All Silent In Manor Archambeau

by Woodchirpper

Sweetie Belle II

She gasped for air, her muzzle lifting off her pillow with a panic, the sunlight flooding her room as the sewing machine sounded, as if nothing had change. She panted hard as she flipped herself over, staring into the ceiling. She had dreamt about family before, but not like this, it was a sign, it was as if Luna herself was guiding her, leaning an ear and encouragement, she needed that, it was fuel to the fire that was but a flicker, now a blazing inferno, she needed to attend to chores first and ready herself, she had brushed her teeth, at breakfast, cleaned all over the boutique, and finally got the mail, Pinkie Pie had sent a letter addressed to Rarity, and then there was a mysterious letter, only addressed to Ms. Archambeau. Sweetie Belle looked curious at the letter, never had seen the name before but she understood the meaning of it.

“Bold, daring,” was this the original owner of the complex, Sweetie Belle could’ve sworn that no one had ever lived there before Rarity and herself, yet another question that awaited Rarity as she began to ascend back up the stairs, horn flared, gripping the letters. As she stood at the door, she took an air of confidence and entered, the hum and thumping of another piece of fabric being tended to by Rarity as she worked the sewing machine encaged the almost soundproof chamber, she had slammed the door to see if Rarity would at the very least jump in startlement, to no avail, Rarity continued, moving her hooves slowly away from herself, pushing the fabric through, making sure it is eased in, letting no room for errors. Sweetie Belle made her way to her sister, eyeing the room as she did, it was pretty much the same as the front of the boutique, minus the runway, graphing paper laid about or wad wrapped in the left corner of the room, mannequins lined the walls with strips of cloth decorated them, a dressing station was hobbled together in the upper right corner of the room, and bed laid in the upper middle of the room with her table being dead center, facing the doorway.

Rarity looked a tired mess, her purple mane was unkempt, bags upon bags formed under her eyes, and she looked thinner than usual, this almost made Sweetie Belle not want to trouble her sister but instead convince her to take a break, her mind was made up, her mind hungered for answers to the unspoken questions that had festered inside her for several years. She bolted forward and thumped the table, her forehooves crashing down on the tabletop and startled the sleep deprived mare out of catatonic state. Rarity jumped back, emitting a squeak, with the sewing machine chaotically hammering into the fabric, essentially ruining the creative flow she had going, now having to start from scratch. She stopped the machine, catching her breath before she spoke.

“Careful darling, you could’ve gotten hurt,” she began, shouting. “And look at what you did, you have ruined my nouveau modèle de robe!”

Sweetie Belle took a deep breath in, she began to shout a flurry of questions.

“Who are we?”

“Where did we come from?”

Who are our parents?”

And who is Archambeau?”

Sweetie Belle shoved the letters in Rarity’s face. She looked past Pinkie’s letter and stared blankly at the name of the other, “Archambeau”. Her ears fell back, her eyes widened in what could only be described as fear.

“W-where, when did you-” She tried to form a sentence but couldn’t find the words, she looked at Sweetie Belle in a panic.

“Burn it,” Rarity had shrieked.

“Burn it like the rest!”

Sweetie Belle was taken aback, as of lately, a couple of ponies close to her have been acting not like themselves. She had dropped the letters onto the table with Rarity quickly snatching it in an attempt to rip it.

“No,” Sweetie Belle yelled, with the glow of her horn, she took the envelope from her elder sister, hiding it beside her torso, now feeling a mixture of confusion and fear.

“Rarity, you’re going crazy,” she said in a shouting yet concerned voice. She began to shake a bit, Rarity took notice and tried to calm herself.

“You need a break, you’re working yourself to the bone!”

With the state Rarity was in, you wouldn’t think she’d be able to manage tears, let alone a teardrop, but she started to sniffle, tears leaking out the side of her eyes, a continuous stream flowed down her face to the end of her chin, dripping onto her table.

“T-take it and rip it up, or burn it, I just want it gone, please…” Rarity said in a shaky voice.

Sweetie Belle began to back out of the room, not wanting to trouble her sister anymore than she already had, her ears drooped down.

“P-pinkie sent a letter too, looks like an invitation, m-maybe you should go, I don’t know what this Ms. Archambeau did, but I won’t bother you more than I have, I’m sorry,” she said, saddened by both the fact she hadn’t gotten the answers she had so desperately wanted and that she had basically gave Rarity a panic attack.

She couldn’t understand why the letter had caused such distress for her older sister, had this pony hurt her in the past? What did this pony mean to her? What was their history? She had asked her questions, but gained only more with no answers given. She made her way out of the boutique and trotted off, she sat on a bench next to town hall, her horn still grasping onto the letter. She had thought about complying to Rarity’s demands, seeing how it had affected her, but curiosity had taken over any rhyme or reason, she was still a child at heart.

She carefully tore open the letter, making sure as to not ruin the envelope, she tucked it under her flank so the wind wouldn’t take it, she took out a folded piece of paper. The paper was stamped with a weird symbol that she couldn’t recognize, some sort of bird in the middle, wings spread out as if it was about to take off, below it on each side were two roses with thorns attached, they weren’t blooming and instead, limped over, opposite to each other, above the bird were two blooming rose buds, pointing inwards at the bird’s head. Sweetie Belle examined it before unfolding the piece of paper and began to read it:

“Dear Rarity,

As I lie on my deathbed, I wish to convene with you. I have lived a life of sin and will justly rot in hell for the horrid crimes I have committed, what I had done to you cannot be forgiven and mere words cannot accurately derive the meaning I am conveying. I would like to see you for what will probably be the last time and I would also inquire with you to bring my daughter so I may look upon the woman you had raised in solitude. We need closure, if not for me, then for the child you were burdened with. I truly did love you, even with the mistakes I have led. You remember the location of the manor from my last correspondence I hope, if you wish not to see me off, I would understand.

Sincerely yours,

G. Archambeau”

Sweetie Belle’s mouth dropped, surprised at what she had read, if she had read correctly, Rarity had a secret child, hidden from her. More questions rattled her brain, when did this happen? Was she married at one point? How old was the filly? What manor?
New questions rose, but she couldn’t go to her sister for answers, not at the moment, not after what had happened, she still worried, but the quest for longing had grown greater than before. She needed help, she could only turn to those she trusted, her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders, Sweetie Belle shoved the took the envelope and shoved the paper sloppily back in as she barreled towards Sweet Apple Acres, it had gotten late and she hoped Apple Bloom would still be up, if not, she would wait in the old treehouse for her. She slowed her pace once she had partially reached the front door to Apple’s home, out of breath, breathing heavily as her hooves clamped on the stairs, she began banging violently on the door, a light switched on the inside as the door opened gently, causing Sweetie Belle to cease her hoof mashing. An older mare, nearly the same age as Rarity popped her head out and stared with a tiresome expression, her coat was light orange, her mane was almost as yellow as Apple Bloom’s coat, and her tired eyes were a green that felt like it could’ve deposit light if they were not so weary.

“Sugar cube, it’s late,” the mare had started, fighting the urge to sleep right there on the spot, “what brought y’all down here at this time of-”

“There’s no time to explain right now,” Sweetie Belle had interrupted, with an excitable shout, “is Apple Bloom awake?”

“No, she fast asleep, but I can help if-”

“No need, I will just wait in the treehouse till morning, will you tell her I’m here when she wakes up?” The unicorn had asked in a duty bound and quick pace.

“I reckon I could but-”

“Okay thanks, goodnight!” Sweetie Belle interrupted for the last time as she made a beeline to the treehouse.
The orange mare had blinked twice before quietly closing the door, flicking the lights back off as she made her way back to bed. Sweetie Belle had climbed up the ladder and opened the hatch, allowing herself entry in the treehouse, little had changed, the same lay out from when she was younger, only more withered with a slight dust collection in a few spaces, their old sleeping bags laid on the ground of the treehouse, she took two and wrapped herself with them, using the third as a makeshift pillow and she dozed off into the night.

A faint wind, voices that could not be heard, unrecognizable faces, anger, red.
Sweetie Belle’s eyes had opened, a shimmer of light barely broke into the treehouse, it was a cloudy day, maybe rain later on, a sweet smell caught her nose, the scent stayed with her until she followed it, she sat up and turned her head to the right, seeing a fresh plate of apple fritters and Apple Bloom, devouring her own plateful. Apple Bloom snapped her head back to look at the pale unicorn with her cheeks puffed up from her stuffing herself silly. She roughly swallowed and began to speak with a questioning tone.

“Just what in the hay is goin on,” she said, “Applejack told me y’all were tryna buck fer apples the way y’all banging on the door, what gives?”

Sweetie Belle had started stuffing her face with the delicious treat, mimicking Apple Bloom in the process. She gulped it down and spoke thunderously.

“Rarity has a secret child!” She squealed, excitement and uncertainty bounced around her noggin.
Apple Bloom took a moment to process the accusation Sweetie Belle had made, puzzled and astonished at the very thought.

“But how do y’all know?” She asked.

Sweetie Belle’s horn lit as she whipped the letter out from under the makeshift pillow and unraveled it, and floated it over Apple Bloom’s face so she could read it for herself. Her eyes glided over the parchment, curiosity and concern growing with every second, guesses to what the letter entailed stewed in the yellow pony’s mind as she looked back at her friend.

“I think she was married at some point, but divorced afterwards,” Sweetie Belle stated, froffing at the mouth with intrigue as she now folded the paper neatly.

“How did she react when y’all showed her the letter?” Apple Bloom asked, curiosity at its peak.

“She flipped out, saying “burn it like the rest”, the unicorn said, bolstering a bewildered look as she failed her forehooves about, imitating her older sister.

Apple Bloom rubbed her chin in thought, as to wipe away any crumbs from her tasty meal, she had, like mostly everypony else had, known Rarity for her dramatic outburst, but the way Sweetie Belle had put it, there might be more to this story than what either of them had initially thought. She put her hoof down and tilted her head towards the parchment beside them, taking in the crest that was engraved on it, an odd symbol she had never seen before; it was foreign to both fillies but had a sense of seminal importance.

“”y’all figure she eloped with a rich stallion when she was younger?” Apple Bloom had questioned.

“That there symbol, I don’t recall ever laying eyes on it before today, maybe it’s some form of royalty, like a lesser known family,” Apple Bloom said, eyes glued on it with intent.

“That had crossed my mind when I first saw it, Rarity was also croning with the more well endowed of society, but I still don’t understand why she hid this,” Sweetie Belle said, questions screaming louder in her head as she took a forehoof and rubbed on her temple.

“Maybe cuz she was embarrassed,” Apple Bloom said with a more “Aha” attitude as if she was slowly putting the pieces together in her head.

“It said he hurt her, maybe he cheated on her while she was pregnant, and she may just be overreacting just a tiny bit,” Sweetie Belle added to Apple Bloom’s notion.

“She was working on a dress for days, with little to no remnants of sleep, could’ve been a driving factor to her more than unusual outburst!” Sweetie Belle continued, as if she had a eureka moment.

“So are we gonna find her, yer niece I mean?” Apple Bloom asked, ready for a new adventure with her friends.

The farm life had been slow recently, harvest wouldn’t be for several months, and she was aching to really stretch her legs to what possibly could lead outside Ponyville. They both stood up with a determined look etched on their faces. They took off into town to look for their third member, and set off to the unknown as Sweetie Belle’s search for a family leads her to a path that is beyond herself.