When no one answered his question, Bolt turned to the Emperor. “Titus, what just happened?”
Caesar Titus sat up. “Isn’t it obvious? Someone tried to kill me.”
“What?” Lightning Bolt rose from his couch. “Kill you? Why?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” One of the senators stood up. “For the past year, in the time that Titus has taken over, it’s been nothing but one disaster after another. First, Mt. Vesuvius buried Pompeii underneath hills of ash and fire. The fire from last night claimed many Roman homes and, if I heard correctly, there are rumors of a plague going through the city as we speak. The only good thing to come out of his reign is that you, Lord Jupiter, have come to us mortals.”
There was a murmur of agreement going around the room.
“That’s nonsense,” the pegasus spoke up. “Are you seriously blaming disasters on someone whose only crime is that he came in at the wrong time?”
“But King Jupiter,” another senator piped up, “the Emperor is the very father of Rome, and he is judged on how well he takes care of his citizens.”
“How does that have anything to do with the fire from last night?” Bolt questioned. “Do you really want to blame someone for an event that would have happened anyway, whether or not they were in charge?
“But isn’t it a sign from the gods that Titus should not be in power?” another senator stated. “For all we know, they could be warning us of another Nero in power.”
“How dare you.” Titus stood with anger in his voice. “How dare you compare me to that monster? Did none of you think that I did everything I could to keep this Empire safe and happy? Did I not show pity to the survivors of last year and the homeless of today, the very people who I have sacrificed the treasury to keep them from going hungry? Have I not commissioned more homes for both tragedies? What kind of Caesar do you all think that I am?”
“Who needs you now?” one of the survivors spoke up. “We have Jupiter himself now.”
“You mean the very same Jupiter that we all agreed to be insane?”
“Okay, everypony stop!” The pegasus took to the air in commanding voice. “I’ve already had enough of this! For the last time, I am not crazy! I didn’t ask to come here, or for anyone to worship me as a god, or to be thrown in to become Emperor! I never asked for any of this! All I wanted was to get back home, but what do I get? A city full of idiots that would blame their own leader over things that he has no control over! What are all of you, stupid? Give the guy a break. He’s doing the best he can with what he has.”
The crowd was left stunned by the end of the stallion’s rant. “Forgive us for offending you, Jupiter,” Senator Cato cautiously said. “These are some troubled times.”
“But would assassinate him,” the pegasus pointed over to Titus, “undo all of the disasters you’ve had to put up with? How do you think that putting me in power would solve anything? I’m just a guard! I don’t have a clue about politics.”
While the senators murmured amongst themselves, Bolt turned to Titus. “May I leave?”
“Not all,” Titus responded. “I won’t keep you here if you are growing weary.”
Lightning thanked him and was escorted out of the palace by a couple of Praetorian Guards. As they headed into the streets back to the Pantheon, the music and sounds of the party faded behind them. People in the streets bowed to the group as they passed through.
‘You know,’ the pony thought to himself, ‘at first, I thought it was awesome that they all bowed to me, but it gets annoying after a while… I wonder if this is what Celestia has to put up with.’
Right before the Pantheon, there was one human among the crowd that did not bow. By the look of his clothing, one could assume that he was part of the lower class, either poor or a slave. The two guards saw his lack of a bow as a sign of disrespect.
“You!” one of the guards barked, grabbing his attention. “Why do you not bow?”
He didn’t move.
The guard pointed his spear at him. “Are you blind? Do you not see Jupiter before you?”
“Hey, come on,” Lightning tried to interject, “I don’t mind.”
The guard approached the man. “On your knees.”
Suddenly and without warning, a stone was thrown at the guards from the bowing crowd. More soon followed, distracting the guards as they attempted to find out where the stones were coming from. Before he knew it, Lightning had a net thrown over him before he was roughly dragged into a nearby alleyway.
“Hey, what are you doing?!” the stallion demanded as he was dragged across the stone, cobbled streets. When he tried to call out for help, a towel was shoved into his muzzle and tied around his head. By the time he’d gotten it off, he was in a cellar being brought further underground.
“Where are you taking me?” No matter what he said, it seemed that his capturers ignored him, bringing him further into the darkness. At some point, the pony could smell the bitter stench of the sewers as well as something rotting.
In the flicker of torchlight, Bolt could see bones laid in hollowed out holes amidst the stonework. At times, he caught glimpses of whole skeletons, making him nervous about what his captors were going to do to him.
Finally, his foalnappers dragged him into a small room with candles on the walls. He spied two pieces of wood tied together on one of the walls with a human kneeling in front of them.
“Papa Anacletus,” his captor finally spoke, “we have captured the false god.”