A Cold Quarantine

by The Crusaders

Fluttershy

Fluttershy smiled as she tied the final lace on Sweetie Belle's ice skate. Her two friends, Scootaloo and Applebloom, had already begun their skating, and seemed to be having some trouble.

"Wow, thanks Fluttershy!" Sweetie belle smiled, hopping off the bench and stumbling to the door to the rink. "Cutie Mark Crusaders Ice Skaters Go!".

Fluttershy smiled and rolled her eyes, walking back to the counter and standing patiently behind it. She had always loved working at the ice rink from the very day she had been employed. It was so nice to see the smiles of the ponies as they stepped onto the ice or ordered a lovely snack from the snack bar. Her friends always enjoyed coming to visit her, and even stopping to skate sometimes. In her opinion, Pinkie was the best skater, even though Rainbow Dash was a close second.

Ring!

Fluttershy turned towards the door. The bell had rung, meaning somebody was here. Fluttershy smiled and stepped out from behind the counter.

"Rainbow Dash! Twilight! Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Spike, Applejack!" she welcomed. "It's so nice of you to drop in! Can I get you guys your regular skates?"

Rainbow Dash bolted up into the air, smiling. "Heck yeah! Today's the day I finally rank higher than Pinkie Pie! I've been practicing a bit!" Rainbow boasted, puffing out her chest and crossing her arms.

Pinkie Pie raced to the skate rack, bouncing up and down. "Yeah right, Dashie! I'm the top skater in here!" she smirked. Fluttershy giggled and flew lightly over to the rack, pulling several skates off the shelves.

"Oh, Rarity, bye the way, you're skates were looking a bit dull, so I re-glittered and polished them. Also, Applejack, I put new buckles on yours, I just saw them at the market and I couldn't help myself." Fluttershy informed them. Applejack smiled. "My, sugar cube! These look fancy!" she praised.

Meanwhile, Rarity was admiring each grain of glitter on the skates. "Fluttershy, these look simply marvelous. How ever can we thank you?" she asked.

"Oh, Rarity, it was nothing, no need to thank me." Fluttershy gushed. "Anyway, go ahead and put them on, I might join you guys for skating in a minute, I just need to adjust the temperature. The ice is a bit watery, I'm just going to turn it down a little bit." she explained.

Twilight frowned. "Ok, well, make sure you get up here! I was looking forward to hanging out with you a bit. We haven't seen you much lately. I know it's skating season, but still." she sighed.

Fluttershy nodded and smiled apologetically, then, after a quick goodbye, left to go change the temperature. When she arrived at the control room, a strange smell immediately reached her nostrils.

That's quite odd...I've never smelled something like this before...it smells...sickly... Fluttershy thought to herself. Carefully, she trotted over to the temperature control system, which had been safely tucked away in the corner. For years, this single machine had pumped cold or warm air into any room in the building, and Fluttershy knew it like the bottom of her hoof. She gave it a careful glance, something looked off. She adjusted the rink temperature to the desired number, then looked again. No, still off. Then it hit her. There was a small box attached to the bottom corner of the system.

Extremely cautiously, she leaned in towards it. The sickly smell returned, stronger than before. Oh my Celestia, this can't be good! I'd better tell Twilight! Maybe she'll know what it is!

---

Fluttershy watched as Twilight slipped the photo into the letter and handed it to Spike. Spike held the letter to face level and blew, sending it spiraling off to Canterlot in a flash of green flame. Fluttershy helped Scootaloo remove and re shelve her skates. "I don't get it! Why in tarnation do we all have to get off the ice?" Applebloom huffed.

"Because we found something, and we have to make sure it's still safe to use the rink." Fluttershy explained. Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Why wouldn't it be?" she muttered. Rainbow pouted in the corner as Pinkie showed Dash her spony skating medal.

Spike's stomach gurgled as he burped a cloud of smoke and green fire, revealing a scroll. Twilight caught it quickly with her magic before it hit the ground. She carefully removed the ribbon and read over the words written. Fluttershy desperately tried to find out what it said, trying to glance over Twilight's shoulder.

Suddenly, royal guards came racing towards the ice rink, leaping into position over every visible exit. The Crusaders screamed and hugged each other, knocking over a pile of knee pads. Fluttershy screamed and dove into a pile of helmets, sending several flying.

Twilight froze and the letter dropped onto the hard tile floor. "We're being temporarily quarantined. Fluttershy, that thing you found, it's emitted a toxin into every room in the building via ventilation system." Twilight spoke matter-of-factly. Fluttershy poked her head out of the pile with a gasp.

"So we can't leave? For how long?" she stammered. Twilight gave her a concerned look and shrugged. "I don't know, but I seriously hope it's not long..." she frowned.

"Well, we might as well make the best of the situation. Pinkie Pie, wanna skate?" Rainbow smirked.

"Oh, you're on!" Pinkie beamed, racing to the rink, Dash following her. Spike coughed lightly, then burped loudly as a letter flew out.

Twilight picked up the letter and gasped.

PS: I have no choice but to individually quarantine the rink. It's the biggest room, and it's consumed the most toxin. A guard will block it immediately, he will also be casting spells on all the doors. Please remain calm.

~Celestia

Twilight looked up to see a firm guard standing in front of the door, horn powered. "Rainbow Dash! Pinkie Pie!" Twilight screamed, racing to the guard. "Please, you have to let them out!" she begged. The guard stared idly on, as if she never was there.

Comments

[Tachyon Xenophile]

No genre tag?

[The Crusaders]

Thanks! I forgot completely!

[Clopreader]

Did anyone else notice that it was just like the No Safety in Numbers trilogy?