It had been a long day for Twilight Sparkle.

Not a long day in the fun way either, no ameliorative adventures advancing aspirational ambitions. Not even a vexing villain vying for vicious vagaries. No, all there had been all day was plainly, painfully, paperwork.

She sighed as she pushed open the door to her bedroom and found that the bed she had been expecting to collapse into was, in fact, occupied. Luckily though, the bed was big enough that Twilight was able to settle in next to the current occupant. Technically speaking it was big enough that she didn’t need to nuzzle in and wrap a wing around said occupant, but she did anyway.

“How’s my favorite traveling friendship missionary?” Twilight asked as she rested her head on a deep orchid colored shoulder to half heartedly read along in the book that the other party was half way through.

“Doing better now that you’re here.” Tempest Shadow said quietly as she rubbed her cheek on Twilight’s. “Pretty easy work with the princess of friendship leading Equestria into a golden age.” Tempest offered a smile that Twilight happily returned, then they both turned their attention back to the book.

Twilight’s eyes skimmed the book in front of her. She'd read it before, of course, she'd read every book in her library. She was happy to lend it out to any creature who wanted the information it contained. Especially if it brought Tempest back from her long trips to return it. Her thoughts began to wander along the long winding trail that had led her and Tempest here. Moments where they had found comfort in each other, meetings where they had learned there was nothing to hide from each other.

And now, she thought, we’re in bed together.

Mental sirens began to ring as that particular thought voiced itself. Twilight had read Rarity’s romance novels, because she’d run out of books to read once and had gotten very very desperate, and those novels had made it clear that this was terrible news. Well, terrible for Twilight anyway, the ponies in the books seemed to like the part that came next. She understood, distantly, the need for certain acts to occur so as to continue the survival of the pony race. She had just never expected to be part of one of those acts before. The thought made her skin crawl. Then, an even more terrifying thought, had Tempest set this up on purpose?

As Twilight spiraled in silent anguish, Tempest flipped a page of her book.

She must’ve known surely, Tempest was clever and sly. She must’ve done it on purpose, right? The two of them, together in bed, it was obvious! What would Twilight do if she made a move? She didn’t want to stop being friends with Tempest! But the alternative was just as terrifying... Twilight’s insides clenched as she looked at Tempest, who seemed not to notice what was going on.

Nononono, one step at a time. Twilight chided herself, it was unthinkable that the ruler of Equestria would freeze up like this. She would just… ask. Yes, and then they could go from there. Just… ask.

Tempest breathed in her serene moment as she continued to read, she enjoyed the time she spent with Twilight. It was nice to have someone she could be herself around, just relaxing. Twilight, meanwhile, thought that her head was going to explode with a ringing noise if she didn’t do something right now.

“Tempest?” She risked.

“Yes Twilight?” Came the simple response, Tempest’s eyes not moving from the book in front of her.

“Did you want to… do something?” And she thought fighting Tirek at his full power was hard, compared to this that was a cakewalk, or maybe that was just recency bias talking.

“Like what Twilight?” Tempest asked, unperturbed.

Twilight, shaking with anxiety, tried to broach the subject as best she could. “You know, the two of us, in bed. We could. You know.”

“You’re ace Twilight.” Tempest said simply, causing Twilight’s thought process to snap like a belt on a motor, whipping around pointlessly as her brain tried to chug on regardless.

“What?” She managed to say as her brain tried to figure out where the conversation had gone.

“You’re ace.” And there was that word again. She’d heard it used in slang before, meaning something akin to ‘great’ or ‘cool’ but it seemed weird for it to be present now. Especially in response to what she’d said. Especially with the matter-of-factness that Tempest delivered it with.

“Why do you keep saying that?” Tears formed in Twilight’s eyes in frustration at not understanding what was going on anymore. It had been so tense before but now it had swiftly turned into something that Twilight couldn’t understand. Her emotions needed a release. It was either laughing or crying and she wasn’t in a laughing mood.

“Ace.” Tempest said, finally turning away from the book to look at Twilight in concern. “Asexual.”

“I don’t…” Twilight managed pitifully as she broke eye contact with Tempest and buried her face in the bedding. “Like a bacteria?” She managed, voice muffled by the blanket she tucked her muzzle into. She’d always known that something was wrong with her, she didn’t feel the way that everypony else seemed to feel about stuff like this. Now it turned out they had a word for how broken she was.

Twilight wallowed miserably as an ambassador to the muffled realm of blanket land for a moment before she realized she was being hugged. “Kind of, I guess.” Tempest said, hugging tighter with muscles that had once been used almost exclusively for combat. “It’s more like a sexuality though. Less of a reproductive kind of thing.”

“What does it mean?” Twilight asked, desire for new information bubbling up from the murky regions of unknown emotions.

“Well it’s like…” Tempest paused. “You know how Applejack likes mares?”

“Ahuh.” Twilight nodded feebly as she dug her muzzle out of the blanket to make eye contact with Tempest.

“And you know how Pinkie Pie likes mares and stallions?”

“Yeah.” Twilight said, the word functioning as a verbal nod alongside her actual nod.

“And you know how Rarity just likes stallions?”

“That’s what she keeps telling me.” Twilight confirmed. “But, you know, a lot of her books are actually about-”

“That’s for her to unpack in her own time Twilight.” Tempest cut in, ending the tangent before it got out of hoof. “Well, asexuality is when you don’t ‘like’ ponies that way.”

“I like plenty of ponies!” Twilight retorted.

“Yes, you like a lot of ponies. I think you like every pony you meet. You have a lot of love in your heart Twilight.” Tempest leaned in and rested the remains of her horn against the base of Twilight’s. “And you spread that love out among every creature you meet. I am not saying you don’t love. Only an idiot could look at you and think you don’t love. But you don’t like ponies like most ponies do.”

Twilight rested in silence for a moment as she mulled over the complicated emotions and thoughts bubbling inside her head like a mad scientist’s beaker. “Carnally?” She said, finally finding a word that might help her in the conversation.

Tempest nickered a little in response, then smiled. “Yeah, you don’t really do the carnal stuff Twilight.”

Silence lapsed again and then, after a moment, Twilight pulled away from Tempest to get a better look at her. “How do you know that I’m asexual?”

Tempest smiled broadly, playfully and leaned in to close the distance. “You remember that quaint little establishment you took me to in Manehattan?”

“The place with the nice tables and the friendly staff?”

“Yeah, really friendly staff huh?”

“I suppose they were more friendly than most of the ponies I met in Manehattan.”

“You remember how one of them offered to take you to a room and you accepted and then delivered a stream of consciousness about your ongoing plan for an overhaul of the education system?”

“It was really nice of her to let me blather on like that.” Twilight reflected. “I know I can be a little much sometimes. We should go back there when we get the chance.” When Tempest nickered again in response Twilight looked to see her on the verge of breaking into a laugh. “What?”

“Don’t you think that the amount she charged you was a little high for somepony that you just talked to for a while?”

“Well I imagine that it’s a lot of emotional labor, listening to anypony that will come in. I-” Twilight paused, the first inkling of a realization beginning to sprout in her mind. “What’s so funny, Tempest?” She asked, her blood running cold.

“It was a brothel, Twilight.”

“What!” Twilight said surprised, past experiences suddenly gaining new meaning. “No it couldn’t have been!”

“It was Twilight, they still talk about how you’re one of their best customers.”

Twilight was blushing fiercely. “Is that why so many ponies came in, saw me, and left immediately?”

“Now you’ve got it.” Tempest answered.

“Oh Stars.” Twilight returned to the blanket dimension to try and hide her shame. “I went there every day for a week.”

“Yes you did.” Tempest affirmed, tightening her comforting hug again.

“The rumors…”

“The rumors are fine. The staff loved you, they would fight over who got to take you because it was almost a break. They aren’t going to start pointless drama like that. None of the other customers will say anything either, because they know it’s none of their business. And if they do, I think if the worst rumor going around about the ruler of Equestria is that she likes to go to the brothel then you’re doing a pretty good job.”

Silence took the room again as Twilight faced herself in the darkness of a heavy blanket. Eventually, she found the courage to pull her head out of the darkness and face the terrifying world once again.

“I’m ace.” She said, looking out the far window and into the world beyond.

“You’re ace.” Tempest affirmed, rubbing a hoof along her back. “And no one worth their salt would try and change that.”

This probably counts as therapy.