*Isaac followed to the left of Shining as he showed him around more of the castle. He would point out landmarks outside the windows- those, Isaac ignored while trying to seem interested- and various tapestries and statues within, which Isaac was entranced by; they were beautifully woven, excellently carved, and the scenes some depicted surprised Isaac with their history- A whole kingdom enslaved, by a single unicorn. The child could feel their pain in the expressions. He understood their plight, in some small way. The feeling made him bit more at ease about being here.
Though he still felt nervous about tomorrow.
He was being dropped in a group of children who had known each other far longer than he had. And while he was now learning the absolute basics of their culture, they were raised on it. They inherently knew things he didn’t, and whatever he knew likely would not ever be of use.
On top of that, he had not been to a school at all in the past… as long as he could recall. Granted, the last school he had attended was only a small portion of early grade school, but it could have been important. If he remembered. Maybe.
And he could not neglect the elephant in the room, the species. Oranges to Apples. An insignificant, disappearing ice cube to a roaring, bright fire. He was so strange, so alien, compared to them… a barrier nothing could surmount.
Nothing would ever make them accept what he is. Nothing would mend the disparity of experiences. And nothing could entice them to like who he is.
If his experience thus far was as exemplary as he feared, they would not understand this. Even less so would they understand him. Cadence was trying- he could tell- but he didn’t think she was nearly as comprehending as she thought she was. Isaac tugged at the cloak with one hand, gripping it tightly. What would she say if he told her?
Bitterly, he imagined the conversation.
“It’ll be fine. We’ll just put you somewhere else,” she’d say.
“But what would stop it from happening again?” he’d ask.
She’d smile. That smile he was growing to loathe. “Don’t worry, it won’t!”
He glared at the floor. His gaze softened after a moment. It was not her fault.
A light refracted from a window into his eyes. He looked away with a hiss of irritation, and then realized Shining had been talking that whole time. At the very least, he wasn’t looking at Isaac expectantly again.
“... and that’s when Spike- that dragon, from back in Canterlot- he caught the Crystal Heart, midair. It gave Cadence enough time to reach him and restore the Crystal Heart’s power,” Shining said, gesturing to an overlarge statue of the reptile in question.
Isaac looked over, and had to crane his neck to see the face. He stood on two legs in the typical ‘hero’ stance, one arm placed on the hip, the other holding up a replica of the floating heart at the center of the city. The dragon’s brow was furrowed in determination, eyes set on the replica heart in it’s claws…
The dragon was so drastically and obviously different from the ponies. And yet he had achieved such a level of reverence as to be granted monuments and historical importance. In the brief moment Isaac had seen him, he hadn’t acted as a hero, he hadn’t acted as some historical titan… Spike was just… there. He hadn’t even said much.
Perhaps the statue exaggerated more than just his scale.
Though it did make Isaac wonder which was more accurate. Did they just take what they noticed of the moment? Did he? Did those Spike had never met know him better than those that he had?
Is… is that how ponies perceive one another? Deed alone? Did the one behind them mean nothing? Isaac mused, looking over at Shining armor. Who they are behind the act… do others ever know?
Shining caught his gaze. “Isaac? Is something wrong?”
Isaac shook his head. “N-no. I was just…”
“Just…?” Shining inquired, raising one brow.
“I, uh… just thinking…” Isaac looked back at the statue, searching for an excuse, something else he could talk about. “I don’t… he wasn’t that big in person.”
Shining gave a short chuckle. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure the pony who made it wasn’t going for accuracy. She insisted on making it, though, after hearing what he did for us.”
Isaac nodded, giving a short ‘oh’ of understanding. But that only served to reaffirm his impression of their impressions. Actions, not feelings. Facts, not thoughts. Deeds, not words. If he did nothing, he was nothing.
What was within was not without. But what they see outside… that’s what they know, so that is who they are, to them. The child determined. His headache returned. To all of them...
Isaac did not like this. But speaking this aloud would yield no change.
Shining motioned for him to follow. Isaac complied, stealing away one last look at the statue, a monument to facades, an example the world demanded he follow.
*As Isaac slept that night, he had a dream.
All was dark. Silent. And hot. The child felt nothing above, nothing below, only the sensation of falling, faster than he could ever imagine.
He would’ve screamed if he had any air.
‘They rise, my lamb. The eldest comes first, leaves first,’ a deeply resonant voice intoned, the vibrations threatening to shake Isaac apart. ‘Your kind, they will fall, children, parents, loved ones... All will fall, my lamb.’
It gave a short, menacing gasp of a laugh, sounding more like the roar of a beast than that of a normal human, or pony. ‘Let the floodgates open. Let the tide rise. All will be pure in the end.’
Isaac did not sleep well. He could not recall the dream the next day.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH.
YES!!!
You updated! It's a miracle! Soundtracks are awesome! Yes!
Congrats on being featured again!
personally, i don't listen to music when i read, but i tend to click over and listen to the songs and then continue reading. you find some really good songs like that. in conclusion: it's your story and some people might appreciate it, some might not care, but any who don't want to listen to the music can just ignore the asterisks.
spoilered in case someone hasn't played the game and doesn't want to know anything about it.
on the actual story: that end is not terribly difficult to figure out. my question is whether "the eldest" refers to the isaac persona or the bosses. if it's the isaac persona, and you played like most players did, we will be seeing maggy soon, but that also means we will see samson and eve soon. i imagine samson will be easy to right because he would just be perpetually angry which would hopefully not amount to him attempting a coup on cadence's throne and as for eve, it would be kinda strange for her to climb out of the boxes while in whore of babylon, and even more strange if she gets into a fight or something at school with one of the colts/mares and turns into a literal demon while cherilee is watching.
on the other hand, if it is referring to monsters, pin is going to be hilarious to see "a giant worm like creature popped out of the box, looked around and then jumped at a royal guard, where it ended up impaling itself on his spear and subsequently dousing the royal guard in wormy juice."
this is all of course considering that i'm even in the closest ballpark. for all i know it could be that "the eldest" refers to a transformation or possibly even a floor layout or it could be a code saying that mega satan is going to pull himself out of the box and eat 2/3rds of equestria...
anyways, sorry for rambling. i'm glad to see an update to the story. it's a good chapter and it puts forth hope for isaac's social issues. looking forward to a new one
personally, It doesn't matter, the added music just adds to it which I like. I just hope yo get another chap soon
6813442
Wait... I was Featured? o.oI never saw that, I've only seen my story on the Popular stories list!I JUST CHECKED AND OH MY GOD I CAN'T EVEN. *Deep Breath*
Wow.
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Persona's are the closer guess. As a hint, I'll say it's one of the boys.
As a second hint, I'll say in spoilers...
It's not hard to 'see' who the oldest is if you check the bible stories for the children of Adam.
Neat to see such in depth speculation, I appreciate it!
6813915 hey, I like clop fics as much as the next guy, but come on...
6813888 i like thinking about what possibilities exist in a story, but usually i am reading older ones like fallout equestria and i don't really let myself consider them for very long before starting a new chapter, so it's fun to find an active story that is also speculatable as well. as for the eldest, technically eldest would be eve, since she was mother of cain and BadItemInGoldenChestWhoShallNotBeNamed but i can see why you would choose that persona. makes sense
This story, as much as I'd like to say... I cannot find the words to show my appreciation for this fiction.
It is just too much. Short, but compact with care... and solitude.
6817224 Thanks! I really appreciate comments like these.
I tend to find with other crossovers that they really don't touch on the negative thoughts of the characters. Difference. Inadequacy. Fear of Failure. Suppression and blame. Even when they do, I personally don't feel like they go in depth enough.
I make it short for a number of reasons - long chapters deter some people, It's an adequate length, more would be too long, or I'd take too long and miss my deadline - but chief among them, I do it because it feels right.
So yes, thank you, I'm glad for support like yours!
Adding links to BoI soundtracks feels appropriate to me, but I wonder whether this meshes well with short chapters, especially if the link were to be somewhere in the middle.
Soundtracks have been added to the majority of the story, everyone!
Soundtracks come from Xenoblade Chronicles, Binding of Isaac (WotL, Rebirth, Afterbirth) The Original composer Lucas King, and a few other minor things.
Hope you enjoy!