Alphabittle and Bridlewood - Reading between the lines of the Gen 5 Movie

Alphabittle may be the named character in the new MLP movie with the least direct characterization. Compared to the CEO of arguably the earth pony city's biggest company and the literal queen of the Pegasi, being the owner of a local teahouse immediately leaves him behind the other two side pony faction 'leaders' just in terms of impact, reach and presumably backstory. All we really learn about him is trivia, he doesn't seem to have any direct connection to any of the other characters beyond living in the same town as Izzy and half of his establishing screen is taken up by a random dance battle.

At least that is until you start to put him into the context of Bridlewood. Whether this is all intentional or just a happy coincidence due to unrelated ideas in the writing of the movie remains to be seen, but here are some things we are told and shown in the movie and how it builds my headcanon of him:

• Bridlewood (after a detour to Izzy's cottage) is immediately established as a dreary, depressed place where nobody is happy, a stark contrast to Izzy herself. We explicitly see a playground and a group of foals hanging off the play structures/flopping down the slide without any indication of having actual fun. Even the ponies in the teahouse are slow, monotone and depressed.
• Izzy seems to be the only exception to that. Until we meet Alphabittle. Alphabittle likes games. Alphabittle is energetic. Alphabittle actually smiles (or at least smirks) before making a big hammed up production out of his "Ultimate Challenge". And oh yeah, Alphabittle has a custom-made DDR/Just Prance machine. Do you really think anyone else in the town petitioned for that? Or that there is anyone in that town who actually sells arcade machines as a business model? Or that Izzy would stay away from a machine like that?
• On that note, I also personally can't believe that Alphabittle didn't let Sunny win that third round of Just Prance. This is his Ultimate Challenge, he has likely spent hours on this thing and knows all the steps by heart. On the other hoof, he knew that Sunny was Izzy's friend and unlike Queen Haven he doesn't actually have any investment in his crystal beyond it being one of the knicknacks on his shelves, and the most easily replacable one at that (it's a crystal, he can literally walk five steps outside and pick up a replacement). I'm fully convinced that he fudges his game to let ponies win from time to time, especially first-time customers, foals and/or people who visibly actually have some sort of stake in getting the thing they're playing for.
• Alphabittle has three armadillo assistants helping him out. That doesn't necessarily have to mean anything but how bad can he really be if he has three adorable critters running around underhoof and helping out?
• He knows Izzy personally. In his first scene calls her by name and refers to Sunny as Izzy's friend. Anyone in Bridlewood who knows Izzy most likely also knows her personality and that she doesn't have any friends in town. I'd like to think that recognizing and acknowledging Sunny as Izzy's friend implies at least some sort of personal connection.
• Izzy has an entire house filled with things unicycled out of junk. On the lower level of interpretation, she would hardly be very scared of a guy who gambles for knicknacks and small items if she knows how to get enough of the stuff to fill her entire house with. One the higher level, where else would she have gotten all the stuff she uses for her little projects? You could say that this isn't connected but why would you want to?
• (Also Izzy has enough hoof dexterity to craft a whole set of realistic horns or wings in record time, and easily prances around the traps in Maretime Bay until she gets distracted; she totally learned that with Rubik's Cubes and dancing games)

What it boils down to, in the end, is that Izzy is evidently not the only pony with a more upbeat disposition in Bridlewood. And if there is a choice between Alphabittle being the one who taught Izzy most of what she knows about fun and the one who supplied her with all the odds and ends she uses for her crafts, or not... I just want happy filly Izzy playing Just Prance.

Comments

[Reese]

Oh, nice! Thank you for sharing your thoughts there! :D