“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.