//------------------------------//
// 1 The Burdening Spell 
// Story: Surrender Dragons 
// by Brass Polish 
//------------------------------//

	Sunset Shimmer had no idea where Garble had just come from, but there was nowhere for him to run now.
“Gotcha!” she hissed as she jumped him and pinned him down on the concrete path. “You’ve had us all worried, you know!”
Garble knew he was no match for Sunset on his own, so he didn’t resist as she picked him up and held him in one arm. With her free hand, she took out her cellphone and dialled a number.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Fluttershy. Sunset here,” said Sunset. “Good news. I found Garble.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful!” exclaimed AltFluttershy’s voice from the phone. “Thank you so much, Sunset!”
“Don’t worry about it,” Sunset smiled.
She looked down at Garble, who’s head was turned towards the unopen portal to Equestria.
“Say hello to Fluttershy,” said Sunset, holding her phone in front of Garble’s face.
Garble barked twice.
“Hi, Garby,” cooed AltFluttershy’s voice. “Who’s a good boy, huh?”
“Good boy?! Yeah right,” Sunset held her phone back to her ear and looked at the red evening sky. “I’ve been chasing him for over an hour. The shelter must be closed by now.”
“It’s not quite 7 o’clock,” said AltFluttershy’s voice. “Maybe you can make it before they lock up. If you don’t, just bring Garble to my place. I can look after him until tomorrow.”
“Alright,” said Sunset. “I’ll call you later.”
And once they’d exchanged quick goodbyes and hung up, Sunset hurried away to the Canterlot Animal Shelter carrying Garble in her arms.

Sunset was sure she hadn’t made it before 7PM, but when she tried the door, it opened without problems.
“Perfect,” she grinned. “I’ll just put you back in your cage and be out of here before closing.”
Garble frowned up at Sunset as she entered the dark building.
“Why are all the lights off?” asked Sunset. “Did the last one here just forget to lock up? I guess I’d better do it when I…”
Sunset had carried Garble into the dog habitat, wherein sat dozens upon dozens of large empty cages. The trouble was there were meant to be a minimum of one dog in each cage.
“What happened?!” cried Sunset Shimmer.
“Did you hear that?” came a voice.
Sunset looked around. The voice had come from the door on the other end of the room which led to one of the interactivity rooms.
“Garble must’ve come back,” said another voice. “Good. That means the portal’s open and the way’s clear.”
Sunset was sure she was hearing wrong. The portal to Equestria couldn’t be open. Sure, there had been a full moon out since last night, but it hadn’t been even close to thirty moons since the Fall Formal.
“Looks like we’ll finally get to invade Equestria,” said the first voice.

Sunset knew she had no time to find out who was speaking in the interactivity room. She had to go and see for herself if the portal was open and do something to prevent whoever wanted to invade Equestria from doing so. But she hadn’t even turned around when Garble barked so loudly, the nearby cages rattled. Sunset dropped Garble in fright, and watched as the interactivity room door was thrown open. Two other dogs bolted into the enclosure. Sunset knew who they were. They’d been named Wrecks and Sinomen by the shelter. They’d been here since she’d first entered this world from Equestria.
“It’s one of the volunteers!” shouted Sinomen.
Sunset gasped. The only dog she’d ever heard talk in this world was Spike, who she knew all too well was a dragon by birth.
“Get her!” yelled Wrecks.
Nearly a hundred dogs erupted from the interactivity room and charged at Sunset Shimmer.

“Twily?”
Shining Armour stepped onto the Crystal Empire Station platform and walked up to Twilight.
“What are you doing here?” asked Shining Armour. “Applejack won’t be coming from sheep sensitivity training until tomorrow.”
“I know,” said Twilight. “I was supposed to meet an entertainer who wants to try out for the Crystal Fair. But I don’t think she’s coming. I’ve been waiting for an hour and two trains have come and gone.”
“Maybe she missed her train,” shrugged Shining Armour. “Anyways, it’s getting late. Maybe we should head back to the castle.”
Twilight looked up at the full moon and had to agree with her brother. However, Shining Armour was dreading his own suggestion.
“If there’s one thing I don’t like about this empire, it’s how far away the station is from the city,” he said. “How about you teleport us back to town.”
Twilight looked ahead towards the entrance to the Crystal Empire.
“I could teleport us to the front gates,” she said. “I can’t take us to the center of town or the castle. I have to be absolutely sure the place I’m teleporting to is completely empty if I can’t see it.”
Shining Armour was satisfied, and stood right next to Twilight as her horn began to glow.

Spike was looking for Twilight as well. He had just stepped out of the Crystal Empire in his search when he saw a flash of light coming from the distant train station. Then he had to jump to his left because another flash of light was appearing right next to him. Next second, Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armour were standing inches away.
“Oops!” gasped Twilight. “I’m sorry, Spike!”
Spike could only chuckle. “I love it when ponies ask you to teleport them. They just don’t get it.”
“So this is why the place has to be empty,” remarked Shining Armour. “So we don’t appear where someone’s standing.”
“Then you’d never be able to get rid of me,” grinned Spike.
“Oh come on, Spike. You know I don’t want to get rid of you,” Twilight said. “Um, I take it you were looking for me too.”
“Yeah. I have good news,” said Spike. “The engineering team you hired have the Mirror Portal set up.”
“That’s great,” smiled Twilight.
“So Cadance was right,” said Shining. “You did invite Sunset Shimmer to the Crystal Fair.”
“Well we’ve been pen pals for a while now,” said Twilight, “and she said she kind of misses Equestria and being equine. And since the next Crystal Fair is coming up…”
“So the portal’s back in the Empire?” asked Shining Armour.
“Yep, but one of the Royal Guard members said he put a burdening spell on it for security reasons,” said Spike.
“Oh, good,” Shining Armour said approvingly. “That way if there are any thieves or vandals around trying to meddle with the portal, they won’t be able to lift the mirror.”
“I really should learn that spell myself,” said Twilight. “So it’s ready to go?”
“Uh, huh. All you have to do is cast your magic on it to open it,” Spike nodded.
“Alright, why don’t we do that right now and try it out?” suggested Twilight. “If everything goes well, we’ll open it in two days so Sunset can come to the Crystal Fair.”

With that, Twilight and Spike headed for the room where they’d first encountered the Mirror Portal, while Shining Armour went to inform Cadance that he’d found her sister-in-law.
“Do you think Sunset will want to visit her family?” asked Spike.
“Um… I don’t know,” shrugged Twilight. “We never really talked about our families.”
“I can understand that,” said Spike. “I never knew my family. I mean, I know you and your friends are the closest I have, but whenever I meet someone and they ask me about my family, they’re never satisfied with my answers. All I can tell them is I was given to you as an egg.”
They arrived at the door they were looking for, but Twilight stopped right outside it.
“Funny how I met you during my entrance exam,” she said. “Now that I think of it, I don’t know anypony else who had to do that.”
“Well, you didn’t talk to the other students much,” said Spike. “You were Princess Celestia’s private student. You didn’t really have friends back then.”
“That’s true,” nodded Twilight, opening the door. “I never really asked anypony else what they had to do for their entrance--”

The Mirror Portal sat in the spot where Twilight had first seen it, this time with all the equipment she’d used to open it with Sunset’s book in order to enter the alternate world and help Canterlot High deal with the Sirens. Twilight had not activated it since then, and yet when she and Spike walked into the room and saw it, they could plainly see that the reflective surface of the mirror was rippling.
“Is it… on?” Spike asked.
“No,” Twilight said without a moment’s hesitation.
A second later. A sledgehammer came soaring out of the portal. Holding the handle was Sunset Shimmer, who sailed screaming into the room after it.
“What?!” exclaimed Twilight.
The sledgehammer crashed into a display case on the other side of the room, sending it toppling over. Sunset had let go of it beforehoof and was now picking herself up off the floor. She was scratched in several places and her mane and tail were ruffled. She turned towards the Mirror Portal.
“It’s indestructible!” she cried. “Rats!”

She spotted Twilight and Spike.
“Twilight, turn off the portal!” she urged. “Quick!”
“But, but, but,” stuttered Twilight, “But I haven’t turned it on!”
“Well turn it off!”
Twilight cast her magic on the book sitting atop the apparatus. Bright purple light gushed from it, slithered through the contraption’s workings, and rocketed into the center of the mirror. The flat glass surface no longer reflected the faces of a baffled ponies and dragon. It was solid red and looked like a sideways cyclone. Spike ran up to it and stuck his claw through it.
“It’s still on!” he exclaimed.
“Do it again!” Sunset hissed to Twilight.
Twilight did so, but when the red swirl disappeared from the mirror, Spike could still reach into it.
“How can it be on?!” cried Twilight. “It hasn’t been anywhere near thirty moons since it last opened on its own!”

Sunset was trembling. “We’re in big trouble.”
“What’s wrong?” asked Twilight.
“I just escaped from the Canterlot Animal Shelter,” said Sunset. “I heard a bunch of surrender dogs saying they were gonna come and take over Equestria.”
“Dogs are gonna invade?” asked Spike. “That doesn’t sound too hard to deal with.”
Sunset slapped her forehead. “Don’t you remember what you turned into when you went through that portal?!”
The realization hit Twilight and Spike like a sack of cat litter.
“How many dogs were there?!” asked Twilight.
“About a hundred.”
Twilight shrieked. “We’re gonna be invaded by dragons! Quick, Sunset. Help me smash the portal!”
“I tried that! It’s indestructible,” Sunset indicated the sledgehammer she’d been wielding, which had only managed to destroy the display case in the room.
“Let’s tip it onto the floor!” said Spike. “They can’t get in if the entrance is blocked.”
“But this floor’s made of crystal!” objected Twilight. “This whole castle’s made of crystal! The dragons will smash it! The whole castle could collapse!”
“OK, OK, we’ll take the portal outside and pin it against the ground,” decided Spike.
“That works,” agreed Sunset, lighting her horn.

Spike lifted the bottom of the mirror manually while Twilight and Sunset held it with their combined magic. It was at this point that Twilight and Spike remembered the burdening spell that had been put on the mirror.
“It’s… so… heavy…” strained Sunset.
“Come on!” Spike urged, slowly walking towards the door.
The trio managed to force the heavy mirror out into the corridor, but they were already exhausted and starting to sweat.
“We need help,” panted Twilight. “I’ll go get a guard.”
Without Twilight’s magic, the Mirror Portal was scraping the floor as Spike and Sunset struggled on. Twilight ran down the hall shouting at the top of her voice. When she turned the first corner she came across, she bumped into one of the royal guards. She was hoping to find a unicorn, but she wasn’t dissatisfied with a pegasus.
“Flash! We need your help to get the Mirror Portal out of the castle!” Twilight ordered, turning back the other way without waiting for a response.
“Aye, aye, your highness,” answered Flash Sentry, following on.
The portal was quickly brought to the first window Spike and the ponies found.
“Hurry!” pressed Sunset. “The dogs are on their way!”
Spike punched the window open. Twilight grabbed on side of the mirror, Flash grabbed the other, and they both flew out of the castle carrying the heavy portal with them. Both sets of wings were beating furiously and Twilight’s magic aura surrounded the mirror.
“We’ll set it down over there!” Twilight called hoarsely, looking at a flat grassy area outside the city limits.
“Got it!” replied Flash in a strained voice.
They didn’t quite make it that far.