Author's Note

Here's another chapter for one of my stories. Enjoy. Follow TheShadowKnight. And as always, thank you for your patience and support, be sure to stay tuned for more chapters to come in the future and remember to always keep on bronying on, everypony.

Conflicting Emotional Trust Issues

A strange twist of fate can really turn the tide as a terrible fight between two best friends led to one of them being swallowed up in a trapdoor. Poor Yabuki had tried to warn his pal, Inferno, about the fake AJ, but was unsuccessful. The things they said to each other, the pain, the resentment… the guilt. Now, it was up to Inferno to find his best friend, along with the girls in order to set things right.

Right now, Inferno was secured to AJ's rope, which he secured to one of the quad bikes above the trap door. And without hesitation, he lept into the darkness to rescue his best friend. The young man hollered with determination and fell into the dark cavern to which the trapdoor had led into. And in mere seconds, Inferno abruptly landed onto the floor of the cavern with a hard thud; luckily the cavern floor was completely covered in sand, so he had something soft break his fall. As he laid there groaning in pain, he watched AJ’s rope continue to fall on top of him until it had stopped and hung above him from the ATV he had tied it to on the surface.

“Uuuuuuuuuugh… probably should’ve checked the length of the rope.” Inferno said to himself. Getting up and dusting off the sand, he checked his surroundings to see where he was. It looked like he was in some kind of underground tunnel.

With great caution and determination, Inferno slowly stepped into the dark tunnels. He tries hard to see in the slight darkness while paying more attention with his ears, since he knew his sight would be useless in this environment.

As he wandered through the underground maze he finds himself in, he quietly called out for Israel, hoping that he was somewhere in this place.

“Israel! Israel! Come on buddy, where are you?” Inferno silently spoke as he continued forward.

Then, at the end of the tunnel, there's light illuminating in the distance. He was relieved, but still remained on his toes, not knowing what awaited him. As he inches himself towards the light at the end of the tunnel, he braces himself for whatever danger is awaiting him.

Upon arriving, he discovers… a secret hideout. The area was big enough for some kind of underground party… or ritual of some kind. And mounted on the wall at the top of the lair… was some kind of shiny mirror, taller than any known man. It had to be at least 10 to 15 feet tall. And Inferno thought his mind was playing tricks on him because he could hear voices coming from the mirror.

“What the…” Was all he could say as he was rendered speechless by what he was seeing. He then strolls closer to the mirror, reaching his hand out to it, while stepping closer with caution. “This is some weird magic… Wait… What’s a magic mirror doing under–”

"Inferno~!"A voice echoed, spooking the young man.

“GAAAAAAAAH!!!!” Inferno yelped in fright as he fell backwards onto his back. He quickly recovers and starts looking around the large cavern, trying to make sense of what he had heard and where it was coming from.

“What the fuck?!” He said to himself as his eyes wandered around the chamber. “Who’s there? Israel? Bro, if that’s you, please come out. If you’re a foe, I recommend you don’t show yourself at all unless you wanna get KO’ed!” He spoke out to whoever it was that spoke to him.

"Inferno~!" the voice echoed again. This time… it was much clearer. It came from the mirror and definitely sounded female. And it sounded way too familiar.

Inferno turned his head towards the mirror and then cautiously approached it. He reached his hand out to the mirror and placed it firmly on it.

From the other side of the mirror, he saw the face of Sunset Shimmer appear. But her face was all silver, kind of like a floating soul. "Inferno~!" she called out once more before watching her soul swim in a vertical clockwise circle with the rest of the souls trapped inside this mirror.

Inferno’s eyes widened with shock and disbelief, as he could not comprehend what he was seeing.

“S-Sunset?” He spoke to his girlfriend, or more specifically, her soul that was trapped in the mirror. He had to find some way to save her. But… how? It's not that he can just reach in and pull her soul out… Can he?

With that thought in mind, Inferno pushes his hand more into the mirror, and to his shock, his hand sinked into the mirror. It gave off a strange feeling, as if he was dipping his hand into water; very cold water. He felt his hand freezing and shivering. But seeing that he was able to reach into the mirror, Inferno ignored the freezing cold his hand endured and he reached his hand towards Sunset.

His sunny sweetheart then grabbed him by the hand, thus giving him the signal to pull her out. And so with one swift pull, he yanked Sunset’s soul out of the mirror. Inferno knelt down to the ground, holding his freezing cold hand while also holding his girlfriend’s soul. "Thanks, babe. I've never been happier to see you." she said.

“Gah!... Y-yeah… ugh!” Inferno responded while trying to shake off the almost frostbite his hand was feeling before he looked at his girlfriend with a warm smile. “I feared I’d never see you ever again. I mean, when I saw you up on the surface, I was joyful. But it turned out not to be you, so I feared the worst.” He spoke.

"I know. Listen, I'll explain everything later. But first, I need you to let go of me so I can return to my body. After that, see if you can get the other girls trapped here before someone finds you and steals your soul and traps it in that mirror." she instructed.

“Ok, I’ll do that. And when you get your body back, try and find Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. Israel and I managed to aid their escape, so they’re probably hiding somewhere on the island.” Inferno informs her about the other girls that were not captured.

"I will. And thanks again, babe," she replies.

“I’ll be waiting to hold you in my arms again.” He softly said with a smile before he finally releases Sunset’s soul as she swiftly zooms off to her body.

"I always knew you were a hero, babe!" she yelled out as she flew off.

As Inferno looked on as his girlfriend’s spirit flew away, Inferno’s warm expression turned sorrowful as he looked down to the sandy floor of the cavern chamber.

“Yeah… some hero I was for pushing my best friend away.” He silently said to himself.

Getting back to the task at hand, Inferno turns back towards the mirror, and without hesitation, he gets to work, thrusting half of his arm into the mirror, fishing for the other girls. His lower arm began to grow cold, but it didn’t faze his determination.

As he wriggled his arm in the mirror, fishing into the small pond of thousand swimming souls, he finally felt something grab onto his hand. With that, he pulled his arm out of the mirror, and soon his eyes widened as he saw who he had pulled out.

"Inferno! Hoo-wee, am Ah ever glad to see yer okay. What happened last night? It's all a blur an' Ah can't remember anything! Ya think someone might've spiked mah apple cider or somethin'?" Applejack's soul asked.

“A-Applejack?!” Inferno spoke abruptly in shock and disbelief; not just that he found AJ’s soul in the mirror, but by the revelation that Israel was telling the truth. Which meant… He fought with his best friend over nothing.

"Sugarcube? Ya feelin' alright? Ya look like ya just kicked a gifted horse in the face." Applejack said, confused and concerned.

‘I have.’ Inferno thought to himself before he snapped out of it. “I-its… It's nothing… Look, go and try to find your body, and meet up with the others on top. We’ll talk more later.” Inferno informs her.

"Well… alright, if you say so," AJ shrugs before Inferno lets go of her. Right away, her soul takes off at blinding speeds, disappearing from Inferno's sight.

Once he has released AJ, Inferno then goes back to fishing for Pinkie and Fluttershy, sticking his arm back into the mirror and searching for the other 2 girls. There were some instances where he unintentionally pulled out some random soul from the mirror, only to put them back into it.

Then finally something grabbed onto him like before. He pulls out whoever it was and…

"Wheeeeeeee-hee-hee-hee!!! That was fun! Can we do that again?" Pinkie's soul asked all happy and giddy.

“Even as a ghost head, you’re still Pinkie, Pinkie. Of course.” Inferno spoke with a smug smile while rolling his eyes. Of course Pinkie remained herself even in this situation; at least it took his mind off his sorrowful thoughts. “Well, go find your busty body, Pinkie. And go find the others.”

"Okie dokie lokie," Pinkie's soul replied before being let go. She zooms off, giggling cutely as she goes to find her body.

“Ok, one more to go. I hope you’re in there somewhere, Fluttershy.” Inferno said as he sticks his arm back into the mirror, searching for Fluttershy amongst the souls in it.

A few moments later, a hand softly grabs onto him.

“There you are.” Inferno proclaimed as he pulled his arm back and, in-turn, pulled Fluttershy’s soul out from the mirror prison. “EUREKA!!!” He cheered.

"Inferno! Thank you. I wasn't sure if the monsters had gotten all of us. Thank heavens you're still here. Where are the others?" Fluttershy's soul asked.

“The rest of the girls are ok, a few of them are hiding somewhere on the island, the rest are currently looking for their bodies.” Inferno informs her.

“But what about Israel? Is he ok?” Fluttershy asked.

Her question brought back the guilt-ridden thoughts in Inferno’s mind, and his warm expression turned sorrowful. Seeing his change of facial expression, Fluttershy could tell something was wrong.

“Inferno… Is Israel alright?” She asked him again.

“I… I don’t know. He fell down here a while ago, and I have been trying to find him before I found this mirror and you all.” Inferno responded.

“But if he’s down here, why isn’t he with you?!” Fluttershy asked with concern.

Inferno’s guilt only rose when she asked that, and he had no choice but to answer.

“We… Israel and I… We got into an argument.” He said, which caused Fluttershy to gasp. “It got outta hand and we had a big fight. He said some things, I said some things. And before I knew it, a trapdoor opened below him and he fell through. I came down here, trying to find him, but I can’t find him anywhere!” Inferno explained everything to Fluttershy; with his guilt not going away as he explained it.

"You both fought? Oh no! Please let me know if he's okay when you find him." Fluttershy's soul said, pleading with her big eyes staring directly into his.

“I will, I promise.” Inferno stated. “Now go and find your body, and go look for the others. I’m gonna stay down here and try to locate Israel.”

"O-Okay…" Flutter-soul stuttered before she's let go. She zooms off with a cute yelp and a squeal by how fast she was going.

After having saved the rest of the girls from the mirror, Inferno then focuses back on his previous task; and that was to locate Israel.

“Hang on, Israel. I’ll find you and get you outta here. Just please don't be gone!" Inferno pleaded for his friend’s safety. “I just hope the girls will find their bodies and regroup on the surface,” he said.

But before he could leave the chamber, something had caught his eye. On top of a pillar just a few feet behind the mirror, was a large jewel. But it wasn’t just any jewel, it was the same jewel he, Israel, and the girls found in the abandoned Unity Island Tower. He then approached the jewel and observed it.

And while he did, a puzzling question sparked in his mind.

‘How did this get down here? I remember last seeing it at the Unity Island hotel, how is it here underground?’ Inferno thought to himself. He shook his head, not bothering with the details and just grabbed it, bringing it with him.

Meanwhile, in another part of the island, the fake Sunset and Pinkie Pie were both patrolling one of the attractions when suddenly…

"WHEE-HEEEEEEEEE!!!" Pinkie's soul exclaimed, zooming towards her body.

"INCOMING!!!" Sunset's soul shouted. Both girls looked and weren't able to react in time as both souls entered their respectful bodies so fast, they were thrown back and fell. Both ladies couldn't get up as something bad felt like it was crawling out of their throat.

Suddenly, a red light emitted from their mouths and two demons emerged from their bodies, screeching in anger. The two monsters looked at the girls as they got up and stared into the demons all wide-eyed. But… before the demons could touch them, their slithering, snake-like bodies began breaking apart and light was emitting from the cracks of their bodies.

They realized too late they were in the sun and screeched in agony before exploding in a brilliant ray of light, startling the party girl and sunny babe.

"Pinkie… did we just… see two demons explode?" Sunset asked.

"Eeeeeyup," Pinkie said in surprise. "And I didn't even bring any popcorn," she pouted, puffing her cute pink cheeks.

Sunset turns to look at Pinkie in disbelief, which is short lived as she turns her head to look at her whole body, while also feeling it and touching it before she lays back down on her back. and let out a sigh of relief.

“Whatever, I’m glad we got our bodies back.” She proclaimed.

"Yeah… but it sure was fun zooming and flying around in spirit." Pinkie said.

“Ok, playtimes over, Pinkie. We gotta find the other girls and regroup back on the beach before the other possessed find them.” Sunset started as she quickly got back onto her feet, while tearing off her tie and slightly unbuttoning her shirt since she was quickly starting to sweat a bit from the tropical heat. “Sweet Celestia! How do those demons wear these during this heat?!” She exclaimed.

"Maybe they're naturally cold-blooded." Pinkie said before pulling off her entire work outfit, leaving only her cute bikini on.

Sunset stares at her with disbelief yet again. “Did you just tear off your clothing and just so happened to wear a bikini underneath?” She asked, pretty much not trying to question Pinkie being… Well, Pinkie.

"Yup-yup." Pinkie said with a squee. "Speaking of which…" the party girl then grabbed hold of Sunset's clothes and pulled them off, then replaced them with her two-piece black bikini with her cutie mark on it. "How do you feel now, Sunset?"

Sunset’s cheeks blushes completely red after seeing Pinkie having stripped her from her college clothing. And also is shocked that Pinkie had changed her into her beachwear in a split second.

“Uh… Uh…” Sunset couldn’t say anything as she was too flustered.

“Well, now that’s out of the way! Let's go find our friends!” Pinkie cheerfully proclaimed as she grabbed Sunset’s wrist and dragged her with her to search for their friends.

Meanwhile, inside the hotel, the fake AJ, changed from her disguise from earlier and into the same college clothing as all the others, was with the other possessed college students, discussing an insidious plot.

"The time is almost upon us. Prepare yerselves fer the ceremony this afternoon," the fake Applejack ordered. Afterwards, everyone separated and the fake AJ walked herself outside of the motel and planned to find Inferno.

That was until…

“Ah’m comin’ fer ya, ya varmint!!!!” Applejack’s soul shouted with anger and determination as she zoomed towards her body. The faker turns and is tackled by AJ's soul, getting sent flying through the air and landing on her side.

Just like what happened with Pinkie and Sunset, she was paralyzed and felt something exit out of her mouth. Eventually, she regained control of herself as the demon possessing her was now on the outside. It turned towards AJ, who's getting up and notices the demon.

"Y'all done made a big mistake messin' with this gal," AJ said, cracking her knuckles. But before she could get ready to rumble, the demon's body began cracking open and light shone through the cracks until the demon screeched in pain as the sun's rays cooked it well and made it explode in a ray of light.

The farm gal stood there shocked by what the heck she just saw.

“Well… guess that’s taken care of.” AJ commented. Just then, the tropical heat started beating down on her like a ton of bricks. "Hoo-wee, now to lose these stuffy rags," she said, wiping away some of her sweat. She removes her prepped up college outfit and is now back in her American flag two-piece bikini. Guess the demon liked it so much that it kept it underneath all those layers of clothing.

Looking over her body after discarding all those useless rags, AJ can’t help but say: “Damn tootin’, Ah’ truly look like the American Dream.” She commented to herself, while turning her head around to check out her ‘apples’.

While AJ was admiring her big apples, the fake Fluttershy was hanging out by the beach, reading a book, still decked out in a stuffy college outfit. Suddenly Fluttershy's soul approaches her from behind and enters her body. The faker felt like something smacked her upside the head and stood up in frustration.

"Who did that?! WHO'S…" but before she could blow a gasket, she feels herself fall over, feeling something trying to exit her body.

Lo and behold the demon exits through her mouth and just like the other demons, it meets its fate under the harsh sun and explodes. Fluttershy pants heavily from that horrible experience.

It took her a while to calm down and her heartbeat slowed down til it was back to its normal beat. And once she settled down, Fluttershy soon spots a couple of the possessed students patrolling the beach. With quick thinking, she quickly grabs the book that her possessed self was reading and pretends to read it; trying to blend in as one of the possessed students.

She kept up the facade until the demon students passed by her, not even acknowledging her, as she was acting just like them. Once they were out of view, Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief as she fell back onto the beach, glad that she had avoided being re-captured.

However, what Fluttershy didn’t realize was that she was further close to the water after having reclaimed her body.

Which meant… SPLASH!!! A small tidal wave splashed down onto the beach, causing Fluttershy’s whole body and clothing to be completely soaked. She got onto her feet as she looked over her soaking wet clothing.

"Oh… why did I have to take cover so close to the ocean?" she asked, whining before struggling to remove heer stuffy college outfit.

All that she was left with as clothing was a purple bikini top and bottom, the timid girl was blushing completely red as she felt so exposed. But it was better than being completely naked, and it was more suitable for the beach. Because the tropical heat was unbearable earlier, she had to keep her cool when those demon students came by, and not risk tearing off all her clothing in a desperate attempt to cool off.

"Ahh… now that feels better," Fluttershy sighed in content.

Now that she had reclaimed her body, and also shed off the unnecessary college clothing, now all that is left is for her to find the girls and hope that Inferno is able to find her boyfriend, safe and sound.

Speaking of, just thinking back to what Inferno told her about he and Israel having a fight; for as long as she knew the two, they have been the best of friends. The thought of them having an argument and their friendship broken would’ve brought her to tears.

"Oh… please be alright, Izzy. Wherever you are." Fluttershy said to herself.

Meanwhile, back at Unity Tower, a pair of guards entered the room where their Daimao Jade was first brought. Only this time, instead of the jade, they put in the center… an unconscious Israel Yabuki. Upon landing on the hard ground, he grunted and was now wide awake.

"OW!" Israel shouted.

“Oh sorry about that, young man.” A voice spoke to him. “Sometimes my employees don’t know when to be gentle. It was fortunate that they had found you and brought you here for your own safety.” the voice added.

"If you can call falling through a trapdoor a safety hazard, then yeah… I suppose." Israel said, rubbing his head to soothe the pain.

“Well don’t worry, Israel Yabuki. You’re quite safe here. Honestly, it's the safest place anywhere on the island. Especially since all of the guests have been under some dark influence.” The voice exclaimed to Israel with a sincere tone of voice.

Israel soon was able to sit up straight as he rubbed his eyes to clear his vision. And once his vision came to, the young man was able to see the person behind the voice.

And it was none other than Filthy Rich. "Mr. Rich! I haven't seen you since those demons came slithering onto the island! You won't believe what's been going on! They've taken a lot of the college kids here and turned them into these… these… corporate perfectionists. It's like, all they care about is business! It wasn't until I realized… the demons had possessed them. Including…"

Filthy held his hand up before Israel rambled on. "I know… I know… they got to nearly all of your friends, too," he finished.

"Yeah… and one of my friends was possessed, but… but… that jackass, Inferno… He didn't even believe me! That son of a…" Yabuki then punched the steel walls that imprisoned him.

"Now, now, let's not get riled up. Listen, I've got some things to take care of first. How about later, after I'm done, I'll have my guards escort you into my office. Sound good?" he asked.

"Uh… s-sure, I suppose. But… why help me specifically?" Yabuki asked.

"Let's just say… you're a special case," Filthy said before leaving the area. "Oh, and guards… make sure he's well-fed and has plenty of water to drink." he said on his way out.

"Right," the two guards then closed the door while Israel sat in the center of his prison, contemplating all that's happened to him so far. Most of his friends are demonized, his ties with Inferno are severing, what's there for Yabuki to do now… except to just sit there… hair obscuring his face as tears form in his eyes from his world crumbling around him.

Meanwhile, back with Rainbow, Twilight and Rarity, who stopped to rest after having been running through the jungle for an hour. Fortunately, they were further away from any demon-possessed college students in the area, thanks to the brave actions of Inferno and Israel for leading them away.

"I think we lost them," Twilight said between breaths.

"Heavens… this is NOT how I saw my vacation playing out." Rarity panted heavily.

“Honestly, Rarity, I wouldn’t count this as a vacation at all.” Rainbow exclaimed while also catching her breath, and as she was resting, a lingering concern came to consciousness. “Do you think Israel and Inferno would be alright? They’ve been gone for a long while.” she asked the girls.

"Oh, don't worry. Those two are resourceful when it comes to getting out of sticky situations. They've done it before in the past." Twilight assured.

"Perhaps, after we've recovered more, we should look for our other friends. Perhaps we can help them in some way," Rarity added.

“Oh yeah, let's go find our friends, who are currently possessed by demons; while we’re also running from an ever-growing horde of demon-possessed college students. Yeah, that sounds smart.” Rainbow sarcastically commented.

"Uh… well, then… perhaps we should look for Inferno and Israel then?" Rarity suggested.

“Now that sounds like a plan.” Rainbow agreed.

“Well I guess if we are gonna go with that plan, I suggest we get out of the jungle and head for the beach; start from there. If we’re lucky, all the demons would be busy scouring the jungle for anyone else.” Twilight stated.

"Agreed." Rarity and Rainbow said in unison.

After forming their plan, the girls quickly navigate themselves out of the jungle, which took a while considering how big it was. You would think they could at least find their way back to the hotel at least, but with the trees blocking their view of the sky, they can barely see anything.

Luckily within half an hour, they made it out of the jungle safe, then eventually bump into Fluttershy of all people.

"T-Twilight! Rainbow! Rarity!" Fluttershy exclaimed softly.

The three girls were hesitant to approach the animal lover, for they were questioning whether or not Fluttershy was possessed and was tricking them. Of course, Fluttershy was no longer wearing those college uniforms like the other possessed students, and was wearing only a bikini top and bottoms. But they still kept caution on whether they should trust her.

Fluttershy could see the hesitant expressions on her friends' faces and before she could take another step towards them, Rainbow held her arm up towards her, which gestured to Fluttershy to halt in place.

“Hold on! If you’re really Fluttershy, then tell us this,” Rainbow stated with caution. “What is Fluttershy’s favorite lullaby that she would alway sing when she was a child?” She asked the timid girl.

"O-Oh… okay…" Fluttershy then clears her throat and… she sings the song. Hearing her soothing voice while singing that lullaby… there can be no doubt this was the real Fluttershy.

Rainbow didn’t hesitate to run up to Fluttershy and embrace her in a warm and tight hug, knowing now that her best friend was freed from demonic possession.

"It really IS you!" Rainbow shouts excitedly.

'Heheh… yay," Fluttershy utters. But then, she pulls away from the hug to tell the others some shocking news. "Listen, girls. I'm not sure if you know this, but… I just heard that… that… Inferno and Israel got into a fight earlier."

The other girls fell silent upon hearing the news, then all at once, they all screamed loudly: “WHAT!?!?!?”

"It's true. Inferno told me so himself," Fluttershy confirmed.

"That's… That's just crazy! Those guys have ALWAYS gotten along so well, even when they're joking and being pains in the asses for fun. How could they fight?" Rainbow asked.

"I agree, it just doesn't make sense. Fluttershy, where is Inferno right now?" Twilight asked.

“He’s… He’s… I don’t know, he’s in some cave somewhere on the island, looking for Israel.” Fluttershy replied.

“We have to go find him and Israel!” Rarity exclaimed.

“I agree with you, Rarity. But first, we have to find the others. If Fluttershy is freed from the demons’ possessions, then there’s a good chance the others have as well.” Twilight stated.

“Oh they are. Inferno freed us a while ago. So they all should have returned to their original bodies by now.” Fluttershy added.

“What do you mean by returning to their bodies, darling?” Rarity asked in confusion.

“I’ll explain everything later, right now we need to find our friends.” Fluttershy responded.

“Well what are we waiting for?! Let's get going!” Rainbow proclaimed.

Now reunited with their timid butterfly friend, the 4 girls venture off throughout the island in search of the other girls. Hopefully, they can square things out between Inferno and Israel when they find them..

Meanwhile, with Sunset and Pinkie. After the two had regained their bodies, they soon scoured the resort, looking for the others. Of course, with them discarding their college uniforms and wearing bikini wear, they had to keep out of sight from any patrolling possessed students in the area.

"I don't EVER want to have to experience something like that ever again. How can these people handle these stuffy suits under possession?" Sunset asked.

"Hmm… I dunno… maybe they have built-in AC powers to keep from getting heatstroke." Pinkie shrugged before poofing her hair back to its original state.

Sunset looks at her in disbelief. “... What?” she asked in confusion.

But before Sunset could say more, she was soon forced to the ground as something or someone ran into her, and the two fell to the ground with a small thud. She lets out a groan in pain as she slowly opens her eyes to see who had crashed into her.

And soon she’s met with a familiar southern voice and a familiar face.

"Dog gone… Ah need to watch where Ah'm goin'! What in tarnation did Ah… Sunset?! Pinkie?!" asked the Southern Belle.

"APPLEJACK!!!" Pinkie exclaimed before bolting towards her and hugging her by the booty. "I knew you would come back!"

Applejack blushed red as she felt Pinkie hugging at her posterior. Sunset was also blushing a bit when Applejack had shifted her body a bit to look back at Pinkie, and in doing so, the apple girl’s bosom was pressed up against Sunset’s face.

“It's good to see ya too, Pinkie. But get yer hands off my hindquarters!” Applejack exclaimed, while blushing redder.

"Umm… AJ… it's nice to see you too, but uh… could you move a little, your boobs are kinda in my face," Sunset muffled.

"Whoops… sorry there, sugarcube." AJ said, giving Sunset room to breathe. Then she helps Sunset back onto her feet. "Well, at least we know one thing 'bout this whole mess. Them demons that took our bodies, needed us to survive in sunlight. Kinda like a human suit."

"Yeah we figured that too, but… how did they even get here in the first place? Monsters like them don't just appear out of random. And knowing that they're demons… somebody must've summoned them here." Sunset pieced together.

“But who in tarnation would do somethin' like that?! Them there demon varmints just bring nothin’ but trouble.” AJ remarked.

"Speaking of trouble, we'd better find and regroup with the other girls or more of those suit-y, snooty party poopers'll come after us," Pinkie added.

“Sounds like a good plan, Pinkie. And once we regroup with the others, we’ll go look for Inferno and Israel.” Sunset proclaimed.

“Well, last Ah’ saw Inferno, he was in a cavern when he freed me from that… mirror. But Ah’ didn’t see Israel with him.” AJ informed Sunset.

“Oh no! You guys don’t think Izzy is in danger, do you?!” Pinkie asked in concern for her precious boyfriend.

“We don’t know, Pinkie. We’ll only know when we ask Inferno once we meet up with him along with the others.” Sunset stated.

"If we can find them. Come on, we're headin' off to the beach!" AJ said.

The 3 busty beauties quickly made haste for their destination, dashing off in search of their other missing friends. Little did they know, the others are searching for them as well. But the question still remains… What's become of Inferno?

After having freed the girls from a magic mirror and stealing the Daimao Jade from its place of rest, Inferno continued on scouring the deep underground caverns, searching for Israel. But to his miserable luck, he can’t find Israel anywhere.

And the worst part, it felt like he was going in circles throughout the maze-like caverns. Soon he discovered that… he was lost.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!! FUCK ALL OF THIS!!!” He screamed in anger after minutes of no luck finding his best friend and now getting himself lost in a cave. Just then, light shone from one of the tunnels. “Well… hallelujah.” he said, dumbfounded.

With no luck finding Israel in the caves and nowhere to go, he followed the light, hoping it would lead him somewhere he could find Israel. And after several minutes of following the light, he is soon led to the source of the light, which turned out to be a cave opening that led outside and into the jungle

Once he had exited the caverns and into the jungle, Inferno immediately took a deep breath of fresh air from the surface, feeling the warmness of the sunlight hitting his skin, while also blinding him a bit; well he was in a dark cavern for an hour.

“Glad to be outta that hellhole.” Inferno proclaimed. ‘But why can’t I find Israel anywhere down there? I swore he could have been down there for only a few seconds before I followed him. Where could he be?!’ he thought to himself.

Inferno recalls their scuffle and that horrific scream his friend let out as the trap door swallowed him up.

Inferno then facepalms himself as he’s overcome with guilt. ‘How in hell am I gonna patch things up with him?’ He thought. But soon he’s forced to clear those thoughts away as he soon hears the sounds of waves crashing and the smell of saltwater, which only means he was somewhere closeby to the beach.

Knowing that he can’t stay in the jungle for long, or else he would risk getting caught, Inferno then cautiously makes his way towards the beach. Hoping that Israel may have escaped the cavern the same way he did a while ago, and is possibly out on the beach looking for the girls.

He just hopes that he finds his best friend there and that there was a chance their friendship could be salvaged.

After several minutes of walking through the jungle, Inferno finally stumbles onto the sandy beach. He observes the area, seeing if there were any demon students nearby. And lucky for him, there weren’t any.

Miraculously, his luck finally changed as he heard a group of familiar female voices.

"INFERNO!" they called out.

Inferno turns and, to his surprise, he sees all 7 of the girls running towards him, and all wearing beach bikinis. The young man wasn’t given any time to react as he was soon tackled and piled on by all the girls on the sandy beach. Crushed underneath the voluptuous bodies of the Rainbooms.

"Thank heavens, you're alright!" Rarity said.

"We were worried sick about you!" Sunset added.

"Darn tootin' we did! How'd ya escape the caverns?" Applejack asked.

“Did you find Israel?!” Fluttershy asked out of concern.

“Is Izzy okay?!” Pinkie added.

“Is he hurt?!” Rainbow asked as well.

“Why did you two fight about?” Twilight said.

Inferno was struggling to breath and move, especially since he has 7 girls all on top of him and crushing his body.

“... Uuuuuuuurk! G-Girls! I… I… can’t… breathe!... Uuuuuuurk!” Inferno gasped for air and groaned in pain.

The girls heard his plea for air and immediately gave him some room. "Sorry," they said in unison. Inferno immediately started gasping every amount of air he could get.

After he's fully recovered, it was time to find out the truth. "Inferno… please, tell us. Is it really true that you and Israel… had a fight?" Twilight asked.

Wincing at her question, Inferno then took a deep breath and… "It's true… Every bit of it… is true.” Was all he could say, as his heart was heavy with regret. Too ashamed to speak anymore.

"But… I don't understand, what caused you two to fight?" Sunset asked.

Inferno remained speechless for a while, too ashamed with himself. Judging by his ashamed expression, she decides to look into the matter herself and Sunset uses her geode to look into his memories. Everything that led up to the fight, including what happened to Israel, she could see it all like she was there herself.

Once she found out, she backed away. "No way!" Sunset said in shock.

"What, what happened? What'd you see?" Rainbow asked.

"Is Izzy okay?" Fluttershy asked.

"Girls… you're not gonna like this, but…" Sunset paused before explaining all the details she saw within her boyfriend's memories. But she spared the specific details on what each of the boys said to each other up until the end. And once they found out… all their jaws hit the ground.

"How… How could you?" Fluttershy asked, quivering in sadness and anger.

Inferno didn’t utter a word, he didn’t even dare to look at the girls, for he knew that they were ashamed of him, not more so than he is ashamed of himself.

Rainbow tried to charge at Inferno and strangle him, but was stopped and held in place by Applejack.

“YOU! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO HIM!” Rainbow scolded at the young man.

"Apples from mah bosom? Inferno, everyone knows Ah’ don't store apples in mah boobs. Ah’ keep 'em stored under mah hat! Still, fer Israel to right on grip mah wrist like that, he sure got a lotta guts," Applejack said, checking her wrist.

"I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR HURTING HIM!!!" Pinkie yelled with steam coming out of her ears and nose.

"Girls, stop! Look, I get it! Inferno messed up and he was wrong for what he did, but that's also why he's been trying to look for Israel, so he could apologize to him. I didn't mention this, but when I looked into his memories, Israel had said some things that really got to Inferno, too. Like… how he felt like an outcast and no one would take him seriously because he's always acting like a goof. And… every time he sees Inferno with a crowd of people… it makes him feel even more insecure about himself." Sunset explained.

“I don’t really see how that’s helping his case!” Rainbow exclaimed while pointing at Inferno in accusation.

"He probably won't admit it, but… back in high school Israel probably felt like his own best friend was becoming… shallow. This may sound messed up, but… from his perspective, Israel thinks they see a handsome, fit, young man in Inferno and wanna always be around him, but when they see him… he feels like a comic relief. He must've gotten so upset recently that when Inferno didn't believe him, Israel retaliated by pushing his insecurities onto him, blaming him for making him feel left out." Sunset continued explaining.

Even though Sunset’s words were intended to calm the situation; however, it only further grows Inferno’s guilt. Not wanting to hear anymore of this, Inferno gets up from the beach and soon he walks further away from the girls as they listen to Sunset. The girls didn’t notice Inferno had left them until Fluttershy looks back at where he originally was, and sees he was gone.

“Uh… girls… Inferno’s gone.” Fluttershy informs them.

“What?!” They all shouted in response.

The girls all looked around to find him until Twilight pointed out his footprints in the sand. They followed the trail to the other side of the beach, until they soon found the young man.

Sitting on a lonely boulder on the beach, Inferno Blaze stared out at the ocean in silence and isolated from the others.

Then, his isolation is interrupted as the girls quietly approach him.

"Babe, listen. We can still fix this!" Sunset said.

Inferno didn’t respond, and still kept his focus on the ocean. He paid the girls no heed as he was drowning in his guilt.

"Look, sugarcube. We all make mistakes. We're no exception, especially when… Well… that one incident durin' the holidays back in highschool. But there's always time to make things right and this is one o' those times!" Applejack said.

Even with AJ’s words, Infernos still remained silent, not daring to look back at the girls.

"Come on, sugarcube, ya can't just mope around in silence all day," AJ added.

“She’s right, darling. You can’t make amends with Israel if you’re sitting here…” Rarity also tries to speak, but is soon cut off by Inferno.

“WHAT DIFFERENCE WOULD THAT MAKE!!!” He shouted with an aggressive tone of voice, while still keeping his eyes towards the sea. His aggressive reply shook the girls and caught them off guard. Then after his response, Inferno finally starts talking. “You heard what Sunset said. Israel has always been insecure of me, always jealous of me, and always sees me as a source of his problems! And now after years of friendship, I turned my back on him and it further grew his insecurity! I told him straight to his face that I wish we were never friends to begin with! So even if we do find him! How in hell am I supposed to make up for years of making his life miserable and not ever knowing about it until right FUCKING NOW!!!” Inferno aggressively voiced all his thoughts as he took a pebble on the boulder and chucked it at the ocean in anger and guilt.

Tears threatened to leave Inferno’s eyes, and soon the dam broke as the young man completely broke.

"Because if we don't find him and try to make amends now, he could be lost to us by those monsters forever. So, we have to put in the extra effort and find him now. You two are best buds and I know he wouldn't wanna hold a grudge against you forever." Sunset said. "He's probably even regretting all he said to you right now."

Even after that statement, Inferno still did not respond and did not want to cooperate. This further slightly irritated the girls a bit; all except Fluttershy.

She knew everything they kept saying… they were not words Inferno wanted or needed to hear. Being closer to Israel back then, she knows slightly more of the strong bond of friendship and brotherhood that he and Inferno had. Soon she knows she has to step in, but she needs the girls to back off.

Clearing her throat, she turned to the girls and said: “Girls… Would you mind stepping away for a little bit. I need to talk to Inferno… Alone.” She stated, and while giving a small percent of her Stare to convince them.

“But…” Sunset wanted to protest cause they had bigger problems to deal with.

But Fluttershy wasn’t having it. “FUCK OFF!” She screamed while bestowing the full power of her Stare on her friends. Which did enough wonders to convince them.

So they did as Fluttershy instructed and stepped about a few yards away from the two. Now that they had privacy, Fluttershy calmly and quietly sat right next to the broken Inferno on the boulder, while also looking out into the sea like he did.

“Inferno…” She was the first to speak, wanting to get Inferno to voice his thoughts and emotions externally.

And he starts doing so.

“I… I’m sorry for what I did, Fluttershy. I’m… very sorry.” He said with a broken and sorrowful tone of voice.

Fluttershy placed her hand on Inferno’s shoulder in a comforting manner, letting him feel more comfortable to speak his mind.

“You know that you aren’t entirely to blame. You both had a fight. It's normal for friends to fight on occasions where they don’t agree on things or when in tough situations. He didn’t know that you would retaliate if he got aggressive with you and you didn’t know about his insecurities back from Canterlot High…” She said to him before Inferno interrupted her.

“BUT YOU GIRLS DID!” He shouted in sorrow and anger. “You knew about his insecurities for a long time! But I didn’t! He trusted you girls with that information, but not me!” Inferno voiced his deep thoughts and anger. “Back when we fought, he said to me ‘some fucking friend you are’. Yet he never trusted me to know how he always felt and about his insecurities! I trusted him with my secrets! I trusted him with my own life problems! I even trusted him to alway have my back! YET HE DOESN’T TRUST ME TO KNOW WHEN HE’S INSECURE ABOUT ME! HE’S MY BEST FRIEND, FLUTTERSHY!!! MY BEST FRIEND!!!... And yet… He doesn’t let me know… and now… I have to, forever, live… with my mistake.”

And at this moment, Inferno broke down even more. Tears ran down his cheeks and all his emotions that he bottled up a while ago came rushing out.

Fluttershy patted on his back while softly speaking to him. “There, there, let it all out, Inferno.” She spoke to him tenderly.

“I-I never meant for this to happen… I never meant to…” Inferno tearfully cried.

Fluttershy then guided his head down towards her upper chest and held him in a comforting manner. She felt Inferno’s tears dripped down onto her chest, but she paid no mind. She knows that Inferno needs to let it out all.

"I think I understand why he never told you. It's not because he didn't trust you. It's because he didn't trust himself with revealing his own insecurities. He's very subconscious about it and if word got out about why he kept it for so long, Israel felt like people would just call him a petty, selfish man, or think of it as an excuse to use his disability as a crutch to gain attention. And I know he's nothing like that at all. And I'm sure you know he'd never take advantage of others because of it, too. Right?" Fluttershy explained. "So really, he didn't tell you because he didn't trust you. He was just afraid of losing his only best friend if you found out the truth." she added.

Inferno sniffed for a bit and was silent for a moment, until finally he let out his most deepest thoughts.

“If only he knew…” He said. And after a brief pause, he continued. “That he was my only true friend that I ever had… and how hard it was for me to have one like that.” He stated.

Fluttershy looked at Inferno with a curious expression, now listening closely to what Inferno had to say.

“Back in CHS, before I met you girls and Israel… I never had real friends. Sure everyone wanted to hang out with me and spend all their time in my presence… But they weren’t actually my friends. The only thing that everyone cared about or talked about was my popularity. How rich my family is, how handsome I am, how smart I am, how good I am in football, just all kinds of things they can bring up. But none of them… none of them got to know me better. No one got to know the real me. The me that no one saw. I never had one moment where I could have someone to talk to about what I’m really thinking, what I truly feel… and how much I hated being popular.” Inferno exclaimed.

Fluttershy looked on at the young man, shocked and saddened to hear what Inferno truly felt back then.

“And when my dad and my older brother died… the attention and fame I already received… it got worse. While everyone gave their condolences on the loss… but really it was just pity. And some sought it as an opportunity to get even more closer to me and gain some popularity as well; while I was at my most vulnerable. And I hated it, Fluttershy. I hated it. It got to a point where I… I stopped caring about any of it. I got more aggressive… I got bitter towards everyone. At that point of time… All I wanted… Was to be left alone. Then you all came along… You, Sunset, and the others… You showed me what true friendship was like, and pulled me away from the darkness that I was consumed by. And then… Israel came along. He and I hit it off cause we were both ‘former magic villains that tried to destroy the world and all reality’,” Inferno joked a little at the end, which had Fluttershy giggled a bit too. It was good to see Inferno was slightly getting better. “And before I knew it… I truly believed I had found my best friend. Someone who I can share all my problems with, and hear his as well. Someone I can always count on and have their back when they need it. Back before, I believed he never saw me as ‘Mr. Popular’... So it gave me comfort… that he saw the real me… rather than what others see me as. But I guess I was wrong… we both are.” He concluded.

Fluttershy stares at Inferno with sympathy and sorrow. She and the girls, as well as Israel, never knew Inferno felt this way. If her Izzy had known… maybe he would have told Inferno the truth… and their nasty fight would have been avoided. But that was the past… Now, is the present.

"When we find Israel… you go ahead and explain it to him like you told me. And after that… well, you just leave the rest to me when I set him straight for going off on you and not fully trusting you." Fluttershy assured.

Inferno sniffed a bit as he sat back up, while looking at Fluttershy face to face as he wiped away the remaining tears he had shed; while bearing a slight smile across his face.

“Thanks, Fluttershy… *sniff*... I needed to hear that. Thank you.” Inferno gratefully said as he pulled Fluttershy in a warm embrace.

Fluttershy smiled warmly as she returned his hug as well. “That's what friends are for, Inferno.” she proclaimed.

After finally calming him down and giving him much needed comfort, Inferno would soon be ready to continue the search for his lost friend. However…

BOOM!!!

A little ways away on another part of the beach, the gang saw smoke in the distance.

Fluttershy and Inferno turned their heads around when they heard the explosion and they looked towards the rising smoke cloud.

“What the fuck was that?!” They both said at the same time, causing the two to look back at each other with puzzled looks; mostly Inferno, cause he never expected Fluttershy to curse like that.

"Oopsies," Fluttershy said, followed by a cute giggle and a squee.

“Fluttershy… never change.” Inferno commented while also giving the timid girl a peck on the cheeks just before he got off the boulder, and ran off toward the direction of the smoke. “C’MON! It might lead us to Israel!” He proclaimed loudly.

Fluttershy had a big, noticeable blush across her face from that little peck. But shaking off most of it, she nods and looks to Inferno with a determined look, puffing her cheeks as she follows him and the others to the explosion sight.

What kind of surprises await them? Will they find clues to Israel's whereabouts? Will Inferno and Israel have a chance to make amends? And what caused the explosion? Find out next time on Island Party Pandemic!