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. ♦☻♦