Honour Bound

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This wasn’t at all what Corporal Honour Bound was expecting.

The 'Grand Hall of Stars' training arena was, aside from a few worn-looking cushions and faded rugs in the viewing gallery, fairly modest. Its walls were simply bare rock, as was the floor. While the pulpit of the Balladeer of Ghosts was crafted with some carved ornamentation, aside from that, the only real 'decoration' was the painted night-scape on the ceiling dome. Even that basic drawing was striking more for how it had apparently been flawlessly repaired after Ebonshield's duel with the conjured sand apparitions than its artistic merits.

Elsewhere in the Rookery, things were similar. The batpony marketplace, which was colorful and vibrant when busy, still felt pretty ordinary. Buildings were made of common materials: wood, fabric, and paint. Eye-catching and bright, but functional. Honour expected that this 'Lunar Sanctuary' she was heading to would be more of the same.

But it absolutely wasn't.

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Suggested background music: Jami Sieber - 'Maenam'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6Bf8xKZqh4

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Honour had just been following behind the 'Reverend Sister' in another one of the Rookery's ordinary, rough-hewn, round-walled corridors, and all of a sudden the drab grey rock gave way to a colorful tile mosaic. Then, rounding a corner alongside the Royal Engineer, it opened up into a long, opulently decorated, rectangular foyer that wouldn't be out of place in any noblepony's Canterlot mansion.

No longer rounded, the walls were straight and flat, and covered with a white plaster or thick paint that made them smooth and even. And innumerable tiny tiles covered the walls, arranged in tiers from the smooth marble floor up to the arched ceiling. First, there was a thick band of blue and green, arranged in zig-zags, stars, squares, and pyramid shapes, going up two or three hooves. Then, there was a blank space of creamy-white wall, followed by another ornate arrangement going up just beneath the ceiling, this time with turquoise and gold forming exotic shapes that resembled fabric or knotted string. At the top, the arrangement was surmounted with miniature buttresses and arches, with depictions of the phases of the moon repeated throughout.

And that wasn't all.

Water spilled out from a series of sixteen short copper pipes, eight in a row on each of the left and right sides. That water collected in a raised trough running along each edge, which then poured out from the near end into a gutter that ran off beneath the walls beside them. At the far end of this water-room, the entrance to the depths of the sanctuary was crowned by three horseshoe-shaped arches, as beautifully decorated as the walls around them, with two speckled pillars in support, and tapestries hung like curtains to block the view.

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Suggested viewing: Entrance to the Hall of Ambassadors, Alcázar of Seville

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As Honour Bound and the Royal Engineer both stopped to take in the magnificent sight, the Reverend Sister turned and bowed to the two of them.

"Welcome to the Lunar Sanctuary, honored guests. This outer room is the Vestibule of Living Waters, beyond which is the Courtyard of the Houses, where all are welcome. However, before entering, I must ask you to leave your hoofwear or footwear here, and to wash your hands, feet, and hooves in the water of the basins..."

From underneath her white cloak, she gestured wings at the two sets of water-spouts. Honour was so shocked by the luxuriously-decorated room that she didn't even notice the racks placed just before the troughs, stacked four rows high with all sorts of hoofwear.

With a nod and a closed-mouth smile, she continued. "...For the Sanctuary is a holy place, and all who enter the outer Courtyard must ablute their extremities of impurities, lest they befoul it." She nodded at one of the white-hooded, white-cloaked batpony colts behind the corporal, and he clip-clopped forward on the tile floor. "Great Lord, Brother Stephen will assist you on the left. Corporal Bound, please come with me to the right."

With a little hesitation, Honour stepped over towards the indicated fountains, as the Royal Engineer headed over to his own. Behind her, the other Lunar who had accompanied the Reverend Sister, Louis, stepped to the side and took up a position flanking the entrance. As Honour approached the waters, she suddenly caught a salty, mineral smell. And she realized that it was a few degrees warmer in there, compared with the rest of the Rookery.

‘Is this water from a hot spring?’

It would hardly be the only one in Canterlot if so.

Just before the basin, Honour removed her four sabots and arranged them with the others, on the second level of the rack. The batpony priestess beckoned the earth pony over to one of the middle spouts.

"Here, sister Bound. Allow me..."

Sitting down, she took Honour’s left forehoof in her right and dipped it in the water-trough, passing under the water-spout's flow. It was warm -- very warm, in fact. If it wasn’t heated glacial meltwater, then it must definitely be from a hot spring. Seizing up one of the small, white-bristled brushes arranged on the back rim of the water-trough, the Reverend Sister began to scrub at the bottom and sides of her hoof, speaking a prayer.

"... Bless the Mother and Her Water..."

Continuing on, she lowered the corporal’s dripping-wet left forehoof to the floor and Honour offered the right in turn, which she cleaned in the same manner.

"... Bless the slumbering and the dreaming of Her..."

The earth pony turned to allow her to scrub her hind hooves as well, and Honour could see Anonymous receiving similar treatment from the hooded Brother Stephen -- including the intonation.

"... May Her Waking cleanse the world. May She keep it for Her ponies."

‘What a curious invocation to their creator.’

But that seemed to have completed her ablution, and the Reverend Sister smiled, leading Honour towards the triple-arched portal. Anonymous joined her moments later, his wet feet slapping noisily against the tiles. None of the Lunars seemed to have needed washing; it was obviously a ritual cleaning rather than a physical one. After all, on the way over there from the Grand Hall of Stars, their hooves would have stepped in the same things as hers.

With a small bow to the 'Great Lord,' the Reverend Sister turned and led them on, pushing aside one of the hanging rungs and passing under the central arch and into the 'Courtyard of the Houses' beyond.

A large room, perhaps two hundred hooves square, opened up before them, and it was a breathtaking sight. Bright light -- brighter than anything Honour had seen elsewhere in the Rookery -- shined out from another one of those iron-caged magical chandeliers, which dangled from four chains that splayed out into the ceiling. And it's that ceiling that really caught her eye -- literally, for she almost had to throw up a hoof to shield herself from its brilliance. A colossal dome arched over the great room, reflecting the light back down as only something made from a precious metal could. The whole thing was silver, and the metal had been worked and hammered into a dizzying pattern of repeating geometric shapes, all focused on a large central circle that has unmistakably been made to resemble the surface of the moon, as visible from Equestria.

It was so dazzling that Honour almost tripped over a carpet edge, and she had to catch herself before she muzzle-planted right into the ground. Although there was so much to look at, the Reverend Sister was leading them right through the hall, so she barely had time to take it all in.

After nearly falling flat on her muzzle, the second thing Honour noticed was that the tile had given way to what seemed to be two or three layers of thick, dark carpets, woven with abstract patterns and designs. They were laid out over the floor almost haphazardly, leading to an uneven surface that changed every ten hooves or so. But they were also so plush that they cushioned the corporal’s now-bare hooves and effortlessly soaked up the remaining water still dripping down her legs.

As they followed the Reverend Sister inwards, the third thing to catch her eye was the enormous marble fountain that dominated the near side of the Courtyard, at least thirty hooves tall and more than twice that diameter at the base. From a single bubbling font at the top, water cascaded down its four tiers, whole gallons at a time. There were even a few batponies fluttering around it -- and they seemed not to be Lunars, for they were not wearing all white.

A black-cloaked mare landed in the top bowl and began to splash herself. It looked like she was mumbling something -- maybe the same mantra as the Reverend Sister recited? Beneath her, and on the opposite edge, a colt in colorful wear hovered at the edge of the second-tier rim, dipping his forehooves in, and then throwing water on his muzzle.

Was each tier reserved for a particular phase, then? Black-cloaked Stars at the top, then colorfully-dressed Rocks beneath them? And then the Dust, and finally the 'untouchable' Shadows who have to make do with the soiled drippings of their betters?

One lonely pony seemed indeed to be sitting in the lower tier, near the central pillar, shrouded in the shadow cast by the bowl above him. That must be a Shadow-phase pony. But with only four tiers, where do the Lunars go to splash and pray? And what about the Eclipse? Ignacio said they were 'outside' of social rules, and showed it by refusing to bow to Reverend Mother Superior Carmen -- or to her big-tufted lackey who was presently escorting Honour Bound to another triple-arched gate on the right side of the room.

There were a few more batponies milling about in the room; Lunars, Stars, Rocks, and others whose castes she couldn’t yet place. Most of them seemed to just be appreciating the room as she’d like to be, though a few were having conversations or speaking to themselves while staring at the fountain or the roof. Honour noted that every actual conversation involved at least one Lunar -- and that while some of the white-clad Lunars were wearing hoods and others weren't, all of the bare-headed Lunars were mares.

‘Is the hood thing just for colts?’

Another thing to ask later. So much had happened lately in the Rookery, and with the otherwise tight-lipped Sergeant Ebonshield, Corporal Bound really needed to start writing her questions down before she forgot them.

Beside her, the Royal Engineer looked just as awed as she was by the enormous 'Courtyard of the Houses.’ But their little group of four soon came to the triple-arched exit, and as the Reverend Sister pulled aside the colorful tapestry to reveal the entrance, Honour saw another long, rectangular room beyond.

There was water in there, too, except this time it wasn’t pouring from spouts on the side walls. Instead, the floor abruptly ended halfway down the hall, giving way to a rimless pool filled by a curtain waterfall high up on the back wall. The carpet had given way again to a tiled white floor, and the walls were all tiled in white as well.

‘Now what the heck is this?’

‘Is the Reverend Mother Superior going to meet us here at this sectioned-off waterfall, like a secret lover's meeting in some silly Harlequin romance novel?’

‘There's not even another doorway out of here!’

Entering the room ahead of her, Honour’s guide stopped a few hooves back from the edge of the water, and she could see behind the Lunar that the floor actually sloped downwards, forming a kind of ramp deeper into the pool.

"I apologize for hurrying you through the Courtyard of the Houses, Great Lord, but the Reverend Mother Superior is extraordinarily busy and appreciates that Your Lordship's time is precious as well. She therefore informed me of the gaps in her schedule when she wished to meet, and one is fast approaching. If your Lordship wishes for a more detailed tour, I can happily supply one afterwards."

Anonymous nodded in response. "Of course, I understand. And I think I'd like that tour. The 'Courtyard of the Houses' was most impressive."

The Reverend Sister bowed with a smile. "Thank you, Great Lord. Several of the pieces within were moved here from the Moon by the power of the Great Mother herself."

If Princess Luna used her magic to help set up this place, it would certainly go a long way to explaining how they managed to build such a huge Rookery and particularly a Sanctuary in just two years.

Rising up, the fluffy-tufted batpony mare gestured a wing towards the far back wall -- the one completely surrounded by and covered with water. "This room is the Vestibule of Priests, and beyond the Curtain of Life lie the chambers of the Inner Sanctuary."

She looked Honour and the Royal Engineer both up and down. "It is beyond this point that the unclean are absolutely forbidden... except by Her Reverence's special invitation, as has been extended to Your Lordship and Your Lordship's Retinue. To enter the Courtyard of the Houses it was necessary only to make clean the extremities, but to proceed inwards it is necessary to make clean the body whole..."

She took a small breath, and Honour saw her lick her lips. "...All material dressings, particularly those of a martial nature, must also be shed, as these unclean items will prevent the achievement of a state of purity."

‘Wait, what?’

‘I’m supposed to remove my armor now?’

‘And leave my javelins?’

This fluffy-tufted floozy wanted her to just walk into the inner sanctuary of the priests of the batponies, the rulers of the same people who only minutes ago tried to kill all of them, without any way to defend themselves?

Honour looked around worriedly, as the Reverend Sister pointed to Brother Stephen.

"... Brother Stephen will secure your belongings until you return."

The brother in question, standing beside one of the long walls, pushed against it and, accompanied by a faint click, Honour saw a section hinge inwards.

‘A secret door!’

No doubt with a way around the waterfall and pool as well.

Anonymous cleared his throat. "Reverend Sister, when you, uh, say 'all material possessions,' does that mean clothing as well?"

‘Oh, buck.’

She’d forgotten -- the Royal Engineer was a biped. And he wasn’t covered in fur or hair, either. Well, not much, anyways; not enough to be decent without at least some shorts on.

The Reverend Sister gave another one of her bows -- Honour was starting to be a bit annoyed at this tufted-up tart's obsequiousness.

"Yes, Great Lord. But towels are available beyond the Curtain, and you may avail yourself of as many of them as you wish for the duration of your stay."

"I see..."

He turned to look down at Honour. "...Well, Corporal? Shall we go?"

Honour had a lot of objections. She even had a lot of objections to this meeting in the first place. But if she was being honest, they were both the same set of objections. And her armor and weapons weren't going to avail them anything in here, anyways. Neither was the heavier equipment worn by her VIP. If the Lunars decided they wanted her dead, with one secret door already revealed, who knew how many white-robed priests could come pouring out of the walls to overwhelm them, armor or no?

Honour swallowed. "Yes, sir. Allow me to lead the way."

She heard the clinking of bronze straps being loosened above her.

"Alright, Corporal. Can I help you with your armor?"

Now that was an awkward proposal; had he even seen her put on or take off her armor? The thought was almost embarrassing, somehow, even though for a pony it was hardly indecent.

"No, thank you, sir."

Trying to keep her composure, Honour began to remove her armor while focusing her attention on Mother Carmen's hussy herald. Her and her big flowing white robe, good for hiding who-knows-what underneath, but arranged just so to expose her huge fluffy tuft. Her and her flawless Canterlot accent, and her brown-nosing manners, and her smug face. The only thing Honour felt for her, as she pulled off her helmet and began to attack her chest-straps, was seething contempt.

Sure, she had had Marcos arrested, though she conveniently arrived just after his attempt to murder her VIP. And sure, she appeared to show Honour’s VIP the respect he deserved as a member of the Blue Chamber -- but it all felt so phony and affected.

Even the accent was grating; that wasn't her normal way of talking, Honour was sure of it. She had to learn to talk like a Canterlot courtier. And it was all the better to infiltrate and deceive and dissemble -- Honour was sure of that, too. The more time the corporal spent around the batpony before her, the more she understood Ebonshield's decision to defy her mother, the Reverend Mother Superior, and volunteer to be the Royal Engineer's bodyguard in place of some snake-in-the-grass Lunar.

Still, the fact that the sergeant hadn't expressed any real reservations about this meeting was enough reassurance, she supposed, to believe that nothing bad was likely to happen. Honour still couldn't shake her apprehensions about going in 'naked' like this, but at least that was enough to keep her confident.

And speaking of 'naked,' as she finished with the final belt-buckle holding on the last of her armor set, she heard the quiet 'plop' of something cotton onto the floor beside her.

Honour glanced up, and--

‘Oh, that's Anonymous there, completely naked.’

Instantly, Honour faced forwards again, trying to stop her cheeks from turning red.

Her gaze fell upon the Reverend Sister. And that blueish-grey batpony tramp had got her tuft on maximum power once more.

‘How dare she look at my VIP like he's some kind of... freshly-baked pie!’

There was no stopping the bat’s tufted-out staring but to press on and allow her VIP to follow. Honour immediately took a step forward, and then another, and when the Reverend Sister stepped aside to allow Honour to pass, she kept going into the water and didn't look back.

Once again, it was warm -- almost as warm as the hot tub in the Spa Dalecarlia, though that was probably given some supplementary heating. As she walked down the submerged ramp, she found the slope was gentle enough that the water would barely be up to her neck by the time she hit the waterfall. No doubt that moving water feature was intended to wash away the final 'impurities'.

Honour took a deep breath and shut her eyes as she pushed through the heavy curtain; it thundered down around her, and then a moment later, it was over, and she was in another hallway much the same as the last, except more dimly-lit and arranged in reverse. As she tramped up the ramp out of the water, Honour could see a pile of fluffy white towels arranged on a bench just to the left of another tapestry-covered triple-arch exit.

Well, at least she wouldn't have to walk around wet after that dunking.

She quickly headed over and snatched one of the towels in her mouth, and, turning around to face the back-side of the waterfall, she began to dry herself off. Honour could just make out Anonymous heading into the water, one hand held out in front of him. After having taken in his front-face, the Reverend Sister was no doubt getting a long look at his hind quarters as well.

Corporal Bound was struck with a strange mix of negative feelings about that. Contempt for her shameless gaze, indignity on behalf of her VIP, whose modesty she was violating...

As Anonymous' head contacted the waterfall, with the pool-water barely halfway up his chest, he ducked down to immerse himself fully. And then a moment later, he appeared by Honour’s side, wiping the water from his eyes as he emerged from the pool -- and exactly as naked as when he walked in.

‘Right -- I forgot that was going to happen.’

Turning away and swallowing, she finished drying herself off while facing the triple-arched exit. She heard wet feet slap against the tile behind her.

"Good to see she wasn't kidding about the towels. I'm drenched."

Honour didn't look back. "Yes, sir."

Her VIP propped one of his feet up on the bench beside her as he proceeded to towel himself off.

As if showing up just to watch, the nameless blue-grey Reverend Sister pushed through the central arch's hanging curtain. "Welcome, Great Lord Anonymous and Corporal Honour Bound of Equestria, to the Inner Sanctuary. Beyond this archway lies the Holy Place where only those invited may tread."

Turning to look at her VIP -- and not right in his eyes, Honour noted -- she continued. "I have just spoken with the Reverend Mother Superior's secretary, who informed me that Her Reverence wishes to do you the honor of receiving you in the Well of Life, the innermost chamber of our Sanctuary, where you may take of the most pure and sacred waters. Please, dry yourselves only to the point of making yourselves comfortable to walk."

‘Another bath?’

‘Just how 'clean' do these batponies need to be?’

Although it sounded like this one wasn’t so much an ablution as it was some kind of healing water. Which was exactly why some ponies travelled far and wide to visit Equestria's various natural springs. Including the ones in Canterlot -- the famous ones, like the Brythonic Baths and the Sulian Baths, both up against the mountain proper and both fashionable and grand, instead of being out-of-the-way and small like the Spa Dalecarlia.

"All right, I'm ready."

Honour glanced back to see her VIP, still dripping wet from the shoulders down, had wrapped a towel around his waist. It covered to just above his knees; more than enough to be modest, though his well-featured shoulders and chest were still on display.

The Reverend Sister gave yet another, shallow bow. "Excellent, Great Lord. Please, follow me... ...and kindly pay no heed to anypony else you may see or hear. You are not the only group enjoying Her Reverence's hospitality tonight."

‘What's that supposed to mean?’

What was the corporal going to see down there? Unicorns and pegasi? Maybe even members of the Royal Undermountain Constabulary, visiting the Rookery against their orders?

‘Fat chance.’

Pushing past the tapestry-curtain, Honour found herself at a four-way intersection, with the walls tiled as they were in the entryway 'Vestibule of Living Waters,' but with carpets laid down over each over just as in the great 'Courtyard of the Houses.' A curious mix of aesthetics, but then again, the carpet helped with wet hooves, and wet feet.

The Reverend Sister led them down the straight path, and Honour realized that she still didn't know her name.

Were all the Reverend Sisters supposed to be interchangeable, maybe?

Was that why she hadn't given her name when she introduced herself?

So that Carmen could send some other tufted-up tart in her place without anypony being the wiser?

Honour also noticed that both of her accompanying hooded colts had been shed. Were they simply too junior in the priestly hierarchy to enter here -- or was it something else, like a mareitocratic ban on colts in this most sacred place?

More questions without answers. She doubted that the meeting with the Reverend Mother Superior would do anything but raise even more.

As they passed another four-way intersection, Honour suddenly heard faint screams coming from down the left corridor. Except they weren’t screams, they were… Moans?

Passing the hallway turned the voices into dull echoes, but Honour was certain she made out a higher-pitched feminine voice moaning in ecstasy -- and a lower-pitched masculine one grunting with pleasure, too. That set her ears up on point.

What had Ebonshield said about her relationships? She had had to 'mate' with whatever colt her House told her to, up to a certain point in her life. It was some sort of batpony breeding program, to make sure the bloodlines of their finest warriors were passed on? And then what of the Lunars who sat above them? After directing the Stars in one eugenics program, did they also practice their own?

Or maybe, since they were the diplomats, they used sex for some other reason...

As Honour pondered the implications of what had pretty clearly been the sound of two (or more) ponies having loud and unfettered intercourse, she found that the Reverend Sister had brought her to another one of those triple-arched doorways. This time, however, the carpet was abruptly ended, and for the last few steps her hooves had loudly clattered against the floor. And instead of three separate hanging carpets covering each of the archways, there was just a single rod across the whole entrance, supporting two sheets of heavy, opaque white fabric curtains. They billowed slightly, and she could feel hot, wet air rush out in packets from within.

The Reverend Sister pulled back one of the sheets with a wing-arm, and a blast of warmth hit Honour full on. Beyond the entrance lay a steam-filled room with a squared pool of turquoise-tinted water that bubbled and fizzed like a freshly-poured carbonated soft drink. Twelve columns formed an inner square within the pool, supporting white-and-black-striped arches that came down from the ceiling. There were also what looked like three square raised pillars in the water, creating platforms just poking up above the surface, about five hooves on each edge. And the whole thing was fed by three great trough-spots that jutted out from high up on the walls and noisily poured water down just beside those shallow platforms, accompanied by a steady billowing of steam.

The Reverend Sister sat down in front of her at the water's edge. "This is the Well of Life, where the Living Waters first enter into our Rookery and are pure and full of their sacred essences. I invite you to enter the pool and bathe in their revitalizing powers. Make your way over to one of the falls and I will serve you their waters to drink as well. Her Reverence will join us shortly."

Honour wasn’t sure what made this particular hot-spring bath more special than any of the others topside, but Anonymous nodded.

"Thank you, Reverend Sister. We're very honored by this privilege."

She supposed she should be. The Lunar was certainly making this out to be a big deal.

Stepping to the edge and onto the staircase that descended into the water, Honour’s VIP unwrapped his towel and tossed it to the side. She got the same view that Miss Tuft got earlier as he stepped down before her. And the Lunar was looking at her while it happened, too, as if watching for her reaction. Honour stiffened her resolve and made her face impassive. The Sister and all her various baths and ablutions could go pound sand back in the Grand Hall for all she cared.

As she entered the pool after her VIP, Honour found that this water was, in fact, much warmer than the rest -- and warmer even than the Dalecarlia's hot tub. Those small square 'islands' in the pool made a lot of sense, now, as a temporary refuge from the intense temperature.

The water, however, was a little deeper than the pool in the 'Vestibule of Priests.' She was forced to stretch her neck up straight to keep the waterline below her chin, almost on her tippy-hooves, while her VIP just stood easily, with his abdominal area barely covered. The two of them stepped over to the spout on the right, where she could see a collection of copper cups and bowls. Their guide followed along the outside of the pool and grabbed one of the cups in both forehooves, then held it reverently out towards the descending pillar of water, filling it to the brim. Then she lowered it towards her VIP.

"Drink deeply, Great Lord, and be rejuvenated."

With appropriate contrition, the Royal Engineer accepted the copper cup in both hands, and stepped back before drinking it down. The Reverend Sister watched as he emptied the cup, then tilted it forward and wiped his mouth.

"It's fizzy, but there's almost a sweet taste to it."

She nodded. "Yes, Lord. The Great Mother has blessed us with this source most pure."

He handed back the cup, and she placed it upside-down behind her, before seizing a fresh one up to fill in the same ritualistic manner. This one was destined for Honour, but it was going to be a bit tricky to grab it with the water so high up already.

"... Approach the edge, sister, and allow me to help."

Like a newborn filly suckling from her mother, the earth pony walked over to the edge of the pool and craned her muzzle up to where the Lunar held the cup, slowly tilting its contents down her gullet. The Royal Engineer wasn't wrong; it was fizzy, and unlike most other bottled waters of similar provenance, it was sweet. But he neglected to mention just how hot it was; Honour felt as if pure alcohol was being poured down her throat. Just as soon as she finished the cup, her neck feeling as if it was on fire, there was a merciful inrush of cool air.

Just then, the Reverend Sister turned and fell to the ground in a kow-tow to a new batpony who had just landed inside the room.

"Reverend Mother!"

It was the Reverend Mother Superior herself, standing just inside the white curtains. With all the flair of a young Canterlot courtier at home in their own palace, Carmen Ebonshield took a step forward, dressed in all white and covered in white powder from head to hoof, holding her crescent-tipped staff.

"Sister Lucretia, thank you for guiding our guests here."

She turned towards the two of them in the pool, gesturing widely with a forehoof. "And welcome, O Great Lord of Equestria, to this most Holy of Holies."

With a deep sigh, she shook her head, slumping her shoulders. "I only regret that you have come here with an awful, horrific experience so fresh in your mind. Let us hope that the healing waters of this sacred well may ease your anguish, and repair the rift that has been so foolishly dug by one of our misguided Children."

Striding over to the wall with an elegant grace, she placed her staff leaning up against it, and then with a single swift motion cast off her robes. That white powder was indeed absolutely everywhere on her, obscuring not only her hair color, but most of her physical features as well.

"I do not know what was going through the Sixth of Meteors' mind when he decided to so flagrantly violate our Great Mother's edicts, but, rest assured, with him and his associates locked up in the oubliette, we shall find out the truth behind his misdeeds."

With a smile, she stepped around the pool's edge, towards Honour and the VIP, and the still-prone Reverend Sister, who only now rose.

"...But let us put this awful event out of mind for now. I invited you here, O Great Lord, because I heard that you had come to our Rookery once again to train under the Stellar Seven in the martial arts. Is that true?"

To a nod from the Reverend Mother, the younger Lunar removed her robe as well, and with that article discarded, Honour could see she wasn't just a pretty face and a big fluffy blue-grey tuft; she had a trim and athletic blue-grey body to match it, as well.

Anonymous, standing with one hand on the nearest raised platform, answered Carmen. "Yes, Your Reverence. We had just finished before the, as you say, awful experience."

Carmen smiled again, and dipped one of her forehooves into the bubbling water. "Then with the fight against the Meteors, on top of that training regimen, you must be exhausted. The Stellar Seven is an expert in her profession, and has a reputation as a harsh and difficult mistress as well."

Drawing back the now powder-free forehoof, Honour saw that she had a similar purple coat as her daughter the sergeant did.

"It has been a long night for me as well, so far, and with this most recent disaster I dare venture to say that it is far from over yet. But I am not here to saddle you with my burdens, Great Lord; rather, I am here to relieve you of yours. We Lunars have the distinct pleasure of serving as the diplomats for the Children of the Stars, and this is a service which is often physical in nature."

‘Wait a minute…’

Flexing her white-powdered wings, she continued. "I see that you have already drunk of our Waters of Life. I trust you have found them refreshing. It would be my privilege, now, if you would allow me to continue your experience here in the Well with a massage to relieve your aching and tired muscles -- Sister Lucretia will attend to your consort, as well."

‘Consort?!’

Honour almost choked, even with her mouth empty.

‘Didn't she get the clue from the last meeting?’

The Royal Engineer cleared his throat. "I'm in no pain, Your Reverence, so please don't trouble yourself. Also I should clarify, Corporal Bound is my escort, not my consort."

The two Reverends exchanged a telling glance, before Carmen answered back. "Oh, of course, of course. Your Lordship is most gracious; please accept my apologies for the confusion. I'm afraid I have been dealing with obstinate Stars and quarrelsome Rocks all evening, and it has taken a toll on my memory and concentration. But you are too polite to feign contentment; it is no trouble at all. Quite the opposite; I honestly enjoy the act of kneading another's muscles. There's a physicality to it that is most rewarding. And it will certainly be a relief to not have to suffer the pointless bickering of committees."

Extending a wing, she dipped it in the water, and a ring of white powder dissolved off of the leathery black surface. "And it will be most pleasurable to take off my face, if only for a brief moment."

Without another word, she leapt forward towards the nearest platform, extending her wings and passing directly under the shower of water from the adjacent spout. In a single graceful spray of foaming white water, the Reverend Mother Superior was stripped of her makeup. On the platform just above Honour stood a mare who, while quite clearly older, looked by no means elderly. If anything, Carmen's extremely trim, dark purple body, shock of short white mane, and delicate black wings put even the young voluptuously-tufted Lucretia's physique to shame.

Buck, if Ebonshield's mom looked that good at... Fifty-something? Sixty? No wonder Ebonshield herself didn't look her own age. And no wonder either at how Carmen managed that difficult-looking gliding ballistic descent back in the Grand Hall of Stars.

Spreading her wings wide, the Reverend Mother Superior waved a forehoof towards the open platform surface before her. "If the Great Lord would be so kind as to lay face-down on the platform, I will gladly show him the further powers of this Holy Well, when combined with proper ministrations."

Anonymous clambered up as indicated, just fitting his head, torso, and most of his legs on, with his shins and feet dangling off the edge into the water. Lucretia fluttered her way over to the next-nearest platform as well, and waved at it while calling out to Honour.

"Corporal Bound, I await to serve you."

The last thing she really wanted right then was a back massage from Miss Megatuft, but she was already there and it would be improper to refuse, so she stepped over and then clambered somewhat inelegantly up onto it. Turning her head so that she could keep her eye on her VIP, Honour saw Carmen begin to work her hooves into his back.

At least it wasn’t not so loud in there that she couldn’t hear her talk ten hooves away.

Not like the Reverend Mother was trying to be discreet, however. "Now, do not hesitate to speak up if anything doesn't feel right. I am well-practiced in this art, but of course, never before on any of your kin."

Honour felt a hoof press into her shoulder as Anonymous answered Carmen. "Of course, Reverend Mother. I had a masseuse the other day who was in the same situation."

The hoof on Honour’s shoulder began to make its way down her back, applying pressure the whole way. It was okay, she supposed.

"Oh, really? An Equestrian practitioner?"

Honour heard the flapping of leather wings as Lucretia reared back to apply a second hoof to her opposite shoulder.

‘Hmff…’

"No, a griffon actually. She said she normally massages pegasi, specializing in their wings."

As that second hoof went down and the first one came back up for another pass, Honour started to feel a little less upset with Lucretia McTuftychest here. It was still a bit awkward enjoying the pleasures of privilege herself, but the hot stone under her belly, the aromatic air, the gentle splash of the water, and the meticulous hooves of her attendant were certainly helping her cope with that awkwardness.

"How delightful! I shall have to seek out this griffon and learn from her the secrets of that technique. As you may imagine, we also have little experience with the feathers of our Equestrian kin."

Lucretia's hooves made their way just past Honour’s hips, firmly squeezing the tension out of her muscles. Somehow, the apprehension she’d had about this started to melt away.

"Please forgive me if this question offends, Reverend Mother, but do you go often to the surface?"

The tension snapped back, and Honour straightened her hind legs with a jolt. But the Reverend Mother Carmen only bent down to dip her forehooves in the water before pressing them into the Royal Engineer's shoulders once more.

"Unfortunately, no. Except when the Great Mother calls us, only the Stars are allowed regular access to Equestria, when they guard the Great Mother's Palace at night."

‘Oh, phew.’

The masseuse began to press on the corporal’s spine, drawing relief outwards as she moved her hooves to Honour’s flanks.

"I do so look forward to the day when we Children can all finally rejoin our cousins in Equestria. I worry that it is still some time away, for there is so much work still to be done."

Honour felt a heavy weight on her back, and realized that Lucretia was actually standing on her with all fours. A muzzle whispered down at her ear. "Please let me know, Sister Bound, if this burden is too great for you to bear."

"I'm all right."

She nodded. "Good. We have heard of the great strength of the earth ponies. You have very powerful muscles, sister. There is much vitality in them, and much tension as well. It is easier for me to work them in this manner."

With all four of her hooves in the center of Honour’s back and her full weight behind them, she stretched her forehooves up towards her neck and her hind hooves down towards her flanks.

‘Ohhh…’

‘Oh, that's just right.’

Involuntarily, she arched her back slightly, lifting off of the stone before settling back down again. She must have made some audible sigh of relief, because Lucretia's muzzle came back and whispered at her ear again.

"You are very tense indeed, sister. Has it been some time since your most recent orgasm?"

Honour wanted to suddenly turn over and throw her off -- but she didn’t let up with her hooves, and the earth pony was caught in between the offensive, personal invasiveness of her question, and the utter bliss of her ministrations.

All she managed to do was sort of grunt noncommittally.

"Mmmff."

Honour started to lose focus of the conversation Mother Carmen was having with her VIP. It was something about his meetings with the ironworkers, and the formula for steel, and his work on metallurgy, and so on.

The whole thing started to blur, and all she could hear instead was the pouring of water, and the fizzing of the pool, the splashing of Lucretia's hooves whenever the batpony dipped them in the water, and her own moans and grunts when the Reverend Sister applied those heated irons to her back. As her breathing slowed, her eyes started to droop closed.

Everything became lost in the sea of mist and steam...

Next Chapter: Chapter 108 Estimated time remaining: 13 Hours, 59 Minutes