//------------------------------//
// Flying 
// Story: Forgotten: Mists of Bridlewood 
// by milesprower06 
//------------------------------//

"I will admit," Sunset began, gliding on the updraft alongside Zipp as they soared east through the clouds. "I'm glad you came here. The difference between magical wings and actual ones is enough where I definitely needed some pointers."

"To be perfectly fair, you didn't need a lot of pointers. Those magical ones gave you a leg up, or a wing up, where a lot of Zephyr Heights is still finding their balance," Zipp offered.

The pegasus and alicorn had been flying for a good hour now, with Zipp wanting to improve her endurance flying. So she gave Sunset some basic pointers, and told her to pick a direction.

So she had, and with a purpose, as her horn glowed faintly as she tracked magical residue as they continued towards the east coast, coasting over a forest.

"And, just so you know, Sunny told me about Misty, and I think it's awesome what you did for her," Zipp told the alicorn.

Sunset gave her a smile.

"Thanks. I'm glad we got to the bottom of that. I'm just glad we got her away from Opaline," she replied.

Sunset spotted what she had been looking for on the horizon, and began to descend into the trees, and Zipp immediately followed. The pair of ponies weaved between the branches and trees, and touched down on the forest floor, a few dozen feet from the treeline. Slowly, they made their way forward, with Zipp following Sunset's lead. They came to the treeline, and had a great view of the coastline down the hill.

There, on the edge of the cliffside, was an ancient castle. Or, at least, what looked like to be the bottom half of a castle, with the top half scattered all over the landscape around it.

Zipp's wings twitched when she saw a few pieces of masonry glow, and float back into place.

"What...?" Zipp asked, confused.

"The residence of our attacker yesterday. Misty told me where to find it. I teleported her and the gigantic fireball she was about to hit the forest with back to where she came from," Sunset explained at just above a whisper, not taking her eyes off of the castle.

"So, what now? We going down there to finish her off?" Zipp asked.

"No," Sunset said, glancing at Zipp and seeing her expression change to something akin to relieved. "Just wanted to confirm that Misty was telling the truth. She'll be piecing that castle back together for weeks. At least now I know where to find her."

"I don't get it," Zipp replied as they turned back into the forest to head back the way they came. "Why wait for her to cause trouble again?"

"Because... Everypony deserves a second chance. I got one, and I made the most of it. I used to be just like her, Zipp," Sunset explained. "Obsessed with power, I didn't care about anyone but myself and my raw talent, worried about only how far it could take me. Princess Twilight wasn't perfect, but she could usually be counted on to be a good judge of character. She must have seen something in Opaline. A side of her that hasn't been nurtured in a long time..."

Sunset glanced back at the end of the treeline as she and Zipp took to the skies again.

"We'll just have to wait and see."