Lightning Bolt of Rome

by CrackedInkWell

Chapter XVII: Surprised Import from the Island of Crete.

Author's Note:

Forgive me for being so late with this, I had to deal with school a bit along with life. Anyway, I hope this is a good chapter to keep the plot of the story going since I'm not sure about the quality of this chapter.

As far as Fortunata was concerned, she was on her first step to getting back home to Alexandria. After saying goodbye to Lightning Bolt and receiving the news that she was a freewoman once more, she decided to hitch a ride on the next boat back to Egypt. After all, since her former master’s home was burned to the ground like many others in the fires, she had no other place to go back to.

She hoped to get on a ship by that night. With a purse around her neck and her lyre underneath her arm, she went up and down the docks asking crewmen and captains where they were headed to next. She approached her next target, a ship that was currently unloading their cargo. “Where will you be going next?”

“Captain says we’ll be headed back to Solana,” a young sailor said, moving a bundle of rope onto the dock. “We just got back from Crete with something interesting.”

“Oh, and what’s that?” The musician’s question was answered when a crash was heard on the vessel.

“Would you let go of my horn?!” a voice yelled.

“Come on,” another voice said. This turned out to be a sailor who was walking onto the makeshift ramp. In his hand, much to Fortunata’s surprise, was a pony being dragged around by the horn coming out of the top of his head. What caught her attention was that this pony was wearing golden armor, much like the armor that Bolt originally had. Unlike the pegasus, however, the unicorn had a red coat, yellow eyes, and a short blue tail that matched the plumage on his helmet. “Let’s get you to the markets. The Captain says that we need a new ship anyway.”

“Ow! Don’t clinch it so hard!” the unicorn shouted in his discomfort.

As the sailor and pony walked by Fortunata, she was filled with curiosity. Who was this pony, and why did his armor look so similar to Lightning Bolt’s? The musician decided to follow them into the city. It wasn’t a difficult task to follow them considering that the commotion had managed to draw a crowd. “Ow! Let go already!”

There were many questions in the air with the crowd multiplying street by street. It had reached a point where the Praetorian Guards that were searching for Jupiter had to investigate. “Halt! What do you have there?”

“Well, good evening,” the sailor said. “I was on my way to the market to trade in this unique animal for a new ship.”

“Where did you get that pony from?” another guard questioned. “Does that thing talk?”

“Of course I do!” The unicorn said, causing the crowd to suddenly step back in shock. “Now let me go!”

The Praetorian Guards looked to each other. “Just like Jupiter,” one of them said before turning back to the sailor. “Sir, I think you ought to do as he says.”

“I can’t,” the crewman protested. “This is the only way I can prevent him from casting spells.”

“Do you not know that you may be in the presence of a god?”

The sailor blinked. “What?”

“Let go of his horn,” one of the guards said, reaching for his sword. “That is an order.”

Out of fear, the man let go of the unicorn’s horn. The horn quickly gave off a yellow light before the pony vanished in a flash, causing great confusion and amazement amongst the crowd.

However, from the corner of her eye, Fortunata spied the same yellow flash appear in an alleyway that a pony-shaped shadow quickly disappeared down. Wanting to satisfy her curiosity, she followed the unicorn, tracking his outline through shadowy lanes and street corners.

Fortunately for her, the unicorn made a wrong turn and ended up at a dead end. As she rounded the corner, she saw the amber glow emitting from the pony’s horn. The stallion turned around and paused out of unpleasant surprise.

“Be not afraid,” Fortunata said. “I wish to help you.”

“Oh yeah? That’s what those things said back on the island before I was thrown into slavery,” he said defensively.

“But sir, I am truly not here to harm you,” the musician said, cautiously walking into the dead end and hoping that she wasn’t frightening the little equine. “I was wondering if you could answer me a question.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Do you happen to know of a pegasus by the name of Lightning Bolt?”

This got the unicorn’s attention as the glow around his horn dimmed. “How did--”

“He is a good friend of mine, and although he has only been in Rome for a few weeks, he has become quite popular in the Empire.”

“Empire..?” The unicorn shook his head. “Nevermind that now, I’ve been looking for him. do you know where he is right now?”

“He is probably in one of the few temples that haven’t been burned down.” Her answer only gave the stallion a perplexed look. “There was a large fire not too long ago, and Lightning Bolt helped put out the flames.”

“But what was that part about temples?”

“Oh, have you not heard? Everyone, including the Emperor himself, is convinced that Lightning Bolt is actually Jupiter, King of the Gods, in pony form.”

The unicorn blinked… and blinked again. “Say what?”

“But I suppose that’s not important right now.” She knelt down in front of the unicorn. “I assume you know Lightning Bolt?”

“Uh… yes, yes I do. He’s the Captain of the Solar Guard and he went missing while leading Princess Celestia’s escort to an important summit in Saddle Arabia. We’ve been searching for him for quite a while now with no luck. Last week, some of us started to think that the storm that they flew over might have been the key to his disappearance.”

“And who are you?”

“I’m Drill Sergeant Spear Head of the Solar Guard, miss. I was sent out to locate the storm so that we could investigate. Apparently, I got too close and I think I was struck by lightning. Suddenly, I woke up on an island where I was captured by your kind and taken here.”

“There is something I don’t understand,” Fortunata pointed out. “If you can cast spells, how come you didn’t do so before that man let go of your horn?”

“They somehow figured out that my horn is very sensitive. When something touches a unicorn’s horn, it’s very hard to concentrate on our magic. But let’s get back on track. So you’ve seen Bolt? Is the Captain okay?”

“Other than being worshiped on the very ground he walks upon, I would say that he has been doing quite well as of late.”

“Could you take me to him?”

“I don’t know if I can. You see, the temple he was residing in burned down in the fires. The last time I saw him, he was speaking with the High Priest to figure out which of the remaining temples he should reside in. But I’m afraid that I do not know where he is right now.”

Spear grunted. “Oh great, this is gonna make things harder than they already are. Unless…” He lifted his head up. “Wait a minute. Excuse me, Miss… what’s your name again?”

“Fortunata.”

“Uh… interesting name… Anyway,” he shook his head, “do you at least know if he still has his armor on? Particularly with this thing on it?” He pointed a hoof at the blue star-shaped stone over his chest.

“The armor itself was destroyed by the fire,” she explained. “However, they did find that very stone in the rubble and managed to create a new set with it.”

“Perfect!” The sergeant lit his horn once more, concentrating his magic to locate something familiar. To see if--

That’s when he felt it. Although very faint, his horn was being pulled very slightly towards Lightning Bolt’s tracking stone. “I think I can find him now.” He looked around the alleyway. “Although, I think I may need some help navigating this place.”

“I can assist you if you wish,” she offered. The unicorn swiftly agreed as the pair went back into the streets to navigate the pegasus.

Comments

[batran]

Wonder what god the people will name that unicorn now XD