“Well, here we are...again.”
Rarity studied the the piece of blue fabric on the table in front of her. The color, size, shape, and texture of it weren't helping her creative mind go anywhere, she had been staring at this for nearly fifteen minutes, still trying to figure out just what her first step would be. She breathed a hefty sigh, knowing exactly what she had. It was a dress designers nightmare, an artist’s disaster, an author's darkest hour, she had: Uninspiration.
“Why won’t you tell me what to do?” She asked the fabric, knowing no answer would come. She turned to her right, seeing the sewing machine and knowing that wouldn’t help her situation. She looked to her left to see something else that wouldn’t help her, which was more fabric.
She looked back at the fabric in front of her again, trying her hardest to come up with something, but, in the end, she hung her head in defeat and said, “Maybe that’s enough thinking today, I’m sure thinking is just as good as working anyway.” With that in mind, she stood up and-
*KNOCK KNOCK*
Rarity snapped out of her boredom and turned to the door. “A customer?” Rarity didn’t remember any orders she had set up at this time of day, since she would be working on dresses instead, though, not in the way she’d hoped. Three more knocks were heard as she adjusted her hair and put on a faint smile, “Just a second.” She said happily as she grabbed the door and opened it, ready and willing to help in anyway possible.
“Hello there, fellow pony!” The white stallion at the door yelled. “May I come in?”
Rarity backed up a bit and raised an eye. “Um...Hello...is there something you ordered or are you just wanting to have a look around?”
“I’m just in the neighborhood and decided to visit your fine establishment.” The pony continued smiling. It was starting to bring Rarity flashbacks to what happened last week and his white coat and hair weren’t helping.
Curiosity got the best of her as she craned her head to look behind him. “Um...did you, by chance, happen to come from that one vil- wait.” She then squinted her eyes. “Where’s your cutie mark?”
“My what? OH!” The pony turned around to see nothing but a blank flank. “Uh...I-I was uh, born...without one.” His smile was getting worse.
“Born without one?” Rarity tilted her head. “You’re not born with one, darling. I mean, unless your talent involves being born, which would be very strange.”
The pony rapidly shook his head. “Nope, didn’t even get one after.”
“You mean you never found out your destiny?” Rarity starting to get a bit confused.
“Nope. Never did.” The pony chuckled. “Nu uh, no bootie mark here, yup. Sad story indeed, can’t even have one. Now, c-can I please come in and-”
Rarity gasped. “You can’t have one? Why not?”
The pony started to sweat. “Uh...I-I was born with...cu..tie...frac...ture…i...tis...Y-Yeah, cutiefracturitis, a disorder that-”
“Cutiefracturitis?” Rarity stepped back. “Darling, you mean cutie fracture. You know, when your cutie mark breaks, causing you to not even remember your destiny. You wouldn’t even remember yourself either, you couldn’t even live after something like that.” Rarity started getting suspicious with this story. “How can you have that if you don’t even have a cutie mark to begin with?”
The pony could feel the sweat on his forehead the longer he stood there. “H-How would you know what cutie fracture is?”
Rarity glared at him, starting to understand what was really going on. “Because I’m a pony.”
The pony flinched. “W-what do you mean. I-I...I am a pony. W-What makes you think I’m not.”
“I never said you weren’t…” Rarity went nose to nose with the apparent ‘pony’’.
“Oh...Well, uh...g-glad to see you know I’m not some imposter or something heheh...heh..eh?” His smile was getting weaker by the second.
“What’s your name?” Rarity asked.
“I-It’s...u-uh…” The pony looked at himself. “White...nes, shine...full...er...I-I mean, W-White Shine! Y-Yeah! White Shine’s my name...heheh, y-yeah, pretty cool name, huh?”
“Sounds very unoriginal, Darling.”
The pony was slightly offended. “H-Hey! You try coming up with a name on the spo..o-or, h-have a name you give..er, have...a...name…that...” He gulped, knowing this wasn’t working.
Rarity had a good idea who this pony really was. Either this stallion was insane, or… “You’re not a pony...are you?”
The apparent stallion sighed. “I-Is it really that obvious?”
Knowing her suspicions were correct. She backed up and yelled. “You’re a changeling!”
Once he realized his cover was blown, the disguised changeling ran right into the boutique before Rarity had a chance at slamming the door. Rarity then screamed and ran to the opposite side of the room while the changeling shut the door himself and got out of his disguises, knowing he wouldn’t need it anymore. “S-Stay back!” Rarity yelled.
The changeling started shaking. “W-W-WAIT! I...I can explain.”
Rarity glanced to a nearby table and fumbled through her drawers in hopes of finding something to defend herself with. “The only thing you’ll be explaining anything to is Twilight! The second she knows a spy like yourself is here…”
The changeling knew this was going to be bad, but that didn’t stop him from getting closer to her. “B-But I’m not a spy! I’m just-”
“AH HA!” Rarity grabbed hold of what felt like the handle. She didn’t care what it was, she just needed something to knock this monster out before he gets her. “I hope you’re ready for the smack down of your life!”
The changeling stopped. “W-what?”
Without even realizing, Rarity pointed her weapon of choice at him and yelled, “You’ll be feeling the...the…” Rarity then looked at what she was holding; blushing seconds later.
The changeling tilted his head. “Uh...what’s that? Some kinda extra horn or-”
“It’s nothing!” Rarity quickly stashed the ‘weapon’ away and continued looking for another, hoping something useful would turn up.
The changeling looked back and forth. “Look, y-you can just...let me go and-”
“I am not letting you go, not after what happened in Canterlot.”
The changeling groaned. “Oh great; this again. Listen, I know they ruined a wedding and almost destroyed that city, but all of them were probably just trying to-”
“Take over Equestria.” Rarity continued fumbling for a weapon. She even switched drawers. “We all heard what your queen said, changeling, and we won’t let that happen again!”
“I have a name.” He said, pointing at himself. “And Carl doubts they’ll try to do it again.”
Rarity huffed. “and Rarity knows they will!”
Carl decided to talk in first-ling again. “C-Can you just help me? I’m starving for queen’s sake!”
Rarity gasped. “A-Are you saying you came here to eat me!?”
Carl didn’t know how to answer that. “Uh...depends on what you mean, cause one out of the three ways you can interpret that sentence is the one I wanna do.”
Rarity didn’t even want to know. “Whatever it is, it won’t involve me! Not after what you did.”
Carl knew this situation was getting worse, but that didn’t stop him from trying. “Okay, yes, my brothers and sisters tried to take over, but I don’t wanna do the same thing, I just wanna-”
“Suck the life out of every pony you see!” Rarity realized this drawer had nothing and moved on to the other.
Carl sighed, starting to get deja vu from the other places he had been to. “Rarity; was it? We do not eat like that, we eat love and love is-”
“I don’t care what you eat! I just want you out of here before I decided to use my hooves to solve this problem, and I just got them manicured!”
“Man-i-what?” Carl had never heard of such a word, it sounded painful.
Rarity growled. “J-Just stay there!”
“This mare’s crazy!” Carl thought. “M-Maybe if I just…” Carl hoped this plan would work as he walked closer and closer to her.
Rarity realized this and started hyperventilating. “Sta-Stay back!” She said again.
“I just wanna talk about this, alright? M-Maybe you know a place where I can eat around here.”
“Y-You really think I’d let you go out after what you’ve done here?”
Carl looked around, seeing no damage. “B-but I haven’t even done anything.”
“But you will!” She yelled. “A-And when you...y-you…” Rarity finally felt it, the one thing that could save her, the one weapon that could buy her just enough time to knock him out and run to Twilight for help.
Carl didn’t notice what she had, but didn’t stop coming closer. “W-What? Are you gonna let me talk or-”
“You’re mine now!” Without warning, Rarity grabbed the flyswatter and started running up to him. Carl reacted by closing his eyes and bracing for whatever she’d do, knowing the the only thing that could happen was pain, which he could stand.
“Take this!” Rarity plunged the fly killing device on top of his head, causing the top of it to break and go right through the changeling’s horn. The changeling’s reaction went from shock and horror to complete confusion while Rarity tried pulling the flyswatter out of his horn. While she was grunting and pulling, the changeling looked up at what was now around his horn. It was at that moment he realized that pain wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to him, but something he never thought he’d experience in his life.
“Really?” Carl said in a deadpan voice.
Rarity continued to hold the flyswatter in fear that the second she let go of it, the changeling would attack her. “G-Get your horn out of my-”
“No...I mean, really?” Carl continued. “Did you really just use this thing as a weapon? Against me of all creatures…”
“Wha- What are you even-”
Carl pushed her away; the flyswatter still attached to his horn. “Is this some kind of sick joke?” He pointed at his horn. “Cause it’s not funny.”
Rarity stood her ground. “I-I don’t think you understand that we still have a fight on our-”
“NO! I don’t think YOU understand.” Carl continued pointing at the still impaled flyswatter. “This has got to be the most offencive thing that anyling-er...anypony has ever done to me so far, and I’ve been called names that would change ratings.”
“Ratings?” Rarity shook her head. “What are you talking about? And what’s so offensive about that?”
The changeling lowered his hoof to the ground, his eyes still locked with her’s. “Maybe it’s because you think we’re bugs, thinking you can just stomp on us or swatt us away like we’re insignificant flies.”
“B-But I didn’t think you were-”
“Don’t lie!” Carl stomped the ground, making Rarity flinch. “I’ve gone through so much and I’m pretty sure my brothers and sisters have also gone through too many things to count, but this!” He looked at the flyswatter again. “This crosses the line.”
Rarity backed up, not seeing how offencive this was. “It’s just a fly-”
“IT’S NOT JUST A FLYSWATTER!” Rarity flinched at his harsh words. “It’s, horrible, offensive, racist, and downright mean.” He sat down and crossed his front legs. “And here I thought ponies had respect for all creatures.”
Rarity’s jaw dropped. “W-We do.”
Carl found that hard to believe after what happened seconds ago. “Oh really?”
She stood taller. “Yes, we are, unlike changelings who-”
Carl flung his arms in the air in anger. “OH! So now you’re saying you’re superior to us.”
“What? I never said that!”
“Well, it sure sounds like it!”
Rarity was beginning to think this was all a trick to get him out of here. “Changeling, if you-”
“Carl!” Carl corrected. “My name is Carl. Why does every single pony have to call us that instead of our names, we don’t do that! We make sure to know a pony's name no matter how complicated it is.”
“Complicated? What’s so complicated about my name?”
“Okay, yours is easy since it’s just one word, but the other ponies are harder, and we at least try to say it right and not just call them ponies, because, unlike you, we don’t wanna be racist.”
Rarity couldn’t take much more of this “I...I’m not racist!”
Carl looked away, not even wanting to face the pony after telling him such a lie. “Yeah, you keep tellin’ yourself that.”
Rarity stepped closer. “Listen, cha...Carl. If you haven’t noticed, you snuck into this town just so you can-”
“Snuck in? SNUCK IT!?” Carl stomped the floor again. “What the hay am I supposed to do to get something to eat around here!? I can’t just walk in somewhere without a disguise, because, if I do, I’d probably get chased out like that other town, but...but having this happen to me?” Carl pointed at the flyswatter and shook his head. “T-This is just a new level of ponies being racist to us.”
Rarity almost lost it at that point. “Ponies aren’t racist! We try to be friends with many creatures.”
“Last I checked, you either run away screaming or cause immense amount of pain to every creature you meet.”
“B-But that’s just because ponies are afraid of creature like you.”
Carl’s jaw hung open. “Ca. c-creatures like me?”
Rarity scrunched her face. “U-Um...l-let me rephrase that, I-I meant that creatures that are like...creatures that do...monsters that...j-just a creature that acts like a monster to us make us afraid of you.”
Carl shook his head. “Does it look like I’m trying to be a monster here? No, it don’t. From what I can tell, the only monster in here is you.”
“M-ME!?”
“No, the other racist pony in the room.” Carl answered sarcastically.
“H-How am I a-”
“Well, let’s see, you tried hurting me, you’ve made me feel awful, you yelled and screamed at me when I first got here...yeah, that sounds like a monster to me.”
Gritting her teeth, Rarity said, “At least I didn’t take over Canterlot.”
“Not every changeling was a part of that, you know. I was one of the one’s that arrived there to see all my siblings get flung across the sky, you act like every changeling wanted to do that. Now that’s just another level of racism right there.”
Rarity’s eye twitched. “B-but...I-I...y-you...w-we.”
He sighed, getting tired of hearing these awful things this pony was saying to him. “You know, I came in here hoping to get fed tonight, but instead, I got offended in the worst way possible. I can’t even feel the love anymore.”
“Feel the love?” Rarity said. “What makes you think I’d love-”
“OH! So now you’re saying I’m not good enough? Is that it?”
Rarity rubbed her head, getting a headache from this. “Cha- Carl. I’m not saying that, I’m just saying that you need to learn about how-”
“Like I need to learn from somepony as racist as you. You’d probably teach me about how a bug like me needs to learn his place in your society.”
“Our society isn’t like that!”
“That wasn’t the case a couple towns ago.” Carl pointed behind him. “After I left those town, I thought for sure this ‘ponyville’ place would be much saner than over there, but no...here I sit with my dignity gone and a unicorn who decided to humiliate me even more than I already have been.”
“I wasn’t trying to humiliate you, I was trying to get you out.”
“Oh, s-so now you don’t even want a useless bug like me around this place, is that it?”
“No, I just want them to stop treating me like I’m the victim here, when all I did was-”
“You smacked a flyswatter on my head.” Carl said in the blankest of tones. “If that makes you the victim here, then you ponies are insane.”
“You barged into my store!”
“I tried inviting myself in, but nooooo, you didn’t want an ugly bug like me into your precious store.” Carl breathed a hefty sigh, feeling worse by the second. “Just...how? How could a pony do something so...offensively...racist.”
“”I...I wasn’t trying to be! I-I just wanted to-”
“To what? To let me starve while you go on a enjoy your life, because mine isn’t like yours, in fact, my life is even worse now that you did this to me!” He pointed at the impaled flyswatter again. “It’s not like I’d put a saddle on you or throw a salt lick at your face.”
Rarity wanted to scream, she wanted to run as far away from this bug as possible with what he was calling her, but for some reason, she couldn’t do anything but sit on the spot and listen. “I-I’m not...I…”
“You know what?” Carl started walking towards the door. “I’ve had enough. I don’t have to take this from you.” He turned away from her and grumbled to himself, still outraged by this mare’s behaviour to him.”
As for Rarity, she realized she was practically letting a changeling leave her house. “W-Wait! Y-You can’t leave! I need to-”
Carl turned to her and put on a menacing face. “I know what you want to do. You want to keep on treating me like the ugly, stupid, horrible bug I am.” He took off the flyswatter and looked at it. “Well, I’m not gonna hear this anymore, I’ve had ponies smack me across the face, had guards chase me out of town, had ponies run away screaming the second I showed them my true self, but...this.” He threw the flyswatter on the floor. “I’m not having it! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get on a train and see if I can find a town that’s NOT offencive to every creature that strolls in.” With that, the changeling turned around, disguised, held his head high, opened the door, and left.
Rarity sat in the middle of the room, shocked, flabbergasted, flustered, and completely confused as to what just happened to her for the past few minutes, after several more of staring out, she shook her head and snapped back into reality, thinking of only one thing in the moments of silence in the room.
“A-Am I really racist?”
You can blame Zacatron's short comic for the beginning
Pinkie I just don't know anymore. . .
But Carl's a friend of Doomie
poor Carl I thought he was cool
you knew that thi... Ah Carl?
yeah he always hung around when I peeked through your windows
Spikey how could you?
I stood on Carls back cause I'm too short otherwise
wut?
orig10.deviantart.net/c8f6/f/2015/268/e/9/spike_colored_1_by_hillbe-d9awxnk.jpg
please continue!
Iz byoutavul.
It's a nice story certainly, and a concept I haven't seen written like this so far, but the Complete tag confuses me. Is there going to be more chapters, because so far the story feels like it is only halfway done at most, with no satisfying ending for either of the characters...
6842138
If this gets more attention than my past three fics, then I'll think about adding another chapter or two.
I love it!!! I always felt that everypony was being racist to changelings and having them take the abuse like they deserved it. Seeing a changeling finally snapping and turning the tables made me happy, especially with Rarity asking herself if she really is racist. The flyswatter was an excellent touch.
Poor Carl, can't even eat Rarity
please continue the story!dont leave carl and rarity like this! your story is just fantastic! well done to you!!
The type of story or reaction to typical feelings against changelings in a story that I've always wanted to see.
6842449 *Alondro sprays it with RAID...*
Pfft, nah, we're all bigot racists! The Dragontown Comic says so! And who am I to prove it wrong?
Well gee, maybe if the rest of you had warned ponies... and maybe revealed yourselves BEFORE the invasion at least...
There's this little thing about bad first impressions. And Equestria's first impression of changelings was like China's first impression of mongols.
Stories like this annoy the heck out of me, where the SJW is allowed to bellow like a tard and the recipient is forbidden to make a counterargument. It's NOT comedic to go on a ridiculous rant like that either. It becomes one-sided rhetoric of a topic which doesn't fit the scenario in the show.
This is more akin to a bear getting angry that bees sting it when it shows up near their hive because other bears have already torn open their hive once before and stolen honey from them. The bees reacting badly is perfectly justifiable.
Probably should make sure that's in a non public area drawer sweetheart...
I like it. Also, the idea that Rarity actually is canonically racist to some degree is plausible. Nightmare Moon reboot Rarity was definitely racist.
6842174 Soooooo, you would openly welcome a member of a shape-shifting species which, the last time you saw them, had imprisoned your friends and your ruler, was SINGING about taking over your nation and imprisoning every member of your kind while draining the positive emotions from them...
Then the one that does show up is in disguise and lying about itself... just like the ONLY OTHERS OF ITS KIND YOU'VE EVER SEEN?
And then it goes on a rant about how you should feel sorry for it because people don't quite trust these shape-shifting, lying creatures who've never been seen before the thwarted invasion.
See, that's what we call 'hopelessly naive', the sort of personality trait would-be con artists love to find in a mark.
6840949 sequel?
i.imgur.com/QZK6hMm.gif
Too small for changeling.
6842599 That's just Freudian Excuse. It's okay explanation if person in question is just seamstress, and changeling been lying in the first place (shape-shifting or not, doesn't matter), and result is just swatter shenanigans. BUT if person in question is ruler of the nation, and result is banning entire species (regardless of affiliation) from country forever (thousands years and going), that's definitely no excuse. Many authors like to pretend it is, but it really isn't.
lol
*Offensive
I don't think that's how you should spell offensive....
Rarity was a little wimpy here, kinda made the rant fall flat.
Carl needs a hug, the stress seems to be getting to him. Also, fail infiltrator, never should have left the hive, or is there more to the story?
Keep going! ;)
Hm, a Changeling getting hit in the head with a fly swatter and thinking it a racial slur the moment he sees it. Now who's the real racist here, hmm?
Reminds me of a little ditty from a certain show actually:
Jeff: It's in your blood!
Troy: That's racist.
Jeff: Your soul.
Troy: That's racist.
Jeff: Your eyes?
Troy: That's gay.
Jeff: That's homophobic.
Troy: That's black.
Jeff: That's racist!
Troy: Damn...
P.S. Carl+Rarity 4 Evah!
Have a like
"Good-day, Madam."
"Bu-"
"I SAID GOOD-DAY!" *Slams door*
Surprised you didn't make this reference.
He should've tried Pinkie or Fluttershy.
This started off professionally, quickly became goofy... then got kind of implicitively philosophical, then it got downright depressing.
I'm not entirely sure what to think.
6842599 Given the obvious insectoid biology, anypony who didn't agree with or at least conciser a changeling's statement of "... Queens just lead individual colonies." actually would be being a little racist. And even if that wasn't the case, anyone can call themselves anything. Who says that Queen of the Changelings is anything more than one leader's boastful nature? Hell I could call myself the President of Space if I wanted. Would ponies believe that? If most changeling fics are anything to go by, yes.
I never see a Changeling (or a group of them) coming into town openly with a flag of truce in these stories. If they want to be treated like honest, decent, civilized beings they have to act like honest, decent, civilized beings. They know damn well that there's been bad blood lately and should be looking for ways to reduce the tension. Sure, the ponies are going to be suspicious of them the first time they come to town. Maybe they'll even be sent away. But if they can get their foot in the door and explain their situation, maybe after a few good visits they won't need the flag and can come and go as they please.
6842897
Speaking of rulers, the first place Carl should've gone was to Twilight's tree-castle to announce that he was in town. Showing that you respect and trust local authorities is the best way to get them on your side. Once he's got Twilight's blessing to roam the town, if ponyvillians still want to treat him like crap, he can drag them in front of her to be punished.
6843306
O.o we think alike.. oh crap...
But... would it matter if you were?
i know right.. its comedy eather you like it or you dont
you dont need to explain it and if you do its not comedy
Hahaha, nice.
Hah, ponies are racist. I mean, the entirety of ponyville was afraid of Zecora and she's just slightly different from ponies.
Cya
Raziel-chan
6843306 Oh jolly someone who took this seriously even with the comedy tag and Atlas's writing history.
Wonderful.
6843397 NOT FUNNY!
6842168 Well, does being featured count as more attention?
This story was pretty good. Have a like and a favourite, my dear chap.
No, but you did try to trick her with a laughably bad disguise as if she were some sort of idiot and made blanket statements about her home town.
6842168
media.giphy.com/media/wErJXg1tIgHXG/giphy.gif
Stopped reading there. Joke is older than dinosaur bones, not funny, completely out of place.
Thumbed down. Better luck next time.
Brilliant. Just brilliant!
I want to think you wanted this to be a joke, as Carl taking refuge in audacity and just BS'ing his way out of a bad situation, but I'm not actually sure because that SJW rant was both too silly and not silly enough.
6843632 It was hella accurate to the real thing though.
That was amazing!
I hope you add more chapters or somethin' cause this is so frinkin' hilarious!
6842555 I find it hilarious because this is exactly how SJW's work.
6843306 That's a retarded mindset. Y'know, I think the Nazis should've just waltzed into fucking Britian holding truce banners.
You think that would've worked? No, they'd all get gunned down or captured.
1) 'Carl' comes into town, in a bad disguise and with no plan for explaining himself, even unto apparently not knowing basic pony biology. Either he's too naive to live, or else he's intentionally setting the stage to be discovered, thus permitting him to invoke his own attack.
2) Upon being discovered, within moments 'Carl' has turned things around, accusing Rarity - and all of Ponykind, by his own words - of being racist. In Rarity's case, there's at least the fig-leaf of having her try to turn a flyswatter against him; that doesn't appear to have happened elsewhere.
3) Rarity's actions are perfectly normal - she's witnessing a member of a race whose entire known representation has been the group that attacked the Equestrian capital, captured the Equestrian ruler, and explicitly stated their desire to conquer the entire realm. As we know of no other representatives of the species, at this point, 'Changeling' is a pretty good shorthand for 'Description Of The Enemy'!
4) Despite this, Rarity is made to feel bad for pointing out the actual facts available to her - exactly the tactic that an attacking invader might invoke to prevent others from standing against him and those with him.
Final conclusion: Carl is a mouthpiece, Rarity is being hobbled and not allowed to respond normally, and the story itself gets a downvote.
This smacks far too much of 'Chrysalis a good bug, she dindu nuffin' for me to actually enjoy it. Especially when Carl says that not all Changelings wanted to invade Canterlot and then goes on to imply that he took part in the invasion!
6843670
6843683
Why do people get the idea that there are only two type of proper reactions to a situation like this. "Welcome with open arms" and "Act out extreme prejudice openly".
Neither options are smart. They're both incredibly stupid.
The proper reaction going forward would to proceed with (extreme) caution and get out the facts about the individual(s)/race.
Rarity's reaction can definitely be attributed to racism. Literally jumping to the worst possible conclusions/assumptions about a person solely because of ones race and then proceeding to act on them with practically no knowledge about the individual or the race as if they were fact. That's a horrible response.
6842555
And they're terrible friends and people!
MLP Equestria Girls Holiday Special: Read in video format here.
Keywords: Anon-A-Miss
6843700
That could actually be interpreted as him being in the area, and seeing the end result of the invasion.
6843670
The flag is banner-speak for "I want to talk" and abusing it is a war crime. People are expected to recognize and honor it's use even in battle if they want to be considered civilized. And, yes, even the Nazis respected the flag of truce. If the ponies are wont to shoot changelings on sight even under a flag of truce, then things are in outright genocide conditions and Carl is mad to be going from town to town wandering into shops when he should be fleeing the country.
This definitely needs more chapters! Great story!
I think I'd rather be smacked with a flyswatter. At least it doesn't smell funny.
Also, "offensive." Offence is proper British English, "offencive" is not.
6843819
I swear, it's like the guy has never heard of diplomatic immunity. You do not kill heralds because then nobody will have heralds. Who would be stupid enough to do that kind of job if they didn't know that they had free passage and immunity from persecution and being murdered? That's "shoot all POWs" grade pointless butchery.