The Measure of Her Reach

by Ximer

Something Cryptic

Hazel seemed ravenous as she consumed the food that was set before her. The Feline had assumed that it would be mostly unfavorable vegetables or other pony food, but she hadn't considered that the princess was a fan of all foods, though she seemed to stick to a pretty well rounded diet. Blueblood seemed to be tied up in whatever it was he was doing, two bottles covered in a magic aura as the twins got their fill.

"I guess we picked a good time to eat huh?" Isabella asked, getting Hazel's attention.

"S-sorry, it's just been kind of hard on my brother to take care of me and himself." Hazel sighed. "He tries to be an adult, but I know he's just a kitten too."

"This is your chance to help make things better. The reason why it was important I talk with you is because you have first paw knowledge of what's wrong, what's needed and who has been hurting the most." Isabella explained. "I can walk around all day long, but if no one talks to me I can only form guesses as to what's going on, same as Blueblood."

"It's true," Blueblood nodded as a piece of parchment magically rolled up and was placed on a nearby table. "Not only that, but court seems to enjoy coming up with as much red tape as they can in order to keep their own coffers filled. That's it's own infuriating battle though."

Hazel thought for a moment. "But...didn't they send you to help?"

Blueblood nodded in confirmation. "That they did, and while some in the inner court have good intentions, it's no secret others have other motives in mind with our presence here. So here we find ourselves in a delicate balancing game of trying to do as much good as we can, without causing further harm. Her brother has already dealt with one such noble who...won't be named."

Blueblood had seen to it that Flicker's name had been forever scrubbed out for the shame he had brought upon the noble houses, and to serve as an example. While it had worked for the most part, some had informed him that a small number were still bitter about how the royalty had handled the death. Instead of covering it up they had let the world know that nobility had fallen from grace and stained what they considered a near perfect image.

Blueblood had hoped that things would get better with time, but that sadly wasn't the case. Fortunately for him none of the other nobles were willing to go to the same dramatic lengths as Flicker, yet. Unfortunately he did have to deal with them in order to push anything through for the region he had been asked to help re-establish, and they seemed determined to make things difficult. It was as if no matter what ideas he had they always seemed to have some sort of counter to. For this reason he had asked for Zero, knowing that the metallic stallion wasn't swayed by bits or favors, if his worst suspicions were correct.

"That sounds easy enough, but won't your friends get mad if they know you're keeping a Cat around...especially one like me?" Hazel asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Isabella asked catching the Feline a bit off guard.

"Just that I'm no noble, I'm no one fancy." Hazel replied. "Most noble ponies come looking for trouble here...or that's what my brother says."

"I wasn't born a noble, or a princess. I wasn't even born in this world." Isabella said a bit proud of her less than noble heritage.

"Oh...so you aren't one of them?" Hazel tilted her head. "It kind of makes sense, you ears don't look the same."

Blueblood and Isabella both stopped though Hazel continued. They looked at each other as if trying to figure out if they had heard the same thing from the young Feline. Surely she didn't mean to imply that there were other creatures that had a human like appearance as Isabella, right? That would be impossible and they would have found them by now, or there would have been some evidence of them. Then again stranger things had been found.

"Hazel, there are only three humans, and one is a bit complicated." Blueblood said, catching a brief look from Isabella, though she knew that he was right. Her brother did fall into a bit of a grey area.

"Despite all that, he's right though, there's me and my brother...but you've seen something that looks like me?" Isabella asked.

Hazel nodded in affirmation as she chewed another piece of food. "Mhmm...they have hoods on most of the time and try to look like us Cats sometimes, or some other things, but they're a lot less friendly."

Isabella could hide how she felt quite well, it was something she had learned to do with her new life. She had to keep a lot of her feelings close to her chest, and not wear her heart on her sleeve as often as she once had. The one that she couldn't hide how she felt from, was Blueblood, it was obvious that she was deeply unsettled by this news. What would her brother think? After being separated from their own for so long...was there any truth to what Hazel was saying?

Worse still, what would the others think? How would the rest of Equestria react? Blueblood was left to his imagination as Isabella spoke up after taking a deep breath, clearing her mind. "Well, I guess I'll have to meet them too, friendly or not. They can't be all bad, right? In the meantime, why do you tell me a bit about the city, what does your brother do?"

Isabella absentmindedly listened, doing her best to try and forget about what she had heard, but the nagging thought lingered. Humans had often spoken of mythical creatures, which Izzy had seen and spoken with which she never though possible. Was it so far fetched that some humans had somehow managed to live in a world of magic? She had made her living off the past, a living that may prove useful in time.

Author's Note:

Surprise