A Fallen Angel

Criss quickly woke up, as the entire house was shaking.

His father was coming upstairs to beat him.

Trying to get up quickly, he didn't realise his front hooves were crossed. He tripped, and landed on the floor.

Only, it wasn't his bedroom floor. Come to think of it, it wasn't his bed, either.

"Morning, trippy." An offputting unicorn said in a smug voice "Have a bad dream?"

Right. The events of everything that had happened hit him like a hurricane, as well as the pain of having fallen on his fractured legs and wings. His jaw split open and a wordless howl came out as the pain went to his head.

Thankfully, this managed to kick some sense into the unicorn. He lept up and put a hoof on Criss's chest. "Oh, fuck. Criss, sit still. SOMEPONY!" He roared, and the door flew open. "Get me a medic!" The pony who opened the door nodded. "NOW, SOLDIER!" The unicorn shouted.

This wasn't registering right in his brain. Even if Criss was injured, a medic shouldn't be needed. He lifted his head and went into shock. About half a hoof of bone was sticking out of the side of the side of his leg, and his right hoof was twisted really awkwardly. Naturally, his brain went to doing what brains in shock often do: Think shock thoughts. Wow, that's a lot of bone. Wonder why it doesn't hurt anymore? I wonder, is a ponys right hoof supposed to point at his left leg? Do you think the unicorn will tell me? Speaking of which why hasn't he told me his name? And why'd the carriage stop anyway?...

The soldier came back with two medic-ponies carrying a stretcher. They came inside, put Criss on the stretcher, and started running back towards the- Oh, the palace, that's right too. I wonder if the princess'll see me like this? Or maybe it has it's own hospital. Or maybe...

As it happened, the palace did have it's own hospital-wing incase of siege. That's where he was being taken. The only reason he hadn't been transfered to a gurney was because the wing wasn't far from the landing bay. Made it more convenient for injured, flying ponies. Like the Princesses. Or Criss.

They soon had him in a bed, and a doctor gave him a shot of morphine.

Criss was out cold.

The Corporal felt bad for the little guy.

Yeah, sure, he didn't know why he had thrown himself out of bed, (or chair, as it were) but nopony deserved to have their life taken away just to go through more pain. Yeah, there weren't any guarantees about the kid, but 70% of whether he got chosen rested on Celestia. And she wouldn't throw a child out into the cold. That was why the General had chosen Criss in the first place.

Double looked down at his hoofs. It wasn't fair that Criss was the pony who got picked. There were thousands of other foals who got beat every day.

As the general put it "This is the one pony that we can actually take, Corporal. He isn't violent, and his father beats him. This is the only pony that can get past Celestia's requirement that Luna may still like. He's one-in-a-million."

"Sure does have the worst luck for one-in-a-million..." The Corporal muttered to his hooves.

"Corporal, sir!"

"Yes, private?" Double Time looked over at the young soldier.

"You told me to tell you when he woke, sir."

Pain. Everywhere. And nowhere.

Morphine's one hellova drug.

Am I in the hospital? Was it all fake?

Quickly, Criss sat up to realise that was not within his physical abilities yet. He gasped in pain and set back, shutting his eyes till his headache died away.

Let's try that again. He pushed himself up slowly.

...Damn.

He found himself in a sick bay, not a hospital, looking at either an earth or pegasus pony (His back was away from him) wearing a uniform. Even without the military training, Criss had played enough shooter games with Marshall to know that was a private.

"Hey-" Criss called, but the pony ignorantly turned and trotted away. Earth pony.

Great. As his memories came back, Criss suddenly remembered why he was here. He ripped away his bed covers to see yet another big stitch running down the side of his right leg. Just peachy. He glanced to his left, seeing a note sitting there.

Your leg's been realigned.

Don't move, you'll rip the stitching.

...K.

"Ugh..." Criss groaned as he pulled his covers over him.

"Yeah, that's how I feel just looking at you."

Startled, Criss jumped (as best he could) and glanced about for the source of the voice.

"Over here, kid."

Criss looked to his left to find himself looking at a pony he regrettably recognised. "It's you." He grumbled.

"Great to see you too, kid."

"Quit calling me k-"

"I'm not gunna stop, kid." He put emphasis on the word, just to prove it.

"Then I'm gonna stop talking to you."

"That's fine, I'm here to debrief you. You don't have to talk."

Criss groaned and rolled onto his side, hoping the unicorn would go away. He didn't. "You were supposed to meet the princess today, she'd read your dossier, say 'Yes' or 'No', and we'd be on our way." The unicorn walked around to stand infront of Criss. "However, that's obviously not how it's going to happen. For one thing, you can't walk."

Criss snorted at the obvious, and tried to role onto his other side. He hissed in pain when he realised he was stuck between looking up, or looking at the unicorn. He chose to maintain face where he could, and glared at the ceiling.

"She also read your dossier." Oh? "She thought you sounded like a pony she'd like to meet." That's...Good? Or bad? "She'd like to get to know you."

"Great, cause I need more friends I can't remember." On the other hoof, if he acted badly enough, she may not accept him. At all. He might get sent home.

The unicorn cut that idea short. "She's also aware of your unwillingness to co-operate." Criss sighed. "So as a result, she is willing to spend 'As much time as is necessary for him to act like himself, instead of being stubborn.'" Nothing was going his way.

"Great. So when do I meet her Royal majesty?" Criss spat those last two words with so much acid they could probably go through tungsten.

Regardless, the unicorn acted with complete neutrality. "Right now, she's waiting outside."

Oh. "..I..Um...I'm not ready to meet her just yet." Criss really didn't have the guts to stand up and insult one of the royal sisters. Than again, who would?

"That's a shame, cause she's ready to meet you. Put your best mean face on, kid." the unicorn said with a smirk as he opened the med-bay door.

On the other side was one of the prettiest mares Criss had seen in his short life. Second to Krystal, of course.

Krystal.

Just the thought of a pony he'd probably never see again sent him into tears. But he couldn't hide them. Not without seriously ripping his stitch. He just had to sit there, and either cry facing the princess, or cry at the roof.

"Oh, poorest child. Do you have reason why you cry?"

Criss was to busy swallowing the lump in his throat to talk, so the unicorn answered for him. "He's had kind of a tough time; so far, It hasn't been good. I mean, the first time he's here, and he managed to put a chunk of bone through his leg."

"Oh, I see." Good. She wasn't referring to herself as "We". "Would you like me to come back later, dearest child?"

Why the fuck was everyone being so nice? I don't want anymore friends, I'll just lose them. Nevertheless, Criss would behave himself. To show he was raised properly. By his Mom.

Who he'd never see again.

Criss choked. He couldn't say anything, set into a new batch of tears by this new thought.

"I think that'd be best, princess."

"As is by your wish, dearest Corporal." The princess turned and left, with an air of damnable power, and a thousand years of grace. And it seemed an air of sadness.

Good going, Criss. Your first meeting with a Princess; all you do is burst into tears. And manage to make her sad.

Shut up.

"Why are you being so helpful?" Criss asked the unicorn once he'd swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Kid, I know it seems pointless, but you got my friendship. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure your healthy, and I won't force you into anything-" Hypocrite. "-But I'll make sure that you get into E-gen." Definitly a hypocrite. "Believe me, kid. It's what you want."

Criss snorted. "Yeah, right."

The unicorn shook his head. "You don't have to believe me. It's the truth."

"Whatever. Just leave me alone."

"Ok. And kid? My name's Double."

Double shut the hospital door gently, trying to allow the kid some peace and quiet. He turned slowly to see Princess Luna staring at him from one of the waiting chairs outside the med-bay. "Hello, your Majesty." he said, bowing low.

"Please, save me your graces, Corporal."

"Yes, Princess."

Luna shook her head. "Why was he crying?" She looked heartbroken.

"He's young, Luna." Double began. "His life only just started getting better when we pulled him out of there. Not to make you think that we took him against his will. But the price of getting him out of there was to give the father back his wife."

"So when she was recovering..."

"He had to leave, yes." Double finished for her. "However, I've seen his future. He's a glitch in time. Anything he's around gets changed. That's why we have to put him somewhere else. If he stays there, without the mother, his father kills him, and Marshall avenges him, to have himself killed by the Guard, in which case his sister commits suicide." The princess winced at that.

"If we send him back with his mother he'll go on a date with Krystal, his special somepony, only to have her get shot on his first real date. He'll attack and kill his father when he tries to make fun of him, and commit suicide soon after." The princess gasped. "His best choice is to just go with E-gen."

Double Time wasn't named after a drill, he was named after his ability to exist in the future, and the present. It was just luck of the draw he became the princesses' seer, and joined the Guard.

Luna shook her head. "How can one pony have that much pull on others?"

Double Time stopped her. "He doesn't. But he's a glitch. He's been around those four for too long, they've already changed. Train Crossing wasn't a drunk. Not according to the files we had on him. But Criss changes people. We aren't sure how."

Luna nodded slowly. "I see... What happens if he stays with E-gen?"

"I can't tell you."

That was final.

Double Time had few rules. One, his most important rule: He never threw himself to far into someponys future. It was dangerous. He could get lost in the ever interchanging fates, each one warping as somepony changed their mind, or talked for a second too long.

"Alright. When should I come back and see him?" The princess asked. She looked all the world like a filly who'd been told she couldn't play with her toys.

"Well, my guess is he's sleeping right now. So about 3 hours?"

"3 Hours? It'll be dark, then."

"Then it's a good thing you rule the night, isn't it?"

As a matter of fact, Criss wasn't asleep. Not in the slightest.

He had a doctor casting his leg in plaster.

And Criss wasn't happy.

Not that he had any reason to be, mind. He had just been told the doctor recieved the X-rays from Manehatten, and that there'd need to be three more casts.

Then he'd be put under while the doc re-opened the side of his head to, A: get a chunk of metal away from his brain, B: Remove the side of his skull, and C: fit a metal plate over the hole.

No big problem, but one thing:

There was very little success rate.

Criss wasn't happy. He wasn't mad either.

He was scared. And he really wanted his friends.

As the med-bay door cracked open, Double Time could see Criss getting his leg cast. When he saw the look of fear on Criss' face, he trotted over, set up a stool, sat down and said "Hey, kid, what's the matter?"

Criss opened his mouth to answer, but all that came out was a high pitched moan.

"...Okay, you're not up for taking." The unicorn shifted a bit. "Doc, what's happened?" As the doctor explained the situation, Double started to understand what "eehh-" had meant.

"Whoa, kid, c'mon. It'll be fine."

Criss just looked at him with tearing eyes."I don't want to die." "What?" Double may not be as young as he once was, but that was damn quiet.

Criss' tears started over-flowing "I-I don't wanna die." He whispered. He started full on crying. And talking really fast. "I don't even have my friends anymore. I don't wanna die. Not here, not away from everypony." Criss got a little quieter. "I just wanna go home."

Double hadn't thought of that. He did the only thing it seemed fitting to do. He leaned over, very gently grabbed Criss's shoulders, and gave him a hug. "Shh... C'mon kid, you know your tougher than that. How many times did you get beaten near to death?"

"Lot's, but I was never awake."

Double swallowed before continuing."C'mon, you'll be fine. Criss-" He pulled himself back to look into his eyes. "You'll be fine. If you want, I'll stay right here. The entire time." A small gesture, but to a very scared somepony who'd never had to actually deal with death, it meant the whole of Equestria.

As Double pulled him back into the embrace, he heard a small voice that made him smile.

"Thanks."