Friendship lasts forever.

Right?

Three years ago, Gilda and Rainbow Dash became fast friends at Junior Speedsters' Flight Camp. Time took its toll, though, and the pair drifted apart.

When Gilda tries to reconnect with her not-so-long lost friend, she'll discover that things can change a pony after three years: a new home, new job, and new friends.

This story continues in Summer Days

Title Image Credits
Original: http://mallorysbeast.deviantart.com
Coloring: Bandit (no link available)

Lyra Heartstrings' instrument of choice is an odd one, for a pony, at least. Then again, she had an odd teacher, too. When that teacher's legacy leads to Lyra being summoned before the High Council of the Griffin Empire, a desperate for work Gilda accepts a job as bodyguard for the unicorn, and the two become involved in events far larger than they ever could have imagined.

Ponyville is getting ready to host a Dodgeball Tournament when Gilda shows up, challenging them against her own team. As they prepare themselves, Twilight and her friends learn a surprising secret about a certain crossed-eyed mailpony. Will Ponyville be able to beat Gilda and her team? Or will they taste rubbery defeat?

When the Crystal Empire reappeared, nopony realised that in its absence
the frozen 'wasteland' where it once was had actually been claimed. Taking
the sudden colony on their land as an act of war, hostile griffins invade
Equestria in retaliation for the loss of territory. King Claw sends spies
to steal the Elements of Harmony so the ponies can't use them, plus
assassins with expertise in both magic and poisons to remove Celestia and
Luna first. In the midst of the invasion Twilight uses every scrap of magic
she can to teleport the injured alicorns, herself, Applejack and Rarity far
away from the danger - a plan that works only up to the point where she
faints and they are flung into the ether with no way of knowing where in
Equestria they'll end up. Separated and not knowing who has survived, the
ponies must reunite and find the Elements to win back their land before it
and its citizens become just a griffin hunting ground. Yet Pinkie Pie can't
remember who she is and must rely on a stranger to protect her, Fluttershy
has to hide her identity, and Rainbow Dash sees an old friend in the
griffin ranks that makes her question where her loyalty lies when she needs
it most.

There is a flood on the horizon. Equestria's enemies have united, and the coming tide will not only change the course of history on one world, but two, and bring about a monumental meeting that will bring brothers and sisters from those two worlds together.

At long last, the downtrodden will rise.

The battle begins.