It wasn’t until past noon that Squads Delta and Echo finally got to the mess hall, stepping inside with all their recruits looking rather defeated in their own ways.

While they had been allowed to go back to their barracks and shower up after their rather strenuous ‘testing’, there was no hiding the rather tired, broken-looking expressions they wore. Nor could they hide the slight slumps in their posture as they were all clearly still getting over the physical and mental strain it had caused them.

The remaining tests after Dusty and Sand had been just as taxing on everyone else as it had been on them, if not more so. Despite the two being their respective teams’ physically strongest members, and both had fallen so easily! But that was just a testament to the odd skills their captains wielded.

As such, it wasn't really THAT surprising that the rest had a good bit of trouble taking what their commanders had dished out. Or in the case of their female members what Fleetfoot had gone and dished out on them...

Finally though, they had put the grueling morning behind them, and their captains had decided it was a good idea to simply allow some recovery time after they’d clean up, and so it was decided a group meal in the mess hall was next on the schedule Still, as the groups walked inside the large dining area, among their group however was an unexpected face; Copper.

Once their testing had been wrapped up, and the data he’d gained was collected and stored away safely, Soarin actually offered for him to join the teams for lunch. An offer he graciously accepted; it would be nice to have a proper meal amongst other ponies for a change, rather than being cooped up in his shop. It also meant he could have something other than a simple meal tossed in the microwave or boiled on his stove, a nice change of pace meal-wise.

Fleetfoot, on the other hand, had come along without any invite. She seemed only too happy to tag along with her fellow higher ups and their friend, and had followed them all the way there under the excuse of needing her own lunch and opting to join them. Soarin and Blitz knew better than to try and stop her, though; she’d made up her mind, and there’d be no changing it.

He followed the group inside, as quiet as the cadets in front of him as he grabbed what seemed appetizing to him, joining the group at a long rectangular table, ending up sat between Soarin and Blitz.

The others were all there as well, now in more casual clothing. Thankfully their Senior Commanders weren’t so cruel as to have anything physical planned for the rest of the day; they all looked drained enough after such a grueling morning.

Brave Star was managing a strong look, even though his eyes still saw the horrors of what happened, while Gleaming Streak’s eye was twitching every few minutes as she recalled her own experience, looking ready to snap at whoever so much as looked at her wrong.

Winter wore a heavy hoodie in order to feel like she had some kind of protection on her, and Graceful was keeping her wings firmly lowered over her sides, hips, and part of her stomach.

Horizon and Swift were both trying to make it look like they weren't bothered by what happened while they clearly were.

Dusty had his head on the table, seemingly thinking back on his life up to now as Sand just sat there silently, head focused on his tray as he ate.

The others, on the other hand, were all looking rather upbeat and relaxed as they dug into their own meals. Soarin finally decided to break the silence though, putting down his bottled water, "C'mon on now, chin up ponies! It's not that bad or humiliating, you all lasted a great amount of time!"

Blitz snorted as he gave Soarin a look "Speak for yourself! You're some freak stallion who actually likes it!"

"Yeah, but that's because he's always been the oddball out of all of us, even before we learned that interesting little fact,” Fleetfoot added, a rather large grin on her face as she took her seat among the group. She snickered a bit, leaning across the table towards Soarin, "I think that's part of why you even GOT this idea, if you ask me.~"

However, he just gave his teammate a wink and grin, "You will never know the truth to that Fleet. I can guarantee you that." He smirked as he took a bite out of his meal, contently enjoying himself while the mare playfully stuck her tongue out at him in response.

Blitz in the meantime was looking over to the newbies, all of whom looked rather uninterested in conversation at the moment, and snorted, "Pfft, don’t look so down guys; this is nothing compared to actual touring shows or anything. If anything, times like today are the best case scenario"

It was at that moment Soarin cleared his throat, getting everyone else’s attention, "I think we need to know about each other a little more. After all, we’re going to be working together a lot more in the upcoming years, even after you guys become full-fledged ‘bolts. So how about you tell us why you decided to join and stick this out?"

The group looked around at each other, clearly running over the options silently in their heads; Soarin DID make a good point. They hardly knew each other properly at this moment, and after... THAT, there was really no point in hiding much about themselves. Still, it seemed like they were a bit hesitant to be the first ones to speak up and get the ball rolling, until…

"Well, I nominate him to go first" Gleaming said, her gaze suddenly fixed on Copper as she pointed her finger over at the surprised brown pegasus.

"Me?"

"Yeah, you,” she repeated, jabbing the finger in his direction, “You know; the guy who's making all this stuff that's gonna put us through Tartarus."

"He IS from Tartarus!" Dusty chipped in, "Who else but some sorta agent o' Sombra or Tirek to unleash something that hellish on other pegasi?!"

"Why do you think he focuses only on pegasi?" Horizon asked, raising an eyebrow at his teammate.

"'Cause pegasi are amazin', duh!" Dusty felt that was a solid enough argument it seemed, giving a confident nod to his statement.

"Gee, thanks for making me feel so welcome," Copper said with a roll of his eyes, "But heck, I guess you guys at least deserve to know a little about me." He leaned forward in his chair, looking around as he spread his wings, "Take a good look; pretty clear I got wings that won't get me far. I'm not grounded, but I can't fly for too long or else they start to hurt. Mom didn't drink or smoke or anything while she was having me, either; I just got unlucky and stuck with stunted wings that stopped growing when I was a teen. Not that it mattered to me all that much in the end; my special talent ended up being mechanical engineering. I'm a lot more at home in my workshop than doing laps in the sky."

Brave raised his hand, catching Copper’s attention as he asked, "So how did you get to where you are now? I mean, such devices are rather… outlandish for a pegasus, don’t you think?"

He looked aside, cheeks a bit pink, "Well, let's just say this has always been a... personal interest of mine. I know, it's far from usual; a pegasus so fascinated with restraints that leave them open to their greatest weakness. It's only by luck and college connections I even learned they were looking for somepony to make these, though! And who was I to pass up a dream job like this? I mean I work for the Wonderbolts and do what I love daily."

"So… what you're saying is that you're being paid to be a professional pervert?" Winter thought out loud, the bluntness of her words like an arrow to the chest that made Copper wince.

He sighed, but nodded, "Yes, that's the crude way to put it, I guess. But I took the job because they all had a part in creating it in the first place." He abruptly pointed to Soarin, Blitz, and Fleetfoot, "So yeah, I may be the professional pervert, but it's because of these three there's even such a position. Heck, Soarin's the one who picked me out of their applicant pool."

The newbies all stared at Soarin now, faces displaying looks all clearly screaming "It was him!", to which Soarin merely smiled and waved casually, elbow on the table with his hand propping up his head.

"I am not sorry in the least; I enjoyed myself finding a pony who could live up to the task, and I don’t have much doubt in my mind that I picked the right one.” He grinned over at Copper, who gave him a smile back, cheeks pink once again…

Before Soarin could notice though, Fleetfoot took a moment and spoke up, “Well, not that’s out of the way...” her gaze shot over to Gale, “Since you decided to volunteer somepony else, I think I’ll play along and volunteer you to go next, missy.”

The icy-blue mare groaned a bit, looking over at soarin who just gave her a quick nod, "Okay, fine." She looked over at the three higher ups, "Look, I bet these three already know, but I got family here; Rapid Fire's my uncle, and I'm the only new blood in our family so I kinda got saddled with the 'future wonderbolt' label when he got in and I was showing that I was good at training up my body. I didn't ask for the handouts I got, but I took 'em to work myself into peak shape. That’s why I'm here; not because my uncle pulled any strings. I'm here because I want to be more than just 'Rapid Fire's niece' and make my OWN name for myself."

She looked to the other rookies as finished her explanation; thankfully, there didn’t seem to be many odd looks thrown her way. Gleaming had more than proved herself during their days in the academy though, so they knew it wasn’t a lie. After all, sh’d been among the fastest of their group, only outmatched by Swift in that field, and she’d shown quite a bit of endurance as well.

"It'll be hard to do, it's hard to separate blood in a place like this," Blitz told her. "I mean yeah, a good few other ‘bolts know, and so do we, but don’t be shocked if you're still labeled as bad as him before the others get to know you. And you may need to work on that image for a while. After all, we all know he's not gonna be retiring anytime soon, mostly because he wants to beat Soarin at least once."

Said pegasus sighed a bit, shaking his head, "He's still trying too, I’ll give him that! But still, these rivalries tend to get old over time. Don’t exactly have the time for it now, either."

Gleaming sighed, looking back at the table, "You’ll have to tell him that; trying to beat you is all he talks about half the damned time… but no, I'm doing this for myself, nopony else. Gods know the folks have put enough pressure on me already to 'become a legacy', but buck that noise. This is all for me to make a real name for myself in the end."

“Huh… well Gleaming, all can I can really tell you to that is ‘good luck’ because you’ll need it,” Soarin told her, looking over at the other rookies, “So, who wants to keep this ball moving?”

"Well, I guess I could go next," Breeze said gently, clearing her throat a bit, "We already have names down, so guess I'll skip that. Anyhow, I'm not from any big-time Pegasus city like Cloudsdale or anything; I come from Manhattan. My folks are both earth ponies running a flower shop there. Apparently we had some pegasus on my dad's side; great-grandma was one and the genes picked up in me."

"I can relate to that," Blitz said as he put down his water bottle, "A friend of mine works at a bakery owned by two earth ponies. They got twins, but one’s a pegasus and the other unicorn. They tried to explain it, but I honestly couldn’t keep track of what they were saying. Pony genetics are super weird..."

Soarin nodded, smiling over at Breeze, "So what made you want to be a Wonderbolt?"

"Well, kids can be mean, and a lot of ponies in school made fun of me since I'm bigger than most pegasus mares, even if it was from my Earth Pony side.” She looked up as she spoke, memories playing through her head, “For a while, I kinda did feel like a freak. But then my school went on a field trip, and I saw the Wonderbolts for the first time. More specifically, I got to see Valkyrie and I was inspired; she was a pegasus built like an earth pony too, and she was one of the best fliers around! After that I told myself that I'd do everything I could get there and show mixed races are nothing to be ashamed about."

Her Senior Commander chuckled a bit, "Valkyrie inspired you huh? Well you may see her around now and again, she comes back to work out and fight regularly. She may be retired but she never stops for very long.”

Breeze’s eyes lit up a bit at hearing that, clearly excited at the idea of possibly meeting her idol. It also seemed that the table was starting to relax a bit, as another voice spoke up just seconds later without any egging on.

"Alright, I’ll go," Winter perked up a bit, "I'm actually from Cloudsdale myself; I'm the oldest of four and we're all named after seasons because my parents seem to think they're clever. My dad's a Buckball player who thinks he's cool but he's really the biggest dork you can think of. Mom's a supervisor at the weather factory herself, specializes in lightning control. As for why I’m here, well I became a Wonderbolt so my siblings have someone to look up to in their lives. And also to see how I can improve myself, as well; flying’s always been a big passion of mine and I love it a lot, but I’ve always known there’s room for me improve."

It was Fleetfoot’s turn to speak up again, giving a happy chuckle, "Heh, being an inspiration huh? Well I get it, gotta make an example when you're leading your siblings. Don’t worry kid; we’re here to make ya into something you and your folks can be proud of." Then, without any warning, her head suddenly turned to look over at Swift, "Now, what about you, huh buddy?"

The small pegasus jumped a bit, clearly not having expected to be put in the spotlight so suddenly, looking around as all eyes were on him now. He coughed a bit and striaghtened up, "Oh, well... I came here from Cloudsdale, too. I've got an older brother myself, and you can imagine the sibling teasing that occurred there. I know I'm fairly short, but I've never really seen it as a handicap. In fact, it gave me an advantage since I have normal-sized wings, allowing me to be faster than my peers, hence why I was always placing so high in the speed tests at the academy. I've joined to try and be an inspiration myself. I know there are plenty of others out there who are put down for things they can't help about themselves, so I want to show them you can be the best of the best if regardless, so long as you work for it."

Blitz gave him a thumbs up and grinned, "Hey, I can get behind that! Don't let your size pull you down, Swift; as a fellow speeder, we should be making these guys eat our dust and well, I'm shorter than my marefriend so it’s alright."

Apparently, that was enough to make Dusty do a spit take, thankfully not hitting anypony. He looked over at Blitz, eyes wide, "You sayin’ that you gotta special somepony?! But… But how in the hay does a candy-maned daredevil like you getta mare?!"

Blitz smirked, puffing out his chest, "Duuuh, by being awesome! That, and countless deadly adventures along the way!" He then smirked to Dusty, "What’s wrong big guy? Can't land a mare?"

The southern stallion's cheeks lit up "N-no! It's just ah got lots a' work to do! A-Ah ain’t had time fer datin’ it all!"

There were a few snickers around the table, and Fleet struck on the opportunity she now saw, "Awww, don't tease him now Blitz; maybe he doesn't want a mare, per say?~"

Dusty looked like he was about to explode with how red his face was getting, and he was about to speak up before Horizon cut in, "Enough about questioning Dusty's sexuality, let him deal with his homo-erotic feelings and gestures later."

"HEY!" He snorted a bit, shaking his head to try and get the blush to leave, "Welp, if you’re gonna go on and talk about me, at least lemme tell ya about mahself.” He coughed a bit, clearing his throat, “Ah'm doin’ this fer self pride, mahself." His arms began to flex as he went on, "Ah'm the best aerial lifter in Appleoosa, but it got awful borin’ awful fast carryin’ stuff around the town for folks. Ah wanted adventure, thrills and kick ass trainin', so ah signed up as fast as ah could! You just watch out Soarin, cause ahmma take yer title as strongest Wonderbolt!"

Soarin smirked at that, leaning towards him with a small smirk, "Sure, once you sort out if you rather stare at Sand's plot or Winter’s."

"Dang it, ah ain’t a coltcoddler! Ah like mares!" he cried out, snorting from his nose as another round of snickering rose from the table. Fleetfoot's remark seemed to have stuck, sadly.

"Don't worry big guy; we're just playing," she assured, giving him a knock on the shoulder with her fist, "Besides, it'd be fun to see Soarin's face if a rookie knocks down his records!"

"As I said to Gleaming, good luck" Soarin kept grinning "but It's not a bad thing to be here for yourself, to prove you're more than just a one trick pony, overconfidence can be the route to a fast downfall."

As if on cue, everyone turned to Blitz, who was halfway through eating his pudding when he noticed everypony staring at him "...What?"

"Nothing," Soarin chuckled, "Just proving a point."

That got another round of snickers from the table while Blitz just looked on as he realized he was clearly out of the joke.

Surprisingly, Horizon was the one to keep things going, "I suppose I’ll get my story out of the way. I'm the "lesser" son in my family, my older brother is the athletic wonder child, and me? I’m just the scrawny theatre kid." He tossed the food on his plate around gently with a fork, "I honestly don't know what specifically provoked me to be here. Maybe it was lack of respect from my parents and brother, or just some self-drive to show them I'm not useless? I don't know but now that I'm here and actually got a chance to be something big, I want to keep going. But more for me than them right now; never pictured myself getting past the academy, but since I’m did there’s no way I’m backing out of this."

"Well, the 'bolts could always use a theatrical eye; goodness knows we gotta bring some new stuff to make sure we keep on wowing the crowds. Still, I'm really happy I'm not in charge of PR," Fleetfoot said rather casually, taking a bite from her own meal and snickering a bit.

"This coming from the mare who's probably been in more athletic magazines than flying magazines?" Gleaming asked, raising an eyebrow, "Call me crazy, but aren't you, like, the public face of the Wonderbolts?"

"Well duh hun, that should be obvious. I never said I wasn't," she said, giving her a wink and grin, "And I wouldn't trade it for anything; I like keeping busy, and those extra gigs let me do that all while connect with my adoring public. The extra bits don't hurt, either.” She snickered a bit, “What I meant was that I'm happy I'm not gonna be the ones trying to explain this new program to the public."

Soarin suddenly snickered a bit himself, "We played rock paper scissors to see who'd get to do it. You’d think Spitfire would own us at something so simple, but noooooope; she sucks at it and loses more than either of us put together. So she’s stuck in charge of the next press conference.”

"Huh... Guess you learn something new everyday" Winter said thoughtfully to herself.

"Just don't abuse that little fact," Soarin continued, "Otherwise we could have anarchy and Fleetfoot would get that slide she's always wanted."

"A slide from the third floor to the ground would be awesome and you know it!" Fleetfoot quickly hot back, trying to defend herself. Before Soarin could press her on it, she quickly put the topic back on track, "So, we're narrowing the field down here... So horse boy, it’s your turn," Fleetfoot said while looking over at Sand, who had so far kept quiet since they sat down. It didn’t even seem like he’d looked up, his mind lost in thought as he gently nibbled at his food. “Ohh, don’t just stare down like that; come on, you gotta tell us what brought you here!”

"Honestly, I think his spirit’s kinda crushed since he was the first one to break," Winter casually said as she ate, though she was also looking at him as she did so.

"So Sand...why the long face pardner?" Dusty asked with a small smirk, snickering at his own bad pun as the others around him rolled their eyes.

For a few more moments, Sand stayed silent. But finally he spoke, lifting his head and looking over to Blitz and Soarin, "I... I want to apologize for my arrogance earlier, first of all. I clearly overestimated my ability and disrespected your training methods in the process. I... I deserved my humiliation..."

That was a definite surprise for everyone at the table. This was a definite change from what the silent, stoic, and rather arrogant stallion they’d seen earlier, and through much of their academy training.

However, Soarin smiled as he watched his student, "I think it’s safe to say that it's all under the bridge right now, we've all seen each other at their worst" He reached out, patting him on the shoulder, “I understand your feelings to the training at first, but I'm glad to see you're willing to improve."

"Holy crap, i broke him" Blitz whispered to Fleetfoot while the two watched their conversation.

She nodded, "I'll say ya did; dude fell right off his high horse..."

Sand gave a gentle nod, "That’s actually part of why I came here; to improve myself. Saddle Arabia has not been kind to me over the years... I never knew my parents, and for much of my life I was involved with street gangs in my home city. From a young age I learned to keep up a strong appearance and to never show when things get to you. I suppose you could say I was lucky in the end though; a few years ago I ended up arrested, but was given a chance at freedom through a rehab program program for first-time offenders that gave us the basic means to pursue real careers. It's because of that that I'm here today, having focused myself on working past criminal activities while doing what I could to better myself. I got accepted through the Wonderbolt's foreign outreach program while they were looking for talent overseas, and was offered a spot in the academy because of my physical prowess and wing power. I plan to work through this new obstacle though; I want to show I can better myself and go home as something greater than I was when I left."

"Well, you have yourself a team who will be at your side when you need help," Soarin told him, "We'll pick you up when you're down and more. Isn't that right Delta?" He looked out to his team for that extra little support, and they all looked back at Sand.

Breeze was the first to respond, reaching out and putting a hand on his shoulder, "Soarin’s right; if you need help with anything, we’ll give it. We're all in the same boat at this point, after all."

"She's right; this was thrust on all of us, but it would be foolish to back out of this opportunity now, especially if this program was made to try and improve upon previous methods," Swift added.

“Yeah; much as I’m not that big a fan of this new training, we should get used it soon enough,” Gleam added, her voice not as hard as it had been. Of course, she didn’t notice the silently-snickering faces of Blitz and Fleetfoot off to the side...

Blitz smiled to them all, before looking over at one particular stallion, "And now, we’re down to one more. He's been really quiet too, so it’s time to speak up Brave!"

Brave Star perked up, "O-oh! Well, I was just listening to everypony else." He blushed as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "I'm… I'm not that interesting to talk about really."

"Oooohh no, you're not getting out of it that easy, buddy," Fleetfoot reached over, poking his snout with a finger and grinning at him, "Everyone else spilled the beans, and now it's your turn; this is opening-up time, so let's hear it."

"Yeah!" Dusty put an arm around his Commander’s shoulders, "We all spilled our guts, and so are you too, buddy!"

Brave sighed softly with a chuckle, "Okay, okay. Well...I'm from Canterlot, so I kinda have the home turf advantage here and well... I was abandoned at six years old."

That left the table quiet, all eyes on Brave as he drew in another breath.

"My parents dropped me off at what I didn’t even realize was the orphanage with a promise to return by the end of the day… Well that day became days, then weeks, months and years. To this day, I don't know why they left." He looked down at his empty plate, frowning now, "I wasn't a troublemaker or anything. I just wanted to be… To be something like a superhero for my parents. They never seemed to smile and when they left me there, it felt like I never would and my dream just crashed." He slowly looked back up, giving a small smile, "But then during an outing with the orphanage, we saw a Wonderbolt show and I fell in love with it." His eyes looked upwards, a flame in them now, "So if I couldn't be something for my parents, then I'll be something for foals like me who don't know why their lives are bad. To be a hero...that's why I'm here."

For a few seconds there was a silence at the table, until…

"That's a good goal, you know."

It was Copper, who had been silent himself for much of their meal as he listened to the group's stories. The file's he'd gotten had only been about their body stats and athletic backgrounds, so this was all brand new information for him. Every one of them so far had shown they had their own personal reasons for being here, and really he found their goals to be admirable for the most part.

Brave blushed, quickly realising he’d went on for a good bit, "S-sorry...I got a little carried away."

"Sorry?! Ya ain’t got nuthin' to be sorry about" Dusty said happily as he ruffled his mane "That there's some true passion if ah ever saw it!"

Winter's eyes sparkled as she looked at him "You are so cool! Here I thought I was doing something inspiring, but now I gotta keep up with you!"

Horizon even gave a small smirk, "Admirable to say the least but still quite challenging. I wish you all the best and if you need help, I'm happy to lend it to you"

Blitz smiled as he watched, pride flowing through him as he watched his team surround Brave with pats on the back, mane ruffles and hugs. Brave was even laughing with them now as he blushed a bit, feeling like he’d found a home.

Likewise, Sand found himself surrounded by his own teammates who seemed to be all too happy to offer their support and encouragement to him. Their teamwork was already starting to appear, and Copper couldn't help but think Soarin knew this might be how things went...

Still, they couldn’t spend all day around here, and Soarin knew it. He got to his feet with blitz, catching the attention of their squads, “Now then, we have theory class this afternoon, so let’s get cleaned up here and get the boring stuff out of the way."

Blitz snickered a bit as he saw the unimpressed looks they were getting, "Sorry guys, but we gotta do it, boring as it is. Trust me, I’d rather do the practical stuff myself. Frankly I hate classed, being student or teacher!"

Copper just smiled a bit as he stood up as well, "Actually, I’ve got to get back to my own proper job as well and get this data sorted out. I've also got plans to finish and prototypes to test." He suddenly gave a playful smirk, looking around the table, "And hey, if anypony wants to volunteer as a test subject, I'm sure your commanders will let you play hooky for a day if it’s to help the cause of improving your training."

The newbies all flinched at those words as Blitz snickered.

"Ya know, that isn’t a bad idea. In fact, extra credit to whoever helps Copper with testing. But better make it fast ‘cause Soarin's gonna be first in line." He smirked over at his friend, but the older pegasus just grinned over at him.

"Oh I dunno Blitz, what if we just have you do it? We could send pictures of it to a certain mare..." he let his voice trail off in a hum, winking to the chromatic stallion.

"Oh yeah!" Fleetfoot clapped her hands together, sporting a grin of her own now, "We’d have to send ‘em to Jackie! Heck, I'll even do it personally!"

Everything was silent for a moment as the two locked eyes with Blitz… Then in a burst of speed, Soarin and Fleetfoot took off with their red-faced friend behind them.

"DON'T YOU BUCKING DARE YOU CHEEKY FEATHERBRAINS! I'LL SKIN YOU BOTH ALIVE AND I SWEAR IT!"

Copper and the others simply watched as the trio ran outside of the mess hall, leaving them all behind; where they were off to and what this would mean for the afternoon, none of them really knew. After a few more moments though, he spoke up again as he gazed back at the cadets, "I was serious, by the way. I'll take any of you as testers. Who knows, could help you build up some extra endurance outside of your normal lessons. But I really do need to get back to work." He started towards the doors himself, "Last chance if anypony wants to come with me."

They all looked at each other for a moment, as if waiting to see if anyone of them were really brave or foolish enough to take the offer. Then Brave stood up.

"I'll go with you. I want to give it another try after this morning, and I think everyone is still hesitant as well. So I’ll let them know what it was like."

He smiled a bit and nodded; seemed that Brave wanted to properly prove what he'd said earlier. "Well then, let's get going; I'm in the basement of the maintenance building." He looked over at the others as Brave joined him, "So you know, my door is always open to you guys if you wanna come down; if I'm not around the base, I'm probably in there. Now, we’re off." With that, he started out once more, Brave Star in tow right behind him as the others watched on in silence.

Author's Note

Whew, well this got out in a decent amount of time; didn't have much worry about getting this one done, since it was much less of a handful than the last one. Plus it's only the first part of a two, since I wanted to break up the actual kinky fun in the next part from the slower, more mundane character backstories in this one.

Sadly, I'm not exactly sure when I'l be able to get out the second part, though. College life is speeding up and I have an evening job most nights on top of that; Friday and Saturday nights are quickly turning into the only times I can get any real writing done. Not only that, but I'm starting to sort out some other ideas I have that I'd love to get up on here. Sadly there's not going to be a stable upload schedule now, but just keep an eye out and hopefully I'll have the second part out this month, along with another story I have planned.

That should be all for about now; feedback is still appreciated, and I'll see you all next time, whenever that may be. Until then, hope you're all well and are enjoying yourselves so far!