Tip of the Scales

by TDR

Chapter 3

Stories in Stone
Tip of the Scales
By TDR

Chapter 3

[Canterlot four months later]

“You want me to what?” Platinum asked in shock as the rest of the group looked on with varying levels of worry.

“I would like you and Bleu to accompany every pony into the Darklands.” Princess Celestia stated again.

“Princess I do not approve of this. Only two of us are military combatants. Maybe three if Rhede hasn't been slacking.” Jer'rahd protested getting a glare from the large stallion.

“Whether you approve or not it's not your choice General. It is hers. “ Celestia added gesturing to Platinum. “The mission is necessary and Luna shall be accompanying you. I expect your strength will be more than adequate to protect the three civilians in your party... and Rhede. And that is if she even needs protecting, she does control a dragon after all.”

The group of them look over to Bleu who had been stuffing her face with Celestia's chess set while the others were distracted. The sudden silence caused her to look up with a mouth full of black rook.

“Whaf?” Bleu asked with a mouthful of onyx.

“.....She can ask a Dragon nicely to do something.” Celestia corrected, grabbing Bleu in her magic and dropping the Dragonling back in Platinum's lap.

“I'm not worried about my safety Princess.” Platinum added, smirking over at Jer'rahd who tries to not look flushed at the look, despite winding up looking even more flushed. “I am just uncertain as to why?”

“You are quite skilled in magic Miss Scale, while no combat mage, you did have some schooling with the School for Gifted Unicorns.........”

“Only a bit, and that was just the preliminary magical kindergarten and the grades leading up to the test....” Platinum sighed.

“Well still, aside from my sister this party is rather light on magical power.” Celestia listed.” There are other reasons of course, but I have waited until you healed up before suggesting this mission. I would like you to go, but unlike the others I cannot order you, Bleu, nor Velkorn to accompany them. The choice is yours.”

“Two war heroes, a Princess, an Ambassador, a Queen,a singer and her Dragon walk into the Darklands.... Sounds like the start of some joke.” Platinum chuckled.

Platinum wrapped a hoof around Bleu who was still eying the chess set as she considered. She wasn't sure why she was included in this little trip, she was just a singer, she didn't have any training in anything like the others. Even Velkorn had more skill at survival than she did. She would be the weakest link in this chain. She wasn't happy with that but the Princess thought she would be useful on the trip and far be it for her to deny one of the Princesses, besides Jer'rahd was going to be going and with how often he was around lately it would feel odd to not have him around for a while.

“Ehh alright Princess. Mostly because some one needs to keep Jer in line.”Platinum smiled.

Jer'rahd snorted and rolled his eyes at that, getting a giggle from Bleu.

“So what are we after any way?” Starfall asked.

“A book. Rhede would you mind telling them?” Celestia asked.

“The Book of Blue...” Rhede began.

“I wrote a book?” Bleu asked.

“Blue not Bleu” Rhede snorted.

“Sounded the same to me.” Platinum chuckled.

“Ugh. Is this going to go on for long? Is it pick on Rhede day?”

“Every day is pick on Rhede day.” Jer'rahd added getting a few snickers from the others..

“Okay is it out of your system now?””Rhede sighed.” Okay good. The short of it is we are going after some rather potent artifacts and according to the Princesses the last place they saw it was a Castle that was located in the Dark lands.”

“Not to interrupt your pace, but who would make a home in that accursed place?” Velkorn asked.

“An old mad god by the name of Discord.” Princess Luna added.

“Is it too late to change my mind?” Platinum asked.

---

[Dullahan]

“Good to see you're alive Sergeant.” Jer'rahd smirked looking at Buttercup who had come to greet the small group in the courtyard.

“You as well General, though it's Commander now. They gave me a rather sizable promotion and put me in charge of the air wing here as well as Dullahan itself. Don't suppose you had anything to do with that sir?” Buttercup questioned with a small smile.

“I simply pointed out that you were one of the ones who was calling Mustang out on his bullshit.” Jer'rahd smirked his gaze going to the monument standing in the center of the courtyard with a small sigh. Platinum and Bleu were both over there reading it. “ You put the names of the ESO members lost on there too?”

“They helped defend this place as much as any one else did.” Buttercup sighed. “I never thought I would see Platinum return here though, particularly not part of this expedition. Are you two doing alright...?”

“I would say so” Jer'rahd smirked.” How about you and your 'saved seat' Everything going well?”

“Heh, yes sir.... we're doing fine. Though who is the other mare with you I don't recognize her.”

Jer'rahd sighed having no idea how this was working.

The gray unicorn glanced back at the black pelted blue haired unicorn, who nodded in response to being mentioned. Jer'rahd was completely disgusted to be honest, the disguise was lame, there was no other word for it. Her coat color had changed a little to solid black, from a nearly black purple, her hair no longer looked like it was made of magic but it still fluttered on it's own at times. Princess Luna wore a blanket and saddle bags over her wings and on top of all a simple pair of glasses. Her armor, body size, stature, and cutie mark had not been changed at all. She looked just like herself with black fur instead of purpley blue or what ever that color was.

Only an idiot wouldn't recognize her as the Princess and that was what had happened with EVERY SINGLE pony they had come across.

Jer'rahd was losing his mind that it worked.

Platinum had loved it, citing that hiding in plain sight had a sort of appeal to it.

None of the others seemed bothered by it, at least not to the level Jer'rahd was.

The worst part was how well it worked, no pony seemed to know who she was even if they noticed her wings and horn. The first few times Jer'rahd just thought they were playing along, but entire groups of ponies they had met during their stop overs on the way to the wall did not recognize her. It worked well enough that Platinum had tried it, doing little more than shorting her mane and making it match the color of her coat. Nothing seemed to change until she put on a pair of glasses herself. Jer'rahd flat out refused to admit how cute she looked with them on , but only because he was trying to complain about the impossible disguises.

It worked for her too, a few of the ponies they met were even bold enough to hit on the pair until a glare from himself or Starfall ran them off. Of course Rhede was not helping, often he wandered off with some mare that caught his eye and needed to be dragged back to the group. Usually Velkorn did it as she seemed more than happy to ruin his flirting attempts. He understood why the Princess did not want to be known heading off with such a small group, but at the same time it was driving him mad how no pony was seeing through the lame disguises.

“She trust worthy?” Buttercup leaned in and whispered causing Jer'rahd to flatten his ears, that even the normally sharp pegasus was fooled by the disguise grated him hard.”I'm already leery of letting civilians know about this with Miss Scale and her partner.”

“Princess Luna would not have sent her along if she was not trustworthy Commander.” Jer'rahd spoke through gritted teeth.

“ If you say so sir.” Buttercup nodded. “This way then I have the map room already set up.”

---

[ Darklands]

Platinum could admit when she was in way over her head.

This was decidedly one of those times. She had only understood a smattering of what was said in the meeting. Something about a cursed map and time not working as it should in the Darklands. Supposedly they couldn't teleport to the castle due to the chaotic magic of the place, but they could teleport away from it. That pretty much killed any of her basic magic school understanding of what was happening.

Then of course they had entered the place and things went even crazier.

A massive turtle had attacked the group and the few spells she knew that were offensive were barely noticed by the massive thing. She felt a little better seeing Princess Luna's spells having just as paltry an effect,but not by much.

Bleu was dealing with everything better than she was and she felt , not for the first time she wasn't supposed to be here, Celestia's old age must have been catching up with her at this point to think sending the singer was a good idea. She hung back taking small potshots at the creatures eyes and head her best efforts not even noticed by the Tank.

Things went from bad to worse when she watched Jer'rahd's sword shatter against the armored eye of the monster and then the massive thing ate him.

She cried out in panic as did the rest of the group, though then things got weird.

The creature's eyes bulged and it started making gasping sounds before it started to claw at it's own throat, flailing in a panic as it attacked it's neck choking and gasping for air it didn't seem to be able to get as it tore out it's own throat.

As it crashed to the ground she could see a glow of green through the rents in it's neck. After a few moments of it laying still the green faded there was a great deal of cursing and a equine figure pulled itself out of the mess that remained of the tank's neck, coughing and sputtering.

“JER! Are you hurt?” Platinum darted up as he stumbled out of the neck of the dead tank, still cursing up a storm. She skidded to a halt and slowly backed away one hoof to her nose.” Oh wow, you smell like an exploded fruit cart.”

“Thanks... no I’m fine.... I don't think I’ll ever be able to eat another orange though...... and my swords busted......I hope this crap doesn't stain.” Jer'rahd grumbled. Trying to shake the muck free of his fur before he smiled. “What no big hug for me seeing me still alive?”

“Maybe after you get a bath.” Platinum chuckled.

“Cripes when he wants to kill something he doesn't buck around.” Bleu whistled as she glided in to land near the pair, the rest of the group not far behind.

“I am truly impressed you managed to kill it General... well make it kill itself any way.” Luna commented.

“Please stop being impressed Princess and help me find a lake or something.” Jer'rahd sighed.

“If Princess Celestia was here I'd suggest just tossing him in the air and seeing if he found a lake that way.” Platinum giggled, yelping and hopping away as Jer'rahd wrung out his mane in her general direction.

“Sorry Jer. I've not seen any water any where around here yet.” Rhede sighs. “Not even a puddle.”

“While I regret your covered in Skuzz, does any one else hear a buzz?” Velkorn asked.

“Now that you mention it? “Starfall comments as her ears perk a look of horror crossing her face. “What is that?... GAHH!!!!!!”

Starfall took off fast enough to leave a mini rain boom in her wake. The rest of the group looked confused, save Jer'rahd who was still trying to get the gunk from the tank from his eyes.

A swarm of bright balls with wings flutter through the air and descend on the body of the tank in a veritable tornado of cooing fluff. The air is filled with the slurp and crunch of flesh being devoured as the swarm converged the body of the tank completely skinning the massive creature down to the bone in moments.

Platinum's horn glowed and a silver shield quickly forms over the group as the parasprite swarm dips down trying to engulf Jer'rahd as well. After a few bounces off the shield they gave up and flew back off into the forest.

“What the heck was that?” Bleu demanded.

“A parasprite swarm. One bigger than I have seen before.” Luna admitted as Platinum let her shield fall.

“ Where'd Starfall go?” Rhede asked.

“She took off at the sight of the Sprites, never have I seen some one in such a fright.” Velkorn stated staring at the sky.

“We should wait here until she gets back. A Giant shell will make a good land mark we can set up camp here. It'll give me time to clean up and collect the bits of my sword.” Jer'rahd sighed.

“The sword your grandfather left you.... are you going to be alright Jer?” Platinum asked casting a few cleaning cantrip spells to at least help get some of the gunk from his fur.

“I'll be fine. It was an old blade that I shouldn't have relied on this much, I have a spare and a ax in my bag I can use. So it's not an emergency. Still with the danger we have already faced I’d feel a bit better if we had gotten you some armor as well Platinum.”

“Really? You'd give up the chance to stare at my rump as I’m walking, just to cover it in metal?” platinum scoffed.

“If it helped ensure that your flank remained intact for me to ogle later, I'd suffer for a bit.” Jer'rahd grinned getting a blush from the dark mare.

“By the stars get a room you two.” Rhede snapped.

“Alright we'll take inside the shell for the night and you can sleep out here Rhede.” Jer'rahd smirked.

“I may be able to help with that.” Luna says off hoofed.

“Thank you Princess but I assure you he doesn't need any help.” Platinum grinned making Jer'rahd blush.

“What? Oh, wait, no no no.” Luna stammered looking flushed herself. “ I meant with the armor. Tank bones are perhaps the strongest material that exists.....”

“And it got all technical just as it was getting good. I'm gonna go see if I can spot Starfall.” Bleu pouted taking to the air.

---

“Quit staring.” Bleu grumbled slapping Jer'rahd in the back of the head.

“Nope.” Jer'rahd stated flatly still staring at Platinum.

He was reluctant to call it armor. Certainly it covered her legs up to her trunk, though the bone white material looked more like stockings than proper armor. Her chest was well covered and to be honest the only bit of black fur that Jer'rahd could see on his mare friend's head was the tips of her ears and her jaw where the skeletal helm didn't cover. Her tail stuck out of the back the armor, the silvery strands swishing over her tightly clad rump. The armor had two parts really the under armor and the outer armor. The bone white outer armor protected her legs, her head, and chest with a thicker layer of bone like armor. The rest of it was a skin tight body suit that seemed to cling to her tighter than her own fur did. The only spots not covered in bone were the joints of her legs and around her neck. She seemed to have no issue moving , though Jer'rahd did and had promptly sat down pulling his saddlebags into his lap.

Rhede likely would have been staring too though he was drug off by Velkorn, in protest to help set up the camp.

“So how is it?” Luna panted a little.

“Well I can move alright though it is a little tight.” Platinum commented.

“Where at, perhaps I can fix it.”Luna commented

“All of it.” Platinum muttered. “I've worn body paint that felt more covering......” Platinum grumbled ignoring Bleu and Jer'rahd as the former tried to cover the latters eyes with limited success. “I think it might cause issues traveling with the guys but....... wait, what happened to you!?”

As Platinum yelped both Bleu and Jer'rahd ceased their fighting to take in the sight of the Princess. She seemed to have shrunk, where she once was Rhede's height, if not a bit taller, she was now a little shorter than Jer'rahd and barely larger than Starfall. Her mane and tail had also ceased blowing as if in a divine wind and were little more than a normal, if still a pretty, grayish blue.

“It seemed I may have used up more power than I would have liked making that.” Luna muttered She sighed standing up and winding up being a little shorter than Platinum even despite still retaining her horn and wings.

Everyone simply stared at her and she grew a little more self conscious the more she was stared at.

“What is it?” Luna growled lightly.

“By the stars you are ADORABLE!!” Platinum squeed.

---

[ Later that night on the paired watch.]

“I still think this was a mistake.” Platinum sighed softly.

“What was?” Starfall asked, the mare having been mostly quiet since her return. The pegasus was highly embarrassed about her fear of the parasprites though no one seemed to hold it against her, not even Bleu.

Rhede and Velkorn had the first watch, Jer'rahd and Luna the last which left Starfall and Platinum in the middle, Bleu stayed with Platinum , but at the same time she remained curled up trying to sleep on the now armored mares back.

“Me coming out here. I'm not even sure why I’m here. I don't really have anything to add to the party. I don't have any survival skills, my magics basic at best and the last time I got into a fight it was with a house spider and I lost.” Platinum explained. “Now Luna's weakened trying to help protect me. I'm making things worse.”

“Yep.” Starfall agreed looking over the edge of her wing blade wondering if it needed sharping.

“ Well you didn't have to agree with me.” Platinum let out a huff.

“Well you didn't say anything that's not correct.” Starfall added.” Well save for one bit.”

“And what was that?” Platinum sighed, rather used to snarky comments from Bleu , though the reserved Starfall poking fun at her was a bit more painful.

“You said you didn't add anything to the party. That parts not true.” Starfall explained. “ First off. Princess Celestia asked you to come for a reason and Princess Luna was okay with it, that means they know something we don't. Second you managed to make the trail rations we brought actually taste like food somehow and not old hay, that's some weird sort of magic there...”

“It's just a small spell for spice it doesn't really add anything to it....” Platinum added, she only knew how to cook due to Bleu and trying to make food the little dragon would eat when she was younger.

“Princess Luna said that shield of yours kept the parasprites off everyone, so while I don't expect you to defend us from a tank attack Jer'rahd's shield spells are not that secure. His are like the bone in that armor of yours, while yours seem more like the black material. Not as good , but still protective. Add in the little spells you have here and there, that cleaning cantrip the flavor adjustment. You're making the trip more bearable for every pony else even if you aren’t adding anything meaningful to it.”

“Yes well provided I didn't doom every one by making Luna weak.” Platinum sighed.

“She's fine.” Starfall stated. “She's a goddess who moves the moon, I seriously doubt the Princess burned up all her reserves just making armor.”

Platinum considered this for a moment.” Alright but why would she act like she is weaker?”

“Distraction for some enemy we don't know about?” Starfall shrugged. “ I can't even hazard a guess.”

“It's like she's trying to be more relateable, like she's one of us....” Platinum considered.

“Maybe.” Starfall admitted. “ Though there is one more thing you add to.”

“Hmm what's that?” Platinum asked.

“Rhede mentioned it and I noticed it too. I've only known Jer'rahd since boot camp and he's always been a dour, angry, and near depressive pony with only a few small bits of sarcastic cheer here and there. He's always serious, always on duty... except now he's not. He's mellowed out a bit, he's not as high strung as he was and the only thing that's changed to bring this about has been you.”Starfall explained. “ He's almost... happy. And that's something I didn't think I’d ever see from him.”

“Seriously?” Platinum blinked.

“Indeed.” Starfall nodded with a small smirk of her own.” That said you hurt him and they'll be a line of ponies who will kick your flank from here to Tartarus.”

Platinum smiled. “It's nice to see he has such good friends.”

“Mmm” Starfall agreed as they waited out the rest of their watch in silence save a little dragon's snoring.

Author's Note:

Another chapter.

Looking at it some knowledge of what really happened in main the story is likely advisable. I'm not going to skim it completely as i did before., though we are getting into the first major changes.

With Jer'rahd out of the hospital sooner than before and not having the emotional connection he had last time There was no torture session with Bleu and Claymore was executed rather than imprisoned.

The bone armor was made for Platinum rather than Jer'rahd this time, but so far it's been sticking close to the main story.

not for too much longer

Comments

[Zibrony]

This was a great surprise for the one morning in weeks I decided to wake up early!

[Prince Leader]

Oh wow, I never even thought about this... What would have happened if She lived through it? Would he have ever fallen for Luna? Would there have ever been a nightmare war?

Also, LOVED your SIS series! Very well written and an excellent read! Plan to re-read the series again! X3

Look forward to reading this as well, might do it after I finish the initial series!