Sunset Shimmer, Radiant Dawn, and Crimson Blade all took a moment to reflect on what Scarlet Blaze told them. Crimson Blade sighed dismissively, Radiant whistled awkwardly, while Sunset Shimmer said:
"Well..." she fumbled. "That's...an interesting story. Hang on, who's Jehooveh?"
Crimson Blade looked at his granddaughter.
"Goodness, what have my daughter and her husband been teaching you and Radiant?" he questioned.
Sunset looked at him.
"Jehooveh is one of the most widely celebrated and worshiped deities in Saddle Arabia." said Felix Summerset, who approached them after talking to Trixie and Teddy. "There are many chapels, synagogues, and cathedrals devoted to him through the land, with the largest being the Supreme Cathedral of Mareusalem."
"Mareusalem, of course, being the place where our ancestors--" Scarlet said, referring to herself, her children, and her father. "--came from. I read about Mareusalem a lot when I was training to become a priestess. And having Golden Sun for a boyfriend pretty much gave me access to every book on Saddle Arabian culture that the University of Baltimare had to offer, which certainly helped me a lot with actually becoming a priestess."
Golden Sun nodded, blushing while his eyes were closed.
"You know, I always wondered what you used to do, mom." said Radiant. "I mean, besides being our mom, and dad's wife. I knew dad was a scholar, but I didn't you think you, our mom, would be a mare of the cloth."
"A mare of the cloth whose heavy-hooved attitude made her unfit to ever again be a speaker for the gods." frowned Scarlet, who shook her head. "I haven't even prayed to them since the day I resigned from the synagogue."
She bowed her head shamefully, but didn't cry.
"Have you ever thought about trying again, mom?" asked Sunset.
"I sometimes thought about repenting for my behavior, but I don't think a simple apology would make up for the way I abandoned my spiritual duties. Not to mention I did it all for a stallion I loved. If I were to ever be a priestess again, I would be one in name only."
"But I'm sure it's not too late, mom." said Sunset. "I mean, if I was able to come back to Equestria after running out on Princess Celestia, I don't see why you can't somehow redeem yourself in the eyes of this...Jehooveh. Seeing as you're going to help save Mareusalem like the rest of us, maybe that's a sign that there's hope of starting over."
Scarlet smiled.
"I think you're right, sweetie." said Scarlet. "You're such a wise young mare, almost a priestess yourself."
Sunset blushed.
"Well, I wouldn't consider myself..." she fumbled again.
"But you still made a good point, Sunset." said Golden Sun. "It's never too late to start over. Your mother's been loyal to me, not only as my wife and bodyguard, but also as my friend. I have full confidence that she can redeem herself as a priestess as you have as Princess Celestia's student."
"Thanks, dear." said Scarlet, putting one of her long legs around her husband's torso. "I'm so glad that I chose to marry you. Very well; a pilgrim of Jehooveh, I shall be."
"That's a very mature and bold thing to say, daughter." said Crimson, smiling a little. "I have faith in you."
Scarlet Blaze, Golden Sun, and Crimson Blade then looked at Radiant Dawn and Sunset Shimmer.
"So would you care to tell us what life was like at Daystar Manor without any of us to watch over you?" asked Golden Sun.
Radiant and Sunset both frowned and looked at each other awkwardly.
"Well, let's say that we didn't see things eye-to-eye most of the time." said Radiant.
"Yeah, I was pretty much distraught about you two disappearing." Sunset said to her parents. "And to say the least, I developed some weird ways of trying to cope with it. For example..."
APPROX. THIRTEEN YEARS AGO...
"Sunny, are ya hungry at all?" asked the ten-year-old Radiant Dawn, knocking on the door to Sunset's bedroom.
"Go away, Red." shouted the seven-year-old Sunset Shimmer. "Just let me read these books in peace."
Radiant telekinetically opened the door, and went inside. Sunset was sitting on her hind-legs, her back to the door. Her horn was glowing and a heavy tome was opened in mid-air in front of her. She was telekinetically skimming through its pages like they were a cheap magazine.
"C'mon, li'l sis." said Radiant. "Don't you wanna come out and play with me like we used to?"
"When we used to do it, mom and dad were still around." said Sunset, bitterly. "But they're not anymore. And guess what, big brother? Playing again won't make them come back!"
"I just thought you and I could just take it easy, ya know?" asked Radiant. "Instead of locking yourself up in some dark room all the time, why not have a little fun?"
"You can have fun if you want, but I'm going to need to learn all that I can from daddy's books if I'm going be able to do anything when I grow up!"
"Sunny, I know I'm not mom or dad..." said Radiant, cautiously.
"Then stop pretending to be!" Sunset suddenly snapped, turning around. "You know what, big brother? I don't think I need you anyway! You and me both know I'm way smarter than you will ever be. And I could probably take care of myself without your help. I wouldn't feel any less safe here by myself than I would with you bugging me around the clock about something I could take care of alone!"
Radiant started to sniffle.
"I know, Sunny." he said, his voice shaky. "Still, ya can't blame me for caring for--"
"Will you just shut up and go away, Red?!" said Sunset. "If you really cared about me, you'd let me do what I want to do. And you know what that is? Reading daddy's books without any stupid distractions! And if you're gonna cry about it, why don't you do it someplace where I won't hear you?!"
Radiant didn't say anything. But his face tightened from the emotional stress this argument was having on him. He felt a strange sensation in his horn, presumably a side-effect of the stress.
"Okay, Sunny." said Radiant. "But before I go, I wanted to give you your birthday present."
He levitated a package he had hidden around the corner of the door outside the room.
"Happy Birthday, little sis." he said.
Sunset Shimmer looked at it with skepticism, but went over to open it anyway. Inside was a six-pack of strawberry lemonade bottles.
"I knew they were your favorite, so I bought some bottles for you to drink while you read dad's books." he said, kindly. "Took me forever to find the store in town where they sold them, and I had to beat up this earth pony colt that had some funny accent, but I did get them."
Sunset Shimmer took a bottle, and guzzled the whole thing down in front of Radiant.
"You went all the way into town just to get this to me?" asked Sunset, dully.
Radiant nodded nervously.
"Okay, Red." said Sunset.
She went over and hugged her brother, with a little smile.
"I'll go play with you." she said. "But only for a little while, okay?"
"That's all I wanted to hear, Sunny." said Radiant.
PRESENT DAY...
The whole time, Sunset and Radiant's parents and grandfather just stood there silently as Sunset continued.
"And the funny thing is..." Sunset scratched her head. "The way I acted that time was actually very mild compared to some of the other days."
"Yeah." said Radiant. "One time, she kicked me out of the mansion and put a magical lock on all the doors and windows. It wasn't until another stallion came by that I was able to get back inside. Only took a week to do it."
"Another stallion?" asked Scarlet. "What other stallion?"
"I dunno." said Radiant. "I think his name was Mickey or Mitch or something. He was a pretty funny guy, actually. I even wanted him to adopt me and Sunset."
"Why didn't he?" asked Golden Sun.
"Um...he had a disagreement with Sunset about something, and she booted him out just an hour after we got inside."
"He was ripping pages out of one of dad's books!" said Sunset. "What did you expect me to do? And even when I kicked him out, he still managed to run off with a couple of 'em."
"Which book would that be?" asked Golden Sun.
"I don't know, I couldn't read the title; it was in some weird language." said Sunset.
"Either way, you two did a good job protecting the household in our long absence." said Scarlet. "But sweetie, why did you lock Radiant outside in the first place?"
"Actually, I kinda forgot." said Sunset.
"Yeah, so do I." said Radiant. "I guess it was so long ago that we forgot why it happened."
"So, you two literally had nopony to watch over you two in those fifteen or so years?" asked Crimson.
"We didn't really know too many other ponies that could take us in, and anyone we could think was either too far away or not interested in adoption. And there was no way we were going to some orphanage." said Radiant.
"By the way, Red." said Sunset. "Since we're on the subject...just what were things like at Daystar Manor after you were...you know. Sent away from Canterlot."
"Really, really depressing." frowned Radiant. "Not a day went by that I didn't think of you, or about the rest of the family. I pretty much spent my time either pacing around the mansion or skulking around Vanhoover until I would get bored and start guzzling down apple cider."
"I don't know how anyone could stand to drink the stuff, to be honest." said Sunset. "The kind they brew in Vanhoover always tasted like reindeer saliva."
"Yeah, but at least it makes you forget the troubles you've had on your mind..." said Radiant. "At least until the aftertaste finally leaves your mouth."
"You at least had Nose Nip and Frosty to keep you company, son." said Scarlet.
"Yeah...and Gilda." said Radiant, hesitantly.
TWO YEARS EARLIER...
Radiant Dawn trotted sourly along the streets of Vanhoover to the Silver Saddle, a pub located near the train depot. Nose Nip and Frosty apparently went on a cider run last month and recommended it to him as the first place to go now that he was of legal age. He was approaching the door, when a particularly fat earth pony was sent flying out of the front door. He was rolling on the ground until he bumped into Radiant's front legs.
A female gryphon with a brown body and white-feathered head with featers that had a purplish tint along the tips rushed out, screeching furiously at the earth pony.
"If you do that again, Hollow Wood, I swear that I'll turn you into glue!" the gryphon shouted.
Hollow Wood scrambled back up and bolted away, collapsing from his own weight repeatedly as he did so.
"Stupid fat creep!" the gryphon shouted after him, before turning to Radiant. "And what're you looking at? Keep walking."
"Do I look I care?" Radiant Dawn muttered angrily.
The gryphon looked at the intensity in Radiant's eyes; she could tell he was serious, and the fact that he was nearly twice her size made her uneasy.
"Oh, I'm..." said the gryphon, shifting in place. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you mad. Name's Gilda, and--"
Radiant just ignored her and went into the bar. Gilda turned her head in his direction as he went to his booth in the pub, scowling about something. There was something about him that seemed....cool. Maybe it was his wild red-and-orange mane, or his tall, lean physique which seemed out of place for most of the local ponies. Or maybe it was his rugged, intense-looking face.
Gilda waited for Radiant to finish his cider, and then went over to his booth, and cleared her throat.
"So how ya doin', handsome?" she said to him.
Radiant sighed.
"I'm okay...I guess." said Radiant. "I'm just going through some tough times right now."
"Me, too." said Gilda. "I was totally betrayed by my best friend just last week. She turned out to be such a lame-o."
"So what was that all about, with that Holloway guy?" asked Radiant.
"Uh...I'd rather not talk about it." said Gilda. "I caught him trying to...do something humiliating to the new barmaid."
"Really, there's a new barmaid?" asked Radiant. "Who?"
"Me." said Gilda, growling slightly as she answered. "I was short on pocket-money, so I thought I'd do some work. I wanted to be the bouncer, but the bartender wouldn't allow it."
"Well, with a barmaid like you, who's gonna need one?" asked Radiant, snidely.
Gilda laughed.
"you know, you're pretty cool for a unicorn." said Gilda. "I tell ya what, how about you and stick together for a while."
"Stick together?" asked Radiant.
"Sure, unless you're already seeing someone." said Gilda.
"Nah..." Radiant said. "I've been a little pre-occupied by my own problems to look for marefriends."
"Well, how would you like to have a gryphon-friend?" asked Gilda. "That is, a lady-friend that happens to be a gryphon."
"It wouldn't make much of a difference to me." said Radiant, tilting his head down.
He was expecting Gilda to take this as rejection, but instead...
"That's cool." she said. "I think you and I will be the most awesome pair in this whole town!"
She flew up next to Radiant, and put a claw around his chest, and started nuzzling against him.
"Actually, I meant--" Radiant said, before...
Gilda start emitting a noise like motor from her nostrils.
"Are you purring?" Radiant said, confused.
"Umm..." Gilda paused and pushed herself away, intensely saying: "Look, if you tell anyone I just did that, I'll claw your eyes out, okay?"
"Hey, I don't plan on it, okay?" said Radiant, reassuringly. "I don't care what noise you make, and I guess if you're this serious about it, I guess I'd might as well let you...stick with me."
Gilda continued nuzzling against Radiant, who started to drink glasses of stronger cider. After a few minutes (and half a dozen pints of hard cider), the barkeep finally saw what was taking his barmaid so long.
"Gilda, there you are!" he said. "I have tables on the other end of the room that need cleaning! Stop heckling the patrons and do what I pay you to do!"
Gilda quickly stopped nuzzling, and sped off to go back to work. Radiant, dazed from the cider he drank, found himself staring ravenously at Gilda.
"You know, maybe dating a gryphon won't be so bad." he thought.
PRESENT DAY...
"Believe me." Radiant Dawn frowned. "Dating a gryphon was a bad idea. Probably one of the biggest waste of time I ever had in Vanhoover. Especially since she ditched and broke up with me less then a week later."
"Why? What happened, son?" asked Golden Sun.
"I'd...rather not talk about it." said Radiant. "It's an uncomfortable moment for me."
"Don't feel bad about it, son." said Scarlet, "You were clearly going through an experimental phase. We all go through one at one point in our lives. In fact, when I was nineteen, I was only attracted to zebras."
"Well, that's an...interesting thing to share, mom." said Sunset, believing it was an awkward thing to bring up.
The door to the room opened up, and one of the attendants came inside.
"Lord Sandstorm is expecting you all now." he said. "The dinner banquet is prepared."
"Great, I'm starving!" Teddy said, relieved as he and the others started to leave the room.
"Sunset, I've heard what you were all talking about." Trixie Lulamoon whispered. "I know it's ironic coming from me, but I must say: You've got to have the craziest..."
"Or the most awesome family ever." Lightning Dust cut in.
Sunset just blushed and said nothing.