I had finally worked up the courage to attend my first ever convention. I didn’t particularly have a huge budget, but I had been saving up for almost a full year just for this event. I probably would’ve gone last year, but, well, worldwide pandemic. I had even decided to try and enjoy the full experience with a fairly simple cosplay. Black slacks, red ‘silk’ shirt, some leather bracers, and my hair grown out and done up in a pigtail made a simple, yet effective costume of the Heir to the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. Even if I was slightly shorter and not nearly as ripped as Ranma, my hair was perfectly black and with a touch of makeup I could even pass as Asian if no one looked too hard.

I was alone, but that didn’t hamper my enjoyment of flitting from stand to stand, purchasing things that particularly caught my interest and attending panels. The first day of the convention was winding down and I was about to return to the hotel room I was staying at when a voice called out to me.

“Hello there, stranger!” I turned to see a man dressed as the Resident Evil 4 merchant. Now, I was no stranger to fanfiction, having poured more hours than I could remember reading and writing all kinds of fanfiction. I had, over the course of my reading, come across a handful of Displaced stories, but thought nothing of what I believed to be a well made costume. Oh boy, if only I had been a bit more paranoid. Well, to be honest, if I knew he was the Merchant, I still would’ve probably done the same thing. Only much more eagerly.

“Greetings, stranger,” I greeted in return, “What are you selling?” The man chuckled.

“I might have something that’ll enhance your costume, for a price,” He pulled out what looked like an exact replica of the dragon shirt Ranma had worn during the duel with the Golden Pair, “You can hold it, if you like, get a feel for the quality.”

I accepted the offer and felt the fabric in my hands. I was no tailor, but even I could tell the quality of the shirt. I looked up to ask for a price when I was suddenly overcome by a curious falling sensation.

Twilight Sparkle was curled up in her favorite loveseat with a good book. Spike was with Rarity in the gem caves and Starlight was with Trixie doing something or other. Truly, this was bliss. Of course, no good thing could last and this proved itself once again and a loud crash was heard and something fell through the roof of the library.

“What in Equestria?!” Twilight exclaimed in surprise. The dust settled to reveal what looked to be a teenage girl, but there were a few odd things about her. For one she was clearly not a pony. Twilight almost thought she was from Sunset’s world, but something about that assumption felt off to the purple Alicorn.

Of course, all that musing took a backseat when Twilight realized that this person, whoever she was, had just crashed through her roof after an unknown fall. She sprang into action, first sending small pulses of magic to each of her friends to let them know they were needed and then running the gamut of first aid spells she knew.

Once she was reasonably sure the stranger wasn’t about to immediately expire on her library floor, Twilight set up her unexpected visitor in a guest room and went to fetch Dr. Horse and Nurse Redheart.

I was no stranger to splitting headaches. I used to suffer migraines when I was younger. Still, the headache I awoke to was a solid 8 in the grand scheme of things. Thankfully, even as I shook of the last vestiges of unconsciousness, the headache was receding. While my eyes were closed, I took stock of the situation. I went to a con, I met a man in a suspiciously well made Merchant “costume”, I was offered a piece of apparel for my cosplay outfit, and now I was in a bed with no memory of how I got there. A quick tensing of my muscles to check let me know I was definitely not in my old body.

“Feck, I got ganked by the Merchant,” I swore in a distinctly feminine voice. That struck me as odd, seeing as I was had been dressed as male Ranma, so either the Merchant was playing with me twice over or I had the Jusenkyo Curse. I was fine either way.

“Oh! You’re awake!” I cracked an eye open. Unless my eyes deceived me, sitting in a chair next to the bed I was in was a sinfully adorable anthro Fluttershy. She was wearing a light green blouse and even had a cute red beret on her head, “I should tell Twilight!”

She was out the door before I could get a word in edgewise. As I lay there waiting for Fluttershy to return with Purple Smart, I couldn’t help but wonder what I had done to deserve such a wonderful thing happening to me. I got turned into Ranma Saotome. Curse or no curse, that was already a ten out of ten on a list of greatest things that could’ve happened to me. I was in Equestria. That on its own was a spectacular turn of events I could have only dreamed about previously. Add in the fact that, if this Fluttershy was anything to go on, they weren’t quadruped ponies but attractive anthros and I was seriously wondering if I had died and this was some kind of Heavenly paradise.

“Hello? Are you still awake?” The cautious voice of Twilight Sparkle asked as she and Fluttershy returned to the room. Whatever time it was, Twilight looked like she had just been woken from her sleep, as she was wearing a snug gray t-shirt and blue sweat pants. As if the crystalline environment around my bed hadn’t clued me in, the wings and horn on Purple Smart made it clear this was probably post Tirek’s attack, even if I still didn’t know when exactly on the show timeline this was.

“If I’m not awake, I’m doing a very good impression of it,” I snarked. Fluttershy giggled while Twilight rolled her eyes, “So, how’d I wind up here?”

“I was hoping you could tell me. You did kind of just crash through my roof,” Twilight informed me.

“Oh…sorry ‘bout that,” I felt compelled to apologize. Fluttershy’s eyes lit up and I had a fair guess as to why. I hadn’t even intentionally used the phrase, but I’d flip out too if I met someone who looked and sounded exactly like a fictional character I liked…it was then I realized just how much trouble I was in. I was going to be surrounded by attractive anthro versions of some of my favorite “fictional” characters. I just had to play it cool. How hard could that be? I was so screwed…

“Well, seeing how you aren’t a Pegasus, I highly doubt you got there under your own power, so you don’t have to apologize for anything. Well, first things first, let’s introduce ourselves. I’m Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship,” Twilight started the introductions.

“I’m Fluttershy,” Fluttershy’s voice held a note of cautious optimism. I really didn’t want to disappoint her by telling her I wasn’t the real Ranma, but I wasn’t dumb enough to lie to her about it either.

“My name is… My name… Feck,” I swore, “I can’t remember my name. That’s frustrating; I remember quite liking my name.”

“That’s awful! Is there anything else you don’t remember?” Twilight asked worriedly.

“Well, let’s do a quick status check. I was born in Pleasant Grove, Utah. My parents were Ruth and Steve Green. Well there’s my family name, at least. I had six younger siblings. I remember all my passwords. Yeah, I think the only thing I don’t remember is my given name,” That was very strange to me.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of selective amnesia quite that selective before,” Twilight remarked, “Is there anything you’d like us to call you for now?”

“Get me a cup of hot and cold water and I might have an answer for that,” Twilight was mystified by my answer, but Fluttershy looked to be doing her best silent Pinkie Pie impression. A moment later and I had the requested cups of water, “Well, here goes nothing.” And I splashed myself with the hot water.

The transformation was almost instantaneous, but the feeling of it was just so strange I don’t quite know how to express it. The closest I can come to describing it without spending years on a language arts degree is that I felt like I was being stretched and squished at the same time. It was also very strange to suddenly gain several inches of height and for the world to suddenly shift ever so slightly in color.

“Alright, until I can think of something cleverer, you can call me Ranma,” I decided as I splashed myself with cold water and Fluttershy squealed happily. Twilight looked like she was about to pop a blood vessel or two, so decided to tackle the lesser of the two quandaries before her.

“Uh, Fluttershy, why are you acting like Pinkie Pie the time she drank non-decaf?” Twilight asked.

“I believe I may have an answer to that. If I play my cards right, I might even be able to squeeze in an explanation of how I got here. What say you both?” I asked pleasantly. Fluttershy meekly nodded and Twilight sighed.

“Alright, let’s hear it,” She said as she crossed her arms under her chest.

“OK, so a preface, do you know Multiverse Theory, Twilight?” I asked.

“I have a mirror portal to an alternate dimension in my house. I’m pretty sure it’s more than a theory,” Twilight quipped.

“Right…” I probably should’ve expected an answer like that, “Anyway, Fluttershy is acting like a fangirl because I look and sound very similar to a fictional character she knows and I even have that character’s curse, as I just demonstrated. Now, to be clear, this was not the body I was born into. For one obvious thing, I was born a male and will never claim to be as fit as the character I am now. I had the questionable luck of running into an interdimensional being of unknown power and even lesser known motives that may or may not get his jollies off on changing random people into random fictional characters based on whatever that person is cosplaying as at the time and more often than not throwing them into some version of Equestria.”

“How do you know all that?” Twilight wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer, but also couldn’t bring herself to not ask.

“A strange confluence of Multiversal happenstance. I thought the Merchant himself was nothing more than a fictional character. I also have a version of Ranma ½ in my home dimension. As if that weren’t awkward enough, the adventures you, Fluttershy, and the rest of the Elements of Harmony are portrayed as media for little girls. Although, in the show and books and whatnot, you are all quadrupeds, so that’s a very clear indication that at least a few things are different,” I probably could have broken the news more gently, but I was never the most tactful person so even if I felt bad for breaking the news that way, I couldn’t think of a way to phrase it better without lying.

All things considered, I thought Twilight took having her worldview shattered into itty bitty pieces rather well. She only screamed with mind bending confusion for ten seconds. It’s one thing to know, logically, about the Multiverse. It’s another thing to have it knock down your door and tell someone that they’re someone else’s waifu for laifu.

“So people have watched me like I watch Usagi…” Fluttershy muttered with a thousand yard stare.

“Well, like I said, it was marketed to little girls! There was nothing too embarrassing or private!” I tried to be positive. I decided to not mention the amount of smutty fanfics and porny fan art there was. My omission didn’t matter.

“Rule 34,” Fluttershy said flatly.

“Oh…you have computers…yeah; we had Rule 34 where I come from too,” There was no nice way of saying we were probably both thinking of ‘interesting’ fan art of each other if the blush I felt on my face and saw on hers was any indication.

“Why wouldn’t we have computers?” Of course that’s what snapped Purple Smart out of her existential dread.

“The show was very coy about the level of technology in Equestria. On the one hand, you had Vinyl Scratch and her dubstep setup. On the other, combustion engines seemed to either not exist or be extremely rare. Of course, I have no idea how indicative of Equestrias in general that is, but I’m not a being capable of observing and cataloguing and finding a level of commonality amongst an infinite number of Equestrias,” I shrugged.

“An Equestria where there was electronica music but no cars or computers of any kind? I would love to study their technology tree,” Twilight was already thinking of theories as to how that came to be, given the happy smile and glazed eyes she acquired.

“Uh, I can get you more hot water if you like?” Fluttershy offered.

“Why would I want more hot water?” I asked blankly.

“Well…you did say you were a guy,” Fluttershy pointed out.

“Oh. Right. Well, truth be told I’ve known I am gender fluid since I was old enough to seriously think about my sexual identity. I’m perfectly content like this. I’m making up for lost time, if you will. Doesn’t hurt that I’m a sexy little redhead,” Redheads were 100% my thing back home. I found few things as sexy as a mane of red hair. Although Fluttershy’s gorgeous pale pink was making a strong case for itself, “Thank you for the offer, though. I do appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome,” Fluttershy blushed slightly. Twilight had at some point returned to the land of the living.

“I should probably gather up the others. You’ve been unconscious for two days, Ranma, and I’m sure they’d like to know you’re awake, even if it is the crack of dawn. Actually, I’m pretty sure the only one who would care it’s the crack of dawn is Rarity, on the assumption she hasn’t pulled another all nighter. I’ll be back,” With that promise, Twilight teleported away.

“So, do I want to know why you were watching over me all night long?” I asked teasingly and Fluttershy’s face went full tomato.

“I only came in an hour ago…” Fluttershy protested quietly with the cutest pout I ever did see. Feck, if these ponies didn’t induce type 9 diabetes in me, I’d still probably die of cuteness overload. Well, if I was gonna die anyway, I decided to push my luck.

“So, your favorite Ranma ship?” Fluttershy made a mewling sound in response to my question.

“Don’t make me choose… I love them all too much~” Fluttershy buried her face in her hands.

“A girl after my own heart then. I will also ship Ranma with anyone, given the right circumstances, although I confess a special love for Ranma X Nabiki from my recent reading,” I confessed.

“I, uh, I really like Ranma X Kasumi…” It was clear from how embarrassed she sounded that it would be cruel of me to do anything more than arch a knowing eyebrow.

Before we could start weebing out in earnest, Twilight returned with the rest of the crew.

OK, so, a few important things to get out of the way.

Firstly, when I say Anthro in this story, I mean somewhere around a 4 on this chart.

Second, I have read Xenophilia and very much enjoyed it. I will admit a few of my ideas for this fic got corrupted by Xenophilia. So if you see something you recognize from that fic, I know, I did it on purpose. Shockingly, I do still have a number of original ideas in my head for this fic.

Third, Just like Tom was very religious, for certain parts of my character's backstory to work here, he/she is going to touch on politics. Both personally and at Twilight's request for cultural exchange. I'll try to keep politics to a minimum, but it is a subject I feel very strongly about. Although, just to put any fears to rest, there won't be anyone calling people "libretard" or "conservitard" or whatever it is kids say these days. I hate the Left and Right equally.

Fourth, while this is primarily a fluff fic where Ranma is going to eventually get lucky with a number of ponies, there will be darker moments. I think I might be incapable of writing pure fluff. Recently my respect for people who can write pure fluff has risen dramatically. No sex, no violence, no emotional trauma, just pure feel good fluff. I'm just a dark, twisted mockery of a human being who is jealous of them.

Fifth, this fic is not going to be my primary focus. At least, not until I finish The Broken Series or this fic comes to its natural conclusion. Whichever comes first. I'll try to post at least once a month, but I make no promises.

Sixth, just because I'm using the Displaced framing device does not mean I want this to be a "Real" Displaced story. No crossovers, no vague threat to Equestria, no Void Dwellers fking things up just for the sake of it, none of it. This is just me writing a fic where the person Displaced doesn't spend an eternity bitching and moaning about how they miss their old life. The worst Ranma is gonna face is his/her own emotional trauma. Some time in the far flung future, there'll be a happily ever after, the end. Feel free to ask me for a crossover with your Displaced, but I will always say no.

I think that's everything important. I hope you all enjoy one of the most self-indulgent things I have ever written. And I've written quite a lot of self-indulgent things.