A man sat cross-legged within his private study, a room appointed to him in recognition of his recent achievement. It had only been one week since he had been inducted into the strict and incredibly powerful order, and though his entry into these hallowed halls had not been long ago, accommodations had already been made for him that in any other order would have been reserved for elders. Here, even the most recent of additions were made equals, for all of them would play equal parts in guiding the fate of Runeterra.
He ran his black-gloved hand along the ornate trim on the deep hood of his robe. Anyone in this world would recognize the fine black and gold robe for what it was immediately: the robe of a Summoner. Even after a week of living with such a lofty title he could hardly believe it. Such disbelief was not surprising, though he knew with time it would fade as he became more sure in his abilities and began to realize his potential.
He reminded himself quietly that he had earned this. He had proven flawless in his studies; in terms of tactics, none in his training class could match him. No other student could compete with his knowledge of the other Summoners and their Champions. In his mind's eye he could see every last pebble of the battlegrounds. Most importantly of all, his willpower and determination stood out from that of his peers. Only one of the gifted few who underwent the training together would ever be selected, and when the Tribunal had made their decision there had been no doubt.
Him. They had chosen him. His studies, though arduous, had proven to be hardly a challenge compared to what came after. What separated Summoners from the various powerful mages who made Runeterra their home was a carefully guarded secret of the order, and a terrible one at that.
Even after passing his studies and being selected, one test remained. To become a Summoner, he would be forced to gaze into the Void, and return unscathed.
Many candidates as brilliant as he, or perhaps even more so, had lost their minds to the madness of that infinite place. Whispers existed even outside the order of men like Kassadin, who had seen the Void and were forever haunted by it. Many legends about that forbidden place between the worlds had been told by Valoran's inhabitants, and not one of them was pleasant.
That was the Summoner's secret. To be worthy to shape the fate of Runeterra, they must be able to peer between the various planes of existence without fear.
The young Summoner had seen things in the Void that were both horrifying and awe-inspiring. He had retained his mind and his humanity, and since then had survived many more visions of that place between worlds. With those experiences, he had become free. When gazing from the Void, he could look down on Runeterra and realize all at once his world's great strength, and its great insignificance. Countless other worlds existed, not a one of them any less worthy, each with fates of their own. To that end, Runeterra was but a speck of dust in the cloud of existence.
He had come to realize that this was the knowledge all Summoners needed to discover in order to be made worthy. To guide their Champions and fight, the Summoner must be objective. Whether such battles yield a golden age, or the destruction of Runeterra itself, the Summoner must realize that both are equally insignificant compared to the remaining infinity. Even were it gone, the other worlds and the Void itself would not miss Runeterra.
He fixed his eyes on the crystal ball hovering between his hands. Even for all that great knowledge and the powerful change it had worked in him, he had other purposes for gazing into the Void; Runeterra was not the only world with power in it. His first task as a Summoner was simple in theory, but it had proven incredibly difficult for him. The Tribunal commanded all new Summoners to find a Champion of their own to fight for them. Many of the older Summoners had pulled their Champions from Runeterra itself, arguing that creatures of other worlds, or even from the Void itself, had no place in deciding Runeterra's fate.
That method of thinking was old-fashioned. If this world's fate could be decided by its denizens alone, then the very formation of the League of Legends would have been unneeded. Yet it had been proven time and again that without a push, Runeterrans would simply war and bicker with no progress to show for it. To that end, the young Summoner had decided that a Champion from another world was needed to tip the scales.
Since his initiation he had cast himself over and over into the Void, gazing upon world after world and looking for a powerful creature who met his expectations. In order for their partnership to be efficient, it was critical that he find someone, or something, with a mentality and a spirit much like his own. The search was grueling; there were so many planes to sift through. Yet surely, with so many worlds to discover, the creature he sought had to exist!
He returned to his work once more. Runeterra was depending on his efforts, awaiting his Champion. Many hours passed as the crystal orb hovered in his hands, and the images of many worlds and creatures passed through its depths.
Then, at last, he felt it.
The creature that filled the orb burned with curiosity, much like his own. He could feel its nature... her nature. Her sense of justice, her eagerness to help her allies no matter the cost, and her amazing capacity for knowledge astounded him as the Void revealed mote after mote of her essence to him. She was kind, innocent even, and he was unable to deny that he felt a twinge of regret for that. The League of Legends had many kindhearted Champions, but this creature had not experienced the death or ferocity of battle that was inherent to it.
The fact that his heart ached for it only solidified his decision. While he knew that she would suffer for her involvement in the League, he had known that he would suffer as well when he had set himself upon this path. He, too, was unfamiliar with death and destruction.
They were perfect for one another.
The young Summoner smiled sadly as he gazed at the purplish creature inside the crystal orb. He placed his hands on it as if doing so would allow him to touch her, this creature who was so much like him. "You and I will do great things. Your world will miss you, but for the sake of my own I need your help," he whispered gently, though he knew she could not hear him.
"I have been searching for you. I have risked everything for this; my magic, my sanity, and even my very life. And at last, I've found you," he said, his sad smile shifting to one of warmth.
"Oh, the wonders you and I will work."
The Hall of Summoning was a truly awe inspiring place. Great pillars soared to a ceiling that could never be seen, for it was too high for the light of even the wondrous blue-crystal lamps to reach. The room had no windows, for it was at the very center of the Institute of War, the headquarters for all Summoners. The floor was polished black marble, perfectly reflecting the visages of the numerous enchanted statues that guarded the hall, much like those that stood vigil over the battlegrounds of the League.
At the center of the room was a slightly-raised circular platform of stone, its surface adorned with many mysterious runes. Four of the great guardian statues were arranged around one half of the circle, facing its center. Around the remaining half of the platform's edge ran a raised set of seats, seven in all, acting as a wall as if to guard that side of the circle in the statues' stead.
One summoner stood out from the rest in their mighty thrones, his seat the highest of all. A great white beard flowed out from his hood, but the shadows within were too deep to see the wise eyes all Summoners knew to dwell within. Arranged to his sides were six other men and women, impossible to discern the age of each, for they were likewise robed.
This was the Tribunal, the governing body of the Summoner order. They, too, were Summoners, but their lot was not to fight. Theirs was to ensure the balance of things, for they alone knew the intricate magics which governed everything within the League of Legends. It was their magic that prevented each Champion from becoming too powerful, their mastery of the Void that brought new champions from far-off worlds.
"Have you found your Champion, Armen?" the High Summoner asked, his voice shaky with age, but not lacking in volume or its commanding, deep tone.
"I have," the young Summoner replied dutifully. "At long last."
A warm, comfortable laugh echoed out from the High Summoner's hood. "I can see it in you; the excitement. You have found some creature you wish desperately to meet," the old man said quietly.
Armen could not see his face, yet he got the overwhelming feeling that the elder was smiling warmly at him. That notion, and the thoughts of the creature he had seen, both physically and spiritually, brought a pleasant smile of his own to his lips.
"And do you believe that what you have seen can change the tide in the battles that shape our world's destiny?" the High Summoner asked.
"I do," Armen replied without hesitation. "Only the gods of her world are greater, at least amongst the race of her people. Once the Tribunal has seen fit to balance her, I have no doubt that she will prove a skilled partner, and a worthy adversary in the battlegrounds," he finished, his voice never once wavering in its determination.
"Hmmm. Yes, I see her," the old man chuckled, but it was not a rude or mocking laugh. "The innocence in her heart may be troublesome for you. Are you willing to make the sacrifices that may be required of you because of that?"
Armen spent a short moment in shock before recalling who he was talking to. It should not have been surprising to find that the High Summoner could gaze into the Void without a scrying orb, or that he had found her so quickly. After all, it was his duty to pull her into Runeterra; a task that would be impossible if he could not locate her with ease.
"I am prepared. With all due respect, High Summoner, the fact that she has not killed before now means very little. Many of Runeterra's mightiest Champions were once innocent children themselves," Armen pointed out, glad to know that the Tribunal could not see his sad expression within the depths of his hood; it would have done little to convince them. "I will not let it break her."
A moment of silence passed, and Armen began to wonder if perhaps the High Summoner could see his face.
"Very well," the old man called at last. "You know a Summoner's duties to their Champion. I have faith that you will be her steadfast protector and wise guide. The Tribunal will summon her from her world, and pass her into your care. She will be a guest in Runeterra, and you are her host. Remember that Summoner and Champion are not master and servant, but rather sword and shield; partners with a common destiny."
Armen's heart raced with excitement. Logically he had expected the Tribunal to agree, but he had secretly feared they would decline his preferred Champion. The High Summoner's words only helped to solidify in his mind the role he knew he was meant to play; a role he was eager to fill.
"I will not fail her," Armen declared warmly, his tone sure and ready.
The High Summoner stood slowly, the other six members of the Tribunal following his lead. "Then let us begin," the old man said seriously.
Twilight groaned as the blackness in her vision slowly began to fade, giving way to a bright bluish glow. Though the darkness had finally managed to go away, everything was blurry and seemed to be gently swaying back and forth, as if she were looking through water.
Purely on instinct she moved to stand, but her front legs didn't have the strength to hold traction, and her hooves simply slid forward rather than propping her up.
"Is she well?" she heard someone say, a deep voice full of warm concern that seemed very far away, yet somehow she knew the speaker was very close.
"This is natural. She will recover soon," another deep voice called, a voice Twilight recognized as having the tremors of age in it. This voice, too, felt as if it were coming to her across a great distance. Or perhaps, her groggy mind reasoned, it was an echo, or even just imaginary.
Twilight closed her eyes, the waviness in her vision making her feel sick. Her whole body felt tingly, as if it were slowly recovering from being numb. Whatever the two voices were talking about, it didn't make any sense to her yet. Whatever was wrong with her, it felt absolutely miserable.
Many more minutes passed, and the voices seemed to grow closer as they discussed something Twilight couldn't follow. There was a great deal mentioned about 'summoning' and the 'Void', but it didn't mean anything to her. Eventually the second voice mentioned that it was leaving for a time, and the conversation stopped altogether.
At last the numbing feeling in her legs departed, and so she risked opening her eyes. The strangeness in her vision had finally vanished as well, and she could now see clearly.
Unfortunately, what she saw still didn't make any sense.
She lifted her head up from where it had been resting on the warm, polished stone beneath her. Blue light pulsed all around her, coming up like water through strange markings that carried the tell-tale swoops and angles common in all magical runes.
Ahead of her towered four enormous statues in the image of of some creature she didn't recognize, all of them looking at her with blue-crystal eyes. Each of them held a staff crowned with an enormous crystal diamond, almost like a spear, and the faces carved into them were stern. It was as if they were watching her carefully, and ready to strike at any moment if they had to.
Twilight simply remained laying on her side, unable to even think of moving as she took in the rest of the room ahead of her. This wasn't any place she recognized.
"Where am I?" she asked quietly, more to herself than anything.
"You are at the Institute of War," came the half-expected reply. It was one of the voices she had heard earlier; the warm and concerned one. "Can you stand?"
Twilight didn't honestly know the answer to that; she'd already tried it once, but it hadn't exactly worked out for her. Still, nothing was going to be answered by just laying down, so she rolled onto her stomach and forced herself to her hooves. Her legs still felt shaky and weak, but she managed.
"Good," came the voice again, relief clear in its tone. "I'm sorry for the condition you were in. I didn't realize that summoning you would have any such effect."
Finally upright, Twilight sent her eyes on the hunt for the speaker. It didn't take her long to find him, standing between the center two of the strange statues at the edge of the arcane circle she was standing on.
His appearance unnerved her. She couldn't see the creature's face, or anything about it at all. Every inch of it was covered in black cloth, and the hood was too deeply shrouded in shadow for her to see its face. Judging by the voice, the thing was obviously male.
She wracked her brain for ideas about what he could be. He was tall, far too tall to be a pony, and besides that it was clearly standing on just two legs. There were only two things Twilight could think of that were tall and stood on two legs. One was a Minotaur, but a Minotaur that tall would have been much, much wider at the shoulder.
The other thing it could be was a Draconnequis.
That thought brought an instant scowl to Twilight's face. "What are you?" she asked skeptically, the distrust in her tone practically tangible.
"Forgive me," the creature in black replied apologetically, walking out from between the towering statues and approaching Twilight.
Already agitated because of her previous condition and confusion, and not about to let a potential Draconnequis get too close, Twilight leveled her horn at the approaching figure, a command for him to stay back quick on her lips.
Her words never came, because as soon as she made her threatening move the massive statues reacted, the crystals atop their staves glowing fiercely. As quick as lightning the statues all began to move, each one jabbing their weapon towards Twilight.
"Enough!" the creature in black cried desperately, whirling to face the statues. "She means me no harm! Return to your vigil!"
The tips of their mighty crystal spears stopped only mere feet from Twilight, which may as well have been inches compared to the size of such weapons. She stood frozen in shock as the sharp crystals retreated, the glow within them fading while the statues returned to their previously immobile state, as if nothing had happened.
"I apologize... I didn't mean to cause you any alarm," the creature replied, sounding deeply upset. "You are my guest, after all, and this is hardly a fitting welcome," he grumbled.
"W-what are you?" Twilight asked again, recovering slightly from the fact that she had almost been stabbed to death with nothing more than a split-second's notice. The fact that this unknown thing in black had prevented that from happening was certainly helping her opinion of him a little more.
He held his hands in front of him in a placating gesture, as if to signal he wouldn't approach her again. Staying where he was, he reached up and threw his hood back, revealing his face.
He had tan skin, and no coat of fur. A patch of black hair that would never have passed for a mane sat atop his head, and a darker tint to his cheeks and jawline hinted at the stubble of what would otherwise be a full beard. He strongly resembled the creature that the murderous statues were modeled after.
He didn't look old, though clearly he was some kind of creature Twilight had never seen before, so she couldn't say for certain. He had hands rather than hooves, similar to Spike's clawed variation. She couldn't see the rest of him through his cloak, but she realized that her worry that he was a Draconnequis was pointless, for he had no wings or tail that she could see.
"I'm a human," he said at length, politely giving her time to her thoughts as she looked him over. "We don't exist in your world."
That sent up a big red flag for Twilight. She hadn't recognized the name 'Institute of War' when he'd mentioned it before, but then she had never heard of the Crystal Empire either until she'd been sent on a mission there. She had just assumed it was someplace in Equestria that the general public didn't know about.
That's not what it was starting to sound like at all.
"What do you mean 'my world'?" she asked cautiously, her mind already dreading the answer she knew was coming. The signs were too many, and too obvious.
"I'm sorry," the human replied sadly, his face perfectly matching the expression any pony would wear for such an apology, "but you are no longer in the world you were born into. You have been summoned to my world... Runeterra."
Though she had expected such an answer, the shock of that hit Twilight hard. Magic had long argued in favor of there being worlds besides the one that contained Equestria, but nothing had ever been proven. Yet here she was, clearly facing a creature not from any universe she was familiar with, in a place she didn't recognize.
Her mind raced as she re-examined everything the man had said and that she had seen. Where magic was concerned, she didn't have a drop of skepticism regarding the fact that she might really be in a world other than her own. Yet despite her observations, and her reasoning, she still hung onto a few moments of denial. However, the more she thought on it, the more she came to realize that it was true. This was not her world.
The realization slowly crept in that it meant she was alone. All sense of familiarity, and any hope of finding some, vanished in an instant. In this world there wouldn't be any Celestia, or Spike, or her other friends. Her parents, her brother... None of it would be here. Her already questionable standing abilities gave out, along with her composure, as she slumped to the ground, breathing heavily in panic. She sat there, staring at nothing as her heart and mind tried to wrestle with the idea that she was now somewhere she didn't know or understand, with no one she knew.
She suddenly felt a gentle touch atop her head, a physical contact that broke her out of her dark reverie and steered her gaze back to reality. She looked up to see a black-robed arm hovering ahead of her, a gloved hand resting between her ears. Her eyes ran up the length of that arm, her suddenly teary eyes fixing on the eyes of the human. He was smiling at her comfortingly, but she could see in his eyes that somehow he knew what she was feeling. As if he had expected and worried for it all along, and had simply been waiting to comfort her through it.
"I am sorry," he said again, his comforting smile turning sad. "I wish that I did not have to tear you from your home."
"Send me back," Twilight pleaded, her voice strained with sadness on the verge of breaking free. "You brought me here, so you have to be able to send me home!" she reasoned, needing to believe that.
The human sighed, and looked away from her, pulling his comforting hand from her head. "Yes, I can... but I will not," he said, and it was clear that he wished he hadn't had to say those words.
No matter the sympathy or regret in his tone, it did little to stall Twilight's anger. "You..." she growled, jumping back up on her hooves. "You take me away from my home, my friends, and all you do is keep apologizing! If you're sorry, then send me home! I didn't ask to be here!" she shouted.
The statues did nothing this time, though her posture was more threatening than ever. Even if they had moved to attack her, Twilight wouldn't have stopped; this anger was justified.
"I asked for you to be here," he replied quietly, his tone subdued, as if he understood that he deserved her anger and was willing to take it in stride.
"Why?" she asked, glaring at him.
"Because I need your help," he said firmly.
Her anger at being held prisoner in a world not her own wasn't about to just vanish, but his words confused her. "My help?" she asked, not willing to let go of her less-than-friendly tone, or her fierce scowl.
"Yes." The man nodded, and then sighed. "Please understand... The world you come from is at peace. Though you will miss your world, and it will miss you, its fate is secured. You have gods that watch over your world, and they are benevolent. I mean no harm by saying this, but even in your absence your world will prosper," he said quietly.
"Celestia and Luna," Twilight whispered, certain that the human was referring to them.
In response he simply nodded, though she could tell he clearly did not recognize the names. "This world, my world, is not so fortunate. There are no gods here to ensure a bright future. Here, the forces of good, evil, and neutrality are all equally balanced. Until one of them triumphs, Runeterra suffers from stagnation, at constant disagreement with itself," he whispered darkly.
"I don't understand," Twilight replied quietly. "How can you know my world will be safe? It might be peaceful now, but new evils attack Equestria all the time!" she said angrily, knowing full-well that, as the Element of Magic, Equestria was in danger without her.
"We are watching your world now. Because you are a guest in our own, the happenings of your world are now our concern. If something comes to pass that could not be prevented without your presence, we would return you to your world, this 'Equestria', immediately," he said with a comforting smile. "I understand that your world depends on your strength in times of trouble... it's for that very reason that I called upon you. For now, though, your world is safe."
"And yours is in trouble," Twilight said quietly, unwilling to admit that what the human was saying made sense. When trouble came knocking, Twilight was fairly dependable. "And you won't let me go back unless I help you?" she asked, scowling.
"That is unfortunately so," the human replied with an apologetic smile.
"But the minute something bad happens in Equestria, you'll send me back to stop it?" she prodded.
"We would never allow your world to suffer for the sake of our own. You have my solemn promise that you will be returned home if you are needed," he said gravely. It was the first time Twilight had seen him so serious, his expression determined and proud.
After many moments studying him and thinking over his words, Twilight sighed. "So I'm not a prisoner, but I can't just go home whenever I feel like..." she muttered, still trying to piece it all together.
"Never a prisoner," the human said indignantly. "You are our guest."
Twilight rolled her eyes, but gave up on her rebuttal with a sigh. "What about my friends and family? Will they know I'm gone?"
"Yes, they will know... But time passes differently between worlds," the human said, snapping his fingers suddenly as that realization came to him, something he recalled from his training. A crystal orb appeared as if from thin air suddenly, hovering between his hands.
Twilight looked into it, fully expecting there to be something, but all she could see was a bunch of black nothingness.
"You have already been in our world nearly an hour," the human said with a broad smile, clearly seeing something within the crystal ball that Twilight couldn't. "But in your world, it has not even been one second yet."
That put Twilight's eyebrows up a few notches in surprise. "Not even a full second?" she asked in disbelief, poking her head up through the man's arms to gaze at his side of the orb. "How can you tell?" she asked, still unable to see anything but blackness.
"I'm hiding the vision from you with my magic. Please understand. Allowing you to gaze upon the Void could cost you your sanity, or worse your life. You will simply have to trust that what I am saying to you is the truth; I have no reason to lie to you," he said with a reassuring smile. "Even if you were to stay here for a hundred years, it would only be half a year at the most in your world, and we will certainly not keep you that long."
Twilight stared at the black inside the orb intently, as if still expecting to see something that would prove him right. Half a year was a very long time, but like he had said, she wouldn't be kept that long. Even if she stayed for ten years, it would only be half of a month in Equestria.
The orb vanished suddenly, his gloved hands settling on her shoulders and spinning her around to face the smiling human. "Your friends and family may miss you, but it will not be for very long. I know that you will miss them, but I promise that you will be returned to them in time. Will you help me?" he asked, smile still in place all the while.
Twilight eyed him carefully, mulling everything over one final time. Either way it seemed she was trapped here. "I don't suppose I have a choice," she muttered, scowling. With a sigh, her displeased expression faded, and she nodded. "Yes, I'll help you."
"Wonderful!" the man cried, clapping a hand twice on her shoulder and laughing. "What is your name?"
"Twilight Sparkle," Twilight replied, unable to deny a smile at his enthusiasm. If she had to be trapped here, at least the first creature she had met was entertaining. "What's yours?"
"Armen. Armen Trimmek," he replied with a bow. "I am looking forward to working together. There's so much for me to teach you, and so much for you to learn."
Those words brought an automatic smile to Twilight's face. "You're in luck; it just so happens I love to learn," she said, her smile widening. "What does 'working together' mean, exactly?" she asked, realizing that she still had no idea how she was supposed to help him.
"It's very simple, really," Armen said, smiling excitedly. "I am your Summoner, and you are my Champion. We will be partners in the coming battles that will mold the fate of Runeterra!"
Twilight's smile faded suddenly as her eyes widened in surprise. "Did you say 'battles'?"
II: Welcome to the League
Twilight rolled her head gently from side to side, tensing her shoulders as her spine emitted a few muffled pops that it had been collecting all morning. As usual she'd spent almost all of her time locked in the room she had been given for accommodations, close to the library at her request. It had all been for nothing, of course, as Armen had quickly introduced her to a strange device that was built into her room, and would provide her with any book the library had via teleportation.
After discovering that she didn't need to leave her room to get books, she never did. She'd spent the majority of a week shut-in and reading historical texts, political documents, and whatever else she could get her hooves on. The only visitor she ever had was Armen, who would bring her her food, only to find himself bombarded with questions she had formulated from reading the various tomes.
Between her ravenous reading and Armen's extensive knowledge of his home world, Twilight now had a fairly solid understanding of this Runeterra place, and more importantly the League of Insanity that she had been roped into. She'd learned plenty about what it meant to be a Champion and what the Summoners really were, though she had not discovered much more than that. How the battles worked and what the dangers were that were associated with them had been answers that both Armen and the books had kept from her.
She sighed as she closed her eyes and tried to shut out the murmur inside her own head that was constantly muttering the names of nations, various eras and wars, and other things of interest. Despite her inquisitive nature, she needed a break. She wasn't terribly surprised to open her eyes and find Armen heading down the hallway toward her, coming to check on her like he always did. Three times a day, always at the same times, and then three other times with food.
As if he were a guard on patrol, she thought grimly, unable to shake that image. Still, she knew it was far from accurate. Armen was the only other creature she had met since her arrival a week prior, and he had tried everything he could think of to get her to interact with his world, and leave her study room, all to no avail.
"You are outside your room," Armen said as he approached her, giving her a quizzical look. His tone was cautious, as if he wasn't sure she knew that and was about to be in for a shock when she found out.
"Yes, I know," Twilight retaliated, having an issue keeping herself from being short with Armen. He hadn't really done anything to offend her or make her upset personally, aside from summoning her to a place she didn't really want to be, but her tone with him wasn't ever as friendly as it should have been. It didn't help that Armen never complained about it or retaliated, because that only made it all the harder for Twilight to notice she was being coarse.
"So you learned what you wanted?" Armen asked, ignoring her biting tone as usual and taking up a hopeful inflection as he gave her a warm smile.
"Close enough," Twilight said with a sigh. "Enough to understand most of what's going on, anyways."
"Trust me, you do not understand even close to 'most'," Armen chuckled, folding his hands into his sleeves. "You might understand the history of the League, but you still have much to learn about your role as a Champion... as do I," he finished politely, making it clear that he lacked the knowledge as well.
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, puzzled. While it was true that many of her questions about Champions and Summoners had gone unanswered, she had always secretly suspected that Armen knew everything she didn't. It was beginning to sound like not even he understood everything about her and her situation.
"You have not been balanced yet," Armen pointed out. "I do not even know what kind of Champion you are."
"Balanced? Kinds of champions?" she asked, looking at Armen as if she suspected he would just talk in riddles and never explain anything.
"The balancing is a ritual where the Tribunal alters your powers, limiting them reasonably so that you do not grant your faction an unfair advantage in battle. Some Champions receive increases in power, while others have their strengths reduced, so that none may overwhelm the other completely," Armen explained, smiling at her calmly. "All Champions are limited in a similar fashion, with five abilities they are allowed to keep."
Twilight was doing her best to let her intrigue run the conversation, rather than her trepidation. "Five abilities? Abilities like what?" she asked, knowing she would probably not like the answer.
"Many Champions are incredibly skilled with weapons or magic, and as such have an incredible range of spells, tricks, and the like," Armen explained simply. "The council limits what you are able to do, to put everyone on equal terms. It is vital to the balance of the League, which is in turn vital to the balance of all of Runeterra."
"So you're saying they're going to leave me with five spells, and that's it?" Twilight asked in shock.
"Well, four spells," Armen clarified, stroking his chin in thought. "The fifth is not so much a spell as an... effect. Almost like an aura that envelops you at all times. A passive spell," he explained.
"I don't believe this!" Twilight groaned, throwing her hooves in the air and turning away from Armen, plopping down on her hind end and rubbing her temples to try and ease the headache she knew was soon coming. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.
It didn't work as Armen began to laugh behind her.
Twilight turned around in disbelief, unable to imagine that Armen, who had been nothing if not polite and considerate for the entire week she had known him, was laughing at her. Yet for all intents and purposes, that's what it seemed like.
"What's funny?" she asked fiercely, equal parts angry at the recent news, and hurt to be the butt of some joke.
"I don't mean any offense," Armen replied, holding up a hand in apology and doing his best to curb his laughter. "But you remind me of someone else, who I have heard reacted much the same way."
"Who?" Twilight asked, her tone leveling out somewhat as she grew to understand the situation slightly better.
"Her name is Le Blanc, or at least it is what she goes by," Armen explained, a smile still in place as he continued to remember. "A fellow champion of yours. She is a skilled mage, with a variety of tricks and powerful spells, not the least among them some great illusions. When she learned what you have just learned, she threw quite the fit," he chuckled. "She was not excited to find that her lifetime of study and hard work was being restricted to five spells only."
"I can imagine," Twilight grumbled, giving Armen a scowl. "I hardly think it's funny."
"Well if it is any consolation, the limitations only affect you on the battlegrounds," Armen said hopefully, as if he half expected that to improve her mood.
It half did. Twilight sighed and pushed herself back to her hooves, trying her best to let it go. "On the battlefield is where I'd rather have everything," she muttered. "But I suppose I don't have much of a choice, do I?"
"When do you ever?" Armen asked rhetorically, his smile turning somewhat sad.
Twilight just nodded, unable to return his smile. She knew that Armen wasn't responsible for what she was going through, not really. He was just as much a victim of her circumstances as she was, bound to her as her Summoner. Everything she'd read about Summoners and Champions had told her that they needed trust and understanding, a sort of synchronization to excel. Yet trusting Armen was harder for her than anything else.
She knew she would have to trust him, if she wanted to go home.
It was only because she imagined him to be her enemy, she knew. She could have been angry at the Tribunal, or even the other Summoners, if only she knew them. Armen was all she knew in this place though, and so far nothing had happened to make her smile or laugh. She had nothing truly good to associate with the only human being she had ever met, and as much as she hated to admit it, deep down she understood that her animosity towards Armen was more her own fault than his.
"So... Will you be locked in your room again today?" he asked pleasantly, trying to dispel the recent unhappy mood the only way he knew how.
Twilight thought quietly about that for a moment, watching with a melancholy feeling as Armen's smile shrank when she failed to answer.
"I can't understand what it is like to come to a world you know nothing of," he suddenly explained with a sigh, and for the first time in a long time he sounded as weary as Twilight had always suspected he really was. "Some champions come from other worlds and are excited. Some come and are indifferent. Some explore, some do nothing but wait and fight," he continued quietly.
"When you came, you wanted to know. I would too," he said, the smile she was used to almost returning. "To know about the world you were brought to. But unlike you, I would want to know for the sake of knowing... not for the sake of hiding behind closed doors," he said quietly.
Twilight took an involuntary step back at his words, taken by surprise.
"You can't hide from my world forever," he went on, his tone sounding almost pleading. "You can sit in that room and read until Runeterra turns to dust, but it will bring you no closer to your answers or your home. Why just exist here? If you must be here, why not truly live?" he asked, and for the first time he sounded exasperated. "Meet other Champions, other Summoners, see cities... You can hide and know everything, but you will never understand any of it unless you become a part of it."
Twilight bit her lip as she thought, her surprise shifting to realization. She knew that he was right, and that over the last week she had been uneasy and angry, and honestly afraid to embrace her life in this new world. It was easy to hide those feelings behind the excuse of not knowing enough, of not being ready.
It would not have been the first time she had hidden herself from a world through the pages of a book.
This wasn't just simple social fear, though. This wasn't like her reluctance to make friends in Ponyville. Outside of her room, and her books, worse things than possible rejection awaited her. If she wanted to be a part of this world, then it was going to lean on her, depend on her. Then again, was that so different from her life in Equestria? Was it so strange to her anymore, to find that making friends often went hoof-in-hoof with adventure? With danger?
She looked at Armen, and found sincere concern staring back at her. He had been worried about her and quietly understanding of her fears ever since she had first come to Runeterra. She had taken it for granted, and been selfishly clinging to her anger. She'd never even considered that Armen might make a better friend than an enemy, as against this new world as she had been from the beginning.
It didn't make her feel any better to know how wrong she had been. It only deepened the sting, knowing that the faults in the last week fell mostly with her. At least now she understood things a little more clearly about herself and Armen.
"You're right," Twilight admitted at length, a heavy sigh accompanying her words. "I can't just put my nose in a book, and pretend this world is just some fantasy story," she closed her eyes for a moment, before she continued. This was about to be the most personal she had been with Armen since her breakdown in the summoning chamber a week before.
"I don't want it to be real. I keep hoping that I'll wake up from this and be home again," she declared quietly. She opened her eyes slowly, giving Armen a sad smile, the first smile he had seen on her face since her arrival. "But it's never that easy. I've had a lot of things in my life that I wished were just bad dreams. In the end, I just have to face it. I promised I would help you, after all."
"So you'll come with me, then?" Armen asked carefully, as if he expected her to change her mind. "You are positive?"
Twilight sighed, trying her best to keep it from coming out exasperated. "Yes. No more staying locked in my room. I'll be your Champion, like I promised... even with the balancing and everything else."
Armen stood behind Twilight in the semi-circle of guardian statues, the same ones that had nearly killed her a week before. The enormous runic circle she had woken up on pulsed under her hooves, a gentle blue light staining her normally lavender coat. The encouraging smile he gave her as she looked back at him was hidden from the seven Tribunal Summoners, the angle of his hood too low and their seats too high. Though this was supposed to be a serious affair, he wanted Twilight to feel at ease... or as much as she could.
"Twilight Sparkle," the High Summoner intoned suddenly, drawing her gaze away from him, and his as well. "That is your name?"
"Um... Yes?" Twilight replied hesitantly, as the other six Summoners rose from their seats as well, towering over her.
Armen had promised her that the balancing was painless, though in truth he had no idea beyond what other Champions had told him in the past few days. He had secretly been preparing himself for everything in Twilight's stead, learning what she refused to leave her room and learn on her own. He thought it strange that already she was having to rely on him, even if she did not see it that way. Strange in an encouraging way, he thought, for co-dependence at any stage was a good sign. It was how Summoners and Champions were supposed to behave, after all.
"The people of Runeterra will know you as Twilight," the elderly voice declared plainly. "This will be the name they cheer when you are victorious in battle, the name they cry out when you fall to your enemies. One name, and one title, are all that the Champions have to serve as their identities, the vessel which will house all of your triumphs and your failures. If you wish to go by another name, in this our other world, you may. But once decided, it cannot be changed," he finished, his tone serious, the deep blue eyes under his hood locked onto Twilight's own.
Twilight, who had slowly been recovering while he spoke, seemed to be coming to terms with the gravity of the balancing ritual, for which Armen was grateful. Her stance and the determined expression on her face encouraged him that her declaration to see her duties as a Champion through were not just for show.
"I'll go by Twilight," she replied firmly.
The High Summoner nodded, continuing the ritual. "I will now delve into your mind, and your past. Your mind, mine, and Armen's will join together for a time, and together we will balance you. With me I bring all of my knowledge of the League, and so the knowledge of where you must fit in it. With you comes all of your skill and personal wisdom, the secrets of your life that only you can know. And through Armen you will see your duty to this world as he has seen it. Together we will make a place for you in the League of Legends." His tone turned grave as he made his final point. "There is no turning back from this."
Armen watched with slight worry as Twilight seemed to lose some of her resolve, a hoof raising as if she meant to step away from the High Summoner. If she refused to be balanced, Twilight would never be able to return to her home of her own free will. Though cruel and unfair, there was nothing that Armen could do to change that: if she did not go through with this, then she would become the prisoner she had always feared she was in his world. Only if she fought for her freedom would she obtain it.
He had to stifle a sigh of relief as she put her hoof down firmly, her wide-eyed surprised shifting to an almost angry resolve.
"I understand," she replied simply.
"Then prepare yourself..." the High Summoner warned her, closing his eyes and raising his hands.
Armen watched as she closed her eyes, her brow creased with worry. He understood her trepidation, her reluctance. By this point the choice had been replaced with absolution; she was a Champion, all that remained were the steps taken to make it so. From this point, she could no longer choose to hide, or to pretend that Runeterra was not in need of her strength. With that choice taken from her, all she had to lean on was Armen: a man she had no reason to trust, but every need to.
He would be true to her, as he had pledged to be. Though young and fragile, he would never betray that trust. She would need him all through the unknown, whether she wanted to need him or not. No matter what would become of her in the League, or the struggling world of Runeterra, he would be her Summoner.
He closed his eyes as well, and prepared himself for the trip into her mind.
Twilight felt strange. She tried to open her eyes, but she had no eyes to open. She tried to move her legs, but she had none that she could see. All around her was simply black space, as far as she could see, if she was indeed seeing. It didn't take her long to understand that this must have been what her mind appeared to be when caught in the spell that the High Summoner had used to enter it.
She found it all to be slightly depressing. She had always pictured herself as an intelligent and creative individual, so she had expected her mind to be at least a bit more colorful than an empty black nothingness.
"Oh, it is," came a sudden, unexpected voice. Twilight recognized it as Armen's, and shortly after the words came the abrupt appearance of a speck of blue light, far away in the black expanse. "I have looked into your mind before, and it is not nearly this empty, believe me."
"Certainly not," came another voice, this one accompanied by the birth of a golden light, likewise far away. "Your mind is far from lackluster. This emptiness you see is merely the space that our minds share. From here we can pull in thoughts and memories, and experience them together."
"I see," Twilight replied, unable to keep a tint of relief from her voice. "I suppose that's to protect me?"
"Astute," the High Summoner congratulated her. "To protect all of us. It is one thing to share our thoughts and memories, but another entirely to share our minds. If the minds were to touch directly, there is no telling what damage we might do to one another."
Twilight would have nodded, if she could. Magic of the mind was dangerous in Equestria, too, so it was nice to see that some things in this weird new world were similar.
"So where do we begin?" Twilight asked.
"We need to search your mind for your abilities. All of your spells, your strengths, and anything else you can think of," Armen replied warmly. "We'll use them to balance you, and choose what five abilities you are left with."
"I have already begun doing so," the High Summoner explained. There was a pause before he abruptly began speaking again. "Ah, this looks promising."
The emptiness around them all was replaced by the recollection, from Twilight's perspective, of the time she had first used the Elements of Harmony to defeat Nightmare Moon. The memory played out exactly as it had happened, with not a thing missing. Twilight could even feel and relive the emotions of that time, until at last it faded.
"I won't be able to do that here," she admitted with a sigh. "The Elements of Harmony didn't exactly come with me."
"No, but there is something usable in this memory," the High Summoner mused. "It is apparent to me that you are strongest when your friends are present. This is good, for Champions rarely work alone in the Fields of Justice. You will often find yourself surrounded by your allies, and so draw strength from them. This will make an excellent passive ability, I should think."
"I agree," Armen said, his tone excited. "Few champions have synergistic passive abilities. Some have auras, if I remember my studies correctly, but a Champion who gains power based on the number of allies present is unprecedented."
"Then it is decided. For each allied Champion near you, your abilities will become more powerful by a certain amount. What would you call this ability?" the High Summoner asked.
Twilight had to think about that. It certainly made sense to her; she had always been at her best when working with her friends, so it seemed reasonable enough. "Why not 'friendship'?" she asked, thinking that it summed up the ability fairly well in a single word.
"A word that suits you well," Armen replied, his tone full of approval. "A fine passive ability."
"Hmmm. Perhaps this?" the High Summoner asked abruptly, clearly having been elsewhere after deciding on her passive ability, a new memory coming to light. This was of Twilight's time trapped beneath Canterlot Castle by Chrysalis. In the memory she used her magic to conjure lasers, which bounced off of the crystals before leaving a smoking crater in the floor of the cavern.
"One of my personal favorites," Twilight admitted. She had always been fond of the laser spell, though she rarely got to use it for much of anything.
"A offensive projectile... magical in nature. It is powerful, but lacks a certain something for functionality," the High Summoner mused, replaying the memory as he thought.
"Rather than bouncing off of enemies, perhaps it could pass through them?" Armen inquired. "There are no enemies in this memory, so it is difficult to say."
"It's a strong ability, but it definitely isn't strong enough to punch holes in things," Twilight interjected.
"Then we can improve the spell. The Tribunal can grant this function to your ability, albeit only within the Fields of Justice, where our influence is strongest," the High Summoner replied.
"You can do that?" Twilight asked in disbelief. She'd spent weeks developing this spell on her own, and doubted if even she could get it to do that.
"The Tribunal can do a great deal. Limiting abilities, altering them, and even removing them," Armen explained. "They are incredibly powerful."
Twilight was dumbstruck as the High Summoner continued as if nothing had happened. "So we allow the beam to pass through enemies, yet to ricochet off of terrain... If used properly, it could even reflect backwards, striking an enemy a second time, or a third," he said, his tone now containing an element of caution. "If we are not careful, this ability's damage could become unreasonable."
"Much of the terrain in the Fields of Justice is too far apart to cause worry of several reflections," Armen pointed out. "Still, perhaps we should limit not only the range of the ability, but how many times it can reflect off of terrain?"
"Hmm... Yes, this would be acceptable," the High Summoner replied, and Twilight suspected that if he had a body in this plane he would be stroking his beard. "Let us say it can reflect twice?"
"Agreed," Armen said eagerly.
Twilight realized that this was a sort of game to Armen. She would only be allowed to have five abilities, and two of them had already been decided. However, much of the second ability's functionality had been determined by Armen, who was actively bartering on her behalf. Twilight didn't know enough about the Fields of Justice or the other Champions to negotiate reasonably on her own, and so he was working to ensure that her skills would be not only useful, but powerful. Enough so to give her a fighting chance with the spells she had always been familiar with.
For the first time since her arrival, she was glad that she had him.
"What would you call this one?" the High Summoner asked, the same as he had with her passive ability.
"Probably 'laser'? That's what all of my friends called it," she said idly.
"I know this is going to sound strange," Armen interjected, his tone halfway to a laugh, "but that name does not seem very dramatic. I understand the pragmatism, but I believe the name of a spell should have more... flavor to it," he chuckled. "Something your enemies will remember.
"Oh, I get it," Twilight chuckled. This was something she wasn't a complete stranger to; coming up with cool names for things was one of Rainbow Dash's favorite pass-times, and the spirited pegasus often came to Twilight for vocabulary support. "What about 'Arcane Bolt'? You know, like an arrow, only magical."
"It has a nice ring to it," Armen admitted, and Twilight knew that if she could see his face he would be smiling.
"What ability is next?" the High Summoner asked pleasantly. "Perhaps you have an idea, Twilight?"
"Um," she stammered, surprised to be pulled back into the conversation, which had gotten far away from her. "Maybe this?" she asked, recalling to herself the day she had conjured a large barrier all around the library. The memory played itself for the others.
"Fascinating," Armen said excitedly, watching with interest.
"Indeed," the High Summoner admitted. "Many champions have abilities that grant them protection for a time, but this is of an entirely different caliber. It does not affect you, but rather the entire area around you."
"It's pretty durable, but I don't know how well it would hold up in the battlefield," Twilight explained. "But I can keep it up for a long time if I need to."
"Time is a crucial factor in the Fields of Justice. The longer an ability lasts, the more likely it is to upset the balance of a battle," the High Summoner warned her. "It would not do to allow you to use this ability indefinitely."
Twilight was getting excited at the prospect of this 'balancing' now. The more they discussed it, the more her abilities seemed to change; abilities that she was familiar with, and wouldn't have to relearn in some ways. Yet in other ways, they were becoming entirely new, and that was something she could get behind. New spells were some of her favorite things. "Well, rather than making it weak and active for a long time... what if we make it stronger, but for a very short time?" she asked eagerly.
"I agree," Armen added. "Treat the entirety of the dome as if it were terrain, but with an added effect: that abilities which normally pass through terrain cannot. It would seem the most realistic equivalent to the original function of the spell."
"So those trapped inside will be at one another's mercy, or safe from those outside, and nothing may venture in or out until it expires," the High Summoner summarized, growing quiet as he puzzled it out. "It would synergize well with her offensive ability, which would be able to bounce off of the barrier, and it will be a useful control ability, which she would otherwise be without. I will allow it," he concluded. "However, in addition to reducing the duration of the ability, I must also reduce the area of effect. If it is allowed to be too wide, it will be imbalanced."
"Certainly," Armen said, and his tone showed slight relief, as if he had expected that this spell might have been asking too much. Fortunately, it seemed he had been able to negotiate it in a direction that would allow Twilight to keep her barrier ability. "Twilight?" he asked pleasantly.
Having caught on to the process by now, Twilight was ready for this one. "Let's call it 'Lockdown'. I think that's fitting, right?"
"Definitely," Armen agreed. "For the third, I recommend this ability," he continued, pulling forth a memory from the time Spike had run away from home in pursuit of the Great Dragon Migration. The memory clearly showed Twilight teleporting herself and her friends out of harm's way, a feat which she had never had time to be proud of until this moment.
"A blink ability," the High Summoner said with a slight tone of amazement. "You are full of surprises, Twilight Sparkle. One of the most capable mages I have ever seen enter these halls," he congratulated her. He paused for some time, the memory playing over again as he thought. "I should think that this ability would be an excellent addition to the League. However, it appears that it will need to have its range limited. In addition..." he stopped, watching again as Twilight's horn lit up well before the teleport executed.
"A channeled ability," he concluded.
"Channeled?" Twilight asked, eager as always for more information.
"Channeled abilities cannot be cast immediately. They require a certain amount of time to pass before they can be put into effect, or sometimes they are only effective during the channeling time," Armen explained.
"In this case, I would assume a very low channeling time if you are only blinking yourself. However, if you blink others with you, the channeling time will increase. It will take longer for each additional Champion you attempt to teleport," he concluded, his tone ending on a slightly questioning note, as if asking if this would be acceptable to her.
"That's not too different from how the ability works anyways," Twilight replied warmly. "I'll take it."
"Though I propose an added effect," Armen interjected abruptly.
"Yes?" the High Summoner replied patiently.
"Currently she has only a single damaging ability. While not unheard of, it makes her passive ability hardly useful," he pointed out. "I believe that upon arrival at the destination of her blink, damage should be dealt in an area of effect. Naturally it would increase based on the number of Champions that Twilight brings with her during the blink, due to her passive."
"Ah yes," the High Summoner replied happily. "I had not thought of that. Quite right, quite right," he muttered, his old voice wavering through the words. "I should think that would only be fair. I will allow it."
Twilight could almost feel Armen looking to her expectantly, though he was little more than a speck of light in the black far away. She pondered this one for a moment, trying to think of what to call it. Her own cutie mark, with the six pointed star, became her inspiration. "What about 'Stardrive'?"
"An... interesting name," Armen replied, clearly taken by surprise. "But fitting."
"The last ability... your ultimate ability, or so it is called," the High Summoner went on at length. "This ability is your most damaging. Powerful, debilitating, the spell your enemies most fear being struck by," he intoned. "From your knowledge of yourself, what would this be? What is your strongest spell?"
Twilight went silent as she thought. She had such a wide range of abilities, but few that she personally considered to be incredibly powerful. The most powerful thing she had ever accomplished was using the Elements, but that was beyond her reach in Runeterra. Those artifacts didn't exist here, after all. She wracked her brain, trying to decide what it was that was her crowning magical accomplishment.
The light bulb went off as she reached her conclusion, throwing the memory forward for all to see. "What about this?"
Twilight watched the memory of her adventure with Spike in the crystal kingdom, and the time she had reverse gravity in its entirety on the great spiral staircase of the Crystal Palace.
"Amazing," Armen declared loudly, his excitement clear. "Complete gravitational reversal, on that scale!"
"Astounding," the High Summoner agreed, his tone somewhat breathless from disbelief. "This is certainly worthy of being called an ultimate ability. Few mages are capable of such a feat! However..." he paused, thinking. "It will be difficult to adapt this reasonably. It cannot be used in the fashion you have displayed fairly."
"Agreed," Armen replied at length, though he sounded loathe to admit it.
The gathering grew quiet for quite some time, none of them talking, until Armen broke the silence.
"I have a proposition... Complex, and much of it depends on Twilight's natural ability," he said quietly. "Twilight, could you cause a gravitational field? Not just a reversal, but a completely separate gravity source?"
Twilight found herself intrigued by the question, and her mind raced through it from every angle, thinking hard. Reversal was complicated, but focusing gravity magic on a single spot would be even more difficult. Still, it was far from impossible.
"I could... but it would be hard to maintain," she explained. "I doubt I could do it for more than a couple of seconds, and once the spell got out of my control it could be devastating."
"Then I propose this... that Twilight creates a gravity sphere upon a target location, but must channel to keep it active, for no more than a few seconds. Nearby enemies are pulled towards the gravity sphere a short distance, and then are slowed. If any enemies are in range, they take damage when the gravity sphere detonates, which is the end result of Twilight's spell. The damage would be based on the channeling duration. Enemies further from the center of the sphere will have a chance to flee, even if they are slowed, but those caught close enough to be pulled to the center will be hard pressed to escape," he explained.
The High Summoner hummed to himself as he thought it through. "So, all enemies, regardless of where they are in the area of effect, are pulled the same distance. This would mean that enemies on the edge are not pulled to the center, unlike enemies who are further into the area of effect, yet all would be slowed, increasing the odds of being struck by the damage. It has good control," he admitted. "An absolutely brilliant magical mechanism. You surprise me Armen... this ability is not your own, yet you show an astounding aptitude to manipulate it."
"Thank you, Master," Armen replied warmly. "Your decision?"
"Its damage and the strengths of its control must be carefully modified..." he said cautiously, growing silent for a time once more.
Twilight waited nervously for his decision. The spell Armen had proposed was certainly within her abilities, at least for the basic structure of the magic. However, without the consent and aid of the Tribunal's modifications, she doubted if she would be able to pull it off.
"Very well," the High Summoner said simply. "This spell is, after all, an ultimate ability. It should be powerful enough to make one wonder if it has indeed been balanced," he chuckled. "We will certainly try."
"Twilight?" Armen asked, his tone showing obvious relief.
"Let's call it 'Singularity'," she replied, letting out a sigh to relieve tension of her own.
"Then it is settled," the High Summoner declared, sounding well pleased. "A straightforward balancing, even with some unusual requests. If only we could always be so fortunate. It will take time for the Tribunal to review your spells and modify their effects. You will have to work with us to provide the foundations of the spellwork. Once we have decided upon all of the technical aspects, we will alter your magical abilities and you will at last be ready to fight in the Fields of Justice. In a few days' time, we will unveil you as the latest champion of the League of Legends. Congratulations, Twilight," he concluded warmly. "I will see you again in the waking world."
Twilight had no time to reply as the blackness around her deepened once more, the lights that were Armen and the High Summoner fading into nothingness.
"You didn't tell me the balancing was an ongoing process," Twilight grumbled, plopping down on her bed as Armen shut the door behind her, chuckling to himself.
"No, I did not," he admitted, his tone slightly apologetic. "But even the Tribunal's considerable magic cannot work overnight. Nor can they alter your magic without first learning it. All things take time, even in Runeterra," he explained simply, pulling over a chair and throwing his hood back, now that the ceremony was concluded and they were in private. "However, the hardest part is done for us. The Tribunal will decide upon the mana costs and idle times of all of your abilities, as well as the modifications."
Twilight closed her eyes, having found that opening her mind to the Tribunal's magic was fairly tiring. "I suppose so," she grumbled. "What's an idle time?" she asked, not opening her eyes. "And what's a mana cost?"
"Ah yes," Armen replied, snapping his gloved fingers. "All spells, once used, must spend time recharging. This varies from ability to ability, and ensures that champions cannot repeatedly use their most powerful abilities in a fight to achieve instantaneous victory," he explained. "In addition to that, all spells cost 'mana'... most worlds do not have such a limitation for spell casters, and rely on the mage's own magical endurance," he explained. "In Runeterra, the source of magical power is externalized. It is called mana, and there is a limit to how much mana a Champion can use before needing to recharge their supply of it. Think of it as a sort of magical currency, which you use to buy your spells," he simplified.
Twilight rolled over on her back, looking at the ceiling as she listened. "I see. So you can't cast spells if you don't have enough mana, or while they're recharging themselves," she repeated, just for the sake of solidifying the idea. She scowled as she realized that this would only limit her abilities even more. "That's unfair."
"It is very fair," Armen retorted, his tone almost scolding. "You are not the only Champion being restricted this way. All other spell casters must follow the same rules, and even many of the Champions who are not mages have had their abilities limited by mana and the idle system. You are far from alone in that," he clarified.
Twilight sighed, knowing that he was right. In any political system there were rules that everyone had to follow to the letter. While highly unorthodox, the League of Legends was very much a political system. She'd read plenty of tomes explaining how the nations used the League to settle their disputes on the Fields of Justice, rather than endangering the lives of their citizens in pointless and costly battles. In many ways the League was frustrating, especially to her as a Champion, it seemed. However, in even more ways the League was a blessing to Runeterra. It had yet to win peace, but since its creation it had succeeded in stemming the tides of all-out war.
"I know," she said quietly, doing her best to let her selfishness go. She could be upset forever and it wouldn't matter anyways. "It's just all so different," she grumbled, throwing her front hooves up and then letting them flop back down in her exasperation. "So many things are changing..."
"You will learn," Armen replied calmly, his tone quiet and encouraging. "You are an excellent learner. I know."
Twilight was quiet for a time, knowing that he was right. As much as she hated being limited, she had to admit she was looking forward to unlocking the secrets behind overcoming those limitations. Now that she reflected on it, Armen always seemed to be right when he said something about her. What was more, he had mentioned during the balancing ritual's first phase that he had seen Twilight's mind before.
"How do you know?" she asked, though her tone wasn't rude. She simply wanted to hear his story, to hear how he had come to understand her so deeply. After all, she had done nothing to bring them closer, or disclosed anything about herself. "You always know, somehow."
Armen just smiled at her, folding his hands in front of him and leaning forward in his chair, his elbows resting in his lap as he focused on his clasped hands, clearly thinking of an answer.
"For many days I had to delve into your life. All aspects of it," he explained carefully, clearly trying to choose his words so as not to cause her unrest. "I had to understand you, else I would never be able to summon you. Though you had no way of knowing it, I have looked into your mind many times. It is required for all Summoners to do so." He paused, giving her a moment to react.
Twilight couldn't honestly say she was surprised. Though she knew a great deal about magic in Equestria, she knew next to nothing about magic in Runeterra. The fact that, through some unknown magic, Armen had been watching her hardly came as a surprise. She was a little puzzled to discover that she didn't find the idea of him looking into her mind without her knowledge to be uncomfortable. While she certainly admitted that it was a violation of her privacy, she couldn't think of anything in her memories or thoughts that she wouldn't have willingly told a friend like Armen.
Her thoughts derailed for a moment as she realized the truth of that statement. Armen had been nothing if not kind and supportive since her arrival. Though it was true that her entire reason for being in Runeterra was his fault, and that he had requested she be plucked from her home in Equestria, he hadn't done it out of spite. By his own words, he had done it out of necessity. He needed her to help protect a world he loved, the only way he was able to protect it. Short of being a Champion himself, there was nothing more that Armen could do to help all of the people of his world than to be a Summoner. All Summoners needed Champions.
It had been his only way, and if it had not been Twilight, then it would have been another creature from another world, or perhaps a creature from Runeterra. Whatever the case, someone's life somewhere was destined for great change the moment Armen had become a Summoner.
It wasn't his fault. It was just the way things were, the way they had to be. It was nothing short of fate.
"That's unfair," Twilight whispered, breaking her long silence following Armen's words.
Armen's smile shrank slightly, interpreting her words as a reaction to his tale of peering into her mind. "I am sorry, Twilight," he said simply, his tone tinged with melancholy.
"No, not that," she clarified, sitting up and focusing on him. "I mean I've been unfair," she explained quietly. "To you."
"What do you mean?" Armen asked, laughing softly as if he thought she were being absurd.
"I've been treating you like my enemy," Twilight admitted with a sigh, closing her eyes for a moment to ready herself for something she had never been good at: admitting she was wrong. "But you're not. You've been nothing but patient, helpful, and understanding," she continued. "I can be angry with you for bringing me here, but it won't change the fact that you did it because you needed me," she finished quietly, taking a few more moments to collect her thoughts.
"And lately I've needed you. I never would have left that room without your encouragement, and I wouldn't understand anything happening to me without your help." Twilight turned her legs off the bed and walked over to Armen, who was eye level with her while sitting down. "What you've done might not seem like much, but knowing what I do about who you are, and why all of this is happening... it's more than enough. I shouldn't make myself your enemy. I should be your friend," she finished, a small smile coming to her lips.
"Ah, Twilight," Armen replied, the smile on his face showing that he understood the apology hidden in her declaration of friendship. "You could never have made yourself my enemy," he promised her quietly, placing a hand gently atop her head. "From the moment I brought you here, I had known that we were destined for great things together. It was only a matter of time."
"You always know," Twilight chuckled, pushing against his hand gently until it vanished, the moment past.
"You can know, too," Armen replied gently, reaching into the sleeves of his robes and pulling forth, from Celestia knew where, the enormous crystal ball he used for his gazing into the Void, and beyond. "I have looked into your mind many times, and so have seen why it was you I needed. Why our bond was vital, and no other would suffice. Perhaps if you look into my mind yourself, you will understand this too."
The crystal ball hovered gently between them above one of Armen's outstretched hands, as if he were offering it to her.
Twilight eyed it, unable to deny the curiosity to enter the mind of this human who so knew her; to potentially gain his understanding of their bond. "Are you sure?" she asked skeptically, as if uncertain it was right for her to enter his mind, despite the fact that he had done so to her many times before.
His calm, kind smile was all the more answer she needed as he continued to hold the crystal aloft. "It is only fair."
