T'was the night before Life Day, Heartmas, or whatever you call it. Everyone was so excited. Soon, Santa Claus would be coming to town to deliver gifts to all the nice people of the world, making their holiday wishes come true.
The kids were especially excited. Omega couldn't wait to wake up on Life Day morning and see what Santa would stuff her stocking with. She hoped he would leave her some gummy worms like the ones she'd tried at a party earlier that year. And Diamond really hoped Santa would bring her a Mickey Mouse plushie.
Tonight, the Skywalker-Jinn and Naberrie families and the horses were gathered by the fire with some hot chocolate before bed.
Shmi sighed happily, leaning into Qui-Gon's shoulder, a blanket laying over the two of them as they cuddled. Luke and Leia were already asleep. But the older kids were still preparing for Santa to come.
All the stockings were hung up, the tree was all decorated, and Gabby put a plate of yummy holiday cookies and a glass of fresh cold milk on top of the fireplace for Santa Claus.
"Do you think we'll see Santa if we hide and stay up all night?" Omega asked.
"I don't think that's how it works." said Boba. "No one's supposed to see Santa when he comes. Same goes for the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny."
"What if we mailed ourselves like you and Gabby did?" Lamenta asked.
"I got mailed to the North Pole by accident." Gabby said. "Boba only mailed himself so he could rescue me."
"It's amazing what Santa does." Carousella said. "Traveling across so many worlds in one night? It's a miracle."
"You know, when I was a kid, sometimes I wished I could do what he does and see all the worlds across the Galaxy." Anakin said. "It seemed like the only way to do so."
"Maybe if you wrote a letter asking Santa for it, he'd grant your wish somehow." said Diamond, licking the whipped cream from her hot cocoa.
"Maybe." shrugged Anakin.
That was when there was a knock at the door.
"I wonder who could be knocking this late at night." said Shmi.
"I'll go check it out." Sapphire said.
And Sapphire came back with a familiar friend of the family's.
"Wysteria!" Gabby exclaimed. "Happy Life Day. You want some cocoa?"
Wysteria had a serious look on her face, though.
"Thanks, but there's no time for cocoa. It's not gonna be a happy Life Day for anyone if something isn't done." Wysteria said. "We need your help. The whole royal family needs to help us."
The family wasn't sure what to think when the nymph princess said this stuff.
Wysteria brought the Skywalker-Jinn family to her kingdom, where they met three spirits who looked very familiar. The first was dressed in white robes, the second was in green with a wreath crown, and the third wore dark robes, a hood concealing their face. And it turned out that the royal family weren't the only ones Wysteria retrieved.
Obi-Wan, Peppermint, Sugar Cane, Comedia, Fantasia, and Ki-Adi were there too.
"Do you know what's going on?" Anakin asked his old master.
Obi-Wan shook his head.
"All Wysteria told us was that it was a holiday emergency." He said.
"Everyone, meet the spirits of Holiday Past, Present, and Future." Wysteria introduced the three spirits.
"Wait a minute!" Lamenta said. "You mean like the spirits in A Life Day Carol?"
"A Christmas Carol, A Heartmas Carol," said the Spirit of Holiday Present. "it's a different title every world."
"But it actually happened." said Past. "Ebenezer Scrooge was a real person many years ago. And we've helped many realize the true meaning of holiday spirit throughout the years, and helped Santa Claus ensure the holidays would run smoothly."
"You work with Santa?" Gabby said, sounding astonished.
"How did you think he knew who was naughty and who was nice all year?" said the spirit of Present.
"Even Santa doesn't work alone." Wysteria said. "And he's the one who needs your help."
"Santa needs help? What's wrong?"
"You might want to sit down for this.
The three spirits came together and held hands, a white glow appearing above them. And together they showed a vision, starting with the past.
The first bit was of Firework being frightened by her parents telling her about Krampus coming if she didn't eat her broccoli. And the other was of Comedia's sister Emeraldi being angered by her parents' constant arguing, and the fact that she was a prisoner in her own home.
Firework was sleeping, tossing and turning as she had nightmares about Krampus, when she woke up with a gasp.
The poor unicorn was shaking under her blanket as she heard noises in the dark. And soon, a mariclava flew into the room and landed on Firework's blanket.
"Scare Mare, I am Mariverde. You are not the only child parents have scared with stories of Krampus to do what they want. They want you to eat broccoli even though you hate it, they want you to do a million chores a day, and they want you to do a lot of other things Krampus would catch you for not doing. Now you shall have a chance to give your parents a taste of their own medicine. I'm giving you the power to give parents a good scare the way they claim Krampus will do to you. And in doing so, you will assist another in ensuring all the naughty children of the world learn a lesson as well."
"My parents deserve to be scared for scaring me!" Firework growled.
And Firework transformed to look all beastly and scary goat-like with sharp teeth, her horn longer and crooked, and her blanket turned into a cloak.
Emeraldi, on the other hoof, looked at herself in the mirror with her favorite emerald tiara on.
"It's not fair!" Emeraldi said angrily. "I've worked my whole life to be the perfect daughter they've always wanted, and it still isn't enough! The only way I'd get any respect is if I were queen of Equinaro or something."
And that was when another mariclava came and landed on Emeraldi's tiara.
"Correct you are, you do deserve respect." said Mariverde. "Holidays are supposed to be the time you have what you want. It isn't fair that you had all you loved taken from you, is it?"
"I deserve better than what my parents gave me. Yes."
"Queen of Mean. I am Mariverde. I'm giving you the power to take everyone's holiday wishes as yours were taken from you. But you will not work alone. Scare Mare will be your accomplice in this mission. Succeed, and you will have your revenge. Do we have a deal?"
"Consider it dealt."
"Oh no!" Firework and Emeraldi's siblings all said at the same time.
The Spirit of Holiday Present then showed what was happening right now.
Mariverde brought her two villains together and gave them a mission.
"Your mission, ladies. Go to Santa's workshop, find his list. You will have the names of all who have been naughty and who has been nice. You will take all the presents, punish the naughty children and all parents, and ensure that no one has any presents for Life Day, Heartmas, Navidad, whatever they call the holiday. And you will capture the man in charge as well. Once the holiday is ruined, you both shall be greatly rewarded."
"They're gonna ruin Life Day for everyone!" Boba panicked.
"Does that mean I won't get the Mickey Mouse plushie I asked for?" Diamond worried.
"The toy you asked for is the least of your worries, I'm afraid." said the Spirit of Holiday Future. "The future will be very dark if they are successful in this mission."
The future was shown, and indeed it was dark.
Every man, woman, and child was faced with a horrible nightmare.
Children's parents everywhere were terrified so much their hair turned white and they were beaten really badly, and to make things even worse, when the children checked under the tree, there were no presents, and their stockings were completely empty! All around on many planets, children were crying because Santa never came to grant any of their holiday wishes, and their parents were badly hurt too. And with so many broken hearts, they all became easy prey for Mariverde, who created a great army she used to destroy Solaris' magic and take over the galaxy as the late Chancellor Palpatine attempted to before.
"They've already begun this mission to destroy the holiday." said Present. "You must all head to Santa's workshop immediately and stop these villains before the holidays are ruined for everyone!"
"But how do we even get there?" Carmine asked.
"We could mail ourselves." Gabby said. "Boba and I did it once before."
"I'm not sure there's a package anywhere big enough to hold Grandpa, much less a horse." Boba chuckled.
"You don't need to mail yourselves." said a new voice.
And in came a teenage girl the others had never seen before. She had ginger red hair and wore a dress that resembled Santa's red suit.
"Everyone, meet Holly Kringle. Princess of the North Pole, and daughter of Santa Claus." said Present.
"I didn't know Santa had kids." Comedia said.
"Most people think Santa is only one person living on for centuries. In truth, it's a legacy carried on by my family for generations." said Holly. "Boba and Gabby didn't meet me probably because most of the time I'm taking lessons in being Santa so I may take over after my father someday. But that can't happen if the holiday is destroyed."
Holly explained to the others that Queen of Mean and Scare Mare had already gotten to the North Pole and already captured Santa and most of the elves. Fortunately, Mrs. Claus and the reindeer were able to escape. But if they wanted to get those gifts to the children of the Galaxy, they needed more than a holiday miracle to make it happen. They needed help from folks who knew Mariverde better than they did.
"So, you know how we can get to the North Pole?" Gabby asked.
Holly took out a little pouch filled with magic dust.
"This is a special powder we put on the reindeer's horseshoes to allow them to enter and exit the pole every holiday season. If your horses dip their feet in it, they can use their shoes to get all of you to my family's castle. Here are the priorities. Rescue my dad and the elves, and stop the villains before they ruin the holidays for everyone."
Young elves screamed and scattered all across the workshop as Scare Mare roared at them and chased them into torturous traps while Queen of Mean had the big guy chained.
"You won't get away with this," said Santa.
"I already have," chuckled Queen of Mean. "No one will have a happy holiday anymore. And it will be all Comedia's fault. Besides, you gifted my father a stocking full of coal every single holiday since before I was born!"
"Perhaps if he'd been nicer, he would have made the nice list."
Queen of Mean rolled her eyes.
"Why should I listen to you? You couldn't even face two young horses. Oh, Scare Mare."
Scare Mare roared again, scaring many of the elves so much their hair turned whiter than Santa's beard.
"Now, where is the list?" said Queen of Mean, asking the head elf, whose name was Wreatha.
"I won't tell you!" said Wreatha.
Queen of Mean's tiara glowed, and Wreatha was held in a magical choke as Scare Mare roared at her, pushing her against the wall.
"You will tell me where the list is or be destroyed!"
Wreatha struggled as she was held in the choke. It seemed she had no choice but to squeal.
Queen of Mean found the very scroll that held Santa Claus' list of all nice and naughty names in the galaxy.
With a chuckle, Queen of Mean said, "Time to give everyone a holiday morning they'll never forget."