The little bell next to the door clinked as Flight and then Kevin emerged from yet another store, trotting out onto the sidewalk. The light glass door swung quickly shut behind them.

"Where next?" Kevin asked. He gazed up at the buildings which stretched upwards to the almost-imperceptible ceiling which hung overhead. On the face of the skyscrapers, he could kind of make out the shapes of ponies moving about within the windows, somewhere high up there. It was kind of odd how the blocks would alternate between short buildings like the small convenience-store-type place they'd just been in and the massive looming skyscrapers that held who-knows-what. Offices, or something.

"Hmm, lemme check," Flight replied, pulling the paper from her saddlebag. "I didn't expect that'd be so easy."

"Well, I'm glad it was." Kevin took a deep breath, inhaling warm, stagnant air. He had noticed that, because Umberlight was underground, there was no fresh air to be found, something he missed as a pony who'd been raised on the surface. "What was it we even got in there? Some screws? Were those really not available in Dienna?"

"I guess," Flight replied, still looking down at the piece of paper in her hoof. "We're not here to figure out why Doc Zed needs 'em—we just need to get 'em."

Kevin took a few steps forward, head still turned towards Flight. "I thought you were suddenly not gonna trust Doc Zed or whatev—whoa!" The colt was interrupted by a grey stallion in a black suit trotting by quickly, nearly running into him.

"Watch where you're going!" the stallion called back, not even looking as he continued cantering down the sidewalk.

"You too, bud!" Kevin yelled back, even though he felt ridiculous as he said it. He shrunk back towards Flight, feeling much like a rock jutting out from a creek with how he divided the passing stream of ponies. Nopony paid them much mind, however; they looked up enough to make sure they weren't running into anypony, and then they kept walking forward.

"I mean, I wasn't going to trust him, and I'm still feeling kind of weird about the whole thing," Flight said, apparently having not noticed Kevin's near run-in. "But he's really the only thing we have left. What else are we going to do—give up and go home?"

"Yeah, I agree. Whatever Doc Zed's reasons for lying to us were, we've still got a ship to fix. And hopefully we can find Scootaloo, too."

"Exactly." A moment passed, as Kevin watch the filly look over the sheet once more. "Okay, I think I got it," Flight announced, looking up. "There's some parts for the engine we need to pick up, and he's written a little note here that we should get 'em at the Inner Sector Market. And, based on the little map here, it should be only... thirty five blocks or so."

Kevin blinked. "Thirty five blocks? Seriously? Isn't there anywhere closer?"

Flight shook her head. "Nope, it says this is the only place we can get 'em. Apparently they're... not quite legal. Not if you don't have a special permit from the Bureau."

Kevin sighed. "Mmmff... okay. Lead the way, then."

"Would it kill you to be less grumpy?" Flight asked as she began walking across the sidewalk to the street. "C'mon, we've gotta cross so we're going the right way." At Flight's lead, Kevin followed her as they waited for a moment's pause between the passing wagons before crossing. Once they got to the other side, Flight fell into lockstep with the stream of ponies flowing forward; Kevin could only do his best to keep up, eventually finding himself directly behind the yellow pegasus.

At some point, he glanced at her flank and was surprised to see the shape of a white feather emblazoned clearly with a thin black outline.

"You got your cutie mark!" Kevin blurted out. A few heads around them turned, but they turned back away as they saw nothing particularly exciting was happening.

"Huh?" Flight managed to say. She craned her neck around, looking back.

"It's a feather—a white feather!"

Flight snickered. "Oh, come on, Kevin."

Kevin raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I've had that mark since—oh, wait, wow. I guess it was just after you left..."

"Oh, wow," Kevin said, his face growing warm. "That's cool... so, I guess you're good at flying?"

"Yeah, something like that," Flight responded. She shifted her pace so that Kevin was able to catch up and walk alongside her, to the left. "Also, apparently I'm really good at using them for swimming. Not that that would be useful at all. Heh."

"Still, that's pretty cool," Kevin remarked. He looked down at his own green-grey flank. "I still haven't gotten mine."

"Oh, don't worry. I'm sure you'll get it soon, especially now that you're back!"

"Meh, maybe, though I'm not sure what being back would have to do with it," Kevin replied. "Maybe my destiny isn't even related to here. And, in any case, it's kinda hard to get your cutie mark when you don't even know who you are."

"Pfft, don't be silly!" Flight turned to him and smiled. "You're Kevin of the Kindred planet, a super cool friend and one of the most handsome colts I know!" At this last statement, the filly winked, blushing.

Kevin felt a lump in his throat. "Yeah... right..." He turned forward and kept silent, leaving Flight confused as to what exactly, if anything, she had said wrong. There wasn't much she could do about it, though, so she kept trotting forward in step with the crowd as they passed block after block through the streets of Umberlight.