This is just my half-baked take, but I'm kinda siding with Sunset here. Sure, she and Wallflower may be moving a bit too fast, but moving too slowly can be just as dangerous, if not more so. If they were doing things Fluttershy's way, Wallflower could get stuck in a perpetual victim mindset with old McFuckface (was his name ever mentioned? I don't remember.) living in her head rent-free forever. At least this way Wallflower has a chance to move on with her life and have a genuinely loving relationship.

That being said, Sunset and Wallflower could stand to have a frank discussion or two about where they are now (both emotionally and physically) and how they're going to move forward.

Oh hey, the pain train to trauma city is back. Really though, this is essentially developing how I expected, but your execution of Sunset's horribly unfortunate situation is stellar nonetheless. With her boundless compassion and dedication, she can't fathom that being there for Wallflower, while good for her in the short term, might not pan out well long term.

Also, gotta love the capitalist system forcing work upon Sunset to the detriment of her future and her relationship! /s

10885414
I prefer Anarcho-Wallflowerism

academic résumé

thank you for spelling this word correctly, it means a lot to me as an awful francophile

Sunset slapped Fluttershy across the face as hard as she could.

this and everything after was a great mental image, leading up to the ending lines which i loved. supernatural literal empathy really adds something to the dynamic, letting sunset say that she's truly felt what wally went through more than a non-magical person in that situation could, but having that ability is not the same as knowing 100% what's best for her. and the anger and defensiveness and moment of self-doubt are all understandable and worrying at the same time. the tension is really building up, looking forward to see how you develop this further.

...Rarity. The next time Sunset saw that gossiping little brat, she was going to strangle her with her own stupid springy hair.

this line sprang at me from memory when someone posted a picture of eqg rarity and all i could notice was how springy her stupid hair was. how does she do it??

Every time this story updates it just finds a new way for me to watch things unfold with the sickest feeling in my stomach. The chapter title is such an understatement and all of their friends are just trying to help.

I don’t trust that ominous last line.

Hmmm.

Yeah, no clue what anyone *should* be doing in this situation. But I will keep reading as this updates, which means Tracking. Thanks for the thought-provoking story so far.

Once again, you’ve casually come back to this story and delivered an absolute hammer blow to our collective love of these characters. Expository it may be, but it feels more like you’re describing the slowly-failing brakes on a train – and that’s without even mentioning Wallflower’s current state in this chapter. You fit just enough levity in here to make the moments of angst still feel relevant, and you balance your characters really nicely between mature enough to explore a life-shattering trauma and, well, high school kids.

So… Sunset’s at least vaguely aware of what’s causing her… well, night terrors, let’s be honest, and she’s still continuing to wear her geode under the premise of doing it for Wallflower. That moment, brief as it was, did make me stop and shudder, particularly considering a tiny detail of Sunset’s character you added in Restlessness (because of course I’ve gotta project my bullshit in these comments where else am I supposed to). Physical injury isn’t the only method of hurting yourself, Sunset…

Fluttershy & Sunset here feel very “old head on young shoulders”. The argument is really sombre in its tone so they’re clearly able to understand aspects of Wallflower’s situation that plenty of adults can’t, but the hostile introduction and second-guessing each other with such venom shows their immaturity coming to an ugly head. There’s a fire that rages throughout this whole exchange and it’s righteous and haunting all at the same time. Bloody fantastic.

There’s another thing you deserve credit for. When I read this chapter in isolation, the moment where Sunset hit Fluttershy left me utterly stunned. While it didn’t go so far as to seem out-of-character for your interpretation of Sunset, it certainly felt like an extreme response. But then I went and re-read Dissociation and this chapter back-to-back and Sunset’s response made so much sense it hurt. To be able to come back to Best Left Forgotten after an almost ten-month hiatus and not just knock it out of the park, but seamlessly follow on from the tone you’d set in the previous chapter, is a staggering achievement and demands recognition.

”I’d sooner die.”

Okay… I get that Sunset said this for dramatic effect, but… I mean you’ve built up a reputation, okay? The worrying thing is that even considering that, I still can’t wait for the next chapter. Bravo.

Sunset slapped Fluttershy across the face as hard as she could.

...

The moment that conversation started I knew it was gonna go south but that slap-- Damn my stomach hurts. Aaaaa

Emotions are running high here, aren't they? Sunset is in quite a predicament here...

Also...

...Rarity. The next time Sunset saw that gossiping little brat, she was going to strangle her with her own stupid springy hair.

Rarity is in trooouble....