Treble Whistler

By Plume

• April 15, 2015
, No, Not Cast Young stallion

Whistler has a voluminous, somewhat poofy mane, which falls over parts of his eyes and curls at the ends. It is mainly a warm chocolate brown, but some areas have slightly lighter brown streaks. It is generally shiny and well-kept, but sometimes it ends up as a bit more of a bird's nest due to his outdoors lifestyle. His tail is basically the same. He has a pair of warm yellow eyes that are always friendly and sunny, normally crinkled in the corners with a smile. His coat is a light, almost white beige, and he's fairly slim for a male pegasus.

male Pegasus A trio of birds, each a different colour to match his mane and his eyes. It represents his skill at whistling and communicating with birds. https://buffy.mlpforums.com/0da1be89731db3094ab78a702bdf51f9.png

Whistler is, in one word, optimistic. Even with his disability of being mute, he keeps his chin up and his eyes forward, thinking things will only ever get better. He's gentle and carefree, ready to go basically wherever life chooses to lead him. He lives in the moment, and this sometimes blinds him to the other possible answers to a question. This becomes especially apparent whenever he's faced with something he cannot complete, or something he's extremely serious about - never wanting to show any weaknesses, he tries to do his best at everything, even when he cannot accomplish it alone. This rarely happens, however, and he chooses instead to be a happy-go-lucky stallion who loves nothing more than life itself.

 

Although he cannot speak, his facial expressions and somewhat dramatic personality make up for that in leaps and bounds, with generally over-exaggerated facial expressions and large hoof gestures. Oftentimes, his general mood can be defined from first glance - even his walking demeanor will match how he feels. The only time this doesn't apply is when he is rarely feeling sad. No matter how deeply he feels wounded by something, that's the first emotion he'll push back and refuse to show, oftentimes choosing to cry alone than in front of others. He tends to be hopeful most of the time, except when others raise their voices - as soon as shouts start getting thrown about, especially in an argument, he becomes extremely sensitive, often running away scared instead of facing the battle head on.

Likes: Loud noises, falling out of trees when napping, rude awakenings, storms (especially thunder), arguments, wet manes, and the cold.

Whistler was born mute. He spent most of his early years in Ponyville none the wiser, as his parents never questioned why he wasn't talking - they thought he was just a late bloomer. They only found out when he was at school, and all the other colts and fillies were talking and chatting to one another whereas all Whistler could do was smile. No matter how much the teacher tried, and his classmates as well, he never uttered a single word. His teacher grew worried, and ended up calling in his parents to ask them if they had ever noticed his silence, which was (ironically) a cause for much disruption in her class. That night, they took the young foal to the doctor, and they found out that he was mute and most likely would never be able to speak.

 

At first, nothing changed. His parents never treated him differently - they found no need to, and he managed at school fine, not only having natural smarts but also working exceptionally hard. His teacher also led him gently, knowing he needed some extra attention whenever he asked a question due to his difficulty in getting his point across. However, trouble began when some of his schoolmates learned about his disability. They, being the young foals and fillies they were, didn't understand. They thought he was just faking it, and tried to scare and tease him into talking. Every lunch time, when all the foals and fillies would head onto the playground, they would single him out, teasing him about his lack of speech and inability to even make a sound. However, most of these were empty threats - just loud words and pretend hits that never touched him. Even so, this experience scared him greatly, and, even to this day, he still bears the scars of that experience.

 

Eventually, he gave up on trying to make those fellow classmates listen at all. Instead of even going to meet up with the others, he would fly up one of the nearby trees and hide there, as, being in a class of predominantly earth ponies, they couldn't follow him to the higher branches. They tried for the first couple of days, but eventually grew bored and left him there in the solace of the canopy and filtered light. Whistler spent most of his days alone up there, all except for one other regular visitor - a small bird. At the start, he was content to just watch it and listen to it's beautiful birdsong, but eventually tried to befriend it by feeding it bits of his own food. They soon became what he would consider friends, the bird accompanying him every lunch time and singing sweet tunes of lands far off. He always found the lilting, sweet melodies it could create beautiful, and, one day, just for the sheer fun of it, he tried to imitate it. For the first time his life, Whistler made a sound. The whistle he created was pure and clear, and brought him immense joy. For the rest of that lunch, he sat with the bird and copied it's sounds, laughing with eyes filled with a joy he had never known as his cutie mark appeared on his flank.

 

From that day onwards, Whistler dedicated his time and efforts into understanding and caring for the birds that had brought him happiness, finally able to understand that he didn't need to be normal to be happy.

 

These days, he resides in Ponyville, where he spends most of his days running an aviary where he keeps and cares for some of the different species of birds he has befriended. He takes in sick and injured birds, nursing them back to health before releasing them into the wild. Without a doubt, his favourite time of year is the Winter Wrap Up, as he can help build nests for the birds that are returning after Winter and also help ensure that the next generation of chicks grow up to be strong and healthy.

Treble does not suffer from vision impairment, just my art style makes his eyes super sparkly.