Confined With a Goddess

Jake held onto Celestia's waist for dear life as she paddled out away from the island. The last time he'd been at the mercy of the waves, it hadn't ended well, and he still hadn't recovered from that. It'd been less than a week since he'd crashed onto the island, and even if he was sure he could swim back to shore, there was an inherent fear of the ocean that had to be acknowledged.

"You know I'm going in the water, right?" asked Celestia, still rowing against the waves.

Jake wanted to accept her statement and move on, but he couldn't. The point of this outing was to find out if he was subject to the same rules as Celestia, and if he was, this was going to hurt.

"So, beginning to feel uneasy yet?"

"Y-yeah," whimpered Jake.

"Shame. We still have a hundred and fifty metres to go before that threshold is supposed to kick in. When we cross, tell me if it suddenly becomes worse."

Jake nodded, rubbing his cheek against the back of her shirt. He dared not look back toward the shore to see how far they'd made it, even if he couldn't judge distance very well. He had no idea where they were in relation to the island.

After a few more minutes, having no idea how many, exactly, he felt her abdomen suddenly tense up. They'd crossed the first line. They were five hundred metres out, he was sure of it.

She rowed a bit further before turning back to him. "Okay, that's eight hundred. How do you feel?"

Jake turned and looked back at the island. It all fit on one solitary gaze. He could see from one end to the other without turning his head. Anyone who was on the beach would look like little more than an ant from this distance.

"Eight hundred metres?" It suddenly clicked in his head. They'd crossed the second threshold, which meant she was in pain right now. That was the tightening in her abdomen, not discomfort. "Ow! Ow, my stomach! It hurts! I guess we should head back, now..."

Celestia raised an eyebrow at him, then shook her head. Without a word, she started paddling out further, and when he could hear her heart pounding in her chest and feel her gasping for breath, he knew they were past the point where it would be agonising for her.

"Please..." he begged. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lie..."

"But you did," growled Celestia. "Why?"

"I wanted you to turn around!" he whimpered. "Please, can we just go back to the house?"

Celestia took a moment of silence and stopped rowing. In less than a hundred metres, she would be teleported back to the island in the most agonising way imaginable. If that happened, could she ensure that Jake would have the wherewithal, presence of mind, and arm strength to row this raft back to the shore? Or would he be lost to the sea? There was no land that could be seen except the island, but would he think to row out in the direction from which he'd come to try to return to normalcy?

No. No, he was a wimp, and a pansy, and he would be lost without her. And if she were to be honest with herself, she liked having him around. It was better to have him than not, and while she could set him up to escape this fate; to slip free of the island and see himself back to shore so he could resume his normal life, she could just as easily make permanent his residence here on the island with her.

She turned and started rowing back toward the island. She had time to decide which option she was going with, and she had knowledge enough to inspire a solution.

"Don't go any further out!" urged Jake.

"I'm not," answered Celestia coolly. "I have my answer, and I need some time to think about it. Now, shush for a bit."

He definitely wasn't sent by Luna. She was nothing if not consistent, and if Luna had assigned somepony to watch her, she wouldn't want them fleeing the island, either, and would absolutely do everything in her power to keep him there.

Of course, she was already pretty sure Luna hadn't sent him. She was half and half the first time she saw him, and that had only diminished with time. But then, Luna was supposed to remove all contact from her. This was supposed to be a solitary confinement. Sure, Jake could move through the walls of her proverbial cell, but he wasn't supposed to be in here. So why was Luna allowing this?

"Wait here," she sighed, setting the oar down on the raft and grabbing the spear. "I'll be right back."

As she moved to the edge, he moved with her, and she had to pry his grip away from her and onto the raft. Once she was certain that he wouldn't overturn it, she rolled into the water and started swimming around with her wings. A few minutes later, she came up, two fairly large fish skewered on her spear. With Jake still shaking, she managed to climb up on her own and row back to shore.

Once his feet hit solid ground, sandy as it was, he began to regain some of his composure, and before the afternoon was out, the firewood was split, and they were sitting next to it, the fish roasting on skewers.

"Are you mad at me?" asked Jake, a little more than an hour later.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because you've been quiet ever since we came back."

Celestia shook her head. "I just have a lot on my mind right now."

He scooted a bit closer. "Like what?"

Celestia shrugged. A lot of things she needed to think about were pertaining directly to Jake, and she wasn't going to ask him. Not until she'd worked it all out. "What do you think of my sister, Jake?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I've never met her. I know she put you here, and I don't know why, but if she's anything like you, she can't be all bad, right?"

Celestia nodded. "That's a very diplomatic answer."