<<>>

Standing behind his desk, Obadiah looked over multiple documents ranging from supply reports to budget results. Things had been proceeding quickly since Obadiah had obtained the permit from Luna. With physical proof in his hands of the crowns support of his plans, Obadiah refused to let any small detail mess him up at this stage, which is why he was currently overlooking each report from his suboordinates personally rather than simply let Jitterbug handle it.

Not that he didn't trust the changeling, quite the opposite. Jitterbug was currently briefing the staff going with him to Sire's Hollow on what the plan would be as soon as they got off the train. All it would take would be Obadiah getting the greenlight from the towns mayor that they would need to move quickly to get things moving at an efficient pace if the land would end up being worth all this trouble.

"Sire's Hollow...such a small town seemingly in the middle of the expansive countryside, though in actuality it will be the centerpiece for everything." Obadiah whispered, rolling out a map of Equestria that the man had drawn multiple lines over, marking different sections of the continent as potential points of interest. "Sitting just north of the that cloud city and just south of the border of the empire and multiple train stations a few miles away...this location will be paramount in monopolizing the north."

Reaching over the scrawl of douments beside the map, Obadiah glanced over an inventory list, showing all the goods Obadiah had bought from the Flim Flam brothers over the past year.

"Ammunition, gunpowder, magic crystals..." Obadiah listed off in a whisper, wondering how much it would cost to get the brothers to sell him the blueprint for making the ammunition the way they do. It would be worth it in the end to cut ties with the scam-hungry twins, though for now the extra materials they are willing to sell at cheaper quantities is worth the hassle they naturally bring. "We'll need a constant supply of metal, specifically alloys and carbon...wonder if there's some sort of duplication spell out there. It's likely outlawed to use due to the moral applications of duplicating items of monetary value but the benefits of replicating rare metals and materials would be worth it."

Obadiahs gaze drifted to the map once more, eyeing Ponyville as a story Rarity had told him came to mind.

"On the note of metals, I remember Rarity mentioning Diamond dogs in the fields in between Ponyville and the Galloping Gorge. I wonder if they'd be willing to help me get those metals." Obadiah mused before shaking his head. "I'm assuming they'd be smart enough to agree to such a deal, let alone be wishing to help. Better to focus on the current job for now."

Hearing hoofsteps approach, Obadiah kept his eyes on his desk as he continued to work, though he acknowledged whoever was approaching with a wave.

"I'm quite occupied at the moment, whatever it is will have to wait if it's not important."

"I can see that, Obadiah Darling. Are you sure your not overworking youself? I of all ponies know quite a bit about that subject, regretfully."

Eyes shooting up instantly, Obadiah locked eyes with Rarity, shock in his gaze as he stood straight.

"Rarity? I wasn't expecting your arrival." Obadiah stated, coming around from the desk and kneeling before the mare, letting her initiate the hug as to not mess with her perfectly curled mane as he returned it. "I'm surprised I wasn't informed beforehand that you had entered the casino, my staff tends to let me know when important guests arrive."

"While I'm quite flattered that you deem me important enough to have your staff recognize me on sight, I assure you that's not necessary." Rarity answered, pulling back from the hug as she looked up at Obadiah with a smile. "Everypony seems to be quite busy today with all the moving around I saw below. Are you planning something big, Obadiah?"

"Just a business expansion to the north." Obadiah told her, moving back to his desk and collecting the documents into their respective file and locking it away in his desk drawer. "Nothing too crazy, though. I just got permission from the crown to expand is all, so I'm making the most of the opportunity. What brings you here though? While your company is greatly appreciated, I was sure you'd be busy watching over your sister's health."

Giving a sad nod, Rarity took a seat in the same chair she had sat in days prior, leaning against the armrest as a sigh escaped her. "I've been with er for the past few days, true. But Twilight told me I needed to get some air, as I was starting to get a little antsy sittting in that room all day, so I figured I'd check in on you while I did so."

Sitting across from her in his office chair, Obadiah crossed a leg over himself and folded his hands, his lips pursed with genuine worry.

"Is she ok? I know she was alive when I found her, but I haven't had the time to visit." Obadiah asked, a pinch of regret sparking in his tone for a moment before he pushed it down. He had every reason to be busy, he didn't have time to be sitting in a hospital room...right?

"She is making a full recovery, Darling. Though I know she'll be more than happy to see you when she awakes." Rarity told the man, seeing the worry in her friends eyes. "And I'm sure you've been quite the busy pony ever since you've moved to Canterlot...though I wouldn't mind if you came to visit m-us sometime soon."

Raising an eyebrow at her stutter, Obadiah felt a smile dance across his lips as he leaned back. "Things have been moving at a breakneck pace recently. Each day feels like I've been loaded with duty after duty, all in the hopes of keeping my business growing." Obadiah admits, staring at the map before him and where the stack of documents had been before. "And while I can't do so right now, a vacation would do me some good later down the line. When that happens, I'll be sure to visit you and your sister, as I'm sure we will both have some new tales to tell."

Smiling at the idea, Rarity found herself growing giddy at the idea of Obadiah coming to visit her again after so long. Her home had admittedly felt a bit smaller after Obadiah had moved, and even if it would be just for a short time the idea of having her friend under her roof again leaves the mare feeling ecstatic.

"That sounds lovely, Obadiah! We would love to have you whenever your able to come by! I'm sure the others would be thrilled to see you again as well!" Rarity exclaimed, her thoughts traveling to her friends back in Canterlot or back in Ponyville, as most of her fellow Elements had to return after Sweetiebelle had been found due to their jobs. While not as close to Obadiah as herself, she knew that they would be happy to see him again. "On the note of business when your in Sire's Hollow would you mind keeping an eye out for the fashion scene in that town? If there happens to be any tailors or seamstresses in the town I would greatly appreciate you getting their names so I can try and reach out to them, as I've been looking for some new inspiration for my next original work."

"Not a problem, Rarity. I'll make sure to keep an eye out for anyone like that while I'm there." Obadiah assured her, getting a very happy squeal from the unicorn mare before him.

"Thank you, Darling! I knew you'd be the right gentlestallion to ask." Rarity graciously thanked Obadiah, standing to her hooves as she trotted over to the other side of the table, giving the man a hug as she let out a content sigh. "I want to thank you again for being there for me and my sister. Even after housing you for a year, it's quite astonishing the lengths you went to save my sister."

Looking down at the Unicorn as she slowly pulled away from him, Obadiah felt an eyebrow raise as he wondered just how much of his actions that day she knew about.

"So, you heard about the details behind me saving your sister? You don't seem that upset." Obadiah questioned, watching Rarity carefully as she collected her thoughts.

"Darling, I am well aware you used an unsavory resource or two to find out where my sister is, it doesn't take Twilight to figure that much." Rarity began, staring up at Obadiah with eyes lined with genuine joy, something the man had not expected to see after her previous statement. "And while I worry for your safety as you participate with such...interesting groups I can't deny the effectiveness of those ties. Just try not to get in over your head, Obadiah. I don't want anything bad to happen to you for taking things too far."

Hearing those words made Obadiah feel...odd. The last time he had felt something like this was when he had last checked his net worth in Canterlot. To feel such a rush of positive emotion from a source that wasn't something he had stowed away in a vault was weird. Weird enough to where Obadiah didn't know if he liked it or not.

"R-Right, I'll be careful." Obadiah told Rarity, seeing her beaming smile not helping the man as he returned to his chair, trying to push aside the swell of feelings in his gut for now. "Other than simply visiting me, did you have plans for today? While I can't say for how long I'd be able to accompany you but if you'd-"

Obadiah stopped short, pursing his lips in annoyance as he saw Jitterbug approaching from down the hall, the Twee brothers close behind her. Realizing any pleasant distractions would have to be shelved, Obadiah reluctantly returned his gaze back to Rarity.

"I was going to offer that we spent the afternoon on the town, but it seems work has other plans for me." Obadiah said, his gaze drifting to the drawer holding his plans as Rarity seemed to deflate a bit as well, her smile faltering a tad as she gave an understanding nod.

"I understand, Obadiah, believe me. There have been many a time when I've canceled plans with my friends due to conflicting schedules with my clients. We'll just have to wait until a later date is all." The unicorn told the man, turning to leave for a moment before looking over her shoulder. "Till next time, Darling."

Watching as Rarity left the room and down the hall, Obadiah felt his mood plummet somewhat, feeling less motivated to start the move to Sire's Hollow than before.

What am I doing? I'll be able to see her again after things get settled in that town, all I've got to do is make sure everything goes according to plan.

"Sir? The brothers and their respective subordinates have been briefed on the mission, all we need is for you to greenlight the operation and we will have the tickets for the departing train before the evening." Jitterbug reported, the three stallions behind her giving a brief salute as they broke Obadiah from his thoughts.

"Right, give me a status update about your divisions. Things need to go smoothly, so I want to make sure we're all on the same page." Obadiah stated, reaching into his drawer and pulling out the Project Chaos file.

"The guard detail given to us by Subatomic has split into two teams of six griffons, Sir." Tweedum stated, brushing back his yellow locks as he flashed a cocky smile. "I will be staying behind to hold the fort and ensure nothing goes awry while your gone...do try and keep my birds alive, Sir. I'd rather not owe that short bastard of a pegasus money for getting his goons killed." The stallion snarked, though Obadiah could tell it was mostly in jest due to the smirk on his face.

Elbowing his brother in the side, Twee'doh threw the uncaring sibling a glare and stepped forward.

"Once we obtain word that you have succcesfully obtained the land from the towns mayor, we will have seven changelings sent to Sire's Hollow to assist in the mission, leaving the casino at seventy-five percent of staff capacity...though it shouldn't hit sales too hard as we aren't sending any of our top rated dancers." Tweed'oh informed, giving a curt nod as he took a step back and gave Tweedee the spot light.

"Inventory check has been finished, and all resources allocated to the mission have been placed in one of the empty cars on the train you will be leaving on. The griffons going with you along with myself will aid in the movement of the supplies to the safe zone until the property is acquired officially." Tweedee finished, lining up with his brothers as Jitter bug returned to the front of the group.

"Good old mother intercepted me on my way here, Sir. She wanted me to let you know that she plans on using the land you'll be obtaining as a secondary hive location. It shouldn't interfere with Project Chaos but we will need to keep an eye on her." Jitterbug spat, the very thought of her old queen making the changeling feel bile in her throat. "Other than that annoyance nothing else is amiss, sir."

Looking from each of them Obadiah feels a smile tug at the corner of his lips. Opening the file in his hands, that smile grew wider as the man realized that it was finally time.

"Perfect, you've all done a fantastic job." Obadiah praised, closing the file onece more and tucking it under an arm as he turned his gaze to Jitterbug. "Get those tickets for the evening train, we leave at dusk."

"Roger, Sir!" Doing a swift one-eighty, Jitterbug motioned for the brothers to follow her with a hoof. "You heard the boss, boys. Lets go!"

Following close behind Jitterbug and the casino admin, Obadiah stopped for a moment as he turned back to his office, staring at the glass painting that sat in his room. Looking at the money sign in the mural for a moment, Obadiah delt his resolve strengthen before following after his subordinates, not noticing a pair of yellow eyeballs plop out of the mural before materializing in the empty room.

"Ah, so this is where that human ran off to after leaving Ponyville." The Draconequus remarked as he warped from corner to corner of the office, stopping in front of the table as his eyes landed on the map left out, the markings on it drawing the eye of the chaos lord. "Well, someone's going to be busy. Fluttershy had mentioned him saving some foals but this doesn't look like hero behavior to me."

Narrowing his eyes as the chaos lords gaze fell on Ponyville, the town having a rather large X marked through it with the words "Final Destination", Discord spotted a few more X's on the map, blocking out locations such as the Crystal Empire and Canterlot, each one having it's own side comments as well.

"Profitize the Crystal Heart...Gain access to the realm of dreams? What does this human have going on in that head of his?" Taking the map and storing it in his chaos dimension for the time being, Discord took one last look around the office before a frown etched across his features. "Guess I should keep an eye on this human, especially if he plans on making chaos on this little business trip of his."

With that, Discord snapped away with the flick of a lion paw, leaving the empty room behind as the chaos lord tracked down where the human had gone.

Besides, He's just a magicless human with money. What could he possibly do to Equestria?

<<>>

Getting to the station had been surprisingly uneventful, as Obadiah was escorted by Tweedee, Tweed'oh, and the six griffons going with him. Standing at the train station was also quite the sight, as many ponies seemed unnerved by the fully suited casino owner standing tall among his griffon guards.

Said griffons were all eerily similar looking. Each one had black fur and wings, with the only part of their body that wasn't jet black being their heads which had white feathers instead. Each guard had small, beady red eyes and seem to only move as a unit and not individually. They had little for clothing besides these black berets that sat somewhat sideways on their heads.

"The station will be here soon, Sir. Everything has been loaded into the cars at the trains previous stop. All that's left is for us to get on board." Tweedee said, his eyes scanning the tracks as the stallion began to tap his hoof on the ground. "The train is threatening to be late...whoever is driving that train deserves to be fired."

"Relax, brother. Train schedules are known to fluctuate. And besides, we have wiggle room in the schedule for this very situation, we will be fine." Tweed'oh butted in, raising an eyebrow at his brothers level of stress. "You don't happen to be nervous about the trip, are you?"

"Of course I'm nervous." Tweedee hissed, leaning in close to his brother as he kept his tone quiet, looking out of his peripheral to see their boss had began to argue with some photographer mare the moment the brothers had turned their gaze from him. Said mare seemed to know the boss, but that hardly surprised Tweedee due to the boss' connections. "We have been preparing for this mission since the boss hired us! It's our chance to finally pay him back for taking us in for all these months!"

"And we will, Tweedee. But you can't let the little things get to you or you'll miss something important." The stallion said, hiugging his brother before turning to his boss, who was sticking up a finger at the retreating mare. "Sir, any problems? We saw you getting heated with that pony."

It's fine, just a woman who doesn't take no for an answer." Obadiah remarked before hearing the train whistle in the distance. Motioning to the griffons with a hand, the birds came closer as the man turned his attention to Tweedee. "I'm trusting the movement to Sire's Hollow to you, Tweedee. Make sure that you and everyone here is in the train car closest to the supplies, I will be up farther on the train in one of the private cars."

"Where will you be, Sir? We have the griffons here as a security detachment for you, and it wouldn't be wise to seperate yourself from them." Tweedee asked, not liking the sound of the boss attempting to be in a different train car, especially since the private cars were at the front of the train, putting a lot of distance between them and Obadiah.

"I will be joining someone in the car to talk about our changeling situation, and how our numbers might go up significantly." Obadiah stated, his tone leaing no room for argument. "As much as I'd enjoy a relaxing train ride to the north I have to make sure our changelings are cared for, nd with Jitterbug staying behind to run the casino, I need to handle this before I leave for Sire's Hollow."

Letting out a sigh, Tweedee gave his boss a nod as the train pulled into the station. "Alright, everyone. Move to the back of the train and load up." As the griffons were led by Tweed'oh to the back of the train, Tweedee turned back to Obadiah, worry in his eyes as a grimace danced across his lips.

"Sir...do be careful."

Truning on his hooves, Tweedee trotted after the others, leaving Obadiah to enter the train alone near the front. Passing through multiple train cars, Obadiah found himself at a pink colored car and standing before a locked door. Giving it a knock the door slide open, revealing the same photographer mare from before, staring up at the man with glowing green eyes.

"Finally, you know how to keep a mare waiting." She purred before a green aura wrapped around Obadiahs tie, pulling him into the train car as the door locked behind him.

As the mare walked past him, a green flash revealing her true body, Obadiah groaned as his eyes adjusted to the dimmer surroundings. The walls were a bit fancier, sporting a fancy pinkish vibe to them that glowed in the dim lighting above. Instead of the simple train seats there were lounging couches on the sides of the train, their purpose clear as Obadiah turned hias gaze to the Changeling Queen before him.

"So, you mentioned something about more changelings back at the station?" Obadiah asked as he felt the train begin to move, its wheels churning slowly as they pulled out of Canterlot. "If your looking for any favors be advised I'm on a tight enough scheudle as it is, and won't have time for any of your beat-around-the-bush antics, Chrysalis."

Laying across one of the couches, the queen levitated a bottle of win from a cooler nearby as her magic popped the cork. Bringing over two glasses in the same way, she poured them both full and passed one to Obadiah, who sat across from her and took the cup in his hand.

"You wound me, Obadiah. I thought you've known me long enough to realize I'm not exactly a patient pony." The queen purred as she sipped from the glass, humming contently at the bitter flavor of the wine. " But if you must know, I have decided to relocate my hive. The badlands aren't working in terms of love source and we need to a change in scenery to keep my children from starving...however, the movement of an entire hive is dangerous, especially if the hive were to be attacked during it's vunerable state."

"I've already been informed of your wishes to occupy the land I obtained from the crown. The question is why?" Obadiah asked, taking a sip from his glass only to wince at the bitter flavor, setting it aside with a frown.

"I don't plan on moving my entire hive there, as I have designs of revenge in Ponyville that will need quite a few of my children to achieve. Instead, a medical and scouting squad from my hive will be moved to Sire's Hollow, and they will be a test group of sorts to see if another hive can be built there."

"Revenge, huh." Obadiah muttered, and for a moment the same twisted emotions flowed from his body to Chrysalis's sensors, leaving that same bitter taste in her throat. However, the emotions were gone as soon as they arrived as the man composed himself inwardly, cutting off his emotions to her. "Do as you like, the changelings you send to Sire's Hollow will be taken care of, that is if they are willing to work for their stay."

"They are changelings, specifically MY changelings. They know little else but work." Chrysalis states, putting a hoof to her chest as she gives Obadiah a sultry smile. "Speaking of my children, I did call you here for another reason."

Seeing her gaze the man sighed, crossing his arms as he leaned back against the couch.

"I said it once and I'll say it again, I'm not sleeping with you. I don't care if it could get me changeling workers in the future or give you more children go find someone else for that."

Narrowing her eyes at the man, Chrysalis let out an annoyed groan as she rolled on her side, levitating the cup of win away as she did so.

"Don't be such a wet blanket. Why else do you think I got us a private car if not to have you fertilize my next batch of eggs?" The queen told Obadiah unashamed, watching the man nearly upside down due to her roll. "Or are you simply afraid you wouldn't be able to please such an experienced individual such as I?"

"I just don't find you attractive, you damned bug horse." Obadiah told her bluntly, standing up and going to leave only to hear a flash behind him as the queen changed shape, making his hand come off the door slider.

"Then why don't we change tactics then? I've heard you have some suppressed anger for a certain pink unicorn." Turning to see what she was talking about Obadiah blinked in surprise as he was met with Starlight...or at least the queen pretending to be her. "It wouldn't do to keep those thoughts bottled up...how about some stress relief before your big moment at Sire's Hollow?"

Looking at the queen in genuine shock at the level of degeneracy that she would stoop to, Obadiah stared at Chrysalis for a long while before slowly approaching her, undoing his suit piece by piece as his tie and shirts were casted aside, leaving his chest bare as he pinned the transformed queen to the couch, the taste of black licorice flowing into her sensors as he stared down at her with anger in his eyes.

"One time...you get one time between us. Make it count, you damned freak of nature." Obadiah growls before connecting with the queen. He knew this was above and beyond what was neccessary, and he probably shouldn't be doing this with Chrysalis but it had been a stressful week. That, and the idea of dominating the same mare that ruined his previous life, even as a copy, gave the man a surge of electricity through his veins even if it was but a taste of the plans he had for the genuine article.

Author's Note

Note: I do not do sex scenes, so don't expect a clop chapter. However, if someone wishes to make one on this by all means go ahead and I'll consider adding it to the story. Sorry but I've actually got zero skills with writing this stuff lol so I'd prefer to keep my story at least somewhat medium quality.