‘So… am I a piranha lady or shark lady? Also how the hell am I hearing things right now if my ears were replaced by fins? Whatever, I’ve got monstrous strength and I can live out my dream of being a red head,’ I mused as I checked out my new body. Undyne was no couch potato if these rock hard abs were anything to go by. My old body was already a gymnasts’ body, but I felt like I could jump a building with these legs and throw a shotput ball across a football field with these guns.

My body felt as healthy like a horse and I couldn’t wait for breakfast to come around. The doc better get here soon before I got too stir crazy, the only thing I’ve been able to do in this stupid cell was admire my new body and see how many push ups I could do. My count was at 324 and I was hardly feeling fatigued at all. I wondered where all this stamina was when I needed it most yesterday, but I guessed that all that soda and salty food from the con may have transferred over into my new body. I felt like cutting loose and ignored my diet because I couldn’t stand the sight of Jack taking all the good junk food for himself. He just kept taunting me with that big pretzel and wouldn’t stop telling me how good it was.

‘Now that I think about my little bro, I need to get out of here and make sure of whether he’s here or not. If he’s in pony world with me, I hope he’s being a good little boy scout isn’t terrorizing the locals. Like me, he’s probably went through an identity crisis too if that vendor turned him into a Sith Lord,’ I thought worried.

I was on push up 371 when I finally heard hooves coming from outside my cell. It was the good doctor and he carried a silver tray with his magic that held bright and colorful oranges along with some tasty looking salmon. Another pitcher of water was in his magical grasp to replace the one from last night.

One of the guards came up behind him with keys in his mouth and opened the door for him. As soon as the door was locked behind the doctor, the guard moved off to the side and out of view but was likely still outside the cell in case anything happened. Dr. Steady Hoof laid my breakfast onto a metal table that was too tall for him but was just right for me. He smiled warmly at me and looked happy for seeing me doing such rigorous exercise so early in the morning.

“I see that your recovery is coming along even faster after last night. Did you get a good nights’ sleep Miss Undyne?” Dr. Hoof asked me.

I responded by first showing off how many push ups I’d done so far. “372, 373, 374, yeah doc I think I’m coming along just fine. Is that breakfast for me? You gentlecolt, bringing a lady her breakfast. Hold on, just let me finish 6 more.”

When I reached 380 I got up and rubbed my hands on my patients’ gown to try and get the dust and grime off them from the floor. When I felt that my hands were good enough, I pulled out a chair underneath the table and got ready to dig in until I remembered my manners.

“Hey doc, have you had breakfast yet, I’m willing to share?” I asked him.

“Oh that’s quite alright, I had some cereal before coming in today. Anyway, I’ve prepared a physical for you this morning after you finish your breakfast. Although like I said, since your physiology is mostly a mystery to me we’ll have to take your word on whether you’re in top shape or not” He said as he prepared his notebook.

While I used my fingers to eat, I finally tried to get a look at Dr. Hoof’s butt tattoo and found that it was a scalpel and pair of scissors crossed over one another with black string interwoven between them. I took it to mean that he specialized as a surgeon and I drank some water right out of the jug. While I finished my meal, the doc kept glancing up at me and back to his notebook writing down who knows what on it. He seemed so focused on his writing that I felt like an opportunity was at hand.

As soon as I finished my meal I let out a loud burp that broke his concentration and I laughed at his flustered look.

“Oh sorry doc, the food was just that good, anyway, what are you writing there?” I asked as I took another drink from my water jug.

He smiled again and wrote a few more words before responding. “I’m writing down anything I can to be honest. I’m writing down how you eat your food and how your fingers are moving just as deftly as a minotaurs'. Basically anything that we couldn’t learn from you while you were unconscious. You’ve just taken the scientific community by storm with just your body alone. A sentient creature made up of so much magic and isn’t a star beast will likely immortalize you in our history books years to come.”

He seemed ready to nerd out about how awesome my new body was and it kind of reminded me of my little bro. Jack would talk for nearly an hour about how cool something like hydrofluoric acid was, or how if humans could master gravity we could master the galaxy. I interrupted him before he could go on.

“Yeah I already know I’m awesome, but could we please get this physical taken care of so I can see how long I’m going to be stuck in this cell?"

His face got serious and he nodded in agreement. He flipped through his notebook with his magic until he got to a certain page and beckoned me to stand up. He asked me some standard questions about how certain parts of my body felt. He shinned a light into my eyes with his horn to test how my eyes responded to light, then asked me to breathe in and out as he placed his stethoscope on my back and chest. It continued on just like any other physical I got from home until he started to ask me questions about what I ate and how much I needed every day. He looked a little nauseous when I told him that my favorite food was a big juicy steak, but I assured him that I wasn’t going to lose my mind about not having my favorite food again. I really only ate one steak every couple of months back home and I think sea food would be good enough for my protein needs while I was in Equestria. The whole morning was taken up by all his questions and by the time we were done he had filled up more than half his notebook.

“Well, to the best of my ability, I can say you are healthy of both mind and body and are ready to meet with Princess Celestia. As soon as I leave, I’ll send for her and she’ll come down to meet you,” he said as he got ready to leave.

‘Wait a minute.'

“I thought I was going to meet Celestia at my trial. She coming to see me right now!?” I asked worried.

He made that warm smile again and tried to soothe my fears. “Yes, Princess Celestia is coming down to meet with you personally before the trial starts. Please don’t worry, I think her highness just wants to meet with you first before the prosecution tries to tear you apart. No defense law office will try and take your case because of all of Canterlot being afraid of you. I’m sure the Princess just wants your side of the story before a whole courtroom stresses you out, and please trust me when I say this. You are going to be alright.”

His words inspired a little confidence in me but I thought I had more time to prepare myself before I met Celestia. ‘All I have on is a now dirty hospital gown and I’m about to meet Celestia herself. Now I’ve just learned that no one is going to help defend me in my trial too.’ I wanted to believe in Dr. Hoof but this is starting to sound more and more hopeless. But I have to be confident now, I need to get out of here so I can find my brother.

“Ok doc, but before you go, can you at least get me my clothes first? I had some on underneath my armor before I came here and I don’t want to meet Celestia with just a gown on.” I asked.

He looked at me strangely before he spoke again. “Of course, but you should know that you don’t need any clothes on at all before you meet with Celestia. Many ponies meet with Celestia all the time without dressing for the occasion.”

I felt heat rise up to my cheeks thinking about meeting Celestia as naked as the day I was born. I shook my head to get rid of the embarrassing thoughts and realized that it made sense for ponies to not always wear clothes. Their anatomy covered anything too private and the TV show only showed ponies wearing clothes to special events (‘well except for Rarity and pony nobles now that I think about’). Humans wore clothes to survive in colder environments and it basically became a norm to always wear clothes wherever you go. But he doesn’t know that, so I won’t slap him for suggesting that I could meet the Princess naked.

I gave a forced grin and thanked him. “It’s just a culture thing to always have clothes on when I meet with other people in public. I really do appreciate this though, so thanks for taking the time to do this.”

He nodded his head and saw himself out of my cell with the breakfast tray. We both waved goodbye to each other and I sat back down on my bed to try and figure out what to do when Celestia came.

‘I need to get my story straight when I meet her, I need to tell her that I had no control over what happened to that clock shop. But, when I tell her about why I ran from her guards, I’m going to have to omit some of the facts. When the guards tried to arrest me, I shouldn't tell her that I really didn’t take them seriously at first. I was startled when they told me that I was under arrest, but I thought that this was all some sort weird dream. I didn’t realize how dire my situation was until they cornered me in the alley. So when I tell her why I ran, I just tell her that I was startled and my instincts told me to run and avoid a fight. But what do I tell her when I get to the part about how I attacked her guards and held one hostage?’ I started fall back into my nervous habit of twirling my hair between my fingers when I wasn’t coming up with anything.

A few minutes passed and I was startled when I saw a bright flash go off on the metal table. Neatly folded clothes along with a pair of boots sat on the table and I was immediately grateful for not having to wear this stupid gown anymore. The clothes consisted of my undergarments and a simple black tank top with blue jeans. The dark brown leather boots seemed to be the boots from my armor set with the metal plating taken off.

‘I’m going to need that armor when I go off to search for my brother. This place may be peaceful, but the series constantly showed that there were dangers out there I’d need to prepare for,’ I mused as I got dressed.

As soon as I was presentable, I looked over myself and threw the gown over to the corner. ‘It may not be clothes appropriate to meeting royalty but it’ll have to do,’ I thought.

‘Ah hell, I still have no idea what to tell her when I get to the part about how I beat the crap out of her police force. Jack would know what to tell her, he was always a better negotiator and liar. He could get the strictest teacher to sympathize with him and push back a test to a further date if he needed more time to study. What do I tell her?’ I thought just as I heard hooves clopping outside.

My heart was threating to burst out of my chest as I heard the hooves coming closer. A mix of emotions crossed my mind, joy at having the chance to meet a real life character from a TV show I liked, and dread as I realized that my freedom was at stake. The sound of her hooves came closer and I held my breath as I saw the stunning creature come into view. Seeing her in person was completely different from seeing her on a screen. She was beautiful and the little girl that’s a part of my soul was having the time of her life. She seemed to be pondering something until she looked at me through the bars and smiled. My previous feelings of dread were gone immediately and I felt safe and encouraged by that smile alone. Princess Celestia was truly a sight to behold.

Her horn glowed a golden aura and the cell door swung open. Apparently she’s her own master key and doesn’t need a guard to open it for her. She came in and closed the door behind as she sat down on the floor. I panicked as I realized she shouldn’t be sitting on the floor and quickly tried to make my only furniture more presentable to her.

“Wait, wait, please your highness, let me fix the bed for you and you can sit on it. I’m so sorry, please I insist…uh… would you like some water? I still have some from breakfast, or would you umm…uh…,” I trailed off trying to figure out what to say.

She waved her hoof and beckoned me to calm down as she spoke. “It’s quite alright my dear. Please, sit down and collect yourself, there’s no need to get so worked up.”

She continued to smile as I sat down and took a few deep breaths. When I was able to get my heart under control I smiled right back at her to show her I was calm now.

“Let’s start with introductions, my name is Celestia, Princess to the ponies of Equestria and it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” She said in the same voice I remembered from the show.

“My name is Katy, but right now I guess my name could also be Undyne too. You can call me either if you wish,” I said as she looked at me curiously.

“You have two names? Would you explain why for me, I find it very fascinating?” she asked as she picked herself up and sat closer to me next to the bed.

I tried to resist the urge to reach out and feel what her flowing mane felt like. Her mane was a constant mystery in my mind and I buried it down to try and figure out what to tell her.

“It’s a long story, do we have enough time? I asked

“We do, I’ve arranged my whole afternoon to be cleared up, so don’t worry, we have plenty of time.”

I told her about how I was originally a human from a different world. I thought she would have looked at me like I was crazy but she still looked at me with genuine curiosity and beckoned me to continue. I told her how I and my brother went to a convention and how I ended up in that black void after we left a vendor stall. I explained how a weird blinding light covered me and changed me and my costume. I then told her of how I fell out of the void and came crashing into Equestria.

“Then that purple shroud covered me as I fell and then I ended up in that clock shop. You probably know the rest.” I said as I finished my tale and looked down at my knees in shame.

Celestia laid her hoof on my hand and I looked at her to see her smile gone and sympathy in her eyes.

“You poor dear, to be torn from your life like that. I’m truly sorry, it must have been so frightening to find yourself in such an unknown environment.” She said in a gloomy voice.

“Heh… actually, I don’t think I was frightened that much. I was happy just being alive. Although, when the guards came I admit that I panicked a little,” I said chuckling at the happiness I felt when I survived the crash.

She smiled again and brought up another question. “However, what would you prefer to be called? You say that your body has changed into the character you were dressed as, so would you prefer being called her name or would you prefer your original name?”

I considered this and came to a final conclusion. “I think I’d like to be called Undyne for now, it’s kinda fun to be named after a hero from a video game.”

“You must tell me more about these video games in the future when we get the chance. Anyhow, lets continue, I’ve already reviewed the guard reports but I would like you to explain some parts of the events to get your side of the story. I’ll start by first telling their side of the events and stop when I have a question. Please feel free to stop me if you feel that any part of this report is false and explain why,” She explained to me.

I nodded and she started off with how the guards came upon the scene after hearing the disturbance. She told me about the events at the shop, and I told her I was startled and felt like I had to flee because I thought I was in danger when the guards tried to arrest me. She nodded and continued with the report. She told me about the events at the barber shop and asked her next question.

“Now I understand that you were scared, and I know that the guard wasn’t hurt. But don’t you think that taking a hostage was a step too far?” She asked as I sat there in shame.

‘What do I say, do I just agree with her and say the truth? But what if she doesn’t like what I say? Ah fuck it, if Trixie and Starlight Glimmer can get away with barely any punishment for threatening entire towns, I’m sure I can say the truth and not have to worry too much.’

“Yeah, I went a little too far with that one. But I was just going to snuggle him, honest, I wasn’t actually going to hurt him. The whole ‘not going to be able to receive hugs for weeks’ thing was just a bluff.” I said hoping that she believed me.

She looked at me sternly and searched for any hint of lies before she spoke again. “I believe you, now we come to the events in the alley outside of the barber shop.”

This was the moment I dreaded the most and I just couldn’t look at her anymore. I just couldn’t take the shame. They were guards just doing their jobs and trying to protect the city. I felt ashamed when I couldn’t control my emotions and let anger and fear control me instead. I felt so humiliated when I broke down and begged the guards to release me as they tried to cuff me. Then I attacked them with those spears and I saw their SOUL’s. Seeing them so helpless on the ground made me feel sick and I felt tears threatening to break past my eyes.

‘NO, I am not going to cry, I’m not that weak and I will not show such weakness,’ I thought as I fought back against the tears.

I felt a winged appendage across my back and I knew that Celestia was trying to console me. I still couldn’t work up the willpower to look at her again but her hoof swept underneath my chin and she forced me to look at her again. Her face was awash with warmth and understanding.

“I have no excuse for what happened. I lashed out and those ponies got hurt because of me. I’m so sorry,” I said speaking what I believed to be true in my heart.

She didn’t do anything but nod and I knew she understood.

“Yeah, I think I need a hug right now.” I said hopefully

She smiled and opened her other wing in a silent invitation. I hugged her and she felt so soft and warm against my scales. I finally got to touch her mane and it felt like there was tiny threads of smooth silk running between my fingers. I felt some sort of energy, similar to the one I felt when I summoned those spears in the ally, but I felt it move passively against my hand like water.

‘This is so cool, I’m actually hugging Celestia!”

I released her from my hug and I felt her wings move away. She allowed me a few more moments to get a hold of myself again and asked another question.

“I’ve reviewed this part extensively and I know now that you truly didn’t want any of that to happen. But I must know, what were those strange hearts my guards saw?”

I sighed as I got ready to tell her. “Those were their SOULs, monsters have the ability to bring out a person’s, or in this case pony’s, SOUL while in combat. When in combat, a monster can attack a pony’s soul directly and shatter it to kill them. A monster’s attack can also physically harm them as well and this damage can directly affect their soul. After a pony is dead, the monster can then…”

I chocked as I realized I probably told her too much. Humans attacked monsters out fear for their ability to absorb a person’s SOUL. If she finds out about this she’ll probably leave me to rot here in order to protect her little ponies.

“Then what? Undyne? What’s the matter?” She asked worried.

I stared at her for a couple seconds and decided to trust her. She’s the only one that can get me out of here and help me. I need to trust her in order for her to trust me.

“I’m going to tell you something that’s really scary alright. Please believe me when I say that I would never try to kill your ponies to do this.”

She stared at me for a couple seconds before she spoke up again. “Undyne it’s alright, I believe you.”

I took a deep breath as I finished my explanation. “If a monster were able to kill a pony, they can then take the pony’s SOUL and absorb it into themselves. Once they do that, they gain a huge magical power boost. From just one SOUL alone, they can become near godlike in power.”

Celestia brought her hoof across her barrel and stared at her chest worried. I quickly tried to ease her fears.

“But don’t worry, if a monster were to absorb a SOUL, their body would change drastically and control over the new body would be split between the monster and pony. Both monster and pony must willingly accept one another and share the power if they were to use it to its full potential. If power over the new body is not equally shared then it can lead to dire consequences for both parties. It’s why I’ll never try it and I just can’t stand the act of killing someone or somepony just for the sake of power. Please believe me,” I said as I thought of the fates of both Chara and Asriel.

Celestia looked back up to me again. “I said I believed you and I meant it. But… I’ve got a request and it’s a little strange.” She paused but I nodded for her to continue.

“I’m actually quite curious as to what my own SOUL looks like. Do you think you could try and show me?” She asked and I was really taken back in surprise.

‘Did she not listen to me when I told her that I have to attack someone in order to make their SOUL’s appear?’ I thought questioning the Princess’s sanity.

“Yeah but, are you sure? I have to attack you in order to make it appear. I’m serious, you could put yourself in serious danger here.” I said hoping she would back off from the request.

She smiled at my concern for her but didn’t seem dissuaded in the least.

“Yes, I’m quite sure, I’ll turn off the wards within the glyphs. You’ve been nothing but honest with me this entire meeting, I trust that you wouldn’t want to really hurt me.” She said and I never felt more heartened in my entire life.

‘She’s only just met me and she already trusts me that much. I’m not sure whether to be impressed that she knows me that well already, or concerned that she may be too naïve. Or maybe she’s that confident in her own strength.’

Her horn glowed and the glyphs on the ceiling glowed a bit before they disappeared from view. She sat there on the ground waiting for me to hit her and I hesitated a little before I closed my right hand into a fist. I slowly brought up my fist and lightly jabbed her in the chest. We both sat there waiting for something to happen until a large golden heart blasted out of her chest.

The gold color disappeared and was replaced by red symbolizing determination. The color then changed into every other color in rapid succession and both I and Celestia stared at her SOUL in wonder.

“Those colors represent different character traits that you embody. I’ve never seen someone have this many colors before in the game. It might mean that either your SOUL is very powerful, or you’re just a very well rounded pony with a strong grasp over many character traits. Those colors tell me that you embody traits such as determination for red, patience for light blue, perseverance for purple, bravery for orange, integrity for blue, kindness for green, and justice for yellow. This is so cool!” I said, and as soon I finished my explanation, the SOUL disappeared.

Celestia brought her hoof to her chest and rubbed the spot where her SOUL used to be. She looked up at me and seemed so happy.

“Thank you for that, indeed it was very… cool. But let us continue our discussion over yesterdays’ events.” She said, but just as soon as she said that, we heard a knock on the bars outside the cell.

We both looked towards the door and found a pony in a maid outfit holding a tray of food on her back. She along with a guard were staring at us with their mouths wide open, likely witnessing what just happened between me and Celestia. The maid got a hold of herself and bowed her head towards the princess before she spoke.

“Princess Celestia, I’ve brought you and the prisoner you’re lunch for this afternoon.”

Celestia got up and moved towards the door and opened it to take the tray off the maid’s back. “Thank you very much Miss Sugar, don’t worry about returning the tray I’ll take care of it.”

The maid bowed her head again and left. The guard pony was still standing there slack jawed and staring at Celestia’s chest until she knocked him out of it with her voice.

“Sir Strong are you quite alright. Do you see something you like?” She asked with a smirk that shut the pony’s mouth and sent him scrambling to salute to her.

“No your highness, I mean yes, it was just so…I mean… but… I’ll just get back to my duties.”

“Carry on Sir Strong,” Celestia said and the guard pony moved along and out of sight.

Celestia closed the cell door and brought the food over to the bed. My lunch seemed to include more salmon, but this time there was a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Juicy looking apples and oranges caught my eye along with some bright orange carrots and lush looking broccoli. Three small cakes with different colors of frosting sat at the edge of the tray for dessert. Celestia took the jug of water into her magical grasp and poured the water into two crystal clear glasses.

As we ate, we went over the rest of events from yesterday and Celestia now knew the perceptions from both parties. I treated myself to a cake considering that it’ll take more than a few sweets to ruin these abs. Celestia seemed to have no qualms about eating so much dessert and ate two of the cakes.

‘Yep, she really loves her sweets, I wonder if she uses some sort of spell to keep herself so thin. Or maybe it takes a lot more than two cakes to put a dent in an alicorn’s body.’ I thought as my taste buds took in all the sweetness of the cake.

Just as we finished our meal, we started to talk about my magical abilities. I told her how the character Undyne could summon multiple spears to attack her enemies and how she could keep her opponents in place as she fought them.

“I don’t really know how I summoned those spears in the alley. I felt some sort energy leave my body when I summoned them, but I’m not sure why I felt the energy in the first place. I know that my anger might have triggered the spears but it may have just been a reflex to defend myself because I don’t remember actually wanting to summon spears to attack the guards.” I explained to Celestia.

Celestia seemed to be pondering this until she brought up a plate in front of her with her magic. “Sorry about this.”

She threw the plate at me and I jumped in surprise when I saw it coming towards me. A blue spear came out of the wall between us and smashed the plate before it could hit me. The shattered pieces of ceramic fell onto the floor and the blue spear slowly receded back into the wall.

“What the hell Celestia, you couldn’t have given me a little warning first!” I chastised her but she was giggling the whole time.

“Oh I’m so sorry Undyne, despite my crude methods it seems to confirm that your spears do react to you being under attack.” She said giggling until we heard hooves clopping outside the cell.

“Your highness I heard a crash, is everything alright in there,” the guard stallion from before came up to the cell door ready to act.

“Everything’s fine Sir Strong, don’t worry, we’re just testing a few things. Return to your post,” Celestia said

“Uh yes, your highness,” Strong left again scratching his helmet with his hoof, likely confused about what just happened.

I looked at the spot in the wall where the spear came from and found no marks from where it emerged. It looked like the spear literally came from nothing and I began to get really excited at the idea that I could use magic.

“Now let’s see you try and attack one of these plates,” she said as she laid a plate on the ground.

I stared at the plate and tried to will a spear into existence. I raised my hand towards the plate and kept ordering a spear to appear with my thoughts. I then tried to imagine the plate as an enemy and that I really needed to destroy it.

‘This plate is your enemy, now strike at it with everything you’ve got.’

A blue glow radiated around the plate and a blue spear immediately shot up from the floor and shattered it.

“Whoohoo, that was awesome, can I get another plate?” I asked Celestia. She looked at me with an amused expression before she answered.

“I may own a lot of plates but I still don’t want to anger my favorite chef.” I gave her my best puppy dog look with my one eye and whimpered a little at my loss of fun. Her willpower was not enough resist my cuteness.

“Alright, alright, just one more.” She said as she laid down one more plate on the floor.

More pieces of ceramic showered into the air as another spear jettisoned from the ground. Some pieces got into Celestia’s mane and I helped her get them out.

“That’s my punishment for starting all of this I guess. Now that I have the full story, I’ll leave you be for the evening. I’ll send for a maid to clean all this up.” She said as she got up.

“Wait aren’t you going to put the wards back up?” I asked

“Of course not, how else are you going to practice your magic and control it? I trust that you’ll not abuse my trust and stay in your cell until after the trial is done tomorrow?” She asked with a smile.

“Yes mom,” I responded sarcastically.

“Good, now your lawyer should be coming in later tonight to brief you about your defense during the trial. She’s really excited to meet you.” She said as she made for the door.

“Wait, I got a lawyer? But Dr. Steady Hoof said that no law office would take my case.” I said confused.

“He was right, no ‘law office’ would take your case. But my sister Luna was more than willing to be your defense lawyer.”

Author's Notes:

Sorry about ending the chapter here, but the events before, during, and after the trial are probably going to be worth more than 6000 words. I don't like the thought of making my chapters overly drawn out so I'll try to keep each chapter at least between 5,000-10,000 words. Anyway, till next time.