My Little Pony: Amor Esta Magica

by WarThunderBrony

The Triumphal Entry

I gave my pony friends some important briefings on what to do.

“Now, the rest of you,” I said, “you know what to do, I suppose?”

The ponies gave me neighing sounds of affirmation.

“Great,” I said. “So all of you go into the city now, except Snails, who will stay here with me. Derpy, you’re in charge of them.”

Derpy neighed with approval. The other ponies went into the city. Snails, who stayed behind, looked at me.

“I’ll go to the nearest blacksmith shop to get you shod and saddled up,” I said to him. “Then we’ll ride into the city.”

“Will they remember you, Alberto?” wondered Snails. “I mean, considering your experiences with them before?”

“By the time we get there,” I replied, “our friends will have done what needs to be done. The local people, especially the children, will be shouting for us to deliver them.”

* * *

DERPY: I took ten of my fellow ponies into the city, excepting Snails, who remained with Alberto. Snips, who was a little concerned for his BFF, especially with Alberto’s shady past in mind, asked me: “Will he be ok?”

“He will,” I answered. “Just come with me and do what Alberto told us to do. We’ll be fine.”

All eleven of us went to the nearest food court to order some steaks and tequila. The food court was not that crowded, but then again it was not that silent either, being lunch hour.

We all ordered a lambsteak each with tequila and then sat down at various tables. After we had our food, I nodded at Flash Sentry, who took out his guitar and then nodded back at me.

I began to pound the table with my empty tray. One by one, the rest joined in, pounding the tables, stamping their rear hooves, or clopping their fore hooves. At the right note, I then turned to my boombox and turned on a loop of the very same rhythm.

WIthin seconds, we all burst into song. I knew that this was the one and only way to get the people to hear us out, as Alberto had briefed us.

Hoy el pueblo cantará
Con gran coraje y voluntad
Esta es la música de un pueblo
Que reclama libertad.
Si al redoble del tambor
Tu corazón latiendo va
Es que la luz del nuevo día
Por fin vendrá.

A la causa te unirás
Que a todos libres nos hará
Por toda la ciudad
Barricadas se alzarán.
Ven únete al pueblo
Por fin las cadenas caerán.

Hoy el pueblo cantará
Con gran coraje y voluntad
Esta es la música de un pueblo
Que reclama libertad.
Si al redoble del tambor
Tu corazón latiendo va
Es que la luz del nuevo día
Por fin vendrá.

And then as the gates opened up, Alberto rode in on Snails. As he waved to the crowds, Alberto sang:

A tu patria te darás
Por este anhelo conseguir.
Unos cuantos vivirán
Y algunos vamos a morir.
La sangre en los campos de Francia
Los va a cubrir!

And we all joined in:

Hoy el pueblo cantará
Con gran coraje y voluntad
Esta es la música de un pueblo
Que reclama libertad.
Si al redoble del tambor
Tu corazón latiendo va
Es que la luz del nuevo día
Por fin vendrá!

By this time, the whole city of La Paz was having a ball, all cheering for Alberto as he rode in. The people were crying out loudly.

“Por favor! Deliver us!”

“Blessed are you, salvador de la Paz; you come in the name of el Senor!”

“You from the highest heaven! Por favor! Deliver us!”

I could see how high Alberto was feeling; he may not have been very well-dressed, and certainly did not smell nice at all; but he was being acclaimed the way one would acclaim a head of state.

Nevertheless, from where I was, I could see in the distance — beyond the city walls — that there was trouble brewing in the distance. I knew this was coming long before it actually came.

I spotted a familiar figure in the midst of the crowd. Benz Guzman had apparently just arrived along with a few of his henchmen, including Ramon Prada, Jose de la Cruz, and the city’s new mayor Taddeo Spettro. I saw Guzman nodding to Prada, who picked up his AWPer Hand sniper rifle and pointed it at us. I saw that we were going to feel it. “Quick! There’s trouble! Let’s get out of here!” I yelled.

Ramon Prada fired a shot. We all fled just in the nick of time. I knew that these Justicialistos — as they called themselves — were certainly much better prepared than we were.

“Let’s get out of here!” I yelled. “Up this way!”

The city was now in chaos. Apparently Guzman had found out that we had returned and now he wanted to make mincemeat out of all of us. I knew SOMETHING just had to be done.

We ran out of the city plaza into a quiet clearing outside the city gates. “The city isn’t safe!” cried Snails. “The people are now being forced by Benz Guzman to bow to Taddeo Spettro! I mean, if I hadn’t bolted at the right instant, I’d have been shot by Ramon Prada’s AWPer Hand rifle!”

* * *

ALBERTO: Put it simply — we had been kind of pre-empted by those muchachos. We were all very fortunate to have fled the city in one piece; Taddeo Spettro had clearly taken the city by force. While the people did believe us no doubt, they were certainly no match for the justicialists under Spettro. And Spettro himself was already a general, and a highly experienced one at that, in the command of Benz Guzman — who himself was an employee in the service of Don Francisco.

I knew that we clearly lacked something, but we had to find out what exactly it was that we lacked; we might even need to do some trial and error along the way.

“This is what we’ll do,” I announced to my ponies. “We know what we want to tell the people, which we have told them. And they are convinced. But they have been forced by military law to turn us out of the city. So it is pretty clear that we do lack in something. We will have to find that one thing that we lack. I’m counting on you all. What suggestions have you thereof?”

“We must KILL that cunt Spettro!” proudly proclaimed Snips. “We must rip his guts out and bludgeon him and make him a laughing stock for the whole of La Paz to see!”

“That won’t work, Snips; he’s part of a bigger and more dangerous group!” argued Snails. “And we know that this group is under the command of Don Francisco Juan Perez, one of the most influential men in all Latin America; you’d be asking for trouble if you are to take on Don Francisco just like that!”

“But we HAVE to destroy the problem at its roots if we are to solve it all — meaning that whether we like it or not, we have to destroy Don Francisco!” said Big McIntosh. “It won’t be easy, but we’re ready for whatever may come our way!”

“We’ll lay down our lives if we have to!” proclaimed Rainbow Dash.

“No,” I said. “You all won’t need to lay down your lives. We just have to find that one thing we lack.”

“I think it might be…. something to do with your father,” hinted Fluttershy. “Haven’t you been searching for your real father all your life?”

“Oh si! I’d clean forgotten!” I cried. “But right now we’ve got no time for that; we’re already, like, not very much more than criminals on the run from the new law! All the while I was gone, I never expected that these Peronistas would ACTUALLY overthrow the government! Right now, this is what I think we need: FOLLOWERS! As in human followers! I want you all to go and find me followers!”

“Well said!” said Derpy. “Our proclamation of liberty and friendship would be of no use if we had no apparent friends, and first impressions always count; and Alberto, I think you can start with Donita!”

“Donita??” I gasped.

“Well, isn’t she your wife?” countered Derpy.

Just then Pinkie Pie came running up. “Alberto! Good thing you’re back!” she cried. “Come with me quickly! Donita’s in trouble!

She lives in a fairy tale,
Somewhere too far for us to find.
Forgotten the taste and smell,
Of the world that she's left behind.
It's all about the exposure the lens I told her;
The angles were all wrong now.
She's ripping wings off of butterflies,
Keep your feet on the ground
When your head's in the clouds.

Well go get your shovel,
And we'll dig a deep hole
To bury the castle, bury the castle!
Go get your shovel,
And we'll dig a deep hole
To bury the castle, bury the castle!

So one day he found her crying
Coiled up on the dirty ground.
Her prince finally came to save her,
And the rest you can figure out.
But it was a trick
And the clock struck twelve;
Well, make sure to build your house brick by boring brick
Or the wolf's gonna blow it down.
Keep your feet on the ground,
When your head's in the clouds.

Go get your shovel,
And we'll dig a deep hole
To bury the castle, bury the castle!
Go get your shovel,
And we'll dig a deep hole
To bury the castle, bury the castle!

Well you built up a world of magic,
Because your real life is tragic.
Yeah, you built up a world of magic.
If it's not real
You can't hold it in your hand,
You can't feel it with your heart,
And I won't believe it.
But if it's true,
You can see it with your eyes,
Oh, even in the dark;
And that's where I want to be!

Go get your shovel,
And we'll dig a deep hole
To bury the castle, bury the castle!
Go get your shovel
And we'll dig a deep hole
To bury the castle, bury the castle!

And as Pinkie Pie finished the last words, she began shaking me hard. “Pinkamena Diane Pie! What’s up with you?!” I cried.

“Alberto, I think Pinkie is trying to tell you that Donita has been attempting suicide because you left her,” said Derpy. “While you were away in Syldavia, she was with your child, and had been contemplating abortion and suicide after you ran away.”

“But didn’t she want a divorce back then??” I wondered.

“She regrets having done so,” said Pinkie. “Princess Twilight and I have been spending the last two nights counselling and consoling her. She only found out that she was with child, like, last week; and it’s YOUR child too. You need to learn to bury the castle.”

“And who IS that prince you speak of, whom you said came to save Donita?!” I cried. “I don’t care whether or not she wants a divorce, but I for one will NEVER let nopony touch no hair on my woman’s head!”

“She was seduced by Jose Nerarondine,” said Pinkie. “And she ….”

“WHAT?!! Seduced by Jose Nerarondine?!!!” I screamed. “Was that BEFORE or AFTER she was found to be with child???”

“Before,” said Pinkie, “but what are you….”

“No time to waste!” I screamed. “I’m on my way to see Donita right this minute before it’s too late! COME WITH ME EVERYPONY!”

I mounted Snails and cried out, “Giddy up! We’re homeward bound!” Snails neighed loudly and began to gallop off in the direction of Don Ferrando’s residence, which was in the outskirts of the city. The other ponies, including Pinkie, followed us.

* * *

PRINCESS TWILIGHT SPARKLE: I had been trying repeatedly to console Donita and her family after Alberto ran away to Syldavia. It was a matter of time before I realised that they were a rich mestizo family, and hence very stuck-up in nature especially towards “pure” Amerindians like Alberto.

Breaking point came when Don Ferrando went bankrupt — exactly three days after Alberto’s departure — and was forced to sell his manor and move to live in a humble three-room apartment with his two spouseless, childless adult children.

All three of them kept blaming Alberto for causing this horrific loss. Indeed Don Ferrando kept persuading Donita to “not just separate from your husband; divorce him utterly!”; he even got divorce papers on his daughter’s behalf. But Donita was by no means ready for that yet; she kept telling her father that she needed “time to think it over”.

It was on one such night that I flew into Don Ferrando’s bedroom window just as he was writing things down at his desk by his window sill.

“Don Ferrando lo Pescadoro?” I said.

“Si,” replied Don Ferrando, “who are you and what can I do for you?”

“My name’s Twilight, and I heard all about what you’ve been going through,” I said to Don Ferrando. “I mean, I remember you as a rich man. How did you end up like this?”

“Not for you to know,” said Don Ferrando, turning to go to the restroom.

“Well,” I said, “what if I told you I have a solution for you to get back all you once had — and many times over at that?”

Don Ferrando turned around. “Indeed!” he said, certainly sounding sarcastic, as he walked back to his desk. “Tell me more.”

“Right then, Don Ferrando,” I said, “I’ll tell you more as requested. Please listen, and don’t lose your cool, because this could be your one and only chance.”

Don Ferrando grunted under his breath. “Si,” he said.

I looked the venerable 80-year-old businessman in his eye and sang to him, in a poetic manner — hoping to avoid offending him at all costs.

You think you own whatever land you land on.
The earth is just some dead thing you can claim.
But I know every rock and tree and creature,
Has a life, and a spirit, and a name.

You think the only people who are “people”,
Are people who walk and think like you.
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger,
You’ll learn things you never knew, you never knew.

Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon,
Or ask the grinning bug just why he grins?
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountain?
Can you paint with all the colours of the wind?

Come! Run the winding pathways in the forest,
And taste the sunsweet berries of the earth.
Come roll in all the riches of the ponies,
And for once never wonder what they’re worth.

The rainstorm and the river are my brothers,
The heron and the otter are my friends.
And we are all connected to each other,
In a circle, in this hoop that never ends.

Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon,
Or let the eagle tell you where he’s been?
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountain?
Can you paint with all the colours of the wind?

How high does a sycamore grow?
If you cut it down, then you’ll never know!

And you’ll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moon,
Or whether you are white or copper skinned.
You need to sing with all the voices of the mountain,
You need to paint with all the colours of the wind!

You can own this earth and still
All you’ll own is earth until
You can paint with all the colours of the wind.

While I was singing those words to Don Ferrando, I saw Donita peek into the room; apparently Don Ferrando had left his door ajar.

“Muchas gracias,” said Don Ferrando. “Now I think we’ve had quite enough of that nonsense. You may go now, por favor.”

I flew away into oblivion from the old man’s sight; but nevertheless I continued observing him from a distance, using my horn. So I kind of knew what was happening on his end.

I saw Donita come into the room and ask her father, “Papa, how come you were talking with Princess Twilight?”

“Who’s Princess Twilight?” Don Ferrando retorted. “I don’t know such a person.”

“Well, who was that purple unicorn you were talking to just now?” Donita persistently asked.

“You must be dreaming, daughter,” said Don Ferrando. “You clearly are still not over Alberto. Have you not already signed the divorce papers I handed you yesterday?”

“Papa, if you don’t believe me, take a look at this,” said Donita. She produced her phone and showed something to her father. Now I knew what had happened — Donita had either photo- or videographed me singing to her father; thus making my life easier…. she now had some tangible evidence.

Don Ferrando was looking at her daughter’s phone in great amazement, his mouth gaping. “So you actually had the AUDACITY to come and secretly video me?!” he yelled, turning around and slapping the poor girl hard on the face.

“Papa!” cried Donita. “Control yourself, por favor!”

“Get out!” shrieked Don Ferrando, his face going red.

“Papa, you’ve got to ….” began Donita.

“AAAAUUGGGHHHHH!!!!!” Don Ferrando just managed to scream — purple with rage.

BONK! Don Ferrando struck Donita’s smartphone to the floor. SLAM! The room door slammed shut behind Donita as she walked back to her room in tears.

The die was cast, the seeds were planted. Now the ball was more or less entirely in Don Ferrando’s court, as to how he would handle this situation.

And it did work out well in the end. The following day, Don Ferrando called together his son Napoleone and his daughter Donita for a family meeting.

“You already know how bad a situation we are in,” he said. “We’ve never been as desperate as we are now. Alvaro is also dead. We need someone who can bring us back to where we once enjoyed that love and life. And hence, I have decided to let Alberto Garcia come back to our family.”

“You’re not serious, Papa?!” cried Napoleone. “You’re getting that jinx back after what he did to my one and only son?!!”

“Bro, Alberto is NOT a jinx!” argued Donita. “You don’t anyhow malign him!”

“No way!” yelled Napoleone. “You wait till you marry him and your offspring will die equally horrible deaths!”

“BASTA!!” screamed Don Ferrando. Napoleone and Donita stopped fighting.

“I am the patriarch here,” said Don Ferrando. “I hence expect EVERYONE in this family to listen to and comply with whatever I say!”

Silence followed for a moment.

“I will pass a message to Princess Twilight,” said Don Ferrando, “and get her to take it to Alberto. And Donita, don’t worry about your phone; I’ve bought you another more secure phone which you can use.”

I saw all of that through my horn. When I returned to Pescadoro Manor later, Don Ferrando passed me the message, and I flew over to Pinkie Pie and told her to make sure Alberto had come home safely.

* * *

ALBERTO: Upon my return to Donita’s, I hoped that me and my in-laws could start everything afresh from scratch.

Once more I moved in and brought in all my luggages; and Donita willingly allowed me to share her room, even in this small three-room apartment. My in-laws were happy that I had come back, and I voluntarily offered to help them restore back the glory they’d once had. I had, however, yet to find such a way to bring back that glory, and that would have to come with a particular talent. But what talent would be best?

I brought this up to my Mama when she came to visit us, and she suggested that we make our own Aymara quilts and sell them. “This is all part of our Aymara Indian culture,” Mama said. “These quilts are very distinctively our style. We simply make them, and once they sell like hot cakes, in no time at all you and your in-laws will be rich. Remember, Alberto, how when you were young I taught you how to make these quilts?”

“Si, Mama,” I said, a little skeptical about Mama’s traditional-mindedness.

“So I’m sure you know what to do,” smiled Mama, before she took her leave.

I was completely doubtful as to whether our ultra-old-fashioned quilts would EVER sell at all, even here in La Paz. I mean, now rich blankets and mattresses were the fashion; WHO would sleep on these retro quilts, even the poorest of the poor?

Nevertheless I decided to give this a go. Anything for the money, I thought. So I told my wife: “We’ll start by making Aymara quilts and putting them up for sale. Hopefully we can start a business with this.”

“Sure thing,” smiled Donita; she clearly had some faith in me.

Just then, two ponies flew to our room window — Derpy and Flash Sentry.

“Ah, you’ve finally come,” I said to them, as I stroked their manes.

“Good thing we did,” said Derpy; “for you have made a good start in this selling of quilts. However let us assure you that while you will be successful at this, you — as in you exclusively, Alberto — will be far more successful in another venture which will be coming soon.”

“Indeed!” I cried. “How did you know that?”

“I told them to pass you this message,” a high-pitched, familiar voice came from not far off; we turned and saw Pinkie Pie trotting into our room.

“How did you get inside here?” cried Donita.

“Don’t forget,” said Pinkie, “just now you forgot to close your front door. I followed Derpy and Flash here to make sure they passed you my message.”

“She really can tell the future, sweetie,” I said to Donita.

“Don’t be surprised,” replied Donita; “that’s why we call it her ‘Pinkie sense’. She may be quite gung-ho and all that, but she is also a prophetess and she’s all business when it comes to predicting the future.”

“One question though,” I went on. “What about Don Francisco Juan Perez? And what about the fact that La Paz is now under the governance of Taddeo Spettro?”

“That,” said Flash Sentry, “is going to be something we all have to put our heads together to think about.”

“Don’t worry,” Pinkie blurted out, “my insight tells me that you will defeat the forces of evil, and you will do so within a year at that.”

“Easier said than done, Senorita Pinkie!” I cried. “What have we on us now to defeat them?”

“Believe me,” said Pinkie, “you have more potential than you think, Alberto. And I am pretty sure you have the resources too. They are within you.”

“Pinkie, I believe we mentioned before that we need followers,” I said. “Why have we so few followers until now?”

“No, you have us,” said Pinkie. “And you have two more joining you guys in a couple of minutes.” She turned to Derpy and Flash Sentry. “Have you guys seen Pipsqueak and Featherweight?” she asked them.

“They should be on the way soon,” replied Derpy.

And within a few minutes, two young colts — a pegasus and an earth pony — came galloping up to our front door. I ran to the door with Donita to welcome them.

“I’m Featherweight,” said the pegasus colt, who had ivory fur and a brown mane.

“And I’m Pipsqueak,” said the earth pony colt, who had a white coat and a dark brown mane and a patch on one eye. “We understand that you are looking for followers?”

“You bet I am!” I cried. “Welcome! Come on in!”

The two colts followed me into the flat. Just then, Papa Ferrando came out of his room; he had been napping the whole afternoon. “What’s going on?” he asked. “And who are these caballos?”

“Papa Ferrando, these are my pony amigos,” I said to him; “and they’re also Donita’s pony amigos. They have come to help us to bring our business back to where it was before.”

“Indeed!” said Papa Ferrando. “I am the person in charge. Come, caballos; have a cup of aguardiente.” He poured them the drinks — and one extra cup too. “Papa Ferrando, what’s the extra cup for?” I wondered, out of sheer curiosity.

Papa Ferrando took a deep breath, and then took me aside. “Come to my room now Alberto, I want to talk to you,” he said.

I followed Papa Ferrando into his room. “Yes, Papa Ferrando?” I asked.

“Alberto, you may not know this,” said Papa Ferrando, his face looking serious, “but I have seen a lot of good in you. I was just never able to tell you up front because I was afraid my family would lose face — mainly because you do come from a poor family yourself. Allow me to offer you my most humble apologies.” He offered me the cup and knelt down as he did so.

“Papa, don’t do that, por favor,” I pleaded; “it’s not right for you to be begging me, your son-in-law, like that.”

“Just accept the cup,” ordered Papa Ferrando. Knowing he meant business, I gently took the cup from his hand. “Muchas gracias, Papa Ferrando,” I replied. Then I drank it up.

“You may want to laugh,” said Papa Ferrando, rising to his feet, “but me and my family have been life-long bronies. We have actually loved los caballos for the longest time. It is good that I have a son-in-law like you — you are the perfect son who can take forth our business to the next generation. I know you still hate me deep within because of what happened regarding that big loss, but don’t worry, we have found out who is responsible.” He turned and walked toward the window and gazed outside. “My own biological son, Napoleone, was entirely responsible. I found out that he had been splurging the money away at nightclubs in Chaco.”

“Oh,” I said.

“One more thing,” said Papa Ferrando, turning back to face me and putting his hand on my shoulder. “Our future is now entirely dependent on you and your ponies. Por favor, bring our business back to where it was before. You and you alone have the key to what we can do. I’m counting entirely on you now, my son.”

I choked back a sob. I knew Papa Ferrando was sincere, but there again I thought he might have missed the point — I was practically, if not totally, a greenhorn in the business field; I knew no other business except to do my own cultural Aymara quilts for commissions, which I had been taught by Mama since I was a boy — so how could Papa Ferrando be telling me this all of a sudden??

Nevertheless I knew the only alternative was to accept, so I said yes. “Si, Papa Ferrando,” I said, a little grudgingly.

“You may go and join your ponies in your room,” said Papa Ferrando.

I went back to my room to see the ponies and to discuss how things could be taken one step further with regard to this business….