A Fallen Angel

"Sir, I know he's just a project to you, but see reason. He's just a child. He hasn't had any kind family nearby since his mother went into the hospital."

"Listen, Corporal, I understand his situation is pitiable, but he is just a project. Remember that. Emotional attatchment will make this even more complicated than it needs to be. We have a mission, we need to buckle down and do it. No complaints."

"Bu-"

"No complaints."

...

"Yes sir."

Criss woke again, this time to see one of his onl- his best friend sitting next to his bed, shaking his head.Watching the brown stallion kind of made Criss's eyes widen with worry; his black mane was cut close to his head, so Criss could see his eyes were shut. Sitting next to him was his sister; Criss's only other friend, and Criss's first and only special somepony.

Marshall only let them date because he himself believed that some romance, even at a young age, was healthy. and Criss wouldn't hurt her. Even if he did, Criss was easy to find. She had a brown coat too, and a black mane. In fact, there was so little difference between them, they could be twins. Except she was still a filly, and he was damn-near an adult. There were two real differences: Whereas he had dull green eyes, she had the most beautiful shade of neon pink eyes. And while Marshall took after his father, and was an earth-pony, his sister took on his mother's side of being a pegasus.

Thankfully, Criss seemed to have recovered his voice.

"Hey, Marshall. Hey, Krystal."

Marshall's head snapped up and instantly he lept to Criss' side. First thing that was evident was he hadn't shaved lately: there was a thick dark fuzz growing around his muzzle.

Grasping his hoof tightly, Marshall whispered. "Hey Criss."

Wow... Three voice cracks? In two words? Pretty decent, must be bad. Criss put on a small smile. "What's the damage? Give it to me straight, Doc."

Criss' meager attempt at humor paid off with a little laugh. "It ain't good, man. You had a concussion. Bad, possibility of brain damage." Ouch. "They didn't know if you'd pull through without, so they operated pretty damn quick."

Wow...

"Moving on to the bone damage, you had a broken rib. Was too close to puncturing a lung for comfort, so they operated on that, too. Your wings... Well, you won't fly for a couple weeks. Maybe more. Almost died from blood loss. Guess he started ripping out feathers to try to wake you when you fainted."

Whoa, hold up. "I did NOT faint."

Marshall shook his head. "Sorry, man, you kinda did. Anyway, pulled damn near all your bloodies."

Thats why my wings feel so numb....Then again, my EVERYTHING feels numb. A shock of realisation occured to Criss. He was pulling my flight feathers...

Marshall broke into his train of thought. "He didn't get your pinfeathers." Thank Celestia for little miracles "You're lucky your adrenaline thickened your blood, or you'da died right then and there, man."

So...No worse than usual. "Got a mirror?"

A nervous chuckle rose from Marshall. "Fucking hell. You almost die and leave me here, and you wanna know what you look like? You never change."

"Gotta protect the looks, they're the only advantage I have on him."

"Heh, guess your right." Marshall chuckled "At any rate, I don't, and the nearest one is in the bathroom. And no-" he said, pushing Criss back down. "You can't walk. He curb-stomped the shit outta your hind-quarters." That mother- that...that... "But your looks are still good."

...Good. Got that up on him.

Speaking of looks... "What's wrong with Kryssy?"

Marshall glanced over at his sister. "She fell asleep crying."

Wow. Guilt tripped when I wasn't even awake.

"Sorry, du-"

Marshall quickly cut criss off. "No. Don't you fucking dare take blame. For anything."

Damn. That was harsh, even for Marshall. "Dude, it's alr-"

"No, it ain't alright." He probably wasn't shouting for his sisters sake. Didn't keep him from raising his voice. "I just spent the last eight days praying, on your bedside, to Celestia and Luna both, for hope that you'd make it through alive. You spent them on the edge of death. You were in a coma for 3 months. You weren't supposed to wake up. Dude, they were about to turn off your life support. Krys came to say goodbye. Don't. You. Fucking. Dare. Brush. This. Off."

...Hold up, "3 months?"

"Yeah. You were out cold."

Luna... "Look, don't shut me up, this time, 'kay?" After Marshall nodded, Criss continued. "I am sorry, okay? I don't want to put you through this stress." Marshall went to go outburst again, but Criss interrupted. "You promised. I ain't done talking." Marshall may be brash, but he never went against his word. "I do put you through this stress, because I don't do anything about the way he treats me."

"I know, but I can't let you think it's your fault he beat you..."

"I don't. I know it's his. But it's my fault I don't say anything, and I hurt both you and Kryssy."

Speaking of which... "If you guys were gonna say goodbye, I better let Kryssy know I'm alive, right?"

Marshall nodded. "Yeah. Far be it from me to stop you from talking to your filly."

It was cool that Marshall didn't freak when he found out Criss and Krys were dating. He'd actually been pretty supportive. Criss smiled at Marshall's excuse. "Now we get to spend more time hanging, right?" Marshall probably wanted Criss to be happy against his father's will.

Someponies might disagree with Criss and Krystal's relation so young, even if they were almost teens, but Marshall took care of that damn quick. He might be practical, but he wasn't ignorant. He knew they were young. He hardly let them go out without him being there, too, which had been irritating sometimes; It meant the two pegasi were grounded. It had also turned their "dates" into more of "friendly outtings".

The first time Criss asked Krystal on anything that resembled a date, Marshall pulled him aside and said "Listen, I know you're young, and you'll rush things. Just one word of warning. Hurt her, or go to quickly, or... y'know... do 'it' before you're both of age, or when she's not ready, and I'll be your next worry. And I'll be much bigger than your train-manager father."

That had instilled the fear of Celestia in Criss. His father was terrifying. He swore he'd never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, (Etc.) in a million years, hurt Marshall's sister.

"I know man, just gotta be careful, is all. She's my only family."

That wasn't true, but Criss wasn't gonna bring up the fact that Marshall had bounced his father right out the front door the first time he tried to lay hands on Krystal. Literally. Bounced. Three or four times, too.

He had been letting his father beat him, as long as he didn't set a hoof on Krystal. From what Criss had heard from the two siblings, Marshall had heard his father come storming up to his door, just to hear him walk past and head to his sisters door. The pony barely had the door open before Marshall was behind him.  "What the fuck do you fucking think you're fucking doing?" Marshall said.

Marshall may play it up a bit, but his sister had told Criss exactly what happened. Marshall had been livid. "Minding my own damn business, and last time I checked, I was your father. Not the other way around." Marshall watched for three seconds as his "father" turned around and faced his sister, to see her looking, not at his father, but at him. Appearently with a look of, as Marshall had put it, "How could you let him?"

His father's mistake was lifting the hoof he was going to hit Krys with within hoofs-reach of Marshall.

Marshall had grabbed his father from behind and whirled him into the doorframe.

Hard.

Like, "You can see his face in the cracks." hard.

...Speaking of hospitals...

Criss was brought back to his own thoughts by Marshall releasing his hoof and going to wake Krystal. Now that he wasn't talking or remembering, and he didn't have a lamp shining in his face (probably to check for brain damage. Criss thought), he had a good opportunity to look at the room he was in.

First thing that hit him: Wow, single room intensive care? Damn...

A small room, as far as bedrooms went, but pretty damn big for hospital rooms.

How the hell did I get here? The b- John would never spend this much in hospital care...

That's when he remembered the strange pony in a suit that had came into his room, and pretty much interrogated him.

Gotta Remember: need to question Marshall again. Soon as I got a chance.

The thought was gone about as quick as his breath as he got crushed in a smothering hug.

"Oh, Celestia, thank you..." He felt the fur on his back get wet as Krys cried into it.

Whoa, that's new... Wasn't the first time he'd been hospitalized. What the hay? Then something Marshall said

finally ran through his ignorant brain. "Eight days?" he asked Marshall.

Marshall simply nodded. "Damn..." Well, that explained a lot. More than a lot, actually. "Hey, Krys, it's okay, I'm alive."

"You mule..." That made even Marshall raise his eyebrows. She wasn't the type for insulting, even if it was mild. "Do you even realise that I sat at the edge of the bed, your bed, for the past week? Just be quiet and accept the hug.."

"...Ok." S'long as she's not mad.

She smiled happily and continued to sit there for a few minutes. Or hours. Or days. Doesn't matter, Criss thought. I'm here, so is she, and nothing can pull us apart.

Or so he thought. "Hey kid."

Really? Did that b- Did Train not have enough sense to fuck off? Train Crossing was standing in the rooms doorway. Criss felt Krystals' hug tighten possessively. No complaints here. Thank Celestia Marshall was there. He cleared his throat. Any foal could have got the message, but Criss's father was special, so for added effect, he got up and cracked his hoof joints. "I think you'd better leave."

"You can't stop me from seeing my son-"

Anything else that could have been said was cut off from a hoof grasping his shoulder. Thankfully, it wasn't Marshall's. Not that Criss doubted Marshalls strength, he just knew his fathers. Even though he got most of his strength from liquid courage, he worked pulling trains all day. His father was nasty strong. The hoof holding his shoulder was the nurses. "Excuse me, sir? You've been asked to leave."

....He wasn't stupid enough to fight a mare where she worked, right?

Train shrugged the hoof off with a growl. "Fine."

Damn, I'm probably gonna go home just to check back into the hospital, after this.

That didn't matter though. Krystal hadn't let go the entire time, and Marshall was still in-between Criss and Train-flank-f......Train. All in all, one of the better days Criss had in his life.

Shame nothing perfect lasts.