//------------------------------// // ...then there's story... // Story: Sides of the Same Coin // by Ventan //------------------------------// After the crying incident, the three ponies decided to go inside the tree house and dry up. Xam did it quickly; only shaking himself dry. Then, he sat at a corner, curled up and slept due to shock and depression. Aurora and Scootaloo sat in the middle, silently talking amongst themselves. “What’s going on,” Scootaloo asked, “Does this normally happen?” “No,” Aurora answered, “This never happened before.” She, then, lowered her head and mumbled to herself. “ Then again…” Aurora stayed quiet and stared at Xam, who is sleeping peacefully in the corner after a freak out. Scootaloo looked back and forth between Aurora and Xam and felt a little nudge in her mind. She shook the feeling, hoping that nothing would happen. It’s not like she likes him or anything… right? She forces herself to sleep, trying to perish the thought. Aurora became concern of Xam. “What’s going on, Xam,” Aurora wondered, “What happened to you?” She nudge to Scootaloo, who almost slept, but couldn’t at the same time. She leaned close to Scoot’s ear and whispered, “Let’s keep him company. He looks lonely.” Scootaloo’s face turned red in the darkness. She want’s to be next to Xam, but she doesn’t want to because she’s embarrassed to do so. “Get yourself together Scoots,” she told herself, “It’s just an invitation to sleep next to …to…” Scootaloo turned not just red, but crimson red due to the thought. Luckily, it was still nighttime so Aurora couldn’t see her blush. She finally managed to finally say, “S, sure. L, let’s go.” The two fillies slowly got up and quietly walked to Xam, who by now is in deep sleep. Aurora settled herself on Xam’s left, while Scootaloo was having difficulty setting herself next to Xam, mainly because she doesn’t know how. After a while, she finally found a comfortable spot and lay down. To her surprise, Xam was really warm despite the fact that he’s the one that jumped out in the rain and dried by shaking. Scootaloo pushed herself closer to Xam to a point of contact. Fur on fur contact was a little embarrassing, but she told herself that she could take it. Scootaloo decided to take a step further. She rested her head on Xam. His warmth slowly enveloped her. His fur was soft, like a pillow. A warm, soft, pillow. Before she knew it she fell asleep, resting on the pony she might like. ------Mourning----- Xam slowly woke up, not moving because he felt two presences on his sides and a little something on his right hoof. He turned to his left and sees Aurora next to him. He wondered why, but decided to drop it. “Knowing Aurora,” he thought, ”she probably just wanted to keep me company.” He turned to Scootaloo and almost jumped, but the only thing not letting him jump was the fact that her head rests on his shoulders and the fact that Scootaloo had the courage to lace her hoof around his. He tries to nudge away, but in return, she puled his hoof closer to her. Now his hoof is in a cage of a ticking time bomb of potential embarrassment. Xam slowly count the time she would wake. Sadly, Aurora woke first. Xam quickly closed his eyes and fake sleep, hoping she didn’t noticed that he’s awake. Why he did that, he doesn’t know. Aurora woke up slowly and wondered where she is. It took a few seconds for her mind to click together. She looked to her right. Xam was there, asleep (so she thought). Aurora was still sleepy, so she doesn’t know her actions. “Xam looks cute sleeping,” she thought, “I wonder if…” She leaned to his ear and whispered “Thanks for the meal.” Then, she proceeded to nibble the soft, little ear. It took all the courage Xam can muster to not jump and scream. Instead, he bit his tongue to control himself. “What in Equesrtia is this filly doing!?!?,” Xam thought, “What’s going on!?” Aurora, then, stopped her nibbling and blew on his ear. “aaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!” Xam mentally screamed. He is on the verge of running from Aurora. Thankfully, Scootaloo woke up. “Wait a moment,” Xam thought for a moment and then realized, “OH CELE-“ Before Xam could finish his thought, Scootaloo screamed in shock. “H, his hoof’s between mine,” she quickly thought, “ It’s like we’re… we’re…” Scootaloo blushed and punched Xam across the room. Xam flew and crashed to the wall, head to the floor. Out of sheer pain and confusion, he opened his eyes and sees the two fillies…well, upside down. Scootaloo was blushing and covering her cheeks. Cute. He looked at Aurora, and he now knows: all pony hell broke lose. Xam knew Aurora better then most ponies, and when Aurora has the sleepy look on her face, she’s not her. She has become the complete opposite of who she normally is. “Xa~m,” Aurora wined, “I want fo~od.” She walked to Xam, unaware of the confused and shocking look that Scootaloo was giving. “Xa~m,” Aurora said again and leaned down to Xam, “Give me fo~od.” Aurora leaned so close she can almost kiss Xam. Luckily for Xam, Scootaloo came out of nowhere and pushed Aurora away. Xam looked at Scootaloo and she is still blushing, if not, even redder. “A, aurora,” Scootaloo managed to say, “w, w, what’re you doing?!” The push fully woke Aurora. She got up and looked around: Xam upside down and Scootaloo blushing so hard she might pop a vain. “Mournin’,” was all she said as if she just woke up. The two little ponies looked at each other, awkwardly as already is, and looked back at Aurora, who is smiling like nothing happened or nothing looks out of place. “Uh,” the two ponies said in unison, “Mourning.” After a long talk about the recent activity with some minor yelling and criticism from Scootaloo, she decided to get to the point. “So, uh, Xam was it?” she started, “What happened yesterday?” Xam’s face dropped to dark. Scootaloo almost regretted asking, but she wanted to know what happened. What happened yesterday was something Xam doesn’t want to remember. But he also doesn’t want to leave Scootaloo out of it. He looked at Aurora for a response. After all, she knows those two since birth. Aurora gave the approval. Xam nodded and looked at the confused Scootaloo. “What I’m about to tell you,” Xam started, “Must never be known to anyone outside of this tree house. Can you do that?” Scootaloo straitened herself and raised her right hoof and swore on the CMC club. Xam looked at Aurora one more time, wondering if Xam and Aurora might regret the decision. She looked back at Xam and reassured him with a smile. Xam returned the smile and nodded. He looked back at Scootaloo. She’s really determined to keep the secret by the looks of her eyes. Xam sigh and spoke, “I might have to start from the beginning…”