The Nobles Are Worse Than Ever

She didn't like Canterlot. Nope, nope, not at all. She didn't like how it was run, how it looked, nor even the ponies who lived there! They were all just spoiled snobs. Wait, no, she shouldn't even think that. That's mean. Most of them are probably really nice ponies. She's being rude, not them. It's they're fault they have money, right? They worked hard for it, they deserve it! Unless, of course, they were born rich and just riding life the easy-way since they were born. Ugh. She didn't know why she was doing this. She never thought this way. It just wasn't right, wasn't even moral. She should have more respect for others. She usually did. It must just be the different air here. Yeah, that's it. It's whacking up her brain.

Snapdragon sighed. No, she couldn't blame the town. This was the home of the goddess's, for Celestia's sake. If anything needed to change, it would be her. What was happening? She was being mean. She had to put a stop to this behavior, it wasn't like her at all. This was many family's home, and it would be cruel to say even a word against it. While she was busy thinking at the window of a jewelry store, not wanting to be caught in the massive waves of shoppers, she didn't notice a pony come a bit close to her... "Owch!" The filly exclaimed, quickly sweeping her now bruised tail closer. She took a few seconds to examine her tail, making sure it wasn't bleeding. Hooves were sharp.

Noble was angry. Angrier than he ever thought he could even be. Maybe it was the just due to the fact that his trust had been betrayed. Yeah, that's gotta be it., he thought as he trotted, barely paying attention to the ponies around him. That was before he heard an audible ouch. he looked down to his side where he saw a small filly, no older than his sister. His first instinct was to push his anger down.
"Oh, crud. Are you alright, kid? I didn't mean to hurt you.", he said, unaware that his sister had finally caught up to him. He mentally scolded himself for letting his emotions blind him.

There was only a minor cut, barely anything more than one you could get with paper. The filly hugged her tail close, trying to make sure it wouldn't happen again. She quickly planned a detour to her day, making sure she got around to buying some bandages for both now and future use. Just her luck the day she gave the last of hers away to help a yearling who scraped his knee would be the day she would get hurt. Then again, she got hurt a lot. Already thinking things over, she didn't even realize the one who had trotted over her tail had stopped before her. She looked up at the stallion. Then he did something she didn't expect. He asked if she was alright. At least there was one good pony in this town... No. No. Bad Snapdragon. There are tons of nice ponies here. Seriously, pull yourself together. You never think like this. Yet she had to stop her self-scolding to reply to the pony.

"Oh... yeah, I'm fine, just a little cut. It's nothing, really, I can bandage it later." She said genuinely, staring up at him with large, golden eyes. She didn't want to waste the stallion's time, but she didn't want to go back to her scheduled programming just yet. Or, in plain foal, she was kinda bored. And lonely. "Hey, you know, I really like your scarf! Is it warm?" She asked, pulling on her own.

Noble gave a sigh of relief. It was bad enough that he let himself storm off like that. He took this as a sign that he needed to calm down. He and his sister would be away from Canterlot soon enough anyways.
"Yeah, it does it's job really well. It was a gift from my parents before...", he began to trail off, but before things got too awkward, his sister took up the conversation.
"Oh, by the way. Hello. We haven't introduced ourselves have we? My name is Sky High. My brother over there is Noble Shield", she said, wasting no time meeting a new pony around her age. "I haven't seen you around here before. What's your name?"

Before she could ask what happened to the stallion's parents, another pony, a filly around her age, cut in. She seemed friendly enough, which made Snapdragon happy. She hadn't really met another foal here yet. Ah, there siblings. That made sense. Sky High. Noble Shield. One Pegasus and one Unicorn. Huh. Unless there was some other scenario, that would mean that one of their parents would be winged, the other one horned. Just like her. "Oh! Hello! I'm... well, I'm Snapdragon, though a lot of ponies just call me Misfit." She smiled. She already trusted them with her last name. Worries of being out of character quickly vanished. Nothing like talking to another pony refreshed her mind of her true personality. "The reason you probably haven't seen me around is that I don't actually live here. You..." She paused, taking a second to consider telling them. "You see, I'm just trying to visit my aunt. I usually live in Manehattan."

Noble nodded his head.
"Ah, that explains it." There was something familiar about the filly that he couldn't quite put his hoof on. something that reminded him of himself when he was around her age. But, he was cold and antisocial. This filly seemed bubbly and friendly. So what was the connection? While he became stuck in thought, sky began speaking.
"We used to live here, and we were coming to visit our 'parents'. Well, they were only biologically related to me. He was adopted around eight years before I was born.", she gritted her teeth at the memory of the encounter. "And that visit didn't exactly go to well.", intervened Noble as he brought his hoof up to the small cut on his lip.

Ah... Adopted. That would explain it. So the parents were both Pegasi? Or... Well, she'd probably never know. It would be a weird question anyway. As long as one of the parents were Pegasi, it would make sense. Or even one of Sky High's ancestors. Wasn't there a Unicorn and Pegasus twins that were born to two earth ponies recently? If that was possible, than almost anything is in her book. Well, as long as her book was a picture book. Not being able to read really had its downfalls.
Snapdragon glanced at Noble, realizing he was indicating that the cut on his lip had something to do with them visiting their parents. She wasn't sure what to say. Did they do that? What happened? Did they have a fight? She was afraid it would seem rude if it was no and imposing if it was yes. It made her a bit sad if their parents did do hit one of them... Instead of asking, she said the first thing she reacted to.
"Oh... well, that's kinda sad." The filly said truthfully. "But surely they're not that bad? Well, I mean, they could be, but isn't it still better than having no parents at all?" She of all ponies would know that.

Noble had a small ,meaningless smile on his face.
"Well, we don't have parents now. But when I was orphaned the first time, at least my parents got up and... died? Maybe, I don't really know. But this time? I've trusted these ponies since I was eight years old. And then they changed. But despite that, you're right. There was a time when they cared for me and Sky. But that time has obviously come and gone." Noble noticed a slight change of tone at the last part of Misfit's sentence. Was she an orphan as well?
It was entirely possible, her being in Canterlot alone, looking for her aunt. Sky has stayed quiet. Noble wasn't acting himself. She could swear that she noticed his coat dulling..

The little Misfit's heart just broke thinking of such things happening to another pony. Tragic events of her life could be considered just as bad, but she was used to it. It was regular, everyday life to her. She could live through it. But some ponies... they can't. They collapse. It wasn't that Snapdragon was strong. Not specifically mentally and DEFINITELY not physically. But she knew when things happen, she understood. She had realized at a young age that sometimes life may be harsh, but it's still life. It was one of the first teachings of her father, and one of the lessons that got pounded into you when being an orphan on a Manehattan street. Some ponies never got the memo, though. Snapdragon had wonderful, loving, intelligent, determined, inspiring parents. The best, in her mind, she'd like to think. Some ponies weren't as lucky... Which wasn't fair. It wasn't fair at all.

Oh, hay, that's seems a lot like whining. There wasn't any time for that, and when there is, you still shouldn't be doing it.

Then the filly noticed something, though it was just a tip of her vision. Noble... her seemed to be getting... well, straight and forward, downright depressed. No, that wasn't what she wanted! She had to say something, anything! "Sometimes years are hard on ponies..." She started, trying to say the right words to what she was thinking in her mind. "And sometimes they change ponies. "Try to live like everypony is family and the world is your home." That was a quote from my father. He died when I was eight. They both did. You're not alone, and you never will be." She promised. She would say anything, as long as he didn't get gloomy or sad.

Sky smiled. She had never really believed Noble when he used to tell her that there are always ponies out there that love helping others so much, that they would aid even a complete stranger. But ever since running away from home, she's seen this, many times. It put a large smile on her face.
"Try to live like everypony is family and the world is your home, huh?" Noble thought the word through over and over again. That was the exact way of thinking he had just yesterday, and yet he allowed himself to change over a relatively small matter like this? He made a mental note to keep the words with him. He didn't know why, but they made him feel good. He knew it would take more than this to get over it completely, his trust issues wouldn't let this go easily. But it helped, and that's all that matters.
"T-thank you. I know it may not seem like much... but that helped. A lot." Noble knew that somewhere in him, that a small orphaned colt, who lived on the streets of Canterlot is still there. As cold, and uncaring as ever. He wouldn't become that again.

Snapdragon watched Noble, completely determined to help him feel better. She could see the different wave emotions just by carefully watching his face. Since she cared of how ponies felt, whether about her or not, she had learned to understand the slight movements. They were only guesses, but at least half of the time they were right. The twitch of puzzlement, the downward look of thinking hard, as if rolling the letters and words around in his head like a bowl of raffle balls. Then an unfurrow of the brow, as if some sort of... relief? No... Acceptance? No... She couldn't think of the word.

The little Misfit's face burst out into a grin at Noble's words. She was happy to help. Very, in fact. He still seemed troubled, but she would bet on it that she, a filly he just met, could help change and churn a life of troubles. " I know it may not not seem like much, but it makes me happy to hear that. Very happy." She chirped, almost quoting Noble. There was a short pause of silence before Snapdragon spoke up again. "So... if I may ask... well, do you remember your parents? Your biological ones?" Her eyes widened. "Oh, sorry! You don't have to answer that if you don't want to!"

Noble chuckled, at the thought of his parents.
"Nah, I don't mind talking about them. If I was still weeping over them, I wouldn't have made it as far as I have." Noble was happy to relieve a good memory, as opposed to the reliving of awful ones."To be honest, I only really remember their faces. I remember my father, with that troubled, but deeply caring look about him. And mom. With a face that could only be described as, well, motherly." Noble hadn't really thought about his parents in a long time. The memory just never seemed relevant.
"Ya know, I never really got to know them, but it's one of those things where you know that they were good ponies. And there are times when I think, I hope... that maybe they didn't die. And they're out there somewhere."

Snapdragon listened to Noble, trying to pinpoint the emotions he was feeling. Why did emotions have to be all over the place? If only a pony could focus on one and one for at least a minute at a time, and life would be a lot easier and more understandable. But, then it would be a lot more boring. And what if you need to change emotions quickly? Like, what if you were smiling because you just got ice cream, and then you find out you have to be at a funeral, and your just smiling away and have to wait a few minutes to change your emotions, but everypony else thinks you're just being rude and insensitive? That'd be terrible!

But she was getting off-topic. She sighed gently. "Yeah, you should keep hoping. Hope is something that can't be crushed, because it's in your mind. Though, it can disappear. Like, I know for a fact that my parents are... you know, gone." She could talk about her parent's accident, but it was just words to her, just playing a recording. Her mind was the casset and her vocal cords were the speakers. She could think a lot of different varieties of thoughts, but when it truly came to dwelling on her life before the accident, her mind just froze. The tape was stuck. It wouldn't rewind. "So, what are you doing now?"

Noble looked at his reflection in the Jewelry store window.
"Well, I was originally planning on taking my sister home with me in Ponyville, and never coming back here again." His conscience stare back at him
You are acting so depressing right now, you know that? This isn't the me that I remember. Where's the happy, bubbly, hopeful stallion that I am mentally bound to? "Aw, but that would be boooring." He looked to his sister. "What do ya say to an 'around Equestria' trip, eh?" Then she saw it. Sky saw him. Yes, yes, yes, this is him. She honestly was beginning to miss his sarcasm.
"Yeah, that sounds fun!" Sky looked to Misfit, and promptly mouthed a 'thank you'. "So you ought to be gettin' to your aunt now. Oh, and if you ever feel the need to travel, stop by Ponyville. The place is full of friendly ponies. A lot like you."

The Misfit smiled, happy to help. It made her heart swell to be able to relieve this stallion from his worries, even if just for a little while. The air suddenly felt refreshed, as if it to was glad to rid of the serious, sad mood. She could be herself when people were happy. Her... well, weird self, if using the same description of her fellow students of her past. Snapdragon winked at Sky, as if saying 'that's what I'm here for'.

"Yeah, I should probably be going." She admitted. Then she blushed at Sky's last sentence. She rubbed the back of her head with her hoof, embarrassed. "Aw, I'm just doing what I know... well, anyway, I should probably go... If you guys ever do come to Canterlot again, I'll be sure to throw in a good word to my aunt, who runs a pub. She'll probably let you have a drink on the house or a tart!" With that, Snapdragon began walking away, completely content with herself. Then she stopped, turning around halfway and waving a hoof. "Goodbye! It's been great meeting you!"

End of Thread(I think)