Many years ago...

Once upon a time, there was a lovely young woman named Alma. Alma's family was not rich or powerful, but she was happy anyway, working in her family's clothing store. One day, Alma was summoned to the royal palace, where the very handsome Prince Pedro Madrigal was in need of a new royal robe.

Prince Pedro, believe it or not, was notorious for being a bit of a wild card, so he had a reputation for ruining his royal robes within a week of getting one. It was the fifth robe he'd destroyed this year, but Alma was known for creating very strong clothes that were comfy, and didn't rip easily.

Alma arrived at the castle; she was very excited to meet the prince. She placed the beautiful new robe on the prince. It was a perfect fit... and so were they.

Prince Pedro and Alma were soon married, and what seemed like a storybook ending was really a storybook beginning.

You know how they say, "First comes love, then comes marriage"? What do you think comes next?

Not one, but three adorable babies were blessed upon the prince and princess. They named them Julieta, Pepa, and Bruno. Princess Alma and Prince Pedro felt they couldn't be happier to have been blessed with such a beautiful family, and the kingdom was very happy to have a wonderful new princess and the birth of the royal triplets only added hope for the kingdom to continue to have good and fair rulers. Except, their perfect kingdom wasn't to last.

One day, the kingdom was attacked by pirates. Many clans of pirates, in fact. While the pirates were ransacking the village, they fought each other as well, and began to destroy the village and take some lives in the process, including Pedro's parents.

Prince, well, now technically King Pedro and his queen got their royal guards to rescue as many as they could, and they fled the borders of their kingdom in carriages. But the carriages could only go so far, and they had to continue on foot. Except, the pirates came after them, and King Pedro was forced to sacrifice himself to save his family and their people.

Queen Alma was devastated, and the pirates came again. But just when it seemed she and her babies were done for as well, a miracle came. The pirates fled, and a golden path came that guided Alma and her people to a new land. It was a beautiful land with lots of land to grow new crops, surrounded by lovely mountains, and filled with golden butterflies. And a new magical castle appeared to be Alma's new home.

A swarm of butterflies approached Alma, and placed a crown of butterflies on her head, dubbing her the new leader of this land. The castle wasn't empty either. Inside, Queen Alma found three cribs ready for her babies, but she also found something interesting in the form of a candle beside a book.

The book held a message on its pages.

Alma Madrigal, this is your new land called Encanto. This shall be your new home.
You must rule with wisdom, care, and fairness if you wish to keep it and keep it safe
When your children come of age, they shall receive powers to help your land
You will not have powers, however, as a true leader knows how to lead even when
odds seem against them, and realizes that true power resides not within magic.
Someday,you will be gone as well, but care for your children well, and someday
an heir will be found. One who comes of age and receives no magic, they shall be the
Chosen Heir.

Alma read this message and knew what she had to do. She led her people to start making this land a home. They planted seeds they'd managed to save and find in some plants among the land, built a new village, and as time went on Alma's children grew and eventually came of age.

To determine which child was the Chosen Heir, Alma was to hold a special ceremony in which a royal child, on his or her fifth birthday, would have a crown placed upon their head that was just a band of gold. Once placed on the child's head, it would change to represent the power they were given.

The triplets each had a crown placed on their head, and they changed to represent a different power. Pepa's had jewels of clouds and raindrops with a sun center jewel, Julieta's had cooking tools and a caduceus shaped center jewel, and Bruno's had hourglasses. Each of them had the power of weather, healing, or seeing the future, which meant none of the triplets were the Chosen Heir. Nonetheless, they used their gifts to help their kingdom, and a crown wasn't the only thing they received. Each time a child was crowned, they sprouted wings as well, but flying was a tricky skill for all of them.

Over time, the triplets were eventually all grown up, and each of them got married to someone wonderful, which led to the blessing of many beautiful children.

Julieta had two daughters, Isabela and Luisa. Pepa had a son and a daughter, Dolores and Camilo, but none of the female triplets' children were the Chosen Heit either. Then, Bruno had a daughter on the same day Julieta had a third daughter. Their names were Mirabel and Milagro, but the latter went by Mila.

Then came the day of Mirabel and Mila's coronation. Both girls looked so adorable in their matching gowns of pearl white.

The girls being practically twins, they were to have their crowns placed at the same time. So, on the count of three, Mila's father and Mirabel's mother placed the crowns on the children's heads. Both crowns glowed and sparkled. Mila's crown changed to have little question marks and a light bulb shaped center jewel, but Mirabel's... it had butterflies on it just like Alma's tiara. And many butterflies surrounded Mirabel on this night and gave her different wings than all her family. While the other children, and Alma's triplets got wings that were practically every color of the rainbow all together, Mirabel got sparkling golden monarch wings.

Alma couldn't believe her eyes. Mirabel was the Chosen Heir to the Encanto. In other words, she was the crown princess now. Mila felt happy for her cousin. But, she found out her crown meant her power had to do with matters of the mind, in part because her magic power was telepathy. But, Mila found that she was a lot smarter than the average five-year-old, which drove her to have a very active imagination and to do a little experimentation.

But, even with all this, their life wasn't exactly perfect. Because while Julieta and Bruno were expecting Mila and Mirabel, the Encanto was invaded by a much more brutal group than the ones that took Alma's husband and her original home. They called themselves the Puss Moths, and they were led by a very terrifying woman whose face was hidden. Her name was Mariverde, and she was a ruthless lady, but she didn't order her minions to destroy the kingdom. Instead, she made a decree, a deal, to leave the kingdom be.

"It's a man's world out there, Queen Alma." Mariverde said. "Woman to woman, you ruling alone is not exactly a popular practice. Especially not for soft ones. I could destroy all you have here and now to show you just how scary I can be, but I won't... on a few conditions."

Mariverde saw that the Encanto grew lots of crops, including a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, so in exchange for not destroying her kingdom and "protection" in place of it, they had to give her a portion of their harvests. Except, that was not an easy deal to follow. Even with Isabela's ability to grow plants, her power could only do so much, and nature could only give so much to the people. Something had to be done, but even the magically powered royal family was too terrified to stand up to Mariverde and her group.

Seeing as the people needed help, Mila decided to use her smarts to invent something that would help them. Except, a lot of people thought Mila was just crazy. They thought it was better to do things the traditional way, and that Mila stick to using her telepathy just to move large objects like Luisa. But, Mila decided to work on her inventions anyway.

Some time later...

Everyone in the Encanto was getting to work as they were preparing the first harvest of the season... which also meant preparing for the Puss Moths' arrival.

Pepa had to read lots of sad stories to make lots of rain to make sure the plants got plenty of water, Isabela practically wore herself out growing more flowers to help the butterflies and bees pollinate the crops, and Dolores was on her patrol listening for the Puss Moths' arrival. According to Dolores, the moths fast flapping made a distinct sound much different than that of a hummingbird. Dolores and Camilo's little brother, Antonio, on the other hand, had the power to talk to animals, so it was up to him to communicate with the animals to make sure they could store as much food as possible.

Luisa took charge of putting together the heavier loads of food, and putting together the altar where they left their offering of food. The drill was pretty straight up: once the horns sounded, that meant the Puss Moths' were coming, which meant everyone had to get the food to the offering stones, then hide in their homes, which Isabela placed plenty of lavender flowers around to repel any moths from coming in after them, and then, Mariverde and her cronies would take the food and leave peacefully.

There were so many crops to grow. Corn, tomatoes, peppers, apples, peaches, mangos, avocados, cabbage, berries... you name it, they grew it.

Everyone got in line with their baskets of as much food as they could carry. The women did the picking of the crops since many of them had a gentler hand, where as the men were carrying the baskets of food to the offering stones.

Except, on this particular day, while the guys were carrying their baskets, the ground started to shake, and that shook a large tree in the middle of the line!

Luckily, the tree didn't land on anyone, but it did throw the line off course. The front of the line ran off so quickly, the guy starting the other half lost track of where he was.

"I'm lost!" exclaimed the man. "Where's the line?"

"What do we do?! Help!" shouted another man.

The tree was so big, no one was sure what to do or how to get around it.

Luckily, a couple of the princes came along in the form of Bruno and his nephew Camilo.

"Don't panic, everyone." Bruno said. "I had a vision of this happening."

"Well that explains the advice to stop at this spot at precisely eleven o'four." said the man at the front. "You didn't happen to envision how to fix this, did you, Prince Bruno?"

"Not quite. But, I do know what to do. Everyone, follow me, we are going around the tree." Bruno chuckled. "I made a rhyme. Come on now, everyone. This way."

"Single file, everyone." Camilo said, guiding everyone. "Hey, Cecilia! Do me a favor por favor and find Luisa, would you?"

"Okay!" a young girl, apparently Cecilia, called and ran to find Princess Luisa.

Bruno had the man in front make a path around the tree while the others followed, and around the tree they went.

"On the bright side, it looks like we have more firewood coming our way for he winter season." Bruno shrugged, looking at the poor tree.

"Uh oh." Camilo said, seeing the gap. "That's a big gap, Tio Bruno. Shouldn't we tell Abuela?"

"I don't think your abuela needs to be bothered right now." Bruno said. "She's got enough on her plate right now... training your cousin?"

He put a little emphasis on those last three words.

"Ah, si. Mirabel. I hope she's doing better than we were." Camilo sighed.

Mirabel couldn't help pacing back and forth as one of the servants was shading her, her mother and her grandmother from the hot sun.

"Still no signal from Dolores," said Mirabel, sounding worried. "They could be here any second!"

"Just be confident, mijita." Alma said. "You'll be fine."

Mirabel suddenly shrieked when she saw the gap in the line.

"There's a gap! Hay un hueco en la línea! What are we gonna do?!" Mirabel exclaimed.

"Mirabel, calmarse." Julieta said. "There was a small quake. That might have caused the gap, it happens. We only lost a few inches, that's all."

Mirabel calmed down for a moment, but then she went right back to pacing.

"Mirabel, it's the same thing every year." Abuela Alma said, approaching her granddaughter. "They come, they eat, they leave. That's how it works. Now, what do we do?"

"Oh! Don't tell me, I know this! What is it?!" Mirabel held her head in frustration.

"We relax." Alma placed a hand on Mirabel's shoulder. "I know it feels hard now, Mirabel, but I know you were chosen as my heir for a reason. You'll be a wonderful queen someday."

A brown poodle barked, and Alma scratched the dog's ears.

"You agree, don't you, Chika?" Alma chuckled. "Such a cute little perro, aren't you?"

That was when some kids rushed by.

"Ditch Rosie!" said one boy.

"Hey, come back here! I'm not finished with you!" said a young girl angrily. Her name was Rosella.

Rosella's tiara looked like a musical score, which made sense since her power was making music. But, what she hadn't mastered was flying.

Rosella tried to fly, but thanks to her uncooperative wings, she only ended up falling onto the back of her dress with a grunt.

"Rosella!" scolded Queen Alma.

"Yes, Abuela?" Rosella sighed.

"What did I tell you about trying to fly?"

"Not until Papi says I'm ready."

"Right."

"But, Abuela-"

"Rosella, you only came of age a month ago, and your wings need more time to-" Mirabel began, only for her little cousin to rudely interrupt her.

"I was talking to Abuela! You're not the queen yet, Mirabel."

"Rosella," said Julieta. "Be nice to your prima."

"It's not my fault she's so stressed out."

Mirabel sighed. "I know, I know! I'm always acting like the sky is falling."

"Cuidado!" Rosella's twin Pedro screamed.

And out from nowhere came a basket that barely missed Mirabel. Luckily, a little parachute slowed down its fall. And two more came, just barely missing other people. Where were these baskets coming from exactly?

Not too far off, a teenage girl pulled a switch that activated a machine that shook an apple tree by its trunk firm but gentle enough so it wouldn't hurt the tree, and apples fell into several baskets on a conveyor belt, which the girl attached some little parachutes to the handles and placed them onto a catapult to launch them into the air.

She launched another one, and this time it hit Mirabel. Luckily, it hit her in a way she was able to catch the basket in her arms as she fell

"Hey! Stop that!" shouted one woman. "You could've killed someone over here."

The girl gasped and ran over to make sure whoever she hit was okay.

"I am so sorry!" she exclaimed, coming over.

"Oh, it's Mila." groaned one man.

Mila approached her unintended victim, and was terrified when she saw who it was.

"Cousin Mirabel! Are you okay?" Mila said, helping her cousin up.

"Nothing hurt but my dignity." Mirabel said, straightening her glasses.

"Milagro, what is this?" Julieta asked, motioning to the baskets.

"Oh, these? These are my new idea for picking and transporting crops." Mila said. "This particular machine shakes fruit from the tree and baskets it into these baskets, which are attached to parachutes, which decreased the safety hazard of heavy baskets landing on people."

"Another invention?" Alma groaned."

"Si," smiled Mila. "No more picking one at a time when we can just shake down many at once in a short amount of time."

"Well, I think this parachute is defective." Mirabel said. "But we really don't have time for this-"

"Exactly! We never have time to gather comida for ourselves because we spend all summer harvesting for the offering. But my invention will speed up production. Since you're gonna be queen soon, Mirabel, I wanted to help make the job a little easier."

Mila took out a gizmo from her bag what looked like an ordinary pair of binoculars.

"Just an ordinary pair of binoculars, right? Wrong! Adjust a little of this here, and a little there..." Mila looked very proud of this invention. "It becomes a telescope. And they're made specially to adjust to fit over your glasses too. I call it the Multi-Scope. A few more adjustments and I can make these in prescription version-"

"Look, Princess..." said one of the men in charge of counting production. "Harvesting is the men's work. You want to help with production, then go pick the crops by hand like all the other girls, and get out of that ridiculous lab coat."

"My papa gave me this coat." Mila said, offended.

"Mila, please just go." Mirabel said.

"You might wanna tighten your belts though, boys." Mila said, walking off.

The guys didn't know what Mila was talking about... until their pants fell down, exposing their underpants. Rosella and Pedro couldn't help laughing at the guys' expense. One thing the twins always liked about their big sister, she had spunk.

"What is wrong with that girl?" said an older man. "In my day, men and women knew their places."

"Rosella, Pedro, go on and play." Julieta said. "Grownups need to get back to work."

So, while the grownups went back to work, the twins noticed Mila dropped her multi-scope invention. They decided to follow her and bring her back her invention.

"Mila! Mila, wait!" Rosella called.

"Oh, hola, Rosella. Hola, Pedro." Mila said.

"You forgot this." Rosella said, holding the invention up.

"Thanks, but you two can keep it. I can make another." Mila said.

"I like your inventions, Mila."

"Me too." Pedro said.

"Really? Well, you two would be the first. I have so many inventions, and yet the ones i show other people never seem to work even after I've successfully tested them."

"These work." Rosella said, looking through the invention in binocular form.

"Great, one success." Mila rolled her eyes, then looked down. "You probably don't see it, but I feel like such a failure sometimes."

"Me too. I have wings now, and can barely even fly. I'm too little." Rosella sighed.

"I'm too little and too scared to fly." Pedro said.

"Hey, being little's not so bad."

"Yes it is."

"No it's not."

"Is too."

"I used to be little too, you know." Mila said. "Believe it or not, even Luisa was as small as you at one point. Being little really isn't as bad as you think."

"Easy for you to say. You're already big and can fly." Rosella said.

Mila sighed. She loved her brother and sister, but they could drive her crazy sometimes. These two looked up to her, so she took it upon herself to set an example for them that they didn't need to be like everyone else to be special. She had an idea right then and there to show them being small wasn't bad.

Mila reached into her bag and pulled out a peach. She tore it in half and pulled out the pit, giving the fruit to the twins to eat.

The peach was juicy and yummy. But the fruit wasn't what Mila wanted to show the twins.

"You see this, hermanitos?" Mila said. "This is a seed that grows into peaches like that one you're eating now."

"What does that have to do with us?" Pedro asked.

"Take a closer look. This seed is really small now. But... it won't always be. Take a look at those trees over there."

Mila pointed out some fruit trees, where her female cousins and some of the other women were picking peaches and other fruits.

"Those giant trees were once tiny seeds, long before even I was born, some of them. All the seeds need are a little time, sunshine, and rain... and voila! They're a big and strong tree that bears something wonderful for everyone to enjoy."

"So, we're gonna be trees?" Rosella said.

"Not literally." Mila chuckled. "The point is, in time and with the care your family gives you, neither of you will stay small forever. It takes time for any plant to grow. Some grow fairly quickly, others take a little more time. But, it's often the ones that bloom later than others that prove the most beautiful of all.

The twins looked up at their big sister and started to smile. But, that special bonding moment was interrupted by the sound of a loud horn blowing.

"They're here!" Mila gasped.

Everyone in the Encanto froze in fear when they heard this horn, and everyone started running and screaming in a panic!

Pedro clung to his big sister's leg, prompting Mila to pick him up and run with him and Rosella to look for their parents.

Mirabel tried to calm everyone down, but no one seemed to listen to her.

"Everyone! Food to the offering stones!" Mirabel shouted, still no one listened.

Abuela then whistled loudly, which caught everyone's attention.

"Alright, everyone. Single file. Crops to the offering stone, and into your homes. Now let's go!" Alma ordered.

Everyone quickly got to their stations. The women quickly gathered their children and rushed them into their homes while the men completed the task of quickly placing the remains of the offering onto the stone. The royal family quickly rushed to their palace, and allowed anyone who was too far from their homes to get there quickly to accompany them.

Except, Mila and her siblings were the last ones outside.

"Hey, they missed a basket." Rosella said, seeing a basket still on the ground filled with watermelons.

Mila telepathically picked up the watermelon basket and threw it towards the offering stone.

"Come on!" Mila said, picking up her sister in her free arm and running inside the palace just as the puss moths were nearly arriving.

Except, Mila didn't notice she'd made a mistake with those watermelons. She was in such a rush to get the twins to safety she didn't think to watch where she'd thrown the basket, and it hit one of the supports and sent all the baskets rolling down the hill and toward a river that led to a waterfall over a cliff!