//------------------------------//
// 112 
// Story: My Little Fortress: Dawnpick 
// by Paaaad 
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Indigo walks into Virtue's office. He knocks, then enters. "Lady Virtue, I'd like to talk to you about something." 

"Indigo?" she asks, recognizing his voice, while still occupied returning some books to their shelves. She turns to see him. "What's the matter?" 

"Well, as Dawnpick grows, so does the amount of work needed to administer it." Indigo gestures to the various papers. "You manage just fine so far, but at some point you are going to need some kind of secretary or assistant. There is also one matter, you just can't handle: justice. I propose, that you lift some of that weight from your withers and share it with other ponies. Starting with appointing a judge. I'm sorry if it sounds rude, but I need to be frank and you need to hear this." 

It felt like somepony had run an icepick into her gut for a moment, but she manages to rally just as quickly. He was right of course, and she knew it. That still didn't make it easy to hear, though. "I... I know..." she says, lowering her eyes. 

"Well, the problem is, you are being way to permissive and justice needs to be unwavering. Delegating it completely to another pony will do both you and this town a lot of good." 

That was something that was hard to argue with.  She hated administering justice, no small part of which because she knew she was terrible at being impartial. She idly taps a hoof on her desk as she thinks. "But... who else is there to do it? Partisan?" 

"Partisan is good as a guard, but in my opinion he is much to lenient to be a judge. A judge needs to stick both to the letter and the spirit of the law, be harsh and unwavering enough to do justice, but not cruel, smart enough to get to the truth and not be easily fooled by lies... Also, somepony we can all trust to do the job. I'm sorry, I don't have any propositions for you. And I certainly don't volunteer." I have enough responsibilities as it is. Besides, I could make a passable prosecutor or investigator, but I'd rather leave judging to others. After a short pause he adds. "And there is another reason, not to make Partisan the judge. Call me paranoid, but in your position, I wouldn't give too much power to any single pony under you. It is better to share it among a few of them." 

Hearing that Indigo wasn't volunteering was a bit of a relief.  Maybe he really didn't want to do it. She knew she didn't. But even if he did want to, he was surely smart enough to see the trouble it would cause, if he was appointed judge. "Yes... that's the sort of pony we'd need for the job.  And you're probably right about Partisan" She gives a tiny sigh. "I don't know who else to pick though.  To my knowledge nopony else in town is even all that familiar with the law, but I suppose if they have the law books most of the work is just reading off punishments." She frowns slightly. "I trust most everypony in Dawnpick... but I don't even know who would volunteer for such a thing..." 

"My Lady, it is not my place to tell you what to do. Only offer suggestions. I've spoken to you about punishments multiple times, and not only did you consistently handle the matter poorly, I could see how you hated doing even that. Completely delegating justice to another pony will lift that weight from your withers and you already worry about a lot of things. Besides, unless we get a proper law enforcement soon, some ponies will get even more audacious and do whatever they want, without worrying about the consequences. I'm sure, you wouldn't want that."

She shakes her head and slumps back in her chair slightly.  "No, of course not."  Then an idea strikes her.  Maybe she wouldn't have to pick somepony after all.  She could petition Coupledye, maybe they could send somepony for the job, or at least somepony to come, pick out a suitable judge and train them.  Or she could wait to speak with the liaison who would be arriving in the next few weeks....  "Wait... perhaps a better idea would be to ask Coupledye?  We could ask for them to send an arbitrator... somepony whose job it is to do this sort of thing?  The liaison should be arriving soon, I could send a letter back then."

Indigo smiles at her, then nods. "Yes, that's a good idea. Especially if there aren't any good candidates in Dawnpick. A pony from outside will be more impartial than somepony who made friends here." He won't know ponies around here, but that's easily remedied with time. Mm... it is something of a shot in the dark, but whoever they appoint can't possibly be worse than Virtue or Partisan. Before leaving Indigo says "Goodbye and please think about it."