Twilight was a mare of mixed emotions as she slunk into the bathtub that Rarity had provided her; on one hand, the tub was spacious and clean, almost as if it were the only thing in the entire building that Rarity cared about maintaining.

Add to that, it felt amazing to wash off the dirt and gunk and grime and dried blood that had accumulated on Twilight’s body since she came to the Underworld. She had forgotten just what a huge mental boost something as simple as being clean provided.

On the other hand, Twilight was acutely aware that she was naked in the world of monsters, and a thin shower curtain wasn’t exactly adequate defense. There was no lock on the bathroom door either; Twilight’s weapons were placed in a strategic manner that would allow her to escape with ease if she needed to, but she really didn’t want to think about having to fight off enemies while buttass naked.

So she tried not to. No sense fretting over hypotheticals, that’s what Celestia always told her. She took a few deep breaths, and let the sensation of the hot water against her skin and fur wash her worries away as much as they were able.

At least until the door opened, Twilight’s ears shooting straight up and the water splashing out of the tub as she moved to put her hands over her nether regions as fast as possible out of instinct. The door creaked open and Twilight watched with slowly widening eyes as she waited for whoever it was to identify themselves.

“Hello?” Twilight said, the wait just killing her.

“Oh! U-uh, my bad,” Applejack stammered, “didn’t know there was somepony in here already, I apologize!”

“It’s okay, you just scared me half to death is all,” Twilight sighed, putting a hand over her heart. “Do you need something? You can come in if you want.” Twilight figured it would be best to be as polite as possible to the monsters around here, lest she end up either needing their help later, or at the very least to avoid provoking them.

“N-no, I’m alright,” Applejack said, and she practically sounded more nervous than Twilight. “I was gonna take a bath myself, so I’ll just wait ‘til yer done.”

If Twilight were Sunset Shimmer, she would’ve made a joke about asking Applejack if she wanted to join her, but…

Actually…

“What’s the matter, Applejack?” Twilight said teasingly. “You don’t want to join me?”

Twilight thought some lighthearted flirtatious humor might help her break the ice with Applejack a bit, especially since she had a good feeling that Applejack’s flustered attitude was genuine; so if Twilight could either smooth things over with her, or fluster her even more to keep her off-balance, those were both wins in Twilight’s book, just so long as Applejack didn’t actually take Twilight up on her offer.

Applejack was silent. Twilight waited and waited for a response, but it started to look like she wasn’t getting one. Maybe Applejack had just up and left?

“Applejack?” Twilight asked.

“Uh… yeah?” Applejack croaked awkwardly, Twilight trying to laugh softly enough that Applejack didn’t hear her. “S-sorry, I just, uh—”

“Did I fluster you a little?” Twilight asked with a catlike grin on her face.

“Maybe a tad…” Applejack replied in a low growl, her footsteps echoing in Twilight’s ears as she stepped into the bathroom, closer and closer all the way to the shower, Applejack’s clawed hand peeking over the shower rod. “Would it fluster you if I ripped this rod outta the ceiling and exposed you?”

Twilight’s ears folded back; this was basically one of her worst fears, being at the mercy of a monster while naked and helpless. Granted, she still had her weapons, so she wasn’t entirely helpless, and in fact…

She may as well hang for a stolen sheep as well as a stolen lamb.

Twilight stood up, and she tore away the shower curtain, Applejack’s eyes widening and her face turning bright red as Twilight’s naked, dripping wet body was revealed to her.

“Uh…” Applejack’s mouth hung open as her eyes naturally lowered to Twilight’s dick, before immediately bolting up and scurrying around to find anything else to look at.

“What’s the matter, Applejack?” Twilight asked, cocking her hip to one side and putting her hand on it. She was impressed with herself for playing it so cool, but there was a part of her that still couldn’t believe she was doing this. Clearly Sunset Shimmer had been a bad influence on her. “Flustered?”

“Eh, alright fine, ya called my bluff,” Applejack covered her eyes with her hat and turned bashfully away from Twilight. “Much as I’d like to keep playin’ the part of the big scary monster, I couldn’t ever do anything to ya that’s not… that you didn’t agree to.”

“That’s mighty noble of you, Applejack,” Twilight said, and Applejack just grumbled and nodded her head. “Will you hand me a towel, then?”

“Sure,” Applejack grabbed a nearby towel and tossed it to Twilight, who wrapped it around her body. Normally, Twilight would just use magic to dry herself off, but of course that wasn’t happening down here.

“Shower’s all yours, Applejack,” Twilight said as she walked by Applejack, flicking her tail up at her. “Are you gonna have to take a cold one now?”

“Haha, I just might,” Applejack said, and she lowered her hat and looked Twilight in the eye. She was very pretty; her rugged features were really striking and impressive, and her face dotted with freckles like a constellation was just incredibly cute.

“Will I be seeing you at the dinner?” Twilight asked, and Applejack groaned under her breath. “I would like to. I don’t, um… I don’t want to put my nose where it doesn’t belong, but I did listen to your conversation with Autumn Blaze while you two were fighting. I know you’re after some kind of revenge, and I don’t see why we can’t help each other to get what we want.”

“And what do you want?” Applejack asked skeptically.

“To go home,” Twilight answered simply. “Find my friends first, of course, but then I just wanna go home.”

“Yer lucky,” Applejack let out a weary scoffing chuckle. “You got someplace to go back to.”

“Um, well like I said,” Twilight said awkwardly, feeling a bit sheepish that she said something insensitive without meaning to, “I would like your help, and to help you if I can.”

“You can’t,” Applejack said shortly.

“Right, of course,” Twilight hummed. “Because your revenge is a suicide mission, right? So you don’t want anyone else getting involved, because you don’t want anyone else getting hurt. But you view yourself as acceptable losses because you’re in so much pain that you don’t see any way to escape it.”

“You think you know so much—” Applejack growled.

“You’re right, I apologize,” Twilight bowed her head. “I shouldn’t make presumptions like that. Your reasons are your own, and it’s not my place to try and pry where I’m unwanted.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Applejack muttered and shrugged. “Sorry for snappin’ atcha.”

“No problem,” Twilight said with a light chuckle that thankfully brought a smile to Applejack’s lips. “Now, I know I said you could have the shower, but I should actually get dressed first, so if you don’t mind—”

“Aww, does that mean I can’t watch?” Applejack grinned and raised an eyebrow, and Twilight just mirrored her.

“Do you want to?” Twilight said teasingly and dropped her towel, Applejack’s posture immediately faltering as she hid her face behind her hat again.

“Uh, no thanks,” Applejack cleared her throat and scurried off, closing the door behind her, leaving Twilight alone to get dressed and muse to herself about what a curious woman Applejack really was.

Maybe Twilight was getting ahead of herself a bit, but… she thought Applejack was pretty cool.

deep down twilight was always destined to be a big monster fucker