The Unbinding

by awesomesauce4

Chapter 3: Acceptance

It had been a week since Isaac had escaped the Basement, and already his former life felt like a distant memory. Though he still felt out of place ever due to his being a human, and a former demon at that, Princess Luna tried her hardest to integrate him into Equestrian society peacefully and effectively, even going so far as to joke about adopting him. Isaac brushed off these jokes good-naturedly, claiming that he was older than her by technicality and thus he should be doing the adopting. But they had come up more and more frequently as of late, and Isaac was beginning to think Luna was serious.

Isaac seemed to see more of Princess Luna than any pony he knew, short of her sister – when he mentioned how often they were found doing something together, ponies gave him odd looks. She was, in his opinion, one of the nicest beings he’d ever met – while the other ponies all seemed very nice, she alone had him truly feeling as though he had won a friend. Plus, they had something in common – her stories of the creature called ‘Nightmare Moon’ reminded Isaac of himself. Speaking of nightmares, his dreams were filled with them – occasionally he would wake up in the Basement once more, as though this had all been a dream, and would stumble around hoping to find the exit and return to the ponies he now cherished. But every time, just as he was about to give up in despair, Luna appeared, as though instantly summoned to his side, and comforted him, telling him that he was merely dreaming. This, too, was unusual according to Twilight – while it was typical of Princess Luna to watch over and guard the dreams of her subjects, her paying attention to his every dream was rather odd. When Isaac asked why she thought this might be the case, Twilight had suddenly stiffened, and hastily excused herself, claiming that she had something to do.

All this would indicate that Twilight and Luna knew something that they weren’t telling him about, and while Isaac was tempted to question and wonder about this, he didn’t want to tear down the heaven he had found himself brought into. The last thing on Earth he wanted was to ruin his friendships – for who knew when he might ever make friends again? So, Isaac remained silent.

Isaac next discerned a clue to this the morning after his latest nightmare – it had been a strange one, where instead of spawning in an empty room he had been brought straight to the Shop. And what a Shop it was! All the most powerful items Isaac had ever wielded were there – Mom’s Knife, Brimstone, Dr. Fetus, all the Guppy items, and so much more. All the prices were 0 cents, so Isaac curiously picked up the Magic Mushroom, as it was closest to him. To his dismay, it simply disappeared without doing anything, and Isaac was about to protest this when he felt a cold, dead hand on his back. Isaac turned around, and to his shock, Greed was there, the noose around his neck looking as though it had just been snapped.

“Son… I’m here to offer you a deal. Give up that silly dream, those ponies you call ‘friends’… and I can show you what it really means to have power. Whaddya’ say, kid?”

Isaac looked around – this much power in one room was tempting. With these items, he could take on just about anyone – Mega Satan would have been a pushover. But Isaac thought some more. Did he really want to give up the only friends he had for a shot at unlimited power? No. No, he didn’t, and he was stupid for even thinking it.

“Never!” Isaac cried out, and attempted to exit the Shop and find the way out of this dream.

An ugly scowl crossed Greed’s face, and he pushed Isaac to the floor. Greed whipped out a knife, glinting eerily in the light of the Shop and stained with blood – Isaac recognized it as the Sacrificial Dagger, though why it was in Greed’s hands he knew not. Isaac attempted to blink, and send some damaging tears Greed’s way, but nothing came out, and Greed grinned evilly. Raising the dagger high over his gray, mottled head, Greed was about to plunge it down when a beam of blue light shot through the door and struck him in the chest, burning a hole straight through. Greed looked down in shock, then looked back up to find Princess Luna framed in the doorway, angrier than Isaac had ever seen her.

“Get thy moldy appendages off my student!” she bellowed, and Greed glared at her once before disappearing, the items in the shop vanishing with him. Isaac looked around, still shivering with fear, and Luna immediately brought him into a close hug. “That was… far too close,” she admitted, her expression having shifted to sorrow. “We apologize for not arriving earlier.”

With that, the dream had ended, and Isaac had woken up to find the sun shining directly onto his face. Once he got out of bed and went downstairs for breakfast, he was surprised to find that Princess Luna was still awake, deep in conversation with her sister. A few pointed glances at Isaac as soon as he arrived told him all he needed to – they knew something had gone wrong, that Greed had not been supposed to attack in the way he did.

His suspicions were confirmed as soon as he finished breakfast – a tap on his back startled him, and he fearfully turned around to find it was only Princess Luna, smiling down at him warmly.

“Hello, young Isaac. I know the hour is late for me, but mayhap we could have a small discussion with my sister and a few others?” Isaac gazed up at her shrewdly, attempting to figure out where she was going with this.

“Sure…” he answered, and stood up, hopping off his chair.

Princess Luna led him to an old, seemingly dusty conference room, where more than a few other ponies were waiting – Isaac recognized the other two Princesses, and Discord was there as well, lazily flicking through the Bible. Isaac had been briefed on the history of humanity while he had conversed with Luna over the past week, and while it wasn’t that much of a surprise to see Discord rifling through Genesis, the book itself gave him a chill down his spine.

“Everypony, this is Isaac the human,” Princess Luna announced as they took their seats around the table, Isaac shooting a grateful glance at Twilight as he was levitated up into his chair. There were murmured greetings around the room, and Discord finally put down his book.

With that, Luna turned to Isaac, and began her tale. She told him of Greed’s mysterious appearance just prior to his escape, and how he had sold Twilight a copy of the human Bible – to date, the only copy in their possession. Isaac listened with wide eyes as Twilight went into more detail on the book Discord was currently holding. Its odd, almost unreal cleanliness, the indeterminate age, and a few other odd properties were mentioned, until Twilight hesitantly stopped. She looked once at the other two Princesses, who nodded. Turning back to Isaac, Twilight gave him a nervous grin.

“There was… something else. According to Discord, one of the passages had changed from the original tale – it was called ‘the Binding of Isaac’.” Isaac remained mute, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Twilight cautiously opened the book, turning to the appropriate page, and began reading. “Isaac and his mother lived alone, in a small house on a hill,” she began, and Isaac had to stop himself from emitting a shocked cry. She went through his story, word for word, and closed the book once she had finished.

“Do you… recognize that story?” Twilight asked.

“I… wrote it…” Isaac just as nervously answered.

Discord went wide-eyed, his eyes literally expanding beyond the confines of his sallow face - Isaac thought this a bit much, even for him. “You wrote this? This is… awfully good writing, for a child.”

Isaac blushed and looked away. “I always did consider myself a bit of a storyteller,” Isaac answered proudly.

Discord cocked an eyebrow. “Oh? Is there any more to that story?”

Isaac grinned a little, and thought about what to tell them. There were technically several endings to his story, but only one would really work – plus, it was the ‘good’ ending, even if it was fake.

And so, Isaac began, trying his best to sound dramatic and most likely not succeeding.

“Isaac was cornered. His mother, fueled with the desire to serve her God, was bearing down on Isaac. “I will do as I am told, my Lord. I love you above all else!” Isaac’s mother repeated to herself. This was the end of the line for Isaac – his mother was far too strong for him.”

Isaac took a moment to pause for dramatic effect, noting the interested looks on everypony’s face but Discord – who was looking at him with incredulity and amusement. Isaac decided to ignore him, and pressed on.

“But just as he accepted his fate, God intervened, sending an angel down from above to stop his mother’s hand. And just like that, it was over.”

Discord sat back on his haunches, surveying Isaac with an unamused expression. “Really? It was just a parody of the original ending. I was expecting something much better, to be honest."

Isaac glared at him. “I thought if I wrote an ending for the story, it would end! I didn’t care about how good the ending was – and more importantly, what would you have done better?” Isaac asked angrily.

Discord surveyed him, a devious grin making its way back onto his face as the others watched the exchange with growing alarm. “Why, something more vague, I would imagine. Give us hints, maybe – a scene of your having escaped the Basement, or discovering your true self. Something that gives the reader some imagination!”

Isaac paled – Discord’s advice was eerily similar to the endings he had left out. Spluttering with indignation, Isaac attempted to find something with which to make them see that Discord was wrong – that his story was good! Great, even! It was a master work – why couldn’t they see that?

He was only distracted from this by a gasp from Luna. Isaac looked up at her, still angry, only to find that she was pointing a shaking hoof behind at him. “Who – who art thou?” she half-shouted. Isaac turned around, expecting there to be nothing there – but to his surprise, a shadowy figure had placed a gray palm on his hand, a gleeful rictus of a grin forever etched on the familiar face.

“Hello, old friend,” Pride whispered.

Isaac was too shocked to even scream. Pride grinned even wider, if that were possible, and pushed Isaac over just as Greed had in his dream, causing Isaac to topple onto the table.

“Kid, when are you going to learn? You belong down there,” Pride declared, pointing vaguely downward. “With us. Not these second-rate losers. They couldn’t even appreciate your story – the story you worked so hard on, too! The first review you ever got, and it was “This story sucks” – that must really make your blood boil. Why, I bet if they saw your drawings they wouldn’t even call it ‘art’ – just trash.” Isaac fought back tears, his lip quivering.

“Now, if you were, say, down in the Basement with us old Sins, we’d appreciate your story! We always have. Very poetic, if we do say so. Very… final,” Pride continued, with the air of one who’d just made the most spectacular joke in all of history. Luna stepped forward, horn charging up for another blast. Pride waved a mocking finger in her direction. “Ah ah, princess. No interfering…” he pulled out a troll-bomb and placed it on Isaac’s chest, holding it down with a flawless, gray foot. Seeing this, Luna stopped charging her spell in shock, though now her eyes fairly blazed with fury at Pride. “After all, Isaac here is old enough to make his choice without your badgering. So, what do you say, Isaac? Want some real friends, like me?”

Once again, Isaac was tempted by Pride’s words. He’d never received any real praise for his stories, never having had anyone to show them to. For someone else to call his work ‘poetic’… Isaac felt too flattered to say no. But one glance at Luna shattered any resolve he’d had to say yes: Her expression was one of utmost sorrow and sympathy. Looking around, Isaac realized her face mirrored the others around the room: Even Discord was looking at him with a concerned frown across his lopsided features. But what could he do? Without his holy tears, Isaac was powerless – Pride was far too strong for him. Nopony else could interfere, either – the bomb ticking away on his chest was proof enough of that. Pride smiled down at him, though his smoldering eyes gave away his impatience.

“You wouldn’t want to keep your best friend waiting…” Pride said menacingly. And just like that, Isaac had an idea.

“You’re right,” he said, and Pride nearly lost his footing in surprise.

“C…come again?” he asked Isaac, and there were murmurings of shock all around.

“Isaac, no!” Luna shouted. But Isaac gave her a steely glare, and she fell silent.

He turned back to Pride. “I shouldn’t keep my best friend waiting. It would be rude of me. So I won’t.” Reaching out, he grabbed the Bible out of Discord’s claw and swung it at Pride, hitting him across the face with the holy book and causing Pride to stumble back. The troll-bomb, free to move now that Pride’s foot wasn’t keeping it in place, rolled under the table, harmlessly exploding. Pride wiped the blood off of his face, the trail of red marring his perfect gray face as he spat out a tooth.

“How dare you!” he roared.

Isaac opened the Bible, hoping for nothing short of a miracle. To his surprise, it opened to a very familiar passage – Proverbs 11:2. Isaac held out the book as though it were a weapon of mass destruction, and read off the page. “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom,” Isaac intoned. As soon as he finished the sentence, Isaac felt the familiar sensation of wings sprouting from his shoulder, and quickly rose up into the air.

“No… no!” Pride cried, outraged.

Isaac smiled, and made as though to blink. Pride flinched, and Isaac grinned further. “Say hello to Greed for me,” Isaac declared, and unleashed a flood of holy tears. The blunt force of the liquid kept Pride from even fighting back, screaming as the tears slowly ate away at his form.

“This isn’t over, kid!” Pride screamed. “I’ll be back – I’m the best! You can’t keep me down forever, you… you… inferior!”

And just like that, it was over. Isaac had won.

Their job finished, the wings vanished, the Bible snapping shut with an audible thump. For a moment, all was silent. Then Discord spoke up.

“Forget writing – go into drama, Isaac. You’re much better at it.”

To everyone’s surprise, Isaac failed to even respond, staring at the Bible in his hands.

“Isaac? Art thou… alright?” Princess Luna asked.

“Don’t you get it, Luna?” Isaac said, his voice small. “I used an item. I haven’t escaped at all!” he cried out all of a sudden, running from the room and flinging the Bible away from himself.

Isaac finally stopped running as he spotted an empty closet, the wooden walls reminding him a bit of the Chest he’d locked himself inside of. He ducked inside, locking the door, but was only alone for a moment before Luna’s voice sounded just outside the door.

“Isaac?” she asked, concerned.

“Go ‘way! This isn’t real! You’re not real!” Isaac cried, his voice cracking before breaking down into high-pitched sobs.

“Oh, Isaac…” Luna trailed off. “What can we say? Of course we believe we’re real, but thou cannot just take our word for it.” She fell silent for a moment, causing Isaac to wonder if she had left. “But… what if it was just that book? It was, after all, a relic of thine own Basement, regardless of being here – would that not make sense also?”

Isaac considered this – that could be true… “Even if that is true, and I’m not in the Basement… I’m a monster. I thought I was better than everyone else… but I was just the dumbest.”

Luna cautiously opened the door, her magic disabling the lock before she swept Isaac up in her wings. “You’re not a monster. That ‘Pride’, that disgusting, foul beast… he is the monster. Not you. Never you,” she consoled him.

Isaac hesitated for only a moment before clinging to her forearm, trying with all his might to keep from crying and only succeeding in sending spasms down through his chest as he shuddered with pain and sorrow.

“Shh… just let it out… It will all be okay, I promise,” Luna whispered. She lead him down a series of corridors, Isaac still too teary-eyed to even see where he was going.

It took a few hours, but finally Isaac was feeling better. He and Luna were ensconced in her study room, as Luna taught him the names of each different star.

“And that one’s Astraeus,” she pointed out, focusing the telescope with her magic so Isaac could see it up close.

“Looks kind of purple-ish,” Isaac remarked, and Luna giggled.

“I’m sure he would love that – purple was his favorite color,” she replied.

“He was a person?” Isaac curiously asked.

“Pony,” Luna gently corrected. “And yes – he lived a few centuries ago. He always loved studying the stars… his final wish was for his essence to become one.”

She gave a forlorn smile to the star in question. Isaac, meanwhile, examined the star with a newfound interest. That was a pony, once?

“Isaac…” Luna started all of a sudden, jerking Isaac out of his reverie.

“Yes?” he asked. Luna faced him, suddenly serious.

“We know thou thinkst we art joking, but… we want to ask thee again, in all seriousness. Wouldst thou consent to be adopted by us? We have never met such a kindred soul in all our centuries of searching…” she trailed off.

Isaac stared at her for a moment – she’d been serious? This whole time? “I… uhh…” he stammered, caught off guard.

Princess Luna anxiously waited, and Isaac considered his options. On the one hand, if he was adopted, he’d have to live life like a normal person again. Then again… wasn’t that exactly what he had wanted, for the longest time? And hadn’t Luna shown him nothing but care and kindness, even if he had been an absolute jerk to her? Isaac made up his mind, and steeled himself.

“Yes,” he answered. “I’d like that…”

And with that, he went right back to sobbing. But this time was different – this time, Luna joined him, wrapping her navy blue wings around him as though to shield him from all harm. And for a moment, one precious moment against an ocean of memories of blood and sorrow, mother and son shed tears of joy together.

Comments

[awesomesauce4]

I really need to stop pressing CTRL+I...

[corruption]

5634845 does he still have the wings?...

[awesomesauce4]

5636489 Nah, they vanished once their job was done.

[corruption]

5636576 ah... also if you don't mind me saying this, ...if... IF there is going to be more items there should be an item room for isaac to store them in after he uses them ... also will there be any of the super sins showing up?( I am a curious person)

[awesomesauce4]

5636639 Perhaps - depends on whether more items show up, after all!
As for the Super Sins, I can't say...

[IAmNotSmartest]

I'm still liking it! Go on! But don't rush! Not that I think you would, mind you. Nor am I saying you're slow, eheh.

[awesomesauce4]

5639348 Haha, it's alright. Thanks for the praise!

[Mother3Forever]

I really want to add this to my favorites, but then I'd break my own rule about waiting until the story gets 5 Chapters. It's basically a guaranteed favorite, but still... I will be waiting and watching...watching and waiting.....

[Nightmare723764]

Wow...

[Nightmare723764]

Never played the Binding of Isaac, I want to but I've never gotten the chance up forunately.
But I've seen let's plays of it!
And while I don't know much of the "lore" behind the game, if there is any, I do like how you interipted it in this story!
Honestly I think this is the second Binding of Isaac crossover I've ever read!
I can't wait for future chapters!!

[Andreno]

The story is good, but a few things stop it short from being *great*.

Primarily it's how the story moves forward. There is quite a lot of places where you end up just stating something, or have some big event happen without really writing it up. We hear "luna was considering adopting issac", and then it happens. No real tension, drama, development, etc, goes with it.

Of course, focusing on the events like that leads to a far shorter story with less filler, but I do think you need more of the development and pushing for longer sections. Throw in odd scenes that seem meaningless, but serve the purpose of, say, building the friendship between Issac and Luna.

Very interesting story to read, and I love how you are trying to tie in the game to the story itself. The biblical themes are interesting as well. Looking forward to more.

[Dark Star the Crazed]

5665193
I was reading the comments on this story, seeing if I want to continue reading.
I saw your avatar.
I screamed 'Holy fuckin Christ eating crap on a cracker while riding a bike....'
You scared me.