Lustrous Harmony

by Conglomerate

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Interlude 1

Prologue

Oh? You’re still here?

…

You didn’t go with the others? Why not?

…

You don’t want to go with the others?

…

I see.

…

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 pray for you.

Chapter 1

Last thing I remember before dying?

I made a wish of some sort.

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.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

"Houseki no Kuni" by Haruko Ichikawa, aka "Land of the Lustrous" in English, is a hidden gem of a story. There is an anime, done almost entirely in 3D, and looking quite good at that, but it only has twelve episodes. The manga has twelve volumes, and is fully complete: the last chapter was released in April earlier this year.

I highly recommend both watching and reading the series. I won't give much details on the plot, as part of the experience is not knowing anything about the world. It is an interesting mystery that takes place in an interesting setting with interesting 'people'.

If my depictions of this glass character have caught your interest, then you can find much more in the anime and manga, without waiting for me to publish more chapters. You can find the anime on Amazon Prime, as for the manga... there are... less than ethical methods of reading it, same as the anime, but you didn't hear that from me.

Edit: As of 10-7-2024, the anime is no longer available for streaming on Amazon Prime, there is currently no way of legally streaming Land of the Lustrous. You can still buy it outright though.

Moving on to this story.

As said before in a blog post, this is one of the three displaced stories I plan to write. My HiE trifecta, if you will.

This is the bone, and I have plans to make it
loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong.
Because of this plan, it will be separated into three different parts, with each part getting a few arcs of their own.

This is Chapter 1, Part 1, Arc 1, but I'm not going to name the chapters like that. I will most likely create a chapter guide in the description, but that is for when the time comes.

In reference to my work schedule, I will continue publishing new chapters weekly, and in order to make sure that parts are completed in one fell swoop, I will be writing them beforehand, and publishing them while I work on the next. As such, Arc 1 is almost completed, but there will be breaks between each section. This is to avoid both burnout, and what happened with my other story, Mystic Machinery.

Mystic Machinery will be continued, don't worry. In the meantime, tell me what you think of this story. Since the Houseki no Kuni(Land of the Lustrous) fandom is relatively small, I am excited to see how many others will take interest in this. I've only found one other crossover on this site, so if you enjoy the series, let me know.

And please, avoid telling spoilers in the comments. I will do my best to give warnings for spoilers in the story if/when they come up, but nothing major is expected to come in this first arc.

Chapter 2

Slowly 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-I… I s-sur… surv-vived…”

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

♦☻♦

Chapter 3

Ponies.

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?”

“My name is Phos.”

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

My name is…

Shake zula, the mic rula, the old schoola, you want a trip, I’ll bring it to ya

The entirety of Arc 1 is completed. Look forward to it.

Creating a whole team of original characters isn't something easily done. Personalities, looks, names, a character needs all of these things, and it took me a bit to come up with all of them. Names were the most difficult, besides obvious things such as signature weapons, a name has to correlate with the character's personality and race. Rusty was the hardest, followed by Maul, then Dagger, and Duck, who was originally going to be a green colored pegasus as well. I'm glad I decided otherwise.

Word of advice: Don't use MLP name generators, they suck.

So, who is this new cast of colorful characters? What do they do? Why were they at the cliff? And what will they think of our newly named Phos?

Find out in the next chapter. ♦☻♦

Chapter 4

“So, Phos.” Fletch continued, “What do you like?”

I looked back up at her, “I uh… don’t really know.”

“How does that work?” Indigo asked,

“Well…” I slumped in my seat, “I haven’t actually done much, so I guess I’m still searching for something I like. At the moment, I suppose I like exploring, seeing what’s out there.”

“Does getting attacked by a dragon count as exploring?” Rusty asked,

“Yeah…” I sighed, holding up the stump of my arm, “Got to see that one firsthand.”

“I’m amazed at how you're so calm about this.” Indigo said,

“I really shouldn’t be, but I guess I’m still holding onto hope. I don’t suppose there’s any chance I could get my arm back, is there?”

“If the dragon ate it,” Captain Morningstar began, “Then it’s as good as gone, you won’t even see a piece of it again.”

“Thought so,” I looked down again, “Wait… why did the dragon eat my arm?”

“Dragons eat gems, duh.” Rusty said,

“Dragons eat gems?” I repeated,

“It’s like their favorite snack, everypony knows that.” Fletch explained,

“I didn’t…” I whispered,

“Which begs the question,” Dr. Duck said, “Why were you even out there by yourself to begin with? Surely you know how dangerous it is to wander off on your own in the wilderness. I cannot tell you how many explorers we’ve seen come and go just because they thought they could go alone.”

I don’t think I would gain anything from lying to them, “It wasn’t like I was there by choice. I had just come out of the ground.”

It took a moment for what I just said to sink in, and I was met with stares from all of them. Even Dagger’s hood tilted to look at me.

“You came out of the ground?” Indigo asked,

“Yeah, just squeezed right out of the cliff face.”

There was a pregnant pause.

“I mean, it makes sense with you being a gem and all…” Dr. Duck began,

“But what exactly are you?” Rusty finished,

I didn’t exactly have all the information myself. “It’s like you said, I’m a gem,”

Cue looks of confusion.

“One of the Lustrous.” I tried adding,

“‘One of?’” Fletch repeated, “You mean there are more like you?”

I thought about it for a moment. “Maybe, I haven't seen any around though.”

“And when you say you just came out of the ground…” Dr. Duck trailed off,

“I mean earlier today.” I looked towards the setting sun,

“That makes you… what? Less than a day old?” Rusty deduced,

“I’m definitely older than a day,” I responded, “I’ve only been here less than a day.”

“Then how old are you?”

Indigo groaned, and to a lesser extent so did Fletch. “It’s no wonder you have no luck with mares.”

“I’m curious!” Rusty defended, “And I hardly think that applies here.”

They continued bickering, though I stopped paying close attention, I was more interested in answering his question. How old was I? I didn’t actually have a solid answer, I stopped counting after the days started blending together, and weeks seemed to pass in a matter of hours. I remember the doctors telling my family I wouldn’t live past twenty, but I also remember having a huge celebration for my twenty-first birthday. Add on a few more years of being barely conscious, plus however long it took for my gem body to form in the ground, as I highly doubt I just appeared in the rock, and the total is…

“Twenty-six, I’m twenty-six years old.” Give or take a couple thousand years.

“Wow, that’s a long time to spend underground.” Fletch commented,

“Heh, actually none of those years were spent in the ground,”

“Then how long were you in the earth?”

“I don’t know, how long does it take for gems to form?”

“A day or two?” Maul asked,

“Well potatoes grow in the ground, and they take a couple months,” Rusty began, “So like what? A year?”

“Both of you are wrong,” Indigo interrupted, “Gemstones take much, much longer to form,” she turned to me, “but that would make you upwards of several millennia old.”

The rest all stared at me in shock, and I just shrugged, “Hey, it’s not like I was awake during that time.”

“But when were those twenty-six years then?” Dr. Duck asked,

“Easy, that was before I became a gem.”

Rusty did a double take, “How do you become a gem?!”

We all looked at him for a bit.

“You really want to know?” I asked,

“Ye-” He cleared his throat, “Yes.”

“Alright, I’ll tell you what I know.”

Everyone saddled up closer to the cart to listen in.

“First, contract an incurable disease.”

Expressions immediately fell.

“Second, watch your life crumble to pieces around you, friends will abandon you, and your family will grow distant. Third, become so weak you can’t even breathe without assistance, and you can’t even stay awake long enough to hold a conversation.”

“Um…” Fletch began,

“Fourth,” I continued, “live like that, for years, far longer than you were expected to. And finally, once you’re far past the tipping point, you pray, with all your might, to whoever will listen, for change, and hope you get mercy. Then, you wake up in the ground, and crawl your way to the surface in a brand new body, one that breaks in ways you’d never even realize.”

“That’s horrible.” Indigo said,

“Well, that’s how I did it I think. But enough about me, that’s all in the past, I’m here now and I’m ready to take on the world.”

“Huh…” Rusty trailed off.

“You’ve all told me a bit about yourselves, but what about what you do? I see you travel and work together, you even fight dragons together, are you some sort of adventuring group or something?”

Captain Morningstar cleared his throat, “Mercenaries, though our line of work tends to coincide with what adventurers do often.”

“Oooh, sounds fun, can I join?”

There was another round of shocked looks, everyone was looking at me as if my head had split open again. I actually checked to make sure it hadn’t.

“We don’t exactly do this for fun…” Fletch began,

“Does that make it not fun?” I asked,

“Well no, but…”

“Why would you want to join us?” Indigo asked, “We’ve literally just met today.”

“You seem like an interesting bunch. I’d love to join as long as you’re all okay with it.”

“No.” Dagger stated,

“Oh…”

“Now let’s not be too hasty here,” Rusty butted in, “I still want to know why you want to join, and not just because it sounds like fun.”

“Um… Okay,” I thought about it for a moment, “It’s like I said earlier, I’m searching for things to like, and this could be one of them.”

“So you’re going to start with mercenary work?” Dr. Duck questioned,

“It seems like it covers a broad range of activities,” I shrugged,

“That’s not the point, you don’t become a mercenary just because you want to, especially with no prior experience.” Captain Morningstar said,

“I’m willing to learn.” I tried,

“It’s dangerous work though,” Fletch added, “Why not try simpler or safer things first?”

That was another good point, and I took a moment to mull it over.

“Because I have nowhere else to go.”

“Is that true?”

I nodded, “You’re the first ponies I’ve met, and based on what I’ve heard, walking around as a living gemstone isn’t going to end well.”

“I know what I’d do if things were different.” Rusty muttered,

“Right there,” I pointed at him, “You saved my life though, mostly," I touched my arm stump, "so I consider myself to be indebted to you guys. I want to do whatever I can to help, even if it means carrying your things for a month or two.”

“With one arm?” Dr. Duck asked,

“I can be useful in other ways.” I argued,

“What can you do then?”

“I don’t know,” I said with a smile, “but I’m really excited to find out.”

The others weren’t sharing my enthusiasm, and for the most part just looked uncomfortable.

“What about this then,” I began, “I distinctly remember one of you asking for a piece of me as a reward for fending off that dragon.”

They all eyed Rusty.

“So why not take the whole thing? As a reward, you get me!”

“To do with as we please?” Rusty asked,

“I would prefer not to be broken down and sold. I’m willing to do anything as long as I remain whole.”

“You seem oddly eager to submit yourself to us.” Indigo said,

“It’s better than the alternative.” I said,

“But what if you don’t like it?” Fletch argued,

“I won’t know until I try it.”

There were some unsure looks passed between each of them, most directed towards Captain Morningstar, who just looked a bit perturbed.

“We can’t just accept a new member, can we?” Indigo asked,

“Are there any rules for it?” I asked,

“Only our own.”

“Well what are they?”

“Well… when we do go out recruiting, they have to show potential and perform well on a trial run.” Indigo explained, “Is that right?” She turned to Captain Morningstar.

“More or less.” He responded,

“Do I show potential?” I asked,

“You definitely show something.” Dr. Duck said, “it’s hard to get a gauge beyond that.”

“We haven’t really seen you in action yet either.”

“Actually,” Fletch began, “Now that I know for sure that you are alive and were actually moving during the dragon fight, I think I saw what you did with my arrow.”

I held up my bandaged finger while all the others looked at Fletch.

“If I were in the same position, I don’t know if I could’ve done that.” She admitted,

“You guys were up against a dragon, and I was desperate.” I explained, “Still didn’t do very much though.”

“Wait,” Rusty said, “Is that why the dragon was distracted? No wonder it let itself get surrounded so easily.”

“I don’t know if it was a turning point in the fight,” Indigo began, “but it was definitely helpful.”

“I can agree with that.” Dr. Duck added,

“Phos is helpful,” Maul stated,

“Unnecessary and idiotic,” Dagger said,

I frowned, “Can’t win them all…”

“Hold it.” Rusty said, wrapping a leg around Dagger’s shoulder, “Dagger here only says bad things, so you have to pay attention to what he doesn’t say. Did he say what you did wasn’t helpful?”

“No.”

“Did he say it was the wrong thing to do at that moment?”

“I don’t think so.”

Dagger started to bristle under Rusty’s grip.

“And did he say that he still doesn’t want you on the team?”

“Uh… No?” I looked closely at Dagger, trying to make eye contact.

He remained silent.

“Then there you have it.” Rusty finally let go,

I could see the glint of a blade disappear from beneath Dagger’s sleeve.

“Alright then,” I turned towards Captain Morningstar, “Does that mean I qualify for a trial run?”

He just sighed and placed a hoof between his eyes. “Let me think it over. We should get back to town and report our findings first. Hopefully we can get there before nightfall.”

“Yes!” I whispered, doing a little fist pump.

Fletch laughed a bit, “For the record, I don’t mind having you on the team either. It would be nice to have another girl on the team as well.”

“True that.” Indigo exhaled loudly, leaning back. “I can only tolerate so much of having to live with these animals.”

That got a laugh out of me, but something about what they said was weird. There were other instances too, stuff that wasn’t making much sense to me.

“Girl?” I asked,

Both of them stared at me, and Rusty burst out laughing.

“No way! Are you saying you’re a guy?!”

All the others turned to look at me as well.

“I…”

This was embarrassing, not because they were questioning my sex, but because I couldn’t actually remember. I never got the chance to use what I had before, and it wasn’t very relevant with my way of life to begin with. My body started failing before it finished developing, which meant I hardly went through the normal course of action. I think I had a predisposition for women, but that doesn’t guarantee I was male, and from what I remember of my childhood, it was very neutral, nothing pointing directly one way or the other.

None of that mattered now though, considering what I was, which I suppose held the answer.

“I-I’m neither.” I blurted out. It wasn’t like I could stop myself from getting flustered.

“What do you mean ‘neither’?” Rusty demanded,

“Uh… Um…” I shut my eyes tightly and shook my head, “I’m a rock.” I stood up in the cart, “There’s nothing down there!” and fingered my crotch in an extremely lewd manner.

Some of the bandages pulled away, revealing nothing, just the smooth, crystalline surface that was still slightly cracked.

“Huh…” Rusty trailed off again, staring at it.

Indigo blinked, “I suppose that’s still better than another stallion.”

I then became keenly aware of just how little I was wearing, and that only a few bandages were what was covering my lower body, and I had just made it so that they weren’t in some places. Just because there wasn’t anything there didn’t mean I couldn’t feel shame. I quickly sat back down.

“So yeah,” I hurriedly finished, “Neither.”

Their assumptions made sense. Nothing about me was masculine, I had a slim figure, a delicate face, longish hair, and my hips were about as wide as my shoulders. My voice was a bit higher as well, which was the first time I really paid attention to it. As opposed to the dying rasp I had before, my voice was much lighter and peppy. I was just grateful I could speak coherently again.

“I hope that’s not a problem.” I muttered,

“Why would it be?” Fletch asked, “You’re already way different than us, at this point I wouldn’t even be surprised if you could fly or cast magic or even do both.”

I gave her a small smile, “Funny you should mention that.”

Again with the wide-eyed stares.

“Joking, joking. I’m joking.” I held my hand up, then knocked on my chest, “I definitely can’t fly.”

“But magic?” Fletch asked, stealing a glance towards Indigo.

“I don’t think so,” I shrugged, “Besides, I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

Indigo leaned forward to inspect me, “As a living gemstone, you could probably hold quite a bit of magic, but you don’t have a horn, Phos, so there’s no way to direct it. Not all magics require something as a focus though…” She pursed her lips and squinted, “You could probably be enchanted.”

“Enchanted?” I repeated, “What would that do?”

“Any number of things.” Indigo began, “There are enchantments for protection, utility, cosmetics, and even offensive purposes. I’ve seen gems enchanted to spew fire on command.”

“If I remember correctly, that was when we were hired to take care of a fanatical pyromancer and his cult.” Dr. Duck recounted, “I don’t think I’ve ever used so much salve in my life.”

“He literally melted my sword when I attacked him,” Rusty joined in, “Almost got my armor too, and that would’ve ruined my pretty face.”

“And yet it still got ruined, somehow.” Indigo taunted,

Rusty kicked the side of the cart.

“How’d you beat him?” I asked,

“We pushed him into lake.” Maul answered, “He drowned.”

“Wow… You think I could get enchanted to do something like that?”

“Well…” Indigo drew out the word, “Enchantments can get pretty costly, and on a gemstone of your size, it would quite literally cost you an arm and a leg.”

I raised my arm to look at its sheen. “How much do you think I’m worth as a whole?”

“Couple hundred bits at least.” Rusty said,

“More.” Indigo said,

“A thousand?” Fletch guessed,

“Way more.”

“A hundred thousand?” Dr. Duck tried,

“Even more.”

“There are numbers more than a thousand?” Rusty was at a loss,

“There are numbers more than a hundred?” Maul was even further behind.

“One or two million?” I asked,

Indigo looked over to me, “I’m surprised you know that number, but I’d say even a little more, upwards of ten million bits.”

“Bits?” I asked, ignoring her previous comment,

“Currency, here.” She dug around her robes a bit, pulling out a similarly colored bag. Reaching into it, she placed a rather large gold coin in my hand.

“Woah.” I turned it in my fingers a bit. It was crudely minted, closer to a pebble than an actual coin. The roundness naturally made it quite thick, and the rough design of a pony’s face on both sides was faded on the edges. Did I say it was large? Because it took up nearly a third of my palm.

“And this is pure gold?” I asked, handing the bit back,

“An alloy actually,” Indigo answered, tucking the purse back into the folds of her robes. “Prevents alchemists from transmuting frauds, believe me, I’ve tried.”

“Cool…” I frowned a bit, “And how much is a bit worth?”

“Two bits can buy like a week’s worth of rations for a single pony.” Fletch said,

I did some quick math under my breath, “Ten million… divide by two… seven days in a week… three hundred sixty five days a year…”

“I don’t know where you’re getting those numbers from, but you’re worth more food than the entire country can produce in a year.” Indigo interrupted,

“That’s more than the lives of this entire group.” Captain Morningstar deduced,

“Way more, with that kind of money, you could afford to hire us for the rest of our lives, and then some.”

“Uh oh, does that mean people- err ponies will come after me?”

Captain Morningstar grunted, “We might get one or two stragglers who think they can make it big, but the problem with all that wealth is that it’s inaccessible. You’re a giant piece of finely cut crystal, and a rare one by the looks of it, not to mention that you’re alive. There’s literally nopony who could afford to purchase you, and anypony looking to steal will be putting a target on their back by setting a precedent. I doubt you’ll go freely anyways.”

“I can think of somepony who could afford you.” Rusty said, “And may even want to as well.”

Captain Morningstar tsked, “You’re right, he could, and probably would.”

“Who?” I asked,

“The lord of this state.” Dr. Duck answered, “In fact, he’s the one funding all these expeditions to gem deposits. We’ll be reporting to one of his subordinates about what we found at your deposit.”

“Oh, okay.” I said,

…

“Oh yeah,” Dr. Duck continued, “Captain, how are we going to report this?”

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

♦Conglomerate's Crystal Corner♦

The gems have no gender, they are completely asexual.

Then why did I call original Phos a he? You might ask.

That's just how they talk. They use masculine pronouns because that's just what they know. The gems don't even have a concept for gender, so it makes no difference what they use. There is a bit more nuance to it, especially because some of it gets lost in translation, but it is important to know that I will be referring to original Phos as a he, and current Phos as... well, that depends.

Apparently this makes Land of the Lustrous quite popular within the LGBT community.

Chapter 5

I pulled my hood lower, trying to avoid eye contact with the two guards watching us. Or more specifically, just me, as they’ve done nothing but stare at me ever since I entered the building.

The building, of course, being the home of a high ranking official, one who was apparently in direct contact with the lord of the state. The lord who was vicariously funding the search for, development of, and function of various gem mining operations across the country. It was safe to say that he was rather fond of crystals.

I was made purely of crystal, hence my current disguise.

I decided that I would rather stick with the mercenaries than be sold off to the lord, and most of the others agreed. In order to do that though, we needed to convince both the lord and his cohorts that I wasn’t worth his time or money. So right before entering town, we went in search of a nearby source of water, where I promptly slathered myself in mud.

In the anime and manga, the gems used a powdered makeup to mask their luster. It was done as a cosmetic choice, not out of necessity. I didn’t have that liberty, nor did my new friends have any makeup to use, so we used the next best thing.

It worked well enough as ‘skin’, and as long as it didn’t dry out too much it wouldn’t crack when I moved. I was thankful that the sun was mostly gone when we arrived. My hair however, was a different story. It wouldn’t accept enough mud to cover its shine, and bright teal strands poked through at regular intervals. The mud wasn’t strong enough to simply cake on, and it would immediately slip off when it wasn’t being held in place.

So instead of trying to cover it up, we added to it. We stuck leaves and flowers in my dirtied locks, even going so far as to add patches of grass in some places. We made it look more like a plant than a gemstone, and following that theme, we stuck strips of bark to my arms and legs, and more leaves to my joints.

I thought it looked pretty decent, but upon arriving at the manor I was shrouded in a cloak and shuttled inside, where I was then put under the scrutinizing gaze of the guards.

“Don’t mind them,” Indigo leaned over, speaking just loud enough for the guards to hear, “They’re just not used to seeing a nymph like you.”

‘Nymph’ was the term I had suggested, a forest spirit. My cover story was that I was investigating the forest near the border of the volcanic lands, stumbled upon the gem deposit, and was promptly attacked by a nearby dragon. The mercenaries arrived in time to save me, but not my arm, which was burnt away by the dragon’s breath. We burnt the tips of some of the bark along my arm for authenticity.

“This isn’t going to work.” I whispered back, “I should’ve stayed with the cart.”

Incredibly grateful for being saved, I offered the group my assistance, even pledging to leave the forest in order to repay them. They accepted, and now we were here, waiting for Captain Morningstar to finish his report in the other room.

“That wouldn’t have worked either.” Indigo replied in a hush, “They’re very thorough with this kind of thing. Our cart’s most likely being searched right now, and they’ll probably be monitoring us to make sure we don’t go back and collect a hidden stash. It’s better for you to be right here right now to disprove any of that.”

I stayed quiet, gripping the part of the cloak that covered my knees. I was being careful not to move too much, as every slight movement caused another dusting of dirt on the cushion I was sitting on. I suppose that was part of the reason I was wearing a cloak to begin with; they didn’t want me dirtying up the place.

The official’s manor was immaculate by the way. White painted walls with golden trim, large windows, high ceilings, lanterns evenly spaced along the walls, white and black tiles on the first floor, polished hardwood on the second. All the furniture was well made and well decorated, with velvety cushions and lacquered surfaces. It was the type of thing you’d see in a story book, or one of those isekais that I remember seeing a lot of.

The door on the other end of the room clicked open, and Captain Morningstar stepped out, followed by a much more refined looking pony. They wore a maroon long coat with ruffled cuffs, had an off-white coat, a ridiculously thin pencil mustache, and a slicked back mane.

“Sir Manuscript.” One of the guards said,

They bowed, then so did the rest of the ponies in the room. I took that as a cue to bow myself, placing my good arm under me and the other facing away.

“I would like to see this ‘forest nymph.’” Sir Manuscript said,

“Right over there, sir.” Captain Morningstar pointed at me.

I looked up, and met eyes with Sir Manuscript. I tried as hard as I could to smile, but I don’t think it came out very well.

“Stand up.” He commanded,

I stood up.

“Show your face, remove your cloak.”

I hesitated, but did so, pulling the hood back, grabbing the clasp, and taking it off. I could see some of the dandelions we stuck in my hair spring up, and a couple blades of grass flitter down. Sir Manuscript looked at me from top to bottom, keeping a level gaze and a stern eye. In an attempt to cover up my non-existent private parts, I pasted a bunch of leaves around the areas. Indigo then took the chance to add some vines, which made the whole getup look fancier, and drew attention away from the obvious prints in the mud from where I applied it.

It also looked like I was wearing a bikini, if not just lace underwear.

I don’t think there was ever a time I wanted to cover up more than I did right then, but I managed to hold still as Sir Manuscript finished his observations.

“What is your name?”

“Uh- Phyll, sir.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Phil as in Philip?”

“C-Chlorophyll, sir.” I corrected,

A scientific name in a fantasy setting, sue me.

“Ah, that makes much more sense.” Sir Manuscript said, “And am I to understand that you are from the forest bordering this town?”

“Yes sir.”

“And that this group of mercenaries saved you from a dragon?”

“Yes sir.”

“And you have decided to assist them in return?”

I feel like if I had both hands I would be clasping them so tightly my palms would crack. I only had the one though, so I had to deal with repeatedly rubbing my fingers against my palm.

“Yes sir, I will do whatever I can to repay my debt to them.”

“Verywell.” He looked me up and down again, his scrutinizing gaze landing at the ring of dirt dust gathering around my feet, then following the trail back to my seat. “Nervous?”

I froze, “It’s uh… my first time out of the forest.” I briefly made eye contact with him, “I’m not used to these uh… strange dwellings.”

I could only hope that my terrible lying came off as just nervousness and anxiety.

“How often do nymphs leave the forest?” Sir Manuscript asked,

“It’s- It’s unheard of,” I stuttered out, “N-Nothing outside the forest requires our attention… Um, until now that is.”

“And why haven’t I heard of your kind before? To my knowledge, there’s a whole community in this town that relies on the forest’s bounty to survive. Why have none of them even mentioned seeing ‘forest nymphs’?”

This was the question I was dreading, it was the major hole in my cover that we couldn’t patch.

“W-We don’t show ourselves to ponies often. Usually only when it concerns the fate of the forest as a whole… Ponies that forage or cut down a few trees aren’t seen as a problem.”

It was still better than going as I normally was though.

“And despite all the species of the forest being well cataloged, your kind has never been seen once? Not even accidentally?”

“We have ways of concealing ourselves to… prying eyes.” I clutched my stump, realized something, then held it up. “It uh… doesn’t seem to work on dragons though.”

Sir Manuscript inspected the charred wood surrounding my broken arm for a moment, “I’m sorry to hear that you’ve lost your arm.”

“Oh, um… don’t worry… it’ll grow back… I think…” I added on at the last second.

“I wish you a swift recovery then,”

“Th-Thank you,” I bowed, causing a bit more dirt to flake off,

I think I saw Sir Manuscript’s eye twitch, but his face remained composed,

“Alright, I’ve seen enough. You may leave now. Thank you for your report, Captain Morningstar, I will forward it to Lord Tungsten with haste. Your payment will be delivered upon completion of inspection.”

“Yes sir,” Captain Morningstar bowed again, “Let’s go.”

The rest of the team stood up, and I readily grabbed the cloak to put it on again.

“And if there really are dragons in the area, then we may have further use of your services still.” Sir Manuscript concluded,

“Yes sir.”

We all shuffled out of the room, then were guided by the guards through the hallways, back to the foyer, and down the central stairs. Along the way there were several maids scrubbing the floor. They were cleaning up my mess, as I was walking around barefoot while covered in mud. Most of it had worn away on the way back, making it so my feet clicked on the tile with every step, but at least I wasn’t making it worse. I wanted to apologize to them, but we were practically shoved out of the manor and onto the street without another word.

As soon as the doors closed behind us, a variety of held breaths were released.

“I cannot believe that worked,” Fletch began, hurrying to the outer gate, “I was so sure that the disguise would fall apart, or that Manuscript would see through it.”

“I tried really hard not to move too much.” I admitted,

“And you looked great,” Indigo said, “You looked like some plant creature through and through, a real forest nymph.”

“You looked like you were going to crumble to pieces the entire time.” Rusty commented,

“I was nervous…” I looked away,

“I know, and it was hard to not believe you myself.”

“You think?” I asked,

“I’m glad we got out of there so fast,” Dr. Duck added, “I don’t think Sir Manuscript wanted you tracking dirt through his house any longer.”

“It’s almost completely dried out,” I flexed my hand a few times, causing the mud shell to crumble away. “I think that went pretty well.”

Captain Morningstar stepped in front of me, stopping the group as a whole. “Why did you tell him your arm would grow back?”

“I-” I blinked, “It just kind of came up in the moment. I thought it would make me sound more authentic.”

“Okay, but what do you think is going to happen when he sees you again and you still don’t have an arm?”

“I… uh…” I shrank under his gaze.

“Relax, will you?” Rusty butted in, “Phos didn’t guarantee it would grow back, and besides, don’t trees take a really long time to grow?”

“Years.” Fletch answered from the back.

Captain Morningstar squinted, “Fine.” He pulled away, “but you better tell him that next time.”

“Next time?” I stood in place as the rest of the group passed by, “You mean I’m gonna have to dip in mud again?!”

“Oh yeah.” Captain Morningstar said, “And frankly, I think you should be covered up the entire time you’re in town.”

I looked at my rapidly deteriorating disguise as I caught back up, “But that means I’ll have to put on some more mud, right now!”

“And?” Captain Morningstar asked, “Would you rather be found out?

“But-” I glanced at the rest of the mercenaries for help, but they all held similar expressions.

“It’s the safest option, Phos.” Fletch said,

“Can’t I just wear the cloak?”

“What about your arms and legs?”

“Gloves and boots.”

“And your face?”

“A… mask?” I tried,

Captain Morningstar thought for a moment,

“We don’t have any of those,” Indigo rejected me instead,

“Can we get them?” I asked,

“Not now, and not soon.”

“We can’t afford them?” I guessed, “Aren’t we literally about to be paid?”

“We are.” Rusty corrected, “Not you. You’ll get your cut when you start doing jobs.”

“And where are we even going to get gloves and boots made to your size?” Indigo asked,

“...” I didn’t have anything else to say to argue, so instead I just pouted,

“Look,” Indigo sighed, “I can make you some gloves, but it’s going to take time, and shoes are a whole other issue.”

“Okay…” I muttered,

“And I’m sure we can find, or even make a mask for you.” Fletch added,

“Okay.”

“But until then, you’re going to have to cover up with mud.” Captain Morningstar finished,

I crossed my arms and looked away, but nodded, “Fine.”

It felt like I was being scolded, though I guess I was acting pretty immature. I adjusted my stance and uncrossed my arms.

“Good, then go and find some mud, then meet us at the inn.”

I blinked, “I don’t know where that is.”

“Right.” Captain Morningstar grunted, “Fletch, go with Phos.”

“Okay,” She stepped over to me, “I think I saw a puddle in the road that way.”

The rest of the group broke off, and we started heading in a different direction.

As soon as they were out of sight I pulled my hood back and started picking the plants out of my hair. I wasn’t too worried about being seen, we were already well into the night, and most of the lanterns around the buildings were out. The streets were empty, with only the pale moonlight to illuminate them.

“You don’t want to keep those in?” Fletch asked,

“They’re going to wilt by tomorrow, and I’m not going to take off my hood in front of anybody anyway.”

“What if we have to meet with Sir Manuscript again?”

“Then we’ll find more flowers,”

“Oh, then can you give me a few?”

“Sure.” I grabbed a couple dandelions and handed them to her, glancing over just in time to see her eat them.

She was a pony afterall, which I suppose made her an herbivore. Does that mean they ate grass?

“You like those?” I asked,

“I don’t mind the taste. Indigo hates them though,”

“Huh.”

It didn’t take long for us to reach the puddle, and with a quick check to make sure there were no other ponies around, I got to work.

“Shoot, the dirt’s a slightly different color here.” I realized,

“Is it noticeable?” Fletch asked,

“I can’t really tell in this light. We’ll have to see when we get back.” I said, touching up some of the more cracked areas.

Starting with my legs, I really only had to go along my joints, everything else stayed relatively the same. My torso didn’t need any work, it was going to be covered regardless, and the leaves were staying where they were. Next was my face, where I touched up my cheeks and lips, any part that moved needed attention. Lastly was my arm, and since I only had the one, I just stuck it in the mud and pulled it out.

“How are your injuries?”

“Better,” I answered, “I think most of the major cracks are gone, at least I can walk without issue.”

“I’m still amazed that you can do that, you were practically in pieces earlier today.”

“And as long as I have all the pieces, I can keep coming back.” I added, applying some more mud to the bark strips. “Okay, that should do it, I don’t know how I’m going to sleep in this though.”

“Do you even need sleep?”

“Y… Yes?” I wondered,

It seemed reasonable to believe that I didn’t need sleep, but that’s definitely not what I felt like.

“I can say for certain that I’m tired.” I said, “And that sleep sounds wonderful right now.”

“Let’s head back to the inn then.”

“Lead the way.”

Fletch continued down the road, and we soon turned in the same direction the rest of the group went in earlier. We walked in silence for a bit, I was just enjoying the ambience of the night. I could see the stars in the sky surrounding a crescent moon. I could hear the chirping of crickets and the late night calls of some birds. A slight breeze rustled some nearby grass, bringing a chill to the mud I just put on, I didn’t mind it.

“Hey…” Fletch stopped in front of me. “Do you really want to become a mercenary?”

“I mean.” I slowed down as she turned to look at me, “It wasn’t my first choice, but it’s not like I’m not interested,”

“What was your first choice then?”

“Hmm…” I thought about it for a moment,

What did I want to do? What was the first thing I thought of doing since I got here? And before that?

“Anything. Anything and everything.”

“What?” Fletch asked,

“I want to sing, I want to dance, I want to see what the world has to offer.” I clarified, “I spent so long unable to do anything, and now I’m in a position to do something. As far as I’m concerned, it could be farming, mercenary work, or even slave labor. I don’t care, as long as I can do something. That’s why I want to stay with you guys, I don’t want to risk being put up for display in the lord’s manor or something.”

“Must be nice…” Fletch muttered,

“It feels pretty nice.” I spread my arms out and took a breath of fresh air, metaphorically of course.

“Ponies like us…” Fletch continued, “don’t get to choose.”

Oh.

This wasn’t about me.

“What makes you say that?” I asked hesitantly,

Fletch looked back, and lifted the padded skirt covering her butt… flank? There was a marking on her fur, and it was a bit hard to tell, but it looked like an arrow, a rather detailed one actually. I could make out the tip, shaft, and… fletching.

“Is that…” I squinted in the dark, “A brand?”

“It’s a cutie mark.” Fletch answered, “It shows all I’m good for.”

So it wasn’t just a coincidence her name was Fletch and she was good at archery. She said she loved archery though, so that wasn’t the problem.

“You don’t want to be a mercenary?” I guessed,

Fletch nodded, “Some ponies don’t care how they get to use their talents,” she hung her head, “but as a mercenary, I find my bow turned on other ponies more often than not.”

“Why not be a soldier- wait no, that would be even worse.” I thought for a moment, “Aha!” I snapped my fingers, “An adventurer!”

“Do you really think it’s that easy?”

I stared at her for a moment, “Well if you’re asking me that then it’s probably not.”

“Adventurers have to provide for themselves.”

“Isn’t that the same for mercenaries?”

“Adventurers don’t get paid.”

I frowned, “Is there no guild or something?”

“A guild for adventurers?” Fletch asked, “What would they even do?”

“Uh… Handle quests and payments, have rules and regulations?”

“Why would anypony do that?”

So this wasn’t just fantasy, it was realistic fantasy, despite all the colorful talking ponies.

“To legitimize adventuring as a job?”

“That would be nice…” Fletch trailed off,

“So you can’t just get a new job…” I tapped my chin a few times as I thought.

“I can’t just leave either.”

“What?” I asked,

Fletch froze, and looked away, “N-Nevermind. Let’s just get to the inn.”

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

Phos needs to find someone a new job?! :pinkiegasp:

Anyway, etymology is fun, and this is a good opportunity to learn more about our own Phos.

Chlorophyll: 'Chloro' and 'phyll', literally just means 'green leaf', coming from the Greek words 'khlōros' and 'phyllon'

Philip, derived from the Greek Phillipos, means 'horse-lover' with the words 'philos' and 'hippos'

I'm sure you can imagine that calling yourself Philip in front of an equine who knows what it means would be strange. Since proper spelling was never divulged, we can assume that Sir Manuscript sees Phos as 'Chlorophil', or 'green-lover', which isn't the worst thing to be called as a forest nymph.

Yay word jokes!

Edit: 1-21-2025

Got a bit of art here for ya folks, a friend of mine drew a sketch of Nymph Phos for free, how crazy is that?

...

Wait a minute. Phos, Nymph. Nymph Phos.

Nymphos?

Chapter 6

The rest of the walk to the inn was awkward. Fletch didn’t say anything, and I didn’t know what to say. That meant it was silent, oppressively so, as I could no longer focus on the ambience instead. Thankfully, as we neared the inn, which was one of the few buildings left with any lights on, I could see Rusty and Dr. Duck pull up with the cart.

“Hey!” Rusty waved us over, “There they are! Did you get all mucked up?”

“Ugh,” I rolled my eyes.

“...Yeah…” Fletch muttered, looking to the side,

It didn’t take long for them to sense the mood.

“Did something happen?” Dr. Duck asked,

“Um…” Fletch began, “W-”

“We just talked,” I held my arm in front of her, “Fletch asked me about my life before, and I told her.”

They glanced between us for a moment, while Fletch just looked at me.

“And you’re okay with that?” Rusty asked,

“I’m much happier where I am now, so I don’t mind looking back.” I said, “You got the cart?”

“And then some!” Rusty replied, he moved around the back and dragged a sack closer to the edge, it rattled and clinked heavily. “Payday.”

“Cool, is everyone else inside then?”

“Should be,” Rusty hefted the sack and began heading his way to the front door. “We’ll be eating good tonight.”

I went to follow, but Dr. Duck stepped in front of both me and Fletch.

“Is it really that bad?”

“It’s…” Fletch glanced at me again, “Yeah.”

“I can go into it if you’d like.”

“Um… Maybe later.”

“Yeah,” Rusty said, “I don’t want to be feeling bad right after getting paid, now let’s party!”

He pushed his way inside, Dr. Duck frowned slightly, then followed suit. I made eye contact with Fletch, and gave a small smile. She had her problems, and she certainly didn’t need me digging into them. With that, I threw my hood up, and made my way into the inn, with Fletch trailing behind.

Inside was about what I expected, rough cut wooden furniture, simple oil lanterns and candles, and incredibly faded and worn tapestries as decoration.

There were no smooth surfaces in sight.

A small bar took up a side of the room, which probably doubled as a check-in desk, a single pony was manning it. There were a couple of others situated around the room, some picking at food, others enjoying drinks from tankards, a few doing both. On the other end was a staircase, most likely leading to the actual rooms of the inn. I looked just in time to see another patron disappear around the corner at the top.

A much larger, and more familiar group sat up against the far wall, with several mismatched tables and chairs pushed together. There was already a platter of food in the center, with what looked like bread, vegetables, and a couple pieces of fruit. Rusty and Dr. Duck were already making their way towards them, and we weren’t far behind.

The bag of bits was unceremoniously dropped on the table.

“Money.” Rusty grinned,

“I take it we passed inspection?” Captain Morningstar began,

“Money.” Rusty pointed to the bag,

“How much did we make again?” Indigo asked,

“Money.” Rusty shrugged,

“Job was worth a hundred,” Dr. Duck said, taking a seat,

I sat down next to him, “Should you really be saying that out loud?” I leaned in closer and lowered my voice, “Aren’t you worried about thieves?”

They all looked at me for a moment, before a variety of weapons were slammed onto the table.

“Nevermind then,” I leaned back in my chair, “What’s next?”

“We enjoy the night.” Indigo said,

“Food.” Maul added,

“And drink, hopefully,” Rusty said as he turned to flag the pony at the bar, “A round for the table!”

“In a minute!” They shouted back.

Even the staff was rough and tumble, this place was full of character. I couldn’t help but smile, this really was a fantasy come true. Eventually a tankard was placed in front of me, and not long after a plate was slid across the table.

“Eat.” Maul said,

I looked at it, there was a small loaf of bread and an apple. As much as I wanted to dig in and eat solid food again, there was an issue.

“Oh no thanks, I’m not hungry.”

“Don’t be like that.” Captain Morningstar said, “We’re not going to spend money on clothes for you, but we’re not gonna starve you either.”

“No really, I’m not hungry.”

Indigo looked up from her meal, “Have you eaten at all since you got here?”

I thought back on the events of the day. “Guess not.”

“But we found you before noon!” Dr. Duck said, “How are you not hungry?”

“I’m just not.” I shrugged, “I’m not thirsty either.”

“Then I guess you won’t be needing this then,” Rusty snatched my tankard for himself.

“Uh, sure.”

There were a couple of worried looks cast in my direction.

“Do you think it’s shock from the arm?” Indigo asked,

“Doesn’t hurt or anything. Never has actually.” I moved my stump around, which gave me a good chance to look at the mud. The stuff I applied earlier was a slightly lighter tone than the layer underneath, the contrast wasn’t high, but it was definitely noticeable if you looked closely.

“Still,” Dr. Duck began, “You should probably eat something, even if you don’t feel like it.”

“Okay.” I shrugged,

The bread looked hard and tasteless, but the apple looked rather crisp. I grabbed it carefully as to not get much dirt on it, wiped it a bit on my cloak, and took a bite. I think I remember apples tasting much better, or it was more accurate to say that I wasn’t tasting anything now. I felt the apple skin break against my teeth, a good amount of juice flow down my lips and into my mouth, and the chunk I had bitten fall on my tongue.

Yet I couldn’t taste anything, not even as I started chewing. That was when I noticed that my mouth wasn’t wet normally, and that only the apple juice was currently making it wet, nothing else was being added. Once everything was all chewed and mushy, I went to swallow, only for nothing to happen. There wasn’t even a semblance of the motion, the food was pushed to the back of my mouth and… nothing.

It wasn’t like I was choking either, so I just sat there for a few moments, trying to figure it out.

“Oh…” I said with my mouth full,

If it wasn’t going down, then I had to spit it back up.

“Bleh,” I covered my mouth as best as possible as I let the apple mush fall out. I then ran my tongue along my mouth a few times to clear it out some more.

“What was that about?” Dr. Duck asked, “Was it rotten?”

“Nope, I literally can’t eat,” I said,

“What?”

“Seriously, there’s nowhere for it to go.” I opened my mouth and stuck a finger all the way to the back of my throat. It simply ended there, and I wasn’t gagging from the action either.

“That’s a mildly disturbing sight,” Indigo began, “Could you stop that please?”

“Suhr,” I pulled my finger out of my mouth,

“So, you can’t eat.” Dr. Duck deduced,

“I don’t think I need to.” I said,

“Then how else do you get your energy?”

“Hmm…” I thought for a moment. I feel like the answer should be obvious, but nothing was coming to mind, was it something I forgot?

“Is it magic?” Fletch guessed,

Indigo gasped, “Are you a golem?!”

“I don’t believe so.”

“Golems don’t move like that,” Captain Morningstar said,

“Not golems we’ve seen.” Indigo corrected, “With the right material or enough magic refinement, you could get something that moves just like us. Phos might be an advanced golem.”

“That can speak and think for itself?” Dr. Duck wondered,

“It’s possible.”

“Are golems alive though?” I asked,

“Technically…” Indigo thought for a moment, “No, they are animated constructs.”

“Then I’m not a golem. I’m definitely alive.”

“If you say so, then there must be some other way you’re getting energy…”

I shrugged, “I’m not too worried about it, if I’ve made it this far without any issues, then there shouldn’t be in the near future either.”

“And if there are?”

“I’ll deal with it then.” I answered, “Now, who wants the rest of this?” I asked, pushing my plate forward.

The piece of bread was immediately grabbed by Maul, but the apple remained where it was.

“I promise you won’t get sick from something I’ve touched.” I held my hand up,

“You say that,” Fletch began, “but you’re covered in mud, some of that you just got from the street.”

“Oh. Right.”

“Eh, that hasn’t stopped me before,” Rusty said, grabbing the apple and taking a bite, “Who knows, maybe I’ll even get that incurable disease you were talking about earlier.”

“Don’t even joke about that!” I exclaimed,

A lot of eyes turned to look at me, even other patrons of the bar. It took me a moment to realize what I just did, and I shrank back under my hood a bit.

“Trust me, you don’t want it nearly as much as you think you do. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, not even my worst enemy.”

“You turned out alright.”

“After more than a decade of suffering!”

“Lay off, Rusty.” Indigo chastised,

“Okay fine.” Rusty took another bite of the apple, spraying chunks everywhere, “I won’t joke about it.”

“...Thank you…” I muttered, sinking in my seat.

“Are you alright?” Fletch asked, “You said you were okay with talking about the past before.”

I sighed, “There’s a difference between talking about my experience and talking about willingly choosing it. But yeah, I’m fine, just… tired.” I closed my eyes and pressed a few fingers against my forehead. It was getting harder to keep them open. “I hate to ask, but where can I sleep?”

“We have a couple rooms rented upstairs.” Captain Morningstar said,

I extended my wrist, “Can I pick any of them?”

“Depends.” Rusty said,

“On what?”

“Whether you want to sleep with the guys or girls.”

I opened an eye to look at him.

“Our room will probably be quieter.” Indigo added,

I pointed at her, “I’ll take it.”

“Should be the third door on the left.”

“Does it need a key?” I asked,

“Oh right, here.” Indigo scooted back in her chair to search her robes,

Fletch beat her to it, “I’ll go with you.” She stood up.

“Lead the way.” I managed a small smile while slowly getting to my feet.

“Sweet dreams, you two.” Rusty grinned.

I just waved him off, I didn’t have the energy to argue anymore. Fletch led me all the way upstairs and to the room described. Then she took out a simple key and unlocked the door.

“You can use my bed if you want.” She said,

“I’m not using a bed like this,” I gestured to my muddy legs.

Besides, beds have long since lost their appeal to me.

“Where are you going to sleep then?”

I looked into the dim room, “Floor or chair,” I pointed to each of them,

“Is that okay?”

“I don’t care.” I was already pulling my cloak off,

I draped it over the back of the chair, then promptly sat on the wood floor and laid down. It honestly wasn’t that bad, with a body made of crystal, it was less about comfort and more about support. Since I was just laying on my back, I wasn’t in an awkward position, so I could just sit there, unmoving.

Fletch was looking at me strangely, “I think I might head back down…”

“Alright. I’ll be here.”

“I can see that, and um… thanks… for earlier.”

“Don’t mention it, I’m sure you have your reasons.”

Fletch nodded, and began closing the door,

“Oh, also,”

She stopped.

“I am willing to listen, if you really want to talk about that.”

“...Okay…”

She closed the door, and I was left in darkness. I closed my eyes and waited, but sleep didn’t immediately find me.

I suppose it’s difficult to voluntarily go to sleep, but it’s been a long time since I voluntarily put myself in a position to sleep. Instead my mind began to wander, the events of the day beginning to catch up to me.

I really was in a different world, as something other than human. It wasn’t a dream either, I would’ve pinched myself to make sure, but my body doesn't work like that, and I can’t feel pain anyway. So instead I looked for other giveaways, I remember the whole day clearly, and I was still fully conscious, that immediately ruled out a fever dream, despite the strange setting, and I definitely died beforehand, which meant this wasn’t some dying vision.

I had died. Why wasn’t I sad about it?

I guess I was happier for the release more than anything, but I wasn’t the only one. My family, who tried their hardest to preserve my life, even against my wishes at some points, would also be affected by my death. I didn’t hate them for it, I could understand wanting to keep me around, to hold onto that last bit of hope, but I had long since accepted myself as a burden. I wasn’t a burden any longer, and though my passing may weigh heavily on their minds, it will leave room for something else entirely to grow.

Really, I was happy for them, wherever they may be now.

Ideally, the best case scenario would have been to miraculously come back to health, then to go back to my old life and live happily, but I wasn’t complaining about my current situation. There were so many new things to experience, so many strange things to discover, and so many people to meet. Or ponies, I should say.

In just over half a day, I fought* a dragon, made new friends, got a job, lied to the face of a government official, and learned more about myself than I ever thought possible. It was all so exciting, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for tomorrow.

Speaking of… it looks like… it’s about that…

…time…

…

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

*getting your arm eaten by a dragon does not count as fighting one

What illness did Phos have? Guess.

Chapter 7

Sunlight streamed through the window on the other side of the room, illuminating a section of the floor. From where I was laying, it only covered my legs, but it was still a nice feeling. I stared at the ceiling for a moment, processing.

I was awake.

I was still here.

I could move.

I was still down an arm.

And I was still covered in mud.

With a grumble, I sat up, scooting over so I could bask more in the sun. As a result, chunks of mud that had dried over the night cracked and chipped off, and it would only get worse in direct light.

I sighed, “I’m going to need more mud.”

“You think?” A voice came from the side,

Looking over, Indigo was sitting on one of the beds, staring at me.

“Oh, uh… Good morning?”

“Morning,” she replied,

I smiled, it was a rare day when I could greet someone with ‘good morning’ and have it actually be morning. Standing up, I looked over the small piles of crumbled mud I was leaving behind, more of my natural luster was showing through than it was the night before.

“There’s got to be a better solution for this.” I muttered, sweeping what I could into a single pile. Some of the bark pieces had even popped off, so I gathered them up as well.

“You’re right.” Indigo said, “I can’t imagine a lot of ponies would be happy with you dirtying up every place you go.”

“I’m not either,” I stepped over to the chair and grabbed my cloak, shaking it a bit, a lot more dirt fell out, “But this cloak only covers so much. Thanks for it by the way.”

“Eh,” Indigo rolled her hoof, “It was old and running out of uses, I’m just glad to finally get rid of it so I can replace it with something better.”

“Speaking of something better…” I traced my arm with my stump,

“That’s still a little ways off, I’m afraid,” Indigo began, “I still need to find some good fabric to use, which won’t be cheap, and I’ll be making it from scratch, so it might not come out perfect. I don’t even know where to begin with boots though, I doubt you’ll wear shoes like ours, and you need it to cover most of your legs…” She thought for a moment, “but who would even make such a thing…? An armorsmith maybe? That would also be pretty pricey.”

“I was thinking of something more intermediate.” I rubbed off some more dirt, “Something that won’t dry out and crack.”

“That rules out a lot,” Indigo said, “If you don’t want it to dry out, then it’s not something you can apply wet.”

“Exactly, something like a powder.”

“Like that makeup thing you were talking about earlier?” Indigo asked, “I dabble a little in cosmetics, but I’ve never heard of a powder that will not only stick to shear surfaces, but won’t simply fall off or stick to anything else.”

“You can’t make it?”

“It doesn’t sound possible, but I’ll admit it has my interest, and could be a fun challenge. I do charge commission however.”

“So when I have money?” I asked,

“So when you have money,” Indigo answered,

“Alright,” I put on the cloak, “I suppose I’ll head out to go find some more mud.”

I looked around the room, now that there was actually light, I could see its complete layout. There were two beds, one in each corner, with a window on the wall between them. Indigo was laying on the one to the right, and at the foot was the chair I put my cloak on along with a few other items I assumed were hers. On the other side of the room, there was a small chest at the foot of the other bed, which was empty and unkempt.

“Where’s Fletch?”

“Probably out with the others.”

I blinked, “Where are the others?”

“Probably out in town.”

“Out on a job?” I gasped, “Are we missing out?”

Indigo snorted, “No jobs today. After a big one like yesterday’s, we’re usually set for a week or two. Of course we still have to look for the next one, but we usually just go off to do our own things during that time. Though I can think of a few that might be sleeping off a hangover right now.”

“Huh… So what are you doing?”

“Waiting here,” Indigo gave a smile that didn’t look very sincere, “Somepony has to watch over the newbie while they get acquainted.”

I grimaced, “Oh, sorry.”

“Don’t worry, you’re going to be helping me all day in return.”

“Uh, alright.” I was in no position to refuse after all. “Helping how?”

“I need to stock up on a few dye plants in this region, along with some other materials. We’ll be going back into the forest.”

“Okay,” I checked my cloak and legs to make sure I wasn’t too exposed. Since the cloak was made for a pony, it was actually quite longer in the back than it was in the front, and since I was taller than most, with only Maul even close to meeting my eyes, I only needed to worry about the front where it barely covered my knees. “I’m ready.”

That being said, it also dragged on the ground in the back unless I was actively holding it up.

“Good, we were going to leave when you woke up anyway. Took you long enough.”

“Again, sorry.”

Indigo laughed, “You know I didn’t believe Fletch when she said you just laid down on the floor and went to sleep. Then I come up to turn in and lo and behold, there you are, laying on the floor like you had tipped over. I almost went to get the others to come see.”

“There weren’t any other beds to use,” I said, pulling my hood down a bit,

“We still could’ve given you a blanket or something! Something to keep you off the floor.”

“I didn’t mind it.” I said, “I’m harder than the floor.” I think,

“Warm then,”

“I don’t get cold.”

Indigo blinked, “Do you get hot?”

“I don’t believe so.”

Her horn glowed, and a flame sparked to life at the tip. It disconnected a moment later, floating over in front of me. I’ll admit I was curious as well, and I extended my hand to stick a finger in the fire. I held it there for a moment, then moved it upwards so the top was just below the tip of my finger. I could tell it was hotter than the environment around it, but it wasn’t hot to me, and I wasn’t getting burned.

“Neat.”

“Says the talking rock,” Indigo said, her horn stopped glowing, and the flame flickered out a moment later. “Let’s get going.”

“Right behind you.”

She adorned her robes, and threw a pair of bags across her back.

“Can I help carry anything?”

“With one arm?”

“Don’t you have like a backpack or something I could use?”

Indigo stared at me for a moment, then tilted her head back, “Saddlebags, and I’ve already got them.”

“Alright.”

She pulled open the door, and I followed her out as she closed it behind us and locked it. The inn looked just about the same as I remember it did last night, the hallway was bare, and the downstairs only had a few patrons mulling about. There was a new pony behind the bar, but we didn’t pay them any mind.

Out in town, it looked a lot different in the sun. Now that I could actually see a difference in color, it was rather drab, maybe even more so than it was in the night since it didn’t have the shine of the moon. There were ramshackle wooden buildings with thatched roofs, a dirt road that looked like a pain to navigate when it rained, and a strange abundance of garbage. There were rotted planks, broken barrels and crates, and various pieces of rusted metal littering the sides of the street. I suppose the average fantasy depiction was typically a bit cleaner than reality, but I wasn’t expecting there to be this much.

Once and a while we passed a house that had a tiled roof, or had stucco on the sides, and further ahead the street was actually paved with cobblestone. If I remember correctly that was the direction of Sir Manuscript’s manor, and with that came a general increase to the quality of the buildings.

“Are we in the… lower class of town?” I asked,

“If you want to call it that, sure.” Indigo replied, “The inns are cheaper in this area.”

“Makes sense.” I nodded,

With the sun came the hustle and bustle of day, and quite a few ponies were out and about. Some pulled carts or carried items, while others simply walked and talked, the rise of conversations simply becoming another part of the atmosphere. They minded their business, and we minded ours.

“What’s this place called anyway?”

“Emulwood.”

“Which is a part of…?”

“The Tungsten state.”

“And that’s a part of…?”

“Equestria.”

I paused for a second. That last name sounded really familiar, nevermind the fact that a country of ponies was named after ponies, I’m certain I’ve heard it before. Yet my memory eludes me, it was familiar, but not familiar enough to remember. I feel like I would be frustrated if I had a better grasp of its importance, but I didn’t.

Oh well, I was already a fictional character, so it wasn’t a stretch to assume I was somewhere from another piece of media I’d seen. Not knowing the details just meant I could learn them later.

Eventually we came to a junction of sorts, and Indigo turned away from the developing town. Continuing onward for a bit, we quickly found ourselves at the edge of the forest. It wasn’t where I had first arrived at town, but I could tell it was pretty close.

“What are we looking for?” I asked,

“A couple flowers, some roots, and a berry or two.”

I gazed into the forest, and spotted a few other ponies picking through the foliage.

“Do you think we’ll find a lot around here?”

“Only one of the plants is edible, and the others have limited uses, so we shouldn’t have to worry too much about competition.”

“Okay, so what’s first on the list?”

“A blue flower called Squill, they usually have six petals in a star shape and grow quite low to the ground in large patches. You can typically find them in slightly open areas.” Indigo described,

“How much do you need?” I asked,

“A lot,” Indigo dug in her saddlebags and pulled out a few pouches. She handed me two of them, “Just fill these with as many petals as you can.”

“Alright,” I grabbed the pouches, “Anything else I should be looking for?”

“Just focus on the Squills for now, but if you see any red flowers that are bell shaped, or green or black berries, bring a few back.”

“What should I do when I’m done?”

“Meet me back here.”

“And what will you be doing?”

Indigo’s horn glowed, and what looked like a garden trowel floated out of her bags, “Digging for Turmeric.”

“Gotcha.”

And without another word, I pushed past the brush and began walking into the forest.

“Oh wait!” I realized something, I turned back to Indigo just before she left my view, “What if I get lost?”

“There’s a simple solution to that,” She called back, “Just don’t!”

I opened my mouth to respond, but stopped, and with a huff began memorizing the trees and the direction I was heading in.

Searching the forest was… difficult. There was no straight path, and my cloak was constantly getting caught on random branches and plants. I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for either, I mean I had a good idea, short blue flowers that grew in patches in relatively open areas, but what could be considered an open area in the forest? At least I had a color to look for, and I could see over most shrubs and bushes.

When there was no blue in one area, I moved onto the next, slowly combing the forest in search of blue flowers. Along the way, there were plenty of other cool things to look at, from the birds in the trees, to the occasional rodent scuttering across the ground, I think I even saw a fox at one point. If I didn’t have responsibilities elsewhere, I could probably sit here all day, just watching nature unfold around me.

I soon found myself standing in the middle of a large patch of blue.

“Aww, I found them already?” I gave a very half-hearted complaint, “Oh well, one activity to the next then.”

I knelt down and picked a flower for inspection. It was blue, had six petals, and looked like a star. If it wasn’t a Squill then I don’t know what else it could be. I quickly got to work, setting the pouches down and dropping the flower into the first. Indigo only needed the petals, but the flower heads themselves were pretty blue, and it wasn’t like I could easily separate them anyway.

One might imagine that picking hundreds of small flowers would be tedious, especially with only one hand, but I found it incredibly calming. I formed a rhythm, and began refining my method. By grabbing a flower right where it met the stem, I could pop its head off by just pinching my fingers, and if it needed more force, I could just push up with my thumb until it snapped. I could still only do one at a time, but I could harvest a bunch before gathering them up to stash away.

I finished the patch in what felt like no time at all, but it only partially filled the first pouch. Looking around, I spotted some more blue through the bushes. It was a smaller patch of flowers, but there was a third one even further ahead, which looked like just the right amount to fill the second pouch.

“Just my luck.” I smiled, then went back to picking, quickly topping off the first pouch,

Who would’ve thought that being a mercenary meant picking flowers. I began to hum a little tune to myself, trying to match notes in ways that were new or unique, but I ended up just reciting something I’ve heard before. At least it was a nice song.

There was a noise behind me, like a chirping insect, but it almost sounded like… a giggle?

I turned around to look, and something dashed into the leaves of a bush, rustling it slightly. Whatever it was, it was small, so it wouldn’t be like my encounter with the dragon. I relaxed ever so slightly. That didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous though, I was in a magical fantasy world, any number of mythical creatures could exist here.

I watched the bush for a moment, trying to see if anything would move within. My best option was probably to just leave, but I only had one pouch of flowers collected so far. What would Indigo say if I did sub-par work, or if she found out I was chased out of the forest by something that could’ve been a bird?

I slowly went back to picking flowers, making sure to keep the bush on the edge of my vision the entire time. Nothing else came of it, but as I cleared out the patch and moved to the next one, something followed me.

A bright green flash darted through the brush, I only got a glimpse of it before it disappeared under a shrub. I was liking this less and less, but so far whatever it was was only watching me, and there was only this last patch of flowers left. It was a bit nerve-wracking, but I was beginning to feel excited as well.

As I collected more flowers, there was a similar sound to my left, while the one from before had yet to move from its spot on the right. There was another, I began to pick the flowers a bit faster. Both of them remained where they were, staying just out of sight, watching me.

There wasn’t enough to completely fill the second pouch, but it was pretty close, and upon pulling the drawstring closed, I abruptly stood up. There was a flicker of movement from the second creature, and I turned to look at it, only to make a swipe at the first.

“Eek!” The bright green light shot out from under the shrub before my hand even came close.

“You’re quick!” I complimented, bending over to gather the pouches, “But I’m leaving now, goodbye.”

There was the tiniest of gasps, before the green light flew in front of my face. I squinted at it, but could only discern the fluttering of insect wings.

“Follow, follow.”

I strained my hearing, but I could understand it. It wanted me to follow it.

“Can-will you promise that nothing will hurt me if I do?”

The other light left its hiding spot, practically bumping into the first as it flew over. They conversed for a bit, then the first one diverged from the second.

”Promise, promise.”

“Okay then, lead the way.” That was enough for me, time for a little side-quest.

The light jittered slightly, then began floating away. I reaffirmed my grip on the pouches, made sure my cloak was secure, and began following. I was glad I took the chance to see if they were intelligent, I had a hunch from the giggling, but now I knew this wasn’t just some wild animal. As for their intent, that was still to be determined, but a promise was a promise.

I tried to take note of where we were heading, but the light leading me was moving oddly, circling around trees and taking arbitrary turns and obvious detours. As we continued though, more and more lights like it began appearing in the air. The eerie giggling started to become constant, and every once in a while I could make out a word or two.

”...Mud…”

“...Flowers…”

“...Bark…”

“...Leaves…”

“...Vines…”

“...Arm…”

They were describing me, which only added a little to my anxiety.

Eventually, we reached a clearing with a large pond in the center. It was a beautiful scene, calm water, tall reeds, and vibrant grass. The canopy above only let so much light through, casting great beams of sun to scatter across the water’s surface. There were a bunch more lights fluttering around as well, they almost looked like fireflies.

The first one flew up to my face again. “Wait, wait.” It said,

“Okay, this place is gorgeous by the way.” I looked across the water, it was remarkably clear. “Do you mind if I use the pond?”

”Use, pond?”

“...Use…”

“...Pond…”

“...Use…”

“...Pond…”

“...Use…”

“...Pond…”

“...Use…”

“...Pond…”

“...Use…”

“...Pond…”

“...Use…”

“...Pond…”

“...Use…”

“...Pond…”

A cacophony of whispers echoed back the question. I was worried I made a mistake, but it didn’t sound like they were offended.

The light in front of me bobbed up and down, “Use, pond.”

“Thank you.” I bowed my head slightly, then stepped over to the water’s edge.

Setting down the flower pouches off to the side, I unclasped my cloak and took it off. I leaned forward, and for the first time since I got here, I got a good look at my reflection. As expected, the face was somewhat familiar, but definitely not my old one. Of course, it was still covered in mud, but the discernable features were still there. I had great big green eyes that seemed to sparkle in the light, a petite little nose, a narrow chin, and the most luscious eyelashes I’ve ever seen. I daresay I even looked-

“...Cute.” I said aloud,

Something pushed me from behind, and I tumbled forward. I only got a moment to gasp out before my head was under the water, and I continued to descend. The pond was a lot deeper than I thought, and I soon found myself completely submerged with no amount of thrashing slowing me down. I eventually settled on my back, a good amount of mud being kicked up from the disturbance.

Once the initial panic began to wane, I looked up, spying a refracted figure standing where I just was.

“Jerk.” I muttered, standing up under the water.

I already knew I didn’t need to breathe, so I wasn’t too worried about drowning, but that didn’t mean I was happy to find out this way. It was also good to know that I quite literally sank like a rock, I guess that crosses off any form of swimming from the list. Taking a step forward, my movements were slowed by the water, but the top of my head was already peaking above the surface.

Another step and my eyes were out, and I could see just who pushed me. It was a deer… I think. Cloven hooves, spotted fur, and antlers. The colors were correct, but they shined just a bit too brightly for the lighting they were in, and there were leaves growing from the antlers, which looked more like tree branches than actual bone. My ears were also out of the water, which allowed me to hear him laughing up a storm, enough to be doubled over and rolling on his back.

One more step and my mouth was out. I made sure to let it drain before speaking though.

“You’ve got some nerve!” I growled,

“Huh?” The deer paused, “You’re out already? Aww… You’re no fun.”

“Maybe not to you.” I continued forward, slowly rising out of the water. “What gives you the right to do that?”

“You’re the one trespassing, duh.” The deer rolled to his side and got up.

When he finally looked at me, his jaw dropped.

I waded out to my legs and placed a hand on my hip, “What?”

“P-Pretty…” He trailed off,

“...Pretty…”

I looked down at myself, all the mud I was wearing had been washed away. I was completely nude and my crystal was on full display.

“Great, now I’m going to need even more mud… and bark and leaves.” I listed,

“Buh- buh-” The deer shook his head and stood up fully, “N-Never mind that!" He cleared his throat, "So you’re the imposter…”

“...Imposter…”

To Be Continued...

Author's Note

♦Conglomerate's Crystal Corner♦

Canonically, the gems are all about 150 cm in height. This can change through things such as heels and... other methods, but this makes them all rather short as a baseline. Standing at just under 5 ft, this makes them shorter than the average height of both men and women.

Of course, this doesn't really apply to ponies. There is no exact height given to them, but diehard fans of the show have placed them around 3 - 4 ft in height, making Phos a bit taller than them. Taller ponies like Maul, Bic Mac, and of course alicorns like Princess Celestia will stand at about the same height, if not taller.

Extra tid-bit, Phos is really close to the height of the ponies as humans in Equestria Girls. They also don't have an exact height, but on screen measurements have placed them around 4.5 ft, but this goes into the territory of being no longer accurate, as there are many variables that affect these comparisons.

Not all crystals are fireproof. I'm not actually sure if phosphophyllite is combustible or not. Funnily enough, diamond is, though it requires a pretty high temperature and lots of oxygen to burn.

Phosphophyllite also has a density of around 3 g/cm3, making it about three times denser than both people and water. It makes sense that Phos would immediately sink in water, and it would also make them roughly 300 lbs. Certainly not a lightweight.

To any of you that might be worrying, no, the flowers Phos found were indeed Squills, and not Poison Joke.

We've got fairies though, who knows what kind of tricks they will pull.

There is an imposter among us.

Chapter 8

“Imposter?” I echoed back,

Why would these creatures consider me an imposter?

These weird, forest dwelling, fairy-like, nature focused creatures.

Oh.

“Well? What do you have to say for yourself, imposter?” The deer demanded,

“I’m sorry!” I bowed my head, “I didn’t realize there were actually forest spirits here!”

“Hmph,” the deer began smugly, “That’s better.”

“It’s just, I needed some way to hide my identity,” I began,

“Uh-huh.”

“We were in the forest, and it was all we could find,”

“Right.”

“It seemed like the best idea at the time,”

“Cool.”

“if I’d known there were actually…” I trailed off and looked up at him,

“Really?” He was just nodding along, his eyes focused on my body.

“Are you even listening?!”

“For sure,” He made eye contact with me, and blinked a few times, “I mean yes! Yes!”

I facepalmed, “Look, all I’m saying is I didn’t really have a choice.”

“Well that’s too bad.” The deer said, “But I don’t care about all that, I just want to know what you’re gonna do to make up for it.”

I just stared at him. Of course I was willing to do something to help make amends, but now I was less inclined to actually do so. This guy needed a serious attitude adjustment.

“Uh… I could apologize again,”

“Once is enough,”

“I could pay you.”

“Money’s boring.”

“I could do something for you.”

“Like what?”

“Is there anything you’d prefer?” I asked, trying to keep my tone level.

“Marry me.”

“No.” I’m not ready for that type of commitment just yet.

“Give me a piece.”

I’ll give you a piece, a piece of my mind. “Absolutely not.”

“Stay here forever.”

“No.” I grit my teeth, “Is there anything else you would have me do? Preferably something that doesn’t involve my body?”

“Hmmm…” The deer thought for a moment, putting a hoof to his chin, “Nope!” He said with a smile.

“Really?” I asked, “There’s nothing you can think of? I could go outside of the forest, I could talk with the ponies, I could…” Well that’s all I could think of, and that’s assuming this guy couldn’t leave the forest to begin with.

“Hmmmm……” He really drew that one out.

“Oh, would you please stop tormenting her?” A new voice called out,

The breeze picked up a bit, bringing with it a bunch of leaves and flower petals. Strangely enough, all the green lights in the area seemed unaffected. A moment later a much taller deer stepped out of the foliage, which almost seemed to bend out of her way. I say her because of the voice, but this one had antlers as well, with vines, flowers, and moss growing from them. Her coat also shined brightly, and almost seemed to have a green tint to it.

The grass where she stepped was taller than the grass around it.

With such a regal appearance, I felt I had no choice but to bow.

“But mom!” The first deer complained, “She pretended to be us, and she’s trespassing!”

Again with the she stuff. I suppose it didn’t really matter, and that correcting every assumption would be a hassle.

“That does not mean she is yours to do with as you please.”

“Um…” I spoke up, “Would it still count as trespassing if I was led here by one of the… uh…” I pointed to one of the green lights, I had long since lost the one that guided me. “Those things?”

“Is this true?” The doe asked,

That sent the sprites in a jumble, and after a few moments of panicking, one flew up to buzz in her face.

“Verywell, but that does not change the fact that you have alerted the ponies to our presence”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“It’s really bad!” The deer piped up,

The doe held a hoof in front of him, “I would imagine that both good and bad implications will come from this, but the fact remains that you are at fault here.”

“Well, I want to apologize, but it doesn’t seem like there’s anything I can do.”

“You can totally marry me!”

Again the deer was shushed, “Actually, there is something you can do in regards to your preferences.”

“What is it?” I finally stepped out of the pond,

“You hail from the land between the forest and the volcanoes, correct?

I think that’s where the gem deposit was, “Uh, yes.”

“And that troupe you were with was there to scout the location?”

“That’s right. They said that the lord of the land wants to construct a mine there.”

“That is troubling.”

“How so?” I asked,

“Assuming the ponies will take the shortest path to those lands, they will quite literally cleave the forest in two.”

I grimaced, “Does that mean half of the forest will die?”

“Not necessarily, but it would still cause problems, and that is something we cannot risk.” The doe explained,

“I think I’m getting what you’re saying." I nodded slightly, "You want me to do something about the road the ponies are building through the forest.”

“By any means necessary.”

“That’s a lot to ask,”

“Which is why you will be compensated in addition to being forgiven.” The doe said,

“Compensated?” I repeated,

“Yes, should you succeed, we will restore your arm.”

I glanced at my stump with wide eyes, “I can get my arm back? But how will you get the crystal back from the dragon?”

The doe paused for a moment, “Ah, you misunderstand. Returning your original arm is out of our means, but replacing its function is not.”

“Oh…”

“And as a show of good faith, we will replace it now.”

“Now?” I asked,

“Now?!” The deer asked,

“Indeed,” The doe pushed him forward slightly,

He grumbled a bit, but moved up to close his eyes and focus. Immediately, roots burst forth from the ground, growing upwards as they converged in front of me. Seeing plants grow so fast was awe inspiring, and I could only watch as the tendrils weaved together to form what almost looked like muscles. Slowly, it took the shape of a hand, and the rest of the arm started forming behind it.

It stopped at the elbow, and with a slight peek from the deer, it shifted to match the shape of my stump. When it was done, the roots supporting it lifted it up to my height and presented it to me. I looked at it hesitantly, but the doe just nodded, and I carefully placed my stump against it. More roots sprang from it, snaking their way up my arm and hugging it tightly. Thankfully none actually dug into the crystal, as that would’ve likely caused my whole arm to shatter.

I held it still for a moment, and the deer started grunting.

“It’s…” He began, squeezing his eyes shut. “It’s not working.”

“Curious.” The doe said, “Allow me,”

She held up a hoof, and the roots around me started to glow green. The ones on my arm took on a more refined shape, and the lattice holding it to my shoulder doubled in complexity. Again I held it still, but I wasn’t feeling anything, and I couldn’t move it either.

“Oh.” The doe said, “It would appear that you are incompatible.”

The roots disconnected from my stump, quickly receding back into the ground.

“Which means?”

“Restoring your arm will be much more difficult than once thought.”

“How will you do it then?”

“We might not be able to.”

I sighed, my shoulders dropping, “Well… Thanks for trying… I guess… Is there anything else I can do?”

“There may be one or two smaller things, but you will not be rewarded.”

“But mom! What about the ponies?” The deer asked,

The doe sighed, and looked me in the eyes, “Will you still help us with the ponies even without a fitting reward?”

I thought about it for a moment. The problems between the forest and the ponies had nothing to do with me, I was just caught in the middle of it. As a self-proclaimed denison of the forest however, if things began to escalate, then I would immediately be sought out, putting my true identity at risk.

“I… will try.” I began, “But I might need some help.”

Plus, acting as an arbiter was on my to-do list.

“Thank you.” The doe bowed slightly, “What assistance will you require?”

“I want to continue to pretend to be a forest nymph, it’ll give me a reason for opposing the road, and I can act as a representative for the forest, but I can’t just keep applying mud and finding flowers everyday.”

“I understand, you need help keeping up appearances. Then we may still be of use to you.” The doe beckoned with her hoof, and a dozen or so sprites gathered around, “What did she look like as a so called 'nymph'?”

A few drew closer to buzz in her ears.

“I see.”

…

“What color?”

…

“Where?”

…

“How much?”

…

“Anything else?”

…

“My, how clever.” She looked over to me, “Verywell, hold still, this will only take a moment.”

She planted both hooves on the ground, and in a flash of green, all the grass around me shifted, large patches of it ripping themselves out of the ground, topsoil and all. They began closing in on me as if to swallow me whole. It was a bit frightening, but I did my best to hold still, even as my face was covered. The blades of grass then shifted and twitched across my body, weaving together and wrapping around it, holding the entire ensemble in place.

Two eye holes formed in the piece across my face, and I got a glimpse of the dirt shifting and wriggling as the roots receded into it. Pieces then began crumbling away as it smoothed over, turning a slightly lighter color as more roots showed through and blended in. A moment later, various leaves and vines began sprouting outwards, coiling and trailing their way almost exactly the same way we had placed them before. Larger stems grew from my arms and legs, flattening out and gaining a rugged appearance as they aligned themselves with my limbs. A couple vines snaked their way into my hair, quickly blooming into several different flowers as a bit more dirt was carried up into it.

“It is finished,” the doe concluded,

I immediately ran over to the pond to check my reflection. I never got a good look at my first disguise, but this one looked good, really good.

“Woah…”

“Honestly think she looked better before,” the deer said,

“How long will this last?” I asked, ignoring him,

“As long as you remain near the forest, the plants will live, but do water them every once in a while.” The doe explained, “It will also attempt to repair itself when damaged, but do not expect it to come back from anything grievous.”

“I- Thank you,” I bowed again, “And I will try my best.”

“Um… Before you go.” The deer began, shuffling his feet. “Might I have your name?”

“No you may not.”

The doe smiled, “May I know your name then?”

“Phosphophyllite.”

“Phosphophyllite…” She repeated, “I wish you luck, and thank you.”

I turned to leave, only to realize something. “Oh yeah, what if I need to come back here? I doubt I can just find my way back that easily.”

The doe chuckled, and held out a hoof, “I suggest you ask a Breezie.” One of the green lights fluttered over to her… palm?

“A Breezie?” I held my hand out, and another green light zipped over to land on my palm, “They’re kinda cute.”

“...Cute…”

”Cute, cute.” The one in my hand spoke,

I raised my hand, allowing it to take back off. It hovered in front of my face for a moment, then shot off to join the others. I then walked over to my belongings, gave my cloak a hard shake, put it on, and grabbed the flower pouches.

“Is it okay for me to take this many flowers?”

“As long as they do not go to waste.”

I nodded, then turned to leave through the same spot I entered the glade from. Just as I was about to step through the foliage though, I thought of something else.

“Hold on, what’s stopping me from just leaving?” I asked,

“I do not believe you would do such a thing,” the doe answered, “but since you are curious. You do not wish to part with any pieces of yourself, correct?”

“Uh, yeah-”

Snap

I looked down, watching as a root tendril slithered away with one of my toes in its grasp.

“I trust this will be enough to keep you here?”

“Y-Yeah…” I muttered,

I should really stop asking stupid questions like that.

“Then until next time.” The doe ended with a smile.

I gave the pair a final wave, then stepped through the thicket. I was then back in the forest proper, and with a quick check behind me, there was only more forest.

How, cool, was, that?!

I ventured into a forest, met with fairies-Breezies, talked with forest spirits, got an improved disguise, and a quest! I can't believe I got to see actual fairies! This is like a dream come true! I feel like this is the type of thing I would be geeking out over the entire time, but actually experiencing it firsthand was so much different! You have to be careful with your words; never give a fairy your name. I don't know if the same rules applied to magical plant deer and Breezies, but it seemed close to reality, or fantasy.

Fantasy, reality... There wasn't much of a difference between those anymore, at least from my point of view. This was real, not some sort of game, there were very real implications and consequences for my actions. If I failed here then another piece of me might be gone forever, plus whatever other things that may come from my meddling. It was a little worrying.

But it was hard not to be excited at the same time.

I began walking with a skip in my step as I made my way through the forest.

The forest…

I looked around, none of my surroundings looked familiar.

“Uh oh.” Was I lost?

Okay, no reason to panic, it wasn’t like I could die out here, but if I wanted to make it back in a reasonable amount of time, I would have to get my bearings. I could just start heading in a random direction and hope I find something, but if I remember correctly then the forest was pretty large, and if I picked the wrong direction, I would end up back at the gem deposit or someplace I’ve never been before.

Looking up through the canopy, I tried to get a gauge on the sun’s position. I hadn’t paid a lot of attention to it before, but I think it set in the direction of town. That would make it… West I think. The only problem was that the canopy was thick, I couldn’t really see the sun, and I think it was about noon anyway.

I was lost.

There was another option however.

“Um… Breezies?” I called out,

It took a moment, but a couple of the green sprites filtered out of the forest around me.

“Could… Could one of you help me back to town?” I asked,

”Town, town.” One of them fluttered closer, this one was oddly familiar, “Follow, follow.”

“Thank you,” I bowed my head,

And we were off, heading in supposedly the right direction to town. The Breezie weaved through the trees and foliage with expert precision, while I lagged behind a bit, unable to keep up. Like before, my cloak kept getting caught on random things, and the Breezie had to double back a few times to stay in view. It took a few tries, but eventually we found a good pace.

Not long afterwards we stumbled upon a few patches of picked flowers, and I started recognizing features of the area.

“This is far enough.” I announced, “I can find my way back from here.”

The Breezie shuddered, then flew up into my face. ”Pretty, pretty.”

“Thanks, you’re pretty cute yourself.” I smiled,

With a squeak, the Breezie did a few loops in the air.

“So much for that promise though.” I looked down at my foot.

The Breezie gasped, “Sorry, sorry!”

“I’ll get it back,” I gave a half-hearted laugh, "Hopefully..." I added on, “but maybe in the meantime, you could help me.”

”Help, help!” It bobbed up and down again, “Phosffft… Phosphpbpb…”

This time I actually chuckled, “Just Phos is fine, goodbye now.” I waved,

I swear I could see a tiny little limb wave back, and a moment later, the Breezie shot off back into the forest.

With a small sigh, I clutched the pouches tighter, and began retracing my steps. I quickly noted how less dense the forest was in this area, and despite struggling before, I could make my way through with relative ease now.

It didn’t take long to reach the area I started from, and hear a familiar voice calling my name.

“Phos! Phos!” Indigo shouted, “Where are you! I swear, if you quit just because of some forest work then-”

“I’m here!” I interrupted, pushing my way out of the brush, “And I got your flowers!”

“There you are!” Indigo glared at me, “It’s been hours! What have you been doing?!”

She stepped closer, and got a better look at me.

“Woah… what happened to you?”

I looked down at myself as well. In reference to earlier this morning, I looked completely different, even from under the cloak. I also had the hood down to prevent it from catching on too many things, my new face was on full display.

“I uh… got lost.” I said, “And I… found a job.”

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

Formatting can be a real beast to wrangle. I originally had the Breezie dialogues spread across the page in a wave-like pattern. This was to simulate them being all around Phos as they speak. Unfortunately, Fimfiction doesn't like that, and trims excess spaces and indentations. I could put five spaces instead of one between words and it would look the same. In fact, I just did that for the last sentence. So for now, we'll just have to make do with oscillating sizes. At least I can do more than just the given sizes, you can put any number in the range 0.5 to 2.0.

Aint that neat?

I assume that's to limit how big or small you can go.

But limits are meant to be broken.

♦☻♦

Chapter 9

“A job?” Captain Morningstar demanded, “What made you think you were in a position to start accepting jobs?”

“I didn’t think I had a choice!” I began, “They were already upset with me for unintentionally announcing their presence, and they’re keeping a piece of me hostage.”

Having returned to the inn, Indigo went back out to gather the rest of the group, and it didn't take long for them to come back. I did my best to explain the situation, but Captain Morningstar quickly got hung up on that specific detail.

“What piece?”

“Um…” I scooted back in my chair and lifted my foot onto the table, putting my broken toe on full display.

“Part of your hoof?” Rusty asked,

“Foot,” Dr. Duck corrected,

“That’s like hardly anything though.” Rusty said,

“Not to me!” I exclaimed, putting my foot back down, “And I can actually get this one back.”

“By doing what exactly?” Captain Morningstar questioned,

“I…” I pushed my palm against my thighs and averted my gaze. “I have been asked to do something about the construction of a road through the forest.”

“And you still accepted?! That job will interrupt the lord’s plans!” Captain Morningstar said, “Do you know what happens to ponies who do that?”

“Uh, not… good things?” I guessed,

“Yeah, not good things.” Captain Morningstar affirmed, then he sighed, “But you’re not going to refuse, are you.”

“No.” I said,

He placed a hoof between his eyes again, “You said this was a job, what’s the pay like?”

I pressed my lips together and shifted my gaze to the other side of the room, “There… was going to be a reward, but… things didn’t work out, so… at the moment… there’s nothing.”

Captain Morningstar slammed his hoof on the table, “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!”

I flinched, “That things would be worse if I didn’t take the job.”

“Worse than opposing the lord?!”

“But I’m not opposing the lord,” I argued, “I’m representing the forest. Look, they don’t want a road cutting straight through the forest, that’s it, that’s all they want. They don’t care about gems getting mined, or who’s doing it, as long as their part of the forest is safe, then everything will be fine. But if the road gets built, then things will get complicated, which might result in conflict…”

“But the road is directly related to the gem mine! They can’t just not build it.”

“Then put it somewhere else.”

“Heh, good one.” Dr. Duck said, “You realize the forest spans almost the entire border with the volcanic lands right? There’s literally nowhere else to put it besides the forest. You can’t go around it.”

“Why not just move the road out of the way enough to not cause issues?” Fletch asked, “You said they were only worried about part of the forest, so just avoid that specific part.”

“That’s… a good idea.” I realized, “Thank’s Fletch.”

“You better take that up with Sir Manuscript then,” Captain Morningstar ordered, “And your new forest friends.”

I nodded, “My first plan was to come up with some sort of compromise anyway.”

Captain Morningstar exhaled loudly, “I am not taking responsibility for this.”

“That’s fine.” I said, “I accepted this on my own, and I’ll do it by myself if I have to, but I’m still going to ask for help. And so. Does anybody want to help? I can’t promise you anything now, but I will absolutely pay you back in the future.”

The mercenaries all looked at each other for a moment,

“No.” Dagger said,

“We don’t exactly do well with debts,” Dr. Duck said, “Rusty still owes me at least two hundred bits.”

“And I’m getting to it!” He responded, “But I’m out as well, it sounds like you’ll be doing a lot of diplomacy stuff.”

“Dip-lomacy?” Maul tilted his head,

“Lots of talking.” Rusty clarified,

“No thanks. Sorry Phos.”

“It’s okay,” I said, then looked towards Fletch,

“I’ll… help.” She began, “I haven’t found much to do in this town anyway.”

Indigo leaned forward, “You’ve been doing okay work so far. How will you pay me back?”

I thought for a moment, “You know I don’t have anything to my name, but you also know that I might be working with you in the future. What if I give up some of my cut for a bit? I’ll pay you with that.”

“Hmm, I like that. You’re smarter than you look.” Indigo said,

Why does she keep insulting my intelligence? “Do I really look that dumb to you?” I demanded,

“Sometimes.” Indigo smiled, “But it’s not just how you look, it’s how you act. You don’t act smart.”

“What does that even mean?”

“The way your eyes wander, how you always have that dopey smile, and with your most recent choices, it doesn’t exactly make you look good.”

Have I really been doing that all this time? I can’t believe I didn’t notice. “I can’t help it, I’m happier than I’ve ever been, I want to take in all of my surroundings, and I’m sorry for wanting to help people as best I can.”

“Oh my goodness, you’re so innocent.” Indigo deadpanned,

“So what if I am?” I frowned.

“Mercenaries aren’t innocent.” Captain Morningstar stated, “If you can’t handle that, then you shouldn’t be one.”

I crossed my arms, “I want to try.”

“And stubborn,” Indigo added,

“Is that also a bad thing?” I asked, exasperated,

“Not really, it means you’ll probably stick with a job until completion.”

“And that’s what I intend to do.” I stood up, “Now if that’s everything you needed to know, then I’m going to go figure out what I’m going to do.”

“You realize if this doesn't work out, then you won’t be able to become a mercenary, right?” Captain Morningstar asked,

“Yes,” I nodded, “maybe I can consider this as an initiation test then.”

“That’s stupid,” Dagger stated,

Captain Morningstar just sighed, scratching his head with a hoof, “Fine, but you’ll still have to perform well on a real job.”

“Looking forward to it.” I pushed my chair in, and started heading for the exit of the inn, with Fletch and Indigo following behind.

♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦

“So.” Indigo began as we walked, “Who are these new ‘forest friends’ of yours exactly?”

“Forest spirits… I think.” I answered “I don’t really know what else to call them. They’re deer, and really good with plants. It seems they care a lot about the forest, and I kind of hit the nail right on the head with my interpretation.”

“What do you mean good with plants?” Fletch asked,

“Like, making trees grow in seconds. They made body parts out of roots, they made this.” I poked my dirty face mask, it had a spongy texture to it. “It’s alive.”

“Whoa…” Fletch trailed off,

“That’s some serious magic to be throwing around,” Indigo said, “If I wasn’t looking at the result right now, I wouldn’t believe it.”

“There were also these little pixie things, they were called Breezies.”

“Okay, that makes it more believable... I think.” Indigo continued, “You don’t see them very often, and they don’t stick around in one place for very long. If there are Breezies in that forest, then there must be something keeping them there.”

“Like a forest spirit?” Fletch asked,

Indigo nodded, “This is still unbelievable as a whole though.”

“You’ve seen them before?” I asked

“I’ve heard of them, and even then not much. The last pony that actually saw a Breezie died over a hundred years ago.”

“Do you know what they are?”

“Magical wisps, and nasty little ones at that. I’ve heard they pack a mean punch when disturbed, so it’s best to just leave them to their flowers, or whatever it is they do.”

I tilted my head, “They’re not… little creatures?”

Indigo looked at me strangely, “How close did you get to these ‘Breezies?’”

“I held one in my hand.”

Indigo’s jaw literally dropped, but she caught herself a moment later.

“Does that mean they’re like bees?” Fletch wondered,

“A bee sting is just an annoyance,” Indigo cleared her throat, “You’d be lucky to get back up again if a Breezie hit you.”

“They didn’t seem very dangerous,” I said, thinking back.

“Stuff like that can be deceptive, there’s no guarantee that what you saw were actually Breezies.”

“Well do you know of any other small, flying lights that hang around forests?”

“N-No…” Indigo muttered, she shook her head, “but nevermind that, what’s your plan?”

“Um…" I blinked, "If we want to negotiate, then we need to talk to both sides. So the first step would be to get in contact with Sir Manuscript again.”

“Is that where we’re headed?” Fletch asked,

“Is it?” I asked, “I thought I was following you.”

Indigo immediately facepalmed, face-hooved, “You're worse than Maul.”

“How? Why?” Is this another jab at my intelligence?

“You took the job, you’re taking the lead.”

“Oh… Right, then we should probably head over to the manor.”

Fletch and Indigo turned to begin heading in that direction.

“Wait,” I stayed in place, “We don’t even know where the road is going to be, we should find it first and go from there.” I thought for another moment, “Have they even started building it? I mean you guys just reported your findings last night.”

“They started construction before we even set out,” Indigo answered, “and they were probably going to continue it regardless of our report. I highly doubt that a single juvenile dragon would stop the lord’s plans.”

“What about the forest?” I asked,

“That depends on you, doesn’t it? So, what is your plan?” Indigo repeated,

“To negotiate.”

“About what?” Indigo demanded, “Be more specific.”

“Well… Going off of Fletch’s idea, we just need to get them to agree to move the road enough so it doesn’t cut through the…” I struggled to find the right words. “Inner sanctum of the forest?”

“And where is that?”

“It’s um…” I tried to recall the path I took, it didn’t help. “We’ll need to get the deer to define their boundaries then.”

“Or else?” Indigo added,

“It would… I imagine there would be some sort of fighting.” I finished,

“Then there you have it: A rough plan and an argument.”

I went through the motions of the plan. We talk to Sir Manuscript, convince him to revise the road plan, get the information from the forest spirits, and if all goes well, then there won’t be any conflict. “Wow, thanks Indigo,”

“You can thank me by paying me.” She replied with a smile, “That’s right, my advice costs extra.”

And here I thought Rusty was bad.

I groaned, “How much extra?”

“How much were you planning on paying me?”

“Let’s see,” I squeezed my eyes shut, the transparency of my eyelids still allowing me some view of where I was going. “I’ll be giving you a portion of my cut from the next few jobs, enough to pay for this one job so… Twenty percent of my earnings from the next five jobs, and the same goes for Fletch.”

Fletch paused to do some mental math.

“Again, smarter than you look,” Indigo said, “but that won’t be enough.”

“Why not?” I demanded,

“Because not all jobs pay the same. We could make barely anything for our next few jobs, and that definitely won’t be enough for this. Plus you have to pay me extra now. So for the next… let’s say ten jobs, I get thirty percent of your cut, while Fletch still gets her twenty.”

I did a double take, “That’s literally half of my earnings!”

“Yup.” Indigo smiled,

“And you stand to gain upwards of three times what you normally would.”

“Not necessarily, but how about this, we get our cut for ten small jobs, or three big ones.”

“That’s… fair… -er,” I said, rubbing my chin, “Okay fine. I did say I would pay you after all.” I held out my hand,

Indigo had to reach up a bit to shake it, but we still managed. Fletch was a bit more hesitant, and overall she just looked lost.

“That uh… that all adds up, right?”

“More or less.” Indigo answered,

She slowly reached up to shake my hand as well.

I wasn’t too happy about giving up fifty percent of my pay, but besides what I already knew I had to pay for, I wasn’t too sure what I was going to use the money for. It probably wasn’t a good idea to say that out loud though, so I kept my mouth shut.

In the time we had spent discussing, we had reached the edge of town again. We were a bit closer to Sir Manuscript’s manor than before, and there was a stack of felled trees immediately visible at the edge of the forest, with another one being dragged over at the very moment. By moving past the last few buildings, we could see a sizable chunk of the forest cleared away, with dozens of ponies milling about, some cutting down trees, others pulling up stumps, and a few others doing miscellaneous work.

“Is this it?” I whispered to Indigo,

“What else would it be?” She replied, “Are you going to be putting on your act again?”

“Yeah, I kind of have to.” I said,

Closing my eyes to focus again, I began getting ready, and that started with my cover story.

I’m a forest nymph. Though I may have left the forest to assist my saviors, I still hold my allegiance to it. After returning to my home for a bit, I was sent to investigate the disappearance of a large number of trees in this area. Since the cause was ponies, I brought ponies of my own to help understand. I explained this to Fletch and Indigo.

“That’s not too far off from the truth,” Fletch noted,

“Exactly, it makes it easier to keep track of everything.”

“It also makes it easier to lie too.” Indigo added,

“Yeah… I guess,” I said,

“So, what’s your plan? Or do you want more advice?”

I held my hand in front of Indigo’s face, “I am going to ask why they’re cutting down so many trees. Once I find out, I’m going to raise the issue until it reaches Sir Manuscript himself.”

Indigo blinked, “You don’t want to put in an official request for a meeting?”

“Would a forest nymph know to do that?” I countered, “I figure we see how far we can get with this, then try something else later.”

“Hmm, that makes sense.” Fletch nodded,

“Do you think there’s a pony in charge here?” I asked,

“Like a foreman?” Indigo asked, “Yeah, there should be.” She glanced around the area, “But we’re so close to town, they might not be on site. Try that tent over there.” She pointed to the largest tent set up along the edge of the forest.

“Gotcha, let’s go.” I stepped forward.

“Wh- Just like that?” Fletch sputtered,

“Well yeah, we’re just going to be talking.” I said, “What were you thinking?”

“Um, that we would be infiltrating the camp…”

Indigo chuckled a bit.

I just smiled, “That sounds fun, maybe we should do that instead.”

“Don’t tell me you’re seriously considering that!”

“Uh, well, I…” I looked between them for a moment, Indigo had gone from looking amused to miffed, while Fletch had gone from embarrassed to downright humiliated, “Uh… M-Maybe next time, sorry Fletch.”

“...okay…” She whispered,

“Honestly…” Indigo shook her head, “Whatever, let’s just go.”

I nodded slightly then continued forward. I didn’t immediately head for the tent though, and instead walked over to the pony pulling a freshly cut tree over to the pile. I rolled my shoulders, flexed my hand, and straightened my back, then I pulled down my hood.

The worker was in the middle of untying the ropes connecting the tree to their harness, but as soon as I drew near they stopped to look at me.

“What is this one going to be used for?” I began, tracing my fingers along the trunk.

“Uh…” The worker stared at me, “It’ll prolly be used as lumber.”

I looked up at the rest of the pile, “And the others?”

“The same, I think.”

“At least the will not not forgotten.” I let out an audible sigh,

“That’s not why we’re cuttin’ em down though,” The worker continued,

I made a show of widening my eyes. I’ve never had to feign surprise before, I just hope I came across how I thought I was. “What drives you to take so many from the forest?”

The worker sniffed, and rolled his jaw, “We’re buildin’ a road.”

“A road?” I frowned slightly, “Must you expand into the forest?”

“Well yeah, how else are we gonna reach the gem mine?”

The worker pointed, and I followed his directions. Of course I didn’t know exactly where the gem deposit was in relation to the town, but I could assume the road was being built straight towards it.

This was it, this was the moment I had been waiting for.

“You can’t do that!” I shouted, gathering the attention of almost every pony in the vicinity, “I won’t allow it!”

“Woah!” The worker took a step back, “Calm down there, uh… miss.”

I never experienced it personally, but I’ve seen plenty of stories about this type of person. “Who’s in charge here?!” I demanded, “I want to speak to your manager!”

The commotion had the attention of the entire construction site now, and pretty soon I saw a pony exit the large tent to come and see. As soon as they laid eyes on me, they started to march over, but I didn’t let on that I knew, and continued to direct my ‘anger’ towards the worker.

“I cannot tolerate such destruction! You must cease your work at once!”

“I-I’m just doin’ my job, miss.”

“Who are you?” The pony from the tent demanded, having finally gotten close enough to speak.

I turned to look at him, doing my best to keep my scowl. “I am Chlorophyll of the forest, and I do not condone your actions here!”

“Chlorophyll?” The pony asked, “As in Phyll, Chlorophyll?”

“Uh… Yes?” I replied,

Indigo groaned behind me. I don’t think she was expecting the wind to be taken from my sails as fast as it did. Neither was I for that matter.

“Sir Manuscript wishes to speak with you.”

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

What's the deal with Breezies? How much of an Alternate Universe are we dealing with here?

That's for me to know and you to find out. ☻

Chapter 10

So. This wasn’t going how I thought it would.

Sure, the first step was to meet with Sir Manuscript, but for it to happen this quickly and at his request, I couldn’t help but feel a little suspicious about the whole thing. It looked like Indigo and Fletch were feeling the same way, as they were both eyeing the ponies leading us to the manor.

There were only three of them, and though none of them were seriously armed or armored, it was obvious that two were guards. The one leading us was just some sort of messenger or servant, so it wasn’t like we were outmatched. At least I think, I don’t actually know how well Indigo or Fletch could fight, and Fletch didn’t have her bow right now. As for myself…

I had no weapons and only one arm that would probably break if I tried to hit anything hard. What did that mean when getting into fights was going to be part of my job?

It was too early to suspect a trap though. I had only met this Sir Manuscript once, in which he showed his disdain for me in a slightly subtle way. The only reasons I could think of for wanting to meet with me again were either I had piqued his curiosity again, or that something he was doing was relevant to me, e.g. constructing a road through the forest. So there shouldn’t be a reason to pick a fight.

Unlike last time, we were dropped off just outside the front doors. The servant went inside to go retrieve Sir Manuscript, but when I went to follow, I was barred from entering. I could think of a reason why they didn’t want me inside, but my new disguise was much more solid, and only left dirt or mud behind when I really tried to scrape it off.

Not much longer afterwards, the doors opened to reveal the servant again, who quickly bowed.

“Now presenting Sir Manuscript.” He ducked out of the way.

And out came Sir Manuscript, in a similar getup to last time, they might even be the same clothes. He carefully looked across the group, starting with me, then moving to Indigo and Fletch, then landing back on me. He immediately noticed my new complexion.

“You look… refreshed,”

“Thank you… uh, sir.” I quickly bowed, “I was able to replenish some since uh… being attacked,”

His eyes shifted over to my arm.

“That…” I clutched the stump, “Will take more time.”

“I see.” Sir Manuscript inhaled and exhaled, “Tell me, do you know why I have asked to speak with you?”

“N-No sir.”

“See, you have done something. Something that is not easily forgivable.” He began,

Yeah, causing a ruckus at a construction site will do that. But wait, he wanted to speak with me before that even happened, this wasn’t lining up.

“You have lied to me.”

Oh shoot.

“And not only that, but I find you have interrupted the work of my employees?”

This wasn’t good, I had to recover this somehow, “Th-That’s actually why I’m here. They were uh… cutting down trees.” I tried, “T-Too many trees.”

“Ah yes, that would make sense for Chlorophyll the forest nymph, but not Phos the not-quite-a-golem.”

I froze, and at the edge of my vision I could see Indigo struggle to keep a level face. How did he know? Never mind that, how much did he know? He knew my name, and called me a golem, or not quite one. Indigo was the only one that called me a golem before, and she said that last night at the…

At the inn…

There was someone at the inn. Of course, we were most likely being monitored, Indigo said so herself, so it would make sense that there would be spies around us for the next few days. Instead of finding out about any double dealings however, they found out about me.

“...I… I…” I stuttered, “I-I’m not a golem.”

“So it would seem.” Sir Manuscript continued, “Then what are you really?”

“I… I… I’m…”

“We don’t really know.” Indigo interrupted, “She doesn’t know either.”

I was still struggling to speak, so I just kept quiet and nodded along.

“Now I can understand why you would lie about yourself,” Sir Manuscript pointed to me, “but what really perplexes me is that you got the mercenaries to go along with it. Do you know what that tells me?”

“W-What?” Fletch asked,

Sir Manuscript smirked, “That you have a reason to lie. There’s something that you don’t want me, or Lord Tungsten to know.”

This was getting way too close for comfort, I needed to get this back on track, now.

“Th-That doesn’t ch-change why I’m here.” I managed,

Sir Manuscript almost seemed disappointed that he had to stop applying pressure, and he gave me a very disinterested look. “Then why are you here?”

“I’m… representing the forest. I may not be a forest nymph, but I’m still from the forest.”

Sir Manuscript narrowed his eyes, but didn’t say anything.

“And I have come to warn you.” I continued, “The actual spirits of the forest do not condone the construction of your um… road. I have been tasked with finding a solution to this problem.”

An eyebrow raise, but no interruption. He continued to let me talk.

“Um… By any means necessary. So, I-I have decided to negotiate.”

“Negotiate?” Sir Manuscript repeated, he snorted, “Make no mistake, that road will be built.”

“I-I am aware.” I nodded, “But its current path puts it through… important territory… in the forest.”

“Impossible, surveyors reported nothing like that in the plans.”

“That’s because…” How do I word this? I don’t actually know the specifics, there might not really be anything there, but it’ll still cause problems with the deer. I’ve been to their glade, but I don’t know if it's directly in the path of the road. I don’t know where it is at all, since I had to be guided to it by a Breezie. It didn’t make sense physically, but it did magically.

“Well?” Sir Manuscript tapped his hoof,

“It can’t be found like that.” I began, “But… it’s still there. Um… and in order to prevent any conflicts from arising, the plans have to be changed.”

Sir Manuscript just stared at me, before taking a deep breath, “That could certainly pose an issue. The budget is already tight, I don’t want to spend any more than what’s necessary.”

We all relaxed ever so slightly.

“If what you say is true.”

I swear part of my face cracked as my eye twitched.

“You’ve already lied to me once, I have no reason to believe you further.”

“But- I- The…” I sighed and hung my head,

Indigo kicked me lightly on the back of the leg.

“There has to be something we can do.” Fletch stepped forward,

Sir Manuscript looked over to her with a neutral expression. “Bring me proof.”

“Proof?” I repeated,

“What kind of proof?” Indigo asked,

“Definitive evidence that you are not only allied with the forest, but that it is actually inhabited by… spirits.” He practically spat that last word, “Until then, construction will continue as planned,

“O-Okay,” I nodded rapidly,

“Is this not enough?” Fletch gestured to me,

I took that as a cue to open up my cloak some more.

Sir Manuscript just squinted at me. “I don’t know what you are, but you’re not what you said you were. So no, that’s not enough. Now begone,” he smiled a bit, “I look forward to what you’ll bring me for proof.”

He ventured back into the manor, and the door slammed shut.

A moment of silence followed, before the guards ushered us back out of the property and onto the street, closing the gates behind us a moment later. Unlike last time, there were no sighs of relief. We weren’t in the clear.

“That… could have gone better.” Fletch announced,

“You gave up way too easily,” Indigo said, "What happened to that stubbornness you had earlier?"

“I didn’t know what to say!” I responded, “I thought we were done for!”

“We still might be.” Indigo groaned, “Ugh! I feel so stupid! Of course there was somepony listening, we shouldn’t have talked about you so openly.

“Do you really think you could’ve gotten Rusty to shut up though?” Fletch asked,

Indigo sighed, “No.”

“I um… think it was inevitable.” I said, “Being a forest nymph was never going to work as a permanent solution

“But now what are we supposed to do?” Fletch asked,

“Probably go back to the forest to get some proof.” I suggested,

“Maybe not,” Indigo looked up at the setting sun, “It’s getting pretty late, I don’t know if your forest friends care about that sort of thing, but travelling to the forest and back would put us well into the night.”

“Are you saying we should call it a day?” I asked,

“Yeah, the road’s not going to be finished by tomorrow, and you’re the only one that knows if we’re constrained for time or not.”

“We can…” I trailed off. The road was barely into the forest, and going off of two days of work for that much distance, it would probably take more than a month to finish it. That was plenty of time, and taking into account all the back and forth we would be doing to make this work, I don’t know why I ever thought this could be a one day quest. I sighed, “...go in the morning.”

“Okay,” Fletch nodded, “But what are we supposed to do about you, Phos? Sir Manuscript’s onto us, and he knows you’re not a forest nymph!”

“We’ll have to come up with a new cover.” Indigo deduced, “One that’s easier to maintain.”

“Hmm…” We all thought for a moment,

“Why not go with what you said, Indigo?” I began,

“What?” She asked,

“I could be Phos the advanced golem, instead of Phos the living-”

“Shhht!” She interrupted, jumping up to cover my mouth with a hoof.

I stumbled a bit as she leaned against me, and for the next few moments she looked around frantically. The streets were relatively empty, with only a few ponies hanging around a fair distance away.

“Let’s maybe save that until we’re somewhere more private.” Indigo whispered,

“Good idea,” I whispered back, putting up my hood, “Does that mean we’re heading back to the inn?”

Indigo stepped back, “It’s your call, is there somewhere else we need to go?”

“Nowhere specific, but…” I thought for a moment, a growing smile on my face, “I would love to explore.”

“I had a feeling you’d say that, have fun then!” And with that, Indigo turned and continued walking down the road,

“Wha- You’re not coming with?” I called after her,

“It’s not part of the job!” She replied, “Besides, I still have work to do, somepony brought me a bunch of flowerheads when I asked for petals!”

“I only have one hand!” I shouted back,

Indigo just kept walking. I debated flipping her off, but I didn’t think she would get the meaning, and I don’t think I had the courage to follow through with it anyway.

“That was sarcasm by the way.” Fletch said,

“You don’t have to spell it out for me,” I turned to her and sighed, “Do you want to come with me?”

Fletch pursed her lips for a moment, thinking. “Sure.”

“Thanks, I don’t think I’m supposed to be going off on my own yet either.”

“That’s a good point,” Fletch said, “Indigo was first watch, I guess I can be second.” She frowned slightly.

“That’s not a problem, is it?” I asked,

“No. Now where do you want to go first?”

I looked back at Sir Manuscript’s mansion, “Preferably somewhere away from here.”

“Agreed.”

♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦

One thing became immediately apparent as we wandered the streets.

I couldn’t read.

More specifically, I couldn’t read the ponies’ language. I still knew my alphabet, though I had to trace a few letters in the air to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything. It never occurred to me that while we may speak the same words, that doesn’t mean we write them the same.

We stuck to the paved road part of town, and as we reached the business sector, there were all manner of shops and stores and restaurants to browse. Most had signs out front, with pictures and strange symbols. It didn’t take me long for me to figure out that they were supposed to be words, and when I asked Fletch what they meant, I learned something surprising.

She couldn’t read either.

Or at least, not well. In fact, among the mercenaries, she and Maul were the only ones who didn’t know how to read. She didn’t seem to be very proud of that fact.

So for the most part, we dictated which establishments were which based on what pictures were out front, and what was immediately visible inside. Unfortunately, Fletch didn’t carry a lot of money, and I didn’t have any to begin with, so it wasn’t like we bought anything. We did get to see a lot of cool shops and restaurants though, but Fletch said they were all ‘too expensive.’

A few things did catch my attention though. There was what looked to be a tailor’s on the street corner, and as we neared the lower echelon of town, a smithy was on full display just outside of the market. Based on what Indigo said, those places were worth investigating in the future.

Speaking of the market though, despite it being the end of the day, it was still bustling with activity. Fletch informed me that summer was coming to a close, so a lot of produce was for sale. Even though there had been almost a full day of business beforehand, there was still plenty on display.

I did some minor browsing of course, and though the wide variety of vegetables and fruits didn’t do much for me, imagining what they could become made me begin to lament my lack of taste and hunger. Surprisingly, Fletch actually picked up a few things, mainly just a couple different fruits.

“Rations can get really boring sometimes.”

I glanced at the apple she just placed in her sack, “Doesn’t the inn have stuff like that?” I asked,

“Tavern food is expensive.” Fletch said, “Last night was a celebration, so we bought some. We don’t normally eat like that.”

“Huh,” I’m almost glad that I don’t have to deal with that.

Looking up, I could see the sky beginning to turn orange, and tracing it to the horizon revealed a beautiful sunset. It was slightly obscured by some buildings, but the dim glow of the sun still peaked through as it faded, the sky taking on a more purple hue in the process.

I’m sure there was some poetic thing I could say at this moment, but I was simply lost in awe. It really was something I had never seen before. Well that’s not true, I’ve seen plenty of sunsets in pictures, movies, cartoons, and anime. It was something I’ve never experienced in person before, and it really showed just how different everything was now.

Which reminds me…

“Hey, do you mind if I ask you some questions?” I began,

“Um…” Fletch looked at me with an odd face.

“It’s nothing personal, I swear.” I quickly added,

“Uh, okay. Sure I guess.”

“To start, what year is it?”

“Oof,” Fletch visibly winced, “Alright, give me a moment.” Her face scrunched up as she thought, “I want to say it’s been… I think almost fifty years since the three tribes joined together?”

“So what? That makes it year fifty of this era?” I guessed,

“Probably,” Fletch shrugged,

“And what about before that?”

“No idea.”

"How many days are in a year?"

"Uh..." Fletch rubbed her temple with a hoof, "I think the number was set to four hundred. You should really ask Indigo or Duck about that."

“Oh.” I said, before something else she mentioned caught my attention. “What are the three tribes?”

“Pegasi, unicorns, and earth-ponies.” Fletch listed,

“That’s right…” I muttered, “And is it only the three tribes?”

“I don’t know what else there would be. What would a fourth tribe even look like?” Fletch wondered, she touched her forehead and wings with a hoof. “Six-legged ponies?”

“And it’s just ponies?” I continued,

“I mean…” Fletch trailed off as she rolled her hoof, “There are other races like griffins, cows, and diamond dogs, but you won’t find many of them here.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well… The Tungsten state doesn’t exactly… welcome them.” Fletch drew out some of the words,

“Uh oh, what does that mean for me?”

Fletch looked me up and down for a moment, “I mean it’s not like you can get arrested for not being a pony, but… Yeah, I think there might be some problems.”

“Okay…” I said slowly, adjusting my cloak a bit, “Moving on, this country is called Equestria, right?”

“Yeah,”

“What do you call the planet?”

All I got was a blank stare, “What’s a planet?”

“Uh… What do you call this world then? This realm?” I tried,

“Besides just ‘The World?’” Fletch asked, “Um, I think Indigo said it was something that started with ‘Equ-.’”

“So like Equestria?” I asked,

“She might’ve just been talking about Equestria.” Fletch murmured,

“Alright, last question.” I said, “And this is a big one.”

“Oh boy,” Fletch replied,

“Do you believe in God?”

“Which god? And no.”

There’s more than one god? Of course there are, I knew that for a fact.

…

I blinked. Why did I know that?

“If that’s all your questions,” Fletch continued, “Then are you ready to head back?

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

Just how different is Equestria compared to Earth anyway? If the ponies control the solar cycles, the seasons, the weather, the plants, and the animals to a certain extant, you'll probably find yourself in a wildly different place.

At least we have a time frame as to when Phos is. If you know more about the gems' physiology, then you might be able to see where I'm going with this.

Also, if the Prologue wasn't enough, this is sort of a callback to the Chess Game of the Gods event that took place on this site a while back. I personally enjoyed some of those stories, even if they never got finished.

As to why Fletch would even know about the gods, there's probably a reason that religion isn't very prevalent in modern Equestria, but it hasn't happened yet. That doesn't mean the ponies have to be extremely religious though. Just your standard medieval peasants going about their days.

Chapter 11

Questions regarding divinity aside, the rest of the night back at the inn was hectic.

“You lost your cover already?!” Rusty exclaimed, only to be immediately shushed by several of the other members.

As opposed to discussing this matter on the first floor of the inn, we were all cramped into one of the rented rooms, I think it was Captain Morningstar’s and… maybe Dagger’s as well. The reason for this was exactly what you’d expect, we needed privacy, and the bottom floor was already proven to be insecure. A closed room worked well enough, but we still needed to keep our voices down.

“This quickly?” Captain Morningstar muttered,

“What did you even do?” Dr. Duck asked,

“I didn’t do anything!” I responded in a harsh whisper.

Captain Morningstar gave me a hard stare, “Don’t lie to me,” he growled,

“No it’s true,” Indigo began, “Phos didn’t do anything to give themself away, it was just a coincidence that we had to meet with Sir Manuscript at the same time he found us out.”

I mouthed her a thank you.

“Then what happened?” Captain Morningstar demanded,

Indigo sighed, “It’s partially my fault, I wasn’t paying attention to what was being said or who was listening. The walls have ears, and it’s safe to assume that our entire conversation downstairs last night was overheard.”

“Oh! So that’s why we’re all cramped in here!” Rusty said, clapping his hooves together.

“Yes, Rusty,” Indigo rolled her eyes, “Now will you please keep it down?”

“I make no promises.”

Captain Morningstar cleared his throat, “How much does Sir Manuscript know?”

“He knows Phos’s name, and that they aren’t a forest nymph. He also knows that we’re all in on it,” Indigo gestured around the room, “Any more than that, he didn’t really give anything off, but he’s definitely interested in us again.”

“Great.” Captain Morningstar said through grit teeth, “We probably won’t be leaving this town any time soon.”

Rusty groaned, “I can’t believe this!”

Again, he was shushed,

“It’s partially your fault too, you were the one joking about Phos’s past.” Indigo paused as she realized something, and she turned to me, “Oh, Sir Manuscript probably knows about that too, your disease.”

“Maybe that’s why he didn’t want me in his manor…” I mumbled,

“That’s beside the point,” Dr. Duck interrupted, “We need to come up with a better cover story.”

Indigo smiled, “Good thing Phos has already started on that then.”

“Huh?” I snapped back to attention,

They were all staring at me.

“Oh right! Yes. I thought I could be an advanced golem, like Indigo said before.”

“Doesn’t Sir Manuscript already know you’re not though?” Fletch asked, “You said you weren’t last night, and you even said you weren’t directly to his face.”

“That could be another lie,” Dr. Duck began, “We could say you were lying about not being a golem, and actually are one.”

“I doubt Sir Manuscript is going to believe us either way, so it’ll be better to just go with the easier option.” Indigo added,

“Fine.” Captain Morningstar said, “What’s your story then?”

“Well…” I tapped my chin a few times, “I’m a golem, which means I had to have been created, right?”

“Right.” Indigo answered,

“So why would a golem be wandering around in the wilderness?” I asked,

“It was told to?” Rusty tried,

“Uh…” I trailed off,

“It got lost?” Fletch suggested,

“Yes!” Indigo responded before I could, “It doesn’t have any direction.”

“So it must be searching for some.” I finished, “Why not have it that I was searching for my creator?”

“That’s believable,” Captain Morningstar said, “But why would you be searching a gem deposit along the border of the country with the volcanic lands?”

“Is that not okay?” I asked,

Captain Morningstar sighed, “No. You’ve already proven that you’re not an idiot.”

Indigo made a sound as if to interrupt, but stayed quiet.

“You think rationally,” Captain Morningstar reiterated, “So why would you have any reason to go there in the first place?”

“Um…” I thought for a moment, “Because it was related to my creator?”

“Gems are useful components in thaumaturgy,” Indigo said, “It would make sense for somepony that creates golems to go there.”

“Components…” I repeated, “Components! A-ha!” I snapped my fingers. “I was looking for components!”

I was quickly shushed,

“Oh, sorry. But think about it, as an advanced golem, I would need advanced components, right?”

“Er… I guess?” Dr. Duck began,

“Golems aren’t my specialty,” Indigo said, “but yes, that makes sense.”

I nodded, “So as my old ones started to break down,” I held up my stump, “I began looking for new ones, gems could be an integral part of my… uh… makeup? Circuitry?” I guessed,

“Matrix.” Indigo answered,

“Matrix,” I repeated, then frowned, “Wait, wouldn’t that make me more of an automaton?”

“An auto-whatnow?” Fletch asked,

“Uh… Y’know, a robot?” I tried,

“What’s a robot?” Rusty asked,

Blank stares all around.

“Phos, you’re oddly well versed in magic for somepony who doesn’t even know the basics,” Indigo began, “but even I have no idea what you’re talking about right now.”

“Hm,” I thought for a moment, “It’s like a… You know what, nevermind. It’s not important.”

“Alright then,” Dr. Duck concluded, “Let’s get this straight then. You’re an advanced golem who is searching for their creator, and the reason you were at the gem deposit is because you were looking to replace some of your worn down parts?”

“That sounds like everything.” I said,

“Not quite,” Captain Morningstar interrupted, “You forgot one thing, your disease.”

“Uh oh,” I realized, “That complicates things.”

“Indeed,” Indigo joined in, “Golems can’t get sick, they are immune to all afflictions. There’s no way Sir Manuscript will believe us if we say that.”

“Is he going to believe us at all?” Fletch asked,

“It’ll be better to give him something he could believe rather than something obviously false.”

“So we need to come up with something else then?” Rusty wondered,

“Hold on,” I leaned forward and rested my head on my palm, tapping my cheek with a few fingers, “What if… I wasn’t the one who was sick?”

“What do you mean? It’s your disease.”

“I don’t think it was ever explicitly said who had it.” I said, thinking back to last night’s conversation, “What if it was my creator that got sick, and instead of me searching for them, I’m carrying out their last wish before passing on?”

There were a few moments of silence as the rest of the group thought about it.

“What would that last wish even be?” Dr. Duck asked,

“Why would someone create a golem capable of intelligent thought and speech to begin with?” I countered,

“To serve?” Fletch tried,

“Any golem could do that.” Captain Morningstar said, “It would have to be doing something that a normal golem cannot.”

“If a golem was on Phos’s level, it would have to have incredibly complex tasks in order to not be a waste.” Indigo paused to think for a moment, “Unless it was just an experiment…”

“What if it’s learning?” Rusty ventured,

I looked at him and smiled, “That’s it! My last purpose from my creator was to learn. To explore. To become independent.”

The rest of the group looked at me, then to Rusty, then back to me.

“Okay…” Dr. Duck began slowly, “Let’s go over this again. Phos is an advanced golem, with gem components. They were created by a mystery pony, who contracted an incurable illness which they slowly succumbed to. Their last wish was for Phos to go out into the world to explore and learn on their own, which led to them having to replace broken parts, getting attacked by a dragon, saved by us, and their decision to join the group. That leads to today, with all these forest shenanigans.”

“Wow” I began, “I did not think it would sound so dramatic.”

“Or so sad,” Fletch added,

“Or so close to the truth that it’s barely even a lie.” Indigo finished, “What’s even the point of lying if it’s going to be arbitrary?”

“Exactly,” Captain Morningstar said, “How does this story protect you any more than the truth? Lord Tungsten is looking for gems, why would you even say you’re made of gems in the first place?”

I blinked, “Uh… Because as a golem I would only have gem components as opposed to being made purely of them?”

“That alone will still put you in the lord’s sight.”

“What’s the ratio?” Indigo asked, “How much of you will be purely gem components?”

“Hmmm…” I thought for a moment, “Let’s say less than ten percent.”

Indigo nodded, “That’s not a lot. Depending on the gems used, you might be worth more as a magical artifact than the sum of your parts.”

“Lord Tungsten isn’t interested in magic.” Captain Morningstar said,

“Good.” I responded, “That means I can get out from under his radar.”

“What’s a radar?” Fletch asked,

“It’s… uh…” I trailed off, “I mean it would be easier to convince him that I’m not worth it.”

Captain Morningstar grumbled, “I don’t like this.”

“Do we have a better idea?” I asked,

“Ditch Phos.” Dagger finally spoke up.

I blinked, then looked around at the group with a grimace, “Is that something you guys would actually do?”

“If it was necessary.” Indigo answered without hesitation.

“Same here,” Dr. Duck admitted,

Fletch shuffled her hooves, “I wouldn’t want to, but…”

“Me neither,” Rusty began, “but I gotta look out for myself first.”

“That’s all you ever do.” Indigo sneered,

Captain Morningstar cleared his throat, and the rest fell silent. He then sighed, “It has not come to that… yet. Just know that you are not a full-fledged member, and my team’s safety is the priority.”

I gulped. Well… I couldn’t actually, but I did a similar enough action. “But I can still be a part of that team, right?”

“Yesss,” Captain Morningstar drew out the word.

“Okay,” I relaxed a bit, rolling my shoulders. “Then unless we can come up with something better, I’m officially a golem.”

“Fine.” Captain Morningstar stood up, “Has everypony got that?”

There were a variety of nods.

“Good, then from this point onward, that's the truth. We're still going to be hiding it though, so keep that in mind when speaking openly about Phos. I don’t want to see any more slip-ups, is that understood?”

“Sir yes sir.” Several of the mercenaries replied,

“Uh, sir yes sir.” I saluted,

“Dismissed.”

The rest of the mercenaries quickly got up and shuffled out of the room, I went to follow, but Captain Morningstar pointed at me.

“Stay.”

I stayed, and when the door closed behind me he continued,

“Progress report.”

“What?” I asked,

Captain Morningstar placed a hoof between his eyes and sighed, “How is your ‘job’ going?”

“Oh! Uh… Sir Manuscript is open to revising the road plans, but first he wants proof that there is a reason to, and that I’m actually with the forest.” I detailed,

“And you can get it?”

“Y-Yes,” I nodded, “I will be heading into the forest tomorrow morning to do just that.

“And you’re sure you can get this to work out?”

“I’m trying my best.”

Captain Morningstar frowned slightly, “Mercenaries don’t ‘try their best’, they only do what they can. Otherwise you run a high risk of failing the job.”

I pursed my lips, “I’m still learning.”

“I know.” Captain Morningstar sighed again, “but in this case it’s better to learn from example than it is from experience. Some jobs won’t give you a second chance.”

“I’ll… keep that in mind.” I nodded slowly,

“Then you’re dismissed,”

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For the third day in a row, I entered the forest. This time with Fletch and Indigo in tow. I technically still had them under my employ, but they each had their own reasons for being here. Indigo still needed a few plants for dye, and would be using this time to find them. Fletch simply had nothing better to do. Both of them made sure I knew that.

Indigo was just being Indigo, but I had a sneaking suspicion that Fletch didn’t like the forest. Which was weird, because she looked like the type of person that would be the most at home in one. Green fur, blonde mane, good with a bow, she had all the stereotypes of a typical elf. Except she wasn’t an elf, she was a pony, one that didn’t seem to appreciate getting snagged by branches every few steps.

“How much further?!” She practically gasped out.

“Not much,” I replied, pushing a branch out of the way as I passed.

It snapped back when I let go, and… didn’t hit anyone since I was taller than both my companions. I wouldn’t have let that happen anyway, I was being careful and choosing the path of least resistance as we retraced my steps. Because of that, it took a bit longer to reach the flower patches, but we made it all in one piece.

“Lucky find.” Indigo noted, gazing across the plucked patches, “With all these flowers here, it’s almost like you wasted a bunch of time before coming back.”

“You know I got side-tracked,” I replied with an eye-roll.

“Yeah, with your new ‘forest friends,’” Indigo said,

“Is this where we’re meeting them?” Fletch asked,

“Not quite,” I began, “This is just where I met the Breezies, we still have a little ways to go before we reach their… home, I think?”

Fletch groaned, “How much is ‘a little ways’?”

“It’s… uh… I don’t really know.”

“Did you get lost and wander into it by accident?” Indigo remarked,

“No!” I said quickly, “It’s just… I had to be guided there, and it wasn’t in a straight line.”

“Then how are we supposed to get there?”

“We need a guide, and luckily I know how to get one.”

I pulled my hood down and gazed into the forest, tracing the foliage with my eyes. There was nothing immediately visible, but I could assume we were already being watched.

“Breezies?” I called out, “I am in need of your assistance.”

We waited for a few moments.

“It’s Phosphophyllite,” I continued, “and we need guidance.”

“Phosphophyllite?” Fletch repeated quietly,

“My full name,” I whispered back,

Nothing, not a single response.

“Nothing’s happening,” Indigo announced,

“I realize.” I replied, “Stay here for a moment.”

I continued forward, pushing my way through to the second, then third flower patch I had harvested. I then kept going, heading down the path I remember being taken down before and making sure both Indigo and Fletch were well out of sight. Once I was far enough, I stopped and looked around again.

“Breezies?” I tried again, “It’s just me this time. Can you come out now?”

A few seconds later, a green sparkle descended from the canopy, and a few more sprang up from the bushes around me. I turned to the closest one to talk to it, only for another to come shooting through the trees, almost smacking me in the face as it screeched to a halt in front of me.

I had a feeling I’ve seen this one before.

“Hello again,” I greeted with a smile, “I’m back.”

“Phos, Phos!” It exclaimed,

That pretty much confirmed it.

“Why didn’t you come out earlier?” I asked,

There was a tiny gasp, and the Breezie jittered slightly, “Ponies, ponies!”

“Oh,” I said, “Oh…” I realized,

“Scary, scary!”

“They’re with me,” I said, “You can trust… Well…” I wasn’t actually too sure about that.

Fletch probably wouldn’t do anything bad, but Indigo…

“I won’t let them hurt you.”

“Promise, promise?”

“I pro-” I stopped myself. Was it really a good idea to make this sort of promise with a Fae? A Breezie? I suppose I had it make a similar promise before, and that was broken without issue. “I promise.” I held out a finger, “We can even swear on it.”

The Breezie slowly moved to touch my finger.

“Now let’s go meet them, shall we?” I smiled,

“Um, um. Meet, meet.” It said shakily, before falling in behind me as I started walking back,

It didn’t take long to meet back up with Fletch and Indigo, mostly because they had decided to come after me first. We stumbled upon each other as we each pulled the same bush to the side.

“There you are!” Indigo exclaimed, “What are you doing? What are we even waiting for?”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got it. Everything’s under control.”

“Can we go now?” Fletch pleaded,

“Not yet,” I smiled lightly, “There’s someone I want you to meet first.”

I stepped to the side, and there was nothing behind me.

“Phos…” Indigo said in a low voice, “Please tell me you weren’t just hallucinating everything.”

“I am not!” I defended, turning in place. “Just give me a second.”

The Breezie was nowhere to be found, not in the leaves, not in the grass, not in the trees. I doubted I could find it even if it was, but I didn’t care about that right now.

“Where did you go?” I asked aloud,

There was a tiny squeak behind me.

I turned again, and there was still nothing. Then I paused, and tilted my head to look down my back. I couldn’t see much, my hood was in the way, so I began feeling around with the back of my hand. There was another squeak, and something began crawling up the back of my cloak.

From the inside.

“There you are. What are you doing?”

I wriggled around as the Breezie reached my lower back. I could reach it, but I couldn’t really get at it, one of the downsides of wearing a single, solid piece of cloth. My movements only spurred the Breezie to continue upwards, and it reached a point where I could no longer easily reach it. I could still feel it, and I imagine if I wasn’t made of crystal and covered in a layer of dirt it would be quite ticklish, but at the moment I was just turning in place as I repeatedly switched from reaching over and under to try and dislodge the sprite.

Indigo and Fletch just watched my charade as I struggled. Eventually my gaze landed back on them, and I cleared my throat awkwardly before unclasping my cloak and pulling it off. The Breezie went with it, and as I held it up by the collar I gave it a few light shakes.

Only some residual dirt flittered down.

“If this is a joke, it’s not funny.” Fletch said,

“I agree.” Indigo joined in.

I ignored them, instead orienting the cloak so the inside was facing me. “It’s okay,” I said calmly, pulling it close so I could open the folds with my stump, “You can come out now.”

There was a little whimper, and a moment later a little green light fluttered out from the depths of the cloak.

“There we go.” I began, “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

Pulling the cloak back around my shoulders, I clasped it again.

“Everyone, this is… Well… I don’t know your name. Do you have a name?” I asked,

“No, name.” The Breezie answered,

“Alright then,” I pursed my lips, “Well this is one of the Breezies I was talking about.”

Looking over, both Fletch and Indigo were staring at it with wide eyes. A long stretch of silence began, with Indigo’s face twitching every other second, and Fletch’s eyes beginning to dilate. Neither of them moved a muscle.

To Be Continued…

Chapter 12

“I can’t believe it…” Indigo eventually muttered, “I don’t want to believe it.”

I looked at her strangely, “We’ve talked about this before. What makes it so shocking now?”

“Because I’m staring right at a Breezie!” Indigo exclaimed, “And not only that, it touched you, and spoke! This goes against everything known about Breezies as a whole!”

“It doesn’t seem that strange to me.”

Indigo snorted, “That’s rich coming from you.” She didn’t take her eyes off the Breezie, “Is it…? Can I…?” She took a step forward and reached a hoof out,

The Breezie fluttered back a bit,

“Maybe if you ask nicely.” I suggested,

Indigo glanced at me, then squinted at the Breezie for a few moments. “They aren’t magical wisps…” She realized,

“It’s…” Fletch was doing a much similar action, “Kind of cute.”

“That’s what I said. Now are you two done gawking? We have a job to do.”

“Ugh, you sound like the captain,” Indigo rolled her eyes, “Fine, but I want to ask some questions later.”

“Are there more?” Fletch asked,

“A lot more.” I answered, “But this one is all we should need.” I held my hand under it.

It bounced and bobbed, a shower of sparkles falling down.

“We need guidance back to the… glade? Wherever you took me last time.”

“Ack!” The Breezie buzzed and spiraled in the air. “No ponies, no ponies!”

“What?” I asked, “Why?”

The Breezie muttered to itself for a second, then flew up to my face, “Rules, rules.”

“Are you sure?”

“Um, um. No, no.”

I looked over to Fletch and Indigo, “Can you check?”

“Check, check.” The Breezie bobbed up and down, then shot off into the trees.

After a moment of silence, Fletch spoke up, “What was that about? I couldn’t make out any of that.”

“I don’t think ponies are allowed in the forest.”

“We’re in the forest right now.” Indigo said,

“I meant the inner forest.” I reiterated, “They’re pretty against letting outsiders in.”

“Why were you let in then?”

“That’s…” I trailed off, “A really good question, I’ll have to ask.”

“What about us?” Fletch asked, “What if we can’t get in?”

“We’ll see if I can vouch for you. You are helping me after all.”

“And if you can’t?” Indigo demanded,

“Then I’m sorry for dragging you all the way out here.”

Indigo huffed, “As long as I’m getting paid,”

“Yeah…” Fletch grumbled, “Same.”

A few moments later, a bright green light came zipping back through the forest. Again, it almost smacked me in the face, but managed to steer itself away enough to latch onto one of the flowers dangling from my hair. It pulled itself up, then crawled over to my brow to look me in the eye. When it was this close, I could almost make out its face, but all I really saw was a pair of antennae, and a wicked hairdo.

“No ponies, no ponies.”

“That’s a shame.” I sighed, turning to Fletch and Indigo as the Breezie took off from my face.

“What did they say?”

“No ponies.” I relayed, then looked at the Breezie again, “No exceptions?”

“No excsss… No excepshh…”

“No exceptions.” I continued, “Sorry guys.”

“Welp.” Indigo promptly sat down and opened up her bags, “Good thing I brought these along, here.” She handed Fletch a couple of pouches and a trowel,

“Aw…” Fletch kicked the dirt, “I hate foraging duty.”

“I’ll try to be quick,” I assured, “but…” looking up through the canopy, I got a rough idea of where the sun was, “if I’m not done before noon, then… go back to town, or if you go earlier then leave me a sign.”

“Got it.” Indigo said, she was already focused on the plant life around her, “Have fun with your forest friends.”

“I’ll… try…” I nodded slowly, then turned to leave, the Breezie disappearing through the foliage ahead,

With one last glance towards Fletch, I gave her a small wave, and pushed through the bushes as well.

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Upon arriving at the glade, I was met with a rather unpleasant sight.

“I’ve been waiting for you~”

I'll let you guess who it was. He was laying on his side, head propped up on a hoof, and a rose in his mouth. The grass around him had taken on a much softer texture, and a few pink flowers had sprouted in a circle to act as a border for the ‘bed’.

“No thanks.” I walked past the deer.

“Wh-” He sputtered, spitting out the rose and standing up, “Why not?”

“I’m not interested.”

“Not even a little bit?” He pouted,

I just looked him up and down. A magical forest deer was pretty interesting, but a magical forest deer with his personality was not. Looking closer, I could see his coat was brushed, and the leaves on his antlers were trimmed. He really went all out on this, especially since he only had so much time to prepare. I might not be, but he was definitely interested.

In my body.

“Where’s your mother?” I asked, “I need to speak with her.”

“I didn’t hear a no~”

I crossed my arms and shifted my stance from one leg to the other. I was almost envious of Indigo and Fletch at this point.

“Hmph,” The deer turned his head away, only to immediately go back to looking at me. “You’ll have to wait. She’s busy, so at the moment it’s just you and me.”

“And the Breezies,” I noted, “Could one of you please go tell her that I’m here?”

“No wait!” The deer tried, but it was too late, and nearly half of the green sprites around the glade disappeared into the forest.

The deer jumped into action, stamping his hooves across the grass and scuffing the line of flowers. It all quickly reverted back to how it was before, with the grass shrinking back to single blades and the flowers closing up and slipping beneath the ground. I just watched the display with a raised eyebrow, and not even a second after it was all put away, the wind picked up.

“Ah, Phosphophyllite. Welcome back,” The doe announced as she stepped into the glade.

I bowed my head. “Thank you.”

“I hope you have brought good news.” She continued, but as she stepped over where the ‘bed’ was, she paused, looked down at the grass, then glanced at the deer.

He was standing completely straight and avoiding eye-contact.

“I… have…” I said slowly, “I spoke with the official overseeing the construction of the road, he is willing to change the plans to go around any important areas as long as it is sufficiently necessary.”

The doe blinked, and they both stared at me for a moment.

“Oh, that is… When I said by any means necessary, I did not expect a compromise.”

“I-” I pressed my lips together, “I-I thought it would be the best option.”

“Then please explain your thoughts, if you would.”

With a nod, I continued, “Given the impressions I got, stopping the construction would only work for a little bit, a temporary solution, and doing so would cause the ponies to retaliate. They most likely have more than enough resources to… deal with the forest, but they would much rather spend that on a short detour than um… war.”

“Hmm…” The doe thought for a moment, “I understand your reasoning, I would rather not enter a conflict myself, but this ‘detour’ you speak of, I do not believe such a thing is possible. There is no alternative route through this forest.”

“What do you mean?” I tilted my head, “Can the ponies not just build around your… home?” I pointed to the ground, “Is this place in the road’s way?”

“No.” The doe answered, “There is nothing directly in the path of the road, I have walked the steps myself.” She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, “Perhaps I should have educated you more on the nature of this forest.”

She put a hoof forward, and the grass in front of her rustled as it grew upwards. I stepped back a bit, watching as the triangle shaped patch rose to my knees. Then, on one side, a couple mounds of dirt were pushed up with roots, while the other receded in an almost grid-like pattern. A couple Breezies fluttered over to hover above the grass, and I stared at it for a moment, trying to understand what it was.

“Is this… the forest?” I asked, pointing at the grass, “And that’s the town and the… gem deposit?” I pointed at the grid and dirt mounts respectively.

“Indeed.”

“Oh…” I circled the map a bit,

The forest was massive, at least compared to the town, and shaped like a big, long triangle. The border with the volcanic lands was relatively straight, but the one with the town was curved inwards, and it looked like part of the town was set in it. It made sense, there were buildings right up against the treeline, and as the town expanded it would slowly creep into the forest.

Going off of the town being in the West, the base of the triangle was in the North, with the tip extending way down South, progressively getting thinner. Any hopes of just moving the road South were quickly dashed, as the town itself was almost at the Northernmost point, but the base of the triangle was too wide to go around it. Cutting straight through really was the best option.

“So currently…” I muttered, “The road is going to go through here?” I traced a straight line from the town to the deposit.

“I believe so,” the doe responded, tapping her hoof.

The grass parted to represent the road.

“And what’s in this area that’s at risk?”

“It is not so much as any one place, as it is the area itself.” The doe explained,

“Huh?”

“Perhaps it would be better to show you.” She tapped her hoof again,

The grass shifted as a bunch of flowers sprouted from below, quickly blossoming into a slightly smaller, and more rounded triangle.

The doe paused, “Pink?”

A cough came from the side, and we both glanced at the deer for a moment. He quickly averted his gaze.

“Anyway,” the doe continued, “these flowers represent the true forest.”

“True forest?” I echoed,

“Indeed, it is where the accumulated life energy of all the beings of the forest resides.” The doe explained,

“So cutting into it would be… very bad?” I asked,

“Extremely bad!” The deer spoke up,

“Without a doubt,” The doe continued, “And as you can see, there is no room for this detour.”

True to her words, the true forest also extended quite a bit down South, too much to circumvent. Even if the ponies were to go along it exactly, it would probably be better to go around the forest as a whole when travelling that distance. The North wasn’t looking much better, with part of the true forest reaching further West than the town did. This would really complicate things.

“But you said that the forest wouldn’t die if the road was built.” I began, “So what will happen?”

“It…” The doe trailed off.

She remained silent for a long time, enough for me to pull my attention away from the map. For the first time since meeting her, she looked genuinely lost. Some of her usual regal demeanor was still there, which at least kept her looking dignified, but even I could tell she was thinking hard.

“I do not actually know.” She eventually said, “Any damage to the true forest will be harmful, but I have no knowledge of experiencing anything like this before.”

“Hmm…” I gazed back down at the map again, the pink flowers had parted out of the way just like the grass, leaving a thin stretch of soil across the ground. “What is the damage? Just cutting down trees?”

“In essence, yes. Many trees hold a great deal of life force. Should they be felled, all of it will be lost.”

“And there’s no way to prevent the damage?” I asked, weaving a finger through the parted plants.

The doe watched my actions for a moment, staring intently at the stems of the plants. She nodded slightly, “It might be possible to reduce it, but the issue still remains with the splitting of the forest.”

I idly scratched at my temple, “Can you keep the two sides connected at all?”

“...Maybe… but the road will still interrupt the flow of energy.” The doe said, “No matter how carefully it is placed,”

“Mm,” I muttered. This wasn’t looking good, if we couldn’t figure this out, then things might take a turn for the worse. But with one side being unwavering in their goals, and the other being unable to change, we were stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I focused on the forest as a whole again. With the road cutting straight through, the forest was almost cut in half. Of course it wasn’t an even split, but there was still a decent amount of true forest on each side, with the Southern end drawing the short end of the stick. Any living thing would have a hard time living after being cut like that…

“Hold on…” I began,

The forest wasn’t just one living thing, it was a collection of multiple.

“Could each half survive independently from each other?” I asked,

The deer sputtered, while the doe did a double take.

“That is-!” The doe stopped herself, holding a hoof to her chin,

“Impossible!” The deer began, “Inconceivable, ludicrous, absurd, insane! We can’t just make one forest into two!”

The doe held a hoof in front of him, and he blinked at it, before staring up at her with wide eyes.

“Theoretically, both sides could survive on their own.” The doe began, “but each one would need their own keeper.”

“Well there are two of you, right?” I asked,

“Indeed, but that is what I am worried about.” The doe sighed, and she moved her hoof to set it across the deer’s shoulders, “I had hoped to send him off to cultivate his own forest when he was ready, but that might have to wait.”

“Mom? What do you mean by that?” The deer asked, “Am I not going to go start another forest somewhere?”

“Well that depends,”

“On what?”

“What do you want to do?” The doe asked, “Do you want to start something new, and leave this behind? Or do you wish to stay, and help maintain what is already here?” She crouched down so that she was almost eye level with him. “I believe you are ready for your own journey, yet this kind soul has offered a solution to our problems. The decision is up to you.”

With her gesture to me, I gave a small wave. Not to sound pretentious, but this was pretty entertaining, though it wasn’t like I was going to call attention to it or anything. So I just sat back with a smile, waiting for their decision.

The deer looked pretty unsure, which made sense. If his mother was planning on sending him on his way, then this was a long time coming, but to be suddenly given a choice… It’s hard to imagine exactly what he might be thinking, or which option is the best. I honestly didn’t know, my experiences showed that starting again somewhere else allowed for entirely new things, but at a heavy cost. On the other hand, staying put would allow you to remain with those familiar, though you might be restricted by your environment. In my case, I was so restricted I could hardly do anything.

Our eyes met for a moment, and the deer pursed his lips.

“What would you do?” He asked,

“M-Me?!” I stammered out, “I don’t know how to manage a forest!”

“I know that.” He rolled his eyes, “I meant which would you choose.”

“Oh... I uh… I’m not sure I can answer that.”

“Please?”

“You are the one that proposed this idea, I would like to hear your input as well.” The doe added,

“Um…” I glanced between them for a moment, clutching my stump, “I’ve… left a lot behind, but... it’s too early for me to regret it... I know I’ll never see my family again, and I doubt I’ll ever get to do some of the things I enjoyed most before, but I do think where I am now is better. I had long since convinced myself that what I had wasn’t worth much, but now that I’m here… I’m a little worried that maybe it wasn’t the right choice.”

My spiel wasn’t exactly lightening the mood, and the deer started to frown.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is: make sure you know what you’re leaving behind.” I concluded, “But thankfully, by the sounds of it, you don’t have to make that decision right away.”

“I don’t?” The deer asked, mainly looking towards his mother,

She just tilted her head towards me.

“If you were originally going to go off on your own,” I continued, “Then you can see what it’s like to manage the other half of the forest first, and make your decision then.”

“This is true.” The doe began, “You will be able to experience overseeing the forest on your own, but I will still be within reach if needed.”

“Oh, then…” The deer paused for a moment, scratching his chin with a hoof as he looked around the glade. “I think I’ll stay, at least for now.”

The doe exhaled a staggered breath and smiled, “Then I will begin making the preparations immediately.” She stepped away, turning to me, “And thank you, Phosphophyllite. I do not know what we would have done without you.”

“Happy to help,” I bowed, watching as the doe turned to leave.

She was leaving.

“Oh wait!” I called out, “There’s something else!”

She stopped.

“Um… I need… proof.”

“Proof?” The doe asked,

“Yeah,” I nodded, “It’s all well and good that we managed to figure things out on this end, but the pony official doesn’t trust me enough to just go through with it. He wants something to prove that the forest is its own… entity, and that I’m a part of it.”

The doe levelled her gaze with me, looking me up and down for a moment, “Is my handiwork not proof enough?”

“No.” I groaned, “He wants something substantial and irrefutable. I was thinking that maybe one of you could come along next time I went to meet him.”

Her expression tightened, and a chill wind filtered through the glade as the canopy above seemed to block out more of the sunlight.

“I realize you do not know what you ask, but that is something that neither of us can do.”

“W-Why?”

“It’s forbidden!” The deer exclaimed,

“Abandoning our stations for any reason will cause irreparable damage.” The doe clarified, “To willingly distance ourselves from our origin goes against our very nature. There are, of course, exceptions,” she gestured to the deer, “but any separation between us and the forest will become permanent. We cannot accompany you outside of this domain.”

“Oh…” I muttered,

“I wish I could help you more in this matter, but it is simply not possible.”

“Is there nothing you could give me that would work instead?”

The doe sighed, “Those ponies and their materialism… No, if my craft was not enough before, then there is nothing I can give you. It appears as though this pony official is looking for something charged with the very essence of the forest itself, and that is something not easily acquired nor given. Although…” She thought for a moment,

“I don’t think he wants to keep it or anything.” I added,

“I am aware,” The doe dismissed, “Though there might be something that suits your needs… Verywell.” She nodded, turning to the deer, “Take Phosphophyllite to the sanctuary, select something from there and bring it to this official pony of yours.”

“The sanctuary?” I asked,

“The sanctuary?!” The deer exclaimed,

“Indeed,” The doe turned to leave again, “In the meantime, I will make preparations for the separation of the forest.”

“Won’t the road already do that?” I asked,

“If there is the option to minimize the damage, then I will gladly take it.” The doe answered, “and there is much ground to cover.”

She lifted a leg to walk through the foliage again. She was leaving, which meant I was going to be left alone with the deer for who knows how long.

“Wait!” I called out again,

The doe stopped, and I could see her face twitch slightly before looking at me, her gentle smile almost completely gone.

“Sorry, but there’s one more thing.”

“Yes?”

“Why aren’t ponies allowed to enter this part of the forest?” I asked,

“They are exploiters.” The doe answered simply,

“What?”

At my lack of understanding, she sighed and turned to face me again, “Whether they are in groups or as individuals, it is their very nature to exert their control over their surroundings.”

That sounds extremely similar to how someone might describe humanity.

“Their actions are not usually destructive, but their mere presence is enough to cause concern among the spirits.”

Not that similar though.

“Their attunements vary wildly, but the natural order is always under pressure regardless. It is not wise to simply let them trespass wherever they please.”

“So why am I allowed?” I asked, “What does that make me?”

“You are not a pony.” The doe answered,

“I feel like I’m similar enough.” I admitted,

“Perhaps mentally,” the doe pointed a hoof at my head, “but in regards to your attunement..." She leaned forward to inspect me closer, "You are mute. The spirits do not feel one way or the other about you, you are simply neutral, so there is little discourse from your presence here. Whether you take advantage of this position or not is up to you, though of course that will affect the spirit’s opinion of you.”

“Huh,” I muttered,

“The earth spirits do seem to speak highly of you though.” The doe concluded,

“Huh?” I wondered, “Does that mean I can shape the earth like you do with plants?”

The doe actually chuckled at this, “No. You may be able to inspire a small change, but I imagine that will take no small amount of convincing.”

“Convincing the earth spirits?”

“Precisely,”

“Do you know where can I find them?”

The doe pointed at the ground.

“Right.” I averted my gaze for a moment, but my curiosity quickly got the better of me, “Are there earth spirits like you?” I asked,

“Hmm…” The doe thought for a moment, “I do not know, but if you wish to find one, then I suggest searching for a place surrounded by the earth.”

“So underground?” I guessed.

My first choice would've actually been a mountain, but something like a cave made much more sense. I guess that would be something to look out for when travelling.

“I give no guarantees,” the doe began, “but I will still wish you luck in that endeavor. Now I must take my leave, I hope that you will find adequate proof.”

And with that, the doe disappeared into the forest, leaving me alone with you know who.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

How does magic work?

I think this is a question that a lot of authors struggle with when creating and describing magic systems. For me, I like to think that magic is just another form of energy. How that energy can be used however, depends on the device and method used. Unicorns have their horn and spells, pegasi have wings and cloud-walking, and earth-ponies have the earth.

Then there are the spirits. Wild, ancient entities that inhabit the very elements themselves. I won't say much more than that.

Chapter 13

Compared to navigating the forest with a Breezie, travelling with the deer was much easier. As opposed to being guided by a creature small enough to fit through almost any gap, the deer was at least similar in size to me, meaning we both had to weave between the trees and plants. Of course, he was able to do it with an unnatural ease, but it was nice not having to be left behind as often.

If this were any other circumstance I might add.

“So why aren’t you interested in me?”

“Ugh! You’re still on this?” I groaned,

“I want to know!” The deer replied, sounding extra hurt.

Currently, it was just the two of us. Seeing how we were heading to another location in the forest, I went ahead and told the Breezie I knew to go and let the others know I would be taking a while. There were still a few others that followed along of course, but none actually spoke, and almost all had broken off after just a few moments of walking. I knew it was important to inform the others, but I began to regret sending away my only other conversation partner, even if they could only speak in broken sentences.

“Well?” The deer asked,

“What do you want me to say?” I have no experience with romance, and the only stuff I’ve seen is far from realistic. I don’t know how to manage a situation like this, I could only speak my mind. “I don’t like you.”

“Why not?”

I clenched my fist, then forced myself to calm down. He was being very brazen, which was obviously ticking me off, but I wasn’t exactly helping the situation either.

“You’re too forward,” I began. “All it took was one look at me for you to begin trying for my love.”

“How else am I supposed to know who I’m interested in?” The deer defended, “You look good, so I want to be with you.”

“You don’t even know me!” I argued, “And yet you’ve already asked for marriage! Who does that?!”

The deer pouted, “I know you…” He muttered,

“No you don’t.”

“I know you’ll help others in need, even without a reward.” The deer continued, “I know you’re nice to the Breezies, and I know that you’ve left a lot behind, yet are still going.”

At least he’s observant. That was a pretty nice compliment too, but there was still a glaring issue.

“I’m not ready for that sort of relationship yet.” I said simply,

“Why not?”

Only because I’ve spent most of my life bedridden with little to no contact with other human beings. What little friends I did have were just that, friends, and they moved on long before I passed. Nevermind the fact that at that point we were nowhere near the age to even consider something like that.

“Because I’m still finding myself,” I explained, “I can’t just enter a relationship without knowing who I am first.”

“I could help you find yourself.” The deer said, glancing back.

Okay, what little rep this guy had earned was immediately lost. I could appreciate what he said if it was said genuinely, but right now he was looking at me with the same eyes he had earlier in the glade. When he was trying to seduce me into bed with him.

Speaking of, “How would we even work?” I asked, “Last time I checked, I’m not a deer.”

Let’s just gloss over the fact that I don’t have any reproductive organs either, or any organs at all for that matter.

The deer suddenly got very flustered, “Uh… I’m sure we could… figure something out…”

“Uh huh,” Like I would even let him get that close in the first place.

Thankfully, that comment brought about a large stretch of silence. Or as large a stretch allowed when the other end is dead set on winning your heart.

“So what else don’t you like about me?” The deer began again,

I grit my teeth. “No, if you’re gonna ask that, then you go first. What do you like about me?”

“You’re beautiful.”

I crossed my arms and waited,

“...and nice?”

“Was that a question?” I demanded,

“I uh… no?”

“Anything else?” I asked with an eye roll.

“Um… I like how adamant you are.”

“Adamant..." I repeated, "I'm not a diamond. Still, I suppose that’s something. Is that it?”

The deer scoffed, “What do you expect? I barely know you.”

“Well maybe you should get to know me first before trying to romance me.” I said with as big of a smile I could manage,

“Well fine! Maybe I will.”

“Maybe you should.”

The deer glared at me, but after some prolonged eye contact, the anger left his face all too soon. “What don’t you like about me then?”

“You’re relentless, immature, stubborn, you have a serious attitude problem, and frankly, you’re trying way too hard.” I laid it all out plain and simple.

“Well what do you want me to do?” The deer exclaimed,

“Take it slowly.”

“How? I can only see you when you come into the forest. I can’t leave, and you’re not going to stay around here forever, are you?”

Wow… he actually got me there. Whatever argument I had prepared was quickly dashed to pieces. He was desperate, I understand that now, but he was still going about it the completely wrong way.

“Alright fine,” I held my arms up, “But you’re not exactly leaving the best impressions. Maybe you should try to appeal to me more instead of just hoping I’ll go along with whatever you try.”

The deer grumbled, “How am I supposed to appeal to you?”

He really just said that out loud. I can’t believe it. I suppose if he has the gall to ask, I’d better answer.

“You could start by treating me with more respect. I’m a person, not an object, and I’m not stupid, I can tell that you’re leading us in circles.”

The deer stopped dead in his tracks, then slowly turned to look at me. You better believe I was crossing my arms and giving him the meanest stink eye.

“We’ve passed that same tree five times now,” I pointed back with my thumb.

It really was a good idea to tell the others I would be taking a long time. When I was subject to this sort of shenanigans, there’s no telling how long I would be here.

“Are we at least close to the sanctuary?” I asked,

“Y-Yes…” The deer muttered,

“Then can we actually go to the sanctuary?”

“...Yes…”

“Thank you.” I resumed following him.

And then, sweet, sweet silence, for the remainder of the trip. The deer just trundled ahead, holding his head low. Once we got moving again, the scenery quickly changed, and a few Breezies came into view as an incredibly dense thicket appeared in front of us. The deer sighed, and without another word began meddling with the plants ahead, causing the bushes to peel back and the tree trunks to bend out of the way.

At least he wasn’t playing up the pathetic bit, even though I half expected him to.

“Look.” I said with a sigh, “If you want to talk, then just ask to talk. You don’t have to go through all this convoluted stuff just to spend time with me.”

“But what if you don’t want to talk?”

“Well that’s my decision, and you have to respect that.”

The deer mumbled something, then pushed through the hole in the treeline he made.

“What was that?” I asked, following him into the tunnel of plants.

“Do you want to talk?”

“One more time.”

“Do you want to talk?” The deer asked,

I smiled, and gave a small victory chortle, “Well, seeing as we’re going to be together for the time being, sure.”

Like a switch, the deer’s cheerful demeanor was back, and he practically jumped out of the tunnel. “What do you want to talk about?!” He turned around and asked immediately,

His enthusiasm was quickly overpowering my own, and I started to think that this wasn’t the best idea. I made my choice though, so I might as well try to get something out of it in the process.

“Why don’t you tell me about this place?” I began, “What is the sanctuary?”

“Hmph.” The deer snorted, “That’s easy. The sanctuary is the oldest place in the forest, where the first seed sprouted.”

He stepped to the side, allowing me to exit the tunnel and get a full view of the other side.

If the glade was gorgeous, then the sanctuary was downright transcendental. Ancient trees rose higher than I could see, each trunk looking like it was carved by an expert artist, with the bark flowing in complex shapes and spirals. A multitude of hanging vines reached back down, with all manner of flowers and fruits decorating each one. Countless Breezies could be seen fluttering through the air, and though it was hard to tell, it sounded like some of them were even singing. An ever present chime lingered in the air, only slightly dampened by a faint mist.

“I… I…” I struggled to find the words. “I… I feel like I don’t deserve to be here.” I eventually mumbled,

“You’d be the first,” The deer said, “This is a place that has never been seen by outsiders before.”

“I-I’m honored,” I gaped at the ridiculously tall trees, craning my neck just so I could see the bottom of the canopy.

“Makes you want to stay here forever, huh?”

There he goes again, ruining the moment. I stopped taking in my surroundings to look at him.

“What exactly are we doing here?” I demanded,

“Um…” The deer paused for a second, “My mom is letting you take something for proof.”

“Right.” I nodded, “So what do I take?”

“I dunno.”

“You don’t know?” I asked,

“Nope.” The deer replied, rolling his hoof, “Just… take a look around, I guess, see if there’s anything you like.”

“Okay…” I said through clenched teeth, turning to look around the sanctuary again.

There were brightly colored flowers, fruits I’ve never seen before, and plants that were so large you could carve a house into them. It was quite the impressive selection, but I wasn’t sure where to even begin. Nevertheless, I started browsing the extensive flora.

“Your mom said something about the ‘essence of the forest,’ right?” I asked, “Can you help me with that?”

“Sure, but it’ll cost you.”

I sighed, not even bothering to look back, “What’s the cost?”

“One conversation.”

At least he was getting better, and it was a much better deal than anything he suggested before.

“Alright.” I shrugged, “Why don’t you tell me a little about yourself.”

“What would you like to know?”

“Well…” I thought for a moment, “You know my name, is it okay for me to know yours?”

“Hm… I suppose.” The deer began, “It’s Lycus.”

I nodded slightly. I’ve heard that knowing a fairy’s name gives you a certain amount of power over them, but I wouldn’t even know where to begin with that. I still don’t even know if it applies in this scenario. I guess it was just something to know for the future.

“Alright, Lycus. How long have you lived in this forest?”

“My whole life.”

Right, that should’ve been obvious. “Well how old does that make you?”

“Like a hundred winters or something, I haven’t really been keeping count.”

That many years and he still acts like this. Maybe despite his age he was still a child, and he’s most definitely never left the forest and probably only ever interacts with his mom. That would explain a lot.

“Do you like the forest?”

“Of course, it’s my home, I love it.”

Another dumb question on my end, but that brought another to mind, something I noticed back in the glade.

“Did you actually want to start a forest of your own?”

Lycus choked, “I uh…”

That alone was enough to answer my question.

“I mean I would’ve if I had to…” He trailed off.

I certainly wasn’t going to dwell on that. “What do you like to do for fun?”

“I like to play with the Breezies, I like to watch things grow.” Lycus readily answered, “Oh! Whenever a pony wanders too far into the forest, I get to chase them out. That’s always fun.”

I had already pegged this guy as a scamp anyway, this was nothing new. “And what’s your most favorite thing in the forest?”

“You.”

“In the forest.” I repeated,

“You’re in the forest.”

“From the forest.” I reiterated, exasperated.

“Hmm…” Lycus thought for a moment, “I guess there’s this one fruit I really like.”

“What’s it called?”

“I dunno, but it’s purple, and grows in clusters. I really like the taste.”

A purple fruit that grows in clusters… “Is it grapes?”

“Sure, let’s call them that.” Lycus nodded, “I like grapes.”

Speaking of fruit, that’s what I was currently looking at. One of the hanging vines was right at my eye level, allowing me a perfect view of the fruit it had to offer. Each one was slightly different, like a gradient down a line. To one side were larger, yellow, gourd-like fruits, but as they continued down the vine, they thinned out slightly and took on a more reddish hue. They each had their own flowers to accompany them too, ranging from small, violet striped flowers to larger, pink ones.

“Just to be sure.” I began, “I can pick any fruit or flower?”

“Yeah.”

“And they all have ‘essence’ in them?”

“More or less.”

“And picking them won’t cause any harm to the forest?”

“Nope.” Lycus answered,

I cupped my hand under one of the yellow gourds, but stopped. What kind of proof would a fruit be? What about a flower? I didn’t recognize any of them, and I doubted that Lycus or his mother had names for every type. What would Sir Manuscript think if I just brought him a strange fruit? Sure it was natural, but it didn’t exactly scream ‘proof of spirits in the forest.’

Maybe I was overthinking this, but it would probably be better to get something more… permanent.

My eyes landed on one of the massive trunks surrounding us.

“What about bark from a tree?” I asked,

“Um,” Lycus followed my gaze, “I’m sure you could take some, just don’t take enough to hurt the tree.”

“Wasn’t planning on it.” I traced the lines in the bark with my fingers.

It was beautiful, the way the wood twisted and turned created an intricate design that looked impossible to simply carve. Looking closer, I could see slight veins of green set deep within the grooves. A very faint amount of light emanated from them, and they almost seemed to pulse every few seconds.

Oh yeah, this would work.

Placing my palm against the tree, I began looking around for a good place to start. The patterns in the bark made it hard to find the divide between the layers, but the tree was huge, meaning any segment I chose was going to be bigger than my entire hand. The tree was also still alive, meaning its bark was still very much attached. I learned this the hard way when I dug my fingers into the grooves and tried to pull. I ended up leaning completely sideways with my feet up against the trunk, and yet it would not budge in the slightest.

“This tree must have a lot of life force.” I grunted,

“Definitely,” Lycus responded, “Just one of these has more energy than the half of the forest getting cut off.”

“Wow,” That sounded like some important information, “I promise I’ll keep that secret.”

Lycus gasped, then nodded rapidly, “You’d better.”

With another tug on the bark, I glanced at him, “Only if you help me with this.”

He squinted at me, “Fine. Move over.”

I carefully dropped back down and stepped to the side. Lycus then came over and knocked around the bark surrounding the piece I’d selected, then he dug his hoof into the same crack I had been using. He muttered something, then started rubbing the tree with his other hoof.

“I can only loosen it so much, the rest is up to you.”

“Can you help with that too?” I asked, holding up my one hand and flexing it,

“What’ll you give me?”

“Some gratitude.”

“Mmm… Deal.”

“Okay.” I slipped my fingers back into the crack, “Ready?”

“Yes.”

“Then three, two, one, pull!” I shouted, immediately yanking back,

With our combined efforts, the piece of bark pulled away somewhat, yet it still held strong. I placed a foot against the trunk and braced, while Lycus resorted to simply biting down on it and dragging his hooves in the dirt. After a few moments of no progress, a couple of vines snaked their way into the recess, quickly filling the space and pushing with all their might. At one point even a Breezie or two fluttered down to help, but they didn’t accomplish much.

Something started cracking, and I really hoped it was the wood. A moment later the bark peeled away even more, and with newfound vigor I tugged it even harder.

A snap, then a crackle, and pop, we were both sent tumbling backwards. Thankfully there were no rocks for me to smack my head against this time, and I landed relatively softly amongst the grass.

For the next moment I just laid there, staring upwards as a couple of Breezies swarmed above. Then I held up the piece of bark we managed to strip off. Just like the rest of the tree, it was huge, easily able to cover my entire face, and thicker than my forearm to boot. It wasn’t as heavy as I was expecting though, and I was easily able to lift it with just one hand.

“Yes!” I cheered,

My arm fell off.

“No!”

“What are you complaining about?” Lycus started from off to the side, “We got the- Ah! Your arm!”

“Yeah, I noticed,” I grumbled,

He wasn’t listening, “What are we gonna do?! What are you gonna do?! What am I gonna do?! I can’t replace it!” He started pacing in circles.

I just watched him for a moment, then slowly sat up, placed both stumps on my knees, and shakily tried to stand.

“Oh… my mom’s gonna kill me!” Lycus exclaimed,

Once I was on my feet, I took a few wobbly steps over to him and clonked him on the head.

“Ow! What was that for?” He demanded, rubbing the spot with a hoof.

“Relax, will you? I’m fine.” I chided,

“You are?” He sniffled, “But… your arm.”

“I know. Just…” I sighed, “Grab it for me please.”

Lycus looked from me to my arm a few times, then silently stepped over to scoop it up with his hooves.

“Hold it out.” I commanded,

He did so, presenting my arm to me hand first.

“Other side,”

Once it was flipped around, I carefully aligned the limb with my left shoulder, and with a bit of prodding, Lycus rotated it so the two sides fit together.

“Help with the binding.” I nodded towards my arm, “Make it strong.”

“O-Okay.” Lycus placed a hoof along the break.

The plants making up my disguise quickly merged back together, and a few thicker roots wove together to form a brace of sorts. Once it was secure, I pulled my arm out of Lycus’s grip and tried to move it.

Slowly but surely, each finger closed into a fist, and a few seconds later I was opening and closing my hand regularly. I then extended my elbow and twisted my wrist a few times, everything was in working order.

“There, see? I’m fine.”

“W-W-W-W-W-What?!” Lycus built up the outburst, “What was that?! You can do that?!”

“Uh, yeah?” I shrugged, “Why do you think I wasn’t that upset when your mother took my toe?”

“I- Uh- …huh…”

“I wonder if I can get it back now…” I said quietly

“Wait a moment!” Lycus suddenly shouted, “Why didn’t my arm work then?”

“Huh?” I looked over to him, “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? If you can take pieces of yourself off and put them back just like that, then why didn’t my piece work?”

“Uh…” I looked at him strangely, “Maybe because only my original pieces will fit-” I blinked, “Wait no, a prosthetic should work.”

That wasn’t just guesswork either, I knew that for a fact. I don’t know how or why, but I did.

“So why didn’t it work?” Lycus demanded again,

I shushed him, “Let me think.”

There were prosthetics in the anime and manga, right? It made sense, if you were getting broken countless times, it would be inevitable that you would eventually lose some piece of yourself. Yet there were never any extended periods of time where a gem was missing pieces. They had to have gotten their parts replaced, but how, and with what?

More of the same material?

…

…Yes… Yes, gems could replace body parts if they had more of the same gem to make them out of. But what about gems that were rare, like Phosphophyllite? He definitely broke on more than one occasion, and absolutely lost pieces of himself, yet there was never any more phosphophyllite other than himself. How did he replace his body parts?

With other materials?

…

…Maybe… It seemed possible, my memories of Phos aren’t exclusively of him being one solid color either… So why didn’t an arm made of roots work? What was different about the plants versus the other unknown materials that were used.

Despite the fact that they are unknown. I remember Phos being made up of more than one material, but what they actually were eludes me.

…

They weren’t plants though, I knew that.

…

No matter how many parts were replaced, Phos never lost his luster. He must’ve used something that was close to, if not exactly as dazzling as he was, and coming from a living gemstone, that doesn’t leave much.

“Maybe it needs to be similar to me.” I wondered out loud,

“Like a crystal?” Lycus asked,

“Yeah, like a crystal.” I nodded, “Or something… uninhabited?”

Lycus huffed, “Like there are any crystals in this forest.”

He was right. Despite this being a magical fantasy land, there were no giant nature crystals floating in the air, or embedded in the trees, or anything like that. You would be hard pressed to find any sort of crystal here, and it wasn’t like the forest could produce crystals either.

…

Or maybe it could. Sugar was a crystal, and sugar was made by plants. We could easily get enough, but I don’t think an arm that would just dissolve whenever it got wet was the best choice. Were there any other crystals that could be produced by plants? Preferably something with a bit more resilience.

“What about amber?” I blurted out,

Lycus stared at me for a moment, “What’s amber?”

“It’s… Oh, uh...” I trailed off, rolling my wrist. “It's tree sap... but like old, really old. It hardens in the ground, and… I think it’s a crystal?”

All I got was another blank stare, with Lycus tilting his head more after every word. He frowned deeply for a few seconds, before suddenly gasping out.

Before I even had a chance to ask what was up, he reared up and stomped both hooves on the ground. Not a moment later a tremor shook the area, causing me to stumble and almost fall.

“What-”

The earth split before me, gigantic roots pushing upwards, carrying literal boulders with them. As they twisted and turned, a lot of the rock crumbled and shattered, and I shielded my face from any stray shards. Once they were high enough, they stopped, a cascade of rubble and dirt falling down in their place.

I traced the lifted roots with my eyes, before finally landing on Lycus, who was standing there triumphantly.

“Why did you do that?” I asked,

He scoffed, before stepping over to one of the roots. “Look!”

At his touch it twisted slightly, revealing several yellowish orange orbs dripping down the side.

“Is this that amber you were talking about?”

I say dripping, but that was only because they looked like large droplets. They weren’t actually moving, and looked remarkably solid.

“Uh… Maybe.” I began moving over to inspect them more closely.

They had the same golden color as honey, but were completely solid to the touch. Having just come from the ground, they were pretty rough around the edges, but some of the globs were larger than my fist, and it looked like some continued further into the roots of the tree.

“So?” Lycus continued,

“I’m not an archeologist.” I responded, “So maybe. Can I have some to check?”

“Ye-” Lycus stopped himself, pursing his lips. He glanced from me to the roots a few times. “No.”

I raised an eyebrow, “Why not.”

“Um, because…” His gaze shifted around rapidly, “This is uh… sacred tree sap… Yeah.” He stamped a hoof down, and the roots began receding back into the ground. “I can’t just give it to you…”

I narrowed my eyes. What was he playing at? “Not even as say… a reward for helping the forest?”

Lycus gulped, and avoided making eye contact with me. “I’ll uh… I’ll have to ask my mom first.”

“Right,” I crossed my arms.

“B-Besides, you still have to actually finish uh… helping.”

I just stared at him for a moment, before shrugging, “Fair enough. I’ve got what I need, so I’m going to head back now. I’ll let you know how it goes.”

“Wh-” Lycus did a double take, “You’re leaving? Already?”

“Yup.” I held up the piece of bark, “I gotta get this proof back to Sir Manuscript so we can save the forest.”

“R-Right…” He mumbled, before shaking his head, “Wait! I’ll guide you back.”

Before I could respond, I noticed a familiar green sprite rocketing towards me from across the sanctuary.

“No thanks,” I tilted my head out of the way as the Breezie shot passed, “I’ll manage.”

Upon turning around to continue after the Breezie, I swear I could hear Lycus tsk to himself.

“Oh yeah," I called back, "and thanks for all the help!”

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

I am well aware that the study of amber does not fall within archeology. Phos on the other hand...

Well, Phos only has one hand right now.

Time for another etymology lesson. Adamant and diamond have the same root word, the Greek adamas/adamant, meaning untameable or invincible.

Why does Phos know this? Two reasons, one pertaining to their seemingly above average knowledge of Greek myth (and surrounding areas), and the other contains spoilers for Land of the Lustrous, so I won't say it.

Chapter 14

I could not tell you how grateful I was to get away from that guy. Obviously he was getting better, but I could only handle so much before starting to feel like I was going to freak out. I was lucky to have the Breezie come to my rescue right as I was reaching my limit. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I had to keep dealing with Lycus after what he pulled with the amber.

Though I wouldn’t have minded staying in the sanctuary for longer.

With a sigh, I looked at the Breezie fluttering ahead of me. “Did the others go back?”

“Back, back.” It answered,

“Good.” I relaxed my shoulders.

Once I met back up with them, we could meet with Sir Manuscript again, show him the proof, have the road plans amended, get my toe back, and be on our merry way. Holding up the piece of bark to look at it, I froze.

It was dead. I don’t know how else to explain it. The green glow that came from the veins below was gone, and it took on a much more solid, duller color.

“Oh shiii-” I glanced at the Breezie again, “-oot. Shoot.”

“Shoot, shoot?” It echoed, doubling back.

“Look,” I presented the piece of bark to it,

The Breezie just landed on it, crawling across the surface as it inspected it. Without the glowing veins, this just went from a mystical piece of a tree infused with the very life of the forest to ‘here, look at this cool piece of bark I found.’ Even if it looked masterfully crafted, it would hardly prove anything, just that there was some strange plant in the forest. It was the same problem I had with the fruits and flowers.

This was a bust.

I would need something else green and glowy, but I really didn’t want to go back to get something.

…

My eyes landed on the Breezie as it settled atop the piece of bark.

“Say… I think I just had an idea on how you can help me.”

“Help, help?”

“That’s right.” I nodded, “But first, can you leave the forest?”

Going off of Indigo’s information, Breezies, while rare, are at least known to the rest of the world. They had to have been seen elsewhere, and supposedly they didn't stay in place for very long, meaning they probably weren’t bound to one singular location. Whether this was actually accurate or not I didn’t know, which is why I was asking.

The Breezie squeaked and spun in a few circles. It started bumbling something, but to me it just sounded like gibberish, a slurry of high pitched syllables that was almost too fast to make out individual words. Eventually, it stopped, took in a relatively large breath, and turned to face me.

“Can, leave.”

“Oh goo-”

“Don’t, want.” The Breezie continued,

“...Oh. I see.” I thought for a moment, “Please?”

“...Don’t, want…” It repeated after some deliberation,

“I promise it won’t be long, just enough time to convince Sir Manuscript to change the road.”

The Breezie gave a small whine, shuffling from side to side.

“You’ll be with me the entire time, I won’t let anybody hurt you.”

“Promise, promise?”

“Promise,” I nodded,

I would’ve held my finger up to shake on it again, but I had to hold the piece bark the Breezie was standing on.

With a sigh that sounded more like a hum, the Breezie turned around and pointed forward, “Town, town.”

“Right,” I started walking forwards again, only to stop after a few steps, “But second,”

It was hard to tell, but I think the Breezie glanced back at me.

“What should I call you?”

It chirped, jumping up into the air.

“No, name! No, name!” It exclaimed,

“I know, I know,” I tucked the bark under my shoulder and held up my hand, “But I can’t just call you ‘Breezie’ or anything like that, especially if there are more of you around.”

“No, name.” The Breezie repeated,

It was being weirdly insistent, and I couldn’t help but tilt my head, “Are you not allowed to have a name or something?” I asked,

“N-No…” It muttered,

“Well is there anything you’d prefer to be called?”

“No, no.”

“Hmm…” I pursed my lips, “Then is it okay for me to give you a name? Or at least call you something specific?”

“Eep!” The Breezie jolted in the air, zipping around my head at ridiculous speeds. Once it finished orbiting me, it fluttered down to the piece of bark, and I slowly held it out again. “Okay, okay.” It said, plopping down.

“Alright then…” I started forward again, only slightly dizzy.

What should I call this Breezie? I didn’t have a name prepared or anything, I started the conversation in hopes that it would pick something of its own, but I guess the decision was left to me. I would prefer something fitting, but the only faerie name I knew was Puck, which definitely wouldn’t work.

What other names could I use? Something based on the color green? Like shamrock or chartreuse? Maybe I should go for the mineral route like me, use a name like emerald or jade. But that was hardly relevant to a forest Breezie, something more plantlike would fit better.

Maybe this Breezie could be the real Chlorophyll?

Nah, that would be too confusing, especially if I had to introduce it to Sir Manuscript. I don’t think he would believe us at all if we used that.

It would have to be something unique, something that a pony wouldn’t have heard before, something like... a different language? Did I know any names like that? Sure, I could list plenty of characters with foreign names, most of them Japanese, but would I like it? If I was using another language, then it pretty much boiled down to my preferences, what was a good sounding name that was relatable enough to me?

“How about Shinsha?”

I know it didn’t fit like the others, but this one was special. It was important to me, or at least to Phos. I couldn’t actually remember the reasons though.

“Shinch… Shinshhh… Hmph!” The Breezie pouted,

I don’t think it was too happy to have a name it couldn’t pronounce.

“Uh oh, should I call you something else?” I asked,

The Breezie perked right back up, “No, no!” It inhaled deeply, “Shin… Shinsh… Shin… Sha… Shin-sha…” It tried, “Shin-sha, Shin-sha! Shinsha!”

“You got it.” I smiled,

“Shinsha! Shinsha!” The Breezie cheered,

“Do you like it?”

“Shinsha, Shinsha!” Shinsha bobbed up and down.

Good, Shinsha liked it too. If they didn’t, then I would’ve gladly changed it, I wasn’t going to be completely selfish here.

Shinsha leapt from the piece of bark, landing squarely on my face.

“Woah!” I stumbled back a bit,

They then picked themself up, and stood proudly along the bridge of my nose. I had to cross my eyes just to look at them, and I could see a lot more through the intense shine. They looked like a tiny pony, with long, spindly legs, rounded features, and a number of insect traits, from wings to antennae to possibly even compound eyes, it was a little too bright to tell exactly.

Again, this was oddly expected, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t a little disappointed at not having a little humanoid fairy buzzing around. A pony would be just fine though, and it would work either way. Presenting a Breezie of all things to Sir Manuscript would be a surefire way to gain his approval. I can imagine the look on his face already, I couldn’t wait.

But first, “Let’s get back to town,”

Shinsha leaned forward and pecked me on the forehead. I couldn’t really feel it through the disguise, but I could definitely see it.

“Well, aren't you sweet?” I commented, “But you’re kind of blinding me.”

“Ah!” Shinsha took off a moment later, zipping ahead to take the lead in navigating the forest again.

I quickly followed behind, but not before taking a moment to inspect the piece of bark again. I didn’t know what to do with it now, and currently it was just a large object I was carrying around for no apparent reason. I considered just leaving it, but what would the deer do if they found out I took something from the sanctuary, only to drop it immediately afterward? I strengthened my grip on the piece of wood, I’ll find a use for it later, hopefully.

♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦

Our pace slowed quite a bit once we were back in town. Though there wasn’t anything directly impacting our movement like the plants of the forest, we were subject to wandering the streets under the prying eyes of countless ponies. I was relatively used to it, though I felt a little exposed without one of the mercenaries with me.

Neither Indigo nor Fletch were at the forest’s edge, and with no obvious signs of where they were or where they went, the only place left to go was the inn. Hence why I was currently walking alone.

Well, technically alone. This was probably Shinsha’s first time out of the forest, and as such it took a lot to get them to actually cross the divide. Once they were actually over they remained glued to my side the entire time, and when other ponies started coming into view, Shinsha quickly disappeared into the depths of my cloak. I couldn’t tell exactly where, but I think they were situated somewhere behind my neck.

At least we could still talk to each other, I could whisper, and if Shinsha was somewhere close to my ear they could respond. Though right now they seemed to be having trouble just speaking in general.

I could see why. It was the latter half of the day, and there were a lot of ponies out and about. I did my best to ignore them, but the same could not be said on the other side. I was getting a lot of looks, much more than I was when walking through town before. At first I thought it was just because I was eye-catching, I mean I was a tall, two-legged creature in a land of small ponies, of course I was going to stand out. But when some of those looks turned sour, and the confusion turned to contempt, I remembered what Fletch had said earlier.

The Tungsten state doesn’t welcome non-ponies.

I had assumed that it would only be a problem with the law, not the locals. You could immediately tell I wasn’t a pony at a glance, and with no pony of my own to ward off any would-be offenders, I really began to feel out in the open, despite being completely covered with a cloak and a full body suit made of plants.

I hurriedly made the rest of the way to the inn.

Thankfully, none of the ponies tried to stop me, and I was able to make it inside the inn without much issue, but my problems didn't end there. Fletch and Indigo weren’t there either, the room was locked, and there was no response from knocking. They weren’t downstairs either, in fact, the whole building seemed to be devoid of life, with the only pony I could find being the one behind the bar, and with the look they were giving me, I didn’t dare talk to them.

And so I was left alone in the inn, with nowhere to go. I even tried knocking on Captain Morningstar’s door, but there was no response there either. I didn’t know how many other rooms we had, or where any of them were, and I wasn’t going to risk knocking on every door, especially if the first two were empty. I ended up just sitting with my back against the door to the girls’ room, waiting, alone.

Well, technically alone.

“How are you holding up?” I whispered,

A small amount of green light entered my peripherals, “Scared, scared.”

“Yeah…” I sighed, “Sorry. I didn’t think we would have to make it all the way back here alone. Or that that many ponies would react the way they did.” I murmured, “I’m a little scared too.”

There was a tiny whimper in my ear.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe. I promised, didn’t I?” I stuck a finger into my hood,

“Promise, safe.” Shinsha responded,

I smiled at that, then leaned forward slightly, resting my arms on my knees, then my forehead on my arms. My cloak didn’t have sleeves, but if I held it up right, I could create a semi-enclosed space, just large enough for a Breezie to get comfortable in. That didn’t immediately happen though, and it took a bit of coaxing to get Shinsha out from under my hood.

“I’ll fight anybody that tries to take you away. Although…” I drummed my fingers against my stump,

I broke really easily, which meant if I wanted to hit something hard, I could probably only do it once. I would have to be able to take my opponents out in one punch, and while I imagine getting slugged by a rock wouldn’t feel good regardless, it probably wasn’t enough to send most down for the count.

“I’m not sure how well that would work out.”

“Fight, fight!” Shinsha exclaimed, it looked like they were punching air.

I chuckled lightly. What would getting hit by a Breezie feel like?

…

Actually... What could a Breezie even do?

“Do you think you could zap people like Indigo said?” I asked,

Shinsha stopped their little boxing routine to look up at me. “Zap, zap?”

“Yeah, Indigo said that Breezies could punch really hard, enough to… well… knock a pony down.”

“Punch, punch?”

“Are you that strong?”

With a hum, Shinsha moved over to my thigh, reeled back, and socked me. Unsurprisingly, my leg was not shattered to pieces, and all it felt like through the disguise was a light tap.

“Is everything known about Breezies wrong?” I wondered,

Shinsha trilled, sitting down on my abdomen.

I tried to recount what Indigo said. It was already proven that they weren’t magical wisps, nor were they very strong. We just left the forest, so them not normally staying in one place is still possible…

“Do you at least like flowers?”

“Flowers, flowers!” Shinsha practically jumped up and down,

“Oh? What do you like about them?”

“Flowers, tasty, pretty.”

“Tasty?” I repeated,

“Tasty, tasty.” Shinsha agreed,

I mean Fletch ate flowers, and she was a pony. Breezies were kind of just tiny ponies, so I guess they could eat flowers too. At that size though, I imagine it would take a long time just to eat one flower… Or maybe they weren’t eating the whole flower, just what was inside. Breezies were also like insects, they could probably reach the nectar inside.

“Do you like sweet things?”

“Sweet, sweet.”

I nodded slightly, “What about pollen?”

“Paw, len?” Shinsha asked,

“It’s uh… It’s that yellow, powdery stuff that flowers have.”

“Ah! Paw-len, paw-len.” Shinsha jittered, shaking off a fair amount of yellow powder.

“Well what do you know?” I guess Breezies were more like butterflies rather than bees. I wonder how that misconception came to be. “So what’s your favorite flower?” I continued,

Shinsha shot back up into my hood, clutching one of the many flowers growing in my hair. I couldn’t tell exactly which one, nor could I remember how many types I had now, but I remember it was mostly white petals with yellow highlights, similar to the dandelions I had earlier. If I had to guess…

“Is it daisies?”

“Daisies, daisies!” A tiny voice came back down,

I don’t think Shinsha actually knew the names of their favorite flower, similar to Lycus with grapes. They were just repeating what I said, so I can only hope that I was right.

“So do you just pollinate flowers in the forest all day long?” I asked,

“Flowers, paw-len. Hmm…” Shinsha fluttered down, “Oh! Watch, protect.”

That’s right, Breezies seemed to be the eyes and ears of the forest. They could monitor it for threats or anomalies, like me, or ponies that wandered too far in…

“Protect?” I asked, “How?”

Shinsha gasped audibly, sucking in a breath and holding it. They then grunted slightly, concentrating hard as they did… something, I don’t know what.

Poof!

I was momentarily blinded by a flash of light. Very brief blindness I might add, my eyes were also crystal, meaning I technically didn’t have any aversion to intense light. I could stare straight at the sun without issue, so a simple flash wasn’t going to do much.

Though I still wasn't expecting to essentially get flashbanged by a fairy. I suppose that’s one way to ward off intruders, simply harass them with flying lights. That could easily scare off any animals or ponies that didn’t know any better, but for those that did… I can imagine why the deer are needed. Even then I doubt they could stop something like road construction.

Well, that’s what I was doing, and that’s why Shinsha was here with me.

Looking down at them, I was surprised to see that they were a lot dimmer, most of their shining light was gone. In fact, without the bright green glow, I could see their true colors, that being a darkish red. Or some sort of red, it was hard to tell in the sudden absence of light. Their mane, as seen earlier, was ridiculously poofy, standing tall yet still somehow looking slicked back. It was also relatively long, to the point where it would drag on the floor if they weren’t flying all the time, and the same went for the tail.

I guess the name Shinsha fit after all.

...

I don't know why I said that.

Shinsha stumbled a bit, teetering back and forth as they struggled to find their balance.

“Uh oh,” I began, “That take a lot out of you?”

“Tired, tired.”

I smiled, “Here.” Breaking the seal, I let light into my little space as I lifted my head and moved my arms.

Reaching up into my hood, I picked one of the flowers I think Shinsha latched onto before and handed it to them. It did indeed look like a daisy.

They slowly grabbed it, then promptly buried their face into the center.

Chuckling lightly, I carefully scooped them up and deposited them over my right shoulder. Once they were situated within the confines of my hood, I sat up straighter, glancing up and down the hallway again. It was still completely barren, even though the sun had started setting.

I imagine that once ponies were done with their day, they would return to where they were staying, and that applied to the mercenaries as well. With only eight rooms lining the hallway, at least three of them being owned by us, and the possibility of not all of them being occupied, there was a good chance that the next pony I saw would be one of the mercenaries.

And so I waited.

Alone. Truly alone.

Sitting around like this, not doing anything, it brought back some… not very fond memories. Of course, there was an important distinction between not being able to do anything and simply choosing not to do anything. Right now I was doing the latter, I just didn’t know what to do next. I had my proof, but I wasn’t with Fletch and Indigo. I wanted to regroup before going any further with Sir Manuscript, but since I didn’t know where they were, the next best course of action was to simply wait where I knew they would be.

The door creaked open on the opposite side of the hallway, and a pony I’ve never seen before stepped halfway through. We locked eyes for a moment, then she dashed back into the room with a gasp.

“What?” A familiar voice asked from behind the door, “Who’s out there?”

“I-I don’t know.” The other pony responded,

There was a groan, “Let me see…”

The door opened again, and Rusty stepped out, immediately noticing me against the far wall.

“Phos?”

“Oh hey,” I waved,

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

Who the heck is Shinsha?

It's simply really, for those that don't know, Shinsha(シンシャ in katakana, 辰砂 in kanji) is the Japanese word for Cinnabar. In the series, Cinnabar is one of the only two characters that do not use the English words for their gemstone, the other being Kongō(Adamant). Of course, subtitles and text translations sort of cover this up, but it's still an interesting little factoid, and it's a good name.

You want to really cross reference some stuff though? Shinsha is also the name of a character in the "That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime" mobile game. It is important to note that this isn't a reference to Land of the Lustrous. HOWEVER, for those who have read most of the manga, go look at season 1, episode 20, timestamp 15:08 of the TTIGRAAS anime.

Cinnabar is indeed important to Phos, but it seems that our Phos doesn't remember why. :applecry:

Chapter 15

Rusty blinked at me a few times, “What are you doing here?”

“Waiting.” I answered simply,

“Wh-” He paused, then turned back into the room, “It’s fine, I know them.”

There was some shuffling behind him, and then he stepped out of the way as the pony from earlier exited the room. She glanced at me for a moment, then speed walked down the hall and hurried down the stairs without another word.

I’m not going to question what a stallion and mare were doing in the same room like that, and I wasn’t going to question why Rusty wasn’t wearing any of his regular gear either. Granted, I noticed that ponies don’t really wear things in general, but apparently it was different for the mercenaries. Indigo had her robes, Fletch had a vest, I don’t think Maul ever took off his armor, I had no idea what Dagger even looked like under his cloak, and the rest usually wore some sort of tunic. Armor was typically reserved for when on the job.

Rusty was in the nude, though it wasn’t like there was anything on display.

…

Not that I was looking to begin with.

…

I swear.

“Why?” He asked,

“Huh?” I blinked,

“Why are you waiting here?” He clarified,

“Oh, uh… I got separated from the others.” I explained, “So I came back here, but the door’s locked, and I didn’t get any responses from either.” I pointed to Captain Morningstar’s room as I stood up,

“Mm,” Rusty nodded, “Well I’m here, why didn’t you come to me?”

“I didn’t know which room was yours.”

“You could’ve checked,”

I raised an eyebrow, and looked behind him. All I could see was a thoroughly tossed up bed. “Would you have responded?”

“Y-” Rusty choked, devolving into a coughing fit for a few moments. “...uh… No, probably not.”

“Well, do you know where any of the others are?” I asked,

“Hmm…” Rusty brought a hoof to his chin, “Haven’t seen those two since you left this morning…” He pointed to the door behind me, “Maul’s off doing his own thing…” He listed, “And I think Duck and Dagger went with the Captain.”

“To do what?” I tilted my head,

“I think he got a summons from Manuscript.”

I pursed my lips, that didn’t sound good.

“Why didn’t you go with?” I asked, but I could probably guess the answer.

“I was preoccupied,”

“Right.” I nodded slowly, “Should we go after them then? See what’s up?”

“Eh. I’m sure we’ll find out sooner or later.”

“Well, do you know when they’ll get back?”

“No.”

…

We both just kind of stood there silently for a few moments, me looking at the floor while Rusty stared blankly ahead.

He sniffed, “How’s the job going?”

“Good,” I answered, “I’ve got what I need to show Sir Manuscript, and I was kind of hoping to maybe talk to him today.”

Rusty nodded absentmindedly, “So why aren’t you?”

“Because…” I didn’t want to do it without Fletch and Indigo to back me up, but I didn’t really want to say that. “Because I didn’t think I could make it there on my own.”

“You made it back here, didn’t you?”

“Barely!” I blurted out, “It looked like half the ponies I walked by wanted to attack me!”

Rusty blinked, “Yeah, that tracks. You want me to come with you or something?”

“Uh… Sure.” I would prefer Fletch and Indigo, but if he was offering, it might be a good chance to get to know him. Wait a minute… “You’re not going to ask for payment, are you?”

Rusty just shrugged, “Depends on if you want me to do anything or not.”

I squinted at him, “What about just walking with me?”

“That’s newbie duty, I had to do the exact same thing with Fletch, and the Captain didn’t even let me ask for payment.” Rusty began, “Any more than that though, it’ll cost ya.”

“Noted,” I said slowly,

“Anyways, let me get ready.” Rusty stepped back into his room, only to pause and look back at me, “Uh… Come on in, I guess.”

Part of me didn’t want to enter a room where Rusty just did something with another pony, but another part of me didn’t want to wait out in the hall any longer. I reached down to pick up the piece of bark, made sure Shinsha was nice and tucked away in my hood, and ventured in.

Just like the other rooms, there were only two beds, but it was entirely possible that three ponies were sleeping in here. I think there was a sleeping mat on the floor, but it was so covered with stuff that I couldn’t help but wonder if it was maybe just a rug or something. The room was a mess, with so many things strewn about I couldn’t tell where one person’s stuff ended and another’s began. Not that I knew who owned what, but I could clearly see pieces of Rusty’s armor set piled in one corner, and what looked like Dr. Duck’s medical bag in the other. I couldn’t find any evidence of Maul, his armor certainly wasn’t anywhere in the room, and neither was his weapon of choice.

There were plenty of other weapons spread out across the floor, along with random articles of clothing, bags, satchels, tools, and several other miscellaneous items. I did my best to avoid stepping on anything, while Rusty just avoided anything sharp. He moved over to the foot of the tossed bed, where some clothing was draped over the corner, and grabbed a tunic. He sniffed it, shrugged, then pulled it over his head, then went about fastening a belt around his waist. I can only imagine what it smelled like, and I was a little grateful that I couldn’t smell the room as a whole.

“Whatcha got there?” He glanced down at my hand,

“Some tree bark,” I held up the piece, “I was going to show it to Sir Manuscript, but I found something better.”

Rusty nodded, “So why do you still have it?”

“I don’t want to waste it.”

“It’s tree bark.”

“Special tree bark,” I corrected, “It wasn’t easy to get, it would be a crime not to use it.”

“Then what are you gonna use it for?”

“I… don’t know yet. But I’m not gonna throw it away.”

“Alright,” Rusty held his hooves up, “But where are you gonna put it? Unless you’re gonna carry it around all day long.”

“I-” I froze, then looked back at the hall where the door to my room remained closed and locked.

My gaze then trailed back to Rusty’s room, where the floor was barely visible beneath an avalanche of stuff.

“Can I…” I began slowly,

“It’ll cost ya.” Rusty interrupted,

I sucked my teeth, “How much?”

“A bit.”

That was a ludicrous price, I think. I didn’t have any money, but I didn’t have much use for it either. When I got paid, all I’ll have to do is give him one bit. I slowly held out the piece of bark.

“Per hour.” Rusty added,

I immediately pulled it back. “I think I’ll hold onto it for now.”

Rusty smirked, “Your loss.”

“I’m not going to lose it.”

“Whatever you say.” Rusty checked to make sure his bags were secure. “Let’s head out.”

“To Sir Manuscript’s?”

“Nope!” Rusty said, walking past me, “This is newbie duty, you’re following me, not the other way around.”

“But-”

Rusty held up a hoof, “I’ve got some errands to run, we can go to the big wig’s house after we’re done.”

“O-Okay.” I muttered,

With one last look around the room, I patted my cloak in several places, then tucked the piece of bark under my stump. Man, I wish I had pockets, not that the piece would’ve fit, but… I’ll never doubt their usefulness again.

Following Rusty out of the room, he was already making his way down the hall. I quickly picked up my pace to catch up with him, but as soon as he turned the corner to go down the stairs he stopped and sighed.

“Nevermind.”

“Why?” I asked as I caught up, then I looked down the stairs. “Oh.”

“Hey Rusty,” Dr. Duck began, then he noticed me, “Oh! Hey Phos.”

“Phos?” A familiar voice came from below, “Phos is here?”

I blinked, “Y-Yes?” I called down,

I tried to slip past Rusty, but the staircase wasn’t really wide enough for two people, so I had to wait for Dr. Duck to go back down, and then Rusty before finally descending myself. Once I was at the bottom I could see Captain Morningstar, Dagger, Fletch, and Indigo in the lobby, with Rusty and Dr. Duck hanging out at the bottom of the stairs. Maul was still nowhere to be seen though.

“There you are!” Fletch began, “We were just about to go back to the forest.”

Indigo looked me up and down for a moment, “I’m surprised you made it back on your own.”

“It wasn’t fun.” I recounted, “But yeah, I’m here. Where did you guys go?”

“The Captain picked us up for some important business.” Indigo answered,

“Sorry we kinda left you behind.” Fletch added,

“It’s okay, I was going to be taking a while anyway.”

“You obviously didn’t take that long.” Indigo glanced at the piece of bark under my arm, “Did you get what you needed?”

“Yes.” I touched it, “This isn’t it though, I’ll show you later. Anyway, you guys went to Sir Manuscript’s, right?”

“How’d you know?” Fletch asked,

“Rusty told me,” I pointed back to him, “So what happened?”

Indigo just nodded towards Captain Morningstar, who was looking forward with a stern expression. He moved over to a table and let out a sharp whistle. Immediately, the others fell in line, and after a moment of hesitation, I scrambled to find a seat. Once we were situated, another bag of bits was dropped on the table. It was slightly smaller than the one from the other night, but it still looked like it could hold at least a couple dozen.

“Sir Manuscript just paid our retainer for the next week.” Captain Morningstar began, “And made it quite clear that all eight of us are to remain on standby.” He ended with a glare towards me.

Oh. Uh oh.

“I-I… Uh… I…” I stuttered, “I-I didn’t do anything.”

“I know.” Captain Morningstar growled, “But it’s still going to be a problem.”

“Was there any particular reason?” Indigo asked,

I glanced at her. Shouldn’t she know? She was with them when they went to meet. Though when I was with them, Captain Morningstar and Sir Manuscripts mostly spoke one on one in a separate room.

“Dragons.”

I gulped, and the rest of the group grimaced.

“There have been more sightings at the deposit, and Sir Manuscript wants us to be ready in case they have to drive another one off.”

“Just in case?” Rusty questioned, “So if one doesn’t show up, then we don’t have to do anything?”

Captain Morningstar exhaled loudly, “We’ll be going on patrol in a few days regardless, he expects all of us to be there.”

With another glance in my direction, I shrank back under my hood.

“All of us?” Dr. Duck repeated, looking around, “Where’s Maul, shouldn’t he be hearing this as well?”

“I’ll fill him in later. Just know that in three days, we’ll have another job. Understood?”

“Sir yes sir.”

“S-Sir yes sir.” I muttered,

“Dismissed.”

The others all got up, while I just remained slumped in my seat. I didn’t want to fight another dragon! Because the last time that happened, it went so well. Not to mention that Sir Manuscript mentioned me specifically for some reason, probably not a good one.

I felt sick, which was odd considering I couldn’t really get nauseous. I didn’t have a stomach to churn, nor a brain to ache. It kind of just resulted in a weird pressure behind my brow, like my eyes would pop out if I squinted too hard. Just to be safe, I kept them closed, and did my best to relax.

I listened as the other mercenaries shuffled around me, some heading for the stairs while others headed for the front door. Two sets of hooves stopped on either side of me.

“Come on, get up.” Indigo ordered, “They don’t like it when you take up tables without buying anything.”

I managed a glance at the bar, where the pony behind it was giving me an even worse glare than earlier.

“Okay.” I slowly climbed to my feet,

“Let’s go back to the room, I have some stuff to drop off.”

“Sure.”

Both Fletch and Indigo began heading for the stairs, while I just trailed behind. They managed to get halfway across the hallway by the time I reached the top of the stairs. Once Indigo made it to the door, she shot a glance in my direction.

“How long were you waiting out here?”

“Um…” I thought back a bit, “One or two hours, I think.”

“We should probably get you your own key.”

“Where would I put it?” I mumbled,

Indigo looked at my cloak, then the piece of bark I was only able to carry because I had an extra arm I couldn’t use for anything else.

“We should probably get you some gear too.”

With that, she unlocked the door and opened it, allowing us all to enter. I immediately headed for the chair and sat down, while Indigo proceeded to unload a bunch of pouches and bags, presumably filled with plants. Fletch just jumped up on her bed, sighing loudly as she spread out.

“You’re a lot of trouble, you know that?” Indigo began,

I looked up at her with a frown.

“I don’t think we’ve ever gotten this much attention from the lord, and based on what the Captain said, Sir Manuscript considers you a part of the team now, so I don’t think we can just give you up anymore.”

That was almost a good thing, depending on how you looked at it.

“Sorry.”

“Yeah well, we still decided to let you join. The Captain knew the risks, but I don’t think any of us thought we would get found out so quickly. And now it’s getting ugly, we’re stuck here for another week.”

“Is this supposed to make me feel better?”

“Not really, no. I’m just telling you how it is.” Indigo shrugged, “It’s your choice on how to feel about it.”

I groaned, “I feel like this situation sucks.”

Indigo sighed, “Can’t argue with that.”

“It can’t be all bad, right?” Fletch lifted her head, “You said you got your proof from the forest. Isn’t that a good thing?”

“...Yeah…” I nodded slowly, “Yeah, that is a good thing.”

“Well, what did you get if it wasn’t that…” Indigo squinted at the bark under my arm, “...piece of wood?”

“This.” I held up the bark, “Is bark from a… well… I can’t really say.”

“Why not?” Fletch asked,

“I made a promise, but trust me when I say it’s special.”

“But it’s not your proof.” Indigo said,

“It was,” I stashed it under my seat, “but then I got something better.”

“What did you get then?” Fletch asked,

“Oh, the anticipation is killing me.” Indigo remarked,

Despite her comment, I smiled, “I think you’ll like this.”

Reaching into my hood, I carefully scooped up the snoozing Breezie. I was surprised that Shinsha didn’t wake up from all the commotion, I had been speaking and moving for a while now, and yet they remained fast asleep. A lot of their previous glow had returned, making it harder to see their true form, but you could still see their general shape amongst the light.

They were currently using the flower I had given them as a pillow.

As soon as I pulled out the little fairy, Indigo’s jaw dropped, while Fletch let out a gasp. She immediately jumped out of her bed, scrambling across the floor until she was just inches away from my outstretched hand. Indigo also approached, though at a much more reserved pace, taking the time to assess the situation to its fullest.

“It…” Indigo began, “Looks like a little pony.”

“Cute…” Fletch muttered,

Shinsha began to stir in my palm, and I quickly tried to turn them away, but they quickly caught sight of the two ponies staring right at them while also being way too close for comfort.

“Eep!” They shot up my arm, disappearing into the folds of my cloak once more.

“It’s okay,” I began, “you’ve met these two before, it’s just us.”

Slowly, the green sprite crawled its way back into view.

“Sorry to wake you up like that,” I shooed Fletch and Indigo away lightly, “but they wanted to see you.”

Shinsha climbed up to my hand again, and gave a tiny wave. “Um… Hi, hi.”

“Hello.” Indigo replied slowly.

“Guys, this is Shinsha, and they’re going to be helping me convince Sir Manuscript to change the road. They’re my proof.”

“Nice to meet you again, Shinsha.” Fletch bowed her head lightly,

“That’s…” Indigo began, “Certainly some proof you’ve got there.”

“Thank you.” I smiled a bit,

“And I’m wondering if that’s actually a good thing.”

I blinked, then stared at her for a moment, “What is it now?”

“I think your proof might be too good,” Indigo continued, “Sure, it’ll make Sir Manuscript change the road plan, but it will also make him wonder exactly how you got it. If he gets any more interested in you, then he might start devoting more resources towards investigating you.”

I leaned back and groaned, “But I don’t have anything else to give him.”

“What about the piece of bark?” Fletch suggested,

I looked over to her, then reached down to grab the bark and show it to her, “What does this say to you?”

She looked at it intently for a moment, “Uh… not much?”

I held it over to Indigo next, “And you?”

She also inspected it closely, “It’s certainly beautiful, but it just looks like tree bark.”

“Exactly,” I concluded, “Sir Manuscript wants hard evidence, and this isn’t.” I bounced the piece of bark lightly, letting is slip out of my grasp. “But this is.” I then held my hand back under Shinsha.

“So we either give him something not good enough, and he doesn’t have to change the plans, or we give him something too good, making him want to find out more about us?” Fletch asked,

“Either way he comes out on top.” Indigo deduced,

“Top, top.”

“But if he doesn’t change the road plans, then he’ll have to deal with the forest.” I said,

“Is that bad for him though?” Indigo replied, “The loss of a few workers isn’t going to do anything to stop him, or Lord Tungsten.”

“Yeah… I assumed,” I muttered, “Still, I have a job to do, so I’m going to do it as best as possible.”

“Even if it means risking yourself?” Indigo asked,

I pursed my lips,

“A good mercenary knows when to quit.” She continued. “We’re not heroes.”

She also shot a glance at Fletch when she said that.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

Problems and tensions, what a wonderful combination. ♦☻♦

Chapter 16

“Sure.” I nodded, “But I’m already risking myself by taking this job in the first place.” I pointed at my foot, “They have a piece of me, and I want it back.”

“Back, back.” Shinsha repeated,

“And what if you lose another piece in the process?” Indigo argued, “What then?”

“Then I’ll try to get both back.” I lowered my gaze with her, “They mean more to me than you realize.”

Indigo looked at me for a few seconds, then inhaled and exhaled, “Well whatever, if that’s how you want to cut your losses then so be it. Just try not to drag us too far into it. When do you want to see Sir Manuscript?”

I relaxed a bit, “Not today. I’m tired.”

“Thank the heavens.” Indigo proceeded to fall to the side, landing softly on the bed, “I do not want to see that stallion again for another week.”

“I don’t think that’s possible…” Fletch mumbled, taking her place atop the other bed again,

“Not if we’re going on patrol in a few days.” Indigo groaned,

It wasn’t just that I was tired, I didn’t really want to see Sir Manuscript either. With the way that things have been going, I at least want to make sure I was fully prepared before meeting him again.

“If that’s the case,” I began, “then why don’t we try an official request this time?”

“Request, request.”

“Ooh! Good idea.” Indigo sat up, “It won’t reach him immediately, and he’ll have to give us a proper response, giving us some time.”

“Let’s do that.” Fletch said,

“Alright.” I nodded slowly, “Then how do we send an official request?”

Indigo stared at me, opened her mouth as if to say something, stopped, then muttered something to herself before sighing and climbing out of bed. She then slid one of her bags to her front and began rummaging through it, pulling out a small jar and a tied scroll.

“Fletch,” she called out, beckoning with her hoof,

“Aww… Do I have to?” She complained,

“Unless you want to pay for a quill.” Indigo responded,

“Quill, quill.”

Fletch whined, but otherwise extended her wing slightly.

“Ouch!” A bright green feather was pulled from her side by a purple glow.

It then floated over to Indigo, who then set the rest of the items down on the small table just under the window.

“You’ll have to write a letter asking for a meeting.” She concluded.

“Ooh…” I winced, “Can you write it for me?”

Indigo just gave me a deadpan stare.

“No, I mean literally, can you write it for me?” I asked again, “I can’t write.”

“Uh-huh.” Indigo responded, “You’re telling me you can do arithmetic, but you can’t read or write? Sure.”

I sighed, scooting my chair over, “I mean I can, you just wouldn’t be able to understand it.”

“Try me.” Indigo popped open the jar and dipped Fletch’s feather into it. She then untied the scroll, which revealed it to actually be a bundle of parchment, and placed a single sheet in front of me.

I carefully grabbed the feather as Shinsha landed on the table. Then I brought it over to the top left of the page, and slowly lowered it.

“Wait.” Indigo interrupted,

I stopped to look at her.

“I like the idea of an official request, but this stuff is expensive.” She explained, tapping the rest of the parchment. “It’s your letter, are you going to pay for it?”

“Of cour-” I stopped myself, then looked back at the sheet I was about to ruin.

I knew what was going to happen, I wasn’t going to be able to write very well. I also knew it probably wasn’t a good idea to waste stuff like this, but in order to spite Indigo…

“I’ll pay for just the letter.”

“Letter, letter.” Shinsha bobbed up and down slightly. They paced around the table to try and reach my hand, but hesitated to actually step on the parchment.

Indigo bit her lip, then looked from me, to the quill, then to the parchment as she grit her teeth. Eventually she sighed and smiled lightly. “Alright, fine. Show me how you write.”

“Okay…” I tilted my head back to the parchment,

The quill touched down, and I started by writing ‘To Sir Manuscript,’

‘It is Phos and company. We have acquired the proof you have-’

“Okay, stop.” Indigo commanded,

I dropped the quill in the inkpot and sat back, admiring my handiwork. It wasn’t very good, but that was to be expected. I learned to write in school, but I never really got a chance to practice it much, nevermind the fact that I didn’t have my dominant hand anymore. The result? I wrote in big, blocky letters made with rough, scratchy strokes and entirely in uppercase. It was legible, but certainly not pretty by any means.

“What did you write?” Indigo asked as she leaned over to inspect it,

I read it out to them.

“At least you know proper etiquette.” Indigo said with a sigh,

“Etiquette, etiquette.” Shinsha echoed,

Fletch made a noise off to the side, it sounded like a cross between a snort and a whimper.

“Okay fine, I’ll write it for you.” Indigo slid the parchment closer to her, “But it’ll-”

“It’ll cost me.” I finished for her, “I know, thirty one percent.”

Indigo just shook her head, “Fourty.”

“Thirty three.” I countered,

“Thirty five.”

“Mm… deal.”

“Thirty, fourty, thirty… five…” Shinsha quickly got lost.

“Um…” Fletch began, “Can I get paid for the feather?”

“I don’t know if that’s worth a percentage increase.” Indigo said,

“I’ll give you one bit for it.” I smiled at her,

“Yay!”

Indigo leaned in real close. “And how much will you give me for the ink and parchment?”

“I’ll pay for part next time you buy some.”

With a huff, Indigo turned her attention back to the parchment, trying to read what I wrote.

“This almost looks like griffin-scratch.”

“It does?” I asked,

“What’s that?” Fletch asked,

“The griffin’s form of writing, here.” Indigo grabbed the quill in her magic.

She wrote four more lines underneath mine. One looked slightly similar to mine, the next just looked like hieroglyphics, the third looked like a bunch of tally marks and lines, and the fourth looked oddly similar to runes, like you would see them on a viking ship.

“This is griffin-scratch, the unicorn alphabet, the pegasi system, and earth-pony runes.” Indigo listed,

“Huh…” I muttered,

“Can I see?” Fletch stepped out of her bed to come around on the other side. “Woah… I’ve seen this before.” She pointed towards the mess of lines and marks.

“Can you read it?” Indigo asked,

Fletch inhaled sharply, “N-No…” She looked away, “What does it say?”

“Just what Phos wrote.”

At that I looked more closely, trying to compare the languages to mine. Unfortunately, none of them were a one to one match, in fact, they each varied wildly. It was strange, I could at least expect that from something like the griffins, but each of the ponies’ was extremely different from the other in both lengths, symbols, and if I had to guess, grammar as well.

“Why do all the ponies have different languages?” I asked,

“Different writing styles for the same language.” Indigo corrected, “And I don’t know. I’m sure each tribe will tell you something different, but I believe they developed independently. Though I’ve heard that there’s talk of creating a standardized script for everypony to use.”

“But you know every style?”

“I’m more or less proficient.” Indigo said, “I didn’t get a formal education for nothing.”

“Wow…” I began, “Teach me.”

“Pay me.”

“Me too.” Fletch butted in,

“What?” Indigo exclaimed, turning to look at her.

“Teach, teach.” Shinsha added, hovering above her,

“...” Indigo didn’t say anything, she was surrounded on all sides.

“Please?” Fletch pleaded,

Indigo looked at each of us for a moment, shaking her head and biting her lip, before finally dropping her hooves on the table.

“Alright, fine! Fine, but later.”

“Thank you!” Fletch practically hugged her,

I just nodded, while Shinsha fluttered down to land on her horn. Indigo shuddered, then shook the Breezie off and pushed Fletch away.

“You all better pay me.”

“Of course.” I responded,

“Absolutely,” Fletch added,

“Pay, pay.”

“Now,” Indigo inhaled deeply, she shoved the parchment off to the side and grabbed a new one, “What did you want your letter to say?”

♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦

I gazed across the array of weapons before me. Honestly, it was a pretty impressive lineup. A multitude of medieval melee weapons were placed upon a few wooden tables, some more worn than others, but each looking relatively solid and effective.

“Alright, take your pick.” Rusty announced,

With the letter on its way, all that was left to do now was wait. Or so I thought until Rusty barged into our room early the next morning to drag me outside. I then learned that Captain Morningstar said I had to prepare for the next job, which started with learning how to use a weapon. We were currently out back of the inn, where the mercenaries’ cart was being stored. It was a relatively open area that was out of the way of the street, making it a good place to train in private.

I think it was everyone’s dream at one point to hold a real sword. I was no different, I have many memories of picking up sticks and playing pretend. I never thought I would actually get the chance to use one, so you could say I was a little excited to get started.

In reality though, swords are heavy. Since I only had one hand, I was relegated to some of the lighter weapons, but even then I still had trouble. A common shortsword was difficult for me to even lift off the table, not to mention things that had extra weight on the end, like a hatchet or mace. At most I could drag a sword off the table and hold it level, but I couldn’t actually raise it in any way, much less swing it.

Rusty just watched my feeble attempts to pick up a weapon with an odd face, then he pointed towards the end of the table.

With a sigh, I shambled over there. All that was left was a small collection of daggers and knives, some of which looked like they would be better suited for work in a kitchen. It immediately became clear that these weren’t as well maintained as the rest either. Short blades didn’t seem like any of the other mercenaries’ style, and Dagger probably wouldn’t let anybody near his weapons, so this was bottom of the barrel stuff. Everything on the table was dull, rusted, or both, with one literally falling apart in my hand as I picked it up.

At least I could actually pick them up.

I ended up going with a knife, one with a guard and a sheath, which hopefully meant that the blade was clean. In the absence of two hands though, I had to hold onto it with my teeth in order to get it out of the sheath, which revealed it to be… not in the best condition.

There were quite a few knicks along the blade, and the tip looked a little dull, but it wasn’t rusty, and still looked pretty strong. I turned it in my hand a few times, then gave a few practice jabs.

“Is that what you’re going with?” Rusty asked,

“Ith-” I spat out the sheath, “Yes.”

“Alright.” He shrugged, “Why don’t you get comfortable with it first.”

I nodded, then stepped away from the tables. Once I was in the clear, I just started swinging. There was no form or technique, I was literally just swinging the knife around with reckless abandon. It slipped out of my grasp almost immediately, flying through the air before tumbling across the ground for a small distance.

Rusty whistled, “Nice throw.”

“S-Shut up.” I quickly ran over to the knife and picked it back up again.

This time with a stronger grip, I started getting used to its weight, and I started modifying my swings. Stopping part way through, changing directions, or adding in a few thrusts, my movements started to get less haphazard. I tried to imagine how someone might fight with a knife, which mainly just boiled down to how I saw characters fight with knives in games, cartoons and anime, comics and manga, and TV shows and movies.

It was mostly quick stabs and slashes, from both above and below. I tried out a few, but couldn’t really stab from above.

Wait a minute.

I brought the knife to my mouth and bit down on the blade, then flipped my hand around and grabbed it again, this time with a reverse grip. I held it in front of me for a moment, then gave a few experimental stabs and slashes.

Rusty eyed my form with a curious expression, “Have you done this before?”

“Nope, never.” I shook my head, “This is just stuff that I’ve seen.”

“So you’ve seen combat before?”

“Uh…” I stopped practicing to look at him, “Not… real combat.”

“Training then?”

“...No…” I began, “It was…” How should I put this? What was a good analogy that someone from the middle ages would understand? “Like a book? Or a play?”

Rusty pursed his lips, “So actors on a stage. You know that’s nowhere near the real thing, right?”

“Yes, but the stuff I’ve seen was more… realistic?”

No, that wasn’t true. Nothing about flaming blades or secret techniques was realistic, but… Those actions were easier to… follow? To understand? They had more impact? What was I trying to say here?

“Realistic how?” Rusty demanded,

“Uh…” I trailed off, thinking hard, “It was… like the uh… actors were actually… attacking each other?”

“That sounds more like a duel than a show.”

“Yeah, but…” I scratched my head with the knife still in hand, “There were… illusions? I guess? That made it look like real combat, but nobody actually got hurt.”

Well, it looked like people got hurt, and some of them were quite gruesome at that. I can’t imagine what it would feel like to have a spear go through your eye, or to have your limbs twisted and broken repeatedly, or to have your head shot off.

I shuddered, then gripped the knife in my teeth again to rub my neck. My limbs could definitely get broken, but at least I could put them back together again. I didn’t feel any pain when it happened either, not even when my head split, so I doubted I would have to go through anything like that.

Still though…

“That sounds pretty entertaining.” Rusty mused,

I blinked, then pulled the knife out of my mouth, “...It was… Yeah.”

“But,” Rusty continued, “You're not gonna to find anything like that around here, are you?”

“N-No… I don’t believe so.”

“Well, so much for that.” He sighed, “Alright, let’s move on.”

I stopped mid swing, then turned to look at him. “What’s next?”

“Learning to fight.” Rusty began, he pulled a sword of his own from the tables.

I took a step back as he started to approach, “Uh…”

“Since this is your first real job,” He continued, speaking around the grip, “and there isn’t much time to prepare, the Captain wants you to focus on defense first.”

“A-And how would I do that?”

“Simple.” Rusty stopped just in front of me, “Just block my strike.”

He raised his sword high, then brought it downward in a large arc. I scrambled to bring the knife to intercept, and only managed to catch the tip against Rusty’s sword. Still, that was enough to shatter my wrist, sending both my hand and the knife flying off to the side. The sword continued, and I was lucky I was taller than Rusty and he wasn’t that close, the blade only grazed my chest, just barely cutting into my disguise.

It then caught on my cloak, and the downward pull sent me crashing to the ground as well. I landed on top of the sword, which was thankfully pretty dull, but I still felt a crack travel across my shoulders.

A moment of silence passed as I laid there, then Rusty pulled the sword away, and I rolled onto my back.

“I guess that counts as blocking.” Rusty eventually said, “You didn’t stop my strike though.”

“You broke my hand!” I exclaimed,

“I would've expected something like this from Maul, but not from me.”

“Where is it?” I demanded,

“Over there.” Rusty nodded to the side nonchalantly,

I glanced over, where my hand laid in several pieces across the ground, my knife sitting in the middle of it.

“It might actually be worse for you to block than just trying to avoid the hit.”

“Maybe I should just dodge then.” I grumbled, picking myself up and walking over to my hand,

“Or parry,” Rusty suggested, “A knife would actually be pretty good for that. Quick movements and light strikes.”

Quick movements and light strikes? I could see that. If I couldn’t lift anything too heavy, and I couldn’t block strong attacks, then I would have to work around that. Moving fast, attacking quickly, and dodging when necessary would probably work well for me, which seemed counterintuitive when I was a living rock.

A knife wasn’t a sword though, and I really wanted to use one. What kind of sword was suited for fast and light attacks? Maybe an… oh. Yeah, that would probably work. I didn’t want to say it out loud though, but... ugh, I really wanted to know.

“What about a katana?” I murmured,

“A what?” Rusty asked,

“A… Katana,” I said louder. God, I sounded like such a weeb right now, “A sword made for quick movements and light strikes.”

I did my best to hide my embarrassment as I started gathering the pieces of my hand.

“I don’t know what that is, but a sword made for that style?" Rusty thought for a moment, "How about a rapier?”

“A rapier?” I repeated, “Do you have one?”

“Nope. Too fancy for my tastes, but I’m sure we could get you one.”

“Really?” I looked up at Rusty, then paused with a frown, “How soon?”

“Not very, we’d either have to find one, or get one made. I doubt we'd be able to get one in time for the job. And of course, you’d be the one paying for it.”

I just nodded with a sigh, then looked back down at the pile of shards I was working on. I then realized something. I was out of hands, and the one I had left was in pieces in front of me.

This was going to be difficult.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

ㄒㄖ丂丨尺爪卂几ㄩ丂匚尺丨卩ㄒ,

丨ㄒ丨丂卩卄ㄖ丂卂几ᗪ 匚ㄖ爪卩卂几ㄚ. 山乇卄卂ᐯ乇卂匚Ɋㄩ丨尺乇ᗪ ㄒ卄乇卩尺ㄖㄖ千ㄚㄖㄩ卄卂ᐯ乇

Writing in the show has been very inconsistent, but keen-eyed viewers have noticed a few things. I'm adapting these observations into a little something of my own.

Each tribe has their own style of writing, as described above. Earth-ponies use runes, based on, you guessed it, norse runes. They are made of long, straight lines due to the limitations they have. Pegasi use something similar to cuneiform, etches and marks, which developed from the use of feathers as tools. Unicorns have a lot more liberty, and their alphabet is full of complex symbols and characters. It's the same jumble of symbols you see in the show sometimes, and though it reads like English, I'm making it function more like Japanese.

No, I'm not going to go into exactly how that works.

Most swords, by design, are pretty light, averaging from 2 - 4 lbs. Two handed swords generally double that weight, but they rarely break double digits.

Surely then, wouldn't somebody like Phos be able to handle such a weight? However, there is a difference between being able to lift that much vs actually using it when swinging the sword. We see this in the actual story, when Phos gets his first sword. He cannot lift it. You may make the argument that an obsidian katana would have a different weight compared to a steel broadsword, but obsidian actually has a lower density than steel, meaning it would be lighter.

Meanwhile, a rapier, being a light, one-handed weapon, would generally fall on the lower end of that spectrum, averaging around 2 lbs. Most of that weight would be closer to the hilt, so Phos should be able to use one. We'll just have to wait and see. :trixieshiftright:

Trivia time.

A good chunk of this chapter was written during a power outage, I have four pages worth of text on paper, and I had to copy them down when my power came back on. True dedication to the craft can never be stopped.

What gruesome injuries Phos described, care to guess where each one comes from? Or at least where I got them from.
1. Evangelion: (Spoilers)When Asuka gets stabbed by the Spear of Longinus
2. Re:Zero: (Spoilers)When Rem encounters Petelgeuse
3. I'm legally obligated to say Attack on Titan: (Spoilers)When Eren gets his head shot off with a gun

Chapter 17

With training put on hold for the moment, I was more or less free to do whatever I wanted until my hand healed. Granted, a lot of the things I wanted to do required my hand to be healed as well, so currently Indigo was just teaching me the alphabet, while I helped her with her work whenever I could.

It was mainly just processing the plants we had gathered, which included things like drying them out, grinding them down with a mortar and pestle, washing and straining, then boiling the resulting mixture down. With a broken hand, I couldn’t do much, but I could watch pots and hold things steady.

As for learning to read and write, Indigo didn’t want to spend any more on ink or parchment, so we went with a much more basic approach, just writing on the ground or on a board with charcoal. We were starting with the unicorn alphabet, seeing as how it was the most common in the area, and right now we were just learning which glyph meant what, how it was pronounced, and the basics on drawing the outlines.

It was a little strange, seeing how symbols could mean entire words or just a single letter. You could write an entire sentence with just two symbols, or take up a whole line on a page with one word. Both Fletch and I learned how to write our names, while Shinsha appeared to just be drawing the symbols randomly, and making up their own whenever possible.

I suspect they didn’t really want to learn how to read and write, and was going along with us just because. I don’t know how they would’ve paid Indigo either, so it wasn’t really a problem, and I think Indigo was keeping them around as a chance to study a Breezie up close.

When the lesson was over, my hand was still cracked, so I told Indigo about the shops I had seen earlier: the tailor’s and the blacksmith.

“You don’t have any money.” She flat out refused,

“I know, but I might in the future. Do you think I’ll get paid for the patrol job?” I asked,

“Hmm… Maybe, probably.” Indigo nodded,

“Do you think it’ll be enough to afford something from the blacksmith?”

“No.”

“The tailor’s then?”

“No. Not if you’re going to be paying us our cut.”

I pursed my lips and crossed my arms, “Well can we at least go see what we could get? Didn’t you say we should get some gear for me?”

“Uh-huh, and we also said that we weren’t going to pay for anything custom made, remember?”

“Then we’ll get something already made,” I tried,

“Do you really think anything like that will fit you?”

“It wouldn’t hurt to try.” I began, “Besides, do you have anything better to do right now?”

Indigo looked back at her completed dye bottles, then to the small pile of scribbled on boards left in the dirt. With my help, we had gotten through all the plants much faster than normal, and with Fletch having long since left to go ‘rest her brain,’ and Shinsha taking their place among my hood again, falling fast asleep somewhere in the depths, there was nothing requiring her immediate attention. Indigo turned back to me with a scowl.

Gotcha.

“I can probably think of something.” She remarked,

I scoffed, “Why can’t you just go with me? I am paying you, aren’t I?”

“Unrelated to the job,” Indigo muttered under her breath, “But fine, whatever.” She shrugged, “Let’s go see what you can’t afford.”

With her reluctant agreement, we headed into town, the first stop being the blacksmith.

I got a couple more dirty looks on the way, but with Indigo by my side, none of the ponies even tried to stop me. It was a lot less nerve wracking to have a mercenary with me, that was for sure.

Once we reached the edge of the market, I could hear the distinct ringing of metal. A rather large pony was out front of the smithy striking a hot iron on an anvil. They had a brown coat with dark grey splotches, which may or may not have been just soot. A short, bushy mane, bushy eyebrows, and a bushy mustache, there were three layers of black fuzz on this guy’s head. He remained focused on hammering the red hot metal, which appeared to be some sort of rod that was being lengthened with each hit.

When the metal lost its glow, he raised it up to inspect it, then turned to place it into the forge behind him. Then he turned to look at us as we approached.

Indigo sighed, “Do you have anything for sale?”

Both eyebrows raised slightly, revealing a bit more of his eyes, and the blacksmith turned to face further into the building.

“Slag!” He roared,

“What?!” Another voice answered,

“Get out here!”

There was movement inside, then a clattering of metal as something was knocked over. A couple of minor swears later, another pony stepped out into the light, pausing to shield their eyes from the sun. They were a bit smaller than the blacksmith, and had a rocky grey coat with a spiked up mane, almost like a mohawk.

“Why?” ‘Slag’ demanded, glaring at the blacksmith,

“Customers,” He nodded to us,

“Oh.” Slag glanced at Indigo and nodded. Then his gaze landed on me, and his scowl deepened.

“Show them what we got.” The blacksmith ordered,

Slag snorted, “Fine. Follow me.”

He disappeared back into the building, with Indigo stepping in without another word. I glanced around a bit, before quickly following suit.

It was a little dark inside, but as my eyes adjusted I could see all manner of metalworks. Tools, weapons, pieces of armor, they all decorated the tables and benches that lined the walls. There was some smaller stuff too, things like nails, hooks, hinges, all the metallic things you would need. It looked like a lot of the stuff was unfinished, as most of the tools lacked handles, and the armor pieces were just that, pieces, but there was just so much, enough that objects were spilling off of the shelves and onto the dirty floor. In such a small building, it made the room feel all the more cramped.

“So…” Slag began, “We’ve got all kinds of stuff, for whatever you need. You want hooks, latches, nails? The tools to use them? Or do you want something like a weapon? We’ve got blades and blunts, or if you want something specific, we can make it.” He recited, “What are you looking to buy?”

Indigo lagged behind then pushed me forward.

“Oh!” I stumbled, “Uh… I’m looking for some… gear?” I asked,

Slag blinked, then slowly exhaled.

“Something to hold stuff…” I continued, “Like… I’ve got this… knife, and I need to… carry it… while keeping my hand free.”

“So a belt?” Slag asked,

“Uh, yeah.” I nodded slowly.

Slag rolled his jaw for a bit, then turned around, “We have a couple belts for sale, your choice of fiber or leather.”

I paused, “Leather?”

“Leather it is.” Slag moved over to a cluttered shelf and pulled open a drawer.

He rummaged around for a few moments, then pulled out a couple strips of something. Then with a glance back towards me, he put them down and reached further in, instead pulling out a much older looking belt. It was hard to tell in the dim light, but the leather looked faded and grey, with frayed edges and a tattered end. It looked like it could tear in half if you pulled too hard.

I see where this is going.

“I can give you this for five bits.”

I looked towards Indigo, who just mouthed a single ‘No.’

“Two bits.” I said,

Slag glowered at me, “Four bits.”

“Three.” I crossed my arms.

“Four.” Slag held strong,

“Three.” I pressed,

Slag snorted again, “Fine, three.”

“Is that okay?” I turned back towards Indigo,

She sighed, “Yeah… I guess. I’ll just add it to your debt.”

She pulled out her coin purse, then handed three bits to Slag, who then tossed the belt to me. I scrambled to catch it, just barely stopping it from falling to the ground. Now that it was in my grip, I could get a better look at it. It was definitely well worn, but it was made of leather, so it should still be tough.

That only served to confuse me more though. Why was it leather? Weren’t ponies herbivores? They didn’t eat meat, or at least I’ve never seen them eat meat. So why did they use leather? How did they make it? And what did they do with everything else?

“Is there anything else you need?” Slag asked through grit teeth.

I snapped back to attention, “Uh, yes. What’s your commission rate?”

Slag grumbled, “What do you want made?”

“Two things.” I began, “A pair of boots, and a rapier.”

“A rapier?” Indigo asked in disbelief. “Are you kidding?”

“Nope.” I shook my head,

“The cost of a blade depends on its length plus accessories.” Slag listed with a sigh, “There’s also material cost and how fast you want it done.”

“Uh… Can you give me a rough estimate?”

“One hundred bits.”

“Uh-uh.” Indigo butted in, “That’s not happening.”

“I know.” I assured her, then turned back to Slag, “What about the boots?”

He looked down at my feet. “We can’t make you any boots.”

“What?!” A voice exclaimed from behind us.

Indigo and I whipped around to see the blacksmith standing in the doorway. His brow was bent in an almost comical V shape as he stared daggers at Slag.

“There’s nothing we can’t make!”

“But-”

“Shut your mouth!” The blacksmith ordered, “Go tend to the forge!” He shot a hoof back,

Slag opened his mouth as if to say something, but stopped and scowled, then sulked out of the building.

“I’ll deal with you later!” The blacksmith growled as he passed, then he made his way to us. “I apologize, my son does not seem to understand the passion of the craft.” He inhaled and exhaled deeply, “Now, who wanted the boots?”

I silently raised my hand.

“Hmm…” The blacksmith looked me up and down for a moment, then shifted his focus to my feet. “What kind of boots do you want?”

“Um, ones that I can wear a lot.” I began, “And… ones that go high up,” I traced from my shin to my knee, “I want them to cover as… to protect as much as possible.”

The blacksmith took a step back, “You want them armored?”

“Uh… lightly,” I continued, “I don’t want them to be too heavy, but… They should be tough on the bottoms so I can um… walk on rough surfaces.”

“Hmm…” The blacksmith grunted, moving his lips back and forth, wiggling his mustache, “Lift your hoof.”

I slowly lifted my foot, showing him the underside.

“Move it.”

“O-Okay?” I raised and lowered my foot, then twisted my ankle from side to side as I wriggled my toes.

The blacksmith nodded slightly, then stepped all the way back. “I can make them.”

“Really?” I gasped,

“I’ll have to make some designs first, but it should be possible.”

“How much?” Indigo demanded,

“I can’t say for sure until I’ve made the designs.”

“No, how much for the designs?” Indigo reiterated.

“Mmm…” The blacksmith thought for a moment, “No charge, it is every smith’s desire to create something new. Or at least it should be.” He glared back at the door. “Come by again in a few days, I will have everything ready by then.”

“Oh, uh… Thank you.” I bowed slightly, “And thank you for the belt.”

The blacksmith glanced at it, “How much did you pay for that?”

“Three bits.” Indigo answered,

“Mm,” The blacksmith nodded, “I can give you a better one for five bits.”

I just looked towards Indigo.

She shook her head, “You can get one when you can afford it.”

“Oh, then I guess that’s everything. Thank you,” I said again,

“Pleasure doing business with you,” The blacksmith replied, “Come back soon.”

“R-Right,” I nodded, “Will do.”

Indigo quickly pulled me out of the building, where we got one last glare from Slag as he operated the bellows. I just smiled and waved, then followed Indigo as she led me deeper into the market.

“That went better than expected,” Indigo began once we were far enough away,

I tilted my head, “You think?”

She nodded, “You actually got something, and for an okay price.”

I held up the belt to look at it, then went about trying to fasten it around my waist. Doing it with one hand wasn’t the easiest, but I could hold one end against my side with my stump as I fiddled with the buckle in my left hand.

Unfortunately, the belt was too big to fit around my waist. Even at its lowest setting, there were still a few extra inches to its diameter. Thankfully the rest of my body wasn’t that thin, so the belt could easily rest on my hips, although at a slight angle. If I really tried, I could probably slip it off without even having to undo the buckle.

Still, it would work for now, and though I didn’t have anything right now, I could probably tie a few pouches to it, and clip the knife sheath to the side. I was pretty happy with it.

“How’s it look?” I asked, holding my cloak open and giving a small twirl.

Indigo just stared at me, “It looks really poor quality.”

“Aww…” I muttered, falling back into a regular walk.

“Well,” Indigo shrugged, “Bad equipment is better than no equipment.”

“Yeah…” I sighed, “Hopefully we can find something better at the tailor.”

♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦

“Get out of my store. I have nothing to sell to you.”

“Wha- Bu-” I stuttered, “You don’t even know what I want to buy yet!”

The tailor stepped between me and the rest of his shop, blocking me from entering any further. I only got a few feet into the building to begin with.

“It does not matter, you are not welcome here.”

“See, this is what I was expecting,” Indigo said from behind me,

I turned to stare at her with an open mouth, before shaking my head and turning my attention back to the tailor, “There’s nothing you’re willing to sell to me?”

“Hmph!” The tailor exclaimed, “I didn’t come to this state just so I could sell to the likes of you. Now begone! You are dirtying up my store. I shouldn’t have even let you walk through the door!”

He went to give me a push, then saw my muddy complexion, and quickly pulled back.

“You are filthy! Do not come anywhere near my merchandise or I will be forced to call the guard!”

“Uh oh.” Indigo began, “You should probably leave, Phos.”

“You too?” I asked,

“Staying’s not going to help.” She replied, “I’ll handle this, I have business here anyway.”

The tailor turned his intense gaze to her instead, “What business?”

“I want to buy some fabric and maybe sell some dyes.” Indigo explained.

“Mm,” The tailor pursed his lips, he then looked between us for a few seconds. “As long as you promise none of it will go to that… thing.”

I scoffed, “Excuse me!”

“Nope,” Indigo smiled, “It’s all personal, now go along.” She shooed me with her hoof.

I scoffed even harder, “Are you serious?”

“Just go.” Indigo rolled her eyes, “Trust me.”

I stared at her for a moment, then sighed, “Okay…” I shuffled out of the store,

“Good riddance.” The tailor remarked, he patted his jacket, dusted himself off, and took a deep breath, “Now, what fabrics were you looking to buy? I offer quite the selection of colors and materials.”

Indigo held up a hoof, “I do my own dying, but I’m looking for some finer cloth along with some tougher fabric.”

“Of course,” the tailor nodded, “I have both uncolored and blanched, which would you prefer?”

“Mmm, uncolored,” Indigo said after a moment of deliberation.

“Right this way then,” The tailor bowed, then he noticed me still standing outside the door. “Shoo! Shoo! You’re driving away potential customers!”

I mustered up the courage to actually flip him the bird, then stepped out onto the street. Unlike before, only a few ponies were looking at me strangely, but most were giving me a wide berth as they travelled. I was a bit more comfortable being on my own in this part of the town, the populous was more… docile? I guess? They for sure didn’t like me, but I doubted any of them would confront me about it, or at least not in a violent way.

So I began looking for things to do. I had been through this area before with Fletch, and now that I could actually sound out a few words, I could almost read some of the signs outside of the shops. Emphasis on almost, and also on some, I was still a long way away from fully understanding the unicorn alphabet. The only word I could really make out was ‘store’, which obviously didn’t help very much, and it only appeared on half of the signs anyway.

There was also the fact that I still didn’t have any money, and the one pony I could get a loan from was off doing her own thing. Based on the reaction of the tailor though, I doubted many other shopkeepers would let me do business with them either.

Unfortunately, Shinsha was still asleep in my hood, I guess learning to write and then drawing so much really tuckered them out. They looked like they were having fun doing it though, so it wasn't exactly a bad thing, even if I was disappointed that I didn’t have anybody else to talk to.

At least I could watch the ponies, even if they crossed to the other side of the street just to avoid me. After a few moments of this though, I noticed something odd.

There was a pony watching me at the same time I was watching them. In fact, they looked kind of familiar, like I had seen them before. I don’t doubt that I’ve seen most of these ponies already, the town wasn’t that big, but this guy was an odd kind of familiar, almost like he was out of place.

I don’t know how often the demographics of this town mix, but I feel like someone who worked in a field wouldn’t come all the way up here just to sit around and do nothing. This pony looked like he would be more at home digging holes, or picking through the forest, or constructing a road, or… hanging out in a bar.

Is that where I’ve seen him before? At the inn?

Was this guy the spy? Had he been following us throughout town?

If so, he wasn’t doing a very good job since I could see him. Though clearly he wasn’t the worst if I’m only noticing him now.

Whatever the case, I just smiled and waved at him.

His face contorted slightly, and he quickly walked off and disappeared around a street corner.

Was that the best idea? I don’t know, but at least it was a spy off our back for the time being. I don’t actually know how many there were, or if there was even more than one in the first place. They’ll be more careful from now on, and I guess so should we.

“Alright, let’s go.” Indigo announced from behind me.

“Ah!” I jumped, then whipped around, “Don’t scare me like that!”

Indigo just stared at me, “I’m literally just standing here.”

“Yeah but-” I paused, averting my gaze, “You snuck up on me.” I mumbled quietly,

Indigo hummed, “You should really pay more attention to your surroundings.” She gazed across the crowd, “Oh? Where’d our little friend go?”

I looked at her with wide eyes, “You mean the spy? You knew he was there?”

“He’s been following us all day.” Indigo began, “He must’ve been really bad if you noticed him.”

“Well- Hey!”

“Why’d he wander off?” Indigo wondered,

I continued to glare at Indigo for a moment, then sighed, “I waved at him and he left.”

“Oh… Well I suppose that gives us some free time.” Indigo muttered,

I just shook my head and placed a hand on my hip, “What did you get?”

“Some cloth,” Indigo tilted her head back, where several rolls of fabric were sticking out of her bags.

“Anything for me?” I asked,

She levelled her gaze with me, “Do you really think I’d break a promise like that?”

“Uh…”

“Well you’re right.” She pulled a bundle of cloth out of her bag and handed it to me. “Here.”

I carefully grabbed it and inspected it. The material was really rough, with thick fibers and large spacing. If I held up a single layer against the light, I could see through it. It was really dry and crackly too, with every movement causing it to rustle slightly.

“What is this?” I asked with a frown.

“Burlap,” Indigo answered simply, “It was the cheapest thing they had, and you get to make whatever you want out of it.”

“Oh, okay.” I unfolded the piece of burlap, revealing it to be about the same height and length as a pony. With that much material, I could probably make a few things, but… “I don’t know how to sew.”

Indigo laughed, “I figured,” she snatched the cloth back, “I do offer lessons though, for a price.”

I sighed, “Of course.”

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

Now we actually get to deal with other ponies! How fun!

Chapter 18

The next day was focused entirely on training. In fact, I was going to be able to spar with all three of the main fighters in the group.

And by being able to I mean being forced to.

Rusty had set it up so I could experience defending against different styles, with the main focus on parrying attacks or avoiding them entirely. It didn’t really help that he failed to even teach me the basics of parrying. He only said ‘Just divert the attack so it doesn’t hit you.’ as if I would just magically understand the proper technique.

“Ready?” He asked, drawing a sword.

I groaned, “I guess,” and drew my own knife from its sheath.

Now that I had a belt, I could actually handle a weapon without pausing to hold it in my teeth just to get my hand free. As such, the knife officially became mine, and it has been affectionately dubbed ‘my knife’ by yours truly.

I held my knife tightly in my left hand, and lowered my stance slightly.

“Here I come,” Rusty announced, quickly making his way towards me.

You’ll have to forgive me for taking a few steps back. Just yesterday he was only giving basic attacks from a standing position. I failed to even block those, and now he was coming at me at full force, or at least I think he was.

I couldn’t back away forever, and it didn’t take long for his blade to enter my space. Similar to last time, he wasn’t using his actual sword, rather a dull one that wouldn’t do too much damage if it hit. If I weren’t made of crystal I might add, getting hit with anything like that, regardless of its sharpness, would still probably cause me to crack.

Down came the first strike, and I sidestepped to the right, watching it just graze my thigh. Rusty followed up with a sideways swipe, which I couldn’t easily avoid. Blocking was out of the question, I didn’t want a repeat of what happened yesterday, even if it meant I could stop training.

That meant I had to parry, and by going off of Rusty’s advice, I just had to divert the attack so it didn’t hit me. Something easier said than done, I still had to intercept his blade with my own, and then I had to figure out how to change the direction of his attack without stopping it, all the while taking care not to apply too much force to my own body so that it doesn’t break.

I raised my knife at an angle, caught the end of Rusty’s sword, and pushed upwards as hard as I could as the blades glided against each other.

With a metallic shing, Rusty’s attack was forced upwards, directly into my face. The tip of the sword whizzed past my eyes, just barely missing me.

Before it caught on my cloak again and yanked it up, pulling the hood all the way over my head followed by the clasp. I stumbled back as cloth covered my vision, then tripped over the uneven ground and landed hard on my butt. My hips cracked, but nothing broke, so I just sat there for a few seconds to try and let it mend a bit.

“See? You got it.” Rusty began, “That cloak is doing you no favors though.”

I struggled to fix it for a few moments before finally finding the collar and getting it back around my shoulders. Looking up at the hood, it was still in one piece. Despite getting caught by a sword, albeit a dull one, there was little, if any damage to the cloth.

“It’s pretty tough,” I realized,

“It’s too baggy,” Rusty said, “That’s twice now that it’s caused you to go down.”

I pursed my lips, “It’s not like I can take it off…”

“Hm…” Rusty brought a hoof to his chin as he thought, “You’ve got your thing though, with the plants?”

“I feel like that’s also not the best to be running around in.” I said,

“Better than a gem though,” Rusty argued,

“...Yeah…” I muttered,

“Why don’t you take it off for now? Just to see what it’s like.”

I sighed, before sheathing my knife and pulling open the clasp, “Okay…”

With my cloak removed, I could see more of the plants that made up my disguise. They were starting to look a little wilted, I should probably water them soon. Still, with my arms free, and my legs uncovered, I could take longer strides and move faster. It was a wonder I was able to intercept any attacks with the cloak on in the first place.

I slowly stood, gyrating my hips a little bit to make sure they were good to go, then I moved over to face Rusty.

“Ready?” He asked again,

“Yes.” I unsheathed my knife.

He started forward, rearing his sword back to bring downward in a diagonal slash. I stepped back, easily avoiding the attack and thrusting forward with my own.

“Whoa!” Rusty jumped back, “This is just defense, remember!”

Something something offense is defense. I was too focused to speak.

Rusty quickly recovered, then swung his sword in a wide arc. Again it was something I could easily back away from, but Rusty continued to press the advantage, getting closer and closer with each swing.

“Jeez, you’re hard to hit.” He grumbled, “But you can’t do that forever.”

He was right, we were quickly approaching the edge of the area, with the solid wall of the inn to one side of me, and a bunch of bushes on the other. Rusty was backing me into a corner, and doing a pretty good job of it at that. I began trying to step around him, but he wouldn’t let me, and his attacks started to get even closer, some even grazing my disguise.

Pretty soon I had my back against the wall, and Rusty was holding his ground steadily. In order to avoid his attacks I needed to get around him, but in order to get around him, I needed an opportunity, and in order to get an opportunity, I needed to stop his attacks. But I couldn’t block.

Therefore I parry.

Rusty prepared another overhead strike, and I swung my knife to smack it away. My wrist definitely cracked from the action, but the sword embedded itself in the dirt to my side. I then took that moment of pause to jump over it, only to immediately trip over the blade and fall flat on my face.

“Oop!” Rusty exclaimed, “Anything broken?”

I’d broken from falling on sand before, and the dirt here definitely wasn’t as soft, but I did have a layer of plants to cushion my fall.

“No.” I groaned, pushing myself back up.

“Good,” Rusty nodded, pulling his sword back. He tapped me lightly on the head with it, “That wasn’t too bad for a first attempt. I might not have to go so easy on you next time.”

I sighed, letting my head drop back to the ground, “That was supposed to be easy?”

“Yup.” Rusty smacked his lips.

And here I thought I was doing well.

“Anyway, you seem pretty good at dodging attacks, but what about attacks that are too fast to dodge?”

“Huh?” I picked my head up,

Rusty had stepped away, and now Dagger was standing in front of me.

“Uh oh…”

“Try to go easy on them, will you?” Rusty whispered,

Dagger grunted, “No.”

I scrambled to my feet, clutching my knife tightly as I brought it close to my chest.

“Oh well.” Rusty shrugged, “Begin.”

Dagger swung his hoof out, something flashed in his cloak, and the next moment there was a knife sticking out of my leg.

Throwing knives?! That’s what Dagger used?

Thankfully it wasn’t very deep, and I was once again thankful to have a layer of plants surrounding my whole body. The tip still managed to pierce through though, but it wasn’t enough to crack my crystal, only chip it. With the plants holding everything in place, the piece wasn’t going anywhere either.

A second later there was another knife in my other leg, and I immediately started running, circling around Dagger as more knives came my way. Thanks to my efforts, not all of them hit, but a few managed to find their way into my side and arm.

“You shouldn’t be letting yourself get hit like that!” Rusty called out, “Even if it isn’t doing much.”

Dagger tsked, and redoubled his efforts. It felt like a dozen knives were coming at me at once, and true to Rusty’s words, there was no way to dodge them all. I skidded to a halt, then turned to face Dagger with my knife ready.

Like the most dangerous game of baseball ever, I swung my knife at his, managing to knock a single one out of the air as several more embedded themselves across my chest. With this many in me, it didn’t take long for cracks to start appearing along the faultlines, and as I moved, some of the tips started digging in deeper.

I brushed some away to help alleviate this, then started moving again in the opposite direction. This time my knife hand was facing Dagger, and I was able to intercept a few more knives as they came flying at me. That was until one struck me right between the eyes, causing me to stumble and almost trip.

Almost trip, this time I managed to stay standing as I fought to regain my balance. When I was stable enough, I looked over just in time to see Dagger level his crossbow with me.

Twang

The bolt came flying forwards, straight towards my chest. I only got a moment to say “Ah-!” before it…

Bounced off?

…

I saw it happen, the bolt impacted my chest, scraped away a rather large patch of my disguise, then just… kept going. Maybe it was the angle it hit at? If I had been facing Dagger head on then it probably would’ve shot right through me, I don’t really want to imagine the aftermath if that happened. I guess it was more accurate to say the bolt ricocheted off of me then.

That was a relief.

Dagger hastily began pulling back the string to set another bolt.

“Okay, okay!” Rusty interrupted him with a hoof, “That’s enough.”

I imagine there was a scowl beneath his hood as he holstered his crossbow. I then took a moment to pick all of his knives out of my body, each leaving small slits in the plant layer. Looking down at my chest, there was still a large portion missing from where the bolt hit me.

“This thing isn’t invincible you know.” I walked over to the patch of turf laying on the ground next to the bolt and picked it up.

Pressing it back into place yielded a similar reaction to when I did the same thing with my own pieces. The plants that made the underweave slowly stitched back together, and the dirty roots merged back into one solid piece, though there was still a small line left behind.

“I don’t want it to die.”

“Well maybe stop getting hit so much.” Rusty suggested,

I just glared at him.

“Kidding, I’m kidding,” Rusty held up his hooves, “That doesn’t mean it’s not true though. Still, nice to know you’re arrow-proof.”

“I wouldn’t count on that.” I muttered,

Arrows were a pretty big enemy of the Lustrous, though I guess there was a pretty big difference between crescent tip arrows versus the traditional pointed tip. As long as I got hit at the right angle, I didn’t have to worry about getting shot.

“Alright, last one.” Rusty announced,

He walked over to me, a pair of much heavier footsteps accentuating his own as Maul entered the makeshift arena. I feel like the ground literally shook, and a small earthquake rang out as he dropped his hamaxe on the ground.

I gulped. Rusty opened his mouth to say something, then stopped, and put a hoof around my waist. He practically had to rear up to do it, but he still did it for whatever reason.

“Say.” He whispered, “What happens if you get shattered?”

I glanced at him with wide eyes, “You’ll have to put me back together.”

He nodded slightly, “But you won’t like die or anything, right?”

“N-No.”

“Oh good.”

“Why do you ask?”

“Well…” Rusty continued, “You know how Dagger won’t hold back?”

“Uh… I guess?”

“Maul doesn’t know how.”

“I- what?!” I demanded,

“Best of luck to ya.” Rusty patted me on the shoulder, then quickly vacated the premises. “Begin!”

“Is this really necessary-eeeee!” Maul was already charging at me like a bull,

I whipped around and started running in the opposite direction, only to come face to face with the thick bushes bordering the area. I turned back around just in time to see Maul ready his weapon and swing it. I dove to the side, the bladed portion shearing straight through the top of the bushes.

“I hope you fight well, pretty gem!” Maul exclaimed, snorting as he stomped around behind me.

I wasn’t really paying attention to what he was doing, I was more focused on getting away. I scrambled forward, crawling as fast as I could before trying to get to my feet. Not even a second later the hammer slammed down between my legs, a spray of dirt shooting out from below me. It didn’t even hit me and I still feel like my legs cracked.

I jumped to my feet and pulled out my knife, then I turned to face Maul. His hamaxe was already up in the air, and I readied my knife to intercept it, but quickly decided otherwise. There was absolutely no way I could parry an attack like that. If I cracked from hitting a sword, then a hammer was going to go right through me.

So I turned and ran again.

The ground shook as he followed after me, and even though he was weighed down by all that armor and lugging around that gigantic weapon, it seemed like he was faster than me. It probably didn’t help that I was stumbling over my own feet every other step, but I only just recently remastered walking, running was going to be a whole other issue.

One awkward step on a poorly placed stone later, and I felt the cracks in my hips worsen. I definitely couldn’t keep running away, but Maul was literally going to smash me to pieces, I had to stop him somehow.

Try to tire him out? Like I would even last that long.

Try to trip him up? He was wearing full plate armor, and probably weighed more than I did.

Try to get the others to stop him? I looked over at Rusty and Dagger, who were situated all the way at the edge of the area. Rusty was even ducking behind one of the tables.

That wasn’t going to happen either.

Maul was already upon me, so I didn’t have time to think of anything else. Instead, I watched where his weapon was, and got ready to dodge. He swung it overhead from the right, so I moved to the left, only pausing when the earth shook from the impact. Maul quickly pulled it back, and practically turned his whole body as he readied a horizontal attack. I was lucky he was so much taller than the other ponies, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to duck under the swing.

He growled, and I swear steam billowed out of the holes in his helmet.

“Oh yeah.” Rusty called out, “Maul really hates it when you dodge his attacks.”

“You’re telling me this now?!” I exclaimed, then dove to the side as Maul brought the hammer around again.

I landed hard on my side, and what was left of my right arm broke off. I didn’t have time to do anything about it though, as Maul dragged the hamaxe through the dirt in a sweeping motion. I rolled over, pushed up with my left arm and tried to stand again. My knuckles broke around the handle of my knife, and all of my fingers snapped off except for my thumb.

“Tch!” I had no choice but to leave it there, and I quickly stood to see what Maul would do next.

He was winding up another swipe, only this time it was much lower. I wouldn’t be able to get underneath it, and I couldn’t back away fast enough to avoid it. It was too wide to go either left or right, so I had to go above it. I crouched down and readied to jump, and sprang upwards as soon as the hamaxe started to move.

Of all the times for my knees to buckle.

All the damage I had sustained over the course of training had finally caught up with me. It was like a singular crack shot from my head to my toes. The main issue was my legs, and I wasn’t able to generate as much force as I would’ve liked. As such, I only got a few inches of height, nowhere near enough to clear the attack.

Maul’s hamaxe clipped the bottom of my foot, which immediately shattered it, and caused me to spin to the side. As I slammed back down on the ground, several of my other limbs detached themselves as well, though my disguise kept them in place. Maul continued with the motion, bringing the hammer all the way up above me, then right back down.

“Wait-!” I gasped out, reaching upwards with a broken hand.

There was a glint behind the Maul’s helmet, and the hamaxe slowed ever so slightly. Then it smashed down on my abdomen, literally splitting me in two.

Shards of me flew up as my lower body was shattered, each leg kicking out slightly as they separated from my hips. I just gaped at the damage, then let out a small sigh as my head lolled back, my arm falling limp beside me.

“Whoa!” Rusty shouted as he ran over, “That was some hit! Are you okay, Phos?”

“Oh.” Maul began, “Sorry. I broke you.”

I looked over to Rusty, ‘Do I look okay to you?’ Is what I meant to say, but no sound came out of my mouth,

“What was that?” He leaned closer, “I couldn’t hear you.”

It took me a few moments to find my voice, but by then all the anger had left. “...Just… put me… back… together…” I mumbled,

“Speak up. You’re too quiet.”

“...P-Put…” I scowled, managing to scrounge up some irritation, “...Put me… back to… gether!” Despite trying to shout as hard as I could, it only came out as a faint whisper.

Rusty sighed, then nodded, “Alright, yeah. I figured. Maul, help me with this.”

“Uh…” Maul trailed off,

“Right.” Rusty rolled his eyes, “Dagger?” He called back,

We all looked over, Dagger was gone.

“Of course.” Rusty grunted, then he turned his attention back towards me. “Can you move?”

All I managed to do was slowly and shakily raise my fingerless hand a few inches, then it fell back down.

Rusty exhaled, then hung his head. “Alright…” He looked around a bit, his eyes landing on something out of my view. “Get them on the cart, we'll fix them from there.”

It took a few moments, but eventually Maul responded, “Okay.”

His heavy footsteps made their way behind me, and an armored hoof slipped underneath my shoulder.

Being dragged away from half of your body as just a torso was not a pleasant experience. I could only stare as more of my body was revealed, or maybe I should just call it a pile of shards. There was no indication of its original shape, with the only thing telling me that it had been my waist was that my belt was strewn across the broken crystal. I don’t think I was ever more grateful that Maul used the blunt end of his weapon to smash me. If he had cut my belt right after I bought it, then I don’t know what I would’ve done.

I don’t know what I could’ve done really.

A few more shards of me chipped off as I was dragged through the dirt, but eventually I was hoisted up and placed on the back of the cart.

“Bring it around,” Rusty said, “Let’s try to fix this before the Captain gets back.”

There was a grunt from Maul, before I heard him move around to the front of the cart. A few seconds later it jolted forward, the wheels creaking as Maul maneuvered it. I couldn’t do much more than lay there, just watching as the tops of trees or the roofs of buildings entered and exited my view.

Eventually, the cart stopped, and Rusty peaked over the side. “Here.” He dropped a pouch next to me, a couple of my fingers rolling out.

I just looked at him, my half lidded gaze turning to a more irked one as my eyebrows raised.

“I hope you weren’t planning on doing anything else today.”

I reached up and hooked my thumb in his collar. “I… h-hope you… weren’t… either…” I lacked the strength to pull him close, but he definitely heard what I said.

Rusty grit his teeth, right as Maul tossed one of my legs onto the cart. It immediately snapped in two.

This was going to take a while.

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My upper body was the easiest to put back together; there were only a few places where it broke, so whatever parts that came off could just be put back on. I had all one and a half of my arms back in only a few minutes.

The rest… not so much.

After a couple hours of work, we only managed to get one of my legs reattached, with the other remaining firmly uncooperative. Maul didn’t smash me dead center, and as a result, the most severe damage was concentrated on my left side. The shards that resulted from the hit: were borderline grains of sand.

Maul gave up pretty early on, while Rusty adopted an ever increasing scowl as he repeatedly rushed back and forth from where I was hit, to the makeshift operating table that was the back of the cart. I still couldn’t do much. Despite getting all of my fingers back, they were still very much damaged. I could only handle the small stuff, which giving how things were turning out, was everything.

That being said, it wasn’t easy to work on the inside of your leg from the top down. Thankfully, when the shards were that size, it was more about building a foundation than it was piecing together the pieces. It was still a little odd, I could immediately tell if a shard was originally an inner piece or an outer piece, but they stuck all the same, and the feeling would eventually dissipate after a few seconds.

I imagine it was just them adjusting to their new position, which it was good to know that I didn’t have to be exact in my placement. Unless of course, the pieces just didn’t fit. When there were this many, and at this size though, it didn’t really matter, but I still adopted a method. I saved all the pieces that were obviously a part of my exterior, then began work on filling in the empty space behind them when I went to fit them in place.

You could compare it to… tiling a floor? I guess?

With this method I was able to more or less fix my waist, though Rusty was the one doing most of the work. The real issue came with finding a way to reattach my leg. The shards that led to the break progressively got larger, which made it easier to figure out where they were supposed to go. The problem was that we actually used a few of those important shards to fill in space in my hips.

Rather than just undo all our work though, we began adding shards to both pieces, trying to flatten them out as much as possible so we could just stick them back together.

As you might imagine, creating a flat surface with just a bunch of shards wouldn’t be easy. We had actually gotten decently close, but there was still a concerningly large disconnect between the two pieces, enough that it wouldn’t hold up if I tried to move it. So we were currently discussing what to do about it.

I wanted to chip off the most offending pieces and use them to fill in the gaps, while Rusty suggested just grinding them down and sprinkling the dust in between when fitting them back together. I wasn’t too privy to the idea of turning my already loose shards into something even looser, but before we could debate the matter any further, Rusty’s ears perked, and he looked over to the side of the inn.

“Oh! Uh…” He turned back to me, “How about we try this instead.”

He grabbed my leg and forced it against my hip, twisting it a few times. It… sort of worked, the raised shards crumbled and the two pieces were finally able to touch, but so did part of my hip.

“Ah! No-” I exclaimed, quickly picking up the shards that fell and slotting them back into place.

Rusty shoved a hoof in my face and shushed me. I went to retort, but instead looked over to what had sparked his outburst.

Captain Morningstar was approaching, and he didn’t look too happy.

“What is going on over here?” He demanded,

“N-Nothing!” Rusty bumbled, “Just… going over what we did in training today.”

“Is that so?” Captain Morningstar gaze landed on my midsection,

With all this focus on putting my body back together, there was no time to fix my disguise. A gigantic patch laid bare all around my hips and legs, revealing a lot of my crystal, most of which was still heavily cracked. It was immediately obvious what had happened.

As if to make matters worse, my leg popped off again.

Captain Morningstar inhaled deeply a few times, each breath sounding more like a growl than the last. “Need I remind you that we are going on patrol, tomorrow?”

“N-No, sir.” I vehemently shook my head, “Um… It’ll all be good by then,” I gestured to my legs.

“It better be.” Captain Morningstar leaned forward with a glare. He then turned back towards Rusty, “How did training go?”

“Good.” Rusty nodded, “Phos is at least capable of dodging, and is relatively decent at it too. We’ll have to go more into the specifics later though.”

Captain Morningstar kept his steel gaze between us for a few moments before eventually sighing, “Verywell. See to it.”

“Yes sir,” Rusty saluted,

I quickly matched it, only for one of my fingers to snap off. Captain Morningstar just stared at it, then grumbled and stepped away.

A moment later a green sprite came rocketing towards my face. Not entirely expecting it, and still feeling quite weak from the damage, it actually managed to knock me backwards onto the cart.

“Phos, phos!” It exclaimed, "Hurt, hurt!"

I tilted my head at it.

What was this fairy doing here?

…

Wait…

…

It wasn’t called a fairy, it was called a Breezie.

…

And it was here as proof. I would be taking it to show…

…

To show…

…

Somebody important… A pony, I think… Whose name was…

…

I don’t remember.

...

Oh shoot! I quickly sat back up and pressed my leg against my hip again.

I immediately let out a sigh of relief, then looked up at the Breezie hovering just above me.

“Don’t worry, Shinsha, I’ll be fine.”

Shinsha chirped a little, then settled down on my head, digging through the flowers growing out of my hair.

Wait a minute. What was Shinsha even doing here? I had left them with Indigo while I trained, and if they were here now then…

“Hey Phos,” Indigo announced, walking up to the cart.

Speak of the devil.

“I see you’ve been training hard.” Indigo looked at my midsection in a similar manner to Captain Morningstar,

“I’ve been trying to,” I muttered,

She just nodded, then a piece of parchment floated into my face. “Letter came for you.”

“Huh?” I slowly grabbed it, unfurling it with my thumb.

I don’t know what I expected really, it was just a bunch of symbols that I barely recognized. The script was different than how it normally was too, like cursive was to print.

“I can’t read this.” I handed the letter back,

“I figured as much,” Indigo snatched it out of my hand and looked at it closely. “It says:”

“‘To Phos and company,

We’ll be seeing each other soon enough.

-Manuscript’”

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

♦Conglomerate's Crystal Corner♦

Phosphophyllite has a hardness of 3.5, and a perfect cleavage. To put it simply, it means they are weak. To be more exact however, the Mohs hardness scale only measures how difficult it is to scratch a material. Of course, 10 is the hardest, reserved for gemstones like diamonds: it is really hard to scratch them. 3.5 on the other hand, is rather weak. You can go lower, but at 3.5, your hardness is comparable to a penny. So not the weakest, you wouldn't be able to scratch it with your fingernail, but I'm sure you can imagine many ways to scratch a penny.

As for cleavage, that just represents how crystals tend to break. Different types of cleavage amount to different shapes, which is why stuff like Pyrite forms in cubical shapes, and stuff like Obsidian breaks in wavy formations. Perfect cleavage means there is no specific shape the crystal breaks in, each axis is equally weak.

This all adds to a gem's toughness, which is demonstrated lightly in Land of the Lustrous when comparing Jade to Diamond. Jade is only about a 6 on the Mohs hardness scale, while diamond is all the way up at 10. And yet, jade is harder to break than diamond. This is just because of how the crystals are structured, a good comparison I saw was to compare a leather belt to a wine glass. You can scratch a leather belt rather easily, but actually breaking it is much harder. A wine glass can't be scratched as easily, but you can shatter it without much effort at all.

In terms of Phos, they are weaker than glass. You can scratch them with any metal tool, and almost any hit will cause cracks. There is a reason that gemstone quality phosphophyllite is so hard to find. In fact, you could probably punch Phos with your bare hand and they would break. It wouldn't feel very good, but you could do it.

You guys are getting this chapter two hours early because I have to be somewhere at my regularly scheduled posting time. Enjoy it! ♦☻♦

Chapter 19

An ominous letter, how thoughtful. As if Sir Manuscript couldn’t be even more difficult.

Based on the context, I had assumed that we would be seeing each other some time before, or after the patrol. I was pretty much required to be there, and if he was the one employing us, then we would have to meet at some point in order to properly do the job. It made sense.

What didn’t make sense was Sir Manuscript waiting at the edge of the forest for us to arrive. Nor did it make any sense that he would be accompanying us on the job.

This guy was a borderline clean freak, I think. If my previous escapades in his dwelling were anything to go by, he didn’t like to get things dirty. So why was he willing to venture into the forest for hours on end just to observe a gem deposit?

Though… I could think of something else that he would want to observe.

“Glad to see you made it.” Sir Manuscript announced, stepping down from a carriage.

He was wearing a much simpler getup than last time, just a shirt and some boots, though they were still in pristine condition.

“Likewise.” Captain Morningstar responded,

With a single wave of his hoof, Maul stopped the cart, and the rest of the mercenaries formed up behind him.

“I trust that everyone is here?” Sir Manuscript asked,

I took that as my cue to stand up and carefully climb out of the cart. I then walked over to join the rest of the group and crossed my arms, though I avoided making direct eye contact with Sir Manuscript.

His attention immediately focused on my gait: I was walking with a limp. Technically, I shouldn’t even be walking, I could feel the shards in my hip shifting with every step, but it was getting better… I hope. The grinding noise had subsided a bit over the course of the morning, which was probably the crystals getting worn down until they fit together better. At least that’s what I think was happening, nothing was breaking, but I had yet to actually stress test it yet, and I would prefer to keep it that way until after it fully healed.

“Did something happen?” Sir Manuscript asked with a raised eyebrow.

Captain Morningstar just grunted in my general direction.

“Oh, um…” I clutched my stump harder and averted my gaze, “I uh… had a wild night yesterday.”

“Mm, and what, pray tell, constitutes a ‘wild night?’”

“Uh…” I glanced around a bit, “Overzealous teammates.”

Sir Manuscript inhaled sharply, while several of the mercenaries choked. I just looked at them in confusion.

What? It was just a training exercise gone wrong. Why were they reacting like that?

Indigo prodded me in the back, “You’re clueless.”

And now I’m being insulted again.

“Moving on.” Sir Manuscript awkwardly cleared his throat, “Will this be impacting the mission at all?”

“No.” Captain Morningstar answered, “Only that Phos will be spending most of the time in the cart.”

A sly smirk suddenly found its way onto his face again, “Then by all means.” Sir Manuscript stepped to the side, “Perhaps I can help lighten the load.”

He gestured to his carriage, which was a bit smaller than the mercenaries’ cart, but it was fully encased. It had a roof, a door on its side, windows, and everything else you might expect. Though it wasn’t one of those ridiculously fancy ones, we were heading into the forest after all, it was still pretty high quality.

That didn’t mean I wanted to sit in it though.

“I… Uh…” I looked over at Captain Morningstar.

He just sat there contemplating.

“Besides,” Sir Manuscript continued, “We have important matters to discuss.”

“Hm… Verywell.” Captain Morningstar nodded,

I grimaced, then looked towards Fletch and Indigo instead.

“Can uh… Can we join?” Fletch asked hesitantly,

“No.” Sir Manuscript said, smiling.

“Welp,” Indigo patted me on the back, “You’re on your own for this one. Good luck!”

“Bu- I… Aww…” I whined, before slowly stepping forward,

With a smug look, Sir Manuscript turned back towards the rest of the group, “Is everything else ready then?”

“Yes sir.” Captain Morningstar said,

“Then let us depart.”

Sir Manuscript walked back to his carriage and opened the door, beckoning me forward. I took another hesitant step, looked back at all the mercenaries one more time, then climbed inside.

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One might think: ‘If you can get to the gem deposit by cart through the forest, then why does a road even need to be built in the first place?’

To that I raise you: Terrain difficulty.

There wasn’t a straight shot path through the forest that a cart could manage. Even someone on their own couldn’t walk in a straight line all the way there. When travelling via a cart, you had to find a path wide enough to fit amongst thousands of randomly placed trees. Not to mention things like uneven ground, streams, exposed roots, and general slopes of the landscape, it would take several hours, and quite possibly cause some serious damage just to get through the forest.

I knew this because I had experienced it on the way back to town. Though it wasn’t the focus of the trip, I remember being jostled quite a bit as the mercenaries struggled to get the cart through some places. There were times when I was worried I was going to crack from the violent movements, which made me glad I could no longer get carsick.

Cart-sick.

I was even more damaged than I was back then, but right now I was sitting on a cushioned seat in a carriage with an actual suspension. I guess that was one thing I could be thankful for, though the usual intense vibrations were replaced with a rough swaying.

I still wanted to go back to sitting in the cart though, because at least then I wouldn’t have to deal with Sir Manuscript by myself in a closed environment.

“Why don’t you take off your cloak? We’re not in town anymore.” He suggested,

He had long since taken off his boots, and was sitting opposite to me in the carriage. I was almost glad he was speaking now, because the way he had been staring at me for the last few minutes was making me extremely uncomfortable. Now I actually had to speak with him though…

I just stuck a finger out, and swiped it across the fabric of my seat, leaving behind a slight brown smear.

Sir Manuscript’s eye twitched, before he sighed and nodded, “I see, thank you for your consideration.”

Looks like he really was uptight about that sort of thing after all. I wasn’t going to take my cloak off regardless though, my disguise was pretty much ruined. Unfortunately, either from the damage, the amount of time it spent in pieces, my general lack of care for it, or a combination of all three, the plants that were around my hips were dead, meaning the only thing covering my crystal there was my cloak. That wasn't something I was going to expose, but I suppose I could pull my hood down, I was going to have to speak with him face to face eventually.

“Would you care for something to eat? Drink?” Sir Manuscript pulled open a drawer to the side, the sound of glass and silverware clinking within.

What was up with this guy? He looks down on me like I’m the scum of the earth one day, then the next he treats me like some sort of esteemed guest. Was he trying to curry favor with me? As if I would tell him all my secrets just because he treated me nicely. He was supposedly Lord Tungsten’s right hand man, and by proxy I didn’t want to be anywhere near him.

Was it something I did? What was different about this meeting than the last one? Well, we were on a job, and I actually sent a letter of request to him. Was it that? I was being official with him, so he was being official with me? Treat others how you want to be treated, I guess.

I don’t think he would go that far. In fact, he seemed to revel in exerting his authority, seeing how he can put others below him. Catching me in a lie, demanding I show proof, and forcing me to ride in a carriage with him, definitely someone I didn’t want to be around. He was the type to try and manipulate you in ways you wouldn’t even notice, to make you slip up, then push you further down when you do.

Which made me really not want to share a carriage with him.

“N-No thanks…” I began, “I don’t-” I stopped myself, “I’m not hungry.”

Ugh… I don’t want to have to think like this. Monitoring my words, dodging around questions, and looking out for traps, it was nerve wracking. I didn’t want to have to worry about messing up just by saying the wrong thing.

Besides, how would we even eat in this roller coaster of a carriage ride?

Sir Manuscript raised an eyebrow.

…And I’ve probably messed up already. I leaned my head back against the wall of the carriage and stared ahead blankly.

“So.” Sir Manuscript continued, “Where is this proof you have acquired for me? Or would you rather we talk for the time being?”

I did not want to talk. I was meeting with him to show the proof, and that was it, but now I was actually hesitant to do so. Indigo said my proof was ‘too good’, and now I had to expose Shinsha to Sir Manuscript as well.

How did things turn out this way?

My uncertainty was doing wonders for Sir Manuscript’s mood. His smug smile was growing smugger every second I failed to respond.

Alright, I’ve had about enough of that. So what if my proof is too good? I had something that would knock his socks off, not that he wore any, but I couldn’t wait to wipe that look off his face.

That determination didn’t really translate well into action however.

“Proof…” I nodded slowly, “The proof.”

“Well?” Sir Manuscript demanded, “Where is it?

“R-Right,” I reached up into my hood.

I had already pulled it back, but just because it was down didn’t mean there wasn’t anything inside. Shinsha was waiting in the folds, and as soon as my hand came near, they climbed on. They had been briefed on the situation, and we decided it was best for them to act like how Breezies were commonly thought to act.

To put it simply, they wouldn’t be speaking, and they wouldn’t be letting Sir Manuscript touch them in any way.

When my hand pulled back with a green glow atop it, Sir Manuscript’s eyes widened slightly.

That also meant I would have to treat Shinsha as if they had no agency, like a magical wisp.

“This is a Breezie from the forest.” I began,

As soon as I uttered that word, Sir Manuscript’s eyes practically bugged out of his head.

This was already worth it.

“Ahem,” I tried to stop myself from smiling, “I have been entrusted with it for the time being, or until the issue with the road has been resolved.”

Shinsha took off from my hand, and Sir Manuscript scrambled back in his seat. I could understand why; Breezies were thought to be unpredictable, and have the power to literally kill somebody. To be trapped in an enclosed space with one, it would be hard to stay calm and collected.

I’ve had my fun though, so I guess it was time to reign it in. I could not tell you how glad I was to see someone like Sir Manuscript get shaken like that though. Gesturing with my finger, Shinsha fluttered back to my hand, where I then placed them on my shoulder. Sir Manuscript watched the display for a moment, then blinked a few times before sitting back up and brushing himself off.

“Y-You have a Breezie?!” He was aghast.

“Yes,” I nodded, “One of many.”

His wide eyed look turned even wider as he thought about my words.

“They are the protectors of the forest, and they will not hesitate to defend it against any harm.”

An empty threat, the most the Breezies could probably do was be a nuisance to the workers, maybe blinding them. Sir Manuscript didn’t need to know that, he just needed to think that the forest posed an overwhelming threat.

He remained silent for a moment, ruminating. His expression slowly soured, and he looked up at me with a frown, “Fine, I believe you that there are spirits in this forest. The road plans will be altered accordingly.”

I let out a sigh of relief, “Thank you.”

“Which brings me to my next question…” His scowl deepened,

I don’t think this guy liked admitting defeat. Either that or he hated the idea of losing to me.

“Where is this new road supposed to go?”

Oh.

Right.

We still needed to figure that out.

But wait, Lycus’s mother already made the preparations, so there should be someplace for the road to go. I just didn’t know where it was, and obviously Sir Manuscript didn’t either.

“Uh…” I began, “I’ll… have to get back to you on that.”

Sir Manuscript's gaze lightened slightly, but now he looked more annoyed than furious. “How soon? I cannot delay construction indefinitely.”

Let’s see. After this job, I would have to go back into the forest, get the information, possibly send another letter to Sir Manuscript, wait for the reply, then meet when possible. That totals to about three to four days.

We were already in the forest though. If Sir Manuscript was willing to wait, I could probably dip in and out and be back before the end of the day. Before the end of the job even, I don’t know how long a patrol typically lasts, but Captain Morningstar said it like it would take almost the entire day, and we left early in the morning too.

It would take several hours just to make it through the forest, plus however many hours the patrol needed, then the return trip. That was a lot of time to spend travelling, especially if it was in a carriage, and especially if it was with Sir Manuscript.

“If… you’ll let me…” I began slowly, “I can get you that information by the end of today… possibly even earlier.”

Sir Manuscript narrowed his eyes at me, taking in every feature of my face. Though his focus seemed to turn to Shinsha more often than not.

He eventually exhaled through his nostrils, “Verywell.” He turned and knocked on the wall of the carriage behind him, a second later a wooden slit opened up. “Stop the caravan, there is something we need to discuss.” He commanded,

There were a couple of muted shouts from outside, and the carriage slowed to a halt, teetering slightly as it settled down. Sir Manuscript then nodded to the door, and I fiddled with the handle a bit before pushing it open.

We were definitely in the forest alright. How far in I couldn’t tell, the result of being crammed in a carriage the entire time. I mean it did have windows, but they were small and had blinds, all I could see was the passing of trees. It should go without saying that I did not recognize the area we were in.

The mercenaries’ cart was stopped a bit ahead of the carriage, most likely acting as a guide. They have made the trip before after all, and the cart was slightly larger, meaning they had to find a path that both vehicles could fit.

“Change of plans, Captain.” Sir Manuscript announced,

“Sir?” Captain Morningstar replied,

“We’ll be splitting our forces,” Sir Manuscript ordered, “One will continue to the deposit, while the other will accompany Phos into the forest to get information required for the road.”

“Oh, um…” I stepped forward, “They don’t let outsiders in, I’m the only one allowed inside.”

Sir Manuscript glowered at me.

“It’s true,” Indigo spoke up, “We couldn’t get in last time, and had to be left behind.”

Sir Manuscript turned his scowl towards her instead, then his eyes suddenly widened. He then looked at me with a slight smile.

“Do not think you can escape from me so easily, but fine.” He turned to address the group again, “Phos will go alone while the rest of you continue with reconnaissance.”

Captain Morningstar’s head shot towards me with a glare. “Are you abandoning your job?” He demanded,

“I… uh…” I shrank back,

“I am the employer here.” Sir Manuscript stepped in front of me, “I get to decide what my employees do. Phos will be working on this ‘side mission’ for me.”

Having him stand up for me like that felt wrong, really wrong, but I’ll take what I can get.

Captain Morningstar backed off with a snort, “This no longer counts as a real job then.”

Oh shoot. Was that what this was supposed to be? I kind of regret skipping out on it now.

“How soon can you meet with these… ‘forest spirits?’” Sir Manuscript asked,

“Um… It depends on where we are in the forest.” I said,

There were a few moments of silence as everyone looked around.

“So…” Sir Manuscript continued,

“I don’t know,” I shook my head, “Probably within the hour.”

“Verywell,” he sighed, “See if you can meet back up with us at the deposit before we leave. And if not, return to my estate by the end of the day at least, or else I may have to rethink our deal, understand?”

“Ye-Yes sir.” I saluted,

Sir Manuscript just stared at me for a few moments, then shook his head and turned back to his carriage. “We’ll be off now.”

“Good luck, Phos!” Fletch called out from the back of the cart.

Rusty nodded slightly, “I don’t blame ya, patrol jobs are usually really boring.”

“I don’t blame you either,” Indigo walked up close to whisper, “Having to ride with him.” She glanced over to Sir Manuscript as he entered the carriage.

“Have fun.” Dr. Duck concluded,

None of the others said anything, just a curt nod and a grunt from Captain Morningstar, absolutely no reaction from Dagger, and what I think was a look of longing from Maul. Nevertheless, he started pulling the cart again, and after a few minutes they disappeared into the treeline, leaving me on my own in the forest.

“Okay,” I sighed, “He’s gone.”

Shinsha took flight from my shoulder, buzzing up in front of my face.

“Don’t like, don’t like.” They humphed, “Manuscurpht… Manushit!”

I burst out laughing, causing Shinsha to jump back a bit. I doubted they even realized what they just said, but that didn’t make it any less funny to me. Maybe I actually should teach them a few curse words, something that foul coming from something that tiny would always be a laugh.

I kid, of course. Besides, I don’t even know if the swears I knew would apply here.

“Sorry to put you through that.” I began, “But thank you for helping me.”

“Phos, Phos. Help, help.” Shinsha fluttered up and down,

“And now…” I put my hand on my hip and gazed out into the forest. “I need to talk with Lycus’s mom. Can you take me to her?”

Shinsha bobbed up and down again, then let out a loud chirp. Almost like a cricket, but it sounded more like a phone ringing. Almost immediately, several other Breezies floated into view, and Shinsha rushed over to converse with them.

Again, it was something I couldn’t really understand, but it sounded like it was starting to get heated. Shinsha and the other Breezies were arguing with each other, and the only thing that I could make out was that Shinsha’s name came up. Several times actually.

Eventually, things started to cool back down, and with a couple of hugs and kisses, at least that’s what I think they were doing when they touched up against each other, the Breezies fanned out, and Shinsha flew back over to me.

“Follow, follow.”

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

Phos does NOT know what sex is. They might have a pretty good idea, but as you might guess, they've never seen it, nor have they ever had it.

It's probably going to stay that way, and if you're disappointed from that, why? :rainbowderp:

Chapter 20

I kept a close eye on Shinsha as we moved. It wasn’t like I could really see their body language, but their flight pattern appeared to be more… rigid, I guess? They certainly weren’t saying anything, even the occasional chirp or hum they sometimes emitted was gone.

“Is everything okay?” I asked, pushing a branch out of the way, “It seemed like you and the other Breezies were fighting back there.”

Shinsha circled back around to me for a moment. “Name, name.” They huffed.

So they weren’t just worried where they’d been for the past few days. Shinsha’s name came up quite a bit in that conversation, it was the only word I could understand. Did the other Breezies not like it? I mean Shinsha loved their name. They didn’t have one before though, and to my knowledge none of the other Breezies had any names either.

Uh oh. Was it something I did? Was I wrong to give Shinsha a name? But they said it was okay to have one.

“Um… is it my fault they’re upset with you?”

“Uh, uh. No…” Shinsha turned away and continued deeper into the forest without another word.

That wasn’t very reassuring. I really hope I didn’t do something bad. If I lost favor with the forest for whatever reason, then I could kiss my toe goodbye. I already entered this situation with a bad reputation, but I’ve already helped so much. I’ll just have to hope that’s enough to forgive me.

I continued forward with a grimace.

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The place Shinsha led me wasn’t the same glade as before. There wasn’t a pond in this one, and for the most part it was just an open space of grass. A multitude of berry bushes lined the edges however, each one filled to the brim with bright berries, ranging in color from red to blue to yellow. Given this wasn’t the sanctuary, I hazarded a guess that these were all naturally occurring berries in the forest, there was just a giant cluster of them here.

Quite a few Breezies could also be seen fluttering around the bushes. They appeared to be just navigating the branches, but upon closer look some of them were actually picking the berries. It wasn’t like they were bringing them anywhere though, they just ate them on the spot.

Was this where the Breezies came to eat? Like a kitchen or a cafeteria?

What did that make the pond?

A bathroom?

…

Moving on, my sudden appearance in the glade received almost no reaction from the resident Breezies, but as soon as Shinsha entered, it became utter turmoil. I felt like I had stepped on a beehive, which was unfortunately one of the few things I remember doing as a kid, that was not a fun day, but Breezies didn’t have stingers, and they weren’t focused on me.

They were focused on the thing right next to me, so I still got caught in the crossfire.

Getting swarmed was one thing, but getting swarmed by a bunch of creatures the same size as you, speaking a language you can understand, and demanding answers all at the same time? I can’t imagine what Shinsha was going through.

Speaking of, it was hard to keep track of them through the buzzing lights, but it was easy to see that they were the only one keeping still. And yes, they were quickly getting overwhelmed.

“Um…” I tried, “Shinsha?”

As soon as I uttered their name the rest of the Breezies practically exploded, with a hundred tiny voices echoing it back with varying levels of tone, most of which accusatory.

“Ooh, uh…” I spun around a bit, trying to find a way through the swarm.

There weren’t many options, but at least they weren’t being hostile. I don’t think Shinsha or I were in any immediate danger, but I was quickly getting uncomfortable, and I could tell Shinsha was already well down that path.

“Alright, enough!” I exclaimed, causing all of the Breezies to pause mid-air.

I reached out and cupped my hand around Shinsha, who quickly latched onto my fingers, I then pulled them close, and tucked them into the folds of my cloak. It didn’t take long for the other Breezies to begin again, and several of them landed on me to try and wriggle their way inside my cloak. I couldn’t keep all of them away, and I doubted it was a very good idea to keep Shinsha protected forever anyway.

I quickly shooed them off and did a little spin, “This is going nowhere!” I continued, pulling Shinsha back out of my cloak, “If you have something to say, then say it, but one at a time.” I ordered, “Form a line and wait your turn."

I channeled a bit of Captain Morningstar there. The gravelliness really didn’t translate well with my voice, but still, the Breezies followed my orders and after a few moments they got into a long, orderly queue. There were so many of them it practically spiraled around the glade, with some of them even staying in the air. There were definitely more Breezies here than there were a few moments ago, I guess word spread around fast.

“Is this okay?” I asked Shinsha as I slowly lowered them to the grass.

“Um, um!” It sounded like they were hyperventilating, but eventually they got it under control, “Okay, okay.”

“Okay,” I nodded, setting them down on the ground, “Just sit tight there for a moment while I…” I trailed off,

Literally all of the Breezies were focused on Shinsha right now, so there was no way for me to get any of them to notify Lycus’s mom for me. I would either have to find her myself, or wait until enough Breezies were done with Shinsha to ask them for help.

Looking over, Shinsha was already talking with the first Breezie, and it didn’t look like they were anywhere close to finishing. Getting through all of them would take a while, and I imagine it was that much worse for Shinsha. As for doing everything myself, unless Lycus’s mom just happened to walk into the glade, I don’t think there was a chance I was going to find her.

“My, you certainly know how to handle them.”

What is it with people and sneaking up behind me as of late?

I jumped, which is one of the last things I should be doing right now. I realized that as soon as I did it, but at that point it was already too late to stop myself, and I was in the air. Landing on my feet was probably the worst possible thing I could do at the moment, so with no other choice, I leaned back and let myself fall flat on my back.

If I were any other place besides a glade covered in soft grass, I probably wouldn’t have done that either, but I was delighted to find that nothing broke when I hit the ground. Instead I was rewarded with a little light show as dozens of Breezies came to see if I was okay. Shinsha was among the first, landing squarely on my nose right as the doe leaned down to look at me.

“Oh my, I am terribly sorry,” she began, “I did not expect you to fall like that.”

So she did mean to sneak up on me. Good to know that the mom was a bit of a prankster as well. I really should have expected that.

“I’m fine,” I sighed and sat up, causing all of the Breezies on me to scatter, “In fact, I’m glad I managed to land on my back.”

“Oh?” The doe tilted her head,

Upon standing up, I turned to face her and pulled my cloak open. “I don’t suppose you would want to help piece me back together if I didn’t?”

She inspected the damage with wide eyes, before stepping back and nodding, “Only if I was truly the cause. Please forgive me, I did not realize you were in such a predicament.”

“It’s okay,” I closed my cloak, watching the Breezies reassemble their line off to the side.

The doe followed their movements just as much as I did, and seemed especially focused on Shinsha at the center. “So, is it true?”

I glanced at her, “Uh… is what true?”

“That you have named a Breezie?”

Oh. She knew about that already. Well, at least she didn’t seem to be angry.

“Uh, yes.” I admitted,

“Oh my,” the doe sighed, “I wonder what my son will do now.”

I blinked at this, just now noticing that he has been absent the entire time. “Oh yeah, where is Lycus?” I half expected him to be all over me by now.

The doe’s eyes snapped towards me, “He told you his name?”

I just nodded.

“Well,” she relaxed a bit, “I suppose he has always been free to do so.”

I frowned. This was starting to get confusing, despite what I already knew. Names were important to fairies, but these weren’t exactly fairies. The rules didn’t seem to apply to them, yet there was still a strange focus around names.

“Are names really that important?” I asked,

“In a manner of speaking, yes.” The doe answered, “Telling someone your name is a sign of trust. By doing so, you are also telling them that you trust them not to sully it, or to abuse it in any way.” She explained,

“Uh… huh…” I nodded along, pursing my lips slightly, "So is that what Lycus was asking for back when we first met?"

"Err..." The doe bit her lip, "No, I believe he was trying to ask for your name in marriage at that time."

I just sighed and shook my head, “So what does it mean if you just happen to find out somebody’s name?”

“Mmm,” The doe closed her eyes and nodded, “This happens, and you will simply know their name. However, you should not speak it to them without them telling you it first. Even if you already know their name, you should ask them to tell you before using it.”

“Oh, okay.” I tapped my chin with a finger.

“I do not know if this applies to pony culture, but if Lycus has told you his name, then he trusts you not to abuse it.”

“And the same goes for the Breezies?” I asked,

“Not quite.” The doe shook her head, “Breezies do not normally have names, they have to be given them.”

“So… It’s okay for me to give them one?” I looked back at Shinsha, they were still making their way through a seemingly endless line of Breezies.

“There is nothing inherently wrong with it,” the doe shook her head again, “However, the reactions of others are a different matter. To my knowledge, only other Breezies have given Breezies names.”

“Uh oh, does that mean I am in trouble?”

“You are not the one you need to be worrying about.” The doe said, nodding towards Shinsha.

“But…” I trailed off, “I’m the one that gave them a name.”

“It is not that you have given a name, it is that they have accepted it.”

I tilted my head, “Why’s that?”

“Breezies only give names to their betrothed,” the doe explained,

“E-” My jaw dropped, and I stared at the doe with wide eyes.

I then glanced at Shinsha again, before shifting my gaze between them for a bit. It all made sense now, the sudden increase in physical touch, the willingness to stay in town for a few days, and to reveal some of their secrets to me. I had basically proposed to Shinsha, and they said yes.

Oh man, no wonder all the other Breezies were in a tiff. If one of your friends or family members suddenly got engaged after leaving on a trip for a few days, it was pretty much guaranteed that you would have some questions.

“Y-You can’t have expected me to know that.” I murmured,

“And yet, they have still accepted,” the doe sighed,

Right after saying I wasn’t ready for that sort of relationship too…

I froze, my eyes widening even more as my face dropped.

What would Lycus think? I mean sure, it might get him off my back, but he’s been surprisingly helpful. I didn’t want to repay him like this! He’s been after me since the moment he met me, and the one time we don’t meet face to face is the time when I practically stab him in the back.

“Wh… Where is Lycus?” I asked again,

“He is busy.” The doe answered, “Doing…” She pursed her lips, “Actually, he has asked me not to say, but he has been working hard these past few days.”

Oh no…

“I suppose I shall inform him of these most recent events.” The doe continued,

“Please don’t tell him anything!” I exclaimed, holding my hand up.

The doe looked at me with a curious expression, with maybe the inkling of a smile at the corner of her mouth. “Does he not deserve to know of what has transpired?”

“N-No.” I shook my head, “That is not what I meant… Just…” I grit my teeth, “I-I’ll… tell him myself.” I eventually exhaled, “So please don’t say anything.”

“Hmm,” the doe hummed with a satisfied smirk, “Verywell.”

“Thank you,” I muttered, gazing downwards,

How did coming here just to get some information lead to such an intense revelation?

“Iphthime.”

“What?” I asked, looking up at the doe.

“That is my name. I trust you to use it well.”

I just stared at her, before my eyes started to unfocus and I felt my knees begin to wobble. Before I could fall though, I crouched down and laid on my back again, staring up at the brightly lit canopy.

You can’t just add on even more like that! I was already exhausted from the first thing, not to mention all the stress from having to deal with Sir Manuscript earlier. A couple of Breezies floated over to land on me again, but I paid them no mind. I just wanted some time to think.

I realized something, the way she had been talking this entire time.

She was probably even worse than Sir Manuscript.

I groaned, closing my eyes and letting my head fall back.

At least she was sincere about it.

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“So,” Iphthime began, “What reasons do you have for coming here?”

She was nice enough to let me sulk in the glade for a few minutes. I was content to keep doing so until Shinsha was done with all the other Breezies, but I was technically on a time limit. They had managed to get through about half of them by the time Iphthime roused me from my inaction. For every Breezie they talked to, it only seemed to speed up the process. I guess a lot of them had similar questions.

“Um.” I looked over at Iphthime, “I just need to know the path you set up for the road through the forest. That and…” I lifted my head, glancing down at my abdomen, “Maybe to get a touchup as well.”

Not that I could really see my disguise, I was covered from head to toe in Breezies. Even my slight movements weren’t enough to shake them off. That all changed when I sat up though, with most of the Breezies around my joints taking off to avoid getting crushed. It wasn’t like I was aiming to do that though, I was being incredibly gentle, especially as I brushed more of them off.

“Verywell, I will show you the prepared path, and I suppose I can repair your disguise.”

“Thank you,” I nodded, then stood up.

Just in time for a patch of grass to slap itself to my midsection. I reeled from the hit, only for another one to hit me in the back. In only a few moments, they were already merging with the rest of my disguise, sealing up any cracks and shifting in color until it matched the rest. The accessories came a bit later, all the leaves and bark growing into place, the roots then tapered off and disconnected from the ground, completing the whole ensemble. Everything looked seamless again.

I blinked at it for a few seconds, “Uh, thank you.”

Iphthime just nodded, “Let us depart.”

“Okay,” I stepped forward, then stopped, and looked back at Shinsha, “Oh right. Shinsha, are you okay with staying here for a bit?”

They squeaked, then fluttered up to fly over to me, only to be stopped by the half mob of Breezies. They paced against the impromptu barricade for a moment, before eventually sighing and falling back down to the ground, “Okay, okay.”

“Shinsha?” Iphthime asked, “Is that the name you have chosen?”

“Y-yes,” I nodded,

“What does it mean?”

“It… um… I uh... don’t quite remember,” I admitted, “But it’s from a faraway land, and… it’s important to me.”

“Good.” Iphthime said, disappearing through the foliage a moment later.

I quickly followed after her, but only caught her tail end slipping through the next line of plants.

One thing immediately became clear, she was fast. If Lycus could navigate the forest with ease, then Iphthime could glide through it as if it wasn’t even there. She pushed past trees and bushes alike, each one seemingly bending out of her way. Her long strides shifted across the grass like she was on a conveyor belt, speeding her along and making her that much faster. The only reason I was able to keep up was because there was a something like a slipstream left in her wake, where the plants retained their... fluidity, I guess?

That was the keeper of the forest for you.

I kind of had to speed walk the entire time, any slower and I would immediately get caught in the plants. It was no wonder why she seemed to appear and disappear at will in the forest, being able to move at that speed would allow you to duck in and out of any area you wanted. Within reason of course, she still had to actually walk that distance. As such, it took less than a minute of walking before we reached our destination.

A seemingly arbitrary point in the middle of the forest.

“This is where the divide begins. The roots of the trees have been disconnected, separating the forest into two.” Iphthime explained, tapping the ground with her hoof, “Even if the ponies were to fell them, their life force has been reduced, to the forest, they are already dead.”

“Oh.” I inspected the ground for a bit, then looked left and right, then forwards and backwards.

I had kind of lost my sense of direction while travelling, but I had a general idea of where the town was in relation to me. The problem was that there was no discernable difference between the divide and the forest. There was no line of dilapidated trees to follow, just the same greenery all throughout.

“I can’t see it.”

“Come,” Iphthime beckoned with a hoof, “We will follow it to each end.”

She began moving again, and I hurried to catch up. I didn’t really want to be walking this much, but by now the grinding in my hips had almost completely disappeared. Though the last time I looked before it was covered again, there were still some cracks. Still, I continued onward, just barely managing to stay behind Iphthime.

I could only assume we were walking along the divide exactly, and with the constant swaying of our path, it was not in a straight line. In fact, it was so varied it almost felt like we were going down a stream, but at least there weren’t any jagged angles or rough turns, just gentle curves that seemed to wave methodically.

I can’t imagine how hard it would be to map this out, much less plan a road along it. I could remember my path through the forest easily enough before, but at this speed I could barely keep track of how many times we turned to the left or to the right. It didn’t help that I didn’t even know where I was in the forest, and with each moment that location changed.

There came a moment when Iphthime banked hard to the right, and upon following her I almost bumped into her as she stopped.

“Oh, it would appear that we are not alone.”

“Huh?” I looked up, and did a double take.

We were already at the edge of the forest, I could see the break in the treeline, and further ahead there were a few rocky slopes among the sandy ground. We were at the gem deposit.

That wasn’t what surprised me though, because off to the side and just at the edge of the forest, was Sir Manuscript’s carriage. Thankfully, he wasn’t there with it, but there was still a pony sitting atop it, smoking what looked like a pipe. We were still a fair distance away, but since we could see them, they could probably see us if they were looking.

Iphthime quickly ducked back into the shrubbery, and after a moment I followed.

“Let us continue to the other end.”

“Wait,” I held up my hand, “I still can’t see where the divide is, and if I can’t see it, neither can the ponies.”

Iphthime tilted her head, “But you have taken the steps.”

I just shook my head, “I can not remember all of that. Can’t you just mark it with something? Give the ponies something to follow, that way you won’t have to worry about them going off the path.”

“Mm,” Iphthime thought for a moment, “I suppose.”

She waved her hoof across the ground, and a small trail of flowers began to bloom in a gentle curve, fading off a few feet away.

Iphthime gave a small sigh that almost sounded like a huff, “I will mark the path, and the ponies will follow it.”

“And the road will be built, and the forest… -s will be saved.” I concluded, then blinked, “Does that mean my job is done?”

Iphthime turned to look at me, “Indeed,”

“Then can I have my toe back?” I asked,

She shook her head, “You still have to speak with my son.”

“Oh… Right…” I grimaced,

There was a rustling in the bushes behind us, and Iphthime’s ears flicked at the disturbance.

“It seems our time together is running out.” She turned away, “Return to us in three days, a reward will be prepared for you by then as well.”

“Wai- Bu-”

She had already disappeared into the forest, a trail of flowers left in her wake.

The bushes rustled again, and I turned to look at the disturbance. I doubted Iphthime would just leave on a whim, so it was probably a pony approaching, not some other forest creature. I just crossed my arms and waited, but there was no further movement from the bushes, even though it sounded like whoever was there was just about to push through.

Twang

A crossbow bolt whizzed passed my face, just barely glancing off my cheek. It cut pretty deep into my disguise, but didn’t take a whole chunk off like last time.

“Wha-!” I jumped back, staring at the bolt as it embedded itself into a nearby tree.

Like last time… You’d have to be pretty bad to miss an unmoving target that didn’t even know you were there. That had to have been intentional.

“Hey!” I exclaimed, turning back to the bush and putting my hand on my hip.

It shuddered slightly as Dagger stood up, pulling back the string of his crossbow and setting another bolt.

“That wasn’t very nice!” I chastised,

“Dagger?” Another voice called out, “What do you see back there?”

He grumbled, then turned around, “Phos!”

“Phos?” I could tell it was Rusty by now, “Phos is here?”

This was starting to feel a little familiar. Dagger just looked back at me and tilted his head towards the origins of Rusty’s voice with a grunt.

With a sigh and an eye roll, I followed him out of the forest and into the open. There, it was just Rusty, but I could see more of the mercenaries in groups off in the distance. The colors told me one was Fletch and Captain Morningstar, and the other was Indigo and Maul. They were literally just patrolling the area.

I guess that was the job.

This place also looked familiar, mainly because I could see the hole in the cliff face where I burst out of. It had worn down a little bit, and I think it may have rained in the past few days, but all in all it looked the exact same as when we left it. Actually, there was another group of ponies huddled around the bottom of the cliff, and I think I could see Sir Manuscript among them.

“How do you keep popping up out of nowhere?” Rusty asked,

I gave him an odd look, “What do you mean? I literally just walked here… with the help of the forest,” I muttered quietly, “But that’s besides the point.”

“Oh yeah,” Rusty nodded slightly, “You’ve got your nymph buddies. How’d it go?”

“Um…” I paused for a bit, “It went okay…” I looked down at my foot, “I got what I needed, but I… nevermind.”

This time it was Rusty's turn to give odd look, “Well, as long as the job’s done. Good timing too, we’re just about done here.”

Rusty gestured behind him right as the group at the cliff began to disperse, and I could see Sir Manuscript speed walking towards me with a perturbed look. Some of the group followed him, while the others began heading back towards where I saw the carriage was earlier.

“Oop, here comes the boss.” Rusty whispered,

“I can see that.” I replied, standing up straighter and checking my cloak.

“That was remarkably fast,” Sir Manuscript greeted once he was in range, “Did you manage to get the information needed?”

“Uh, yes sir.” I nodded,

Sir Manuscript lowered his gaze with me, and he quickly handed a crystal off to one of his followers. I guess they were checking the deposit. It was supposed to be a gem deposit after all, but all the surface outcroppings were picked clean due to certain reasons.

...Draconic reasons...

I glanced at the sky for a moment, but only a few wispy clouds met my gaze.

“Where is the road supposed to go then?” Sir Manuscript demanded,

“Huh? Oh!” I snapped back to attention, “It should go… well… it would be better to show you.”

“What?”

“Follow me.” I turned around and started heading back towards the forest.

Sir Manuscript scoffed, then looked towards Rusty and Dagger. Dagger remained completely still, while Rusty just shrugged. With a loud exhale, he begrudgingly began following me.

Once we were past the initial treeline, I quickly found the spot where Iphthime had left me, and lo and behold, the trail of flowers was still there. Despite being flowers in a forest, they were clearly out of place, and the singular line of them extended much further than what could be considered natural.

There was actually only one type of flower making up the line, and they looked a lot like a squill. However, the traditional blue was replaced with something with a more greenish tint, almost like a cyan. They clashed heavily with the darker greens around them, making them all the more noticeable.

Wait a minute.

Cyan…

I picked one of the flowers, bringing it up to my face and pulling some of my hair forward with my thumb. It was a pretty close match.

Wow, thanks Iphthime, what a wonderful color to choose, as if I didn’t need any more attention on me right now.

I glanced at Sir Manuscript, who remained focused on the unnatural oddity laid before him.

“What did you do?” He demanded,

“What you asked me.” I replied simply, quickly flicking the flower away.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

So now we know what the deal is with Breezies. Sort of...

Iphthime and Lycus, both figures in Greek mythology. I believe Iphthime is a nymph, while Lycus is a satyr. They are not the only Iphthimes and Lycuses depicted in the myths, but they are the only mother-son pair, I figured they would act as fitting names for these forest spirits. Of course, that would make Lycus's father Hermes, but let's just ignore that for now. I didn't plan to have a father figure before giving them their names, and I don't after.

Chapter 21

And just like that, I’ve been in this weird pony world for a week. To me though, it felt like it’s already been more than a month. With all this action in the past few days, I’ve been doing more, and thinking more than I was ever able to do while sick, maybe even before that too. There were just so many new and exciting things, which brought about something I’ve never experienced before.

Mental exhaustion.

I started feeling it back in the glade with Iphthime, but when we got back to town with Sir Manuscript, I didn’t even feel like moving. The trip back to the inn was a slogfest, like I was knee deep in mud the entire time. I never thought that there could be too many things to think about, or that fatigue could be more than just physical. It was safe to say that I went to bed super early, and slept in really late the next morning.

And then I was ready for the next week. Nothing like a good night’s rest to get you up and going again.

…Or not quite. Indigo informed me that there were actually eight days in a week, which meant technically I still had one more day left before being here for an entire week. This coincided with there being four hundred days in the year: there were fifty weeks in a year, and ten months, with each month getting five weeks, or fourty days.

Now I already knew I was probably on a different planet, and I had assumed that there might be some differences in timeframes, but I found it odd on how… even it was. Indigo was also quick to lecture me on that.

The ponies literally controlled the sun and moon, moving them across the sky with magic. Again, this was strangely familiar, which clued into the fact that I had seen this somewhere before, but it was still surprising to hear. That kind of control over the world could be monumental if used correctly, especially compared to just standardizing dates and times.

Though ‘control’ was used loosely. Apparently the ponies couldn’t do much more than move the celestial bodies, and it took a bunch of effort just to do that. Supposedly there was a time when they moved on their own, but something stopped them somehow.

Indigo didn’t know the answer, and I wasn’t really listening at that point. It was all just more weight upon my mind, so you’ll have to forgive me for not paying attention to all the details.

Thankfully, the next morning was calmer, and so were the next few days. The reason? Sir Manuscript literally told us to relax for a few days, because at the end of the calendar week, we would be going back out to drive off the dragons spotted at the deposit.

That’s right, the patrol wasn’t uneventful. Though they didn’t encounter any dragons directly while out there, there was plenty of evidence of them, recent evidence, and there was no reason to believe that they wouldn’t be back.

And so, we were tasked with driving them off, for good, which meant either killing them, or injuring them enough to the point where it was guaranteed that they wouldn’t come back. Either way there was going to be a fight.

First there was flower picking, and now there was dragon slaying. As fun as that sounded, I wasn’t too enthusiastic about the prospect. Even with my two days worth of training, I didn’t feel like I was quite ready enough to handle something like this.

Attendance was mandatory though, and this was made quite clear by both Sir Manuscript and Captain Morningstar. I guess they were getting fed up with my little escapades into the forest. At least the day we would be going out wasn’t on the same day I had to go back in.

So it wasn’t all bad, and of course, there were a few more developments in the meantime. We got the designs for boots back from the blacksmith. He presented me with three different configurations, each slightly different with how they were made and how they worked. I chose the one closest to regular boots, and I was then informed of the price.

Another hundred bits or so.

At least we could keep the designs. They were easy enough to follow, so we could get another blacksmith to make them. When I had the money of course.

Unfortunately, there was no way for me to scrounge up enough bits to buy anything worthwhile in town. Sir Manuscript did pay me a small amount for my work in the forest, but more than half of that was immediately snatched up by Indigo and Fletch. I had two bits to my name at that point, and I wasn’t going to have the opportunity to work any more jobs either, because Captain Morningstar was adamant that we leave town as soon as we finished our dealings with Sir Manuscript.

I can’t say I disagreed, and all of the other mercenaries seemed eager to leave as well.

Having managed to find another job escorting a merchant across the border, Captain Morningstar set it up so that we would be leaving the day after we dealt with the dragons. Unfortunately, that was the same day I had to go back into the forest. He was not happy when I told him that, but after telling him that I would actually be getting paid for the job now, he relented.

It would be close, but I could probably squeeze in a quick visit to the forest in the morning before we left.

And so that was the plan for the next few days, with all the free time in between being taken up by training, reading and writing, and some sewing lessons from Indigo, fully paid of course, by my last two bits no less.

The first thing I made from that sheet of burlap?

A pair of pants.

They were the simplest things you could imagine, just two sheets of fabric cut into the general shape and sewn together around the edges. It was rough, too tight in some places, and too baggy in others. I only had one hand to work with, so my stitching was large and uneven. It kind of had to be, with the way the burlap was, but it definitely could be better.

Indigo then introduced me to the wonderful technique of turning the garment inside out once it was completed. That way the seams were inverted, creating a much smoother exterior, not that the burlap was very smooth to begin with. Still, that meant there weren’t these awkward ridges of fabric along the sides, and I could at least look somewhat presentable with them on.

My plant disguise still did a much better job, but with the pants done, I only managed to use about a third of the sheet Indigo got me. There was enough remaining for a shirt, and maybe something else, I don’t know what. I didn’t really know what else I could even make with burlap, the material wasn’t exactly easy to work with.

It was too tough to make anything fine with it, so gloves were off the table. Yet it was too floppy to make anything that could stand up. I thought a hat might look nice, but unless it was just a cap, it was just going to get in the way. That led to a more encapsulating approach, where I tried to make a mask out of burlap, mainly by just draping the sheet over my head and seeing what it would look like with eye and mouth holes.

Indigo said it looked horrid, and I had to agree. It was stupid looking, and I really didn’t want to be running around looking like a scarecrow, not if I didn’t have a straw hat and some overalls to go along with it. Surprise, surprise, denim didn’t exist in this world, and a straw hat was… well… I would have to make it myself, that’s all.

That led to us looking for other materials to mask my face, and where I finally found a use for the bark I had gotten at the sanctuary. My knife also finally got to see some use outside of training, and with a few lessons on general care from Rusty, it was sharpened and cutting through the wood without too much difficulty.

How was I able to do this with only one hand you might ask? Simple, I held the piece of bark between my knees while I whittled away at it. I didn’t actually know what I wanted for a design yet, so I just stuck to cleaning up the edges and adding the eye holes. With that done, it already worked as a mask, and with a couple strips of burlap scraps, it would stay on my face unless I started moving erratically.

i.e. dodging.

I couldn’t keep my mask on while training, though I didn’t really want it on anyway, even if I wasn’t getting hit. My training had been stripped down to its bare bones; Captain Morningstar didn’t want me getting shattered again this close to a big job.

Since I wasn’t going toe to toe with the ruthless or the reckless anymore, it was so much easier. Rusty had even been restricted to basic attacks, so unless I was being careless, I wouldn’t even get hit. Of course, Rusty questioned the validity of this type of training, to which Captain Morningstar told him that we couldn’t take any more risks, and that we could pick it back up again once we were in the clear.

At least I was learning to parry more effectively. This time with only minor cracks to show for it.

Speaking of learning, I reached another milestone with writing the unicorn alphabet. That being the ability to sound out words and write them down. It really helped that it was the same spoken language, but there were still some differences. I was only able to spell things syllable by syllable at the moment, meaning every one of my words was the long version. You could still read it, but it would only really make sense if you read it out loud.

The shorter versions of words were harder because they each had a different set of rules on how they were spelled. Sounding out the symbols one by one would give you a jumbled mess, rather, when in a certain order, they magically became a different word through some intrinsic knowledge. That was really the main difficulty of the unicorn alphabet, but if done correctly then you could really shorten your writing, to the point where it was laughable how much space the other systems took.

At least that’s what Indigo said.

Apparently most, if not all academic works were done in the unicorn alphabet for this very reason. When you could pack that much information onto a single page, it wasn’t just cost effective, it was easier to analyze data, or to cross reference topics.

Supposedly. I was kind of just taking Indigo for her word at that point, just waiting for her to finish her tangent before moving onto the next set of rules for contracting words.

I felt like I was doing alright with everything, though Fletch was starting to lag behind a bit. I already had a basis on how to learn how to read and write, but Fletch had nothing. This was all new to her, and when it started to get complicated, she started to falter.

Shinsha on the other hand…

Well…

In my infinite wisdom, I had forgotten Shinsha at the glade. I only found this out when they came buzzing up to me on our way back in the middle of the forest. Thankfully I wasn’t in the carriage with Sir Manuscript that time, but they were not happy with me. At least they understood that I couldn’t exactly come back once I reunited with the rest of the group.

So after a tense reunion, and a few days to settle after the week, we got to talking.

“So…” I began,

“So, so…” Shinsha echoed,

We both glanced around the room for a bit. Now that I had something to actually hold things, I was given my own key, which meant I could enter the room whenever I pleased, without the help of Fletch or Indigo: they weren’t here right now.

We were alone together.

“...How did things turn out back at the glade?” I asked slowly,

“Good, good.”

“Are you still in trouble with the other Breezies?”

“No, no.”

I let out a sigh of relief, and nodded slightly.

“...Look…” I began again. “I uh… I didn’t know what it meant to uh… name you. I didn’t know how much it uh… meant to you.”

“Oh, oh…”

“Not that I want to take it back or anything!” I quickly added, “But… Now that I know what it means… I realize that it wasn’t just my decision.”

“Mm, mm.” Shinsha chirped a bit.

“I’m not a Breezie.” I shook my head, “You have to know that I can’t give you what a Breezie could.”

“Know, know.”

“This isn’t normal, you could’ve lived a regular life. You deserved at least that much, and I took that away.” I muttered, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t, be. Sorry, sorry.”

I looked up, Shinsha was floating right in front of my face.

“Want, want.” They reached forward and landed on my nose.

I gave a small smile, but ended up sighing. “It’s just… I can’t be with you forever. I can’t stay in the forest, and I can’t stick around for much longer either.

Shinsha let out a much louder chirp. “Why, why?”

“I’ve already offered myself to the mercenaries first.” I explained with another sigh. “And they don’t want to stay any longer. I can’t really stay either, it’s dangerous for me to be around… well… dragons and ponies.” I counted on my fingers.

“Ponies, ponies?” Shinsha repeated,

“Well, not all ponies,” I corrected, “Just a couple of specific ones.”

“Manushit.”

I chuckled lightly, but still couldn’t keep my smile. “I’m sorry that I have to leave so soon after naming you…”

“It’s, it’s. Okay, okay.”

“Will you be okay without me?” I asked,

“Without, without. Phos, Phos?” Shinsha wondered,

They paused to think about it, and didn’t speak up for a while afterwards. Which did little to alleviate my worries.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

When you control the sun and moon, why not make dates and times mathematically easy? Just to make Equestrian time similar to Earth time, I only rounded out things a little bit, and of course removed the two worst months, you know which ones. There's also an extra day in the week, what's it called? I don't know, but Sunday and Moonday are here to stay.

Another interesting fact, the rest of the days of the week are named after the Norse gods, Tyr for Tuesday, Odin for Wednesday(Trust me, it makes sense), Thor for Thursday, and Frigg for Friday. Saturday is based off of Saturn though, and going off of that, the next planet would be Uranus. Uraday anyone? None of that applies to Equestria though, and I'm not going to come up with a whole calendar week if I'm not even going to use it.

This shift in time frames does change a few things, for one, years are a bit longer. Phos, who is allegedly 26, would be closer to 24 in Equestrian years.

I'm not messing with the lengths of days. 24 hours is enough, and it already breaks down into hours, minutes, and seconds easily.

I really didn’t want to be running around looking like a scarecrow

This is a reference to another story: The Tale of Lord Barleycorn by Blue Cultist

Check it out, I think it's really good, even if it's on a semi-hiatus right now.

Chapter 22

There was a slight morning drizzle as we headed back out to the gem deposit. It certainly wasn’t enough to be oppressing, but you could still hear the pattering of raindrops against any surfaces nearby. It would have been calming, I’m sure the mellow atmosphere could do wonders for a stressed conscience.

And yes, it was making the dirt roads muddy, slowing down our pace quite a bit

I myself haven’t experienced rain in a long time. My hospital room didn’t have a window, so the last time I actually saw raindrops and felt them landing on me was probably all the way back in elementary school. If I remember correctly, it was quite a nasty storm, it knocked our power out for a few days, right after school had gotten out for the summer as well.

What was going on this morning was a far cry from that, but try as I might, I couldn’t get myself to enjoy it. Not when what we were doing later today loomed on the horizon.

Though things were looking up. Rain was probably a good deterrent for dragons, I doubt a fire-breathing reptile would linger in a place where everything was slightly damp. If the rain today prevented a dragon from showing up at the deposit, then all the more to it. Just because we were heading out to fight dragons didn’t mean we were actually going to be able to. There was no way of telling for sure where or when they would show up, we were just ready for them today.

I assumed if we didn’t have another job already lined up, then Sir Manuscript would just pay our retainer again and have us go out the next day, then the next, and the next until we actually encountered the dragons. Apparently the mercenaries were the best fighting force in the immediate area. Besides the military, we were the best equipped to fight dragons, so Sir Manuscript was probably going to use us until he couldn’t anymore. If he knew that we were planning on leaving tomorrow…

Well, I think there’s a reason we haven’t told him about this next job.

“So,” I began, looking up from my thoughts, “How exactly does one fight a dragon?”

Indigo glanced over to me from the other side of the cart, then pulled her hood forward to cover more of her face. I actually wasn’t wearing my cloak; the rain was really good for my disguise. All the other ponies were layered up though.

“Depends on what you want to do with it.” Indigo said,

“What do you mean?” I asked,

She just nodded over to Captain Morningstar.

He grunted and stepped closer to the cart, “If you’re looking to drive it off, you want to surround it, keep it off its feet and apply pressure.”

I nodded, that was exactly what they did the last time.

“To kill a dragon though, you need to keep it down, don’t let it move, and wear it down with attacks until you can deal a killing blow.”

“It also depends on the size of the dragon.” Dr. Duck added,

“Oh?” I looked over to him.

“If it’s a small one, then that’s easy enough, just don’t let it get into the air. A medium size dragon changes based on its type, and for a large one.” Dr. Duck pursed his lips, “You best hope you have enough ponies to take it down.”

I grimaced, then tilted my head, “What types of dragons are there?”

“Quadrupedal or bipedal,” Indigo answered, “Like you, Phos.”

There were dragons that stood on two legs? Like a T-rex? How scary.

“So how do you deal with each type?”

“If it stands upright, go for the legs. If it’s on all fours, go for the head.” Rusty recited.

I patted the handle of my knife on my belt. “How tough are dragons?”

“Very.” Rusty followed my motions with his eyes, “If you’re wondering, your knife isn’t going to do much against their scales. You’d probably do best aiming for something softer, like the eyes or underbelly.”

“R-Right.” I nodded slightly,

That meant I was going to have to get up close and personal with something that could eat me. If this were any other fight, I might not be so nervous. Getting broken was scary, sure, but those pieces would still exist, it was plausible to get them back. When training, and maybe even when in a fight, it was just an annoyance, but with dragons…

Those pieces would be destroyed, digested, gone for good, along with all the memories that were stored in them.

I did not want that to happen, which is why I was really hoping that this morning rain would mean there weren’t any dragons at the deposit.

♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦

If only things could be so nice.

Partway through the forest, the rain eased up, and the sky started to clear. By the time we got to the deposit, it was dry as a bone. The rain might not have even reached here in the first place.

To make matters worse, there were large footprints in the sand. Ones that I recognized.

“Eyes open and ears alert.” Captain Morningstar ordered, “Keep an eye on the sky and shout if you see something.”

“Sir yes sir.” The mercenaries responded,

“S-Sir yes sir.” I stuttered out,

“You heard him,” Sir Manuscript addressed another group of ponies.

That’s right, Sir Manuscript was joining us on this job as well. I guess he really wanted to see me in action, enough to drag another troop of private soldiers out with him. Sir Manuscript was even armored up himself, though it looked much more ornamental than functional. He also had a sword of his own, some gold encrusted sabre that looked like it cost more than all the gear of his companions combined. As much as I appreciated the extra help, I would prefer to do this with ponies I trusted.

It wasn’t like he was actually going to fight though, as he looked much more content hanging out by the edge of the forest. So was the rest of his group for that matter, they were probably only here for his protection, so they wouldn’t actually be helping unless the fighting took a turn towards them.

…

I might just have to try that. Especially if it would stop him from observing me so closely.

“Captain!” Fletch called out, pointing across the deposit.

We all looked over, just in time to see a flash of red slip between a few boulders.

Captain Morningstar growled, “Form up.”

All the mercenaries quickly got into position behind him, and I scrambled to get behind them.

“Let’s get this over with.”

We started moving forward, and with a quick look back at Sir Manuscript, I could see his smug smile as he lifted up a spyglass from underneath the shade of the trees.

Bastard.

Once we reached the deposit proper, there was no dragon in sight, so we huddled up by the base of the cliff.

“We’re going to try to ambush it,” Captain Morningstar began, gazing around the area. “We’ll bait it into the open, push it up against the wall, and kill it, understood?”

“Sir yes sir.” I actually managed to be on time with that one.

Captain Morningstar nodded, then looked around again, “Fletch, hole up in that alcove. Rusty, go with her. Duck, you’re with Dagger, find somewhere to hide on the other side. Maul, go stand out in the open.” He pointed to a spot in the sand,

Wow, what a sucky job.

“Phos, you’re with him.”

I froze, and looked at Captain Morningstar. His normally serious face was replaced with a deep scowl. I don’t think he would be taking any questions right now.

“Indigo, you’re with me, prepare something big.”

“Got it.” She replied, flipping open her spellbook and stepping to the side as Captain Morningstar walked off,

I stared at her for a moment, only for Maul to nudge me hard in the opposite direction. I stumbled forward, then quickly shuffled over to the spot pointed out.

Standing out in the open, waiting for a dragon was not high on the list of things I wanted to do. At least I was with Maul, I knew firsthand what he could do. Out of all of the mercenaries, I think he was probably the worst one to go up against in a fight, which made me glad he was on my side this time. But this was a dragon we were talking about…

Wait, if we were waiting out in the open, does that mean we’re the bait?

Glancing around, I could see the rest of the mercenaries slip into their respective hiding spots, waiting. There was still no dragon though, and despite being right next to where we saw it earlier, there was no trace of it.

I didn’t really want to follow it. Despite being the bait, an ambush was a really good decision, much better than trying to track down a dragon. I don’t know what it would even be doing. Wandering? I guess? Picking at gems in the deposit? If so, since it just left this area, it might take a while for it to come back.

I didn’t mind not having to fight the dragon, but now that we knew it was in the area, we couldn’t exactly leave now, especially with Sir Manuscript watching our every move. Every second spent waiting was a second wasted, and a second of anxiety for me.

“S-So… uh…” I began uneasily, “H-Have you fought many dragons b-before?”

Maul nodded, “Too many to count.”

Coming from him, that could actually be a pretty low number. Still, fighting ten different dragons on ten different occasions and living to tell the tale is probably nothing to scoff at.

“And have you f-fought any like this one?”

“Hmmm…” Maul thought for a moment, “Yes.”

“W-What was it like?”

“Easy to hit, hard to kill.”

“Oh…” If Maul said that, then this thing was going to be a tank.

I was going to have to fight a tank with a knife.

How do you knife fight a tank?

Aim for the vitals, I guess. Like Rusty said. I feel like it would be much easier with a sword though, I’ve actually seen someone beat a tank with a sword.

Not in real life, mind you.

Still, no dragon.

“Um… Should we try to get its attention or something?” I asked hesitantly.

“Good idea.” Maul proceeded to drop his weapon and start rattling his armor.

It was decently loud, a cacophony of bangs and clanks, like a bunch of pots and pans. He definitely wouldn’t be sneaking up on anyone, but I don’t think you would notice it unless you were pretty close. I’m not sure that sort of noise would even attract an animal in the first place.

Did I have a way of attracting a dragon? I mean despite being made of apparently delicious crystal. A dragon would have to see me first to know that though, and I still don’t believe I produced a scent of any kind. So why did the dragon show up in the deposit before? Was it just wandering around and just happened to find me? Maybe, or maybe it wasn’t a coincidence. I hadn’t done anything attention grabbing though, I had just fallen and…

Oh.

I screamed.

I haven’t really gotten the opportunity to raise my new voice much. Not that I was worried to, I didn’t have vocal cords, so I couldn’t really wear it out. It’s just that the situation never called for it, I didn’t want to just scream for no reason. It wasn’t special or anything either, just your regular, run of the mill scream, maybe on the higher pitched side, but so was my regular voice.

Maul stopped shaking his armor before I even finished, allowing me to hear my scream echo back to me. Yeah, it was pretty loud, if the dragon didn’t hear that, then it either wasn’t nearby, or was completely deaf.

“Loud…” Maul muttered, banging the side of his helmet with a hoof.

I winced, “Sorry, I should’ve warned you.”

Maul stiffened, and hurriedly clutched his weapon, “Next time.” He said quickly.

I really didn’t want to follow his gaze, but I did so, immediately locking eyes with the red dragon.

“Phos?” Maul asked in surprise,

Not from the dragon, I had crouched down behind him and was now clutching the armor around his haunches tightly. I thought I was ready for a fight, but one look at that dragon made me feel like my legs had shattered. I knew it wasn’t a good idea to get behind a horse and surprise it, and I also knew it wasn’t a good idea to stay in one place while a dragon was approaching you.

Yet I was frozen to the ground.

Could I even freeze? I didn’t have any moisture inside of me. Ice was a crystal, does that mean I could use ice for replacement parts? I would need to stay somewhere very cold to do that though-

“Get up!” Maul ordered, “Move!”

That jolted me out of my thoughts, and I shook my head as I backed away. “Where?!”

“Away!”

“O-Okay!” I took a few more steps back, then stopped,

Right, we were bait, we were trying to lure the dragon into the middle of an ambush. At the moment it had just entered the area, and looked more curious than anything, just like the first time. It was hesitant to take too many steps forward, but as Maul joined me in backing away, it started to follow.

“Good, good.” He muttered, keeping his pace steady.

It was like he was a completely different person. The almost blank stare he had most of the time was replaced with a cold gaze. He knew what he was doing. He had fought dragons more times than he could count.

The dragon continued to approach, but Maul held his ground. I did not, only to realize this a second later and rush back behind Maul. The dragon immediately noticed this and paused, but at that point it was too late, it was already in the clearing.

In a great flash of light, a wave of frost shot out from the bushes where Indigo was hiding, freezing the ground underneath it as it impacted the dragon. A moment later giant ice spikes speared up from the sand, piercing into its claws and forcing it to rear up.

It roared, only to be cut short as two arrows impacted each side of its face at the same time.

Shouts rang out as Rusty, Dr. Duck, and Captain Morningstar all came charging out, quickly joining Maul as they rushed the dragon.

Wow, they all knew what they were doing.

“Keep up!” Rusty glanced back at me.

“Huh? What? Oh!” My hand flew to my knife, and I quickly drew it, right as another spell flew out from Indigo’s position.

This one was also ice based, as when it splattered across the dragon’s scales it left behind a patch of frost. Were there elemental match ups here? Or was it just common sense? Were dragons cold blooded? I guess ice would do well against fire in any case.

I shook my head, then charged forward with a battlecry of my own.

“Gwaaah!”

It was… much less intimidating than the others, enough to the point that several of them looked over to me in confusion. Even the dragon.

That just allowed Captain Morningstar to land a nasty uppercut on it with his morningstar, causing it to stumble back in a daze. It was already working, we were pushing the dragon up against the wall. The others started to move up from their positions as well, with Dagger and Fletch coming around from the sides, and Indigo moving forward from the bush.

What was I doing? Standing somewhere in between. The melee mercenaries were surrounding the dragon, and holding the line pretty well, while the ranged ones closed in steadily, keeping up the suppressive fire. I wouldn’t be able to do much with my knife at any range, and if I got hit once, then I would go down. I didn’t really have any ranged options either. Sure, I could throw rocks, but I couldn’t count on my aim, especially with only my left hand.

It was starting to get a little crowded at that point, and I didn’t really know what to do. I had been training in combat well enough, but I knew nothing about tactics or trying to fight in a team. I guess it was a good thing that the dragon didn’t have any escape routes, and the mercenaries weren’t letting it focus on a single pony for too long. With its back against the cliff, it couldn’t easily fly away either.

This was still a dragon though, and I feel like there might be a better way of doing this. Couldn’t we tie it down with something? I guess it would just burn through the ropes.

Chains then? But metal was expensive…

I feel like there’s still something missing though.

The dragon’s head snapped up, and it puffed smoke, causing all the mercenaries to jump back in preparation. No fire came though, and instead the dragon bellowed a deep roar. It wasn’t some powerful blast of sound, nor was it a bone-rattling threat. No, it was the type of roar to be heard, and the type of roar that gets a response.

Something flew in front of the sun, quickly followed by a second. The brief flashes of shadow caused us all to look up, where two forms circled in the air, before touching down on the opposite side of the clearing.

The moment of confusion was quickly shattered as Captain Morningstar dove out of the way, dodging a claw swipe from the dragon. With the line now broken, it pushed past the encirclement, then bounded over to its brethren.

There had been mention of multiple dragons. This place was even described as prime dragon territory. I knew nothing of dragon behavior, so I don’t know why I expected there to be only one.

At least the other two were somewhat smaller compared to the first. To the left was a scrawny-looking blue one. It never actually touched the ground when it descended, and remained hovering a few feet in the air. In the center was big red, who looked the same as last time, albeit with a few new nicks in its scales.

To the right was a kind of ‘in between’ dragon, although it stood taller, it wasn’t as big as the red one, but it was considerably larger than the blue one. It stood on two legs, and had bright yellow scales. Claws and teeth were the first impression I got from it, and it looked like it was itching to put them to use.

How are we supposed to fight three dragons?!

At least the blue one looked easy. Maul could probably handle that one on his own, maybe even Rusty. In fact, it looked like that’s what he was going to do right now.

“Now this is more like it!” Rusty exclaimed, stepping to the side.

The red dragon gazed across the group, then made eye contact with me. It licked its lips.

How nice of it to recognize me. I guess my disguise doesn’t work on something that’s seen me without it.

Captain Morningstar growled, “Change of plans, focus on the yellow one.” He signaled with his hoof, “Rusty, take care of the blue one. Fletch, help him.”

I didn’t need to count on my fingers to know that didn’t account for all the dragons.

“Phos,” Captain Morningstar turned to me, “Distract the red one until we’re done.”

“What?! Why me?!” I demanded,

“It wants you.” Dagger said simply, “Run.”

“You’re good at dodging, right?” Indigo added, “It should be no problem.”

The mercenaries split, each going to their respective tasks, leaving a straight shot between me and the red dragon. It took a step forward, focused solely on me, then another, and another as it started to pick up speed.

I immediately turned tail and ran.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

Some of you might draw parallels with being eaten by a dragon to a certain admirable sea slug. I'll put it this way, dragons can seemingly eat gems for energy, meaning they have a way to metabolize them. That means the atomic structure of the crystal will be broken down completely, it's not just dissolved in acid, it's full on digested. Unfortunately, that is something the gems cannot come back from.

Beating a tank with a sword? That's Full Metal Alchemist for you.

What does Phos's scream sound like? The fall from the cliff would probably be similar to when he fell from the roof, and I'd say the one in the clearing was similar to Amethyst. If you've seen the anime, you'll know what I'm talking about. What about the battlecry? That's Marcille from Delicious in Dungeon, episode 15 to be exact.

Chapter 23

First things first, I had to pay attention to where I was stepping. The ground was soft sand, but it was littered with hazards, small stones, dead wood, and the occasional sparkle that may or may not have been an exposed gemstone. Those things weren’t just tripping hazards either, if I landed on one wrong, then my feet would crack, maybe even break off entirely. Another reason why I wanted boots so badly.

I still had next to no experience running, but I was quickly realizing just how long my legs were. I didn’t have many good comparisons, especially with all these short ponies around, but if I had to guess, I was quite a bit taller than I was the last time I was able to run. My final height from before was a different matter, but with these larger strides I could gain much more speed and maintain it.

The dragon, was faster.

Its thundering footsteps sounded out as it practically galloped towards me, seemingly uncaring towards the world around it. I was booking it towards a couple of trees and large rocks on the other side of the clearing, but at our current pace, I wasn’t going to make it.

Wasn’t it that you were supposed to run away in a zig-zag pattern when being chased by a crocodile? Did that also apply to alligators? What about dragons? Or was it a hippo you were supposed to do that with?

Whatever the case, the dragon was gaining on me, and I had to do something about it.

So I changed direction, digging my heels into the sand and turning to the left to run again.

I was right, the dragon careened past, completely overshooting the turn and skidding to a halt a fair distance away. It took a few seconds to right itself, before continuing its chase after me. This would work, if I could keep juking this dragon, then I could stay out of its reach until the mercenaries were done with theirs.

Unfortunately, the dragon was wisening up to my moves all too quickly, as it started to anticipate my turns. As a result, it couldn’t follow me at full speed, meaning it wasn’t catching up to me as much, but I wouldn’t be escaping it anytime soon.

To be big, tough, strong, and smart? How was that fair? It seemed like this dragon could even understand speech to an extent, but I don’t think talking to it would make it want to eat me any less.

Still, thanks to my efforts, I was able to make it to the edge of the clearing without getting chomped, and I quickly slipped into the gaps between some boulders. I couldn’t fight the dragon on equal footing, but if I forced it into a disadvantageous area, I might be able to get in a few strikes.

Not that I was hoping to, my main focus right now was to simply get away, and with the dragon slowing down as it neared the edge, I was able to put even more distance between us.

Only for it to literally push a boulder out of the way, then tip a tree over like it was nothing.

Right, this thing was a tank, not much was going to stop it.

I continued weaving my way through the larger obstacles, with the dragon gaining surprisingly quickly. Nothing was going to get between it and me, what a pleasant thought. I ducked behind an exceptionally large rock, one that was just a bit larger than the dragon. It slammed into it a moment later, but it didn’t budge, so instead it started trailing around the side. At the same time, I moved away, and we ended up playing a little game of ring around the rosie.

Every time the dragon got near, I would just move further around the rock, and when it tried to turn around and catch me, I would just turn the other way. This continued for a lot longer than I expected, but not as long as I hoped, as the dragon quickly got fed up with the situation and flared its wings, jumping up on top of the boulder a moment later.

I then took off running in the opposite direction, just barely missing its jaws as they snapped down near my head.

With the boulder clear, we were now no longer in the clearing, and the edge of the forest was quickly coming into view, with Sir Manuscript’s carriage lying at the forefront. I immediately turned to begin running in that direction, only to stumble as a tremor shook the ground. The dragon had jumped down from the boulder, and was approaching rapidly.

I quickly picked myself up to begin running again, only to find I wasn’t moving whatsoever, my feet were scraping uselessly against the sand. They then left the ground entirely, and it took me a moment to realize that the dragon had snagged a claw underneath my belt, and was now lifting me up.

The whole world flipped as I immediately turned upside down, and I instinctively covered my crotch. I don’t know if it was to grab my belt, or for some other reason, but my hand still went down… or rather, up there as the dragon pulled me close, breathing hot air across my body.

Since it had hooked my belt from the back, and I flipped upside down, its claw was quite literally cupping my entire undercarriage.

Haven’t I seen this before? Wasn’t there something you were supposed to say in a moment like this?

“Ecchi!” I struggled in the air.

It didn’t give me any leeway. My belt was taut against my hips, and the dragon’s claw was curled more than halfway around it. I couldn’t slip it off, and I couldn’t get it unhooked either.

I did have my knife though, and the belt was made of some pretty old leather. I hastily began sawing at it with my knife, but when the dragon opened its maw and pulled me even closer, I realized I wouldn’t have enough time. I had to stop it somehow, but a few prods from my knife around its arm didn’t do anything. I didn’t have a way to hurt it, nor was I going to put my hand anywhere near its mouth.

We made eye contact for a moment, and I gasped out, leaning backwards before swinging forwards. Reaching up as high as I could, I tried to plunge my knife into the dragon’s eye.

It was not a clean stab, I missed initially, the tip of my knife scraping against the surrounding scales before sinking into the eye. It didn’t go very far in either, and with my erratic movements, my knife wiggled around a bunch, tearing up the outer layer. I finished off with a weak thrust forward, pushing my knife another inch or so further as I let go of it.

Would it blind the dragon? I don’t know, but it still reeled back with a roar, stomping its foot down.

The one I was still dangling from.

My belt finally snapped as I was violently swung to the side, sending me flying through the air. It might have been the most time I’ve spent airborne since coming here, maybe being beaten by my fall from the cliff. As such, I landed with quite a bit of force, my frantic flailing doing little to change my orientation.

With more horizontal velocity than vertical, I hit the ground in a skid, entering an overly long roll before slowing to a stop. I was once again thankful to land in the soft sand, though with our proximity to the forest, there were more and more hazards littering the ground. They were just tripping hazards this time, as a piece of rotted wood wasn’t really hard enough to break me. Still though, with enough force, I could still crack, something I really felt when I plowed through a few branches.

With another thank you to my plant cushion, I scrambled to my feet and looked back at the dragon. It was clawing frantically at its eye, trying to dislodge my knife from it. A fair amount of blood was dripping down its face, and with the angle my knife was at, it couldn’t close its eye fully either. It wasn’t making very much progress, I think my knife was too deep to simply brush it away, but actually picking it out with giant claws was a task in itself.

The dragon let out a low growl, smoke billowing from its nostrils as it repeatedly smacked itself on the side of the head. Nothing was dislodging my knife, and as its eye twitched, it finally shut, twisting my knife in the wound. The dragon roared, before planting both front feet on the ground and glaring at me with its one good eye. It stomped forward, sparks practically shooting out of its mouth as it snarled.

Uh oh. I made it mad.

I took a single step back, and my arm fell off.

…

There was a moment of silence, and we both looked at it. I think I even heard a noise of exclamation from Sir Manuscript all the way behind me.

The dragon glanced between me and my arm for a moment, before lunging forward.

“Not again!” I shouted,

Digging my foot in the sand, I wedged it underneath my arm and kicked it up, just barely catching it between my two stumps. I then did the same thing I’ve done so many times before.

I turned and ran, each step bringing me closer to Sir Manuscript’s group. The dragon followed my every move, its heavy footsteps shaking the whole area. It started gaining alarmingly quickly, and even after employing my previous tactic, I couldn’t stop it from getting close.

It was hardly following my movements now, but I wasn’t running as fast as I was. I never realized how much you needed your arms to run; the counterweight really helped with balance. It also didn’t help that I was hugging my severed arm, trying to prevent it from slipping from my grasp, which mainly entailed holding it tightly and at an odd angle.

This all meant that I was moving more at a jog than a full sprint, and the dragon was much faster than I was. A quick look back showed it was hot on my tail, and getting closer every second. A look forward, and we were only halfway to Sir Manuscript’s carriage.

I wasn’t going to make it.

Not while carrying my arm anyway.

If I didn’t have it, I could probably keep away from the rampaging dragon as long as my legs held out. I couldn’t just ditch it though, the dragon had acknowledged it, it would probably snap it up before I even had a chance to run away after dropping it. There was also the fact that it was my arm, I’d already lost one to this guy, I wasn’t going to lose another. Even if there was the prospect of getting a prosthetic in the future, not having any arms at all in the meantime was something I couldn’t accept, and I’m sure the mercenaries wouldn’t appreciate it that much either.

Then there were the memories. I wasn’t letting go of what made me me.

That was why I was running towards Sir Manuscript’s group. It wasn’t about some petty revenge or careful navigation of politics anymore, I just needed a safe place to keep my arm, and this was the only place nearby that would work. Even if it meant Sir Manuscript might find out more about me.

The soldiers Sir Manuscript hired were scrambling into position as I approached, forming a defensive line around the cart. There were ten of them, each about equally equipped, but they did not look ready to fight a dragon. Compared to the mercenaries, they looked like they would struggle just to drive one off, and even then with some casualties.

Let’s hope the dragon doesn’t realize that, and goes for the larger prize instead, me.

I felt a claw slam down just inches from my heel, and I desperately tried to pick up the pace. Little by little, my arm started to slip out of my grasp, and I wrenched it upwards to try and keep it secure. It was now or never.

I turned, letting the dragon shoot past once more as I dug my heels into the ground. I used my momentum to start spinning, before launching my arm over the dragon. It just barely cleared it, landing a few feet behind it in a cloud of dust. Thankfully, it kept its attention on me, either not not caring, or not noticing the much easier hunk of crystal nearby.

I started running again, only to immediately step on a rock.

A crack shot up my leg, and though it didn’t break, I felt something shift. I was done running.

I looked back up at the dragon with wide eyes, and took a few steps back. It growled, smoke spewing out of its mouth, and I rushed to cover my face with my stumps. A moment later a wave of fire washed over me, along with the blazing feeling of…

Being slightly warm.

I was fireproof after all.

It took a few seconds for the flames to disperse, but when they did, the dragon was already approaching me. I almost expected it to sit there, dumbfounded, but it knew that I was made of crystal. Most crystals don’t burn.

My plant disguise on the other hand, was charred to a crisp, leaving behind a flaky layer of ash and soot. I really didn’t want to get any closer to Sir Manuscript in this state, but at least I was still covered. I looked behind the dragon to see the soldiers frozen in shock, with Sir Manuscript in the back, jaw all the way dropped.

At least that was another smug look wiped off his face.

The dragon raised a claw, and I lowered my stance. I couldn’t run, so I had to dodge, but dodging giant, sweeping strikes was going to be an issue. Now I was really glad I got to experience fighting Maul before this.

The first attack came, and I stepped to the side. The claw slammed into the ground, sand spraying in every direction. I stumbled a bit, then prepared for the next claw as the dragon pressed forward.

It was a wide sweep, not just low or high, but all encompassing. I had no choice but to leap back, making sure to favor my good leg. I probably could’ve slipped below it, but that would’ve required I lay down on the ground. I had to stay on my feet, because without arms, I couldn’t get back up very easily.

I ducked underneath a follow-up bite, wobbling slightly as I fought for balance, then stumbled further back as the dragon continued to attack relentlessly.

This was so much worse than Maul! At least Maul had to pause between swings, throwing around that much weight was going to leave you slow. For a dragon however, that was just everyday movement, meaning it could swing at me again and again and again.

I couldn’t keep up, and with the sheer force of the impacts, I had trouble staying on my feet as well. I felt some cracks worsen, with completely new ones forming along my other leg. If this kept up, then it would only be a matter of time before I crumbled under my own weight. But I couldn’t get away, and I couldn’t fight back.

Looking behind the dragon again, I could see that a single soldier had snuck up to recover my arm, but the others remained steadfast in their positions. A quick look back revealed nothing else of interest, none of the mercenaries were nearby either.

I was alone as well.

Oh…

Another downwards strike, and I staggered, tripping over a branch in the sand. I landed hard on my back, the dragon immediately pouncing over me, effectively pinning me to the ground.

I was in serious danger right now.

With a coarse growl, the dragon lowered its head, putting its snout just inches away from my body. A bit of blood dripped down from its eye, and my knife was tantalizingly close, just begging to be pulled out.

If only I had a way to do so.

Now would be an excellent time to be saved by some unseen hero, but I guess that really was a once in a lifetime thing, and I had already used that up in a much similar scenario before.

It occurred to me that I wasn’t invincible. Actually no, I already knew that. I’m sure everyone thinks that way at some point in their lives, only to get humbled by some event, either big or small. I already knew I was weak, even before becoming a brittle crystal. When my body started to wither, I learned really quickly that I could get hurt just trying to get out of bed. And then that injury would remain, taking weeks, if not months to fully heal, no matter how minor it may have been.

Being here was no different. I could crack or break from a slight touch, and while it probably wasn’t as lasting as it once was, it was still a problem. I wasn’t invincible.

I was unkillable.

As long as I had all the pieces, I could be put back together. Even separated, they were still me, and still very much alive.

Just because I was unkillable though, didn’t mean I couldn’t be outright destroyed. That was something a dragon was very much capable of doing. And now I had one that was absolutely furious bearing down on me.

…

This could be it. This could be all she wrote…

I can’t believe I only got to spend a little over a week in this world, and I can’t believe I lost it all by doing something stupid, like trying to knife fight a dragon.

Still though, it was one of the best weeks of my life, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

…

Wait no, there were tons of things I would’ve changed about this.

I may have solved the forest issue, but I never got my reward.

I named a Breezie, and while we already talked about it, I would be leaving them forever, just in a different sense.

This was my first real job as a mercenary, I wonder how well I did?

I won’t be able to repay the mercenaries for saving my life, and for causing them all that trouble.

I never got to know them all that well, it seemed so fun to be a part of a group like that.

I’ll never be able to help Fletch with her issues.

I never got to experience this world to the fullest.

…

I’m sorry.

…

I closed my eyes and leaned my head back, only half-watching the dragon as it opened its maw, ready to take a bite.

I wonder if I’ll get to do something like this again? I already reincarnated once, does that sort of thing happen again?

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

In your case, it does not...

Yes, these dragons have about the same intelligence as the ones in the show.

The "Ecchi" comment is also a reference to the anime.

Chapter 24

A brilliant light flashed across the dragon’s face, and a moment later it staggered back and roared, clawing its other eye. A couple of snowflakes fluttered down around me, and I opened my eyes to look at them closer.

That was an ice spell.

I looked up.

And it had come from Indigo, who was galloping towards me along with several of the other mercenaries.

“Good job, newbie!” Rusty exclaimed, right as another spell was flung at the dragon, “You really held out!”

I could only smile. I was saved! And more importantly, I could continue to experience this world!

This wasn’t over!

The dragon was still above me though, holding its enormous weight on just two legs, wings splayed. It growled, blowing fire in a wide arc as the mercenaries approached. They quickly fanned out, creating a semi-circle around it.

They weren’t all here.

I didn’t get the best of looks, but I only saw Fletch, Indigo, Rusty, Dagger, and Dr. Duck. Maul and Captain Morningstar were nowhere to be seen, the two heaviest hitters were absent. Against the biggest and toughest dragon, that did not bode well. Still though, the others were doing a fine job at keeping it distracted, either by shooting arrows, flinging spells, or running around and shouting, taking cautionary swings at its legs.

In order to avoid getting stomped, I quickly started kicking out with my feet, sliding my whole body across the sand. The dragon didn’t seem to notice me, in fact, it didn’t seem like it could see at all. My knife was still wedged in its right eye, and the spell Indigo had hit it with had frozen over a quarter of its face, including its other eye.

That blindness was only temporary, but while the dragon was occupied with it, I continued to crawl backwards. I only stopped when a set of hoofsteps came from behind me. I looked up, seeing Dr. Duck standing over me.

“Sheesh, Phos,” I felt his hooves slip under my shoulders, “did the dragon get your other arm too?”

He grunted as he lifted me, before starting to drag me away from the fight.

I shook my head gently, “S-Sir Manuscript has it,” I nodded over in his direction.

“Why?”

“Needed someplace to put it,” I mumbled,

Dr. Duck looked over at the other group practically cowering in front of the carriage, “I see your reasoning. Though I think the captain might have a few choice words with you about endangering our employer.”

“Great.” I groaned. I think I actually want to get eaten now.

“Can you stand?” Dr. Duck asked,

“Y-Yes, I think so.” I sat up, bringing my knees close to my chest.

Luckily, they didn’t pop this time, and I grunted as I tried to shift my weight fully onto my feet. It took a few tries, but I eventually managed to get off my butt, then slowly stand. I wobbled a few times as I found my balance, but then I turned to look at Dr. Duck.

“Alright, what can I do?”

“Uh…” He held up a hoof, “I think you’re done. Just… try to keep out of the way and… maybe try to get your arm back.” He glanced over to Sir Manuscript’s carriage.

“Where are the others?” I asked,

“Finishing up with the other dragon.” Dr. Duck answered,

“Anything bad?”

He shook his head, “There were some pretty nasty cuts, but you’re the most injured by far.”

The dragon roared, finally getting its eye open. It immediately focused on Fletch, who dove out of the way as a stream of fire occupied her position. It didn’t have time to follow her though, as another ice spell impacted its neck. It turned to glare at Indigo, only for a crossbow bolt to ping off the side of its head. Rusty charged forward, but quickly stopped as the dragon spun around, its long tail sweeping across the sand.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go back to helping.” Dr. Duck concluded, before running back into the fight.

“Oh…” I exhaled, “Okay.”

I just watched him for a moment as he approached the dragon from behind. It was focused on Rusty right now, and with Indigo providing support, it was entirely distracted. Dr. Duck used this to get close to its hind leg, then strike just above the ankle with his shortsword. I think there was a tendon there, and I think that’s what he was aiming for, but he didn’t get it, with his sword only getting wedged in the dragon’s scales.

He pulled it out just before it whipped around, then jumped back as the dragon snapped at him. Fletch then fired another arrow, this one actually managing to pierce the scales on its shoulders. It roared, and Rusty followed up with another strike on its back leg, in the same place Dr. Duck hit. His blade went much deeper, causing the dragon’s leg to buckle.

The area was then blanketed with fire, only to be stopped as a few ice spikes rose in front of Rusty. He gave a quick salute to Indigo, then rushed to get around the dragon. It tried to follow him, but with a few more arrows to the front legs, it stumbled, allowing Rusty to get to the other side. Indigo then froze one of its feet to the ground, but since it was just a bunch of sand, it easily lifted the chunk into the air, only to trip over it a moment later, sending it crashing to the ground.

“Here we go!” Rusty shouted as he made his way to the dragon’s front again, this time from the blind side.

It turned to look at him, and he jumped onto its snout, wrapping a foreleg around a horn and keeping his hind legs just out of reach of the mouth. He quickly punched it in the eye, then held on tight as the dragon leapt back to its feet with a strained roar, whipping its head back and forth.

The others jumped into action, with Indigo and Dr. Duck coming around front, and Fletch and Dagger going around the back. They continued to take pot shots from behind, while Dr. Duck and Indigo carefully attacked its front legs, preventing the dragon from clawing Rusty off and effectively keeping it pinned down.

This was exactly how Captain Morningstar described it. I really wanted to learn how to do that now.

Dr. Duck would only attack when it lifted one of its legs, while Indigo peppered it with spellfire. She eventually froze another clump of sand to its other foot, all the while Rusty was wailing on its head with his sword. He wasn’t able to get much leverage with his swings, but it definitely would be annoying to get smacked in the face repeatedly.

The dragon roared, smoke billowing out of its mouth, and it reared back to breathe fire again. With expert precision, Indigo shot a spell into its mouth before the first flames even came out.

“Watch it!” Rusty complained while the dragon gagged on the new obstruction.

It coughed and sputtered, before falling forward with a groan.

“Get to it!” Rusty ordered, punching it in the eye again.

It chuffed and flinched from the attack, but didn’t move much beyond that. Dr. Duck then rushed up with his sword, and aimed it at its neck, before squinting and sticking his tongue out, preparing to stab.

The dragon started to growl, its claws digging into the sand.

“What are you waiting for?!” Rusty demanded,

“I want to make sure I hit the right artery!”

The dragon began to pick itself back up, and Rusty clocked it on the head again.

“Just do it!”

“Okay fine!” Dr. Duck plunged his sword into its neck, “Jeez.”

Immediately blood started gushing from the wound, and the dragon jerked up, coughing and gasping as it frantically clawed at its neck. Rusty then jumped off, and we all took a step back as it struggled.

I… didn’t really want to keep watching anymore.

With that much blood coming from a single stab, it was safe to say that it was a mortal wound. On something as large as a dragon though, it was probably going to take a while for it to bleed out. This was made evident as it flailed across the ground, spraying up sand and dirt as an increasingly large puddle of blood formed around it.

After two arduous minutes, its actions finally started to slow, its body falling still as its one remaining eye glanced around frantically. I could still hear its rapid breathing going on for another minute though, before it started to peter out as well. The area finally fell silent not long after.

What a way to go…

Makes me glad that can’t happen to me anymore. Though the alternative wasn’t much better.

They did it.

No, we did it. We killed a dragon.

“Finally.” Rusty exhaled, sheathing his sword, “I wanted the final blow.”

Indigo scoffed, “You already got the blue one!”

“That doesn’t count!” Rusty argued, “That thing was tiny!”

“Then why did you go for it?” Dr. Duck demanded,

“I- Uh…” Rusty averted his gaze, “I wanted to see if I could kill two dragons in one sitting…” He mumbled,

“Show off.” Indigo began, “Is that why you jumped on it like that? If you were thrown off, then I would not have helped you.”

“Pish posh, it all worked out in the end.” Rusty shrugged, “Now, let’s go get a trophy.”

He began moving forward, but I was already way ahead of him.

I slowly approached the corpse, then placed a foot on its snout. After seeing it die like that, I‘ve lost a lot of animosity for this guy. He still ate my arm though, and would’ve done the same to the rest of me if it wasn’t stopped.

I gave it a very wimpy kick, causing the head to loll back and forth slightly. Rusty then stopped by my side, and inspected its eye for a moment.

He let out a whistle, “Wow, Phos, that’s some hit…”

“It wasn’t easy.” I replied,

“I’ll bet.” Rusty prodded my knife, “You want this back?”

“Oh! Y-Yes please.” I nodded quickly,

Rusty pulled it out and handed it to me. I went to grab it, only to realize my current situation.

“Oh, right.” Rusty gave a single laugh, “Guess I’ll hold onto this for now.”

“Th-Thanks…” I mumbled, trying to make it look like I hadn’t just tried to grab my knife without any arms.

“You know.” Indigo came up on my other side, “I honestly thought we would be pulling you out of that dragon’s stomach by now.”

“What?!” I shuddered, “Why?”

“I didn’t think you would last this long,” Indigo explained with a shrug, "and you've already been put back together once, I figured it wouldn’t be too hard to do it again.”

I think Indigo vastly underestimated the amount of shards that would result from the dragon just chewing me. Nevermind how they would probably have to rebuild me from the ground up, whilst also dealing with partially dissolved shards from the stomach acid. I shuddered again, how would they even pull me out of a liquid solution?

“And you would’ve done that in front of Sir Manuscript?” I asked instead,

Indigo blinked, “Wow, you’re right, that was a terrible idea.” She patted me on the back, “I’m glad you came out in one piece... or..." She looked at my arm, "Less than five. Where’s your arm?”

“Sir Manuscript has it.”

Indigo inhaled sharply, then glanced over to his carriage, “Let’s go get it back.”

“Wh- But what about my disguise?” I asked,

Indigo looked me up and down for a second, “You’ll be fine. It might even grow back.”

“No it won’t,” I whispered, but Indigo was already heading over to the carriage.

I waited for a moment, then started trailing behind her. The soldiers were still gawking at the corpse of the dragon, and while Sir Manuscript was also eyeing it as well, he immediately noticed our approach.

“Is that all of them, captain?” He asked,

Captain?

Both me and Indigo turned around, where Captain Morningstar was following right behind us. He had a bandage hastily tied around his leg, just slightly stained red. Further in the back, Maul was heading towards the dragon corpse, all the armor around one of his forelegs was torn off, but it didn’t look like he was too injured.

“All the known dragons have been dealt with.” Captain Morningstar reported, stepping in front of us.

“Known dragons?” I repeated quietly,

“We only found evidence of those three dragons in the area,” Indigo explained,

I did a double take, “Don’t you think that would’ve been important to tell me?”

“You would’ve known that if you’d been on the patrol,” Indigo retorted, “Besides, we didn’t think they’d all show up at once.”

“Still would’ve been nice to know,” I hissed,

If I had known there were going to be three dragons, then… well… I don’t know if things would’ve turned out differently. I was kind of forced to go on this job regardless. I guess I just would’ve been more prepared for a fight like this…

Maybe I wouldn’t have lost my arm if I knew I was going to be running around like a chicken with its head cut off beforehand.

I just grumbled as Captain Morningstar finished speaking with Sir Manuscript. Just in time for the rest of the mercenaries to gather around. Rusty was wiping off some teeth with a cloth, while Maul simply pocketed a shattered horn.

He looked at me and smiled, “Good job, Phos.”

All eyes turned towards me.

“Um…” I took a step back, “Thanks?”

“Oh yes,” Sir Manuscript began, “I believe I have something of yours.”

I cleared my throat, “R-Right, can I please have my arm back now?”

“Your arm?” Captain Morningstar asked, eyes wide.

“Indeed,” Sir Manuscript turned back to grab something, “Though if I may ask, why do you want it back?”

“I um…” Because it was really important to me, and it was really important that you didn’t find out what I was. “I-If it’s still alive…” I continued slowly, “Then it can be reattached…”

As far as I was aware, that part of my disguise was the only part still alive, not even the plants on my back survived the heat of the fire. That was good, my arm would still look and feel like a bundle of plants. As long as Sir Manuscript didn’t look right at the break, then everything would be fine.

…

What am I saying? Of course he would inspect my arm all over, there was no way he wouldn’t notice the crystal interior. Maybe I can play it off as being crystallized life energy… Or maybe it could be a part of my ‘advanced golem’ design, the break was almost in the center of my upper arm, that could be where one of my gem components was located.

I waited for his response with baited breath.

“Ah yes,” Sir Manuscript nodded, “Plants can have limbs cut and grafted with the right technique. That makes sense.”

I relaxed ever so slightly as he presented my arm back to me.

“But you aren’t a plant, are you?” He finished,

I froze, staring at the mass of exposed crystal he held. Almost all of the plant layer was gone, it looked like he had taken a blade and peeled back as much as he could. All of the bicep and forearm was stripped, with a little bit of the wrist as well. The palm was scraped clean, and a couple of fingers were cleared off as well.

“When were you going to inform me of this?” He asked sincerely,

“I-I-I…” I trailed off, glancing around rapidly.

All the other mercenaries were at a loss as well. Even Captain Morningstar looked unsure as his brow furrowed by the second.

“You realize what this means, correct?” Sir Manuscript continued, turning towards the rest of the mercenaries. “I’m sure Lord Tungsten will be pleased with what you have found. After all, all gems found in this state belong to him. This might be just enough to pay for all your bail.”

“Maul!” Captain Morningstar shouted,

“On it!” He replied, charging forward,

He plowed through the line of soldiers on the side, then brought his axe down on the wheel of the carriage. It sliced through the axle as if it was nothing, and with a follow up hit from the hammer, the wheel was smashed to pieces.

Sir Manuscript barely had the time to process everything. Heck, even I barely understood what was going on. My arm was then snatched from his grip by Indigo’s magic, and all the other mercenaries bolted, running towards the cart. It took me a second, but I started running too, just barely avoiding rolling my ankle on a large rock. I felt the cracks in my legs start to shift, but Captain Morningstar was running right behind me, almost pushing me along, I couldn’t slow down.

“A-After them!” Sir Manuscript ordered,

The group of soldiers that Maul had bowled over struggled to get back up, while the other half of the group just stood there awkwardly for a few moments, before slowly giving chase. By that time we were already at the cart, and I was practically thrown in the back along with my arm. Maul was then hooked up a moment later, and the whole cart jolted forward as he pushed against the reins.

My vision started to vibrate rapidly as the cart bounced, picking up speed as we disappeared into the treeline.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

How tough do you like your dragons? Do you want nigh impenetrable, gem-fed scales? Or something closer to just a large reptile? Either way, dragons are going to be dangerous, some more than others however.

Chapter 25

The cart jumbled rapidly as we dashed through the forest, barely taking the time to ascertain a suitable path. The sides slammed into trees on multiple occasions, each time sending me flying into one of the four walls. I was lucky that there was a back gate to the cart, or else I would’ve been flung out long before we even entered the forest.

“S-S-S-S-Slo-o-o-w-w d-d-d-o-o-o-wn!” I managed to stutter out.

“Can’t!” Maul called back, skirting around another tree.

I slammed into the side of the cart again, the cracks all along my body flaring up.

In our mad dash through the forest, Maul was the only mercenary in speaking range. I managed to catch a few glimpses of the others every time I bounced, but they would always diverge away before I could say anything as they filtered through the trees.

“I-I-I-I’m-m g-g-go-o-ing-g-g t-to b-b-break-k-k-k!”

I didn’t have any arms to stop myself from moving, and I no longer had any cushion to protect myself from the impacts and vibrations. It was only a matter of time before I fell to pieces. My arm was actually in the cart with me, but it was already in two… no, three pieces.

“I don’t care.” A new voice joined in, it sounded like Captain Morningstar. “We are leaving town immediately, we’ll put you back together once we’re on the road.”

We’re leaving now? But our next job was tomorrow, and I still had to go back to the forest.

I gasped, “Th-The f-f-forest-t!” I exclaimed, “M-M-My r-rew-ward!”

“Forget about it! We’re about to become wanted across the entire state! We can’t afford to stay any longer!”

“I c-c-can’t!” I argued, “M-My t-to-oe!”

Captain Morningstar stayed silent for a moment, and I worried that he moved too far away to hear, then he gave a single, sharp whistle. The cart slowed to a stop, and I immediately slid forward, my head bonked against the front panel, and my neck cracked. Captain Morningstar then peered over the side of the cart.

“Is it really that important to you?”

“Yes.” I answered without hesitation.

He sighed, pressing a hoof into his forehead as he rolled his jaw. “Can you get it done right now?”

“Uh… maybe?”

“How fast?”

“Mmm…” I looked down at my legs. Despite being tossed around with reckless abandon, they remained attached, and although they were heavily cracked, they could still move without breaking. I slowly brought my knees up, then got into a sitting position. “It will be just like the patrol.” I finished,

Captain Morningstar muttered something, then looked up at the sun through the canopy. “You have two hours. If you’re not at the edge of the forest by then, then you’re getting left behind.”

“I’ll be there.” I tried to give as serious of an expression as I could, it probably looked really stupid with my cracked, ash covered face.

“You better.” Captain Morningstar growled, “We’re not doing all of this for nothing.” He stepped back, pulling the gate down. “Get up, get out, and go get your reward.”

I scooted over to the end of the cart, then slowly slid my way down to the ground. I wobbled a bit as I landed on my feet, a very distinct clicking sound coming from my legs. I grimaced, while Captain Morningstar lowered his gaze with me.

“I can walk.” I took a shaky step forward, then another. “And if something happens, I can get help.”

Captain Morningstar’s scowl deepened, but he eventually sighed, “Fine.” He whistled again, the other mercenaries gathering around us, “Here’s the plan. Fletch, Duck, head back to the inn and begin packing up all of our stuff,” he reached under his chestplate and pulled out a key, tossing it over to Dr. Duck.

“Maul, take the cart back to the inn, load everything up, then return to the forest’s edge.” Captain Morningstar continued, “Indigo, you’re with me again, we’re going to go see if our client is willing to leave a day early.”

“What about us?” Rusty asked, with Dagger stepping out from behind him.

“Make sure we’re not being followed. Then meet up with Maul at the edge of the forest. Got it?”

“Got it.” Rusty replied,

“Does everypony know what they’re doing?” Captain Morningstar asked,

“Sir yes sir.” I couldn’t salute this time.

“Good, then let’s move out,” He waved his hoof,

Fletch and Dr. Duck both nodded, then they took off, fluttering through the canopy and into the sky. I blinked, and watched them go, it was my first time actually seeing a pegasus fly. It didn’t look like it was something they should be able to do, but once again, it was something I knew they could.

Dagger and Rusty doubled back into the forest. We had managed to lose our followers pretty early on, but we were travelling by cart, so I imagine it wasn’t the hardest to track us.

Indigo moved over to the cart to place something inside, and she looked at the multitude of shards lining the floor of it. “You want to put your arm back on?” She asked,

I shook my head, then looked towards Captain Morningstar, “It’ll take too long.”

He nodded, and Indigo shrugged, before closing the back of the cart. The next moment it was off, with the last remaining pair of mercenaries splitting off in a different direction.

The forest fell silent again, and I looked around a bit, watching, waiting. I knew what I needed to do, but with no arms and damaged legs, it wasn’t going to be easy.

“Shinsha!” I called out.

It took a moment, but they fluttered into view, coming from the direction we just came from. They had actually been in the cart during the whole dragon debacle. We debated the effectiveness of a single-use flashbang, but we quickly agreed that it wasn’t worth it. A single puff of flame would be enough to take Shinsha out, and unless they were right up in the dragon’s face, they weren’t going to do much.

High risk, low reward, so they ended up sitting on the sidelines.

They were instructed to stay out of view as well, if Sir Manuscript saw a Breezie just hanging out by the cart… Well, I didn’t want to give him anything else to pick at. So I don’t know how much of the fight Shinsha actually saw, but once we got up and moving, they quickly left their hiding spot. Getting jolted around like that wasn’t very comfortable, I should know.

They had been trailing behind ever since, and was just now catching up.

“Phos, Phos!” They exclaimed, sounding a bit winded. They audibly gasped as they noticed my injuries, and began circling me rapidly while chirping up a storm.

“I’m okay… I think.” I looked down at myself.

I was covered in ash and soot and partially scorched plants and dirt. More and more pieces were flaking off with every movement, revealing heavily cracked crystal underneath. I was missing both arms, and I was standing lopsided in order to favor a more ‘together’ leg. My whole body was fractured, some places more than others. My face was cracked, and so were my eyes, I could tell because it actually distorted my vision. I was seeing double, triple, and maybe even quadruple in a kaleidoscopic pattern.

I had a hard time telling exactly where Shinsha was in the air in front of me.

My body was doing its best to fix itself though, and my vision was slowly clearing, along with some other major cracks in my crystal. It would take a long time to fully heal however, and that was time I didn’t have.

“I need to see Iphthime and Lycus, it’s an emergency.”

Shinsha lingered around me for a moment, then buzzed off to the side. “Okay, okay. Follow, follow.”

Taking a step forward, I winced as my ankle shifted. My next few steps were done with extreme caution, the ground had to be absolutely clear if I was going to place my foot there. In a forest, that wasn’t exactly a common occurrence. Still, I started walking, trundling through the underbrush with care and vigilance.

♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦

It was safe to say that my pace was not very fast, as much as I wanted it to be. I couldn’t really push through the foliage anymore, so I had to avoid anything that looked too tough, which mainly just meant going around it. It felt like I had spent thirty minutes just walking through the forest. I had no accurate reference for time, but I did know I was on a strict time limit, so I wanted to get to the glade as fast as possible.

Something not easily done when every branch or bush was now an impassable wall. At least Shinsha was a good guide, they quickly realized how much I was struggling, and started leading me through places that were much less packed, even if it meant more of a detour.

I could not tell you how happy I was to see the thick walls of a glade come into view, which presented another problem: getting through them.

This wasn’t the sanctuary, it wasn’t a wall of solid wood meant to protect, it was a line of plants meant to obscure. Yet even that was too much for me. The wide leaves and stalks were now an immovable object, and I definitely wasn’t an unstoppable force.

The best I could do was simply bite down on a leaf to try and pull it away, but it would just snap back into place as soon as I let go. It was then that Shinsha called upon the rest of the Breezies, and with their combined efforts, they managed to open up a small gap in the foliage. I quickly slipped through, thanking each and every one of them in the process.

It was so much better being in the glade. Not only was there a sense of safety, but the entire area was blanketed with just grass, meaning I could move around without much issue. It was the pond glade too, which meant I was probably closer to town. That was relieving, I could almost get back on my own if I didn’t have to worry about breaking every other step.

Breezies were already filtering in and out of the glade, there was much more activity here than the last time. That might’ve been because of me, I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything.

It didn’t take long for the wind to pick up, but no deer immediately made themselves known.

That was until a voice came from my side.

“Oh dear,” Iphtime began, “I had hoped to try and surprise you again, but it looks like that is not possible.”

I only flinched slightly at her appearance, but even that was enough to make my body crackle. “Thank you for noticing,” I looked down at myself again, “Today’s been tough.”

“You are early.” Iphtime stated,

“Yes, I know, and I’m sorry.” I bowed my head slightly, “But a lot of things have happened, and I don’t think I can come back here tomorrow.”

“Oh?” Iphthime tilted her head, “What has happened?”

“I fought a dragon.” I shrugged, “Almost got eaten because of it, and my disguise has been well and truly destroyed.” I raised both arm stumps and pointed them down at myself. “The ponies know what I really am now.”

“And that is a bad thing?” Iphtime asked,

“Yeah.” I sighed, “enough to the point where we have to leave town and maybe even the state as a whole. So…” I looked up at her, “This might be the last time I get to visit the forest.”

“Oh my.” Iphthime said, “That is troubling.”

I nodded, “So I wanted to talk to you before I left, about getting my toe back, and the reward you mentioned, to say goodbye, and…” I trailed off, “and I wanted to talk to Lycus.”

“Of course.” Iphthime smiled, “Allow me to retrieve him.”

She disappeared back into the shrubbery, and I just stood there.

This was it, this was where I had to say goodbye. After everything that’s happened though… Yeah, I still wanted to leave, but I also wanted to see if Lycus could actually be a respectable individual. There were some ups and some downs, but my overall experience in this forest has been pretty enjoyable actually. It almost felt like a shame to just leave it at that, but there was simply no way I could stay.

Oh well, if this was goodbye, might as well make it a good goodbye.

I looked down at myself once more, opened my mouth to say something, and promptly started walking towards the pond. There was absolutely no way I was going to let Lycus see me like this. I couldn’t just say goodbye while covered in the remains of a disguise, if I was going to say goodbye, I was at least going to do it looking presentable.

The first few steps into the pond were tentative, the banks were a bit more rocky than the surrounding area, and certainly more slick, but there was a layer of mud underneath that kept it from being too rigid. Chunks of my charred disguise immediately started to break off and float away, and as I sunk deeper and deeper, I began to… I don’t know, scrub it off?

I didn’t have arms. So the most I could do was just shake my body slightly and hope it would come off. It did, thankfully, and the pond took on a bit of a murkier color.

The water was nice though. It took a lot of the weight off my body, and prevented any sudden or jerky movements. I could be much more at ease when fully submerged, despite the fact that if I broke here, it would be much harder to get my pieces back out.

Movement from above interrupted my thoughts, and I quickly began trudging my way back out of the pond. Iphthime had just entered the glade again, followed by…

I squinted at the other individual.

Was that Lycus? He looked different.

The leaves on his antlers had grown so much that they were now more like vines that draped down over his face. His fur was unkempt and slightly dirty, it might have even lost its previous glow. He was in a slouching position, and…

Was that a five o’clock shadow?

His eyes met mine from beneath the shaggy look, and his jaw dropped. He immediately pulled the vines back, draping them over his antlers a few times before hastily smoothing down his coat. He then breathed on his hoof and smelled it, winced, stamped the ground, grew a flower, and promptly stuffed it in his mouth. After chewing for a moment, he swallowed heavily, then gasped for breath.

“You didn’t tell me Phos was here!”

I eyed Iphthime from the side.

“Oh.” She raised a hoof to her face to cover a smirk, “I guess I did not. Forgive me.”

With an eye roll, I began “Hello, Lycus. I have something to tell you.”

He looked over to me again, “Woah, what happened to you?”

“I got to fight a dragon.”

“Cool…” His eyes landed on my shoulders. “Did you lose your other arm too?”

“I still have it,” I shook my head, “It’s just not currently attached.”

“Oh thank goodness,” Lycus muttered, “It took so long just to make the one…”

“Huh?”

He made eye contact with me for a moment, before shaking his head, “Oh! Um… It’s… nothing, don’t worry about it.”

Iphthime nudged him in the side, “Go on. Show her what you have been working on.”

“But it’s not done yet!” Lycus complained, “I’m still putting on the finishing touches.”

“You said that yesterday.” Iphthime sighed, “Is it not good enough as it is now?”

Lycus grumbled for a moment, pawing at the grass, “I guess…”

He dragged his hoof in the dirt, and the plants shifted around it. Great vines spread across the ground, snaking their way out of the glade. A moment later they went taut and started receding. It didn’t take much longer for them to drag a log into the clearing, bringing it to Lycus’s side before lifting it up off the ground.

“H-Here.” He pushed it forward and looked away.

“What…?” I trailed off, stepping closer to the log.

I could immediately tell it was hollow, but it wasn’t some rotten log like you would think. It was perfectly clean, and probably completely alive as well. Lycus then ran his hoof along the side, and the log split, a bunch of sap spilling out of the crack.

Like the gooiest chest ever, the log opened, revealing a basin full of amber colored sap.

Amber…

“Is that what I think it is?” I asked, watching as sap continued to flow down the sides.

As the liquid volume fell, something solid remained in the center, something that was the same golden color as the rest of the sap, something that was just as transparent and shiny, something that looked remarkably hand shaped.

“We did say we would restore your arm,” Lycus began, “I figured I could try something like this.”

“I-” I was speechless, only able to stare as the rest of the sap drained away, leaving a still sticky, but fully formed arm of amber.

Lycus then picked it out of the log, and presented it to me.

I stood still, but when he moved forward, so did I. He held it out, and I slowly raised my stump. Lycus then looked at me and smiled, before placing the arm against it, holding it there. It was already perfectly shaped to match the break.

“I hope this works.”

“It won’t be instant.” I muttered,

Some of the residual resin bunched up around the contact point from the pressure, and it quickly started to dry, losing its sheen and dulling quite a bit.

…

That didn’t seem natural, was that because of me or Lycus?

I pulled the arm out of his grasp, and it stayed attached. I couldn’t move it though, so I could only assume it was the stickiness of the sap. Perhaps that was something we could use in the future, just in case we needed to hold things in place.

“So.” Lycus pulled back a bit, “Now we wait?”

“For now…” I couldn’t take my eyes off the amber.

“Okay.” Lycus let out a sigh of relief, “What did you want to tell me then?”

That certainly caught my attention again, and I looked up at him for a bit.

“I uh… I… I… I-I…” I stuttered,

Lycus gasped, “Please tell me that you’re going to say ‘I love you!’”

“What?!” I exclaimed, “No, but… I… I…”

How do I tell him this? How do I tell him that I unknowingly confessed my love to another, and they accepted?! Right after he gave me a new arm as well!

I rushed to cover my face with a hand. Then stopped to stare at it.

“Yes!” Lycus cheered, “It works!”

Iphthime smiled, “Well done,” She patted him on the back.

“It… works…” I echoed, inspecting the hand.

It was still covered in sap, but it was the same general shape as my previous one. I don’t know if it had all the details perfectly, but it both moved and felt… normal. I could move all the fingers, I could twist the wrist, and even though the seam was right on my elbow, I could extend and contract it with ease. I don’t know if that was on my part or Lycus’s, but right now, I had my arm back.

And yet, I could only be so happy. Lycus has done so much for me, and what have I done in return? He had to know.

“I’m sorry.” I began,

“What?” Lycus asked, “Why?”

“I…” I sighed, “I… I have… done something pretty despicable…”

I cringed as soon as I uttered that word. I mean I had a pretty good excuse, but it still happened, and I still chose to commit.

“What did you do?” Lycus asked, looking a bit confused. He glanced between me and Iphthime for a few moments, but she just nodded towards me each time.

“I… Have…” I gulped, “Named a Breezie…” I finally gasped out. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know what it meant at the time. I can’t take it back now, and now that I’m leaving, I couldn’t just leave you in the dark like that.” I said rapidly, if I was bowing any lower, I might’ve fallen over.

“Oh, is that all?” Lycus asked,

“Huh?” I looked up at him, he didn’t even look upset.

“Which Breezie?”

“Um…” I pointed out Shinsha in the air, “Shinsha.”

“That’s fine.” Lycus shrugged,

“Hu- Wh- Gu- Bu-” I sputtered, “W-Why?”

“Breezies only live about twenty winters.” Lycus explained, “I can wait that long.”

…

Oh.

Right.

Different things have different lifespans.

I think the average for humans was around seventy, but it was much lower in the middle ages. It was probably the same for ponies. I didn’t know the ages of the mercenaries, but if I had to guess, I’d say there were all below thirty, except for Captain Morningstar of course. Lycus was a hundred years old, and still very much a child. That might put Iphthime somewhere closer to a thousand, though it wasn’t like I was going to ask her that.

If Breezies only lived twenty years, then relatively speaking, it would not be long before I was ‘available’ again.

“Oh…” I mumbled,

“But you are leaving?” Lycus asked,

“Y-Yes,” I shook my head to clear my thoughts. “I’m going to follow the mercenaries. I’m here to say goodbye as well.”

“For how long?”

“I-” I froze,

How long was I going to do this?

What was the end goal with the mercenaries?

What were the end goals of the mercenaries?

I could only think of one: Rusty: to get enough money to retire and live comfortably for the rest of his life. Any of the others were a mystery.

Captain Morningstar was old, yet still leading the group. Maybe that’s just what he wanted to do.

Maul was probably a bit simpler, he had strength, and wanted to use it. I don’t think he really cared about the money.

Indigo did care about money, but I don’t think that was her main goal. She seemed to be extremely interested in weird or strange things, like me or Breezies. Maybe she wanted to make a big discovery?

Dr. Duck was different. He wasn’t geared for combat, wasn’t too particular about money, and didn’t seem interested in exploring. Why was he in the group? I guess they needed a doctor, and maybe he wanted to be one.

Dagger… Yeah, I have no idea what he wants.

Fletch though. She didn’t even want to be a mercenary. She wanted to use her skills in a way that wouldn’t hurt anyone, but when your cutie mark is centered around a weapon… That doesn’t make it easy.

And then what about me? What was my end goal with the mercenaries? Do I just accompany them until I feel like I’ve paid off my debt? Or do I keep going until I get bored? How long would it even take for me to get bored? This would be dangerous work though, so I might have to stop if something happens.

And it wasn’t me that I was worrying about.

Sticking with the mercenaries until the end brought about a very uncomfortable truth, something I’m not sure I’ve come to terms with yet.

I would outlast all of them.

I may get damaged or destroyed in the meantime, but the simple reality was that rocks don’t age. I was going to outlive any and every living thing I came across, even if they lived for centuries, like the deer.

“I… don’t know.” I eventually answered, “But… if you’re willing to wait… Then when… I am done with them… I can… come back here.”

Lycus’s eyes widened, and he leaned forward a bit, “Would you?”

I paused. Could I really make a promise like that? I suppose that once things were concluded with the mercenaries, I would have cleared up most of what I started, but what if something else happens while doing that? I already named a Breezie, and now I had to leave them behind because of my priorities.

“Please?”

“I…” I looked deep into his eyes, “...Will. Unless something major happens, I will come back here when I am finished with the mercenaries.”

Lycus immediately let go of the breath he was holding, “I’ll be waiting, then.”

He stepped back, and Iphthime stepped forward.

“Now then, it is time for us to return what is rightfully yours.”

She waved her hoof, and a thick plant rose from the ground. A large bulb sat at the top, which unfurled to reveal my toe, in all its glory, sitting atop a bed of teal petals. I carefully picked it up with my new fingers, then leaned down to affix it to my foot, using some sap to try and hold it in place.

“Thank you.” I nodded to each of them.

Iphthime held her gentle smile, though Lycus seemed to be looking longingly at the now empty bulb.

I pursed my lips and furrowed my brow. It was probably going to be a long time before I saw him again.

“Here.” I reached for the back of my head and pinched my hair.

The crystalline strands were flexible, but they were still crystal, bend them enough and they were going to snap. I grabbed a small patch from the very back, close to the center too, so it wouldn’t leave anything uneven.

“Something to remember me by.” I handed Lycus the clump of my hair.

“Like I would forget you.” He smiled, but still took it.

I chuckled lightly, only for my face to immediately drop. “I might forget you.” I raised both my arms to look at them.

My right arm was replaced, but not the memories in it. My left arm was thankfully still around, but it was detached, who knows what I’m not able to remember without it.

“If that happens…” I trailed off.

What could he even do in that situation? He might be able to help jog my memory, but if I forgot to even return to the forest in the first place, then there was no way for him to reach me. He certainly couldn’t come after me being bound to his duties like that.

“Please forgive me.”

Lycus just stared at me for a moment, before nodding slowly. “...Okay…”

This time I let out a sigh of relief, “Then this is goodbye.” I stood up straight, “Thank you for everything.”

“Thank you.” Iphthime replied, “The forest will not forget your services, I do hope to see you again one day.”

“Me too.” I nodded, then turned to leave,

“Goodbye!” Lycus blurted out,

“Good-bye,”

“Goodbye.” I waved at all of them.

I reached forward to grab the first piece of the foliage in my way, only for it to bend out of the way.

“Oh. Thank you.” I turned back to the deer.

Lycus was staring wide-eyed at me, while Iphthime looked pleasantly surprised.

“That was not us.”

“Huh?” I looked at my new arm, which was giving off a slight green glow. “Oh. Cool…” I glanced back at the deer for a moment, then blinked, “Uh… is this okay for me to have?”

Iphthime hummed, “We have already decided to give you the… amber, was it? Think of it as a bonus.”

“Ooh.” I inspected my hand again, “So I can control plants?”

“It is not control.” Iphthime shook her head, “It is merely an obligation to fulfill your wishes. Do not expect them to break their natural limits.”

“Oh, got it.” I flicked a few fingers to the other side, and the rest of the foliage cleared away. “Thank you, again.”

“You are most welcome. Goodbye, Phosphophyllite.”

Stepping through the opened path, I gave them one last wave before the plants shrouded together again. I was then back in the forest proper, with a few more Breezies popping in to say their goodbyes as well.

That went really well. I was not expecting to get a whole arm as a reward. In fact, I thought it was Iphthime that was going to give me the reward. Coming from her, I thought it would’ve been something decently useful, but not super amazing, like my disguise. Now I knew what Lycus had been working on the last few days, and what a reward it was. A fully functioning arm with built in plant control… No, not control... Influence? I guess?

It certainly made navigating the forest easier. The once solid walls were now doors I had a key to.

I’m glad things turned out well, which just left one more thing to wrap up.

“Shinsha.” I began, turning to look at them.

Of all the Breezies coming to see me, they were the one that remained the closest.

“Eep!” They froze in the air.

What? Were they trying to sneak around or something?

I shook my head, “Look, I knew I would have to leave eventually, but I didn’t realize it would be so soon.”

They reached out to touch my hand, but I pulled it back, “Still sticky,” I mumbled, before trying to wipe some of the resin off on a nearby tree.

“Oh, oh.”

“I really enjoyed these last few days with you, and if I’m not mistaken, you did too.”

Shinsha trilled, practically beaming as they twirled in the air.

“Which makes it all the more harder to say goodbye.”

Shinsha stopped dead in the air, staring at me, “Goodbye, goodbye?”

“I can’t take you away from your home, and I can’t stay here.”

I shook my head again, we’ve been over this already. Shinsha knew I had to leave, but now I might be coming back.

“How old are you?” I asked,

“How, old?” Shinsha repeated, “Hmmm…”

They fluttered in the air for a moment, thinking.

“Five, five.”

Oh, they still had about fifteen years. Fifteen years of being named and alone. Could I be back before that? It was odd to think about, but would the mercenaries even be around in fifteen years? Or at least still around as a group?

“I don't want to give you false hope, but I may return. Please do not waste your life waiting for me though. I..." I did an action similar to swallowing. There was no lump, and there was no throat though. "...hope you can find someone who can truly be with you. Y-You will always be Shinsha to me, and..." I shut my eyes tightly, "I... will do my best not to forget you... Goodbye.”

Shinsha just sat there hovering, before slowly falling to the forest floor. “...Good, bye…”

Argh! My heart!

My feelings, not the organ. I didn’t have the organ. That didn’t make me feel any less bad though.

Still, this was something that had to be done, it was for the best. I slowly turned, and began walking away.

Wait a minute. The best for who?

My best? I didn’t want to have to leave friends behind!

Shinsha’s best? They accepted the name I gave them, they were the first to commit!

The forest’s best? There were hundreds, if not thousands of Breezies in the forest, what difference is one going to make?!

I stopped and looked back, but Shinsha’s green glow was gone from the ground.

…

Well… Whoever’s best it was for, it was happening.

I tried to push that out of my mind as I continued forward. It didn’t take me long to reach the edge of the forest, and the mercenaries' cart was immediately visible close by, filled to the brim with all of their stuff and surrounded by the mercenaries themselves.

“See?!” Fletch called out, pointing at me, “I knew they’d be on time, I told you they’d be on time!”

“Yes, yes.” Indigo responded, “Nopony doubted you, now can we please hurry up? The sooner we leave, the better.”

“Did you get your reward?” Rusty asked,

I just looked at him and gave a very dull wave, “What do you think?”

They all stopped to admire it for a few moments, even Dagger looked over.

“Wow.” Fletch said,

“Fascinating.” Indigo mumbled,

“Pretty.” Maul stated,

“Cool.” Rusty concluded,

“Is everything ready?” I asked,

“Yes!” Indigo answered, exasperated, “We’re just waiting on you, let’s go! The captain is already with the client.”

“Alright, okay.” I held up my new hand, “Is there room on the cart?”

“Just enough.” Dr. Duck called out from the other side, “Unless you want to walk alongside.”

“No thank you.” I carefully climbed into the cart, stepped around the crates, barrels, and bundles of stuff, and found my seat towards the side.

Rummaging around a bit, I found my cloak, and quickly slipped it on. I was going to have to wash out the sap later. I then noticed the bag of arm shards placed next to it.

Oh, how nice. I wonder who did that?

The cart started moving a moment later, and we quickly returned to the dirt road leading to Emulwood. In just a few moments we would be leaving town, our destination being the next state over. Hopefully I won't be as wanted over there as I am here, as getting chased by the government didn’t exactly make things easy.

I gave one last look to the forest, before keeping my eyes fixed on the road ahead.

This was something to be excited about, yet I couldn’t find myself getting very enthusiastic. An entire new chapter of my life was about to open up, but after what just happened, it was hard looking forward, and it was even harder to look back.

I couldn’t wait though. Literally.

To Be Continu-

“Wait, wait!” A tiny voice came from behind,

I barely had time to turn my head before a green light smacked into my face.

“Phos, Phos!” I immediately registered them as Shinsha, “Shinsha, Shinsha! Come with, come with!”

I blinked, “You want to come with?” I asked,

They bobbed up and down rapidly.

“Are you sure?”

“Sure, sure!” Shinsha answered,

I looked around at all the other mercenaries, most of which either didn’t notice, or didn’t care. They had all seen Shinsha already, they were used to them by now. So was I for that matter, I don’t think they would have much of a problem with it. I certainly didn't.

“Okay.” I shrugged, a growing smile on my face.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

The end of Arc 1

Unfortunately, that means there is going to be a little hiatus until the next part is ready. There's a quote that I'm sure avid readers of the manga would want me to use, but I'll hold off on that for now. It will really only be a few months anyway, and it's not like I have a brand new PS5 to distract me.

No, I don't really want to explain what I meant by that.

I have college classes and a job. Not to mention another project is coming down the pipeline, so keep a lookout for that in the future.

I hope you enjoyed this first part. I'm really glad I was able to write something like this.

We've learned so much. There are gods, there are ponies, there are dragons, and there are spirits. Yet there's still so much more to find out.

We've done so much. Walk, talk, run and jump. Pick flowers, save a forest, learn to fight, kill a dragon. Yet there's still so much more to do.

We've acquired so much. Friends, teammates, and perhaps something even closer. A knife, a belt, a cloak, and so many gifts from the forest. Yet there's still so much more to gain.

I hope you eagerly await the journeys ahead, as will I.

Interlude 1

What a remarkable world, I’m starting to see why so many others have flocked to it.

Yet still, a human in a place where a human shouldn’t belong. There can hardly be anything good coming from that, I can already see the beginnings of that taking place.

Although… Perhaps it won’t be all bad. Even at a glance I could tell that they were similar to how Phosphophyllite once was.

They are not the same, I can tell that much, and there is no telling what could happen to them in the meantime.

All I can say for certain is that they will be a kind, gentle gem.