My Little Pony Holiday Special

My Little Pony Holiday Special is a special-edition comic released by IDW Publishing. It is the third winter-holiday-themed IDW comic after Micro-Series Issue 6 and My Little Pony: Equestria Girls Holiday Special.
==Release==
The comic was released on iTunes on December 2, 2015, one week ahead of its scheduled wholesale release on December 9.
==Summary==
===Snowbound===
The issue begins with Twilight Sparkle and Spike at the Canterlot train station after spending Hearth's Warming Eve with Twilight's parents. The trains to Ponyville have all been cancelled due to bad weather, and Twilight and Spike are snowed in, making them late for Pinkie Pie's party. Twilight decides to pass the time by reading a book she brought with her, but she left it behind at her parents' house.
Spike says there are books being sold at a nearby coffee stand. Twilight initially rejects the books because they are all children's books, but Spike asks her to read one to him anyway.
===The Flying Reindeer===
In a parody of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Rainbow Dash is the only reindeer with wings. Because of this, the other reindeer make fun of her, particularly Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. They even refuse to let Rainbow join in their reindeer games.
Suddenly, Princess Luna drops out of the sky on top of Rainbow, having injured her wing when a goose flew into her flight path. Luna hurls a fruitcake at the goose in anger, but Rainbow swiftly catches it. Luna was attempting to deliver fruit baskets to her subjects for Hearth's Warming, but she can no longer fly due to her injured wing. Impressed by Rainbow Dash's earlier demonstration of speed, she asks Rainbow to finish the run for her. Diamond and Silver notice Rainbow with Luna and start treating her nicely, but Rainbow knows they are only being polite because she's in the company of a princess.
After finishing the story, Twilight and Spike decide to read another one. The coffee stand owner Mocha Macchiato Caffe Latte Skim—Cuppa Joe for short—offers the two some more hot chocolate.
===The Toy and the Mouse===
In a parody of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, Rarity gets a nutcracker for Hearth's Warming, but her sister Sweetie Belle accidentally breaks it. Luckily, Rarity's uncle quickly repairs the toy off-panel. Rarity falls asleep with the nutcracker, and at the stroke of midnight, it transforms into a handsome prince. But when Rarity hears about the Mouse King, she walks abruptly out of the story, taking Sweetie Belle with her.
Twilight and Spike have dozed off to sleep while reading, but Cuppa Joe accidentally wakes them when he drops a pair of large bells. Having heard that they are missing a friend's Hearth's Warming party, he decides to throw them one. Twilight and Spike are touched by the gesture, and Joe offers to read them his favorite Hearth's Warming poem.
==='Twas the Night of Hearth's Warming Eve===
In a parody of the poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas", Big McIntosh is resting in bed when he hears loud noises coming from outside. He goes to the barn and discovers Applejack and Apple Bloom building something for him. The sisters decide to surprise their brother with the present, and to be sneaky, they enter the house through the chimney. Big Mac realizes there is still a fire roaring in the fireplace, so he quickly puts out with cider.
Applejack and Apple Bloom present Big Mac with his gift: a small-scale model of Sweet Apple Acres for his Smarty Pants doll. Big Mac thanks his sisters for the gift, and the night ends with "presents, family, and food."
===Happy Hearth's Warming!===
As Twilight, Spike, and Cuppa Joe finish reading, the train station door opens, and Twilight's friends arrive through the snow. Fluttershy explains that Twilight's mother contacted them to ask if she was home, and they deduced she was stuck at the train station and decided to move the party there. With a blast of Pinkie's party cannon, the Hearth's Warming party begins, and the ponies exchange gifts.
==Quotes==
:Spike: I say we go back to your parents'. Executive dragon decision!
:Twilight Sparkle: I can't miss Pinkie's party, she's been planning it for months! And I can't miss the gift exchange! I have Rarity! You know how she gets.
:Spike: Aw, you got Rarity? I got Big Mac. Do you know how hard he is to shop for?
:Twilight Sparkle: So, executive dragon decision cancelled.
:Diamond Tiara: I say right now that we don't let that weirdo play any of our reindeer games.
:Silver Spoon: What do you mean "reindeer games"?
:Diamond Tiara: I dunno. I was thinking we should play Mare-opoly or something? Anyway she can't play with us. Hmpf!
:Silver Spoon: But I hate Mare-opoly.
:Spike: Princess Luna is in this book?
:Twilight Sparkle: I guess so? Oh! Looks like she wrote it.
:Spike: Well, okay then.
:Rainbow Dash: You can't just go around throwing cake at things that annoy you! It's not nice!
:Princess Luna: I am a princess of Equestria. One does not need to be "nice" to the feathered fowl.
:Rainbow Dash: You're a feathered foul.
:Princess Luna: Now, if you'll excuse me, Celestia is going to have my cutie mark if I don't finish delivering all these festive Hearth's Warming Eve fruit baskets to her constituents.
:Rainbow Dash: I didn't understand any of that sentence.
:Princess Luna: How dare they make fun of such a gift! You are not "weird," you are special! To fly is an amazing thing! You can sail over mountains, you can glide over oceans! The world is yours when you can see it from the sky! It is a privilege to soar amongst the clouds and the birds!
:Silver Spoon: Do you think the lesson here is we should just be nice to everyone?
:Diamond Tiara: I don't think that was it.
:Cuppa Joe: My name is Mocha Macchiato Caffe Latte Skim... But all my friends call me Cuppa Joe!
:Narrator: When the clock struck midnight, the toy turned into a real prince.
:Rarity: Oh, I like this book!
:Narrator: And then the Mouse King showed up.
:Rarity: Mouse? Where? No one told me there would be a giant mouse in this story. Ew ew ew.
:Twilight Sparkle: The storm is terrible! I can't believe you made it all the way up to Canterlot from Ponyville!
:Rainbow Dash: It's a harrowing tale of friendship, hardship, and dedication that will need a full twenty pages to explain.
:Pinkie Pie: Hey. Breaking the fourth wall is my bit!
:Pinkie Pie: In a Pinkie Pie party, no pony gets left behind.
:Applejack: We left behind Big Mac.
==References==
Category:Featured articles
Category:Hearth's Warming-centered works