Copper had to admit; much as he hated having to get up early in the morning, it was actually worth it to be able to watch the sunrise from right on the edge of Canterlot. Especially when you got to watch it from the roof of your home complete with breakfast. Still, maybe it was a good thing that he wasn’t actually a recruit here. After all, it had taken some willpower to drag himself out of bed this early, and he knew that the rookies for this year were not only up already as well but already well into morning exercises. After all, he had been watching them from the top of the maintenance building all morning, taking them in along with the rest of the compound.

The weekend seemed to pass by rather quickly, or at least it did for Copper. Of course, he had spent a good chunk of it making sure that everything was prepared for today’s work he’d be doing with the advanced squads. Now it was finally Monday morning though, and that meant Wonderbolt training season was officially in full swing. It was easy to tell, too; as he had stepped out into the late morning sun, Copper found the compound abuzz with activity.

He could see pegasi flying overhead in several different directions; most in staff uniforms and carrying training gear off across the grounds, though here also seemed to be others out on security patrols. Then of course there were the groups out to take advantage of the great weather and get in their morning exercises to warm up for the rest of their days. Various sounds of chatter were audible around him as he slung a backpack he’d brought along over his shoulder and glided down to the ground, setting off for his next destination; the main training facility. He was on a schedule after all, and he didn’t intend to keep anypony waiting.

Stepping inside, he found himself greeted by a large, open lobby colored in bright, rich blue and golden yellow. However, he paid the surroundings little mind for now as he headed for his destination. Thankfully, it was far less complicated for him to find his way around this building than it had been the administration one.This building was actually sane enough to have maps and signs around it! So it was far easier for him to find the room he was looking for, stepping inside and heading for the front.

Normally, the room in question was used for routine meetings that involved two or more squads working together for large routines, hence the larger size. At this moment however, all the tables and chairs that were normally set up had been moved up against the walls, making room for the two squads of four that stood at attention. There was also a wall divider at the front of the room, currently closed with two more of the room’s current occupants standing in front of it.

One was Soarin, who gave Copper his usual warm smile when he entered. He looked quite relaxed compared to the pegasi in front of him, who were all standing rapt at attention while clearly trying not to so much as twitch. The other, of course, was Rainbow Blitz, who looked like he was trying to hold back a grin as he saw Copper coming into the room. No doubt because he knew just what was coming and was imagining the reaction of the currently naive pegasi before him. Both of them were dressed in identical workout gear at the moment as well; light grey shirts with the Wonderbolts logo on the chest, blue shorts, and pairs of white running shoes.

Speaking of, he turned his focus to the two advanced cadet squads; all of them were keeping tall and still as they waited for further instruction, something that had been drilled into their heads back at the academy. They were each in a straight line of four, a small gap between them with their Commanders situated on Copper’s far left. They also seemed to be wearing their own personal items of exercise clothing this morning, a bit unusual but most likely something they allowed for their more simple workouts. Whether they were expecting the engineer to come in or not, they didn’t let it show, but he knew there was a good chance that neither squad had been informed he would be joining them for their first morning of training.

Once the brown pegasus had situated himself beside the duo at the front, Soarin began to speak, "A pleasure for you to join us today, Copper; now that you’ve arrived, we can begin with today’s test.” He looked across both squads, looking for any signs of confusion; much like Copper’s arrival, there had been no mention of a ‘test’ of any sort. Though if any of them were confused, they hid it well for the time being. “As you all know, you're going to be involved in the new training regime and this is the best way for Copper to judge and create special workout programs for you all. Now I know this probably still seems rather crazy, and trust me it is at least a bit, but this is a prime way for us to gauge your endurance in stressful situations, and how you might handle yourself in those situations, as well."

Blitz suddenly spoke up as well, managing to look at least a bit more serious than he had a minute ago, "We aren't all glamour and awesome tricks around here, after all; we gotta do major work around here, too. And sometimes that means doing stuff we don't like. Trust me, I hate this stuff myself!" Of course that wasn’t really to big of a surprise; most pegasi had an aversion to this, but it seemed he was trying to at least trying to show them they weren’t the only ones with an aversion to this stuff. He sighed a bit, his gaze actually wandering off to the side as he continued, "I won't lie about it, though… the results speak for themselves."

Copper knew what he was talking about; according to Soarin, whenever one of his projects was finished and sent out, apparently there would be random ‘stress tests’ put on some of his restraints. They wanted to test apparently to make sure that Copper’s work had been staying consistent while he was almost constantly busy with his work. Though when it came to testers, it seemed that the group who had even proposed the idea in the first place were the primary testers. Apparently, every time it was Blitz’s turn, the chromatic pegasus would be quickly reduced to a loud, shrieking, blubbery mess. This, of course, was always after he would try and think of some way to get out of it, but would apparently have to lie in the bed he’d made for himself. Even if it was one filled with feathers, brushes, and wandering fingers. It seemed the memories of the last few months were going through his head, and even his usual well-known cocky exterior had vanished for a moment.

However, it was back just a few seconds later, a grin on his muzzle as he looked back forward at the two squads, “But hey, words are only gonna convince you so much. Which is why we’re gonna go ahead and show you right here and now just how things are gonna go down this year for all of you. So I think that Copper can take it from here and fill you in on just what’s gonna go down.”

“Because you don’t even understand how half of it works, I'd wager.”

“Oh buck off, Soarin.”

Copper just smiled a bit and rolled his eyes; again, while he didn’t know Blitz, he figured there was a good chance he really didn’t know how Copper’s newest machine worked. Oh well; he, and everypony else, would learn soon enough. He took a step forward, trying to keep his voice professional as he spoke, "Well, good morning to all of you; as you know from last night, my name is Copper Buckle, but really you can all just call me Copper. I know you're all probably nervous about what's coming this year but don't worry; my job isn't just to make different ways of tormenting you. It's also to make sure you're all safe as well as you work to improve yourselves. So please, don't see me as your enemy in all of this; I was brought in to help you all be better than those who same before, and I'm certain you can do it with these two guiding you."

Soarin looked over to Copper and gave him a nod, "We trust you with our teams, Copper. But don't get to comfortable with what you see today; we plan on whipping these pegasi into way better shape, after all.”

"You bet we do!" Blitz smirked a bit, "And my team's gonna be the one to show what it takes to be an awesome Wonderbolt!"

Soarin glanced over at him once more, “This from the guy who’s only training rookies for the second year in a row? I’ve been teaching new recruits longer than you’ve even been a ‘bolt.”

“Maybe, but this year were both on more equal footing, you know. I can guarantee I’ll whip my team into better shape than yours!”

“Really? You confident enough to bet on that?” Soarin locked eyes with Blitz, giving him a smirk of his own that seemed to actually get past his friend’s confidence. That or Blitz more likely knew what kind of ‘bet’ Soarin was referring to…

“Well, maybe after we actually gauge these guys personally.” Yup, definitely the latter.

Copper chuckled a bit at their exchange; the banter was friendly, the kind you’d expect to see between close yet competitive friends. At least he knew he was among good senior staff here. Still, he had the chance to continue and took it before either could interrupt again, "I'm sure both your teams will do great; they wouldn’t be in here today if they couldn’t. But yes, today's the day you all start to get adjusted to this year’s training regiment." He looked back at the two teams, smiling once for more, "As you all know, my machines are going to be a big part of that. But these two here don't just want me to give you guys a 'one size fits all' approach like the other two normal cadet squads are gonna get. No... seems they're a bit more malicious than that." He looked back at the duo, shaking his head in amusement at the grins they both gave him; seemed they were running with his little quip. "No, they want me to work out some machines that can be fine-tuned to each one of you specifically. But for that to happen… well, we're gonna have to some up close and personal data collection."

Even as they still stood tall and try to keep calm, there was no denying a new bit of unnerve amongst the cadets now; a few faces with worry showing amongst them, or wings that gave a few gentle, yet nervous ruffles. Really though, it would have been odder if there wasn’t any. After all, this was something completely unexpected and something which a lot of pegasi simply couldn’t stand for the most part. Pegasus sensitivity, while not widely known to the other two pony races (Though for how much longer was anypony’s guess) was well-known among their own race, though not to the new extents that had recently come to light. So really, they had every reason to be anxious about this. Not that their commanders would allow that mentality for too long.

"So the question here is," Soarin began, rubbing his chin and looking at the teams, "Who'll volunteer to step up first? Unless Copper has any suggestions or requests?" He turned back to his friend, an eyebrow raised.

He shook his head, "I don't mind what order they come up in frankly." He turned around, walking over to the right corner of the wall behind him, Soarin, and Blitz. With the flick of a switch, the wall was now being drawn back to show the second half of the large room… and revealing what was waiting for them inside it. "After all, they're all going in the same place by the end of this."

Resting in the newly-revealed space before them was not just one, but TWO of what looked like something straight out of a nightmare! Or at least a nightmare for a pegasus. Really though, the most accurate way to describe them would be bondage chairs; two black, high-backed chairs with adjustable head rests were sitting there waiting for somepony to occupy them each. However, there were slots on the chairs and even the headrests where retractable straps were nestled in wait, ready to come out at any time like cruel seat belts to strap in their occupants. But that wasn't all of course; both chairs also head long, padded bars sticking out from the right and left shoulders in a V position, more retractable straps visible going along each one from one end to the other, clearly capable of leaving the occupant's arms helplessly trapped in the air and out of the way. Each chair back also had two slots in them, clearly meant for the occupant’s wings so that they would be safely tucked away. However, the real nightmare here was clearly the stocks; each chair had a pair attached to them via long, adjustable metal limbs that stuck straight out from either side of the end of each chair. While they lacked touch-screens like the ones shown off last night, there were ten mechanical rings attached near the top of each set, five above each hole and all perfectly capable of holding the biggest and strongest of toes.

It was only now, upon finally seeing their fate for the day, that the cadets physically reacted. Many allowed their eyes to go wide in surprise as they eyed the cruel-looking restraints, and there were definitely some flinches and trembling limbs among them. If it wasn’t clear before, it was now; they were getting tossed right into the deep end, and it would be sink or swim.

Of course, two things were always inevitable with young age, no matter their upbringing or teachings; inexperience, and arrogance. Or sometimes, just being plain foolish.

"All this talk about it bein’ that darned bad is a load ‘o horseapples!" a new voice, ringing with southern tones, suddenly cried out; it was Dusty Trails, stepping in front of his squad and commander, folding his strong arm and giving his big wings a few good flexes. Like the others, he was dressed for exercise; specifically a black muscle shirt with dark green shorts and red running shoes. He fixed the three standing in front of him with a determined glare, "Ah can handle somethin’ simple as this! After all, a stallion's gotta be strong and a li’l tickle ain't nothin'! So ya know what, ah say bring it on!"

At that point, another voice suddenly spoke up; Brave Star, currently dressed in a white shirt, long black shorts, and a pair of blue sneakers. "What?! Dusty, I was going to go first!” He stepped up beside the taller pegasus, fixing his gaze up at him as he went on, “As the Squad Commander I-MMPH!" However, he didn’t get a chance to finish, instead flailing at the hand covering his muzzle, his wings poofing out indignantly.

"With all due respect, put an apple in it Brave, Ah'll go first!" He let go of his Commander’s muzzle, pumping a fist into his open palm, "It’s just like wranglin' a wild bull! The first time's always the most intense, and every time after that it keeps gettin’ easier!" He put on a proud, cocky smirk, and Brave said nothing more after that; his squad mate had clearly made up his mind. Copper and the two Senior Commanders just looked up at him in mild surprise, however. But before they could say anything else, yet another voice spoke up.

"Surely this is just some kind of intimidation tactic, merely an attempt to catch us off our guard," Sand Dune suddenly said; his voice was a bit softer than expected from such a tall stallion, and he had a noticeable accent as he spoke, which Copper soon realized was Arabian. Well, that explained the size; of course he’d have horse in him if he was originally from Saddle Arabia. He was currently wearing a somewhat tight grey vest, black athletic shorts, and a large pair of black sneakers. "However, I will not be deterred by such a foalish tactic!” he continued, snorting somewhat as he fixed his own gaze on the trio of stallions before them. “If you’re looking for volunteers, then very well; I’ll take the second chair. I will show that this foolishness is nothing for a truly strong flyer."

Soarin glanced up at the large pegasus for a moment, before his gaze moved down and locked with Gleaming's own. So far she had been silent, seemingly more interested in keeping her gaze off the contraptions in front of them. Like the others she was still dressed for training, currently wearing a light pink athletic top, purple shorts, and a pair of high-end dark grey running shoes.

He raised an eyebrow, clearly having expected for her to speak up. However, she merely shrugged and shook her head, a clear "if he wants to then he can" gesture. It made him frown a bit, but he said nothing; clearly there was some serious work to be done with some these rookies...

But that would have to come later. For now, it was Copper’s time to continue taking lead of things. "Well, this is a bit surprising, I’ll admit. Still, nice to have some willing volunteers!" The engineering pegasus smiled, stepping over to the stocks at each chair and undoing the magnetic locks on both, tilting the top halves open. "In that case, both of you can go on and take your seats.”

The two did as asked, sliding themselves into the chairs and nestling in to try and get as comfortable as they could. As they did so, Dusty looked over and gave Dune a challenging look, "West vs East, eh!? The rough trails against the white sands! Tell me, ya ready to be shown some real stallion strength there, big guy?"

Winter sighed as she folded her arms; so far she’d just been silent about her teammate’s choice, but finally saw it fit to speak up it seemed. She herself had a blue shirt with the Wonderbolts logo on the chest, along with a pair of black pants and pink sneakers. "Well, ya gotta love the guy’s positive attitude… but he's gotta be a complete meathead to be doing this..." Her teammates slowly nodded in agreement, looking up at their still-grinning comrade.

Sand, however, just gave him a rather straight face, "I’m not doing this for competition's sake. I’m doing this only because it’s required of me, and so that I may show this is will be useless against someone who can control such primal instincts."

"Spoken like a pegasus who's never learned better," Breeze said, shaking her head a bit. He was gonna get wrecked, no question about it. Now it was her team’s turn to nod in agreement, the thistle-colored mare looking over at her teammate as he shifted around a bit in his seat. At the moment she wore a light green shirt, grey sweatpants, and and brown sneakers, though she did let her wings drift down her sides a bit as she found herself really taking in the chairs in front of them.

Copper, for his own part, didn’t make much of a comment; he figured they were all going to hate him enough after he explained everything, so might as well not make it worse for himself. He continued on once the two stallions had gotten themselves seated, “Now, I personally won't be touching either of you for this. Or any of you, for that matter." He stepped forward a bit more, sliding off his backpack and reaching inside. He soon pulled out a grey electronic tablet out, turning it around and holding the screen out for others to see it was loading up some kind of program, as evidenced by the slowly-creeping bar on the screen. "See, these restraints in particular are special; they're fitted with numerous sensors that, once you’re strapped in, will let me track your vital signs along with helping me map out the most sensitive areas of your bodies. But of course, I need to to be able to properly record and store all of that data, so while I'm doing that, Blitz and Soarin are going to be..." he cleared his throat a bit, "helping me out with data collection."

Blitz raised an eyebrow looking over to Copper, "Helping? what do you mean?"

Soarin just chuckled a bit as he looked over at his friend, "Come on, isn't it obvious? He's saying we gotta do the tickling so he can get the data." He allowed himself a grin now, loving the look of slow realization on Blitz's face as he went on; seemed that while he knew what the cadets would be going through, he hadn't counted on getting to be the one to dish it out. "So hey… guess we might as well, right? After all, we're probably the two in this room who got the most experience in this particular field, so it makes sense."

He suddenly turned himself around, looking back at Sand and Dusty, "Alright now boys, we're gonna make this easier for everyone; I want you to ditch the shirts. That should help make things go a lot smoother." His gaze shifted over his shoulder, locked on the other cadets, "And that goes for all of you, too; when you get up here, shirts off."

It seemed that this was enough to make Gleaming finally speak up. "Ummm... EXCUSE me?!" she cried out, raising her own eyebrow now at Soarin this time, "I'm sorry, did you HONESTLY just tell us all to go shirtless for this?! Sorry, but that is not happening, at least not on my account!" She crossed her arms firmly, turning her head up and away with a small snort.

Dusty, on the other hand, didn’t seem all that thrown off by Soarin’s request. He practically tore his shirt off, revealing a torso toned with strong, developed muscles one would expect from years of consistent physical labor including a sculpted chest and a set of defined abs. The muscles on his torso began to flex a bit as well as he slid his wings into the chair’s back slots, grinning a bit as he silently showed off his form to the room's occupants.

Sand didn't even say anything, either; instead, he just pulled off his own vest, setting it aside for now. His own body was something to be admired as well, a full six-pack visible on his stomach with a broad, powerful-looking chest. He carefully inserted his wings into the pair of slots on the back of his chair, leaning back with his arms crossed for now.

Winter looked to Soarin, taking the chance to get his attention with a raised hand, "With all due respect sir, doesn’t she have a bit of a point? I mean, shirtless mares in a room of stallions is a little… creepy, isn’t it?”

Gleaming gave a small sigh of relief, “Thank you! See, there’s actually another voice of reason around here.”

“I mean, if it was a female commander I wouldn’t mind but still," she went on, making the Cadet Commander’s face manage to get paler than it already was.

“Why the buck did you have to go and say that…?” she groaned, facepalming in annoyance as Winter merely shrugged at her.

“If they think this is what’s best, I won’t resist.”

“Hmph, kiss-ass…”

“Hey now, watch that mouth of yours.” Blitz had spoken up rather abruptly, glaring over at Gleaming, “She’s not even on your team, and she just found a way around the problem you brought up. You’re a Commander, so at least have some restraint, okay?” The icy blue pegasus stepped back a bit, surprised by his sudden outburst. She looked back at Soarin, but if she was expecting any support than she would be disappointed.

He locked eyes with her, his tone more serious now as he spoke, “He’s right; first and most importantly, you shouldn’t be mouthing off at your fellow cadets. Especially considering I made you a commander because I decided you had the skills to fit that role.” She flinched a bit at that, but Soarin kept going, “However, if that’s how you’re going to act towards somepony who saw a way around the dilemma you brought up, I may reconsider.” He kept his stern glare going as she looked back to him, “Now, do you have anything more to say? Or will you let us continue?”

Gleaming wisely took the latter route and said nothing more for now.

Blitz gave a small nod, looking at the three mares in the room, "Okay, yeah, we get it; it’ll be uncomfortable and more than little awkward for everypony here at first. I mean hay, I have a marefriend and she'd kick my rainbows out if she knew I was ogling other mares. But this is all professional, right Soarin?"

His fellow Senior Commander nodded, his smile returning, "Still, don't worry ladies; I completely understand your feelings. And while I can’t guarantee that in the future we’ll always have the option to bring in a mare from the higher ups to help, we do at this moment. After all, I know somepony just perfect for this."

He reached into his pocket, sliding out his cell phone; a few taps of the screen and he had it to his head, face lighting up a bit as he clearly got an answer. "Ahhh, hey there Fleetfoot! Yeah, I know I'm supposed to be, but that's part of why I'm calling. See, I kinda need your help over here with something. Think you could... hello?" He pulled his phone down, looking at the screen to see the call had been ended. He sighed bit, gazing over at the far door. "Five, four, three, two..."

Blasting through the doors like a silver blue, Fleetfoot herself slide into the room on her knees like a rock star, currently in her own workout gear. "What's up bitches?!" she cried while jumping to her feet and looking around the room, "I'm ready to see newbies CRY!"

There was a long, silent pause as everypony else in the room gazed at her. In fact, it would have been rather fitting for a tumbleweed to bounce by at that moment.

Instead, Blitz just looked at Soarin with a flat expression and broke the silence; "What the hell, man?"

He gave a simple shrug, pocketing his phone, "She's the first pony I could think of who'd actually be willing to do this without feeling all that awkward about it. Well, except Surprise but she’s actually busy right now." Clearly he was used to his teammate's antics by now, as he simply walked up to Fleetfoot and looked down at her, "Still subtle as ever, I see..." He looked back at Gleaming and Breeze, both of whom were looking fairly surprised and more than little nervous as Fleetfoot's words now. "Look, we just need you to help with some data gathering; specifically, we need you to give our female cadets here a work over when they come up for their turns. Think you can be responsible enough to least do that with SOME amount of professionalism?"

"Responsible enough to collecting data? Yes! Professional? As if! Lemme live in the moment Soarin!" She comically hopped up onto his back, legs around his waist as she began pulling the collar of his shirt, "Let me be the newbie teaser we both know I was born to play!" She grinned, her other hand coming up and poking at his cheek as well. Yet Soarin didn’t seem to be moved by her antics, simply allowing her to continue as he spoke.

“Blitz. Go ahead.”

During all her goofing around with her teammate, Fleetfoot had unwisely let her guard down. The result was a smirking Blitz sneaking up behind her, his fingers poking into her sides. He quickly earned a loud squeal for his actions, the silver-maned mare releasing Soarin and shooting up to the ceiling, clinging to one of the light fixtures like a cat in a cartoon.

She quickly calmed down however, huffing a bit and looking down at Blitz with a glare, "That's it! I'm telling Applejack ya bastard!"

Horizon sighed from his position among his squadmates, rubbing the bridge of his snout between his fingers, "Can we move on to getting this started, please? This comedy act is getting rather stale." He wore a more baggy olive green vest with longer grey shorts and silver sneakers, one of which he was tapping against the room’s carpeted floor. This time, Soarin actually gave a response, nodding at the room.

"We do need to get this back on track; no point putting it off any longer." Reaching up, he found Fleetfoot’s tail dangling lazily in the air and gave it a gentle tug, causing her to let out a squeak of surprise and fall to the ground rather comically, landing on her back with her legs still sticking up. "Fleet, please at least try and be an adult for a little bit, would you?" he asked, watching as she hopped to her feet, arms crossed as she pouted a bit.

“Ohhhh, fine, ya killjoy.” Suddenly, Soarin had her finger waving in his face, “But I make no promises to hold back when it’s my turn up there.” Her gaze turned to the other mares in the room, giving a comedically evil grin. Yet despite how overblown it was, it was clearly unnerving the three just as she wanted, as they all stared back wearily.

Meanwhile, Soarin’s gaze moved over to Blitz, "Now then... how about we spice things up a bit?” A grin sprouted over his muzzle, “I say we give each other's team their work-overs, at least with the stallions. Why not see who can break the others’ newbies the fastest. Besides, they aren’t gonna get much time around us when we split after today, so might as well give ‘em something to compare their own Senior Commander’s work to in the future." He winked at him, knowing Blitz was bound to play along thanks to his competitive side.

Then sure enough, just like clockwork... "You're on Soar'! On the field or in here, I'm gonna show you who's better!"

"I'm sorry, but WHO's the senior member here in terms of experience?" he asked playfully, winking at Blitz as he began to walk over to Dusty's chair, "We may have both gotten in on the proposal to do this, but we BOTH know who the better one between the two of us is." Blitz gave him a glare, but there was no hiding the pink tinge he’d gotten on his cheeks. Soarin just chuckled a bit, sauntering up to Dust and eyeing him up and down, "Howdy there, Stranger."

Dusty gazed down, a smirked of determination on his face as he locked eyes with Soarin, "Howdy there, Commander! Bring it on!"

At the same time, Blitz managed to cast his blush off quickly, grinning now as he walked over to Sand's chair, "Well you're getting old, and we need newer guys like yours truly to step in and take the reins! Besides, you haven’t exactly gotten the chance to see the stuff I've done from the sidelines." He looked up, smirking a bit at the large pegasus, "What's up big boy? You think you're ready for this?"

Sand gave him a firm nod, speaking in the same serious tone he'd had so far, "I am quite ready, yes. I do hope you aren't disappointed by the end of this, however."

The words just made Blitz smirk even more however, “Heh, you really don’t know what you’re getting yourself into you, do you…?”

With that said, he and Soarin got to work on securing the straps in the chairs, each strap sliding into its respective slot with an audible click. Their torsos were first, each strap looking a bit thick and rather sturdy as they were secured right below their chests and at their waists, one even securing their thighs to the bottom of the seat. However, both of their head straps were left undone for now to give at least some additional movement. Then came their arms, both willingly setting them against the padded rests and allowing for more straps around their upper and lower arms ,as well as at their wrists. Finally came the stocks, each stallion slowly setting their ankles into the padded rests before the tops were shut and sealed tight.

While all of this was going on, Copper had been busy getting himself set up as well; he’d taken the liberty of moving one of the tables and chairs tables and chairs over, from off to the side, setting it up behind the group of fliers. Here he at least had a good view of both seats as he set the tablet out in front of himself. It had finished loading by now, and he’d opened a program that had the screen had split lengthwise, and the top and bottom, each labeled ‘left’ and ‘right’ up in the corner respectively, each showed two similar layouts with the left side of the screens showing what looked to be vital stats such as pulse rate, body temperature, breathing rate and even blood pressure. On the right side was what looked to be a three-dimensional figure of each of them, set in a digital model of the restraints and each currently colored grey from head to foot.

At least he knew that his tablet had linked up with both chairs properly. Now it would pick up transmissions from the sensors in each chair and allow Copper to store it away in files for his own personal use. Much more streamlined than trying to monitor everything and write it down by hand. He looked up to the Senior Commanders and gave them a nod, "Alright guys, I'm ready whenever you are."

“Right,” Soarin gave a nod, once more looking at the other cadets, “Squad Delta, at ease; you can can take a seat, but I want you to actually watch what’s about to happen here. After all, there’s not going to be any avoiding it so you might as well take it all in.”

“Same goes for you, Echo; pull up a seat and enjoy the show, before it’s your turn at least,” Blitz added with a snicker.

Both squads did as asked, relaxing themselves and pulling over the nearest chairs set against the walls. As they made themselves comfortable however, Horizon leaned over to Winter and spoke softly, "Bet you ten bits Dusty there screams like a filly."

The mare looked over to him silently, and with a small smile and nod the deal was made.

Sitting near the pair, Swift couldn't help but overhear the other team's hushed wagers. He rolled his eyes, straightening out his simple black shirt accompanied by white shorts and dark orange sneakers. "Remarkable; can you believe they're actually betting on this insanity?" he asked, looking over at Breeze as he leaned back.

"Twenty bits that Sand completely breaks in less than 5 minutes," was her only response, making her shorter teammate rub his snout and groan.

“Come on now; stop talking like that,” Soarin scolded, “There’s no reason to be making wagers here; this is part of your training. If you wanna bet, do it during your off time.” He chuckled a bit, reaching behind the headrest and hitting a button on the back; with a gentle whirring, the straps holding Dusty in place suddenly tightened up snugly, leaving him with little wiggle room. Blitz followed suit with Sand’s own bonds, and the pair were finally set. Thankfully for now, their footwear had remained in place, but the stocks left each pair easily removable.

"Alright, make sure to be thorough as you can for me, and try not to tire them out TOO much," Copper said, snickering a bit as he nestled in to watch, the remaining cadets having quieted down by this point as their Senior Commanders began to ready themselves.

Before they could start though, Fleetfoot suddenly slide in between the two chairs, "Ya know, if you two are making this a friendly little competition, why don’t I be the ref? Need something to do before it’s time for the ladies, after all.” With a quick shrug from the two stallions standing on either side of her, she grinned and held out a hand, “Okay then; ticklers, are you ready?!" She did a quick back and forth glance, getting nods from both of them. "Alrighty; let’s make these newbies cry!" she shouted happily, pumping her fist as the signal to begin.

Blitz, never one to take things slow, wasted no time as he moved behind the chair and dug his nails into Sand's ribcage. While he was tall and muscled, his torso also had a slender look to it, and Blitz was eager to test out the grounds, so to speak. That an the thrill of breaking him without even going for his feet seemed too fun to NOT try right now!

While Sand had never said it out loud, it was clear to just about everyone else in the room that he'd never been tickled properly before in his life. A rare thing for a pegasus his age, but not unheard of, especially if he’d grown up overseas. This was obvious to them because otherwise, he wouldn't have gone up acting so damned cocky and confident about being able to resist it.

Now though? Now it was showing as Blitz's fingers dug in nice and deep between his ribs, pressing into the soft, barely-touched skin between the bones. His eyes went out a, and he a gave sharp exhale as just about every muscle in his body jolted from the new, foreign sensation. Blitz clearly wasn't holding back at all, and Sand's body was sending his brain one message; get away, NOW! He tried, too; oh did he try, his torso immediately trying to twist and jerk away from Blitz's hands, but the straps left him no real wiggle room with how tight they were! But even if they did, he'd have just moved from one hand into the other, unable to escape the cruel fingers.

Of course, Soarin wasn't being any nicer; he moved behind Dusty’s own seat, allowing himself a small smirk as he cracked his knuckles. Fingers flexing, he moved them into Dusty's exposed underarms, nails pressing into each one and starting to rake them up and down at a quick pace.

Unlike Sand, it seemed Dusty had at least experienced this stuff before, if not all that much in his young adult life. His eyes widened as his muscles tugged hard against the bonds while a big grin plastered itself on his face, the stallion clearly trying to hold it in. While Soarin's methods weren't as ruthless as Blitz's, it was still a shock to his system!

While Sand was managing to keep quiet for now as well, Blitz wasn’t making it that easy at all. He smirked at the large pegasus’s reaction and leaned in by his right ear, "Aww, what’s wrong Sand?" He spoke in a teasing tone of voice, like one might talk to a baby or a beloved pet, "Can't handle a little tickle?" His fingers dig into the ribs, stroking and scritching about as they slowly headed to his underarms.

Sand didn't give him any response aside from a short grunt, his lips trembling madly; he knew he had set himself up far too much to break so easily. But... why was it so damned hard to keep himself under control?! It was a challenge just to stop himself from breaking out into a grin like the one Dusty had. Plus Blitz's taunting sure as Tartarus wasn't helping him one bit! Then his struggling stopped when he felt the cyan stallion's fingers starting to slide their way up, heading for his underarms. Instead, his body went stiff as his nerves were grazed, and he took the chance to bite down on his lower lip, hoping it would help him keep silent. After all, he had no idea how sensitive the rest of his body was! This was serving as a rather rude wake-up call as to just why they were adapting this new program, and if their goal was to avert him from ending up in spots like this, they were doing a damn good job.

Blitz smirked down at Sand as his nails dug into the skin; his method was a hard and fast approach, unlike Soarin's more slow and steady one. He was determined to see this overly-confident, inexperienced colt of a stallion break! But from the way his upper lip was trembling and how much he was already starting to sweat, it didn’t look like he’d have to try much harder than he was now.

Meanwhile, Soarin was enjoying Dusty's own, smaller reactions. He had a grin on his muzzle now as he began to speed up the pace of his fingers. Not only that, but he began to start twitching them up and down at random, different fingers scratching over random areas every few seconds so that he wouldn't be able to predict the sensations. Blitz may have been more harsh when it came to this stuff, but Soarin was far more clever.

Dusty strained against his bonds while the sounds of an internal struggle pass his lip. Grunts and even a few gasps came through through his tightly-clenched teeth as his wide eyes and trembling torso felt the fingers of Soarin work their cruel torment. He really didn’t feel like he wanted start laughing until Sand did. Mostly because he was a stubborn stallion, and yet a ticklish one as well! Sweat formed in his brown as he felt the fingers dig in further, a small whinny of desperation finally escaping his lips as the fingers dragged over his pits, making him flinch and jerk in the chair with little more than a few creaks from the straps.

The other cadets stayed quiet as they watched on, some with a bit more interest than others. This had seemingly become a battle of wills, and one would have to break soon. They felt the suspension of it too, gazes flashing back and forth between the two restrained stallions, curious to see which one of them would be the first over the edge. Though really, as the minutes ticked by it didn’t become much of a question of who, so much as when...

But the answer to that question was apparently ‘not very long’; much to his utter humiliation, Sand was the one to break down first. Blitz was showing his proper skill now, and apparently Sand's underarms were particularly sensitive. Once his nails hit them, raking up and down as they zig-zagged back and forth across his pits, Sand’s eyes shot wide open, the pupils shrinking as all resistance was forgotten. His mouth split wide open, and the large pegasus suddenly let out one of the loudest shrieks of laughter any of them had ever heard, his powerful vocal cords making the walls rattle with ease. After that, he didn't seem capable of regaining his composure, torso rocking back and forth the best it could. The slots on his and Dusty's wings had sealed as well, leaving them unable to flap their wings around either, so he was basically stuck in place as he was exposed to a whole new world of sensations that his mind told him to escape while his body simply couldn’t

As he watched from the back, Copper took a moment to gaze down at the tablet on the table in front of him. So far his machines all seemed to be working rather well; the data he was getting was spot on, showing that both of their vitals were on the rise as the two were tormented by each other’s Senior Commanders. Of course, that was to be expected, but the signs were a way to help him see which spots got to each stallion the most both physically and mentally. As for the 3D models, they both hand orange hazes at their underarms, showing him where pressure was being applied at this moment and lining itself up with the other stats he was getting. It was all being saved in real time too, backed up in files he’d set up for each member of the two squad. However, Sand’s rather abrupt, unexpected scream brought his attention back to the front once more

Soarin flinched a bit at the loud explosion of laughter to his side, but he didn't let it deter him. After all, Dusty was clearly on his own edge as well, and needed a good toppling himself. So, Soarin did the first thing that came to mind which he figured could bust his muzzle open.

Without any warning, his hands shot downward, nails pressing into his six-pack abs and starting to knead into them like they were heavy dough, his fingers dragging firmly across his stomach.

With that, like a stained glass window shattering to pieces, Dusty's will was broken. Loud, deep bellows of laughter came from his muzzle, his torso trembling and straining against his bonds now as his rather strong stomach became the next target. His firm muscles barely moved against the fingers, but the nerves underneath were all Soarin wanted to manipulate. He seemed to be doing a fine job too, as Dusty’s own laughter went unabated now alongside Sand’s, the two’s laughter in plain contrast of each other and definitely something to behold as their teams each took the sight in.

Soarin wasn’t done just yet however; that was simply the start of Dusty’s REAL torment. Leading off his own pretty boy's explosion of laughter, his hands moving down to Dusty's slightly-defined hips, pressing into their soft grooves as he dragged his nails back and forth rapidly. "Heh, I guess you country boys aren't as tough as I've heard you are," he taunted, voice soft and cooing like Blitz's had been earlier.

Dusty seemed to at least be trying to keep his laughter in check but failed each time as he tries to close his muzzle, giving off the odd shriek as his hips were teased and touched, making his cheeks slowly go red as he shakes his head around frantically. He knew was tough! He knew he was strong! He knew he could endure… but damnit, this was hard! Any counter-remarks he tried to throw back were all but lost among his handsome belly laughter.

It was only getting more intense as time went on, too; while Soarin kept one hand at Dusty's lower belly, a single finger starting to prod around inside of his belly button and resulting in a loud shout of boyish laughter that made his cheeks flush pink. Meanwhile, the other hand moved upwards to give his chest a run-over, fingers raking and scrabbling over his impressive pecs. They even grazed across his nipples a few times, each motion over them causing his heart to jump a bit in his chest. All of this while his voice rang in Dusty’s ears; "What, nothing to say to that cowboy? Come on; surely you can at least talk through this? You were acting pretty damn confident about this ten minutes ago, after all.~"

While that was happening, Blitz moved his own hands around to Sand’s chest and stomach, one hand in each area. His nails got to work without hesitating, dragging around his pecs and spidering themselves over and between his abs. As he watched Sand struggle and laugh, Blitz was starting to get that familiar tickler’s rush; his heart was beating faster than normal, as if he was taking a brisk job, and he was getting a warm, happy feeling inside of his chest! He didn’t want to let up now, especially since it was obvious Sand was utterly freaking out!

His laughter, if possible, only seemed to have gotten stronger as Blitz's fingers played over his torso; he was clearly trying to suck in his muscular stomach, but even if he could it would have been futile as Blitz's fingers pressed into it, making him yelp as one passed near his navel and causing his cheeks to go a bit pink. Clearly all his confidence from earlier was out the window, his laughter so strong he was actually beyond words! His body was shaking around and thrashing the best it could, but even as his muscles flexed it was clear the straps weren’t about to give anytime soon.

Blitz was smirking quite broadly now, his fingers working their way to the hips and sides in spider-like motions across his sensitive flesh. He was enjoying the studly pegasus getting wrecked so easily, and by his own hand no less! There was no other way to describe the feeling other than amazing. Once he saw just how bad his struggled were getting, he took his chance and went with it, cooing into his ear, "Go on, just try and get out Sandy. I bet you caaaaan't!~"

The taunting was well earned too, as Sand seemed to legitimately be trying to do so! But Copper's quality showed as, despite his strong pulls and thrashing, but bonds didn't even groan from the strain. He couldn't even arch is back like his body wanted to as his sides and hips were assaulted, resulting in another loud shriek. His cheeks had long since gone red from embarrassment, and tears were actually starting to form in the corners of his eyes. Sure, he wasn't exactly used to this, but it was clear even by pegasus standards he was a sensitive fellow; they weren't even at his feet yet after all, and already he looked like he wanted to pass out!

As the rest of the cadets continued to watch, that shifted around in their seats. It was clear they all felt rather...uneasy. This was about to happen to them soon enough, and they knew it… plus, these were each team’s more brave faced, strong-looking stallions, and they had already been broken in such a short time. Soarin and Blitz really weren’t playing around here; they meant business, and it showed as both stallion’s began to sweat from the sheer exertion of laughing so much.

Fleetfoot, on the other hand, couldn’t have grinned more if she tried. But still, this was all a pre-show to her, and she wanted to move on to the main event. She stepped up between her chairs and held up a hand, "Alright boys, that’s enough foreplay. Let’s go to the REAL gold mine here! What do you say Copper?"

He looked up from his screen, having been silent as he was focused on recording as much of the data as he could... and so far, he was getting a gold mine with these two! Thanks to the speed of the technology he had to work with, he had been able to map out the sensitivity of their upper bodies quite thoroughly already. So, he gave them a nod, "I have just about everything I can get from their upper bodies; I think it's time for the feet, myself.”

"Heh, was hoping that you would say that," Soarin said happily, hands quickly pulling off of Dusty's torso. He allowed the cowboy a brief breather as he walked down to his feet, wasting little time in unlacing his sneakers and tugging them off, tossing them into Dusty's lap.

Blitz moved in too, tugging Sand’s shoelaces loose with a few good pulls before tossing the sneakers to the ground beside him, "Dont need these anymore! I’d get used to this part if I were you guys! After all, no place is better than the feet, especially on a pegasus."

The country pegasus was taking this brief moment to lean back, panting hard as he looked up at the ceiling. His thick white socks were out in the open, a bit damp from sweat; his toes curled up inside of them, body shivering a bit as he tried to collect himself. Once he managed to his voice, he finally spoke up, "Sw-sweet maker, t-this is… just mind breakin'! I...I..." He looked up slowly, and to everypony’s surprise, began to smile, "I-I think ah like it! Ah mean, talk about a hellova rush!"

"A… A-are you mad!?" Sand managed to choke out between his deep panting, looking over at Dusty like he'd just talked about the joys of bathing angry cats. He had been swallowing down air like it was water, but managed to find enough strength now to talk, "This is... T-this is maddening! I don't understand why we're so sensitive, but this is practically inequine! Are... A-Are we really going to have this as the norm now!?" He sounded legitimately worried now, in stark contrast to how he'd been treating things earlier. His own sock-clad feet curled tightly, hoping that it would at least ensure the last line of defense he had stayed put. He couldn't even begin to comprehend how sensitive they must be, and he definitely didn’t want to find out now...

Soarin looked over at his cadet, speaking directly to him, "Sorry there Sand, but this is gonna become a big part of your daily routine. Not just for you, but for everypony else in here.” He looked back at the other cadets, all of whom were looking on wearily by this point, “Also, Blitz has a point; you guys are gonna wanna get used to going barefoot a good chunk of time. After all, footwear really is only gonna be a hindrance more than protection. Like these socks; they’re really just useless decoration, because we’re not gonna let you keep them on." He reached down, pulling off Dusty's socks with no trouble and taking a moment to inspect his bared soles.

Dusty sported a pair of size 15 feet, broad and wide like an earth pony’s, but with the high arches and soft toes pegasi were well known for. Said toes curled up as he gave a shaky smirk, confident yet nervous in contrast on his face, he sees the challenge! "Go on Commander! teach mah feet a lesson!" he was trembling! he knew this was a bad idea but it was an addiction to him at this point.

Well, at least the guy was embracing his new norms fairly quickly, Soarin thought to himself,. He chuckled a bit at Dusty's goading, looking up at him with a small grin, "Ya know, I'm almost sad I didn't get you on my team, cowboy; I can tell you'd have definitely made things more interesting." He looked down at the impressive feet, taking them in as he grabbed at one of the rings near the top, pulling it down to show it was connected to a retracting cable. He began to secure it and the other rings on the base of each toe, one by one, until each one was being pulled back, leaving both soles nice and taut while unable to curl or jerk around.

Still, he tried to move his toes and feet, only to find himself unable to to even twitch the latter while the former only managed to curl slightly, leaving Dusty with no real protection. He took a few deep, like he was trying to focus himself, and balled up his fists, braced himself for it what was to come. Part of him was scared, knowing it would feel insane, but another part was… actually looking forward to this! He swallowed gently, looking back at Soarin, "Ah can do this, ah know an can do this! Ahmma make my Pa proud’o me! So wreck me all ya want, Commander!! Ah’ll take it all!"

"Proud of you Dusty! showing true spirit!" Blitz said proudly, looking over at his charge and giving him a genuine smile.

Still, it turned back into a smirk as his gaze moved back to Sand "Oh, now whats with that face?~" He could see the worry in his eyes, the slight tremble of his head as he was trying to keep from saying or doing anything that would make him feel more helpless than he did already. Instead, he curled his toes even tighter… only to watch as Blitz swiftly hooked a finger into each sock, sliding them up the sides of his feet and sweeping each garment off ease, turning them inside out before yanking them out of his curled toes.

“Take that as a lesson; even if you try to keep ‘em on, we’re just gonna get ‘em off anyway,” Blitz explained in as he removed Sand's socks with ease, despite the his light-coated captive’s attempts to hold them in place. He looked up at Sand, eyes locking as his taunting continued, "Aww, is something wrong there, Sandy? Scared you can't take a good tickling to the feet now that you get what’s happening around here? If so, then I can’t WAIT for this to get going!"

Sand couldn't stop himself as he saw the socks come off without any effort; he actually let out a small whimper! He didn't want anymore of this! He just wanted for it to end already! His own feet were a size 17, no doubt giving him the biggest foot size of the group. But they were also longer and more slender Dusty's own, with higher arches and slightly shorter toes that curled firmly once more in a feeble attempt at protection.. He tried to cover one foot with the other as well, but they were spread too far apart for the motions to have any real effect.

Blitz knew it too, and he just gave a teasing snicker while was setting the rings around Sand’s toes to make them useless, only chilling the cadet’s blood even more as he found his feet immobile. He couldn’t recall a time he had ever felt so truly, utterly helpless, and being forced to take what, to him, was quite a bit of intense torment hadn’t helped all that much.

However, even as his toes were bound, Sand he seemed to be doing his best to get back his original, neutral expression. But even as he did so, there was still worry clearly etched over his face. Yet he tried to steady himself as he finally found his voice; he was nervous, yes. But what reason was there to give into this after coming so far?! He looked down at Blaze, voice louder than before as he spoke up, "I... I-I will endure this! I will NOT have all my effort be for naught over something so foalish! D-Do what you will, I’m going to see this through!"

"Heh, I like your spirit, Sand!" his own Senior Commander said, pride behind his voice while looking over at him with a grin. True, Soarin could tell the guy was terrified, but was also willing to work through it. He had the spirit to be here, even if he had been rather arrogant at the start.

His gaze wandered back to Dusty for now though, specifically to his feet, "As for you, I guess I'll take your words to heart. Now let's see what we're working with here.~" He grinned a bit, fingers pressing their pads against his wide arches and taking a long, grand sweep down, going right over his heels as well!

Dusty held nothing in this time as he bellowed in laughter again, this time even louder than before! His large feet and toes trembled in their bonds on the natural impulse to escape, but they still stayed put. His feet were warm from the shoes but luckily not sweaty, and there was no harsh odor either. Sure they were a bit hard in places, but otherwise his feet looked pretty damn good!

At the same time Soarin got to work, Blitz dug his own nails into Sand’s toes, sliding a nail in between each toe and scratching at the skin firmly, "Alright, let’s not fall behind, now!"

Poor Sand didn't have any chance; Blitz seemed to have struck gold on his first jump into those soft soles. He arched his head up against the headrest, screeching in such a high pitch most would think only mares could give off such a noise. But there he was, eyes wide open with pupils far smaller than normal. His toes immediately began to tremble in their bonds as well, the rings and cable holding strong as the digits struggled in vain. Thankfully his own feet weren't that sweaty either, but they were still rather warm between the toes, and Blitz could tell each gap was perfectly smooth, even though there was some obvious hard spots around his own soles.

"Heh, looks like we’ll need to take you guys down to the health center at some point today to get these feet of yours fixed up. Can't have you going around with dry skin and callouses, after all," Soarin said, speaking up over the pair’s combined laughter as his fingers flexed their way to the balls of Dusty's own feet, curling the nails up and down as he worked them side to side over the tender flesh.

Dusty's cheeks started to go red now, body trying to buck and struggle as much as it could; his big peds were trembling and tugging as his feet were so easily tormented, the fingers gliding over them with astounding ease. Soarin was moving each digit with smooth, trained grace around his feet, and the wide sweeps over his arches were getting fresh waves of loud, boisterous laughter from him. More sweat dripped down from his brow as his laughter came out in endless streams, body finally starting to tire out from all of his struggling.

Blitz turned his head back to the others as he moved his fingers outward, digging into the toes properly as he dragged in nails over the stems, up to the pads and right back down as well. "Everyone should go today actually, we're gonna be holding weekly foot care inspections, along with monthly evaluations too! We're being dead serious guys."

Even as he was talking rather casually about their expectations, it was clear Blitz was still giving his all to the stocked feet in front of him He was finally at his soles now, fingers kneading and grazing across the balls of his feet. It wasn’t as bad as when he’d gone for his toes, but he seemed to purposely be letting his nails gaze against small patches of the skin at random times, leaving his laughter to spike up out of the blue.

Poor Sand wasn't taking it well at all, either; his chest was heaving from laughter now, both it and his brow shining from a thin layer of sweat. Not only that, but once again found himself laughing too hard for words, even just the balls of his feet sending electric sensations through his soles and up to his brain. It only made him shake about in his bonds even more, tears finally starting to trickle down his cheeks from the hellish torment.

Of course, while this was happening the rest of the cadets were listening to their Senior Commanders. Not only that, but one finally decided to speak up, voice raised to be heard over the laughter.

"Sorry, but just how can you be serious when you're tickling someone?" Horizon huffed, visible eye rolling towards the ceiling. While the others were sitting up straight, he’d taken to leaning back in his chair, arms crossed as he looked to the tickling duo.

Soarin took the chance to answer, looking back and giving Horizon a grin and wink, “That’s simple, cadet; you learn over time. But Blitz isn’t joking; we're gonna be taking foot care serious around here, and the health center's got new staff who specialize in pedicures and give them for no cost on your end. So really you don't have any excuses as to why your feet aren’t in top condition after today," he told them, his fingers only just reaching the stems of Dusty's toes, nails stiff as they raked up and down each stem rapidly to get loud, squealing laughter from the country stallion. While they didn’t seem to be as bad as his soles, he was clearly starting to get tired now, his laughter sounded more winded as his torso had a glow of sweat to it now.

He wasn’t the only one who was starting to finally wear out though; Sand's laughter seemed to be dying down as Blitz began to explore his arches, now sounding a lot more tired and shaky. His mind couldn't focus on that right now though; really, it couldn’t focus on anything but the devious sensation coursing over his feet anymore, and how he just wanted it to STOP! His own body glistened with sweat, but Blitz didn’t seem to show any signs of slowing down. Neither did Soarin, for that matter, both going at it full force still even as their targets were nearing their limit.

Amazingly, it ended up being Fleetfoot who became their salvation; she had been watching the two restrained stallions for the whole time, and while she would happily admit it had been quite the fun time, she could see they were low on energy. An unconscious or utterly tired cadet was no good at all, so she decided to finally speak up, looking back at Copper, whose head was still turned down to observe the data, "Hey smarty pants, we all good with these two yet?”

Caught slightly off guard, the pegasus engineer looked up at Fleetfoot, who was giving him an expectant look. He held the tablet up, taking a final look at the screen in front of him; from what he could tell, the data for both sets of feet had been fully mapped out. To none of his surprise, they put pretty much any spot on their torsos to shame! He set the device back down, giving her an ‘okay’ gesture.

The was all she needed to see, walking up to the ticklers and patting their shoulders, "Alright boys, time’s up! Gotta let these two keep their brains, at least for the time being."

Blitz slowly came to a stop, fingers pulled back from the now-pink soles in front of him. Still, it actually took Sand a few moments to realize that he was, in fact, no longer being tickled. At which point his laughter finally came to an end and he allowed his body to slump in the seat, panting heavily as sweat and tears soaked his body. ."Already? That’s a damn shame,” Blitz said, a bit of genuine disappointment audible in his voice. “Still, that was a hell of a work out, wouldn’t you say so Soar’?"

Soarin had stopped at around the same time Blitz did, chuckling a bit as he rubbed his fingers together. Dusty more or less stopped laughing the moment the fingers left him, though he still chuckled softly at the after tingles, body limp against the chair as he panted and drank in oxygen, a nice big grin left on his face. "Eeeehh, don't worry Blitz; we still got a few others waiting in line, after all." He winked to his friend, looking back at the other rookies with a teasing grin on his face.
The remaining three stallions in particular all either looked away or swallowed nervously, clearly not looking forward to their own trips up here now.

As Sand and Dusty were allowed to rest for a moment, Winter took the chance to speak now that things seemed to be calming down, if just for a moment. "Umm, Commander Soarin, were you being serious about those pedicures?” she asked gently. Upon getting a nod from him, her eyes suddenly lit up. “We're allowed to get pedicures whenever, and for totally free?! Oooh, now that is what I call a real perk to this!!"

Gleaming just sighed however, rolling her eyes at Winter's words, "You DO realize it's so that they can make things even WORSE on us, right?” She looked aside, mumbling under her breath, “Feels like this place is turning into a collection of foot pervs if you ask me..."

Fleetfoot looked over to Gleaming and smiled, strolling up and walking behind her chair, hands resting against the back. "Well, not all of us, only those two-” she motioned back to Soarin and Blitz, both of who shot gentle glares at the back of her head, “-but they are professionals, I promise you that." It was at that moment she reached up with a hand, finger extended... and booped Gleaming's nose! "Besides, you know how the old saying goes: ‘Don’t knock it till you try it’, honey."

Gleaming looked up and gave Fleetfoot the iciest glare she could muster...yet said nothing more and just turned her head away after a few seconds. Much as she wanted to make a retort, she knew better than to mouth off to a senior officer. Chances were it would land her in those... things longer than needed to. With this teasing, overly-peppy and playful mare as her tormentor and just knowing she’d have to deal with her regardless made a shiver go down her spine.

"Welp!" The rainbow-named Commander grinned, dusting his hands, "That was still fun while it lasted!” He finally took a glance over to their engineer himself, “So how's the info Copper? You get something good by any chance?"

The brown stallion chuckled a bit, looking over at them with a grin of his own, "I did actually; I've got everything I'll need about these two for the future." Even as they were sitting there in the haze of post-tickle torture recovery, both rookies heard him loud and clear. But while Sand held a chill go down his back at the prospect of having something custom-made for him, Dusty wasn’t all the phased. In fact, Copper could have sworn he saw a flash of excitement behind his eyes...

"Heh, good to hear it!" Soarin said happily, getting to his feet as he worked on undoing the restraints. Once both stallions were freed, they were helped up by their Senior Commanders and escorted over to their teammates, chairs pulled out for each of them. They gladly sat back down, still looking exhausted from everything they’d gone through. They didn’t even seem to hear Soarin’s next words.

Good thing too, since they made the others look up at him and Blitz in mild fear. Soarin had turned his gaze to a nearby wall clock, smiling as he read it, "Gotta say Copper, those machines of yours got some decent processing speed since it's only been about 30 minutes. At this rate, we should be able to finish with all of you just before lunch hour!" His gaze came back down, scanning over at the remaining group, "So... who's next?"

Author's Note

Well, I only just barely kept my promise (It's a quarter to 11 at night on Sunday as I'm writing this) but here it is, the next chapter in all it's pervy, expository glory!

And DAAAAMN did it end up longer than I was expecting! Seriously, I didn't even realize this chapter had hit nearly 12,000 words until I actually finished it!

Seriously though, I'm proud of this chapter at least, as I've finally gotten to write some longer, fleshed-out tickle torture, which was why this even came about in the first place! So I do hope you all enjoyed it. I just wish I could have included the others as well, but then this would have ran WAY to damned long. Next chapter is gonna be a short time skip too, but I'll be filling in the blanks so to speak when that comes around. Still, if I can find some time to do it, maybe I'll write out the others' experiences as a bonus chapter.

Anyhow, next chapter is gonna be a fair bit shorter than this one, thankfully. But that's mainly because it's part one of a two-parter, and will mainly be expanding on the members of Delta and Echo and giving some proper character interaction, and that part should be out by next weekend. But the second part is going to feature another one of their group getting a proper session in-story, so while I can't give a good date on when that'll be out, keep your eyes peeled for it.

As usual, any and all feedback is welcome from you guys. Hope you're all enjoying so far and I'll see you next chapter!