Orpheus was lying on a cloud bank alongside Luna, hyperventilating.

“Why…” Orpheus asked with a drawn out breath, “are we stargazing at this altitude?”

Luna giggled. “To reduce light pollution, of course.” Orpheus sighed. Stupid question. Orpheus decided to try a different tack.

“So...what exactly...are we...looking for?”

“We’re looking to see whether stars shift out of alignment,” Luna said, then shifted a star. “Thought you could escape me, Vega, did you?” Luna then turned to Orpheus. “Do you recognize that constellation?”

Orpheus stared at the constellation that Luna was pointing at. He looked at Vega, wondering why he should recognize that constellation. It then hit him. “That’s Orpheus’s Lyre.”

Luna giggled again. “Very good, Orpheus. Now do you know what your namesake was famous for?”

Orpheus nodded. He seemed to be acclimatizing to the altitude quite nicely. “ He could charm all living things, and even rocks, with his lyre. I don’t know how you could charm a rock, though…”

“You know, Rarity once got charmed by a rock…” Luna said. Orpheus stared at Luna. He opened his mouth, then shut it. Best not ask. I don’t really want to know the story behind that one…

Orpheus continued, “He also went to Tartarus to attempt to reclaim his wife Eurydice by charming Hades himself, but that ended in failure when he looked upon her before exiting Tartarus.”

“Sad story, huh?” Luna asked.

“Yes, quite.” Orpheus agreed.

“Do you recognize any other constellations?”

Orpheus looked up at the sky. “Yes. There’s Orion...and there’s Draco.” Luna giggled at that. Orpheus glared at Luna. “What that’s supposed to mean...your majesty?” he said as he quickly remembered himself.

“Oh, nothing...just leave it up to a soldier to recognize the hunter and the dragon.” Luna then leapt up onto her hooves. “Hey, you wanna race down?”

Orpheus giggled. “Princess Luna, we both know that you’re light-years faster than me. There’s no way I’d take you up on that offer.”

Luna grunted, then pulled off a strip of cloud and tied it around one of her wings. “I’ll even do it with one wing tied to my side!” Luna then stamped a hoof. “I’ll even sweeten the deal! If you win, you’ll get a month’s paid leave!”

“And if I lose?”

“You have to go on a date with me tomorrow night.” Luna said with a grin.

Orpheus raised an eyebrow, then got up onto his hooves. This could be interesting. “Alright, you’re on. But you’re paying.” At the very worst, I could get a free meal out of this.

Luna nodded. “Alright, on three. One, two...three!” and they both dropped down below the cloud cover into the night sky. Orpheus quickly pointed himself downwards, angling back his bat wings in such a way to reduce drag most efficiently as he engaged in his dive-bomb. He quickly turned his head to notice Princess Luna was keeping up with him, but was trapped in a rather strange corkscrew motion as she struggled to keep up with Orpheus in her handicapped condition. Orpheus giggled as he picked up speed, the wind blowing through his mane, causing his eyes to tear up. Yes, this was his favorite part of being a thestral. Not the looks the mares gave him for being exotic, not the chance to serve under Princess Luna as her Night Guard...but the pure unadulterated joy of rocketing through the sky at impossible speeds, the adrenaline coursing through his body as he took the dead-drop, only to pull up at the last second.

He had often wonder how to describe this exquisite, unrelenting, singularity of incomparable inspired expressive empathy. An empathy for a state of mind unlike any other he’s chanced a fleeting exploration of. A familiar exploration of a world alien to him—not due to an utterly unfamiliar surrounding reality, whose intricacies and finer shadings amused his already whimsical and adscititious perspective on normalcy. He didn’t need rushing waterfalls and breathtaking scenery to to escape the programmed rat-race regimenting and plaguing his practiced life. All he really seemed to use to unwind his mind were the tools needed to deprioritize drivel and strip bare the prejudicial dams in the flowing river he called his ego. Personality and social mores took a backseat to the exegetic nature of refocused reality, a multifaceted disease unfolded and lain flat, in order to ascertain and pinpoint incisively what he exemplified by his actions and what he knew in his heart to be apodeictic sans his inner voice of personal shame or the herd mentality instrumental to the survival of his ancestor's imprint.

Yes, flight was his addiction, but to call it an addiction seemed to almost trivialize it. It almost seemed...spiritual, in a sense, although spirituality was phased out in ponies after the revelation of the God-Princesses among their midst. Still, it seemed the only word applicable for what he was experiencing at this moment, the essence of ecstasy. Orpheus then noticed the ground sharply coming up to him, to which he extended his eight-foot wingspan, saving him from certain death at the cost of speed. He looked around, not seeing Princess Luna anywhere. Better take my time with this. Don’t want to be a spatter on the ground. He quickly lowered himself onto the ground. A foot before he reached it, though, he heard a resounding crash to his left, causing him to quickly look in that direction. He touched the ground and galloped at full speed towards the source of the sound, leaping over ejecta that was splayed about, finally coming across a large crater, where a very dazed Princess of the Night was decumbent in the center. Orpheus looked over the lip. “Are you alright, my liege?”

Princess Luna lifted her head, smiling when she saw Orpheus. “Yes, We are fine.” She then sat up. “Well, did we win?” Orpheus noticed that she was using Early Equestrian. Must have been quite a blow.

Orpheus thought on that for a second. Well, I could really use a month’s paid leave. I’ve always wanted to visit Griffonia, or even the Minotaur Lands. But it wouldn’t really do to lie to the Princess...plus I could use the free meal. Orpheus the cleared his throat. “Yes, Princess Luna, you won. I was a foot above the ground before you impacted.”

Luna then whooped. “Oh, joyous day! We hope thou doth not forget this display of power!”

Orpheus rolled his eyes. “Wouldn’t dream of it...your majesty.” he quickly added.

Luna then stared at the thestral expectantly. Orpheus stared back. “Well, aren’t thou going to help us out of this crater we have created?”

Orpheus sighed. “Yes, your majesty.” He then extended his wings and flew down to Princess Luna, ripping off the cloud used to tie her wings down. She then smiled and flexed her wings, taking off. Orpheus noticed that she failed to take into account the dizziness that comes with such a crash as she spun in the air wildly, slamming her head down on the ground above the lip. Orpheus flew up to her. “My liege?”

Luna shook her head. “My, that was quite a crash. Did I win?”

Orpheus facehooved. This is where she loses her memory? “Yes, Princess, you won.”

“Yes! In your FACE!” she shouted while pointing a hoof at Orpheus. “Come on, let’s head back to the palace!” she cried out, flying in the direction of Ponyville.

“Princess, if I may be so bold, Canterlot is in the other direction.”

Luna stopped midair, then giggled and flew in the direction of Canterlot. Orpheus facehooved again, then spread his leathery wings to follow in Luna’s stead.