**Sequel to "The Way You Love Me". I would suggest reading that first :) Hope you all enjoy this one as much as you enjoyed the first one!**
Stomping the snow from her boots, AJ made her way into the old farmhouse. Looking forward to a hot cup of coffee, she made a beeline for the kitchen, where she found her soon to be sister-in-law, Rarity, sitting at the table. She was staring blankly at the phone in her hand, as if confused as to how it came to be there.
"Uh, Rarity? Everythin' all righ' sugarcube?" she asked from the doorway.
Rarity continued staring at the phone. "Mother called. She's been invited on a Winter Moon Musical Tour with some old friends of hers, from when she was 'a star'." The last was said with a sarcastic tone AJ was unaccustomed to hearing from her elegant friend.
AJ wasn't quite sure how all this led to Rarity staring at the phone as if it held the mystery to life. "Oh. Well, that's, uh, good fer her?"
Rarity let out a decidedly unladylike snort. "It's fabulous darling, and I wish her all the best. Truly I do."
"Well what in tarnation is botherin' ya then?" AJ snapped, exasperated.
Rarity jumped a bit in her seat and finally looked up at her friend. "Oh, yes, of course. She wants Sweetie Belle to stay with me while she's touring."
AJ came full circle back to confused with this statement. "Well, sugarcube, what's there ta be upset 'bout then? Y'all kept sayin' how much ya miss the li'l lady. An' Apple Bloom will love havin' her here!"
Rarity shook her head. "I know, and I do miss her. I haven't seen her since..." she let the sentence hang unfinished in the air between them.
AJ understood. It had been nearly two months since that maniac, Opus Hardcover, had shot Big Mac and kidnapped Rarity, holding her hostage in his basement and torturing her for hours. AJ watched as Rarity absentmindedly rubbed at a spot on her neck currently hidden by the turtleneck she was wearing. In that spot, and dozens of others, there were burn scars from where the bastard had repeatedly pressed a lit cigar against her flesh.
AJ pulled out a chair and sat next to Rarity, covering her friend's perfectly manicured hand with her own calloused one. "I know, sugarcube," she said, softening her voice. "How much does she know?"
Rarity shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know how much my mother told her. Which, I suppose, is part of the reason I'm scared to have her here. Especially overnight."
She was talking about the nightmares, AJ realized. She still had them nearly every night. They'd had to put a white noise machine (AJ had never even heard of such a thing before) in Apple Bloom's room to cover Rarity's screams in the middle of the night.
Tears filled Rarity's eyes as she looked back at the phone. "What do I tell her, AJ? She's too little to have to know about that kind of evil."
AJ squeezed her hand. "Y'all tell her that someone hurt you an' sometimes ya have bad dreams about it. But that it's ok now, 'cause he can never hurt anybody ever again. And that all that matters now is that yer safe an' surrounded by people who love ya."
Rarity smiled at her through the tears. "Thank you, darling. You're right, of course. Now, to go find my fiance and try to convince him to have another little girl running around underfoot."
AJ chuckled. "Bless his heart. Big Mac ain't gonna know what ta do with himself." AJ left Rarity to break the news and returned outdoors to check on things around the farm. She was still getting used to her newest farmhand, Spurs, and wanted to see how he was doing. At least, that's what she would have told anyone who asked. If she was being completely honest with herself, she would have to admit that in reality she was making excuses to watch him work. Wandering into the barn, she found the man in question checking on the horses. Ignoring the tug of desire she felt whenever she saw him, she called out to him.
"Howdy Spurs. How's it goin'?" He turned to look at her and her heart slammed into her chest.
He smiled the cocky, one sided smile she'd grown so accustomed to. "Checkin' up on me again, Miss AJ?" He said it playfully, with no real animosity behind the statement. She'd come to appreciate that in the past few weeks, especially on the days when it seemed as though Big Mac wasn't making any progress with his therapy.
She grinned. "'Course I am. I was jus' -"
"AJ!" Turning, she saw Rarity running into the barn, eyes wild. "AJ, we need you in the house. It's Granny Smith."
**Yea, really short chapter. Just wanted to get the story up and running :)**