//------------------------------//
// Blood Stains 
// Story: Changeling Doll: White Lie 
// by PiercingSight 
//------------------------------//

	"Do you have the castle map from last week in your office?" Shining asked as the dungeon entrance approached.

"I do, sir," White Lie, now disguised as Stately Writ, responded.

"Good, we're going to need it."

Up ahead, sounds of medical trollies and workers could be heard busily moving around. Shining stepped through the door without so much as turning his head.

As Stately Writ passed through, turning to see what the commotion was, his vision was filled with a deep red.

Gasping, he turned the other way. On this side, shards of crystal lay scattered across the floor. Based on their positions, it didn't take long to identify the source: a crushed helmet on the floor next to-...

Bile burned in his throat as he realized what it was... who it was.

Images of hundreds of ponies flashed in his mind, all of them behind bars, all of them afraid. Parents protecting crying foals as green blasts lit the cell walls. The sounds of hissing, yelling, screaming, and death rang in his ears. No love was felt that day. Only anger, and fear.

So much fear.

"Oh maker..."

"State!" 

White Lie jolted. Shining Armor was holding him up by the shoulders "State, come on. We don't have much time."

Shaking his head, Stately Writ turned and followed Shining Armor down the hall toward the assistant's office.

"Cloak... Cloak, come in."

"Prince White Lie! You're okay?"

"Cloak, this just escalated to a Code Silver."

"What? But how? Chrysalis hasn't had enough time to-"

"Listen to me, Cloak. Chrysalis was here, and she most certainly has agents elsewhere. Warn the others and make sure all available eyes are on them. Copy?"

"C-Copy! Uh... what about you?"

"I'll be fine. Just make sure that Poker and Quick are protected. Please."

"Yes sir. And I'll be listening."

"Thank you."

White Lie shuddered as the bile was pushed back down, his legs nearly giving out again as he did so. 

This wasn't going as planned.

As Shining Armor led Stately Writ through the castle, they found Cadence leaving one of the archive rooms.

"It's not there," she said.

"Don't worry," Shining responded. "State has it in his office."

Cadence glanced back at Stately Writ and nodded before joining Shining. It wasn't long before they had arrived at the office. Shining Armor opened the lock before being followed into the room.

Stately Writ went straight for one of the drawers in his desk and pulled out the map, handing it to the princess and the captain. They didn't wait, simply opening the map on the floor of the office and seeking out the weak and strong areas of the castle. Stately walked around and sat between them beside the map to listen and possibly help.

But he couldn't hear anything but screams, and couldn't see anything but blood and the light of deadly magic. 

Those ponies, so many of them, waiting to return home – hoping to be released – but instead...

Instead they would never see home again.

"State?"

Shaking his head, Stately looked up to see worried looks from both leaders. "Huh?" 

Cadence tilted her head in concern. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. Of course. Why?"

Cadence pointed at Stately. "You were crying."

"I-..." Looking down, he managed to see wet spots on the floor before his vision went blurry as moisture followed gravity up to his pupils. "I-I'm sorry."

There was a short moment of silence before he heard Shining Armor walk over to his side.

Wrapping a hoof around his shoulders, Shining pulled him close."It's okay."

Stately collapsed into Shining's embrace, all strength having left his body. Nothing was okay. Ponies were dead because of him, and only more would follow. He had led his team into a trap, and now all of them were in danger. "No it's not," he managed to hiss through the sobs.

Shining didn't respond. He simply held Stately as he shuddered and wept. Cadence soon joined, both of the leaders of the Crystal Empire comforting a disguised changeling.





"Ah! He's in here," Shining Armor said, pulling his head out of another door. "Though it looks like he's still unconscious."

Shining held the door open for Stately Writ. As he entered, he noticed that the room had been designed as if it were a miniature hospital. There was a check up table on one wall, a few chairs beside it, and a counter with a sink and various medical supplies. On the final wall was a cyan bed, and a few monitors beeping intermittently. In the bed, was Damascus.

His eyes were closed, his breathing was gentle, and his mane was a greasy mess. If it weren't for the monitors and the smell of sanitation, one would guess that he was simply sleeping off an exhausting day.

"He's going to be fine. Don't worry." A mare in a white coat stood at the door giving the kind of smile a mother would give her foal while she whispers 'Everything's going to be okay.'. 

Shining nodded. "Angel."

"Captain," she nodded in return. "State."

Stately Writ couldn't remove his eyes from the monitors, scanning everything, looking for anomalies, worrying that something was secretly wrong. It was a feeling that simply wouldn't go away.

A hoof on his shoulder pulled his attention away.

"State, he's going to be fine."

Angel Touch was the castle nurse. Stately Writ had spoken to her a few times, mostly on official business, but Damascus tried pushing them together, especially when he was drunk. While it was clear that Angel was open to the idea, Stately Writ wasn't so keen. Not that she wasn't likable or attractive, because she definitely was, but as White Lie, he had a commitment to someling else. That, and he didn't want anyone else to suffer because of what he had to do.

Now, however, he had already revealed who he was to a few ponies. Thankfully, judging by how she looked at him, she still didn't know, and Stately Writ was determined to keep it that way.

"He was out for quite a while," Stately wondered allowed, "That wouldn't do anything?"

Angel's expression became a touch more stoic, but maintained its gentleness. "Well, there are many possibilities, but he is breathing, and all of his vitals look good."

"Give me the worst case scenario."

Angel tilted her head, clearly hesitant to answer. "There's not really reason to suspect that-"

"What is the worst case scenario?"

Taking a deep breath, Angel responded, "The worst case is that he stays in a coma. But given that all signs point to him waking up soon, worst case is that he has amnesia or other memory loss caused by the long term oxygen deprivation."

Stately Writ turned to scan the monitoring equipment again.

"But, uh, I don't think that's likely to happen," she quickly inserted.

Turning back, Stately gave his own gentle smile to Angel. "Thank you."

She smiled back. "My pleasure."

A cough came from behind them both. They turned to see Shining Armor nod to Angel for privacy.

"Oh. Of course." She quickly nodded and started her way out of the room. "If you need anything, I'm just around the corner."

When she was gone, Shining went to stand beside Stately.

"So what's your plan now?" Shining asked.

Stately shrugged. "For now, I just want to get my bearings. I completely understand that you don't want me as your assistant now that you know who I am."

"No," Shining stated, "that would raise suspicion as to why you're still here. We both thought it would be best to keep your identity a secret for now. So until you leave, your stuck as our assistant."

Stately smiled at that.

"Plus, you did a pretty good job while you were-... well, before we knew you were a changeling. We'll just say that you're carrying classified information so the guards don't question why they have to follow you everywhere-"

Suddenly, Damascus shifted in the bed, his eyes blinking as they adjusted to the light. Shining Armor and Stately Writ instinctively held their breath, inching closer to the bed. Damascus squinted, glancing around the room until he found the two ponies standing nearby. His eyes locked on to one of them.

Then Stately felt a hoof slam into his jaw, knocking him to the ground.

Shining placed a hoof on Damascus' chest as Stately rolled on the floor, groaning.

Shining Armor chuckled. "Well, at least we know his memory is working."