A Fallen Angel

Angel was very happy.

His new hat was being made by Rarity. Angel had to hoof it to her; she was good with fabrics.

His new hat was going to be white. It also had a self-cleaning enchantment, so it would never get stained. However, at the first detection of heat, it would change to a heavy black. So if Angel got angry, the hat would change with his mane. And it was fire-proof.

Angel was very surprised when his father had been willing to hand over the 150 bits for the very-special gift.

"Lovely. And it'll be done next week." Rarity called to their retreating figures.

As they left, his dad turned to him. "Think of it as an initiation gift."

Angel was still pretty nervous about having to do it, but he didn't want to disappoint his father. Especially not after this new treat.

Angel thought that because murder was a huge deal in Equestria, he'd best plan ahead. And who better to plan with then the person who wanted him to do it? He waited till they had stopped before talking.

"So, uh... Dad?"  Angel began nervously.

"Yeah, kid?"

"Uh, if you were in my hooves, what would you do?"

Paen was kind of confused. "What?"

"What I mean, is... Like... Who would you... y'know. Kill?"

Paen was worried about Angel's nervousness. I thought I stomped out all of "Criss." "If I were in your hooves, I would wait until Flight Camp. Then, you could probably get rid of somepony be tossing them off a cloud."

Angel was confused, but to Paen's pleasure, he was getting more involved in the conversation. "How am I supposed to kill a pegasus by throwing them off a cloud?"

"Well, if it were me, I'd make sure they can't scream, then get rid of their wings. Then just toss them off."

Fifteen minutes ago, Angel would be surprised at just how interesting he found this topic. "So, like, cut them off? Or just break them?"

"Often, you don't need to be that violent. Remember, Pegasi can't fly without pin-feathers."

Angel looked at his father with a small grin, and Paen thought he saw a flash of his mother's red in his pupils. "Thats right too. I had forgotten. So, I could pull a pegasi's pin-feathers, and give 'em a push?"

Paen chuckled inwardly. Damn, this pony is sick. He mentally patted himself on the shoulder. He had done a good job squashing the mercy in this kid. "Yeah, pretty much."

The conversation dropped as a group of ponies walked past. Angel started to look at his hooves nervously before he finally asked Paen a question.

"Hey Dad?"

"What?"

Angel looked up at him with an already half-defeated look. "I know you just spent a lot of money on my hat, but could I get one more thing?"

"What is it?"

"Could I get a pet?"

"You want a pet?" Paen's smile started to fade. He was having a bad feeling about this idea.

"Yeah, but not something wimpy. I was thinking more like a... I dunno, a predatory bird?"

"Oh, yeah?" Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Yeah." Angel instantly perked up. "I heard about this bird, it's called a... fellon? I think... Anyway, I went to the library to find out about it, and appearently, it actually hunts when you tell it to. There's a sport based around it."

"Oh, you mean a falcon?"

"Yeah, a falcon!" Angel sat up, renewed enthusiasm brightening his eyes. "And I thought it'd be great, since we were talking about pegasi and how to off them anyway, because according to the kids at school, one of them was actually fast enough to outrun Rainbow Dash."

"Hmm..." That got Paen's attention. Not that it was faster than Rainbow. That was highly unlikely. But because Angel had been thinking of how to kill a pegasus. And that his son had realised that if it could outrun Rainbow, no other pegasi could outrun the falcon.

"Alright, Angel. I'll think about it." Atleast he's getting one for the right reasons.

Angel almost squealed. "Thanks, Dad!"

Paen had to admit it. Although he wasn't Criss's father, he still felt as though he had always been Angel's. He enjoyed it when Angel called him "Dad." Though he had almost killed Angel as a foal, he enjoyed raising the young colt.

"We'd best head home. If you're going to think about joining Killer clan, you need to know how to fight. More serious stuff then what I've been showing you. Armed combat."

Angel nodded before he stood, all anxiety, all Criss-ness gone, and fell into step behind his father. Back to his house, and Angel's life.

"No, no, no. You're doing it all wrong." Paen said. "Duck first, then attack. Always worry about yourself first."

He and Angel had been practising with traditional Lunar Revolution knives since three in the morning. Even though Angel had gotten up that late on a school day, Paen knew he wouldn't feel it. Angel had unnatural endurance for his age, being able to go weeks without food and months without sleep, and still be more physically fit than Paen himself.

"I'm sor-"

"Don't be sorry. A Killer is never sorry. If somepony complains that you hit them, hit them harder to make them shut-up."

"Yes, Sir." Angel replied.

They set up again. Angel slid his hoof into the hoofring of the knife, angling his ankle so the knife couldn't role around. He stood in one corner of the large square ring, Paen in the other. At the count of three, they both began circling each other.

Duck first, then attack. Duck first, then attack... Angel kept repeating that thought to himself. Paen knew he would be, so he feint swiped to have Angel attack.

However, Angel was a quick learner, and one not to be foaled so easily. Although he ducked for the jab, instead of going for Paen's ribs, which were being subtly guarded, he instead kicked Paen in the back of the leg. With a small cry of surprise, Paen went down.

Angel knew it wasn't going to be that easy; that his father wouldn't stop until Angel had him at a point where if Paen moved, Angel could kill him. Using a short burst of speed with assistance of his wings, Angel crossed the ring to behind Paen.

Paen slowly stood up, looking around for Angel. Suddenly he felt the force of a small chariot smashing into his back, and he fell forward to find a hoof flying straight for his face. The combined force of him falling forward and the miniature anvil smashing into his jaw flipped him 360 degrees through the air and left him in a crippled lump on the ring.

Paen felt a small knife being brought up to his neck, accompanied by a white pony's small grin. "You lose, Dad."

"Sure do, kid." Paen spat out a tooth. Though defeated, he couldn't be happier. "Call your mom, and get her to bring out the med kit."

"I can't believe you, Paen." Melody chided as she slowly bandaged his head.

"What? You wanted me to toughen him up." Paen defended himself.

"You two trained. Without me." She sounded purely corrosive.

"...Oh." Paen said slowly. He didn't know if his wife was above marital murder.

"While you are incapacitated, I shall show your son the more subtle ways of killing." Melody began. She herself preffered the quick and quiet of assassination to the violence and sheer brutality of hoof-to-hoof. "Then, when you are healthy, if I am still enraged, we shall both take the field, and show him which tricks to use when fighting your polar opposite combat field."

Paen quickly deduced what she meant. He spoke with a tiny grin. "You want us to fight? Each other?"

"If I'm in a bad enough mood; to the death, yes." Melody said simply.

Paen knew he was strong. He still didn't doubt his wife could defeat him. Or kill him, for that matter. He cleared his throat. "Well, I hope you find humor in your son." Paen chuckled nervously. "Just remember, you may not have much pull with the rest of the Killer clan if you decide to kill me."

"Oh, I've already planned it out."

Angel was sitting in his room.

I just beat my father in hoof to hoof.

Normally, most ponies would be worried for their father. Angel, however, knew that they had both willingly submitted to any injury once they entered the ring. If Angel had been walking out like that and complained, Paen would have put him back in the ring for another hour, just for insulting Killer honor.

Suddenly, Angel heard Melody's voice from the kitchen. "Angel, can you come here?"

"Yeah, sure, Mom." Angel called.

He walked out to see his mother glaring a hole into the floor. "W-What's wrong?" Angel knew she was the only pony who could scare him. Not even Paen could. When she wanted, she looked more furocious than Angel could.

"Hmm?" Melody glanced up, and instantly calmed down. "Oh, nothing. Me and your father got into a bit of a fight."

"He alright?" Angel started checking for bloodstains.

"Oh, I didn't do anything he won't recover from." Melody straightened up. "I heard that you two started training without me."

"Oh." So this is what it's about. "Yeah, we did. S-" Angel caught himself. He couldn't be sorry. Not if he wanted to be a Killer.

His mother must've understood, because although she noticed, she didn't pry. "I was wondering if you'd like to learn the more subtle ways of combat."

"What, like incapacitation?" Angel asked, confused. He'd gone over all sorts of fighting styles with his father.

"No, dear. Like assassination."

"Yeah! That'd be way-awesome!" Angel was practically bouncing out of his skin.

Melody sighed. "First thing you're going to need to do, is be more quiet."

"Oh, yeah. Ok." Angel stopped bouncing on his hooves and instead sat on the floor.

"Now, this isn't something you can learn in a ring. We need a more practical approach."

Melody walked into his father's room for a minute. She came back out, smiling. "Pack a few things, we're going on a little vacation."

"What about school?" Angel asked, confused.

"Well, if you'd rather attend school than learn about assassination, then..."

There was no need to say anymore. Within ten seconds Angel was back in the kitchen with his saddlebags, both hastily packed with anything he might need.

Angel was so excited, but his Mom had told him he needed to be quiet if he wanted to assassinate. So he tried his best to sit still. He settled on looking out the train window, but only grew more questioning as he saw new and different landmarks.

Finally, he had to ask. "Where are we going?" He was gambling on the bet that it was okay to ask questions. She hadn't told him he couldn't.

"I've asked your father if we could go to a different city to practice your assassination skills. We can't learn in the ring. You need to learn by doing it. Like I did."

"So... Where are we going?"

"I figured Vanhoover was a good enough place to start. It's filled with ponies nopony would notice went missing."

Angel realised what she was saying with a start. "But I can't do my initiation kills 'till holidays start!"

Melody sighed. "I know that. These won't count as initiation kills. You need to do a sort of ritual for those. You start the ritual on your first kill, and seal the ritual on your third. It's a way for the Killers to get crueller. They actually do seem to get some sort of energy from it; I've seen the nicest ponies come out crueller than ever after their initiation kills."

"So why are we doing this in Vanhoover, exactly?"

"Because it's so far north, it's almost always blizzarding." Melody explained. "We won't be easy to be seen. Then if you're good at it, we'll continue through when the blizzard lifts up, so you can get a bit better on how to sneak up on somepony on a clear night."

"Oh, ok." Angel said. He fell back into silence.

After a while, Angel figured he had probably best get some sleep.

He walked across the small booth they were alone in and sat next to his Mom.

Melody was quiet surprised when he lay down on the chair and put his head in her lap.

Despite being a trained assassin, she still felt the tug of motherly affection as Angel curled up on her lap and went to sleep.

Melody quickly recalled the song she had sung to her sister as a lullaby when they were young, and started singing it to Angel.

"Hush now, quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head. Hush now, quiet now, it's time to go to bed..."

"Angel. Aaaangeeeel?" Melody sang. "Wake up. We're just about there."

Angel slowly pulled his head off his mother's lap. "Huh?" He looked out the window to see it was, indeed, very blizzardy in Vanhoover: Looking out the window, he could see maybe 3 hooves away from the train before his sight was covered in snow.

As they pulled up to the train station, he glanced over at his mother. "It looks cold outside."

"Not for pegasi. They have thick fur so they can deal with the low temperature high altitude air. At an extreme, you'll need a jacket."

"Oh. Ok." Angel had flown around, but he'd never gone to any amazing heights. His parents didn't have a problem with it, but he'd only ever been able to get 100 or so yards off the ground before a "helpful" adult saw him and brought him back down to ground level.

"C'mon, Angel."

Angel turned and walked out of the train at his mother's side. He was surprised to find that he didn't feel how cold it was at all. Not that he thought his mom had lied, he just found it hard to believe when looking into the blizzard from a warm train booth.

"I told you you'd be fine." Melody was looking at him. "We need to find somewhere to stay for the night."

"But we only just got here." Angel protested. He had wanted to look around a bit.

"Firstly," His mother began, looking at him sternly. "We're here for training. Not a visit. Secondly," Her expression softened a bit. "If we go looking around now, we may not be able to check into a hotel later at night. If we check into a hotel now, we can look around without worrying about having to find one later."

"Alright."

An hour and a half of searching, they finally came across a reasonal hotel. Even if Melody had wanted to find a hotel first, they had gotten so lost in the blizzard they ended up just going up and down the streets. What with the blizzard, she hadn't been able to just fly up and spot a hotel, either.

Angel was getting tired of searching. As they reached the hotel's doors, he said "Finally." with a sigh.

Melody had to force more patience into him. He'd get them both killed if he was this brash.

After their brief talk with an overly excited hotel clerk, they both headed up the stairs to their room.

"Ah, here it is." Melody put the key into the door marked 10-A. Upon entering, she felt a small comfort in the fact that this hotel room matched the hotels she had stayed at while doing missions for the Killers. More specifically, doing missions for Paen.

She was upset when her son turned his nose up at it. "Kinda... Dingy, don't you think?"

Melody let out an imdignant sigh. "Angel, to be an assassin is more than just killing. You have to be able to put up with indecent lodging. A true assassin would be greatful for having a bed at all. Let alone a pillow and blanket to go with it. And above all else, you specifically need. More. Patience. If you can't realize when a kill is too far away, or too aware, or how to wait in general, you're going to get us both killed. We may as well just go home now."

Angel winced as a claw of guilt fastened itself around his chest. He realised he'd been being stubborn, and maybe a bit stuck up, but he hadn't thought his mother would be disappointed in him. It felt worse than if she had just hit him.

"I'm sorry." Whether Killers apologized or not, Angel felt he needed to apologize to his mom. He had been complaining about everything since they had gotten off the train. It must have hurt Melody. She'd been looking forward to this.

Melody nodded at Angel. "Atleast you can realise when your in the wrong. Lets go find something to eat, and then I can see if I can teach you."

Angel and Melody were sitting inside a small diner, eating very little. More had actually been spent on drinks than food.

Melody looked at Angel. She had been wondering if it was worth the risk to try and teach him how to be stealthy. Sure, teaching him a skill to better himself would always be better, but if he got them both killed, it would just be better to pack up.

She eventually decided to teach him the same way she learned. She'd first put him in back alleys, and if he didn't botch that too badly, she would teach him how to kill in the street.

"Well, Angel? You sure you want to do this?" She was pleased to see Angel shake his head up and down so fast, she almost feared it'd pop off. "Then lets go."

They both got up to leave, and Melody payed for their dinner, which still lay untouched on the table.

"This way." Melody called as soon as they were outside. Angel turned and followed her down a backstreet, and down another, and another until they were effectively lost in the maze of back alleys and side streets.

Finally his mother stopped and halted him. "Now, Angel do you know where we are?"

Angel realized with a lurch he hadn't been paying attention to the turns they made. He shook his head before fixing his gaze on his hooves. "No." He muttered.

"That's quite fine." Melody said. "As long as you can find out how. Do you know how you could find your way back downtown from here?"

Angel thought about it for a minute. "I suppose you could probably see the lights through the blizzard."

Melody nodded. "That's one way. Also, if you had your general sense of direction, you could fly up until you were over the rooftops, and then just head north. If you knew your directions, you'd know you had been heading south."

She knelt down so she was eye to eye with Angel. "Just remember: If you get a kill wrong, that doesn't matter. Learning how to kill is only a quarter of the work. A large chunk of it is planning what to do if something goes wrong. Don't ever expect things to go as you planned. That way, nothing will surprise you."

Melody personally thought Angel was lucky to have a teacher: She had learned this growing up in the slums of Canterlot. She had been drafted into a gang when they learned of how good she was, and she had kept the talent until she bumped into Paen on one of his missions.

He had appearently heard of the "Red-Eyed Banshee" and had been looking for her just a few weeks before. He asked her to come along on his mission, and between the two of them, those forty-some Guards never stood a chance.

"Alright, so what do I do if things don't go to plan?" Angel asked.

Melody was glad he was inquisitive. It was a good trait to have. "If things don't go flawlessly, improvise. And remember, the world is a playground; everything is a toy or building block just waiting to be manipulated."

Angel snorted. "How can I manipulate Equestria?"

Melody grinned. She decided a more practical approach was needed. "Angel, I want you to chase and incapacitate me. I won't use my wings."

Angel thought this was unfair. "Are you sure?" He wasn't sure how fast she could run, but he knew he could fly faster.

Melody simply nodded and said "Ready?"

Angel looked at her and, seeing the grin on her face, smiled back and said. "Ready."

"3...2...1.. Go!" And Melody did. She took off galloping like Windigo's were on her heels.

Angel was caught off guard, allowing Melody to pull an easy lead. Instantly upset with himself, he started flying as fast as he could in the narrow street-cum-wind tunnels.

He had easily caught up with Melody, and even reached out to tackle her when she turned a quick right and went through a crack just small enough for her to squeeze past. Angel quickly realized that he would have to crawl through after her. He landed swiftly, and started pushing through the crack as fast as possible.

Once he'd gotten to the other side, he caught a glimpse of Melody heading down a back alley. Instantly Angel was back up and flying. He came down the alley, and saw her galloping. With speed that came naturally to Angel, he whipped around the corner, determined to get to her before she disappeared again. As soon as she heard the flapping of his wings, she quickly pulled a left into a market.

Angel realised he would have to land and chase her on hoof. He flew until he was a mere yard away from the doors of the market before he tucked his wings. He landed on the ground, gritting his teeth as the sudden decrease of speed jarred his shoulders, and started galloping as fast as he could.

Melody was only a few hooves infront of him. Angel was impressed: She wasn't even out of breath. Suddenly, as she passed a basket stall, Melody did something unexpected. She pulled a small knife, cutting the support facing Angel. He suddenly had to deal with a dozen or so baskets falling towards him.

Angel quickly unfurled his wings as best he could indoors, and gave a meagre half-flap to gain more speed. He missed the basket-avalanche by mere hairs, but didn't let himself get distracted. He had a "target".

Angel took off down the corridor his mother had ran around. He just managed to see her tail flip around a corner. He rounded it as fast as possible, climbing the stairs around the corner. He saw Melody go through a stain glass window. He ran forward and jumped, eager to spread his wings. As he fell through the sky, he looked down the street to see his mother galloping as fast as she could. He turned in the sky and followed her.

He caught up to her rather easily. But when he went to tackle her again, she stopped and ducked. Angel, not expecting this, went soaring over her. He turned around to see her climb a fire escape. Cursing himself for not being more aware, he flew upward as fast as he could.

Beating her to the top of the fire escape in half a second, he looked over the edge. His mother was running straight at him, and she had nowhere to turn. Angel felt the corners of his mouth turn up in a huge grin. He leaned against the fall-guard, giving himself what felt like a well-deserved break.

Suddenly he heard his mother call. "Another lesson for you: Never stop chasing your quarry. Chase them 'till they drop,or until they're in your hooves."

As Angel looked back over the edge, he saw Melody run as fast as she could to the edge of the fire escape. Putting her fore hooves, and then her hind hooves onto the rail, she pushed off the iron, leaping the gap to the other side of the street, climbing up onto the roof and running off again.

Angel swore at his luck. He jumped up and soared across the street, having to land now that the high speed wind was freely blowing across the roofs. Angel's hooves were getting tired; He had never ran this far for so long. He wouldn't stop to complain, however. He knew his mother would be even more disappointed if he quit.

Quickly catching up to his mother, he tried to put on an extra burst of speed. He watched with slight irritation as his mother lept off the side of the building. Leaning over the ledge, he saw her land on top of another stall before getting up, brushing herself off, flashing a grin at Angel and running back down the street.

Angel wasn't going to give up that easy. He threw himself off the edge of the building, waiting until he was only four yards from the ground to snap open his wings, recruiting his weight into momentum. He took off after his mother, pumping his wings furiously.

As he rounded a corner, he saw his mother talking to a group of stallions. He watched, baffled, as Melody pointed and said "There, that's him! That's the one that's following me!" She fell back behind the stallions as they turned and started to surround him.

Angel flashed his mother a confused look. She mouthed the words "Deal with it." and Angel nodded, quickly turning his attention to the four ponies around him.

The ring was where Angel ruled. He dispatched the approaching stallion with a quick and simple jab to the throat.

One of the stallions' buddies tried to exact vengence, but Angel grabbed his hoof and thrust his weight into the red stallion's elbow. He grinned as a loud pop filled the sky, quickly followed by an ear splitting howl. Damn, this dude's a screamer. Gotta shut him up before he draws more attention. Angel thrust his hoof into the pony's jugular, and winced as he heard a small crunch. He hadn't wanted to kill anypony in this fight.

Any thoughts of morals went out the window as the blonde stallion pulled a knife from his jacket. Angel looked to his mother, who simply nodded. Angel took that as all the permission he needed. Though it seemed the other two were learning: they both attacked simultaneously.

Angel jumped back, narrowly missing the knife by a hairs-breadth. As he leaped backward, he felt a blow to the back of his skull as the black stallion's hoof connected with his head. Forgot about him, didn't you? Angel thought. He mentally chided himself.

As the black pony threw another punch, Angel lept to the side, his wings adding to his speed, giving him free reign over the pony's arm. This time, he had a bit more than breaking it in mind.

Holding the hoof still, he slammed into the bone instead of the elbow, and was rewarded with the feeling of having bone shatter under his hoof. The black pony started shock-babbling. Angel couldn't let himself get distracted; the blonde stallion was coming at him, and he still had his knife.

Working quickly, Angel pulled the black stallion's arm forward before twisting it downward. As he was treated to the sound of flesh ripping, he glanced down and saw half an inch of bone sticking out. A good thing too: the pony with a knife was just a tails-length away.

Ignoring the screaming, Angel pulled the arm upward and forward, slamming the makeshift dagger into the other pony's ribs. Not letting himself stop while this pony was armed, he ripped the knife out of his hoof. He then finished with two quick jabs to the blond coated stallions' neck before whirling the knife into the black stallion, watching as he went down gurgling.

Angel turned on his mother. He tried to remain calm. "That was completely unfair." he snarled.

"Tell that to the pony who does the same thing. Be glad I didn't keep running." Melody said.

Angel didn't know what irritated him more. The fact that he had just had his mother turn four stallions on him, or that he knew she was correct. Eventually, he reasoned that she was trying to teach him, not kill him. "Alright." he sighed. "I'll grant that you were trying to teach me."

Melody felt irritated that he was chiding her, but she let it go. For now. "I hope you also realised what I was teaching you during the chase."

Angel thought carefully before answering. Though his father would have accepted a quick one word answer, Melody would always want full length answers. "You taught me that anything that could be an obstacle for me can also be an obstacle for my enemies."

Melody raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"And you taught me to always expect my target to enlist in the help of others."

"And?"

Angel thought extremely hard, but couldn't come up with anything else. "I don't know, Mom. Sorry." He hated disappointing his parents.

His mothers face creased as she frowned, her mane flowing softly infront of her eyes as she shook her head. "I thought I made that obvious? You need more patience. I showed you that when you lost yours."

Angel couldn't remember losing his patience and went to say so, but Melody put up her hoof. "You shouldn't have expected me to run blindly up that fire escape. You shouldn't have given the chase up as won. You should have followed until I was actually under your hooves."

Melody sighed, and as usual, Angel felt guilt as disappointment flooded her eyes. "I thought you'd be more sensible than that. Don't assume you've won until you have. You showed that with the stallions, why didn't you put that much attention into my lessons? Do they not have as much weight?"

Angel knew she was guilt tripping him. He lost his temper again, letting out a low growl. "Well, if I fail your lesson, then either we restart, or I can't be an assassin. If I failed that fight, I would have died."

Melody glowered. "It wouldn't have come to that. You know I would have intervened. Though if it would make you take them more seriously, I could arrange to kill you if you fail a lesson."

Melody sighed, and a tiny bit of humor returned to her eyes. "Still, you managed to keep up with me easily enough, and you took out these four." She looked at the fallen ponies. "Though you may not believe it, sometimes fighting a Guard-pony is easier. The Guards all recieve the same training. They all fight the same. These street ponies." She pointed at the last living one. "They don't obey rules, or honor. They'll do anything it takes to kill you. A guard will attempt to arrest you. Ponies like these will hold you down and beat you until you can't move."

Angel trotted over to the last pony. He reached down and snapped his neck. Melody looked at him with an a questioning glance. Angel anxiously explained. "We don't want him telling anypony who actually could do something."

Melody nodded. "I know. I was just surprised at your critical thinking. I thought you were pure soldier. Looks like there may be assassin left in you yet."

Angel smiled at the hidden compliment. "Thanks."

Melody glanced around. "We had best leave before somepony looks down this street."

Angel turned with his mother and walked back down the street toward the hotel, feeling pleased he may have finally gained his mother confidence.