Prologue: "Whoops"
“What do you MEAN ‘trouble with the summoning circle?!’” Damon sat bolt-upright as his mid-day nap was interrupted by the unseemly bit of news. He had been trying to sleep in his favorite chair on the veranda, overlooking the Valoran sunrise when an unfortunate bit of news had been disseminated. Blood running cold, Damon lurched out of his chair and began the long descent from the Ministry of War’s uppermost tower.
“What about stability?”
“Th-that’s the thing, sir.” The short yordle unfortunately named Bump pushed his glasses back up his nose, running to keep up with the Demacian’s long stride. “Th-the whole thing seems stable, it’s just… Not summoning from Runeterra!”
“I find this difficult to believe. Come on.” Damon doubled his pace, picking up into a brisk jog down the stairwell. Unfortunately for Bump, that meant sprinting to keep up. The Ministry’s long-standing history of political ceasefire had been uninterrupted ever since the end of the Ionian conflict. There were plenty of times when that peace had been tested, sure, but open war between Demacia and Noxus had been avoided for a long, long while.
“Damon!” Visera, a shapely Noxian woman, emerged from her quarters as they rushed past. “Did you hear about the circle?!”
“We’re on our way now, come on!” Damon urged the yordle and the Noxian faster down the tower, much to the latter’s chagrin. The headlong rush down the stairwell was beginning to wear on the others. Damon didn’t dare pause for a moment. “Bump,” he called over his shoulder. “Warn the Exarch and the Summoners Council. We may have to suspend action in the Rift while we sort this out.”
“Sir!” Bump ducked out of the stairwell and onto one of the upper landings, thankful that he could finally go his own pace.
“Visera, I want you to ready the failsafe. We’ll pull the plug on the summoners if we must. We cannot lose balance.”
“A-are you sure, sir? That seems a little harsh…”
“As a last resort. Go.” Damon waved her off as he spun another corner, sprinting full-tilt down another hallway. Visera shouldered through a door on the third level, and he heard her cursing as she began throwing out commands to the attendants.
Damon himself was intent on the basement, and the Summoning Circle.
“Alright!” He burst through the door, and all eyes were on him. “What do we have?”
“An unknown bit of interference, sir!” The chief attendant, another yordle by the name of Yip, or something to that effect, popped up at his side. “It’s strange, we’re just not summoning our templates as we suspected!”
“What? I don’t understand, how can they be summoning something other than our champions? What of the roster?”
“It’s been replaced, sir! Look!” Yip turned to an arcane display, and Damon watched with wide eyes as the light swelled. On the screen, where they’d typically show the five summoners on each team and their selected champion, was instead ten completely different portraits.
“Yip, where did they summon these templates from? Who made these?”
“We don’t know sir, but we’re investigating the spells now. For whatever reason, our champions just weren’t available for selection!”
“And you didn’t pull the plug immediately?!” Damon whirled on the yordle. He was not a man to be trifled with on a good day, but Yip didn’t seem fazed by his fearsome countenance. She beamed in her signature way up at him.
“Nope! It’s way too interesting!”
“Curse you and your inquisitive mind.” Damon sighed as he turned back to the display. “So if not Runeterra, then where are they being summoned from?”
“Sir!” Another attendant nearby, a waspy little Ionian brat, lifted his own display up. “I found out where these templates are being summoned from!”
“Let me see that.” Damon rushed over, pushing the man aside. There, at the bottom of the complicated star chart, was a single word. Damon blinked at it before looking back up at the ten mysterious portraits.
“Where in the blue blazes is ‘Equestria?’”
Welcome to the Summoner's Rift
Chapter 1: Welcome to the Summoner’s Rift
Twilight had NOT been expecting that. She groaned and looked around at their surroundings, blinking unevenly. “By the stars, where did we end up?”
“Uum, Twilight.” Celestia’s soft voice sounded stressed. Twilight shook her head, feeling slightly heavier than it had before. “I don’t think your spell worked the way you wanted it to.”
“Of course it worked,” Twilight grimaced. “Just not the way I wanted it to…” As her eyes finally laid on Celestia, a smirk crossed her lips. “Nice armor, Princess.” Celestia’s usually-graceful form had been clad in an unseemly bit of plate armor, with a lot of unnecessary protrusions and interlocking plates. More than that, though, was the ridiculous carapace strapped to her back, covering her wings. It looked not unlike a shield a guard would use.
“Well, I should say your spell malfunctioned. Look at that hat!” Celestia’s lips split in a grin as she pointed to Twilight’s head.
“Huh?” Twilight felt the weight on her head shift a bit, and she shook it off. With a soft noise, the pointed hat fell to the ground, kicking up a small bit of dust. It looked like the hat she had worn for her Starswirl the Bearded costume. “I don’t get it. I didn’t give us clothing.” She glanced at Celestia. “Or armor, for that matter.” She looked at Celestia a little more closely. “Princess, why do you have a sword?”
“An’ why in tarnation do I have THIS?!” Applejack’s drawl made Twilight look up, though she hastily began laughing.
“What IS that, even?!” She chuckled, pointing to the massive… thing… strapped to Applejack’s back.
“Ah don’ know, but it’s beginnin’ to tick me off! Seriously, Twilight, you could have given me a little WARNING!” Applejack, along with a few of her other friends, had agreed to help her with her most recent spell. The effects it had had were beginning to worry her, but she just had to laugh. The thing on Applejack’s back looked like two miniature barrels of cider, except they were turned sideways and had the ends chopped off.
“Ooh! Ooh! I know! That looks like a party cannon!” Pinkie Pie was here as well, seeming just as exuberant and happy as ever. Twilight smiled at her friend, though she didn’t see anybody else who had helped them out. Instead, she saw Big Macintosh.
“Uuh, hey Big Mac. What are you doing here?” The stoic farm pony just shrugged. He didn’t speak much, to Twilight’s knowledge. He hadn’t been nearby when she cast the spell, so having him here was slightly worrying. Rather than fret about it, Twilight decided to survey their surroundings. They appeared to have arrived on a stone dias, surrounded by an ancient and crumbling ruin. Immediately behind them was a very thick forest. The harder Twilight focused, the more she realized she couldn’t see through the thick trees.
Turning her attention back to the fore, Twilight had to freeze.
“Oh, I wish Rarity could see this.” She breathed, eyes gone wide at the sight of the massive gem before her. It was wreathed by six stone statues that seemed to stand in awe of its power. She stood atop the dais staring in awe for a while before a soft voice shook her out of it.
“It’s always remarkable the first time you see it.”
“Yeah…”
“’S why I set up shop here.”
“Yeah, I can imagine why… Wait, shop?” Twilight started and looked around, unsure where the unfamiliar voice came from.
“Down here.”
“Gah!” Twilight gasped as the voice came from her knee, or the relative area of it. She blinked down at the tiny, furry creature, her mind reeling. “I… Uum, hello?”
“Hello yourself.” The tiny creature beamed up at her. “Name’s Doran. Welcome to the Summoner’s Rift.”
“Summoner’s Rift? Is that what you call this world?” Twilight looked around at the ruin, the massive gem, and the unfamiliar sky above.
“Hah! No! This world is called Runeterra. I haven’t seen any of you before, though. Are you new champions?”
“Champions? What?” Twilight blinked. “We’re ponies from Equestria. Who are you?”
“I already told you; I’m Doran.” The creature frowned up at her. “You sure you’re not a champion? Only champions can be summoned in here…”
“I’m not!” Twilight protested. She was about to holler some more at the abysmal little thing when a soft hoof rested on her shoulder.
“We are indeed champions of our own sort, Doran. I’m pleased to meet you.” Celestia slipped around Twilight, smiling down at the tiny, furry creature. “Please, since we’re new here, could you tell us more about this place?”
“Well, you know the name, but I suppose you don’t know nothin’ about the game.” Doran sighed as he trotted down the steps just to the left of the dais they stood upon. Reluctantly, Twilight, Applejack, Big Mac and Celestia followed him. Pinkie Pie didn’t seem as reluctant, given her bouncing gait and ever-present grin. At the base of the steps was an assortment of bags and crates, and it was atop one of them that Doran scrambled before looking them all over.
“This is the Summoner’s Rift. Your goal here is simple.” He pointed to the large gem Twilight had been mystified by. “Protect this here Nexus, and destroy the enemy’s Nexus.”
“Sounds easy ‘nuff.” Applejack narrowed her eyes at Doran. “What’s the catch?”
“Oh, nothing…” Doran picked one of his claws casually. “Just the hordes of enemy minions, jungle monsters, a nasty dragon, the Baron, and the other team to get through.”
“… Wut.” Twilight blinked at the creature.
“I told you.” Doran grinned at them. “Welcome to the Summoner’s Rift.”
~~~~~~~~~
Champion Spotlight: Twilight Sparkle – The Magus
Passive: Bookworm
Twilight’s mana regeneration is increased by 1% for each 1% she is missing
Q- Unicorn Blast
Active: Twilight blasts target enemy with magic.
Passive: Twilight gains +1 AP for each enemy minion killed by Unicorn Blast, and +5 AP for each enemy champion slain by any source of damage.
W- Parasprite Barrage
Active: Twilight summons a REALLY fat Parasprite that falls on target location, dealing damage upon landing.
E-Gates of Tartarus
Active: Twilight summons the gates of Tartarus for a short time, stunning all enemies caught between them, and any who stupidly walk into it.
R- Mary Sue
Active: Twilight blasts target enemy champion with a totally OP ball of magic, dealing higher damage the more powerful her enemy is. (Seriously, it’s broken.)
“They laughed at my wings. I laughed at their DEATH! MWAHAHAHAAHAH!” – Twilight
