//------------------------------//
// Arc 10-2: Double Trouble for Everyone 
// Story: My Little Pony: One as a Family.  "Life in Canterlot" 
// by SaburoDaimando 
//------------------------------//


Double Trouble for Everyone





It was a cold afternoon at the Ponville fair.  Mr Bovine crashed through a nearby booth as pillars of ice surrounded it.  Atop his back was Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Rarity, Moondancer, Pinkie Pie, Trixie, Sunburst and Starlight Glimmer.  Starlight was covering her face on Mr Bovine’s back while Sunburst held onto her.  Twilgiht Sparkle held onto Spike, who showed no sign of any danger.   Right behind them was Granny Smith, Filthy Rich, Spoiled Rich, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Danged Spell, running as fast as they could.  Danged Spell’s eyes were already glowing and his sharp teeth were visible.
“Is she going to be alright?” Trixie yelled.
“She’s been scared half-to-death many times,” Sunburst yelled.  “We’re always here to help out a friend.”
“I know Fluttershy happens to be afraid of the outside world every once in a while,” Rarity said.  “But it seems your close friend happens to be even more afraid.”
“It’s a long story,” Sunburst said.  “And I’d like to wait till we get to safety.”
“No argument there,” Rarity replied.
Granny Smith looked at Mr Bovine and noticed that he was starting to slow down a bit.
“Bovine,” Granny Smith said as she ran up to the side of the big bull.  “Are you sure you can handle yourself?
“Right now,” Mr Bovine replied.  “The pain means nothing compared to the peril we’re all in.”
Filthy Rich ran up to the right side of Mr Bovine and said “The one thing I’m worried about is my daughter Diamond Tiara.”
“We’ll find your child, Mr Rich,” Mr Bovine said as he began to pant.  “I swear to you by my own horns.”
But as Bovine ran as fast as possible with the children atop of him, a blast of cold ice hit him on the lower right arm.  The bull yelled out in pain as he went flying, causing the fillies and colt to hold on tight, with Twilight holding down Spike with her magic.
“BOVINE!” Fluttershy yelled as she flew towards the big bull.
Mr Bovine flew right into a nearby tent and crash landed right in the middle of some pillows.  The impact caused Pinkie Pie and Moondancer to lose their grip on Bovine’s back as they went flying out of the tent and crashed into a nearby bush.  Fluttershy flew into the tent as her jaw dropped at Bovine’s pain.
“Mr Bovine,” Fluttershy said in despair as Twilight Sparkle, Starlight Glimmer, Rarity, Sunburst and Trixie got off his back.  “Are you alright?”
“No,” Mr Bovine yelled as he pulled up his right arm, now covered in ice.  “Something froze my arm, and it hurts badly.”
“Oh no,” Twilight Sparkle said as she held onto Spike. “Just when we were about to exit the fair.”
Outside, Danged Spell, Rainbow Dash, Granny Smith, Filthy Rich and Spoiled Rich stared in horror as they saw Mr Bovine wincing in agony.  
“We’ve pushed him too far,” Granny Smith said.  “Poor bull.”
“That wasn’t just that,” Filthy Rich said.  “Someone knew we were coming this way and laid out a trap for us.”
“And we’re not out of the woods just yet,” Rainbow Dash said.  “Who knows what those cultists are up to?”
“And I still worry for my own daughter,” Spoiled Rich said.  “I just hope those cretins haven’t gotten their hooves on her.”
“Oh you’ll get to reunite with your daughter, once we froze all of Equestria.”  Spoiled Rich, Granny Smith, Filthy Rich, Rainbow Dash and Danged Spell turned around and saw a group of Windigo’s Guild Cultist surround them.  Danged Spell growled at the cult group as he stood by Granny Smith.
“You have a lot of nerve to wreck our beloved Ponyville Fair,” Granny Smith yelled.
One of the cultists took a step forward and said. “You have no idea.”
The lone cultist charged up his magic and pointed it directly at Granny Smith, who watched in horror before covering her face as the cultist fired off a blast of ice, covering the environment in a blanket of pure white.  
When the white cloud disappeared, Granny Smith opened her eyes and looked downwards.  Nothing appeared to have affected her.
“I’m….alright?” Granny Smith said as she saw nothing wrong with her body.
“SWEET MILK!” Granny Smith turned to her right and saw Filthy Rich shreking in complete horror.  Right next to her was Spoiled Rich, completely frozen in ice.  It was enough to cause Danged Spell to snap out of his Wolf’s Breath Curse and stare down in complete fear.  
Granny Smith turned to the cultists and said “What in Celestia’s name did you do?”
The cultist just smiled and said “The same thing we did to her sister Princess Luna.  A taste of what you will become, you old hag.”
Without a second thought, the cultist fired off another beam of pure ice at Granny Smith.  The senior pony could do nothing, but cover her face as the beam came close and enveloped her in a bright light.
When the light cleared, Granny Smith had been knocked inside the tent near Mr Bovine and the younglings  But like with the last blast, nothing had affected her.  She looked up and saw Filthy Rich, now frozen completely like Spoiled Rich.  The pose he made indicated that he pushed Granny Smith aside before taking the blow from the blast.
“Oh dear,” Granny Smith said.  “What would Diamond Tiara say if she saw her parents like that?”
Twilight Sparkle placed Spike to her side as she jumped down from Mr Bovine and walked up to Granny Smith.  She approached her and said “I think we’re all in for a world of hurt.”
Fluttershy flew up to Spike and picked him up before placing him next to Mr Bovine.
“Don’t you worry little Spike.” Fluttershy said.  “You’ll be okay.”
Rarity walked up to Spike and said “Awww.  Did you miss me?” Spike reached out to Rarity with a soothing coo.
“You seem to have a thing with Baby Dragons, Rarity,” Fluttershy said.
“Not really,” Rarity said.  “This one seems to have a crush on me.”

Outside, Danged Spell’s eyes had returned to his yellow-white glow as he madly barked at the cultists, who only laughed at him.
“Look here,” Another cultist laughed.  “It’s that colt who thinks he’s a dog.”
“What do you say we fix him up?” A third cultist said.
As Danged Spell barked at the cultists, one of them pointed his horn at the young colt and fired off a blast of pure ice at him.  Before the ice collided with Danged Spell, Rainbow Dash swooped out from the sky and grabbed the wolfish unicorn colt out.  The ice collided with the ground and formed a set of frozen spikes in his place.
“Well nuts,” the cultist said as he kicked up dirt.
In the air, Danged Spell barked downwards at the cult as Rainbow Dash held onto him tightly.
“Hold still, fido,” Rainbow Dash said as she held Danged Spell tightly.  “We need to think of a plan to get the others out.
Rainbow Dash looked around the tent.  But all she could see were Windigo’s Guild cultists surrounding it, with all the exits blocked off. 
“This ain’t good,” Rainbow Dash said as Danged Spell continued to bark.  “The moment they try to escape, they’ll become a pony popsicle.”

Inside, Granny Smith stood her ground alongside Twilight Sparkle as the cult members inched closer to them.  Nearby on the pile of pillows, Mr Bovine laid there, tending to his arm with Starlight Glimmer, Sunburst, Fluttershy, and Trixie  looking after him, all while Rarity was occupied with Spike.  
“You mongrels have a lot of nerve to invade our fair and put our friends in the deep freeze,” Granny Smith yelled.  “You wanna freeze me?  Do your worst.”
“Gladly,” one of the cultists said.
Without a second thought, Granny Smith picked up Twilight by the scruff of her neck and threw her towards a set of pillows as she was hit by a blast of pure ice.  When the white cloud cleared, Twilight Sparkle moved her head, and saw that Granny Smith was frozen in place.  The unicorn filly’s face turned to complete fear.
“NO!” Twilight yelled.
“MY GOODNESS!” Rarity yelled as she covered Spike’s face.
“Granny Smith,” Mr Bovine said as he began to tear up.  “She was always there for us since becoming the matriarch of the Apple family.  She will not be forgotten.”
“If we can get through all this,” Sunburst said.
Suddenly, ice began to form at the doorway of the tent, forming as fast as possible until the entire entrance was blocked off by the frozen sheet.  
“What happened?” Rarity yelled as she kept Spike’s eyes covered.  “Are we trapped?”
Trixie walked up to one of the tent’s sides and lifted the tarp.  Outside, the entire tent was completely covered in a dome of pure ice.  Trixie looked outwards and saw what looked like the cultists walked away from the dome of ice.
“I’m afraid so,” Trixie said.  “They froze us all inside a prison.”
“WHAT?” Twilight yelled.  “First our adult supervisors get frozen in ice and now this?”
Starlight looked like she was about to cry as she let out a few sniffles.  She tried desperately to hold it in.
“I can’t believe this,” Starlight said.  “We’re all going to die.”
And with that, Starlight Glimmer cried her eyes out, pouring mountains of tears from her eyes.  
“WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN TO ALL OF US?” Starlight cried. “IT’S NOT FAIR!”
Fluttershy looked at Starlight Glimmer, and a few tears began to fall from the pegasus filly.
“Oh dear,” Fluttershy said.  “Seeing you cry makes me wanna...wanna…”
Fluttershy gave Starlight a big hug as she began to cry as well.  The two held onto each other as tears flowed from her eyes.
“I’m afraid we’ve all reached a low point,” Rarity said as she gently rubbed Spike on the forehead.  “If only there was some way to get help.”
Suddenly, they all heard a sound of what appears to be some light taps.  Twilight Sparkle got up and ran to Trixie as the stage performer lifted up the tarp to see Rainbow Dash tapping on the ice with Danged Spell next to her.  The colt’s eyes were back to normal as his face of anger is now of despair.
“You guys alright?”  Rainbow Dash said as she saw Twilight and Trixie’s faces.
“We’re fine,” Twilight said.  “But Granny Smith’s been frozen in ice.”
“I can’t believe those cultists pulled that stunt,” Danged Spell said.  “It’s like they planned for this ambush.”
“That’s what I’m thinking,” Twilight said.  “And on a side note, Pinkie Pie and Moondancer are missing.”
“No.  We’re not.”  Rainbow Dash and Danged Spell turned towards the bushes to see Pinkie Pie and Moondancer emerge.
“You could say we went for the ride of our lives,” Pinkie Pie said as Danged Spell  smiled and gave Moondancer a big hug.
“Wow,” Moondancer said in an awkward tone.  “You really missed me.”
“Now’s not the time for reunions,” Twilight said as she and Trixie remained inside the ice dome.  “Find Princess Celestia.  She’s our only hope.”
“Will do,” Rainbow Dash said as she gave a salute.  She turned to Danged Spell, Pinkie Pie and Moondancer and said “As for you three, find Wanda and the others.  Make sure they’re out safe.”
Pinkie Pie, Moondancer and Danged Spell saluted Rainbow Dash as the rainbow-maned pegasus flew up into the air and took off.
“At times,” Pinkie Pie said.  “I wish I was truly the reincarnation of Discord.”
“Discord?” Danged Spell said.
“It’s a long story,” Pinkie Pie replied before she, Moondancer and Danged Spell turned tail and ran off, leaving Twilight and Trixie to watch as their friends went off in the distance.
“I can only hope that it’s not too late for them,” Twilight said.
“That I can agree on,” Trixie replied as she gave Twilight a hug.

Meanwhile, at another part of the fair, Princess Cadance and Shining Armor wandered around a now empty exposition, with Cadance carrying her hippogriff plushie.  Not a single soul was anywhere near them.  They were all alone.
“What do you suppose happened?” Princess Cadance asked.
“I have no idea,” Shining Armor said as he looked at the empty booths.  “One moment it was busy.  The next moment, there’s nothing left.”
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Princess Cadance said.  “I hope nothing bad happened to Wanda, Sunset and the others.”
As Shining Armor stood by Princess Cadance, he noticed two figures running towards them in the distance.
“Hey Cadance,” Shining Armor said as he poked at Princess Cadance’s shoulder.  “What’s that in front of us?”
Princess Cadance took a closer look at the two figures coming towards them.  One looked taller than the other, and it looked like it had some kind of ice on its horn.  Cadence raised her head as her eyes opened wide.
“It’s mother and Chancellor Cinch,”  Princess Cadance said.  “And they’re in distress.  Something terrible has happened.”
Princess Cadance and Shining Armor watched as Princess Celestia and Chancellor Cinch ran up.  The former still had a white and yellow glow in her eyes and her horn covered in ice.  Celestia and Cinch continued to run towards Cadance and Shining Armor before they slowed down and came to a stop, with Celestia’s eyes returning to normal.
“Mother,” Princess Cadance said.  “Is it true?  Did the Windigo’s Guild follow us here?”
“They have,” Princess Celestia replied, pointing her hoof to her frozen horn.  “While we were all enjoying our time at the fair, the Windigo’s Guild decided to crash the party and sent everyone running for their lives.”
“That’s despicable,” Shining Armor said.  “We all earned this time off from Canterlot, and this is what they chose to pull?”
“Wait a minute,” Princess Cadance said.  “Where’s Aunt Luna?”  Those words caused Princess Celestia and Chancellor Cinch to turn their heads in shame.
“Princess Cadance,” Chancellor Cinch replied.  “Princess Luna didn’t make it.  She stayed behind and held off Coldnelius Snap while we went to look for you and the others.”
“Oh no,” Princess Cadance said as she held her hoof to her mouth.  “Not Princess Luna.”
“Well we shouldn’t let her fall go to waste,” Shining Armor said as he slammed his hoof down.
“Shining,” Princess Cadance said as her attention shifted from Celestia and Cinch towards Shining Armor.
“Whoever these Windigo’s Cultists are, they have a lot of nerve to attack us while we’re just enjoying our time here.” Shining Armor said.   “We’re not going to let them get away with it.  Not after what they did to Princess Luna.”
“I know you want to avenge Princess Luna for what they did to her,” Chancellor Cinch said. “But that’s not really a good idea, considering how powerful they are and how they crippled Princess Celestia.”
“I am aware of that,” Shining Armor replied.  “But my main concern is making sure the kids are alright.  Now the first thing…”
But before Shining Armor could speak, his ears began to twitch.  He looked to his side and saw a few Windigo’s Guild cultists aiming their horn at Princess Cadance.  
“CADANCE!” Shining Armor yelled as he charged up his horn.  “DUCK!”
Princess Cadance, Chancellor Cinch and Princess Celestia turned towards the cultist as Shining Armor fired a blast of magic at him.  But as the spell approached the lone attacker, the ice cold magic of the cult member nullified Shining Armor’s magic.  The stallion shrieked in fear.
“A grave mistake,” The cultist said as he fired off a blast of ice cold magic, leaving Princess Cadance paralyzed in fear.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” Shining Armor said as he jumped in front of Princess Cadance and unleashed a torrent of magic from his horn, right at the ice blast.
“SHINING, NOOOO!”  Princess Cadance yelled.
The blast of ice collided with Shining Armor’s magic, creating a powerful explosion that knocked Princess Cadance, Chancellor Cinch and Princess Celestia into a nearby booth.  All three mares screamed before hitting the inside of the booth.
“What...just...happened?” Princess Celestia said, lying there in confusion.
As Princess Cadance got up, a wall of ice built up around the booth they were trapped in, moving faster and faster until it covered the entire booth.
“We’re trapped,” Princess Cadance said as she pounded on the ice, trying to look outside. “SHINING!” She yelled.  “SHINING, CAN YOU HEAR ME?”
Outside, the white fog cleared up to show Shining Armor, frozen completely in ice, as if he was trying to hold the line.  Princess Cadance’s heart sank completely.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Princess Cadance yelled as she pounded the ice wall frantically to no avail.  She fired off blasts of magic at the ice, only for her spells to disappear upon contact.  Tears flowed from Cadance’s eyes as she stood there helpless alongside Celestia and Cinch.
“Cadance,” Cinch said as she slowly got up and held out the hippogriff plushie.  “I’m sorry.”
Princess Cadance turned her attention towards the plushie before grabbing and crying right into the soft doll.  Princess Celestia looked at her adopted daughter, feeling helpless with her horn still frozen.
“First we lose Princess Luna,” Princess Celestia said.  “Then Shining Armor is lost, and now we’re trapped like rats.”
Chancellor Cinch looked outside from within the frozen booth.  Other than a frozen Shining Armor, a few cultists were walking off in the distance, appearing to be laughing in joy.
“If only someone would find out where we are.” Chancellor Cinch said as she looked down and pounded the ground with her hoof.
Suddenly, there was the sound of a tap on the ice.  Chancellor Cinch looked up and saw Rainbow Dash hovering outside.
“Hey,” Rainbow Dash said.  “Are you alright in there?”
Celestia slowly got up and walked towards the ice wall.  She reached up and said “We got ambushed by the Windigo’s guild in more ways than one.  I can’t use my magic, and it’s worthless to take out this ice.  Is there anyone else out there?”
“Negative,” Rainbow Dash replied.  “Granny Smith, Filthy and Spoiled Rich were frozen solid, and most of our friends were trapped under a tent with Mr Bovine.  Pinkie Pie, Moondancer, Danged Spell and I were the only ones that escaped.”
“Where’s the man’s cub?” Chancellor Cinch replied.
“Man’s cub?” Rainbow Dash asked in confusion.
“Wanda,” Princess Celestia replied.
“We haven’t been with her since entering the fair,” Rainbow Dash said.  “I assume Princess Luna is with her, Sunset and Applejack.”
“No,” Princess Celestia said.  “She was frozen as well.”
“DARNIT!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she pounded the ice in frustration.  “Now how am I to get any form of help?”
“Young lady, listen,” Chancellor Cinch replied.  “I don’t think they have gotten to Bright Mac and Buttercup: Applejack’s parents.  That’s where the Man’s Cub and her sister are.  Find them and make sure they’re safe.  You’re our last hope.”
“You got it,” Rainbow Dash said as she flew off.
Princess Celestia looked up as Rainbow Dash disappeared into the atmosphere and towards the frozen Shining Armor.  She turned to Princess Cadance, still crying into her plushie, and Chancellor Cinch, who had her hoof around Cadance’s shoulder.
“I always believed we would be in a heap of trouble one day,” Chancellor Cinch said as she comforted the teen alicorn.
“All I’m thinking of right now is if Wanda will be able to escape,” Princess Celestia said.  “I wanted her to be happy here.  But I never realized how much of a price she’ll pay when this is over.”
“I’m not so sure if the Man’s Cub will be able to escape,” Chancellor Cinch said.  “Not after what those monsters did to us.”
“She has to,” Princess Celestia replied.  “Otherwise, mother help us all.”



	To Be Continued in….


	The Cold Mist of Despair