Holiday Special - Best Gift Ever

[GreySeer 7]

I was blown away by how much I enjoyed this episode(s). Loved how well it included all the characters, and it was packed with funny and sweet moments. I think the part that had me laughing and re-watching it the most was

Spoiler

When Applejack says Fluttershy's signature "Yay" line to her on the train as they leave for Ponyville. And Fluttershy response is: "Don't do that." The seriousness of her tone just gets me every time.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable 10/10 episode for me. It really shows what the team can do when they have 44 minutes to work with, and even then it feels like they put in extra effort. It's a bit early, but this was a great holiday gift to watch.

[Tao 6,706]

Spike had no wings at all...than they pop up in his love mood!

Edited October 28, 2018 by Tao

[Thrond 3,257]

Geez, and I thought season 8's holiday episode was terrific. The extended length gives this more than enough space to give each of the mane six their due, and while some aspects are clearly derived from prior episodes - Rainbow Falls, yaks, Flim Flam Bros. - there's also a bunch of delightful new bits here. This pretty consistently delighted me, and alongside "Horse Play" it's easily the best showing from the mane six in the past couple of years. People say there's nothing new to be done with these characters, but then we get stuff like this. Look, Rainbow Dash paired up with Discord! Look, clairvoyant reindeer! Look, an adorable young fashion dork for Rarity to inspire! Some of the content here is just a quirky spin on stuff the show's done before, I wish the show would let go of Spike's crush, and there's a few character beats I wish were a little different, but altogether I think this is phenomenal in a way that the show hasn't been for years. This is what this series can be like when it takes a couple steps back and does away with its pretenses. This is magical. 

Also: Shout out to seeing Twilight's and Pinkie's siblings! Makes me wish we got cameos from CMC, Zephyr Breeze, and the parents, but you can't have everything. Though if they were there and I missed it, I certainly wouldn't mind being shown pictures. 

Score:
Entertainment: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Themes: 10/10
Story: 8/10
Overall: 95/100

 

[Thrond 3,257]

One thing I liked about this is how the mane six were balanced. Their relationships seemed carefully considered, and their behaviour found just the right balance between insecurities, flaws, and genuine maturity. Made me think of how the ponies contrast with their Equestria Girls counterparts - there's clear differences to how they would deal with some of these scenarios, and it mostly seems to come down to their relative maturity. All of the character writing here is exactly what I want from the show. 

[ManaMinori 4,143]

reindeer confirmed.

 

also- "HAPPY HEARTH'S WARMING, TWILIGHT! i'M YOUR HEARTH'S WARMING HELPER!" (divebombs dramatically into Gak) XD

omg Pinkie! XD

[rainbowdashacademy 114]

Who knows maybe finally Rarity and Spike get married in season 9  Spike says "HEY RARITY SINCE I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU yeah I THINK WE SHOULD GET MARRIED" !  Rarity says "YOU REALLY AREN'T JOKING ARE YOU SPIKE" ?  OH, I SEE DISCORD PUT YOU UP TO THIS DIDN'T HE ?  "DISCORD WHY DOES EVERYPONY LIKE TO BLAME ME I KNOW YOU IN PAST had awful boyfriends that were jerks and believe your grown dragon finally want's to except you as his wife"!  Note I'm the Wonderbolts prankster  so everypony in show like my little pony anything could happen just don't get loud mouth DEADPOOL to have parties with Pinkie Pie because I am sure he will drive Princess Twilight Sparkle up the wall

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

Micheal Vogel continues to spoil us with another fantastic Hearth's warming holiday episode. Best Gift Ever is the best 44-minute special ever made, none of any long special in the show lifetime can compete this.

This special gives me some S1 feels but with current character development of 8 seasons, i think the old fan and current fan can love it. 

I cant remember how many characters didnt appear in this special but they are too many already, and we even got new characters.

Did they change Derpy voice again? She sounds difference.  I got diabetes whenever i heard her voice.

Twilight is getting close to her 'lesson zero' mode. Thanks to Shinning Armor and Cadance can keep her sanity in checks. I want to see this side of Twilight more often.

Not even one speaking line for Starlight?! And she didnt even have some bond with the mane 6 at all? Hum... i guess Mane 7 is just a myth, but that is another story.  Anyway, Startrix for life!

Poor Marble, she realize her ship has been sunk forever.

Yay, new creature, not the best new creature this year but still yay. The giant mouse looks disturbing and the reindeers design look weird to me. They look like ponies with just different colors, the comic reindeer look better.

The songs are good enough, i still prefer the first song. Spike's solo part is cool, he is no longer the worst singer in FIM. 

Thanks god, Discord is back to his lovely self! *trying to pretend Matter of Principal didn't exist...*

So many strong ships in this ep, with the only one sinking ship (i feel bad for Marble). Will Sparity revive once again or it's another tease?

What a damn fine holiday special, even there are just many Hearth's Warming Eve episodes already. Another Micheal Vogel's masterpiece, 10/10. (His best gift ever)

Anyway, where is Nightmare Night?

Edited October 28, 2018 by Lambdadelta

[Twilight Luna 30,917]

Great special, though I would have preferred a Nightmare Night Special instead.   Regardless, had lot of fun watching it. Great references to other TV shows and movies like A Charlie Brown Christmas and G.I. Joe. I was surprised and glad to see Grand Pear. Nice to see that they haven't written him out of the show. The first song was the best of the bunch. One head scratcher is why they Spike go through all that trouble so he could give Rarity a gift he didn't even have or put any thought into. Sparity either needs to happen or it should just be dropped. The best part has to be Twilight's "PUUDING" face and her going Twili-nanas. 

Edited October 31, 2018 by Twilight Luna

[Van123 29]

I liked the Spike's song, Twilight and her friends express that friendship is the greatest gift of all, and multiple ponies are shown across Equestria spending Hearth's Warming together. for that between all of them, Since I was a child when I saw My little pony Christmas from the previous generation, everything brings back many memories.

Edited October 28, 2018 by Van123

[ManaMinori 4,143]

guys. Guys, we need to talk about this. the new xmas special woke? “quit buying cheaply made yet overpriced dolls” yet hasbro’s big thing this year is releasing blind boxes with gimmicks we’ve seen before and rereleasing the same brushable gimmicks we’ve seen before with reused accessories Hmm

Source: http://paradise-estate.tumblr.com/post/179507389827/wow-the-new-xmas-special-woke-quit-buying

[Oleks 1,983]

I’m with the majority here – I really liked the special, but maybe for a bit different reasons.

First of all, it should be renamed into “Spike and Discord trying to get out of the friendzone on Christmas” with the slogan “Holy Scorpan, those deer are talking!”
The episode was funny, with many adorable moments, great references, continuity galore and fandom nodes. I like that it was a slice of life instead of an epic adventure to save the Hearth’s Warming Eve. It was also funny to see them mocking holiday commercialization even though the episode itself was released way before Xmas for commercial reasons.

My favorite moments: classic background pony pairs in one shot, Twi’s obsession, Derpy, Discord’s brilliant plan, Shining and Cadance (Shining, stop seducing your wife, we don’t need any more alicorn princesses), Pinkie uttering words from other languages (more lore theories incoming), and Sorpan foreshadowing. Things I didn’t like: Marble Pie’s heartbreak – it was a bit too cruel, and I have some questions about the timeline.

All in all, 90/100. Totally will rewatch during the holiday season.

Spoiler

But what if the second half of the episode was Pinkie’s dream she had while freezing near the North Pole?

 

[Lord Valtasar 12,685]

8 hours ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

They did? 

I'm obviously forgetting something. 

it was close to the ending

[JH24 385]

I really enjoyed the special. The songs were great, there were definitely some memorable and fun moments, I loved the addition of the reindeers (spirits?), I really liked DIscord's role here as a kind of mentor-figure. and the ending with everyone was heartwarming.

Only thing I didn't like as much was the scene with Flim and Flam. We've already seen that several times before and although the message was good, it felt more like a side-story to fill time. But other than that, it was a nice special with some great moments.  

Edited October 28, 2018 by JH24

[RulesofRarity 489]

Loved Cadence and Shining in this, they're such a great couple.

[Dabmanz 2,128]

This special was amazing 10/10.

[JH24 385]

One thing that I also liked in this special was that it shed some more light on the interactions between Discord and Rainbow Dash. Except for that episode in season 5 "What about Discord" (Which contradicted Rainbow's attitude towards him) RD usually was the most hostile and distrusting out of all the Mane 6. I always felt she had never fully forgiven him for what he did in the season 2 premiere. Discord had attacked the very core of her being by turning her loyalty against her friends. 

I liked how we could see Rainbow's annoyance in this special. She didn't really see him as a friend and was still mostly tolerating him. The progression in Rainbow Dash's attitude towards Discord was cleverly done. It felt almost like her inviting Discord in the end was also her realizing he didn't deserve to be treated this way and that she had to let go of the past.

Her line "Fluttershy would love having you, and... I wouldn't totally hate it" really means a lot coming from her. She could have just said Fluttershy would love it and leave it at that, but RD adding the second half adds so much meaning to it.

 

 

 

Edited October 28, 2018 by JH24

[Brainstorm 4,092]

One of my favorite scenes was the GI Joe reference from RainbowDash and Discord.

Spike's Song Present was really sweet as the Sweet Pudding.

It was also cool seeing Starlight and Trixie celebrating, also the Yaks and Changelings celebrating.

Edited October 28, 2018 by Brainstorm

[DonMaguz 1,023]

Before I watch the special a second time later today, I'm just going to say that I absolutely loved how the special sent each main character to a different mission and each mission was perfect for them. 

[Jeric 46,834]

Finally found it. Last nights geek-out was due to this:

 

 

That was a MLPF Secret Santa gift including three of my favorite things -- Rarity, pistachios, and sci-fi. It was hilarious to see a Rarity moment with a character named Pistachio involving a secret Santa style gift. 

[Steve Piranha 28,747]

You know, Rarity and Derpy scene made me notice how little Tabitha st Germain speaks to herself, being the local woman of a thousand voices. For rare occasions she does, it’s usually a few lines at most. I think the only other time two of her characters interacted extensively were Rarity and Suri 

[EquestriaGuy 1,074]

wow. That was just absolutely magnificent. I didn't know the show could still be this good.

[bwrosas 252]

26 minutes ago, EquestriaGuy said:

wow. That was just absolutely magnificent. I didn't know the show could still be this good.

It can be, it just depends on who the writer/writers are, and how much time they are given, and it may seem that they had enough time to put lots of love and effort into this.  When you think of it, it feels like a bit of love letter to the adult fans, with it's references and a certain ship that was of the main focuses here.  Yeah it can still prove why it became the phenomenal it is today.

[AJ2489 2,855]

Gee! What an episode!

I loved the scene with AJ and Fluttershy on the train, Derpy's part was just adorable and we finally got the confirmation that AJ's hat belonged to Bright Mac!

Just goes to show, FiM may be 8 years old but it can still put out some amazing episodes!

[Sonic5421 423]

Gotta admit, I enjoyed this special very much. Glad to see so many characters make an appearance here. The Royal Sisters, the Student Six, Thorax, Pharynx, Cadence, Shining Armor, Flurry Heart, Discord, Rutherford, the Pie sisters, the Mane Six, and more. Also, I did like the designs on the reindeer ponies as well.

I'm keeping my thoughts to a minimum on the special, but I am giving it a full 10/10 as my final rating.

[Truffles 2,033]

12 minutes ago, Sonic5421 said:

Glad to see so many characters make an appearance here. The Royal Sisters, the Student Six, Thorax,

The next time I see it I'll have to pay closer attention to that scene with Thorax and see if he's celebrating like Ocellus say changelings do.