A Hearth's Warming Tail
| "A Hearth's Warming Tail" | |
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| My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode | |
In the story within a story, the Spirit of Hearth's Warming Yet to Come (right, represented by Princess Luna) warns Snowfall Frost (represented by Starlight Glimmer) of the tragic outcome of her actions. | |
| Episode no. | Season 6 Episode 8 |
| Directed by |
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| Written by | Michael Vogel |
| Featured music |
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| Editing by |
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| Original air date | May 14, 2016 |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Guest appearances | |
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"A Hearth's Warming Tail" is the eighth episode of the sixth season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and the 125th episode of the series overall. Directed by Denny Lu and Tim Stuby, written by Michael Vogel and produced by Devon Cody, it first aired on May 14, 2016, on Discovery Family.
In "A Hearth's Warming Tail", as Ponyville gets ready to celebrate Hearth's Warming (the series' lore equivalent to Christmas) in Twilight Sparkle (Tara Strong)'s castle, Starlight Glimmer (Kelly Sheridan) prefers not to be a part of the festivities. To convince her of the importance of Hearth's Warming, Twilight and Spike (Cathy Weseluck) tell her the tale of Snowfall Frost, a cold-hearted unicorn who despises Hearth's Warming and swears to erase it magically.
The episode mainly consists of a depiction of the tale itself, with its characters being represented by the main characters of the show; the story is adapted from Charles Dickens' classic 1843 Christmas novel A Christmas Carol, with Snowfall Frost representing Ebenezer Scrooge and being visited by three spirits who wish to teach her the importance of the holiday. "A Hearth's Warming Tail" has been described as one of the series' "musical episodes", and features six songs composed by Daniel Ingram and orchestrated by Caleb Chan, with lyrics by Vogel and Ingram.
The episode received acclaim from critics and fans; its pacing and songs were widely praised, in particular, "Luna's Future" (the first solo song for Princess Luna), sung by Princess Luna (voiced by Aloma Steele).