Princess Pupa (REWRITTEN)

Prologue

The lights in the maternity ward were a blinding white, with white walls and people of all colors in light teal nursing scrubs. Nurses were checking on new mothers, doctors were discussing the results of ultrasounds with anxious expectants, and midwives were caring for newborn children.

The hallway was deadly silent, save the occasional puncture from a baby's cry and the squeal of a squeaky cart wheel. It smelled strongly of rubbing alcohol, and that scent of hospitals that nobody can quite name.

Suddenly, the doors leading to the maternity ward burst open, with three nurses and a woman on a rolling bed headed to the birth room. One nurse was a woman with ebony skin and dark blue hair that fell in curls that reached her chest.

Another was an olive-skinned, Grecian man with curly black hair that was tied back in a low ponytail. The last one was another woman, but she had a short, silver pixie haircut. The woman on the bed was strikingly beautiful, with porcelain skin, sapphire eyes and curled, lavender locks. What the hospital staff didn't know was the beautiful woman was all a mirage.

What truly lay beneath her skin was a stark contrast to her disguise. Instead of the face of a china doll, her skin was darker than an obsidian knife. Her hair was a dark turquoise, straight and thin. Lime green eyes replaced sparkling gemstones, and her slit-like pupils were widened in pain from being in labor. Her frame was wire-thin, skinnier than a paper doll and prominent ribs showed through her skin.

Her name was Queen Chrysalis, and she was feared far and wide for sabotaging the Canterlot Wedding and kidnapping the royals around 20 years ago. She also had a reputation for torturing people in her Funhouse, the most famous being Specter and Luna Dusk, King Sombra, and a siren named Madrigal, and kidnapping their children, the Legacies.

Behind her and the bed, a handsome, muscular man with milky skin and black hair followed them through the maze of identical white hallways. He, too, was also operating under an illusion. Usually, he was an exact replica of Chrysalis, but with a shorter haircut and his skin was more olive than ebony. He appeared incredibly scared for the well-being of the woman on the bed, and was trembling so hard you could barely see defining features of his face.

His name was King Morpheus, Chrysalis's husband, and they ruled with equal power. However, he was very submissive to his wife. Anyone who dared to disobey her, or mock her, or even bring her toast without the crusts cut off, was immediately thrown into her Funhouse.

Morpheus kept muttering to himself, "It's okay. She'll be okay, you'll be okay." He seemed to be talking to reassure himself rather than his lover. After a few more minutes of speed walking, Chrysalis was pulled into a room and Morpheus immediately followed after, though after a few minutes it was clear his stress wasn't helping.

After the healthy dose of valium was distributed to a now mellower Morpheus, the birthing process began. Morpheus was in a daze for most of the night, but his haze was shattered about 5 hours later, when the cries of a newborn baby reached his ears. The doctor, cradling something Morpheus couldn't see, immediately rushed out of the room and down the hallway. Instead of following, he rushed to Chrysalis' side, who was lying limp in bed.

Her eyes sagged with exhaustion, her hair was a mess, and he could tell from the faint green aura surrounding her that she was barely keeping her illusion together. Unfortunately, Morpheus had no magic aside from his shapeshifting abilities to aid her. Sitting on the bed next to her, he offered her his hand and she took it, her touch feeble and weak. They sat for a few minutes in silence, hand in hand, side by side, until the doctor reappeared, holding a small bundle in his arms.

Slowly, he approached the couple, and Chrysalis struggled to hold out her arms in expectation. Slowly, he lowered the bundle into her arms, then left without a word. Chrysalis smiled at the little bundle, cooing and murmuring endearments. Morpheus leaned over to get a better look, and was immediately greeted with the sight of his newborn daughter.

She had hair like her mother's that riddled her head like dark teal fuzz, and her tiny wings glimmered like a rainbow kaleidoscope when they hit the light in a certain way. She had olive skin and a thin figure, but instead of bony limbs she was nice and muscular like her father. Chrysalis slowly stroked the beginnings of her hair with a perfectly manicured fingernail.

Morpheus was dumbstruck. "She's so beautiful..." he murmured. He looked to his wife, and leaning in close, shared a small kiss with her. Pulling away, he then bent down and pressed a tiny kiss against his child's forehead. He asked, "What will we name her?"

Queen Chrysalis looked down at her newborn daughter lovingly, and Morpheus knew she already had selected a name. "Pupa," she said softly, as not to wake their new daughter. "Princess Pupa of the Changeling Empire. Oh, you will be an amazing queen one day."