Friendship is Card Games: 2015 Holiday Special

It’s Christmas Eve. When better to review a holiday special, especially one that isn’t trying to pull double duty as a cyberbullying PSA?

You have to feel bad for the coffee guy. Not just working on Hearth’s Warming Eve, but trapped in the train station even after his shift ends. At least he’s got the Princess of Friendship with him.

Interesting to see it implied that weather pegasi would’ve had to step in to stop this blizzard. That’s much wilder weather than we usually see in Canterlot. I suppose it might have blown in from the less settled mountains (along with what appears to be a yeti enjoying the neck-deep snow,) but still, odd.

“Blissful Ignorance” is a lovely unsound effect, especially given what happens next.

Wow. And Twilight’s also not doing anything about most of the snow, making coffee guy close the doors. That’s royal privilege for you.
Also, this apparently predates Spike and Big Mac’s O&O sessions. Indeed, it’s possible that Spike got Mac a Player’s Hoofbook for Hearth’s Warming.

I do love how we get to see just how much Twilight takes after her father, though I do find it a bit silly to think that she had only the one book packed. And that as colossal a nerd as Night Light hasn’t read The Lord of the Reins

Twilight’s earth pony magic in action: When she goes for the books, the coffee kiosk is hurt more than she is.

Good to see Joe (presumably related to Donut Joe) is a good sport about the whole “trapped in the station with a book-deprived alicorn” thing.
Also, I kind of want to read “My Little Walrus”.

I suspect that “The Flying Reindeer” was written after one of Rainbow Dash’s many newsworthy exploits. That or it was written by Windy Whistles, which would actually be kind of amazing.
Also, thus far, this is the closest canon gets to perytons.

I’m going to have to agree with Linkara: Why are the other reindeer mocking the one capable of slipping the surly bonds of earth? Other than Diamond Tiantler despising anything more amazing than herself.

Oh! Or Luna wrote it. That works too. It’d certainly explain how she drew inspiration for the antagonists. And there’s the whole “incredibly gifted individual shunned rather than rightly praised for her gifts” angle. I can see how that would appeal to Moon Horse, assuming this isn’t autobiographical. (Maybe she’s in Season 1 form because her editor thought it was more marketable?)

I love how geese are enough to make even Luna lose her mystical demeanor and start chucking fruitcakes.

So… Luna’s acting as a glorified courier for her sister? Hmm. Really not sure where to file that on the history/fiction divide.

Hmm. Are geese every alicorn’s weakness, or just Luna’s bane? There’s a lot of fun one could have with this.

Heh. Luna probably appreciates anyone who doesn’t immediately bend the knee in her presence.

Seriously, Luna is amazing in this. I suspect this whole thing is part of a marketing ploy to make the Princess of the Night more approachable. And make Celestia look lazy and petty; that’s a side benefit.

“I liked that one. It had comeuppance.” Seriously, between that and “The best way to show thanks, my friend, is manual labor,” this is one of the funniest MLP comic pages I’ve ever seen.

I do like the subverted take on Nutcracker. This is why you always read the script first, Rarity.

Wow. The panels with Puddles are depressing on multiple levels. Not only is that one of the saddest goldfish I’ve ever seen in fiction, Cuppa Joe doesn’t have anyone else. Friends, yes, but no one but a fish with whom he can share the holiday. No wonder he took the Hearth’s Warming Eve shift.

The rhythm bothers me a bit, but not enough that I can’t appreciate the jokes that disrupt it. To say nothing of the stockings and the implication that their contents are meant to be expendable.
Also, AJ’s stocking has rope in it, because of course it does.

The thought’s certainly nice, but Mac has a point; pigs don’t make the best assistants. Still, I figured Applejack and Apple Bloom wouldn’t need the help, handy as they are. (Er, hoofy. You know what I mean.)

It’s a good thing one part isn’t illustrated, because I have no idea how Apple Bloom dragged AJ up to the roof of the farmhouse, especially not while holding that huge present.

I’m going to have to side with AJ on this one, Mac. Zero points of articulation makes it a doll. Specifically, a plushie.

Granny Smith intruding on the mood made me literally laugh out loud. (Though a fire in the fireplace at 2 AM? That sounds like a recipe for a burnt-down house to me… )

It’s not like it’s a mystery who the shady forms are, but it is a decently creepy shot regardless.

I do love Pinkie’s personalized Santa sack.

… Wait, how did Twilight Velvet get ahold of the girls? The only phones we’ve seen on the show are in Manehattan. Does Spike provide his family with vials of dragonflame for emergency? Does Velvet know a messaging spell of some kind? (I wouldn’t be surprised if she did, but I’d still like to know the specifics. And the twenty-page story of the Bearers’ trek to Canterlot.)

Puddles!
Pinkie Sense-induced kleptomania!

Seriously, that last page is a blend of hilarity and legitimate concern.

In all, this was a lot of fun. A shame it wasn’t longer, but there was actually enough material for me to derive a full helping of cards from it. Happy holidays of your choice, everyone, and enjoy my gifts:

Handy Hen W
Creature — Bird Rigger
When Handy Hen enters the battlefield, if you control an artifact, Handy Hen assembles a Contraption. (Put the top card of your Contraption deck face up onto one of your sprockets.)
Anyone can figure something out when given a good example to work with.
1/2

Prismatic Peryton 3W
Creature — Elk
Flying
Prismatic Peryton gets +1/+1 for each color among other permanents you control.
She dedicates one trick to every onlooker.
1/1

Overwhelming Blizzard 3WW
Snow Enchantment
Overwhelming Blizzard enters the battlefield with three ice counters on it.
When there are no ice counters on Overwhelming Blizzard, sacrifice it.
Players skip their combat phases.
(2s)(2s): Remove an ice counter from Overwhelming Blizzard. Any player may activate this ability. ((2s) can be paid with any two mana or with one mana from a snow source.)

Ineffable Insight U
Enchantment
Players play with the top card of their libraries revealed.
2R, Sacrifice Ineffable Insight: Exile that top card of target player’s library. Until end of turn, you may cast that card and you may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to cast that spell.

Generous Goldfish UU
Creature — Fish
When Generous Goldfish enters the battlefield, draw a card.
All that glitters is still a potentially useful shiny object.
1/1

Pained Screams 2B
Sorcery
Target player loses life equal to the number of -1/-1 counters on creatures he or she controls.
”My sister has schemed up centuries of peace, but the cries of wounded soldiers still haunt her dreams.”
—Princess Luna

Mouse King 2BB
Creature — Rat Warrior
Other Rats you control have menace.
Whenever a Rat you control deals combat damage to a player, create a 1/1 black Rat creature token.
Every rodent bows to the big cheese.
2/2

Foulfeather Goose 3B
Creature — Bird
Flying
Wither (This deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters.)
The honking seems like the worst part of colliding with one… until the infection sets in.
2/2

Play Rough R
Sorcery
Destroy target artifact. If that artifact’s controller was dealt damage this turn, exile that artifact instead.
”I do love my sister, but over the years, I’ve come to fear ‘Oops’ more than any other word in the Equish language.”
—Rarity, Bearer of Generosity

Canterlot Barista 2R
Creature — Unicorn Citizen
Hoofcraft — As long as you control three or more Ponies, Pegasi, and/or Unicorns, creatures you control have haste.
Coffee is the lifeblood that sustains Equestria’s capital.
2/1

Twilight’s Anguish 3R
Sorcery
Twilight’s Anguish deals X damage to target player, where X is 7 minus the number of cards in that player’s hand.
”It’s not fair! There was time now!”
—Princess Twilight Sparkle

Canterhorn Yeti 4R
Creature — Yeti
Canterhorn Yeti can’t be blocked by Ponies, by Pegasi, or by Unicorns.
Ponies cannot tame that which they can never find.
4/4

Reindeer Games 1G
Sorcery
Target creature you control fights target creature you don’t control. If W was spent to cast Reindeer Games, the creature you control gains lifelink until end of turn before it fights.
Whether for dominance or for fun, reindeer play is as rough as their environment.

Stallion Without Desire 3G
Creature — Pony Monk
Shroud (This creature can’t be the target of spells or abilities.)
Rejecting the material world is easy when you’re too big to use most of it.
4/3

War Fruitcake 2
Artifact
3, T: War Fruitcake deals 3 damage to target attacking or blocking creature. That creature’s controller gains control of War Fruitcake.
The cycle of violence is as eternal as the cycle of regifting.

The Reins of Power 6
Legendary Artifact
When The Reins of Power enters the battlefield, target opponent gains control of it.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you don’t own The Reins of Power, put a corruption counter on it and you lose 1 life. Then if the number of corruption counters on The Reins of Power is greater than your life total, its owner gains control of it.
6, T: Target player loses the game. Activate this ability only if you own The Reins of Power.

Sugarplum Faerie WU
Creature — Faerie
Flying, lifelink
(wu): Return Sugarplum Faerie to its owner’s hand.
Most ponies are lucky to get a glimpse of one, but the memories dance in their heads for years.
1/2

Boardwalk Hotel 1WB
Enchantment
Whenever a creature deals combat damage to you, that creature’s controller loses 2 life unless that player pays 2.
Even the pillow mints can bankrupt small nations.

Boreal Herd 1GW
Snow Creature — Elk
Vigilance
Boreal Herd’s power and toughness are each equal to the number of snow permanents you control.
The Frozen North is merciless and uncontrollable. Survival must take priority over individual achievement.
*/*

Twilight’s Desperation 5UR
Sorcery
If you have fewer than seven cards in hand, draw cards equal to the difference. Twilight’s Desperation deals damage to target creature or player equal to the number of cards drawn this way.
The longer Twilight spends without a book, the bigger the resulting crater.

Festive Boom XRW
Sorcery
Festive Boom deals X damage to target creature or player. You gain X life.
At the end of the day, party cannons are still cannons.

Bow 1W//Scrape 3B
Instant//Instant
Bow: Tap up to two target creatures.
Scrape: Destroy target creature if it’s tapped.
Fuse (You may cast one or both halves of this card from your hand.)

Bedecked Halls
Land
T: Add C to your mana pool.
4, T: Proliferate (You choose any number of permanents and/or players with counters on them, then give each another counter of a kind already there.)

Comments

[Speckle]

Merry Christmas!

Twilight's Anguish, the flavor text specifically: I see what you did there

[DannyJ]

I always forget about this comic, but I do like it on the whole. It's a much better holiday special than the other one, which should be enough by itself, but I really do love the fact that Princess Luna is apparently publishing children's books starring herself. There's just something about that concept that really amuses me. It's both hilarious, sort of adorable, and a really unique bit of characterisation.