//------------------------------//
// Dad's Magic 
// Story: Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship(Season 1) 
// by Barrobroadcaster 
//------------------------------//

Ponyville, Equestria
Golden Oakes Library
Over One-thousand years ago

5 Days before the first Unification Day

"Dad! Daaaaaad!" Vice called, banging on his father's bedroom door. "C'mon, dad get up. It's almost nine o'clock. We're gonna be late." He pounded on the door again, trying to get his dad's attention. How could he sleep this long on such an important day? Had he forgotten what today was?

Finally, his father's muffled voice came back. "Ungh, what is it? Gimme five more minutes."

"Daaaad," Vice whined. "I know you're joking; come on, we need to get ready or we're gonna be late!" Vice was quite the clever colt for eight years old and he knew his father very well. He knew his dad was well aware of his job and what it entailed but he also knew his dad liked to joke around sometimes. Even at times when they were supposed to be serious.

"Oh, is that right?" dad asked in a confused tone that made it obvious he knew exactly what his son was talking about . "What is it we're going to anyway? Why's it so important?"

Vice sighed. "You know today's the day you're supposed to meet with the other councilors," he replied in a scolding tone. As the chancellor of the earth ponies, Vice's father, Rice Puddinghead held a very important position in the Earth Pony tribe. Every two weeks, the leaders of the three pony tribes of the fledgling nation of Equestria would meet in Ponyville's town hall to discuss foreign affairs and how best to govern. A triumvirate, Rice was one of the three ponies that led Equestria and made it best for all ponies.

But unlike his fellow triumvirs, Rice had not been born into the position, even if his grandmother had held it. Rice had been elected by popular vote by the earth ponies. And then reelected almost unanimously. Twice.

"What are you doing in there, anyway?"

"Oh, just working with a little earth pony magic," his father said casually.

Vice giggled, knowing that could only mean one thing. "Oh, really? What is it this time?"

"Well, stand back and I'll show you."

Vice stepped back from the door, rolling his eyes. "Okay, I'm ready," he said playfully.

The door to Rice's room burst open and out his father shot. Vice almost didn't see him as his raced by.

"Wo-wo-wo- WOOOOOOOAAAAAH!!- KRISH!!" Shooting through the living room, Rice crashed in the wall next to the front window.

"Dad!" Vice ran over to him. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, haha," Rice replied, collapsed by the wall. He rubbed his head and stood, happy and unharmed. "Good thing I was wearing a helmet."

"Yeah," Vice agreed, happy to see his dad wasn't hurt. His father was always coming up with new gadgets, inventing new things to make life in Ponyville easier. He worried sometimes but he knew his father would always put safety first.

Vice looked at his father's latest invention, something attached to his hooves. "So, what did you make this time? Horseshoes with wheels?"

"I call 'em roller-skates!" Rice said as he removed them and the helmet. "A whole new way of traveling faster, just as soon as I figure out how to mass produce them."

His son chuckled. "Maybe you should figure out how to stop with them first."

Rice smiled. "That's probably a good idea, too."

"And I think we might want to walk to your meeting with the councilors," Vice said, pointing to the clock.

"Ah, these are still just the prototype," Rice assured his son. "I'd never take any invention out on the street until it was ready. You know I'm careful."

Vice smiled, donning his saddlebag. "I know, but right now, we need to be careful not to be late. You need to get to work and I need to get to school."

"Aw, son, do we have to?"

"Unless you invent something that stops time, then yes," Vice said, being playful with his father.

"Hey, with earth pony magic, anything is possible," Rice said confidently and Vice smiled at his father again. Earth Pony magic was the term Vice's father gave to technology, to all ideas, really. And his father was quite adept at using earth pony magic, inventing and testing new things, designing new ways to solve problems and make life better. Even when Rice's inventions didn't work out, which didn't happen often, he still kept persevering, working to make things better in Equestria. Vice found it only the most inspiring thing and he was very proud to be his father's son.

The pair exited the Golden Oakes Library together, walking towards Vice's school. Despite having only been started just a few decades ago, Ponyville was already growing into a thriving community. New stores and houses were being built all the time and the population of the earth pony tribe was growing rapidly. Some even said too rapidly.

"Looks like a nice day today," Vice said. "Hopefully, it stays that way for a while."

"Well, why wouldn't it?" Rice asked. "The forecast has clear skies and sunshine scheduled for today."

"Last time it rained right in the middle of recess," Vice said, annoyed.

"Ah, well, I'm sure the plants and trees in the schoolyard need water, too."

"Yeah but do they have to make it rain right when we're in the middle of a game? And Mr. Cheer waters the plants in his garden on his own, anyway. Wouldn't it be easier for them to just give us the water and we use it on our own?"

Rice considered his words carefully. "The pegasi have an important job, son. It's not easy for them to manage the weather over all Equestria, y'know."

"Yeah," Vice said, looking down. "Sometimes, they can act like a buncha jerks, though."

Rice nodded, thinking. "I know what you mean," he said in a somber tone. The three tribes of Equestria had united after the nation's founding, supposedly forming one nation. But the tribes still remained largely separate from one another and kept to themselves; the pegasi had Cloudsdale, the unicorns had Canterlot and the earth ponies had Ponyville. Each tribe performed a certain role as well with the pegasi managing the weather, the unicorns controlling the sun and the moon and earth ponies producing food. They were separate, but equal, so it was said. The tension between them would fade in time. Or so they thought.

"Mr. Chancellor! Mr. Chancellor!" a stallion called as he ran up to see them. "Chancellor Rice!" 

"Long Range, I told you before, it's just plain 'Rice'," Rice told his friend.

"Oh, fff, sorry. I forget sometimes," Long said. "But hey, the analysis of that soil sample from Apploosa just came back from the lab. It's richer than we even thought it would be! We should be able to cultivate all kinds of apples there!"

"That's great news!" Rice exclaimed. "And with the tracks in place, we could start a colony there tomorrow if we wanted!"

Long Range's smile faded. "You… you sure they're going to approve of the… you-know-what?"

Rice just smiled. "Why wouldn't they? The track's been in place since the mines were abandoned and we've already got the main engine ready to go. Another week or two and we'll be ready to unveil the prototype."

"If you say so," Long said, unconfidently. He stopped in the middle of the street, letting the two continue on. "Quartz and Typhoon weren't really happy with your powered flight idea."

"Yeah but they didn't say no to the greenhouses!" Rice said over his shoulder.

"That's because we didn't ask them!" Long called.

"I know! So keep it down!"

"Rice! Hello, Rice!" a mare called to him from the other side of the street. Like the last pony, she came running out to him as he crossed her path.

"Hey Pepper, good to see you."

"It's good to see you and Vice, too," the red-and-white maned mare said.

"Hi Miss Mint," Vice said politely.

"Well, actually it's going to be "Mrs. Mint" soon," she said, blushing.

"Oh, congratulations!" Rice said.

"That's really exciting! Congrats!"

Peppermint nodded. "We happened to be working on the same shift at the farms and Spear just got down on on his knees right in the middle of the field," she practically teared up. "He's so very shy but so sweet. I couldn't help but say yes!"

"That's wonderful, Pepper," Rice said. "Did you set a date?"

She nodded again. "We did! Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. We wanted to do something special and… we were wondering if we could use the town hall."

"Well, I don't see why not," Rice said. "You just let me know the date and I'll square it away with the committee."

"Oh thank you!" she grabbed Rice by the neck, forcing him to stop and embrace the hug. "This will mean so much to us, I can't thank you enough! And of course, you and Vice and the whole town are invited!"

"Do you think you could schedule it on a school day?" Vice asked with a chuckle. They all laughed at that.

"Haha, I don't see why we couldn't take the day off for that," Rice said.

After they all laughed, Pepper said, "Oh, well, I must get going back to the acres now. But I'll be certain to let you know the date! And thank you!"

"Don't mention it, Pepper! And congrats again!"

Vice admired his father. The way he knew every pony's name, cared for every pony in the tribe. It was no wonder he was so beloved and been elected so many times. Everypony loved him and he loved them in return. He truly was worthy of being chancellor.

Rice's career as chancellor had not been without its challenges, however. The cutie pox outbreak, the problems with the bordering buffalo, donkey and zebra nations and of course, the food shortages had all been things Rice had to deal with early on. But he had dealt with them successfully, and that was the remarkable thing. Using his inventions, he had cured the cutie pox, developed trading relations with the other nations and devised new ways to prevent famine, a constant problem. When he campaigned for reelection, the earth ponies had nicknamed him Equestria's "Second Sun" because with him as chancellor, they all had a brighter future to look forward to.

"Hey! Rice and Vice!" yet another voice called to them.

"Bushel Basket, what are you doing here?" Rice said as his friend ran up to him. "Aren't you supposed to be harvesting the cabbage with Sweet Onion today?"

"No~" Bushel replied. "Tomorrow, I'm supposed to be harvesting the onions with Red Cabbage," he said with a laugh.

"Oh, haha! My mistake," Rice said.

"Pretty easy mistake to make," Vice laughed, too.

"Not that your dad makes a lotta mistakes," Bush joked with Vice. "Isn't that what you guys always say? With earth pony magic-"

"There's only possibilities!" the father-son duo said simultaneously.

"Well, I wanted to let you guys know, we have some 'neighbors'  interested in your magic. You remember your idea about revolving the crops or something?" Bushel asked.

"Crop rotation, yeah. It should help us improve food yield when the seasons change."

"Well, the donkeys down south are actually interested in that idea. They wanna come visit and see how it's done."

"Hmm," Rice thought. "How about instead of them coming to us, we go to them and teach them how to rotate crops in their own fields? We could do it in exchange for samples of those coconut things that grow down there so we can cultivate our own."

"Th-that's a great idea!' Bushel exclaimed. "We could take a couple extra hands from each division and take a trip down south."

"We'll talk it over with the rest section first but the timing for this actually looks pretty good," Rice said enthusiastically. "We have to make sure we don't jeopardize this month's quota but we shouldn't have any problems."

"Right, I'll get going back to the acres now," Bushel said, trotting off in the opposite direction. "And hey, did you get back that analysis of the soil sample yet?"

"Just did!" Rice said over his shoulder. "Haven't seen it myself but it looks more promising than we even thought! This could finally be the solution to our production problems!"

Bushel stopped as a bright smile dawned on his expression. Finally, there  wouldn't be any problems with food production. Could it even be true? He wanted to believe it. Whatever uncertainty or doubt he felt didn't shine through as he let himself hope.

Food shortages had been a problem for the pony tribes even before Equestria was founded. The country was small, they only had three cities in close proximity to each other and their populations were huge and growing rapidly. Growing food was the earth ponies' sole responsibility but the problem wasn't numbers. Earth ponies outnumbered their horned and winged cousins by over a third; the problem was land. With almost every earth pony working to feed themselves, Canterlot and Cloudsdale, they just didn't have the space to create enough farmland for them all.

Under Chancellor Rice Puddinghead's leadership, new methods of farming like crop rotation, drainage cultivation and greenhouses had all been implemented. These techniques helped to increase food yield, preventing famine but they had only really slowed the shortages down. But to produce enough for the growing population, the earth ponies had to expand into new territory. Either that or the unthinkable: unicorns and pegasi would have to actually help.

Rice and Vice continued walking to the schoolhouse at the edge of town. The sound of thunder rang out, drawing their attention skyward. A group of pegasi over head were gathering clouds together to make a storm.

"So much for the forecast…" Vice commented. "And recess."

Rice patted his son on the back. "They probably have a good reason," he said, though he wasn't certain himself. But he wanted to believe his fellow ponies were responsible, even if they didn't always act like it. The fact that the local weather manager, Thunder Claw, wasn't with the group of pegasi was not a good sign.

The pegasi had the skies, the unicorns had the mountains and caves but the earth ponies just had Ponyville. And it wasn't enough. Major cities like Manehattan and Phillydelphia wouldn't be constructed for centuries and with the way things were going, wouldn't be constructed at all. The problem wasn't the threat of over-extended or the limitations of technology; it was far simpler than that. The problem was fear. And not by the earth ponies.

General Manager(or just General as she preferred) Typhoon and Princess Quartz had blocked Rice Puddinghead's attempts to colonize new territory since his first term as chancellor. It was always the same: they claimed that if earth ponies extended too far, it would cause problems with the other nations or create food shortages. Rice knew these were just excuses though, and quickly the conversation during their "summits" would change to something else, lately, nothing productive. Despite Rice's insistence on the need to expand, he was outvoted two-to-one every time.

Rice didn't have the heart to tell anypony other than his son the truth: most of his proposed solutions were not made with the triumvirate's approval. The majority of his ideas were shot down by Typhoon and Quartz for any number of reasons, any number of excuses. Powered flight was considered "a threat to pegasi travel", mining had been labeled as a "possible deterrent to research of magical ores" and greenhouses were banned because of the "potential danger to the environment." Fortunately, pegasi and unicorns didn't travel to Ponyville often, even if they hovered over it every hour of the day. Rice had authorized the construction of a series of greenhouses where the shortsighted unicorns and pegasi wouldn't find them: underground.

The schoolhouse was in sight. Other colts and fillies, all earth ponies, were gathering already. Some had their cutie marks and there were some like Vice, who remained blank flanks. Vice sighed as they got closer.

Rice had a feeling what it could be about. "You still worried about getting your cutie mark?"

Vice shrugged. "Well, it's not really that…"

"The other kids don't make fun of you, do they?"

"Not really," Vice said. Some of them did but not much. His class had plenty of blank flanks so there wasn't much picking. "I just… I want my special talent to be something like yours. Something special."

"And why wouldn't it be?" Rice couldn't help it. He bent down and picked his son of the ground and held him tightly. "Oh, there's no pony more special than my little Vice Grip!"

Vice giggled as his father spun him around and then they held each other tightly. "I love you, dad."

"I love you too, son." They nuzzled and kissed. When they were done, Rice let his son down again.

"I just, I really hope I get to help ponies like you do," Vice said.

"Well, to be honest, your cutie mark is more of a guideline," Rice explained. "Like mine; it's just the different varieties of rice grains."

Vice scratched his head. "But, doesn't that mean you're supposed to be good with rice?"

Rice nodded. "I do make rice crackers now and then, more or less just to utilize excess grains and prevent them from going to waste. But I think you may have noticed I also invent things. Your cutie mark just denotes your first special talent, not your only one, the one you can fall back on if you need to. You can have as many special talents as you want."

Vice held his head down, thinking. He finally nodded. "I want to be an inventor. I want to use… earth pony magic. Just like you do."

Rice smiled, knelt down and gave his son a kiss and a nuzzle. "Then that's what you'll do. Speaking of which, we're getting ready to unveil something big soon," Rice said playfully.

Vice's enthusiasm picked up right away. "Your project? The secret one?"

"Mm-hmm," Rice nodded. "Should be ready in just a few days. I'm actually planning on heading to the workshop after the meeting and… I might need some extra help," he winked.

Vice's face lit up. "Really? You mean it?! I can help?!!"

"I'll pick you up right after school and we'll head over to the shop together."

Vice hugged his father tightly right in front of the schoolhouse. "I love you so much, dad."

"I love you too, son." They kissed one more time. "Be good at school today, okay?"

"I will, dad!" Vice said, entering the schoolhouse. "Good luck with the council! I… I hope they say yes!"

Rice smiled confidently. "They will!" he called and waved as the door closed. "Don't you worry! They will!"

In five days, they wouldn't have a choice.