For some reason, like a total derp, I completely tunnel-visioned on writing the last couple of chapters and made them almost completely about Twilight and her friends. I sort of realised this after I posted the chapter, and immediately felt like an idiot, which led to me writing this. Not essential reading in the slightest, but here it is anyway, because I wrote it now and you can't stop me.

"Is this the place?" Spitfire asked.

Soarin held the piece of card between two of his feathers and studied it intensely. It was almost blank save for the tiny printed address in its centre that was also coincidentally the address they were trying to find in Canterlot. It was not proving as easy to find as they had hoped it would because neither of them really knew the outlying areas of Canterlot that well, and the whole point of the place was to remain secretive, meaning the building was totally indistinguishable from every other building in the street.

"It could be?" Soarin replied to Spitfire, very much unsure if it was. "If that's number twenty two over there, this must be number twenty three. I'm like...seventy percent sure."

Spitfire pointed at the plaque next to the door, "It says number twenty four right there."

"I'm like forty percent sure."

"Give me that." Spitfire flicked a wing out and knocked the card out of Soarin's grasp and into the air where she caught it with a hoof. "Twenty three Snaffle Street." Spitfire turned and pointed at the building opposite the one they were looking at. It had a rather modest plaque saying twenty three next to the door.

"Ten percent sure," Soarin said lamely. "Fuck you; I'm fabulous."

"Nothing wrong with being bad at directions honey."

Soarin pulled a face, "Y'know, I really can't take you seriously when you call me things like that. I'm way more used to you screaming at me. At work. Privately." Soarin grinned goofily, "Very privately."

"What? I'm trying something new okay? Sorry for trying to show a little affection."

"But Spitfire, I love it when you treat me rough." Soarin surreptitiously glanced up and down the street they were in, happy to see there was nopony about. "I saw a little alcove back down the street where nopony would see us-"

"No."

"But-"

"But nothing Soarin. We're here to see Fleetfoot. Not have gross 'behind a dumpster' sex."

"Fine, fine. How about after?"

"...maybe," Spitfire said with a faint blush, "but first we have things to do." Spitfire hopped up the steps to the front door and swallowed her fear down as she knocked. "Scary things."

Soaring followed Spitfire up the steps and pecked the nervous mare on the cheek, "It'll be fine. Actually, I bet she'll be really happy to see us."

"Hopefully." The door opened, and both of them put on the happiest faces they could for the white unicorn mare that opened it. "Hi! This is number twenty three, isn't it?"

The unicorn slowly and deliberately looked at the plaque beside the door, and hummed thoughtfully. "It does seem to be, yes. Who'd have thought it."

Spitfire coughed awkwardly, "Right, yeah... Uh, We're Spitfire and Soa-"

"You honestly think I don't know who you are? Seriously? The Wonderbolts' captain and her second?" The mare shook her head incredulously and stepped aside, "She's upstairs, second on the left."

"Right. Thanks." Both of them hurried past the mare, and up the stairs in front of them, Soarin giving her a winning smile as he passed, only to get a scowl in return.

"She seems nice."

"Shut it." Spitfire stopped in front of the door that presumably led to Fleetfoot if the mare downstairs was actually nice enough to send them to the right place, rather than her special pony murdering room, or something similar. Spitfire held a hoof out to knock, but couldn't quite seem to find the will to actually knock, and she stood there nervously chewing her lip until Soarin bumped her with his hip, driving her hoof against the door. "Soarin!"

"Oops."

"I was still preparing my...self..." Spitfire stopped mid-beratement and looked at the door as it slowly creaked open, revealing the angry blue visage of Fleetfoot. A clean, white bandage was wrapped around her middle, with two bumps underneath on both sides of her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked sternly, her voice cold.

Spitfire could almost feel herself growing smaller as Fleetfoot's eyes bore into her, "We're here to see you Fleetfoot, if that's okay?"

Fleetfoot craned her neck out towards Spitfire, the yellow pegasus crouching down further the closer she got. Then she broke out into a grin, "Of course that's okay! About time I had some visitors." She offered a hoof to Spitfire, which the other mare hesitantly took, then pulled her into a hug. "Sorry Spitty, I was only messing with ya. It's great to see you. You too Soarin," she added.

"So you're not mad?"

"Not in the way you think. I'm more mad at the mare that was responsible for me being there in the first place, and a bit at myself for getting caught, and a little at you for just pulling the rope out of my mouth without even thinking about it." Fleetfoot pulled Spitfire's head back towards her as the other mare tried to look away, "but no, I'm not really mad at you any more."

"You'll be pleased to know the mare that did do it is dead then," Soarin said cheerfully.

"Hah! Take that ya fuckin' bitch!" Fleetfoot waved them in through the door, leading them into a modest, two roomed bedsit with a small kitchenette in the living room. "I'm guessing that since you're back the war really is over then."

Spitfire and Soarin shared a look, "You weren't sure?"

Fleetfoot picked up a newspaper and threw it onto the floor in front of them. The headline, in bold, was 'Freedom prevails in Mareitania.' "I know what I read in the papers, but I also seem to remember the unofficial purpose of us being there was as 'advisors.' What the papers say is happening, and what is actually happening aren't always the same thing."

"Nah, it's definitely over," said Soarin. "We won by the way."

"Is that a fact. Was anypony else hurt? I mean like Princess Twilight and her friends, are they okay?"

Soarin nodded as he thought, "I think so?" He said, a little unsure, then nodded again, "Yeah, they're all fine."

Spitfire rolled her eyes at him, "Yes, they are all fine. They came back a few days ago while we took an extra couple of days to sort a few things out."

"That's good."

"We also have something to tell you." Spitfire hooked a hoof around one of Soarin's, "Me and Soarin are kind of...together now."

Fleetfoot raised an eyebrow at them, "Okay... I'm not saying I'm not happy for you, but aren't relationships between Wonderbolts generally frowned upon?"

"Not offically," Spitfire answered slowly, "but that's how it's always been, yeah. Look, we're just giving it a go. If it doesn't work, or becomes an issue, we've both agreed to put our careers first."

Fleetfoot shrugged, "Alright then, best of luck to the both of you then, really, I mean it."

"Thanks." Spitfire cleared her throat in preparation for her next question. "So... What about you? Is the thing to fix your wings working?"

"Fix?" Fleetfoot said with a snort. "I don't exactly have wings to 'fix.' But if you're talking about my wings growing back, yeah, it's working."

"It is?" Spitfire felt like a massive weight had been taken off her back with that news. "That's great! How long until you're back in the sky?"

"Another few months to get full growth, then another couple of months of physio to get them back to full strength. Or that's what they think anyway since I'm the guinea-pig here."

"That's amazing. I can't wait until-"

"Can we see them?" Soarin asked over the top of Spitfire.

"Soarin!"

"What?"

"Have some fucking decorum for once in your life."

"Ooohhh... Can we see them, please?"

Spitfire smacked a hoof against her face, "That is not what I meant."

Fleetfoot sniggered at their antics, "Don't worry Spitfire, it's cool." She started to slide her bandages up into a bunch around her chest, then stopped. "I will warn you that it's a bit gross, which is why I tend to keep them covered. They're...growing from the base up." She slid the bandage the rest of the way up, then spread her wings as much as she could. Spitfire turned pale, while Soarin's eyes lit up like a foals on Hearths-warming day.

"Dude, that is awesome!" The wings hadn't even grown back to a third their length, and were just short of the middle joint. Strangely enough what had grown back was fully feathered and looked like it normally should. Soarin placed his hoof on the end on the nearest wing and jiggled it about, drawing an annoyed glare from Fleetfoot. "Sorry. But hey! They're growing back! That's totally awesome!"

"Yeah..." Fleetfoot pushed her bandage back down and re-covered her wings. "I'm so glad Princess Twilight came through on what she said. If she'd been wrong... I don't know what I might've done..." Fleetfoot shrugged and smiled, "Guess it's silly to think about that now. You guys want any drinks while we catch up?"

"I'd love a coffee," Spitfire said, Soarin nodding in agreement.

"Okay, two coffees coming up." Fleetfoot busied herself with making the drinks, and occasionally rolled her eyes at the hushed argument coming from her sofa, saving a grin for the unmistakable sound of Soarin grunting in pain as Spitfire elbowed him in the side. While she was happy for them, she still couldn't quite shake the feeling that them being in a relationship wasn't very good for the Wonderbolts, and was probably based entirely on shared survival. She wasn't about to tell them to stop though.

"So," Soarin said thoughtfully as Fleetfoot returned with their coffees, "Who's the mare downstairs?"

"The unicorn? That's my guard, Lucy Lockout. She's a lot nicer once you get to know her, and she does a great job of keeping out the riff-raff and terminally nosey." Fleetfoot sniffed as she glanced at Soarin, "Most of the time anyway. Now how about you tell me what happened after I left."

Spitfire pulled a face, "Ooohhh... Where to even begin."

Home was many things to many creatures of the world, and rarely was it even the same thing to members of the same species. To ponies it often meant friends and family, which was true of many other species as well, but to Seeker, whose friends had died to her own hooves as a mercy in the depths of High Rock's dungeons, that was no longer possible. The only home left to her was what home she could make for herself in Zebrica, and as she stepped off the boat into the shining white port city of Zanzebra, that was what she intended to do.

Seeker tittered to herself. After seeing Canterlot, a city that almost shone with its own inner light, saying Zanzebra did the same just wasn't true. Most of it was painted white, or was built of white clay, purely for the purpose of redirecting the suns rays during the day. Even so, the city was still stiflingly hot at times, and if it wasn't for the fact that it was the only viable way into Zebrica from most of the world, Seeker might have tried to avoid it if she didn't also have another reason to come to the city.

Up on the highest point of the city, on the hill that the city was built around, was the Kumbi Mzee, home of the council of elders. Most foreigners would gasp and say silly things like 'how exotic!' at hearing that name, where the truth was it was only being said in the zebras native tongue and literally translated as Elder Halls. Even then, most zebra jokingly called it Kustaafu Kilima, or Retirement Hill; a place for zebras to go when they were too old to do anything useful except sit around and talk all day.

It was also the home of the Night-maidens, the zebras elite warriors, spys, and assassins, of which Seeker was one. It had been years since she'd been dispatched to investigate the mysterious blank space on the map known as Mareitania, and she'd definitely failed her mandate by not only taking almost two years longer than she'd been allowed, but had failed to protect her companions, got brainwashed, and eventually aided somewhat in overthrowing the tyrannical rulers of the country. She had also gifted the country's new rulers their own branch of Night-maidens as it were, which Seeker was fairly sure would displease her fellow Night-maidens quite significantly. To say she was not looking forward to returning there would be a severe understatement.

There was no putting it off though, so Seeker squared her shoulders, clenched her buttocks, and immediately set off in a different direction. They'd waited two years for her to report back, and could probably manage to wait for a few more hours in her opinion. A part of her had hoped that she could head straight through the city and out into the savannah towards the small village where she'd been born, but knowing how efficient the Night-maidens were, she'd probably already been spotted and her presence reported back to the council. She could probably avoid them for a while, but she could never truly escape them.

It'd be easier if she could blend in, but as most Zebra's went unclothed, the robe she wore caused her to stand out. More cruelly though was if she took it off she would stand out more. A zebra's stripes were as important to a zebra as a pony's cutie mark was to a pony as they were a sign of their tribe, family, and lineage. Only those zebras determined to mark themselves as outcasts would dare desecrate their stripes like Seeker's had been, and that would only cause her to draw stares wherever she went if she took the robes off. She might have come to terms with it, but other zebras would not be so thoughtful. Still, a few hours exploring the city and being amongst her own kind would hopefully be a balm for her battered soul.

Her hooves barely made a sound on the compacted dirt of the roads of the city, and she slipped amongst the crowds like a shadow. Habits almost as old as breathing came back to her now she was back in her native lands, and she once again found herself acting like the Night-maiden she had been before she had been dispatched on her last mission. Before she'd been spotted within days of arriving in Mareitania, and before she'd been reduced to the broken zebra she was now.

The market was just busy as she remembered it being, and she smiled as she surveyed what was on offer. A not insignificant part of her wished she had a few coins on her to purchase something, especially when she found a stall selling baklava, a sweet treat of pastry, honey, and nuts, that had always been one of her guilty pleasures. She stepped aside as another zebra walked up to the stall, and tried to contain the watering of her mouth as she stared at the offerings. She heaved a sigh, and was about to leave when the zebra next to her held what she had purchased in front of Seeker's face.

"Hello Mtafuta."

Seeker looked into the eyes of the zebra, and gasped as she recognised the zebra as one of her fellow Night-maidens. "Mlinzi! What are you d-" Seeker sighed a laugh, "I suppose I shouldn't really be surprised you found me, Watcher."

"I almost wish I could say the same about you being found. We had thought you all dead Seeker." She gestured towards the baklava, "Here, I remember how much you like this stuff."

Seeker picked one of the pieces up in her hoof and popped it into her mouth. It was just as good as she remembered it, and she sighed with pleasure. She almost complained when Watcher wrapped the rest up, but stopped when the other zebra placed the treats into her own bags. "Thank you Watcher."

"Where are Samsi and Kipa?"

"Dead."

"Dead? How? You come back two years late from a simple scouting mission just after the conclusion of a civil war within the country, and now you tell me Samsi and Kipa are dead? What happened to you there? And why are you wearing those robes? You aren't on a mission now, and you must be terribly hot."

Seeker gently shook her head, "I'm not sure where to even begin in telling you what happened to me Watcher. Perhaps it best I explain it in front of the council of elders, so as to avoid repeating myself."

"So you are willing to come?"

Seeker rolled her eyes, "I'm guessing you were sent to bring me in?"

"I was to keep an eye on you while others prepared to bring you in. We weren't sure whether you intended to return or not, so thought it best to bring you in before you disappeared into the savannah."

"If you suspected I might do that, then you know full well where I would have gone."

"Home, like you always do when you are troubled, but I did not relish the thought of dragging you all the way back here from your home village. You punch almost as hard as I can buck if I remember correctly." Watcher looked up at the rooftops, and Seeker did the same, spotting a half dozen zebras up there. "You will come quietly, won't you?"

Seeker nodded, and with a gesture from Watcher the zebras vanished. "After this long, I think I could do with a little quiet."

"So you're not going to kick my legs out and run like you normally do?"

Seeker smiled at Watcher, "Maybe next time, when I don't have my favourite food in my bags." Seeker laughed to herself, "If only Fleur had sought to teach me with baklava."

"What?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

Waves lapped upon the golden sand of a sun-drenched beach that stretched on for literally infinity, which was also impressive in another way as the sun had no discernible source, and was neither too bright, or too hot.

A pony lounged in a deck chair, shades over her eyes as she sipped at a drink that might have been a margarita if she knew how they were supposed to taste. The best she'd come up with was slightly lemony; contains alcohol. She finished her drink and placed it down on a small table, only to have it immediately replaced by another, served by an incredibly handsome unicorn stallion that might have excited the mare a little if he was more than just a soulless automaton. She waved a hoof in front of his eyes, getting no reaction from them other than to prompt him to say "Your drink my lady."

"Go remove your testicles with a cheese grater," she replied, grimacing as the stallion smiled at her with a purposely placed twinkle in his eye, totally indifferent to what she said to him. "Why the hell did I make you? Really?"

"To serve you my lady."

"That was rhetorical! Please just go away." She scowled at the stallion as she sashayed away, then picked up her drink and savagely sucked on the straw. it was still only slightly lemony. That was when the third voice she most expected to hear at any given time, after Twilight's and her own, unexpectedly spoke to her.

"Nice place you have here Nightmare."

Nightmare choked and spat her drink out over herself, then tried to heave herself out of her deckchair when a blue leg clad in a silver horseshoe held her back. "Luna!"

"Relax, I'm not here to hurt you."

"How did you find me?!"

Luna conjured herself a deckchair and fell into it next to Nightmare, "I know this might be hard for you to believe, but when something creates a massive beach within the dreamscape, I tend to take notice. Besides, if I were still inclined to destroy you, the hardest part was never going to be how to find you." The stallion reappeared and held a drink in his magic for Luna to take, "Thank you," she said before he wandered off again. "He looks nice."

"He's all looks, trust me."

"Trust you? There's a thing." Luna sucked on the straw in her glass and grimaced. "As bad lemonade goes, it's not the worst I've had."

"It's supposed to be a margarita."

"Ah." Luna tapped a hoof against her glass, producing a faint, bell-like tone, then waved for Nightmare to move her own glass closer to do the same. Nightmare tried it, her face screwing up as the sour taste surprised her. "You approve then?"

"It's a bit stronger than I expected." Nightmare drank some more then sighed bitterly, "Further proof that you're the mistress of this realm, and I'm just an intruder here."

"You're a guest-"

"'Guest' implies I can leave."

"I'm not sure I'm quite ready to see you walking around in the waking world just yet."

"Since I have no idea how to leave, that shouldn't be a problem." Nightmare turned so she could see Luna out of the corner of her eye. As much as she wanted to deny it, if she had a real, corporeal bladder, she might have made unexpected use of it by now. "Why are you here Luna?"

"Truthfully, I'm not entirely sure myself."

"Good to know. Thanks for coming. The exit is where you make it."

"Keen to get rid of me?"

"Does a sheep want to share it's home with a wolf?"

"Are you really referring to yourself as a sheep?" Luna laughed, and even Nightmare managed a tiny smile. Luna's laughter died though, and brought back Nightmare's nerves with it. "You confuse me Nightmare. You-"

"You're about to compare me to Nightmare Moon, aren't you."

Luna winced guiltily, "Can you really blame me?"

Nightmare thought about it, then nodded. "I do think I can lay every one of my woes, and even my very existence at your hooves Luna, so yes, yes I can blame you. Doesn't mean I do though. I wouldn't exist if it wasn't for you, so I do believe you're at least breaking even there."

"Oh huzzah, my evil alter ego doesn't hate me."

"And when did you decide I was evil?"

Luna raised a hoof, then slowly lowered it again, "Apologies. I was the evil one. I chose my path, and I fell to darkness. Just the same as you are capable of choosing your own path as you are your own pony."

Nightmare clapped slowly, "And finally she gets it. So what does this mean for us now?"

Luna shrugged, "Nothing really. You're trapped in here, and I have no idea how to get you out even if I felt so inclined. I understand you're your own mare now, but that doesn't mean I trust you outside of a place where you can do little to the outside world. At the very least you have convinced me you mean no harm."

"So, in other words you haven't told Celestia yet."

"Not yet. With her in Mareitania dealing with Faust, she will have more than enough to worry about for some time. You are one worry she could very much do without for now. And if you were to reveal yourself to her, she would only suspect me, so I would very much appreciate you not doing that."

"Since I have no intention of going anywhere near Celestia, that shouldn't be a problem."

"Good. It hasn't escaped my attention that your sunny sky has no actual sun."

"There's no moon at night either."

"Oh? Too soon?"

"Just slightly." Silence fell as both mares stared speculatively out over the ocean while finishing their drinks. "Does this mean I don't have to sleep with one eye open now? Figuratively anyway, since I don't actually sleep here."

"Unless you do something monumentally stupid, I believe so. Twilight is fond of you in her way, so it'd have to be something pretty bad to make me want to undermine her. The trust of Twilight counts for a lot with me."

"Both of us. Perhaps I should start working on how to get you to trust me."

"Baby steps Nightmare."

"Right." Nightmare poked her straw into the ice at the bottom of her glass. "I don't suppose you know how to make a pina colada?"

Luna gave Nightmare a sideways smirk, "Last I remembered I didn't like coconut."

"And? Stop forcing your preferences on me."

Author's Notes:

Now I'm fucking done.