A black van came to an abrupt stop atop a hill overlooking Canterlot High. The driver got out to look over the school with cold blue eyes, curly strands of blond hair flapping in the wind as they held onto the bun atop her head. She looked down on the school, particularly on upon the statue at the entrance, with grim purpose, making final preparations for her mission.
"Geez, Lock, we gonna be here all day?" The woman's partner complained from the passenger seat, his arms brushing his crimson hair as he stretched. His eyes, reptilian and also crimson, were half open with apathy.
"You'd do well to take this mission seriously, Thatch," the woman reprimanded her partner.
"Yeah, sure, I'll do my job, just as soon as you let me."
"Just a while longer," the woman answered, before turning back to the school to see a car pull into its parking lot. "It seems the principal has arrived. We can explain the situation to her while our operatives get to work."
"Does that mean we can go now?"
"Yes. Are you happy now?"
"More than you know," Thatch replied, a dark gleam in his eyes and a sadistic smile crawling along his face.
The next day, Shimmer was lost in thought as she sat with her friends in the cafeteria. Maybe Rainbow's right, she thought. I mean, Azrael hasn't actually done anything suspicious. So he's a transfer student. So what? There can be normal transfer students, right? Here's hoping he's normal...
"Hello again." Shimmer nearly jumped out of her skin as Azrael greeted her. "Sorry, was I bothering you?" Shimmer quickly shook her head. Azrael sighed, and motioned to an empty seat next to her. "Mind if I sit here?" Again, Shimmer shook her head, and he sat down.
The seven students ate their lunch in silence. The whole time, Shimmer kept casting quick glances toward the new student, sizing him up to see if her suspicions had any merit. Rainbow and Rarity shot Shimmer a few glances of their own, signals telling her to stop treating their guest so poorly. Unfortunately, these messages came a bit too late, as Azrael quickly realized something was up.
"You've been looking at me quite a bit," he noted, before giving her a seductive look. "Do I pique your interest?"
"No, it's nothing like that," Shimmer denied him. ""It's just...transfer students don't exactly have the best reputation here."
"Oh really? How so?" he asked.
"Recently, all of our transfer students have been involved in major...incidents," Rarity answered.
"Ah can see why Shimmer'd be a bit wary," Applejack piped up.
"But he hasn't done anything yet," Rainbow argued.
"I see," Azrael replied. "So that's how it is. Guess that explains some of the weird looks I've gotten."
"Please don't be mad, Azrael," Fluttershy whispered from the back of the group. "It's not you. I'm sure you're a nice guy..."
"Eh, don't worry about it," Azrael comforted her. "Now that I know what's going on, it's fine. I'm sure people will come around."
"I sure hope so," Shimmer told him, letting go of a bit of her suspicion. "I know how you probably feel."
Just then, the cafeteria doors opened, and Twilight walked in to join her friends. "Hey, sorry I'm late," she apologized.
"A friend of yours?" Azrael asked.
"Yeah," Shimmer replied. "She was involved in one of those...incidents we mentioned. We helped her sort herself out."
"Really now," Azreal pondered, turning his attention to Twilight. "I'd like to know what happened."
All seven girls immediately stopped what they were doing. "Uh...you sure?" Fluttershy whispered.
"Of course," Azrael replied. "Come on, this school has clearly been through some crazy 'incidents.' Surely they've gotta make for cool stories."
The seven girls huddled together to debate while Azrael stared at them in confusion. Eventually, they sat upright, nodded to each other, and turned to Azrael. "Sure, we'll tell you," Twilight decided.
She told him the whole story about the incident at the Friendship Games. How she had found out about her friends' magic and developed a pendant to study it. How she had drained their magic by sheer accident, and unleashed it to become a demon. As she told her story, Azreal became more and more invested and curious.
"I'm guessing you got rid of the pendant after the whole fiasco was sorted out?" he asked her.
"No, it's too dangerous to just throw out," Twilight replied, shaking her head. "I've got it locked up tight."
"Ah, good point," Azrael noted. Just then, the bell rang. "Well, guess we better head back to class." As Shimmer got up to leave, Azrael grabbed her shoulder. "Hey, I noticed yesterday that we're in the same class next period. Might as well head there together, right?" Shimmer thought about it a bit before nodding, and the two headed off to class.
As the two walked through the hallways, Azrael's carefree nature was replaced by a serious visage as he put up his guard. Shimmer took note of this, and scanned the crowds to see what was wrong. Hidden amongst the crowds of students were men in black suits. Before Shimmer could ponder why they were there, she noticed that the crowd was starting to thin out. Before long, they were the only two souls in a barren, empty hall. Just as the whole situation was starting to creep Shimmer out, Azrael held up his arm to stop her. They'd come to a halt just outside Principal Celestia's office...and it sounded like she was talking to someone. Azrael got close to the door to eavesdrop, and Shimmer followed suit.
"...we'll be shutting this facility down, at least for the time being," Celestia's guest told her.
"I'm sorry, but I can't allow that," Celestia bluntly refused her. "Under what authority do you think you can just close this school down?"
"Under the government's authority," the stranger replied. From the sound she made, she must have pulled out a badge. "Special Agent Lockheart. My agents and I are here to clean up after the incidents that have taken place here."
"What are you saying?"
"Come on, don't play dumb with us," another stranger piped up, before pulling out his own badge. "Special Agent Thatch. See, this school's been ground zero for a number of magical disasters in recent months. You can't seriously think the rest of the world wouldn't notice, can you? Well, guess what? We noticed. So now we're here to put a cork in the whole thing."
"We'll be locking down the school to investigate the magical elements on campus," Lockheart declared. "And we'll also have to detain the students who've been at the center of these incidents."
"In fact," Thatch began, "I think one of them came to us..."
Azrael's pupils shrank as he realized what was happening. "Run!" he ordered Shimmer. Without waiting for her to register the command, he started running down the hall, and grabbed her wrist to drag her along.
Just then, Thatch left the Principal's office, and saw the two fleeing the scene. He dropped a dark hand to a walkie talkie on his belt, and picked it up. "We got a couple runners heading down the second floor hallway. All units, capture them alive."
The agents immediately mobilized and rushed toward the two students. Shimmer quickly got her bearings, and started running of her own free will. This freed up Azrael's hand to beat up the agents that rushed toward them. With each one that came toward them, he channeled his momentum into a powerful blow that sent them flying away. By the time they recovered, the two students had already put quite a bit of distance between them.
The two quickly approached the end of the hall, and a large window on the far wall. Azrael ran straight for the window. "ARE YOU CRAZY!?" Shimmer shouted, realizing his intent.
"Just trust me!" he pleaded to her, holding out a hand to her as they ran. After a second of debating the choice, she took the hand, and they jumped through the window. Azrael fell two stories and onto his feet, and swung Shimmer around to catch her without slamming her into the ground.
"Are you okay?" Shimmer asked. "Your legs should be broken..."
"I'm fine," Azrael reassured her, flashing her a smile. "Glad you chose to trust me."
"Nice display," Thatch called to them from the shadows, clapping. "You would've made a fine agent. Guess you'll just have to settle for a prison sentence." He came out of the shadows. "Sorry, but everything you just did was for nothing." He snapped his fingers, and six agents came out of the shadows...each one holding one of Shimmer's friends hostage. "See, we were ordered to bring you all in alive...but I think there's enough of you that we can afford breaking a few eggs. Now, give yourself up, or these men will make your friends suffer. I can just say they...resisted." As he said all this, a sadistic smile spread across his face...
The next thing he knew, however, he heard six simultaneous groans as his agents fell unconscious. Thatch turned to see his six fallen agents, the six magic girls who fell down with them...and Daniel Hayes, looking down on him in contempt.
"You really shouldn't meddle in this kinda stuff, kid," Thatch grumbled at him, pulling a gun on the boy. As soon as he did, though, Daniel rushed him at an inhuman speed, hit the gun out of his hand, grabbed his arm, and broke it. Thatch endured the pain as he stared in terror at this kid who'd just incapacitated him and six other agents.
"Good night," Daniel told him, before punching his lights out.
Daniel put down his guard, and helped the six girls up. Shimmer was still stunned at what this boy had been able to do. "What are you?" she asked.
"...not your concern," he dismissed her, as he helped the last of the girls up. "I'd be wary of the men in black if I were you. Stay away from the school, and spend as little time at home as you can. I'll bet they've already got agents stationed at each of your houses."
"I think there's room at my place for all of you to stay," Azrael pitched in. "But we'd better hurry there, before more of those agents show up." Everyone nodded. As they left, Shimmer took one last look at the school, and saw the agents cordoning off the statue holding the portal to Equestria. Tears came to her eyes, as the reality of the situation finally hit her.