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.