Everypony received the letter only a day before the battle began. It was only a page long and strangely, only the lucky few knew what it meant. It had been sent from Cloudsdale and read:
To the Residents of Ponyville,
A long-awaited day approaches, one that only occurs once every fifty years. By orders of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, we are not to disclose the specifics of this event, and nopony who is aware of these details is to speak of it. Rules will become evident when the event is revealed and a magical barrier will be placed around Ponyville as to avoid any environmental implications. Magic will be disabled, save for basic levitation.
Teams are free-form, allowing for each individual pony to choose themselves, and there can be only one winning team or pony. Prepare your defenses, prepare your fortifications, and prepare yourselves.
It begins tomorrow at dawn.
"Ah don't understand...it sounds as if there's some sort of battle goin' on, but then it talks about it like it's some rodeo event!" Applejack stared at the letter in her hoof. Macintosh and Applebloom were equally puzzled, but the look on Granny Smith's face was one of smug knowing. "What in the hay is goin' on Granny?"
"It's obvious isn't it?" The elderly Apple chortled. "It's a war."
"WHAT?!" Applebloom and Applejack chorused.
Granny Smith was well aware of what was coming, she'd heard about it years ago in her teens. She'd heard about the mass-conflict, the sheer number of ponies taking part, and the mess it left afterwards. Of course, she couldn't tell them anything, oh no no no, they would find out for themselves soon enough...
...
As Spike read the letter out loud, Twilight's expression became increasingly anxious.
"What could it mean? Why hasn't Celestia told me about it? What does Cloudsdale have to do with it? How can-" She paced around the library impatiently, as if demanding an answer to appear in front of her.
"Twilight this sounds like fun!" Spike read over it again to himself. "It's like...well, I don't know what it's like because it hasn't happened yet, but if it's approved by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, then what could go wrong?" He reasoned.
"But they're talking about a war! And none of the books I have explain anything about it!" Spike recognized the 'I'm-panicking-and-there's-nothing-you-can-do-about-it' face when he saw it. "I'm a princess, an alicorn, I need to know what these things mean! Don't you see how important this is?!" She teleported in front of him, staring the dragon in the eyes with a slightly mad expression.
"Well, they're keeping it a secret for a reason, so I'm happy to wait," Spike largely ignored her and began carrying out his chores. "Besides, there must be someone in Ponyville who knows what's happening."
Twilight's eyes widened and she rushed out of the library, leaving Spike to his dusting.
...
A rainbow-coloured blur shot through the large town, banking between buildings and whizzing past the other town ponies. Eventually she arrived at the Golden Oak Library and burst through the door, causing Spike to fall off his ladder.
"Spike! Where's Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked him excitedly.
"She just left a few minutes ago, I think she's trying to find out what this big 'event' is about," Spike picked himself up off the floor. "Do you know what's going on?"
"No, but it sounds awesome! Hey Spike, you wanna be on my team?"
"Huh?"
"I'm putting together a team for the thing tomorrow and I'm getting all our friends together, you want to join?" Rainbow Dash's competitive streak had ignited as soon as she'd read the word 'teams'. The last time Spike had tried to compete in something...well, he hadn't exactly competed, but it had been extremely embarrassing not being able to light the Equestria Games torch. Then again...he had saved everyone from a falling ice cloud...
"Sure!" The baby dragon eventually replied. "Is Rarity and everyone else going to be there?"
"Yeah they are! Anyway, gotta tell everyone about it, see ya later!" And with that she flew out the door, searching with keen eyes for the telltale purple mane. She would need an 'egghead' for her team, there might be a lecturing contest.
...
Twilight had searched all over town, but only a couple of ponies gave her any hint of knowledge. And even they wouldn't tell her! It was extremely frustrating to say the least, and the Alicorn had almost given up when Rainbow Dash caught up to her. But her face visibly fell when she learned that Rainbow didn't know any more than she did, and was only creating a team. Reluctantly, she agreed, deciding that the only way to find out would be to take part. Then she realized the obvious. She could just send Celestia a letter!
The reply was more than disappointing.
Dearest Twilight,
I assure you it will be much more enjoyable without any prior knowledge, I'm afraid I cannot impart to you any details.
Your mentor, Princess Celestia
"The one time Celestia isn't allowed to tell me something..." Twilight grumbled.
...
Two hours later, and Rainbow Dash had gathered everypony in her team together in Sugarcube Corner. With no-one - excluding Granny Smith, who wouldn't tell them anything - knowing what might happen tomorrow, they were glad to stick together. The team consisted of Twilight, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Big Mac and Granny Smith.
"So, do we all know why we're here?" Rainbow called, appointing herself the leader.
"Ooh, ooh, is to eat cake?!" Pinkie Pie suggested, stuffing an entire muffin in her mouth in one gulp.
"No Pinkie..." Rainbow Dash face-hooved.
"Is it to get cutie marks in...um, whatever's happening tomorrow?!" Sweetiebelle shouted excitably.
"It's a possibility," The pegasus mused, giving Scootaloo a small grin.
"To prepare for the inevitable war that breaks out tomorrow?!" Twilight cried hysterically, and everypony looked at her.
"Well...sorta. But I don't think it's gonna be an actual war. I mean come on, who announces they're going to attack a day early? They talked about teams and rules, so this must be some sporting activity. And I think we should work together. I mean come on, we each have loads of different skills, and we've done loads of stuff before! Some of us have competed in rodeos and the Equestria Games, whilst others have the sheer strength and determination to take first place! Together, we can win this!" There was a cheer as she said this, bringing a sense of team spirit to their hearts.
But doubt lingered in some eyes; what if this really was a war?
Chapter 2 - The Clouds Above
Rarity snapped awake, pulling off her eye mask and hearing only the sound of her own heartbeat. What had woken her?
She listened to the silence for a couple of seconds.
Suddenly, a massive thundering rumble started all around her, hammering her eardrums. Startled, she wondered what in Equestria it could be. A scheduled storm of some sort? The she heard a shriek and Sweetiebelle came running in, scared out of her mind and almost crying.
"It's alright darling, it must be just thunder," She reassured her as the noise faded. But in the back of her mind, there was a memory of the day before, and the letter. From Cloudsdale.
"B-but what about the thing that's happening today?" Sweetiebelle asked, beginning to calm down.
"I-I'm sure it's nothing," She gave a weak smile to her little sister. "Now back off to bed, I need my beauty sleep."
"But what about the noise? Shouldn't we take a look?" Sweetiebelle had a hint of fear in her voice.
"Well...I suppose a small peek can't hurt..." Rarity got out of bed and they slowly approached the curtained window, unsure of what they might find on the other side. Taking a breath, Rarity pulled back the drapes...
...
White.
That was the first immediate thought on Pinkie's mind as she stared at the wall of snow blocking the door. She slowly poked at the wet, powdery precipitation and a small pile fell to the floor.
"Erm...is this the big 'event' today?" Carrot Cake inquired from behind her. Cupcake stood beside him, equally confused, having been woken up by the twins' crying after the noise. But Pinkie wasn't listening.
A massive grin had spread across her face, and she turned around to face them.
"Do you know what this means?!" She asked with barely contained excitement.
"There's...a lot of snow outside?" Cupcake suggested.
"IT'S A SNOWBALL FIGHT!" Pinkie screamed ecstatically, leaping straight into the snow and disappearing from sight.
"How does she do that?" Carrot Cake mused.
...
"Er, Spike? Could you..?" Twilight gestured vaguely the snow blocking the doorway.
"Oh, yeah!" Spike, understanding what she meant, began to blow small flames, melting the snow and slowly creating a path to the top of the snow layer. They both walked up, and Twilight stared in realization at the cloud city above them.
"It was never a war!" She said, and Spike couldn't help but sigh. Partly in relief that she would stop panicking over nothing, and partly in exasperation that it had taken her that long to realize it. Then he noticed a familiar pegasus soaring towards them in the distance, a massive grin on her face.
"Hey gu-" Rainbow stopped, landed, and immediately fell straight through the snow. Apparently it couldn't hold up the weight of her ego.
She sheepishly flew back up, setting herself more gently on the new, white ground. "Uh, hi."
"Did you know about this?" Twilight asked in suspicion. "You do come from Cloudsdale after all."
"No, but they must have used the spare snow they don't use each winter, stored it up, then dropped it here!" She explained.
"...Every fifty years!" The unicorn remembered. "It all makes sense!"
"Yeah, anyway we need to get our team together, come on! We don't want to miss the action!"
"Wait...what action?" Twilight asked, confused.
"The snowball fight!" Spike and Rainbow chorused, as if it were obvious.
...
The three of them made their way further into Ponyville, seeing many of the other town ponies digging their way out of the snow, building snow ponies, or just staring in confusion at Cloudsdale.
"You know I don't think everypony has the same idea Rainbow," Twilight commented.
"Yeah...nopony's fighting anyway," Spike added.
As if to answer their question, a trio of pegasi descended from the sky, including-
"Spitfire!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
"Now, I know some of you might be confused as to what this is all about," She began, speaking to the town ponies. "Not to worry, this is simply a fun event-"
"Never thought I'd ever hear her say that," Rainbow Dash said quietly, giggling.
"-which is a use of Cloudsdale's leftover snow from each winter."
"Told ya," Rainbow whispered, and Spitfire sent her a stern glare.
"Everything else was explained in the letter, and I'm sure you won't have any problems figuring out what to do next. Good luck!" They flew off again, leaving all the ponies staring at each other with blank expressions.
"SURPRIIIIISE!" Pinkie Pie shot out of the snow like a missile, a snowball in each hoof. She threw them as hard as she could, hitting both Octavia and Vinyl Scratch in the face.
Then all hell broke loose.
