"Hey, Mac," Apple Bloom said. "Can I ask ya a question?"

"Eeyup," Big McIntosh replied, as the two sat side by side and watched the sun go down over the pond. He noted that his little sister had seemed a lot calmer and more collected since she'd finally obtained her cutie mark. Almost like she was growing up.

"Why're ya always so quiet? Ah mean, ya hardly ever say more'n a word or two."

Big Mac turned to his sister and smiled. "So you reckon more words are better 'an less?"

Apple Bloom scrunched her nose in thought for moment before replying. "Ya know, I guess I ain't sure. I mean, most ponies talk a lot, and it seems to work out. And seems it'd be kinda hard to make friends if ya didn't talk to other ponies. But you don't talk much, and everypony I know respects you."

"Did ah ever tell ya 'bout my mark?"

"Yeah, a few years ago when we were runnin' around askin' every pony in town how they got their cutie marks."

"But did I tell ya what I think it means?"

Apple Bloom scratched her head. "No, I reckon ya didn't. And I never really thought about it. It's just a sliced apple, right?"

Chuckling, Big Mac explained. "You should know better 'an that by now, little Bloom. A mark is never 'just' anything."

"So what's it mean then?"

"Well, the way I see it, it shows I'm an apple through an' through. Any pony can look at an apple and think it looks good on the outside. But it's only once ya take a bite that ya see if it's filled with worms or rotten."

"So..." Apple Bloom hazarded a guess. "It means you're honest? Like AJ?"

"Ain't just that. See, I figure words are a bit like the skin of an apple. You can polish 'em up all nice and pretty, and make just about anything look crisp and fresh, no matter how many worms it's hidin'."

"But..."

"But no pony gives one whit about the skin. It's what's inside an apple that counts. The wonderful crisp fruit, and the seeds that grow into mighty trees, an' let a pony have a shady place to rest beside his little sister."

"So the seeds are... what? Your heart?"

Smiling, Big Mac tussled his sister's mane. "Somethin' like that. More like they're actions that come from mah heart. Ya know how they say actions speak louder 'an words?" Apple Bloom nodded. "Well, I reckon they're right."

"Like when you went and harvested those fields on the Carrot Top farm last month?"

"Eeyup. See, anypony can say 'get well soon', and I reckon a lot of 'em even mean it, at least in their own way. But that don't help Ms. Carrot Top none when she's laid up in bed, crops rottin' in the ground."

"I'm sorry I ran off that mornin'," Apple Bloom said, looking away. "I shoulda stayed and helped ya."

"Eeyup," Mac said. "I sure coulda used the help." Apple Bloom hung her head. "Now, I ain't holdin' it against ya, but I won't deny I'm pleased ya feel a mite bit'a shame about it. Show's yer growin' up and startin' to know ya need to be more responsible."

"I'm tryin'," Apple Bloom said. "It's just hard."

"Nothin' worthwhile ain't. That's what I had to learn myself. The right things... the good things... they take a whole lotta work. And more'n that, I learned that if yer actions is speakin' for ya instead all 'em big words, ya ain't likely to talk yer way outta doin' the right thing... even when it's hard."

Apple Bloom was just about to speak. Her brother had said more words in the past few minutes than she normally heard from him in an entire week, so he must be done. Yet before she could open her mouth, he jumped right back in.

"Not that words ain't important, mind you," he said. "They are. Terribly important even, just ask Ms. Twilight. But that's why ya can't waste 'em on the small things, the petty things. If ya want yer words to matter, I figure ya gotta save 'em for the things that're really important."

"Like a little sister?" Apple Bloom said, leaning sideways to press against her brother's massive shoulder.

Big Mac put a foreleg around her in a gentle hug. "Eeyup."