I have other points to bring up over here as well:

1. I forgot about the reference related to two characters in the same: Starswirl The Bearded (obviously the author didn´t know about his official design, nobody knew back then how he would look from season 7 onwards) and Fausticorn´s homage. A very handy move for cheering up the princesses.
2. Everyone has magic, even earth ponies(page 61)
3.The author presents Garret and the city where he lives with a few suspicious Harry Potter vibes in this comic. Mostly because of the scene looking for the correct magic wand and the fact that said city is named Loondon. Definitely not related to the J.K Rowling franchise. Nope, not at all.
4. If you read Luna´s speech bubble in page 24, she admits that she doesn´t want any other invasion nor any misadventure happening to them. Considering that this was written in 2012, the princess of the night couldn´t be more unfortunate with those lines because the movie and future two parters (among other episodes) would fulfill her worst fears.