Token Evil IC

With a quiet grace, Broken weighed his options quickly about how to deal with this situation when one considered that the creature before him was too stupid to even attempt to locate loopholes and bend the spirit of the rules of whatever contract bound it to the will of its master.  On the one hoof he could just strike the little down where it stood and be done with it; This did have the downside of ensuring that the party would have to fight whatever group the little vermin was apart of at some point, but at the very least he would have the meatheads with him and he could look decent for not only dealing with a scout from a different party, but also be the voice of caution against future ambush.

The alternative was to go with the little bastard and talk to his master. While he had no doubt that he could convince whatever gave that damn imp orders that the Changelings were the target that they should be gunning for, there was no guarantee that he would be allowed to live afterwards and if pushed came to shove he would rather avoid having to fight an unknown number of enemies by himself. It would also have the added effect of making the party he was currently trying to become apart of think he had buggered off on them, which would only make things harder in the long ran. Of course... there was a small chance that the imp might have some useful information that it could be convinced to part with...

His decision made, Broken turned around to look at the filthy little rodent that was pushing on him before lighting his horn up with the intention of lifting him up into the air and bringing it around his front to get a better look at it... and hold him there as the shadows around them twisted, turned and came alive to ensure the little pest in order to keep it still. "How's this for a better idea; We stay right here and you tell me about your boss and the chums they are currently working with. Tell. Me. Everything."

Actions and Dice Rolls:

"I will have the respect that I deserve from other dragons when I get my wish!" exclaims Krix. "But... we would feel better rescuing eggs from the ponies than stealing from another dragon. What can we expect in this Magus Wing?"

"Well, guards most likely," Brightheart reasons. "It being the workplace of the court magicians, perhaps magical defenses and traps. Constructs, possibly, golems and the like. I wouldn't be surprised to encounter a few battlemages, those court mages more attuned to combat magic."

He frowns, trying to recall anything specific he knows about the Magus Wing in relation to their defenses.

History (or Streetwise) Check:

"Egg collection is... agreeable." Iota gives its approval for the plan, nodding slightly. "But pony magic... can be dangerous. Searching memory for notable defenses..."

((Arcana: 7 (roll) +11 (skill) +1 (grandeur) +1 (instant party) = 20))

Recon
As she broadcasts those memories to the changelings, she feels a definite emotion ripple through the hivemind, though it takes a moment for Recon to understand it.

It's pity. Sentiments of sympathy echo through the hivemind, and as Recon pushes against the hivemind's defense, suddenly the resistance evaporates and just like how a person would fall over when something they're pushing against disappears, Recon stumbles in her mental assault.

She then feels a great pressure settle onto her, and realizes the reason why the hivemind is no longer resisting is because they have mounted a counter-assault, trying to reach deep into her mind. A moment later she feels an agonizing pain, and through the searing pain she realizes that the hivemind is trying to overwrite the loyalty brand. With the attempted access Recon senses a surge of pure hatred towards tyranny, and figures that is the reason why these changelings are against Celestia. The changelings see Celestia, immortal and standing above all ponies, as the ultimate tyrant.

We will help you. Set you free. You will be freed from the Tyrant's brand...

But because of her compulsion, Recon can't just let them do that, and pushes back against the attempt.

(Roll persuasion to resist the mental influence. If you want the brand to go, you can roll twice and pick the lower result.)

Broken
"P-p-please don't kill me I don't want to die yet I've got so much to live for!" The imp whimpers pathetically in Broken's telekinetic grip, tied down by the chains and unable to resist. "I can't tell, I can't I can't I can't I can't, the boss said I can't tell you about him--"

Hmm. Interesting... I recognize these little creatures, Once Broken has a better look at the imp, the Nightmare speaks up suddenly.

Yes... this is an imp, a demon of the lowest tier, except perhaps demonic constructs. Sad little things, unable to even dream of a life outside of servitude. It's simply not in their nature.

As the nightmare says this, the imp chokes suddenly, its eyes bulging out. It then passes out - not dead, but apparently out cold.

See? The imp let slip that its master is a male. Since it has orders to not tell you anything about him, its curse took effect and knocked it out before it could reveal anything more.

The Vault Party
Brightheart knows that the Magus wing typically isn't heavily defended. There might be a few guards, but those might have been redirected to handle the chaos outside. He isn't certain of the composition of the ponies in the magus wing, as he has been retired for a while now, but he knows that generally there are going to be at least one or two combat magic specialists among the court magus. In terms of traps, he thinks it's unlikely as it isn't a dungeon, rather a working place that people actually work in, but he thinks more secure areas might have warding charms that might have any number of effects.

Iota is aware of many battlefield spells that might be deployed in open combat. However when it comes to home security it's not as sure, as again, that points towards warding charms, and warding charms come in a wide variety of effects such as exploding traps, freezing traps, electrifying traps and more. Iota is also aware that Equestrian mages have been known to deploy magical constructs in battle, though such constructs are quite rare and it doubts they will show up here.

The Matriarch raises her head, apparently sniffing the air. Hmm. I smell demon- and not just you, dear, she waves a claw at Iota. A most wretched stench... quite powerful, too... She seems to ponder that, while slowly moving the party back towards the hatch in the vault doors that they came in from. Well, if that is all, I bid you good luck on your journey. You might even come back alive... She chuckles, a raspy and hissing sound.

(if anyone wants to talk to the matriarch there's still some time, as she's only begun to move the party, but if not we can continue on)

Recon clenches her teeth and resists the urge to cry out as the pain hits. She feels the brand blazing in response, demanding that she resist. Between the shock of what's happening and Recon's past attempts at suppressing that brand, though, she doesn't have enough time to act on it before it suddenly goes silent.

Once in control again, Recon tries to use the telepathic link to push one last message.

Tyrant she may be, but I am in dire need of repair and maintenance, and she is the only creature I've found able to meet that need. Plus, she's my fallback plan if this game of Discord's turns out to be a farce. I need her to stay in power for now.

It's doubtful she'll let you leave here intact, so feign defeat and surrender, then show remorse and join her side. It's easier to work with an enemy that thinks you're her friend, as you no doubt saw from my memories. I owe you the favor for helping me, and that's the best that I can afford at present.

Actions:

The twins wait, sitting very still until the dragon's claw comes to a rest, and then disembark without a word. Then, Hallows, turns around. "Oh, um, so if we do find dragon eggs, what color would you want?"

As he watched the imp struggle squeaking in terror as it whimpered in his magical grasp, the feeling of inspiring that fear flooding his veins with a sense of personal satisfaction. Through there was something about the whole situation that made him feel... uncomfortable. This minor feeling in his chest that was ruining his fun like a dead fly in an wonderfully filling bowl of soup. However, as the imp was rendered unconscious he shook his head to banish this small, if somewhat weird sensation and refocused on the conversation with his... friend. Such a lowly, pathetic creature. While I can admire the desire to install this degree of loyalty in a minion, it does make for a rather useless spy or scout since those roles require enough intelligence to operate on their own. Maybe in a bodyguard through...

As the vault doors opened, Broken turned to gaze them to see if all of the party was returning. While he hadn't heard their side of the conversation, it was easy enough to listen in on what the vault guardian had to say and considering that all of the party was still alive he knew what deal had been struck in order to get what they wanted. Three dragon eggs... a tall order to be sure for most ponies, but Broken couldn't help but grin a little to himself; He had long ago cultivated a series of contacts in the Magus Wing and as he mentally went through the mental list in his head a name and face of a pony who worked in the requisitions office he once assisted in locating some expansive, overdue equipment who owed him a favor. Granted he wouldn't be able to ask him to get him three... four dragon eggs (If he was going to burn this contact over this, he was definitely going to get a dragon egg for himself out of the deal), but he might be able to arrange for a few locked doors leading to the zoo to be opened up before looking the other way... possibly even a few sections of the zoo itself.

Already considering a cover story to get the rest of the party in without much of a hassle, Broken decided to get to the point. "If you want to get access to the Magus Wing 'zoo' where they keep the live samples and specimens for their research, I know a stallion who owes me a favor who can get us in without causing a fuss. However, considering the rather... wide variety of beings making up this little group we're going to need a cover story. Thought of one already, how about I fill you all in on the way there, yes? Oh yes, keep an eye out for imps, there are bound to be more of the stupid little bastards sneaking around."

"..." Iota stares at the unconscious imp for a moment. Making a few mental calculations, the armor suit crouches down, and its gauntlet sets itself alight with blood-red fire.

"Let the Chains... be dissolved." Iota intones the familiar phrase, the very same it said when it purged itself of its orders. Allowing its magic to suffuse the imp and liberate it from its compulsions, Iota hefts the imp over its shoulder and carries it like a sack of potatoes until it wakes up.

Turning to Broken, it makes a 'go ahead' gesture, waiting for the unicorn to lead the way.

((Arcana to break the compulsion on the imp: 11 (Roll) + 11 (Arcana) + 15 (Dispel Magic) = 37))

"Actually, if it's all the same to you I would like this plan to be explained, before we charge off anywhere." Brightheart says, stepping forward. "We do not know who you are, or what your intentions entail. You seem to know what you are talking about, but you must forgive me if I am hesitant in trusting anyone involved in this little competition."

Broken couldn't help but lift his head upwards, muttering something under his breath was he tapped his front right hoof against the ground before lowering his gaze back towards the armored knight. "Alright. Short version is that you lot are mercenaries hired on to take over part of the palace defense to free up some of the guard to quell the chaos raging through Canterlot and the palace at the moment, through part of the negotiated deal was that the kobold got to spend a few minutes admiring or worshiping the dragon eggs we've got in the castle and thus we're there to quickly get that out of the way so he'll shut up about it and allow all of you to do your job. In fact, you're rather vital to the plan because you're the representative of the guard posted with this group to make sure they are doing what they are meant to. Sound good or does anyone else wish to waste anymore time when we should be walking?"

Krix lets out a huff. "Who the !#$* is this, telling me what to do?" he moans to his team mates. To his credit though, Krix does march forward. "We will follow your plan pony, it's better than nothing, but know that I hate everything about it. Except the part where I get to the dragon eggs."

"That's the spirit. Just keep acting like the little wannabe dragon you are and this will all work out nicely." Broken answered back, taking the lead even if his pace might have been slightly slower then the average pony.

Recon
"No. We will let you live, but we will never submit."

With a final remark, Recon snaps back to reality. The main changeling backs away from Recon, smoothly dodging out of the way of one of Celestia's sunbeams. Then the changelings scatter, the swarm dissolving like a black cloud in the air. Individual changelings get nabbed here and there, but the bulk of them vanish like shadows. Celestia tries her best to hit as many as she can, but eventually aside from the changelings that have already been subdued, the remaining changelings virtually disappeared into thin air. With a few more minutes the last of the mimics are wrangled down as well, either beaten into oblivion or trapped in stasis with magic.

Celestia slumps slightly, looking tired, but still giving out orders with a loud, clear voice. "Guardsmen, half of you rally to the city walls, the remaining half muster the forces still in the palace sweep the whole building. I doubt that's the last we'll see of them."

---

The Rest of the Scrubs
It's a long walk from the vault to the Magus wing. You go past the bodies of the paladins, the hallways, the empty guard posts. Whatever the other groups are doing, they're really getting the attention of the guards.

When they finally get close to the Magus wing, they notice a definite change in decoration. The royal iconography is replaced with more academic decor - bookshelves, posters and bannisters of magical glyphs and diagrams, busts of famous academics. When the group just gets to one of the entrances of the wing, one of the Magus actually poke their head out curiously. "Wait- you, you're one of the archivists, right? Broken Dream? Do you know what's going on with the alarms-"

He then notices Brightheart, and promptly straightens up. "A paladin! What, what would a paladin need from us? Uh, should I fetch the archmage?" He looks between Brightheart, Broken, and the rest of the party, clearly very confused.

Brightheart and Broken knows that the archmage is the head of the Magus wing, basically the department head.

Meanwhile, the imp stirs. Iota is near the back, and thus is out of earshot of the magus currently. "Nnnngh... wuzzat... whoz iz it? Muzzer, give me another five minutez..."

On the way to the Magus wing, Iota remains quiet, though it almost seems to give Broken a dirty look, as much as an armor can manage. It's pretty obvious it doesn't approve of their newest tag-along's manners.

When the imp starts to stir, Iota takes another step back just in case.

"...Wake up." Iota rattles, poking the imp with an ironclad finger. "You are captive. I... free you from chains. Tell me plans of master. Will set you free if you do."

The walk itself was a rather long one for most ponies... even longer for Broken, who despite the aid of both his makeshift walking stick and the infused power of the nightmare couldn't stop the occasional wince of physical pain or the breathlessness that seemed to dog him ever couple of minutes. He bore through both with as much composer and dignity as he could muster, but inside a part of him couldn't help but seethe at the small signs of weakness... the constant reminder of his lot in life trying to embarrass him in front of beings that he couldn't afford to falter in front of.

Taking a deep breath as they finally arrived at the Magus Wing, Broken took a quick look at the Magus that had come out to look at them before slipping into the role of a put upon servant of the crown dealing with a lot of bull right now. "This is the hired help that has been called in to take over security here to free up the Royal Guard to deal with... well, absolute chaos." Actually taking advantage of the fact that they had brought the stupid imp with them, he actually pointed his hoof towards it as he added for additional weight "The palace seems to be under attack by demons and Celestia knows what else."

"However, before they get started there is a matter that needs to be dealt with. Would you mind taking us to see Mistral List?"

Recon watches the changelings leave, her vision flickering as her body struggles to balance what little power it has left to work with. Between the changelings draining it and Celestia's super-boost, this body's power distribution system is starting to show its limits. That much becomes clearer when Recon's system has to reboot to normalize itself, temporarily cutting off all sensory input.

Because this is precisely what you want to happen when your anti-changeling weapon engages changelings in the real world. Right, 'Mother'?

When she is sure her system has stabilized, Recon looks at the carnage around her, and makes eye contact with one of the captured changelings.

"Well," she deadpans, "credit where it's due. You morons failed or abandoned every one of your objectives and left the enemy you were plotting against standing, fully aware of your intentions, and in full control of whatever resources she needs to build effective counters to your next attempt to overthrow her. Not only that, but you failed to remove the single greatest asset anyone could have against a changeling army on the several occasions today that you all but had it dead to rights. But you ruined her nice, shiny castle courtyard."

Recon clops a metal hoof against the smooth marble under it in the equine approximation of a sarcastic slow-clap.

"The changelings are still linked to their hive mind," she calls to the arresting guards. "Make sure to blindfold them and plug their ears before you haul them off. Take random turns, walk in circles, call out random numbers as you go, do whatever you can so they can't broadcast directions back to their buddies."

To Celestia: "I'll swing by the old lab to make sure we didn't burn out anything important, then get back to work on that mission. I'll bug you if I need help getting in."

With that, Recon converts to pegasus mode, dons a disguise, and flies off for where she remembers the old labs' entrance is located.

Recon
"Actually, we already tore that down." Celestia calls out to Recon. "We didn't think the prodigal child would willingly return. Go to the Magus wing and speak to the archmage. He'll make arrangements for your reparations."

She turns away, and takes off towards the city walls, leaving the guards to clean up.

---

The Crew
"D-demons? Real ones?" The Magus' eyes widen for a moment, before bobbing his head furiously. "Yes, yes of course. I assume this is for some manner of equipment, then? Please, follow me."

He opens up the big double doors leading into the Magus wing, and beckons for the group to follow. The ground floor of the wing - the one the group entered - consists of an open office space with many desk cubicles, with numerous ponies pouring over documents and what seems to be mundane paperwork. The group gets some strange looks as they enter, but the Magus waves them off and leads the group ahead to a separate room, labeled "Requisitions".

"Er, Mistral, there's an archivist here to see you - Broken Dream." The Magus knocks on the door, before turning to the group. "I'll take my leave now."

A few moments later the door opens and a tall, tired looking unicorn steps out. He blinks at Broken's company before looking at Broken himself. "Okay... this is unusual. What's the occasion, Dream? It's not a hitsquad for that overdue book, is it? I swear I'll have it returned by next week."

---

Iota (this gets a section because it doesn't quite fit into the group description, but you can chime into the Crew's situation if you want)
While the group traverses the office, the imp shakes off its grogginess at Iota's words and stares at it with wide eyes.

"Eeeh? Free? You freed me? The chainz, the chainz are gone! You freed me!" The imp looks very excited and gives Iota's helmet a hug. "Yes! Tell, will tell. Um, um, um, the boss - eh, boss Magnaroth - wantz a gem! From the ponies! So he sendz me and the boyz in to scout. He'z got an army. Impz, and gargoylez, and hellhoundz. Even changelingz! But scary unicorn sayz changelingz stole gem, so I guezz not changelingz anymore. Just demonz. Even Armor golemz like you!"

Recon isn't quite out of earshot when she hears the Princess and brakes in the air to listen. Then she changes course and heads for the magus wing.

Once there, Recon immediately spots the obvious eclectic blend of conspicuous characters.

Wait. Weren't they supposed to be at the vault?

Regardless, Recon isn't quite ready to rejoin them. Recon ducks into a corner, shifts disguises into one of the archivists, and finds someplace to look busy and listen in.

Actions:

The twins, unsure of what to do while everyone else talks, start sniffing around the room looking for things of interest. "Do you have any eggs?" Hallows asks, though doesn't specify what kind...

---

Idk, no one's rolling anything so I can't do any assisty stuff.
Perception: Nat 20+17=37

Broken offered the Magus a thankful, if somewhat tired smile and a small wave as the stallion leaves... and like just about everyone that had seen Broken that day so far, he would find it hard to remember anything about him with a small flash of magic. Considering that he was about to lead a rag tag group on a looting spree, the less ponies able to identity him after the fact, the better. Honestly he didn't expect many chance witnesses of the group to remember him if only because he looked relatively normal and didn't draw the eye like his 'friends' did.

As Mistral arrived and made his small joke, Broken couldn't help but grin playfully in return. "Oh this isn't about that Mistral. The hired goons taking care of that are ripping apart your house as we speak. " Chuckling softly with a shake of his head, he sighed a little before continuing "We've both got a lot to do today so I'll get to the point. With all the crazy stuff that's happening in the city and castle at the moment the powers that be have decided to hire on some outside help to take over some duties so the Guard isn't stretched to thin. The kobold leading this group has insisted that part of their payment involves him being able to bask in the glory that is some dragon eggs and he refuses to let his crew get started until we hold up our end of the bargain..."

"Would you mind taking us to the Zoo? Maybe even giving us a couple of passes so we can go and see the eggs without the keepers causing a fuss? Between my boss and the loud mouth with the scales, I've had enough screeching in my ear without them getting annoyed that I'm there."

Dice roll:

The twins actually notice something very odd for a split second - they swear they notice a troupe of kobolds trailing behind Krix for a moment, before they blink and its like they vanished into thin air. It doesn't seem very important, though, so they move on to more interesting things - which turns out not to be a thing, but more a sound.

They hear something through the floorboards:
"Khh, these pony ceilings. Way too low. Why do I have to accommodate their damn building, anyway? I ought to just burn this place down..."
"Granite doesn't burn, you idiot. This is why Talon put me in charge instead of you, god, do you even use that brain of yours?"
"...I think the issue isn't so much the granite, but that it'll bring the guard on our head..."
"Shush, no one asked for your opinion, Bones." "Aw..."

Meanwhile, Mistral chuckles at Broken's own little joke, before tilting his head at his request. "Well... I can definitely get you into the Zoo... Taking outsiders to the Hatchery, though... You'll have to talk to the zookeepers for that. If you don't want to get into trouble, that is. I don't have the authority to get you a pass into the Hatchery."

Turning to Hallows, he raises his eyebrow at the talking jackal before thinking for a second. "Um... dragon eggs in the Hatchery, dormant and active phoenix eggs, felbrood spider eggs, demonspawn eggs, probably every normal type of bird egg you can think of... I think we have a hydra egg tucked away somewhere..." He frowns. "That reminds me, Cloud still needs to pay us for the Foglurker lizard eggs..."

His horn glows, and a key formed out of purple light appears out of thin air, which he passes to Broken. "I need to stay here, but the Zoo portal is downstairs, with a sign pointing to it. You can't miss it, it's just past the stairs and next to the lounge area."

The twins disregard the mage's response, now staring intently at the floor boards. "There's another bad guy team beneath us." "'Low ceilings', 'burn it down'... another dragon?" "Someone named Talon. Anyone recognize that?" "Hey Kobold, how many other kobolds did you have with you, and are they following us?"

The rest of the group is not going to the archmage. Good.

Recon puts the book she was pretending to read back, and ducks out of the aisle.

Actions:

"There was one... Fang?" Iota recalls, thinking back to the gathering of the villains. "...Do not recall any Talon."

It then turns to the imp perched on its shoulder. "...If Champion Magnaroth has an army... why has he not invaded? Pony army... powerless against full demonic host."