Forget-Me-Not (Best Left Forgotten — Ongoing)
Sunset's Isekai
Forget-Me-Not (Best Left Forgotten — Ongoing)
By Wanderer D & Scampy
Wallflower turned off the sink faucet and sighed, looking around the cramped space of Sunset’s bathroom. She was met with a broken mirror and the pain of her headache as her gaze drifted too close to the lights above it. Her ears were still filled with the sharp humming of tinnitus, a maddening effect of her injury that the doctor said would persist for a while. Even so, letting her mind wander at least helped her somewhat ignore the ever-present ringing. Unfortunately, letting herself think freely came with its own set of consequences.
In the not-quite-silence, Wallflower could still hear the echoes of Sunset’s desperate screams and pleas from the day before, begging her to open the door, to let Sunset help her, to not do the one thing both of them knew she had to do. Somehow, through sentimentality or guilt or some other dumb excuse, Wallflower had been stupid enough to listen.
She closed her eyes, wishing the ringing in her ears would deafen the sound of her memories, but they rang out through her mind all the same. She heard Sunset’s pounding on the door, the heavy impact of her own head crashing against the mirror, the shattering of broken shards falling to the floor…
The blackness behind her eyelids had no hope to cover her mind’s eye. Wallflower leaned against the wall, sinking to the floor as images of her bloodied reflection stared up at her from a razor-sharp fragment of the mirror. It would have been so easy. She was so close. At that moment, a dull calmness had left her resigned to do what she needed to do, but in the end she couldn’t.
No, that wasn’t right. She could have, if she really wanted to. She thought she did at the time, but for whatever reason she stopped just short of the end. She had it in her hand, but she let it go, and she would never be able to go through with it without the morbid willpower she’d had in that moment—the self-destructive resolve that had evaporated the moment she saw Sunset’s tear-stricken face.
Struggling to stand up again, Wallflower rested against the counter, blinking at the spot the test had been yesterday. Even now, there was still a bit of dried blood surrounding it, not to mention speckled all over the rest of the counter. Upon taking a second test—properly this time—Wallflower was certain she had escaped the worst possible outcome. That certainty did little to make her feel better, though.
Were Wallflower to make a list of the limited reasons she wished she hadn’t tried to end her life, it would seem stupid for “making a mess in Sunset’s apartment” to be so close to the top. Even still, in the face of possibly being forced to accept that she had even less agency over her body than before, her courtesy as a guest had been forgotten. Maybe if she’d succeeded, she wouldn’t have to feel guilty about it now. Sighing, Wallflower forced herself to glance at the shattered mirror, her dry eyes staring into a dozen copies of themselves.
What an idiot. She couldn’t even kill herself right.
The thought vanished as soon as it came. With a groan and a shake of her head, Wallflower turned her gaze away from the mirror once more. She didn’t really regret opening the door, did she? Sunset certainly didn’t regret it. Sunset was probably the only reason Wallflower had dropped the shard at all.
Another sigh, and Wallflower allowed herself to sink to the floor again. Everything was so… So upside-down now. Sunset Shimmer, of all people, was the only reason Wallflower was even alive. All the things Wallflower had been so certain of only weeks prior had been flipped over entirely, and the worst part was that she couldn’t even tell when the switch happened. Was it when the memory stone was destroyed? When Sunset accidentally returned Wallflower’s memory? Maybe it was even earlier, when she had been stupid enough to think she could erase the consequences of her actions at all.
At that, Wallflower forced herself to stop. No… No, that wasn’t right. It wasn’t her fault. She knew that. She knew it because Sunset told her over and over and over until it had to be true.
But she agreed to the dance. She opened the door. She let him in.
She never said no.
Her face twisted, and she curled her legs to her chest even tighter. What happened wasn’t her fault. It was just like Sunset told her—it didn’t matter that she never said no, because she never said yes.
She was still stupid, though. Even if she hadn’t been terrified of him hurting her—killing her, even—she still probably wouldn’t have said anything. For whatever ridiculous reason, confrontation of any kind felt like too awful of a prospect to contemplate, even when… Even when bad things happened.
A single bitter cough escaped her lips, something akin to a laugh. She was so scared he would hurt her that she didn’t fight back, but in the end, he hurt her anyway. As soon as she let him into her apartment, there was no way she would escape unscathed. Even if she fought and bit and screamed, he probably would have just killed her.
At least then she wouldn’t have to eventually go through the trouble of doing it herself. Her eyes briefly flicked up to the mirror.
Idiot.
No amount of lying to herself could erase the truth. She let it happen. There were a million things she could have done to stop him, to prevent him from being there in the first place, but she kept making one wrong decision after another until it was too late. Hell, she practically handed herself to him on a silver platter. Even when he was about to take her and she was sobbing beneath him, he probably didn’t even know anything was wrong.
Again, she grimaced, her eyes shutting as tight as they could. Sunset told her to stop blaming herself, but how was she supposed to do anything else? Just because she told herself it wasn’t her fault didn’t mean it was true. She let it happen.
Let it happen… Wallflower rolled her eyes, scoffing at her own prudishness. She was doing what Sunset did, trying to hide behind whatever pronouns and euphemisms she could, but deep down she knew what it really was, just as well as she knew it was all her fault.
Wallflower stared at the floor in silence. What was she even doing in here, anyway? Brooding in a swamp of her own angst on the floor of someone else’s bathroom? Wallflower always knew she was pathetic, but this was extra pathetic, even for her.
It didn’t matter anyway. Sunset would be home from work soon, and all Wallflower had done today was haul herself out of bed and brush her teeth in the late afternoon. Sunset kept telling Wallflower to focus on rest and recovery after her brief hospital stay, but decaying in bed for hours on end probably wasn’t what she had in mind.
She still had maybe an hour before Sunset got home. Maybe she could make the bed or wash dishes or something in the meantime—anything to make her existence a little less useless. Wallflower gripped the shower rod, using it to pull herself off the ground. Even still, a wave of dizziness followed. Par for the course with a head injury, she guessed. Yet another thing that was her own damn fault.
After waiting a minute for her head to stop spinning, she lurched towards the door—only to find it locked. That couldn’t be right. Sunset had removed the lock entirely after they got back from the hospital, yet another consequence of Wallflower’s inability to keep herself together. So when and how did this get here?
Wallflower turned the latch, and as she pulled the door open, she was met with anything but the open room of Sunset’s apartment. Was this… Was this a bar? Did Sunset even drink alcohol? With a single, tentative step, she crossed through the door frame into the strange room.
“Uhm… Sunset? Are you home?” Wallflower called out, her voice as loud as her anxiety would allow. “And did you redecorate while I was in the bathroom…?”
"I should really give you a name," Sunset said to her spider.
She was currently leaning on the bar, chin resting on one hand, while the little symbiotic spider Gwen had left behind crawled up and down the other, weaving between her fingers. "For real, it's been months since you arrived, but I don't know what a good name would be." She hummed. "Aragog? Spinderella? Charlotte? I just don't want to give you a complex, or make you decide to hunt down hobbits if I call you 'Shelob'. And if I named you Anansi, it would just be begging for a prank war I'm not really ready to start."
So far, it had been a calm Tuesday. At least Sunset knew it had to be Tuesday somewhere in the multiverse. Days didn't really seem to matter much once you got started in a place like this. No lessons with Lena, no Freya, no Dani… even Rarity was out, leaving her all on her own in the bar. It wasn't a rare occurrence but it usually wasn't too long before she had someone—
The bell chimed, as if the bar had just been waiting for her thoughts to wander in that direction. Half-sighing, half-chuckling, Sunset moved her hand over to the little habitat she had gotten for it, and dropped in a kale leaf inside. It didn't take a second for the little critter to jump in and start munching on it. Putting the cover on, she placed the habitat out of the way, just as a surprisingly soft voice reached her. "Sunset? Are you home?”
Sunset frowned. That voice sounded awfully familiar.
“And did you redecorate while I was in the bathroom…?” the faint voice added.
Sunset glared up at the ceiling of her bar. "Really. Really? Again." She sighed and shook her head, leaning over the counter so she could glance all the way to the entrance, where a familiar young girl stood. 'Oh.' She waved, getting her attention. "Hey Wallflower, come on in!"
The girl's eyes widened to the point of looking like a deer caught in the spotlights. It had been too long since Sunset had seen her own Wallflower, and watching this younger version of her hesitantly step into the bar made her silently promise herself to do so soon. She looked unsure and frightened, much more so in the too-large sweater she was wearing. Her green hair was as long as Sunset remembered, with a gentle curl at the ends, and her bangs covered her forehead all the way down to her eyebrows.
She was looking around the place in utter confusion, which was understandable, given that the bar had literally appeared on her way out of another room in her home. If she knew her bar, it was probably the bathroom. It had done it to others, after all.
Wallflower walked all the way in to where the hall met the main room, and cringed slightly when the door closed behind her, looking over her shoulder nervously. "S-Sunset? When did you get a bar?"
'This girl needs a strong drink,' Sunset decided then and there, 'but she might be too young.' She tried smiling. "Well, that's… a bit of a long story, the short version is that I am Sunset Shimmer, just not the Sunset Shimmer of your world, and this is my bar, where I greet guests from all over the multiverse when they need something to drink, and someone to talk to."
She had to give it to the girl. She looked like the last thing she wanted to do was stay in a situation where it was painfully evident she had no control. Wallflower glanced over her shoulder, as if measuring the distance to the door. Sunset frowned. As guarded as Wallflower was back home, she wasn't this guarded. If she was hanging out with Sunset from her world, or even living with her, it was very likely that the memory stone was not an issue anymore, so why was she so… vulnerable?
"Hey, Wallflower," she said gently, making the girl look back at her, "tell you what, let me get you something to drink so you can relax a little here. This is a safe space, I promise. If you try it and don't like it, you can always head back. The door will leave you back home at the exact time you left."
Wallflower seemed to hang on to every word she said, then looked down, wrapping her arms around herself gently and glancing back at the door once again. "I-I'm not sure," she finally said, biting her lower lip. "I don't drink alcohol."
Sunset smiled. "No problem, it is a bar, but I have guests of all ages and from everywhere… that means I have a lot of different things." She looked up and hummed, tapping her chin in thought. "How about this?"
As she set to work, Wallflower stood hesitantly in place for a few more moments, before very slowly inching her way out of the hallway and standing on the corner next to it, with Sunset in plain view.
It was clear Wallflower was still making up her mind about her, but Sunset didn't let that deter her. She had a plan. She pulled out ingredients right in front of the slightly intrigued Wallflower, placing them on the bar. She combined the three different types of milks in a saucepan, warming it up before adding the cocoa powder, chopped chocolate, sugar cinnamon and a pinch of salt. She intentionally stepped to the side, allowing her guest to see a clear view of her mixing the ingredients and whisking them together, then as soon as it was warm enough, she produced a mug and filled it up, followed by a good amount of whipped cream, one wafer cookie, grating some chocolate on top, then putting a marshmallow on top of the wafer cookie before torching it gently with magic until it was brown and a bit caramelized.
The silence in the bar was broken by the clink of plates as she put a small one on the bar, with the mug on top and stepped back far enough that Wallflower would know she wasn't about to pounce on her and grab her.
Wallflower's eyes went from her to the chocolate, back to her, then back to the chocolate before she took a small step towards it. Seeing that Sunset made no move, she seemed to gather a bit more confidence and inched all the way to the bar, taking the mug in her hands before scampering quickly to the corner table. She slurped some of the chocolate. "Oh my gosh..."
Sunset grinned. 'Yes! Thank you, Ned!' "Glad you approve."
As if suddenly remembering that Sunset was there, Wallflower looked up, a spot of whipped cream adorning the very tip of her nose. "Um… thank you."
"No problem," Sunset replied, starting to put away all the ingredients. "Come on, take a seat. You can stay on that table if it makes you more comfortable."
Despite the delicious chocolate in her hands, Wallflower still hesitated a little before sighing and nodding. She put the mug on the table and took a seat, keeping her eyes on Sunset as she worked. They remained quiet for a bit before Wallflower spoke again. "You're a little older than me and Sunset."
"I am. Where I came from, we've all graduated from Canterlot High," Sunset said, "and I got my bar immediately after, so some time has passed."
Wallflower nodded and slurped a bit more chocolate, humming in appreciation before taking a tiny bite of the marshmallow. She grinned and drank some more.
Sunset smiled and waved her hand, sending a small pile of paper towels over to Wallflower, who watched that with wide eyes. "You have a spot on your nose," Sunset pointed out. "It's adorable, but I figured you'd want to wipe it off at some point. There's no hurry though."
Wallflower sank a little and nodded. "Oh. Thank you."
Sunset leaned on the bar, studying the girl. "So, this bar appears for those that need a drink… and by that I mean company willing to listen. You seem a bit on edge, Wallflower."
The young girl cringed, then looked down at the cup of hot chocolate, decidedly avoiding Sunset's eyes. 'Geez, this is bad.' "Well, listen, just enjoy your chocolate for now, okay? No pressure to talk, I'm here if you want to do so, however."
A faint, almost delicate bob of the head was all the acknowledgement she got, but that was better than Wallflower storming off, she supposed. She distracted herself by cleaning up the clutter from the chocolate, keeping an eye on her guest, who occasionally would gently sip her chocolate, and throw odd glances at her before focusing on her drink again.
Once the bar was clean, Sunset made sure to organize the ingredients to be close enough in case she needed to make more chocolate, then checked on the spider. "Geez, I can't believe you already ate your kale," she muttered, bringing the habitat over to rest at the bar, next to the cashier. She took the top off, then threw more leaves in there. "Try not to eat them all in one go, alright?"
That seemed to have at least caught Wallflowers interest, so she moved back and turned the habitat around so that her guest could see the small black and white spider inside. "My pet spider. I still have to find a name for it."
Wallflower's eyes went from the spider to Sunset, then back to the spider. Then back to Sunset with a slight curving of the right eyebrow that conveyed the perfect expression to represent the word: really? Question mark included. Sunset shrugged. "Hey, it's legit from another universe. I was surprised too when it refused the crickets. It is partial to corn dogs for some reason, but I don't think they provide enough nutritional value."
This got a small smile from Wallflower. "It's nice that you have a pet."
"Thank you! Although I wasn't entirely anticipating it."
When Wallflower nodded again, but didn't retreat into her own personal space, Sunset smiled back. "So, when you came in you called out for your Sunset. Do you guys live together? That's kind of neat."
The other girl bit her lower lip, eyes studying Sunset warily once more before stopping at the spider cage and relaxing a little. "Y-yeah, she um, she's letting me stay with her for now."
'Progress!' Sunset thought, leaning down on the counter again. "Oh? That's cool. You guys must be good friends."
Wallflower couldn't help but allow a small smile that turned into a small frown, which turned into a long drink of her chocolate until Sunset could hear the last slurping sounds. When Wallflower put the mug down, she was looking down at it as if betrayed. The younger girl blinked then glanced doubtfully at Sunset. "Um… that chocolate was very good."
Sunset closed her eyes and crossed her arms, nodding sagely. "Yes. Yes it was, wasn't it?" She opened one eye, smirking at her guest. "Why, would you like another?"
"I-I mean, if that's alright, I know I'm being a bit quiet and—"
"Hey," Sunset interrupted, her voice gentle. "Don't worry. You're my guest. I'll whip up another one for you. Do you want to sit here at the bar? My spider could use some company while I prepare the cocoa."
Wallflower looked to the spider, then, taking a slow, deep breath, nodded once, picking up her mug as she slid off the table and walked across the small space to sit on one of the bar stools, placing the mug in front of her.
"Thanks," Sunset said, "but you can still finish off the cookie and the whipped cream. I have plenty of mugs, so don't worry about it."
She set to work, taking out the ingredients again, while Wallflower started slowly eating the cookie, her eyes following the spider as it laboriously moved the kale leaves around, trying to apparently build itself a small fort of food.
Sunset was concentrating on the chocolate when Wallflower's voice reached her. "Does the spider have a name?"
"Hm?" Sunset blinked. "Oh, no… not yet. I really have to think up a name for it. It's been part of the family for months now, but I haven't thought of a good one."
She left Wallflower deep in thought as she put the final details of the new hot chocolate together.
Watching the little spider skitter and scurry about was almost entrancing. Were Wallflower in any other place at any other time, Wallflower probably could have watched it go for hours.
She wasn’t in another place or another time, though. Not like Sunset was—like this Sunset was. Maybe if Wallflower asked nicely, she would let her stay and take her far, far away from the life she’d return to the second she stepped out the door.
Did she really want that, though? Leaving wouldn’t make things better. Leaving wouldn’t take away the memories, the nightmares, the always-too-heavy thump of her heart in her chest whenever she had to speak. Wallflower knew, just as she’d always known, that her problems were not something she could leave behind, because she was the problem. The dull ache of her head and the many scratches tickled by her bangs were proof enough of that.
Wallflower’s eyes struggled to keep up with the spider’s rapid, twitchy movements. The distraction was nice, but of course, it wasn’t distracting enough. Doing her best to hold back a sigh, she leaned forward, resting herself on the bar.
She’d never actually been to a bar. Was that normal for people her age? It’s not like Wallflower would have a frame of reference, given her long-since-dead social life. Not that she was complaining, though. Bars always seemed like the last place she would want to be—loud, full of drunk people, the heavy smell of liquor… Another glance around the room confirmed to Wallflower that her expectations were as wrong as they possibly could be.
Everything about this place was relaxing. Not a soul was present, save for Sunset and herself, and Wallflower relished in the silence. Almost silence, at least. The clink of plates and a spoon in a cup rang delicately from behind the bar, a gentle percussion that somehow added even more tranquility to the place.
Silly as it was, something about sitting at a bar, propped up by a stool and comfy cushion, made Wallflower feel more… Mature? Maybe that wasn’t the right word. Whatever it was, it was much different from sitting hunched over in a chair in the corner. Maybe it was just because she was a little higher off the ground.
Something moved in the edges of her vision, and her head shot up in an instant. Had Sunset turned around just now? Was she watching her? If she had been, she was certainly quick to turn back around. Maybe she’d been watching this whole time, and Wallflower had just been too stupid to notice.
Why did she even care, anyway? It was still Sunset, wasn’t it? Sunset was taking care of her out there, and she was doing the same in here. Did this Sunset deserve the same trust as the one who’d talked Wallflower into opening the door?
Wallflower did her best to sit up straight, a task made surprisingly difficult by the stool not having a back. As Sunset turned around, cocoa in hand, Wallflower forced herself to meet her gaze.
“Thank you,” she said, immediately resentful of her barely audible voice. She swallowed, intent on speaking this time with the volume to be heard. “Can I ask you something?”
Sunset was clearly putting on her warmest smile, one that Wallflower had seen several times before. “Of course, Wallflower. What’s on your mind?”
“When I leave here…” Wallflower had to fight to keep her voice from shaking. “Am I ever going to see you again?”
Sunset blinked at the question. "Oddly enough, you're the first to ask." She picked out one of her business cards from her pocket, and gently placed it in front of Wallflower. "But the answer is yes. Whenever you want, my bar is open. Might not be empty all the time, but you're welcome here any time."
She studied Wallflower as she said that, noticing the conflicting feelings cross her freckled face. She seemed oddly disappointed, then confused, then slightly put-off. "I mean. If you want."
The other girl nodded, her fingers slightly brushing the surface of the card, but not taking it yet. A myriad of thoughts kept going through those eyes and Sunset almost regretted not being able to just use her geode—but that was the whole point. She just couldn't take people's memories into herself, as much as that would simplify things. She had the feeling that, were she to do that with this particular Wallflower… it might not work out for the best.
Wallflower stared at her cocoa, perhaps waiting for it to cool off. “Sunset?” she said, her voice as meek as ever. “You said you knew another me, right?”
"Well, yes, I met her… uh, did the magic memory rock thing happen in your world?"
“Oh, yeah it, uhm…” Wallflower seemed to shrink with every word. “Y-yeah. There was the memory stone, and… Yeah. Things happened.”
"Well, I imagine it probably was about the same as my world," Sunset said, "so after that, we became friends. We hung out a few times, and she got along pretty well with my Fluttershy." She chuckled, rubbing the back of her head. "I haven't visited home much since I got the bar, but I should probably invite all the girls over at some point. Her included."
“What’s she like?” Wallflower asked. “The other me, I mean.”
"Well, as you can imagine she had a tough time reintegrating with the school," Sunset said, leaning back. "Nothing too bad, we were there for her, and she opened up eventually. Last I checked on her, she was getting ready to apply for Agricultural Studies after a leap year."
“Oh.” Wallflower’s eyes turned down, and she took a small sip of her cocoa. Even as she took another sip of the drink Sunset knew was delicious, she seemed to deflate a little. “That’s good,” Wallflower said. “I’m happy for her.”
"How about you?" Sunset asked gently. "How are you holding up? It can't be that long since that happened. And it can't be easy dealing with it. I know it wasn't for my Wallflower."
Wallflower stiffened up. “I-I… I’m okay,” she spoke softly. “The Sunset I know is really nice to me.”
"Hey, no worries," Sunset said, "I'm just glad you're there for the other me. We Sunsets tend to get a bit too self-recriminatory if left to our own devices."
“Can… Can I ask a weird question?” Wallflower couldn’t quite make eye contact, but Sunset could tell she was trying her best. “It’s kinda personal, b-but not…” In an instant, her words hitched and she looked away. “S-sorry, I shouldn’t say anything...”
Sunset reached out to Wallflower, but stopped the moment her guest eyed her hand like it was a viper. Slowly she pulled back, still leaning on the bar and crossing her arms. "If you need to talk, that's what I'm here for, you know?" she said. "This place? The whole point is for people that need to do so to be comfortable and have someone that will not judge them or tell on them. What I want to do… is to be there for people. All someone might need, after all, is a friendly ear… and not only are you a friend of mine in many other worlds beside my own, but you also happen to be a friend living with me in your own universe. The least I can do is promise that, no matter what you tell me, it will be in confidence, that I will not judge you, and that I will be here for you."
The last response Sunset was expecting was the bitter laugh Wallflower gave. “You really do sound just like her,” she muttered. “If you hadn’t told me you were another Sunset, I wouldn’t have even known the difference.”
"I'm sure I look slightly more mature," Sunset said with a huff. "I've been at this for some time."
“O-oh, sorry…”
"Nope." Sunset shook her head. "No apologies, I was joking. People tell me I haven't aged a day." Sunset frowned. "Gandalf said the same thing to Bilbo though, and he did look older."
Wallflower blinked. “What’s a ‘Bilbo?’”
"...They live in holes in the ground. But not just any hole. A hobbit hole… you know, we're getting off topic." Sunset cleared her throat. "The point is, I was joking, I'm not offended, and you definitely don't need to apologize. With all that's happened since I started this bar some… time ago… I am actually glad that you think I resemble your Sunset." She chuckled. "Truth be told, I'm sure I'm not exactly the same girl that left Canterlot all those ce-years ago. But I think the girls are too polite to say anything. I'm still me, but… you know, experiences do change who you are."
“Yeah…” Wallflower closed her eyes, sighing. “Y-yeah, they do.”
"Is… this related to what you wanted to talk about a minute earlier?"
“I guess so,” Wallflower said. “I was gonna ask, uhm... “ She stared at the wall for a moment, chasing down her lost thought. “Oh yeah. You and my Sunset are both so, I dunno… Eager to help me, I guess. Maybe there’s a better word for it, sorry…”
"Hm. We'll work on the apologies later." Sunset said. "The truth is, Wallflower, in just about any universe I've been to, no one can get a Sunset Shimmer to do anything she doesn't want to, much less hang out. If I want to help you, and if your Sunset wants to help you? It's because we like you, and want you to be happy. It's really that simple."
Wallflower shifted around on her bar stool. “Maybe that’s how it is for you, but…” She paused, brushing her hair out of her eyes. “I think my Sunset just feels bad for me.”
Sunset narrowed her eyes when she noticed something that looked conspicuously like a wound on Wallflower's head. "I'm not sure that would be reason enough to live together," she said, reaching over to put some more whipped cream on the cocoa. "Why would she feel like that?"
At that, Wallflower’s whole body twitched, as if a shiver had run up her spine. “Oh, i-it’s nothing. Just, uhm, with me not having friends. Yeah...” She scooped up some of the whipped cream on the cookie and popped it into her mouth. “Mmm… This is really good,” she said.
Sunset nodded. "I see. Yeah, not having friends can get very tough. I mean, I lacked any significant friendship for decades, I would know. I also got used to being on my own, so it wasn't even worth trying, sometimes, you know?"
“Y-yeah, I know what you mean,” Wallflower said. “Loneliness gets comfortable.”
"You get into a habit, it becomes easier and easier to just not answer scrolls, or house calls, or texts or phone calls…" Sunset sighed. "Your schedule is always free, but you don't feel like you need to do anything, so you heat up some ramen."
“I’ve, uhm… I’ve never actually had ramen,” Wallflower said. “Sunset—my Sunset, I mean—has some at her apartment though.”
"I would tell you that it is the food of the gods," Sunset said, "but that would be a lie, and if some of the gods that have come over heard me they might have some issues with that." She grinned. "But let's call it a 'bachelorette' meal."
“I usually just didn’t eat,” Wallflower said, rubbing her forehead as she spoke. “Either I didn’t have anything or didn’t want to prepare what I did.”
"Oh." Sunset sighed. "It seemed you were in a bad place. How long ago did Sunset and you move together?"
Again, Wallflower refused to meet Sunset’s gaze. “O-oh… Not very long,” she said. “Just two days ago.”
"Is that when… that happened?" Sunset asked softly, touching her own forehead.
The way Wallflower tensed up almost made Sunset do the same. Immediately, she turned her head away, brushing her hand through her bangs. “No,” she said, barely above a whisper.
"Hey," Sunset said, firmly, but gently. "You don't need to hide anything. I do want to help and listen, if you let me. I know you asked about your Sunset… that's because you're worried right? Thinking that she, or I would only be offering help without really caring?"
“N-no, that’s not…” Wallflower took a sharp breath. “I do think—know that you care. Both of you. Even if I don’t get why.”
"Then let me help you a bit more," Sunset said, "this place here is the one place in the multiverse where you can share with me what's bothering you. Sunset—your Sunset—is trying to help you… so let me help you both. It might not fix everything… I know it won't, but talking and getting it out of your head can help."
Wallflower’s expression held so many emotions at once that Sunset couldn’t begin to decipher it. The girl was silent for a few seconds, looking through Sunset, clearly lost in thought. After nearly half a minute, Wallflower blinked, and finally replied. “I-it’s… It’s fine. My forehead, I mean. Just a bruise, nothing to worry about.”
"Wallflower." Sunset sighed. "You know I know that's not true. Even if it was just a bruise from an accident, you wouldn't be hiding it from me."
The girl’s breathing grew more shallow as she seemingly struggled to find what words to say. When she did finally speak, her voice was the softest sound in the world. “I don’t know how to talk about it,” she said.
Sunset nodded. "I understand it's hard… very hard… to talk about things that affect us deeply, I think the only thing to do sometimes is, as cliched as it sounds, to start a bit from the beginning. Even if you don't give me all the details, just take a deep breath and try your best to tell me what you feel. There's no wrong way of doing it."
Wallflower gave a shivering sigh, then delicately brushed her bangs aside, revealing the full extent of her wound. “This is my fault,” she said. “One more stupid thing to add to the list…”
"Please don't say that," Sunset said, "Why don't you tell me why it happened?"
“I… S-someone...” Wallflower whimpered, her brown eyes slowly filling with tears. “Someone really hurt me…”
Sunset grimaced, then frowned. "It… wasn't…?" she motioned at herself.
For a moment, Wallflower looked confused. “What…? O-oh. No. No! It wasn’t you—er, her. I-it wasn’t Sunset.”
"Who did it then?" Sunset asked.
“Uhm…” Wallflower looked like she wanted to disappear entirely. “...I-I did.”
Sunset blinked. "I'm sorry. I think I misheard. You said someone else did… but then it was you?"
“N-no, I didn’t mean…” Wallflower buried her face in her hands. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to confuse you. I just…” She inhaled sharply. “I was really stupid and let someone hurt me, and… I tried to forget.”
Sunset's mind was going through scenarios. All of them bad. "You erased your own memories...?"
“I h-had to,” Wallflower said. Tears were starting to run down her cheeks, and she shut her eyes as tight as she could. “I couldn’t live with it…”
Sunset remained quiet for a moment, looking down at her hands. "Did… when you erased the memory, was it something that came back when the stone was destroyed?"
“N-no, it…” Wallflower took a deep breath, and then another. “It was later. Sunset did something with her magic, a-and…” She hugged herself, a sob hitching in her throat. “...And i-it came back…”
"Do you… think you can talk about it?" Sunset asked.
Wallflower looked up at Sunset, her eyes brimming with the pain of words unspoken. “I-I don’t know,” she said softly. “I can try, but… But I don’t know how…”
"Just tell me the truth," Sunset said. "Even if it’s a painful one."
“I… O-okay,” Wallflower sighed. “You asked about what happened to my head, a-and… I did do it to myself. I was trying to, uhm… Trying to break a mirror.”
"And… why were you trying to break the mirror?"
Wallflower squirmed atop her bar stool. “I-I needed something sharp, a-and I tried to punch the glass, but it didn’t work so I… I tried something else.”
"Yeah…” Sunset grimaced. “Is it alright if I ask why you needed something sharp?"
Wallflower’s eyes briefly flicked up to meet Sunset’s own, then back down again. “I think you know,” she said softly.
Sunset looked down at the bar. Awful as it was, Wallflower's answer wasn't very surprising. "You're here though, Wallflower," she said. "You didn't give up, even when you felt like you had to. I'm proud of you for that."
Wallflower didn't respond, or even move.
Sunset took a deep breath. "Is... Is it alright if I ask what made you want to do it at all?"
“I had to take…” Wallflower hugged herself. “I-I had to take a pregnancy test,” she said. “And I was so, so sure w-what it was going to say, that I… I just couldn’t, Sunset…”
At that, Sunset blinked in surprise. Had she heard that right? A pregnancy test…? Why would Wallflower of all people need a—
Sunset's heart withered as the truth finally dawned on her.
...Oh.
Oh no...
Sunset covered her mouth, staring at the girl across from her. “When you said someone hurt you—" She cut herself off, swallowing a nervous lump in her throat. "Y-you mean…?" When Wallflower gave a silent nod, Sunset’s heart sank. "Wallflower… I'm so sorry," she whispered. "It… It wasn't consensual at all, was it?"
Wallflower let out the softest of whimpers. “No…”
"Oh, Wallflower," Sunset whispered again, as every bit of Wallflower's answers slowly clicked into place, painting a picture she loathed to accept, but had to. This girl at her bar had gone through something so horrific… and here Sunset was dragging it out of her. She shook her head, and slowly made her way around the bar. "Do you mind if I sit next to you?"
Wallflower answered with a brief glance and a shake of her head.
Slowly, Sunset sat next to her, and took a deep breath. "I can't even imagine how you must have felt this whole time, with me pressing you so much…”
Wallflower’s only response was a half-hearted shrug.
“I—for what it's worth, I'm glad you're here,” Sunset said. “And, uhm… I hate to ask but… What about the test? Did you take it?"
“Y-yeah,” Wallflower said, “I took it. And I-I’m not, uhm… Y’know.”
"That's… that's good," Sunset said. "Does anyone know? Have you gotten any help? I mean… I guess Sunset, but… What about your parents? Your family?"
Wallflower shook her head. “They don’t remember me anymore,” she said, the slightest wavering in her voice. “Y-yet another thing that’s my own stupid fault…”
Sunset cringed, closing her eyes. "Wallflower," she said eventually, opening them up again to look at the girl beside her. "I know it doesn't feel like it right now… but you’re going to be okay, alright? We… Sunset, you, me, your friends… we'll figure it out. You'll be okay."
Wallflower’s expression darkened. “No I won’t,” she said.
"You will," Sunset insisted. "You're not on your own. Sunset is with you, and no matter what happens, you'll get through it together. I have a wall-full of pictures of people that screwed up, or had the world, even the galaxy against them and in the end, no matter what, they too were okay." She forced herself to keep her hands on the bar, no matter how much she wanted to pull the younger girl into a hug. "I know… I know it sounds stupid to say all of this. But it's true. Even if it sounds like I'm just saying stuff to make you feel better. I know how easy it is to dismiss it as just another platitude. But Sunset… your Sunset, and I bet also her friends, if you let them, will be there for you. We Sunsets stay, and we're here to support you and help you be okay." She cleared her throat. "Even if it's just by providing you with a table and a hot chocolate."
For a moment, Wallflower didn’t say anything. She stared at the mug in front of her, the second of the evening, still almost full. “No,” she said, “I don’t think it sounds stupid.” With a swivel of the bar stool, Sunset and Wallflower were face to face. “You know what is stupid, though?”
Sunset didn't answer, simply shaking her head.
“It was stupid to go to a dance with some jerk I barely knew,” Wallflower said, her voice raising. “It was stupid to let him drive me home, to let him walk into my apartment to use the bathroom.” Tears streamed from her soft brown eyes once more. “I was an idiot for not realizing what was happening! It’s just like he told me, w-we were dates to a high school dance, so it was—” Her words were cut off by a sob lodged in her throat. A tremble and a heavy cough later, she continued, her voice higher than before. “It was normal. It was supposed to happen like that, right? I’m the stupid one for not realizing that sooner!”
"No," Sunset said firmly. "No. It's not normal. It's not okay to push you when you say no, or when you're clearly uncomfortable."
“I didn’t say no!” Wallflower was shouting now. “As soon as I got scared, I-I just froze up and let him do… I l-let him…” She wiped her eyes, only for them to fill with more tears. “This is all my fault…”
“Being too scared to say no isn’t the same as saying yes,” Sunset said. “You told me yourself that it wasn’t consensual, Wallflower. That alone is proof that you didn’t let him do it.”
Wallflower looked up at her, her eyes hardening. “Do what?”
Sunset blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Go ahead and say it, Sunset,” Wallflower said. “You’re doing the same thing my Sunset did, using whatever language tricks you can to avoid calling it what it really is!”
“W-Wallflower, I don’t—”
“I didn’t let him do 'it' to me,” Wallflower shouted. Her entire body trembled as her voice cracked. “I let him fuck me! I let him come into my home, tear off my clothes and fuck me!"
"Wallflower…" Sunset worked up the courage to place her hand gently on Wallflower's own. "He didn't fuck you. He raped you."
Wallflower instantly froze over. Her mouth opened as if to respond, but no sound came out. Slowly, she turned away from Sunset, hugging herself as tight as she could. Then, with the first ragged little gasp that escaped her lips, a torrent of sobs burst forth, and Wallflower fell forward into Sunset’s arms.
Sunset immediately embraced her, both keeping her steady and drawing her in. She wished she could say something to fix—to help Wallflower, but she didn't have the words. Instead, she leaned in, burying her face on Wallflower's shoulder and holding her tight, doing her best to keep her own tears to a minimum.
Wallflower’s cries grew louder and louder, until she was screaming. She clung to Sunset like her life depended on it, screaming and sobbing and crying in her arms. Sunset held her close, a bastion of safety in a world all their own for as long as it needed to be.
Sunset held her for a long time, keeping quiet and letting her cry. As horrible as it was to hear her despair, she knew Wallflower needed this. Eventually, the cries died down, the screams faded into whimpers and sniffles, and Wallflower seemed to calm down a bit, her ragged exhales replaced by steady breathing. If anything, it hit Sunset even harder just how much Wallflower had allowed herself to trust her.
Carefully, she slid from her seat, keeping hold of her guest, and used a bit of magic to help carry Wallflower to the back of the bar. She made her way past her room, and Lena's, Dani's and Rarity's, until she found a guest room she could use. Stepping in, she gently set Wallflower on the bed, then made sure she was comfortable before summoning her book and taking a seat next to the sleeping girl.
Wallflower needed to rest, and Sunset needed to think. Most importantly, she needed to make sure Wallflower was not alone.
Upon drifting back to the waking world, the first thing Wallflower realized was just how warm she was. The second was that for the first time in weeks, her sleep had been peaceful, dreamless and totally without nightmares.
The third was that she was no longer in Sunset’s apartment. In an instant, Wallflower sat up straight, her whole body rigid. Where was she? Who brought her here? Why was—
...Why was Sunset sleeping in a chair?
Oh.
The tension in her muscles relaxed, and she lay back down with a groan. Sleep amnesia was a wonderful thing, but now the events of the past several hours started coming back. She was in a bar—Sunset’s bar—and they were talking about…
Oh…
Wallflower pulled the comforter over her head, as if to hide from her embarrassment. Even without memory magic, Sunset had a way of figuring out what was going on in Wallflower’s head, didn’t she?
More memories of their conversation came flooding back. This Sunset used the same word as Wallflower’s Sunset used, the word Wallflower was unable to accept at the time—unable to accept even now.
No, she thought, frowning. She was doing the same thing she’d accused Sunset of doing, hiding behind whatever synonyms she could to avoid acknowledging the truth. Deep down, though, Wallflower knew Sunset was right. She closed her eyes, letting out a long exhale.
She had been raped. Not taken, not fucked. Raped.
Another deep breath, shakier this time, and Wallflower turned over in the bed. Could she accept that? Being a “victim?” What other choice did she have? It was the truth, even if it was a painful one. Tears stung her eyes as she twisted around beneath the sheets again.
“Sleep well?”
“H-huh?” Wallflower popped her head out from beneath the comforter, finding herself face to face with a yawning Sunset. “Yeah, uhm… Yeah, I did. Thanks.”
“Of course,” Sunset said. “You were pretty exhausted, and I…” She shifted in her seat. “I was hoping we could talk a little more before you leave.”
“Oh, uhm…” Wallflower sat up a little straighter. “Yeah, okay.”
“Wallflower,” Sunset started, “About what I said…”
“You were right.”
At that, Sunset paused.
“You were right,” Wallflower repeated. “About what he did to me. That it w-was…”
“Shhh.” Sunset sat on the edge of the bed, offering a hand which Wallflower gratefully took. “It’s okay. You don’t have to say it.”
“O-okay,” Wallflower sighed. “Thank you…”
Sunset held her hand a little tighter. “You’re a really brave person, Wallflower,” she said. “I hope you know that.”
Wallflower sighed again. “So I’ve been told.”
“It’s true,” Sunset said. “I… I know this is hard—terribly hard—and it’s going to be hard for a long time.”
“My Sunset told me something similar,” Wallflower said.
“She was right,” Sunset said. “And, as hard as this is, as painful as it might be… Life is worth living, even if it’s difficult. Even if it hurts. Even if bad things happen.”
Wallflower nodded, even as her stomach tied itself into knots. “Y-yeah. I have a lot to think about when I get home.”
“Before you go, I wanted to ask you something,” Sunset said.
“What is it?”
Sunset took a deep breath and looked Wallflower in the eyes. “What happened was not your fault. Do you believe that?”
Wallflower sat in silence. Did she believe that? How could she possibly believe that? She let him into her apartment. She didn’t even try to stop him once he got aggressive. She just lay there and waited for it to be over instead of standing up for herself.
She never even said no. Of course it was her fault. How could it not be her fault?
Because it was his fault for doing it in the first place, not her fault for being unable to stop him.
“Yeah…” Wallflower held Sunset’s gaze. “Yeah, I do. It wasn’t my fault.”
Sunset’s smile was the most gentle thing in the world. “I know it’s not easy to say that,” she said. “I’m really proud of you, Wallflower. I hope you can be proud of yourself, too.”
“Th-thanks,” Wallflower said.
“You’re welcome to come back any time,” Sunset said. She handed Wallflower a business card. “I’d really like it if you did so frequently, like a regular check-in or something. And of course I’ll have some more hot cocoa waiting for you.”
Wallflower looked at the card, then back up at Sunset. “Okay,” she said. “I’d like that.”
The two of them sat in silence for a moment, until Wallflower rose from the bed. She sat down on the mattress beside Sunset, and after a second of silence, they embraced.
“Thank you,” Wallflower whispered. “Thank you for everything.”
Sunset gently rubbed Wallflower’s back. “Please come back soon, okay?”
Wallflower answered by hugging Sunset a little tighter.
When at last they seperated, Wallflower’s eyes were wet with tears. She wiped them away with her sleeve, sighing. “O-oh, before I go…”
“Mhm?”
“You said your spider needs a name, right?”
Sunset smiled. “Indeed it does,” she said. “Why, do you have an idea?”
“Well, uhm… It’s kinda silly, but I was thinking…” Wallflower forced herself to make eye contact. “There’s a perennial called spider ivy, and, uhm, it has another name too,” she said. “Saint Bernard’s lily.”
“You want me to name my spider ‘Bernard?’” Sunset smirked. “Yeah… Yeah, I like that name. It’s classy.” She made a show of flipping her hair. “Just like me.”
Wallflower giggled. “Well, I’m glad you like it,” she said. “Even if it’s just a dumb pun.”
“All puns are dumb puns,” Sunset said. “That’s what makes them great.”
They shared a laugh as Wallflower stood up. “I guess I should get going,” she said. “I’ll come back soon, though.”
“I’ll look forward to it,” Sunset said, smiling. She gave Wallflower one last hug. “You’re gonna be okay, Wallflower. No matter what happens.”
“Y-yeah…” Wallflower sighed, her head resting on Sunset’s shoulder. “I’m gonna be okay.”
Sunset hummed as she tilted her head to consider the flowers' position, then moved them around a bit before stepping back and nodding. When she heard the bell chime, she glanced from the table down the hall, at Rarity, who waved gently before making her way in.
"I'm telling you, darling, I'm never going to visit another Hive City. These people are barbarians!" She paused. "Big, muscular, heavily armored barbarians, but brutes nonetheless!"
Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you swear off the Imperium three months ago?"
Rarity crossed her arms. "I needed some materials. A lady must do, what a lady must do." She smirked. "And they will never forget my last visit."
"Right." Sunset sighed. "I'm never going to be able to go to that universe again, am I?"
"Nonsense, dear. They love conflict. They might appreciate you more that way." Shrugging, Rarity stepped into the bar proper and blinked, taking in Sunset's new decoration. "Sunset, that is lovely! I honestly didn't think you had it in you."
"I don't," Sunset said, narrowing her eyes. "But Wallflower was kind enough to bring them the last time she visited. She said they were called myosotis."
Rarity grinned. "I have to give it to her, she does have a subtle sense of humor."
Sunset looked from her to the blue, five-petalled flowers. "She does?"
"Mhm." Rarity approached them and cast something that Sunset recognized as a simple temperature spell. "There, that should be the ideal weather. Make sure to remember to water them!"
"As if I would forget."
Rarity giggled. "Oh, darling, that's too precious. I need to drop my purchases in the office, talk to you soon."
Sunset watched Rarity leave, then sighed and sat on the stool, next to the habitat, where Bernard stood still. "What do you think, Bernard? I think they fit Wallflower's table."
Bernard simply started nibbling on a piece of kale, making Sunset chuckle. "Yeah. You're right, I think she'll like it too."
End Chapter
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Thank you so much for asking me to collab! Working on this was an absolute joy and I'm super proud of what we made.
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\o/ Bless up for Wally \o/
Hi Flanders!!!!!
Brilliant. A wonderful addition to two wonderful stories.
10092087 Oh god, imagine Homer somehow waltzing into the bar.
The feeling are way to strong, I read trough it all, and man they more I read the heavier I felt.
This topic is one who I wish never existed
10092149
And now I want to see this.....Along with the other Simpsons.
Aiet. Poor girl, that was a heavy read.
Who caught the slip up. Centuries. How old is Sunset now?
Did Gandalf visit Sunset's bar before? It would be amusing to see Sunset 'Pyro' Shimmer make her appearance in the Middle Earth.
No offense to the writer (or the author of the fic this chapters about) But this is a chapter I think I will skip over, its a touch too dark for my tastes, see you next week!
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Wally deserves all the hugs
10082255
And seeing Slytherin NOT being portrayed as evil for once is a good change of pace considering the amount of shit the house gets, both in canon and in the fandom.
10092295
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What's the flow... Oh.
D'arn ye, of course which else 
Nice chapter! Is it weird that I almost expected Sunset to call Olivia Benson to help Wallflower?
10092083 The pleasure was definitely mine!
And I agree, it was a difficult topic to handle, but I feel we did well on it.
10092321
Every fibre of my being is protesting at Pinkie not being in Hufflepuff, but that chart seems to be spot on otherwise.
10092534
You did! This chapter tugged at so many heartstrings, but still ended on an optimistic note. That's not always easy to pull off.
Hey, could you please slap down a more specific content warning on the top of the "Forget-Me-Not" chapter? All it says right now is that it deals with "very real traumas", which isn't really enough for a person to know whether they need to skip over it or not. If you're trying to keep it unspoiled for people who haven't read the story - and wouldn't care about trigger warnings - you can put it in spoiler tags.
Overall, it's a well written chapter, but it goes into some stuff that I dunno if I'd have wanted to read if I'd known beforehand.
10092761 That's a good suggestion, I added a spoiler-formatted warning tag
Oof. Still, glad I read it, and perhaps a little more healing can be brought about.
Side note, the Imperium. If there's one place that needs a stiff drink, it's the Imperium. Hopefully if/when Sunny ends up there, whoever she talks to is
open mindedcalm/desperate enough to not try and burn the bar down.10092832
Thanks for the quick response!
10092968
Thanks for reminding us! And I do apologize if any of this story made you uncomfortable.
Oof, damn. I need to comfort Wallflower as best as possible and then go have... words with that bastard who did that to her.
Many, many four-lettered words punctuated by me physically expressing my disgust.
Anyway, great chapter. Hit hard in a good way.
I wonder how anyone bigger than a car enter into the bar?
I keep having an Isekai omake wandering through my head at night, I really ought to commit it to photons and send it to you to make you laugh.
10093316 And then we make sure there isn't enough left of him to bury, right?
I know a guy...
10093586 My guess is that there's an enchantment on the door that allows the object to enter on their size, but then translates it to better fit Sunset's size (so something big outside the bar is still big, but is human sized if needed once inside and getting Sunset Therapy)
10093316
( in heavy Russian accent) Comrade, I know a few men who owe me a favor and I recently came across a brand new pair of concrete boots! They would make great gift for that cysuka blayt no? Also a spot on a friends deep sea fishing trip just opened up and I think I can fit him in if you can convince him? Da, just get me his info and I can get Ivan, Gregor, Sasha and Pyter to help out too ( among others)!
That was... Intense. Note, if the Isekai ever ends up picking me up, I hope it isn’t this serious.
Centuries huh? I'd have thought that Sunset was millennia old by now.
And The Imperium? Inquisition calling. ^^
This was some heavy stuff, but very well written.
Great work portraying Wallflower's strugle with trauma and Sunset's helping.
In a side note, myosotis, huh? Forget-me-nots in flower language mean faithfull love and memories. Guess someone has an admirer now.
Ah, the time abyss. Pernicious thing.
Excellent work throughout, and good handling of a delicate subject. Also, of course Wallflower gave Sunset forget-me-nots. Kind of her thing.
will their be romance in this storie
Ah yes, the Flanders Special! It's just what the doctor ordered for her.
A very sad chapter, but very uplifting at the end.
...pregnancy test?
Eesh. Heavy stuff.
Yep. Get it all out in the open. The final euphemism kicked out.
...man, it's bad when "fuck" is a euphemism
Hmmmm. Myosotis, eh?
Ohh. Blue, five-petalled flowers. The chapter title. Of course. Sneaky!
Remarks and corrections:
> at least helped somewhat her ignore
Mangled word order. Should be "at least helped her somewhat ignore" or "at least somewhat helped her ignore"
10096064
This is the first step towards growing beyond being a 'victim' and becoming a survivor. It's often an exceedingly difficult one, more than most would think. Wallflower was so intent on blaming herself specifically because she was so scared of accepting that she had been raped. She turned to the most extreme way of thinking about what happened, rooted in blaming herself even more ("I let him fuck me!"). Here, Sunset confronts her with the bleak reality, and despite how horrible it is, this time Wallflower is able to accept it. It's just like Sunset told her, after all. It's the truth, even if it's a painful one. She has to be honest with herself about what happened so she can finally start to heal.
Thank you for your comment. I hope you enjoyed this story.
A very difficult topic to work with, and one that requires a sensitive hand.
But I think you and Scampy handled it very well. I am no expert on the subject of rape, or how to deal with it, but what you two wrote here, feels both like a believable reaction to trauma, and the difficulties of overcoming it.
10097858 Hey long time! But yes—it is a very difficult topic, and I have to give the real credit to 10096239 because I wouldn't have wanted to tackle it on my own.
10096064 Fixed the sentence! Thanks!
Another entry into the "Why I Hate Rape As A Plot Point". And attempted suicide on top of that. I get what you're trying to do, guys, but this was a pretty big miss for me storywise. A bit too much went into the Wallflower pity party that it actually started having the exact opposite reaction for me, which I hate because now I feel like an asshole for being so uncaring. It's not helped by the fact it stars the designated intentionally designed woobie of EQG, Wallflower, who whole dilemma was her own damn fault.
Also the hell is with the sudden tonal shift for the Isekai. I don't mind heavy or dark stuff, but suddenly delving into suicide and rape..... it's reminding me of the time the webcomic CtrlAltDlt, a web comic about quirky gamers and their quirky games suddenly having a super heavy strip where the main character's girl friend has a miscarriage. I mean bravo for trying something new, but not really the place for it.
10098007 It wasn't her fault. She blames herself for it, which is different. I knew it wasn't going to be for everyone, and that's why I put the warning. It's not going to be all like this, but there will be occasional chapters where not happy conversations happen.
10097935
Been following this story for a while, but don't comment often. Usually 'cause I don't have a lot to say, and it's more interesting to leave a more insightful comment (or genuine praise) than just "Great chapter" #143 
Yeah I still lurk
And while you may not have wanted to tackle it on your own, I would assume that you had your hand in what happened here, and it wasn't all Scampy's doing. Credit where credit is due, you did well, too.
10098007
Really? I feel like at least a third of the chapters in this story deal with people who have gone through some really nasty stuff and are carrying the scars from it. The only difference here is that the trauma isn't as processed as in these other cases.
10093863
Murder is a bit too much. What you need is a future version of the creep, a transgender spell, a little help from a certain unicorn to time it before the incident,and replace Wallflower with "her". That way, in the end, he only fucks himself. I mean he had a future and he blows it
10098922 I think that's enough of that. Rape victims and survivors suffer real trauma and have enough to deal with with what they've gone through without people saying "it's their fault". It isn't. It's rape because its non-consensual. She was taken advantage of. The only thing she was guilty of in that story was trusting some creep who turned to be the kind of person that would abuse a scared girl. I get you didn't get/like the chapter, but again, that's what the warnings are for. Please drop it.
10099100
Eh? My second post had nothing to do with Wallflower, I was just making an ironic punishment where anonymous rapist ( is he named in Scampy's story?) Literally screws himself. Wasn't saying it was Wallflower's fault, hell I don't ever recall saying any about consent in the first place.
10099156 Duh. I admit, I completely misread that one. (Sorry for the confusion there.)
10099163
It happens.
10099163
A week's worth of introspection, and I now realize where some of the confusion came from ( I have too much time at work to think). I did say that Wallflower's problem was her own damn fault. By which I meant her debut on EQG, where she erased people's memories of them meeting her and then got angsty because people tended to forget she was there. But I didn't specify that so I guess it got read as me blaming her for getting raped.
I have a feeling that some of these chapters are not chronological in order but now I really want a Ned Flanders chapter
It blows my mind that she isn't on suicide watch in a psych ward at this point
10172004
I actually take that back
Also this story made me cry because of how familiar it all felt