Lessons in quirks

by Mike84

Chapter XXVII

Mr. Rich's house was a two-story mansion. It was not quite a palace but probably as close as could be. A cobbled way led through a fenced front garden of neatly trimmed hedges and flowerbeds up to a perron to the pillared portico. Twilight used a bronze door knocker and after a few moments the door was opened a crack. Twilight didn't know the elderly white unicorn stallion at the door. He was wearing a black tailcoat.

"What is your desire?" he asked with a sonorous voice.
"I need to talk to Mr. Rich", Twilight said.
"Mr. Rich is indisposed. A good day to you", the stallion said and closed the door into Twilight's face.
Twilight goggled at the door dumbfounded. She didn't remember any door having ever been closed into her face like that. It took her a few moment to recover from her surprise and to use the door knocker again. After some moments a small peep door was opened which Twilight hadn't noticed before, but the door itself remained closed.

"Mr. Rich is indisposed!" the voice of the tailcoated stallion said with an imposing tone and he seemed to be about to slide the peep door shut again.
"Wait!" Twilight ordered annoyed and now sounding as imposing as she herself could manage.
"I really must talk to Mr. Rich."
"He needs not to talk to you."
Twilight hated playing the princess card, but this really seemed like the situation to do so and this tailcoated lackey didn't seem to have any clue at all whom he was talking to.

"I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, student to Princess Celestia!"
"And I am Swallowtail, loyal servant to the Rich family. This is their home, not your palace, Princess. This is their door and it remains closed unless I am told differently by one of them."
Once again Twilight was dumbfounded. She usually preferred when ponies did not act any different towards her from how they had acted before her transformation and coronation, but she hadn't ever even seen this stallion before and the total lack of any regard whatsoever for her title was something Twilight had not experienced so far and that she had not expected. She was wondering if her rank as a princess gave her some kind of lawful right to enter even against the will of the owners, but not only did she doubt that it did, but she was also sure that this was certainly not a way to win the cooperation of the inhabitants of the place thus trespassed.

"Wait!" she shouted almost desperately as the stallion seemed to be about to close the peep door. "I know that Mr. Rich isn't feeling well and I don't want to disturb him any more than necessary. But I am investigating on the theft and it is certainly in Mr. Rich's own interest to support this investigation!"
Nothing but a frown came from the eyes beyond the peep door, but at least it remained open.

"If Mr. Rich is indisposed, can I at least talk to Mrs. Rich please?"
"Mrs. Rich is not here. Now kindly respect Mr. Rich's need to rest and go! I will inform the young master that you have been here."
"Who's there, Swallows?" a little voice asked behind the door.
The peep door was closed leaving Twilight standing outside, but she could still understand the muffled voices from the inside.
"Her Highness Princess Twilight Sparkle wishes to be admitted to your father, young Miss Rich."
"Did you... send her away?"
"Yes, Miss Rich. I am under the impression that your father needs to rest. Did I fail in doing so?"

There was no response, but Twilight heard a little commotion and then the door was opened a crack again and Diamond Tiara was peeking out from behind the door. She looked a little disheveled with some streaks of her mane hanging over her usually meticulously arranged tiara.
"What do you want?" she asked bluntly.
Twilight decided not to dally with any courtesies which she didn't receive either.
"I would like to talk to your father."
"He is not well!"
"I know. That's why I am here."
"Can you help him?"

Natural as the question was, it took Twilight by utter surprise. She didn't know Diamond Tiara very well, but what little she did know and what she had heard from Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo hadn't exactly endeared her to Twilight. The question however had been that of a little filly who was worrying about her father.
"I don't know. I hope I can. I am trying to find out who stole the money from your house and hat the thief did to your father."
Diamond Tiara eyed her indecisively.

"If I cannot talk to your father now, may I ask you some questions?" Twilight asked doing her best to be as calm and patient as she could.
"What do you want to know?"
"Anything that you can tell me about what happened here. When did your father notice that something was missing?"
"When he woke up this morning he told us that the bags of bits from his study were gone." Diamond Tiara hesitated for a moment then she added: "He was unhappy."
"Did he tell you—"

At that moment Twilight heard a drained voice calling from inside: "Who is there, Tiara?"
She hesitated.
"Swallowtail?"
"It is Princess Twilight Sparkle, Master Rich", the tailcoated stallion said. "We told her that you are not feeling well and asked her to leave. She is insistent; in a most impertinent and intrusive manner, if I may say so."

Twilight's face felt glowing hot and she was certain it had blushed beet-red. The worst thing about it was that she wasn't quite certain if it was from anger or embarrassment or both. Just how was a princess supposed to react in such a situation in order to neither unduly exploit the title nor allow for herself to be reprimanded like an unruly filly?
Before she could think of anything to say, the dull voice said: "Oh, then leave her in. It is uncourteous to refuse admittance to a visitor."
Reluctantly Diamond Tiara stepped aside and opened the door wider.

"He doesn't feel well!" she said reproachfully.
"I will not bother him any longer than I have to", Twilight promised.
The servant Swallowtail gave her an almost scornful look but invited her to follow him with a slight motion of his head. Diamond Tiara walked close behind them. Twilight felt like she was being closely watched and that she really didn't want to spend any more time here than she had to. The place was quite impressive though.

The floor was of marble tiles but with thick carpets along the aisles. There were some statues on pedestals and framed paintings on the wall and in between some houseplants which gave every impression of being well cared for. The whole setup was lavish but stopping only just short of pretentiousness. Twilight thought that Rarity would probably enjoy this place a lot. A large skylight gave the entrance hall a bright and unobstructed atmosphere. Swallowtail led Twilight past a broad stair to the rear of the building into a large room. The rear wall consisted for the most part of large windows giving the room a similarly lit appearance as the entrance hall. With pleasant surprise Twilight noted some bookshelves, but a stealthy look revealed to her that much of what was standing there seemed to be folders related to Mr. Rich's businesses.

Twilight then spotted Filthy Rich himself who was just getting up from a couch and went to meet her. Indeed he wasn't looking good. He was a bit pale and his mane looked similarly disheveled as that of his daughter. As he walked towards Twilight, he smiled. But the smile appeared forced as if it took Mr. Rich a great physical effort and his eyes looked rather tired.
He bowed slightly to her: "Welcome to my home, Princess. It is an honor to have you as my guest. May I offer you something to drink?"
"Thank you very much, Mr. Rich, but I really don't mean to inconvenience you or take anymore of your time than I really must—"
"Nonsense, Your Highness... if I may say so."

Mr. Rich was making a brave effort to look cheerful. "They may have taken some of my bits, but I don't think they have taken away any of the good apple cider. Swallowtail, would you be so kind to bring a glass for my guest and me?"
The servant nodded stiffly and disappeared through the door.
"My little diamond...", Filthy Rich was looking at his daughter and for a moment the smile on his face looked much less forced, "...please leave me a moment to talk to the princess."
"But Daddy!"
"Dear little Tiara, you don't need to worry. Don't look at me like that. I'll be safe in the company of the princess."
Filthy Rich ruffled his daughters mane, not caring that it made her look even more disheveled.
"Now off you go."
Slowly Diamond Tiara turned around and shuffled out of the room shooting another disapproving look at Twilight.

Author's Note:

Last edited on December 11th 2015.