Pikatwig: So… a second holiday special from me. Eh, why not? *turns to camera* We're rolling, right?
Camera Guy: Indeed!
Pikatwig: Alright.
KKD: *walking in* Hey guys. How's it going? *drops in a few presents*
Pikatwig: Merry Christmas, man. ...hard to believe it's already Christmas Eve…
KKD: I know, right?
Pikatwig: So… this one-shot. Let's explain the history of this one. We actually started work on this Christmas Day last year when I was struck with a fit of insomnia. We didn't get very far… then I remembered we could work on this a bit more. So… here we are.
KKD: And I'm glad we did finish it this year, and on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day.
Pikatwig: Indeed.
Neptune: Nepu! *dashes on in with a happy smile* I'm so happy that this finally came out. Now you get to see my version of Christmas.
Twilight: Next year, you two need to resume another holiday story.
Pikatwig: Hai hai hai… we'll get to it, I promise.
KKD: Of course. In the meantime, let's set up our disclaimers.
Disclaimers: Hyperdimension Neptunia and anything else used in this story belong to their respective owners and companies such as SEGA, Idea Factory, Compile Heart, etc. The only things Pikatwig and KKD Silver own are the original concepts, characters, and ideas within.
The snow in Lowee had spread to the rest of Gamindustri, indicating that it was that special time of year for everyone, being Pongsmas.
-Pongsmastime is here. Happiness and cheer. Fun for all the children called their favorite time of year.- a TV played in the background, -Snowflakes in the air, Carols everywhere. Olden times and ancient rhymes. Of love and dreams to share. Sleigh bells in the air. Beauty everywhere. Games by the fireside and joyful memories there. Pongsmastime is here. Families drawing near Oh, that we could always see such spirit through the year.-
Blanc slowly put up the Pongsmas Tree in the living room, making sure it didn't fall over with all of the ornaments she had dug out from Rom's room.
"Hey, Onee-chan! Onee-chan! Onee-chan!" Ram shouted as she ran over, carrying over some sort of box, "I did something for you!"
"Oh?" she blinked as she slowly walked down, curious about what it was, "Can I open it now?"
"Yea!" Ram nodded.
Blanc smiled slowly and opened the box up, revealing it to be something made out of tinfoil, "Uh…?"
"It's an amiibo of a character I want in Smash!" Ram informed.
"Uh…?"
"...it's King K. Rool." Ram clarified.
Blanc just looked at the handmade amiibo and slowly noticed the details, "Oh… I see it."
"Hey, where's Rom?" Ram asked.
"Oh the weather outside is frightful… but the fire is so delightful… and since we've no place to go… Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow," Rom sung as she walked outside, wearing a light blue Santa cap atop her normal attire.
"It doesn't show signs of stopping," Rom continued as she sat down by a campfire, "And I brought some corn for popping. The lights are turned way down low… Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow."
She then slowly walked out of an igloo and looked at a snowman that was molded in a feminine way, the face and hair looking very much like Nepgear's and around the snowman's neck was a light purple and light blue scarf, "When we finally kiss goodnight, how I hate going out into the storm," she paused to take the scarf off of the snowman, "But if you really hold me tight, all the way home I'll be warm."
Rom slowly walked over to a store as it pulled down a shade, the shadow of the items in the store looking familiar.
"Well, the fire is slowly dying… but my dear we're still goodbying," she continued as she formed a heart with her fingers around the shadow, "But as long as you love me so… Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow…"
She then walked back inside and sat down, "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow. ...Let It Snow…"
"Rom? ...Rom… ROM!"
Rom bounced out of her bed and looked up to see Ram, "...Ram… why'd you wake me up?"
"Because it's almost noon!" Ram informed.
"WHAT?!" Rom gasped as she shot right up and scampered to get dressed.
"Where were ya, sleepyhead?" Blanc asked as Rom held out a box of ornaments.
"...sleeping," Rom stated.
"What were you dreaming about?" Blanc asked as she was handed a red ornament.
Rom was silent, uncertain what to tell her older sister as she focused on setting ornaments on the tree.
"...well?"
"...singing a Pongsmas song…"
"That's all?"
The girl in light blue gave a simple nod in response while Blanc shrugged and kept up the work, "Ok, I guess."
"We are going to be going to the Pongsmas party on Planeptune, right?" Ram checked.
"The party's not until Pongsmas Day," Blanc reminded, leaving both girls to nod in response.
"We wish you a Merry Pongsmas, we wish you a Merry Pongsmas, we with you a Merry Pongsmas, and a happy new year! Glad gaming we bring, from every gaming store, glad Spacewar! for sale and a happy game system!" Neptune caroled happily.
"Merry Pongsmas," some Planeptuneans bid their CPU.
"The one of a few times a year we actually don't get mistaken for cosplayers," Nepgear giggled as she walked over to Neptune.
"And yet some people still think I'm some girl from Rosario + Vampire…"
"To be fair, you do kinda look like the yuki-onna character…"
"Yea… I know… ah well, Merry Pongsmas and a happy Tankzaa and Seawolfkah to everybody on Planeptune!" Neptune cheered.
Neptune then skipped off, with Compa and IF walking over to Nepgear.
"Merry Pongsmas," Nepgear greeted them.
"Merry Pongsmas to you too, Ge-Ge," Compa bid.
"So Gear, mind me asking you something?"
"Fire away,"
"Think you can figure out how this holiday came to be?"
"...what do you mean?"
"...I mean… Pongsmas, Tankzaa and Seawolfkah are all celebrated and stuff, but we don't know why we celebrate them every year. And don't give some cheesy cartoony answer like the first ever goddess gave from the kindness of her heart to the people by gifting them with games."
"Iffy, that's kind of the most popular answer…"
"Why don't you just ask Histy?" Compa offered.
"Don't you think I've tried that already. Everytime I do try, she just dodges the question and/or has to get called away to deal with a certain somebody's over-enthusiasm," IF responded as she turned to see Neptune had slipped on some ice and was stuck to the side of a hot chocolate stand due to her scarf being tied by the sign, "Like that."
Neptune giggled a bit as she attempted to budge, but the stand proved to be stronger than her.
"Kid, get off my stand…" the owner groaned.
"Uh… Iffy, Compa… little help here?"
IF rolled her eyes as she untied the scarf.
"If your daughter wants any hot chocolate, she has to stand in line like everybody else," the owner commented, not even looking at Neptune or IF.
"Oh, she's not my daughter, she's just a squirt I look after,"
The owner turned to face them and simply gestured for them to go away
Noire was fast asleep by the fireplace while Uni was working on making sure the Pongsmas Tree was set up for the company they were going to have.
"Ok… I got a tree set up…" Uni commented as she checked it off, "...why did she need to sleep almost all day and leave the work of preparing for her girlfriend up to me…"
Uni then cringed as she heard a loud wailing sound, "...that's why. Why did Onee-chan need to adopt a child…?"
A knock then came at the door, making Uni growl in anger, storming towards the door and opening it up to reveal Plutia, "...hi Plutia,"
"Hi there Uni…" Plutia greeted, "Is… everything okay?"
"I need to decorate on my own and your child is crying…"
"Oh, um… I got it," Plutia nodded as she headed upstairs as fast as she could.
Plutia quietly entered a room that was painted yellow with some designs based around being of Spyro, Crash, and Klonoa on the walls, and a white crib where a young baby girl with blonde hair wearing a purple onesie cried and squirmed, "Luna-chan… momma's here… it's okay…"
She picked up the baby and began to rock her a little, which calmed the baby down a bit. The baby, Luna, soon smiled and dozed off with a smile. Plutia giggled as she set the baby down and turned to see Noire was there at the door.
"Hi Noriey…"
"You can put her to sleep so easily sometimes…" Noire silently groaned, "It took me hours to get her to bed last night… and she loves me,"
"Sometimes I guess I just have a magic touch," Plutia giggled.
"Well, you have the mind of a baby sometimes…" Noire joked.
"Well… maybe…" Plutia shrugged as Noire gave her a hug, "Sorry I wasn't here last night, Noirey… I was a bit busy with Peashy… she just wouldn't let me leave…"
Noire couldn't help but giggle a bit as she petted Plutia's hair, both smiling in response as they happily hugged.
Vert looked at some of her MMORPGs as they became Pongsmas themed, like Four Goddesses Online having a Pongsmas tree in the hubworld, along with several areas getting snow and even a special boss monster with an extremely rare drop. She would get that item…
"Bert, I want lunch!" Peashy yelled as she bonked Vert's back with a pillow, but she was unfazed as she focused on her match and won with ease, "Bert! Bert! BERT!"
"Sorry, I just got the super rare drop, but my guild members are trying to duel me to get it away from me. I need to find somewhere to hide and then I can get you lunch," Vert apologized quickly.
Peashy was ready to do something drastic before Vert managed to accomplish her task and shut off the game, "Thank you!"
"It would do you a bit of good to remember to not be so greedy, otherwise Manvi won't bring you a present," Vert reminded, leaving Peashy with a worried look, "I don't mean to ignore you, it's just there are times I need to get things in my game done. Anyway… let's get that lunch going, shall we?"
"Thank you," Peashy smiled as Vert carried her to the kitchen.
Back over on Lowee, the CPU and the twin Candidates were at a mall to do a bit of window shopping, looking around for gifts for Neptune's party.
"Onee-chan, look!" Ram called out, pointing over to a bookstore, "It's your new book. It's selling really well."
Blanc gave a small blush, but a proud smile alongside it. The twins smiled as they saw a cover of the book with two characters from the series on a date.
The three continued on and Rom was looking around with a nervous look about what to buy.
"So, did you buy everything for the others?" Ram asked.
"Yep," Blanc as she showed off a few pictures, "I got some cases of that Aniki Coffee for Noire and Vert, a parenting book for Plutia, a new capture card for Uni, a new medical book for Compa, a new helmet for IF, earmuffs for Historie and a new Sonic poster for Neptune."
"Cool," Ram commented, "I got most of my ideas done, what about you Rom?"
Rom was silent as she was looking around in an attempt to locate something.
"Rom?" Ram called out, waving a hand in front of her sister's face, "Rom? Rom? Rom? ROM!"
"AH! WH-WH-WHAT?!" Rom yelped as she hid behind Blanc. Blanc simply patted her sister on the back to calm her down, Rom managing to calm down and face Ram, "...yes?"
"What's wrong with you? You've been silent almost all day,"
Rom didn't know how to respond, clearly looking nervous as she silently stared off in another direction to avoid the conversation.
"We'll stop pestering you, but we're worried about you," Blanc told Rom, the latter just nodding as they continued to look around. Soon, they came across a manga store and Rom saw BlaStarr, a popular mecha anime/manga, there, "Something up?"
"...can we get that?" Rom asked.
"I didn't know you were into mecha."
"...I'm not."
"Oh. It's a present for Nepgear, isn't it?" Blanc figured out, with Rom nodding in response, "Alright. We can get that for her,"
Thus they headed on in and purchased the entirety of the collector's edition of the manga and a poster of the anime. Rom had an innocent smile on her face as they walked towards a 3-20 to get a small bit of lunch.
"So is that Aniki Coffee good?" Ram couldn't help but ask as she saw a vending machine of it as they walked in.
"It's considered some of the best coffee in all of Lowee," the clerk answered as the three looked at the food, "What would you like?"
"I think I'll take the ham sandwich with extra ketchup," Blanc requested.
"Cheese sandwich with extra mayo,"
"Uh…" Rom muttered as she looked over the list, bit unsure what she would want more, either the cheddar mac n' cheese or the small cheese and sauce pizza with the free Gulppee, "Uh… uh… uh…"
"Well?" Blanc whispered.
"Uh…" Rom muttered as she looked between the two choices, "I think I'll... have… the… uh… uh… uh…"
The young girl sighed as she turned to Blanc for help in picking.
"How hungry are you?" Blanc asked.
"I didn't eat before we left…"
"...can my sister have both? She slept in today." Blanc requested as she took out some extra cash
"Absolutely," the clerk smiled as she handed the Gulppee cup to Blanc for Rom.
"Uh… uh… uh… s-s-sorry I was indecisive… again…" Rom apologized nervously, Blanc comforting her as Blanc handed her the food she requested, "Thank you…"
"Take your time, I know we do need to go to another store but you getting some food in your stomach is more important."
"Arigatou, Onee-chan." Rom thanked as she happily hugged Blanc before she began to eat her food.
The small family began to eat, enjoying the tastes as they took a moment to look out a window and enjoy the serenity of people walking around to do some Pongsmas shopping. Rom smiled as she noticed a chocolate doughnut sat nearby her.
"We didn't order this." Blanc told the clerk.
"You mentioned your little sister didn't eat before you left, so I figured I'd let her have a little sugary sweet. Merry Pongsmas," the clerk smiled as she walked back to her post.
"Wow…" Blanc gawked, "Pongsmas does strange things to people,"
Rom simply began to nibble on the doughnut a bit, "Mmm… so good…"
Neptune skipped along to her Basilicom and marveled at how festive it looked. She giggled at how everything looked perfect before she noticed a head of blue hair of a man wearing a mainly lavender and white outfit that seemed to look like it was meant for a worker of sorts, a pointy hat, and bells along his wrists. She smiled before she slowly snuck over to him and…
"NEPZAI!" she yelled as she tackle-hugged him into the couch.
"WHOA!" the dude gasped as he landed on the couch.
"Gotcha!" Neptune giggled as she cuddled up against him.
"Nep-chan… please can you get off? People are gonna say things…" he requested.
"Nope Take-kun. I won't let go until I get a kiss," she giggled as the boy rolled his eyes.
Compa, IF and Nepgear all sighed at this as Takeshi managed to kiss Neptune and get her off of him.
"You know, I'm kinda surprised Nep-Nep isn't a lesbian, y'know?" Compa admitted.
"She normally would be, but this is an exception," Takeshi noted as Neptune stood upwards.
"Indeed. The writers debated whether or not I should be with Vert, or with Take-kun here."
"They did a coin toss."
"Technically, it was a Yo-Kai Medal toss as one of the writers didn't have a coin and it was the closest thing at hand. And then we debated about giving you fourth wall awareness… I didn't want you to have it, admittedly, but I'm totally fine with it."
"It's Neptune and Takeshi, don't question it," Compa, IF and Nepgear all sighed.
The two lovers smiled as Takeshi did kiss her again.
Over at Lastation, Noire, Plutia, Uni and Luna were all looking around a store for some supplies and gift ideas as Plutia held Luna in her arms.
"Mind my asking why you two adopted a kid?" Uni inquired, "I don't mind it…"
"You totally do…" Plutia interrupted.
"I just want to know why you did, ok?"
"It's much more complicated than you could understand," Noire responded.
"Can you ever explain to me that… or why you chose to hook up with Plutia?"
"Stop being such a whiner…" Plutia responded with narrowed eyes.
"I'm not trying to be… it's just I was never told either thing, so…"
Plutia continued to have narrowed eyes at Uni, making Noire's sister feel uncomfortable as she backed up behind her older sister.
"Plutie, please stop…" Noire told Plutia.
"Fine…" Plutia responded as she looked to Luna laying in her arms, who was a bit nervous, "Oh… I'm sorry Luna dearie… I didn't mean to frighten you…"
Uni sighed a breath of relief as she came out, Noire smiling at how motherly Plutia was.
"Bert, did you have a crush on Neptuna?" Peashy asked as Vert was looking at a picture of the four CPUs.
"Hmm?" Vert blinked.
"Did you hear me?"
"I did Peashy… I just don't know."
Peashy simply shrugged as she took the remote and turned on a TV to relax with a cartoon. Vert sighed as she looked over at Peashy and what she was watching.
"Peashy. Don't ever change…"
"I like to change into my other form, I get big things on my chest like you do,"
Vert giggled a bit at the young girl as she simply walked over and hugged her happily.
"Onee-chan… can I have help wrapping this?" Rom requested as she struggled to wrap her present to Nepgear.
"Sure," Blanc smiled as she walked over to help out, "So… why did you want to get something for Nepgear so badly?"
Rom began to blush a bit, not sure if she should say.
"It's fine if you don't wanna say, I was just curious."
"O-o-o-okay…" Rom nodded nervously.
After they had finished wrapping gifts, Rom and Ram went to do some doodles and Blanc simply observed them with a small smile.
"So, what should we do after the party?" Ram asked.
"M-m-maybe give Blanc our ideas for Smash characters?" Rom nervously suggested.
"I already gave her mine. You better give her yours soon,"
Rom simply gave an innocent nod as she continued to doodle out the character she was thinking about…
Plutia had handed off Luna to Noire and the twin-tailed CPU proved rather skilled at being a mother. She rocked Luna in her arms, the young baby smiling as she dozed off and was put into a crib. Noire quietly walked over to her girlfriend and hugged her.
"You're such a good mother," Plutia commented.
"As are you," Noire smiled as she hugged Plutia.
"You're so sweet," Plutia smiled as Luna snoozed happily with a plushie of her aunt in her hands, "I did a great job with that, didn't I?"
"Yea,"
"Hey Take-kun," Neptune giggled as she walked over, "Look at this, I finished some work!"
"Oh really?" Takeshi blinked, "That's a bit surprising…"
He took the papers and saw that the paper was only half-filled.
"Success!" Neptune giggled.
"You only did half of it…"
"...What?"
"You didn't finish the whole thing…"
"...uh… uh… uh… because greatness comes in small doses," Neptune giggled nervously.
"Uh-huh. ...why is it the authors made a joke about something tied with that one Rosario + Vampire character?"
"Because they say I kinda look like her,"
"Right…"
Takeshi soon put the papers down and simply hugged her.
"Fiery Fast Ball, Fiery Fast Ball, Fiery Fast Ball…" Peashy yelled as she quickly pressed buttons on the 360 controller.
"Blue… Blaster!" Vert yelled as she KOed Peashy's character, "I win!"
"Oh come on! I was playing as the Digimon King and you were playing as some oldie!"
"Sometimes the classics work the best."
Peashy bonked her head against the controller in agitation.
"Careful, don't wanna hit the Xbox Home button,"
"I want a rematch!"
"Why did I let you open a gift early?" Vert groaned loudly.
Peashy didn't pay attention as she was quickly pressing the 'rematch' option.
"The sooner you two get to sleep, the sooner Manvi will arrive," Blanc told Rom and Ram as she put them into bed.
"I wanna see him!" Ram commented.
"Well, if I happen to bump into him, I'll let you two know," Blanc giggled a bit.
"Can you read us a Pongsmas story?" Rom requested.
"Well… I suppose. How about Twas The Night Before Pongsmas?"
Both girls nodded happily as Blanc plucked out the book.
"'Twas the Night before Pongsmas and all through the house, there wasn't a sound, not even a mouse…'"
"Come on! I wanna see Manvi!" Neptune whined as Takeshi was standing by her door.
"You need to go to bed Nep-chan. It's late and we have a Pongsmas party tomorrow…" Takeshi reminded her.
Neptune sighed as she climbed into bed, "Tell me a Pongsmas story… please?"
Takeshi simply smiled as he pulled out a book and began to read.
Noire went to her room and saw Plutia was in her bed, "Plutie…?"
"Yes?" Plutia responded.
"Why are you in my bed?"
"It's an early Pongsmas gift…" Plutia giggled.
Noire simply sighed as she realized that Plutia wouldn't leave, so she just had to deal with it. Noire walked over and laid with her, with Plutia hugging Noire as if she were a stuffed animal. The CPU of Lastation blushed and actually began to relax a bit at this.
"Go... to… bed…" Vert whined as she tried to get Peashy into her bed.
"I… wanna… meet… Manvi!"
"Manvi won't come unless you fall asleep! So… go… to… bed!"
"I wanna play my gift more!"
"Go. To. BED!" Vert yelled in annoyance, Peashy whimpering before doing so, "I didn't mean to yell, but you wouldn't listen…"
"Alright…" Peashy rolled her eyes.
"Goodnight," Vert bid.
"It's Pongsmas! It's Pongsmas! It's Pongsmas! MERRY PONGSMAS!" Neptune cheered as she jumped on the beds that Compa and IF were sleeping in.
"Mou… Nep-Nep… it's so early…" Compa whimpered.
"It's Pongsmas! It's Pongsmas! It's Pongsmas! MERRY PONGSMAS!" Neptune cheered out.
"Neptune, let us sleep another hour!" IF told Neptune, "One more hour, ok?"
"Ok…" Neptune responded as she skipped into the living room.
"She's going to be back in here in a minute… isn't she?" Compa asked.
"I hope not…"
Compa groaned before getting up anyways and seeing Neptune was singing along to a holiday special.
"It's shaping up to be a wonderful holiday, not your normal average everyday!" Neptune sung happily, but before she went to the next verse...
"Nep-Nep, please quiet down a little bit…"
"Oh… sorry," Neptune apologized as she adjusted her little Sonic themed Manvi cap.
Over with Noire and Plutia, they were both still asleep and cuddling happily. Soon, they opened their eyes as Noire giggled at her girlfriend a little bit.
"Merry Pongsmas, Plutie dear,"
"Merry Pongsmas, Noirey…" Plutia smiled.
Noire slowly attempted to get out, but Plutia held onto her.
"Noirey… I don't want you to go yet… I want us to savor our first Pongsmas together…"
Noire looked at her girlfriend for a bit before smiling, kissing her on the forehead and letting her go to get downstairs to work on a few things.
"Bert, Bert, Bert, Bert, Bert!" Peashy said while poking Vert's cheek to wake her up.
"What…?" Vert asked as she slowly woke up.
"Manvi came, he was here! Come on, come on, come on!" Peashy smiled as she slowly began to pull Vert out of her bed, but Vert hung onto her mattress. The little bumblebee, however, was easily strong enough to drag it off of the bed and start dragging Vert out of the room.
"Onee-chan… Onee-chan… Onee-chan…" Rom whispered, nudging Blanc a little bit.
"Hey, Onee-chan!" Ram nearly yelled.
Blanc groaned as she dragged herself out of bed and smiled at the young girls, "Merry Pongsmas, squirts,"
"Merry Pongsmas, Onee-chan," Rom smiled.
"Merry Pongsmas! Let's go open presents!" Ram yelled as she was about to run to the living room.
"...we need to eat breakfast first, squirt."
Blanc got to work on some pancakes while she listened to a CD of a cartoon that Rom and Ram liked that had some Pongsmas songs.
"Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow," Rom sung alongside the CD, Blanc smiling at that and sneakingly stopping the CD so she could hear Rom sing on her own, "Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow… lalalala… Let it Snow…"
"What happened to the CD?" Ram asked, earning a 'shh' from Blanc as she motioned to Rom, "Oh…"
"Let it Snooooooowwwwww," Rom concluded as she sat down, "Uh… where'd the CD go?"
"I accidentally paused it, my bad," Blanc fibbed as she skipped to the next song on it, "Anyway, pancakes are almost ready. Feel free to pick your filling of choice,"
"Thanks Onee-chan," Rom and Ram giggled happily.
"I am so glad you can keep her distracted with holiday specials," IF sighed as she sipped on some coffee, "I swear she has the mental capacity of a seven year old…"
"Iffy, don't be like that," Compa told IF as she sat down near her.
"Sorry… it's just that Neptune acts like a young girl sometimes and it gets a little bothersome at times," IF commented, "But… that doesn't mean that child-like innocence isn't endearing…"
Neptune, Takeshi and Nepgear all sat watching a Pongsmas special, with the former of the three smiling the widest at the special, while the other two just had normal smiles.
"Tonight I'm on top of the world, we're gonna bring it around somehow! Pongsmas is startin' now! Oh yeah, Pongsmas is startin' now! That's right, Pongsmas has started now! Oh yeah!" Neptune sung along with the holiday special.
"Merry Pongsmas, Uni," Noire bid as she saw Uni sit down at the breakfast table, "Could you watch the stove for a moment, I need to go get Luna and Plutia."
"Oh, alright," Uni nodded as Noire headed upstairs to get the two, managing to wake Luna with a rattle while Plutia was more sleepy.
"Come on… Plutie… it's Pongsmas, you don't wanna spend all of it in bed, do you?"
"Is it an option?"
"No, now c'mon," she insisted, tickling Plutia a bit and getting the purplette to wake up, "Do you want Luna to not have both of her mommies at Pongsmas to open presents?"
That snapped Plutia wide awake as she sat up in bed with a smile, eyes wide open, and skipped on downstairs.
"Come on… I wanna open presents!" Peashy commented as she impatiently started to tap her fork against her plate.
"Peashy… you know Ponsgmas isn't all about presents, right?" Vert sighed.
"Well… uh… what's that supposed to mean?" Peashy blinked, making Vert sigh loudly.
"Ok… you know the myth of how Pongsmas started, right?"
"No."
Vert bonked her head against the table before regaining her composure, "Okay… so, the very first CPU in our dimension had made a land and wanted to make sure there was one day a year where people, no matter if they were rich or poor, would be able to come together and live in peace so we could all be happy."
"...I fail to see how it's not about presents," Peasy admitted, "I just fail to see it."
"The basic idea, Peashy, is that they didn't need presents. In fact the idea of giving gifts wasn't incorporated until at least 2 years after she started this. The point of the day was to make sure that everybody can be happy, no matter what."
Peashy gave an 'oh' in response, sitting back in her chair.
"In fact, a more recent author reminds us this story with his own retelling for kids your age. There's this Dogoo who lived just outside a village of people, but it was Dogoo about the same size as a person. The Dogoo hated Pongsmas and everything the people did to celebrate it from the decorations, to the presents, to even the Pongsmas feasts we prepare that he finds a way to try and stop it from coming," Vert told her.
"...wow…" Peashy gawked, "That's… kinda surprising. How did he try to do it?"
"He somehow found a way to dress up as Manvi, and with his own Viral Wolf, he ventured to this town on Pongsmas Eve and stole everything from the town! The decorations, the trees, the food, the presents; nothing was left behind."
"How'd nobody notice?!"
"Everyone was asleep. Only one little girl, maybe about your height or smaller, saw him and wasn't sure what was going on, but the Dogoo was so clever that he convinced her he was simply repairing things and promised to bring the stuff back. Back with the story, he took the presents and everything he stole up to the top of the mountain, smirking that Pongsmas would never come now, and he imagined everyone would be crying, wailing, balling their eyes out at their ruined holiday, the sounds of which he wanted to hear."
"Did the meanie get what he wanted?"
"Well, he listened as the sun rose, the people started to get up and he anticipated the sounds of sorrow. And then…"
"And then?"
"...then he heard something unexpected… not a sad noise… but the glad tidings and singing of the people down below! He didn't know how it happened, but Pongsmas came without anything we use to celebrate it now."
"...how?"
"The Dogoo pondered this himself, puzzled as his feet were in the snow, just as confused as you. He even said, 'How could it be so? It came without ribbons, it came without cans! It came without packages, boxes or bags!' So he thought about it on that mountaintop, pondering the result of what happened."
"How long did he do it? Did he get his answer?"
"Well, 'he puzzled and thought 'til his puzzler was sore. The Dogoo then thought of something he hadn't before. 'Maybe Pongsmas' he thought, 'doesn't come from a store. Maybe Pongsmas, perhaps… means a little bit more.'"
"So he brought the stuff back?"
"Well, before that moment, it was said his heart, normally two sizes too small for a Dogoo, his heart grew THREE sizes that day. Then, with this new resolve and understanding of Pongsmas, he brought everything back, the presents, decorations, everything. He even went and personally carved the beef they had for the feast, joining in all the festivities we share today."
"Wow…" Peashy giggled, "So… he gave it all back? So… Pongsmas is about giving?"
"In a nutshell, yes," Vert confirmed, "When we get presents, it's more of the act of giving the gift to begin with."
"I see…" Peashy giggled as she walked into the room and brought a present back with her.
"Peashy…" Vert sighed.
"It's for you!"
Vert's eyes widened at this, surprised that Peashy did this before smiling and hugging the young girl, "I'll open it after we eat, ok?"
"Ok."
"Neptune said there's going to be a karaoke bit at the Pongsmas party, are you gonna sing?" Ram asked her twin, making Rom give a nervous look in response, obviously too shy to do so, "Come on! You're amazing! As are you, Onee-chan!"
"Thanks… I did have an idea to sing, but I don't know…" Blanc commented before she cleared her throat a bit, "So Merry Pongsmas after all, Merry Pongsmas after all, to all the creatures great and small. Pull your sleigh and have a ball… so Merry Pongsmas… Merry Pongsmas, after alllllll…."
"See! You're both great! Why not sing at the party?!"
"Oh… um… I dunno…"
Rom was silent out of nervousness, so Blanc thought for a moment and an idea entered her mind.
"'I didn't know that 'rolex' had three xs'," Blanc quoted, making Rom giggle.
"And it was spelt with three Xs on the big clock tower…"
"Unintentional typo or some kind of weird joke," Ram shrugged.
It was soon evening and the Pongsmas party had arrived, with all of the CPUs converging on Planeptune to celebrate.
"Luna's so adorable…" Nepgear giggled as she looked at the baby in Noire's arms.
"I know, right?" Plutia giggled, "Maybe if we have a daughter by blood, she'll be as adorable…"
Noire blushed a bit and then turned to Plutia, "Let's… worry about that at New Year's…"
"Ok…" Plutia nodded.
Nepgear rolled her eyes at this as she watched Peashy hand out some candy canes, "Aww, thank you."
"No problem!" Peashy giggled.
"I told her the story of 'How the Dogoo Stole Pongsmas'," Vert whispered to Nepgear.
Nepgear gave an understanding nod as Vert walked off and towards Neptune. She placed a hand on Neptune's shoulder and motioned to a clock.
"Alright minna! Time for our gift exchange!" Neptune called out, "Get your gifts ready and let's exchange!"
With a cheer, everyone passed out gifts and they began to open them.
"WOHOO! LOOK AT WHAT MY BOYFRIEND GOT ME!" Neptune cheered as she showed off the toy Digivice from the Appmon season.
"I GOT AN AWESOME GIFT FROM MY GIRLFRIEND!" Takeshi cheered as he showed off the Sonic Lego Dimensions pack.
"Why are we yelling?" IF groaned as she sipped on more coffee
"No idea," Compa shrugged as she handed IF her gift, "Open it,"
IF shrugged and saw it was a Dippin' Doughnut's Gift Card, before she smiled a bit and turned to her not-girlfriend, "Really?"
"I didn't have any time to go gift shopping because I had so many shifts to cover… and I know you like your coffee," Compa commented, "Merry Pongsmas, Iffy."
IF giggled a bit as she handed her gift to Compa, "Merry Pongsmas to you, too, Compa."
Compa looked and saw it was a new nurse coat, "I love it Iffy… thank you so much!"
Compa pulled IF into a hug and IF simply returned it happily.
"Merry Pongsmas, Plutie dear," Noire smiled as she handed her a present, to which Plutia smiled and opened it up, "Do you like it?"
"What is it?" Plutia blinked, seeing it was a pillow with a picture of Noire taped onto it.
"In case I'm busy or something, you'll have a piece of me to cuddle with," Noire answered, making Plutia smile and giggle.
"Is it supposed to be a body pillow or something akin to it?"
"I really didn't want to have companies asking me why I was having one made… so I just went and taped a picture of myself onto some large pillow I could find."
"I love it," Plutia giggled happily as she handed Noire a present, "Alright… open yours up,"
Noire smiled and did so, seeing it was a bunch of sewing material, making her gawk in amazement, "Wow… wait, how did you know I-?"
"I live with you and sleep in your room. You don't think I hear you sewing at night?" Plutia giggled.
Noire smiled before the two hugged happily.
"Okay Bert, open up my gift!" Peashy giggled happily.
"Alright, alright, alright, calm down a little," Vert requested as she opened the gift, which Peashy had given her earlier that day at the breakfast table, revealing a crayon drawing, one part of it had Vert and Peashy, while the other part had them in their CPU forms, "...explanation please?"
"I'm Green Sister," Peashy giggled as she motioned to the Yellow Heart in the drawing, which had green hair instead of yellow hair.
Vert just smiled in response and hugged the young girl before giving her a present.
"I wanna be her sister…" Ram muttered, recalling a time that she told Vert that she wanted to be more like her.
Peashy tore open the gift and saw Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 in it, "NO WAY!"
"I know you started a save file on my copy, so we can play the sequel together," Vert giggled.
"I love it! Thank you so much Bert!" Peashy giggled as she happily hugged her.
"Why didn't you release that game on your system, Blanc?" Histoire asked as she saw a tick mark appear on Blanc's face.
"...I really don't like that franchise…" Blanc admitted, "Only reason there was a 3DS game for it recently was because Ram went behind my back,"
"If you didn't release it, those shares would've gone to Lastation," Ram muttered.
"Saying bad things about my home?" Uni asked with narrowed eyes.
"Oh! N-n-n-no…" Ram responded, "I just… uh… oh gosh… uh… oh! Merry Pongsmas!"
"Smooth…" Blanc commented with an eye roll.
Uni simply shrugged off Ram's comments about the game and opened up the gift, revealing a mock amiibo, "Wow…"
"Do you like it? I knew you liked Spyro so I made this myself!"
"It certainly shows… but it's the thought that counts," Uni smiled, looking at how clumsily made it was, "Anyway… here's yours."
Ram quickly tore it open and saw it was a Mario manga.
"Some doujinshi I saw at a convention, I bought it because I was curious. I didn't really like it so… here."
"Wow! This is so cool, thanks Uni."
Uni smiled a bit at the younger Candidate before they hugged it out and smiling happily.
Histoire floated on over to Blanc with her gift in tow, which Histoire actually had plopped onto a sleigh and was pulling over, "Sometimes it's a pain to be able to fit in the palm of somebody's hand…"
"Is the sleigh my gift?" Blanc jokingly asked, earning a laugh from the fairy, "So, what is it?"
"Books. Lots of them…" Histoire smiled as she let Blanc open it up, "I know you aren't the biggest fan of Shonen Jump and their work, but Fairy Tail is a really good one,"
Blanc looked at the first book and smiled a bit at it, "Alright… here's yours."
Histoire giggled happily as she began to open it up, revealing a little book mark with some Fairy Tail characters on it, "Wow…"
"I saw you reading it a lot, and even though I know basically nothing about it, I got you that," Blanc admitted.
"Blanc, you're amazing!" Histoire giggled as she hugged Blanc.
Thus, only one last gift exchange remained. Rom nervously sat with her gift as Nepgear walked over.
"Merry Pongsmas," Nepgear bid.
"M-m-m-m-m-mer-r-r-r-r-ry Pongs-s-s-s-s-mas…" Rom nervously responded as she handed her gift to Nepgear, "...o-o-o-o-o-open it…"
"Alright," Nepgear smiled happily. She slowly opened it up to reveal the collector's edition of the manga BlaStarr and an anime poster, "Oh wow…"
"D-d-d-do you not like it?" Rom spoke nervously.
"Are you kidding? I LOVE IT!"" Nepgear giggled happily, "I don't own the collector's edition and I've never seen this poster before! Thank you so much Rom!"
Rom blushed and smiled happily as Nepgear pulled out her gift and handed it to Rom, "Here I go…"
She slowly unwrapped it to reveal a sketchpad and colored pencils, "...wow…"
"You're really talented at drawing Rom, so I figured you'd like some new supplies," Nepgear smiled, "I made sure to get you some really nice colored pencils, so take good care of them."
"I will," Rom smiled, hugging Nepgear with a large smile.
The two happily hugged for a bit before Nepgear giggled a bit.
"Hmm?" Rom blinked.
"Look up,"
Rom did so and saw the two were sitting under a mistletoe. Both girls blushed a bit, but Nepgear gave a calming smile and lowered herself down to Rom's eye level and waited for, what she was expecting to be a kiss on the cheek… only for Rom to kiss her right on the lips. Both of them blushed, Nepgear surprised Rom did that, but she let the young girl do it since she was happy.
Pikatwig: Okay… you may be wondering why Rei isn't in this story. Me and KKD discussed it, but we couldn't find a good spot for her to fit. So… yea.
Rei: Ah well, if you couldn't find a spot, you couldn't find a spot.
Pikatwig: Now, obviously Pongsmas is Pong. The other holidays mentioned… KKD, you handle that.
KKD: Now obviously we wanted these names to be references to older games and systems, Pong is obvious, Tankzaa is Kwanzaa stylized with the game Tank while Seawolfkah is Hannakah mixed with the game Seawolf, both of which were made in the 70s. As for Manvi, I wanted to make a sort of spin towards the Magnavox Odyssey, but not make it as obvious, hence why I came up with Manvi, it has some of the letters from Mangavox, and he/she is their equivalent to Santa Claus.
Takeshi: That's pretty neat.
Neptune: And you may be wondering why Takeshi here is my boyfriend? Well… we mentioned it in the story itself… and I'll admit, I was against letting him have the fourth-wall awareness that I have since it's my thing, though it is nice for him to once in a while have someone to join me in these things like today.
KKD: Hope it works out for everyone else.
Pikatwig: Indeed. Now then… the scene with Rom singing Let it Snow is a reference to Phineas and Ferb. Specifically the second Christmas special where Isabella sung Let It Snow. I think I was listening to that song to go to sleep when we first worked on this… again, I think.
KKD: Huh… ok…
Pikatwig: ...that's a good rendition of that song.
KKD: I'll take your word for it.
Pikatwig: Anyway… *sits and begins to hum 'Snow Fairy'*
Neptune: Chotto! You like a Shonen Jump series?
Pikatwig: ...yea. What would make you think that I didn't? Just because I don't care about Dragon Sphere, don't get anything about Naruto and find One Piece to complicated, doesn't mean I hate the company.
Plutia: There was on really funny joke in the manga when you consider who voices Lucy.
KKD: Wow…
Pikatwig: Indeed. I laughed quite a bit when I saw it…
Plutia: I had Noirey make me an o- *Noire covered her mouth*
Pikatwig: ...Noire, we know you sew cosplay outfits…
KKD: Yea. No need to hide it.
*Noire blushed a bit, but moved her hand off of Plutia's mouth*
Plutia: I had Noirey make me an outfit of both Lucy and Asuna. *giggles as she showed them off*
Pikatwig: Cute.
Luna: *walks over* Glad you two included me in this story.
KKD: I was almost tempted to make your their child by birth, but we'll save it for another time.
Pikatwig: We decided by coin toss.
Neptune: Technically it was a Yo-Kai Medal toss.
Takeshi: You lost that dime after all.
Pikatwig: ...moving on. Favorite part?
KKD: Hmm… I can't choose. There's a lot to like here.
Pikatwig: Yea… to much to decide from.
Neptune: I liked that bit when Blanc, Rom and Ram went to the 7-11 parody and Rom had her snack, which is something that one of you experienced.
Pikatwig: Guilty. *raises hand* Albeit, it was a Target… and was an Iccee. It was on the vlog.
Neptune: And I did like that coffee bit, Aniki Coffee, which is based on Boss Coffee. Oh, the gifts that they bought were given off-screen, just FYI.
Takeshi: Also… I liked that part where we saw Peashy and Vert playing Digimon Rumble All-Stars and Gabumon won.
KKD: Fair enough, like I said there's a lot for me to like here.
Pikatwig: It was so strange to type in 'Fiery Fast Ball' instead of 'Rock Damashi'... I did recently see that game in a GameStop. Doubt I'll get it for Christmas, but maybe my birthday.
KKD: I see...
Pikatwig: Anyhow… you'll be getting your Christmas present later. Right now, I think I need to get down to Yuai for Toy Day. *puts on a Santa cap* Wrap up time.
KKD: Jaa ne.
Pikatwig: Just Live More.
Pikatwig and KKD: And a very Merry Christmas! *waves to camera*