It was the Zest of Times

by Sir Doodlington

DEMON!!!

Lemon quickly threw up a confident façade and walked into the room. She knew Cinch loved it when her students were in charge of themselves. Just so long as they were under her rule. An outsider might think her a bit of a dictator. And in all honesty, she was. She'd made it so the students had no real say in how the academy was run. Sure, there was a student council but they didn't really do anything that made any difference. There was actually a massive rumour mill throughout the whole school that came up with new rumours daily. Last Monday it was Fight Club. But no one talked about that. That was rule one. Rule two was a reiteration of the first rule but people felt it had to be hammered in.

But as she walked into the principle's office her gaze never left the chair in front of her. Cinch had turned it around in an attempt to make it seem like she wasn't there. Everyone in the school knew it. Now it just seemed like she was a bad Bond villain. White cat and all, half the school thought, the cat obviously lived at her house. If she ever left the school. The other half of the school thought she was a vampire. Lemon, however, knew differently. And that was a fact.

Cinch was a demon. Duh.

As she reached the chair across the desk from Cinch, a small well of anxiety welled up in her stomach but she quickly squashed it. It wouldn't do for the principle to think you were a weakling. That would open up a can of worms Lemon really didn't want to even prod with a ten foot pole.

She quickly sat down and assumed a position of extreme boredom but made sure there was a hint of interest in her pose.

"Miss Zest. Do you know why you are here?" asked Cinch without turning around. Lemon, on the other hand, rolled her eyes. The demon wanted to worry her. Then, when she was vulnerable, she would convert Lemon over to the dark side. Apparently they had cookies, though, so it wasn't all bad.

"No Ma'am"

"You, Miss Zest, have quite possibly the most interesting hobbies out of anyone in this school." Cinch stated. Lemon raised an eyebrow. "Bungee jumping on a weekly basis, tightrope walking at an altitude of fifty metres and a whole host of other circus tricks, roller derby and off piste snowboarding at rumoured angles of 45 degrees. Quite the collection of sports."

Lemon huffed. If this was another lecture about her weekend activities then the demon had another thing coming. Lemon had had enough of these from her parents. And seriously? 50 metres and 45 degrees? Try 100 metres and 60 degrees and you'd be much closer.

"However, your academic record in nothing to laugh at either, surprisingly." What the hell was that supposed to mean?! "A grade point average of A- and only three days off school in the past year. I'm impressed."

Lemon tried to block out the unimportant parts. That 'surprisingly' comment had irked her a bit. And Cinch had yet to turn around! Mixed messages woman! What are you trying to do?!

"On the other hand." Ah. there it was. "The Crocodile Incident, your weekly detentions, your lack of attention span in classes, your other so-called 'pranks' and your constant disruptions of the other students' education with outbursts of loud music, just to name a few, are factors that, I think, completely shroud all other achievements of yours. Do you honestly expect to get anywhere in life like this?"

That silenced Lemon. The demon was good. She was trying to very quietly make Lemon feel bad and in need of a bit of a ... mentor in her life. Obviously, Cinch wanted to be in that such position.

Of course, Lemon knew exactly why this was happening as well. Lemon was, quite possibly, the one student that Cinch had the least control over. And in the position of a mentor, Cinch would be able to oversee pretty much whatever happened in the girl's future. After all, High School was where one made the choices that would guide them on the journey through their life.

But Lemon was onto her like stripes on a tiger. Just ... not physically. That would be inappropriate. and creepy. Demons weren't exactly known to be the most ... adventurous in bed. Lemon personally liked to add a little zest to everything she did. That was why there wasn't a page in any of her books that wasn't illustrated. Her favourite was a doodle she'd made when her class had been studying Japanese entertainment. It was a little 'chibi' version of herself with the victory sign on her hands and a smile on her face. It was probably the reason she'd only achieved a B- on the assignment that went with the studying. Usually she got at least a B+ to A. It was too goddamn cute!

"Do you see what I mean?" Cinch asked.

Lemon pulled herself back to ... whatever was going on in front of her. The demon had finally shown its face by turning to the side slightly and was looking at Lemon out of the corner of her eye.

"Uh ... Not quite?"

"What don't you understand?"

"Um ... all of it?"

Suddenly, Cinch stood up and stood directly opposite Lemon, freaking the student out a bit.

"This is exactly what I was talking about! You'd know that if you were listening!" Cinch fake exploded. Lemon could tell it wasn't real from the slight excitement hidden in Cinch's eye. The demon then sighed and pulled back a bit, walking over to the trophy shelves.

"Miss Zest. You have the possibility to join absolutely any sports team at all. Yet you don't, instead choosing to sit in on of the rehearsal rooms with a guitar. The only question I have would be ... why?" Cinch now seemed to be actually a bit sincere now. But that meant nothing to Lemon. Demons had no reason to be sincere.

"I dunno. Maybe 'cos they're actually really quiet at lunch an' all that." Lemon replied with a shrug. The real reason was that Lemon had no reason to be anywhere else. It wasn't like she had any friends after all. No one wanted to be friends with the loudmouth adrenaline junkie with too much on her mind.

Lemon tore herself from that train of thought. If she continued down that path then it would lead to depression. And that would give the demon an opportunity to gain control of her. Lemon quite liked being in charge of herself thank-you-very-much.

Cinch made a small noise of agreement. Another tactic of hers no doubt.

"Might I share a token of wisdom for a moment Miss Zest? Don't shut people out. All it will achieve will be isolation. I should know. Once upon a time I did so myself and look at me now. That is the entire reason I became a teacher. So that I might be able to teach students that lesson. But all it got me was a reputation as a extremely manipulative principle who had no reason to be trusted..." Cinch trailed off.

Lemon was stunned. Cinch had a soft side. A soft side. The woman barely had one side, let alone a soft one! And yet, Lemon had difficulty finding even the smallest point of insincerity. Maybe ... maybe it wouldn't be so bad to take the demon's advice. But just once. After that, never again. Maybe.

A minute of silence passed between the two. Cinch staring at her trophies, Lemon staring at Cinch.

"So, Miss Zest," Said Cinch, her earlier softness vanishing entirely, "I have an offer for you. One I believe you can't refuse."

Author's Note:

DON'T HATE ME!!!
I honestly just had to put Cinch's little scene in there. I had no other reason in my head about why Cinch became a teacher in the first place. But, if anyone decides to argue, this is what I have to say.

I win.

Also, I have the next few chapters already written so I will be uploading them on a half-weekly basis so expect the next one on the 30th. But til then you're gonna have to wait. This is my way to apologise for the late as hell update.
MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Final thing. I know people hate this sort of thing and don't really read these (I know I don't often) but a favourite and a comment is really appreciated so if you culd do that then that'd be great.

Comments

[BenRG]

Oh. This is the part where Cinch promises to make all of Lemon's dreams come true... at the price of her soul. If this is pre-FG, then she might even take up that offer, only to find herself hanging over the event horizon of a freakin' inter-dimensional wormhole, trying to stop three people falling several hundred feet to their deaths on the surface of an alien planet occupied by freakin' sentient ponies!

It is, of course, from there that things start getting really interesting!

I did like how you characterise Lemon. She's nowhere near as dumb or as oblivious as she looks. She's just a lot like Rainbow Dash - she has specific interests and feels no particular need to feign interest in anything else. That said (like Pinkie and Rainbow), she's got an editic memory and is more than smart enough to pass important tests when it is necessary, no matter how little interest she has in the subject.

Oh, and a school head teacher is 'Principal', not 'principle'.