//------------------------------//
// Chapter XXVIII 
// Story: Lessons in quirks 
// by Mike84 
//------------------------------//

	When they were alone, Mr. Rich seemed to deflate a little. The smile disappeared, leaving him looking very tired and he rubbed his head with one hoof. 
"I apologize, Princess. My dear little Diamond and good old Swallowtail are very protective of me and indeed I haven't been feeling very well. They don't mean any harm. Please don't take any offense."
"Oh, of course not." 
Mr. Rich's openness had taken Twilight by surprise and at the same time she was a little shocked at how worn-out Mr. Rich was looking now that he didn't put up a brave face for his daughter and his servant anymore. Twilight was suddenly a lot more understanding about their reluctance to let her go to their master, respectively father.
"Mr. Rich, would you like to sit down?" Twilight asked concerned.
He just nodded, walked back to the couch from which he had gotten up before and let himself drop on it. He made a weak gesture beckoning Twilight to another cushioned settee and Twilight took a seat. She heard a quiet clinking from behind and as she looked back she saw Swallowtail entering. He balanced a silver tablet with two filled glasses and an opened bottle on one hoof. This forced him to a rather odd walk on three hooves. While it caused the little clinking of the glasses which Twilight had heard, it looked like Swallowtail was very experienced with this kind of walk and not a drop of cider was spilled when he placed the tray on a little table in front of the couch. 
"Is there anything else I can do, Master Rich?"
"Not at the moment, Swallows, thank you very much." 
As his servant had entered the room Mr. Rich had again put on his brave face.
"Very well, Master Rich." 
Swallowtail took a little bow and left the room. Twilight followed him with her eyes. 
Mr. Rich uttered a long sigh, picked up one of the glasses and took a large swig. 
"So Princess Twilight, what brings you here?" Mr. Rich asked as he put the glass back on the tray and leaned back.
"I am here to investigate the theft of your bits, Mr. Rich."
He nodded silently, looking rather exhausted.
"As you may know, Frank Blanket has been remanded into custody under suspicion of the theft."
Mr. Rich raised his heavy eyelids in a look of surprise. 
"They already caught the one who did it?"
"No. I don't think so. Mr. Blanket has been remanded on the basis of an outmoded town-law just on the basis of the facts that he was without any company for some time yesterday, that he is not from Ponyville and that he is... well... not prosperous in bits."
As Twilight spoke Mr. Rich's face relapsed into worn-out exhaustion and he seemed to have real difficulties to concentrate on what Twilight was saying. There was a pause which became uneasy after a while and already Twilight began to wonder if Mr. Rich had forgotten that she was there when he finally said: "Mr. Blanket... I don't know him. But is he the colt that sweet Tiara mentioned?"
Twilight braced herself for what she expected to become an unfortunate turn of the conversation. 
"I would not know. What did she mention?"
Mr. Rich sighed, his face became even graver than before and Twilight realized that he too didn't like the direction of this talk. 
"I gather that she and this Mr. Blanket somehow... clashed."
"It was not Mr. Blanket's fault! He overheard Diamond Tiara bullying another filly about the other filly having no cutie mark yet and about her being unable to fly so far in spite of her being a pegasus and..." 
Twilight stopped mid-sentence her face an expression of shock. 
Mr. Rich, the businesspony who rarely showed any sentiments, was crying. He was trembling, covered his face with both hooves, cowered onto the couch and he was sobbing, having lost all self-control except perhaps that which allowed him to muffle his sobs enough for them not to be heard outside the room. 
"Mr. Rich..." 
Twilight just didn't know what to say or do. She stood up approached Mr. Rich and levitated a handkerchief to him which she had spotted on a nearby bureau. He took it and wiped his face, but he continued to tremble. 
This was not normal and suddenly Twilight felt really bad about not having accepted the attempts of Swallowtail and Diamond Tiara to get rid of her at the door. 
"Mr. Rich, I'm sorry, maybe it is better for me to go now and..."
She cautiously put one of her hooves onto one of Filthy Rich's. He immediately embraced the hoof. "Don't leave me alone!" he sobbed. 
The enterprising businesspony was acting like a little terrified foal. 
"I won't", Twilight promised somewhat helplessly. "It's okay. Everything will be okay."
Maybe it was just a few moments, but to Twilight it seemed like a very long time had passed until at last Filthy Rich let go of her hoof. He looked mortified as he was struggling to regain his composure. 
"I'm very sorry", he said. "That was most... unusual." He seemed no less confused about his breakdown than Twilight and at the same time his regained composure too looked like it could crack again at any moment. 
"It is okay", Twilight repeated, not knowing what else to say and wishing that she had some of Fluttershy's instinctive understanding of what others needed, though focused more on ponies rather than critters. 
Mr. Rich reached for his glass of cider, emptied it and refilled it from the bottle. 
"Wouldn't you like a drink too, Princess?" he asked clearly intend on bridging the awkwardness. 
Glad about anything that could distract from everything else Twilight reached for the glass and took a sip. 
"Apple-family's finest", Mr. Rich said and, though weak, there was nothing forced about his smile as he said it. "Just what would I do without dear Granny Smith helping me to ensure that I always got a rack filled in my cellar?"
Twilight took another sip. An odd part of her mind made her wonder what would happen if she told Rainbow Dash about this. Probably Rainbow would either become extremely friendly towards Granny Smith or maybe try to secretly break into Filthy Rich's cellar Twilight thought jokingly to herself. The thought reminded her of the reason she was here. Not really knowing how to carefully direct the talk back to this reason she took another swig of cider. 
Filthy Rich himself picked up the earlier talk again. Whether it was the cider or the casual remark about Granny Smith, he did seem to be a little more relaxed than a few moments ago. His voice was somewhat monotonous though when he said: 
"You were talking about my daughter."
Twilight nodded slowly. 
"I love my daughter. She is my little diamond", Mr. Rich said. It sounded rather matter-of-factly for this kind kind of statement, but his voice seemed to grow stronger as he said it. 
Twilight shifted uncomfortably; just what in Celestia's name could she respond to this?
"But I do know she does not always treat everypony with the respect she should."
Twilight looked up in surprise. She hadn't seen that coming. But the surprises didn't seem to end this day, for Filthy Rich suddenly looked at her and seemed to make up his mind about something. 
"Princess Twilight, may I rely on your discretion?"
"My discretion? Is it something about the theft here?"
Filthy Rich looked at her perplexed as if he had absolutely no clue what she was talking about. Then he seemed to remember. 
"Oh no, it has nothing to do with that."
"Yes, you may rely on my discretion then."
"Do you know why I'm named Filthy?" Mr. Rich shook his head. "Of course you don't. Hardly a pony does. But I do know they are badmouthing about it behind my back. Don't deny it, I know they do."
Mr. Rich took another swig from the glass. 
"Let them! Just let them! It was probably what my parents had in mind. And probably what my great-grandparents had in mind when they named my grandfather 'Stinking'. You know that was his name, don't you?"
Twilight nodded. She had heard Granny Smith mentioning Mr. Rich's grandfather at some point, but she couldn't really figure out to what ends this talk was supposed to lead. 
"We are not a family of highborn ponies, Twilight Sparkle."
Twilight didn't miss that for the first time he had not addressed her with her regal title. 
"Working earth ponies for as long as memory lasts over the generations of our family. No magically gifted unicorns nor pegasi soaring in the sky. We have always remained down-to-earth. But we did have the talent in our family. The talent to turn our endeavors into golden bits and enjoy what joy the coins can provide." 
Mr. Rich's eyes wandered across some statues aligned on the sill of a chimney on the wall opposite to the wall consisting mostly of windows. Twilight was sure that each of the statues would cost a little fortune. 
"But for all that we still kept our hooves on the ground and our minds. We didn't shun the common ponyfolk who weren't endued with as many bits. Hooves, my mother was one of the most common of ponyfolk there ever was. Honest, laborious and certainly intend to ensure that I would not grow up into a stuck-up snooty-nosed little upstart. I guess the idea of my name and that of my grandfather was to always remind us of that. But it didn't always make things easy to be sure." 
Filthy Rich took a deep breath. 
"I couldn't get myself to name my little diamond anything like that as a reminder. And I guess if I had so much as considered it, my wife might have considered a divorce in turn. She is not a common pony. Highborn in fact from Canterlot. The most beautiful mare there ever was before my eyes and yet she answered to the courtship of a pony by the name of Filthy."
His eyes became a little unfocused. Confused as Twilight was about Mr. Rich disbosoming himself like that, she couldn't help noticing that a very slight but authentic smile was by now on his face. However, after a few moments his face became serious again. 
"I insisted on sending our little Diamond to the local school here in Ponyville, for her basic education at least, rather than sending her to any of the fancy elite schools of Canterlot, Manehatten or Fillydelphia. I want her to know the kind of ponies whose work provides the basis for mine. I want her to respect them. Same as my mother I don't want her to become..."
Filthy Rich didn't finish the sentence, but sighed and emptied the glass of cider again. 
"I'm not a prince and never wanted to be one. But sometimes... sometimes I wonder if being a good prince would not be the easier task than being a good father, husband, businesspony and simply a good pony." 
Twilight didn't say anything.
"Forgive my rambling, Princess. I don't know why I am bothering you with all this. I don't know what is wrong today."
Once again Twilight said: "It's okay." 
Though by now she was quite sure that things were not okay and that most likely she would have to find out what it was that was wrong today. That purpose in mind and encouraged by the fact that at least Mr. Rich didn't look like he was about to have another breakdown Twilight said: 
"Perhaps it all has to do with the theft here. Please Mr. Rich, tell me everything you remember about yesterday and this morning and the theft."
Mr. Rich gave the oddest imaginable combination of nodding and shaking his head as he said: "There is not much I remember. I was working in my study yesterday and then I woke up there this morning, but the bags of bits I had in a chest there were gone."
"You don't remember the party yesterday at all?"
"Everypony says I was there, so I must have been I suppose. But I do not remember. I do not remember anything about it."
Mr. Rich's voice began to dull again and Twilight asked hastily: "The bags of bits, how many were they?"
"Six bags total."
"Could you lift them all at once?" Twilight asked.
Mr. Rich snorted slightly: "I guess I could have barely lifted one of them!"
"Is your study here on the first floor?"
"No, it is upstairs."
"Are the doors usually locked? And if so, have any locks in the house been damaged?"
Again Mr. Rich gave the odd mixture of a nod and shaking of the head and finally added: 
"The doors of the house are usually closed and they cannot be opened from the outside without a key... as you probably saw when you came here. But no lock in the house has been damaged."
"Does your study have windows?"
Mr. Rich nodded. 
"Were they open when you were working there?" 
Mr. Rich nodded again. 
"It was hot I think...", he said with a drawling voice. "The windows were still open when I woke up in the morning."
Twilight thought for a moment. After a while she asked somewhat hesitantly: 
"Your servant, Swallowtail, how long does he work for you already?"
Mr. Rich's face seemed to lighten up a little at the mention of his servant. 
"Always", he said. "Old Swallows has already been working for my father."
"As a unicorn, how gifted is he with magic?"
Mr. Rich hesitated for a moment, then he gave a kind of shrug and shifted a little. "I don't think I am a competent judge there, Princess."
"I have never ever seen him before in Ponyville", Twilight probed carefully. 
"He hardly ever leaves the house", Mr. Rich said, his voice becoming almost a little defensive. 
"Why is that?" Twilight asked.
"Why do you not ask him yourself, Princess?" Mr. Rich said and there was an unmistakable tone of reluctance in his voice now. There was a short break.
"Let me make one thing absolutely clear, Princess", Mr. Rich said and his voice sounded as firm suddenly as it hadn't ever since Twilight had gotten here. "I have utter and absolute confidence in Swallows! Word is that your friend Miss Dash has been designated the representative of the Element of Loyalty. I do not know Miss Dash very well, but I would at any time bet this house and everything in it against a cupcake that she would find her equal, if not her master, in Swallows when it comes to loyalty, Princess Twilight."
Twilight was glad Rainbow Dash had not been around to hear this challenge from Mr. Rich or the result would more like than not have been some attempt on her part to turn this into a competition to prove herself the old stallions superior in terms of loyalty... and win a house with a cellar holding a rack of cider on the way. 
"I beg your pardon", Twilight said. "I didn't mean to question his integrity."
Mr. Rich nodded curtly. Again he looked very tired and it seemed like his powerful statement on behalf of his servant had drained much of his energy. 
"Maybe you should go now", Mr. Rich said weakly. "I really don't feel very good." 
Twilight nodded. "Of course, Mr. Rich. Thank you for your time."
She hesitated. "Just one more thing, may I take a look at your study for anything that might help in finding the thief?"
Mr. Rich hesitated for a moment but then he nodded. "Swallows will show you the way." 
Mr. Rich struck a little gong that stood beside the couch and just moments later his servant appeared in the door. 
"Master Rich?" he asked. 
"Before she leaves, the Princess would like to see the site of the crime", Mr. Rich said and once again he put on as brave an appearance as he could muster in the presence of his servant. 
"Please show her around and answer what questions she may have."
"Yes, Master Rich", he took a little bow. "If the Princess would follow me."
Twilight got up and followed the old unicorn. 

Diamond Tiara stood in the entrance hall moving one of her hooves as if she was trying to kick something invisible in front of her and looking rather frustrated. 
"Could you help him?" she asked as she spotted Twilight. 
Remembering the mood swings of Mr. Rich during the talk Twilight said: "I think you can help him more than anypony. I think you should go to him and stay with him and not leave him alone."
Diamond Tiara didn't seem very satisfied with the answer, but she nodded anyway and walked past Twilight towards the room where her father was.
Twilight was ordering her thoughts, what she heard from Mr. Rich, what other impressions she had received, what other thoughts had crossed her mind. As she followed the old unicorn up the stair she suddenly remembered her understanding for the attempts of the servant to turn her away. She also remembered his brashness and the slight suspicion which Mr. Rich had discarded before she had even expressed it. She remembered Mr. Rich's firm declaration of confidence in his servant and thought that Swallowtail had to have qualities she hadn't yet had the chance to see. One thought however bothered her more than any other. She was wondering if she would have considered him any less brash had she still been just Twilight, the student and unicorn, rather than Princess Twilight the alicorn. Suddenly an image of Fluttershy appeared in her mind and Twilight knew what she had to do. Twilight sighed quietly. There was not an element of pride or attitude among the Elements of Harmony, but she knew exactly what the Element of Kindness required her to do. As she reached the upper floor she stopped the unicorn. 
"Mr. Swallowtail?"
"Yes, Princess?" the unicorn responded in a tone and with a look of haughty pride that might have left any uninformed observer confused about who of the two ponies was royalty.
"I want to apologize for my insistence. You serve Mr. Rich well and I saw you had good reasons to wish him undisturbed by me. But I was not so insistent because I disregarded his well being or out of impertinence. A pony has been remanded suspected of the theft of your master's golden bits. A pony who I am certain has not committed the crime. I must learn all I can about what happened here to prove his innocence and to find out who really did it."
Swallowtail nodded. 
Twilight couldn't tell if it was an acceptance of her apology, a signal of agreement, of understanding, of all of that, or none of it. The servant remained as inscrutable as many of the servants at princess Celestia's court. But at least Twilight had the vague impression that, aloof as he remained, the unicorns silent disapproval or even contempt didn't continue for the rest of her stay. When after the visit to Mr. Rich's study she left the mansion, Swallowtail's parting bow was not quite as curt as could have been. Nevertheless Twilight couldn't help thinking that she dreaded the possibility that the day might come on which her role as a princess might ever impose upon her the need to maintain a courtly servant.