@Background Pony #6973  

 
That, and who was so smart and recruited somepony for ice archery who openly admits that he sucks at another kind of sports that involves aiming?
 
Okay, so the Doctor couldn’t bowl his way out of a wet paper bag without causing utter mayhem, then let’s see how good he is at ice archery. What Could Possibly Go Wrong™?
 
That, or it was him who wanted to impress Rose (who accompanied him to the games and sat with him during the other events).

Reminder that they figured cheating was a bigger risk to the games than any sort of safety measures.

@SFaccountant  
Unless you’re a horse archer (which I guess these guys are), you’re not going to be running around Legolas’ing the enemy. You’re going to be firing your bow from stationary position to stationary position, and it’s only when you need change positions that you’d move. That’s how archer units did it back then: march into position, stop, notch the arrow, fire. The bows would just need to be mobile enough to be carried and easily deployed to be effective.  
And if you’re firing your arrows en masse with your unit into a horde of enemies, you won’t need to shoot accurately as much as you would need to shoot far and in rapid succession.

@Velcro  
Except at no point would an archer need to raise their head to up at the sky.

@Beau Skunky
 
You won’t need any help getting your hands cold with those ice arrows. Now as to the “dead” part, that’s a bit trickier.

And thus I have been given a fanfiction idea that I will never follow through.

@Ferrotter  
There I go wishing I could fave comments again.

The clouds were the secret target the whole time.  
He won the event.

@Kazapsky  
It’ll have to do until Equestrians invent better sunglasses. Or caps.

@Evowizard25  
Depends on where the civilian is hit. Ice arrow to the head, that’s easy to fix. Just take away all its memories of magic. Ice arrow to the heart, though, that’s complicated. It’d take an act of true love to save that pony.

 
Seems there are different techniques for ponies to use a bow.

It REALLY sucks to be this pony.

@WM-R  
But as a weapon for ungulates, the design is completely useless. They specifically need to fix it to the ground just to make it usable, and even then without the fine control offered by a good ol’ pair of hands on the bow, accuracy is a joke.  
An actual ballista would totally work, as would crossbows, blow darts, or even javelins. But I really can’t blame the guy for screwing up with a bow and arrow. That thing is ridiculous.

@Velcro
 
Something that reacts directly with the ammunition being used and is within range of said ammunition?

@Robomorons  
Actually, considering the event, it makes perfect sense to have something shielding the archers’ eyes from the glare of the sun.

@SFaccountant
 
If I had to hazard a guess, I’d think it was an earth pony weapon. Perhaps artillery to bombard enemy unicorns from afar, or a counter to high-flying pegasi. They’d probably be able to shoot farther than the average unicorn can throw things. And by attaching gunpowder to arrows and shooting into the sky, you get instant anti-air firepower. Fixing them into the ground would give you stability, like a ballista.

You know, among all the other problems happening here, I’d be most upset at whichever ancient tribespony invented the bow and arrow in the first place.  
Look at that thing. The way they have to mount and secure the bows ahead of time. The way they have to knock and aim the arrows with their mouths, unable to actually handle the bow properly. What pony could have possibly conceived of that weapon and thought it was a good, or remotely useful idea?  
Even for a unicorn, they could probably get better results cutting out the bow entirely and just magically flinging arrows around.  
Crazy ponies and their human tools.

@SRD639
 
Run! She’s gonna blow!

@Gundlach  

Ah Ice arrows, next to light arrows, these things were fun to shoot at enemies, especially watching them shatter if they flew. Good ol Zelda reference. Well played.

@SRD639  

@JP  
My inner gamer says you have to melt or break the ice before removing the arrow, if penetration had occurred.

@JP  
Maybe a fire arrow?

I wonder if their medical science can help a pony that has been turned into an ice. Because that’s what a stray arrow would do. The arrow doesn’t necessarily immediately kill you, but it’ll deep-freeze you.

@Gundlach  
If you make a reference to that fucking skyrim knee meme… I WILL END YOU.