It is the last day of summer and Cherry Berry, Ponyville’s grumpiest balloonist, is caught between a rock and a hard place. Down to her last few bits and dreading the arrival of winter, the earth pony is more than a little miffed that the only paying job she can find requires her to take a pegasus pony on a pointless joyride.

Despite their obvious differences, though, she and her passenger — a filly named Scootaloo — may have more in common than she thinks. They're both looking for something in the skies over Equestria: for Cherry, it’s the passion for flying she lost long ago to the pressures of life and work. For Scootaloo, it’s the chance to finally see a world she's longed for but been denied her whole life.

Both ponies may be able to find what they’re looking for, and so much more…if they can learn to fly with the wind, and not against it. After all, ballooning may look complicated, but it isn't exactly a science.

It's really more of an art.