Her Brother Doesn't Talk Much
Her brother doesn’t talk much, but she doesn’t care.
The yellow filly lives on a farm where everypony talks, and quite a lot. Her granny tells her many stories about how things work at the farm, and sometimes tales from times before she was even born. Her big sister is always talking too, about how much she loves working in the orchards, or about the other ponies in town, and sometimes about that big white castle on the distant mountain.
The yellow filly also talks a lot. She has been talking tirelessly since she learned her first word. She talks and talks and talks and talks, because every day she has something new to tell to her family. It can be a new lesson learned in school, or a new pony she has met in town, or that she kicked a tree so hard that an apple, her first apple, fell down.
However, her big brother doesn’t talk much.
To tell the truth, the yellow filly had noticed a long time ago that he was different. He was bigger, and his coat was red like an apple, a much stronger color than her big sisters’ orange, or her granny’s green, or her own yellow. His two favourite words were ‘Eeeyup’ and ‘Nnnope’, and for him they were more than enough to answer almost anything. At first she had thought that that was what all stallions and colts were like, but soon she found boy ponies who talked as much as her big sis and her granny.
It was just her brother who didn’t talk much.
She had always remembered him that way, shy and silent, strong in the fields but nice and kind at home. Whenever her big sister or granny couldn’t do it, he would help her bathe, back when she was very little. She would splash water all over the place, and put a bit of soap on his nose; but instead of getting angry, he would just smile and say ‘Eeeyup’.
Once she was big enough, the yellow filly sometimes accompanied her brother when he went to work at the orchards. She liked to sit in the carriage, whether there were apples inside or not, as he pulled it all across the field. She would laugh and giggle, and sometimes pretend that she was Princess Celestia herself travelling in the Royal Chariot; and her brother would just smile and say ‘Eeeyup’.
The filly also remembered those nights, when nightmares would wake her up and the darkness wouldn’t allow her to go back to sleep. Sometimes it was her big sister who used to appear and help her to dream again, but other times it was her brother. He would stay by her side, waiting for her to fall asleep. And, whenever she asked if there were monsters in the darkness, he would look around, smile, shake his head, and say ‘Nnnope’.
Her brother was always working. If he wasn’t in the fields collecting apples or planting new trees, he would be in the house or the barn, with a hammer in his mouth. Sometimes the filly would want to help him, but her brother wouldn’t let her, because she was too small, and she could be injured; so he would shake his head and say ‘Nnnope’. When that happened, the yellow filly would sit on the grass, frowning, silently watching her brother work. But sometimes, when there was only a nail left to be nailed, her brother would smile, give the hammer to her, and let her give the final hits. Then he would look at the result and say, prideful of his little sister, ‘Eeeyup’.
There had been some times, though, when he had gotten mad at her, and at those times he had talked quite a lot, with words which were neither ‘Eeeyup’ nor ‘Nnnope.’ The yellow filly remembered a particularly bad occasion, when she had fought with other foals at the school because they were making fun of her brother, because he didn’t talk much. They were saying that he was dumb, and the yellow filly got angry.
She remembered how her brother had picked her up from the fight. He had took her back to the farm, her coat dirty and with a few bruises. He had scolded her, using many new words, he didn’t like her fighting with other ponies. Even if it was to defend him.
The yellow filly didn’t understand at that time, she got angry with her brother and she called him ugly things before shutting herself in her room. That night, the nightmares woke her up again, and she waited for somepony to come to her room, maybe granny or her big sister, even though they were also angry at her.
The one who arrived, however, was her big brother. He stood by her side, nice and calm as usual, and even explored the darkness for her again. He tucked her in and kissed her in the forehead as he used to do, as if the incident in the school hadn’t happened at all.
When the yellow filly asked if he would forgive her, he just smiled and said ‘Eeeyup’.
That is her brother; he doesn't talk much, but she doesn't care.
It’s night at the farm. Dinner has been eaten, the table is clean, and four ponies relax around the fireplace, the oldest of them in a rocker. It has been a couple of years since the fight incident, and the yellow filly has grown quite a lot. She knows many new words, which help her to keep talking, and talking, and talking; just as much as her big sister or her granny.
Like many fillies of her age, she isn’t tired at all, despite it being quite late. That’s why she groans when her big sister says that it’s time for them to go to bed. Her granny agrees, stepping down from the rocker, saying that they all have worked a lot that day, and that they deserve a good night of sleep.
The yellow filly states that she isn’t tired at all, that she still wants to play a bit more, and maybe hear a story from her granny; but her brother calmly picks her up by the mane and takes her upstairs.
The filly crosses her forelegs and frowns, complaining about how they never let her do anything fun.
Her brother giggles.
They reach her bedroom, and her brother puts her on the bed and helps her to untie the ribbon on her mane. The yellow filly takes her nightcap from under the pillow and puts it on her little head. The moon can be seen through the window, illuminating the landscape with its silver light, specially the white castle in the faraway distance, which shines shyly like a small candle.
As she crawls under the blankets, the yellow filly asks her brother if he has ever seen Princess Celestia in person.
He says ‘Nnnope’.
She hugs her teddy bear, and ask her brother if he thinks that Celestia could come to the town one day, or if maybe them could go to Canterlot.
He just shrugs.
The yellow filly doesn’t try to create more conversation. She knows that she isn’t going to get any answer more elaborated than an ‘Eeeyup’ or a ‘Nnnope’, but she’s okay with that. That’s how her brother is, shy and not very talkative. He likes to work on the fields, keeping his thoughts to himself, he’s not a friend of words. There’s nothing wrong with that.
He doesn’t talk much.
Although, on some special occasions...
Her brother opens a drawer and picks up a quite old and ragged book. It’s one of the family treasures, a book of bedtime stories which had passed down for generations. He sits next to the bed and opens it, holding it in his front hooves. He clears his throat, takes a small breath of air, and starts narrating.
The yellow filly smiles, because she knows that her brother doesn’t talk much, but when he does, his words are only for her.
“Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria...”
THE END
