//------------------------------//
// (11) Catch My Breath 
// Story: Coming Out Of My Cage 
// by Boopy Doopy 
//------------------------------//

The two ponies sat quietly for a while, Twilight eventually asking Katrina about her family and her life and Katrina doing her best to move on from the conversation that took place. Even being a pony, it was almost unreal how normal she felt, a concept that was completely foreign to her. She had to wonder if cis people felt like this all the time, always had the sense of wellbeing she had. 
“Thank you for spending time with me, Twilight,” Katrina finally said as the two stood up an hour or two later. “It was very lovely. I appreciate it.” As weird and as painful as it was, she thought she felt better after having told the mare about herself.
“No trouble,” the unicorn replied kindly, leaning on her for support. “There’s still a lot of time before sunset. Wanna head over to see Rarity about that dress now?”
“Um, I- I have to get back soon,” she blushed, looking away. “I- I have to go to work.” She looked up for a moment to see Twilight silently staring at her and continued, “But um, I can stop by for a few minutes really quick.” She smiled shyly and looked at her hooves as she said it.
“We don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Twilight told her. “You can just go home now if you want to. It’s not that big of a deal.”
“I… I do want to,” she explained softly. “I’m just worried that someone’s going to see right through me. And um, I’ve never… tried on a dress before.” It wasn’t exactly the truth, being about fifteen years old the last time she had, but it was true enough, she decided.
“Well as I always say, there’s a first time for everything,” Twilight responded. “But we don’t have to do it if you’re not comfortable. I just thought it might make you feel happy to do.”
“I’m sorry. It’s just a little bit overwhelming right now. But thank you. Can I get it another day? L-like tomorrow?” 
Katrina felt like she was going to die of embarrassment asking that question. She was absolutely expecting Twilight to be confused and ask why a boy would want to try on a dress. As wonderful as she felt and as nice as she looked, she was still waiting for the moment to come when someone would see her and point at her and call her out on being a male. 
“Of course. I don’t think either she or I have anything planned. Are you going to be here in the afternoon again?” Katrina nodded, and Twilight continued, “Let me put that on my planner. I’ll let Rarity know, too.”
“Th-thank you,” she responded, trying to hide her smile. “Um, you- you don’t see me as a male, do you?” Katrina asked as she looked away again. “B-because I came out to you? I keep feeling like you or someone else is going to come up to me and call me out.”
“No one is going to call you out, Katrina,” Twilight assured her. “You look like any other mare, I promise.”
“Okay, I trust you,” she decided. “Thank you.”
With that, the two of them left, returning to the castle. Katrina went to the door that would take her back to Earth, but before she went in, turned around to address Twilight.
“I- I just wanted to tell you thank you again,” she said, somehow not blushing or even feeling embarrassed. “It did hurt to talk about, but I feel a lot, lot better right now. I think that made me more confident in myself. Seeing how I looked in the mirror was… very nice, even if it was as a pony. Thank you.”
“Aw, it’s no trouble,” the mare replied kindly. “That’s what friends are for.”
She turned to leave again but once again stopped herself, asking, “Why are you being so nice to me?”
The mare raised an eyebrow at that. “What do you mean?” she asked back.
“I mean you don’t even know who I am, and yet you’re treating me like your best friend. I don’t understand it.”
Twilight now added a little tilt of her head to her expression, asking, “I am?”
“People on Earth don’t treat people they just met this kindly,” Katrina explained. “I've only been here a few times and yet you’re listening to me explain what’s basically my deepest secrets and trying to help me through them. I mean, I appreciate it, but I don’t understand why.”
She could only shrug, answering, “You looked like you needed somepony to listen. I didn’t mean to be pushy if that’s what you’re saying.”
“I get that, but like… why? Why do you care about me?”
“I’d listen to anypony who looked and felt so down about themselves,” she responded. “I am the Princess of Friendship after all and run a school based around teaching ponies about friendship. It wouldn’t make much sense if I didn’t set out to do the same thing. Not to mention, you are legally a guest here in Equestria, so that makes it doubly important to leave a lasting good impression.”
“Oh, I see,” Katrina said thoughtfully as she let it roll around her head. “Thank you. It means a lot.”
“Plus, I think you’ve been a very nice pony to my friends and I as well, so I can only return the kindness, can’t I?” Twilight added, giving her a wide smile.
At that, Katrina did blush, giving a smile and a wave before finally setting off through the door again, changing back into her normal human form. She sighed in bitter frustration at herself as she changed, able to once again feel everything that was wrong with her. However, she did her best to ignore it, thinking about her day with Twilight and how she was able to come out to her. Sure, she basically already knew, but Katrina was actually able to nod her head and confirm for her that she was trans. She said to Sylvia that very morning that she thought she would never have the courage to do it, and somehow she was just getting back from doing that very thing. It was unbelievable.
“Heck, this is so strange,” she thought to herself as she smiled and flopped onto her bed. “This shouldn’t be making me so happy. I only told her what I already know.”
It took her a minute of laying in bed thinking about it to realize what it was, and the realization made her blush again and smile widely. It was the fact that she was able to actually say who she was, as silly as she thought it was. Being able to not only admit to herself that she was trans but say it out loud; that was a very wonderful feeling. It was amazing to be able to physically say out loud the things she kept bottled up inside for years on end. It gave her more of that relief that she wanted, and made her smile as weird as it was. She didn’t want to be trans, but being able to admit that she was made her extremely happy.
She had to tell someone about it, and before she knew it, she was messaging Sylvia with her news.
“I just came out to my friend as trans,” she typed happily, “and she was so nice to me! She offered me a dress!”
It was a true enough message, she decided. A second later, she was reading the reply from Sylvia.
“Awwww, that’s so sweet of her! I knew you could do it! You’re a very wonderful lady.”
Katrina closed her eyes after reading that message and let the wave of euphoria wash over her. It was so, so unbelievable to be able to say aloud and talk about with people, so much so that she had to wonder why she spent so much time not even wanting to acknowledge it. It was amazing that she was able to both start to feel like herself and talk about herself. She found herself wishing she’d started doing this five or ten years ago.
“I told her I would get it tomorrow,” she messaged, “but on second thought, I think I want to get it right now.”
“If you can,” Sylvia told her, “you go get it and I’ll wait here for you and you tell me what it’s like.”
She didn’t need to be told twice, quickly shutting her device and making her way back down the ladder into the library closet, surprising Twilight.
“Oh, did you forget something?” she asked curiously as she tilted her head, looking a bit confused.
She was still smiling widely as she stood in front of her and covered her mouth with a hoof in embarrassment as she did. “Um, I was just, um,” she got out shyly. “I just wanted to see if I could still get that dress today, please.”
Twilight smiled widely back at her, and it wasn’t any time at all before the two found themselves walking into Rarity’s Carousel Boutique. While there were a few other items around the store, Katrina noticed that it was mostly different styles of dresses on display. She thought they all looked very nice, and got a wave of both anxiety and excitement from the fact that she was here for one of those specifically.
“Oh, hello Twilight, Katrina,” Rarity greeted them as she made her way up to the two. “I see a certain alicorn has told you about my dress making skills,” she smiled. “I actually just finished it up a few minutes ago if you can believe it.”
Katrina couldn’t help but smile at that as Twilight said, “She didn’t believe me when I told her that you’d have it finished in a day.”
“I spent all night working on it,” Rarity told them, “and I must say, it looks absolutely stunning. If you’d follow me to the dressing room?”
Katrina tried to drown her nervousness as she followed both of them. Before she knew it, a dress was being pushed in front of her, one that looked exactly like Rarity described she would make yesterday. A dark green dress with a bright yellow collar, except this came with the addition of purple flowers, roses she thought, one that made the dress look even more lovely. She found herself almost jealous looking at it for a moment before she remembered who it was supposed to be for.
“The ladies’ dressing room is right behind you,” Rarity told her, pointing a hoof in the direction she should go. “There are mirrors in there for you to get a good view of all angles it looks on you, not that it’s needed. I’m sure you’ll love it, darling.”
She didn’t comment as she picked the hanger up with her mouth, looking around to see if anyone was watching her before hurrying in. Her heart felt like it was going to explode with nervousness, but she was still smiling and gave a shiver at how nice she was being treated. It was just a dress she tried to tell herself, but it didn’t help. She couldn’t drown out her excitement and happiness.
She took a breath as she closed her eyes and slipped into the thing, having only a little bit of trouble before using a hoof to smooth it out. A second later, she opened her eyes again and let out a small gasp.
“Oh my gosh,” she whispered as she saw herself, the dress fitting on her perfectly. It wasn’t overly complicated as she expected it to be; in fact, it was rather simple. It had long sleeves for her front legs and went down to almost the floor on her back legs. She turned slightly to get a view from the side, and noticed when she did, it shimmered a bit in the light. It ruffled a bit on the end, and felt quite nice against her fur, feeling like it was made out of the finest material. It looked absolutely stunning, and once again, she almost didn’t realize that the girl in the mirror wearing it was her.
“Come on out, dear,” Rarity called, making her blush. “We’d like to see how it looks on you.”
She did as she was requested, her face feeling hot and her heart pounding as she did, waiting for accusations that she shouldn’t be wearing it. They never came, instead seeing Rarity clap her hooves in delight and Twilight smile kindly as she presented herself. 
“Come on, darling, give us a little spin, okay?”
She did as she was told, doing her best to spin around in a circle. However, as she did, she quickly got her hooves tangled up under her and fell to the ground, landing on her face. She couldn’t help but be irritated by her lack of coordination, one of the things she disliked about being a pony.
“Well, that might have ruined the moment,” she scowled frustratedly as she lay there for a second. “This would be about ten times better if I were a human.” It made her sigh a bit to think that the only thing she’d ever be was the pony version of herself.
“Oh, nonsense, it looks quite splendid on you,” Rarity commented as she helped her up. “Does everything feel right? The material isn’t too rough? Nothing’s digging into you, is it?”
“Mmm hmm,” Katrina nodded. “It looks and feels perfect.” As she said it, she smiled again, looking down to take in the colors and fabric of the dress on her. “It’s absolutely amazing,” she continued, closing her eyes for a moment. “Thank you.”
“Oh, no need to thank me, darling,” Rarity said graciously. “Every mare deserves a dress in my opinion. If no one else is there to deliver, then I shall. Think nothing of it.”
She couldn’t think nothing of it, taking a breath as she stood in front of them, turning back to the mirror for another look. She had to agree with Rarity: she looked absolutely amazing. It was so unbelievable, almost like this had to be a dream. It almost made a few tears drip down her cheek when she remembered that this was real life for her.
“Well, almost,” she thought to herself. “It’s almost real… if only I were a human…” She closed her eyes for a second and did her best to force that thought out of her head, wanting to enjoy the moment for what it was and not ruin it thinking about what it wasn’t.
“Thank you so much,” she said again happily, this time in a whisper as she took herself in, still hoping for a little bit more.