- Story by Thom Zahler, Art by Agnes Garbowski
Pinkie Pie finds herself being chased by a house on legs, and can't avoid being "eaten" up by it, unable to open the doors or windows to get out. Inside, she finds that Cheese Sandwich is there along with three foals, Java Bolt, Aurora Muffin, and Pumpkin Twizzle, who were all similarly "eaten" by the house while Cheese was performing at Pumpkin Twizzle's birthday party in Baltimare. Cheese admits that he may have inadvertently set the house to find Pinkie after trying to hold a party inside to keep the foals happy despite the predicament. With no immediate ideas of how to escape, Pinkie suggests they continue to party, which leads to her seeing a strange glow come from the house. She gets the idea that if they party long enough, the house will let them leave.
The five search the house and find lots of leftover party supplies and games, and have an otherwise good time. As they start to grow tired and wind the party down, Pinkie still finds the house not allowing them to leave, and furthermore has now turned towards Ponyville, threatening to grab residents from there. Realizing they have to continue to party somehow to avoid this, they continue to search the house for anything to have a good time, and Pinkie finds a photo album from the owners of the house. She discovers that they had placed a protection spell on the house when it was built, and over many years, the house saw lots of parties and celebrations from the couple that lived there and their children and grandchildren, the house emitting the same glow she saw earlier. But eventually the couple passed on and the house became empty. She surmises that the protection spell led the house to gain legs and some form of sentience to try to continue to fill itself with parties. This leads to her and Cheese coming up with a plan to create a party that could last forever as long as ponies are free to come and go, so that they can tell other ponies about the party, and providing the party with an endless stream of partygoers. The house appears to agree, as it turns back from Ponyville and returns them to Baltimare. The five are able to go, as they get some ponies to start off the party that can go on forever, and they see the house happily continue on its way.
Tropes appearing in this issue:
- "Eureka!" Moment: Several pages of the comic are dialogueless panels that show the family that built and lived in the house until they passed away. Conveniently there was a photo album with these moments and Pinkie happening upon it that shows these same scenes allow her to make the needed connection for how to escape the house.
- Genius Loci: The story revolves around a house that, due to a protection spell combined with the Power of Love along with celebrations and partying, became sapient and alive.
- Love Imbues Life: "Housey" came to life as a result of its owners' love and joy combined with a magician's protection spell.
- Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: "Housey" isn't malevolent and doesn't seem aware of the trouble it's causing. It's just been left alone after the loss of the ponies who'd lived in and loved it for so long and desperately trying to get something it's lost back. As soon as Pinkie and Cheese find a way for it to do that without hurting anyone, it does.
- Shout-Out:
- The concept of a walking house that abducts ponies runs very close to the folklore tale of Baba Yaga.
- Given that Cheese Sandwich is a ponified "Weird Al" Yankovic, the story drops a number of references to Yankovic's career, including him playing the accordion, and references to spatulas and Twinkies.
- The Power of Love: It's implied the family's love for the house was one of the things that brought it to life.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: "Housey," a rampaging Genius Loci that only wants back what it lost when its original inhabitants died.
