The bronies I know seem to know, but I tend to stick to smaller sub-communities anyway.
That's good, it mostly seems to be on places like YouTube and the wikia for the most part. I'm glad that there are people who know this though. /)
Didn't know that with the 3rd gen. Always interesting how much has been carried forward from previous generations!
I squee'd and said "you already are!" when Rarity said she wanted to be a crystal pony hehe~
If you're interested, I have compiled a list of all the times FIM has alluded to previous generations, and I will continue to update it, as there is bound to be those moments I missed. I can show it to you, if you want.
Yeah I know I've seen the "look into this and you'll see your worst fear" concept somewhere before. I'd look on Tropes, but I'd be clicking around it for the next 12 hours haha.
I think you might be. As I'm steadily learning; everything is a trope these days.