Ace snapped to attention as a voice said her name. Actually, it was less of a call and more of a shout as Sparity planted a hoof firmly at the cafe's small table and exclaimed, "Ace! Are you even paying attention?"

The Pegasus groggily wiped the drool from her chin as she nodded halfheartedly in responce, "Yeah... The prince lays the dragon and rescues the..."

Sparity clearly was unamused as the book soon followed her free hoof, planted gently on the table by her magic. A sigh escaped her lips, followed by a curt remark, "I swear, you get distracted by the simplest things sometimes."

The unicorn gave her friend a sideways glance as she loosely gestures to the world around them, "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."

Ace's eyes wandered down to the open book in front of her, a cup of tea off to the left and a half eaten daisy sandwich to the right. It was her's alright, but how could she tell her friend who was such an avid bookworm that she was feeling burnt out reading these romance novels non-stop for the last week.

Ace waved at the waitress and made a simple request, "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. As they walked away, Ace couldn't help but admire thier nice form, thier fantastic poise. They were obviously well trained. Sweet. However, this momentary distraction was called out by her companion.

"Really Ace? You know I could have just heated it up myself..."

Following Ace's gaze, Sparity continued her verbal assault, "I get it, heat sucks, but you really can't be horny that often."

The pegasus puts up a rather weak defense, "Hey, I can't help it if I appreciate natural beauty..."

And it was quickly shattered by a few harsh words, "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 later, "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 downright wicked in this moment, hiding behind a menu like a Oubliette master would thier screen, keeping her dice hidden until the right time to mess with her unsuspecting players. Natrually, this unnerved Aerial Ace to no end, but it was the kind of nervousness that would give way to curiousity. To sate this irittating curiosity to know what Surprise was thinking, Ace asked, "What do you propose we do?"

Lowering her screen, 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, "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."

Ace had wanted Sparity to attend one of her shows at least once. The unicorn wasn't entirely objecting to the idea, she was just too busy reading and studying to attend. Now, she wouldn't have an excuse to stop her...

The hybrid seated across from her pondered that for a minute before 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."

Oh? So thats how it was, using Dawn as a punishment for her flirtacious behavior? She would admit, that was dounright despicable to do. But the joke was on Sparity, Ace had meant to go out with him anyway, so win or lose this was hardly an issue. However, she could not back down fro this challenge and let Sparity win so easily. Where would the fun in competition be if either of them caved so soon?

"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 phoenomeaand commented, "Huh... It didn't do that when Dawn did it..."

Ace snorted, "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 evening, Ace wandered through the streets of ponyville, trying to come up with ways of avoiding hot mares she would no doubt want to ogle. Each step was followed by a growing desire, no a need to take her gaze from the ground and at the world around her. Its not that she was ignoring everypony, she was just trying to avoid the possibility of slipping up and throwing out any form of compliment that could ruin the challenge.

By this time she had long regretted not getting into the nitty gritty when it came to the terms of this arrangement. Sparity was fairly straight forward, no reading romance novels. But her? What consititutes as flirting? Is it any compliment towards another mare? A passing joke? She has many regrets and they were showing all over her features.

Thankfully for her, a familiar face popped into her life suddenly for the second time today. LJ ran into her, quite literally, knocking Ace to the ground. The hybrid earth pony grinned as she offered her a hoof, "Oh! Sorry, Ace, I am in a bit of a hurry. A monster has been spotted and I have been tracking it for the past few hours."

The mare cocked an eyebrow at her friend as she proceeded to follow along, "Hours? How come none of us were told about it?"

LJ responded in kind, tearing off through the streets and Ace flew to catch up with her, "Must not be strong enough to set off the alarm... Still, can't be too sure, right?"

Ace nodded in understanding, "I get ya... Hey, why don't I tag along. Two set sof eyes are better than one, and I have the skies."

With a small nod, LJ stated, "It was black and red, about the size of a foal. Moves pretty fast."

The pegasus nodded once more and put her goggles on, wings flapping hard as she took to the skies above ponyville. Her heart soared in this moment, realizing there was not a chance she would be flirting with anyone if she was busy taking on dark creatures. Even the small ones can be a nice distraction for a bit. Surely Sparity can't hold out for an hour or two without her precious book fort?

Eyes narrowing at the busy city streets below, she trained her vision to look for anything that fit the description LJ had given to her. Despite how basic it was, it was all she needed to catch sight of thier prey. Black and red was not exactly a combination seen in ponyville that often, much less darting around town this quickly. But... Something was amiss. She didn't see just one of these things running around, she saw no less then ten of them all around town And that was just from her vantage point. Who knows how many of them could be down there.

She was about to fly down to alert LJ, who was currently engaging one of them, but something else gave her a shock. These things were retreating from Ponyville and hearding in down the road to Sweet Apple Acres. No matter what the reason was for this, a huge concentration of what she suspected as C-class threats was not a good thing, especially since the wards meant to keep the city streets free from these sort of things only didn't extend to the apple orchard.

With an ugency not seen anywhere else, Ace flew down to LJ and warned her, "There are more of them. The Orchard is in danger..."

LJ gasped as she ran her sword through an offending monster, dissipating its dark form, "Shit... That's too far away."

Ace smirked and offered her a hoof, "On foot it is, but the air is clear today... Come on, let these wings of mine get you home."

LJ smiled and took her hoof, allowing Ace's magic to flow into her. A beautiful pair of blue wings sprouted form her back, stretching out to full lentgh as she prepares for take off. They dont use this mobility junction very often, but by the nature of Junctioning these movements felt like second nature to her. One minute of flight was all they would need with Ace's speed.

Touching down just outside Sweet Apple Acres, they saw a sight that shook LJ to her core. Those shadowy creatures were combining, adding dark mass together until they coalesced into a towering monstrocity. Gone were whispy limbs and feral eyes. It was staring at them with very deliberate, murderous intent... It had evolved together, easily becoming a B+ class threat. If those things didn't trip any alarms back home, this one certainly would!

LJ's breathing picked up, her anger rising as she sees what appears to be the fallen form of her mother a little ways away. Did she try fighting this thing as it was forming!? She wanted to run in, to fight, but she had to think about this harder. It was obvious by Applejack's posture that she was purposefully set up to be seen. To make them rush in...

No, this situation needed a little more tact then that. LJ pointed her sword in the direction of the dark beast and stated firmly, "You are mine..."

Ace nodded and took up a racing position as LJ took on an aggressive posture. There was a tense standoff for a good ten seconds, wordless intent exchanged before the three clashed. However, as LJ blocked the beast's ferocoius claws, Ace raced underneath the two and scooped Applejack off the ground to get her away from the action.

LJ smirked wickedly as she taunted the beast, "Nice try... Now it's just us."

The creature roard at the sword wielding earthpony, covering her face with spit and globs of what she could only describe as condenced darkness. It was foul, not only in stench, but also how it felt upon her fur. She made a mental note to shower later... And to chastise Dawn for conceding to Sin's request to keep the farm free of magical influences. This place really should be better protected! This is the third time Sweet Apple Acres has been attacked in the last two years, it was getting tiring.

Speaking of tiring, junctioning always had a way of sapping the energy out of LJ and just coming off the heels of a high speed mobility junction she was quickly waning in power. As her knees started to buckle under the weight of the beast that was trying to crush her, Ace flew in to strike it from the side. It's harmony bar appeared, confirming its status as a B+ threat.

LJ withdrew from the action and stretched her arms, trying to get the feeling back in them, "I was kind of hoping it would have been a C+... But a monster that size just couldn't have been anything less then a B."

"I think we were both hoping it was a C. Think you can handle a second Junction?"

The earth pony sighed, cracking her neck to the side as the beast watched them intently, looking at them with inquisitive eyes. It was sizing them up just as they were them. Using this moment's repreave, LJ was able to weigh her options and stated, "Maybe...At most, I can hold on for thirty seconds."

Regardless whether her body can handle another one was irrelevant. If it gets too dark around here, even more monsters will flock to this thing and make it even stronger.

Taking Ace's hoof, LJ took her in once more. Her breathing was labored as her energy drained even faster than it did last time. There was a reason why Junctions were normally saved for last resorts... As nice as these can be casually, they don't end well for anyone involved as LJ begins to faulter.

Raising her newly sharpened edge at the beast again, she resolutely stated, "Thirty seconds is plenty of time!"

Not wasting any time, LJ rushed forward and began her assault, throwing everything she had into her swings. Ace backed her up, putting more and more of herself into this fight. Power, they needed more power as blade clashed with toughened claws and thick hide.

Twenty five seconds...

LJ leapt up into the air and swung down mightily. Long streaks of magic and metal swirled in a rolling cut. This attack was followed by two horizontal slashes.

Twenty seconds...

The beast clawed at LJ, grazing her flesh as they continued thier exchange.

Fifteen seconds...

As thier strentgh waned even further and the beast showing no signs of slowing down, they made peace with the idea that this battle may be a lost one. Surely the others would be coming with such a spike in power happening right here?

Ten seconds...

With little other options, they chose to gamble everything on one last attack. They bet thier lives on this battle, as they do every time they engage the forces of darkness. The cards were in the table and Ace's were wild.

Ace held nothing back, and neither would LJ. They drew thier blade back in a circular motion until it was nearly behind her and then rushing forward at blinding speed, "ZANTET-"

That was it. That was as far as thier battle cry went as the beast caught thier blade arm mid attack. They were... To weak to follow through?

The beast roared once more and slammed the junctioned duo into the ground. Once, twice, thrice... They were beatened, but that was not all. As they were pinned to the ground, the beast tugged on LJ's arms, spreading them apart as they hungrily licked thier face.

LJ strained hard against the grip of her captor, teeth wired shut as she tries to hold onto her form. They only had a few second left in this Junction. Only a few seconds to turn the tides... That was when it happened, their junction ended, prompting LJ and Ace to be split apart in the beasts grasp.

Relief washed over the two of them as they bashed the beast on the nose. It was enough to make it flinch, its grip loosening enough for LJ to drag the two of them away. They did not get that far, but they didn't need to. As the beast prepared to attack them again while they were down, a surprise visitor joined the battle.

LJ exclaimed in shock and awe, "Master Kensai!"

Ace was likewise stunned... Wasn't that Lj's teacher? What was he doing here? Her question was quickly answered as he tossed the two of them healing potions, "Take these... Your mother called for me. She was greatly distressed."

Distressed was right. She got her ass handed to her by a beast and her daughter and her friend went to face it by themselves. They needed help, and it arrived just in time.

LJ drank her potion, and was the first to stand, "Thanks..."

Kensai nodded and turned his attention to the monster before them, "So what is the situation, my pupil?"

Ace drank her potion and sat back, letting LJ handle this while she caught her breath.

"This beast is made out of multiple monsters. We got half way through it's harmony bar before it brought us down... Its smart, fast, and deadly."

He seemed to ponder her words for a moment before addressing Ace behind them, "Can you fight?"

She shook her head. Despite having been given a healing potion, the two of them were far from fighting shape. Even LJ was barely able to stand, much less hold her sword up. The best they could do is slow this thing down, wait for the others to arrive. A beast this strong must be harmonized, lest it come back.

It was after that thought however that Kensai asked another question that shocked both of them, "You mother said you had the power to Junction, LJ? To use the power of another as your own? Can you do it with me?"

LJ gasped, "What!?"

Her master elaborated, "I want to know if you can Junction with someone whom is not your friend. I am well aware the job falls to you to protect this town, and as it stands you are too weak to do this on your own. So... Take my power, show me what you can do with the power of a Saint. It will be good knowledge for the both of us."

The beast roared, seeming to understand what they were planning on doing. It wasn't going to let them get away with powering up again. However, LJ's mind was made up rather quickly. She reached out and took her master's hoof. A third junction, something no one had possibly imagined her doing anytime soon, and yet here it was.

In an explosion of power a new form was revealed. Her previous battledress that normally was shown when LJ and Ace junctioned was changed out from cloth to wood, her crystal-wood blade taking on an even more sharper edge, bound by wood and stone. And those eyes... The power behind them stunned both pony and beast, but that was not all. The true might of master and student was revealed as LJ drew her blade, "Three seconds..."

Standing beside the terrifying and awe inducing visage of her friend was an etheral double. A copy of her that mirrored her every movement. A simulacrum whose very presense shook the ground around it. One second ticked by... LJ and her double danced around the beast at blinding speeds. Two seconds passed... She appeared before the beast once more, wiping off her blade. The final second... The beast roared its last as LJ sheathed her blade, causing a good seven hundred square feet of terrain to be sliced asunder by thier powerful judgement.

LJ an dher master split, just in time for the beast to fall to pieces and dissipate. Harmony had been achieved, but at what cost?

Almost immediately, LJ spurt up blood, falling to her knees as her body finally gave out. She had been tired before... unconcious even after a junction, but this. The strain three junctions put on her body was simply too immense. All that magic, all that power. It destroyed her.

Ace scrambled to help keep he friend standing, not even caring about the blood pooling on her shoulder, "Fuck... FUCK! LJ, hang in there. I am here... Don't worry my sweet little apple, I am here..."

Kensai frowned, kneelting down to allow Ace to place her on his back, "Come... We must get her back to the castle. We can treat her there..."

At the time, it didnt even register to Ace that in that desperate moment she might lose the bet. Her concern for her close friend superceeded everything else.

Ace gently placed LJ on her master's back and brushed her mane back, "We're going to get you help. Just stay awake."

There was no response from LJ...

Author's Note

"Because I love you... I would give you my everything, if only to see you smile again. That's a pinkie promise." -Aerial Ace, Lost future paralogue 1: Disarmed at dusk

The worst part about having a limit is not finding it. It is when you see how badly it breaks you when you push past it...

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