At long last, Ponyville has its very own court of law.
Now it is up to The Honorable Judge Lady Justice to guide the citizens of Ponyville through their trials and tribulations. She's more than happy to get started, but her first case is a doozy! Flim and Flam versus Mistmane in a copyright dispute around the mare's own likeness. Can our intrepid heroine maintain her sanity and deliver justice?
Edited by the honorable Phaoray as usual.
As well as NightShadowMLP/thatdangfangirl the court appointed Bingo Editor.
Written for Shrink Laureate's Season 10 Bingo Writing Contest!
Find the other competitor's entries right here for more good reads.
Prompt: (Beware spoilers:)
Flim and Flam, Spies on, Mistmane, New Technology, Court of Law.
Chapters (1)
*looking at the title and thinking what's going to happen*
10111448
My reaction was (3 mins 53 seconds)
They’ve lost it.
*snrk* All of that, just to sell a bunch of broken mechanical lawyers. Now that is a true Flim/Flam con.
10111448
10111487
memecreator.org/static/images/memes/5050632.jpg
10111620
Let's help them look for it!
10111816
True commitment!
Explains the need for the tarp.
That bingo writing contest is a great way for people to practice writing. After all, there are no bad ideas, only bad execution.
10112041
Well, that and dramatic reveals.
10112678
True, but some of those Bingo cards have some really rough combinations to make into a coherent whole.
I saw a couple of them floating around at the start of the event and woo boy am I glad I didn't land on some of those.
Granted, it's actually a fun creative exercise to figure something out for those. Kinda like a puzzle.
Is that a Firefly reference I see?
10117334
I have no idea what you are talking about.
The question is; was the lawsuit real or just staged for a sales pitch?
10117477
It was a real lawsuit, but everything they did in it was entirely staged with the goal of 'losing'. The machine could only give the one answer. So they had to setup events to make it appear as if it worked as advertised.
10117538
I wonder what they would have done if they won?!
10117543
The fun answer: Shenanigans.
The dull answer: A royal decree would have voided the entire thing by next morning. Mistmane has connections. xD
The judge banged her gavel.
"Mister Flim, I do not know what you are thinking, but this is no edge case! The Pillars of Equestria are far from the first ponies to be presumed dead despite being alive. Paperwork mistakes happen, some ponies have even attempted to disappear intentionally and been discovered. Miss Mistmane and the other Pillars are rare in that it took over 1000 years for them to appear to contest their deaths, but I see no reason to treat them any differently. Therefore my ruling is this, you cannot copyright or trademark the likeness of a living being. Case dismissed!"
10121983
Definitely a solid argument. Let's just say that Flim and Flam's razzle dazzle routine may have kept her from giving it a calm overview?
Awesome!
10122076
Surprised they weren't held in contempt of court. Though it wouldn't make for a good story if everypony was a bit more sensible now would it?
10126819
Indeed, as long as we're all having fun.
Though I don't doubt that an entirely accurate court proceeding could be made fun, but it would take someone more familiar with the court than I am.
Sorry, this here:
was my mistake. You spelled "proper" the way it was supposed to be. My edit was wrong.
Also:
By this point the bailiff had arrived to assist Flam in restraining Flim.
And:
Flam called out, (comma, not period) (do not add parentheses text)
And finally:
"You... you can't do this! We made it together!" (instead of a comma after the first 'you,' add an ellipse)
Somewhere, there is a sentence that does not end with a period when it is supposed to do so. I just couldn't find it when I read it over the third time and made this comment.
These are few edits that I didn't notice the first time around. Still an awesome story!
10127338
Oh! Thanks for your watchful eye. I've taken care of them.
I went looking for where this sentence might be that should have a period. Might it be this one?
Who needs law when you have a SUN GODDESS OF RAGE AND FIRE TO SMITE THOSE WHO DISPLEASE HER?!
I like angry Old Testament God. Much smiting, so brimstone.
10141253
I suppose she might as well just fire the entire justice system.
10141488 I think it'll result in the fusion of several departments.
This was hilarious and magnificent. I thought it was a little out of character for the brothers to separate so dramatically. The scam that you can see is not the true scam. Superb. Thank you!
10315971
Thank you!
They've got misdirection for days.
This story was a real delight to read.
Flim & Flam is wonderfully depicted in this story, and with all the misdirrections they achieve in this story. I now fear that I myself would also fall for their scam should I be so (un)lucky to meet them IRL.