Radiant Night

by Not

Radiant's Dawn

This might be a bit long. It also might be a bit sad. We'll take you back a couple years, and we'll start by talking to dad.

Thunder softly crackled. "But dad, I really want to meet him. He's the only one of our relatives that I don't know! Cliff and Jumper met him three years ago, so why can't I?" Radiant pleaded.

"The answer is no Radiant." Her father would not be so easily persuaded. "He's a drunkard and a fool."

That was the one word she feared. The one thing she hoped against hope she wouldn't hear him say. The reason she covered up her cutie mark. "Why? Just because he owns a bar? Because his true talent wasn't music? 'Cause he's not like the rest of the family?"

"That and he didn't even tell anypony before running off and starting an inn in the middle of Faust knows where!"

This was the part she'd dreaded, but she knew it had to be done. If he couldn't accept his own brother how could he accept her? "Daddy. Do you know my nick name?"

He was confused. "No darling, I'm afraid I don't, but what that has to do with meeting your uncle I ha-"

Radiant cut him off. She threw off the dress she had on and revealed her flank. "I'm the Whiskey Rose." Tears were flowing as she ran past him and out the door. He shouted something angry out after her, but she couldn't hear whatever he said. She didn't care. There were only three relatives that would let her stay the night. The only three that had accepted her after seeing her cutie mark.

Auntie Vista was the only one who really stayed in contact with her uncle, and her kids Cliff and Jumper had met with him a few times. They were a good two hours run away, but she couldn't think of anywhere else to go. They were the only ones who might understand.

It wasn’t a very heavy rain that fell that night. In fact Radiant didn’t even get all that wet. The heat of her anger and the exercise helped dry her off as she ran. Normally she’d have stopped by the candy store or the general store on her way out of town, but she didn’t want to talk to anypony right now. She just ran. It didn’t matter that she was half blind from tears, she knew exactly where to go.

Two hours without stopping with only three turns, and she was there. If she weren’t fueled by such strong emotions she would have been exhausted. She knocked on the door and waited for it to open.

“Coming” came the lyrical voice from inside. Vista opened the door and spotted Radiant there. “Oh my little dear, what are you doing out in the rain?” If auntie Vista hadn’t been the one who convinced Radiant to tell her dad in the first place she would have been a bit more surprised. “I take it that he didn’t take it well? He’s always had a head thick as a wall and been more stubborn than a well fed camel.” She led her niece to the den to sit down with some tea that she’d just prepared before Radiant had showed up.

If she weren’t so angry Radiant would have laughed. “I don’t know what he thought about my mark other than he was angry about it. All I wanted to do was MEET uncle J! He just insisted on him being a drunk fool, and said no! I spent three hours trying to convince him! No pony but you Cliff, and Jumper will even really talk about him.” She calmed down a bit. “I just can’t believe that he’s that awful. All he did is open a bar, right?”

Her aunt was always kind, but blunt. She’d rather die for the truth than tell a lie. Radiant knew she’d get a straightforward answer. “No. That’s just the small part of it. No pony else likes to talk about the other reason that they don’t like ‘im.” She poured some tea into a cup for Radiant, Vista already had one for herself. “He opened a bar just after running out on an engagement and lying about his dream. Since he was a unicorn he’d used an illusion to hide his real cutie mark. No one knew ‘cause he was so late in getting his mark that no one questioned it being a mark for gardening. It’s not a big change to make a tap into a faucet after all.”

“Why didn’t dad just say that?” Radiant never understood her father.

“Radiant...” Vista sighed, “you didn’t know he ran out on ‘is fiance, so I bet you don’t know what her name was.” She leaned in close and whispered it in Radiant’s ear.

The color drained from Radiant’s face. Her pupils shrank, and she just sat there for a moment before swallowing and stammering out her response. “W-wait... S-so if he hadn’t r-run out, instead of b-being my uncle h-he’d be... my dad? He ran out on my mother?” She got a little angry. “Was she not good enough for him? My mom just wasn’t pretty enough? She-”

Her aunt cut her off. “Now don’t jump to conclusions like that dear. It was always your father who loved her. It was only by custom that J was going to marry her. She always abhorred him. Your mother was kind, polite, pretty, and judgemental as an eighty year old nun. Do you know what she hated most in a colt?”

It was that strange kind of rhetorical question where they want a specific response. “What?”

“Drinking. Your father never drank, your mother never even used wine in cooking. Custom still stood though, the younger colt couldn’t marry until the older one did, and the mare that is going to enter the family is the automatic fiance.” She placed a hoof on Radiant’s shoulder. “Your mother actually thanked him for running away. If he hadn’t then she’d have been forced into marrying a colt that she didn’t love.”

Radiant drank a bit of her tea while listening. She exhaled deeply before responding. “So basically he didn’t want to hurt anyone, so he ran away from a wedding? I... I guess that makes sense.”

Vista laughed. “Well not when you put it like that. He loved your father. They were brothers. He had two options, hurt him once right there by turning down that filly, or hurt him every day for the rest of his life by marrying her.” She smiled that caring smile she always had. “Your uncle didn’t care about tradition, custom, or any of that. He just cared about his family. Your father however...” She sighed. “He cared a bit too much about honoring customs. In your uncle’s eyes and in mine he did the right thing, but everyone else cares so much about custom that they can’t even honor a noble deed.

She set her tea cup down. “Your mother actually forgave him right away, and thanked him for leaving, but she never forgave him for drinking. Your father on the other hand... he didn’t always hate drinking either. He thought for sure that it was the drinking that drove your uncle to break custom.” She shook her head. “Dense as lead.”

Radiant was almost crying. “He’s always been such an idiot. He thought that I wanted to marry the first colt I ever dated. I mean COME ON. Why would I want to marry anypony at all when I was 12? I don’t even think it counted as real dating.” She’d finally calmed down enough that she was thinking straight. “Wait. Where’s Cliff and Jumper?”

“Asleep dear. Didn’t you notice the time?” She pointed to the clock above the fireplace. It was almost 11. At that exact moment, or perhaps a half moment afterward Radiant realized how tired she was and how much her hooves ached. “Do you normally stay awake this late?”

Vista looked at her without ever changing that caring smile. “Only when I’m expecting somepony dear. Now I don’t suppose you remembered enough to bring a toothbrush, or something to cover your wings tomorrow morning.”

“Well I didn’t exactly plan this visit, sorry.”

“It’s okay Radiant. You know your auntie is always prepared.” She got back onto her hooves and started leading Radiant toward the guest room. “Do you prefer red, purple, or black dear?”

“For what?”

“For the dress I’m going to lend you. I assume you don’t care the color of your tooth brush.” Vista would have had more emotion in her speech if she weren’t half asleep at the time.

“Purple. It attracts less attention.” And it reminds me of him. She had once seen her uncle in a picture. His eyes were a deep purple, and she’d liked him right away. “Auntie... what’s he like?”

“Now come on Ray. Sleep and we’ll all talk about him in the morning.” Vista opened the door, and after seeing Radiant to her bed for the night she turned out the light on the way out.

Radiant’s mind tried its best to keep her awake with worries, and wondering about her uncle, but it was no match for 2 hours of running, and the tumult of tiring emotions she’d gone through.

Radiant awoke the next morning to the 3 hour up sun shining directly into her eyes. She hadn’t slept that well in a long time. Of course for the last month it was because she was too worried about telling her father about her cutie mark and asking about her uncle.

The smell of hash browns and pancakes wafted out from the kitchen. Cliff was cooking, as always, while Jumper and Vista were sitting at the table playing cards. Radiant trotted in and joined her cousin and aunt at the table. “Hey cousin. So how much did you hear last night?”

Jumper was even doing her best to look surprised when Radiant asked. “Oh poo. How do you always know when I’m listening in?”

Radiant laughed and tapped her cousin on the nose. “Because you’re a light sleeper, and you ALWAYS listen in.” She had planned this speech a while ago. “Like when you were five and you tried hiding under the picnic table to listen to me and your brother talking, or when you were seven and you thought standing around the corner would make it so that your mom and I wouldn’t notice you, or when you were eleven and you pretended to sleep in the corner so that you could listen in on me and my old boyfriend!” A smirk crept onto her face for this last one. “Or what about my favorite. When you tried to listen in on me a month ago when I showed your mom my cutie mark!” Radiant mussed Jumper’s hair “You’re my nosey little cousin, and I love you for it.”

Jumper’s face was just about as red as it could get. “So... uh... you knew about all that? I guess I’m not as sneaky as I thought.”

Vista set down her cards. “You also don’t have a very good card face. I win again.” She cleared off the table and got out the dishes.

Cliff had just finished the last pancake. He flipped it onto a the stack and finally turned around. “Oh hey Radiant, when did you get here?”

“I still don’t get how you do that. Whenever you cook you really tune everything out don’t you?” Radiant shook her head. “I got HERE late last night. I got to this seat about two minutes ago.” No one could explain that about Cliff. He was normally the most unfocused colt out there, but whenever he started cooking you had to smack him upside the head to get him to notice you.

Breakfast was filled with fun conversation, and a bit of planning. This time Radiant took the train back home. She wasn’t sure why, but her aunt insisted on coming with her. Her aunt looked worried, but Radiant had no idea why. About two blocks away from Radiant’s house Vista changed directions, she said that she was getting something and would meet her back home.

Radiant rounded the corner and immediately knew something was wrong. There were boxes piled up next to the porch. Each had her name on it. Just her first name. Whenever they labeled things for travel they put both names on everything. She ran to the porch and right before she set hoof on the steps her father came out the door with the last box. He threw it next to the others and looked at her with fury in his eyes.

She had no idea how to feel. “Dad... what’s going on?”

“I AM NOT YOUR FATHER. If YOU were my daughter you would have NEVER gotten THAT mark! YOU HAVE BETRAYED ME AND THE MEMORY OF MY WIFE!! From this day you are no longer my daughter, AND no longer a member of the Starr family!” His look showed nothing but contempt for her, no trace of her father was left. “Take your things and never return.” He turned and slammed the door in her face.

“But... dad...” She couldn’t help it. She just sat there and cried. It could have been minutes or it could have been hours, but some time later her aunt came by with three colts and a cart.

“Oh dear. I was right. I’m so sorry Radiant...” She set one hoof on Radiant’s shoulder.

Radiant jumped and wrapped both hooves around her aunt, tears pouring with renewed vigor. It was a few moments before she could manage any words, and when she could her voice was weak. “How... how could he do this... I’m... I’m his daughter. His only daughter.” She continued between sobs. “He didn’t even look... real.” She cried for a few moments longer before she settled down. Her aunt consoled her as best she could. “I guess if he can’t forgive his own brother,” *sniff* “how can I expect him to forgive me?”

“You can’t expect him to forgive you when there’s nothing to forgive dear. You've done nothing wrong.” Vista helped her niece into the cart. “You’re almost old enough to live on your own now, and I know that I have no idea how this must feel.” She sighed. “There’s only one colt that might, and so that’s where you’re going. It’s time to meet uncle J.”

The colts had already loaded the boxes into the back of the cart while the two were talking. After Vista gave them directions they went on their way.

Radiant didn’t even notice that they started moving. Everything was a haze. She simply stared down at the road as it went by under her. She had no idea how much time had passed and she noticed nothing until they came to a stop. They were in front of a large wooden two story building. The sign above the doors said The Cozy Inn. She followed her aunt to the doors and when they walked in they were greeted warmly.

“Oh Vista! How good to see you! And who is this? She’s not Jumper.” Jay was always warm and kind. He looked at Radiant then smiled. “You’re not...” He looked from Radiant to her aunt, and when Vista nodded he ran over to his niece. “Oh Radiant! I’ve wanted to meet you for so many years!” He was already hugging her, but when he noticed that she wasn’t hugging him he set her down. “What’s wrong little one? Hugs are supposed to be happy things.”

She had no idea how to react. She had wanted to meet her uncle for so long, but not under these circumstances. Radiant had wanted to walk next to her father and reunite brothers, not meet him just because it was the only place for her to go. She began crying and wrapped her forelegs around her uncle’s neck. “How do you do it uncle. How can I deal with no longer being a part of my own family?” She sobbed into his mane.

‘So this is why she’s here.’ thought Jay Night. “Oh Radiant.” He wrapped one foreleg around her. “You might not be a Starr, but I would be honored if you’d stay here, and still be part of the Night.”
. .
Even back then Radiant knew almost immediately that it was more than just a hotel that her uncle owned. Jay kept her out of THAT part of the business by having her work at the bar.
. .
Thus the story ends for now. Her course might be unclear, but now she has some direction. We have the beginnings of what leads up to now. Not everything in life is happy, but all of it is what makes you you.

Comments

[Animak]

I kind of expected to learn what her cutie mark is at the end

or was her nickname a major clue