History WesternAnimation / MyLittlePonyBestGiftEver

* MoralMyopia: Flim and Flam say that they're simply providing a service to unsure Hearth's Warming shopping with their shoddily made products, and doing nothing wrong.

* SeriousBusiness: Pinkie Pie, who loves getting multiple gifts for multiple ponies balks at the idea of only getting one gift for one pony.

** Being Ponyville's main delivery pony/postal worker, Derpy gets overworked by all the Hearth's Warming's gift-delivering, so she was meant to make at least a few mistakes.

* BlatantLies: After failing to succeed at Pinkie's "guess who" game, Prince Rutherford claims he knew it was her all along because "yaks best at guessing."

** Discord dresses Rainbow Dash and himself as [[Franchise/GIJoe Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes]], respectively.

* SeriesContinuityError: Applejack reveals her hat is a precious gift from her father Bright Mac, an idea the show had earlier {{Jossed}} by showing [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E17SomeponyToWatchOverMe she has a whole bunch of them]] and [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E17MadeInManehattan doesn't care when one gets ruined]].

** Rarity's gift for Applejack is a custom fedora hat, but it gets sent to the wrong place by Derpy/Muffins. The pony who actually gets the gift, Pistachio, loves it because he's an aspiring fashionista. Even though Pistachio figures out the gift wasn't for him and tries to return it, Rarity doesn't have the heart to take it back, letting him keep it. Once Applejack finds out, she's thoroughly touched by the gesture.

%%* FreudianTrio: Aurora is the id, Bori is the superego, and Alice is the ego.%% ZCE and character trope.

* Pinkie Pie has gotten Twilight. Having planned to have given matching presents to all her friends, she laments about now having to only get one special present. Her sisters suggests that the Yaks claim to be the best at gift-giving, so Pinkie sets off to visit Yakyakistan. There, Prince Rutherford lets her in on the secret that the yaks aren't the best gift-givers but he tells her where to find them, up further north. Traveling there, Pinkie meets three reindeer, Aurora, Boli, and Alice, who knew she was coming and prepare a perfect gift for Twilight. Pinkie is confused by the gift's content but thanks them for the help.

* Pinkie Pie has gotten Twilght. Having planned to have given matching presents to all her friends, she laments about now having to only get one special present. Her sisters suggests that the Yaks claim to be the best at gift-giving, so Pinkie sets off to visit Yakyakistan. There, Prince Rutherford lets her in on the secret that the yaks aren't the best gift-givers but he tells her where to find them, up further north. Traveling there, Pinkie meets three reindeer, Aurora, Boli, and Alice, who knew she was coming and prepare a perfect gift for Twilight. Pinkie is confused by the gift's content but thanks them for the help.
* Rarity has gotten Applejack, and orders her a special hat from Manehattan. However, the packages gets lost in transit, and instead of being delivered to Rarity, has been sent to Sweet Acorn Orchard. She goes there personally to get the package, but finds the son, Pistachio, to be a budding fashion designer and is enthralled with the hat having believed it was sent to him. She cannot come to take the hat back, and let's him keep him, hoping it will help with his fashion career.

* Fluttershy, now with Rainbow Dash, tags along with Applejack, who got Spike, to go to Rainbow Falls and shop there. Fluttershy is quickly taken in by a scam by Flim and Flam to sell poorly-made "Holly the Hearth's Warming Doll", spending all her money. Applejack sees that many other ponies are being taken in by the same scam, and AJ and Fluttershy work together to expose Flim and Flam's scam. However, after all is said and done, all they have left for their gives are a couple of the Holly dolls.

** Discord fails to mention to Rainbow Dash that the winterchilla turns into a winterzilla after sunset, resulting in it chasing them all the way to Twilight's castle. Subverted when it turns out to not be so unwitting as he planned for this so that Fluttershy could be the hero of the day by taming the creature.
*** Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, plays it straight in the same incident.

* Rainbow Dash has Fluttershy, but in trying to ask her what she wants, she can't decide on anything, annoying Dash. Discord appears, and suggests a perfect gift for Fluttershy, a small critter known as a winterchilla, but would require somepony with amazing speed to collect. Rainbow Dash takes this idea and they quickly

** Flim and Flam are still planning on expanding their resort, as they were back in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS8E16FriendshipUniversity Friendship University]]".

* TitleDrop: Dropped multiple times, most noticeably by Pinkie in Yakyakistan.

-->'''Pinkie''': Ooh, ooh! The Gift Givers told me that! Oh, what was it? The best gift is more precious than gold, but it cannot be sold. When it breaks, it's not ended, for quickly it's mended. It can never be bought yet is easily sought.\\
'''Twilight''': ''(giggles)''\\
'''Pinkie''': What's so funny?\\
'''Twilight''': It's a riddle, and the answer is "[[ThePowerOfFriendship friendship]]"!

** At Rainbow Falls, Applejack gets Spike a Power Ponies comic that she hopes "isn't enchanted", referring to the events of [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E6PowerPonies the episode of the same name]].

* ContinuitySnarl: [[invoked]]Applejack reveals her hat is a precious gift from her father Bright Mac, an idea the show had earlier {{Jossed}} by showing [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E17SomeponyToWatchOverMe she has a whole bunch of them]] and [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E17MadeInManehattan doesn't care when one gets ruined]].

** Fluttershy, along with a large crowd of market ponies, gets suckered into Flim & Flam's latest product scam due to not thinking hard enough about what to get for their special ones.

* FeatherFingers: While eating pudding, Rainbow uses her wing to hold her spoon.

* FreakOut: Discussed. Twilight, as is typical of her SuperOCD, is worrying about getting everything ready for Hearth's Warming Eve, to the point Applejack refers to it as a "traditional holiday meltdown" when she lays eyes on Twilight in the marketplace. Shining Armor is also quite used to it, referring to Twilight's freakout as "going Twily-nanas."
* FreudianTrio: Aurora is the id, Bori is the superego, and Alice is the ego.

* ImpossiblyDeliciousFood: The pudding Chancellor Puddinghead made for the first Hearth's Warming was "so delicious [that] legends were written about it".
* InformedAttribute: Winterchillas are supposed to be extremely quick, and thus very difficult to chase down and catch. This never comes into play in the special -- Rainbow quickly zooms over to and retrieves the first one she sees, which stays in her hoof until it transforms, and no running or chasing is seen. An InUniverse example is also present in the form of their rarity: winterchillas are extremely rare according to Discord, but he loudly announces that he's seen one the moment he finishes saying that, then again it ''is'' Discord making these claims.

** Discord briefly takes a form of an animated candelabra, ala Lumiere from ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast''.
** Discord dresses Rainbow Dash and himself as [[{{Franchise/GIJoe}} Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes]], respectively.
** Discord dresses himself in a green winter hat and white bathrobe reminiscent of Cousin Eddie from [[Film/NationalLampoonsChristmasVacation National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation]].

* TitleDrop: dropped multiple times, most noticeably by Pinkie in Yakyakistan.

* Twilight Sparkle has gotten Pinkie and knows that a food-based gift would be best, but wants something more unique than just cookies or cake. She comes onto a special pudding recipe made by Chancellor Puddinghead, but requiring the precise mixing of ingredients to get just right. As she is in the process of making the pudding, Shining Armor, Cadance, and Flurry Heart arrive a day earlier than planned. They try to help Twilight relax, unaware that Flurry Heart has accidentally added more ingredients to the pudding.

With Hearth's Warming Eve coming up, the main characters decide to ease the stress of holiday shopping by each getting a single gift for one of their friends -- with the caveat that, since they're each only giving, and getting, one present, they will have to make it the best gift they possibly can.

** The pudding floods the castle halls in a similar manner to [[Literature/TheShining The Shining]].

** The pudding floods the castle halls in a similar manner to [[Literature/TheShining]].

* TitleDrop: Pinkie drops it in Yakyakistan.

* InformedAttribute: Winterchillas are supposed to be extremely quick, and thus very difficult to chase down and catch. This never comes into play in the special -- Rainbow quickly zooms over to and retrieves the first one she sees, which stays in her hoof until it transforms, and no running or chasing is seen. An InUniverse example is also present in the form of their rarity: winterchillas are extremely rare according to Discord, but he loudly announces that he's seen one the moment he finishes saying that, then again you ''is'' Discord making these claims.

* InformedAttribute: Winterchillas are supposed to be extremely quick, and thus very difficult to chase down and catch. This never comes into play in the special -- Rainbow quickly zooms over to and retrieves the first one she sees, which stays in her hoof until it transforms, and no running or chasing is seen. An InUniverse example is also present in the form of their rarity: winterchillas are extremely rare according to Discord, but he loudly announces that he's seen one the moment he finishes saying that.

* AnthropomorphicFood: The huge pudding concoction created by Flurry Heart moves around and tries to grab several ponies.

** A ponified version of the Pigeon Lady from ''Film/HomeAlone2LostInNewYork'' is briefly shown.

* TheCameo: The Young Six, Starlight Glimmer, Trixie, Burnt Oak, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Lyra, Bon Bon, the Cake family, Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, and Mayor Mare all make brief appearances over the course of the special.

* MiracleGroMonster: The Winter-Chilla grows into a Winter-Zilla after dark.

* NeverMyFault: When everypony glares at Rainbow Dash for bringing the Winter-Zilla to the castle, Discord glares along with them. Granted, he is the one who suggested finding the creature for Fluttershy.

* PassThePopcorn: Discord sits in a recliner munching on popcorn while the pudding and the Winter-Zilla attack.

** The Winter-Chilla transforming into a Winter-Zilla after sunset is very similar to the [[{{Film/Gremlins}} Mogwai]].

** Discord fails to mention to Rainbow Dash that the Winter-Chilla turns into a Winter-Zilla after sunset, resulting in it chasing them all the way to Twilight's castle. Subverted when it turns out to not be so unwitting as he planned for this so that Fluttershy could be the hero of the day by taming the creature.

--> '''Pinkie''': Ooh, ooh! The Gift Givers told me that! Oh, what was it? The best gift is more precious than gold, but it cannot be sold. When it breaks, it's not ended, for quickly it's mended. It can never be bought yet is easily sought.
--> '''Twilight''': ''(giggles)''
--> '''Pinkie''': What's so funny?
--> '''Twilight''': It's a riddle, and the answer is "[[ThePowerOfFriendship friendship]]"!

** The Student Six are shown heading off to their own lands to celebrate, and in line with their stories from "The Hearthwarming Club", we see the changelings singing around a fake fire and under an upside down tree, and the yaks smashing things.
** Starlight and Trixie are traveling in Trixie's wagon for the holiday, as from "Road to Friendship".
** The tea cozy Fluttershy knitted in "Fake It 'Til You Make It" is her gift to Discord.
** Fluttershy's first stop at the Rainbow Falls trading depot is the booth where Rainbow Dash almost traded her for a first edition Daring Do book in "Trade Ya". This time the merchant is featuring the book from "Daring Don't".
** The way Fluttershy deals with the Winterzilla (giving it a stern talking to, then comforting it when it cries) harkens back to how she dealt with the dragon in "Dragonshy".
** Flim and Flam are still planning on expanding their resort, as they were back in "Friendship University".

** At Rainbow Falls, Applejack gets Spike a Power Ponies comic that she hopes "isn't enchanted", referring to the events of the episode of the same name.
** After finding out she was tricked by Flim and Flam, Fluttershy "kicks" a small stone with anger, similar to a scene in "Green isn't Your Color".
* ContinuitySnarl: [[invoked]]Applejack reveals her hat is a precious gift from her father Bright Mac, an idea the show had earlier {{Jossed}} by showing she has a whole bunch of them, and didn't care when one got ruined.

* EveryoneCanSeeIt: When Spike is trying to exchange helpers with Applejack and Pinkie Pie, they each reply "I don't have Rarity," without Spike bringing up Rarity's name.

* TheHecateSisters: The three reindeer at the northern end of the world - Aurora, Bori, and Alice - are a trio of reindeer with magic, all of which is centered around gift-giving. Aurora specializes in knowing about gifts given in the past, Alice on gifts yet to be given, and Bori on staying in the moment and keeping her sisters in line. They serve as Equestria's equivalents of SantaClaus.

* PunnyName: The three gift-giving reindeer ponies are named Aurora, Bori, and Alice. This is a play on the technical name for the Northern Lights - aurora borealis.

* ConversationalTroping: Discord describes Pinkie Pie saving the day with her gift from the reindeer as "a bit [[DeusExMachina reindeer ex machina]]."