Token Evil IC

Broken sighed a little. "Dragon it is then..." before following along with the rest of the group. After all, he was the guy who was most likely going to be doing the fast talking in the near future.

The twins trot along with the group, happy that they finally made a decision.

The group make their way downhill, heading towards the Great Outdoors. The areas in between zones are actually fairly sparsely populated, with only a few easily avoided keepers going about their business, not really keeping an eye out for quite frankly unlikely intruders.

Passing cages of exotic but not overly unusual looking birds, lizards and other low-profile animals, the group exits the boring zoology section and heads northwards to the Great Outdoors. The volcanic biome surrounds a tall, imposing volcano, issuing thick black smoke and constantly dripping with fresh flows of magma. It's surrounded by a wall of jagged black stone spikes, separating the biome from the rest of the Zoo. Weird fiery creatures can be seen within, salamanders and efreets and phoenixes among other things, bathing in fire or lounging about on super-heated rocks. The gates of the biome is guarded, an imposing stone-skinned centaur-like golem with intricate lines carved into its body standing before the gates, gauntleted arms crossed intimidatingly.

Before the group can get in, they must contend with either getting over the jagged wall, or getting past the guardian golem.

---

For a while, all Recon can sense is darkness. Then, light emerges - a point of light that quickly enlarges into a strangely familiar sight. It's a veranda, overlooking the grand cavern of what was once Imaga's hive. All the details are the same - the same bio-luminescent growths, the same grand spires, the same sweeping bridges spanning massive fissures in the earth. There's a carved stone table with a set of chairs on the veranda. Sitting in one of the chairs is Princess Celestia, calmly sipping at some tea from a tea-cup, with a tea pot and another cup set out on the table.

Recon looks down, and rather than her metallic changeling body, she's in her old, former glory.

Queen Imata glances about in confusion.

She's...home? And she's her old self?

She takea moment to admire her old body...and then her changeling wings sag.

"No," the changeling queen deadpans. "The place isn't crawling with changelings, and the pony Princess is sitting here unharmed with boiled herb-water. Of course I'm not that lucky."

She trudges to the table and sits opposite said Princess.

"I thought I was acquainted with all of the little insanities that came with my current predicament. Are you the one that I missed, or are you new?"

Actions:

As the party comes up to the magma biome, Iota stares at the golem for a while. Its interior glows briefly as it scans the surroundings. "...Door... only opened by golem." Iota rasps, stepping forward. "...Conclusion: capture golem."

Iota suddenly dashes forward, rushing up to the golem and placing a clawed gauntlet on the golem's armor. Focusing on the magical energy undoubtedly animating the golem, Iota reaches in and grasps hold of the main magical vein that controls the golem's allegiances. Iota has done this with demonic constructs before - a pony construct should be no challenge at all.

Override Arcana:

The golem moves to swipe at Iota, it's massive gauntlets about to swat Iota into the air - when it suddenly stops, frozen in place.

Recognizing new Curator... A flat, emotionless voice emanates from the golem, and it stands to attention in front of Iota. Energy signature: Demon. Awaiting instruction, Demon Curator.

---

Celestia idly takes another sip from her tea, before setting the cup down and smiling genially at Imata.

"No, I am not the genuine article, unfortunately. That one is still trying to round up changelings around the city, while issuing orders to contend with the demonic incursions on all sides." Not-Celestia, despite acting exactly as Imata remembers Celestia acting, says.

Rather - She conforms a little too much to how Imata remembers Celestia.

"I'm the shreds of what remains of your loyalty brand. I suppose you could call me a conscience. Please - have a seat. It's your own mindscape, after all."

Imata's eyes narrow.

"Slave brand," she spits back. "And I already have a conscience. You'll find her accommodations in the back. If you're going to stay here, you might as well move in with her; I'll ignore you both either way."

Imata swirls the tea in her cup, gives it a sniff, and then dumps it out onto the floor.

"Don't waste your time trying to convince me to turn away from being evil. I've seen where that road leads, and I'm not interested in being glittery and looking like rainbow vomit."

"...Open gate?" Iota commands tentatively, gesturing at the large gate.

The golem nods and promptly moves to push open the great gates. A burst of heat hits the party as the volcanic atmosphere bleeds out, and immediately it feels blisteringly hot, though not unbearably so.

Once the door is open, the golem beckons for the party to advance. Task complete. Gate can only be opened a minute at a time. Please pass.

A sign at the base of the gate reads: "Beware of incineration, melting, spontaneous combustion. Caution is advised."

---

"Well, I'm a fair bit more persuasive than a simple idea of doing good. I am a magical enchantment, albeit the remnants of one."

Slave-Brand-Celestia says, smiling faintly. "I'm not trying to convince you to turn a new leaf - you can't teach an old dog new tricks, after all. But I'd like to confirm what you'll be using Discord's wish for. To reclaim your army and take over Canterlot... was it? Seems a little... stereotypical."

Imata gives the image a strange look. It wasn't long ago that this apparition was the bane of Imata's existence, burning the inside of her skull any time she had so much as an ill though against Celestia. That combined with Imata's history with the real Celestia as Little Walker made the changeling queen unsure if she can trust anything about this image. For all she knew, she may be conversing with the real Princess through this slave-brand image of her.

"Reclaim the army, yes," she answers, choosing her words carefully. "But I won't be attempting to infiltrate and invade Canterlot again."

Broken watched the whole situation with the golem pass without incident. Nodding his head in slight approval, he walked towards the now opened gate in order to get this whole process of finding the stupid eggs on the road.

The twins, who had been expecting a trial of some sort and definitely not to just be let in, take a moment to snap out of it and trot along behind, saying nothing.

"Well! I suppose that's one way to overcome insurmountable odds."

Brightheart trots on, giving Iota an approving nod.

"Wait, we're moving already?" asks Krix, busy catching his breath having crawled and limped behind. He continues following, hoping the pain of being tossed around like a ball in a flooded room wears off soon...

The group moves on, stepping into the dry heat of the volcanic landscape. The golem, apparently, can't follow - it's hardwired to stay and guard the door, though it's willing to keep watch and deny any other passage through the gate until the group leaves.

As the group ventures into the volcanic area, they find themselves getting sapped by the heat and the smoke. The air is dry and harsh, choked with volcanic fumes and other unhealthy goodness. Bubbling sulfur pools and  geysers spew hot liquid and steam into the air, and the ground is composed almost entirely of dry, abrasive volcanic dust. It's like a living hell on earth, and for a moment it seems like nothing could possibly live in this place.

But there are things that live - in the distance, fiery salamanders wallow in flows of magma, while  efreets - ethereal flame elementals with the body of bats, but trailing fiery twisters in their wake - drift lazily in the searing up-drafts of the various volcanic vents in the enclosure, though the largest concentration of the flock around the highest volcanic peak, which sits in the center of the enclosure. Other flame or magma associated creatures

There's no dragon obviously in sight.

(Roll endurance to suffer the heat)

---

"Well, that's very kind of you, isn't it?" Celestia smiles sweetly. "For selfish reasons, no doubt, but I'm sure Canterlot will appreciate the break."

She pauses, thinking for a moment. "What do you think of the changelings who stripped me of most of my power? Do you intend to rope them into your scheme or will you allow them to run free?"

"...Query." Iota turns to the golem, before they leave. "Seeking... dragon. Protects eggs. Require directions."

It doesn't seem overly bothered by the heat - the Hells are far hotter than this.

"Ha, we kobolds don't care for the heat, we're draconic! Fireproof!" Krix boasts, confident no one is gonna call him out on his fabrication. "I still wish one of you would carry me though my legs still hurt."

(Endurance Roll: 15 (Roll) + 5 (Skill + AJoaT) + 1 (H&G Grandeur) = 21)

Stoically, Iota grabs the kobold and places him on its other shoulder, so on one side it has the imp, and on the other, the kobold.

Not quite a shoulder angel to the imp's shoulder devil, but it'll have to do.

"Hooo, well, it's quite the steamer here, is it not?" Brightheart laughs. "I wonder what strange creatures dwell in these parts?"

He looks around, seeing if there are any immediate dangers. "Now, if I were a dragon, I would live in the tallest location so I could survey my domain. My guess is that the dragon is that-a-way." He points to the peak where all the efreets are clustering around.

Broken hadn't considered the heat when he stepped through the gate... considering his weakened condition, he was ill suited to handle the heat.

Dice rolls:

The twins manage two steps into the blistering heat before they're panting- and then they start to cough and wheeze on the dry, ashen air. "Ugh, is it too late to change my pick to the other zone?" "Why did we bother getting all washed up just to come out here and choke on hot air?"

---

Endurance: 6+7=13

It gets very hard for Broken and the Twins to proceed - the hostile environment is just too much, and they have to stop frequently to try and catch their breath.

(The twins and Broken have to roll twice and take the lower result on any Athletics or Acrobatics checks until they get out of the heat)

Meanwhile the Golem seems to agree with Brightheart - the dragon looks to be dwelling in the largest volcano in the artificial biome.

---

"Well, how generous of you." The loyalty brand Celestia says, then sighs forlornly. "A shame that you're evil. You could have done great things."

The changeling queen chuckles at the brand's comment.

"'A shame you're evil', it says."

Then she holds the image in a hard glare.

"You are a soul brand conjured and implemented for the express purpose of enslaving your mistress's little ponies into complete obedience to her will. You force them to remain unquestioningly loyal to her, and punish them for so much as thinking otherwise. You are indentured servitude at its most invasive, and the wet dream of villains all over Equestria. You may look like Her Incorruptible Pure Goodness, but you're just as evil as I am by your very nature. Chew on that while I go look for a way to check on my repair progress."

With that, Imata leaves the table and walks into a nearby corridor.

Actions: