Flamingo

↞Chapter 4: Speak No Evil↠

The evening breeze served as a consoling blanket on Pinkie's fur. She inhaled, taking in as much air her lungs would allow. It felt good to finally leave that stuffy hospital room, even if it was just for a minute or two.

Twilight requested she stay put until they got her living situation settled, which the pink mare couldn't quite understand. She told her friend several times that she already planned on moving in with her coatfriend, but Twilight just wouldn't allow it. On one hand you have Rarity nagging in her ear about "growing up" and "taking responsibility", then on the other you have Twilight treating her like she was five. This was beyond frustrating.

If she could just get a hold of Augustus maybe she could convince him to run away with her. He probably knew about what happened to her already, and thankfully she didn't have to say it herself. How would she ever manage looking him in the eyes and telling him that another stallion had ‘conquered’ her before he even got a chance to officially be alone with her. Regardless, gone were the emotions of regret and fear. At least towards her rape.

She would never forgive herself for lying on Mr.Cake.

The media was working overtime. The day wasn't even over and already she found a paper with the headline;

Local Baker, Carrot Cake, Arrested for Savage Rape

Where was the evidence? The trial? They had no proof that he's done these things. None except Pinkie's word. How fair is that? What happened to innocent until proven guilty? Of course Pinkie Pie could always set this right by simply telling the truth.

"Hey..hey, Pinkie. C'mere," There was a raspy whisper coming from a nearby bush. The smart thing to do would be to turn around now and ignore it, or maybe even scream for help. Nothing good could come from a stranger in a bush. They were hiding for a reason.

Pinkie Pie was going to make a run for it, when the voice called out to her again.

"Wait. It's me," Rainbow Dash exposed herself to her petrified friend. Pinkie sighed in relief.

"Dashie? What are you doing in there?"

"I wanted to talk to you...i-it's really important." Her voice was shaky and nervous.

"About what?"

"I can't tell you here...somepony might hear us," Rainbow Dash stumbled over her words. Her eyes were bloodshot and her coat was drenched in sweat. She also looked smaller than Pinkie remembered.

Was she always able to see her ribcage?

She sniffed. "W-we gotta go somewhere private. Come I know a spot near by,"

"Why do we need to say it in private, Dashie?" Pinkie was getting spooked by her behavior. She was acting very strange.

Rainbow sniffed again, wiping her forehoof against her dry nostrils. "cause it might get me in trouble..just come.. I don't have a lot of time," She disappeared back into the bushes. Despite Pinkie's mind screaming at her that this was a very bad idea, and there was obviously something's wrong with her friend, she followed behind her.

Whatever Rainbow Dash was going through it couldn't be any worse than the situation Pinkie Pie was in, so she needed to be there for her friend. It was the least she could do.

"Dashie wait up! I can barely see through all these leaves" The pink mare was stumbling all over the place. One misstep and she could go tumbling on her face. Unsurprisingly, Rainbow Dash was miles ahead of her, leaving her barely able to keep up. Pinkie Pie was inches away from giving up.

Where were they going?

When suddenly Rainbow dash stopped. They were pretty close to the Evergreen Forest, if they weren't already in it.

"Rainbow, what did you want to tell me—"

The pegasus turned and quickly got up close to Pinkie Pie's face. She was so close their muzzles were millimeters away from embracing. From here she could really smell her friend's hot breath, see into her swollen red eyes, and notice just how thin she was.

"Okay? Okay. So here's the thing, listen close alright. So I need you to—to do me a big. big, big favor. Okay? Okay." That had to be the fastest Rainbow had ever spoken. Her mannerisms were all over the place. Her head jerking this way and that way, her hooves tapping on the tufted grass as if her leg was having a seizure, her sudden lack of eye contact. It was all too much.

"What kinda favor?"
"A life saving favor Pinkie, cause...cause right now my fucking life is on the line—ha! Oh god, I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die if you don't do this for me," Sweat was just pouring off of her. Pinkie Pie gulped. This had to be a very serious problem if it involved someone dying.

She couldn't let that happen.

"Okay. What do I have to do?" With a soft smile, she placed a reassuring hoof on her shaking shoulder.

"I… I need money. Like uh... 53,000bts to be exact."

Pinkie held in a dramatic gasp. She was the furthest thing from "rich", so out of all five friends, the pink mare was the worst one to ask for cash. Not that she would turn Rainbow Dash down. It wasn't like they couldn't come up with the money, she just needed a kitchen, cake batter, and a few weeks.

"Okay Dashie, I can see about starting a bake sale! Yeah, ponies love treats and they especially love them from-"

"No. It'll take too long. I need it soon. Like very, very soon."

"Did you ask Twilight? I'm sure she could loan you some bits until you're able to pay it back," Rainbow Dash looked annoyed. Her nervous twitching and tapping stopped, only for a minute.

She shook her head in disagreement before she said, "No. She can't know about this, okay? It has to be between you and me since you're the only pony I trust."

Pinkie pie felt both flattered and even more worried. What in Celestia's name did she get herself into? Whatever it was, it was definitely illegal.

"Don't… Don't your parents like have a lot of cash stored away somewhere on their farm? I mean I remember you telling me they managed to mine a few rare diamonds like a couple months ago,"

Pinkie hadn't thought of her parents, or even any of her family, in a while. And did she tell Rainbow Dash this? She didn't even know about these diamonds until now. Unless she forgot.

Did she forget?

I mean were would she even get this information from since Pinkie hadn't been in contact with any of her family, besides Maud. Did Maud tell her? She would remember if she did, right? But why would Pinkie tell Rainbow Dash and not the others? Unless they all knew. Maybe they did.

"I can try to call and ask them-"

"ask them that you want to visit them, right? I mean you did say you missed your father,"

"I did? I-i don't think I would've said that-"

"yeah, you definitely did. So call and tell them that your gonna be seeing them in a day or two,"

Pinkie Pie didn't have the closest relationship with her father, in fact he kicked her out and specifically told her he didn't want to see her again until she got her act together. Did she get her act together? She could barely remember what exactly she did wrong. Maybe it was the jokes. He was always a stone cold and serious stallion. Did she even miss him?

Maybe she did tell Rainbow Dash all this. Maybe she's just very forgetful.

With a simple nod, Pinkie agreed. Her friend's face lit up like the fourth of July when she realized the mare was going to go along with it.

"Thank you so, so, so much! You're a lifesaver!" She was then embraced in a tight hug and flung into the air, twirling with the happy pegasus. This was good news. Rainbow Dash was happy, so she was happy.

↞⧫↠

Pinkie Pie sat patiently in silence. Fluttershy refused to let her use the phone on her own, and demanded that she wait until she returned to make the call. The usually shy and docile mare seemed to instantly take on a maternal role the moment she found out Pinkie Pie was raped. She would get her food for her, thoroughly check every gift, card, and balloon that was sent to her, and even went as far as denying a few nurses access to the room until they proved they had a right to be there.

No one questioned her. Pinkie Pie definitely didn't question her. The look Fluttershy would give if she felt even a tiny bit challenged would cause anyone to instantly follow her every order. The hospital staff quickly got used to her landry list of "polite" requests. In a matter of a day, Pinkie's nurses were rushing in and out to make sure her every comfort was met. It also didn't help that since both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were a member of the mane six, the staff felt compelled to help. Their status was just a notch above the average citizen afterall.

Pinkie Pie now knew how Angel felt, smothered. Smothered and unable to make her own decision despite, technically, being an adult. And to think back to that harsh look of disappointment along with the scolding the pegasus gave the pink mare the moment she spotted Pinkie sneak back out of the woods. She kept repeating the same thing over and over,
"Pinkie, do you want some pony to attack you again? What do you think will happen if you go off on your own, huh?"
And funnily enough, despite being a "grown up" who should have the right to do as she pleased, Pinkie Pie hung her head and wanted to break down and cry all over again for both disappointing her friend and for being so naive to think that no pony would attack her. She was naive to think she was ever safe in Ponyville, or anywhere really.

She was so very naive, and so this treatment was warranted. It was needed to keep her safe, because Celestia knows, she couldn't do it herself.

"P-Pinkie..?"
His voice came from the door. The mare quickly turned in bed to face him. Of course he was here. Of course he would come to see her. Floating just inches from his head was a bouquet of roses, chocolates, a cute teddy bear, and a newspaper. It was almost perfect, almost romantic, but now she just wanted him to go.

"I...I saw the papers and—" He approached her bedside, nervous as ever. He looked sad, unbelievably woeful, as the mare could see how heavy his eyes were. They were deep pools of distress that were just waiting to pour over. She caused that. She caused his pain. How could she ever live with herself.

"If I would've known...why didn't you tell me?" His voice cracked as all her gifts fell to the floor. He kept his eyes locked on her, he kept looking her in her face as if softly demanding answers. What could she say to make this better? What could she say to him? She had no jokes to tell and no longer had the strength to smile, so she said nothing. He said nothing.

They sat in silence.

He then started to weep, very loudly.

He fell on his face and cried right next to her with those heavy painful tears. Pinkie wanted to cry too, but felt she had no right to release her emotions since she caused this. She caused this. It was all her stupid fault for being so dumb and gulible. She deserved what happened to her simply because she was a selfish, selfish filly who never knew when to quit. She should've kept her mouth shut. She should've smiled and left Applejack to handle her family's problems herself.

She shouldn't have stopped Big Mac from beating her.

"Pinkie I'm so, so sorry I couldn't protect you," Why was he apologizing? Why wasn't he yelling at her for keeping this a secret for so long? For already bring in drama after the second day of meeting her.

Two weeks. She went two weeks without telling a soul. She let that rot fester inside of her, she let the nightmares persist and she let Augustus think he was with someone pure and untainted. How could he not turn her away right now. She reeked of Macintosh. She could smell him all over her, inside of her, and she just knew Augustus could smell it too. She no longer wished to move in with him. She didn't want him to be involved with all of this.

"Excuse me! Who let you in?" Fluttershy instantly came stomping towards Augustus, pulling him up to his hooves and towards the door with such shocking ease. "Wait! I'm here for Pinkie—" He barely had an opportunity to dry his eyes before being forced out. He resisted Fluttershy's attempted boot. Digging his hooves in the ground and anchoring himself in the white tile floor.

"Pinkie isn't seeing any visitors at the moment," Fluttershy struggled against his weight, now using her wings as an extra push. Regardless, Augustus was now far stronger than he appeared, managing to not only stay stiff in place despite the force Fluttershy was exerting against him, but also keeping a calm steady voice through it all.

"Pinkie Pie, please just let me talk to you for a minute. We need to work this out and—"

"For goodness sakes, go!" Fluttershy yelled through her exhausted breath. It was taking her every being to just get this guy to move a few millimeters. He was very persistent.

Persistent for Pinkie.

She couldn't believe that, she wouldn't believe any pony would want to be with her after finding out what has been done to her. How could he want her when she is the source of his pain? She should say something, tell Fluttershy to just let him go, tell Augustus that she was sorry. They should have a talk. A real talk. A long talk, and just figure this all out.

"Security!" Fluttershy stopped struggling against him and hit the button near Pinkie's bed to alert a nurse. In a matter of seconds, two male nurses entered the room.

"He's bothering her," the pegasus didn't have to say anymore, the nurses were already dragging him out.

"Pinkie, wait lemme just talk to her….Pinkie!" and like that he was gone with their shut behind him. His shaky voice and struggle could still be heard throughout the halls. Pinkie Pie could've said something. She could've protected him, told the nurses he wasn't bothering her, and she did in fact want him there.

But Pinkie Pie knew this was for the best. She didn't deserve his kindness. He should just forget about her and find a better mare. A mare that wasn't as gross and all used up as she was.

Fluttershy sighed while wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead. She looked at Pinkie with an assuring smile as she gently ran a soft hoof through her hair. "Pinkie, I think it's best you stop seeing that stallion. They're all the same and only looking for one thing. You're the safest just relying on yourself and us, okay?" The mare obedientmy nodded. She wanted this. She needed to only trust her friends. Only her friends cared about her, only they understood her and would protect her.

Her friends would protect her, right?

Her mind immediately shot back to that day. She was on the living room floor all over again, screaming her lungs out, trying her best to get away. It was exactly a scene from scene only this time she saw Applejack just standing there. She saw her friend's cold eyes, her cold face as she watched. She just silently watched. She did nothing. She said nothing. She just watched.

At that moment the pink mare felt more confused than anything. She didn't know what to think anymore. She didn't know what she wanted. She didn't know who to trust, or if she should even trust herself. So she kept nodding.

She'll let Fluttershy decide what's best for her.

"I guess we should call your parents now, huh," The pegasus got up and towards the hospital phone. She picked it up and rested it against her ear before proceeding to dial a number. A number Pinkie Pie herself couldn't even remember since it had been such a long time since she even thought about calling her parents. Fluttershy had to go off and ask Spike to retrieve it for her.

The dial tone was very loud. Pinkie could hear it all the way from her bed. Oddly she found herself holding her breath. Surely her parents wouldn't know about this, regardless of her being somewhat of a public figure, the news wouldn't travel that fast. She had no idea how they would respond. She didn't even know if she could keep up both her lies and whatever it was Rainbow wanted her to ask them. This was all too much. She wanted desperately to just sleep.

The phone picked up and Fluttershy instantly turn on the speaker phone. "Hello?" It was a deep raspy voice. Great. Pinkie was hoping her mother would've picked up instead. She wouldn't talk to him. She refused to tell him.

Her buttercup friend looked in her direction as if waiting for her to respond to the voice. She didn't. Instead she hung her head low and shook it to signal she didn't want to do this anymore, and they should hang up. Her friend smiled before taking a deep breath and responding for her.

"Hey, Mr. Pie. This is one of Pinkamena's friends just calling to tell you that she's interested in coming over to visit," Fluttershy paused. Her nervousness seeming to quickly catch up to her. "I-if that's alright with you, of course, sir."

There was a deafening silence over the phone, as the two mares awaited his reply. It had been a good two minutes, and Fluttershy was beginning to wonder if he walked away from the phone, when the sound of him clearing his throat finally broke the quiet.

"Is she there with you?" He simply asked. He had that hard, stick-in-the-mud tone Pinkie was used to. She shook her head, pleading that Fluttershy wouldn't give her away, but her friend only seemed annoyed by her antics. She got up and gave the phone to Pinkie Pie, whispering, "you can't just run from this. Face your Father..please,"

Fluttershy seemed to know what was best, so she complied. Taking the phone in her hoof, the mare gulped before giving a very faint greeting.

"H-hi Papa, I just wanted to..check up on you and Ma and—"

"Pinkamena, don't lie to me." He harshly cut her off before she could say more. He went silent again before continuing. "Stopped by the hardware shop this morning and you were on the news,"

"Y-yeah Papa? I mean, I'm always on the news," She felt her eyes getting hot as she tried so very hard not to cry.

"Not for this."

Those three words felt like daggers stabbed right through her heart. She didn't want to talk to him anymore. She didn't want to see her parents ever again. She wished she never opened her mouth. She just wanted things to return to the way they use to be.

Pinkie wanted her old life back. She wanted her innocence back. She wanted to just go on adventures with her friends. She wanted to save the world, and just bake, and make ponies laugh. She wanted things to be normal. She wanted, she needed to tell someone that Mr.Cake didn't touch her. She needed to fix this. She needed to tell the truth.

She needed to shut up and stop sticking her nose in places it didn't belong.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Papa. I didn't mean for this to happen," Pinkie Pie broke down begging her father for forgiveness. She didn't know why she suddenly felt so guilty. Fluttershy came over to give her a big tight hug and help her calm down. Her father let her cry. He listened to her loud sobs, and her friend consulting her on the other line. He understood, and though he would never say it, he really understood.

For the first time in a very long time he spoke briefly in a soft kind voice. "You're welcome to come home, Pinkamena." He then simply hung up. No goodbye, no trying to make her feel better, he just ended the conversation there.