This was probably the first ever Pinky and the Brain related thing I've ever written. I didn't exactly submit my stories in order, since it was a while ago when I wrote them all, so sorry for the Christmas story being submitted in the middle of summer.

Anyways, the Pinky and the Brain Christmas Special was and always will be my favorite episode, so I wrote a bit of a follow-up story. :)

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through Acme Labs, not a creature was stirring, other than a certain lab mouse with an oversized cranium. Unable to fall asleep after the painful results of his last failed attempt to take over the world, Brain escaped his cage and pried opened the window, sitting on the ledge and gazing up into the night sky. This was often where the mouse would go at night whenever he couldn't sleep, or when he just needed some peaceful time alone to think while Pinky was sleeping.

It was truly a beautiful night, which added to the magical atmosphere of Christmas Eve. It was cold enough for snow flurries to sprinkle the air, but not freeze-your-tail-off cold, and to Brain the midnight chill in the night air was welcoming to him rather than bitter. The night was also very clear despite the snow—even clear enough to make out the stars. Everything about the night was blissful, however Brain could not find the night calming to him at all, and as he gazed out into the stars he found himself despising them all. He hated that the universe was so vast, for he felt small and insignificant compared to it. He was only a lab mouse after all, he would never make his mark on the planet, and he would not be remembered for generations to come. His existence wasn't even worth a page in a history book. This depressing truth angered Brain, and it was the sole reason he had pursued his obsession of taking over the world. If the world was his, then maybe he wouldn't be such a small part of history. If he could be remembered after his short life, then he would feel like he impacted the universe somehow, he would actually feel like he meant something more than just a simple lab experiment.

However, his dreams would never be met until he could successfully seize control of the Earth, and until that happened, he was just a tiny speck on the face of the universe, just as small and unnoticed as the microscopic snowflakes falling all around him.

This brought Brain onto other thoughts. It was Christmas Eve, a night celebrated by most of the world—a night of worldwide bliss. On this night, children were tucked into their beds as they waited for Santa to deliver their presents, as their parents warmed themselves with eggnog and spent time together as a family. Everywhere, people were preparing for the coming holiday that proceeded this night, even Pinky had been even more excited than usual, and had gone to bed smiling like an idiot while sucking joyfully on a candy cane. Despite all this, Brain didn't find himself at all merry that night, in fact, he despised the holiday.

You might ask how anyone, even a mouse bent on global domination could be such a humbug on Christmas, but he had a decent reason. Brain's one wish, his one desire, the thing he wanted more than anything in life, was the world. Christmas was a day where everyone was supposed to be happy and get what they wanted the most, but what about him? Would he achieve his goal of taking over the planet? No, of course not. He never did. Night after night he tried and tried, only to be met with humiliating and disappointing failure, so why would Christmas be any different? It was because of this reason that Brain disliked the world-wide holiday, for the sole reason that he would be the one being on the planet that would never get what he wanted, no matter how hard he tried.

The mouse sighed, and averted his gaze from the star-lit sky for a moment to take out an object from behind his back. Brain wrapped his tiny fingers around the loop at the end of the little keychain, and held the sphere at eye level, staring at his own reflection in the glossy exterior of it. It was his most treasured possession, and even though it was only a mere plastic replica of the Earth on a small metal keychain, it still meant a lot to him. It was a gift given to him last Christmas by Pinky. The notion of the gift was obvious, Pinky had given his friend the one thing he wanted, the world, and even though it wasn't the real world, Brain still cherished it. The object gave him hope, and on similar nights when he would sit out on the window ledge to think, he would hold it in his arms and imagine the day when the real world could be his as well.

This night was no different, but as Brain stared at the miniature Earth in hopes that it would cheer him up, the opposite occurred. All of a sudden he felt weak, helpless, and powerless as he thought about what would happen if his dreams were never met. If he didn't take over the world, then what would that make him? A failure? A loser? Worse than that, he would eventually perish without any hopes of being remembered, and rather than being a great dictator, he would only be a pitiful lab mouse, as always. Brain felt himself tremble at the depressing thought, and soon felt something else that was unnatural to him. Warm tears began to flow down the mouse's cheeks, and rather than brushing the unwelcome tears away or holding them in, Brain let them fall, and soon he began sobbing mercilessly.

"Brain?"

Unfortunately, his quiet sobs had woken up his sleeping cagemate, but rather than answer Pinky or turn around to face him, Brain continued to cry to himself.

"Br-Brain…" Pinky said again, stuttering in uncertainty as he approached the window ledge. The taller mouse was immediately met with a chilly breeze as he stepped foot outside the lab, and wondered how Brain could stand being out here in the snow without any source of warmth. However, there were more pressing concerns to deal with at the moment, like the fact that his friend had burst into tears for some unknown reason. Since when did Brain cry?

Pinky slowly approached the distraught rodent, and cautiously sat down beside him on the window ledge, allowing his feet to dangle over the side. "Poit! What's the matter Brain?" he asked worriedly. "It's Christmas Eve! What's there to be so sad about?"

Brain finally made an effort to wipe his tears away, and turned to face his friend with a hopeless expression on his face. "It's j-just…" he started, trying to desperately silence his sobbing enough to allow himself to speak. "I'm such a failure! My entire life has been wasted on trying to take over the world, and I just feel so hopeless! I've tried scheme after scheme, and it's finally become clear to me that nothing will ever work! No matter how hard I try, my ideas will always result in defeat, and….I'll never be able to make my mark on history. I'll always be just a simple lab mouse, and when I die…" he trailed off, swallowing a lump in his throat before continuing. "When I die, no one will ever remember me."

The other mouse frowned down at his companion. He had never seen Brain this miserable before, and he honestly didn't know what to say. Pinky stared down at his toes in silence, when suddenly something caught his eye beside Brain, as a glimmer of moonlight shone brilliantly on the tiny round sphere that the shorter mouse still clutched in his hand. Pinky plucked the keychain out of his friend's grasp and studied it for a moment, then suddenly realized exactly how he could cheer Brain up.

"Brain, do you remember last Christmas?" he asked.

Brain gave him a funny look. "Pinky you can barely remember how to spell your own name, how could your limited mental capacity have room for memories from an entire year ago?"

"Narf! I'll always remember last Christmas, Brain." he replied. "I was asking if you remembered."

"Of course I remember. I was trying to take over the world and my plan was foiled. It was no different than any other night of the year, no different than any other failure." Brain recalled mournfully.

"No, no." Pinky said. "That night was different. You had your chance to take over the world, but you didn't."

In reality, though he hated to admit it, Brain remembered that day down to the very last detail. He had come so close to his goal, he could have taken over the world right then and there with his hypnotic Noodle Noggin dolls planted in households across the globe. He could have, but he didn't, for something had prevented him from doing so. After reading Pinky's Christmas letter, he had been so overcome by emotion for one of the very first times in his short life, and he just couldn't bring himself to take over the world. It was all because Pinky had selflessly asked Santa to give anything that was meant for him to the Brain, and for the first time, Brain realized how much his friend cared about him. He looked back at the keychain of the world that Pinky was still holding, and suddenly he felt another surge of emotion compel him.

"Yeah…what's your point Pinky…" he asked, trying even harder to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall.

"My point is, there are more important things than ruling the world Brain." he told him. "Why try to be remembered by the world? I think it makes more sense to have fun while you can! Enjoy life!" The taller mouse looked at his friend, and put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "And I don't think you're a failure at all Brain. You may not be ruler of the world, but you're important to me."

Now the flow of fresh tears was no longer containable, and Brain felt himself crying uncontrollably once more. However, this time it wasn't out of sadness, rather he was crying because he had been trying to take over the world for so long that he had overlooked his real source of happiness, which had been right here under his nose the whole time. Brain didn't need the world to be happy, nor did he need to be remembered for generations after his death—he didn't need any of that to be happy, because his best friend already made him more content than the world ever could.

"You…you're absolutely correct Pinky!" he said through tears, uttering a statement that he would have previously never imagined to be possible.

"Poit! I am?"

"Yes!" Brain said, standing up in place. "I've been spending all of my time trying to seize control of the Earth, but I don't need the world to be happy." He turned towards the other mouse with an enormous, genuine grin on his face, and promptly threw his arms around him in a hug. "Pinky, you already make me happy, because you are my world."

Pinky suddenly scooped the shorter mouse into his arms and nuzzled him closely, and even out in the snowy, midnight air, both mice were perfectly warm in each other's embrace. After a few moments, Pinky, who had had his bright blue eyes squinted shut in bliss, reopened them and gazed at the sky, which was considerably brighter. The sun had just barely poked over the horizon, which could only mean one thing—it was morning.

"Merry Christmas, Brain." he told his closest friend.

"Merry Christmas, Pinky." Brain replied.

When Pinky finally decided to set his friend down, he shivered and brushed a few snowflakes off of his cherry-red nose. Noticing Pinky's discomfort in the freezing cold environment, Brain led him back inside and shut the window so that the mice could spend their Christmas in the warm comfort of their cage.

"So what are we gonna do this Christmas?" Pinky asked in his usual, enthusiastic tone of voice.

"The same thing we did last Christmas Pinky."

"You mean try to take over the world?"

"No," Brain corrected him. "Spend Christmas together, as a…f-family." he said, hesitating on the last word. He had never considered him and Pinky a family before, and though he secretly liked the thought, he hated to admit it.

"Oh boy, can we drink eggnog and sing Christmas carols?" the slow-witted mouse asked. "Deck the halls with balls of holly! Narf narf narf narf narf, narf narf narf naaaarf!" he sang.

The other couldn't help laughing at his companion's suggestion. "Sure Pinky, whatever you want."

With that, the two mice set off to do whatever mice do with themselves on Christmas, leaving the small Earth keychain behind on the snowy window sill. Brain may not have gotten his one wish, to take over the world, but he did discover something that lasts much longer than a reputation as a world leader. Even if he never got to be remembered by the world, he knew he would always have his everlasting companionship with Pinky, and their faithful friendship would remain, even long after their death.