Trained By a Rainbow

12- Drawings Come to Light

-Sunset Shimmer POV-

I stood in front of the Dash household. It's been almost three months since she was proclaimed dead and it still was a shock. She was so much closer to me than the others and I was still in shock from the whole ordeal.

I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. After a second, Bow Hothoof came and answered it. "Hey," I greeted him.

He smiled at me, "Hey Sunset. How can I help you?"

I look down, "W-well, I was wondering, if I can spend a few minutes in Rainbows room?"

Bows face fell but was soft and nodded, "We haven't gone in since the incident so nothing should have changed."

I nodded in understanding and climbed up. When I reached the door, I hesitated before turning the knob and entering, closing the door behind me.

I looked around. It was messy like normal, but seemed cleaner somehow. She probably cleaned it a few days before the Night Fury carried her away.

I sat on the half way made bed and looked around. It felt so empty. I took a look around and saw the sky blue walls. Most surfaces were covered in a layer of dust giving the room a depressing grey color.

I leaned on her bedpost and was surprised when it bent with my weight. I fell back and was about to fix it when I saw a portion on the floor at the foot of her bed opened up.

Beyond curious, I looked in and was surprised to see sketchbooks completely filling the two foot deep hole that was a foot by two feet. I picked one up and saw that dates were written on the front. I didn't take me long to realize they must be the dates that the contents were made.

The top ten had dates during the time that dragons were invading with the oldest one being a few weeks prior. I opened that one and had fun looking through it all. I never knew Rainbow was such a good artist! The drawings almost seemed real even if they were only done with number two pencils.

The drawings occasionally had words to deepen the meaning of the drawing. There was one with a crossing sword and Battle Axe with the depiction, "United we Stand".

More drawings of people standing united and fighting dragons were drawn, but suddenly, they changed.

First it was a picture of Rainbow and a Deadly Nader. Her hand was outstretched as she looked away in fear. The Nader was looking at the hand with curiosity, it's mussel a few inches from her hand.

I was confused and flipped the page. The next one showed Rainbow on the ground, her head propped up against a rock, as a dragon I couldn't recognize growled in her face. A look of pure terror was on Rainbow face as the dark dragon looked about to bite her head off. A caption said, "First impressions are rarely accurate".

I continued to flip through and dragons were drawn in a positive light. They were peaceful, happy, and curious. Some even had graphic descriptions showing dragons being victim to human hands.

The unknown dragon was the most common in all the books. They played, and laughed together and even cuddled and hugged. I saw that the dragon was always shown with a lighter back left tail wing. It looked almost like a prosthetic.

One picture caught my eye in the fourth book I looked at. Rainbow had what looked like a terrible terror in her lap asleep while she pet it, joy in her eyes. Two more terrors were in the background as the Black dragon glared at the fish they were sharing. The words were more like a poem that took the whole back of the drawing.

"Every day, I hear your voice
Words that I once feared
The days went quickly by and by
Then this connection appeared

I fly with you around
And you make my eyes shine bright
What would have happened if I followed the norm
Still fills my heart with fright

Your words I heard and can't ignore
My friends are getting worried
My haste to be alone
It's not me, but in doing, I must hurry

I have never felt more blessed
My guiding light is you
Our talks aplenty long and deep
Found a new me ringing true

I am not a warrior
Nor a small and meek foal
I am a human trapped on the ground"

The last line almost made me drop the book in shock.

"With a dragon for a soul."

I read the poem over and over trying to understand. Did the voices never stop after all? What caused her to look at these monsters in such a way to call herself one? What did the dragons do to our friend? I can't touch her to read her memories now.

I don't know what came over me, but I put all the sketchbooks in her old school bag and threw it in the bushes below where they'll be out of sight. I said goodbye to Rainbows parents as they sat talking in the living room then retrieved them.

No one I knew was around during the short walk from her house to mine and no one spared me a glance at the overstuffed bag over my shoulders as I carried the final few sketchbook in my arms since they didn't fit.

I put the books in order and found that they dated all the way back to when she was six, each lasting four to five months. I'd need to look at them later. For now, I continued to look at the art for clues. Once I was done, I only had two conclusions. Either, Rainbow went insane, or the dragons brain watched her before taking her away. The only problems with them are, Rainbow never showed any signs of mental disability other than the voices, and she believed dragons to be good for a long time and would have been eaten much sooner.

Regardless, nothing showed how she was so good at Dragon training. I need to photocopy all of these so we can keep them preserved so we can have more to remember her by. At least the Rainbooms were the talk of the town like she always wanted.