Arc 1: Chapter 2
"GOOD MORNING, NEGI-SENSEI!"
Sunset sighed as she took her seat. That ritual's going to get really annoying, really fast. She took out her English book, opening it to page 76 as Negi instructed and following along as he began to read. Despite the handicap of having to translate first to Japanese and then to Equestrian, Sunset was able to follow along just fine. It was a fairly simple story about a flower named Jason. Yeash! Sunset thought. Maybe I was a little too ambitious in studying English. This is juvenile at best. How could anyone find this even a little challenging.
"Who should I get to translate from this point on?"
Sunset looked up and scanned the class, her brow furrowing as she saw practically everyone avoiding Negi's gaze. She groaned and slumped forward across her desk, crossing her arms and burying her face in them. Great. Either they've all got stage fright, or I'm in a class full of idiots.
"How about you, Asuna-san?"
"W-WHY ARE YOU PICKING ON ME?!"
Sunset let out a snort of laughter, tilting her head up a bit to grin at Asuna's back. "Idiots it is, then."
She watched their back and forth with amusement, taking note of the rest of the class' comments when she failed to translate the text. Apparently, it was well known that Asuna Kagurazaka was an all-around idiot who's only redeeming factor was her physical ability. Should be pretty easy to manipulate, then, Sunset thought as Asuna grabbed Negi by the front of his jacket. That's good. It'd be annoying if someone smart were in on the existence of magic. I just hope she doesn't let something slip.
"ACHOOO!"
Sunset's face fell into her arms again and she sighed as Asuna's clothes were stripped to ribbons by the magical blast. Guess it's not entirely up to her, either. Better use my blackmail soon or half the school will know before I get the chance.
***
The period ended without further incident. Sunset sighed as she stood from her seat, closing her book and resolving to get something more challenging to work on during the period. She noticed Nodoka, Yue, and Haruna gathering and decided to shoot the breeze with them until the next period started.
"Hey girls," she said, walking over. "So, is Asuna really as bad as they were saying?"
"She is," Yue replied, nodding. "She's Baka Red, after all."
Sunset winced, reaching up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "You don't say?" Yue had told her a while back about the... unique group that she was a part of. The Baka Rangers were a group of five students whose grades were so terrible that they'd received remedial English lessons from Takamichi for years. Yue was by far more intelligent than any of the others - more intelligent than much of the class, in fact - but Baka Black simply couldn't get around her hatred of studying. "Isn't she the one you always said stayed up to an hour after everyone else had gone?"
"That's her," Haruna confirmed. "Though the jury's still out on whether it's because of her grades or because it was Takahata-sensei doing the teaching."
"Speaking of sensei's," Yue added, nodding towards the door, "we were just about to help Nodoka try for another shot at Negi-sensei. Want to come with?"
Sunset raised an eyebrow at Nodoka, noticing for the first time that she'd cut her bangs significantly shorter. The bookworm noticed her staring and looked down, blushing slightly.
Damn, that's adorable, Sunset thought, fighting to keep a blush from her face as well. She goes this route, she might actually manage to grab his attention. Lucky kid. "Sure, why not?" Sunset said, shrugging her shoulders. "I've got to talk to him about something anyway."
"Really?" asked Nodoka as they walked out of the classroom and started down the hall. "What about?"
"Well, I heard that he was staying with Konoka and the wild monkey," Sunset explained, glancing out the windows to try to spot her target, "and I thought he might be the one to ask about transferring to the dorms."
"Eh!!!" Nodoka's face lit up. "You mean you're thinking of coming to stay with us?"
"I'm considering it," Sunset admitted. "I scanned through the rest of the books last night and this morning, but it looks like they don't really have anything helpful. Well, nothing helpful until I learn Latin."
"I thought I saw some Latin texts in there," Haruna said.
Sunset nodded, a grin splitting her face as she spotted Negi sitting by a statue on the grounds. "I'll take another week or so to make sure, but I'm fairly certain I won't get anything else from that room until I've learned language number three. Now come on; I saw the kid down there!"
The four girls raced down a flight of stairs and out onto the grounds. Negi seemed to be rather melancholy where he sat, but he brightened up immediately as the girls approached.
"Excuse us, Sensei," Haruna said, pushing Nodoka forward. We have some questions about today's lesson."
"Ah, certainly," said Negi, reaching for his bag. "You're Saotome Haruna from seat 14, aren't you?"
"Ah, it's not me," interrupted Haruna, pushing Nodoka further forward. "It's this girl."
"Ah, okay," Negi replied. "Um..." He hesitated, studying Nodoka's face curiously. "Miyazaki-san, you've changed your hairstyle, haven't you? It really suits you!"
Huh, Sunset thought, her opinion of the child teacher jumping up a few notches. Most stallions can't even notice that difference in their marefriends. Kid's got no idea how much drama he's going to avoid in the future. All Nodoka has to do now is play it cool, thank him for the compliment, and-
"Doesn't it?! Doesn't it just?!" Sunset mentally facehoofed as Haruna and Yue reached forward to part Nodoka's bangs even further, Haruna babbling all the while. "She's such a cute girl, but she never shows her face!"
To Nodoka's credit, she managed to stay there for two full seconds before turning and running off.
"Ah! Miyazaki-san?!" Negi shouted after her.
"Great going you idiot," Sunset griped, smacking Haruna on the back of the head. "How was that supposed to help, huh?"
Haruna grit her teeth, giving Sunset a light glare before turning to apologize to Negi. "Sorry about this, Sensei!" She and Yue turned and rushed off after Nodoka, Sunset following at a more leisurely pace. She only made it a few yards, however, before she stopped to glance back at Negi. The kid was sitting down again, letting out a rather dejected sigh. Sunset slowly began circling, placing the statue between herself and Negi as she crept closer.
Nodoka will be fine, Sunset though as she watched Negi pick something up off the ground. She'll probably just bury herself in a book until her embarrassment fades. Really, what was Haruna thinking?
Just as Sunset reached the base of the statue, Negi jumped up and dashed off, a small vial of some sort clenched in his fist. Now what could that be about? Sunset wondered, following from a short distance. She soon found herself following Negi through the same patch of woods where he'd accidentally stripped Asuna before. She watched as Negi knelt down in a small clearing, setting up a small tripod over an open-flame burner. Alchemy? Sunset though as Negi emptied the contents of the vial into a beaker sitting on the tripod. Guess it's time to get my first taste of human magic.
"Ras tel ma scir magister," Negi muttered, raising his hand high as the beaker before him began to boil. "age nascatur potio amoris!"
An explosion of red smoke billowed out of the beaker, leaving the liquid behind a dark pink. Sunset thought about the process as Negi examined his concoction. Incantations, huh? Guess Latin is going to be a must-know after all. I wonder how he draws his mana to the surface, though. Seeing Negi's delight over the apparently successful potion, Sunset decided it was time to make her presence known.
"That's pretty impressive, kid," Sunset said nonchalantly, stepping out from behind her tree and leaning back against it, arms crossed across her chest. She held in a snicker as Negi jumped and spun around, his face going white. "Most potion recipes I know of take at least an hour to brew, and that's if you've got a team and some really good ingredients. I'd love to know just what was in that vial."
"Ni-Ni-Ni-Nichibotsu-san!" Negi stammered, backing up and clutching the potion to his chest. "This isn't what it looks like!"
"Really?" asked Sunset, kicking off the tree and stalking closer to him. "Because it looks like magic to me. Alchemy, to be precise. To be more precise..." She dashed forward, snatching the potion from his hands.
"H-hey!"
Sunset ignored his shout and gave the potion a good sniff. Fresh, dew covered grass. White devil cake. A new guitar. Slightly charred forehead fur from spells that were a little beyond what was safe for her to be practicing. No doubt about it, this was a love potion, and a fairly powerful one at that. Sunset felt the fumes working on her mind, trying to relax her. She resisted easily, bringing up well-tested mental barriers that could resist even Celestia's assaults for a few minutes. "Love potion," she finally said, smirking down at him. "You naughty boy. Maybe I underestimated your maturity after all."
"I-i-it's not for me!" Negi stammered. "I mean, it's not a potion! It's just, um..."
Sunset chuckled, bringing the potion near her lips. "Not a potion, huh?" she asked. "Then you won't mind if I take a little sip. I'm sure you'll be willing to tell me the truth once you're fawning over me."
"NO! WAIT! Okay! It's a potion!" Sunset lowered the beaker as Negi stared dejectedly at the ground. "I made it for Asuna to use on Takamichi-san to make things up to her."
Ooh. Filing that juicy little tidbit away for later. "I see," Sunset said, examining the beaker again. "But you know, I'm not sure this is such a good idea, a wizard like you being around so many normal people. I can't imagine what would happen if anyone found out." Her eyes turned back to Negi, a wicked grin appearing on her face. "So maybe I should just see for myself."
"Y-you can't!" Negi cried, flailing his arms helplessly. "If people find out that I'm a mage, I'll be turned into an ermine!"
...okay. Didn't see that one coming. "Well, if it's so important to you," Sunset hedged, "I guess we could come to some sort of understanding."
Negi swallowed nervously. "Wh-what do you want?"
"Teach me."
Negi blinked in surprise. Gone was the teasing school-girl. Gone was the manipulating blackmailer. Sunset looked Negi right in the eyes, a fiery determination burning behind her own. "Teach me magic," Sunset repeated. "If you haven't realized it yet, my sob story about amnesia is a load of crap. I remember exactly where I came from, and it's a place unlike any you could possibly imagine. Problem is, my magic from back home doesn't work here. So you're going to teach me human magic. Because if you don't, your secret's out."
Sunset stepped closer, shoving the beaker of love potion into Negi's hands. She leaned in close, their foreheads almost touching. "I'll give you two months to come up with an answer. And don't think you can pull a fast one on me with erasing my memories. My mind is an impenetrable barrier that the Queen of the Sun herself couldn't pierce. A kid like you doesn't stand a chance." She turned on her heel and walked away, stopping at the tree she'd stepped out from behind to grin over her shoulder at him. "Think about it, Sensei."
***
Sunset got back to class just in time to see Nodoka leaving, a couple of books tucked under her arm. "Oy!" she called, jogging up to her. "Honya! You got a minute?"
Nodoka blushed and looked away, but nodded. "S-sure." They walked in silence for a while before she got up the courage to speak. "So, about earlier-"
"You did fine," Sunset said. "Really, that conversation could have gone great if Baka black and Baka Haruna hadn't made a mess of it."
"I don't know," Nodoka muttered, hugging her books to her chest. "I mean, I was already nervous. Haruna chan might have pushed too far, but-"
"But nothing." Sunset wrapped an arm around Nodoka's shoulders, giving her a brief squeeze. "I've seen you in action on Library Island. Trust me, you're a lot braver than you give yourself credit for. You've just got to get the right moment without anyone butting their heads in."
Nodoka considered Sunset's words for a moment before nodding her head. "If you say so." She smiled up at the taller girl. "Thank you, Nichibotsu chan. I don't know what I did to deserve a friend like you."
Sunset looked away, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. "Well, you know. You and the others. If you hadn't found me, I'd probably have died in that room in the dark."
"True," Nodoka's eyes narrowed, her smile fading, "but you aren't nearly this nice to Haruna chan and Yue chan. N-not that you're mean to them, but you seem a lot... closer with me." She looked down and sighed. "It's because I need to be watched over more, isn't it?"
"N-no!" Sunset took her arm from Nodoka's shoulders, waving both her hands in front of her. "No, Nodoka, that isn't it at all. It's just that I, well..."
"Miyazaki-san! Nichibotsu-san! Watch out!"
The two girls looked behind them, eyes widening as they saw the student teacher running towards them, most of the class chasing him through the halls. Seeing no other way to avoid being trampled, they turned and began running with Negi.
"Wh-what's going on?" Nodoka asked.
"Um... uh..." Negi was hesitating, and the reason why became obvious as Sunset gave the child more attention. A strong enchantment was trying to work its way into her mind, growing more powerful the longer she stared at him. You idiot! she thought, shaking off the enchantment and risking a glance back at the mob of love-struck girls following them. Why the heck did you drink the whole thing?
"I'm being chased by everyone in the class!" Negi finally got out.
"As if that wasn't obvious!" Sunset shouted.
"If that's the case..." Nodoka grabbed Negi's arm and took a sharp turn, Sunset almost loosing her footing as she turned to follow. "This way!"
Negi and Sunset followed Nodoka through several hallways, taking corners as sharply as possible to try and throw off their pursuers. They finally reached the library, Sunset slamming the doors shut and Nodoka locking them behind her.
"Th-thank you," Negi stammered.
"It's nothing," Nodoka replied. "I locked the door, so we should be okay for now."
"I'll go and make sure the windows are locked too," Sunset said. "They might just be crazy enough to try climbing up to them."
She turned and jogged over to the giant windows, giving Nodoka a chance to show Negi around the library. Not exactly what I had in mind, she thought, throwing closed the latches on the windows and drawing the blinds for good measure, but if it gives her some time alone with him... wait.
"ASUNA-SAAAAAAN!"
"Negi-sensei!"
Sunset facepalmed before running back towards where she heard the shouting. "Stupid freaking love potion," she muttered. She followed the sounds of shouting and of books tumbling and scattering. She finally found them back by the doors, Nodoka laying atop Negi on a pile of books.
"U-um, Miyazaki-san, p-please get off of me."
"O-okay," Nodoka mumbled, leaning her face down and closer to his.
"Okay, that's enough out of you." Sunset walked over and grabbed the back of Nodoka's shirt, pulling her off of their teacher much to her protests. "Kid, please tell me that she won't remember any of this afterwords."
"P-probably not," stammered Negi, backing up and getting to his feet. "W-with this much magic working on her brain at once, she probably won't remember anything after she pulled us in here."
"Good." She dragged the struggling Nodoka over to a nearby table, sitting her down and trapping the edge of her shirt under one of its legs. She sighed and rubbed her temples as she walked back to Negi, Nodoka struggling to follow and not even noticing that her shirt was caught. "Really," Sunset muttered. "Are all mages this careless and absentminded?"
"I-i-it's not my fault!" Negi exclaimed, waving his hands around wildly. "A-Asuna forced me to drink the potion, and I didn't have time to tell her that she was only supposed to use a little, and-"
"Okay, that's enough." Hearing the door handle jiggling and frustrated muttering from the other side, Sunset walked over and leaned against it. "I assume that's you, Asuna?"
"N-Nichibotsu-san?" Asuna's voice was surprised at first, but quickly shifted to alarmed. "You've got to get out of there! And bring Honya with you. Negi's, um, not good to be around right now. See, the thing is-"
"The thing is that you forced an absurdly powerful love potion down his throat," Sunset deadpanned, cutting her off. "And in a room full of girls, too. Seriously, I heard that you were an idiot, but that takes the cake."
"Wh-wh-why do you know about that?"
Sunset unlocked the door, letting a flustered and worried Asuna in. "Because I caught him as he was brewing it. That twerp needs to be more careful."
Asuna sighed in relief. "Hah, and here I was worried that we had another mage in the class. The brat's trouble enough as it is."
"Please, Asuna," Sunset said, waving her off. "Me? A mage? Might help explain my weird amnesia, but I know about as much about all of this as you." She turned back to Negi, her grin downright predatory. "Right, Sensei?"
Negi swallowed nervously, his eyes darting back and forth between Sunset ad Asuna. "R-r-right. N-Nichibotsu-san just learned about magic today."
"Yesterday, technically." Sunset adopted a sheepish grin as she looked back at Asuna. "I, um, I was kind of nearby yesterday when, well, when Takamich got an eyeful."
Asuna groaned. "Of course you were. Because that moment couldn't get any worse." She clasped her hands in front of her eyes watering. "Please don't tell anyone else about that. Or even tell Takahata-sensei that you know! I'd rather just leave that behind completely."
"Don't worry," Sunset said. "I know how to be discrete." At least until I need to use it against you. "But for now..." She looked back at Nodoka, who was still desperately reaching for Negi and moaning his name. "What do we do about everyone affected by the potion?"
"I-it should wear off if I'm away from her for long enough," Negi said, poking his pointer fingers together nervously. "I-it should have worn off on everyone else by now."
Makes sense, Sunset thought. For that small of a dose to be that strong, it must not have much staying power. "Well, that'll be fine then. Honya will be able to get herself free once she comes back to her senses."
Asuna nodded as they headed out, Negi separating from them to check on the rest of the class. "Thanks for helping out with that," Asuna said. "Really, that brat is more trouble than he's worth."
"He's definitely reckless," Sunset agreed. "I mean, both you and I discovered that he's a mage after less than a day." She raised an eyebrow at Asuna. "Not that you're much better."
Asuna blushed and glared at Sunset. "I-it's not my fault!" she shouted. "Negi-brat's the one who made that stupid potion! If he hadn't-"
"And you're the one who forced the whole thing down his throat, right?" Asuna glared to the side as Sunset eyed her. "Who's more reckless? The person who knows how dangerous magic can be and makes mistakes, or the person who has no idea and does things anyway? The first rule of magic: never use magic that you don't fully understand. Negi was overzealous. You were just stupid."
"Hey! I don't want to be called stupid by someone who can't even remember how she got locked up in a room!" Asuna shouted. "And how do you know about that 'first rule' thing anyway? I thought you didn't know anything about magic!"
Got to measure this reaction carefully. Sunset hesitated, making it look like she was struggling for an answer. "I... I'm not sure," she lied, looking away, her brow furrowed in apparent concentration or frustration. "I don't know where that came from. Maybe... maybe I did know something about magic before whatever happened to me."
Asuna held her glare for a moment before sighing and looking down. "Look, I'm sorry I said that about your memory. I... say a lot of stuff I shouldn't when I'm angry."
Sunset shook her head. "Nah, I had it coming for calling you stupid." Although you are a major idiot. "What do you say we just forget it?"
Asuna nodded. "Sounds good to me." She smiled at Sunset. "You know, I thought you were pretty abrasive at first, but you aren't actually so bad.
Sunset smiled back, even as she chuckled in her head. Too easy, she thought as she made small-talk with her new "friend." Friends close, enemies closer. And anyone who might threaten Negi's secret and my key to this world's magic definitely qualifies. They parted ways at the next intersection, Sunset saying that she should go back and check on Nodoka. Watch your back, Asuna. Because if you ever become a real threat, you just might find a knife in it.
Stats
Page generated in 0.027 seconds
Total duration
996 users online
2,313,948 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
So, first off, the minor corrections as always:
-Haruna's family name is Saotome, not Kitome. The translations of the early chapters were... not always completely accurate.
-You misspelled Nodoka as 'Nodka' once.
-Negi's activation key is Ras tel Ma Scir Magister; you had Shir instead of Scir I think.
As a related note to that last point, I question Sunset's ability to recognize spoken Latin if she doesn't speak the language.
Other than that... I'm pretty happy to see thing finally start to diverge a bit from canon, even if only a little bit (I'm a tad disappointed you didn't have Sunset head off the love potion thing completely). I'm also glad to see that Sunset's actually being a villainous manipulator-type here.
Best part, though, is her (possibly?) being gay for Nodoka, which I 100% approve of.
8611105
Thanks for catching those. And there's no possibly about it. She's crushing on Nodoka big time.
And the love potion thing was just too funny for me to pass up.
was an all-around idiot who's only redeeming factor
1. Whose.
Good chapter, and good accident with the love potion (never cease to amuse me, every time I re-read the manga)...
Well, Sunset seems a tad murder happy.
This was an odd sentence to see, especially since in the last chapter, Sunset had mentioned this:
So...does she have her magic? And if she doesn't, where is this seeming confidence coming from?
Also, this odd friendship/crush she has with Nodoka would feel alot more genuine if we had actually seen the buildup to this point. Without that crucial character and relationship development, it just feels like a forced ship. Sunset's thoughts and actions with Nodoka make her seem like she's becoming a better person, but then it completely flips around everyone else to her pre-Twilight personality.
9678085
Yeah, that could have been better explained. Her mental training is no longer reinforced by magic, but it's still plenty powerful. Should have had her think/say/do something to express her relief at that.
And yeah, I really rushed into it in this first arc. If I were to start over, I'd definitely start it at least a few months earlier to build up those relationships.
Hope you sick around at least until arc 2. I promice it gets a lot better from there.
the Ironic thing is while shes still acting a bit like an Ice Queen, she does not even realize that "ice" is slowly thawing. Case in point: she considers Nodoka a legitimate friend, and I dare say, if something were to endanger her, feel it is very likely Sunset would do everything in her power to save her friend.
Did sunset just casually consider murder at the end there
10449107
Figurative knife.
Two months? That seems like waaaaay too long a deadline.
9678116
i think than it's kinda like the inheritance cycle, when in the first book, Murtagh could protect himself from mental magic despite not having powers.
i wasn't sure about the story, i liked reading negima for a while, but i wasn't sure about how it would be with Sunset, but this chapter had made me like the idea enough.
Also, the story isn't dead, and i need to read new stories to wait for others.
And don't be offended, most of the stories i like now are things i started watching out of utter boredom or for waiting to have the stories i like being updated.
and if i am lucky, those news stories become stories i like and wait for the next chapter, and i redo the process.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Oh how I love scheming cutthroat Sunset...