Twilight stands in PE class, her purple locks clasped in a tight braid that falls between her shoulder blades. The white gym shorts and deep red t-shirt fit her perfectly, as do her sparkly pink trainers. She's at the front of the class . 'This must be where humans exercise just like us ponies!' She thought. 'We're not so different after all huh.'
Fluttershy stands directly behind her, her pink hair in pigtails. Her clothes are slightly baggy. 15-year-old "Fluttershy" has been in Ponyville high for exactly five and a half months, and while the bullies are just as bad as the ones she left at Cloudsdale, Ponyville High School is treating her well.
The teacher starts the warm-up and the girls follow obediently, stretching their muscles as the teacher does. When he reaches down and touches his toes, Twilight is the first to copy, the years of dancing and gymnastics making her more flexible than most.
Fluttershy goes to bend down, too, but she pauses when she notices a deep red stain seeping through Twilight's white shorts. Oh no. She isn't close to the Purple girl, but their classmates won't let it go if they find out this is happening. But they're only part-way through the warm-up and the teacher won't be separating them into groups any time soon, so Fluttershy doesn't know what to do.
Biting her lip, she makes a snap decision and pretends to stumble into the girl next to her. She thinks her name is Rarity. Her diversion goes as planned as the girl falls and lets out a wail of surprise and pain, distracting her classmates and the teacher long enough for her to step closer to Twilight.
As the teacher tends to Rarity's injured ankle, Fluttershy grabs Twilight's hips to stop her from moving.
"Bathroom," she whispers, and Twilight gives her a confused look but lets Fluttershy lead her anyway.
Once they snuck away from the class and Fluttershy grabbed her bag from the cloakroom, they make their way to the girls' bathroom and she shuts the door firmly.
"What the heck is this about, Fluttershy?"
"You've got your period, Twilight," she hisses. "The others would've eaten you alive if they saw that."
Twilight's eyes widen, "What's a Period?" She never had a Period before was it something humans have?
Fluttershy pauses, shooting Twilight a curious look, before it clicks. "… You've never had your period before, have you?" Twilight shakes her head furiously, blushing harder. "What is it?"
"You never had that conversation with your parents?"
"No."
" Well, Twilght, Let's get this over with. You see, this 'bleeding' is called your period. It means you are becoming a woman. But, for most women, their period is hell. They get cramps, they're moody, and basically a thousand time worse than normal. This happens once a month!" Explained Fluttershy, a bright pink blush on her face the entire time. "Also, you're gonna need to wear pads."
Setting her baby pink bag with butterflies on the counter, Fluttershy digs through it until she finds her pads and throws one at Twilight. Twilight stared at her.
Fluttershy pinches the bridge of her nose and takes a deep breath as she leans against the counter. 'I'm going to have to teach her how to put a pad on now ,huh.'
"Alright," she says after a short pause. "Go into that stool and get yourself cleaned up, I'll- um … I'll help you with the pad."
Twilight nods shakily and locks herself in one of the stalls while Fluttershy busies herself by fixing her hair and make-up in the mirror. Fluttershy hears the lock on Twilight's stall click open and she looks over.
"I- I'm ready," Twilight murmurs, her voice weak.
Taking a deep breath, Fluttershy pushes the door open to see Twilight sitting on the toilet, her eyes wide and afraid. Her shorts and knickers are on the floor beside her, both stained with blood, and she doesn't have to ask to realise that Twilght doesn't have spare clothes with her.
Fluttershy silently goes back and grabs her own extras from her bag, then kneels down beside Twilight and slides the underwear onto her ankles. It's awkward from the angle she's at, but within a couple of minutes, the pad is in place and she's putting her hands on Twilight's knees.
"You'll be fine, okay? Stop looking at me with those puppy dog eyes."
Twilight lowers her gaze instantly and nods her head as Fluttershy tugs the PE shorts onto her legs as well.
Fluttershy lets out a relieved sigh.
"Okay, I'm gonna go back out there, and you can just finish up in here, okay?" Fluttershy says, pushing herself to her feet and pulling the door behind her as she left Twilight alone for a moment.
She sits sideways on the counter while she waits, and bites her lip when she notices a faint blush on her cheeks. She shouldn't be embarrassed about this, should she? She helped a girl out. Big deal.
When Twilight comes out of the stall, she looks like a kicked puppy with her head low and her shoulders drooped. She washes her hands like they've been stuck in human waste for the past twelve hours and they're rubbed raw by the time Fluttershy manages to stop her.
"Twilight, it's just blood," she says soothingly, pulling her hands away and turning the tap off. "You need to relax."
"But I feel gross," Twilight pouts.
"Say hello to your monthly nightmare," Fluttershy replies, drying Twilight's hands for her. She grabs a couple of extra pads from her bag and hands them to the girl silently. "These will last you the rest of the day. You might not need them, but just in case, go to the bathroom and check between each period. Um. Like, class period. Not period period. Obviously."
Twilight laughs quietly and takes the pads. "Thanks. And- and thanks for helping me. I'm so embarrassed."
Fluttershy just shrugs. "Do you want to skip the rest of PE? It'll be easier than having to sneak back in."
When Twilight nods, Fluttershy picks up her soiled clothes and dumps them in the sink, turning the tap on to rinse the blood away.
"Hey, Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy looks up. "Yeah?"
"I'm going to hug you now, okay?"
With a laugh, Fluttershy steps back from the sink.
"Okay."
'Yep. Our world isn't so different after all.'