The Serpent and the Cheerleader

The lights came back up as the video ended, the tape skipping a few times before stopping altogether and automatically rewinding itself.

"So, I hope you all enjoyed that, class," Val said with a smile. She tapped a stack of papers on her desk. "Now, just so it at least appears like I'm teaching you, I need you all to take one of these quizzes with you and bring them back completed by tomorrow morning."

As if on cue, the school bell rang.

Val clapped her hands together. "Ah, perfect. Have a lovely day, class."

In twos and threes and fours, the class got out of their seats and swung by the desk to grab a paper before heading out the door. Among the last stranglers were Ember and Scary, with Twisty and Flare trailing a few feet behind them.

"Not bad for my first day, right?" Val asked with a smile as Ember stopped at the desk.

"Showing a video is kind of cheating, but yeah," Ember giggled, picking up a few of the quizzes and passing them back to her friends.

Val laughed. "It's not cheating, dear. It's winning creatively."

"You know, I think I actually learned something today," Scary said as she folded up the quiz and put it in her bag. "I learned history is absolutely terrifying."

"You have no idea," Val grinned.

"I'll say," Twisty grumbled as she stuffed the quiz in her backpack.

"Oh, Ember, if you're still interested I have the artifact I mentioned yesterday," Val said to the earth pony.

"I'd nearly forgotten," Ember turned to Scary. "You're into Nightmare Moon, right?"

"Uh, yeah," Scary nodded "Why?"

"I happen to be a scholar of her and recently came into possession of a very informative artifact," Val explained. "If you're interested as well, you're welcomed to come by and have a look. My current home is just down the street."

Scary nodded enthusiastically. "I'd love to!"

Val smiled. "Wonderful. But, ah, give me about half an hour first. I really need to get something to eat."

"Or someone," Flare whispered teasingly into Twisty's ear.

"No problem, mate," Ember said, waving as she headed for the door.

"Same here," Scary waved as she followed Ember.

The last few students followed suit, Twisty blowing out a breath as she left the room. "The fuck was that?"

"I thought you didn't mind snakes," Scary said as the group fell into step with each other, heading towards the fields.

Twisty shook her head, the noon-day sun doing little to alleviate her current mood. "What? No! Not her, that... thing she showed us."

"You didn't like it?" Laser Bright raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, it was educational," chimed Xander.

"It was torture porn is what it was," Twisty shivered. "What kind of maniac thinks bathing in blood will restore her youth?!"

"That bitch, clearly," Scary laughed. "Come on, they didn't even show that much."

"It's not what you see, it's what you don't see that's scary," Token said calmly from behind them.

"Ugh, never mind," Twisty shook her head.

"You still okay with doing practice, scaredy cat?" Flare giggled.

Twisty rolled her eyes. "Yes, I am, just let me get some lunch first."

"Should have come prepared," Flare sang, pulling sandwich from her bag and chowing down on it as she continued to the field.

Xander broke off from the group to head to the library, Token following him, while Laser Bright mentioned gathering supplies and headed off after Flare. This left Twisty, Scary, and Ember together as they made their way to the cafe Ember has been at the day before.

Reuben was there, sweeping up again as the mares approached. He took a break from his cleaning to eye them.

"Well, well, if it isn't the freeloading journalist and... you two," he gestured weakly at Scary and Twisty. "What can I get you today? More water?"

"Three specials," Twisty said as they took a table. "And extra clovers on mine."

Reuben snapped up straight. "Right away, ma'am," he said as he dashed off to the cafe kitchen.

"So you met her here?" Scary asked, holding her head in her hand.

Ember nodded. "Yeah, she caught me staring, but was real nice about it. Let me ask questions." Ember tapped her chin. "Got a little flustered when she invited me to come look at this artifact she's got. Didn't want me to think she was trying to, ah, get fresh."

Twisty let out an amused snort. "Yeah, she seems like she's trying to avoid giving the wrong impression."

"I wonder how she got something from Nightmare Moon," Scary said, adjusting her sunglasses. "And why she seemed so embarrassed when she was in the shop yesterday."

Another waiter, or waitress more accurately, came by at that moment. The gray Pegasus placed three glasses of water on the table before walking off without a word.

Twisty shrugged and pulled one of the glasses closer. "She was at you mom's shop?" she asked as she plunked a straw down into the glass.

"Yeah, and I think she was hitting on my mom," Scary took a drink. "Or mom was hitting on her. They got all flustered when I came in."

"Scandalous," Twisty giggled.

"So what do you think of her, Twisty? Torture porn aside," Ember added with a giggle.

Twisty drummed her fingers on the table. "She seems nice. Likes wearing her suits a little too snugly, but there's nothing wrong with that. Probably wants to fuck Scary's mom though, so maybe there is something wrong with her."

"Ha, ha," Scary laughed sarcastically before giving a genuine laugh. "Probably make passing the class easier if she did."

"I wish my mom was that hot," Ember chimed in, earning snorts of laughter from the other two.

It was at this time Reuben returned with a tray laden with sandwiches. He placed the sandwiches one by one on the table and nodded once before retreating to the kitchen once again.

Scary and Ember took their time eating their sandwiches, while Twisty wolfed hers down, wiping her mouth with a napkin and sucking down the rest of her water.

"You know, I think Flare would let you chew your lunch first," Scary snickered.

Twisty rolled her eyes. "I missed practice yesterday getting these," Twisty tapped the braces on her teeth. "I need to catch up."

"Yeah, I bet they learned a whole one new move without you,"

"Flare's smarter than you give her credit for," Twisty pulled some bits out of her pocket, leaving enough on the table to cover her sandwich and the tip.

"Oh, I'm sure," Scary scoffed.

"You'd be surprised," Ember slurped from her drink.

"See ya, guys," Twisty said with a wave before she turned and jogged back to the school field.

There were two fields actually, perpendicular to each other. They each were rigorously maintained by the local groundskeeper, keeping the grass healthy and perfectly cut. Twisty headed for the square block of a building that was the mares' changing room, the stallions' being on the other side of the field.

She entered and softly excused herself as she pressed past her fellow cheerleaders. There were only about six of them, but there really didn't need to be any more than that. She found her locker among the others, stuffing her back pack into it and extracting her uniform.

Twisty couldn't help the faint blush she got as she pulled her shirt over her head and shimmied out of her skirt. She knew she shouldn't be nervous. Then again, when you live in the town with the highest lesbian rate in Equestrian, maybe she should be.

"Boo," someone whispered in her ear.

Twisty jumped, lost her balance, and nearly crashed to the floor. Luckily she was caught be her 'attacker'.

"Ahh, sorry, Twisty," Flare said as she hauled the earth pony back to her feet.

Twisty scowled for a moment before chuckling and awkwardly rubbing the back of her head. "Don't worry about it," she coughed nervously.

"What?" Flare asked with a tilt of her head.

"You're, ah, naked, Flare,"

Flare grinned and laughed, although Twisty wasn't entirely incorrect. It seemed Flare had stopped mid-changing of uniform to play her prank and now stood clad only in a low-cut bra and... was that a thong?

"It's the Equestrian body, Twisty. Don't let it scare you," Flare spread her super sparkly wings and struck a pose that showed off everything she had to offer. Twisty wouldn't have admitted it, but her eyes did go down to Flare's ass cutie mark: A green crescent moon with a smaller pink crescent moon inside it, snuggled up close to half a flaring star.

"Uh," Twisty said dumbly, shaking her head and forcing herself to focus on getting dressed.

Flare giggled and skipped back to her lock.

"Hey, Twisty," Flare called over her shoulder.

"Yeah?" Twisty replied.

"Me and Laser Bright were talking about throwing a Nightmare Night party up at the old abandoned school outside of town,"

"Why there?"

"Atmosphere, duh," Flare giggled again. "Anyway, I was hoping it it could be a sort of intimate gathering. You know, just our circle of friends."

"Oh," Twisty said in the midst of slipping on her cheerleading skirt. "That sounds nice, actually. Count me in."

Twisty stuffed her normal clothes in the locker and closed it, revealing that Flare standing just behind where the door had been a moment earlier. Twisty jumped. Again.

If Flare noticed, she ignored it. "Anyway, I was thinking about an all-nighter sort of thing, but if that's not something that can work for you,"

Twisty chuckled bit forcefully and shook her head. "No, no, I could pull a spooky all-nighter at some abandoned school outside of town. There's gonna be snacks, right?"

Flare nodded. "Oh yeah, no one's going hungry."