Lost Tales of Equestria: All In

by MetalSlimeEater

Rating: mature
Tags: Comedy, Rarity, Starlight Glimmer, Adventure, Violence, Princess Celestia, Sex, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Death, Alternate Universe, Human, Romance, Changelings, Original Character
Length: 23970

Buying out the world...one deal at a time

Obadiah Fletcher could admit he was a rather ambitious person. If he saw something that seemed out of his reach, he'd put in the work to make it his. So when the man finds himself ripped from his home just as he was on the cusp of obtaining a fortune that took over a decade of hard work to amass, Obadiah decides to simply start from the ground up on getting back to where he had been financially...only now the gloves were off when it came to how he obtained his wealth. After all, this world had cost him everything he had known, it was only fair that he took the world as compensation.

"Welcome to the Lost Tales, a series where one small piece on the board can change the fate of a whole world. Follow along, and see what comes of this world"
~Author

For those who want to know, this takes place after the events of Starlights redemption, so during around the middle of Season 6. Tags are self-explanatory as usual!

Published 2024-09-13 20:20:00 UTC
Last updated 2024-11-03 15:41:54 UTC

Chapter 5: Project Chaos begins

<<>>

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.

Chapter 1: A Lady in Need

<<>>

"Hey, Boss! You sure that prissy mare's not blowing us off or sumthin'?" A stocky earth pony, clad in a yellow blazer jacket that paired with his mane spoke out, standing beside two other stallions as the three of them watched their boss pull out his small firearm, twirling it on a finger as he gave them a smirk.

"She's not the type to leave her sister in a rut, especially since she reached out to me out of everyone she knows for help, so you can count on her showing." The man answered, his silk-like voice calming the nerves of the questioning stallion for the moment as he put his revolver back inside his grey suit, stashing it in a pocket withen. The man had made sure to dress up for this, as the mare arriving was quite serious when it came to both her looks and the looks of those around her. From polished brown dress shoes and matching grey gloves on his hands and even a newly bought blue tie around his neck! It had been a long time since he had splurged on an outfit, and the man had to admit he had dressed to impress.

Though considering the situation, the man wondered if his guest would even notice any of effort?

"Obadiah! There you are, darling!" A shrill voice called out as an alabaster unicorn crossed the street with a wave. "Oh, I am so glad you answered my letter, I was worried you would be too busy to help!"

Coming to a stop in front of the man, it was clear to Obadiah that the mare had been crying recently, as there was no trace of the usual makeup on her face, nor any sort of real effort done to her hair beside the usual fancy curls.

"You caught me at a good time when you sent the letter, and even if I had been busy I'm not gonna blow off a request from you, Rarity." Obadiah stated, smiling down at the unicorn before him for a second before his face went serious. "Besides, if your sister is in trouble then that's reason enough for me to get involved, I owe you two a lot after all that's happened."

Looking up at her friend, Rarity felt a twinge of sadness looking into his eyes. When Obadiah had first arrived in Equestria it hadn't been by choice, but rather a time and space reaction due to TWilight and Starlights little fiasco several months ago (or that's what Twilight had explained anyway, after doing some research into Obadiah's homeworld). The poor thing had looked so scared back then, and Rarity had demanded that he stay at her place until he could get back on his feet.

Now though? The scared, suffering man was gone, and in his place was someone who seemed to be doing well for himself...though considering what had happened back in ponyville it's probably a good thing for reasons other than job opportunities that he had moved to the city.

"Indeed. You've no doubt seen the news coverage about the school trip three days ago? Cheerilee had barely gotten the students off the train when the poor mare was mugged by some masked ruffians." Rarity started explaining, her voice wavering at times as she caught the man up on what had happened. "While she tried to defend herself, the fiends forced her to submit by taking a couple of the foals hostage...including my dear Sweetiebelle!"

Grabbing Obadiahs leg, the mare begun to cry, much to the amusement of the stallions behind the man, who had begun to quietly laugh among themselves, though a quick glare from obadiah had silenced their jeers before Rarity took any notice of them.

"I'm surprised you Elements haven't found her already, unless there's something stopping you from doing so?" Obadiah asked, patting the mares head twice as Rarity released the man from her hold.

"The girls and I have scoured this city multiple times, but Twilight is convinced that whoever was involved with the kidnapping has been moving locations, as every time we think we have a lead they seem to be gone before either us or the guard get there."

Nodding, the man rubs his chin with a thumb, peeling it back slowly as the stubble on his face crackle across the tip of his hand.

"So, you want the help of someone that knows these streets well? Why not take it to the princess then? This IS her home turf after all."

Rarity frowned and shook her head, looking downwards for a second before glancing up at him once more.

"We have, and Princess Celestia has her guards patrolling the streets for any signs of where the foals are." Almost like magic, a group of five or so guards came around the corner. As they marched past, they slowed down slightly to check in on the group of citizens standing around on the street, but moved on quickly after noticing the Element Bearer among the group.

"i can see that...though I should let you know that those guards won't find anything." Obadiah stated, watching the guards turn the next corner before returning his gaze to Rarity, who seemed perplexed by what he had said. "Your sister was most likely taken for ransom by a gang around here, and regardless of how many guards they hire simply waling around in the open won't find wherever she's been hidden."

Pursing her lips, Rarity took a moment to digest the mans words as she looked around the street, noticing just how many alleyways and little nooks were on this street alone.

"Ah, I see what you mean, Darling. The perpetrators could be down any of these alleys, and who knows how many of these buildings have basements or attics or little spots to hide the little ones!" Returning her gaze back to Obadiah, Rarity sniffled before her gaze hardened. 'That's why I came to you about this. Twilight and the others may not be comfortable seeking your aid, but it's my sister whos been kidnapped, not theirs, and I refuse to not expend every option in getting her back."

Glancing behind the man, Rarity took a brief moment to look over the entourage that had accompanied her friend. The three stallions all had similar features, and the only differince between them was the colors of their blazers and their manes.

"Which brings me to my request once more. I've heard from the girls that you've been getting involved with the underground life in Canterlot, and while I usually don't put stock in such rumors about my friends I'm at the point where I'll take any help I can get and if said rumors are true then your bound to know something that the guard doesn't."

Looking Rarity in her eyes, Obadiah watched her for a long time before turning away from the mare, motioning for her to follow him.

"Well, in that case it wouldn't hurt to get to somewhere a little more comfortable. We can discuss things at my place." Waiting for Rarity to come up beside him, Obadiah snapped his fingers as he watched his companions react.

The trio of stallions moved quickly, the yellow maned earth pony taking the right side of the duo while his green colored twin took the left. The third and faster of the trio had already taken the rear guard, his blue mane fluttering slighty due to the fast action.

Noticing Raritys shocked expression at being guarded from all sides all of a sudden, Obadiah placed a hand on his friends withers, waiting for her to calm down before removing the hand from her delicately brushed fur.

"With everything going on lately, it never hurts to have an escort." He remarked as they moved through the quiet streets, the roads rather brightly lit thanks to the full moon above, something Obadiah was secretly thankful for as it made the whole situation seem less shady on his part. Wouldn't want to scare one of the few ponies he trusted with a simple show of security, after all.

"Darling, you have your own escort? I thought they were simply friends of yours!" Rarity exclaimed, a small smile appearing on her lips as she trotted beside the surprisingly fast-walking man, forcing the mare to put in some effort to stay by his side. "What sort of business do you run to have that type of money to throw around.

"Well, I saved up money doing odd jobs and bought an empty lot near the center of the city, then with help of a favor from the princess had a casino built within the following month." Obadiah informed the mare, pulling a sky blue poker chip from his pocket and flipping it like a coin. "Business was slow at first, but once I attached a bar and grill we got customers of all types coming in droves during the evening and night."

It had taken most of his months in Canterlot to get it all sorted out. Between getting connections with the griffons in Canterlot to hire a few high quality chefs and persuading a few barkeepers and baristas from rival shops to seek new employment at his place. But it had all worked out, and in the past few months alone Obadiah was raking in bits by the millions compared to the competition. It had become so good the man was receiving letters from the nobility about possibly joining their ranks...though Obadiah would admit the idea of parading around with the nobles of canterlot wasn't high on his to do list at the moment.

"Darling, that's wonderful! While I can admit such establishments are outside my tastes I'm glad to hear your doing so well in the city!" Rarity happily exclaimed as they crossed an empty road and turned a corner, where the man could see the faint glow of a neon sign in distance.

"Thanks, it's been a lot of work, but it'll all be worth it in the end." Obadiah responded, a smile on his face at the praise as they came to a stop in front of a building that was almost bright enough to light up the entire street. "Welcome, my friend, to the Queen of Hearts!"

Looking up at the building, Rarity was blown away by how much the building stood out compared to its darker neighbors. The casino was about three stories tall, and had several entrances across a length of what was almost four houses worth of space. On the front of the building stood a large neon sign quoting the title "Queen of Hearts" in red, with an oddly familiar looking crown sitting on the Q and different playing cards of the heart suite behind a few of the letters. there were also different lights set up in different spots along the building with random details like money signs and even (to Raritys shock) an image of a lit up changeling barista beside the sign winking at the passerby, who for the most part were either entering or exiting the building with varied expressions of joy or sorrow.

Looking to the man beside her, Rarity couldn't decide whether to be in awe of Obadiahs rather large casino or in shock of how he managed to get this all together in less than a year.

Seeing Rarity's shock, Obadiah let out a laugh as he snapped his fingers once more.

"Tweedee and Tweedum, go to the usual patrons and see if they have an idea on which group is responisble for the kidnapping." The man barked as the blue and yellow maned stallions nodded and galloped away. Obadiah then turned his gaze to the green colored guard who was left. "Tweed'oh, go inside and let jitterbug know I'm back and will be in need of her assistance."

Giving the man a salute, the stallion rushed into the building, cutting past the crowd around the main entrance and barreling through the double doors.

Extending his hand, Obadiah bowed as the doors the stallion had went though slowly opened once more, this time by two griffon security guards.

"Shall we, m'lady?" Obadiah cheesed a smile as Rarity couldn't help but giggle at his antics.

"Oh stop it you." She responded, but took his hand anyway and let him guide her into the building, where Rarity was greeted with the site of hundreds of ponies lining up at multitudes of slot machines, casino tables, and even a dancing arena off to the side had quite the crowd. "Darling, this place is so big!"

"As I sais, the princess owed me a huge favor. Many of the architectural designs are from the ponies that work directly under her, so their of the highest quality." Obadiah explained, his hand motioning to several chandeliers, pillars, and even floor designs with orange white coloring. "One of our biggest dice tables is based on her highness, called the Celestial Craps. It has a rough turnout of over a thouasand betters a day due to the high risk to reward style of the table."

Rarity couldn't help but frown at the name of the table, especially considering its namesake, thugh she'd never openly admit on some level the name was silly.

"Darling does she know that you named it that, or are you just hoping she never visits this establishment to check?"

Shaking his head, Obadiah pointed back to the dance floor.

"I'm pretty sure she knows, considering her sister frequents this place." Obadiah stated with a laugh, and sure enough as Rarity looked at the center of the crowd she could see Princess Luna in the dead center of the dance floor having the time of her life partying with several of her guards, with one very lucky guard being the focus of her rather...unprincessly style of dancing.

"Well, that's certainly...something." Rarity uttered, completely at a loss thanks to the site of one of the nations most important ponies flaunting their assets like that. Though she couldn't blame the princess for wanting a night or two to herself. Being a royal was much more difficult than it looked, as Rarity was learning by watching Twilight have to learn ow to be one.

And to think Rarity had once dreamed of becoming one! She was perfectly happy with her current life thank you very much!

"But, that's not why we are here. I'll lead us to the administration floor where my office is, we can talk there." Obadiah said, bringing Rarity out of her thoughts as he guided her to a swirling staircase, pushing past a few drunken stragglers or staff as they went past the second floor and to the third.

"Darling, if you don't mind me asking what's on the second floor?" rarity questioned, noticing the words V.I.P in big neon letters on the entrances inside the closed off section. Stopping mid-flight, Obadiah sighed and turned his gaze back to the unicorn holding his gloved hand.

"The V.I.P room is for those seeking either stress relief or therapeutic cuddles with our changeling staff. Since they feed on love, several of them offered to do the job for the paying and willing customer who needed a bit more in their life at the moment." Obadiah explained, watching with amusement as Rarity's face lit up like a tomato for a moment as she digested the information.

"I-I wasn't aware you were running that sort of business here, Obadiah." She whispered for some reason, her eyes narrowing slightly at the man who brushed off her stares with a wave of his hand.

"You act like I'm making people commit crimes or something! Anyone who goes to that floor pays for it beforehand, and we even have a blacklist for ponies who are a bit too aggressive for our workers likings in order to keep both parties safe and happy." Obadiah said as straightened his tie out, loosening it somewhat to keep neck chafing to a minimum. "And besides, who are you to tell ponies how to enjoy their lifes? Last I checked your one of their national heros, not their mother."

Keeping her eyes on Obadiah for a while, Rarity eventually sighed and shook her head.

"Your right. While I don't agree with it if there was any issues with what your doing the place would've been shut down by now or would be a massive scandel among the cityfolk." Rarity backed off as they continued to ascend to the third floor, which had the words STAFF written on the doors.

"It's fine, Rarity. I don't expect you to understand everything I do, just as long as you don't get the wrong ideas about why I do it." Obadiah told her as they moved past door after door of workers and ponies monitering the games below, all the way until they reach an opening that lead to a rather big room. "And here we are, the office of yours truly!"

Walking in behind Obadiah, Rarity knew instantly the decor of this place was much more her style. The floor and roof followed the same marble white coloring, but the walls were a pretty sky blue that contrasted to the warm glow of the rather massive fireplace in the back of the room. The entirety of the office consisted of rows of filing cabinets along the walls, with several pictures framed up above them that showed the multiple phases the property had went through until completion, including a picture of princess Celestia and Obadiah cutting a large red ribbon on opening day, both of them wearing big smiles as ponies, griffons and even some changelings are seen in the background.

Looking back to the fireplace, there was a polished birch desk standing proud with one of those fancier chairs behind it, along with a couple of smaller but equally fancy chairs in front of the desk. Said desk also appeared to be rather well kept, with only a couple of papers listing profit gains spread across it.

Sitting behind the desk in his big chair, it was then that Rarity finally noticed the rather large stained glass window behind him, which much like the ones in the castle about the elements depicted the planet with a rather large money symbol marked on it.

Sitting down in front of Obadiah, Rarity went to speak when another pony teleported in beside the man. Said newcomer was dressed in a red velvet colored dress that clung tightly to her body and went down to her hooves. Though what was threw Rarity off the most was the bug wings and eyes, as the mare quickly realized it was a changeling before her, eliciting a gasp from the mare as she shot up quickly.

Noticing her horn begin to glow, Obadiah raised a hand to stop her from blasting his employee.

"Hold up, Rarity. As I've said before, changelings work here. I know you and the others don't have the best experiences with them, but the princess put me in charge of helping the good ones merge into society." Obadiah told her, motioning to the fancy changeling beside him. "Remember that favor I've been mentioning? this is what got me it. If I could help this species be well received then I could ask for anything I wanted, and sure enough a casino where ponies would be able to look past the...past and see changelings in a new light was just the right thing for the job."

Purple eyes blinked at Rarity before the changeling cleared her throat, throwing a side-eye at Obadiah before speaking up.

"Don't let the boss take too much credit. The main reason we're trying to assimilate into society is to no longer starve ourselves. That, and we realized how dumb it was to fight our own source of food when the old queen was bested a few years back by your kind."

Surprised by the rather eloquent voice, Rarity was able to calm down for what seemed like the hundreth time today as she looked from Obadiah to his business associate.

"If the princesses believe it's safe then I'll trust both you and them.' Rarity replied, fluffing her hair for a second before returning her gaze to Obadiah. "Besides, I'm in no place to be picky right now, my sister could be anywhere and I need to find her before something bad happens to her."

Folding his hands, Obadiah leaned in slightly as he gave a soft smile to the worrid mare before him. He hadn't been expecting Rarity to take the news about the changelings so well, but that meant they could move things along a bit faster than expected.

Good. The sooner we handle this Sweetiebelle fiasco the sooner the better. I don't need anymore distractions if I'm going to be able to expand my foothold in this industry.

Author's Note

Ay! if ya made it this far thanks for reading! Due to a massive brain fart with Hollow, I'm using this story to get the gears turning, especially since this has multiple chapters pre-planned already!

As with those who know me by now, if you see any errors or simply wish to comment, then go right ahead! I love nothing more than interacting with yall and answering non-spoiler based questions! (if it is, I'll just say so lol. Dont be worried about not asking a question.)

Chapter 2: Childs play

<<>>

"-And that's when I was informed of my sister's kidnapping." Rarity finished, having recounted how she had been notified of her sister's disappearance, all the while beginning to tear up again. Obadiah gave his secretary a nod, watching as she levitated the poor mare a hankerchief to dab away her tears, earning the changeling a soft "thank you" from Rarity as an idea popped into the suited mans mind.

"Have you happened to recieve any sort of ransom letters or threats? Any possible ponies that would want to ruin you in some way?"

Watching the unicorn tuck the hankerchief away...somewhere, Rarity then shook her head as she stared at Obadiah with stained eyes, her mascara beginning to run after all of this emotional build-up.

"While I am part of the clothing business and my work as an Element can occasionally have run-ins with the yearly supervillian or so, I don't think I've made any true enemies of the public eye. Perhaps a noblepony or two jealous of my connections or friendship with Twilight, but not enough to harm my family!"

"Right, should've figured as much. Then this leaves me to handle this from the ground up." Obadiah stated strongly, standing up and glancing to the secretary. "Jitterbug, I've got the Twee-Trio handling the streets at the moment, would you mind pushing back any appointments I have tomorrow? I will be quite busy and won't have time for any distractions."

The changeling pulled out a clip board and scratched out a few lines on the second page, flipping it back down as she threw a grimace Obadiahs way.

"I hope things work out for you sir, because you just canceled a meeting with Hoity Toity...and he's not going to let that go without making a scene of it." Jitterbug informed, magicking away her clipboard as she begins to trot away, taking a moment to bow slightly to Rarity before continuing her trot out the entranceway.

"Well, that's going to bite me later." Obadiah muttered as he returned his focus to Rarity. "Now, It'll take some time for me to get an update from my security detail, in the meantime I'd suggest you go back home for now." Watching as Rarity stood up, Obadiah threw up a hand to stop the mare. "As you stated before, you came to me for my connections with the underground, yes? Then you know that I am about to commit some legally questionable acts to find your sister, and the last thing we need is for you to be dragged into this mess if things go south."

"Obadiah, you can't expect me to sit back and let someone else save my sister for me!" Rarity fired back, refusing to back down as she stepped up to the man, though the effect of doing so was greatly reduced thanks to Obadiah being two heads taller than the mare. "I understand your worried about my reputation, but I assure you that's the last thing on my mind right now."

"Then continue to look for her with your friends then!" Obadiah retorted sharply before pinching the bridge of his nose with a sigh as he calmed himself down. "Leave the night searching to me, and make sure to keep your head on straight when in public...I don't want you getting hurt."

Though the last part was a mutter, Rarity picked up on it and backed off a tad, smiling gently at her friend.

"Very well. I'll let the girls know your helping out in the search and to not bother you." Rarity turned to leave but faltered for a moment before turning her head back to Obadiah. "Just...promise me you won't do anything too dangerous? I don't want you getting hurt either, Darling."

Blushing slightly at the realization he had been heard, Obadiah scoffed and turned towards his window, waving the mare off as he put his hands on his hips.

"I'll be fine. Tweed'oh should be downstairs waiting to escort you wherever you need to go to make it back to your place of rest for the night."

Giggling to herself, Rarity turned and walked out of the room, her head held high for the first time in days.

Even with all of his recent success and owning of such a...unique establishment it's good to know that Obadiah hasn't changed that much. Rarity thought to herself with a smile as she made her way downstairs and was met with the same guard from earlier, who gave the unicorn a bow and motioned for her to follow him. For all of his talk about making it big in the world, he really does have a good heart.

And in looking around the casino, Rarity felt her words reaffirmed as her eyes went from both the countless guests at the tables and games to the staff, who were comprised of many different types of creatures. Who knew how many of them faced hardships in Canterlot due to not bing the 'prim and proper' standard the Canterlot elite seemed to uphold, and could now be accepted in a place where no one cares what you are...even if part of it is because they're too busy spending all their money on gambling.

In a weird way of looking at it, Obadiah was simply doing what Rarity had done for him a year ago. Providing a place where creatures of all types could escape judgement from the outside world just long enough to be themsleves, if the smiles on the staff were anything to show for it.

As Rarity was escorted out of the building, Obadiah watched the mare leave from the top of the spiral staircase, leaning on the railing as he stroked a thumb across his chin.

"If I play the cards right, I may just be able to make something more out of this situation than simply saving my friends sister..." Obadiah whispered as he glanced down the hall to his office, his eyes glinting at the sight of the mural that loomed above his place of work. "Of course, I'll need to take measures to ensure Sweetiebelle gets out unscathed, but that shouldn't be too-"

"Sir!"

Jumping slightly, Obadiah nearly leapt off the stairway in shock before turning to face the source of the feminine voice, which met him with a worried looking changeling. Said changeling seemed to had came from the second floor, as she was wearing the type of dress that left little to the imagination.

"What is it?" Obadiah asked tersly, letting his heart slow down as the changeling pointed down to the V.I.P floor with a angry grunt.

"A paying customer is acting out of line and is tormenting one of the newer dancerlings. He's been following her around all night and has spent over two thousand bits to do nothing but turn into the night princess and let him breed her...I fear he may end up scarring the poor girl will be left traumatized if not dealt with."

Running a hand through his hair, he let the changeling lead the way as Obadiah realized he had unintentionally caused this fiasco to go without supervision.

Tweed'oh is usually in charge of second floor security, but with him escorting Rarity I left the V.I.P room without its security chief...no wonder things got out of hand.

Entering the second floor interior, it didn't take much searching to find the rowdy guest, who was now arguing with one of the lesser security guards and causing a scene.

"I paid good hard money to have that bug put on a show for me, and she won't even do that?" It was a unicorn, and one of the older ones in the canterlot noble system. Obadiah recognized the stallion as one of the chief judges in the judicial system for the surrounding area, as he usually handled smaller problems that were deemed unneccesary to trouble the princess over. Though instead of his usual balck robes, the grey stallion bore a white vest and pants that made him seem more like a wedding guest than a casino regular.

"You specifically demanded to engage in unprotected sex with one of our dancers, and considering you've been here before you and I both know that's against the rules...which are literally posted right there!" The security guard, a pegasus by the name Short Fuse, was earning his name tonight as the enraged stallion looked ready to beat down the old judge.

They kept on bickering for a while, going back and forth about what or wasn't said until Short fuse reared back his hoof, only to be stopped as he noticed his boss standing behind him, looming over both ponies with a tired sigh.

"Thank you for doing your job, Fuse." Obadiah stated firmly, leaving the rest unsaid as the pegasus quickly got out of the way, allowing the man to focus on the judge before him. "Judge Gavel...do you want to explain yourself or are you just going to continue to pester my fine workers and waste everyones time?"

The judge shot a glare at Obadiah as he wiped off his robes, letting out a snort as he shook his head.

"Your the owner of this establishment, correct? It makes sense now that such a mediocre business would be run by a foreigner."

Obadiah simply raised an eyebrow at that, though the workers in the room were far more expressive with their thoughts, with the lot of them being mixed between either gasps or angry outcrys from multiple of the changelings dancers.

Great, a crowd is forming. My workers are fine but the judge might get ballsy if he thinks he's the star of the show...hmm? Obadiah is pulled from his thoughts as he notices a glimmer on the base of the unicorn judges horn, something that made his smile grow larger by the second.

"What is such a fine gentlestallion doing at this establishment anyhow? From that ring on your horn I'd wager your a married colt, yes? It would be a shame if your wife were to find out about your late night escapades." Obadiah retorted, leaning down and tapping the judges horn twice before standing up and motioning to the changeling dancer that looked the most disturbed in the crowd. "I assume that's the poor girl you were tormenting, right? Your going to tip her a hundred percent and leave my casino, before I have your married life ruined faster than you'd last in bed."

The Judge gritted his teeth as he took a step back, pointing a hoof at the man.

"Y-You can't prove I was here! Even if you brought it to court there would be no case!" He spat, only to watch as Obadiah pointed at a camera behind his back, placed in the corner of the room so the entire lobby would be visible to its watchful eye.

"I hear it's a new model, enchanted to pick up and record sound...looks like you've got no choice but to pay up." Obadiah snarked back, watching as the Judge begrudgingly began to pull out his bit bag to tip the dancer, allowing Obadiah let the guard handle things to leave the V.I.P floor. Accompanied by a headache due to the compiling annoyances in the night alone, Obadiah entered his with an agitated groan.

"Damn ponies...even when I set up clear rules there's always some sick idiot who tries to do whatever the hell they want." Obadiah muttered as he sat into his cushioned office chair, resting his eyes for only a moment as he began to hear rapid hoofsteps approaching. "If it's not important leave me be, it's been a long day and I'd prefer to enjoy the silence."

Not hearing the ponies leaving, Obadiah opened his eyes somewhat as he recognized the visitors as the other two brothers of the Tweetrio, most likely returning from their trip around the city. Standing up from his chair, Obadiah felt all fatique leave his body as he planted his hands on the table before him.

"Well? Did you find a possible location for where Sweetiebelle is held up? The sooner we nip this in the bud the better, as I have plans coming up that don't need any distractions to pull me from them."

The yellow maned brother spoke first, taking a bite from a donut he pulled from a box on his back as he gave his boss a curt nod.

"Took a bit of door-knocking and a few bribes to some of the night guard that was patrolling, but we managed to narrow it down between the Fleur Estates in the Northside Canterlot and Marchioness Polomares estate in westward Canterlot."

As Tweedum proceeded to eat several more donuts, his blue toned brother continued where he left off.

"While my brother was out property hunting, I dug into our dear clients past a little. While the Element of Generosity has no quarrels or grudges with Madame Fleur, I was able to pick up some juicy details about a certain fashion competition in Manehatten, and how Ms. Belle competed and beat Marchioness Polomare out of a trophy that day...thought that was nearly two years ago."

Looking from Tweedee and his ever-hungry twin, Obadiah pursed his lips in thought as he began to rhythmically rap his knuckles

"Would something so petty drive a mare to such lengths?" Obadiah muttered, a frown etching across his face as he glanced at Tweedee once more. "Any idea on what happened to her after that? Some sort of fallout?"

"Actually, there was something of note." The stallion reached into his blazer and pulled out a document, passing it to Obadiah as he continued. "After meeting with my brother and obtaining the loaction of Polomares home, I snuck into the Marchioness' estate and found that she was in the running with a very big opportunity for a fashion industry in Manehatten among the elites, and that show was her fee of admittance. Losing to Ms. Rarity meant that she lost all sponsors for her company there, meanwhile the Element bearer found herself with several new buyers from out of town."

Obadiah glanced down at the document, glancing it over as Polomare's motive for revenge began to be clearer.

_________________________________
Marchioness Polomare,

We regret to inform you that we have caught wind of your failure at Fashion Week. Not only did you fail, but you tried to pawn off anothers work as your own, and have brought shame to the fashion industry as a whole. As such, we will be backing out of any deals we made in the efforts of making your name known in either this city or any other. However, in thanks for bringing to our attention a pony with actual talent in the craft, we will not take any action against you and will allow you to keep your title with our Canterlot Division.

-E.C.I
_________________________________

"While this helps us get a possible person of interest, this doesn't answer my previous question...where is Raritys sister?" Obadiah states, placing the document in the shredder beneath his desk as he turns his attention to tweedum, who had finally finished eating through a whole box of donuts. "Any land or buildings owned by Polomare?"

The brothers glanced at each other for a moment, uncertainty in their eyes as they looked back to their boss.

"Well, we have a solid idea, as Polomare lost most of her fortune to that failure in Manehatten, so she doesn't have many places left in her name. However, it sits close to the castle gates, and any action we take there could potentially alert the guards." Tweedum answered, grimacing slightly as he motioned to the donut box on his back. "You know about Donut Joe, right? Right across the street from him is a run down beauty parlor that is set to be renovated this week. It's empty at the moment due to the construction plans being halted suddenly, so it would make a good spot to hide somepony."

Looking between the brothers Obadiah sighed, standing up and pulling out his revolver as he inspected the shining silver barrel.

"Then I'll go. You two stay back and make sure the security of this place stays tight, we had a situation compromised earlier due to my own oversight, and I'd rather that not happen again."

Looking at the weapon shine in the dimly lit office room, the brothers paled slightly as they gave a swift bow, the blue stallion standing back up quicker as he raised a hoof.

"On that note, Sir. On my way back from the Marchioness Estate, I ran into an old contact of yours. She said she'd be waiting for you next time you were alone outside...figured you'd want a heads up before leaving."

Surppresing a groan, Obadiah put the revolver back inside his suit, giving Tweedee a smile as he moved around the table.

"Thanks for the warning, she probably wants an update on how the rebels from her hive are faring here." Obadiah muttered as he walked past the two brothers, moving quickly as he made his way through the crowds and out the doors of his casino. "Regardless, looks like its time to play hero...if only for a night or two."

Despite his mood, Obadiah felt a smile tug on his lips. Perhaps today would end on a high note after all.

<<>>

"You mean to tell me you and your brothers were homeless?"

Tweed'oh gave Rarity a nod as they walked through the gates of the castle, being let in with barely a glance from the guards. The stallion chalked it up to being in the presence of an Element Bearer and not his rugged looks...though by the glances of some of the guardmares he's been getting after passing them he may just get lucky.

"Yes. After we lost our homes to the Canterlot invasion four years ago, we struggled to make ends meet...until the boss found us attempting to rob a bank he was making a transaction at. Instead of letting us get sentenced, he managed to sweet talk the judge into letting us work our crime off as his lackeys, something about community service to the crown due to his favor with the princess."

Stopping at the front doors of the castle, Rarity turned to the green stallion with a shocked expression, her eyes alight with curiosity in the subject as it was clear to Tweed'oh she hadn't heard about this until now.

"Oh? So Obadiah reforms three ruffians to work for him, and doesn't even mention it in our letters? The cheek of him to not mention such a thing!" The unicorn said in a teasing tone as the palace doors begin to slowly open for the pair, causing the stallion to side eye Rarity.

"On that note, how well acquianted are you with the boss? I've been under his employ for months but I've never seen him take such a personal approach to somepony's situation before you." The stallion remarked, earning a small blush from the mare as she waved him off.

"We are old friends, that's all. When he arrived here I was the one who volunteered to help get him on his hooves, and we ended up becoming close because of it." Rarity explained, her eyes lighting up as she spoke as a recollecting tone danced along her words. "He was always willing to help me out in the store, and was so eager to learn about the business world in Equestria. Why, I've never seen a stallion get so excited about taxes as Obadiah was when he was learning about our nations economical state."

Blinking owlishly at the mare before him, Tweed'oh realized just how important his job was at the moment. If anything bad would've happened to this mare at all during his watch, the boss would've most likely emptied a-

"Rarity! Your back!"

Both ponies turned towards the new voice, and one unicorn smiled widely as her lavender friend made her way over to them.

"Why, Twilight Darling I'm surprised your still up!" Rarity exclaimed as the Alicorn came up and hugged her, allowing Rarity to return te hug briefly before pulling away.

"Considering Sweetiebelle is still missing it doesn't feel right to simply go to sleep, especially with her sister being out and about this late." Twilight answered, getting a sheepish laugh from Rarity as her gaze wandered to the new face alongside her friend. "I don't think we've met, are you a friend of Raritys?"

Shaking his head, Tweed'oh tapped the right side of his blazer, right on the fancy heart stitching placed upon it.

"Afraid not, as I only met the mare today, though I am aware of your exploits as Elements." Tweed'oh answered as he motioned to the unicorn beside him with a hoof. "The boss asked me to escort the lady to her destination, but since your here I doubt my duties are required any further." Turning to Rarity, tweed'oh offered a quick goodbye as he cantered away, leaving the two mares alone at the front doors of the castle.

"Sooooo, who was that?" Twilight asked Rarity, raising an eyebrow at the mare and her lack of reaction to the stallions departure. "I'd crack a joke about him being a coltfriend of yours, but I've known you long enough to know he's not your type."

"The fine fellows name was Tweed'oh, and he works as one of Obadiahs security guards at his casino in Central Canterlot." Rarity asnwered plainly, ignoring the jab as Twilight tilted her head to the side.

"Oh, he works for Obadiah? I wouldn't have gues- wait what!?!" Twilight started off, only to raise her voice as she turned to her best friend. "You actually talked with Obadiah? I haven't been able to reach him for months!"

"Well, after what happened with Starlight I don't blame the poor dear for wanting to put Ponyville behind him" Rarity said, though as she noticed Twilights face fall the mare put a foreleg around her friend. "Cheer up, Darling. What happened that day wasn't your fault. That time spell was unstable enough without Starlight forcing you two to use it over and over. There was bound to be something that slipped through the cracks when you returned."

"That doesn't change the fact that I had a hoof in his arrival here...even if he only seems to want to blame Starlight." Twilight sighed, shaking her head. "I assume you talked to him about Sweetiebelle, right? Did he have any leads or ideas on how to help? He's bound to know the area well since moving here."

Giving the alicorn a nod, Rarity pulled away from Twilight, smiling as she pranced a little in place.

"Obadiah said he might know of a way to figure out where my sister is being held!" Rarity leaned in close, looking around before whispering to Twilight. "Though, I'd appreciate it if you kept this between us for now, as I think some of the rumors we heard about his activites with the underground might be true after all."

Eyes widening at the news, Twilight took a step back in shock as she wondered why Rarity seemed so unaffected by such a thing.

"Rarity, don't tell me he's involved with the crime circles here? They're the same ponies we have under suspicion for kidnapping your sister." Twilight whisper-hissed before face-hooving. "However, with the little luck we are having it actually makes some sense to get some help from someone we can trust who has ties with such things...lets just hope Obadiah doesn't get in over his head, as we both know how he gets when something agitates him."

"Oh relax Darling, Obadiah may get...passionate at times but he does it with a good heart." Rarity affirmed as she turned and began to walk inside. "Now come on, we both need to get some rest, especially if Obadiah finds something that we missed."

Following her friend inside, Twilight pushed down her worries for the situation, deciding to trust Rarity on the matter. After all, Rarity knew Obadiah far more than she did. And if Rarity trusted him, then that was good enough for her.

<<>>

Staring at the very abandoned building, Obadiah's eyes darted from window to window as he looked over the two story beauty parlor. The place had definitely seen better days, as many of the windows were boarded up and had do not disturb signs on them.

"Considering the location and foot traffic, this place could have made hundreds of thousands in sales." Obadiah mused as he glanced behind him at the currently closed donut shop across the stree. "Near the palace? next to a well known food spot in the city? Wonder if I can buy the land from the renovator after all of this is done?"

Putting those thoughts aside for now, Obadiah pulled out his revolver and popped out the cylinder as he began to load the gun with blue bullets from his suit pocket.

"haven't had a chance to try these bad boys...and if the intel I got is good then I just might get my chance."

Finished with loading the revolver and cocking it back into place, Obadiah did a quick function check before moving up to the front door of the parlor. Trying the knob the man frowned as it proved to be locked, though it wasn't too much of a surprise.

"Well, I could break in by breaking the knob but that that runs the risk of any anti theft charms or someone inside hearing me..." Obadiah whispered, sighing as he realized he hadn't thought this through to well. With no other options and his patience running thin, the man raised the butt of his revolver only for a green bolt to strike the door, followed by a click of the lock on the door from within.

Turning around, Obadiah felt a surprised smile grace his features as he was met with the sight of Rarity...only to narrow his eyes as he saw a green gleam in the mares gaze.

"Do you ever get bored doing that whole 'pretend to be someone your victims care about' routine?" Obadiah asked, watching as the mare waltzed up to him and gave him a stink eye as she surrounded herself with a wall of green flame, returning to her regular form.

"Don't be such a party pooper, Obadiah." Chrysalis said, rolling out the 'a' in a husky tone as she ran a hoof down his chest. "All dressed up for me? You shouldn't have...though your ideal location for a date night needs some work."

Batting her hoof away, Obadiah bonked the queens snot with his revolvers butt, forcing a soft sneeze from the changeling and making her back up a bit, rubbing her snoot as she glared daggers at the man before her.

"Not for you, sadly. And I'm not playing your games right now Chrysalis, I'm here to save someone."

"Oh I already know about all that. That guard of yours is quite the looker, and quite the good source of love as well." Chrysalis responded as the man turned away from her and slowly opened the door to the parlor, forcing her to follow behind as she continued to speak in a sharp whisper. "What do you feed those stallions of yours that they can go several rounds with me and not pass out on the street?"

"They get a lot of practice with your 'lings at the casino, so their pretty good at not being too fatigued after a draining." Obadiah whispered back as the two slowly moved around knocked over ponnequins and old clothing. "Say, you can sense emotions, right? Feel any build up of fear nearby that could be radiating off a filly?"

Turning to the changeling behind him, Obadiah was met with glowing green eyes as the Queen glared at him for a second before rolling her eyes.

"I guess I can help you, since you agreed to look after my rebellious children for me." Chrysalis relented, taking a moment to stand up straight and close her eyes as her horn glowed slightly for a second. "The foal your looking for is below us, most likely a cellar of some kind, though she isn't the only one down there." Opening her eyes, the queen jabbed a hoof into the man's chest. "Your lucky your in my good graces, whelp. I wouldn't stoop so low as to help out family of my sworn enemies for just anypony after all!"

Giving the Queen a smile despite her nagging, Obadiah was relieved to know he was in the right spot, even if it meant possible hostiles below.

"Thanks, Chrysalis. I'd recommend you go back to my casino for now though, as I need my focus entirely on saving the kid. We can talk more after all this is handled."

Sighing, the queen turned away and charged her horn before glancing back at Obadiah over her shoulder.

"Fine...don't leave me waiting for too long, Obadiah. We have much to discuss in the coming future."

With a flash of green, Chrysalis was gone, leaving the man alone with a growing sense of worry creeping down his spine.

"Why do I have a feeling that's going to come back and bite me later?" The man whispered, surpressing the urge to shudder as he made his way to the back of the store, noticing a slightly ajar door that lead downwards.

"Ah, just what the doctor ordered."

Opening it enough to where he could slip through, Obadiah began to slowly go down the steps as that lead him through a small corridor that the man had to duck to not slam his head on. Obadiah just about turned the corner when he noticed there was the room ahead had voices coming from it.

"...llsy hiding out in front of the castle? What's the boss thinking these days?" A gruff voice spoke out as Obadiah listened in, straining his hearing to catch what they were saying.

"She's desperate." Another voice, a mare this time, chimed in. "Can't get over some big loss in the past, and now has us babysitting while she drafts up some sort of revenge scheme...why not figure all that out before having us kidnap the filly anywho?"

"Who cares? We're getting paid, right?" The gruff voice responded again with a laugh as Obadiah gripped the handle of his revolver tightly.

Only two then? That makes this easier than I expected...let's see if I can still use this bad boy.

Double-checking his gun, Obadiah nodded once before turning the corner, noticing the two ponies instantly as they saw him appear from the darkness of the hallway he had been in.

The mare, a masked unicorn, was the first to stand up from her chair.

"Hey, who do you-"

Obadiah cut her off with his revolver, firing a shot that hit her square in her chest floof. As soon as the bullet made impact it lodged itself into her body and a blue flash went off, leaving the mare encased in ice.

What the hell? Is she even alive in that block of ice?

"Ooooooh, that's what Flam meant by freeze bullets. Surprised they managed to make something so effective." Obadiah remarked, playing off his shock as the stallion was left staring in fear as he saw his partner frozen in an ice cube. Turning to the intruder the stallion raised his hooves and backed up to the wall, fumbling in his vest pocket with his wing.

"E-Easy now, no need to ice me partner. It's the filly your after right?" The pony pulled a key from his vest with a wing and slowly inched to one of the locked doors on the side of the room and unlocked it, opening it up and showing a sleeping Sweetiebelle within.

Obadiah went to approach the filly, but noticed several purple marks around her body as she slowly began to stir from unconsciousness. Turning to the stallion, Obadiah barely got his shot off in time before the Stallion was able to attempt to stab him from the side with a knife.

"Damn...I can't take my eyes off creeps like that in the future. Any later of a reaction time and I would've been this guys next sliced ham."

Flipping off the frozen pegasus, Obadiah walked up to the doorway and knelt down, softly rubbing Sweetiebelles head as she came to.

"Owwww...O-Obadiah?" The filly whispered, wiping her eyes several times as if she couldn't believe her eyes. "Is that really you? What happened to the bad ponies?"

"They're taking some time to cool off." Obadiah asnwered softly before looking around in her cell, not loking the foul smell that had hit his nose since kneeling down. "They didn't let you leave this room did they?"

Obadiah felt his anger build as he watched the little girl in front of him begin to cry. Standing up, Obadiah grabbed the key the stallion had used from the ground nearby and walked over to the other doors, opening each of the doors and finding a couple of the other kids from Ponyville inside each one.

These must be the other kids Rarity mentioned...looks like I'll have to carry them all out of here.

Realizing he definitely should've came up with a plan before doing all of this, Obadiah sighed and began to pick up each foal. Ending with him holding a pony pile in his arms with Sweetiebelle on top of it.

Said filly was looking up at him with those big eyes of hers as tears continued to stream down her face.

"Thank you..."She whispered as she leaned her body into Obadiahs chest, making the man stop moving as he looked down at her and the other foals, all of them with varying bruising and marks but alive.

Polomare...you've made an enemy this day.

<<>>

"Our sales have went up by fifteen percent recently, Sir." Jitterbug informed Obadiah as he sat at his desk, looking at the mural above with a smile.

After taking the foals to the palace gates and ensuring the guards would take care of Sweetiebelle and the others, Obadiah had returned to his office and passed out. it had been a long night, and if anypony wanted to reach him they could wait until the next day to do so. However, Obadiah hadn't expected to sleep well into the mid-afternoon, and was being brought up to date by his secretary on the months earnings and what had occured during his rest.

"Really, such a large boost so quickly? Do THAT many ponies like this casino?" Obadiah remarked as he leaned back, keeping his eye on the letter that had been sent to his address. It had been from Rarity, and by the sloppy handwriting and wet stains Obadiah figured it was written in a rush as he could not make head or tails of its contents.

She'll probably be busy making sure Sweetiebelle is alright, that kid needed a doctor bad when I returned her...wonder Rarity will swing by before returning to Ponyville?

Looking to Jitterbug, the man gave the changeling a nod as he opened a side drawer at his desk, pulling out a file labeled Project Chaos.

"Think we can start expanding now? I've accumalated more than enough wealth, and once that rescue last night goes publ-" Obadiah was cut off as two royal guards entered the room, followed by Tweedee and Tweedum.

"Sir, we tried to stop them but they said it was a royal matter!" Tweedee exclaimed, though a waved hand from Obadiah calmed the two of them down as the man stood from his chair.

"Alright, what's up? As you can see, I am a busy man." Obadiah remarked, putting the file back into the cabinet and closing the drawer.

Perhaps another time, then.

The royal guard on the left magicked a letter from somewhere and levitated it to Obadiah, who opened it up and glossed over it.

"The princesses wish to see you, and have requested you come with us to the castle immediately." The guard on the right stated, his tone stating there would be no refusing this offer.

Shrugging, Obadiah closed the letter and walked over to the guards, passing it back with a smile as he motioned for them to move.

"Well, then let's go. I hope that this isn't going to be a waste of my time." As he walked out with the guards, Obadiah looked over his shoulder. "Jitterbug, your in charge."

Jitterbug pumped a hoof in excitement as Obadiah turned his gaze back to the guards, his smile leaving his face as his thoughts returned to the building from last night.

Wonder what the princess plans to do about the situation with the kidnappings? Regardless of what happens though, it seems like I'm due for a new royal favor soon...

Author's Note

Well, that went far longer than I had planned. This had mean to be 2 chapters, but I didn't feel right ending it on the judge section, so I merged them

Chapter 3: Permittance

<<>>

Obadiahs escort to the palace had been a relatively short one due to the fact that the guards had decided to teleport straight to the castle gates rather than march through the city. As the man was guidied towards the throne room, Obadiah found himself being the center of attention every time they entered a different hall.

Looks like news about the kids has spread...wonder how long it will be until the press gets hold of my actions?

Coming to a stop in front of the big doors Obadiah recognized as the partition to the throne room, his guard escort stopped and turned to him.

"We have arrived." The guard on his left spoke up, giving Obadiah a stern look as he eyed the revolver barely peeking out of his suit. "The princess is waiting for you, please be on your best behavior while in her royal presence."

Both guards turned swiftly and opened the doors, stepping to the side and letting Obadiah step past them. As the man stepped through the doorway, his eyes drifted from the rows of pillars lining the walls to the red carpet that guided his gaze to the throne...and the princess who sat upon it.

It seems nothing has changed since I was last here.

Noticing Obadiah, the sun monarch rose from her throne and gracefully walked down the steps, meeting Obadiah halfway before offering the man a gentle smile.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice, Mr. Fletcher. Forgive me if my guards disturbed you, but I wanted to meet with you face-to-face after the events last night." princess Celestia spoke, standing barely above Obadiah in height if you counted her horn. "Both Luna's guard and mine had been looking into the kidnapping of the foals from Ponyville, and had been doing so for a few days now without an ounce of luck...but then you accomplish what our trained soldiers could not in one night?"

"So, we're cutting the small talk and going right in?" Obadiah remarked before shaking his head. "I would've expected a bit more tact for the man who saved those kids, after all."

"It's not that I don't recognize your actions, but rather that I have known you for almost a year now. You aren't the type of person to simply risk life and limb to help somepony when they need it, not without expecting a reward in return." Celestia shot back, earning a chuckle from the man before her.

"Usually you'd be correct, princess." Obadiah began, stroking his chin with a thumb as a genuine smile graced his lips. "However, Rarity and her sister took me in when I first arrived in this world, and I would be a fool to not repay the favor somehow."

The princess' gaze softened somewhat, though Celestia knew better than to leave it at that. This had been the creature who had managed to change her plans to reintegrate Changelings into society and managed to alter it enough to where he would come out of it a rich man.

And while Celestia had experience with greedy ponies due to the nobility constantly pestering her throughout the day, dealing with someone with their level of financial passion and was genuinely capable of acting on it made Obadiah someone she had needed to keep an eye on.

"That explains the report I got from Twilight, as the Element of Generosity seemed quite sure you were going to deliver on your promise to her. However, I am more concerned about the how than the why at this point." The sun monarch stated clearly, magicking up a small scroll and unraveling it. "My guard got a report of a break in at Madame Polomare's estate, and less than an hour after said break in you happen to return the missing ponies to us?"

"You won't find anything that links me to that event, princess." Obadiah responded, putting a hand on his hip and flashing two fingers at the princess. "Which leads me back to what you mentioned before. Your correct in assuming I want a reward, and as this time I almost died I want to make it two."

"What could you possibly want from the crown? You've already obtained a monopoly on most bars and clubs due to your casino, and just yesterday a noble asked me to grant you status as nobility due to your wealth!"

Obadiah felt a rush of warmth go through his body at the princess' words, his grin widening as he pointed those two fingers directly at the royal snoot.

"Exactly! In one year I have shot farther than most creatures you could think of...however, these two favors aren't business proposals like the casino was." Obadiah said, retreating his hand back to his side as the princess threw him a confused stare, raising an eyebrow at the suited man.

"If not something material, then what else could you seek?" Celestia asked, a frown setting in as she did not like the smile on Obadiahs face. It was one predators like dragons or griffons wore when slaughtering their prey, and the smile seemed far to comfortable on Obadiahs face to not have the princess on guard.

"They're little things, don't worry." Obadiah started, adjusting his tie as he loosened it enough to where it wasn't hugging his neck anymore. "One: I want the charges for that break in dropped, as while I didn't do the deed the one who did helped me find the kids, and I'd rather that creature not be punished for doing the right thing."

"I wouldn't call breaking and entering the 'right thing' in most cases but since the ends justified the means I can have the window replaced and let Madame Polomare know the situation was resolved...and for the other favor?" Celestia relented, keeping her guard up as she eyed Obadiah warily, who's smile seemed to only get wider than before, reaching all the way to his eyes.

"Don't give me that look, I'm not asking for a blood oath or anything!" Obadiah stated with a laugh before his smile vanished entirely, replaced by a serious gaze as Obadiah leaned back a bit on his heels. "The other favor is this: I want a royal writ of agreement, specifically for allowing me to purchase land near Sire's Hollow."

For a moment, Celestia stared at Obadiah, the frown on her face deepening somewhat before she found the words to speak.

"You...want a permit to buy land nearby a town across the country?" Celestia asked, caughten off guard from the odd request, as it hadn't been close to the realm of possibilities that the princess had expected from Obadiah.

"Yes, I have an idea for a business venture there and would need land to call my on while there." Obadiah clarified, his smile returning once more, though Celestia could tell this one was forced. "Don't fret about building any buildings, as I'll be handling all that from my own funds this time."

Staring into his amber eyes, the princess couldn't sense any malice from his request, even if she felt off about giving him what he asked for.

"Very well, don't make me regret giving your business that jump-start, Obadiah." Celestia warned the man, who shurgged off her statement with a wave of his hand.

"Relax, at the end of the day I'm a simple businessman trying to make his way in a world not his own...or did you forget about the how i got here, let alone you pardoning the perpetrator of said event." Obadiah spat, glaring at the princess for a moment before he caught himslf and took a deep breath. " Forgive my outburst, princess...it seems I haven't completely moved on from that day just yet."

"Obadiah...I understand yout frustration at Starlight Glimmer. After I heard about her misdeeds from Twilight I was angry as well, but you have to trust that Twilight was able to help her change for the better. Perhaps if you talked it out you could both gain something from it." Princess Celestia offered, though she let the subject drop when Obadiah only narrowed his eyes further at her. "On the note of your...normalicy, the lunar guard was shocked to find there were two individuals at the abandoned building you had mentioned to the guard last night. While both ponies are alive and have since confessed to their crimes, they were found encased in blocks of ice."

"Ah, you'd like to know how I did that? Here." Obadiah said, reaching into his suit and pulling out his revolver. The guards nearby the entrance began to move towards him but a raised wing from Celestia stopped them. Turning the revolver to its side, Obadiah opened the cylinder and pulled out a single blue bullet.

"This is what my seller called a freeze round. I had arrived in Equestria with this weapon empty, but I managed to find a pony that could make rounds for it, just in case I had to defend myself." Obadiah explained as Celestia grasped the bullet in her magic and looked it over. "Though back home those types of rounds only killed people, so the fact those ponies are alive is a testament to your citizens ability to make non-lethal solutions to problems."

"Has our technology truly came so far as to replicate self defense spells?" Celestia whispered to herself before returning the round to its owner, who loaded the revolver and returned it to his suit after spinning the cylinder around a bit. "I should be grateful you had the foresight to use a method of defending yourself that wouldn't involve killing, as others in your place might not have had the same idea."

Definitely leaving out that the rounds are experimental then. If making her think I did that on purpose helps her image of me then all the better for it.

"I was there to save kids, not take lives. besides, we'd probably be having a different conversation if I had iced somebody, even if it was a crook." Obadiah said, his hands moving to his pockets as he flashed a smile, though his eyes gave away how done he was with this interrogation he was under. "Now then, I have quite the workload ahead of me this week and I assume you do as well. You can have the permit delivered to my estate and my secretary will make sure it gets to me...unless you have anymore questions?"

Shaking her head, Celestia gave the man a smile and bowed her head to the man before her.

"No, I believe I have what I was looking for. Thank you once more for saving my little ponies." Raising her head, Celestia gave a nod to the guards as they began to open the doors leading out of the throne room. "I'll make sure that the permit gets to you before the end of this week."

Giving the mare one last wave, Obadiah turned on his heel and walked out of the throne room, hearing the doors close behind him as he made his way through the castle.

"Well, I expected more push back on the permit, but I'll take the easy victories where I get them." Obadiah muttered, coming to a stop in front of the first of the murals in the hallway that depicted the six element bearers and their deeds. Staring up at the little Rarity in the glass painting Obadiah couldn't help but smile.

"Obadiah?"

Turning to the source of the voice, Obadiah felt his mood drop somewhat as he eyes fell upon Twilight. She wasn't alone however as she had dragon pet of hers on her back...though he seemed to preoccupied in his comic book to care about the what was going on at the moment.

"That's my name...what do you want?" Obadiah stated, tightening his tie as he stared down at the lavender alicorn, who winced at the edge in his voice before speaking up.

"I heard from Rarity that you had been doing well since you moved up here, and after I overheard the guards talking about you being at the castle I figured you would've been called up by the princess." Twilights brow furrowed as she looked down at her hooves. "Though, I'm not sure why she didn't tell me about you being here. I had asked her to let me know if you swung by the castle."

"Don't worry about it, she was just offering me another favor, got my eyes on some real estate outside of Canterlot." Obadiah said with a cheesy grin, though a sigh shortly followed at the lack of reaction from the alicorn. "Listen, there are some things that need a one on one is all, she isn't leaving you in the dark."

Looking up at Obadiah, Twilight stared at him for a moment in surprise before giving the man a slow yet confused nod.

"I wasn't expecting you of all people to try and make me feel better, but thank you." Twilight commented, a smile finally appearing on her face after a moment of silence as she rubbed the back of her head nervously. "So, you don't have to answer or anything, but I just need to know...you managed to find the ponyville children so quickly last night, especially after only taking Rarity up on her promise an hour prior, something that royal guards or even the girls and I couldn't do without help, so I wanted to know if the rumors about you being connected to the Canterlots underground mafia ring is true?"

For a long time, Obadiah simply kept a level stare at the princess, almost shocked that Twilight had the guts to flat out ask him that.

if she thinks I am part of the mafia then she's going to be poorly dissapointed, though I guess it couldn't hurt to set the record straight and keep her from thinking I'm some sort of felon. Her family has ties to the royal guard after all, and I'd rather have another complication turn up so soon, not with my plans finally being set in motion.

"No, I am not a member of any sort of crime syndicate or gang." Obadiah stated firmly, getting a sigh of relief from the mare before him, though it was short-lived as he kept going. "However, my casino is considered a location of peace between the rival organizations, so I get frequent customers of their type that appreciate my freelance status."

Blinking owlishly at Obadiah, it took the mare a moment to register his sentence before her brain finally kicked back into gear.

"You let those ponies into your casino!?! Why?"

"Because they're good paying customers that don't cause issues while at my establishment." Obadiah fired back, his tone turning sour as Obadiah leaned down to be face to face with the princess. "I'll serve anyone at my casino I please. If you didn't hear by now, my business is a pretty inclusive location. We don't judge creatures for their existence, we just want them to pay the fees to enjoy our services and games...and besides, if the thugs are at my casino playing the slots or betting big on the tables then that means they aren't causing problems elsewhere."

"Still, a lot of those ponies are either wanted for potential crimes or are connected to the ones who are, you can't tell me it's ethical to know that and not turn them in? Most of them are lawbreakers, Obadiah!"

"So your not willing to find these 'lawbreakers' and make the time to reform then, huh? You were pretty adament the 'good in everypony' when you kept me from pressing charges on Starlight for bringing me during that damned time stunt!" Obadiah yelled, forcing the mare to take a step back as he rose back up to full height. "Don't go preaching to me about my damned business when you or the guard can't even be bothered to put in the effort to find these guys. It took kids being KIDNAPPED to make these crime circles a priority for you!"

Obadiah opened his mouth to say more, but stoppoed himself and turned away from Twilight, looking up at the stained glass image of Rarity and feeling his anger slowly fade as he admired the art. Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, Obadiah calmed himself down enough to be cordial and looked back at Twilight, who was looking at him with those big sad eyes ponies get when they get emotional.

Nope. I will not be guilt tripped by this again.

"I...have places to be, good day." Obadiah curtly stated before brushing past Twilight and dissappearing around the corner, leaving Twilight and Spike alone in the hallway.

"I...Why did I say that to him?" Twilight groaned as she sat on her haunches, prompting Spike to jump off and close his comic book. Coming around from her backside, Spike gave Twilight a hug from the side.

"I thought you said you were going to aologize to him, not question his lifestyle?" Spike asked, looking up at Twilight with a frown. "And as weird as it sounds to admit out loud...why did you keep him from having Starlight judged for ripping him from his home? I know I'd be mad if somepony stole me from you and the others."

Returning his hug, Twilight placed her head atop spikes and shared his frown, her gaze lingering up at the mural depicted when she became an Element bearer.

"I knew if Starlight got jailed or punished for her crimes like that she would likely revert back to her old self...or so I believed. Though, she's been extremely out of it back home for a while now...and I'm pretty sure it's because she hasn't forgiven herself for Obadiah's displacement yet."

"Well, you can't force Obadiah to see her, and it's clear he still hates her guts." Spike commented before shaking his head, feeling Twilights fur rustle against his cheek as he did so. "And it sucks because I think he's a pretty cool guy, there's just too much emotional baggage in ponyville for him to come back."

Saying nothing else, Twilight simply let herself enjoy the moment with Spike. This didn't stop her brian from working overtime though as her thoughts traveled back to Obadiah once more.

He's definitely not a bad person, as he wouldn't have saved Sweetiebelle and the other foals if he was...maybe one day I'll be able to get him to move on from the past, then he can help Starlight move on as well.

<<>>

"I assume the trip to see the goody-two-shoes was as tiring as your making it look? Because believe me the sleep-deprived look is NOT working for you, Obadiah."

Laying back in his office chair, Obadiah shot the changeling queen a half-hearted glare in response as he sipped on a bottle of Applejack Daniels. It had been a while since he had drank, but today had called for it.

"Less of Celestia and more of Twilight. Damned mare always did give me a headache when she opened her mouth." Obadiah put the bottle down after one last sip and pulled out the file from earlier that day and opened it up. The title on the front perked the queens interest as she teleported beside Obadiah and looked over his shoulder at the pages within, her eyes widening as she slowly turned her gaze from Obadiah.

"My, someone has big plans!" Chrysalis purred, attempting to slide a hoof down Obadiahs chest only for it to be slapped away. "You know denying me only makes me want it more, right?"

"Then find a willing guest of my casino or pay for a male dancer, because at this rate you'll starve before I sleep with you." Obadiah responded, letting a smirk dawn on his face as he looked over the files contents. "Besides, I don't have time to do the dirty, I need everything to be ready for when I depart to Sire's Hollow and that means pulling another all-nighter."

Taking one last look at the file, Chrysalis sighs dramatically and gets up, moving back to the chair across the desk and flopping into it.

"You do know if those 'friends' of yours find out what your planning your going to have a worse reputation than me, right? Not that I'm against sticking it to Celestia, but do remember you have a lot of my children under your care." Chrysalis warns, and Obadiah is surprised to see genuine concern in her eyes for a split second before the usual cocky glare returns. "So you better not drag my hive's name through the mud with that plan of yours."

Closing the file, Obadiah returned it to its drawer and turned his gaze back to Chrysalis, giving the queen a soft smile as he folded his hands on his desk.

"Don't worry, Chrysalis. I have no intentions of getting the creatures under my care hurt or in trouble with the law. If all goes well, your kin will never have to worry about being outcasts again." Obadiah assured, making sure he gave the queen a good enough smile to be genuine. There was no use hiding his emotions from an emotivore like a changeling, but the queen would never be able to read his thoughts, and that would have to be enough.

Every creature in this damned world is so content to simply settle with the life fate alloted them. Is it truly so wrong to want more? Back on Earth I had nearly accomplished my dreams of becoming truly wealthy, but since coming here it is clear I've realized outside forces can rip away everything you work for...so if achieving my dreams means to tear down a couple buildings here and ruin a life there then so be it.

Turning in his chair, Obadiah looked up at the glass painting behind him. His grin widening at the sight of the dollar sign encased in its shimmering shards. Obadiah let a hearty laugh escape his lungs, his thoughts on the future of his soon-to-be industry.

Chrysalis, who had been attempting to feed off of the man before her, now found her taste buds soured by a surprising surge of emotion coming from Obadiah. However, unlike a regular mood swing or change of tune found in most ponies, this seemed different. It was as if the emotions had always been there, and the door containing them was blown wide open, causing said emotions to hit the changeling queens taste buds like a high speed carriage.

It taste like black licorice mixed with lime...but the last time I tasted that was-

For a brief moment and possibly the first time in her life, Chrysalis had began to doubt an action she had taken for her hive. To the queen licorice was the taste of generosity, a personal favorite of hers and was always in surplus due to ponies general giving natures. However, black licorice was something she usually tasted on Nobility, as they always seemed to want more than they had. But to be almost filled up by the surge of emotion flowing from Obadiah meant the man clearly had bigger plans than what she had seen in that file, and Chrysalis wondered if he truly had the hives best intentions in mind when it came to his ambitions.

Then came the lime. Chrysalis knew that one due to the infamy her kin had gotten from their raid on Canterlot. It was hate, pure unadultered hate. And for some reason it was mixed right in with Obadiahs greed.

Regardless of what he has planned in that brain of his, as long as he makes sure my hive flourishes then I could care less about what happens to every other creature.

Author's Note

Yeeeeeee! New chapter.

Sorry for the wait, was on a smaller business trip with the army, got back in time to finish this chapter. Did a skim over it for errors, but if I missed something (probably did) I wouldnt mind someone pointing it out, though Ill be looking it over again later to triple check.

Chapter 4: Preparations

<<>>

"Preperations for the project in Sire's Hollow are coming along as planned, Sir. All we are waiting on is the permit from the princess, and we can move forward." Jitterbug informed Obadiah as they walked along the streets of Central Canterlot. It had been a few days since the meeting with the princess, and Obadiah had wasted no time in prepping the assets necessary for the trip to Sire's Hollow. All that was left was to make a few visits to some benefactors of his as Obadiah waited for the princess to make good on her deal.

"Good. I can't afford to waste anymore time now that we've got our greenlight to continue, which is why we are here."

Obadiah came to a stop and turned to his right, staring at a rundown shop in front of him. The man had to bite back a laugh saw the way Jitterbugs face scrunched up in disgust as said changeling stuck out her tongue in disgust.

"I understand you need to keep yourself armed, but are these idiots really your best option?" She lamented, watching as Obadiah stepped forward and opened the door to the store.

"They have the skills to produce quality ammunition...or anything dangerous to the common mans health, even if its unintentional. Besides, they appreciate the flow of bits they get into their bank accounts so they know better than to cross me." Obadiah explained, hearing the changeling let out a groan behind him.

"As long as your safe, Sir...Even if it means dealing with ponies that are well beneath you."

Walking into the store, Obadiah put his hands in his pockets as he approached the front desk, which housed a sleeping unicorn stallion dressed in what looked like a parlor suit top. Looking down at the sleeping brother, Obadiah leaned close and booped his nose.

"Up and at them, you've got a customer here."

The stallion snapped awake, looking around fervently before his eyes settled on Obadiah, eliciting a gasp from the unicorn as he shot to his hooves.

"Mr. Fletcher! It is a pleasure to have you in our establishment today, would I be wrong to assume your here to see our newest wares?" The stallion spoke, coming around from the counter and beckoning Obadiah and Jitterbug to follow him deeper into the shop. "i have to admit, my brother and I were unsure whether to even partake in your rather ludicrious business offer involving that rather unique crossbow of yours. However, we have never been ones to say no to a steady supply of funding for our marketing sche- I mean moneymaker projects!"

Coming to a stop in the back of the shop, the unicorn smiled and motioned to a lone box sitting by the wayside. Compared to the other objects and trinkets back here, this box had several warning stickers slapped on it.

"After all, without your generous donations we would not had been able to strike a deal with with a new sponsor! He has been giving us the resources necessary to expedite our creations, as well as the research into making headway into the products you asked for."

Cracking open the box with his magic, the top slowly levitates up as I see several boxes of ammunition, each different symbols on their sides along with a patented "Flim Flam Co." sticker on them. Three of the boxes floats up to me as I grab one out of the air, looking it over and seeing a fire hazard warning on the box.

"Flaming rounds? How does one even make a bullet cause a person to catch fire, Flam?" Obadiah questioned, switching it out for another floating ammo canister and pursing his lips at the lightning symbol on the case. "And now i'll have lightning in a box? If I hadn't seen the effects of the ice rounds you sent me I would've called you crazy for claiming to have such things avaliable."

Flam tipped his hat and smiled, placing the ammo canisters back into the box, the stallion reapplied the lid and turned his gaze back to me, a scheming glint in his eyes.

"We've heard about your exploits, Mr. Fletcher. You'd be hard-pressed to find somepony who doesn't know about you saving those kids in Canterlot, as gossip travels faster here than in any small town I've had the pleasure of going too...other than ponyville that is. Damn country bumpkins sure can hold a grudge" he mutters off near the end of his sentence before returning his attention to me. "We gave you that box of ice rounds for only five hundred bits due to not knowing if they would work, but since it's clear from your...field testing that we know what we are doing we will regretfully have up the price for each canister of ammunition."

"How much are we talking, exactly?" Obadiah states, frowning at the greedy smile that flashes across Flam's face as he rubs his chin in thought, the prospect of extra cash making the stallion nearly vibrate with excitement.

'Well, Each box contains around twenty-four rounds of ammunition, and if we add in the labor fees for enchanting each round and duly acknowledging your support in raising our business name, that rounds you out at about Nine hundred bits per canister."

"I'm sorry, how much do you expect us to pay for this?!" Jitterbug exclaimed in shock, stomping up to Flam and sticking a hoof in his chest. "Almost a thousand bits for such a small case? Have you gone mad?!"

"It isn't easy for a pair of unicorns to take time out of their day to have metal smelted to the exact shape and form of a material that is foreign to most smiths in the country." Flam began, slightly pushing the changeling out of his personal space. "Then you wish for us to be able to succesfully bind each round with a elemental enchantment, which runs the risk of the magic failing and causing an accident in the workspace or in your boss's hands if done wrong? I believe that payment is quite fair, all things considered." Flam finshed his explanation, earning a growl from the changeling mare, though a hand on her back stopped her tirade as Obadiah pulled her back.

"Leave it be, I was honestly expecting to pay more today." Obadiah said as he fished out a bag in his suit pocket and dropped a rather full bit bag into Flam's waiting hooves. "That's about ten thousand bits, I'll have some of my men come by and collect it the whole box later today...and I don't need to express the importance of our confidentiality in this transaction, correct?"

Magicking away the bag of bits, Flam gave a bow as he locked up the box of ammunition.

"Thank you for your patronage, Mr. Fletcher. We will have it ready for your hired hands whenever they arrive." Finishing up on the box, Flam turned back to Obadiah with a big smile. "While you are here, might I entice you to buy some of our other products? Perhaps a potion we concocted some time ago that can make one feel years younger?"

"Are you calling me old?" Obadiah asked, raising an eyebrow as the unicorns eyes widened and he waved his hooves back and forth, enjoying the frantic reaction from the stallion who had most likely just scammed him of several thousand bits.

"Not at all! I'm just concerned for your health, after all. You ARE one of our biggest buyers!"

Shaking his head, Obadiah turned and walked out of the back room, waving for a peeved Jitterbug to follow behind him.

'I'll pass, just make sure my goods are ready. If things go well, I will be back in a few weeks or so with a new type of bullet for you to make." Obadiah stated, Stopping outside the store to turn back to Flam, who stood by the front door with his hat in his hooves.

"Very well, safe travels Mr. Fletcher!" Flam said, waving his hat as Obadiah and Jitterbug left the store and continued down the road, stopping at an intersection as Obadiah leaned against a building to rest.

"Did we really have to pay that scum that much? I could've easily haggled his price down to at least half of what you paid him!" Jitterbug questioned, looking up at Obadiah with big purple eyes as her wings buzzed angrily.

"We are in a rather sensitive time right now, what with the project soon to begin. I can't afford to run the risk of aggravating my resources, especially if things might get dangerous from here on out. I'd rather pay a couple grand now and be able to defend myself later, especially if I plan to replicate my revolver and distribue it to my staff down the road."

"You plan on making more of that odd weapon of yours? Why not do it now, and reap the benefits that would come with patenting its creation and distribution?" Jitterbug pressed, her gaze moving to the slight bulge in my chest pocket where said revolver was stashed. "Or is this a part of your plans, and you intend to wait until the market is in need of weapons to capitalize on it?"

Smirking, Obadiah gave the changeling head scratches, watching as she leans into his touch and cooed softly.

"That perceptive mind of yours is why I hired you to be my secretary, Jitterbug. Even if it came with a extra serving of attitude." Obadiah snarked, getting a huff from the changeling as she leaned away from him. "Oh well, your cute enough to where it can be overlooked."

Narrowing her eyes, Jitterbug looked away as the chitin around her face seemed to glow somewhat.

"T-That's not relevant to my qualifications as your secretary, Sir!" She muttered, though she didn't seem upset by the remark as Obadiah spotted the blush on her face being much more apparent. "More importantly, we need to get moving, as you have a meeting with Hoity Toity today, and I'd highly recommend not skipping this time as we could benefit from more connections among the noble class."

"Fine, we can go to the north district then, I assume you know where he wants to meet?" Obadiah relented, pinching the bridge of his nose as he managed to bite back a frustrated groan. The last thing he wanted to do was see this pony right now, but Jitterbug was right. They needed as much resources and connections as possible, especially since things were moving at such a fast pace now.

"The letter stated we had been invited to a garden party this evening." Jitterbug answers, looking her boss over from head to toe, a unsatisfied frown on her face. "We should head back to the casino and get you a new suit, Sir. You appear to have gotten that one stained."

Looking down, Obadiah winces as he notices the rather decent blotch on his right leg, easily seen on the white fabric.

"Alright, we'll head back. Must've brushed it against something in those brothers shop earlier." Letting his secretary lead the way, Obadiah trailed behind her as he tried to rub out the splotch with his hands, only to make it bigger by mistake. "Damn it! I just had this suit washed!"

<<>>

Sitting by the hospital bed, Rarity watched over her sister as she sleeped peacefully, slowly recovering from her injuries.

"Rarity?"

Turning her gaze to the voice, the unicorn smiled as she saw Twilight walking into the room, taking a seat by Rarity as her gaze moved to Sweetiebelle.

"She's still asleep, huh. The potions the doctor gave her seem to be working though, almost all of her bruises are healed up." Twilight said, looking down into her hooves with a forlorned sigh. "Still, If only we had found her earlier, maybe she wouldn't have been as hurt as she was."

"Twilight you can't think like that." Rarity admonished her friend, surprised she was even attempting to take the blame for her sisters injuries. "Believe me, I understand where your coming from, but it's better to focus more on the fact that she and the other foals are alive...it could've been so much worse had Obadiah not found them."

Flinching at the humans mention, Twilight couldn't help but think back to their argument a few days ago. He had went out of his way to help them find the foals, and the first thing she did after not seeing him for over a year was press him about his lifestyle. Even if what he was doing was unethical to a degree, he had managed to save the foals, right?

If so...why did it still feel like Obadiah was doing the wrong thing?

"Rarity...you and Obadiah are close right?" Twilight asked, noticing Rarity sit up straighter at the question before smiling sheepishly.

"Well he did live under my roof for a while, and we've been sending letters to each other since he moved, why?"

"Well, I ran into him back when Princess Celestia had summoned him and I might have accidently made him angry." Twilight admitted, causing Rarity to blink in surprise at the admission.

"Darling what could you have possibly have said to-" Rarity stopped mid-sentence as it clicked, face-hooving as she sighed. "I assume it was about what we talked about before? About his connections in the city?"

Giving the mare a nod, Twilight leaned her head back against the wall as she thought the encounter over again.

"I just don't understand it all, Rarity. Consorting with bad ponies is wrong, and that includes letting them do business with you. But, if it wasn't for his methods your sister and those kids would still be foalnapped."

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Twilight glanced over at Sweetiebelle, who currently was smiling in her sleep, dreaming peacefully as if nothing had even happened.

"I grew up in a household that was home to both my father and brother being royal guard members. I was raised on the belief that no matter what to do the right thing, as the ends might not always justify the means...but our 'right thing' wasn't working this time. What if it fails us again later down the road and somepony gets hurt or worse?"

Noticing Twilights mood slowly get more and more stressed, Rarity stopped the mare by booping her snout, much like Obadiah did whenever she would go off on one her whimsical tangents.

"Twilight, you must stop thinking so negatively. Even if Obadiah managed to help us, it doesnt mean you go questioning every little thing from here on out. Doing the right thing is what has helped us save Equestria and many of our friends since that day back in the Everfree Forest, and I refuse to believe that we have been doing things wrong up until now. We've come too far as ponies and done too much good to be questioning our methods, you just need to have more faith in what we do."

Scrunching her nose, Twilight couldn't stop the smile from forming on her face from Raritys words, her previous worrries seeming much smaller than before, though not entirely squashed.

"Thanks Rarity, and I believe your right." Twilight stated, looking back to Sweetiebelle with a heartfelt smile. "After all, it was only because of your bond with Obadiah that made him act so quickly. He wouldn't have gone to such lengths if you and Sweetiebelle didn't mean something to him, and that alone is enough for me."

Glancing at Rarity, Twilight smirked as a thought ran through her head concerning Obadiah and just how fast he had been in helping Rarity, as well as yesterday when he had been glancing at the glass window painting when she had found him.

"Which I have to ask you, what exactly is going on between you two? When you came back from seeing him you were absolutely glowing that night, even with your sister still missing. And when he was still in town you two always were hanging out together."

Her face reddening at the insinuation, Rarity gasped and pointed a hoof dramatically at Twilight.

"And to think I believed you didn't care for gossip, Twilight!" Rarity exclaimed playfully as the two giggled to themselves, finding levity in the change of subject. "As for Obadiah I'm not exactly sure myself, Darling. While I can't say I wouldn't mind getting to know him better to that degree, between him living here and running a business while my own business back home is starting to take off more I'm not sure either of us have the time to attempt to explore any such relationship at the moment."

"That's right, we'll be heading back to Ponyville when Sweetiebelle is better...you should at least talk to him before then, though. Even if nothing comes of it, it wouldn't hurt to see how he feels." Twilight told her alabaster friend. "Who knows, he may just be willing to try and make it work."

Looking at Twilight in surprise, Rarity could barely believe the words coming out of Twilights mouth. Of all of her friends to motivate her to seek out romance, the LAST pony she ever thought to do it would be Twilight.

"You may be right, Twilight...nothing good ever comes of letting opportunity pass by after it knocks, and I am not the type of mare to do such things!" Rarity exclaimed as she shot up, holding a hoof in the air dramatically. "On this day, let it be known that Rarity shall rise to the challenge and-"

Rarity cut her declaration short as Sweetiebelle grumbled in her sleep, moving slighty before settling down. Grinning sheepishly, Rarity returned to her seat as she turned her gaze to her rather amused friend.

"Well, it probably couldn't hurt to wait a little bit. After all, it would feel wrong to leave Sweetiebelle here and go gallivanting after a stallion. Perhaps after she recovers I'll seek Obadiah out." Rarity said, smiling meekly as Twiight grinned, happy to see her friend in higher spirits after all that had happened.

"That might be for the best. For now, though, we'll make sure Sweetiebelle is as comfortable as can be." Turning to look out the window nearby, Twilight felt her thoughts drift once more to Obadiah, wondering where he currently was in Canterlot. She had asked the princess what they had talked about during their meeting, but to Twilight's surprise Celestia was quite witholding of any real information, only telling her that Obadiah had earned favor with the crown and it was already being repaid.

Even so...I can't shake the feeling that I need to keep an eye on Obadiah, though at this point I can't tell if it's gut instinct or guilt driving me to do so.

<<>>

"Are you sure it's ok for me to be in my real form? I know Celestia made it to where we are protected by law, but I don't wish to ruin potential business opportunities for you by triggering some of the more xenophobic guests."

The garden party was, surprise surprise, being held at the castle gardens. Considering Hoity Toity was part of the upper echelon of nobility, this didn't surprise Obadiah as much as it annoyed him. The entire idea of being in a mythical castle was slowly starting to lose its lustor after going to it over and over again.

"Absolutely not. Besides, it would be worse if you did try and hide. Better to flaunt your natural assets and see what sticks." Obadiah responded, glancing down at his secretary with a smile. Besides, the changeling mare looked nice. Trading in her usual scarlet dress and heels the mare had decided to match with Obadiahs change in outfit and go with an emeral green dress that ran down her all but one of her legs, leaving the outlier to show more skin and a little bit of her back as well.

Obadiah smirked as the mare looked away, trying her best not give Obadiah the satisfaction of seeing her react to that comment.

"I'm going to get you a drink, Sir. Please try not to embarrass me in public." Watching as she sauntered off, Obadiah loosened his grey tie as he looked around the garden for his target.

I don't have time to socialize with random nobles, where is Hoity?

Moving through the bundled crowds of gossiping nobles, Obadiah pushes past a few unmoving ponies and stops by a fancy fountain, turning his gaze to the ducks swimming in its waters as the man pursed his lips.

"Damn...how could such a pompous pony be so hard to find?" Obadiah muttered as he scanned the crowds for the the grey stallion's presence, only finding a bunhc of unrecognizable nobles and party guests.

"Well, if it isn't the owner of the Queen of Hearts! How's business been, you glorified monkey?"

Turning to the source of the voice, Obadiah felt a smile grow on his lips as he was met with the sight of what was easily the shortest pony he knew. The pegasus before him was barely at his knees, though it didn't stop the stallions personality from making up for it, as he was easily one of the biggest firecrackers Obadiah had ever met.

"Business has been booming, Subatomic." Obadiah answered, motioning to the stallions attire with a hand. "Surprised your wearing yellow, doesn't that clash with blue?"

Looking himself over, Subatomic chuckled as he unfurled hus blue wings and wiggled them, the yellow tuxedo he wore having slit holes for both comfort and utility.

"Perhaps so, but the wife back home likes the way I look in yellow, so who am I to deny her?" Subatomic snarked, pointing a wingtip at Obadiah. "On that note, did you manage to find somepony to bed with yet? I've heard about your ties with the Element of Generosity, but nothing solid about your relationship."

"That's because there isn't one, you nosy son of a horse." Obadiah fired back, earning a laugh from the pegasus before him as he continued. "I don't really have time to pursue something with her though, as that project I mentioned to you a while back is finally getting underway."

For the first time tonight, and perhaps a while since Obadiah had met the stallion, Subatomics smile completely dropped. The stallion stared up at him for a moment before finding the will to both speak and pick his jaw up off the ground.

"Your serious? You managed to get a royal permit for that patch of land by Sires Hollow?" The surprised face didn't last long though, as Subatomic soon smiled widely at the confirming nod from Obadiah. "That's the best piece of news I've heard all month. I told those idiots in the lower sectors of Canterlot that you were the right horse to bet on, and boy am I oh-so glad I was right!"

"I should thank you for backing me, by the way. Having those griffons on my payroll has really helped with keeping the peace around the casino." Obadiah said, only to be waved off by Subatomic.

"Think nothing of it. My turf was getting crowded anyway, so giving some of my boys a place where they can earn us some extra cash while letting off some stress now and then was quite the deal." The stallion assured, using a wing to pull a business card from his suit pocket and lifting it towards Obadiah. "Now, when you get a foothold in Sire's Hollow make sure to have a letter sent to the address on this card. When the time comes, my group will be ready to strike."

"Thanks, Subatomic. When the dust settles, trust me when I say we will both be walking away from this much richer than we were before." Obadiah remarked, taking the card in his hand and shaking the wing of the stallion. "For now though, I would suggest enjoying the party, as I still have to meet with this shindigs host before the night is upon us."

Waving me off, Subatomic picked up off the ground and flew off towards the food tables. Watching him leave, Obadiah pocketed the business card and turn to find Jitterbug, only to nearly run into-

"Greetings, Sir Fletcher. Shall we talk to you for a moment?" Princess Luna asked, dressed in nothing but her regalia as she kept her eyes locked on Obadiahs. Not waiting for an answer she smiled and turned away, walking deeper into the garden as she motioned for the man to follow.

Obadiah reluctantly followed behind her, turning a few corners around the shrubbery before coming to a halt somehwere deeper into the gardenspace, where the sounds of the party were nothing but vague noises in the distance.

"What's this about, your highness? I have a meeting with Hoity Toity at this event and I'd rather not deal with standing him up again." Obadiah stated, putting his hands in his pockets as the princess turned to him, her gaze unreadable to the man as she looked him over.

"Thou shall be allowed to return to the party shortly, as soon as you answer our questions." The princess told the man, clearing her throat as she stood up straight. "I learned from my sister that you earned a favor from the crown and asked for a permit to obtain land in Sire's Hollow. As giving such permits is a task that was given to me, I would like to know why our fair citys up and coming millionare wishes to expand so far from our current location."

Raising an eyebrow, Obadiah had to admit he didn't think about anymore possible red tape with the permit, especially from Luna of all ponies. Thankfully, it wasn't that hard to lie to this particular princess, as long as you knew what to say to make her think you fit the knightly morales the old-fashioned mare seemed to hold to stallions.

"You saw the stallion I was talking with before, I assume?" Obadiah waited for the princess to nod before continuing. "Well, he was the one to offer me a business proposition for the town. He holds a business in meat and other sort of predatory foods, so he wishes to have a place in Sire's Hollow to expand on his business. And as you know, with relations with other species on the rise it wouldn't hurt to make sure as many of your towns and cities are ready and able to accomodate such creatures."

Finishing with a smile, Obadiah pulled out the business card from before and showed it to Luna, the words Subatomic Supercuts written in fancy writing abive a mailing address and a picture of a griffon head above a fork and knife. reading the document over, Luna returned it to Obadiah.

"I see, thou wishes to expand for monetary gain. While we had hoped it was for more selfless reasons we see no reason to deny thou's request." Luna said as she magicked up a scroll and levitiated it over to Obadiah. Opening it up te man blinked in surprise as he was now holding the permit he was asking for, the document written to the mayor of Sire's Hollow. "Let it be known I do not dislike or distrust you by asking you such questions, I simply wish to know we aren't giving land away to ponies who do not deserve such things, and we are thankful to know that thou seem to not be such company."

Giving the mare thanks, Obadiah placed the permit in his shirt pocket and gave her a half-bow.

'Thank you, your higness. Now if I may I do have to find that damned noble acquantice of mine." Obadiah stated, turning and leaving the princess behind as he returned to the party, just in time to see a rather annoyed Jitterbug being the ceter of attention for his target.

"Now where did you get such a fine dress? It I didn't know any better, I'd say it looks like a Rarity original!" Hoity was rabbling on, apparently quite entranced by Jitterbugs looks, much to her displeasure and Obadiahs rising amusement.

"Ah, Hoity! It's great to see you." Obadiah stated, lying through his teeth as he came to his partners rescue, said changeling coming to his side and thanking him with a casual nuzzle to his leg. "Sorry for not meeting you sooner, I'm sure you heard by now what has kept me busy these past few days?"

The fanciful stallion, suited up in a really flashy silver suit with far too many gemstones on it, did that stupid fancy laugh nobility do when they think something is amusing.

"I'm sure most of upper Canterlot has heard of your actions to save those foals. Which is part of why I wished to speak with you." the stallion clapped his hooves and a much less fancy pony galloped over and held out a document that had multiple signatures on it, with one open space near the bottom. "Due to your rise in wealth and good deeds for this city, the Noble Echelon chose me to be the one to reach out and invite you to join our ranks as one of the elite. While we are aware you don't exactly have an estate yet, that is something a creature of your wealth could easily change."

Looking at the document Obadiah glanced at Jitterbug, who gave him a slow nod, mouthing "Do it." Shaking his head, Obadiah returned his gaze to Hoity Toity.

"I have plans to buy land in the Sire's Hollow, which will most likely be where my estate is built. However, I do plan on keeping my business here in Canterlot intact, as it would be stupid to abandon it now." Obadiah informs the stallion, who claps his hooves together with a smile.

"Perfect, that gets rid of that requirement. All that is left is to sign this document and you'll be a fully fledged noble!" Seeing his hesitation, Hoity quickly continues. "As a Noble of the Upper Echelon, the only real mandatory requirement of you is to sit in on official meetings of the state we have every month. This is to let us catch up with each other and figure out what sort of government bills and events that might need pur support in getting passed."

Magicking up a quill, Jitterbug passed the feathery utensil to Obadiah, who took the quill in hand and signed his name uon the document.

"Splendid, glad to have you among our ranks, friend." Hoity Toity joyfully exclaimed as he passed the document back to the same pony who had brought it. "Now, we must chat later down the line when you begin your expansion in Sire's Hollow, for now though enjoy the festivities!"

Watching as the fancy stallion trotted off alongside his aid, Obadiah glanced down at his secretary, giving her back the quill as he watched her magic it away.

"Well, that was a waste of time." Obadiah muttered, straightening out his suit with a frown on his lips. "He could've sent that to me by mail or something instead of having me come out this way."

"We did manage to expedite your aquisition of the permit, Sir." Jitterbug reminded the man, noticing the document sticking out of his suit pocket. "Who knows how long we would've waited otherwise."

"True enough." Obadiah relented, turning his gaze towards the exit and making his way through the crowds. "On that note, it's time we left this get little get together. We've got a very busy day tomorrow."

Entering the castle walls to leave, Obadiah was not aware of the fact he was being watched from afar by the same princess who he had left behind in the garden. Luna stood alone for a moment before a yellow flash nearby announced her sisters arrival.

"So you gave him the permit then? Even after seeing his dreams?" Celestia asked her sister, concern clear in her voice as she moved beside Luna.

"Indeed. While we are not certain as to how he plans to do so, it is clear he has eyes set on obtaining wealth by any means necessary. It will be easier to watch his climb to riches if he believes we are both helping him and unaware of his intentions, especially if his means lead to the pain of others."

Luna glanced at her sister, curiosity sparked in her gaze as she noticed Celestias frown.

"Or is it something else? Do you sense something I do not in him?"

Shaking her head, Celestia met Lunas gaze with a smile, albeit a forced one.

"It's nothing. As long as we keep an eye on him then everything should work out well." Celestia assured her sister, getting a nod from the princess befre a yawn escaped from her lips. "Well, it is about my time to hit the royal hay. Take care, Luna."

Sharing a hug with her little sister, Celestia warped away, leaving Luna alone once more in the garden.

"Then let us hope it truly is nothing, sister. For if that stallions dreams do indeed ring true..." Luna trailed off, flashes of the dream Luna had seen during her dreamwalking the night prior had been what made her wish to see Obadiah in person. The levels of greed she had seen in that dream was unheard of in the citizens of Equestria. And unlike the griffons who usually held such dreams Obadiah had access to the resources to make it a reality.

Her sister, however, claims that Obadiah held a soft spot for the Element of Generosity, and believes that when the time comes he will pick her over his greedy nature. And while Luna usually doesn't question her sister on matters like this, the night princess felt less than pleased with the idea of leaving such a thing to simple feelings.

"We shall wait then. Wait, and see what comes of your gamble, sister."

Author's Note