Was this a mistake? He almost felt like it might have been a mistake to come here, to even try doing this. After all, he was completely new to all of this, in every sense of the word. Maybe it was knowing that that was making him so damned nervous right now.

Copper Buckle swallowed softly, looking around himself; the small lounge wasn’t any different from the last time he looked up. The walls were lined with lightly padded, sky blue chairs, matching the color of the walls all around him. On the wall directly across from where he sat was a love seat, the coffee table in front of it littered with a few athletic magazines. On the wall over the couch stood a logo familiar all around Equestria; a winged lightning bolt, colored a vibrant yellow and standing out plain as day against the sea of blue around it.

The logo of the Wonderbolts, Equestria’s foremost flying team.

And yet, here he was about to try for a position that left him planted on the ground. The irony wasn’t lost on him, of course. But then again, he wasn’t going to get in on his flying ability…

He was sitting outside just one of many offices in the administration building of the Wonderbolts’ main compound. Funnily enough, his trip to the compound was the easiest part of his journey; the hard part had began upon his arrival. Starting with convincing the security ponies at the front gate to let him in. Apparently they weren’t aware that he was scheduled for an interview today, and it had taken more than just a bit of persuasion to convince them to actually call the HQ and confirm he was supposed to be there.

But then after that had come the challenge of actually finding his way to the office he needed to go to. According to the information he’d been given upon setting up the interview, it was to be in the Lieutenant Comamnder’s office on the second floor of the administration building in the north wing. But fat lot of good that information did him; for whatever reason, there didn’t seem to be ANY signs in the building telling which wing was in what direction! Mixed with the fact he hadn’t bothered to keep track of which way north even was, and it left him wandering around for a good 20 minutes until, by pure idiotic luck, he made a correct turn and found himself in a small lobby/waiting area. And there across the room was a door with a frosted-glass window, Lieutenant Commander displayed across it big black letters.

A quick check of his phone’s clock showed that, at the very least, he wasn’t late for his meeting. He had left his motel room early just in case something like this had happened; a habit drilled into his head by his mother from an early age. So now all he could do was sit down and wait, glad to be able to finally have a rest.

Normally, even for an unathletic pegasus like himself, the journey here wouldn’t be so hard. However, the wheel-bottom case resting beside him showed exactly why his journey had been as tiring as it was. He’d been forced to push the heavy thing around since this morning, as its contents were far to heavy to carry around for an extended period of time. Thankfully, the hardest part had been getting it up the stairs; it was really a shame that this was the off-season for the organization, hence why he hadn’t seen… well, anyone really, save for security patrolling the grounds. He would have appreciated a bit of help with the lifting, and getting some proper directions.

Still, no way to change any of that now, he figured. All that was left for him to do now, was to sit back and wait for another ten minutes or so. At least there was a clock in the lobby that let him keep track of time. With little else to do, he take a glance down at himself to give himself one final look-over.

While no bastion of physical health, Copper was at least in decent shape. A tall stallion, there was no denying his lanky stature. He didn’t have much in the way of muscle either, though if needed he was at least capable to doing some heavy lifting. His coat was a right, almost shining copper brown, his mane and tail a somewhat pale, rustic green, both kept short so that the former would keep out of the tinkering pegasus’s eyes while he worked, and keeping the latter from being caught in any of his inventions in case of an unaware sway in any direction.

He also dressed the best he could for the interview, though given the funds he had at the moment it wasn’t much. A simple white dress shirt, black slacks and matching shoes that he tried to polish the best he could. Now he was just hoping that he didn’t end up feeling he was underdressed when he was called in.

Really though, he was half-amazed to even find himself here in the first place! Buckle didn't know if he should consider himself lucky for having gotten word of an interview for this new position, or consider himself crazy for trying to jump into the big leagues right out of school. He had been working his way through his higher education for quite some time now; engineering, technical design, programming, crafting and construction… everything he’d need to know to craft just about any type of machine or object he desired. Of course, the result of so many years in higher education meant he was now in his mid-twenties and only just getting out of school to put his personal craft to work in the real world.

And what a first job THIS would be if he got it.

Honestly, he had been certain that one of his oldest, closest professor from his old university had been pulling his tail when he invited Buckle to his office after class just to tell him about the job. And yet the more he looked into it, the more it became clear it was true.

Apparently, big changes were going to be coming to the Wonderbolts when their newest batch of recruits arrived for training at the compound. And they were changes that, frankly, he was still amazed to know about.

Now, he knew about pegasus anatomy, and quite well too; so did most of his race. It was basically a poorly-kept secret that pegasi were quite… sensitive. At least, in the physical sense they were. And they had to be; when your latent ability was controlling the very weather, it meant that your body would adapt to pick up on the smallest changes around you. Such a thing was necessary to make sure that you were always aware if something was going wrong and could be ready to dodge or flee at a moments notice. Of course, such sensitivity was a double-edged sword for most pegasi in that their sensitive nerves left them quite weak to gentle or rough sensations against the skin.

And it was that, apparently, that ended up being the jumping-off block for this change to the Wonderbolts training methods. Apparently, after quite a bit of coercing from some of the higher-ups in the organization, Spitfire herself had cleared the new program to go though… on the promise that someone be hired who could supply them with all the new machines, constructs, and technology that they would need to get it off the ground! And from what he had learned said machines were going to focus around one singular thing; being made to either firmly restrain and/or tickle the ever-loving snot out of any pegasus unfortunate enough to end up in them. According to some more recent studies that had been run on pegasi (And ACTUALLY PUBLISHED in medical journals, to Copper’s surprise), ticklish sensations, while never causing the same reaction in any two subjects, always seemed to motivate the subjects to do better at whatever goals they had set for them. Of course, this motivation was expressed differently in different types of pegasi in question, but it seemed to be solid, consistently-proven data on the part of the researchers.

Enter Copper; a stallion who, in the words of his professor, was one of the brightest minds he had seen in quite a while when it came to crafting and creating machines and properly programming them. It showed in his strong grades, as well; he had managed to graduate in the top ten of his class, and his future was all but secured. He could do anywhere he wanted to go with his ability and raw talent for invention.

So really, who was HE to turn down a possible job working with the Wonderbolts? It was the dream job of many, and even if he wouldn’t be in the skies, he’d still be among the best fliers of this generation. Really, it would have been foolish to turn down such a possible position. Sure, this may not have been the most… orthodox field of work for somepony to enter, but if this worked out, he could help usher in a brand new era for the Wonderbolts! And if it failed? Well… who ever got anywhere without risking failures in life!?

Also, it may have helped that the pegasus had long since discovered he personally held a bit of a tickle fetish. And really, who didn’t enjoy mixing their work with pleasure?

Either way, he couldn't turn back now! He would just have to go in and give it his all, even if he wasn't sure just how this interview would go; he'd been required to bring an example of his work to show off in the interview, hence the case he’d brought along with him. But he was ready now; he’d go in, give it his all, and even if he failed he wasn’t going let it drag him down! He could do this!

“Copper Buckle, I presume?”

The pegasus jumped in surprised; he’d been so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn’t even been paying attention to his surroundings. Not that he thought he had to, of course; he had figured he was alone, save for his interviewer. Who, apparently was no standing beside his chair, glancing down at the brown pegasus who finally broke out of his daze and looked back up.

Like many pegasi, and many Equestrians in general, Copper was a fan of the flying team and kept track of the Wonderbolts every season, though he personally had never been lucky enough to get to see a show in person; the closest he got were live performances streamed on the giant TVs around his university campus. Also like many fans, he had his favorite members of the team that he enjoyed more than others. But there was no doubt that his favorite member of the team had always been Soarin, Lieutenant Commander of the entire force and perhaps the physically strongest among all of them. So of course, upon learning where he’d need to go, Luke had quickly pieced together who would be interviewing him and had tried his best to mentally prepare himself for a serious, professional meeting with his favorite flyer.

And yet that didn’t stop him from feeling wobbly in the knees as he laid eyes on Soarin in real life for the first time. The stallion was built tall like Copper, but was far broader and more filled out, thanks to his years of constant, hard training to build a level of physical strength that would leave most pegasi jealous. And his showed on what he could see of Soarin’s arms, even if it wasn’t much. In lieu of the flight suit he was usually seen in, Soarin today was adorned in the more professional Wonderbolt dress uniform; he wore a blue, button-down short-sleeve dress shirt, a black tie fastened around his neck, along with a pair of tan slacks and shined black dress shoes. And yet, despite the professional appearance, he actually had a rather relaxed, welcoming smile on his face.

“Well, don’t just sit there and gawk; I’d hope you haven’t gone through the trouble of faking such a nice resume just so you can stare at me?” he asked, voice laced with a playful tone and even chuckling at the end. Seemed he wasn’t exactly foreign to such a reaction.

Still, Copper knew he couldn’t give a bad first like this; he took a deep breath to steady himself and stood up, turning to face Soarin and giving him his best smile, “Yes, that’s me. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir.”

“Ooh, now relax a bit; you don’t need to be THAT professional here,” he assured, reaching out and giving Copper a firm pat on the shoulder. By Celestia, he was strong; that single pat was enough to make him stumble, having not expected such force behind it. Not only that, but Soarin was about half a head taller than he was! But even as he stood there, Copper wasn’t getting any sort of authoritative vibe off him; if anything, the Lieutenant Commander seemed to be quite relaxed at the moment. In fact… he almost seemed excited for some reason…

However, Copper wasn’t given much time to think about that as Soarin turned around rather abruptly, motioning to follow after him with a casual flick of his wrist, “Come on then, follow me and we’ll get this started right away.” He was heading towards the now-open office door, and Copper didn’t hesitate to follow after him, wheeling the case along beside him.

While it was no surprise that Soarin would have his own office being second in command, it was rather surprising to see how sparse it was. There was a row of windows against the far wall, but all the blinds were drawn, light only coming from the lamps above. Right in front of the windows was Soarin’s desk, with nothing more than a few papers on it and a simple name-plate. A large, comfortable-looking chair was behind it, and two more, far simpler chairs sat in front of it. And… that was about it for the furniture. Aside from that, a filing cabinet in the back left corner, a potted plant near the door, and a few framed pictures on the wall, there was nothing else in the room, leaving quite a bit of open space.

Soarin, however, didn’t go behind his desk; in fact, he stopped once he was beside it, turning back around and facing him. He crossed his arms, yet he still had a fairly casual air about him as he spoke, “Alright Copper, I’m gonna get straight down to it with you; after you sent us in your resume, I have to admit that I was impressed with what I saw, and the references I had all vouched for you and told me you had skill worth bring to the big leagues. So, we’re gonna jump past the usual stock questions; instead, I want to get to the demonstration. Feel free to use the space I got here to set things up; I’m just gonna go ahead and watch you work.”

Copper had definitely not been expecting that! Did this even count as an interview if there weren’t any questions!? He wasn’t even sure how to respond verbally to such a curveball! Or… was that the point? Was this part of the interview, perhaps? To see how he might react at having things change on the dime to a situation he didn’t fully expect? It was always a possibility, even in the position he was looking at, and adaptability was probably something they’d be looking for anyway! So best to just go with it for now.

He gave Soarin a nod, smiling once more, “Sure thing, just give me a minute.” He bent down, popping open the latches on the case and setting the top aside; he reached in, taking firm grip on the device inside. With an audible grunt, he managed to lift it out, moving it over a few feet before carefully and quickly setting it back on the ground with an audible thud.

Said device was, of course, a pair of stocks; they were probably the single most classic restraint for tickling, so what better device to make for this interview? However, he had of course ended up adding a modern, technological twist to them. The stocks, it seemed, were made out of solid metal! Several black buttons were located at various parts of the smooth, polished grey surface, and on the front side, set between the two padded holes was what looked to be a black screen of sorts.

Copper reached down, flicking a switch near the base of the stocks; the screen lit up for a few briefs moments, and now several different words were lit up inside ovals near the bottom. He gently tapped the oval marked ‘Rise’ and moments later a gentle whirring was heard as the stocks began to slowly lift up into the air, supported by a trio of metal legs appearing out of the underside. Soarin watched on, eyes a bit wider as he watched the device climb a good four feet or so before coming to a stop, clearly having reached it’s full height.

However, he remained silent as he walked forward, bending down to get a closer look at the restraint. He gave a gentle “Hmmm…”, a finger scratching under his chin as he walked a slow circle around, all while Copper watched from a foot or so away, he himself eyeing Soarin. It seemed that he was doing his best to spot any possible imperfections on the surface, but so far it seemed he had found nothing.

“I’ll admit, the design is rather basic,” he said suddenly as he stopped in front of the stocks, bending down so his face was level with the device. “However… it’s definitely got more to it than meets the eye. The buttons around it and on this scree are enough to tell me that.” He broke his gaze from the stocks, looking over at Copper, “So, care to tell me how it functions?

Copper carefully released a breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding, and gave Soarin a nod, “Well, a few ways; for one, it's powered by an energy cell that can be solar charged, so no need to plug them into something or keep replacing batteries. Also, the locks on it are magnetic, and strong enough you'd need the jaws of life to pry them open if they're not unlocked first. Not only that but the lock can be manual, and turned on or off with the press of a button, or you can set it on a timed release so it only opens after a certain amount of time's passed.” He stepped forward, tapping a blank spot on the screen, “This will show the time remaining, and it can also keep track of time spent in here overall if you’re just looking to make it a certain length of time but wanna open them at will. Not only that, but there are a few extra buttons on here that can open up a few additional restraints, or reveal storage drawers for extra tools and supplies, thought there isn’t anything in there just yet.”

For a moment, Soarin said nothing, taking one last look at the stocks before he got to his feet and turned to Copper. However, a moment later his muzzle split into a broad smile, “Copper, I like your style buddy! You clearly did your research and came in with just what we’ve been looking for; something sturdy, resilient, and with a nice modern twist to make it even MORE effective than it would have been before. You got a strong head on your shoulders kid, and these things are proof of that!”

Upon hearing such praise… and from such a notable figure, at that… Copper couldn’t help but grin a bit. Soarin was actually, genuinely impressed! With HIS creation! He felt like he could float into the clouds, but for the moment decided on a much more simple “Thank you, sir” in return for the compliments. Still, it was hard NOT to feel on top of the world after such a big-name stallion praised your work…

“So, how do you want me?”

…But apparently it was also VERY easy to be caught off-guard in such moments and find yourself come speeding back down to the ground.

“Ummm… excuse me, sir? Did I just hear you correctly?” Copper asked, grin quickly turning into a semi-confused frown. Had Soarin really just asked…

“How do you want me?” Soarin quickly repeated, “Come on buddy, you gotta focus on what I’m telling you here.”

“Well, no, I heard you just now. I just wasn’t sure if I… heard right is all,” he responded, looking off to the side as his voice go a bit lower near the end. Now things were starting to veer off in a direction he hadn’t been expecting…

“Well, why wouldn’t I get in, huh?” Soarin asked him, propping one arm on the stocks as he leaned against them, free hand giving the side a few taps. “I gotta see if they can do what they’re built for, and I’m pretty much the only pony here who’s gonna get in ‘em willingly. So, how’s about unlocking ‘em for me and telling me how ya want me?”

…Okay, that DID make perfect sense, Copper realized. He really needed to calm himself down... but could he? Truth be told… this was starting to become something of a personal vision of his.

Copper wasn’t usually one to talk about his sexuality, nor express it all that much; his mind was usually so focused on his projects he didn’t give much time to such thoughts. But when he did… well, he knew he was attracted to stallions, and many time his more inappropriate thoughts would involve interaction with the same sex. It didn’t help that many of those thoughts featured Soarin in particular, either…

NO! No, he HAD to keep this professional; Soarin was just volunteering to put his invention through a proper test! Nothing more than that. He just had had to keep himself under control, and he knew he could do that. He nodded quickly, motioning to the chair behind his desk, “Right, of course; please, just bring your chair open and make yourself comfortable, I’ll get this set up.” He got a nod in response, and while Soarin walked off he gave a button on the side of the stocks a firm push; there was a quick buzz as the charge in the magnets deactivated, allowing him pull open the heavy top.

Soarin was soon back over, nestled in his desk chair behind the stocks, which Copper thankfully lowered a foot or so to put them more level with Soarin’s height. Once they were stable, Soarin actually smiled a bit as he set his ankles on the padding of the lower half-holes. With a dull slam of metal on metal, Copper quickly sealed them once more and reactivated the magnets.

Soarin gave his feet a few quick paddles; already he could tell he was stuck firmly, the stocks not even budging an inch. And while there was some room in the holes, it was really just enough to keep his blood circulating and little extra. It seemed even that was enough to bring a bigger smile to his face, “Impressive, even got the hole size just right when accounting for padding. Nicely done, Copper.” As he talked though, the brown pegasus couldn’t help but notice that excited edge to his voice was back.

“Well, I knew it wouldn’t do much good if you had somepony in here and they could wiggle their feet around THAT easily.”

“Heh, very true Copper, very true. Frankly, I’m loving this more and more. And you’re looking better and better in my book… just one last thing.”

“What is it?”

Soarin looked up, flashing Copper an actual grin, “Well, all these bad boys need now is a stress test.. .so, let me have it.”

“You… you’re serious?” Copper could feel his face lighting up red from what Soarin just said. He thought he may have been implying it earlier, but now Soarin had just gone right out an asked for him to tickle his feet!

“How many times do I have to say this? Yes!” he said, finally sounding a bit irked as he rolled his eyes, “Look, if you’re nervous about how I’m gonna react or something, don’t worry about it. Just trust me when I say, I can handle it. We’ll keep it short though; let’s say, fifteen minutes. That oughta be enough for me to get a gauge for these things stress-wise.”

“Well… if I have your permission… alright,” he nodded, walking in front of the stocks while pulling one of the thinly-padded chairs over and having a seat. Once he was comfortable as he could get, he carefully reached out, almost unbelieving at what was about to happen. He was living what was surely not just his own fantasy, but a fantasy of many around Equestria! Here he had Soarin, Lieutenant of the Wonderbolts, in stocks with his feet at his mercy! Granted it wasn’t for long; he reached for the touch-screen’s timer controls, quickly setting the auto-release for fifteen minutes and starting the countdown, before he brought his focus back to the task at hand. No way could he waste such an opportunity, even if he had to keep himself professional as he could in what was to come.

The laces of the shoes came undone easily, and a few tugs made them loose enough for the shoes to easily slide off. He gave one of the black buttons on the stocks a push, this one on the opposite side from the lock button. All it seemed to do, however, was bring out a simple metal hook on that side of the stocks, allowing Copper to hang the shoes by their laces. He also wasted little time with Soarin’s socks, giving the black, blue-toed sheers a few good tugs before they came off and then stuffing them in the shoes.

Just like, his feet were bare and exposed; while his whole coat was a pale, greyish-blue, the soles of Soarin’s feet seemed even paler than the rest of him, almost white with a pale blue tinge. Not only that, but they had to be size 14 at least, if not a bit bigger. His arches were fairly wide too, leaving him with a shallow but spacious instep on each foot. His toes seemed a bit short however, and somewhat rounded with thicker, almost pudgy stems. But perhaps the biggest thing was their condition. While all athletes knew that it was important to keep their feet in peak condition, Soarin’s seemed… well, flawless! Not even the smallest trace of a callous anywhere, no dead, peeling skin, even his toenails were trimmed and filed properly! Honestly, they looked on pair with some of the foot models that Copper had browsed through on slow, lonely evenings on his phone…

“Heh, you like what you see down there?”

…And he had been staring at them for well over a minute, he realized. If he hadn’t been blushing before, he most definitely was now.

And yet, Soarin just gave a friendly chuckled and smiled down at him, “Yeah, I know it may be a bit surprising how nice they look, but I try to keep my peds in top shape, you know? I just went and got a proper pedicure the other day. And don’t think you gotta hold back because of that, okay? Lemme have it, I wanna put these to the maximum test!”

So, he got pedicures? Copper actually let himself chuckle a bit; again, he was no idiot, and he knew how to put two and two together. Finally, things were starting to make sense… but he said nothing for now. After all, Soarin wanted him to give it his all right? Then he would do just that.

He brought his hands up, fingers curling in with their nails aimed for the soles, “Alright, but I should warn you I’m a bit rusty at this… haven’t tickled anypony in who knows how long.” And with that said, lunged his nails in, pressing them gently against the top of each arch before slowly dragging them downwards, nails gently grazing over the amazingly soft, plush skin of Soarin’s soles. Sure enough, the effect was almost instant.

“PffffffffttttthahahahHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” Soarin’s laughter began softer, but suddenly spiked as Copper’s nails dragged over the instep of his arches. It also caused his feet to spasm and paddle around in a vain attempt for his reflexes to try and get his feet away from the cruel fingers, but they had no such luck. Once more, the stocks didn’t even budge from their position as Soarin’s feet squirmed about, unable to escape from Copper’s fingers. Said fingers soon found their way down to his heels as well, now, starting to wiggle about in random directions. Sadly, the results were less impressive, only getting a few deep chuckles and lighter snickers from the pale-blue pegasus.

Of course, it didn’t deter Copper; after all, by a look at the clock he still had 12 minutes left, and more spots to explore. His hands came back up, nails pressing up against the balls of his feet and beginning to stroke up and down rapidly, having plenty of space to roam about as he left his hands drift left and right to make sure that he could cover every inch of the area. After all, if Soarin’s reaction was any indication, he had just found quite the sensitive spot.

Poor Soarin didn’t seem to be taking the nails all that well, or at least that’s how it looked; he was gripping the armrests of his chair firmly to stop himself from flailing around or lunging forward on instinct, like anyone might do to in such a situation. Instead, he was clearly fighting to keep himself from falling out of his chair and diverting all of his energy into his legs and feet, which were currently jerking about and tugging at the padded holes as much as they could, all while laughing nice and loud without trying to hold it in. In fact, his cheeks seemed to be getting pink as the minutes ticked away, mouth unable to close thanks to the sensations shooting up from his feet. Rusty or no, Copper was being vicious!

And with about 7 minutes left, he decided to give Soarin a short break, fingers pulling away from the balls of his feet at last. The once immaculate pale-blue skin was now tinged with multiple small, zig-zagging lines of reddish pink, a few left-over tingling sensations slowly fading from the area as Soarin panted softly, head leaning back and staring up at the ceiling. However, his ears twitched at hearing the movement of mechanical parts, and he peered back down only to look on in surprise… and mild delight… as he saw what had happened.

Copper had pushed another button, and this one brought something out on top of the stocks it seemed; a long, narrow metal bar with multiple small, adjustable looped straps dangling off of it. Loops which Copper was casually sliding around each one of Soarin’s toes, adjusting them to they were snugly secured around each digit and holding it back nice and taut. He soon had all ten secured back firmly, leaving Soarin unable to move his feet at all anymore.

“Heh, toe bonds too, eh? Definitely a boOOOHOHOOHOHOHOHOHOHHOHOHOHOHOHHOHO!!!” Soarin was cut off rather abruptly mid-sentence however, as copper wasted none of his remaining time and went for the last piece of uncharted territory on Soarin’s feet. He could tell from the trembling, Soarin was definitely trying his damnedest to flex and curl them, but the straps were holding firm and allowing almost no movement now. And while that was definitely a bonus for him, it wasn’t so much for Soarin.

The Lieutenant Commander of the Wonderbolts found himself unable to retain any tact or grace as perhaps the most sensitive area on his feet was attacked by the other stallion’s nails. His head shot back, eyes wide and starting to tear up as he let out a rather shrill shriek of laughter when the pads of his toes were met the cruel scratching. Copper had managed to properly catch him off guard, and now he was paying the price as he found himself unable to control his laughter or reactions, letting out another high-pitched shriek of laughter when the wrinkles in his toes were met by the scratchy, cruel sensation of nails against skin.

Copper, for his part, was trying to do all he could to make Soarin thrash about in the stocks, and it seemed to be working; he could see his ankles bumping around against the padding in the holes. His toes were also straining with all their might to break the straps as he scribbled up and down their stems without any mercy. While wasn’t truly, genuinely vulnerable as he still somehow managed to hold his hands down on the chair, it was still clear that the laughter and struggling were all very real.

And, if Copper was honest with himself? It was starting to excite him a bit…

However, all good things had to come to an end eventually, and despite the fun he was having, he knew better than to continue once the timer on the stocks finally showed a line of zeroes. He stopped just as the end came, his hands pulling back as another buzz sounded, signaling the magnetic locks were released once more. It didn’t take long for Soarin to slump back in his chair, panting gently and getting his breath back as Copper worked carefully to undo the toe bonds. Once the last one was off, he opened the stocks just enough for Soarin to pull his feet out, which he happily did.

“Woah… oh.. okay…” he panted a bit, sitting himself up straight once his feet were finally out, though he kept them off the floor as he reached out, retrieving his footwear from the hook and quickly getting them back on. “First of all, I gotta say… for a guy that hasn’t done this in years, you’re a pretty darned good tickler,” he said, giving Copper a genuine grin which was returned with a smile from the brown pegasus. “And second... the stress test was enough to convince me, you made these for more than just show.”

Copper, again, was starting to feel like he was on top of the world; today was going better than he had ever expected it to! Soarin himself had not only complimented one of his biggest projects several times now, but he had actually given him a chance to play out a fantasy he’d had more than once in recent years. And now, it looked like actually had a legitimate chance at getting this position! “Thank you sir! I can’t tell you how much this means to me, really; I’m just glad that my personal work was able to impress a stallion of your position. And that you were willing to trust me enough to allow such a test in the first place.”

“Well, it’s all part of the interview, you know,” Soarin told him, standing up and wheeling his chair behind the desk once more, wiping some sweat from his brow as he leaned against the side of his desk. “One of the biggest factors we’re looking for here is a pony we can trust with this sort of responsibility. And I’m proud to say you passed that portion with flying colors. In fact, I’ll be honest; out of the handful of ponies I’ve seen for this job, you’ve got the best chance so far.” He chuckled a bit at seeing Copper’s eyes light up, holding up a finger, “But, I got others coming in over the rest of this week, and I’m giving them all a fair chance for the position too. You’ll know in a few days if you got the position or not, so stick around town until at least Saturday, okay?”

“Oh, of course,” he nodded, standing up himself as got to work packing up the stocks, soon having them back inside of their case. Still, the back of his mind was still bubbling around in joy; hopefully, Soarin’s impression of him, and his work, would stick around through the end of the week. With one last farewell, he turned and started out, only allowing himself to grin once he was finally outside of the building.

For all of the unexpected curveballs he’d just been handed, Copper really couldn’t help but think that he’d just given the best interview he’d EVER give.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unfortunately, the wait for Saturday felt like a month to Copper. Since he didn’t actually live in Canterlot, he’d been stuck in a small, average motel room for the last few days. But finally, the day had arrived, and he was feeling a bit nervous, he had to admit. The confidence he’d been riding on the day of the interview had soon run out, and now he was nervous he may have been over-shadowed by somepony else. He was trying to distract himself by any means he could think of; drawing up new design plans, web browsing, reading the new books he’d brought along, even browsing the limited selection of channels the room’s TV had. Still, he kept finding himself unable to focus much, bringing his phone out every few seconds as he waited for the call that would end up deciding his future…

Finally though, at around three in the afternoon, it finally began to go off. Swallowing his nerves, Copper answered and held the phone up to his ear, keeping his voice straight as he could, “Hello?”

“Hey there Copper!” Soarin’s voice rang out clear from the other end, sounding as relaxed as it had a few days ago. “Hope that I’m finding you doin’ well?”

“I’m alright, yeah. You?”

“Heh, preeeety good right now. Tell me; you make sure to stick around Canterlot like I told ya?”

“Of course!”

“Heh, good to hear it, because I want you here bright-eyed and bushy-tailed tomorrow at noon; we need to get you situated into your new living arrangements.~”

Copper honestly wasn’t sure how he didn’t drop the phone then and there; instead, he actually managed to tighten his grip on it, throat suddenly feeling dry as his chest bubbled in joy, “Wait… does, does that mean…”

“Congrats buddy; no one else had the creativity, quality, and spunk you did. So welcome to the Wodnerbolts Copper! Now, can I expect to see you here tomorrow with all the stuff you got on you?”

“Y… Y-Yes, of course!” he said, not realizing just how loud his voice gotten, “Oh my… t-thank you! Thank you thank you thank-!”

“Woah, woah buddy!” Soarin chuckled a bit on his end, “Cool your jets; I’m sure you’re excited, but try and tone it down. Look, celebrate tonight however you want, just be responsible and meet me here tomorrow, ‘kay?”

“R-Right, understood sir!”

“Hey now, no need for that ‘sir’ business; just call me Soarin. I promise ya, I’m a more laid-backed boss than you might think. I’ll see ya tomorrow newbie, and congrats again; I think you and I are gonna get along juuuust fine here.”

“See you then,” Copper responded, hanging up moments later and falling back on the bed. He was staring up at the ceiling in disbelief; he had actually done it. He didn’t know how… but he had landed what had to be his absolute dream job!

Copper Buckle; tickle tech designer for the Wonderbolts.

He didn’t know just what this new job would bring for him in the future of course, but that would come in time. And he was in for QUITE the tenure…

Author's Note

First of all, I want to give a BIG thanks to my amazing boyfriend, Godleon for giving me the support and encouragement to put this out in the first place.

So, here it is, the first chapter of a personal project that I decided to put there and share with the world. I know, it's FAR from being for everybody, but I wanted to put my writing out there and see what other people who ARE into this stuff, sparse as they may be, might think. Also, this is meant to help me work on my story writing skills, so please do excuse the weaker writing for now. But feel free to offer any writing tips/advice you might have, and just let me know what you think overall.

Not exactly sure when the next chapter will be out, but expect it to be clean; it'll mostly be about establishing more of the characters and learning about how things are going to function. Until then though, hope you all have a good day!