An earth pony in Bridlewood
Author's Note
As the description says, this one's my entrance for the 'hot pony summer contest'. It's the first time I participate in a contest so I'm nervous aa
Fun fact this story was born from me believing Argyle had a faded rainbow hair stripe AND that Izzy and Alphabittle were friends. Imagine my face when rewatched the movie and noticed there was no rainbow hair nor hints of Iz and Alpha being anything more than acquaintances ☠️
So ye, I had to change a few things. Going through a horrible writer block rn too so that didn't help. At least I got to write the main idea, which was that Argyle could've been good friends with the other two leaders if he just had the chance to meet them :') one can dream
One last thing and I’ll shut up- I headcanon Sunny got her sass from Argyle, but he just has a calmer approach about it due to his age. This is based on his interaction with Phyllis at the start of the movie, so if you see some hints to it, here, now you know why heh
An earth pony in Bridlewood
If someone told Alphabittle he’d one day see an earth pony in Bridlewood, he’d question their sanity then and there.
Earth ponies weren't known for being anything close to smart. Nature would do its job right before any could reach the forest. And if, for whatever reason (jinxies most likely), one ever stepped a hoof on their home, as the leader Alphabittle would be the first to kick the unwanted visitor out.
Yet there was one now, in front of his eyes, in his shop.
And Alphabittle could only stare.
Who could blame him, though? Not long ago, a blue unicorn with glasses had arrived near closing hours. He’d carried a camping bag and had the guts to sit on one of the stools, as if he didn't know that was a sign he was willing to lose everything he had in a game against the shop owner.
But he genuinely didn't, Alphabittle soon came to realize. With a cup of tea and muffins now accompanying him, the first thing the stranger did when he saw Alphabittle's collection on display wasn't try to win it for himself, but, instead……ask: “What was this, what was that, how did it work, how old was it, could he take a picture?” and so on.
Save for the games, this kind of job was a boring one. Most unicorns barely had words to spare. Obviously, when Alphabittle saw a chance to talk about his beloved prizes, he didn't hesitate.
Then the chat went on and on until no unicorn was left at the shop. Between talking about collecting and having the guy fix a few prizes Alphabittle thought were forever broken, the two just clicked. His critters taking a liking to the guy was a good sign, too. There was no reason to suspect anything.
But suddenly the blue unicorn mentioned something about traveling to find antiques for his own collection, which Alphabittle thought was a joke (no sane unicorn ever left the forest), which promptly made him laugh and give the guy a friendly slap on the back.
Then his horn—one made of cardboard, to be precise—flew off.
To psychically kick the impostor out would have been easy. The guy was a shortie and Alphabittle was strong even in his later years. But the unicorn prefered to save himself the trouble, so he gave the guy a chance to leave.
The earth pony didn't. Instead, he decided to cause more problems by calmly saying “I was about to do so” and “but I'm lost” in the same sentence.
So here was the leader of unicorns now. Walking an earth pony through the middle of Bridlewood.
On one hoof, he was lucky. Besides the baby armadillo on his back that refused to be left behind, no pony was out this late at night, so Alphabittle wouldn't have to deal with frightened unicorns. On the other hoof, oh, was he hating every second of it!
It was as if basic boundaries had left along with the horn; the guy just wouldn't stop smiling and asking questions about trivial things unicorns did or did not do. The nonstop talk was entertaining back at the bar, when it was a fellow unicorn. Now it was just annoying.
"Ah, wait, I'm jumping straight to the complicated questions, aren't I? I'll start with something simple. What’s your name?" For the fifth time in the past minutes, the earth pony quickened his pace to walk beside Alphabittle, a book and pen ready to note down the answer.
"No."
After a moment of blinking, the intruder sighed. "My apologies, I know I might be coming off as rude. I did try to ask the other unicorns before, but they… didn't seem to be the talking type."
"We're not," Alphabittle said between gritted teeth.
"You're not… talkers." The blue pony noted that down, then widened his eyes. "Oh, right. Alphabittle. I was recommended your shop when asking around. Seems you have made a name for yourself here."
After that followed compliments about Alphabittle’s food and the shop, and even the guy’s real name, Argyle Starshine, as if that was relevant for the situation. It was nothing Alphabittle cared for. He knew his shop was good. And he didn't ask for the guy's name.
Before he could make that fact clear, however, childish laughter rang loudly in the middle of the dark, empty forest. Turning their heads, both ponies spotted the source coming their way. A purple figure, so small she had no mark on her flank yet, was laughing at the top of her lungs as she chased a firefly around.
Her game suddenly came to a stop as she clashed against the front leg of the earth pony. She fell back with a soft thud, and her eyes, now no longer covered by big glasses, looked up curiously. When her mouth fell open, Alphabittle was quick to interfere.
"Izzy Moonbow! Do you have any idea what time it is?" He helped her stand, quickly muttering a “put on the horn now” to the other pony.
Argyle reached for the pointy cardboard in his bag and did as told. By the time the filly had her glasses back on and had fixed her long blue mane, it was as if no earth pony had ever been there. She was still looking at the stranger with awe.
"Wow, sir! Your luminescence-" Izzy pointed at Argyle, the widest smile on her face. "It's so bright!"
"Oh, really?" Argyle tilted his head and smiled curiously.
"Yes! I just learned to see it. Yours is…"
Alphabittle arched an eyebrow. Unicorns were not big on showing their feelings, so for one to learn that kind of skill was unusual (if not completely useless). Nothing like earth ponies, who lived in the bliss of their ignorance and would be entertained just by a bug passing by. Their luminescence being naturally bright made sense.
Poor Izzy tended to be like earth ponies in that sense. Clearly being near one would do her no good, so Alphabittle was quick to stand between them.
"Go home, kid. You shouldn't be out this late," he said, shooing her off with a hoof.
"But this is the best time to find coins! For good luck, as you say!" She took one tiny piece of metal hidden inside her hair and showed it for emphasis.
"Those are part of this year's ritual to keep the jinxies away. Not free money to grab." Growing exasperated, Alphabittle grabbed the coin and threw it behind his back.
From the corner of his eye, he spotted Argyle making a face and suddenly emptying a bag of coins on the grass. Well, that explained how he was able to pay for the muffins.
"Speaking of which, this is about the time when jinxies go out to eat little ponies so, go home, the villa Izzy. Now."
The filly was unfazed, just as she always was whenever someone mentioned any forbidden words. That would kill her one day…
It took what felt like an eternal staring contest, until finally, she got the message.
"Oh, it's fine. I'll be very careful so they won't catch me." She nodded with confidence, then trotted off. "Bye Mr. Alphabittle, bye Mr. Bright!"
At this, Alphabittle shook his head, but soon found his lips turning into a small smirk. As oddly energetic as she was for a unicorn, as many times he had to remind her foals were not allowed in his shop when she snuck in, he couldn't really be angry at her. She was one of the few unicorns who would say more than a few words in a conversation after all, and with her always being bored and an avid collector herself, he knew she'd be a fun pony to beat in games one day.
The light happiness of the memories dissipated the moment Alphabittle noticed Argyle waving at the filly. He glared at him. The other just smiled softly.
"She's my daughter's age."
Alphabittle blinked. "You have a daughter and are out here?!"
"Doesn't sound that responsible, I know." The earth pony nodded and started walking again, reminding the unicorn of his task. "I was supposed to make this trip before, but, well, she came into my life."
Alphabittle retook his role as guide, not noticing himself walking beside Argyle instead of ahead now.
"She found out about it in my journal not long ago. Then it was days and days of crying, thinking she ruined it and insisting I should go. She even suggested accompanying me to make sure she wouldn't be in danger. Which, as you can guess, doesn't make much sense." Argyle chuckled warmly. "She's stubborn. A mare like that will change the world someday."
"In the end I agreed, but changed a few plans. No revisiting Zephyr Heights, for example. Even if my traveling experience is vast, I'm in no shape to push it, what with being a parent now." The earth pony sighed, but a faint smile remained there. "At least I got to meet the queen that one time."
"Queen, you say?" The question left Alphabittle's lips on its own. Just then, he noticed he was genuinely listening to the Argyle's story.
He justified it by thinking that pegasi living in a monarchy was crazy enough to want to know more. But the fact that Alphabittle had been genuinely invested in their conversation before, when he thought the imposter was a unicorn, lingered in the back of his mind.
He paid no mind to it.
Argyle hummed in affirmation. "I happened to be there for the inauguration of a local museum and stumbled upon her. She was pretty eager to talk about herself and the kingdom.”
"No kidding?" Alphabittle asked. "How'd you get her to talk?"
To his surprise, Argyle smirked. "I really didn't have to. She thought I was from a magazine."
The idea was ridiculous enough to make both ponies share a short laugh.
"Yeah, pegasi are insufferable." Alphabittle said.
He was just continuing the joke—it was a funny comment! But for whatever reason, his words caused Argyle’s smile to falter.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that…" Argyle softly shook his head.
Then, without another word, his eyes focused on the path ahead. His smile returned not long after, but it wasn't one of contentment this time. More like… resignation? Like he knew whatever he was thinking would reach no ears if said out loud.
A long silence lingered in the air. Alphabittle had no obligation to break it—he wanted it to stay that way, actually.
Yet as it went on, Alphabittle couldn't explain why the lack of Argyle’s non-stop talk was getting awkward.
And they weren't close to the forest entrance yet…
Alphabittle rolled his eyes. Willingly striking conversation with an earth pony was another thing he'd have to take to his grave.
"What's with the interest in other pony kinds, anyways?" he blurted out.
This caused the blue colt's demeanor to perk up, as if that was something he usually didn't get to tell.
"It may seem pointless, but research is important. There's so much history that would be lost otherwise." Argyle adjusted his glasses, looking proud of himself. "Even if I'm just one pony, I believe by preserving it all for future generations, when everypony has left their differences far behind, I’ll be leaving my mark."
Arching a brow, Alphabittle stared at Argyle. There was no sign of that being a weird joke. He genuinely looked confident in those insane words.
An admirable thing, almost. Not many unicorns had something to look forward to, anything to motivate them. As one of the few who didn't just mope around all day, Alphabittle respected that.
But running a tea shop and playing games was not like believing all races could get along, obviously. The idea was insane, and Alphabittle could tell that being the only non-unicorn to visit in numerous moons meant Argyle had to be the only one to pursue that weird dream.
Weird, dumb…but harmless at the end of the day. It was just a mere earth pony's delirium, it wasn't like that was going to change anything in anyone's life.
"...as long as you don't mess with the forest." Alphabittle shrugged, saying this mostly to fill the silence than to keep the topic going.
"Oh no, of course not. Nature is to be respected." Just as Argyle said this, the baby armadillo fell off Alphabittle's back and the earth pony was quick to help it back in place. "So about the questions… how about we turn it into a game? With a bet, perhaps?"
Alphabittle’s ears perked up, and he instantly cursed himself for making his weakness so obvious back at the shop.
But it was fine—Alphabittle always knew how to turn things to his advantage.
"Fine. Guess the following riddle correctly and I'll answer any questions you want." Alphabittle smiled, his betting voice already coming out. "But, if you lose, you'll stay quiet the rest of the way."
"Sounds fair." Argyle didn't acknowledge the hoof pointing at his face and simply nodded.
Oh, he'll enjoy wiping that smile off his muzzle.
Clearing his throat, Alphabittle smirked as he spoke the riddle. It was an ancient one, found only in a few unicorn books nowadays. A legend about a city, whose gates few could enter, unless the princess considered you worthy of it. There was no way an earth pony knew of it.
So naturally, when Argyle answered “oh easy, Canterlot!”without hesitation, Alphabittle was tempted to kick the guy away from his sight.
Though he didn't do that in the end, he did use the little control he had of the situation to turn it to his advantage; that being by answering all the questions in the shortest way possible and giving no vital information. Nothing worth noting down.
Alphabittle had luck by his side for once when the interview reached the topic of magic (bing bong!). They had finally arrived at the forest's entrance, which saved him having to invent an excuse. He'd rather be dead before he told a pegasus or an earth pony that magic was gone.
"Alright, time's up. Say, colt, didn't you see the signs?" Alphabittle turned around to face Argyle and gestured at the various, notorious warnings around.
"Ones well made indeed. I see unicorns are crafters."
The critter on his back laughed. Alphabittle gritted his teeth.
"Funny. Now you leave," he snapped, taking advantage of his tall height to get close and tower over the earth pony. "And you'll never step a hoof in this forest ever again—is that clear?"
As a warning, he removed the cardboard horn from Argyle's blue mane and crushed it against the grass.
Even that didn't remove that calm, smug smile from Argyle's face. "Crystal."
Then Alphabittle walked away, but when he heard shuffling instead of hooves leaving, he turned around. He saw a blue pony, a camera held high in the air…
And just when Alphabittle quickly reached for it, there was a flash.
-
Sunny's mouth fell open.
Despite the soft chatting of ponies in the background, the clinks of cups here and there, and the smell of food around her, her attention was set solely on the object the armadillo offered to her over the counter.
She picked it up, and slowly passed a hoof along the picture, as if that would make it any more real than it already was. Her dad was there, or just his eyes actually. Blurry and blinded by a flash, looking goofy enough to make Sunny smile if it wasn't for what—who was behind him. An angry Alphabittle, younger by a few years, extending his hoof into the camera.
Sunny almost forgot to look up when that unicorn at the other side of the bar continued his tale.
"It's obvious he took it by accident. I wouldn't have even appeared if I didn't walk over there. Still, as you can guess, I took the picture with me and left." Alphabittle shrugged, using the cloth in his hoof to wipe a glass clean. The adult armadillo (the one from the photo, perhaps) nodded in agreement. "Was the first thing I looked for when magic came back, after I recognized him in that frame at the lighthouse. Supposed you'd like to know."
Sunny had been silent throughout the whole story. Now, though, she made a sound. A laugh, bubbly and filled with fondness, made its way out of her throat as she fought back the need to hug the picture. "Yeah, he was never good with cameras."
She still remembered the day her father left for that trip. Sunny was supposed to stay at Hitch's house, but it just so happened that her friend had a slumber party at Sprout's that weekend. She wasn't the most wanted of guests there, but Mrs. Cloverleaf begrudgingly ended up accepting her by saying something along the lines of “It's not her fault after all.”
Which was wrong, because filly Sunny unknowingly ended turning that weekend into a nightmare for the adult mare on her own. Blurting unicorn and pegasi trivia every five minutes, refusing to leave her fake wings behind, among other things.
Before she was banned from Canterlogic, Sunny was banned from the Cloverleaf household
Delicately leaving the photo next to her cup of tea, Sunny shifted on her stool to take out the journal from her bag. Once she had it, she opened it to the section that she had found mostly empty that day many moons ago. Now it thrived with notes and photos of the flora, fauna, and lost objects from Bridlewood. The other two armadillos soon left their work to curiously take a peek at it.
"Dad told me everything about his trip when he came back, but I could never get details about the unicorns and pegasi, like he could never get further than the surroundings," Sunny confessed. "He never lied to me. But ever since I found out he knew about the crystals, and now this, I—there's just so much he may have not told me…"
Sunny didn't notice the way her brows knitted together, how she once again got lost staring at her dad and Alphabittle's photo, until the unicorn eventually broke the silence.
"His visit could've been a big deal, you know? 'How the grand Alphabittle kicked an intruder earth pony out of Bridlewood.' Sounds like the perfect tale to get ponies to gather at my shop. I even had proof! All was there and I just… couldn't. Not without the risk of things escalating. Instead I had to keep it all behind closed doors all these years." Alphabittle seemed lost in his own thoughts as well, but quickly snapped out of it. "What I'm saying is, when you have ponies to take care of, decisions are not easy."
This got her face to soften. Trying to understand those wise words better, she found herself doing something she rarely did: looking past the optimism to see things as they actually were.
A town full of earth ponies who had nothing but fear of the unknown, against one pony who was an outcast for not believing any of it. Researching was one thing, considered “his problem for walking into the lion's hen;” but if everypony found out about direct contact with the enemy, about the crystals… things may not have been limited to simply saying they were wrong.
Maybe her father was going to tell her eventually, once she reached a wiser age, when she understood this, as well. Whatever it was, Alphabittle was right. Her father must have had a reason, and Sunny trusted him on that. She always did and would.
Now feeling better, Sunny left the journal and photo aside to cross her front legs over the counter and smirk at the unicorn leader.
"Bet you didn't expect you would meet his daughter, huh? Who would also beat you at your own game!" Her joke wasn't well-received, as Alphabittle gave a plain 'don't push it’ look, to which she chuckled nervously. "But really, he was way better at game tactics than me. I'm sure he would have been a frequent client, and a worthy opponent at poker."
That wasn't fake flattery. Sunny had learned how to play cards, difficult board games and solve rubik cubes from somewhere. Both her and her dad enjoyed those family game nights, but it wasn't the same playing with a kid as with another adult who knew how to make bets. A match between her dad and Alphabittle would have been entertaining to see.
Alphabittle chuckled, now going on the task of cleaning the counter. The armadillo took the chance to climb and stand on his shoulder. "Would've loved to see him try to beat me. I'm sure we would've gotten along just fine if he hadn't been—if I'd opened my eyes sooner to your kind not being bad news. He talked a lot, and I do like talkers." He looked at the unicorn sitting beside Sunny. "Makes it easy to know how to beat them. Ain't that right, Moonbow?"
Now with the journal on her hooves, Izzy looked up with wide, shiny eyes. The way she seemingly had to blink the emotions away showed the story had been a lot to take in for her as well.
When she finally found her voice, it came in the form of awkward laughter and a forced grin as she put the journal aside. "Yeah… how's Rocky doing?"
"Fine and dandy in his new home as always." Alphabittle patted a shelf where a rock with a smiley face drawn on it rested among other objects. Izzy's first lost bet, perhaps. "You can always try to win him back, he'd love to see Mrs. Rock again."
As Alphabittle laughed, Izzy tilted her head.
"Oh? But there's no Mrs. Rock yet. I'd be the first to know!"
Sunny couldn't help but smile fondly at her friend. They had come all the way to Bridlewood because Izzy, though insisting she loved living at the lighthouse, was homesick. But although it was Izzy’s trip, she had decided to give Sunny this moment with Alphabittle.
"I'm glad you got to meet my dad, Izzy." Sunny found herself saying out loud.
Because truly, she was happy. To have such good friends, to know that her wish of her dad meeting them had come true somehow.
After another moment of quietness, Izzy picked up her cup to smile softly at her reflection in the liquid.
"Me too. It was nice to see another pony with such a bright sparkle back then…" Her sip was interrupted by a sudden gasp. She turned to Sunny. "Do you think he met Pipp and Zipp too?!"
"I-I don't know, maybe? I'll have to ask them! I mean, he met Queen Haven, at least. I—" Her excitement spread from her voice to her hooves, which she waved around wildly. "I can't believe my dad got to meet both unicorns and pegasi! It was his dream!"
Sunny laughed as everything settled in. With Izzy feeling the same at her side, it probably looked like they would burst from happiness at any minute, hence why Alphabittle and the critters around were uncomfortably shifting away from the squealing mares.
"Hey, Alphabittle?" Sunny said after calming down. When he looked up with a curt hum to show he was listening, she continued. "Thank you for telling me, really."
Her hoof silently slid the photo in his direction. Staring down at it, Alphabittle seemed to consider his next movement as he exchanged a look with the armadillo on his shoulder.
Alphabittle smirked, picked the photo and, instead of leaving it hidden away inside a drawer, he placed it somewhere between his collections on display. "No problem, kid."
