@Masem  
Wow, good find, I will stick them right next to each other in my post for easier comparing.  
(wish I could do it side by side but top and bottom will do I suppose)
 
 

 
Also I highly doubt this is the only pic with “spike’s egg” so I think that is not quite the tag we are looking for… anyone know what wording we might be looking for?

@Masem  
Oh hey, nice find.
 
Yeah, I’d say that’s definitely a tribute. Too many parallels for it to be coincidence.

The more I look at this, the more I think Katie was going for the Muppet Babies parody:  

Daww, recipe for cute.  
1 dragon egg, near to hatch  
3 little fillies, very young  
6… er… hmmm…  
5 fillies nearing cutie mark aged and  
1 Pinkie Pie (daww, I wanna take care of her… I assume she is house trained right?)

CMC older than Spike?  
Pinkie Pie teething on a balloon?  
Implying she is young enough to teeth, which would make her only slightly older than the baby CMC. But she is also implied to be as old as the other mane six. Which would make the mane six only slightly older than the CMC. But they’re adults, and the CMC are in Grade school. Also, Spike, who is apparently younger than them here, is old enough to not go to school, hold a professional position, and be left on his own. Which the newest Applebloom episode is all about. Being left on her own for the first time. But she is older than Spike here?  
AHHHH! My Brain!  
TL;DR:  
The Comics don’t give a flying f``@ about the timeline. For example, see Equestria Girls issue.

@Itsthinking  
We have no idea - all we see is filly AJ and younger BM with Granny when AJ sets out for Manehattan. AB could have been in a crib sleeping in the barn for all we know.

@Itsthinking  
When AJ leaves Ponyville, only Granny Smith and Big Mac are watching her leaving.  
This means that her parents were already dead.  
Which implies that Apple Bloom was already born.

@Background Pony #CBC1  
Wait, was Apple Bloom born yet when AJ set off for Manehattan?
 
But she wouldn’t even have the egg until she…you know what, forget it. It’s just a cover.

@Itsthinking  
Well the girls don’t have their cutie marks, so twilight hasn’t attempted to hatch spike yet.

>Spike is younger than the CMC
 
What.

OMG, dose Cmc foals and Spike the egg!