"Must thou?" she asks, just as she did on my very first trip.

"You," I correct gently. "And yes, I must." I curl my neck to hers. "You'll be fine, Lu. I'll still be raising the sun. The nobles won't trouble you."

"I… will not stop thee, but…" she trails off, and I shake my head sadly. A mere three months after her return, it hurts me to leave her side even for a moment—but I have an old, unspoken promise to keep.

I step out onto the balcony, my regalia cast away, naked save a small pouch around my neck. "Chirrup," Philomena says, ruffling her sleek new wings impatiently.



"Squawk!" Philomena shrieked, wings buffeting my face. "Squawk chirp SQUAWK! Chirrup chirp CHIRP squawk SQUAWK!"

I held my ground despite the pain; even if I'd had the energy to scramble backward, the ocean I'd spent four days flying over was lapping at my hindquarters.

To my relief, her outburst ebbed and she backed away, hopping from side to side.

"Well, if you're not coming home, then—" I paused for breath— "I'm just gonna hafta keep following you."

"Squawk," she said crossly.

I summoned the last of my energy for a stubborn pout.

She looked around the tiny island. "Squawk," she said, and with a flurry of wings, vanished into the underbrush.

I didn't move. I sensed that she wasn't fleeing, and my eyes were so heavy.

As the sun's first rays stirred me to consciousness, she returned with a pebble in her beak, about as big as the one she had carried all the way from the Everfree.

"Chirp." She dropped it near my mouth, picked up her own rock, and took to the skies.



Since my first visit fifteen centuries ago, Moleysia has thrived. Today, Kota Burrow is tens of thousands of mounds sprawling inward from the sea; I never would have recognized it had I not watched its growth firsthoof.

One thing hasn't changed: Many furlongs from the mountain's base, the habitations still halt abruptly.

We land atop Najib Zarock's home. The Prime Minister greets me with a familiar embrace and Philomena with a deep bow; this is a state visit of an entirely different kind.

He cradles a pebble in his oversized claws. "The Children of the Earth honor your fertile blessings, Daughter of the Sun."

"Squawk," Philomena says gently, bumping her beak to his thumb.



"The… burung matahari," the old mole said, his few words of Earth Pony failing him.

"Huh?"

He frowned. "Burung—" he comically flapped his arms— "matahari." He pointed, head bowed, and I followed the line of his claw toward the sun I so loved.

"Ah! Sun-birds. You're saying the gunung banyak batu-batu is home to them?" I had lost Philomena in a storm over the Undine Ocean, but I could tell I was on the cusp of finding her again.

He squinted. "Home? No. Suci."

"Huh?" I repeated.

He held a palm out. "Suci. Place… is them, is not-us. Fly you… no more far, gadis kuda."

On a hunch, I lit my horn and carefully de-knotted the clump of pink mane in which I'd secured the pebble. I held it out. His eyes widened.

"Gadis kuda matahari," I said, trusting my instincts.

"Gadis matahari," he whispered, dropping to his knees.

"Where's the gunung banyak batu-batu?" I asked, and he pointed.



Has it grown since I came here last? It used to be so much easier to tell.

Philomena lands to a chorus of melodic chirps, and the spreading and settling of thousands of bright red wings. She hops to the apex of the peak, lowers her head, and releases her pebble. It rolls and skitters to a stop, the mountain thicker but no taller.

The pebble I carried up for Zarock likewise rolls away.

Most will.



I had never seen so many phoenixes in one place. And every single one was staring at me.

A lone "Squawk" broke the silence. A beak tugged at my fetlock. At Philomena's urging, I stumbled toward the peak, muscles rigid.

Then I glanced down at the billions upon billions of pebbles underhoof, and I knew what to do.



I lower my pebble down to the tip. It does not roll.

There is an explosion of motion, a tumult of trills. Flames light and whirl through the air. The flock will fly in celebration until the next dawn.

I can't help but smile too. Today, their mountain is closer to home.