A well regulated Militia (part 1)... (Phoenix, Arizona, USA)
"Mr. Tolson, as I've said, is really eager to meet you," the suited human, a Mr. Silberman, said to Dancing Flame as they were being driven down the streets of Phoenix. Dancing Flame was sitting in the human equivalent of a luxury chariot, sipping some fancy version of human cider called "clam payne" or something, and being treated like a noble.
"I'm... thrilled to meet him too," Dancing Flame said with some forced politeness. Flame would normally feel pleased by all this luxury, if not for the pickle she was in.
Dancing Flame had been selected to join one of those cultural and diplomatic goodwill trips. She would entertain humans with her pyrokinetic powers. She even performed in front of a lot of important human politicians, including this country's President. Using that fame, she was able to find work in this city as one of those "flambé" chefs, where one both cooked and entertained. Despite her anxiety, she managed to build a life here and make friends among these humans.
But to her frustration, all of it was in jeopardy because of some drunken idiot attacking her with a broken bottle. She didn't want the lunatic to get third-degree burns, but she considered her actions self-defense. But now the government was persecuting her. She ended up locked up and to her fury, a horn ring had been placed on her horn at court order, preventing her from using her fire spells or any of her magic. Even Equestrian police weren't so cruel as to completely block one's magic.
On top of that, the life she had built in this strange world might be taken from her. Even if they didn't lock her up, the government was considering deporting her back home for the risk she could pose. She found it all so unfair. If they were afraid of people getting hurt, you might as well ban broken bottles, cause those can hurt ponies too!
Her only hope was this "Tolson" fellow. She hadn't met the human or spoken to him, but she could tell the man was opportunistic. He had paid her bail, offered his legal help for free, and was escorting her by this fancy human chariot to his offices without asking for anything in return. While she should feel grateful, she imagined this "Tolson" might have less then selfless reasons for helping her out.
But Flame was in no position to refuse, and so she would have to at least hear this man out before she turned him down flat.
"Here we are," Silberman said. Dancing Flame saw as the limo turned into a parking lot. Once they vehicle came to a halt, the human driver opened the door to let them out. Stepping out, the coolness inside the air-conditioned car quickly gave way to the scorching Arizona heat. Thanks to her fire magic, Dancing Flame was used to this kind of heat, but saw that Silberman and the driver were weighed down by it. She marveled at how humans willingly wore so much clothing even in such horrific weather. Well marveled at the sheer insanity of it.
"If you're hot, just wear shorts," Dancing Flame thought with frustration.
"The office is that way," Silberman said, gesturing with his thumb to some tall office building, one of the many that seemed to dot the American landscape. While she was at first impressed with the fact that humans could build such tall buildings without some kind of magic, she now found them to be so boring and repetitive. It made her nostalgic for the traditional homes at her village near Whinnypeg.
After walking into the lobby, then taking the elevator to the 23rd floor, Dancing Flame followed her escorts to a clear glass door with "Tolson & Siegel" painted on it. As soon as she walked in, some woman at the front desk, a receptionist in a purple gown, gave her a cheerful smile.
"You must Dancing Flame," the woman exclaimed. "Mr. Tolson just left for his lunch. You can wait for him in his office."
"Come with me Ms. Flame," Silberman said. The red-coated unicorn followed the suited man, ignoring all the odd looks the people in the firm were giving her.
While waiting for the lawyer in his office, Flame passed the time glancing at some car magazine while sitting on some comfy leather chair that was reserved for clients. She looked at the pictures on the wall and could make some inferences about the man.
He had many pictures of the flag this country had, as well as another flagpole in the corner of the room. That one with the red stripes, white stripes, and all those pretty stars. The man was, or at least considered himself to be, a patriot. Many nobles liked to wave the Equestrian flag and boast about their suppose love for the kingdom, all the while staring their muzzles down at other ponies, so Mr. Tolson's patriotism could also be an empty mask for corruption.
There were also tons of pictures of that bearded man with long hair a lot of humans here worshipped. Jesus was his name. Some humans boasted how he "died for their sins", or whatever that meant. This was someone who had strong supernatural beliefs.
Finally, there were posters of people holding guns. Guns, to Dancing Flame, were a quintessential example of what humans accomplished without magic to aid them. While Dancing Flame could knock out dangerous animals with a stunning spell and use fire in more extreme circumstances, humans came up with a way to fire metal balls really, really fast at potential enemies.
But the sheer number of posters Tolson had made Flame think of it as an obsession.
Finally there was one poster that Dancing Flame couldn't understand. It was a yellow poster with a yellow and black-spotted snake. Underneath the snake was a caption that said "Don't Tread On Me."
"I wonder what that means?" Dancing Flame said quietly. The door opened. A man in a fancy black suit walked in. He was tall, portly, balding (except for some thin grey hair on the side of his head), and he had a tanned and ruddy face. He also wore some kind of Stetson hat on his head.
"Are you Ms. Dancing Flame," the man asked her with a wide smile and a country accent a pony would find in places like Appleloosa. Dancing Flame rolled her eyes.
"Gee, I don't know," Dancing Flame snarked. "I wonder how many other red ponies with fire cutie marks there are in this city? I could be any one of them." The man let out an amused chuckle.
"Sorry. Polite question," the man replied. "I'm Harold Tolson," the man said, putting out his hand. Dancing Flame extended her hoof, allowing him to shake it. "And let me say. It is very nice to meet you-,"
"Mr. Tolson," Dancing Flame said forcefully.
"Yes, ma'am."
"I am not trying to sound ungrateful," Dancing Flame said. "You paid my bail and have told me you want to take up my case for free." She let out a pause as she got to the point. "But, I've read stories about sorcerers and draconequus who promised ponies their hearts' desire to scam them. So...are you planning to take my soul." Instead of looking annoyed, Tolson nodded in understanding.
"I get it ma'am," he said respectfully, "you want to see if there is some fine print I'm showing you. But there really isn't anything I want." He paused, before letting a stern expression form on his face. "Except, of course, the preservation of our freedom and our liberty. I and so many other freedom-loving people feel you are being treated unfairly by them socialist liberal bureaucrats." Dancing Flame cocked her head. The man sounded genuine in his profession, so maybe he might not be so bad.
"Uh, what's a 'socialist liberal'?" Dancing Flame asked.
"A bunch of no good nothings who want to take away our rights and our liberty," Tolson said dramatically. "They're the people want to kick you out of the country."
"Really?" Dancing Flame said in shock. "They sound awful."
"They are," Mr. Tolson said. "That's why I am happy to help. So that you and other ponies who want to defend themselves aren't treated like this in the future." His smile seemed genuine, so Dancing Flame felt what few doubts she had about Tolson die away.
"OK," Dancing Flame said. "How exactly can you help me?"
"The good news is your not being charged with assault," Mr. Tolson says. "Thanks to that viral video, everyone can see that you were defending yourself with the fire spell. The government, however, is charging you with violating the Vance-Peterson Act."
"You mean, the thing that allows other countries to have relations with Equestria?" Dancing Flame asked.
"Yes. Specifically, the parts of the act stipulating that civilian ponies cannot use or instruct others in the use of offensive spells. That law was used to ensure that extraterrestrial exchange and commerce remained peaceful. Since your fire spell was used to attack someone, that is why the feds are looking to deport you."
"That is so unfair," Dancing Flame muttered. "But how can you beat it?"
"The Constitution."
"The what?"
"The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the land. Any law that the federal government, state government, and local government passes has to be within the guidelines of the Constitution. If someone finds a law to be unconstitutional, it can be challenged in a court of law. Some cases can go all the way to the Supreme Court, who have the final say on whether something is unconstitutional or not."
"It sounds really, really complicated," Dancing Flame said with a pout.
"That's the point. Our system is designed so that each branch of government isn't more powerful then the other. So that the lawmakers, the courts, and the president can't do whatever they want." Tolson paused. "How do laws get made in Equestria?"
"Well," Dancing Flame said. "Basically, whatever the Princesses say is the law." Tolson's mouth twisted into a small frown.
"Wouldn't that kind of system lead to tyranny?" Tolson asked. Dancing Flame's eyes narrowed in anger.
"Hey!" Dancing Flame bellowed. "Princess Celestia and Luna are the best princesses ever! They would never, ever do anything evil!" Tolson's expression was one of profound disbelief.
"So your Princesses have never done anything remotely terrible or abused their power in any way?" Mr. Tolson asked in a skeptical tone.
"Well, Princess Luna did try to destroy her sister and plunge Equestria into eternal night," Dancing Flame admitted. "But Princess Celestia defeated her and sent her to the moon for 1000 years, but she came back and was reformed, so it all worked out in the end," Dancing Flame said happily. Tolson looked at her with confusion for a moment.
"Well," Tolson said uneasily, "Human beings are not always so...nice. So we need systems of government that limit the power of leaders." He cleared his throat. "Anyways, my argument is that the provisions that ban the civilian use of offensive magic violates the 2nd Amendment to the constitution. The one that grants citizens the right to bear arms."
"Arms? But I only have four legs," Dancing Flame said innocently. Tolson let out a small sigh.
"I mean your fire magic, because you use it in self-defense, qualifies as a weapon that you are allowed to wield in self-defense under the 2nd Amendment."
"Oh," Dancing Flame said in understanding.
"Now it gets even better," Mr. Tolson said. " I grew up in rural Kentucky, and learned to fire a gun when I was twelve. I had ancestors who fought in the American Revolution. That's why I believe the right to bear arms is so important. There are a lot of people who think the same way as me. That's why I am asking you to do something."
"This is the part where I sell my soul right?" Dancing Flame asked with some skepticism.
"I'd like you speak at some meetings for the NRA," Mr. Tolson said. "They are among the biggest guns rights organizations in America. You don't have to do it, but by doing this, you could make some powerful friends, which could make it more likely for the courts to be on your side." Dancing Flame thought about it for a minute.
"OK," Dancing Flame said with a determined smile. "If I can keep my magic and keep the life I've built here, I'll do it."
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I’m sad some idiot got 3rd degree burns but that poor pony had every right to defend themselves. I’m sure this will go like the case involving an AR-15 giving a homeowner an unfair advantage against some burglars.
“That man had a broken bottle! That fire spell gave the pony an unfair advantage against the assailant!!”
Normally I stay out of politics but in this case yeah I agree we should defend ourselves from those who are being hostile to using any means necessary.
This is all complicated by the fact that magic is an integral part of a unicorn, as in it's built into their biology, not some separate tool they can pick up and put down. So some may argue that because of this, unicorn magic should be treated the same way violence without a weapon is treated as (I.E. punches, kicks, etc). Sure, you can tie a person's hands behind their back to stop them punching people, but you can't keep them like that forever, and people could argue the same applies to magic.
9904169
Those people have never been attacked before have they?
Usually without some sort of formal training people's first response is to panic.
It’s funny that you posted this the same day The Reliant is released in theaters.
I’m it sure a Constitutional argument can be made for someone who isn’t a US resident. Though it seems she is using the same spells she uses for her job, so what exactly defines an “offensive” spell?
Gah, I wish the second amendment would not come up. And I wish that those that have written this amendment in the first place had written: “You have the right of defending yourself” instead of the mess of today’s interpretation of the second amendment.
Either way, she violated the Vance-Peterson Act by using a offensive spell for defending herself. I am more familiar with Norwegian court of law: that one can act in self defenseless defense of others, but one need to disengage with as little harm as possible and only on life treating circle-stance is it allowed to kill.
Under Norwegian laws she did act in self defense, but as one know from this series is that every spell require some sort of concentration to preform. And here we arrive at the standing laws grey points. It was an concussion decision for her to fire a spell she knows well to warn or attack her assailant. The assailant got a 3rd degree burn from that account, and he was not at state of mind under the incident. Meaning that under current laws she acted with self defense, but the method in which she defended herself with where not a manner of deescalation that is applicable in Norwegian court. Never mind that the spell could misfire and hit the public and causing more damage.
9904325
As this happens in the US and not Norway doing it how Norway would does not apply at all.
9904455
But then again most court cases are based on previous court cases both locally and internationally. Especially if this is the first violation of a kind. The conscious decision to use a spell very similar to a flare gun instead of letting security deal with the assailant is a escalating factor into this. But the argument of similarity in flare gun ends when you using a part of your body that is well trained, to deescalate a situation. Especially when it requires you to focus to do so, and a focus effort to maintain said motion.
A well trained martial artist is in fact responsible for the assailant well being, because the martial artist has the knowledge to deescalate any physical attacks to the point of none threatening. My argument is that we have a well trained individual that knows her limitations as well as how her spells works. And we have a person which in his none state of mind and body, attacked her with a broken beer bottle.
As the unicorn was at state of mind, and had the training, opportunity and knowledge to deescalate her situation without using excessive force, she is responsible for her assailant which where not in his state of mind.
Personally I don't see this as an arms issue. This is a personal, internal ability that she has, that she's honed over the years, and used to defend herself. To me this isn't the equivalent of using a weapon, this is like using martial arts. An extremely dangerous, flashy, and ranged version of martial arts, but martial arts nonetheless.
Oh this isn't going to end well.
WHAT?!?!?! I can't learn to lob fireballs? this is B*******!!!!
Oh no... Even many gun owners that I know HATE the NRA...
One could argue that IS selling your soul.
9904212
That’s kinda my point, a civilian has every right to defend themselves, they shouldn’t have to worry about the criminals well-being. It’s the polices job to try and take them alive after all. I mean there’s a reason crooks fear armed civilians more then police.
9904542
She's not trained in any sort of combat scenario other than say monster attacks.
And seeing her outlook compared to say Tempest Shadow or Shining Armor I don't think she quite grasp what she ended up doing to the guy.
Hence your argument is flawed but measures should be in place to ensure that she understands just how bad she hurt this guy.
9905466
But she is trained in using a lot of different spell, several are basic such as levitation that she could easily use to deescalate her situation with burning her assailant. To use a more complex spell suck as a fireball spell or similar just prove that she had the time to in-fact think about which spell to use.
An oxymoron.
It sounds an awful lot like the Vance-Peterson Act sounds like it didn't have a self-defense clause. Which is really stupid. Or possibly devious.
I'll be bonest, I have mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, the way Dancing Flame is being treated is terrible. On the other hand, the only help she's getting is taking advantage of her to advance an only-tangentially related political agenda.
9904169
The issue isn't self-defense. If Dancing Flame had attacked the bottle-wielder with a mule-kick, it wouldn't have been an issue.
The issue is Dancing Flame is using magic banned by international treaties.
9904170
Well...life is not that simple.
9904174
Well, until transhumanism is a thing, the average person probably won't be able to spew flames
9904225
Spells that can be used as weapons against other people.
I based the "Vance-Peterson Act" on a lot of international treaties-the Outer Space Treaty and the Antarctic Treaty-that try and restrict the use of territories for military purposes.
I applied this thinking to how an international treaty between extraterrestrials would go if two separate civilizations were well-behaved: both sides are even more adamant that one side doesn't try and destroy the other. Thus, commerce and trade among private citizens would be more strictly enforced to prevent things like weapons smuggling.
9904325
Well, it is in the Constitution. If a lawyer can use it to defend a client and promote their pet cause, they're gonna use it.
9904610
That is an interesting point. But martial arts are something that mostly cause harm to one person, or multiple if you are Bruce Lee.
Dancing Flame's powers can cause a large amount of harm to other people. And if she were less moral, she could sell her skills to criminals or terrorists.
9904745
Are there second Amendment organizations that don't arouse anger and controversy?
9905304
Well, in his own mind, Tolson believes himself to be a hero, defending gun rights from governments.
One's devil can be another person's hero.
9907388
The issue isn't self-defense. Again, human beings don't have the power to start fires on their own. A cop who fights a unicorn has to deal with an opponent who can do a multitude of things with his or her horn. The goal of Vance-Peterson is not to have that headache.
The point of this story is to show how even the most succinct treaties aren't a perfect solution to dealing with super-powered beings with abilities that create a whole new field of science.
That's kind of the point. Help isn't always free and it often comes with strings attached.
9904610
That's because it isn't an arms issue. It's an issue of a unicorn being the victim of a law that was rushed through to deal with potential issues completely outside of the scope of normal law enforcement, and as such is full of holes simply because there wasn't enough time to hammer out a proper law regarding magic. Now, what would usually happen is that Dancing Flame gets screwed by this law, lots of backs and forths will be held over the coming months, if not years, about how this law does or does not unfairly discriminate against unicorns, and amendments are eventually made to try and patch the holes.
The problem is, Dancing Flame would still be screwed, since the law as it is now is pretty cut and dry. "Offensive spell" is a broad enough term that any magic used to harm someone can qualify for it. Even levitation, if used to push, punch or throw someone, would qualify. She's essentially cornered here, and now someone sees an opportunity to use this cornered mare for his own political goals and turn it into an arms issue to advance the NRA's goals. Dancing Flame, being cornered and woefully ignorant of the 2nd Amendment and how complicated the mess behind it is, sees no reason to refuse what to her seems merely a helping hand with a small favour.
I fear the NRA is simply going to spin whatever Dancing Flame says as "Equestria supports the NRA", and as a secondary knock-on effect, get pretty much all magic labelled as weapons. Which is bad for Equestrians for obvious reasons, since that would label every single unicorn as armed, with all restrictions, suspicions and potentially trigger-happy reactions that come with it.
9908501
I actually don't belong to any political party, I still comment on the stupidity of the politicians.
I'm not sure if international treaties can override the constitution of a sovereign state.
And this treaty is already serving as another example of why blanket laws with vague terminology like "offensive magic" or "hate speech" are terrible ideas. I could already see this escalating into some manner of 'magical registration act' which would be own kind of nightmare.
9909445
While it's true that the current wording is rather terribly generic and open to anything from misunderstanding to abuse, it's actually rather admirable there is something resembling a law in place at all. Almost every law we have in our world has come into existence retroactively. Theft happened, laws were made against it. People complained about cars, and so driver's licenses were invented. Young children watch or play violent or sexual content, and so age ratings were created. And so forth and so forth. For there to be something resembling a law attempting to regulate magic before something went wrong with it is an impressive amount of forethought, historically speaking.
9910556
True, but impressive forethought would have be preemptively setting provisions for the law to be amended once proper knowledge of magic came. Then again that would demand setting up some manner of regulatory committee for magic in order to deal with scenarios such as this which are predictable but legally unprecedented.
Poor Dancing Flame, she doesn't know that she is going to be used by the NRA to further their goals of which many are kinda crazy. She gets help but at the cost of basically selling her soul unknowingly.
Oh look, a pro-2A/conservative character who is a caricature of what a progressive thinks they are like on fimfiction? That never happens!
One thing I would like to see is how races other than ponies interact with the human world and how humans from different place like other countries interact with equestria and the other races that live there like diamond dogs
Are you going to have Neighsay be in this story?
10189335
Maybe, we'll see.
10189356
Have you thought about having Abacus Sum be added to your story since that movie made by the pony Film Reel is the most famous based off his torture in Hoofstrong that would be in theaters worldwide?
10189529
I haven't really given it much thought.
10189600
Are you going to have Starlight Glimmer and her Equal ponies play a major role in this story?
10191467
spoilers.
Now, I can't say I know much if anything about the political climate in America, so I can't talk specifics – and I don't feel suicidal enough even if I could anyway – but I have to take issue with Tolson demonizing the opposing political side. Everyone has an opinion and many of them have good points, but if all one insists on doing in regards to one's opposition is insisting they're the devil's spawn and a scourge on their country, then half if not more of those points will be ignored, something which usually results in squabbling and name-calling; there's so much more to a proper discussion than that. And in the end, the truth is there is no "right", no black and white; almost everything is a million shades of subjective gray – it's the very premise of this story, right there in the title. In such a world, compromise based upon mutual understanding is something I feel is essential.
P.S. I also don't get why "social liberals = gun control" in America. To my intuition, it feels like gun control is a more conservative opinion. It's probably because gun ownership is more or less the norm there.
10238145
It's American politics. Always demonish the other side. Regardless of the truth.
10248102
It's a very pitiful state, really. Make America great again, they say, but people seem to forget "great" is often subjective.
"A house divided against itself cannot stand," a great man from the US once said. Well, looking at America's politics now...
10248106
I don't disagree. Our politics are a real mess now. The only option it seems is to be one side of the other. Can't be in the middle or you ostracize by both sides.
10248112
My mom said something like this: 40 years ago, Trump and Dems could've done this: create a deal where there would be more border security, but immigrants would also get some kind of amnesty.
How crazy do politics have to get when NIXON, a man who threw a fit after winning in a landslide, seems down to Earth.
10238145
And no, Tolson is not an exaggeration. There ARE people like that in this world.
woo! arizona AND 2A! now this is me
I'm enjoying this so far, will track this :)
I hope the story keeps going I am pretty intrigued...
10064907
Well, MLP is appealing for a millennium audience. That means you have stereotypes of a “bad” lawyer exploiting someone that does not know the county laws and culture to further the lawyers own agenda.
Shall this continue?
10649645 I'm not sure that's not the point, actually. I think the author meant for him to be a little extreme. He does mean well and believe what he's saying, even if he's a jerk in some ways. I think that's true of a lot of people.
I believe citizens should have the right to own weapons for self defense, but I can see why people might think differently, even if I think they're wrong. I try to understand others' views even when I don't agree with them, which I think is a better way to go about it than categorically denouncing those views.
Just because someone doesn't agree with you doesn't mean they're crazy or stupid or evil. They just don't see things the way you do. Which means either one of you might be seeing something the other missed. That's why freedom of expression is important.