A lone warrior stood injured, a broken blade clenched in his teeth, surrounded by countless of his insectoid brethren. The cavernous battleground was littered with the dead or unconscious, but more and more continued to swarm him. The warrior, clad in scratched, cracked, and broken armor, stood defiant against the oppressive force of hundreds led by a single tall, slender figure. She commanded them as both a general and a mother. They were her hive.
Queen Chrysalis observed as changeling after changeling were batted aside or struck down at the hooves of the traitor. Before her stood a disgusting hybrid of Changeling and Dragon; a creature with the overall appearance of a lesser changeling, but sprouting veined, leather-like wings as opposed to insect wings and a pony-length tail covered in scales. The fin on the top of his head stretched from his curved horn to the top of his neck. His eyes, green rather than the natural changeling blue, darted around in every direction tracking every movement around him and adjusting accordingly to keep from taking any more blows. Toxic Haze was a smear in her swarm of pure-blooded changeling children, an unsightly grease-stain on an otherwise flawless tablecloth, and one that she would be sure to rub out come Tartarus or high water.
Her hive numbers, however, were beginning to dwindle. Haze's dragon blood gave him incredible endurance even after all the punishment his body had taken, and his raw strength was greater than that of a pure-bred changeling. Soon he would completely exterminate the hive, decimating the entire population of the only known changeling hive in Equestria. Thinking drastically, Chrysalis decided that it was time to act, if only to retain the few children she had left. She waved a commanding, perforated hoof through the air signaling the hive to stand down. Hesitantly and with confused expressions, they complied.
"You are more difficult to rub out than I had anticipated, Stain." the Queen spoke down to him as she approached. Haze didn't budge, keeping his glare on her tall form. "You have fought through all of my changelings and still you stand before me, defiant as when my gaze was first soiled by your image. Your father was much more simple to be rid of, cowering in his cave while we hunted him down to his last shaking breath." She smirked as the hybrid's eyes shot daggers at her.
"As much as I'd like to see my swarm pull you to pieces, though," she continued, stepping forward. "You've cut down their numbers more than enough. It's time to finish this."
The Changeling Queen reared up on her hind legs, preparing to pummel the life out of Haze once and for all. The changelings began to swarm around them, flying in close to the changeling-dragon to distract his attention at the main threat. He stood as still as a statue, his broken sword still clenched in his teeth, waiting for the Hivemother to strike. He knew that, in his current state of injury and exhaustion, he didn't have the strength to repel the brunt of the attack. He'd be knocked to the ground with relatively little force and beaten into a bloody sludge. Knowing that, Haze stared down his opponent with the full intent of going down fighting.
Chrysalis began her powerful descent on his head, her chitinous hooves ready for bloodshed. Today would be the day that Toxic Haze, disgrace of the changelings, would be no more. She smiled at the thought, quickly turning it into a grimace of hatred. Haze prepared himself for what would most definitely come next, accepting his fate as defiantly as ever.
Time seemed to slow down after that. Before the Queen had even come close to connecting, the far wall of the cavern exploded inward sending chunks of shattered stone in all directions. Several changelings were caught by the flying debris, knocked unconscious from the impact, while the blinding glare of the sun shone through the newly created hole in the wall, disorienting all those out of the line of fire of the large chunks of rock and stone. Inside the glare, casting a shadow upon the scene, were two pony-shaped silhouettes. Toxic Haze squinted, trying to make out the identities of the two, but the bright light against his eyes made it impossible.
The Queen, distracted by the explosion, turned to glare at the two figures masked by the blinding light. Haze took the opportunity to strike and rushed forward, quickly closing the distance between himself and his Hivequeen. He raised his head, preparing to cut through the chitinous exoskeleton of his opponent with the dulled edge of his broken sword and finally finish the battle. Before he could bring his blade down he was struck in the head by a large piece of rocky debris. His helmet absorbed most of the impact, but it was still enough to send his mind reeling.
Toxic Haze crumpled to the ground, his balance failing and his vision darkening. The last thing he heard before it all went black was the sound of raw magic being cast and the pained yelp of the bug queen.
Then, nothing.
Pain greeted Haze as he awoke. His wings ached, his head throbbed, his limbs were sore, and he was pretty sure that at least one of his teeth had been chipped. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a clean, lightly decorated room. The walls were plain white with golden swirls surrounding the large windows, a small bookshelf sat in one corner and a table and two chairs in another. Examining his more immediate area, the Dragon-ling discovered that he was sitting in a mildly sizable bed. A light puffy pillow was situated behind his head and a sheet and comforter were draped over his lower half.
"What the..." Haze mumbled, picking himself up from the bed. A sharp pain leapt up his right foreleg as he tried to move it. Looking down, he saw that it was hanging from a sling around his neck. Great, he thought. Glancing around the room again, he wondered aloud to himself.
"Where am I?"
Chapter 1: The First Night
The morning had progressed, as did Haze's discoveries of more aches and pains throughout his body. He was covered from horn to tail in bruises, bandaged in various places, his quite possibly broken leg in a sling, and he had the headache of the century. His magic was usable yet weak and made his head throb even harder every time he attempted to use it. He'd decided to stay in the bed he awoke in to keep from hurting anything any further until somepony came to check on him. Eventually, after the third or fourth attempt to levitate a book over from the shelf across the room, the large door gently clicked open. A snow white earth pony mare with deep blue eyes poked her head in, glancing across the room to the bed and smiling at the sight of the figure sitting up and staring back.
"Oh good, you're awake!" The mare happily exclaimed, pushing the door farther open to reveal a cart full of medical supplies. "You were starting to give some of us a scare. We didn't think you'd be out this long."
The mare trotted in, pulling the cart in with her, and set to work changing the bandages and wrappings and cleaning wounds that populated Haze's body, taking special care not to bend anything the wrong way or worsen healing injuries. Her patient stayed still for the most part, making the chore go by quickly and with little incident. With his injuries cleaned and freshly patched up, Haze thanked the mare for her work.
"You're very welcome," she replied, smiling and moving the tools, bandages, and other medical supplies back onto her cart. "Just make sure to stay in bed and rest. If you absolutely have to get up and move around, please make sure to keep that leg of yours safe." the nurse gestured to his broken limb. "Don't want it to get any worse than it is."
He nodded, adjusting his sling a little. "I'll remember that, thanks."
With that, the nurse was out the door and down the hall with her cart full of medical supplies. Haze leaned back in the bed, rotating his leg and wincing at the slight sharp pains. He considered getting up and exploring the place, but was already starting to feel drowsy again. Sighing, he plopped his head down on the pillow and drifted back to sleep. He'd could take a walk later, and maybe find out just where in Equestria he had ended up.
The moon was high in the sky when Toxic Haze woke again, it's pale light shining through the windows giving the room a sort of surreal look. The city outside was caked in moonlight and slow-moving shadows cast by the sparse clouds floating overhead. Insects buzzed around the dim streetlamps while bats swooped in and out of view, catching their meals as they swarmed around the lights. The sky was mostly clear and full of billions and billions of stars glistening beautifully in the night.
He had to stop and marvel at the sheer number of stars there were in the sky. Even in the land of his hive where there were no city lights or tall buildings, even on the clearest night, he had never seen this many stars outside at once. Even the moon hid its face from his homeland. Yet here they were. The great orb in the sky that was the moon and the countless shimmering stars welcoming him into their domain.
"A most wonderful sight, is it not?"
Haze's attention jerked back to his room and he jumped back a few feet in surprise, spinning to face the source of the voice and dropping into an attack stance, wincing slightly at the pain still emanating from his joints.
A tall, dark pony stood next to where he had been standing, looking over at him with a small smile on her face and an amused gleam in her eye. Her mane, a dark, translucent blue, flowed freely from her head and neck, billowing unceasingly in an invisible wind. A long, thin horn protruded from her forehead, glowing faintly in the darkness. It gave off just enough light to be able to make out the objects draped in shadow. The contours of her face were lightly visible, but any eye-catching features remained hidden. Her teal eyes shone through the dark, and a shifting at her sides revealed the presence of wings. Toxic Haze was in the presence of an alicorn.
His initial shock wearing off, Haze straightened himself and stood normally. The alicorn smiled at him though the dark.
"It was not in our intentions to startle you so, Changeling. My apologies." Her voice carried a hint of amusement. "Though it was most amusing."
Haze's eyes glanced over the form in front of him again. If his teachings of Equine hierarchy were correct, this was someone very important. Under different circumstances, the pony in front of him would be a valued prisoner or target. However, under his own circumstances, this was just the individual he knew could help answer some of his questions.
"Forgive us our unmannerly behavior. We wished only to see how well you were coming along." She said, chuckling briefly. "We didn't expect you to still be awake."
Catching his stare, she took a more official stance. "I am Princess Luna, Regent of the Night and Defender of Dreams. How might we be of service?"
Several seconds of silence passed while Haze contemplated all of the questions he had before settling on the most obvious to ask first.
"Where am I?"
The Princess smiled. "You are in the city of Canterlot, the heart of the Equestrian kingdom."
Something in his mind caught on the name, but he didn't quite know why. Next question.
"How did I get here?"
"My sister and I brought you here after we settled our... issue with your queen, Chrysalis. We had discovered you had put up quite a fight against her and her children, and any enemy of the changelings may be a friend of ours. We merely wish to speak with you, but that can wait until morning comes. You were badly wounded so we ordered that you be brought here and your injuries be mended before we ask anything of thee."
Ah, yes. There had been two figures he had seen before losing consciousness. "What's your sister's name?" he asked curiously.
Again, Princess Luna smiled. "She is Celestia, 'leading' princess of Equestria. Though, personally, I feel we would make a far better ruler on occasion." She winked and chuckled. "I jest, of course. We learned our lesson the first time."
Haze smiled at that, though didn't quite know what the princess in front of him was referring to. Instead, his thoughts were still focused on the city name. It rung in his mind in an annoyingly peculiar way. Canterlot... Why does that name sound so familiar? After a moment of heavy thought, it clicked in his mind. Canterlot was the city that his hive had invaded not long ago. His own queen had tried to usurp the throne during the wedding of one of the lesser alicorns. Had he been present in the invasion, there was a chance that the outcome would have been very different. Knowing that, his final question seemed incredibly obvious to him.
"Why did you save me?"
Luna cocked her head at that. "Pardon?"
"Why did you save me back there?" the changeling-dragon repeated. "I may have fought my entire hive off defending myself, but I could just as easily still be a changeling at heart. Why did you and your sister feel it was necessary to bring me here and heal me rather than let me die where I fell?"
The Princess shifted in thought, trying to come up with the best wording before giving up.
"We would suggest that you ask our sister when you speak to her. T'was her judgement that brought you here, after all. Truth be told, we were a bit surprised ourselves."
Haze nodded, his gaze falling back to the window. Once more, he became captivated by the sight of the city around him. The night was beginning to wane as the sun crept up on the horizon, the dim glow from the hiding celestial body beginning to reflect off of the countless windows from the towers and buildings across Canterlot. He had never seen anything like this while growing up in the Hive. The sky of this city was beautifully active.
As the moon made it's descent behind the distant mountains and the morning officially began, Luna spoke up. "We should be off to meet with our sister, Changeling. There are things we wish to discuss before our meeting with you." She made her way to the door, glancing back with a small smile. "We will send for you when your presence is needed."
And with that she was gone. Haze made his way back over to the bed in the corner of the room, his legs to aching from standing for so long. Climbing back up and situating himself under the covers he trained his gaze to the streets far below. The sun had risen far enough into the sky to signal the city-life to begin their day. The ponies below looked like little ants marching along the streets; the occasional pegasus flying low between buildings and homes delivering packages and mail and such. The deafening buzzing of the Hive was pleasantly absent from his ears, replaced instead by the distant early-morning bustling of daily life in Canterlot.
He stayed there for what felt like hours watching the ponies go about their lives. He counted the buildings within his line of vision, then all the glittering, shiny windows. The clouds in the sky caught his eye, seeing them being subtly formed into abstract shapes by more pegasi for those imaginative gazers down below. Haze tilted his head a little. Why do they have pegasi working the clouds? He wondered. Wouldn't it make more sense to leave the skies to their own methods?
His wondering was cut short as a loud knocking echoed through the room.
The door opened as he turned to find the source of the sound. Two white unicorn stallions in golden armor stood in the opening, both giving him a harsh glare. The three of them stood staring at each other before the stallion on the left finally spoke up.
"The Princesses will see you now. We will escort you to them." he stated, his voice just as harsh as his stare. The guards turned and, without waiting for Haze, started down the hall. As he scrambled to catch up to them, he had a sinking suspicion that he wasn't quite as welcomed here as he had thought.
Author's Note
Well, this too WAAAAYY longer than expected... I started up college in September, so I haven't had very much time to work on this as much as I would've liked to. I've also had to cope with some pretty annoying writers block when I did have time for it, as well as a recent spring of depression, so joy to everything 
~~Oh, and procrastination was another factor~~...
I apologize if this chapter is a little dry. I'm not exactly experienced/comfortable with things that aren't action scenes... but I'm not gonna stop here. This will be a learning experience for me and a (hopefully) entertaining story for you all!
Not to mention I volunteered to do this. Can't exactly just stop doing something you offered to do, can ya?
Reading back over it before I put it up I feel I messed things up already by introducing Luna to Haze so early, but I couldn't come up with anything that didn't interfere with other plans I had later on, and throwing him right into a meeting with the Princesses pretty much as soon as the story starts seems like it'd be too sudden to really make sense. I don't know, maybe I'm just over thinking things...
Also, I have this thing where I seem to go a little gratuitous with commas sometimes (at least, that's what I've been told). If you find commas (or lack thereof, since I'm paranoid now) in weird places, lemme know.
Anyway, hope to see you all in the next chapter (hopefully not too far from now)
(Also-x2: Was going to be longer, but I felt it just started dragging on and on farther than where one chapter should end and another should start. So, at the very least, I've got the next chapter started) 
