Bioshock Equestria: Ascension

by MysteriousRevenger

Chapter 2 - Conversion

Thunder didn't think of himself as a very "well-traveled" pony. He had grown up in Manehattan, so much of the sights were in his backyard.
They paled in comparison to what he now saw. The expanse of the buildings that now were in his sight stood over four stories tall, many towering over these smaller kin. It, though, was the fact that it was over the clouds, not supported by them. The buildings sat upon large balloons that barely shifted in their vigil of supporting massive structures the likes of which took Thunder a moment to acknowledge. The mass of the stone construction should have driven the floating metropolis into the ground below, but here it floated, merrily along its vapor-made neighbors.
The car dropped a moment, to suddenly be lurched into a slower descent. The city drifted along under him, a building side drifting into view. The massive sign on its side caught his attention, as it filled the whole of the view port.

In between the lines of text held the picture of an older stallion, mane white with age, time evident on his face, but a sharp look in his eyes.
A massive baloon, with two odd smaller pods on its side broke his line of sight, the pods having a circle of motion that propelled it forward.
The car came to a jarring stop, with accompanying metallic clanging against the side of his makeshift hold. The feeling of dropping began again, this time walls surrounded the capsule, and soon Thunder lost sight of Celestia's gift again.
A moment of pitch black became light streaming through fogged glass, illuminating things that Thunder only had ever heard engineer ponies talk about. Massive gears turned with a rhythmic ticking, propelling things that he had no idea what they were.
Apparently, though, someone had planned on the arrival of capsules to move through this particular chute, as words were cut into the beams that supported the sides of this tunnel going down. He watched each block roll by as the gears, chains, and machinery behind them kept their vigil.

Light once again left his vision, this time the darkness broken by patches of red glistening off the side of the car. When the streaming sun came again, it was now through a window made of multitudes of glass shards combined together to create a scene of the old stallion leading a group of ponies, a hoof outstretched to what looked like a floating island. A banner over the top of the scene read:

The desent of his holding cell soon ended with a thump, the panel with the porthole sliding away. The straps on his forelegs popped loose, and Thunder once again stood on his hooves. He stretched his body out, the chair really not offering much comfort. He worked a kink out of his back, then stretched his wings out, the stiffness aparent as they worked out to full spread. He stepped into the room, the scent of candles and smoke permeating the entirety of the air, and the splashing of water with each step was almost enveloped by the sound of, from what Thunder could tell, a whole group of ponies singing in unison.
He stepped forward, looking over the room, seeing the water he currently stood in was being cascaded down a waterfall against one wall. Confusion took over as he looked at the opposite direction, and the banner that was over the tunnel.

A shudder went through Thunder, ideas of something sinister behind those words making his pace quicken away from them.
A statue of the old stallion stood on a massive pillar, its forelegs open to Thunder in a welcoming embrace. He decided not to hug him, instead looking for some kind of way through this madness. Three entrances presented themselves, much to Thunder's chagrin.
The right presented a set-up that was bizarre to him. Rows and rows of bench seats sat between him and a small podium, a book filled with more cryptic words and passages than the Equestrian language was able to give sitting on it. He tried reading a small passage, but promptly gave up after only a few words seeming more geared to please the ego of the prophet than anything else. The window, again made of shards of glass designed to depict something, showed the old stallion again, this time with a younger mare at his side. In his forelegs was a bundle, wrapped in blankets and a chunk of the glass that made a circle around the head of the young one. A banner, now engraved into the stone, read:

The opposite room told more. The same benches and podium were there, but this time it sat in front of another ornate window. This one was intricately designed to show the young mare from before, this time alone. The attention paid by the makers was actually amazing to Thunder, seeing even the youth in her eyes, her mane, and her hindquarters.
Flanking the glass were two statues of the mare, her front hooves together. Between them sat the banner in the stone.

The podium held the same book, so Thunder ignored it. He heard the crunch of dried flowers as he moved around the stand, the back being open. On one shelf of the podium sat an unusual machine. Of course Thunder had seen a record player. Heck, some of his favorite compositions were pressed on records. But, the machine that held this record was something else. It had the arm for the needle like the record player, but it was much flatter, with a chunk of metal grating in front of some dark patch. A toggle switch sat on its front. He set it on the ground, and a cautious hoof pushed the switch. He nearly jumped out of his skin at the result. A mare's voice erupted from the grating.
"Love the prophet, because he loves the sinner. Love the sinner, because he is you. Without the sinner, what need is there of a redeemer? Without sin, what good is there in forgiveness?"
"Oh, lovely. More of their dogmatic meandering. As if I needed to hear this." Thunder set the machine back down, the shock of the words soon lost to their meaning.
The final way held a long staircase, and a pony clad in a white robe, the insignia of the sun and moon upon it.
"Excuse me. Where am I?"
The pony laughed. "The closest we will be to perfection. At least, until judgement comes."
Better keep those questions to myself, unless I want to get spotted, he thought.
The water joined Thunder in the descent of the spiral staircase, each step being cautiously made into the water covered stone. The final step lead into a massive room, the pool of water sectioned off by lines of floating candles, massive collumns supporting the roof, each one decorated with the alicorn from the picture, now with a candle glowing from the tip of its horn. More of the white robed ponies walked along each lane, the singing now booming. He slowly splashed his way forward, and the song soon quieted. In its place a new, stallion's voice now booming.
"And every year, on this day of days, the day the heavens give their gifts, we recommit ourselves to our city, and to our prophet Midnight Sun. We recommit through sacrifice, by the giving of thanks, and by submerging ourselves in the sweet waters of baptism. Through the sweet waters given from our Sun and Moon shall we cleanse ourselves in the eyes of our prophet."
Thunder walked through the lane, the voice resonating against the stone walls, smatterings of white clad ponies moving alongside him. The end of the lane brought a large collection of ponies, and one in the center of attention, and older stallion, the orange of his coat highlighting the salt and pepper his mane had become. The stallion spoke again, the fervor in his voice growing.
"And behold! If the prophet had struck down the betrayers at Burning Hills, and had not denounced the bad lands below, it would have been enough. But no, brothers and sisters! The prophet accepted the great gifts of the Light and the Night for us, that we may be made new! The prophet payed for our deliverance with the sacrifice of his one true love! He lead us to our Ascension, so that we can become better ponies than those of the bad lands below us! He exterminated the vermin of the uncharted lands, to cleanse the whole of the chosen lands! He expelled the usurpers among us, so that we all may be clean and whole in the eyes of the Sun, the Moon, and the prophet!"
Thunder could only shake his head, and put a hoof onto the shoulder of a mare that stood in his way. It seemed the stallion in the center had been expecting this.
"Is it someone new? Has someone from the bad lands below come to be cleansed?"
Thunder shook his head. "I'm just trying to get into the city."
The stallion chuckled. "Entry into the city? My brother, the only way to Ascension is through the sweet waters of baptism, to cleanse your body and mind in the magic given to us. Will you be cleansed in the waters given to us?" The stallion held out a hoof to him.
It's either this load of horseapples, or going back onto that wild ride. Thunder sighed, and took the offered hoof.
The stallion whipped Thunder around to face the crowd, a hoof pinning down his wings, and the stallion's horn glowing.
"I cleanse you in the name of the Sun, the Moon, Light and Night, and in the name of our prophet!"
A glow pressed Thunder back into the water, catching him by surprise. Words were being said by the stallion, but the struggle in the water muffled them to barely discernible sounds. The glow then forced him back out, the return to the breathable air making Thunder cough uncontrollably.
"I don't know, brothers and sisters! This one does not seem clean to me!" Suddenly the glow caught him again, thrusting him back into the water. He struggled more, but quickly felt consciousness flee from him, the darkness growing in his vision.