//------------------------------//
// Chapter XXXVIII 
// Story: Lessons in quirks 
// by Mike84 
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	Frank Blanket had stopped playing the harmonica a while ago and descended from the cupola back into the storeroom below which was illuminated by a small lantern. He had never given the instrument enough time and attention to become really good with it. In fact he was sometimes playing it while he was writing, paying so little attention to the sound that he couldn't even tell what he had played or what it had sounded like later on. Nevertheless it sometimes helped him to clear his mind, to relax or to just try to give some expression to his mood. He was downcast at the moment. 
Everything had been working out so well. The last two days had been among the most interesting and delightful he had had in quite a while in spite of the fact that his curiosity and general disposition made it easy for him to consider a day interesting and delightful, but the evening had somewhat spoiled his mood. For all the planning and scheduling that were part of a student's routine, he usually took the upsetting of his plans with a degree of academic interest. The unforeseen and even chaotic exerted a certain fascination and for all he could tell a somewhat unforeseeable, chaotic element seemed to play a role in cutie marks too. 
Up to the evening the unforeseeable events of the day hadn't been all too bad. He had made some good progress with the writing and ordering of his notes and interviews. In fact he had reached a point where he might run out of material to go through and could only hope for the possibility to interview Twilight or Applejack in order to obtain more material to work with. For the rest of the evening he would probably have to keep himself busy with the piles of folders and the books stored in here. Frank had hurled his hat onto the bed after descending from the cupola. At the moment he almost hated the headgear he had grown so used to. More than anything else the doubts Applejack had expressed in front of town hall had been something he had not seen coming and more than anything else they had gotten him into the mood expressed though his harmonica play earlier on. It appeared that all this might turn out to be more than an inconvenience to his plans to be recorded as a mere bonus of additional interest. 
With the recent setting of the sun the temperature had decreased somewhat but it still remained warm. Not expecting any visitors anymore, Frank was wondering if he should risk discarding of the wraparound he was usually wearing with a constancy uncommon for ponies other than for some high-ranking ones who rarely went without their marks of fashion. He was still pondering when for his surprise the decision was made for him by a quiet sound at the hatch. It appeared that there was to be another visitor after all. 
Surprised as he was about another visitor at this hour, Frank was even more surprised when he saw the visitor, or much rather visitors climb through the hatch. 
"Scootal... oh, all of you?"
There the Cutie Mark Crusaders stood, grinning at Frank's perplexed look. 
"Didn't you expect us to drop in?" Scootaloo asked with a smirk.
"Truth to be told, I didn't", Frank admitted. "Certainly not at this time and not after everything that has happened. Honestly, I had my doubts whether your sisters would permit you to visit me now."
"Well...", Sweetie Belle said, "...Rarity doesn't really know we are here."
"My sister doesn't know either", Apple Bloom admitted.
"You see, we meant to visit you much earlier", Scootaloo added. "But when we were on our way here we met Miss Cheerilee."
"Did Applejack tell you about what happened to her?" Apple Bloom asked. 
"Twilight did", Frank said. "They've all been here not so long ago. How is Miss Cheerilee?"
The three fillies exchanged an unhappy look. 
"We haven't ever seen her like that", Sweetie Belle said. 
"I think she was a little better when we left", Apple Bloom added. "Big Mac is with her and she really seemed a lot better after he was there."
"We still wanted to visit you though and headed here after leaving Miss Cheerilee's place", Scootaloo said. 
"Our sisters don't have anything against us visiting you anyway", Sweetie Belle claimed without referring to the time at all. 
"Yeah...", Apple Bloom agreed. "...they know you didn't steal anything. They don't tell us everything they are talking about, but we did hear enough to know that much."
"When did they tell you that?" Frank asked. 
His serious tone surprised the fillies. 
"We did hear them say so before Twilight... I mean... before we went and found Miss Cheerilee", Apple Bloom answered. 
Frank sighed. 
"You didn't hear about the recent... findings yet, did you?"
It was the Cutie Mark Crusader's turn to look perplexed.
"Recent findings? What do you mean, Frank?" Sweetie Belle asked. 
Frank didn't look at any of the Crusaders but stared at some spot somewhere behind them as he spoke: "They found a whole bag of the money stolen from Mr. Rich hidden inside my sleeping bag. I guess your sisters didn't know by the time you last saw them. But now, Apple Bloom, I'm not sure your sister is as certain anymore that I didn't steal that money they found among my stuff." 
The fillies exchanged a look of surprise. 
"But you didn't do it." Scootaloo said and it was not absolutely clear if it had been a statement or maybe a question after all.
"No, I didn't", Frank said. 
"Then I don't care what my sister says!" Apple Bloom said with a defiant tone. 
"I could be lying", Frank pointed out. 
"If you were, wouldn't it be stupid to say this?" Scootaloo asked. 
"Except if I would think that you would think I didn't do it, because if I did I would not say this", Frank said, earning himself some rather confused looks from all three fillies. 
Suddenly Frank chuckled and shook his head slightly. 
"Kids, you are awesome!" he said. "Thank you for keeping faith with me!"
"But the others do not?" Sweetie Belle asked worried. 
Frank made a helpless gesture. "Some of the stolen money was found among my stuff. Nopony had seen me after leaving the party that evening. Nopony here knows me... I'm afraid all that looks very suspicious to many, especially when there is no other suspect."
"You think they would actually... what would they actually do?" Apple Bloom asked.
"If I understood everything correctly that Mayor Mare told me earlier today, the hearing tomorrow is not an actual trial. It seems that Ponyville doesn't have the necessary staff at all for a real court case. So the hearing tomorrow will either clear me of the charges or...", Frank hesitated. 
"Or what?" Scootaloo insisted. 
"If I am not cleared I will be brought to Canterlot where there are all the lawyers necessary for an actual trial who are not to be found here in Ponyville. They probably got a few actual cells there too."
The Crusaders exchanged a meaningful look and then nodded. 
"Frank, you could sneak out with us right now. There are no ponies out on the streets anymore." Sweetie Belle suggested. 
"We could hide you in our club house", Apple Bloom continued. "It is secluded and nopony usually gets there!"
"You could hide there until they found the actual thief", Scootaloo said. "So you won't end up in some cell in Canterlot. Who knows, maybe we even get our cutie marks for this! Helping an innocent prisoner flee! Cutie Mark Crusaders escape agents!"
Frank looked at them as if he had misheard or as if he expected them to break into laughter any moment. After some seconds of silence he said: "You... you are actually serious about that?"
The three fillies nodded. 
Frank sat down as if his legs had suddenly given in and ran one hoof through his mane. 
"Now that's... hold your horses... and really, you don't want cutie marks as escape agents. Trust me when I tell you that."
The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked somewhat disappointed about Frank's lack of enthusiasm for their offer. 
"Really, I appreciate you intention, gee, I'm actually rather touched by this. But if I made any kind of getaway it would look like a confession to everypony. They would stop even looking for a different thief if I just fled. Also, I am quite sure they won't send me to Canterlot. What I fear more is that ponies might end up thinking that I did it unless the real thief is caught. And that's what they would do if I tried to flee."
"That's just what Twilight and Rainbow Dash said", Apple Bloom remembered. 
"And also this could really get you into very serious trouble too if you were caught trying to help a detainee escape."
"All these adults are so stupid!" Scootaloo growled. "They know you didn't do this and still can't just let you go! Just how do you become like that?"
"Scootaloo... kids, your trust really honors me. I could be a total liar though and because the other adults have nothing but my word and they don't know me very long. So they don't really know I didn't do this. They do what they have to."
Frank smiled suddenly. "There is another thing you may not have taken into account. I'm pretty sure Inkhorn would not just let you take me along with you when you leave. I'm surprised she even let you in at this late hour."
"Pshaw", Scootaloo said. "She doesn't even know we are here! She is fast asleep down there!"
This surprised Frank. "Asleep you say? I thought she was such a conscientious official. The long day's work must have really worn her out."
Frank cast a look towards one of the open windows through which he saw that even the last trace of sunset had disappeared from the sky. Night had fallen. 
"You know, Cutie Mark Crusaders..." the three fillies were beaming at him. Adults rarely used the name of their club, and they didn't recall when they had actually been addressed this way by an adult, "...I'm really looking forward to talk about cutie marks with you. But I think that for now you may really want to head home or else they will be looking for you and you may get in trouble."
The Cutie Mark Crusaders were looking a little disappointed but one after the other they nodded.
"See you tomorrow, Frank", Apple Bloom said. 
"We will be at the hearing", Sweetie Belle promised.
"Yes", Scootaloo said. "Poor Miss Cheerilee won't be able to work tomorrow, so we can be there."
"See you then." Frank said with a smile. "Thank you for everything. You know, you really made me feel better." And with a wink of an eye he added: "Please close the door behind you."
When the fillies had left, Frank turned towards the one of the boxes and began to inspect the different folders and books it contained. Most of it seemed to be statistical data of very little interest to him, while the most promising looking book he found turned out to be a cookery book.