It was Christmastime in Ponyville, and everything was in place. Lights and decorations were strung and placed all over town, the giant purple Christmas tree was in the town square covered in hoof-crafted ornaments, and the big Here Comes Christmas Candy Cane sat atop the tree, its shine to be the light that guides Santa Claus to Ponyville on Christmas night. Well, maybe everything wasn’t perfectly in place. The Here Comes Christmas Candy Cane could be leaning just a biiiit farther to the left.
Minty steered the hot air balloon closer to the tree. A mint green earth pony with a pink mane, Minty was the sum total of all of Ponyville’s bad luck. With everyone with wings occupied with other stuff, Minty had taken it upon herself to properly align the Here Comes Christmas Candy Cane so it was truly perfect.
“Oh, I wish I were a better pilot,” she mumbled, the wind shaking the balloon’s basket. “Maybe I’ll ask Santa for balloon lessons for Christmas!”
As the balloon passed the tree, she reached out for the candy cane, but a gust of wind suddenly pushed her away.
“Oops,” said Minty. “Well that looked a little closer than it was.” As she prepared to bring the balloon in for another pass, however, the candy cane suddenly tilted to the left. “Huh? Why’d that happen? I didn’t even touch it. Oh well, guess I have all the more reason to straighten it now.” She sighed. “I can do this.”
She flew the balloon in and grabbed the candy cane, pulling it back upright. “Oh, what a pinky-mint delicious smell!” She let go and drifted away, savoring the candy cane’s aroma and watching…as it leaned over again. “Oh, come on! What is going on here?”
Unseen by her, an invisible humanoid figure stood clutching the top of the tree. He wore an all-black suit with silvery light blue gloves and boots, a belt with an eye on it, and had a smooth black face with large blue flame eyes and a gold wisp between them: a Primal Body Ganma. He chuckled at Minty as he nudged the candy cane just a bit farther over.
Minty gasped and flew back in, grabbing the candy cane and accidentally pulling it off its base, making the Ganma laugh even more. Before the wind could pull her away again, she jammed the candy cane back into place, breathing a sigh of relief. “Ohhh, that was close. Now it’s perfect.” Then she took a closer look. “Well, maybe not so perfect. In fact, it’s not perfect at all. I think…maybe…just one more little…tap…and it’ll be…”
Minty steered closer, reached out, and gave the Here Comes Christmas Candy Cane the ever-so-slightest tap. And the Ganma swatted it clean off the tree. The candy cane flipped over and over as it plummeted down to the ground, shattering on impact into tiny candy shards. Minty’s heart stopped.
“Oops,” the Ganma said innocently, unheard by Minty.
“Do-over,” Minty whimpered. “Do-over.” She stared down at the broken candy cane pieces. “Please tell me that didn’t happen,” she said as the balloon began to lower to the ground. The Ganma started laughing wildly, almost falling off the tree, too. “Maybe it’s not as broken as it looks.” Landing, she jumped out and ran over. “Oh no,” she moaned, “it’s more broken than it looks. Santa won’t be able to find us without the glow of the candy cane. What am I gonna do?”
“Good,” said the Ganma, jumping down from the tree in one leap. “Now,” he whispered into her ear in its tone of influence that sounds like an idea you’d swear you came up with yourself, “give up your life and lend your soul as fuel for…where are you going?” Minty was already running off towards the large pink castle.
Hours later, and night had fallen. The Ganma was standing outside the window of Minty’s house as she paced and worried inside amidst her room-engulfing sock collection.
“What is taking you so long?” he said impatiently. “You’ve been all around town all day trying to fix the problem to no avail. Just lose hope, already!” He crossed his arms. “If you were a human, I’d be done by now.”
“I’ve ruined everything for everybody,” Minty moaned, pulling a red sock with its end that had gotten tied up in a white tassel over her head to cover her face is shame. “But how do I un-ruin it? Thanks to me, Santa isn’t coming.” Then she looked up at the mirror in front of her, seeing that the sock now looked like…“Santa?” she said. Then it hit her. “That’s it! I will be Santa, and give everyone a great present! It’ll be Christmas again!”
“What?” said the Ganma. Then he thought for a second. Then he got an idea. An awful idea. The Ganma got a wonderful, awful idea. If he had a mouth, it would’ve been curled into an evil grin. “If she won’t do things my way, then I’ll just let her play right into my new plan on her own.” He turned to the town square and thought back to the shards of the candy cane.
And so Minty acted as Santa, gifting to each pony one sock from her enormous sock collection, hanging them on the mantles. But after Pinkie Pie caught her in the act, she realized that not even this would truly replace Christmas. However, on Pinkie Pie’s suggestion, she decided she would go to the North Pole and explain to Santa himself what had happened, and show him the way to Ponyville without the glow of the candy cane. Minty was so excited that she raced out of Pinkie’s house, dropping her Santa hat lookalike sock on the doorstep.
“Minty, wait!” Pinkie called after her in vain. “Miiiiintyyyy! Oh dear.”
As Minty tried leaving, however, the wind pushed her hot air balloon into the giant purple Christmas tree, snapping it at the base and sending the whole thing crashing to the ground.
“I hope the wind knows the way to the North Pole,” Minty called to the universe before the balloon lurched skyward. “Oh, up. Uh, up is good.”
As everypony came out to see the source of the noise, Pinkie Pie explained what Minty had done. “She felt so bad about what she did, she’s on her way to the North Pole in a balloon to save Christmas for all of us.” Pinkie rallied the other ponies to follow Minty in a caravan of hot air balloons, and they departed immediately.
But that story has already been told.
Ore wa Tenkuji Takeru. Jyuuhyakusai no tanjobi nossokutekita Ganma ni taosare, ikikaeru tame ni, Kamen Raida Ghosuto to natte, Eiyuu no Eyecon atsumeteiru. (I am Takeru Tenkuji. I was attacked and killed by a rampaging Ganma on my 18th birthday. In order to come back to life, I became Kamen Rider Ghost and began gathering the Heroic Eyecons.) It’s Christmas Eve night, but Sennin says there’s a very important task I have to complete or the holiday will be over before it begins. I have 17 days left.
Takeru walked into a snowy town with paved purple roads and oddly stylized houses, his way lit by streetlamps. There didn’t seem to be anyone around.
“O-chan’s instructions were even more vague than usual,” he said to himself, remembering the ‘wise’ sage giving him directions while dressed as a snowman with an umbrella. “Where am I, anyway?” He looked around at the empty town. “Hello! Anyone there? Somebody?” He sighed. “And now I’m lost. Wonderful.”
Then he heard the humming of a Christmas tune from nearby. He followed it down the street into the town square, where a large purple Christmas tree was lying across the ground. Lounging back on it was a figure wearing a white jacket with red stripes on the left side and green on the right; a pair of large striped candy canes stuck up from its shoulders, green on the left and red on the right; and a red, white, and green striped boater hat that looked like a peppermint candy on its head over a signature smooth black face and large blue eyes.
“Any minute now,” the Candy Cane Ganma mused.
“Eh? Ganma!” Takeru exclaimed.
“Oh?” said the Ganma, looking over to him. “What are you doing here?”
Takeru held his hands over his waist, summoning the Ghost Driver belt, looking like a ghostly sheet with a large eye at the center and a handle on the right side, in a small burst of orange flames. He pulled from his robes a black eyeball-shaped Eyecon, clicking a button on the side and changing the pupil from a gray cover to a ‘G’, springing open the front cover of the Driver and putting the Eyecon inside before snapping it shut.
Eye!
In an orange cloud, a black hoodie with neon orange lining on its edges and a pair of orange eyes glowing from the dark space inside its hood, the Ore {pronounced “O-reh”, meaning “I” or “me”} Parka Ghost, flew out of the Driver as a looping tune started playing.
Batchiri minaa! Batchiri minaa!
The Parka flew over at the Ganma, it quickly rolling along tree to get out of the way. “I wondered how you knew I was here,” the Ganma said.
Takeru pulled out the lever on the right side of the Driver, making a series of hand motions, pointing two fingers to the sky before slowly bringing his arm back down. “Henshin!” he said, pushing the lever back in and opening the Driver’s eye onto an orange face with large black eyes.
Kaigan! Ore!
Orange bone outlines appeared along his limbs and a blue eye on chest; glowing orange dots flew in onto him and condensed into the Ore Transient suit, a black suit covered by clear casing segments and a blank smooth silver face.
Let's Go! Kakugo! Go-Go-Go-Ghosto! (Go! Go! Go! Go!)
The Ore Parka flew back to him and landed over his shoulders, phasing through and attaching onto him like a jacket, an orange faceplate flipping up with a pair of large black patch eye and a silver wispy horn on his forehead: Kamen Rider Ghost Ore Damashii.
He pulled his hood back and looked up at the Ganma. A mystic seal appeared over his Driver, and he reached into it and pulled out the black and silver wide-bladed Gan Gun Saber. {Burn Bright!}
The Ganma whipped out a pair of candy cane staffs, racing at Takeru. Takeru slashed, but the Ganma stopped short and it missed. The Ganma swung its staffs at Takeru’s open side, but he jumped up, the orange highlights of his suit glowing as he floated backwards, setting gracefully onto the ground again.
He jumped at the Ganma, floating past and slashing again, but they ducked. The Ganma swung at Takeru as he kept floating around it, going in for another slash but getting deflected by a staff. He was pushed away into the air but flew in and hit the flat edge of the saber against the Ganma’s staffs, knocking it back a step as he touched down again.
The Ganma swung his right staff at Takeru, then his left, but Takeru stepped back to dodge, leaving the Ganma with his arms crossed. Takeru took the chance to thrust his sword at the Ganma, but they pulled back on their staffs, the hooked ends snagging the blade and bringing it to a stop. Takeru tried pulling back, but the Ganma yanked on the staffs, spinning the sword out of his hand and sending it flying off before ramming him back with them.
Takeru flipped open the cover of the Ghost Driver and took his Eyecon out, his Parka vanishing in an orange flash before pulling out a gray Eyecon. “I’m counting on you!” He clicked its iris to a ‘06’, putting it in the Driver before closing the cover, a black and shiny gray Parka with piano keys running down its lapels flying out.
Eye!
Batchiri minaa!
Takeru pumped the lever out and in, the Parka floating over him and dropping gently down over his shoulders, a horned black faceplate flipping up to show gray music lines running up the center and notes branching off to roughly outline eye spots: Beethoven Damashii.
Kaigan! Beethoven! Kyokumei! Unmei! Ja ja ja jaaan!
“Here’s a holiday tune for you,” Takeru said.
He brushed his hands along his piano key lapels and an array of rainbow-colored musical notes appeared floating in the air around him. Then he swung his hands around like a conductor, and rainbow music lines spun around them, snaking off to gather the stray notes as the Ganma watched. Takeru motioned at him.
The music streams snaked through the air at the Ganma as he tried backing away, cutting him off and then ramming past him repeatedly as Takeru swished his hands to control them. The Ganma swung at them with his staffs, but after snaring one, the other swirled around him, wrapping tight and dragging him into the air, dropping him spinning to the ground. The two streams then crossed past him, knocking him back rolling.
Meanwhile, at the North Pole, the others had caught up with Minty and found Santa’s house and workshop, only to discover a note on the door.
Minty read off, “It says, ‘Sorry I missed you. Gone giving, be back in the morning. Merry Christmas’…” She looked up. “Santa’s gone. I am so sorry. I ruined Christmas for everybody.”
The Ganma got back to its feet as Takeru swished his hands down to end the concert and let the music streams dissipate.
“I’m a tad hesitant in choosing a flavor for my attack,” the Ganma said. “Should I go with cool mint?” He threw his left hand forward, a blast of winter chill shooting from the top of the green-striped candy cane on that shoulder that froze a streak along the ground at Takeru, jutting up ice spikes.
“Whoa!” Takeru let out, jumping aside.
“Or spearmint?” the Ganma finished, throwing his right hand and shooting several red spears from the top of the red-striped candy cane on that shoulder. They hit the ground around Takeru, a second later exploding and releasing a red cloud. The Ganma laughed at its punny humor, walking away to wait again.
Eye!
The Ganma turned in surprise back to the cloud.
Kaigan! Newton!
As the smoke cleared, Takeru was standing in a blue puffy coat with silver shoulders and large blue orbs over his hands. A horned black faceplate showing a blue arrow pointing down towards an apple flipped up: Newton Damashii.
Ringo ga rakka, hikiyose makka!
Before the Ganma could react, Takeru raised his left-hand Saturn glove, a stream of red gravity waves pulling the Ganma off its feet and dragging it at him, then swapping for his right-hand Jupiter glove and releasing a purple gravity wave to throw the Ganma back away.
North Pole.
“Minty,” said the white pegasus Star Catcher, hovering over to Minty, “you came all the way up to give us our Christmas. You’ve brought us to the most magical place of all.”
“Well,” Minty said, “the North Pole is pretty special.”
“I meant in here,” Star Catcher said, pointing to Minty’s chest, “your heart.”
Takeru and the Ganma charged at each other, but suddenly a purple glow started shining out through the windows of every house, and both of them skidded to a stop, looking around.
Back at the North Pole, the ponies had embraced each other in hugs of friendship, glowing with the love of the holiday. The socks that Minty had placed in each of their homes were in turn glowing with that same light.
“Oh, isn’t this just wonderful?” the Ganma said, skipping and bouncing around, gesturing at the houses. “The lights! The lights! It’s the true shining spirit of the holidays!”
“Huh? And why would you care about that?” Takeru asked.
Amidst the others with their purple glows, Minty, at the center of them all, was glowing golden.
A red sock tied like a Santa hat lying on the ground not far from the two fighters started glowing golden, too.
In a puff of smoke, a small orange cartoony ghost with a white cape and round head with a single large eye appeared floating next to Takeru. Yurusen, his on-and-off somewhat helpful somewhat guide.
“Oi, Takeru,” the genderless phantasm said in a high-pitched child voice, waving over at the sock. “It looks like an Eyecon is about to appear right there!”
“An Eyecon?” Takeru said. “Now I get it.”
“No, you won’t get it!” called the Ganma, racing at the sock. “Time to unwrap my present!”
Takeru sent a gravity pulse to knock the Ganma flying off to the side, running to the sock while switching Eyecons again.
Kaigan! Ore!
He reached it while flipping his hood back. He held up a hand with two joined fingers at it, tracing the shape of an eye and producing a wispy eye symbol in midair. The symbol floated onto the glowing sock, evaporating into a cloud of red smoke that rose and formed into a red and white Santa coat Parka with a Santa hat hood, bell-tipped green strands trailing from its short sleeves, and green eyes glowing in the space in its hood. It posed for the poster shot with a bell-tipped strand reaching up by its shoulder as if holding a sack of toys, a red outline of Santa Claus in the same position appearing next to him.
“Santa Claus,” Takeru said. Then he felt something on his stomach, looking down to see a candy cane snagged around him before it pulled and threw him away from the Parka. “Eh—yaaaaa!”
“For me?” the Ganma cooed. “Oh, you shouldn’t have!”
The Santa Parka swung its bell strands to flee, but the Ganma held up its candy cane staffs and they extended, hooking around the Parka before the Ganma jumped up into it. In a bright flash, a large peppermint-spiked snow monster with huge claws and gaping jaws stomped down onto the street. The Ganma had corrupted the power of a hero to increase its own strength.
“Takeru, look out!” said Yurusen. “It’s the abominable snow mintster!”
Takeru paused and slowly looked at Yurusen. “…Eh?”
“Alright, alright, they won’t all be winners!” Yurusen shouted, shaking back and forth in frustration. They turned behind them and called, “Captain Ghost! Machine Ghostriker!” A pair of large eye symbols drew themselves in midair, a black motorcycle with a horned horse head decoration on the front driving itself out of the symbol by the ground, and a black pirate ship with green arms and red eyes poking through the sides flying out of the larger one in the air.
The giant Ganma stomped towards Takeru and roared, sending a wave of winter chill icing over the street in front of it. Takeru jumped up to avoid the ice shards spearing up from the ground and floated over onto the Machine Ghostriker motorcycle. Captain Ghost flew up beside him, the back folding out into green legs, the bow’s tip and upper deck folding over backwards into a tail, and the arms sliding forward as a green iguana head folded up from inside; Takeru jumped the Machine Ghostriker up over the ship and the side covers flipped up over the front wheel as it fell down and latched into the gap in the back of the newly formed Iguana Ghostriker.
Iguana charged at the Ganma, leaping up and biting onto its shoulder as it flew past, pulling the Ganma back a step before letting go and landing. The Ganma reached for it, but Iguana jumped onto its arm and ran up it, flipping its tail up and using the tip as a laser cannon to blast the Ganma in the face.
The Ganma roared, swatting at Iguana but hitting its own arm as Iguana crawled farther up onto its shoulder and back. The Ganma reached again and grabbed Iguana’s tail, pulling it off and tossing it away again where it skidded to a stop. The Ganma roared again and pulled one of the peppermint spikes off its back, jabbing it into the ground.
The ground around Takeru and Iguana shook, and a giant candy cane erupted up next to them. It turned until its hook was overtop of them, then quickly sank back down. Iguana lurched forward to avoid it, but another rose in front of them. Iguana raced around it at the Ganma again, more candy canes rising and trying to trap them but dodging around them. As another erupted in front of them, Iguana leapt up onto the top of it and launched itself at the Ganma.
Takeru jumped up off of Iguana in midair and pulled out his Driver’s lever, holding his fingers in a triangle as an orange glowing eye-shaped starburst emblem appeared in front of him and slid through to behind him.
“Inochi…moyasu ze!” {“My life…is gonna burn bright!”} he shouted, pushing the lever back in as the Driver’s eye flashed to a boot with motion blur.
Dai Kaigan! Ore! Omega Drive!
The glowing emblem morphed into energy streams that channeled into his right foot. Falling in front of him, Iguana curled and started rapidly somersaulting to spin like a buzzsaw and slammed into the Ganma’s face. It bounced away, and the Ganma shook its head before looking up at Takeru’s glowing orange kick hitting it. A massive explosion consumed the monster, the original Candy Cane Ganma rolling out of the smoke cloud as the Santa Parka flew away.
“And I even liked that Christmas sweater…,” the Ganma moaned.
“Santa Claus!” called Takeru, floating over to it and landing. “Come to me!”
The Parka nodded, flying down and vanishing into his Driver’s eye in a puff of red smoke, a trail spiraling back out and landing in Takeru’s hand as a bright red Eyecon.
“Now,” he said, turning to the Ganma, “let’s deal with this Grinch.” He clicked the Eyecon’s iris to an ‘X’, swapping it in the Driver with Ore and pumping the lever.
Eye!
Kaigan! Santa Claus! Jingle Bell! Hoshi furu! Seinaru yoru!
The Santa Parka flew around and slid onto him, the bell-tipped strands folding up and hooking onto its shoulders and a horned black faceplate flipping up showing a green Christmas tree: Santa Damashii. {Ho ho ho.}
“So,” Takeru said, looking over his new form, “what can Santa Claus do?”
“Well, he’s the big jolly elf!” Yurusen replied, waving around. “The face of the holiday season! What do you think? He’s got the power of Christmas!”
Silent pause.
“You just have no idea, do you?” Takeru asked.
“I can’t know everything!” shouted Yurusen.
“In response to your previous comment,” the Ganma said, back on its feet, “if you think, I’m really more like Krampus!”
He threw out his right hand, and the red-striped shoulder candy cane launched another “spear”-mint attack. Takeru ducked down, but an energy construct of a wrapped present formed around him, and the red spears bounced off, exploding in midair.
As Takeru stood up, the lid popped off and the sides split and flew away and faded. He grabbed the lid and threw it spinning at the stunned Ganma, knocking him over. As he did this, he heard the golden bells on his shoulders ringing. A quick glance saw them losing a slight glow, giving him an idea.
Takeru shook his shoulders, ringing the bells, and they glowed a bright gold, as did the ornaments decorating the downed Christmas tree nearby. The ornaments flew off the tree and swarmed through the air, pelting the Ganma from all sides as he got up again.
The Ganma pulled out his candy cane staffs, swatting uselessly at the ornaments as they hit him again and again. He turned to Takeru and charged, but Takeru shook the shoulder bells again, and the glowing socks flew out of every house. The ornaments all massed together in a clump before the socks layered themselves around it, magically transforming into a giant floating present sack. It swung itself around and around, dropping down and slamming into the Ganma, bursting back apart into the ornaments and socks. The Ganma flew back and landed on the fallen tree near the tip.
Takeru shook the bells and pulled out the Driver’s lever, and the socks and ornaments flew onto the tree, arranging themselves up and down it as strands of golden energy connected the two ends of the broken tree trunk. The strands pulled tight, and they and the decorations began to lift the tree back upright. When the Ganma felt the tree begin to rise, he tried scrambling off but was too late, getting carried skyward with it. Takeru jumped up and floated high into the sky, forming a triangle with his fingers as a red eye-shaped emblem swept backwards over him. As the tree snapped back upright, it launched the loose Ganma at Takeru like a catapult. Takeru pushed the lever back in, the Driver’s eye flashing to a pair of bells with holly leaves ringed by stars and music notes.
Dai Kaigan! Santa Claus!
“Merry Christmas to all,” Takeru said, looking up at the quickly approaching Ganma to add, “and to all an—”
Omega Drive!
Takeru kicked out as the Ganma reached him, and from the emblem behind him came a projection of a charging team of nine reindeer, sweeping harmlessly over him and ramming through the Ganma as the kick hit: one, then pair, then pair, then pair, then pair, then sleigh, and explosion!
A flaming empty white coat with red and green stripes and large candy canes on its shoulders flew down to the ground, exploding and releasing the broken chips and fragments of the Here Comes Christmas Candy Cane that had formed it onto the snow. A shiny gray Eyecon with a hooked “optic nerve” at the back fell amongst the crackly pieces, glowing orange and bursting apart, leaving behind a small scorch mark.
Takeru slowly descended to the ground. Upon landing and inspecting his work at fixing the tree, his Driver popped open and the Eyecon floated up in front of him; before he could react, he glowed and was sucked inside.
Takeru found himself in his normal clothes standing in and staring at a world of snow through a fisheye lens. In the background was a hut with a Santa hat for a roof. Standing before him was the Santa Parka, now with a body resembling a fully black Transient suit with a smooth black faceplate bearing a pair of green eyes, and holding a large sack over its shoulder.
“Santa Claus,” Takeru said, bowing his head, “it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Oh ho ho ho,” Santa laughed jollily. “Thank you for saving me, my friend, but I’m afraid you can’t keep me.”
Takeru paused. “… Eh?”
“Minty must’ve really connected with my soul to summon it out tonight of all nights,” Santa continued.
“Minty?”
“But I’m still in the middle of my job, and Christmas won’t happen unless you let me go again.”
“Oh,” Takeru said. He needed 15 Eyecons of luminaries from history to wish himself back to life. He already had eight, and Makoto was holding three, but Jabel had stolen two, and two others were still missing since the first wish. He had two and a half weeks to get four, or his spirit would vanish. This one would make it three, but… “Okay,” he said, “go right on and bring Christmas.”
“Thank you,” Santa replied. “Speaking of, what was it you were after my Eyecon for, anyway? What, he-he, ‘what did you want for Christmas?’”
Takeru waved it off with a smile. “It was nothing. Just make sure all the children of the world are happy come tomorrow morning.”
“Oh ho ho ho,” chuckled Santa, “now that is the true spirit of the holidays.”
In a flash, Takeru was back outside, still in his normal outfit. The Santa Eyecon rose into the air, billowing out into a red cloud that formed a red sleigh latched behind a team of reindeer. With a crack, they raced off, pulling the sleigh away through the air, a paper note floating down from it as it left and sticking onto the tree.
Takeru smiled and prepared to leave, but noticed that his Driver was still sitting open. He clicked it shut.
Oyasumi. {Good night.}
