>You’re trotting along the road away from Ponyville.
>It’s finally time to leave it all behind, you stop and spread your wings.
>Looking back at them, you give a few experimental flaps.
>They’re beautiful, you look up towards the sky and prepare yourself.
>With ease, you take off from the ground and soar into the air.
>Taking a quick glance back, you see the ground and the town grow smaller.
>A single word comes to mind.
“Freedom.”
>You pump your wings and fly further away.
>Away from everypony and everything.
>To soar amongst the sky and the stars.
>You go higher and from up here, you can see so much.
>How tiny things really are, and insignificant your problems really are.
>It fills you with such peace.
>You close your eyes and bask in the sunlight.
>As you open them, you’re back in your bedroom.
>Quickly you look around and realize it was all a dream.
>Letting out a sniffle, and shake your head.
“...I will fly...”
>Heading into the nearby closet, you pull out the ‘wings’ you made a while ago and strap them on.
>They may not be real wings, but they are real enough to you.
>Gathering yourself, you stand up on the bed.
>Closing your eyes, you try to leap into the air.
>Though gravity quickly reminds you that you’re a earth pony and you hit the ground.
>Hard.
“Ow!”
>You lay there for a bit, with tears slowly leaking out.
“...Wh-why was I born a earth pony..?”
>Silence greets you back.
“...It’s not fa-fair...”
>A few more tears escape, and you wipe them away with your hoof.
“...I-it’s okay...Worth a try anyways...”
>Slowly you stand and undo the wings, putting them away
>You try to forget again, and go about your morning routine.
>As you finish up your warm up, you know what to sketch.
>A picture of you, as a pegasus.
>You pull out the small folder you keep hidden of the previous drawings of yourself.
>Looking through a few, you settle on three to focus on.
“...This will do...”

>Taking a sip of coffee, you get to work right away.
>Slowly the picture comes together.
>It’s you, soaring above clouds and being free from everything.
>You slowly smile as you finish it.
“...I can dream...”
>The memories of the dream still fresh, as if you just were flying.
>Closing your eyes, you revel in it.
>As you reopen them your still in your living room.
“...So-someday...”
>You pick up the drawing, including the newest and set them aside for now.
>Time to focus on other things.
>In truth, you’ve drawn just about everything in your home.
>From the stove to the bed, you’ve drawn it.
>Probably several times at this point, though you’re not completely certain.
>You settle on the bricks for the fireplace, the details are always good to focus on.
>Picking up your easel, you bring it closer and set up for sketch.
“...This one always gets me...But it’s good...”
>You get to work right away, starting from the basic outline.
>Each brick drawn, and soon the whole thing itself.
>Finally the hard part comes, getting the details right.
>The little marks on the bricks are the most difficult.
>Sure, you shouldn’t copy them completely, but you want them to be as realistic as possible.
>You finish up, but before you can examine your work, you hear a knocking on the door.
>Looking over at the clock, it’s a little after twelve.
“...Of course it’s A-Anon...”
>A small part of you is still afraid it isn’t though.
>So you go through the process of unlocking the door and slowly open it.
>Peaking out, Anon is standing there, looking off into the distance.
“...Um...Hello Anon...”
>He quickly looks back to you and smiles.
>”Good afternoon Addie, ready to draw me again?”
>You nod and head back towards your easel.
>As you’re setting up, Anon starts to talk to you.
>”Mind letting me see a few more of those drawings?”
“...Su-sure...”

>You’re not sure why he wants to, they aren’t good enough.
>Grabbing a few, you bring them to him.
>As he looks at them, he pauses and yawns.
>You knew it, they bore him and are awful.
>Slowly you let your gaze fall to the floor.
>”Is everything alright?”
>You don’t look back at him, but answer.
“...Yeah...Everything is fine...”
>He kneels down in front of you.
>”Are you sure?”
“...I know you’d see those drawings were awful eventually...”
>”What? Oh, you saw me yawn. No no, I’m just tired is all. These are great, really Addie. I could never call your work awful.”
>You trace your hoof idly on the ground.
“...You-you’re just saying that...I know you don’t want to hurt my feelings...”
>”I’m serious, I didn’t sleep well last night, so this morning I felt really tired.”
>Maybe he is telling the truth?
>A part of you hopes so.
“...O-okay...I got some coffee, if you want..?”
>You look back up at him and he nods.

>As Addie leaves to get you some coffee, you look at some more drawings and think.
>She really must have no self esteem, especially if she thought your yawning was a sign.
>Not sure what happened to have caused that, she might tell you eventually.
“Mind if I look at a few pictures more while you’re doing that?”
>You hear her call out from the kitchen.
>“...Sure, do you want anything with your coffee...Cream, sugar..?”
>You look at a few more pictures, before picking up a folder nearby.
“No thanks, I’ll take it black. I like it better that way.”
>As you open it up, you find yourself pleasantly surprised.
>They’re pictures of Addie, kind of like self portraits, but one difference.
>In each one she is a pegasus.
>Like her other drawings, they are highly detailed, but some of these are colored.
>You hear Addie come back in and let out a gasp.
>Looking to her, you see her face frozen in horror.

>”...W-where did you find that..?”
“It was next to the other pictures you have here, is there something wrong?”
>She is shaking and looks on the verge of crying.
>Shit, what the fuck did you do?
>You try to salvage this.
“I wasn’t supposed to see these, was I? I’m sorry if that’s the case, but they are really great. Didn’t know you did self portraits.”
>She is still standing there shaking.
>Do something jackass, you can’t fuck this up.
>You set down the folder and approach her slowly.
“If I upset you, I am sorry. I really didn’t know.”
>You kneel before her to get to eye level with her.
>The whole time she keeps her eyes locked on you.
>Slowly, she stops shaking and wipes away any forming tears.
>”...It-it’s okay...I should’ve put those away...It’s my fa-fault for being dumb...”
>You give her a smile and shake your head.
“Not really, I should’ve asked about the folder. My fault for being nosy.”
>Addie lets her eyes dart around again, must be a nervous tick of hers.
>She shifts around for a few moments before closing her eyes and letting out a long sigh.
>She opens them a little bit, and mumbles something out.
“Sorry, but I didn’t quite catch that.”
>”...In my dreams...I’m a pegasus...And I fly away from everything...That’s why I draw myself like that...”
>The fact she is trusting to tell you this says something.
“So you dream of flying?”
>Addie nods slowly, but doesn’t look at you.
>You think for a moment.
“I know I’ve seen a hot air balloon around here, have you tried riding one of those? Wait, it’s not the same, is it?”
>Before you can continue, she starts talking again.
>”...You-you’re right, it’s not...The feeling of flying...The freedom...That’s what I want...”
>No surprise, then again, there is magic in this world, so there might be a solution.
>You’ll ask Twilight later, until then, time to move on.

“Sorry again for doing that.”
>”...I forgive you...”
>Hopefully she believes you, though you doubt it.
>You pick up the coffee cup she set down and take a drink.
>It hits you like a freight train, she must like this stuff strong.
>You shudder and get up.
“How about we get back to drawing?”
>She nods and you head to the middle of the room, assuming a bodybuilder pose.
>You watch her prepare to draw you as you flex.
>Picking up her pencil, she starts to sketch you.
>Like the previous times, she moves fasts and stops to erase occasionally.
>This is starting to hurt, so you stop flexing and just hold still instead.
>The minutes crawl by and she sets her pencil down, signaling that she finished, hopefully.
>”...Okay...You can come look...”
>Thank fuck, you straighten out and walk over to see this piece.
>You reach the canvas and admire her work.
>You want to tell her what a fantastic job she has done, but you know already that she would likely not believe you.
>Doesn’t matter, you have to raise her spirits some how.
“This is amazing work Addie, it’s really shocking how well you manage to capture the image so well.”
>From the corner of your eye, you see her blush and her mumble something.
>However it’s getting late, and you have to figure out if it’s possible to fulfill her dream.
“I’m gonna get going, but it’s been great helping you out.”
>”...Yeah...Thank you again for coming over Anon...You’re really helping me improve my skills...”
>She gives you a small smile as you leave.
>As you walk home, you wonder how she ended up like this, and how you can fix that.