With the old mare's tale threatening Equestria, move to new town, oversee festivities, meet tons of new ponies whirlwind affair, he would have been easy to miss. After the Nightmare Moon returns, Everfree Forest, Elements of Harmony, five friends, Princess Luna fiasco, she'd all but forgotten about seeing him.

But she hadn't, not completely. He'd been popping balloons at Pinkie's party, just in the periphery of her recognition as she choked on a hot sauce cupcake. He'd lingered in her thoughts after a long night sleeping in a library — a library! — and a late morning thanks to she and Spike having none of the amenities of home just yet. One inquiry to Miss Knows-Everypony-in-Town and the brushing off of a, "Why, do you know him? Is he your boyfriend? Ooh, is he your ex-boyfriend? Are you gonna kick his flank? Can I watch?" and she had his address.

The house wasn't much to look at, really. She'd thought living in a library inside a tree — she still couldn't get over it, a library! — constituted humble digs. Certainly both were far removed from the opulence of her parents' small Canterlot apartment. But this house was a mess. The paint was flaking. The shutters sagged. Grass and weeds grew unchecked around the stoop. The fence needed new, well, fence. Like every house on this small block, at the opposite end of town from Applejack's fields, it was a shade of brown that went beyond simple pigment. The brown ambiance spoke of apathy and despair.

She knocked. Nopony answered. It took four rounds of knocking before anyone appeared at the door. She rather wished he hadn't.

No, he wasn't at home, he was at work. Work was at the saddlery. The one on Stirrup Street. Yes, she was the new mare from Canterlot. Yes, she'd been part of that thing last night. No, she wasn't interested in a date. No, she wasn't a lesbian, thank you, goodbye.

She was halfway to Stirrup Street, or at least where she thought Stirrup Street might be, before she'd shaken off the stallion's communicable brownness.

It helped that she had things to think about like "Ponyville's big enough to have a saddlery?" Yes, she had only been there a day, and it wasn't as though she'd gotten the ten-bit tour at any point, but this was a farming community, with deep earth pony roots. It was a Canterlot suburb by virtue only of geographic location, nothing to do with size. The town seemed to have grown to a certain point and decided it was content with maintaining the status quo. She certainly hadn't thought she'd seen any factories around.

As it turned out, that was because the saddlery, owned by one Mister Pommel, who had greeted her at the door, was merely a workshop, a tumbledown shack at the end of the street where it couldn't disturb the marketplace. Just-Mister-Pommel-If-You-Please had listened to her with one ear, grunted, and then hollered his name at the dingy interior. He had also added "a pretty mare's here to see you." With five exceptions, Ponyville was not growing on her.

So she waited at the door to this rinky-dink establishment, in this podunk town, trying to remember the last time she'd seen more than just a glimpse of him through a party the other night. It was too full of shouting to be a happy memory.

She fiddled with the card Pinkie had written the address on, tearing off little bits around the edges. It wasn't like she hadn't just seen him! She knew what to expect!

Still, she was surprised when he ambled through the door in a heavy, dirty canvas apron, disdain written across his face. The hoop in his ear had doubled, and then doubled again. He wore his tail short. Somehow, those two details took all her attention.

One of his eyebrows rose when his gaze fell upon her, and she tore the card in half.

"What're you doin' here?"

There was no malice behind the question, but it was still cold. No surprise, nor remorse, nor curiosity, just a simple acknowledgement of her existence.

"I, uh... I live here now." She forced a smile up at him. "And I saw you at Pinkie's party the other night. And... I was wondering if maybe you'd want to get lunch and, you know..." Her shoulders rolled in a motion not quite a shrug and not quite anything else. "Catch up?"

His nostrils flared as he drew in a breath and let it out through his mouth. "I guess. Lunch break's in fifteen. I'll ask Mister Pommel if I can go early. Unless you feel like waiting around."

She gave a nervous, transparent laugh. "Whatever suits you!"

He turned and sauntered back into the darkness. Her face fell. At least there hadn't been any shouting this time.

---

"Where do you want to go?"

The workshop being so close to downtown was fortuitous. She didn't want to waste any time getting to an eatery. It grew palpably shorter with each step.

"You're paying, right?"

Something was off in his voice, but she couldn't put a hoof on what. She made a point of not finding out how he might be looking at her. Inwardly, she was glad her stipend from the Princess had been one of the few things that transferred here quickly. He snorted at her affirmation.

"Sugarcube Corner, then!"

At least they wouldn't be wasting time on awkward conversation, either.

Pinkie Pie was at the counter when they entered, which both made sense and still surprised her. Throwing parties couldn't be a job, after all, could it? Yet such a hyperactive mare, tied down to a job in a single place all day?

Pinkie's eyes grew big at the sight of them. "Hi Twilight, hi Pokey! Wow, I didn't know you two knew each other!"

She zipped from behind the counter, wrapping a leg around Twilight's neck and whispering in her ear. "You really are gonna let me watch, aren't you? I'm so excited!"

Twilight's attempt to back away was fruitless. "Pinkie, no. He's my brother."

Had the room been tightly sealed, Pinkie would have turned it into a vacuum. "No way."

"Yes way." Twilight sighed. "And we'd like a quiet spot to eat and talk, if there is one."

"No probleroonie, Twilight!" With head and hooves, she pushed them into a booth in the corner. "I'll get your food right away!"

It was only after Pinkie had left that Twilight realized they hadn't ordered anything.

She studied him. He wasn't making eye contact with her. The cool diffidence seemed out of place for someone who had just had a close encounter with Pinkie Pie. Pinkie was supposed to be her friend, after all, and she was still getting used to her.

"She calls you Pokey?" was all she could think to say.

He snorted. "We used to have a... thing."

She lifted an eyebrow. "A thing?"

He shook his head. "With that one, it can only ever be a 'thing'. Not much gets through, if you know what I mean."

She frowned. "Must've been a hard breakup. She kept thinking I was going to kick your flank."

He gave a single, short, barking laugh. "I popped too many of her balloons." He shifted, the firm seat covering squeaking beneath him. "Guess I should ask why you're in Ponyville."

She smiled and told him the story, but couldn't tell if he was interested or not. "And then Princess Celestia said I could live here and study friendship. I'm still getting all my things moved into the library, but it looks like I'll be here for a while, at least." She gave him a lopsided smile. "So I thought we should catch up. We'll be neighbors after all. Well, sort of. You know what I mean."

He didn't have a chance to answer before Pinkie came back, mysteriously, with what she'd had a taste for. Pinkie stood by for a moment as they thanked her, then her eyes bugged out.

"Oh! Right! Privacyyyyy!" She whispered the last word before disappearing back into the kitchen.

Twilight lifted her sandwich. She set it back down when she saw his face in the salad bowl. She had to duck her head to eat it, but it worked.

"You know, I'm finding it hard to believe you." He eyed her as if she might reach across and steal his salad. "This voice in the back of my head keeps me telling me Mom and Dad sent you to check up on me."

She sighed. Here they go. "None of us knew where you went, Pierce. It's a total coincidence that we ended up in the same town." Unless the Princess knew and had planned it, of course. She was known for doing things like that. "If you want, I can leave you out of any letters I send home."

The suspicion didn't fall from his face. "You'd do that?"

"Of course I would!" She tried to make her voice as pleading as possible. "You're my big brother. That's the kind of thing siblings do for each other."

"Yeah. Sure." He resumed eating.

She took another bite, chewed, and swallowed it. "They miss you, you know."

He grunted. Time for a subject change.

"So... I didn't even know Ponyville had a saddlery. What's it like working there?"

His gaze took an odd path: to her, then the salad, then off into a corner of the room. He swallowed. "It's okay. Kind of a horseapple job, really, but I like the work."

"What's Mister Pommel like? He seemed... interesting."

He snorted again. It was a noise awash with disdain, mocking her words, his job and everything else simultaneously. It was getting on her nerves.

"He's the horseapple."

She waited a moment for him to elaborate, and as she was about to open her mouth, he did.

"All I do is poke holes in leather and wood and stuff all day. And in Celestia's name, I can't help but enjoy it." He patted his flank. "I wish it didn't have to do with this thing." He pressed a hoof to his horn, avoiding the sharp tip.

"Mine's related to my horn too." The instant she said it, she realized it was the wrong thing to have said. He scowled.

"What would you know about it, Little Miss Perfect?"

"I'm sor—"

"Miss Magical Scholar, top honors in her class, School for Gifted Unicorns, Princess Celestia's personal student!" Every epithet came with greater vitriol. "What the flying feather do you know about not having magic?"

Only by virtue of the lump in her throat did she not blurt out the truism Everypony has magic.

"You don't know me!" He slammed his hoof on the table. The dishes rattled. "You don't know what I've been through! You don't know anything!"

"I know I love you." It came out hoarse. She couldn't meet his gaze.

"Fat lot of good that did when I was dropping out." He sneered, impersonating the nasal tone of their former fellow Canterlotians. "'Pokey Pierce, the Twilights' kid! The crippled Sharphorn colt who's only good for breaking stuff!' What a loser."

He slammed his hoof down again. Her water glass toppled over. Shaking, she gazed at her sandwich like she had no idea what it could be used for. The entry bell chimed and Pinkie greeted the new customer. She let the noise give her the strength to look at him.

"It's not like that, Pierce."

"Then what is it like, huh?" He leaned across the table like he wanted to break it in half. "Shiny gets the looks and the magic. I get horseapples and a replacement."

She gasped. For the first time that day, she raised her voice. "That's not true!"

"Like Tartarus it isn't, Sparkledusk."

"That's not my name!" Tears stung the corners of her eyes. "Why do you have to be so mean to me?"

Hot breath pulsed through his nostrils. His voice came out low and dangerous. "'Cause maybe mommy and daddy didn't love me enough, not that you'd know about that either. 'Cause maybe they saw their perfect son and their broken son and said, 'We don't want that to happen again!' So when they saw you wherever they bought you from, they thought maybe they could have the perfect daughter they always wanted and complete the set." He sat back, scowling. "Sucks if you're caught in the middle."

She lost control of the tears. She propped her head on the table with one hoof as she struggled through them. "Why do you say these things? None of it's true!"

"That's not what Mom and Dad said when I left."

"How can you believe any of it?" She looked at him, but he's no more than a blue-on-blue blur. Regret mixed with the sting of his words, and she wondered if this had been a good idea in the first place. "It's all just... just hate rolling around in your head, like all the things Mom and Dad and Shining and me said to you didn't mean anything!"

"Actions speak louder than words, Twilight." He gazed down at his hooves. "When nopony's there celebrating you, gushing about how good you poke holes in junk, being proud of you for not being able to..." He closed his eyes for a minute. Scooting from the seat, he stood. "I'm done here. Thanks for lunch. I gotta get back to work."

She scrubbed at her face. Pinkie and her customer gawped at them from across the room. Once more, her brother has turned his flank to her, receding into the distance.

"Pierce, wait!"

He took four more steps before stopping.

"I..." She swallowed. "All our lives, I've only ever wanted to be your sister. To have fun and share things and do what brothers and sisters do with each other. That's all I want from you. And if you don't want that, that's fine. If you don't want me around, I won't bother you. If you..." The words caught in her throat. Blood roared in her ears. "If you hate me, I'll understand."

He remained still.

"But if you ever want to try and... If you ever feel like being my big brother, I'll be here. I promise."

He flicked his tail and snorted again. The sound makes her want to wrap him in her hooves and squeeze until all the stupid has bled out of him like juice from an apple. He was just being stupid! If only it were so easy to ficx..

For the first time ever, with his back still to her, he turned his head to look at her. He wasn't smiling, but her heart leapt regardless, apprehension swelling up inside her like a balloon. She'd have to apologize to Pinkie and the other mare for the scene. She'd have to pay for the food and leave a tip. A big tip. She'd have to make sure she didn't find herself back at his horseapple job with his horseapple boss, or his ramshackle house with his skeevy roommate. But sweet Celestia of Equestria, he was looking at her.

"Whatever."

Her balloon popped. She turned like an hour hand back to her sandwich. The bread was dotted with water droplets. She wasn't sure she really wanted to eat right then anyway.

The sound of his hooves picked up once more. The bell over the door dingled. Pinkie returned to whispering at her customer.

And just before the door slammed shut, Pierce's voice cut through the pounding silence in her head.

"Seeya 'round, Twily."