I find it almost a running gag in the fandom to portray the Noble Class of Equestria as Stuck-up, Shallow, Ineffective, petty, manipulative people. Now obviously this has grounding IRL, as Nobility for the majority of the European nations from Medieval times to the end of WWII were petty, shallow, ineffective, manipulative, or some combination thereof. But even then there were many exceptions: Bismark, Elizabeth, a good chunk of Prussia, and those just off the top of my head.

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