The Bell of Bridlewood

by milesprower06

The Manesquerade

Three months later...

Alphabittle
So, just to go over it one more time, it's a ball where everypony wears masks to hide their identity, when everypony has perfectly identifiable cutie marks?

Alphabittle kept his phone easily accessible as he trotted up the mountains towards Zephyr Heights. He had left work early today so he could have as relaxing hike as he could to the city, and not be completely exhausted when it was time to enjoy himself. Ten seconds after he put his phone back in his saddlebags, he heard it give a chime and vibrate as he got a reply. He dug it out again and read:

Haven
The Jinxie Games were proof enough that things don't have to make perfect sense in order to have a good time. See you soon.

That was true enough. He was looking forward to seeing how the castle looked when it was full of party guests.

For the past few months, Alphabittle and Haven had used any excuse they could to get together. That included attending Maretime Bay's resurrection of the Equestria Games, as well as Bridlewood's 'Jinxie Games' last month. He remembered Haven having to deal with more of her daughters reacting to their 'mushiness', but that seemed to come to a decisive halt when Haven insinuated that her daughters were 'good friends' with Maretime Bay's sheriff, while Pipp insisted it was just a 'play board games' type of friendship.

The unicorn was confident that they didn't really mean anything by it, and that reacting to seeing their mom dating again was just one of those signs that in some ways, your kids never stopped being your kids. If he was honest with himself, he was looking forward to seeing them again, along with Izzy and the rest of her friends, who would all be at this party. But while he was traveling on foot, they would be taking the 'Marestream', some flying contraption that Izzy and Zipp had put together and powered with their unity magic, or whatever it was called that also caused a brand new lighthouse to pop out of the ground where the old one laid in ruins.

Unfortunately, due to the rather on-the-spot nature of Pipp's 'Bridlewoodstock' musical event, Haven wasn't able to clear her schedule in time to come down. But a couple weeks ago, a package arrived at Alphabittle's house, from the Zephyr Heights castle, containing an invitation to what was an invite-only event, along with an eye mask, styled like a purple butterfly with a hot pink outline, and a note that said 'see you in two weeks!'.

Upon trying the mask on, he immediately knew that this just had to be a tradition that they didn't want to do away with, because it did next to nothing to conceal his identity. His mane, his stature, and not to mention his teapot cutie mark were all dead giveaways. But, if this got him into the castle for an evening of dancing and partying with Haven, he was more than willing to humor this tradition.

---

If this was what a party at the castle was like, Alphabittle was stunned that they didn't do it more often. He had gotten a tour of the empty ballroom when he had first come to the castle, but to see it decorated and populated like this was something else entirely. He took as much of it in as he could, making his way towards the thrones, carefully levitating a couple glasses of punch.

"A glass of punch for the queen of the palace," he said, offering one of the glasses to her as she lounged on the center seat.

Haven left out a gasp of surprise.

"Oh, who, me? Shh... Obviously you recognize me when nopony else does," she said, getting up and coming down the ramp to him.

The unicorn raised an eyebrow curiously. Was she serious? She was on the throne, for pony's sake. She was even wearing the crown.

"Wait, you think that—?"

"Absolutely. Only my closest friends and family ever know it's me when I'm masquerading."

Alphabittle chuckled. Fine, he'd let her have this.

"Really?"

"Mm-hmm!"

"Sorry for blowing your cover," the unicorn said, leaning in towards her ear.

"No apologies needed, Alphie. Nopony heard. But since we share a secret, could I ask you a friendly favor?" Haven asked.

"Mm-hmm, of course."

"Don't tell anypony who I am."

"Yes indeed, your majes-- I mean, yes, whoever you are, mysterious young mare," Alphabittle assured her, clinking her glass of punch with his.

"And I will cheers to that."

The two of them had a good enough time hanging towards the back of the crowds, watching the dancing ponies from afar while sipping at their punch and sampling the absolutely delectable spread of snacks on the buffet tables. They weren't sure how much time had passed as they were enjoying each other's company, but their attention, and the attention of most of the attendees were drawn to the center of the room as a modern pop rhythm began to play on the ballroom speakers.

"What up, what up Manesquerade Ball?!"

Alphabittle instantly recognized Izzy's voice as she mimicked a party horn as she stepped onto the dance floor.

"Everypony clear the dance floor for something that will blow you away... Away... And now! A special performance of the Electric Unity Shuffle!"

Alphabittle remembered Haven telling him something about reserving a few minutes on the dance floor for Sunny and her friends. This must have been it. He saw Sunny step onto the dance floor under a yellow spotlight, and began a choreographed dance routine, joined shortly by Princess Pipp and Izzy under hot pink and magenta spotlights on either side of Sunny.

"~Somepony give me a shimmy, somepony give me a shake!
Give me a twist and shout and just feel the bass, hey, hey!"

He saw the Maretime Bay sheriff join the dance line under a teal spotlight. The crowds had begun to crowd around the dance floor, so he didn't see what must have been the rest of her circle of friends join the routine as red and blue spotlights joined the spectrum. It must have been Zipp and...

Wait, six? He only remembered five from the Jinxie Games last month. Was it that baby dragon? Was he part of it?

"You know what this reminds me of?" Haven asked him, drawing his attention away from the dance floor.

"My amazing Dance Skills on Just Prance?" Alphabittle guessed, remembering how the two of them had spent hours on the game after the Jinxie Games had wrapped up.

Haven laughed.

"No. Reminds me of my Pipp and Zipp. The palace just feels so empty without them."

"Isn't that them?" Alphabittle asked, pointing up in the air closer to the spotlights, at the two pegasi twirling around each other in midair. Surely she must have known about this dance number; she had to have been the one who cleared the performance.

"My hoofness, you're right. You go, girls!" Haven cheered.

Alphabittle's gaze fell back down to the middle of the dance floor as Zipp and Pipp continued their midair moves, and got a glimpse of the blue unicorn dancing in unison next to Izzy.

What he felt next, he couldn't quite describe, as he squinted to get a closer look at the mare, just as his view was obstructed by another spectator.

Alphabittle felt as if his stomach turned inside out as memories from decades ago flashed in his mind. Fighting back the sudden wave of nausea, his eyes darted all around the room, looking for the balcony exit. He spotted it, and ran for it.

"Alphie?" Haven called. She saw the unicorn hop over the velvet rope that was blocking access to the balcony doors, and push them open, running outside, and quickly gave chase. She gingerly stepped over the rope, and exited the ballroom out to the balcony, where she saw her date hunched over the railing.

"My goodness, are you alright?" The queen asked, running over to his side and putting her foreleg on his back.

Thanks to the fresh air, he had managed to keep the snacks and punch down, and not vomit dozens of feet to the ground below.

"That's... That's impossible. It couldn't have been..." Alphabittle muttered as he struggled to let the wave of nausea pass. After a few more deep breaths, he pushed himself off of the railing and finally glanced at Haven.

"Darling, you look like you've seen a ghost," Haven said, her concern quickly rising.

Alphabittle continued taking deep breaths.

"I'm... I'm very, very sorry, Haven, but I have to cut our evening short," he told her.

"Alphie, you're really worrying me right now," Haven replied.

"I'm really sorry. I'll explain everything when... When I can make sure of what I just saw in there... Because honestly, I'm not sure if it was a ghost, or if I'm going crazy."

Those words did very little to ease Haven's worries as he leaned down to hug her gently.

"I'll make this up to you, Haven, I swear it."

With that, he headed back inside the ballroom, leaving Haven out on the balcony. Sure enough, three minutes later, she saw him heading out of the castle down the red carpet at a full gallop, she could only assume back to Bridlewood.

'Just what in ponyfeathers did he think he saw in there?'

Author's Note:

Comments

[StarzGecko]

I thought the Queen implied both girls into Hitch. Not just Zip.

Can’t wait to see how this story goes!

[milesprower06]

11624415
You know what, that does sound better than what I have. Fixed!

[EverythingGuy]

I certainly can’t wait to see father and daughter reunite. I expect there to be a lot of tears.

[StarzGecko]

11624418
Awesome! If you watched the clip again you would see Pip speaks for both of them when Heaven suggest about Hitch which definitely made me wonder if the writers know about Hitch being ship with both girls.

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

Haven The Jinxie Games were proof enough that things don't have to make perfect sense in order to have a good time. See you soon.

Can't argue there.

For the past few months, Alphabittle and Haven had used any excuse they could to get together. That included attending Maretime Bay's resurrection of the Equestria Games, as well as Bridlewood's 'Jinxie Games' last month. He remembered Haven having to deal with more of her daughters reacting to their 'mushiness', but that seemed to come to a decisive halt when Haven insinuated that her daughters were 'good friends' with Maretime Bay's sheriff, while Pipp insisted it was just a 'play board games' type of friendship.

Idk why but the mention of calling their friendship with Hitch as a board games of friendship is kinda hilarious.

"Absolutely. Only my closest friends and family ever know it's me when I'm masquerading.

masquerading."*

"I'm really sorry. I'll explain everything when... When I can make sure of what I just saw in there... Because honestly, I'm not sure if it was a ghost, or if I'm going crazy."

Ngl, apart of myself wonders if this might've happened after Alphabittle caught eye of Misty during the episode in general which this story perfectly shows. Still makes you feel a bit sorry for him though.

'Just what in ponyfeathers did he think he saw in there?'

Trust me your majesty, it's something that ties in with his past.

[Signal]

pretty good story！！！

[littleman001]

And we got to the scene that sparked the whole theory that inspired this story. I saw Alphabittle looking at Misty as well, but I had no idea what that was about and never would have thought of this possibility myself.

Now that we've reached the point where the show is right now, I can't wait to see what will happen next. From now on, it's all up to you!

Until next time...

[AlejandroGMJ]

It is a very important moment

[littleman001]

11624578
I second that.

[Comickook]

Excellent work on this latest chapter. REALLY loved the work going into the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up. Definitely loved Alphabittle's reflections on how, in some ways, your kids never stop being your kids on his way to the palace (and also recalling his and Haven's other meetings the past few months) before he was caught by complete surprise seeing Misty (and the reaction to that sighting).

VERY definitely looking forward to more of this.

[Yoshifan30]

but that seemed to come to a decisive halt when Haven insinuated that her daughters were 'good friends' with Maretime Bay's sheriff, while Pipp insisted it was just a 'play board games' type of friendship.

Yink yink shipping fuel 😁🥰

[Yoshifan30]

"Everypony clear the dance floor for something that will blow you away... Away... And now! A special performance of the Electric Unity Shuffle!"

[Yoshifan30]

What he felt next, he couldn't quite describe, as he squinted to get a closer look at the mare, just as his view was obstructed by another spectator.

Ohh Misty I remember that reaction sometimes like he recognize her from somebody so many theories about that

[Yoshifan30]

Ohh now things are getting really interesting here so Alphabittle got got invitation to The Manesquerade from Haven and when he got there he was pretty amazed the party and everything and sunny and the others are doing a little dance but then he saw a pony who he thought was gone and thinking he's starting to lose him his mind and deciding to cut the party short I wonder if it's going to see her again I guess we'll find out next time

[Axolotl222]

Alphabittle So, just to go over it one more time, it's a ball where everypony wears masks to hide their identity, when everypony has perfectly identifiable cutie marks?

Given what happens with Misty in this episode, that's pretty ironic.

He remembered Haven having to deal with more of her daughters reacting to their 'mushiness', but that seemed to come to a decisive halt when Haven insinuated that her daughters were 'good friends' with Maretime Bay's sheriff, while Pipp insisted it was just a 'play board games' type of friendship.

Is that what we're calling it now?

"That's... That's impossible. It couldn't have been..." Alphabittle muttered as he struggled to let the wave of nausea pass. After a few more deep breaths, he pushed himself off of the railing and finally glanced at Haven.

Ooo...