Blackwing: God of Humanity

“A daughter... She has a daughter now...” Bloodline said in disbelief as the walked up some stairs to the private booth overlooking the race course.

“Why is that so surprising to you?” Blackwing asked as he sat down.

“It’s just weird to me, Legionnaires weren’t allowed to have children, or have intimate relationships for that matter.”

Quicksilver jumped onto Blackwing’s lap and lied down.

“She’s always happy to see you, she always talked about how she wanted a brother.” Bloodline said.

Blackwing grunted, “I think she stepped on my junk.” He wheezed.

Bloodline giggled.

He was thankful he didn’t have to sit in the public seats, the patrons might go nuts seeing a man who died twice among them, he sat with only his sisters in a reserved booth high along the arena.

The arena was massive, almost half a mile wide and about a mile long, the center was mostly empty only with a stone wall dividing up the track.

He sat in anticipation to watch his sister perform.

When all of a sudden, the announcer came on; a gruff voice excited for the race.

“Alright mares and gentlecolts, if you would, please direct your attention towards the west side of the arena!”

Everyone looked, including Blackwing.

“We have a special guest in the house today!”

Blackwing’s teeth gritted, he growled silently to himself.

Everyone cheered for their beloved guest.

“Princess Celestia!”

She sat in a similar booth, among several guards as she waved down to the others.

Oh how he hated her, violent fantasies of tearing her flesh and breaking her bones flashed in his mind.

Bloodline stared at him all worried.

“Are you ok Mitchell?” She asked.

Blackwing’s hand forcibly lifted off of Quicksilver’s head and lied itself on the sheathe of his sword as his anger tried to claw its way out.

Bloodline place her hoof on his hand.

“Don’t do it, it’s too risky. There are little kids here too, think.” She said.

Blackwing tightened his grip on her hoof and let go of his blade.

He sighed, “You’re right.”

“Just enjoy yourself, pay no mind to her.” She said smiling.

He cracked a half smile back and spoke, “You’re right, I’ll get her later...” In a disturbing tone.

It was only a few minutes later that the racers lines up at the starting point.

Blackwing was uninterested in the other racers, he only devoted his attention to his sister in the jet black suit, staring down another racer wearing a blue suit and a mane of fire.

The deafening cheers suppressed the boom of the announcer, “On your mark!”

The crowd grew louder and louder.

“Get set!”

The air felt tense and thin.

“GO!”

In it’s entirety, the track exploded into a blur full of every color Blackwing’s eyes could process, the racers were so fast, it made his head hurt.

He kept trying to focus on Stormcloud, but he couldn’t see anything that resembled her, only bright suits and flapping wings melting into the scenery.

He decided he wouldn’t be able to tell who was winning, so he gave up and sat there, staring at the cluster of flashing colors.

Quicksilver was paying no attention as she was asleep on him.

Bloodline sat there, invested in the spectacle, yelling out a brief ‘woo’ every once in awhile.

Strange, not as fun to watch as I thought it would be...

He peered almost a mile away with his eagle-like eyes, inspecting the princess.

Celestia looked odd to him, he felt as if a dark aura envelope the booth in which she sat in, as if that wasn’t the real princess.

Or she was and she was that much of a total bitch.

He stared at her for almost ten minutes before he got sick of it and decided to leave.

He nudged Quicksilver to get up, she did and lost her balance and dropped to the floor.

“Where are you going?” Bloodline asked as Quicksilver migrated near her.

“Something isn’t right here...” Blackwing said as he made his way out of the booth.

Bloodline sighed, “You better not get in trouble.” She mumbled to him, but he didn’t hear her.

Almost ten minutes later, the announcer declared that the race was on it’s last few laps.

Bloodline was cheering louder than usual, she probably see that Storm’s winning.

Blackwing didn’t pay any attention to the race as he walked through the lobby, out in the open, passing through stray groups of shocked ponies, only keeping an eye on any suspicious things.

He peered out a nearby doorway, looking out into the arena.

As a ref’s arm shot up and held a checkered flag to signal the last lap, he saw the princess stand up next to the ledge of the balcony.

And...

The race stopped.

The arena erupted into celebration.

Blackwing looked at the finish line.

On the grassy ground of the race track, there sat Stormcloud, panting uncontrollably.

The crowd was left to cheer for a few more minutes as the last of the racers finished.

Blackwing wore a smile on his face the entire time as he continued his way to the booth.

Celestia was handed a small microphone.

“Congratulations on winning the South Division Racing Tournament Stormcloud Rush...” Her voice bounced off the walls of the arena, booming over everyone else.

Everyone cheered for Stormcloud.

She stood back up and stared at the princess.

“If you would, come up to me and you may claim your well earned reward.”

A small band made it’s way out to the track and played a tune consisting of various instruments, distracting everypony in the audience.

Stormcloud trotted with pride past her adversaries, losers either groaned or congratulated her.

Blackwing picked up the pace and jogged his way along, he finally stopped at the entrance into Celestia’s quarters..

Back in the booth, Bloodline and Quicksilver were celebrating their sister’s victory.

“Storm makes me so proud...” Bloodline praised. “I mean, she even gave the Wonderbolts a hard time to compete, and they’re the best of the best.”

Quicksilver jumped around in excitement.

“I guess Storm is busy getting her prize, we’ll just go and both of them can come back home later.” She said and led Quicksilver out of the booth.

He was the only one left in the hallways, as everyone was too busy either at the stands or at the bars and restaurants.

He stood in front a wooden door, he noticed the lack of guards posted at the door.

It didn’t matter to him, he was too eager to confront Celestia to think of anything else.

He creaked open the door slightly and peeked into the small recreation room.

Empty, but he saw Celestia and two guards out by the balcony.

But he heard a knocking sound coming from a separate room in the booth.

He snuck into the room and crouched along the walls and reached to room of concern.

He slowly twisted the doorknob and pulled the door back.

It was Stormcloud.

Blackwing was shocked to see her, his eyes widened.

“Why were you locked in here?!” He whispered.

“Duh... She was trying to kidnap me!” She responded in a weird broken tone.

He stood up, his look of shock went straight to fury.

“Go, Bloodline is probably leaving already.”

She nodded and walked out of the room in an odd limping movement that concerned him.

She’s probably just tired...

He turned around and proceeded closer to his revenge, he gripped his sword and walked inside the doorway, mere feet from Celestia.

He readied his sword and dug his blade into the back of one unsuspecting guard, lifted it out, and charged and threw the other over the balcony, sending him down into the crowd several feet below.

Ponies nearby gasped out loud.

Celestia didn’t even turn around.

“Trying to kidnap my sister huh? You just made a big mistake making me angry.” He threatened.

Celestia laughed a devious laugh, “You?” Under her laugh she felt surprised to see him again, “Did the desert drive you insane? I don’t have your sister...”

He pointed his sword at her, “Don’t play dumb with me! Turn around, look at me before I kill you...” He demanded.

She did and looked deep into his eyes a menacing look dominating her face.

“You should’ve stayed in Raider’s Flats and became buzzard food, but no... You just had to come back.”

Blackwing lost his patience and threw a punch at her and it landed on her face with a pop

Celestia stood unharmed, yet her jaw was tilted, dislocated.

Holy shit...

A magical glow surrounded her jaw line and it popped back in it’s socket with a fleshy squish.

Blackwing stepped back in fear.

He felt himself captured in a magical grip.

He was locked up, unable to move. he started to levitate off the floor.

Celestia turned him around and launched him off the balcony.

He yelled as he flew across the arena, falling twenty feet down onto the grass of the race track.

He landed with a violent thud, bounced off the ground, and more spectators yelled and cried in disbelief.

Celestia lifted a hoof onto the balcony ledge and stretched her wings.

She balanced herself on the ledge and jumped off, landing like a feather near her enemy.

Blackwing struggled to get on his hands and knees, but Celestia looked away from him and presented themselves to the crowd.

“Look my subjects, my citizens! Look down upon this monster!” Celestia yelled.

Every pony in the stadium went dead silent, all staring at the two.

“This monster wants to kill me! This monster already killed my beloved sister Luna! He wants to control your lives for his benefit! Look at this remnant of the past, of a time before our mighty species. These disgusting creatures ruled the Earth before they killed each other, their wildlife, and their planet! If we allow this ‘hero’ to rule this beautiful land, who’s to say that Equestria won’t end up the same way that Mankind’s empire ended!”

As she droned on, Blackwing got on his feet and took advantage of her unawareness.

He swung his sword back and followed through like he was swinging at a baseball, aiming right at her torso.

Celestia’s scream pierced through the ears of everypony, who struggled to cover their ears.

A gaping gash scarred down, down, down the left side of her body, starting from her flank to the bottom of her neck.

Crimson stained her clean, groomed white coat of fur.

Celestia blindy swung her head sporadically, hoping to slice Blackwing with her horn.

She charged forward at him, and her luck turned, Blackwing wasn’t fast enough to react

The vision in Blackwing’s right eye went white, a burning pain swelled in his face.

He screamed along with her as he cupped his hands onto his eyes as he felt blood vessels pouring and seeping through the cracks between his fingers.

His right eye was cut open along the middle, like a melon being sliced in half.

The patrons were horrified at the situation forced upon them, parents covering the eyes and ears of their precious children with scared looks frozen on their faces.

Celestia and Blackwing stumbled backwards away from each other, the symphony of their yells of agonizing pain filling the ears of every poor soul who only came here for fun, but instead became a bloodbath between two powers.

Celestia screamed not in pain, but in anger, “Mark my words you heathen! I WILL KILL YOU!” Her shriek echoed throughout the stadium.

Blackwing didn’t reply, only his grunts of pain filled the silence as ran his way out of the arena.

Covering his face with his hands, he ran out of the race track and left the presence of thousands.

He sprinted through the racer’s entrance and up the stairs leading back to the front lobby.

He bursted through the door and fell on the tile floor, a splat of blood trickled its way from his arm and to the floor, pooling in the cracks of the slates.

Bloodline trotted up to him, “Mitchell?! Are you okay?!” She asked in shock.

“No, no, no, no. We gotta go!” Blackwing replied loudly as he kneeled on the floor.

Stormcloud handed him a small pile of tissue napkins. He wadded all of the napkins and placed them on his severed eyeball with light pressure.

Quicksilver was whining for her brother, “What’s wrong big brother?” She asked in a very sad tone.

“My eye... S-She cut it open!” He answered with a deep cringe.

He lifted his hands from his eyes, revealing his wound.

His eye was cut inches deep with either master or lucky precision, the fleshy, veiny insides were exposed and ravaged, the lens turned a pale white as the rest of the eyeball became fogged in red.

Bloodline almost vomited at what she saw, “We need to get you to a doctor right now...” She said after she swallowed a load of hot bile back down her throat.

Blackwing had passed out of blood loss minutes after they left the stadium, he rode unconsciously on the backs Bloodline and Stormcloud for almost an hour before the reached the Ponyville clinic.

The nurse at the front desk had gasped at the injured hometown hero’s arrival.

“This town owes my brother a favor, it’s about time he gets that favor!” Bloodline demanded.

The nurse alerted a surgeon to prepare a room for Blackwing.

They had rushed him down the hallway for emergency surgery.

The surgeon notioned Bloodline to get in the room and place Blackwing down on an operating table as he cleaned medical tools in a nearby sink.

Bloodline thrusted her back up and Blackwing flopped onto the table.

The surgeon covered his face with a bacteria mask, slapped on latex gloves, and went to work.

Time stood still in the clinic, mere minutes felt like antagonizing hours as Blackwing was being operated on.

The sisters sat in the lobby, Quicksilver crying lightly on Bloodline’s leg, Bloodline biting her cheeks in intense stress, and Stormcloud standing like a statue with her suit still on, her face motionless.

The surgeon came out into the lobby only after a couple hours of surgery.

“Is he fine?” Bloodline asked.

“Is big brother dead?!” Quicksilver cried.

Stormcloud asked nothing, very unlike herself.

“Don’t worry, Blackwing is fine... Well, mostly.” He said.

“What do you mean ‘mostly’?” Bloodline asked in a skeptical tone.

“I got his eye back in one piece, but he will remain blind in that eye, the cut severed the cornea, the lens, basically all the eye’s essential parts, I couldn’t fix his vision.” The doctor explained.

Bloodline sighed, “Well at least he’s ok...”

“The cut will also leave a large scar on his face. The wound’s still fresh, so make him rest and let it heal.” The doctor continued.

Awkward silence filled the waiting room, everyone looked at their hooves in concern.

Blackwing stumbled his way to everybody else.

He wobbled back and forth, his head wrapped in bandages.

“He’s going to act oddly for the rest of the night, I’ve sedated him with painkillers.” The doctor finished.

“Thank you so much doc’.” Bloodline said.

She walked over to Blackwing and tightly gripped his hand.

“Come on Mitchell, let’s go home.” She said as she led him out the door.

Quicksilver followed behind but Stormcloud still remained still.

Bloodline looked back, “Storm, are you feeling okay?” She asked.

Stormcloud finally moved, she shook her head, “Oh, I-I’m sorry...” She stuttered.

Stormcloud limped her way to the rest of the group.

Blackwing didn’t have to have to see knowing that Celestia was looking down at him from the mountainside city of Canterlot hundreds of miles away.

He broke out of his loopy behavior for a second and bared his teeth in anger.

He would dream of fulfilling his sweet, bloody revenge that night.

And down the hills of town did the sisters and their brother walk down as they made their way back home, afraid of the long and hostile days ahead that awaited every single one of them.

Blackwing lied in his bed in an intoxicated stupor, he babbled random sounds, words, and short sentences out loud in his room, yet his mindset was all too clear in his head.

The black swan was getting to him.

He had somewhat regretted the decision he made that fateful night in his apartment.

But what if he hadn’t?

He wouldn’t have met his sisters.

He would still be his old broke, loser self back on his Earth.

Then he started thinking about his mother again.

She must be so disappointed in me for what I’ve done and who I am now: A disgusting, hated killer...

“Your mother is closer to you than you think...” A voice floated in the plane of thought, it was the spirit, standing nearby his bed.

He gathered his wits and found himself able to communicate.

“Oh, it’s you... Look where your campaign of murder has gotten me.” Blackwing said still blinded by his bandages.

The spirit said nothing, but he could sense that she was still there.

“Aren’t you going to answer me?” He said in an annoyed tone.

Still nothing.

He grabbed a cup from his nearby nightstand and chucked it at the spirit, it passed through the spirit’s form, smashing against the wall with a loud shatter.

“You have singlehandedly ruined my life!” He yelled in accusation.

The spirit only laughed at his insult.

“Ruined it? I saved it you ungrateful bastard! I didn’t raise y-” She suddenly cut her sentence short.

Silence filled the room for several seconds.

The spirit sighed and calmed herself down.

“I can tell you that Celestia is cocky about her victory over you, but she is deathly afraid.” She explained.

“I could’ve just killed her there, but I hesitated...” He reflected on his various mistakes.

“Yes, but you fell from a great height, were under equipped, and frankly, Celestia just got lucky with her swing. Just think of how easily you can finish her off when you’re healthy and have your wings and the magic gauntlet on your side.” She motivated.

“I guess so, but how am I supposed to get to her now that she’s back in Canterlot?” He asked.

“You caught a break this time, Celestia is preparing a speech for tomorrow addressing the concern about you and what happened today.” The spirit plotted.

“I will not confront her in public again, when I did, she tried turning the public against me, trying to make me look evil.” He denied.

“Alright, I understand... Look, if you can manage to sneak into the Canterlot Palace and hide in her throne room, you can ambush her when she returns from her speech.” The spirit reproposed.

“I like that idea better.” Blackwing replied.

“I thought you would...” She said happily.

“One last question... Why did Celestia kidnap Stormcloud if she thought I was still exiled? How did she know we both knew each other?” He asked.

The spirit delayed her response, he anticipated it through more silence.

“I don’t know.” She said sternly.

Before he could say anything else, the spirit disappeared from his bedroom, from the sensual world altogether.

Blackwing was more confused than anything.

‘I don’t know’? You’re supposed to know everything...

He was allowed to stew in his thoughts for a few seconds longer until he heard his door open.

“Did you just break something?” Bloodline asked.