I Found Her

Late one evening, William and James joined Cocoon for another fine dinner. By now, her castle had been magically grown from a basic, Medieval Earth-style fortress, into a towering, Gothic, fantasy-style palace. There were several towns and cities now present throughout the realm as well, making the land feel not so bare, and fairly lively at night with lights.

The dining hall was now massive, with multiple crystal chandeliers, lustrous black tile floors, dark-gray stone arches lining the walls, and fancy stone torches surrounding the many long tables, on which plates, silverware, centerpieces, and candles sat. A large, multi-tiered stone fountain sat in the middle of the hall, as well.

“I hope the meal was up to your expectations, as always,” Cocoon said to her guests.

“Oh, it was exquisite!” James said.

“I agree,” William added. “You know how to prepare some five-star dishes, Coony.”

The two looked at where Cocoon was sitting... but she had vanished.

“Coony?” William repeated, looking around.

James also looked around briefly, and suddenly, something tall, narrow, and black emerged from right in front of William’s seat. Startled, William looked down to see that the narrow, black thing was Cocoon’s horn. Cocoon herself had crawled under the table, right to William’s chair. She looked up at him with wide eyes and her lips tucked inward, a giddy smirk showing from within it.

“Hello!” She playfully said.

“Oh!” William uttered. “Coony, uh... I think you’re head’s a bit too...” his face went red, “...c-close to...”

Given that her head was right between his legs... anyone could understand what the fuss was about.

“Anything you want, Willy?” Cocoon asked.

“Wh-what do you mean...?” William asked.

“Well...” Cocoon trailed off, her cheeks and muzzle going green, “...I could lower your zipper, and...” she narrowed her eyes teasingly, “...do as you please.”

William was paralyzed. He did not know what to say or do, the way she was, for lack of a better term, coming onto him the way she was.

“Uh, Cocoon...” James spoke up, “...maybe we could just continue our night in a more... laid-back manner?”

“Of course,” Cocoon said, going back under the table for a moment to crawl back to her chair.

Once she got back to her seat, she continued interacting with them as if she didn’t get a little... too close with William.

“Anyway,” the changeling queen spoke, “I also took the liberty of preparing a dessert dish for us as well.”

“Oh, really?” William asked.

Cocoon nodded. “Do you both like chocolate?”

“Definitely,” James said, firmly.

“Oh yeah,” William added. “Dark is my favorite.”

“Wonderful!” Cocoon said, standing and making her way into the adjacent kitchen.

She returned with a large cheesecake, which was absolutely drenched in chocolate sauce and whipped cream. It got the two humans’ mouths watering the moment it entered their line of sight. The trio helped themselves to some sizeable portions, becoming too full to eat anything else for a good long while. Cocoon, of course, was courteous enough to get them all some milk to wash the rich confection down.

After a little while of lounging, James decided to head on back to the real world, leaving William and Cocoon alone with each other. Not knowing what else to do, they decided to just sit on the couch and watch a movie in the new theater, which was lined with couches instead of regular seats. They settled on watching Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which Cocoon managed to replicate from the human world.

Cocoon laid on the sofa first, taking up the whole piece of furniture. At first William wasn’t sure where to sit, but she insisted he could lay with her. She then put a blanket over both of them, and as the movie went on, they both shifted to a point where William was laying completely on top of Cocoon.

“I hope I’m not... crushing you, or anything,” William said at some point in the movie.

“Oh, nonsense!” Cocoon said, wrapping her forelegs around her human friend. “Close to you, Willy, under a blanket, I’m just snug as a bug!”

William smirked, looking around briefly. “Uh, Coony... you technically are a bug.”

“Yeah, I know,” Cocoon responded.

After a little while, the two decided to shift their positions, just to be more comfortable. William rolled onto his belly, and Cocoon followed suit, being the one on top now. However... she gradually shifted herself down toward the other end of the couch every so often. As she did this... she started subtly rubbing her hooves against his buttocks.

William’s face flushed as she did this. She continued to slide her way down, very gradually, until her chin rested right above his posterior, gently squeezing both cheeks in his hooves and lower neck.

"Do you really have to be that obsessed with my butt, Coony?" He asked.

Cocoon smiled at him. "I can't help it; you've just got such a cute butt, Willy!"

"If you're not careful..." William began, smirking, "...I might fart in your face."

"Oh, you wouldn't!" Cocoon said, laughing.

William tried his best to brush off everything she was doing, and just focus on the time... but the thoughts remain firmly at the forefront of his mind. Not to mention, they were actually making him feel quite a bit more attached to Cocoon.

After the film, William found himself ready to head back to his place to get settled in for the night. As he was about to leave, Cocoon went with him right out to the castle’s courtyard.

“So...” William began, “...it was a nice night.”

“Yes, it was,” Cocoon agreed.

William sighed. “I’ll admit, while it’s nice having James to visit... I really find it nice when it’s just you and me, Coony.”

“I agree,” Cocoon said.

“And, lately...” William said, “...with the amount of time we’ve spent together... I can’t help but realize...” he started blushing again, “...how much you really mean to me.”

Cocoon curled her lips into a subtle smile, her eyebrows pointed up slightly.

“I’ve never had a friend as close as you, Coony... and I really am starting to think that... I-I... I l-lo...”

He could not get the words to come out, no matter how much he forced his breath and vocal cords, and it was becoming extremely difficult to say while maintaining eye contact with the changeling queen. However, it seems like Cocoon was able to pick up on the message. She touched the tip of her hoof to his lips, and he was able to give her his full focus again.

Tears filled Cocoon’s eyes, but she still smiled. Then, she pulled him into a firm, deep hug. William, used to it at this point, returned the hug. This one, however, felt substantially different. There was quite a bit more... depth to it, if that made sense.

After what could have been an hour or two, they partially separated, their faces only a few inches from each other. Each stared deeply into the other’s eyes for a good long while... and then they leaned, slowly, into one another, closing their eyes.

“...Coony...”

“...Willy...”

With their hearts beating rapidly, and trying to keep their breath under control, they puckered their lips... and they touched. They began to draw suction, their liplock becoming deeper.

His first kiss...

Her first kiss...

Something so pure...

And can only be experienced once in a lifetime...

The two were in absolute ecstasy, never wanting the moment to end. Nothing else mattered. The artificial realm around them did not exist to either of them in that moment. It was just him and her. Nothing else. No one else.

Eventually, they separated after what felt like an eon, though it was only a few seconds, and separated, simply staring at each other. No words needed to be said to express how grateful they were for each other, particularly with the way they conveyed their feelings in a nonverbal manner.

“...I’ll see you tomorrow,” William broke the silence, just before he turned to make his way back to the portal.

Cocoon waved as he left. “I’ll be waiting, Willy...”

And with that, both the human and changeling, now officially beyond the friendship zone, went back to their respective residences to get settled in for the night. Cocoon, having been extremely nourished by William’s love for her, fell into the changeling-equivalent of a food coma after she crawled into her bed. William, on the other hand...

...Hours passed, with him sitting on his couch in the small living room. He was completely lost in thought. Never did he imagine he life could lead up to something like this. After facing so many heartbreaking rejections, from so many girls in his life, he really started to lose confidence in himself, worrying that no one would ever love him. To be honest, though, he was picking up on the hints early on in his and Cocoon’s friendship.

Whenever she called him by her pet name for him, he didn’t think much of it. He partly understood why she called him that, what with him being the only sentient being she knew after a long stretch of isolation. But, after what unfolded earlier that evening... it was like a blind person seeing beauty for the first time, a deaf person hearing music for the first time, or a cold person feeling warmth for the first time.

He finally did it. William Schaeffer, after twenty-four long years, finally broke through the cold, bitter shell he had been encapsulated in. After opening his heart up to a sweet, caring, insectoid-equine, he was finally able to regain the sense of positivity he lost upon the start of his transition to adulthood.

William was able to fully embrace the fact that he loved Cocoon... just as she loved him.

These visits to Cocoon’s prison realm, however, did not go unnoticed by some within the human world. As it turned out, William was visiting her for longer stretches as time went on, sometimes with James accompanying. This causes problems with his official commitments to the other people he knew, and some others saw that he wasn’t coming out of his house for long stretches.

Of course, most were smart enough to mind their own business. However, there were those who sought a personal vendetta against him... particularly due to recent events.

Mark McDowell realized it was William who attempted to ask out Clara, his then-fiancée. This absolutely did not go over well with him. It didn’t matter to him that William was unaware of their companionship; he wanted to make his point in a fairly... forceful manner. So, he brought along a close friend of his, Jon Lang, who was currently dating Clara’s sister, to track down William and, what they crudely planned, beat him up.

“That skinny-ass little bitch is gonna get what’s comin’ to him, let me tell ya,” Mark said as he drove his convertible toward William’s home address.

“Hooh, boy!” Jon said, cracking his knuckles. “Can’t wait to pick off the dude who tried to put the moves on your girl!”

Before long, they pulled up on the street William resided, and happened to catch site of the homeowner himself, making his way across his front-yard walkway to his door, apparently after being out on a walk. There was another person accompanying him as well, which just so happened to be James.

“Hey,” Mark said, pointing, “there’s the ass now!”

Jon peered, chuckling once he could make out William’s thin figure. “...Dude looks like he’d be twenty pounds soaking wet! Good, this’ll be easy, then! But... what about that other dude?”

Mark shrugged. “Don’t know who he is... but we’ll kick his ass, too!”

“Why?” Jon asked.

“Why not?” Mark said. “He’s with the Schaeffer-punk who’s after my girl!”

Mark and Jon were both fairly brawny, being part of athletic clubs in school. No doubt, it would be a very unfair fight against the two in a hand-to-hand fight.

In any case, the two parked discreetly on the side of the road, and got out of the car. They made their way over to William’s house, right by a window leading into the living room. Peering in through a narrow gap between the open blind and bottom of the frame, they could make out William opening a large book and setting it on the coffee table as James knelt next to him.

“Man, oh man...” Jon said, “...these jackasses got no idea what’s coming for ‘em!”

“You got that right!” Mark responded. “Now, let’s go right in, catch ‘em by surprise, and then we...”

He trailed off as both trespassers saw a bright light fill the living room, and once it dissipated, William and James had both vanished. Some lingering gold light remained within the tome’s pages for a moment before quickly fading.

“...What the hell?” Mark uttered.

“I dunno, man,” Jon said, making his way to the front door, “let’s go see what just happened in there.”

“Right behind ya,” Mark said, following.

The two vengeful young men entered William’s prefab, taking a look around the place.

“Sheesh, no wonder this bastard can’t get no women!” Mark commented. “This place is shit! No girl that ain’t braindead would live here!”

“But where did he go?” Jon asked.

“They’re just playing a trick on us, or somethin’,” Mark said, walking deeper inside. “C’mon, he’s hiding! Let’s tear this place apart if we have to!”

Jon, however, walked over to the tome on the coffee table. “So... what were they doing with this thing?”

Mark came over and picked up the large tome, flipping through the pages. “I dunno what this is about, dude... but then again, nothing about what this dingus’s been doing even makes sense to begin with!”

When he happened to place his hand flush against a page... the very same thing happened that they just saw a moment ago: the tome began to glow. Instinctively, both Mark and Jon came close to the book, trying to examine what it was doing.

“Okay, like... what’s the thing even doing right now?” Jon asked.

“You tell me...” Mark responded, just as the light became very bright, enveloping them.

Soon, they both disappeared into the tome as well. They were now in Cocoon’s world...

William and James soon made it Cocoon’s castle. Since she figured it was already large enough, Cocoon settled on refining the look and furnishings of the fortress, making it look more elegant, and in some cases, exotic. Certain areas had a European Medieval theme, other areas had a Renaissance look to them, and one section had an Oriental Imperial style. William definitely liked the Far East-themed section of the castle the best.

“I have to say, Cocoon,” James said as they toured the castle, “you’ve really done quite an amazing job, with what you’ve managed to do with your home.”

“Why thank you, James!” Cocoon said.

“And the fact that this world is supposed to be a prison...” William added, “...I’m glad we could help out in making it into the opposite of its intended purpose, through our fueling your power and whatnot.”

“Of course,” Cocoon said. “There is no way I could have done anything of this magnitude, had my prison tome not been found by anyone... let alone any who would actually care about me.”

Eventually, they made their way out to an observation balcony, where they could get a vantage point of the world around them. It really allowed them to take in the formerly-empty realm, which now seemed very lively and civilized.

“Gotta say,” William spoke, “this place has really come a long way in such a short time.”

“And it really makes living here much more bearable,” Cocoon said. “There have been times when I felt like I needed to...”

She paused and started sniffing.

“What is it?” William asked.

“I think...” Cocoon sniffed again, “...there are intruders in my world.”

“Intruders?” James asked, more alert.

Mark and Jon reached a concrete observation platform on the summit of a hill, after falling into Cocoon’s realm. At first, they didn’t have a great sense of direction, but once they saw that the location had some high-powered, rail-mounted binoculars, they decided they could get a better look at all the landmarks before deciding where to go.

The first place they got a peek at was Cocoon’s castle.

“Jeez,” Jon remarked as Mark peered into the binoculars, “this place Disney Universe or somethin’?”

“Wait...” Mark said, adjusting the zoom one of the castle’s spires, “...there they are! And there’s a... thing with them...”

Jon squinted, folding his arms. “What kind of ‘thing’?”

Mark stepped aside. “Take a look yourself, man...”

Jon looked into the binoculars, and made out William, James, and Cocoon, all of whom were surrounding a floating, glowing crystal sphere, about twelve inches in diameter, before Cocoon said something while pointing out Mark and Jon’s real location, prompting the other two to look in the same direction.

“Uh, dude...” Jon spoke, “...I think they know we’re here. They’re lookin’ right at us.”

“Oh, really?” Mark said, before turning his attention to the distant fortress. “Well, if they can see us from all the way over there...”

He then held up both his hands, middle fingers and thumbs extended straight out, and all other fingers folded.

“...Let’s let ‘em know what we think about ‘em!” He said.

“Ditto, man!” Jon said, making the same offensive hand gesture at the castle.

William pursed his lips as he looked into the Perceptor Orb. “How pathetic... they’re flipping the bird at us.”

“Oh...” Cocoon said, glancing out in the real direction of the two intruders, “...so, they think they can stand up to me?”

She walked over to the balcony rail, raising her hoof in the equivalent of a raised fist at them.

“Well, if they wish to play this little game, perhaps they would like a bit of return fire, as to ensure they don’t mistake us for some naïve pacifists!”

She moved her raised foreleg around a bit... but then her face fell.

"Ah..." Cocoon uttered, looking at her hoof, "...it would appear I lack the... dexterity required to, as your people put it, 'flip the bird.' "

“But, even if you could...” James said, “...do you really consider it wise to inflame a response from those two?”

Cocoon chuckled. “It’s just a way to show them that what goes around comes around.”

Her eyes then shifted to her backside.

“Well... I can still make my point across with those two ignorant fools, with a bit of enhancement, of course...” she trailed off.

Her horn glowing a bright green, the same glow appeared around her plot, and it gradually expanded with a faint gurgling noise. Her face flushed and her tongue hung from her mouth as this happened.

“Oh, that feels niiiiice...” she said.

William stared, blushing, as Cocoon made this alteration to her anatomy. Even James was caught a bit off-guard, feeling a bit of a hormone rush as well. Once her glutes were of a decent, very feminine size, Cocoon stopped, taking a moment to admire her work.

“Yes! This shall do adequately!” She said, before turning to face William. “Now, Willy, as my official lover... would you show me your love and devotion by aiding me in my endeavor?”

"I..." William began, nervously darting his eyes around, "...I don't know, Coony. This is how fights start. And with Mark McDowell... I don’t know if that would really be a good idea."

"Oh, but this is not a fight," Cocoon said with a smile, before her eyebrows came down and she got a serious look on her face. "This is a war!"

James shook his head, smirking. “Rather petty for a ‘war,’ I must say. But, as always... you do things the way you wish, Cocoon. It’s your world, after all...”

"So, Willy," Cocoon began, "why don't you drop your trousers, and show off your lovely posterior assets to our foes?"

William sighed, undoing his belt. "...If you say so."

"Heh heh..." Cocoon giggled.

She then turned her backside to face away from the balcony. She flipped her tail forward from its natural resting position, lightly and tauntingly slapping her own plot with a front hoof. William, simply deciding to mirror her moves, reluctantly did the same.

“Yeah!” Cocoon called out to the intruders. “Bite my sleek, insect plot!”

“What the...?!” Jon uttered, before looking up from the binoculars at Mark, pointing at the castle. “Dude, they're mooning us!”

“What?” Mark asked.

He looked into the high-powered binoculars again to see William and Cocoon doing exactly what Jon just said.

“That’s it!” Mark said, stomping away and down the steps. “We’re going over there, and giving them something they’ll never forget!”

“Yep!” Jon said, following. “They’re all in some deep shit, now!”

“Oh,” James said, looking at the Perceptor Orb, “here they come.”

Cocoon started laughing. “I knew they’d take the hint... and now, they’re going to really stumble on their way over here, with how I’ve set up certain... defensive measures.”

“Defense...?” William asked, putting his jeans and belt back into place.

“Since my prison tome ended up in a world inhabited by sentient beings,” Cocoon explained, “I knew, shortly after meeting you, Willy, that I had to set up some security measures within the world to thwart any trespassers from reaching my residence.”

She summoned the Perceptor Orb toward the three of them again.

“Just watch... and see these fools fall flat!” She said.

Mark and Jon were getting within reach of the castle, right at the mountain’s base, eager to give William and the other two a good beating.

“Almost there...” Mark muttered, “...gonna kick that smug son of a bitch’s ass!”

“Oh yeah! And then he’s gonna wish—" Jon was cut off.

The ground in front of them randomly exploded, sending a large volume of mud airborne, in an arc, that landed directly on the two trespassers, soaking them in a thick, murky, wet soil, before they had a chance to react.

“AGH!” Mark shrieked.

“GAH!” Jon yelped.

The latter stood clumsily amid the now-mud-soaked earth... but the same could not be said for the former. Mark was now partially-sunk into the ground, everything between his upper chest and lower thighs, unable to move; Cocoon bewitched certain patches of the earth to act as quicksand for a brief moment, before returning to normal, solid, packed dirt.

Mark groaned as he struggled against the earth. “I can’t move!”

“Here,” Jon said, grabbing his hand, “I got ya, dude!”

No matter how hard he pulled, however, he could not get his friend free. Eventually, he gave up, panting.

“Sorry, man...” Jon said, “...gotta keep up my strength.”

“Then just go ahead!” Mark urged. “Go kick their little sorry asses!”

“Got it!” Jon said, leaving behind his stuck friend.

He then started trying to scale the rocks, up the mountain, but took it really slow, stumbling every so often.

"Oh look," James said, peering into the Perceptor Orb, "we still got one of them in hot pursuit."

William pursed his lips briefly to suppress a grin. "I wouldn't call it 'hot'... it's like lukewarm pursuit, at best."

James and Cocoon laughed.

"Well," Cocoon began, "no matter how warm or cold the pursuit is, they'll never get inside..."

Jon kept trying to climb the cliffside of the mountain, as opposed to just taking the path. And it was this that would be his crucial mistake... as the soil began to liquefy. He slowly started losing his footing, before he began slipping and realized what was going on.

“Wha...?!” He uttered. “What’s this?! This don’t make no damn sense!”

After a vain struggle to crawl, and eventually swim, his way to the top, Jon ended up sliding all the way back to the bottom. From there, covered in mud, and miserable, he made his way back over to Mark, who still sat, muddy and struggling to pull himself free.

“C’mon, man...” Jon spoke, “...how does that hold you down?”

“Shut up!” Mark shouted.

“How do we get up there?” Jon asked.

The next few moments consisted of Jon hastily trying to dig out the packed earth that held Mark in place, partly buried. Eventually, however, something descended upon their spot...

...Cocoon landed right in front of the wide-eyed, speechless intruders.

“Now...” the changeling queen spoke, “...because I’m nice, I’ll do you the honor of getting you out of the soil...”

She then cast a spell at the dirt that buried Mark, liquefying it, and allow him to stand, disgusted, from it.

“Ugh... can’t fucking believe this!” He mumbled, flicking the wet dirt off his arms.

“The hell are you, anyway?” Jon asked.

Cocoon did not answer. “And just so the both of you do not remember me...”

Her horn beginning to glow. The same green glow filled Mark and Jon’s eyes, and they both held a blank expression as this happened. After a little bit, she ended her magic use on them. William and James descended the castle and mountain, meeting up with Cocoon and the entranced Mark and Jon.

“What happened?” William asked.

“Nothing,” Cocoon said. “I simply wiped their memories that came after arrival at your residence, Willy. So... I believe now would be an opportune time to dispose of them, no?”

“Perhaps it would be best to return them to the human world,” James suggested. “William and I can take it from there.”

Cocoon nodded. “Of course. But, you both may want to act quickly, as they’ll awaken from their trance in a few minutes.”

Suddenly, William’s face lit up. “I think I know what to do!”

Mark and Jon came to, a short distance away from William’s front stoop of his house, sitting back-to-back.

“Huh...?” Mark uttered, confused. “Hey, what just happened?”

“I dunno, man...” Jon responded.

They both stood, seeing William standing on his porch, arms folded and drumming his fingers.

“So..." William spoke, “...thought you could get yourselves a quick powernap before breaking and entering?"

Mark glared. “Oh, you’re gonna learn your lesson! You don’t go askin’ my fiancée out for coffee, EVER!”

William quickly retreated back into his house, locking the door for a brief moment. Mark rushed up the two steps, pounding on the door. Jon came over to cover him.

“COME OUT, WIMP!” He called. “WHAT’S WRONG, YOU SCARED?”

William opened the door, only to be accompanied by James. Mark was about to rush them... only to hastily step back after realizing what the homeowner and his guest were carrying.

Mark and Jon stopped in their tracks when they found themselves staring down the muzzles of William's Beretta and James' Mauser.

"Stand down," James ordered. "You're trespassing. The Castle Doctrine of the state of Georgia grants the homeowner and invited visitors legally-backed justification to use deadly force against an intruder."

William pulled back the hammer on his pistol. "So, you'd better turn your fat asses around, and piss off!"

Mark and Jon glared, before turning and stomping away.

"I'm calling the police!" Mark said.

“No need,” William said, his eyes shifting to where Mark’s car was parked down the street. “They’re already here... and they seem to be having your vehicle removed from in front of the hydrant.”

A police car parked with its lights flashing next to a tow truck, to which Mark’s convertible was already secured.

“HEY!” Mark shouted, running over to the commotion. “PUT MY CAR DOWN!”

Jon, as usual, followed after his friend, shouting as well at the police and tow truck driver. William and James watched in amusement at the two-dimensional forethought the former two demonstrated.

“Well, takes care of that problem...” William said, spinning his handgun triumphantly, by the trigger guard, on his index finger.

“Now then,” James said, “shall we go back to Cocoon’s realm?”

William nodded. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

With that, the two went back into the tome, William putting it in a less-obvious place, the closet, so that there was still enough room for them to get into, and out of, the parallel world.

Mark and Jon tried in vain to convince the officer and truck driver to put his car back down, and rescind the ticket the former handed to the vehicle owner, but it did not work. When they started to show violent behavior, the officer firmly ordered them to leave the area.

“I’m serious!” Mark told Clara, after he informed her and his families. “He pulled a gun on me and Jon when we were just coming up to talk with him! And he got my car taken illegally!”

“Yeah!” Jon chimed in. “We weren’t gonna do nothin’ to him! But... he’s clearly the hotheaded one!”

Clara was speechless. “I-I... I had no idea... that he was so dangerous.”

“So, we gotta do somethin’ about it!” Mark said.

“Okay, sweetie,” Clara said, wrapping her arms around him and giving him a quick kiss. “We’ll make sure he pays the compensation. My daddy can get some connections with good lawyers.”

They went on to find connections William had, such as his place of employment, mainly his manager, Eric, his family, limited to Marlene, and others he had been forced to help out, including Mrs. Milton. The three aforementioned all met up with Mark, Jon, and Clara to discuss what to do, all of whom were voicing their concerns about William being distracted, if not absent, from many of his daily duties.

Marlene shook her head. “I don’t know... that really doesn’t sound like William. He’s never been so... irresponsible.”

“I say we go and teach that young man about showing respect for others!” Mrs. Milton said. “I don’t understand why he is such a bad person to good people like us! He hasn’t been turning up to work for me in days!”

Eric nodded. “He’s been very distracted at work, lately. It’s getting him written up more often than normal! This is unacceptable!”

“I just worry something might be wrong,” Marlene said. “William was often depressed for no apparent reason, throughout much of his teen years. I never found out why, though; he never talked to me about it...”

“Well, that’s just an excuse!” Eric said. “He still has a job to do, and duties to perform!”

“I think we should just go check up on him, to make sure everything’s okay...” Marlene said.

After a bit of debate, it was agreed that they would go to William’s residence to check up on him, and potentially hear him out if there is indeed a problem. Marlene agreed to lead them to his place, and let them in if William refused. She felt like they needed to listen to him to understand, if her suspicions were correct.

James had taken the liberty of exploring Cocoon’s realm out of curiosity, taking a hovering, motorcycle-like stone vehicle to some neighboring towns and landmarks. William was left alone with Cocoon, and the two of them simply laid back while the artificial, faceless pony figures, that served as their servants, gave them massages.

“Ahhh...” William sighed as his lumbar was kneaded, “...I tell you, Coony, nothing beats living large.”

“Oh, you are absolutely right, Willy,” Cocoon responded.

William laid in bliss as the figure continued to press and rub all the tension away from him. “So nice to have a place to escape my real-world problems.”

“As always, glad I can help,” Cocoon said.

After a little while, their session ended, and William stood from the massage table, putting his undershirt, regular shirt, and jeans back on. The artificial ponies left the room at this point.

“That was nice,” William said, turning to face the door that led out of the chamber. “But... unfortunately, I have to go now. I got stupid work to do tomorrow...”

Cocoon narrowed her eyes, her horn glowing. She used her telekinesis to shut the door he was about to leave through, locking it as well. William stopped in his tracks, glancing back at her.

“Now, Willy...” she began, “...do you really have to go?”

She then started closing and locking every single door and window in the castle. William only managed to get one last look at the final window to close... before it was shut as well. The castle, from the outside, was dead silent. Completely devoid of any noticeable activity...