Do these ponies pay taxes?

[Star Petal 215]

Each princess has their own kingdom, so naturally they have a society and an economy of some kind. Do these ponies pay taxes? How far does each of these kingdoms reach? 

Is Canterlot like Washington DC?, is everything divided up by ruling, and if so, what jurisdiction does each pony have? If the ponies pay taxes, does that mean that during tax time, Twilight has to regulate this and accept and distribute the tax money to where it goes? How do they work that out since all we ever see is the X leader and nothing else but guards? 

Also, why doesn't twilights kingdom have guards? All the others do! Friendship is basically something the ponies worship like a religion, the pope rides around in a bullet proof cage all the time, so why doesn't she have any protection from would be harm-ers? Cadence and the two sisters do! 

Also, does ponyville have a prison or a courtroom, or do the law breakers get sent to one of the big cities? Does the friendship kingdom even have Police? Why not? Not even a sherrif? You expect us to believe that not once in the kingdom of friendships entire history, not one pony has done something really really bad? Like violent or drank too much hard cider and needed to be put in a cell for a while? Not once? What about Fire fighters? Do they exist? Has nothing ever caught fire, or a cat got stuck up in a tree or a filly stung by a bee? 

Where is the Government at? 

[Denim&Venöm 16,503]

S1 E3. A pony offered to Twi to do her taxes. 

As for the absence of everything else? Well there is the theory that Equestria is actually a type of social anarchy. In oversimplified terms, a system of public order, enforced and enacted free from a government. The princesses exist because A. They rule the fundamental forces of the cosmos and B. even in an anarchy, somebody has to take up the mantel of leader. Might as well be a demigod to handle the work. 

 

The guards are just secret service. The don't actually interact w/ the citizenry. Equestria doesn't have a military either. Don't need one. The threats that the kingdom faces render a conventional military obsolete. So guards would not help Twi in the slightest. That's what her friends are for. 

 

And dealing with emergency services? Typically civilian first responders. If the areas of Equestria are acting autonomously, then it's up to the people to pitch in and solve the crisis. That's what the mane 6 do. There isn't any designations for emergencies in Equestria. Just whomever is there is supposed to deal with it. 

 

[cmarston1 5,951]

Maybe, but I doubt the show to actually get into these details.

[Fhaolan 4,468]

Manehattan has recognizable police, we've seen one police officer in the background of an episode.

We've also seen Twilight react to the Guard as if they were the equivalent of police.

Also remember that historically a government-run 'Police Force' that is independent of the military defense force is a relatively modern concept that might not have occurred to the ponies. Until the 19th century many Western police outfits were privately run by the local merchant guild or equivalent. Otherwise 'law' was handled by the local noble's guards. So I think it's reasonably safe to say the Guard *are* the police, and what we saw in Manehattan was the Manehattan Guard. They just have different local uniforms.

And if that's true, then we may very well have seen the local Guard of Ponyville, and just not realized it. Ponyville Guard may not have distinct uniforms.

And, just as a note, the Wonderbolts are presented as if they are an elite military stunt team, a la the Blue Angels, the Snowbirds, or the Red Arrows. As an *elite* military stunt team, their members should already be military before they can be recruited for the team... If Rainbow Dash was already in the pony equivalent to the military, perhaps the Weather Team is actually part of the military in the same way the Army Corps of Engineers are? And since the ponies don't seem to differentiate between the military and the police...

Rainbow Dash might actually be a Ponyville Guard, and has been since the first episode. 

[sweetolebob18 724]

Not sure about taxes.  It is my head canon that when Celestia needs money she just uses magic to create it.  (Hey, our government does the same except they use a printing press).  Good point about E3, I'd say it was probably local taxes.