Case #9: The Burning House
Judge Celestia: Upon the Throne of Justice
Part 15: The Burning House
“Your Majesty this is case number 33467 in the matter of Strike versus the Ponyville Fire Brigade, parties have been sworn in you may begin when you are ready,” Noble Cause bowed and took his post to one side of Celestia’s dais.
It was with a Noble Cause-colored quill that Celestia scribbled for a moment, then closed the folder in front of her. She looked up at the ponies present. A crotchety-looking elder stallion, and a rather impressive row of younger and middle-aged ones. “Names and vocations, please?” she asked.
“Nickel Strike, retired,” the old stallion said shortly, adjusting his fedora. He was a rickety-looking thing with knobby knees, a missing tooth and thick glasses.
“Quench, Ponyville Fire Brigade.”
“Steam Stop, Ponyville Fire Brigade.”
“Ash Mix, Ponyville Fire Brigade.”
“Hard Hat, Ponyville Fire Brigade.”
“Fire Flatten, Ponyville Fire Brigade.”
“Axem Chop, Ponyville Fire Brigade.”
“YEAHHH!” said the last stallion, a bulky thing in his own right. “Ehrr, Snowflake.” He amended bashfully. “Ponyville Fire Brigade,” he harrumphed a little, but stood next to his fellows no less impressive. Each of the stallions had missing patches of fur, heat tans, even burn scarring on certain parts of their bodies. Nothing less came from a life of saving lives and putting out fires… and the occasional kitten out of a tree.
“Please pick one among your number to represent your group. I appreciate your enthusiasm, but all of you did not have to attend,” Celestia told the Ponyville Fire Brigade. They looked at each other, a silent sizing-up going on between them. “If all of you are here, by the by… who is on stand-by to put out fires in Ponyville?” she wanted to know.
Fire Flatten raised a hoof to speak, “Wonderbolt Reserve Member ‘Rainbow Dash’ was granted a class-seven deluge-cloud for today. It’s hovering on the edge of Everfree right now. Not even an exposed locomotive engine burns hot enough to resist THAT much water.” He smiled a bit.
Celestia looked relieved and nodded. “Very well.”
Hard Hat was chosen to stand for the group, and the remaining stallions seated themselves accordingly. “It’s an honor, Princess,” he said, bowing again.
“Now then,” the white alicorn flipped open a different folder, full of photographs and a few newspaper clippings. “I understand, Nickel Strike, you are suing the Ponyville Fire Brigade for… allowing your house to burn down?” she sounded surprised. “Oh my!” she’d not heard something so outrageous in a long while. “Is this true, Hard Hat?”
“Yes, your Highness.”
“I… imagine it cannot be that simple, so let us start at the beginning,” Celestia allowed. “Nickel, please enlighten me on how all this started?”
“Well, I was makin’ food on my wood stove when my cat kicked over just the wrong cereal box on my high shelf, y’see,” he took off his fedora when speaking to royalty. The stitches in his old-fashioned suite strained with age, and Celestia saw a string pop out of one of his shoulders. “It fell right on a pan handle and flung grease and food across the room. The real-wood real-fire cookin’ ignited it straight away and half the dang room was up in flames before I shook m’self out of my shock!”
“What became of the cat?”
“Kitty heaven, I’m afraid, died in the flames,” Nickel Strike shook his head a little sadly. “Ehh-heh-nyhoo,” he cough-harrumped to regain himself. “I ran outside shoutin’, as you might expect, and the town bell was a-swingin’ to summon the Ponyville Fire Brigade.”
“Who responded first?” Celestia looked over at the group.
“YEAHHH!” Snowflake stood up. “Erhm…” he coughed twice. “Me, your Highness! S’my job to keep eyes out for smoke and fire. I’m the only Pegasus on the brigade, y’see… pegasi don’t last long in fire brigades. All the flames and such stunted my wings.” He turned profile to show his tiny wings, and Celestia wondered wildly how he ever got off the ground. But, looking closer, she saw all the feathers were new. Why, as often as he must’ve been exposed to flame, his wings must’ve been in a constant state of regeneration! Such self-sacrifice…
“What happened next, Hard Hat?”
“Well, we jumped on the water-pump-truck and rushed to the scene, as you might imagine. Ponies dodgin’ out of the streets to get outta the way.”
“Mhm?”
“Then we arrived at Nickel Strike’s residence,” Hard Hat read off an address from his waiting papers. “He lives just outside the outskirts of Ponyville, beyond the shadow of Castle Friendship, further than even the train-tracks.”
“I like the peace and quiet. I share a property border with Sweet Apple Acres,” Nickel Strike put in, coughing twice and turning his papers over.
Celestia looked at the gathering of photographs, newspaper clippings and other such things that had been given to her beforehand. “From the looks of things you were not successful in putting out the blaze, my little ponies.” She said. “But from the way this lawsuit is worded, it sounds as though you made no attempt to begin with!”
“It’s true, your Highness,” Hard Had said with no hesitation. “We, the Ponyville Fire Brigade, secured the area so no other trees or structures would catch flame, and watched the house burn to the ground. We didn’t try to save it. Once we were sure nopony else was inside, we let nature take its course. The fire smothered itself before the shell of the building collapsed.”
“I’m… just not following,” Celestia said, trying to be patient. “Why would you do such a horrible thing? It is your job to put out fires, is it not?”
“I have close to four-hundred career put-outs, yes Ma’am. Er, Princess.” Hard Hat corrected. “Mister Strike was the hard exception.”
“How so? Explain.”
“Mister Strike’s house was old, dilapidated, and just a smidgen beyond Ponyville’s borders. He’s been using that little factoid to avoid house and property taxes for years on end.” Hard Hat scratched the back of his head under his Princess’ unamused gaze. “Since his home is, er was, in all technicality, out in the wilds,” he gestured to his fellows. “We the Fire Brigade did not feel responsible for it. That aside, his documented refusal to pay taxes for public services, well… certainly didn’t help his case. Everypony pays for guards, roads, firefly lamps…”
“And fire brigades,” Celestia could see where this was going.
“He certainly figured out ways to stay retired and collect a check from our government, no doubt,” Hard Hat said, turning his head down. “I helped take some of the photos you have there. No well, no garden, no animal pens. He was not self-sustaining. He was buying goods, and not with any savings. He doesn’t have a bank account, or he would’ve been forcefully taxed out of that. There weren’t exactly any gold doubloons in his basement, either.”
“I see…” Celestia said slowly, her frown deepening.
“The Ponyville Fire Brigade doesn’t respond to forest fires, farm field fires, or anything like that. Mister Strike was in the same category, I’m uh-fraid,” the fire-tanned stallion shrugged a bit.
“Mister Nickel Strike, what have you to say?” Celestia said. The elderly stallion did look pretty cowed at this point. Under oath, there was nothing for him to disagree with. He kept a tight lip, shaking his head. “Is this true, that you lived beyond Ponyville’s borders?”
“Yes.”
“Outside the field of influence of a town or regional settlement?”
“Yes.”
“And you share a border with Sweet Apple Acres,” Celestia closed her eyes, conjuring a map in her mind’s eye. “Which means, you must also share a border with Everfree Forest.” She said slowly. He nodded confirmation.
“They were there, though! They could’ve saved my home! My things! My cat! It was cruel, what they did! Standing there with that huge pump, all that water! Nothing! They let my life turn to ash!” he stamped an angry hoof a few times. “Photo albums! Journals! Irreplaceable treasures! All gone because of them!” he looked at the floor, his voice falling. “All my pictures of my wife, rest her soul…” he trailed off.
“My sympathies,” Celestia understood both sides now. “Tell me, is it true you collect a retirement or other sort of check each month from our government?”
“Er, yes. A bare minimum, I promise you.” He nodded.
“Did you know those are made from tax-payer bits?” Celestia said gently. “You have been collecting from a system without paying back into it in the slightest.”
“I’m retired! You don’t tax retirement checks!” The old stallion argued.
“No, but if you lived within the town limits, you would certainly still enjoy all the benefits none the less.” Celestia sighed and shook her head. “You were so desperate to not give another bit to your government, you overlooked the simple fact that you’re retired. You basically have no taxes left to pay, other than house and property. And since you technically live out in the wilds,” she paused to sigh and shake her head. “I am afraid the Ponyville Fire Brigade was legally in the right.”
“They came all the way to the edge of town to watch my house burn! They couldn’t have thrown a LITTLE water on it?!” the old stallion bayed angrily.
“We came to watch your house burn to keep the fire from spreading into the town’s borders. Most of that side of town is gardens and low-income cottages,” Hard Hat said rather bluntly. “You got my sympathies, old timer, but you don’t got my helpin’ hoof if you’re cheatin’ the system like that.”
“I advise you to move into town, Mister Strike. I’ve not doubt your monthly government check will be adjusted upward for the price of living in Ponyville. Perhaps a nice one-bedroom apartment, for a bachelor like yourself?” Celestia tried to make him smile.
“I’ve nothing left to bachelor around about,” Nickel said miserably, hanging his head in defeat. “I’m pushin’ eighty, Princess.”
“Regardless,” the Princess sighed a little, but tried to maintain her composure for all present. “I must rule in the favor of the Ponyville Fire Brigade. Judgement is for the defense. Good day, everyone.” She stamped a gilded hoof and that was that. Nickel Strike sagged miserably, but put on his fedora and was slowly away. The Ponyville Fire Brigade gathered themselves and were away as well. Nopony looked happy with what had happened. No pony at all.
=-=-=-=-=
Noble Cause peeked in at Celestia in the judge’s chambers after everypony else had left. Her chin was resting on the desk and she looked rather tired in the eyes. He opened the squeaky door, then closed it gently behind him. Crossing the room, he saw her eyes slowly following. She looked pretty pathetic, her ears down like that. “Hey there,” he said softly. She sighed softly at him. “I guess there’s no winners sometimes, huhm?”
“More often than you would expect, Noble,” she said in a whisper. “Red tape, laws, borders, taxes… all the wrong things played the parts in that case. What is right and what is legal don’t align as often as they should.”
“Well no system is perfect,” he reached and stroked her ever-flowing mane. “You were just following the law.”
“I am the law,” Celestia grumbled, pressing her cheek to the cold wood.
“Hey,” he leaned and lifted her head so they were nose to nose. “Not every day is gonna be a victory. Try not to dwell on it. Everypony got their day in court, you walked them through the laws and technicalities, and that’s all. There’s nothing more to do about it now.”
“That stallion lost his home, and there were ponies perfectly capable of stopping the fire.”
“You don’t pay taxes, you don’t get nice roads or public services. Easy as that,” Noble said, settling next to her.
“I wish to were so simple,” the alicorn sighed. "After all, guards wouldn't stop investigating a pony's murder if the victim did not pay their taxes," she paused. "That's not the same, but you know what I mean."
“You can't save everypony, no matter how hard you try. Nickel galloped into that canyon on his own four hooves. It bit him in the butt in the end, is all,” he said, trying to soothe her. She sighed at him again. Reaching, he slowly peeled her crown out of her ethereal locks. Heavy was the head that wore the crown. Staring at the golden, jeweled artifact, he suddenly grinned and placed it on his own head. The nerve! “Tell you what!” he chuckled. “I’ll be princess for the day tomorrow, and you be bailiff!”
She looked at him, sporting the thousand year-old golden icon like a beauty-pageant winner. He stuck his tongue out a little, completing the silly ensemble. She couldn’t help herself. She giggled a bit, and felt little better. "All hail Princess Noble Cause," she snickered playfully.
End of Part 15
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Aegis Shield · 44k words · 751 39 · 7.6k views
- sparkypchu · 1.9k words · 8 2 · 336 views
- trahzo · 3.2k words · 32 23 · 3.6k views
- BlindBlossom · 4.2k words · 30 3 · 1.1k views
- kildeez · 1.3k words · 48 7 · 3.8k views
- Skylight77 · 8.7k words · 30 6 · 2.7k views
- Shadowflash237 · 4.1k words · 25 1 · 716 views
- SilverMuse · 14k words · 18 0 · 649 views
Stats
Page generated in 0.142 seconds
Total duration
835 users online
531,469 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Are you going to take the hiatus status off of the story now that your updating?
Wow, what scumbags.
What's the most galling about this is just what little effort it would have taken them. They had a pegasus, and it would have taken almost nothing for them to put it out.
Instead, because Captain 'Not My Job' over there decided that he wanted him to be punished, he allowed someone's life to be destroyed out of spite. He basically just looked Celestia in the eye and said 'Yeah, I let his life be destroyed. Sure, we COULD have saved it, but I simply didn't want to. What'cha gonna do about it?'
He can give any excuse he wants, but every single pony who looks at them or this case will know that they ruined someone's life out of some sort of fucked up sense of 'Hey, that person hasn't done enough for ME! They need to suffer!'
They may not be found criminally liable here, but someone should check into if the crew that sits there doing absolutely nothing while someone begs them on bended knee to save their home out of personal spite are mentally fit to be holding a public position.
Not to mention Celestia's double standard. Remember the Most Hated Stallion? Gee, Celly sees just fine to berate someone she doesn't like and whose life she wants to make worse about the whole 'spirit of the law', but apparently being just this side of not liable is completely ok, just as long as the one who suffers isn't paying her enough money.
Hmmm... As much as Nickel may have been "Cheating the system," my sympathies lie with him. Fire fighters don't have the right to pick and choose whether or not to put out a fire.
I find fault with celestias ruling, if the fire brigade so much as worked to keep one tree from setting on fire then they are duty bound to do there job. if they well refuse to stop a fire the literal definition of there job based on something as petty as money then they have committed a crime.
the old miser isn't blame free and I fully agree his situation needed to be adjusted, that being said a miscarriage of justice happened here.
you can't honestly tell me that the apple family won't be sending a strongly worded letter to celestia about the situation honesty or not, by the same rules they live outside the fire brigades land as well, how can they be sure there lands are safe? and I imagine that the fire brigade well be finding the shoulder very cold around town for a while. don't even want to think how fluttershy well be treating them.
seriously it seems out of character for celestia to do absolutely nothing about the fact that the fire brigade let someone's house burn down.
6951608
Actually, if he's outside the city limits, then his house burning down would be classified as a wildfire, and the local fire department's protocol in that case would be containment and preventing damage to the township they're responsible for...which they did. Not only did they have no legal responsibility to extinguish the blaze, protocol for fire fighting for buildings that damaged is to contain the blaze and let it burn itself out, even if the house is in city limits.
The issue isn't just the "he didn't pay taxes". It's also that the house was so dilapidated and badly maintained that it was a fire trap. If it were inside city limits, that would have gotten it slapped so bad by code enforcement it would have been torn down before the fire had the chance to ignite.
Yeah this sounds familiar. I didn't like the outcome of the actual event, and I like this even less. I was hoping Celestia would at least find some fault with the fire brigade here, but was disappointed. Oh well, glad to see another update so soon.
6951644 Nailed it. There have been plenty of court cases about it. It is fairly common where I live (interior Alaska) as other than the direct city fire department, everything is volunteer. You buy property outside the borough (county for the rest of you) and you have zero guaranteed services.
Same goes for the police not legally having a duty to defend people (per the Supreme Court) they are there to investigate crimes and enforce laws. If they stop a crime, it is a bonus.
Sounds like they would've let him burn alive with how he's putting it, regardless of how they put it before.
Yes get to see the people who enabled your home to burn down daily! That'll be a nice reminder to the old stallion.
You're just asking for a Stallone clip here, aren't you?
Wow, EVERYBODY was in the wrong there. Including Celestia.
You probably need to edit this chapter again, by the way. It's riddled with glaring errors.
... I actually remember this happening in real life.
I thought they were going to say they couldn't put it out, since it was a grease fire(or started as a grease fire) and putting water on it would have made it worse.
6951851
Do it! Do it! Do it!
6952174
So who's Pincher?
6952295 That's exactly what I thought when I read that. I can just imagine Judge Celestia putting on a helmet and mounting a hoverbike to go out and enforce the law.
vader.joemonster.org/upload/ruw/148981314712de9Ng6Faeu.png
Now, hang on. As they said - retirement payments don't get taxed. So his 'lack of contribution' there is irrelevant. If he didn't pay taxes before he retired - that's a matter for the revenue service. And as they clearly haven't prosecuted him? He wasn't required to pay.
As for the fire service's inaction... well done, folks. Some of the most important people in town now know they can't rely on you to protect their homes and livelihoods. I'm sure that won't come back to bite you in any way.
And, seriously, Celestia? Sure, they didn't break the law. That doesn't mean they didn't do anything wrong - and a roasting from her would have made that clear, even if she couldn't punish them.
Interesting case here!
Typo:
'suite' should be 'suit'.
I wonder if one of the later cases is going to be 'Ponyville Fire brigade vs Ponyville', with them having a severe 'Wtf why does everyone hate us' over the fallout of the townsfolk realizing that they're horrible people.
"All hail Princess Noble Cause"
... scuse me while I cackle like a mad thing at that! Dammit, Aegis! <3
6951776
Yeah, and just like this case, it may not be legally wrong, but it sure as heck is MORALLY wrong. Last time I looked, a lot of cop cars had 'Protect and serve' written on them, unless they removed it after that ruling to not look like hypocrites.
6953556 in such a litigious society like we have now, it is better to be on the right of legality than morality. There is an entire industry (risk management) based around things like this. If the cost outweighs the benefit, then no go.
On the moral side of things yes, they should. Legally, the risk of a lawsuit is not worth the benefit.
6951644
My brother is a Firefighter IRL, and you are quite correct. Firefighters will not engage any fire in which they may become trapped and/or killed. It has happened far to often when an old structure that is on the verge of falling down catches fire making even more likely to collapse on the firefighters. So procedure in those instances is to ensure nobody is still inside and let it burn.
Now if someone was trapped inside, that is another story entirely; they will gear up and charge.
6951564
Actually, Snowflake/Bulk Biceps is the only Pegasus on the Fire Crew. The rest were Earth Ponies.
6954568 Good point. The fact remains that they HAD a pegasus who could do that, though.
And that they're equine garbage.
6954625
Assuming there are any clouds available. Which, given the description of the event, there probably weren't.
Also, as you'll see in other comments, in a situation like this with no lives in danger - since the stallion whose home it was was already outside - real life protocol is containment and to let it burn itself out.
6954634 That wasn't the issue, though- There was never an issue of putting it out.
It was an issue of 'You aren't paying, I'm going to sit and watch so you'll suffer for it'
That can't possibly be read as anything else.
6954652
This was brought up well after the statement of the state of the house, and its location outside the city limits. The personal views of the fire fighters in this situation are irrelevant to the legalities of the situation if they acted according to proper protocol.
As per the situation of the state of the house and the fire, the fire fighters acted appropriately.
As per the man having actively evaded paying taxes and the like, he had no right to sue to begin with.
6954681 Oh, he has a fair share of blame, too, don't get me wrong.
As I said, legally they're 100% safe. They acted as the law said they could.
Morally is another story.
6954695
Look at it from the fire fighter's perspective.
They do this job - risking life and limb to help their town and protect its citizens - as volunteers. They don't get paid for it in that case, but the services get covered (town hall arranges payment for hoses and the like). They go into this situation, see no one inside the building, and act on protocol to keep themselves alive and minimize damage.
Then this guy who actively goes out of his way to avoid paying the taxes that support their work and let his house deteriorate into such a situation in the first place...has the gall not only to complain about how they did their jobs to preserve life - not property, but life - and drag them to court over it?
Yes, fuck him very much too, thank you very much. If the house was in such a mess and such a fire trap that a cat jumping can set the whole house ablaze, he made his own bed, and he has no moral ground to complain.
6954768 All that's ever said about the house is that it's 'old and dilapidated', and that's probably because the eighty year old on a fixed pension cheque can't exactly afford a ton of renovations.
The condition of the house was never given as a reason for them not going in.
Their official, documented reason for refusing to even turn on their hose with, and I quote,
was that
There was zero risk to them standing far outside the house and spraying it. There was no horrible danger they would need to sprint into. Nobody was asking them to run inside to save his things or his pet, they would have simply had to turn the hose on from outside.
It was a case of spite and a somewhat disturbing personal desire to balance the scales on some sociopathic money-grubbing grudge about 'fairness' and how 'everyone else has to pay why shouldn't he'.
No, they didn't have to help, and yeah, he should have paid his fucking taxes. But it's the fact they didn't that's the measure of their character.
All the author's inserted observations every other line about how oh-so-heroic they must be starts to ring hollow when you realize they're only doing what they're legally obligated to and not a shred more. Sure, they volunteered, but what are you going to do when destiny literally brands and names you specifically to do that job, go become an accountant? Besides, they VOLUNTEERED. They signed up for this shit. If they weren't willing to do their jobs, they might want to consider getting their names and cutie marks changed.
And I'd advise you to look up how quickly a fire can spread on youtube or something. Grease fires can spread fast, and a pan can get knocked off the stove in any house. Are you seriously telling me that your home is 100% fire safe?
6954897
And if it was so old and dilapidated, had he lived within city limits he would have been informed repeatedly of how much of a fire risk the house was, and if he was incapable of correcting it he would have been forcibly removed for his safety.
I should know. I've been through 'code enforcement' issues myself.
Beyond any of that, the ethics and legality of the situation is based on the actions at the time of the incident, not whatever was said in court. As you said, they're in the clear legally...and as far as the ethics of the situation, protocol is in place specifically for safety issues. Attempting to put out the fire at that point may well have just spread the fire about, especially with both forest and farmland so close. And if he informed them ahead of time that it was a grease fire, they'd know using the water pump to put it out would have done just that.
6954909 I think a fire truck could stand up to a single pan of grease.
Not to mention that I highly doubt it would get more dangerous than the house already burning down. Unless they accidentally stuck the hose in the gas tank, the risk of the fire hose turning into a flamethrower was probably minimal, so the Everfree just might live another day.
And again, the condition of his house was not the reason they refused to act. " We did not feel like we were legally required to" was the reason.
There weren't safety concerns, there weren't spreading concerns other than the norm, there weren't any other extenuating circumstances than 'we weren't legally required'.
6954937
6954909
If I may step in for a moment, Gentlecolts. I think what I was trying to get across was that this particular house would've been classified as a wildfire. If Zecora's house had caught fire there would be little to be done about it either. I think that was the comparison I had in my head. Fire Fighters from downtown Las Vegas would not rush out into the Arizona desert to put down a brush fire, in other words. They might contain something to keep it from spreading into the city itself, but it's not their job to regulate other areas outside their own.
6956012 Yeah... that's what I figured. I guess that's what happens though when you go to such lengths to dodge taxes.
6952446 I feel like it was a reference to him being a Penny Pincher,
Yay! This fic is no longer on Hiatus ^_^ ^_^^_^!
If they had put the fire out, it would have sent a message to the residents of Ponyville that they do not need to pay their taxes (for fire protection). And soon, there would be no fire brigade.
Enjoy your burninated thatch-roofed cottages.
It seems the root of the arguments about this chapter center around the retirement money, whether they say it or not. Is it a retirement fund or is it some kind of government stipend? Did he pay into something from which he is now drawing, like a 401k or social security, or is this a handout he's gaming the system to get?
The legitimacy of his source of funds is the deciding factor as to whether or not the fire brigade made the right call. If it's money he shouldn't have been getting in the first place, and/or he didn't pay his taxes when he should have (while he was working, for instance), so he wasn't supporting the service he now hopes to utilize, then he's a scumlord. But if he worked his whole life and paid his taxes, and now lives outside the town but collects from a retirement he earned through his work, then the fire brigade doesn't have a hoof to stand on.
Please keep writing, I'll keep reading!
7051575 Yes, the source of funds was described in the story as originating from the people's taxes, not from any personal investments or career retirement fund. The old fellow was deliberately and carefully gaming the system, and wanted to change the rules of the game when it went badly for him. His tragedy, though real and unfortunate, was entirely self-inflicted.
I see a parallel to the water situation in Flint Michigan. The economy tanked, the wealthier people left, and the poor people simply stopped paying for their water, so the city made some bad choices in choosing less expensive sources of water. Nobody wins. The saying, "You get what you pay for." still holds true.
I eagerly await the next chapter.
8618369
I agree with your analysis. This case is a matter of interpretation in sense of letter of the law, but is not a crime in the spirit of law.
The point I was aiming at was the fact that Aegis Shield interpretation of Celestia and Luna are not behaving as millennia old arbiters of law and more like self-righteous teenagers who feel what is right and act on those feelings.
Especially Case #4: The Most Hated Stallion, and explanation he gave for the verdict shows his inability to understand what is law and what is purpose of it. His Celestia would never been able to create almost utopian society that is Equestria with this kind of attitude to the law and its enforcement.
There is a reason why it takes a lot of time to learn how to be a judge. It takes even longer to learn how to be a good judge.
Ohhhh these were fun to read!! Here’s hoping it continues some day.
Will this ever get continued?
You should have Discord do a Jerry Springer show,