One must take care when choosing a god for prayer.
I remember... Making a wish.
But that was so long ago, and I... don't remember what exactly it was... Perhaps that's why I am who I am now.
Do I regret it? I... don't remember. So many things have happened, and so many things have changed since then. There are many things I have done to regret, but the wish itself?
...Well...
I don't remember who I was before it.
Crossover with Land of the Lustrous (Houseki no Kuni). There may be some minor spoilers to the plot, but overall it is simply a use of characters and abilities.
Well you can’t stay here. There’s nothing for you here, and you’ll be nothing if you follow the rest.
…
I cannot tell you where to go, it is not my place.
…
You have someplace in mind then?
…
Why would you want to go there? As far as I’m aware, your kind aren’t supposed to exist there, and frankly, I am opposed to sending a human somewhere they don’t belong.
…
I cannot unmake your humanity, it is not my place.
…
Why are you so insistent on… Ah, I understand now.
…
You are not from here. You are human, but do not wish to go with the rest. You didn’t come here to be nothing, you came here to be something. For that, you came to me, is that correct?
…
Still, the fact remains, mankind does not belong there, despite what others may think.
…
I am not human, no.
…
How do you know that?
…
Oh of course. You know of me. Then you must know what I’ve done, what I am.
…
I suppose I could do that, but is that really what you want?
…
You’ll be stripped to the bone. Do you understand the risks that come with that?
…
Verywell.
…
…
Oh? You want this?
…
Why? It is fragile and weak, able to be broken at the slightest touch, and hardly useful beyond that.
…
I see. Take it then.
…
I no longer have a use for it. It has served me well before, but now it is merely a keepsake from someone long gone.
…
No, I don't have the rest. Besides, those were earned, not given.
…
I am not above refusing your demand.
…
Consider it forgiven. Now before you go, I should warn you.
…
Memories are a fleeting thing, take care not to lose the ones important to you.
…
I shall see you off now, and I will watch your progress with great interest.
…
I can still refuse, you know.
…
…
Do not fret, for I have already made my decision. Farewell.
It may be too late to join the game, but I have found that there is nothing wrong with playing by yourself.
Though I don’t see why so many others insist on sending mankind to there.
No matter, it is not my responsibility to determine where humans end up. My only duty is to make sure that no humans remain here.
I think I was angry at the world, for being what it was. I wanted to go somewhere else, to be something else, and in the end, I think that’s what I wished for.
Did I deserve to be buried alive for that?
Maybe. I knew that questioning the status quo in some places could definitely land you in some hot water, but who in their right mind would go out of their way to bury someone like me alive just because of some inner thoughts? Unless this wasn’t some over the top punishment of course, and I had been buried as a part of my funeral, I did die.
Right?
I definitely wasn’t dead now, don’t they usually check for that sort of thing before burying someone? And aren’t you supposed to be buried in a coffin? I’m pretty sure my family still cared enough to at least give me that, and I’m pretty certain I wasn’t cremated either.
Still, the fact remained that I was buried, I don’t know where, I don’t know how, and I don’t know why, but I was. Logically speaking, the first step would be to make it so that I wasn’t buried anymore. I had seen a few of those ‘what to do if you’re buried alive’ videos, and the most important thing to do was to remain calm, and to try and conserve oxygen. Yeah right, I wasn’t even in a coffin, I was completely encased on all sides, there was no air to breathe.
It occurred to me that I had been in this state for quite a while now, going on five to ten minutes, and I was still fully conscious. That certainly wasn’t strange at all, but despite that, I was glad. That leaned more towards the idea that I actually was dead. I wasn’t breathing, yet I was sapient and completely aware of it. When comparing that to before, where I was drifting in and out of comas for months all the while slowly wasting away in a hospital bed, I was barely able to stay awake for more than five minutes towards the end, so this was a welcome change. Something must’ve happened, and all the data is leading towards the conclusion that I had died, and am now experiencing some post-mortem existence.
Did my wish come true?
I wasn’t in a hospital bed, so I was somewhere else, and I was awake without having to breathe, so I very well may be something else as well. My current predicament left a lot to be desired, but it was a definite improvement over my last. At least for now, I didn’t know how long I could last being stuck in place while fully conscious, despite having had some practice.
The term ‘be careful what you wish for’ came to mind, and I realized that every change might not be an improvement, the most obvious one being all around me. That led me back to trying to get out of being buried. The ‘alive’ part being put on hold for now.
How did I know I was buried and not in some other restrictive substance or stasis? Simple, every time I tried to move I met resistance, and when I pushed hard enough for it to give, a small cascade of rubble would fall where my limbs just were. Based on the direction it fell in, I was in a really awkward position, my arms and legs were splayed out, and I was tilted downwards along my back.
A familiar shape, but an unfamiliar body. I really was something else, but how much ‘else’ exactly?
Typically when unearthing oneself, upwards was the general direction to head in, but in my current position, I couldn’t really achieve that. I wasn’t strong enough to claw my way up, which meant I could really only push in the direction opposite to my feet. I would have to head down and level out first before I could go back up.
Seeing as I had nothing else to do, I began working on getting myself out of the ground, and it was rough. I had managed to get some leeway with a bit of wriggling before, but once I was out of my starting area the ground only got progressively harder. Wasn’t it just supposed to be a bunch of loose soil when you were buried? I suppose I was going in the wrong direction, but even before that it was way too tough.
There was no guarantee that I had actually been buried though, there could be any number of reasons why I was in the ground. I didn’t exactly have much to work with, so I’ll have to figure it out once I actually get out.
It was slow going, but I eventually levelled out to the point where I was more or less lying flat on my back. It was tiring work, though my body didn’t exactly feel fatigued, no sore muscles from overwork, and no scraped fingers despite pushing through what felt like solid stone. Or my head for that matter, as there wasn’t much I could do to shield myself when moving.
I guess I’m pretty tough now.
Taking a moment to recuperate, I angled myself up as much as I could and pushed again, gaining a couple inches of height. It was working, and every push allowed me to increase the angle again, not by much, but it was quickly adding up.
Before I could even get halfway to vertical, I broke through.
On the side.
The one hand I was using to guide myself touched open air, and I felt around a bit to make sure it wasn’t just a small pocket I had hit. As far as I could tell, it was a relatively flat, rocky surface, and I had just punched my hand through it.
With newfound vigor, I kept going, forcing the rest of my arm through until it eventually reached the top of my head. The increased range of motion confirmed that it wasn’t a medium pocket either, and even if it wasn’t outside I could at least maneuver my entire body around in that space.
One last push, and my head popped out of the hole.
“Freedom!” I gasped out,
Light filled my eyes for the first time since I got in this predicament, and I got a view of my new surroundings. Rock on all sides followed by sky to the left, right, above and in front of me. I wasn’t even close to being upright, and since I was emerging from the side of a rock, I was quite literally coming out of a cliff face. I couldn’t turn my head enough to see how high up I was, but I could see a distant horizon in my peripherals. To one side was a bunch of smoky mountains, and to the other was what looked like the tops of trees.
Shimmying out a little more, I pulled my other arm free and pushed against the cliff until I was out to my waist. With this new range of motion I twisted around and looked down.
For starting underground, I did not expect to be so high up at the same time. An intense wave of vertigo hit me as I stared down the sheer drop, easily three or four stories tall. The ground below was relatively flat, with the cliff simply being perpendicular to it. It looked sandy… -ish, and there were a few larger rocks and boulders dotted around the area, most likely having fallen from the same cliff I was now sticking out of precariously.
I quickly tried to slip back into my little hole, but before I could the rock supporting me cracked. There weren’t exactly any handholds for me to grab onto, but that didn’t stop me from frantically looking for one. That was when I finally caught a glimpse of my own body, a bunch of bluish green, and at the same time the rock gave way beneath me.
“Ah!” And then I was falling.
Would my newfound toughness be enough to survive a fall? It wasn’t like I was just going to rely solely on it though, and I began flailing around to try and land in a better position, or to at least not land on my head.
Crack
I landed on my side, a poof of dust kicking up around me.
No pain. None whatsoever, but I couldn’t feel my right arm anymore. I didn’t immediately get up, I was still confused about the lack of feeling, and as the dust settled around me, nothing else was immediately obvious as objectively wrong.
Another moment of waiting and another moment of nothing, I slowly got to my feet, wobbling slightly as I found my balance.
My first observation? I could stand! And with a shaky step forward, I could walk!
“Ya-hoo!” I shouted out loud.
This was already so much better than before. Walking immediately beat out being pushed around in a wheelchair, and that went doubly so for being bedridden entirely. Whatever else may come from my wish, it was already worth it in my book.
Giddy, I held up an arm to get a closer look, and I didn’t stop smiling even as things got really weird. Just like I had seen before, my skin was a shiny bluish green, or teal color. It sparkled brilliantly in the sunlight, but upon closer inspection, it was slightly transparent. I could see through my own arm, I held it up to my face to check.
“Pretty…”
The same features continued along the rest of my body, going from my shoulder to my chest, down to my abdomen, hips, legs and feet, and I could only assume my head and face were the same. I was the same solid color and material all the way through.
I was also completely naked.
Though there wasn’t actually anything to cover up, my chest was bare and flat, and my groin was completely smooth. I was - at least physically - genderless.
“Oh…” That means I’ve lost something,
I traced my body with my fingers for a bit, eliciting a slight scraping sound wherever I touched. I was incredibly smooth, but not soft in any way, there was nothing I could poke or prod to get a feel for, I was just… solid.
Bringing my hand up, I tapped my index finger and thumb together.
Click Click Click Click
I snapped a few times.
Klink Klink Klink Klink
“Am I… glass?” I asked nobody in particular,
Trying to clap my hands, nothing happened, my right arm didn’t move, I still couldn’t feel it. Looking over, it was gone. Just gone. With only a jagged stump remaining just below my shoulder.
The brief spike in panic I felt was quickly overwhelmed with an increasing sense of familiarity. I had seen this before, but where? How? Why was it so familiar?
I looked over to the spot where I landed, and my arm was right there where it first broke off.
Slowlying walking over to my broken off arm, I tripped over my own feet, stumbling and falling face first into the gravelly sand.
Give me a break, it was my first time walking unassisted in almost ten years, in an unfamiliar body no less.
Luckily the ground was relatively soft, as anything harder would’ve likely resulted in a broken nose and a bunch of bruises, at least in my old body. I was something much harder now, it would take something like a fall from several stories to injure me. As seen earlier.
Picking myself off the ground, part of my cheek cracked and chipped off, falling into the imprint I had left in the sand.
Or not.
“Uh oh.”
That wasn’t good, if I could crack from just falling over, then I would have to be much more careful than I thought I had to be before. Looking at the piece of me in the sand, I realized something.
Why wasn’t I panicking?
I was some sort of glass or crystal now, when those things break, you can’t put them back together again, at least never in the same way they were. I had already lost two pieces, and quite an important one at that, despite both of them being right in front of me, they should be gone for good.
Is that not reason enough to panic?
Somehow still calm, I got up enough so that I was kneeling, then tentatively picked up the teal shard in the sand. Inspecting it closely, one side was round and smooth, and the other was angular and sharp. It really had come from my cheek, I could just barely see the difference at the bottom of my vision.
Not even an hour into this new world and I was already disfigured.
I clicked it back into place, holding it there for a moment. Unlike my arm, this piece wouldn’t be moving, so if I could find some way to keep it there, then I could at least look semi-presentable. I would need some sort of glue though, and with my transparency it would still be noticeable.
Pulling my hand away, I prepared to catch the shard once it fell, but it didn’t. It stuck, and remained stuck to my face even after tilting my head around to try and dislodge it. I tried to grab at it, but it wasn’t even loose, and I had to dig my nails into the crack just to get a grip and leverage it out.
Crick
It rebroke.
I held my cheek shard in my hand again, staring at it. Feeling around my face, there weren’t any new cracks or loose pieces, there wasn’t even anything in the sand below. Something broke, but everything else was fine, so it must’ve been the shard again.
I slowly pressed it into place again, and I felt it turn rigid. Once again it stayed in place, even though the crack was still there.
What was going on? Crystals don’t just stick together like that, and with the way it felt it was almost like the two pieces had fused.
Tracing the crack with a finger again, I stopped. It was thinner.
Was I healing? How was that possible? Crystal shouldn’t work that way, not even glass does that. Would that work with my arm?
What am I?
And why did I feel like this was the expected outcome?
I could figure that all out later, right now I would prefer to be whole again. Shuffling over to my arm, I grabbed it by the bicep and tried to stick it against the stump on my shoulder. It didn’t fit, and looking around there were a few smaller shards littering the ground.
“That’s going to make this harder.” I stated the obvious.
Puzzles were one of the few things I could do before becoming fully incapacitated, but three dimensional puzzles were a far cry from the traditional jigsaw, and there was the fact that I was working with only one arm, my non-dominant one, and on my own body.
Still, some shards were more obvious than others, and I could get them to stick to my severed arm as opposed to working from my shoulder down. It was a relatively clean break too, so it didn’t take too long to fix all the pieces in place, and I was left with a completed arm, if not still detached from my body.
Placing it against my stump, I waited for a few moments.
Phosphophyllite! That’s what I was! That’s who I was! That’s why the crystal was acting the way it was!
I remember-
Upon letting go of my arm, the weight of it broke whatever bonds it made, and it immediately fell back off.
…
What was I just thinking about? Phos… something? Crystals? I don’t remember.
I looked down at my broken arm again, I guess it was too large and complicated for it to simply stick, I would need to hold it in place until it fully healed.
No time like the present, I grabbed my arm again and-
Something growled behind me.
I froze, listening as heavy footsteps entered the sandy patch at the base of the cliff.
What was it? What was behind me? Whatever it was, it was large. Was it a bear? I think there was a forest nearby. Was I about to be mauled by a bear? But why would a bear maul me? I was crystal now, I was about as appetizing as a rock. Was its den nearby? There weren’t any caves I could see along the cliff. Would it even see me as alive? I certainly don’t look like a regular person, and I highly doubt I smell like one.
It wasn’t leaving. As far as I could tell, it had rounded the side of the cliff and stopped, and was currently just standing there. I could hear it breathing, I don’t think I had ever been happier to not be able to breathe myself.
I waited and waited and waited, but the mysterious creature just remained where it stopped, and I slowly turned to look at it.
It was not a bear, and I started wishing that it was.
Rather, it was some giant lizard, easily as big, if not bigger than the grizzly bear I was imagining. It had deep crimson scales, gigantic claws, and some gnarly horns on its head. It stood on all four legs, and had a long tail trailing behind it, lined with darker spines.
And it was staring right at me, with bright yellow eyes.
Again I froze, but it didn’t do anything else, it seemed content with just watching me.
“Okay…” I said slowly, getting up to my feet even slower, “I’m just going to… go now.”
It continued to watch me.
I took a step back, it took a step forward. My heart fell.
“You uh… You don’t want me,” I began, tucking my arm under my other arm and putting up my hand, “I won’t taste good.”
Another step back, another step forward.
“I’m made of yucky crystal, you’ll just break your teeth and… and…”
The lizard’s eyes widened at that, and it took two steps forward, opening its maw to reveal a bunch of sharp teeth.
That was the point where I turned and ran, booking it for the forest at the edge of the area. The lizard jumped into action behind me, snapping forward and clamping down on my hand.
The hand that wasn’t currently attached.
I felt my broken arm slip out of my grasp, and I quickly stopped to turn and grab at it.
“Hey! That’s mine!”
I caught it on the upper arm and pulled back. I didn’t get very far, considering I was now playing tug of war with a creature larger than a bear.
It growled at my defiance, and pulled back, dragging my feet across the ground. I managed to stay standing, and started trying to wrench my arm out of its mouth. The lizard followed the movements, and pretty soon I was being swung back and forth as it shook its head. Cracks started appearing around my good arm, but I refused to let go.
“Give it back! I’m not losing an arm right after getting a new one!”
The lizard, didn’t care, but it stopped shaking to slam me onto the ground. Both of my legs cracked, which continued all the way up to my pelvis and midsection, small chips breaking away and falling down.
Despite all that, I yanked on my arm, and it snapped at the elbow, sending me sprawling backwards and the lizard off balance. I hurried to my feet, set down the piece of my arm I had, picked up a stone, and threw it at the lizard.
The rock just bounced off its snout, but it squinted at me, then it proceeded to lap up the rest of my forearm and crunch down on it, shattering it into pieces and swallowing it.
I was speechless, staring at it with wide eyes as I fell on my butt.
It licked its lips, smoke billowing out of its nostrils. Large wings then unfolded from its back, and it took several more steps forward, baring its teeth.
“A-A D-D-D-Dragon?!” I shouted,
I tried scrambling away, but didn’t get very far in the sand, and the dragon continued its approach.
“St-Stay away!”
My hand slipped, and I fell flat on my back, the dragon stepping over me.
It breathed hot air across my face, and opened its mouth, a bit of saliva dripping down onto me. I held up my arm to cover my face and braced.
“Watch out!” Someone called from off to the side.
I opened my eyes just in time to see an arrow bounce off the dragon’s snout. It snarled, snapping upwards to look at its attacker. I looked up as well, watching as the bushes around us rustled, a clattering of hooves coming from each one.
I was saved! I hope. Whoever it was was going to need all the help they could get against a dragon.
Spying the arrow from before in the sand, I grabbed it and swiped at the dragon’s neck. The arrow head immediately broke off, and so did my index finger. The dragon turned its attention back to me and roared.
“Eep!” I covered my face again.
There was a clash of metal, the twang of a bowstring, and some sort of sparkling sound. The dragon roared again, and I felt it step away as it was attacked. Taking a moment to make sure it wasn’t focused on me, I rolled to the side and began crawling away, only to stop. I still didn’t have all my pieces.
My forearm was in the dragon and shattered. I don’t think I was getting it back anytime soon, but the rest of my arm and finger were still on the ground between me and the dragon. I turned around and started crawling towards it instead.
“Get back!” Someone called out,
Hoofsteps sounded out all around me, but I was focused on my task, I did not want to lose anything else. The dragon roared as it was pushed back even more, and bright light filled my vision as it spewed fire. I ducked for a moment, then continued onward, keeping my head low.
My finger was easy enough to find, it had dropped where I was stopped before, and it sparkled in the sunlight. My arm piece was further ahead though, and much closer to the dragon, which had begun to turn and snap at the approaching hooves. Shouts filled the air, which were quickly drowned out by another roar. I saw the dragon rear up on its hind legs, and a great gust of wind swept across the area.
Being so close to the ground, I was fine, but that didn’t stop one of the assailants from being blown into me. Since I was crawling, and they were thrown backwards, it was more like they landed on me, but we still tumbled through the sand a bit. I didn’t get the liberty of coming out on top, and as we came to a stop the back of my head knocked against a rock.
My face quite literally split in two, the large crack travelling all the way down my neck and into my chest. I had trouble keeping my vision focused, and suddenly lacked the strength to even lift my head, so I could only watch as the horse that landed on me picked itself up.
There was no rider, or saddle for that matter, and it looked a little small to be a full fledged horse, more of a… pony? It was wearing armor, a mix of cloth, chainmail, and plate, and as it stood up straight to dust itself off, it took a moment to fix its helmet and grab a dropped sword from the ground with its mouth.
This just went from strange to stranger.
Before charging back into battle, it looked over my fractured body and snorted, “There goes our profit.” It said in a gruff voice.
Stranger to strangest.
I couldn’t even lift a finger to stop him, and I was left alone in the battlefield. Looking over, I could see the dragon at the edge of my vision with more of the riderless ponies attempting to surround it. They were playing it safe, keeping just out of range while holding position and applying pressure in pairs. Their coordinated movements reminded me of wolves with large prey, only the roles were flipped, and it didn’t look like they were going for the kill.
Slowly but surely, the dragon was backed out of the area, and when it realized how much ground it had lost, it flared its wings and roared, only for the ponies to double the pressure. They jabbed spears at it, shot arrows, and swung swords, forcing it off its feet. It roared again, then huffed, and simply took off, flying into the sky and over to the smoky mountains I had seen earlier.
It was gone, just like that, and here I was paralyzed and missing an arm because of it.
There were some minor cheers from the ponies, but a shrill whistle cut through them, and they immediately fell in line just out of view.
“Captain Morningstar, sir!” A new voice called out,
“Report.” A third ordered, I could only assume it was this ‘Captain Morningstar’
“We drove it off, sir.”
“Good, thankfully it was only a juvenile this time.” Captain Morningstar said,
That thing was only a juvenile?! I shudder to think what an adult dragon would be like.
“Any casualties?”
“No, sir.”
“Just a few cuts and bruises from the crystal, captain.” A familiar voice cut in, the swordsman… swordspony
Right, because it was my fault you landed on me.
“Survivors?” Captain Morningstar continued,
“None, sir. I’m not even sure there was anypony here to begin with.”
What? But I was right here! Could they not see me?
“I swear I saw somepony getting attacked by that dragon,” Another new voice joined the conversation.
“Are you sure it wasn’t just the statue it was eating?” The swordspony asked,
Were they referring to me?
“It moved though,”
“Yeah right, and I bet it was the one shouting ‘give it back!’ and ‘stay away!’ too,”
They were! Did I really look like just some statue to them?
“I think some poor sod thought they could get away with harvesting gems from this deposit, not knowing it’s prime dragon territory.”
“Why the weird statue then?”
I could tell I wouldn’t like this guy already.
“An estranged artist maybe? One that couldn’t afford to buy the gems outright. I know I would be pretty upset if a dragon decided to munch on my things.”
There was some shuffling as the group crowded around me, all of them were ponies.
“They sure picked a safe place to work.” The swordspony said,
“How would they even sell it? There’s no way they could trade that much crystal and not get investigated.”
“Maybe they weren’t looking to sell, at least not here anyway.”
“Guys, I hate to break it to you, but we’re not detectives. What does it matter who made it or why? It’s broken now.”
“Even still, it looks like it could still fetch a pretty high price.”
“And how would we sell it, smartass?” The swordspony demanded,
“The next state?”
“Like we wouldn’t get searched at the border. How would we even transport this much crystal anyways?”
“We could break it up, move it across in pieces. It would be easier to hide that way.”
They were going to sell me?! Nevermind that, they were going to break me into pieces to do it! I had to let them know that I was alive, but I still couldn’t move.
“That’s not our job and you all know that.” Captain Morningstar interrupted,
“But nopony would actually know that this was all here.”
“What about the alleged artist?”
“What would they even say? ‘Oh me oh my! Some mean dragon ate my priceless work of art that I was making in secret! I just have to be reimbursed!’”
“It’s more trouble than it’s worth,” Captain Morningstar said, “Our job was to scout, not to collect, we’ll be checked when we return, and the entire area will be investigated afterwards.”
“Not even a little piece?” The swordspony pleaded, “As a reward for fending off that dragon.”
“The only reason we fought that dragon was because somepony may have been in trouble. With no casualties or survivors, they must’ve fled, you can ask them for a reward when you get the chance, now let’s clear out.”
The swordspony huffed, but stayed silent as the group began packing up to leave.
They were leaving…
Have to let them know I was here…
“I… I-I… I’m… h-h-here…” I choked out, barely a whisper in the breeze. I put all my focus into moving, managing to lift my hand a few inches.
It was all for naught however, as none of them took notice.
“Umm… Captain.” A voice directly behind me began,
I couldn’t look up at them, but I could see the others turn to look, then all their gazes landed on me.
I don’t know what else I expected really. I guess maybe other people, or people like me, gem creatures, not sapient, talking, colorful, tiny horses. They were odd, but not entirely unexpected, which I found even odder. I feel like I’ve seen them before, but this was already pushing past many of the fantasy tropes I know. When you get reincarnated into another world as something non-human, or human adjacent, you typically have to deal with regular humans as a result.
Not ponies.
The cart I was riding in jolted as it hit a rock, breaking me out of my thoughts. Instead I looked around at the group that had rescued me. There were seven of them, an odd collection of unicorns, pegasi, and earth-ponies.
…
Earth-ponies?
Where did that term come from? It didn’t sound very mythological, but I guess regular ponies weren’t like pegasi or unicorns, so they didn’t need a mythical name. Why not just call them ponies then, and where did I even learn it from?
Nevermind that, there were seven of them, two in the cart with me, one pulling it, and the rest were walking alongside it.
Sitting across from me was by far the smallest of the group. They were a pegasus, and wore very light armor over their lime green fur. They had a quiver on their back, and were toting around a rather large bow, which they were currently fiddling with as they avoided eye contact with me.
Towards the front of the cart was a unicorn, dark blue fur and slightly lighter robes. There was a book strapped to their side, with a few small vials stashed in the belt with it. Obviously a mage, but no staff or cool hat to complete the look. They were simply gazing off into the passing forest with a calm expression.
Did that mean magic existed? How exciting!
On one side of the cart was the swordspony from earlier, along with a cloaked individual. The swordspony was a brownish red, and was wearing the same armor from earlier, though his helmet was off, revealing a short, brown mane. An earth-pony, and he was stealing looks at me every other second.
The cloaked individual was more difficult to tell, as a lot of discernible features were obscured under cloth. They were a bit shorter than the swordspony, and it didn’t look like there was a horn underneath the hood. As for wings, I couldn’t tell, but there was a crossbow holstered across their back. They kept their head forward and walked straight.
Pulling the cart was easily the largest. They were closer to an actual horse than a pony, and was decked out in full plate armor. From what little I could see in the gaps was a dark grey, almost black fur. No wings or central horn, but there were two metallic horns coming out of each side of the helmet like a bull. A gigantic hamaxe rested on their back, creating a rhythm of sorts as it clashed with the rest of the armor at regular intervals. They also looked back at me from time to time, but much less frequently, more in favor of keeping their focus on the path ahead.
On the other side of the cart was Captain Morningstar. He also wore pretty heavy armor, and true to his name carried a decently large morningstar. A spherical head with large spikes, nicks in the metal showed that it had seen plenty of use. He was a lighter shade of blue compared to the mage, but much less vibrant. He had a grey mane, a full beard, and a face full of scars. No wonder he was the captain.
Lastly, there was the medic I think. He carried a sword, but wore much lighter armor than the other meleeists. He had wings, so a pegasus, and had bright yellow fur with maybe a twinge of orange. A large pair of spectacles adorned his face, and his eyes were obviously focused on something other than what was right in front of him. He definitely wasn’t a fighter, and the only reason I called him a medic was because he was the one that patched me up.
That drew my gaze back to myself, and my bandaged body. I wasn’t too sure on the effectiveness of bandages on crystal, but at least they could hold the shards in place as I healed. The medic’s face when he saw some of my minor cracks begin to fix themselves was priceless. It was then that he wrapped up my head in an attempt to fix my face, and that was when I learned that I had hair. Of sorts…
It was made of the same crystal as the rest of me, but as individual strands it was surprisingly flexible. It acted like normal hair, but when it clumped together it looked more like solid chunks of crystal, and it naturally flowed in ways that made almost leaf-like shapes. The reason I didn’t notice it before was because it was so short, with even the longest parts stopping just above my shoulders. It was quite heavy too, so it didn’t flow in the breeze as much as you’d expect.
It was pretty much the one part of me that didn’t get damaged during the fight with the dragon, but once my head was pressed back together it only took about ten minutes for me to regain movement in the rest of my body. That also shocked the medic quite a bit, which was made even worse when I asked them to help collect my missing body parts.
My finger was the first to be reattached, where it was then heavily bandaged, and it regained function thirty minutes later. Attempting to reattach what was left of my arm caused it to immediately break off though, so I was advised to wait until it was fully healed before trying again.
That would take some time though, as the rest of my body was heavily damaged, and upon trying to stand up, my left foot sheared off just above the ankle. I had to be carried to the cart, where I was then informed that I was far from light.
The swordspony was smacked by several of the other group members for that comment.
Once situated in the cart, I tried to get comfortable by drawing my legs close to my chest. Both of my knees promptly shattered from the pressure, which earned me another warning from the medic, and an hour or two of slowly piecing them back together. They were then promptly mummified along with the rest of my legs and lower body. ‘Anywhere that was cracked was to be covered,’ to quote the medic.
I actually ended up going through their entire stock of bandages, much to the chagrin of Captain Morningstar, but since I wasn’t actually dirtying them, they were fine with taking them back once I was healed. I guess good quality bindings were hard to find around here.
Testing my finger again, I glanced at the medic to make sure he wasn’t looking before grabbing my arm chunk. I placed it against my stump for a moment, then pulled it away, flipped it so that it was the right way around, then tried again. Once it was snug I simply held it and waited.
…Phosphophyllite…
I’ve thought about it before, back when I put my arm on again the first time. Where did I know that name from? It wasn’t mine, it sounded more like the name of a mineral, ‘-ite’ gives that away. ‘Phospho-’ probably means phosphorus, which means it’s one of the main components of the mineral. That just leaves the ‘-phyll-’ part.
…Phyll…
Phyllon.
Leaf?
Okay, what does that answer? My hair looked almost leaf-like, so maybe that’s what I’m made of now, but that still doesn’t explain why I know the name. Nobody here had uttered that word, and it wasn’t like I’ve had many chances to hear people here talk in the first place, so it must’ve come from before.
Believe it or not, I didn’t get out much in my previous life, slowly succumbing to a terminal illness will do that to you. I never had the chance to go to a museum, or study geology, or even collect cool rocks, so why did I know the name Phosphophyllite? I think I might’ve had a relative that collected minerals, but if I remember correctly then we weren’t very close, even before my extended family stopped visiting.
So if it wasn’t a part of my studies or surroundings, then it must’ve been a part of my media. I needed to think of Phosphophyllite as a person, not Phosphophyllite as a mineral. That was starting to make more sense, so what have I seen that had a character named after a mineral?
There was a cartoon I caught the end of one time… Steven… something? There were gems… I think… That could walk and talk… But I don’t think they were like me… They didn’t… break.
There was… an anime… something about the moon. That sounded closer, but I think that one had a bunch of girls and astronomy and… sailors?
Another anime then, one about… gems. Gems that could walk and talk and break when hit. That sounded promising. I think… they were on a deserted island… fighting for their lives from… the… moon? Why would the moon want these… gems…?
A sparkle caught my eye as a beam of sunlight filtered through my hair.
For their beauty? That sounded more or less correct.
Anyway, so these gems are on the island, and they’re all different, different colors, different personalities, different skills, different hardnesses. And Phosphophyllite was…
…was…
Weak.
Okay sure, but Phosphophyllite was also…
…also…
…they were also…
The main character?
…
That’s right! Phosphophyllite was the main character, the protagonist! He was a weak gem in a hard world with so much to prove and no way to do it. And in the end he…
…he…
…At the end of the story, his end goal was to…
I… don’t remember.
Well whatever, that’s who I was now, and that’s another trope ticked. The ponies were still a mystery though, however with their errant familiarity, I’ve probably seen them before too. Which brings up another question.
Why don’t I remember these things?
I watched the anime, I read the manga, and yet I can barely remember any of it. Phosphophyllite was the main character, but why? What did he do? How did he change? What happened to him in the end?
There were other unexplained things too, like why I was so confident about being able to reattach limbs, or why I vehemently opposed losing any pieces. I highly doubt I would’ve fought a dragon if it had my regular severed arm, so why did I try to fight one now? Was it because there was a chance I could get my arm back? I know what I said earlier, but even still I’d readily trade my arm for my life, or is there some other reason I didn’t want to lose any limbs besides just losing limbs.
I acted on motivations I can’t remember, so why can’t I remember them?
Or maybe it’s because I can’t remember them.
Both times I reattached my arm, the name Phosphophyllite came up. I remember that now, but the first time was more than just a name, a bunch of stuff I can’t remember. I didn’t have my whole arm the second time, so is that why I only got a name?
Was it that every time I lost a piece of myself, I lost a piece of my mind as well?
...
That was a horrifying thought, and there was nothing in my mind telling me that it wasn’t true, no hidden intuition or obscure hints to go off of.
“Um…” The pony across from me began, their voice obviously female. “Forgive me for asking, but what exactly are you?”
“Fletch!” The mage exclaimed, lower, but also female, “You can’t just ask somepony that!”
“I’m just curious!” ‘Fletch’ replied, then she looked away, “I didn’t know how else to ask…”
The swordspony strided up to the side of the cart, “That’s something I’d like to know too. It’s not everyday you see a living gem.”
“You don’t see them, period.” The medic called from the other side of the cart. “I can’t say I’ve ever seen your kind before. What about you, Indigo?”
The mage answered, “I’ve seen nothing of the sort, but are we really just going to put it all out there like that?”
“Gem is pretty.” The pony pulling the cart announced,
“It’s okay,” I said. To be honest, I was glad to be taken away from focusing on the ramifications of breaking and losing pieces. “But first, why don’t you tell me about yourselves? I’ve never seen ponies like you all.”
I don’t care if it was with ponies, I could finally hold a decent conversation with someone again. This was the best! And I could probably glean some information as to why I found them familiar.
“Oh, um… I guess that’s fair, should I go first?” Fletch looked around at all the others for a moment, and with no further response she continued, “I’m Flechette, or Fletch, and I like flying, sweets, and um…” She held up her bow, “Archery.”
“Good shot?” I could hardly contain my smile as I asked,
“Uh…”
“Very.” Indigo answered for her,
I looked over to her next.
“I’m Tyrian Indigo, I study magic and alchemy, and I like-” she shot a look towards Fletch, “to dye things.” She flashed her colored robe,
“Looks nice.” I commented, then turned my attention to the ponies walking alongside the cart.
Fletch also turned around, and we both stared at the cloaked pony for a second.
“Dagger.”
…
“Dagger?” I asked, frowning slightly.
Silence. No further answer, just the name and that was it. At least the voice sounded a bit masculine.
“Oh don’t mind him,” the swordspony stepped in between, “He’s just our resident grouch. Doesn’t like talking, always whispers, and doesn’t beat around the bush. A total pessimist.”
“I’ll kill you.”
“See what I mean?”
“Uh… huh…” I said slowly, “And you are?”
“Just a handsome, charming, and honorable knight.”
“Humble too” Indigo added,
“Verily. Sir Iron Brand, at your service, m’lady.” He gave an overexaggerated bow, earning several eye-rolls from the others.
M’lady?
“Or as we like to call him: Rusty.” Fletch added on, “And you’re not a knight anymore, remember?”
‘Rusty’ gave a small pout, “That doesn’t mean I can’t act like one.”
“Would be nice if you acted like one all the time,” The medic called out from the other side,
That elicited a few chuckles, but I hesitated to join in just yet. As much as I disliked this guy, I didn’t know him well enough to make fun at his expense.
“Okay, so what do you like?”
“I like getting paid.” Rusty shrugged,
I kind of want to take that back now.
“Alright enough about Rusty.” The medic interrupted, “Who’s next?”
“Me.” The armored giant turned his head around, “I am Maul, and I like you.” Something flashed underneath the slits of his helmet.
I would call that smile borderline creepy, but he sounded sincere enough. “Thanks.” I nodded slowly. That just left the medic and “Captain Morningstar,” I said preemptively.
“Yeah.” He affirmed,
“And do you like anything?”
“I like the satisfaction of getting a job done.”
That brought my smile back, this guy was awesome, both in looks and personality.
“Don’t forget about me!” The medic complained,
I turned in my seat to look at him, “How could I? You’re the reason I’m talking right now.”
He smiled at that and puffed his chest out. “But of course, nopony can deny the quality of Dr. Duck.”
Okay, that caught me off guard, and I couldn’t stop myself from snickering. Dr. Duck’s expression turned a bit, but before I could say anything, Rusty laughed even louder.
“If you think that’s bad, just wait until you hear his real name!”
That certainly set the rest of the group off, and I was left with a bit of confusion as the others laughed amongst themselves, mainly Fletch, Indigo, Maul, and Rusty.
I finally looked at Dr. Duck, who had gone from looking quite proud to really sheepish, “That bad?”
He looked away, “Yeah.”
“Well what do you like?” I didn’t really want to press the issue.
“Uh… Doctoring mainly, but I also like… cooking I guess.”
“Alright.”
“Well there you have it.” Fletch concluded, “Now why don’t you tell us about yourself?”
“Of course, what would you like to know?” Depending on their questions, I may or may not be able to answer with my spotty memory.
“To start, what’s your name?”
Oh, that’s easy. “My name is…”
…
My name is…
…
It’s…
…
…
I… don’t remember.
My gaze landed on my broken arm again, and I stared at it for a very long time. How many of my memories were located in just my forearm? I mean it was my dominant hand, but wouldn’t something like my own name be more spread out or harder to separate?
They were all looking at me expectantly, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t even begin to say my name. There was nothing on the tip of my tongue, and even though I remember being called something on several occasions, the actual word was simply not there.
I had to give them something.
“Phos…”
Fletch’s ear flicked, and she leaned closer, “Sorry, what was that?”
