//------------------------------// // (3-1) I Have A Conversation With Fluttershy // Story: I Am Not Sombra // by Boopy Doopy //------------------------------// I woke up with a start at the sound of Celestia. I couldn’t quite make out what she said, but I was sure it was directed at me. However, while I was still a bit fearful, I was more annoyed, and rolled my eyes. I was already completely fed up with her attitude towards me. I yawned and stretched my legs, looking myself over again. It felt more surreal today than it did yesterday, seeing this body move at my command. Yesterday felt entirely real, but this morning was feeling more like a dream. I was laying on a bed in Celestia's castle, inhabiting Sombra's body. That kind of thing didn't happen to people. Wait. That was true. This kind of thing didn't just happen out of the blue for no reason. I suddenly got the feeling that I was put here for a reason, like this was intentionally done to me. The idea of that made me shudder. There was a short list of people who could have done something like this, and even then, there was only one truly reasonable option for my predicament. I quickly shook that horrible thought out of my head and got down to business. The first thing was to take off this armor and cape. I might have been in Sombra's body, but he was clearly hated here, and I wanted to disassociate myself from him as much as I could. How I looked was likely a small factor in the grand scheme of things, but a factor nonetheless, and I was going to use everything in my power to get myself out of this situation. Stripping myself, I found that Sombra’s body, despite his heavier coat, was thin and unfit. Not to the point of starvation or needing medical attention, but it definitely didn’t look healthy, and explained my quick exhaustion yesterday just from walking. It almost looked like this body was completely different from the one I saw a few minutes before. I guessed that he rarely stopped to eat since all of his time was focused on conquering the Crystal Empire. I was actually a bit grateful for how his body looked without his cape and armor. I felt like it gave me a more sympathetic look, which I thought would be to my advantage. The second thing was to talk to either Fluttershy or Luna again. I wanted them to get me out of here as quickly as possible, and they needed to talk to other ponies to do that. Fluttershy could act as a communication line for me to her friends, or at least help me plan on how to approach them, and Luna could tell me what Sombra specifically did to make Celestia hate him so much. However, at the moment, that was entirely out of my control, and I was forced to wait in this room for someone to come to me. With nothing else to do while I waited for something to happen to me, I stared out the window. I was on the first floor, and had an excellent view of ponies walking around the castle and taking pictures. A few of them pointed to the window I looked out of and gave me looks that were a mix of curiosity and concern, seemingly whispering to themselves. I assumed they were debating on whether or not I was the pony I looked like, which was just about the best reaction I could have reasonably hoped for. Evidently, my appearance without clothing was just different enough for them to doubt whether or not I was truly him. That would be helpful if I was stuck here long term, which I would be if Celestia had her way. It wasn’t very long before I caught sight of Fluttershy making her way up to the castle, much sooner than I had expected from her. Still, I wasn’t about to complain, and several minutes later, she was entering the room, being led by Princess Luna. Even after potentially saving me the previous day, she looked slightly afraid of me, which wasn’t a surprise. She took a hesitant step towards me as Luna left, and I did everything in my power to look nonthreatening, going back to laying on the bed. “Oh, um, hi,” she said timidly, cautiously making her way into the room. “I’m very sorry about the way my friends treated you.” “Well, I’m glad you’re not like them,” I told her simply. “May I ask what your name is? I mean, if that’s okay with you, sir. Unless you’re a ma’am. I’m sorry.” “I’m a boy. And my name is Alex.” “Oh, well, it’s very lovely to meet you, Alex. I’m sorry you have to be trapped in such an awful monster.” I was glad she told me that, glad that at least she believed me. “I feel sorry for me, too, especially since everyone outside of you hates me and wants me dead.” “I’m sure my friends feel bad about what happened yesterday now, and you’re not locked up in some dungeon somewhere, so it can’t be that bad…” I gave her a look, asking, “You do realize that Celestia knows I’m not him and probably still wants to kill me, right?” She returned my question with a surprised expression. “Well, um, not to say that you’re lying, but, um, that doesn’t seem like the princess at all.” “It didn’t seem like Twilight to want to kill me either, but she tried to,” I pressed. “I have no idea what got into her,” she apologized, “and she does feel really bad about it now.” “Well, from what Luna told me, they were reacting to how Celestia and Cadance felt.” She paused at that and stared at me for a second, taking in what I said “I mean, I didn’t feel like Princess Celestia felt that way, but… did Princess Luna really say that?” "Yes. Apparently, she read my mind and still doesn't believe me." "Really?" “You can ask Luna if you’d like,” I offered. “Well, I’ll definitely have to soon.” There was a long pause after that, and I asked her, “Why did you believe me when the others didn’t?” “Well, you said you weren’t him, and you looked so afraid of us, and I just thought that I couldn’t hurt some creature who might be innocent. Besides, even if you were Sombra, you didn’t try to hurt us, and might have been asking for a second chance in your own way.” “I kind of wish Twilight and the others took that view.” “Oh, I’m sorry.” “But I do need their help,” I continued. “I need them to help get me out of here and back to my home." "Oh, well, um, I can definitely talk to Princess Celestia and Luna about that if you’d like me to.” I gave a frustrated sigh at that. Of course she was going to ask Celestia first. Which basically meant that I would be staying here forever. “I already told you that Celestia hates me and wants me dead.” “Oh, I’m sure you’re overreacting,” Fluttershy told me kindly. “She’s one of the kindest ponies I know, and I’m sure she’ll let us help you.” “Okay, let’s pretend that she doesn’t let you help me. Then what?” She bit her lip, thinking. “Well, I’m sure that won’t be an issue, but if it was, well…” “I might as well get used to being here then,” I huffed.  “Oh, it won’t be so bad,” she tried to tell me. “I know you think everypony will hate you forever, but I’m sure Discord and Starlight felt the same way.” “Okay, but the problem isn't that they hate me, it's that I don’t want to be here.” “I’m sure Celestia won’t have any issue with us helping you, Alex.” I rolled my eyes, silently hoping she’d be able to convince her. “I guess I’ll just have to trust you on that, since there's nothing else I can do.” "I'm sorry," she told me. "I promise I'll do whatever I can to help you. But, um, I have to go for now. It's almost time for my animals to get their meals. But I'll definitely see if I can come back to talk to you and Celestia tomorrow, okay?"