//------------------------------// // Count Down // Story: Sunset's Bizarre Adventure: Friendship is Unbreakable // by StardustSprinkle //------------------------------// "Now listen," Celestia exhales: "I'm not blaming anyone, but you guys are supposed to be picked up by Luna today." "I'm sorry," Sunset apologies: "I got up early, and just kind of forget about it." "It's not entirely her fault!" Rainbow adds, hoping to share the blame: "I pushed her to do it." "And I just forget about it," Applejack scratches her head: "Sorry." "Look, I'm not mad at any of you," Celestia says: "But you girls really need to keep it in mind, ok? It's for your own good." "Yes, ma'am." "Yes, principal." "Yes, prince...I mean Principal Celestia." "On, what do you know," Celestia checks her email: "It seems that Luna is ready. Come on, girls, let's go." "Where are we going?" Sunset asks as the principal walks past her. "To the nurse's office," Celestia answers, opening the door to her office. "What happened there?" Rainbow asks, walking behind the principal. "Hopefully nothing wrong," Applejack says, wrapping an arm over Sunset before both exiting the room. "Actually, since Fluttershy is a stand user, we have to make sure the nurse doesn't find out," Celestia says, leading the three students. "Greetings, sister," Luna says with her eyes closed as Celestia walks down the aisle: "Please, don't make any noises." Moments later, the nurse opens the door, with her eyes closed while snoring, revealing a Fluttershy sleeping with her face buried into her arms. Luna nods, before Fluttershy stands up, still sleeping, and exists the door. Luna snaps her finger, as Fluttershy closes the door. "What? Huh?" Fluttershy was up from her sleep: "Vice-Principal Luna!" "Get yourself changed," Luna says with a calming tone: "The nurse won't remember anything." "But what about Albert?" Fluttershy asks with tearful eyes. "Who's Albert?" Rainbow asks. "The bird will be fine," Luna replies: "The nurse will take care of him. You, on the other hand, need to have your necklace on you." "I'm sorry," Fluttershy apologize so quietly that no one in the hall can hear her. "It's ok," Luna says, now turning her focus to Celestia: "Sister, we need to talk." "Oh, of course," Celestia says: "Just the two of us?" "No, I would like the others to be there as well." "I'm sorry," Fluttershy gently pushes the door open: "Am I late?" "No, Fluttershy," Celestia says in a comforting voice: "Please, come in." "Ok," Fluttershy whispers as she peaks in the room. "Agh, just come in already!" Rainbow leaves her seat and drags her inside. "Eek!" Fluutershy squeaks as she was forcefully put onto her seat. "Hi Fluttershy!" Pinkie waves her hand in excitement despite siting next to her. "Ok, everyone," Luna increases her volume: "Now that we are all here, I've got some news. We've figured out the abilities of the three mysterious stand users. The three of being together would grant them a set of completely new abilities. However, the three can only use this specific set of powers when they are together. When they are separated, the three will the demonstrate their special powers. The one with close range combat stand is invulnerable while moving, the long-ranged stand can phrase through matters and the third one can emit sounds that are strong enough to destroy boulders. Interestingly, those powers seems to be deactivated when they are together." "So they can interfere with other people's memory, emotion, and feed on people's memories?" Sunset raises her hand. "Perhaps," Luna says: "I'm not certain because Fluttershy's memories... Actually, Rainbow, would you mind taking Fluttershy out for a walk?" "Yeah, sure," Rainbow stands up reaching a hand out to Fluttershy: "Come on, let's go." "Ye..yeah," Fluttershy takes Rainbow's hand and walks out of the door. "So, what's going on?" Celestia questions. "Her memories from the battle is fragmented and suppressed," Luna answers: "Merely mentioning those memories might cause an out-lash." "Is that so," Celestia whispers before turning back to her normal tone: "So what else do you know?" "Fluttershy can control mutation within organisms," Luna explains: "And she would be a liability on the battle field due to her inability to control this power." "Can you do something about it?" Celestia asks. "I tried to get to the root of the problem, but her memories are locked away," Luna looks at the ground: "Forcefully entering those memories may cause a mental breakdown and uncontrollable results." "I see," Celestia message her eyes: "Anyway, Sunset will be living with Rainbow for awhile. Who do you think will be able to beat those three, Luna?" "If I have to take a guess, Applejack against the close range combat stand, Rainbow against the long ranged stand and Sunset against the last one." "Ok, it's only a proposal now," Celestia announces: "But now that we know what they can do, we'll need to develop strategies against them." "Wait, so are we going to train according to the order Vice-Principal mentioned? Or..." Sunset raises her hand again. "No," Celestia answers: "We have to prepare for all three of them. That being said, Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy needs to stay out of battlefield when all things breaks loose." "Excuse, Principal Celestia," Rarity says politely: "But that means I don't have to train, right?" "I'm sorry, Rarity," Celestia looks at Rarity, then to everyone else: "We must be prepared for everything." "Oh, yeah, speaking of which..." Sunset starts talking: "Applejack and I had a training session this morning, and she broke my hand. But that besides the point! The thing is, I can't heal my self with my powers afterwards." "Really," Celestia give it s thought as Applejack looks away in shame: "Although it may take some time to figure, we can assume that Applejack's power somehow counters your's." "Oh, oh!" Pinkie bounces up and down: "Is it my turn? Please be my turn!" "Yes, Pinkie, it is your turn," Celestia says, in a almost motherly tone. "Do we get to compete in the showcase? Please tell we get to compete in the showcase!" Pinkie looks to the Principal with big watery eyes: "Please? Please, please!" "No," Celestia shutters Pinkie's dream, causing the girl's hair to deflate a bit: "We must stop the three of them from turning the competition into a fighting show. However, I'm willing to host another smaller scaled show before spring break and you guys can compete in that." "Yes!" Pinkie, learned of this news, bounces up and down with hair fully inflated.