Reaper: Grand Charade

Shimmer opened her locker, and collected her stuff for class. As she did, her eyes were drawn to her magic journal, and she froze. That book had allowed her to stay in touch with Twilight across dimensions...but something felt off about it now. Somehow, just by thinking about Equestria, she could tell something had gone down on the other side of the portal. Something big. She'd already written to Twilight asking about her situation, but she hadn't heard back from her...

"Heya, Shimmer!" Pinkie Pie blurted out behind Shimmer, making her jump and hit her head on the inside of the locker. "Why're you staring so hard at that book? Are you having a staring contest?"

"I'm just worried," Shimmer explained as she rubbed her head and picked up the journal. "Recently, I've had this feeling that there's something wrong with Equestria. I can't tell from here, but I can feel it."

"Yeah, I know the feeling," Pinkie replied, her hair slightly deflating. This caught Shimmer off guard. Knowing Pinkie, it made sense that she'd share her bad feeling...but whatever went down in Equestria was bad enough to actually faze her?

As Shimmer was lost in thought, she turned a corner and bumped into someone. She fell to the ground, and hastily picked up her things. As she did so, the stranger picked up her magic journal and handed it to her.

"I believe this belongs to you, miss?"

As Shimmer looked up to take the book, she took her first good look at the stranger she had bumped into. He was a boy with pale white skin like Rarity's. The hair covering his head was also a stunning white, but as it crawled down the back of his head toward his neck, its color changed to pitch black. All of his clothes were white with black liners around the edges, with the exception of the black shirt under his jacket. The only bit of color on him lay in his golden eyes.

"Sorry about running into you," he apologized to her. "Guess I should introduce myself. My name is Azrael. I just transferred into this school. And you are?"

"Shimmer. Sunset Shimmer." She was still a bit too shaken up from the encounter to say much else, though her mind latched onto the word "transfer."

"Well, in any case, we'd both better get to class," Azrael pointed out. "I'll see you later." With that, he walked off. Shimmer looked on as he left, a sense of uneasiness welling up within her.

"Think you like him?" Pinkie piped up, once again freaking Shimmer out.

"No! It's nothing like that!" Shimmer denied her, before looking back toward the hall where Azrael had disappeared. "It's nothing like that at all..."

"Okay, hold up," Rainbow Dash ordered, as Shimmer explained the newcomer to her and Rarity at the Cake's Bakery. "Don't you think you're being a little too suspicious?"

"Think about it, Rainbow," Shimmer explained. "Every time this school has had a transfer student in the past few years, they've been linked to a magical incident that we've had to clean up."

"And you think this guy's gonna be the same deal?"

"That would be quite a shame," Rarity mentioned. "He sounds simply divine." Shimmer and Rainbow groaned internally as she started fantasizing about herself and Azrael.

"Look, you've got a point," Rainbow began, "but he hasn't done anything yet. The Dazzlings at least gave you a reason to be suspicious, but this guy just helped you pick up your stuff. I think you're overreacting."

"Maybe," Shimmer conceded, "but we should still keep an eye on him."

"Speaking of keeping an eye on people," Rarity mentioned, pointing to a lonely corner of the bakery, "that boy's been eyeing you for some time now, Rainbow."

Rainbow turned to see her supposed stalker, a boy she had never met, or even seen before. "Who the hay is he?"

"Maybe you should go see what his deal is," Shimmer suggested.

Rainbow took her advice, and walked over to the boy. "Hey you! Why are you staring at me?"

"Eh, no real reason," he replied. "You just remind me of an acquaintance, that's all."

"A friend?"

"A friend of a friend," the boy answered. "That person was certainly a better friend than I was."

"What happened?" Rainbow asked, her anger replaced with curiosity.

"Fate decided there was a price to pay for being my friend," the boy explained. "So many have suffered because of me, even though I tried my best to lessen their pain. I can't face my friends now, even if they'd forgive me."

"Harsh," Rainbow replied. "Sorry things have been so hard for you...uh, what's your name?"

The boy's blood red eyes locked with hers. "My name is Daniel Hayes."