Tempest sighed, letting out a long, drawn-out breath. She knew it was the morning - the rays of the sun splaying out across the carpet of her room told her so - but she was still hopelessly tired, eyes threatening to close of their own accord unless she was to close them herself. She obeyed her urges and closed her eyes, letting out another long breath. For some reason, Twilight had managed to convince Princess Celestia to spare a guard from Canterlot and deemed it necessary to have him, in the most literal sense, guard her. The rapping of hooves was audible against the hard surface of the wooden doors of her bedroom. She sighed again.
"Come in," she said, almost sounding breathless.
The face of her newly appointed guard peeked through the door, eyeing her with concern.
"Miss Shadow," the guard said, "is everything alright?"
"Yes, yes," she replied, trying not to sound too tired "everything's alright."
The guard nodded.
While she was grateful for Twilight's efforts at trying to make her feel comfortable, she did go slightly overboard. Not that she was ungrateful or anything, of course, however in the (highly unlikely) event of her being attacked, she was surely capable of defending herself. Then again, she did appreciate the extent that her friend went just to make her comfortable.
"Friend," she thought to herself, "I... I quite like that..."
The rapping of hooves was once again heard and she had to keep herself from letting out a groan of frustration.
"Come in," she said for the second time
To her surprise, however, it wasn't the guard that poked their head through, it was instead Twilight Sparkle herself. She found herself smiling at the arrival of her friend.
"Twilight!" she exclaimed, no longer appearing tired "I'm glad to see you!"
If Tempest hadn't had known better, she could have sworn she saw her muzzle tinge a slight red colour. Twilight returned the smile. The burgundy mare flattened her ears against her head in embarrassment.
"I, uh..." she hesitated for a moment "I missed you."
Twilight's smile seemed to widen even more and she let out a small squeak.
"Awww~!" she exclaimed, "I missed you too, Fizz!"
Tempest winced slightly at the mention of her real name. Her reaction seemed to show, as Twilight tilted her head in confusion.
"Sorry," Tempest said "My parents used to call me that and..."
She trailed off, averting her gaze down at the covers that concealed her form. Twilight began to trot slowly towards her, a look of sympathy covering her features.
"I'm sorry," she said dejectedly "is that... is that a rough subject?"
Tempest nodded, averting her gaze downwards again, clearly not willing to say any more.
"Well," Twilight suggested "If you'd like I can make you some breakfast! Come on."
She went to pull the covers off of her friend but as she did so, felt resistance followed by a small shout.
"N-no!" she shouted, her horn sparking.
The room went deathly silent. Twilight simply stared at Tempest, an unidentifiable look on her face.
"I-I mean, yes! B-but can you please, um, leave so I can g-get my armour on?"
Twilight, for the third time in a matter of minutes, tilted her head to the side but nodded in understanding.
"Okay."
That was all that was heard from the lavender alicorn. She turned around, approached the door and used her magic to open the door, the handle surrounded by a purple bubble. The door shut and the bubble of magic disappeared, leaving Tempest alone with her thoughts.
And memories.
Twilight inhaled deeply, taking in a large breath of air with somewhat of a passion before exhaling slowly. She began to get out a pan from the cupboard, placing it on the stove. The alicorn closed her eyes and her thoughts drifted to Tempest. Perhaps it had been her fault? Maybe she'd advanced too quickly for her liking? She doubted it, considering the fact that she had approached Fizz near enough every morning, mainly for insignificant little things, such as to wish her a good morning. Tempest did seem rather tense this morning, she had noted. Perhaps it was a nightmare?
Ever since her study of friendship began, she'd always found that, however much you trust a friend, there's always a lingering doubt in the back of your mind that they might judge you for something. Was there a possibility she was hiding something from her? Twilight made a mental note to stress the fact that she was always here for a conversation to Tempest.
"Twilight!" shouted a familiar voice "I'm really sorry!"
It was Tempest, running towards her with considerable speed. She gazed up and down her body, taking in little details, like her frayed mane and deep panting. She had clearly quickly ran out of her room in guilt to apologise to her. Already, Twilight was raising her hoof dismissively.
"It's fine. I understand you want your privacy." Twilight reassured her
Tempest shook her head.
"No, it's not." she began "Look, it's not that. It's... something else. I just don't know how to explain it to you."
This caught Twilight's attention. Her ears perked up, remembering the mental note she made to herself.
"Well, if you ever want to have a chat, I'm here!"
Twilight offered a warm smile.
"Um, can we go to someplace more private?" Tempest said, more of a suggestion than a command.
Twilight nodded.
"Lead the way!"
The burgundy unicorn did so, trotting back to her quarters with clear nervousness on her face. As they reached the outside of her bedroom, Twilight looked at the guard.
"You're dismissed for today," she said
The guard nodded, saluting and trotting away. Twilight opened the door, motioning for Tempest to go first. The unicorn offered a weak smile in response and trotted inside, sitting on the edge of her bed. The purple mare followed after her, doing the same.
There was a moment of silence that seemed to last for eternity. The unicorn inhaled audibly
"My parents," Tempest began, "they, um..."
Tempest exhaled.
"They beat me."
Author's Note
Okay! So I've decided this one's gonna be a multi-chapter story! It was going to be a one-shot, but I decided that the ending line was a perfect note to end on! I really hope you've enjoyed so far and I aim to get the next chapter up in no more than a week or two. I have some commitments so I'm super sorry for any delay!
Also, I've set up a Patreon page! This is by no means a thing you should do because you feel like you have to, but a little bit of money can go a long way and it shows me your support!
Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed so far. :3
Twilight's eyes widened in surprise. She opened her mouth, about to utter a series of apologies, before Tempest continued.
"They always told me how worthless I was - that I was never going to achieve anything. That might have been another reason I joined the Storm King - to prove them wrong."
Tempest reached a hoof to the piece of armour covering her chest, fumbling about with the straps before it fell to the ground with a clang, revealing what was underneath her armour - a scarred chest, filled with small slashes in every direction. Although they had clearly healed the best they could have, they were still quite clear. Tempest averted her gaze downwards in shame. Twilight had picked up on this, however.
She quickly wrapped her hooves around her friend, embracing her in a warm, loving hug and prolonging it. Tempest hugged back, admittedly on the verge of tears. She was grateful to Twilight for her understanding.
"Thank you," Tempest whispered, "thank you so much, Twilight..."
She nuzzled her neck into Twilight's seemingly against her will as Twilight stroked her mane gently. She took the opportunity to begin speaking again.
"I think that's why I adopted a new name... I wanted to remove myself from my, um... past experiences as much as possible," she mumbled, "So not long after I began serving the Storm King, I changed my name. I told everypony I was Tempest Shadow."
The alicorn reflected on this for a moment and looked down to face Tempest. She gave her cheek a gentle nuzzle and wrapped her forelegs around her neck, pulling her close.
"I never took you for the snuggly type, Tempest." Twilight said, "Not that I'm complaining or anything. Quite the opposite, in fact..."
The last part was said as a mumble, but Tempest picked up on it and smiled.
"I guess I've always wanted to, um... snuggle with somepony. But I always thought it was weird. I've always been this tough on the outside, unbreakable pony but I have this side of me. I've never really shown anyone this side of me..."
The purple alicorn giggled, giving her cheek a small lick.
"Well get used to it, 'cause we're doing this more~"
There was a silence. Not an awkward silence, but a peaceful one. One that you might find on a dark, starry night, staring up into the black in the sky at the stars above. One that seems to give you peace. One that makes you feel safe and secure.
Tempest felt butterflies in her stomach and found her hooves almost shaking slightly. Her body was pumping full of adrenaline. But why?
It was in that moment, both mares knew how the other felt. And in an exchange wherein no words were spoken, the warmth of the hug, the peaceful silence, the way that one groomed the other said three words.
"I love you"
And although nothing was said, both ponies knew the emotion they were feeling.
Love.
And they both knew they felt the same way.
Author's Note
Yay! Another chapter is done! This one finishes the story!
Now that I think about it, this probably could have been a one-shot considering the length of this one, but oh well! I hope it was at least kind of worth the wait. Apologies if this seemed slightly rushed or the pacing was off. I struggle with that a lot. ;-;
I hope you enjoyed! Constructive criticism is greatly encouraged!