It was easy enough to follow the sounds of whispers and the overt stares in her direction. Like studying an earthquake, they led her to the epicenter, a corkboard nearby the cafeteria with all sorts of fliers on it. What was drawing everyone's attention, however, was a lacy pink thong hanging off a thumbtack. In case there was any doubt whose they were, the front bore Pinkie's signature trio of balloons. Pinned underneath it was an index card with the message, "Take these back, slut."
Blushing with indignant embarrassment, Pinkie whipped her panties from the corkboard and stuffed them into a side pocket of her backpack. Then she took the index card and tore it into four pieces before throwing them into the nearest trash can. That didn't stop the gossiping--in fact, her frenzied attack on the message had probably multiplied it--but it made her feel a little better. She stalked over to the table where her friends were sitting and huffed into a seat next to Fluttershy, who jumped in surprise.
"Hey, Pinkie," said Rainbow Dash. "Bad morning, huh?" Pinkie muttered a reply mostly composed of PG-13 swear words.
"I hate to be the one to broach the subject--" Rarity began.
"No, ya don't," Applejack replied.
"--but I have to ask. Who put your... unmentionables up on the board, and how'd they get them?"
"It was Lifting Melody, I bet," Pinkie said. "She got them from Dorian Mode."
"And how'd he get them?"
"I gave them to him." Pinkie put her face in her hands. "Not my best idea, I know."
"Why are you giving random boys your underwear?" Sunset asked her. The other girls stopped and stared at her. "What?"
"She had sex with him, Sunset," said Rainbow Dash. "Giving him her panties is like giving him a... trophy, basically. They do it all the time in movies and stuff."
"I swear, I don't usually do that!" Pinkie cried. "He just asked for it, and I thought it wouldn't be a big deal!"
"Y'all forgot he might get a girlfriend later," Applejack added. "Maybe next time, don't give out a pair that's effectively branded with your name."
"I know, I know." She moaned and dropped her head onto the table with a thunk.
"What I still don't get is, why does Lifting Melody have such a problem with it?" Sunset asked. "So he had sex with Pinkie previously; so what?"
"I think that part was pretty evident from her by-line." Sunset still looked confused, so Rarity continued, "'Take these back, slut?'" Sunset shrugged.
"Sunset, how do you not know what 'slut' means?" Pinkie asked. "You used to call me that all the time when you were still a bully."
"Equestrian doesn't have the word 'slut,' as far as I'm aware. Most of my bullying went by ear; I picked it up without really understanding why it was a bad thing."
"It means she has sex with other people more frequently than Melody would prefer," Applejack said, a bit sarcastically.
"She wasn't dating Dorian at the time, either," Fluttershy added.
"Right, right. That goes in the definition, too."
Sunset frowned. "Oh. Well, I'm sorry I called you that. That was uncalled for, and I have nothing but respect for your personal choices."
"All is forgiven!" Pinkie replied with her trademark grin.
"Though that doesn't really answer my question," Sunset continued. "Why was it any of Lifting Melody's business who Dorian'd had sex with?"
"Good question!" Rainbow Dash answered, a bit too loudly.
Applejack shushed her and turned towards Sunset. "What she means is, it really shouldn't be. But some girls get... jealous, I suppose'd be the word."
"Did you get jealous with Flash's previous experience?" Rarity asked.
"No, I never asked."
"It didn't come up in conversation... afterwards?"
"After what?" Sunset asked.
Rarity blinked. "You dated him for two years, didn't you?"
"Yeah, and?" Sunset tipped her head in confusion.
“Oh, well, I just figured, if you’d been dating him that long...” Rarity suddenly blushed and turned away.
“She’s trying to ask if you had sex with him,” Applejack said, stone-faced.
“Oh! Ohhh.” Sunset blushed as well. “No, we didn’t. I take it that’s unusual on this side of the mirror?”
“Not really unusual, I guess, just less and less common, these days.”
“Really? Huh. If it’s not too probing, have any of you…?”
One by one, they raised their hands. When Fluttershy raised hers, Sunset remarked, “You too, Fluttershy?”
“It was the neighbor boy, nine days after I got my first period. I was… curious,” she said quietly.
When it came around to Twilight, she said, “I’m still a virgin, Sunset, so it’s not just you.”
“If you had been dating Flash Sentry for two years, though?” Rarity asked.
Twilight’s face lit up, and she put her hands up in front of herself and turned away. “Low blow, Rarity,” Rainbow Dash said. Next to her, Applejack started laughing.
“Sunny, are you saving yourself for marriage?” Pinkie asked.
Sunset gave a small, personal smile. “I guess I am. Is that so wrong?”
“Not at all, darling!” Rarity said. “It’s very traditional. Is that just how it’s done in Equestria?”
“I mean, kinda? Granted, I was just a teenager when I left, so I didn’t learn a whole lot about that kind of stuff.” She paused, then stared off into space. “Though I did get the sex talk twice—once over there, once here. That was a weird day. I should have known better than to put, ‘Does estrus last longer in warmer climates?’ in with the other anonymous questions.”
“That was you?” Applejack snorted. “I thought it was Rainbow Dash messing with the health teacher.”
“In any case,” Sunset said, “it’s less for marriage and more for once I’m ready to start having children, and when I’m mature enough to really appreciate it.”
“You do know there’s such a thing as condoms, right, Sunset?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“And hold on. Are you implying something about Pinkie Pie?” Applejack asked. “Do you think she’s not mature enough to be having sex? ‘Cuz honestly, you’re the most mature out of all of us. If you ain’t ready, nobody here is.”
“No, that’s not...” Sunset paused. “Am I saying that?”
“Are you or aren’t you?” Applejack scoffed. “You sounded pretty sincere earlier when you said you respected Pinkie’s life choices. I didn’t think you were lying about it.”
“I wasn’t!” Sunset protested. “I just… I just think it’s better to wait, is all. In my personal case!” she added before Applejack could jump down her throat again.
"Darling, not to pry--"
"Yer absolutely pryin'."
"...but is it because you expect it to be a special, beautiful moment? Because I have had two boyfriends, and--" here she coughed indelicately "--shall we say it takes a while before anyone's not disappointed."
"And if'n you don't want to have sex at all, that's more'n fine by our book," Applejack added. "I had my experience, figgered I don't like it very much, and now I'm holdin' off 'til I get married and decide to start raisin' some young'uns."
"No, it's not that," Sunset replied. "I guess... I guess it's just what I figured I was supposed to do?" She looked down at the table, a bit embarrassed. "That's kind of sad, saying it out loud."
"Not at all!" said Fluttershy. "We all have to decide for ourselves what the right way to go is."
"Exactly!" said PInkie. "Way back when, I felt similar to you, Sunset. I'd heard about sex in passing, but I didn't know anything about it, other than that it was really important, and only ponies who really loved each other did it. When I learned about it in health class, though, all I could think was, 'That sounds fun! People should do that all the time!' So I asked the boy who sat next to me in class to do it with me later that week. And we did, and it was fun! And then later, I did it with someone else, and that was fun, too! And then I did it with a girl, and that was fun in a totally different way! And I figured, hey, as long as I was having fun, there couldn't be anything wrong with that. So I just... kept doing it. And I've made tons of people happy with my body, so that's even more fun!"
"As long as you're being safe, of course," Fluttershy said.
"I am, I am, don't you worry your little head about that!" Pinkie fluffed Fluttershy's hair, who scowled and tipped her head away from Pinkie. "My point being, I found my way of enjoying sex. I'm not saying you have to do the same thing, Sunny, but... keep an open mind, 'kay?"
"Thanks, Pinkie. I absolutely will." She blushed and ran a hand over the back of her head. "I guess I'd never thought through my beliefs. I'll keep thinking about it. And hey," she said, leaning towards Pinkie and clasping her hand, "I think you're awesome for what you do. It's out of the norm, but you own it, and it makes you happy. If that means Lifting Melody calls you a 'slut' for it, well... fuck her!"
"Sunset!" the other girls gasped, almost by instinct.
"Hey, as long as Dorian's cool with it, I would if she asked." Pinkie stuck out her tongue. "But I have a feeling she's not going to."
"No, I rather doubt it, too." Rarity scoffed.
"So you'll have sex with just about anyone," Sunset mused.
"Just about!" Pinkie said. "Just like I'd play video games with just about anyone, or throw a party for just about anyone."
"Would you have sex with any of us?" Sunset asked. "I think we're deep enough into the weeds that that's not a weird question."
Rarity began to say something along the lines of, "A lady never kisses and tells," but Applejack beat her to it. "Most of us're pretty straight, Sunset. Not in our wheelhouse."
"What, so I'm the only other one here who--?" Once Sunset realized what she was saying, she clapped her hands over her mouth.
Pinkie's smile grew to match the Cheshire Cat's. "The only one here who what, Sunset?"
"Five bucks it's 'finds Pinkie attractive,'" AJ stage-whispered to Rainbow Dash.
"Ten it's 'would have sex with her!'" Rainbow threw back.
"Is bi!" Sunset said, loudly enough that the group at the table next to them gave her a funny look. When Pinkie started giving her puppy-dog eyes, she added more quietly, "Although you are very cute, Pinkie Pie," which got her grinning again.
"As far as I know, yeah," said Applejack. "We've been pretty open about it, 'n none of us save Pinkie have mentioned it."
"I don't think we've asked Twilight yet!" said Pinkie. They all turned to look at Twilight, whose eyes grew wide behind her glasses. Apparently overwhelmed by the sudden attention, she blushed bright red and shook her head back and forth.
"Well, there you have it, then." Rarity 'dusted' off her hands, signifying 'job's done,' and turned back to Pinkie. "So what are you going to do about Miss Melody? And may I remind you, you yourself said sleeping with her was off the table."
Pinkie hadn't really thought about it. "I wish I could take it to the principals, but there isn't really any proof she did it--it's 'she said, me said.' I don't wanna confront her, even with you girls with me. It's not really what she did that was the problem, just that she did it in public. Honestly? I'm just gonna let it go."
"What?!" said Rainbow Dash, leaning forward in her seat. "But she humiliated you! She called you a slut in front of the whole school!"
"I've had worse." Pinkie shrugged. The unspoken addendum, "from Sunset," was water under the bridge now.
The bell rang, meaning lunch was wrapping up. As the crew headed off to their own separate classes, Pinkie had one last thing for Sunset. "Oh, if you wanted to finish this conversation, I'm free to talk about it whenever. My door is always open~!"
"You mean your office door, right?" Sunset asked uncertainly. "Not your bedroom door?"
"Maybe...!" She winked and slipped into her World History class. Pinkie understood clearly why Rarity loved flirting so much; it was almost as fun as sex.
Almost.