> His Other Half
>  by Dawn Leaper
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> His Other Half
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Soarin was anxious. Very anxious.

Scratch that, he was positively terrified. He had never been this scared before, never in his life. Not even that time he thought he was going to die after he crashed into the pole during the Equestrian Games. Or that time at the Best Young Flyers competition when... well, okay, numerous times, if you think about it. He had an unhealthy habit of consistently putting himself in imminent peril. 

And yet, she was always there to save him. 

But that was besides the point, which was, this was the biggest day of his life. And boy, was he nervous. 

He had been thinking about it for a while, actually. And he finally decided it was time: this was the night he was going to ask Dash the question. The big one. The one most stallions were simultaneously excited and scared to absolute death for.

He wasn't worried about if she'd say yes or not. Of course she'd say yes, he knew that. She was ready, they both were. And after knowing each other for seven years, and dating each other for six (and a half) of those seven, he knew it was time. 

Ever since she had joined the team, they had immediately struck up a friendship. She made him laugh like nobody else, and it was really quite remarkable how close they grew within the time frame of just six months. 

Oblivious to the knowing glances and relentless teases of their teammates, what they had called 'playful banter' and 'friendly competiton' had just been really, really heavy flirting. He had asked her out after six months on a whim, mostly to throw her off during one of their verbal sparring matches, half-expecting her to shrug it off, but to his shock and secret delight, she accepted his offer. And from that moment on, he had never looked back. 

She wasn't perfect. She could be hard-headed, and impulsive, and brash... but she was also compassionate, and wild-hearted, and could laugh in a way so unbridled and free, it made his pulse race. 

And sometimes, he struggled to keep up with her, but that's what made her so addictive. She was a challenge, someone who he would never tire of. And Soarin loved a challenge.

There was never going to be another mare for him, not ever. She was his everything. She was his breath, his relief, his joy, his laughter. She was everything good in him, the one part of himself that he felt was truly prepossessing. The fact that she just so happened happened be the hottest pegasus on the face of the earth was just a bonus to him. 

After all they had been through together, after everything, all the pain and the loss and the trauma, she was his one constant. She was always there. Loyalty in the essence.

When he thought the world was going to collapse beneath his very feet, she was there to pull him up. When he thought that all he had ever known was going to be swarmed by the forces of evil, dramatic as it sounds, she was there to protect him. Protect them all. 

She was nothing short of a goddamn miracle. 

She was his happy place, his comfort. She had seen him at his worst, the darkest moments if his life, and yet somehow she was still here, still loving him. He had always appreciated her (rather loud) unfazable strength, and her unwavering resolve. He had exposed himself to her, show her the parts of himself, the very depths of his soul, and she had protected them when he needed her most.  

He couldn't describe her, words simply couldn't do her justice. Everything about her just made him feel this strange, tingly, pleasant feeling, from her loud personality to her ironically short- and ridiculously cute- height, she made him happy in a way that no other mare ever had before. 

In Prance, they say 'tu me manques'. It doesn't mean 'I miss you', it means 'you are missing from me'. Soarin had always loved that subtle phrasing. It was as accurate as he could get to describing how he felt about Dash. When she wasn't with him, not there to smile or make him laugh or crack a joke, he felt like a large chunk of him was missing. Take care of my heart, he used to tell her when he went on press tours. Take care of it, I've left it with you. 

Not that she outwardly appreciated it though. She wasn't into mushy gestures, though he suspected- he knew- she liked it deep down.

He remembered, one time, during the a particularly hard press tour, just after he had injured his scapulars after a nasty runway crash and had to drop out of the season, he had quite literally ran to her like a small colt who needed reassurance. He had been so sick of everything, of the nosy interviewers, of all the prying cameras and invasions of privacy. 

Dash had pulled him close to her, rested his head on his shoulder and whispered in his ear. 'I can't make all your problems go away, Soarin. I can't do that, you know I can't. But I can promise you this, you will never, ever have to face them alone. We'll face them together. Like a team.'

Because that's what they were. A team. Dash and Soarin, Soarin and Dash. That's how they'd always been known, and how they would be known. Like two pieces of a puzzle, who fit together more perfectly than could be said. Her spunk and sass and snark spiced up his life, her trust and love and faith completed him. He had tried to push her away, against his will. He had refused everyone who had interested him before her. He had not allowed himself. And they all fell victim to his status and fame, too shy to pursue anything further.

But she was the only one that fought back. The only one who kept him in check, who slapped him in the face, hard. Through all his hard-working, jaunty facade, she saw him. 

She saw him. 

Not as a Wonderbolt, not as a celebrity or an idol, but as him. Soarin. It was rare that someone treated him normally. Unnerving, even. But in hindsight, he wouldn't be surprised. For his truth was her truth, there could be no lies between them. They were connected by spirit, and soul, and love.  

'Why me?' Dash had said one night, out of little regard when they were bundled on the couch after Games Night. 'What?' he had replied, chuckling a little.

'Why me?' she had asked again, shifting her head to gaze him in the eyes. 'Out of all the mares in the entire world... you chose me.'

Soarin had thought about it for a while. 'You know why I love you, right? You're the only one I'm ever going to love?' 

 'Yeah,' she had replied, letting her chin relax back down. 'I know. I was just curious.'

Soarin had blinked. 'Well, I mean sure. I guess I could give you a bunch of great reasons. Though, the list would be too long for me to write them all down. Heck, I'd had a hoof cramp from writing writing much-' Dash had snickered, batting him lightly on the nose. 

 'You could have had the world, Soarin.' She had said. 

 'But I don't want the world.' Soarin had replied, his voice uncharacteristically intense.'I want you. Don't you see?' 

Dash had raised an eyebrow playfully, although her eyes were potent and thoughtful.

Then Soarin had laughed, because she really didn't see. 'They're the same. The world and you. My world and you.'

Dash had smiled then. Not a grin, not his favourite smirk, not a teasing sneer. A smile. Simple, sweet and breathtakingly stunning. For all her tough demeanour and strong persona, Soarin had always been able to see how truly beautiful she was. Her affectionate side that only really emerged around him. Her softness, and sheltered vulnerability. 

Because he could see that underneath the slender, lean muscles and the rough appearance and the wind swept mane that seemed to be eternally in an endearing mess, there were two rosy pink eyes, framed with long, dark lashes, that shone with infinite possibilities like all the stars in the sky. And that under the carefree, tough attitude, her gaze was intelligent, comtemplative and pensive, with eyes that darkened considerably according to her mood. Soarin's mother had always said that the eyes are the window to the soul. 

'Good.' Dash had said, curling closer. 'Oh, and by the way.'

'What?'

'You're my world as well.' And then she had snorted, because really, that was humongously cheesy. 

But if the world was crashing down around them, and the sky was burning and everything was fading, the only thing Soarin would care about is Dash. Because, if he was a wanderer, lost and alone, he would always, inevitably, find his way back to her. Their love could burn the world down or raise it up in glory. Together, on the battlefield, they were unstoppable. A force of pure strength and drive. Because he had absolute trust in her, and she had put her life in his hands countless times before. And he would never let her down. Ever. 

And bloody hell, if anyone laid a hoof wrong on her, you'd bet he'd have his own hoof in their face quicker than Fleetfoot could lap Lightning Streak on the training track.

He gazed out the window. It was a cloudy night, the moon glowing faintly, valiantly, through the ongoing stretch of pale clouds, the promise notes of soft rain etched upon the sky.

He pulled open the window to his room, leaping out of it and into the cool night air. The air was sweet and fresh, billowing clouds of milky white highlighted silver in the light of the moon. He flapped his wings, gaining more and more height until there was nothing between him and the moon, a bright, crepuscular lantern surrounded by sprinklings of stars. 

He landed on a cloud, the impact causing a few wispy trails to cascade softly down it's side. It was so quiet up here. Just a sea of ongoing puffy waves that rippled with the wind. 

And he simply sat there, for a while. Thinking. It was one of his favourite places to think. The serenity, the silence, the deafening quiet. His thoughts were louder, and clearer. How trivial they all were, in the end. Just insignificant, impermanent things, bustling around with their busy little lives, all destined for the same thing, in the end. Life was precious, you had to make the most of it while you could. And he knew exactly what he wanted to do with his. 

"Hey." a raspy voice sounded quietly from behind him, as if on cue.

Soarin smiled. He hadn't heard her landing on the cloud. He turned around to see Rainbow Dash standing on the patch of cloud behind him, her wings folding neatly behind her. 

And for a moment, he was breathless, for the moonlight seemed to shine off her cobalt coat as clear and smooth as water, her mane reflecting the shards of metallic rays as if it were composed of spectrum shrapnel, gleaming with a bewitching lustre. Her eyes were luminous under the dark lashes, which were silver flecks in the moon's reflection, and the two magenta orbs seemed to sparkle like the stars above them, glowing with incandescence. And in the crepuscule lightning, Soarin thought, her wings, large, slender and feathered, seemed to shimmer with the radiance of some sort of avenging warrior angel. 

God, sometimes he still couldn't quite believe she was really, truly his, and only his. 

Dash collapsed on the cloud next to him with a soft oomph, crossing her forearms as she rested her chin on her hooves, leaving into his side with a warm familiarity. 

"I knew I'd find you up here." Dash smiled, rolling her eyes. 

"Hey," he acknowledged her, extending a wing across her back. "Where have you been all day?" 

"Oh, Fleetfoot and Spitfire dragged me out to that posho spa in the City Centre. It was a bit random, to be honest. Spitfire was never the type for a spontaneous 'girl's day out'. And then Fleetfoot decided she wanted to play a gargantuan game of wingball, so I got dragged into that before training with Idris."

"Oh, they're that new recruit squad you're training, right?" 

She nodded.

Soarin grinned. He had asked them to distract her all day. On the outside, he was playing it cool. But on the inside, his prior peace had turned into a mess of frantic nerves and rickety heart beats. 

"That's fun," he replied, chucking. Could she hear the nerves in his voice? "I've just been hanging up here for a while." 

"I know," Dash said, "I had to ask about four million ponies if they'd seen you. And it was only five minutes ago I'd figured you'd be here." 

It was their place, really. The highest clouds above the Compound. It was where they went the night after their very first Grand Galloping Gala. 

"I don't know... there's just something about this place, you know?" Soarin pondered. "Like... maybe this is how Luna feels every night, looking down upon us oh so lowly mortals, whose lives are just brief flickering flames in an endless circle of life..." 

"We can't be that lowly, she's dating one of us. Who is it, that guard?" Dash snorted, rolling over to dangle a leg off the cloud side. "Besides, you'd be that one stubborn birthday candle who refused to go out. Like, seriously, how many times has the universe tried to kill you off now?" 

"Hey!" Soarin laughed, poking her in the side. "I'm trying to be all deep and philosophical here, you instigator. You're ruining the moment." 

"Then tell me, o' wise one, why art thou up here amongst the Heavens?" Dash half-sang dramatically, flinging her arms up languidly to the sky in a large gesticulation. Soarin snickered, rolling onto his back next to her. 

"Hmm, I dunno. Maybe I was stargazing?" 

"Stargazing, my ass. You've never stargazed in your entire life." 

"On the contrary," Soarin smirked, rolling so his forelegs pinned her from either side, his grin widening as she tried to push him off but couldn't, "I believe I have. You're looking at the head of Cloudsdale Elementary Astronomy Club."

"Really, now?" Dash chuckled. "Well I feel privileged, O' great foreseer. I didn't know that." 

"Yeah, well," Soarin said, lowering his head down to hers so that he could feel her hot breath on his lips, "there's a lot you don't know about me yet." 

"Well I guess," Dash said, her eyelids fluttering half-shut, "I'll just have to find out." 

She smiled up at him, and Soarin's heart did a happy little leap.

"Besides," she continued, her smile deepening into a devilish smirk. "I do know one thing. One very helpful thing."

"Oh yeah?" Soarin rolled his eyes, "And what's that?"

"That's you're very... extremely... ridiculously..."

"Ridiculously what?" 

"TICKLISH!" Dash yelled, rolling them over suddenly as she tickled her feathers viciously against his sides. 

Soarin exploded into a mixture of yells and uncontrolled laughter, squirming to get away from her. "AHAHA- DASHAHAA- STOP- I'M GONNA PEE MYSELF-" 

His marefriend relented enough for him to retaliate, diving at her and pushing them both back to the soft cloud surface. They wrestled playfully for a few moments longer, before collapsing back and resting next to each other once more. Soarin ran a hoof tenderly through her hair as she nestled her head into his shoulder. 

"I used to love stargazing, you know." Dash mused, folding her hooves behind her head. "When I was a filly, my dad used to tell me they were fireflies, waking up all across the night sky after sleeping all day. And then, of course, when I was seven, Cheerilee had to burst my bubble by telling me that they were actually massive balls of white-hot gas burning thousands of light years away. Bit of an anti climax, if you ask me. Fireflies are much more plausible." 

"Fireflies," Soarin snorted, "only you." 

"You want to hear something philosophical? Well, you know that feeling when you heat food up in the crappy lounge microwave, and it's still cold in the middle but you keep eating it anyway because our lives are all pointless in the end, and entropy is unavoidable and the world is full of callous and casual destruction?" 

"Uhh... no?" Soarin laughed. 

"Yeah, neither do I. But Silver has talked about it a lot. The old guy's kind of a pessimist, now that I think about it." 

"I'll say." 

"Anyway. Who cares. I gave up metaphysics when I was sixteen. All I need to know is what angle to set my trajectory on... and if I'm honest, I wing it every time." 

"He's kind of got a point, though, if you think about it. We are so small, so tiny on the big scale of things. So inconsequential to the existence of the Universe. The most we can cause is our own deterioration." 

Dash elbowed him lightly in the stomach. 

"Hey! I said enough extentialism for one night. My brain's starting to hurt. You'll end up worse than Twilight if you're not careful."

"Sorry," he smirked.

They fell into an easy silence as the sky above them glistened and twinkled with a million fiery pinpoints, scattered like sprinkles across the a sky of black velvet, basking in the glow of the fierce silver moon. 

The scene was calm, and beautiful, and yet it had this immense subtle power. Like it could bear the weight of the sky crushing down on it, like it could expand up into the air and fill the whole world with it's beguiling enchantment.

This was it. He was going to do it. It felt right.

"Hey, um, Dash?" He asked, taking a deep breath. She turned to him with an eyebrow raised questioningly. 

"What's up?" 

"There something I want to ask you." 

"Oh yeah, I saw this coming." 

Soarin spluttered. "You- you did?" 

"Yes. And the answer is no." 

"What?" 

"Yeah, you know. About the hot tub in the medbay? We decided against that. Though you wouldn't know that since you didn't turn up to the meeting. I was surprised Spitfire didn't lose her head." 

"I- oh. Yeah, right." 

"Why?" Dash raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "What were you going to ask me?" 

"Oh, nothing. I-" 

"Oh my gosh!" Dash half-shouted, her eyes lighting up. 

Soarin's heart raced- had she figured it out? 

"Did you see that shooting star?" Dash sighed, leaning her head against Soarin's shoulder. "That's the best shooting star I've seen since Luna got un-banished... of course, mostly we were all focussed on hoping she wasn't going to turn back into some sort of flying death donkey-" 

"You... you mean Nightmare Moon?" Soarin laughed as he felt his heart almost drop out of his chest with relief. He silently thanked Luna for her fondness of flying lumps of rock on fire. 

"Well, maybe it's a good omen," he shrugged. 

"For what?" Dash asked, propping herself on an elbow casually. 

"Oh, uh- um, I... nothing." 

Dash narrowed her eyes. "Ok Soarin, what's the deal? You've been acting weird all day. You're being all deep. You missed the daily squad meeting. And your heart is racing right now even though we aren't moving." 

Soarin gazed at her for a few moments, right in the eyes. She stared back, smiling, not even blushing, because they were past such trivial flirtatious things. This was it. She was close to figuring it out: she could tell something was up. 

"Ok fine, come with me," he said, hopping up and pulling her by the arm gently as he played along, "I want to show you something." 

"Whyyy..." she groaned playfully, "this cloud is so... so floofy." 

Soarin said nothing, just grinned and raised an eyebrow before saluting, in (what he hoped was) a suave manner, and free falling backwards off the edge of the cloud. 

He gave it four seconds. Three seconds... two... one...

Something burst through the bottom of the cloud, rolls of soft white cirrus dissipating into the air with a satisfying oomph. Dash emerged out of the silky mist with a gleeful look on her face. 

"I love destroying clouds." 

"You like destroying things, full stop." Soarin rolled his eyes in mock exasperation. "Now come on." 

He disappeared back into the flat layer of clouds, dipping down into it's fluffy depths before soaring suddenly up into the sky. (Pun totally intended.) The soft, spiralling tendrils of pearly cloud wisp caught on his wings, creating spectacular ghostly landskeins that diffused like veins into the dark air. 

He heard Dash's laugh behind him. She loved the thrill of the chase, and he heard an almost inaudible poof as she followed him out, the light catching prettily on her wings. 

He felt a subtle disturbance in the air, glancing up just in time to see her glide swiftly over his head, cloud wisp trailing off her wings like cold fire. She twisted quickly, agilely, flashing him a coy smirk before diving into the clouds again. 

He chuckled under his breath, following her into the mist. The clouds were so thick up here that he could barely see a metre in front of his face. He closed his eyes, using his Blindfolded technique. He felt movement behind his back, turning around and opening his eyes just in time to catch Dash, who had been barreling towards him with a cheeky expression on her face. He swung her around, coming to a stop and pecking her chastely on the lips. 

"Stop running away from me!" he pouted jokingly, releasing her. "You don't even know where we are going." 

"Then show me," Dash laughed, bounded away from him once again. 

"Well, you'll have to follow me," Soarin teased. "Keep up... if you can." 

Dash scoffed. "Bring it on-" she began to say. But Soarin was long gone. 

"Why you sneaky little-" her voice faded into the distance as he rocketed away from her. 

Soarin chuckled under his breath, pumping his wings faster and faster as he sped away through the cold night air. His breath was barely visible, a jet of hot air that was swept away by the wind, the only things he could here was the laughter of Dash behind as she blew past him, the roaring of the wind in his ears, and the wing beats that disturbed the atmosphere's perfect tranquility. He grinned at Dash, who was totally focused on flying. She turned everything into a race. He may be able to accelerate quicker than her, but she had a higher top speed. 

They raced through the sky, a whirlwind of light and dark, vanishing and surfacing through the clouds of glowing white like breath melting into the wind, mist emanated from their wakes. It was surreal, almost as if they were dancing in a dream, intangible and shadowy, except for when Soarin reach out to swing Dash to a stop, she was warm and solid underneath his grasp. 

"Here," Soarin pointed, gesturing to a small clearing in the clouds. "This is what I wanted to show you." 

It was a small open space he had cleared out earlier, a circular gap in the unbreakable layer of clouds. In the centre of it, about thirty feet down from their current level, he has scoured the skies above the compound to find the most perfectly round, soft cloud, asking a couple of the special effect unicorns to secure the formation in place from the wind. They did so without question, assuming it was for a stunt practise. 

"Cute," Dash grinned. "but... uh, no offense Soarin, I'm not quite sure what it's supposed to be." 

He chuckled. "I'm no architect, believe me. But it's not artwork I was trying to show you." 

He lead her by the hoof down under the colour layer, landing on the platform he created in the middle. 

Dash gasped. 

The dark hours of the morning had started to bleed into sunrise, and Canterlot had been caught in the magical moment just as the light started to tunnel from beneath the skyline, the ether surrounding it blushing scarlet, with hints of tangerine and honey, arising in the way that most natural forces do: needing not an invitation, but feeling it's welcome nonetheless.

The city was spectacular. It's spires and towers were illuminated, basking in the glow of the distant sunrise. The sky burned in the distance, casting out warmth and light like a fire, and the sun peeked over the horizon like a fox out its den. The streets wallowed in the molten colours, salmon pinks and vermillion reds shining the reflection of windows and lakes across the city, the brilliant gold and vibrant apricots blending into one as it stretched across the vast glorious expanse. 

Luna's nights may be gorgeous, but Celestia's sunrises were something of a performance. 

"It reminded me of you." Soarin said, turning his vision away from the picturesque view to one that was, in his opinion, a thousand times more beautiful.

Dash flushed red and tried to hide her grin. "You're so corny..." she snorted, covering her face with a hoof. "Can I get an extra side of cheesiness to go with my corn taco?" 

Soarin pulled it down gently. "But you love me." he grinned cheekily, cocking his head to one side. 

Dash rolled her eyes fondly. "But I love you," she agreed. 

"Good." Soarin said, clearing his throat. "Because there is something I would like to ask you." 

He took her hoof in both of his tenderly, kneeling down on one back leg. Dash gaped at him. 

"Dash, I have loved you since the day I met you. And I know that sounds cliche, and cheesy, and corny, but I'm sorry. All the mares I've met have either been with me for fame or money. And then you came along. And you spoke to me like I was normal. You joked with me and teased me like I was normal. Did you know how rare that was? You slapped me in the face... literally. And to this day, I am forever thankful that you are the strong, resilient, stubborn-ass mare you are, because if you weren't... I don't know where I'd be right now." 

Dash's eyes sparkled, teary and shining as she bit her lip, hard. Usually she wasn't prone to such feminine gestures, but he could tell that what he just said meant a hella lot to her. Besides, he knew her better than anyone else, matched with only her parents. 

He had a speech all planned. It was going to be full of carefully crafted sentences, trying to perfectly describe what he felt. But looking at Dash, her eyes shining with trust, the words melted away into his heart. They didn't matter. He would speak from his heart, his would speak as himself to her. Like she had done to him the first time they met. 

"You are, by far, the most incredible mare I have ever had the privilege of meeting, let alone loving. You amaze me every day, with how talented and ferocious and strong you are, and I know that I will always be able fo rely on you. You've seen me at my worst, the moments I'm not proud of, and yet somehow you're still standing here, still mine. I just- I don't know what I'd do without you." 

Dash smiled through the tears that were now running freely down her face, and she made no movement to restrict them. 

"You are my world, Dash, the reason I live, I breathe, I laugh. I have loved you and will love you for every day of my life until my last breath, and if there is a life after this then I'll love you in that as well. As long as I live, and laugh, and love, it will be for you. And as long as I can still dream, trust me, it'll be of you. There's always been a part of me missing, the part where I give myself completely to another person. And I think, that day I met you... I finally found it. That bit of my soul, Dash. It was inside you. This is right. You and I. And whatever crazy circumstances the Universe created to bring us together, I would have always found my way to you eventually, even in a million different universes. I would swear upon it, for there is nothing that I believe in more than us." 

The wind picked up softly around them, the golden glow of the sun wrapping itself around like a magical aura. It ruffled Dash's hair, her mane framing her face as it swirling in the breeze, like a vivid stellar explosion. 

"And so, I find myself here. Six and a half years later. Asking you one question." 

Soarin took a deep breath as Dash bounced subtly, a massive grin forming under her expression, although she tried go subdue it. 

"Rainbow Dash, will you marry-" 

"YES! Yes, yes, yes, a million times yes!" Dash half-laughed, half-screamed, as she attacked Soarin in a frenzied mixture of jubilant excitement and utter euphoria. He caught her, crushing her to his chest as they fell back onto the cloud, a tumble of laughter and elation. 

They lay there, in a tangle of mingling tears. Dash sniffed and wiped the moisture out her eye. She glared at him playfully. 

"Look, now you've made me cry." 

"Well..." Soarin chuckled.

"I hate you..." Dash murmured, but even so, she pulled him towards her, kissing him softly on the lips. It was warm, and teasing, and breathless from racing, and full of excitement and adrenaline and pure, requited adoration. 

That kiss pretty much summed up their entire relationship. 

"That," Dash sighed finally, "was the most romantic proposal in the history of the world. Rarity is going to absolutely die." 

"I was considering asking everyone to spell it out in the air. You know, cloud art. But then I figured that was definitely-" 

"Way too over the top?" Dash asked, brushing Soarin's hair out his face. 

"Exactamondo." 

"You know me so well."

Soarin grinned. "Oh. I forgot to give you the ring!" 

Dash snorted. "Gee, what a finish. Bit of an anti climax you built yourself there, babe." 

Soarin chuckled, taking the wing-ring out of his flight suit pocket. It was elegant and refined, a simple white diamond on a pale gold band. When the sunlight hit the jewel just right, the light refracted, splitting the singular beam into shards of spectrum coloured rays. 

"Let's try this again, shall we? Dash, will you marry me?" 

"Yes." She held out her wing. 

Soarin wove the ring carefully into the feathers just above her heart. Pegasi rings were specially designed to worn comfortably and securely during flight. Unicorns wore theirs around their horns, and earth ponies had special necklaces. The Pegasi called their version wing-rings, although they weren't really rings at all, rather a band-like chain with a clasp that could sealed itself round the neck with an enchantment, near the only feathers that don't moult. The only feathers that would stay part of you for your entire life.

They watched the rest of the sun ascend, forming like a tunnel of gold to a world of eternal forever-light. And after a long, exciting night, the daybreak sought out glimmers of warmth, gentle hope and an endless, boundless exhilaration for the adventures they would face together and had faced together. 

Because they were two pieces of a puzzle that fit perfectly together. Dash and Soarin. Soarin and Dash.

They were made for each other, as surely as birds were made for flying and fish were made for swimming. As surely as it was Celestia who raised the sun and Luna who lowered the moon. Balanced, equal and harmonious. 

And to his last day, he thought, he would remember the stars he saw as he pressed her to him, with the promise of events yet to be experienced, vows yet to be told and kept, life to welcome and cherish. To his very last hour. 

She would always be his other half. 

Always.