//------------------------------//
// Frame of Mind 
// Story: Dream Requiem 
// by FieryRecovery2 
//------------------------------//

Sunset grimaced as she awoke slowly, a dull ache persistently attacking her right shoulder. The scent of weak coffee and old paper greeted her nose and the bright sun rays pierced her eyes when she opened them. For a few minutes, she just looked around her bedroom dazedly. It was quite bare, consisting of only her bed, a little bookshelf, and a desk complete with chair sitting off in the far-off corner. But there was a coziness to it that made her feel happy. It was her comfort zone in a world of danger. 

"Ouch," She hissed, rubbing her shoulder. "That Windigo really did a number on me." 

Remembering past lessons with Princess Celestia, she knew that the Windigo could not touch her in areas of warmth. Lucky for her, her apartment was blessed with a working heater that kept her alive throughout the brutal winters. Sighing, she sat, watching the sunrays dance across her room. She hummed to herself as she slowly stepped out of bed and into the shower in the next room. She grimaced as she saw spotting of blue on the bandage. She needed to do more research on these new batches of Windigo, otherwise this world will be in grave danger. 

"I wonder if Twilight saw my journal entry." 

After showering, she opened the journal and was a bit disappointed that there was no new journal entry. But that was to be expected. After all, she kept repeating to herself, Twilight was a princess and princesses have multiple duties to attend to. A growl of her stomach persuaded her to have some breakfast and a bit of pondering regarding both Anon-a-Miss and recent events leading up to her wounds by the Windigo. The first thing that was obvious was that Windigo were attracted to strong negative emotions. This meant that Anon-a-Miss was creating enough discord among CHS to attract Windigo behavior. Now the question remained: Who was behind Anon-a-Miss? 

"It has to be someone at the sleepover," She mumbled to herself. "Nobody else had access to those secrets except me and the Rainbooms. But it couldn't be the Rainbooms, could it?" Her thoughts were swirling as she sipped her coffee slowly. It's unthinkable to see the one of the Rainbooms behind the attack given their position as the Elements of Harmony. Yet, more rumination made their involvement more plausible. "After all, they've all had their grudges against the me from the past. It would be easy to create this and frame me, creating fake outrage to punish me further." 

The thoughts swirled, swirled, swirled, around in her head. The spoon fell from her hand in slow motion as it clattered onto the table with the small coffee drops dripping slowly, slowly, s l o w l y... . . .





"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?! Come on, wake up!" 

"Easy, easy." 

"What happened?! What do we do?!" 

"Everyone, please remain calm. It'll be okay." 

Sunset grimaced as someone was tapping her cheek lightly. She could feel the cold tiled floor underneath her and the smell of faint antiseptic pervading the air. She winced as a sharp pain hit her temples like a sledgehammer and she moved slowly. She opened her eyes to a blurry mass of colors and a gentle hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she felt heat rise to her face as the doctor smiled sweetly at her. He had a pleasant face, with brown curly hair, twinkling blue eyes, and a chiseled jaw. It seemed that he was fit for movies and TV rather than medical school. 

"Um," She mumbled. "Thanks..." 

"It's no problem," The doctor replied warmly. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yes," Sunset looked down timidly. "Thank you." 

After being guided back to her seat, Sunset slowly looked around the room, trying to absorb her surroundings. It was larger than the medical room last time, with the same linoleum, steel walls, and the sterile smell of cleaning supplies. Doctors and nurses alike were shuffling about handling patients of varying sizes. Surrounding her on all sides, in a circle no less, were at least twelve patients. They looked at her with concern, pity, and fear, which was a step up from what she saw these days. 

"Ouch," She winced as she pressed a hand to her forehead. "That smarts." 

She was back in this lucid dream. It was a different room, to be sure, but the theme of hospitals was the same. She frowned as she saw some of the patients' states. Some were crying, some were screaming and yelling at the hospital staff, and other patients were even getting hysterically violent. There were a couple that weren't moving, as if they were rooted to the spot. Clutching the hem of her pajamas, she turned her attention to the circle she was in where all eyes were on her. 

"Um," She fidgeted, uncomfortable with all of this attention. "Am I supposed to say something?" 

"Mmm," The doctor nodded. "You were telling us about how you were about to tell your friend about the Windigo sighting." He frowned, pausing as if he was recollecting his thoughts. "You were also telling us about how your other friends might've, ah, been behind the profile wreaking havoc in your school. And then, you had an episode. We lost you for a few moments." He smiled. "But we're glad to have you back." 

They were glad to see her? They were glad to have her back? Sunset held in a bitter snort as her hands balled into fists. Even the nicest person alive wouldn't be glad to see her whatsoever save for Princess Twilight for whatever reason. Her mind was either being sadistic or pitying her at the lowest point in her life. She gasped softly as she felt the familiar burn of tears. 

"I think that's enough for today's session," The doctor said, looking at the clock. "We'll be back here tomorrow. Apologies for the room, but the other one's being renovated for the time being." He frowned. "It's not ideal but it will have to do for now." 

Sunset raised an eyebrow. It was as if he was subtly catching her up to speed about her current situation. She looked down, lost in thought. Suddenly, a gentle tap to her shoulder startled her out of her thoughts. She turned around and met with the kind nurse from yesterday. Nurse Halliwell smiled and gave a hand to which she reciprocated. They walked out into a bright, pastel-pink hallway with drawings and pictures that decorated the walls. They stepped into an elevator and Nurse Halliwell's  hand pressed on the top floor button. 

'Okay, let's review. This is a lucid dream to where I am a patient in a psychiatric hospital. The first time was where I awoke in a medical room. This time, it's in a room where I apparently shared parts of my life with other patients. I understand that every time I fall asleep, I end up either here or back in my apartment. But why is this happening? I still need to figure it out.' 

"Ah, we're here," Nurse Halliwell opened a door with a flourish. "Here's your room." 

Sunset stepped in and she was, admittedly, impressed. The room was a little larger than her apartment bedroom and it had soft green walls and a window that led to a view of a pristine lake. The bed was positioned next to the window with a green-blue bedspread and thin pillows. Across from the bed was a small desk and chair. Next to the desk was a door that led to an extremely pristine bathroom. Attached to the walls were different pictures that were heavily detailed. As Sunset took a close look, she gaped at the drawings. 

"These are of...!" 

One drawing was of Princess Twilight, right down to the cutie mark. Another was of the Rainbooms in perfect detail. Sunset let her fingers ghost over the papers as her eyes absorbed how intricate the drawings of her previous life in Equestria were. She swallowed like an ice cube slipped into her stomach. Lucid dream or not, it was still eerie to see someone else know, let alone draw detailed intricacies of her life. 

"Yes. It's about the life that you describe in your dreams." 

Sunset turned to see another woman at the door alongside Nurse Halliwell. She was in her early thirties with black hair tied back in a neat bun. Her icy blue eyes were hidden behind sharp glasses and her lightly painted lips curved in a little smile. A nametag loosely hung from her lanyard and her long, thin, and elegant fingers tapped against her skirt. 

"A-Ah, Doctor Alba," Nurse Halliwell yelped. "What brings you here?" 

"Well, I just want to remind our patient of the appointment we have tomorrow afternoon," Doctor Alba replied, not missing a beat. "And to remind you of your daily meeting report that is due in two hours." 

"Oh, right," Nurse Halliwell slapped her forehead. "Well, I'll see you later, alright?" 

She left, leaving Sunset alone with Doctor Alba. Sunset swallowed as she continued to gaze at the doctor. Something wasn't right, whether it was atmosphere or the fact that the blue eyes behind the rimmed glasses seemed to pierce her like a knife through a soft block of cheese. She decided to sit on the bed and was surprised at how soft the bed seemed to be. It was as if she was sitting on a cloud. Sunset frowned; this had to be a psychiatric hospital for people who could afford it. 

"Well, continuing on our previous conversation," Doctor Alba purred. "These drawings are about the events in your dream." 

"My dream," Sunset raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?" 

"Your dream, where you believe yourself to be a unicorn who transformed into a human," Doctor Alba replied smoothly. "At length, you've told us about how you used to be an evil unicorn who terrorized a local high school. Then, you were turned to good by those chosen by the Elements of Harmony and then helped them defeat sirens who wanted to take over the world. But now, you have hit a rough patch with the Elements of Harmony and are once more a social pariah at this school. Then, a creature called a Windigo attacked you." 

"Ah," Sunset nodded a little too quickly. "Right, right." What the heck? It was just a lucid dream. It was best to play along for now, though she couldn't help but feel as if she's seen this somewhere before. 

"So, then," Doctor Alba crossed her arms. "What happened next?" 

"Um," Sunset mumbled. "I woke up in my apartment and I was about to tell Twilight about the Windigo sighting. That's it." 

"I see," Doctor Alba nodded. "Well, we'll discuss this at length tomorrow. I'll leave you to rest." With that, she turned on her heel and left, a slight smirk dancing on her lips. Sunset watch her close the door before flopping on to the bed. She sighed. She got new information of this world, however she was left without a name and much of a detailed face to this body. That was short-sighted of her. She should've asked either the doctor or the nurse. 

"Might as well start with the face," She muttered. "The name can come afterwards." 

Getting up, she headed for the bathroom. It was nice and simple, with a shower, a toilet and a sink complete with mirror. In the mirror reflected a face. Sunset blinked. It was a lovely face, for sure. Two hazel eyes sat over tanned skin and freckles. A small nose and slightly plump lips finished the rest of the face. Barring the slight bags under her eyes, it was a model face. 

"Well, that settles that," Sunset sighed. "Now for the name." 

She decided to check the drawings for answers. Gingerly, she touched the sketchpad, briefly wondering if she could make a creation as detailed and beautiful as her host. Opening up the sketchpad, she scanned the drawings for an answer. Twilight and the Rainbooms met her with their smiling faces. It created an ache in her heart that she'd rather forget. She returned to her original task at hand. Just when she wasn't going to find a name to this body, she spotted a little scribble at the end. She squinted as she tried to decipher it. 

"Okay, so this person's name is Soleil Sands." 

Suddenly, a wave of dizziness washed over her. Placing the sketchbook back in its place, she sat down on the bed. Breathing slowly, the dizziness slowly went away but it left her tired. She decided to crawl back into the bed where it felt soft, cool, and nice. She smiled a little before letting the vestiges of sleep take her away. 





Sunset awoke with the smooth wooden table on her cheek and the coffee spilling onto the table. She grimaced, feeling stiff all over. It was definitely not helping her aching shoulder at all. Sighing, she cleaned up the mess on the floor and went back to bed. Luckily for her, it was a Saturday, which meant that she could stay in bed all she wanted. And now that she was out of the Rainbooms' lives for good, she decided to spend the whole day in bed save for lunch and dinner. 

"Alright," She plopped on the bed with pen and paper. "Time to detail the events in the dream so far." 

Just when she was about to detail the encounter with Doctor Alba, a sudden buzz made her jump. She looked over to where her journal lay and saw that it was shaking like an angry chihuahua. She walked over to the journal and opened it to at least a ton of panicked messages from Twilight. Sunset frowned. The time that passed was only a night or so ago, so why was the princess panicking? Sunset flipped over to the last message, where the intentions were spelled out in big, bold letters. 

"I will arrive on the grounds of Canterlot High School tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. Come alone."