Workplace Mentality

Twin quickly finished the railing to a degree that it would pass, even if Ruby looked closely, and headed to the staff room. This time, he arrived amongst a bunch of others and sat down, grabbing a plate of hayburgers, but all Twin could do was stare at them, his stomach twisting and curling. Ruby had eaten that mare! Twin looked around, did she eat her staff… and then it dawned on him, dear Celestia, that mare who had tried to warn Twin of this… had she eaten her too!? She’d probably be little more than slush by now in Ruby’s belly, joining the sparkling coils as a line of fat. Twin gulped, licking his suddenly dry lips, conflicted why he still saw beauty in such a monster.

Twin looked around at his co-workers, how many had been eaten before during Ruby’s time here, did they know, did they even remember their friends passing away into coil chub? Obviously that first mare did… was this normal for them, did they just accept it or… Twin shook his head and stood up to leave, taking his plate of food with him so it, hopefully, didn’t look as suspicious for him to have grabbed some food and not touched it. Twin shut the door to his room and sat down, glancing up at the comfort promising bundle of coils settled before him, the indents from his own body clearly visible from where he’d rolled over in unknown, ignorant, delight at being wrapped up.

Twin sat upright against the door, picking at his food as time wore on, removing his uniform to free his wings, the light fading gradually as the summer sun retreated behind the horizon. Twin heard a surge of ponies walking outside his room, doors opening and closing repeatedly before, after about half an hour… silence… Twin sat up listening then tensed as another door shut and waited a full five minutes before creaking the door open a peek. The hallway was partially lit by the orange light of the sunset through the windows either side of the hallway. Twin quickly shut his door to as another pony walked to their room, shutting the door without concern for any of the other staff members. Twin poked his head, looking left and right, checking it was deserted before standing up and sneaking out, shutting the door as quietly as he could with a soft click. Twin made it to the ramp glancing up, towards where Ruby was no doubt getting comfy atop her meal, before looking down. From here Twin could literally see the door outside and had to resist sprinting for it as he crept down. Twin heard soft hooves on carpet and quickly took to the air, gliding down out of sight as Alex passed by, talking with Bolt about another load of ‘prey’.

Twin waited until the noise of the two stallions had faded then stepped up to the door. Twin’s secret service mission had taken so long the sun had fully set, the night sky taking the reigns over Equestria’s skyline. Twin glanced around, small patrols walked along the walls of the manor with lanterns and several lamias were seated in the courtyard, gambling. Twin kept close to the building, creeping along it’s edge until he reached the wall. A small gap between the manor and wall served to cast a deep, dark shadow over Twin, hiding him from the view of the watchers above. Twin gulped, looking up as several lanterns bobbed past, Twin opened his wings posing to take flight. The lantern moved out of Twin’s cone and he leapt upward, flapping his wings hard as Twin quickly gained altitude. Twin zipped past the wall, past the unaware guards and smiled, so long Ruby, have fun eating other pon-CRAP!

A sudden wail went up and Twin saw a ripple, like a bubble encompassing the whole manor from the walls. Around where Twin had left the bubble a bright, acid green colour pulsed angrily as it wailed and Twin looked down, seeing several ponies look up at him. Twin wasn’t planning to stay and turned, heading higher to escape the snakes reach. However, it wasn’t enough and one lamia grabbed the back of Twin’s leg, giving a powerful jerk, pulling him back into the range of his friends. Twin flailed, trying to get some more distance, even as several tails looped roughly over his chest, legs, neck and then his wings. Twin began to plummet back down as only one wing was left free, Twin struggling with all his worth but it was hopeless with just one lamia never mind several at once! Twin was forcefully dragged back into the bubble and more coils looped over him, covering his face as he cried out in fear, a coil slipping over his mouth silencing him.

Twin felt himself being slammed onto the manor wall, several tails slithering around him as they began to tighten all around Twin, the stallion groaning and whimpering, trying to break free and get some air. Twin felt his wings being stretched out either side of him, held down by one lamia as another ordered “Pluck him.” Twin screeched louder, thrashing left and right as his double wings were pulled out, hearing a soft swish as a blade was drawn from a sheath-

“What is going on up there!?” Twin almost felt relieved to hear Ruby’s voice. Almost.

“Mistress!” Twin felt himself being lifted up and held upright, his legs outstretched, presented to Ruby no doubt “We caught this one trying to escape from the manor, we were just going to pluck him before bringing him to you.” Twin whimpered, shaking his head desperately as he felt tears welling up in his eyes in fear.

“Uncoil him a little, before you strangle him, and let me see who it is!” Ruby ordered, her voice stern and powerful and Twin felt himself hold still, complying with her order… why was he doing that?

Twin gasped as the coils over his chest loosened, the face mask falling away, Twin still kept silent as he blinked, looking down at Ruby, hovering out over the wall as he stared down at the lamia… He could see the bulge in her tail…

“Twinwing?” Ruby said then shook her head, before waving her hoof anti-clockwise in a circle and Twin cried out in fear, had she just given the go ahead.

Instead, luckily, the lamias all loosened their grip and Twin slipped through, falling down out the bottom. Twin tried to open his wings to fly but Ruby quickly snatched him up “NO! NO PLEASE!” Twin cried before Ruby silenced him with another coil gag.

“Quiet,” Ruby said softly and Twin’s voice ceased functioning for several seconds and Twin shook his head on the verge of tears “Let us find out why you chose to flee before I punish you. Captain, I will see to this one,” Twin looked back seeing one lamia nod and wave his troops back into position.

Ruby carried Twin by her side, back into the manor, up the two ramps and into her room, where she tossed him on the bed, several coils looping over the door as Twin shuffled up against the headboard, trying to keep as far from Ruby as he could. Ruby climbed onto the bed settling down across from him “Why did you try to flee?” Ruby asked.

“I-I’m sorry I… I just…” Twin wanted to cry and plea, his voice hurt for some reason and wasn’t working right.

“Just tell me!” Ruby commanded more firmly and Twin pointed a shaky hoof to Ruby’s shifting tail bulge.

“I s-saw you e-eat her!” Twin said curling up like a foal cowering from a bully “They were going to take my wings!” Twin blubbered.

Ruby shook her head “Twinwing, did you not read the contract?” She asked with an exasperated sigh.

“How would that explain… this!” Twin shouted pointing, again, at the shuffling bulge, before Twin caught himself “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to shout.” Twin said nervously.

Ruby held up a hoof to silence Twin’s apologies “It’s fine, I now understand. The problem is you failed to read through the contract thoroughly, that, and your knowledge of lamia culture is minimal.” Ruby said muttering in thought.

“Th-this is normal?” Twin asked shocked and slightly appalled anypony or anyone could consider this ‘normal’.

Ruby nodded “Perfectly normal,” She insisted with a nod “Let me show you,” Twin tensed up in fear but Ruby simple turned towards the door and called “Alex.” In a perfectly level voice. Within a minute there was a firm, almost excited, knock.

Ruby opened the door and Alex stood there, shivering once, whilst Twin blinked unable to understand how he’d heard Ruby “You called?” He asked.

“Yes, Alex, go collect Twinwing’s contract for me, as well as the ‘pony prey hunting law’ from the revised law book.” Ruby ordered and Alex bowed, glancing at Twin, when he noticed him, before sprinting away in an eager flash.

Twin awkwardly shuffled where he sat, unsure what to expect as he heard Alex sprinting up again, returning with the contract “Here you are Mistress!” Alex said bowing as he offered the two papers and Ruby took them in her magic, Alex leaving with a strange broad smile.

Ruby took out Twin’s contract first, flipping through the pages before reading out loud “The signer acknowledges and accepts that they may not leave the residence of their employer without their permission whilst in their employment, and that by breaking this rule they will be punished according to the employer’s verdict; this may include, but isn’t limited to; plucking or grafting (the act of removing Pegasus wings or Unicorn horns), retraining at a special facility, being used as ‘prey’ to feed their employer or imprisonment.” Twin gulped and Ruby offered it for him to read, sure enough on the middle of the second of the three pages, the one Twin had skipped over completely, was the whole list of punishments and several redirections to various new laws when required.

“Next, the prey law. Prey; ponies that are utilised as food for lamias, are typically made up of ponies who have committed crimes or broken contracts,” Ruby glanced at Twin as he paled, as much as a white stallion can anyway “Additional prey numbers can be made up of those who wish to experience what it is like to be prey, magical recreation is available if you volunteer willingly, as well as those who actively sell themselves as meals for lamias (snake snack restaurants), or those in debt. In all cases listed above, preventing said prey from having access to soul snip treatments is illegal, only those who are put into it as a punishment are refrained from a soul snip. The law doesn’t prevent ponies living with or are in a relationship with a lamia from being eaten by said lamia partner/roommate and it is their own responsibility to get a soul snip treatment beforehoof.” Ruby looked up from the contract with a smile.

“A soul snip?” Twin asked confused, how could a pony make a profession out of being eaten and digested? It was a one-way trip!

“Yes, it’s a magical spell made by the lamias back in my homeland, the Badlands, it takes a piece of your soul and part of your physical self, typically a lock of hair, and regrows you back in a specially made pot of, what’s simply known as; ‘vitaeque reddenda’ liquid. The mare you saw me eat had that treatment, her husband owed me some money and traded her instead.” Ruby said rubbing the bulge which moaned weakly and quietly “So… you tried to escape simply because you failed to read you contract?” Twin withered where he sat, cowering under Ruby’s gaze as he nodded, his voice failing him.

Ruby remained silent, absentmindedly stroking her bulge with a hoof before she sighed “I will let you off this one time, understand Twinwing?” Twin looked up, hardly able to believe it “But… you owe me, and I can have whatever I want from you, deal?” Ruby offered.

“W-wait, anything?” Twin asked nervously.

“I won’t harm you… unless you’d prefer I ate you right now? Because that is the alternative!” Twin shook his head furiously.

“N-no! No, it’s fine! Deal… any… anything you want… just don’t kill me.” Twin pleaded and Ruby cupped his chin with her tail.

“I have no intention of doing that Twinwing,” Ruby said soothingly “Now, I imagine you are rather hungry?” Twin shook his head politely. In response, Twin’s stomach growled loudly in protest, begging for Ruby’s help and Ruby chuckled “You can eat with me, if you have any questions feel free to ask. But please, don’t try to escape again.” Ruby said before calling for Bolt this time.

“Why do you keep ponies from leaving?” Twin asked immediately.

“Well…” Ruby paused, thinking on what to say “I do maintain order after all, and there are those out there who might steal my information in the hopes of harming innocent lives. If you had tried to take information to the wrong ponies… well, you’d end up like Fleur but without the get out of jail card.” Ruby said with a chuckle as Bolt appeared, looking rather sleepy, clearing he had just gone to bed during Twin’s escape attempt.

“You called,” He said with a yawn, rubbing his eyes.

“Yes, Bolt, would you mind fixing us something to eat… maybe a ‘mind soothe’ salad for Twinwing here, and something… ‘strong’ for him to drink. He’s had a little bit of a scare that he did to himself.” Ruby said glancing back at Twin as Bolt nodded “And I’ll have cake.” Ruby said with a little foalish clap of her hooves.

“As you wish.” Bolt said heading back downstairs.

Twin tried to get comfy, settling upon Ruby’s bed, glancing occasionally at Fleur’s bulge. This focus meant he failed to notice Ruby’s tail creeping up behind him until it had looped around his shoulders, pushing him forward. Ruby grinned, sliding Fleur towards Twin and pinning him underneath as the weight of Fleur and Ruby’s tail knocked Twin down, plus the sudden shove forward disorientated Twin’s balance so he was caught off guard. Ruby pushed down Fleur’s bulge against Twin so her facial features appeared slightly disorientated through Ruby’s red underbelly, her mouth open in delight with dips showing where her eyes were.

“Do you like how she looks, her figure only just visible through lines of soft, squishy and yet irresistible fat and muscle? She’s barely able to move you know, only wriggle slightly as my stomach pulverises her body, massaging her in stomach acids to melt her down. She doesn’t feel any pain, just a rising, tingling pleasure. Her mind melting in the gas formed by her body joining mine and the acid that’s working towards that goal.” Ruby pushed Fleur into Twin and her moan was much louder now he was so close. Fleur shuffled left and right, her hooves pressing into Ruby’s wall, her horn pushing a little bump out as she moaned more.

Ruby slipped a thicker coil underneath Twin, sandwiching him between two tubes of scales and the bulge “Doesn’t she look so happy, her mind unable to handle so much stimuli at oncccce.” Twin gasped then sighed, Ruby’s hissing voice making him focus more on what Fleur’s moans meant, how her body was being pressed in on all sides by thick scales and squishy stomach walls, her body melting away to join their seductive owner… how every second was causing mind shattering bliss to Fleur, unable to escape or resisssst.

Twin weakly reached up, trying to push Fleur off him, but Ruby looped Fleur around Twin, the mare crying out as she was made to bend around, her screams of delight rattling in Twin’s ears “It must feel so good, don’t you think?” Ruby asked resting her hooves on Fleur and leaning towards Twin.

“When did she get so close… she’s getting closer… I… I should back up!” But Twin didn’t listen to his own thoughts, instead he sat up, pushing against Fleur and Ruby lightly kissed him, tilting her head to play with his lips, a thick forked tongue flickering over Twin’s mouth.

Ruby briefly pulled back “Open your mouth Twinwing,” She purred and Twin complied, obeying the sweet voice as he was pushed back down as Ruby’s tongue delved inside. Ruby’s tongue wasn’t limited like a pony’s tongue and looped and spun around Twin’s own, squeezing and toying with it, controlling Twin effortlessly. Ruby leaned back, licking her lips with a smile as Twin panted “You lusssst for me.” Ruby breathed, Twin opened his eyes, surprised but as Ruby’s hissing caught in his brain Twin leaned back, the words fading in a swirl of serpentine hissing.

“Wha-what?” Twin mumbled, confused, what had he been thinking about?

“Mistress, your order!” Bolt called and Twin blinked, glancing to his side at Fleur’s head, which had faded back into the tail now Ruby wasn’t pushing her down against the edges of her tail, Twin wished she would it had looked so… sexy…

Twin rubbed his head, sexy? That? What was so attractive about being completely bound within a tight, squishy sack as your body slowly melted into a puddle of bliss, the walls compressing and massaging you as all you can do it moan weakly, the lamia who ate you unconcerned as you wriggle, trying to keep your body moving so you don’t melt away into those soft, sensual coils even as your mind is failing and all you want to do is fall still and slip away… what indeed?

Twin blinked as Ruby hovered a tall glass of some sort of purple liquid towards him “Here, drink up, it’ll help you relax.” Ruby insisted pressing the cool glass to Twin’s lips, the ice clinking merrily.

Twin recognised the scent, it was the dripleaf from the shampoo and Ruby’s lotion. A dull smile spread over Twin’s lips as the glass tilted upward, Twin unable to resist Ruby’s nonverbal command to drink, his mouth opening as he quickly gulped down the drink as fast as Ruby allowed. Twin sighed, eyes half closing, as the smooth, spicy, sweet drink broke, burnt, melted and rebuilt his nerves in a forge of bliss. Twin’s concerns of the contract and Fleur’s fate had numbed further, taking a backseat as this drink took over the front.

Ruby smiled as Twin leaned back into her coils, flexing and rubbing his back softly with the thick tubes of muscle and fat, watching the liquid disappear until it was all gone. Ruby set the glass down and Twin gulped, licking his lips as his head dipped forward slightly, gazing into the distance… which just happened to be filled with red and white.

“See something you like?” Ruby asked with sultry smile “Finding your mind wandering, sinking and fading into silence. Enjoying the sensation of my scales rubbing back and forth over your body, small and helplessssssss.” Twin gave a sharp little gasp as Ruby hissed, her voice was like static, zapping him causing Twin to sit up alert, then Ruby’s words dribbled into his brain and he began to take notice of the subtle heaves of Ruby’s tail, rubbing and caressing every part of his body. Twin shuffled, feeling the coils mould and tug at him, forcing his body back into the same position… small and helplessssssss…

Ruby nodded to herself, lifting up a small bowl that was filled with a mixed salad, some normal ingredients such as lettuce and sliced tomatoes made up the base, but it was covered in what looked like diced or even grated bits of purple leaf and a purplish sauce.

“Dripleaf is very… popular.” Twin commented with a dull blink as Ruby helped feed the stallion the meal.

“Indeed, it’s from my homeland. One of the few trees capable of growing where we lived. You should have seen our original home,” Ruby gave Twin a mouthful of leaves and sauce, Twin focusing on chewing and swallowing, too distracted by Ruby’s silky voice to complain she was feeding him like an infant, thoughts were just too difficult right now “It was set atop several trees, higher than Canterlot castle, forming a great canopy ceiling above us. Rope bridges connected house to house as lamias slithered across or between branches, grand colours and sparkling scales slithering between branches filled with purple, sunlight filtering and flickering through glowing over our bodies as ponies approached… a rising sense of calm and excitement at the mere sight of us.” Twin shut his eyes, letting his mind build up Ruby’s mental image.

Twin imagined a city, hanging by ropes, that seemed to shift slightly every so often so the whole floating metropolis had a small sway to it. Between each hanging house massive lamias slithered to and from buildings going about their daily business. Twin smiled as he watched the colours shift and mould together, like a dripping water painting. Twin opened his eyes and glanced down as Ruby squeezed him in the real world, before shutting his eyes and returning to his daydream. Twin’s mind conjured up a bundle of scales that looped under his rump before they lifted him up towards the waiting city of scales. The lamias all smiled in welcome to the latest guest as he was lifted up by Ruby’s disembodied tail and quickly advanced on Twin, looping and wrapping up. The mass amount of scales and the coils looping over him made Twin fall onto his back from the weight, the coils now easily looping over the helpless stallion, gasping for breath, feeling wheezy as his mind began to ring as if somepony had blown a whistle near his ear.

“Twinwing,” Twin blinked, opening his eyes and gulping down a bit of saliva and dripleaf that had been running down the side of his mouth. Twin felt Ruby’s coils move… or the coils of the lamias from his mind? Twin wasn’t sure and as reality began to settle back into Twin’s mind he flushed slightly at gawping off, causing Ruby to chuckle softly at his reaction.

“Sorry.” Twin said in a tiny voice.

Ruby laughed, levitating a spoon down to her own cake, breaking a sliver off the light triple chocolate cheesecake to eat “Why are you apologising? You were just thinking, delighting over your thoughts of coils and lamias, right?” Ruby asked with a soft sigh, her breath smelling of milk chocolate, a lovely sweet scent.

“Er… yeah… yeah course…” Twin said as Ruby rolled her tail underneath herself, swishing red over white like water lapping up the sides of a beach, Twin looking down before noticing how tightly bound he was by Ruby’s tail. Twin shuffled about, trying to sit up and get free “Ruby can you uncoil me a bit?” Twin asked.

“Ssshhhh, it’s fine, don’t think about it,” Ruby said giving Twin the last of his salad.

“Fine… don’t… think about it…” Twin mumbled with a nod.

“Just let your body settle in my grasp, let your mind sink into the soothing scales.” Ruby hummed as she set the plates on her bedside table, leaving them for Bolt later, or Twin in the morning perhaps.

“S…settle… soothing coils…” Twin said in a quiet voice.

Ruby reached down, closing Twin’s mouth with her hoof “I think it’s time you went to bed, don’t you?” Twin nodded, unsure what Ruby had even said just agreeing automatically. It was simply natural to do so “Excellent, I will think over what you can do to repay me later and then come get you. Understand?” A slightly more alert nod that time “Excellent, for now, simply continue your usual duties in the morning, in the afternoon I have someplace I wish to take you as you might find it comforting after your shock, not to mention I need to pick somepony up. You can just wear the collar for that.” Twin nodded in understanding, not questioning Ruby as he figured he would simply get an answer that wasn’t an answer if he did.

Ruby seemed a little upset he hadn’t asked though “I had a response and everything.” She thought before speaking aloud “Good, I’ll get you when I’m ready for you to pay off your ‘debt’. Now, off to bed… scaly dreams.” Ruby said lifting Twin up, spinning him around slowly with a subtle squeeze before uncoiling him, letting Twin, with shaky numb legs, take his own weight again.

“Th-thank you Ruby, for not being mad. Goodnight.” Twin said with a little bow of his head before leaving.

“No Twinwing,” Ruby said with a smile as Twin quietly made his way back downstairs “Thank you for trying to escape.”

Twin pushed open the door to his room, glancing around briefly before closing the door and stepping forward, flopping down atop the pile of squishy coil covers and rolling over. Twin sighed, staring up at the ceiling as he thought. Twin couldn’t get his mind to shift from Ruby eating Fleur and her ex-staff member, images of them sliding deeper into Ruby’s belly, wriggling and moaning, kept prodding through Twin’s mind preventing him from truly focusing on how frightening it was that Ruby’s failed staff member, unlike Fleur, wouldn’t return.

“Assuming Ruby is telling the truth about Fleur’s fate.” Twin thought to himself, a little doubtfully, as his eyes began to droop.

What could he make of this situation? On one hoof, this was clearly normal, due to the laws and the staff reactions. On the other, however, it was still beyond terrifying and Twin now had that looming over his head, instead of rent or bills. Being gobbled up and trapped in a tight tunnel of snake scales sliding deeper into a giant tube of muscle waiting to be digested, pressing his face against Ruby’s armoured body, his features only slightly recognisable through the walls of pulsating flesh, moaning as his body melted, his nerves singing in morbid delight as his body joined the soft comfy coils of his Mistress, unable to escape or resist their dominating, conquering control as their owner snuggled up to his wriggling bulge, rubbing him into submission as he began to melt like heated ice cream…

“Twinwing,” A voice hummed, dragging out the syllables, as Twin floated along, unaware of what was happening around him and uncaring… his back was rubbing against something smooth and sleek, rubbing him slightly in just the right way to keep him coaxed into submission and docility “Twinwing, open your eyes and look at your Mistress when she speaks to you.” The voice said again, playfully, as the same sleek appendage rubbing Twin’s back stroked his cheek.

Twin hummed, opening his eyes, glancing around before noticing Ruby hovering above him, her tail holding herself upright. Ruby’s mane was floating around her head ethereally, similar to how it had floated in her bath. Twin was laying upon a… world of coils? Looking left and right, Ruby’s tail stretched on endlessly, coils every which way you looked, some rising up to form ‘trees’ with hanging ‘vines’ all made of white and red coils, the sun glittering across them with an angelic glow. Twin sat up slowly and looked around as his ears flickered. A chorus of moaning echoed over the valley of scales as Twin turned to look seeing disproportionately large bulges slipping and sliding along the rising and falling mounds of coils. They wriggled and struggled slightly, their features pressing against the walls briefly before sinking away, in some areas the bulges were silent and Twin saw them shrink in insanely fast forward into smooth round orbs of liquid fuel for Ruby’s coils.

“Isn’t it beautiful… so peaceful.” Ruby said slithering down onto Twin, her tail resting upon him as she looped her pony body around his shoulders, wrapping her hooves around his neck, her breath playing over his ear.

Twin heard Ruby speak, but the words were garbled and muffled, yet a rising sense of calm and peace began to well in the back of Twin’s mind as he watched the ponies submit to their fate. Twin stood up, Ruby, surprisingly light, still sat on his back whispering to him as Twin began to follow the progress of one coil bulge. As Twin wandered beside it the coils became somewhat transparent. Twin could see the pulsating, undulating, fleshy walls of Ruby’s tail pushing the pony along. Bolt’s eyes were rolled up into his head, mouth wide open as he moaned ceaselessly, his legs and wings twitching as he struggled, sliding deeper.

Twin sat down beside Bolt, who suddenly just stopped moving as Twin rubbed the scales surrounding him, Bolt fading back into an indistinguishable bulge as Twin did so.

“Doesn’t it look so good, just right… why fight what is so natural?” Ruby asked and Twin nodded slightly as he was pulled up onto his hind legs “Why debunk something you’ve never tried?” Twin looked up, Ruby’s mouth still moving as she spoke and yet growing larger and larger… closer and closer…

Twin’s mouth hung open as his head was pushed downward as Ruby easily gulped him down. Twin figured the actual process would be much slower, Ruby wouldn’t just slip down to his hind hooves and gulp him down in one like a noodle… or would she…? Regardless, Twin felt himself suddenly fly upward into the air, Ruby slurping down his tail as Twin began to slide down into her belly. Twin’s legs were locked to his side, his wings rubbing over every slippery bump. Twin slid up and down, rocking as if at sea, pushing him into the squishy, relaxing walls. Juices dripped down onto Twin’s body and every part of his body sang with bliss. Twin kicked and thrashed his legs, managing to roll around onto his belly as he slid deeper down Ruby’s endless tail, spinning around and around, his body and mind going numb as his eyes twitched, mouth open as Twin panted for air… this was too good… heaven would lose its shine if it didn’t include something like this.

“Such a lively morsel, wriggle and squirm for me.” Ruby cooed, her voice clear and loud, Twin could even feel her breath on the side of his face “Feel yourself melt away into coil lining!” Twin moaned as his body seemed to lose solidity, slowly turning into something that resembled melted ice cream in summer heat.

Every bit of Twin that melted only heightened his pleasure, Twin struggled, finding that prolonged the process of him turning into paste, his colours mixing into Ruby’s stomach acid, as if he were dripping away into the clear pool of liquid… finally, Twin’s legs melted into liquid goop and he slipped under the liquid fully. For a moment concern about drowning flooded Twin’s mind but he soon found he could breathe through the slightly tar like liquid. Though this didn’t matter as, after a few minutes, Twin’s physical body had entirely melted away into nothing but coil fat, yet he was still, slightly, aware of what was happening. Twin floated, the last of his liquid body being absorbed into Ruby before all turned dark. Twin blinked and he was sat snug in a giant bundle of white and red coils, each one with the thickness of Twin stood on his hind legs, in front of him, Ruby was nestled against his torso, leaning into his chest with a seductive grin as she stroked his mane.

Twin flushed, smiling sheepishly as a coil looped around his neck, tightening and sliding back and forth as Ruby pressed against Twin’s warm body with her cold body, sapping away his heat to warm herself, a faint red flush lining the white face. Twin gasped, feeling short of breath, was he holding his breath in the waking world to get this reaction? Twin didn’t care, so long as he didn’t wake… this was blissssss- CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!!!

Twin groaned, trying to cling to the fading dream but the clanging of wood on metal persisted. Not only that, Twin heard his door open, enhancing the sound of the wood on metal before it closed with a loud snap and Twin opened his eyes with an irritated growl. Twin stood up, flinging the coils that had closed him into a small cave off his head, and galloped to the door, half opening the door before grabbing his uniform. As Twin left he saw the mare who was responsible for his unwanted awakening heading for one of the showers.

“Hay, you!” Twin called trotting up towards her, his irritation from losing such a delightful dream clouding any semblance of sense. The mare paused, looking back at Twin as he approached her.

“Yes, what’s the matter?” She asked in a soft and slow voice, every syllable nearly being sighed out by the mare.

“What’s the matter? The matter is you just woke me up!” Even as Twin said it his frustration couldn’t cloud over how stupid that sounded.

“Yes, it is my job, I do it every morning, I did it yesterday if you recall… why does it bother you, the contract specifically says to wake up at this hour.” The mare pointed out and Twin tapped his hoof.

“I… I was having a dream and you interrupted it.” Twin admitted flushing at the ridiculousness of his excuse for his short temper.

“Was it about the Mistress?” The mare asked turning to face Twin with attenuative eyes.

“Er… yeah it was.” Twin admitted.

“Oh,” The mare withered a little “I am very sorry, I know how pleasant those dreams can be. But I would suggest if you really want it to come true speak to the Mistress,” The mare sighed with a vacant stare “She is very caring, she tries her best to make time to keep us all happy. Even if we simply want to… look at her…” Her eyes half drooped and Twin glanced over as doors began to open.

“Yeah, I’ll… think about it, sorry…”

“Nedra,” Nedra said with the same expression and now a dull smile.

“Um… Twinwing… yeah anyway, I’m gonna have a shower then get to work… sorry again.” As Twin slipped into one of the bathrooms, Nedra, unfazed by Twin’s outburst, continued with her own routine, he promised himself something; he would never bring this dream up with Ruby. And the thought soon drifted from his mind as Twin began to wash himself…

Twin’s morning routine followed identically to that of the previous day’s; wash, dress, head to Ruby’s bathroom and prepare her bath. Only when Twin reached Ruby’s room did something of note slip out of place, and it wasn’t just the fact he had already collected his cleaning equipment to save himself some time. Twin peeked inside, checking he wasn’t disturbing Ruby’s sleep. Sure enough, the huge snake was stretched out on her bed, tail rising and falling in a slow, steady tempo as she breathed softly. Twin stepped inside, closing the door and floating up above Ruby’s tail. Twin glanced around, looking for a nice spot to lay down upon Ruby’s coils and allow her to wrap him up. However, Twin’s focus naturally brought his gaze up to Ruby’s sleeping form and he floated closer to the top of the bed. Ruby was resting atop a pile of her own coils acting as pillows on her back, squishing actual ones beneath them, her legs resting near her head in the perfect sleeping position. Twin gulped, hovering lower and moving further up the bed towards the sleeping mare.

“I can just settle with her… tell her that her coils dragged me over to her, she won’t mind doesn’t matter how she gets my warmth so long as she gets it.” Twin thought to himself, trying to justify what he had planned, what he wanted. However, as he got close Ruby’s head shuffled and a little and he was sure her eyelids moved.

“I’m going to wake her!” Twin thought, but this didn’t happen, Ruby didn’t so much as stir after that.

As gently as he could, Twin rested himself atop Ruby, his face nestled just under her chin as he landed on her cold pony torso. Twin smiled slightly as he rested his head sideway on Ruby’s body, glancing down as he heard a soft series of swishing, Ruby’s coils flowing along like water towards him. Twin watched as the coils drew over him like a massive blanket, pushing down all over him… they were perfectly uniform… almost… deliberate?

Twin glanced up at Ruby, keeping his head still and he noticed her eyelids shudder slightly, however he quickly looked back down, focusing on a random coil that was twisting and slithering back and forth, rubbing together for warmth from friction.

“There’s no need to tell her… I can just let Ruby warm up, no need to disturb this moment.” Twin thought with a sheepish smile as the coil began to twist around itself into a knot before undoing itself.

Twin’s eyes rolled in their sockets, fixated on the tumbling coils, Twin kept telling himself it was simply something to focus on to avoid Ruby noticing… it wasn’t drawing and holding his attention. Twin lifted his head up as the coil moved downward behind another pile of coils but felt Ruby wrap her legs around his head and push him back down, stroking his mane and, without thinking, mumbled;

“Sorry.” To her, biting his lip once he’d realised what he’d done.

Ruby shifted and Twin knew she was looking down at him “It’s fine,” Ruby hummed quietly “I don’t mind you indulging in your coil kink.” Ruby said with a smile.

“I-I don’t-” Twin tried to argue that he didn’t have a coil kink but couldn’t finish before a coil looped up over his mouth, rubbing his lips as they silenced his voice and Twin sighed, relaxing back into Ruby’s embrace, giving the coil over his face a little kiss before flushing deeply.

“Sure, you don’t, Twinwing.” Ruby chuckled as the coil blanket closed in further, squishing Twin against Ruby’s body as she rubbed her chin on his mane “Sure you don’t.” She said again, pushing her tail down, rubbing his back.

Twin moaned softly, feeling his back click into place causing his mouth to hang open as his body washed with relief. Ruby casually rubbed back and forth over Twin, there was no effort in it, no pinpoint focus… but it all felt so wonderfully delightful, Twin just didn’t want to break this little tranquil bubble. Ruby seemed to share the thought, though she also understood her day had to begin. So, with a deft little prod to Twin’s belly, Ruby tried to coax Twin up. Twin hummed, lifting up his body, but remaining atop Ruby’s tail and belly all the same.

Ruby smirked at Twin’s obvious indication to what he wanted. Normally, she’d teasingly refuse a pony who did this into admitting they like coils, but Ruby was in no mood to risk having Twin snap out of his hazy bliss, so she simply hooked her tail under him, taking Twin’s weight and lifted him up, spinning him around the blanket of coils until he was nice and bundled up. The bottom half of Twin’s leg stuck out as well as his head, which was still covered by a coil gag, Twin looked up at Ruby with a faint flush.

Twin let out a small series of muffled words into Ruby’s tail to which she responded with “Your welcome, Twinwing.” Causing the stallion to flush, his ears turning down to his head, but otherwise making no indication for Ruby to stop, or restrain herself.

Ruby stood up from her bed, stretching and flexing her tail, which just so happened to cause Twin to be squeeze tightly as Ruby worked the muscles awake with a little test of their constriction around him. Air whistled out of Twin’s nose and he moaned once, tilting his head back as his neck was choked, his hind legs dancing up and down happily and Ruby openly laughed, causing Twin to stop as Ruby held him above her head, slithering out of the room and down to the bathroom.

Once inside the steam filled bathroom, Ruby set Twin down, uncoiling him gracefully before slipping into the water, twirling around the floor and settling by the edge, not trying to tempt Twin into the water again this time. A little faster than the day before, Twin hurried over to Ruby and set to work, settling down beside her pony body to work on her mane, spilling a little extra of the strawberry shampoo into the bath in his haste. Ruby smiled as she leaned back into Twin’s hooves, which were shaking a little as had to steel his excitement for the lotion.

Ruby noticed and smiled “Twinwing, what oil have you selected?” She asked casually, facing away from Twin to avoid letting him see her devilish smile.

“Oh, just the same as yesterday. It works so well I didn’t see any reason to change it.” Twin said in a high voice, trying to be casual as well. He was failing though.

“Oh no, Twinwing, I can’t use the same they cost quite a lot,” True, but bits were of little concern for Ruby, especially since she had both financial shares in the lamia lotion trade and a different kind of ‘share’ that allowed her free bottles every so often “And I need a diverse line, maybe slither ease today, since we’re going out I don’t want my scales to get chipped from the roads.” As if lamia scales, with a density to rival ten inches of sloped steel, could ‘chip’ on rocks.

“O-oh, ugh… r-right you are… I suppose,” Twin bit his lip as he left Ruby to rinse her mane, Ruby having to cover her mouth to avoid inhaling water as she silently laughed at Twin’s reaction.

Twin whimpered as he returned the ensnaring fragrance to its place, looking around briefly, his eyes often darting back to the purple marked bottle, before locating the slither ease bottle, which had a lamia showing off her smooth scales with a smile. Twin returned to Ruby who smiled, offering a particularly large coil… Twin paused as he realised what it was and flushed, settling down. Fleur was, as expected, entirely liquid now, just a soup of nutrients for Ruby to fatten herself with. Twin sat down pulling the coil closer ‘forgetting’ to move his legs so it ended up spread over his lap, trapping him. The bugle was large enough that, when Twin leaned down to grab the bottle of lotion, he could smile out of Ruby’s line of sight at how nice the runny coil felt on his legs. Twin sat up, smile gone, as he set to work on the slightly stretched scales.

Ruby moaned slowly and Twin flushed at the slightly erotic sound “Aahhhh, that’s it Twinwing,” Twin felt a beat in his neck and then heard a heavy ‘fwomf’ sound from behind him as he wings opened out behind him against his will, shoving his uniform upward revealing the lower half of his body and legs “Huh, oh Twinwing… did you like that sound I made?” Ruby purred.

Twin stuttered out a few bits of gibberish before shaking his head to clear it “No… I mean ye-I mean… um, I just thought it would be more comfortable to have my wings open whilst I… lean against this coil?” Twin suggested as an excuse, unsure what he was even really saying in his embarrassment right now, but the words soon dribbled from his mouth to his brain “O-oh Celestia,” Twin thought as Ruby smiled.

“Really, what about yesterday? Aren’t you still scared?” Ruby asked.

“Oh, no… well, a bit but… I understand it’s normal here so… I don’t mind?” Twin didn’t really know the answer as to why he wasn’t scared anymore, he knew he ought to be, but the sense of fear had simply dissipated during the night and Twin had no intentions of sharing with Ruby what had happened during that time!

Ruby however smiled “Worked nicely,” The crafty snake thought “Alright, not going to argue with you about it, that’s for sure!” Ruby said as she shifted the thick coil around, using it sort of like the back of a chair from Twin to lean against, which he did, his stiff wings pressing into the coils causing Twin to gulp; that felt really good, and Ruby could tell that was what he was thinking. As Ruby looked at Twin’s face, his mouth biting his lip, eyes wide with rapid breathing, his expression caused Ruby’s mind to start formulating an idea for Twin’s ‘favour’ that night.

Twin closed his eyes briefly, bringing his mind back into focus as he continued working on Ruby’s tail, coils slipping and slithering by underneath his hooves, pushing and rubbing against the frogs of his hooves, all the while Ruby’s large coil heaved up and down, rubbing his wings suggestively. Finally, Ruby seemed satisfied with Twin’s work, that or the water was going cold, and stood up to get out, Twin hopping up before realising his wings were still stretched out. He quickly grabbed a coil to drape it over them, acting as if he were keeping it off the floor for her. Ruby smiled as she slithered past, Twin drying Ruby off quickly.

“I will let you get to work on my room, Twinwing. When you have finished I will collect you from the staffroom at one, don’t eat, we can have something whilst we’re out.” Twin nodded in understanding and sighed as Ruby left the room, before turning to his still outstretched wings.

“Stupid… WINGS!” Twin grumbled as he tried to force his wings back down to his side. Outside the bathroom, Ruby giggled to herself whilst listening. Twin would be having more ‘problems’ with his wings tonight. Though, perhaps he wouldn’t care when Ruby started to ‘help’ him with said problem.

Still flustered, Twin poked his head out the doorway, the sound of water draining away filling the hallway. Twin shut the door with a hard thud, sprinting down the hallway, with his uniform still held up by his wings. Twin heard a shuffle downstairs and galloped desperately up, just in time to avoid Nedra noticing him, the butler pausing, blinking slowly as her mind gradually told her what she’d just seen.

Twin grabbed his equipment beside Ruby’s door and shut it quickly, leaning against it before collapsing on the ground with a sigh. Twin glanced at his wings, flushing deeply “Stupid… sexy lamia.” Twin grumbled, standing up and doing his best to ignore his outstretched wings whilst he worked.

The process of cleaning, at first, was slow due to Twin being slightly unbalanced as he tried to walk with his wings open for gliding. Eventually his wings finally returned to reality and Twin folded them down, his uniform sliding back down and Twin was able to work faster, easily finishing before Ruby’s specified time. With the room once again clean, the bed straightened, pillows fluffed up and the fireplace set for another fire, Twin headed out and down to his room, changing out of his uniform. Twin paused, looking at the little white collar with the purple snake eye gem.

“Twinwing,” Twin stood up, glancing around, gulping, before settling once he was sure he hadn’t heard the real Ruby speaking. Twin clipped the collar on and headed out into the hallway.

Twin was about to enter the staff room when he paused, one hoof on the handle as he glanced around then made his way downstairs, having changed his mind. At the entrance to the manor Twin turned to his right and made his way to the normally dimly lit living room, a small smile tugging at his lips as he got closer to her. As Twin opened the door, he was surprised to find the curtains pulled open wide, sunlight heating the room like a greenhouse, heavy fermented smoke from several sticks sat above the unlit fireplace, as if it needed to be lit in here. Ruby was sat with her tail stretched out in front of her, a fold-out table sat with its legs nestled between her coils stacked with a small selection of variously sized papers. One hoof on her cheek, Ruby was lazily twirling a pen in her magic as she read from a small stack of notes, letters, folders and made frequent references to a map at the bottom that seemed to stretch beyond Equestria’s border, on the map were little pins adorned with either a lamia or a pony holding a star in their right hoof with broken chains on the ground around them. Occasionally, Ruby would shift her tail and groan.

“Scales above, I miss Crescent,” Ruby grumbled to herself as her tail gave a little uncomfortable click that made Twin wince in sympathy for Ruby.

Twin cleared his throat “Um, Ruby?” Ruby flicked her head back looking at Twin.

“Oh, it’s not one o’clock yet Twinwing, you’re early,” Ruby said as she casually set her pen down, moving a few papers around, covering up some pictures with them “Why are you here?”

“I er… I just thought you might want some help or… something,” Twin glanced down at Ruby’s shifting tail before gulping “I finished your room and I didn’t think there was time to do much else…” Twin awkwardly glanced around as Ruby smiled at him “So, who was Crescent?” He asked trying to start up some sort of conversation.

“My masseuse, up until a recent dinner I held with other lamias she was in my loyal employment then she got a little… ‘wrapped up’ with another potential employer and I was unable to stop her departure. I have been a little more tense than usual since then.” Ruby said arcing her spine back and stretching then she smiled “Don’t suppose you want to rub down my entire tail, do you?” Ruby asked, lifting up several bundles, scrunching them together so the palpable muscle and fat moulded and melted together.

“Sure! I mean… if it’ll make you comfortable. But I have to admit I’ve never massaged a lamia before.” Twin said as he stepped forward, approaching Ruby’s tail eagerly.

“Well, I’ll talk you through how I like it,” Ruby settled her coils back down on the ground, slipping her tail around Twin “First find someplace comfortable where you can reach my tail,” Twin nodded and moved forward. Twin glanced down at the coils spread out before him, some rising up to the top of his legs. Twin smiled sheepishly and climbed on top of one as it rose up and down with Ruby’s breathing, resting his face on it with a soft laugh before realising what he was doing.

“O-oh, I’m sorry, Ruby.” Twin said standing up and slipping down the other side, settling on the floor between a wall of coils reaching his torso.

“I didn’t mind,” Ruby said with a laugh “Either way, approach the coil you want to start with and wrap your legs around it as if hugging it, place the frogs of your hooves on the line where my upper scales reach my belly scales…” Ruby waited as Twin performed this action, standing with his legs either side of the selected coil “Now press in about half an inch… a bit more… okay,” Ruby sighed, smiling “Rub in small slow circles and work up to the top, roll back a little in circles, left clockwise and right anticlockwise, about a couple inches or so each time then work your way back down and repeat until you reach the end of my tail… Feel free to wrap yourself up in the coils you’ve pampered.” Ruby hummed.

Twin nodded, Ruby watching over him as he began following the instructions. Twin could feel the liquid like fat under Ruby’s armour, the smooth scales trying to slip and push out from under his grasp as he began to work in circles. It became easy to feel how to rub over Ruby’s tail, the scales seemed to shift and curl under him perfectly, sliding down was easy enough but sliding back up was a little tricky, Twin flicked a few scales back on his earlier attempts, Ruby both visibly annoyed and in a bit of pain, but Twin soon learned to hold his grip down more firmly when working the small circles down Ruby’s tail towards her tail tip, simply moving a patch of scales under the frogs of his hooves instead of rubbing each individual scale and not trying to slide along Ruby’s tail or against it when going up, lifting his hooves up entirely if a flick of scales was looming. It, admittedly, wasn’t amazing, but it still felt nice for Ruby and was a notable good first attempt. Twin’s progress was snail slow however but Ruby didn’t complain, instead returning to her work as Twin reached the first turn in Ruby’s tail.

Glancing up at Ruby, now returning to his work, Twin looked up back towards where he had started. He hadn’t done much, about one and half the height of himself transferred into snake coils, but this didn’t stop Twin hopping off Ruby’s tail briefly and grabbing the start point. Twin stood on his hind legs, flapping his wings to balance himself as he lifted Ruby’s tail over his shoulder, dragging the lower half around his waist like a belt. Twin smiled, as did Ruby as she twirled the coil beside Twin’s cheek around his neck and directed him back to her tail, letting him flop on top of the coil, Twin now working from a prone position atop Ruby’s tail. As he worked, Ruby now had to slide her tail along underneath Twin’s belly as he seemed reluctant to move from the comfortable spot, as penance, Ruby began to pile her massaged tail atop Twin’s body, covering him up into a cave, only his front hooves free, not even his face was soon spared as a coil leapt over his eyes and pulled his nose upward, Twin panting as his collar was pushed in by its thicker, scalier counterpart. Ruby glanced back at Twin as he panted, his tongue hanging out as he drooled a little as she squeezed him.

“Coil addict.” Ruby hummed in her head with a wide grin and then tilted her head, a slick grin stretching over her mouth.

Ruby let her tail tip slither and pat against Twin’s cheek, climbing down the side of his cheek to his chin before hooking under his mouth and pushing it up a little. The very end of Ruby’s tail tip then wedged itself between Twin’s lips and he flushed, giving it a little peck, pushing his head forward with what slack the coils permitted before pressing into his windpipe. Ruby grinned triumphantly before slipping the tail tip inside Twin’s mouth, letting him kiss it more intimately, suckling softly as if it were also a lolly, the scent of Ruby’s morning shampoo washing over Twin’s nose as he panted through his now limited airway.

“Mmmm, don’t stop massaging me Twinwing,” Ruby ordered, nudging underneath him with her tail.

Twin nodded with a muffled moan, drawing the tail tip a little deeper as he kept working, the coil over his eyes rubbing up and down, massaging his eyes shut as Twin began to imagine how he must look, surrounded and entombed by a mass of muscular, comfortable white and red scales. Ruby casually reading, uncaring of Twin’s love of her embrace, her smooth, sensual scales rubbing and rolling over his body…

Twin squeaked and quickly leapt up, the sudden movement catching Ruby off guard as Twin managed to slip off the coil he had been lying on. Ruby glanced back, confused then smiled “Something wrong?” She asked casually, Twin’s face so brightly lit he could be a flare.

“Er, I just noticed it was nearly one?” Twin nodded to a little clock sat beside Ruby. Mercifully, it did indeed read just a few minutes before one.

“Indeed, it is,” Ruby noted looking back at Twin who was awkwardly hiding behind Ruby’s coils, still massaging them to derive any suspicion “Well, come along then Twinwing, I know your nerves want settling after your fright yesterday.” Ruby said standing up, quickly packing and folding the map and its contents into a small lockbox, before making her way to the door “Come along, Twinwing.” Ruby ordered and Twin nodded, grabbing a few coils and draping them over himself like a cloak “What are you doing?”

“Oh, I… I just thought you might need warming whilst we’re out.” He said smiling.

“It’s summer, Twinwing, don’t worry about it,” Ruby said with a knowing smile “You don’t have to go out with my coils wrapped around you.”

Twin awkwardly shifted “Can’t I keep them?” He asked quietly.

“Tell me why, aren’t you afraid I might gobble you up?” Twin shook his head and Ruby raised an eyebrow.

“No, but…” Twin flushed “I just like how they feel.” He admitted and Ruby squeezed his neck tightly, making Twin gulp.

Ruby stared at Twin’s neck, it wasn’t a lie, but she knew it wasn’t the truth. Surprisingly smart, or Twin was simply slipping down into the snake pit “Alright then, by all means add a few more then. But I still reserve the right to squeeze you spontaneously and without warning.” Ruby said laughing at Twin’s nervous expression.

Ruby opened the door out of the living room and glanced around “Bolt, come here, we’re leaving now.” Twin looked up, shuffling along as fast as he could, it was awkward for him between the coils and… yeah, the coils…

Bolt soon joined the pair, smiling up at Ruby as she gently patted his mane with her tail like an affectionate dog. Bolt then glanced at Twin and waved happily and Twin waved back, a corkscrew of coils trailing down his leg merging with his own fur. Ruby offered Bolt a hanging coil and he slipped his head into it, further instilling the image of a dog in Twin’s mind as Ruby tugged him along… closely followed by Twin.

“Guess I’m not really in a position to judge Bolt.” Twin thought with a sheepish smile.

Wasn’t too bad all things considered, but Twin couldn’t deny he had thought it would be just Ruby and him and the fact Bolt was tagging along made him feel a little less… desired…

Regardless of Twin’s mood, Ruby paraded the two stallions out in her courtyard and led them up to the gate, which grinded back up into its slot allowing the trio to leave without getting dragged back inside by a torrent of coils. Ruby gave Twin a jerk to speed him up, Bolt easily keeping up beside Ruby whilst Twin had to struggle on. The walk into town was somewhat awkward but Twin was soon able to walk with less hassle once he’d… ‘calmed down’ allowing him to speed up and fall in line with Bolt on the opposite side of Ruby’s swishing tail. Both stallions were focused on watching it twist and twirl left and right, gliding over the road. However, Twin noticed a flicker of light in the corner of his eyes, following by several more and his gaze naturally turned to look.

Ruby heard Twin’s quiet gasp and looked over, feeling a little peeved she had lost Twin’s attention. Twin was currently focusing on a pair of lamias dancing around an enchanted fire in the middle of the square, four buckets filled with bits sat before them filling higher as the pair danced, twisting their coils over one another, crossing their hooves in the air and twirling their pony bodies within the centre of the coil tornado like belly dancers. They both had purple coloured silken dresses and the fake flames leapt and jumped from their magic nudging it, dancing along the length of their tails. The crowd were drinking in every shift of every individual scale. A few needed to leave for work or jobs but… to leave during a dance seemed unforgiveable to them…

Ruby looked at Twin as he turned his body to look fully at the dancers before he was jerked forward towards them, Ruby slithering ahead a little faster as Twin and Bolt rushed to follow. Ruby reached the dancers who paused to speak with Ruby, when Twin and Bolt reached them the pair smiled and nodded, moving aside as Ruby slid up between them, dragging her tail up with her leaving the two stallions bare again.

Twin gasped as Ruby held her hooves together above her head and began to spin, the other two lamias spinning their tail around Ruby in a corkscrew fashion, partially hiding Ruby as if she were in a jail of coils. The fire dimmed low then blazed as Ruby flicked her own tail upward, throwing the mixture of coloured coils up into the bright midday sky, the light showering the crowd who clapped eagerly as Ruby matched the pair in grace and speed. At one-point, Ruby began to sway, crossing her hooves over her head in an X shape and wriggling her waist left and right, the two original dancers pausing as their tail tips lifted up, hovering behind Ruby. The light from the fire danced down their coils as they curled them around into hooks then spirals, curling and uncurling them behind Ruby’s back as she swayed, her tail causing the fire to dance from one spiral filled tail to the other. As Ruby danced with the exotic background provided by her sister lamias, Twin began to notice himself swaying in beat with Ruby, glancing around everypony was, eyes slightly dulled as they mimicked Ruby… left… right… left… right…

One member of the crowd leaned forward then stumbled, stepping quickly forward to avoid falling on their face and ending up standing on the coils of the lamia on Ruby’s left. The dancer glanced down and smiled quickly snatching them up around the waist and pulling them up with the trio. The lamia effortless looped her coils over the (un)fortunate pony and began to make them dance, an ethereal glow lighting up their body as they smiled, dancing as if they had trained their whole life, eyes closed as a silent beat overtook them, the lamia guiding them, making the pony dance and Twin thought briefly of a snake and charmer but with the roles reversed.

Finally, Ruby spun one final time, holding her hooves out either side in a curtsey and the crowd cheered and applauded her as she hoped down from the stage, slipping her tail back around Bolt’s neck and all over Twin’s body as she quickly tugged them along before the lamias, and their newest dance partner, could start up again.

“Twinwing,” There was a little venom in Ruby’s voice as Twin turned away from watching the dancers again “Look where you are going.” Ruby cooed as she swayed her tail tip like the dancers had during the display in front of him.

“I’m looking.” Twin said focusing on Ruby’s tail once more.

“Good, wouldn’t want us to walk past here.” Ruby said and Twin blinked, looking up at the building in front of them.

It was a rather bizarre place, it had the outward appearance of a moderately sized convenience store, with the automatic doors and everything, but the board sign didn’t have any name Twin recognised; ‘Lamia Forest’ the background around the words featured a darkened canopy with rays of sunlight and the letters were in the traditional lamia purple eye colour. Ruby slid up to the door and Twin noticed a little advertisement sign on the door as it slid aside ‘Soul snip treatments available ask-’ and then Twin was inside the shop, unable to read the rest of the ad.

When Twin looked back in at the shop interior his image of a convenience store, at least a conventional one, disappeared. The building was set up with a small number of open top metal cages, the fences only knee high but within each individual pen a pony sat beaming up at the latest customers. Multicoloured collars adored their necks and little signs on the front had names, species, age and gender but lower down they also had willing or punishment with a mixture of both scribbled on the listing, as well as pricing and ‘re-eatable’ listing with either yes or no. The ‘pen’ was rather comically as Twin could easily have climbed over it, but most seemed to simply stand on it or behind it as if it did indeed trap them within.

Bolt shuffled forward first and began to inspect them with the same kind of expression one might use when checking for the freshest unlabelled piece of fruit or vegetable. Sometimes, Bolt would actually reach in and check a pony’s mane, turn their beaming head or even poke their rear causing them to moan erotically. As Bolt passed them by the ‘prey’ began to whimper trying to get him to come back, they had quickly established Bolt was selecting Ruby’s prey, who was stood at the till waiting for service. Twin awkwardly shuffled beside Ruby and glanced over the back of the counter, seeing another ad focused on ponies.

“Have a lamia lover? A lamia you want to impress or get closer too? Need some extra bits? Just want to know what the biggest thrill and delight in Equestria feels like but without the concern of your possible demise and the ability to experience it again later? Well then get soul snipped, a quick, easy and painless process available at any Lamia Forest store or prey market. Follow the simple process through with our helpful employees and be the delicious delight for any lamia who captivates your mind.” The images displayed in the ad featured a jar with the letter’s ‘CM’ written on the side, a lamia beside a generic blue pony followed by the pony being eaten before appeared in a cartoony poof of smoke with the jar hovering overhead. An arrow then pointed back to the panel of the lamia eating the pony forming a loop.

Bolt had left the prey selection and was inspecting rows of various spices, herbs and sauces as the cashier finally returned, slipping behind the counter, her tail still pilled outside underneath the lift-up door “Good afternoon, how can I help? Soul snip for two?” She asked cheerfully.

“No, or at least, not yet,” Twin shuffled awkwardly as Ruby glanced at him “I’m paying for one additional prey and picking one regeneration up, registered name is Ruby Scales.” Ruby said taking out a purse of bits and paying the required amount with the indication that she was familiar with their pricing. The cashier looked down at a book, quickly locating Ruby under ‘S’ before nodding.

“Of course, one moment please.” She said returning to the back of the store. Bolt also returned to the prey stalls and selected a peach coloured unicorn mare, pulling her out of her pen as if leading a cow for milking as she joined Ruby and Twin. The lamia soon returned with Fleur in tow, who was walking with a bit of a sway as if drunk.

“See, like I said, perfectly safe.” Ruby whispered to Twin as Fleur stood beside the counter, gasping in delight as Ruby covered her neck with a coil and squeezed tightly.

“Would you like to put her on the regeneration booking again?” The lamia asked.

“No, I have to return her ownership, leave her on the log until her husband comes to collect her whenever he’s ready, he has to pay for the second regeneration, thank you.” Ruby said, heading for the door.

Twin hesitated at the till, glancing at Ruby then back “How… how much is a soul snip?” He mumbled.

“Thirty bits, plus charges per regeneration depending on complexity.” The cashier said in an equally small voice.

“Thank you.” Twin said with a flush and the cashier nodded with a smile as Twin trotted to catch up with Ruby before he lost his coil cover up.

Ruby was stood facing Twin as he trotted out “Got what you wanted?” She asked with an innocent hum and Twin nodded bashfully.

“So, um… do we just go back to the mansion now?” Twin asked trying to deviate from what he’d just asked for.

Ruby smiled “Not quite, I said not to have lunch so let’s have that before we return. Bolt, you take these two back and get them ready for me as I requested, I’ll see you later.” Ruby ordered and Bolt nodded leaving Twin alone with Ruby.

“Nopony to help you now,” Ruby whispered as she nipped Twin’s ear as he felt an electric spark quiver down his body.

“To h-help me?” He asked before Ruby picked him up “Hang on, what do you mean by that!?” Twin felt a little panic fluttering at his chest before Ruby looped a coil over his mouth.

“Ssshhh don’t worry Twinwing, everything is going to be just fine.” Twin let out a squeak of confusion then the coils rubbed back and forth pressing into his back and Twin nodded weakly “There you go, now why don’t we eat?” Ruby suggested, slipping into a modest, restaurant just a few doors down from the lamia forest, setting Twin down on his own hooves, though keeping him looped around the neck like the puppy he was.

“This way, Mistress,” Twin blinked, having missed Ruby’s conversation with the greeter as he led them to a private booth of the restaurant.

Twin sat himself down, unable to see out of the high stain glassed walls covering either side atop the wall fixed C shaped seat. The booth was rather small, deliberately so, meaning Ruby’s tail slithered and slid underneath, covering the spare third side of the seat and began to loop over the ground. Twin glanced down as Ruby’s coils twisted and looped around the base of his hind legs, slipping up the seat to his lap and squeezing, covering his lower half.

“What can I get you, Mistress?” A waitress asked, stepping forward to what Twin thought was a bold place beside Ruby, the lamia’s tail quickly encircling her and tightening.

“Maybe you?” Ruby suggested and the waitress flush.

“I-I’m sorry, Mistress, but current staff aren’t permitted to be meals during service. But we do have a selection, as well as available coil warmers.” The waitress shakily said as Ruby rubbed her waist making her coo softly.

“Shame, but no coil warmers, I have one here,” Twin squeaked, waving slightly at the waitress who looked a little jealous of his position “And I don’t fancy prey right now, maybe just one of every dessert?” The waitress nodded.

“And you?” She asked and Twin shifted, having not had a chance to look yet.

“Hayburger, with plenty of dripleaf, and a bottle of pure liquid dripleaf drink for us both.” Ruby ordered.

“Yeah! I mean… please.” Twin said with an embarrassed smile and the waitress nodded, retreating to the kitchen.

Ruby leaned back into her chair, staring at Twin as she idly slid her coils back and forth “Twinwing,” The stallion looked up as Ruby smiled slipping a coil over herself as she leaned forward, the coil draping down her own body “May I ask; do you find me attractive at all?” Ruby asked as her tail twisted over herself, Twin following its subtle movements.

“Yes,” Twin froze “I mean… I er… I…” Twin couldn’t think of a backtrack response to this, his brain steaming from overheated embarrassment. Literally, the air around Twin’s ears was blurring up.

“Wonderful,” Twin flushed deeper “I know just the perfect way to punish you tonight for trying to flee… although you might enjoy it more so I wonder how effective it’ll really be.” Ruby thought out loud and Twin gulped.

“You’re not still mad at me?” He asked.

“Not at all, in fact, I couldn’t be happier.” Ruby admitted as their food arrived, Twin, at first confused until Ruby quickly poured a hefty glass of dripleaf for Twin who licked his lips as it slipped out, his heart racing wanting it down NOW. All thoughts had been shoved aside at the sight of dripleaf.

Ruby pushed the glass forward and Twin snatched it up halfway to him, tilting it up over his head and gulping it down greedily, cursing his slow, small throat. Twin sighed, panting, as Ruby poured him a second, a rising numbness and blurriness overcoming Twin’s brain. Twin turned his head, vision swimming, as a purple haze began to leak in from the sides of his eyes. The cold material of his glass bringing him back as Ruby offered Twin a second glass of dripleaf, Twin gulping it down as quick as Ruby allowed. Twin tried to reach up but Ruby snatched his hooves away, the purple colouring covering his mind’s eye sliding further over Twin’s vision blocking out his surroundings as Ruby became what little grounding he had left to reality. Twin’s brain was droning like a motor drowning out his thoughts as Ruby poured another glass, a quiet whisper, unheard by Twin, tried its best to stop him, to prevent him from blocking out all logical thought even as he sat up to get to the glass faster than Ruby’s slow movements permitted. But it was too late for Twin’s mind to wrestle back control, the liquid dripleaf gushed down Twin’s throat and his world turned to a lustful purple as he felt his head hit something soft, scaly and squishy, quickly curling around his flustered face, the sound of Ruby giggling filling his ears…

“She’s happy…” Was all Twin managed to think with a dull smile before all reasonable thought shut down and all he knew was purple…