//------------------------------//
// Of Chaos, Mothers, and Love 
// Story: Urohringr 
// by Imploding Colon 
//------------------------------//

	"Our Mother..."  The face of Applejack quivered under lanternlight.  The changeling shifted back in her chains, curling away from Rainbow Dash.  "...she is everywhere.  She is in all of us..."

"Who, Chrysalis?" Rainbow leaned forward with an inquisitive gaze.  "Or Tchern?"

"No..."  Applejack shook her head.  "Not the Night Mother.  She waits on the dark side for her beloved sister to return."  She gulped.  "And return with strength and glory."

Rainbow Dash blinked.  "So it is Chrysalis who I met."  She rubbed her fuzzy chin, then twitched.  "Wait... wait.  'Return with strength and glory?'  You mean Chrysalis is trying to return to the other side of the plane?"

"She can't yet... we can't yet," Applejack buried her freckles into her forelimbs.  "There ain't enough power.  There ain't enough misery..."

"For what?"

"It's all too much, sugarcube..."

"Hey..."  Rainbow reached forward and gently grasped the pair of orange hooves before her.  "Look at me."  She held her ground as the moist green eyes looked her way.  "It's okay to tell me.  What is Chrysalis making her brood devour misery for?"

Applejack sniffled.  "We must be strong.  We must have a heapin' helpin' of might if we're to help the Night Mother win the War."

Rainbow's lips pursed.  "What War?"

The changeling's black exoskeleton showed for a moment, then waxed back to fuzzy orange.  "Why, the Trinary War, sugarcube."

Rainbow Dash could only blink at that.  She turned to look back at Aatxe, but the stallion could only shrug.

"Mother's been feedin' and feedin'..."  Applejack shuddered into the lamplight.  "Xona was mighty easy for us to get our vittles.  But now it's time to fall back..."

"Fall back to where?"

"We would have gone west, but Mother changed her mind.  There was nothin' left for her brood to feed on there."

"West...?" Aatxe murmured.  "West, where?"

Rainbow raised her hoof to silence him.  She craned her neck the changeling's way.  "Why was going west no longer an option?"

"There was no point in exploitin' the peace," Applejack stammered.  "Chaos consumed harmony all on its lonesome.  Mother sensed it, and her children out in the field witnessed it first hoof.  It was a famished land, no longer worth the trouble.  But..."

Rainbow gulped.  "But what..."

The mare looked up with teary eyes.  "Mother sensed that Chaos was comin' her way.  If she just had us wait where we were, then the final ingredient would saddle up to the table in Xona."  She choked back on a sob.  "We got all that we needed, sugarcube.  Death... pain... misery.  It all worked out as Mother intended it."

Rainbow Dash was silent.  She stood up and paced between the bricklaid walls, staring down at her hooves.

Aatxe stared at her worriedly.

"Don't be mad, darlin'..."  Applejack smiled painfully, rolling over to her side and rattling the chains.  "Mother knows all.  She chained the mighty Divine of Magic.  She carved a continent in two.  All falls into place with her plan, for she is beautiful and godlike."

"But not very merciful..." Rainbow muttered to the wall.

Applejack shivered.  "Why... sh-should she be?  She is a powerful and wise Mother..."

"And she cares for her children because she feeds you guys, right?"

The changeling shook its head.

"Tell me..."  Rainbow Dash slid down onto her hooves and grasped the changeling's forelimbs.  "Look at me and t-tell me..."  She gulped and reached forward with a trembling hoof, ultimately caressing Applejack's cheek.  Her voice cracked, "Have you ever been fed like th-this?"

Applejack gazed up into Rainbow's eyes with a trembling muzzle.  Slowly, her orange coat turned darker, and her long blonde mane was replaced with a violet swath of hair.  "No..." Scootaloo whimpered, shaking her head.  "No... never..."  Tears fell from her violet eyes in little green bursts.  "It's too much... f-far too much..."

Rainbow Dash clenched her jaw tight.  "What kind of a Mother would rob her child of this?"

The changeling was at a loss for words.  Scootaloo's legs curled to her chest and she collapsed with bitter sobs.  Rainbow reached forward and held the petite thing close, weathering its sobs as it surrendered to her embrace.

With a cold exhale, Rainbow gazed into the torchlight beyond.  "I don't know about you, kiddo, but I'm starting to realize why it is that Tchern—the Night Mother—kicked out her sister."  She turned and glanced back at Aatxe's nervous figure.  She patted Scootaloo's back.  "One of the former alicorns had its priorties right, and the other didn't."

"B-But she wants to end the Trinary War!"  Scootaloo's muffled voice whimpered.  "She has to!  She loves the Night Mother!"

"Then tell me..."  Rainbow Dash held Scootaloo back, staring at her tear-stained face.  "Why doesn't she love you?"

Scootaloo bit her lip, gazing nervously at the floor.

"Look at me."  Rainbow Dash tilted her head up.  "You said that Chrysalis has now pulled back.  She couldn't go west.  So... where did she go?"

Scootaloo sniffled, then glanced down at her curled forelimbs.  "Val Roa."

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow.  "Val Roa...?"  A blink, and she turned back at Aatxe.

He was already clearing his throat.  "It's... a... It's a kingdom far east of here," he said.  "Dead center of one of the Shattered Continents."

"You've been there?" Rainbow asked.

"No."  Aatxe shook his head.  "But anyone who's done trading as far west as Alafreo has heard about it."

"Lemme guess..."  Rainbow Dash's ears folded atop a lethargic expression.  "They're ravaged daily by war as well..."

Aatxe's face contorted with a grimace.  "Heck no!  At least..."  He fidgeted.  "It wasn't around seventeen years ago when I was still flying!  The place is the last bastion of civilization before the Grand Choke, after all.  It'd be a shame for them to get involved in a petty conflict!"

"The Grand Choke..."  Rainbow Dash murmured.

"But... but if this 'Chrysalis' character weaseled her way inside..."

Rainbow Dash turned towards Scootaloo.  "Do you know what your Mother is doing in Val Roa?"

Scootaloo bit her lip and shook her head.

Rainbow's nostrils flared.  "She impersonated Princess Lasairfion in Xona.  Is she going to do the same in this eastern kingdom?"  Her eyes narrowed.  "To wreak havoc and chaos?"

"There is much... much misery left to feed on," Scootaloo said.  "All th-that's needed is to bring the prison there to contain the vessels."

"The prison?"

"Rainbow Dash..."

The pegasus glanced back at Aatxe.

"This place," he said softly.  "Chrysalis needs this place."

"Yeah, no kidding."  Rainbow frowned.  "But how can she expect to move Stratopolis?  It's not like she's related to any of the ancient pegasi who—"  Her ruby eyes widened.  A pale sweat formed along her brow.  She turned towards Scootaloo.  "Your Mother wanted me to be here for a reason, didn't she?"

Scootaloo squeaked, "Chaos is the quickest way for Mother to feed us..."

"Look at me..."  Rainbow Dash caressed the filly's mane and leaned forward.  "Do I really... really strike you as an agent of chaos?"

Scootaloo blinked.  A tear rolled down her cheek, and she smiled.  Sniffling, she leaned in, nuzzled Rainbow Dash's chest, and looked up.  She smiled again.