In a quant little cafe in ponyville, Sparity was in the middle of explaining the minutiae of one of the most recent escapades into the realm of literature when she looked up form her book to see a starting sight. The mare that had invited her to the cafe, the one who wanted so much to spend time with her and discuss thier favorite piece of literature was seated there accross from her, face buried in her book and slobbeirng all over the delicate pages.

Her anger rising, the hybrid exclaimed in exasperation, "Ace? Are you even paying attention?"

As her reading companion snapped to attention Sparity's frustration faultered for only a moment. Ace looked somewhat cute, trying to make herself look somewhat presentable as she excused her lazy behavior, fiegning a proper response, "Yeah... The prince lays the dragon and rescues the..."

The unicorn let out a hefty sigh as she placed her book down on the table, "I swear, you get distracted by the simplest things sometimes."

Poking fun at her friend for her lazy attitude and her pervy nature, she cast a glance around them followed shortly by a small gesture, "What was it this time, the waitress behind us? That gryphon teaching yoga accross the street? When you invited me here to talk about books, I kind of expected you to pay attention to the book in front of you."

At this point Ace had fully regained her awareness and was assessing her surroundings herself. The synapses in her brain realigning as she remembered what she was even doing here to begin with. Sparity was reading her like a book, and it didn't even take a genius to do so.

Noticing... Something, Ace waved down a waitress and asked, "Hey. Do you think you can refill our drinks? Our tea has gotten rather cold."

With a nod and a smile, the earthpony placed thier cups on a tray and carried them off. Sparity watched as Ace's gaze followed the mare, a scowl forming on her face the more she thought about what had just transpired.

She stated through a snarl, "Really Ace? You know I could have just heated it up myself."

In truth, she couldn't tell which was worse in this moment, the uncomfortable burning heat between her legs, or the fire threatening to burst forth from her maw. Ear's flicking in annoyance, the mare continued her verbal assault, "I get it, heat sucks, but you really can't be horny that often..."

Ace smirked briefly, but it quickly faded as she retorted, "Hey, I can't help it if I appreciate natural beauty..."

Not putting up with it any longer, the hybrid snapped, ""Then why aren't you distracted by me? By Twilight's left flank... I bet you can't even go a day without fantasizing about another mare."

Aerial Ace skipped right past the first comment and had her full attention set on the latter, "That is uncalled for!"

"Its the honest truth~"

The pegasus planted both her hooves on the table and leaned over it, giving the unicorn a menacing gaze, "I totally can go a day without fantasizing about a mare... I bet- I bet you can't go a day without reading one of your romance novels."

A sharp gasp was heard, but it did not come from Sparity. No, it came from a normally peppy white pegasus who happened to conveniently be walking this was this lovely morning. She looks at her friends and waves, "Hey you two! What you fighting over today?"

That shut them up something fierce. One opened thier mouth. Nothing came out. This was followed shortly by the other. To fill that silence, Super Surprise sat down at the table between both of them and stated, "You know, you could always settle this like grown mares. Put your bits where your mouth is."

Surprise looked cheerful as she gazed at the menu in front of her. It was an odd thing to see her doing however, looking so intently at each item on the menu as if she could hardly decide what she wants. A mare like her only really ever does this when something is really on her mind, as she tends to plan things out days, even weeks in advance. Sparity was puzzled, but as she shifted in her seat again a painful reminder of what bothering her bound her tongue. As such, Ace was the first to respond to Surprise's statments, "What do you propose we do?"

Lowering her menu, Surprise stated in her usual sing-song tone, "Pinkie promise this shit~ That way, your bets are binding and you know exactly who wins and loses."

Sparity raised an eyebrow at that, very much perplexed by this idea, "Isn't there rules against using those things so... Liberally?"

The pegasus shrugged softly and leaned back in her chair a bit further than what should have been allowed by most laws of nature and remained firmly in her seat, "I don't see any problem with it. I practically do a new one every week anyway, so..."

That said, Ace and Sparity locked eyes with eachother and nearly asked the same question, "What are the stakes?"

Ace was the first to speak, "No reading any romance novels. Fail and you go to my next stunt show. Don't worry though, I won't ask you to pay."

Sparity contemplated that request for a moment, mulling it over for herself. It was true that Ace wanted her to come to one of her performances before, but she didn't know she wanted her to see it that bad. Whether she won or not, if Ace was that certain of it she might as well go anyway. But! She had no intention of losing so easily...

Having thought about it, Sparity nodded, "Fine, but you have to go without flirting with another mare. And if I win you have to go out on a date with Dawn."

It was... Not actually what she wanted to say, but in the heat of the moment she blurted out the first thing that came to mind, what she was thinking of doing at the time. It just so happened to get mixed in with the current situation. It was embarssing, but having said that already there was no backing down. They were playing to win after all, so the stakes did need to be high, at least to the anyway...

"Deal..."

Together they did the binding gesture, much to Surprise's delight, "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

The ancient magics anticlimatically swirled around briefly before leaving them back in thier seats, completely unfased.

Sparity hummed softly, only briefly taking note of the strange phoenomea and commented, "Huh... It didn't do that when Dawn did it..."

Ace snorted, gesturing towards thier friend, "Its probably because Surprise is here..."

Said Pegasus was nowhere to be seen once the two looked her way, Ace's hoof lingering in the air in shock as they looked around for thier missing friend. Ever the enigma, she was gone as quickly as she had arrived. By this point, they were somewhat used to thier weirdness, but the way she completely vanished without a trace this time was a bit more unusual than her usual brand of bizarre.

Turning back to Ace, Sparity asks, "I guess... We are starting now?"

The bewildered pegasus nodded, "Yeah... We should probably get going. Usually when she dissapears its because either there is a part going on, or something crazy will happen soon."

They shared a quick nod of understanding before standing up to go thier separate ways and split the check. Moments later, after they had already left the diner behind, the cute waitress returns with thier refreshments all warmed up and ready to drink. With a sigh, the mare collected thier pay and returned to the kicthen, wondering where thier life went wrong.

Later that day, Sparity had retreated to the confines of Alternate Dawn's library. Not to indulge her burning desire for romance novels, nor to sate the burning desire between her legs, but to pour all her attention to studying for school. As boring as this task was, it did well at getting her mind off of... Things... It was a step down from romance novels, but it would suffice.

-Thump-

She had gone through literature a little while ago, thankfully it was one of the few courses she found she was actually good at. Math came next, and she found it to be... Tricky at times, but she managed thanks to a few tutoring lessons from Dawn.

-Thump-

Chemistry, biology? Now that was where it really took a turn. If it werent for Dawn lending his support as often as he did she might not have passed her last quarter. He was always there for her, and was willing to dumb it down a bit for her to understand. He even set aside space in his own home so she could study in peace.

-Thump-

Thinking back, she really did regret betting Dawn's love life in such a silly bet. If only he were more confident... Could just see how much his friends all like him. How she liked him. She would never admit it, but she really did. Stupid Dawn, stupid Ace, stupid heat, stupid-

"Sparity?"

Her attention broke mere moments before her dragon tail slapped on the ground again, disturbing books and papers from thier gentle resting place all around Dawn's private study. Dawn was standing there, smiling softly as he held up another book in his magical grasp, "Are you alright? You seem... Distracted."

The dragon shook her head, shaking the loose thoughts from her head as she turned her head his way, "Sorry, did I bother you? I am just... Thinking."

Dawn let out a soft sigh and set the book down in her pile of thing sto look over and stated rather bluntly, "You are thinking awfully hard. I think you should take a break."

A break? Again? But she had so much work to do, so many things to ignore! She wante dto protest, but when she saw the concern on his face, she relented, "But... Okay?"

Dawn offered the dragon a hoof in getting to her feet. It was a little awkward moving about for a second, as there was more books here and now than what she normally has when she goes on a novel binge. Knowing this, Dawn states softly, "The studying all day and night long is my thing. It doesn't fit you."

"You have been working really hard to keep up with your studies. I am sure you dad is really proud of your progress, but you won't do anyone any good if you burn yourself out."

She raised an eyebrow at this, "Burn myself out?"

Dawn nodded and gestured for her to follow him over to his work bench just a little ways away and away from all the delicate things she could knock over with her persistent tail wagging, "Knowing you, you could read those romance novels all day and not be bored. Thats your thing, but studying? Not really. It takes time to learn things, to commit them to memory. At the rate you have been throwing yourself into you work you are not likely to remember any of it, so... Take a break."

At that, she pondered his words. While, yes, she had been doing a lot of work as of late, but surely she can remember... Remember- The sudden revelation brought about by his words was sudden and powerful. She can't even remmeber anything she just read a few minutes ago, let along a half hour ago. Was that time wasted!?

Seeing her distress, Dawn made an attempt to calm her, "Hey, listen. The books will be there when you get back. Lets go out for a walk and give your brain a chance to catch up with what you learned..."

Her offered her a hoof, prompting her to blush hotly as a claw slowly met his grasp. Maybe a walk would be nice. Some fresh air and a little exercise to get her mind off other things? Oh who was she kidding, being this close to Dawn was driving her nuts...

In an attempt to somewhat get her burning heat under control, she forced herself back into pony form with the use fo her dragonstone. The edge had been taken off, but it was quickly coming back as she stared deeply into Dawn's eyes. Stupid sexy Dawn...

He looked so oblivious as he slowly lead her outside and back into the busy streets of ponyville. Even as the day slowly began to fade, this small kingdom was always stilla buzz with activity. Dawn took her to the market first to grab a quick bite to eat. Apple Eden was not avaiable at the apple stand that day, but her mother Sin was more than happy to give the close friends of her daughter a good deal on nice sliced fruits.

Next they met a kind basket weaver whom Dawn seemed to be friends with. It was a rare treat to see Dawn being so sociable, but being the son of the Princess of Friendship this should be a given, right? Dawn placed the fruits inside a basket he pruchased and continued on his merry way. It felt a little bit hypocritical for chastising Ace for her behavior earlier, when she was standing there ogling Dawn as he chatted with another vendor, whom he also bought something from and placed it in the basket.

Turning back to her, he waved and shouted, "Come on. We still have a few places to go!"

Smiling softly, she complied, following him from the city streets to a secluded hill in the castle gardens. It was a quiet place where the two could sit back and watch as the sun goes down. There was a picnic blanket there, and as Dawn sat down upon it and placed the basket down she learned just what he was thinking. Had this been a date all along and she not even notice it?

He smiled and gestured to a spot beside him, "I hope you don't mind, my hooves are a little tired already..."

The fucking liar... That shit eating grin said all she needed to know baout the situation. But where did all this come from? When did he possibly plan this? This had all the makings of a trap, but her burning curiousity kept her from leaving. With a huff, she put up an act, a last ditch effort of keeping some form of barrier between them as she sat down, "Very well... Would be a shame to let all this shopping go to waste, yes?"

Dawn nodded as he offered her a slice of apple, "Very much."

Taking it in her own magical grasp, she bit down on the surprisingly soft treat and marveled at the taste. Sweet apple acres... Literally can't find a better tasting apple anywhere else. Taking another one from the basket, she finally dropped a portion of her facade and called Dawn out on this sneaky ploy to get her alone, "So... Why bring me all the way up here? Got something to say?"

Dawn ate a slice for himself and shrugged, "Well, I could have brought it up back at the Library, but i felt it would be easier to chat if we had a better backdrop. I..."

He seemed to drop his own facade as well as he lowered the remaining bit of the apple he had just taken a bite out of, "It's about that heat of yours."

Of fucking course it was! If he wanted to tell her how much it bothered him. How much she stunk up his place, he could have just said so. Not drag her all around town showing off her arousal to everyone... But when she looked at him, that was not what she read on him at all. No, his expression was much more difficult to read, but going off of the tone of his voice and his overal posture, she had to guess it was not disgust fueling his bizarre actions, but concern.

"What do you mean?"

Those were the words that escaped her lips, and those were the words he hoped to hear. Sighing once more, he states, "Your father told me this is the first heat you have had since coming to Ponyville. Said it was hitting you really hard. Everyone is worried about you. I wanted to help."

She raised an eyebrow at him, head cocking to the side and asking the all important question, one she hoped wasn't going to give her an answer she both wanted and dreaded, "Help me how?"

Out from the basket came a small bottle. And inside that bottle was a light blue liquid. He seemed to be a little uncofmortable handling it, but at the same time, he handled it with as much care as he did any of his precious experiments, "I made a potion for you. One that should help you handle the heat and any other possible problems you might have. But of course, I can't make you drink it."

He made her a potion to help her beat the heat? That was actually quite thoughtful of him. But the question still hangs here, why not just give it to her back at the library?

Taking the potion and looking it over closely, the mare gives her thoughts a voice, "Why here?"

Dawn looked away, his features twisting and contorting into a myriad of expressions until it fell into uncertaintly, "I... I had hoped that by bringing you here. Setting the mood. I hope that it would... Help me be brave. Just talking about this alone is hard. But... Talking to someone I care about. One of my closest friends? It takes a lot."

For someone like him, it certainly would. Taking all this into account, she understood his intent. Looking down at the vial in his grasp, she made up her mind. She popped off the cork and drank the whole thing. It tasted disgusting, but she trusted Dawn regarding its contents. If he was bold enough to drag her all the way here and set up a... Date... This was a date, and now she feels completely silly for doubting him to begin with.

Sighing, she put her face in her hooves and aplogized, "I am... Sorry about my suspicions. I am not saying I don't trust you, I just find it hard to take... This seriously after the whole kissing incident. Which reminds me."

She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out something that shocked Dawn like nothing else. She had a gift for him too, but not one he would have expected in a million years. These cards! They were the same type of cards he made. Sme of them were of ponies he had already kissed before, some of them new, but thier quality was definitly a step up compared to the one that she had made of him some time ago. She must have had practice...

"Listen, Dawn... I appreciate all you have done for me. For us. And I know how much you like collecting these cards. So here, take these. Consider it payment for your hard work."

Dawn stared at them for a moment, silently inspecting them. Was there something wrong with them? Why wasn't he taking them? Before she could open her mouth and speak, Dawn put a hoof up and lowered the cards. He laughed, a good genuine laugh that she hadn't heard from him since the day they met. Was this amusing to him?

Her fears were alleviated however when he spoke through shortened breath, "I appreciate this Sparity, but... I don't collect these card just to have them. To me, they are more special then that. Thats why I can't accept them."

"What?"

Dawn eventually was able to catch his breath enough to explain himself, "You see... What makes these cards special to me isn't exactly owning them. Its how they were made, the bonds that they represent. When I make a card of someone, I sometimes may have ulterior motives, such as the data I got when I made your cards, but in reality, a majority of them are of people I cannot bare to lose."

She sat there in silence as he explained, completely at a loss for words, "I am not a fighter, Sparity. I am an enchanter. A support role. I can't fight on the front lines. I can't protect the people I care about most. But with these cards and with the save point, I can help them. I can heal thier wounds, cure diseases, restore lost limbs... I may not always have the best methods for obtaining these cards, but I assure you I don't do it for some hobby. It is so much more than that!"

Dawn was so... Emotional as he said this, easily the most emotional he had ever been around her. He had always seemed like the aloof type, the kind of guy who just has his quirky hobbies and stays calm even in the harshes of situations. But in this moment, she saw through the mask he had been wearing for who knows how long. He was worried, vulnerable... Never once does he ignore his friends. Never has he ever put himself before them. He listened to them. Helped them. He did all this without asking for any thanks. Those he held closest to his heart, he fought with everything he had to protect. He even put his own body on the line collecting those cards on multiple occasions because-

Oh how stupid was she to not realize this sooner. Did his mother know? Was that why Princess Twilight was covering for him so much? Could Sparity have known this too if he had just been aorund him more? She saw his cover and believed him to be a somewhat helpful pervert, but the pages just beyond spoke volumes as to his character.

This realization lit a fire in her, one that would not be ignored any longer. She always had the strangest feelings for the Prince, but now they were like a raging inferno between her legs. That potion didn't seem to work.

With her last scrap of sanity she had left, she asked him a question, one she never would have said before this day. Just once she will admit how she feels.

"May I kiss you?"

This naturally made the prince blink in surprise. He was about to say something, his mouth was open and ready to ask the obvious 'what?' but nothing came out. That face, that look he saw in Sparity's eyes. He knew where this was going, and was actually terrified. For a moment, he wondered if the potion he made backfired, but her next statement threw that out the window.

She said, "Dawn... Its okay to say no. Just know that... Heated or not. I would still want to kiss you."

Was this truly how she felt? If it was, maybe one won't hurt?

"Yes-?"

As she tackled him to the ground, lips locking with his he wondered if this was how Spike must feel when his wife gets needy...

Her tongue tasted of fresh apples, and strangly something else that Dawn couldn't really quite place. Her emerald eyes bored holes in his head as the tweo stared deeply into eachother. It wasn't until she deepened the kiss that thier gazes did faulter, eyes closing shut as they focused on other things such as the growing passion between both of thier legs.

Sparity's liquid essense dripped down onto Dawn's crotch, drop by drop building up thier intense sexual tension. There was little doubt in thier heads where this would go, but when and how exactly this encounter would release that tension was still up in the air.

The hybrid up top had a few ideas, as did the unicorn beneath, but neither of them took the next step. The continued to make out there in the garden, resting amongst the flowers on that cozy hill, only just barely touching as Dawn's magic wand made its presense known.

Well, It wasn't exactly known until Sparity practically slipped and fell on Dawn as she tried to grab his hooves as they went to touch her rear and pin them to the ground. It was awkward as hell, but Dawn just smiled and said, "I bet you are missing those claws right about now."

She snorted at him as she pressed her body up against him, this time on purpose, suffocating his cock between thier two slightly unyeidling bodies, "Quiet... I am trying to get in the mood here..."

He raised an eyebrow at her, "You sure? Then I guess that puddle under your tail is just for show..."

She blushed hotly, poking his nose with a hoof, "H-hey! Its the heat dammit... You want to fuck me, let me get good and ready!"

Angry and defenseive... Yep, Dawn was really playing with fire here and enjoying every second of it. Finally, after what was really only a minute or two, Sparity adjusted herself to allow Dawn's staff to sit nicely in between her cheeks, rubbing her soaking wet love cavern and adding fuel to her fire. As much as she wanted it inside her right now, she was not completely lost to lust just yet. Going in dry would be a stupid move, not when she had plenty of lubrication to go around.

A soft moan escaped her lips as she rubbed herself on him, all the while Dawn laid there looking a cross between surprised and overjoyed. For the longest time he craved this kind of closeness with his friends, the kind that only lovers could experince. His friends had eachother, open... Loving- And yet there he was off to the side alone for one reason or anotheer. But today he would be close to one of them, open himself up in more ways than one. Though, he wished he had the courage to ask about this on any other day...

"Dawn... I... Want to make sure. Do you really want this?"

Blink once. Blink twice. Did she seriously just ask that? Looking deeply into those green eyes, he knew only one good answer for this. He did not waste any words on such a precious moment. Instead he let his actions speak for themselves as he adjusted himself and kissed her once more. He held her tightly as she leanded back, gently allowing him entrance into her.

Her breathing hitched as he reached her burning core. She had given him a chance to back away not once, but twice. This alleviated both of thier worries as to where thier heads were at this point. No one can say they didn't want this.

She took the lead, as she had been for most of this venture, gliding up and down the lentgh of his shaft. Dawn encouraged her, whispering sweet nothings into her ear as tensions grew to new heights.

Unfortuately for them both, while her's only continued to grow, Dawn's released early, much to both thier annoyances. The guy was so pent up that by the time he realized he was even close it was already too late to mention it to her.

He chuckled nervously as the hybrid's eyes became slitted, teeth baring at him in full force, "Sorry..."

Dawn's life flashed before his eyes as Sparity began to morph into her dragon form before his very eyes. Without a proper catalyst to keep it in check like a dragonstone, he knew full well that this transformation would be destructive in more ways that one. However to his surprise, she calmed down rather quickly, even going as far as to use deep breathing excercises to do so.

It must have taken a tremendous amount of will power to hold her dragon instincts at bay and remain a unicorn. He was definitly proud of his friend, but at the same time, he remained very nervous. How would she react?

He soon had his answer as she stated, "Its ok..."

But her toothy grin did little to alleviate his fears. She gently pushed him back down onto his back and continued, "These things happen, right? Its only the first time... I just hope you can go another round, can't you?"

With little other option as this time she really did have him pinned to the soft blanket beneath them, his rod still locked tight within her deepest recesses, he nodded.

Not wanting to waste any more time with words she bent down to kiss him again, once again showing him that softness that started all of this. She was kind, starting off again slow before getting back into the swing of things. This time she paced herself, allowing him to keep up with her heightened libido. This time.. They would both reach thier climax together, like she wanted from the start.

Despite how rough she was moments ago, Dawn could tell she was really trying. Trying for him. It made him want to do better as well. He met her half away, startling her as he hit new depths not reached before. In truth, there was not much different from before, but the effort applied made all the difference for them.

Sparity was not sure when it happened, whether it was minutes or even hours after they started again, but it did. Her burning desire was quenched by thier combined fluids, horn sparking with magic as her climax was reached. If only Dawn had a means of recording it, the hybrid let out an adorable little roar her pony throat clearly was not ready to make.

He laughed between heavy breaths, "That was... Cute."

The unicorn above him scoffed, playfully bopping him on the nose before she nearly collapsed on him, "Oh shut up.."

That was a sound alerted them of trouble. That was the map's alarm, something terrible had just happened and here they were fucking up a storm.

Immediately, Dawn jumped up and regretted it. His pelvis hurt... But he had to get moving, to investigate the issue, "Owly... why didn't you tell me about this?"

The Castle A.I. responded in a very matter-of-fact tone, "Your instructions were to not disturb you while your date was happening. You are finished, are you not?"

He blushed, looking back at Sparity, "Err.. Yes?"

She smiled and waved him off, "Go, do your thing. I think I need a minute to rest anyway."

Dawn was reluctant to go, but he did. His other friend sno doubt needed him, and it sounded urgent.

As Sparity got up to gather her belongings, she picked up the discarded cards from the ground, carefully placing each one into her bag. However the last one caught her eye in particular. She smiled warmly and looked off in the direction Dawn had ran and said softly, "Bonds, huh?"

Author's Note

"Don't give up. Even if it takes you a thousand years to take a single step, I will still be walking right beside you." -Alternate Dawn, Lost Future paralogue 5: Training daze

Sometimes it is good to let go. To lose yourself in pleasure... But if you let it control you, let it rule you, you can find yourself in situations far beyond your control.

The unseen hand of fate is moving, but where does it lie? The truth will be revealed in... Lost future!