As krige walked down the halls of the convention hall he was amazed by just the sheer size of everything with hundreds of cosplayers in exact replicas of fictional characters and the number of stalls selling handmade items. He felt a little embarrassed when he saw a pair of cosplayers walk past him in perfect recreations of mass effect N7 armor. While he was clad as scruffy as always with his hoddies hod puled up.

This was his first convention and he had wanted to at least try to get some kind of cosplay but he was more of a gamer than a cosplayer and he couldn't afford to have someone make a decent costume for him. But in the end, it didn't matter that much as he could attest buy some cool items. He had already both some figures and a pretty good hand-drawn poster of the spear of Adun from starcraft 2.

Wich, he was especially fond of because of starcraft being one of his most loved games due to his life of real-time strategy games like Star Wars Empire at war and X-COM. Now he was looking for something from one of those games that he could putt on his shelf but so he had no luck finding something he liked.

That was when he saw a tent and from a glims true the entrance he saw some out of this world excellent replicas of some of the most famous fictional items. Feeling intrigued he entered the tent and began looking around at the plethora of items on display.

"Finding something interesting," a voice said almost making Kriege jump out of his skin, turning to the sound of the voice he saw that standing behind a counter was a man clad in a perfect cosplay of the merchant from resident evil.

"Just browsing," Krige said not wanting to show just how shocked he was so he pretended to inspect a seemingly real looking master sword from Zelda. Casually looking towards the merchant who hadn't moved from the counter Krige couldn't help but think about an urban legend he had heard about online. That of a person clad in just the same kind of cosplay that he was wearing and having a shop in a convention just like this. According to the legend of you both anything from him it would send you to an alternate world with the appearance of power of the item you bought.

But Krieg didn't believe in something so ridiculous so as he browsed the shelf he saw a glass case by the counter with several necklaces in it. Taking a closer lock he saw that most of them were magical necklaces from various games and films but one of the necklaces coth his attention. It was a golden twin-headed pegasus wit is black feather wings stretched out with a shield on its chest with a metallic pony skull and behind it was a pair of swords placed so it lied like the pegasus heds had horns. While it didn't resemble anything he had seen before just something about how it liked was oddly familiar and it was just plain awesome looking.

"How much for the one in the center?" Krige asked the merchant trowing a glans att her medallion.

"Five dollars" he then said cathing Krige of guard, as the medallion really liked like it was made with real gold, but Krige not being a man to lock a gift horse in the moth. Pulled out a fiver and the merchant removed the medallion from its case and handed it over to Krige. But as Krige left the tent inspecting his new item the merchant smiled a devious smile behind his mask as he despaired along with the entire tent and everything in it. Looking around some more Krige saw on his watch that it was getting late and he had a bus to catch. Exciting the convention hall with his items in a backpack he made his way to the bus stop which was already crowded with people.

Some like him that had spent their day at the convention and some regular pedestrians that either did their own ting or tock pictures of the convention goers that were still in cosplay. Leaning against the bus stop Krige was about to put in his headphones and listen to some music when he noticed a small girl a possibly her mother who was talking with one of the cosplayers.

The girl seemed intrigued about the cosplayers outfit which was of a character from a monster high in which the girl held a doll of the same character in her arms. The small girl seemed to believe that the cosplayer was the actual character in that way only a child could believe. Wich Krige found a little adorable as the cosplayer and the girl's mother clearly didn't have the heart to tell the girl the truth.

As the bus came around the corner Krige pulled out his bus card and got in line with the rest of the one's att he bus stop but just as the bus was about to arrive. The girl started shooting and throwing its arm around seemingly angry about something her mother and he cosplayer had said. In her wild swings, she lost the grip of the doll and rant to get it wich had landed just in front of the path of the buss.

As Krege saw this everything seemed to slow down as the girl seemingly unaware of what was happening stod there picking up her doll as the buss. It´s bracks screaming trying to stop but it was too late and it seemed intimate that the bust would hit the girl. Without thinking Krige leaped att the girl pushing her aside just as the bus came so instead of hitting the girl it struck him sending him flying.

Krige felt surprisingly little pain as time was still somewhat slowed but as he tumbled true the air his gaze landed on the group standing at the bus stop. Their faces were a mix of horror and surprise but sanding in the back where Krige was sure that none had stod before was the merchant.

"The greatest hero is the one that can sacrifice everything in the name of their cause, may the princes find your worthy of standing by her, side," the merchant said, and moving as if time wasn't slowed he snapped his fingers and disappeared. As he did time reverted to normal and at harrowing speed, everything returned to normal. Hitting the ground hard Krige rolled violently down the roe as his mind seemingly left his body and entered into a void of nothing.

"Then when I got my senses back I fond myself in this cave feeling as if my entire body had been ripped from me and what's left of me shackled to the wall," Krige said finishing his story. With Fluttershy in tears after hearing how this Krige died and was transformed into this medallion by some kind of entity. She couldn't help but comparing it to fairy tales when princesses were transformed into stone or animals by an evil queen or unicorn.

"How long have you been here?" she asked remembering how desperate he was for any kind of contact when she first entered.

"I don't know," he said, "I tried to keep track of time by the passing of light from the cave opening but I just stopped counting after a while and not long after my sense of time derailed".

"You can see?" Fluttershy asked not seeing any eyes on the medallion.

"Yah, I see true the eyes of the pegasus on the medallion, how did you think I knew you were a pony," Krige said and Fluttershy blushed, having forgotten that he had known that she was a pony before she had had to say it.

"So that my story how about you, I know my knowledge of horse's behavior is not up to date but I'm pretty sure that ponies don't live in caves," Krige said. With Fluttershy happily was about to tell her about her life back home in Equestria and her work with the red hoof. The memories that had been pushed aside by Krige´s story and she began crying rivers.

"What... I... Was it something I said" Krige said and Fluttershy true er sobbing told him about what happened at the relife camp and Equestria completely breaking down in tears afterward. Krige stunned by just what this small mare had gone true making his sob story feel like noting in comparison. As Fluttershy cried he wanted to reach out and comfort the mare and do something to help her but in his current form all he could do was try to come up with some comforting words.

"Well, well, well if it isn't the little khala, ngane that escaped us," a sudden voice said, and walking down the cave with a group of masked zebras following was the same cultist that had attacked the camp and killed the gazel. Fluttershy instantly recognizing him and tried to crawl away but there was no way to escape.

"It took some time and great sacrifice to the benevolent ones to find you so I'm hoping that you are willing to repay it with everything you have," the cultist said and prepared to stand over Fluttershy intend on doing gods know what to her. Scared out of her mind she grabbed some rubel and threw it at the cultist with no effect. The cultist and his entourage laughed at Flutershy's attempt to harm them.

"Well we can't have you flailing around while you give your service to in the benevolent mother," the cultist said raising a bloody sword and swung it at Fluttershy. Only for it to be coth on the protruding crustal that the medallion hung from, and the blow of the impact knocked the Medalion free landing around Fluttershy neck.

"Don't worry Fluttershy I will save you" Krige said inside the mind of Fluttershy as she suddenly lost consciousness.

Igazi the commander of this group of believers was annoyed that his divine blade had gotten stuck and he got furious as he heard his fellow believers laughing behind his back. Once he was done with this iponi he knew who he would throw on the alter for the benevolent gods for a new a bigger sword.

As he got his blade loss he was about to cut the legs of this iponi and have her made to his personal slave to do as he saw fit, in the name of the benevolent mother of course. But just as he was about to swing a flash of metal filed his wishing and before he knew it his head fell to the ground.

The other believer who served as Igazi´s bodyguards were stunned as in a few seconds the scared who would have been adored on an altar to the benevolent ones. Now stop there with anger in her eyes, blood spatter over her face, and in her hoof a saber, unlike anything the believers had seen. Unlike their weapons that were mostly cobbled together with whatever that they could scavenge and empowered by the power of the benevolent.

This sword was almost glowing with its metal blade shining and the handle of the sword adorned to lock like a twin-headed iponi ezindizayo. As the body of Igazi fell to the flor the shock of seeing his die was replaced with rage as a mere iponi had dared to lay its inselo on their leader. Rasing their weapons they charged the Iponi only to be cut down with swift action leaving one single believer remaining.

The last one raised its hoof where he held a caster rifle, the main projectile weapon of the believers as while they mostly used swords and spear in devastating charging attacks. It was quickly discovered that the combustion weapons that were commonly used by their main adversary the followers of the false gods were powerful enough to stop any advance of the beliefs.

So as a way to prove that their gods were superior to the false gods the warlocks of the believers used their connection to the higher dimensions where the benevolent resided. To craft powerful magical orbs that were placed into the chamber of the weapons the believer held. Looking like a ripped out ribcage extending from one's hoof with a round fleshlike camber on the back of the weapon.

Pressing the trigger of the weapons with a howl the weapons shout out a green fireball that sore true the air striking the Ipony in her shoulder. Expecting that to be enough the believer was surprised when the iponi show no sign of pain and began firing wildly as the iponi charged him, sword raised.

With a quick slash of his saber krige first cut off the weird weapon on the cultist hoof before cutting its head off as he had done with the other cultist. Once done he used his sword to cut off some of the leather wichs the cultish used as armor, to bandage his wound on Fluttershy's shoulder.

It had been a weird experience to suddenly go from not having a body to possessing the body of a pony but he had a duty to do. He could feel inside him how Fluttershy was still unconscious with her taking a bigger hit from Krige's possession of her body.

Once done bandaging up his/her wound Krige began walking towards the opening of the cave, moving casually in case there were some more cultists outside. But as he made it to the opening he saw no sign of any additional cultist so he sat down just outside the cave looking at his blade.

The blade a saber with the handle similar to the amulet with a twin-headed pegasus felt familiar, just like the medallion had done when he first had seen it. he knew that he had been displaced to another world where seemingly ponies and zebras could talk. just as those weird urban legends you fond online of a merchant that sold you an item for dirt cheap and you would be transported to another world. the thing is, if the rumors are right Krige should be in the body of a video game carakter. the truth is tough, he is a piece of jewelry that is currently possessing a pony, and the medallion itself where both familiar to him and completely unknown. Sheeting the sword in a sheath that also just had appeared on his/Fluttershy flank.

"This is annoying," he thought to himself as he once again was unsure if he was just inhabiting Fluttershy's body and should see it as her´s ore just see it as his body for now as it felt like it. Looking up in the sky and seeing that it was night, he decided that there were more important things to do. The first thing he needed was a camp of some sort and not wanting to spend the rest of the night in the corps filed cave.

Walking some distance away he found some dead trees by some rocks slabs that laid over another in such a way that would give him cover against the rain. Using his saber to cut some wood krige made a fire that he lighted with a stone and his saber, Wich he didn't know he knew how to do but was happy nonetheless to have some warmth after so long in that damp and cold cave. With a deep yawn, krige felt a deep from the exhaustion Fluttershy must have felt before arriving at the cave and the soft warmth of the fire. So with his head resting in Fluttershy's hoofs, Krige drifted off to sleep for the first time in what felt like an eternity.

Author's Note

this chapter will contain some zebra words, here is a translation to common Equus
iponi - pony
iponi ezindizayo - pegasus
khala, ngane - crybaby
inselo - hoofs

(translated from English to Zulu with zulu as the stand-in for Zebra languish)