A Fallen Angel

"Hey Marshall?" Criss whispered.

After recieving no response, he looked at the watch on Marshall's wrist. 3:24 AM... He'd kill me if I woke him. I really shouldn't.

He had to wait until he was sure Krystal was truly asleep. Couldn't risk her hearing something he didn't want her to hear. Yet.

"Hey. PSST! Marshall!" Criss murmured, barely louder than a whisper.

Good ideas never stayed long.

"Marshall?"

"Mmh?"

Good, now get repetative till he's awake. "Marshall."

"Ugh... Yeah?"

Nope, still groggy. "Marshall."

"Damnit, Criss, what do you want?"

...Close enough... "I have a question I need you to answer."

"...Ugh..." Marshall lifted his head off the side of the bed. "...M'kay, shoot."

"Not that I'm complaining, but I know my father, he'd never do this. Who the hay put me in intensive care, single room service?"

Silence. Not the good, contemplative kind. The kind that said "I know something you don't, and your not gonna like it, nyah-nyah."

"Marc?"

Criss called him be his nickname, it usually worked to get him talking. Sure enough, "There were some goons in suits. Said they were with a company called E-Gen." That sounded too familiar... "Asked us questions, mostly if Train beats you." Now I remember, E-gen was on that uniform. Criss flinched as he thought Marshall might have broke. Marshall read him like a book. "Dude, trust me more. Neither me nor Krys'd talk. 'Least not without consent from you."

Criss let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

Only to get it kicked in the chest.

"So once they couldn't get us to lock up Train, they started negotiating a price for you. They eventually settled on one thing..."

Oh, Marshall. Don't put this on me, man. Marshall had a keen nack for just saying things as they were. Hence his greatly fine tuned love life of zero mares.

Marshall blundered on. "They decided that they could cure your mom, but in return Train had to give you up." Criss saw him wince. "Train naturally didn't even blink."

'Course not. Get rid of the one thing that he hated, and get back the one thing he loved? No, he wouldn't let a little thing like morals concern him. Criss swallowed, and took his fear with it. Other ponies first, Criss. "Does Krystal know?"

Marshall shook his head. 'Course she wouldn't, what brother would let his sister know she'd lose her special somepony, even if he survived? That question had been rhetorical even before he'd asked it.

"Nah, she had to go to the bathroom before the negotiating started." Marshall said.

"Do you have any idea where I'll be going?" Criss asked. Another head shake.

Well... let's look at the facts... Fact number 1: Criss could hardly move. They wouldn't move him till he could walk properly. Or at least use crutches. A wheelchair was sort of out of the question; broken wings didn't have a place for chairs. 2: His father'd be gone. Maybe permanently. 3: He had no idea if he'd see Marshal or Krystal again. He might, he may not. 4: He had no idea if he would be going to a better or worse place... Odds were, it'd be better, but there's still a chance-

"I dunno what they were, so I tried to look 'em up in some of the old books 'round the school." Criss'd forgotten he'd been in the room with someone, and Marshall's voice made him jump. "Appearrently, they were some sorta genetic-modification group for 'the advancement and equality of ponies.' The rest of it's all kinda hush-hush. Nopony knows much about 'em, even though they've been around since about 20 years after the founding of Equestria. They don't even know where the station was built... Only they're Luna's idea, and she has Celestia's consent. Though, Celestia's not very pleased about them."

Well, that proved a few things. If it had been around for that long, it couldn't be doing anything bad. But Luna was in charge, and Celestia didn't like it. That wasn't good. Maybe not bad, but not good. The twins were polar-opposites, after all.

On a side note, if it was a scientific plant, and well classified, Criss wasn't going for a "fun and games" visit. He'd probably be a guinea pig. Whether he was A guinea pig or THE guinea pig was irrelevant: Criss'd be tested on. But why here? Why Manehatten's slums? Why not a Canterlot Royalty? Surely they'd want to be a bit more?

This had four painfully obvious answers. A: It was probably dangerous. B: Criss'd be noticed less if he dissappeared and reappeared somewhere else. C: Nopony who hadn't met him would know they were losing anything worthwhile. D: They'd earn more by showing they could change some twirp into a god, rather than turn an alicorn into... More of an alicorn? I dunno... I'm too tired. I don't want to deal with this now.

"Thanks for being honest."

"It's what I'm here for, man."

Fury.

Purly unrestrained, unbridled fury.

He was just to stupid to learn.

"Train."

"Hey, kid."

"Don't call me kid."

"I'm your dad, I'll call you what I want, brat."

"No, your not my father. Not my 'dad'." Chris spat. "You sold me. I'm not yours anymore."

It looked like Criss got to him there. He couldn't hurt him. Whether Criss agreed or not in the long run, what John did made sure he wasn't his "dad" anymore. Just his genetic parent.

"I'll still kick your flank for being a fucking smart-mule."

For the first time in a long time, Criss looked him in the eye and felt no fear. Since he'd been sold, there'd been two guards with suits that said "E-gen Sec" on them outside his door. "I. Dare. You." Each word came out as a seperate sentance.

Train looked furious, and was just about to snap when one of the guards came inside to see what was going on, and didn't like what he saw.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you, once, to leave."

"Go screw yourself, I'm not done here-"

"If you weren't before, you are now." The guard said matter-of-factly

Can't be to bad if they don't want me hurt by anything. Criss thought. 'Course, they could just be trying to get me to heal faster...

Lots had changed since Criss was sold. Guards had been posted in front of his door, nurses checked up on him constantly. But most importantly, he couldn't fear the pony that could no longer hurt him, and Krystal hadn't left his side. Though she hadn't taken it to well when Marshall tried to explain it to her.

Criss winced at the memory.

"What do you mean, 'He got sold'?!" There was Marshall's brash streak. There had been quiet murmuring, assumedly Marshall trying to explain it to her. Criss had listened while Krystal cried, then he flinched when she swore bloody murder on Train. And then, most importantly, above all else, her last words, which he had to strain to hear. "I'm not leaving his side. Even if..." Her voice had gotten too low to hear, but Criss heard enough. She would stay. By his side. No matter what.

What made it better was that Marshall hadn't tried to stop her. He went to her school and brought her all her homework, which she did on his bedside. She had been great. As Marshall had put it: "Yeah, she's being a real champ. I'm just worried about her trying to stand up to those guards when they come to take you out." To tell the truth, Criss shared that worry. He didn't want Krys to actually hurt herself over him. Though he would ask (and somepony higher up) if she could stay with him.

He knew what the answer would be, of course.

"Hey, Krys?"

"Yeah?"

"Do me a favor, 'kay?" Criss waited until she nodded before he continued "If you can't come with me, and if you can't find me, just promise you'll wait for me, 'kay?" Criss stopped, swallowing several times before he could talk again. Damnit, I don't wanna cry now. "I promise you that I will search for you. Even if I do get totally brainwashed, I will always search for you. If they try and stop me I'll kick their flanks. I can deal with being taken away, but not if it meant I'd never see you again. Even if I get taken to Vanhoover, or far from Equestria, to the land of griffons, or dragons, I'd come back if I knew you were here. Waiting.

"Not that I don't want you to be happy, do what you need to be happy. Just... don't forget me. I know it sounds foalish, and you'd never forget me, but time does thing to a pony's beliefs. But just remember, unless I die," (She flinched at that) "I will never give up on you."

Criss was awfully confused, because instead of making her happy, she started crying. Which wasn't good, because

Marshall just came out of the bathroom. Walking in while stressed to see your sister crying is never a good thing, but he handled it "like a champ". He walked over to his sisters side.

"Hey, sis, what's up?"

"D-did you... *hic*..." Great, I gave her hiccups... "...Did you kn-know your friend was such a hopeless romantic?"

Huh?

This caused Marshall to glance at Criss, raising an eyebrow. Only one though, so that was good. Two when his sister was crying meant somepony was getting anything from a lost friendship to getting the crap beat out of them. Though he wouldn't beat a handicapped person.

I think.

"Nah, had no idea."

"W-well he is..."

"Go into the bathroom and clean up."

After she left, Marshall turned to bro-hoof Criss. "Nice, dude."

Criss confusingly returned the hoof. "Marshall, gotta question."

"Yo?"

"What's a romantic?"