Unnoticed Threats

by smirker

The House

Doctor Whooves was on a date with Roseluck and they were walking together, the two look around and see Ponyville has not changed much. Doctor Whooves did not have much time left for his date, he had a patient today, he was sitting at a table outside and having lunch with Roseluck,

"Have you thought about taking a day off, dear?" Roseluck asked,

"Can't, Derpy's not fully trained yet, she's making a lot of mistakes." Doctor Whooves replied,

"Where is she now?" Roseluck asked,

"Work." Doctor Whooves replied,

"You should take a day off, Doctor, you look exhausted." Roseluck said,

"Well, luckily, I only have one patient today, but I don't know how long his story is going to be." Doctor Whooves replied,

"See, there you go again, you need to unwind a bit, dear, maybe a few days off will work." Roseluck said,

"I'll think about it. Well, I have to go now, goodbye, sweetheart." Doctor Whooves replied,

"Bye, dear." Roseluck said, and the two kissed each other briefly and Doctor Whooves trotted back to his home.

Doctor Whooves trots home and sees Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Pipsqueak, Truffle, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and other students playing outside during recess with Cheerilee watching them, they all seemed to be having the time of their lives. Doctor Whooves walks past them and sees Casanova, Equality, and Marine playing with swords, they were all having fun. Doctor Whooves keeps walking and sees Big Macintosh dating Sugar Belle, Maud Pie dating Mudbriar, Lyra Heartstrings dating Sweetie Drops, they were all having fun. Doctor Whooves was almost home and saw Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack sitting at a table together and conversing, they were all having fun, especially Pinkie Pie, they see him and wave at him, Doctor Whooves waved back with his front left hoof while the six mares smiled. Doctor Whooves walks past them and saw Sandbar, Gallus, Ocellus, Yona, Smolder, Silverstream, and Spike hanging out together and having fun, he walks past them without them noticing him. Doctor Whooves was near his home and he saw Shining Armor and Princess Cadence with Carrot Cake, Cup Cake, and Granny Smith, they were sharing photos of Apple Bloom, Applejack, Big Macintosh, Pound Cake, Pumpkin Cake, and Flurry Heart, they were having fun, Doctor Whooves just walked past them.

Doctor Whooves arrives at his house and saw a male earth pony waiting for him, he had a purple coat, a white mane and tail, dark blue eyes, and his cutie mark was a house, he was old with wrinkled skin, he looked like he was Granny Smith's age,

"Are you the patient?" Doctor Whooves asked,

"Yes." the stallion replied,

"This way." Doctor Whooves said, and the two enter his house and sit across from one another,

"State your name and occupation." Doctor Whooves said,

"Homesick, retired." the stallion replied,

"Wait, aren't you the new guy moving here?" Doctor Whooves asked,

"Yes, I plan to move here today." Homesick replied,

"What was your occupation before you retired?" Doctor Whooves asked,

"Street sweeper." Homesick replied,

"Well, let's get started." Doctor Whooves said,

"Before I came to Ponyville, I actually lived in a house in the woods, I can't believe it's been a week since I lived there." Homesick replied,

"Well, go on, I don't have all day." Doctor Whooves said, and Homesick gets ready to talk about his experiences.

---

Homesick was born into a regular family, he had two parents, and an older sister, he had many friends growing up and great teachers, he was friends with everybody growing up, and did not have any bullies. His sister married a stallion when she was eighteen, and he and Homesick got along greatly. Homesick met a mare named Nostalgia when he was fourteen, they married when they were eighteen and were happy, he moved out after he finished school. Homesick and Nostalgia moved into a home, but it was filthy and falling apart, so Homesick had to get a job to pay for damages, he became a street sweeper and cleaned roads, he hated the job, but continued because he had to make money. Homesick made enough money and fixed the home, he and Nostalgia had a son after that, and a daughter two years later, the two fought and argued all the time, he and Nostalgia had to stop them, and their son was being a bully in school, while their daughter was being bullied.

Homesick's children failed every subject in school, and he had to lecture them, and due to them not having enough money to take care of them, Nostalgia had to get a job, she worked as a waitress, a job she also hated, because the customers were rude. Many years pass and their two kids were grown up and moved out of the house, but tragedy struck a few years later, Nostalgia's parents passed away, the next year, they got a letter saying Homesick's parents passed away, and then two years later, they got a letter saying their daughter became depressed and took her own life, the two were devastated, but many years later, when Homesick and Nostalgia were middle-aged, they got a letter saying their son passed away from illness, the two were distraught, and wanted to have a third child, but it was a tragedy, not only did Nostalgia have a miscarriage, but the complications took her life, he got a letter shortly afterwards that his sister and brother-in-law passed away in an accident.

Homesick was distraught and began longing for his childhood, when everything was perfect, he continues sweeping roads because he needed the money, nopony worked with him, he was always working alone. Homesick was now old and he retired, he decided he wanted to move out, since the current home had many painful memories for him. Homesick looks at houses he could live in, he could not afford any of them, but he found a house in the middle of the woods, it was free, and did not have any bills to pay, he decided to take it because he wanted to bury his memories of his current home.

A female earth pony realtor shows him where the house is at,

"This is the home, hope you enjoy it." the realtor said,

"Has anyone every lived here?" Homesick asked,

"Yes, but we haven't heard from them, and when we open up to check, they're gone." the realtor replied,

---

"Hold on a minute, did you say the previous residents went missing?" Doctor Whooves asked,

"Yeah, I found it strange, too, but it was too late at that time." Homesick replied,

"What did the advertisement say about the house?" Doctor Whooves asked,

"Relive your happiest moments." Homesick replied, Doctor Whooves was skeptical,

"Where was this house located again?" Doctor Whooves asked,

"In the middle of the woods, trees all around it, no neighbors." Homesick replied,

"I see, continue." Doctor Whooves said, and Homesick continues.

---

The realtor left and Homesick opened the door, it was unlocked, much to his surprise, he enters his new home, and even more to his surprise, the inside looked just like the inside of his childhood home.

Homesick was in awe and walks into his new home, he was in denial at first, but he checks out the house and sees everything was replicated of his childhood home, all the way down to the smallest detail. Homesick enters his bedroom and was in awe, he went onto his bed,

"It feels just like the soft blanket I always slept in when I was a foal." Homesick said, and he laid down in the bed and fell asleep.

The next day comes and Homesick wakes up, he smells something familiar, he heads out and saw breakfast on the table, it was a salad with olive oil dressing on it, and hay to the side. Homesick looked on in awe,

"My favorite breakfast as a foal, mother and father always made it for me." Homesick said, and he eats it. Homesick felt better already, he felt like it was missing something, he realized what it was,

"Of course, second helping, let's see if I can make it." Homesick said, and he went to the kitchen. Homesick makes his favorite meal again for him to eat, and had a glass of water with it this time. Homesick walks around his home and jumps on the furniture, it was the exact same furniture his foalhood home had, he was having fun as he did when he was a colt.

Homesick finishes jumping on the furniture and he decides to check under the table in front of him,

"*gasp* it's here." Homesick said happily, he took it out,

"My favorite board game." Homesick said, it was Ogres & Oubliettes, he takes it out and plays on his own, he had a lot of fun playing by himself, but he did miss playing it with his parents and sister, he continues playing while he pretended to be the player and monsters in the game. Homesick finished after a few hours, it was a little late into the afternoon,

"Wait, I think I know what time it is." Homesick said, and he runs to the front door. The pet's door at the bottom opens and a box slides in, Homesick opens it and saw ice cream inside,

"Yes, of course, it's the time of the day when the ice cream pony delivers ice cream to the homes." Homesick said, and he opens it, he saw it was vanilla ice cream with actual strawberries on top of it, his favorite flavor and topping, he eats it quickly and develops a brain freeze, it disappears and he laughs it off. Homesick was hit with extreme nostalgia, he has missed the days of his foalhood ever since he moved out, he was ecstatic to relive his happiest memories again, but he wanted his family and friends in the place, he wondered about what was outside, so he opened the door, but only the woods was there instead of the area he grew up in, he became sad and closed the door.

Homesick daydreams and runs around the house, he remembered everything he did to pass the time as a colt, he did them again, and they were as fun as now as they were back when he was a foal. Homesick got tired, and it was almost dark, so he had the same salad and hay for dinner, he then headed to bed and slept.

Homesick begins his second day in the house and he sees everything was still the same as yesterday, his favorite meal was on the table again, he eats it for breakfast, he begins to hear music outside,

"The marching band, I used to dance to them every morning before I came out of my room." Homesick said, and he began dancing in the living room happily, the music stopped and Homesick sat on the couch while panting and smiling. Homesick waits for his energy to come back and the box with the ice cream comes in again, he eats his favorite ice cream and he saw something on the table, he looks at it and saw it was a letter. Homesick opens the letter and saw it was a thank you letter from all of his classmates in school, Homesick had the highest grades in his class, and he tutored and helped those who were failing, all of the students were friends with one another, and the teachers were good and caring ponies, school was fun for everypony, and they all looked forward to the next day when class ended, Homesick and the students all did homework together, and played in the neighborhood together, Homesick greatly missed those days.

Evening came and Homesick was hungry again, he felt that the days were getting faster, he brushed it off with him being an elderly stallion and has his favorite meal again and headed to bed and slept comfortably.

The third day comes and Homesick woke up in his new home, he heard voices of happiness outside his bedroom, they sounded familiar as well, he walks out and to his surprise, he saw his parents and sister,

"Good morning, Homesick." his mother said in a sweet and gentle voice,

"Mother, father, sister." Homesick said with nostalgia in his voice,

---

"Hold on, you said your family appeared?" Doctor Whooves asked,

"Yeah, I couldn't believe it at first, but my family appeared in the home, their hugs and kisses felt real." Homesick replied,

"How many more days after this one?" Doctor Whooves asked,

"Four more." Homesick replied,

"I see, go on." Doctor Whooves said, and Homesick continues his tale.

---

Homesick walks to his family and his father and sister hugged him while his mother kissed him on the forehead,

"We already made breakfast, it's your favorite." Homesick's father said, and he saw it was the same meal, Homesick never got tired of it,

"Okay, I'm off to school." Homesick said,

"Homesick, today's a weekend, there is no school." Homesick's sister said, Homesick was a bit sad, but also happy since he got to spend time with his family. The toilet in the bathroom flushes and Homesick sees another person, it was his brother-in-law,

"Hey, good morning, Homesick." Homesick's brother-in-law said as he ran to him, the two hugged one another,

"Uh, how old am I right now?" Homesick asked, his family laughed,

"Don't be silly, Homesick, you're currently eight years old." Homesick's father replied, Homesick realized his age, he was the age of his favorite year of his life, everything seemed perfect when he was eight years old,

"Good news, Homesick, your sister and I are getting married." Homesick's brother-in-law said, Homesick was elated, since he and him always got along,

"Come on, let's play Ogres & Oubliettes, our favorite board game." Homesick's mother said, and they do, they had so much fun, they lost track of the time, and realized they skipped lunch, which they laughed about, they continue playing until they hear the doorbell ring, and the ice cream came in, everybody had their favorite flavors and toppings, they continued playing and having fun. Night time comes and everyone has dinner,

"How have things been at school, son?" Homesick's dad asked,

"Great, I helped a student pass his class today, he and I are good friends now." Homesick replied, his family clapped at the news, Homesick realizes he just said that subconsciously,

"How about you, Memory?" Homesick's dad asked, Memory was Homesick's sister,

"I made it into the journalist club, I'm ready to start writing about the things that go on in town." Memory replied, Homesick and his family smiled,

"Well, I'll go next, I just made to the highest rank in the Royal Guard ROTC." Homesick's brother-in-law said, they were happy for him,

"I just got a promotion at work." Homesick's mother said,

"I finally finished the project at work, we're going to start getting paid more." Homesick's father said, everybody had a good time at dinner and they finished. Everybody gets ready for bed,

"Goodnight, Homesick." Homesick's family said to him,

"Goodnight." Homesick replied, and he enters his bedroom, goes into his bed, and sleeps.

The fourth day comes and Homesick wakes up and he saw his family there,

"Good morning, Homesick, today's a good day for you." Homesick's mother said,

"What day is it, again?" Homesick asked,

"Nostalgia's coming over, your sister and I came over just for the moment." Homesick's brother-in-law replied, Homesick was elated when he heard that,

"I'm here." Nostalgia said, Homesick looks to the front door and saw Nostalgia, she looked like when he first met her, he was very happy to see his wife again, he could not help but run to her and hug her,

"Oh, Homesick, it's good to see you, too." Nostalgia said as she hugged him back, he let go of her,

"I missed you." Homesick said, Nostalgia laughed,

"You saw me yesterday, too, Homesick." Nostalgia replied, Homesick becomes surprised,

"What day is it?" Homesick asked,

"Today's the day Nostalgia and us talk about the possibility of you two marrying, and what it means to us." Memory replied, Homesick remembered this day, it was one of the happiest days of his life, he sat with them and Nostalgia joined them. Memory and Nostalgia were great friends like how Homesick was with his brother-in-law, they all converse while Homesick ignored most of it because he already knows it is going to end with his family accepting Nostalgia into his family. They hear the marching band outside again and they dance to its music, Homesick's family always enjoyed hearing them every morning, so did the rest of the people in the neighborhood, they all decided to play hide and seek in the home to pass the time. Homesick and his family continue conversing and Nostalgia was accepted by Homesick's parents to marry, she was so elated, she cried tears of joy.

Lunch time comes and Homesick had his favorite meal again to celebrate his happiness on Nostalgia being accepted by his parents for marriage, Memory and her husband were already married. Homesick remembered that day, his sister was the wedding's best mare while his brother-in-law was the best stallion, Homesick and Nostalgia were happy to get married, they moved out shortly afterwards.

Homesick and his family have dinner and they all went to sleep shortly afterwards.

The fifth day comes and Homesick noticed something weird, he felt physically weak, and had trouble getting up, but he brushed it off as him being old, he walks out of his bedroom and saw his parents, sister, brother-in-law, and Nostalgia,

"Good morning, love." Nostalgia said, Homesick could not help by cry, it has been a long time since she has called him that endearing term, he walked over to her and they kissed one another for a second, he sat down and had breakfast. Homesick felt physically weak for some reason, he did not know why, but he continued to get on with his day. He and his family played Horse-opoly and they had a good time. Homesick was playing but he began to hear other voices and laughter of joy echo through his home,

"Do any of you hear that?" Homesick asked,

"Hear what?" Homesick's father asked,

"I just heard other voices throughout this house." Homesick replied, his family listens,

"I don't hear a thing." Homesick's mother said,

"Me neither." Memory replied,

"How about you, Nostalgia?" Homesick asked,

"No, nothing." Nostalgia replied,

"You're probably just hearing the foals and ponies playing outside, Homesick." Homesick's brother-in-law said, his family agreed, but Homesick knew that was not the case, he was hearing them inside the home, but he did not bring it up and continued playing. Afternoon comes and Homesick has lunch with his family, he continues to hear other voices of happiness, he heard foals laughing in the house, he looks around and notices his parents did not notice him acting strangely, so he finished lunch and went on to check the house.

Homesick checks the laundry room and sees there was nopony in there but himself, so he checks the kitchen next, nopony was there, and then the living room, nopony was there except his family, he then checked the bathroom, nopony was in there, and lastly, his bedroom, nopony was in there, either. Homesick was certain they would be in his bedroom because Memory slept in that bed when she was a filly, and she began to sleep in the living room with the rest of Homesick's family when she grew up, only Homesick slept in there now, because he was the youngest.

Homesick did not do anything in the afternoon because he kept hearing other ponies having fun and laughing in his house, and he was physically tired, he wondered what was going on, but did not have the energy,

"Homesick, dinner's ready." Homesick's mother said,

"I'm not hungry." Homesick replied,

"Okay, I'll leave your dinner in the kitchen, eat when you get hungry." Homesick's mother said, and Homesick yawned, he was very tired as he laid down in his bed, he fell asleep shortly afterwards.

Homesick wakes up on his sixth day in the house and he felt physically weaker than yesterday, he can just barely get up, but he did, the voices of joy were louder than yesterday. Homesick opens the door and everything was still normal, even though he can hear more people having fun in the house. Homesick walks out and saw his family,

"Good morning, dear." Homesick's mother said,

"Morning." Homesick replied and he went to the kitchen to get his dinner from yesterday, it was not there, Homesick walks to his family,

"Where's my supper?" Homesick asked,

"Uh, supper?" Memory asked,

"I went to bed early last night and skipped dinner." Homesick replied,

"You were probably dreaming, Homesick, you gobbled dinner down like a pig last night." Nostalgia said,

"Uh, what was last night?" Homesick asked,

"The day we celebrated your father's retirement." Homesick's mother replied, Homesick remembered that day, that was a fun night for them all, but the next day was a day of pure joy because Homesick's father did not have to go to work for the first time, and it was a weekend. They all have fun by playing tag in the house, Homesick hears foals laughing and having fun, even though there were none in the house, and he did not have any energy to run, so he walked, he wondered what was going on, he continues playing until lunch time came.

Homesick has lunch with his family and he ignores them while they converse, he keeps hearing foals playing and laughing in the house, but does not see any, Homesick was soon out of energy and went to sit down at the table in the living room to catch his breath. Homesick did not catch his breath and felt exhausted, he could just barely eat dinner,

"I'm tired, I'm going to bed." Homesick said,

"Good night, love." Nostalgia replied, the two kissed one another and Homesick lied down in his bed.

Homesick wakes up the seventh day and felt very weak physically, he struggles to get up and grunted, he fell out of bed, and he crawled to his bedroom door, opened it, went out, and closed it. Homesick looks forward and to his surprise, the foals and ponies he has been hearing in his home were visible, so were many other rooms that were not part of his home, each foal and pony was playing around, laughing happily, and having the time of their lives. Homesick tries to touch them to contact them, but he went through them, and they did not notice him, so Homesick went to see his family,

"Good morning, dear." Homesick's mother said,

"Who are those people?" Homesick asked,

"What people? We're the only ones here." Memory replied,

"What about those extra rooms in our home?" Homesick asked,

"There are no extra rooms in our house, Homesick." Homesick's father said,

"What about those rooms back there?" Homesick asked as he pointed his front right hoof to the wall across from him, his family looks,

"I don't see any rooms, only a wall." Homesick's brother-in-law replied, Homesick was confused,

"Come on, you must be hungry, have some breakfast, love." Nostalgia said, and Homesick ate his breakfast. Homesick's family played around in the house while Homesick sat at the table and watched the other ponies and foals in his home, he begins to cough and felt weak, Homesick realized what was going on, the house was haunted, and it was slowly draining his life and killing him, the other ponies here must be those ponies who lived here and gone missing, the house drained them of their life while making them relive their happiest memories, and since these ponies did not move out, the house took their lives, and they were now stuck, reliving their happiest memories for all eternity.

It was around lunchtime and Homesick felt his life draining away, he was deciding if he should lose his life and relive his happiest memories for all eternity, or leave and go live elsewhere, he decided the latter, since reliving his happiest memories every day was starting to get a bit boring. Homesick heads to the exit and was walking slowly, he groaned as he moved, he lost more of his energy about halfway and began crawling, he breathed heavily and kept crawling slowly. Homesick arrived at the front door and put his front right hoof on it, he turns the black knob to the right slowly and opens the door, he saw the outside area was still the same, he was still in the woods. Homesick walks out and closes the door, he turns around, goes to his left, and walks away.

---

Homesick sat across from Doctor Whooves,

"So you got out of there exactly one week ago, today." Doctor Whooves said,

"Yes, I found the realtor and told her I'm moving out, I stayed at a hotel with my retired money before coming here." Homesick replied,

"How was that place?" Doctor Whooves asked,

"Normal, quiet." Homesick replied,

"I'm surprised you didn't stay in that house, a lot of ponies would love to relive their happiest memories for all eternity." Doctor Whooves said,

"I'll admit, leaving there was a double edged sword, I did enjoy reliving my happiest memories, but it got a bit boring near the end, and I'm retired, so maybe I can start over without the hardships of my young adult and middle aged life." Homesick replied,

"Was there any other reason why you left?" Doctor Whooves asked,

"I'm also hoping to create a new happy memory instead of just keeping and reliving my old ones all the time." Homesick replied,

"I see, well, welcome to Ponyville, I'll be around, and price is ten bits." Doctor Whooves said, Homesick paid him,

"Okay, it seems we are done, you may leave." Doctor Whooves said, and Homesick headed out.

Homesick memorized where his new home was at, he walks around Ponyville and sees it, he enters his new home and found the bedroom, he lays in it and falls asleep immediately.