> Lightning Bolt of Rome
>  by CrackedInkWell
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter I: Storm of the Gods.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Be it poor planning, a misunderstanding in scheduling, or Celestia’s last minute decision to change course, the Solar Guards found themselves over a massive storm cloud. Clouds of darkness rumbled and flashed beneath the Sun Princess’s gilded chariot and the pegasi guards guiding it, their white wings adding to the swirls and smoky patterns to the storm beneath them.

Among Celestia’s guards was a stallion near the head of their formation, distinguished from the others by the plumage on his helmet and his red tail, while the others’ had blue instead. He slowed his flight to fall back to the chariot’s side. “Your Majesty, are you certain that this is wise? Flying over a storm is a little risky, isn’t it?”

“I understand the concern, Captain Thunder Bolt,” the Princess told him. “Yet, given the sudden circumstances, this shortcut is our only option if we’re to get to Prance in time for the summit.”

“But over a storm?” Bolt questioned as another distant thunder rumbled the sky. “I know how important this summit is, but doing this is a bit too dangerous for all of us. Every piece of metal we have on is a potential lightning rod.”

“I’m aware of that, yet it seems unlikely as long as we stay above the clouds. This isn’t the first time I have ridden through a storm and I know what I’m doing.”

“And I trust you on that, but…”	

“Captain Bolt?”

“There’s something odd about these clouds,” he pointed at the clusters of dark masses underneath. “Don’t you think that the way they’re all positioned and even collected looks a little strange?”

Celestia looked over the side of her chariot. “Hmm… wild clouds perhaps. I guess that means we’re getting close to our destination.”

“I hope we get there soon, this place is just giving me all sort of bad vibes.” With that, the Captain of the Guard flew back upfront once more to lead the entourage.

As they passed over moving hills and valleys of the storm, the white pegasus wouldn’t let go of the notion that there was something off about this weather. Not only was there no hint of any thought or organization involved, but the whole cloudscape was also chaotic. Going by the standards of Cloudsdale, this was nothing but a huge-

To the Captain’s horror, his hair started to stand on end as he felt huge amounts of electricity instantaneously build up between his armor and his coat. Before he knew what happened, he blacked out. The entourage could only stare in shock as a thin, jagged light pierced him and produced a deafening explosion of thunder.

_*_

The stallion awoke to the sensation of falling, spotting clouds and lightning speeding by him. Quickly realizing that he was falling, the pegasus tried to flap his wings to get himself upright but found difficulty with the random winds and rain pelting his armor. He finally managed to slow his fall into a partial glide, allowing him to take a quick look at his surroundings.

One of the first things he’d noticed was how quiet it was, barring the fast-paced tapping of rain against this armor and helmet, the roaring winds, and the occasional thunderclap. Any light that managed to pierce the dark clouds was significantly dimmed, leaving him trapped in a world of shadows.

“Princess Celestia?” he called out with no reply. “Sergeant Javelin? Private Sharp Wing? Anypony?!” No answers. How far had he fallen? Where was everypony else? Where did he end up?

“Okay, priorities Bolt,” he told himself, “start with your exact location.” The only way to get that bit of info was to dip down and see where the storm was hovering over.

With much difficulty, the Captain kept his balance and descended, trying to steer clear of the clouds that teemed with electricity. It became difficult to navigate with the strong winds trying to throw him around and the rain soaking him.

Then, he finally spotted a hole in the tempest, eyeing land underneath him. Bolt sped towards the exit and saw, to his relief, a large city. However, upon further inspection, the Solar Captain paused. He had flown too many places since he joined the Royal Guard, being by the Princess’s side while they escorted her to distant places beyond Equestria’s borders. Yet, this city was unrecognizable.

He saw miles upon miles of tiled roofs and white marble below him. Stadiums and public squares dotted the city with flickering lights keeping it all illuminated. All in all, it looked extremely… foreign. Had the storm they were flying over covered a country he wasn’t familiar with? He shook his head; maybe the rain was playing tricks on him. Besides, the storm got him completely lost and seemed to be getting worse, so he could probably find some directions and shelter in the city.

He continued his descent, but the wind didn’t give up in trying to throw him around. Even for somepony with his training, the unpredictable wind currents were taking a toll on his stability. Unfortunately for the Pegasus, the superior weather had finally won its battle of attrition, sending him screaming out of control.

He tried to keep stable, but everything was already spinning around. The city went from being below him to above him, and then to the sides, then back to being above him again. The last thing he saw was a vegetable stand and two figures moving out of the way before he swiftly crashed into it. Splinters and smashed vegetables were splattered against the marble pavement, following the equine’s path of destruction straight into a concrete wall.

“What in the name of Hades was that?!” a voice cried. The two figures reemerged, looking over the destruction. One of them took a torch off a nearby wall to get a better view of what caused it all. “Oh lord Jupiter!” exclaimed the torch-wielding figure as he saw the battered pegasus. “Get the guard! Tell the Emperor!”
> Chapter II: Titus and the Unconscious Pegasus.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Praetorian Guard made his way through the palace to one of its many banquet rooms. Finding the room was easy with the constant noise of chatter, laughing, and music echoing through the palace as rain and thunder fell outside. Passing the drapes and people leaving and entering, the guard entered the enormous room surrounded by arches and torches. Tables of food and wine lined the walls, surrounding all sorts of smaller tables and chairs. The guard made his way towards the head of the feast, a table that held the only person wearing purple.

“Caesar Titus,” the guard saluted. “Forgive me for interrupting, but two plebeians require your presence at once.”

“Right in the middle of dinner?” the short man exclaimed, standing while still grasping his chalice.

“It’s a matter of great importance to the Empire.”

Titus took a quick gulp from his drink. “How important?”

“Well, excellency,” the guard explained, “I was told that one of them was selling his crops to the other when something large fell into the Forum of Augustus. It left the seller’s cart completely obliterated and his vegetables ruined.”

“I fail to see why this in any way requires my attention. Perhaps a statue was pushed over and fell onto the cart, which sounds like an act of vandalism if you ask me.”

“It wasn’t a statue, Sire,” the guard told him as a slave refilled the Emperor’s glass. “They even brought to the palace the very thing that fell from the sky.”

Titus raised an eyebrow. “What fell from the sky other than rain?” he asked taking another drink.

“This may sound unbelievable, but they’ve wheeled in an unconscious, armored pegasus.”

The wine was spat out onto the floor. “What was that?” Titus questioned. “Did my ears hear you say pegasus?”

The guard nodded. “The two plebeians are at the front entrance, and they’re the ones that helped carry the creature over here.”

The Emperor told his guest that he had to deal with a matter of the state before rising from his seat and following his guard. The two made their way to the front entrance of the palace where they found the two subjects waiting, along with a bundle of canvas on the floor with a pony’s head sticking out.

“Hail Caesar,” both of them said, putting their right fists to their chests and bowing their heads.

“Evening, fellow countrymen,” Titus waved at them. “I’ve heard that a certain pegasus has fallen from the sky. Is this the creature?”

One of them bent down and unraveled the pony and revealed, to the Emperor’s amazement, a white wing with several misplaced feathers jutting from the pony’s side. Titus bent down and felt that not only was the wing real but that it was firmly attached. Up close, the short man could also see the craftsmanship that went into the soaked armor. Although it was similar to Roman-style armor, there was a touch of skill in the engraved grooves that not even his most skilled metalsmiths could recreate. To top it all off, he noticed that the armor was made out of real, thin pieces of gold.

“Fetch my adviser,” he told the guard. The Praetorian gave up a quick salute before rushing off. The Emperor turned back to the two men. “Now I can clearly see why this has been brought to my attention. I must thank you for bringing this creature to the palace despite the weather.”

“If it wouldn’t be too much,” one of them spoke up, “might it be possible to have my cart replaced? I was using it to sell my crops before the creature turned it into kindling.”

“I suppose it’s only fair.” Titus rubbed his chin. “What are your names anyway?”

“Laurentius, sire,” the seller told him.

“My friends call me Otho,” the other said.

Titus nodded. “I’ll make sure that on behalf of the people of Rome, you will receive a new cart to replace your destroyed one, along with… oh, forty-five Denarius for your ruined crops.” He turned to Otho. “And what about you?”

“I ask for nothing. We had just settled on a bargain when the pegasus crashed, so I helped him move it here.”

Though the Emperor offered to give him some kind of reward, he declined. After dismissing them both and giving Laurentinus a bag of promised money, his attention returned to the still breathing pegasus. It was curious. Never in the history of the world had a mythical creature crashed into the forum during a storm.

“You’ve summoned me, Caesar?”

The man’s attention turned to his adviser. “I did, Zenous. Come here and tell me what you think of this.”

The slim man in a pure white toga obeyed. Overlooking Titus’s shoulder, his eyes widened. “Is that--”

“A real pegasus? Indeed it is. This is perhaps the most incredible thing that I’ve ever seen!”

“Agreed.” His adviser knelt down to examine the creature up close. “Where did he come from?”

“A couple of plebeians brought it here when it fell from the heavens. Apparently, it crashed into a vegetable cart in Augustus’s forum before being knocked out.”

“What do you think it means? Is this a gift from the Gods?”

“It does seem like it. Although, even I must admit that there’s something strange about the whole ordeal.”

“Like its entrance?”

Titus nodded. “If any of the Gods present a gift to us, they wouldn’t do it so sloppily. Why would it land in one of Rome’s forums and not here in the palace or any of the temples?”

They both of froze when they heard a groan coming from the pony. A blue eye peeked open. “Wha… where,” it managed before it passed out once more, leaving the two men stunned.

“Zenous,” the Emperor said, “you heard the creature speak as well, didn’t you?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing.” His adviser turned to him. “But that’s impossible; no animal possesses the power of speech.”

“What if…” Titus trailed off as he started to pace in a small circle with a fist under his chin. “What if this is not the same pegasus that was written in the poems? Could it be that there’s a reason for him to wear battle armor?”

While the Emperor thought, his adviser looked over the pony’s body and spotted something on its hind legs underneath the gilded armor. Carefully lifting one of the plates off, he jumped. “Titus! Look!”

Now, both eyes were glued at what the creature’s armor was covering. On its flank, a lightning bolt was encircled by two olive branches. From the thunder outside, the two men tried to piece it all together.

“My Lord Titus,” Zenous spoke first, “do you suppose that this, right here, is…”

“Jupiter,” the Emperor whispered. “By the gods, only a fool wouldn’t come to the same conclusion. Yes, I think I see now.” Titus turned to the window where rain continued to shower down, lightning flashing in the sky. “There’s a battle going on right now and Lord Jupiter, for whatever reason, has turned himself into this form to fight against something. He must have been knocked right out of the sky and down to our city.”	

“Knocked down?” this adviser turned to the pony’s mark. “What could have been strong enough to fling the very king of the Gods to Earth?”

“It could be a number of things, but unfortunately, it looks like the only one who knows for sure is him,” he gestured over to the Pegasus. “But since we’ve identified him, we should have him cleaned and rested. After all, the people of Rome should be notified, and we should have him recover in his own temple.”

His adviser agreed, and the Emperor called forth his slaves to instruct them on the tasks that they had ahead of them.
> Chapter III: Hail Jupiter.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first thing Captain Lightning Bolt noticed when he was conscious was the smell of something sweet burning. There was also an itch in his wings as if he hadn’t preened them in days. He also thought he heard some mumbling a bit off in the distance.

“What in Celestia’s name happened to me?” he asked aloud, quickly taking notice of an echo. When he finally opened his eyes, he found himself lying on a large, violet pillow with gold trimming, along with a smaller one underneath his head. He also noticed his armor was laid out before him on similar pillows, each of them polished to the point where he could see his reflection. He’d also found himself partly surrounded by bowls and cups filled with food and drink.

Looking around, he found himself in a rather large room, nearly as big as the throne room in Canterlot’s castle. All around him were oil lamps, burners that glowed orange which he assumed was where the smell was coming from, and the chandeliers dangling above his head. In front of him were tall brass doors that were decorated with symbols of thunderbolts, clouds, and flying eagles. Behind him, sitting on a huge marble throne, was a creature that the Royal Guard didn’t recognize. The statue had peach-like skin hidden under white robes, held lightning bolts in its strange claws, and had a flat face with a snow white mane and beard, along with piercing blue eyes.

“Where am I?” The stallion got up and looked to see why his wings felt so itchy. He opened them to see that feathers on both of them were crooked, out of place, or broken. ‘Oh, that doesn’t look good,’ he thought to himself. Questions ran through Bolt’s mind. How long had he been out for? Who took his armor off and polished it? Where was he? And where was everypony?

Judging from his roaring stomach, he assumed that he hadn’t eaten for at least a day or two. It was demanding that he eat, so he turned to the food that was clearly meant for him. He carefully picked up one of the cups before taking a sip, quickly realizing that it was wine. And by the looks of it, there was enough to last an entire unit a week.

Breakfast-wise, the only food he could eat from the feast he’d been presented was the fruit and the stale bread that he had to soak in wine to eat. The other food he was given was… frightening, to say the least. There were bowls of dormice that had been skinned and roasted, pieces of identifiable meat, and Celestia knows what else.

‘Don’t they know that ponies can’t eat meat?’ he thought. ‘Whoever they are, they probably have really strong stomachs. Who else in their right mind would want to eat… whatever that is.’ 

Then, the only door in the room suddenly creaked open, morning light leaking through and illuminating the darkened room. At first, Lightning Bolt couldn’t see who or what stuck itself through the door, but he certainly heard it. “He’s awake! Lord Jupiter is awake!”

“Lord who?” the Pegasus asked, but the figure was already gone, leaving the door ajar. Curious as to where he was and just what that creature was, the Captain trotted over to the door and peaked his head out. Through a row of columns, he could see that he was in a city that reminded him of Cloudsdale, except made out of stone. Everywhere he looked, he saw two-legged creatures that looked similar to the statue, dressed in all types of robes.	

He didn’t have to wait long before the creatures took notice of him before suddenly bursting into cheers. “Hail Jupiter,” one cried, “he has awakened!” Many other voices started to shout similar praises.

Soon, masses of crowds surrounded the edges of the buildings while a few other beings in red held them back with shields. Whoever they were, at least they were happy to see him -- perhaps a bit too happy.

“Hail Jupiter!” The stallion turned his head to find one of the creatures approaching him. If Bolt didn’t know any better, the wrinkles white hair, and failing body would suggest that he was a very old… whatever he was. “I’m very pleased to see you awake at last, my Lord.”

The pegasus looked around. “Are you talking to me?”

“But of course,” the thing laughed. “Who else would I be addressing?”

“But… who are you? And more importantly, what are you?”

The elderly creature blinked. “I’m the High Priest Iovianus, your Majesty. The grand overseer of--”

“What did you just call me?” Bolt interrupted.

“Sire?”

“Did you just say, ‘your Majesty’?”

“I did. I have not offended you, have I?”

“Well, no,” the stallion stepped out from the enormous door frame, “but I am rather confused. Where exactly am I?”

“In your holy temple, Lord.”

The Solar Guard paused. “My… temple?”

“I fail to see why you seem confused,” the High Priest commented. “All Gods have temples, even you, King Jupiter.”

“Uh…” The pegasus looked around. “Sir, I think there must be some huge misunderstanding. My name isn’t Jupiter, it’s Lightning Bolt.”

Iovianus raised his eyebrow. “But, isn’t your title ‘the Holder of the mighty thunderbolts’? And you wear armor made of gold that could only be crafted by the god Vulcan. Not to mention, you bear a mark on your rump that testifies to your true identity.”

“You mean my cutie mark?” Bolt inquired and shook his head. “You know what, never mind all that. Can I speak to the one that’s in charge? I’m just a little lost here. So if you could just tell me where I am, I think I can just leave so you won’t have to worry about me.”

“Leave Rome?” The elderly priest was taken aback. “For what reason do you wish to leave?”

“Look, buddy, I appreciate the breakfast and the fancy sleeping quarters, but I was helping escort Princess Celestia of Equestria to Prance for a very important summit before I was caught up in the storm. So if somepony could please point me in the right direction, I’ll be out of your mane in no time.”

The High priest took on a worried look. “My Lord, did you really hit your head that hard when you crashed seven days ago?”

Now it was the pegasus’s turn to look surprised. “What?!”

“It’s true. A week ago, you fell from the sky. I was told you hit your head against a wall, but I fear that it inflicted more damage than I anticipated.”

“No, list-- ow!” The pegasus flinched when he opened his wings, still demanding that they should be preened.

“Are you alright?”

“It’s… it’s nothing, but I want you to know that I’m no god. I’m just a captain of the Solar Guard that is now separated from my unit and I have no idea where I am or what sort of creatures you are. So, could I at least talk to somepony that runs this city so I could leave?”

Iovianus hesitated for a moment. “As you wish. I’ll inform the Emperor that you wish to see him.”

“Thank you,” he said as he turned back to his ‘temple’. “Oh, and could I ask you something?”

“Anything, my Lord.”

Bolt frowned. “First of all, stop calling me that. And second, could I have some privacy? I really need to take care of my wings.”

“Of course, King Jupiter.” With an annoyed grunt, the pegasus re-entered his temple before the High Priest closed the doors behind him.
> Chapter IV: Divine Madness.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“It’s like I’m in one of those mistaken identity stories,” Captain Lightning Bolt muttered after he spat out a few loose feathers. “Something like that one Daring Do story where she gets confused for a deity by some of the natives and they wouldn’t let her go.” The stallion looked over his left wing, inspecting each individual feather that might need to be fixed. “Then again, this isn’t fiction, it’s real life… isn’t it?”

With this new thought, he turned his attention to the other wing, spotting some crooked feathers. ‘Could it be possible that I’m dreaming?’ the Solar Guard thought as he adjusted a few feathers with his mouth. ‘Maybe that’s it. Perhaps this ‘Rome’ is all just a dream-- wait. That can’t be right. Most of the time when I dream, I don’t realize that I’m asleep, no matter how surreal the dream gets. Besides, this feels a little too real to be a dream. I mean, I can feel my feathers in my teeth, and that fruit was certainly real, not to mention the wine.’

Satisfied with the results of his preening, Bolt slipped on his boots and armor. He wasn’t expecting to stay long, after all. When he donned his helmet, there was a knock on the huge bronze doors. “Yes?” he called out.

“Lord Jupiter, the Emperor of Rome is here by your request,” the voice of the High Priest spoke.

Bolt acknowledged him and allowed them entrance. Both of the doors swung open, allowing in two guards in red armor followed by a short creature in a violet robe and some kind of leafy, golden crown on his head. “Good morning, O’ God of the Skies,” the one in purple spoke. “The people of Rome are truly grateful that you’ve awoken at last.”

“Look, um… who are you?”

“Titus Flavius Caesar Vespasianus Augustus, son of Vespasian and current Caesar to the Great Empire of Rome.”

The pegasus guard blinked. “Did you really have to memorize all of that?”

His host laughed. “It is my name after all, but you may call me Titus for short if it pleases you, great Jupiter.”

“Okay, stop it!” Bolt spread his wings. “My name isn’t ‘Jupiter’ or ‘King’ or ‘Lordship’ or what-have-you! It’s just Lightning Bolt.”

The Emperor looked to both of his guards in sheer confusion. “I’m afraid I don’t quite understand. Surely the mark upon the flank of your current form suggests otherwise.”

“You mean my cutie mark?”

“If that is what you call it.” The short king knelt down to his eye-level. “What else could the green branches encompassing a lightning bolt mean other than a symbol of power? Not to mention, the fact that you are capable of talking to us when no other four-legged creature can, as well as falling from the sky, who else would you be? Mercury? Surely, you must be Jupiter.”

Lightning Bolt couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief. “This is madness. This is completely loony. Look, I keep telling you, I’m not a god. I’m just a Royal Guard that was in the middle of escorting Princess Celestia to--”

“Pardon, who?”

“Princess Celestia.”

“Never heard of her.” Every gear in the Solar Captain’s head went to a grinding halt as he tried to contemplate that sentence. “But seeing you in such a condition, I have to wonder if you crash-landed on your head harder than I thought. We’ve already conquered most of the world and have heard every foreign leader, yet I don’t recall a certain ‘Princess Celestia’.”

“You’re joking, right?” Lightning questioned. “I mean, you’ve never heard of Princess Celestia? Co-ruler of the kingdom of Equestria? Raiser of the Sun itself?”

“I’m afraid you might be confusing this princess with Apollo. Everyone knows that he is the one that moves the Sun across the sky. And I have heard of nations such as India or Britannia, but never have I heard of an Equestria before.”

The pegasus’s jaw dropped to the marble floor. “You’re dead serious, aren’t you?”

“It is the honest truth. I am, after all, a Caesar, and a Caesar knows all.”

Bolt put his forehooves on the sides of his head, trying to register this insanity. He quickly thought of another question. “And what are you? I don’t mean what titles you hold, but what kind of creatures you are.”

Titus raised an eyebrow. “My my, you really did hit your head too hard. Don’t you know that we are humans?”

The pegasus shook his head. “No, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of ‘humans’.”

“By the Gods, this is serious.” Caesar got up and turned to his guards. “I have a new order. Go fetch my finest doctors and tell them that Lord Jupiter has fallen to a sickness of the mind.”

Bolt snapped his head up. “Sickness of the mind? What is that supposed to…” It didn’t take him long to catch up on what he meant. “Hold on, are you seriously suggesting that I have amnesia or something?”

By the time his guards left the temple, two more emerged to stand by the Emperor’s side. Titus looked back down on the pony. “Do not worry, I’m summoning the finest doctors in the Empire. In the meantime, you shall stay here. You shall have a staff of slaves and priests to fulfill your every need until you fully recover. On behalf of the people of Rome, we will do everything we can until you regain your memory.”

‘Good Goddess, he cannot be buying this!’ Bolt’s mind screamed in shock. “Now hold on, you don’t have to do this. I’m just a little lost is all. If you could just point me to Saddle Arabia, I’ll be on my way and you won’t have to worry about me anymore.”

“In your condition? I think not.” The Emperor turned around and started to leave the temple with his guards in tow. “And make sure the worshippers refill the wine glasses. A few of them looked rather empty. Offer up a sacrifice, as well.”

Once the doors closed, the Solar Guard only had one thought on his mind. “What in the wide world of Equestria have I gotten myself in to?”
> Chapter V: Flight of the Pegasus.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quickly concluding that if he stayed any longer it would only end badly, Bolt decided that he had to leave the city when the next opportunity presented itself. The only door in or out didn’t have anything to pull on, and the open slots that allowed bits of sunlight through where too small to squeeze through. However, he could still see through them, allowing him to glance through to see if anyone would open the door.

Sure enough, ten minutes after the Emperor had left him, a small crowd gathered outside of the door. Some of them looked important while others carried lambs and very sharp knives. He saw the High Priest from the earlier approach the door. He crouched down, preparing to speed through the doors.

There was a knock. “My Lord, may we enter?”

“Go ahead,” Bolt told them before the door finally creaked open. Once it was big enough, the gilded pegasus made a break for it and flew right out of the temple.

“Lord Jupiter! Come back!” He heard the High Priest called out, but Lightning Bolt zipped through the columns and into the bright, open air. There were gasps and shouts from the humans, as well as some whinnies from the equines, as he soared out like an eagle.

The first direction he went was up. The pegasus climbed above the city, higher and higher so he could get a good idea of where he could make his escape towards. Spotting a cloud, he landed on it so he could get a good view of any familiar landmarks.

He noticed right away that something was off. There wasn’t a single hill, river, lake, shoreline, or even a mountain that he could recall. For miles around, as far as his trained eyes could see, there wasn’t a single place in his entire knowledge of the world that he could recognize. Not only that, but he couldn’t spy any signs of a search party, even after being knocked out of a whole week.

“But how could I possibly be lost?” he asked himself. “For crying out loud, there’s a whole civilization down there about as large as Manehattan. How could anypony miss this place and not put it on a map?” As perplexing as the situation was, Bolt had to find out where on the face of the planet he was. All he needed was something familiar that he could fly to and hopefully catch up with Celestia.

Looking down upon the grid city, he, unfortunately, knew the answer to this puzzle. He had to go back to Rome to find a map. Perhaps by looking at its borders, he could make his way to Saddle Arabia.

‘Now, where do I find a map in this place?’

Choosing a part of the city, Bolt leaped off the cloud and glided down to the streets below. Not to say that he went unnoticed by the local humans. He saw them point at him and a crowd began to flood the streets as soon as he was close enough to the ground.

When he landed on the edge of a fountain, many of the humans suddenly bowed to him. “Uh, excuse me,” he said, “could you all stop doing that?”

“Doing what, Lord Jupiter?” one of the humans asked.

“I mean would you all stop bowing,” he clarified, annoyed.

“But it’s a way of showing respect to the gods,” another human spoke up.

“I didn’t come here for respect.” This got the Romans to look up. “So, does anypony know where I could find a map around here?”

Some of the Romans looked at one another. “Forgive us, Jupiter. We don’t own any maps.”

“Well, do any of you know where I could find one? I really need to get somewhere.”

“Look, there he is!” Bolt turned his head to the newcomers, spotting the guards in red coming at him with nets.

“Uh, never mind,” he quickly said as he flew off again. As he tried to fly upwards, weighted nets were being tossed off the rooftops to try and catch him. He quickly flew downwards to dodge them. “Hey, watch it!” He stuck to the streets, flying past statues, arches, and monuments. He ducked, dove, stopped, sprinted, turned left, did a barrel roll, ascended, descended, and took an even sharper left, but the red guards seemed to be everywhere.

“Jupiter, stop!” A voice cried out.

“We’re trying to help you!” Another cried.

“Stop moving around so much!” 

Not only did he have to worry about the guards that kept popping up, but soon the citizens were trying to catch him as well. They were throwing ropes, tied-together clothes, buckets of water, and one even made him fly through a cloud of spices.

‘It’s like I’m being chased by zombies!’ Bolt thought. ‘At this rate, I’m going to crash into--’ The Solar Guard realized that a little too late as he smashed helmet-first through a glass window before crashing against a marble wall.

Falling to the floor, he heard several steps surrounding him, followed by several hands lifting him off the ground.

“Is that him?” Bolt looked around to find that he was surrounded by a group of older humans in white and red robes.

“Well, speak of Jupiter himself!” a familiar voice declared. Now back on his four hooves, the pegasus turned to find the Emperor behind him.

“YOU!” Lightning Bolt shouted, causing the other humans to jump back in shock. He started marching over to him, trying to ignore the pain from his collision. “Do you have any idea what I just went through?”

“Caesar, you were right!” one of the amazed humans said. “He really does talk.”

“I told you,” Titus replied with a cocky grin, but his personal triumph was short-lived when he felt a set of hooves shove him to the ground.

“Now you listen to me!” The pegasus’s thunderous voice echoed throughout the room, reminding him of his time as a drill sergeant scolding recruits. “I’ve just about had it with this place! I would have left already, but I’m completely lost! All I’ve asked was for was to point me in the right direction so I can leave, but all your humans have done is hunt me down like an animal! Now somepony better get me a good atlas or something, or I’ll fly you up above this Celestia-forsaken city and let you drop until you hit the ground like a water balloon! Am I clear?!”

Once his roaring and the room had settled down, only one voice dared to speak up. “Caesar Titus, are you sure you haven’t confused him for Mars? It seems like he has his temper.”
> Chapter VI: Of Senators and Citizens.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Laughter eased the tension in the large room, much to the annoyance of Lightning Bolt who was still pinning the short and stubby Emperor beneath his hooves.

Caesar Titus, however, received the message loud and clear and ordered his guards to immediately bring him a map of the world. “So, while they’re taking care of that, can I get up now?”

Bolt lifted himself off of the chubby human with his wings while some nearby people in red and white robes offered to lift their Emperor up off the ground. “By the way,” the Solar Guard began, “where am I now?”

“This is the Meeting House for the Senate on Capitoline Hill,” one of the robed senators said, kneeling down to his eye-level. Up close, the pegasus saw that his short, plastered gray hair was flattened against his head. He also saw that the man had a short but thin face, almost reminding him of a bird in a way. “I’m one of the Senators here, Cato Felix. It’s quite the coincidence that you would appear, Lord Jupiter, when we were discussing you before you broke through the window.”

“Augh! For the last time, my name isn’t Jupiter!” Even though he was still aching from his recent crash landing, the pegasus flew above the Senate so that everyone could get a good look at him. “I still think all of this is a huge misunderstanding. I’m not a god at all. I’m just a guy that got lost in a storm and is trying to figure out how to get where I’m going from here. As much as I appreciate your, uh… citizens taking care of me while I was out cold, I really need to go. There’s no need for all of this trouble.”

The senators murmured amongst each other. “But if you claim to not be Jupiter,” one of them asked, “then who are you?”

“My name is Captain Lightning Bolt. I’m the Head of the Solar Guard in Canterlot that is sworn to protect and serve both the co-ruler, Princess Celestia, and the citizens of Equestria.”

He was greeted with stunned silence. Bolt could read the confusion on many of the humans’ faces. “Princess who?” Cato questioned. “And of… where?”

“Oh come on, not you, too,” the stallion moaned. “She and her sister are known everywhere! Celestia and Luna? The immortal sisters that raise and lower both the sun and moon? The ones that rule over the ponies of Equestria?” But no matter how much he tried to clarify, there was nothing but bewilderment on their faces. “Are you seriously this isolated?”

“How could we be?” Titus interjected. “Rome has the largest empire on Earth. We control much of the islands of the seas to the mountains in the east. Even from places we haven’t conquered yet, we would have heard rumors of the names of other nations like China and India. But Equestria?” He turned to the Senate. “Has any Roman in the Empire ever heard of the name Equestria before?”

Every single senator shook their heads. “Surely, he must be mistaken,” one of them commented.

“Or mad,” said another. “Could it be possible that even the gods are prolonged to madness, too?”

“Lyssa is the very spirit of insanity,” a fat-looking senator with a bald head pointed out. “She was sent to make Hercules go mad. Who’s to say that even the gods are safe from her power?” Many of them agreed, leaving Lightning Bolt’s jaw to drop.

“You can’t seriously be buying this,” the gilded captain interjected. “So I got knocked out cold, but that doesn’t mean that I’m suddenly one of your gods!”

“And yet, you can talk,” Cato started. “In the form of a pegasus, an animal, you somehow are gifted with the power of speech. The only creatures in the cosmos that are capable of such a feat are either men or gods. It also worth considering that Jupiter is well known for changing his original form to anything he wants. Who’s to say that you aren’t the very King of the Gods?”

The remaining senators all applauded and gave acknowledging agreements. “Jupiter will recover!” one of them cried. “The people of Rome must cure his madness!” More agreement from the old and -- to Lightning Bolt’s eyes -- completely misguided people.

“I keep telling you,” he said, “I am not Jupiter. What do I have to do to convince you that I’m not who you think I am?”

Then, outside of the window, a sound was heard. It was the sound of a friendly mob that was growing outside that demanded to see their god. It was then that the pegasus got an idea. If the senators wouldn’t listen to him, maybe, just maybe, their citizens would.

“Look, what if I can make a deal with all of you?” This got their attention. Bolt pointed at the window. “I want to talk to them. If I can convince them that I’m not Jupiter, you have to let me go.”

“But you’re not well,” Titus pleaded.

“Okay… how about if I can’t convince them… then I’ll stay until you see me as ‘cured’. Deal?”

The Emperor turned to the Senate. “Those in favor of this deal say ‘aye’.” Just like that, the ‘aye’s’ multiplied.

_*_

Upon the steps of the Meeting House, the senators gathered upon the steps while the Emperor commanded his guards to blow their horns. The red guards obeyed and blew out a few loud notes, gathering the citizens’ attention.

“Citizens, countrymen, and noblemen of Rome!” he declared. “As you all know perfectly well, a pegasus has fallen from the sky bearing the mark of the Great Jupiter himself. Now, we have come before you so that you all may make a choice.

“The Pegasus, who we believe to be the very King of the Gods himself, has denied his divinity. We believe that he, the Bearer of the Mighty Lightning Bolts, has become insane. Of course, I and your fellow senators have offered to help cure him of his madness, yet he still denies his true identity.

“This is where all of you come in. He has offered us a deal towards the people of Rome. If he cannot convince you that he is who he says he is, then he is willing to stay here so that we may cure him of his madness. But if he convinces you that he is not Lord Jupiter, then we shall let him go free.

“So listen, O citizens of Rome, to the words that this pegasus has to say. You are the judges.” He, at last, turned to the Solar Guard, who spread his wings and hooves over everyone so that the citizens could get a good view of him.

“Please, please listen. I have a few words to say.”

“Tell us!” they demanded.

“Look, you’ve all got it completely wrong. I don’t know who put this idea in your heads, but I must tell you that I am not a god. There’s no need to follow me at all! I’m just a pegasus that has some ambitions in my country’s military. I started out as your average patriot who wanted to serve his fellow ponies! Heck, that’s what my cutie mark is all about! The lightning bolt means that I’m quick to respond to those in trouble, and the wreath means that I have some leadership skills, which is how I became a captain.”

A hand was raised from the mob. “But where are you from?”

“Cloudsdale,” Bolt responded. “It’s a floating city made out clouds. It’s where all the weather in my country is produced. It’s where most of the pegasi live and where I grew up.” There was murmuring among the crowd.

“What’s the name of the leader you serve, Captain?” another Roman questioned.

“She is Princess Celestia of Equestria.”

“Who is that?”

“I don’t know.”

“What’s Equestria?”

Skeptical questions swelled underneath him, which caused Bolt to get nervous. “Honestly, how can any of you not know her? She helps raise and lower the sun!”

“He’s mad!” one cried.

“No, no! She has a sister, Luna, who helps with the moon and stars!”

“Jupiter’s gone crazy,” someone commented.

“Look, what do I have to do or say to convince you that I’m not Jupiter?”

“How can you not see it that you are?!” a voice shouted.

“But I know I’m not! I’m not a god!”

“Only a true god would deny his divinity,” someone commented, while a few others agreed.

Lightning Bolt’s jaw slammed to the marble floor. “What sort of chance does that give me!?” The pegasus finally shouted in frustration. “You know what?! Fine! I’ll stay in your city because guess what? I am Jupiter!” There were cheers of rejoicing from the crowd below. On the edge of a conniption, the Captain of the Royal Guard screamed. “Now, buck off!”

There was a stunned silence for a moment before someone raised a hand. “I have a question.”

“Yes?” Bolt hissed through his teeth.

“How shall we ‘buck off’, O Lord Jupiter?”

Then, the pegasus screamed.
> Chapter VII: Fortunata’s Lyre.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“For once, things are looking up,” Titus said as his back was being rubbed. Deep in the palace resided the Imperial Baths with expansive mosaics that covered the floor in colorful pictures of heroes, admiring beauties, exotic plants, and bloodthirsty animals. The walls were painted with a realistic view of the sea with Neptune in the water. All around the baths were copies of Greek statues in dramatic poses, some pouring water and creating mists of steam.

“If you mean that the Pegasus has agreed to stay in Rome, then I assume so,”  Zenous agreed. Although fully clothed, the adviser did his best to ignore how warm this particular room was; even his curly hair was straightening out in the humidity. “However, with Jupiter now in Rome, I think things have become a little more complicated.”

“How so?”

“For one, you’re not exactly liked by the Empire,” he said, dabbing his forehead with a rag. “Some say that you have a resemblance to Nero, from your voice to your playing with the lyre.”

Titus rolled his eyes. “Oh don’t remind me. But I’m not really like that monster at all. Sure, we may share our love for all things theatrical and have a high taste of luxury. The people who truly know me know that there are huge differences between us. True, I play the lyre, but at least I have talent, and I for one care about my citizens. Do you remember what happened last summer?”

“I do. Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried under ash, thousands died, and a good chunk of the treasury went towards relief – what Roman could forget such a disaster of that scale?”

“That is my point -- a little to the left,” he told his slave that was rubbing his fleshy back. “If Nero were alive when we realized that those cities were built next to a fire mountain, he would have been too busy composing a hymn about their destruction while declaring war on Mt. Vesuvius.”

“Perhaps, Caesar.” Zenous took a gulp of water to try to cool himself down in the misty room. “Yet, do you worry about Jupiter returning?”

“Why should I? He’s accepted our agreement to stay until he recovers. Not only that, but the people seemed pleased to have the real god himself in their midst.”

“That’s exactly my point,” his adviser said. “What if he gets too popular, or another disaster happens? What if the people, or even the Senate, wish to overthrow you and put him in your place? After all, what good is an emperor when you have the very god you worship in the flesh?”

The Emperor waved for the slave to stop giving him a back massage. “That is quite the problem indeed. Did Jupiter say anything of political ambitions?”

“I don’t think so, my Lord.”

“Good. Hopefully, it will stay that way. Besides, in his mad state, I very much doubt that the Senate would allow putting him in charge of the Empire.”

“That brings up another problem. Although we haven’t seen him use any powers other than flight, what if he begins using his other powers while he’s not in the right state of mind? Even though he denies his godhood, he could very well send lightning bolts when provoked.”

“The best we can do is to keep him happy.” Caesar Titus wiped his sweat off with a towel. “Of course, that is going to be tricky. A powerful god with insanity is far more dangerous than one with a sober mind.”

“I understand,” Zenous nodded, wiping his face and neck with the rag in his hand. “Besides, Jupiter wasn’t all too pleased about staying in Rome.”

“Crossed was more like it.” The Emperor handed the towel over to the slave before he got up off the table and headed towards the cool baths. “Screamed in anger after he reluctantly agreed to stay and be treated. Hopefully, the doctors will find a way to cure his illness.”

“I wonder,” his adviser followed him to the edge of the bath, “how does one cure sickness in the mind? With bodies, I think I can comprehend how, but healing the mentality of a god? How does one hope to accomplish such an impossibility?”

“Zenous, we live in Rome.” Caesar lowered himself into the cool waters of his sunken-in bath with a sigh. “The word ‘impossible’ isn’t in our vocabulary.”

_*_

As the sun lowered itself into the western sea, a woman approached the steps of the Temple of Jupiter with a lyre in her hand. Her dark hair was tied up and curled down her head like a fountain. The High Priest approached her. “What brings you here?”

“My master sent me,” she said, holding the instrument like an infant. “He’s one of the doctors, Victus of Alexandria. He thought that my music would help soothe his Lordship’s frustration.”

The High Priest shrugged. "I hope so. Jupiter was quite upset when he came back to his temple."

“Is he angry?” the slave girl asked as she followed the elderly man through the line of columns to the large center door.

“He has calmed down a bit, but he is still annoyed with his circumstances. The doctors, including your master, are somewhat unsure of what to do.”

“My master said that the best way to relax a stormy mind is to play him tranquil music. I have played for some of those who came to see him, and they said that my playing helps.”

“Do they?” The slave girl nodded. Standing at the front door to the main temple where a couple of Praetorian guards stood at either side, both of which carried a spear and a net. The High Priest knocked on the door. “My Lord, a musician, sent by one of your doctors, is hoping to gain an audience with you.”

“Go ahead,” an unamused voice was heard from the door.

Iovanius slowly opened one of the doors to the slave girl. Taking in a nervous breath, she stepped inside the Holy of Holies where she found the famed Pegasus on a violet pillow near the foot of a mighty statue, surrounded by many offerings of fruit and wine.

She was surprised to find that he wasn’t wearing his golden armor, finally getting a good look at the being underneath. A completely white coat, folded wings that were as large and magnificent as an eagle’s, a fiery red mane with a straight but shortened tail, and eyes as blue as the seas. However, she could see the look of disappointment upon the creature’s face.

“Let me guess. You’re another worshipper, doctor, or priestess,” Bolt spoke. “And before you start bowing and calling me ‘your Lordship, ‘mighty Jupiter’, or ‘O Great God of the Skies, I’m not worthy’, just don’t. I’ve just about had it with all of this.” His head flopped onto the pillow. “I wonder if this is how Princess Celestia feels.”

“How so?” the slave girl asked as she cautiously approached the Pegasus.

He rolled his eyes. “Forget it, you don’t want to listen anyway.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because you wouldn’t take a single word I say seriously.” He buried his head underneath his hooves. “Just… say your prayers, offer me your offerings, or whatever you’re in for and just go.”

She stopped several feet away from the pony. “I’m not here for any of those things. I was sent here to play my lyre for you.”

Lightning craned his neck up. “What for?”

“My master says that my playing helps soothe any troubled mind.” The pegasus eyed her and her instrument with suspicion. “Perhaps, you also want someone to talk to.”

“No, I need a real friend in this weird place. Someone that doesn’t think I’m crazy.”

The musician sat down on the marble floor. “I will listen if you want. I won’t call you crazy, just talk to you like a friend would.”

“Whatever,” he waved a hoof at the many bowls beside him. “Help yourself to the offerings, I’ve already eaten anyway.”

She looked up in shock. “But it’s forbidden to take food or drink from the gods.”

“But I’m not a god,” he corrected her. “And I wouldn’t mind sharing this anyway. So if you want something, be my guest.”

The slave girl eyed one of the many cups of wine, which she carefully took a few sips from. “Would it please you if I played my lyre?”

Lightning Bolt told her to go ahead. She started with several quick notes on her stringed instrument, which, as much as the pegasus quietly admitted, did sound nice to listen to. The slave girl really did have some talent, playing a melody and counter-melodies with her two hands. Even as she played these multiple strings at once for a minute, the sound was like the sound of rain falling on the rooftops and the echo of the music in this enormous room only made it resonate more mysteriously and exotically.

Then, she changed the tune to a much slower pace, yet as she played, she began to speak. “What is it like?”

“What?”

“This life you knew, this Equestria, what is it like?”

The guard paused for a moment to register what he just heard. “You… you really want to listen to me?”

“Master told me that I’m a good listener. So please, speak. What was Equestria like, as well as your Princess you served?”

“Well,” Bolt shifted on his oversized pillow, “as I’ve been trying to say, I’m the Captain of the Guard for Celestia. She is now the ruler over my country during the day while her younger sister takes over at night. But as to what Equestria is like uh… I’m sorry, who are you again?”

“Fortunata.”

“Right, as I was saying, my country is a place where all sorts of ponies, not just Pegasi like me, but Earth Ponies and Unicorns all live together in harmony alongside a few others like Gryphons, Donkeys, Buffalos, and occasionally Dragons. I guess it may sound too fantastic for you Fortunata, but where I come from, we don’t really have these temples and sacrifices to any gods, because everypony knows that Celestia and Luna are practically goddesses that look over us.”

Fortunata tilted her head. “How strange. Is it possible, then, that gods have gods that they worship too?”

Bolt shrugged. “I don’t know, I’ve never taken philosophy.”

“But tell me more,” she urged him on. “Do you remember having a family of your own?”

The pegasus sighed. “I have a wife, but I’ve been seeing less and less of her ever since my promotion. My Midnight Blue… we just had a daughter not too long ago.”

“You miss them?”

Bolt nodded. “I do. It’s one of the reasons I want to leave. Celestia promised me that after I and my unit escorted her to Saddle Arabia, I would have some time off to spend with my family. But since I’ve seen your map of this Empire… I don’t know if there’s any way of going home.”

Fortunata stopped playing. “I think I have a good idea what you’re going through.”

The pony’s ears perked up. “You do?”

She nodded. “I was born in Alexandria where my husband went into debt. We owed so many people from all the luxuries we had that all of us, even my son, had to pitch in to do something. When no one offered us a job, we resorted to nexum, allowing us to pay off our debts by pledging ourselves as slaves.”

“What?” Bolt said in shock. “You sold yourselves into slavery? Are you mad!?”

“We had no choice. We had to sell ourselves to pay everything back or be thrown into prison. What else could we do? We were eventually separated across the Empire. I’m not sure if my husband and son are still in Egypt, but I hope that we will meet again someday and go back to the way things were.

“Since my master is a doctor and he encourages me to play the lyre, I hope that our debt will still be repaid. Jupiter or not, I hope you understand what it’s like for a mother to miss her family across the sea, in a place where you have no control.”

Bolt opened his wings and gently flew over to her, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “Hey, everything will be alright. You know, I may not exactly be free myself, with all these guards watching me and your Emperor wanting me here, but perhaps I could free you.” Fortunata looked up. “Perhaps when the Emperor returns, I can ask him to not only repay your debts but to set you free as well.”

“You… you would actually do that?” she said in amazement.

“I swore an oath to my Princess that I would protect and serve all. You were able to talk to me as a pony, so consider this a token of my gratitude for what you’ve done.” He offered a hoof to her. “Friends?”

The overjoyed Fortunata shook his hoof and left the temple with a thousand ‘thank you’s.
> Chapter VIII: The Rise of Lightning.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The light of dawn shone upon Rome’s marble buildings, quickly illuminating the darkened streets and waking up those who were asleep. Lightning Bolt was no exception. With the soft morning light that poured into his temple, it gently nudged him awake. Wiping the sleep from his eyes, he grudgingly rose up from his oversized bed and headed towards the leftover offerings from the previous night.

After his uneventful breakfast, he began putting on his armor before a knock on the huge metal doors interrupted him. “Who is it?” the pegasus asked, slipping on his back-armor.

“The Emperor of Rome and Senator Cato Felix wish to gain an audience with you,” the High Priest announced. Bolt gave his permission to enter while he strapped the armor across his withers.

Both of the brass doors swung open, in which Titus and the bird-like Senator walked in, both of whom saluted him. “Hail Jupiter!”

The pegasus rolled his eyes. “Good morning, now what do you want?”

“Well,” Cato began, “we’re here for two reasons. Firstly, how you are doing this morning?”

“I’m fine, I suppose,” Bolt started to step into his golden boots, “but I think I’ll need a bath sooner or later. I don’t know when the last time I bathed was.”

“That can be taken care of,” Titus informed him. “If you like, I can offer you my private baths for you to cleanse yourself.”

“Thanks, and what was the other reason you’re here?”

“I’m glad you asked.” The Emperor gestured over to Cato. “You see, since you were in somewhat of a foul mood yesterday, Felix here suggested a great idea that would make you feel more welcomed in Rome. Perhaps helping you have some fun while showing off the best customs might help you recover.”

“So in other words, you want me to go around doing stuff, like what?”

“Well, since you asked for a bath,” the skinny human suggested, “perhaps we’ll let you do that first, and afterward we could take you out to see some of the games here in the city.”

Titus snapped his fingers. “And I know just the thing! An old-fashioned chariot race in the Circus Maximus should do it. After all, since it’s now spring, it should be the perfect weather to watch. Although, since there are still a few petitions I need to hear first, how about we go to the games after lunch?”

Lightning Bolt finished by putting on his helmet. “Since I’m not really able to go anywhere, I’ve got nothing better to do.”

The Solar Guard followed the two men out of the temple, seeing that the Emperor’s guards were keeping his worshipers at a reasonable distance to make a clear path to the Imperial chariot. As Bolt trotted over next to the chariot, his eyebrow was raised at the two large equines that were strapped to the yoke of a carrier. There were two of them that were as tall as the Princesses he knew, only both of them had brown coats and charcoal black manes.

“Good morning,” he said to them. The two horses turned their necks to them but said nothing, “It’s kind of a bit refreshing to find someone familiar faces amongst this crowd. So who are you two?”

Again, they didn’t say anything.

“Not much for talking, aren't ya?” the Captain asked, hearing the Emperor laughing behind him. “What?”

“What are you doing?” Titus chuckled as he hopped on the chariot.

“I was trying to have some small talk with them.” He turned to the horses. “Apparently, they don’t really say much.”

“Lord Jupiter,” Cato chuckled as well, “surely you jest. Everyone knows that horses don’t talk.”

The pegasus blinked. “They don’t?”

“Of course not!” The Senator walked into the chariot. “They’re just beasts of burden after all, as well as tamed animals.”

Lightning Bolt was completely taken aback. Never in his life did he expect to encounter a member of his own species that wasn’t as intelligent as he was. They were… animals, and the fact that Cato had said that they were “trained” sent a chill down his spine.

“Are you going to get into the chariot or will you be flying?” Caesar asked. Bolt spread his wings and hovered next to the Imperial chariot, following them through the marble streets.

“Titus,” Bolt asked, “would you mind if I asked you about something in this place works?”

“Of course, what do you want to know?”

“Slavery.” Both Caesar and Senator looked up at him, asking what brought this up. “Last night, I made a friend of a musician who said that she and her family were in deep debt and that the only way that any of them could get out of it is to sell themselves.”

“So?” Cato inquired. “It’s not unusual for someone to find themselves as slaves whenever their debts are due. It’s rather noble to settle them through hard work.”

“But in my friend’s case, she’s been separated from her family because of this. Where I come from, ponies don’t go into slavery because they find themselves short in paying someone. They work at a job until that debt is fully paid. At least no one gets sold if they wanted to or not.”

“How ineffective,” Titus shook his head. “It’s like you’re telling me that slavery is a bad thing.”

“It is,” the pegasus urged them. “There’s nothing right about enslaving anyone against their will.”

“If that were true,” Cato commented, “and everybody in the Empire believed that Rome would collapse overnight. A civilization needs many people to do its dirty work, and having them work as cheaply as possible ensures that it will grow. Throughout history, it has been the only way for any nation to survive and develop.”

“Such wisdom spoke Cato,” Titus nodded.

“But at what cost?” The Solar Guard flew up to their faces. “Sure, innovation is important, but not giving somepony the same dignity as anypony else is unforgivable and unfair.”

“Neither is life, but we all must do our duty to adapt,” the Senator folded his arms.

“Just because life isn’t fair, doesn’t mean that we have to be.”

“Mighty Jupiter, get to the point,” Caesar Titus said. “I grow weary of this conversation.”

Lightning Bolt sighed. “This friend of mine, I was hoping you could settle her debt and give her freedom to her.”

Both of the men looked at each other in surprise. “Free her?” they asked.

“Yes, I made a promise that I would get word to you,” he pointed at Titus, “to help her settle her debt so she may return to her home.”

“It’s of no concern of me or the Empire to care about a woman who has been working to pay her debtors honestly,” the Caesar scoffed.

Lightning Bolt grew frustrated but quickly got an idea. “You all think that I’m Jupiter, right? The very King of the Gods themselves and Lord of the Empire?”

“Yes?” Titus raised an eyebrow.

“So if I were to tell you that this slave’s debt should be paid, and you say ‘no’, that would technically mean that you’re going against the will of the gods, right?”

“W… what?”

“And if you go against the will of the gods,” the pegasus grinned, “that means that you’re going against my worshipers, and therefore, your own people of the Empire. So logically, as long as everyone, including you, believes that I am Jupiter, that means that I have a much bigger say than you. Am I wrong?”

Caesar Titus looked over to the scarecrow-like Senator for a comeback to this line of reasoning. However, Cato was just as dumbstruck as the Emperor.

“Besides,” Bolt continued, “I’m not asking you to reverse the plant’s axis, I'm just asking you to give this lady some cash so she can go free. By the looks of this place, I think it’s safe to say that you’ve got to have some spare change lying around. So,” he grinned, “what do ya say?”

The Emperor paused. “What is this slave’s name?”

“Fortunata.”

“Very well,” Titus said with a concerned sigh. “I shall make it a priority on behalf of the people of Rome.”
> Chapter IX: Reflections and Concerns.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘It’s not like I’m going to abuse this,’ the pegasus though to himself as jars of water were being poured on him by servants, splashing his mane and running over his hooves. ‘Using this power of belief on them, I mean. I wonder if this is what it’s really like for the Royal Sisters. I have all this authority because everypony thinks I’m a god, so in a way, I’m literally the king of kings, Emperor of Emperors.’

Lightning Bolt spread open his wings and let the jars of cool water cascade over them. ‘But on the other hoof, as tempting as all of this is, everypony also thinks that I’m still off my rocker. Even if they do see me as sane, will I become corrupted like Sombra or that Changeling Queen? It all seems so simple now, all I have to do is convince them that I’m cured, declare that I’m their Jupiter in the flesh, and whatever I say becomes the law of the land. Yet, what would Celestia think about this?’

“My Lord,” one of the servants asked, “do you wish to have a message?”

“Why not? Let me get dry first.” As the Captain stepped out onto the mosaic floor, towels were immediately wrapped around him. While they were drying him off, another thought came to him. ‘On the other hoof, these Romans have never heard of Equestria, so I might very well be the very first pony they’ve ever met. So until Celestia or somepony finds me, I’m pretty much an ambassador to these creatures.’

After a quick shake to get the remaining water off, the Solar Guard hopped onto the table and lied down, allowing the nearby servant to work. “Don’t touch the wings.”

“Yes, Jupiter,” the servant said as his hands started rubbing the pony’s neck.

‘On the other hoof,’ Bolt hummed in approval, ‘I think I could get used to this. If it wasn’t for some of the disturbing offerings, I wouldn’t mind staying here too much. But as interesting as this place can be, I don’t want to stay here for long. Midnight is probably worried sick, and I bet even little Lilac is missing me. That, and I have no idea how Roman politics works here. Or its' history. Or even its culture for that matter.

‘Still, as long as I just follow that oath to serve and protect everypony, what can go wrong?’

_*_

“This is not good.” Titus paced behind his desk. “And even worse, there’s no guide to turn for advice.”

“Please remind me, my Lord, what exactly it is that troubles you?” his advisor asked as he walked in, noticing that Senator Cato was sitting down in front of the desk.

“It’s about the Pegasus,” Felix informed him, “and frankly, I’m beginning to find this rather disturbing myself.”

“And that being?”

“He practically has more power over me,” Titus ran his hands through his hair. “I’m not sure what he meant with his observation. Should I be worried that I might be overthrown any day now?

“Calm yourself, Caesar,” his adviser told him. “I need to know what he said that has you concerned.”

“He said that as long as we believe him to be the very King of the Gods himself, anything that I say that goes against his will would also go against the will of those who worship him. To go against him is to go against the people of Rome. With so many people believing in Jupiter, especially with him here in the flesh, the citizens will recognize that he has more power than the Emperor or the Senate. In other words--”

“You think he realizes that he has absolute power?” Zenous inquired.

“Exactly,” Cato interjected, “and that’s what scares me. We’re now in completely different territory, unlike any of the nations we’ve had to face before. What’s more frightening is what his intentions may be now that he realizes this.”

“I thought that he didn’t want to stay in Rome, to begin with,” the adviser asked as he walked over to Titus. “That he wants to return to wherever he came from.”

“Yes, but as the old saying goes, ‘give a grub royal jelly and it will turn into an Emperor Butterfly in an instant.’ When he realizes how much power he truly has, he will become the most powerful being in the world. As of now, until he announces to his followers that he doesn’t want power over the Empire, absolutely no one is safe.”

Zenous put a hand underneath his chin and hummed in thought. “Perhaps it’s best, now more than ever, to make friends with Jupiter. Remember, the people also believe that he isn’t quite himself ever since he hit his head. You can help remind him of who he really is while also developing a friendship with him. You said you want to spend time with him. This would be the perfect opportunity to get him on your good side, all the while showing him who the Emperor is.”

“I see,” the Senator nodded. “So we just continue with what we have in plan for today, and convince him that both Caesar and the Senate should be the only ones to rule.”

“Speaking of plans,” the adviser turned to the Emperor, “what are you going to do with him anyway?”

“Do what I do best, show off. He was interested in the races at the Circus Maximus, so perhaps what he needs is some good entertainment.”

“And I’m going to need it, too. I haven’t been to a race in ages.” All three men jumped when the pegasus reentered. “Forgive me. I wasn’t interrupting anything, was I?”	

“Oh no,” Titus walked over to Lightning Bolt. “I was just informing my adviser Zenous of what we’re going to be doing today.”

The pegasus glanced over at the human in a robe that reminded the color of sand. Zenous placed a fist over his heart and bowed a little. “Your Majesty.”

Bolt shook his head. “I’ve already told you, I’m not Jupiter so there’s no need for you to do any of that.” The pony’s stomach growled. “By the way, aren’t we going to have lunch first before we go see the race?”

“Of course,” the Emperor said, turning to Cato. “Perhaps it is a good idea to have something beforehand.”
> Chapter X: Circus Maximus.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“In Rome, it is every Emperor’s priority to keep the public happy,” Titus explained. After a lunch consisting of a few meaty meals that caused the pegasus to give the humans weird looks, the three of them were once again set down the streets of Rome to see the races.

And like this morning, Captain Lightning Bolt was flying next to the chariot, asking the senator what his job in the Empire was. “How do you keep the citizens happy?”

“Either through conquest or construction projects,” Senator Cato explained. “In recent years, Emperors usually build something impressive to either improve Roman lives or keep them entertained. One of them, Emperor Nero, bankrupted the empire to reconstruct the capital after it was burned to the ground. He covered every street in marble and art.”

“But why?” the pegasus inquired. “The Princess Celestia I know would probably commission some kind of construction project every once in a while, but you make it sound like your lives are on the line or something.”

“That’s because they are,” Titus corrected him as they turned a corner. “For instance, as of now, I’m not exactly popular with the people ever since a fire mountain destroyed a few towns south of here, costing the treasury millions in relief. And if the people or the Senate don’t like me, I could be killed because they think I haven’t done everything in my power to improve the Empire. You’d be surprised how many Emperors have been stabbed to death underneath a few assassin’s knives.”

The pegasus’s eyes widened. “That… sounds really dark. What do you plan to do to keep your neck off the chopping block?”

Caesar Titus smiled. “There’s some building that’s been going on for some time now. My father had commissioned it but I plan to finish it.”

“Well, what is it?”

“Right over there.” The thin senator pointed over to a tall, circular-like building made entirely of pearl-white marble with levels of wooden platforms surrounding it. To Bolt, it reminded him of the great arena in Cloudsdale. It looked similar in shape and design too, with its towering arches and columns. He saw the humans carrying tools, slabs of stone, and rope as they went about the expansive building like ants on a hill. Indeed, this cylinder-like building was taller than any of the builds he had seen so far.

“Is that an arena?” the pegasus asked.

The Emperor nodded. “It’s close to completion. Once it is finished, I’ve planned its premiere to be unlike anything anyone has seen before.”

“Okay, so what will that place be used for?”

“Gladiatorial games, Lord Jupiter,” Cato said with a sense of pride. “They’re quite popular among our citizens.”

“Don’t worry,” Titus grinned, “once the races are over, you’ll get to see the games up close. I’ve heard that it’s going to be a good one today.”

Curious, the pegasus followed the Emperor until they stopped before a tall wooden structure. From where they stopped, he saw two kinds of banners. On the top of this building that seemed to stretch about a mile long were flagpoles that waved flags in several colors of red, pink, blue, green, white, brown, and yellow. Below and hanging off the side every several hundred feet or so was an enormous red banner that bared in bright yellow an olive branch that encompassed the initials “SPQR.”

Following the two other humans and his guards in red, the pegasus was led to a particular box that was made out of stone instead of wood. Once he stopped on the platform, it began to elevate above the spectators, granting him a good view of the enormous racetrack.

The Imperial box was nearly set in the center of the elongated oval track. Wooden rafters that were a couple levels tall seated, to Bolt’s eyes, enough room for half of the population of Equestria to sit in. In the center of this universe of a track was a line of monuments, featuring small buildings and statues. But in the very center was a tall, sandy obelisk that had a series of carved pictures that the pegasus didn’t quite understand.

When the Emperor and “Jupiter” both stepped into the box where everyone could see them, the crowd erupted into deafening cheers. Most of them lifted their right arms into the air while crying “hail Jupiter!”, much to Titus’s disappointment.

“Impressed, Sire?” Cato Felix inquired of the Solar Guard.

“It’s huge, I’ll give you that.”

“Trust us,” the Senator sat down, “you’ve seen nothing yet.”

Trumpets sounded, setting forth four sets of racers, each of whom were being driven by four horses. They trotted around the track while their drivers saluted, waving to the cheering spectators. While this was going on, Lightning Bolt overheard the Emperor talking to the senator. “That one there in blue, Tarquinius, I’ve heard he’s pretty good.”

“But do you see the one in white,” Senator Felix pointed. “That’s Publius. Why I’ve heard that he’s never lost a single race.”

“Yet, Tarquinius is the most skilled in this arena,” Titus pointed out.

“Publius has the swiftest horses.” He grinned. “How much you want to wager that my racer will cross the finish line before yours?”

“Five hundred, and you?”

“Seven hundred, and a new slave girl from Gaul.”

“Done!”

Once the racers made one slow lap around the track, all four lined up before the Emperor’s box. Titus stood up and was handed a white piece of fabric that he lifted up in the air. It would seem to the pegasus that everyone held their breath until Titus dropped the cloth and the stadium erupted in total chaos.

Suddenly, the racers whipped at their horses to go into a full gallop. In what few races that Bolt had seen and participated in, he’d never in his life seen anything close to what he saw. Seven times around the titanic track at high speeds, riders whipping their team horses and sometimes at each other, where a few times, a rider would try to bump the other chariot off the track, making them fly into the dirt. Sometimes a horse would trip over, sending the rest of them to the ground before having to be whipped to continue. Other times riders would throw their helmets at the other drivers in hopes to knock them off.

As far as Bolt could see amongst the savagery, there were no rules whatsoever except to win. He had no idea what to make of this. If he had tried to pull off even a fraction of what these riders were doing to each other, he would be disqualified immediately, and yet, these Romans were cheering at every crash, every rider being trampled over and at every horse that stumbled.

The pegasus couldn’t tell if he should find this horrifying or exciting at the sheer unrestricted violence of it all.

“Ha!” Titus exclaimed when his chosen rider zipped across the finishing line, turning to the senator. “I believe you owe me seven hundred and a new slave.”

“Yes Caesar,” he grumbled.
> Chapter XI:  Games of the Gladiators.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Caesar Titus turned to the King of the Gods to find him in shock. Mouth and eyes wide open, the pegasus looked like as if he just witnessed to something unspeakable. “Are you alright?” he asked but the god didn’t reply. “King Jupiter?”

Lightning Bolt quickly shook his head. “Wha? Huh?”

“Is something wrong? You looked horrified for a second.”

“I looked horrif…” the Solar Guard trailed off in disbelief. “I looked horrified? How come you’re not?”

“Over what,” Senator Cato questioned. “The race?”

“Of course it was about the race!” Bolt exclaimed. “Did you not see what just happened back there?”

“Yes,” the Emperor nodded, “it was quite good, too. Although, the one that threw his helmet was risky but brilliant.”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” the pegasus got up from his seat. “Those racers and those ponies--”

“Horses,” both of the men corrected him.

“Whatever! The point is that any one of them could have been killed. Where I come from, if such a race like this were to happen where they would come out of it bloodied and bruised, it would have been shut down before you could say ‘go!’”

“But can you argue against the entertainment that the people had?” Titus gestured over to the crowd. “Besides, those racers are mostly made up of criminals or those that rebelled against the Empire. Some of their crimes are worthy of death, yet we give them a chance to earn back their freedom.”

“By earning their freedom you mean to have them risk their necks in a race that could easily kill them?”

“Exactly Jupiter,” Cato said shrugging. “And what’s the problem with that?”

The pegasus’s eyes hardened. “First of all, it’s Lightning Bolt. Second, a race like this is incredibly cruel by any standard. And the fact that they applauded whenever they tripped at high speeds or crashed into the wall that could have left them in a bloody mess is appalling.”

“Oh come now,” Titus said. “There must be something from that race you must have enjoyed. The thrill of those racers flying by trying to outdo the other by any means must be exciting.”

Before he could object, trumpets blasted out for the next even to begin. Turning his attention to the track, Lightning Bolt saw three more groups of humans walk onto the dirt pathway, separated from each other by several hundred feet. Bolt looked over the three closest to them. The one closest to the Imperial box was a man in white robes carrying a stick. Another one had on a brass helmet that covered the entirety of his head, thick padding on his right arm and left leg, and carried a large shield and a bent sword. The third had what looked like a trident and a fishing net, along with padding on his left arm that held a tiny shield and a dagger.

“Ah! Here we go.” Titus leaned over in his seat. “Now the real entertainment is here!”

“What’s going on?” Bolt asked. “Is this another of your sports?”

“The finest ever conceived,” the Senator grinned. “A fantastic spectacle. Just watch.”

“They’re not really using real weapons, are they?”

“Just watch,” Caesar told him. Now, all eyes were upon these gladiators on the racetrack. Bolt kept his eyes on the ones that were closest to him. The robed man held a stick between the two others who looked at each other readily with weapons drawn. At a signal, the robed man stepped back, allowing the other two to fight. The one with the fishing net attempted to thrust his long trident at the other, but it was continually blocked by the other’s shield and brass helmet. With every jab, he tried to use his net to trip him up or catch his helmet to pull it off.

Meanwhile, Bolt looked around the stadium where swords and shields clashed, where they would claw at each other like wild beasts. Even for a pegasus who had spent years in the Royal Guard, taught about fighting close hoof-to-hoof combat with padded spears and occasionally swords to fend off dummies, he was still shocked that the audience cheered when the first blood was spilled.

Everywhere, he saw cuts being made in these human arms and legs that stabbed and slashed at each other. Yet, even when wounded, these warriors still lunged at one another.

“Ah! Look!” Titus pointed to the one with the net and trident suddenly was able to trip the other. Abandoning his pronged spear, he lunged at the other when his shield fell away, now they were using blades to defend themselves. Yet, for a while, there didn’t seem to be any real decisive winner until the one with the crooked sword made a move where his bent blade stopped at his chest and looked at the audience.

Bolt looked at the audience where he saw many of them making gestures with their hands and shouting at the two fighters. Most of them held out their fists where their thumbs were pointed at their necks while most had their thumbs lying flat over their bent index finger.

“What’s going on,” the Pegasus asked.

“By the looks of it,” the Emperor held out his arm, “it looks like both of them have won,” and closed his fist where his thumb laid flat over his index finger. Looking back, the man who carried the stick separated them, much to the pleasure of the crowd.

“Doesn’t anypony die to do this?” Bolt inquired. “I mean, it’s clear they’re using real weapons.”

“Sometimes,” Titus informed him. “In the Gladiatorial games, most of the time, the loser isn’t killed unless the other has already done that, or if the people want him to die because he didn’t fight hard enough, where they’ll accept it honorably with a stab in the throat.”

“But… that’s horrible,” the pegasus objected.

The Senator sighed with annoyance. “We’ve already said that most of them are condemned criminals, most of which would have been executed in other parts of the world for the same crime. These games were invented to keep the free man entertained and for the criminals to redeem themselves. Not every gladiator is killed, though it does happen from time to time.” He pointed towards another part of the arena where one of the warriors collapsed thanks to a deep cut through the stomach. “Simply replacing a gladiator can be expensive, and even if they lose and live, both winner and loser will be treated by doctors before the next round.”

‘I can’t tell if that’s clever or just barbaric,’ Lightning thought to himself. “But why do this? What’s the point of these dangerous games anyway?”

“If I may remind you, Lord Jupiter,” Caesar Titus said, leaning over, “Rome was, and still is, a nation in which we must either expand by war or die. The world we live in is never a peaceful one, with barbarians continually attacking our borders. We may be a warring nation, but we have to demonstrate our greatness by our armies, our construction projects, our art, and our entertainment to send this parlous world a message. Never mess with the Empire and the people of Rome.”

Disgusted, the pegasus spread his wings and flew out of the Imperial Box. “Where’re you going?” the Emperor asked.

Bolt paused for a moment. “To my temple, to get away from all of this.” And with that, he flew off in the direction away from the roaring crowd and two very concerned men.
> Chapter XII: Cultural Differences.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

At a moment like this when Bolt was confronted with something he couldn’t understand -- he wasn’t even sure how something like these bloodsports could be allowed -- a friend to talk to always tended to help.

This is why as soon as he returned to the temple he was residing in, the pegasus asked the High Priest if he could see Fortunata. The High Priest asked why, but Bolt only gave a vague response. “I need someone to bring me down to Earth.”

Not wanting to anger the God of the Skies, the priests summoned the enslaved musician to the temple. When she stepped through the bronze doors, he could see that she brought her instrument. “You wished to see me?”

Sighing on his enormous pillow, he let his head flop to the soft surface. “Yes. As far as this insane place goes, I really need a friend right now.”

“What troubles you?”

“Come here, please.” She did. When she approached and knelt down to him, Bolt covered his head. “I just don’t get this place.”

“What? The temple?”

“No, I mean Rome in general.” Bolt took a deep breath. “Your Emperor and this other guy wanted to treat me to their entertainment. I know they’re trying to get on my good side and all, but… no. Just no.”

“Why? Where did you go?”

“Some huge arena. The Circus… something.”

“Maximus? You mean you went to the Circus Maximus?”

“That’s it.”

“My, you’re quite lucky to see those races.”

“Oh c’mon, you too?” The captain raised his neck. “Don’t tell me that entertainment to you means being in a race in which you could seriously get hurt or fighting other racers with real weapons?”

Fortunata tilted her head. “You saw their races and the gladiators, too? I fail to see where the problem lies.”

Lightning Bolt groaned. “That’s just it. Nopony around here seems to care. I’m sorry, but the idea of amusement to you Romans is too… barbaric for me.”

“What?” the slave girl asked in surprise. “You found our games too barbaric?”

“To me, sure. Where I come from, everypony races at one point or another. We Pegasi dodge clouds while we try to outfly the other, or the Unicorns and Earth Ponies in some parts of my country will race on foot at the end of autumn to make the leaves fall from the trees. And sure, we race for fun, too, but they don’t include fighting life and limb to win. I think a couple of mares in Ponyville did that once and they pretty much cheated all throughout the race.”

“It sounds to me like you are shocked at all of the violence in our sports.”

Bolt snorted. “Even our wrestling training in the Royal Guard isn’t as bloody as what I’ve just seen.”

Fortunata began playing her lyre. “You remind me of my first impression of Rome. You see, from the part of the Empire I was born in, a province of Egypt, it was always very hot, especially during the Inundation period of July through September where the sun’s light makes walking outside feel like walking into an inferno. My home has miles of sand, whose dunes make it seem like an endless sea, and long stretches of land that house life along the Nile River. There are monuments that predate both Rome and Greece by several thousand years.

“Before my family became indentured slaves, my husband had studied that ancient temples of Egypt’s gods to unlock new secrets for his designs. Sometimes I was asked to go with him, and I saw carvings of the gods and pharaohs that stood strong against time.

“But after we were sold and I came here, Rome was such a big shock to me. Suddenly, I saw more green and water than I had ever seen in my life! Everywhere I looked, I saw marble, mosaics, and sculptures that look so real that I thought they could come to life at any moment. Not only that but each day, I saw food such as spices and fruits that were impossible to find in Egypt.

“And yes, there were the games which, I confess, are a little too much for my tastes. Of course, I had seen a gladiatorial fight every once in a while back home, but here, it is every day!”

“Every day?” the pegasus asked in disbelief. “Are you dead serious?”

“I am. But as surprising as it is to see their want for blood, I must admit, I was impressed to see that those who fight in the games receive the best doctors for healing so that they may fight again another day.”

“How does that make it all better?” Bolt questioned. “Why would you want to participate in a game where not performing well enough could mean your death as the hands of the spectators?”

Fortunata stopped playing. “What I’m trying to say is that in all parts of the world, one custom that is seen as normal could be seen as shocking to another. Perhaps you view our games as barbaric, yet we see them as the most reasonable way of dealing with criminals and other hostile people.”

“It’s wrong for another life to suffer and be forced to inflict that cruelty onto others.”

“Even when they, at one point, have done the exact same thing?” she questioned.

For a while, Bolt didn’t say anything. As he was stretching one of his wings, Fortunata started playing again. When he finished stretching both of his wings, he folded them back to his sides. “Could we talk about something else?”

“You may.”

Bolt put a hoof under his chin in thought. “I have some good news for you.”

“Oh?”

“I’ve just had a little talk with the Emperor, and I was able to convince him to pay your debt.” Fortunata stopped playing. “He said that it’s now a priority of his to make sure that you are freed because I, Jupiter,” Bolt mocked, “have declared that your slavery shall be no more.” He chuckled. “You should have seen his face when I reminded him that they still think I’m their god.”

“You mean, I’m really going to go home?”

“For you, yes,” the Solar Guard gave her a sad smile, “but for me, I’m still stuck here.”

“Come now, you said so yourself. We are friends, are we not?” the musician pointed out. “And loyalty towards friends extends beyond seas and mountains.”

“That’s kind of you, but as soon as you’re free, I can’t make you stay because you’re my friend. You said so yourself, you have a family to look for.” The white pegasus put a hoof under his chin. “Unless I specifically asked that your family be found, of course.”

“And that, Lightning Bolt of Cloudsdale, is very kind of you.”

The stallion straightened up from his pillow. “What did you call me?”

“You wished to be called Lightning Bolt, did you not? Even if I worship you, would it not be best to call a god by the name that he addresses himself with?”

Before the Solar Captain could say anything, he started to notice something odd about the air. Not only was the smell strange, but he could tell that the air around the lamps gave off smoky halos.

“Do you smell that?” he asked getting up.

Fortunata sniffed the air. “Is that smoke?”

“Is something burning?” Bolt asked as he flew over to the door that still had a crack in it. His hooves pulled on the frame while he flapped his wings, widening the door.

There, both pony and slave girl saw that the roofs of Rome were on fire.
> Chapter XIII: City on Fire.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Timber from the rooftops glowed like candles in the twilight of the night. Red, yellow, white, and orange light flickered everywhere as the smoky fires spread from home to home, temple to temple, monument to monument. The wailing of women, the cries of men, and the terrified voices of children choked the air like the smoke in the evening air. Humans and animals alike fled from the fires like rats throwing themselves overboard a sinking ship.

Lightning Bolt had never seen anything like this. Sure, there were occasions where a few buildings in Canterlot would catch fire, but he never could have imagined an inferno like this. Turning to Fortunata, he saw that she had a look of awestruck horror.

“It’s happening again,” she said. “By the gods, Rome is on fire!”

Lightning Bolt looked around. “Where are the fireponies?”

“The what?”

“Doesn’t this city have someone to put out the fire? Isn’t there a fire brigade or something?”

“You mean something like that?” The slave girl pointed to a line of men who were passing buckets of water to each other. Despite how fast they were going, they didn’t have enough water to fully extinguish the flames.

“It’s not going to work.” Lightning Bolt looked to the sky and noticed that there were a few stray clouds overhead. He suddenly got an idea before quickly turning to Fortunata. “Listen to me. I need you to tell as many people as you can to find someplace safe outside of the city.”

“Lord Jupiter!” The two turned to see Iovianus and the rest of the priesthood running up to them. “We must leave immediately! The fire is getting too close to your temple!”

“Listen,” the pegasus took flight, “I need all of you to get as many of your kind out of the city as possible.”

“What are you going to do?” asked Fortunata.

“I have an idea, but it’s going to take me a while to pull it off. Now, all of you go out and get everypony out of the city, now!”

“Yes, Jupiter,” the priesthood replied as the pegasus took to the air. Not to say that it was an easy flight as he coughed from the excessive amount of smoke. Once he was high enough to the cloud level, he was able to get a good view of the city below. In some places, the capital glowed like the embers of a campfire while in others it glowed brightly and was quickly spreading. In the light of the fires, he could make out mobs trying to stampede away from the flames.

Now, Captain Lightning Bolt set himself to work, gathering as many clouds as he possibly could. When the remaining ones were too thin to move, he started to fly outside of the city’s borders to find thicker ones. As he was pushing them all into place, he could tell just by touch that they were wild clouds, the kind that wasn’t made in any weather factory. This worried him because unlike the clouds that were factory-made, wild clouds like these were only found in the likes of the Everfree Forest and were proven to be just as unpredictable.

‘Celestia, I really hope this works,’ he thought as he placed another cluster of clouds over the city. Every so often, Lightning would look down to see where the fires had progressed to. On one of his trips back to the borders, he saw that the temple he had been residing in had finally caught fire. Even the Circus Maximus where he saw those barbaric games earlier had been ablaze. Not even the House of Senators had been spared from the inferno.

He knew that the longer he spent trying to get more clouds, the further the fire would spread. Even worse, his wings were getting tired and he could start to feel his armor weighing him down. In a desperate act, he stripped himself of his backplate, helmet, and even his golden boots, letting them fall into the fire below. With the loss of weight, he was able to fly more quickly through the air as he gathered more clouds.

Finally, after spending so much time and effort gathering and placing the series of the clouds in the right areas, the pegasus decided that it was time to finally try out his plan, hoping it would work.

He flew up to the outer layers of clouds, turning his back to one of them, and letting lose a swift buck. Lightning quickly sprang from it and swiftly spread to the others, creating a web of light in the night air.

The sound of deafening thunder slowly dwindled and, before he knew it, rain began to descend upon the burning city below. “Ah-ha! Yes!” Bolt cried out in joy. “It worked!”

As of that moment, the wildfire of Rome was now facing a losing battle against the showers raining from the heavens. People who were still in the city not only noticed the rain, but the lightning arcing across the clouds from the sudden storm. Such unusual weather could only be made from one god.

Jupiter, it seemed, had taken pity upon the capital.

_*_

It took about an hour and a half for the sudden storm to subdue the fire. Every now and then, a few clouds were added, with the pegasus swiftly kicking them to expand the rain and lightning. With every minute that went by, the smoky air was being replaced with steam as houses, monuments, temples, and the government building was being put out. Even though he was high in the air, the Captain could hear cheers growing louder from the city’s citizens.

When the stallion couldn’t see any more of the fire, he descended and heard the booming chants of “Hail Jupiter!” coming from outside of the city’s walls. When he flew towards where the outbursts were coming from, mobs greeted him in ecstasy and changed their chants to “Long reign Jupiter!”

‘For once,’ the Solar Guard thought when some of the humans decided to carry him on their shoulders, ‘it feels incredible to be the hero.'
> Chapter XIV: The Feast of Caesar.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“How bad is it?” Caesar Titus asked his adviser.

“As of this morning,” Zenous examined the scroll once more, “while Jupiter has put out most of last night’s fires, Rome has lost many of its temples, forums, some of its monuments, hundreds if not thousands of homes, and even the House of the Senate was burnt. I have a complete list in this scroll, Caesar.” The adviser cleared his throat before continuing. “Since the Temple of Jupiter was burned, the King of the Skies is currently residing in the Parthenon, or at least in the rotunda since it was the only part of the temple to survive. The Circus Maximus is completely destroyed. Ten of thousands of Roman citizens have found themselves homeless--”

The Emperor sighed. “Is there any good news out of this disaster?”

“Well… there is. The fire did spare the Amphitheatrum Caesarium. This means that there might still be a way to gain the public’s favor.”

“I don’t know.” Titus got out of his chair. “Considering what the Pegasus has done last night, it looks like all popularity has shifted towards him now, hasn’t it?”

“I’m afraid so.” Zenous handed the scroll over to him. “Just last night, once the last of the fires were extinguished, he flew over to where the people had fled. They were cheering ‘Long reign Jupiter.’ It seems as of now, your popularity, and therefore your life, is hanging by a thread.”

Caesar Titus looked through the names of the places in the capital that were burnt. “Besides, it’s going to be a nightmare for the treasure to rebuild even a third of this.”

“Unless…” his adviser started but shook his head, “no, we can’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“It’s a bad idea, my Lord.”

“Zenous, tell me,” Titus said. “Any idea is better than none when you have the very capital to worry about.”

He sighed. “Would it be ethical to ask Jupiter to move his offerings over the Empire’s treasury? And before you say anything; yes, I know that Nero had looted every temple in the Empire to reconstruct Rome, but I think that this time, it’s different.”

“How so?”

“Well, if we asked him to donate even a percentage of his offerings to fund the construction costs, it would ease the treasury by a good amount. Of course, we’re talking about asking the very King of the Gods to lend some loose change, so his worshippers may have a problem if Jupiter isn’t willing to do so.”

“I’ll see to that. Is there anything else I should know?”

“Since you’ve asked,” the adviser said with caution, “there’s a rumor going around with the Senate this morning. I think it’s best if I get straight to the point: they’re debating if they should make him Emperor.”

Titus dropped the scroll. “What?!”

“They haven’t fully made their decision yet,” Zenous quickly started. “Considering what has happened during your short reign with the complete destruction of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and now Rome, they’re wondering if it’s best if they should let the very Lord of the Skies become an Earthly Emperor as he is in the Heavens. Who is going to oppose Jupiter of all of the Gods when he is someone who we can not only speak with but see in the flesh?”

“But I thought that the Senate had rendered him insane.”

“And that’s the opposing argument, Caesar. It’s true that he still denies being Jupiter in spite of making the storm from last night himself, so according to some, they will not give the Pegasus the crown unless he embraces the idea that he is truly Jupiter.”

“Gods, this is bad.” Titus started to pace back and forth. “Something must be done, and fast. But what?” He walked from all sides of his desk and eventually circled the Imperial Office to come up with a solution to his problem. “I wonder if the plan of befriending him is still the best option. To do otherwise would just lead toward even more catastrophic consequences. We cannot overthrow him, as he is way too popular as it is. Nor can we have him give into his madness. Only an idiot would do something like that…”

“So, what do you propose that we do?”

“Until he does something that would make all of Rome not want--” It was then that the Emperor snapped his fingers. “Gladiators! Zenous, that’s it!”

“Caesar?”

“I know just what to do.” Titus smiled as he exited his office. “Since it’s clear that the people of Rome are in a celebrating mood, tonight we will host a great feast where Jupiter, the Senate, and some of the survivors will attend. We shall say that it’s out of gratitude for saving our city. However, we will be entertained by gladiators.”

“My Lord, I’m afraid I don’t quite follow.” The adviser quickly ran behind him. “How is this going to help?”

“You know about how he was at the Circus Maximus, especially when he became upset about the fights. So, what if during the entertainment, Jupiter says or does something that is so outrageous about the sport that the Senate has no choice but to forget about letting him have power. Send out the invitations! We have quite the supper to plan this evening.”

_*_

“TO JUPITER’S BRAVERY!” Titus toasted as his guest did the same. Lightning Bolt had his fair share of participating in parties in the past. Everything from his childhood birthdays to overseeing the Grand Galloping Gala, nothing could compare to the party that was being thrown in his honor. It combined the drunken lunacy of his college years with the expensive food normally only seen at Royal gatherings.

Bolt was currently lying on a reclining couch next to the Emperors with a line of couches forming a huge rectangle where everyone could eat and relax. In the center stood musicians and dancers, jugglers and magicians, fire-eaters and snake charmers, and many other entertainers. Servants went around the huge rectangle in their simple robes, carrying every kind of food imaginable. From loaves of bread to meats and salads to smelly sauces, there didn’t seem to be any kind of enriched food that was missing.

Looking down at his own attire once more, the pegasus was impressed at the replacement armor that the Romans had made for him. Since his original armor was lost in the fire, another was created in its place as one of their countless ways of thanking him for “not letting the entire city burn down to the ground.” It was not only made out of gold, but it was embedded with jewels and rare stones from all corners of the Empire. Even his new helmet was decorated with golden eagles that, even though they were made of metal, looked lifelike despite how scaled down they were.

“More salad, my Lord?” one of the servants asked.

“Not now,” Bolt told her. “I think I’m a little too full as it is.”

“I can fix that,” another servant said, carrying an empty bowl in one hand and a long feather in the other.

“Fix wha--” Before the stallion could say anything further, the long feather was suddenly jammed down into his muzzle where it touched something that made him gag and feel sick. The servant quickly removed the feather and placed the empty bowl below him in time for the Solar Guard to empty an hour’s worth of his meal into it.

“There you go,” the servant said once Bolt was finished expelling his stomach’s contents. “Now you can eat some more salad.”

“You should have warned me first,” Lightning coughed out, but the servant with the feather had already left while the other dished up more food on his plate.

The Emperor next to him laughed. “I guess you haven’t been to a feast like this in a while?”

“You kidding?” Lightning downed some wine to soothe his stomach. “I don’t remember ever going to a party where somepony stuck a feather down somepony else’s throat to make them vomit on purpose.”

“Sounds to me like you haven’t been to too many parties lately. Well at least now, we’re giving you something to make up for all of that lost time, no?”

“You Romans are weird.” The pegasus put down his glass and turned to the entertainment. “I haven’t seen anything as wild as this since I was younger.”

“Ah, we know. Those stories of you getting drunk and telling of all the women and occasional men you’ve bedded. Trust us, we’re not that surprised.”

“Uh… what?” The pegasus blinked. “I went to bed with… who?” he asked, blushing at what he just heard.

The Emperor started laughing. “It’s just as I thought! You really were drunk! So much so that you can’t remember who you have been with!”

“Hey, come on! That was a long time ago, and it was once… or was it twice…?”

Titus didn’t stop chuckling. “Oh wow, this is amazing!”

Lightning looked away in embarrassment. “Can we please change the subject? I don’t want to remember all of that, especially since I’m married now.”

“Married, single, does it really matter all that much when it’s common knowledge to every citizen in the Empire? But no matter. You’re enjoying yourself, I hope?”

“I’ll give you this: if there’s anything you guys do right, it’s throwing a party.”

“Oh,” Titus waved a hand dismissively, “this is nothing. You should have seen our festivals.”

“TO THE SAVIOR OF ROME!” someone cried as he raised his glass, causing everyone else to also raise theirs’ in a toast.

Once was toast was drunk, a senator came up to the Emperor with a scroll in hand. “Pardon me, Caesar,” he said. “Since you are here, I figured I might show you the total cost in repairing Rome’s damages.”

The Emperor allowed him to show it to him. However, instead of giving it to him, he unrolled the scroll to reveal a dagger. He quickly grabbed it and tried to plunge it into Caesar, but a couple of quick Praetorian Guards immediately grabbed him and seized the knife before the Emperor could be harmed.

“Death to Titus!” the senator yelled as he was being dragged away. “Jupiter must be Emperor! The Empire will fall if Titus is still in power!”

Now, all eyes were on both Caesar and the Pegasus. Titus, however, was looking at Lightning Bolt who could only blink. “What in the hay just happened?”
> Chapter XV: An Unexpected Turn.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.”
> Chapter XVI: In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The kneeling man turned around. Looking through the net, Lightning Bolt saw that he was an elderly man, wearing a robe that was plainer than the other humans on the surface. Around the man’s neck was a white shawl that had two lines of thread stitched in to form the same cross symbol that hung on the wall.

“How did you get him?” the elderly man asked as he stood up.

“He was on the street being escorted by two Praetorian Guards,” his abductors explained. “Some of us saw it as the perfect opportunity to remove this false idol from their eyes.”

“Who are you?” Bolt asked, trying to sit up. “What do you want with me?”

The old man looked up at the ceiling, seeming to ignore his question. “Ask and you shall receive. It seems as if the King of Kings has answered our prayers.” He turned his attention back to the pegasus. “As for who we are, you stand before the head of the one, true faith. Followers of the beloved Anointed One who leads his people out of the darkness of this world. I am the earthly Shepherd of the believers of Jesus Christ, and you are the cause that has led many of my flock to go astray.”

‘Oh joy,’ the Solar Captain thought, ‘I’m the prime target of a cult.’ “Hey, look, I’m not looking for any trouble.”

“Trouble?” Papa Anacletus raised an eyebrow. “Do you realize what trouble you have given us since the day you arrived? Followers abandoned the faith by the score when rumors spread that you have fallen from the sky. Our numbers have decreased dramatically. Our church needs believers to keep the flame of truth alive without some demon deceiving them.”

“What in Celestia’s name are you even talking about?” Bolt questioned as he tried to find an opening in the net. “I came here by accident. You, humans, were the ones claiming that I was Jupiter, even though I kept telling you all that I’m not.”

The head of the church knelt before the pony. “But were you not the same creature that, on Capitoline Hill, claimed that you were Jupiter, King of the Gods?”

“That was because I was frustrated with everypony not believing me even though I told them time and time again that I’m not your Jupiter.”

He scoffed. “Jupiter? Our God? What trash! The ‘God of the Skies’ is not the true God that we worship! Our God is the God of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob. He is the one that has come to Earth to show us the true way, away from the blasphemy and perversions of this world.”

“Did you miss the part where I said that I’m not really Jupiter?” Bolt deadpanned.

“We already know that you are not him,” one of his captors spoke.

Bolt sighed in relief. “Finally, someone that actually believes--”

“You are a demon,” said his other captor.

The pony blinked inquiringly. “What?”

“Do not lie,” Papa Anacletus told him. “How else can a creature like you fly like the birds, move clouds across the skies, and send lightning and rain upon the city?”

There was a pause before Bolt spoke again. “Are you bucking kidding me?”

“What do we with him now?” one of the captors asked.

The old man thought for a moment. “As of now, we can’t keep him here, as the Romans will no doubt be looking for him. If we are caught with him, they will have every one of us sent to be fed to wild beasts as punishment. Our Almighty knows we have already suffered much as is.”

“Would it be best to kill him?” The question filled the stallion with dread.

Papa Anacletus shook his head. “Do you not remember the great commandment? Thou shalt not kill?”

“And yet, our God permitted the slaughter of whole cities at his command, did he not?”

The other foalnapper agreed. “Like he commanded Joshua to bring down the walls of Jericho, or when the Kings of Israel were told to crush other nations and not to spare any living thing.”

“That is true.” Anacletus looked through the opening of the tiny church and spotted a stone coffin with pagan symbols. “I need some time to think. For now, put the demon in that coffin for the time being and I shall pray to Jehovah to ask for guidance on what the fate of this creature shall be. Once you shut the lid upon him, mark that coffin with the sign of the cross so that he may not escape.”

Lightning Bolt was once again dragged along the floor, being brought to the sarcophagus. The two men swiftly lifted him up and tossed him in with a decades-old skeleton. “Hey, wait! Don’t leave me in here!” His captors shoved his head in and closed the heavy lid, leaving Bolt alone in the dark.

Although it was hard to see in the pitch-black coffin, the pegasus managed to get the net untangled and off of him. He stumbled around blindly over the bones, trying to use his strength to push the stone lid off. But no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn’t budge an inch. “Hey!” Bolt shouted. “You can’t keep me in here! Is anypony there? Hello? Hello?!”

_*_

“HOW COULD YOU LOSE A GOD?!” Titus screamed at the top of his lungs. The two guards that were put in charge of escorting Jupiter tried as best as they could to stand solemnly amidst the scolding of a Caesar. However, that didn’t mean that they weren’t scared out of their wits for what the Emperor had in store for them. Titus’s face was turning as violet as his robe. “IN FACT, WHO DID YOU EVEN LOSE HIM TO?”

“Sire,” one of them said, “we were ambushed and taken completely by surprise. However, we do know who has taken him.”

“Who?”

“We believe it was the Christians,” the other guard spoke.

“How do you know?” the Emperor questioned. “As weird as they may be, this doesn’t seem like anything they would do.”

“This says otherwise, Caesar.” One of the guards pulled out a simple string necklace that had a cross made out of sticks. “I pulled this off of the neck of the ones that attacked us.”

Titus snatched the tiny cross from the guard’s hand and examined it himself. He shook his head. “Oh… just when I thought that they could not do anything more revolting, but this… this is the final straw.” He looked over his guards with a stern look. “This does not excuse what has happened. For this mistake, when the Amphitheatrum Caesarium is complete, you will be going straight to the lion’s den for all to see.”

The Emperor called for the rest of the guards to arrest both of them. Once they were dragged away, Titus ordered for an emergency search party. “Search everywhere! Search the apartments, the temples, and the sewers! Go into the countryside if you have to, and leave no cart unturned! If anyone refuses to have their homes or cellars searched, have them executed on the spot! Jupiter is missing and must be found!”

_*_

“Our Father who art in heaven,” Papa Anacletus murmured softly before the makeshift cross, “hear my prayer, I beg of you. You know very well that since the death of Papa Peter and Papa Linus, the responsibility has fallen upon my shoulders as a Roman seeking repentance. Lord of the Universe, I have wished for your flock to grow and multiply under the grand truth that you have set forth from your prophets and our one true savior. I confess I am having some difficulty with this since your followers have turned to the pagans because of a false god; a child from the Father of Lies to turn away from the truth. However, Lord, I have good news: we have captured the demon and now seek your wisdom to determine what we must do with him. Shall we show him kindness as Jesus Christ has done, or shall we take responsibility and put him to death? Answer my prayer, O’ Lord of the Universe, for we still rely on you to guide us. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.”

Now, Papa Anacletus waited amongst the flickering candles and the muffled cries of the Pegasus.
> Chapter XVII: Surprised Import from the Island of Crete.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.
> Chapter XVIII: The New God in Town.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“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.”
> Chapter XIX: Discussion in the Pantheon.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I can’t begin to describe how relieved everyone is,” Titus said. ”Although I must admit, it was very embarrassing that it happened it all.”

The two stallions rested on velvet pillows as they listened to the Emperor. The three were currently in their newest residence -- the Pantheon -- where, aside from the obvious hole in the center, was richly decorated. There were finely sculpted marble statues of gods and goddesses spread throughout the room along with gold leafing on the etched symbols that dotted the dome itself.

“That is without mentioning how honored Rome is to have another god among us, Lord Mars,” Titus said to the scarlet unicorn who, unlike the Pegasus, was still wearing his armor.

“The pleasure is all mine.” Spear placed a hoof underneath his chin as he pointed towards Lightning with the other. “He wasn’t too much trouble, was he?”

“Oh, no trouble at all,” the Emperor lied. “It looks like harmony can be restored to the cosmos now that you’ve found your father.”

The Drill Sergeant’s eyes widened. He was going to ask about the last part, but Caesar spoke first. “However, if you wouldn’t have a problem with me asking, is it possible that you could stay for the next few days?”

“What for?”

“I’m putting the finishing touches on our newest amphitheater. I had hoped that the both of you would be there for its grand opening. In your honor, of course.”

“Eh… why not?” The unicorn stretched. “After what I’ve been through, I could really use a bit of a break.”

Titus nodded. “Yes, and again, a thousand apologies for what those ruffians had done to you from Crete to here.”

“No harm was done. I was sent to fetch him, and he’s been found.”

“Agreed.” The Emperor soon excused him and wished for the two gods to have a peaceful slumber on his way out.

Alone among the flickering lamps, burning incense, and the feasts of offering at their hooves, the Captain of the Guard turned to his fellow comrade. “So, what took you guys so long?”

“I’m sorry, Captain.” The unicorn lit his horn, levitating one of the many glasses of wine over to him. “We were trying to figure out what was happening ourselves. After you just popped right out of the sky, we were trying to figure out exactly what had happened. Celestia launched an investigation to find out what the cause of your disappearance was."

“And how did you get here?”

“Long story short,” he quickly downed one of the cups before grabbing another, “I suspected that there must have been some bad magic incorporated with that cloud that you guys were passing over. After I tracked it down, I got hit by lightning, and the next thing I knew, I was trapped on an island and got captured by those weird apes. We sailed for about a week with them holding onto my horn so I couldn’t do anything. When we landed, I managed to escape, found you, and now I’m here drinking this really tasty wine.”

The pale pegasus rolled his eyes. “And my family? What about them?”

“Midnight’s been really worried, I can tell ya that. Want some?” He offered one of the cups to Bolt.

“Maybe later. So, what happened to her?”

“Well, since you’ve been gone for a while, the company agreed to lend her a helping hoof with the kid until she’s able to stand on her own. She’s just hoping she doesn’t end up a widow.”

“I can only imagine,” Lightning sighed. “Has anything new happened in Equestria since I left?”

Spear Head hummed in thought. “Except for the fact that Sunbutt is going on a diet (again), the only noteworthy thing that comes to mind was that Princess Twilight’s home was destroyed.”

“What?!”

“It’s true. There was a battle in Ponyville not too long ago. We probably would have looked for you sooner if Celestia hadn’t foreseen a threat that needed to be taken care of. The town itself suffered some damage and, luckily, nopony was hurt. However, the Princess’s home was completely demolished. Not to say that there wasn’t any good news, though. Before I left, I heard that her new home was made entirely out of crystal. Don’t ask me how that happened.”

“Poor Twilight…” Spear nodded as he moved on to some of the fruit offerings. He found a bowl of red grapes and slowly levitated them one by one. “So,” Bolt said, trying to change the conversation, “how are things going between you and… I’m sorry, who was it again?”

“You mean Orange Leaf?” Bolt nodded. “Well, I guess it’s getting better. So far, we’ve only been on a hoofful of dates and he doesn’t mind my unpredictable schedule since he is just as chaotic. Plus, he knows that I might be gone for quite a while anyway.”

“Good to hear, I suppose.” The Captain turned towards a bowl of cheeses.

“So what about this place?” the unicorn asked. “Have they been treating you well?”

“For the most part. When everypony here thinks you’re a god, you’re treated as if you can do no wrong. On a whole, though, the people here are weird.

“How so?”

“Okay. Take, for instance, their sports. Right now, what are the most popular sports in Equestria?”

Spear tilted his head. “Uh… hoofball, races… baseball… what else am I forget-- oh, soccer! And I think wrestling.”

“Okay, here’s my real question. In any of those sports, does anypony end up dying from participating in them?”

The Drill Sergeant blinked. “Sorry?”

“In Rome, from what I’ve seen, playing in a sport is practically a death sentence. For example, their races are horse-drawn chariots where they go around a circular track. There are no rules, except for not dying I suppose. Also, they have to use real weapons to fight each other, and if the spectators can choose if they want the loser to live or die.”

“That’s… pretty harsh.”

“And yet, even though they don’t seem to care when their athletes are harmed, those that live are practically treated like heroes because they weren’t stabbed.”

“Wait a minute. I thought you said that they think you’re the king of their gods. How come you haven’t changed the rules or something?”

Bolt let out a frustrated sigh, putting a hoof to his head. “Because after I crash landed here, I hit my head pretty hard. They think that I have amnesia since I’ve been denying that I’m Jupiter, so they don’t take anything I say too seriously. No matter what I say, they keep insisting that I’m Jupiter. They’ve even restricted me from leaving the city until I’m ‘well’ again.”

“What about me?”

“Huh?”

The unicorn placed his bowl on the floor. “I mean, think about it. They haven’t said that I’m nuts, have they?”

“Well, not exactly…”

“So, between the two of us, I’m the ‘sane’ one, right?”

“Where are you going with this?”

“All I’m saying is that they won’t take you seriously because you’ve hit your head. So, maybe they would be willing to listen to me.”

Lightning Bolt stared at the Drill Sergeant in silence, beginning to get the full picture of his plan. “Besides,” Spear added, “since I started studying that cloud, I noticed that it follows a certain pattern in the weather. If this place is anything like our world, I can pinpoint where it’ll be going next.”

“Drill Sergeant Spear Head,” the Captain raised his cup, “you’re a genius.”

The unicorn levitated his glass to the Captains. “To going home.” With an earthly clink, the two stallions downed their toast.
> Chapter XX: Opening of the Amphitheatrum Caesarium.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The two stallions and the Emperor sat in his chariot as they made their way through the morning hours of Rome, on their way to see the opening of Caesar Titus’s project. The unicorn thought it was surreal that the chariot was being pulled by very tall equines with the mental state of loyal dogs. 

“Yeah, I know,” Lightning bolt nodded when Spear Head pointed at the horses, “I thought it was odd, too.”

Wanting to change the conversation, Spear turned to the Emperor beside him. “So, this place we’re going, what should we expect to see over there?”

“You’ll see.” Titus waved to the people on the street. “I’ve planned out something great for the entire day that will give the people of Rome a sight they’ve never seen before. And you two will be in the best seats, of course.”

“Where is this place anyway?”

The Caesar pointed over the rooftops towards a towering white marble theater with flagpoles at the top holding up a huge, indigo canopy. “Right over there, my Lords, and we’ll be going in as soon as we turn the corner here.”

Once the escorted Imperial chariot made its turn, the Solar Guards both got a good look at the completed structure before them. It was a mass of carved and unblemished white marble that stood five stories high. It had arches, columns, and statues of heroes, gods, and goddesses. Hanging over parts of the curved exterior were red tapestries that had a golden eagle with its wings spread open. Below the eagle were the initials of the Empire ‘SPQR’ surrounded by an olive wreath.

“It’s huge,” were the first words to come out of the unicorn’s mouth.

Titus chuckled. “Oh Mars, you have not seen the best part yet.”

After dismounting from the chariot, the Imperial escort walked through one of the building’s many archways and into the system of vaulted hallways. Bolt could see that there were many people around as the Praetorian Guards did their best to keep them at a distance. “Isn’t anyone being charged to enter?” Lightning Bolt asked. “I don’t really see a ticket booth anywhere.”

“Not today,” Titus wagged his finger. “For this grand opening, admission is free to all. Even slaves are welcome.”

After walking up a set of stairs, the three of them entered the Emperor’s private box of the massive stadium.

In all of their lives, the pegasus from Cloudsdale and the unicorn from Fillydelphia had never seen a space like this. While it wasn’t as titanic as the Circus Maximus was, the oval-shaped theater housed rows upon rows of people from nearly all walks of life, all sitting in their seats and waiting for the show. The sea of humans greeted the three with a deafening roar. Looking up, Bolt spotted a thick ring of a canopy that blocked the morning sun’s rays. Below them stood the oval-shaped arena made out of gravel and sand.

“HAIL JUPITER! HAIL MARS! HAIL TITUS!”

Caesar Titus respectfully waved at the spectators before taking his seat. The other two stallions took their spots in the throne-like seats that were covered in gold leafing and rare jewels. ‘A little too opulent for my taste,’ both ponies though.

As soon as they were seated, the Emperor signaled for the first part of the opening ceremony to begin.

The first people to come out onto the open area were driven out at spear-point. There were at least forty or fifty people who were placed at the center of the arena before the guards backed away. Suddenly, in several places of the arena, trapdoors opened up, letting out lions, tigers, and other wild cats by the score. They all circled the people in the center.

“Uh, hey,” Spear turned to Titus, “what’s going on?”

The Emperor chuckled. “Can’t you tell? It’s breakfast time.”

The unicorn’s eyes widened as he looked over to his Captain in shock, but Bolt’s eyes were glued to the arena.

“Who are they? Spear asked.

“Prisoners and traitors to the Empire.” He pointed toward a few that were huddled together. “For example, those ones are some of Jupiter’s kidnappers. We were lucky enough to get most of them. As much of a nuisance as they can be, Christians can be very hard to capture. And over there are the two guards that failed to protect your father while they were on duty.”

“Doesn’t that seem a little harsh?” the Drill Sergeant asked before a scream was heard, one of the lions finally deciding to pounce at the group.

“This is poetic justice,” Titus waved his hand. “Besides, the people love this.”

Another scream pierced the air and the crowd went ecstatic at seeing blood being spilled. Some of the unfortunate ones tried to run around the arena while others tried climbing the walls. They found out very quickly that their efforts were for naught. While some of the wild cats were chasing after their kills, there were others that hung near the edges of the pit, as if they were afraid.

Once the animals were fed, and shot by archers shortly after, the arena was cleared of leftover carcasses to make room for the next event.

The next ones to come out onto the arena were gladiators, much to the delight of the spectators. “Now here’s the sport we were all waiting to see!” Titus nudged the unicorn. “Being the God of War, I hope this will please you.”

“Uh… sure.” Spear turned back to the pit. “Titus?”

“Yes?”

“Since you’re here, I was wondering if I could talk to you about something important.”

The Emperor leaned over. “What about?”

“It’s about my, uh… father here.” He pointed to the pegasus. “I think it should be appropriate that I take him back home.”

“Oh?”

“Well, you said so yourself, he’s not exactly in the right state of mind. Perhaps taking him back home would be for the best so that the other gods can cure him once and for all. However, I realize that I may need to ask for your help.”

“What sort of help?”

“Escorts, for sure,” the unicorn said before the bloody fighting began. “The cloud that we came through has moved. However, I’ve been studying it and I’ve noticed that it follows a certain pattern. Apparently, this cloud goes through a cycle that causes it to fly over Rome once every few years. However, we don’t exactly have that kind of time, so we want to return as swiftly as possible.”

“I do not understand what you need my help for. You two are gods, after all.”

“Yes, but even gods can only accomplish so much. With these bodies, we still fall into mortal traps, such as hunger and sleep. What I’m proposing here is an escort, an expedition company if you will, to the place where we will meet the cloud and return home.”

Titus leaned back in his chair, putting a hand underneath his chin. “Such an expedition will need to be voted on by the Senate.”

“Then I’ll convince them. After all,” Spear smirked, “I am a god. Who is going to oppose the will of the gods?”
> Chapter XXI: Birth of the Legio I Deorum.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since the House of the Senate was one of the many buildings that were burned down, Caesar Titus invited all of the Senators to his palace while the repairs were underway. Many of them agreed to meet there, so the largest room in the Imperial Palace was converted into the Senate’s meeting place so that they could keep the Empire running.

In the great banquet hall, the two stallions stood in front of the most accurate map that the Empire had produced. They were surrounded by the men in white and red robes while the Emperor watched from the sides. Senator Cato, who had stood at the front of the group, bore a confused look. “Come again?”

Spear Head cleared his throat. “We are asking the people of Rome to supply us with an expedition force into this region.” The unicorn levitated a stick towards a section of the map that caused the Senators to worry.

“But… Germania?” Titus questioned. “Why there of all places?”

“Well, as far as, uh… Mars has told me,” Lightning Bolt explained, “the very cloud that we arrived in is a floating gateway, bridging the lands of the Gods and Mortals. This gateway tends to float around in the sky, but as he has pointed it, it follows a certain pattern.”

The unicorn nodded. “I have studied this gateway for some time. I began to notice that it followed a certain path laid in the direction of the winds. This cloud tends to spend most of its cycle over the sea, but every few years, it will come back to land. It just so happens that Rome is in that path. However, since we wish to return as soon as possible, and judging from where I ended up when I traveled through it, we’ll only have about a month to catch the cloud here,” he tapped Germania again, “before it flies back to the seas. I know that we are asking a lot from you all, especially considering the events that have happened during my father’s stay, but we need an escort through this land to ensure our return.”

“Lord Mars, I understand your plight perfectly,” Senator Cato began, “but you must understand what exactly we are dealing with. The last time Rome sent any sort of military force into that region, we were utterly humiliated. Three whole legions were sent into those forests and none returned. When another legion was sent up there, they found that thousands of rotting bodies and broken equipment scattered amongst the forest by those Germanic barbarians of the north. It took months to find them all for a decent burial. Even if we agreed to send but one legion with you, we cannot guarantee any success on our part.” The Senate murmured in agreement. 

“Going there alone is practically suicide,” one said. 

“It sounds too risky to attempt,” whispered another.

“Just out of curiosity,” the pegasus said, “does anypony here know what these Germanic people are like?”

Caesar Titus laughed. “Don’t you know? Their land is full of warring nomadic tribes. It has been a thorn in the Empire’s side for a long time. Their warriors are ruthless and attack without reason. They wait in the shadows of the forests and ambush anyone who isn’t on their guard. Not only that, but their warriors do not fear death.”

In the midst of all this talk about the impossible, Lightning Bolt spread his wings. “Is this not the city that has performed its own miracles? Am I not in the capital of the nation that boasts to be the largest Empire on the planet, whose people have built aqueducts stretching miles upon miles to bring tons of fresh, clean water to their very doorstep? You claim us to be gods, but I have seen firsthoof that you Romans will perform impossible tasks to overcome any problem, no matter how enormous. None of you should dare think that you cannot overcome something because of one bad experience. You must learn from your past mistakes to prevent future disasters. If anyone of you could do that, then your achievements would be as worthy as the deeds of the gods. With the God of War and the very King of the Gods himself at your side, who do you have to fear?”

There was a moment of silence when the Captain of the Guard finished his speech. Many simple stood there, taking it all in. One Senator finally broke the silence. “Did… did Jupiter just acknowledge his divinity?”

“No,” Bolt deadpanned, “I was trying to make a point.”

“Even if we agreed to this,” a Senator told him, “we would require some kind of plan if this expedition is to work.”

“Agreed,” Titus nodded. “Besides, Jupiter does present a point about learning from past mistakes. If I recall correctly, those legions that went into Germania were unprepared and over-confident. Perhaps…” The Emperor’s eye lit up as he snapped his fingers. “Senators, may I propose a plan?”

“What is your plan, exactly?” Senator Cato inquired.

“A new kind of legion,” the Caesar explained. “One that is not only skilled in battle, but experienced in the art of war. They shall be an army that will present themselves as brave and demonstrate their fearlessness. A legion of wise soldiers that would spot the signs of danger before the barbarians had a chance to act. A legion that would be worthy enough to be led by the gods themselves, who would follow their leader’s commands without doubt or question, even if it meant risking their own lives. Fellow Senators, I propose that we organize the First Legion of the Gods, led by Jupiter and Mars themselves, for this expedition.”

“If we agree to this,” a Senator suggested, “perhaps we should send a fellow Senator to be this new legion’s general.”

“What about Cato Felix?” another asked. “After all, he has experience in the field.”

The men around the two stallions discussed amongst themselves. “Very well,” Cato spoke. “If the Senate agrees to the Emperor’s proposition, I will lead the expedition as my duty to the citizens of Rome.”

Titus nodded and stood up. “Those in favor say ‘Aye’.”

Many cried out.

“Those opposed?”

There were a few who objected, but the majority ruled in favor of the Emperor. Titus turned to Cato. “As of this time forth, you shall organize this legion on behalf of the Gods and for the glory of Rome.”

“Yes, Caesar.” Cato saluted the Emperor, placing a fist over his heart. “I shall do everything in my power to succeed.”

“In that case,” Spear Head piped up, “we would like to speak with you before this army is organized.”

“Of course, my Lords.”

The unicorn looked over to his Captain with a grin on his face. ‘Equestria, here we come.’
> Chapter XXII: The Plan.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So this legion,” Lightning Bolt spoke, “what exactly is it made up of?”

“Sire?” Senator Cato blinked. “I thought you already knew a legion was.”

“I was hit on the head, remember?” the pegasus deadpanned.

“And I would like to hear it, too.” Spear Head leaned away from the table that held the map of the Empire’s roads. “Besides, since the Senate says that we’re going into some dangerous territory, I think it might be wise to hear what each unit in the legion does so that they can be modified, if necessary, to adapt to this hostile environment.”

“Ah.” The scarecrow of a man leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table. “While I myself haven’t seen the battlefield since the days of my youth, I can tell you that the order in which a legion works has not changed very much. To begin with, one legion is a large company of six-thousand men, mostly made up of legionaries that are Roman citizens or auxiliaries that are not.

“To begin with, a legion is a large company composed of over five-thousand men, mostly made up of legionaries that are Roman citizens or auxiliaries that are not. One legion is divided into ten groups called ‘cohorts’. The first and largest cohort is made up of eight hundred men, while the other nine are each made up of four-hundred-and-eighty. Each of the smaller cohorts is divided into six ‘centuries’ of eighty men each, and the centuries divided into ten ‘contubernia’ of eight men each.”

“You mentioned the legionaries and the auxiliaries,” the unicorn inquired. “Tell me about them.”

“Usually, about half of a legion in the Roman army is made up of auxiliaries who come from all corners of the Empire. In exchange for twenty-five years of service, they and their families are made independent citizens. The legionaries make up the backbone of the legion and serve as foot soldiers, while the auxiliaries serve as specialists, such as archers, slingers, and horsemen. Oh, that reminds me… in addition to the legion, there is an ‘equites legionis’ unit made up of as many as one-hundred-and-twenty riders. Of course, none of this is including the officers who are keeping these men in line or the scores of medical doctors.”

“How efficient are these soldiers?” the Solar Captain asked.

The Senator chuckled. “Oh, very. For instance, newcomers in the army are given tasks such as breaking stones, stoking the furnaces, and cleaning the latrines until they earn a higher ranking position such as a surveyor, trumpeter, Mason, clerk, or Huntsman. The army marches for twenty miles a day with each man carrying their own chainmail, armor, and shield. Each soldier also has their own forked staff which helps them carry the rest of their equipment, such as pilums, short swords, cooking ware, sleeping rolls, clothes, tools to dig trenches and cut wood, and whatever personal belongings they manage to fit in their satchels.

“We pay these men, of course, since they supply their own equipment, food, and possibly their funeral. Part of their pay goes towards taxes while the rest goes to one’s own interests. Also, the higher the position, the higher their pay.

“When it comes to food, we teach them to eat off the land if possible and to hunt other creatures to feed the group. However, we tend to carry good enough food to that no one starves or revolts. They also carry something we call ‘posca’ where we mix water with vinegar or spoiled wine to create a safe drink for our soldiers in foreign lands.

“I’ll also have you know that we are the only army in the world whose soldiers are also experienced in engineering when the opportunity calls for it.”

The Drill Sergeant put his forelegs on the table, his forehooves holding his chin in thought. “You know”, he thought aloud, “I can already see two changes that we need to make to our legion.”

“Oh? What is that, Lord Mars?”

“I think it would be wise for this search party to be made up of those that are either experienced in battle or are volunteered veterans. Since we’re going to go into a place where three legions were slaughtered, I think it would be wise to have everypony able to read off of the land. Everypony should be able to tell where is safe and where isn’t, and we’ll need as many creative minds as possible for our search.

Senator Felix put a hand underneath his chin and nodded. “I believe that can be arranged. What is the other change?”

“If all goes well -- and for our sakes, it has to go well -- we need to give this legion, especially the auxiliaries, a very good reason to not only go on this expedition but to return as well. I think it’s safe to assume that these men serve Rome for a certain amount of time because of family ties, correct?” The old man nodded. “How about we give these experienced auxiliaries a deal? If everything goes according to plan, these men, no matter how long they’ve served for, will be granted immediate citizenship upon returning to Rome as long as their family resides in the Empire.”

“That’s not such a bad idea,” Lightning Bolt nodded. “It would reduce the chances of being betrayed while we’re in the middle of nowhere. After all, it could be risky if some of the auxiliaries were originally from one of these tribes. But if we can get specialists who already have families in the Empire, it would give them a good reason to accomplish this mission.”

“I see the wisdom Your Highnesses are presenting,” Cato said, “especially considering what happened with that disastrous battle of Teutoburg Forest. We had a Germanic commander who, after years of serving in the army and climbing military ranks, betrayed those three legions by using our own cavalry against us. Since the cavalry and auxiliary cohorts are used as scouts while we march, he had taken them away from the rest of the legion, joined up with the barbarians, and returned to slaughter everyone.”

“On that note,” the Captain of the Guard said, “we need to add a rule that no one in the legion is allowed to leave anyone else’s sight unless they have special permission from the highest ranking officers.

“I agree,” Spear leaned back. “In a place such as Germania, we’ll all need to stick together and move as one. Once we get to the Empire’s border, I will help guide the legion. In this form, I can sense the cloud’s magic and point us in the right direction. Once we reach the cloud and we manage to return home, we’ll leave everything up to you guys to make your way back to the Empire.”

“So how long will it take for you to organize all of this?” the pegasus asked.

The Senator-turned-General thought for a moment. “I assume within a day or two. I’ll be sure to get some help in choosing the finest men in the Empire to serve you both in this quest. We will also take your suggestions as law when we pick out your legion, and we will have both of you inspect them personally before we depart for Germania.

Both stallions smiled. “Good,” the unicorn said. “Personally, I’m rather looking forward to it.”
> Chapter XXIII: The Rant of Mars.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Atten-tion~” Six-thousand men, all spread out in an open field in neat square formations, straightened themselves at the command. The sun itself hadn’t quite risen up from the horizon, but there was enough dark blue light in the cool morning to see the men in armor outside of the capital. Among the orchards of twisted olive trees and rows of carts and horses, the Senator-turned-General Felix Cato led the two pony gods toward the legion that they would be commanding.

With the legion gathered, the men were waiting for both of the stallions to lead them on their quest. Looking around the huge open field, both Solar Guards were impressed by the number of soldiers they had at their disposal.

“Here we are,” Cato said. “One whole legion of experienced soldiers, just as you commanded, as well as an equites legionis unit with the swiftest and most obedient warhorses in the Empire.”

When the two stallions stepped forward, every human moved at once into a salute. “HAIL JUPITER!” they shouted as one, “HAIL MARS!”

“I guess they want us to make a speech or something,” Lightning Bolt whispered.

“Sir, with your permission, shall I give them the old Drill Sergeant speech to motivate them?”

The pegasus captain thought for a moment and nodded. “Don’t go overboard with it, and yes, that’s an order.”

Spear Head nodded back. The armored unicorn craned his head up high with eyes of ice. “So, you all consider yourselves worthy enough to join in my beloved army?”

“YES, MARS!” they all shouted.

“Well, in that case, you are WRONG!” the Drill Sergeant snapped. “You may have had the privilege to experience battles, smash your enemies, and get away with thinking every you’re all some kind of heroes, but now you are dealing with the very God of War himself, and I do not want any imperfection from anyone who is stupid enough to call themselves part of the Legion of the Gods. If you ladies never leave this legion, if you survive this expedition into the unknown, then all of you will go down in history as the greatest warriors in existence.

“But from this moment onward, whenever you address either me or Jupiter, the very first and last thing to ought to come out of your filthy excuse for a mouth is ‘Sir’. You will speak to when spoken to. You will not, and I repeat, will not abandon this legion unless we say so. In this legion, it doesn’t matter if you’re an experienced soldier or a new recruit, a general or a gladiator, a king or a slave, or even a donkey. At this moment, all of you are nothing but piles of worthless dirt, which means that if any of you want even the slightest amount of our respect, you will have to earn it.

“Because I am hard, none of you will like me. The more you hate me, the more you will learn from me. I am hard because I am fair. And if it’s necessary, I will personally weed out those who are not fit to serve in this beloved legion. Am I clear, maggots?”

“SIR, YES, SIR!”

“Bullcrap, I can’t hear you!”

“SIR, YES, SIR!”

The pegasus watched as the Drill Sergeant walked up to a random legionary. ‘This should be entertaining.’

“What’s your name, scumbag?”

“Sir, Corporal Leonidas sir!”

“Bullcrap! From now on, you’re Private Sparkle Sticks! Do you like that name?”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

“Well, there’s one thing that you won’t like, Private Sparkle. There won’t be any dresses for your tea parties.”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

As the God of Drill Sergeants went into the next row of men, General Cato followed him while Lightning took to the air, trying to see who his next victim was going to be.

“You!” Spear pointed an accusing hoof at a random soldier. “What’s your name, lady?”

“Sir, Sergeant Julius, sir!”

“Sergeant Julius, why did you join my beloved legion?”

“Sir, to kill, sir!”

“So you’re a killer?”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

“Let me see your war face!”

“Sir?!”

“You got a war face?!” The pegasus reared up on his hind legs and screamed in his face. “That’s a war face, now let me see your war face!” The soldier screamed his war cry. “Bullcrap, you didn’t convince me! Let me see your real war face!” He screamed louder than before. “You don’t scare me. Work on it.”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

Spear Head walked down the line a bit before finding someone else to yell at. “What’s your excuse?”

“Sir, an excuse for what, sir?”

“I’m asking the bucking questions here, do you understand?”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

“Well thank you very much! Can I be in charge for a while?”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

“Are you shook up, are you nervous?”

“Sir, I am, sir!”

“Do I make you nervous?”

“Sir!”

“Sir what? Are you about to call me a plothole?”

“Sir, no, sir!”

“How tall are you?”

“Sir, three cubits, sir!”

“Celestia’s plothole, I didn’t know they stacked manure that high! Where are you from anyway?”

“Sir, Greece’s providence, sir!”

“Sweet Luna’s spit, I’ve heard that only sailors and coltcuddlers come from Greece, and you don’t look much like a sailor to me so that narrows it down. Do you think I’m cute, soldier?”

“Sir, no, sir!”

“Bullcrap! I’ll bet you’re the kind of guy who would rut a colt from behind and not even have the Celestia-damned courtesy to give him a reacharound! I’ll be watching you!”

Cato Felix looked at the pegasus in shock. “What is he doing?”

“Motivation to get the job done,” Lightning smirked, “as well as giving them all a good idea of who’s in charge. Besides, he’s really good at what he does.”

“Yes… remind me not to make him angry.”

Lightning chuckled. “He really isn’t, he’s just acting. If he was really upset, there would be some blood somewhere.”
> Chapter XXIV: The Northward March.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a good hour and a half of the Drill Sergeant striking fear into the legion, the sun began to break above the mountains. The expedition team began marching down the paved roads northward. Both stallions insisted that they would march at the front of the legion rather than be carried by chariot, though they stood behind the aquifer holding a staff with a golden eagle on top. On horseback behind the two ponies were the General and the Tribuni, the collection of officers that were one or two ranks below Cato.

Behind the Solar Guards repeated the familiar rhythm of stomping boots as they left Rome for good, passing farmlands and orchards. Every so often, they would march through a town’s main road where the people would sometimes wave or wish the soldiers luck. Other times, they would offer some kind of food for their march before they left towards an unknown battle.

But sometimes, the army would walk past a military fortress where, every so often, they would call for a half-hour rest before resuming their trek once more.

The Senator finally spoke up an hour after their short lunch break. “Lord Jupiter, Lord Mars, are you sure you would not like to ride in the chariot?”

“We’re fine, Cato,” Lightning Bolt told him. After all, being part of the Royal Guard had trained the stallions to endure marching or standing still for long periods at a time.

“Permission to speak freely, sir?” Spear Head whispered.

“Granted,” the Captain nodded.

“Did I go overboard this morning, sir?”

“I don’t believe so. You established to them who’s in charge. Not to mention that a good deal of your rant was pretty entertaining to listen to.”

“I’m trying my best to be careful, sir,” the scarlet unicorn spoke softly, “especially after the… incident.”

Bolt turned his head toward his fellow officer. “You know that you had nothing to do with what happened to Private Cinder.”

“So you keep telling me, sir, but I’m still haunted by the fact that I was the one who drew him over the edge… literally.”

“Drill Sergeant, you didn’t know what he was going through at the time. There’s no need to feel guilty over it.”

“With all due respect, Captain, everypony that I come in contact with, I’m responsible for, including this army that we’re leading. The last thing I want is for me to be the cause of them snapping.”

“Spear, if you ever act out of line, I promise that I’ll say something.”

The unicorn nodded. “Thank you, sir.”

_*_

“At this rate,” Cato said as he collapsed in his seat, “we should be in Fluentia within six days, and over the Alps a few days after that.”

It was now evening and every contubernia in the legion had set up camp for the night. Laying on the only lounge chairs with their armor off, the Solar Guards dug into the food they had been given.

“And how long do you think it’ll take to get to the Germanic border?” Lightning inquired as he munched down on the hardtack bread soaked in wine.

“Twenty days at most, sire,” the scarecrow general said as he picked up a piece of meat, much to the restrained disgust of the two Equestrians. “However, I don’t think that it will take as much as two or so weeks until we see the border. As far as I know, since that defeat in the forest, the entire border has been walled off along a river where it has been patrolled since. But once we cross that river, we’re on our own.”

“...I see,” Spear Head nodded, turning away from the meat-eater.

“Since you’re here Mars,” Felix added, “there’s something that all of Rome has been wondering since Jupiter arrived.

“What’s that?”

“Tell me,” he leaned forward, “on that night when he fell from the heavens, what happened to make the King of the Gods fall through this storm? Was there some sort of battle going on that we were not aware of?”

“Oh,” the unicorn drill sergeant eyed Lightning for a brief second. “What exactly did he tell you?”

“Something ridiculous,” Cato waved his hand dismissively. “I think it had to do with escorting a Princess of the Sun or some other nonsense. But since you aren’t affected by his madness Mars, what exactly happened to him?”

“Well…” Spear glanced at his superior who was giving him a wary look. “In truth, there was a battle we were involved in… with gryphons.”

“Gryphons?”

“Uh… yes. They… they were at war with us to control the skies for themselves. They were leading a kind of… revolution, as it were, to that they could… eat more people.” At this point, he could feel his Captain’s eyes drilling through his skull. “We were against this, of course, and had to put a stop to it. Jupiter tried to throw lightning at the rebellion, but we were ambushed. He lost his grip on his lightning bolts and was pushed into a wind current that caused him to lose control. Of course, I managed to crush the remains of the rebellion, but I had lost Father along the way. When the other gods heard the news, we knew we had to get him back. And, well, here I am.”

“I see,” the Senator-General poured more wine into his cup. “However, I’m surprised that gryphons could do that to the very God of Lightning himself. It must have caught you all off guard.”

“You have no idea.” The unicorn looked back to his commander. Bolt just started, his eyes silently stabbing as his conscious for telling such a speciest lie.

“Never fear,” Felix took a gulp from his cup. “You have at your command the best legion on Earth. With you two possessing the powers of the Gods, I don’t think there will be anything that could stop us.”

Lightning Bolt cleared his throat. “Quite. I can manipulate the weather, and I think Mars has learned a few new spells for offense and defense, haven’t you?”

“Yes, sir,” Spear Head nodded.

“Although, I have to ask,” Cato added. “By the time we get into Germania, how do we know what kind of cloud that we will be looking for?”

“For one,” the unicorn said, “the cloud itself is a deep violet, to the point that it’s almost black. It will be continually swirling and surrounded by a never-ending storm.”

“I swear on this, the whole legion will keep an eye out if such a thing were to come along.”
> Chapter XXV: Into Germania.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

For many days, they crossed over bridges, through towns, and over mountains. On some days, their only sign of Roman civilization would be the very road that the First Legion of the Gods traveled on. As far as anyone from the higher ranks was concerned -- including the “gods” -- they were making good progress once they passed through the Alps. But soon after, they entered the road where only greens ruled. Wild grasses and pines were becoming more frequent as the day passed.

It wasn’t too long before they soon saw the border wall that seemed to stretch on for miles. The towering wall was made of pine with the tops sharpened to points and hammered into the ground. “Behind that wall is the river,” General Cato told the two ponies, “and across it is the land of the barbarians.”

Lightning turned to the Drill Sergeant. “Can you sense the cloud from here?”

Spear lit his horn for a brief moment. “Nothing yet, but I think I’ll be able to let you know soon enough.”

The pegasus looked again at the expansive wall, almost looking as if it were a part of the forest. He wondered was this “barbaric” Germanics were really like. Bolt remembered the Battle of Canterlot when the changelings had invaded, and how completely off-guard the Royal Guard was. If the Romans were correct in their descriptions, they all might be facing quite a bigger and harsher enemy for the sake of returning home.

“Hold on,” the unicorn said. “Everyone, stop!” The entire legion ceased their march at the stallion’s command.

“What is it?” Bolt asked.

“Just wait a sec.” His horn glowed brighter as he stood in a meditative state. “There’s something familiar out there… is it…? The cloud! I can sense it!”

“Sir,” someone called out, “what did he say?”

“Mars senses the gateway nearby!” General Cato declared to them before turning to the two gods. “How far do you suppose it is?”

“It’s very weak,” Spear said, “so I think that it’ll be several days of marching, but I need a moment to figure out how fast it’s going so that we can have a good idea of which direction we need to go.”

“Felix,” the pegasus flew up to the General, “where’s the nearest entrance to Germania?”

“Through a fortress,” the scrawny man explained. “We have placed them every few miles to keep eyes on the border.”

“Sir,” Spear Head’s horn dimmed, “I think I have a good idea of where we should go from here.”

“Excellent.” Lightning turned to the legion. “We’ll march until we get to a nearby fortress, and then it’s into the wilderness we go!”

“SIR, YES, SIR!” they proclaimed as the expedition moved forward once again.

About an hour or so later, they came across a fortress that had been built in the middle of the spiky wall. Unlike the wall itself, the fortress was made entirely out of stone. There were banners, guards, and -- as the ponies noted -- large wooden machines on the tops of the walls that faced the Germanic border. 

“Hail Caesar!” the General saluted as his horse galloped over the entrance of the fort.

“Who goes there?” one of the guards asked.

“We are the First Legion of the Gods, and I am Senator Felix Cato. On behalf of the people of Rome, Emperor Titus, and the authority of both Jupiter and Mars, we hope that we may pass through your gates into the barbarian lands.”

The guards at the front gate asked for proof, to which Senator-General Felix handed them a scroll. Even though the scroll held the seal of the Empire and seemed to be a legitimate passport, there was a sense of uneasiness from the guards. One of them left to go tell the superiors of the fort about the legion.

Cato entered when the superior asked him to enter. Several minutes went by without a word until the General came outside to tell the legion that they were cleared for entry. Lightning Bolt, who was staring at the clouds above, quickly came up with an idea.

“Hey, Felix,” Lightning flew up to him, “before we go over the border, I think we need to give everypony orders to stick together. By that, I mean that nopony is allowed to be outside of anypony’s sight.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And one more thing. Since we’re going into uncharted territory, I think that he,” Bolt pointed at the unicorn, “should be in front of both of us in case something goes wrong. I shall take the clouds above us and use them as an observation point as we travel, while he will lead on the ground. If I happen to spot anything from the forest, I’ll kick a thunderbolt from my cloud to alert everypony. As we march, make sure that everypony sticks close together and to have their shields at the ready. Oh, and have the cavalry surround the legion. Again, make sure that none of them are out of sight.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me.” Cato spread the new rules to his other officers, who further spread it throughout the legion.

Meanwhile, the pegasus flew to the skies and started to collect the nearby clouds. Once we gathered as much as he needed, he stood on the somewhat low cloud cover and got a good view of the horizon. There was a sea of evergreens, hills, and mountains with islands of lakes along the way. Immediately, he could tell of several advantages and disadvantages his vantage point had. He could see straight below, but some of the pines blocked his view of the ground, leaving random patches of grass and bark spread throughout the forest.

Then, from below, the legion started to move through the stone fortress and across the lone bridge. Once they were across, they assembled themselves in the order that Lightning had described earlier. Using his wings, he moved his cover over the army, which started to move into the unknown.
> Chapter XXVI: The War Hymn of Mars.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the ground, Spear Head was leading behind a wall of shields, his horn still concentrating on the cloud’s direction. Although, he took the General’s advice and tried to stick to high ground whenever possible. The Legion marched over bushes and shrubs and flowed around the trees like a living river moving through the expansive forest.

In the air, Lightning Bolt kept his eyes out for anything unusual. It was at times like this that he wished he’d had a spyglass or a pair of binoculars to help comb the forest from his vantage point. However, with the overcast above him, he was thankful that even if something went wrong, he would have plenty of material to fight with.

The only thing Bolt could see was the legion sticking together as it slowly moved through the trees with the cavalry surrounding them. As for the legion itself, every soldier was as tense as could be. The paranoia caused even the archers to draw arrows in preparation.

“It’s nearly sunset,” General Cato commanded, looking behind his horse at his line of men. “Mars, do you think we ought to rest for a moment?”

The unicorn sighed. “How long has it been since we last rested?”

“Several hours ago, I think.”

Humming, the Drill Sergeant peered through the shields and spotted a row of hills ahead. “I think we should rest there,” he said as he pointed forward to the mounds of dirt. “We’ll stop for about fifteen minutes before we move on. If nothing happens by nightfall, we’ll need to find a place to make our camp.”

“Agreed.” Cato turned to his near-exhausted men and gave them the order to go rest near the forest knolls.

But then, before the First Legion of the Gods could take a step towards the foot of the hills, thunder was heard. Everyone looked up at the cloud that had been following them and saw the pegasus urgently pointing towards their resting grounds. Soon after, an arrow flew across the skies and just narrowly missed the pegasus. Soon after that, a shower of arrows took to the skies. “Shields up!” Cato cried as he and the legion quickly created a roof of shields over themselves to protect from the downpour.

Without the legion’s protection, Lightning Bolt had to think quickly as a flock of sharpened points made their way to him. That’s not to say that his armor didn’t protect him, but he was thankful that he didn’t feel anything penetrating him. Taking a look down, he could barely see his own under the cover of pines. He quickly looked back towards the hills and spotted several hundred soldiers, as well as some cavalry of their own. When the second wave of arrows fired, the pegasus took to the skies to gather more clouds.

On the ground, Spear Head’s heart was beating rapidly. His horn was glowing as brightly as a star, trying to recall every important spell for combat that he ever knew. He suddenly heard a battle cry coming from the hills. Once the attackers were in sight, the remaining Romans took their javelins and tossed them toward the enemy lines. Thin spears and skinny arrows from the First Legion came down like rain, some landing in the ground or impaling the trees, but some managed to find their targets, striking the aggressors and their horses down. Among the battle cries, there was a quick pizzicato of javelins that buckled and snapped in the forest.

The unicorn fired several stun spells from his horn into the enemies, but he could only do a few at a time.

“Form the testudo!” the General cried while the Roman cavalry charged at the hill. All around the Drill Sergeant, the shields began to overlap on all sides, hiding their army in a protective shell of red shields. All around him, experienced soldiers drew their short swords and poked them through the thin cracks between the shields. From Bolt’s perspective, they almost looked like a porcupine.

Officers up and down the legion were giving out orders and blowing their whistles once their assailants came through the Roman cavalry. Amongst the chaos, while men thrust their swords overhead and pushed with their shields, the legion shifted exhausted soldiers from the outer layers, allowing the soldiers from further inside the shell to take their place.

Spear made sure to contribute where he could. He conjured up shield spells to knock enemy riders off their galloping horses, disintegrated their weapons, and even stunned them until they fell to the ground, unable to fight.

In the sky, Bolt quickly pushed the clouds overhead and positioned them behind or close to where the enemy was coming from. Once he placed the final cloud in the right place, he gave it a swift buck, causing a chain of lightning to strike the ground. Not only did it startle the attackers, but some of the tree branches caught fire and began to spread. Another buck caused more bolts of light to rain down, electrocuting a good chunk of the next wave of assailants before they could even make a move.

With the attackers caught by surprise from the lightning bolts and swiftly-spreading fire, the legion sang out a war cry of their own. 

“Magnanimous, unconquered, boisterous Mars!

“In darts rejoicing, and in bloody wars!

“Fierce and untamed, whose mighty power can make,

“The strongest walls from their foundations shake!

“Mortal-destroying king, defiled with gore,

“Pleased with war’s dreadful and tumultuous roar!

“Thee, human blood, and swords, and spears delight,

“And the dire ruin of mad savage fight!”

With every line, confidence was building among the army. The determination to survive swelled along with their pride, with every stab after bloodied cut of their swords.

“Stay, furious contents, and avenging strife,

“Whose works with hoe, embitter human life!

“To lovely Venus, and to Bacchus yield,

“To Ceres give the weapons of the field!

“Encourage peace, to gentle worked inclined,

“And give abundance, with benignant mind!”

Spear Head knew that he was only pretending to be their living incarnation of Mars, but at that moment, as each soldier praised his name with every kill, he started to fall into the delusion that he really was the God of War.

This bloody choir, among the snapping of spears, the clanging of metal, the roar of thunder, and the screams of dying men towards the heavens, revealed the intense horrors of wars that neither stallion had ever seen before in their militaristic lives.

_*_

“Spear Head!” the pegasus cried as he flew back down to the ground. “Drill Sergeant, report!” After spending some time putting out the fires he started and made the final push that eventually caused their assailants to retreat, the Solar Captain had been looking among the carnage for his fellow guard.

“Captain?” This got his attention and he was relieved that his fellow Equestrian was still alive. That’s not to say that he was completely fine, as his golden armor was battered and bloodied. “Sir, are you alright?”

“I’m okay. What about you?”

“I’m exhausted,” he said,” but still alive… I do have one question.”

“Yes?”

“What happened? Did we win?”

Looking around, Bolt saw that it was already sunset. The wild grass, trees, and bushes were all stained with a dark brownish-red color. Bodies, both human and equine, laid about with broken arrows and javelins. Nevertheless, there were many Romans that were still organizing the corpses and collecting anything valuable or useful.

“I have no clue,” Lightning confessed. “I’m going to find the General. Go get yourself cleaned.”

“Sir, yes, sir.”

He didn’t stay around for his officer to salute him, already trotting towards the new campsite that had sprung up. Military doctors were moving around and treating as many soldiers as they could, using all kinds of plants, herbs, ointments, honey, paste, and even wine. The stallion heard the occasional muffled scream coming from the soldiers that were being treated to surgery underneath the cover of the tents.

He finally managed to find the General’s tent. As he opened the flap, he saw a tired Senator Cato sitting on his makeshift bed.

“There you are,” the pegasus said as he entered. “I was hoping I could get some answers.”

Felix sighed. “Ask away, Jupiter.”

“How many did we lose in the ambush?”

“Out of the six-thousand we had, not including the cavalry, we lost some two-hundred-and-seventy. From our body counts of the enemy’s forces, it seems that we were attacked by a smaller force. We were lucky you two were here to aid us. In fact, if neither of you was here… there’s no telling how today would have ended.”

Bolt seemed to finally take in Cato’s appearance. “Are you alright?”

“I’m an old man,” he said while knocking back a flask. “Naturally, I’m not in the same shape as I was in my youth.”

“Understandable,” Bolt nodded. “What about the cavalry?”

“That is where we suffered the most. We’ve lost half of our riders and horses, either slain or captured. I do not know if we will manage to survive another attack like that, but I don’t think that the legion is too worried.”

“How come?”

The old man chuckled. “Because of you and Mars, of course! Besides, I’m not too downtrodden. This was a victory, after all.”

“Perhaps, but we’re not quite done yet. We still need to find that cloud,” Lightning pointed out as he went over to the jugs of wine. He sighed. “Besides, after today, I could really use a drink.”
> Chapter XXVII: Minerva.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first thing Lightning Bolt was aware of was a feeling like someone has chopped his skull down the middle. Every sound and beam of light stung his senses. Even moving around was proving to be a difficult task as he recovered from his hangover. When the stallion finally opened his eyes, he found himself in a portable tabernacle that the legion had been carrying. With the exception of his armor on a crossbeam, he was completely alone.

Once he rolled over and fell on the earthy ground, he willed his sore body to stand up and take a peek outside.

The camp itself was still. Canvas tents swayed in the cool breeze and there was the ghostly smell of smoke in the air. Every so often, a centurion would pass by like a lone fish in a rocky pond. The sun itself had yet to dawn, so the sky was still fairly dark with a soft glow highlighting the clouds drifting across the skies.

For now, Lightning Bolt needed to find someplace quiet to recover from his skull-splitting headache. Fortunately, he knew just the place. Spreading his wings, he flew up into the air until the noise of the camp was left behind. He settled on a cloud where he found the perfect resting place for his sobering morning.

From here, he could see the oceans of forests from his tiny cloud island. His aching eyes wandered through the rising and falling landscape of timber hills and grassy open fields. Not to mention the second trail of smo-- Bolt looked again. Several miles from where they were, a thin line of swirling white smoke rose to the sky.

This could only mean one thing: their attacks were still nearby.

Gliding downwards, the pegasus returned to the camp to tell of his discovery.

_*_

“What a stroke of pure luck!” General Cato grinned as he and his forces looked through the bushes towards the village in the clearing. “These barbarians think they can attack Rome? Well now, let’s see how they like it.”

“Felix,” the scarlet unicorn spoke up, “are you sure this is necessary?”

“It is Roman policy after all,” he said, looking up at the clouds above. “Attack a Roman and we’ll attack you. Only this time, we are prepared. Now, all we need to do is wait for Jupiter’s signal.”

Spear looked up as well and spotted the lone low-hovering cloud that inched over the village. The village itself had a wooden wall that encompassed several huts made out of sticks. As far as they could see, there was small farmland in the huge clearing, but it was surrounded by the forest.

Then, when the cloud slowed down right over the village’s border, lightning from it struck the wooden walls, setting them ablaze. This was the cue that the Romans were waiting for.

A cohort was the first to charge towards the village, getting the attention of the warriors of the village. Horses were called for and weapons were quickly gathered as they fled from the burning walls and toward the approaching cohort. Archers fired their arrows at the horses and soldiers tossed their javelins. When a whistle was blown, the soldiers formed a series of V-shaped wedges pointing towards the Germanics. The Romans formed a wall of spikes, causing those unfortunate enough to be in their path to be stabbed and rushed down by the ever-advancing army.

Trumpets were sounded like the rest of the legion surrounded the village on all sides, also forming into wedges and marching forward. As soon as the rest of the Roman army revealed themselves, those left in the village either picked up a weapon to fight or tried to flee.

Meanwhile, in the air, Captain Lightning Bolt looked down upon the village in chaos and spotted something unusual. While most of the primitive dwellings housed humans and the occasional farm animal, he spotted a being that caught him completely by surprise.

Running around in panic, he spotted what looked like an equine, but it was smaller and had a white coat with… a pink mane. As far as he’d seen, nopony in this world had a mane that was any lighter than white, nor had they had any colors differing from the humans. He had to investigate.

Swooping down from the sky, the pegasus called out. “Hey, you!” The pony turned around and gave him a clearer view. The pony was clearly a mare, and also a fellow Equestrian. The earth pony had a red cross as her cutie mark, along with a golden necklace and a bag around her neck that had a bottle sticking out of it.

The mare’s eyes widened. “Oh Celestia, are… are you?”

“Equestrian?” The Solar Guard landed. “Yes, I am.”

Suddenly, the Captain was being hugged by the mare as she laughed with joy. “I can’t believe it! I’m being saved at last!”

“Hold on, ma’am.” Lightning pushed her off. “How long have you been here?”

“Four years,” she said with tears in her eyes. “I’m Nurse Red Heart from Ponyville. I was taking a vacation in Paris when I somehow ended up here. You have no idea what this means to me.”

“Right now,” Bolt said, taking note of the approaching army drawing closer, “we need to get out of here. Is there anything that you need to grab?”

“No. Let’s go.”

“Follow me,” he said as the two ponies galloped their way out of the village. They went around panicking humans burning homes but managed to escape through the front gates and onto the battlefield.

At this point, the Roman legion coiled around the tribal settlement like a snake, trampling over crops and warriors alike. However, when a cohort spotted the pegasus, they opened up their formation. “She’s with me!”

Once the two ponies were behind the safety of the Roman lines, the town of their ambushers was crushed.

_*_

“HAIL JUPITER! HAIL MARS!” the legion cried after their victory and capture of the village in the name of Rome.

Once the Germanic town was ransacked and prisoners were taken in, the Solar Guards became even greater heroes once the soldiers discovered that they found another pony that talked like them. The nurse was dubbed to be the Goddess of Medicine herself, Minerva. To the Romans, this was good news, especially since the expedition’s missions were nearing completion.

The General closed the flap of the tent, silencing the cheering army before turning to the three gods before him. “What a day this has turned out to be! I never thought that I would have the privilege of being in the presence of a goddess like yourself.”

Nurse Red Heart’s face turned pink, but she cleared her throat. “Thank you for the compliment, General. So, now that you’ve captured them, what are you planning to do to them?”

“Well, for those left alive, we will offer them a choice: serve Rome or face immediate execution.”

“Doesn’t that seem a little extreme?” Lightning questioned.

“Sire, we are dealing with barbarians. Do you really think they would act civil towards each other, much less another Roman?”

The earth pony mare opened her mouth in objection, but quickly shut it and shook her head.

“General,” Spear Head told him, “if you wouldn’t mind, I was hoping that the three of us could get reacquainted with one another in private.”

“Of course.” Cato saluted and backed away out of the tent.

With the three of them alone, the unicorn was the first to speak up. “Now that they’re gone, I guess it’s about time we figure out who you are.”

“You’re from the Solar Guard, aren’t you?” she asked. “You have their armor.”

“We are,” Lightning nodded, “and we are also trying to return to Equestria.”

“Who are you two anyway?”

“I’m Captain Lightning Bolt, ma’am, current Captain of the Guard. This is Drill Sergeant Spear Head.”

The unicorn saluted.

“Okay,” she nodded. “So, what’s with them calling us gods? When I was in that village, they thought that I was a spirit or a shamare since I knew about medicine.”

“I won’t lie to you,” Bolt said, “but these Romans are just plain weird. I’d fallen while escorting Celestia and landed on my face in their capital. If I remember right, it’s because of my cutie mark and the fact that I can talk which led me to believe that I was their god -- King Jupiter, to be exact.”

“And what about you?” She pointed towards Spear.

“I was part of the search party looking for him,” he tilted his head over to the pegasus. “I had my suspicions that the cloud he passed over had some kind of magic. Not only was I right, but I also ended up in this world as well.”

“A cloud…?” Red Heart put a hoof underneath her chin. “Wait a sec… Four years ago, when I was on my vacation and headed to Paris, there was a weird cloud, too. I remember it being violet and it let off a lot of lightning. Yes… I was trying to get to my hotel room when I felt something shock me, and then I ended up in the middle of the woods. After a few days of mindless wandering, I ran into those people who were migrating, and they took me with them. Since I had a good chunk of medical training while I was studying to be a doctor, they saw me as useful and kept me around. Of course, they didn’t carry any kind of medicine that I knew of, so I was forced to experiment with whatever healing plants I could find.”

“Nevertheless,” Bolt said, “you are with an expedition team tasked with finding that cloud. We’ve convinced them to take us to the right place and time for us to hopefully get back home.”

“That’s right,” Spear lit his horn once more, “and there’s some more good news, too.”

“What’s that?” both pegasus and earth pony inquired.

The Drill Sergeant dimmed his horn. “I don’t think we’ll have to wait for very long.
> Chapter XXVIII: Of Thunder…
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day, the Legion of the Gods continued their march into the wilderness. A moving wall of shields flowed around the landscape as Spear Head guided them towards their destination. Meanwhile, Lightning Bolt continued to look over them from above for any signs of danger that would befall the army. Nurse Red Heart was the only one of the three gods to be carried.

“This is probably the weirdest thing I’ve ever done,” she said to herself, looking down at her mode of transportation. Never in her life had she expected to ride on the back of another equine. Even though she already knew that the horses here hadn’t had the same intelligence nor the same capability of speech, she was still riding on one of her own. “I can’t help but think how strange this must be for you, ma’am. Hopefully, I’m not too much trouble for you.”

Her ride said nothing.

“I still don’t understand you gods.” Red Heart turned her head to the rider that had spoken to her -- she remembered from talking with the two guards that he was the general. “The way you talk to horses is rather strange to me, especially when you can take on whatever form that you please.”

“And what’s wrong with that? I myself like being a pony, thank you very much. Besides, I can’t help it when I’m riding somepony like this. It’s pretty odd for the both of us, whether or not she can talk.”

“Pay no mind, Goddess, that mare is as trustworthy to the Roman army as any other. After all, both Jupiter and Mars demanded only the best.”

“But even so…”

“Why were you in that village of barbarians to begin with?” General Cato tried to change the conversation. “They didn’t treat you with disrespect, did they?”

The earth pony mare put a hoof to her chin. “Not really… They certainly lacked any real understanding of how medicine works, but overall, they’re not all bad people I think. In all of my time with them, they never really settled anywhere, just wandering from place to place and picking fights with those that offended them. And of course, whenever one of them was hurt, I had to step in to take care of them.”

“You took care of their warriors, Minerva?”

“I’m still under oath,” she said as she ducked underneath a branch. “I gave my word that I would do my best to heal any who are sick or injured, regardless of their background, and to cause them no harm. For the past several years, that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. It doesn’t matter if it’s these people who get ill or those people, I have to do my best to help heal everyone. That’s my job.”

“I meant no offense.”

The mare sighed. “No, you’re fine. I’m just really looking forward to finally getting back home.”

“So are Jupiter and Mars. If fate is willing, we will find this gateway and the legion shall return home to Rome as heroes. The Emperor will also be pleased to hear that we managed to assist a goddess as well. Out of curiosity, how did those barbarians see you, Mistress?”

“It’s a bit complicated,” Red Heart said, blushing at being called ‘Mistress’. “They thought I was a spirit of the forest since I could talk. Once they started all of these trials and people were hurt, I did what I could to help heal them. After that, they started to respect me as a kind of shamare. Believe me, though, it wasn’t easy. The medicine I usually work with is practically nonexistent here, so I had to fall back on a lot of herbal medicines and experimentation to see what worked.”

“What do you mean by trials?”

“They -- the tribe I was with, anyway -- have a culture,” she explained. “They follow a kind of code of loyalty, honor, and courage. They would build their society on oaths, and if one were to break their word, they would undergo a trial by fire, water, or battle. Of course, whether they were innocent or guilty, they all ended up getting hurt in some way. I can be thankful that I was given some assistance here and there, but on some days it can be stressful.

“Now that I think of it, there is something that I am worried about.”

“What’s that?”

“Perhaps I was a bit too good with my job.” The mare looked behind at the rows of soldiers moving between the trees. “They see me as their doctor who, most of the time, gained a reputation of being the best. Anyone, not just the tribe I was with, would want nothing more than to get me back. They might be following us for all we know.”

“Upon every man’s honor, we will not lose any of you three until you are returned to the skies.”

She nodded. “Yes, I wonder how long we have until then.”

Then from above, the pegasus descended from his hiding place with a smile. The mare saw him fly up to the very front of the legion where the unicorn was. He disappeared behind the heads and shoulders of the humans before they all came to a halt.

Not a moment after the whole army ceased their march, a cry of joy was heard. Red Heart’s confused was rest aside when she heard somepony galloping towards them, the Drill Sergeant revealing himself. “You’re not gonna believe this! The cloud is within sight, and it’s heading right this way!”

“This is good news indeed,” the General told him. “Shall we rest here until the gateway is overhead?”

“If you can make camp here, that would be wise,” Spear added. “My father thinks that judging by the wind, the cloud should be overhead of us by tonight.”

“Then we must prepare for your departure.” The General turned his horse around. “WE SHALL MAKE CAMP HERE!” he yelled out to the legion. “AND TONIGHT, WE SHALL CELEBRATE THE GREATEST VICTORY OF ALL! THE RETURN OF THE GODS!”
> Chapter XXIX: …. And Lightning.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before sunset, a clearing was made in the middle of the forest. Thousands of men chopped down the trees and used them to construct a wall for their impromptu camp. The branches of the pines, oaks, and spruces were used as firewood.

In the center of the camp, the three gods were hard at work trying to figure out a sure way of returning home. Over the horizon, the storm was coming their way, and they needed to find a way to get struck by its lightning. By Spear Head’s orders, the wire was produced from the leftover weapons from the previous battles. The soldiers came up with a way to melt the metals down in the fire pits, allowing them to spool them into long threads of wire. With Lightning Bolt’s help, they created a web of wire on the tops of the nearby trees. Nurse Red Heart came up with the idea of using the legion’s golden eagle as the web’s central lightning rod.

Once both the net and lightning rod were put into place, the legion hosted a farewell celebration for their pony gods. Some of the soldiers stood guard on the camp’s borders, and some patrolled to look for any signs of barbarians, but all that they could see or hear was the rumbling of the oncoming storm.

“Tonight, we have accomplished the impossible,” General Cato Felix said to his high-ranking officers. “The gateway is coming overhead, and we have finally achieved victory over the barbarians of this land. Even if we do not return to Rome, the Empire will look to us as heroes for returning Jupiter, Mars, and Minerva to the world of the Gods.

The officers cheered and downed the special wine meant for this occasion. They then heard the fluttering of wings as Lightning Bolt landed near one of the many bonfires.

“Everything is set up,” the Solar Captain told them, “and the storm should be overhead within the next half-hour or so.”

“Until then Jupiter,” Cato poured a cup, “have some wine.”

Lightning Bolt rolled his eyes but accepted the cup. “Any word on the natives?”

“All is quiet so far. Even if there was something, the centurions would have blown their horns to warn us. As much of a celebration as this is, we are still on our guard.”

“I hope this goes well,” the stallion commented. “I really can’t wait to get back home.”

“Neither can we. Once we are back in the Empire, Rome will shower us in glory for all time.”

“We do appreciate all of your efforts. From taking care of me and Mars to rescuing a goddess, I’m sure that if everything goes according to plan, we’ll give a good word for the legion.”

“A great honor, sir,” Felix smiled.

_*_

By now, the storm was overhead. In spite of the downpour of rain, the legion gathered around the center of the camp to witness the ascension of three gods. The three ponies themselves were hanging onto the tall staff that all of the wires were connected to. Running down the staff was another wire that was being held by three hooves, all waiting for the lightning to strike.

“Soldiers,” Spear Head spoke aloud, “in this past month, you have all proven yourselves worthy for getting us this far. You have obeyed every order without question, fought like true warriors, and accomplished the impossible. From here on, none of you are maggots, for you have earned yourselves a spot in the true Legion of the Gods. When you return to the capital, some of you will become immediate Roman citizens for your incredible service. Yet, all of you will return with honor that will last until the last star falls from the sky. You have all made me proud.”

There were cheers from the legion, hailing Mars for his speech.

The celebration didn’t last long before arrows rained down upon the army. Horns were blown to alert the legion that they were under attack by assailants in the darkness of the forest. The first thing they all did was to grab their shields and swords before creating rings around the gods, putting their shields overhead to protect the Equestrians from the waves of arrows.

In the midst of the lightning flashes, no one was certain where the ambushers were coming from at first. That was until, like insects, the Germanics came pouring over the walls and charged the center of the camp.

There was a clash of shields and swords on the outer circle. Meanwhile, all three ponies held tightly onto the staff, hoping and praying that they would be sent back to their familiar world among the chaos. Screams and orders rang in the tense air as one layer of soldiers rotated to try and keep the barbarians away from the gods.

“Come on, come on,” Spear Head muttered. “Why isn’t this working?”

“There’s plenty of places that it can strike,” Bolt commented. “Something should have happened by now.”

It was then that the Red Heart got an idea. “What if we give the wires some kind of charge to encourage the lightning to strike? Can’t you give it something to help move things along?”

The Drill Sergeant knew what she was talking about. During thunderstorms, unicorns were discouraged from using too much magic when outside during a storm, as they could risk being electrocuted. However, the mare presented a very good idea on how to get electrocuted on purpose.

“Let me try something.” The crimson stallion lit up his horn as his aura enveloped the wires of the web.

What happened next went by so quickly that no one knew what had transpired. There were a sudden bright flash and a clap of deafening thunder that seemed to have shaken the ground itself. When the Romans near the inner rings had a chance to turn around, their gods and the wire system had completely vanished.

But at the moment, the Romans had bigger problems to worry about.
> Chapter XXX: Upon the Celestial Shores.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘Ow.’ was the only word on all three of the ponies’ minds. Piece by piece, their senses started to come back to them, feeling the cold rain falling on their coats and armor. There was also the distant sound of thunder along with the ebb and flow of water.

Lightning Bolt was the first to open his eyes. He saw that they were on a long beach close to the sea. The sky was gray, but the light that penetrated through suggested that it was morning. He also spotted the twisted web of wires lying not too far from them, most of it has melted. His lazy eyes followed the wires to the golden eagle staff that he barely remembered holding onto.

“Wha… where..?” The pegasus sat up and felt sand shift under his armor. “Nurse Red Heart? Spear Head?” He didn’t have to look very far to see their unconscious bodies nearby.

He dragged himself over to the two ponies, shaking the unicorn. “Drill Sergeant? You alright?”

“Ugh,” Spear Head moaned. “Ow.”

“Are you hurt?”

“Sir… I don’t know, sir.”

The Solar Captain went over to the nurse and tried to wake her up as well. “Nurse Red Heart? Are you okay?

Her face scrunched up as she spat out some sand. “Yuck! ...what?”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Wasn’t there some kind of battle going on?” the earth pony mare questioned. “That’s the last thing I remember.”

“I don’t really know, myself,” Lightning confessed. “I just woke up.”

“Well, at least we’re out of danger.” The unicorn slowly rose to his hooves. “Do you think we’re back to our own world now, or someplace else?”

“I really hope we’re home.” Red Heart got up, helping the pegasus to his hooves.

“Agreed.” Lightning looked around at the abandoned beach. “Let’s go find a road or something and find out where we are.”

The other two ponies agreed. Their group started to head up towards the tall wild grass, pushing their way through until they came to a clearing. Not several hundred yards away stood alone cottage with lights seeping through the window.

As they walked towards the house, each wondered if the being that answered the door would be a pony, a human, or something else entirely.

The mare was the first to knock on the door. There was the sound of movement before, to their relief, a filly opened the door.

“Oh thank Celestia,” Red Heart sighed in relief. “Hello there, little one. Are your parent’s home?”

The filly blinked.

“We were hoping that somepony might let us in to get out of the rain. Would you let us in?”

The filly tilted her head. “Désolée madame, mais je n'ai pas compris.”

Spear Head looked over to his superior. “Prench. Well, at least we have a good idea where we are now.” He stepped in front of the nurse, looking down at the filly. “Excuse-nous, est-ce que tes parents sont à la maison? Nous espérons nous mettre à l'abri de la pluie.”

The filly shook her head. “Pas en ce moment monsieur. Ma mère est chez mon grand-père et mon père est parti chercher des œufs chez un voisin.”

Both earth pony and pegasus looked at the crimson unicorn in surprise. Bolt was the first to break the silence. “I didn’t know you spoke Prench.”

“I learned it from somepony I was dating some time ago.”

“Do you know what she said then?” the mare asked.

“She said that neither of her parents is home. Her mother is away and her father is trying to get some eggs from a neighbor.

"Est-ce que vous êtes perdus?” the filly asked.

“Oui, nous le sommes Et nous avons très froid,” Spear told her. “S'il-te-plait, pourrais-tu nous laisser venir chez toi nous abriter jusqu'à ce que ton père revienne?”

The gray filly put her hoof to her chin. “Je pense que je peux,” she said as she stepped out of the doorway. “On dirait que vous avez été là toute la nuit.”

_*_

In a matter of days, the trio traveled from the northern coast of Prance to its capital to send a message to Princess Celestia of their return. The Sun Princess soon sent an airship over to pick the three of them up.

That is where Lightning Bolt, Spear Head, and Red Heart had currently found themselves. All three were sitting in the spacious observation deck, eating lunch as they flew back to Canterlot. The tall marble-like mare listened to the three’s stories of their trips while eyeing the broken-off piece of the eagle staff on the table.

“Rome, you say?” Celestia asked. “I don’t think I’ve even heard of it.”

“The only thing I could compare it to was Cloudsdale,” Lightning said. “Their architecture was similar in design, but made of white marble and much larger in scale. They also had a large sense of pride.”

“Their sports were particularly bloody,” Spear Head piped in before taking a bite of his hayburger, “especially their fights.”

Celestia nodded and turned to the nurse. “And you said that you were in this world for four years?”

“Yes, your Majesty,” Red Heart nodded. “Although, I wasn’t in the Roman Empire. I was with a traveling tribe where I used my medical practice to help heal them. To be honest, they weren’t exactly any better than the Romans, and were pretty violent.”

“I see. So, now that you’re back, do you have any plans?”

The nurse shifted in her seat. “I was hoping that I could return to medical school, but since I haven’t been paying for my apartment’s rent, I’m probably going to be homeless.”

“For what you’ve been through, perhaps I could pull a few strings.” Celestia sipped her lemonade. “I could have you transferred to Canterlot or Manehattan’s schools so that you can further your education, and I’ll make sure that wherever you want to go, your residence shall be rent-free until you get your doctorate degree.”

Red Heart’s jaw dropped. “W-why… Princess, I don’t know what to say...”

Celestia smiled. “A simple thank you would do just nicely.”

She nodded. “Thank you, your Highness. At the moment, though, I just want to rest for a bit and enjoy Equestria for a couple of days.”

“I second that,” Spear Head agreed. “Besides, I’ve been missing my dates. I hope Orange isn’t convinced that I’m dead or anything.”

Celestia turned to her Captain of the Guard. “And you?”

“Just two things,” he said. “I want my family and my bed.”

“Understandable,” the white alicorn said before turning her attention back to her soup.

_*_

It was late in the evening by the time Lightning Bolt had set his hooves down in Canterlot. Looking around, he almost didn’t recognize it since he was away in a city of marble for so long. It was less crowded, much cleaner, and even more elaborate. There were equines -- not beasts of burden -- roaming the streets.

In a way, it almost felt like a dream as he tried to recall that particular place of the city. He’d nearly forgotten his neighborhood as he flew down to the place he called home. But like a lost memory, he spotted something familiar: a blue door with a crescent-shaped window. He landed and knocked on the door.

“Give me a sec,” a voice behind the door called out. There were a few clicks from the door before it opened to a Thestral mare with a yellow bandana tied on her head. “Can I…?” she trailed off when she saw who was on the front porch.

Lightning gave a soft, tired smile. “Hey, Midnight. Sorry, I’m late.”

“L… Lightning?” His wife suddenly flew forward and embraced him, her bat wings enveloping him. “I can’t believe it! You’re home! You’re actually home!”

The pegasus nuzzled her. “I missed you too. How’ve you been?”

“I’ve been busy, but we’re doing fine.” Midnight wiped a few joyful tears from her eyes. “Our daughter was worried sick about you, and so was I.”

“Where is she anyway?”

“Sleeping.” His wife took a step back. “By the way, what’s with the weird armor?”

Lightning kissed her for a moment. “It’s quite the story, but I’ll tell you later. I’m tired and could really use my bed.”

“Come inside then.” She stepped beside the door. “I guess we both have quite a story to tell, don’t we?”

“Quite.” And with that, Lightning Bolt stepped inside of his home.