Lapis Lazuli: Butterfly Magic

Chapter 1: A Princess Takes Wing

Once upon a time hidden away from human eyes, there lived a tiny kingdom called Jewel Meadow. It was the home of many lovely and colorful butterflies. The kingdom was ruled by three queens, royal sisters who watched over their land and subjects. Their names were Yellow Diamond, Blue Diamond, and Pink Diamond.

And Blue Diamond, the middle child had just been given the most wonderful of gifts. The egg that she had exhaustively laid had now hatched and her new baby was born. The larva was sky blue with a tuft of ocean blue hair on her head. The eight, tiny nubs for legs didn't provide much mobility for her and all she could do was wail for her mother as she helplessly wriggled like a worm. And just like clockwork, the new mother rushed to her side.

"There there, darling." the queen hushed her child. "I'm here."

Her two sisters came to get a look at the newest addition to the royal family.

"Look at her." Yellow Diamond said. "What a beautiful specimen."

"Isn't she just precious?" Pink Diamond squealed. "What's her name going to be?"

"I think I'll name her: Lapis Lazuli." Blue Diamond answered.

Lapis was still crying a little bit which indicated to her mother that the larva was hungry. So the blue butterfly queen started to feed her baby some of her milk. All caterpillars hatched hungry and needed to feed on as much butterfly milk as they could.

For the next two weeks, the three queens made sure that Lapis had all the milk she needed to build up fat. Soon, she'll be cocooned and she'll feed off that fat during her dormancy.

By the end of the two weeks, the immature princess had gotten rather plump and was getting very sleepy. It was definitely a sign that it was time for her cocooning process. In the east tower of the castle, the royal attendants started wrap Lapis in a papery material that made up the chrysalis that hung from the ceiling. Blue Diamond gave her daughter a quick goodnight kiss as the caterpillar fell into a deep sleep and the last of her body was wrapped up snug as a bug. It would be eight days before Lapis would emerge as a young butterfly.

The eight days were just about up when a butterfly scout came to the queens with some unsettling news.

"Your Majesties!" she said anxiously. "A swarm of hornets is coming in from the west! They'll reach Jewel Meadow any minute!"

The three sisters gasped, fearing that the still dormant could be a target.

"Alert the guards." Queen Yellow Diamond ordered. "Tell them to be ready to defend this kingdom."

"Right away." the scout saluted before flying off.

The butterflies had many natural enemies such as birds and cats. But, hornets were just as much of a threat, maybe even the worst enemy of all. Although they were roughly the same size as butterflies, their numbers were their greatest strength. Hornets always traveled in swarms and overwhelmed the butterflies greatly. Sometimes, hornets would lay eggs in cocoons with growing butterflies still inside or pick off grown butterflies to eat.

But as dangerous as hornets were, the butterflies were prepared to defend each other and their home. The butterfly guards charged at the invading swarm with stick spears in hand, keeping the hornets from attacking the more vulnerable butterflies. Just then, seven hornets broke away from the larger swarm and headed towards the castle of the three sisters.

"Some of them are heading for the east tower!" one of the guards alerted the butterfly queens.

"Oh no!" Queen Blue Diamond gasped. "Lapis' chrysalis is in that tower!"

She and her sisters headed to the east tower immediately, only to find the seven hornets crawling all over the cocoon to their great dismay. If those parasites laid their eggs inside the chrysalis now, Lapis would be a goner. Urgently, the three royal sisters used their magic to dispel the dirty bugs. Soon they were repelled, the whole swarm fell back and fled from Jewel Meadow.

"The swarm is in full retreat!" the royal guards cheered, the other butterflies following suite.

"Good riddance." Yellow Diamond sighed with relief.

"And not a moment too soon." Pink Diamond added. "I believe Lapis is due to emerge from her chrysalis any second."

The queens waited for the young princess to burst out and grace her family with her new wings, but the chrysalis was as still as stone. Blue Diamond feared that the hornets may have gotten to her daughter after all. She put her ear up to the egg case and could the steady breathing of her child inside, which alleviated any worry she had.

The blue queen turned to her sisters and said smugly, "I think somebody's gotten a little too comfortable in there."

It wasn't uncommon for young butterflies to sleep in when it was time to emerge from their cocoons. Thankfully, there was an easy fix to that situation.

The three queens gathered around the chrysalis and started scribbling their fingers across its papery surface. The goal was to tickle the slumbering princess awake so that she would burst out of her cocoon.

"Coochie coochie coo." Pink Diamond teased.

A small muffled laugh came from the chrysalis as it started to shake. Two small blue hands burst from the bottom of the cocoon as Lapis wriggled out the papery confines. She fell out still laughing and onto the pile of pillows on the floor laid out by her mother. The child was no longer a fat larva, but a young and beautiful butterfly with gorgeous (yet shriveled) baby blue wings.

Blue Diamond was the first to approach the pillow nest as Lapis looked up at her with blurry eyes.

"Mommy?" the blue princess said as her vision fell into focus.

"Yes, my darling." her mother said. "Look at you. You're so beautiful."

Lapis wanted to get up and give her a hug, but she wasn't used to walking yet, let alone stand on two feet. Her legs gave out from under the moment she first tried. Thankfully, Blue Diamond was there to help her little girl find her feet. The blue queen waited a few minutes until the child was strong enough to stand on her own.

And then, her two sisters came to help young Lapis straighten her new wings as her body pumped fluids to fan them out. With her wings shimmering in all their glory, the little princess was ready to take her first flight. She held her mother's hands as she fluttered her wings with everything she had. The little blue butterfly suddenly got scared as her feet started to lift off the ground.

"It's okay, sweetie." Queen Blue assured her daughter. "I'm right here."

Aided by her mother, Lapis figured out how to fly pretty quickly. And soon, she was confident enough to let go of the queen's hands and fly on her own.

However, she accidently hit her head on the hanging light and fell. Luckily, the pillow nest broke her fall; but the young butterfly still hurt her head and started to cry.

Immediately, Blue Diamond came to console her sobbing child until she calmed down.

"Shhhh, there there; sweetheart." the blue queen hushed Lapis' cries. "You need to be more careful when you're flying, especially you're a beginner. But, I won't let anything in this world hurt you."

This was nothing compared to what those hornets could've done if they weren't dispelled. The big world out there was full of all kinds dangers to a young butterfly. It was nightmare inducing just for Queen Blue to think about losing her only daughter to all the perils she could list. That's why she was going to do everything in her power to keep anything bad from happening to her sacred child.