//------------------------------//
// (13) Hanging By A Moment 
// Story: Coming Out Of My Cage 
// by Boopy Doopy 
//------------------------------//

Katrina didn’t go back to Equestria that day, or the next day, feeling too depressed to do so. Instead, she spent time laying in bed just staring at the ceiling. She contemplated her situation a little bit, but for the most part, she did her best to not think about anything. She wanted a break from her life for a little while if she could have it. However, that was impossible with how awful she felt.
She did go back the day after, spending a few hours in Equestria with Twilight Sparkle. She took in the relief as she changed, but even still, did her best to not think too much about herself. She didn’t want to think about what she couldn’t have and just enjoy the moment, and happily enough, Twilight didn’t press her on it. They spent most of their time talking about other things, Twilight showing Katrina her collection of books and leading her to different parts of her castle. It wasn’t much, but it was a nice time, one that she appreciated. 
“So I have a question,” Katrina asked. “If you’re supposed to be a princess, how come you’re spending so much time with me? Do you not have other things to do?”
“Normally I would, and I actually do today,” she explained, “but my main objective for however long the worldgate remains is to get to know you and see what humans are like. Actually, that’s probably going to be my job for the next few years as it stands, since the ultimate goal would be to allow free immigration into Equestria for other creatures. But that’s not something that’s going to happen any time soon. Right now we’re just focused on learning about human culture through you, and eventually other people, too.”
“Okay, so other than basically hanging out with me all day, what exactly does a princess of friendship do?” she asked as she was shown around. “That seems like a very weird title. You said before you had a school about friendship, but what does that mean?”
“Oh! I spend time teaching ponies and other creatures about exactly that! We go through lessons about the subject! I’m quite well studied since my time in Ponyville. Although we do teach about other things, too. Each of my friends runs their own class.”
“I assume you also teach regular things like math and science and stuff?”
“And history and ponish and thaumatology,” she nodded. “We wouldn’t be able to receive accreditation without having those things taught. Oh! You should let me take you on a tour of my school!”
Before she could respond, Twilight suddenly lit up her horn, and a second later, the two were standing at the front entrance of the building. Katrina was frazzled by the suddenness of being in a new place, and let out a shiver as she shook her mane.
“Please don’t do that again,” she said after a long moment, blinking away her disorientation. “I don’t like that.”
“Sorry,” Twilight apologized before she started walking, Katrina following carefully behind her. It looked quite picturesque, she had to admit. There was a large pond surrounding the walkway the two were on, and a couple of waterfalls at the door they were supposed to walk in. Tall hills around it and surrounded by trees made the scene even more beautiful, and there were bridges in other areas to allow for other entry and exit points. It was impressive, she had to admit. If she could’ve gone to school somewhere like this, she would have.
“How far away is this from your castle?” Katrina asked. “The area around that was mostly flat from what I saw, and so was that town we went to.” She looked around in the distance a bit and added, “I don’t see your castle from here either.”
“It’s quite a distance, several miles from the main part of town. That’s why I teleported us-”
“Whoa!”
Katrina hadn’t been looking where she was going, and before she knew it, she was stepping on her tail and falling into the water, scowling as she struggled to get back on the walkway. Twilight couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of her, using her magic to help her up.
“I’m wet,” was all she could say as she avoided the urge to shake the water out of her hair. “God fucking damnit. This is why I can’t be a pony. I keep tripping over my hooves and stepping on my tail and it’s frustrating to deal with.”
“I can’t count how many times I’ve fallen into the pond,” Twilight chuckled, grimacing a little bit at the foul language. “Reading a book while walking, or teleporting just a little to the left or right of where I needed to be. It has to have been over a dozen times I ended up in the water. Did you need something to dry off?”
Katrina could only give her a look, letting her know the obvious answer before the two started off again.
“It actually happens so often,” Twilight told her as they walked, Katrina’s coat dripping as they entered the building, “that we added bathrooms with drying off stations in them near the entrance.” She pointed a hoof at where they were and explained, “I don’t know if you know this yet, but stallion means male and mare means female.”
“I had an idea, but it’s good to know for sure. Thank you.” With that, she quickly hurried into the mare’s room, before stepping out a second later. “I have no idea what the heck I’m doing,” she called. “All I see is a big cylinder.”
“All you have to do is stand in that cylinder and it’ll use magic to dry you off,” she explained. “It’ll take about two to three minutes to complete.”
With that, she did as was told, standing and letting the warm magic dry her off. There was no wind or anything. It felt more like a towel was working over her to soak up every last drop of water somehow. It was very interesting, to say the least, and she silently wondered where the water went.
Afterward, she went to use the bathroom for its normal purpose. However, the second she locked the stall, someone else entered with her. 
“Oh god, oh god, oh god,” she thought frantically, all of a sudden one second away from having a heart attack. “Oh, this is bad, bad, bad. Why didn’t Twilight tell them I was in here?”
Whoever it was didn’t enter a stall of their own, Katrina could tell that. She looked down to see hooves and white legs standing in front of a mirror, unmoving. A few seconds later, she heard the pony hum in a voice that sounded familiar.
“Rarity,” she somehow remembered. “That’s Rarity. She was the one who gave me the dress after I helped Twilight.” She calmed down a tiny bit at the familiar name, still on the edge of a heart attack, but not nearly as much as she was before.
“Twilight said Rarity probably already knows, so it’s fine. Even if it’s not her, you already look like a girl. You’re a lady in the ladies’ room. Just do what you have to do and get out.”
She did her best to put those words into practice, taking a seat on the toilet. As she did though, predictably enough, the tip of her tail ended up in the water, making her clench her teeth in frustration. It was enough to get tears to stream down her cheeks as she did everything in her power to not scream.
She wanted to be a girl. That was it. Being a pony was taking away from the niceness she felt about herself. She hated having to fix her tail when she sat down or walk slowly to make sure she didn’t trip over her hooves or have to pick up things with her mouth. As much as she wanted to be herself, this wasn’t really herself. At best, she was roleplaying as someone she wanted to be, that person being clumsy and uncoordinated and a pony rather than a human.
She took a breath to calm down as she relieved herself, trying to put the fact that she was only half of what she wanted to be out of her mind for now. When she was done, she went to grab toilet paper, looking at the roll for a second before remembering again that she was a pony. It wasn’t even half as bad as being a male, but it was still upsetting to deal with.
“No way to use toilet paper with these useless hooves,” she thought frustratedly. “Great.”
It took careful maneuvering of her limbs and body to get in a position where she could wipe herself. As she did, she started to feel anxious about how long she was taking in the stall and what Rarity might think about it. As soon as she was done, she exited and spent about five seconds washing her hooves, trying her best to slink out unnoticed as the unicorn did her makeup.
“Oh! Hello Katrina,” the white unicorn greeted, stopping her in her tracks. “I didn’t expect I would ever see you here,” she said, not turning towards her as she focused on the mirror in front of her. “What brings you to the School of Friendship? Are you with Twilight right now?”
“Uh, yeah,” unable to hide her blush and her shaky hooves at having done her business in the same room as her. “I’m sorry,” she suddenly said, unable to stop herself as she went back to the cylinder to dry off her tail. She felt certain that Rarity was going to call her out for being a man in the women’s restroom.
Rarity turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow in confusion. “What ever for, darling?” she asked. 
“Uh, nothing. I- I j-just… never mind.” She felt absolutely flustered by the situation, and had her ears pressed against her head as she stared at her hooves as a result.
“First time in the mare’s room?” she asked, giving Katrina a knowing smile. “I know how that can be. There’s nothing to worry about at all, dear. You look perfectly fine.”
“I- I, um…” she trailed off, now looking completely away. She had no idea what to say, and felt like dying of shame and embarrassment. 
“Oh, I’m sorry, that was rude of me. I shouldn’t be drawing attention to that. I apologize. How have you been, Katrina? Do you like the dress I made for you?”
“Yes, I do,” she answered quietly, happy for the change in conversation. “I’m really glad you made it for me, even if it... um, doesn’t look good on me…”
“Oh, of course it does! You look absolutely beautiful, Katrina, so much so that I’m almost jealous. Although when I’m feeling not as up to par as I should be, I put on a little bit of makeup. I could do yours for you right now, if you’d like me to?”
Katrina blinked at that offer. “R-right now?” she asked. “Are you sure?”
“Of course, I’m sure, sweetheart. A little makeup to make you feel pretty will give you the confidence you need to seize the day. It certainly helps me when I need it.”
“I- I don’t really like makeup that much,” she admitted, although it didn’t stop her from smiling at the thought of it.
“Well, that grin of yours says something different to me,” Rarity responded, smiling back at her. “We won’t do too much. Just a light touch up, okay? A little bit of shadow for your eyes and some mascara. Nothing fancy.”
She obliged her, stepping up to the mirror and letting the unicorn work, silently watching as her face changed. It was subtle, but noticeable, the little touches of femininity that were added to her already feminine appearance, and it made her smile wider to watch. She wondered if the art would come with her through the worldgate and help fix the extreme masculineness she had on Earth.
“All done!” Rarity said, moving next to her again after quite a while and looking in the mirror with her. “Do you like it?” she asked eagerly.
“It looks amazing,” she told her happily. It wasn’t overly complicated like she expected it to be, only enough to darken out her eyes a bit and extend her lashes, along with a little bit of gold on the tops of her eyelids, barely visible but still able to shine if she fluttered her eyes.
“Thank you for doing this for me,” she told her gratefully. “I love it. I want to be able to do something like this myself.” She ignored the thought that it would probably require coming out to do. She didn’t imagine her family buying that she was just curious if they decided to suddenly show up one day.
“No trouble at all, darling,” Rarity replied. “If you ever feel up to it, feel free to stop by the Carousel Boutique and I can offer you some supplies of your own. As well, it would be lovely if we could go out for a mare’s only spa day.”
“That sounds absolutely wonderful,” Katrina smiled. “I’m going to take you up on that offer. Thank you again. I need to get back to Twilight now. I don’t know how long I’ve kept her waiting out there.”
“I do need to get to work on my own makeup now, darling,” she said. “I’ll speak to you again some other time, Katrina. Bye, dear.”
“Bye.”
It turned out she kept Twilight waiting quite a long time, so long that she was no longer anywhere to be found. She called out after her friend and received no answer, and after a few minutes and a few more times trying to call for her, she decided to head out to try and find her. Luckily, there was a sign right near the restrooms that explained where the counselor’s office was. She had to assume that the Princess of Friendship in a school about friendship had to be the counselor. 
She casually let herself into the room once she got there, finding not Twilight but instead a bright pink pony with purple hair that had a sky blue stripe running through it. She immediately turned to Katrina, looking surprised by her arrival.
“Hi- oh! I don’t think I’ve seen you before!” she greeted. “You must be a new student to the school. My name is Starlight Glimmer. What’s yours?”
Katrina took a breath and raised a hoof to point at her before saying, “Your voice sounds exactly like mine, and it’s completely unbelievable.”
“Huh? I don’t hear it. I think you sound like a friend of mine, Lyra Heartstrings?”
“I think I heard Spike say that name too, but I can’t remember, but I’m telling you, it’s completely unbelievable how similar your voice is to mine.”
“Well, if you say so. Uh… what can I do for you?” As she said it, she plastered a wide smile on her face that told her she was ready for whatever she asked.
“I’m looking for Twilight?” Katrina asked. “She’s supposed to be showing me around the school?” Starlight opened her mouth to comment before Katrina added, “I’m not a student. Twilight’s just my friend, and wanted to… show off, I guess?”
“Ah. Well, in that case, I can bet you, she’s in the school library. Follow me, ma’am.”
She couldn’t help but smile. Every new person that called her ma’am was every new person that saw her as she wanted to be. It made her feel more confident in herself every time she heard it and made her heart flutter every time she was called it.
“It’s unbelievable how similar to me you sound,” Katrina said as she walked behind her. “It’s almost an out-of-body experience to listen to.”
“If you say so, but I’m telling you, I really don’t hear it.”
With that, the two went to the library, Starlight lighting up her horn to teleport them and Katrina jumping at the sudden change again.
“Do- do all ponies get around that way?” she asked shakily. “I don’t like that at all. That is so uncomfortable.”
“Sorry. Anyway, just like I said, there’s Twilight, reading books like always.” Starlight used a hoof to point her out, and the alicorn waved them over.
“Sorry I left Katrina,” she apologized. “You were taking forever with Rarity in the bathroom, and I needed to get work done. I figured you would stumble across me at some point.”
“She was with Rarity?” Starlight asked. “That explains her nice makeup. It really suits her. I’m almost jealous.”
Katrina couldn’t help but blush and smile shyly at that as Twilight said, “I think so, too. Anyway, I see you two have met.”
“Yes, we have,” they both said at the same time, Katrina flinching at the sound. “That is creepy,” she said. “It’s like I’m hearing a recording of myself, you sound so much like me. It is absolutely crazy to listen to.”
“Eh, I don’t hear it,” Twilight said. “I think you sound a lot more like Lyra Heartstrings.”
“That’s what I told her,” Starlight agreed. “She said Spike told her that, too.”
“I don’t know who that is, but if it’s any more uncanny than it is listening to you talk right now, then my head is gonna spin.”
There was a long pause before Starlight finally spoke. “Well, I have to go back now,” she said, stretching her legs. “Lots of ponies need my help, and there’s a lot of paperwork to do for the help I provide.” She then turned and said, “It was very nice to meet you, uh…”
“Katrina,” Katrina said, “and likewise.” She somehow knew to bump her hoof with Starlight’s, but fell over as she did so, sighing in frustration. A second later, the mare disappeared. With that, the two were left alone, neither of them saying anything for a minute as Twilight continued to read.
“Hey, Twilight, I have a serious question for you,” she suddenly got out as she stood back up, breaking the long silence.
“Is it about your voice?” she asked. “I don’t think you sound like Starlight at all, honestly. I can’t hear whatever similarities you’re hearing.”
“Not, it’s not that. I was just wondering if Rarity was trans.”
The alicorn looked up from her book at that, raising an eyebrow. “Not that I know of,” she answered, “although it’s not something I ever asked. I can’t say how surprised I would be if she said she was though. Why do you ask?”
“I don’t know. It was just a couple of comments she made to me that made me think she might be, but I’m probably overthinking it. It’s nothing.” With that, she asked, “Weren’t you going to show me around the school?”
“I wanted to give you a tour,” she said, “but you took up all our time with doing makeup with Rarity. As nice as it looks, we don’t have any time to really see anything else.”
“Ah. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to abandon you like that.”
“No trouble. I do have to go back now. Do you mind if we teleport? I know you don’t like it, but I can’t walk all the way back today. Or if you want to, I can give you directions for how to reach the castle from here.”
“Ugh, fine, but I won’t like-” she started, being interrupted with the change of scenery again. She closed her eyes for a second and got her bearings before continuing, “I will never, ever get used to that.” She let out a breath and turned to Twilight, telling her, “Thank you for having me for… what is this, the fourth time I’ve come here? Fifth? I know I kind of distracted myself from what you wanted to do, but I appreciate you having me anyway. It’s nice hanging out with you.”
“It’s no trouble. There are plenty of other days. And it’s nice talking to you, too, Katrina,” Twilight smiled kindly. “I do have to go now though. I don’t want to waste any more time. I’ll see you later, Katrina.”
“See ya later, Twilight,” Katrina waved with a smile.