@Background Pony #2D34  
The first time. But then he broke out and did it again. And when they went to reform him, he betrayed their attempts, “played [Fluttershy] for a fool” and all - he was never punished after doing that. Or the Tirek betrayal, beyond what Tirek himself did.

>no heavy sentence befitting their crime  
I’d say that a single day of being turned into sentient stone is a heavy sentence, and Discord suffered that for well over a thousand years.

@Cirrus Light
 

 
Or worse, to fit the criteria but NOT actually deserve it.
 
Like a pedo who isn’t a rapist but is genuinely in love with his jailbait, who does, as maturely as possible, love him/her back, and yet everyone else is screaming for the FBI and a child trauma psychologist.

Apparently for most people in the real world, forgiveness is a sign of loving evil.

@Joshua  

 
thank you

From Dragon Ball To Dragon Ball Super

@VampireScratch  

@MagnaLuna  
Discord broke free a second time and got out in a very short time after that. And that thing BGP mentioned about betraying Equestria.
 
Also we now have the actual scene with Nightmare Moon’s banishment, and Celestia didn’t sit there and decide to punish her, she just used The Elements to fight her to try to defend Equestria. And she didn’t come off the moon repentant, either. She was defeated after fighting after returning.
 

 
Of the villains here, it’s a really interesting note that Discord and Starlight are unique in that they weren’t overpowered and defeated, but willingly gave up/submitted themselves to the ponies.
 

 
@Mooncalf  
I think that’s monumentally better than our system of punishment and inflicting pain, in many ways. Our horrible, broken system really only leads people into a life of crime rather than genuine repentance, really mostly in combination with self-righteous judges and our culture of persecution ensuring that convicts will always struggle financially, leading them back to crime as an escape and a solution.
 
Some people, perhaps many, are just genuinely terrible and may deserve it, but others are people in pain who need help, but only get beat down more and more or less have their lives ruined.
 
Can you imagine how horrible it’d be to be falsely convicted and end up on the Sex Offenders registry? They can’t even go on a long trip without reporting it to some officer. Then there’s the housing and occupation stuff on top of the criminal background.
 
It’s a wonder anyone ever moves on from that kind of thing, when their entire life constantly reminds them there’s no, and will never be, forgiveness.

@Background Pony #F3DA  
*So not entirely.

@MagnaLuna  
Discord sold out Equestria to Tirek not to long ago without punishment. So entirely.

Luna was 1000 years on the moon and Discord was turned to stone… I think they paid for their crimes…

Forgiveness, understanding and second chances seem to be the actual foundation of the Equestrian legal system.
 
I discussed this with a friend recently, regarding Starlight’s “punishment”, i.e. getting friendship lessons instead of a cell. Because, much as she’d done bad things, she only did them because she was genuinely hurting and needed help. Help Twilight gave her, instead of hurting her further by punishing her.
 
Same for the others. From Luna to Troubleshoes, it’s “Realize that you were wrong and do your best to make up for it.”
 
The reason Tirek and Chrysalis are not on this list? Neither ever acknowledged that what they did was wrong, or wanted to make up for it. They would have gone on doing the same things if they could.

you do realize this is a kids cartoon right OP?

@Ihhh  
It’s really more functional despite it’s government. The fact that ponies control every aspect of the natural world except for one forest helps too.

Actually, what happens is that Celestia’s enemies always come back and someone else has to deal with them because there’s the fact that this is a cartoon for kids and Celestia is nowhere near the main character… You know, the one that gets stuff done. Or one of them, anyway.
 
And there is also the fact that DHX doesn’t have a clue what they’re doing with the princesses and fans just love explaining problems away.

I need to point out that one of these happened on a different planet. Celestia does not have jurisdiction over the human world.

@Ihhh  
I’d say it’s about equally so, actually.

Daily reminder that Equestria is a more functional society than any human society.

The best way to defeat thy enemy is to make them your friend as they say