Two earth ponies walked along a white sandy beach at sunset.
“I’m so glad you talked me into coming here. This place is amazing. The sand, the surf, these amazing flowers,” one of them said to her friend, as she pointed to a patch of various wildflowers growing out of a dune.
“I’m glad you enjoy the flowers my native land has to offer,” a voice from behind them said.
They turned to see a unicorn standing there. She had a dark tan coat and long straight shiny black mane. She looked at them with her brown eyes. The unicorn was wearing a pink yukata with floral print on it as well as a lei around her neck. Also around her neck was a necklace with a small tiki idol on it that had jade gemstones in its eyes. A single flower with purple petals that had a yellow line wrapping around them sat in her mane.
A hummingbird with metallic green feathers and a dark blue throat hovered by her side.
“Um, hi,” one of the earth ponies said, not sure how to greet the new comer.
“Perhaps you would like this one,” she said, as levitated the flower out of her mane and moved it over towards the two ponies. Once she had positioned it in front of them she began to shake it so a shower of pollen cascaded over the earth ponies’ faces.
“Hey! What are…you doing,” one of the earth ponies said, coughing a little, “I…I feel funny.”
Their eyes seemed to glaze over as they became silent.
“Then perhaps you should relax,” the unicorn said, as she placed the flower back in her mane before using her magic to take off her necklace and positioning it so that she could swing the tiki idol back and forth in front of the earth ponies’ eyes, “Just relax and watch my necklace. Watch it swing.”
The two earth ponies began to follow the necklace with their eyes.
“That’s it. Watch it swing and relax. Focus on the tiki idol. Focus on its green eyes. Let it fill you with a sense of deep relaxation as you listen to my voice. Listen only to my voice as you relax more and more. You are becoming so relaxed. So sleepy. You feel tired after a long day. Your eyelids are heavy. Your eyelids need to close. They have to close. Close your eyes and drift off to sleep.”
The two earth ponies’ eyes locked shut and their heads slumped down as they fell into a deep sleep.
“Now then, my name is Li’Ho Ani, and you are now in a state of deep hypnosis. As long as you remain deeply hypnotized you will do whatever I say. Do you understand?”
“Yes Li’Ho Ani, I will do whatever you say,” the two earth ponies said in unison.
“Wonderful,” Li’Ho Ani said, smiling.
The next morning Twilight and the others were walking along a palm tree lined path.
“You guys are going to love it here,” Twilight said excitedly, “I remember coming here as a filly and it was so much fun. The Palms may be a small resort, but there’s so much this place has to offer. There’s swimming, miles of white sandy beaches that are lined with ruins and lava rock, and just past the resort is a Ka Lio village, and they are some of the nicest ponies I’ve ever met.”
“You haven’t stopped talking about this place since we left,” Applejack said, “We’ve practically had our vacation here already.”
“Sorry, I’m just so excited and….oh no!” Twilight shouted, as she crested the hill.
“What’s wrong Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked, as the rest of them ran to her side.
“Well….everything,” Twilight said, as she took in the sight in front of them.
Sitting on the beach was not a small resort, but a giant fourteen story complex with several store fronts spread across the front of it. Off to the side several ponies were playing golf on the vast 18 hole course that made up part of the resorts grounds. Through the open carriageway they could see a crowded beach, with several ponies playing in the water.
A stallion with a white coat, red mane, a dollar sign cutie mark, and a gotee was approaching them; he was wearing an expensive light weight looking suit.
“Ah, Princess Twilight Sparkle, it’s an honor to have you staying at our resort. I am your humble host, Deep Pockets,” he said.
“What…what happened here?” Twilight said, still in shock, “Where’s The Palms?”
“Oh, I bought that old place out and tore it down a year ago, and built this place over it. Welcome to The Phoenix. Fitting name eh? It even still accepts reservations for The Palms.”
“What happened to all the ruins and lava rock?” Twilight asked, realizing that the hotel covered the swath of beach that the ruins once occupied.
“Oh, we tore that up, but since it was such a tourist draw we made to sure to put a little piece of it into every room,” Deep Pockets said.
“And…and where is the Ka Lio village? Your golf course is sitting right where their homes used to be.”
“Well, since they didn’t technically own the land I was more then happy to buy up the rights for it from the Island Council.”
“Where did the Ka Lio people go?” Twilight said her anger building.
“Don’t worry about them, they’re now living and working on my pineapple farm where I’m paying them a…comfortable wage,” Deep Pockets said, pausing as he came up with a better sounding term for what he was actually doing.
“I…I…I can’t believe this. The paradise from my childhood…gone,” Twilight said, as she sank to the ground in sadness, “How could this have happened?”
“I’m sorry darling, but sometimes progress has to happen…even if it is made through some rather terrible means,” Rarity said, before shooting Deep Pockets the stink eye.
“Well I hope you enjoy your stay,” Deep Pockets said, before walking back towards the hotel.
“Maybe we outta go someplace else?” Applejack said, “This place isn’t exactly the most welcoming.”
“Every other place on the island is booked solid,” Rarity said, “It’s either this, or back to Ponyville.”
“It might not be the best place in the world anymore, but maybe we can still have fun,” Pinkie said, trying to lift the mood.
“I…I guess so,” Twilight said, “Maybe I can think of some way to help restore this place while we’re down here.”
“That’s the spirit,” Applejack said.
“I guess we should check in,” Fluttershy added.
The mane six reluctantly walked into the hotel and grabbed their keys, before dropping their bags off in their rooms, making sure to glare at the random bits of ruins and lava rock that had been placed in each one as decorations.
They eventually settled into a routine, with Rarity going shopping and the others somewhat enjoying life on the beach.
At least the ocean hasn’t changed, Twilight thought, as she floated in the warm blue water.
Later that night they sat on the beach enjoying a large communal dinner with the other guests of the hotel.
“And I got this wonderful new Neigh-sachi saddle bag,” Rarity said, showing off one of her purchases from earlier in the day.
She and the other guests were soon silenced as a group of eight ponies approached them from further down the beach and walked between the tables. The two ponies Li’Ho Ani had hypnotized earlier were among them. All the ponies were wearing grass skirts, leis, and had flowers similar to the one that Li’Ho Ani wore in their mane. Purple and yellow spirals appeared in all eight ponies’ eyes.
“Long ago during luaus like this, the Ka Lio tribe would perform traditional hula dances for our guests. However, since the Ka Lio people are no longer here, you are not our guests…but our enemies!” one of the ponies shouted.
The other guests scattered as the ponies went on the attack, overturning tables, kicking up sand, and throwing food.
Twilight and the others went on the offensive, fighting off the ponies in their own unique way. Fluttershy hid under a table, Rarity used her new saddle bag as a weapon, Twilight shot out low level magic blasts, Applejack opted to buck a palm tree, knocking out one of the ponies with a coconut, Pinkie started throwing food back at the attackers, essentially turning the battle field into a food fight, and Rainbow Dash used her speed to create mini sonic rainbooms that flung a few of the attackers into the surf.
Further up the beach, Li’Ho Ani watched the melee unfold.
“It would seem our latest group of hypnotized hula soldiers has failed, Colibri,” she said, turning to the hummingbird hovering next to her, “Wait…that Pegasus pony. Look at her Colibri! That must be her, the Legendary Rainbow Warrior! She has returned! We must go back to the temple and think of a way to bring her there.”
Li’Ho Ani turned and ran down the beach and into the jungle.
Back at the hotel the eight hypnotized hula soldiers had been subdued.
“Ladies and gentlecolts, I do hope you’ve enjoyed our mock protester battle this evening. I hope it brought a little excitement to your dinner. Let’s have a big hand for our performers,” Deep Pockets said, as he walked up to the destroyed dinning area.
The other guests began to laugh off the attack and applauded the ‘performers’ as they were led away.
“Why in tarnation didn’t they tell us about that?” Applejack said, “I would’ve gone a lot easier on them if I had known this was a performance.”
“Me too,” Rainbow Dash said.
“And I wouldn’t have ruined a perfectly good Neigh-sachi bag,” Rarity moaned.
“I don’t think they were putting on a performance guys,” Twilight said, “I think they were hypnotized.”
“What makes you say that Twilight?” Fluttershy asked.
“Those flowers in their mane, I think they were saimin orchids, a flower whose pollen can put ponies into a light trance, but anypony exposed to their pollen couldn’t be compelled to attack others like this. They had spirals in their eyes, so I think they were put into a deeper state of hypnosis and the flowers in their mane were being used to keep them in their trances,” Twilight said.
“Are you one hundred percent sure those were those hypno flowers?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Twilight looked over at one of the ponies being led away and squinted.
“Yes, because when you squint, the yellow lines in the flower’s petals seem to form a spiral, that’s one of the trademarks of the saimin orchid.”
“Then we need to go talk to that oh so wonderful Deep Pockets about this,” Rarity said.
The six of them walked back up the hotel and entered the lobby. Inside they found Deep Pockets talking to a gathered group of employees.
“It looks like that little brat is acting up again,” he said.
“Excuse me sir, but what little brat?” Twilight asked, “Do they have something to do with those hypnotized ponies attacking the dinner tonight?”
Deep Pockets let out a sigh of annoyance, “I guess you six figured it out. One of the Ka Lio stragglers is causing trouble for us. She calls herself, a quote, unquote priestess, and has been using her little flowers and hypnotic charms on the guests. First she was making them imagine the waters were infested with sharks, then she was making them complain about their stays, but the spirals in their eyes were a dead give away. Nowadays, she puts a group of guests under her spell, dresses them up, and has them attack the hotel, like tonight.”
“I don’t remember reading any warnings about this,” Twilight said.
“That’s because there aren’t any.”
“What!?”
“Do you have any idea what kind of damage a warning about being brainwashed would do to my business? No, the best option is to just sweep things under the rug,” Deep Pockets said, glaring at her.
“Fine then, I’ll see what the Island Council and board of tourism has to say about it,” Twilight said.
“Oh they know, I’ve just convinced them financially to see things my way,” Deep Pockets said.
Twilight groaned before saying, “Then have you tried talking to this priestess or trying to stop her?”
“We don’t know where her base of operations is; so no, I haven’t tried talking to her. Also, yes I have tried sending security forces after her when I see her. Two of my security officers were among the ponies that attacked the dinner tonight, so you know how well that went. Now if there’s nothing else Princess, I’m going to have to ask you to leave. You’re interrupting a private meeting with my employees.”
“That you’re having in the middle of the lobby,” Applejack pointed out.
“Just go,” Deep Pockets demanded.
“Fine,” Twilight said, storming off with the others.
“This vacation keeps on getting worse,” Twilight said, as she and the others walked back to their rooms.
“What are we going to do?” Fluttershy asked.
“We’re going to stay for the rest of our trip. We might not like it, but it might give us a chance to stop this priestess if she makes another appearance.”
The others agreed and went into their respective rooms.
I just wish I knew the best way to do it, Twilight thought, as she lay in her bed, glaring at the piece of ruins mounted to the wall, She’s not an evil overlord or a spirit of chaos, so using the elements of harmony would be overkill. She’s just a pony angry about her people being displaced.
Twilight lied awake a few more hours thinking about the best solution.
The next morning she was still thinking about. She was sitting on the beach watching a volleyball game of Pinkie/Applejack vs Rainbow Dash/Fluttershy.
Fluttershy hit the ball lightly towards the net and Rainbow Dash ran forward to spike it, but was interrupted by Colibri flying in front of her.
“What the…hey!” Rainbow Dash said, the momentary distraction causing her to miss the ball and fly into the net.
“And that’s match point!” Pinkie shouted excitedly.
“What in the world happened there, Rainbow Dash?” Applejack asked.
“This little flying annoyance got in my face,” Rainbow Dash said, getting to her feet and pointing to Colibri.
“Oh my goodness, it’s a sapphire throated hummingbird,” Fluttershy said, as she studied Colibri, “They’re very rare to these parts.”
“Rare, schmare, it’s still annoying. Hey!” Rainbow Dash said, right before Colibri buzzed her head.
“Awww, I think it likes you Rainbow Dash,” Pinkie said playfully, as she watched Colibri dive at Rainbow Dash again.
The hummingbird hovered in front of Rainbow Dash, drawing ever closer to her face, until Rainbow attempted to swat him out of the sky. Colibri quickly dodged the blow and dived at her head again, this time plucking a single hair from her mane with its beak.
“Yeowch! That’s it! You’re going down!” Rainbow Dash shouted, as she chased after Colibri.
“Rainbow Dash come back! Let it go!” Twilight shouted at her.
Rainbow Dash ignored her and was flying low over the beach after Colibri. They eventually hit the jungle at high speed, putting Rainbow Dash’s maneuverability to the test as she bobbed and weaved around trees and large shrubs. She finally stopped when she found Colibri hovering in a clearing.
“Ah ha! I gotcha now,” She said as she landed, only for Colibri to fly off once more.
Rainbow Dash growled in annoyance before thinking, Wait, where the heck am I?
She had stumbled upon a temple of some sort, the ground was tiled with polished lava rock and several pictographs were carved in large boulders that littered the courtyard. A pair of giant tiki idols stood in front of the main temple building.
“My goodness you’re fast, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from a legend,” Li’Ho Ani said, stepping out from behind a boulder, Colibri hovered near her.
“Legend huh, I guess my reputation precedes itself,” Rainbow Dash said, smirking.
“I am Li’Ho Ani, head Rikki Tiki priestess, and it is such an honor to meet you oh great one.”
“Stop, stop, this is too much,” Rainbow Dash said, waving off the praise.
“Oh but I insist, surely the one who will rid our land of the intruders deserves more praise then I alone could ever deliver.”
“The who in the what now?” Rainbow Dash said, in confusion.
“You are the Legendary Rainbow Warrior. Whenever foreign invaders have forced the Ka Lio from their land, you will arrive to strip every shred of their existence from the land, leaving it a clean slate for the Ka Lio to reclaim.”
She used her magic to levitate some foliage away to reveal a pictograph. It showed a rainbow colored pony riding a surfboard on a tsunami as several ponies fled their homes.
“Our lands have been defiled by the resort and stand ready for you to take action,” Li’Ho Ani said.
I’m beginning to think this might be that priestess they were talking about last night. Which means I gotta get out of here and tell Twilight, Rainbow Dash thought.
“Sorry, but I think you’ve got the wrong pony. I’ll keep an eye out for this Rainbow Warrior for you though,” Rainbow Dash said, as she turned to fly away. She promptly fell flat on her face, her wings having failed to deploy.
What the heck was that all about? she thought, getting to her feet.
“I’m sorry it had to be like this,” Li’Ho Ani said, holding up a small doll of Rainbow Dash that had its wings tied to its sides with a string, “But I must insist you fulfill your duties.”
She then levitated the saimin orchid out of her mane and moved it in front of Rainbow Dash, shaking it vigorously.
“Hey! Stop that!” Rainbow Dash said, coughing as she breathed in the pollen, “What…what’s going on…I feel…funny.”
She fell silent and her eyes glazed over as the hypnotic pollen took affect.
“Now then Rainbow Warrior, why don’t you just relax?” Li’Ho Ani said, as she lifted off her necklace and began swinging the tiki charm in front of Rainbow Dash’s eyes, “Just relax and watch the tiki idol.”
“Yes…I will relax,” Rainbow Dash muttered.
“Just relax and watch the idol swing. Watch it swing back and forth. Back and forth. Focus on it. Focus on the deep green of the gems in its eyes. Let the green remind you of the jungle and open grasslands where the Ka Lio call home. Feel your connection to the people you swore to protect returning.”
“Yes…I feel it.”
“Relax more and more for me. Your focus is entirely on the idol and my voice. Let my voice guide you deeper and deeper into trance. Relax more and more. You feel so nice and pleasant. So sleepy. So very sleepy. The warm sun overhead makes you drowsy. The distant crashing of the waves relaxes you. Just let your whole body relax as your eyes became heavy. They’re so heavy you must close them and drift off to sleep for me.”
Once Li’Ho Ani finished her induction, Rainbow Dash’s eyelids locked shut and her head dropped down to her chest.
“Now then Rainbow Warrior, let the hypnotic pollen of the saimin orchid combine with my induction to drive you into a deep deep hypnotic trance. As long as you are in this trance you will do whatever I say.”
“Yes Li’Ho Ani, I will do as you say. I am in a deep trance,” Rainbow Dash said, her voice drained of all emotion.
“Very good. Now then, are you ready to perform the duties of the Legendary Rainbow Warrior?”
“Yes I am,” Rainbow Dash said.
Twilight sat on the beach looking towards the jungle, her concern building.
“Twilight look! I found the perfect souvenir for Maud. It’s a piece of lava rock that looks just like Boulder!” Pinkie said excitedly, as she held up a small piece of lava rock for Twilight to see.
“That’s great Pinkie, I’m sure she’ll love it,” Twilight said, before turning her attention back to the jungle.
“What’s wrong?” Pinkie asked.
“I’m just concerned about Rainbow Dash; she still hasn’t come out of the jungle. What if she got lost?”
“I don’t think she can get lost. That’s the great thing about being a Pegasus, all she has to do is fly up,” Applejack said.
“Oh right,” Twilight said, grinning sheepishly.
A loud clap of thunder caused Fluttershy to shout in fear.
“Seems like an odd time to have a storm,” Rarity said, “The weather ponies here must have an odd schedule.”
The calm blue ocean quickly turned steely grey as the surf kicked up, causing the ponies swimming in it to hastily retreat to shore.
“What in tarnation is that!?” Applejack said, pointing to an object approaching from the sea.
“It’s a giant water spout! And it’s kicking up a massive wave in front of it!” Twilight said in horror.
“I’m beginning to think this isn’t a regularly scheduled storm,” Rarity said.
“Wait there’s something on the wave,” Twilight said, as pulled out a pair of binoculars from her beach bag.
Looking through them, she saw a figure riding the wave on a surf board. It was Rainbow Dash. Her eyes were purple and yellow spirals like Li’Ho Ani’s other hypnosis victims. She was wearing a grass skirt, a necklace of shark’s teeth, and a whole ring of saimin orchids sat on top of her head. She had also assumed her Rainbow Power form.
“It’s Rainbow Dash, she’s the one causing this storm,” Twilight said.
“But why?” Fluttershy asked.
“She’s got spirals in her eyes and she’s wearing a whole bunch of saimin orchids, so it looks like she’s under the spell of that priestess. I’m going to fly out there and try and snap her out of it. You guys evacuate the beach,” Twilight said, as she flew off towards Rainbow Dash.
As she approached Rainbow Dash she realized just how big a wave the water spout was kicking up.
If this hits the shore, there’ll be nothing left. I have to stop her, Twilight thought.
She flew next to Rainbow Dash and shouted, “Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?! Please snap out of it!”
“I am the Legendary Rainbow Warrior and I am performing my duties. I am going to purge the land of those that would dare remove the Ka Lio from their home,” Rainbow Dash replied.
“You’re not a Legendary Warrior, you’re brainwashed and you need to wake up,” Twilight said.
Her comment caused Rainbow Dash to glare at her, before she jumped up and delivered a powerful kick that sent Twilight flying. Twilight barely avoided falling into the raging ocean as she regained her composure and flew back to Rainbow Dash.
“What the heck was that for?!” Twilight shouted.
“For saying I’m not the Legendary Rainbow Warrior,” Rainbow Dash said.
“That’s it I’m waking you up,” Twilight said, as she focused her magic on the ring of saimin orchids on top of Rainbow Dash’s head.
Before she could lift them off, Rainbow Dash altered the winds so that pollen from the orchids blew into Twilight’s face.
“Hey...stop…that…” Twilight said, as the pollen began to affect her.
“It’s not safe here, return to shore,” Rainbow Dash said.
“Yes…I will return to shore,” Twilight said, as she flew back to the beach.
“I take it you were unsuccessful in waking her from her trance?” Rarity said, as she ran up to meet Twilight.
“Huh…wha?” Twilight said in confusion, as she shook off the effects of the pollen, “Urgh, those stupid flowers.”
“So what’s the plan…she’s getting awfully close,” Pinkie said.
“There’s no time to fly out there again, but I think I can prevent her from causing any catastrophic damage,” Twilight said, as she assumed her Rainbow Power form.
She closed her eyes and focused her magic, causing an enormous purple magic shield to envelope the hotel and beach. The wave impacted it shortly after she had formed it. The raging torrent of water rushed over the shield and covered the countryside beyond it, inundating the golf course. The harsh winds from the waterspout passed by harmlessly as well; before they went on to tear down several palm trees along the path they had walked up earlier.
Once the waters receded Twilight dropped the shield, only to be met with an angry Rainbow Dash lying in wait.
“You prevented me from fulfilling my duties! You will pay!” Rainbow Dash shouted, as she charged at Twilight.
Twilight shot a low level magic blast at her, knocking her back. She then proceeded to rip the volleyball net out of the ground and used it to wrap up Rainbow Dash.
“Hey! Let me go! You can’t do this to the Legendary Rainbow Warrior!” Rainbow Dash shouted.
“Legendary Rainbow Warrior?” Applejack said in confusion.
“It’s what that priestess has brainwashed her into thinking she is,” Twilight said, “But it’s time to wake her up.”
She then used her magic to levitate the ring of saimin orchids off Rainbow Dash’s head. She then promptly tossed the flowers into the ocean.
“Let me go or you’ll pay dearly!” Rainbow Dash shouted in a blind rage.
“Uh, I think she’s still hypnotized,” Applejack said.
“She’ll come out of it soon. Those flowers were helping keep her in her trance,” Twilight said, “I’m going to fly up and see if I can’t see where that priestess might be hiding. She’s mostly likely in the jungle, since Rainbow Dash went into it chasing that hummingbird and came out hypnotized. Once I find it I’ll come back for you guys. I need you to watch Rainbow Dash to make sure she doesn’t try anything crazy.”
“Right!” the others said.
Twilight took to the skies and flew over the jungle Rainbow Dash had disappeared into.
That’s got to be it, Twilight thought, upon seeing the temple.
A buzzing sound behind her caused her to turn around and see Colibri hovering behind her. He dived at her head, plucking a piece of her mane out with his beak, before he descended into the temple.
Ow, that stupid hummingbird, Twilight thought, I don’t need to worry about him though, I need to go tell the others what I’ve found. Hey! What’s going on!
To her horror it felt like her legs were being bound together, before her wings folded themselves up and became frozen in place.
No! No! No! Twilight thought, as she began freefalling towards the temple floor, Can’t teleport, I’ll just crash into wherever I go with the same velocity. There’s one thing I can do though.
Her horn glowed as she created a temporary magic cushion on the ground. She hit it at full speed. The impact still hurt like crazy, but the cushion prevented her from sustaining any serious injuries.
“Owwwww,” Twilight moaned, as she looked up to see Li’Ho Ani approach her.
“So you are the Purple Demon that prevented the Legendary Rainbow Warrior from carrying out her duties,” Li’Ho Ani said, as she held up a small Twilight Sparkle doll that had string tied around the legs and wings.
“And you must be the priestess that’s hypnotizing everypony,” Twilight said.
“My name is Li’Ho Ani, and I am only doing what must me done to restore what was taken from my people.”
“I know you’re upset, but hypnotizing ponies to cause destruction and chaos is not the way to go about things. Let me take you back to Canterlot, you can talk to the princesses. Once they hear about the Ka Lio’s story they’ll surely want to step in and talk to the Island Council about rectifying things,” Twilight said.
“The time for talk is over. There is only time for action now,” Li’Ho Ani said.
“Alright then, have it your way,” Twilight said, as she focused her magic on the Twilight doll and levitated it over to her. She then removed the strings from the wings and legs. Once they were gone she could move freely again.
“You might have magical superiority, but I have superior geographic knowledge,” Li’Ho Ani said, realizing she couldn’t win in a fight with Twilight. She kicked the corner of the stone slab she was standing on, causing it to flip down at an angle, allowing her to slide down into an escape hatch. Once Colibri followed behind her, the stone slab slid back into its original position.
“Oh no you don’t,” Twight said, as she ran over to where the priestess had been standing earlier. She kicked the corner of the stone slab, only for nothing to happen, “Oh come on!” she shouted in annoyance.
Finding no other way to follow Li’Ho Ani, Twilight flew back to the beach.
“Any luck?” Pinkie asked.
“She got away,” Twilight said.
“Dagnabit!” Applejack shouted.
“Hey! What’s going on? Let me out of this!” Rainbow Dash shouted, as the spirals in her eyes finally began to fade away.
“Looks like she’s coming out of it,” Twilight said.
“Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked, as she helped untangle Rainbow Dash from the volleyball net.
“Yeah I’m fine. It’s kinda hazy, but I remember a lot of what happened to me. I can’t believe I did all this while under her spell,” Rainbow Dash said, looking out at the destruction she had caused.
“So did you catch that little brat?” Deep Pockets asked, as he made his way down to them.
“No, she got away,” Twilight said.
“Then what use are you?” he said.
“Hey! She saved your hide and all your customers’ too,” Applejack said in annoyance.
“Yes and we do appreciate it, but since the priestess remains at large there’s still the risk of other attacks. Making your efforts moot,” Deep Pockets said.
Before the others could react to his comments a bolt of lighting zapped him. The slightly singed Deep Pockets looked up to see Rainbow Dash standing on a cloud above him.
“Huh…wha…What happened?” Rainbow Dash said, feigning confusion, “I think I’m not fully free from Li’Ho Ani’s control.”
“That reminds me,” Deep Pockets said, after he recovered, “The damage to the golf course and landscaping you caused…they’ve already been added to your bill.”
“What!?” Rainbow Dash, shouted in horror.
“Don’t worry Rainbow Dash, I’ll be taking those charges up with the princesses when we return to Canterlot, and while we’re at it we’ll be discussing Mr. Deep Pockets’ business practices with them as well. I’m sure Celestia and Luna would love to hear about what he’s done and I’m sure they’ll be getting in contact with the Island Council members very soon,” Twilight said, seething with rage, “We’re leaving. I’d thank you for a wonderful time, but we didn’t have one.”
“You can expect a hefty early checkout charge on your bill as well,” Deep Pockets said, before turning back towards the hotel.
“We better get our things quick before he decides to sell them in the gift shop,” Rarity said.
The others agreed with her and ran back towards the hotel.
A few days later a maid entered one of the suites on the top floor of the hotel. She was wearing her usual work uniform, but had a saimin orchid in her mane and purple and yellow spirals in her eyes. She quickly dusted the room and changed the bed linens. Before she left, she placed several saimin orchid blossoms into a pillowcase before placing the pillow on the king sized bed. She then exited the room.
Later that night Deep Pockets entered the room and changed into his pajamas. Once he climbed into bed he laid down on the pillow, kicking up a large cloud of saimin orchid pollen.
“What’s going on…I feel…funny,” he said, as he fell into a light trance after breathing in the pollen.
The door to his balcony then opened up and Li’Ho Ani stepped into the room.
“Perhaps the Purple Demon was right, and hypnotizing the visitors to this accursed place to cause chaos and destruction isn’t the answer. I should’ve started with the source,” she said, as she pulled off her necklace and began swinging the tiki idol in front of Deep Pocket’s eyes, “Now just relax and watch the tiki idol.”
Deep Pockets’ eyes became locked on the swinging idol as he mindlessly listened to the start of Li’Ho Ani’s induction.