Apple Bloom tossed and turned restlessly in her bed. For reasons, unknown to her, she was still unable to fall asleep even after lying awake for nearly three hours. With a heavy groan, she rolled out her bed and dragged herself across the room towards the door. Though she did not really have a purpose behind her actions, the young filly opened the door and began to descend the stairs toward the main floor of the farmhouse. As she did so, she heard a clanging noise coming from the kitchen. Curious, and with nothing better to do, Apple Bloom sluggishly made her way toward the source of the sound.
Upon entering the kitchen, the young filly’s eyes opened wide out of the surprise. Somehow, she was not the only one who had been having trouble sleeping. Applejack turned around, and, upon seeing her little sister, jumped slightly. “Apple Bloom!” she exclaimed, “What are y’all doing up?”
“I couldn’t sleep, so I came down here. But what about you, sis?”
Applejack sighed, “I couldn’t sleep either. I was just getting myself a glass of water, and trying to find something to do to occupy my time tonight.”
“Oh, alright then,” Apple Bloom replied, “I guess I’ll just go back to bed then.” As she finished speaking, she turned and started walking back towards the stairs.
“Wait,” Applejack called after her. “Why don’t we go for a walk together in the orchard, just like old times?”
Apple Bloom turned back, “Really? I’d love to sis!”
Smiling down at the excited filly, Applejack led the way out of their house and into the orchards of Sweet Apple Acres. They walked amongst the trees in silence for a while before Apple Bloom mused, “I wonder if Mama and Papa are up there amongst the stars.”
Applejack halted and followed her little sister’s gaze upwards. “I’m sure they are sugarcube. Those two ponies had hearts of pure gold. There ain’t nopony in Equestria who would deserve a spot up there more.”
Apple Bloom moved to stand beside her sister. “Do you think we could ever be as respectable as you say they are? Could we ever earn a place beside them amongst the stars?”
“Well sugarcube, I reckon so, if we be the best ponies we can be.” Applejack struggled to hold back the tremor in her voice as she continued, “I don’t know about me, but you, little sis, shine just as brightly as those stars up there in the night sky. If anypony deserves to have a spot waiting for her up amongst all those great ponies, it’s you.”
Blushing furiously, Apple Bloom looked away. “I don’t know sis. I’ve done many things that I ain’t proud of. If anypony got to have a spot amongst those ponies, I think it’d have to be you who’d deserve it the most. You are the Element of Honesty after all.”
“In any case,” Applejack went on, “I wish they were still here with us. Sometimes, in my dreams, I can hear them calling to me. They always seem to appear when I’m struggling with something, never when everything is practically perfect. It’s almost as if they’re guiding me through the most difficult points in my life, giving me strength, in a way.”
Apple Bloom gasped, “You too? Even though I never had a chance to get to know them, I’ve felt that way too. Only they don’t come to me in dreams. Whenever I feel their presence, it’s almost as if they’re talking to me through the wind. I’ll just get a strange sort of tingling feeling, and the next thing I know, I can hear voices surrounding me. They also come to me when I’m at a difficult point in my life. I wonder if there’s any connection.”
“That’s actually an interesting thought there, Apple Bloom. The obvious connection is that we’re both their daughters, so maybe they just want to look after both of us. I’m not really sure.”
Apple Bloom turned her eyes to the stars once more. “I think they might only come when we’re in trouble because they want us to have the best possible life that we can especially since they aren’t here with us. You’re right that they probably just want to look after us, but I think it goes deeper than that. Just my opinion though.”
As Applejack opened her mouth to respond, the wind picked up, and began to swirl around the two sisters. When we died, neither of us was ready to leave the family behind. But there was nothing we could do as we were forced to rejoin the pathways of energy that flow throughout the world. It was calling us away from where we truly wanted to be, from where we thought we still belonged. Therefore, we took it upon ourselves to ensure that you would have somepony always there for you even when it might feel otherwise. Just because we aren’t with you in body as well as spirit, we hope you know that we truly do love you. Both of you shine brighter than we ever did, and will continue to do so throughout your entire lives.We love you more than you could ever know…
Once the wind had faded away to nothing, Apple Bloom and Applejack turned to stare at each other, dumbfounded by what they had just heard. Applejack was the first to recover and said, “Well, there you go sugarcube. That’s your answer, and what an answer it was.”
“Yeah,” Apple Bloom sighed. “I still think that there’s just one more deeper meaning to all this.”
“What do you mean?” Applejack tilted her head in confusion.
Apple Bloom looked up at the stars again as she said, “Our parents said that we will shine for the rest of our lives, but they left something out. We will shine together, for we it is our love for them and for each other that shall bring out the light within us. We are radiant when we allow our true selves to shine through.”
Applejack looked up at the stars before pulling Apple Bloom into a hug. “Yes, little sis. We are radiant, and we will be until our dying days.”
