Author's Rather Public Note: for those who might want a little more of Goldberg, he can be found here.

An absolutely beutiful piece of work, and am so very reluctant to accept the high possibility that Messers flim and Flam could likely get the power system down to the size of a very large bed or even jighly stuffed sofa, as long as they are thrown out once they have a completed design, and before they start to add thier own, personal improvements?

After all, if you Recordall the possible outputs, then work out which pieces are common, you end up with far fewer pieces required due to combinations, that are selected by punched cards used on automated weaving looms?

I wonder if Mr Dobsons publication might pay for an article on certain solutions to problems if not the Full device?

"I haven't put the super trampoline in yet!"
"Super trampoline," the judge neutrally repeated.
"It's bouncier than average. The key is to keep it from rebounding in unexpected directions."

They can be very unstable. A lot of fun when used correctly, but that's trickier than it sounds.

... and then the whole thing entered the domain of the pegasi because a lack of thermal sight meant Impassi needed outside advice on what it looked like when the pleasure meter kept going up.

"You know, I just got an idea for a popcorn popper attachment," Goldberg said to himself, thankfully drowned out by Proxi.

"Oh. I'm out in Manowar. It's a small house."

Ah. No wonder the trampoline bounced so well.

I recognized Mr. Goldberg almost immediately and had a rough idea of the true problem, but I hadn't anticipated the specifics. Certainly not the badgers. Truly delightful work, especially the happy ending. (And if there's any anthology where one is appropriate, it's this one.) Thank you for it.

Now correct me if I'm wrong but my smooth brain is currently fielding two interpretations to the ending of this one.

First interpretation is that the judge is asking Widget to make something to feed the badgers automatically.

The second is and I could be wildly off mark but is she inviting him to move in with her?

Such a good Judge . .
But making the defendent pay back his rightfully earned money after HE WON the case does not sit right with me . .

And now for a Pun:
Instead of a Rube Goldberg Machine . . .
we have here a rude Goldberg Machine!

i will get my coat . .

Nothing could've made me happier than seeing Goldberg make his grand return in this fic! Especially since he's gotten a brand new customer that will make up for the refund he needs to pay (and possibly even a sponsor for future work), and that his (admittedly complex) talent is getting some well-deserved praise and attention. Goldberg machines are awesome, and I'm glad that still rings true in Equestria!

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I think what she was asking for was a means of free-roaming access for the badgers, as well as an area for indoor recreation!

"... But with the badgers -- if you live in the right kind of area, you can just let them out every so often. That's encouraged. I got them from an extremely reputable source, and she wants them to have some regular time off. But it's not like vibrators get used constantly, right? And they're very well-trained, and they want to return to where they're warm and safe."

Considering Impassi lives near a "small border forest" and her home used to be a farm, it's pretty ideal for wildlife survival compared to a home in the city. The sunlight part of her request seems to me like she's asking for more comfortable indoor space for the badgers to return to. (She's worked with Fluttershy before, and seems to be aware that Goldberg got them from her in the first place, so it wouldn't hurt to stay in Flutter's good graces by making sure the badgers are well-cared for.)

This inventor need someone in his life whose jobs it to simplify machines... I don't know if he would make a great couple with Ratchet in Ponyville or be the worse of ennemies.

This was a great two-part story. Made me laugh inside because I was on the bus and I tried to picture the machine.

Okay, okay so it took me an embaressingly long time to figure out the problem. It took until he started to actually asemble the contraption.

That my synapsis connected the dots. That it’s a Rube Goldsburge machine.

The problem was not its results. It’s just that it’s way to big and crazy.

Good show really good show. You know it’s always a treat when this story updates.

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But making the defendent pay back his rightfully earned money after HE WON the case does not sit right with me

To be fair, he was only going to win, and on a technicality at that, but he wanted to push for a moral victory and ended up revealing that he had omitted critical information that would've tanked his sales and cost more ad fees. No takebacksies. A partial refund is probably the fairest outcome that everypony could ask for.

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At least it only runs on badgers, as opposed to Mazeinian grabbers!

My elementary school library had a book of the original Rube Goldberg cartoons. I've always felt like I was the only one under 50 who was familiar with them. Of course, colleges have annual Rube Goldberg machine contests. I would find them interesting, but there's invariably balloons popped, which is physically and emotionally painful for me.

Has her honor had many cases involving looners? It's pretty certain that human!Pinkie Pie is one, and probably pony Pinkie

But with the badgers… …You can even tell them not to watch.

While I’ve no doubt there is a subset of potential customers that would find the audience additionally stimulating, I suspect most would prefer not watch to be the default instruction.

Another potential customer might be Mr. Stealth. As an addition to his exotic dressing room. Watching somepony put on clothing is all well and good, but another kind of voyeurism would keep the rooster tokens flowing.

Back when I was a kid (Baby Boomer) "Rube Goldberg" was the name of a cartoon strip. Hasbro also had a game called "Mouse Trap" based on one of drawings. (Still manufactured.)

Impassi Heartstopper: the capital's acknowledged JILF.

Didn't expect that ending. The judge has good, and probably expensive, taste!

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yes, Rube Goldberg was a cartoonist best known for his absurdly complex contraptions.
but he ALSO did a weird comic strip called "Boob McNutt", and, under the pseudonym "Harvey Kurtzman", did a funny comic called "hey look!" that appeared in the earliest issues of Mad Magazine!

It was just that after a while, Tab A and Slot B appeared to be rotating through Fractal ☊.

this reminded me of a nutty inventor in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels known as "bloody stupid Johnson".
in "going postal", someone tells the protagonist about one of his inventions, a "mail sorter" that had a magical ring in it, where PI=3.
this caused, or required, weird distortions in time and space, which caused some of the mail to travel through time...

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this reminds me of a Limerick...

there was a young man from Racine
who invented a fucking machine.
concave or convex,
it could fit either sex,
t'was the damndest thing ever seen.

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Yes, I remember. Bergholt Stuttly "Bloody Stupid" Johnson". His M.O. was "accurate measurements are to be avoided at all costs". His design for a set of salt & pepper shakers was later converted into an apartment complex.

I understand that Proxi is just a plot device for the sake of this chapter, but I still want to see more of her.

And that is a bathtub.

It was here that I started to wonder. And it wasn't until-

Everything functioned within the limits of reality.

"Mr. Goldberg?"

that I realized he was an expy of Rube Goldberg. I hadn't paid any attention to his last name because he was a metallic so of course he'd have a metallic last name. Nice play there.

Thanks for the fun set of chapters.

But making the defendent pay back his rightfully earned money after HE WON the case does not sit right with me

As Raugos said, he was going to win but his need to show his device worked also exposed his failure to fully inform his customer of the extreme scale of the device's power supply and thus led to him no longer winning. The Judge understood that while he had created a working design, its scale was excessive and he wilfully failed to advise of this in the advertisement and thus he lost. The Judge also fairly made sure that he would not be financially damaged by Ms Scale's improper disconnection of the device prior to his decommissioning of it.
Impassi on the other hoof knows Widget has built an amazing device and only a few select buyers could utilise it without major upheaval of their homes and lives... and she happens to be one of them. Through her contacts she knows Widget will sell a number and profit quickly allowing him to refine the system and customise it as needed as she understands his mark, including customising the existing one and the grain silo it will reside in. Impassi is just as thoughtful and considerate as herself as she is as The Judge.

And now for a Pun:
Instead of a Rube Goldberg Machine . . .
we have here a rude Goldberg Machine!

That was my thought as soon as his mark was described and his name given I thought "Shouldn't it be Rube? ... Oh, no ... Rude Goldberg Machine Sex Toy pun incoming!... but it didn't... I was almost disappointed... almost!

Anyone else need and want a good pic of Impassi? Because the JILF designation now kind of requires it.

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Provided how Rube's cartoons were often titled as propositions of perfect machines (e.g. Painless Tooth-pulling Device), that's a solid reference.

I'm ashamed that I didn't saw it coming until 2nd part.

Well, that was a delight. Thank you for the laughs, Estee. I wish I could double-favorite this collection.

Oh. In hindsight it should have been obvious. 😇
Still, now he just needs someone to follow behind and optimize and reticulate the designs for better and more efficient production.

As best as I can recall, this is the first time we've seen Impassi in the role of customer. Makes me curious if there's been other times when this has happened. Also, how has nopony ever seen her without her robes? Unless she's like Sunburst and is always wearing them, even when not in the courtroom.

To be fair to the judge, with the stuff she sees regularly there's probably not a lot that... excites her. Props to anyone willing to go to necessary lengths to maintain their own physical and mental health.

You know, after rereading this, i just had a thought. Who else has a morbid fascination to see Twilight, Widget and Ratchet in one room, discussing? Twilight and Ratchet already give each other happy headaches with talks about applied magic and workings, now if you add physics to the mix...