
If you imagine that the character tags are being added organically as you read, we begin with only one tag: .
The Friendship Express, Southwest Line.
See this DeviantArt entry of mine. The Southwest Line is the one shown in “Over a Barrel” between Ponyville and Appleoosa. And therefore it must be the one between Canterlot and Ponyville as well, based on the relative locations of those three towns.
Year One of the Post-Reconciliation Era (PRE).
Here’s the dating system I’m using in this story: Luna re-joining Celestia as co-rulers of Equestria marks the start of the Post-Reconciliation Era (PRE). Before that was the 1,000 years of the Princess Era (PE). Before that was 203 years of Celestia and Luna ruling together, the Era of the Two Princesses (ETP). Before that was 513 years of the pony tribes living together from First Hearthswarming, the Classical Era (CE). Before that, there was no dating scheme that everypony at the time agreed to, so the years are counted backwards and it’s called the Pre-Classical Era (PCE).
In previous stories I’ve used season names and avoided days of the week. This time around I’m sticking with the same calendar that we use. The year that the series starts have the same days of the week as our year 2010.
Tuesday.
It’s a joke, more celebrated by fan-authors than episode authors, that everything that happened on the show happened on Tuesdays, so the inhabitants of Ponyville knew to stay indoors on that day.
Lemon Peel
This character is derived from Emma Peel, who was a main character in the British television series The Avengers from 1967–1968. She’s a Renaissance Woman who was recruited to be a spy by her co-star in the show, John Steed, after the disappearance of her husband. She was played by Diana Rigg.
Mrs. Peel (as she was always called) was interesting in 1960’s television because she was the complete equal of her male counterpart, and that’s how Steed treated her. In some episodes she’d be captured by the villain and have to be rescued by him, and in other episodes he’d be the one captured and she would be the one to rescue him. Of the many aliases she assumed to carry out her spy work, her most-common one was as a writer for a fashion magazine.
Speaking of fashion, the production of The Avengers was very tied into the swinging fashions of contemporary London, with major designers hired to create Peel’s outfits, which were mass-produced and sold to the general public the same year their episodes aired. So I felt compelled to spend time describing everything Lemon Peel wore, using this website devoted to those fashions. For example, her outfit here is a color variant of this one:
Peel’s cutie mark is the symbol used in the background of the Series 5 DVD set in America.
(By the way, if you’re interested in watching episodes of these two series (seasons) of The Avengers, it is available to stream on Amazon Prime, and to download on Amazon Video, Apple TV and Vudo, but can be found for free with commercial interruptions on Pluto.tv.)
Peel’s Fellow Passengers
Lipstick Vanity is from “Buckball Season”. Upper Crust, the prototypical Canterlot snob, appears in the episode “Sweet and Elite”, with non-speaking appearances in a variety of other episodes, often with her husband Jet Set. The explanation of that odd dollar sign cutie mark is original to me.
And finally, Blueberry Frosting was one of Starlight Glimmer's cult members in the episode "The Cutie Map" (both parts).
Pinkie saying “Emma”
Not a typo.
The Bunker
Obviously you’re thinking of Fallout Equestria. And obviously you can imagine a progression from this bunker to the Stables. But that is not my intention. This story is, like the series, set in a world where Friendship and Harmony have not broken down.
Ragamuffin
If you’re not a connoisseur of obscure Equestria Girls media, then you probably have no idea who this is. Ragamuffin was a uniformed character from “Spring Breakdown” who spoke with a thick Cockney accent. (Which later turned out to be fake, but we’re going to ignore that for now.)
Pipsqueak
Yes, I’m tying every character I can remember with a British accent into one family. Pipsqueak’s major appearance was in “Luna Eclipsed.” His other speaking parts were in “Twilight Time”, “Crusaders of the Lost Mark” (where I think he ran for political office—the ending of that episode and Diamond Tiara’s redemption jointly drown out anything else that happened in my mind) and “Marks and Recreation”.
Trottingham and the Griffish Isles
The official post-Movie map placed Trottingham in an island east of Equestria, between Manehattan and Griffonstone Station, and that island was named the Griffish Isles. That implies that Guto’s Griffish Kingdom either included the Isles, or at the least that the Isles and the Kingdom had some kind of relationship. More interesting is the question of what kind of town Trottingham is—I’m going with the assumption that it is a pony settlement on the predominantly griffon island. In my continuity, The Isles have been annexed by Equestria: Trottingham is being governed as a colony of Equestria, with the rest of the island being left alone. (As the griffons have always preferred.)
I somewhat exaggerated Trottingham’s latitude compared to the map. Just imagine that it’s as far north as the Crystal Empire, and just as naturally cold.
Two new character tags: 
and 
.
Rozetri
This will be on the test.
has now been added to the character tags.
The are no notes for Chapter 5.
I don’t generally add character tags for villains, as they tend to be little more than narrative devices. But if I did, this is where I’d add the 
tag.
“Moondancer”
Night Lancer forgetting to put the space in her name was a deliberate choice on my part, although I think it was too subtle for any reader to see it as a clue that he was a fake.
has now been added to the character tags.
Part of the dialog from this chapter was quoted from the screenplay of “Friendship Is Magic Part 2” by Lauren Faust.
The are no notes for Chapter 7.
If it was possible to add a character tag that was an animated GIF of multiple pony faces, then I’d do it at this point to represent the Basilisk.
Lemon Peel’s ensemble
Eye Bait’s fashions
The costume designer for Diana Rigg’s first season on The Avengers was John Bates.
The Basilisk’s first disguise
(i.e. the pony Rarity was speaking with before she turned into Rarity and started robbing the train.) This is supposed to be Kerfuffle.
Knight Industries of Trottingham and Knight Industries of Canterlot
A bit of a reference to the fact that the British TV show The Avengers was created at the same time and independently of the American superhero team The Avengers. When you want to research the former you always have to wade through multiple pages of search results on the latter.
Also, the character of Emma Peel was Emma Knight before she married, and she is the frequently absent CEO of Knight Industries in The Avengers, a manufacturing company. Which is why Mrs. Peel became such a genius in materials chemistry and engineering.
has now been added to the character list.
“Cutie Mark Acquisition Program”
Context supplied via pony video export program.
There are no notes for Chapter 10.
The form of the statue…
…was the cover illustration. (If it was stone instead of bronze.)
There are no notes for Chapter 12.
This would finally be the point where I could justify adding 
as a character tag.
“The Suppressor is enchanted so it can only be removed by me, the pony who put it on you.”
I hope you notice the contradiction here. You might have to remind me to address it in the sequel.
“…my studies of marine life…”
This is from the My Little Pony: Legends of Magic limited comic series, written by Jeremy Whitley. (Stygian wasn’t enslaved in that comic, though—that was my idea.)
Star Swirl’s use of a time-travel spell
This is how I reconcile him being “the most important conjurer of the pre-classical era” (“Luna Eclipsed”) with his operating a couple of decades into the Classical Era. Back before the whole Limbo business, fan writers speculated that Star Swirl was a time traveler, given that the time travel spell was invented by him (“The Cutie Re-Mark, Part 1”), as a way to get him into the present day.
“Siren” vs. “siren”
I’m not sure if I did a good job of this throughout the novel, but I try to use rules in when I capitalize “siren”: ponies who tend to think in generalities, like Star Swirl and Twilight, always use “Siren” when they are referring to a creature, while Sonata, who always thinks of her fellow sirens as individuals, always uses “siren” in lower case.
“I’m no hero.”
The last half of the Legends of Magic miniseries tells how Stygian united the Pillars to fight against the Sirens. He narrates his own tale, and this phrase is a constant refrain. I think this arc does a better job than the flashback from “Shadow Play Part 2” in showing the causes of Stygian’s fall into darkness.
…so she didn’t end up in a cage.
Proof that I can be subtle when I want to be.
…except for a pale orange siren exploding into sea mist all over her.
Proof that most of the time I am not subtle.
There are no notes for Interlude 2E.
Hmm…replace the Basilisk tag with 
?
G. Busy
The Equestrian version of Claude Debussy. The piece I have Lyra perform is one of his most-famous. I always remember it in the form of a synthesizer interpretation by Isao Tomita, which was used as the theme of a weekly PBS show called Jack Horkheimer: Star Hustler—I picked up my love of astronomy from that show.
Time to create a Siren Twilight Sparkle character tag…
Parts of this episode quote from the screenplay for “Over a Barrel”, written by Dave Polsky.
New character tag unlocked: 
New character tag: 
.
Mrs. Peel’s outfit this time
(chubby) Checker
Based on both the singer Chubby Checker and the Checker Cab Company. And of course Chubby Checker’s most-famous song was…“The Twist”.
Peppermint Kalamazoo Twist
The first name comes from some of her merchandise. And the middle name…well, what possible middle name can you use between “Peppermint” and “Twist” other than “Kalamazoo”?
Apple Bloom’s salute
Like this, only a smidge less ridiculous.
A few lines of dialog in this chapter were taken from the screenplay to “Call of the Cutie”, written by Meghan McCarthy.
“I befriended a zebra a couple of weeks ago…”
In case you were wondering who filled the Apple Bloom-shaped hole in the episode “Bridle Gossip”.
The hole in Apple Bloom’s heart.
Entering these chapters into FimFiction, I’ve come to a realization: Ponies with holes in their hearts is apparently a thing in this story. I wonder who will be affected next?
Mrs. Peel’s outfit in Canterlot
The House of Enchanted Comics
This is the place where Spike bought the Power Ponies comic that later sucked him and the Mane Six into it. (From the episode “Power Ponies”.)
Free Comic Book Day
This is an annual event, usually on the first Saturday of May, where a selection of specific titles are indeed given out for free, along with various other activities designed to attract new customers to independent comic book stores. It was started in 2002, and is still going as of 2023. As far as I know, it’s mostly celebrated in North America and Europe.
Now the Equestrian version of the event is not in May. But then again, May was chosen to coincide with the release of the first big superhero movie of each year, which usually happens in May, and Equestria doesn’t have those.
There are no notes for Chapter 20.
Some of the dialog from this chapter was taken from the less-obnoxious parts of the screenplay to the episode “Spike at Your Service”, written by Merriwether Williams from a story by Dave Polsky. I’m sorry, but this was one of my least-liked episodes in the way it made the moral dilemma too easy by devolving Spike into a complete idiot. I’m writing an alternate universe version of the show, so I’ll allowing myself the indulgence of fixing some of the parts I didn’t like.
Applejack was surveying the orchard when…
The following is what would have already happened in the original episode: Spike is on his own for the day. He manages to get carried off to the Everfree by a hot air balloon. He’s attacked by timber wolves and saved by Applejack. He offers himself into permanent slavery to Applejack. She tells him to get Twilight’s approval, and he does, if only because she’s too into her assignment to pay any attention to what he’s saying. So, he heads back to the farm to begin destroying it with his utter ineptitude.
In this version, he finds himself in the Everfree by accident. He nearly dies until he's saved by Applejack, who takes him back to the library afterwards. He tries to tell Twilight how he nearly died and sees that she doesn't care at all about him. So, he returns to the farm.
Apple Bloom not wanting Spike to join the CMC
Look, I know that girls, especially at Bloom’s age, need a space to define themselves separate from males and their need to control everything. (I well remember how much of a jerk I was at that age.) So, I get why Spike had very few interactions with the CMC in the show. But I still think that they should have had some kind of significant reaction as kids in an adult world. So, this is my attempt to address that. I hope to do more going forward.
Dales School of Economics
Equestrian version of the Yale School of Economics.
Dusty Pages
Head librarian of the Canterlot library, from “The Point of No Return”.
The brainstorming session
There are few scenes like this that don’t really advance the plot or themes of the story that much. But they are scenes that I really wish were in the series, so I put them in here. This is my attempt to fix Twilight and Spike’s relationship much earlier than the gradual change that happened in canon.
Logo Gram and Gramma Logue
A logogram is a symbol that represents a word. For example, the symbol “$” represents the word “dollar”. A grammalogue is the same thing, but specifically applied to shorthand: the symbol “.” in Pitman shorthand means “the”.
There are no notes for Chapter 22.
A brushed bit
My version of “a pretty penny”.
There’s a few lines of dialog here from the screenplay of the episode “Swarm of the Century”, by M. A. Larson.
…in the ruins of Rockville.
And there lies a pretty tale…that I’ll try to get around to in Part 2. Sorry.
No, 
is not a main character. …Yet.
Sweetie Belle’s fifth birthday party
That was the one shown in the flashback during “For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils”. My version’s worse. 
The Mystery Writers of Equestria Convention
The Mystery Writers of America don’t actually have their own public convention. However, they do have booths set up at the actual major conventions: Bouchercon and Book Expo America. As near as I can tell, neither of those include a cosplay contest, which I consider to be a major failing on their part.
Sherclop Pones and Miss Maple
Fan-created Equestrian versions of Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple. The former of course gained additional fame as the alias of the group behind Friendship Is Witchcraft.
Shadow Spade
You know, I had no idea when watching “Rarity Investigates!” that Shadow Spade was supposed to be the Equestrian version of Sam Spade, until I did some research and found that in the MLP Collectible Card game, her first novel was Shadow Spade and the Murgese Falcon (as in The Maltese Falcon).
Running with this connection, “Piter Lore” is Peter Lore (who played Joel Cairo in the 1941 film) and “Effigy Peregrine” is the character Effy Perine, played by Lee Patrick:
As for the rule that all griffons have to have names starting with “G”, we can say her true first name is “Gee”, and Shadow calls her “Effigy” because she’s very good at sitting still when clients come into the office and then spooking them by loudly greeting them.
Stal fatale
The gender-switched Equestrian version of the femme fatale.
Mrs. Peel’s outfit today
Mage Meadowbrook’s Eight Enchanted Items
The bogus ninth item was referenced in the episode “The Cutie Map”.
Lyra present at the Best Young Fliers Competition
See for example this screenshot, right above Rainbow Dash’s head:
Tea of the lost kirin
As of Season 1, the kirin are certainly lost. And being a Chinese mythological creature, they are a reasonable origin for Equestrian tea.
“I ran into a cockatrice in the Everfree.”
That was the episode “The Stare Master”.
“I myself am strange and unusual.”
There are no notes for Chapters 30 or 31.
Grace of Green Gables
This is the Equestrian version of Anne of Green Gables. That book’s first sequel was Anne of Avonlea, which is a hard title to equestrianize. The second sequel was Anne of the Island.
Sugarcube Corner’s only table
It’s true—Sugarcube Corner only has a single table for guests to eat at. See Aurek-Skyclimber’s comprehensive visual study based on screenshots.
There was an open grassy yard behind Sugarcube Corner
Aurek-Skyclimber has another study, “Map of Ponyville Photo Guide v3.2” that covers this, but it’s easier to see on Naptime’s Map of Ponyville v2.0.
Truffle had appeared with the wagon he always pulled around.
OK, I made that up—Truffle doesn’t pull a wagon around everywhere he goes.
I’m finally ready to add 
as a character tag.
All the descriptions of Rainbow Dash’s house
I made extensive use of the Cloudominium Gallery entry in the Friendship Is Magic Wiki. Here for example is proof that Rainbow has pegasus neighbors with their own houses with fluted columns:
SOARB
Equestrian version of The Rocketeer, by Dave Stevens. Although my description of the comic cover is based on the movie poster:
This chapter.
So, for a long time I was on the fence about including this chapter or not. If I included it, I thought I would be obligated to write chapters about Spike bonding with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy as well, and I couldn’t get those chapters to work. And it’s not like anything in this chapter mattered for the overarching narrative.
And then at the last second, I thought of the next chapter…
Planet Wars
Star Wars. I figured in the Equestrian setting, the stars are just lights on the Sidereal Sphere, so nopony would associate aliens with them. Oh, and of course I’m referring to the cantina scene. I don’t think the word “iniquity” was actually used, but I imagine that it’s an active part of Obi-Wan’s vocabulary.
Maretopolis: The New Frontier
Maretropolis is the name of the setting for the Power Ponies. DC: The New Frontier is a multi-award winning limited comic series.
Uncanny M-Factor
Uncanny X-Men. The issue depicted here is roughly Uncanny X-Men #170 from June 1983, when the X-Men member Storm becomes the leader of the rogue group of mutants known as the Morlocks after winning a trial by combat. The giant robot is a Sentinel, a mutant-exterminating machine that featured in other issues of the series. Here’s my inspiration for the Storm vs. Sentinel part of the cover, from issue #98:
Eastern Griffish Protectorate
My idea is that the former Griffon Kingdom is now a group of rival “protectorates”, in a sort of cold war with each other. The Griffish Isles protectorate is the one that Lemon Peel comes from, and corresponds to Cold War-era Britain. The Eastern Griffish Protectorate is Soviet Russia…sorta.
Clear Mount and Tall Smithy
The Morlock arc of Uncanny X-Men was written by Chris Claremont and drawn by Paul Smith.
Lightning, morelacks, Guardians.
Storm, Morlocks, Sentinels.
The Power Ponies vs. M-Factor
I’m thinking specifically of Avengers #53 from 1963:
The “pony with angel wings” character is Angel, an X-Men. (An “X-Man”? Whatever.)
Romaine
Equestrian version of “Roman”. Not canon. Not invented by me.
The Hayseed Swamp article
Note how the remains were found of both Meadowbrook and her mother.
“Party of One”
Actually, more like “Party of One”. Anyway, some dialog in this chapter was taken from the screenplay of the episode in question, which was written by Meghan McCarthy.
Because Rainbow Dash remembered everything.
Please re-use the sound effect from earlier.
The grepp
This is based on the Dungeons & Dragons monster known as the grell:
Rather insanely for a monster that looks like a flying brain, it doesn’t actually eat memories.
My name for the creature comes from the UNIX command “grep”, which is used to find something.
The gainsayer
I don’t have a specific monster in mind for this. The back tentacles came from the D&D displacer beasts, particularly the rather-disturbing 3rd Edition version:
Rozetri’s species
If you’re a certain type of science-fiction nerd, you probably think you know everything about Rozetri’s species. (Dalek, if you really must know.)
Well, I will admit I started with those guys…and then I went in my own direction. So please don’t complain about Rozetri having a metallic voice in her native form. My Slugs have Dalek-style voices even outside their machines, so there.
“Princess Cadance was born as a pegasus…”
Cadance origin story taken from Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell, by G.M. Barrow.
The core of this and the next two chapters is a very condensed version of “The Town of No Return” written by Brian Clemens, an episode from the 4th Series of The Avengers, which just to remind you was a British television series started in the 1960’s. (As opposed to The Avengers, which is an American comic-based franchise started in the 1960’s.) Some stuff was also taken from the 5th Series episode “Murdersville”, also written by Brian Clemens.
Peel’s Nightie
The tuba
This was a fun prop from the show—a tuba used as a flowerpot:
(This is from John Steed’s Flat, a website devoted to all things John Steed.)
It was found in Steed’s flats across the years, despite the fact that he can’t play it. But Peel can.
Moozart’s Rondo for Horn
Yes, I know that’s a euphonium instead of a tuba. Find me a YouTube clip of somebody playing something as jolly (and short) as that on a tuba and I’ll switch out.
Ragamuffin’s pajamas and dressing gown
Mrs. Peel’s teacher outfit
(I have another screenshot I can produce on demand if you need proof that the stockings do indeed have a diamond pattern stitched into them.)
Mind Garden
The world of 1960’s television is a different place than what you see in today’s entertainment. People hadn’t been trained by birth in how to watch these kinds of shows, and so the plots were much simpler. (Also there basically never was more than one plot going on at the same time.) It’s for this reason that the two main characters of The Avengers never used fake names for their aliases—the writers thought that the viewers would lose track of who was who if Mrs. Peel suddenly started calling herself Miss Cartwright, and they were probably right.
Anyway, this is the Twenty-First Century, and so Mrs. Peel is absolutely going to change her name when she goes undercover.
Outer Equestria Development Corporation
Head back to Chapter 4 if you forgot who they were.
Price/Cook
I’m simultaneously evoking PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited (known as Price Waterhouse before 1998), one of the biggest accounting firms in the world, and the names of IDW comics artist Andy Price and writer Katie Cook.
The Inebriated Imp
The equivalent pub in the Avengers episode “The Town of No Return” was called The Inebriated Gremlin.
Spicy tomatoes
Fanfiction authors have a habit of taking a one-time thing and making it permanent—case in point: Lyra sitting funny in one episode. And so since the watering hole in “Over a Barrel” was called The Salt Block, I have made it a rule in most of my fanfics that ponies get drunk off of salt instead of alcohol. And so Pierce ordering extra salt for the drink intended for “Miss Garden” means that he’s up to no good.
Miss Stone Mason
Original character, based on “The Town of No Return” character Jill Manson.
Peel’s Dangerous Mission Outfit
This of course is the one outfit the Emma Peel fans were waiting for me to deploy since her first appearance:
(The Avengers and black catsuits are practically synonymous in the eyes of the public, although Diana Rigg didn’t actually put on the suit nearly as often as people think.)
The karate chop
The late 60’s was when the British and Americans really got interested in East Asian martial arts. See the James Bond movies of the period, for example.
“All for the greater good.”
I challenge the reader to think of any other reference than Hot Fuzz for that line.
The Staff of Memory
This universe’s version of the Staff of Sameness. In this universe it’s legit, because Starlight already has Disguise as her cutie mark-given talent. (And also because I already dropped some notes of suspicion regarding Mage Meadowbrook.)
“Rearing Steed”s outfit
As a contrast to Mrs Peel’s outfits, which represented the contemporary world of the Swinging Sixties, the outfits of John Steed looked to the Edwardian past.
“Wanna see something really scary?”
You can click the link…if you wanna.
If I were doing villain character tags, I’d add this one: 
The most-annoying part of writing for Discord is remembering to capitalize all of His pronouns. A very good reason not to have gods as characters in your stories.
Princess Amore
Princess Amore is a character that never appeared in the show: she had a big part in the IDW comics, and she was also mentioned in The Journal of the Two Sisters book. She was the first (and only) queen of the original Crystal Empire. She was also the one who was overthrown by Sombra. Princess Cadance is a distant relative of hers.
Discord’s most-epic evil laugh
Crouton’s species
This is other variant on a Dr. Who villain, the Cybermen. (Who were used as the basis of the Borg in Star Trek, in case she seems familiar to you.) The creepiest version of them were in their first appearance, The Tenth Planet, where they had those mouth flaps and sing-song voices. The metallic body came from the current iteration:
Crouton’s vulnerability
In the Cybermen’s first appearance, they were vulnerable to gold. This was removed in a later episode, by saying that the Cybermen had “upgraded” into a form without that vulnerability. The “auo field” I mention later is named from the Latin word for gold.
Crouton hasn’t upgraded herself to remove the vulnerability, because she fears she will lose her personality as well.
Rozetri
I told you back in the notes for Chapter 3 that this would be on the test. It was only 40 chapters ago, for crying out loud!
…Do you know what’s even more annoying than making sure that a god’s pronouns are always capitalized? Making sure Tin speech is monospace bold and only made up of lowercase letters, spaces and periods.
N-verse vs. E-verse
The Classic Doctor Who series spent some time in the “E-space”, which is the same concept described here of an external mini-universe adjacent to our own universe. In showed up in three serials from the 1980–81 period.
Crouton’s name and origin
In the Dr. Who comic strip there is a character called Kroton, the only person ever to have retained their personality after being converted into a Cyberman. (Rather confusingly, there’s also a Doctor Who serial called The Krotons, who have no relation to the comic strip Kroton.)
There was a small group of Slugs who didn’t think like the rest
In the Classic Doctor Who serial The Evil of the Daleks from 1967, the Daleks seek to isolate the “human factor”, which will make Daleks so clever that they will be invincible. Instead, they accidentally create a race of “humanized Daleks”, Daleks with the minds of human children, who are curious, resist following orders blindly, and who wish to co-exist with other species instead of exterminating them. Once their minds mature, a civil war results between the two breeds that supposedly destroys all the Daleks forever. (This happens at the end of, like every Dalek serial.)
The Doctor Who comic strip brought these humanized Daleks back in the series Children of the Revolution from the 2000’s. Unfortunately, that series ends with them all being destroyed by a psychic monster on the planet Kyrol, and to date they haven’t appeared again.
Prismia
Prismia was the villain from Princess Cadance’s origin story, Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell.
Five Celestia-damned seconds
Ooh, swearing. Well, I’ll definitely have to raise the rating to Teen now.
Queen Chrysalis’ relationship with her nymphs
This has always puzzled me, in the fanfics that tried to portray Chrysalis as a loving mother caring for her many children—you know, the ones that are supposed to create a moral dilemma in the reader. Because Chrysalis is obviously the worst kind of mother in existence, and if she existed in our legal system the State would have no choice but to put every one of those nymphs into foster care. Because even as horrible as foster care in this country is, it’s not as bad as a mother who would literally eat one of her children rather than suffer a single moment without an accustomed luxury.
At least, that was the way I read her from her first appearance.
So this is my headcanon on Queen Chrysalis and her nymphs.
(This is why changelings shouldn’t include clothes in their transformations.)
This is it! This is the final exam! All of the references will have callbacks! All of the setups will have payoffs!
I hope you were taking notes.
“All ponies but the late Meadowbrook…”
Interlude 2D, in case you want to go back and re-read that part in light of this revelation.
Some of the dialog (and lyrics) in this chapter was taken from the screenplay to the episode “The Best Night Ever”, by Amy Keating Rogers.
In this chapter I’m basically trying to fix the Mane Six’s miserable experiences, therefore completely negating the very good lesson of the episode (“friends have a way of making even the worst of times into something pretty great”). Hey, a lot of other authors have done it before me, and I only managed to get to Spike, Rarity and Applejack before the universe caught fire.
Tabula Rasa
The TV Tropes website has a page where the Daring Do series of stories has been mapped out. Several of these have even been turned into fanfics. In the universe created by this page, Tabula Rasa is one of Daring’s sidekicks. Just as Daring is a color-swapped Rainbow Dash, so Pr. Tabula is a version of Twilight Sparkle.
Spike seems to know everypony in Canterlot
Based on “Suited for Success”, I’d say that this statement is accurate. And he spent a ton of time in the Palace. So the only reason he failed to warn Rarity about Prince Blueblood is because he never learned that she had a crush on him.
Sometimes Rarity could be so weird
Kind of like her voice actress.
This is the good kind of weird. In case that wasn’t obvious. I can only wish I get as weird as Tabatha St. Germain when I grow up.
Twilight’s mountainside
Chapter 12.
“The number of individuals who were able to resist [Discord’s Hate spell] was pitifully small: 5 ½.”
The ½ was Siren Twilight Sparkle.
As for the five? That’s the two princesses who are above ground, the two aliens, and…
Hmm…
I guess you get to pick who that fifth pony is.
In the middle of this chapter are some quotes from “The Return of Harmony Part 2”, written by M.A. Larson (the friendship lessons).
Spike?
You’ll have to tell me which of the endless series of cliffhangers starting with Chapter 44 is your favorite. This is mine.
This chapter has no cliffhanger!
Hmm…you are quite correct. I guess I owe you all a refund.
Venusian Aikido
The Third Doctor era of Doctor Who started in 1970, which was still in the midst of martial arts mania. (See notes to Chapter 40.) So, when that incarnation of The Doctor needed to kick somebody’s ass, he used “Venusian Aikido”.
My characterization of Silver Spoon
There are plenty of stories that make Silver out to be the victim or reluctant follower of Diamond, and I’m usually fine with that. It was just this once that I wanted to make her a co-villain, evil in her cold manipulation, but not going out of her way to be sadistic like Diamond is (was).
Golden Peytral
Like her mother from Chapter 46, this is an original character.
You know, if this was about twenty or thirty chapters earlier, I’d be adding a 
character tag at this point.
Polished Pewter
Original character.
(There are no notes for Chapter 52.)
“Wipe them out. All of them.”
How evil is Queen Chrysalis? Darth Sidious evil.
Now in general, you will probably fault me for one of my biggest flaws: Not having a long enough falling action-and-resolution. My excuse this time is that I have to have something to begin Part 2 with, and that would be the seven nights of the Mane Six Plus Spike confessing themselves—it’s a great way to re-cap the events of Part 1.
Agreppa
Joke of the name of Marcus Agrippa, general of the Roman Republic.
That thing that’s supposed to be here.
Generally, at the end of Part 1 of every multi-part fic on this site is supposed to be a preview of Part 2. I may be arrogant, but I don’t think that’s necessary in this case.
I mean, there are probably a dozen questions swirling around your head about what’s going to happen next: What’s going to happen to the Apples? How will our main cast handle the truths about themselves that they’ve discovered? Will Lyra/Crouton find Rozetri, and will Rozetri regain her memories? (Yes and yes to those last two. Some of these questions are not hard.) If you’re thinking about what happens next in the series, that will raise even more questions: Will Chrysalis come back? Will Discord come back? Is Equestria Girls getting incorporated into this? (What do you think?) Will Sunset Shimmer be different in this setting, like Starlight Glimmer was? What will happen when the Pillars return to Equestria? Or when the Storm King invades? (And hey, isn’t Sonata now stuck in one of that guy’s primary targets?) And how will Twilight Sparkle become an alicorn? (And what will happen to Siren Twilight when that happens?) And are you going to have the real Grogar show up???
So, you’d have all of these expectations of what would go into Part 2. (And maybe Part 3, if there’s a Part 3. If I do end up splitting it, the cliffhanger for Part 2 would involve Twilight ascending, so Part 3 could deal with the aftermath of that.)