“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?”