“In the name of Rome, open up,” one of the Praetorian Guards banged on a door, much like the others were doing in that neighborhood. So far, the patrol had been searching for several hours trying to find Jupiter but had still come up with nothing. Still, they were unable to simply just give up looking for the King of the Gods, so they continued looking.
The door opened, revealing a woman behind it. “I’m sorry, my master isn’t here.”
“I must search this house on orders from the Emperor.” He pushed himself through the door and into the home. A group of surprised slaves was surprised to see the guard enter.
“Why? What’s going on?” the woman asked as she and the rest of the household watched him search the home room by room, as well as all of the chests and cabinets.
“Jupiter has gone missing. We have been commanded to search everywhere for him.”
“But sir,” one of the slaves spoke, “no one has entered this house all day.”
That didn’t stop the Praetorian Guard from looking through every square inch of the place until he was sure that the pony stallion wasn’t there. Just as suddenly as he had entered, he exited back into the streets to continue his search in the next house.
“Let’s try going around.” The voice caught the guard’s attention. He looked to the nearby alleyway, doing a double take when he spotted a couple of shadows: a woman and a pony.
Curious, he entered the small space. “The signal is strongest here,” the pony spoke as the guard finally spied the light coming from a horn on top of its head. “I don’t see him anywhere, though.”
“Perhaps he is underground?” the woman suggested.
Before the pony could respond, the guard decided to make his presence known. “Halt! Who goes there?” The two figures quickly turned. For a moment, the Praetorian thought he saw something on the unicorn’s flank, underneath its armor. “Identify yourselves.”
The stallion’s horn glowed a threatening light. “Hey, we don’t want any trouble. We’re just looking for somepony.”
“You can talk, too?”
Spear gave an annoyed grunt. “What is it with everyone acting surprised that I can talk?”
“Are you a god also?”
The unicorn blinked. “Huh?”
“Are you a godlike Jupiter that has taken the form of a pony? In fact, who are you?”
“Show him your mark,” Fortunata insisted. Spear Head seemed confused until she pointed towards the armor covering his flank. He lifted the armor, revealing his cutie mark to the guard.
The Praetorian saw that, although simple in design, it was very similar to Jupiter’s. The unicorn’s mark consisted of a black arrow running through a black ring. “Lord Mars, is that you?”
Fortunata caught on. “Why yes, he is indeed.”
“Say what?” Spear snapped his attention towards her, but she ignored it.
“He, too, is seeking the mighty Jupiter.”
The unicorn looked back over the guard, seeing that he had now been bowing toward him. “Lord Mars, what an honor it is to be in your presence.”
Spear seemed confused, but after a silent look from the musician, he decided to play along with the charade. “Um…” The stallion cleared his throat. “Why, yes. Rise up, soldier.” The guard immediately rose. “I’m also searching for Jupiter.”
“Shall I round up my men to aid your search?”
‘Well,’ the unicorn thought, ‘this is not what I’d have expected to happen to me today.’ “Yes, that would be most helpful. I believe that I have a good idea of where he might be.”
“Where, my lord?”
The stallion tapped a hoof on the cobblestone. “I can sense him directly underneath where I’m standing. I don’t know how far, but I’m positive that he’s right here.”
“I shall bring my men at once.” The Praetorian Guard saluted. He quickly told the musician to return home before turning back to gather his men.
_*_
Lightning Bolt wasn’t sure what he would die off first: boredom or suffocation. He’d already felt out every nook and cranny of the stone sarcophagus, tried yelling for freedom, and guessing how much more air he had left.
‘Okay, seriously,’ he thought bitterly, ‘what in bucking Celestia’s name is going on out there? Did they forget about me?’ The pegasus banged his hooves against the stone for the umpteenth time. “Hey, I’m still in here you know! Mind giving me some air? Hello?”
All he could hear were soft murmurs on the other side of his stony prison. He grunted as he shifted next to the skill, hoping that something would happen. He wasn’t sure if it was minutes or hours later, but he finally heard something new: someone shouting to run away. There was a rush of steps that ran past him as he heard new voices chasing after them.
“Hey, what’s going on out there?” Bolt called out.
“Captain?” The shocked Solar Guard was surprised to hear a voice calling out for him. A familiar voice, even. “Captain Lightning Bolt, where are you?”
“Spear Head? Drill Sergeant Spear Head, is that you?”
He could hear a knock against the stone. “Captain? Are you there? Are you alright?”
“Yes I am, and other than being bored out of my mind and slowly running out of oxygen, I’m fine.”
“Hold on a sec.” Suddenly, the heavy lid above him started to glow, bathing the inside of the tomb in amber light. The lid slowly started to move sideways, allowing light into Bolt’s tomb and giving him his first breath of fresh air in a long while. Soon enough, he had enough room to stick his head out.
“HAIL JUPITER!” Voices rang throughout the catacombs as Bolt’s head rose out of the sarcophagus. He saw that not only was the underground room crawling with red guards, but he even saw the familiar face of a fellow Solar Guard.
“Spear, you have no idea how glad I am to see you.” The Drill Sergeant saluted the Captain of the Guard as he crawled out. “At ease. Tell me what’s going on.”
“Sir!” the crimson unicorn reported. “These humans have assisted in helping me find you and are currently hunting down the ones that foalnapped you. They also that believe that I’m one of their gods, Sir!”
Lightning Bolt facehooved. “You know what? I’m not gonna worry about that right now. Let’s just get out of here already.”