Occult Rising

After what seemed like and eternity, Dash began to wake up.

"Mom? Mom, are you okay? How many fingers am I holding up?" Wind asked as she held up her middle and index finger in front of her mother's face.

Dash looked closely and blinked several times before answering.

"Two, and yea, I'm fine. Just a little groggy." Dash said.

She looked awful. Her rainbow hair was frizzled and had a patch of dried blood in it.

"Mom, what happened up there?" Wind asked.

Dash shook her head to clear her thoughts. That's when it hit her.

"Jet! He's gone. They took him." She said.

"We know mom. But, who's they?" Wind asked.

Her mother looked at her with sad eyes for a minute before getting up and walking back upstairs. After a couple minutes, she came back down carrying a large leather bound book. She sat down on the couch and opened the book.

"This is a book filled with legends. But, as your father and I have learned, they're not all just legends." Dash said as she flipped through the pages.

She stopped on one and showed the page to Wind. She looked it over and gasped.

"Is this true?" Wind asked.

Dash nodded.

"What is it Windy?" Applespice asked.

Dash looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"It's a legend that talks about a cult of dark magic wielding unicorns that believed one day a special pony would be bestowed upon them to fulfill their greatest prophecy." Dash said.

"What's the prophecy?" Applespice asked.

"On the turn of the century, a pony that has the ability of flight and the magic of dark will descend from the sky to bestow upon them the greatest of gifts." Dash replied.

"What did they believe would happen?" Applespice asked.

"It doesn't say. It just says that it will make them more powerful than anyone else in all of Equestria." Dash said.

"So, they think Jet is that pony?" Applespice asked.

"Yes. My guess is that they will perform the ritual on the Ides of March. That's the closest date that will grant them the most power to perform the ritual." Dash replied.

"What's the ritual?" Applespice asked.

Wind broke down into tears.

"They're going to overload his body with dark energy until he burns away. They think he's their god trapped in a pony's body. They think that if they release him from his earthly prison, they'll be given more power than anyone could ever hope to fight against." Dash said as she hugged her daughter.

"Well, if they plan to do it on the Ides of March, that gives us three days to find him. We've had tighter deadlines." Applespice said as he got up and kneeled down in front of Wind.

He put his finger under her chin and lifted her face.

"Now where's the brave, strong, and iron-willed girl I fell in love with?" Applespice asked.

Wind smiled and wiped her face.

"Let's do this. Mom, grab our swords. We got a cult to find." Wind said as she hopped up and headed to her room to change.

"I'm going to get cleaned up first, Wind. I look like hell." Dash said as she followed her daughter up the stairs.

"Right. Okay, get cleaned up, then grab our swords." Wind replied.