CHAPTER 4

Hello again, everypony. As always these days, sorry for being a bit late in getting this chapter up. I'd actually started on it a couple of days ago, and only got around to finishing it now. I've had a great deal of random stuff I had to do. Still do, honestly...but for now it has to take the back-burner as I take the time to write, because this is still one of my biggest passions in life, and we get so few of those. So here is the long-awaited chapter four. I hope you all enjoy this little installment. Please review.

The next morning, we really had nothing to do, and it was still a couple of days until the bakery was due to be demolished, so I took the opportunity to catch up on my writing. After a cup of strong coffee and showing Twilight how to make the world's best flapjacks, I borrowed her sitting room, and decided to devote the day to working on my autobiography. I was constantly distracted by my surroundings, mainly because I was in the same room I had used as my office during my investigation into the Pinkamena murders all that time ago. Now here I was, sitting at the same table, writing about that little incident. If you have read my earlier accounts, then you know how deeply I tend to think (or overthink) about things, so as you've probably guessed, the irony of the situation did not escape me.

"Hey bubby." My sister greeted, walking into the room. She stopped and stared at the shelves of books for some time. Finally, she spoke. "Crap...Twilight's go a lot of books, don't she?"

"Um...has it taken you this long to figure that out?" I asked incredulously.

"Meh...Luna's got more." Budder shrugged indifferently.

"And when exactly were you in Luna's library?" I queried.

"Remember when you were sick, and me and Dash wanted to stay close to the hospital?" She asked, a tinge of sadness in her tone at having remembered me being so close to death.

"Oh yeaaahhhh...Celestia and Luna foalsat you a couple of times..." I reminisced. "And you bugged Celestia to death, calling her 'Aunt Tia'"

"Heehee...yeeeaaaahhhhh..." Budder giggled. "But yeah, Luna showed me her private library, and let me see some of her old books about ghosts and monsters. It was really cool."

"Oh no..." I groaned.

"What?"

"Luna's gonna make you her personal student, and you're gonna end up becoming the Princess of the Strange and Unusual."

"That would be cool!" My sister said happily.

"No it wouldn't..." I griped. "It would mean I'd have even more ghosts and ghouls annoying me to death."

"Hey guys." Twilight greeted us as she entered the room, levitating a pot of coffee and a teacup and saucer on a platter. She used her magic to place the aromatic drink on my table. Our host gave us a friendly smile. "What were you saying about ghosts and ghouls?"

"My sister..." I complained. "She's the best paranormal investigator in the whole country."

"I've heard how good she is around the paranormal." Twilight agreed. She turned to my sister. "You know...I never really believed in ghosts and all those superstitions, but your investigations are beginning to make believers out of quite a few ponies, Budder."

"Just doin' mah job." My sister grinned. I groaned.

"You...don't approve of your sister's talent, Drake?" Twilight asked in surprise.

"Huh? Yeah, of course I approve of it. I'm proud of my 'lil sis for being so good at...well...everything she does. It's just...huh, I'll put it to you like this, Miss Twilight..." I explained. "I'm like you. I never believed in all that voodoo hoodoo junk about ghosts and boogermen. That is until my wonderful little sister, with the aid of the royal sisters decided to drag my life across that line, right into the realm of what the Hell did I get myself into." This made both of them giggle

"You have my condolences, Lieutenant..." Twilight chuckled. "And a pot of fresh coffee. I remembered how much you liked your coffee from the last time you were here."

"Thank you so much." I replied gratefully.

"You need anything else?" The purple alicorn asked. "I was going to go hang out with the girls. It's been so long since we've seen Rainbow, and we wanna squeeze in all the time we can."

"I can understand that." I smiled. "I see Dash and Budder just about every day, but it never gets old." My sister smiled sweetly. "When it comes to ponies you care about, every single moment counts."

"Very aptly put." Twilight agreed.

"I think I'll be fine here." I said. "You go make every moment count, eh?"

"I will, Drake. Thank you." Twilight said with a warm smile before leaving the room. I heard the front door open in the next room. "Huh? Yes, she is." Twilight's voice stated. "She's in the study if you want to..."

"Budder!" An orange filly with a purple mane exclaimed, running into the room toward my sister.

"Hey! Scootaloo!" My sister called happily, embracing the orange filly in a hug. "Missed joooo!"

"I missed you too." Scootaloo returned. "How ya been? Get to go on any more totally awesome adventures?" I rolled my eyes.

"Not since we stopped the ghost of an evil king from coming back and like...taking over the world." Budder said nonchalantly. "Yeahhh...bubby kinda retired after that."

"And for good reason..." I added.

"Wow..." Scootaloo commented. "Nothing like that's happened around here. I mean we had a bugbear attack the town a little while back, but that wasn't really a big thing..."

"Sounds pretty big..." My sister said softly.

"No...angel..." I sighed. "I think she means it wasn't a big deal for the town to handle."

"Oh...eheheheheh..." Budder chuckled, blushing.

"So, how long are you in town for?" Scootaloo asked.

"Like a couple of...days, I think..." my sister returned.

"Four more days." I said.

"Wanna stay with me till then?" Budder asked. Her friend looked beside herself with joy. "It's cool."

"Do I?!" The teen answered. I let them converse in sentence fragments like teenagers do while I looked over my last few sentences. Needed to change a few things...

"Is it alright if me and Scootaloo go out and explore the town a little?" She asked. I knew she'd been looking forward to seeing Scootaloo again, and I also knew that if they just stay here all day, I was just going to be iced out anyhow, so I agreed. It was Ponyville. What kind of trouble could they get into?

"Go on then..." I sighed. "Being back here is kinda giving me inspiration to write. Think I'm just gonna hang out here and work on my book today."

"Ughhh buuuuub..." My sister groaned. "You even work on vacation."

"Eh...it's kind of relaxing, so it's not really work." I countered.

"Suuurrrre." Budder smirked. "Well...I think we're gonna go get some food. Can I has some monies?" She had the innocent smile of a yearling, which translated to the scheming, devious smile of a Budder who wanted something. I sighed again and shook my head. How long was she gonna try to milk the sweet little foal thing? Whatever, it wasn't like we were broke. Reaching over to my saddlebags, I pulled out a bag of bits and poured out twenty into my sister's money pouch.

"Don't spend it all in one place." I said.

"Thanks bubby!" She exclaimed, and before I knew it, the two teenagers had bolted out of the room. I heard the front door slam, and I found myself sitting in Twilight's study, working...alone. I wondered where Dashie was. A sudden shudder hit me. It was all too similar. I rubbed my face and took a drink of coffee. Okay, this was as close to deja vu as I wanted to get.

Hope you liked this chapter. I know this story is lacking in action thus far, but it will pick up soon, I promise. I will try to get the next chapter up sometime in the next couple of days. So until then, thank you all so much for reading, and I look forward to hearing from my readers as always. Be back with chapter five soon. -Drake