>After a while, the water starts to boil over the the stove
>You drop the pasta strands into the boiling water and watch them soften
>Your sister is in her room, playing with her video games while you cook
>You are really happy that todays incident didn't blow up as bad as you thought it would
>Still, you are pretty upset that you even tried to do that to your sister
>And the fact that she is gonna be sleeping over a friends house for a couple of days is a reminder
>She said that she would come and hang out with you for a little each day
>You gotta control your urges
>Maybe it's time you look for a nice colt-friend...
>It shouldn't be long before the pasta is ready to be served
>You use your magic to cut up some fresh tomatoes and other assorted veggies from the garden
>You mix them into the tomato sauce in heat it up on the stove
>You take the pasta off the stove and use a strainer to separate the water from spaghetti
>Carefully, you mix the pasta into the tomato sauce,
>You take the cheese out of the fridge and slice it up and place it on top of the pasta
>As you watch the cheese melt you call Amber
"Amber! Dinner is ready!"
>"Give me a second! Let me finish this round"
"Okay"
>You take out some ice tea mix from the cupboard and grab couple of cups
>You make some sweet, ice tea while waiting for your sister to finish her game
>You set the cups down on the table and take a seat
>After five minutes, you hear your sister come out of her room
>"Wow! Smells good"
>You could tell she's trying to get past it
>But you know that she is still thinking about it
>She takes a seat across from you
"Well, dig in"
>She closes her eyes and put her front hooves on the table
>"Bless us Oh Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive, from thy bounty, through Celestia, Our Lord. Amen."
>She opens her eyes and stares at the food in front of her
>"Looks good Maple"
>She then starts to eat
>The pasta is a little to al dente for your likings, but it's still pretty good
>The vegetable tomato sauce is really tasty as well
>It's probably because of those spices you found in the cabinets
>After some time has passed of just eating you decide to start up a conversation
"So Amber...How do your stitches feel?"
>"Oh you mean my wound? It's a little sore, but besides that I'm fine"
"What happened anyway?
>She takes a deep breath in
>She looks up to your face
>Her face is visibly annoyed
>"Do you really wanna talk about this now Maple?"
>You take a gulp in
"Sorry..."
>It's still obviously a sore subject
>With reason, two of her soldiers died
>She shakes her head
>"No, no. I'm sorry. It was a reasonable question"
"You don't have to talk about it. I'm fine"
>"No, I wanna talk about it...I needed to talk to some on anyway"
>"I was given orders to go check out a disturbance. They told me it was possible smugglers. They told me they were seen with deadly weapons. So me and my squad went to check it out. We were halfway to the checkpoint where they were seen and then we were attacked. I was at the head of the group so I was shot first. I must've passed out because after that, I don't remember a thing. I just woke up in a hospital bed with stitches in my side. Then the next morning my superiors came in...They gave me the news, of the injuries. I was a lucky one. My buddy was able to protect me from the smugglers, but by the time they took them down 6 ponies were hurt. 4 of them were able to recover, but the other two were gone before the medics arrived. Celestia came to praise me for me and my squads bravery, but in reality, I didn't do anything. I wasn't alert. I wasn't on my hooves. Because of that 2 great ponies died and 4 others were hurt. I couldn't deal thought of going back out there. I asked Celestia if I could go on a temporary leave, and she allowed it. So now, I'm gonna find a part time job to help with the bills. Tomorrow, I'm meeting with the wounded ponies and I'm gonna talk to the Shining Armor to give my full report of the situation from my point of view. Then I'm gonna speak with the families of the fallen"
"Man, that's a lot Amber...Are you okay?"
>"Well, I'm doing better each day. But I still feel guilty. They were killed under MY command. This wasn't the first time some of my ponies were actually killed. I usually go in for extractions and border patrol. We didn't expect any of this. But this time was different and I can't help but think that I could've taken a different route or something. I don't know. But that's basically it"
"Amber, if you ever need to talk, I'm always here. I'll listen to whatever you have to say."
>"Thanks, Maple...I might take you up on that in the future..."
>You both finish your meals in silence
>After cleaning you see your sister walk to the living room
>With a duffle bag in hoof
>"Yeah, I think I'm gonna take off Maple...I'll see you tomorrow"
"Bye Amber...I love you"
>She looks back from the doorway
>"Love you too Sis...Go to bed soon, regain your thoughts...Maybe ask Twilight for some help. I'll be by for breakfast, but after I won't see you till late."
>Kind of weird how the soldier who was just hospitalized from battle wounds is telling her farmer sister to go see help
>"Is the Breaking Babs episode on demand?"
"Yeah I think so"
>"So we'll watch that tomorrow night...Oh and you might want to clean the couch. See you"
>Oh yeah...the couch
>It was tough seeing her leave
>You know that it would be good to not be around her as much, just to let the dust settle
>But you did like how she was being so mature about it
>After the door closes you look to the couch
>You grab a scrub brush and some some soapy water
>Then you get to scrubbing
>After 10 minutes of hard scrubbing the stain is barely noticeable
>But it's still there
>Just faded away
>You try to dry the location with a towel
>After the deed was done you turn on the T.V and turn on Sports center
>"I don't know Matt, the Kings seemed to have made some pretty smart moves during the off season. And the first preseason hockey game is tomorrow at 7. It's between the Kings and the Senators, and it should be a good game Matt"
>Hockey
>At least you have that to be excited for
>After about 10 minutes you find yourself about to doze off
>You get up from the couch and walk to your room
>You wonder what Amber told Dash
>Why she was sleeping over
>They were always friends, them being adventurous Pegasi
>You walk to your bed and set your alarm clock
>You didn't expect Amber to be doing this well, so you can go to work early
>You lay down in bed and pull the covers over you
>You turn to the side to look into the night
>A bright full moon surrounded by the dark blue night sky. Thousands of stars light the sky as well.
>Quickly, you make out some constellations that you learned in grade school
>You always liked looking into the night sky
>It made you feel small knowing how big the universe is
>Countless amounts of planets and stars are out there
>And here you are, looking up at them
>You turn back over
>You smile thinking about Amber
>She's probably having a good time at Dash's house
>You bet they're playing Smash brothers or some other party game
>Well, she deserves it
>Considering what she's been going through the past couple of days
>Plus you haven't been much of a help
>You're actually the only reason she is there now and not in her room
>Your mind wanders to the events that took place earlier in the day
>You remember her sleeping on you
>You remember the feeling of her breath
>You pushing her head closer and closer
>Her cute little face inches away from your soaked mare hood
>Her exhales filling you up with pleasure
>Her soft fur nearly brushing against your pleasure spot
>ENOUGH
>Just stop Maple
>You gotta stop
>You close your eyes and hope that you can just go back in time to stop yourself
>You wish you never felt yourself that afternoon
>You wish you never dreamed about the stallion
>You wish you never pushed your sister
>But sadly, you can't change the past
>It happened
>It's over
>But you can change the future
>And that's what you would have to do
>For your sake and for your sister's sake
>You decide that you will go to Twilight's during your lunch break
>You'll have to tell that to Amber in the morning
>You try to turn your mind off and just focus on sleep
>After laying in bed for what feels like an hour, you are finally able to fall asleep
>Beautiful sleep
 
>*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEPP*
>Your alarm clock wakes you up
>Even though you love going to work, you still feel super groggy
>You get out of bed and walk to the shower
>You turn on the water and wait for it to get to the right temperature before going under the water
>It feels like your sleepiness gets washed away once you are in the shower
>You shampoo your mane and your coat
>You woke up a little early so you have time to enjoy the hot water
>You carefully take a seat on your haunches and droop your head down
>Letting the water run off your head
>Okay, you'll work till lunch break, grab and Apple from Applejack's stand and then make your way to the library to talk to Twilight
>After 10 minutes of being under the steaming hot water, you turn off the shower and dry off
>You walk out of the shower and don't see your sister around
>That's strange, she should be here by now
>She has to talk to the soldiers in an hour
>You are sure she'll be ready
>When the time comes, she always steps up
>You walk to the kitchen and make yourself some cereal
 
>After eating you clean up the dishes and empty the washer
>Without warning the front door opens up
>You look back to see Amber
>She doesn't look so good
>Her mane is a mess, she looks dirty and she seems agitated
"Hey Amber"
>"Please...Maple...Can you just make me some coffee or something?"
>The smell of alcohol reaches your nose
>Oh shit
>She's seems hungover
"Sure, just jump in the shower and breakfast will be ready"
>"Thanks"
>She walks to the bathroom
>Occasionally stopping to rub her head
>She must've gotten drunk at Dash's