It had been weeks since Scootaloo had been able to enjoy the fresh air and, as she ran down the hill, she savoured the cool gusts of air that passed her by, sending strands of her magenta mane flying in the breeze behind her. Her legs ached from all of the running and walking through the South Pen and Umberlight but she couldn't stop running—it just felt so good.

Eventually, the slope began to level out and Scootaloo slowed her pace, coming up to where the zebra was standing. For the moment, though, her interest was held more by the large rectangular object beside him. It wasn't very tall, but was about the width of a pony muzzle-to-tail, and long enough to fit several ponies on top. A thin, clear plastic wall, about half a grown pony's height, lined the edges of the thing, and there was a large box at the far end attached to this wall that had various buttons and a steering wheel on top. This was not what drew Scootaloo to the platform, however; it was the fact that it was hovering about twenty centimetres off the ground that piqued her interest.

She was so interested in the platform that she passed by the zebra, whose friendly expression changed to that of confusion as his gaze followed Scootaloo. He watched as the filly reached a hoof underneath the platform and waved it around a little bit.

"I see you're interested in knowing how it stays up," he said calmly.

Scootaloo whipped her head around to face him. "Yeah, it doesn't look like there's an engine on it or anything."

The zebra walked over to the platform and, once he was right beside it, a panel on the side lit up in a ghostly aura of white magic. It was then that Scootaloo noticed the horn on the stallion's forehead.

"You have a horn?" Scootaloo blurted. Then she clapped a hoof to her mouth. "Celestia, I'm sorry... that was super rude..."

"Heh, it's no trouble," the zebra said. "I presume you've only seen zebras without horns before, yes?"

Scootaloo nodded. "So how does the thing work?"

The zebra laughed and then magically shook the compartment free from the side of the platform. Deftly, he levitated the drawer over to Scootaloo and tipped it down so she could see what was inside.

Three glowing blue capsules lay in a row at the bottom of the compartment, with metal wires snaking outward from the object towards the right side, where it had been attached inside the platform.

"It's a manabattery," the zebra explained. "They're able to hold a charge of magic that then is converted into electricity that powers the hover field. Or, at least, that's if I remember correctly."

"And how's it staying up now?" Scootaloo asked, gesturing towards the platform. "You just took the battery out."

The zebra levitated the compartment back to its slot and slid it in gently before turning to Scootaloo once more. "There's more than a dozen of these compartments all around the ship, so you can swap them out one by one. This ship probably hasn't touched the ground since it was made."

"Huh, that's cool," Scootaloo replied.

"What's going on?" came Flight's voice from behind them. Scootaloo turned to see Cotton Fluff leading the rest of them, down the hill near its base.

"Who's the guy?" Kevin asked, pointing towards the zebra.

"No idea," Scootaloo replied. She turned to the zebra. "Who are you, again?"

He laughed. "The name's Microfiche, and I'm charmed to make your acquaintance, Scootaloo."