Day 1
*click*
Although small, the noise echoed through the ice rink. Everypony turned towards the door, it very lightly glowed blue. Thoughts raced through Rainbow's mind as she stared at the door, but one stuck out. The right one. They quarantined the rink individually. Without even thinking, she rammed herself into the door, but it didn't budge.
"What happened?"
Rainbow turned around, somepony else had followed them in.
"Rainbow Dash?"
Rainbow knew that voice, she knew it quite well.
"Scootaloo!" she cried, hugging her. Scootaloo seemed confused, but also happy.
"Why are you hugging me, Rainbow Dash? What happened?" she asked again.
Rainbow went pale. What was she going to tell Scootaloo?
Oh nothing, just that we're going to be trapped in here for a pretty long time and may freeze to death or maybe die from this crazy toxin, and I know what you're thinking, make Fluttershy change the temperature, but it's your choice. Freeze, die of toxin, or drown?
That definitely wasn't the best answer.
"Nothing, it's ok, just go enjoy the ice." Rainbow put on a fake smile.
"Actually, we were just going to get a snack from the concession stand." Sweetie smiled as they passed Rainbow Dash. Her mind raced. What could she say to stop them from leaving!?
"It's closed!" she yelped.
"We'll just use the vending machine!" Sweetie smiled.
Rainbow gritted her teeth. Damnit Sweetie Belle! "Broken!"
"Oh," Sweetie frowned. "Is it doing that thing where the numbers are all mixed up and wrong?"
Rainbow thought for a moment. If she said yes, she knew that Sweetie knew that Fluttershy could fix it fairly quickly, as this was a regular problem, so she simply shook her head, and softly fluttered in front of the door.
"We'll ask Fluttershy to take a look at it." Sweetie Belle puzzled at Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow stood her ground. Oh for the love of Celestia!
"Fluttershy's busy handling the COMPLETELY TEMPORARY quarantine." Rainbow knew that this probably wasn't entirely a lie. Fluttershy would never let anything happen to the rink, even though she didn't own it. She admired Fluttershy's loyalty.
"I'm gettin' a might cold, can we leave now?" Applebloom asked. This was the first time Rainbow had noticed that the temperature seemed lower than usual. Even with Fluttershy's earlier temperature change wouldn't make it this cold. How was Rainbow supposed to make up an excuse for this one? She couldn't. She had to come clean.
"Look, girls, the truth is, they quarantined the rink with us in it. We can't get out, and nobody can come in, the door's completely locked and guarded. We won't be getting out for a while." she sighed.
Scootaloo's face fell, her heart sank. Applebloom shivered slightly and the three huddled slightly closer.
"I'm getting c-cold too..." Sweetie Belle squeaked. Rainbow bit her lip as Pinkie skidded to a halt around them.
"It's freezing in here!" she shuddered. Scootaloo nodded sadly and shivered. Rainbow didn't know what to do. The frustration was getting to her. It was boiling up inside of her, just on the brink of coming out. She gritted her teeth and smashed against the door several times.
"Let us out!" she screamed as loud as she could. The sound bounced off the walls and echoed through the rink. Tears streamed from her eyes, but she didn't make another sound. She knew that "temporary" could easily be quite a long time. They could die from so many things. Starvation, toxin, hypothermia, drowning if Fluttershy decided to turn up the temperature, dehydration, there was so many options.
Rainbow grunted loudly and smashed up against the door once again before flying up into the air.
"This is crazy! They don't have the right to cage us like animals!" she shouted. Pinkie bit her lip. Scootaloo's wings buzzed as she tried to reach Rainbow's height only to fall once again. Sweetie Belle tried to act as Rainbow Dash, slamming against the door several times while Applebloom stared in confusion.
Just then, another sound echoed through the rink. It was the loudspeaker, Fluttershy's voice emitting from it.
"Attention all skaters and staff, the ice rink has been temporarily quarantined. Please remain calm and if you can, please make your way to the front desk. We're recording everybody's names and info to make sure everybody stays in good condition. If you take any medicine or need daily doses of anything, please report this to the staff. The actual rink has been individually quarantined as well. We are trying to find a way to feed and warm those inside, but please remain patient."
Rainbow thudded onto the ground. She wished so badly now that she had been wrong, and that the door was just stuck. But now it was confirmed. How the heck was she supposed to remain patient when she was going to die?! She tried to think of how she could survive each tragedy.
After some careful thought, she decided to share her ideas with the others. "Guys, come over here for a second." she called from the door, removing one of her skates and smashing it against the ice until the blade broke off. "I have some ideas on how we can handle each situation."
She began to scratch out her plans into the metal of the door while the others nodded along.
Toxin:
Avoid physical contact, don't move quickly to avoid heavy breathing.Hypothermia:
Huddle close together to share body heat, move on the spot.Hunger:
Eat skate leather or anything you might find on the ice. Only eat what you NEED.Thirst:
Use skate blade to chip off ice chunks and melt them in your mouth.Drowning:
Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash can assist in keeping everypony above the water using wings and magic.
Scootaloo's face turned red and she began to speak. "A-Actually Rainbow Dash, I can't fly." she explained.
Rainbow rolled her eyes and facehoofed with a sigh and scratched out Scootaloo's name with the skate blade
Drowning:
Sweetie Belle,Scootalooand Rainbow Dash can assist in keeping everypony above the water using wings and magic.
"There, better?" she asked.
Scootaloo frowned, then nodded.
The day had been a massive blur, first, the skating fun, then the quarantine, then the planning, then another announcement, then pretty much nothing until late that night when they all laid down on the cold ice to sleep. Nobody was really sleeping, though. It was much too cold.
*creak*
Rainbow knew that sound. It cut the air like a blade. It was an opening door. Rainbow bolted upright and raced over to the door, only to find it still closed. But one single beam of light cast across the dark rink. Coming from an open door. The equipment room!
Rainbow raced over and peeked in, Scootaloo stood, trying to pull a hockey net out. Rainbow looked left, only to see several hockey nets already arranged.
She flew over and assisted Scootaloo, yanking the net free.
"Rainbow Dash? Thanks, I was trying to sleep but I was freezing, and then I had an idea! Check this out!" she beamed, buzzing her wings until she lay atop the net, using it quite well as a bed. Rainbow smiled. "Kid, you're pretty smart. I'll get the others, can you move this one out there on your own?" she praised.
Scootaloo nodded with a smile as she speedily pulled the net out of the room. Rainbow flew off in a hurry to inform her friends, still surprised by Scootaloo's great idea.