Chapters The Binding of Isaac: Emancipation
Chapter 1: These Chains That Bind Me
Author's Note
And, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to The Binding of Isaac: Emancipation! Another obscure crossover that I'm doing, inspired by the incredible The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, the original The Binding of Isaac, and it's DLC the Wrath of the Lamb. This chapter is really fast-paced and short, I know, but how do you describe a game that either kills you in the first minute or takes five to complete? Anyway, here's the chapter, criticism/praise and rating are appreciated, enjoy.
Chapter 1: These Chains That Bind Me
Isaac and his mother lived in a small house on a hill. Isaac’s mother was content to sit on the couch and watch Christian broadcasts, while Isaac doodled and played with his toys, as children were wont to do.
And they were both happy.
Then one day, Isaac’s mother heard a voice from the heavens. It told her that her son was corrupted by sin, and she must cleanse it.
Each time it spoke she responded, “Yes, my Lord.”
Upon the third time the voice thundered, it commanded, “You have done well, but I still question your faith in me. I require a sacrifice to prove your faith. Your son, Isaac, will be this sacrifice.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
Isaac’s mother went into the kitchen and grabbed a butcher knife, muttering while waddling to Isaac’s room.
Isaac watched in horror through a sizable crack in the door, tears beginning to stream down his face as his crazed mother stormed to him. He looked about his room, trying the barred windows, seeking escape, but there was none. Then, just as his mother slammed the door open, he lifted the rug and found a trapdoor.
He jumped down.
Isaac sobbed, his tears lifting away from his face and launching ahead, impacting the monstrosity before him. He stood within a room of the massive basement beneath his house, a labyrinth he had no previous knowledge of. “Why, mother, why?” Echoed throughout, the words ricocheting off the rocky walls.
The body before him exploded in a puff of gore, flesh and blood spattering in a small radius as his tears dealt the final blow. The Isaac-replica was now just a pile of mush, it’s terrible smile and tears of blood would hurt him no more.
Well, almost empty. On a stone pedestal sat a shovel. Just an ordinary shovel, a mere spade. Isaac stepped towards it, before reaching his arms out to grab the tool. It disappeared in a puff of smoke, only to form in his arms. Isaac looked down at the shovel in wonder, before plunging the head into the ground.
Isaac wiped the sweat off his brow. He had dug from floor to floor, each area appearing darker than the last. The one he was currently in was made of flesh, bones supporting the ceiling, blood dripping all about the forsaken child. He dug one last hole, jumping into the abyss below.
Isaac landed hard on an unforgiving rock floor. He stumbled to his feet, wincing as the many scrapes on his knees voiced their denial. He looked about the dark gray room, before his eyes rested on a large golden chest. He stepped to it, eyes wide in wonder at the beautiful box. He pushed the lid open, eyes glistening as light burst from inside, reflecting off the streams of tears. He shoved the lid all the way up, before leaning over.
A massive hoof of black smashed into the ground behind Isaac. Slowly he turned his head, only to find an enormous goat leg, which left a crater in the stone. His lip quivered, before another leg came down, barely missing the poor child. Isaac quickly clambered into the chest, taking one last look at the dark room, before shutting the lid in on himself. One of the hooves picked up, before coming down on the chest uselessly.
The chest vanished in a burst of tears, the water causing Satan to roar in pain. And Isaac's mother's voice could be heard, screaming in anger along with the Devil.
Princess Celestia sighed, gazing about the hall. Yet another noble had pled their case with her, this one wishing for a particularly preposterous notion- a tax on taxes. She had swiftly denied it, then found her Day Court was open. She had barely finished looking about the empty room, only for a large, golden chest to appear in a flash of white. It landed on the marble floor with a thwump , as well as a muffled “Ouch!”
Celestia blinked. She stepped forward to the object, before poking a hoof to the lid. There was no response. Then the chest began rattling, accompanied with heavy breathing from inside. Nervously- although she would never admit it- Princess Celestia opened the lid with her magic, only to find… Something, inside.
And that something was crying, holding onto a shovel, and looking up at the Princess with the most terrified eyes. The creature’s lower lip quivered, it’s snout red and dripping snot. It looked to have been crying for some time. Then it spoke, in a heartbroken voice, one that sounded like a colt had been shedding tears for hours, “Please don’t hurt me…” And it curled up, holding it’s forelegs above it’s head, dropping the shovel in the process.
The Princess was shell-shocked. Everything was happening too quickly. Something inside her stirred, and almost automatically, she picked up the creature in her magic and held it to her coat, letting it cry into her pristine fur. Celestia sighed, wondering just what exactly she had gotten into, and what she was caring for.
“Shhhhh, it’s okay… I won’t hurt you.” Celestia spoke, stroking its mane-less head and letting it relax.
It lifted it’s head away from her shoulder, looking at her, and asked a question she could not answer to this day. “Why?”
Celestia blinked, before replying with a question of her own, "I... Do not know. What are you?"
It sniffled, before wiping its snout with a claw, the limb coming away covered in mucus, "My name is Isaac."
Celestia smiled at Isaac, before bringing him into the warm embrace of her wings. "Then please, do not cry anymore, Isaac. You're safe."
The Binding of Isaac: Emancipation
Isaac lay curled inside the chest. After he had shut the lid, everything seemed to compress, as if the very walls of the box were trying to crush him. The world started to fade to gray, a black tunnel closing in his vision. A sudden jolt returned everything to normal, sending Isaac into the lid, before he returned to the bottom with a cry of pain. He was starting to run out of air, he realized, as he began gasping like a fish. He shook the chest, hoping to loosen the top, if only to breathe fresh air once more before being crushed.
What happened next took what remained of his breath away. A golden glow surrounded the lid, before pulling it away, revealing the face of a white pony. But there was something else to it, Isaac saw. It had magenta eyes, and a long curly horn, and looked friendly. It also had a mane of pastel blue, green, and pink, which twinkled with stars, reminding him of the night sky, the few times he had caught glimpse of it from his room. Isaac was frozen. He was enraptured by the being, before something else struck him… What if it tried to kill him? Isaac whimpered, curling up and dropping his shovel, mumbling “Please don’t hurt me…”
He began praying to whatever deity would listen, before he was surrounded in the same golden aura that opened his shelter-turned-tomb. He was lifted up, and then found his face compressed against something that could only be described as heaven. He cried, tears escaping his eyes and melting into the fur, nose running as it had for too long. Isaac lifted his head away, gazing into the face of the pony unicorn, and asked a question, “Why?”
He was shocked when the pony responded, speaking english in a motherly tone, “I… Do not know. What are you?”
Isaac wiped his nose, before answering, “My name is Isaac.”
The pony smiled, before wrapping him in a pair of wings he hadn’t noticed before, saying, “Then please, do not cry anymore, Isaac. You’re safe.”
He smiled at the word, slowly drifting off into sleep. Safe…
Samson growled, turning red with rage as he fought the abomination before him. He stood in a boss room, the bloodied walls marking where others had fallen victim to the evil known as Gurdy. He barely managed to sidestep another wave of bloody orbs, the projectiles splashing all about. He sobbed, his own tears slowly becoming larger and red, growing in damage as he burned holes into the mass of flesh. Gurdy smiled, laughing as it summoned a pair of blood-filled flies, which drifted towards Samson. He smirked, wiping out the pests, before falling over and clutching his chest in shock, where Gurdy had managed to land a shot. A crying spirit lifted up from his prone form, drifting away, joining the Lost. A deep voice echoed throughout, cutting through the chuckles of Gurdy, “Do not let my death be in vain…”
Isaac awoke with a start. He had had a terrible dream, where he had long hair and a red band, and was so… Angry, at an ugly blob of flesh. The last thing he remembered from the dream was a searing pain in his chest, then falling over and floating away. And the words… Who died for him? What did they mean? He blinked, eyes slowly adjusting to the dark room around him. Wait… Room?
He rubbed his eyes, clearing away the last of the sleep that blurred his vision. He found himself in a large bed, with pale pink covers pulled over him. He looked about, eyes settling on the white uni-sus or whatever the winged pony was called. Next to it was a midnight blue one, with dark blue eyes. They were busy talking, before they noticed him looking.
“Where am I?” Isaac asked, his voice trembling from the nightmare.
“In my private quarters. You fell asleep, so I brought you here. Did you have a nice dream?” The white one spoke, smiling lightly at the child.
“No…” Isaac said, beginning to shiver at the memory.
The dark blue uni-sus stepped forward, before asking, “What was wrong? We… Didn’t want to frighten you, so we didn’t enter your dream.”
Isaac blinked, before frowning. “I… I was in a room. And there was a big body in the center, with a face and arms, attached to a mountain of… Of guts. And I was someone named Samson, and I was angry at the thing… Then I… I died. And someone said to not let their death be in vain, or something like that.” His lip began quivering, sad at the thought of someone dying for him.
The two ponies shared a look, before the white one came forward and hugged him. “Shhhh… It was just a dream, Isaac. Would you like to get something to eat?” It asked, as Isaac vigorously nodded.
“Also, what are you?” He questioned, looking at the two uni-suses.
The white one smiled, replying, “I am Princess Celestia, and this is my sister Princess Luna.”
Isaac felt safe, hearing those words. He got up and joined them, leaving the bed behind.
Isaac’s mother was frightened. Her sacrificial lamb had escaped her grasp, running from her one chance to prove her love to the Lord. And the Lord was angry.
“You have failed me, my faithful follower. You had one job, and you have failed. I am very disappointed in you.”
“Yes, my Lord. I am so sorry, my Lord.” She pleaded, her crazed gaze resting above.
“I will give you one more chance to prove your faith. Your son, Isaac, is in a land that I cannot enter. You must go to that land, and kill him. Bring his body here, and burn his heart. Then I will know you love me above all else.”
“Yes, my Lord. How will I get there, my Lord?” Isaac’s mother begged, tears of joy beginning to fall.
“There is a room of black in the depths. Enter that room, and you will find a door to the land. However, when you return, you must also bring the hearts of the guardians of the land, so that I may close the portal. Now go!”
Isaac’s mother was confused. A room of black? That is not holy! Is it? she thought, before shaking the heretical thoughts away. She smiled and picked up her sacrificial dagger, and left with three parting words.
“Yes, my Lord.”
The Binding of Isaac: Emancipation
Isaac stood in awe before the feast in front of him. There was a massive table, laden in a white sheet with gold trim, and nearly every inch held a platter of one form of food or another. Sure, they were all vegetarian, but it was heaven to the child. One got tired of dog food quickly, after all. Isaac spoke, voice quavering in joy, “I can… Eat this?”
The Princesses shared a look, before Celestia asked him, “Of course. Why, what do you normally eat?”
Isaac frowned, “My mom fed me dog food after she went crazy… It was awful.”
“DOG FOOD?!” Luna roared, causing the poor boy to wince.
“She said it wasn’t corrupted. That’s all I know.”
Celestia leaned her head down towards him, before nudging him to the table with a smile. “We won’t make you eat dog food, don’t worry. Go ahead and eat, Isaac.”
Isaac grinned, before devouring the food with gusto.
“We have never seen such an appetite, sister. What sort of vile creature would force their young to eat this ‘dog food’? It sounds ghastly.”
Celestia whispered back to her sister, “It is disgusting, Lulu. Don’t try it.”
Soon Isaac was full, his stomach aching from the amount of food stuffed in it. He fell asleep.
Cain smirked as his bomb smashed open the wall, revealing the secret room behind. He stepped in, his ever-present lucky foot dangling around his wrist. As soon as he entered, the walls sealed with rubble, and an ugly sight met him. needed the money it carried. Greed thrust its arms into the air, summoning a pair of Hoppers before firing a trio of bloody balls at the intruder. They hit it, a precious penny appearing in the massive hoard within Greed. Mine . It thought, starting to grin. It shot the enemy again, its smile growing wider and wider as each coin dropped with a clink into the pile of money.
Cain was frightened. He was rapidly losing his cash, and was perilously close to death. He failed to notice Greed closing in as he panicked, using his portable slot-machine and growing ever more terrified as each draw of the arm failed to yield an item. Greed tapped the boy on the arm, who then turned. Cain found himself staring into a black abyss, before the darkness looked back.
The corpse of the gambler fell to the floor, Cain’s spirit rising to join the growing group of The Lost.
“I took a chance, and it didn’t work out. Don’t let the odds fall away from you.” A voice spoke, reverberating throughout the room.
Isaac woke up from the nightmare, groaning as his stomach voiced its dissent. “Are you alright, Isaac?” Celestia spoke, concern evident.
“I… I had another nightmare.” He replied, attempting to return to his feet.
“What happened in it?” Came the response, Celestia beginning to worry about the child’s psyche.
“I was someone named Cain. I had only one eye, the other covered with a patch. I… Found a secret room, but when I went inside there was a grey sack body. It had a rope tied around its neck, and looked like it was screaming. But then it started walking. It created two bodied out of thin air, which began jumping around. Then the sack launched three orbs of blood, and it felt like I was losing money or something. I began to panic, then I… I felt a tap on my shoulder.
“I turned, and there was the sack, a huge grin on its face. But the mouth was nothing but black. I looked into the darkness… And it looked back. Then I died. And a different voice said that it took a chance, and failed. That I shouldn’t lose mine or something.”
Isaac began to cry once more, “Celestia, I’m scared…”
The Princess sat next to the boy and hugged him, with but two words, “I know.”
Isaac’s mother was angry. She had found the path to the world where her son-no, holy sacrifice-hid, sheltered from the divine will put forth to him. But as soon as she entered, she found that she could not move normally. Somehow she had become a black horse-thing, covered in ugly holes and with a curved horn. She also had a pair of fly wings on her back, disgusting things that could hardly lift her girth. Luckily, her knife was nearby, and she managed to pick it up in her mouth.
Such a disgraceful thing , she thought, dark ideas swimming inside her head. I am on a holy mission, and a follower of God does NOT hold their dagger in their mouth. Oh Lord, if you can see me, have mercy.
She found a pool of water, and looked at the reflective surface. She had blood-red eyes, with no sign of pupils or irises. She was covered in a shiny armor. She was covered in holes. And she was ugly.
Isaac’s mother sat on her new-found haunches, drooping her head as tears began to form. How could she become ugly? She was beautiful… Wasn’t she?
The stricken servant of the Lord wept.
Satan smiled. His follower was doing just as He wanted, entering the Devil-forsaken land of Equestria, the world of Peace and Harmony … How it sickened him, the thought of the cheeriness that plagued the land sending a shudder to his black core. His servant would end all that, however. And then he would march against all else, before finally confronting his disgusting opposite, God.
The Lord, indeed. White held no place in the world, the only light should be that of fire. And he would crush it all. And all thanks to ‘The Lord’, letting him impersonate the false deity to manipulate the weak mortal.
Oh, this would be fun .
The Binding of Isaac: Emancipation
Isaac woke up with a massive yawn. It was now the second day he had been here, and Celestia said she had some friends for him to meet. He hadn’t had any nightmares the previous night, which was a great relief to the boy. He slipped out of the covers, before meandering over to the door and exiting. A nearby pony in gold armor glanced at Isaac, before signaling for the boy to follow.
Isaac complied, and jogged after the guard. Unbeknownst to the child, he was being watched by something. Something he thought he had left behind when his mother went mad. Something he thought he left behind when he left her .
He was watching Isaac follow a Royal Guard through the halls of the Canterlot Palace. He smiled, His lips curving ever-so-slightly, hidden behind His beard.
He was God. The Lord, the All-Mighty, the Just. And He was proud of the little boy before His eyes, one who had seen too much. He would not end the boy. No, the boy needed peace. But what Satan had done… God growled, His voice thundering throughout Heaven. Satan had gone too far, manipulating Isaac’s mother. Bringing her to think that He had told her what to do, then throwing those twisted creatures in the fleeing child's path. So no, God would not kill the innocent. He turned His gaze to the room where the child was headed, and focused a miniscule fragment of His power. With a flash, a stone pedestal sat in the hall, the great stained glass windows shedding light on the object resting upon the rock.
He smiled, and temporarily ceased His eternal watch over the child.
Princess Celestia was sitting on her throne, waiting for the Elements of Harmony to arrive, when there was a painful burst of light. She opened her eyes, waiting for the pure white glare to recede, then promptly shut her eyes at what met them.
In the middle of the hall sat a pedestal. Nothing too special, just a simple stone column. Roughly hewn, as well. No, what kept her eyes shut was the strange thing resting ON the pillar, its eyes closed and wearing a serene smile. There was a knock, and the Princess opened her eyes. “Come in,” she said, putting on a calm smile.
In walked the Element Bearers, each with an expression of bemusement. Twilight Sparkle stood at the lead, followed by Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and finally, Fluttershy. “You wished to see us, Princess?” Her faithful student asked, gaze flicking between the anomaly and the Princess.
“Yes, Twilight Sparkle. I wanted you and the others to meet someth- er someone new.”
Pinkie Pie made a noise which could only be described as a squee , before randomly appearing throughout the room, peeking beneath pots, behind guards, and even in the Princess’ mane itself. “Oh! Oh! Where are they? My Pinkie Sense didn’t go off, so they must be super special!”
Applejack dragged the pink pony away from the Princess, mumbling through her teeth, “Pinkie, Ahm thure the Printheth will tell uth. Okay?”
“Okay, AJ!” Pinkie replied, voice as filled with cheer as ever.
Celestia sighed, before regaining her bearings from the spontaneous search. “Yes, he is special. More so than anything I, or my sister, have encountered.”
Rarity glanced at the odd thing on the pedestal, which had sat unnoticed through the confusion. She cleared her throat gently, “Erm… Princess? Is this it?” She said, pointing at the anomaly.
“No, it isn’t. But that is also something I will talk with you about. They should be here any-” Celestia was cut off, as a guard strode in, followed by Isaac.
“Umm… Celestia? You wanted to see me?” He asked, glancing between the Element Bearers and the Princess.
Silence reigned throughout the room. Surprisingly, it was Fluttershy who broke it, “Oh my. I’ve never seen an animal like you, before.” She fluttered up to the child, who jerked away upon Fluttershy touching him with her hooves. She flinched back, cowering behind her mane.
Isaac spoke, “I’m not an animal. I’m Isaac.” He walked up to the Princess, before sitting next to her. He unwittingly brushed past the pedestal, and the object opened its eyes, unnoticed by everybody present.
“Hey, get away from the Princess!” Rainbow Dash shouted, shooting up into the air.
“Rainbow Dash, wait!” Twilight yelled, unheeded as the pegasus mare raced to the child. Isaac’s eyes widened, tears beginning to fall as he watched the blur race towards him in slow motion.
Then, before even Celestia could react, an even faster pale thing flashed by, before reappearing in a blink in front of Isaac. Rainbow Dash couldn’t turn in time, and smashed right into it. The thing simply floated there, as the Bearer of Loyalty slid down, nursing a bent muzzle. Blood flowed freely from her nose, as she attempted to stop it.
The Princess quickly cast a healing spell on her, the wounds knitting together quickly. Then everyone got a good look at the thing that had both saved Isaac, as well as heavily injured Rainbow Dash:
“Are you okay, Rainbow Dash?” Twilight said, rushing over to her friend after the initial shock wore off.
“Yeah, I’m fine. No thanks to that freak, over there.” The mare replied, shrugging the unicorn away. She shot a glare at the flying creature, which simply smiled and waved.
“You did try attacking Isaac first. You brought it on yourself.” Twilight said, as she once again tried helping Rainbow Dash to her hooves.
Said boy was simply turning around, trying to catch a glimpse of his savior. “What… Are you?” He asked, his voice echoing around the hall. A sob wracked his body, causing Celestia to instinctively wrap a wing around him. The flying creature, which looked like a small version of Isaac with white wings, simply grinned and replied, I’m your Guardian Angel.”
The Binding of Isaac: Emancipation
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