It Takes A Slum To Know A Slum (Masquerade/MoonLemon)

Misfit nodded her head, happy that Stargazer liked it. "Oh, yeah! He worked on it for a long time! You see, he was a magical chemist. This tree was the only time he ever achieved a time-aging spell, and that took weeks of meditation. I want to be as good as him someday!" She answered, small glints of light sparkling in her eyes as she spoke. She trotted up the broken-stone path before reaching the door. It had three strange-looking locks, and one normal key-hole. One that seemed like a long hole, another the same but smaller, and a thin one shaped like a feather.

"Only me, dad, and mum can open the door without a key." She explained. She then took off her cap before gently putting her horn in the smaller(not the feather one) hole, and turning, The door opened with a tired creak.

The filly held open the door, bowing slightly. "Come in, m'lady." She grinned.

Inside, you could see many book-cases. There was a carpet with a few woolly couches in the middle of the room, along with a small side table with a reading-lamp. Off to the left there was an open door, which led to the inside of a small, basic, logical kitchen. There was a door on the other-side too, closed. Two stair-wells went up before meeting again at the top of the next floor, and large windows assorted about. Most everything was an oaky color, with a few more red woods mixed in here and there, and most everything was layered with a thin dust.

"That's rather intriguing." Star remarked with a small smile as she followed the filly into the tree-house.

"It's lovely, a bit dusty-" she broke off coughing, "but lovely all the same." She grinned, taking a long look around the house.

(sorry for shortsies)

Snapdragon grinned, slightly embarrassed. "Yeah, it is pretty dusty..."She rubbed the back of her neck. She trotted about the main room, gazing up at all the bookcases. So many memories layer here, her children story-books and the herb and plant records and the wonderful little novels... it was almost painful to look at them, but she knew better then to simply get upset about seeing familiar books.

An idea popped into her head. "Hey, Stargazer, do you think, if we combined our magic, we could sweep the whole room of dust?" She asked, magic already gearing up in her still exposed horn.

(It's fiiiiiiine, mine's short too!)

"I think that'd be possible." Star nodded after thinking for a moment, "I do know a spell for cleaning...it could work..." she smiled, explaining the spell to Misfit.

"Alright, ready?" she asked after finishing up, pushing purple magic up into her horn, waiting to cast the spell.

(xD)

Misfit grinned, letting more magic flow into her horn. Star had told a special way to do it, to make sure to control herself. She would try. Their magic let loose from their horns, reaching out to the room in thin, glowing tendrils, flattening into sheets around each surface. Misfit wanted to let go more magic into the spell, to see what would happen, but contained herself. Magic wrapped around everything in the room, along with some trailing into the other rooms and upstairs. Suddenly, it all tightened, and the filly's horn sparked off the tip, before the magic rolled itself back up, and they let the magic outside before stopping the flow with a sigh, all the dust falling onto the grass and blowing in the wind.

She smiled at Stargazer. "That was awesome! And everything looks so clean now!" It was true. The room was now spotless, and it almost sparkled with cleanliness. Misfit walked around the room, eyes glued to the bookcases. So many stories. So many memories. It looked how it had before...

She grabbed the nearest random book off of a pile, before gasping softly upon reading the title. It was and old storybook, titled 'The Age of the Olden Unicorns'. She showed it to the cyan mare. "This was my favorite book when I was younger. My dad used to read it to me. I thought I had lost it..." She said, smiling almost bittersweetly.

"Interesting..." Star replied absently, studying the now-clean room. "Misfit, why was there a layer of dust anyways? I thought you and your family lived here...." she asked carefully, a theory forming in her quick mind.

Are they dead? Are they gone? Did they leave her all alone?

(sorry for shortsies)

Misfit froze, trying to come with an explanation quickly in her head. "W-well, um, you see..." After a few moments of frantic thought, she sighed. It wasn't worth lying anymore, especially to a friend. "...We don't. I'm sorry. I haven't been here for almost a year. It's my dad's old study."

"But... if you still want to meet my parents, follow me, okay?"

She gave a gentle wave of the hoof and grabbed her book before trotting in on of the side-rooms. The room actually lead to a small four-season porch, just big enough to fit a couch and a desk, and a door that lead to what seemed to be the 'backyard'. The filly swung the door open with one hoof, the wood creaking on it's hinges. After walking a few paces, she turned into a small bushy foliage. Yes, into. She waved her hoof again. "Come on, their just past here." She told Star. In other places the flowers of the bushed were sappy and full of thorns, but here was thinner and nicer part of the brush. After getting to the other side, they were greeted by small opening. Well, it may be small for an opening, but it was still as big as a large room in a home. It was breathtakingly peaceful.  Soft moss grew on almost every stone that was turned to the surface, and was thick enough to almost feel like a natural carpet. Leaves covered the sky, excepting a few splatters of golden light that made it way through the trees, and wild flowers grew everywhere. A butterfly flew by.

But one thing stood out. In the center, there were two stone tombstones, one with the name Mandrake on it, the other with Ginger Snap. Misfit took a deep breath. "Star..."

"...Meet my parents. Star... Mom, Dad. Mom, Dad... Stargazer."

"Oh." Star said, shock registering on her face. Just before the filly could see, she rearranged her face into a solemn smile, "I'm so sorry Misfit, I didn't know." she hurried to say, putting a hoof around the filly and squeezing her in a tight embrace.

"What happened, if it isn't too much to ask?" Star tried not to pry, but couldn't help her curiosity.

Before Misfit could react, she felt the mare take her into a hug. It surprised her. She wasn't used to getting hugs, only really giving them. She had almost forgotten how it felt. It was... calming. If only her parents were still there. Then she could really introduce them to Stargazer, and she could come over and have dinner and she could see all of her father's wonderful experiments and potions and collaborations, and every couple days, she could teach Misfit magic. It would be wonderful. It sounded so. But... that would never happen. It couldn't. Because her parents weren't here. And they never would be, how much she wished and hoped and dreamed, it would never become true.

Misfit gazed up at Star and blinked, tears falling from her eyes. She hadn't realized she was crying. She didn't cry. She only cried when she was alone, if ever. She had been done and all cried out years ago. Then again, it had been a long while since she had brought another pony to their graves.

Misfit hugged Star back, salty tears and fur mixing together. Her body shook. She usually tried to act more grown-up and mature, she had to be, living on the streets, but in the end, she was still a filly. No 8 year old, but young enough. And right now, it showed. She still wasn't truly crying, not like the night of the death's, but it was enough for small wisps of smoke to start streaming from her nostrils. Her element of magic was fire, and couldn't control said magic, so it wasn't unexpected. It had happened many times before. Was is weird for that to happen? Because she had never known differently.

The filly wasn't surprised by Star's question, but she took a moment to swallow back the crying, the wobbly voice and slight whine that would come out from her mouth if she didn't compose herself. "Erhm... well... my mum... she didn't have a good body. I mean, she couldn't fight against illness real well. But she always got better." She started, pulling away from the embrace.

"But, well... One time, she didn't." She said simply. She tried to just get the story over with before she started crying again. Her lip trembled, but she held strong. "And my dad kinda just hid away for a few months, working in his study all the time. I barely saw him. But he always came home to sleep, He knew I got lonely and kinda, well, scared alone at night. And he always made breakfast in the morning. Except... one morning, he couldn't. He was gone, and I don't know why or how or when, but in the morning, he was... well, you know..." She glanced at Star, biting back the tears once again.

(OOC: Blame sad music for the length and dreariness. Sorry.)

"Oh Misfit" Star said sympathetically, pulling the filly into another tight hug, "I'm so sorry!" she muttered, pushing the filly back just a bit so she could wipe the tears from Misfit's eyes.

"Misfit, you're living all alone right now aren't you?" Star asked softly, knowing the answer and not giving the filly time for a response, "Why don't you come live with me? Or, if you'd prefer, I could come live here. Either one, but you need a guardian." Star finished, tears tugging out of her eyes.

(OOC: it's alright! :3)

The filly let the mare wipe away the tears. It made her feel, well, loved. That somepony cared, worried about her. She hugged back again, welcoming the embrace. She was about to let the tears flow again.

But she suddenly flinched at Stargazer's preposition. She jumped back slightly, pulling away and staring at Star with wary eyes. "I... I can't." She said, changing her focus from the cyan mare to the ground and her hooves. "I'm s-sorry. I really really appreciate it, and I... it's hard to believe that somepony would c-care and be so kind to a filly she just m-met to ask her to live with her, but..." She turned her head to glance back at the grave-stones. "They're my p-parents. I-I'm afraid that if... if I go to live with another pony, I'll... I'll forget about them. I know it sounds really stupid, but..."

She looked at Star once again. "I don't want another mummy. Or another daddy. They're the only ones, and that's how it has to stay. I'm sorry. I'm so so s-sorry. I know how much it probably took for you to ask me to stay with you, but.. I-I'm sorry."

Star gave the filly a sympathetic smile, "I know. I'm not asking for you to become my daughter, I'm asking to become your guardian. You can't live alone, you're only a filly. It's dangerous, and difficult to get food. And if you're worried about leaving your parents behind, I'm fine with moving in here, if you'd prefer that. I know it's probably strange of me to be asking, but I worry for you." Star finished with a small grin, crouching down so she was at eye-level with the filly.

"If I were to move in with you, I would not be your mother." she said firmly, "just someone who takes care of you, a bit like a Nanny but around more often. I would make our meals, breakfast lunch and dinner, I'd send you to school so you can get educated, I'd take care of you when you're sick, and I'll be there for you when you're feeling lonely. Plus, I'll teach you to control you magic." Stargazer looked intently at the filly, hoping for her to say yes.

Misfit didn't know what to do. It sounded so wonderful and dream-like, Stargazer's preposition. But... it also sounded terrifying. It made her anxious, for some reason, and created a twisting knot in her stomach, like she had swallowed a stone. How was she to react? What should she say? She had to think it over. She had to make a decision. But what? This could be life-changing. But... what should she do? Whatwhatwhatwhatwhatwhat what do I say what do I do I want to say yes but what if I have to say no what do I do! She thought repeatedly in her head.

The filly took a deep breath. "I-I know it's dangerous and hard. I know... but I don't mind danger. Life may be hard, but it's not bad. It's an... an adventure..." She said, voice wobbling. "S-still... you're asking me to live with you. And that... t-that's a really big thing for me, probably for you too. I have problems and f-flaws and things that could really make somepony give up on me easily, so I w-warn you now, and I'm sorry." The filly shuffled her hooves.

"I m-mean, I don't think I'm worth it. And... well... at one point, I may j-just run out and not come back and I'll come home c-crying or... well, I'll probably have b-bad grades and you can't depend on me for staying there for a long time but..." Her brain was going to hyperdrive, thinking about everything at once. It was almost hard for her to talk. She sighed. "I know I'm probably not making any sense. L-look... I just don't want to hurt anypony. But... if you're willing to have me, h-however long..."

Misfit hugged Stargazer suddenly, scared and excited and confused and happy. But that was okay. "Then of course I say yes!"

Stargazer listened intently as the filly spoke, and she was surprised when Misfit hugged her without warning. But, of course, Star hugged back tightly.

"Misfit, I won't care about any of those things! Well, except for the running away part, if you do run away, you'll leave me worried as one can be!" Star said, pushing the filly slightly back to look her in the eyes.

"Misfit, I need you to understand this. I am never going to leave you." Star told her sternly, "But you must know, I will have to go away for periods at a time for my work, but I will always come back."

The filly nodded her head. "O-okay. Okay! But remember, you promised." She said, smiling weakly. She didn't tell Star that she was still scared, that she still was uncertain. But that would go away over time, right? Well, it could get worse, she supposed, but it wasn't worth worrying about. "Um, Star, if I really am going to start living with you... Then... I think you should know..."

She gazed back into the eyes of the mare. "My real name is Snapdragon."

She shivered, a colder breeze coming up through the tree's foliage. "We should probably get back to the city soon. Or stay here for tonight. Your choice, okay?" She asked. She had had so much to talk about. Now she really didn't know what to say. She was still in shock. All of this had happened so quickly.

"That's a lovely name." Star told Misfit with a kind smile, "And I think we should stay here the night, it's getting rather cold." Star frowned, lifting her head up.

"Are there any windows open?" she asked with concern, "If so, we should probably close them. I think there'll be a thunderstorm tonight." she added, a crease forming between her brows.

The night sky was covered up by a thick layer of stratus clouds, and thunder sounded in the air a ways off.

"Yes, we should definitely get windows closed."

Misfit smiled back at Star, before shivering again. "I think... some of the downstairs windows might be open. When we had cleaned them, I think some w-were opened." She said, almost repeating herself during her second sentence. It was going to rain. She could smell it in the air, a haughty, humid, thick scent. Misfit heard a roll of thunder not far off.

"Y-yeah. Let's d-do that." She said, trying to keep her voice steady. She sure has been stuttering a lot, hasn't she? Probably because she didn't like storms. She hated them. And loved them too. It was strange; while inside, a storm seems threatening, like a giant predator prowling around your home. But outside, on a roof, feeling the piercing air scratch at your skin, rain pelting you with bullets of water, it was even more scary, yes, but also so very... exhilarating. Free. But she wasn't in the mood for even that right now. She just wanted to be inside, where it was warm, where she could think.

She galloped back through the brush, giving one last look to the gravestones before ducking back through the bush entrance and running to the study, making sure Star was behind her. It started raining before they made it to the door. Raining hard. By the time they were in the house, they were drenched, with curtains flapping and water pooling as two windows banged together, open.

Misfit raced to one of them, forgetting she could simply use magic.

Stargazer nodded along with Misfit's words, agreeing silently. She followed the little filly closely as she began to run, barely a step behind her. The rain was already coming down hard on their pelts, but Star didn't mind, she just kept along beside Misfit. She grinned as the mare bounded into the house and ran straight to the windows.

"You know," Star started, shutting the door lightly behind her, "You could just-" before she finished her sentence a huge gust of wind swirled through one of the windows. Stargazer quickly used her magic to shut the open window, running to the filly.

"Hey, you don't like storms much do you?" she asked, remembering the filly's stuttering. Stargazer's mane was soaked in rainwater, and she could feel the droplets hanging to her coat.

"Err... n-not much. At least, n-not while we're i-i-" She stopped herself, trying to control the jumping words. "Inside." The filly finished. She then giggled at the completely drenched state both of them were in. It didn't help that she was very furry. Her coat and mane were completely water-logged, her fetlocks dripping evenly. She thought about shaking herself off, but not only would that make Star even wetter, but could get the books wet too. And it wasn't worth the risk.

"Here, s-stand back a little bit." She told the cyan mare. The filly then proceeded to charge up a small golden wisp of magic around her horn, before spreading it too the rest of her body. For a moment, she glowed, then everything was back to normal. Her coat was completely dry, the water evaporated, heating the cold room as well. She grinned. "And that is one of the perks of having fire as a natural element."

"Wow, that was amazing!" Stargazer gasped in awe, staring at the filly with amazement in her eyes, "I was never able to cast such a spell as perfectly as you did, not until I was older anyways." Star laughed, gently ruffling Misfit's forelock.

"Well at any rate, I'm impressed." She grinned, quickly performing a similar spell on herself. "Hmm, what would you like to do now? I could make us some dinner..?"

Misfit blushed at Star's compliment, biting her lip slightly. "R-really? Well, I don't know that m-much more, just basic survival, so I'm probably behind with s-some stuff. But... thank you!" She said to the cyan mare.

"Dinner? Uhmm... let me check for food real quick." She said, fleeing to one of the side rooms, which she knew as the kitchen. She quickly checked through the cupboards, checking to see if there was any food left. She still thought the spell to make sure food didn't perish(or at least as quickly) was still working and order, though it'd need to refreshed soon. She added it to the back he mind, along with many other item in her long mental to-do list. She then took inventory, saying them out loud. "Well... we have s-some honey, some spices, ketchup... ooh, a collection of s-some flowers! ...A basket of carrots... one or t-two tomatoes... some b-beans... some bread! That could c-come in handy! ....Vanilla... and butter!" Misfit smiled sheepishly as she finished off. "What could we make?"

Stargazer smiled at the filly, who raced to the kitchen. She began to call out the stocked food, and Star listened intently.

"Hmm..." she thought for a moment, "Well, I'm not that great a cook, but I could make something out of that." Star trotted slowly to the room, shuffling through the pantry and fridge. She pulled out the flowers, carrots, bread, a few spices, butter and the vanilla. "Let's see, I can make something with this." She said mostly to herself.

Star looked around in the cupboards, and found a pot. The cyan mare filled the pot with water, then gently set it on the stove, turning on the heat. She quickly dropped a slice of butter in the pot, and waited for it to boil. The water was soon bubbling, and she tossed in a few pinches of the spice. She took out a cutting board, and began to swiftly chop the carrots into thin slices. She then dropped these in the boiling water. She brought out a spoon and stirred the ingredients for a moment, then dropped a few of the flowers in. The food began to cook, and she quickly cut up a few slices of bread.

"Alright, almost done." She grinned, giving it another stir, "Hope you like flower soup." She smiled, sprinkling a few more spices onto it. She took off the top of the vanilla, and let a few drops into the soup. A wonderful aroma filled the air, and the soup was finished.

Star took out two bowls and ladled the liquid-y dinner into them. She then hovered them over to the table, along with utensils.

"There!" she laughed, sitting in a chair.

Misfit watched as Star chose a few of the components she had called out. At first, she was completely confused. What was she trying to make? But as the mare filled the pot of water, which she thanked Faust that the plumbing was still working, she figured out that Stargazer was making some kind of stew, or soup. Strong essence-like smells wafted through the air, due to the the pungent raw flowers. They were really good cooked, Misfit remembered, but if you tried to eat them raw, they were extremely tart and almost bitter. She watched as Star plopped in the chopped carrots, whisk in a few hoof-fuls of spice, and slice some of the bread.

It was a bit odd, having somepony cook for her. She wasn't sure if she should ask to help or not. The mare seemed to know what she was doing, and she's hate to get in the way... Realizing that there was no drink, she trotted quickly out of the kitchen and upstairs. On the second floor, there were many plants tangling themselves near the window-sills. They used to be her father's. He had made them be able to live on their own. She also knew that some had very tasty juice from their fruits. She neared one, which had soft red, peach-like fruits attached to the end. After plucking a couple, she ran back down and pulled out a squeezer, along with two cups. Pushing them down until a peach-colored liquid came out, she filled each cup two-thirds up, and kept the remainder of what was left of the fruits. They were still good to eat. Since she had nothing else that she could find she could help with, she wandered back to her own thoughts.

Usually, she always had to be her own cook. She had always been a pretty good cook too. Her mother was a pastry baker, and a good one at that. The cakes she made, oh, a pony could die for just one slice. She wasn't THAT good, of course, but she knew her recipes. She would never really make it anywhere with cooking anyway. Even though, when she baked with her mum when she was younger, she took her sweet, lasting time doing so. Yes, it turned out delicious and full of love, but she simply took too long, and everything she knew how to cook was down-to-earth homey foods.

But that didn't bother her, much. Yes, it was yummy and wonderful when you can turn flour, butter, and sugar into a delicious dream... but what about taking some herbs you can find on the side of the road most places, mixing them together with boiling rose-water, and poof!  A cure to the flu! Or, take some bear-bramble, and maybe a cat-tail stump or two, and you suddenly have a hair growth lotion! Alchemy was, shortly, amazing

Misfit pulled herself from her thoughts. Star was almost finished with the meal. Her nose was in heaven. That tiny amount of vanilla just made it about ten times better, not saying that it looked and smelled delicious before that. The filly quickly found her way to the table, not wanting to keep Star waiting, grasping the two cups of juice, and two halves of the left-over fruit. She placed one cup and half next to Stargazer, the other, next to her, before sitting. There was so much good food, it amazed her. She wouldn't have been able to eat this much for weeks, if she had not come here with Star. It was amazing. You see, the reason she didn't come here by herself was... nevermind. It's not time for that.

It's time to eat! "Thank you so much, Star!" She said, grinning widely. "It looks so good! I didn't know you were a cook!"

((Oh gosh I'm so sorry it's so long I just kept writing and writing and forgot that I was making this just on post. Don't feel like you need some big long response or anything I just got carried away and was bored.))

(OOC: Lol! Is okay, long posts are better than short ones!! XD)

Stargazer smiled when she saw that the filly had brought down glasses of juice and half a peach-like fruit.

"Well, I've lived on my own for a long time, a mare learns!" Stargazer laughed in response, picking up a spoon to drink her soup. "Where did you find this fruit? I've never seen it before, and discoveries are always interesting." She asked, taking a small bite of the peach-like half. She grinned when she found it was delicious, before also sipping her juice. She really was curious.

Misfit grinned back. "My daddy had planted them! There's at least a dozen upstairs! You s-see, he was a professor, so in the summer, he had a lot of time off... so he worked a lot with plants. What we're eating is, I-I think, a hybrid between a peach, a plum, and... maybe a tropical fruit? I'm n-not sure... He altered it any others l-like it through potions and magic to make it so they were... uhmm... something like 'self-stable'... or something close to that. Anyway, they c-can live on their own for centuries, without any interaction with p-ponies..." She looked away from Star for a moment. "I think that's why a lot of p-ponies didn't really like him. I m-mean, it's a lot like the p-plants in the Everfree Forest... oh, and that's this r-really cool forest right n-next to Ponyville! It's super cool! You can find TONS of special he-erbs there, and there are so m-many animals! I m-mean, some might be just a tad... dangerous, I g-guess.... but it's still so cool!"

The eager filly sat back on her chair, before taking a sip of the soup. It was just as delicious as it had smelled, which she promptly told Star. "So... w-what are your parents like?"

((Gaaahgarggghhh. I am so sorry for the long wait...))