Legendary

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."